Corporal Louis Renninger - Eugene, OR
Posted by: 
TheBeanTeam
N 44° 02.465 W 123° 04.546
10T E 493929 N 4876438
Corporal Louis Renninger. A Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
Waymark Code: WM15A
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/08/2005
Views: 53
This Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, served as a Corporal in Company H, 37th Ohio Infantry, Union Army. At the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 22, 1863, he showed Gallantry as a member of the "volunteer storming party” in the charge against the Confederate positions. He was one of six volunteers to receive the Medal of Honor for this action. He received his citation August 15, 1894.
This Civil War Monument stands near Corporal Renninger's grave
A total of one hundred forty-one (141) Medals of Honor were awarded for "gallantry in action" during the Vicksburg Campaign.
This number includes:
122 army Medals of Honor
19 naval Medals of Honor
41 recipients from the state of Ohio
6 recipients from the 37th Ohio regiment
Corporal Louis Renninger was one of these men.
He was born August 25, 1841 at Liverpool, OH where he enlisted in the army to join the fight between the states.
His citation is simple and deceiving in its simplicity. It reads:
Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."
The story it doesn’t tell is this one from the records at
Americancivilwar.com
At 10:00 A. M. on May 22, 1863, brigades from three corps of Grant's army assaulted the city. A long bitter struggle took place and although the assault showed some success at first, the Confederates quickly restored their original lines of defense. The Union army suffered 3,199 casualties, while Pemberton's forces lost less than 500 men.
Despite the casualties and being in the heat of the battle Louis Renninger survived to become an Oregon pioneer and is the only Medal of Honor recipient buried in the Eugene Oregon Metropolitan area.
Medal of Honor recipient Renninger died November 17, 1908 at the age of 67 and is buried at the Eugene Oregon Pioneer Cemetery.
To log this waymark visit provide a respectful picture of yourself or your GPSr at the site. For those who do not have a camera you may email the names of the individuals resting to the south of Corporal Renninger's resting place.