Portland observer., February 11, 2004, Page 7, Image 7

Page A 6
______________________
B lack H istory M onth
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February II. 2004^
Black Soldiers in Defense of America
continued
from A3
to the media did Johnson attract a
small bit of attention.
On the subject o f women in the
military, another A frican-A m eri­
can so ld ie r by th e nam e o f
D e b o ra h S a m p so n G a n n e tt
bravely defended her country
during the Revolutionary War.
Other black men like Salem Poor
and Peter Salem proudly served
their country during the Revolu­
tionary W ar, yet their skin color
m attered in the eyes of white
America. At the beginning o f the
war, George W ashington told his
m ilitary com m anders not to hire
any “stroller, Negro, or vaga­
bond.” The British then seized swim drow ned. Many who made
upon the opportunity to enlist it back to shore where met by
multitudesof black fighters, prom­ angry crow ds of whites who beat,
ising them freedom when the En­ shot or hung them on the spot.
glish won the war.
By 1777, George W ashington's
When England lost the war, Army had dwindled to only 1,400.
many African Am ericans were Frightened A merica might loose
forced back to their plantations the war, Congress immediately
and brutally punished. O thers
made it out o f the New York har­
bor in overcrow ded British ships,
only to find their selves taken to
the W est Indies or the freezing
clim ate o f Nova Scotia.
Sadly, many blacks died in the
harbor. The ships were o v er­
loaded and the British had to
refuse them entry or throw them
overboard. Those who could not
C o n g r a tu la tio n s to th e 2 0 0 4 T ra il B lazers
B lack H isto r y M o n th H o n o r e e s
A ddie J ean H aynes
D r . M. L ee P elton
J oyce H arris
changed the laws and black sol­ race o f each man in their rosters.
diers were allowed to join. In 1778,
Throughout the W ar o f 1812
W ashington’s own unit had 42 and the Sem inole W ars o f 1816-
black men. By the end o f the war, 1842 black solders continued to
more than 5,000 A frican-A m eri­ fight bravely and impress. Black
can soldiers had fought in an men proved they were as good as
army o f 300,000.
any white man on the battlefield.
W omen som etim es disguised Some historians believe the men
from A frica were better. Even the
Indians were astonished about
how
tough an adversary the black
An actor inter­
man
was.
p re ts th e role o f
During
a m ajor battle on Lake
Abraham Pearce,
Erie
with
the British during the
the first African
Am erican known war o f 1812, a black sailor named
Cyrus Tiffany braved British fire
to legally have
while rushing through a burning
the right to bear
and severely dam aged ship. He
arm s in 1 6 4 3 .
lowered a row boat and used his
body as a shield to save the cap­
them selves as men and fought tain o f his ship.
along side their husbands or other
But on land, most black volun­
fam ily m embers. A black woman teers were still being rejected. A
by the name o f Cathay W illiams law in Louisiana allow ed free
changed her name to W illiam blacks with more than $300 worth
C athay and fought for 18 months. o f land to join the m ilitary. In
T h e se c o n d tim e sh e w as 1803, blacks and a w hite officer
w ounded a doctor discovered her formed the Battalion o f Free Men
secret. H er injuries were too seri­ o f C olor and opened the doors for
ous to go back and fight again. more black soldiers. Andrew Jack-
Reluctantly, she resigned from son approved o f the unit and o f­
fered to pay them the same wages
M att H ennessee
L aurice S cote
NO I PICTURED! C harles M c G ee
Holding strong to history, committed to the community.
T h e I r a il B lazers B lack H isto r y M o n th H o n o r R o ll:
• A ndrew S hoals • A ngela J efferson • A n n e tte S teele •
B obbye B rown • B r a n d i P ro basc o - C a n d a • E ar l C h a n e y
• G eneva J ones • J ames D e P r eist • J oseph M a l o n e •
K aranja C rews • K e v in F uller • K e v in M o d ic a • L in d a H arris
• L o l e n z o P oe • M in n ie B e l l J o h n s o n • O bo A ddy •
O l u f e m i M ajeko baje • R a n d y C o r r a d in e • R ic h a r d B rown
• R o n H e r n d o n • R o sie D ean • R u ssell D izer •
S enator M argaret C arter • T. D ic k s o n • T o n y H opson
• W il l ie M ae H art • W il l ie W ard •
Io fin d o u t how you can h e lp b u ild a b etter c o m m u n ity v isit b la z e r s.c o m
The m edia and Army paid little attention to S h o sh a n a Johnson
who was w ounded an d ta ken prisoner o f war in Iraq, com pared
to her white counterpart J e ssic a Lynch.
the military, receiving an honor­
able medical discharge. Some time
later when her secret was discov­
ered. she was praised by m ilitary
personnel for her w illingness to
fight for her country and bravery
in battle.
In contrast, the U nited States
Navy accepted black fighters
w ithout any resistan ce. They
needed good fighting men and
overlooked the racial issue. By
the m id-1770s Navy recruiting
posters could be found most any­
where, reading “Ye able backed
sailors, men white or black, to
volunteer for naval service in ye
interest o f freedom .” However,
the Navy decided not to list the
as white soldiers, $124 and 160
acres o f land.
New York became the first state
to openly seek black soldiers in
the m ilitary during the W ar o f
1812. By 1814, between two and
three thousand black soldiers
were in A m erica’s fighting force.
Still, when the British were
threatening the city o f New O r­
leans, local m ilitary officials re­
fused help from the Battalion of
Free Men o f Color. Finally, G en­
eral Jackson ordered the deploy­
ment o f the black troops. When
the British attacked, the Free Men
o f C olor held the center ground
o f the battlefield, defending two
artillery units. It was considered
a most hum iliating defeat for En­
gland and becam e a turning point
for A m erica in the war.
Although the black fighters re­
ceived high praise fo rth e irp a rt in
the victory, most were returned
to their prior life as slaves in the
South. Black soldiers who fought
on the side of the British were
severely punished.
A lthough the initial reasoning
behind the Civil W ar o f 1861 to
1865 was to keep the Union to­
gether, the issue o f slavery was
also a driving force.
A bolitionist Fred D ouglass in-J
sisted that President Lincoln re-'
alize the need for more troops,,
telling Lincoln that men o f all'
colors would be needed to win
the war. Douglass also felt that
black women could be used in
support services such as nurs­
ing, food preparation, supplies,
and more.
Despite much objection, the
Secretary of W ar approved put­
ting together all-black regiments..
In January o f 1863, the 54lh M as­
sach u setts (C o lo red ) Infantry
Regim ent was formed. The brav­
ery o f the 54,h was depicted in the'
1990 movie "Glory. ”
Black soldiers received no pay
during the Civil W ar’s first year.
By 1865, over 180,000 black men'
fought in the Army for the Union,
m aking up over 10 percent o f the
N orthern fighting force. Yet less
than 100 o f these A frican-A m eri-
A b u s t d ep icts the African
soldier Estevancio, also known
a s 'Little S te v e n ' who landed
in p re se n t day Florida with
S p a n ish explorers in th e 1 4 ,h
Century.
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# PACIFIC POW ER
Making it happen.
can soldiers were prom oted to
the rank o f officer.
By 1862,30,000 African Ameri­
cans served in the Navy out o f a
force o f 118,000.
One o f the most noted stories
of the Civil W ar era was o f a black
boat pilot. Robert Sm alls and
seven black slav es c o m m a n ­
d e e re d the C o n fe d e ra te ship
Planter and brought it into Union
territory. As a reward, Smalls was
appointed an officer in the South
Carolina militia. He was then pro­
moted to an officer and given
com m and o f the Planter which
was used to fight against the
South.
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