The company officers of the Black soldiers were mainly Black. The field officers were with few exceptions White. The fate of the Black officers, therefore, depended almost absolutely on those placed in higher command. Moreover, American military trials and legal procedures are antiquated and may be grossly unfair. They give the accused little chance if the accuser is determined and influential.
The success, then, of the Negro troops depended first of all on their field officers. If the field officers were strong and devoted men of knowledge and training, there was no doubt of their being able to weed out and train company officers and organize the best body of fighters on the western front. This was precisely what the Negro-haters feared. Above all, they feared Charles Young.
CHAPTER 7: West Point Cadets
In the late 1800s, political leaders were persuaded to allow a few African-Americans to enter West Point to receive officer training. There they had to endure terrible prejudice and hardships.
Lieutenant James Webster Smith
The first to enter was James Webster Smith of Columbia, South Carolina. He was expelled after failing a very questionable oral exam (Pope). September 15, 1997
COMMISSIONING CEREMONY SCHEDULED IN S.C. FOR WEST POINT'S FIRST BLACK CADET
WASHINGTON — A posthumous commissioning ceremony for Columbia native James
Webster Smith, the first black cadet at West Point who was wrongfully expelled in 1874, will take place in South Carolina next week. Smith's commissioning was approved by President Clinton in 1996 at the request of the U.S. Reps. John Spratt(D-SC), Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC).
