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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Diego, the first m a te to Sir
Francis Drake, a s portrayed by
Kevin “Fairfax” Williams.
# 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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