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African American Military History Timeline |
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Earliest Times Colonial Period - Blacks arrived as slaves in 1619 (Jamestown),1626 (New Amsterdam),and 1636 (Salem).
- For the most part Black slaves were not authorized to carry arms or ammunition.
- However, in New Amsterdam in 1641 they were armed with a "tomy hawk and a half pike" to assist in fighting Indians.
- In Plymouth Colony, Abraham Pearse, a Black man, was listed on the roles as being capable of bearing arms, and later in the Massachusetts Colony "all Negroes and Indians from sixteen to sixty" were enjoined to attend militia training. This militia service was scattered and New England soon followed the Virginia lead and began to ban Blacks from militia organizations.
- Because this gave the Blacks the "social status" on a par with ministers and public officials, who were also exempted, many colonial legislatures required free Blacks to work on public projects for a like amount of days as White settlers gave to the militia, and slaves were commonly used as laborers.
- Free Blacks were for the most part allowed to enlist as soldiers in the militia.
- In the southern colonies greater restrictions were placed on the Blacks, but in time of emergency Blacks were permitted, and sometimes required, to serve in military units. In New York they fought in the Tuscarora War in 1711 and the Yamassee War in 1715, and in Louisiana in 1730 they fought the Natchez Indians for the French.
- In 1736, a Spanish force was assembled in Mobile to again fight the Natchez. Accompanying them was a separate company of Blacks with free Blacks serving as officers. This represents the first occasion Blacks served as officers in a colonial military unit.
- During the French and Indian War, Black militia men served with independent colonist units from some of the states and as scouts, wagoneers, and laborers with regular English forces. During this period Black Americans had won honors in several battles and "Negro Mountain" in Maryland was so named in honor of a Black man killed in a fight with Indians during this War.
- By the end of this period the Black population in the colonies had grown to 462,000, and the fear of revolts caused the Blacks to be exempted from military duty, except in times of emergency.
Revolutionary War - Crispus Attucks, a Black man who was the first of five to die in the Boston Massacre of 1770, is said to be one of the first martyrs to American independence. Eyewitness reports credit Attucks with shaping and dominating the action, and when the people faltered, he is said to have been the one who rallied them and encouraged them to stand their ground.
- Black Minutemen fought at Lexington and Concord as early as April 1775, but in May of that same year, the Committee for safety of the Massachusetts Legislature presented a resolution that read:
- Resolved that it is the opinion of this Committee, as the contest now between Great Britain and the Colonies respects the liberties and privileges of the latter, which the Colonies are determined to maintain, that the admission of any persons, as soldiers, into the army now raising, but only such as are freemen, will be inconsistent with the principles that are to be supported, and reflect dishonor on the colony, and that no slaves be admitted into this army, upon any consideration whatever.
- The British forces began offering freedom to Black slaves in return for their joining His Majesty's Troops, and by December 1775 almost 300 Blacks were members of Lord Dunmore's "Ethiopian Regiment." Their uniforms were inscribed "Liberty to Slaves."
- That same month George Washington authorized recruiting officers to sign up free Blacks, but still prohibited slave participation.
- Some slaves did participate as "substitutes" for their masters.
- By mid-1778, an average of 42 Black soldiers was in each integrated brigade, and later all-Black units were formed in Rhode Island, Boston, and Connecticut. One of these units, relatively untrained, fought the battle of Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island in August 1778. It held the line for four hours against British-Hessian assaults, enabling the entire American Army to escape a trap. A monument to their courage was erected in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
- By 1779, the issue of enlisting Black soldiers had been resolved. With his troop strength dangerously low, George Washington welcomed all Blacks, free or slave, into the ranks.
- In a Colonial Army of 300,000, approximately 5,000 Black soldiers fought in most of the major battles, accumulating honors and praise from commanders.
- The Continental Navy was small and ships suffered chronic manpower shortages. Although no ship captains were Black, many pilots were Black, and no state passed legislation barring Blacks from naval service. In fact, several states paid bonuses or granted freedom to known slaves for Black crew members.
- In 1775, in the seaport city of Newport, Rhode Island, a recruiting poster was displayed seeking "ye able backed sailors, men white or black, to volunteer for naval service in ye interest of freedom."
- Despite heroic efforts by Black Americans in the Revolutionary War, their contributions were soon forgotten and none were given much recognition or declared to be national heroes. At the end of the American Revolution, Blacks were virtually eliminated from the armed forces of the new nation.
- In 1792, an act was passed by Congress restricting military service to "free able-bodied white male citizens," and most states followed suit.
- When the Marine Corps was established in 1798 the rules stated that "no Negro, mulatto or Indian" was to be enlisted.
- Lewis and Clark brought a slave named York with them on their 1804-5 expedition of the Louisiana Territory. The Plains Indians had never seen a Black before and they were fascinated with the color of his skin. After successful raids or battles, they had marked their skins with charcoal to symbolize bravery. So, as his skin was as black as if he were marked with charcoal, he was seen as a very brave man. The Indians considered him, rather than Lewis and Clark, to be the leader of the expedition, and, thanks to York, many tribes were friendly to the expedition.
Post-Revolutionary War - Although Blacks were still excluded from most land forces during the War of 1812, this was primarily a naval war and experienced Blacks proved to be a valued and sought-after resource. When Commodore Perry won his great victory on Lake Erie, at least one of every ten sailors on his ship was Black.
- Before and during the War of 1812, Black slaves from southern states escaped and fled to a haven with the Seminole Indians in Florida.
- England and Spain refused to return these slaves to their owners. The First Seminole War began as an attempt to recapture runaway slaves.
- The Second Seminole War resulted from attempts to remove the Seminole from Florida to make room for White settlers.
- However, one-quarter to one-third of the warriors resisting this removal were Black. This Black presence among the Seminole is believed to be the principal reason that removal of the Seminoles was sought, as they were attracting the Black slaves from the southern states.
- The Seminoles were "allowed" to move to Indian Territory, but only a few Blacks were permitted to go. Some escaped to Mexico, others were returned to their former White owners.
Civil War
Historians have argued the root causes of the Civil War for over a hundred years. Clearly, the abolition of slavery and freedom for all Blacks was one of the major reasons that war broke out. Upon taking office, in order to avoid a break-up of the Union, President Lincoln announced in his inaugural address that he had no intention or legal right to interfere with the "institution" of slavery in those states "where it now exists."
In 1861, Secretary of War Cameron declared that, "This Department has no intention at present to call into the service of the Government any colored soldiers."
However, General John C. Fremont issued a proclamation of emancipation in Missouri in 1861, and in Georgia, Kansas, and Ohio, Blacks were accepted into certain volunteer units. These orders were all countermanded or negated by the Federal officials in Washington.
By mid-1862 the supply of volunteers slowed down and Congress revoked the laws against Blacks in the militia or Blacks as laborers. Finally, in August, Secretary of War Stanton approved Black recruitment.
Furthermore, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 22 September 1862 authorized participation of Blacks in "the armed services of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places to man vessels of all sorts in said service."
In May 1863, the War Department created the Bureau of Colored Troops to handle recruitment. The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were created at this time, but all officers were still to be White.
Black soldiers were paid considerably less than White soldiers, until January 1864, when equal pay was achieved. (21:38)
Over 180,000 Blacks served in USCT units--10 percent of the total Union strength. Another 200,000 Blacks served in service units. Fewer than 100 served as officers.
Thirteen Black Non-Commissioned Officers received Medals of Honorfor action at Chapins Farm, Virginia, where they assumed command of their units and led assaults after their White officers had been killed or wounded.
Of the 1,523 Medals of Honorawarded during the Civil War, twenty-three were awarded to Black soldiers and sailors.
The Navy enlisted Blacks beginning in September 1861. By 1862, regular seaman ranks were opened to Blacks. By the war's end 30,000 Blacks had served in the Navy, out of a total Naval enlisted strength of 118,000.
By 1865, over 37,000 Black soldiers had died--almost 35 percent of all Blacks who had served in combat.
The American Revolution
Thousands of black Soldiers, both slave as well as free, from all 13 coloniesand later, statesfought in the Continental Army during Americas war for independence from Great Britain. Many also served in state militias. Black Soldiers served in every major battle of the war, mostly in integrated units. A notable exception was Americas first all-black unit, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. The regiment defeated three assaults by the British during the battle for Rhode Island in 1778 and later participated in the victory at Yorktown in 1781. About 20 percent of the tens of thousands of blacks who served were manumitted as a result of their service. Many blacks also served on the British side.
The War of 1812
Black Soldiers served in both mixed-race regiments as well as in all black regiments. Many black Soldiers served with courage and distinction, both on land and at sea. Many others worked as laborers, constructing fortifications and supplying the Army with food, materiel and munitions. Several Northern states, including New York and Pennsylvania, recruited entire regiments of black Soldiers and even some Southern states like Louisiana and North Carolina enlisted black Soldiers. Black soldiers participated in campaigns along the Chesapeake and forays into Canada. Two battalions of Free Men of Color and several other units participated in the great American victory over the British during the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the war.
The Civil War
When Federal troops invaded Southern states, thousands of black slaves flocked to Union camps for freedom and a chance to fight for the Union. Many of these men were unofficially allowed to enlist in the Union Army. After President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, black Soldiers were officially allowed to participate in the war. Black Soldiers distinguished themselves in battle on numerous occasions. Typical of the praise given to their bravery was a Feb. 1, 1863 report from Col. T. W. Higginson, commander of the 1st Regiment South Carolina Volunteers (Union), after the St. Marys River expedition in Georgia and Florida: "No officer in this regiment now doubts that the key to the successful prosecution of this war lies in the unlimited employment of black troops. It would have been madness to attempt [the battle], with the bravest white troops, what I have successfully accomplished with the black ones. Approximately 186,000 black troopsincluding 94,000 former slaves from Southern statesultimately served in the Union Army and a staggering 38,000 were killed in action. Less known is that several thousand blacks also served with honor in the Confederate Army.
The Indian Campaigns
After the Civil War, settlers moved westward in increasing numbers. When fighting broke out between them and the Indians, the Army was often called in to quell the Indian uprisings. In 1866, Congress authorized the formation of regiments of black Soldiers; the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th, 25th , 38th , 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments to deploy in the West to fight the Indians. The infantry regiments were later consolidated into the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. Many of these black Soldiers were veterans of the Civil War. Altogether, some 5,000 black Soldiers10 percent of the total forceguarded the Western frontier from 1866 to 1891. In addition to fighting Indians, they also subdued cattle rustlers, outlaws and Mexican bandits and revolutionaries.
The Spanish American War
Black Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments fought in the 1898 Spanish American War. The four regiments comprised 12 percent of the total force during the invasion of Cuba. Many of these Soldiers were veterans of the Indian Wars and some were Civil War veterans. Another 2,000 served in the Navy7.6 percent of all Sailors.
World War I
In 1917, the United States engaged in its first global war. Despite knowing that freedom to serve the country did not in itself translate into the freedom to participate fully in American society, thousands of African Americans answered the call to duty through their service in the Army. The Army operated under a policy of racial segregation and African Americans were commonly relegated to the services of supply as laborers. There were, however, active African American combat units that made notable contributions.
World War II
The African American Soldier's support of the war effort was galvanized by the determination to defeat fascism abroad in the defense of freedom. For them, freedom in its fullest form was an ideal that was desired not only for foreign lands, but on the homefront as well. While their reality in the U.S. remained one of second class citizenship, African Americans served with unyielding valor and patriotism for their country.
The Korean War
New opportunities began to emerge for black Soldiers serving in the Korean War. In October 1951, the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment, a unit established in 1869, which had served during the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and the beginning of the Korean War, was disbanded. This eliminated the last lingering formal practice of segregation in the Army. African Americans served in all combat service elements and were involved in all major combat operations, including the advance of United Nations Forces to the Chinese border.
The Vietnam War
From a legal standpoint, 1960's marked a transformation of the realities of discrimination and political equality for African Americans with the passing of the Civil Rights (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). The 1960's also marked the full engagement of the United States in the war in Vietnam. In support of this campaign to uphold the ideals and values of democracy, the tradition of honorable African American service in the Army continued with distinction. |
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