The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-09-23
HOW THEY FOUGHT NOBLY IN THE
WAR WITH SPAIN.

A Remarkable Book by Negro Sol
diers Telling of Their ValOr in
Battle-The Claim Is Made That
the Black Fighters saved the Day
at San Juan Personal Expert
ences of Some Of These Heroes
y Military History of the Negro for
n Century.
= l4.Under~ Fire. With the Tenth United
States Cavalry Ct. Tennyson Neeiy) is
something more than It's title purports. 1t
Is in fact military history Of the negro
In this country from the Revolutionary
period to, the present day. The larger
space, however, is devoted to the conduct
of the negro soldier in the campaigns
around Santiago and to recounting the
exploits performed by the Ninth and
Tenth cavalry and the Twenty-fourth
and Twenty-fifth infantry. of the regu-
lar army. The book is under the general
editorship of Herschel V. Cashin, receiver
of the United States land office, and
Charles Alexander, newspaper corre-
spondent. The editors have called in to
their aid the literary services of such dis
tinguished colored army men as Chaplain
William T. Anderson, Surgeon Arthur M
Brown and Sergeant Horace w. Bivtns,
all OF the Tenth United States cavalry,
and have included accounts of thrilling
episodes written by officers and men who
were eye-witnesses or sharers in the
heroic actions narrated. An introduction
is furnished by Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler.
Beginning with the first appearance of
the blacks in this country, the initial
chapters run hastily over the records OF
the negro patriots who assisted our fore
fathers in the struggle for freedom
against England. That struggle, says the
New York Herald, had it's incipience on
March 3, ITO, when Crispus .Attucks,. a
negro, led the American patriots into the
main guard Of the British line in King
street, Boston. At the battle of Bunker
Hill the greatest individual loss suffered
by the British was In the killing of Maj.
Pitcairn, who fell at the hands Of negro
private named Peter Salem. Another col
ored soldier who won laurels then was
Salem Poor After the battle fourteen
erican officers Joined in memorial to
continental congress calling attention
70 his great and distinguished services.
The army organized at Cambridge un-
der Gen. Washington had from the start
free negroes among It's rank and file. Ne
groes fought bravely at the battle of
Long Island in 1776. The War Of 1872
added new laurels to the race. CommO-
dore Perry bore testimony to the fact
that the negroes In the navy seemed to
be insensible to danger. 1t was not, how
ever, until the Civil war that colored
men were given fair chance to show
their loyalty and courage. They more
than indicated the expectations of their
friends. The phrase "the colored troops
fought nobly' became a commonplace in
official dispatches and newspaper, letters
from the fields Of battle In this war a
total of 17S,975 negro soldiers enlisted in
the United States volunteers. In the 449
battles in which they took part 3S,S47
1o1 1n1 or icci
In, recognition of the soldierly quail
ties displayed by the race the Ninth and
Tenth United States cavalry were organ
ICED in 1866 and the Twenty-fourth and
Twenty-ffth regiments Of infantry in
186S-69. The rank and file were, all ner
groes, many of whom rose to official sta
ton. Their exploits in the Indian wars
in the West form a record of which any
man might be proud. Indeed, the settle
ment and civilization of the West is
largely due to the heroism Of the colored
troops. At the outbreak of the war with
Spain in the spring of 1898 the four regi-
ments were hurried to the mobilizing CEN
ters, were embarked at Tampa and land
ed in Cuba. Here they took a memorable
part in the heroic cavalry charge at Las
Guasimas. and after that gallant fight
moved steadily forward with the cavalry
division, forded the San Juan river, and,
under a murderous fire, gained the crest
of San Juan hill and captured the formid-
able intrenchments of the Spaniards.
Some of the stories he tells illustrate ap-
parently without his own consciousness
the GOODNESS Of his bearing, the sagacity
Of his judgment and the accuracy of his
aim. On that memorable morning of July
I, when the San Juan hill was captured,
the sergeants battery kept up a continu-
Gus fire on the blockhouse and intrench- /
ments on the hill until the blockhouse to
the right was taken by the rough riders
and the Tenth cavalry AS the battery
used black powder instead of smoke1ess
they had drawn upon them at the first.
volley all the fire in the vicinity.
''Ten minutes after we had opened fire
two Of our gunners were wounded. They
landed several shots among the enemy
before they fell victims to the Spanish
Mauser bullet
''While sighting my gun to fire the
eighth shot a bullet passed through the
thick iron plated hub of the gun carriage
wheel and struck me near the left tenn
pie. It stunned me for about two min
utes. I recovered. then watched with my
glasses the result of the shot. It dropped
in the Spanish trenches. Great confusion
occurred. I could see Spanish officers
with raised pistols or drawn swords at 4
each end of the trenches. =, Some were
using their swords on the men to keep
them from retreating. I fired several
shots, loading and firing the gun myself. \
Every time the gun was fired it. would h
jump back from five to eight feet. I.
would load, place 1t in position, sight it, d
pull the lanyard, then watch the result.
of my shot, ~ %&ttagos, sas1t.s.sr ts.
Later orders were given for the battery
to take position on the right, near the
first blockhouse, already taken by the
Tenth cavalry. By this time four gunnersI
had been wounded and several had faint
ed from the heat The rest Of the bat
terry forded a stream and took up a good
position in an open field within a thou
sand yards of San Juan hill .ss8
Il cleared the bushes soithat could get
clear view of the blockhouse on San
Juan Hill. Our commander, Lieutenant
Hughes, Tenth cavalry, said:
Sergeant Bivins, I want you to put
shell into that bloekhouse. The eleva-
ton is about eight hundred yards.
' I replied: Sir, it will require an ele-
walton of one thousand yards to reach
that house. 81 ls 5gs
All right. take that elevation, then
Very good, SIR s!y4 "a
loaded my gun and sighted 1t. At
that moment we could hear yelling and
saw men walking around the house and
colors flying. said: SD
= g Sir, i believe our men have that
block-house. If they are our men and i
fire this shot it will do great damage
Major Hughes said: Hughes i will
ride down the road near enough to find
out who has that house. s6s 4
He rode as Sheridan did when going
from Winchester He soon met several
of the Tenth cavalry men, wounded and
coming to the rear. They told him our
men had taken the blockhouse and had
possession of San Juan Hill. was orr
dered to unload my gun! s5l3s
q Then the battery was moved up to San
Juan Hill, whence, at six hundred yards