The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-11-17
coLoRED TROOPS ARE TO FORM
ARMY GROUPS.
One-EleVenth of American Army viii
Be Composed cf CoIored Men.

Be Composed CT coIored Men.
Washington, D. c., Oct. 30.SWhen
the full strength of Americas new
army is ranged on the battlefront of
France, Negro troops will make up ap-
proximately one-eleventh of the men
under the Stars and Stripes. Although
Negro soldiers from Africa, the West
Indian have fought in many European
struggles, and followed some of the
greatest commanders, from Hannibal
to Napoleon, the American contingent
is by far the largest Negro army ever
mustered on European soil.
Since the beginning of the war both
France and Britain have employed
African troops on the western front.
Their fighting record has been bril-
liant, especially that of the French
Senegalese. While the new American
Negro units WI be commanded to a
greater degree than ever before by
men of their own race, the bulk of the
officers will be white men.
This is also true of the French and
British and Italian Negro battalions.
Uncle Sam has in the regular army
four Negro regiments which have been
raised to war strength and now num-
Der close to 1000 men. Two are cav
airy and two are infantry.
Cavalry commands are the eleventh
of Carrizal fame, and the ninth of
which an American general once said
after seeing the famous French cuiras
siers, supposed to be the crack regi-
ment of the world. "If l had to go
l 900 yards through hell, would rath-
er have the Ninth Cavalry back of
me than anything I ever saw" The
regular army Negro regiments are Of
ficered exclusively by white West
Pointers.
Following are the Negro national
guard units now in the federal SER
vice and officered exclusively by Col
ored officers: First separate Connec-
ticut company, 80 men, 1 officer; first
separate District of Columbia battal-
ion, 59S men, IL officers; Eighth Illi-
nois regiment, 1856 men, rs officers;
first separate Maryland company, $50
men, 3 officers; Fifteenth New York
Infantry regiment, 2,053 men, "a Off
GERS; Ohio Ninth separate battalion,
-,532 men, 4S officers; first separate
Tennessee company, 112 men, Off
GERS; first separate Massachusetts
company, $50 men, officers. Total
6641, 201 officers.
There have just been commissioned
from the training camp for Negro Off
GERS at Des Moines, Ia, total of 625
officers-106 captains, 800 first lieu
tenants, 199 second lieutenants.
This total of training camp and ma
tional guard officers-S26-con
the present visible supply of Colored
officers-except a few holding minor
staff positions in the regular army.
To officer the Negro troop raised
under the selected service law will be
required thousands of officers of all
grades, so about nine-tenths of the Of
ficers will be white. This is not the
result of discrimination, butt of lack
of material. The young Colored men
commissioned at Des Moines have won
high praise from their instructors and
are first-class material.
Every state in the Union was repre-
sented at the camp, large number
coming from the southern states. The
Negro troops drawn for service are
being trained at all the sixteen nation
al army cantonments-in separate bat
talions and regiments. When the
training is complete one and probably
two or three, divisions of Negro troops
exclusively will be formed, and one of
these will be among the first ma
tional army units sent to France.
Negroes have fought in all Ameri-
can wars, from the revolution to the
brush at Carrizal. In the Civil war
hundreds of thousands were raised
and did fine fighting. There were a
few commissioned as officers, but
nothing like the number now given
commands