Oliver Law: Difference between revisions

Oliver Law
Oliver Law
Born	23 October 1900; Texas, United States of America
Died	9 July 1937 (aged 36); Mosquito Crest (Mosquito Hill), Spain
Allegiance	United States of America.; Communist Party USA; Second Spanish Republic.
Service / branch	United States Army.; International Brigade.
Rank	Commander
Commands	Commander of the Lincoln Battalion
Spouse(s)	Corrine Booker Light-foot

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 19:12, 13 March 2024

Oliver Law (October 23, 1900 – July 9, 1937) 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 Battalion for several days and commander of its Machine Gun Company for much longer.^[1]^[2]

Background

Born in west Texas, Law joined the US Army in 1919. He stayed on until 1925. He served as a private in the 24th Infantry Regiment, 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 Longshoremen'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 (CP) 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 Booker Light-foot, mother of the regional Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) leader Claude Light-foot.

Spanish Civil War

In 1936 Law joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. 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 leader 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 advanced fast in rank, even though there was some criticism of his performance at the attack on Villanueva de la Cañada.

The experienced battalion commander Martin Hourihan recognized Law's abilities and wanted to send him to officer's training school. 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 9, leading his men in an attack on Mosquito Crest (Mosquito Hill).^[3]

References

^ "Volunteers". Oliver Law. 10 December 2019.
^ Graham, Helen. (2005). The Spanish Civil War. A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. Oxford. p. 45
^ Beevor, Antony. (2006). The battle for Spain. The spanish civil war, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.280

External links

[Abraham_Lincoln_Brigade_Archives-1] "Volunteers". Oliver Law. 10 December 2019.

[2] Graham, Helen. (2005). The Spanish Civil War. A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. Oxford. p. 45

[3] Beevor, Antony. (2006). The battle for Spain. The spanish civil war, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.280

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 ==Background==
+Born in west [[Texas]], Law joined the [[US Army]] in 1919. He stayed on until 1925. He served as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in the [[24th Infantry Regiment (United States)|24th Infantry Regiment]], 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, Illinois|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 Longshoremen'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 USA|Communist Party]] (CP) in 1932. In 1930 he was very active in the unemployment movement.
-Born in west [[Texas]], Law jo
-[[File:Jnn|thumb]]
-ined the [[US Army]] in 1919. He stayed on until 1925. He served as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in the [[24th Infantry Regiment (United States)|24th Infantry Regiment]], 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, Illinois|Chicago]], where he drove a taxi with the [[Yellow Cab Company]]. In the [[Great Depression]] he found work as y]]'s occupation of [[Ethiopia]] at the [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War]]. He was arrested speaking at a demonstration in Chicago on August 31, 1935.
+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 Booker Light-foot, mother of the regional [[Communist Party of the USA]] (CPUSA) leader [[Claude Lightfoot|Claude Light-foot]].
-jjkn jhih hh oii
 ==Spanish Civil War==

v t e XV International Brigade – Abraham Lincoln
Commanders	János Gálicz (Jan–Feb 1937) Vladimir Ćopić (Feb–Jul 1937) Klaus Becker (Jul–Aug 1937) Vladimir Ćopić (Aug 1937–Mar 1938) Robert Hale Merriman (Mar–Apr 1938) Vladimir Ćopić (Apr–May 1938) José Antonio Valledor Álvarez (May–Sep 1938)
Battalions	British Battalion Lincoln Battalion (incl. American Medical Bureau & Connolly Column) Dimitrov Battalion Sixth of February Battalion 24 Battalion Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion Washington Battalion
People	William Aalto Bernard Ades Bill Alexander Edward K. Barsky James Walker Benét Alvah Bessie Delmer Berg Herman Bottcher Edward A. Carter Jr. Christopher Caudwell Lewis Clive Morris Cohen Fred Copeman John Cornford Jock Cunningham Peter Daly Peko Dapčević Carmelo Delgado Delgado Charles Donnelly Bob Doyle Petar Drapšin Frank Edwards Leo Eloesser Moe Fishman Hugh Garner John Gates David Guest Jason Gurney William Herrick Robert Hilliard Jack Jones Salaria Kea Robert Klonsky Oliver Law Laurie Lee Maurice Levitas Yank Levy Matti Mattson Alex McDade Paddy Roe McLaughlin Kosta Nađ Conlon Nancarrow George Nathan Steve Nelson Paddy O'Daire John O'Reilly Michael O'Riordan Thomas Patten Will Paynter Koča Popović Harry Wayland Randall Patrick Read Esmond Romilly Frank Ryan Alfred Sherman George Sossenko Stephen Spender Wally Tapsell Robert G. Thompson Tom Wintringham Milton Wolff
Political parties	Communist Party USA Communist Party of Great Britain Communist Party of Canada Communist Party of Ireland Republican Congress Communist Party of Yugoslavia Communist Party of Cuba
Related	International Brigades Communist International Yankee Squadron International Brigade Memorial Trust Jarama Valley Songs of the Lincoln Battalion Viva la Quinta Brigada Jewish volunteers Yugoslav volunteers Irish volunteers Yugoslav Partisans Atomic spies Smith Act