African Americans at Arlington - Part II

Once Arlington had shed it's slave-day past, and the last freed slaves had left Freedman's Village, the area fell into the rhythms of a military cemetery. Although serving in a largely segregated military, African Americans would be among some of the earliest soldiers and sailors to be be buried in the new cemetery. Reflecting its early use as a cemetery of convenience, many African American solders from the Civil War are often interspersed with white soldiers, although attempts were made to segregate them. A black soldier's grave can be identified as it will have U.S.C.T after the name, for U.S. Colored Troops. These graves are generally in Sections 27 (the same location as the graves of residents of Freedman's Village, discussed yesterday) and 23 (near the Confederate Memorial ironically).

Following the war, African Americans continued to serve and Civil War veterans continued to die, both to be buried at Arlington. Major Alexander Augusta, one of only a hundred black officers (out of 180,000 who served), is buried in Section 1 (site 124-A), near the Ft. Myer chapel where many funerals are held (and where I was married). Last year, one of 20 Buffalo Soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor was interred in Section 1 (site 630-B) after it was discovered his grave in Arizona had, I kid you not, been paved over. Cpl. Issiah Mays, a former slave, was awarded the Medal for crawling more than two miles to get help after his convey had been ambushed in 1889. He had been shot in both legs. Two other African American Medal of Honor recipients from this time period are buried her as well, Pvt. Dennis Bell (Sec 31/site 349) and Master Sergeant George Wanton (Sec 4/site 2749). They were two of four soldiers from the 10th Calvary Regiment to go ashore under hostile fire to save allied Cuban insurgents during the Spanish-American War. Additionally, 22 of the 163 sailors buried at Arlington from the explosion on the USS Maine are black. They are all buried in Section 24, near the mast of the Maine.

Ironically, by the time the United States had entered World War I, racial progress in many ways had slipped from where it had been in the late nineteenth century. While African Americans were routinely assigned to combat units in the Civil War, Indian Wars, and Spanish American Wars; by World War I they were largely restricted to labor and supply units. When they did serve in combat, their contributions were often overlooked. Only one Medal of Honor was awarded to an African American, and that was not until posthumously in 1991.

One African American from that time to be buried at Arlington is Colonel Charles Young (Sec 3/site 1730-B). The first African American to hold that rank, Col. Young was the third black man to graduate West Point, the first African American to be the superintendent of a National Park (Sequoia), and a squadron commander in Gen. Pershing's raid into Mexico to chase Pancho Villa. At the outbreak of World War I, Col. Taylor was suddenly discovered to have high blood pressure, and medically discharged, presumably to avoid having to make him a general in the wartime expansion. After riding his horse from Ohio to DC to prove his physical fitness, Col. Taylor was reinstated but died in Nigeria while serving as an advisor to Liberia in 1922. Col. Taylor's funeral service was in the Memorial Amphitheater, one of only a handful of services to be held there.

Following the relegation to secondary roles in World War I, African American leaders insisted that black soldiers be assigned meaningful roles in World War II. Perhaps best known of these, but by no means the only, was the Tuskegee Airmen. The Army Air Force created an all-black fighter group, the 332 Fighter Group, eventually commanded by Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.  General Davis was the fourth African American to graduate from West Point in 1936 (the first since Col. Taylor), and was shunned by his fellow cadets the entire four years there. When he graduated, he would be one of only two African-American line officers in the U.S. Army; the other being his father, then Col. Benjamin Davis, Sr. Col. Davis, Sr. would go onto be be the first black General in the U.S. Army, capping off his forty two years of military service as a Brigadier General. Gen. Davis, Jr. would be promoted to full General after his retirement under President Clinton.

However the title of first African American full General would go to Air Force Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James. Gen. James would go on to serve in an integrated military after his start as a Tuskegee Airmen, flying combat missions in Korea and Vietnam. He was awarded his forth star in 1975. Gen. James, Gen. Davis, Jr., and BGen. Davis, Sr., are all buried in close proximity to each other in Section 2, just past the statue of Sir John Dill on Roosevelt Drive. Gen. James is to your right, and the Davis's are across the road to your left. Gen. Davis, Jr. has a large black tombstone on the top of the hill, and BGen. Davis, Sr. has a government issue headstone between the top and the road. Further up the drive, just below the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Section 7a (site 18), is Gen. Roscoe Robinson, the first black Army four star General.

This is hardly meant to be an exhaustive list of African Americans who have served in the military and are buried in Arlington, but it includes some whose stories intrigue me. Join us tomorrow when we wrap up our visit to Arlington by looking at some folks buried here who are best known for what they did out of uniform.