* * * * *
JACOB A. RIIS in _The Outlook_ gives the following interesting reading concerning the colored troopers in an article entitled "Roosevelt and His Men":[Il ustration: GENERAL NELSON A. MILES.]
"It was one of the unexpected things in this campaign that seems destined to set so many things right that out of it should come the appreciation of the colored soldier as man and brother by those even who so lately fought to keep him a chattel. It fell to the lot of General 'Joe' Wheeler, the old Confederate warrior, to command the two regiments of colored troops, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, and no one wil bear readier testimony than he to the splendid record they made.
Of their patience under the manifold hardships of roughing it in the tropics, their helpfulness in the camp and their prowess in battle, their uncomplaining suffering when lying wounded and helpless. Stories enough are told to win for them fairly the real brotherhood with their white-skinned fellows which they crave. The most touching of the many I heard was that of a Negro trooper, who, struck by a bullet that cut an artery in his neck, was lying helpless, in danger of bleeding to death, when a Rough Rider came to his assistance. There was only one thing to be done--to stop the bleeding til a surgeon came. A tourniquet could not be applied where the wound was. The Rough Rider put his thumb on the artery and held it there while he waited. The fighting drifted away over the hil . He followed his comrades with longing eyes til the last was lost to sight. His place was there, but if he abandoned the wounded cavalryman it was to let him die.
He dropped his gun and stayed. Not until the battle was won did the surgeon come that way, but the trooper's life was saved. He told of it in the hospital with tears in his voice: 'He done that to me, he did; stayed by me an hour and a half, and me only a nigger.'"
* * * * *
GENERAL NELSON A. MILES PAYS A TRIBUTE TO THE NEGRO SOLDIERS.Major-General Nelson A. Miles, Commander-in-Chief of the army of the United States spoke at the Peace Jubilee at Chicago, October 11th, and said:
"While the chivalry of the South and the yeomanry of the North vied with their devotion to the cause of their country and in their pride in its flag which floated over all, it's a glorious fact that patriotism was not confined to any one section or race for the sacrifice, bravery and fortitude. The white race was accompanied by the gallantry of the black as they swept over entrenched lines and later volunteered to succor the sick, nurse the dying and bury the dead in the hospitals and the Cuban camps."
"This was grandly spoken, and we feel gratified at this recognition of the valor of one of the best races of people the world has ever seen."
"We are coming, boys; it's a little slow and tiresome, but we are coming."--_Colored American._
At a social reunion of the Medal of Honor Legion held a few evenings since to welcome home two of their members, General Nelson A. Miles, commanding the army of the United States, and Colonel M. Emmett Urell, of the First District Columbia Volunteers, in the course of his remarks, General Miles paid the finest possible tribute to the splendid heroism and soldierly qualities evidenced by the men of the 9th and 10th Cavalry, and 24th and 25th United States Infantry in the late Santiago campaign, which he epitomized as "without a parallel in the history of the world."
At the close of his remarks, Major C.A. Fleetwood, the only representative of the race present, in behalf of the race extended their heartfelt and warmest thanks for such a magnificent tribute from such a magnificent soldier and man.--_Colored American_.
* * * * *
CLEVELAND MOFFITT, IN LESLIE'S WEEKLY, DESCRIBES THE HEROISM OF A"BLACK COLOR BEARER."
"Having praised our war leaders sufficiently, in some cases more than sufficiently (witness Hobson), let us give honor to some of the humbler ones, who fought obscurely, but did fine things nevertheless."
[Il ustration: SERGEANT BERRY, The first soldier who reached the Block House on San Juan Hil and hoisted the American flag in a hail of Spanish bullets.]
"There was Sergeant Berry, for instance, of the Tenth Cavalry, who might have boasted his meed of kisses, too, had he been a white man.
At any rate, he rescued the colors of a white regiment from unseemly trampling and bore them safely through the bullets to the top of San Juan hil . Now, every one knows that the standard of a troop is guarded like a man's own soul, or should be, and how it came that this Third Cavalry banner was lying on the ground that day is something that may never be rightly known. Some white man had left it there, many white men had let it stay there, but Berry, a black man, saw it fluttering in shame and paused in his running long enough to catch it up and lift it high overhead beside his own banner--for he was a color-bearer of the Tenth."
"Then, with two flags flying above him, and two heavy staves to bear, this powerful negro (he is literally a giant in strength and stature) charged the heights, while white men and black men cheered him as they pressed behind. Who shall say what temporary demoralization there may have been in this troop of the Third at that critical moment, or what fresh courage may have been fired in them by that black man's act!
They say Berry yelled like a demon as he rushed against the Spaniards, and I, for one, am wil ing to believe that his battle-cry brought fighting energy to his own side as well as terror to the enemy."
"After the fight one of the officers of the Third Cavalry sought Berry out and asked him to give back the trophy fairly won by him, and his to keep, according to the usages of war. And the big Negro handed back the banner with a smile and light word. He had saved the colors and rallied the troop, but it didn't matter much. They could have the flag if they wanted it."
"There are some hundreds of little things like this that we might as well bear in mind, we white men, the next time we start out to decry the Negro!"
* * * * *
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY RECOGNIZES THE WORTH OF NEGRO SOLDIERS BYPROMOTION.
PROMOTIONS FOR COLORED SOLDIERS.
Washington, July 30.--Six colored non-commissioned officers who rendered particularly gallant service in the actions around Santiago on July 1st and 2d have been appointed second lieutenants in the two colored immune regiments recently organized under special act of Congress. These men are Sergeants Wil iam Washington, Troop F, and John C. Proctor, Troop I, of the 9th Cavalry, and Sergeants Wil iam McBryar, Company H; Wyatt Hoffman, Company G; Macon Russell, Company H, and Andrew J. Smith, Company B, of the 25th Infantry, commanded by Colonel Daggett. Jacob C. Smith, Sergeant Pendergrass, Lieutenant Ray, Sergeant Horace W. Bivins, Lieutenant E.L. Baker, Lieutenant J.H.
Hil , Lieutenant Buck.--_N.Y. World._
These promotions were made into the volunteer regiments, which were mustered out after the war, thus leaving the men promoted in the same rank they were before promotion if they chose to re-enlist in the regular army. They got no permanent advancement by this act of the President, but the future may develop better things for them.
* * * * *
COMPETENT TO BE OFFICERS--THE VERDICT OF GENERAL THOMAS J. MORGAN, AFTER A STUDY OF THE NEGRO'S QUALITY AS A SOLDIER.COLOR LINE IN THE ARMY--DIFFICULTY IN MAKING AFRO-AMERICAN COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS--HEROISM ON THE FIELD SURE TO REAP REWARD--MORGAN PREFERS
NEGRO TROOP TO THE WHITES.
General Thomas J. Morgan belongs to that class of Caucasian observers who are able to think clearly upon the Negro problem in all of its phases, and who have not only the breadth of intelligence to form just and generous opinions, but who possess that rarer quality, the courage to give them out openly to the country. General Morgan contributes the following article to the _New York Independent_, analyzing the motives which underlie the color line in the army.
[Il ustration: GENERAL, THOMAS J. MORGAN, LL.D., Who says Negroes are Competent to be Officers in the Army.]
He has had wide experience in military affairs, and his close contact with Negro soldiers during the civil war entitles him to speak with authority. General Morgan says:
"The question of the color line has assumed an acute stage, and has called forth a good deal of feeling. The various Negro papers in the country are very generally insisting that if the Negro soldiers are to be enlisted, Negro officers should be appointed to command them. One zealous paper is clamoring for the appointment, immediately, by the President, of a Negro Major-General. The readers of _The Independent_
know very well that during the civil war there were enlisted in the United States army 200,000 Negro soldiers under white officers, the highest position assigned to a black man being that of first sergeant, or of regimental sergeant-major. The Negroes were allowed to wear chevrons, but not shoulder straps or epaulets. Although four Negro regiments have been incorporated in the regular army, and have rendered exceptionally effective service on the plains and elsewhere for a whole generation, there are to-day no Negro officers in the service. A number of young men have been appointed as cadets at West Point, but the life has not been by any means an easy one. The only caste or class with caste distinctions that exists in the republic is found in the army; army officers are, par excellence, the aristocrats; nowhere is class feeling so much cultivated as among them; nowhere is it so difficult to break down the established lines. Singularly enough, though entrance to West Point is made very broad, and a large number of those who go there to be educated at the expense of the Government have no social position to begin with, and no claims to special merit, and yet, after having been educated at the public expense, and appointed to life positions, they seem to cherish the feeling that they are a select few, entitled to special consideration, and that they are called upon to guard their class against any insidious invasions. Of course there are honorable exceptions. There are many who have been educated at West Point who are broad in their sympathies, democratic in their ideas, and responsive to every appeal of philanthropy and humanity; but the spirit of West Point has been opposed to the admission of Negroes into the ranks of commissioned officers, and the opposition to the commissioning of black men emanating from the army wil go very far toward the defeat of any project of that kind."
"To make the question of the admission of Negroes into the higher ranks of commissioned officers more difficult is the fact that the organization of Negro troops under the call of the President for volunteers to carry on the war with Spain, has been left chiefly to the Governors of states. Very naturally the strong public sentiment against the Negro, which obtains almost universally in the South, has thus far prevented the recognition of his right to be treated precisely as the white man is treated. It would be, indeed, almost revolutionary for any Southern Governor to commission a Negro as a colonel of a regiment, or even a captain of a company. (Since this was written two Negro colonels have been appointed--in the Third North Carolina and Eighth Il inois.) Even where there are exceptions to this rule, they are notable exceptions. Everywhere through the South Negro volunteers are made to feel that they are not upon the same plane as white volunteers."
"In a recent conversation with the Adjutant General of the army, I was assured by him that in the organization of the ten regiments of immunes which Congress has authorized, the President had decided that five of them should be composed of Negroes, and that while the field and staff officers and captains are to be white, the lieutenants may be Negroes. If this is done it wil mark a distinct step in advance of any taken hitherto. It wil recognize partially, at least, the manhood of the Negro, and break down that unnatural bar of separation now existing. If a Negro is a lieutenant, he wil command his company in the absence of the captain. He can wear epaulets, and be entitled to all the rights and privileges 'of an officer and a gentleman;' he is no longer doomed to inferiority. In case of battle, where bullets have no respect of persons, and do not draw the line at color, it may easily happen that a regiment or battalion wil do its best work in the face of the enemy under the command of a Negro chief. Thus far the Government has been swift to recognize heroism and efficiency, whether performed by Commodore Dewey at Manila or Lieutenant Hobson at Santiago, and it can hardly be otherwise than that it wil be ready to recognize exceptional prowess and skil when performed by a Negro officer."
"Al , perhaps, which the Negroes themselves, or their friends, have a right to ask in their behalf is, that they shall have a chance to show the stuff they are made of. The immortal Lincoln gave them this chance when he admitted them to wear the blue and carry a musket; and right manfully did they justify his confidence. There was not better fighting done during the civil war than was done by some of the Negro troops. With my experience, in command of 5,000 Negro soldiers, I would, on the whole, prefer, I think, the command of a corps of Negro troops to that of a corps of white troops. With the magnificent record of their fighting qualities on many a hard-contested field, it is not unreasonable to ask that a stil further opportunity shall be extended to them in commissioning them as officers, as well as enlisting them as soldiers."
"Naturally and necessarily the question of fitness for official responsibility is the prime test and ought to be applied, and if Negroes cannot be found of sufficient intelligence or preparation for the duties incumbent on army officers, nobody should object to the places being given to qualified white men. But so long as we draw no race line of distinction as against Germans or Irishmen, and institute no test of religion, politics or culture, we ought not to erect an artificial barrier of color. If the Negroes are competent they should be commissioned. If they are incompetent they should not be trusted with the grave responsibilities attached to official position. I believe they are competent."
[Il ustration: GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ, OF THE CUBAN ARMY.]
CHAPTER V.
MANY TESTIMONIALS IN BEHALF OF THE NEGRO SOLDIERS.
A SOUTHERNER'S STATEMENT, THAT THE NEGRO CAVALRY SAVED THE "ROUGH
RIDERS."
Some of the officers who accompanied the wounded soldiers on the trip north give interesting accounts of the fighting around Santiago. "I was standing near Captain Capron and Hamilton Fish, Jr.," said a corporal to the Associated Press correspondent to-night, "and saw them shot down. They were with the Rough Riders and ran into an ambuscade, though they had been warned of the danger. If it had not been for the Negro Calvary the Rough Riders would have been exterminated. I am not a Negro lover. My father fought with Mosby's Rangers, and I was born in the South, but the Negroes saved that fight, and the day wil come when General Shafter wil give them credit for their bravery."--_Asso.
Press_.
* * * * *
RECONCILIATION."Members of our regiment kicked somewhat when the colored troops were sent forward with them, but when they saw how the Negroes fought they became reconciled to the situation and some of them now say the colored brother can have half of their blankets whenever they want them."
The above is an extract from a communication to the Daily Afternoon Journal, of Beaumont, Tex., written by a Southern white soldier:
"Straws tell the way the wind blows," is a hackneyed expression, but an apt il ustration of the subject in hand. It has been hinted by a portion of the Negro press that when the war ended, that if there is to be the mil ennium of North and South, the Negroes wil suffer in the contraction. There is no reason to encourage this pessimistic view, since it is so disturbing in its nature, and since it is in the province of the individuals composing the race to create a future to more or less extent. The wedge has entered; it remains for the race to live up to its opportunities. The South already is making concessions.
While concessions are apt to be looked upon as too patronizing, and not included in the classification of rights in common, yet in time they amount to the same. The mere statement that "the colored brother can have half of their blankets whenever they want them," while doubtless a figure of speech, yet it signifies that under this very extreme of speech an appreciable advance of the race. It does not mean that there is to be a storming of the social barriers, for even in the more favored races definite lines are drawn. Sets and circles adjust such matters. But what is desired is the toleration of the Negroes in those pursuits that the people engage in or enjoy in general and in common. It is all that the American Negro may expect, and it is safe to say that his ambitions do not run higher, and ought not to run higher. Money and birth in themselves have created some unwritten laws that are much stronger than those decreed and promulgated by governments. It would be the height of presumption to strike at these, to some extent privileged classes. It is to be hoped that the good fortunes of war wil produce sanity and stability in the race, contending for abstract justice.--_Freeman._
The testimony continues:
Private Smith of the Seventy-first Volunteers, speaking about the impression his experience at Santiago had made upon him, said:
"I am a Southerner by birth, and I never thought much of the colored man. But, somewhat, now I feel very differently toward them, for I met them in camp, on the battle field and that's where a man gets to know a man. I never saw such fighting as those Tenth Cavalry men did.
They didn't seem to know what fear was, and their battle hymn was,
'There'l be a hot time in the old town to-night. That's not a thril ing hymn to hear on the concert stage, but when you are lying in a trench with the smell of powder in your nose and the crack of rifles almost deafening you and bullets tearing up the ground around you like huge hailstones beating down the dirt, and you see before you a blockhouse from which there belches fourth the machine gun, pouring a torrent of leaden missiles, while from holes in the ground you see the leveled rifles of thousands of enemies that crack out death in ever-increasing succession and then you see a body of men go up that hil as if it were in dril , so solid do they keep their formation, and those men are yelling, 'There'l be a hot time in the old town to-night,' singing as if they liked their work, why, there's an appropriateness in the tune that kind of makes your blood creep and your nerves to thril and you want to get up and go ahead if you lose a limb in the attempt And that's what those 'niggers' did. You just heard the Lieutenant say, 'Men, wil you follow me?' and you hear a tremendous shout answer him, 'You bet we wil ,' and right up through that death-dealing storm you see men charge, that is, you see them until the darned Springfield rifle powder blinds you and hides them."
"And there is another thing, too, that teaches a man a lesson. The action of the officers on the field is what I speak of. Somehow when you watch these men with their gold braid in armories on a dance night or dress parade it strikes you that they are a little more handsome and ornamental than they are practical and useful. To tell the truth, I didn't think much of those dandy officers on parade or dancing round a ball room. I did not really think they were worth the money that was spent upon them. But I just found it was different on the battlefield, and they just knew their business and bullets were a part of the show to them."
* * * * *
NEGRO SOLDIERS.
The Charleston News and Courier says:
It is not known what proportion of the insurgent army is colored, but the indications are that the proportion of the same element in the volunteer army of occupation wil be small.
On the basis of population, of course one-third of the South's quota should be made up of colored, and it is to be remembered that they made good soldiers and constitute a large part of the regular army.
There were nearly 250,000 of them in service in the last war.
* * * * *
THE NEGRO AS A SOLDIER--HIS GOOD MARKSMANSHIP--THE FIGHT AT ELCANEY--"WOE TO SPANISH IN RANGE."
There has been hitherto among the officers of the army a certain prejudice against serving in the Negro regiments. But the other day a Lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry said enthusiastically:
"Do you know, I shouldn't want anything better than to have a company in a Negro regiment? I am from Virginia, and have always had the usual feeling about commanding colored troops. But after seeing that charge of the Twenty-fourth up the San Juan Hil , I should like the best in the world to have a Negro company. They went up that incline yelling and shouting just as I used to hear when they were hunting rabbits in Virginia. The Spanish bullets only made them wilder to reach the trenches."
[Il ustration: FIRST PAY-DAY IN CUBA FOR THE NINTH AND TENTH CAVALRY.]
Officers of other regiments which were near the Twenty-fourth on July 1 are equally strong in their praise of the Negroes. Their yells were an inspiration to their white comrades and spread dismay among the Spaniards. A Captain in a volunteer regiment declares that the Twenty-fourth did more than any other to win the day at San Juan.
As they charged up through the white soldiers their enthusiasm was spread, and the entire line fought the better for their cheers and their wild rush.
Spanish evidence to the effectiveness of the colored soldiers is not lacking. Thus an officer who was with the troops that lay in wait for the Americans at La Quasina on June 24th, said:
"What especially terrified our men was the huge American Negroes. We saw their big, black faces through the underbrush, and they looked like devils. They came forward under our fire as if they didn't the least care about it."
THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY.
It was the Tenth Cavalry that had this effect on the Spaniards. At San Juan the Ninth Cavalry distinguished itself, its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, being kil ed. The fourth of the Negro regiments, the Twenty-fifth Infantry, played an especially bril iant part in the battle of El Caney on July 1st. It was held in reserve with the rest of Colonel Miles' brigade, but was ordered to support General Lawton's brigade toward the middle of the day. At that hour marching was an ordeal, but the men went on at a fast pace. With almost no rest they kept it up until they got into action. The other troops had been fighting hard for hours, and the arrival of the Twenty-fifth was a blessing. The Negroes went right ahead through the tired ranks of their comrades. Their charge up the hil , which was surmounted by Spanish rifle pits and a stone fort, has been told. It was the work of only a part of the regiment, the men coming chiefly from three companies. Colonel Milts had intended having his whole brigade make the final charge, but the Twenty-fifth didn't wait for orders. It was there to take that hil , and take the hil it did.
One of the Spanish officers captured there seemed to think that the Americans were taking an unfair advantage of them in having colored men who fought like that. He had been accustomed to the Negroes in the insurgent army, and a different lot they are from those in the United States army.
"Why," he said ruefully, "even your Negroes fight better than any other troops I ever saw."
The way the Negroes charged up the El Caney and San Juan hil s suggested inevitably that their African nature has not been entirely eliminated by generations of civilization, but was bursting forth in savage yells and in that wild rush some of them were fairly frantic with the delight of the battle. And it was no mere craziness. They are excellent marksmen, and they aim carefully and well. Woe to the Spaniards who showed themselves above the trenches when a colored regiment was in good range. MAGNIFICENT SHOWING MADE BY THE
NEGROES--THEIR SPLENDID COURAGE AT SANTIAGO THE ADMIRATION OF ALL
OFFICERS.
They were led by Southern Men--Black Men from the South Fought Like Tigers and end a Question often debated--In only One or Two Actions of the Civil War was there such a loss of Officers as at San Juan.
[TELEGRAM TO COMMERCIAL.]
WASHINGTON, July 6, 1898.
Veterans who are comparing the losses at the battle of San Juan, near Santiago, last Friday, with those at Big Bethel and the first Bull Run say that in only one or two actions of the late war was there such a loss in officers as occurred at San Juan hil .
The companies of the Twenty-fourth Infantry are without officers. The regiment had four captains knocked down within a minute of each other.
Capt. A.C. Ducat was the first officer hit in the action, and was kil ed instantly. His second lieutenant, John A. Gurney, a Michigan man, was struck dead at the same time as the captain, and Lieutenant Henry G. Lyon was left in command of Company D, but only for a few minutes, for he, too, went down. Liscum, commanding the regiment, was kil ed.
NEGROES FIGHT LIKE TIGERS.
Company F, Twenty-fourth Infantry, lost Lieutenant Augustin, of Louisiana, kil ed, and Captain Crane was left without a commissioned officer. The magnificent courage of the Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Negroes, which make up the rank and file of this regiment, is the admiration of every officer who has written here since the fight. The regiment has a large proportion of Southern-born officers, who led their men with more than usual exposure. These men had always said the Southern Negro would fight as staunchly as any white man, if he was led by those in whom he had confidence. The question has often been debated in every mess of the army. San Juan hil offered the first occasion in which this theory could be tested practically, and tested it was in a manner and with a result that makes its believers proud of the men they commanded. It has helped the morale of the four Negro regiments beyond words. The men of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, particularly, and their comrades of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry as well, are proud of the record they made.
THEY NEVER WAVERED.
The Twenty-fourth took the brunt of the fight, and all through it, even when whole companies were left without an officer, not for a moment were these colored soldiers shaken or wavering in the face of the fierce attack made upon them. Wounded Spanish officers declare that the attack was thus directed because they did not believe the Negro would stand up against them and they believed there was the faulty place in the American line. Never were men more amazed than were the Spanish officers to see the steadiness and cool courage with which the Twenty-fourth charged front forward on its tenth company (a difficult thing to do at any time), under the hottest fire. The value of the Negro as a soldier is no longer a debatable question.
It has been proven fully in one of the sharpest fights of the past three years.
* * * * *
"OUR BOYS," THE SOLDIERS."What Army Officers and Others Have to Say of the Negroes Conduct in War"--"Give Honor to Whom Honor is Due"--"Acme of Bravery."
It has been said, "Give honor to whom honor is due," and while it is just and right that it should be so, there are times, however, when the "honor" due is withheld. Ever since the battle of San Juan Hil at Santiago de Cuba nearly every paper in the land has had nothing but praise for the bravery shown by the "Rough Riders," and to the extent that, not knowing the truth, one would naturally arrive at the conclusion that the "Rough Riders" were "the whole thing." Although sometimes delayed, the truth, like murder, "wil out." It is well enough to praise the "Rough Riders" for all they did, but why not divide honors with the other fellows who made it possible for them, the "Rough Riders," to receive praise, and be honored by a generous and valorous loving nation?
After the battles of El Caney and San Juan Hil , many wounded American soldiers who were able to travel were given furloughs to their respective homes in the United States, and Lieutenant Thomas Roberts, of this city, was one of them. Shortly after Lieutenant Roberts arrived in the city he was interviewed by a representative of the _Il inois State Register_, to whom he gave a description of the battle of July 1st. He said: "On the night of June 30th the second squadron of the Tenth Cavalry did outpost duty. Daylight opened on the soon-to-be blood-sodden field on July 1st, and the Tenth was ordered to the front. First went the first squadron, followed soon after by the second, composed of Troops G, I, B and A. The Tenth Cavalry is composed of Negroes, commanded by white officers, and I have naught but the highest praise for the swarthy warriors on the field of carnage. Led by brave men, they wil go into the thickest of the fight, even to the wicked mouths of deadly cannon, unflinchingly."
Lieutenant Roberts says further that "at 9 o'clock on the morning of July 1st the order came to move. Forward we went, until we struck a road between two groves, which road was swept by a hail of shot and shell from Spanish guns. The men stood their ground as if on dress parade. Single file, every man ready to obey any command, they bade defiance to the fiercest storm of leaden hail that ever hurtled over a troop of United States