Christian Fleetwood - Post-war Life

Post-war Life

After the war, Fleetwood worked as a bookkeeper in Columbus, Ohio, until 1867, and in several minor government positions in the Freedmen's Bank and War Department, Washington, D.C. He also organized a battalion of D.C. National Guardsmen and, in the 1880s, Washington, D.C.'s, Colored High School Cadet Corps.

It was his military career that probably inspired Fleetwood's interest in the Washington colored National Guard and the colored high school cadet corps. The Washington Cadet Corps, organized and commanded by Captain D. Graham on June 12, 1880, was expanded into the Sixth Battalion of D.C. National Guards on July 18, 1887, with Fleetwood appointed major and commanding officer. After reorganizations, several African American battalions were consolidated into the First Separate Battalion in 1891. Passed over as its commanding officer, Fleetwood resigned in 1892.

Meanwhile, he and Major Charles B. Fisher, who had commanded the Fifth Battalion, were instrumental in organizing the Colored High School Cadet Corps of the District of Columbia in 1888. Fleetwood, the first instructor of the colored high school cadets, served until 1897, when he was succeeded by Major Arthur Brooks. These two officers developed a tradition of military service among young colored men in Washington which led some of them to enlist in World War I and others to be commissioned at the Colored Officers Training Camp in Fort Des Moines, Iowa.

Fleetwood never returned to active duty with any military organization. However, many residents of the District of Columbia recommended that he be appointed as the Commander of the 50th U.S. Colored Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War. This request was not seriously considered by the War Department, and the participation of colored soldiers from the District of Columbia was similarly disregarded. It is not known whether Fleetwood's short stature and physical ailments reduced his chances for consideration. His army records state that he was five feet, four and one half inches tall. These records also state that he applied in 1891 for a pension because of "total" deafness in his left ear, the result of "gunshot concussion," and "severe" deafness in his right ear, the result of catarrh contracted while in the army. His application also stated that these ailments prevented him from speaking or singing in public.

For a number of years he served as choirmaster of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church, St. Luke's and St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Churches, as well as the Berean Baptist Church. Supported by the community, including the wives of former presidents (Lucy Webb Hayes and Frances Folsom Cleveland), his musical presentations were extremely successful.