The Winslow mail., 1898-10-15
THE NEGRO SOLDIER.
Has Won Unbounded Respect in the
War with Spain,
In the Battle of Santiago the COIored
Troops Covered Themselves
with Glory by Their Spleen
did Courage,

officers Of the army certain preJudlce
against serving in negro regiments,
But the other day a lieutenant in
the Ninth infantry said enthusiastic
cally:
do you know, l shouldn't want any
thing better than to have a company
in a negro regiment? l am from Vir-
ginia, 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, l should like the best in the world
to have a negro company. They went
up that incline yelling and shouting
Just as / used to hear them when they
were hunting rabbits in Virginia. The
Spanish bullets only made them wild
er to reach the trenches"
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 in
spiration to their white comrades and
spread dismay among the Spaniards.
\ captain in q volunteer regiment de-
clares 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 testimony to the effective
ness of the colored soldiers is not lack
ing. Thus an officer who was with
the troops that lay in wait for the
Americans at La Quasina 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 forward under our
fire as if they didn't the least care
about it,
It was the Tenth cavalry that had
this effect on the Spaniards. At San
Juan the Ninth cavalry distinguished
itself. its commander, Lieut.. Col. Ham
ilton, being killed. The fourth Of the
negro regiments, the Twenty-ffth in.
fantry, played an especially brilliant
part in the battle of El Carey, on July
I. It was held in reserve with the rest
of Col. Miles brigade, but was or
dered to support Gen. Lawton's brig.
ade toward the middle of the day. At
that hour marching was an ordeal
but the men went off at q fast pace
with almost no rest they kept it ur
until they got into action. The other
troops had been fighting hard fol
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 uI
the hill, which was surmounted by
Spanish rifle pits and a stone fort has
been told. 1t was the work of only a
part of the regiment, the men coming
chiefly from three companies. Col
Miles had intended to have 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 Amer
leans were taking an unfair advantage
Of them in having colored men who
fought like that. He had been accus.
toned 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 | ever saw"
The way the negroes charged uE
the Ell Caney and San Juan hills sug,
gested inevitably that their African
nature has not been entirely elm
mated by generations of civilization.
but was bursting forth in savage yells
ard in that wild rush. Some of them
were fairly frantic with the delight OF
battle. And it was no mere craziness
They are excellent marksmen, and
they aimed carefully and well. Woe
to the Spaniard who showed himself
above the trenches when the colored
regiment was in good range.-N. Y.
Tribune