CHAPLAIN U. S. V.
Dr. Walker joined his regiment, the Ninth Immunes, at San Luis, Cuba,
the middle of November, 1898, and remained in the service for nearly
two months. He did not find the service with the army very congenial,
and resigned his commission to return to civil life. He remained with
the army long enough, however, to get some notion of what army life
means. He also learned much of Cuba, its climate and its peoples, and
was able on his return to give a very interesting account of his trip.
The following report is taken from the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, Jan. 5,
1899:
“Notwithstanding the rainy weather and the overcast night, it is
probable that never before in its history was Tabernacle Baptist
Church so overcrowded with people as on last night. It had been
announced the day before that the pastor, Rev. C. T. Walker, D. D.,
recently with the Ninth Immune Infantry in Cuba, was to lecture on
last night of his experience in that island.
“This notice was sufficient to pack the edifice up to the point of
almost complete suffocation. Standing room was at a premium. Several
hundred were turned away, and more than a hundred lingered in the yard
on the stairways until the lecture closed. Possibly more than 1,200
persons heard the speaker.
“Dr. Walker, as is his custom, caught the audience from the
beginning. He referred to the pleasure it gave him to be greeted by
such a large gathering; he said it reminded him of the throng which
welcomed him on his return from the Holy Land seven years ago. He
said that there was great interest being manifested all over this
country in Cuba and its people, especially because the Spanish yoke
of oppression had been lifted from Cuba’s neck, and the American flag
now floated over that land, and the Cubans, so long oppressed, so long
cruelly treated, were now free. He said he was glad it was so, because
wherever the Stars and Stripes waved there the Gospel flag could not
long be kept furled.
“He gave a brief account of his appointment last June by President
McKinley, and, also, a short narrative of his journey to Santiago.
His description of his entrance into the harbor of Santiago, passing
Morro Castle, the sunken Mercedes, and the sunken Merrimac, was truly
eloquent and brought down the house.
“‘Santiago,’ he said, ‘is one of the oldest cities in North
America--older even than St. Augustine, Fla., having been founded in
1542. The streets are very narrow; the sidewalks are so narrow that
two people cannot walk abreast; the city is extremely dirty; the water
is unfit to drink, unless it is boiled; there are about 50,000 people
in the city--15,000 of them white Cubans, and 35,000 of them black
Cubans. Some of the people are intelligent, and some few engaged in
business; but the vast majority of them are woefully ignorant and
shiftless. Most of them at present are completely on the charity of
the United States government. There are about 7,000 white soldiers
in and around Santiago under General Leonard Wood, and about 3,000
colored soldiers out at San Luis, about 35 miles away--the Eighth
Illinois, the Twenty-third Kansas and the Ninth Immune Infantry. The
first two of these regiments have all colored officers from colonel
down; my own regiment had all white officers excepting the lieutenants.’
“He was particularly interested in San Juan Hill where, as he
said, the battle was fought which decided the fate of Spain. He
was particularly interested in it, because in that battle, the
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantries, and the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalries, all colored soldiers, led the charge, cut the barbed wire
fence, captured the block-house, saved the Rough Riders, and added
glory to the American nation and Negro race. He said he had stood
on Bunker Hill, he had walked over the famous field of Waterloo,
had crossed the valley of Ajalon where Joshua whipped five kings of
the Amorites, and the Valley of Rephaim, where David conquered the
Philistines, but he never was so inspired as he was when he stood on
San Juan Hill, because there his own race was gallantly represented.
At this the house thundered with applause.
“He said Cuba was a most beautiful country--more beautiful than even
Germany or Switzerland. The soil is rich and fertile. Potatoes grow
there as long as walking canes, and vegetation flourishes throughout
the entire year. The weather he found to be extremely warm. December
was like our June or July. No overcoats needed there. He thought the
country was very unhealthy. The fever there is worse than Spanish
bullets, and no one is ‘immune’ from it, not even the natives. The
people are in a very low state of civilization, considered as a whole.
In the rural districts, they do not live in houses, but ‘shacks.’
He had seen living in one little room, a husband and wife and five
children, and a sow and six pigs. It is common for the people to live
in the same room with horses, cows and hogs.
“He positively affirmed that, in his judgment, the Cubans were
incapable of self-government. He found them to be very treacherous.
They hate American soldiers, white and black. They thought America
ought to have freed them and immediately given them their island to
run to suit themselves. It was dangerous for any American to go alone
at night; he would be killed by the Cuban machete.
“He mentioned the following as imperative needs of Cuba: churches,
good schools, improved farming methods, and business enterprises. He
thought that one thing that would greatly retard progress in Cuba
was American prejudice, many examples of which he had observed while
there. He said the American carried his prejudice wherever he went,
and if American proscription along race lines was carried to Cuba,
where such a thing had never been known, it would be an unhappy day
for the island.
“In closing, he spoke of his success as chaplain. He had more than
100 converts, and had a baptism for three successive Sundays. His
concluding words were a pathetic description of a scene which took
place at one of his baptisms when one of the soldiers marched down to
the water, singing:
‘Ho, my comrades, don’t you want to go?
Let’s go down to Jordan, hallelu.’
“At the close he showed many interesting relics, which he brought
home with him. He had four Spanish rifles, a large supply of Mauser
bullets, one machete, some cocoa, some coffee, some walking sticks
made of iron wood, a Cuban pitcher, etc.”
The same night the above address was delivered, resolutions were
unanimously adopted thanking the speaker for his interesting address
and expressing the pleasure of the people at his safe return. Thanks
were also tendered the late President McKinley for appointing Dr.
Walker as chaplain with the rank of captain in the U. S. V.