Samuel C. Armstrong
Samuel Chapman Armstrong (January 30, 1839 – May 11, 1893) was an American soldier and general during the American Civil War who later became an educator, particularly of non-whites. The son of missionaries in Hawaii, he rose through the Union Army during the American Civil War to become a general, leading units of Black American soldiers.[1] He became best known as an educator, founding and becoming the first principal of the normal school for Black American and later Native American pupils in Virginia which later became Hampton University.[2] He also founded the university's museum, the Hampton University Museum, which is the oldest Black American museum in the country, and the oldest museum in Virginia.
Samuel Chapman Armstrong
Incumbent
January 30, 1839
Wailuku, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi
May 11, 1893 (aged 54)
Hampton, Virginia, U.S.
Hampton Institute school cemetery, Hampton, Virginia
United States (Union)
1862–1865
Early and family life[edit]
The third son of Christian missionary Richard Armstrong (1805–1860), Armstrong was born in Wailuku, Maui, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, the sixth of ten children, eight of whom reached adulthood. His mother, Clarissa Chapman Armstrong, grew up in a Congregational family in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His father was a Presbyterian minister sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which was founded by several Williams College graduates associated with various Protestant denominations. His parents were among the first missionaries to what were then known as the Sandwich Islands. Arriving in 1832, they established several Christian congregations on various Hawai'ian islands. In 1840, after the death of experienced missionary [eh?], Richard Armstrong became the second shepherd of Kawaiahaʻo Church, in Honolulu, on Oʻahu, when Samuel was an infant. Many chiefs and their families attended the historic church (which received its current name in 1853, under Richard Armstrong). Richard Armstrong also served on the kingdom's privy council and became the Minister of Education and later the Superintendent of Public Instruction. He established schools throughout the kingdom, and emphasized learning a manual trade in addition to farming. He graduated students proficient in blacksmithing, carpentry, and barrel-making, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic.[3]
Like many children of missionaries and tribal leaders, Samuel attended Punahou School and the associated Oahu College, in Honolulu, for his elementary education. There is a bronze plaque at Punahou commemorating him as a "Son of Punahou". After finishing at Punahou, he became his father's secretary. After his father suffered a horseback-riding accident and died, in 1860, Samuel Armstrong, aged 21, followed his father's wishes and sailed from Hawaiʻi for the United States, to begin his own studies at Williams College, in Massachusetts. He graduated in 1862.[4]
Armstrong married Emma Dean Walker, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on October 13, 1869. She died on November 10, 1878, after giving birth to two daughters, Louise H. Armstrong Scoville and Edith E. Armstrong, both of whom taught briefly at the Hampton Institute (where Louise's husband, William Scoville, served for decades as a trustee). He remained a widower for more than a decade.[5] Armstrong remarried in Montpelier, Vermont, on September 10, 1890, to Mary Alice Ford, a teacher at the Hampton Institute. Their son, Daniel Armstrong, became a career U.S. Naval officer and commanded the Negro Recruit Training Program at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, near Waukegan, Illinois, during World War II. Their daughter, Margaret Armstrong, married the Hampton's Institute's president during the Great Depression, Arthur Howe; their sons served as trustees from the 1950s into the 1970s.[3]
Civil War[edit]
During Samuel Armstrong's studies at Williams College, the American Civil War divided the United States. Like his father, Armstrong supported the abolition of slavery but considered himself a Hawaiian. Nonetheless, on August 15, shortly after graduating with future General and President James A. Garfield, Armstrong volunteered to serve in the Union Army. By August 26, he had recruited a company near Troy, New York, and received the rank of captain in the 125th New York Infantry,[4] a three-years regiment in George L. Willard's brigade. Within weeks Armstrong and his troops were among the 12,000 man garrison at Harpers Ferry, who though without combat training initially held their position during the Confederate Maryland Campaign on September 13, 1862, but were surrendered two days later by career U.S. Army officer Dixon S. Miles (who was rumored to have been killed by his own men that day, but officially died as a result of enemy fire) to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson shortly before the Battle of Antietam.
After being paroled in a prisoner exchange, Capt. Armstrong returned to the front lines in Virginia in December. The following summer, as part of the 3rd Division of the II Corps under Alexander Hays Armstrong fought at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, defending Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. Armstrong subsequently received a promotion to major on August 26, 1863 (but effective July 3, 1863, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg).
Armstrong volunteered to lead African-American troops, resigned from his New York unit, and received the rank of lieutenant colonel, and assignment to the 9th United States Colored Infantry (USCT) in November 1863. When Armstrong was assigned to command the USCT, training was conducted at Camp Stanton near Benedict, Maryland. While at Camp Stanton, Armstrong established a school to educate the black soldiers, most of whom had no education as slaves.[6]
Lt. Col. Armstrong was then assigned to lead the 8th U.S. Colored Troops when its previous commander fell wounded.[7] Armstrong's experiences in Hawai'i and with these regiments aroused his interest in the welfare of black Americans. Armstrong noted that Hawaiians J. R. Kealoha and Kaiwi were privates in different USCT regiments.[8] Armstrong led the 8th Regiment during the Siege of Petersburg, and his troops became one of the first Union regiments to enter the city after the Confederates withdrew from their trenches.
In November 1864, Armstrong received a promotion to Colonel "for gallant and meritorious services at Deep Bottom and Fussell's Mill"[9] during the Siege of Petersburg. The 8th USCT pursued the Army of Northern Virginia during the subsequent Appomattox Campaign.
After Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Armstrong and his men returned to Petersburg briefly, before being sent by sea to Ringgold Barracks near Rio Grande City on the Mexican border in Texas. On October 10, 1865, the 8th USCT began marching from Texas to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Armstrong and his men were discharged out of the military on November 10, 1865, shortly after their belated arrival.[10]
On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Armstrong for the award of the brevet grade of brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the new commission on March 12, 1866.[11]