Photo: Biography

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: April 19, 2014
Caption: Biography
Additional Description: Sergeant Major Thomas R. Hawkins was born at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1840. Few details are known of his early life; however, he eventually migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a plasterer. In 1864, he joined the Sixth Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, during the American Civil War. Almost immediately he was promoted to the rank of regimental sergeant major . His regiment was one of the most active of over 160 such "Colored" organizations. Three of its members were recipients of the Medal of Honor. Two of these were awarded for valor a the Battle of Chaffin's Farm/New Market Heights, the famous engagement in which a total of fourteen United States Colored Troops were so recognized. The Third recipient, Hawkins fought and was wounded in that battle; however, his Medal of Honor was officially issued for valor in the "Rescue of regimental colors" during an earlier engagement at Deep Bottom, Virginia, on July 21,1864. The only Medal of Honor recipient for that occasion, Thomas Hawkins was an outstanding soldier who was apparently wounded in at least two separate actions. He was discharged on account of his wounds on May 20, 1865, at Goldsboro, North Carolina. After the war he settled in Washington D. C., where he worked as a government messenger. His war wounds contributed to later ill-health and , on March 2, 1870, he died at the young age of 29 years. This was less than a month after being belatedly issued his Medal of Honor on February 8, 1870. He was buried at Harmony Cemetery at its Rhode Island Avenue location, Washington, D. C.from a display in the Harmony National Cemetery Office
Submitted: June 22, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p276703
File Size: 2.674 Megabytes

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