Editing Christian Abraham Fleetwood

{{short description|United States Army Medal of Honor recipient}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Christian Abraham Fleetwood
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1840|7|21}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1914|9|28|1840|7|21}}
|birth_place= [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]]
|death_place= [[Washington, D.C.]]
|placeofburial= [[Columbian Harmony Cemetery]], Washington, D.C.
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= Sgt Major Christian Fleetwood - American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient - Restoration.jpg
|caption= Christian Fleetwood, as Captain of the Washington Cadet Corps (WCC)
|allegiance= United States of America<br />[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] ([[Union Army]])<br />Washington Colored National Guard aka Washington Cadet Corps<br />[[District of Columbia National Guard|D.C. National Guard]]
|serviceyears= 1863–1866<br />1880-1892
|rank= [[File:Chevrons - Infantry Sergeant Major - CW.png|30px|frameless|left]]<span style="display:none">E-09</span>[[Sergeant major#United States|Sergeant Major]] (Army)<br />[[File:Union army maj rank insignia.jpg|50px|frameless|left]]<span style="display:none">O-04</span>[[Major (rank)|Major]]  (National Guard)
|commands=Washington Cadet Corps (6th, later 7th BN, D.C. National Guard)
|unit= [[4th Regiment United States Colored Troops]],<br />6th, later 7th [[Battalion|BN]] D.C. National Guard
|battles= [[American Civil War]]
*[[Battle of Chaffin's Farm]]
|awards= [[Medal of Honor]]<br /> [[Butler Medal]]
|laterwork= editor, musician, and politician
}}
'''Christian Abraham Fleetwood''' (July 21, 1840 – September 28, 1914), was an [[African American]] [[non-commissioned officer]] in the [[United States Army]], a [[commissioned officer]] in the [[District of Columbia Army National Guard|D.C. National Guard]], an editor, a musician, and a government official. He received the [[Medal of Honor]] for his actions during the [[American Civil War]]. He wrote "The Negro As a Soldier" for the Negro Congress at the [[Cotton States and International Exposition]] in Atlanta, Georgia held in November 1895.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/writings1.htm | title=The Negro as a Soldier - Richmond National Battlefield Park (U.S. National Park Service) }}</ref>

==Pre-war life==

=== Early life ===
Fleetwood was born in [[Baltimore]] on July 21, 1840, the son of Charles and Anna Maria Fleetwood; both were [[free people of color|free persons of color]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqVoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|title=Brothers in Valor: Battlefield Stories of the 89 African Americans Awarded the Medal of Honor|last=Jefferson|first=Robert F. Jr|date=October 26, 2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4930-3175-7|pages=7–9|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9grMa_84YC&pg=PA89|title=African Americans in the Military|last=Reef|first=Catherine|date=May 14, 2014|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0775-2|pages=89–[https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9grMa_84YC&pg=PA90 90]|language=en}}</ref> He established and published ''The Lyceum Observer'', said to be the first newspaper in the [[Upper South]] to be owned and operated by an African American.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

=== Education ===
He received his early education in the home of a wealthy sugar merchant and chairman of Baltimore's Chamber of Commerce, [[John C. Brunes]], and his wife. The latter treated Fleetwood like her son and taught him to read and write.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://armyhistory.org/sergeant-major-christian-fleetwood/|title=Sergeant Major Christian Fleetwood – The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army|last=Clifford|first=James H.|date=September 22, 2017|website=Army Historical Foundation|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208063638/https://armyhistory.org/sergeant-major-christian-fleetwood/|archive-date=February 8, 2020|access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref> He continued his education at the [[Maryland State Colonization Society]],<ref name=":0" /> went briefly to [[Liberia]] and [[Sierra Leone]], and graduated in 1860 from Ashmun Institute (later known as [[Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)|Lincoln University]]) in [[Oxford, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=":1" /> 

==Civil War==

=== Enlistment ===
When the [[American Civil War]] disrupted travel by ship to Liberia,<ref name=":1" /> Fleetwood went to Baltimore's [[Camp Birney]]<ref name=":0" /> formerly called Camp Belger<ref>{{Cite web |title=Druid Hill Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=7594 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> and enlisted into Company G of the [[4th Regiment United States Colored Infantry]], [[Union Army]], on August 11<ref name=":3" /> or August 17, 1863.<ref name=":1" /> Due to his educated background, Fleetwood was given the rank of [[Sergeant#United States|sergeant]] upon enlistment and was promoted to [[Sergeant Major#United States|sergeant major]] on August 19.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> His regiment, assigned to the 3rd Division, saw service with the 10th, 18th, and 25th Army Corps in campaigns in [[North Carolina]] and [[Virginia]], particularly on July 16, 1864, in the [[Second Battle of Petersburg|Battle of Petersburg]]<ref name=Martin/> and on September 29–30, 1864, in the [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=Martin>{{Cite book|title=African American War Heroes|last=Martin|first=James B.|date=May 12, 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-366-0|editor-last=Martin|editor-first=James B.|pages=68–71|language=en|chapter=Fleetwood, Christian|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzeaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68}}</ref>

=== Battle of Chaffin's Farm and Medal of Honor ===
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 States of America|Confederate]] capital of [[Richmond, Virginia]]. During the 4th Regiment's charge on the enemy fortifications, Fleetwood supervised the unit's left flank.<ref name="Martin" /> 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 [[Flag of the United States|American flag]], Fleetwood continued forward under heavy fire until it became clear that the unit could not penetrate the enemy defenses. Retreating to the [[Military reserve|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 two color bearers had been shot down, and bore them nobly through the fight."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Beyer|editor-first=W. F.|editor-last2=Keydel|editor-first2=O.F.|title=Deeds of Valor: How America's Civil War Heroes Won the Congressional Medal of Honor|year=2000|publisher=Smithmark Publishers|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7651-1769-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/deedsofvalorhowa0000unse_f4c5/page/434 434–435]|url=https://archive.org/details/deedsofvalorhowa0000unse_f4c5/page/434}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Civil War Medal of Honor recipients, A–L|work=Medal of Honor recipients|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html|publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|access-date=September 6, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901225510/https://history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html|archive-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref> The medal is now part of the collection of the [[Smithsonian]]'s [[National Museum of American History]].<ref name="NMAH">{{cite web|url=http://www.civilwar.si.edu/soldiering_medal_of_honor.html|title=Medal of Honor, Christian A. Fleetwood|website=CivilWar@Smithsonian|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=August 27, 2008}}</ref> Sergeant Major Fleetwood's Medal of Honor was donated by his daughter Edith Fleetwood in 1948.<ref name="NMAH" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lubar |first=Steven |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2524zxx |title=Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |jstor=j.ctv2524zxx |isbn=978-0-674-97104-2}}</ref> Fleetwood also won a [[Butler Medal|General B. F. Butler Medal]], presumably for his action in the same engagement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence: 1818-1913|last=Moore Dunbar-Nelson|first=Alice|date=August 25, 2000 |orig-date=1st ed. 1914|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-41142-2|page=128|language=en}}</ref>

=== Discharge ===
Although every officer of the regiment sent a petition for him to be commissioned an officer, Secretary of War [[Edwin Stanton]] did not recommend an appointment.<ref name=":1" /> Fleetwood was honorably discharged from the Army on May 4, 1866.<ref name=":1" /> Fleetwood's 1864 service is in part detailed; in a diary, he wrote that year full of entries about his experiences during the war.<ref>Diary of Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood, 1864, excerpts. National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox, The Making of African American Identity: Vol I, 1500–1865, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/identity/text7/fleetwooddiary.pdf</ref>

==Post-war life==
[[File:African American Medal of Honor recipient with Non Commissioned Officers of the 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, Fort Slocum, April, 1865 LCCN93505852 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Standing At left Sgt Major Christian Fleetwood wearing both the Medal of Honor and the Butler Medal with Non-Commissioned Officers of the 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, Fort Slocum, April 1865]]

=== Jobs and 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 in Washington, D.C. With his wife [[Sara Iredell Fleetwood|Sara Iredell]], whom he married on November 16, 1869, he led an active social life.<ref name=":1" /> Sara Iredell's grandmother, Louisa Burr, was the sister of Philadelphia abolitionist [[John (Jean) Pierre Burr]] and daughter of U.S. vice president, [[Aaron Burr]].{{Sfn|Maillard|2013|p=273}} Sara's maternal uncle, novelist [[Frank J. Webb]], lived with the couple in Washington<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Maillard|first=Mary|date=2013|title='Faithfully Drawn from Real Life': Autobiographical Elements in Frank J. Webb's The Garies and Their Friends|journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography|volume=137|issue=3|page=292|doi=10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.3.0261|jstor=10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.3.0261}}</ref> in 1870 while writing for [[Frederick Douglass]]' ''New Era''.<ref name=":2" /> The Fleetwoods had one daughter, Edith.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Harley|first=Sharon|title=Facts on File Encyclopedia of Black women in America|date=1997|publisher=Facts on File|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-8160-3428-4|editor-last=Hine|editor-first=Darlene Clark|location=New York|pages=72–73|chapter=Fleetwood, Sara Iredell (1849–1908)|oclc=35209436|editor-last2=Thompson|editor-first2=Kathleen|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/blackwomeninamer00edit/page/72/mode/2up/search/Edith}}</ref> 
They were well acquainted with most of the prominent African Americans of the period, many of who frequently visited their residence. Members of Washington's black elite society presented Fleetwood with a testimonial in 1889.

[[File:Christian Abraham Fleetwood.jpg|thumb|right|Christian A. Fleetwood, as major of the 7th bn [[District of Columbia National Guard|DCNG]], ca. 1889 (note the cap badge with crossed muskets and unit number "7")]]

=== National Guard ===
In January 1881, Fleetwood was elected Captain of the Washington Colored National Guard, better known as ''Washington Cadets'' or ''Washington Cadet Corps'' (WCC, not to be confused with the ''Washington High School Cadets'', in which Fleetwood later became involved). At first, the WCC was organized as a single company and commanded by Captain [[George D. Graham]] on June 12, 1880, when Fleetwood joined the corps as a commissioned officer. The WCC expanded to a three-, then four-company-battalion and remained an all-black unit, including its commissioned officers. 

On July 18, 1887, the WCC transformed into the 6th Battalion of the [[District of Columbia Army National Guard]] (DCNG). Fleetwood organized that battalion and became its commanding officer with the rank of major. The DCNG amalgamated seven battalions with four of them consisting of white members and three of them being "black" the ''Butler Zouaves'' (organized in 1863), the ''Washington Cadet Corps'' (1880), and the ''Capital City Guards'' (1882).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War I|last=Roberts|first=Frank E.|date=June 1, 2004|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-5911-4734-3|page=37|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://www.stevenson.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/history/blog-news-events/christian-fleetwood-and-now-for-the-rest-of-the-story|title=Christian Fleetwood: And Now..... For the Rest of the Story|last=Johnston|first=Glenn|website=www.stevenson.edu|publisher=Stevenson University|access-date=April 9, 2022}}</ref> While the Butler Zouaves, was disbanded in 1888, the two remaining black battalions were restricted to two companies each and merged into the newly created ''First Separate Battalion'' in 1891.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=Martin K.|date=1971|title='The Black Militia in the District of Columbia, 1867-1898.|journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.|volume=48|issue=71/72|pages=411–420|jstor=40067783}}</ref> The Butler Zouaves was disassembled by Albert Ordway, a leader of the National Guard, because of his displeasure towards the black regiments.<ref name=":6" /> Ordway was unsuccessful at disbanding the other two black units.<ref name=":6" /> When Frederick C. Revells from the Capital City Guards was made the new commander, Fleetwood felt passed over himself and resigned shortly afterward, in 1892.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lao-CgAAQBAJ&q=Black+American+Military+Leaders:+A+Biographical+Dictionary|title=Black American Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary|last=Hawkins|first=Walter L.|date=April 26, 2016|publisher=McFarland Inc.|isbn=978-1-4766-1235-5|page=160|language=en}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Fleetwood and Major [[Charles B. Fisher]], who had commanded the Fifth Battalion (Butler Zouaves), were instrumental in organizing the ''Colored High School Cadet Corps'' of the [[District of Columbia]] in 1888. Also known as the ''Washington High School Cadets'' (see above), the corps' first company was recruited at [[M Street High School|M Street High]] (later to become [[Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)|Dunbar High School]]).<ref>[https://discoveringyesterday.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/washington-high-dc-school-cadet-corps/ "Washington High DC School Cadet Corps."] ''Discovering Yesterday. Preserving the history of ordinary people.'' December 10, 2011. Retrieved February 06, 2021.</ref> Fleetwood, the first instructor of the corps, 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 [[Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School|Colored Officers Training Camp]] in [[Des Moines, Iowa|Fort Des Moines, Iowa]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

=== After National Guard ===
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 [[United States Department of War|War Department]], and the participation of colored soldiers from the District of Columbia was similarly disregarded.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=Roger D. |date=2001 |title="His Influence with the Colored People Is Marked": Christian Fleetwood's Quest for Command in the War with Spain and Its Aftermath |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26304923 |journal=Army History |issue=51 |pages=20–28 |jstor=26304923 |issn=1546-5330}}</ref> 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, which he finally received 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. The last monthly pension payment was disbursed in September 1914, by then 24 [[United States dollar|U.S. Dollars]]. His application also stated that these ailments prevented him from speaking or singing in public.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezN1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|title=Out of the Storm: A Legacy|last=Cochran|first=Anthony B.|date=October 12, 2018|publisher=Outskirts Press|isbn=978-1-9772-0039-6|pages=58–59|language=en}}</ref>

Before being hampered by his progressing deafness, Fleetwood served for several years as a 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience|last=Johnson|first=Charles Jr.|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517055-9|editor-last=Appiah|editor-first=Anthony|pages=[https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop0004unse/page/662 662]|language=en|chapter=Fleetwood, Christian|editor-last2=Gates|editor-first2=Henry Louis|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMZMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA662|url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop0004unse/page/662}}</ref>

==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 (Washington, D.C.)|St. Luke's Episcopal Church]]. The interment was in [[Columbian Harmony Cemetery]], Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite book|last=Martin|first=James B.|chapter=Fleetwood, Christian|title=African American War Heroes|editor-last=Martin|editor-first=James B.|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2014|isbn=978-1-61069-366-0|page=70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzeaBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> The First Separate Battalion of D.C. National Guards served as an escort at his funeral. Among the honorary [[pallbearer]]s were Major Arthur Brooks and such prominent Washingtonians as [[Daniel Alexander Payne Murray|Daniel Murray]], [[Whitefield McKinlay]], and Judge [[Robert Heberton Terrell|Robert H. Terrell]]. The participation by the [[United States National Guard|National Guard]], and by Arthur Brooks in particular, was an appropriate recognition of the most significant aspects of Fleetwood's career.<ref>[https://www.afrh.gov/afrh/news/newslet/newslet_0108communicator.pdf "Army Veteran Paves the Way for African Americans in the Military." ''Armed Forced Retirement Home.'' January 31, 2008, p. 7.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007103758/https://www.afrh.gov/afrh/news/newslet/newslet_0108communicator.pdf |date=October 7, 2012 }} Accessed October 28, 2012.</ref> His remains were moved to [[National Harmony Memorial Park]] when Columbia Harmony Cemetery closed in 1959.<ref name=harrissmith>{{cite news|last1=Harris|first1=Hamil R.|last2=Smith|first2=Leef|title=On Memorial Day, Soldiers and Citizens Honor Sacrifices of Those Who Fought for Freedom|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 27, 1997|page=B12}}</ref>

==Medal of Honor citation==
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, [[4th Regiment United States Colored Troops|4th U.S. Colored Troops]], Place and date: At [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm|Chapin's Farm, Va.]], September 29, 1864. Entered service at: unknown. Birth: Baltimore, Maryland. Date of issue: April 6, 1865.<ref name=colors/>

His citations read:

<blockquote>The President presented Sergeant Major Fleetwood the Medal of Honor because of his fearlessness during the [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm|Chapin's Farm, Virginia]] battle among his men in the [[4th Regiment United States Colored Troops|4th U.S. Colored Infantry]]. Fleetwood had seized the two Color Bearer's colors after they were shot down. He wore them honorably throughout the rest of the fight. <ref name=colors>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ac4nDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA227|title=The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects|last=Kurin|first=Richard|date=2016-10-25|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-312815-1|page=227|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

==See also==

{{Portal|Biography|American Civil War|United States}}

*[[List of African American Medal of Honor recipients]]
*[[List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F#B|List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
:{{ACMH}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Christian Abraham Fleetwood}}
* {{Find a Grave|7101937|work=Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients|date=January 21, 2003|author=Don Morfe|access-date=September 6, 2010}}
* {{Hall of Valor|491|access-date=September 6, 2010}}
* {{Cite web |access-date=September 24, 2010 |url=http://www.nps.gov/rich/flee~172.htm |title=Fleetwood, Christian, U.S. National Park Service}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleetwood, Christian}}
[[Category:1840 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:Union army soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Baltimore]]
[[Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:African Americans in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:Burials at Columbian Harmony Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American military personnel]]
[[Category:Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni]]