Colonel Charles Young, A Soldier's Story
Colonel Charles Young, A Soldier's Story
Colonel Charles Young was born on March 12, 1864, in Mays Lick, Kentucky. He entered the world enslaved. When the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in December 1865, his life changed, but the country he would serve remained deeply divided.
His family relocated to Ripley, Ohio, a town known for its abolitionist activity and its role in the Underground Railroad. There, Young excelled academically, graduating from Ripley High School in 1880 as valedictorian.
He first worked as a schoolteacher, but ambition pulled him further. In 1883, he sat for the competitive entrance examination to the United States Military Academy at West Point and ranked second-highest in his district. He reported to the academy in 1884.
West Point was unforgiving. Young endured academic pressure, particularly in mathematics, and the racial isolation and hazing faced by early Black cadets. He persevered. In 1889, he graduated, becoming only the third African American to complete the academy and the last for nearly half a century.
He was commissioned into the 9th Cavalry Regiment, one of the famed Buffalo Soldier units of the U.S. Army. Colonel Young’s career became defined by “firsts.”
He served on the Western frontier, in the Spanish-American War, and during the Philippine–American War. In 1903, he was appointed superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, becoming the first African American to serve as superintendent of a U.S. national park. Under his leadership, roads were built, infrastructure improved, and preservation efforts strengthened, laying early groundwork for the modern National Park Service.
He later became the first African American military attaché, serving in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and then in Liberia. Fluent in several languages and widely respected abroad, Young combined diplomacy with military professionalism.
Beyond soldiering, he was a scholar and musician. He played piano, violin, and guitar, composed music, and in 1912 published The Military Morale of Nations and Races, dedicating the work to former President Theodore Roosevelt. His intellect and cultural range challenged the racial stereotypes of his era.
In 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Young, then a senior officer with strong qualifications, stood eligible for promotion to brigadier general. Instead, he was medically retired on the grounds of high blood pressure. The timing was difficult to ignore.
Many historians note that resistance existed within parts of the Army to placing white officers under a Black general’s command. Refusing to accept a quiet dismissal, Young rode on horseback from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., nearly 500 miles, to demonstrate his physical fitness and determination to serve. The ride became a symbol of resolve.
Though he was not given a combat command in World War I, he was reinstated and reassigned as military attaché to Liberia. In late 1921, while on assignment in Nigeria, Colonel Charles Young fell ill. He died of a kidney infection on January 8, 1922, in Lagos, Nigeria.
After an initial burial in Africa, his remains were returned to the United States in 1923. Colonel Charles Young now rests in Arlington National Cemetery, only the fourth African American graduate of West Point interred there at the time. His legacy extends beyond rank.
He is memorialized in Countee Cullen’s poem “In Memory of Colonel Charles Young,” a tribute to courage under both enemy fire and domestic prejudice.
Colonel Charles Young’s life spanned from enslavement to international military leadership. That arc alone tells you something about America, and about him.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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