The Brownsville Raid
The Brownsville Raid by John Downing Weaver, published by Texas A&M University Press in 1992, is a reprint edition that spans 320 pages. This book examines a significant event that occurred on August 13, 1906, when a civilian was killed near Fort Brown, Texas, leading to a swift and controversial response from the military and the government. Weaver delves into the circumstances surrounding the incident, focusing on the unjust treatment of the 167 black infantrymen of the Twenty-fifth Infantry Regiment, who were dismissed without honor by President Theodore Roosevelt despite their claims of innocence.
Readers will find a thorough investigation of the court of inquiry that upheld the president’s decision, despite the lack of concrete evidence against the soldiers. The narrative highlights the racial tensions of the time and the subsequent efforts to rectify the injustice, culminating in the posthumous honorable discharges granted in 1972. The book touches on themes of military history, social justice, and ethnic studies, providing insight into a pivotal moment in American history that reflects broader societal issues.
Official synopsis Publisher
Around midnight on August 13, 1906, shots rang out on the road between Brownsville, Texas, and Fort Brown, the old army garrison. Ten minutes later a young civilian lay dead, and angry residents swarmed the streets, convinced their homes had been terrorized by newly arrived soldiers. Inside Fort Brown, the alarm was sounded. Soldiers leaped from their bunks and grabbed their rifles, thinking they were under attack by hostile townspeople. The soldiers were black; the civilians were white.
Still proclaiming their innocence, 167 black infantrymen of the segregated Twenty-fifth Infantry Regiment were summarily dismissed without honor (or a trial) by President Theodore Roosevelt.
The Brownsville Raid, first published in 1970, is John D. Weaver’s searching study of the flimsy evidence presented in a 1909-1910 court of inquiry. That court had upheld the president’s action and closed the case against the soldiers, not one of whom had ever been found guilty of wrongdoing. The case remained closed until 1971 when, after reading The Brownsville Raid, Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins of Los Angeles introduced a bill to have the Defense Department rectify the injustice.
Amid a flurry of national publicity, honorable discharges were finally granted in 1972. All were posthumous except for that of Private Dorsie Willis, who received his in a moving ceremony on his eighty-seventh birthday.
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