George W. Mears

George W. Mears was a United States Army soldier whose courage at the Battle of Gettysburg became the defining episode of a military career marked by front-line combat, severe wounds, and long service to the memory of his fellow veterans. Born on January 3, 1843, in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, he grew up in Columbia County and entered Union service during the American Civil War. He ultimately served as a Sergeant in Company A of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves, a regiment also historically designated as the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry. The 6th Pennsylvania Reserves became an experienced combat regiment in the Army of the Potomac. By the summer of 1863, Mears and his comrades had already endured the demanding realities of Civil War campaigning. The Pennsylvania Reserves belonged to Brigadier General Samuel W. Crawford’s Third Division of the Fifth Corps, with the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves serving in Colonel William McCandless’s brigade. In late June 1863, the division moved north as Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Reserves reached Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, during the second and most violent day of the battle. Confederate attacks were threatening the Union left around the Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and Little Round Top. Crawford’s division was hurried toward the southern end of the battlefield, where Union units were being forced back under intense pressure. McCandless’s brigade soon entered the fighting and advanced through the ground later remembered as the Valley of Death. As the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves moved forward, a dangerous problem developed on its flank. A group of Confederate soldiers had occupied a log house belonging to John T. Weikert. From the protection of the building, they could fire into the Union line. Sergeant George W. Mears recognized that the men in the house were threatening officers and soldiers of his regiment and reported the problem to his superiors. The regiment was already heavily engaged and could not easily detach an entire company to deal with the position. Mears therefore accepted a far more dangerous solution. Five other soldiers volunteered to accompany him, forming the small group later remembered as the “Mears Party.” The volunteers represented several companies of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves, but Mears took the lead in the operation. The six men moved rapidly toward the log house while exposed to enemy fire. They crossed the open ground, reached the structure, and confronted the Confederate soldiers inside. Mears demanded their surrender, and the Union volunteers successfully overwhelmed the position without becoming trapped in a prolonged fight around the building. The Confederate occupants surrendered and were taken back toward the Union line as prisoners. The action was small compared with the enormous battle unfolding around them, but its immediate importance was significant. The sharpshooters in the house had been firing into the flank of McCandless’s troops. By eliminating that threat, Mears and his volunteers allowed the regiment to concentrate on the larger Confederate force in front of it. The Pennsylvania Reserves continued their advance across the Valley of Death and toward the Wheatfield as the fighting continued into the evening. For Mears, Gettysburg did not end his experience of combat. After the Gettysburg Campaign, he returned to regular duty with Company A and continued campaigning with the Army of the Potomac. During the autumn of 1863, Union and Confederate forces again fought a series of difficult operations in northern Virginia. On November 27, 1863, during fighting at New Hope Church, Virginia, Mears suffered the most serious wound of his military career. A Confederate rifle ball struck his left arm close to the shoulder, badly damaging the joint and surrounding bone. The injury was so severe that the arm could not be saved. Regimental surgeon Charles Powers performed an amputation. Because of the extensive damage, additional surgery was necessary the following day to remove portions of shattered bone. Mears had survived the dangerous mission at Gettysburg without receiving the wound that would permanently alter his life, but only a few months later another battlefield left him permanently disabled. His recovery was long and difficult. He received treatment in military hospitals, including facilities in the Alexandria, Virginia, area, and was eventually transferred north. By October 1864 he had reached a hospital in Philadelphia, bringing him closer to Pennsylvania and to his regiment as the surviving members of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves completed their service. Mears was ultimately mustered out of military service in 1864. His highest verified Army rank remained Sergeant. There is therefore no distinction in his case between a lower Medal of Honor action rank and a later higher Federal rank: Sergeant is both the rank associated with his Gettysburg action and the highest military rank securely established for his profile. The extraordinary Gettysburg incident did not immediately result in a Medal of Honor. For decades it remained primarily a story preserved among veterans of the Pennsylvania Reserves. Mears himself returned to civilian life, settled in the Bloomsburg and Rupert area of Pennsylvania, married, and pursued civilian work. By the postwar decades he had also become involved with the Bloomsburg Brick Company and remained in contact with former members of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. As Civil War veterans grew older, regimental associations and battlefield reunions became increasingly important in preserving their experiences. The dedication of Pennsylvania monuments at Gettysburg renewed interest in many wartime incidents that had received little public attention immediately after the battle. Among them was the charge led by George Mears against the log house on July 2, 1863. In August 1896, veterans of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves formally supported recognition of Mears. Surviving comrades provided testimony describing both the danger of the mission and the effect his action had on the regiment. Former officers recalled that Mears had voluntarily led the small group against a position that was inflicting dangerous fire on the Union line. The evidence was forwarded to the War Department, and the recommendation was approved. On February 16, 1897, George W. Mears was officially awarded the Medal of Honor for his action at Gettysburg. The award was made during his lifetime, more than thirty-three years after the battle. His official Medal of Honor recognition records that, with five volunteers, Sergeant Mears charged enemy sharpshooters concealed in a log house, captured them, and brought them into the Union lines. Although concise, the citation represents a much larger story of initiative and battlefield leadership. Mears identified a serious threat, reported it, organized a small volunteer party, personally led the attack, and successfully removed the enemy position while the larger battle continued around him. The history of his Medal of Honor is especially important for the database. The Army Medal of Honor had originally been authorized by Congress in 1862 during the Civil War, but its physical design and ribbon arrangement changed over the following decades. Mears performed his heroic action in 1863, but he did not receive the decoration until February 16, 1897. Under the project’s historical medal-period system, the correct representation therefore follows the issue period rather than simply the year of the battlefield action. His verified decoration is consequently recorded as Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1897. The 1896–1903 designation does not change the date of his heroism. His qualifying action remains July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg. No additional star, clasp, bar, oak leaf cluster, or other device has been verified for his Medal of Honor. The later Army Civil War Campaign Medal is not included in Mears’s verified ribbon rack. He lived well beyond the period when that medal was established and his Civil War service is unquestionably documented, but service eligibility by itself does not prove individual entitlement. Without recipient-specific issuance or medal-roll evidence demonstrating that George W. Mears personally received or was officially entitled to that later medal, it remains excluded rather than being added through assumption. Mears also played an important role in ensuring that the other members of his Gettysburg party received appropriate recognition. When veterans attempted to reconstruct the names of the six participants decades after the battle, Mears assisted in identifying his comrades. The task was difficult because the small party had been assembled rapidly in the middle of an ongoing battle, and no list of the volunteers had been created at the time. Eventually the six men associated with the action were identified, and each was recognized with the Medal of Honor. The wound Mears suffered at New Hope Church remained a permanent reminder of his wartime service, but he built a substantial postwar life despite the loss of his arm. He remained connected to Pennsylvania, his wartime comrades, and the veteran community. His participation in the events surrounding the later Medal of Honor applications also helped preserve one of the lesser-known but remarkable episodes of the Battle of Gettysburg. George W. Mears lived until November 24, 1921, dying in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, at the age of seventy-eight. He was buried in Old Rosemont Cemetery in Bloomsburg. By the time of his death, nearly six decades had passed since the day he led five volunteers toward the log house on the Gettysburg battlefield. His legacy combines two striking examples of the realities of Civil War service. At Gettysburg, he displayed initiative and courage by leading a small volunteer assault that eliminated a dangerous enemy position. At New Hope Church only months later, he suffered a devastating combat wound and endured the loss of his left arm. He survived both experiences, returned to civilian life, maintained ties with his fellow veterans, and eventually saw his Gettysburg action formally recognized by the United States. His final verified medal record remains Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1897, with no verified additional device or clasp.