H.R. No. 835
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, For more than four decades, African American members
of the United States military served bravely and with distinction
in the face of racism and neglect while stationed at Fort Brown in
Brownsville, on the Texas-Mexico border; and
WHEREAS, African Americans were prohibited by law from
serving in this nation's armed forces until the second year of the
Civil War, when the Militia Act of 1862 allowed them to join the
army; this led to the formation of regiments known, in the language
of the time, as United States Colored Troops (USCT); by the end of
the war, the USCT included more than 123,000 men, approximately 10
percent of the Union army; and
WHEREAS, In 1864, a Union force that was 75 percent black took
control of Fort Brown, which guarded the U.S. border along the lower
Rio Grande; the black troops were ordered to camp on low, swampy
land away from the white troops, and they were given inferior
uniforms, clothing, equipment, and food; many of them died as a
result of their deplorable circumstances, mostly from diseases such
as cholera, malaria, and yellow fever; and
WHEREAS, In 1866, members of the USCT were allowed to join the
regular army, and these "Buffalo Soldiers" continued to serve at
Fort Brown until the turn of the century, policing the border,
protecting stagecoach routes, and pursuing bandits and Indian
raiders; they were also tasked with jobs, such as road building,
that were not assigned to white soldiers, and they had to deal with
a white population that bitterly resented the presence of black
troops in their community; and
WHEREAS, In 1899, the black soldiers of the 25th Infantry
Regiment displayed exceptional valor at the Battle of San Juan Hill
during the Spanish-American War, but when members of the same unit
were posted to Fort Brown in 1906, they were met with animosity by
the local community; white residents of Brownsville dressed up in
blackface and shot up the town, and the black soldiers were blamed;
as a result of the infamous "Brownsville Raid," the members of the
25th were cashiered, and it wasn't until 1972 that they were
posthumously exonerated; in 1909, the national military cemetery at
Brownsville was abandoned, and the soldiers who had been interred
there, most of whom were black, were reburied in a mass grave in
Louisiana; Fort Brown was decommissioned after World War II; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of 42 years, African American troops
endured disease, inadequate resources, unhealthy living
conditions, and the ferocious hostility of the community they had
sworn to defend, and yet despite those hardships, they stood guard
along our nation's southern border and served with courage,
dedication, and fortitude; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
Legislature hereby express its gratitude for the service of the
United States Colored Troops and the Buffalo Soldiers who were
stationed at Fort Brown from 1864 to 1906 and pay tribute to their
determination and resolve.
Lucio III
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 835 was adopted by the House on March
23, 2017, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House