The Story of Black Military Officers, 1861-1948

Description

Black members of the military served in every war, conflict and military engagement between 1861 and 1948. Beyond serving only as enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers, many also served as commissioned officers in positions of leadership and authority. This book offers the first complete and conclusive work to specifically examine the history of black commissioned officers. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Native Guards Butler’s Colored Brigade No Ordinary Man Banks’s Annoyance Francis, Prominent New Orleanian Pinchback, Lieutenant Governor Cailloux, The Blackest Man Attitude or Trickery 2. House Resolution 675 Not Sanctioned 1st and 2nd Kansas The Political Hits and Misses of H.R. 675 Chaplains and Surgeons Butler’s Influence Below the Mason-Dixon Line 3. Limited Success, 1864–65 Abolitionist Pressure One Hundred and Eleven 4. The West Point Years 1870–1889 West Point’s Ordeal New Colored Cadets Henry O. Flipper: He was Seventh, but the First Weakened Spirits Whittaker’s War New Faces John Hanks Alexander, Second Black USMA Graduate Mr. Young Seagoing Services Conclusion 5. The West and the Spanish-American War Years Alexander Achieves Mr. Young, Continued National Guard Officers Chaplains Separate but Equal 6. A Campaign for Bars and a Brief Side Show Central Committee of Negro College Men Fort Des Moines Decided Excitement and Enthusiasm Three Black Line Officers Dilemma 7. Fort Des Moines Training 92nd and 93rd Divisions Other Commissioning Sources 8. Into the Fray, Success or Failure Aviation and Newfound Equality Patriotism; on the Field of Battle Report Card 9. Full Share Red Summer Studies and Reports Limitations and Other Forms of Exile Not Giving up on Their Full Share 10. Attack and Counterattack: The Interwar Years Our Natural Strength Black Press Brain Trusters Brigadier General 11. The Gate Opens Citizens’ Military Training Camps Reserve Officer Training Corps Civilian Conservation Corps Civil Aeronautics Authority National Guard and Reserve Enlisted Corps West Point 12. West Point and Annapolis Revisited Oscar De Priest’s Impact Déjà Vu More Déjà Vu The Black, Long Gray Line Begins Black Press Impact Fifth-Generation Free Washingtonian Revised Thinking No Big Deal 13. The United States Army Initial Mobilization Ghost of World War I Expensively Educated European Theater Pacific Theater Italy 14. The Army Air Corps Black Press Campaigning for the Cockpit Tuskegee Training Deployment On Trial 477th Bombardment Group Five Vignettes Elliotte Williams Elmer Jones Daniel “Chappie” James Charles Bussey Harry B. Sheppard Unique Wings 15. The United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard We Should Commission a Few Golden Thirteen Samuel L. Gravely Ensigns Coast Guard 16. Women Go to War Nurses They Wanted to be WAACS 6888th Martha Putney Ruth A. Lucas They Freed a Man to Fight 17. Epilogue: War’s End to EO 9981 More Studies and Reports Postscript A New Dilemma Conclusion Appendix I: Black Commissioned Offi cers 1861–1865 Appendix II: Blacks Nominated to the USMA 1870–1887 Appendix III: Black Commissioned Officers During World War I Notes Bibliography Index