John P. McVeane
Company "D", 49th New York Infantry
Medal of Honor Recipient
Article by T.W. Brooks, Reproduced by Permission
Tune:
That's What's the Matter
At the battle of Salem Church on the Fredericksburg front of the Chancellorsville campaign, May 4, 1863, during a retirement, the
color-bearer of the 58th Virginia Infantry was wounded and dropped the standard. For reasons unexplained, the color-guard of the regiment secured neither the color-bearer nor the colors. Both were captured by John P. McVeane, a Canadian and a Torontonian.
McVeane's citation for his Medal of Honor reads as follows: "shot a Confederate color bearer and seized the flag, also approached, alone, a barn
between the lines and demanded and received the surrender of a number of enemy therein."
In a letter to the headquarters of the Confederate 2nd Army Corps dated May 25, 1863, Mayor General
A. P. Hill wrote that the 58th Virginia Infantry's lost colors should not be replaced until the regiment had redeemed its honor by capturing a standard of the enemy.
In The History of the 49th New York Volunteers written by Frederick Bidwell, it states that McVeane received his Medal of Honor from President Lincoln. According to McVeane's Medal of Honour citation, the medal was issued on September 21, 1870, several years after both Lincoln and McVeane were dead.
John P. McVeane was but 18 years old when he enlisted in Buffalo, New York on August 21, 1861, to serve for three years. Mustered into company "D" as a sergeant, he was reduced to the ranks on November 18, 1862. He was promoted to Corporal on January 2, 1863, and sergeant again, immediately following his act of valor. McVeane was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on October 16, 1863, and reenlisted as a veteran volunteer on Christmas Day, 1863. He was killed in action at The Wilderness on May 10, 1864.
At the time of his death, the record states that his body was not recovered, but, be that as it may, on November 8, 1880, John P. McVeane's remains were laid to rest in the McVeane family plot in Forest Lawn
Cemetery in Buffalo. A suitable marker was erected over his grave.
McVeane's Medal of Honor is currently in the possession of a medal collector in Alberta, Canada.
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