Commissioned as a major in February 1865, Martin R. Delany achieved the rank of the first African American field grade officer in the United States Army. Beyond his military career, he practiced medicine during cholera outbreaks, participated in the Colored Conventions Movement, and worked extensively as an abolitionist journalist and writer throughout the nineteenth century.
Early Education and Medical Apprenticeship
Born in 1812 in Charles Town, Virginia, Delany spent his childhood in Chambersburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Despite legal prohibitions against educating Black people in Virginia, he gained literacy through local instruction and private reading. In 1831, he attended the Cellar School in Pittsburgh and later apprenticed under Dr. Andrew N. McDowell, where he practiced treatments such as fire cupping and leeching. He eventually gained entry to Harvard Medical School in 1850 but was forced to withdraw alongside two other Black students following protests by their white peers.
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Delany became a central figure in anti-slavery movements in Pittsburgh, establishing the newspaper The Mystery in 1843. His political writing gained wider circulation when he partnered with Frederick Douglass in 1847 to publish The North Star in Rochester, New York. His advocacy increasingly centered on Black nationalism, eventually leading him to support the migration of Black Americans to Africa to secure autonomy.
Military Service and Post-War Politics
During the American Civil War, Delany shifted his focus to military recruitment for the United States Colored Troops. After his 1865 commission, he moved to South Carolina to work with the Freedmen's Bureau. His post-war political career included an unsuccessful campaign for Lieutenant Governor as an Independent Republican and an appointment as a trial judge. He later aligned with Democrat Wade Hampton III during the controversial 1876 gubernatorial election.
Fast facts
- Born: 1812, Charles Town
- Died: 1885, Wilberforce
- Military Rank: Major
- Education: Washington & Jefferson College, Harvard Medical School
- Occupation: Physician, journalist, writer, abolitionist
- Burial Site: Massies Creek Cemetery
Questions readers ask
Was Martin R. Delany a licensed physician?
He trained as a physician's assistant and practiced medicine, notably during the cholera epidemics of 1833 and 1854, but his formal enrollment at Harvard Medical School was cut short by student protests.
What was his role in the American Civil War?
He focused on recruiting for the United States Colored Troops and served as a major, becoming the first African American field grade officer in the United States Army.
