Officials seek to honor service of black soldiers
Efforts to place a marker commemorating black soldiers who served at Fort Brown and other border outposts continue.
Although the fort’s service in the U.S-Mexican and Civil wars is well-documented, black soldiers’ four decades of service to the area are less so. They served there from 1865-1906.
The fort was the home of the 25th Infantry Regiment, a black unit that was stationed there during the Brownsville Raid in August 1906. Several months later, the Army temporarily closed the fort, only to reopen it because of unrest in Mexico and cross-border banditry.
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College sits where the former fort stood until the city of Brownsville acquired it shortly after World War II. Jacob Brown Auditorium sits where barracks once stood and is the expected site of the marker.
Read entire article at Brownsville Herald
Although the fort’s service in the U.S-Mexican and Civil wars is well-documented, black soldiers’ four decades of service to the area are less so. They served there from 1865-1906.
The fort was the home of the 25th Infantry Regiment, a black unit that was stationed there during the Brownsville Raid in August 1906. Several months later, the Army temporarily closed the fort, only to reopen it because of unrest in Mexico and cross-border banditry.
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College sits where the former fort stood until the city of Brownsville acquired it shortly after World War II. Jacob Brown Auditorium sits where barracks once stood and is the expected site of the marker.