Charles H. T. Collis

Charles Henry Tucker Collis was born on February 4, 1838, in County Cork, Ireland. As a teenager he immigrated with his father to the United States, arriving in Philadelphia in 1853. The young immigrant quickly established himself in his new country. He studied law under influential Philadelphia attorney John Meredith Read and was admitted to the bar in 1859, only two years before the American Civil War transformed his career from that of a young lawyer into that of a combat officer. American Battlefield Trust When President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers following the outbreak of war in April 1861, Collis entered the United States Army through the 18th Pennsylvania Infantry, a three-month volunteer regiment. The unit spent much of its brief enlistment period on duty at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, and Collis completed this first term of service when the regiment mustered out on August 7, 1861. American Battlefield Trust Collis was not finished with military service. After returning to Philadelphia, he organized a distinctive company modeled on the colorful French North African Zouave tradition. The unit became known as Collis's Independent Company, Zouaves d'Afrique. Its soldiers wore the elaborate Zouave-style uniform that would later make Collis's command one of the most visually recognizable Union units of the Civil War. American Battlefield Trust The company served in the Shenandoah Valley, where its performance helped establish Collis's reputation as a capable officer. On September 1, 1862, he was promoted to Colonel and authorized to expand his command into a full regiment. The result was the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, commonly remembered as Collis's Zouaves. American Battlefield Trust Collis's new regiment soon faced its first major battlefield test. Fredericksburg — The Medal of Honor Action On December 13, 1862, the 114th Pennsylvania entered combat during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The regiment advanced onto ground now associated with Slaughter Pen Farm, part of the fierce fighting south of the city. For many of Collis's soldiers, this was their first large-scale battle. The battlefield immediately became chaotic. Union troops were exposed to Confederate artillery and infantry fire, and the attack began to lose cohesion. Brigadier General John C. Robinson, who had been helping direct the advance, was violently thrown when artillery fire struck his horse. Other casualties occurred around the advancing troops, and the inexperienced 114th Pennsylvania began to recoil under the intensity of the Confederate fire. American Battlefield Trust At that critical moment, Colonel Charles Collis personally moved to the front. Rather than attempt to rally his men from behind the formation, he seized the regiment's colors and rode prominently into the center of the line. His action provided the shaken soldiers with an unmistakable rallying point. Seeing their colonel exposed before them with the flag, the men re-formed and moved forward again. American Battlefield Trust This was the act for which Collis would eventually receive the Medal of Honor. His official citation summarized his conduct simply: he had gallantly led his regiment in battle at a critical moment. The concise wording captured the essential nature of his action—when his regiment was in danger of breaking, Collis deliberately exposed himself and personally restored its fighting momentum. For a Civil War commander, carrying the colors was especially significant. Regimental flags were both practical battlefield markers and symbols of unit identity. They allowed soldiers to locate their formation amid smoke and confusion, but they also made the bearer a conspicuous target. Collis's decision to take the colors personally therefore combined command leadership with direct physical risk. The 114th Pennsylvania continued fighting, and Collis emerged from Fredericksburg with a reputation for conspicuous battlefield leadership. Chancellorsville and Serious Illness Collis remained with the regiment into 1863. During the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, he was wounded. His difficulties did not end with the battlefield injury; he subsequently contracted typhoid fever, leaving him seriously weakened. American Battlefield Trust The combination of the wound and illness forced him away from active command for a period of recovery. This had one historically important consequence: although the 114th Pennsylvania fought at Gettysburg, Collis himself was absent because he was still recovering. His regiment fought in the desperate July 2 struggle around the Peach Orchard as part of the Union III Corps, but its founder and colonel did not personally participate in that battle. The Gettysburg Experience By August 1863, Collis had recovered sufficiently to return to service. He was given brigade command under Major General David B. Birney, marking his transition from regimental leadership to responsibility over several regiments. American Battlefield Trust Later War Service and Higher Command During the later campaigns of the war, Collis continued serving in positions of increasing responsibility. His regiment and the formations under his command eventually participated in operations connected with the long struggle around Petersburg, Virginia. Photographs preserved by the Library of Congress show Collis with officers and soldiers of the 114th Pennsylvania during the Petersburg operations in 1864, providing direct visual documentation of his continued field service. Library of Congress His leadership brought further recognition. On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Collis for appointment to the brevet grade of Brigadier General of Volunteers, with rank dating from October 28, 1864. The United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14, 1865. American Battlefield Trust The word brevet is important. It represented an honorary advancement awarded for distinguished or gallant service and did not necessarily carry all the authority, command, or pay of a permanent substantive rank. Collis remained active through the closing operations of the Civil War. His service ended when he was mustered out on May 29, 1865, shortly after the defeat of the Confederacy. American Battlefield Trust His highest military distinction came afterward. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated him for appointment to the brevet grade of Major General of Volunteers, with rank dating from March 13, 1865. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866. American Battlefield Trust This is why the project correctly distinguishes: Medal of Honor Action Rank: Colonel from Highest Verified Rank: Brevet Major General The Library of Congress itself catalogs surviving Civil War imagery of him under the title Brevet Major General C. H. T. Collis, further supporting that later rank treatment. Library of Congress Medal of Honor Nearly thirty years passed between the Battle of Fredericksburg and the formal recognition of Collis's heroism there. On March 10, 1893, Charles Henry Tucker Collis received the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. American Battlefield Trust The award was made during his lifetime and was not posthumous. For this project's historical ribbon classification, the correct version is: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — No device The Medal of Honor should not display a V device, star, clasp, or any other unsupported attachment. Postwar Career After leaving military service, Collis returned to the profession he had begun before the war: law. The transition was fitting. Before 1861 he had already been admitted to the Philadelphia bar, and after four years of wartime command he resumed his civilian legal career. His military reputation remained closely associated with the 114th Pennsylvania, whose veterans continued to regard him as the defining figure in the regiment's history. American Battlefield Trust His connection with the regiment was so strong that the unit remained popularly known for decades afterward as “Collis's Zouaves.” The regiment itself became particularly memorable because of its striking Zouave uniforms, and Civil War photographs preserved by the Library of Congress continue to document the officers and soldiers who served under Collis. Library of Congress Death and Burial Charles Henry Tucker Collis died on May 11, 1902, at the age of sixty-four. He was buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. Although illness had prevented him from personally fighting at Gettysburg in July 1863, the battlefield ultimately became his final resting place. American Battlefield Trust A monument was later erected there in his memory. Its inscription identifies him as: Brevet Major General Charles H. T. Collis, U.S.V., Colonel, 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Collis Zouaves. The monument was erected by survivors of his regiment and his friends, reflecting the enduring loyalty of the men he had once commanded. The Battle of Gettysburg Legacy Charles Henry Tucker Collis's legacy rests on far more than his flamboyant Zouave regiment or his later general-officer brevet. He entered the Civil War as a young Irish-born Philadelphia lawyer and three-month volunteer. He subsequently raised his own specialized company, expanded it into an entire infantry regiment, led that regiment into its first major battle, recovered from wounds and severe illness, assumed brigade-level command, and completed the conflict with brevet advancement into the general-officer ranks. But the defining moment of his military career remained December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg. With his regiment shaken under intense Confederate fire, Collis did not remain behind his soldiers. He moved forward, took the colors himself, and made his own exposed presence the rallying point around which the 114th Pennsylvania could recover. Three decades later, the United States recognized that leadership with the Medal of Honor. His story is therefore one of battlefield command at its most personal: a colonel who understood that, at a critical moment, ordering men forward was not enough—he had to lead them there himself.