Christian Fleetwood Christian Abraham Fleetwood ( July 21 , 1840 – September 28 , 1914 ) , was a non - commissioned officer in the United States Army , an editor , a musician , and a government official . He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War . Early life and family . Fleetwood was born in Baltimore on July 21 , 1840 , the son of Charles and Anna Maria Fleetwood , both free persons of color . He received his early education in the home of a wealthy sugar merchant , John C . Brunes , and his wife , the latter treating him like her son . He continued his education in the office of the secretary of the Maryland Colonization Society , went briefly to Liberia and Sierra Leone , and graduated in 1860 from Ashmun Institute ( later Lincoln University ) in Oxford , Pennsylvania . He and others published briefly the " Lyceum Observer " in Baltimore , said to be the first African American newspaper in the upper South . With his wife Sara Iredell , whom he married on November 16 , 1869 , he led an active social life . Fleetwood was acquainted with most of the prominent African Americans of the period . They frequently visited his residence , and presented him with a testimonial in 1889 . Civil War . When the American Civil War disrupted trade with Liberia , Fleetwood enlisted into Company G of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Infantry , Union Army , in August 1863 . Due to his educated background , Fleetwood was given the rank of Sergeant upon enlistment and was promoted to Sergeant Major days later , on August 19 . His regiment , assigned to the 3rd Division , saw service with the 10th , 18th , and 25th Army Corps in campaigns in North Carolina and Virginia . On September 29 , 1864 , the 3rd Division , including Fleetwood ' s regiment , participated in the Battle of Chaffin ' s Farm on the outskirts of the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia . During the 4th Regiment ' s charge on the enemy fortifications , Fleetwood supervised the unit ' s left flank . Among the charging soldiers was Sergeant Alfred B . Hilton , the bearer of two flags , one of which had been seized from a wounded sergeant . When Hilton himself was wounded , Fleetwood and another soldier , Charles Veale , each grabbed a flag from him before the colors could touch the ground . Now carrying the American flag , Fleetwood continued forward under heavy fire until it became clear that the unit could not penetrate the enemy defenses . Retreating back to the reserve line , he used the flag to rally a small group of men and continue the fight . For their actions during the battle , Fleetwood , Hilton , and Veale were each issued the Medal of Honor just over six months later , on April 6 , 1865 . Fleetwood ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads simply : " Seized the colors , after 2 color bearers had been shot down , and bore them nobly through the fight . " The medal is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian ' s National Museum of American History . Although every officer of the regiment sent a petition for him to be commissioned an officer , Secretary of War Edwin Stanton did not recommend appointment . Fleetwood was honorably discharged from the Army on May 4 , 1866 . Post - war life . After the war , Fleetwood worked as a bookkeeper in Columbus , Ohio , until 1867 , and in several minor government positions in the Freedmen ' s Bank and War Department , Washington , D . C . He also organized a battalion of D . C . National Guardsmen and , in the 1880s , Washington , D . C . ' s , Colored High School Cadet Corps . It was his military career that probably inspired Fleetwood ' s interest in the Washington colored National Guard and the colored high school cadet corps . The Washington Cadet Corps , organized and commanded by Captain D . Graham on June 12 , 1880 , was expanded into the Sixth Battalion of D . C . National Guards on July 18 , 1887 , with Fleetwood appointed major and commanding officer . After reorganizations , several African American battalion s were consolidated into the First Separate Battalion in 1891 . Passed over as its commanding officer , Fleetwood resigned in 1892 . Meanwhile , he and Major Charles B . Fisher , who had commanded the Fifth Battalion , were instrumental in organizing the Colored High School Cadet Corps of the District of Columbia in 1888 . Fleetwood , the first instructor of the colored high school cadets , served until 1897 , when he was succeeded by Major Arthur Brooks . These two officers developed a tradition of military service among young colored men in Washington which led some of them to enlist in World War I and others to be commissioned at the Colored Officers Training Camp in Fort Des Moines , Iowa . Fleetwood never returned to active duty with any military organization . However , many residents of the District of Columbia recommended that he be appointed as the Commander of the 50th U . S . Colored Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish - American War . This request was not seriously considered by the War Department , and the participation of colored soldiers from the District of Columbia was similarly disregarded . It is not known whether Fleetwood ' s short stature and physical ailments reduced his chances for consideration . His army records state that he was five feet , four and one half inches tall . These records also state that he applied in 1891 for a pension because of " total " deafness in his left ear , the result of " gunshot concussion , " and " severe " deafness in his right ear , the result of catarrh contracted while in the army . His application also stated that these ailments prevented him from speaking or singing in public . For a number of years he served as choirmaster of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church , St . Luke ' s and St . Mary ' s Protestant Episcopal Churches , as well as the Berean Baptist Church . Supported by the community , including the wives of former presidents ( Lucy Webb Hayes and Frances Folsom Cleveland ) , his musical presentations were extremely successful . Death and legacy . He died suddenly of heart failure in Washington , D . C . on September 28 , 1914 , at age 74 . Funeral services were held at St . Luke ' s Episcopal Church . Interment was in Columbian Harmony Cemetery , Washington , D . C . The First Separate Battalion of D . C . National Guards served as escort at his funeral . Among the honorary pallbearer s were such prominent Washingtonians as Arthur Brooks , Daniel Murray , Whitefield McKinlay , and Judge Robert H . Terrell . The participation by the National Guard , and by Arthur Brooks in particular , was an appropriate recognition of the most significant aspects of Fleetwood ' s career . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Sergeant Major , 4th U . S . Colored Troops , Place and date : At Chapins Farm , Va . , September 29 , 1864 . Entered service at : - - - - - - . Birth : Baltimore , Md . Date of issue : April 6 , 1865 . Citation : Seized the colors , after 2 color bearers had been shot down , and bore them nobly through the fight .