Thomas Cullen (Medal of Honor)

He Took an Enemy Flag Under Fire

Thomas Cullen was born in Ireland on February 26, 1839. Like many Irish immigrants of his generation, he eventually made his way to the United States, where the outbreak of the American Civil War soon placed him in military service. On May 21, 1861, he enlisted in New York City and mustered into Company I of what became the 82nd New York Infantry. He entered the regiment as a private and was later promoted to corporal.

The 82nd New York Infantry served with the Army of the Potomac and experienced some of the most demanding campaigns of the war. Cullen's service carried him through years of sustained fighting in the eastern theater, where the regiment repeatedly faced Confederate forces in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

In the summer of 1863, Cullen fought at Gettysburg, one of the decisive battles of the Civil War. On July 3, during the final day of the battle, he was wounded in action. His injury did not end his military career, and after recovering he returned to service with his regiment.

Only a few months later, Cullen took part in the Battle of Bristoe Station in Virginia. On October 14, 1863, Confederate troops attacked Union forces positioned around the railroad near Bristoe Station. The resulting engagement became a sharp and costly fight in which Union infantry used the railroad embankment and supporting artillery to resist the Confederate assault.

During the battle, Cullen was serving as a Corporal in Company I, 82nd New York Infantry. As the Confederate attack was repulsed, he captured an enemy battle flag belonging to either the 22nd or 28th North Carolina. Capturing a regimental flag in Civil War combat was an exceptionally dangerous achievement. Colors served as visible rallying points for troops and were normally defended closely because losing them carried both tactical and symbolic significance.

Cullen's seizure of the Confederate flag at Bristoe Station became the defining act of his military career. The official record is concise, identifying his deed simply as the capture of the flag of the 22nd or 28th North Carolina. The surviving evidence does not require embellishment: amid a violent infantry engagement, Cullen secured an enemy standard during the defeat of the Confederate attack.

His wartime service continued well beyond Bristoe Station. Cullen reenlisted as a veteran on March 29, 1864, demonstrating his willingness to remain in service after already experiencing years of combat and being wounded at Gettysburg. He was subsequently transferred within the 82nd New York as organizational changes affected the regiment.

On June 22, 1864, during fighting near the Weldon Railroad outside Petersburg, Virginia, Cullen was captured. The struggle around Petersburg had developed into a prolonged campaign as Union forces attempted to cut the railroads and supply lines sustaining the Confederate capital and Robert E. Lee's army. Cullen's capture added another difficult chapter to a service record that had already included serious battlefield action.

After being paroled, he returned to Union control. As the remaining personnel of the 82nd New York were consolidated, Cullen was transferred to the 59th New York Infantry in July 1864. He continued in the Union Army through the closing stages of the conflict and remained in service until June 1865.

While Cullen was still serving, formal recognition arrived for the action he had performed at Bristoe Station. On December 1, 1864, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing the Confederate flag on October 14, 1863. The award recognized a single documented act performed in direct combat, when the Corporal of the 82nd New York took possession of an enemy regimental color during the battle.

Cullen's Medal of Honor represented the highest military distinction awarded by the United States. His citation remained characteristically brief, focusing on the captured flag rather than adding later dramatic detail. That simplicity preserves the significance of the act itself: he entered the fighting as an infantry corporal and emerged carrying an enemy standard from a defeated Confederate assault.

After the Civil War, Cullen returned to civilian life. He lived for nearly half a century after the conflict ended, becoming part of the generation of Union veterans who carried the memory of battles such as Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, and Petersburg into the twentieth century.

Thomas Cullen died on August 17, 1913, in Pennsylvania. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery. By the time of his death, fifty years had passed since the battlefield action at Bristoe Station that had earned him the Medal of Honor.

His military career reflected the harsh realities of sustained Civil War service. He enlisted early in the conflict, rose to Corporal, was wounded at Gettysburg, captured a Confederate battle flag at Bristoe Station, reenlisted as a veteran, was later taken prisoner near Petersburg, and continued serving after his release. Among those experiences, the moment at Bristoe Station became his enduring legacy—a single Union soldier seizing an enemy color in battle and earning the Medal of Honor for the act.