Bloody Lane Trail-Stop 6

Stop 6 - Medal of Honor

It was here where the First Delaware Infantry was on the front line of French’s Division in their attack on the road. Lt. Charles Tanner remembered that in “less than five minutes, 286 men out of 635, and eight of ten company commanders, lay wounded or dead on that bloody slope…and our dearly beloved colors were lying within twenty yards of the frowning lines of muskets, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of nine heroes, who died trying to plant them in that road of death.”

 

Lt. Tanner was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the flag of the First Delaware.

Tanner rushed forward to save his flag and “while covering the short distance, it seemed as if a million bees were singing in the air. But I had reached the goal, had caught up the staff which was already splintered by shot, and the colors pierced with many a hole, and stained here and there with the lifeblood of our comrades, when a bullet shattered my arm. Luckily my legs were still serviceable, and, seizing precious bunting with my left hand, I made the best eighty yard time on record, receiving two more wounds.”

Follow the trail toward the visitor center, stopping at the two cannon for the next stop

 

• Introduction and Map
• Stop 1 - Mumma Farm
• Stop 2 - Roulette Farm
• Stop 3 - Uphill to the Sunken Road
• Stop 4 - Fire!
• Stop 5 - Sunken Road to Bloody Lane
• Stop 6 - Medal of Honor
• Stop 7 - Tompkins’ Battery and Conclusion
• Table of Organization