The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-04-20
SOLDIERS BUDGET.
Colored Troops as Fighters.

1t is asserted that Uncle Sans ne
gro troops are particularly fit for SER
vice in Cuba on account Of their ability
TO withstand the climate. AS to their
| fighting qualities there is no question.
A writer in the Chicago Inter. Ocean
sets the matter forth well, speaking
particularly of the Ninth Cavalry,
which is colored regiment. He says:
"It is wonderful how public opinion
has changed concerning the fighting
qualities of these black boys. Thirty
years ago, when the black men were
onlisting at New Orleans under the act
of Congress of 1866, they were ieered
at, and people lsughingly remarked
that they would run at the first fire.
The Ninth was one of the organizations
enlisted then. Since then it has been
terror to wild Indians, and wilder
bandits, who have come in contact with
it. From the first its men have never
flinched, and they have done more des-
perate work in their time than any 9TH
er organization in the service. West
ern people appreciate this, if the East
erners do not. Why, the Ninth is no
parade command. A proof OF this is
the fact that 1t has never had any but
| fighting assignment. 1t has never been
assigned, even for season, to any of
the desirable Eastern posts. This has
not been because the men are negroes,
but because they are irst-class fighters,
and the War Department wants them
to keep their hands in.
81 remember very we'll when the ne
gro troops were mustered in. The re-
cruiting office was opened at New Or
leans In the fall of 1866. We secured
something like 1000 negroes. They
came from Louisiana, Mississippi and
Kentucky-great big fellows, as black
as block of ebony and as fine speci-
mems of physical manhood as ever
donned uniform. From this number
were formed two cavalry regiments,
the Ninth and Tenth, and two infantry
regiments, the Twenty-fourth and the
Twenty-iifth. People were doubtful of
the experiment.
81 could recall a hundred desperate
engagements of these troopers, showing
their wonderful GOODNESS and daring,
but their latest work in the Sioux cam
paign of 1S90.91 marked the Ninth as
q fighting command of wonderful en-
ergy. They were in the Bad Lands
hunting Indians al miles from Pine
Ridge, on Dec. 80, 1890. That was
the day of the battle of Wounded Knee
where Custer's old command, the Sew
enth, met and wiped out old Two
Strikes band of Sioux braves. The
troopers lost nearly two score of men
there, so it was hot work on both sides.
That day the Ninth was instructed to
get back to the agency as quickly as
possible. Guy V. Henry was then Ma
jor of the Ninth. He is now Colonel
of the Tenth. The troopers kept their
horses on the run for 25 hours, and
reached the agency, a distance of 100
miles, in that time. Without getting
out of their saddles or stopping for
food, they rushed off IA miles to the
rescue of the Seventh Cavalry, which
was threatened with total extinction at
the battle of the Mission. If the Fight
ing Ninth had been an hour later Gus
ter's old regiment might have suffered
the same fate as he and his men did at
the Little Big Horn. The Ninth un-
limbered for action on the run, and
faced the Indians, after all that terrible
ride, without slackening speed for q
moment. The Indians recognized the
regiment as it came over the hill north
of the Mission buildings, and scamper-
ed off in hurry.
"That shows the mettle of the regi-
ment. Still, the popular idea that the
regiment goes South because the negro
can stand heat better than the white
man is great mistake. The regiment
has fought as we'll in the North as in
the South. The members have stood
the cold better than the white troop
ers, and 80 have they stood the heat.
To the minds of veterans who have OBJ
served the colored troops this feature
has impressed itself upon them-that
the negro can stand any extreme eli
mate better than the white man. II is
probably due to the difference in ner-
vous temperament of the two races.
The negro is not 80 susceptible to
either great heat or severe cold as the
white man. That is why the Govern
ment is now ordering the colored troop
ers South for service against Spain.
They ought to be revelation to the
world if they are called into action, for
few people outside of the West know
what fighting these men have done
against the Indians. Why, they ride
like centaurs, and can shoot with one
revolver in each hand and their bride
in their teeth with their horses running
ten miles an hour. All these men are
dead shots. Then, too, their warfare
with the Indians has trained them to
fighting modern guns particularly.
cit is conceded that there cannot be
such thing as a charge Of cavalry en-
masse as in olden times, now that rapid
fire machine guns are used. Hence
the scattered fighting to which the
Ninth has been used in the West will
be the very thing for this new service.
This regiment can scatter over mile,
charge like whirlwind, and face any
thing. The men can fire their revol-
vers almost as rapidly as q machine
gun. When they 60 into action they
will resort to all the tactics taught them
in Indian fighting to conceal their
bodies, and SPANS fighting soldiers
will get lesson in rough and tumble
fighting il thew ever meet the fighting