Richard Gasson

He Fell Planting His Colors on the Enemy Works

Richard Gasson was born in 1842 in Ireland. He later came to the United States and entered Union service during the American Civil War, serving as a sergeant in Company K of the 47th New York Infantry.

By 1864, the 47th New York was operating in Virginia as part of the Union forces pressing against the defenses protecting Richmond. Gasson and his regiment took part in the hard campaigning that characterized the war's final year.

On September 29, 1864, Union forces attacked Confederate positions during the fighting around Chaffin's Farm and Fort Harrison. Gasson's Medal of Honor action took place at Chapin's Farm, Virginia, during this offensive.

As the fighting reached the enemy works, Gasson advanced with the colors of his regiment. Regimental flags served not only as symbols of identity and honor but also as important battlefield rallying points, helping soldiers maintain direction and cohesion amid smoke, confusion, and heavy fire.

Gasson reached the Confederate works and attempted to plant his regiment's colors upon them. At that moment, he was killed.

His official Medal of Honor citation preserved the act in stark terms: he fell dead while planting the colors of his regiment on the enemy's works. His death came at the point of the Union assault, making his final action inseparable from the flag he carried forward.

Gasson did not live to receive the nation's recognition. On April 6, 1865, only days before the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage at Chapin's Farm.

His burial place has not been securely identified, and the location of his grave remains unknown. What survives clearly in the historical record is the action for which he was honored and the regiment with which he served.

Richard Gasson's Medal of Honor legacy rests on his final advance. Carrying his regiment's colors toward the enemy defenses, he reached the works and was killed as he attempted to plant them there—an act of battlefield courage that secured his place among the honored soldiers of the Union Army.