He received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for taking command of his company at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, after all officers had been killed or wounded.

[1] He continued to study acting privately and received training in the field from several coaches, including James E. Murdock, a retired professional stage actor from Philadelphia.

An attack by Confederate Colonel John Hunt Morgan, who had led his cavalry on a raid behind Union lines in Kentucky the previous month, was also feared.

[4] Although Cincinnati's African Americans were initially pressed into service at bayonet point, after the appointment of William Dickson as commander of the black troops their treatment improved significantly.

[8] Despite the danger of Confederate attack, the unarmed unit[9] was assigned to build defenses near the Licking River in Kentucky,[10] far in advance of the Union lines.

[12] Beaty enlisted from Cincinnati on June 7, 1863[1] for a three-year term of service in the Union Army;[3] he was among a group of men recruited for a Massachusetts regiment.

Permission was granted, and on June 17, Beaty and his squad became the first members of the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry,[13] later re-designated the 5th United States Colored Troops.

[14] By the Battle of Chaffin's Farm on September 29, 1864, Beaty had risen to the rank of first sergeant in Company G. His regiment was among a division of black troops assigned to attack the center of the Confederate defenses at New Market Heights.

The second attack successfully drove the Confederates from their fortified positions,[15] at the cost of three more men from Company G.[2] By the end of the battle, over fifty percent of the black division had been killed, captured, or wounded.

His actions during the Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road in October 1864 earned him a mention in the general orders to the Army of the Potomac.

[2] He wrote a play about a rich southern planter entitled Delmar, or Scenes in Southland, which was performed in January 1881 with himself in the lead role.

Newspapers in both the black and white communities of Cincinnati praised the performances of the two actors, with the Commercial stating that Beaty "threw himself into his part with masterly energy and power".

Davis, the premier black Shakespearean actress of the time, was the star of the show and Beaty played opposite her as Macbeth, King Henry VI, and Ingomar.

There was some heckling during the play, primarily from some of the white attendees, however a reviewer from The Washington Post reported that "the earnestness and intelligence of several of the leading performers were such as to command the respect of those most disposed to find cause for laughter in everything that was said or done".