Peter Kappesser
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Peter Kappesser was an American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 149th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Lookout Mountain, Tenn., 24 November 1863. Entered Union service at: Syracuse, N.Y. Birth: Jan 8, 1839, Bavaria, Germany. Medal of Honor issued 28 June 1865. Citation: Capture of Confederate flag (Bragg's army).
Peter Kappesser enlisted on August 31, 1862 at the age of 24. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the Secretary of War for the capture of a Confederate flag from Walthall's Mississippi Brigade of the 34th Mississippi Infantry at The Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee on November 24, 1863. The Battle of Lookout Maintain was part of the Third Battle of Chattanooga. It was reported that Kappesser forcibly took the flag from a Confederate sergeant as the New York 149th rapidly advanced through the Confederate camps. The Confederate sergeant was summarily disarmed and passed to the rear as a prisoner. Some say the chilly November air prompted Private Kappesser to wear the flag like a poncho until he submitted it to his superiors after the fight.
After the war he was a member of the William Lilly Post of the GAR and served as its Quartermaster.
He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Syracuse, NY near the area reserved for the William Lilly GAR (Grand Army of the Republic)Post.
Newspaper obituary in Syracuse, NY dated June 2, 1930: "Peter Kappesser, Holder of Medal of Honor, Dies After Operation". Died at age 91 on May 31,1930, a native of Germany, he came to Syracuse at the age of 13.
