Christopher Flynn

Christopher Flynn was born in Ireland in December 1828 and later immigrated to the United States, settling in Connecticut. By the time the American Civil War began, he was living and working in Connecticut and eventually entered Union military service. He joined the United States Army and served with Company K, 14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that would become heavily engaged with the Army of the Potomac. Official Medal of Honor records identify Flynn as a Corporal at the time of his heroic action, while later records recognize Sergeant as his highest attained rank. Congressional Medal of Honor Society The 14th Connecticut Infantry was mustered into Federal service in August 1862 and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. The regiment entered combat almost immediately and suffered severely at Antietam in September 1862. Over the course of the Civil War, the 14th Connecticut fought through a long series of major campaigns and engagements, eventually carrying a battle record extending from Antietam to Appomattox. Flynn’s service therefore belonged to one of Connecticut’s most battle-tested infantry regiments. National Park Service By the summer of 1863, the 14th Connecticut was serving in the Second Brigade, Third Division, II Corps, Army of the Potomac. Under Major Theodore G. Ellis, the regiment arrived at Gettysburg and occupied a position near the center of the Union defensive line on Cemetery Ridge. This location would become one of the most important positions on the battlefield when Confederate forces launched their enormous assault against the Union center on July 3. National Park Service On July 3, 1863, Christopher Flynn was serving as a Corporal in Company K when the climactic Confederate attack commonly remembered as Pickett’s Charge struck the Union center. Thousands of Confederate soldiers advanced across open ground toward Cemetery Ridge under intense artillery and rifle fire. The 14th Connecticut stood directly in the path of part of that assault and became involved in the violent fighting that followed as Confederate formations approached and then began to collapse in front of the Union line. Defense.gov During the fighting, several Confederate battle flags fell into the hands of soldiers of the 14th Connecticut. These flags were not merely decorative objects. During the Civil War, regimental colors were essential battlefield symbols used to guide units through smoke, confusion, and rapidly changing formations. Losing a regimental flag carried enormous symbolic importance, while capturing an enemy flag was regarded as a highly significant act of battlefield courage. Defense.gov Christopher Flynn captured the battle flag of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry. His official Medal of Honor citation is remarkably brief, stating that he was recognized for the capture of the flag of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Connecticut’s historical documentation adds that as Confederate forces withdrew, Flynn obtained the fallen colors of the regiment. His action took place amid the collapse of the Confederate assault in front of the Union position, when the battlefield remained dangerous and confused. Army Flynn was not the only member of the 14th Connecticut to distinguish himself through the capture of enemy colors that day. The regiment produced several Medal of Honor actions connected with captured Confederate flags. Along with Flynn, Elijah Bacon and Sergeant Major William B. Hincks were later recognized for capturing enemy colors during the July 3 fighting. Their actions became part of the enduring history of the 14th Connecticut at Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg The importance of Flynn’s action becomes clearer when considered within the military culture of the Civil War. Regimental colors were usually carried near the center of a formation and were among the most visible objects on the battlefield. Because soldiers instinctively rallied around them, color bearers and the men defending them frequently became targets. To take an enemy flag generally meant moving into the most dangerous area of the fight, often during close-range combat or during the confusion of a breaking enemy line. Flynn survived Gettysburg and continued serving with the 14th Connecticut after the battle. His military experience did not end with the action that earned him the Medal of Honor. The regiment continued campaigning with the Army of the Potomac, and Flynn remained with it through further combat in Virginia. During the Overland Campaign of 1864, Flynn was wounded at Laurel Hill during the fighting around Spotsylvania. Connecticut historical records state that he was struck by a Minié ball, the standard conical rifle projectile widely used during the Civil War. The wound did not end his military career. He recovered and returned to service, demonstrating that his wartime experience extended well beyond the single famous moment at Gettysburg. Connecticut General Assembly Flynn’s record is therefore important to understand as that of an experienced infantry soldier rather than simply a man associated with one dramatic incident. He served in a regiment that participated in some of the Army of the Potomac’s most demanding campaigns, survived the fighting at Gettysburg, suffered a combat wound during the later Virginia operations, recovered, and continued serving until near the end of the war. The decoration that permanently defined Christopher Flynn’s military legacy was the Medal of Honor. The Army Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress during the Civil War in 1862 as a means of recognizing extraordinary military conduct. In Flynn’s era, the Medal of Honor occupied a unique place because the modern system of American military decorations—including awards such as the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star Medal—did not yet exist. The Medal of Honor therefore became the principal national decoration for exceptional battlefield gallantry. Unlike many Civil War soldiers whose Medal of Honor recognition came decades after their wartime actions, Flynn received his decoration relatively soon. His Gettysburg action took place on July 3, 1863, and the Army records the Medal of Honor as issued on December 1, 1864. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society further records that the medal was formally presented to him on December 6, 1864, by Major General George G. Meade during a review of the II Corps near Petersburg, Virginia. Flynn was alive and still serving, so the decoration was not posthumous. Army For the VictoriaCross.ca database, this medal is correctly represented as: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1864 — No device or clasp The 1864 date refers to the year in which Flynn’s Medal of Honor was issued, while his actual heroic action occurred at Gettysburg in 1863. Keeping those dates separate is important because the action date and award date are two different historical facts. No additional star, clasp, bar, oak leaf cluster, or other device has been verified for Flynn’s Medal of Honor. He was a single Medal of Honor recipient, so the medal should appear as a plain award without additional devices. Flynn’s later promotion history must also be handled carefully. At Gettysburg and in the official Medal of Honor citation he was unquestionably a Corporal. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, however, records his highest rank as Sergeant. Therefore his database rank is correctly set to Sergeant, while any description of his July 3, 1863 Medal of Honor action should continue to identify him as Corporal. The surviving evidence used here does not establish a sufficiently precise promotion date to safely assign one. Congressional Medal of Honor Society After recovering from his 1864 wound, Flynn remained in service through the closing stages of the Civil War. Connecticut historical documentation records that he was finally mustered out on May 31, 1865. By then the major Confederate armies had surrendered and the four-year conflict was effectively over. Flynn had therefore survived a demanding period of infantry service that included one of the decisive battles of the war, later campaigning in Virginia, a serious battlefield wound, and national recognition for valor. Connecticut General Assembly A later Civil War Campaign Medal has not been included in Flynn’s final medal rack. Although he unquestionably performed qualifying Civil War Army service, Flynn died in 1889, well before the Army created the Civil War Campaign Medal in the early twentieth century. More importantly for the project’s evidence standard, no recipient-specific issue record has been established for him. His verified rack therefore remains deliberately limited to the Medal of Honor rather than adding a later service medal based only on theoretical eligibility. After leaving the Army, Flynn returned to civilian life in Connecticut. The surviving authoritative military records are much more detailed about his wartime service than about his postwar civilian activities, so uncertain details about his later employment and family life should not be expanded beyond the evidence. Christopher Flynn died on October 15, 1889, in Sprague, Connecticut. He was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Baltic, Connecticut. He had lived for more than twenty-six years after the Battle of Gettysburg, long enough to see the battle become recognized as one of the decisive turning points of the American Civil War and to live as a formally decorated Medal of Honor veteran. Congressional Medal of Honor Society The Confederate flag Flynn captured also survived beyond his lifetime. Connecticut historical records note that the United States government eventually returned the flag of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry to North Carolina in 1905, sixteen years after Flynn’s death. The physical object that had formed the center of his Medal of Honor action thus became part of the later reconciliation and preservation of Civil War history. Connecticut General Assembly Christopher Flynn’s military legacy is ultimately centered on the events of July 3, 1863. As a Corporal of Company K, 14th Connecticut Infantry, he stood with the Union Army on Cemetery Ridge during the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. When the Confederate assault collapsed in front of his regiment, Flynn secured the colors of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry. The United States later recognized that action with the Medal of Honor. Yet his story continued beyond Gettysburg. He remained with his regiment, fought in subsequent campaigns, was wounded during the brutal fighting around Spotsylvania, recovered, rose to the highest verified rank of Sergeant, and remained in service until May 1865. He then returned to civilian life and lived until 1889. His final verified medal record is therefore intentionally concise but historically significant: one Medal of Honor, issued in 1864 for his capture of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry’s flag at Gettysburg, with no additional device or clasp. That single decoration represents an act performed during one of the most famous battles in American military history and remains the defining symbol of Christopher Flynn’s service and courage.