b. 15/05/1842 Mercer, Pennsylvania. d. 02/12/1915 Mercer, Pennsylvania.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 10/05/1865 Sailor’s Creek, Virginia.
Lewis F Brest MOH
Enlisted during the Civil War as a Private in Company D, 57th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on December 13, 1861. Throughout 1862 and early 1863 he fought with his company and regiment in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac, including the Peninsular Campaign, Seven Days Battle, 2nd Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Just prior to the Gettysburg Campaign he contracted a severe case of typhoid fever, which kept him out of the battle and his regiment’s futile stand on Emmitsburg Road on July 2, 1863. Returning to his unit in late 1863 after his recovery, he served with them in Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign, and sustained a bullet wound in his neck during the Battle of the Wilderness.
He recovered quickly from that injury and was present during the Siege of Petersburg, which dragged on from June 1864 to April 1865. During the final Union push against the Army of Northern Virginia, he captured a Confederate Battle Flag (as his citation simply states) in brutal hand-to-hand combat at the Battle of Sailors Creek, Virginia on April 6, 1865. His bravery garnered him a CMOH, and he was granted a 30 day furlough on April 18, 1865 for his deed. His Medal was awarded to him on May 10, 1865. He was one of three 57th Pennsylvania soldiers to be awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the war (the others being Private Francis A. Bishop and Captain John Wallace Scott).
MOH CITATION:
Capture of flag.
BURIAL LOCATION: MERCER CITIZEN’S CEMETERY, MERCER, PENNSYLVANIA.
near LOT 233
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
