167 Discharged without Honor
The Story of the 25th Infantry and the 1906 Brownsville Raid Affair
The veteran troops of the 25th Infantry found themselves in a battle they could not win in 1906.
After fighting with distinction in the Indian Wars, the Spanish American War, and the Philippines the elite all volunteer 25th Infantry Regiment, made up of black rank and file led by white officers was broken into detachments and based all over the United States. The regiment served garrison duty in Minnesota, Washington, Nebraska and California. In 1906 when Ft Niobrara, Nebraska was closed companies B, C and D of the 1st Battalion, 25th Infantry were reassigned to Ft Brown on the Mexican border near Brownsville, Texas. The deployment to Ft Brown was looked upon ominously. Texas had been part of the Confederacy only a generation before and the last battle of the civil war ((Palmito Ranch) was fought only a few miles away from Ft Brown. Texans at the time saw the US Army troops in the state largely as occupation troops left over from the Civil War. It was even illegal at the time for members of the regular army, along with the insane and convicted felons, to vote in elections in the state. While on maneuvers with Texas militamen near Ft Riley in 1903 the 25th nearly came to armed conflict over racial issues. The regimental commander, the governor of Texas, the congressional delegation from Texas, members of the war department and others registered complaints over this move but were vetoed by Secretary of War Taft.
The buffalo soldiers arrived in July 1906 to come face to face with the segregated south and open hostility. The troops were largely confined to their post and not allowed to mingle with the town’s populace after a series of unpleasant encounters on Brownsville’s streets. On the still hot summer night of August 13, 1906 a number of shots rang out just outside of Ft Brown’s perimeter. A white bartender and policeman were found dead from gunshot wounds. The post was immediately called to arms and after an accounting with subalterns and non-commissioned officers Major Charles Penrose, commander of the detachment, reported that all of his men were present and accounted for as was all of their arms and munitions. Townspeople were near riot, rapidly declaring before dawn that rogue troops from the post had raided the town. The Army began an investigation and moved the men of the 25th from Ft Brown to the more accommodating Ft Reno in Oklahoma.
The investigation, led by Army Inspector General Ernest Garlington largely convicted the unit out of hand with no reliable eyewitnesses or physical evidence. Garlington ordered the soldiers he felt responsible to turn themselves in. Every man of the detachment came forward and swore under oath that they had noting to do with the incident. On November 9, 1906, by Direction of President Theodore Roosevelt and pursuant to War Department Special Order No. 266, all 167 enlisted men of the detachment at Ft Brown were “discharged without honor”. This was immediate and meant a forfeiture of all rank, retirement, pay and privileges and disqualification from any federal job. All of the men had been volunteers for service and several had known nothing else their entire lives but being a soldier. Many of the men were highly decorated combat veterans. In 1907 Major Penrose and his adjutant Captain Macklin were court-martialed for dereliction of duty but acquitted.
In 1909-10, the Army appointed a Special Board of Inquiry called for in the men’s defense by Ohio Senator Joseph Foraker and Booker T Washington met to review the case. Major General Samuel Baldwin Marks-Young was President of the Board that investigated the alleged riot of black soldiers of the 25th Infantry at Brownsville, Texas, August 13, 1906, and affirmed the subsequent dishonorable discharge of 159 men by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. The eight soldiers whose discharge was not affirmed were allowed to re-enlist in the Army at their former ranks. Seven of them accepted and promptly re-enlisted in the 25th at their former ranks with back pay. The other 159 soldiers were written off to an unjust fate and largely forgotten.
Tragically the Army learned nothing from this incident and in 1917 the 24th Infantry, the other black infantry unit in the Army, rioted in Houston Texas after being attacked by local police. This tragically left 16 whites killed by the soldiers and a court marshal hanging 19 black soliders and discharging another 108.
After a book by John Weaver profiling the incident was published in 1970, U.S. Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins (D-CA) led a campaign to reopen the investigation into the 25th at Brownsville. In September 1972, the Army found the discharged men involved in the Brownsville affair innocent, and President Nixon endorsed their findings. Roosevelt's order was reversed. The men’s service records were amended to show that they were honorably discharged. It was found that two of the veterans, in their 80’s were still alive. They were awarded $25,000 in separation pay. Twelve widows of the Brownsville Buffalo Soldiers were given $10,000 each.
All were given an apology. It may never be known what happened that night but everyone agrees that more than one grievance was performed.
Sources
John D. Weaver The Brownsville Raid Texas A&M University Press, 1970
John Henry Nankivell Buffalo Soldier Regiment: History of the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, 1869-1926
Edward Coffman The Regulars: the American Army 1898-1941 2004 Harvard College Press
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