The humid South Carolina air clung to William Carney like a second shirt. Sweat stung his eyes as he crouched in the trenches with his fellow soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts. The tremor of the earth from Confederate cannons was a constant drumbeat, punctuated by the staccato pops of musket fire. Today was the day – the 54th, one of the first African American regiments in the Union army, was to charge Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold guarding Charleston harbor.

Carney, a recent promotion to Sergeant heavy on his shoulders, felt a mix of nerves and determination. He’d yearned to be a minister, but the fight for freedom, for his people and himself, had called him to this battlefield.  

The order came, a guttural roar lost amidst the chaos. The 54th rose from the trenches, a wave of blue uniforms cresting the earthwork.  Carney charged alongside them, the regimental flag, held by Sergeant William H. Brown, snapping in the wind.

Bullets rained down. Men around Carney crumpled, cries swallowed by the din. Brown stumbled, a crimson stain blooming on his chest. The flag began to fall.

In that split second, training and instinct took over. Carney lunged, grabbing the flagpole just before it hit the dirt. The weight of the fallen men he’d known, the weight of his purpose, surged through him. He held the flag high, a beacon amidst the smoke and fury.

The charge faltered, met by a hail of lead from the fort. Men around him fell back, the line wavering. But Carney pressed on, the flag a rallying point. He could feel a searing pain in his leg, then another in his arm. But the flag, the symbol of the freedom they fought for, couldn't fall.

Through gritted teeth, he urged himself forward, his vision blurring. The fort loomed impossibly close, then receded as the order to retreat came. With a final burst of strength, Carney turned and hobbled back towards Union lines, the flag held high like a sacred promise.

He collapsed just within friendly lines, the world fading to black. When he awoke, weak and bandaged, the flag was still clutched in his hand.  "Boys," he rasped, his voice raw, "I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground."

News of Carney's bravery spread. Though recognition for Black soldiers was rare, his act of defiance couldn't be ignored. It would take decades, but in 1900, Sergeant William Carney received the Medal of Honor, the first African American soldier to do so.  His courage under fire, his unwavering defense of the flag, became a symbol of the sacrifice and valor of the Black regiments in the Civil War.