Joel Buchanan Archive of African American History: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfb
Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Program Director: Dr. Paul Ortiz 241 Pugh Hall PO Box 115215 Gainesville, FL 32611 (352) 392-7168 https://oral.history.ufl.edu
URR 020 Jarvis Rosier Underground Railroad Collection (URR) Interviewed by Marna Weston on June 22, 2012 14 minutes | 10 pages
For information on terms of use of this interview, please see the SPOHP Creative Commons license at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AfricanAmericanOralHistory.
URR 020 Interviewee: Jarvis Rosier Interviewer: Marna Weston Date: June 22, 2012
W: This is Marna Weston at the Underground Railroad Conference speaking to
Sergeant Major Jarvis Rosier, United States Army retired who is a reenactor and
we’re going to talk to him about what he does. Thank you for allowing this brief
interview.
R: Thank you.
W: Could you please state and spell your full name?
R: Jarvis Rosier, Sergeant Major Retired United States Army. That’s J-A-R-V-I-S R-
O-S-I-E-R.
W: And, what are you doing here?
R: Well, we’re here trying to get the story told about the United States Colored
Troops. A lot of people are not aware that African Americans fought during the
Civil War and had a great impact on the Civil War and the Union victory. What’s
going on right here this weekend at the Underground Railroad and there talking
somewhat about pre-Civil War with the Seminole Indians and things of that
nature there so we’re pretty much after that which came about when a lot of
people are just unaware so we are endeavoring to get the story told about the
United States Colored Troops. A lot of people are familiar with the Buffalo
Soldiers, but they don’t know that the United States colored troops were the
forerunners of the Buffalo Soldiers during the Civil War and the Buffalo Soldiers
came about in 1866 after the Civil War. So, my main goal down here is to
introduce to a lot of people, some are aware, so mostly historians are aware that
during the Civil War that African Americans fought and some of them are even URR 020; Rosier; Page 2
aware of the extent that their fight, over two hundred thousand fought during the
Civil War, sixty-eight thousand lost their lives from battle field and disease. The
victory couldn’t have been won by the Union without the African Americans, Over
one-tenth of the Union force was made up of African Americans, freeman and
black freed slaves. So it is really important to get that story out and we’re
endeavoring to get it done and introduce it and get it in the minds and hearts of
historians like those that are here now and those that are unaware of it so that
they can take it back and get the story told.
W: What is Florida’s role in this story?
R: Florida is kind of like the forgotten state of the Confederacy even though it was
the third state to secede from the Union. It wasn’t that important because of its
industrial supplies and surpluses, things that are made there. But later on in war,
they became important because of salt. Salt was a great product of Florida.
Florida had over thirteen thousand miles of coastline where they produce salt
and salt was a preservative of rations in the field for the soldiers, you know the
pork and the beef and things of that nature. Speaking to the pork and beef,
Florida’s cattle area was a big supplier of beef and pork to these southern forces
also so they were very important in a lot of ways as the Civil War went on. Their
contribution as far as numbers weren’t as great as other states, like Kentucky
had over twenty-four thousand, Tennessee had over twenty thousand and
Florida supplied about fifteen thousand to the Confederacy and about thirteen
hundred to the Union made up of two regiments that were here. But Florida
significant in the Civil War near the end. The battle of Natural Bridge is which one URR 020; Rosier; Page 3
of the battles took place in which we kind of got our conception cause we’re from
Tallahassee where that battle was fought, was a Confederate victory and
basically put Tallahassee in the motor to be the only city east of the Mississippi
that wasn’t captured by the Union. This is about two weeks before the end of the
Civil War. But ultimately, the African Americans’ fight, the African American
involvement with the battle, which had more to fight for than anyone. Not only
were we fighting for the Union, but we were fighting for the end of tyranny and
slavery of our people. So, Florida was very important not many in numbers but in
significance in geographic and supplies of that nature.
W: Why is reenactment as dressing as you are important to preserving and telling
the story?
R: It’s very important. We are the Reliving History Association. We say that because
our motto is to do out history is to believe it but to see and live in history form, as
we are wearing uniform and ladies wear their antebellum dresses and the kids
will be wearing their uniforms, lets people know that they can see the history and
live it for them and that way they get a more, not only In their minds but in their
hearts, and they can actually see, oh we looked like that back then, oh we were
dressed like that back then, we were in the fight back then. Not only the
Emancipation Proclamation, we drove that to happen, we were part of it
happening also.
W: Can you describe what you are wearing, the details of your formal dress?
R: Okay, I am wearing, this is what you call a flap coat and it can be somewhat like
a dress green, a dress blue now a days, you know these are Sergeant Major URR 020; Rosier; Page 4
stripes back in the day. These are Sergeant Major stripes that I would probably
wear. Some of the Sergeant majors that were back then wore wool, one hundred
percent wool, those brothers were sweating out there in the battle field. I don’t
know how they did it, but the pants were one hundred percent wool also. This is
a Senior NCO ribbon badge, and Senior NCO uniform belt and buckle. But this is
the actual uniform that the soldiers wore. This is the Union buckle that they wore
right here with the eagle on it. So the actual uniform that they wore back then so
we give an authentic presentation of what it was actually like back then.
W: What is the significance of the rank of NCO or Non Commission Officer with
respect to black troops in the United States Army?
R: Back then, the significance were the United State Colored troops were
commanded by white officers. Near the end, there were few that were
commissioned but back then they were commanded by white officers. The
significance of the NCO, Senior NCO is a lot more of a non commissioned officer
can be commissioned on the battle field. When they show their leadership, when
they show their battle platoon, they show more leadership qualities than
anything, they can be commissioned on the battle field. They don’t have to go
through a whole lot to be their hand made, you know, particularly in the fight. You
know, being a non commission officer all myself, I retired thirty-four years as a
sergeant major, we like to say we are the workings soldiers of the army and the
officers follow us, but in the NCO it follows a little differently. It’s very significant
because leadership, when people see those stripes and you wear them
honorably, they respect them honorably also. URR 020; Rosier; Page 5
W; Would it be true to say also that that was the highest rank that the African
American was allowed to achieve under certain circumstances?
R: Well sergeant major is the highest rank you can receive in the military for a non
commission officer in the enlisted ranks. As far as of course officers go that’s the
generals. But non commission officers is sergeant major grant, sergeant major.
But this is a feat, a rank, that is the highest you can go so it’s a feat that if you
reached it, it really means something, you had something to say about what you
have done, not only for yourself but for people that you’ve helped because once
you reach this area here as sergeant major, there is no higher rank. I look at it
like that. So now on, once you reach that rank, you are basically working for your
men, your soldiers. You’re doing all that you can for them because you can’t do it
anymore for yourself.
W: You are obviously extremely committed to be here on a weekend over the course
of several days and during the week to cover a national conference like this to
share this legacy and share this history. What are your hopes in terms of how
other people will receive it that justifies this incredible investment of time that you
have taken?
R: Well I’m hoping that they see it like I saw it. I’ve always had a zeal for history,
military history, but as when I retired and when I got involved with this, the John
G. Riley House Museum in Tallahassee, I did not know a lot of what I know now.
But every time, when I turn over a rock, I see ten different pebbles that says
different things about what is going on. And when we are reading our history
books about different Civil War battles, if there was an African American regiment URR 020; Rosier; Page 6
there, you may see colored troops from this and that, that is one sentence. But
there is a book about that story. So, if our history books now have anything about
them, there are very small captions and they are in the back of the book and by
time you get tired of reading, you don’t get to see the whole story. So we
endeavor to tell the story. I see the jaw dropping experience when I talk to people
about the history of the United States Colored Troops. The involvement that we
had, all the sacrifice. You know, my motto also is, we cannot, we shall not, we
will not forget these battles because that was saturated with blood of African
American men who sacrificed in defense of this nation and driving this nation to
live up to the true meaning of “home of the brave, land of the free.” So, when I
see that and I notice that people that weren’t aware like I was get that jaw
dropping experience say, wow, I want to hear more. That makes me feel good
and that makes me want to say, hey, tell that to someone else so that they can
feel and they can see it also and we can all know that we were all in this as much
as they were. Our freedom, we had a lot to do with our freedom as much as they
do with theirs.
W: How many reenactments have participated at?
R: We participated in about seven reenactments now. We tried to do the
reenactments with the second infantry regiment, the United States Colored
Troops; they’re the actual unit that fought in the Battle of Natural Bridge where
we got our start. They were initiated in Arlington, Virginia, but then they came
down to join the gulf and they stationed their base in Key West at Fort Taylor so
they fought many significant battles and we do reenactments. We did several in URR 020; Rosier; Page 7
Florida, one in Georgia, but reenactments where the African Americans were involved and we found that when we do those reenactments, a lot of them have never seen USCT soldiers before because you don’t see this side as prevalent in the south as it is in the north like Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Raleigh. You know you have a lot more reenactments portraying United States Colored Troops. But in the south, where it was dominated by the Confederacy, you don’t see that. So when we go, we try to get the word out that we are coming so that we can get more diverse crowds and usually when we go, people say, well why haven’t I seen this many blacks in Florida. Probably because they haven’t had a reason to be there because there usually is a Confederate battle, a lot battles down here in the south were Confederate victories but, that doesn’t mean that you don’t go there to commemorate that sacrifice that those African Americans fought for. You know that blood that they shed. So, we got about seven reenactments and the ones that we do, one in particular, the Battle of Marianna, after that battle, over six hundred thousand slaves were free. It was a Union victory. A lot of the Union battles in the south were to emancipate slaves which they call contraband need, and they have them join the forces. So that was a Union victory in Marianna. We did Marianna, the Battle of Brookfield, the Battle of Olustee, the Battle of Natural
Bridge, and San Andrews Bay. So we are endeavoring and our plate is getting full. So we are working to get the word out there and those are the significant battles that we have tried to have tried to involve ourselves with the African
American that were there, and let the community know that we came through URR 020; Rosier; Page 8
here, we are a part and we are a lot of the reason why you enjoy the freedoms
that you enjoy.
W: What do you think has been the significance of actors like Morgan Freeman and
Denzel Washington and movies like “Glory” in telling the story and how does
what you do relate to that?
R: Well actors have their part. I mean that’s what they do. They make movies and
they act and they are reenacting also in front of the camera. We are reenacting in
front of the people. So the movie “Glory,” I call that the glory years. That was the
years when a lot people who never knew anything about African Americans in
the fight during the civil War, found out that blacks actually fought in the Civil
War. Blacks actually carried guns back then. There was a struggle, but that
opened the eyes and I’m thankful that that movie came out and movies like those
that you may see that show a strong depiction of what the soldiers went through,
what they did and the sacrifices that they made. So they have their part and they
have their place to get it started. When the movie “Glory” came out, I called that
the “Glory Years.” That’s when everybody was “oh wow,” and reenactments
started coming around, but then that faded. So we got to pick that up and not let
that fade. So that’s where we are now, we got to try to pick it back up again, get
back in those “Glory Years” and when we go do reenactments in communities.
We let people know, hey you have a glory movie right here. Come out and see
about it. Come out and learn about the sacrifices that African Americans made
here. Not just on the movie screen in the 54th in the valley where they’re charging
for something out in the wilderness, but right here in your own home town, right URR 020; Rosier; Page 9
here in your own state. There were glory movies that were made and we are
here to let you know that we’re here.
W: Well thank you very much sir. Hopefully we will get the chance to do a more
extensive, a longer interview later but on behalf of the Samuel Proctor Oral
History Program, I’d like to thank you for taking this time to speak with me about
your contribution to the Underground Railroad Conference featuring the Gullah-
Geechee nation and the Seminoles and I would like to give you the final privilege
of whatever comments you would like to have at the conclusion of this interview
and when you finish, that will be the end of our little talk here.
R: If I could get it out to anyone and everyone that’s listening, when you hear about
these reenactments, don’t feel that they are just a good ole’ boy reenactment and
they will be if we are not there. Because when we are not there, that’s what it is,
but when we are there, we are involving ourselves and letting everyone know
that, hey I knew that they came through here at this time; I knew that we were a
part of this battle. So we are here, and henceforth and forever more, we gonna
let everyone know that we are here and we know that our struggles were strong,
we know that our struggles were hard fought, and we know that we had a
contribution to the ending of the tyranny of slavery in the Union victory so we are
gonna try to get the word out. So when you hear about reenactments coming out,
go out and see what is going on, be involved, take the kids out, take the young
ones out because our history starts with the young ones.
[End of Interview]
URR 020; Rosier; Page 10
Transcribed by: Jordan Vaal, February 11, 2013
Audit-edited by: Sarah Blanc, March 26, 2013
Final edit by: Ryan Morini, March 3, 2019