Decatur Dorsey (c. 1836 – July 11, 1891) was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of the Crater.

Born into slavery, Dorsey enlisted in the United States Colored Troops and served through the last year of the war.

[1] At the time, Maryland law provided that upon the expiration of a slave's prison term, they were to be sold at auction and removed from the state.

[4] On March 26, 1864, Decatur Dorsey enlisted in Company B of the 39th United States Colored Infantry as a private, but was promoted to corporal less than two months later, on May 17.

The blast blew a huge crater in the Confederate defenses, and white Union soldiers rushed in to attack.

Dorsey, serving as the 39th Regiment's color bearer, moved ahead of his unit during the advance and planted the flag on the Confederate fortifications.

[5] He was awarded the Medal of Honor on November 8, 1865,[6] for his actions at the Battle of the Crater and was discharged from the Army a month later, on December 4, while in Wilmington, North Carolina.