TODAY WHERE CAN I FIND ALL - OR ANY - OF THE 14 MEDALS OF HONOR THAT
WERE WON BY BLACK UNION SOLDIERS ON SEPTEMBER 29th, 1864, AT THE
ENGAGEMENT KNOWN AS CHAFFIN'S FARM             (OR NEW MARKET
HEIGHTS), NEAR RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. THE MEDAL WINNERS WERE ALL         
         'USCT' - UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS. THEIR NAMES AND UNITS
ARE AS FOLLOWS:
William H. Barnes, company C 38th USCT; Powhatan Beaty, company G 5th
USCT; James H. Bronson, company D 5th USCT; Christian A. Fleetwood,
company unknown, 4th USCT;
 James Gardiner, company I (that's letter I), 36th USCT; James H.
Harris, company B, 38th USCT;
Thomas R, Hawkins, company unknown, 6th USCT; Alfred B. Hilton,
company H, 4th USCT;
Milton M. Holland, company unknown, 5th USCT; Miles James, company B, 36th USCT;
Alexander Kelly, company F, 6th USCT; Robert A. Pinn, company I
(that's letter I), 5th USCT;
Edward Ratclift, company C, 38th USCT, and finally - Charles Veal,
company D, 4th USCT.

Dear matlock5155,

Despite extensive research, I could only find out about the
whereabouts of two of the Medals of Honor awarded to black soldiers of
the Civil War. Since it is illegal to sell this medal, I assume that
the other Medals of Honor either got lost in the course of time, or
are still in possession of descendants of the recipients.
Unfortunately, Google Answers Researchers are strictly forbidden to
provide contact information for private individuals; so even if I or
one of my colleagues could find descendants of the original Medal of
Honor recipients, we could not reveal their identities or places of
residence to you. Besides, my research for Medals of Honor still owned
by the soldiers' descendants did not produce results.
The case of Mr. Andrew S. Bowman (see below) is an exception since he
actively performs functions connected with Civil War related
organizations and has issued contact information.

Since one of the few Medals of Honor awarded to black Civil War
soldiers would be a noteworthy exhibit in any museum or public
collection, it is very unlikely that more of these medals are
currently on display in or in possession of such institutions; such a
remarkable exhibit would certainly be mentioned in various sources.
Therefore, one must assume that none of the other Medals of Honor is
part of a collection at the moment.

I hope that these two results will nevertheless be helpful for you:



-- Christian A. Fleetwood --

The original Medal of Honor awarded to Christian A. Fleetwood in 1865
has been donated to the Smithsonian National Museum by his daughter in
1948:
http://www.medalofhonor.com/ChristianAFleetwood.htm

The medal is in possession of the Smithsonian to the present day:
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/soldiering_medal_of_honor.html

For detailed information, please refer to:

Smithsonian Information 
PO Box 37012 
SI Building, Room 153, MRC 010 
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
--
Phone: 202-633-1000
E-Mail: info@si.edu
Website: http://www.si.edu/contacts/



-- Andrew J. Smith --

The Medal of Honor for Andrew J. Smith was awared posthumously in
2001. Andrew S. Bowman, the great-grandson of Corporal Smith, accepted
the medal:
http://www.medalofhonor.com/AndrewJacksonSmith.htm

Recently, Mr. Bowman loaned the medal to the Kentucky Historical
Society to be displayed as part of the 2003/2004 exhibition "Joining
the Ranks - African Americans in the Military":
http://history.ky.gov/Museums/JTR_Gallery_guide.pdf

It is most likely that the Medal of Honor is currently in his possession.

Mr. Bowman is a private person, but he is active in Civil War related
organizations. On a recent occasion, he acted as an event coordinator
and as such, he made contact information available to the public.
Please scoll down to the bottom of the website:
http://www.bjmjr.com/sp_event/28th_marker.htm



Best regards,
Scriptor

---

Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 12 Mar 2006 12:00 PST

Dear matlock5155,

I have just found additional information about the whereabouts of the
Medal of Honor awarded to Sergeant William H. Carney:

"Carl Cruz, great-great-great-grandnephew of Sergeant Carney, who
lives in New Bedford and has many family artifacts including Carney's
Medal of Honor..."
http://www.nalc.org/news/precord/0201-civilwar.html

As I found out, Carl J. Cruz is the vice president of the New Bedford
Historical Society, so you can contact him through the Society:

The New Bedford Historical Society
Nathan and Polly Johnson House
P.O. Box 40084
New Bedford, MA 02744
--
Phone (508) 979-8828
Fax (508) 979-8836
Email: NBHistory@aol.com
Website: http://www.newbedfordhistory.org/


Encouraged by this new result, I will continue to do research. Should
I find anything useful, I will add it.

Best regards,
Scriptor