In July, 1905, the 25th Regiment arrived at Fort Brown outside Brownsville, Texas. The 25th was part of the Buffalo Soldiers. It was an all-black unit with white officers. Whenever the soldiers went to town, they would be verbally and sometimes physically abused by the citizens who were upset about black soldiers rocking their segregated world. On August 12, there was an alleged attack on a white woman by a soldier. The townspeople were enraged. The base commander agreed to an early curfew for the soldiers to avoid future incidents. The very next night around midnight, shots rang out and a bartender was killed and a policeman was wounded. When town officials came to the base to demand the shooter, the Army commander insisted no soldier had violated the curfew. Shell casings matching an Army rifle was the proof it was a Buffalo Soldier, but there was reason to believe the cartridges were planted. The Texas Rangers investigated, but none of the 12 suspects would admit to it or identify the culprit. A grand jury refused to indict due to lack of evidence. However, the Army Inspector General declared that the soldiers were involved in a “conspiracy of silence” and should be given dishonorable discharges. Pres. Teddy Roosevelt, who had served alongside Buffalo Soldiers in the Battle of San Juan Hill, approved the sentences. 167 soldiers were kicked out with no benefits. Some of the soldiers had been in the Army over 20 years and a few were close to retirement. No pensions. Blacks across the country were enraged. Booker T. Washington (who had once been to dinner in Roosevelt’s White House) asked for a new investigation, but Teddy refused. In 1970, historian John D. Weaver published “The Brownsville Raid”. This inspired Congressman Augustus Hawkins to sponsor a bill to investigate the affair. The findings were that there was no strong evidence that a black soldier did the killing and they had not been given due process before being discharged. In 1972, Pres. Nixon pardoned the men and changed their punishment to honorable discharges. By that time, there were only two survivors. Only one lived long enough to get a pension.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownsville_affair
https://www.britannica.com/event/Brownsville-Affair
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/brownsville-raid-of-1906
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