446
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(MILITARY.) 1916 PUNITIVE EXPEDITION MEXICO.
Soldados del 10
Regimento de . . . (“Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry . . . battle of Carrizal, 2 June,
1916.”)
Real Photo Post Card of 11 African American prisoners taken during the 1916
Punitive Expedition led by General Pershing; sepia toned, the reverse blank. (WGC)
El Paso, 1916
[500/750]
An exceedingly scarce photographic postcard of a group of eleven African American troopers
from the 10th Cavalry, taken prisoner during the 1916 Punitive Expedition to capture Pancho
Villa.
THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO DIE IN WWI
447
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(MILITARY—WORLD WAR I.) CLIPPER, JESSE.
Inscribed and signed
portrait photograph of Jesse Clipper, the first African American to die in World
War One * [together with] a portrait photograph of his sister, Della, similarly
inscribed.
Two 9 x 7 sepia prints, inscribed, signed and dated; slight wrinkle to the top of
the portrait of Della.
Boston, February 2, 1913
[1,000/1,500]
Not much is known about the background of this World War I hero. Jesse Clipper (ca 1897-
1919) of Buffalo, New York, was president of the local musicians’ union and apparently
worked the early 20th century vaudeville circuit together with his sister Della, who is pictured
here with what looks like an enormous “Afro.” He was attached to the 317th Engineers when
he was reported wounded at the front in France soon after. Hospitalized for several weeks, he
then rejoined his company, but was almost immediately gassed, and returned to hospital. This
time he was ordered home, but before he could embark, was returned to hospital where he
passed in 1919. He is buried in Oise-Aisne.
446
