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History Daily

The Brownsville Affair

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2024

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 13, 1906. A shooting in Brownsville, Texas, leads to the largest dismissal in the history of the United States Army.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free.

0:04.0

Listen with Wundry Plus in the Wundry app.

0:06.0

As a member of Noiser Plus at Noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts,

0:10.0

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at into History.com. It's just after a midnight on August 13, 1906 in Brownsville, Texas. Mayor Fred Coomb races down the street in a horse-drawn wagon.

0:36.0

He's headed for the town's main strip. The humid night air whips his face and every now and

0:41.8

then he clutches his hat so it doesn't fly off.

0:45.2

As he approaches the center of town, he sees saloons shuttered and hotel doors locked.

0:50.6

Minutes before, men had been drinking together after a long day's work, but now every

0:55.0

window's curtains are drawn, except for just enough to reveal curious spying eyes.

1:00.0

When Fred's wagon reaches a group of huddle police officers in the street, he brings his

1:05.8

horses to a stop and hops down from the carriage.

1:09.5

Fred pushes through the cluster of men and spots one officer clutching his bloody arm.

1:14.0

He asks what happened, but before the man can answer,

1:17.5

Fred notices something else, a body of a young bartender lifeless on the ground.

1:24.2

Koom bows his head, removes his hat, and holds it against his heart.

1:28.9

After a moment he looks up and asks again, what happened here? The men all rushed to speak at once,

1:34.8

accusing army soldiers stationed on the askert to town. The 25th infantry is an all-black unit,

1:41.3

and the police say they saw dark faces lit up behind the gunfire.

1:45.8

Fred is confused. The 25th infantry is under a strict curfew tonight. He and their

1:51.0

commanding officer set the curfew themselves.

1:54.0

Racial tensions in Brownsville are already high,

1:57.0

and the curfew is in place to prevent violence.

...

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