American men received the medal before him, but because his battle actions happened earlier than the others, some have incorrectly cited him as the first to receive the medal. His citation reads When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded.In 1901, shortly after his medal was awarded, a song was published about his daring exploits: "Boys the Old Flag Never Touched the Ground". Captain Luis F. Emilio, the most junior Captain of the 54th who had been left in charge during the attack on Battery Wagner by the deaths or wounding of all of his superiors, in his 1891 book A Brave Black Regiment wrote: It is due, however, to the following-named enlisted men that they be recorded above their fellows for especial merit: [1st] Sgt. Robert J. Simmons, [Col.] Sgt. William H. Carney... Carney died at the Boston City Hospital on December 9, 1908, of complications from an elevator accident at the Massachusetts State House, where he worked for the Department of State. His body lay in repose for one day at the undertaking rooms of Walden Banks, 142 Lenox Street, at the wish of his wife and daughter. He was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Engraved on his tombstone is an image of the Medal of Honor. Other honors A New Bedford, Massachusetts, elementary school was named in his honor, and his New Bedford home at 128 Mill Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His statue, along with Private Milton L. Olive, is seen on the African-American Medal of Honor Recipients Memorial in Wilmington, Delaware. Sgt. Carney's statue is also prominently featured in his hometown at West Point Cemetery (Norfolk, Virginia), atop a monument to African American Civil War and Spanish American War veterans. In 2015, Carney was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his actions during the Civil War. Carney's regiment is represented in the Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment, located on the Boston Common and designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens. See also "Boys The Old Flag Never Touched The Ground", a commemorative