African-American Military History

"Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry, some wearing buffalo robes, Ft. Keogh, Montana" [Photographer Unknown]

Buffalo Soldier

     In 1978, Bob Marley recorded a not famous song using the stories of the Buffalo Soldiers as a metaphor for the strength and resilience of the African diaspora community in the Caribbean. The song specifically details the role of the Buffalo Soldiers- a unit of mostly African-American soldiers- during the Post-Civil War Indian Wars in the American West in which African-American soldiers earned their titular nickname from Native American warriors. The main regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers was the 10th US Cavalry who served through several wars against Native Americans including those against the Cheyenne and Apache, as well as in the Spanish-American War and conflicts in the Philippines and included several figures in African-American history including the first African-American to graduate from West Point, the first African-American to serve on the Los Angeles City Council, the first African-American national park superintendent, and the first African-American to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

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"Hendrix in the US Army, 1961" [Unknown Photographer]

Hendrix in the Army

     Several famous musicians of the 20th Century engaged in military service, but one rock star-s army experience certainly made him stand out. As a teenager, Johnny Allen Hendrix got caught multiple times driving stolen vehicles and was given the choice to either serve jail time or join the army. He chose the latter. Hendrix enlisted in the 101st Airborne Division and underwent grueling training that including both official physical fitness training and substantial emotional abuse.

     Hendrix begged his father to send his guitar to him at camp in California, and- when the guitar arrived- Hendrix' fellow soldiers hid the guitar on multiple occasions to prank the young recruit. Things started to change however after fellow serviceman Billy Cox overheard Hendrix performing at an on-base music club, grabbed his own instrument, and joined in.

     Hendrix and Cox began performing together, helping Hendrix endure the mental hardships of paratrooper training, but that didn't help with his disorderly conduct. Hendrix was caught sleeping on guard duty on multiple occasions, and frequently failed to report for bed checks. Hendrix managed to get himself an honorable discharge in 1962 before turning his musical talents into a career under the stage name Jimi Hendrix.

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"A woodcut of Tubman in her Civil War clothing (1869; age c. 40s)." [Artist Unknown]

Combahee River Raid

      While most people know Harriet Tubman for her work in organize escape routs long the Underground Railroad for slaves attempting to find freedom in Canada, few know just how incredible Tubman's biography truly was. Escaped slave Harriet Tubman dedicated her life to helping others escape, so- when the American Civil War began- the former slave set to work to organize African-American resistance movements deep within Confederate territory.

     After the release of the Emancipation Proclamation, Harriet Tubman entered Confederate territory to recruit renegades to raid plantations to emancipate slaves in Confederate states and even served as a covert operative during the war to aid US military operations in Florida and Maryland. During one raid on the Combahee River, Tubman served as a forward scout for US warships raiding a series of plantations.     When US infantry went ashore to set fire to plantations and raid their stores for supplies, Tubman helped organize the more than seven hundred slaves seeking freedom to board the warships before Confederate forces could reach the scene. By the time Confederate soldiers arrived, the steamships steamed away with seven hundred fifty liberated slaves.

     Tubman was not universally respected in the North however. On a train ride back to New York during the war, Tubman used her military paperwork to ride in the half-priced section; but the conductor demanded she move to the baggage car. Tubman resisted, and train personnel responded violently in an engagement or resistance that would later inspire Rosa Parks' world famous actions.

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Boston Massacre

     Among the pantheon of folkloric events of US history is the event often seen as the culminating climax of the origins of the American Revolution- the Boston Massacre. While the specifics of what happened on the night of 5 March 1770 have predominantly been replaced by speculation, one aspect of the story details the death of African-American and Native American Crispus Attucks attributed as the first person killed in the massacre and frequently cited as the first casualty of the American Revolutionary War. After a disagreement between a British officer and a wigmaker's apprentice attracted an angry mob in the streets of Boston, several armed members of the mob approached the 29th Regiment of Foot, shots were fired into the crowd, and several members of the mob lay dead in the streets- including Attucks.     Attucks' story was largely forgotten for most of Early American history until abolitionists decades before the American Civil War began looking for African-American folk heroes to use in their rallying cries for abolition. Crispus Attucks' death became a symbol for the war for the end of abolition ahead, and- following the American Civil War- Attucks became a legend of American history. Today, several high schools bear his name, and his story of being the victim of overly violent police actions has renewed his symbolism in a 21st Century African-American community reeling from contemporary police brutality.

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"Film poster for Glory" TriStar Pictures

A Glorious Masterpiece

     There is unfortunately an under-representation of African-American experiences in Hollywood war films, and those that do exist rarely had the funding or talent provided to reach the success of those stories depicting the experiences of white soldiers. One major exception was the exceptional Civil War film Glory detailing the story of the 54th Massachusetts- a unit of African-American volunteer infantry.

     The film covers the story of the 54th through their training under Antietam veteran Robert Shaw to their role in the failed Union assault on Fort Wagner. The movie does an incredible job at depicting different characters including the white officers, free African-American volunteers, and former slaves seeking a guarantee of freedom in exchange for military service.

     The film consisted of an incredible lineup of now iconic African-American actors Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Andre Braugher, but several films of the golden age of historical epics fail to capture contemporary audiences. With historical dramas flopping at the box office, most Hollywood success stories from the 1980's and 90's have become dusty relics left on VHS shelves in small-town thrift stores.

     That doesn't seem to be the case for Glory which maintains an incredibly high rated among audiences of any background and may be the most successful film depicting African-Americans in war and depicting the American Civil War that serves by providing an honest portrayal of African-American soldiers fighting in a war over the abolition of slavery.

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"Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers, posed and ready to swing" Bob Sandberg

"Come Out Fighting"

     Before legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson made history as the first African-American to play in the MLB, Robinson was a member of the 761st "Black Panthers"Tank Battalion. Although Robinson's unit would go on to become the first African-American tank battalion to see combat in WWII, Robinson was forced to sit out the war.

     Shortly before deployment, Robinson refused to move to the back of a segregated Army bus and quickly came under fire from the US Army for insubordination and earned a court-martial. During the trial, Robinson fended off accusations of public drunkenness (Robinson never drank alcohol) and insubordination under questioning. The future athlete managed to convince the all-white jury to acquit him on all charges, but had to transfer to a camp in Kentucky.

     There, the former UCLA track and field champion was tasked with overseeing army athletics programs before earning an honorable discharge in 1944. It was at this time that Robinson met a former member of the Kansas City Monarchs (a team in the Negro American League) who convinced him to try out for the baseball team. Robinson would go on to inspire countless African-Americans to take up careers in professional baseball (among other sports) leading to desegregation among US professional sports leagues.