Chainsaw History - Part Two: The Houston Riot of 1917

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

{ Discover more at ChainsawHistory.com — access our full episode list, delve into bonus content, and support our show with a paid subscription! }Siblings Jamie and Bambi Chambers conclude the story of all-black Buffalo Soldiers sent guard a training camp for new recruits for the war effort in Houston, Texas where Jim Crow laws and white supremacy were in full effect. After enduring constant racism and disrespect, a young soldier tried to intervene in an unfair arrest of a local mother—the resulting police abuse set off a chain reaction that led to over a hundred professional soldiers marching into the city with the intention of killing as many white cops as possible. It’s a challenging story of racism, fear, rage, retribution, and injustice that took over a century to be addressed by the United States and its armed forces.In this episode we hope you'll consider donating to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in their fight for racial justice through litigation, advocacy and public education. We also express support and solidarity with the Atlanta Forest Defenders and encourage you to learn more and help stop Cop City.

It's fucking chainsaw history time. I know I just must have seen this. It's your birthday. Yeah, it's about to be my birthday. It's the saddest part is when I was realizing more and more of these quote unquote historical topics are things I can remember. They were just the news at some point. Well. That sucks. I got you something for your birthday. Oh dear. Things I can remember, they were just the news at some point.

Well, that sucks. I got you something for your birthday. Oh dear. I got you a script. Oh, you got it, you're done? Yeah. Cool. I'm pretty much, I need to finish just the last writing part of it because it's a labor of love because my hand really hurts.

Well, I appreciate all the low effort content that we can make. I don't have to do all because today's script is the longest one I've ever written in the history of the show. All right. Well, buckle up. Yikes. So, yeah, we got to get back to our story of what happened on a hot summer night in Houston, Texas in 1917. So last episode, we set the stage for violence and tragedy. Got everything kind of ready.

And now you get to actually find out how it all played out. Yep. We sat in the shit stew. And now it's time. Now it's time to fucking eat this bitch, I guess. Welcome, everybody, to Chainsaw History. This is the podcast where my sister and I ride down the road of American history and take out mailboxes with a baseball bat.

So far it's just me listening to horrific stories. Yep. While you tell them. I am your host, Jamie Chambers, and this is my horrified sister, Bambi. Hello. And she's gonna be only more horrified. Yeah, this one's a rough ride. You have no idea.

Disclaimer, we are a comedy podcast. I'm not a historian, but I took just enough college classes to be really smug at parties. I've been trained to listen to Jamie since I was a small child. Right. Just corner you. Yeah. I didn't, I don't have a choice in this.

Which to be fair, my own son does to me now, and I just sort of had to take it as penance for doing this to other people. If you want to help our show grow and succeed, be sure to subscribe to write us an Apple podcast or whatever podcast platform you prefer, write a review. It really helps us out and kind of gets us up on people's like new to listen to feeds now that we're getting our act back together. I'll share episodes, clips with your friends on social media and visit chainsawhistory.com so you can find out how you can help the show and check out our bonus content like the value

of series where Vanby reads me kids books from the 1980s and no time for love Dr. Jones where we talk about Indiana Jones adventures through history. All right, warning up top everybody. Today we're going to discuss racial bigotry, extreme violence, and state executions. Yikes. So if you don't want to hear that kind of content, this is definitely not the episode for you. Bambi has no choice. Yeah, I just have to sit here. We also want to reiterate from last time that Bambi and I are incredibly white and have also never served in the military. So we're looking at this from a very outsider point of view and we encourage you to check out, you know, people who have a lot more of that intimate perspective from these issues.

So there is a lot of material I pulled this episode from like a lot, a lot, including a lot of like court transcripts from way back in the day and official reports released through the Freedom of Information Act. But the two main sources I started with were the book Mutiny of Rage by Jamie Salazar and Geoffrey Corn, which came out back in 2020 and the documentary Mutiny on the Bayou, the Camp Logan story, which was put out by KHOU out of Houston. Those and all of our sources will be linked to on the full show notes. You can find it at chainsawhistory.com. So now these episodes are only going to be like a couple of weeks apart, but because of podcast production and our lives, it's been like a little bit longer for me and you since the last time we sat

and talked about Houston. Yeah, about a month. About a month. So a refresher will help us all. Plus if a new listener jumps in, like in the middle right here and wants to skip, we'll just do a little quick recap. We jumped back in time to the wholesome Apple Pie year of 1917, which was the year America entered World War One. We went over some like little fun facts, and then we jumped into the non-fun facts, such as intense racism enforced by Jim Crow laws in the southern States. So we talked about segregation and how it affected things like transportation,

schools, drinking facilities. They restricted voting rights, banned interracial relationships and basically upheld white supremacy across the board. We talked about the race riots that had led up in the like decades leading up to 1917, which usually started with false accusations against black men assaulting white women. And so like racial tension was on the country's mind,

right as World War I is breaking out. Next, we talked about the proud history of black soldiers in the United States military, starting in the civil war, but focusing on the Buffalo soldiers, all black US army cavalry and infantry regiments. These guys faced discrimination, but they saw military service as a path to getting broader respect from society. They built a reputation for bravery

and discipline, all receiving little trust or recognition in return, including some shitty notes from Theodore Roosevelt who fought alongside these men in Cuba and then immediately talked shit about them when it helped him politically. So, but when Uncle Sam wanted to rapidly expand the military to fight in Warbler I, the Bayou City of Houston wanted to host the training camp so he could get those federal funding. So even though there were objections from both the like pro-civil rights and anti-black, you know, sides of the equation, both realized it was kind of a bad idea. The Army sent the Buffalo soldiers

to guard the camp's construction just outside this segregated city. So we have these proud men with this history of service to the country, a lot of times fighting out West because they were in the Indian Wars, they were fighting against the Mexicans. Yeah, we sent our African-American soldiers to go shit on our Native Americans

and our friends over in Mexico, which used to just be parts of America. Well, actually, you have part of America used to be Mexico. Yeah, that's kind of funny. Tejas. Yeah, didn't get those new Mexico might be a slight hint for anybody. But that's a whole completely different podcast that maybe we'll get to one day. Maybe we'll talk about Pancho Villa at some point. I know we will when we do No Time for Love. Dr. Jones, he's a character in there. But anyway, getting back to the recap, we're getting back to Houston, Texas, which had a history of violent racist cops. We talked about, there are new chief of police

who's kind of a progressive reform guy who wants to make things better, but nobody, his men don't respect him, came from the Parks and Rec service. So that's the formula for disaster we're like going into the situation with. So that Chris Pratt is in charge. Yeah.

So, with all that terrible buildup, it seems like something just awful was bound to happen. And maybe that's true, or maybe it went down the way it did only because of the specific people involved and the decisions that they made. So a lady named Angela Holder has worked tirelessly to preserve the memory of the Buffalo soldiers. As a little girl, she became really fascinated with the mystery of what happened to her great uncle Jesse. Like, generally, they didn't even know, he just went back into the service and just vanished. They didn't even notify them of what happened?

Yeah, it's really messed up. That's fucked up. So this is Angela from the documentary, Mutiny on the Bayou. One thing I remember my mother was saying that he may have been in the service before and that he was a bugler and that he wanted to go back into the service but his mother didn't want him to do it,

that there might have been some type of premonition that something bad was going to happen to him. Yeah, I'm having that same premonition that something bad was going to happen to him. Yeah, I'm having that same premonition. Spoiler alert, yeah, it's just anxious whistling, Dixie. Here we go. So we've got this ugly situation in Houston. You know, these soldiers, some of whom have seen combat, are being forced into the back of streetcars, not allowed to go to certain public places, and aren't even allowed to

drink from the same water barrels as white construction workers. And everywhere they went they would hear insults, racial slurs. Last episode I called it a pressure cooker, but if I wanted to chase a cheap metaphor I would have called it a powder keg, because if there's one asshole we could blame for starting this entire mess it would be a guy named Sparks. So literally the spark that lights this whole thing off. You're not going to find many clear cut good guys in this story, but Lee Sparks is definitely a villain. And if there's one guy who's going to clash with black soldiers, can you guess what his job, what his profession might be? Police officer?

Ding, ding, ding, you are correct. He was mounted patrol. So Sparks actually volunteered his own horse for the cause of being a cop riding around the streets of Houston. Officer Sparks was so aggressive in his enforcement of white supremacy that he had a reputation, even in 1917, in Houston among his fellow police officers. So he's extra racist. Yeah, so it's like among the racist cops, they're like, Jesus, why don't you calm down, buddy? Perhaps this is because he was from a Texas county that had once been a center of plantation slavery. He just wore his racism out on his sleeve and was quick to get abusive and violent.

From mutiny of rage, quote, as an officer, he made it a point to always let black suspects know that whites were squarely in charge. As an aging municipal policeman, he was likely unhappy with his lot in life, enraged that younger, fitter, more virile black men in uniforms with medals were issued, spring-filled rifles, and set to fight on his behalf. He was suspended previously for 10 days by police chief Brock for verbally assaulting a woman as he arrested her son.

Unquote. Joy. Dr. Robert Haynes, a scholar who wrote one of the most comprehensive accounts of the riot, one that I wanted to get, but it cost like $120 and it was not available electronically, had this to say about Sparks from the KHOU documentary. Quote, Sparks was very proud of the fact that he could beat blacks over the head and get there,

as he always put it, get there a hot hot ride and he always put a notch on his gun every time he shot one unquote so this guy literally keeping score. Yeah sounds like an asshole. He's this middle age. He's an asshole among the other assholes. He's a standout asshole. All right so this well-established piece of shit with a badge officer Lee Sparks was patrolling Houston's fourth ward with his partner, a big dude named Rufus Daniels. The pairs established- So Sparks and Rufus. Sparks and Rufus are our fucking shit villains. Okay. Or starter villains, but there'll be many more to come. So the pairs established routine was generally hassling the street hustlers and sex workers and this day they were specifically looking for gambling rings run by black teens.

So there's like, there's word on the street was that they were running dice games and you know, got to run these kids out. So people were having fun and we can't stand it? Oh, hell no. Well, that was the whole protest too, is that you know, the soldiers coming in town was going to increase dancing and drinking and gambling. People having fun. Good times. We can't have that. So it was in the morning of Thursday, August 23rd, already the hottest day of the year. Humidity already damn near 100% when all this started. And sure enough, they come and they spot two teenage boys shooting dice in an alley. And there's no ever any report that even, they even saw like any money involved.

But just saw some kids rollin' dice on the ground. And the moment these kids see, like they hear the horses, they see these guys come at them, they take off. Like you do when you see the cops. Again from Mutiny of Rage, quote, Sparks pursued one of them, the chase leading into the home of a black resident, Mrs. Sarah Travers, a mother of five. She was ironing clothes when Sparks bar one of them, the chase leading into the home of a black resident, Mrs. Sarah Travers, a mother of five.

She was ironing clothes when Sparks barged in. Alone and not expecting guests, she was woefully underdressed. Did you see a racial slur jumping over that yard? Officer Sparks barked at Travers. She had seen nothing of the sort. Not satisfied with her response, he proceeded to turn the house inside out, searching for the culprit. Officer Daniels waited outside in his horse. Still with no sign of the suspects, Sparks vented his fury on Travers, calling her a liar among other slurs.

Since these sons of bitches of N-word, soldiers came here, you trying to take the town? He exclaimed. We do not allow Inward to talk back to us. We generally whip them down here." Unquote. Fun. So this dickhead kicked down a mother's door while she's basically in her underwear, ironing clothes on a hot morning.

Then he searches her place without permission, just heaping abuse on her. And yeah, well, his dickhead fucking cop buddy was outside, what, keeping watch? Just on his horse at the moment Just just standing there like he's not needed at the moment and see if somebody else is gonna run Oh, well Sarah wasn't the kind of lady to take this shit kindly She told sparks he had no right to come into her house and wanted his racist ass to leave and you can guess how well that went

Sparks slapped Mrs. Travers across the face. And when she screamed, Daniels came into the house not to help her, but to help Sparks drag her out into the streets where she's screaming. She's not dressed. Sparks yelled that he'd arrest her. I'm very triggered right now.

Just, just so you know, this, this is the gentlest this is going to get. Now the good news is there's not much more violence against women in this story. I can at least give you a little bit of that. It's not even, I'll tell you later. Spark said he'd arrest her even if she was naked and officially charged her with and tell me if this sounds familiar, abusive language.

Hey, now I'm double triggered. From Mutiny of Rage, quote, for being a, quote, within the quote, bigotty slur woman, they intended to give her 90 days on the P farm, referencing the practice of leasing slaves to other landowners. Sparks official account of the incident differed as he denied slapping Travers and insisted that she was adequately dressed when he entered her home Fucking hate this so much. So with all the yelling and commotion The neighbors all step out to see what's going on. So this is you know, this is a very, you know

tightly packed in you know poor black community in the fourth world of Houston So all the neighbors kind of step out onto their stoops, but they all know better than to interfere. They know these guys and how that would go. So the best thing you can do is bail her out and clean her up. Yeah. So they dragged this poor woman to the closest police box. And sadly, this does not mean that the doctor showed up to write this historical injustice. You know, back then police call boxes were all over the place so that this, you know, you could call in a car to come pick up suspects or to other call for backup or whatever, because this is pre radio, pre anything.

This is telephone only days. And we were lucky to have them. Yeah. So Sarah is still yelling and protesting her modesty because she's like in her, you know, her house dress, which in 1917 is like half naked. Wouldn't be quite as scandalous these days. But one guy actually stepped out of the crowd to actually do something to help her. Private Alonso Edwards was in town on a 24-hour pass and probably had been drinking all night and may have still had a good buzz going on.

So he stepped forward and went to talk to Sparks and Daniels and asked what was wrong and begged them to let him pay any fine that she owed so that she could go back in her house and put some damn clothes on. Being a reasonable man, Officer Sparks rode up to Private Edwards with his service revolver in his hand. Edwards just stood there, so Sparks pulled out his signature move, a pistol whipping. He beat Edwards over the head five times. Really fucked this young man up.

That's horrible. Then the racist limp dick cop was later quoted as saying, quote, I was not going to wrestle with a big N word like that, unquote. Didn't seem like anybody wanted to wrestle him. I can't help but remember that Derek Chauvin used the exact same justification for his murder of George Floyd. And Alonzo Edwards was also like this big guy. So this middle-aged shitty cop just beat him over the head. I knocked his ass clean up.

I dislike police officers. Yeah, and Sparks and Daniels are two of the worst. So Sarah Travers didn't stay in jail long and was released without any charges Meanwhile Edwards was held in charge with interfering with an arrest left to bleed in a local jail cell So now it's time to meet another important figure in our story of the Buffalo soldiers His name is Charles W. Baltimore Corporal so this guy is like your nephew's age, 23, 24 years old, when all this went down. This is what an overview document presented at his murder trial had to

say about Baltimore. Quote, Major Snow, who was then newly promoted and inexperienced camp commander, testified that he was in command of iC I company for several months and considered the accused corporal Baltimore a very good man He was on special duty at the regimental post exchange was considered an excellent man and recommended to be appointed corporal He would have given the accused a character excellent He had been recommended for officers training school Unquote So quick note about Major Snow the guy who gave that quote about Baltimore. He had previously been the captain of iCompany, the Buffalo Soldiers. And he was considered

fair to the men. He also didn't have much to do with them. He was very distant and spent most of his spare time in Houston golfing with a rich businessman. Now Captain James was another figure that kind of in the background of this story. He was in charge of L Company, and we need to remember later he was the duty officer on the following night when things go really wrong. James was known for being hardworking, natural leader with a sensitive side. But back to Baltimore. So Corporal Baltimore was highly regarded and was military police. So he was used to having to deal with disorderly men and keep them in line. So he's the one who got roped into dealing with the situation with private upwards getting beaten and arrested in in line. So he's the one who got roped into dealing with the situation when private upwards getting beaten

and arrested in the street. Here's how it's described in Mutiny of Rage. Quote, Corporal Charles Baltimore was known throughout camp as a model soldier and mentor to many new privates. He was also a senior military police with authority over the soldiers. Baltimore happened to be in the fourth ward that afternoon. As he exited a streetcar,

he was met by an excited soldier who witnessed the arrest and beatings. Baltimore then approached Officer Sparks and Daniels to get a complete picture of the situation. Sparks did not like the tone in which he was questioned. Baltimore explained to the officer that he customarily had arresting authority over his men in these matters. Quote, within the quote, I don't report to no n-word Sparks retorted unquote. Oh

This is fun. So a guy's like this guy's literally MP and he's like no if my guys get something wrong I'm the one who's supposed to arrest them and deal with them because we're in the army Uncle Sam owns their ass and I am yeah, this is under my purview and that did not go well with this racist cop. I mean, that's just, fuck him so hard. As the two men exchange words, Sparks went for his signature move again and pistol whipped Baltimore on the head. Oh my God. The unarmed, because remember, these guys were not supposed to carry their sidearms in town because of racism, even though he's an MP and technically should have

a pistol on him. He should. But he was on arms. And he's not wrong. And he got hit in the head once, but didn't stick around like Edwards did. So he ran for his life. The cowardly racist cop fired three rounds toward his back,

even though there was a street full of people. Jesus Christ. Baltimore tried to hide under a bed in an empty house, but was hauled out and beaten over the head a few more times with Spark's service pistol. And fucked him up so badly I think he was unconscious because he was like dragged back into the street and it would explain some of the phone calls that Major Snow started to receive back at camp. So once again this is from the overview of Corporal Baltimore that was used at his murder trial. Quote,

On the afternoon of August 23rd, 1917, he approached policemen Sparks about the arrest of Private Edwards. Sparks struck him, he ran, was pursued into a house, hauled out, struck twice in the head and arrested. Major Snow received a telephone message that Baltimore had been killed. Unquote. Fuck. That's the whole thing. Major Snow received a telephone message that Baltimore had been killed." That's the whole thing. Major Snow, the guy in charge of the camp, has been reported that Baltimore was beaten to death by a cop. While Major Snow was getting information about the incident that happened in town, two police detectives showed up in camp to investigate reports of shoplifting committed by some of the Buffalo soldiers now

These are just like these allegations and these cops show up saying we're checking out the shoplifting So Snow's like yeah go through you know, you're welcome to search through all of these guys stuff So the enlisted men's personal belongings are all being rifled through and nothing to do with any of the stuff that happened with Edwards and Baltimore But the men saw cops going through all their shit just as they're hearing news about one of their own getting killed by a cop. Oh, that's fogged. So can you see how this is starting to turn into a really bad situation?

Yeah. And we're not telling you. One that they started. So if you need more proof that Snow was bad at his job It wasn't long before he received official confirmation that Baltimore was Totally and completely alive and he didn't bother to tell them in right away So the rumors were just like drifting through camp about what had happened like the world's scariest game of telephone While they told increasingly exaggerated and gruesome stories about how Corporal Baltimore been beaten to death by a gang of Houston police, they all were sharing their own stories of harassment and disrespect like ever since they got into town. Every

single one of these guys at least got some low-grade racism and had to deal with the cops being shitty to them. So they got angrier. Women visiting the camp warned commanders that the boys were talking about going to town or complained about how their officers weren't doing shit to protect them. Yeah. A visitor named Edna Tucker testified she heard a soldier say, quote, no white son of a bitch is going to keep us from going. I will kill every one of them if they don't let us go into town.

Unquote. Yeah. While the Buffalo soldiers, they're getting, they're getting fucking fired up. Yeah. And this is still the early stages. While the Buffalo soldiers in camp talk quietly and angrily among themselves, Battalion Adjutant Captain Hague Shakerjian, he's an Armenian-American. We actually have a great uncle named Hague. Went into town to meet with Police Chief Brock and resolve this situation.

And the Chief was all about making this go away as quickly as possible. From mutiny of rage, quote, Brock broadly agreed that Officer Sparks actions were unlawful. He preemptively assured Captain Shakerjian that no charges would be brought against his men. He also vowed to suspend Officer Sparks long enough to allow Major Snow the opportunity to press charges on the errant cops. He even offered to personally visit the camp the following day to discuss their ultimate objectives on quote. So so far,

police chief Brock doing all the right things. He's like, yeah, fuck this guy. I've already suspended him once for being an ass. Yeah, this guy sucked. So the captain saw for himself that Corporal Baltimore was definitely still alive. He also decided that Baltimore's swollen face and bloody clothes probably wouldn't help the mood back at camp. So Shakergian made the call to leave Baltimore stuck in the holding cell overnight to heal and so they could get him some fresh clothes before they brought him back. This of course left plenty of extra time for all

the rumors about what happened to him to simply grow and spread. Shakerjian told the corporal that when he got back to camp that he needed to play down the incident as if it were no big deal. And initially Baltimore agreed. Uh, it's worth noting that later when he does go back to camp, the moment he was away from the white officers, his tune changed quite a bit and he didn't appreciate being beaten, arrested and left in a cell. Yeah, I'm sure he didn't for being beaten, arrested, and left in a cell. Yeah, I'm sure he didn't. For doing his fucking job. Yeah, and then, yeah, being assaulted by a piece of shit.

Charles Baltimore was enraged and wanted some measure of justice. Meanwhile, our racist buddy Officer Sparks screamed at his own boss, Police Chief Brock. He refused to go home, he refused to surrender his service pistol and said this to his boss, you'll know better than a guess what that word he used because it's his favorite word. So now he's just like going against what the white cops are telling him to do his own. Yeah. His police chief. He's not dude, you suck.

He told me to go fuck himself. No, I'm keeping my badge in my weapon. Both in camp and in town, rumors were swirling that something was going to go down. I'm sure. A white lady named Mrs. Moy had been letting all of the Buffalo soldiers use her telephone on the regular.

So she had a house near camp and she had a phone. And so she's like, yeah, you guys are welcome to come and use my phone whenever she also like to eavesdrop on them Because you know Yeah, it's I mean what are you gonna do? It's 1917. It's boring. Yeah, so tonight She started to overhear them warning their girlfriends to stay indoors or just don't stay out of camp tonight She quoted one is telling his lady friend quote. Houston is about to be satellite at eight o'clock unquote Yikes.

In other words, there was plenty of warning for anyone taking this seriously. It wasn't like this just came out of nowhere. Well, I hope that nice ladies house is all safe next to camp. Several white visitors to Camp Logan got chased away by a group of angry black soldiers. So it's like these guys were just walking around camp

and then these guys, the soldiers run into them and they just start screaming at them and chase them. These like get in their car, they're having trouble starting the car, but finally they peel off. Nobody got hurt yet. Yeah, well I'm sure it's here the shit out of them. Oh yeah. Major Snow doubled the number of guard posts and sent MPs to make sure no one slipped out

of camp to catch a streetcar. Though for all the racist reasons earlier, these MPs were not allowed to carry sidearms. So if they ran into trouble, they're literally just bare-handed, and they're stuck there on the edge of town. Then Corporal Baltimore finally made it back to camp. Since his death was the source of the outrage, Major Snow seemed sure that his return,

like Lazarus, would put everything back to normal. That's not how any of this works. Yeah, and Baltimore had been ordered just to say, oh no, it was no big deal, just misunderstanding. Aw, shucks. But as I said earlier, the moment- Very rodneaking. The moment he was talking to his own friends.

Can't we all just get along? Yeah, he was very angry. Snow determined that morale in the camp was getting back on track and decided there was no reason that the camp commanders had to cancel their dinner plans in town. So they just- What a dumbass. So they just left that guy James as the duty officer.

However, they don't quite leave. Not everybody leaves because things continue to get worse. From a memorandum drafted on September 13th of the same year, 1917, from the Inspector General of the Army to the Adjutant General of the Army. Quote, the police authorities in the afternoon were fearful that there might be trouble, but these fears appeared to have been entirely dispelled

by the statement of battalion commander Major Snow, that he can handle the situation and that there was no possibility of trouble. The police department therefore took no steps whatsoever to meet any trouble that might arise. About four o'clock in the afternoon on August 23rd, Albert Wright, company I, 24th Infantry, on guard at the gate, told a deputy sheriff and gatekeeper at Camp Logan in effect that there was going to be serious trouble that night. This was reported to Major Snow but appears not to have

been taken seriously." Everyone is telling everybody that that some shit is about to go down. This is a goddamn problem. Somebody needs to fix it. Nobody's doing shit. Now we got dinner plans with rich Houston businessmen are gonna buy us, you know. Another man who reported potential trouble to the camp

was first Sergeant Vida Henry. Pay attention to this name because he will become very important later in the story. Vida Henry, Sergeant Henry, and the two made rounds throughout the camp. So Henry and his boss, the camp commander, Snow, start roaming around camp and noticing a bunch of dudes hanging outside specific tents. And it wasn't long before they glimpsed men snatching ammunition and running off into the night. Yeah, no shit. So that's the point where Snow decides that maybe he should actually, you know, do something.

Do something. So he issued orders to account for every man and make sure every weapon and round of ammunition was where it was supposed to be. Even while there were bullets laying all over the damn ground and men were busy arming themselves, here and there all over the damn place. A phone call came in from the chair of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, telling Major Snow about rumors of the Buffalo Soldiers planning a rampage that night. The duty officer desperately tried to follow orders to get a confirmed count on all the men and weapons,

but under the chaotic conditions, at night, it wasn't an easy job. Yeah, I could imagine. Again from Mutiny of Rage, quote, Major Snow instructed the boys to form a semi-circle around him. By his side were Captain Shakerjian and their trusted First Sergeant Henry. Snow's manner was far less authoritarian and formal as he posited a fatherly tone that men were stealing ammunition in an attempt to take the law into their own hands. He assured the rankers that the detested officer sparks had been suspended from the police

force and awaited formal punishment, and that police chief Brock would give the wrong men of Camp Logan a square deal. In a question that would resound throughout the camp black community for decades to come, one soldier spoke up and asked, what are we going to do when a policeman beats us up like this? Another broke his silence and lamented, we're treated like dogs here." Yeah. Things got worse and fast.

I'm sure. While Snow and First Sergeant Henry were going through the camp, cajoling the men to follow orders, some of the rank and file troops started directly disobeying them. They held onto their rifles and urged their fellow soldiers to do the same. One man shouted, I'm tired of seeing soldiers come in there with all their heads beat up." And so these guys are literally saying like when they're being ordered to disarm, like even just privates will say, not a damn man let their weapon go. Like there's the loyalty is shifting from the officers

to their enlisted men, which is not a great command structure situation to be in. Well? A few minutes later, Snow and Henry ran into 30 armed men who ordered them to instantly extinguish their lanterns so they couldn't be seen. They threatened to shoot the major

who at first remained calm, but with more than two dozen rifles locked loaded and pointed at his face, the decorated officer decided to beat a hasty retreat. Yeah he was like all right see ya. So he ran to the phone. So he fucked right off. He ran as straight to the phone to try to call for help but then the line went dead as you could hear rifle shots just expertly cutting the phone lines as Marksman said, uh, fuck this. Yeah, you just shoot the telephone box. So he kept running until he could get to a phone.

He wasn't so calm when he made it to the local fire station and finally called the police and in fact was so shaken up that someone drove him to a nearby drug store. A lot of these quotes again from Mutiny of Rage. Quote, the pharmacist recalled seeing Snow unarmed, very pale, painting heavily and very distressed. He continued, I was alarmed at his appearance and gave him aromatic spirits of ammonia to quiet his heart action.

Others recalled that Snow was not in physical or mental shape to take command. Unquote. So yeah, nearly getting shot by his own dudes. Yeah, that'll scare the shit out of you. I'm sorry you haven't cut off the phone lines for the camp. It was still quite anger back at camp as more men joined the growing mutiny and armed themselves. But so far there's no leadership. It's just...

Yeah, it's a bunch of angry fucking people. It's just this roiling situation. And then somewhere, someone thought they heard something from the treeline and shouted get your guns boys here comes the mob unquote so they think that a right mob is coming to kill them and then someone fired a shot we don't know who it was or where it came from but it was a shot that everyone camped everyone in Houston could hear the men started screaming that they were about to get rushed. The supply tents were raided and just about everybody had a weapon and plenty of ammunition. They started firing into the sky.

Others directly at distant houses and buildings and plenty of men just fired straight into the darkness. Fuck them all. But no, they, yeah. When the first cluster of shots died down, Private Wiley Strong fell over with a stomach wound, shot by his own friends. The first casualty, not the last. Then the shooting resumed, absolute chaos,

with men diving behind buildings and even into latrines to avoid getting shot by their friends in the dark. I and M companies were basically attacking each other with K and L caught in the middle for a good 10 minutes while officers screamed and tried to calm the situation back down. One of the stray bullets hit the driver of a car going down the road and before he could receive medical attention, Mr. Eck Thompson lost too much blood and died.

So it wasn't even like just literally our stray bullet just flying out of the darkness hits this guy in the leg and he bleeds out. Another shot hit a Mexican laborer named Manuel Gerardo while he lay on a bench in the back of a boarding house, killing him instantly. This guy had been at a long day's work, it was hot inside, so he went to lay down outside on this August night and closes his eyes and gets shot in the fucking head

by somebody who didn't even know he was there. Yeah, you shouldn't just fucking shoot into darkness, it's bad. Then the company bugler sounded the call to cease fire, and the gunshots quieted. And a man shouted, quote, let's go clean up the damn city, unquote. It's like in my head, it's like the LA riots, you know, because that's the only visual that I have. So remember First Sergeant Henry that we talked about a minute ago? Only minutes before he was the loyal NCO to the camp commander attempting to disarm the men. But after the confrontation that sent Major Snow running away shitting his pants,

something like changed. He definitely picked his side. He started yelling, fall in to every man with an ear shot. Now it's worth noting that Henry was in his 30s. He was over a decade older than a lot of these other guys. Some of these are teenagers or in their early 20s and he's in his 30s, he's got combat experience,

literal scars on his body. So he's like this sort of paternal fatherly figure. And he's about to take the fuck over. Trial testimony quoted the first sergeant as saying, quote, get plenty of ammunition and save one for yourself. Fill your canteens. We are in it now. Unquote.

Henry shouted, right face. And just like that, a column of more than 100 soldiers armed with Springfield rifles marched into the city of Houston. The mission lay siege to police headquarters in downtown and kill as many white cops as possible. That seems extreme, but okay. The first sergeant organized his men and chose some of the most trusted corporals

to guard the rear of the column and gave them a simple order, quote, kill the first man who falls out of ranks. One of the rearguard was none other than Corporal Charles Baltimore. Yeah, feet up and pissed off. And yeah, ready for some payback. After confronting L company in the streets and not backing down, the mutineers continued their march toward police HQ while L and M companies set to guard the camp. Captain Shakerjian ordered another accounting of all men at the camp, but it wasn't completed until near the middle of the night, and it revealed 151 men were unaccounted for.

Men on guard duty heard about the insurrection and some decided to join. One of them had previously been beaten by none other than officer Sparks and had this to say, quote, I will shoot every white son of a bitch on Washington Street, unquote. So the night of August 23rd, the Houston Chamber of Commerce had organized festivities in a emancipation park to welcome the Buffalo soldiers. Oh, that was dumb. They didn't call that off. They didn't call that off. And I shit you not. They wanted to welcome the Buffalo soldiers with a watermelon party.

Oh, our sound engineer just that literally made Kevin make it a painful sound. Yeah, that. Okay. As the column approached a group in the street, two of them were Illinois National Guardsmen in uniform. And one of the men sat out from the crowd, quote, it's a damn good thing you've got on a uniform, unquote. So professional respect among soldiers saved everyone there at the watermelon party who shoveled away quickly, but others were not nearly so lucky. A few minutes after the National Guardsmen led a group of civilians to safety, a car pulled up and the headlights spilled over dozens of armed men who immediately raised their rifles and Mr. E. M. Jones, father of six,

was killed in a hail of gunfire and a passenger in the back seat was severely wounded and eventually lost his arm. That sucks. From here, the group split into multiple multiple directions causing terror as they marched. All of the commotion caused a man named Charles Wright to rush out, thinking he was needed to help put out a house fire. At trial his brother testified what happened next. Quote,

They phoned me and told me that my brother had been shot and that he was at St. Joseph's infirmary. They told me that they had surrounded him, that he had said they hollered HALT and when he raised both his arms they shot him through both arms and as he fell they shot him again through his side and when they were done shooting they said we've got this white son of a bitch and went marching on." Next two locals stepped off a streetcar and walked along Washington Street when they heard gunshots, but were very unlucky when they went for cover.

Both men threw themselves into a ditch, one of them shot dead. A guy named Butcher was riding his horse nearby, and he was shot but survived to tell the tale, but his horse was not so lucky. So this guy's just riding him and his horse his horse post gets shot. And we'll see butcher again in a minute. Just people. It wasn't just murder, though. They wanted the white men of Houston to be afraid. For mutiny of rage, quote, one unfortunate white laborer made a wrong turn and came face to face with a group of rebels. They advised him to run in the opposite direction. He did so, whereupon the gang fired over his head and near

his feet, having a jolly time terrorizing him. His flight back to safety was not over yet. God, this guy's so unlucky. He encountered another group of soldiers. Like the Aztecs of centuries past, he was forced to run the gauntlet in order to save his life. They stood him against a wooden fence and practiced tracing his body's silhouettes with bullets. After plenty of hooting and hollering, the soldiers allowed him to scamper to safety as long as he did so with his hands up. Though humiliated, he survived." As they continued their march into Houston, First Sergeant Henry ordered his column to affix bayonets to their rifles, preparing for hand-to-hand combat. Word of trouble had spread to the neighborhood, and most of the houses on the street turned their lights off and hunkered down until the trouble had passed.

That's what you do in that situation. You just do not call attention to yourself at any way whatsoever. Unfortunately, three local teenagers named Winkler were curious about the marching men, so they stepped out and decided to turn on the porch lamp An NCO barked out in order to shoot out the lights and within seconds the light was shot out One teenage boy was dead and another's arm was almost completely blown off Next Henry's columns spotted a new group under a bright street light Uniformed police. Oh, well these fuckers are dead. They're super dead.

So remember the man named Butcher who'd been shot on horseback a minute ago? Three cops and a civilian were trying to load this guy who was like, they had an improvised stretcher and they were trying to like load him into a car to get him to the hospital. The soldiers didn't hesitate and fired from the darkness. The driver heard the gunshots and hit the gas, so suddenly he speeds off. That poor fucker. He speeds off, which caused the guys in the road to drop Butcher right onto the street. The cops dove for cover and Butcher just lay there in the road and got shot right in the

groin. This poor fucking dude. He shot on his horse, his horse is dead, then he gets shot in the dick. And at this point, he hopes he dies. God. One of the cops took a bullet in the knee. The civilian was hit in one of his arms. One family in a car was stopped and searched but allowed to leave.

Two teenagers and another vehicle were told to crawl on their bellies and the male driver was shot through the hat, but thankfully not the head. He just played dead and waited for everybody to leave. Henry's column crossed the bridge and entered the San Felipe district of Houston. This is the fourth word. This is where the whole mess began with Daniels and Baltimore earlier. Yeah, this is the poor black neighborhood. So they took a rest in College Park Cemetery where a conversation and argument began.

Some men ducked out into the shadows already done with the violence. Henry challenged the remaining men to form up and once again ordered Corporal Baltimore to shoot the first man to fall out. They resumed their march. Meanwhile, the white residents of Houston were busy losing their goddamn minds. I'm sure. Understandably, it's upsetting. This is the one time the pitchforks and the torches are almost justified.

And at the very least, the panic is justified because literally over 100 armed men are marching through town shooting lots of people. And at this point, they just want to murder everybody, so you need to defend yourself. So this is where even just fucking normal, casualized people have to fucking... Everybody's scared in this situation. It's worth noting that the only significant looting and property destruction were caused by locals stealing guns and ammunition. Police Chief Brock was shot at at his drive toward headquarters,

and it did not help his grip on the situation. He put together a posse of locals to assist the police, even handing out guns to anyone who didn't bring their own. So yeah, the cops are just arming mobs of civilians point they have to more. Well, I don't know. I question the the necessarily the whether it's a good idea to just arm random people who just show up. Well, no, absolutely not. But at this point, I mean, but this isn't peace. This isn't a peaceful protest. This is fucking. No, this is a terrible angry mob of more than a thousand white Houstonians who were assembled right in front of the police

station. The place where the soldiers are going. But as the Texas National Guard arrived to assist the police chief, they found him confused and ranting about how his car was being shot at with military grade rounds. The assisting Colonel begged the mayor to dismiss Brock, but it was ignored because the Parks and Wreck guy was not really cut for this situation. Yeah. Despite the fact his heart was in the right place. Fat Pratt wasn't up for the job. Yes, not.

Now that's images. Not going to get out of my head. No, not ever. A general huling of the National Guard received authority from the governor to restore order by any means necessary. So Houston was immediately placed under martial law, as you saw in that newspaper headline. And he took other steps to seize full control of both the military and civilian authorities. Additional troops from Galveston were called in to help. Captain Joseph Mattis from the Illinois National Guard decided someone needed to find these soldiers and talk them

down. So a civilian volunteer offered a drive, so he hopped in the car with three other guardsman and a local cop driving off into the night. Someone's got to talk some sense into these guys. This is all while angry white mobs whipped themselves into a frenzy with calls for lynching ringing out through the racist air. One group was confronted by a national guard captain. He begged these idiots not to go up against professional soldiers with military grade kits, like rednecks with mostly pistols and shotguns and little hunting rifles versus these trained experience men with Springfields. No, they're all going to get mowed down. The rebellious soldiers in the fourth ward finished a snack and smoke break at a local

eatery, which was almost certainly a black- owned business, and then terrorized a streetcar. The conductor barely making it out alive, so you can imagine why they were angry at streetcar conductors. Yeah. Hi-ya-ya. Then they saw headlights, a car moving toward them rather slowly. A local businessman was driving, but the passengers were four Houston cops. Well, this is going to be great.

And by a twist of fate, one of them was officer Daniels, the partner of, uh, you know, Sparks. Yes. This is the partner of the guy who started all this and he's part of the two guys that started this whole situation with a Sarah Travers and Alonso Edwards. Only the day before. Yeah,

this guy can get dead. So these guys were rolling up slowly in their car. And so Henry ordered his man into ambush position. And when the first shots rang out, the car stopped and the police inside decided they were going to get out. Oh, that's smart. Quoting again from Mutiny of Rage.

Officer Daniels was armed with nothing more than a borrowed pearl handled pistol. Showing extreme heroism or folly, Daniels charged the entrenched soldiers. He stood not a chance and was mowed down instantly by a volley. The three other officers ran for cover into a garage. They might have survived uninjured if they had not fired back, giving away their position. Instantly the soldiers returned to the favor and hit one. My leg is shot off! He cried.

His companion applied a tourniquet, but the policeman died from his injuries. The officers offered no more resistance." Unquote. Yeah, because most of them were dead. When the soldiers approached Daniels, some instantly recognized him as the abusive racist partner of Sparks.

So they looted his body, bashed his face in with their rifle butts, and stabbed him over and over again with their bayonets. Yeah. That's right. Through very angry young men. That's right. Henry's group stopped another car, this time a teenager giving some cops a ride going to look for the rebels. They found them.

Everyone was ordered out of the car and a soldier recognized one of the cops as an abusive mounted patrolman. So he cracked the guy in the face with the butt of his Springfield. The others ran and they just shot all of them. At that moment, another vehicle approached. So Henry ordered his men back into position. This car held Captain Mattis of the Illinois National Guard who stood up, you know, he's in he's standing up inside the car with his hands up Hoping he could talk to the man and convince them to stand down Instead he gets shot in the face a bunch of times unfortunately the the uniform color of the Illinois National Guard was olive drab the same color as the Houston cops

With the headlights on the darkness the way he's at, it makes it possible to recognize faces. So one of the soldiers started shouting for the vehicle to stop, but for whatever reason, the driver just kept on going forward slowly. Mattis yelled, wait, but it was too late. Henry's men opened fire and blew the captain's head open like an overripe cantaloupe. Yep, shot his face off. The police officer next to him was also torn to shreds and then a second volley of rounds erased a corporal whose nickname was happy. Oh, bye bye. Corporal happy.

The driver was happy with sad. Yeah, it did not work out for him. The driver crashed the car into a building and the two men ran out into the streets with pistols. One poor bastard was dead before he even knew what was going on, then the other ran for his life. But then it only took moments for the men to realize what they had done. They had executed a high ranking officer who'd come to them unarmed.

And this changed the entire mood. Killing fellow soldiers wasn't part of the plan. Meanwhile, their leader, First Sergeant Henry, had become wounded during the exchange of gunfire. So he was like, shy to like, they said he had a silver dollar size gunshot in his shoulder. And he wasn't the only one wounded. He ordered the men to regroup down to the South Pacific railroad line. Despite his bleeding wound, Henry tried to urge his men not to forget their original purpose. But at this point, most of the men wanted to return to camp and face the music.

Others wanted to just hide, run and take their chances. Only some were still on board with assaulting the city jail. The first sergeant reminded them what had happened to Corporal Baltimore, who was still on board for killing cops. But after arguing, Henry realized that the mutiny had just run out of steam. They didn't have enough men to finish the job. Yeah. As most of the men got to their feet and prepared to make the slow walk back to camp,

Henry asked for a few of his men to shoot him dead. But no one had the heart. Again, for mutiny of rage. Quote, First Sergeant Henry asked to shake the hand of every one of his men. They all solemnly gave his non-injured hand a warm, firm clasp. One tepid rookie had a last request of his own,

asking that Henry not do what he was determined to do until the men were far enough away. Their Resolute NCO granted this request at 2.05 a.m. as the ragtag remains of the once grand mutinous army marched silently and reverently along the desolate tracks. They heard a blast from Henry's rifle." Unquote. Yeah, I mean, better than being...

He did not want to be captured. Captured, killed, or I mean, even if he made it back to camp, he was so dead at this point. Well, I'm convinced that he, when he made the decision to leave camp, I mean, even just the fact that he was telling anybody who fell out to get shot, like this was a suicide mission that they were going on. And so, and he, after he got hurt, he's like, no way am I going to get this? Yeah. Yeah.

So he went out on his own terms. Some of the mutineers simply snuck back into camps and back into their own bunks while others tried to discard their uniforms and gear and blend in among the local black population. But martial law was declared and a thorough sweep was conducted. Pretty much anyone possibly involved, plus a bunch of innocent locals, were all swept up in the dragnet. Like I showed you that newspaper headline that was kind of like right in the middle of this post- Yeah. period.

Well, I hope the innocent bystanders who were just happened to be there got it's like I'm not military I wasn't doing anything the first battalion of the 19th inventory arrived to fully disarm the 24th infantry camp and once that Was complete major snow finally had the balls to return after running away after being shot at the night before yeah Pratt finally No, that was the other guy. Yeah, he got his face shut off. That's right, sorry. Major Snow was just the guy who wanted to have rich dinners

with businessmen. And for whatever reason. And now in the Hunger Games, President Snow. Oh, God. Yeah, now that's how that dude. Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is now how I'm picturing this guy. No, but he was in mash The original movie and that doesn't work for me. Anyway

It wasn't long before the 24th was shipped off entirely Some of the soldiers dropped notes as they took the train out of town one read quote Take Texas and go to hell. I don't want to go there anymore in my life. Let's go east and be treated as people." The people of Houston wanted blood and demanded jurisdiction to arrest and try the men who'd shot up their town and citizens. They'd formed a board of inquiry filled with all kinds of conflicts of interest and subpoenaed Major Snow, but the War Department decided that letting him tell the story to a civil board was a bad idea and backtracked, which pissed off the city government even more. So the people of Houston are having all the like,

yeah, the people of Houston are understandably pissed. They're understandably pissed. They're upset and all that, but they're having this, this continual like coverage or having this board of inquiry. And so there's, you know, constant newspaper stories. Their children are dead. Yeah, 100%. But Uncle Sam owned these men's asses and they decided they wanted to deal with this matter swiftly and decisively. This is already a long episode, so just understand that I'm giving you the highlights on just how fucked things get from here. An investigation

quickly placed the blame solely on the soldiers and recommended they be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Despite many, many white witnesses interviewed, only a single black suspect was positively identified, the very dead first Sergeant Henry. Yeah. You can't punish him anymore. Yep, so he's the only one they could literally directly say this guy did the thing. A few young men wanting to escape execution were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony against the others.

So they get some immunity witnesses from the ranks of the soldiers. And, but among the others, I didn't actually put this in my script, but one phrase that goes even for decades after this was the phrase conspiracy of silence saying that all these, you know, there's these immunity witnesses who spilled their guts and had lots to say, and then everybody else didn't really want to talk about much of anything. Yeah, I'm sure. So just before the court martial moved forward, the prosecution star witness, Captain James, remember we mentioned him earlier? Yeah. He was found dead on October 15th, 1917 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, prompting conspiracy theories that persist to this day.

So, I mean, but it just seems like he shot himself and quite possibly haunted by his own memories of like he was back at camp during all this stuff. But he was lots of people were messed up by this whole. I'm sure. of like he was back at camp during all this stuff, but he was lots of people were messed up by this whole experience. I'm sure. I mean, because honestly, except for that one cop, they fucking just murdered innocent people. For the prosecution, the Jag Office chose Colonel John Hall, an ambitious up and comer

from Chicago. Assisting him was reserve officer Major Dudley Sutfin, a corporate shark lawyer with experience as a superior court judge. So prosecution has these, a really strong team on their side. Their investigation caused them to shave the suspect list down from 156 to 64 that they felt had sufficient evidence where they could press charges.

So we're down to 64 guys. More on sufficient evidence in a minute. The defendants had the right to choose their own attorney, but these were poor black men who didn't have the resources. So the Southern department chose for them, Major Harry Greer. Here's Robert Haynes from the KHOU documentary. Quote, you didn't have to be an attorney to defend under the military code of justice. And Greer was not. Greer was just an officer who at one time had been associated with the 24th infantry and he understood I think the black soldier may be

better than some of the other officers would have but he had no training unquote. So untrained officer. He taught law but was not a practicing attorney. Yeah and And then they were like, oh, let's pull in this like heavy duty prosecutor. Well, and this guy was well, yeah, the heavy duty prosecutor prosecution team. I hate American justice system. I just I just want to say this is military American justice. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

I hate it. And yeah. And they recruited Major Grubbit. I think he did it voluntarily. Like it looks like this guy's heart was in the right place, but he wasn't necessarily qualified and the deck was completely stacked against him. So he showed up at Fort Sam Houston

where the men of the 24th were being held on October 19th. He was given until the first week of November to prepare for trial. A trial the prosecution had been working on for months already. That's fucked up, but it tracks, but it's fucked up. Just like the other side was able to have an assistant to the prosecution, he was able to get an assistant and he he chose the willing, confident and very familiar officer, Captain Shakerjian. But if things weren't already fucked enough, after Captain James' apparent suicide, Shakerjian

was now the prosecution's star witness, forcing him to resign due to a conflict of interest. Yeah! Lots of conflicts of interest. From mutiny of rage, quote, all was not well with Shakerjian. After the trauma of the rioting and the death of his respected colleague, Captain James, he resigned his commission and left the army altogether. For reasons unknown, Greer requested neither a postponement nor an appointment of a replacement. Doubtless Greer was doing all he could to placate his superior officers."

So he just threw a wrench in it. So like my read on this is that this guy Greer, on one hand, his heart was in the right place. I feel like he genuinely wanted to do his best to defend the soldiers, but he also didn't push back because all the people making these decisions were his superiors. Yeah. And so he was trying to keep everybody happy. So it's kind of, you kind of end up with mixed feelings about him.

Like I said, his heart was in the right place, but he certainly didn't fight as hard as he could have for these men. Yeah. In other words, this left Greer, a couple of weeks to come up with a defense for dozens of men with zero help. Sucks but tracks. The jailed men didn't seem willing to believe that a white officer was actually on their side so they weren't even very cooperative with their own defense counsel.

Yeah, that also tracks. So on November 1, 1917, United States vs. Sergeant William C. Nesbitt et al. began. Some people objected to the location of the trial, the brand new gift memorial chapel at Fort Sam Houston, because it was held there because it was the only building big enough to fit a trial with that many people involved. But some people said that having a murder trial in what's basically a church seems to be in poor taste. And you can go there to this day if you visit Fort Sam Houston. Because the US had declared war earlier that year, the men were accused under four articles of war, the most serious charge being the equivalent of the first degree murder of 14 people. The other charges were disobeying direct orders, mutiny, and attacking civilians.

63 soldiers, one guy was excluded because he caught pneumonia just before trial, like the luckiest case of pneumonia ever. They all pled not guilty. You know, it's like I'm sure there are plenty that were guilty that escaped this and some of them were not guilty and are just gonna get guiltified anyway. That's exactly what we're about to talk about. The prosecution made the case that the reasons for the mutiny were unimportant, only the actions of the men as related to the military code of justice. While Major Greer tried to make it clear that you can't separate the actions of the men from the actions that have been taken against them since they first showed up in Houston.

He also pushed that the charges were ridiculous since no one could identify any of the suspects directly, not even the superior officers like Major Snow, and that the roll call is done in the chaos and darkness, not exactly proof of who was in the camp and who was marching into Houston. Yeah. You know. There's the evidence isn't there. That whole reasonable doubt. Yeah. You know, there's the evidence that whole reasonable doubt. Yeah.

I mean, that's, that's a, that's an issue. I mean, reasonable doubt is the reason why OJ Simpson is still fucking free. And you got to always got to remember too, this is not an American courtroom. This is a military tribunal, which means there's no like singular judge or jury, but rather a panel. Yeah. No, it sucks even worse than the regular American justice system. Yeah you gotta watch like Jag and some episodes of NCIS if you want to get a clue. But yeah, but don't do that because that's complete horseshit.

Please don't. Colonel Hall called some Houston cops and Illinois National Guardsmen to identify men who were arrested after the riot with the argument that these arrests were good enough to identify the suspects and establish guilt. So these were like you know guys who had been hiding in town caught by the cops. Dozens of Houstonians were called to testify though again no one could make an individual identification. Like some of them literally tried but the defense was immediately able to show these guys couldn't tell these men apart. So and they in the court and they play at night when all this shit was happening.

There's no way they could know who was who. No, unfortunately, racists also have a bad hard time telling black people apart. Yeah, especially when they're like all young men in uniform. They look alike. Yeah. So nobody directly identified even in trial. Yeah. Greer did his best to punch holes in the prosecution's case, including the idea that some of the men joined the march out of fear and were told they'd be shot if they fell out of the column. So it's like you can't prosecute all of them because literally they were being told if they decided to change their mind five minutes later, Baltimore would have shot them dead.

Yeah. But some of the prosecution witnesses, you know, these immunity guys who had flipped in exchange for their own asses being saved, they painted the picture that every man involved did so willingly with murderous intent. It's like, yeah, yeah, those guys all were there and they all wanted to kill

and they totally did, all of them were shooting everybody. What a bunch of horseshit. I didn't quote any of these guys, but it was just very clearly, you know, I, I, I am not going to judge them too harshly because again, they were terrified for their own lives and it's a complicated situation. I'm not in a position to judge these men, but it still sucks. Here's the problem is neither were they. He showed a muddy, muddy, muddy situation.

So Greer showed inconsistencies in testimony, presented some witnesses who swore men such as private TC Hawkins had never left the camp that night. So they literally, there was like one bit of testimony where they got direct testimony from a guy who had let Hawkins sleep in his bedroll. So he's like, no, Hawkins wasn't even there. And yet he was one of these defendants based on this roll call situation. That sucks.

When it came time to summarize the prosecution's case, Major Sutfin presented the legal theory of collective guilt, quote, where a number of persons conspire and death happens and the prosecution of that common design All in each one of the conspirators is guilty of murder unquote They're all there. They all did it. They're all guilty the same no matter who actually fired the guns

Major Greer argued the blackstone ratio. That's the old chestnut that says it's better that 10 guilty people go free than a single innocent person be wrongfully convicted. Yeah, but these are Black soldiers, Jamie. So their lives don't really matter anyway. So Greer reminded the panel of the racism and violence these men had suffered since they'd come to honorably perform their duties. He emphasized the men were convinced

a white mob was coming to attack them and that the immunity witnesses for the prosecution did all the same stuff that these other men were supposed to hang for. On November 27th the court martial adjourned and it took the panel less than a day to reach its decision. Yep they're all guilty firing squad. I feel like it's like I have premonitions. Well here we're about to get into that. 54 of the 63 men were found guilty of all charges. 3 were found guilty of willfully disobeying the orders of a superior officer. 5 were acquitted. Oh, that's good. Then they read the sentences. 13 of the men were determined culpable of masterminding the

events or leading the column and would be executed. One of them was Private Hawkins, you know, the one who another witness swore never even left the camp. Yeah, poor dude. Another was Corporal Charles Baltimore. That tracks, but yeah, I mean, as pissed off as he was, he was heavily involved in the, it's, it's muddy. This is a bad situation. There's also no evidence that Baltimore shot anybody ever yeah but he was ordered to 41 were sentenced to a life of hard labor but one guy was granted clemency private first-class John Hudson and even their reasons for granting clemency are racist the court

wrote quote he impressed us as being an ignorant man rather stupid and not of high mentality Yet not vicious we believe that he was puzzled and bewildered Unquote so Hudson was spared because they thought he was a simpleton Because he's stupid for the defendants received less than 30 months in prison The army was worried about more trouble, so it handled things in an incredibly shady manner. The order was given that the first execution take place on December 11th at Fort Sam Houston, but they spread the rumor that it would take place in a location some 20 miles away. The press weren't told about it until after hours after it already happened.

Those forced into a life of hard labor were sent to Leavenworth in Kansas. One. So in the middle of December, 13 men were roused and told to dress at five in the morning. They had requested that any execution be carried out by firing squad, a soldier's death. But when they were led to the site, they saw a large gallows and they were hit with the smell of fresh cut mesquite. They didn't want to be lynched. That's what was going to happen to them anyway.

They're going to get hung like witches from the documentary Mutiny on the Bayou. Quote, despite great security from officers expecting the worst, the men surrendered to their fate peacefully and with dignity. As they awaited their death, no one wept and none of the men begged for mercy. Over 200 soldiers and law enforcement officers were assembled to prevent any trouble at the execution. After the men mounted the platform,

a black minister and two white chaplains led a short prayer. The officer in charge set attention and the men began singing a hymn. Their final words were a farewell to their guards, saying, Goodbye, boys of Company C. As the men stood at attention, looking straight ahead, the officer brought his raised arms down. The trap door swung open and the men dropped nine feet, meaning their death in the words of a witness with neither bravado or fear."

Unquote. Yeah. The scaffolding was quickly torn down and burned. Mexican workers had to work to remove the hangman's knots from around each soldier's necks. Each man was put in a simple wooden coffin with a soda water bottle holding a slip of paper that just listed the name, rank, and date of death. Stone markers without names were placed at the head of each grave, noted only with the noose number of the executed men. That's fucked up.

Isn't it? On the day before, when Frederick Baltimore, back east, received a letter from his brother Charles. Quote, Dear brother, I write to you for the last time in this world. I am to be executed tomorrow morning. I know it's shocking news, but don't worry too much as it is God's will. Meet me in heaven. I was convicted at the General Court Marshal

held here last month, was tried for mutiny and murder. It is true I went downtown with the men that marched out of camp, but I'm innocent of shedding any blood, but it is God's will, so don't worry. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that Suho whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I am going to meet father and mother and all the rest of the family gone before. Goodbye, meet me in heaven, your brother in Christ, Charles W. Baltimore." Unquote. That's fucking sad as shit. Isn't it? Yeah. I've read that letter a bunch of times.

I'm bummed. And yeah, it sucks. The number graves were forgotten until 1937, when Fort Sam Houston wanted to use the land. It was at this point they realized that the army had been in such a hurry to execute the men, they had never been dishonorably discharged. So they quickly and quietly relocated the remains to the closest national cemetery, ironically desegregating the graveyard for the first time, just like the first man who died in the riot desegregated a local cemetery inside of Houston. Gotta put them somewhere. But unlike every other grave marker in the National Cemetery, these only included the

name and date of death. This was done so quietly that for decades the family couldn't find any information about the location of their own relatives' remains. One small positive that came out of this incident was the establishment of the Houston branch of the NAACP, one that would grow to be one of the most important and influential in the country. This was the root of the activism to clear the names and restore the honors of the soldiers who were betrayed by the country they'd served. In 1921, a delegation met with President Harding,

asking for pardons or at least clemency for the men still serving these long prison terms. They're still lifers, you know, and hard labor in Leavenworth at this point, you know only like four years in he was very polite and Did precisely Jack and shit. Yeah, so they tried Congress But the secretary of war wrote a committee report Setting that the trial had been above board and that quote The evidence of guilt was overwhelming and stands without explanation or contradiction The defendants had a fair and impartial trial. No soldier was guilty merely because he was absent

from roll call." Bullshit, okay. And then Colonel Hull, you know, the prosecutor? Yeah. He became the acting judge advocate general of the army. Of course. But in a twist, it seems like a few years had softened his heart and opened his mind a little bit. He became convinced that certain men were innocent and noted that the Buffalo soldiers

had been both model soldiers and considered model prisoners, not exactly the image of writers and mutineers. So he ultimately recommended the early release of six men, writing that second chances should be offered to quote, a prisoner who is willing to work for his own salvation, unquote. Yeah. Years went by and more of the many that served out their time or were granted early release. The work of the activists shifted from freeing the men who were alive to clearing the names of the dead and in some cases locating the dead. Yeah, gotta find them.

There had never been a posthumous presidential pardon in the United States until one William Jefferson Clinton made it happen. Funny enough to another wronged African-American of the United States military. From mutiny of rage, quote, in 2016, 100 years after the riots, the descendants of Corporal Nesbitt and Private Moore and Hawkins petitioned for the U.S. government for posthumous pardons, arguing they suffered grave injustices at the hands of the United States

when they were executed by hanging after a defective trial." Unquote, does 2016. And they didn't get anywhere with President Obama's outgoing Justice Department. And they said they didn't deal anywhere with President Obama's outgoing justice department And they said they didn't deal with posthumous pardons. So they tried the Trump administration held that go Well discussions were had but ultimately things fell apart and in very Trumpy and fashion

Trump instead did a posthumous pardon of a guy we mentioned very briefly last episode, Jack Johnson, the Black Heavyweight Boxing Champion. And because that had all these celebrities involved, like Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone. Yeah, no, he loves celebrities. That's his people. And, you know, Jack Johnson didn't have him murdered anybody. He had been convicted for carrying a white woman who had been his girlfriend over state lines. So, you know, back. He trafficked a white woman. Yeah, even though it was just his girlfriend. Because, you know, early 1900 trafficked a white woman. Yeah, even though it was just his girlfriend because you know, yeah early 1900s and it was racist as fuck even when you're the world heavyweight boxing champion, but so Trump

Rided this horrible injustice, you know after all this time But it didn't do shit for the families of these soldiers, of course work continued to correct things Even from inside the Jagd Corps. An attorney who prosecuted terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Colonel Frederick Borch, had this to say, quote, while everything about the trial was legal, it was not a fair trial. Not a fair trial then, certainly not a fair trial now, unquote. Legal don't mean right. Yeah. Very clearly. In 2017, the gravestones were finally placed in College Park Cemetery in Houston for those first three soldiers killed. Remember that one guy

took a gut wound in the very beginning of things? He was one of them. So I would literally a hundred years before that guy got a tombstone in his grave. Wasn't months later before racist locals had vandalized it. Of course. It was November 13, 2023, just months before we're recording this right now, that the United States Army finally reversed the injustice done to the men who had served it faithfully. From the New York Times, quote, Christine E. Warromth, the Army Secretary, said in a statement on Monday that the Army Board for Correction of Military Records had found that these soldiers were wrongfully treated because of their race and were not given fair trials. By setting aside their convictions and granting honorable discharges, the Army is acknowledging past mistakes and setting the record straight, she said. At the

ceremony on Monday, the soldiers names were read aloud as a white-glove soldier rang a bell for each one. After a moment of silence, a staff sergeant sang, Amazing Grace. Mr. Holt called it, A Day of Atonement for the Jim Crow Era South and Legalized Segregation." So it took over a hundred years. Over a hundred years. Not even but over. over a hundred years. Over a hundred years. Not even but over. So the closest you'll get to any kind of justice was that.

This story sucks ass, I don't like it. So we'll close out by reading part of the last letter. We read Baltimore's letter to his brother. This was the letter written by Private Hawkins, the very likely completely innocent guy to his parents shortly before his execution. Just reading a bit of it. Quote, I am sentenced to be hanged for the trouble that happened in Houston, Texas, although I'm not guilty of the crime that I'm accused of, but, mother, it is God's will that I go

now and in this way, and, mother, I'm going to look for you and the family, if possible, I will meet you by the river." Unquote. That's fucking sad as shit. So? This is a bummer ass story, Jamie. If possible, I will meet you by the river." That's fucking sad as shit. This is a bummer ass story, Jamie. You're welcome. Yeah. I got bummed out and I decided to share it with you

and you, whoever you are listening. Yeah, this is by far the saddest story we've ever covered. Yeah, thank you. It's rough going through it even again. So if you are still with us and haven't rage quit our podcast, thank you. It's like, yeah, it's it's rough going through it even again. So if you are still with us and haven't rage quit our podcast, thank you for sticking with us and hearing this awful story. This is one of those things again,

that when I learned about this from this little news clip, it took me down this rabbit hole where I felt really upset and I wanted to make everyone else just as upset because you can't fix shit until you know what actually happened. Hoo. So, uh, also thanks, uh, to our friend Kevin and Raven Sound Studios for hosting us and making us sound better than we do in our home USB mics. Thanks Kevin.

I'm sorry for we bummed you out. Superbom, super pissed, super kind of like, where do you even go from here? But whatever. And if you actually want us to make more stuff like this, or hear Bambi's more cheerful episodes, you can help us out by subscribing on your favorite podcast app, Radus on Apple Podcast, Write a Review. All that stuff really helps us capture a new audience.

Share episodes or clips on social media. You can also go to chainsawhistory.com, where you can actually find the full back catalog, read the extensive show notes, find all the research links that we do. And if you want to actually help us pay the bills for hosting and for all the books and rentals that I had to do in order to do all this research, then you can subscribe via sub stack on chainsawhistory.com. That's also where you can find the bonus content where you can hear the value of series where Bambi reads me children's books from the 80s.

She has also now begun her own episodes where she picks her own topics and comes at me just the way I do. Yeah, but you only get it for like holidays and stuff because my hands are fucked. And also no time for Dr. Love where I get to indulge my Indiana Jones obsession through history. That is, you keep saying no time for Dr. Love where I get to indulge my Indiana Jones obsession through history. That is, you keep saying no time for love or no time Dr. Love and it's like.

No time for love Dr. Jones. Yeah, there you go. Wow. Why am I going for the old dirty? I don't know. You really want the porn. No, I don't. I need my Indiana Jones porn list please.

So all of that. Especially nowadays. Old indie. So after getting that. Nowadays, old Indy. So after getting up, so after getting really upset, it's good to remember the NAACP worked with these families for over 100 years to get the result we finally got, which, you know, still suck. Those men didn't get to live to benefit from that, but at least their families got some peace and their names and honor got to be restored. So I recommend for our listeners to donate

to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. They work for racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education. You can learn more and support them at www.naacpldf.org. Yeah, and mine is still stopcopcity.org, where Atlanta is trying to bulldoze a forest to build a police training facility for urban warfare and fuck a bunch of that shit.

And not just for our cops, but for cops all over the country. And even urban warfare training for say, you know military forces in other countries that Might have relate to some serious foreign conflicts happening right now They also like want to build another studio there and it's like leave our fucking forests alone you dicks So green space is important. So look up, defend the Atlanta forest, stopcopcity.org. You can also look up the Atlanta Solidarity Network

if you want to contribute to the bail funds. People who've gotten arrested just for protesting is bullshit. Yep, some of them are in there on Rico charges. It's bullshit. And if, yeah, if there's ever a story that we've told that really emphasizes why we have this particular movement and why we've been supporting it for so long, this

is one. Yeah. Well, fucking Fulton County has three, three RICO cases right now, and that's Donald Trump, Young Thug, and forest defenders. It's complete fucking nonsense. On top of the terrorist charges that they put on the people. Which is also nonsense. I mean.

So, yep. So if you want to learn more, go to stopcopcity.org. And now we're going to cheer ourselves up and try to shake off this bummer of a story. Yeah, for real. Let me listen to some Bob Marley andmer of a story. Yeah, for real. Let me listen to some Bob Marley and smoke some more weed. Yeah, all right. Thanks, everybody.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.