Lewis Martin

Born a slave in Arkansas, Martin came to Springfield, where he joined a segregated black regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War. After being severely wounded at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg, Virginia, he returned to Springfield where he lived for the rest of his life. A photograph showing him after the amputation of his right arm and left leg is a stark reminder that freedom is not free.

1840-1865

Lewis Martin was born in Independence County, Arkansas around 1840. Enslaved at birth, he escaped to freedom and later joined the Union Army, enlisting in the Illinois 29th United States Colored Troops at Alton, Illinois in February of 1864. By June of 1864, Martin and his comrades were near Petersburg, Virginia preparing for what is now known as the Battle of the Crater.

At Petersburg, Union forces had planned to dig tunnels and plant explosives underneath the Confederate troops. It was thought the explosion would not only cause significant casualties, but also cause disorientation and confusion, allowing Union soldiers to advance and attack. Soldiers of the Colored Troops were trained to lead the attack on the Confederate lines once the explosives were ignited. Plans were changed at the last minute as Generals replaced the trained and drilled Colored Troops with an untrained white regiment. The chaos and confusion resulted in numerous casualties, a brutally disastrous battle and a loss for the Union forces.

Private Lewis Martin was hit by both shell and gunshot during the battle, and the regimental surgeon amputated most of his right arm and part of his left leg due to the severity of his injuries. While convalescing at L’Ouverture Hospital in Alexandria, Martin joined 423 soldiers in a civil rights protest, demanding that African American soldiers who died in service be buried next to their white comrades in Soldier’s Cemetery rather than in a separate cemetery for civilians. Their protest was successful and policies regarding burials of soldiers changed.

The famous photograph of Martin was taken by the staff at Harewood Hospital, where Martin was transferred in November 1865. Dr. Reed Brockway Bontecou strategically posed the soldiers they photographed to show their injuries to help educate doctors and to provide the soldiers themselves with the evidence of their wounds, which was needed to apply for government pensions.

1866-1892

By 1876, Lewis Martin had moved to Springfield and lived at 115 North 5th Street; he later moved to 423 East Jefferson. He was one of the founding members of the John Bross Post 578 of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Martin passed away in his home in January of 1892 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery by his GAR comrades.

The now famous photograph of Private Lewis Martin was re-discovered during a project of the National Archives and Records Administration to go through boxes of records relating to the military records of the United States Colored Troops. Most of the records had not been looked at prior to 1994.

In 2012, biographer Kathleen Heyworth discovered that Lewis Martin was laid to rest in an unmarked grave and organized a community partnership that resulted in both a gravestone and a historical marker being placed at Martin’s burial location.

Want to learn more? Join us for Walk, Hike, and Bike events where you can learn more about Martin and others like him by signing up here.