"Ready
and Forward" is more than an exhibit. It is a true story that has
spread over 200 years of American history and more. It began before
that fateful year of 1776, and its story is still unfolding today in
1998.
With a
few exceptions, the historical depiction of black history in America
has been both scanty and unrepresentative with respect to historical
fact. "Ready and Forward" is the first such exhibit to tell
the true story of a forgotten part of American history.
We
begin the story with America's quest for freedom in 1776 from Britain.
Most people don't realize that one of the first to shed his blood for
American independence was a black man. As the war progressed, more
blacks would join the ranks in the American effort for freedom. A
total of 5,000 blacks would fight in that first war.
During
those early years, black soldiers would serve in all black units with
black officers. During the counterparts in integrated units and would
serve in all black units with black officers. During the War of 1812,
for the first time in American history, a black militia with its own
black line officers had been authorized by state legislative enactment
in Louisiana. Under General Andrew Jackson, the two black militia
battalions joined in defending front line positions in the Battle of
New Orleans. Both battalions were commended highly by General Jackson.
These, as other black troops, received the same pay and treatment as
white soldiers and were among the last troops to be mustered out of
federal service.
During
the Civil War, on the Union side, there was a total of 186,000 black
combat troops, 130 Infantry regiments, 7 Cavalry regiments, and 19
Artillery regiments. There troops fought in 449 major and minor
engagements. Sixteen black soldiers earned the Congressional Medal of
Honor. Black officers for the short time they had their commissions
were able to display extraordinary leadership on the battlefield.
After
the Civil War, a bill was passed by Congress in 1866 that created two
cavalry units: the 9th and 10th, and two regular Infantry units: the
24th and 25th. These soldiers would serve on the American frontier for
30 years. During that time, 13 soldiers from these regiments would be
recipients of the Medal of Honor.
In
1870, a unique unit was formed. It was known as the Seminole-Negro
Indian Scouts. It would never number more than 50 men at any one time.
Four members of the unit, during the years of 1870-1914, would be
awarded the Medal of Honor.
In
1873, a tall, slim, young man, Henry Ossian Flipper, entered the
United states Military Academy. His arrival caused a stir among the
Cadet Corps. This son of a Georgian slave was to be the first black to
graduate from West Point and the first to become an officer in the
regular Army.
Almost
unnoticed in Army history is John Hanks Alexander, the second black to
become an officer in the regular Army. Charles Young became the third
black regular Army line officer in 1889. An outstanding officer, he
eventually would reach the grade of Colonel. In 1896, he set a new
precedent by transferring to the famous 7th Cavalry, a white regiment,
where he remained on the rolls for one year.
These
were not the only blacks to live in officers' quarters. Five of the
Chaplains appointed to the black regiments before the end of the 19th
Century were blacks.
The
first black troops mobilized for service in the Spanish-American War
were the four black regiments of the regular Army. One reason that the
black regiments were among the first called for duty in Cuba was the
War Department's assumption that blacks possessed a "natural
immunity" to the ravages of the climate and diseases of the
tropics. Whatever the motive for mobilizing the black regulars, the
soldiers themselves welcomed the assignment as an opportunity to
demonstrate their "soldierly qualities" and to win respect
for their race.
Despite
the prejudice which they encountered in Florida, or perhaps because of
it, the black troops accredited themselves with distinction on the
battlefield of Cuba, particularly at Las Guasimas, El Caney, and San
Juan Hill. Five black soldiers of the 10th Cavalry won Medals of Honor
and over 20 others won the Certificate of Merit during the Cuban
Campaign of 1898.
After
the turn of the century, black regiments, like all those in the Army,
had ceremonial duties, including acting as escorts and marching in
parades. Two troops of the 9th Cavalry according to a newspaper
account, "the first instance in the West where black soldiers
have held the position of honor in a public procession." The same
regiment also participated in the 1905 Presidential Inaugural Parade.
In
1916, the 10th Cavalry was part of the Punitive Expedition into
Mexico. The reaction of military leaders to blacks' conduct during the
expeditions indicated the respect they still had for black soldiers in
combat.
During
the first World War, over 200,00 blacks were in the Army. They were
two fighting divisions: the 92nd and the 93rd. The 369th Infantry
spent 191 days at the front. They were also the first Americans to
reach the Rhine. The 93rd Division fought most of the war under the
command of the French. The rewards for all the blood and sweat black
troops left in France were few. They were not permitted to march in
the great Allied Victory Parade in Paris, although the Parade included
black troops of both England and France. After the Armistice, black
soldiers became the object of segregation, discrimination, and
humiliation. At the heart of most of the post-Armistice restrictions
put upon black soldiers was the fear of the mingling with French
people. another reason for restriction on blacks, besides fear they
might have contact with French women, was uneasiness lest they become
infected with a foreign, radial ideology which might lead them to
demand equality when they got home. Would black soldiers still be
"Ready and Forward?"
With
the outbreak of World War II, the Army activated three combat units
composed of black enlisted men and white and black officers ... the
92nd and the 93rd
Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Cavalry Division. In the same year of
1942, black troops, mostly engineer and quartermaster units, were
among the first to be sent overseas. Also during the war, there was
formed the all black 399th Pursuit Squadron of the Army Air Corps.
They flew over 1,500 missions during the war.
Innumerable
accounts report the difficulties experienced by black military
personnel with segregation on the Jim Crow Railroad System, even when
they were traveling under government orders. Station restaurants often
refused them service leaving them hungry for hours. Most galling was
the denial of the facilities and hospitality that were extended to
German prisoners of war. In March 1945, the crisis declared:
"Nothing so lower Negro morale as the frequent preferential
treatment of Axis prisoners of war in contrast with deprecatory Army
policy towards American troops who happened to be Negro."
On one
occasion, a group of German prisoners of war traveling under guard to
the West Coast ate with the white passengers in the main section of
the dining car, but the black soldiers assigned to guard them were fed
behind a curtain at the far end of the car. The poet Wittner Bynner
recorded the incident in the following rhyme:
On
a train in Texas
German prisoners eat
with white American soldiers,
seat by seat
While
black American soldiers
sit apart ...
The white men eating meat,
the black men - heart.
So the
question was as the war came to an end, would black soldiers, after
their disillusionment, continue to be "Ready and Forward?"
With
the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 and assignment of all black
units to the Korean front, they again responded to the call. Two
enlisted men of the 24th Infantry would win the Medal of Honor before
that war would end, also black soldiers during the war, for the first
time in many years, would fight side by side with white men. By the
1960's, the Army would be totally integrated as America entered the
Vietnam War. Black officers and enlisted men would figure proudly
throughout that unfortunate war. Over 20 black soldiers would win the
Nation's highest award - the Medal of Honor.
