Henry Ossian Flipper: First Among Equals

Henry Ossian Flipper’s life from birth as a slave in 1856 to his death in 1940 in near penniless circumstances might well have been overlooked by history except for one unique accomplishment. Henry was the first black graduate of West Point in 1877. Five short years after his commissioning, his dreams exploded in disgrace when he was dishonorably discharged. The discharge was, in his eyes, a conspiracy to oust him from the all-white ranks of officers of the United States Army
Despite Henry’s life-long argument that a plot existed, it can not be conclusively demonstrated that there was such an overt scheme. The "plot" was more likely what might be termed "unpremeditated prejudice" on the part of several senior officers. They did nothing whatsoever to help Henry extricate himself from his difficulties—as they most likely would have done for a white officer. Indeed, at least subconsciously, they held him to a higher standard than they would have had he been white.
This same unpremeditated prejudice haunted Henry through each of his various appeals over the next 40 years—no one in a position of power would champion his cause. No one would give him the latitude of a second chance. Henry Flipper’s odyssey to clear his reputation was finally corrected in 1999 by President Bill Clinton, one hundred forty-three years after his birth.
First Among Equals follows the life and times of Henry Flipper from his birth to his death, and the years afterward. Was there a conspiracy? Did his friendship with a white woman contribute to his difficulty? Who was Henry’s lifelong love? How did a former slave with a dishonorable discharge manage to become a special assistant to Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior? Could Flipper have been spared his discharge had President James Garfield not been assassinated? The answers to these questions and many more are analyzed in meticulous detail using government documents, court transcripts, genealogy records and contemporary newspaper reports and source materials.
Flipper’s journey led him from slavery in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Plain at West Point, to the Indian wars in Oklahoma and Texas, to the vast mining empires of Arizona and Mexico, to the halls of Washington D. C., to the oil fields of Venezuela, and finally back again to Atlanta. His remarkable life offers an insight into the ability to conquer steep odds and to eventually achieve greatness. His compelling story goes far beyond his brief military career to unfold as one of the great American profiles in overcoming adversity and discrimination.