Via Ken
Greetings Commander Ken,
Just to give you a heads up. Many months ago, our camp did some research on the "Confederate Alamo" - the Battle of Fort Gregg / Petersburg April 2, 1865 and we came across the heroism of Pvt. Lawrence Berry of the Washington Artillery (Louisiana). General Lee had issued orders for the few Confederate defenders to hold that line at all cost in order for the Army of Northern Virginia to escape west. Every minute that the federals were delayed was precious.
Pvt. Berry was one of those few dedicated soldiers left behind to buy time to save the army. These soldiers fought hand to hand and were able to repulse overwhelming numbers of yankee troops for over two hours. Of the eight Confederate cannon engaged for that two hour period, only one cannon remained in service and it was manned by Pvt. Berry. Pvt. Berry had loaded his piece with double canister just as the federals swarmed over the works. As he held the firing lanyard in his hand, the federals shouted to him to drop the lanyard or they would shoot. Pvt. Berry's last words, "Shoot and be Damned", were uttered just as he pulled the lanyard - his blast sending many a federal to the infernal regions for all of eternity.
He was immediately killed by many musket balls. There are several oil paintings in existence of Pvt. Berry's last stand at the Confederate Alamo showing him in the forefront, lanyard in hand. Anyway, we all felt so inspired by the dedication of Pvt. Berry that one of our members, Mike Thomas, prepared a citation and memorandum to submit Pvt. 'Berry's name to the SCV Medal of Honor Committee. Last week, we were notified by the national that the medal had been approved.
We will be incorporating the presentation of the Medal of Honor in conjunction with the Jefferson Davis Ceremony and Commander in Chief, Michael Givens, will make the award. We believe that at this time, the recipient of the Medal will be the Petersburg Siege Museum in Petersburg. Hope to see you at the Hollywood Cemetery for the presentation. I couldn't think of a better time & place for this medal to be presented.
I have the honor to remain, Sir,
Your most humble and obedient servant,
John Henry
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