Preserving The Nation

The 4^th U.S. Colored Infantry was organized in Baltimore in July 1863, and Fleetwood, a publisher, became the regiment’s sergeant major. On September 29, 1864, at Chaffin’s Farm on the outskirts of Richmond, Va., the regiment charged a Confederate position with Fleetwood leading on the left flank. When two of the color bearers went down, he grabbed the American flag and carried it to the end of the battle. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

In May 1861, Brownell and his regiment, known as the 11^th Fire Zouaves—because they were New York City firefighters—arrived in Washington, and were mustered into federal service. On May 24, the Zouaves crossed the Potomac River into Alexandria, Va. When the regimental commander, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, was shot dead while attempting to take down a Confederate flag, Brownell shot the innkeeper who killed his colonel. In 1877 he received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Henry Algeron du Pont graduated first in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, just after the beginning of the Civil War, in 1861. While remaining loyal to his native state of Delaware, he would see service at the battles of Third Winchester and Fishers Hill. In 1898, du Pont’s actions at Cedar Creek would be officially recognized when he received the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. Du Pont would return to Delaware in 1875 where he would become president of a railroad company and be twice elected to the U. S. Senate.

Rathbone, an insurance executive and volunteer firefighter in New York, was the sergeant major of his militia regiment. On April 19, 1861, four days after Lincoln called for the states to assemble 75,000 militia, the regiment left New York for Washington to be mustered into federal service. In June, Rathbone and his regiment returned to New York. The regiment was called into federal service two more times during the war in 1862 and in 1863.

Reed was a talented artist who filled several sketchbooks depicting the everyday life of average Soldiers. He enlisted as a bugler and served with his battery until 1864 when he was detailed as an assistant topographical engineer to draw maps for the Army of the Potomac. In 1895, 32 years after the event, he earned the Medal of Honor for rescuing his battery commander at the battle of Gettysburg.