New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-03-06
Letter from Washington.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Feb. %, 49,

WAsHTSGToN, ID. C., Feb. 70, 1873.
t. The Editors offhe Nep National Era:
SIRs Permit me to make few remarks
concerning the bill now before Congress in
,roJuced BY Senator Amcs, having for its OBJ.
icct the amalgamation o! white and colored
soldiers in the same organization, and doing
away with colorcd organizations as a dis
t.nctivc body. The Senator, / have no
doubt. is actuated by the highest motive,
and has an earnest desire to put the colored
soldier on an equality with the other enlisted
men Of the army, but, unfortunately, if the
letter instead Of the spirit Of the bill is car
RED out, the colored soldier will be thing Of
the past.
There arc in the army about "a, 900 white.
and ? 900 colorcd, soldiers. Divide the 9, 900
colorcd among "a, 900 white, and you will see
that each company Of 80 men will have only
four cOlored men i'm il. These men, being in
such minority, would he debared from par
iicipatirg in all the higher duties Of the pro-
fcssion. and would be detailed to perform all
the mcnial offices in the company, and would
take the place Of the African under-cooks who
were in service before the war. The above
hill will he used as n vehicle by the oppo-
ncnts Of the colorcd soldier to force him out
OF service: and will venture to say that
YOU will not find a cOlored man who will be
willing TO serve in the army under such cir
cumstances.
If colored man has particular desire to
serve in the engineers or artillery, and is
willing to put up with the humiliation which
he must suffer among a LOT of ignorant men,
then let him do so but as it would serve no
good purpose TO mix the troops as proposed,
all friends OF the colored soldier will agree
that the present system of having distinct
regiments is by far the best. Of course, if
white man wishes particularly to enlist for
the 10th Cavalry, OF 18th Infantry, see no
reason why he should be prevented; and if
cclorcd man is DESTROYS Of being a black
sheer, among a regiment of white men, let
him have his desire. But the compulsory
mixing up Of the troops would work no good,
and a great deal of harm.
A good many Of the advocates of this new
idea are officers ofcolored troops-gentlemen
Of Democratic principles-whoa are anxious to
command the Caucasian. Ifthese gentlemen
find ii irksome to command negroes /; if their
commissions are burden to them, and their
salaries thing not to be cared for, then let
them retire TO civil life, where il will be all
peace and harmony, provided they are able
to earn living. But claim that they ac-
cepted commissions in colored regiments, fully
knowing the duties Of their position, the mo-
ment they find that such duties are not to
their taste, they should act independently
and throw up their commissions. And if il
is found by the authorities that colored
regiment costs more than white one, and
that it has larger amount of dcserters, etc.
ETC., and, in fact, it is not for the benefit OF
the service to retain them, then they should
be dsbandcd in a fair and above board
manner.
We find on the last Surgeon Generals
report the following:
White troops reported sick during the year,
1914 per 900 Of mean strength.
Colored troops reported on sick list during
the year, 400 per 900 of mean strength.
The average number on sick list reported
during the year among white troops, was 81
per 900, and among colored Al per 900.
White soldiers discharged on surgeons
certificate of disability, IS per !, 900, ard col.
ored 30 per 1000, showing the percentage
all in favor of the colorcd soldier.
In other countries the troops of different
natonalities are put in separate regiments
In Austria the Hungarian regiments are sep
arated from the German in France the Tur
co is not mixed with the others and in
England the negro, the Sepoy, the Ben
galcse, the Cengalese, the Goorkhas are al
formed into separate regiments. OF course
You see white men in the West India regi
mcnts and negroes in British line regiments
but ii is only when the men enlist particu
larry for the regiment that they arc mixed.
trust 1 have said enough TO convince an,
one that IT would be for the best to let tn,
regiments remain as they are. The negr,
does not want to be put into the same regi
ments with white men, neither are whit
men anxious to be amalgamated in the sam
companies with colored men. The colore
soldier is better off in his present position
he has all the privileges which the regulation
allows him. And as fair proportion of tn
educated officers from the Military Academ
are assigned to the colored regiments, l trus
that the friends of the colored soldier will Sc
that no changes are made. l speak on be
half Of the 1900 colored men in the rcgula
service, and am sure that not a single on
Of them will be found to endorse the con
templated change.
Ncry respcctfully yours, W. Z. II.