Charles Young
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- For information on the now-retired UCLA Chancellor and UF President, see Charles E. Young.
Charles Young (March 12, 1864 - January 8, 1922) was a Colonel in the United States Army and was the first African American ever to obtain that rank.
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[edit] Early life
Young was born in Mayslick, Kentucky, United States, the son of former slaves. His father enlisted as a private in the Fifth Regiment of the Colored Artillery (Heavy) Volunteers. When Young's parents moved to Ripley, Ohio, he attended the all white high school there. He graduated at age 16 and was the first black to graduate with honors. Following graduation, he taught school in the black high school of Ripley.
[edit] Acceptance to West Point
While engaged in teaching, he had an opportunity to enter a competitive examination for appointment as a cadet at West Point Military Academy. Young was successful, achieving the second highest score, and in 1883 reported to the academy. He graduated with his commission, the third black man to do so at that time, and was assigned to the Tenth and the Seventh Cavalry where he was promoted to First Lieutenant. His subsequent service of 28 years was with black troops — the Twenty-fifth U.S. Infantry and the Ninth U.S. Cavalry.
[edit] Military service
[edit] National Park assignments
In 1903, Young served as Captain of a black company at Presidio of San Francisco. He was appointed acting superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant national parks, thus becoming the first black superintendent of a national park. He was responsible for the supervision of payroll accounts and directed the activities of rangers. Young's greatest impact on the park was road construction that helped to improve the underdeveloped park.
Due to his work ethic and perseverance, Young and his troops accomplished more that summer than the three military officers who had been assigned the previous three years. Captain Young and his troops completed a wagon road to the Giant Forest, home of the world's largest trees, and a road to the base of the famous Moro Rock. By mid-August, wagons of visitors were entering the mountaintop forest for the first time.
Young was transferred on November 2, 1903, and reassigned as troop commander at the Presidio. In his report to the Secretary of the Interior, he recommended the government acquire patented lands in the park. This recommendation was mentioned in legislation introduced in the United States House of Representatives. The Visalia, California Board of Trade showed appreciation of his performance as the park's acting superintendent by presenting him with a citation.
[edit] Other military assignments
After a term as military attaché to Haiti, a subsequent promotion to Major and a term as military attaché to Liberia, Young was assigned to patrol the US-Mexican border during the Mexican Revolution.
Racial segregation prevented Young from leading black troops into battle when the United States entered the First World War. He was medically retired, based on a diagnosis of Hypertension, and spent most of 1917 and 1918 as a professor at Wilberforce University. On November 6, 1918, after Young had ridden his horse from Xenia, Ohio to Washington, D.C. to prove his physical fitness, he was reinstated. In 1919, he was again assigned as a military attaché to Liberia. He died January 8, 1922 of a kidney infection while on a reconnaissance mission in Nigeria.
Renowned member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
This article is based in part on a document created by the National Parks Service, which is part of the US Government. As such, it is presumed to be in the public domain.
