Valor in the Midst of Oppression: A History of Black Veterans in the United States - Part 2

As the United States moved through the 17th century the divide between the states in the north and the south was growing. Eventually in 1860 war broke out and that war lasted for about five years. On July 17, 1862, Congress authorized the Union army to allow Blacks to enlist. Many Black men (free and slave) enlisted literally to fight for their and their families’ freedom. This concerned Whites because they feared that Black veterans would assert and demand equality which would disrupt the social order that was built of the ideology of White Supremacy. Ohio congressman, Chilton A. White stated:

“If you make [the black man] the instrument by which your battles are fought, the means by which your victories are won,” the congressman argued in his plea against black soldiers in combat, “you must treat him as a victor is entitled to be treated, with all decent and becoming respect.”

After President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation Blacks joined the Navy (19,500) and the Army (179,000) in incredible numbers, making up about ten percent of all troops. These men fought valiantly and by the end of the war about 40,000 died in service to the United States. In 1865 at the battle of Appomattox Court House Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant officially ending the armed conflict. Many of the Black Regiments that served in the Union army were disbanded soon after the war. While there were many atrocities committed against Black soldiers during the war (i.e. the massacre at Fort Pillow), I will be focusing on the mayhem experienced by Blacks after the war when they were supposed to be honored as heroes. How were these brave men treated when they sought to settle and take advantage of their newly gained freedom?

Almost immediately after the war states began to enact legislation that limited the rights of Blacks because the White power structure was afraid of what would happen now that slaves had been freed. For example Black gun ownership skyrocketed after the war ended and former slaveholders were terrified that the former slaves would seek to get revenge on them. Florida’s legislature passed the Black Code of 1866 which prohibited Black people from possessing “any Bowie-knife, dirk, sword, firearms or ammunition of any kind”. If the law was violated it was punishable by public beating. A statute passed in Mississippi declared “that no freedman, free negro or mulatto, not in the military service of the United States government, and not licensed so to do by the board of police of his or her country, shall keep or carry fire-arms of any kind, or any ammunition, dirk or bowie knife.” Since almost all Blacks were discharged from the military and they were not allowed to be on the police force, they were not eligible to carry, while White citizens were free to own and carry firearms liberally. Mississippi even posted law enforcement officials at train stations to seize black veterans’ guns when they arrived. If they did not comply were beaten and/or shot by police.

As unjust as it is to be denied their 2nd Amendment rights, many states like Louisiana immediately enacted Black Codes that denied Black men the right to vote. When Blacks, included veterans of the Civil War, attempted to protest this they were met with extreme violence. In New Orleans in 1866, a delegation of about 130 Black citizens marched towards the Mechanics Institute to attend the Louisiana Constitution Convention when they were attacked by a mob organized by the mayor of New Orleans, John T. Monroe. The mob consisted of the New Orleans police, ex-Confederates and other white supremacists from the area. After breaking into the convention the mob began firing into the unarmed crowd killing many of the delegation and others in the convention. When Blacks tried to surrender to the mob they were murdered on the spot. The ones who ran were chased through the streets and the mob then began to target Blacks who were not even at the convention. Blacks were pulled off of street cars, out of homes, and off the streets and beaten or killed. By the end of the massacre, at least 200 Black Union war veterans were killed, including forty delegates at the Convention. Altogether 238 people were killed and 46 were wounded.

The New Orleans massacre was not an aberration there were many times in the years after the Civil where Black veterans were attacked and killed instead of being honored. On 1 May 1866 In Memphis, Tennessee four white police officers attempted to break up a large group of Black Union veterans that were drinking in the street. The officer retreated when they failed to get the men to disperse and one of the officers accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to draw his weapon. This injury was blamed on the Black soldiers. The police called for backup and gunfire was exchanged resulting in the death of a police officer. After hearing about the officers that had been shot an angry mob of White men gathered and engaged the soldiers, killing several of them. Some were shot as they fled the area and at least one Black veteran was killed after he was arrested. General George Stoneman ordered all the Black soldiers back to Fort Pickering where they were to remain and be disarmed. The next day when the White mob could not find any more Black soldiers to kill, they turned their attention to the Black civilians in Memphis. Rumors were started about an “armed rebellion of the Negroes in Memphis” and they began to pull Black men, women and children from their homes looting, beating, raping and killing them. They burned the homes to the ground and attempted to drive them out of the city. General Stoneman, neglected for a day and a half to declare martial law and the now disarmed Black troops watched helplessly as their families were brutally attacked. When the mob was finally forcibly dispersed by the Union Army there were 46 Blacks and two Whites killed, 75 people were injured – most of them Black, more than 100 Blacks had been robbed, at least five Black women had been raped. Of the 91 homes that were burned, 89 belonged to Black families, one to a White man and the other to an interracial couple. The mob also burned 12 Black schools and four Black churches. It was alleged that the mob focused on the homes and wives of the Black soldiers stationed at Fort Pickering.

While these are two acts of mass racial violence we cannot forget the individual acts of racial violence against Black veterans where they were murdered for things such as simply wearing their uniforms in public.

Black veterans have not always gotten the respect afforded their white counterparts. Their sacrifices and accomplishments were suppressed. They did not get the benefits of military services. In the face of injustice they tried to fight back and were met with violence and death.

In Part 3 we will discuss the experiences of Black veterans of American conflicts from the end of the Civil War until the beginning of World War II.

References:

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/new-orleans-massacre-1866

Leon Litwack (1979). Been In The Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery

Elsie Freeman, Wynell Burroughs Schamel, and Jean West (1992). The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Kendall, John (1922). "The Riot of 1866"

Steven V. Ash (2013). “Massacre in Memphis”

#VeteransDay #Troops #BlackVeterans #CivilWar #RacialViolence #Slavery

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