Wiilam H. Jones, Sergeant, Company C

A Seventeen-Year-Old Sergeant

William H. Jones was only seventeen years old when he entered the Union Army, yet he began his service as a sergeant in Company C of the 19th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. His military record describes him as a native of Cecil County, Maryland, five feet seven and one-quarter inches tall, with a mulatto complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. Before enlistment he worked as a farmer.

Jones enlisted at Cecil, Maryland, on December 18, 1863, for a three-year term and was mustered into the 19th USCT at Camp Stanton, Benedict, Maryland, on December 25. His youth makes his appointment as sergeant especially striking. He was entrusted with responsibility almost from the beginning of his military service.

From Camp Stanton to Petersburg

After training at Camp Stanton, the 19th USCT joined the Army of the Potomac and took part in the 1864 campaigns against Richmond and Petersburg. Jones was present with Company C during the regiment’s first months in the field. By the summer of 1864, the 19th was serving in the Ninth Corps before Petersburg, where it would take part in the regiment’s most famous and costly engagement.

Carrying the Colors at the Battle of the Crater

On July 30, 1864, Jones fought with the 19th USCT in the Battle of the Crater, called the “Battle of the Mine” in his service record. During the assault, he carried the regimental colors. His Company Descriptive Book records that he “received the thanks of the Regt. in a Gen order from the regtl commander for gallant conduct in the battle of the Mine July 30 1864.”

This commendation is unusually important. Carrying a regiment’s colors in battle was both an honor and an exceptionally dangerous duty. The flags marked the regiment’s position amid smoke and confusion and provided a rallying point for the men, but they also made the color bearer conspicuous to enemy fire. Jones was still only about eighteen years old when he performed the act for which his regiment formally thanked him.

Severely Wounded

Jones did not come through the Crater unhurt. His hospital record states that he suffered a wound of the head at Petersburg on July 30, 1864. The later Certificate of Disability for Discharge gives a more serious description: a shell wound of the head that fractured the frontal bone. The examining surgeon reported lasting neurological consequences and stated that Jones had become subject to epilepsy as a result of the injury.

The surviving records trace a long period of illness and hospitalization after the battle. He was treated in military hospitals, including Hicks U.S. Army General Hospital in Baltimore. Muster rolls repeatedly list him absent sick during 1865. A hospital record also places him at McKim’s Mansion U.S. Army General Hospital in Baltimore and later at the general hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Hospital Service and Disability

Jones’s records show the prolonged aftermath of his combat wound rather than a quick recovery and return to ordinary duty. In 1865 he remained on the rolls of the 19th USCT while receiving hospital treatment. The Army ultimately concluded that the effects of his head injury made him incapable of performing the duties of a soldier.

On November 7, 1865, Jones was discharged at Baltimore on a surgeon’s certificate of disability. His military papers give Cecil Cross Roads, Cecil County, Maryland, as the address to which he wished to be directed. His Company Descriptive Book also notes that he received the thanks of the regiment for his gallant conduct at the Crater before recording his discharge from Hicks Hospital.

A Brief but Remarkable Military Career

William H. Jones’s active military career was short, but it contained an extraordinary concentration of responsibility, courage, and sacrifice. He enlisted at seventeen, entered the 19th USCT as a sergeant, carried the colors in the regiment’s desperate assault at the Crater, received formal regimental thanks for gallantry, and suffered a head wound severe enough to end his Army service.

Sources Consulted

Robert P. Summers, Maryland’s Black Civil War Soldiers: 19th Regiment, United States Colored Troops.

Compiled Military Service Record of William H. Jones, Company C, 19th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry, National Archives and Records Administration; including Company Descriptive Book, muster rolls, hospital muster rolls, hospital record, and Certificate of Disability for Discharge.