Henry Ossian Flipper

author

Henry Ossian Flipper

1856–1940

Best known as the first Black graduate of West Point, he lived a life shaped by ambition, injustice, and remarkable reinvention. After his Army career was cut short, he built a second act as an engineer, surveyor, translator, and writer in the American West and beyond.

2 Audiobooks

Henry Ossian Flipper, the Colored Cadet at West Point

Henry Ossian Flipper, the Colored Cadet at West Point

by Henry Ossian Flipper

Henry Ossian Flipper, the Colored Cadet at West Point Autobiography of Lieut. Henry Ossian Flipper, U.S.A., First Graduate of Color from the U.S. Military Academy

Henry Ossian Flipper, the Colored Cadet at West Point Autobiography of Lieut. Henry Ossian Flipper, U.S.A., First Graduate of Color from the U.S. Military Academy

by Henry Ossian Flipper

About the author

Born into slavery in Georgia in 1856, Henry Ossian Flipper came of age during Reconstruction and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1873. In 1877, he became the first Black graduate of West Point, a milestone that made him a national figure and placed him under intense public scrutiny.

He served as an officer with the 10th Cavalry, one of the famed Buffalo Soldier regiments, and later faced a court-martial that ended his Army career. Even after that setback, he went on to work as a civil and mining engineer, surveyor, translator, and consultant, especially in the Southwest, Mexico, and Latin America.

Flipper also wrote about his life and times, leaving behind memoirs and reflections that help modern readers understand both the promise and prejudice of post-Civil War America. He died in 1940, and his story has continued to be recognized as an important part of U.S. military and Black history.