PHILADELPHIA –
During the Civil War, Philadelphia served as the recruiting hub for the United States Colored Troops, or USCT, offering Pennsylvania’s African American community a way to actively fight for their freedom on southern battlefields, earning honor and distinction.
Over 8,600 African Americans from Pennsylvania volunteered and served during the Civil War, but that martial spirit did not end there.
For nearly 30 years after the Civil War, the Pennsylvania National Guard recruited and maintained an African American infantry company in Philadelphia.
After the Civil War, Pennsylvania saw multiple African American militias form, then referred to as "colored" companies or detachments. In 1871, Philadelphia alone boasted three regiments. Major Octavius Catto, a well-known civil rights advocate and community reformer, served as the inspector general of one of these regiments when he was famously murdered during the 1871 election riots in Philadelphia.
In 1877, a unit appeared for the first time in the Adjutant General Reports known as "The Gray Invincibles." Descended from the previous Philadelphia units, it was officered by Capt. A. Oscar Jones, a USCT veteran of the Civil War. The unit boasted 83 members at initial muster, including Jones and two other African American officers.
As other African American formations ebbed and flowed through the late 1800s, the Gray Invincibles would become a constant in Philadelphia, earning media attention. The company turned out for summer encampments, riot duty and mobilizations throughout their service.
In 1877 they were called up with other National Guard of Pennsylvania, or NGP, units in the state to help quell labor riots in Luzerne County.
The company received ratings that topped their white compatriots in nearly every inspection. In July 1884, Col. H.M. Black, an active duty officer with the 23rd U.S. Infantry, inspected the National Guard of Pennsylvania at Camp Gettysburg. He rated the Gray Invincibles as "superior" in nearly every category.
Black closed his overall report stating, "I should not omit the mention of an independent company of colored troops, who vied with their white brethren in learning the important duties of citizen soldiery.”
The Grays also formed a bond with other African American units, hosting Boston’s “Shaw Guards” for a drill competition and Washington, D.C.’s “Washington Cadet Corps” during the Constitution centennial celebrations.
In 1898, with the call up of the NGP for service in the Spanish-American War, the Gray Invincibles followed the rest of their comrades to Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, to volunteer for service. The federal government rejected the Gray Invincibles for entry as a “U.S. volunteer” unit due to their size, as no independent companies were accepted.
Upon return to Philadelphia, however, the unit was authorized to recruit to battalion strength and Capt. Andrew Stevens Jr. was promoted to major to head this organization.
The Gray Invincible Battalion served as part of the “Provisional Guard" of Pennsylvania, which conducted the duties of the NGP while it was away on federal service. Though many in the Gray Invincibles were disappointed they could not serve in Cuba or the Philippines, it was a small consolation that they were able to swell their numbers.
Despite this distinguished war service, the unit was again reduced to a company sized formation in 1899.
In 1900, with almost no warning, the Gray Invincibles were disbanded. The state adjutant general records report they failed their yearly inspection, so they were disbanded along with several other companies across the state. With the flick of a pen, a unit that had served honorably for over 20 years ceased to exist.
With the lineage of the Gray Invincibles long ended in the Pennsylvania National Guard, only the monument placed by its last captain remains as a reminder of their service. In 1934, Capt. Samuel Beecher Hart, a Pennsylvania legislator and final company commander of the Gray Invincibles, oversaw the installation of the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors as a reminder of the military service of Philadelphia's African American Community.
Initially installed in West Fairmount Park, the monument was moved in 1994 to its more prominent current location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway across from the Franklin Institute.
(Editor’s note: Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Heft is a former platoon sergeant with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Philadelphia. He is currently the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Army National Guard Leader Development Program in Arlington, Va.)