Heroics of Sgt. Benjamin Brown

Heroics of Sgt. Benjamin Brown. . Medal of Honor recipient Benjamin Brown was born in the Livingston District of Spotsylvania County to Henry and Polly Brown, about 1859., In the 1880s, Brown left Civil War-devastated Spotsylvania for Pennsylvania, where he joined the U.S. Army. Brown would hold the ranks of private, corporal, sergeant, and drum major, and serve at posts across the country and in the Philippines., During the Frontier Wars, he served in the U.S. Army's 24th Infantry Regiment of all- Black "buffalo soldiers.", While stationed at Fort Grant in Arizona in 1889, Brown and others in his regiment were asked to escort Maj. Joseph W. Wham, an Army paymaster carrying $28,000 in gold and silver coins, for about 15 miles to another fort. Gunmen ambushed the caravan in what became known as the Wham Paymaster Robbery., Because of Brown's heroic actions during the 2-hour-long gunfight, President Benjamin Harris in 1890 awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor - the highest award a service member can receive for valor in action., The citation reads in part: "Although shot in the abdomen, in a fight between a paymaster's escort and robbers, [he] did not leave the field until again wounded through both arms.", At 43, Brown fell ill after a stroke and was discharged. He was cared for at the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home in Washington, D.C. He died Sept. 5, 1910, still carrying a bullet in his body from the attack., Brown and fellow officer, Cpl. Isaiah Mays, who was also involved in the Wham Paymaster Robbery, were the only Black infantrymen to receive the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Frontier Wars., The gold and silver stolen during the robbery was never recovered., (caption) , Sgt. Benjamin Brown is the only Medal of Honor recipient who was born in Spotsylvania. President Benjamin Harrison awarded him the honor in 1890, for heroic actions during an ambush., BACKGROUND: The 24th Infantry Regiment deployed to Cuba during the Spanish American War in 1898. (Library of Congress)