Samuel Chapman Armstrong

Samuel Chapman Armstrong (born Jan. 30, 1839, Maui, Hawaii—died May 11, 1893, Hampton, Va., U.S.) was a Union military commander of black troops during the American Civil War and founder of Hampton Institute, a vocational educational school for blacks.

The son of American missionaries to Hawaii, Armstrong attended Oahu College for two years before going to the United States in 1860. He enrolled at Williams College; but, on the outbreak of the Civil War, he left school to accept a commission as captain in the 125th New York Regiment. He recruited and trained his own troops and led them in several battles, including Gettysburg.

First promoted to major and then to colonel, Armstrong was put in command of the 9th Regiment, a corps consisting entirely of black troops. Determined to show the full capabilities of black soldiers, he trained his men rigorously. By the end of the war, he held the rank of brigadier general, and the troops under his command had distinguished themselves on many occasions.

After the war, Armstrong became an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau and, in 1866, took charge of a huge camp of former slaves in Hampton, Va. Recognizing the need for those blacks to receive an education, Armstrong in 1867 convinced the American Missionary Association and a private benefactor to purchase land in Hampton and establish a vocational training institution there. Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute opened in 1868. For the next 25 years, Armstrong laboured to sustain and administer the school, which became a leading centre for both vocational training and academic education for Southern blacks.