Charles B Tanner

(1842 - 1911)
Home State: Delaware
Command Billet: Company Officer
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 1st Delaware Infantry

Before the Antietam Campaign:
He enlisted in Captain Robert Milligan's Company E, 1st Delaware Infantry Regiment in Wilmington, De. in 1861. He was noted as being 19 years old, 5Ì 11" tall, dark complexioned, brown hair and hazel eyes.

When enlistments ran out that summer Charles joined Company H of the newly reorganized 1st Delaware Regiment as a Sergeant. He was promoted to Sergeant Major in January 1862 and 2nd Lieutenant on 1 April 1862.

In the Antietam Campaign:
He was wounded three times, and later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on 17 September - saving his Regiment's flag under fire.

The remainder of the War:
"One week later, while recuperating in a Hospital in Sharpsburg he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Later, at the battle of Chancellorsville on May 1-5, 1863, he was recommended for promotion to brevet-captain by Col. Thomas A. Smyth for saving many wounded from the burning woods. On May 29, 1863, he applied to lead colored troops but there is nothing in the records that showed he ever did. Two months later he was the acting Adjutant of his regiment at Gettysburg where once again he was wounded severely enough to spend time in the hospital there. On September 13, 1863, he was medically discharged from the army. However on October 24, 1864, he enlisted again, this time in Co. H, 69th Pennsylvania Volunteers as a 1st Lieutenant where he was wounded in the knee at Petersburg, Virginia."

After the War:
"After the war, Tanner married and had a daughter. He also served as the postmaster of Kennett Square, Pa. Eventually he moved to Washington, D.C. and became a clerk in the War Department."

References, Sources, and other notes:
Source: The DelawareGovernment Information Center, biographical sketch on delaware.gov - originally from Martin, Roger A., DelawareÌs Medal of Honor Recipients.

Place of Birth: Philadelphia, PA
Death Date: 12/13/1911 Burial Place: Greenfield Cemetery, Hempstead, Long Island, NY

« Search for Another Participant