A Deadly Riot, and Then 3 Trials, 110 Convictions and 19 Executions
The New York Times
In what officials now call one the most unjust military trials in the nation’s history, 19 Black soldiers were sentenced to death in 1917 after a clash with the police.
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SAN ANTONIO — Charles Anderson slowly approached the altar at the Gift Chapel at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston and zeroed in on a century-old grainy photo of 63 Black soldiers. He quickly spotted his distant cousin, Sgt. William C. Nesbit, and ran his hand over his relative’s stoic expression.
The photograph showed Sergeant Nesbit and 62 other members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry at a military trial for their alleged roles in a deadly riot in Houston in 1917 that left 19 people dead. Mr. Anderson’s cousin and 12 others were later found guilty and hanged on a gallows near Salado Creek, which runs through San Antonio, in what military officials now call one the most unjust military trials in the nation’s history.
