Many in Missoula might be unaware that one man, stationed at Fort Missoula at the end of the 19th Century, went on to be a contributing factor in many significant social and political moments in the history of the Civil Rights movement and in American history in general.The successes in battle and the exemplary service of more than 200,000 black troops in the Union army during the Civil War led to a milestone in the history of the American military.
An Act of Congress on July 28, 1866, authorized two cavalry and four infantry regiments within the Regular Army to "be composed of colored men," giving blacks a permanent place within the Armed Forces of the United States.
While life for the 25th Infantry soldiers was rife with the obstacles of harsh living conditions, difficult frontier duty, low pay and racial prejudice, Army service nevertheless provided steady and honorable work, and the men performed it with pride, dedication and bravery.
According to historian Anthony Powell, the military gave black Americans "the only part of the American dream that the American nation would allow them to share in." Joining the Army enabled the soldiers to earn a degree of respect that was otherwise difficult to attain, and it was important to them to remain in good relations with the local community.
The black regiments, consequently, had the lowest desertion and the highest re-enlistment rates of any in the military at that time. Through such dedication, while stationed primarily on the frontier, all of the regiments contributed significantly to the settlement and development of the American West.
25th Infantry at Fort MissoulaIn Missoula, these soldiers were given the task of building up the Fort, digging wells or stringing telephone wires and occasionally chasing down cattle rustlers. During labor disputes among miners or railroad workers, the 25th would be called in to keep the peace or make arrests.
Their fair and exemplary conduct was commended by both sides in the dispute. By all accounts, the relationship between the 25th Infantry and the community of Missoula was described as friendly. The 25th Infantry regimental band was especially appreciated by Missoulians. The musicality and showmanship of the soldiers was highly entertaining and they were often sought after to lead parades and perform for special functions in town, including a weekly concert on the parade grounds during warm weather.
The most remarkable contribution of 25th Infantry while stationed in Missoula, however, was its role in testing the military potential of bicycles as a possible alternative to the horse. In 1896, Lt. James A. Moss, the commander of the 25th Infantry, organized the Bicycle Corps at Fort Missoula in an effort to prove that the bicycle could be used as a machine for military purposes. Moss, who had graduated among the lowest in his class at WestPoint, was given what was considered appropriate to his low rank: the command of a black unit at an obscure station on the frontier.
Nevertheless Moss, a very motivated individual and an avid proponent of the newly invented bicycle, managed to convince his superiors of the necessity to test the military applications of the human-powered machine.
His commander, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, who had been an advocate of the military use of bicycles since 1891, gave Moss the go-ahead.
"The bicycle requires neither water, food nor rest," Niles wrote, "so the rider may push to the top notch of his own endurance without thought of his steed."
Other advantages of the bicycle over the horse were noted: A bicycle can move faster over fair roads, it is not as conspicuous as a horse and can be hidden from sight more easily, it is noiseless and raises little dust, and it is impossible to tell its direction from its track.
With the Army's approval, Moss and the Bicycle Corps undertook several short journeys by bike, delivering dispatches up the Bitterroot Valley and north to St. Ignatius. After these short jaunts, Moss decided to make an 800-mile round-trip excursion to Yellowstone in the company of eight soldiers.
After the success of this trip, it wasn't long before Moss was hungry for a bigger challenge. In 1897, he decided to take the 25th Infantry soldiers on a round-trip bicycle journey from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, Mo. The object of the trip was to test the bicycle as a means of transportation for troops, and the varied geography between Missoula and St. Louis provided all possible conditions of climate and terrain through which troops would be expected to travel.
Mingo Sanders
On the journey to St. Louis, Moss' first sergeant was a man named Mingo Sanders. Sanders, born in Marion, S.C., enlisted in the Army on May 16, 1881, and arrived in Missoula with Company B, and wife Luella, in 1888. On the long and arduous journey to St. Louis, while Moss was responsible for logistics, it was Sanders who ensured that Moss' plans were carried out and that the morale of the Corps remained high.
Sanders, partially blind from an explosion and the oldest and most experienced member of the Bicycle Corps at age 39, had already served in the Army for 16 years and was well-respected by his commanding officers.
In a document dated May 16, 1896, Sanders is described by Brig. Gen. Andrew S. Burt as "a Sergeant with character 'Excellent' and ...much desired by his Company Commander and myself." It is said of Sanders that he was the motivator and spiritual advisor of the group of younger soldiers.
On June 14, 1897, the Bicycle Corps set out on their 1,900-mile journey, and were soon met with long days of inclement weather. The conditions of the roads, if roads existed at all, remained poor at best for most of the distance. The soldiers, carrying approximately 60 pounds on each bicycle, were often obliged to follow railroad tracks or slog through thick mud or driving hailstorms, pushing their bikes up mountains or preventing them from flying down steep hillsides on the descent.
The troops were often wet and short of rations in addition to being exhausted by the ordeal. Despite the hardships, the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps averaged about 55 miles per day on their 41-day journey to Missouri.
The Corps arrived in St. Louis on July 24, 1897, and performed bicycle drills for a crowd of 10,000 people who had gathered to welcome them. Despite Moss' intention to return to Missoula by bicycle, the Army ordered the regiment back to Missoula by rail, and the 25th Infantry's commission in Missoula was soon after brought to an end in 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war.
CubaThe black regiments were some of the first called to fight in Cuba. The Army's rationale was that black soldiers would be less susceptible to the climate and diseases of the tropics.
On the day of their departure in April of 1898, Missoulians delayed their services and celebrations of Easter Sunday to gather downtown and bid farewell to the 25th Infantry. The daughter of one of the soldiers, Nina Russell, recalls her father saying that, "of all the places they had ever been, Missoula was the only place that treated them nice."
Mingo Sanders and his comrades of the 25th Infantry proceeded to Cuba to assist in the victory of the United States Army at San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898. The best-remembered image of the Spanish-American War is that of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback charging with his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba.
But it is now acknowledged that role of the Rough Riders was exaggerated, and that the black soldiers who made up almost 25 percent of the U. S. force in Cuba were, according to Edward Van Zile Scott in his book, "The Unwept," "more responsible than any other group for the United States' victory."
Roosevelt, seeing the battle in Cuba as a public relations opportunity, employed journalists who reported to the world that he and his Rough Riders were central to the U.S. victory. According to one source, TR might as well have entitled his own written account of the events "Alone in Cuba."
He was not alone in Cuba, however. At one point, Roosevelt summoned Mingo Sanders and requested that he petition his troops to surrender some of their hardtack - a thick cracker made of flour and water - to help feed the weary Rough Riders.
Sanders went on to distinguish himself in battle when he helped capture the Spanish-held fort of El Viso near El Caney "under a blazing sun and a perfect hailstorm of bullets," according to Frank W. Pullen Jr., a sergeant of the 25th Infantry.
"It has been reported," Pullen writes, that the 12th U.S. Infantry made the charge, assisted by the 25th Infantry, but it is a recorded fact that the 25th Infantry fought the battle alone, the 12th Infantry coming up after the firing had nearly ceased. Private T. C. Butler, Company H, 25th Infantry, was the first man to enter the blockhouse at El Caney, and took possession of the Spanish flag for his regiment.
"An officer of the 12th Infantry came up while Butler was in the house and ordered him to give up the flag, which he was compelled to do, but not until he had torn a piece off the flag to substantiate his report to his Colonel of the injustice which had been done to him. Thus, by using the authority given him by his shoulder-straps, this officer took for his regiment that which had been won by the hearts' blood of some of the bravest, though black, soldiers of Shafter's army."
Interestingly, his heroic efforts in the brief battle that secured Roosevelt's presidency would not be the end of the relationship between Mingo Sanders and Theodore Roosevelt. Eight years later, after distinguishing himself again in the conflict between the United States and the First Philippine Republic by rescuing five white prisoners for which he received a medal of honor, Sanders, along with 166 other members of the 25th Infantry, would find himself in the unfortunate and humiliating position of being discharged without honor by the very president his regiment had helped to victory in Cuba.
The Brownsville Affair
By 1906, Mingo Sanders had a distinguished 26-year military record. He was a veteran of several wars, had the commendations of his superiors, and was just over a year away from retirement and collecting his pension. With the 25th Infantry, Sanders was now was stationed at Fort Brown just outside of Brownsville, Texas. Racial tension in Brownsville was high, and the black soldiers were subject to intense discrimination and hatred from the white citizens. The city of Brownsville ultimately barred members of the 25th Infantry from coming into town after arguments had occurred between some of the soldiers and a local Brownsville merchant.
On the night of Aug. 13, 1906, shots were fired on the streets of Brownsville, killing a white bartender and wounding a police officer. Immediately, blame was cast on the black soldiers at Fort Brown, despite the white commanders of the 25th Infantry insisting that all of the soldiers were in their barracks at the time of the shooting.
Local authorities, however, insisted that the black soldiers were responsible, and local citizens produced spent shells from army rifles as evidence implicating the soldiers.
The military sent Lt. Colonel Loverling, inspector general of the Southwestern Division, and Gen. E. A. Garlington, inspector general of the army, to conduct an inquiry. When the soldiers were interrogated, they insisted that they did not know who committed the crime.
This was interpreted by the investigation to mean that the men were protecting the guilty parties. Thus, despite inconclusive and shoddy evidence, the soldiers were summarily judged without trial and 167 of them were dishonorably discharged by President Roosevelt for their "conspiracy of silence."
The fact that the soldiers had not been given a trial was explained in the New York Times on Nov. 8, 1906:
"The procedure by which the men will be punished comes to the American Army directly from the British practice. The authority to discharge an individual or regiment without trial and without explanation is held to be fundamental, and comes from the right of the Crown to protect itself, as from mutiny or other form of treason. In this case it is held that the men threw away their opportunity to be heard when they refused to talk to Gen. Garlington, and cannot now claim any right of appeal. The army regulations provide that ... discharge without honor may be given ... by the direct order of the President or the Secretary of War. In such a case no explanation is necessary."
Some of the soldiers of the 25th Infantry, like Mingo Sanders, had given most of their adult lives to the service of their country and were on the brink of retirement. The discharge without honor meant the loss of their pensions with no possibility of re-enlistment in the military.
Many rose in defense of Sanders' distinguished military career. The Cleveland Gazette, wrote that Sanders "has the respect and esteem of every officer in his regiment, and now, in his old age, blind of an eye, and within a few months of ... a pension, he is cast out 'without honor' from the service he loves and the flag he fought for, to make a struggle in civil life for his bread and butter. The old soldier divided the bread of his company with the hungry Rough Riders at El Caney, upon the request of him whose order now drives him out to beg."
Distinguished military officers also defended Sanders. Brig. Gen. Andrew S. Burt testified before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs that "there was no better First Sergeant in the army; that his [Sanders'] veracity was beyond question, and that he could be depended upon under all circumstances."
Sanders himself made the following statement when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs on February 11, 1907: "I'm a poor man. I've served my country honest and faithful. I offered my life to be destroyed for the Government, my body to be buried in the earth, and cattle to eat grass off the substance of my blood, and now I am to be cast on the world as a condemned man. Can't you do something for me?"
It wouldn't be until 1972 that Congress did something for Mingo Sanders.
The Black Vote
By the early years of the 20th century, the number of black voters in some northern regions was high enough to secure an election for the party that could garner their support. Republican leaders to that point had taken the black vote for granted because blacks tended to loyally support the party of Lincoln.
But the controversy of Roosevelt's action following the Brownsville incident led black and white leaders alike to recognize the political potential of keeping the Brownsville affair alive.
In particular, Sen. Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio had an interest in keeping Roosevelt and the Brownsville affair in the spotlight. With presidential ambitions himself, Foraker saw the opportunity to secure the black vote in Ohio against William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's hand-picked successor, while defending the discharged soldiers who were the victims of an unjust and probably unconstitutional act on the part of the President.
In January 1907, the Senate, as a result of Foraker's prodding, authorized an investigation by the Committee on Military Affairs into the Brownsville matter. An article entitled "Mingo Sanders Centre of Fight on Roosevelt" on the front page of the New York Times reported:
"Mingo Sanders will be the centre of attack by Republican Senators on the recent order of President Roosevelt discharging without honor three negro battalions of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. Sanders' army record has been sent broadcast, and the entire country will be made familiar with it as it is with Wood's or Pershing's. Whatever can be done through Congressional enactment will first be tried in a bill for the relief of Sanders. Republicans ... are already asserting that Sanders has a better record as a soldier than either Roosevelt or Wood can boast."
The article went on to indicate that the real political significance of Foraker's action was the control of the black vote by the opponents of Roosevelt within his own party: "The negro vote cast in a Republican National Convention is the greatest asset a politician can have."
Even in the Brownsville affair, Roosevelt understood the power of the black voter and strategically released the news of the discharge of the 25th Infantry on Nov. 7, 1906 - the day after an election in which Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives, including Roosevelt's own son-in-law, Congressman Nicholas Longworth.
Roosevelt had also attempted to maintain the black vote during his presidency by keeping such southern black Republicans as Booker T. Washington as his close advisers. Washington, the distinguished black educator and founder of the Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama had earned a prominent place in American political circles, and was consulted by Roosevelt on "negro" issues.
Washington was the first African American to be invited to dine with the president at the White House - an honor that caused quite a stir in the press to the mutual political benefit of both men.
Washington had made appeals to Roosevelt to reconsider the dismissal of the black troops, but Roosevelt had not heeded his advice in the Brownsville affair.
It was inferred by detractors of Washington's philosophy of accommodationism, that Washington was complicit in Roosevelt's action against the 25th Infantry and rather than contradict this claim, Washington hoped that the Brownsville affair would be quickly forgotten.
This perceived accommodation by Washington of Roosevelt's action on the Brownsville affair was the turning point for a shift in black consciousness toward a more active protest tradition that was first endorsed by the Niagara Movement, led by W. E. B. Du Bois, and later adopted by the newly formed NAACP.
The Niagara Movement took a pledge "to enter politics and to try to unite the negro race against the Republican party so long as it remained under the leadership of Roosevelt or a Roosevelt man," and they threw their support behind Foraker.
When Taft won the nomination, however, many blacks were left with a choice between candidates who had little concern for their interests and again voted Republican.
1912
The election of 1912, however, proved to be a turning point in the loyalty of the black voter. Once again, Mingo Sanders' outstanding military record and disgraceful discharge from military service made him the perfect political tool for opponents of Roosevelt, and Sanders was again a common name in New York Times front-page headlines during Roosevelt's third bid for the White House.
In 1912, having served already two terms as a Republican in the presidency, Roosevelt attempted a run for a third term in office. An irreconcilable rift had developed between Taft and Roosevelt, and when Roosevelt failed to secure the Republican Party nomination, he created his own party - the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party - to run against Taft (Republican) and Woodrow Wilson (Democrat).
Taft, using Roosevelt's unpopular decision in the Brownsville affair as political capital, set out as others had done before him to use Mingo Sanders' victimhood to help him win black votes.
In 1912 Taft appointed Sanders to positions in the Washington Navy Yard and then in the Interior Department and proceeded to use him as an "anti-Roosevelt exhibit" at campaign rallies, a role Sanders initially declined but after presidential appointments could not refuse.
The New York Times reported that "Sanders took part as a spell-binder in the Ohio primary fight between President Taft and Col. Roosevelt."
The battle between Taft and Roosevelt bitterly split the Republican Party in the 1912 election. In addition, W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP mobilized an estimated 100,000 black voters to support Wilson, for the first time abandoning the Republican Party.
It was an important moment in black history, many black voters realizing that they no longer owed unquestioned allegiance to any party and that they could barter their vote to protect their interests. Woodrow Wilson became the 28th President of the United States on March 4, 1913.
American history carries on from here without a major mention of Mingo Sanders. Sanders with his wife settled in Washington, D.C., became a member of the Masonic Lodge, and died in 1929 during a procedure to amputate a gangrenous, diabetic foot. He was buried at Arlington Cemetery.
In 1972, Congress reopened his case and found that he was falsely accused in the Brownsville affair. He and all of the 167 soldiers of the 25th Infantry were granted an honorable discharge and $25,000 apiece in restitution. There was, however, only one surviving member, Dorcee Willis, alive to receive it.
Mingo Sanders, the Fort Missoula sergeant who rode 1,900 miles over open frontier on a bicycle, helped the U.S. to victory in Cuba and the Philippines, served in the Army for 26 years, won the Medal of Honor and was discharged without honor by the government to which he had given a life of service, deserves to be remembered and celebrated by those of us in Missoula who acknowledge the great contribution that he and the 25th Infantry made to our community, to our history, and to our country.
Sara Bruya is the Special Events Coordinator for the Missoula Cultural Council.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)