{"id":2639,"date":"2023-08-01T15:17:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T20:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/?p=2639"},"modified":"2023-08-01T15:17:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T20:17:29","slug":"how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny","title":{"rendered":"How Racial Conflict Led to Houston Riot in 1917. A Gruesome Soldier Mutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On August 23, 1917, the Houston riot (widely known as Camp Logan Mutiny) occurred, involving 156 black soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. The revolt became one of the darkest chapters in history in terms of race relations in America. This incident vividly demonstrated the problems the nation was experiencing on the homefront during the First World War. Learn more at <a href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/uk\/\">houston-yes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_76 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13c02925dd1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13c02925dd1\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny\/#Background\" >Background<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny\/#Mutiny\" >Mutiny<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny\/#Trials_and_sentences\" >Trials and sentences<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny\/#Memory\" >Memory<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Background\"><\/span>Background<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly after the U.S. declared war against Germany in the spring of 1917, the American War Department instructed to construct two military facilities in Harris County. The Illinois National Guard was to train at Camp Logan, located on the northwest edge of Houston. The camp was one of 32 educational institutions in the States created to accelerate military training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/07\/itk_-qjd64but2wye2h73xa0oj97dr8bwrv3yo0nrmyosoj2xygq5yjyaempzya4qconht7k43rvgijmrcrcnjtqhh6rcc9doqglviroilslnyh25era0cnnngghsxwjggwleux3tnxo7rqmgyhd8yc.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 3rd Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment was ordered to go to Houston for 7 weeks to guard the building site. All the soldiers were African Americans except for seven white officers at the head. They arrived in Houston three weeks after the East St. Louis (Illinois) massacre took place, which was the most brutal racial war. For several days, white men gangs wandered around the neighborhoods, indiscriminately attacking and killing black men, women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Houston officials entered the agreement with the federal government, they promised\u00a0 no racial clashes in the future. Moreover, Chief of Police Clarence Brock forbade his staff to use the word &#8220;Negro&#8221; when addressing the soldiers, even though this order was ignored. The African American soldiers faced discrimination right upon their arrival. Although most of the men had grown up in the South and experienced oppression firsthand, they expected to be treated with a decent attitude as they were military personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/07\/bwkh1l_s8kieyxhl6cyjis4txbgec0kzzdn5n_y56bdffi2slxa1hmby4govvlah9nmrgz-z25wij7_kydtd2x3b39jltzzdcnatuy5bt8uxeaunm-a-rllm5avysiwzpapzv58k-u_rdarv6eop6ks.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston law enforcement, tram conductors, and civil servants believed that racial harmony was under threat because of the presence of black soldiers. Many residents understood that if servicemen of color were treated with respect, ordinary African Americans would demand the same for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Black soldiers agreed to follow legal segregation restrictions but were very resentful about such laws. They were outraged by the fact that they had to stand in the back of the trams when there were free seats in the &#8220;white&#8221; section. Racist insults from the white workers of Camp Logan made them angry as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>African Americans were regularly harassed by the police. Most black Houstonians silently endured the abuse, but there were those who openly expressed their dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mutiny\"><\/span>Mutiny<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 23, 1917, around noon, Officer Lee Sparks and his partner, Rufus Daniels, looking for a man accused of playing dice in an alley, burst into the home of Sara Travers, who was a black woman. Not finding a man, Lee Sparks, known for his undisguised hatred of minorities, arrested the woman without giving her a chance to dress. Before that, the poor woman was scolded and beaten because they believed she hid a fugitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alonzo Edwards, a Private soldier in the 24th Infantry Regiment, asked the officers if he could give the woman some clothes. The men, in turn, thrashed him with arms and detained him. Later that day, Corporal Charles Baltimore approached the officers to question the arrest of his subordinate, Edwards. Policemen shot Baltimore three times and then took him to the police station after driving him into an empty house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Charles was soon released, but false news of Baltimore&#8217;s death reached Camp Logan. A furious group of soldiers recruited others in the camp to get revenge on all the Houston police officers who had harmed Charles. They realised that the rest of the soldiers are not immune from the violence at all if the police assaulted such an exemplary military man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/07\/cu_yg6gouuslj1iec1kszatdpdwisrjefsedeuefrn44nxdbionszvorlg8t7omfop_u98r6pkoenjh9yeyux2rfcuwxjv-p8txjjcbqojhgqh0my21cl5f7qudgtblgarqirv2gwg4hbw1jqlcggyc.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At about 8:00 p.m., Major K.<strong> <\/strong>S. Snow ordered the sergeants to grab all the rifles and search the camp for ammunition, hoping to put down any kind of rebellion. As the police officers approached the camp, the black soldiers picked up their guns and began firing into the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White policemen could not control the situation. Vida Henry, Sergeant of the 1st Company, led over 100 armed soldiers towards the prison. During the two-hour march, black rioters killed 15 white civilians, including 4 police officers. In addition, 12 people were critically injured and one policeman subsequently died. Black soldiers lost 4 people, two of whom were accidentally shot by their comrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After they killed Captain Joseph Mattes of the Illinois National Guard, mistaking him for a policeman, they disappeared into the darkness. Vida Henry ordered the men to return to the camp, and then he shot himself in the temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Trials_and_sentences\"><\/span>Trials and sentences<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On the morning of August 24, Houston civil authorities imposed a curfew. The U.S. Army sent the 3rd Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment by train to the village of Columbus (New Mexico) the next day. There, 7 revolters agreed to give evidence against the others in exchange for a pardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From November 1, 1917 to March 26, 1918, the Army held three drum head court-martials in San Antonio (Texas). Court martial accused 118 soldiers of the 1st Company of participating in the mutiny, 110 of whom were found guilty. In wartime, the sentences were harsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/07\/l66vccik_ytq8yavv34mrrzq98bt8v0vn_fp5aaxtddw945fa8btomwco-vks6yytt_vfsngk6rp9-h6dvmnqcke-up9di40tdynyqmljdzwup4criwc8a0oyuaz-taa3at7x4uysi8oiufnfsrkqu8.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>19 rebel soldiers were hanged, while 63 were sentenced to life in federal prison. One was considered incompetent. 2 white officers also faced trial but were dismissed. None of the Caucasian civilians were brought to justice. The officials buried the executed in unmarked graves, in which soda bottles with the names written inside were put.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>100 years later, the descendants of the three hanged men, William Nesbit, Thomas Coleman Hawkins and Jesse Ball Moore, applied to the government for a posthumous pardon for their relatives. Some of those executed are believed to become the victims of horrific injustice as a result of an improper legal investigation by the military court. The petitions were filed with the Department of Justice in October 2016, at the end of the second term of President Barack Obama. In March officials responded that posthumous pardons are not the prerogative of this department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fact is that there was no convincing evidence or reliable testimony that anyone from the first group of those sentenced to death (13 people) participated in the riots. However, it was proved that the last 6 executed men were indeed shooting at civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Memory\"><\/span>Memory<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>7 years after the incident, Houston acquired the land plot where Camp Logan was located. They created a Memorial Park there in memory of the soldiers who died during the First World War. It is noteworthy that the black soldiers of the 24th Infantry Regiment are not mentioned in the park. Nonetheless, everything was rectified in 2017 when a group of descendants of both soldiers and Houston police organized a rededication ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the events at Camp Logan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in his speech, called on people of all backgrounds to stand up against hate and unite. The unknown individuals desecrated the monument with red paint in less than 24 hours. One of the darkest moments in the history of Houston&#8217;s race relations has once again faded into obscurity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On August 23, 1917, the Houston riot (widely known as Camp Logan Mutiny) occurred, involving 156 black soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. The revolt became one of the darkest chapters in history in terms of race relations in America. This incident vividly demonstrated the problems [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":291,"featured_media":2544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[498],"tags":[872,873,871,870,864,862,865,860,869,867,866,861,863,868],"motype":[491],"moformat":[93],"moimportance":[101,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-2639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-voenna-istoria","8":"tag-a-private-soldier-in-the-24th-infantry-regiment","9":"tag-asked-the-officers-if-he-could-give-the-woman-some-clothes","10":"tag-but-false-news-of-baltimores-death-reached-camp-logan","11":"tag-charles-was-soon-released","12":"tag-houston-acquired-the-land-plot-where-camp-logan-was-located","13":"tag-houston-civil-authorities-imposed-a-curfew","14":"tag-houston-mayor-sylvester-turner","15":"tag-how-racial-conflict-led-to-houston-riot-in-1917-a-gruesome-soldier-mutiny","16":"tag-major-k-s-snow-ordered-the-sergeants-to-grab-all-the-rifles-and-search-the-camp-for-ammunition","17":"tag-the-descendants-of-the-three-hanged-men","18":"tag-the-fact-is-that-there-was-no-convincing-evidence-or-reliable-testimony-that-anyone","19":"tag-trials-and-sentences","20":"tag-while-63-were-sentenced-to-life-in-federal-prison","21":"tag-white-policemen-could-not-control-the-situation","22":"motype-eternal","23":"moformat-longrid-korotka","24":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","25":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2640,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639\/revisions\/2640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2639"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=2639"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=2639"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=2639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}