The Flag That Would Not Fall

The flag was falling.
One man refused to let it touch the ground.

On the night of July 18, 1863, the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry charged the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner in one of the most daring assaults of the Civil War.

Among them was Sergeant William H. Carney, a formerly enslaved man who had escaped to freedom only years before.

When the regiment's flag bearer was shot down in the storm of gunfire, Carney rushed forward through the chaos, seized the American flag, and carried it through the battle despite devastating wounds.

As soldiers fell around him and the assault collapsed, Carney refused to surrender the colors. Step by step, through bullets and smoke, he carried the flag back to Union lines.

His words afterward would echo through American history:

"The old flag never touched the ground."

In this gripping narrative history, The Flag That Would Not Fall brings to life:

• The rise of the legendary 54th Massachusetts Regiment
• The leadership of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
• The brutal assault on Fort Wagner
• The surge of Black enlistment that helped change the Civil War
• The long-delayed recognition of Carney's Medal of Honor

Blending powerful storytelling with historical detail, this book honors the soldiers whose courage reshaped the nation.

A story of bravery.
A story of freedom.
A story that changed America.