Thomas R. Hawkins

He saved the colors under fire and kept them flying high up!

Sergeant Major Thomas R. Hawkins fought with the 6th United States Colored Infantry at Chaffin's Farm, Virginia, on 29 September 1864. In the assault he rescued his regiment's colors, an act that brought him the Medal of Honor.

Hawkins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1840. He served in the Union Army with the 6th U.S. Colored Infantry, one of the Black regiments that took part in the fighting north of the James River. National Park Service material independently identifies Hawkins among the Black Medal of Honor recipients recognized for actions in the Richmond-Petersburg campaigns.

At Chaffin's Farm, Union troops attacked strong Confederate defenses. Hawkins's citation is concise: his Medal of Honor action was the rescue of the regimental colors during the fighting.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed)

At Chaffin's Farm on 29 September 1864, Hawkins rescued the colors of his regiment under fire.

The Medal of Honor was presented on 8 February 1870. Hawkins died only weeks later, on 28 February 1870, in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Harmony Memorial Cemetery in Landover, Maryland. His qualifying Army service supports the Civil War Campaign Medal. No additional federal campaign medal or ribbon device is established by the reviewed sources.