The convictions of Buffalo Soldiers stationed at Houston's Camp Logan were overturned after 100 years.

Over 100 years ago, 110 Black soldiers stationed at Camp Logan were convicted of murder, mutiny, and assault when a riot broke out in Houston in 1917. According to the Houston Chronicle, 19 of those servicemen were executed at Fort Sam Houston. However, after a long and arduous journey, justice has finally been served.
On November 13th, the U.S. Army recognized those overturned convictions in a ceremony at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Michael Mahoney directed the Army Review Boards Agency to set aside all convictions, which will show on their service records that they served the army honorably.
This is the first time in its history that the Army has made such a decision. Historian John Haymond noted to the Chronicle that “This is not only the largest murder trial in American history, this is also the largest court-martial in American history, and no case this large or this serious with this many death penalties has ever been completely overturned by the Army on review.”
Haymond, along with Dru Brenner-Beck, a retired military officer and professor at South Texas College of Law, co-authored the petition that Army Secretary Christine Wormuth used to reach her decision. Wormuth decided that the soldiers would be awarded individual rights, privileges, and property lost, which makes their descendants eligible to receive benefits. In addition, each soldier, or in this case their families, will receive an Honorable Discharge Certificate, which commends them for “honest and faithful service.”
Haymond also remarked that the Army is using this as an attempt to repair a past wrong, saying “In legal terms, you would say this case is sui generis, meaning that it stands alone. It is truly unique.” He added, “This is the Army recognizing it’s never too late to do the right thing and correcting its error of the past.”
The Buffalo Soldiers were sent to Houston to guard the construction of Camp Logan, now part of Memorial Park. The soldiers arrived on July 27, 1917, and they found a city deeply entrenched in Jim Crow laws. There were often disputes at the site involving white workers, police officers, and soldiers, which sometimes turned violent.
On August 23, 1917, whites fought with the soldiers and when the fighting ended 17 people were dead. Everything came to a head when police raided a craps game and assaulted a Black woman, which ended with the arrest of a Black soldier once he spoke up about it. After this, rumors that Sgt. Charles Baltimore had been killed stirred up talk of revenge. That night, the soldiers set up a defensive perimeter around their camp, and when the smoke cleared, Vida, Private Watson, and Private Strong had been killed. Houston was placed under martial law the following morning.
Legal scholars like Jason Holt, a descendant of soldier Thomas C. Hawkins, who was executed at Fort Sam Houston, discovered that the trial was unfairly conducted. He told the Chronicle, “If you have the largest courts-martial in the history of the United States, and you have one person representing 63 people who isn’t even a lawyer, any semblance of a fair trial kind of goes out the window.”
It took so many years for the soldiers to receive justice because the records were classified and remained sealed until the 1970s and a petition was not submitted to the Department of Justice until 2017. When the NAACP became involved in 2019, they submitted a reworked petition to the Army and it ended up on Mahomey’s desk in 2022. Mahomey said that what influenced his decision was the lack of physical evidence and inconsistent testimony, along with the fact that only Black soldiers were charged and convicted.
The Army's recognition of these overturned convictions is a step towards rectifying a wrong that has been long overdue. The soldiers are finally being acknowledged for their honorable service, and their families are now eligible to receive benefits. Hopefully, this is a sign of more progress to come.

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