Henry Klein

Henry Klein, whose Medal of Honor record was entered under the name Harry Kline, was born on October 4, 1841, in Germany. He immigrated to the United States while still young and settled in Syracuse, New York, where he became part of the large German-American community that had developed in the city during the nineteenth century.

Before the Civil War, Klein worked in the clothing trade. When the United States was divided by war, he entered Union military service and eventually became a member of Company E, 40th New York Infantry, a veteran organization popularly known as the Mozart Regiment.

The 40th New York Infantry had already accumulated a demanding combat record by the time Klein served with it. The regiment fought in the Army of the Potomac and participated in some of the most severe campaigning of the Eastern Theater, including operations in Virginia that ultimately carried the Union army from the early years of the war into the final Appomattox Campaign.

Klein served as an enlisted infantryman. His official Medal of Honor record identifies him as a Private at the time of his heroic action, while later service records show that he eventually attained the rank of Corporal. The distinction is important: Private was his rank on April 6, 1865, while Corporal was the highest verified rank he later reached.

By the spring of 1865, the military situation of the Confederacy in Virginia had become desperate. Union forces had finally broken through the defensive system protecting Petersburg and Richmond, forcing General Robert E. Lee to evacuate both cities and move the Army of Northern Virginia westward.

Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant immediately ordered an aggressive pursuit. Union infantry and cavalry moved rapidly along several routes, attempting to prevent Lee from obtaining supplies or escaping toward another Confederate army.

On April 6, 1865, much of Lee's retreating army became trapped in a series of engagements around Deatonsville and Sailor's Creek, Virginia. The fighting developed into one of the most disastrous days experienced by the Army of Northern Virginia during the entire Civil War.

Union forces struck portions of the Confederate columns from several directions. Confederate formations were disrupted, wagon trains became entangled, thousands of soldiers were taken prisoner, and several senior Confederate officers were captured.

Private Henry Klein was fighting with Company E of the 40th New York Infantry during these operations.

In the course of the battle, Klein captured an enemy battle flag. His official Medal of Honor citation records the achievement in only a few words: "Capture of battle flag."

Because the official citation does not identify the Confederate regiment or organization whose flag Klein captured, no specific enemy unit should be assigned to the colors without additional recipient-specific documentation.

Although the surviving citation is extremely brief, the capture of an enemy battle flag carried exceptional military significance during the Civil War. Regimental colors were used to identify formations and provide soldiers with a visible rallying point amid battlefield smoke, noise, and confusion.

The flag was normally positioned near an important part of the formation and protected by a color guard. A soldier attempting to capture it often had to move directly into close combat, placing himself within immediate range of the enemy soldiers responsible for defending the colors.

A captured battle flag therefore represented much more than a physical trophy. It symbolized the defeat or disruption of an enemy formation and was regarded as one of the most prestigious battlefield accomplishments of the period.

Klein's action came during the collapse of significant portions of Lee's retreating army at Sailor's Creek. The Union victory resulted in the capture of thousands of Confederate soldiers and further weakened Lee's already exhausted force.

The consequences were immediate. Only three days later, on April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. Klein's flag capture therefore occurred during one of the final major battles preceding the surrender that brought the principal military struggle in Virginia to an end.

Recognition of Klein's achievement came remarkably quickly compared with many other Civil War Medal of Honor cases.

On May 10, 1865, only a little more than one month after the battle, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action at Deatonsville, or Sailor's Creek, on April 6.

The Medal of Honor had been established during the Civil War. Congress authorized the Army Medal of Honor in 1862 at a time when the United States did not yet possess the large hierarchy of military decorations developed in later generations.

For Union soldiers of the Civil War, the Medal of Honor became the principal national decoration for extraordinary military conduct. Actions involving the capture or defense of battle flags were frequently recognized because of the exceptional danger and tactical significance attached to military colors.

Klein's Medal of Honor belongs to the Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army period. Both his heroic action in April 1865 and the presentation of his Medal on May 10, 1865, occurred firmly within the original Civil War-era Army Medal of Honor period.

No clasp, star, bar, oak leaf cluster, or other device has been verified for Henry Klein's Medal of Honor. His verified decoration therefore consists of one Medal of Honor without additional devices.

The historical record also contains an important name issue. The official Medal of Honor documentation recorded the recipient as Harry Kline, while other records identify him as Henry Klein, the name under which he lived and was ultimately buried.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society preserves both identities by recording Harry Kline as the Medal of Honor name and Klein, Henry as the alternate name. For a biographical record, Henry Klein can therefore be retained as his primary name while Harry Kline should remain associated with his official award documentation.

Klein continued serving after the Sailor's Creek action and ultimately advanced from Private to Corporal. Corporal is therefore his highest verified military rank, even though the Medal of Honor action itself was performed while he was still a Private.

The 40th New York Infantry remained in Federal service through the conclusion of the conflict. The regiment participated in the final stages of the war and was mustered out on June 27, 1865, after the Confederate military collapse.

Klein then returned to Syracuse, New York, and resumed civilian life. Local historical records associate him with the clothing business, the same general occupation with which he had been connected before the war.

His postwar life was very different from the battlefield experience that had earned him the nation's highest military decoration. He became part of Syracuse's community of Union veterans and remained associated with the memory of Civil War service.

Klein married and raised a family, and local records describe him as the father of seven children. He lived for more than thirty-five years after the conclusion of the Civil War.

His Medal of Honor remained the central official recognition of his military career. No additional individual military decoration has been established with sufficient recipient-specific evidence to be placed in his verified medal record.

The later Army Civil War Campaign Medal should not be included. Henry Klein died in 1901, several years before that medal was established, and there is no recipient-specific evidence showing that such a decoration was issued to him.

This leaves his verified military medal record intentionally simple: one Medal of Honor, awarded in 1865 for capturing a battle flag during the final campaign against the Army of Northern Virginia.

Henry Klein died on December 5, 1901, in Syracuse, New York, at the age of sixty. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Syracuse.

His burial records preserve the name Henry Klein, while the Medal of Honor roll preserves Harry Kline. Together, those records connect the two versions of his identity and ensure that the battlefield achievement recognized in 1865 remains attached to the correct soldier.

Henry Klein's enduring military legacy rests on April 6, 1865. Serving as a Private in Company E, 40th New York Infantry, he participated in the fighting at Deatonsville and Sailor's Creek during the final pursuit of Robert E. Lee's army and captured an enemy battle flag.

That action occurred only three days before the surrender at Appomattox and placed Klein among the soldiers who distinguished themselves during the last decisive phase of the Civil War in Virginia.

For his courage, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor on May 10, 1865. He later attained the rank of Corporal, the highest verified rank of his Army service.

With no additional military decoration supported by sufficient recipient-specific evidence, Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1865 remains Henry Klein's single verified medal and the defining official recognition of his service during the American Civil War.