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Robert Banks was born into slavery in Prince George County, Virginia. By March 1864 he had escaped to Washington, D.C. On April 3, 1864 he enlisted in Co. G, 23rd United States Colored Infantry claiming he was 22 years old. He fought in a skirmish at Chancellorsville on May 15, 1864 helping to drive off Confederate cavalry. War's Arrival Banks’ next fight was at the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864. There he was shot in both arms and hit on the head by a Confederate officer with a sword. Banks’ was captured by Confederate troops during the battle and it was later noted that his former owner was a William Bland of Petersburg. Banks was briefly imprisoned in Richmond at Castle Thunder and then in Libby Prison. Early in October 1864 he was sent to Richmond slave traders Dickinson & Hill and was there until the fall of Richmond. Afterwards he was able to rejoin his regiment. After the war Banks lived in Washington D.C. for three years, waiting on disabled soldiers. He also suffered disabilities as an doctor noted when Banks was being examined for a pension, “A long . . . scar on the left side of [head] severing both sides of the skull, the scar [leaving] a large depression in Frontal bone over left eye.” The head injury he received at the Crater caused partial dementia in his later life. He moved to Philadelphia and was back in Petersburg by 1870. He married three times and had two sons, sadly he outlived them all. Banks was buried in Poplar Grove National Cemetery. |
Last updated: August 8, 2019