Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-10-05
THE NEGRO AND.
THE WORLD
WAR
(By Harrison Rhodes in the October
issue of Metropolitan Magazine.)

million Negroes inhabiting these
United States; roughly speaking, one
in every ten Of us Americans is black.
a statement of the large numbers Of
Negroes in the country is usually a
prelude to the consideration OF tho
black man as Il "problcm." 1t is
here suggested that in time Of war
the question had perhaps better be
how much Is he Il national asset.
Before the outbreak of the war the
Negro had for some years been re-
presented in the Regular Army by
the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the
gath and 25th Infantry. These reg
iments saw service in the Philippines
i'll Hawaii and in tho far West, where
the Indians called them buffalo
soldiers IA name now assumed with
pride by the 367th or Buffalo" Reg
jment.
In Mexico particularly at the am
buscadc Of CarriZal, they demonstra-
ted their value, and the services rom
dered by black troops in Cuba, no
tably at San Juan Hill, are still vivid
in the public mind. Negroes hero
and there complain that the courage
OF their troops there was never sui
1icicntly recognized by the nation, but
most white people could assure them
that theirs was the bcSt-remcmbcrcd
military exploit of that Cuban cam
paign: not the less wcll-remembercd
OF course, because it afforded an OPP
pOrtunity for gOod-naturcd jiDe at tho
popular Rough Riders.
There were Colored officers. too,
before the war. One Negro, Charles
Young, Il graduate OF West Point,
who organized the Libcrian Constab-
ulary in the Republic of Liberia as
the representative of the American
Government, and performed sim
liar work in the Republic of Haiti,
rose to the rank IT colonel. The
race had one major, Benjamin O.
Davis OF the 9th Cavalry; several
captains and Il great many nom
commissioned officers.
With the coming into Icing Of the
National Army, the number of col
Orcd soldiers has greatly Increased.
In filling tho first draft quota OF
6S7, 900 men, the number Of colorcd
men called for entrainment was o.
4S3, almost fourteen per cent. And
on juno LIST tho available figures
were that an additional 62,213 had
already been called since tho first
draft, making Il total OF 15G,696.
About 1000 Negro line officers
have been commissioned in tho Ma
tional Army rs captains, first and
second licutenants, with approximate
ly $50 colorod medical officers in tho
Medical and Dental Reserve Corps.
The 92nd Division and the 93rd Di-
vision (ProvsionnD, the first com
prising about 10000 Negro soldiers
and the latter so far about half that
number, made up OF National Guard
Units, have been organized, and are
commanded by Major-Gencral G.. G.
Ballou and Acknowledgement Roy G.
Hoffman, respectively.
These divisions will embrace when
fully constituted, practically all
branches, of military service, includ-
ing Infantry, Engineer and Artillery
(Ficld and COAST Regiments, Signal
Corps (radio or wireless telegraph
ors, etc., Hospital and Ambulance
Corps, Medical Corps, Aviation Corps
ions, with men technically trained in
all branches Of scientific work.
The training of colored officers.
after being considerably hesitated
over and debated was undertaken
last year at Fort Des Moincs, Iowa.
the Negro Plattsburgh. The train
ing camp was quickly filled up for
the four months course and about
$50 commissioned officers were
turned out. a large part OF them al
ready college graduates.
a colored man from Tuskegce,
emmett j. Scott, is Special Assistant
to the Secretary Of War, and George
M. Haynes, from Fisk University oc-
cupies a similar position in the Do
partment of Labor. Mr.. George
Creeps Bureau thinks it important
to send out speakers to the coloreu
n0nnI0ti0n
that in many if not In most ways
the administration, which might col
orably be accused Of being Southern
in composition and tone, has gone
a very long ways towards recognize
ing and utilizing tho colored citizen,
soldier and civilian.
One black man in a remote Flor
ida cabin wrote, in some trust and
simplicity, a letter to tho President
Of the United States about the draft
ing of his son, and received promptly
reply from the Presidents sccre-
tary himself, message Of explana-
ton and encouragement to a fellow
American citizen which will be treas
ured many years in the pine woods.
RECORDS OF BLACK BRAVERY. !
There were pleasantly picturesque
black notes in the war scene at tho
very beginning. At the declaration
or war, it was colored troops who
were set rs guards around the White
House. Some Negroes cynically OBJ
serve that when one Of their officers
died, colored Major, he was not
offered military funeral. But such
q disturbing note did not for most
Negroes appreciably diminish tho
compliment to the ono part Of the
American population in which, it was
loosely said, there couldn't possibly
be any Germans.
There is rumor, which though 1t
cannot be authenticated, will not
down, that General Pershing, when
ne went to France, absolutely insist,
ed that he should take Negro troops