Charles Bieger

### Riding through fire to rescue a captain at Ivy Farm

At Ivy Farm, Mississippi, on 22 February 1864, Private Charles Bieger of Company D, 4th Missouri Cavalry, saw his captain cut off during a charge. The captain’s horse had been killed, leaving him surrounded by Confederate skirmishers beyond the Union line. Bieger volunteered to take another horse through the heavy fire and reach him. His ride carried him outside the line of battle into the danger that had trapped the officer; he brought the captain back to safety.

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, on 25 March 1844, Bieger served in the Union Army during the Civil War. His Medal of Honor recognized the rescue at Ivy Farm and was presented on 8 July 1897, more than three decades after the action. He died on 10 August 1930 and was buried in St. Louis, Missouri.

### Medal of Honor citation

“Voluntarily risked his life by taking a horse, under heavy fire beyond the line of battle for the rescue of his captain, whose horse had been killed in a charge and who was surrounded by the enemy’s skirmishers.”