Lieutenant Wilson Ballard portrait   Save
Charles Young
Description: Portrait of Lieutenant Wilson Ballard in uniform. Wilson Ballard wrote an outline history of the Ninth Battalion, Ohio Volunteer Infantry in which he served with Charles Young. Charles Young was the first African American to reach the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army and, at the time of his death in 1922, was the highest-ranking African American officer in the Army. He is known for having been forced into retirement due to health concerns before the start of World War I and later riding from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. to prove his physical fitness for duty. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2_B06F21_J
Subjects: African American men; African American soldiers; Military officers
Places: Charles Young