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∙ 16y agoCarney served with the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as a sergeant and took part in the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his medal for saving the American flag and planting it on the parapet and holding it while the troops charged. He was wounded three times, but recognizing the Federal troops had to retreat under fire, he struggled back across the battlefield, returning the flag to the Union lines. Before turning over the colors he modestly said, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!"
With the primitive communications of that time, the flag was an important visual contact for troops and many Civil War medals were awarded for protecting and displaying the flag under fire, or for capturing enemy flags. Carney was awarded the Medal of Honor May 23, 1900, nearly 40 years later. More than half such awards from the Civil War were presented 20 or more years after the fact.
In later life, Carney was a postal employee and popular speaker at patriotic events. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, and is buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery New Bedford, Massachusetts . Engraved on his stone monument is a gold image of the Medal of Honor.
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What ultimately happened to the Massachusetts 54th during the civil war?
The 54th Massachusetts continued to serve in the Union forces after the unsuccessful attack on Fort Wagner, which was the climactic scenes of the movie "Glory". That attack was July 18, 1863, and the regiment lost 116 killed, including Colonel Shaw, and another 156 wounded or captured. The Union forces gave up on that attempt to capture Charleston after Fort Wagner.The 54th Massachusetts was part of an expedition to Florida. The regiment fought a rear-guard action during the Battle of Olusteee, or Ocean Pond, February 20, 1864, which was the largest battle of the war in Florida, and the second biggest for the regiment. The regiment was then involved in a supporting mission which was supposed to cut a railroad, in support of Sherman's March to the Sea, and was in a small battle at Honey Hill in Georgia, in November 1864. The regiment's final action was a small battle at Boykin's Mill in South Carolina, in mid April 1865.By August 20, 1865, the members of the regiment were discharged and the regiment disbanded.The Federal government continued to award the Medal of Honor for many years after the war for Civil War valor. More than half of Civil War awards of the Medal came more than twenty years after the war. William Harvey Carney of the 54th Massachusetts was awarded the Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900, for his actions on July 18, 1863 against Fort Wagner. He picked up the regiment's colors after the color bearer fell, and carried them up the breastworks of the Fort and back down. He had planted the flag on the top of the breastworks and held it, though wounded, while the troops attacked. When they had to retreat he carried the colors away, though wounded two more times. He then turned the flag over to another survivor, and said "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground." Carney was the 21st African-American to receive the Medal, but the action during which he earned it was the earliest. He lived until 1908.
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