John S. Shellenberger

He Seized the Enemy Flag Under Fire

John S. Shellenberger was born on August 30, 1839, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. When the American Civil War began, he entered Union service and became a soldier in Company B of the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry. During his wartime service he attained the rank of Corporal, the rank he held when he performed the action that would ultimately earn him the Medal of Honor.

The 85th Pennsylvania Infantry served in some of the most demanding campaigns of the Civil War. Its soldiers operated in both coastal and inland theaters and eventually became part of the Union forces fighting around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. By the summer of 1864, the war had entered a brutal phase in which Union forces repeatedly attempted to pressure Confederate defenses protecting Richmond and disrupt the communications and supply routes supporting the Confederate capital.

On August 16, 1864, Shellenberger was engaged with his regiment at Deep Run, Virginia, during fighting associated with Union operations north of the James River. The battlefield was marked by heavy infantry combat as Union and Confederate forces struggled over defensive positions and wooded terrain.

During that action, Shellenberger distinguished himself by capturing an enemy flag.

In Civil War combat, a regimental or unit flag had enormous practical and symbolic importance. Soldiers used colors as rallying points amid smoke, confusion, and broken formations. A flag helped men identify the location of their unit and provided a visible center around which they could reorganize during an advance or retreat.

Capturing an enemy flag therefore meant reaching one of the most fiercely defended points in an opposing formation. Color bearers and the soldiers around them understood the importance of protecting their standards, and attempts to seize those flags often took place at extremely close range.

Shellenberger succeeded in taking a Confederate flag during the fighting at Deep Run.

The official Medal of Honor citation later summarized his deed in only three words: “Capture of flag.”

That short statement conceals the danger involved. To capture an enemy standard during an active infantry engagement required advancing into the immediate presence of opposing troops and overcoming the resistance surrounding their colors. Shellenberger’s action demonstrated the aggressive courage expected of a front-line infantry soldier under fire.

His act occurred during one of the final campaigns of the Civil War. By August 1864, Union forces were applying increasing military pressure around Richmond and Petersburg, but Confederate resistance remained determined. The fighting continued for months after Shellenberger’s action, and thousands of soldiers on both sides would still be killed or wounded before the major Confederate armies finally surrendered.

Recognition for Shellenberger came before the war was over.

On April 6, 1865, John S. Shellenberger was presented with the Medal of Honor for his conduct at Deep Run. Only three days later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, making Shellenberger’s award part of the closing chapter of the conflict.

The Army Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress in 1862, during the Civil War itself. It became the nation’s highest military decoration and was used to recognize acts of exceptional courage and distinguished conduct by Union soldiers.

Shellenberger received his Medal of Honor during the decoration’s original Civil War-era period. His award was tied to one clearly identified battlefield act rather than to a general record of service: the capture of an enemy flag while serving as a Corporal of Company B, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry.

No additional device, clasp, star, or other distinction accompanied his Medal of Honor.

His broader Union Army service was later represented by the Civil War Campaign Medal. Established decades after the conflict, the medal commemorated qualifying Army service during the Civil War. For Shellenberger, it reflected the larger wartime service surrounding the single act at Deep Run for which he received the Medal of Honor.

The Civil War Campaign Medal carried no additional device for his Deep Run action. His Medal of Honor remained the individual decoration specifically associated with the capture of the enemy flag.

Shellenberger survived the war and returned to civilian life after completing his military service. Like many Union veterans, he lived for decades after the conflict and witnessed the Civil War gradually pass from living experience into national history.

The veterans of his generation became an important part of American public memory. Their wartime service was preserved through military records, veterans’ organizations, monuments, commemorations, and the growing national recognition of Medal of Honor recipients.

John S. Shellenberger died on January 16, 1911. He was buried in Welsh Hills Cemetery in Granville Township, Ohio.

By the time of his death, nearly half a century had passed since the summer day at Deep Run when he had fought with the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry.

His military legacy, however, remained centered on one decisive moment.

In the confusion and violence of battle, Shellenberger reached an enemy standard and captured it.

The official citation needed only three words to describe what he had done.

“Capture of flag.”

Behind those words was an act performed at close range, under battlefield conditions, by a Union corporal serving in one of the hardest-fought periods of the Civil War.

For that act at Deep Run on August 16, 1864, John S. Shellenberger earned the Medal of Honor and secured a permanent place among the soldiers recognized for extraordinary courage during the American Civil War.