Sergeant First Class Powhatan Beaty’s Medal of Honor citation is short, expressive. It’s a single sentence. “Citation: Took command of his company, all the officers having been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.”
The brevity of the citation begs the question, what else happened? What was the battle like? Most of all, how was he, a Sergeant First Class of the Union Army’s 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, able to step in and lead his company in the absence of the officers?
The answer to the last question is what makes Powhatan Beaty a fascinating man. He led because he had been a leader for years. He had led his men to battle repeatedly, and lived through 13 battles, and brought his men alive through them also. In fact, Beaty had led his men to enlist in the army in the first place, in extraordinary circumstances.
The Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm
Beaty was awarded the Medal after a critical battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. This was part of the Richmond-Petersburg campaign in the summer and fall of 1864, in which General Ulysses S. Grant tried to encircle General Robert E. Lee. By drawing off Southern troops to the southwest of Richmond, Grant hoped to weaken Lee’s defenses at Petersburg. Grant’s aim was to cut the railroad line south of Petersburg, and so take both Petersburg and Richmond in one great campaign.
Only sixteen of nearly 100 troops and officers were not wounded. It was at this point that Sfc. Beaty rallied the company and charged the Confederate position again.
The Colored Infantry Regiment were assigned the charge on the center of the Confederate position, at New Market Heights. The Confederate position was reinforced with a palisade behind two lines of ‘abatis,’ trees felled in an outward-facing ‘V’ pattern that made it difficult for attacking troops to maintain forward momentum. When the regiment turned back under heavy fire, the standard bearer was killed. Beaty fought back through over 600 yards of enemy fire and fortifications, retrieved the regimental flag and returned to his men unharmed.
As Beaty’s citation noted, all the officers of the regiment were killed. It failed to note that only sixteen of nearly 100 troops and officers were not wounded. It was at this point that Sfc. Beaty rallied the company and charged the Confederate position again.
This time the attack succeeded in breaching the Confederate line, and driving the southern troops from their position. Overall, the attack also succeeded in drawing away Southern troops from the Petersburg battle. Grant’s strategy had worked, and Powhatan Beaty and several other troops from the 5th Colored Infantry Regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery.
The Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Beaty’s enlistment story foreshadowed his valor in battle. It also is a sad reflection of the attitude of white citizens toward African-Americans at that time. After a Confederate victory in northern Kentucky in 1862, the people of Cincinnati, Ohio feared an incursion.
On the following day, over 700 African American men reported for duty. Among them was Powhatan Beaty.
The burghers of Cincinnati volunteered for the army, and a group of them rounded up over 400 black citizens by force for army duty. But a white officer, William Dickson, was appointed as their commander, and he treated them with dignity and respect. Dickson released them immediately, asking them to “go home and prepare for war,” and return in the morning.
On the following day, over 700 African American men reported for duty. Among them was Powhatan Beaty, who had been born a slave in Kentucky, but had come to Ohio after he was freed. They were formed into an unarmed regiment of builders and combat engineers, and assigned to build roads, forts, rifle pits, and trenches far in advance of the armed Ohio militia. After two weeks the threat had diminished and the units were disbanded.
… his men followed him because he had led them from enlistment through training and many battles. They trusted him.
Beaty wanted to fight for the Union, however, and enlisted for a three year term of duty beginning in June 1863. He was immediately promoted to sergeant and put in charge of a squad of 48 men. While waiting for the Union Army to decide where to have them serve, he kept the squad together and prepared. On June 17, 1863, he and his squad became the first members of the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was later re-named the 5th United States Colored Troops.
So when Sfc. Powhatan Beaty ran back and picked up that regimental flag, and rallied those troops for the final, successful attack on the fortified enemy position, his men followed him because he had led them from enlistment through training and many battles. They trusted him.
Powhatan Beaty: Engineer, Actor, Playwright, Father
Beaty’s post-war years were happy and productive. He worked as a city engineer at the Cincinnati water works, but he also was a renowned actor, and a playwright. He performed in Washington, DC at Ford’s Theater in 1884, called Ford’s Opera House at the time. Over 1,100 people attended – a full house – including Frederick Douglass and many luminaries of the city.
Powhatan Beaty’s son rose to great professional prominence as well. A. Lee Beaty was a state legislator in Ohio, and served as the assistant U.S. District Attorney for the southern district of Ohio. Powhatan Beaty spent the balance of his life in Cincinnati, and died on 6 December 1916 at age 79.