From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (PIONEERS & PATRIOTS: Anderson County Military Servicemen, Revolutionary War - WWI)

Harral was born a slave in Anderson County about 1826. He remained a slave into adulthood; President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in states openly hostile toward the Union. Late in the war, however, the government called for the enlistment of colored regiments, and all who answered the call were granted immediate freedom.

Harrall therefore chose to become a soldier, making his way to a recruitment camp near Paducah to enlist, and on September 1, 1864 became a private in Company D of the 13th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment. At the time of his enlistment, he testified that he was born in Anderson County about 1826.

The 13th Artillery saw no reported action during the war, serving primarily as garrison troops at Camp Nelson, Smithland, Lexington, and other points in Kentucky until being discharged on November 18, 1865.