Juneteenth: 5 Civil War battles that black Union soldiers played a key role

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, June 18, 2024

New Market Heights – Sept. 29-30, 1864

Christian Fleetwood (1840-1914), a black Union noncommissioned officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the 1864 battle of New Market Heights during the American Civil War. | Public Domain

Also known as the battle of Chaffin’s Farm, the fight at New Market Heights was part of the broader effort by Union General Ulysses S. Grant to make the final push into Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy.

Three regiments of African Americans under Major General Benjamin Butler were part of the attack on the Confederate positions, successfully taking important defensive positions away from the southern forces.

Fourteen of the black soldiers who took part in the attack eventually received the Medal of Honor.

“Maj. Gen. Butler desperately wanted to reward the black soldiers who had shown extraordinarily valor at Chaffin’s Farm. He could not promote the black sergeants to lieutenants because they were not allowed to become commissioned officers,” wrote William E. Welsh of the Warfare History Network in 2021.

“Instead, he decided to use the Medal of Honor, which had been established in 1862. At that time the requirements for the Medal of Honor were less stringent than modern standards, yet it was still an award of great distinction.”