West Funk

He Captured a Confederate Flag at Appomattox

West Funk was a Union soldier whose Civil War career carried him from the enlisted ranks to field command and ultimately to recognition with the Medal of Honor. Serving with the 121st Pennsylvania Infantry, he experienced some of the most demanding campaigns of the war and remained in active service until the final days of the conflict. His military record reflects steady advancement, battlefield experience, and an act at Appomattox Court House that secured his place among the decorated soldiers of the Union Army.

Funk entered the 121st Pennsylvania Infantry in September 1862. He initially enlisted as a private and was soon promoted to sergeant major, becoming part of the regiment’s staff. The 121st Pennsylvania was organized during a critical period of the war and joined the Army of the Potomac, placing Funk in the eastern theater where Union and Confederate armies repeatedly fought for control of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

His abilities and experience led to further advancement. Funk became a commissioned officer and was serving as a second lieutenant during the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863. At the Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 through July 3, the Army of the Potomac confronted Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in one of the largest and most consequential battles of the Civil War. Funk was wounded during the fighting, adding Gettysburg to the significant combat experiences that shaped his military career.

After recovering and continuing his service, Funk served for a period as acting aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The assignment placed him close to one of the Union Army’s prominent field commanders and gave him responsibilities extending beyond ordinary company duty. Funk later returned to regimental service and continued advancing through the officer ranks.

During the intense campaigns of 1864, including the Union Army’s sustained operations against Confederate forces in Virginia, Funk served as a captain and commanded soldiers of the 121st Pennsylvania Infantry. These campaigns subjected the Army of the Potomac to almost continuous marching and combat as Union forces sought to wear down Lee’s army and cut the transportation lines supporting Richmond and Petersburg.

By the closing stage of the war, Funk had risen to the substantive rank of major and was serving in a position of significant responsibility within the 121st Pennsylvania. His progression from private to sergeant major and then through the commissioned ranks demonstrated the increasing trust placed in him during nearly three years of wartime service.

The defining moment of his military career came on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Confederate forces were attempting to break through Union lines as the Army of Northern Virginia faced encirclement and the collapse of its remaining supply routes. Union troops moved aggressively against the Confederate position during what became the final major fighting involving Lee’s army.

During the action, Major West Funk captured the battle flag of the 46th Virginia Infantry. His official Medal of Honor citation records the achievement directly: the capture of the flag of the 46th Virginia Infantry of the Confederate States Army. The surviving citation does not add elaborate details about the circumstances of the capture, but the act itself carried considerable battlefield significance.

During the Civil War, regimental flags were more than ceremonial objects. They served as visible rallying points on crowded and smoke-filled battlefields and represented the identity and honor of the units that carried them. Capturing an enemy flag therefore represented a tangible battlefield success and was frequently recognized as an exceptional act of courage.

Funk’s achievement occurred on one of the most historic days of the Civil War. Later on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. Although other Confederate forces remained in the field for a short period afterward, Lee’s surrender effectively signaled the approaching end of the four-year conflict.

Recognition for Funk’s action came several years later. On October 15, 1872, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing the Confederate flag at Appomattox. The decoration formally preserved the achievement for which he had distinguished himself as a major of the 121st Pennsylvania Infantry.

Funk also received recognition through brevet advancement, ultimately holding the honorary rank of brevet colonel. Brevet rank was a form of honorary promotion commonly used during and immediately after the Civil War to acknowledge distinguished or meritorious service. His substantive military rank remained major, while the brevet colonel designation represented additional recognition of his wartime record.

From his beginning as an enlisted private in 1862 to his responsibilities as a major and brevet colonel near the war’s end, West Funk experienced an extraordinary progression through the Union Army. He served through major campaigns, was wounded at Gettysburg, performed staff duty alongside senior leadership, commanded troops during the hard campaigning of the war’s final years, and remained in service until the Confederacy’s principal army reached the end of its struggle.

His most enduring legacy remains tied to April 9, 1865. On the day Lee’s army surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Funk captured the colors of the 46th Virginia Infantry. That documented battlefield achievement earned him the Medal of Honor and permanently connected his name with one of the defining moments of the American Civil War.