Charles Breyer

Charles Breyer was an English-born soldier who became a recipient of the United States Medal of Honor for an extraordinary act of courage during the American Civil War. He was born on June 19, 1844, in England and later came to the United States. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Breyer was living in Pennsylvania and entered Union military service from Philadelphia. His surviving military records identify him with the United States Army and, most importantly, with Company I of the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry. The 90th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Philadelphia in October 1861. During the war the regiment served with Union forces operating primarily in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Its soldiers participated in the campaigns of the Army of Virginia and later the Army of the Potomac, making the regiment part of some of the most demanding operations of the Eastern Theater. Breyer rose to the enlisted rank of Sergeant, which is also the rank recorded for him at the time of the action that ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor. By August 1862, the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry was involved in Major General John Pope’s Northern Virginia Campaign. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was attempting to take the strategic initiative in Virginia, while Union forces maneuvered along the Rappahannock River. Between August 21 and 23, Union and Confederate troops fought a series of engagements and skirmishes at the fords of the Rappahannock. These operations formed part of the larger sequence of events that would soon lead to the Second Battle of Bull Run. On August 23, 1862, Sergeant Charles Breyer was serving with Company I near Rappahannock Station, Virginia. During the fighting, an artillery shell landed near Union soldiers without immediately exploding. One of Breyer’s comrades had already suffered a devastating wound from the same shell, losing an arm. The projectile remained an immediate threat because it could still explode and kill or seriously wound the injured soldier and other men nearby. Breyer responded without waiting for someone else to deal with the danger. At considerable personal risk, he picked up the unexploded shell and carried or threw it away from the endangered men. At any moment the projectile could have detonated in his hands. His action removed the threat and, according to the official Medal of Honor citation, doubtless saved the life of the wounded comrade. The significance of Breyer’s action lies in its immediacy. This was not an act performed from a protected position or after the fighting had ended. He voluntarily handled an unexploded artillery projectile in the middle of an active battlefield because another soldier’s life was in danger. The official citation specifically emphasizes both the voluntary nature of the action and the extreme personal risk involved. The Rappahannock fighting itself was part of a difficult period for Union forces. During the days surrounding Breyer’s heroic act, the opposing armies maneuvered and fought along the river while Confederate forces sought opportunities to turn Pope’s position. The First Battle of Rappahannock Station and associated actions were therefore connected directly with the broader Northern Virginia Campaign of 1862. The 90th Pennsylvania Infantry continued its wartime service after the Rappahannock operations. The regiment later participated in campaigns and battles that included Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and subsequent operations of the Army of the Potomac. It eventually served in the Overland Campaign and the fighting around Petersburg before the remaining organization was consolidated with the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry in November 1864. However, the fact that Breyer belonged to the regiment should not automatically be interpreted as proof that he personally took part in every engagement on the regiment’s complete service list unless individual records establish his presence. Breyer survived the Civil War, but recognition of his action at Rappahannock Station did not come immediately. More than thirty years passed before the United States formally awarded him the Medal of Honor. On July 8, 1896, Charles Breyer received the nation’s highest military decoration for what he had done on August 23, 1862. The Medal of Honor itself originated during the American Civil War. Congress authorized the Navy Medal of Honor in 1861 and the Army Medal of Honor in 1862. It became the highest military decoration of the United States, recognizing individuals whose conduct demonstrated extraordinary bravery and personal risk in military service. Many Civil War soldiers received the decoration during or shortly after the conflict, while others, such as Breyer, were recognized decades later after their wartime actions were reviewed and formally approved. Breyer’s Medal of Honor citation is notable because it does not describe the capture of an enemy flag, a charge against Confederate positions, or the taking of prisoners. Instead, it recognizes an act intended to save another soldier. His courage consisted of deliberately exposing himself to a potentially exploding shell so that a severely wounded comrade would have a better chance of surviving. For Charles Breyer’s medal record, the Medal of Honor is the only decoration that can presently be included with recipient-specific documentary confidence. No clasp, star, bar or other device is associated with his Medal of Honor. Although his Civil War service might appear to make him generally eligible for a later Civil War Campaign Medal, eligibility alone does not prove that a particular veteran received or was issued that medal. Under the strict evidence standard used for his profile, no sufficiently strong recipient-specific entitlement record has been established, so the Civil War Campaign Medal should remain excluded from his final rack. Breyer was not a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient. He lived for approximately eighteen years after receiving his decoration. The surviving Medal of Honor record places his later life in Pennsylvania. He died on September 9, 1914, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, at the age of seventy. He was buried at Limerick Church Burial Ground in Limerick, Pennsylvania. Charles Breyer’s military legacy rests on a single extraordinary decision made during the fighting at Rappahannock Station. Faced with an unexploded artillery shell lying beside a badly wounded fellow soldier, he chose to expose himself to the danger rather than leave the projectile where it could cause further casualties. That act remained part of the historical record for more than three decades before the United States formally recognized it with the Medal of Honor. Today, Charles Breyer is remembered as a United States Army Sergeant and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient whose heroism was expressed through the protection of another soldier. His final verified medal record remains simple but highly significant: the Medal of Honor, awarded on July 8, 1896, for his courageous action at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, on August 23, 1862, with no independently verified additional medal, clasp or device.