Peter John Ryan

Fourteen Prisoners in the Fury of Winchester

Peter John Ryan was an Irish-born Union Army soldier whose remarkable courage during the American Civil War earned him the United States Medal of Honor. Serving as a private in Company D of the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Ryan distinguished himself at the Third Battle of Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. During some of the fiercest fighting, he and fellow soldier John Tenbrook Sterling captured fourteen Confederate soldiers. Their extraordinary achievement brought both men the Medal of Honor, formally awarded on April 4, 1865.

Ryan was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, during the 1840s. Historical records differ concerning his exact date and year of birth, but his Irish origins are well established. He immigrated to the United States as a child and eventually settled in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he began building a life before the outbreak of the Civil War.

By 1856, Ryan was living in Terre Haute and learning the trade of harness-making. He became an apprentice, acquiring the skills necessary to manufacture and repair the leather equipment used for horses and carriages. This work provided the foundation for his later civilian business career.

When the American Civil War began in 1861, Ryan left his apprenticeship and entered military service. On July 20, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D of the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, a regiment associated with Colonel Lew Wallace and recognized for its distinctive Zouave-style military organization.

The regiment initially served in the western theater, where Union forces sought control of strategically important rivers and Confederate strongholds. Ryan's documented military history placed him in several major campaigns during the early years of the war.

In February 1862, the 11th Indiana participated in operations against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee. These Union victories helped open important military routes into Confederate territory and contributed to the growing success of Federal forces in the western theater.

Ryan subsequently served with his regiment during the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, one of the bloodiest engagements of the war's early years. The regiment later participated in the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863, including operations at Port Gibson, Champion Hill, and the Siege of Vicksburg.

The surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, represented a decisive Union victory and helped establish Federal control over the Mississippi River. Ryan's years of service in the western campaigns gave him extensive experience before his regiment was transferred to operations in Virginia.

During the summer of 1864, the 11th Indiana became part of the Union forces operating in the Shenandoah Valley under Major General Philip H. Sheridan. Confederate troops commanded by Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early continued resisting Federal operations in the region, making the valley an important military objective.

On September 19, 1864, Sheridan launched a major attack against Early's army near Winchester, Virginia. The engagement became known as the Third Battle of Winchester or the Battle of Opequon.

The battle developed into a fierce struggle involving Union infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Federal forces encountered heavy Confederate resistance, and the fighting produced substantial casualties as both armies attempted to control the battlefield.

The 11th Indiana Infantry participated in the Union assault, advancing against Confederate positions during the prolonged engagement. The regiment faced intense enemy fire and experienced difficult fighting as the battle lines shifted.

It was during this engagement that Peter John Ryan performed the extraordinary act for which he would receive the Medal of Honor.

In the severest part of the battle, Ryan and fellow private John Tenbrook Sterling captured fourteen Confederate soldiers. The achievement required the two Union soldiers to confront and secure a group of enemy combatants during active fighting.

Their actions were particularly notable because the number of prisoners captured greatly exceeded the number of Union soldiers involved. The official Medal of Honor citations recognize both men for this shared accomplishment.

The surviving official citation does not explain every detail of the capture, but it establishes Ryan's direct participation alongside Sterling and identifies the fourteen Confederate prisoners as the basis for his decoration.

The Third Battle of Winchester ended in a major Union victory. Early's Confederate army withdrew from the battlefield, allowing Sheridan to continue his campaign through the Shenandoah Valley. The victory marked an important stage in the Union effort to weaken Confederate military operations in Virginia.

Ryan's service continued after Winchester. On October 19, 1864, exactly one month after his Medal of Honor action, he participated in the Battle of Cedar Creek, another major engagement in the Shenandoah Valley.

During the fighting at Cedar Creek, Ryan sustained a gunshot wound to his right knee. The injury required medical treatment and interrupted his active service. He remained under medical care until approximately the end of January 1865, when he returned to his company.

Despite the wound, Ryan completed his military service. On April 4, 1865, he received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Winchester. His fellow soldier John Tenbrook Sterling received the same decoration for their joint capture of the fourteen Confederate soldiers.

Ryan remained with the Union Army through the closing months of the conflict. He was honorably mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland, on July 26, 1865, bringing approximately four years of military service to an end.

Following the war, Ryan returned to Terre Haute and resumed civilian life. He entered the harness-making business, applying the skills he had developed before his enlistment. His postwar years also included further education, allowing him to improve his reading and writing abilities.

On May 28, 1868, Ryan married Mary Maloney, a native of Terre Haute. The couple had five children and established their family in the community where Ryan had lived before joining the army.

During the 1870s, Ryan expanded his business interests beyond harness-making. He became involved in the livery trade, operating a business that provided horses and carriages. He subsequently entered the undertaking profession, adding funeral services to his commercial activities.

By 1880, Ryan had developed an established business in Terre Haute, operating from North Second Street. His enterprise employed several workers and maintained horses, carriages, hearses, and other equipment required for his livery and undertaking services.

His civilian success reflected the development of a local business that had grown from his original apprenticeship into a substantial commercial operation. Ryan continued working in the undertaking profession until the early twentieth century, when responsibility for the business passed to his sons.

Ryan's Medal of Honor remained an important part of his family's history. An account published during his lifetime described the decoration and the accompanying War Department correspondence, preserving evidence of the recognition he had received for his Civil War service.

Peter John Ryan died on January 8, 1908, in Terre Haute, Indiana. His burial is recorded at Calvary Cemetery in Terre Haute, where his military service and Medal of Honor distinction continue to be commemorated.

Ryan's legacy encompasses both his courage in battle and his life after military service. From an Irish immigrant and young harness-maker to a Union soldier who served through major campaigns in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Virginia, his experiences reflected years of demanding military duty.

His defining achievement came at Winchester on September 19, 1864, when he and John Tenbrook Sterling captured fourteen Confederate soldiers amid some of the battle's fiercest fighting. The Medal of Honor preserved that remarkable act of bravery, securing Peter John Ryan's place among the distinguished soldiers of the American Civil War.