Charles H. Clausen

Charles H. Clausen was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War whose courage and leadership at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House earned him the Medal of Honor. At the time of the action for which he was recognized, Clausen was serving as a First Lieutenant in Company H of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry. He later advanced to the rank of Captain, which represents his highest verified rank.

Clausen’s military service placed him in one of the most demanding periods of the Civil War. The 61st Pennsylvania Infantry served in the Eastern Theater and experienced repeated combat against the Army of Northern Virginia. By 1864, the regiment was taking part in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, a sustained Union offensive designed to keep constant pressure on General Robert E. Lee’s army.

The Overland Campaign began with the Battle of the Wilderness and quickly moved toward Spotsylvania Court House. Unlike earlier campaigns in which Union forces often withdrew after major battles, Grant continued moving south and forcing Lee to fight again. The result was nearly continuous combat under extremely difficult conditions.

Charles Clausen’s defining Medal of Honor action took place on May 12, 1864, at Spotsylvania, Virginia.

The fighting at Spotsylvania Court House was among the most intense of the entire Civil War. Confederate forces had constructed extensive earthworks, including the famous salient later known as the Mule Shoe. Union troops repeatedly attacked these fortified positions, and much of the combat occurred at very close range.

May 12 became one of the bloodiest days of the battle.

Union forces launched a massive assault against the Confederate salient before dawn. The attack initially achieved an important breakthrough, but the Confederates rapidly brought reinforcements forward. Fighting then developed into a brutal struggle around the defensive works.

Clausen was serving as a First Lieutenant in the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry during these operations.

During the fighting, he was severely wounded.

Despite his injury, Clausen did not abandon his responsibilities.

He continued leading his regiment against the enemy and played an important role in preventing an artillery battery from being captured.

This was the action for which he later received the Medal of Honor.

His conduct represented more than personal bravery.

As an officer, Clausen was responsible for maintaining the effectiveness of the soldiers around him during a chaotic battle. A serious wound could easily have removed him from command, yet he continued performing his duties while the regiment remained engaged.

The preservation of an artillery battery was also militarily significant.

Civil War artillery pieces were valuable battlefield weapons and difficult to replace during an active engagement. If enemy infantry broke through and captured a battery, they could seize the guns, ammunition, horses, and equipment, while also creating a serious gap in the defending line.

Preventing such a capture therefore protected both military equipment and the troops depending on the artillery for support.

Clausen’s willingness to continue leading while wounded helped prevent that loss.

For his actions at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, Charles H. Clausen was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The correct historical decoration for his final profile is the Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army.

The Army Medal of Honor had been established during the Civil War as the nation’s highest military decoration for extraordinary gallantry and distinguished conduct.

Its early form was associated with the original nineteenth-century Army Medal of Honor design and represented the highest national recognition available to soldiers whose battlefield actions demonstrated exceptional courage.

Clausen did not receive the Medal of Honor immediately after Spotsylvania.

His decoration was presented on June 25, 1892, nearly three decades after the action.

This long delay was not unusual among Civil War Medal of Honor recipients.

Many wartime acts were reviewed years after the conflict, particularly when supporting records and testimony allowed the War Department to evaluate individual cases.

The important distinction in Clausen’s profile is therefore between the action date and the award date.

His heroic action occurred on May 12, 1864.

His Medal of Honor was presented in 1892.

Because that presentation fell within the 1862–1895 historical Army Medal of Honor period used by the database, Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army is the correct version for his ribbon rack.

No verified device, clasp, star, bar, or other attachment is associated with Clausen’s Medal of Honor.

His final verified medal entry should therefore remain the plain Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army.

Clausen’s rank at the time of his Medal of Honor action was First Lieutenant.

This is important because his later military advancement should not replace the rank he actually held at Spotsylvania.

Afterward, he advanced to Captain.

The difference between these two ranks reflects the development of his military career.

A First Lieutenant commonly served as a company officer, assisting or replacing the company commander and leading soldiers directly in battle.

A Captain ordinarily commanded a company and carried greater responsibility for training, discipline, administration, and combat leadership.

Clausen’s later appearance as a Captain in the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry demonstrates that his service continued beyond the moment for which he received the Medal of Honor.

His advancement shows that he progressed from junior commissioned leadership to company-level command responsibility.

For his final database profile, Rank should therefore remain First Lieutenant, while Highest Rank should be Captain.

Clausen’s combat specialization was Infantry.

The 61st Pennsylvania Infantry was a frontline infantry regiment, and his Medal of Honor action occurred during direct ground combat against Confederate positions.

For the database, Army and Ground combat are therefore the correct classifications, with Infantry as the appropriate Combat Achievement Modifier.

The broader history of Spotsylvania helps explain why Clausen’s action was so significant.

The battle lasted for nearly two weeks and involved repeated attempts by Union forces to break through Confederate defensive lines.

The fighting around the Mule Shoe and Bloody Angle became notorious for its intensity.

Soldiers sometimes fought across earthworks at extremely close range while artillery and rifle fire continued for hours.

Trees were shattered by sustained gunfire, defensive works changed hands, and units suffered enormous losses.

Clausen’s action occurred within this extraordinarily violent battlefield environment.

Continuing to exercise command after being seriously wounded required considerable physical endurance and determination.

His decision to remain engaged helped preserve an artillery position at a moment when Confederate pressure threatened Union forces.

That combination of personal injury, continued leadership, and protection of important battlefield assets formed the basis of his Medal of Honor recognition.

His service also illustrates the importance of junior officers during Civil War infantry combat.

Battlefield communications were limited.

Smoke, terrain, casualties, and noise could quickly separate officers from higher command.

First Lieutenants and Captains therefore frequently had to make immediate decisions without waiting for detailed instructions.

They were expected to keep soldiers organized, maintain morale, respond to sudden enemy movements, and assume greater command responsibility when other officers were wounded or killed.

Clausen’s conduct at Spotsylvania demonstrated exactly this form of battlefield leadership.

He was wounded, but instead of allowing the injury to remove him immediately from the fight, he continued directing soldiers and helping prevent the loss of an artillery battery.

His medal history must remain limited to what has been securely verified.

The Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army is his confirmed decoration.

Although Clausen clearly served during the Civil War and survived long after the conflict, the later Civil War Campaign Medal should not be included in his verified rack without recipient-specific evidence establishing his entitlement.

Under the current project standard, qualifying wartime service alone is not enough to add a later campaign medal.

His final verified medal count therefore remains one.

That one decoration, however, represents the highest military honor of the United States and commemorates a specific act of battlefield leadership.

Clausen survived the Civil War and lived for many decades afterward, dying in 1922.

His long postwar life meant that he remained part of the Civil War veteran generation well into the twentieth century.

By then, the United States had changed dramatically, but the events of Spotsylvania remained permanently connected to his name through the Medal of Honor.

For his final hero profile, the essential facts are clear.

Charles H. Clausen served in the United States Army.

He was a First Lieutenant in Company H of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry when he performed his Medal of Honor action at Spotsylvania, Virginia, on May 12, 1864.

Although seriously wounded, he continued leading his regiment against the enemy and helped prevent the capture of an artillery battery.

He later attained the rank of Captain.

His Medal of Honor was presented on June 25, 1892.

His correct verified decoration is the Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army, with no verified device or clasp.

Charles H. Clausen should ultimately be remembered as a Union infantry officer whose courage was demonstrated not simply by facing enemy fire, but by continuing to exercise leadership after he himself had been seriously wounded.

At one of the most violent battles of the Civil War, he remained engaged, led soldiers against the enemy, and helped preserve an artillery battery from capture.

The Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army remains the defining symbol of that service and preserves Charles H. Clausen’s place among the recognized heroes of the United States Army.