On 14 June 1877, Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.
Henry was born into slavery on March 21 1856 in Thomasville Georgia, owned by slave trader Ephraim G. Ponder. Henry’s family were extraordinary. One of his younger brother’s, Joseph Simeon Flipper was an American bishop and academic.
After the Civil War, Henry, went to Atlanta University. From there he went on to West Point, along with 4 other Black cadets. White prejudice at West Point made life there very difficult. Henry, however, graduated, earned a commission as second lieutenant in the cavalry, and was part of the group known as the Buffalo Soldiers in the 10th Cavalry. He became the first black officer to command regular troops in the U.S. Army (all-black regiments had been commanded by white officers).
His military career came to an end when he was ‘set up’ when as quarter master money went missing. After a court martial he was found guilty “of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman”, and sentenced to be “dismissed from the service of the United States”.
Henry went on to become an engineer, wrote scientific papers, and about his life experiences. In The Colored Cadet at West Point (1878) he describes his experiences at the military academy. In the posthumous Negro Frontiersman: The Western Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper (1963), he describes his life in Texas and Arizona after his discharge from the Army. He died on April 26 1940.
Click on this link for more information: Henry Ossian Flipper
