Thread by @JABell27

A long military history thread: Tonight I'm going to pour one out in memory of young Michael Howard of Fayette, Mississippi (1852-1919), who SHOULD have been @WestPoint_USMA Class of 1874. Here's Mike (and yes, he went by "Mike"). 1/

It's not clear if Mike was born enslaved. His father, Merriman (or Merrimon) Howard was born enslaved to a wealthy planter, Wade Harrison, in 1821. Merriman Howard's parents are unknown, but he is described in census documents as "mulatto" and his mother, who was "left free," 2/

purchased her son's freedom from Harrison in 1854 or 1855. Before that, Merriman Howard had been Harrison's domestic servant and carriage driver. Now, carriages were status symbols in Jefferson County (near Natchez) back in those days. A carriage driver was 3/

in a position of serious trust w/expensive property, & in that area, might be dressed in livery imported from Europe. Michael was born before his gm bought his father's freedom, but since his mother's status is not clear (at least, I haven't found it), neither was Michael's. 4/

One thing that IS known is that Merriman Howard was serious about education. He was literate, and wrote a nice hand. He founded one of the 1st schools for African Americans in Jefferson County, & served as 1 of the 1st trustees for HBCU Alcorn University in Lorman. 5/

So you know he wanted a good education for his son Mike. He joined the Republican Party, & was a colleague of AME minister Hiram Rhodes Revels—the 1st African American to serve in the US Congress. 6/

Educational options for African American children in Fayette, MS, were limited in those early years after the war. In 1866, the American Missionary Association sent 2 teachers to Fayette to start a school. "Enraged white citizens" threatened to kill them & burn the school. 7/

They left. The AMA declined to send more teachers there w/o protection from the US Army. Who were fine staying in Natchez to be wined & dined, thank you, no desire to set up an outpost over in Fayette. Small town, limited booze, fewer ladies of the demimondaine. Just saying. 8/

Nevertheless, between 1865 and April 1870, Mike managed to scrape together a fair education (he also had nice diction & handwriting) & at the age of 17 was considered Most Likely to Succeed as an Army Officer by those who knew him. 9/

Representative Legrand Winfield Perce (R-MS), a native of Buffalo, NY; a lawyer; & a former US Army officer who had settled in Natchez after the Civil War, was pleased to offer Mike an appointment to USMA on April 20, 1870. /10

Here's Rep. Perce. If you use the word "carpetbagger" to describe him, I will block you. He looks like a PERFECTLY nice guy to me. Kind of scholarly. (Not a fan of the whiskers, but he does have very good hair.) /11

Mike was all about it. His dad was kind of worried for him. Merriman Howard—who oh by the way, had been elected to serve in the 1st cohort of African Americans in Mississippi's state legislature in 1869—wrote Perce to ask if the USMA entrance exams could be delayed for Mike. /12

He'd arranged for a private tutor, & Mike had done well, but maybe needed a little more time. USMA declined to support this request. In May 1870, he also wrote the capt in charge of appointees to ask for a safe-arrival-gram, as Mike was traveling alone thru NYC. /13

Mike was only the 2nd African American nominee to USMA. (The 3rd, James Webster Smith/1874, was nominated a month after him.) Back in those days, nominees checked in late in May; they lived in tents & learned drill etc. for a month, then were given 6 academic exams. /14

Mike & James were tent-mates, obvs. Backing up: The press had a heads-up that they were coming; you can imagine the coverage. Emotional for, emotional against. The Weekly Panola (MS) Star wrote: "Michael Howard, a colored youth, son of a member of the Legislature, has been /15

nominated by congressman Revels [inaccurate], to a West Point cadetship. He belongs in Jefferson County." Yep, expected to fail. Not a new story there. The cadre had mixed feelings, too. But Dean of Engineering Dennis H. Mahan met w/Mike; he was "very much pleased w/his /16

intelligent appearance & quiet, gentlemanly bearing." Mahan expected Mike, if he passed his exams, to be "rather a favorite." Um, it didn't quite work out like that. /17

In one middle-of-the-night incident, related later by Henry Ossian Flipper/USMA 1877, fellow nominees entered the tent where Smith & Howard slept & emptied a "slop jar"—I think by this he meant a chamber pot—over the two young Black men. /18

It seems likely from press reporting that some cadets made fun of Howard's "plantation" accent. (Smith, though nominated by a congressman from SC, was actually from NH.) Another incident, about 2 wks after their arrival, was more serious. /19

A nominee fm KY named McChord was ordered to march the group to get their shoes blacked. McChord directed the white nominees to go 1st, & the 2 Black nominees to wait until everyone else had theirs done. Howard & Smith leaned on opposite sides of the door to the small room /20

—an act of resistance; the white nominees had to brush past them to enter & exit. Just intolerable for some of the Good Old Boys(TM). McChord ordered Howard to move. He did not. McChord slapped him in the face. Smith protested. McChord said he was an "officer." /21

Smith replied that officers didn't strike soldiers in the face. A crowd gathered. Bad things were said. McChord borrowed a knife from another boy, & when Howard got in the chair to have his shoes done, grabbed Howard w/his left hand while holding the open knife in his right. /22

It is possible, even likely, that he threatened to "cut up" or "kill" Howard. Howard reported the incident, but it was written off as something that might happen to any "unpopular boy." Whether it was a matter of stress & anxiety, or poor academic preparation, or both— /23

On June 24, when examinations were administered in arithmetic, reading, "writing including orthography," geography, grammar, and history, Howard was marked "deficient" in all 6. Deficiency in even 1 area resulted in dismissal. Now, again just saying, whoever marked Mike /24

"deficient" in "writing including orthography" was just being a jackass. Anyway. It made me feel a LITTLE better that McChord flunked everything but geography & also had to leave. Mike didn't give up, though. /25

He'd learned that James Webster Smith had not only been educated in NH, he'd done his freshman year of college at Howard University. Recommended to the rep from SC by Major General O. O. Howard himself. So he got himself admitted to Howard U also. /26

Whatever his early education had been, he placed in the Middle Year of the college preparatory course at Howard. In 1870-71, he studied Latin (Caesar, Sallust, prose composition, tables); intro Greek (grammar & Xenophon's Anabasis); algebra, & geometry; /27

he completed a reading course in ancient geography, mythology, Greek & Roman antiquities, ancient & modern history, & physical science. He attended Friday afternoon lectures in classics, science, & culture. He studied general grammar, rhetoric, & elocution. /28

He went to Bible study on Sundays. In May 1871, Maj Gen Howard personally recommended him for readmission: he was "diligent & faithful in the performance of his duties," & only "a little natural diffidence" during public oral exams had yet to be overcome. /29

USMA still wasn't having it. So sorry, they said, ya gotta wait TWO years to reapply if you fail the exams; and anyway, your little prep course doesn't really prepare him to succeed here. /30

It could be that there wasn't enough $ for Mike to stay at Howard U another year; it could be that he was homesick & maybe a little heartsick. I would've been. Anyway, he went back home to Fayette. /31

Now, in those days you didn't need a law degree; you could "read law"—serve as an assistant or clerk to a practicing lawyer for 3 years—and then take the bar exam. On 9 March 1880, Michael Howard was examined in open court for a license to practice law. /32

Three attorneys reported that he "passed his examination perfectly," and a Chancellor Berry remarked that it was "the best examination he ever heard." USMA lost a fine prospective officer to the substandard MS educational system, bigotry, inflexibility, & racial harassment. /33

Jefferson County, MS, got a sharp lawyer & also an educator; Mike Howard taught school, too. I don't know where his descendants are, but he had 5 children so there must be some. I think if any of them are interested in attending USMA, the nomination ought to be automatic. 34/end