The Colored Volunteers.
The Ninth Ohio Battalion--Eighth Illinois--Twenty-third
Kansas-Third North Carolina--Sixth Virginia--Third
Alabama--The Immunes.
The return of the army and the repatriation of the Spanish army from
Cuba, brought before the country for immediate solution the problem of
garrisoning that island; and in a very short time the question of
similar nature regarding Porto Rico. Ten regiments of immunes had been
organized in the volunteer service partly in anticipation of such a
situation. Four of these regiments were composed of colored enlisted
men. The regiments were classed as United States Volunteer Infantry,
and were numbered from one to ten, the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and
Tenth being colored.
Of these four colored regiments the officers above first lieutenants
were white men, except the chaplains, and in some cases the surgeons.
Very little care had been taken in enlisting the men, as it was
important to get the regiments in the field as soon as possible; yet
of them as a whole General Breckinridge, Inspector-General, speaks as
follows: "The colored regiments of immunes, so called, raised for this
war, have turned out, so far as can be judged from their camp life (as
none of them have been in any actual campaign), very satisfactory. The
regular colored regiments won golden opinions in battle. The
experiment of having so many colored officers has not yet shown its
full results. Certainly we should have the best obtainable officers
for our volunteers, and therefore some such men as Colonel Young, who
is a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, whether white or
black, must be sought for."
Besides these four colored regiments of immunes, so-called, there were
other State organizations composed entirely of colored men, mustered
into the United States service, as for example the Ninth Battalion of
the Ohio National Guard. This organization was composed of four
companies, with colored captains and lieutenants, the staff officers
also being colored, the commanding officer of the battalion being
Major Young, who was a first lieutenant in the Regular Army, a
graduate from the Military Academy, and an officer of experience. He
is the person referred to as _Colonel_ Young by General Breckinridge,
cited just above. This battalion, although not permitted to do any
active campaigning, maintained itself well in that most trying of all
duties for raw troops--camp duty--winning a good record in the South
as well as in the North, having been stationed in Virginia,
Pennsylvania and lastly in South Carolina; from which latter place it
was mustered out, and the men proceeded to their homes in an orderly
manner, reflecting credit upon themselves and the officers under whom
they had served. This organization is mentioned first, because it was
the only one of its kind commanded by a Regular Army officer, and a
man who had received scientific military training.[25]
Two of these volunteer regiments, the Eighth Illinois and the
Twenty-third Kansas, reached Cuba and made history there, in garrison
service, coming in direct contact with the Ninth Immunes, and in no
sense suffering in comparison thereto. The Eighth Illinois being the
first to go to the front, in a sense deserves to be noticed here
first. This remarkable regiment was developed out of the Ninth
Battalion, Illinois National Guard, and owes its origin to the
persistent efforts of Messrs. John R. Marshall, Robert R. Jackson,
Franklin Dennison, E.H. Wright, Rev. R.C. Ransom, Rev. J.W. Thomas,
S.B. Turner and doubtless many others whose names do not appear. These
gentlemen named called upon the Governor of their State the next day
after the President had issued his call for 175,000 volunteers, and
received from that official the assurance that if another call should
be made they should have the opportunity to recruit their battalion to
a regiment, and that he would "call that regiment first into the
service," and "that every officer in that regiment will be a colored
man."
After receiving this encouragement, the leaders began at once the work
of organizing and recruiting, and when the second call came, May 25th,
the regiment was well under way, and soon ready to go into camp to
prepare for service. On June 30th it assembled in Springfield from the
following places: Seven hundred men from Chicago; one hundred and
twenty from Cairo; a full company from Quincy, and smaller numbers
from Mound City, Metropolis and Litchfield, and nearly a company from
Springfield. The regiment was sworn in during the latter half of July,
the muster roll showing 1,195 men and 46 officers, every one of whom
was of African descent except one private in a Chicago company.
Of these forty-six officers, ten had received college education, six
were lawyers, and the others were educated in the public schools, or
had served in the Regular Army as non-commissioned officers. Many of
them were directly from Illinois, that is in the sense of having been
born and reared in the State, and were fully accustomed to the full
exercise of their rights as men and citizens. In character and
intelligence the official element of the Eighth was about up to the
standard of the volunteer army, as events subsequently proved.
Going into camp with the Ninth, white, this latter regiment, early in
August, received an order to move to a Southern camp en route for
Cuba, leaving the Eighth behind, greatly to the chagrin of both
officers and men. Governor Tanner was evidently disturbed by this
move, and expressed himself in the following language: "Even from the
very doors of the White House have I received letters asking and
advising me not to officer this regiment with colored men, but I
promised to do so, and I have done it. I shall never rest until I see
this regiment--my regiment--on the soil of Cuba, battling for the
right and for its kinsmen."
Later the misfortunes of the First Illinois proved the opportunity of
the Eighth. This regiment was in Cuba, suffering terribly with the
fever, the men going down under its effects so rapidly that the
Colonel in command implored Governor Tanner "to use all influence at
Washington to secure the immediate recall of the First Illinois." When
the Governor received this message he sent for Colonel Marshall, of
the Eighth, and asked him to ascertain the sentiments of the officers
and men of his regiment in regard to being sent to relieve the First.
On the 4th day of August Colonel Marshall was able to send to
Washington the following dispatch:
"H. C. Corbin, Adjutant-General:--
"I called the officers of the Eighth Illinois, colored, in
conference and they are unanimously and enthusiastically in
favor of being sent to relieve the First Illinois at
Santiago."
To this hearty dispatch came the following reply:
"The Secretary of War appreciates very much the offer of the
Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for duty in Santiago,
and has directed that the regiment be sent there by steamer
Yale, leaving New York next Tuesday. The main trouble with
our troops now in Cuba is that they are suffering from
exhaustion and exposure incident to one of the most trying
campaigns to which soldiers have ever been subjected."
"H.C. Corbin,
"_Adjutant-General_."
This action on the part of the regiment is said to have so pleased the
President that on hearing it he declared it was the proudest moment of
his life.
On the 9th of August the regiment left Springfield, and in passing
through Illinois and Ohio was greeted with the most generous
enthusiasm, the people supplying the men with free lunches at every
station. This was the period when the sympathy of the whole country
was turned toward the colored soldier in consequence of the reports of
valor and heroism that had been circulated concerning the black
regulars. On the afternoon of the 11th the Yale cast off her lines,
and with the first American Negro regiment that the world has ever
seen, steamed out of New York harbor amid the ringing of bells and
shrieks of steam whistles, and four days later, August 15, landed in
Cuba. The regiment remained in Cuba until March 10, performing
garrison duty so well that General Breckenridge said it was "as fine a
volunteer regiment as was ever mustered into the service," and that it
was "a shame to muster out of service such an excellent regiment."
The Twenty-third Kansas, made up in that State and officered as was
the Eighth Illinois, by men of the same race, with the enlisted men,
arrived in Cuba August 30, and in company with the Eighth Illinois
Regiment, was stationed in the country about San Luis, with
headquarters at that place, Colonel Marshall, of the Illinois
Regiment, serving as commander of the post, and also as Governor of
the Province of San Luis. A detachment of the Illinois Regiment,
under command of Major Jackson, was sent to Palma Soriana, and did
excellent work there in the preservation of order between the Cubans
and Spaniards, who were living together in that place in outward peace
but in secret resentful hostility. Major Jackson managed affairs so
well that both parties came to admire him, and when he was called away
expressed their regret. Captain Roots, who commanded the post after
the departure of Major Jackson, was equally fortunate, especially with
the Cubans, and when it was thought his command was to be removed, the
citizens generally united in a petition to the General commanding,
asking that both the Captain and his command might remain in the city.
The fact is also noted by the chroniclers of the regiment that several
marriages took place in Palma Soriana between soldiers of the Eighth
Illinois and Cuban maidens.
The Eighth Regiment was finally settled in San Luis, occupying the old
Spanish barracks and arsenal, and under Colonel Marshall's supervision
the city was put in fine sanitary condition, streets and yards being
carefully policed; meanwhile under the reign of order and peace which
the Colonel's just methods established, confidence prevailed, business
revived and the stagnation which had so long hung like a fog over the
little city, departed, and in its stead came an era of bustling
activity.
All was peaceful and prosperous, both with the citizens and the
garrison, until the Ninth United States Volunteers came in the
vicinity. Then a difficulty sprang up in which both regiments became
involved, although it was in no sense serious, but it afforded a
pretext for the removal of the Eighth Illinois from the city. The
event turned out all the better for the Eighth, as it enabled them to
establish Camp Marshall, about three miles from the city, in a healthy
neighborhood, where they remained until ordered home to be mustered
out. The regiment came back to Chicago in fine condition and was
tendered an enthusiastic welcome by that great city. Thus two entire
regiments represented the country abroad in this, its first, foreign
war with a European power.
It should also be recorded that although the Ninth United States
Volunteers was composed of persons who were classed as immune, and had
come chiefly from Louisiana, and notwithstanding that the officers of
the regiment above lieutenants were white men, and the colonel an
officer of the Regular Army of long experience, and was specially
praised by so good a sanitarian as General Wood for having been,
constant and untiring in his efforts to look after the welfare of his
men, and that the surgeons of the regiment were white men, that deaths
among the colored men numbered one officer and seventy-three enlisted
men. In striking contrast with this record of the immune regiment is
that of the Eighth Illinois, which was made up entirely of residents
of that State and officered throughout by colored men. Its medical
officers were men of high character, and its losses by death were just
twenty, or but little over one-fourth the number that occurred in the
immune regiment. An efficient auxiliary society to this regiment was
formed of colored ladies of Chicago who forwarded to the sick in Cuba
more than six hundred dollars worth of well chosen supplies, which did
much for the comfort of those in the hospital; but this would not
account for the great difference in the death rate of the two
regiments. Though not immune, the Eighth Illinois fared very much
better than the so-called immune regiment, although the latter had
the benefit of white officers. The experience of the Twenty-third
Kansas did not differ in any important respect from that of the Eighth
Illinois. Both regiments returned to their homes in March, 1899, and
were mustered out of the service, leaving behind them good records for
efficiency.
The Sixth Virginia Regiment consisted of eight companies and was under
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard C. Croxton, of the Regular Army,
white, with Majors J.B. Johnson and W.H. Johnson, colored. It was
mustered into service during the latter part of the summer and went
into camp near Knoxville, Tennessee. Here an order came from Corps
Headquarters, at Lexington, Kentucky, directing that nine of the
officers, including one major, should appear before a board of
examiners in order to give evidence of their fitness to command. The
officers named, regarding this as uncalled for, immediately tendered
their resignations. The vacancies thus created were filled by the
Governor of the State, the appointees being white men. These white
officers on arriving at the camp and finding themselves unwelcome,
immediately followed in the wake of their colored predecessors, and
tendered their resignations.
The difficulties arising from this friction were somehow adjusted, but
in what manner the reports available at this time do not show. Moving
to Macon, Georgia, the regiment remained in the service until some
time in the winter, when it was mustered out. Much was said by the
local papers to the detriment of the men composing this regiment, but
viewing their action from the standpoint of the civilian and citizen,
it does not appear reprehensible. They had volunteered with the
understanding that their own officers, officers with whom they were
well acquainted, and in whose friendship they held a place, should
command them, and when they saw these officers displaced and white
strangers put in their stead, they felt a pardonable indignation, and
took their own way of expressing it. As soldiers, their conduct in
resisting authority, cannot be commended.
The Third North Carolina Volunteer Infantry was organized as were the
regiments of Illinois and Kansas, above described. The officers of the
North Carolina Regiment were all colored men of that State and were
men of character and note. Its commanding officer, Colonel Young, had
held responsible positions under both State and National Governments,
had been editor of a paper and member of the State Legislature and
Major in the State militia. In character, he was above reproach, being
a strict teetotaler and not even using tobacco. The regiment made a
good record, but did not see any active service.
A peculiar regiment was organized in Alabama, known as the Third
Alabama Volunteer Infantry, in which the enlisted men were all colored
and the officers all white. The regiment saw no service and attracted
no attention outside of its immediate locality.
Two companies of colored men with colored captains were also mustered
into the United States service from Indiana, and finally attached to
Colonel Huggins' command, although not becoming a part of his
regiment, the Eighth Immunes. They were stationed at Fort Thomas, Ky.,
and at Chickamauga, and were mustered out early. Their officers were
men of intelligence who had acquired experience by several years'
service in the militia, and the companies were exceptionally well
drilled. They were designated Companies A and B and were commanded by
Captains Porter and Buckner, with Lieutenant Thomas as Quartermaster.
The organization of the four immune regiments, already mentioned, gave
opportunity for ninety-six colored men to obtain commissions as
lieutenants. A few of these positions were seized upon by influential
young white men, who held them, but with no intention of ever serving
in the regiments, as they found staff positions much more congenial to
their tastes. The colored men who were appointed lieutenants in these
regiments were generally either young men of ability and influence who
had assisted in getting up their companies, and who in many cases had
received some elementary military instruction as cadets, in school, or
men who had distinguished themselves by efficiency or gallantry in the
Regular Army. Some exceptions there were, of course, and a few
received commissions in consequence of personal friendship and
political considerations. Before these regiments were mustered out of
the service about one-half of the lieutenants were men from the
Regular Army.
I am sure the reader will be pleased to learn that Sergeants Foster,
Buck and Givens, whose deeds in Cuba have already been related, were
rewarded with commissions, and that the gallant Thomas C. Butler, who
rushed forward from his company's line and seized the Spanish standard
at El Caney, was afterward permitted to serve in Cuba with the rank of
a commissioned officer. Besides those named above, there were others
also of marked ability and very respectable attainments who received
commissions on general merit, as well as for gallantry. Chief among
the class promoted for efficiency was First Lieutenant James R.
Gillespie, formerly Post Quartermaster-Sergeant. Gillespie had served
several years in the Tenth Cavalry and had proved himself an excellent
soldier. Both in horsemanship and as marksman he was up to the
standard, while his character and business qualifications were such
as to secure for him a staff position of responsibility. As
Quartermaster-Sergeant he held positions of important posts and filled
them with great satisfaction. Because of his efficiency as a soldier
he was given a commission as First Lieutenant and executed the duties
of his office with the same ability that had marked his career as an
enlisted man. From the Tenth Cavalry also came First Lieutenant Baker,
whose commission was a tribute to his fidelity and efficiency. A
soldier of high type he bore his commission and its honors as worthily
as any son of our Republic. In the same category must be placed First
Lieutenant Wm. McBryer, formerly Sergeant in the Twenty-fifth
Infantry. McBryer had served in the Tenth Cavalry and had won a Medal
of Honor in conflict with the Indians. He was a soldier distinguished
by strength of character, prompt executiveness, quick decision and
courage. He was also possessed of considerable literary skill, was a
good speaker and attractive writer, and a man of fine parts. He was a
valuable acquisition to the volunteer service and would have made a
fine captain.
Of the colored sergeants from the Regular Army who were given
commissions in the volunteer service it would not be extravagant to
say that all were men of worth, well-tried in the service, and there
was scarcely one of them but could have successfully commanded a
company. Lieutenant A.J. Smith, formerly First Sergeant in the
Twenty-fifth Infantry, was so well informed in the paper work of the
army and in company administration particularly that he was regarded
as an authority, and he was so well experienced in the whole life of a
soldier, in camp, field, garrison and in battle, that it would have
been difficult to find his superior in the army. To the credit of all
of the enlisted men of the Regular Army referred to, who received
commissions in the volunteer service, all served honorably and were
mustered out without bringing any scandal of any sort upon the
service.
The colored volunteers in the service acquitted themselves as well as
the average volunteer, and when mustered out proceeded to their homes
about as others did. The treatment accorded them in some of the
Southern cities, especially in Nashville, Tennessee, did not speak
well for the loyalty of that section, nor was it such as might
reasonably be expected from a people who had fared so well in the
offices and honors of the short war. From the best sources available,
it seems incumbent to say that the many charges alleged against the
colored volunteers for excessive rioting and disorder were without
proper foundation, and the assaults made upon them unjustifiable and
cruel. The spirit of the assailants is best seen from a description of
the attack made upon the unarmed discharged soldiers of the Eighth
Immuners in Nashville, already alluded to. This description was made
by the sheriff who participated in the brutality. An officer who was
on the train, and who was asleep at the time, when aroused went into
the car where the men were and found that they had been beaten and
robbed, and in some instances their discharges taken from them and
torn up, and their weapons and money taken from them by citizens. It
was about one o'clock A.M. and the men were generally asleep when
attacked. The sheriff gloats over it in language which ought not be
allowed to disappear:
"It was the best piece of work I ever witnessed. The police
went to the depot, not armed with the regulation 'billy,'
but carrying stout hickory clubs about two and one-half feet
long.
Their idea was that a mahogany or lignum vitae billy was too costly a
weapon to be broken over a Negro's head. The police were on board the
train before it stopped even, and the way they went for the Negroes
was inspiring. The police tolerated no impudence, much less rowdyism,
from the Negroes, and if a darky even looked mad, it was enough for
some policeman to bend his club double over his head. In fact after
the police finished with them they were the meekest, mildest, most
polite set of colored men I ever saw." This language is respectfully
dedicated to the memory of the proud city of Nashville, and presents
to the readers the portrait of her police.
Despite this vile treatment, the colored soldier went on to his home,
ready again to respond to his country's call, and to rally to the
defence of his country's flag, and, incidentally, to the preservation
of the lives and homes of the misguided, heartless beings who can
delight in his sufferings. The hickory club belongs to one sort of
warrior; the rifle to quite another. The club and rifle represent
different grades of civilization. The Negro has left the club; the
language from Nashville does honor to the club. Billy and bully are
the theme of this officer of the law, and for a "darkey even to look
mad" is ample justification for "some policeman to bend his club
double over his head." Were these policemen rioters? Or were they
conservaters of the peace? Judge ye!
OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE NINTH (SEPARATE) BATTALION, OHIO VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY.
_By the Battalion Adjutant, Lieutenant Wilson Ballard._
The Ninth Battalion, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the only colored
organization from Ohio in the Volunteer Army during the war with
Spain, was, previous to the date of its muster into the United States
service, known as the Ninth Battalion, Ohio National Guard. April
25th, 1898, the battalion, consisting of three companies, A from
Springfield, under Captain R.R. Rudd; B from Columbus, under Captain
James Hopkins, and C from Xenia, under Captain Harry H. Robinson, was
ordered into camp at Columbus, Ohio. The battalion was under the
command of Major Charles Fillmore.
May 14, 1898, the battalion was mustered into the volunteer service by
Captain Rockefeller, U.S.A. Lieutenant Charles Young, U.S.A., then on
duty at Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio, as professor of
military science and tactics, was commissioned by Governor Bushnell as
Major commanding the Ninth Battalion, O.V.I., relieving Major
Fillmore. In order to enable Lieutenant Young to accept his volunteer
commission, he was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the War
Department.
May 19, 1898, the command having been ordered to join the Second Army
Corps at Camp Russell A. Alger, near Falls Church, Va., left Camp
Bushnell and arrived at Camp Alger May 21, 1898.
When Major-General Graham assumed command of the Second Army Corps and
organized it into divisions, the battalion was placed in the
provisional division. In June (exact date not remembered) the
battalion was placed in the Second Brigade, Second Division, being
brigaded with the Twelfth Pennsylvania and Seventh Illinois Regiments.
The battalion was relieved from the Second Brigade, Second Division
and placed in the Second Brigade, First Division, being brigaded with
the Eighth Ohio and Sixth Massachusetts.
A New Jersey regiment was relieved from duty as corps headquarters'
guard late in June and the Ninth Battalion assigned to that duty. The
battalion performed this duty until it was ordered South from Camp
Meade, Penn., when it became separated from corps headquarters.
Important outposts, such as the entrance to Falls Church and the
guarding of the citizens' gardens and property, were under the charge
of the command.
When General Garretson's brigade (Second Brigade, First Division,
consisting of the Eighth Ohio, Ninth Battalion and Sixth
Massachusetts) was ordered to Cuba, General Graham, thinking that his
entire Army Corps would soon be ordered to active service, requested
the War Department, as the battalion was his headquarters guard, to
let the battalion remain with him. (See telegrams Gen. Graham's report
to the Secretary of War.) General Graham's request being honored by
the department, the battalion was deprived of this chance of seeing
active service in foreign fields. The battalion was then attached to
the Second Brigade, Second Division, under Brigadier-General Plummer,
being brigaded with the First New Jersey, Sixty-fifth New York and
Seventh Ohio.
In July the battalion was relieved from this brigade and attached
directly to corps headquarters. When the Second Army Corps was ordered
to Camp Meade, Penna., the battalion was one of the first to break
camp, going with corps headquarters. The battalion left Camp R.A.
Alger August 15, 1898, and arrived in camp at Camp George G. Meade,
near Middletown, Penna., August 16, 1898. In camp the battalion
occupied a position with the signal and engineer corps and hospital,
near corps headquarters.
When the Peace Jubilee was held in Philadelphia, the battalion was one
of the representative commands from the Second Army Corps, being given
the place of honor in the corps in the parade, following immediately
General Graham and staff. When the corps was ordered South the
battalion was assigned to the Second Brigade under Brigadier-General
Ames. The battalion left Camp Meade November 17. Up to this time it
had done the guard duty of corps headquarters and was complimented for
its efficient work by the commanding general. The battalion arrived
in Summerville, S.C., November 21, 1898. It was brigaded with the
Fourteenth Pennsylvania and Third Connecticut.
When the battalion arrived in the South the white citizens were not at
all favorably disposed toward colored soldiers, and it must be said
that the reception was not cordial. But by their orderly conduct and
soldierly behavior the men soon won the respect of all, and the
battalion was well treated before it left. November 28-29 Major Philip
Reade, Inspector General First Division, Second Army Corps, inspected
the Ninth Battalion, beginning his duties in that brigade with this
inspection. He complimented the battalion for its work both from a
practical and theoretical standpoint. Coming to the Fourteenth
Pennsylvania he required them to go through certain movements in the
extended order drill which not being done entirely to his
satisfaction, he sent his orderly to the commanding officer of the
Ninth Battalion, requesting him to have his command on the drill
ground at once. The battalion fell in and marched to the ground and
when presented to the Inspector orders were given for it to go through
with certain movements in the extended order drill in the presence of
the Pennsylvania regiment. This done, the Inspector dismissed the
battalion, highly complimenting Major Young on the efficiency of his
command. Just after the visit of the Inspector General, General S.B.M.
Young, commanding the Second Army Corps, visited Camp Marion. Orders
were sent to Major Young one morning to have his battalion fall in at
once, as the General desired to have them drill. By his command the
battalion went through the setting-up exercises and battalion drill in
close and extended order. The General was so well pleased with the
drill that the battalion was exempted from all work during the
remainder of the day.
The battalion was ordered to be mustered out January 29, 1899.
Lieutenant Geo. W. Van Deusen, First Artillery, who was detailed to
muster out the command, hardly spent fifteen minutes in the camp.
Major Young had been detailed Assistant Commissary of Musters and
signed all discharges for the Ninth Battalion, except for the field
and staff, which were signed by Lieutenant Van Deusen. The companies
left for their respective cities the same night they were paid. Major
Bullis was the paymaster.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] See "Outline History of the Ninth (Separate) Battalion Ohio
Volunteer Infantry," by the Battalion Adjutant, Lieutenant Nelson
Ballard, following the close of this chapter.