Editing John Hanks Alexander

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name          =John Hanks Alexander
|image         =John Hanks Alexander (US Army Officer).jpg
|caption       = From 1900's ''A New Negro for a New Century: An Accurate and Up-to-Date Record of the Upward Struggles of the Negro Race.''<ref name=negro>[[Booker T. Washington|Washington, Booker T.]], [[N.B. Wood]] and [[Fannie Barrier Williams]]. [https://archive.org/details/newnegrofornewce00wash A new Negro for a new century : an accurate and up-to-date record of the upward struggles of the Negro race.] [[Chicago, IL]]: American Publishing House, 1900. [[Archive.org]].
Retrieved April 28, 2017.</ref>
|birth_date    ={{birth date|1864|01|06}}
|birth_place   =[[Helena, Arkansas]]
|death_date    ={{Death date and age|1894|03|26|1864|01|06}}
|death_place   =[[Wilberforce, Ohio]]
|placeofburial =Cherry Grove Cemetery, [[Xenia, Ohio]] 
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|allegiance    ={{Flag|United States|1891}}
|branch        ={{army|United States}}
|serviceyears  =1887–1894
|rank          =[[File:Union_2nd_lt_rank_insignia.svg|35px]] [[Second Lieutenant]]
|servicenumber = <!-- Do not use data from primary sources such as service records -->
|unit          =[[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th Cavalry Regiment]]
|commands      =
|battles       =[[Indian Wars]]
|battles_label =
|awards        =
|memorials     =
|spouse        = <!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced --> 
|relations     =
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}}{{Short description|Groundbreaking African-American military officer (1864 – 1894)}}
'''John Hanks Alexander''' (January 6, 1864 – March 26, 1894) was the first [[African-American]] officer in the [[United States armed forces]] to hold a regular command position and the second African-American graduate of the [[United States Military Academy]] (after [[Henry Ossian Flipper]]).<ref name=first>Ayodale, Braimah. [http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/alexander-john-hanks-1864-1894 "Alexander, John Hanks (1864-1894)."] [[BlackPast.org]]. Retrieved April, 28, 2017.</ref>

==Early life==
John Hanks Alexander was born on January 6, 1864, at [[Helena, Arkansas]], the fourth of seven children born to former slaves [[James M. Alexander|James Milo Alexander]] and Fannie Miller Alexander.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=John Hanks Alexander (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/john-hanks-alexander.htm |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> James Alexander was a [[barber]] and [[dry goods]] salesman in Helena and acquired property there. He later became the first black [[Justice of the Peace]] in Arkansas and represented [[Phillips County, Arkansas|Phillips County]] in the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]]. He died in 1871.<ref name="Foner1996">{{cite book|last=Foner|first=Eric|title=Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oO62QgAACAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=9780807120828|page=4}}</ref> All of the Alexander children graduated from high school and three attended [[Oberlin College]] in [[Ohio]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=June 18, 1887 |title=Cadet Alexander |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83035386/1887-06-18/ed-1/?sp=1&st=image&r=0.414,0.438,0.316,0.205,0 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |publication-place=Cleveland, Ohio |via=The Cleveland Gazette}}</ref>

Alexander graduated number one in his high school class in Helena and soon moved to [[Carrollton, Mississippi]], to take a position as a teacher. In late 1880 he visited his uncle in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], and ended up remaining in that city. The next year, he enrolled at Oberlin College and attended that institution until passing the entrance examination for [[West Point]] in 1883. Alexander was sponsored by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Rep.]] [[George W. Geddes]] of Ohio.<ref name=":0" />

==Military career==
[[File:John H Alexander West Point graduate.jpg|left|thumb]]
Alexander's experience at [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] is disputed. Some accounts suggest Alexander was generally accepted by the other cadets and was not subjected to as much intolerance as previous black cadets.<ref name=":0" /> Adjutant [[Eli D. Hoyle|Eli Hoyle]] described Alexander as "a splendid scholar, getting along finely".<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 19, 1884 |title=A Promising Colored Cadet |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83027086/1884-01-19/ed-1/?sp=1&r=0.284,0.706,0.608,0.395,0 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |place=Poughkeepsie |publication-place=Harrisburg, Pa. |via=The state journal}}</ref> Other accounts suggest he spent his early years at the academy in "social isolation", where he suffered from racial slurs and exclusion from extracurricular activities. At West Point, he was not allowed to room with white cadets, and would routinely be ignored while attending Sunday Chapel.<ref name=":1" />

All accounts indicate that Alexander was known as an excellent student, especially in mathematics and languages and was a skilled [[boxing|boxer]] while at the [[academy]]. He distinguished himself as a skilled rider when performing in the cavalry drill. He graduated in the class of 1887 ranking 32nd in a class of 64.<ref name=":0" />

Alexander was assigned to the [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th US Cavalry Regiment]] at [[Fort Robinson, Nebraska]], which was an all-black regiment commanded by white officers and nicknamed [[Buffalo soldiers]].  In 1888, he was transferred to [[Fort Washakie, Wyoming]], where he performed the garrison duty typical of an officer with a western frontier posting.  While assigned to [[Fort Duchesne, Utah]], in 1889, Alexander temporarily led the 9th Cavalry's B [[Troop]], becoming the first black officer in the Army to hold a command position.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shellum |first=Brian G. |date=2010 |title=Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rX6t9lEDidoC&pg=PA38 |location=[[Lincoln, NE]] |publisher=University of Lincoln Press |pages=38–39 |isbn=978-0-8032-1385-2}}</ref>

In February 1894, Alexander was sent to [[Wilberforce University]], an all-black institution, as a [[professor]] of [[military science]] and [[military tactics|tactics]]. Shortly after arriving, he died unexpectedly of a [[aortic rupture|ruptured aorta]] on March 26, 1894. John Hanks Alexander was buried with [[military honors]] in [[Xenia, Ohio]]<ref name=soldier>Gatewood, Willard B. [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=46 "John Hanks Alexander."] [[Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture]], September 18, 2009. Retrieved April 2017.</ref>

==Legacy==
A military installation at [[Newport News, Virginia]], was named Camp Alexander in honor of John Alexander.<ref name=legacy>[http://www.markerhistory.com/camp-hill-and-camp-alexander-marker-w-68/ "Camp Hill and Camp Alexander Marker, W-68."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122412/http://www.markerhistory.com/camp-hill-and-camp-alexander-marker-w-68/ |date=April 2, 2015 }} ''www.markerhistory.com.'' Retrieved April 1, 2015.</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Arkansas]]
*[[Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Findagrave|37276258}}
*[https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/john-hanks-alexander-west-point-graduate John Hanks Alexander] at the [[National Museum of African American History and Culture|National Museum of African American History & Culture]]
*[http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture]
{{Buffalo Soldiers}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, John Hanks}}
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1894 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Buffalo Soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:People from Helena, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Oberlin College alumni]]
[[Category:Wilberforce University faculty]]
[[Category:People from Carrollton, Mississippi]]
[[Category:United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Indian Wars]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Arkansas]]
[[Category:African-American military personnel]]
[[Category:African-American history of Ohio]]
[[Category:African Americans in Ohio]]
[[Category:African-American United States Army personnel]]