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Service Profile
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private
- Service Era
- American Civil War, Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, Battle of Sailor's Creek
- Medals Recorded
- 1
Lewis Francis Brest
Private, U.S. Army
Support & adopt this hero ↓American Civil WarEastern Theater of the American Civil WarBattle of Sailor's Creek
Awards & Decorations
Ribbon Rack
Biography
Seized a rebel battle flag days before Appomattox!
Lewis F. Brest ended the Appomattox campaign with an enemy battle flag in his hands. A private in Company D, 57th Pennsylvania Infantry, Brest fought in the final days of the pursuit of Robert E. Lee's army.
On April 6, 1865, at Deatonsville, Virginia, during the fighting commonly grouped with the Battle of Sailor's Creek, Brest captured a Confederate flag. Three days later Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House.
Medal of Honor Citation (condensed): Captured a Confederate flag at Deatonsville, Virginia.
Brest was born on May 15, 1842, in Mercer, Pennsylvania. He received the Medal of Honor on May 10, 1865. He returned to Mercer after the war, died there on December 2, 1915, and was buried in Citizens Cemetery.
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