Louis Jeanottelle Sacriste

Saved a battery’s gun and kept a division’s picket line!

Louis Jeanottelle Sacriste was a United States Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient who distinguished himself through two separate acts of gallantry during the American Civil War. On May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia, he helped prevent the capture of a cannon belonging to the 5th Maine Battery. Five months later, at Auburn, Virginia, he voluntarily carried critical orders that helped save an exposed Union picket line from destruction or capture. His military career later included promotion to Captain, an honorary brevet appointment as Major, and additional service in the Regular Army after the Civil War.

Sacriste was born on June 15, 1843, in New Castle County, Delaware. His military records identify Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the place where he entered Union service.

On September 1, 1862, Sacriste received an appointment as Second Lieutenant in the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The regiment served with the Army of the Potomac and became part of the Irish Brigade, a formation that participated in some of the most demanding operations of the Civil War.

Sacriste was promoted to First Lieutenant on March 1, 1863. By the following May, he was serving with Company D of the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Chancellorsville Campaign.

On May 3, 1863, Union forces defending the area around Chancellorsville faced a powerful Confederate attack. The fighting placed Federal artillery batteries in danger as Confederate infantry advanced toward their positions.

Among the threatened artillery units was the 5th Maine Battery, whose guns were at risk of falling into Confederate hands.

Sacriste recognized the danger and led soldiers from his infantry command toward the threatened battery. According to his later account of the engagement, he and his men advanced through smoke and artillery fire to reach the guns.

He helped bring a cannon away from the exposed position before Confederate troops could capture it. Other soldiers followed, assisting in the removal of additional artillery equipment.

Sacriste's actions contributed to the successful recovery of the battery's guns during the withdrawal. His official Medal of Honor citation specifically recognized him for saving a gun belonging to the 5th Maine Battery from capture.

The action at Chancellorsville became the first of two separate incidents for which he would eventually receive the Medal of Honor.

On October 14, 1863, Sacriste again demonstrated courage during an engagement near Auburn, Virginia, as the Army of the Potomac maneuvered in response to Confederate operations.

During the Union withdrawal, a picket line belonging to the First Division of the Second Army Corps became dangerously exposed. Confederate troops threatened its communications and withdrawal route, creating the possibility that the isolated soldiers could be surrounded or captured.

Sacriste had been assigned to assist Colonel James A. Beaver, who commanded the threatened picket line.

In his later recollection of the engagement, Sacriste described reporting to Beaver with twenty-five selected men from the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry. As Confederate forces pressed the position, Beaver recognized the danger and developed a route by which the pickets could withdraw and rejoin the main Union force.

Carrying those instructions required Sacriste to move along a line already engaged with the enemy.

He volunteered to deliver the orders, proceeding through the threatened positions to inform the officers of the withdrawal plan.

The mission was sufficiently dangerous that, according to Sacriste's published account, one soldier doubted he would return.

Sacriste succeeded in transmitting the instructions, but while the withdrawal was underway, he discovered that a detachment on the extreme right of the line had not received the necessary orders.

Rather than leave those soldiers behind, he returned to the endangered position to deliver the missing instructions.

His second journey allowed the overlooked detachment to withdraw with the rest of the picket line.

The action helped prevent the capture or destruction of the exposed Union soldiers. Sacriste's official Medal of Honor citation recognized his voluntary delivery of the orders that saved the First Division's picket line.

These two engagements established the record of gallantry for which he would later receive the nation's highest military decoration.

Sacriste continued serving in the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry after Auburn. On November 21, 1863, he received an appointment as First Lieutenant and Adjutant, taking on responsibilities associated with regimental administration and the transmission of military orders.

His military service continued during the campaigns of 1864.

On June 3, 1864, Sacriste was wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. His injury is documented in an official statement of military service prepared by the United States Adjutant General's Office.

Despite this interruption, he continued his career as a commissioned officer. On September 22, 1864, he was promoted to Captain in the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry.

Sacriste subsequently received the brevet rank of Major, dated March 13, 1865. The brevet was an honorary military advancement distinct from his substantive rank of Captain.

After the Civil War, his military career did not immediately end.

On June 3, 1865, Sacriste was mustered out of service with the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry. He subsequently received a Captain's commission in the 6th United States Veteran Volunteers on July 29, 1865.

He continued serving with that organization until April 8, 1866.

On June 18, 1867, Sacriste entered the Regular Army as a Second Lieutenant in the 20th United States Infantry. His later assignments included service in Louisiana and at Fort Totten in Dakota Territory.

These appointments demonstrate that his military service extended well beyond the end of the Civil War, although no specific qualifying Indian Wars combat action has been independently established for him.

Sacriste's Regular Army service ended on January 1, 1871, under legislation providing for a reduction in the Army's strength.

His military career later became the subject of congressional consideration. In 1884, a United States Senate committee examined proposed legislation that would restore him to the Army as a Second Lieutenant and place him on the retired list.

As part of that review, the War Department prepared an official account of Sacriste's service, recording his volunteer commissions, promotions, wound at Cold Harbor, subsequent Regular Army appointment, and separation from military service.

On January 31, 1889, Sacriste received the Medal of Honor for his two acts of gallantry during the Civil War.

The award recognized his successful effort to save a gun of the 5th Maine Battery at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, and his voluntary delivery of orders that saved the First Division's picket line at Auburn on October 14, 1863.

Although the two actions occurred months apart and involved different military responsibilities, they were recognized through a single Medal of Honor.

Sacriste lived into the early twentieth century. The surviving records provide clear evidence of his military career but comparatively little verified information about his later civilian occupation and personal activities.

Louis Jeanottelle Sacriste died on August 18, 1904, in La Grange, Illinois, at the age of sixty-one.

He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, in Section D, Block 5, Lot 8, Grave 1.

His documented military history reflects service as an infantry officer during the Civil War, repeated recognition for gallantry, a serious battlefield wound, and continued duty in the United States Army after the conflict. His Medal of Honor preserves the memory of two distinct acts: recovering a threatened artillery piece at Chancellorsville and delivering the orders that saved an endangered picket line at Auburn.