Thomas Morris Chester (1813-1903)
BLM Collection/Alamy Photo
During the Civil War, hundreds of reporters from Union and Confederate newspapers published stories about battles on land and sea. Only one of these reporters was black: Thomas Morris Chester, the first African war correspondent -country american.
The invention of the telegraph in 1844 by Samuel Morse had allowed newspapers to publish editions within hours, spreading wartime news quickly throughout the country. The correspondents recording these front-line stories—and shaping American perceptions of the war—were mostly white men recording the conflict primarily through the lens of other white men and their families. Theirs were the only views conveyed in the mainstream press – until the white owners Philadelphia Press hired Chester in 1864 to cover for black troops in Virginia.
Writing under the pseudonym “Rollin,” the 30-year-old Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native whose mother had escaped slavery became the first and only wartime African-American correspondent for a major newspaper. . Embedded in United States Colored Troops in the James’s Army from August 1864 to June 1865, Chester, who had recruited black men into the Union Army, gave voice and dignity to black soldiers fighting for their right to fight, for parity with white troops – and for the right to be treated with the respect due to men willing to give their lives for their country. Write in the Philadelphia Press, Chester said of the Black Troops, “Each man looked like a soldier, while unyielding determination was depicted in every face.”
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Chester gave voice to the black soldiers of James’s army
Formed in April 1864 to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, James’s Army contained two divisions of white troops from the 24th Corps and one division of black troops from the 25th, which consisted of two brigades containing 5,000 men from seven regiments . Chester, who embarked with the 25th on the front lines, did not shy away from describing the carnage suffered by these soldiers, as in this description of two pickets who had been shelled: “… quivering pieces of flesh indicated the locality of the dreadful scene, while fragments of hearts and intestines hung from the branches of nearby trees.
On April 3, 1865, black troops of the 25th Corps were among the first Union soldiers to enter the Confederate capital, signaling the imminent conclusion of the war. For the Philadelphia Press, Chester wrote, “As the Union infantry marched into Richmond, the citizens marveled at the magnificently equipped army marching past under the graceful folds of the old flag…. The pious old negroes, men and women, stood delivered to such expressions: “You” I have finally come”, “We have been looking for you for several days”, “Jesus has opened the way”. Unlike other war correspondents, Chester refrained from quoting his black sources in dialect.
“The soldiers, black and white,” he writes, “received these assurances of loyalty as proof of the latent patriotism of an oppressed people, whom military despotism could not crush. »
Lieutenant Robert Verplanck, a white officer who trained black troops, called Chester “our own correspondent” in one of his letters. Chester was also able to portray the plight of all black people in the context of war and troops fighting for their freedom. “Between the negroes and the enemy it is a war to the death,” he wrote on August 22, 1864. neighborhood.Those here have no idea how to live after falling into enemy hands.Many black prisoners of war were harshly treated by the rebels – some tortured, some killed and some sold as slaves.
Convalescing African-American Civil War soldiers at the Aitken landings, James River, Virginia, c. 1864.
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Chester gave a Confederate officer a black eye
A day after entering Richmond with James’s army, Chester sat in the President’s Chair of the Virginia State Capitol, a symbol of Confederate power. According to his biographer RJM Blackett, Chester was well “aware of the irony and keen to thumb his nose at the Confederacy”. Dating his story, “Hall of Congress, Richmond April 4, 1865, Chester began thus: “Sitting in the Speaker’s chair, so long dedicated to treason, but in future dedicated to loyalty, I hasten to give a rapid sketch of the incidents which have occurred since my last despatch.
A paroled Confederate soldier saw Chester sitting in the president’s chair and shouted, “Get out of there, you black cuss!” For once, Chester became the center of the news as correspondent Charles C. Coffin of the Boston Diary reported the whole scene. Coffin wrote: “Mr. Chester looked up, calmly examined the intruder, and continued his writing. ‘Get out of there, or I’ll knock your brains out!’ bellowed the officer, spouting a torrent of oaths, and rushing up the steps to carry out his threat, finding himself tumbled onto chairs and benches.
Finally, the New York Grandstand reported, “Chester planted a black fist and left a black eye and a prostrate rebel” and continued his dispatch to the Philadelphia Press– but not before the Confederate officer demanded a Union soldier’s sword to cut out the heart of the “n-word”.
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Chester continued to practice law
After the war, Chester moved to England, where he earned a law degree. Upon his return to the United States, he became an activist in Louisiana’s reconstruction policy, where he became the first African American in that state to practice law. While he would accomplish much in his life before his death of a heart attack in 1892 at the age of 58, his legacy lives on as the only black Civil War correspondent for a major newspaper that provided a perspective that reflected both the experience of black troops and the crucial last year of the war. “Chester effectively captured the frustration of black veterans who believed their contributions to Union victory went largely unnoticed,” wrote Gary Gallagher, a University of Virginia history professor and author of several books on the war. civil.
A few years after the war, Chester complained about the lack of recognition of black Civil War veterans for their efforts in the Union cause. At the Battle of New Market Heights, where a brigade of black troops proved brave against Confederate forces just outside the gates of Richmond, Chester wrote, “It is cause for complaint, and very justly also, that the colored troops and their officers have not received their praise from the chroniclers of the events of the army, for their splendid advance and gallantry. Ultimately, 14 black soldiers received Medals of Honor for their bravery in this battle, the first African Americans in United States history to receive this recognition.
WATCH: The HISTORY Channel documentary “Black Patriots: Heroes of the Civil War” premieres Monday, February 21 at 11/10c. Watch a preview now.
