Edward Alexander Holton

The Civil War Soldier Who Saved His Regiment’s Colors

The regiment was retreating. The color bearer had been shot down. Under heavy enemy fire, First Sergeant Edward Alexander Holton turned back and rescued the flag that symbolized the honor and identity of the 6th Vermont Infantry.

That single decision at Lee’s Mills, Virginia, placed Holton among the most courageous soldiers of the American Civil War.

Edward Alexander Holton was born on August 28, 1835, in Westminster, Vermont. He entered Union Army service from Williston and served with Company I, 6th Vermont Infantry. Although he eventually attained the rank of captain, he was a first sergeant when he performed the action that earned the Medal of Honor.

On April 16, 1862, the 6th Vermont Infantry fought at Lee’s Mills during the opening stages of the Peninsula Campaign. The regiment advanced against Confederate defenses across difficult and exposed ground. When the Union troops were forced to withdraw, the color bearer was struck down and the regimental colors were left in danger.

A regimental flag was far more than a piece of cloth. Soldiers used it to identify their position, maintain formation and rally during the confusion of battle. Losing the colors to the enemy was considered a profound disgrace. Saving them required Holton to expose himself to the same fire that had already brought down the man carrying them.

Holton refused to leave the flag behind.

He moved through the retreating troops, recovered the colors and carried them to safety under heavy fire. His official Medal of Honor citation states: “Rescued the colors of his regiment under heavy fire, the color bearer having been shot down while the troops were in retreat.”

The Medal of Honor was presented to Holton on July 9, 1892, more than thirty years after the battle. The surviving records confirm his action rank, unit, place of action and the exact wording of his citation. Correspondence concerning the award, together with his wartime letters, photographs and company muster records, is preserved in the Edward A. Holton Civil War Papers at the University of Vermont.

Those letters provide a personal connection to a soldier whose public legacy is often reduced to a few lines in an official citation. They remind us that Holton was not simply a name on a Medal of Honor list. He was a husband, son and citizen soldier who experienced the uncertainty, hardship and danger of Civil War service.

Holton survived the conflict and later reached the rank of captain. He died on January 29, 1906, in Bernardston, Massachusetts, and was buried in Westminster Old Cemetery in his native Vermont.

Captain Edward Alexander Holton is remembered because he acted when retreat would have been understandable. With enemy fire falling around him and his regiment moving away, he returned for the colors.

He saved more than a flag. He preserved the honor of his regiment and earned a permanent place in American military history.