The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-20
OF NEGRO TROOPS.
REsyDENT DEFENDS m IN a
sPECItL MESSAGE.

crime. However, Was the Conspiracy or
silence That shielded the Guilty, Whose
Punishment should Have Been DesCn'
" Dec. I9.--The President
,.dav cent TO the Senate, in response to
p<ohitions from that body, a message In
<planation and defence of his discharge
three companies OF the Twenty-hith
rfnn try NEGRO soldiers) for shooting
b. the city of Brownsville, Tex, at MD
|ixht on August 10, 1905. AT the OUTSET
b. President says:
n ordered the discharge OF nearly All
- members Of Companies b, & ana
"a OF the Twenty-fifth Infantry by
Eane. in the exercise OF my con-
Ekitutional power and in pursuance OF
khat. altar full consideration, l found
be my constitutional duty as Commander
Chief of the I'm I'd States Army. l am
Ma 30 avail nygalf of the opportunity
Rorded bv thes, resolutions to lay before
n Congress the following facts as to the
1urderous conduct of certain msmbers OF
NJ companies in question, and as 20 the
onspiracy by which many Of the other
smbcrs of these companies saved the
f~frninals from Justice. To the disgrace oil
y United States Uniform.
He then calls attention to the accom-
Anying reports Of Major Augustus r
iocksom. of Lieut. Col. Leonard A. Lover
and of Brig Gen. Ernest A. G~arllngton'
= InBpector-Genera Of the United States
krmy. OF their investigation into the con-
Net Of the troops in question, which, no
kys, fully justified his action. He then
}ves an account OF the attack as follows:
~Tbe attack was made near midnight on
,srust ~. The following facts as 10 this
sack are made clear by Major Blocksom's
<estfgation and have not been, and IN
4 iudgment cannot be, successfully con-
y. xted. From nine 10 fifteen or twenty,
the colored soldiers took part IN the
|<.ek. They leaped over the walls from
4 ~ FRA, &s and hurried through the town.
nav shot vt whomever they saw moving.
a thev al xt into houses where they saw
<hta Tn soC1e of these houses there were
amen and chiLiren, as the would-be
.srderers muSt have known. In one
.use in which we've two women and five
ilaren some tel, shots went through at
haiybt IF about ~, feet above the floor,
n,tting out the lamp upon the table.
81 Beutenant of police Of the town
"A The firing anC, rode toward il. He
y the raiders. who as he stated, were
,.,t Asteen colored soldiers. They in
srtly started firing up on him. He turned
n rode of, and they 90 ntlnued firing upon
Ia until they had killed his horse. They
~ him in the right arm vt wa afterward
<.natated above the elbo WI. A number
cbots we're also fired at two other police
The raiders fred sev,Ta' times into
hotel. some of the shots being aimed at
~nest sitting by a window. They shot
~ A saloon, killing the be- Jtender and
finding another man. At the same time
6er raiders fired into another house
which women and children we're sleep
two Of the shots going through the
6souito bar over the bed IN which the
~.{ntrees of the house and her two children
<4re living. Several other hou ses were
|kruck BY bullets. 1t wa al night and the
|<rsets Of the town are poorly lighted, 80
In o n of the individual raiders were
/,noRnized, but the evidence of many wit
/xeaes Of all classes was conclusive 20 the
<(ect that the raiders were negro soldiers:
[ke shattered bullets. shells and clips OF
- Government rifles, which we're found
~ ire ground, are merely corroborative.
- are the bullet holes in the houses; some
81 which II appears must, from the dlrec-
1on. have been fred from the fort just at
moment when the soldiers left It. Not
bullet hole appears VI any Vi NHe sVIuS-
1feso o the fort.
2sThe townspeople we're completely sur
I'D by the u~nprovoked and murderous
yaeery of the attack. The soldiers were
axgressors from start to finish. They
with no substantial resistance, and n
al who took part in that raid stand as
Ifberate murderers. who did murder n
who tried to murder others, and who
2Esd to murder women and children. The
was one Of horrible atrocity, and. SO
a9 I am aware, unparalleled for lnfamv
The annals of the United States Army.
THE white officers of h companies were
1xnpietelV taken by surprise, and at first
u0Id<ntly believed that the firing meant
tHst the townspeople were attacking the
&6Id3ers. It was not until 2 or 3 O'Clock In
{he morning that any OF them became aware
Ia the Truth. l have directed a careful in
&f<efiaation into the conduct OF the officers,
III see II any of them we're blameworthy,
&nd / have approved the recommendation
81 the War Department that two be brought
t4fofe a court martial.
Ia fine non-commissjoned officers and
clizted men, there can be 10 doubt what
&vnr that MANY were necessarily prIvy,
&(fer II not before the attack. to the conduct
8f those who ook actual part in this muir
ItP1as riot. / refer to Major Blocksom's
1bort for proof Of the fact that certainly
ox1e and probably all Of the non-commis-
1ooed officers in charge of quarters who
fsFe responsible for the gun racks and had
&rr& thereto in their personal possession
Nv what men were engaged in the attack.
Major Penrose, in command Of the post,
his letter Included in the appendix
ves the reasons why he was reluctantly
nvinced that some of the men
--as he thinks, from seven to ten
~ their rifles, slipped out of quarters to
the shooting, and returned to the bar
u without being discovered. the shoot
MI occurring within two nda half short
I{Scks of the barracks. IL was possible
Il che raiders TO go from the fort to the
1rz1est point of firing and return in less
Han ten minutes, for the distance did not
<98ed $50 yards.
sSRch are the factsof this case. Gen. Net
ks{bn, In his letter herewith appended,
ma that next door to where he Is writing
~ Bfownsville l. a small cottage where a
ti1dren's party had Just broken up before
.ks house was riddled by United States
)1nts, fred by United States troops, from
I6itsd States Springfield rifles, at close
nne, with the purpose of killing or maim-
x The inmates, including the parents and
{il1ren who were still in the we'll lighted
opts, and whose escape from death under
NED circumstance was astonishing. He
|a1xBs that on another street he daily looks
11oes fresh bullet seats where a volley from
u}I4r Government rides was fired into the
X14I4 and windows OF a hotel occupied at
time by sleeping or frightened guests
1bln abroad who could not possibly have
Iu<n any ofYence TO the a~ssailants. He
)W~{10a thai the Chief of the Rrownsvilla