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CIVIL WAR SOLDIER FINALLY RECOGNIZED -- Heroic deeds gone

unnoticed for nearly a century will be brought to light.

 

 

Story here... http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=
17381694&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=187830&rfi=6

Story below: 

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Civil War soldier finally recognized

By: Lynn Jusinski

In Limerick, heroic deeds gone unnoticed for nearly a century will be brought to light.

 

Charles Breyer received the Medal of Honor for acts performed during the Civil War. The award is the highest honor for bravery in battle in the United States armed forces. However, his burial site in Limerick Church Burial Ground remained unmarked with the prestigious achievement. On Nov. 11, the former Pottstown cigar maker will receive the honor - and the monument - that have been missing since his death in 1914.

Breyer's obituary from a September 1914 newspaper noted his accomplishment. The passage telling of Breyer's passing was titled "Was Medal Man."

"Breyer was given a Medal of Honor by the War Department for conspicuous gallantry and was naturally very proud of it," the obituary reads. "Breyer's company occupied a position behind a stable and was in the act of wheeling around to join the main body under an extraordinarily heavy shellfire. A few feet from him a shell struck a fence post and glanced off, tearing away the right arm of Private Francis Patrick Donahue, who was near him. Sergeant Breyer, at the risk of his own life, picked up the smoking shell and hurled it out of harm's way. It was shattered to pieces a few seconds after leaving his hands."

That incident occurred at a battle in Rappahannock, Va., and was the incident noted in Breyer's Medal of Honor citation. The newspaper mentioned a second act of heroism by Breyer, as well. In the "big raid on the Weldon Railroad," Breyer's company was surrounded, and the regimental colors were in peril.

"The flag was only saved by [Breyer's] gallant act of wrapping it around his body and carrying it from the field," the newspaper reads.

Even though the incident with the shell happened in 1862, Breyer did not garner his medal until 1896, some 34 years after the fact. The time elapsed was typical then, according to a spokeswoman from the Medal of Honor Society, Carol Cepregi.

Cepregi also mentioned how the feat might have been missed at the time of Breyer's death. She said that possibly, Breyer's family didn't think that they should note the Medal of Honor on the gravesite. She also added that the Medal of Honor Historical Society makes sure that graves of honorees don't go without recognition.

"There are folks who spend a lot of time locating gravesites of Medal of Honor recipients," Cepregi said.

One of those folks, Don Morfe, did his homework on Charles Breyer and made the trip to Limerick. He snapped a photo of Breyer's tombstone for the Medal of Honor Society Web site, and then alerted the society that Breyer's grave didn't single out his valorous acts.

But the process takes some time.

"At least three years ago [Morfe] called Limerick Church Burial Ground. He said that Breyer is buried in our burial ground and did they know where," said Martin Witte, secretary and treasurer of the Limerick Church Burial Ground Board of Trustees.

The Medal of Honor Society phoned again in July 2005, requesting that the gravesite be marked. Cepregi said that the Veterans' Administration provides the monument, but after that, local people take the reigns to get the monument in the ground.

The board at Limerick Church Burial Ground decided they'd be up to the undertaking, and soon, Witte and his wife, Lynne, were researching Breyer to find out more about the man the board would be honoring.

Lynne, who referred to Breyer as "Charlie" in an interview, looked into ancestry research, trying to locate family members. She also located the obituary by going through microfilm, and she checked census records.

A daughter, Anna, is buried near Breyer in Limerick Church Burial Ground. In the obituary, Anna is Mrs. Anna Gilligan, and the passage also said that Breyer had three sisters, Mattie Funk, Mary Noble and Maggie Hepburn, all of Philadelphia.

Martin Witte said that census records showed that Breyer had four children, although it seems Anna was the only one who survived. Martin also found that Breyer had a grandson named Glendore, but the grandson is lost after the 1920 census.

Although Martin said he'd like to find some descendants to join in honoring Breyer, despite the Wittes' work, they were unable to locate anyone related to the decorated veteran.

Still, the Wittes and the board had another thing to focus on - planning to put up the monument, and setting up a celebration to honor Breyer's achievement.

Martin went to the phones and churned up interest in the placing of the monument.

Figuring out a date was simple - Nov. 11, Veterans' Day. Martin rounded up Boy Scout Troop 10, which is helping to place the monument. He then called up a friend that he and Lynne went to school with, Charles Evans, who is involved with the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Jerome Gennaria Camp #90.

Evans agreed to have his group participate, and the invitation is extended to other organizations and members of the community.

"The idea is to honor the heroics of the Civil War veteran," Martin said. "I hope that people will take an interest in history. I hope they appreciate veterans from the Civil War to Iraq."

The ceremony will be held Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. The Wittes are still on the lookout for descendants, as well. Limerick Church Burial Ground is located near the intersection of West Ridge Pike and Limerick Center Road. The public is invited to attend the ceremony.

For more information, contact Martin Witte at 610-495-7432.

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Larry Scott

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