Oliver Law
Encyclopedia
Oliver Law was an African American
communist
and labor organizer, who fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War
. He was the commander
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
for four days.
, Law joined the US Army in 1919. He served in World War I
and stayed on until 1925. He served as a private
in the 24th infantry, an Afro-American outfit on the Mexican border. After leaving the army, he went to Bluffton, Indiana
, where he worked in a cement plant. He moved on to Chicago, where he drove a taxi with the Yellow Cab Company. In the Great Depression
he found work as a stevedore
and joined the International Longshoreman's Association. He then tried his luck with a small restaurant, but failed and got a job with the Works Project Administration. Law was a member of the International Labor Defense
and joined the Communist Party
in 1932. In 1930 he was very active in the unemployment movement.
Law worked with Harry Haywood
to organize mass protests against Italy
's occupation of Ethiopia
at the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
. He was arrested speaking at a demonstration in Chicago on August 31, 1935.
Law was married to Corrine Lightfoot, sister of regional CP leader Claude Lightfoot
.
. He arrived in Spain
on January 16, 1937 to fight for the Popular Front
against Francisco Franco
and the Nationalists
. Having met the International Brigades
at Albacete
. Law first served as a group leaders of a machine-gun company engaged on the Jarama
front. There were three group leaders, under the two section leaders and the company officers.
After failing to take Madrid
by frontal assault, General Francisco Franco gave orders for the road that linked the city to the rest of Republican Spain to be cut. A Nationalist force of 40,000 men, including men from the Army of Africa
, crossed the Jarama
River on February 11, 1937. General José Miaja
sent three International Brigades to the Jarama Valley to block the advance. Law first saw action on February 17. After disastrous setbacks on February 27, Law had performed well on the day and was soon promoted to section leader. Two weeks later he was made commander of the machine-gun company, when his superior officer was killed. The battalion leadership was annihilated at Jarama and Law advance fast in rank, even though there was some criticism of his performance at the attack on Villanueva da la Canada.
The experienced battalion commander Martin Hourihan recognized Law's abilities and wanted to send him to officer's training school. And when Hourihan, became ill, Law was chosen to replace him temporarily. After Houridan transferred permanently to the regimental staff, the choice of battalion commander was between Law and Walter Garland, who was still recovering from wounds, and Law was chosen and led the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the first days of the Battle of Brunete
. At the beginning of July the Popular Front government launched a major attack to relieve the threat to Madrid. General Vicente Rojo Lluch
sent the Republican Army to Brunete
, challenging Nationalist control of the western approaches to the capital. The 80,000 Republican soldiers made good early progress but they were brought to a halt when General Francisco Franco brought up his reserves.
The Internationals also suffered heavy losses. Oliver Law was killed on July 10 leading his men in an attack on Mosquito Crest (Mosquito Hill).
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and labor organizer, who fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. He was the commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....
for four days.
Background
Born in west TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Law joined the US Army in 1919. He served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and stayed on until 1925. He served as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in the 24th infantry, an Afro-American outfit on the Mexican border. After leaving the army, he went to Bluffton, Indiana
Bluffton, Indiana
Bluffton is a city in Harrison and Lancaster Townships, Wells County, Indiana, United States. The population was 9,897 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Wells County.-Geography:Bluffton is located at ....
, where he worked in a cement plant. He moved on to Chicago, where he drove a taxi with the Yellow Cab Company. In the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
he found work as a stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
and joined the International Longshoreman's Association. He then tried his luck with a small restaurant, but failed and got a job with the Works Project Administration. Law was a member of the International Labor Defense
International Labor Defense
The International Labor Defense was a legal defense organization in the United States, headed by William L. Patterson. It was a US section of International Red Aid organisation, and associated with the Communist Party USA. It defended Sacco and Vanzetti, was active in the civil rights and...
and joined the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in 1932. In 1930 he was very active in the unemployment movement.
Law worked with Harry Haywood
Harry Haywood
Harry Haywood was a leading figure in both the Communist Party of the United States and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . He contributed major theory to Marxist thinking on the national question of African Americans in the United States...
to organize mass protests against Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's occupation of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
at the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
. He was arrested speaking at a demonstration in Chicago on August 31, 1935.
Law was married to Corrine Lightfoot, sister of regional CP leader Claude Lightfoot
Claude Lightfoot
Claude M. Lightfoot was an African-American activist, politician, and author. In 1955, during the McCarthy era, he was indicted based on the Smith Act and put on trial...
.
Spanish Civil War
In 1936 Law joined the Abraham Lincoln BrigadeAbraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....
. He arrived in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on January 16, 1937 to fight for the Popular Front
Popular Front (Spain)
The Popular Front in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's election....
against Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
and the Nationalists
Spanish State
Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
. Having met the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
at Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....
. Law first served as a group leaders of a machine-gun company engaged on the Jarama
Jarama
Jarama is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid when El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez...
front. There were three group leaders, under the two section leaders and the company officers.
After failing to take Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
by frontal assault, General Francisco Franco gave orders for the road that linked the city to the rest of Republican Spain to be cut. A Nationalist force of 40,000 men, including men from the Army of Africa
Spanish Army of Africa
The Army of Africa was a Spanish field army that garrisoned Spanish Morocco from the early 20th century until Morocco's independence in 1956....
, crossed the Jarama
Battle of Jarama
The Battle of Jarama was an attempt by General Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War...
River on February 11, 1937. General José Miaja
José Miaja
José Miaja Menant was a Spanish Army Officer in the Second Spanish Republic.-Early life:He entered the Infantry Academy at Toledo in 1896. His first post was in Asturias...
sent three International Brigades to the Jarama Valley to block the advance. Law first saw action on February 17. After disastrous setbacks on February 27, Law had performed well on the day and was soon promoted to section leader. Two weeks later he was made commander of the machine-gun company, when his superior officer was killed. The battalion leadership was annihilated at Jarama and Law advance fast in rank, even though there was some criticism of his performance at the attack on Villanueva da la Canada.
The experienced battalion commander Martin Hourihan recognized Law's abilities and wanted to send him to officer's training school. And when Hourihan, became ill, Law was chosen to replace him temporarily. After Houridan transferred permanently to the regimental staff, the choice of battalion commander was between Law and Walter Garland, who was still recovering from wounds, and Law was chosen and led the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the first days of the Battle of Brunete
Battle of Brunete
The Battle of Brunete , fought 15 miles west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War...
. At the beginning of July the Popular Front government launched a major attack to relieve the threat to Madrid. General Vicente Rojo Lluch
Vicente Rojo Lluch
Vicente Rojo Lluch was Chief of the General Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces during the Spanish Civil War.-Early life:...
sent the Republican Army to Brunete
Brunete
Brunete is a town outside Madrid, Spain. There was a major battle fought there during the Spanish Civil War. The battle, while a stalemate, was seen as a tactical victory for the Spanish Nationalist Forces. Francisco Franco is known to have gone hunting there during his rule.It is located...
, challenging Nationalist control of the western approaches to the capital. The 80,000 Republican soldiers made good early progress but they were brought to a halt when General Francisco Franco brought up his reserves.
The Internationals also suffered heavy losses. Oliver Law was killed on July 10 leading his men in an attack on Mosquito Crest (Mosquito Hill).