THE BLACK REGULARS OF THE ARMY OF INVASION IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN
WAR.
Organization of Negro Regiments in the Regular Army--First
Move in the War--Chickamauga and Tampa--Note.
Altogether the colored soldiers in the Civil War took part and
sustained casualties in two hundred and fifty-one different
engagements and came out of the prolonged conflict with their
character so well established that up to the present hour they have
been able to hold an important place in the Regular Army of the United
States. No regiment of colored troops in the service was more renowned
at the close of the war or has secured a more advantageous position in
the history of that period than the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts
Regiment of Infantry. Recruited among the free colored people of the
North, many of them coming from Ohio, it was remarkable for the
intelligence and character of its men, and for the high purpose and
noble bearing of its officers. Being granted but half the pay per
month given to white soldiers, the regiment to a man, for eighteen
months refused to receive one cent from the Government. This was a
spectacle that the country could not longer stand. One thousand
volunteers fighting the country's battles without any compensation
rather than submit to a discrimination fatal to their manhood, aroused
such a sentiment that Congress was compelled to put them on the
pay-roll on equal footing with all other soldiers. By them the
question of the black soldier's pay and rations was settled in the
Army of the United States for all time. Every soldier, indeed every
man in the army, except the chaplain, now draws the pay of his grade
without regard to color, hair or race. By the time these lines reach
the public eye it is to be hoped that even the chaplain will be lifted
from his exceptional position and given the pay belonging to his rank
as captain.
(February 2, 1901, the bill became a law giving chaplains the full pay
of their grade.)
More than 185,000 blacks, all told, served in the army of the Union
during the War of the Rebellion, and the losses from their ranks of
men killed in battle were as heavy as from the white troops. Their
bravery was everywhere recognized, and in the short time in which they
were employed, several rose to commissions.
Perhaps the most notable act performed by a colored American during
the war was the capture and delivery to the United States forces of
the rebel steamer Planter, by Robert Smalls, of Charleston. Smalls was
employed as pilot on the Planter, a rebel transport, and was entirely
familiar with the harbors and inlets, of which there are many, on the
South Atlantic coast. On May 13, 1862, the Planter came to her wharf
in Charleston, and at night all the white officers went ashore,
leaving a colored crew of eight men on board in charge of Smalls.
Smalls hastily got his wife and three children on board, and at 2
o'clock on the morning of the 14th steamed out into the harbor,
passing the Confederate forts by giving the proper signals, and when
fairly out of reach, as daylight came, he ran up the Stars and Stripes
and headed his course directly toward the Union fleet, into whose
hands he soon surrendered himself and his ship. The act caused much
favorable comment and Robert Smalls became quite a hero. His
subsequent career has been in keeping with the high promise indicated
by this bold dash for liberty, and his name has received additional
lustre from gallant services performed in the war after, and in
positions of distinguished honor and responsibility in civil life. The
Planter, after being accepted by the United States, became a despatch
boat, and Smalls demonstrating by skill and bravery his fitness for
the position, was finally, as an act of imperative justice, made her
commander.
With the close of the Revolutionary War the prejudice against a
standing army was so great that the army was reduced to scarce six
hundred men, and the Negro as a soldier dropped out of existence. When
the War of 1812 closed sentiment with regard to the army had made but
little advancement, and consequently no place in the service was left
for Negro soldiers. In the navy the Negro still lingered, doing
service in the lower grades, and keeping up the succession from the
black heroes of '76 and 1812. When the War of the Rebellion closed the
country had advanced so far as to see both the necessity of a standing
army, and the fitness of the Negro to form a part of the army; and
from this position it has never receded, and if the lessons of the
Cuban campaign are rightly heeded, it is not likely to recede
therefrom. The value of the Regular Army and of the Black Regular were
both proven to an absolute demonstration in that thin line of blue
that compelled the surrender of Santiago.
In July, 1866, Congress passed an act adding eight new regiments of
infantry and four of calvary to the nineteen regiments of infantry and
six of calvary of which those arms of the Regular Army were at that
time composed, thus making the permanent establishment to consist of
five regiments of artillery, twenty-seven of infantry, and ten of
cavalry. Of the eight new infantry regiments to be formed, four were
to be composed of colored men; and of the four proposed for the
calvary arm, two were to be of colored men. The President was
empowered by the act also to appoint a chaplain for each of the six
regiments of colored troops. Under this law the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry Regiments were organized.
In 1869 the infantry suffered further reduction, and the four colored
regiments organized under the law of 1866, numbered respectively the
38th, 39th, 40th and 41st, were consolidated into two regiments, and
numbered the 24th and 25th--the 38th and 41st becoming the former, and
the 39th and 40th the latter. Previous to this consolidation the
numbers between the old 19th and the 38th, which was the lowest number
borne by the new colored regiments, were filled in by dividing the old
three batallion regiments in the service, and making of the second and
third batallions of these regiments new regiments. The whole infantry
arm, by the law of 1869, was compressed into twenty-five regiments,
and in that condition the army remains to the present, to wit:[9] Ten
regiments of cavalry, five of artillery and twenty-five of infantry.
The number of men in a company and the number of companies in a
regiment have varied greatly within the past few months. Just previous
to the breaking out of the war a regiment of infantry consisted of
eight companies of about sixty men each, and two skeletonized
companies and the band--the whole organization carrying about five
hundred men; now a regiment of infantry consists of twelve companies
of 106 men each and with the non-commissioned staff numbers twelve
hundred and seventy-four men.
Since 1869, or for a period of thirty years, the colored American has
been represented in the Regular Army by these four regiments and
during this time these regiments have borne more than their
proportionate share in hard frontier service, including all sorts of
Indian campaigning and much severe guard and fatigue duty. The men
have conducted themselves so worthily as to receive from the highest
military authority the credit of being among our best troops. General
Miles and General Merritt,[10] with others who were active leaders in
the Indian wars of the West, have been unstinting in their praise of
the valor and skill of colored soldiers. They proved themselves not
only good individual fighters, but in some instances non-commissioned
officers exhibited marked coolness and ability in command.[11]
From 1869 to the beginning of the Hispano-American War there were in
the Regular Army at some time, as commissioned officers, the following
colored men, all from West Point, all serving with the cavalry, and
none rising higher than first-lieutenant, viz: John H. Alexander, H.O.
Flipper and Charles Young. H.O. Flipper was dismissed; Alexander died,
and Young became major in the volunteer service, and was placed in
command of the Ninth Battalion of Ohio Volunteers, discharging the
duties of his position in such a manner as to command general
satisfaction from his superior officers.[12]
These colored men while cadets at West Point endured hardships
disgraceful to their country, and when entering the army were not
given that cordial welcome by their brother officers, becoming an
"officer and gentleman," both to give and to receive. Of course there
were some noble exceptions, and this class of officers seems to be
steadily increasing, so that now it is no longer necessary, even on
the ground of expediency, to strive to adhere to the rule of only
white men for army officers. Of Alexander and Young it can be said
they have acquitted themselves well, the former enjoying the
confidence and esteem of his associates up to the time of his early
death--an event which caused deep regret--and the latter so impressing
the Governor of his State and the President as to secure for himself
the responsible position which he, at the time of this writing, so
worthily fills. Besides these line officers, five colored chaplains
have been appointed, all of whom have served successfully, one,
however, being dismissed by court-martial after many years of really
meritorious service, an event to be regretted, but by no means without
parallel.
Brief sketches of the history of these four colored regiments, as well
as of the others, have been recently made by members of them and
published in the Journal of the Military Service Institution and
subsequently in a large and beautiful volume edited by
Brigadier-General Theo. F. Rodenbough and Major William L. Haskin,
published by the Institution and designated "The Army of the United
States," a most valuable book of reference. From the sketches
contained therein the following summary is given.
The Twenty-fourth Infantry was organized, as we have seen, from the
38th and 41st Regiments, these two regiments being at the time
distributed in New Mexico, Louisiana and Texas, and the regiment
remained in Texas from the time of its organization in 1869 until
1880. Its first Lieutenant-Colonel was William R. Shafter. It was
from this regiment and the Tenth Cavalry that the escort of Paymaster
Wham was selected which made so brave a stand against a band of
robbers that attacked the paymaster that several of them were given
medals for distinguished gallantry, and others certificates of merit.
The Twenty-fifth Infantry was organized in New Orleans out of the
39th, that was brought from North Carolina for that purpose, and the
40th, that was then in Louisiana. It was organized during the month of
April, 1869, and early in 1870 moved to Texas, where it remained ten
years. In 1880 it moved to the Department of Dakota and remained in
the Northwest until it took the road for the Cuban war.
The Ninth Cavalry was organized in New Orleans during the winter of
1866-67. Its first Colonel was Edward Hatch and its first
Lieutenant-Colonel Wesley Merritt. From 1867 to 1890 it was in almost
constant Indian warfare, distinguishing itself by daring and
hardihood. From 1890 to the opening of the Cuban war it remained in
Utah and Nebraska, engaging in but one important campaign, that
against hostile Sioux during the winter of 1890-91, in which, says the
historian: "The regiment was the first in the field, in November, and
the last to leave, late in the following March, after spending the
winter, the latter part of which was terrible in its severity, under
canvas."
The Tenth Calvary was organized under the same law as was the Ninth,
and at the same time. Its place of rendezvous was Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, and its first Colonel, Benjamin H. Grierson. This regiment was
the backbone of the Geronimo campaign force, and it finally succeeded
in the capture of that wily warrior. The regiment remained in the
Southwest until 1893, when it moved to Montana, and remained there
until ordered to Chickamauga for the war.
These four regiments were finely officered, well drilled and well
experienced in camp and field, particularly the cavalry regiments, and
it was of them that General Merritt said: "I have always found them
brave in battle." With such training and experience they were well
fitted to take their place in that selected host of fighting men which
afterwards became the Fifth Army Corps, placed under command of
Major-General William R. Shafter, the first Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Twenty-fourth Infantry.
When the news of the blowing up of our great battleship Maine, in the
harbor of Havana, with the almost total loss of her crew, flashed over
the country, carrying sadness to hundreds of homes, and arousing
feelings of deepest indignation whether justly or unjustly, it was
easy to predict that we should soon be involved in war with Spain. The
Cuban question, already chronic, had by speeches of Senators Thurston
and Proctor been brought to such a stage of aggravation that it needed
only an incident to set the war element in motion. That incident was
furnished by the destruction of the Maine. Thenceforth there was no
power in the land sufficient to curb the rapidly swelling tide of
popular hate, which manifested itself in the un-Christian but truly
significant mottoes: "Remember the Maine," "Avenge the Maine," and "To
hell with Spain." These were the outbreathings of popular fury, and
they represented a spirit quite like that of the mob, which was not to
be yielded to implicitly, but which could not be directly opposed.
The President did all in his power to stay this element of our
population and to lead the country to a more befitting attitude. He
and his advisers argued that Spain was to be resisted, and fought if
necessary, not on account of the Maine, not in the spirit of revenge,
but in the interest of humanity, and upon principles sanctioned even
by our holy religion. On behalf of the starving reconcentrados, and in
aid of the noble Cuban patriot, we might justly arm and equip
ourselves for the purpose of driving Spanish rule from the Western
Hemisphere.
This view appealed to all lovers of freedom, to all true patriots, and
to the Christian and philanthropist. It also afforded a superb
opportunity for the old leaders in the South, who were not entirely
relieved from the taint of secession, to come out and reconsecrate
themselves to the country and her flag. Hence, Southern statesmen, who
were utterly opposed to Negroes or colored men having any share in
ruling at home, became very enthusiastic over the aspirations of the
colored Cuban patriots and soldiers. The supporters, followers, and in
a sense, devotees of Maceo and Gomez, were worthy of our aid. The same
men, actuated by the same principles, in the Carolinas, in Louisiana
or in Mississippi, would have been pronounced by the same authorities
worthy of death.
The nation was, however, led into war simply to liberate Cuba from the
iniquitous and cruel yoke of Spain, and to save thousands of
impoverished Cubans from death by starvation. Great care was taken not
to recognize the Cuban government in any form, and it seemed to be
understood that we were to do the fighting both with our navy and our
army, the Cubans being invited to co-operate with us, rather than that
we should co-operate with them. We were to be the liberators and
saviors of a people crushed to the very gates of death. Such was the
platform upon which our nation stood before the world when the first
orders went forth for the mobilization of its forces for war. It was a
position worthy our history and character and gave to our national
flag a prouder meaning than ever. Its character as the emblem of
freedom shone out with awe-inspiring brilliancy amid the concourse of
nations.
While there was such a clamor for war in the newspapers and in the
public speeches of statesmen, both in and out of Congress, it is
remarkable that the utmost serenity prevailed in the army. Officers
and men were ready to fight if the stern necessity came, but they were
not so eager for the death-game as were the numerous editors' whose
papers were getting out extras every half-hour. It was argued by the
officers of rank that the Maine incident added nothing whatever to the
Cuban question; that it did not involve the Spanish Government; that
the whole subject might well be left to arbitration, and full respect
should be given to Spain's disclaimer. It was also held that to rush
into a war in order to prevent a few people from starving, might not
relieve them, and at the same time would certainly cost the lives of
many innocent men. Spain was revising her policy, and the benevolence
of the United States would soon bring bread to the door of every needy
Cuban. Such remarks and arguments as these were used by men who had
fought through one war and were ready to fight, through another if
they must; but who were willing to go to any reasonable length to
prevent it; and yet the men who used such arguments beforehand and
manifested such a shrinking from carnage, are among those to whom the
short Spanish War brought distinction and promotion. To their honor be
it said that the war which gave them fresh laurels was in no sense
brought about through their instigation.
As chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, stationed with the
headquarters of the regiment at Fort Missoula, where we had been for
ten years, the call for the war met me in the midst of my preparations
for Easter service. One young man, then Private Thomas C. Butler, who
was practicing a difficult solo for the occasion, before the year
closed became a Second Lieutenant, having distinguished himself in
battle; the janitor, who cared for my singing books, and who was my
chief school teacher, Private French Payne, always polite and
everywhere efficient, met his death from a Spanish bullet while on the
reserve before bloody El Caney.
It was on a bright day during the latter part of March and near the
close of the day as I was looking out of the front window of my
quarters that I saw the trumpeter of the guard come out of the
Adjutant's office with a dispatch in his hand and start on a brisk run
toward the quarters of the Commanding Officer. I immediately divined
what was in the wind, but kept quiet. In a few minutes "officers'
call" was sounded, and all the officers of the post hastened to the
administration building to learn the news.
When all were assembled the Commanding Officer desired to know of each
company officer how much time he would need to have his company ready
to move from the post to go to a permanent station elsewhere, and from
all officers how much time they would require to have their families
ready to quit the station. The answers generally were that all could
be ready within a week. It was finally agreed, however, to ask for ten
days.
Immediately the work of preparation began, although none knew where
the regiment was to go. At this time the order, so far as it was
understood at the garrison, was, that two companies were to go to Key
West, Florida, and the other companies of the regiment to Dry
Tortugas. One officer, Lieutenant V.A. Caldell, early saw through the
haze and said: "It means that we will all eventually land in Cuba."
While we were packing, rumors flew through the garrison, as indeed
through the country, thick and fast, and our destination was changed
three or four times a day. One hour we would be going to Key West, the
next to St. Augustine, the next to Tortugas. In this confusion I asked
an old frontier officer where he thought we would really go.
Regarding himself as an indicator and always capable of seeing the
amusing side of a subject, he replied: "I p'int toward Texas." Such
was the state of uncertainty as to destination, and yet all the time
the greatest activity prevailed in making ready for departure. Finally
definite orders came that we were to store our furniture in the large
gymnasium hall at the post and prepare to go in camp at Chickamauga
Park, Georgia.
Our regiment was at the time stationed as follows: Headquarters, four
companies and the band at Fort Missoula; two companies at Fort
Harrison, near Helena, and two companies at Fort Assinniboine, all in
Montana. The arrangements contemplated moving the regiment in two
sections, one composed of the Missoula troops to go over the Northern
Pacific Railroad, the other of the Fort Harrison and Fort Assinniboine
troops to go over the Great Northern Railroad, all to arrive in St.
Paul about the same time.
On the 10th of April, Easter Sunday, the battalion at Fort Missoula
marched out of post quite early in the morning, and at Bitter Root
Station took the cars for their long journey. Officers and men were
all furnished sleeping accommodations on the train. Arriving in the
city of Missoula, for the gratification of the citizens and perhaps to
avoid strain on the bridge crossing the Missoula River, the men were
disembarked from the train and marched through the principal streets
to the depot, the citizens generally turning out to see them off. Many
were the compliments paid officers and men by the good people of
Missoula, none perhaps more pleasing than that furnished by a written
testimonial to the regret experienced at the departure of the
regiment, signed by all the ministers of the city.
As the Twenty-fifth was the first regiment to move in the preparation
for war, its progress from Montana to Chickamauga was a marked event,
attracting the attention of both the daily and illustrated press. All
along the route they were greeted with enthusiastic crowds, who fully
believed the war with Spain had begun. In St. Paul, in Chicago, in
Terre Haute, in Nashville, and in Chattanooga the crowds assembled to
greet the black regulars who were first to bear forward the Starry
Banner of Union and Freedom against a foreign foe. What could be more
significant, or more fitting, than that these black soldiers, drilled
up to the highest standard of modern warfare, cool, brave and
confident, themselves a proof of American liberty, should be called
first to the front in a war against oppression? Their martial tread
and fearless bearing proclaimed what the better genius of our great
government meant for all men dwelling beneath the protection of its
honored flag.
As the Twenty-fifth Infantry was the first regiment to leave its
station, so six companies of it were first to go into camp on the
historic grounds of Chickamauga. Two companies were separated from the
regiment at Chattanooga and forwarded to Key West where they took
station under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A.S. Daggett. The
remaining six companies, under command of Colonel A.S. Burt, were
conducted by General Boynton to a choice spot on the grounds, where
they pitched camp, their tents being the first erected in that
mobilization of troops which preceded the Cuban invasion, and theirs
being really the first camp of the war.
Soon came the Ninth Cavalry, the Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-fourth
Infantry. While these were assembling there arrived on the ground also
many white regiments, cavalry, artillery and infantry, and it was
pleasing to see the fraternity that prevailed among black and white
regulars. This was especially noticeable between the Twenty-fifth and
Twelfth. In brigading the regiments no attention whatever was paid to
the race or color of the men. The black infantry regiments were placed
in two brigades, and the black cavalry likewise, and they can be
followed through the fortunes of the war in the official records by
their regimental numbers. During their stay in Chickamauga, and at Key
West and Tampa, the Southern newspapers indulged in considerable
malicious abuse of colored soldiers, and some people of this section
made complaints of their conduct, but the previous good character of
the regiments and the violent tone of the accusations, taken together
with the well-known prejudices of the Southern people, prevented their
complaints from having very great weight. The black soldiers held
their place in the army chosen for the invasion of Cuba, and for that
purpose were soon ordered to assemble in Tampa.
From the 10th of April, when the war movement began with the march of
the Twenty-fifth Infantry out of its Montana stations, until June
14th, when the Army of Invasion cleared Tampa for Cuba--not quite two
months--the whole energy of the War Department had been employed in
preparing the army for the work before it. The beginning of the war is
officially given as April 21st, from which time onward it was declared
a state of war existed between Spain and the United States, but
warlike movements on our side were begun fully ten days earlier, and
begun with a grim definiteness that presaged much more than a practice
march or spring manoeuver.
After arriving at Chickamauga all heavy baggage was shipped away for
storage, and all officers and men were required to reduce their field
equipage to the minimum; the object being to have the least possible
amount of luggage, in order that the greatest possible amount of
fighting material might be carried. Even with all this preparation
going on some officers were indulging the hope that the troops might
remain in camps, perfecting themselves in drill, until September, or
October, before they should be called upon to embark for Cuba. This,
however, was not to be, and it is perhaps well that it was not, as the
suffering and mortality in the home camps were almost equal to that
endured by the troops in Cuba. The suffering at home, also, seemed
more disheartening, because it appeared to be useless, and could not
be charged to any important changes in conditions or climate. It was
perhaps in the interest of humanity that this war, waged for
humanity's sake, should have been pushed forward from its first step
to its last, with the greatest possible dispatch, and that just enough
men on our side were sent to the front, and no more. It is still a
good saying that all is well that ends well.
The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, the place
where our troops assembled on their march to Cuba, beautiful by
nature, especially in the full season of spring when the black
soldiers arrived there, and adorned also by art, has, next to
Gettysburg, the most prominent place among the historic battle-fields
of the Civil War. As a park it was established by an act of Congress
approved August 19, 1890, and contains seven thousand acres of rolling
land, partly cleared and partly covered with oak and pine timber.
Beautiful broad roads wind their way to all parts of the ground, along
which are placed large tablets recording the events of those dreadful
days in the autumn of 1863, when Americans faced Americans in bloody,
determined strife. Monuments, judiciously placed, speak with a mute
eloquence to the passer-by and tell of the valor displayed by some
regiment or battery, or point to the spot where some lofty hero gave
up his life. The whole park is a monument, however, and its definite
purpose is to preserve and suitably mark "for historical and
professional military study the fields of some of the most remarkable
manoeuvres and most brilliant fighting in the War of the Rebellion."
The battles commemorated by this great park are those of Chickamauga,
fought on September 19-20, and the battles around Chattanooga,
November 23-25, 1863. The battle of Chickamauga was fought by the Army
of the Cumberland, commanded by Major-General W.S. Rosecrans, on the
Union side, and the Army of Tennessee, commanded by General Braxton
Bragg, on the side of the Confederates. The total effective strength
of the Union forces in this battle was little less than 60,000 men,
that of the Confederates about 70,000. The total Union loss was 16,179
men, a number about equal to the army led by Shatter against Santiago.
Of the number reported as lost, 1,656 were killed, or as many as were
lost in killed, wounded and missing in the Cuban campaign. The
Confederate losses were 17,804, 2,389 being killed, making on both
sides a total killed of 4,045, equivalent to the entire voting
population of a city of over twenty thousand inhabitants. General
Grant, who commanded the Union forces in the battles around
Chattanooga, thus sums up the results: "In this battle the Union army
numbered in round figures about 60,000 men; we lost 752 killed, 4,713
wounded and 350 captured or missing. The rebel loss was much greater
in the aggregate, as we captured and sent North to be rationed there
over 6,100 prisoners. Forty pieces of artillery, over seven thousand
stand of small arms, many caissons, artillery wagons and baggage
wagons fell into our hands. The probabilities are that our loss in
killed was the heavier as we were the attacking party. The enemy
reported his loss in killed at 361, but as he reported his missing at
4,146, while we held over 6,000 of them as prisoners, and there must
have been hundreds, if not thousands, who deserted, but little
reliance can be placed upon this report."
In the battle of Chickamauga, when "four-fifths of the Union Army had
crumbled into wild confusion," and Rosecrans was intent only on saving
the fragments, General Thomas, who had commanded the Federal left
during the two days' conflict, and had borne the brunt of the fight,
still held his position. To him General James A. Garfield reported.
General Gordon Granger, without orders, brought up the reserves, and
Thomas, replacing his lines, held the ground until nightfall, when he
was joined by Sheridan. Bragg won and held the field, but Thomas
effectually blocked his way to Chattanooga, securing to himself
immediately the title of the "Rock of Chickamauga." His wonderful
resolution stayed the tide of a victory dearly bought and actually
won, and prevented the victors from grasping the object for which they
had fought. In honor of this stubborn valor, and in recognition of
this high expression of American tenacity, the camp established in
Chickamauga Park by the assembling army was called Camp George H.
Thomas.
The stay of the colored regulars at Camp George H. Thomas was short,
but it was long enough for certain newspapers of Chattanooga to give
expression to their dislike to negro troops in general and to those in
their proximity especially. The Washington Post, also, ever faithful
to its unsavory trust, lent its influence to this work of defamation.
The leading papers, however, both of Chattanooga and the South
generally, spoke out in rather conciliatory and patronizing tones, and
"sought to restrain the people of their section from compromising
their brilliant display of patriotism by contemptuous flings at the
nation's true and tried soldiers.
The 24th Infantry and the 9th Cavalry soon left for Tampa, Florida,
whither they were followed by the 10th Cavalry and the 25th Infantry,
thus bringing the entire colored element of the army together to
prepare for embarkation. The work done at Tampa is thus described
officially by Lieutenant-Colonel Daggett in general orders addressed
to the 25th Infantry, which he at that time commanded. On August 11th,
with headquarters near Santiago, after the great battles had been
fought and won, he thus reviewed the work of the regiment: "Gathered
from three different stations, many of you strangers to each other,
you assembled as a regiment for the first time in more than
twenty-eight years, on May 7, 1898, at Tampa, Florida. There you
endeavored to solidify and prepare yourselves, as far as the
oppressive weather would permit, for the work that appeared to be
before you." What is here said of the 25th might have been said with
equal propriety of all the regular troops assembled at Tampa.
In the meantime events were ripening with great rapidity. The historic
"first gun" had been fired, and the United States made the first naval
capture of the war on April 22, the coast trader Buena Ventura having
surrendered to the American gunboat Nashville. On the same day the
blockade of Cuban ports was declared and on the day following a call
was issued for 125,000 volunteers. On May 20th the news that a Spanish
fleet under command of Admiral Cervera had arrived at Santiago was
officially confirmed, and a speedy movement to Cuba was determined
upon.
Almost the entire Regular Army with several volunteer regiments were
organized into an Army of Invasion and placed under the command of
Major-General W.R. Shafter with orders to prepare immediately for
embarkation, and on the 7th and 10th of June this army went on board
the transports. For seven days the troops lay cooped up on the vessels
awaiting orders to sail, a rumor having gained circulation that
certain Spanish gunboats were hovering around in Cuban waters awaiting
to swoop down upon the crowded transports. While the Army of Invasion
was sweltering in the ships lying at anchor off Port Tampa, a small
body of American marines made a landing at Guantanamo, and on June
12th fought the first battle between Americans and Spaniards on Cuban
soil. In this first battle four Americans were killed. The next day,
June 13th, General Shafter's army containing the four colored
regiments, excepting those left behind to guard property, sailed for
Cuba.[13]
The whole number of men and officers in the expedition, including
those that came on transports from Mobile, amounted to about seventeen
thousand men, loaded on twenty-seven transports. The colored regiments
were assigned to brigades as follows: The Ninth Cavalry was joined
with the Third and Sixth Cavalry and placed under command of Colonel
Carrol; the Tenth Cavalry was joined with the Rough Riders and First
Regular Cavalry and fell under the command of General Young; the
Twenty-fourth Infantry was joined with the Ninth and Thirteenth
Infantry and the brigade placed under command of Colonel Worth and
assigned to the division commanded by General Kent, who, until his
promotion as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, had been Colonel of the
Twenty-fourth; the Twenty-fifth Infantry was joined with the First and
Fourth Infantry and the brigade placed under command of Colonel Evans
Miles, who had formerly been Major of the Twenty-fifth. All of the
colored regiments were thus happily placed so that they should be in
pleasant soldierly competition with the very best troops the country
ever put in the field, and this arrangement at the start proves how
strongly the black regular had entrenched himself in the confidence of
our great commanders.
Thus sailed from Port Tampa the major part of our little army of
trained and seasoned soldiers, representative of the skill and daring
of the nation.[14] In physique, almost every man was an athlete, and
while but few had seen actual war beyond an occasional skirmish with
Indians, all excepting the few volunteers, had passed through a long
process of training in the various details of marching, camping and
fighting in their annual exercises in minor tactics. For the first
time in history the nation is going abroad, by its army, to occupy the
territory of a foreign foe, in a contest with a trans-Atlantic power.
The unsuccessful invasions of Canada during the Revolutionary War and
the War of 1812 can hardly be brought in comparison with this movement
over sea. The departure of Decatur with his nine ships of war to the
Barbary States had in view only the establishment of proper civil
relations between those petty, half-civilized countries and the United
States. The sailing of General Shafter's army was only one movement in
a comprehensive war against the Kingdom of Spain. More than a month
earlier Commodore Dewey, acting under orders, had destroyed a fleet of
eleven war ships in the Philippines. The purpose of the war was to
relieve the Cubans from an inhumane warfare with their mother country,
and to restore to that unhappy island a stable government in harmony
with the ideas of liberty and justice.
Up to the breaking out of the Spanish War the American policy with
respect to Europe had been one of isolation. Some efforts had been
made to consolidate the sentiment of the Western world, but it had
never been successful. The fraternity of the American Republics and
the attempted construction of a Pan-American policy had been thus far
unfulfilled dreams. Canada was much nearer to the United States,
geographically and socially, than even Mexico, although the latter is
a republic. England, in Europe, was nearer than Brazil. The day came
in 1898, when the United States could no longer remain in political
seclusion nor bury herself in an impossible federation. Washington's
advice against becoming involved in European affairs, as well as the
direct corrollary of the Monroe Doctrine, were to be laid aside and
the United States was to speak out to the world. The business of a
European nation had become our business; in the face of all the world
we resolved to invade her territory in the interest of humanity; to
face about upon our own traditions and dare the opinions and arms of
the trans-Atlantic world by openly launching upon the new policy of
armed intervention in another's quarrel.
While the troops were mobilizing at Tampa preparatory to embarking for
Cuba the question came up as to why there were no colored men in the
artillery arm of the service, and the answer given by a Regular Army
officer was, that the Negro had not brains enough for the management
of heavy guns. It was a trifling assertion, of course, but at this
period of the Negro's history it must not be allowed to pass
unnoticed. We know that white men of all races and nationalities can
serve big guns, and if the Negro cannot, it must be because of some
marked difference between him and them. The officer said it was a
difference in "brains," i.e., a mental difference. Just how the
problem of aiming and firing a big gun differs from that of aiming and
firing small arms is not so easily explained. In both, the questions
of velocity, gravitation, wind and resistance are to be considered and
these are largely settled by mechanism, the adjustment of which is
readily learned; hence the assumption that a Negro cannot learn it is
purely gratuitous. Several of the best rifle shots known on this
continent are Negroes; and it was a Negro who summerized the whole
philosophy of rifle shooting in the statement that it all consists in
knowing _where_ to aim, and _how_ to pull--in knowing just what value
to assign to gravitation, drift of the bullet and force of the wind,
and then in being able to pull the trigger of the piece without
disturbing the aim thus judiciously determined. This includes all
there is in the final science and art of firing a rifle. If the Negro
can thus master the revolver, the carbine and the rifle, why may he
not master the field piece or siege gun?
But an ounce of fact in such things is worth more than many volumes of
idle speculation, and it is remarkable that facts so recent, so
numerous, and so near at hand, should escape the notice of those who
question the Negro's ability to serve the artillery organizations.
Negro artillery, both light and heavy, fought in fifteen battles in
the Civil War with average effectiveness; and some of those who fought
against them must either admit the value of the Negro artilleryman or
acknowledge their own inefficiency. General Fitz-Hugh Lee failed to
capture a Negro battery after making most vigorous attempts to that
end. This attempt to raise a doubt as to the Negro's ability to serve
in the artillery arm is akin to, and less excusable, than that other
groundless assertion, that Negro officers cannot command troops, an
assertion which in this country amounts to saying that the United
States cannot command its army. Both of these assertions have been
emphatically answered in fact, the former as shown above, and the
latter as will be shown later in this volume. These assertions are
only temporary covers, behind which discomfitted and retreating
prejudice is able to make a brief stand, while the black hero of five
hundred battle-fields, marches proudly by, disdaining to lower his gun
to fire a shot on a foe so unworthy. When the Second Massachusetts
Volunteers sent up their hearty cheers of welcome to the gallant old
Twenty-fifth, as that solid column fresh from El Caney swung past its
camp, I remarked to Sergeant Harris, of the Twenty-fifth: "Those men
think you are soldiers." "They know we are soldiers," was his reply.
When the people of this country, like the members of that
Massachusetts regiment, come to know that its black men in uniform are
soldiers, plain soldiers, with the same interests and feelings as
other soldiers, of as much value to the government and entitled from
it to the same attention and rewards, then a great step toward the
solution of the prodigious problem now confronting us will have been
taken.
* * * * *
Note.--"I had often heard that the physique of the men of
our regular army was very remarkable, but the first time I
saw any large body of them, which was at Tampa, they
surpassed my highest expectations. It is not, however, to be
wondered at that, for every recruit who is accepted, on the
average thirty-four are rejected, and that, of course, the
men who present themselves to the recruiting officer already
represent a physical 'elite'; but it was very pleasant to
see and be assured, as I was at Tampa, by the evidences of
my own eyes and the tape measure, that there is not a guard
regiment of either the Russian, German or English army, of
whose remarkable physique we have heard so much, that can
compare physically, not with the best of our men, but simply
with the average of the men of our regular army."--Bonsal.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] The army has been reorganized since. See Register.
[10] "My experience in this direction since the war is beyond that of
any officer of my rank in the army. For ten years I had the honor of
being lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Cavalry, and during most of that
service I commanded garrisons composed in part of the Ninth Cavalry
and other organizations of cavalry and infantry. I have always found
the colored race represented in the army obedient, intelligent and
zealous in the discharge of duty, brave in battle, easily disciplined,
and most efficient in the care of their horses, arms and equipments.
The non-commissioned officers have habitually shown the qualities for
control in their position which marked them as faithful and sensible
in the discharge of their duties. I take pleasure in bearing witness
as above in the interest of the race you represent." WESLEY MERRITT.
[11] See chapter on Colored Officers.
[12] Young is now captain in the Ninth Cavalry.--T.G.S.
[13] The colored regulars were embarked on the following named ships:
The 9th Cavalry on the Miami, in company with the 6th Infantry; the
10th Cavalry on the Leona, in company with the 1st Cavalry; the 24th
Infantry on the City of Washington, in company with one battalion of
the 21st Infantry; the 25th infantry on board the Concho, in company
with the 4th Infantry.
[14] See Note, at the close of this chapter.