Читать книгу Historical Moments: Military Contributions of African Americans - Роберт Харрис - Страница 17

The Butler Medal

Benjamin Butler was a major general in the Civil War who commissioned and paid for a medal from his personal funds. This medal would recognize heroic acts of bravery by the African American soldiers at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm also called the Battle of New Market Heights. The battle took place at Henrico County, Virginia, in September of 1864, where fourteen African Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor, and two hundred African Americans from the 38th and the 5th Colored Infantry received the Butler Medal. Powhatan Beaty who was a First Sergeant in the 5th Colored Infantry not only was awarded the Medal of Honor, but he also received the Butler Medal as well. The medal was made of solid silver, suspended by a red, white, and blue ribbon and was meant to be worn around the neck. On the back of the medal was a wreath above the words, “Army of the James.” The front of the medal depicted African American soldiers moving forward in battle below an inscription in Latin which read Ferro iis libertas (Freedom will be theirs by the sword). After the war, Butler served in the congress, where he introduces the first Civil Rights Act, bill of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. Under this bill, during the period of reconstruction, federal troops were to be used rather than state militia to enforce the law, and Klansmen arrested and tried in federal court and, if found guilty, were fined or imprisoned for violating the rights of the African Americans. This ended after the undecided presidential election of 1876. Democratic and Republican leaders met and decided that the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes would become president on the condition that he remove all federal troops from the South. This was called the Compromise of 1877 and it effectively ended the period of reconstruction and gave rise to the Klu Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws, and an increase in lynchings of African Americans.

The following African Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War:

1 Powhatan Beaty 1863

2 Robert Blake 1864

3 William H. Carney 1863

4 James D. Gardner 1864

5 John Lawson 1864