Henry Ossian Flipper
Henry Ossian Flipper was an American soldier, former slave, and the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877, earning a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the US Army.
Flipper was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, the eldest of five brothers. His mother, Isabelle Flipper, and his father, Festus Flipper, a shoemaker and carriagetrimmer, were owned by Ephraim G. Ponder, a wealthy slave dealer.
Source: Wikipedia