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This poem was written for Mervin H. Dochterman's contest "Out of the Past".
The call for volunteers came in eighteen sixty three,
They were needed in the fight to keep their brothers free.
William Carney heard the call and didn’t hesitate,
This freed black man living safe in a far northern state,
Chose to be a soldier in the all black infantry
Of the Massachusetts fifty fourth, Company C.
They, to South Carolina went, untested yet it’s true,
The assault on Fort Wagner, their first battle dressed in blue.
As evening fell, the order came to charge the stronghold,
Bill Carney said a prayer and watched the flag unfold.
“Attack! Attack! They called out and ran through bullets flying,
Heedless now as on they came, past the dead and dying.
Ahead of him, Bill Carney saw, the color bearer downed.
His rifle dropped, he caught the flag before it hit the ground.
Unarmed now and flag held close, to the front lines he drew
So his company there could see the red, white and blue.
He stumbled once when a bullet hit, then with scarce a moan
He made it through the rampart and found himself alone.
Of his company, only he made it in alive.
He held the flag closer still and vowed he would survive
To bring back the flag he loved and never let it down.
Though hit again, blood flowing free over skin of brown
He went back, through the lines, guarding his country’s standard,
Hearing still the cannon fire he kept moving forward.
Though shots rang out that didn’t miss, he bravely stumbled on
Bullets now in arm and chest, he was bowed but not forgone.
Before he came upon his surviving infantry,
One more bullet grazed the head of Sergeant Bill Carney.
He handed in his precious flag with cheering all around,
“I did my duty, boys,” he said. “This flag never touched the ground.”
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Sergeant William Carney was twenty-three years old on July 18, 1863 when the battle of Fort Wagner in South Carolina took place during the American Civil War. This was his first exposure to battle since becoming a member of the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry’s Company C. Before volunteering for the North’s army, he had been studying to enter the ministry but felt that he could better serve God by serving his country first. Sergeant Carney survived the bullet wounds to his legs, chest, arm and head but was never able to realize his dream of entering the ministry. Thirty-seven years after the Battle of Fort Wagner he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died at his home in New Bedford Massachusetts on December 9, 1908.
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