Born in
Saint Mary's County, Maryland, Harris worked as a farmer before joining the U.S. Army from
Great Mills at age 36. He enlisted on February 14, 1864, as a
private in Company B of the
38th United States Colored Troops regiment. He was promoted to
corporal five months later, on July 25, and to
sergeant two months after that, on September 10. At the
Battle of Chaffin's Farm, on September 29, 1864, Harris' regiment was among a
division of black troops assigned to attack the center of the
Confederate defenses at New Market Heights. The defenses consisted of two lines of
abatis and one line of
palisades manned by Brigadier General
John Gregg's
Texas Brigade. The attack was met with intense Confederate fire; over fifty percent of the black troops were killed, captured, or wounded. The initial attack stalled at the abatis, but when a renewed effort began, Harris and two other men of the 38th USCT, Private
William H. Barnes and Sergeant
Edward Ratcliff, ran at the head of the assault. Being the first to breach the defenses, the three soldiers engaged the Confederates in hand-to-hand combat. They were soon joined by the remainder of their division, and the Confederate force was routed. Over seven years later, on February 18, 1874, he was issued the Medal of Honor for "[g]allantry in the assault" at Chaffin's Farm. Harris died at the approximate age of 69 and was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington County, Virginia. ==Medal of Honor citation==