NAVY’S  FIRST  AFRICAN-AMERICAN  CORPSMAN

A typical medical section aboard a U.S. Navy ship during the 1700’s was usually limited to two, perhaps three men, a physician who was called Surgeon and his assistant called Surgeon’s Mate who was usually also a trained physician.  Few things changed in medical techniques and organization between 1775 and 1814, the period covering America’s first naval wars.  Among the less dramatic change was the significant addition of an enlisted man to assist by undertaking any medical tasks that the Surgeon was too busy to perform, and more importantly in the care and feeding of injured sick crewmembers who were typically fed a simple daily ration of thick porridge or “loblolly” to hasten their recovery.  His typical duties included restraining patients during surgery, obtaining and cleaning surgical instruments, disposing of amputated limbs, and emptying and cleaning toilet utensils.  By the late 1790’s the enlisted man performing these duties still had no title or job description but because of his work he had typically earned the nickname “Loblolly Boy.”  The nickname was in such common use for so many years that it became the official title in Navy Regulations of 1814 and was described in the regulations of 1818 as: “The Surgeon shall be allowed a faithful attendant to issue, under his direction, all supplies and provisions and hospital stores, and to attend the preparation of nourishment for the sick.”

Historical records reflect that the Navy’s first known African-American Loblolly Boy of record was Joseph Anderson a 16-year old boy who joined the 14-gun schooner EAGLE about 1800.  Although Anderson is named in numerous records as the first African-American Loblolly Boy, nothing concerning him other than his name and duty assignment has survived.  If Anderson remained aboard EAGLE until the ship was sold in 1801 he participated in her voyages in the Caribbean during the Quasi War with France and her capture of 22 French vessels which had been preying on American ocean commerce.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)