Charles E. Morse

Charles E. Morse was a United States Army Sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient whose courage during the Battle of the Wilderness became the defining episode of his Civil War service. Born on May 5, 1841, in France, Morse later came to the United States and entered Union military service in New York. He served in Company I, 62nd New York Infantry, a regiment widely known during the war as the Anderson Zouaves. His record would ultimately place him among the soldiers whose determination to protect their regiment’s colors under fire became one of the enduring examples of battlefield courage during the American Civil War. Morse entered military service in June 1861, during the opening months of the conflict. The 62nd New York Infantry was mustered into United States service in New York City that summer and became part of the Army of the Potomac. Over the course of the war, the regiment served first with the IV Corps and later with the VI Corps, participating in a long sequence of campaigns in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Its service included major operations on the Peninsula, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and ultimately the brutal Overland Campaign of 1864. By the spring of 1864, Morse had attained the rank of Sergeant. Following the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, the 62nd New York was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps. The regiment then entered Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, which began with the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864. The Wilderness was fought in dense woodland and tangled undergrowth in Virginia, conditions that severely restricted visibility, disrupted formations, and made command and control exceptionally difficult. The opening fighting was costly for the 62nd New York. The regiment suffered significant casualties as Union and Confederate infantry clashed at close range through the woods. Amid this confused and violent combat, the regiment’s colors became endangered. In Civil War infantry formations, the colors were far more than ceremonial objects. They served as a visible rallying point around which soldiers maintained their alignment and cohesion amid smoke, terrain, and battlefield confusion. Losing the colors to the enemy carried enormous symbolic and practical significance. It was during this fighting on May 5, 1864, that Sergeant Charles E. Morse performed the act that eventually earned him the Medal of Honor. The regiment’s color sergeant had been mortally wounded, and the colors were left in an extremely dangerous position within or close to the enemy’s lines. Rather than abandon them, Morse voluntarily turned back toward the Confederate position. He rushed back into the enemy’s lines and recovered the colors from the mortally wounded color sergeant. During the attempt, Morse himself was wounded, yet he refused to relinquish the flag. He successfully carried the colors through the remainder of the fighting, preventing them from being lost or captured. The action required exceptional personal courage. Returning toward the enemy while other soldiers were under intense fire exposed Morse to considerable danger, while carrying the colors made him particularly conspicuous on the battlefield. Nevertheless, even after being wounded, he continued with the flag and preserved one of his regiment’s most important symbols. The official Medal of Honor citation later summarized his conduct by recognizing that Morse voluntarily returned into the enemy’s lines, took possession of the colors after the color sergeant was mortally wounded, and continued carrying them through the battle despite suffering a wound himself. The citation is brief, but it captures the essential elements of his action: voluntary exposure to danger, recovery of the regimental colors, personal injury, and persistence under fire. Medal of Honor For his heroism at the Wilderness, Sergeant Charles E. Morse was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States. His Medal of Honor action occurred on: May 5, 1864 — Wilderness, Virginia At the time of the action he was: Sergeant, Company I, 62nd New York Infantry, United States Army The Medal of Honor was formally issued to Morse on January 14, 1890, more than twenty-five years after the battle. The award was not posthumous; Morse survived the war and was alive when his Civil War bravery was formally recognized. For the historical medal classification used in the VictoriaCross.ca database, Morse’s decoration belongs under: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army This classification is appropriate because Morse was a United States Army recipient, and his Medal of Honor was issued in 1890, within the Army period represented by that database entry. No additional clasp, service star, or device is required on his Medal of Honor ribbon for this award. The 62nd New York Infantry itself continued to serve through the remainder of the war. After the Wilderness, the regiment fought through the subsequent Overland Campaign and Petersburg operations and later participated in the campaigns that culminated in the collapse of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The regiment’s wartime history was exceptionally demanding, and official New York military records identify the Wilderness as one of the actions in which it sustained particularly severe losses. Morse survived the conflict and lived for more than half a century after the battle that brought him national recognition. His Medal of Honor presentation in 1890 ensured that his action at the Wilderness was permanently entered into the official record of American military valor. Charles E. Morse died on August 31, 1920, in Bath, New York, at the age of seventy-nine. He was buried in Bath National Cemetery, where his grave is recorded in Section J, Row 4, Site 24. Charles E. Morse’s legacy is centered on one extraordinary decision made in the chaos of the Wilderness. When his regiment’s colors were in danger and their bearer had been mortally wounded, Morse chose to go back toward the enemy rather than allow the flag to be lost. Even after being wounded himself, he carried the colors through the fight. That act of courage, performed as a Sergeant of Company I, 62nd New York Infantry, ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor and secured his place among the distinguished Union soldiers of the American Civil War.