25-year-old Benjamin Curtis, born in Prince George's County, Maryland, was a slave of Mayer Lesin in St. Mary's County, Maryland when he enlisted on January 11, 1864. He mustered into the 19th Regiment at Camp Stanton on January 16, 1864.

In April 1864, the regiment went on a recruiting trip into Virginia, where Benjamin Curtis was shot in the head, but survived. Captain James H. Rickard, Company G, later described what happened:

Col. Perkins was a peculiar individual, and seemed bent on making some kind of a demonstration with his regiment of colored men. When about halfway from Berryville to Winchester our advance guard were fired upon, and returned the fire; for a moment some confusion prevailed, as it was expected we were intercepted by a rebel force. After forming a line to the left of the road in a rocky piece of woods, an officer was sent forward to ascertain the cause of the firing. It was found that a company of our scouts, dressed in gray, had opened fire on our men to see how they would stand. Our men then returned the fire and did not flinch. One colored man was struck on the forehead by a minnie ball, and a piece of his skull as large as a silver half dollar knocked out, but it did not knock him down. He was assisted by his comrades, and when the wagon came up he was put in, and when after several days we returned, he was sent to the hospital, and came back healed, and did good service afterward.

It was Benjamin Curtis who was struck in the head by a minnie ball. He  was evacuated to the army's McKim's Mansion hospital in Baltimore, where he remained for seven months before returning to the regiment in November 1864. His left eye had been severely damaged by the minnie ball, and Curtis eventually lost sight in that eye.

Later in the winter of 1864-65 the regiment was stationed at Fort Harrison, Virginia. While on picket duty, Curtis' exposure to the harsh weather conditions resulted in rheumatism that affected him the rest of his life.

Curtis was promoted to Corporal on September 1, 1865 after the regiment had gone to Texas. Corporal Curtis mustered out with the rest of the regiment on January 15, 1867 at Brownsville, Texas.