"a fit and necessary war measure"
The Army and Juneteenth, a legacy of "freedom and the triumph of the human spirit"
On June 19, 1865, in Galveston Texas, Army Major General (MG) Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3. The order informed the people of Texas that per the Emancipation Proclamation, “all slaves are free”. This day, known thereafter as Juneteenth, honors the end of slavery in the US. The Army plays a unique role in the story of Juneteenth. This is true not only because General Order No. 3 came from the Army, but also because it was Black Army soldiers who helped promulgate the order and then carried the story of Juneteenth out from Texas into the rest of America. As CBS’s Reg Chapman put it, Black soldiers were the “fathers of Juneteenth”.
Source: National Archives.
For context, even though President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation effective 1 January 1863, and even though by June of 1865, Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, there were still areas of the country where slavery remained in place. MG Granger and the Army freed approximately 250,000 enslaved Americans when they proclaimed the Emancipation Proclamation in effect in Texas.
Source: Library of Congress.
The Emancipation Proclamation had placed special responsibilities onto the Army and Navy. Lincoln described the Proclamation, which ended slavery only in the states that were “in rebellion against the United States”, as a “fit and necessary war measure”. Enforcement largely fell to the military, particularly the Army. On Juneteenth, it was soldiers from the 13th Army Corps that carried the Emancipation Proclamation into Texas.
Juneteenth is a unique and important holiday in the American landscape. Although celebrations had occurred ever since 1865, Texas became the first state to make it a state holiday in 1980. By 2021, when a bipartisan bill led by Texas Senator John Cornyn and Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee made Juneteenth as federal holiday, it had already been recognized at the state level in 46 other states as well as the District of Columbia. As noted on the Texas Historical Commission Marker, located near the spot where MG Granger issued General Orders No. 3, Juneteenth’s “legacy is evident today by worldwide commemorations that celebrate freedom and the triumph of the human spirit.”
Though this legacy extends to all Americans, and in spirt, to all people everywhere, it is fitting that the Army was present at the beginning. As we celebrate this legacy today, we might pause for a moment to consider all those who persevered through unbelievable hardship, fought, and sacrificed for our freedom.
Additional Resources:
National Museum of the U.S. Army: Juneteenth.
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