Acts of Bravery and Heroism during the Civil War

[Legion]

Due to the fact that there were countless acts of bravery preformed by men during the Civil War, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread sharing some of their stories.
The story doesn't have to be about an individual person it can be about a larger group but it should have something to do with the Civil War.

I found this account of William J. Barbie, a scout in Hood's Texans at Gettysburg to be pretty amazing.
As the 1st Texas was attacking Devil's Den at triangle field, a Texan by the name of William J. Barbie rode up on his horse to triangle field, as he was riding his horse got shot out from under him and in one motion he sprang from his saddle and without missing a step he climbed up on a boulder. Once he was on top of the boulder he stood up and started cussing and hollerin at the yanks on the opposite side of the field. As he was doing this the Texans on the ground below him started to pass up loaded rifles to him and he began calmly firing at the yankee line while bullets were flying all around him. He had fired about 20 shots when a bullet struck him in the leg and knocked him off the rock, no sooner had he been hit when he got on top of the rock again and resumed firing. Well a little while later he got hit in his leg again and fell off the rock, and for a third time he climbed back up on top of the rock and resumed firing. As he was firing he got hit in the chest and fell off the rock and as he lay next to his fellow Texans he began cussin and yelling at them because they wouldn't lift him up onto the rock again.

Here is a video of a NPS ranger telling the story at Gettysburg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEmGazv4k2s the story starts at 41:00

[Duke Of Longtree]

Well one of the bravest regiments at 2nd bull run was the 18th georgia

[JaegerCoyote]

Battery B, 4th US Artillery at Antietam, they lost 40 men and officers and were awarded three MoHs for their action at Dunker Church.

[Brooklyn]

John L. Burns. He was a 69 year old civilian and a veteran of the War of 1812 and Mexican-American War. On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863 he fought along side men of the Iron Brigade throughout the afternoon. Burns received wounds in the arm, the leg, and several minor ones in the chest.

[BloodBeag]

Well there was this soldier with no name and he had a Mexican friend and every day the Union and Confederate forces would fight and die over this bridge. A dying lieutenant told the two to (lol tutu) try and blow up said bridge in order to save tens of thousands of lives from dying needlessly. They managed it.

[Pvt.Scott]

Rufus R. Dawes, On the 1st day of Gettysburg when Davis Came and garrisoned the railroad cut the men of the 6th Wisconsin Charged into the railroad cut while losing a lot of men and the flag bearer changed at least 8 times during the charge within 30 seconds or so. They plunged into the railroad cut capturing 200 confederate soldiers threatening the union regiments.

[michaelsmithern]

4th North Carolina at the battle of 7 pines, when the regiment was motioned forward they charged the Union troops, during this charge out of the 520 soldiers 478(give or take) died and out of the 25 officers on 1 was not hurt

[Legion]

During the battle of 2nd Winchester, Louisiana Tigers captured west fort, the fort was named Louisiana Heights in honor of the Louisianians.

[CjkCJkCjk]

Richard Rowland Kirkland also known as "The angel of Marye's Heights" was a Sergeant in company G of the 2nd South Carolina infantry at the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg were "he gathered all the canteens he could carry, filled them with water, then ventured out onto the battlefield. He ventured back and forth several times, giving the wounded Union soldiers water, warm clothing, and blankets. Soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies watched as he performed his task, but no one fired a shot" (Wikipedia)

[A. P. Hill]

To be honest, I have to admit that I think the whole war, (at least till the end around Petersburg,) required enormous bravery. To know you were going onto a field of battle with antiquated maneuvers and superior weapons that made your maneuvers obsolete, yet you went anyhow ... that's bravery beyond my imagination.

[Legion]

To be honest, I have to admit that I think the whole war, (at least till the end around Petersburg,) required enormous bravery. To know you were going onto a field of battle with antiquated maneuvers and superior weapons that made your maneuvers obsolete, yet you went anyhow ... that's bravery beyond my imagination.

I agree, and I don't mean to take away from that, I just thought it would be interesting to read some of the stories that happened during battle. To fight in any war requires courage beyond belief, especially when the war is so brutal like the civil war.

[Johann Günderson]

At a pivotal moment in the 1863 struggle at Gettysburg, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of II Corps, ordered the First Minnesota to charge into a situation where it would be outnumbered by at least 5 to 1. The general's purpose was to buy minutes of delay with human lives, and one survivor spoke afterward that he expected the advance to result in "death or wounds to [every single one of the attackers]."[2] The regiment fully and instantly obeyed the order, suffering at least 82% casualties among those making the attack; this action contributed significantly to the preservation of a key Union defensive position on the heights of Cemetery Ridge.

[Kate Williams]

Heroism is very interesting topic for discussion and writing an essay on. If you were assigned to write a paper on this topic, feel free to read the following publication: http://findwritingservice.com/blog/the-heroism-essaybeowulf-and-the-meaning-of-the-modern-hero The publication is going to be very much in handy for you in such a case and overall, for general information.