Charles H. Marsh

Charles H. Marsh was a Union cavalry soldier of the United States Army whose courage during the American Civil War earned him the Medal of Honor. He was born in Milford, Connecticut, and became closely associated with New Milford, from which he entered military service. His exact birth year is not completely uniform across surviving records: the Congressional Medal of Honor Society gives 1840, while local New Milford historical holdings list 1839. Rather than forcing certainty where the records differ, he is best described as having been born around 1839–1840. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Marsh entered Union service from New Milford during the opening year of the Civil War and became a member of Company D, 1st Connecticut Cavalry. The regiment served in the mounted arm of the Army, performing the demanding work expected of Civil War cavalry—scouting, screening troop movements, conducting raids, protecting communications, pursuing enemy forces, and fighting both mounted and dismounted when circumstances required. Connecticut’s own military history confirms the 1st Connecticut Cavalry as an active Union cavalry formation whose service extended through some of the hardest campaigning of the war. CT.gov Marsh’s wartime experience was not limited to the single action for which he later became famous. He endured the hazards common to cavalrymen operating ahead of larger formations and in contested territory. Secondary historical accounts record that he was captured by Confederate forces in 1862 and held for a period before returning to Union service. Whatever the precise circumstances of that episode, his subsequent record clearly shows that he returned to the 1st Connecticut Cavalry and continued active field service rather than leaving the army. By 1864, the war in Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley had become particularly fluid and violent. Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early led forces through the Valley and into areas of Maryland and West Virginia, while Union cavalry aggressively sought information, prisoners, flags, and opportunities to disrupt Confederate movements. It was during this phase of the conflict that Marsh performed the deed that defined his military reputation. On July 31, 1864, while serving as a Private in Company D, 1st Connecticut Cavalry, Marsh was operating in the Back Creek Valley near North Mountain, West Virginia. According to the official Medal of Honor record, he succeeded in capturing both a Black Flag belonging to Early’s Confederate command and the man who carried it. The action was notable not simply because a flag was taken, but because military colors and field flags carried powerful tactical and symbolic significance during the Civil War. Capturing one from an opposing force was viewed as an act requiring considerable personal courage and initiative. Congressional Medal of Honor Society The official U.S. Army citation is exceptionally brief, recording the essential act: Marsh captured the flag and its bearer. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society provides a little more context, identifying the captured flag as a Black Flag associated with Jubal Early’s command. Because the surviving citation does not provide a lengthy narrative of the engagement, it is important not to embellish the episode with unsupported dialogue, casualty figures, or dramatic details. What is certain is that Marsh personally secured both an enemy flag and its bearer during operations near North Mountain. Congressional Medal of Honor Society His conduct did not go unrecognized for long. Unlike many Civil War soldiers whose Medal of Honor awards were issued decades after their actions, Marsh received his decoration while the war was still underway. The Medal of Honor was issued to him on January 23, 1865, less than six months after the Back Creek Valley action. He was alive when the award was made, so it was not a posthumous decoration. The official Army roll records him at the time of the action as a Private, Company D, 1st Connecticut Cavalry, with New Milford listed as the place from which he entered service. Army For the project’s service record, an important rank distinction should be preserved. Marsh’s rank during the Medal of Honor action was Private, while the project profile records his later/highest verified rank as Corporal. That distinction matters because the Medal of Honor citation must always reflect the rank held at the time of the heroic act, rather than a promotion obtained later. Medal of Honor — History and Marsh’s Award The Medal of Honor had been created during the Civil War itself. Congress authorized the Army version in 1862, establishing what became the highest American military decoration for extraordinary valor. Marsh therefore belonged to the earliest generation of Medal of Honor recipients, men whose awards arose directly from Civil War combat rather than from later conflicts. For Marsh, the decoration recognized one specific deed: the capture of an enemy flag and its bearer at Back Creek Valley on July 31, 1864. His formal issue date of January 23, 1865 places his award within the historical Army Medal of Honor period represented in your database as: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army ✅ No additional star, clasp, or device has been verified for Marsh’s Medal of Honor. Army Civil War Campaign Medal — Historical Context The second ribbon in your rack, the Civil War Campaign Medal, has a different history. It was not created during the Civil War. The Secretary of War established the Army version in 1907, decades after the conflict had ended. It recognized qualifying Army service between April 15, 1861 and April 9, 1865, with a longer qualifying period for service in Texas extending to August 20, 1866. HRC Army Marsh’s documented Civil War service clearly falls within that qualifying time period. However, he died long before the medal was established, and I have not located a recipient-specific record proving that a Civil War Campaign Medal was later formally issued in his name. Therefore, for client-level accuracy, the safest wording is that his service met the historical qualifying period, rather than stating that he personally received the medal. If the client has already approved the medal as a curator decision for retroactive entitlement, it can remain in the rack; otherwise it should technically remain HOLD / entitlement not individually verified. After the Medal of Honor action, Marsh remained connected with his cavalry regiment through the final stages of the war. The 1st Connecticut Cavalry continued serving until the collapse of Confederate resistance in 1865. Marsh survived the conflict and returned to civilian life after having spent much of his early adulthood in military service. His postwar life was tragically brief. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society records his death on January 25, 1867, only about two years after receiving the Medal of Honor. He was approximately twenty-seven years old. Local historical documentation independently preserves the same death date on the Marsh family burial record. He was laid to rest at the Quaker Burying Grounds in New Milford, Connecticut. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Charles H. Marsh’s military legacy rests on a compact but powerful episode of battlefield courage. He entered the Union Army as a young Connecticut cavalryman, endured the uncertainty and danger of Civil War service, and continued serving through some of the conflict’s most active cavalry campaigns. On July 31, 1864, while still a Private, he took the extraordinary risk required to capture an enemy flag and its bearer from Jubal Early’s command. That act brought him the Medal of Honor on January 23, 1865, securing his place among Connecticut’s decorated Civil War soldiers. Although his life ended only a short time after the war, his name survived through the Medal of Honor roll, Connecticut military history, and the records of New Milford. His story remains that of an enlisted cavalryman whose individual courage, rather than high command or senior rank, earned the highest military decoration of the United States. CT.gov