The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-09-05
NEGRO SOLDIERS POPULAR
Stories of Their Bravery at Santiago
The Kind of Men That Should
Garrison Cuba.

Camp Wikoff, Montauk Point, l. l.,
Sept. 5--NO regiments here encamped
are more popular among the soldiers
than the two cOlOred cavalry regiments,
the Ninth and Tenth regulars. They
are quiet, well hammered, cheerful fel-
lows, these negro troopers, and far
sooner than any of the other Cuban
veterans they have recovered their
spirits and vitality after the campaign.
In an encampment made up chiefly of
the sick and half sick, it is inspiring to
meet on the road group of these SOL
d1ers jogging along in lively converse
ton, their white teeth cleaning in
smiles. As to their abilities in battle
but one opinion is expressed here, and
almost invariably in the same words:
lis
Many are the stories of their prowess,
told by the men of the other regiments.
A company of the Tenth went into &C
ton singing. Two men of another COM
pany enlivened their comrades during
trying halt under fire by executing a
double-f1op dance, to which the whole
company began presently to clap out
the time; their officers, meanwhile, be-
ing wisely blind and deaf to these rath-
er unusual tactics. The Rough Riders
are enthusiastic over the Ninth regl-
ment. When RoOsevelt'S men had made
their rush up San Juan hill they found
themselves in a bad position, pressed
by a superior force of the enemy on
both TANKS and in front. 1t is general
ly admitted that they could not have
held their position but for the splendid
charge of the black men to their sup
port. After the worst of the fighting
was over a Rough Rider finding him
walked up and grasped his hand, say
ing:
We've got you fellows to thank for
getting us out of a bad hole"
'Det's all right, boss said the negro,
with a broad grin. Oats all right. It s
all in de family. We call ouahselves de
colored rough riders"
1T was a matter of considerable
doubt" an officer of the regular infant
ry says, whether the colored troops
would acquit themselves we'll. We of
the army knew them to be good Indian
fighters, but this Cuban business was
no more like Indian fighting than a
game of marbles is like billiards. Pro-
badly it was because I'm from the
south that I didn't think much of the
cOlOred regiments, but having seen those
fellows in action I've changed my mind
completely. They were the best, the
readiest, the most cheerful, and, be-
lieve, the deadliest fighters in the war.
In the charge up the hill a volunteer
who had got separated from his COM
pany and who looked pretty badly rat
tied got caught in the rush and carried
along. A big fellow behind him kept
squirting him on and trying to encOur-
age him, but the man was badly ratified
and tried to get away. That settled him
with the troopers, who began to guy
him. asking MS name ana ADDRESS TOT
purposes of Identification, and assuring
him that he would be readily distin-
guished among the other dead on &C
count of his color. Presently a Mauser
bullet clipped the sleeve of the man
next to him. The trooper turned to the
volunteer:
" Honey dat bullet was a-callin'
youah name, Shuah,' he said.
They tell me that the volunteer fin
ally plucked up his spirits and fought
so well that the negroes assured him
that in the next battle he'd be an honor
to any regiment. One thing I noticed
about the negro troopers was that they
evinced less inclination to duck when
the bullets whistled over them than the
other soldiers showed. A sergeant ex-
planned it to me this way:
g Wen de bullet go along it say,
'Pi-li-yi! Pi-yi-yi!" Nobody aim go
In to min dat. But de shrapnel, dat's
different. Dat say, "OO-oo-oo-oo: I
want yeh, want yeh, I want yeh nah
hOney!" OATS wat makes a mans
head kindah shrink like between his
However, didn't see any shrinking
that could be identified as such among
those men. There wasn't an instant
during the fighting that they didn't look
as if they were in the place of all places
on earth where they most wished to
be-"
At present the colored men are as
siduously cultivating the gentle arts OF
peace. Every night they sit outdoors
and sing. The Ninth men staked out a
base ball diamond on the fiat near the
life-saving station this morning and
played a most tumultuous game of ball