imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Union Army soldiers to :Category:Union army soldiers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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Moving Category:Union Army soldiers to Category:Union army soldiers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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{{short description|American soldier in the American Civil War (1836–1891)}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Decatur Dorsey
|image= Medal of honor old.jpg
|caption= Medal of Honor, 1862–1895 Army version
|birth_date= c. 1836
|death_date = {{Death-date|July 11, }} {{Death year and age|1891|1836}}
|birth_place= [[Howard County, Maryland]], U.S.
|death_place= [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], U.S.
|placeofburial= Flower Hill Cemetery, [[North Bergen, New Jersey]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|nickname=
|allegiance= [[United States|United States of America]]<br/>[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[United States Army]]<br/>[[Union Army]]
|serviceyears= 1864–65
|rank= [[First Sergeant#United States|First Sergeant]]
|unit= [[39th United States Colored Infantry]]
|commands=
|battles= [[American Civil War]]<br/>{{*}} [[Battle of the Crater]]
|awards= [[Medal of Honor]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
'''Decatur Dorsey''' (c. 1836 – July 11, 1891) was a [[Union Army]] soldier in the [[American Civil War]] and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the [[Medal of Honor]], for his actions at the [[Battle of the Crater]]. Born into slavery, Dorsey enlisted in the [[United States Colored Troops]] and served through the last year of the war.

==Biography==
=== Early life ===
Decatur Dorsey was born into [[slavery]] around 1836 in what is now [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]], Maryland. Dorsey, who was also known as Cato, may have been a enslaved to Upton Welsh, who died in July 1858. In October 1858, Dorsey was enslaved by Upton Welsh's son, Napoleon B. Welsh.<ref name=penitentiary>{{cite web | url=http://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/item.aspx?ID=SE65-5 | title=Maryland State Archives, Maryland Penitentiary(Prisoner Record) 1811–1869 SE65, Record 5306| publisher=Maryland State Archives | accessdate=April 25, 2021}}</ref> The Welshes lived near Gaither's Siding in Howard County. In 1858, Dorsey and another enslaved person were convicted of burglarizing a store located in Woodbine, Carroll County. He was then sentenced to serve two years eight months in the Maryland penitentiary.<ref name=penitentiary/> Prior to his committal to the prison, Dorsey escaped, but was recaptured in Baltimore.<ref>"Convict Arrested", ''Baltimore Sun'', Oct. 28, 1858, p. 1</ref> Dorsey completed his prison term in May 1861.<ref name=penitentiary/> At the time, Maryland law provided that upon the expiration of a slave's prison term, they were to be sold at auction and removed from the state.<ref>Brackett, Jeffrey R., ''The Negro in Maryland'', (Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, 1889), p. 126</ref> Dorsey was sold as a slave by the State of Maryland to Edward Rider, Jr. of Baltimore County.<ref name=rider>{{cite web | url=https://digital.lib.umd.edu/image?pid=umd:71368 | title=Enlistment bounty paid to Edward Rider, Jr. for his slave Decatur Dorsey, October 26, 1864 – January 13, 1866| publisher=University of Maryland | accessdate=June 5, 2021}}</ref>

=== Military career ===
On March 26, 1864, Decatur Dorsey enlisted in Company B of the [[39th United States Colored Infantry]] as a [[private (rank)|private]], but was promoted to [[Corporal#United States|corporal]] less than two months later, on May 17.<ref name="Hanna">Hanna, pp. 29–30.</ref> Dorsey enlisted in the Army as a free man even though he had not been freed by Rider and was still a slave. (Rider would later be paid a $100 bounty as a result of Dorsey's enlistment).<ref name=rider/>

On July 30, 1864, Dorsey took part in the Battle of the Crater in [[Petersburg, Virginia]]. With the [[Siege of Petersburg]] at a stalemate, Union forces hoped to break the city's defenses by detonating explosives in a tunnel dug beneath the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] lines and charging the enemy positions in the aftermath of the explosion. The blast blew a huge crater in the Confederate defenses, and white Union soldiers rushed in to attack. Men who entered the crater became trapped as the Confederates regrouped and began firing down at them.<ref name="Hanna"/>

Dorsey's division, which had been held in reserve, was then ordered to reinforce the attack. Dorsey, serving as the 39th Regiment's [[color bearer]], moved ahead of his unit during the advance and planted the flag on the Confederate fortifications. When the regiment was forced to pull back, he retrieved the flag and rallied his fellow soldiers for a second attack. In this second assault, the men of the 39th breached the Confederate works and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders. They captured two hundred prisoners and two flags before being pushed back again and ordered to withdraw.<ref name="Hanna"/>

Dorsey was promoted to [[Sergeant#United States|sergeant]] on August 1, two days after the battle, and again to [[first sergeant]] on January 1, 1865.<ref name="Hanna"/> He was awarded the Medal of Honor on November 8, 1865,<ref name="citation">{{Cite web |title=Civil War Medal of Honor recipients (A–L) |work=Medal of Honor citations |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |date=January 27, 2009 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html |accessdate=February 10, 2009 |archive-date=September 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902081051/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> for his actions at the Battle of the Crater and was discharged from the Army a month later, on December 4, while in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]].

=== Later life ===
After the war, Dorsey returned to Baltimore, where he married Mannie Christie on January 4, 1866.<ref>"Married", ''Baltimore Sun'', Jan. 5, 1866, p. 2</ref> In January 1868, he was charged by Baltimore police with stealing a wagon.<ref>"Stolen Property Recovered", ''Baltimore Sun'', Jan. 9, 1868, p. 4</ref> By 1870 Dorsey had moved to New York City with his wife. In late 1870 he was convicted of stealing carpets from his employer<ref>"Criminal Notes", ''New York Tribune'', Dec. 10, 1870, p. 2</ref> and was incarcerated in Sing Sing Prison for three years. After his release, Dorsey moved to [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], where he resided the rest of his life.<ref name="Hanna"/> He worked at various occupations, including cook, sailor, and laborer. Dorsey died in Hoboken on July 11, 1891, at the approximate age of 55. He was buried at [[Flower Hill Cemetery, North Bergen|Flower Hill Cemetery]] in [[North Bergen, New Jersey]].<ref name="Hanna"/> Dorsey does not appear to have been survived by any children.

==Medal of Honor citation==
<blockquote>
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.<ref name="citation"/>
</blockquote>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}}
*[[List of African-American Medal of Honor recipients]]
*[[List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F#D|List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F]]

==References==
:{{ACMH}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{Cite book
|last = Hanna
|first = Charles W.
|title = African American recipients of the Medal of Honor: a biographical dictionary, Civil War through Vietnam War
|publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
|year = 2002
|location = Jefferson, North Carolina
|pages = 29–30
|isbn = 0-7864-1355-7}}

==External links==
*{{Cite web |accessdate=September 24, 2010 |url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/states/pages_af/dorsey_decatur.html |title=Home of Heroes: Decatur Dorsey}}

{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, Decatur}}
[[Category:1830s births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Howard County, Maryland]]
[[Category:19th-century American slaves]]
[[Category:Union army soldiers]]
[[Category:African Americans in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients]]
[[Category:People from Hoboken, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)]]
[[Category:American sailors]]
[[Category:American people convicted of theft]]
[[Category:Burials at Flower Hill Cemetery (North Bergen, New Jersey)]]
[[Category:People enslaved in Maryland]]

Decatur Dorsey - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Union Army soldiers to :Category:Union army soldiers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy