Richard Beddows

He Went Back Into Enemy Fire for the Fallen Guidon

Richard Beddows was born on June 27, 1843, in Liverpool, England. He later emigrated to the United States, where the outbreak of the American Civil War would lead him into military service and ultimately earn him the nation's highest decoration for battlefield bravery.

In 1861, as the Union began raising volunteer forces to suppress the Confederate rebellion, Beddows enlisted in New York. He entered service as a private in an artillery organization recruited around Flushing, Long Island, initially associated with Company L of the 2nd New York Artillery.

The organization served as a light artillery battery and was later designated the 34th New York Independent Battery. Known historically as the Hamilton or Flushing Battery, it became part of the Union Army's artillery forces and served in the demanding campaigns of the Civil War.

Artillery service demanded much more than operating a cannon. Batteries depended on teams of horses, ammunition wagons, skilled gun crews, and men capable of maintaining order under fire. When an artillery position came under attack, soldiers had to protect their guns and equipment while continuing to support the infantry.

For Richard Beddows, another responsibility became central to his place in military history: carrying the battery's guidon.

A guidon was a small military flag used to identify and guide a unit. For an artillery battery moving through difficult terrain, smoke, and battlefield confusion, it helped soldiers recognize their own formation. It also represented the identity, service, and honor of the organization.

The 34th New York Independent Battery carried a distinctive silk guidon presented in April 1864 by Celia L. Roe of Flushing, New York. Decorated with the names of earlier campaigns, the flag embodied the battery's wartime experience and the support it had received from its home community.

During heavy fighting in Virginia in 1864, Beddows faced the incident that would define his military service.

As Confederate fire struck the area around the battery, an exploding shell caused his horse to become violently frightened and difficult to control. The animal reared and plunged amid the confusion of combat, and Beddows lost his hold on the guidon.

The flag fell behind him.

Enemy musketry continued as the fighting intensified. Recovering the guidon meant returning toward the dangerous ground from which the battery was attempting to withdraw.

Beddows did not abandon it.

Unable to regain control of his horse and recover the flag while mounted, he dismounted and went back for the fallen colors. With enemy troops advancing and shots passing through the battlefield, he moved into the exposed area and retrieved the guidon.

He succeeded in bringing it away safely.

His action preserved the symbol of his battery at a moment when the unit itself was under serious threat. The recovery demonstrated an extraordinary willingness to accept personal danger rather than allow the battery's colors to be lost.

The incident was subsequently recognized by his military superiors, and Beddows's conduct became the subject of formal consideration for the Medal of Honor.

The significance of his achievement extended beyond the practical value of the flag. During the Civil War, military colors were powerful symbols of unit identity. Soldiers were entrusted with carrying them because their loss could be deeply felt throughout a regiment or battery.

For Beddows, the defining act of courage was not capturing an enemy standard. It was returning under hostile fire to save his own unit's guidon.

He continued serving with the Union Army as the war progressed through its final campaigns. His battery remained in service until June 1865, when it was mustered out following the defeat of the Confederacy.

Beddows returned to civilian life after nearly four years of wartime service.

More than three decades passed before his bravery received the country's highest formal recognition.

On July 10, 1896, Richard Beddows was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous recovery of the guidon under heavy enemy fire.

The decoration recognized the remarkable decision he had made while serving as a private in the 34th New York Battery. Faced with a frightened horse, an advancing enemy, and continuing musket fire, he had gone back for the fallen colors and brought them to safety.

The award ensured that his action would be remembered long after the artillery battles of the Civil War had ended.

Beddows lived into the twentieth century, surviving many of the veterans with whom he had served. He died on February 15, 1922, in Mount Vernon, New York, at the age of seventy-eight.

He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in New Rochelle, New York.

The original guidon associated with his Medal of Honor action survives in the collection of the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, preserving a tangible connection to the battery and its wartime history.

Richard Beddows's legacy demonstrates that battlefield heroism was not confined to charging an enemy position or capturing a fortress. Sometimes it was expressed through a single decision made amid confusion and danger.

When his horse became uncontrollable and his battery's guidon fell under enemy fire, he returned to recover it.

For that extraordinary act of courage and devotion to his unit, Private Richard Beddows received the Medal of Honor and earned a lasting place in the history of the American Civil War.