Civil War Hero
Medal of Honor Recipient
Howard County native Decatur Dorsey was one of only sixteen African American soldiers to received the Medal of Honor for courage under fire during the Civil War. Sgt. Dorsey, of Company B, 39th United States Colored Troops, earned his medal at the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia, on July 30, 1864. He bore the regiments flag during the charge through the Crater to the Confederate line. According to his Medal of Honor citation, Dorsey "planted his colors on the Confederate works in advance of his regiment, and when the regiment was driven back to the Union works he carried the colors there and bravely rallied the men." Regimental color-bearers were especially courageous, because they could not defend themselves and were conspicuous targets for enemy sharpshooters.HM Number | HM3BP |
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Series | This marker is part of the Medal of Honor Recipients series, and the Maryland Civil War Trails series. |
Tags | |
Historical Period | 19th Century |
Historical Place | School |
Marker Type | Other |
Marker Class | Historical Marker |
Marker Style | Free Standing |
Placed By | Maryland Civil War Trails |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Monday, September 22nd, 2014 at 4:38pm PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 343841 N 4348167 |
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Decimal Degrees | 39.26880000, -76.81020000 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 16.128', W 76° 48.612' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 16' 7.6800" N, 76° 48' 36.7200" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 202, 410, 443, 301 |
Can be seen from road? | No |
Is marker in the median? | No |
Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling East |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 8669 Frederick Rd, Ellicott City MD 21043, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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