New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-27
THE COLORED TROOPS.
ror1p NEGRO REGIMENTS AT PRESENT
SERVING THE UNITED STATES.
ppoors THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN OF THE
BRAVERY AND EFFICIENCY OF TIE
BLACK MAE-Hls PHYSICAL
UARDIHOOD.
HARDuIOOD.

c,otee Ar,nv-thc oath and 9th lnlaht'J anu
9th and 10Th Cavalry The 24th hesH''ent 10
ttationed at Fort Douglas, near SAT- i'ahe wy
,,e 9th at Missoula, Mont: the 9th CaVair!
IN the Department Of the Platte ana INC W."
at Assiniboine, Mont -
The officers of these regiments are Il" VIM
rbo-o ,s no rule or regulation making II I'M
possible for a negro to become an oliicei' '"' ."
who receive commissions will be assigned u
white regiments o
Since 1860 the Nation has had ample oppo'-
,,,ritv IN tost the value Of the colored America"
- so,a;or IN n variety Of ways-on the pa'"e-
o,d IN tho protractcd siege, in Indian "arla''
I'D in the irving service OF preserving oruei
and protecting life and property III ti'e I'M
tho rrcat strike Of 81. During the o'"ie
norod Of the war he won for himseil Il p'.'.e "
the military world which he mas oee, az
hold ever since. Fourteen coioreu soiuio'' -,
coivcd medals for heroic conducl u
short ncriod that they served III inc CN'i
.,rce thon seven have won Congressional '
als for DISTINGUISHED gallantry IN ac'ioi "S
Indians and robbers and two nave ieO0
corti6cates of merit in token OF recos''''' -
acts Of special though less conspicuous p'"'.''
ph,sicauv the coored soldier is the equal OF
he best. all the talk to the contrary ho'"'."
.,ondnp The average height OF the h"'''
,i, Unit &c G7 &c inches; that of the foreign
hi,o c7 II inches The native colored ma"
.o,os between these with an average heleh'
~ ~ % inche9 But in weight the coiored man
has decidedly the advantage Oh the lo''
received between the ages OF twenty n'e ",''
twenty-nine years, the average weight Vi '"o
native whites was 14G@j pounds; the iore's"-
horn whites 1471G pounds. while that OF 'h'
coIored men was 1912 pounds.
AS TOUGH AS THE TOUGHEST
In more ayoirdupois the colored soldiers lead
the Army. and in physical endurance they nav
nroved themselves az tough as the toughest
nurinp the late war the following circular was
sent out to the engineering officers III c"' .
OF the siege work around Charleston:
"IIeadquarters Department OF the SOUTH EN-
gineers Office. Morris Island S. c. Sep'c'"-
Der 10 1868.
".s the important experiment which will test
the fitness Of the American negro for the du''es
Of a soldier is now being tried it is desirable
that the facts bearing on the question: oc O"''
fully observed and recorded.
ut is probable that in no military operations
OF the war have negro troops done so large a
proportion and so important and hazardous
fatigue duty as in the siege operations on TINS
island
AS Won have directed the operations of work
Ing parties Of both black and white troops here
respectfuiIy ask for the object above stated,
an impartial and carefully prepared answer to
the following inquiries, together with such state
ments as you may choose to make bearing on
this question:
Then followed Il series of specific questions
calling for detailed answers The chief engineer
to whom this circular was addressed submitted
II to six subordnates and N making his reply
quotes from them follows:
THE statements una limously agree that the
black will do a greater amount of work than
the white soldier because n labOrs more con-
stantly.
'The whites are decidedly superior in enthusi-
asm The blacks cannot be hurried in their
work no matter what the emergency.
"An agree that the colored troops recruited
from free States are superior to those recruited
from slave States.
ut may with propriety be repeated here that
the average percentage of sick among the negro
troops during the siege was 1879 while that OF
the whites was pol"
HIGHER AVERAGE OF HEALTH
The Surgeon Generals report for 1897, in treat
Ing Of the health Of the Army in general, has
til special remark upon the colored troops
During the last year the total admission rate
TO the hospas) for all causes among the col
cred troops was SbS.SS per thousand Of strength.
as compared with | 132 10 among the whites for
TIE same year. The non-efficicncy from all
causes among the colored troops during the
year was - - per thousand Of strength, com
pared with 81 ~ among the white troops. The
colored soldier lost Q ~ days from disability dur
ING he wear the white soldier l21l. and the