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The Butler Medal was given to many black Union soldiers who fought at the Battle
Christian Fleetwood was
These men of the 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, seen at D.C.'s Fort Lincoln, survived the Battle of New Market Heights.
Hari Jones (left), curator of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, points out the names of black troops ------ 4 columns color for region |
By CLINT SCHEMMER
Unlike Fredericksburg, Manassas or Appomattox, New Market Heights isn't a household name, even among students of the American Civil War.
But it deserves to be, say historians and descendants of some of the men who fought at the central Virginia battlefield.
The Civil War Preservation Trust has thrust the less-well-known Henrico County site into the national limelight, ranking it last week among America's 10 most-endangered battlefields.
"This is a story that needs to be told, about a hugely important place," Mary Koik, the trust's deputy director of communications, said yesterday. "What we're trying to do is to start to get the battle some of the recognition that it deserves and to get some of its land protected."
TALE OF GREAT IMPORT
Part of the Army of the James' campaign for Richmond and a harbinger of the war's end the following spring, the Union attack at New Market Heights established the fighting spirit of the African-American soldier once and for all, Koik said.
"In the whole war, 16 Medals of Honor were given to African-American troops. Fourteen of them were given for bravery in this one battle," she said. Several of the medals were awarded to men who took charge of their units after all the white commanders had fallen.
Though tactically a defeat, since the Confederate defenders turned back the Union effort to seize Richmond and loosen the Confederate army's grip on Petersburg, the black soldiers' daring at New Market Heights boosted Northern morale, historians say.
The fight came just a few weeks after Atlanta, heart of the Deep South, fell to Union Gen. William T. Sherman and as President Lincoln stood for re-election in a political contest he had been expecting to lose.
The Sept. 29, 1864, battle near Richmond was one of the most momentous of the entire war for the Union's black troops, said Hari Jones, assistant director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington.
And for sheer heroism, it eclipses the far-better-known story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry depicted in the movie "Glory," Jones said. The 1989 film ends with the 54th's valiant but unsuccessful attack on Fort Wagner at Morris Island, S.C., which guarded the southern entrance to Charleston's harbor.
HEAVY LOSSES
At New Market Heights, black troops crossed to the north side of the James River, charged an entrenched Confederate position and captured the earthworks, losing more than 800 men in one hour.
Jones, a retired Marine Corps captain, briefly described the battle to actor Richard Dreyfuss on Wednesday when he visited the memorial to the black troops at Washington's Vermont Avenue and U Street. The Academy Award winner headlined the trust's press conference announcing its 2009 "History Under Siege" report.
Making his way around the bronze monument, Dreyfuss bent over to read the names of some of the men who fought at New Market Heights, inscribed on stainless-steel tablets among those of the 200,000 black soldiers who served in the Union army.
Distinguished veterans of the fight received the Army of the James or "Butler" Medal designated by a champion of black troops, Gen. Benjamin Butler. It was the only medal created solely for the United States Colored Troops.
"It was a huge turning point in people's perception of the U.S. Colored Troops, a watershed moment for these soldiers," Koik said. "Yet today, the battle is sadly underappreciated."
According to Mike Andrus, a historian at Richmond National Battlefield Park, the engagement--part of a larger fight called the Battle of Chaffin's Farm--was the North's best effort to break Gen. Robert E. Lee's defensive lines north of the James.
THREATENED, VULNERABLE
Though its historic significance is indisputable, no part of the New Market Heights battlefield has been protected by any preservation organization, including the trust and the National Park Service, Koik noted.
The battlefield lies about 10 miles southeast of Richmond, roughly halfway between Drewry's Bluff on the James River and Glendale National Cemetery. One roadside marker acknowledges its location.
Already, key portions of the battlefield close to where Union troops crossed the James near Deep Bottom have been destroyed by a housing development, she said. Residential construction under way on the north side of State Route 5, historic New Market Road, will destroy Confederate artillery positions.
And ultimately, Koik said, growing traffic congestion may force widening of Route 5, threatening 75 acres of still-pristine battlefield land that fronts the road.
"There's still time to protect what is left," she said. "Now is when we all need to focus on how to do that."
tinyurl.com/newmarketheights civilwar.org afroamcivilwar.org tinyurl.com/historynet Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com
