Charles H. McCleary

Charles H. McCleary was a United States Army officer and Civil War veteran whose military career carried him from the enlisted ranks to Captain and ultimately earned him the Medal of Honor for extraordinary conduct during the Battle of Nashville. Born in 1842 in Sandusky County, Ohio, McCleary belonged to the generation of young Americans whose lives were transformed by the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. His military service became closely associated with the 72nd Ohio Infantry, a regiment that fought in some of the most important western campaigns of the war. The 72nd Ohio Infantry was organized at Fremont, Ohio, during the winter of 1861–1862. After organization and training, the regiment moved south and became part of the Union Army of the Tennessee. McCleary began his service in the enlisted ranks and demonstrated sufficient ability and leadership to advance steadily as the war continued. His eventual rise from an enlisted soldier to a commissioned officer reflects the experience he accumulated during several years of active campaigning. One of the first major battles connected with McCleary’s service was the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee on April 6–7, 1862. The 72nd Ohio served in Brigadier General Ralph P. Buckland’s brigade of William T. Sherman’s division. Shiloh was one of the first truly enormous and bloody engagements of the Western Theater and shattered early assumptions that the Civil War might be short or relatively bloodless. The 72nd Ohio occupied a position near Shiloh Church when Confederate forces launched their surprise attack on the morning of April 6. The regiment endured the confused and violent fighting that followed as Union formations attempted to resist the Confederate advance. For soldiers such as McCleary, Shiloh represented an early introduction to large-scale combat and the realities of sustained infantry warfare. The regiment remained active after Shiloh and continued serving with Union forces operating through Tennessee and Mississippi. McCleary’s experience increased as the 72nd Ohio participated in the campaigns that gradually extended Federal control deeper into the Confederacy. By 1863, the 72nd Ohio was involved in operations surrounding Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg Campaign was one of the most strategically important campaigns of the Civil War because control of the city meant control of a critical section of the Mississippi River. The 72nd Ohio served with Union forces under Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the campaign and siege. Vicksburg’s Confederate defenses were strong, and after unsuccessful direct assaults Union forces settled into siege operations. The city eventually surrendered on July 4, 1863. The fall of Vicksburg, combined with Union control farther south, effectively split the Confederacy along the Mississippi River. For McCleary, the campaign added another major chapter to a military career that had already included Shiloh. During the course of his service, McCleary advanced through increasingly responsible positions. By late 1864 he held the rank of First Lieutenant in Company C of the 72nd Ohio Infantry. This was the rank he held when he performed the action that would make him a Medal of Honor recipient. The defining event of McCleary’s military career occurred during the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee, fought on December 15 and 16, 1864. Confederate General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee had advanced into Tennessee following the Atlanta Campaign, hoping to reverse Confederate fortunes in the Western Theater. After the bloody Battle of Franklin, Hood’s weakened army moved toward Nashville and established defensive positions south of the city. Major General George H. Thomas assembled a powerful Union force inside Nashville. On December 15, Thomas launched a major offensive that forced the Confederate army backward. The following day Union troops renewed their assault against Hood’s new defensive line. The 72nd Ohio Infantry took part in the fighting on December 16. McCleary, then First Lieutenant of Company C, advanced with the Union assault against the Confederate positions. During the attack, McCleary moved in advance of his own lines and captured the flag of the 4th Florida Infantry, Confederate States Army. This was the specific action for which he received the Medal of Honor. The significance of capturing an enemy regimental flag during the Civil War was far greater than simply obtaining a battlefield trophy. Regimental colors served as practical rallying points during combat. In the smoke, noise and confusion of battle, soldiers looked toward their flags to locate their regiment, maintain formation and determine the direction of an advance. The color bearer therefore occupied one of the most dangerous positions in an infantry regiment. The flag was deliberately conspicuous and consequently attracted enemy fire. Capturing an enemy color normally required a soldier to penetrate into, or very close to, an opposing formation. A captured flag also carried enormous symbolic importance. Regiments regarded their colors as representations of their identity, honor and collective battlefield record. Losing them to the enemy could be deeply humiliating, while capturing an opposing regiment’s colors was considered an exceptional achievement. McCleary’s official Medal of Honor citation is short and direct. It recognizes him for the capture of the flag of the 4th Florida Infantry while in advance of his lines at Nashville on December 16, 1864. The words “in advance of his lines” are important because they show that McCleary had placed himself ahead of the normal Union position when he captured the Confederate colors. His action therefore required him to expose himself directly during the attack rather than simply receive a flag surrendered after the fighting had ended. The Battle of Nashville developed into a decisive Union victory. Confederate positions collapsed under the coordinated Federal attacks, and Hood’s Army of Tennessee retreated southward. The defeat effectively destroyed the Army of Tennessee as a major offensive force and became one of the most decisive Union battlefield successes of the final year of the war. McCleary’s action was recognized remarkably quickly compared with many Civil War Medal of Honor cases. He did not have to wait decades for recognition. On February 24, 1865, only a little more than two months after the Battle of Nashville, Charles H. McCleary was formally awarded the Medal of Honor for his action of December 16, 1864. The Medal of Honor itself had been created during the Civil War. Congress authorized the Navy version in 1861 and the Army Medal of Honor in 1862. It became the highest military decoration of the United States and was awarded for particularly distinguished acts of valor and battlefield service. In the Civil War period, the capture or preservation of regimental colors accounted for a significant number of Medal of Honor awards because such actions normally involved extreme exposure to enemy fire. McCleary’s award belongs directly to this historical tradition. For the project database, the correct historical medal entry is: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — No device or clasp. No star, clasp, bar, oak leaf cluster or other separate device has been verified for McCleary’s Medal of Honor. The decorative stars that may appear as part of certain Medal of Honor ribbon designs should not be confused with separate repeat-award devices. McCleary’s Medal of Honor remains the only decoration that can currently be placed in his final rack under the project’s strict recipient-specific evidence standard. Although he unquestionably served during the Civil War and participated in qualifying wartime service, a Civil War Campaign Medal should not automatically be placed in his rack. That medal was established after the Civil War, and qualifying service by itself does not demonstrate that a particular veteran personally received or was individually entitled to the medal under the evidence standard being used for the project. Therefore the Civil War Campaign Medal remains excluded unless recipient-specific entitlement or issuance evidence is discovered. McCleary’s military career continued after his Medal of Honor action. The Medal of Honor record identifies him as a First Lieutenant during the Battle of Nashville, but he later attained the rank of Captain. This distinction is important for his profile. His Rank at Heroic Action was First Lieutenant, while his Highest Verified Rank was Captain. Accordingly, Captain is the correct rank for the main database rank field, while First Lieutenant should be preserved when describing the Medal of Honor action. The 72nd Ohio continued serving after Nashville. During the final months of the war, the regiment moved south and participated in operations associated with the Mobile Campaign, including Union operations against the defenses of Mobile, Alabama. The regiment remained in Federal service after major Confederate armies began surrendering and was eventually mustered out on September 11, 1865. McCleary survived the Civil War and returned to civilian life in Ohio. His Medal of Honor remained a permanent reminder of the moment in which he had moved forward during the Battle of Nashville and captured the colors of the 4th Florida Infantry. He lived for more than four decades after the end of the war. During those years the United States underwent enormous political, industrial and social change, while Civil War veterans increasingly became important figures in commemorations and veterans’ organizations throughout the country. McCleary died on June 23, 1906. He was buried at McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio, the community with which his military record was also closely associated. Charles H. McCleary’s military career represents a remarkable progression. He entered Civil War service as a young Ohio soldier, experienced the enormous Battle of Shiloh, served through the Vicksburg operations, advanced into the commissioned ranks, and eventually fought as a First Lieutenant at Nashville. His greatest documented moment came on December 16, 1864. While Union forces attacked the Confederate defensive line, McCleary advanced beyond his own lines and captured the battle flag of the 4th Florida Infantry. That act earned him the Medal of Honor on February 24, 1865. He subsequently reached the rank of Captain, completing a military career that had taken him from the enlisted ranks to commissioned leadership and from the opening years of the Civil War almost to its conclusion. Final Verified Medal Record: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1865 — No device or clasp Charles H. McCleary is therefore remembered as a United States Army Captain, veteran of the 72nd Ohio Infantry, participant in the fighting at Shiloh, Vicksburg and Nashville, and Medal of Honor recipient whose capture of an enemy regimental flag during the decisive Battle of Nashville secured his permanent place in the history of the American Civil War.