William Harvey Carney was born into
slavery in
Norfolk, Virginia, on February 29, 1840. How he made his way to freedom is not certain. According to most accounts, he escaped through the
Underground Railroad, and joined his father in
Massachusetts. Other members of their family were freed by purchase or by the death of their master. He took part in the July 18, 1863, assault on
Fort Wagner in
Charleston, South Carolina. His actions there ultimately earned him the
Medal of Honor. When the
color guard was killed, Carney retrieved the U.S. flag and marched forward with it, despite serious wounds. When the Union troops were forced to retreat under fire, he struggled back across the battlefield (he was shot in both his right arm and leg as well as his chest, with the last shot fired barely hitting his head), and, eventually returning to his own lines and turning over the colors to another survivor of the 54th, saying, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He received an
honorable discharge due to disability from his wounds in June 1864.
Post-war After his discharge, Carney returned to
New Bedford, Massachusetts, and took a job maintaining the city's streetlights. He then delivered mail for 32 years. He was a founding vice president of the New Bedford Branch 18 of the
National Association of Letter Carriers, in 1890. His citation reads: When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded. In 1901, shortly after his medal was awarded, a song was published about his daring exploits: "
Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground". Captain
Luis F. Emilio, the most junior captain of the 54th, who had been left in charge during the attack on Battery Wagner by the deaths or wounding of all of his superiors, in his 1891 book
A Brave Black Regiment wrote: "It is due, however, to the following-named enlisted men that they be recorded above their fellows for especial merit: [1st] Sgt.
Robert J. Simmons, [Col.] Sgt. William H. Carney..." Carney died at the Boston City Hospital on December 9, 1908, of complications from an elevator accident at the Massachusetts State House, where he worked for the Department of State. His body
lay in repose for one day at the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street, at the wish of his wife and daughter. He was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in
New Bedford, Massachusetts. Engraved on his tombstone is an image of the Medal of Honor. ==Other honors==