Valor in the Midst of Oppression: A History of Black Veterans in the United States - Part 1

There has already been so much discussion around the death of Army Sgt. La David Johnson and the events that followed. The disrespect that the family felt from President Trump’s phone call is understandable considering the circumstances and recentness of Sgt. Johnson’s death, plus the poor word choice that the President used when attempting to show some level of empathy to Myeshia, his wife. People have discussed at length whether they believe that Trump meant to disrespect the family or that he just doesn’t care how they feel. I could go into the track record of the 45th President and attempt to show that he may not be capable of showing empathy, but I think that thing that was most poignant to me was how his seemly flippant comments are added to the long catalog of not respecting, valuing, or honoring the bravery, courage and sacrifice of African-American service members.

From the Revolutionary War to the present day’s long "War on Terror" American slaves and their descendants have been fighting in battles to obtain, maintain, or defend freedom. However, for most of the country’s history the freedom that they fought for did not include them. I will give some example to show that Blacks that served in the military through most of our country’s history have not been honored or respected the way that today’s society tries to instruct us to revere the military.

During the War of 1812, one of the first major conflicts that our young country participated in, General Andrew Jackson (who would later become the seventh President) was facing defeat during the Battle for New Orleans. He desperately issued a call for Black troops to join his ranks against the British. Jackson promised free Blacks that they would be paid the same wages as White soldiers and he promised any slaves that joined that they would be set free. While at Calvin Smith’s Louisiana plantation he declared:

“Had you not as soon go into battle and fight, as to stay here in the cotton-field, dying and never die?... If you will go, and the battle is fought and the victory gained on Israel’s side, you shall be free.”

James Roberts, a slave owned by Smith heard the General’s proclamation. He reflected on that proclamation later that Old Hickory’s words were like a “divine revelation” and that he and other slaves felt that “…In hope of freedom, we would run through a troop and leap over a wall.” Jackson left the plantation with 500 of Smith’s slaves. Smith allegedly encouraged the General to emphasize the promise of freedom in exchange for faithful service. He was comforted that his own sons would not be enlisted to fight, stating:

“If the [N]egroes should be killed, they are paid for, but if my children should go and get killed, they cannot be replaced.”

In early 1815, troops under Jackson’s command, which included 600 Black men that he enlisted (slaves and free), defeated British forces in New Orleans. Jackson commended the troops for their bravery then reneged on his promise of freedom and returned them to the plantation. When James Roberts realized that he and the other slaves were not to be freed, he approached General Jackson and said, “I did fight manfully and gained the victory, now where is my freedom?”, Jackson was stunned and told the slave that he was “very presumptuous” for approaching him. Upon hearing the conversation between Jackson and Roberts some White soldiers and townspeople suggested that the slave be shot for his insolence. In his narrative Roberts writes about the broken promise:

“Two days before, I had, with my fellow soldiers, saved their city from fire and massacre, and their wives and children from blood and burning. Yet, the people of New Orleans would have had me shot simply for contending for my freedom, which both my master and Jackson had solemnly before high heaven promised before I left home.”

For Roberts, about 60 years old in 1815, this was the second time he thought he was going to taste freedom only to be according to his words, “duped by the White man”.

40 years earlier, during the American Revolution, he joined his master in the war against the British with the assurance that he would be set free if they were victorious. He fought valiantly but his master, a colonial officer, was killed in battle. After the British retreat Roberts was separated from his wife and four children and sold back into slavery. He never saw his family again.

In the next post I will discuss the Blacks that joined the Union Army to defeat the Confederacy during the American Civil War. They fought literally for their freedom only to be oppressed, terrorized, and massacred once the war ended.

[See: The Narrative of James Roberts, A Soldier in the Revolutionary War and at the Battle of New Orleans. By James Roberts]

#BlackVeterans #VeteransDay #Troops #1812 #Warof1812 #LaDavidJohnson

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