Stephen Rought

He Took an Enemy Flag in the Wilderness

Stephen Rought was born on April 3, 1840, in Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, he entered Union service and became a member of Company A, 141st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Rising to the rank of sergeant, he served with a regiment that endured some of the fiercest fighting faced by the Army of the Potomac.

By the spring of 1864, the Union Army had begun the Overland Campaign, a relentless series of battles intended to press Confederate forces in Virginia. The first major clash came in the dense and tangled terrain of the Wilderness, where visibility was poor, formations were difficult to maintain, and close-range fighting could erupt with little warning.

On May 6, 1864, Sergeant Rought distinguished himself during the Battle of the Wilderness. In the midst of the fighting, he reached the Confederate breastworks and captured the battle flag of the 13th North Carolina Infantry. Taking an enemy regimental flag in combat was an exceptionally dangerous achievement because colors served as a rallying point for soldiers and were normally defended fiercely by the color bearer and nearby troops.

Rought's capture of the Confederate colors became the defining act of his wartime service. His actions demonstrated both personal courage and determination at a moment when the fighting around him was intense and confused. The captured flag represented more than a battlefield trophy; depriving an opposing regiment of its colors could disrupt its cohesion while providing an important symbol of success for the attacking troops.

His gallantry at the Wilderness was recognized later that same year. On December 1, 1864, Stephen Rought was presented with the Medal of Honor for capturing the flag of the 13th North Carolina Infantry during the action of May 6. The award placed him among the Union soldiers whose individual acts of bravery during the Civil War received the nation's highest military decoration.

Rought survived the war and returned to civilian life after his military service. The courage he displayed as a sergeant in the 141st Pennsylvania Infantry remained the central event for which he was remembered, particularly his role in taking an enemy flag from within the Confederate defensive position during one of the Civil War's most brutal campaigns.

Stephen Rought died on March 16, 1919, at the age of seventy-eight. He was buried at Springhill Cemetery in Laceyville, Pennsylvania.

His legacy rests on a brief but extraordinary moment in the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. As battle raged around the opposing lines, Sergeant Stephen Rought advanced into the danger, seized the colors of the 13th North Carolina Infantry, and carried away one of the most important symbols a Civil War regiment possessed. That act of gallantry earned him the Medal of Honor and secured his place among the recognized heroes of the American Civil War.