Liberalism: Power, Economic Crisis, Reform, War 97fair treatment because the soldiers, even though Black, wore the uniform of
the U.S. Army. Things were going to be different in Houston immediately,
however. As soon as they arrived, White officers informed the men that they
were to obey local customs regarding segregation [in fact, the Houston Police
Department offered to provide separate trolley cars to shuttle the men around
town, but commanding officer Lieutenant William Newman guaranteed his
men would “obey the law to the letter”]. Perhaps most offensive to the sol-
diers was the treatment afforded the provost guard [the equivalent of today’s
military police], who were told that they would have no arrest powers, were
not to be armed under any circumstances, nor were permitted even to wear
any insignia of their position. By agreement made between the commander
Newman and Houston police chief Clarence Brock, Houston police would
handle all arrests of military personnel and turn them over once per day. For
nearly six weeks, tensions mounted as the Black soldiers did not, as Newman
guaranteed, simply accept the law. Nor did they remain silent when the citi-
zens and Houston Police Department continually referred to the soldiers as
“niggers” despite the pleas from Major Kneeland S. Snow to refrain from
doing so.
The tensions exploded on the evening of August 23, 1917. Earlier in the
day Houston police arrested one soldier and then later pistol-whipped a mem-
ber of the provost guard, Corporal Charles Baltimore. Following Baltimore’s
return to camp, the men of the 24th Infantry went out for revenge on the city
of Houston. At about 8:30, a group of men assembled in camp and shot out
telephone and telegraph wires [trial testimony indicated that several of the
soldiers amassed because they believed the camp was under attack due to
White officers who were approaching]. Between 75 and 150 African-
Americans gathered in military formation and marched from Camp Logan
toward downtown Houston. While characterized by the local press and sub-
sequent legal proceedings as a riot, it was a very controlled affair. Led by the
senior non-commissioned officer, Sergeant Vida Henry, they carefully chose
trolley cars, White police officers, and homes of White citizens as areas to
attack as they marched. In all, the Black soldiers killed 16 Houstonians (3 of
whom were police officers), wounded 12 others, and ended their mutiny
around 4:00 A.M. on August 24th.
The city immediately declared martial law and sent the Black soldiers to
New Mexico and then on to San Antonio, Texas and conducted 3 separate