Francis Marion Cunningham

Francis Marion Cunningham was born in 1837 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He was raised in western Pennsylvania and was living in the Ohiopyle area of Fayette County when the American Civil War began. Like many young men from the region, Cunningham responded to the Union call for volunteers during the first year of the conflict. He joined a group of Pennsylvania volunteers who supplied their own horses and traveled into western Virginia to enter cavalry service, beginning a military career that would ultimately carry him through some of the most important campaigns of the Civil War. Cunningham entered the United States Army with Company H of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, a Union regiment organized from the loyal western counties of Virginia and volunteers from neighboring states. After West Virginia became a separate state in 1863, the regiment became known as the 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Cavalry service required soldiers to perform reconnaissance, screening, raiding, pursuit, courier duty, and direct battlefield combat, sometimes fighting mounted and at other times dismounting to fight as infantry. During the early years of the war, Cunningham developed into an experienced cavalry soldier and advanced through the enlisted ranks. He eventually became First Sergeant of Company H, one of the most responsible enlisted positions in a cavalry company. As First Sergeant, he was expected to help maintain discipline, organize the enlisted men, transmit orders, and provide leadership during combat. His regiment operated extensively in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and participated in a long series of campaigns against Confederate forces. Cunningham served through major operations that included the Gettysburg Campaign and later fighting in the Shenandoah Valley. At Gettysburg in July 1863, he was already serving in a senior enlisted leadership role. Historical accounts of his service describe him assuming greater responsibility when officers of his company became casualties. By the end of his original enlistment period he had already accumulated substantial combat experience, but instead of leaving the Army he reenlisted on December 23, 1863, committing himself to continued service. During 1864, the 1st West Virginia Cavalry took part in hard campaigning in Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Cunningham served through operations associated with Lynchburg, the Valley campaigns, Opequon, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. By this stage Union cavalry had developed into an increasingly effective offensive force capable not only of scouting but of striking Confederate infantry, destroying communications, capturing supplies, and pursuing retreating armies. In the spring of 1865, Cunningham and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry joined the final campaign against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Union forces broke the Confederate defensive lines around Petersburg at the beginning of April, forcing Lee to abandon Richmond and Petersburg and retreat westward. Federal cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan moved aggressively to cut off the Confederate escape routes. The 1st West Virginia Cavalry operated within this fast-moving pursuit and fought in actions that included Five Forks and the subsequent Appomattox Campaign. The defining moment of Cunningham’s military career came on April 6, 1865, at Sailor’s Creek, Virginia. The Confederate army was retreating toward the west while Union infantry and cavalry pressed it from several directions. Large portions of Lee’s army became trapped near Sailor’s Creek, producing one of the final major battles of the Civil War in Virginia. Cunningham was serving as First Sergeant of Company H when his regiment entered the fighting. His mount was lost during the action, but he obtained another animal and continued with the advance. During the Union cavalry attack he pushed toward the Confederate defensive position despite intense resistance. Historical accounts describe Cunningham being wounded during the charge but continuing forward rather than withdrawing from the battle. At the Confederate works, Cunningham encountered the color bearer of the 12th Virginia Infantry. A hand-to-hand struggle followed over the regiment’s battle flag. Despite being wounded, Cunningham succeeded in overcoming the Confederate color bearer and capturing the colors of the 12th Virginia Infantry. The flag was an important battlefield symbol representing the identity, honor, and cohesion of the regiment, and capturing it in close combat represented a significant act of personal courage. Cunningham’s official Medal of Honor citation later summarized the action in direct terms: he captured the battle flag of the 12th Virginia Infantry in hand-to-hand combat while wounded. The concise wording reflects the exceptional nature of the event. He had entered close combat against an enemy color bearer, sustained wounds during the action, and nevertheless secured the Confederate flag. The Battle of Sailor’s Creek was disastrous for Lee’s retreating army. Thousands of Confederate soldiers were captured, along with several senior generals, and a substantial portion of the remaining Army of Northern Virginia was effectively destroyed or dispersed. Only three days later, on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House. Cunningham therefore performed his Medal of Honor action during the final seventy-two hours before the surrender of the principal Confederate army in Virginia. Cunningham’s courage attracted the attention of senior Union cavalry leadership. Accounts of the action connect his recognition with Major General George Armstrong Custer, under whose cavalry command elements of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry were operating. Cunningham subsequently served in association with Custer’s staff during the closing operations of the campaign, and his conduct at Sailor’s Creek was formally recommended for recognition. On May 3, 1865, less than a month after the battle, Francis Marion Cunningham was awarded the Medal of Honor. Unlike many Civil War soldiers who waited decades for their heroic actions to receive formal recognition, Cunningham’s award came almost immediately after the war-ending campaign. His official citation recognized the capture of the 12th Virginia Infantry battle flag in hand-to-hand combat while wounded. Cunningham received the Civil War-era Army Medal of Honor, belonging to the 1862–1895 period of the decoration. Congress had authorized the Army Medal of Honor in 1862 as a means of recognizing soldiers who distinguished themselves through extraordinary military conduct during the Civil War. At that time the United States did not possess the broad system of valor decorations that would exist in later wars, so the Medal of Honor occupied a uniquely important place in recognizing battlefield heroism. No additional device or clasp accompanied Cunningham’s Medal of Honor. His decoration represented the single extraordinary action at Sailor’s Creek on April 6, 1865. The medal remains the only decoration conclusively established for his final verified ribbon rack under the recipient-specific evidence standard applied to his record. Although Cunningham was wounded during his Medal of Honor action, a Purple Heart is not included in his verified awards. The modern Purple Heart was established many decades after the Civil War, and a documented battlefield wound alone does not prove that a Civil War veteran later received the decoration. Likewise, no Army Civil War Campaign Medal is included without recipient-specific evidence that Cunningham was actually issued or formally entitled to that later-created medal. Cunningham continued serving after the Confederate surrender. His wartime performance eventually led to a commission as First Lieutenant, which became his highest verified military rank. This distinction is important because his Medal of Honor action occurred while he was still a First Sergeant; the later First Lieutenant rank represents his highest attained Army rank rather than his rank during the heroic action. He remained in Federal service until July 1865, when his military career ended following the conclusion of the Civil War. By then Cunningham had progressed from a volunteer cavalryman to an experienced senior noncommissioned officer, Medal of Honor recipient, and commissioned officer. His service had carried him through several years of difficult campaigning and ended only after Union victory had been secured. After returning to Pennsylvania, Cunningham entered religious life and became associated with the Baptist ministry. His postwar years were therefore very different from the cavalry campaigns that had dominated his early adulthood. He returned to the region around Ohiopyle and remained connected to the community for the remainder of his life. Cunningham lived for more than half a century after the Civil War. During those decades, veterans of the Union and Confederate armies became part of an increasingly important national culture of remembrance. Reunions, veterans’ organizations, battlefield commemorations, monuments, and published histories preserved the experiences of soldiers who had fought during the conflict. Cunningham’s status as a Medal of Honor recipient ensured that his action at Sailor’s Creek remained part of the official historical record. In May 1919, Cunningham suffered an accidental injury after stepping on a spike while working around an old building. The injury became infected, and serious complications followed. Francis Marion Cunningham died on May 11, 1919, in Pennsylvania. He was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery at Ohiopyle, where his connection to the community in which he had spent much of his civilian life was preserved. Cunningham’s Medal of Honor also remained connected with his home region. The medal ultimately came into the care of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, preserving a tangible connection between the local soldier and the extraordinary action he performed during the closing days of the Civil War. Francis Marion Cunningham’s military career illustrates the progression of a volunteer cavalry soldier who developed into a senior enlisted leader and ultimately a commissioned officer. He served through years of hard campaigning with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry, reenlisted rather than leaving the Army when his original obligation ended, participated in the final pursuit of Lee’s army, and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. His enduring legacy, however, is centered on April 6, 1865. At Sailor’s Creek, while serving as First Sergeant and already wounded in battle, Cunningham entered hand-to-hand combat with a Confederate color bearer and captured the battle flag of the 12th Virginia Infantry. Three days later Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and on May 3 Cunningham received the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary courage. That decoration permanently records Francis Marion Cunningham as one of the cavalrymen whose personal bravery helped bring the American Civil War to its final conclusion.