James Coey

Shot Through the Face, He Rallied the Line Again

James Coey was born on February 12, 1841, in New York City. When the American Civil War began, he entered Union service from Oswego, New York, and joined the 147th New York Infantry, a regiment raised largely in Oswego County. He was mustered in as a first lieutenant of Company E in September 1862 and advanced to captain in February 1863. Over the next three years, the regiment would fight through some of the Army of the Potomac’s most demanding campaigns.

The 147th New York reached the front in time to experience the war on a scale few new regiments could have anticipated. At Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, it became heavily engaged during the desperate opening battle west of the town. The regiment suffered devastating losses while attempting to hold its position as Confederate forces pressed the Union First Corps. Coey survived Gettysburg and continued serving as the regiment rebuilt and returned to active campaigning.

In the spring of 1864, the Army of the Potomac entered the Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The campaign opened in the tangled woodland of the Wilderness, where visibility was poor and combat often developed at extremely close range. On May 7, Coey was severely wounded during the fighting. He recovered sufficiently to return to active service and later advanced to major, the rank under which his Medal of Honor action would be officially recorded.

By early 1865, the war around Petersburg had become a prolonged struggle over the roads and railroads that supplied Lee’s army. Union forces had spent months extending their lines westward in an effort to cut those routes and force the Confederates from Petersburg and Richmond. In February, another Federal offensive moved toward Hatcher’s Run, southwest of Petersburg.

On February 6, 1865, Major Coey and the 147th New York became heavily engaged at Hatcher’s Run. The regiment was operating as part of a brigade advancing against Confederate forces positioned in wooded terrain. As the Union line encountered heavy fire, the advance faltered at a critical moment.

Coey responded by seizing the regimental colors and moving forward toward the enemy. The colors were more than a symbol on a Civil War battlefield. They served as a visible rallying point through smoke, confusion, and broken formations. When Coey advanced with them, soldiers began moving with him. His action helped restore momentum, and the brigade followed forward.

The fighting remained intense, and Confederate resistance eventually forced the Union troops into another difficult situation. During the action, Coey was struck by a bullet in the face. The wound was severe, passing through the area of his face and head and temporarily leaving him unable to continue normally.

Yet the wound did not end his efforts on the battlefield. After regaining consciousness, Coey had himself lifted into a saddle. Though badly injured, he attempted to rally the line a second time as Confederate forces pressed the Union position.

Those two moments—advancing with the colors when the brigade had stalled and later returning to rally the troops after being severely wounded—became the defining actions of his military career. His official Medal of Honor citation emphasized both: he seized the regimental colors at a critical moment and advanced toward the enemy, causing the brigade to follow, and after being wounded, had himself lifted into the saddle to rally the line again.

Coey’s service did not end at Hatcher’s Run. The Petersburg Campaign continued through the spring as Union pressure steadily tightened around Confederate forces. By April 1865, Lee’s army could no longer maintain its positions, and Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated. The Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9.

Coey completed his wartime service with the 147th New York and was mustered out with the regiment near Washington, D.C., on June 7, 1865. His military record included progression from first lieutenant to captain and major, along with brevet recognition for wartime gallantry. His highest verified brevet rank was colonel of U.S. Volunteers.

The consequences of his wounds remained with him after the war. The injury suffered at Hatcher’s Run left lasting physical effects, including impairment to his hearing and facial function. Despite those injuries, Coey built an active public career during the decades that followed.

He held a number of federal positions in the West, including service connected with the Internal Revenue system in Utah Territory and California. He later served as United States Postmaster in San Francisco. He also remained active in veterans’ affairs through the Grand Army of the Republic, the major organization representing Union veterans of the Civil War.

Nearly three decades after the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Coey received the nation’s highest military decoration. On May 12, 1892, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions of February 6, 1865. The award was made during his lifetime and formally preserved the courage he had shown when his brigade’s advance was in danger of collapsing.

His Medal of Honor recognized more than simple endurance under fire. At the decisive moment, Coey deliberately used the regimental colors to restore movement to troops who had been stopped by enemy resistance. Then, after suffering a severe wound, he returned to the effort and attempted to steady the line once again. The sequence demonstrated both physical courage and an extraordinary determination to continue leading despite injury.

James Coey lived for more than half a century after the Civil War. He married, raised a family in California, and remained connected to the veteran community while serving in public office. His postwar years reflected the transition experienced by many Union officers who carried the memory and physical consequences of the conflict into civilian life.

He died on July 14, 1918, in Berkeley, California. He was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery, where his grave remains among those of other American service members and Medal of Honor recipients.

James Coey’s legacy is defined most clearly by the moments at Hatcher’s Run when leadership became an act of personal exposure. He stepped forward with the colors when the advance had stalled, helped draw the brigade forward, suffered a devastating wound, and still attempted to rally his men again. Decades later, the Medal of Honor ensured that those actions would remain part of the history of the 147th New York Infantry and of the United States Army.