The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
THE NEGRO AS A SOLDIER
HOW HE CARRIES HIMSELF IN BAR
RACKS AND ON THE FIELD.
Testimony to the Splendid Conduct OF
Colored Troops at BATTLES of EI
Caney and San Juan.


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, 1 shouldn't want anything
Better than to have a company in negro
regiment? l am from Virginia and have
always had the usual feeling about COM
handing colored troops. But after seeing
that charge of the Twenty-fourth up the
San Juan hill 1 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 them when they were hunt
ing rabbits in Virginia. The Spanish bull
lets only made them wilder to reach the
trenches"
officers of other regiments which were
near the Twentyfourth on July are equal
ly strong in their praise of the negroes.
Their yeIls were inspiration to their
white comrades and spread dismay among
the Spaniards. A captain in volunteer
regiment declares that the Twenty fourth
did more than any other to win the Gay at
San Juan AS they charged up through the
white soldiers their enthusiasm spread
and the entire line fought the better for
their cheers and their wild rush.
Spanish testimony 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 Quasna on
June "a 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 for
ward under our fire as If they didn't the
least care about it,"
THE CHARGE AT Ell CANEY.
1t was the Tenth Cavalry that had this
effect on the Spaniards At San Juan the
Ninth Cavalry distinguished itself, its COM
mander, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, be-
ing killed. The fourth of the negro regi-
ments, the Twenty-fifth Infantry, played
an especially brilliant par. in the battle of
Ell Caney on July l. 1t was held in reserve
with the rest of Colonel Miles's brigade,
but was ordered to support General Law
toms brigade toward the middle of the day.
At that hour marching was an ordeal bI,
the men went off at a fast pace. With al
most no rest they kept in 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 ne
groes went right ahead through the tired
ranks of their comrades. Their charge up
the hill, which was surmounted by Spanish
rifle pits and stone fort, has been told.
1t was the work of only part of the regi-
ment, the men coming chiefly from three
companies. Colonel Miles had intended to
have his whole brigade make the final
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 hav-
ing colored men who fought like that. He
insurgent army, and a different lot they are
from those in the United States army.
Why, he said ruefully. "even your ne
groes fight better than any other troops I
The way the negroes charged up the FL
Caney and San Juan hills suggested inev-
tably that their African nature had not been
entirely eliminated by generations of civi-
cation, but was bursting forth in savage
yells and in that wild rush. Some of them
were fairly frantic with the delight of bat
tle And 1t was no mere craZiness. They are
excellent rarksmen. and they aimed care
showed himself above the trenches when
the colored regiment was in good range
HARDY TO ENDURE
In the entire Santiago campaign, the four
negro regiments showed themselves of the
greatest value. The men endured the hard
ships and the labors with the greatest for
titude. They withstood the effects of the
heat admirably, as was to be expected.
They were cheerful under all kinds of trials
and privations Their powers of physical
endurance were remarkable. Altogether,
they fully justified every expectation of
those who believe that the negro makes a
first-class soldier.
OF course battle is only small part of
soldiers life; in peace the colored regi-
mentS are as admirable as in war The
men are picked lot and represent the best
OF their race. 1t is no wonder that their
huge frames struck terror into the hearts
of the spaniards In platoon of one COM
| pany of the Twenty-fifth Infantry only
three men are appreciably under six feet
| tall The other twenty-seven range in
| height from a trifie under six feet to six
| feet four inches. Compared with the rather
giants They are nearly all lied educated since Since
| the present regulations governing enlist
ment have been in force no iliterate men
| have been accepted. There remain few
| soldiers whose service is older than the law
| who cannot read or write, but that class is
dying out. Indeed, some who never had any
schooling have learned to sign their names
to the pay rolls so as not to be shamed by
their more enlightened fellows. The sigma
ture is mechanical copy of the pattern
which somebody wrote; 1t is made with a
deal of pains but the soldier receives his
money in the proud belief that every one
believes he can read and write
NORTHERNERS CHIEFLY.
Most Of the recruits of the Twenty-fourth
and Twenty-fifth Infantry and the Ninth
and Tenth Cavalry are from the Central and
| New England States. Many come from
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,
| Ohio and Illinois, some big fellows from
| Tennessee and Kentucky Southern negroes
are not so likely to be educated as those
from the North; they know less of the
world. and are less likely to learn the adj
vantages of army life. The fact that the
men come so largely from the North led
to certain troubles in Florida before the
Fifth Army Corps sailed for Cuba. Having
been stationed in the Northwest where
their race subjected them to no great in
convenience, the men Of the Tenth Cavalry
resented the restrictions placed on them in
Lakeland. There was some rioting in con-
sequence of their being unable to buy arti-
cles in shops patronized by white men. 1t
is not pretended that the negro soldiers are
Sunday-school saints. but, in general, they
are quite amenable to discipline as any
other men. In the ordinary routine of post
life, they are even more tractable than
white soldiers. Most of them have been
accustomed to obey. and do it readily and
cheerfully. A man in another regiment NAV
! have been wealthy and have employed serv-
ants himself; at any rate, the instinct of
obedience is not so strongly developed in
MIN as in his dark-skinned fellow.
The good nature of the negro soldier is re-
markahle. He is always fond of a joke and
never too tired to enjoy one. Officers have
wondered to see whole company of them
at the close of 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
<-1r~ -