How Many Black Union Soldiers Won the Medal of Honor?



Christian Fleetwood's Medal of Honor, Smithsonian Institute

 In the opening chapter of Elizabeth Leonard’s new book Men of Color to Arms!: Black Soldiers, Indian Wars, and the Quest for Equality, the author makes the following statement: “In the course of their military service, more than a dozen soldiers of the USCT earned the Congressional Medal of Honor” (p.8).

While this statement is technically true, the lack of specificity left me somewhat puzzled and concerned. So I checked to see the source for this statement and found that the citation came from James M. McPherson’s Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction (1992 edition) – the standard undergraduate textbook used by most colleges to teach the Civil War era. This puzzled me even more, because Leonard also cited McPherson’s The Negro’s Civil War, which clearly states that “seventeen black soldiers…were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor (p.241).

So why only casually refer to “more than a dozen”? I have no idea. But it started me thinking about the confusion that seems to reign on this subject. Most books say that 16 black soldiers won the Medal of Honor – some, like McPherson’s, say 17.

Well, you may be asking yourself, what’s the correct answer? Before we delve into that subject, we should begin with several understandings. First, we are only referring to the total number of foot soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor – sailors are not included. Second, we are referring to Black Union Soldiers, not just United States Colored Troops (for more on the topic of black soldiers in white regiments, see The Forgotten Black Soldiers in White Regiments During the Civil War by Juanita D. Moss). As you will see, there was a black soldier in a white regiment who recieved a Medal of Honor.

Keeping those two factors in mind, the number of black Union soldiers who won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War is 18.

I have listed all 18 below and have included their name, rank, unit, the battle in which they committed their act of heroism, and the date of issue for their medal. It is interesting to note that if you go by the date of issue, the first Medals of Honor issued to African American Union soldiers went to the heroes of New Market Heights.

1.) Pvt. William H. Barnes: 38th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

2.) 1st Sgt. Powhatan Beaty: 5th USCT Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

3.) 1st Sgt. James Bronson: 5th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

4.) Sgt. Maj. Christian Fleetwood: 4th USCT Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

5.) Pvt. James B. Gardiner: 36th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

6.) Sgt. Alfred Hilton: 4th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

7.) Sgt. Milton M. Holland: 5th USCT Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

8.) Cpl. Miles James: 36th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

9.) 1st Sgt. Alexander Kelly: 6th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

10.) 1st Sgt. Robert Pinn: 5th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

11.) 1st Sgt. Edward Ratcliff: 38th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

12.) Pvt. Charles Veal: 4th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, April 6, 1865

13.) Cpl. Decatur Dorsey: 39th USCT, The Crater, November 8, 1865

14.) Sgt. Maj. Thomas R. Hawkins: 6th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, February 8, 1870

15.) Sgt. James H. Harris, 38th USCT, Battle of New Market Heights, February 18, 1874

16.) Sgt. William H. Carney: 54th Massachusetts, Battery Wagner, May 23, 1900

17.) Pvt. Bruce Anderson: 142nd New York, Second Battle of Fort Fisher, December 28, 1914

18.) Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith: 55th Massachusetts, Battle of Honey Hill, January 16, 2001