Charles Blucher

Charles Blucher was born in Germany in 1842 and later immigrated to the United States. During the American Civil War, he entered Union service and became a soldier of the United States Army. His military record is associated with Company H, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment that served in major operations around Richmond and Petersburg during the final years of the conflict.

Blucher entered military service on June 18, 1863. By 1864 he was serving with the 188th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment organized from personnel of the 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery and assigned to the XVIII Corps in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.

The regiment quickly entered difficult combat operations in Virginia. One of Blucher’s early documented battlefield experiences came during the fighting around Drewry’s Bluff in May 1864. On May 16, 1864, he was wounded during the engagement but survived and continued serving with his unit.

The 188th Pennsylvania later participated in operations around Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and the approaches to Richmond. These campaigns placed the regiment in some of the most dangerous fighting of the war, as Union forces attempted to break through Confederate defenses protecting the Confederate capital.

Charles Blucher’s defining act of heroism occurred on September 29, 1864, during the assault on Fort Harrison, Virginia. At that time, he held the rank of Corporal in Company H, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry.

Fort Harrison formed part of the Confederate defensive system protecting Richmond. During the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, Union forces launched a major assault against these defenses. The fighting was intense, and soldiers advancing against the fortifications were exposed to heavy enemy fire.

Blucher was serving as a color bearer during the assault. Civil War flags had enormous tactical and symbolic importance. National and regimental colors helped soldiers maintain formation and direction amid smoke, noise, and battlefield confusion. Because enemy troops often targeted color bearers, carrying a flag into an assault was one of the most dangerous battlefield duties.

During the attack, Blucher advanced with the national colors and succeeded in placing them upon the Confederate fortifications. His Medal of Honor citation recognized this specific achievement: he planted the first national colors on the fortifications at Fort Harrison.

The act required exceptional courage. A color bearer advancing toward fortified enemy positions was highly visible and especially vulnerable to musketry and artillery fire. By carrying the national colors forward and planting them on the works, Blucher provided a powerful visible sign that Union troops had successfully penetrated the Confederate defenses.

Blucher survived the Fort Harrison assault and continued serving with his regiment. Less than a month later, on October 26, 1864, he was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant.

This distinction is important for his historical profile. His rank at the time of his Medal of Honor action was Corporal, while his highest verified enlisted rank was Sergeant.

A later record indicates that Blucher was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on November 26, 1865, but he was not actually mustered into that commissioned rank. For that reason, Sergeant remains the appropriate highest verified rank for his profile.

The 188th Pennsylvania Infantry continued operating in Virginia following the capture of Fort Harrison. The regiment participated in additional fighting and remained active through the final phases of the war, including operations associated with the fall and occupation of Richmond.

Recognition for Blucher’s courage came while he was still in military service. On April 6, 1865, Charles Blucher was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action at Fort Harrison on September 29, 1864.

For the database, the historically appropriate medal entry is:

Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1865 — No device or clasp.

The Medal of Honor had been established during the Civil War itself. Congress authorized the Army Medal of Honor in 1862 as a national decoration recognizing exceptional conduct by soldiers in military service.

During the Civil War, many Medal of Honor awards were associated with acts involving military colors. Saving a flag, capturing an enemy flag, or carrying national or regimental colors forward under intense fire required extraordinary courage because color bearers were highly visible targets.

Blucher’s Medal of Honor belongs directly to this tradition. His decoration recognized one specific and clearly documented battlefield action: planting the first United States national colors on the fortifications at Fort Harrison.

No clasp, star, bar, or other device is verified for his Medal of Honor.

Although Blucher served during the American Civil War, the Civil War Campaign Medal should not be added to his finalized rack merely because of his wartime service. Under the research standard being followed for this project, qualifying service alone does not establish recipient-specific entitlement to a later campaign medal.

Without sufficient evidence showing that Charles Blucher personally received or was officially issued such a campaign medal, it must remain outside the final rack.

Therefore, his finalized medal record contains only one decoration:

Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — awarded April 6, 1865, for action at Fort Harrison, Virginia, September 29, 1864 — No device or clasp.

Blucher continued serving after receiving the Medal of Honor and remained with the 188th Pennsylvania Infantry until the regiment completed its service. He was finally mustered out with his company on December 14, 1865.

His military career therefore included more than two years of service, a documented combat wound, participation in major Virginia campaigns, promotion from Corporal to Sergeant, and receipt of the Medal of Honor.

The surviving authoritative record provides relatively little secure information about Blucher’s civilian life after leaving the Army. His date of death and burial location are not firmly established in the principal military records currently being used for his profile, so uncertain genealogical details should not be added merely to make the biography appear more complete.

Charles Blucher’s historical legacy rests primarily on his courage during the assault on Fort Harrison. Already a combat veteran who had been wounded earlier in the war, he carried the national colors into one of the most dangerous moments of the battle and planted them on the Confederate fortifications.

That action made him one of the Union soldiers recognized for exceptional bravery during the American Civil War and earned him the United States Army Medal of Honor.

Today, Charles Blucher is remembered as a United States Army Medal of Honor recipient, a soldier of Company H, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry, and a color bearer whose courage at Fort Harrison became the defining moment of his military career.

His final verified medal record remains:

Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1865 — No device or clasp.