| Birth: | Jul. 30, 1822 | | Death: | Jun. 28, 1899 | 
Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He was a 38 year old carpenter residing in West Chester, Pennsylvania when the Civil War began. Soon after the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina he enlisted in the Union Army, and was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant of Company E, 9th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a three-month enlistment unit. He saw service with his regiment in northern Virginia before being mustered out after the First Bull Run Campaign on July 24, 1861. On October 3, 1861 he rejoined the Union war effort when he was commissioned as Captain and commander of Company F, 97th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. While leading his men in the June 16, 1862 Battle of Secessionville, South Carolina, he performed an act of bravery that would see him be awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation for the award reads "While retiring with his men before a heavy fire of canister shot at short range, returned in the face of the enemy's fire and rescued an exhausted private of his company who but for this timely action would have lost his life by drowning in the morass through which the troops were retiring". He would be awarded his Medal on April 23, 1896, almost thirty four years later. He continued in command of his company through the 1862-1863 operations in South Carolina (including the failed assault on Battery Wagner in July 1863), and in the 1864 Siege of Petersburg, Virginia before being honorably mustered out on October 3, 1864 when his enlistment expired by law. On March 13, 1865 he received the brevets of Major and Lieutenant Colonel, US Volunteers. (bio by: Russ Dodge)
Search Amazon for Dewitt Lewis | | | Burial:
Oaklands Cemetery
West Chester
Chester County
Pennsylvania, USA
Plot: Section F, Lot 29 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Don Morfe
Record added: Feb 22, 2003
Find A Grave Memorial# 7203832 |
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