Thomas R. Kerr

{{Short description|US Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient (1843–1926)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox military person |name = Thomas R. Kerr |image = Kerr, Thomas R c1895 public domain.jpg |birth_date = April 24, 1843 |death_date = {{death date and age|1926|11|14|1843|4|24}} |birth_place = Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland |death_place = |burial_place = Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia |allegiance = {{flag|United States of America|1861}} |branch = {{army|USA}} |service_years = 1862–1865 |rank = Captain |unit = {{Flagicon|Pennsylvania}} Company{{nbsp}}C, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry |battles = American Civil War * Battle of Moorefield |awards = {{Flagicon image|Medal of Honor ribbon.svg}} Medal of Honor }}

'''Thomas R. Kerr''' (April 24, 1843 – November 14, 1926) was a soldier in the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Kerr received his country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor. Kerr's medal was won for his capturing the flag of the Confederate 8th Virginia Cavalry Regiment in the Battle of Moorefield that occurred in West Virginia on August 7, 1864. He was honored with the award on June 13, 1894.

==Medal of Honor citation== thumb|upright=1.4|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery {{quotation|The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain (Cavalry) Thomas R. Kerr, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 7 August 1864, while serving with Company C, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in action at Moorefield, West Virginia. After being most desperately wounded, Captain Kerr captured the colors of the 8th Virginia Cavalry (Confederate States of America).<ref name="HVthomasRkerr">{{cite web |title=The Hall of Valor Project - Thomas R. Kerr |publisher=Hall of Valor Military Times Project - Sightline Media Group |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3032 |access-date=2021-07-13}}</ref>}}

==Background== Kerr was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant with the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry in November 1862. He was promoted to captain in May 1864 and resigned in June 1865.<ref>[http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/cavalry/14thcav/14thcavcoc.html Muster Roll]</ref> Kerr is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgRrZXJyEgZ0aG9tYXMaAXI-/ |title=Burial Detail: Kerr, Thomas R. (Section 3, Grave 1623) |work= ANC Explorer|publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |id=(Official website)}}</ref>

==Battle== Kerr earned his medal in the Battle of Moorefield on August 7, 1864.<ref name="MOHkerr">{{cite web |title=Thomas R. Kerr |publisher=Congressional Medal of Honor Society |url=https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/thomas-r-kerr |access-date=2021-06-17}}</ref> The battle occurred in a portion of West Virginia that was hostile to the Union during the American Civil War. Kerr led a group of 60 men, disguised as Confederate soldiers, into a Confederate camp early in the morning. Two Union brigades under the command of Brigadier General William W. Averell followed, and the Union force surprised and routed a larger Confederate cavalry force that had burned the Pennsylvania town of Chambersburg only a week earlier.{{#tag:ref|Two brigades of Confederate cavalry, led by Brigadier General John McCausland, burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, after the town refused to pay a ransom.<ref name="Slease158">{{harvnb|Slease|Gancas|1999|p=158}}</ref> Over 550 buildings were destroyed and 2,000 people became homeless.<ref name="NPSBurningCham">{{cite web |title=McCausland and the Burning of Chambersburg |publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |url=https://www.nps.gov/cebe/learn/historyculture/mccausland-and-the-burning-of-chambersburg.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427141326/https://www.nps.gov/cebe/learn/historyculture/mccausland-and-the-burning-of-chambersburg.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 April 2021 |access-date=2021-07-13}}</ref>|group=Note}} Kerr was shot in the face and thigh, and his horse killed—yet he captured the flag of the 8th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and rode away on the color bearer's horse.<ref name="Slease161">{{harvnb|Slease|Gancas|1999|p=161}}</ref> Averell's small division captured 27 officers and 393 enlisted men, 4 artillery pieces, and 400 horses. The Confederate killed and wounded was unknown. Union losses were 7 killed and 21 wounded.<ref name="Ainsworth3">{{harvnb|Ainsworth|Kirkley|1902|p=3}}</ref> A Union soldier that fought in the battle estimated that the "loss to the enemy in killed, wounded and captured was near eight hundred".<ref name="Sutton150">{{harvnb|Sutton|2001|p=150}}</ref> The loss severely damaged Confederate cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley.<ref name="NPSMoorefield">{{cite web |title=Battle Detail - Moorefield |publisher=National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior |url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=WV013 |access-date=2017-01-28}}</ref>

==Notes==

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===References=== {{refbegin|20em}} *{{Cite book | editor-last1 = Ainsworth | editor-first1 = Fred C. | editor-last2 = Kirkley | editor-first2 = Joseph W. | title = The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Additions and Corrections to Series I Volume XLIII Part 1 | publisher = Government Printing Office | year = 1902 | location = Washington, DC | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HBpEAQAAMAAJ&q=I+think+him+a+trifling+man+and+a+poor+soldier&pg=PA35 | oclc = 427057 }} *{{Cite book | last1 = Slease | first1 = William Davis | last2 = Gancas | first2 = Ron | title = The Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry in the Civil War: A History of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry from its Organization until the Close of the Civil War, 1861-1865 | publisher = Soldiers' & Sailors' Memorial Hall and Military Museum | year = 1999 | orig-year=1915 | location = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | oclc = 44503009 | isbn = 978-0-96449-529-6 }} *{{Cite book | last = Sutton | first = Joseph J. | title = History of the Second Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry Volunteers, During the War of the Rebellion | publisher = Blue Acorn Press | year = 2001 | orig-year=1892 | location = Huntington, WV | oclc = 263148491 | isbn = 978-0-9628866-5-2 }} {{refend}}

==External links== * {{cite web|url=http://arlingtoncemetery.net/trkerr.htm|title=Thomas R. Kerr|publisher=at ArlingtonCemetery.net|id=(Unofficial website)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Thomas R.}} Category:1843 births Category:1926 deaths Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Category:Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Category:People from Coleraine, County Londonderry Category:Military personnel from Pittsburgh Category:Union army officers Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Category:Military personnel from County Londonderry