The African American/Black History month will be observed1-28 February 2013.
The recognition of African American/Black History month originated in 1926 as Negro history week. Observed during the second week of February, a week that encompassed the birthdays of two champions of equality, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the event brought national recognition to African American contributions to America throughout her history. Fifty years after its creation, during the bicentennial of the United States in 1976, President Gerald R. Ford expanded the observance and proclaimed February to be Black History month.
All commands are strongly encouraged to utilize this month to increase their understanding and awareness of the many contributions African Americans have made to the Navy …
More than 123,000 African Americans serve today in the navy's total force - active, reserve, and civilian. The contributions of African Americans to our navy can be traced back to the revolutionary war. During the civil war, African American sailors fought on every type of union warship, and their accomplishments included eight Medal of Honor recipients.
The National and Department of Defense theme for this year's observance is "At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington."
African-Americans played an important role in the outcome of the Civil War. Slaves and freed African-Americans were an invaluable resource to the Union, providing information on the Confederate forces. This became known as the “black dispatches.”
The dispatches were most commonly obtained from debriefing slaves—either runaways or those who had come under Union control. And a few brave black Americans learned important intelligence about Confederate plans through behind-the-lines missions or by serving as an agent-in-place.
The Perfect Spy
African-Americans played an important role in the outcome of the Civil War. Slaves and freed African-Americans were an invaluable resource to the Union, providing information on the Confederate forces. This became known as the “black dispatches.”
The dispatches were most commonly obtained from debriefing slaves—either runaways or those who had come under Union control. And a few brave black Americans learned important intelligence about Confederate plans through behind-the-lines missions or by serving as an agent-in-place.
William A. Jackson
Africans-Americans who could serve as agents-in-place were a great asset to the Union. They could provide information about the enemy’s plans instead of reporting how the plans were carried out. William A. Jackson was one such agent-in-place who provided valuable intelligence straight from Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Jackson served as a coachman to Davis. As a servant in Davis’ home, Jackson overheard discussions the president had with his military leadership. His first report of Confederate plans and intentions was in May 1862 when he crossed into Union lines. While there are no records of the specific intelligence Jackson reported, it is known that it was important enough for General McDowellto be sent straight to the War Department in Washington.
Harriet Tubman
When it comes to the Civil War and the fight to end slavery, Harriet Tubman is an icon. She was not only a conductor of the Underground Railroad, but also a spy for the Union.
In 1860, she took her last trip on the Underground Railroad, bringing friends and family to freedom safely. After the trip, Tubman decided to contribute to the war effort by caring for and feeding the many slaves who had the fled the Union-controlled areas.
A year later, the Union Army asked Tubman to form a network of spies among the black men in the area. Tubman also lead expeditions to gather intelligence. She reported her information to a Union officer commanding the Second South Carolina Volunteers, a black unit involved in guerrilla warfare activities.
After learning of Tubman’s capability as a spy, Gen. David Hunter, commander of all Union forces in the area, requested that Tubman personally guide a raiding party up the Combahee River in South Carolina. Tubman was well prepared for the raid because she had key information about Confederate positions along the shore and had discovered where they placed torpedoes (barrels filled with gunpowder) in the water. On the morning of June 1, 1863, Tubman led Col. James Montgomery and his men in the attack. The expedition hit hard. They set fires and destroyed buildings so they couldn’t be used by the Confederate forces. The raiders freed 750 slaves.
The raid along the Combahee River, in addition to her activities with the Underground Railroad, made a significant contribution to the Union cause. When Tubman died in 1913, she was honored with a full military funeral in recognition for work during the war.
Mary Touvestre
Mary Touvestre was a freed slave who worked as a housekeeper for a Confederate engineer who was repairing and transforming the USS Merrimac into the Virginia, the Confederate’s first ironclad (warship). She overheard the engineer talking about the importance of the ship and realized that it could be a significant weapon against the Northern blockade.
At great personal risk, Touvestre stole the plans for the ship and fled to Washington, where she met with the Department of the Navy. Upon seeing the plans and hearing Touvestre’s report, the Union Navy sped up the construction of its ironclad, the USS Monitor.
It is believed that if Touvestre had not alerted the Union of the Confederacy’s activities, the Virginia might have caused enough damage to the blockade to allow much needed supplies from Europe to slip through.
John Scobell
John Scobell was a freed slave who was recruited by Union intelligence chief Allan Pinkerton to spy behind Confederate lines. Scobell was intelligent and a good actor. He took on several identities, including food vendor, cook and laborer. Scobell often worked with two of Pinkerton’s best agents—Timothy Webster and Carrie Lawton—posing as a servant.
Scobell provided valuable information about Confederate order of battle, status of supplies and troop morale. He also sought out leaders in the black community to collect information about local conditions, fortifications, and troop dispositions.
A significant piece of important naval intelligence concerned the strategic Confederate port of Charleston, South Carolina, one of a few ports in the south with railroad lines capable of speedy transportation of supplies to Richmond and other key Confederate manufacturing and supply centers. According to an annual report from the Secretary of the Navy to President Lincoln, Robert Smalls—a contraband ship pilot who had recently escaped from Charleston—supplied a sufficient amount of important military operational intelligence to generate "a turning of the forces in the Charleston harbor." Smalls supplied Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont with the necessary intelligence to seize Stono Inlet, occupying Stono with several gun-boats and securing an important base for military operations.
Bowser had been a slave of the Van Lew family, but Van Lew freed her and sent her North to be educated. When Van Lew decided to establish a spy ring in Richmond shortly before the fighting began, she asked Bowser to return and work with her for the Union. Van Lew obtained a position for Bowser as a servant in the Confederate "White House" through the recommendation of a "friend" who provided supplies to that household.
Bowser pretended to be uneducated but hardworking and, after working part-time at several functions, was hired as a regular employee. Her access provided her with opportunities to overhear valuable information. As a black servant, Bowser was almost certainly ignored by the President's guests. Her reporting focused on conversations she overheard between Confederate officials at the President's residence and on documents she was able to read while working around the house. She and Van Lew, often dressed as a country farmwife, would meet at isolated locations on the outskirts of Richmond to exchange information.
Another Union spy, Thomas McNiven, noted that Bowser had a photographic memory and could report every word of the documents she saw at the "White House." 11 In recognition of her intelligence contributions, Bowser was inducted into the US Army Intelligence Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on 30 June 1995.
She was part of a Union spy ring known as "the Richmond underground," handled by Elizabeth Van Lew, whose family was well respected and well connected socially in Richmond. While not hiding her Union loyalties, Van Lew affected behavior that made her appear harmless and eccentric to Confederate authorities. After the war, she traveled to Washington and obtained all the official records from the War Department related to her activities and destroyed them. Thus, details on Bowser's specific activities are sparse.
