Richard Conner

He Went Back Under Fire for the Regiment’s Flag

Richard Conner was born on December 23, 1840, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, he entered Union service with Company F of the 6th New Jersey Infantry. He began his military career as a private and would later rise to the rank of sergeant.

By the summer of 1862, Conner and his regiment were serving in Virginia during a period of intense campaigning between the Union Army of Virginia and Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee. The fighting culminated in the Second Battle of Bull Run, fought near Manassas from August 28 to 30, 1862.

On August 30, Union forces came under heavy Confederate pressure and eventually began withdrawing from parts of the battlefield. In the confusion of retreat, the regimental colors of the 6th New Jersey Infantry were left behind.

A regiment’s flag was far more than a piece of cloth. During the Civil War it served as a battlefield marker, a rallying point, and a visible symbol of the regiment itself. Losing the colors to the enemy carried both practical and symbolic consequences.

Private Richard Conner saw that the flag had been abandoned.

Rather than continue withdrawing with the regiment, he volunteered to return for it.

Conner went back toward the contested ground with one companion while enemy fire continued across the battlefield. The two soldiers deliberately moved in the opposite direction of the retreat, exposing themselves to Confederate fire in an attempt to recover the colors.

During the effort, Conner’s companion was killed.

Conner continued.

He reached the abandoned flag, recovered it, and brought it safely back to the Union lines. His decision preserved the regimental colors from capture and became the defining act of his military career.

The action was later recognized in his Medal of Honor citation, which emphasized that Conner voluntarily returned under heavy fire to recover the flag of his regiment after it had been left behind during the withdrawal. The loss of his companion underscored the danger of the mission.

Conner survived the Second Battle of Bull Run and continued serving with the 6th New Jersey Infantry. Only days after the action, on September 10, 1862, he was promoted to corporal. On February 4, 1863, he advanced again, becoming a sergeant.

His wartime service did not end with Bull Run.

Conner later fought at Chancellorsville, where he was wounded in battle. He recovered and continued with his regiment through further campaigns, including Gettysburg and Mine Run. His continued service placed him in some of the most important operations fought by the Army of the Potomac.

In 1864, Conner reenlisted. As the remaining veterans of the 6th New Jersey Infantry were reorganized, he transferred to Company E of the 8th New Jersey Infantry. He remained in Union service until July 1865, carrying his military career through the final campaigns and the end of the Civil War.

His highest verified military rank was sergeant.

For decades after the war, the act that Conner had performed at Second Bull Run remained part of his service record. Formal national recognition eventually came more than thirty years later.

On September 17, 1897, Richard Conner was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The decoration recognized what he had done as a private on August 30, 1862: while his regiment was withdrawing, he turned back under heavy enemy fire with one companion to recover its abandoned flag. His companion was killed during the attempt, but Conner successfully brought the colors back.

His Medal of Honor survived beyond his lifetime and was preserved by the Gloucester County Historical Society in New Jersey, providing a tangible link to the action for which he had been decorated.

Conner lived for more than half a century after the war. He died on November 4, 1923, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of eighty-two. He was buried in North Cedar Hills Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Richard Conner’s military legacy rests on a decision made during one of the Union Army’s most difficult moments at Second Bull Run. The regiment was falling back, enemy fire was still active, and its flag had been left behind.

Conner chose to go back.

For voluntarily returning under fire, enduring the loss of his companion, and recovering the colors of the 6th New Jersey Infantry, Richard Conner received the Medal of Honor and earned a lasting place among the decorated soldiers of the American Civil War.