The Woes of Lieutenant Flipper

Lt. Henry Flipper

Lt. Henry Flipper was the first African-American appointed to West Point.  In addition to the brutal discipline meted out at the U.S. Military Academy, Flipper would also suffer through years of racial prejudice in preparation for a military career.  Nothing in his training, however, would prepare him for his experience on the West Texas frontier. 

Henry Flipper was born a slave on March, 1856 in Thomasville, Georgia.  During Reconstruction, Republican Representative James C. Freeman, a former slave master, appointed Henry to attend West Point.  He managed to graduate and received a commission as a second lieutenant, one of a handful of Black commissioned officers.  Eager to serve, he was assigned to one of the four African-American “Buffalo Soldier” regiments in the U. S. Army.    Though it’s not known for sure, the “Buffalo Soldiers” likely got their name from the Cheyenne Indians because of their dark skin and curly hair.  

Flipper’s military career began at Fort Sill in the southwest part of the Indian Territory.  Having a flair for engineering, he drained a malaria ridden swamp by constructing an adjoining drainage ditch.  Known as “Flipper’s Ditch,” it’s still in operation today.  In desperate need of skilled officers, the commander of the “Buffalo Soldiers’” 10th Cavalry,  Colonel Benjamin Grierson, took notice of Henry and transferred him to the 10th Cavalry’s “A” company stationed at Fort Concho, Texas.  

After the Civil War, the U.S. Army was reduced in size to 50,000 men.  Many of them served as occupation troops in the post-war South or guarded the frontier against hostile Native Americans.  Now forced to seek paying jobs, former slaves sought employment in the U.S. Army.  Despite the pressing need for personnel to serve at remote frontier outposts, the organization of Black regiments was almost derailed from the start.  Few recruits were literate due to the stringent, pre-Civil War laws against educating slaves.  The horses they were provided were badly worn from Civil War service and hardly suitable for service of any kind.  Many White officers didn’t want to command African-Americans and were often openly hostile to their presence.  Colonel Benjamin Grierson was one of the rare exceptions; he took command of the 10th Cavalry Regiment upon the request of General Ulysses S. Grant.  

The commander of Ft. Leavenworth was General William Hoffman who hated Blacks and their White officers.  He showed his contempt by assigning the 10th the most flood prone section of the fort.  After their tents flooded, many of them came down with pneumonia.   Not surprisingly, Grierson requested transfer to another post.  The 10th was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas.  From there, they fanned out to remote postings in West Texas, New Mexico, and the Indian Territory.  Their job was to protect settlers and railroad workers from nomadic bands of Cheyenne, Apache, Kiowas, and Comanches.  Before the late 1870’s, most of the Native Americans in the Southwest were corralled in reservations where they were promised annuities and provisions from the U. S. Government.  The treaties that were supposed to keep them on the reservations were held up in Congress.  Feeling cheated, they left, getting their provisions by raiding farms and hunting buffalo.  Mounted on horses, they were always on the move and extremely elusive.  The Apaches, led by the brilliant Victorio, would cross into Mexico to elude the U.S. cavalry, knowing full well they couldn’t be pursued across an international border.  

Flipper was transferred to Fort Concho near present day San Angelo.  The commander of “A” company was Captain Nicholas M. Nolan, who took a liking to Flipper and taught him the rudiments of commanding cavalry.  Impressed with Flipper, Nolan invited him to dine with him at his quarters, a clear violation of military norms.  From there, Flipper’s career would take  a downward turn.  

It started during the 1880’s after Company “A” was transferred to Fort Elliott in the Texas Panhandle.   Located in the Western Panhandle, near the Oklahoma border, Fort Elliott was established to keep the Comanches from leaving their reservation in the Southwest Indian Territory.  Nearby was the town of Mobeetie; a community that owed its existence and growth to Fort Elliott.  Established in 1879, the town was a seedy collection of buffalo hunters that depended on the fort to protect them from the Comanches.   Things brightened up at the fort with the arrival of Nolan’s sister-in-law.  Being one of the few single females in the Texas Panhandle, Mollie Dwyer quickly attracted the attention of the fort’s unmarried officers.  Nolan’s new adjutant, Lt. Henry Flipper, became friends with Mollie and went horseback riding with her.   Needless to say, such behavior led to accusations of improprieties between Flipper and Dwyer.  A smear campaign against Flipper followed, likely started by those fellow officers Mollie rejected.  To make matters worse, troubles in Mobeetie almost cost him his life.  

Mobeetie, the first established town in the Texas Panhandle, held many opportunities for local businessmen and emerging ranchers.  Federal authorities in Dallas, however, took note of Mobeetie’s growth and the fact that no taxes were being collected nor licenses issued during  the town’s dealings with Fort Elliott.  Armed with a stack of unsigned warrants, Federal Marshal Colonel A. B. Norton and his deputies began arresting the town’s businessmen and government officials, practically depopulating the town.   Those arrested, including the county judge, were incarcerated at the fort before being tried in Dallas for tax evasion.  After a conversation with the judge, Captain Nolan ordered Flipper and two guards to transfer the prisoners to another fort in the Indian Territory, ostensibly to protect them from Norton.  The transfer took place at night without the knowledge of Marshal Norton; who was expecting a whooping fee for his multiple arrests.  Norton rode after the column and arrested Flipper and the two guards.  One of the guards escaped and informed Nolan of the arrests back at the fort.  Worried that his adjutant might be “shot while trying to escape,” Nolan gathered a detachment and pursued Norton.  Catching up with Marshal Norton’s column, Nolan declared the prisoners were now under his protection.  An uneasy journey of Buffalo Soldiers, Federal deputies and Mobeetie’s business community now made their way to Dallas for trial.  All the prisoners, including Flipper, were later acquitted and released

Serving with marked distinction during the Apache Wars, Flipper was assigned to Fort Davis in Southwest Texas.  Fort Davis’ commander, Colonel William R. Shafter, had it in for Flipper.  Shafter asked Flipper to keep the quartermaster safe in his quarters.  Within a few days, $2,000 were found missing from the safe.  Shafter arrested Flipper for embezzlement.  More than likely, Flipper was set-up.  In December 1881, a court-martial found him innocent but found him quilty of “conduct unbecoming an officer and gentlemen.”  Instead of embezzlement, Flipper’s relationship with Mollie Dwyer was used against him.  He was dismissed from the army.  Until his death in 1940, Flipper worked as an engineer and government advisor.  It wasn’t until 1999 that President Bill Clinton pardoned him.