From February 29, 1840, to December 9, 1908, American soldier William H. Carney participated in the American Civil War. Born into slavery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1900 for his valor in keeping the regimental colors intact during the Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863. Despite being among the final African Americans to be awarded the Medal of Honor for Civil War service, the action for which he was recognized preceded that of any other recipient. A few African Americans received the Medal of Honor as early as April 1865.
William H. Carney Christian Biography
William H. Carney was born into slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 29, 1840. How he came to be free is unknown. According to most accounts, he fled via the Underground Railroad and joined his father in Massachusetts. Other family members were released when their master died or was bought.
Christian soldiers in the Civil War
Carney joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in March 1863. He was later promoted to sergeant due to his bravery and actions during the battle of Fort Wagner.
On July 18, 1863, he took part in the assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. In the end, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his behavior there. After the color guard was killed, Carney took the American flag and marched forward with it despite his serious injuries. “Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!” he said as he struggled back across the battlefield after the Union troops were forced to retreat under fire. He was shot in the right arm, leg, and chest, with the final shot barely hitting his head. Eventually, he returned to his own lines and gave the colors to another 54th survivor.
Due to his wounds’ disability, he was honorably discharged in June 1864.
Post-war
Following his release, William H. Carney went back to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and started working as a streetlight maintainer. After that, he spent 32 years delivering mail. In 1890, he served as the first vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ New Bedford Branch 18. Clara Heronia is the daughter of his marriage to Susannah Williams. After living in California for a few years, he returned in 1869.
Nearly 37 years after the events at Fort Wagner, on May 23, 1900, Carney received his Medal of Honor (more than half of such awards from the Civil War were given 20 or more years after the fact). Some have mistakenly claimed that he was the first African American man to receive the medal, despite the fact that 20 other African American men had already received it. This is because his combat actions took place earlier than the others. According to his citation;
When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.
Shortly after receiving his medal in 1901, a song titled “Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground” was written about his courageous actions.
In his 1891 book A Brave Black Regiment, Captain Luis F. Emilio, the 54th’s most junior captain, wrote: “It is due, however, to the following-named enlisted men that they be recorded above their fellows for especial merit: [1st] Sgt. Robert J. Simmons, [Col.] Sgt. William H. Carney…”
On December 9, 1908, Carney passed away at the Boston City Hospital due to complications following an elevator mishap at the Massachusetts State House, where he was employed by the Department of State. At the request of his wife and daughter, his body slept for a day in the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street. In Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he was laid to rest in the family plot. An image of the Medal of Honor is engraved on his gravestone.
Medal of Honor memorabilia
His New Bedford residence at 128 Mill Street is on the National Register of Historic Places, and an elementary school in New Bedford, Massachusetts, bears his name. The African-American Medal of Honor Recipients Memorial in Wilmington, Delaware, features his statue and that of Private Milton L. Olive.
Atop a monument honoring African American Civil War and Spanish American War troops, Sgt. Carney’s statue is also prominently displayed in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, at West Point Cemetery.
Carney’s accomplishments during the Civil War earned him recognition as one of the Library of Virginia’s “Strong Men & Women in Virginia History” in 2015. The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment, created by Augustus Saint Gaudens and situated on the Boston Common, is a representation of Carney’s regiment.
