People from Thomas County, Georgia - Henry Ossian Flipper, Charlie Ward, Lloyd Austin, Tom Hyde, Marcus Stroud, Elbridge Bryant (Paperback)

Chapters: Henry Ossian Flipper, Charlie Ward, Lloyd Austin, Tom Hyde, Marcus Stroud, Elbridge Bryant, Thomas W. Hardwick, Sam Madison, Shawn Jones, Mary Lena Faulk, Joe Burns, Bobby Walden, Paul Miranda, Eric Curry, Herb Christopher, Myron Guyton, Ralph Mcgill. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 67. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Henry Ossian Flipper (21 March 18563 May 1940) was an American soldier and the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Flipper was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia the eldest of five brothers. His mother was a slave of Isabelle Flipper and his father, Festus Flipper, a shoemaker and carriage-trimmer, was slave of Ephraim G. Ponder, a wealthy slave dealer. Flipper attended Atlanta University during Reconstruction. There, as a freshman, Representative James C. Freeman appointed him to attend West Point, where there were already four other black cadets. The small group had a difficult time at the academy, where they were rejected by the white students. Nevertheless, Flipper persevered and in 1877 became the first of the group to graduate, becoming a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army cavalry. He was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the four all-black Buffalo Soldier regiments in the army, and became the first black officer to command regular troops in the U.S. Army. (Previously, even all-black regiments were led by white officers). 10th Regiment United States Cavalry insigniaIn July 1877 Second Lieutenant Flipper reported to Fort Sill in the Indian Territory, for assignment with the 10th Cavalry. But the 10th was not at Fort Sill, they were at Fort Concho. He was not assigned to a cavalry troop but given work assignments including engineering a ditch to drain a swamp that was malari...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=24674