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Title: History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest

Author: Edward A. Johnson

Release Date: February 15, 2004 [EBook #11102]

Language: English

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[Illustration: WILLIAM McKinley.]


HISTORY OF NEGRO SOLDIERS

IN THE

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR,

AND

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.

BY

EDWARD A. JOHNSON, Author of the Famous School History of the Negro
Race in America.


1899



BY EDWARD A. JOHNSON, RALEIGH, N.C.

CONTENTS. (see last page for index to illustrations.)




CHAPTER I

The Cause of The War With Spain--The Virginius Affair--General
Fitzhugh Lee--Belligerent Rights to Insurgents--Much Money and
Time Spent by United States--Spain Tries to Appease Public
Sentiment--Weyler "The Butcher"--Resolutions by Congress Favoring
Insurgents--Insurgents Gain by--General Antonio Maceo--The Spirit
of Insurgents at Maceo's Death--Jose Maceo--Weyler's Policy--Miss
Cisneros' Rescue--Appeal for her--Spain and Havana Stirred by American
Sentiment--Battle Ship Maine--Official Investigation of Destruction
of--Responsibility for--Congress Appropriates $50,000,000 for National
Defence--President's Message--Congress Declares War--Resolution Signed
by President--Copy of Resolution Sent Minister Woodford--Fatal Step
for Spain--American Navy.

CHAPTER II

Beginning of Hostilities--Colored Hero in the Navy.

CHAPTER III

Sergeant Major Pullen of Twenty-fifth Infantry Describes the Conduct
of Negro Soldiers Around El Caney--Its Station Before the Spanish
American War and Trip to Tampa, Florida--The Part it Took in the Fight
at El Caney--Buffalo Troopers, the Name by Which Negro Soldiers are
Known--The Charge of the "Nigger Ninth" on San Juan Hill.

CHAPTER IV

Colonel Theodore B. Roosevelt on the Colored Soldiers--Colonel
Roosevelt's Error--Jacob A. Riis Compliments Negro Soldiers-General
Nelson A. Miles Compliments Negro Soldiers--Cleveland Moffitt
Compliments the Negro Soldiers--President McKinley Promotes Negro
Soldiers--General Thomas J. Morgan on Negro Officers.


CHAPTER V

Many Testimonials in Behalf of Negro Soldiers--A Southerner's
Statement--Reconciliation--Charleston News and Courier--Good
Marksmanship at El Caney--Their Splendid Courage; Fought Like Tigers--
Never Wavered--What Army Officers say--Acme of Bravery-Around
Santiago--Saved the Life of his Lieutenant, but Lost his own--"Black
Soldier Boys," New York Mail and Express--They Never Faltered--The
Negro Soldier; His Good-heartedness--Mrs. Porter's Ride--Investment of
Santiago and Surrender--Killed and Wounded.

CHAPTER VI

No Color Line in Cuba--A Graphic Description--American Prejudice
Cannot Exist There--A Catholic Priest Vouches for it--Colored
Belles--War Began--Facts About Porto Rico.

CHAPTER VII

List of Colored Regiments that did Active Service in the Spanish
American War--A List of the Volunteer Regiments--Full Account of the
Troubles of the Sixth Virginia--Comments on the Third North Carolina
Regiment.

CHAPTER VIII

General Items of Interest to the Race--Miss Alberta Scott--Discovery
of the Games Family--Colored Wonder on the Bicycle--Negro Millionaire
Found at Last--Uncle Sam's Money Sealer--Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the
Negro Poet--Disfranchisement of Colored Voters.

CHAPTER IX

Some Facts About the Filipinos--Who Aguinaldo is--Facts from Felipe
Agoncillo's Article.

CHAPTER X

Resume--Why the American Government Does not Protect its Colored
Citizens-States Rights--Mobocracy Supreme--The Solution of the Negro
Problem is Mainly in the Race's Own Hands--The South a Good Place for
the Negro, Provided he can be Protected.





CHAPTER I.


THE CAUSE OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN.

Many causes led up to the Spanish-American war. Cuba had been in
a state of turmoil for a long time, and the continual reports of
outrages on the people of the island by Spain greatly aroused the
Americans. The "ten years war" had terminated, leaving the island much
embarrassed in its material interests, and woefully scandalized by the
methods of procedure adopted by Spain and principally carried out
by Generals Campos and Weyler, the latter of whom was called the
"butcher" on account of his alleged cruelty in attempting to suppress
the former insurrection. There was no doubt much to complain of under
his administration, for which the General himself was not personally
responsible. He boasted that he only had three individuals put to
death, and that in each of these cases he was highly justified by
martial law.

FINALLY THE ATTENTION OF THE UNITED STATES was forcibly attracted to
Cuba by the Virginius affair, which consisted in the wanton murder of
fifty American sailors--officers and crew of the Virginius, which was
captured by the Spanish off Santiago bay, bearing arms and ammunition
to the insurgents--Captain Fry, a West Point graduate, in command.

Spain would, no doubt, have received a genuine American thrashing on
this occasion had she not been a republic at that time, and President
Grant and others thought it unwise to crush out her republican
principles, which then seemed just budding into existence.

The horrors of this incident, however, were not out of the minds of
the American people when the new insurrection of 1895 broke out. At
once, as if by an electric flash, the sympathy of the American people
was enlisted with the Insurgents who were (as the Americans believed)
fighting Spain for their _liberty_. Public opinion was on the
Insurgents' side and against Spain from the beginning. This feeling of
sympathy for the fighting Cubans knew no North nor South; and strange
as it may seem the Southerner who quails before the mob spirit that
disfranchises, ostracises and lynches an American Negro who seeks his
liberty at home, became a loud champion of the Insurgent cause in
Cuba, which was, in fact, the cause of Cuban Negroes and mulattoes.

GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE, of Virginia, possibly the most noted Southerner
of the day, was sent by President Cleveland to Havana as Consul
General, and seemed proud of the honor of representing his government
there, judging from his reports of the Insurgents, which were
favorable. General Lee was retained at his post by President McKinley
until it became necessary to recall him, thus having the high honor
paid him of not being changed by the new McKinley administration,
which differed from him in politics; and as evidence of General
Fitzhugh Lee's sympathy with the Cubans it may be cited that he sent
word to the Spanish Commander (Blanco) on leaving Havana that he would
return to the island again and when he came he "would bring the stars
and stripes in front of him."

BELLIGERENT RIGHTS TO THE INSURGENTS OR NEUTRALITY became the topic of
discussion during the close of President Cleveland's administration.
The President took the ground that the Insurgents though deserving of
proper sympathy, and such aid for humanity's sake as could be given
them, yet they had not established on any part of the island such a
form of government as could be recognized at Washington, and accorded
belligerent rights or rights of a nation at war with another nation;
that the laws of neutrality should be strictly enforced, and America
should keep "hands off" and let Spain and the Insurgents settle their
own differences.

[Illustration: GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE.]

MUCH MONEY AND TIME was expended by the United States government in
maintaining this neutral position. Fillibustering expeditions were
constantly being fitted up in America with arms and ammunition for the
Cuban patriots. As a neutral power it became the duty of the American
government to suppress fillibustering, but it was both an unpleasant
and an expensive duty, and one in which the people had little or no
sympathy.

SPAIN TRIES TO APPEASE public sentiment in America by recalling
Marshal Campos, who was considered unequal to the task of defeating
the Insurgents, because of reputed inaction. The flower of the Spanish
army was poured into Cuba by the tens of thousands--estimated, all
told, at three hundred thousand when the crisis between America and
Spain was reached.

WEYLER THE "BUTCHER," was put in command and inaugurated the policy of
establishing military zones inside of the Spanish lines, into which
the unarmed farmers, merchants, women and children were driven,
penniless; and being without any visible means of subsistence were
left to perish from hunger and disease. (The condition of these people
greatly excited American sympathy with the Insurgents.) General Weyler
hoped thus to weaken the Insurgents who received considerable of
supplies from this class of the population, either by consent or
force. Weyler's policy in reference to the reconcentrados (as these
non-combatant people were called) rather increased than lessened
the grievance as was natural to suppose, in view of the misery and
suffering it entailed on a class of people who most of all were not
the appropriate subjects for his persecution, and sentiment became so
strong in the United States against this policy (especially in view of
the fact that General Weyler had promised to end the "Insurrection" in
three months after he took command) that in FEBRUARY, 1896, the United
States Congress took up the discussion of the matter. Several Senators
and Congressmen returned from visits to the island pending this
discussion, in which they took an active and effective part, depicting
a most shocking and revolting situation in Cuba, for which Spain
was considered responsible; and on April 6th following this joint
resolution was adopted by Congress:

"_Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America_, that in the opinion of Congress a public
war exists between the Government of Spain and the Government
proclaimed and for some time maintained by force of arms by the people
of Cuba; and that the United States of America should maintain a
strict neutrality between the contending powers, according to each all
the rights of belligerents in the ports and territory of the United
States."

"_Resolved further_, that the friendly offices of the United States
should be offered by the President to the Spanish government for the
recognition of the independence of Cuba."

THE INSURGENTS gained by this resolution an important point. It
dignified their so-called insurrection into an organized army, with a
government at its back which was so recognized and treated with. They
could buy and sell in American ports.

[Illustration: GENERAL ANTONIO MACEO.]

GENERAL ANTONIO MACEO about this time was doing great havoc along the
Spanish lines. He darted from place to place, back and forth across
the supposed impassable line of Spanish fortifications stretching
north and south across the island some distance from Havana, and known
as the _trocha_. Thousands of Spaniards fell as the result of his
daring and finesse in military execution. His deeds became known in
America, and though a man of Negro descent, with dark skin and crisp
hair, his fame was heralded far and wide in the American newspapers.
At a public gathering in New York, where his picture was exhibited,
the audience went wild with applause--the waving of handkerchiefs and
the wild hurrahs were long and continued. The career of this hero was
suddenly terminated by death, due to the treachery of his physician
Zertucha, who, under the guise of a proposed treaty of peace, induced
him to meet a company of Spanish officers, at which meeting, according
to a pre-arranged plot, a mob of Spanish infantry rushed in on General
Maceo and shot him down unarmed. It is said that his friends recovered
his body and buried it in a secret place unknown to the Spaniards, who
were anxious to obtain it for exhibition as a trophy of war in Havana.
Maceo was equal to Toussaint L'Overture of San Domingo. His public
life was consecrated to liberty; he knew no vice nor mean action; he
would not permit any around him. When he landed in Cuba from Porto
Rico he was told there were no arms. He replied, "I will get them with
my machete," and he left five thousand to the Cubans, conquered by his
arm. Every time the Spanish attacked him they were beaten and left
thousands of arms and much ammunition in his possession. He was born
in Santiago de Cuba July 14, 1848.

THE SPIRIT OF THE INSURGENTS did not break with General Maceo's death.
Others rose up to fill his place, the women even taking arms in the
defence of home and liberty. "At first no one believed, who had not
seen them, that there were women in the Cuban army; but there is no
doubt about it. They are not all miscalled amazons, for they are
warlike women and do not shun fighting. The difficulty in employing
them being that they are insanely brave. When they ride into battle
they become exalted and are dangerous creatures. Those who first
joined the forces on the field were the wives of men belonging in the
army, and their purpose was rather to be protected than to become
heroines and avengers. It shows the state of the island, that the
women found the army the safest place for them. With the men saved
from the plantations and the murderous bandits infesting the roads and
committing every lamentable outrage upon the helpless, some of the
high spirited Cuban women followed their husbands, and the example has
been followed, and some, instead of consenting to be protected, have
taken up the fashion of fighting."--_Murat Halsted_.

JOSE MACEO, brother of Antonio, was also a troublesome character to
the Spaniards, who were constantly being set upon by him and his men.

WEYLER'S POLICY AND THE BRAVE STRUGGLE of the people both appealed
very strongly for American sympathy with the Insurgent cause. The
American people were indignant at Weyler and were inspired by the
conduct of the Insurgents. Public sentiment grew stronger with every
fresh report of an Insurgent victory, or a Weyler persecution.

MISS EVANGELINA COSIO Y CISNERO'S RESCUE helped to arouse sentiment.
This young and beautiful girl of aristocratic Cuban parentage alleged
that a Spanish officer had, on the occasion of a _raid_ made on her
home, in which her father was captured and imprisoned as a Cuban
sympathizer, proposed her release on certain illicit conditions,
and on her refusal she was incarcerated with her aged father in the
renowned but filthy and dreaded Morro Castle at Havana.

[Illustration: MISS EVANGELINA COSIO Y CISNEROS.]

_Appeal after appeal_ by large numbers of the most prominent women in
America was made to General Weyler, and even to the Queen Regent of
Spain, for her release, but without avail, when finally the news was
flashed to America that she had escaped. This proved to be true--her
release being effected by Carl Decker, a reporter on the New York
Journal--a most daring fete. Miss Cisneros was brought to America and
became the greatest sensation of the day. Her beauty, her affection
for her aged father, her innocence, and the thrilling events of her
rescue, made her the public idol, and gave _Cuba libre_ a new impetus
in American sympathy.

SPAIN AND HAVANA felt the touch of these ever spreading waves
of public sentiment, and began to resent them. At Havana public
demonstrations were made against America. The life of Consul General
Lee was threatened. The Spanish Minister at Washington, Señor de Lome,
was exposed for having written to a friend a most insulting letter,
describing President McKinley as a low politician and a weakling.
For this he was recalled by Spain at the request of the American
government.

Protection to American citizens and property in Havana became
necessary, and accordingly the BATTLE SHIP MAINE was sent there for
this purpose, the United States government disclaiming any other
motives save those of protection to Americans and their interests.
The Maine was, to all outward appearances, friendly received by the
Spaniards at Havana by the usual salutes and courtesies of the
navy, and was anchored at a point in the bay near a certain buoy
_designated_ by the Spanish Commander. This was on January 25, 1898,
and on February 15th this noble vessel was blown to pieces, and 266
of its crew perished--two colored men being in the number. This event
added fuel to the already burning fire of American feeling against
Spain. Public sentiment urged an immediate declaration of war.
President McKinley counseled moderation. Captain Siggsbee, who
survived the wreck of the Maine, published an open address in which
he advised that adverse criticism be delayed until an official
investigation could be made of the affair.

The official investigation was had by a Court of Inquiry, composed of
Captain W.T. Sampson of the Iowa, Captain F.C. Chadwick of the
New York, Lieutenant-Commander W.P. Potter of the New York, and
Lieutenant-Commander Adolph Marix of the Vermont, appointed by the
President. Divers were employed; many witnesses were examined, and the
court, by a unanimous decision, rendered March 21, 1898, after a four
weeks session, reported as follows: "That the loss of the Maine was
not in any respect due to the fault or negligence on the part of any
of the officers or members of her crew; that the ship was destroyed by
the explosion of a submarine mine which caused the partial explosion
of two or more of her forward magazines; and that no evidence has been
obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the Maine
upon any person or persons."

Responsibility in this report is not fixed on any "person or persons."
It reads something like the usual verdict of a coroner's jury after
investigating the death of some colored man who has been lynched,--"he
came to his death by the hands of parties unknown." This report on
the Maine's destruction, _unlike_ the usual coroner's jury verdict,
however, in one respect, was not accepted by the people who claimed
that Spain was responsible, either directly or indirectly, for the
explosion, and the public still clamored for war to avenge the
outrage.

[Illustration: U.S.S. MAINE]

CONGRESS ALSO CATCHES the war fever and appropriated $50,000,000 "for
the national defence" by a unanimous vote of both houses. The war and
navy departments became very active; agents were sent abroad to buy
war ships, but the President still hesitated to state his position
until he had succeeded in getting the American Consuls out of Cuba who
were in danger from the Spaniards there. Consul Hyatt embarked from
Santiago April 3, and Consul General Lee, who was delayed in getting
off American refugees, left on April 10, and on that day the PRESIDENT
SENT HIS MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. He pictured the deplorable condition of
the people of Cuba, due to General Weyler's policy; he recommended
that the Insurgent government be not recognized, as such recognition
might involve this government in "embarrassing international
complications," but referred the whole subject to Congress for action.

CONGRESS DECLARES WAR ON APRIL 13 by a joint resolution of the
Foreign Affairs Committee of both houses, which was adopted, after a
conference of the two committees, April 18, in the following form:

Whereas, the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than
three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have
shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been
a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating as they have in the
destruction of a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers
and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and
cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of
the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon
which the action of Congress was invited: therefore,

_Resolved_, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled--

First, that the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.

Second, that it is the duty of the United States to demand, and
the government of the United States does hereby demand, that the
government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in
the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba
and Cuban waters.

Third, that the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of
the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United
States the militia of the several states to such extent as may be
necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.

Fourth, that the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over
said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination when that is completed to leave the government and
control of the island to its people.

THE PRESIDENT SIGNED THIS RESOLUTION at 11:24 A.M. on the 20th of
April, 1898. The Spanish Minister, Señor Luis Polo y Bernarbe, was
served with a copy, upon which he asked for his passports, and
"immediately left Washington."

"This is a picture of Edward Savoy, who accomplished one of the most
signal diplomatic triumphs in connection with recent relations
with Spain. It was he who outwitted the whole Spanish Legation and
delivered the ultimatum to Minister Polo."

"Edward Savoy has been a messenger in the Department of State for
nearly thirty years. He was appointed by Hamilton Fish in 1869, and
held in high esteem by James G. Blaine."


"He was a short, squat, colored man, with a highly intelligent face,
hair slightly tinged with gray and an air of alertness which makes him
stand out in sharp contrast with the other messengers whom one meets
in the halls of the big building."

[Illustration: EDDIE SAVOY.]

"Of all the men under whom 'Eddie,' as he is universally called, has
served he has become most attached to Judge Day, whom he says is the
finest man he ever saw."

"Minister Polo was determined not to receive the ultimatum. He was
confident he would receive a private tip from the White House, which
would enable him to demand his passports before the ultimatum was
served upon him. Then he could refuse to receive it, saying that
he was no longer Minister. It will be remembered that Spain handed
Minister Woodford his passports before the American representative
could present the ultimatum to the Spanish Government."

"Judge Day's training as a country lawyer stood him in good stead. He
had learned the value of being the first to get in an attachment."

"The ultimatum was placed in a large, square envelope, that might have
contained an invitation to dinner. It was natural that it should be
given to 'Eddie' Savoy. He had gained the sobriquet of the nation's
'bouncer,' from the fact that he had handed Lord Sackville-West and
Minister De Lome their passports."

"It was 11:30 o'clock on Wednesday morning when 'Eddie' Savoy pushed
the electric button at the front door of the Spanish Legation, in
Massachusetts avenue. The old Spanish soldier who acted as doorkeeper
responded."

"'Have something here for the Minister,' said Eddie."

"The porter looked at him suspiciously, but he permitted the messenger
to pass into the vestibule, which is perhaps six feet square. Beyond
the vestibule is a passage that leads to the large central hall. The
Minister stood in the hall. In one hand he held an envelope. It was
addressed to the Secretary of State. It contained a request for the
passports of the Minister and his suite. Señor Polo had personally
brought the document from the chancellory above."

"When the porter presented the letter just brought by the Department
of State's messenger, Señor Polo grasped it in his quick, nervous
way. He opened the envelope and realized instantly that he had been
outwitted. A cynical smile passed over the Minister's face as he
handed his request for passports to 'Eddie,' who bowed and smiled on
the Minister."

"Señor Polo stepped back into the hall and started to read the
ultimatum carefully. But he stopped and turned his head toward the
door."

"'This is indeed Jeffersonian simplicity,' he said."

"'Eddie' Savoy felt very badly over the incident, because he had
learned to like Minister Polo personally."

"'He was so pleasant that I felt like asking him to stay a little
longer,' said 'Eddie,' 'but I didn't, for that wouldn't have been
diplomatic. When you have been in this department twenty-five or
thirty years you learn never to say what you want to say and never to
speak unless you think twice.'"

"Wherefore it will be seen that 'Eddie' Savoy has mastered the first
principles of diplomacy."--_N.Y. World._

A COPY OF THE RESOLUTION BY CONGRESS was also cabled to Minister
Woodford, at Madrid, to be officially transmitted to the Spanish
Government, fixing the 23d as the limit for its reply, but the Spanish
Minister of Foreign Affairs had already learned of the action of
Congress, and did not permit Minister Woodford to ask for his
passports, but sent them to him on the evening of the 21st, and this
was the formal beginning of the war.

[Illustration: JOSE MACEO.]

A FATAL STEP WAS THIS FOR SPAIN, who evidently, as her newspapers
declared, did not think the "American pigs" would fight. She was
unaware of the temper of the people, who seemed to those who knew the
facts, actually thirsting for Spanish blood--a feeling due more
or less to thirty years of peace, in which the nation had become
restless, and to the fact also that America had some new boats, fine
specimens of workmanship, which had been at target practice for a long
time and now yearned for the reality, like the boy who has a gun and
wants to try it on the real game. The proof of the superiority of
American gunnery was demonstrated in every naval battle. The accurate
aim of Dewey's gunners at Manilla, and Sampson and Schley's at
Santiago, was nothing less than wonderful. No less wonderful,
however, was the accuracy of the Americans than the inaccuracy of the
Spaniards, who seemed almost unable to hit anything.

WHILE ACCREDITING THE AMERICAN NAVY with its full share of praise for
its wonderful accomplishments, let us remember that there is scarcely
a boat in the navy flying the American flag but what has a number of
COLORED SAILORS on it, who, along with others, help to make up its
greatness and superiority.




CHAPTER II.


THE BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES.


A COLORED HERO IN THE NAVY.

History records the Negro as the first man to fall in three wars of
America--Crispus Attacks in the Boston massacre, March 5, 1770; an
unknown Negro in Baltimore when the Federal troops were mobbed in
that city _en route_ to the front, and Elijah B. Tunnell, of Accomac
county, Virginia, who fell simultaneously with or a second before
Ensign Bagley, of the torpedo boat _Winslow_, in the harbor of
Cardenas May 11, 1898, in the Spanish-American war.

Elijah B. Tunnell was employed as cabin cook on the _Winslow_. The
boat, under a severe fire from masked batteries of the Spanish on
shore, was disabled. The Wilmington came to her rescue, the enemy
meanwhile still pouring on a heavy fire. It was difficult to get the
"line" fastened so that the _Winslow_ could be towed off out of range
of the Spanish guns. Realizing the danger the boat and crew were in,
and anxious to be of service, Tunnell left his regular work and went
on deck to assist in "making fast" the two boats, and while thus
engaged a shell came, which, bursting over the group of workers,
killed him and three others. It has been stated in newspaper reports
of this incident that it was an ill-aimed shell of one of the American
boats that killed Tunnell and Bagley. Tunnell was taken on board the
Wilmington with both legs blown off, and fearfully mutilated. Turning
to those about him he asked, "Did we win in the fight boys?" The reply
was, "Yes."

He said, "Then I die happy." While others fell at the post of duty it
may be said of this brave Negro that he fell while doing _more_ than
his duty. He might have kept out of harm's way if he had desired, but
seeing the situation he rushed forward to relieve it as best he could,
and died a "volunteer" in service, doing what others ought to have
done. All honor to the memory of Elijah B. Tunnell, who, if not
the first, certainly simultaneous with the first, martyr of the
Spanish-American war. While our white fellow-citizens justly herald
the fame of Ensign Bagley, who was known to the author from his youth,
let our colored patriots proclaim the heroism of Tunnell of Accomac.
While not ranking as an official in the navy, yet he was brave, he was
faithful and we may inscribe over his grave that "he died doing what
he could for his country."

War between the United States and Spain began April 21, 1898. Actual
hostilities ended August 12, 1898, by the signing of the protocol by
the Secretary of State of the United States for the United States and
M. Cambon, the French Ambassador at Washington, acting for Spain.

The war lasted 114 days. The Americans were victorious in every
regular engagement. In the three-days battle around Santiago, the
Americans lost 22 officers and 208 men killed, and 81 officers and
1,203 men wounded, and 79 missing. The Spanish loss as best estimated
was near 1,600 officers and men killed and wounded.

Santiago was surrendered July 17, 1898, with something over 22,000
troops.

General Shatter estimates in his report the American forces as
numbering 16,072 with 815 officers.




CHAPTER III.


SERGEANT-MAJOR PULLEN OF THE 25TH INFANTRY DESCRIBES THE CONDUCT OF
THE NEGRO SOLDIERS AROUND EL CANEY.


THE TWENTY-FIFTH U.S. INFANTRY--ITS STATION BEFORE THE SPANISH
AMERICAN WAR AND TRIP TO TAMPA, FLORIDA--THE PART IT TOOK IN THE FIGHT
AT EL CANEY.


When our magnificent battleship Maine was sunk in Havana harbor,
February 15, 1898, the 25th U.S. Infantry was scattered in western
Montana, doing garrison duty, with headquarters at Fort Missoula. This
regiment had been stationed in the West since 1880, when it came up
from Texas where it had been from its consolidation in 1869, fighting
Indians, building roads, etc., for the pioneers of that state and New
Mexico. In consequence of the regiment's constant frontier service,
very little was known of it outside of army circles. As a matter of
course it was known that it was a colored regiment, but its praises
had never been sung.

Strange to say, although the record of this regiment was equal to any
in the service, it had always occupied remote stations, except a
short period, from about May, 1880, to about August, 1885, when
headquarters, band and a few companies were stationed at Fort
Snelling, near St. Paul, Minnesota.

[Illustration: SERGEANT FRANK W. PULLEN, Who was in the Charge on El
Caney, as a member of the Twenty-fifth U.S. Infantry.]

Since the days of reconstruction, when a great part of the country
(the South especially) saw the regular soldier in a low state of
discipline, and when the possession of a sound physique was the only
requirement necessary for the recruit to enter the service of the
United States, people in general had formed an opinion that the
regular soldier, generally, and the Negro soldier in particular, was
a most undesirable element to have in a community. Therefore, the
Secretary of War, in ordering changes in stations of troops from time
to time (as is customary to change troops from severe climates to
mild ones and _vice versa_, that equal justice might be done all) had
repeatedly overlooked the 25th Infantry; or had only ordered it from
Minnesota to the Dakotas and Montana, in the same military department,
and in a climate more severe for troops to serve in than any in the
United States. This gallant regiment of colored soldiers served
eighteen years in that climate, where, in winter, which lasts five
months or more, the temperature falls as low as 55 degrees below
zero, and in summer rises to over 100 degrees in the shade and where
mosquitos rival the Jersey breed.

Before Congress had reached a conclusion as to what should be done in
the Maine disaster, an order had been issued at headquarters of the
army directing the removal of the regiment to the department of the
South, one of the then recently organized departments.

At the time when the press of the country was urging a declaration of
war, and when Minister Woodford, at Madrid, was exhausting all the
arts of peace, in order that the United States might get prepared for
war, the men of the 25th Infantry were sitting around red-hot stoves,
in their comfortable quarters in Montana, discussing the doings of
Congress, impatient for a move against Spain. After great excitement
and what we looked upon as a long delay, a telegraphic order came. Not
for us to leave for the Department of the South, but to go to that
lonely sun-parched sandy island Dry Tortugas. In the face of the fact
that the order was for us to go to that isolated spot, where rebel
prisoners were carried and turned lose during the war of the
rebellion, being left there without guard, there being absolutely no
means of escape, and where it would have been necessary for our safety
to have kept Sampson's fleet in sight, the men received the news with
gladness and cheered as the order was read to them. The destination
was changed to Key West, Florida, then to Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
It seemed that the war department did not know what to do with the
soldiers at first.

Early Sunday morning, April 10, 1898, Easter Sunday, amidst tears of
lovers and others endeared by long acquaintance and kindness, and the
enthusiastic cheers of friends and well-wishers, the start was made
for Cuba.

It is a fact worthy of note that Easter services in all the churches
in Missoula, Montana, a town of over ten thousand inhabitants, was
postponed the morning of the departure of the 25th Infantry, and the
whole town turned out to bid us farewell. Never before were soldiers
more encouraged to go to war than we. Being the first regiment to
move, from the west, the papers had informed the people of our route.
At every station there was a throng of people who cheered as we
passed. Everywhere the Stars and Stripes could be seen. Everybody had
caught the war fever. We arrived at Chickamauga Park about April 15,
1898, being the first regiment to arrive at that place. We were
a curiosity. Thousands of people, both white and colored, from
Chattanooga, Tenn., visited us daily. Many of them had never seen a
colored soldier. The behavior of the men was such that even the
most prejudiced could find no fault. We underwent a short period of
acclimation at this place, then moved on to Tampa, Fla., where we
spent a month more of acclimation. All along the route from Missoula,
Montana, with the exception of one or two places in Georgia, we had
been received most cordially. But in Georgia, outside of the Park, it
mattered not if we were soldiers of the United States, and going to
fight for the honor of our country and the freedom of an oppressed and
starving people, we were "niggers," as they called us, and treated
us with contempt. There was no enthusiasm nor Stars and Stripes in
Georgia. That is the kind of "united country" we saw in the South. I
must pass over the events and incidents of camp life at Chickamauga
and Tampa. Up to this time our trip had seemed more like a
Sunday-school excursion than anything else. But when, on June 6th, we
were ordered to divest ourselves of all clothing and equipage, except
such as was necessary to campaigning in a tropical climate, for the
first time the ghost of real warfare arose before us.

ON BOARD THE TRANSPORT.

The regiment went aboard the Government transport, No.
14--Concho--June 7, 1898. On the same vessel were the 14th U.S.
Infantry, a battalion of the 2d Massachusetts Volunteers and Brigade
Headquarters, aggregating about 1,300 soldiers, exclusive of the
officers. This was the beginning of real hardship. The transport had
either been a common freighter or a cattle ship. Whatever had been its
employment before being converted into a transport, I am sure of
one thing, it was neither fit for man nor beast when soldiers were
transported in it to Cuba. The actual carrying capacity of the vessel
as a transport was, in my opinion, about 900 soldiers, exclusive of
the officers, who, as a rule, surround themselves with every possible
comfort, even in actual warfare. A good many times, as on this
occasion, the desire and demand of the officers for comfort worked
serious hardships for the enlisted men. The lower decks had been
filled with bunks. Alas! the very thought of those things of torture
makes me shudder even now. They were arranged in rows, lengthwise the
ship, of course, with aisles only two feet wide between each row. The
dimensions of a man's bunk was 6 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet
high, and they were arranged in tiers of four, with a four inch board
on either side to keep one from rolling out. The Government had
furnished no bedding at all. Our bedding consisted of one blanket as
mattress and haversack for pillow. The 25th Infantry was assigned to
the bottom deck, where there was no light, except the small port holes
when the gang-plank was closed. So dark was it that candles were
burned all day. There was no air except what came down the canvass air
shafts when they were turned to the breeze. The heat of that place was
almost unendurable. Still our Brigade Commander issued orders that no
one would be allowed to sleep on the main deck. That order was the
only one to my knowledge during the whole campaign that was not obeyed
by the colored soldiers. It is an unreported fact that a portion of
the deck upon which the 25th Infantry took passage to Cuba was flooded
with water during the entire journey.

Before leaving Port Tampa the Chief Surgeon of the expedition came
aboard and made an inspection, the result of which was the taking off
of the ship the volunteer battalion, leaving still on board about a
thousand men. Another noteworthy fact is that for seven days the boat
was tied to the wharf at Port Tampa, and we were not allowed to go
ashore, unless an officer would take a whole company off to bathe and
exercise. This was done, too, in plain sight of other vessels, the
commander of which gave their men the privilege of going ashore at
will for any purpose whatever. It is very easy to imagine the hardship
that was imposed upon us by withholding the privilege of going ashore,
when it is understood that there were no seats on the vessel for a
poor soldier. On the main deck there were a large number of seats,
but they were all reserved for the officers. A sentinel was posted on
either side of the ship near the middle hatch-way, and no soldier was
allowed to go abaft for any purpose, except to report to his superior
officer or on some other official duty.

Finally the 14th of June came. While bells were ringing, whistles
blowing and bands playing cheering strains of music the transports
formed "in fleet in column of twos," and under convoy of some of the
best war craft of our navy, and while the thousands on shore waved us
godspeed, moved slowly down the bay on its mission to avenge the death
of the heroes of our gallant Maine and to free suffering Cuba.

The transports were scarcely out of sight of land when an order was
issued by our Brigade Commander directing that the two regiments on
board should not intermingle, and actually drawing the "color line" by
assigning the white regiment to the port and the 25th Infantry to the
starboard side of the vessel. The men of the two regiments were on the
best of terms, both having served together during mining troubles in
Montana. Still greater was the surprise of everyone when another order
was issued from the same source directing that the white regiment
should make coffee first, all the time, and detailing a guard to
see that the order was carried out. All of these things were done
seemingly to humiliate us and without a word of protest from our
officers. We suffered without complaint. God only knows how it was we
lived through those fourteen days on that miserable vessel. We lived
through those days and were fortunate enough not to have a burial at
sea.

OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO.

We landed in Cuba June 22, 1898. Our past hardships were soon
forgotten. It was enough to stir the heart of any lover of liberty to
witness that portion of Gomez's ragged army, under command of General
Castillo, lined up to welcome us to their beautiful island, and to
guide and guard our way to the Spanish strongholds. To call it a
ragged army is by no means a misnomer. The greater portion of those
poor fellows were both coatless and shoeless, many of them being
almost nude. They were by no means careful about their uniform. The
thing every one seemed careful about was his munitions of war, for
each man had his gun, ammunition and machete. Be it remembered that
this portion of the Cuban army was almost entirely composed of black
Cubans.

After landing we halted long enough to ascertain that all the men of
the regiment were "present or accounted for," then marched into the
jungle of Cuba, following an old unused trail. General Shafter's
orders were to push forward without delay. And the 25th Infantry
has the honor of leading the march from the landing at Baiquiri or
Daiquiri (both names being used in official reports) the first day the
army of invasion entered the island. I do not believe any newspaper
has ever published this fact.

There was no time to be lost, and the advance of the American army of
invasion in the direction of Santiago, the objective point, was rapid.
Each day, as one regiment would halt for a rest or reach a suitable
camping ground, another would pass. In this manner several regiments
had succeeded in passing the 25th Infantry by the morning of June
24th. At that time the 1st Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) was
leading the march.

THE FIRST BATTLE.

[Illustration: Charge on El Caney--Twenty-Fifth Infantry.]

On the morning of June 24th the Rough Riders struck camp early, and
was marching along the trail at a rapid gait, at "route step," in any
order suitable to the size of the road. Having marched several miles
through a well-wooded country, they came to an opening near where the
road forked. They turned into the left fork; at that moment, without
the least warning, the Cubans leading the march having passed on
unmolested, a volley from the Spanish behind a stone fort on top of
the hill on both sides of the road was fired into their ranks. They
were at first disconcerted, but rallied at once and began firing in
the direction from whence came the volleys. They could not advance,
and dared not retreat, having been caught in a sunken place in the
road, with a barbed-wire fence on one side and a precipitous hill on
the other. They held their ground, but could do no more. The Spanish
poured volley after volley into their ranks. At the moment when
it looked as if the whole regiment would be swept down by the
steel-jacketed bullets from the Mausers, four troops of the 10th
U.S. Cavalry (colored) came up on "double time." Little thought the
Spaniards that these "smoked yankees" were so formidable. Perhaps they
thought to stop those black boys by their relentless fire, but those
boys knew no stop. They halted for a second, and having with them a
Hotchkiss gun soon knocked down the Spanish improvised fort, cut the
barb-wire, making an opening for the Rough Riders, started the charge,
and, with the Rough Riders, routed the Spaniards, causing them to
retreat in disorder, leaving their dead and some wounded behind. The
Spaniards made a stubborn resistance. So hot was their fire directed
at the men at the Hotchkiss gun that a head could not be raise, and
men crawled on their stomachs like snakes loading and firing. It is
an admitted fact that the Rough Riders could not have dislodged the
Spanish by themselves without great loss, if at all.

The names of Captain A.M. Capron, Jr., and Sergeant Hamilton Fish,
Jr., of the Rough Riders, who were killed in this battle, have been
immortalized, while that of Corporal Brown, 10th Cavalry, who manned
the Hotchkiss gun in this fight, without which the American loss in
killed and wounded would no doubt have been counted by hundreds, and
who was killed by the side of his gun, is unknown by the public.

At the time the battle of the Rough Riders was fought the 25th
Infantry was within hearing distance of the battle and received orders
to reinforce them, which they could have done in less than two hours,
but our Brigade Commander in marching to the scene of battle took the
wrong trail, seemingly on purpose, and when we arrived at the place of
battle twilight was fading into darkness.

The march in the direction of Santiago continued, until the evening of
June 30th found us bivouacked in the road less than two miles from El
Caney. At the first glimpse of day on the first day of July word was
passed along the line for the companies to "fall in." No bugle call
was sounded, no coffee was made, no noise allowed. We were nearing the
enemy, and every effort was made to surprise him. We had been told
that El Caney was well fortified, and so we found it.

The first warning the people had of a foe being near was the roar of
our field artillery and the bursting of a shell in their midst. The
battle was on. In many cases an invading army serves notice of a
bombardment, but in this case it was incompatible with military
strategy. Non-combatants, women and children all suffered, for to have
warned them so they might have escaped would also have given warning
to the Spanish forces of our approach. The battle opened at dawn and
lasted until dark. When our troops reached the point from which they
were to make the attack, the Spanish lines of entrenched soldiers
could not be seen.

[Illustration: CORPORAL BROWN. (Who was killed at a Hotchkiss gun
while shelling the Spanish block-house to save the Rough Riders.)]

The only thing indicating their position was the block-house situated
on the highest point of a very steep hill. The undergrowth was so
dense that one could not see, on a line, more than fifty yards ahead.
The Spaniards, from their advantageous position in the block-house
and trenches on the hill top, had located the American forces in the
bushes and opened a fusillade upon them. The Americans replied with
great vigor, being ordered to fire at the block-house and to the right
and left of it, steadily advancing as they fired. All of the regiments
engaged in the battle of El Caney had not reached their positions
when the battle was precipitated by the artillery firing on the
block-house. The 25th Infantry was among that number. In marching to
its position some companies of the 2d Massachusetts Volunteers were
met retreating; they were completely whipped, and took occasion to
warn us, saying: "Boys, there is no use to go up there, you cannot
see a thing; they are slaughtering our men!" Such news made us feel
"shaky," not having, at the time, been initiated. We marched up,
however, in order and were under fire for nine hours. Many barbed-wire
obstructions were encountered, but the men never faltered. Finally,
late in the afternoon, our brave Lieutenant Kinnison said to another
officer: "We cannot take the trenches without charging them." Just as
he was about to give the order for the bugler to sound "the charge" he
was wounded and carried to the rear. The men were then fighting like
demons. Without a word of command, though led by that gallant and
intrepid Second Lieutenant J.A. Moss, 25th Infantry, some one gave a
yell and the 25th Infantry was off, alone, to the charge. The 4th U.S.
Infantry, fighting on the left, halted when those dusky heroes made
the dash with a yell which would have done credit to a Comanche
Indian. No one knows who started the charge; one thing is certain,
at the time it was made excitement was running high; each man was a
captain for himself and fighting accordingly. Brigadier Generals,
Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels, Majors, etc., were not needed at the
time the 25th Infantry made the charge on El Caney, and those officers
simply watched the battle from convenient points, as Lieutenants and
enlisted men made the charge alone. It has been reported that the 12th
U.S. Infantry made the charge, assisted by the 25th Infantry, but it
is a recorded fact that the 25th Infantry fought the battle alone, the
12th Infantry coming up after the firing had nearly ceased. Private
T.C. Butler, Company H, 25th Infantry, was the first man to enter the
block-house at El Caney, and took possession of the Spanish flag for
his regiment. An officer of the 12th Infantry came up while Butler
was in the house and ordered him to give up the flag, which he was
compelled to do, but not until he had torn a piece off the flag to
substantiate his report to his Colonel of the injustice which had
been done to him. Thus, by using the authority given him by his
shoulder-straps, this officer took for his regiment that which had
been won by the hearts' blood of some of the bravest, though black,
soldiers of Shafter's army.

The charge of El Caney has been little spoken of, but it was quite as
great a show of bravery as the famous taking of San Juan Hill.

A word more in regard to the charge. It was not the glorious run from
the edge of some nearby thicket to the top of a small hill, as many
may imagine. This particular charge was a tough, hard climb, over
sharp, rising ground, which, were a man in perfect physical strength
he would climb slowly. Part of the charge was made over soft,
plowed ground, a part through a lot of prickly pineapple plants and
barbed-wire entanglements. It was slow, hard work, under a blazing
July sun and a perfect hail-storm of bullets, which, thanks to the
poor marksmanship of the Spaniards, "went high."

It has been generally admitted, by all fair-minded writers, that the
colored soldiers saved the day both at El Caney and San Juan Hill.

Notwithstanding their heroic services, they were still to be
subjected, in many cases, to more hardships than their white brother
in arms. When the flag of truce was, in the afternoon of July 3d,
seen, each man breathed a sigh of relief, for the strain had been
very great upon us. During the next eleven days men worked like ants,
digging trenches, for they had learned a lesson of fighting in the
open field. The work went on night and day. The 25th Infantry worked
harder than any other regiment, for as soon as they would finish a
trench they were ordered to move; in this manner they were kept moving
and digging new trenches for eleven days. The trenches left were each
time occupied by a white regiment.

On July 14th it was decided to make a demonstration in front of
Santiago, to draw the fire of the enemy and locate his position. Two
companies of colored soldiers (25th Infantry) were selected for this
purpose, actually deployed as skirmishers and started in advance.
General Shafter, watching the movement from a distant hill, saw that
such a movement meant to sacrifice those men, without any or much
good resulting, therefore had them recalled. Had the movement been
completed it is probable that not a man would have escaped death or
serious wounds. When the news came that General Toral had decided to
surrender, the 25th Infantry was a thousand yards or more nearer the
city of Santiago than any regiment in the army, having entrenched
themselves along the railroad leading into the city.

The following enlisted men of the 25th Infantry were commissioned
for their bravery at El Caney: First Sergeant Andrew J. Smith, First
Sergeant Macon Russell, First Sergeant Wyatt Huffman and Sergeant
Wm. McBryar. Many more were recommended, but failed to receive
commissions. It is a strange incident that all the above-named men
are native North Carolinians, but First Sergeant Huffman, who is from
Tennessee.

The Negro played a most important part in the Spanish-American war. He
was the first to move from the west; first at Camp Thomas Chickamauga
Park, Ga.; first in the jungle of Cuba; among the first killed in
battle; first in the block-house at El Caney, and nearest to the enemy
when he surrendered.

Frank W. Pullen, Jr.,

_Ex-Sergeant-Major 25th U.S. Infantry_.

Enfield, N.C., March 23, 1899.


BUFFALO TROOPERS, THE NAME BY WHICH NEGRO SOLDIERS ARE KNOWN.

They Comprise Several of the Crack Regiments in Our Army-The Indians
Stand in Abject Terror of them-Their Awful Yells Won a Battle with the
Redskins.

"It is not necessary to revert to the Civil war to prove that American
Negroes are faithful, devoted wearers of uniforms," says a Washington
man, who has seen service in both the army and the navy. "There are at
the present time four regiments of Negro soldiers in the regular army
of the United States-two outfits of cavalry and two of infantry. All
four of these regiments have been under fire in important Indian
campaigns, and there is yet to be recorded a single instance of a man
in any of the four layouts showing the white feather, and the two
cavalry regiments of Negroes have, on several occasions, found
themselves in very serious situations. While the fact is well known
out on the frontier, I don't remember ever having seen it mentioned
back here that an American Indian has a deadly fear of an American
Negro. The most utterly reckless, dare-devil savage of the copper hue
stands literally in awe of a Negro, and the blacker the Negro the more
the Indian quails. I can't understand why this should be, for the
Indians decline to give their reasons for fearing the black men,
but the fact remains that even a very bad Indian will give the
mildest-mannered Negro imaginable all the room he wants, and to spare,
as any old regular army soldier who has frontiered will tell you.
The Indians, I fancy, attribute uncanny and eerie qualities to the
blacks."

"The cavalry troop to which I belonged soldiered alongside a couple of
troops of the 9th Cavalry, a black regiment, up in the Sioux country
eight or nine years ago. We were performing chain guard, hemming-in
duty, and it was our chief business to prevent the savages from
straying from the reservation. We weren't under instructions to riddle
them if they attempted to pass our guard posts, but were authorized to
tickle them up to any reasonable extent, short of maiming them, with
our bayonets, if any of them attempted to bluff past us. Well, the men
of my troop had all colors of trouble while on guard in holding the
savages in. The Ogalallas would hardly pay any attention to the white
sentries of the chain guard, and when they wanted to pass beyond the
guard limits they would invariably pick out a spot for passage that
was patrolled by a white 'post-humper.' But the guards of the two
black troops didn't have a single run-in with the savages. The Indians
made it a point to remain strictly away from the Negro soldiers' guard
posts. Moreover, the black soldiers got ten times as much obedience
from the Indians loafing around the tepees and wickleups as did we of
the white outfit. The Indians would fairly jump to obey the uniformed
Negroes. I remember seeing a black sergeant make a minor chief go
down to a creek to get a pail of water--an unheard of thing, for the
chiefs, and even the ordinary bucks among the Sioux, always make their
squaws perform this sort of work. This chief was sunning himself,
reclining, beside his tepee, when his squaw started with the bucket
for the creek some distance away. The Negro sergeant saw the move. He
walked up to the lazy, grunting savage."

"'Look a-yeah, yo' spraddle-nosed, yalluh voodoo nigguh,' said the
black sergeant--he was as black as a stovepipe--to the blinking chief,
'jes' shake yo' no-count bones an' tote dat wattuh yo'se'f. Yo' ain'
no bettuh to pack wattuh dan Ah am, yo' heah me.'"

"The heap-much Indian chief didn't understand a word of what the Negro
sergeant said to him, but he understands pantomime all right, and when
the black man in uniform grabbed the pail out of the squaw's hand and
thrust it into the dirty paw of the chief the chief went after that
bucket of water, and he went a-loping, too."

[Illustration.]

"The Sioux will hand down to their children's children the story of
a charge that a couple of Negro cavalry troops made during the Pine
Ridge troubles. It was of the height of the fracas, and the bad
Indians were regularly lined up for battle. Those two black troops
were ordered to make the initial swoop upon them. You know the noise
one black man can make when he gets right down to the business of
yelling. Well, these two troops of blacks started their terrific whoop
in unison when they were a mile away from the waiting Sioux, and they
got warmed up and in better practice with every jump their horses
made. I give you my solemn word that in the ears of us of the white
outfit, stationed three miles away, the yelps those two Negro troops
of cavalry gave sounded like the carnival whooping of ten thousand
devils. The Sioux weren't scared a little bit by the approaching
clouds of alkali dust, but, all the same, when the two black troops
were more than a quarter of a mile away the Indians broke and ran as
if the old boy himself were after them, and it was then an easy matter
to round them up and disarm them. The chiefs afterward confessed that
they were scared out by the awful howling of the black soldiers."

"Ever since the war the United States navy has had a fair
representation of Negro bluejackets, and they make first-class naval
tars. There is not a ship in the navy to-day that hasn't from six to
a dozen, anyhow, of Negroes on its muster rolls. The Negro sailors'
names very rarely get enrolled on the bad conduct lists. They are
obedient, sober men and good seamen. There are many petty officers
among them."--_The Planet._


THE CHARGE OF THE "NIGGER NINTH" ON SAN JUAN HILL.

BY GEORGE E. POWELL

  Hark! O'er the drowsy trooper's dream,
  There comes a martial metal's scream,
    That startles one and all!
  It is the word, to wake, to die!
  To hear the foeman's fierce defy!
  To fling the column's battle-cry!
    The "boots and saddles" call.

  The shimmering steel, the glow or morn,
  The rally-call of battle-horn,
  Proclaim a day of carnage, born
    For better or for ill.
  Above the pictured tentage white,
  Above the weapons glinting bright,
  The day god casts a golden light
    Across the San Juan Hill.

  "Forward!" "Forward!" comes the cry,
  As stalwart columns, ambling by,
  Stride over graves that, waiting, lie
    Undug in mother earth!
  Their goal, the flag of fierce Castile
  Above her serried ranks of steel,
  Insensate to the cannon's peal
    That gives the battle birth!

  As brawn as black--a fearless foe;
  Grave, grim and grand, they onward go,
    To conquer or to die!
  The rule of right; the march of might;
  A dusky host from darker night,
  Responsive to the morning light,
    To work the martial will!
  And o'er the trench and trembling earth,
  The morn that gives the battle birth
    Is on the San Juan Hill!

  Hark! sounds again the bugle call!
  Let ring the rifles over all,
  To shriek above the battle-pall
    The war-god's jubilee!
  Their's, were bondmen, low, and long;
  Their's, once weak against the strong;
  Their's, to strike and stay the wrong,
    That strangers might be free!

  And on, and on, for weal or woe,
  The tawny faces grimmer go,
  That bade no mercy to a foe
    That pitties but to kill.
  "Close up!" "Close up!" is heard, and said,
  And yet the rain of steel and lead
  Still leaves a livid trail of red
    Upon the San Juan Hill!

  "Charge!" "Charge!" The bugle peals again;
  'Tis life or death for Roosevelt's men!--
    The Mausers make reply!
  Aye! speechless are those swarthy sons,
  Save for the clamor of the guns--
    Their only battle-cry!
  The lowly stain upon each face,
  The taunt still fresh of prouder race,
  But speeds the step that springs a pace,
    To succor or to die!

  With rifles hot--to waist-band nude;
  The brawn beside the pampered dude;
  The cowboy king--one grave--and rude--
    To shelter him who falls!
  One breast--and bare,--howe'er begot,
  The low, the high--one common lot:
  The world's distinction all forgot
    When Freedom's bugle calls!

  No faltering step, no fitful start;
  None seeking less than all his part;
  One watchward springing from each heart,--
    Yet on, and onward still!
  The sullen sound of tramp and tread;
  Abe Lincoln's flag still overhead;
  They followed where the angels led
    The way, up San Juan Hill!

  And where the life stream ebbs and flows,
  And stains the track of trenchant blows
    That met no meaner steel,
  The bated breath--the battle yell--
  The turf in slippery crimson, tell
  Where Castile's proudest colors fell
    With wounds that never heal!

  Where every trooper found a wreath
  Of glory for his sabre sheath;
    And earned the laurels well;
  With feet to field and face to foe,
  In lines of battle lying low,
    The sable soldiers fell!

  And where the black and brawny breast
  Gave up its all--life's richest, best,
  To find the tomb's eternal rest
    A dream of freedom still!
  A groundless creed was swept away,
  With brand of "coward "--a time-worn say--
  And he blazed the path a better way
    Up the side of San Juan Hill!
  For black or white, on the scroll of fame,
  The blood of the hero dyes the same;
  And ever, ever will!

  Sleep, trooper, sleep; thy sable brow,
  Amid the living laurel now,
    Is wound in wreaths of fame!
  Nor need the graven granite stone,
  To tell of garlands all thine own--
    To hold a soldier's name!

[In the city of New Orleans, in 1866, two thousand two hundred and
sixty-six ex-slaves were recruited for the service. None but the
largest and blackest Negroes were accepted. From these were formed
the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, and the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry. All four are famous fighting regiments, yet the two cavalry
commands have earned the proudest distinction. While the record of the
Ninth Cavalry, better known as the "Nigger Ninth," in its thirty-two
years of service in the Indian wars, in the military history of the
border, stands without a peer; and is, without exception, the most
famous fighting regiment in the United States service.]--Author.

[Illustration: COLONEL THEODORE B. ROOSEVELT.]




CHAPTER IV.


COLONEL THEODORE B. ROOSEVELT, NOW GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, WHO LED THE
ROUGH RIDERS, TELLS OF THE BRAVERY OF NEGRO SOLDIERS.


When Colonel Theodore Roosevelt returned from the command of the
famous Rough Riders, he delivered a farewell address to his men,
in which he made the following kind reference to the gallant Negro
soldiers:

"Now, I want to say just a word more to some of the men I see standing
around not of your number. I refer to the colored regiments, who
occupied the right and left flanks of us at Guásimas, the Ninth and
Tenth cavalry regiments. The Spaniards called them 'Smoked Yankees,'
but we found them to be an excellent breed of Yankees. I am sure that
I speak the sentiments of officers and men in the assemblage when I
say that between you and the other cavalry regiments there exists a
tie which we trust will never be broken."--_Colored American_.

       *       *       *       *       *

The foregoing compliments to the Negro soldiers by Colonel Roosevelt
started up an avalanche of additional praise for them, out of which
the fact came, that but for the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry (colored)
coming up at Las Guásimas, destroying the Spanish block house and
driving the Spaniards off, when Roosevelt and his men had been caught
in a trap, with a barbed-wire fence on one side and a precipice on
the other, not only the brave Capron and Fish, but the whole of his
command would have been annihilated by the Spanish sharp-shooters, who
were firing with smokeless powder under cover, and picking off the
Rough Riders one by one, who could not see the Spaniards. To break the
force of this unfavorable comment on the Rough Riders, it is claimed
that Colonel Roosevelt made the following criticism of the colored
soldiers in general and of a few of them in particular, in an article
written by him for the April Scribner; and a letter replying to
the Colonel's strictures, follows by Sergeant Holliday, who was an
"eye-witness" to the incident:

Colonel Roosevelt's criticism was, in substance, that colored
soldiers were of no avail without white officers; that when the white
commissioned officers are killed or disabled, colored non-commissioned
officers could not be depended upon to keep up a charge already begun;
that about a score of colored infantrymen, who had drifted into his
command, weakened on the hill at San Juan under the galling Spanish
fire, and started to the rear, stating that they intended finding
their regiments, or to assist the wounded; whereupon he drew his
revolver and ordered them to return to ranks and there remain, and
that he would shoot the first man who didn't obey him; and that after
that he had no further trouble.

Colonel Roosevelt is sufficiently answered in the following letter of
Sergeant Holliday, and the point especially made by many eye-witnesses
(white) who were engaged in that fight is, as related in Chapter V, of
this book, that the Negro troops made the charges both at San Juan and
El Caney after nearly all their officers had been killed or wounded.
Upon what facts, therefore, does Colonel Roosevelt base his
conclusions that Negro soldiers will not fight without commissioned
officers, when the only real test of this question happened around
Santiago and showed just the contrary of what he states? We prefer
to take the results at El Caney and San Juan as against Colonel
Roosevelt's imagination.

COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S ERROR.

TRUE STORY OF THE INCIDENT HE MAGNIFIED TO OUR HURT--THE WHITE
OFFICERS' HUMBUG SKINNED OF ITS HIDE BY SERGEANT HOLLIDAY--UNWRITTEN
HISTORY.

_To the Editor of the New York Age_:

Having read in _The Age_ of April 13 an editorial entitled "Our Troops
in Cuba," which brings to my notice for the first time a statement
made by Colonel Roosevelt, which, though in some parts true, if read
by those who do not know the exact facts and circumstances surrounding
the case, will certainly give rise to the wrong impression of colored
men as soldiers, and hurt them for many a day to come, and as I was
an eye-witness to the most important incidents mentioned in that
statement, I deem it a duty I owe, not only to the fathers, mothers,
sisters and brothers of those soldiers, and to the soldiers
themselves, but to their posterity and the race in general, to be
always ready to make an unprejudiced refutation of such charges, and
to do all in my power to place the colored soldier where he properly
belongs--among the bravest and most trustworthy of this land.

In the beginning, I wish to say that from what I saw of Colonel
Roosevelt in Cuba, and the impression his frank countenance made
upon me, I cannot believe that he made that statement maliciously. I
believe the Colonel thought he spoke the exact truth. But did he know,
that of the four officers connected with two certain troops of the
Tenth Cavalry one was killed and three were so seriously wounded as to
cause them to be carried from the field, and the command of these two
troops fell to the first sergeants, who led them triumphantly to the
front? Does he know that both at Las Guasima and San Juan Hill the
greater part of troop B, of the Tenth Cavalry, was separated from its
commanding officer by accidents of battle and was led to the front by
its first sergeant?

When we reached the enemy's works on San Juan Hill our organizations
were very badly mixed, few company commanders having their whole
companies or none of some body else's company. As it was, Capt.
Watson, my troop commander, reached the crest of the hill with about
eight or ten men of his troop, all the rest having been accidentally
separated from him by the thick underbrush during the advance, and
being at that time, as was subsequently shown to be the firing line
under some one else pushing to the front. We kept up the forward
movement, and finally halted on the heights overlooking Santiago,
where Colonel Roosevelt, with a very thin line had preceded us, and
was holding the hill. Here Captain Watson told us to remain while he
went to another part of the line to look for the rest of his troop. He
did not come to that part of the field again.

The Colonel made a slight error when he said his mixed command
contained some colored infantry. All the colored troops in that
command were cavalry men. His command consisted mostly of Rough
Riders, with an aggregate of about one troop of the Tenth Cavalry, a
few of the Ninth and a few of the First Regular Cavalry, with a half
dozen officers. Every few minutes brought men from the rear, everybody
seeming to be anxious to get to the firing line. For a while we kept
up a desultory fire, but as we could not locate the enemy (he all the
time keeping up a hot fire on our position), we became disgusted, and
lay down and kept silent. Private Marshall was here seriously wounded
while standing in plain view of the enemy, trying to point them out to
his comrades.

There were frequent calls for men to carry the wounded to the rear,
to go for ammunition, and as night came on, to go for rations and
entrenching tools. A few colored soldiers volunteered, as did some
from the Rough Riders. It then happened that two men of the Tenth were
ordered to the rear by Lieutenant Fleming, Tenth Cavalry, who was then
present with part of his troop, for the purpose of bringing either
rations or entrenching tools, and Colonel Roosevelt seeing so many men
going to the rear, shouted to them to come back, jumped up and drew
his revolver, and told the men of the Tenth that he would shoot the
first man who attempted to shirk duty by going to the rear, that he
had orders to hold that line and he would do so if he had to shoot
every man there to do it. His own men immediately informed him that
"you won't have to shoot those men, Colonel. We know those boys." He
was also assured by Lieutenant Fleming, of the Tenth, that he would
have no trouble keeping them there, and some of our men shouted, in
which I joined, that "we will stay with you, Colonel." Everyone who
saw the incident knew the Colonel was mistaken about our men trying to
shirk duty, but well knew that he could not admit of any heavy detail
from his command, so no one thought ill of the matter. Inasmuch as the
Colonel came to the line of the Tenth the next day and told the men of
his threat to shoot some of their members and, as he expressed it, he
had seen his mistake and found them to be far different men from what
he supposed. I thought he was sufficiently conscious of his error not
to make a so ungrateful statement about us at a time when the Nation
is about to forget our past service.

Had the Colonel desired to note the fact, he would have seen that when
orders came the next day to relieve the detachment of the Tenth from
that part of the field, he commanded just as many colored men at that
time as he commanded at any other time during the twenty-four hours
we were under his command, although colored as well as white soldiers
were going and coming all day, and they knew perfectly well where the
Tenth Cavalry was posted, and that it was on a line about four hundred
yards further from the enemy than Colonel Roosevelt's line. Still when
they obtained permission to go to the rear, they almost invariably
came back to the same position. Two men of my troop were wounded while
at the rear for water and taken to the hospital and, of course, could
not come back.

Our men always made it a rule to join the nearest command when
separated from our own, and those who had been so unfortunate as to
lose their way altogether were, both colored and white, straggling
up from the time the line was established until far into the night,
showing their determination to reach the front.

In explaining the desire of our men in going back to look for their
comrades, it should be stated that, from the contour of the ground,
the Rough Riders were so much in advance of the Tenth Cavalry that,
to reach the latter regiment from the former, one had really to go
straight to the rear and then turn sharply to the right; and further,
it is a well known fact, that in this country most persons of color
feel out of place when they are by force compelled to mingle with
white persons, especially strangers, and although we knew we were
doing our duty, and would be treated well as long as we stood to the
front and fought, unfortunately some of our men (and these were all
recruits with less than six months' service) felt so much out of place
that when the firing lulled, often showed their desire to be with
their commands. None of our older men did this. We knew perfectly well
that we could give as much assistance there as anywhere else, and that
it was our duty to remain until relieved. And we did. White soldiers
do not, as a rule, share this feeling with colored soldiers. The fact
that a white man knows how well he can make a place for himself among
colored people need not be discussed here.

I remember an incident of a recruit of my troop, with less than two
months' service, who had come up to our position during the evening of
the 1st, having been separated from the troop during the attack on San
Juan Hill. The next morning, before the firing began, having seen an
officer of the Tenth, who had been sent to Colonel Roosevelt with a
message, returning to the regiment, he signified his intention of
going back with him, saying he could thus find the regiment. I
remonstrated with him without avail and was only able to keep him from
going by informing him of the Colonel's threat of the day before.
There was no desire on the part of this soldier to shirk duty. He
simply didn't know that he should not leave any part of the firing
line without orders. Later, while lying in reserve behind the firing
line, I had to use as much persuasion to keep him from firing over the
heads of his enemies as I had to keep him with us. He remained with us
until he was shot in the shoulder and had to be sent to the rear.

I could give many other incidents of our men's devotion to duty, of
their determination to stay until the death, but what's the use?
Colonel Roosevelt has said they shirked, and the reading public will
take the Colonel at his word and go on thinking they shirked. His
statement was uncalled for and uncharitable, and considering the moral
and physical effect the advance of the Tenth Cavalry had in weakening
the forces opposed to the Colonel's regiment, both at La Guasima and
San Juan Hill, altogether ungrateful, and has done us an immeasurable
lot of harm.

And further, as to lack of qualifications for command, I will say
that when our soldiers, who can and will write history, sever their
connections with the Regular Army, and thus release themselves from
their voluntary status of military lockjaw, and tell what they saw,
those who now preach that the Negro is not fit to exercise command
over troops, and will go no further than he is led by white officers,
will see in print held up for public gaze, much to their chagrin,
tales of those Cuban battles that have never been told outside the
tent and barrack room, tales that it will not be agreeable for some
of them to hear. The public will then learn that not every troop or
company of colored soldiers who took part in the assaults on San Juan
Hill or El Caney was led or urged forward by its white officer.

It is unfortunate that we had no colored officers in that campaign,
and this thing of white officers for colored troops is exasperating,
and I join with _The Age_ in saying our motto for the future must be:
"No officers, no soldiers."

PRESLEY HOLLIDAY,

Sergeant Troop B, Tenth Cavalry.

Fort Ringgold, Texas, April 22, 1899.

       *       *       *       *       *

JACOB A. RIIS in _The Outlook_ gives the following interesting reading
concerning the colored troopers in an article entitled "Roosevelt and
His Men":

[Illustration: 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
will 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 till 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 hill. He followed his comrades with
longing eyes till 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."

[Illustration: SERGEANT BERRY, The first soldier who reached the Block
House on San Juan Hill 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 hill. 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 willing 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 BY
PROMOTION.

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 William Washington, Troop F, and
John C. Proctor, Troop I, of the 9th Cavalry, and Sergeants William
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.
Hill, 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.

[Illustration: 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 will 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 Illinois.) 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 will mark a distinct step in advance of
any taken hitherto. It will 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 will 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 will 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 will be ready
to recognize exceptional prowess and skill when performed by a Negro
officer."

"All, 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 still 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."

[Illustration: 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 will come
when General Shafter will 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 illustration 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 millennium of North and South, the Negroes will 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 will 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'll be a hot time in the old town to-night. That's not a
thrilling 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
hill as if it were in drill, so solid do they keep their formation,
and those men are yelling, 'There'll 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 thrill 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, will you follow me?' and you hear a
tremendous shout answer him, 'You bet we will,' 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 will 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 EL
CANEY--"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 Hill, 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."

[Illustration: 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 killed. The fourth of the Negro
regiments, the Twenty-fifth Infantry, played an especially brilliant
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 hill, 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 hill, and take the hill 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 hills
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 hill.

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
killed 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
killed.

NEGROES FIGHT LIKE TIGERS.

Company F, Twenty-fourth Infantry, lost Lieutenant Augustin, of
Louisiana, killed, 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
hill 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 Hill 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, "will 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 Hill, 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
_Illinois 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 will 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 cavalry. The order came, 'Get under cover,' and
the Seventy-first New York and the Tenth Cavalry took opposite sides
of the road and lay down in the bushes. For a short time no orders
came, and feeling a misapprehension of the issue, I hastened forward
to consult with the first lieutenant of the company. We found that
through a misinterpreted order the captain of the troop and eight
men had gone forward. Hastening back to my post I consulted with the
captain in the rear of Troop G, and the quartermaster appeared upon
the scene asking the whereabouts of the Tenth Cavalry. They made known
their presence, and the quartermaster told them to go on, showing the
path, the quartermaster led them forward until the bend in the
San Juan River was reached. Here the first bloodshed in the Tenth
occurred, a young-volunteer named Baldwin fell, pierced by a Spanish
ball."

An aide hastened up and gave the colonel of the regiment orders to
move forward. The summit of the hill was crowned by two block-houses,
and from these came an unceasing fire. Lieutenant Roberts said he had
been lying on the ground but rose to his knees to repeat an order,
"Move forward," when a mauser ball struck him in the abdomen and
passed entirely through his body. Being wounded, he was carried off of
the field, but after all was over, Lieutenant Roberts says it was said
(on the quiet, of course) that "the heroic charge of the Tenth Cavalry
saved the 'Rough Riders' from destruction." Lieutenant Roberts says
he left Cuba on the 12th of July for Fort Monroe, and that a wounded
Rough Rider told him while coming over that "had it not been for the
Tenth Cavalry the Rough Riders would never passed through the seething
cauldron of Spanish missiles." Such is the statement of one of
Springfield's best citizens, a member of the Tenth Cavalry, United
States regulars.

[Illustration: FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN REPUBLIC.]

Some days later, Lieutenant Roberts had occasion to visit Chicago and
Fort Sheridan, and while there he was interviewed by a representative
of the Chicago Chronicle, to whom he related practically the same
story as above stated, "You probably know my regiment is made up
exclusively of Negroes except for the commissioned officers, and I
want to say right here that those men performed deeds of heroism on
that day which have no parallel in the history of warfare. They were
under fire from six in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon, with
strict orders not to return the hail of lead, and not a man in those
dusky ranks flinched. Our brigade was instructed to move forward
soon after 1 o'clock to assault the series of blockhouses which was
regarded as impregnable by the foreign attaches. As the aide dashed
down our lines with orders from headquarters the boys realized the
prayed-for charge was about to take place and cheered lustily. Such a
charge! Will I ever forget that sublime spectacle? There was a river
called San Juan, from the hill hard by, but which historians will term
the pool of blood. Our brigade had to follow the course of that creek
fully half a mile to reach the point selected for the grand attack.
With what cheering did the boys go up that hill! Their naked bodies
seemed to present a perfect target to the fire of the dons, but they
never flinched. When the command reached the famous stone blockhouse
it was commanded by a second sergeant, who was promoted on the field
of battle for extraordinary bravery. San Juan fell many minutes before
El Caney, which was attacked first, and I think the Negro soldiers can
be thanked for the greater part of that glorious work. All honor to
the Negro soldiers! No white man, no matter what his ancestry may
be, should be ashamed to greet any of those Negro cavalrymen with
out-stretched hand. The swellest of the Rough Riders counted our
troopers among their best friends and asked them to their places in
New York when they returned, and I believe the wealthy fellows will
prove their admiration had a true inspiration."

Thus we see that while the various newspapers of the country
are striving to give the Rough Riders first honors, an honest,
straightforward army officer who was there and took an active part in
the fight, does not hesitate to give honor to whom honor is due, for
he says, "All honor to the Negro soldiers," and that it was they who
"saved the Rough Riders from destruction." And right here I wish to
call the reader's attention to another very important matter and that
is, while it has been said heretofore that the Negro soldier was not
competent to command, does not the facts in the case prove, beyond a
doubt, that there is no truth in the statement whatever? If a white
colonel was "competent" to lead his command into the fight, it seems
that a colored sergeant was competent extraordinary, for he not only
went into the fight, but he, and his command, "done something,"
done the enemy out of the trenches, "saved the Rough Riders from
destruction," and planted the Stars and Stripes on the blockhouse.

Just before the charge, one of the foreign attaches, an Englishman,
was heard to say that he did not see how the blockhouse was to be
reached without the aid of cannon; but after the feat had been
accomplished, a colored soldier said, "We showed him how."

Now that the colored soldier has proven to this nation, and the
representatives of others, that he can, and does fight, as well as the
"other fellow," and that he is also "competent" to command, it remains
to be seen if the national government will give honor to whom honor is
due, by honoring those deserving, with commissions.

Under the second call for volunteers by the President, the State of
Illinois raised a regiment of colored soldiers, and Governor Tanner
officered that regiment with colored officers from colonel down; and
that, as you might say, before they had earned their "rank." Now the
question is, can the national government afford to do less by those,
who have earned, and are justly entitled to, a place in the higher
ranks? We shall see.

C.F. ANDERSON.

Springfield, Ill.

       *       *       *       *       *

COLORED FIGHTERS AT SANTIAGO.

Testimony is multiplying of the bravery of the colored troops at
Santiago de Cuba July 1st and 2d, 1898.

Testimony is adduced to show that these "marvels of warfare" actually
fought without officers and executed movements under a galling fire
which would have puzzled a recruit on parade ground. The Boston
Journal of the 31st, in its account, gives the following
interview-Mason Mitchell (white) said:

"We were in a valley when we started, but made at once for a trail
running near the top of a ridge called La Quasina, several hundred
feet high, which, with several others parallel to it, extended in the
direction of Santiago. By a similar trail near the top of the ridge to
our right several companies of Negro troopers of the Ninth and Tenth
United States Cavalry marched in scout formation, as we did. We had an
idea about where the Spaniards were and depended upon Cuban scouts to
warn us but they did not do it. At about 8:30 o'clock in the morning
we met a volley from the enemy, who were ambushed, not only on our
ridge, but on the one to the right, beyond the Negro troops, and the
Negro soldiers were under a cross fire. That is how Capt. Capron and
Hamilton Fish were killed."

It says: "Handsome young Sergt. Stewart, the Rough Rider protege of
Henry W. Maxwell, when he was telling of the fight in the ambush, gave
it as his opinion that the Rough Riders would have been whipped out if
the Tenth Cavalry (colored) had not come up just in time to drive
the Spaniards back. 'I'm a Southerner, from New Mexico, and I never
thought much of the 'nigger' before. Now I know what they are made of.
I respect them. They certainly can fight like the devil and they don't
care for bullets any more than they do for the leaves that shower down
on them. I've changed my opinion of the colored folks, for all of the
men that I saw fighting, there were none to beat the Tenth Cavalry and
the colored infantry at Santiago, and I don't mind saying so.'"

The description which follows is interesting: "It was simply grand to
see how those young fellows, and old fellows, too, men who were rich
and had been the petted of society in the city, walk up and down the
lines while their clothes were powdered by the dust from exploding
shells and torn by broken fragments cool as could be and yelling to
the men to lay low and take good aim, or directing some squad to take
care of a poor devil who was wounded. Why, at times there when the
bullets were so thick they mowed the grass down like grass cutters in
places, the officers stood looking at the enemy through glasses as if
they were enjoying the scene, and now and then you'd see a Captain or
a Lieutenant pick up a gun from a wounded or dead man and blaze
away himself at some good shot that he had caught sight of from his
advantage point. Those sights kind of bring men together and make
them think more of each other. And when a white man strayed from his
regiment and falls wounded it rather affects him to have a Negro, shot
himself a couple of times, take his carbine and make a splint of it
to keep a torn limb together for the white soldier, and then, after
lifting him to one side, pick up the wounded man's rifle and go back
to the fight with as much vigor as ever. Yes, sir, we boys have
learned something down there, even if some of us were pretty badly
torn for it."

Another witness testifies: "Trooper Lewis Bowman, another of the brave
Tenth Cavalry, had two ribs broken by a Spanish shell while before San
Juan. He told of the battle as follows:"

"'The Rough Riders had gone off in great glee, bantering up and
good-naturedly boasting that they were going ahead to lick the
Spaniards without any trouble, and advising us to remain where we were
until they returned, and they would bring back some Spanish heads as
trophies. When we heard firing in the distance, our Captain remarked
that some one ahead was doing good work. The firing became so heavy
and regular that our officers, without orders, decided to move forward
and reconnoitre When we got where we could see what was going on we
found that the Rough Riders had marched down a sort of canon between
the mountains. The Spaniards had men posted at the entrance, and as
soon as the Rough Riders had gone in had about closed up the rear
and were firing upon the Rough Riders from both the front and rear.
Immediately the Spaniards in the rear received a volley from our men
of the Tenth Cavalry (colored) without command. The Spaniards were
afraid we were going to flank them, and rushed out of ambush, in front
of the Rough Riders, throwing up their hands and shouting, 'Don't
shoot; we are Cubans.'"

"The Rough Riders thus let them escape, and gave them a chance to take
a better position ahead. During all this time the men were in all the
tall grass and could not see even each other and I feared the Rough
Riders in the rear shot many of their men in the front, mistaking them
for Spanish soldiers. By this time the Tenth Cavalry had fully taken
in the situation, and, adopting the method employed in fighting
the Indians, were able to turn the tide of battle and repulse the
Spaniards."

He speaks plainly when he says:

"I don't think it an exaggeration to say that if it had not been for
the timely aid of the Tenth Cavalry (colored) the Rough Riders would
have been exterminated. This is the unanimous opinion, at least, of
the men of the Tenth Cavalry. I was in the fight of July 1, and it was
in that fight that I received my wound. We were under fire in that
fight about forty-eight hours, and were without food and with but
little water. We had been cut off from our pack train, as the Spanish
sharpshooters shot our mules as soon as they came anywhere near the
lines, and it was impossible to move supplies. Very soon after the
firing began our Colonel was killed, and the most of our other
officers were killed or wounded, so that the greater part of that
desperate battle was fought by some of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry
without officers; or, at least, if there were any officers around, we
neither saw them nor heard their commands. The last command I heard
our Captain give was:"

"'Boys, when you hear my whistle, lie flat down on the ground.'"

"Whether he ever whistled or not I do not know. The next move we made
was when, with a terrific yell, we charged up to the Spanish trenches
and bayoneted and clubbed them out of their places in a jiffy. Some of
the men of our regiment say that the last command they heard was: 'To
the rear!' But this command they utterly disregarded and charged to
the front until the day was won, and the Spaniards, those not dead in
the trenches, fled back to the city."

[Illustration: CUBANS FIGHTING FROM TREE TOPS.]

But a colored man, Wm. H. Brown, a member of the Tenth Cavalry, said:

"A foreign officer, standing near our position when we started out to
make that charge, was heard to say; 'Men, for heaven's sake, don't
go up that hill! It will be impossible for human beings to take that
position! You can't stand the fire!' Notwithstanding this, with a
terrific yell we rushed up the enemy's works, and you know the result.
Men who saw him say that when this officer saw us make the charge he
turned his back upon us and wept."

"And the odd thing about it all is that these wounded heroes never
will admit that they did anything out of the common. They will
talk all right about those 'other fellows,' but they don't about
themselves, and were immensely surprised when such a fuss was made
over them on their arrival and since. They simply believed they had a
duty to perform and performed it."--Planet.

       *       *       *       *       *

OUR COLORED SOLDIERS.

A FEW OF THE INTERESTING COMMENTS ON THE DEEDS PERFORMED BY THE BRAVE
BOYS OF THE REGULAR ARMY--SAVED THE LIFE OF HIS LIEUTENANT BUT LOST
HIS OWN.


"The Ninth and Tenth Cavalry are composed of the bravest lot of
soldiers I ever saw. They held the ground that Roosevelt retreated
from and saved them from annihilation."


To a Massachusetts soldier in another group of interviewers, the same
question was put: "How about the colored soldiers?"

"They fought like demons," came the answer.

"Before El Caney was taken the Spaniards were on the heights of San
Juan with heavy guns. All along our line an assault was made and the
enemy was holding us off with terrible effect. From their blockhouse
on the hill came a magazine of shot. Shrapnell shells fell in our
ranks, doing great damage. Something had to be done or the day would
have been lost. The Ninth and part of the Tenth Cavalry moved across
into a thicket near by. The Spaniards rained shot upon them. They
collected and like a flash swept across the plains and charged up the
hill. The enemy's guns were used with deadly effect. On and on they
went, charging with the fury of madness. The blockhouse was captured,
the enemy fled and we went into El Caney."

In another group a trooper from an Illinois regiment was explaining
the character of the country and the effect of the daily rains upon
the troops. Said he:

"Very few colored troops are sick. They stood the climate better and
even thrived on the severity of army life."

Said he: "I never had much use for a 'nigger' and didn't want him
in the fight. He is all right, though. He makes a good soldier and
deserves great credit."

Another comrade near by related the story as told by a cavalry
lieutenant, who with a party reconnoitered a distance from camp. The
thick growth of grass and vines made ambuscading a favorite pastime
with the Spaniards. With smokeless powder they lay concealed in the
grass. As the party rode along the sharp eye of a colored cavalryman
noticed the movement of grass ahead. Leaning over his horse with sword
in hand he plucked up an enemy whose gun was levelled at the officer.
The Spaniard was killed by the Negro who himself fell dead, shot by
another. He had saved the life of his lieutenant and lost his own.

A comrade of the Seventeenth Infantry gave his testimony. Said he:

"I shall never forget the 1st of July. At one time in the engagement
of that day the Twenty-first Infantry had faced a superior force of
Spaniards and were almost completely surrounded. The Twenty-fourth
Infantry, of colored troops, seeing the perilous position of the
Twenty-first, rushed to the rescue, charged and routed the enemy,
thereby saving the ill-fated regiment."

Col. Joseph Haskett, of the Seventeenth regular Infantry, testifies to
the meritorious conduct of the Negro troops. Said he:

"Our colored soldiers are 100 percent superior to the Cuban. He is a
good scout, brave soldier, and not only that, but is everywhere to be
seen building roads for the movement of heavy guns."

Among the trophies of war brought to Old Point were a machete, the
captured property of a colored trooper, a fine Spanish sword, taken
from an officer and a little Cuban lad about nine years old, whose
parents had bled for Cuba. His language and appearance made him the
cynosure of all eyes. He was dressed in a little United States uniform
and had pinned to his clothing a tag which read: "Santiago buck, care
of Col. C.L. Wilson, Manhattan Club, New York." His name is Vairrames
y Pillero.

He seemed to enjoy the shower of small coin that fell upon him from
the hotels. His first and only English words were "Moocha Moona."

These fragments were gathered while visiting at Old Point Comfort
recently. They serve to show the true feeling of the whites for their
brave black brother.

A.E. MEYZEEK, in the Freeman.

Louisville, Ky.

BLACK SOLDIER BOYS.

The following is what the New York Mail and Express says respecting
the good services being rendered by our black soldier boys:

"All honors to the black troopers of the gallant Tenth! No more
striking example of bravery and coolness has been shown since the
destruction of the Maine than by the colored veterans of the Tenth
Cavalry during the attack upon Caney on Saturday. By the side of the
intrepid Rough Riders they followed their leader up the terrible hill
from whose crest the desperate Spaniards poured down a deadly fire of
shell and musketry. They never faltered. The tents in their ranks
were filled as soon as made. Firing as they marched, their aim was
splendid, their coolness was superb, and their courage aroused the
admiration of their comrades. Their advance was greeted with wild
cheers from the white regiment's, and with an answering shout they
pressed onward over the trenches they had taken close in the pursuit
of the retreating enemy. The war has not shown greater heroism. The
men whose own freedom was baptized with blood have proved themselves
capable of giving up their lives that others may be free. To-day is a
glorious Fourth for all races 'of people in this great land."

       *       *       *       *       *

THEY NEVER FALTERED.

The test of the Negro soldier has been applied and today the whole
world stands amazed at the valor and distinctive bravery shown by the
men, who, in the face of a most galling fire, rushed onward while
shot and shell tore fearful gaps in their ranks. These men, the Tenth
Cavalry, did not stop to ask was it worth while for them to lay down
their lives for the honor of a country that has silently allowed her
citizens to be killed and maltreated in almost every conceivable way;
they did not stop to ask would their death bring deliverance to their
race from mob violence and lynching. They saw their duty and did it!
The New York Journal catches inspiration from the wonderful courage of
the Tenth Cavalry and writes these words:

"The two most picturesque and most characteristically American
commands in General Shafter's army bore off the great honors of a day
in which all won honor."

"No man can read the story in to-day's Journal of the 'Rough Riders'
charge on the blockhouse at El Caney of Theodore Roosevelt's mad
daring in the face of what seemed certain death without having his
pulses beat faster and some reflected light of the fire of battle
gleam from his eyes."

"And over against this scene of the cowboy and the college graduate,
the New York man about town and the Arizona bad man united in one
coherent war machine, set the picture of the Tenth United States
Cavalry-the famous colored regiment. Side by side with Roosevelt's men
they fought-these black men. Scarce used to freedom themselves, they
are dying that Cuba may be free. Their marksmanship was magnificent,
say the eye witnesses. Their courage was superb. They bore themselves
like veterans, and gave proof positive that out of nature's naturally
peaceful, careless and playful military discipline and an inspiring
cause can make soldiers worthy to rank with Caesar's legions or
Cromwell's army."

"The Rough Riders and the Black Regiment. In those two commands is an
epitome of almost our whole national character."

THE NEGRO AS A SOLDIER.

HIS GOOD NATURE--HIS KINDHEARTEDNESS--EQUALLY AVAILABLE IN INFANTRY OR
CAVALRY.

The good nature of the Negro soldier is remarkable. He is always fond
of a joke and never too tired to enjoy one. Officers have wondered to
see a whole company of them, at the close of a long practice march,
made with heavy baggage, chasing a rabbit which some one may have
started. They will run for several hundred yards whooping and yelling
and laughing, and come back to camp feeling as if they had had lots of
fun, the white soldier, even if not tired, would never see any joke in
rushing after a rabbit. To the colored man the diversion is a delight.

In caring for the sick, the Negro's tenderheartedness is conspicuous.
On one of the transports loaded with sick men a white soldier asked
to be helped to his bunk below. No one of his color stirred, but two
Negro convalescents at once went to his assistance. When volunteers
were called for to cook for the sick, only Negroes responded. They
were pleased to be of service to their officers. If the Captain's
child is ill, every man in the company is solicitous; half of them
want to act as nurse. They feel honored to be hired to look after an
officer's horse and clothing. The "striker" as he is called, soon gets
to look on himself as a part of his master; it is no "Captain has been
ordered away," but "We have been ordered away." Every concern of his
employer about which he knows interests him, and a slight to his
superior is vastly more of an offence than if offered to himself.
Indeed, if the army knew how well officers of the colored regiments
are looked after by their men, there would be less disinclination to
serve in such commands. After years with a Negro company, officers
find it difficult to get along with white soldiers. They must be much
more careful to avoid hurting sensibilities, and must do without many
little services to which they have been accustomed.

       *       *       *       *       *

MRS. PORTER'S RIDE TO THE FRONT.

For many years she has known and admired Miss Barton and against the
advice of her friends had resolved to help Miss Barton in her task of
succoring the sufferers in Cuba.

During the second day's fighting Mrs. Porter, escorted by a general
whom she has known for many years, rode almost to the firing line.
Bullets whistled about her head, but she rode bravely on until her
curiosity was satisfied. Then she rode leisurely back to safety. She
came back filled with admiration of the colored troops. She
described them as being "brave in battle, obedient under orders and
philosophical under privations."

Thanks to Mrs. Porter, the wife of the President's private secretary.
Mrs. Porter is one of heaven's blessings, sent as a messenger of "The
Ship" earth, to testify in America what she saw of the Negro troops in
Cuba.

       *       *       *       *       *

THE INVESTMENT OF SANTIAGO AND SURRENDER.

(As Presented in the N.Y. World.)

General Shafter put a human rope of 22,400 men around Santiago, with
its 26,000 Spanish soldiers, and then Spain succumbed in despair. In
a semi-circle extending around Santiago, from Daliquiri on the east
clear around to Cobre on the west, our troops were stretched a cordon
of almost impenetrable thickness and strength. First came General
Bates, with the Ninth, Tenth, Third, Thirteenth, Twenty-first and
Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry. On his right crouched General Sumner,
commanding the Third, Sixth and Ninth U.S. Cavalry. Next along the arc
were the Seventh, Twelfth and Seventeenth U.S. Infantry under General
Chaffee. Then, advantageously posted, there were six batteries of
artillery prepared to sweep the horizon under direction of General
Randolph. General Jacob Kent, with the Seventy-first New York
Volunteers and the Sixth and Sixteenth U.S. Infantry, held the centre.
They were flanked by General Wheeler and the Rough Riders, dismounted;
eight troops of the First U.S. Volunteers, four troops of the Second
U.S. Cavalry, four light batteries, two heavy batteries and then four
more troops of the Second U.S. Cavalry.

Santiago's Killed and Wounded Compared With Historic Battles.

Battle; Men Engaged.; Killed and Wounded.; Per Ct. Lost.

Agincourt; 62,000; 11,400; .18
Alma; 103,000; 8,400; .08
Bannockburn; 135,000; 38,000; .28
Borodino; 250,000; 78,000; .31
Cannae; 146,000; 52,000; .34
Cressy; 117,000; 31,000; .27
Gravelotte; 396,000; 52,000; .16
Sadowa; 291,000; 33,000; .11
Waterloo; 221,000; 51,000; .23
Antietam; 87,000; 31,000; .29
Austerlitz; 154,000; 38,000; .48
Gettysburg; 185,000; 34,000; .44
Sedan; 314,000; 47,000; .36
Santiago; 22,400; 1,457; .07
El Caney; 3,300; 650; .19
San Juan; 6,000; 745; .12
Aguadores; 2,400; 62; .02

[Illustration: INVESTMENT OF SANTIAGO BY U.S. ARMY.]

General Lawton, with the Second Massachusetts and the Eighth and
Twenty-second U.S. Infantry, came next. Then General Duffield's
command, comprising the volunteers from Michigan (Thirty-third and
Third Regiments), and the Ninth Massachusetts, stretched along until
Gen. Ludlow's men were reached. These comprised the First Illinois,
First District of Columbia, Eighth Ohio, running up to the Eighth and
Twenty-second Regulars and the Bay State men. Down by the shore across
from Morro and a little way inland Generals Henry and Garretson had
posted the Sixth Illinois and the crack Sixth Massachusetts, flanking
the railroad line to Cobre.

SCENES OF THE FINAL SURRENDER.

When reveille sounded Sunday morning half the great semi-lunar
camp was awake and eager for the triumphal entrance into the city.
Speculation ran rife as to which detachment would accompany the
General and his staff into Santiago. The choice fell upon the
Ninth Infantry. Shortly before 9 o'clock General Shafter left his
headquarters, accompanied by Generals Lawton and Wheeler, Colonels
Ludlow, Ames and Kent, and eighty other officers. The party walked
slowly down the hill to the road leading to Santiago, along which they
advanced until they reached the now famous tree outside the walls,
under which all negotiations for the surrender of the city had taken
place. As they reached this spot the cannon on every hillside and in
the city itself boomed forth a salute of twenty-one guns, which was
echoed at Siboney and Aserradero.

The soldiers knew what the salute meant, and cheer upon cheer arose
and ran from end to end of the eight miles of the American lines. A
troop of colored cavalry and the Twenty-fifth colored infantry then
started to join General Shafter and his party.

The Americans waited under the tree as usual, when General Shafter
sent word to General Toral that he was ready to take possession of the
town. General Toral, in full uniform, accompanied by his whole staff,
fully caparisoned, shortly afterward left the city and walked to where
the American officers were waiting their coming. When they reached the
tree General Shafter and General Toral saluted each other gravely and
courteously. Salutes were also exchanged by other American and Spanish
officers. The officers were then introduced to each other. After this
little ceremony the two commanding generals faced each other and
General Toral, speaking in Spanish, said:

"Through fate I am forced to surrender to General Shafter, of the
American Army, the city and the strongholds of Santiago."

General Toral's voice grew husky as he spoke, giving up the town
and the surrounding country to his victorious enemy. As he finished
speaking the Spanish officers presented arms.

General Shafter, in reply, said:

"I receive the city in the name of the government of the United
States."

General Toral addressed an order to his officers in Spanish and they
wheeled about, still presenting arms, and General Shafter and the
other American officers with the cavalry and infantry followed them,
walked by the Spaniards and proceeded into the city proper.

The soldiers on the American line could see quite plainly all the
proceedings. As their commander entered the city they gave voice to
cheer after cheer.

Although no attempt was made to humiliate them the Spanish soldiers
seemed at first to feel downcast and scarcely glanced at their
conquerors as they passed by, but this apparent depth of feeling was
not displayed very long. Without being sullen they appeared to be
utterly indifferent to the reverses of the Spanish arms, but it was
not long ere the prospect of regulation rations and a chance to go to
their homes made them almost cheerful. All about the filthy streets
of the city the starving refugees: could be seen, gaunt, hollow-eyed,
weak and trembling.

The squalor in the streets was dreadful. The bones of dead horses and
other animals were bleaching in the streets and buzzards almost as
tame as sparrows hopped aside as passers-by disturbed them. There
was a fetid smell everywhere and evidences of a pitiless siege and
starvation on every hand.

The palace was reached soon after 10 o'clock. Then, General Toral
introduced General Shafter and the other officials to various local
dignitaries and a scanty luncheon, was brought. Coffee, rice, wine and
toasted cake were the main condiments.

Then came the stirring scene in the balcony which every one felt was
destined to become notably historic in our annals of warfare, and the
ceremony over, General Shafter withdrew to our own lines and left the
city to General McKibbin and his police force of guards and sentries.
The end had come. Spain's haughty ensign trailed in the dust; Old
Glory, typifying liberty and the pursuit of happiness untrammelled
floated over the official buildings from Fort Morro to the Plaza de
Armas--the investment of Santiago de Cuba was accomplished.




CHAPTER VI.


NO COLOR LINE DRAWN IN CUBA.


A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION-CONDITION IN THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES-AMERICAN
PREJUDICE CANNOT EXIST THERE-A CATHOLIC PRIEST VOUCHES FOR THE
ACCURACY OF STATEMENT.


The article we reprint from the New York Sun touching the status of
the Colored man in Cuba was shown to Rev. Father Walter R. Yates,
Assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Colored Church.

A Planet reporter was informed that Father Yates had resided in that
climate for several years and wished his views.

"The Sun correspondent is substantially correct," said the Reverend
gentleman. "Of course, the article is very incomplete, there are many
omissions, but that is to be expected in a newspaper article."

It would take volumes to describe the achievements of men of the
Negro, or as I prefer to call it, the Aethiopic Race, not only in
Cuba, but in all the West Indies, Central and South America, and in
Europe especially in Sicily, Spain and France.

"By achievements I mean success in military, political, social,
religious and literary walks of life. The only thing I see to
correct in the Sun's article, continued the Father, is in regard to
population. 'A Spanish official told me that the census figures were
notoriously misleading. The census shows less than one-third colored.
That is said not to be true. As soon as a man with African blood,
whether light or dark, acquires property and education, he returns
himself in the census as white. The officials humor them in this
petty vanity. In fact it's the most difficult thing in the world to
distinguish between races in Cuba. Many Spaniards from Murcia,
for instance, of undoubted noble lineage are darker than Richmond
mulattoes.'"

[Illustration: GENERAL RUSSELL A. ALGER, SECRETARY OF WAR.]

May I ask you, Father Yates, to what do you ascribe the absence of
Race prejudice in Cuba?

"Certainly. In my humble opinion it is due to Church influence. We all
know the effect on our social life of our churches. Among Catholics
all men have always been on equal footing at the Communion rail.
Catholics would be unworthy of their name, i.e. Catholic or universal
were it not so."

"Even in the days when slavery was practised this religious equality
and fellowship was fully recognized among Catholics."

Did you know there is an American Negro Saint? He was born in Colon,
Central America, and is called Blessed Martin De Porres. His name is
much honored in Cuba, Peru, Mexico and elsewhere. He wore the white
habit of a Dominican Brother. The Dominicans are called the Order of
Preachers.

Christ Died for All. Father Donovan has those words painted in large
letters over the Sanctuary in St. Joseph's Church. It is simply
horrible to think that some self-styled Christian sectarians act as if
Christ died for white men only.

Matanzas, Cuba, Jan. 20.--Not least among the problems of
reconstruction in Cuba is the social and political status of the
colored "man and brother." In Cuba the shade of a man's complexion has
never been greatly considered, and one finds dusky Othellos in every
walk of life. The present dispute arose when a restaurant keeper from
Alabama refused a seat at his public table to the mulatto Colonel of
a Cuban regiment. The Southerner was perfectly sincere in the
declaration that he would see himself in a warmer climate than Cuba
before he would insult his American guests "by seating a 'nigger'
among them!" To the Colonel it was a novel and astonishing experience,
and is of course deeply resented by all his kind in Cuba, where
African blood may be found, in greater or less degree, in some of the
richest and most influential families of the island.

COLORED BELLES THERE.

In Havana you need not be surprised to see Creole belles on
the fashionable Prado--perhaps Cuban-Spanish. Cuban-English or
Cuban-German blondes--promenading with Negro officers in gorgeous
uniforms; or octoroon beauties with hair in natural crimp, riding in
carriages beside white husbands or lighting up an opera box with the
splendor of their diamonds. There was a wedding in the old cathedral
the other day, attended by the elite of the city, the bride being the
lovely young daughter of a Cuban planter, the groom a burly Negro.
Nobody to the manor born has ever dreamed of objecting to this
mingling of colors; therefore when some newly arrived foreigner
declares that nobody but those of his own complexion shall eat in a
public dining room, there is likely to be trouble.

THE WAR BEGAN.

When the war began the population of Cuba was a little more than
one-third black; now the proportion is officially reckoned as 525,684
colored, against 1,631,600 white. In 1898 two Negroes were serving as
secretaries in the Autonomist Cabinet. The last regiment that Blanco
formed was of Negro volunteers, to whom he paid--or, rather, promised
to pay, which is quite another matter, considering Blanco's habit--the
unusual hire of $20 a month, showing his appreciation of the colored
man as a soldier. If General Weyler evinced any partiality in Cuba,
it was for the black Creole. During the ten years' war, his cavalry
escort was composed entirely of colored men. Throughout his latest
reign in the island he kept black soldiers constantly on guard at the
gates of the government palace. While the illustrated papers of Spain
were caricaturing: the insurgents as coal-black demons with horns
and forked toe nails, burning canefields and butchering innocent
Spaniards, the Spanish General chose them for his bodyguards.

[Illustration: CUBAN WOMAN CAVALRY.]

ONE OF THE GREATEST GENERALS.

One of the greatest Generals of the day, considering the environment,
was Antonio Maceo, the Cuban mulatto hero, who, for two years, kept
the Spanish army at bay or led them a lively quickstep through the
western provinces to the very gates of Havana. As swift on the march
as Sheridan or Stonewall Jackson, as wary and prudent as Grant
himself, he had inspirations of military genius whenever a crisis
arose. It is not generally known that Martinez Campos, who owed his
final defeat at Colisea to Maceo, was a second cousin of this black
man. Maceo's mother, whose family name was Grinan, came from the town
of Mayari where all the people have Indian blood in their veins. Col.
Martinez del Campos, father of General Martinez Campos, was once
Military Governor of Mayari. While there he loved a beautiful girl of
Indian and Negro blood, who belonged to the Grinan family, and was
first cousin to Maceo's mother. Martinez Campos, Jr., the future
General and child of the Indian girl was born in Mayari. The Governor
could not marry his sweetheart, having a wife and children in Spain,
but when he returned to the mother country he took the boy along.
According to Spanish law, the town in which one is baptized is
recognized as his legal birthplace, so it was easy enough to
legitimatize the infant Campos. He grew up in Spain, and when sent to
Cuba as Captain-General, to his everlasting credit be it said, that
one of his first acts was to hunt up his mother. Having found her, old
and poor, he bought a fine house in Campo Florida, the aristocratic
suburb of Havana, established her there and cared for her tenderly
till she died. The cousins, though on opposite sides of the war,
befriended each other in many instances, and it is said that more
than once Captain-General Campos owed his life to his unacknowledged
relative.

HIS BROTHER CAPTURED.

The latter's half brother, Jose Maceo, was captured early in the war
and sent to the African prison, Centa; whence he escaped later on with
Quintín Bandera and others of his staff. The last named Negro Colonel
is to-day a prominent figure. "Quintin Bandera" means "fifteen flags,"
and the appellation was bestowed upon him by his grateful countrymen
after he had captured fifteen Spanish ensigns. Everybody seems to
have forgotten his real name, and Quintin Bandera he will remain in
history. While in the African penal settlement the daughter of a
Spanish officer fell in love with him. She assisted in his escape and
fled with him to Gibraltar. There he married his rescuer. She is of
Spanish and Moorish descent, and is said to be a lady of education
and refinement. She taught her husband to read and write and feels
unbounded pride in his achievements.

The noted General Jesus Rabi, of the Cuban Army, is of the same mixed
blood as the Maceos. Another well-known Negro commander is General
Flor Crombet, whose patriotic deeds have been dimmed by his atrocious
cruelties. Among all the officers now swarming Havana none attracts
more admiring attention than General Ducasse, a tall, fine-looking
mulatto, who was educated at the fine military school of St. Cyr. He
is of extremely polished manners and undeniable force of character,
can make a brilliant address and has great influence among the masses.
To eject such a man as he from a third rate foreign restaurant in his
own land would be ridiculous. His equally celebrated brother, Col.
Juan Ducasse, was killed last year in the Pinar del Rio insurrection.

COLORED MEN'S ACHIEVEMENTS.

Besides these sons of Mars, Cuba has considered her history enriched
by the achievements of colored men in peaceful walks of life. The
memory of Gabriel Concepcion de la Valdez the mulatto poet, is
cherished as that of a saint. He was accused by the Spanish government
of complicity in the slave insurrection of 1844 and condemned to be
shot in his native town, Matanzas. One bright morning in May he stood
by the old statue of Ferdinand VII. in the Plaza d'Armas, calmly
facing a row of muskets, along whose shining barrels the sun glinted.
The first volley failed to touch a vital spot. Bleeding from several
wounds, he still stood erect, and, pointing to his heart, said in a
clear voice, "Aim here!" Another mulatto author, educator and profound
thinker was Antonio Medina, a priest and professor of San Basilio
the Greater. He acquired wide reputation as a poet, novelist and
ecclesiastic, both in Spain and Cuba, and was selected by the Spanish
Academy to deliver the oration on the anniversary of Cerantes' death
in Madrid. His favorite Cuban pupil was Juan Gaulberto Gomez, the
mulatto journalist, who has been imprisoned time and again for
offences against the Spanish press laws. Señor Gomez, whose home is in
Matanzas, is now on the shady side of 40, a spectacled and scholarly
looking man. After the peace of Zanjon he collaborated in the
periodicals published by the Marquis of Sterling. In '79 he founded in
Havana, the newspaper La Fraternidad, devoted to the interest of the
colored race. For a certain fiery editorial he was deported to Centa
and kept there two years. Then he went to Madrid and assumed the
management of La Tribuna and in 1890 returned to Havana and resumed
the publication of La Fraternidad.

ANOTHER EXILE.

Another beloved exile from the land of his birth is Señor Jose White.
His mother was a colored woman of Matanzas. At the age of 16 Jose
wrote a mass for the Matanzas orchestra and gave his first concert.
With the proceeds he entered the Conservatory of Paris, and in the
following year won the first prize as violinist among thirty-nine
contestants. He soon gained an enviable reputation among the most
celebrated European violinists, and, covered with honors, returned to
Havana in January of '75. But his songs were sometimes of liberty, and
in June of the same year the Spanish government drove him out of
the country. Then he went to Brazil, and is now President of the
Conservatory of Music of Rio Janeiro.

One might go on multiplying similar incidents. Some of the most
eminent doctors, lawyers and college professors in Cuba are more or
less darkly "colored." In the humble walks of life one finds them
everywhere, as carpenters, masons, shoemakers and plumbers. In the few
manufacturies of Cuba a large proportion of the workmen are Negroes
especially in the cigar factories. In the tanneries of Pinar del Rio
most of the workmen are colored, also in the saddle factories of
Havana, Guanabacoa, Cardenas and other places. Although the insurgent
army is not yet disbanded, the sugar-planters get plenty of help from
their ranks by offering fair wages.--New York Sun.

FACTS ABOUT PORTO RICO TOLD IN SHORT PARAGRAPHS.

Porto Rico, the beautiful island which General Miles is taking under
the American flag, has an area of 3,530 square miles. It is 107 miles
in length and 37 miles across. It has a good telegraph line and a
railroad only partially completed.

The population, which is not made up of so many Negroes and mulattoes
as that of the neighboring islands, is about 900,000. Almost all of
the inhabitants are Roman Catholics.

It is a mountainous island, and contains forty seven navigable streams.
The roads are merely paths beaten down by cattle.

Exports in 1887 were valued at $10,181,291; imports, $10,198,006.

Gold, copper, salt, coal and iron abound.

The poorer classes live almost entirely on a variety of highland rice,
which is easily cultivated, as it requires no flooding.

One of the principal industries is grazing. St. Thomas is the market
for fresh meat.

Corn, tobacco, sugar, coffee, cotton and potatoes constitute the
principal crops.

There are no snakes, no beasts of prey, no noxious birds nor insects
in the island.

The trees and grass are always green.

Rats are the great foe of the crops.

The natives often live to be one hundred years old.

The most beautiful flower on the island is the ortegon, which has
purple blossoms a yard long.

Hurricanes are frequent on the north coast and very destructive.

Mosquitoes art the pest of the island.

Spanish is the language spoken, and education is but little esteemed.

Every man, no matter how poor, owns a horse and three or four
gamecocks.

The small planter is called "Xivaro." He is the proud possessor of
a sweet-heart, a gamecock, a horse, a hammock, a guitar and a large
supply of tobacco. He is quick tempered but not revengeful, and he is
proverbially lazy.

Hospitality is the rule of the island. The peasants are astonished and
hurt when offered money by travellers. San Juan Harbor is one of the
best in the West Indies, and is said to be the third most strongly
fortified town in the world, Halifax being the strongest and
Cartagena, Spain, the second.

Ponce de Leon, between 1509 and 1518 killed off the natives.

The De Leon palace, built in 1511, is of great interest to tourists.

The climate is warm but pleasant. At night thick clothing is found
comfortable.

All visiting and shopping are done after sundown.

Slavery was abolished in 1873.

The women are rather small and delicately formed. Many of them are
pretty and they are all given to flirtation.

Men and women ride horseback alike. Wicker baskets to carry clothes or
provisions, are hung on either side of the horse's shoulders. Back of
these baskets the rider sits.

It is the custom of travellers on horseback to carry a basket handled
sword a yard and a quarter long, more as an ornament than as a means
of defense.

The observance of birthdays is an island fashion that is followed by
every one.

A Governor, appointed by the Crown, manages affairs. His palace is at
San Juan, the capital, a town that has 24,000 inhabitants.

Upon the Rio Grande are prehistoric monuments that have attracted the
attention of archaeologists.

Following the Spanish custom, men are imprisoned for debt.

In the towns houses are built with flat roofs, both to catch water and
to afford the family a small roof garden.

All planters have town houses where they bring their families during
the carnival season.

San Juan is filled with adventurers, gamblers, speculators and
fugitives from justice.--New York World.




CHAPTER VII.


LIST OF COLORED REGIMENTS THAT DID ACTIVE SERVICE IN THE
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR,--AND VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS.


Regulars.--Section 1104 of the Revised Statutes of the United States
Congress provides that "the enlisted men of two regiments of Cavalry
shall be colored men," and in compliance with this section the War
Department maintains the organization of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry,
both composed of colored men with white officers.

Section 1108 of the Revised Statutes of Congress provides that "the
enlisted men of two regiments of Infantry shall be colored men;" and
in compliance with this section the War Department maintains the
organization of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, both
composed of colored men with white officers.

The above regiments were the only colored troops that were engaged
in active service in Cuba. There is no statute requiring colored
artillery regiments to be organized, and there are therefore none in
the regular army.

       *       *       *       *       *

A LIST OF THE VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS.

Third North Carolina--All colored officers.

Sixth Virginia--White officers, finally, the colored officers resigned
"under pressure," after which there was much trouble with the men, as
they claimed to have enlisted with the understanding that they were to
have colored officers.

[Illustration: OFFICERS OF THE NINTH OHIO--LIEUTENANT YOUNG IN THE
CENTER.]

Blank Page

Ninth Ohio--All colored officers; Col. Chas. Young, graduate of West
Point.

Twenty-third Kansas--Colored officers.

Eighth Illinois--Under colored officers, and did police duty at San
Luis, Cuba.

Seventh U.S. Volunteers.

Tenth U.S. Volunteers.

Eighth U.S. Volunteers.

Ninth U.S. Volunteers.

The conduct of the colored volunteers has been harshly criticised, and
it is thought by some that the conduct of the volunteers has had some
influence in derrogation of the good record made by the regulars
around Santiago. This view, however, we think unjust, and ill-founded.
There was considerable shooting of pistols and drunkenness among some
regiments of volunteers, and it was not confined by any means to those
of the colored race. The white volunteers were as drunk and noisy as
the colored, and shot as many pistols.

The Charlotte Observer has the following editorial concerning some
white troops that passed through Charlotte, N.C.:

"Mustered-out West Virginia and New York volunteer soldiers who passed
through this city Saturday night, behaved on the train and here like
barbarians, disgracing their uniforms, their States and themselves.
They were drunk and disorderly, and their firing of pistols,
destruction of property and theft of edibles was not as bad as their
outrageous profanity and obscenity on the cars in the hearing of
ladies. Clearly they are brutes when sober and whiskey only developed
the vileness already in them."

By a careful comparison of the reports in the newspapers, we see a
slight excess of rowdyism on the part of the whites, but much less
fuss made about it. In traveling from place to place if a white
volunteer company fired a few shots in the air, robbed a fruit stand,
or fussed with the by standers at railroad stations or drank whiskey
at the car windows, the fact was simply mentioned in the morning
papers, but if a Negro company fired a pistol a telegram was sent
ahead to have mobs in readiness to "do up the niggers" at the next
station, and at one place in Georgia the militia was called out by a
telegram sent ahead, and discharged a volley into the car containing
white officers and their families, so eager were they to "do up the
nigger." At Nashville the city police are reported to have charged
through the train clubbing the colored volunteers who were returning
home, and taking anything in the shape of a weapon away from them by
force. In Texarcana or thereabouts it was reported that a train of
colored troopers was blown up by dynamite. The Southern mobs seemed to
pride themselves in assaulting the colored soldiers.


While the colored volunteers were not engaged in active warfare, yet
they attained a high degree of discipline and the CLEANEST AND MOST
ORDERLY CAMP among any of the volunteers was reported by the chief
sanitary officer of the government to be that of one of the colored
volunteer regiments stationed in Virginia. It is to be regretted that
the colored volunteers, especially those under Negro officers, did not
have an opportunity to show their powers on the battlefield, and thus
demonstrate their ability as soldiers, and so refreshing the memory
of the nation as to what Negro soldiers once did at Ft. Wagner and
Milikin's Bend. The volunteer boys were ready and willing and only
needed a chance to show what they could do.

POLICED BY NEGROES.

WHITE IMMUNES ORDERED OUT OF SANTIAGO, AND A COLORED REGIMENT PLACED
IN CHARGE.

Washington, D.C., August 17, 1898.

Editor Colored American: The Star of this city published the following
dispatch in its issue of the 16th inst. The Washington Post next
morning published the same dispatch, omitting the last paragraph;
and yet the Post claims to publish the news, whether pleasing or
otherwise. The selection of the 8th Illinois colored regiment for
this important duty, to replace a disorderly white regiment, is a
sufficient refutation of a recent editorial in the Post, discrediting
colored troops with colored officers. The Eighth Illinois is a colored
regiment from Colonel down. The Generals at the front know the value
of Negro troops, whether the quill-drivers in the rear do or not.

CHARLES R. DOUGLASS.

The following is the dispatch referred to by Major Douglass. The
headlines of the Star are retained.

IMMUNES MADE TROUBLE--GENERAL SHAFTER ORDERS THE SECOND REGIMENT
OUTSIDE THE CITY OF SANTIAGO--COLORED TROOPS FROM ILLINOIS ASSIGNED TO
THE DUTY OF PRESERVING ORDER AND PROPERTY.

Santiago de Cuba, Aug. 16.--General Shafter to-day ordered the Second
Volunteer Regiment of Immunes to leave the city and go into camp
outside.

The regiment had been placed here as a garrison, to preserve order and
protect property. There has been firing of arms inside of the town by
members of this regiment, without orders, so far as known. Some of
the men have indulged in liquor until they have verged upon acts of
license and disorder. The inhabitants in some quarters have alleged
loss of property by force and intimidation, and there has grown up a
feeling of uneasiness, if not alarm, concerning them. General Shafter
has, therefore, ordered this regiment into the hills, where discipline
can be more severely maintained.

In place of the Second Volunteer Immune Regiment, General Shafter
has ordered into the city the Eighth Illinois Volunteer Regiment of
colored troops, in whose sobriety and discipline he has confidence,
and of whose sturdy enforcement of order no doubt is felt by those in
command.

       *       *       *       *       *

SKETCH OF SIXTH VIRGINIA VOLUNTEERS.

The Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, U.S.V., consisted of two
battalions, first and second Battalion Infantry Virginia Volunteers
(State militia), commanded respectively by Maj. J.B. Johnson and Maj.
W.H. Johnson. In April, 1898, the war cloud was hanging over the land.
Governor J. Hoge Tyler, of Virginia, under instructions from the War
Department, sent to all Virginia volunteers inquiring how many men in
the respective commands were willing to enlist in the United States
volunteer service in the war against Spain.

How many would go in or out of the United States.

       *       *       *       *       *

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,

Adjutant-General's Office, Richmond, Va., April 19th, 1898.

General Order No. 8.

I. Commanding officers of companies of Virginia Volunteers will,
immediately, upon the receipt by them of this order, assemble their
respective companies and proceed to ascertain and report direct to
this office, upon the form herewith sent and by letter, what officers
and enlisted men of their companies will volunteer for service in and
with the volunteer forces of the United States (not in the regular
army) with the distinct understanding that such volunteer forces, or
any portion thereof, may be ordered and required to perform service
either in or out of the United States, and that such officer or
enlisted man, so volunteering, agrees and binds himself to, without
question, promptly obey all orders emanating from the proper officers,
and to render such service as he may be required to perform, either
within or beyond the limits of the United States.

[Illustration: MAJOR JOHN R. LYNCH, PAYMASTER IN U.S. ARMY]

II. The Brigade Commander and the Regimental and Battalion Commanders
will, without delay, obtain like information and make, direct to this
office, similar reports, to those above required, with regard to
their respective field, staff and non-commissioned staff officers and
regimental or battalion bands, adopting the form herewith sent to the
regiments.

III. By reason of the necessity in this matter, this order is sent
direct, with copies to intermediate commanders.

By order of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief. WM. NALLE,
Adjutant-General.

       *       *       *       *       *

The companies of the First Battalion of Richmond and Second Battalion
of Petersburg and Norfolk were the first to respond to the call and
express a readiness to go anywhere in or out of the States with their
own officers, upon these conditions they were immediately accepted,
and the following order was issued:


COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, Adjutant-General's Office, Richmond, Va.,
April 23, 1898. General Orders No. 9.

The commanding officers of such companies as will volunteer for
service in the volunteer army of the United States will at once
proceed to recruit their respective companies to at least eighty-four
enlisted men. Any company volunteering as a body, for such service,
will be mustered in with its own officers.

By order of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief. (Signed) W. NALLE,
Adjutant-General.

       *       *       *       *       *

Under date of June 1, 1898, S.O. 59, A.G.O., Richmond, Va., was
issued directly to the commanding officers of the First and Second
Battalion (colored), who had been specially designated by the
President in his call, ordering them to take the necessary steps to
recruit the companies of the respective battalions to eighty-three men
per company, directing that care be taken, to accept only men of good
repute and able-bodied, and that as soon as recruited the fact should
be reported by telegraph to the Adjutant-General of the State.

July 15th, 1898, Company "A," Attucks Guard, was the first company to
arrive at Camp Corbin, Va., ten miles below Richmond. The company
had three officers; Capt. W.A. Hawkins, First Lieutenant J.C. Smith,
Lieutenant John Parham.

The other companies followed in rapid succession. Company "B" (Carney
Guard), Capt. C.B. Nicholas; First Lieutenant L.J. Wyche, Second
Lieutenant J.W. Gilpin. Company "C" (State Guard), Capt. B.A.
Graves; First Lieutenant S.B. Randolph, Second Lieutenant W.H.

Anderson. Company "D" (Langston Guard), Capt. E.W. Gould; First
Lieutenant Chas. H. Robinson, Second Lieutenant Geo. W. Foreman.
Company "E" (Petersburg Guard), Capt. J.E. Hill; First Lieutenant
J.H. Hill, Second Lieutenant Fred. E. Manggrum. Company "F"
(Petersburg), Capt. Pleasant Webb; First Lieutenant Jno. K. Rice,
Second Lieutenant Richard Hill. Company "G," Capt. J.A. Stevens;
First Lieutenant E. Thomas Walker, Second Lieutenant David Worrell.
Company "H," Capt. Peter Shepperd, Jr.; First Lieutenant Jas. M.
Collins, Second Lieutenant Geo. T. Wright. The regiment consisted of
only eight companies, two battalions, commanded respectively by Major
J.B. Johnson and Maj. W.H. Johnson, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Rich'd C. Croxton, of the First United States Infantry. First
Lieutenant Chas. R. Alexander was Surgeon. Second Lieutenant Allen J.
Black, Assist Subsistence.

Lieutenant W.H. Anderson, Company "C," was detailed as Adjutant,
Ordinance Officer and Mustering Officer.

Lieutenant J.H. Gilpin, Company "B," was detailed as Quartermaster
and Commissary of Subsistance.

On Monday, September 12, 1898, the command left Camp Corbin, Va., and
embarked for Knoxville, Tenn., about 10 o'clock, the men traveling in
day coaches and the officers in Pullman sleepers. The train was in
two sections. Upon arrival at Knoxville the command was sent to Camp
Poland, near the Fourteenth Michigan Regiment, who were soon mustered
out. A few days after the arrival of the Sixth Virginia the Third
North Carolina arrived, a full regiment with every officer a Negro.
While here in order to get to the city our officers, wagons and men
had to pass the camp of the First Georgia Regiment, and it was quite
annoying to have to suffer from unnecessary delays in stores and other
things to which the men were subject.

After the review by General Alger, Secretary of War, the Colonel of
the Sixth Virginia received permission from headquarters of Third
Brigade, Second Division, First Army Corps, General Rosser commanding,
to move the camp to a point nearer the city, which was granted. Soon
after the arrival of the Third North Carolina Regiment the First
Georgia seemed disposed to attack the colored soldiers, so on a
beautiful September evening some shots were fired into their camp by
the First Georgia men and received quick response. After the little
affair four Georgians were missing. The matter was investigated, the
First Georgia was placed under arrest.

After the removal to a new portion of Camp Poland orders were received
from the headquarters First Army Corps, Lexington, Ky., ordering a
board of examiners for the following officers of the Sixth Virginia:
Maj. W.H. Johnson; Second Battalion, Capt. C.B. Nicholas, Capt.
J.E. Hill, Capt. J.A.C. Stevens, Capt. E.W. Gould, Capt. Peter
Shepperd, Jr., Lieutenants S.B. Randolph, Geo. T. Wright and David
Worrell for examination September 20, 1898, each officer immediately
tendered his resignation, which was at once accepted by the Secretary
of War.

[Illustration: MAJOR R.R. WRIGHT, PAYMASTER IN U.S. ARMY.]

Under the rules governing the volunteer army, when vacancies occurred
by death, removal, resignation or otherwise, the Colonel of a regiment
had the power to recommend suitable officers or men to fill the
vacancies by promotions, and the Governor would make the appointment
with the approval of the Secretary of War. Many of the men had high
hopes of gaining a commission; many of the most worthy young men of
the State, who left their peaceful vocations for the rough service of
war, for they were, students, bookkeepers, real estate men, merchants,
clerks and artists who responded to their country's call--all looking
to a much desired promotion. But after many conflicting stories as to
what would be done and much parleying on the part of the recommending
power, who said that there was none in the regiment qualified for the
promotion. And thereupon the Governor appointed white officers to
fill the vacancies created. A copy of the following was sent to the
Governor of Virginia through "military channels" but never reached
him; also to the Adjutant General of the army through military
channels:

Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, Second Battalion, Colored, Camp
Poland, Tenn., October 27th, 1898.

To the Adjutant General, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.

Sir--We, the undersigned officers of the Sixth Virginia Volunteer
Infantry, stationed at Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., have the honor
to respectfully submit to you the following:

Nine officers of this command who had served the state militia for a
period ranging from five to twenty years were ordered examined. They
resigned for reasons best known to themselves. We the remaining
officers were sanguine that Negro officers would be appointed to fill
these vacancies, and believe they can be had from the rank and file,
as the men in the various companies enlisted with the distinct
understanding that they would be commanded by Negro officers. We now
understand through various sources that white officers have been, or
are to be, appointed to fill these vacancies, to which we seriously
and respectfully protest, because our men are dissatisfied. The men
feel that the policy inaugurated as to this command should remain, and
we fear if there is a change it will result disastrously to one of the
best disciplined commands in the volunteer service. They are unwilling
to be commanded by white officers and object to do what they did not
agree to at first. That is to be commanded by any other than officers
of the same color. We furthermore believe that should the appointments
be confirmed there will be a continual friction between the officers
and men of the two races as has been foretold by our present
commanding officer. We express the unanimous and sincere desire of
seven hundred and ninety-one men in the command to be mustered out
rather than submit to the change.

We therefore pray that the existing vacancies be filled from the rank
and file of the command or by men of color. To all of which we most
humbly pray.

(Signed)

J.B. JOHNSON, Major 6th Va. Vol. Inf. PLEASANT WEBB, Capt. 6th Va. Vol
Inf. BENJ. A. GRAVES, Capt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. JAS. C. SMITH, 6th Va.
Vol. Inf., 1st Lt. L.J. WYCHE, 1st Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. CHAS. H.
ROBINSON, 1st Lt. 6th Va. Vol. JOHN H. HILL, 1st Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf.
JNO. K. RICE, 1st Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. EDWIN T. WALKER, 1st Lt. 6th
Va. Vol.. C.R. ALEXANDER, 1st. Lt. and Sarg. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. JOHN
PARHAM, 2nd Lt. 6th. Va. Vol. Inf. JAS. ST. GILPIN, 2nd Lt. 6th Va.
Vol. Inf. W.H. ANDERSON, 2nd Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. GEORGE W. FOREMAN.
2nd Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. FREDERICK E. MANGGRUM, 2nd Lt. 6th Va. Vol.
Inf. RICHARD HILL, 2nd Lt. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. JAMES M. COLLIN, 2nd Lt.
6th Va. Vol. Inf. FIRST ENDORSEMENT. Headquarters 6th Va. Vol.
Inf. Second Battalion, Colored, Camp Poland, Tenn., Oct. 28, if
Respectfully forwarded.

I have explained to the officers who signed this paper that their
application is absurd, but they seem unable to see the points
involved.

The statement within that 791 men prefer to be mustered out rather
than serve under white officers is based upon the alleged reports that
each First Sergeant stated to his Captain that all the men of the
company were of that opinion. The statement that the men "enlisted
with the understanding that they would be commanded entirely by Negro
officers," seems to be based upon the fact that when these companies
were called upon by the State authorities they volunteered for
service, etc., "with our present officers." These officers (9 of
them) have since resigned and their places filled by the Governor of
Virginia with white officers.

These latter have not yet reported for duty.

Further comment seems as unnecessary as the application itself is
useless.

(Signed) R.C. CROXTON,

Lt. Col. 6th Va. Vol. Inf. Com'd'g.

       *       *       *       *       *

SECOND ENDORSEMENT.

Headquarters Third Brigade, Second Division, First Army Corps, Camp
Poland, Tenn., Oct. 29, 1898.

Respectfully forwarded. Disapproved as under the law creating the
present volunteer forces the Governor of Virginia is the only
authority who can appoint the officers of the 6th Va. Vol. Inf.

(Signed) JAMES H. YOUNG.

Col. Third N.C. Vol. Inf. Com'd'g. Brigade.

THIRD ENDORSEMENT.

Headquarters Second Division, First Army Corps,

Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., Oct. 31, 1898.

Respectfully returned to the Commanding General, Third Brigade.

The enclosed communication is in form and substance so contrary to
all military practice and traditions that it is returned for file at
Regimental Headquarters, 6th Va. Vol. Infantry.

By command of Colonel KUERT.

(Signed) LOUIS V. CAZIARC,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

       *       *       *       *       *

FOURTH ENDORSEMENT.  Headquarters Third Brigade,
  Second Division, First Army Corps.
Respectfully transmitted to C.O., 6th Virginia, inviting attention to
preceding Inst.

By order of Colonel YOUNG.

(Signed) A.B. COLLIER,

Captain Assistant Adjutant-General.

       *       *       *       *       *

A NEW LIEUTENANT FOR THE 6TH VIRGINIA.

October 31st, 1898, the monthly muster was in progress. There appeared
in the camp a new Lieutenant--Lieut. Jno. W. Healey--formerly
Sergeant-Major in the regular army. This was the first positive
evidence that white officers would be assigned to this regiment. This
was about 9 o'clock in the morning, and at Knoxville later in the day,
there were more arrivals. Then it was published that the following
changes and appointments were made:

Company "D," First Battalion, was transferred to the Second Battalion;
Company "F," of the Second Battalion, transferred to the First
Battalion. Major E.E. Cobell, commanding Second Battalion. Captain
R.L.E. Masurier, commanding Company "D." Captain W. S. Faulkner,
commanding Company "E." Captain J. W. Bentley, commanding Company "G."
Captain S.T. Moore, commanding Company "H." First Lieutenant Jno. W.
Healey to Company "H." First Lieutenant A.L. Moncure to Company "G."
Second Lieutenant Geo. W. Richardson, Company "G." First Lieutenant
Edwin T. Walker transferred to Company "C." November 1st officers
attempted to take charge of the men who offered no violence at all,
but by their manner and conduct it appeared too unpleasant and unsafe
for these officers to remain, so tendered their resignations, but they
were withheld for a day.

The next day, November 2, 1898, it was thought best that the colored
Captains and Lieutenants would drill the companies at the 9 o'clock
drill. While on the field "recall" was sounded and the companies were
brought to the headquarters and formed a street column. General Bates,
commanding the Corps and his staff; Col. Kuert, commanding the Brigade
and Brigade staff; Maj. Louis V. Caziarc, Assistant Adjutant-General:
Lieut. Col. Croxton and Maj. Johnson were all there and spoke to the
men. Colonel Kuert said: "Gentlemen, as commanding officer of the
Brigade, I appear before you to-day asking you to do your duty; to be
good soldiers, to remember your oath of enlistment, and to be careful
as to the step you take, for it might cost you your life; that there
are enough soldiers at my command to force you into submission should
you resist. No, if you intend to accept the situation and submit to
these officers placed over you, at my command, you come to a right
shoulder, and if you have any grievance imaginary or otherwise
present through proper military channels, and if they are proper, your
wrongs will be adjusted."

"Right shoulder, Arms." Did not a man move. He then ordered them to be
taken back to their company street and to "stack arms."

Before going to the company streets Major Caziarc spoke to the men as
follows: "Forty years ago no Negro could bear arms or wear the blue.
You cannot disgrace the blue, but can make yourselves unworthy to wear
it."

Then Maj. J.B. Johnson spoke to the men and urged upon them to keep
in mind the oath of enlistment (which he read to them), in which they
swore that they would "obey all officers placed over them;" that since
the appointments had been made there was nothing for them to do but to
accept the situation. At the conclusion of Maj. Johnson's talk to the
men, Private Badger, Regimental Tailor, stepped to the front and gave
the "rifle salute" and asked permission to say a word. It was granted.
He said: "When we enlisted we understood that we would go with
our colored officers anywhere in or out of this country, and when
vacancies occurred we expected and looked for promotion as was the
policy of the Governor of Virginia toward other Virginia Regiments."
He was told that if the men had any grievance they could present it
through military channels and it would be looked into. They never
accepted Maj. Johnson's advice--returned to their company streets and
were allowed to keep their guns. The Ordnance Officer was ordered to
take all ammunition to the camp of the Thirty-first Michigan and place
it in the guard-house.

The men had the freedom and pass privilege to and from the city.

[Illustration: MAJOR J.B. JOHNSON, OF THE SIXTH VIRGINIA COLORED
VOLUNTEERS.]

November 19th the command was ordered to Macon, Ga., arriving at Camp
Haskell next day, with 820 men and 27 officers.

Near the camp of the Sixth Virginia was that of the Tenth Immune
Regiment, in which were many Virginia boys, some of whom had been
members of some of the companies of the Sixth.

Some irresponsible persons cut down a tree upon which several men had
been lynched. The blame naturally fell upon the Sixth Virginia. The
regiment was placed under arrest and remained so for nineteen days.
The first day the Third Engineers guarded the camp, but General
Wilson, the Corps commander, removed them and put colored soldiers to
guard them. On the night of November 20th, at a late hour, the camp
was surrounded by all the troops available while the men were asleep
and the regiment was disarmed.

While all this was going on the Thirty-first Michigan Regiment had
been deployed into line behind a hill on the north and the Fourth
Tennessee had been drawn up in line on the east side of the camp ready
to fire should any resistance be offered.

The men quietly submitted to this strange procedure, and did not know
that Gatling guns had been conveniently placed at hand to mow them
down had they shown any resistance. The Southern papers called them
the mutinous Sixth, and said and did every thing to place discredit
upon them.

They were reviewed by General Breckinridge, General Alger, Secretary
of War, and President McKinley, who applauded them for their fine and
soldierly appearance.





COMMENTS ON THE THIRD NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENT.


Of all the volunteer regiments the Third North Carolina seemed to be
picked out as the target for attack by the Georgia newspapers. The
Atlanta Journal, under large headlines, "A Happy Riddance," has the
following to say when the Third North Carolina left Macon. But
the Journal's article was evidently written in a somewhat of a
wish-it-was-so-manner, and while reading this article we ask our
readers to withhold judgment until they read Prof. C.F. Meserve on the
Third North Carolina, who wrote after investigation.

The Journal made no investigation to see what the facts were, but
dwells largely on rumors and imagination. It will be noted that
President Meserve took the pains to investigate the subject before
writing about it.

The Atlanta Journal says:

A HAPPY RIDDANCE.

The army and the country are to be congratulated on the mustering out
of the Third North Carolina Regiment.

A tougher and more turbulent set of Negroes were probably never gotten
together before. Wherever this regiment went it caused trouble.

While stationed in Macon several of its members were killed, either by
their own comrades in drunken brawls or by citizens in self-defense.

Last night the mustered-out regiment passed through Atlanta on its way
home and during its brief stay here exhibited the same ruffianism and
brutality that characterized it while in the service. But for the
promptness and pluck of several Atlanta policemen these Negro
ex-soldiers would have done serious mischief at the depot. Those who
undertook to make trouble were very promptly clubbed into submission,
and one fellow more obstreperous than the rest, was lodged in the
station house.

With the exception of two or three regiments the Negro volunteers in
the recent war were worse than useless. The Negro regulars, on the
contrary, made a fine record, both for fighting and conduct in camp.

[Illustration: THIRD NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS AND OFFICERS.]

The mustering out of the Negro volunteers should have begun sooner and
have been completed long ago.

       *       *       *       *       *

WHAT PRESIDENT CHARLES FRANCIS MESERVE SAYS.

President Charles Francis Meserve, of Shaw University, says:

"I spent a part of two days the latter part of December at Camp
Haskell, near Macon, Ga., inspecting the Third North Carolina colored
regiment and its camp and surroundings. The fact that this regiment
has colored officers and the knowledge that the Colonel and quite
a number of officers, as well as many of the rank and file, were
graduates or former students of Shaw University, led me to make
a visit to this regiment, unheralded and unannounced. I was just
crossing the line into the camp when I was stopped by a guard, who
wanted to know who I was and what I wanted. I told him I was a very
small piece of Shaw University, and that I wanted to see Col. Young.
After that sentence was uttered, and he had directed me to the
headquarters of the colonel, the regiment and the camp might have been
called mine, for the freedom of everything was granted me."

The camp is admirably located on a sandy hillside, near pine woods,
and is dry and well-drained. It is well laid out, with a broad avenue
in the centre intersected by a number of side streets. On one side of
the avenue are the tents and quarters of the men and the canteen,
and on the opposite side the officers' quarters, the hospital, the
quartermasters stores, the Y.M.C.A. tent, etc.

Although the weather was unfavorable, the camp was in the best
condition, and from the standpoint of sanitation was well-nigh
perfect. I went everywhere and saw everything, even to the sinks and
corral. Part of the time I was alone and part of the time an officer
attended me. There was an abundant supply of water from the Macon
water works distributed in pipes throughout the camp. The clothing was
of good quality and well cared for. The food was excellent, abundant
in quantity and well prepared. The beef was fresh and sweet, for it
had not been "embalmed." The men were not obliged to get their fresh
meat by picking maggots out of dried apples and dried peaches as has
been the case sometimes in the past on our "Wild West Frontier." There
were potatoes, Irish and sweet, navy beans, onions, meat, stacks of
light bread, canned salmon, canned tomatoes, etc. These were not all
served at one meal, but all these articles and others go to make up
the army ration list.

The spirit and discipline of officers and men was admirable, and
reflected great credit upon the Old North State. There was an
enthusiastic spirit and buoyancy that made their discipline and
evolutions well nigh perfect. The secret of it all was confidence in
their leader. They believe in their colonel, and the colonel in turn
believes in his men. Col. James H. Young possesses in a marked degree
a quality of leadership as important as it is rare. He probably knows
by name at least three-quarters of his regiment, and is on pleasant
terms with his staff and the men in the ranks, and yet maintains a
proper dignity, such as befits his official rank.

[Illustration: PROF. CHARLES F. MESERVE, OF SHAW UNIVERSITY, RALEIGH,
N.C. (Who investigated and made report on the Third N.C. Volunteers.)]

On the last afternoon of my visit of inspection Col. Young ordered
the regiment drawn up in front of his headquarters, and invited me to
address them. The Colonel and his staff were mounted, and I was given
a position of honor on a dry goods box near the head of the beautiful
horse upon which the Colonel was mounted. Besides Colonel James
H. Young, of Raleigh, were near me Lieutenant Colonel Taylor, of
Charlotte; Major Walker, of Wilmington; Major Hayward, of Raleigh;
Chief Surgeon Dellinger, of Greensboro; Assistant Surgeons Pope, of
Charlotte, and Alston, of Asheville; Capt. Durham, of Winston; Capt.
Hamlin, of Raleigh; Capt. Hargraves, of Maxton; Capt. Mebane, of
Elizabeth City; Capt. Carpenter, of Rutherfordton; Capt. Alexander,
of Statesville; Capt. Smith, of Durham; Capt. Mason, of Kinston;
who served under Colonel Shaw at Fort Wagner; Capt. Leatherwood,
Asheville; Capt. Stitt, of Charlotte; Capt. York, of Newbern; and
Quartermaster Lane, of Raleigh. That highly respected citizen of
Fayetteville, Adjutant Smith, was in the hospital suffering from a
broken leg. I told them they were on trial, and the success or failure
of the experiment must be determined by themselves alone; that
godliness, moral character, prompt and implicit obedience, as well as
bravery and unflinching courage, were necessary attributes of the true
soldier.

The Y.M.C.A. tent is a great blessing to the regiment, and is very
popular, and aids in every possible way the work of Chaplain Durham.

The way Col. Young manages the canteen cannot be too highly
recommended. Ordinarily the term canteen is another name for a
drinking saloon, though a great variety of articles, such as soldiers
need, are on sale and the profits go to the soldiers. But the canteen
of the Third North Carolina is a dry one. By that I mean that
spiritous or malt liquors are not sold. Col. Young puts into practice
the principles that have always characterized his personal habits, and
with the best results to his regiment.

I had the pleasure of meeting Capt. S. Babcock, Assistant Adjutant
General of the Brigade, who has known this regiment since it was
mustered into the service. He speaks of it in the highest terms. I
also met Major John A. Logan, the Provost Marshal, and had a
long interview with him. He said the Third North Carolina was a
well-behaved regiment and that he had not arrested a larger per cent
of men from this regiment than from any other regiment, and that I was
at liberty to publicly use this statement.

While in the sleeper on my way home I fell in with Capt. J.C. Gresham,
of the Seventh Cavalry. Capt. Gresham is a native of Virginia, a
graduate of Richmond College and West Point, and has served many years
in the regular army. He was with Colonel Forsyth in the battle with
the Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. I had met him previously,
when I was in the United States Indian service in Kansas. He informed
me that he mustered in the first four companies of the Third North
Carolina, and the Colonel and his staff, and that he had never met a
more capable man than Colonel Young.

The Third North Carolina has never seen active service at the front,
and, as the Hispano-American war is practically a closed chapter, it
will probably be mustered out of the service without any knowledge of
actual warfare. I thought, however, as I stood on the dry goods box
and gave them kindly advice, and looked down along the line, that if
I was a soldier in a white regiment and was pitted against them, my
regiment would have to do some mighty lively work to "clean them out."

CHARLES FRANCIS MESERVE.

Shaw University,

Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 25, 1899.


[Illustration: MR. JUDSON W. LYONS, REGISTER OF THE TREASURY, AND
SIGNS U.S. "GREENBACKS" TO MAKE THEM GOOD.]




CHAPTER VIII.


GENERAL ITEMS OF INTEREST TO THE RACE,


John C. Dancy, re-appointed Collector of Port Wilmington, N.C. Salary
$3,000.

The appointment of Prof. Richard T. Greener, of New York, as Consul to
Vladivistock.

Hon. H.P. Cheatham, appointed as Register of Deeds of the District of
Columbia. Salary $4,000.

Hon. George H. White elected to Congress from the Second Congressional
District of North Carolina, the only colored Representative in that
body.

The Cotton Factory at Concord, N.C., built and operated by colored
people, capitalized at $50,000, and established a new line of industry
for colored labor, is one of the interesting items showing the
progress of the colored race in America.

B.K. Bruce re-appointed Register of the Treasury, and on his death Mr.
Judson W. Lyons, of Augusta, Georgia, became his successor, and now
has the honor of making genuine Uncle Sam's greenback by affixing
thereto his signature. Salary $4,500.

Bishop H.M. Turner visits Africa and ordains an African Bishop,
J.H. Dwane, Vicar of South Africa, with a conference composed of a
membership of 10,000 persons. This act of the Bishop is criticised by
some of the Bishops and members of the A.M.E. Church in America on the
grounds that Bishop Turner was acting without authority in making this
appointment.

Mr. James Deveaux, Collector of Port, Brunswick, Ga.; H.A. Rucker,
Collector of Internal Revenue for Georgia, $4,500 (the best office in
the State); Morton, Postmaster at Athens, Ga., $2,400; Demas,
naval officer at New Orleans, $5,000; Lee, Collector of port at
Jacksonville, $4,000 (the best office in that State); Hill, Register
of the Land Office in Mississippi, $3,000; Leftwich, Register of the
Land Office in Alabama, $3,000; Casline, Receiver of Public Moneys in
Alabama, $2,000; Jackson, Consul at Calais, $2,500; Van Horn, Consul
in the West Indies, $2,500; Green, Chief Stamp Division, Postoffice
Department, $2,000.


MISS ALBERTA SCOTT AND OTHERS,

Miss Alberta Scott is the first Negro girl to be graduated from the
Harvard annex. Her classmates and the professors of the institution
have congratulated her in the warmest terms and in the literary and
the language club of Boston her achievement of the M.A. degree has
been spoken of with high praise. Miss Scott is but the fifth student
of the Negro race to obtain this honor at the colleges for women in
Massachusetts. Two received diplomas from Wellsley, one from Smith
College and one from Vassar. Miss Scott is 20 years old. She was born
in Richmond, Va., having graduated from the common schools in Boston.
Miss Scott's teachers spoke so encouragingly of her work that the
girl was determined to have a college education. She paid particular
attention to the study of language and literature, and she is now a
fluent linguist and a member of the Idier and German clubs. She has
contributed considerably to college and New England journals.

[Illustration: THE GARNES FAMILY.]

THE DISCOVERY OF THE GARNES FAMILY.

A picture of which is herein placed, will do much to confound those
bumptious sociologists who make haste to rush into print with
statistics purporting to show that the Negro Race in America is "fast
dying out." The aim of this class of people seems to be to show that
the Negro Race withers under the influence of freedom, which is by no
means true. It is possibly true that filth and disease does its fatal
work in the Negro Race, the same as in other races among the filthy
and corrupt, but the filthy and corrupt in the Negro Race, as a class,
are growing fewer every year--for which we can thank the philanthropy
of the American people who are doing something to better the condition
of the Negro rather than hurling at him enernating criticisms and
complaints.

"Their home is at Brodie, in the country, about twenty miles from
Henderson, N.C. The father's name is Gillis Garnes. He is about fifty
years of age, and the mother says she is about forty-eight. The oldest
child is a daughter, aged twenty-eight, and the youngest is also a
daughter, three years of age; that you see seated in her mother's
arms. They are all Baptists and thirteen of the family are members of
the church. I had this photograph taken at Henderson, on April 8th.
There are seventeen children, all living, of the same father and
mother. A.J. Garnes spends quite a part of the time in teaching in
his native county. When he is not teaching he is at home, and every
evening has a school made up of children of the family. A.J. Garnes
is the tall young man in the background at the right, who is a former
student of Shaw University, as well as one of the sisters represented
in the picture."--_Prof. Charles F. Meserve, in the Baptist Home
Mission Monthly._

"A COLORED WONDER" ON THE BICYCLE.

New York, August 27.--Major Taylor, the colored cyclist, met and
defeated "Jimmy" Michael, the little Welshman, in a special match
race, best two out of three, one mile pace heats, from a standing
start at Manhattan Beach Cycle track this afternoon.

Michael won the first heat easily, as Taylor's pacing quint broke
down in the final lap, but on the next two heats Michael was so badly
beaten and distanced that he quit each time in the last lap.

MARVELOUS WORK.

Taylor's work was wonderful, both from a racing and time standpoint,
and he established a new world's record which was absolutely
phenomenal, covering the third heat in 1:41 2-5.

Michael was hissed by the spectators as he passed the stand,
dispirited and dejected by Taylor's overwhelming victory.

Immediately after the third heat was finished, and before the time was
announced, William A. Bradley, who championed the colored boy during
the entire season, issued a challenge to race Taylor against Michael
for $5,000 or $10,000 a side at any distance up to one hundred miles.

THE COLORED YOUTH LIONIZED.

This declaration was received with tumultuous shouts by the
assemblage, and the colored victor was lionized when the time was made
known.

Edouard Taylore, the French rider, held the world's record of 1:45 3-5
for the distance in a contest paced from a standing start.

[Illustration: COLEMAN COTTON MILL.]

THE WORLD'S RECORD LOWERED.

The world's record against time from a standing start, made by Platt
Betts, of England, was 1:43 2-5. Michael beat Taylore's record by 1
2-5 seconds in the first heat, but Major Taylor wiped this out and
tied Betts' record against time in the second heat. As Taylor was on
the outside for nearly two and a half laps, it was easily seen that he
rode more than a mile in the time, and shrewd judges who watched the
race said that he would surely do better on the third attempt.

PALE AS A CORPSE.

That he fully justified this belief goes without saying.

The Welsh rider was pale as a corpse when he jumped off his wheel and
had no excuse to make for his defeat. Taylor's performance undoubtedly
stamps him as the premier 'cycle sprinter of the world, and, judging
from the staying qualities he exhibited in his six days' ride in the
Madison Square Garden, the middle distance championship may be his
before the end of the present season.


A NEGRO MILLIONAIRE FOUND AT LAST.

After a search of many years, at last a Negro millionaire, yes, a
multi-millionaire has been found. He resides in the city of Guatemala,
and is known as Don Juan Knight. It is said he is to that country what
Huntington and other monied men are to this country. He was born a
slave in the State of Alabama. He owns gold mines, large coffee and
banana farms, is the second largest dealer in mahogany in the world,
owns a bank and pays his employees $200,000 a year. His wealth is
estimated at $70,000,000. He was the property of the Uptons, of
Dadeville, Ala. He contributes largely to educational institutions,
has erected hospitals, etc. He is sought for his advice by the
government whenever a bond issue, etc., is to be made. He lives in a
palace and has hosts of servants to wait on his family. He married a
native and has seven children. They have all been educated in this
country. Two of his sons are in a military academy in Mississippi and
one of his daughters is an accomplished portrait painter in Boston. He
visited the old plantation where he was born recently and employed the
son of his former master as foreman of his mines. Finding that the
wife of his former master was sick and without money, he gave her
enough money to live on the balance of her life. He employs more
men than any other man in Guatemala and is the wealthiest one
there.--Maxton Blade.


UNCLE SAM'S MONEY SEALER WHO COULD STEAL MILLIONS IF HE WOULD.

There is only one man in the United States who could steal $10,000,000
and not have the theft discovered for six months.

This man has a salary of $1,200 a year. He is a Negro and his name is
John R. Brown.

Mr. Brown's interesting duty is to be the packer of currency under
James F. Meline, the Assistant Treasurer of the United States, who,
says that his is a place where automatic safeguards and checks fail,
and where the government must trust to the honesty of the official.

All the currency printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is
completed in the Treasury Building by having the red seal printed on
it there. It comes to the Treasury Building in sheets of four notes
each, and when the seal has been imprinted on the notes they are cut
apart and put into packages to dry. John Brown's duty is to put up the
packages of notes and seal them.

[Illustration: MR. BROWN, THE COLORED MAN WHO PACKS AND SEALS THE
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES.]

Brown does his work in a cage at the end of the room in which the
completion of the notes is accomplished--the room of the Division of
Issues.

The notes are arranged in packages of one hundred before they are
brought into the cage. Each package has its paper strap, on which the
number and denomination is given in printed characters. Forty are put
together in two piles of twenty each and placed an a power press. This
press is worked by a lever, something like an old-style cotton press.
There are openings above and below through which strings can be
slipped after Brown has pulled the lever and compressed the package.

These strings hold the package together while stout manila paper is
drawn around it. This paper is folded as though about a pound of tea
and sealed with wax. Then a label is pasted on it, showing in plain
characters what is within.

The packages are of uniform size and any variation from the standard
would be noticed. But a dishonest man in Brown's position could slip a
wad of prepared paper into one of the packages and put the notes into
his pocket.

If he did this the crime might not be known for six months or a
year, or even longer. Some day there would come from the Treasurer
a requisition for a package of notes of a certain denomination. The
doctored package would be opened and the shortage would be found.
However, the Government has never had to meet this situation.

There have been only two men engaged in packing and sealing currency
since the Treasury Department was organized.

John T. Barnes began the work. He was a delegate to the Chicago
Convention which nominated Lincoln and he received his appointment
on the recommendation of Montgomery Blair in 1861. In 1862 he was
assigned to making up the currency packages and fulfilled that duty
until his death, in 1894. No mistake was ever discovered in his work,
though he handled every cent of currency issued by the government for
thirty-two years--so many millions of dollars that it would take a
week to figure them up.

Mr. Barnes' duties were filled temporarily until November 1, when John
R. Brown was appointed to the place.

Barnes at the time of his death was receiving only $1,400 a year and
Brown draws only $1,200.

Ordinarily the Bureau of Engraving and Printing delivers to the Issue
Division about fifty-six packages of paper money of 1,000 sheets each,
four notes on a sheet, making, when separated, 224,000 notes. These
notes range in value from $1 to $20, and their aggregate is usually
about $1,000,000. The government, however, issues currency in
denominations of $50, $100, $500, $1,000. The largest are not printed
often, because the amount issued is small.

If it could happen that 224,000 notes of $1,000 each were received
from the bureau in one day, the aggregate of value in the fifty-six
packages would be $224,000,000. As it is, a little more than 10 per
cent, of this sum represents the largest amount handled in one day.

That is, the packer has handled $25,000,000 in a single day, and not
one dollar has gone astray.

John R. Brown is a hereditary office-holder. His father was a trusted
employee of the Treasurer's office for ten year prior to his death, in
1874. The son was appointed assistant messenger in 1872. He became a
clerk through competitive examination and was gradually promoted.

[Illustration: GEN. PIO PILAR, In charge of the Insurgent forces
which attacked the American troops.]

The man who has the largest interest in John Brown's integrity and
care probably does not know Brown's name. Yet, if a thousand dollars
was missing from one of the packages in the storage vault, Ellis H.
Roberts, Treasurer of the United States, would have to make it good.
Mr. Roberts has given a bond to the government in the sum of $500,000.
Twenty years hence the sureties on that bond could be held for a
shortage in the Treasurer's office, if it could be traced back to Mr.
Roberts' term.

Not one of the employees under Mr. Roberts gives a bond, though they
handle millions every day. But the Treasurer's office is one which
every responsible employee has been weighed carefully. Its clerks have
been in service many years and have proved worthy of confidence.


HOWELLS DISCOVERS A NEGRO POET.

Mr. Paul Lawrence Dunbar has been until recently an elevator-boy in
Dayton, Ohio. While engaged in the ups and downs of life in that
capacity he has cultivated his poetical talents so successfully that
his verse has found frequent admission into leading magazines. At last
a little collection of these verses reached William Dean Howells,
and Mr. Dunbar's star at once became ascendant. He is said to be a
full-blooded Negro, the son of slave-parents, and his best work is in
the dialect of his race. A volume of his poems is soon to be published
by Dodd, Mead & Co. and in an introduction to it Mr. Howells writes as
follows:

"What struck me in reading Mr. Dunbar's poetry was what had already
struck his friends in Ohio and Indiana, in Kentucky and Illinois. They
had felt as I felt, that however gifted his race had proven itself in
music, in oratory, in several other arts, here was the first instance
of an American Negro who had evinced innate literature. In my
criticism of his book I had alleged Dumas in France, and had forgotten
to allege the far greater Pushkin in Russia; but these were both
mulattoes who might have been supposed to derive their qualities from
white blood vastly more artistic than ours, and who were the creatures
of an environment more favorable to their literary development. So
far as I could remember, Paul Dunbar was the only man of pure African
blood and American civilization to feel the Negro life esthetically
and express it lyrically. It seemed to me that this had come to its
most modern consciousness in him, and that his brilliant and unique
achievement was to have studied the American Negro objectively, and to
have represented him as he found him to be, with humor, with sympathy,
and yet with what the reader must instinctively feel to be entire
truthfulness. I said that a race which had come to this effect in any
member of it had attained civilization in him, and I permitted myself
the imaginative prophecy that the hostilities and the prejudices which
had so long constrained his race were destined to vanish in the arts;
that these were to be the final proof that God had made of one blood
all nations of men. I thought his merits positive and not comparative;
and I held that if his black poems had been written by a white man
I should not have found them less admirable. I accepted them as an
evidence of the essential unity of the human race, which does not
think or feel black in one and white in another, but humanly in all."

The Bookman says of Mr. Dunbar:

"It is safe to assert that accepted as an Anglo-Saxon poet, he would
have received little or no consideration in a hurried weighing of the
mass of contemporary verse."

"But Mr. Dunbar, as his pleasing, manly, and not unrefined face shows,
is a poet of the African race; and this novel and suggestive fact at
once placed his work upon a peculiar footing of interest, of study,
and of appreciative welcome. So regarded, it is a most remarkable and
hopeful production."

[Illustration: PAUL LAWRENCE DUNBAR, THE NEGRO POET.]

We reproduce here one of Dunbar's dialect poems entitled
WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT.

  Dey is times in life when Nature
    Seems to slip a cog an' go
  Jes' a-rattlin' down creation,
    Lak an ocean's overflow;
  When de worl' jes' stahts a-spinnin'
    Lak a picaninny's top,
  An' you' cup o' joy is brimmin'
    'Twel it seems about to slop.
  An' you feel jes' lak a racah
    Dat is trainin' fu' to trot--
  When you' mammy ses de blessin'
    An' de co'n pone's hot.

  When you set down at de table,
    Kin' o' weary lak an' sad,
  'An' you'se jest a little tiahed,
    An' purhaps a little mad--
  How you' gloom tu'ns into gladness,
    How you' joy drives out de doubt
  When de oven do' is opened
    An' de smell comes po'in' out;
  Why, de 'lectric light o' Heaven
    Seems to settle on de spot,
  When yo' mammy ses de blessin'
    An' de co'n pone's hot.

  When de cabbage pot is steamin'
    An' de bacon good an' fat,
  When de chittlin's is a-sputter'n'
    So's to show yo' whah dey's at;
  Take away you sody biscuit,
    Take away yo' cake an' pie.
  Fu' de glory time is comin',
    An' it's proachin' very nigh,
  An' you' want to jump an' hollah,
    Do you know you'd bettah not,
  When you mammy ses de blessin'
    An' de co'n pone's hot?

  I have heerd o' lots o' sermons,
    An' I've heerd o' lots o' prayers;
  An' I've listened to some singin'
    Dat has tuck me up de stairs
  Of de Glory Lan' an' set me
    Jes' below de Mahster's th'one,
  An' have lef my haht a singin'
    In a happy aftah-tone.
  But dem wu's so sweetly murmured
    Seem to tech de softes' spot,
  When my mammy ses de blessin'.
    An de co'n pone's hot.
--Taken from the Literary Digest.

DISFRANCHISEMENT OF COLORED VOTERS.

While the Northern and Western portions of the United States were
paying tributes to the valor of the Negro soldiers who fought for the
flag in Cuba, the most intense feeling ever witnessed, was brewing in
some sections of the South-notably in the North Carolina Legislature
against the rights and privileges of Negro citizenship, which
culminated in the passage of a "Jim Crow" car law, and an act to amend
the Constitution so as to disfranchise the colored voters. It was
noticeable, however, that although the "Jim Crow Car" law got through
that body in triumph, yet the "Jim Crow Bed" law, which made it a
felony for whites and colored to cohabit together DID NOT PASS.

[Illustration: FILIPINO LADY OF MANILA.]

The Washington Post, which cannot be rated as generally partial to the
colored citizens of the Union, and which is especially vicious in its
attacks on the colored soldiers, has the following to say as to the
proposed North Carolina amendment, which is so well said that we
insert the same in full as an indication to our people that justice is
not yet dead--though seemingly tardy:


SUFFRAGE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

(Washington Post, Feb. 20, 1899.)

The amendment to the Constitution of North Carolina, which has for its
object the limitation of the suffrage in the State, appears to have
been modeled on the new Louisiana laws and operate a gross oppression
and injustice. It is easy to see that the amendment is not intended to
disfranchise the ignorant, but to stop short with the Negro; to deny
to the illiterate black man the right of access to the ballot box and
yet to leave the way wide open to the equally illiterate whites. In
our opinion the policy thus indicated is both dangerous and unjust. We
expressed the same opinion in connection with the Louisiana laws, and
we see no reason to amend our views in the case of North Carolina.
The proposed arrangement is wicked. It will not bear the test of
intelligent and impartial examination. We believe in this case, as in
that of Louisiana, that the Federal Constitution has been violated,
and we hope that the people of North Carolina will repudiate the
blunder at the polls.

We realize with sorrow and apprehension that there are elements at the
South enlisted in the work of disfranchising the Negro for purposes
of mere party profit. It has been so in Louisiana, where laws were
enacted under which penniless and illiterate Negroes cannot vote,
while the ignorant and vicious classes of whites are enabled to retain
and exercise the franchise. So far as we are concerned--and we believe
that the best element of the South in every State will sustain our
proposition-we hold that, as between the ignorant of the two races,
the Negroes are preferable. They are conservative; they are good
citizens; they take no stock in social schisms and vagaries; they do
not consort with anarchists; they cannot be made the tools and agents
of incendiaries; they constitute the solid, worthy, estimable yeomanry
of the South. Their influence in government would be infinitely more
wholesome than the influence of the white sansculotte, the riff-raff,
the idlers, the rowdies, and the outlaws. As between the Negro,
no matter how illiterate he may be, and the "poor white," the
property-holders of the South prefer the former. Excepting a few
impudent, half-educated, and pestiferous pretenders, the Negro masses
of the South are honest, well-meaning, industrious, and safe citizens.
They are in sympathy with the superior race; they find protection and
encouragement with the old slave-holding class; if left alone,
they would furnish the bone and sinew of a secure and progressive
civilization. To disfranchise this class and leave the degraded whites
in possession of the ballot would, as we see the matter, be a blunder,
if not a crime.

The question has yet to be submitted to a popular vote. We hope it
will be decided in the negative. Both the Louisiana Senators are on
record as proclaiming the unconstitutionality of the law. Both are
eminent lawyers, and both devoted absolutely to the welfare of the
South. We can only hope, for the sake of a people whom we admire and
love, that this iniquitous legislation may be overruled in North
Carolina as in Louisiana.




CHAPTER IX.


SOME FACTS ABOUT THE PHILIPPINOS.


WHO AGUINALDO IS.

Emilio Aguinaldo was born March 22, 1869, at Cavite, Viejo.

When twenty-five years old he was elected Mayor of Cavite.

On August 21, 1896, Aguinaldo became leader of the insurgents. The
revolution started on that day.

He fought four battles with the Spaniards and was victorious in all.
He lost but ten men, to the Spaniards 125.

On December 24, 1897, a peace was established between Aguinaldo and
the Spanish.

Aguinaldo received $400,000, but the rest of the conditions of peace
were never carried out.

In June last Aguinaldo issued a proclamation, expressing a desire for
the establishment of a native administration in the Philippines under
an American protectorate.

In an interview with a World correspondent at that time he expressed
himself as grateful to Americans.

In July he issued a proclamation fixing the 12th day of that month for
the declaration of the independence of the Philippines.

In November Aguinaldo defied General Otis, refusing to release his
Spanish prisoners.

The Cabinet on December 2 cabled General Otis to demand the release of
the prisoners.

[Illustration: EMILIO AGUINALDO, MILITARY DICTATOR OF THE FILIPINOS.]


AGUINALDO THE MAN.

In his features, face and skull Aguinaldo looks more like a European
than a Malay.

He is what would be called a handsome man, and might be compared with
many young men in the province of Andalusia, Spain. If there be truth
in phrenology he is a man above the common. Friends and enemies
agree that he is intelligent, ambitious, far-sighted, brave,
self-controlled, honest, moral, vindictive, and at times cruel. He
possesses the quality which friends call wisdom and enemies call
craft. According to those who like him he is courteous, polished,
thoughtful and dignified; according to those who dislike him he is
insincere, pretentious, vain and arrogant. Both admit him to be
genial, generous, self-sacrificing, popular and capable in the
administration of affairs. If the opinion of his foes be accepted he
is one of the greatest Malays on the page of history. If the opinion
of his friends be taken as the criterion he is one of the great men of
history irrespective of race.--The Review of Reviews.


FACTS FROM FELIPE AGONCILLO'S LETTER IN LESLIE'S MAGAZINE.

Sixty per cent, of the inhabitants can read and write.

The women in education are on a plane with the men.

Each town of 5,000 inhabitants has two schools for children of both
sexes. The towns of 10,000 inhabitants have three schools. There are
technical training schools in Manila, Iloilo, and Bacoler. "In these
schools are taught cabinet work, silversmithing, lock-smithing,
lithography, carpentering, machinery, decorating, sculpture, political
economy, commercial law, book-keeping, and commercial correspondence,
French and English; and there is one superior college for painting,
sculpture and engraving. There is also a college of commercial exports
in Manila, and a nautical school, as well as a superior school of
agriculture. Ten model farms and a meteorological observatory are
conducted in other provinces, together with a service of geological
studies, a botanical garden and a museum, a laboratory and military
academy and a school of telegraphy."

Manila has a girl's school (La Ascuncion) of elementary and superior
branches, directed by French, English and Spanish mothers, which
teaches French, English literature, arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry,
topography, physics, geology, universal history, geography, designing,
music, dress-making and needle-work. The capital has besides a
municipal school of primary instruction and the following colleges:
Santa Ysabel, Santa Catolina, La Concordia, Santa Rosa de la Looban,
a hospital of San Jose, and an Asylum of St. Vincent de Paul, all
of which are places of instruction for children. There are other
elementary schools in the State of Camannis, in Pasig, in Vigan and
Jaro.

The entire conduct of the civilization of the Philippines as well as
local authorities are in the hands of the Philipinos themselves. They
also had charge of the public offices of the government during the
last century.

There is a medical school and a school for mid-wives.

"All the young people and especially the boys, belonging to well-to-do
families residing in the other islands go to Manila to study the
arts and learn a profession. Among the natives to be ignorant and
uneducated, is a shameful condition of degradation."

"The sons of the rich families began to go to Spain in 1854" to be
educated.

[Illustration: FELIPE AGONCILLO Emissary of the Filipinos to the
United States.]

When the Spaniards first went to the islands "they found the
Philipinos enlightened and advanced in civilization." "They had
foundries for casting iron and brass, for making guns and powder.
They had their special writing with two alphabets, and used paper
imported from China and Japan." This was in the early part of the
sixteenth century. The Spanish government took the part of the natives
against the imposition of exhorbitant taxes, and the tortures of the
inquisition by the early settlers.

The highest civilization exists in the island of Luzon but in some
of the remote islands the people are not more than "enlightened." The
population embraced in Anguinaldo's dominion is 10,000,000, scattered
over a territory in area approaching 200,000 square miles. The
Americans up to this time have conquered only about 143 square miles
of this territory.

What takes place in the South concerning the treatment of Negroes is
known in the Philippines. The Philipino government on the 27th of
February, 1899, issued from Hong Kong the following decree warning the
Philipino people as follows:

"Manila has witnessed the most horrible outrages, the confiscation of
the properties and savings of the people at the point of the bayonet,
the shooting of the defenseless, accompanied by odious acts of
abomination repugnant barbarism and social hatred, worse than the
doings in the Carolinas."

They are told of America's treatment of the black population, and are
made to feel that it is better to die fighting than become subject
to a nation where, as they are made to believe, the colored man is
lynched and burned alive indiscriminately. The outrages in this
country is giving America a bad name among the savage people of the
world, and they seem to prefer savagery to American civilization, such
as is meted out to her dark-skinned people.




CHAPTER X.


RESUME.


Should the question be asked "how did the American Negroes act in the
Spanish-American war?" the foregoing brief account of their conduct
would furnish a satisfactory answer to any fair mind. In testimony of
their valiant conduct we have the evidence first, of competent eye
witnesses; second, of men of the white race; and third, not only white
race, but men of the Southern white race, in America, whose antipathy
to the Negro "with a gun" is well known, it being related of the great
George Washington, who, withal, was a slave owner, but mild in his
views as to the harshness of that system--that on his dying bed he
called out to his good wife: "Martha, Martha, let me charge you, dear,
never to trust a 'nigger' with a gun." Again we have the testimony of
men high in authority, competent to judge, and whose evidence ought to
be received. Such men as General Joseph Wheeler, Colonel Roosevelt,
General Miles, President McKinley. If on the testimony of such
witnesses as these we have not "established our case," there must
be something wrong with the jury. A good case has been established,
however, for the colored soldier, out of the mouth of many witnesses.
The colored troopers just did so well that praise could not be
withheld from them even by those whose education and training had bred
in them prejudice against Negroes. It can no longer be doubted that
the Negro soldier will fight. In fact such has been their record in
past wars that no scruples should have been entertained on this point,
but the (late) war was a fresh test, the result of which should be
enough to convince the most incredulous "Doubting Thomases."

[Illustration: CONVENT AT CAVITË, WHERE AGUINALDO WAS PROCLAIMED
PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC (JUNE, 1898).]

The greater portion of the American people have confidence in the
Negro soldier. This confidence is not misplaced--the American
government can, in the South, organize an army of Negro soldiers that
will defy the combined forces of any nation of Europe. The Negro can
fight in any climate, and does not succumb to the hardships of camp
life. He makes a model soldier and is well nigh invincible.

The Negro race has a right to be proud of the achievements of the
colored troopers in the late Spanish-American war. They were the
representatives of the whole race in that conflict; had they failed it
would have been a calamity charged up to the whole race. The race's
enemies would have used it with great effect. They did not fail, but
did their duty nobly--a thousand hurrahs for the colored troopers of
the Spanish-American war!!

In considering their successful achievements, however, it is well to
remember that there were some things the Negro had to forget while
facing Spanish bullets. The Negro soldier in bracing himself for that
conflict must needs forget the cruelties that daily go on against his
brethren under that same flag he faces death to defend; he must forget
that when he returns to his own land he will be met not as a citizen,
but as a serf in that part of it, at least, where the majority of
his people live; he must forget that if he wishes to visit his aged
parents who may perhaps live in some of the Southern States, he must
go in a "Jim Crow" car; and if he wants a meal on the way, he could
only get it in the kitchen, as to insist on having it in the dining
room with other travelers, would subject him to mob violence; he must
forget that the flag he fought to defend in Cuba does not protect him
nor his family at home; he must forget the murder of Frazier B. Baker,
who was shot down in cold blood, together with his infant babe in its
mother's arms, and the mother and another child wounded, at Lake City,
S.C., for no other offense than attempting to perform the duties of
Postmaster at that place--a position given him by President McKinley;
he must forget also the shooting of Loftin, the colored Postmaster at
Hagansville, Ga., who was guilty of no crime, but being a Negro and
holding, at that place, the Postoffice, a position given him by the
government; he must forget the Wilmington MASSACRE in which some forty
or fifty colored people were shot down by men who had organized
to take the government of the city in charge by force of the
Winchester--where two lawyers and a half dozen or more colored men of
business, together with such of their white friends as were thought
necessary to get rid of, were banished from the city by a mob, and
their lives threatened in the event of their return--all because they
were in the way as Republican voters-"talked too much" or did not halt
when so ordered by some members of the mob; they must forget the three
hundred Negroes who were the victims of mob violence in the United
States during the year 1898; they must forget that the government they
fought for in Cuba is powerless to correct these evils, and does not
correct them.


WHY THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PROTECT ITS COLORED CITIZENS.

Is due to the peculiar and complicated construction of the laws
relating to STATES RIGHTS. The power to punish for crimes against
citizens of the different States is given by construction of the
Constitution of the United States to the courts of the several States.
The Federal authorities have no jurisdiction unless the State has
passed some law abridging the rights of citizens, or the State
government through its authorized agents is unable to protect its
citizens, and has called on the national government for aid to that
end, or some United States official is molested in the discharge of
his duty. Under this subtle construction of the Constitution a citizen
who lives in a State whose public opinion is hostile becomes a victim
of whatever prejudice prevails, and, although the laws may in the
letter, afford ample protection, yet those who are to execute them
rarely do so in the face of a hostile public sentiment; and thus the
Negroes who live in hostile communities become the victims of public
sentiment. Juries may be drawn, and trials may be had, but the juries
are usually white, and are also influenced in their verdicts by that
sentiment which declares that "this is a white man's government," and
a mistrial follows. In many instances the juries are willing to do
justice, but they can feel the pressure from the outside, and in some
instance the jurors chosen to try the cases were members of the mob,
as in the case of the coroner's jury at Lake City.

It is the duty of a State Governor, when he finds public sentiment
dominating the courts and obstructing justice, to interfere, and in
case he cannot succeed with the sheriff and posse comitatus, then to
invoke National aid. But this step has never yet been taken by any
Governor of the States in the interest of Negro citizenship. Some of
the State Governors have made some demonstration by way of threats of
enforcing the law against those who organize mobs and take the law
into their own hands; and some of the mob murderers have been brought
to trial, which in most cases, has resulted in an acquittal for
the reason that juries have as aforestated, chosen to obey public
sentiment, which is not in favor of punishing white men for lynching
Negroes, rather than obey the law; and cases against the election laws
and for molesting United States officials have to be tried in the
district where these offences occur, and the juries being in sympathy
with the criminals, usually acquit, or there is a mistrial because
they cannot all agree.

THAT MOBOCRACY IS SUPREME in many parts of the Union is no longer
a mooted question. It is a fact; and one that forebodes serious
consequences, not only to the Negro but to any class of citizens who
may happen to come into disfavor with some other class.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN SEBASTIANO, MANILLA.]

WHAT THE NEGRO SHOULD do under such circumstances must be left to the
discretion of the individuals concerned. Some advise emigration, but
that is impracticable, en masse, unless some suitable place could be
found where any considerable number might go, and not fare worse.
The colored people will eventually leave those places where they are
maltreated, but "whether it is better to suffer the ills we now bear
than flee to those we know not of," is the question. The prevailing
sentiment among the masses seems to be to remain for the present,
where they are, and through wise action, and appeals to the Court of
Enlightened Christian Sentiment, try to disarm the mob. There is no
doubt a class of white citizens who regret such occurrences, and from
their natural horror of bloodshed, and looking to the welfare and
reputation of the communities in which such outrages occur, and
feeling that withal the Negro makes a good domestic and farm hand,
will, and do counsel against mob violence. In many places where mobs
have occurred such white citizens have been invaluable aids in saving
the lives of Negroes from mob violence; and trusting that these
friends will increase and keep up their good work the Negro has seldom
ever left the scene of mob violence in any considerable numbers, the
home ties being strong, and he instinctively loves the scene of his
birth. He loves the white men who were boys with him, whose faces
he has smiled in from infancy, and he would rather not sever those
friendly ties. A touching incident is related in reference to a
colored man in a certain town where a mob was murdering Negroes right
and left, who came to the door of his place of business, and seeing
the face of a young white man whom he had known from his youth, asked
protection home to his wife and five children; the reply came with an
oath, "Get back into that house or I will put a bullet into you." The
day before this these two men had been "good friends," had "exchanged
cigars"-but the orders of the mob were stronger in this instance than
the ties of long years of close friendship. Another instance, though,
will show how the mob could not control the ties of friendship of
the white for the black. It was the case of a colored man who was
blacklisted by a mob in a certain city, and fled to the home of a
neighboring white friend who kept him in his own house for several
days until escape was possible, and in the meantime, summoned his
white neighbors to guard the black man's family-threatening to shoot
down the first member of the mob who should enter the gate, because,
as he said, "you have no right to frighten that woman and her children
to death." Such acts as this assures to the Negroes in places where
feeling runs against them that perhaps they may be fortunate enough to
escape the violence of this terrible race hatred that is now running
riot in this country. In this connection it is well to remark that
kindness will win in the long run with the Negro Race, and make them
the white man's friend. Georgia and those States where Negroes are
being burned are sowing to the wind and will ere long reap the
whirlwind in the matter of race hatred. Criminal assaults were not
characteristic of the Negro in the days of slavery, because as a rule
there was friendship between master and slave-the slave was too fond
of his master's family but to do otherwise than protect it; but the
situation is changed-instead of kindness the Negro sees nothing but
rebuff on every hand; he feels himself a hated and despised race
without country or protection anywhere, and the brute-spirit rises in
those, who, by their make-up and training, cannot keep it down-then
follows murder, outrage, rape. It is true that only a few do these
things, but those few are the natural products of the Southern
system of oppression and the wonder is, when the question is viewed
philosophically, that there are so few. The conclusion here reached is
that Georgia will not get rid of her brutes by burning them and taking
the charred embers home as relics, but rather by treating her Negro
population with more kindness and showing them that there is some hope
for Negro citizenship in that State. The Negroes know that white men
have been known to rape colored girls, but that never has there been a
suggestion of lynching or burning for that, and they feel despondent,
for they know the courts are useless in such cases, and this
jug-handle enforcement of lynch law is breeding its own bad fruits on
the Negro race as well as making more brutal the whites. My advice,
then, to our white friends is to try kindness as a remedy for rape in
the South, and I am convinced of the force of this remedy from what I
know of the occurrence of assaults and murders in those States where
the Negroes are made to feel that they are citizens and are at home.

WHAT COURAGE! WHAT AN EXAMPLE OF FAITHFULNESS TO DUTY

Did the colored troopers exhibit in forgetting all these shortcomings
to themselves and race of their own government when they made those
daring charges on San Juan and El Caney!! They were possessed
with large hearts and sublime courage. How they fought under such
circumstances, none but a divine tongue can answer. It was a miracle,
and was performed, no doubt, that good might come to the race in the
shape of the testimonials given them as appears heretofore in this
book. Their deeds must live in history as an honor to the Negro Race.
Let them be taught to the children. Let it be said that the Negro
soldier did his duty under the flag, whether that flag protects him or
not. The white soldier fought under no such sad reflections--he did
not, after a hard-fought battle, lie in the trenches at night and
dream of his aged mother and father being run out of their little home
into the wintry blasts by a mob who sought to "string them up" for
circulating literature relating to the party of Wm. McKinley--the
President of the United States--this was the colored soldiers' dream,
but he swore to protect the flag and he did it. The colored soldier
has been faithful to his trust; let others be the same. If Negroes who
have other trusts to perform, do their duty as well as the colored
soldiers, there will be many revisions in the scale of public
sentiment regarding the Negro Race in America--many arguments will
be overthrown and the heyday towards Negro citizenship will begin to
dawn--there are other battles than those of the militia.

THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM IS MAINLY IN THE RACE'S OWN HANDS

They must climb up themselves with such assistance as they can get.
The race has done well in thirty years of freedom, but it could have
done better; banking on the progress already made the next thirty
years will no doubt show greater improvement than the past--TIME,
TIME, TIME, which some people seem to take so little into account,
will be the great adjuster of all such problems in the future as
it has been in the past. Many children of the white fathers of the
present day will read the writing of their parents and wonder at their
short-sightedness in attempting to fix the metes and bounds of the
American Negro's status. We feel reluctant to prophesy, but this much
we do say, that fifty years from now will show a great change in the
Negro's condition in America, and many of those who now predict his
calamity will be classed with the fools who said before the Negro was
emancipated that they would all perish within ten years for lack of
ability to feed and clothe themselves. The complaint now with many of
those who oppose the Negro is not because he lacks ability, but rather
because he uses too much and sometimes gets the situation that they
want. This is pre-eminently so from a political standpoint and the
reported arguments used to stir the poorer class of whites to rally
against the Negroes in Wilmington during the campaign just before the
late MASSACRE there in the fall of 1898, was a recital by impassioned
orators of the fact that Negroes had pianos and servants in their
houses, and lace curtains to their windows-this outburst being
followed by the question, "HOW MANY OF YOU WHITE MEN CAN AFFORD TO
HAVE THEM?" So as to the problem of the Negro's imbibing the traits of
civilization, that point is settled by what he has already done, and
the untold obstacles which are being constantly put in his way by
those who fear his competition. The question then turns not so much on
what shall be done with the Negro as upon WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH THE
WHITE

Men who are so filled with prejudice that neither law nor religion
restrains their bloody hands when the Negro refuses to get into what
he calls "his place," which place is that of a menial; and often there
seems no effort even to put the Negro in any particular place save the
grave, as many of the lynchings and murders appear to be done either
for the fun of shooting someone, or else with extermination in view.
There is no attempt at a show of reason or right. The mob spirit is
growing--prejudice is more intense. Formerly it was confined to the
rabble, now it has taken hold of those of education, and standing. Red
shirts have entered the pulpits, and it is a matter boasted of rather
than condemned--the South is not the only scene of such outrages.
Prejudice is not confined to one section, but is no doubt more intense
in the Southern State, and more far-reaching in its effects, because
it is there that the Negroes, by reason of the large numbers in
proportion to the other inhabitants, come into political competition
with the whites who revolt at the idea of Negro officers, whether they
are elected by a majority of citizens or not. The whites seem bent
on revolution to prevent the force and effect of Negro majorities.
Whether public sentiment will continue to endorse these local
revolutions is the question that can be answered only by time. Just so
long as the Negro's citizenship is written in the Constitution and he
believes himself entitled to it, just so long will he seek to exercise
it. The white man's revolution will be needed every now and then to
beat back the Negro's aspirations with the Winchester. The Negro race
loves progress, it is fond of seeing itself elevated, it loves office
for the honor it brings and the emoluments thereof, just as other
progressive races do. It is not effete, looking back to Confucius; it
is looking forward; it does not think its best days have been in the
past, but that they are yet to come in the future; it is a hopeful
race, teachable race; a race that absorbs readily the arts and
accomplishments of civilization; a race that has made progress in
spite of mountains of obstacles; a race whose temperament defied the
worst evils of slavery, both African and American; a race of great
vitality, a race of the future, a race of destiny.

In closing this resume of this little work it is proper that I should
warn the younger members of the race against despondency, and against
the looseness of character and habits that is singularly consequential
of a despondent spirit. Do not be discouraged, give up, and throw away
brilliant intellects, because of seeming obstacles, but rather resolve
to BE SOMETHING AND DO SOMETHING IN SPITE OF OBSTACLES.

"It was not by tossing feather balls into the air that the great
Hercules gained his strength, but by hurling huge bowlders from
mountain tops 'that his name became the synonymn of manly strength.'
So the harder the struggle the greater the discipline and fitness.
If we cannot reach success in one way, let us try another. 'If the
mountain will not come to Mahomet let Mahomet go to the mountain.'"



[Illustration: UNCLE SAM AND HIS NEW ACQUISITIONS.--(N.Y. WORLD.)]

THE SOUTH IS A GOOD PLACE FOR THE NEGRO TO LIVE, provided, however,
the better class of citizens will rise up and demand that lynchings
and mobs shall cease, and that the officers of the law shall do their
duty without prejudice. The only way to suppress mob violence is to
make punishment for the leaders in it, sure and certain. The reason
we have mobs is because the leaders of them know they will not be
punished. The enforcement of the law against lynchers will break it
up.

The white ministers should take up the cause of justice rather than
endorse the red shirts, or carry a Winchester themselves. They should
be the counselors of peace and not the advocates of bloodshed. Most
of them, no doubt, do regret the terrible deeds committed by mobs on
helpless and innocent people, but it is a question as to whether or
not they would be suffered by public sentiment to "cry aloud" against
them. It takes moral courage to face any evil, but it must be faced or
dire consequences will follow of its own breeding. Our last word then,
is an appeal to our BROTHERS IN WHITE, in the pulpit, that they should
rally the people together for justice and; condemn mob violence. The
Negroes do not ask social equality, but civil equality; let the false
notions that confound civil rights with social rights be dispelled,
and advocate the civil equality of all men, and the problem will be
solved.

Edmund Burke says that "war never leaves where it found a nation."
applying this to the American nation with respect to the Negro it is
to be hoped that the late war will leave a better feeling toward him,
especially in view of the glorious record of the Negro soldiers who
participated in that conflict.


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

William McKinley.......................................Frontispiece

General Fitzhugh Lee............................................. 6

General Antonio Maceo............................................ 8

Miss Evangelina Cosio y Cisneros ............................... 10

U.S.S. Maine.................................................... 12

Eddie Savoy..................................................... 14

Jose Maceo...................................................... 16

Sergeant Frank W. Pullen........................................ 20

Charge on El Caney.............................................. 26

Corporal Brown ................................................. 28

George E. Powell................................................ 35

Col. Theodore B. Roosevelt...................................... 39

Gen. Nelson A. Miles.......... ................................. 47

Sergeant Berry.................................................. 48

General Thomas J. Morgan........................................ 50

General Maximo Gomez............................................ 54

First Pay-day in Cuba for the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry........... 58

First President of the Cuban Republic........................... 64

Cubans Fighting from Tree Tops.................................. 70

Investment of Santiago by U.S. Army............................. 78

General Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War...................... 82

Cuban Women Cavalry............................................. 84

Officers of the Ninth Ohio...................................... 92

Major John R. Lynch............................................. 96

Major R.R. Wright.............................................. 100

Major J.B. Johnson............................................. 106

Third North Carolina Volunteers and Officers................... 108

President Charles F. Meserve................................... 110

Mr. Judson W. Lyons............................................ 113

The Games Family............................................... 115

Coleman Cotton Factory......................................... 116

John R. Brown, Uncle Sam's Money Sealer........................ 118

Gen. Pio Pilar................................................. 120

Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Negro Poet............................... 122

A Philipino Lady............................................... 124

Emilio Aguinaldo, Military Dictator of the Filipinos........... 128

Felipe Agoncillo............................................... 130

Convent at Cavite, Aguinaldo's Headquarters.................... 132

Church at San Sebastiano, Manila............................... 136

Uncle Sam and His New Acquisitions............................. 142





APPENDIX.


THE TWENTY-FOURTH UNITED STATES INFANTRY.

BY SERGEANT E.D. GIBSON.

The Twenty-fourth United States Infantry was organized by act of
Congress July 28, 1866. Reorganized by consolidation of the 38th and
41st regiments of infantry, by act of Congress, approved March 3,
1869. Organization of regiment completed in September, 1869, with
headquarters at Fort McKavett, Texas.

Since taking station at Fort McKavett, headquarters of the regiment
have been at the following places:

1870-71, Fort McKavett, Tex.; 1872, Forts McKavett and Brown, Texas;
1873-74, Forts Brown and Duncan, Tex.; 1875-76, Fort Brown, Tex.;
1877-78, Fort Clark, Tex.; 1879, Fort Duncan, Tex.; 1880, Forts Duncan
and Davis, Tex.; 1881-87, Fort Supply, Ind. Terr.; 1888, Forts Supply
and Sill, Ind. Terr., and Bayard, N.M.; 1889 to 1896, Forts Bayard,
N.M., and Douglas, Utah; 1897, Fort Douglas, Utah; 1898, Fort Douglas,
Utah, till April 20, when ordered into the field, incident to the
breaking out of the Spanish-American war. At Chickamauga Park, Ga.,
April 24 to 30; Tampa, Fla., May 2 to June 7; on board transport _S.S.
City of Washington_, en route with expedition (Fifth Army Corps) to
Cuba, from June 9 to 25; at Siboney and Las Guasimas, Cuba, from June
25 to 30; occupied the immediate block-house hill at Fort San Juan,
Cuba, July 1 to 10, from which position the regiment changed to a
place on the San Juan ridge about one-fourth of a mile to the left of
the block-house, where it remained until July 15, when it took station
at yellow fever camp, Siboney, Cuba, remaining until August 26, 1898;
returned to the United States August 26, arriving at Montauk Pt.,
L.I., September 2, 1898, where it remained until September 26, when
ordered to its original station, Fort Douglas, Utah, rejoining October
1, 1898.




FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS.

Colonel.--Henry B. Freeman, under orders to join.

Lieutenant-Colonel.--Emerson H. Liscum, Brig.-Gen. Vols. On sick leave
from wounds received in action at Fort San Juan, Cuba, July 1, 1898.

Majors.--J. Milton Thompson, commanding regiment and post of Fort
Douglas, Utah. Alfred C. Markley, with regiment, commanding post of
Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming.

Chaplain.--Allen Allenworth, Post Treasurer and in charge of schools.

Adjutant.--Joseph D. Leitch, recruiting officer at post.

Quartermaster.--Albert Laws.

On July 1, 1898, our regiment was not a part of the firing line, and
was not ordered on that line until the fire got so hot that the
white troops positively refused to go forward. When our commander,
Lieutenant-Colonel E.H. Liscum, was ordered to go in he gave the
command "forward, march," and we moved forward singing "Hold the Fort,
for we are coming," and on the eastern bank of the San Juan river
we walked over the Seventy-first New York Volunteer Infantry. After
wading the river we marched through the ranks of the Thirteenth
(regular) Infantry and formed about fifty yards in their front. We
were then about six hundred yards from and in plain view of the
block-house and Spanish trenches. As soon as the Spaniards saw this
they concentrated all of their fire on us, and, while changing from
column to line of battle (which took about eight minutes).

Illustration: A large size photo of above picture can be had on
application to P.H. Bauer, Photographer, Leavenworth, Kansas. we lost
one hundred and two men, and that place on the river to-day is called
"bloody bend." We had only one advantage of the enemy-that was our
superior marksmanship. I was right of the battalion that led the
charge and I directed my line against the center of the trench, which
was on a precipice about two hundred feet high.

Illustration: A large size photo of above picture can be had on
application to P.H. Bauer, Photographer, Leavenworth, Kansas.

I was born December 4, 1852, in Wythe county, Virginia, and joined the
army in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 22,1869, and have been in the army
continuously since. I served my first ten years in the Tenth Cavalry,
where I experienced many hard fights with the Indians. I was assigned
to the Twenty-fourth Infantry by request in 1880.

E.D. GIBSON,

_Sergeant Co. G, 24th U.S. Infantry_,

PRESIDIO, CALIFORNIA.





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