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List of Colored Regiments that did active
Service in the Spanish-American War, and Volunteer Regiments
Regulars.--Section 1104 of the
Revised Statutes of the United States Congress provides that
"the enlisted men of two regiments of Cavalry shall be
colored men," and in compliance with this section the War
Department maintains the organization of the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry, both composed of colored men with white officers.
Section 1108 of the Revised Statutes of Congress provides that "the enlisted men of two regiments of Infantry shall be colored men;" and in compliance with this section the War Department maintains the organization of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, both composed of colored men with white officers.
The above regiments were the only colored
troops that were engaged in active service
in Cuba. There is no statute requiring
colored artillery regiments to be organized,
and there are therefore none in the regular
army.
A List of the
Volunteer Regiments
Third North Carolina, All colored officers.
Sixth Virginia, White officers, finally, the
colored officers resigned "under pressure,"
after which there was much trouble with the
men, as they claimed to have enlisted with
the understanding that they were to have
colored officers.
Ninth Ohio. All colored officers; Col. Chas.
Young, graduate of West Point.
Twenty-third Kansas, Colored officers.
Eighth Illinois, Under colored officers, and
did police duty at San Luis, Cuba.
Seventh U.S. Volunteers.
Tenth U.S. Volunteers.
Eighth U.S. Volunteers.
Ninth U.S. Volunteers.
The conduct of the colored volunteers has
been harshly criticized, and it is thought
by some that the conduct of the volunteers
has had some influence in derogation of the
good record made by the regulars around
Santiago. This view, however, we think
unjust, and ill-founded. There was
considerable shooting of pistols and
drunkenness among some regiments of
volunteers, and it was not confined by any
means to those of the colored race. The
white volunteers were as drunk and noisy as
the colored, and shot as many pistols.
The Charlotte Observer has the following editorial concerning some white troops that passed through Charlotte, N.C.:
| "Mustered-out West Virginia and
New York volunteer soldiers who
passed through this city Saturday
night, behaved on the train and here
like barbarians, disgracing their
uniforms, their States and
themselves. They were drunk and
disorderly, and their firing of
pistols, destruction of property and
theft of edibles was not as bad as
their outrageous profanity and
obscenity on the cars in the hearing
of ladies. Clearly they are brutes
when sober and whiskey only
developed the vileness already in
them." By a careful comparison of the reports in the newspapers, we see a slight excess of rowdyism on the part of the whites, but much less fuss made about it. In traveling from place to place if a white volunteer company fired a few shots in the air, robbed a fruit stand, or fussed with the by standers at railroad stations or drank whiskey at the car windows, the fact was simply mentioned in the morning papers, but if a Negro company fired a pistol a telegram was sent ahead to have mobs in readiness to "do up the niggers" at the next station, and at one place in Georgia the militia was called out by a telegram sent ahead, and discharged a volley into the car containing white officers and their families, so eager were they to "do up the nigger." At Nashville the city police are reported to have charged through the train clubbing the colored volunteers who were returning home, and taking anything in the shape of a weapon away from them by force. In Texarcana or thereabouts it was reported that a train of colored troopers was blown up by dynamite. The Southern mobs seemed to pride themselves in assaulting the colored soldiers. While the colored volunteers were not engaged in active warfare, yet they attained a high degree of discipline and the CLEANEST AND MOST ORDERLY CAMP among any of the volunteers was reported by the chief sanitary officer of the government to be that of one of the colored volunteer regiments stationed in Virginia. It is to be regretted that the colored volunteers, especially those under Negro officers, did not have an opportunity to show their powers on the battlefield, and thus demonstrate their ability as soldiers, and so refreshing the memory of the nation as to what Negro soldiers once did at Ft. Wagner and Milikin's Bend. The volunteer boys were ready and willing and only needed a chance to show what they could do. |
Policed
by Negroes
White Immunes Ordered out of Santiago, and a
Colored Regiment Placed in Charge.
Washington, D.C., August 17, 1898.
Editor Colored American: The Star of this
city published the following dispatch in its
issue of the 16th inst. The Washington Post
next morning published the same dispatch,
omitting the last paragraph; and yet the
Post claims to publish the news, whether
pleasing or otherwise. The selection of the
8th Illinois colored regiment for this
important duty, to replace a disorderly
white regiment, is a sufficient refutation
of a recent editorial in the Post,
discrediting colored troops with colored
officers. The Eighth Illinois is a colored
regiment from Colonel down. The Generals at
the front know the value of Negro troops,
whether the quill-drivers in the rear do or
not.
Charles R. Douglass
The following is the dispatch referred to by
Major Douglass. The headlines of the Star
are retained.
Immunes Made Trouble--General Shafter Orders
the Second Regiment Outside the City of
Santiago--Colored Troops from Illinois
Assigned to the Duty of Preserving Order and
Property.
Santiago de Cuba, Aug. 16.--General Shafter
to-day ordered the Second Volunteer Regiment
of Immunes to leave the city and go into
camp outside.
The regiment had been placed here as a
garrison, to preserve order and protect
property. There has been firing of arms
inside of the town by members of this
regiment, without orders, so far as known.
Some of the men have indulged in liquor
until they have verged upon acts of license
and disorder. The inhabitants in some
quarters have alleged loss of property by
force and intimidation, and there has grown
up a feeling of uneasiness, if not alarm,
concerning them. General Shafter has,
therefore, ordered this regiment into the
hills, where discipline can be more severely
maintained.
In place of the Second Volunteer Immune
Regiment, General Shafter has ordered into
the city the Eighth Illinois Volunteer
Regiment of colored troops , in whose
sobriety and discipline he has confidence,
and of whose sturdy enforcement of order no
doubt is felt by those in command.
Sketch of Sixth Virginia
Volunteers
The Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, U.S.V.,
consisted of two battalions, first and
second Battalion Infantry Virginia
Volunteers (State militia), commanded
respectively by Maj. J.B. Johnson and Maj.
W.H. Johnson. In April, 1898, the war cloud
was hanging over the land. Governor J. Hoge
Tyler, of Virginia, under instructions from
the War Department, sent to all Virginia
volunteers inquiring how many men in the
respective commands were willing to enlist
in the United States volunteer service in
the war against Spain.
How
many would go in or out of the United
States.
Commonwealth Of Virginia
Adjutant-General's Office, Richmond, Va.,
April 19th, 1898.
General Order No. 8.
I. Commanding officers of companies of
Virginia Volunteers will, immediately, upon
the receipt by them of this order, assemble
their respective companies and proceed to
ascertain and report direct to this office,
upon the form herewith sent and by letter,
what officers and enlisted men of their
companies will volunteer for service in and
with the volunteer forces of the United
States (not in the regular army) with the
distinct understanding that such volunteer
forces, or any portion thereof, may be
ordered and required to perform service
either in or out of the United States, and
that such officer or enlisted man, so
volunteering, agrees and binds himself to,
without question, promptly obey all orders
emanating from the proper officers, and to
render such service as he may be required to
perform, either within or beyond the limits
of the United States.
II. The Brigade Commander and the Regimental
and Battalion Commanders will, without
delay, obtain like information and make,
direct to this office, similar reports, to
those above required, with regard to their
respective field, staff and non-commissioned
staff officers and regimental or battalion
bands, adopting the form herewith sent to
the regiments.
III. By reason of the necessity in this
matter, this order is sent direct, with
copies to intermediate commanders.
By order of the Governor and
Commander-in-Chief. Wm. Nalle,
Adjutant-General.
The companies of the First Battalion of
Richmond and Second Battalion of Petersburg
and Norfolk were the first to respond to the
call and express a readiness to go anywhere
in or out of the States with their own
officers, upon these conditions they were
immediately accepted, and the following
order was issued:
Commonwealth of Virginia,
Adjutant-General's Office, Richmond, Va.,
April 23, 1898. General Orders No. 9.
The commanding officers of such companies as
will volunteer for service in the volunteer
army of the United States will at once
proceed to recruit their respective
companies to at least eighty-four enlisted
men. Any company volunteering as a body, for
such service, will be mustered in with its
own officers.
By order of the Governor and
Commander-in-Chief. (Signed) W. Nalle,
Adjutant-General.
Under date of June 1, 1898, S.O. 59, A.G.O.,
Richmond, Va., was issued directly to the
commanding officers of the First and Second
Battalion (colored), who had been specially
designated by the President in his call,
ordering them to take the necessary steps to
recruit the companies of the respective
battalions to eighty-three men per company,
directing that care be taken, to accept only
men of good repute and able-bodied, and that
as soon as recruited the fact should be
reported by telegraph to the
Adjutant-General of the State.
July 15th, 1898, Company "A," Attucks Guard,
was the first company to arrive at Camp
Corbin, Va., ten miles below Richmond. The
company had three officers; Capt. W.A.
Hawkins, First Lieutenant J C Smith,
Lieutenant John Parham.
The other companies followed in rapid
succession.
Company "B" (Carney Guard), Capt. C.B.
Nicholas; First Lieutenant L.J. Wyche,
Second Lieutenant J.W. Gilpin.
Company "C" (State Guard), Capt. B.A.
Graves; First Lieutenant S.B. Randolph,
Second Lieutenant W.H. Anderson.
Company "D" (Langston Guard), Capt.
E.W. Gould; First Lieutenant Chas. H.
Robinson, Second Lieutenant Geo. W. Foreman.
Company "E" (Petersburg Guard), Capt.
J.E. Hill; First Lieutenant J.H. Hill,
Second Lieutenant Fred. E. Manggrum.
Company "F" (Petersburg), Capt.
Pleasant Webb; First Lieutenant Jno. K.
Rice, Second Lieutenant Richard Hill.
Company "G," Capt. J.A. Stevens;
First Lieutenant E. Thomas Walker, Second
Lieutenant David Worrell.
Company "H," Capt. Peter Shepperd,
Jr.; First Lieutenant Jas. M. Collins,
Second Lieutenant Geo. T. Wright.
The regiment consisted of only eight
companies, two battalions, commanded
respectively by Major J.B. Johnson and Maj.
W.H. Johnson, commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Rich'd C. Croxton, of the First
United States Infantry. First Lieutenant
Chas. R. Alexander was Surgeon. Second
Lieutenant Allen J. Black, Assistant
Surgeon.
Lieutenant W.H. Anderson, Company "C," was
detailed as Adjutant, Ordinance Officer and
Mustering Officer.
Lieutenant J.H. Gilpin, Company "B," was
detailed as Quartermaster and Commissary of
Subsistence.
On Monday,
September 12, 1898, the command left Camp
Corbin, Va., and embarked for Knoxville,
Tenn., about 10 o'clock, the men traveling
in day coaches and the officers in Pullman
sleepers. The train was in two sections.
Upon arrival at Knoxville the command was
sent to Camp Poland, near the Fourteenth
Michigan Regiment, who were soon mustered
out. A few days after the arrival of the
Sixth Virginia the Third North Carolina
arrived, a full regiment with every officer
a Negro. While here in order to get to the
city our officers, wagons and men had to
pass the camp of the First Georgia Regiment,
and it was quite annoying to have to suffer
from unnecessary delays in stores and other
things to which the men were subject.
After the review by General Alger, Secretary
of War, the Colonel of the Sixth Virginia
received permission from headquarters of
Third Brigade, Second Division, First Army
Corps, General Rosser commanding, to move
the camp to a point nearer the city, which
was granted. Soon after the arrival of the
Third North Carolina Regiment the First
Georgia seemed disposed to attack the
colored soldiers, so on a beautiful
September evening some shots were fired into
their camp by the First Georgia men and
received quick response. After the little
affair four Georgians were missing. The
matter was investigated, the First Georgia
was placed under arrest.
After the removal to a new portion of Camp
Poland orders were received from the
headquarters First Army Corps, Lexington,
Ky., ordering a board of examiners for the
following officers of the Sixth Virginia:
Maj. W.H. Johnson; Second Battalion, Capt.
C.B. Nicholas, Capt. J.E. Hill, Capt. J.A.C.
Stevens, Capt. E.W. Gould, Capt. Peter
Shepperd, Jr., Lieutenants S.B. Randolph,
Geo. T. Wright and David Worrell for
examination September 20, 1898, each officer
immediately tendered his resignation, which
was at once accepted by the Secretary of
War.
Under the rules governing the volunteer
army, when vacancies occurred by death,
removal, resignation or otherwise, the
Colonel of a regiment had the power to
recommend suitable officers or men to fill
the vacancies by promotions, and the
Governor would make the appointment with the
approval of the Secretary of War. Many of
the men had high hopes of gaining a
commission; many of the most worthy young
men of the State, who left their peaceful
vocations for the rough service of war, for
they were, students, bookkeepers, real
estate men, merchants, clerks and artists
who responded to their country's call--all
looking to a much desired promotion. But
after many conflicting stories as to what
would be done and much parleying on the part
of the recommending power, who said that
there was none in the regiment qualified for
the promotion. And thereupon the Governor
appointed white officers to fill the
vacancies created. A copy of the following
was sent to the Governor of Virginia through
"military channels" but never reached him;
also to the Adjutant General of the army
through military channels:
Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry,
Second Battalion, Colored,
Camp Poland, Tenn.,
October 27th, 1898.
To the Adjutant
General, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.
Sir--We, the undersigned officers of the
Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, stationed
at Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., have the
honor to respectfully submit to you the
following:
|
Nine officers of
this command who had served the
state militia for a period ranging
from five to twenty years were
ordered examined. They resigned for
reasons best known to themselves. We
the remaining officers were sanguine
that Negro officers would be
appointed to fill these vacancies,
and believe they can be had from the
rank and file, as the men in the
various companies enlisted with the
distinct understanding that they
would be commanded by Negro
officers. We now understand through
various sources that white officers
have been, or are to be, appointed
to fill these vacancies, to which we
seriously and respectfully protest,
because our men are dissatisfied.
The men feel that the policy
inaugurated as to this command
should remain, and we fear if there
is a change it will result
disastrously to one of the best
disciplined commands in the
volunteer service. They are
unwilling to be commanded by white
officers and object to do what they
did not agree to at first. That is
to be commanded by any other than
officers of the same color. We
furthermore believe that should the
appointments be confirmed there will
be a continual friction between the
officers and men of the two races as
has been foretold by our present
commanding officer. We express the
unanimous and sincere desire of
seven hundred and ninety-one men in
the command to be mustered out
rather than submit to the change. First
Endorsement. |
A New Lieutenant for the
6th Virginia
October 31st, 1898, the monthly muster was
in progress. There appeared in the camp a
new Lieutenant--Lieut. Jno. W.
Healey--formerly Sergeant-Major in the
regular army. This was the first positive
evidence that white officers would be
assigned to this regiment. This was about 9
o'clock in the morning, and at Knoxville
later in the day, there were more arrivals.
Then it was published that the following
changes and appointments were made:
Company "D," First Battalion, was
transferred to the Second Battalion;
Company "F," of the Second Battalion,
transferred to the First Battalion.
Major E.E. Cobell, commanding Second
Battalion.
Captain R.L.E. Masurier, commanding Company
"D."
Captain W.S. Faulkner, commanding Company
"E."
Captain J.W. Bentley, commanding Company
"G."
Captain S.T. Moore, commanding Company "H."
First Lieutenant Jno. W. Healey to Company
"H."
First Lieutenant A.L. Moncure to Company
"G."
Second Lieutenant Geo. W. Richardson,
Company "G."
First Lieutenant Edwin T. Walker transferred
to Company "C."
November 1st officers attempted to take
charge of the men who offered no violence at
all, but by their manner and conduct it
appeared too unpleasant and unsafe for these
officers to remain, so tendered their
resignations, but they were withheld for a
day.
The next day, November 2, 1898, it was
thought best that the colored Captains and
Lieutenants would drill the companies at the
9 o'clock drill. While on the field "recall"
was sounded and the companies were brought
to the headquarters and formed a street
column. General Bates, commanding the Corps
and his staff; Col. Kuert, commanding the
Brigade and Brigade staff; Maj. Louis V.
Caziarc, Assistant Adjutant-General: Lieut.
Col. Croxton and Maj. Johnson were all there
and spoke to the men. Colonel Kuert said:
"Gentlemen, as commanding officer of the
Brigade, I appear before you to-day asking
you to do your duty; to be good soldiers, to
remember your oath of enlistment, and to be
careful as to the step you take, for it
might cost you your life; that there are
enough soldiers at my command to force you
into submission should you resist. No, if
you intend to accept the situation and
submit to these officers placed over you, at
my command, you come to a right shoulder,
and if you have any grievance imaginary or
otherwise present through proper military
channels, and if they are proper, your
wrongs will be adjusted."
"Right shoulder, Arms." Did not a man move.
He then ordered them to be taken back to
their company street and to "stack arms."
Before going to the company streets Major
Caziarc spoke to the men as follows: "Forty
years ago no Negro could bear arms or wear
the blue. You cannot disgrace the blue, but
can make yourselves unworthy to wear it."
Then Maj. J.B. Johnson spoke to the men and
urged upon them to keep in mind the oath of
enlistment (which he read to them), in which
they swore that they would "obey all
officers placed over them;" that since the
appointments had been made there was nothing
for them to do but to accept the situation.
At the conclusion of Maj. Johnson's talk to
the men, Private Badger, Regimental Tailor,
stepped to the front and gave the "rifle
salute" and asked permission to say a word.
It was granted. He said: "When we enlisted
we understood that we would go with our
colored officers anywhere in or out of this
country, and when vacancies occurred we
expected and looked for promotion as was the
policy of the Governor of Virginia toward
other Virginia Regiments." He was told that
if the men had any grievance they could
present it through military channels and it
would be looked into. They never accepted
Maj. Johnson's advice--returned to their
company streets and were allowed to keep
their guns. The Ordnance Officer was ordered
to take all ammunition to the camp of the
Thirty-first Michigan and place it in the
guard-house.
The men had the freedom and pass privilege
to and from the city.
November 19th the command was ordered to
Macon, Ga., arriving at Camp Haskell next
day, with 820 men and 27 officers.
Near the camp of the Sixth Virginia was that
of the Tenth Immune Regiment, in which were
many Virginia boys, some of whom had been
members of some of the companies of the
Sixth.
Some irresponsible persons cut down a tree
upon which several men had been lynched. The
blame naturally fell upon the Sixth
Virginia. The regiment was placed under
arrest and remained so for nineteen days.
The first day the Third Engineers guarded
the camp, but General Wilson, the Corps
commander, removed them and put colored
soldiers to guard them. On the night of
November 20th, at a late hour, the camp was
surrounded by all the troops available while
the men were asleep and the regiment was
disarmed.
While all this was going on the Thirty-first
Michigan Regiment had been deployed into
line behind a hill on the north and the
Fourth Tennessee had been drawn up in line
on the east side of the camp ready to fire
should any resistance be offered.
The men quietly submitted to this strange
procedure, and did not know that Gatling
guns had been conveniently placed at hand to
mow them down had they shown any resistance.
The Southern papers called them the mutinous
Sixth, and said and did every thing to place
discredit upon them.
They were reviewed by General Breckinridge,
General Alger, Secretary of War, and
President McKinley, who applauded them for
their fine and soldierly appearance.
Comments on the Third North
Carolina Regiment
Of all the volunteer regiments the Third
North Carolina seemed to be picked out as
the target for attack by the Georgia
newspapers. The Atlanta Journal, under large
headlines, "A Happy Riddance," has the
following to say when the Third North
Carolina left Macon. But the Journal's
article was evidently written in a somewhat
of a wish-it-was-so-manner, and while
reading this article we ask our readers to
withhold judgment until they read Prof. C.F.
Meserve on the Third North Carolina, who
wrote after investigation.
The Journal made no investigation to see
what the facts were, but dwells largely on
rumors and imagination. It will be noted
that President Meserve took the pains to
investigate the subject before writing about
it.
The Atlanta Journal says:
A Happy Riddance
The army and the country are to be
congratulated on the mustering out of the
Third North Carolina Regiment.
A tougher and more turbulent set of Negroes
were probably never gotten together before.
Wherever this regiment went it caused
trouble.
While stationed in Macon several of its
members were killed, either by their own
comrades in drunken brawls or by citizens in
self-defense.
Last night the mustered-out regiment passed
through Atlanta on its way home and during
its brief stay here exhibited the same
ruffianism and brutality that characterized
it while in the service. But for the
promptness and pluck of several Atlanta
policemen these Negro ex-soldiers would have
done serious mischief at the depot. Those
who undertook to make trouble were very
promptly clubbed into submission, and one
fellow more obstreperous than the rest, was
lodged in the station house.
With the exception of two or three regiments
the Negro volunteers in the recent war were
worse than useless. The Negro regulars, on
the contrary, made a fine record, both for
fighting and conduct in camp.
The mustering out of the Negro volunteers
should have begun sooner and have been
completed long ago.
What President Charles Francis
Meserve says
President Charles Francis Meserve, of Shaw
University, says:
| "I spent a part of two days the
latter part of December at Camp
Haskell, near Macon, Ga., inspecting
the Third North Carolina colored
regiment and its camp and
surroundings. The fact that this
regiment has colored officers and
the knowledge that the Colonel and
quite a number of officers, as well
as many of the rank and file, were
graduates or former students of Shaw
University, led me to make a visit
to this regiment, unheralded and
unannounced. I was just crossing the
line into the camp when I was
stopped by a guard, who wanted to
know who I was and what I wanted. I
told him I was a very small piece of
Shaw University, and that I wanted
to see Col. Young. After that
sentence was uttered, and he had
directed me to the headquarters of
the colonel, the regiment and the
camp might have been called mine,
for the freedom of everything was
granted me." "The camp is admirably located on a sandy hillside, near pine woods, and is dry and well-drained. It is well laid out, with a broad avenue in the centre intersected by a number of side streets. On one side of the avenue are the tents and quarters of the men and the canteen, and on the opposite side the officers' quarters, the hospital, the quartermasters stores, the Y.M.C.A. tent, etc." "Although the weather was unfavorable, the camp was in the best condition, and from the standpoint of sanitation was well-nigh perfect. I went everywhere and saw everything, even to the sinks and corral. Part of the time I was alone and part of the time an officer attended me. There was an abundant supply of water from the Macon water works distributed in pipes throughout the camp. The clothing was of good quality and well cared for. The food was excellent, abundant in quantity and well prepared. The beef was fresh and sweet, for it had not been "embalmed." The men were not obliged to get their fresh meat by picking maggots out of dried apples and dried peaches as has been the case sometimes in the past on our "Wild West Frontier." There were potatoes, Irish and sweet, navy beans, onions, meat, stacks of light bread, canned salmon, canned tomatoes, etc. These were not all served at one meal, but all these articles and others go to make up the army ration list." "The spirit and discipline of officers and men was admirable, and reflected great credit upon the Old North State. There was an enthusiastic spirit and buoyancy that made their discipline and evolutions well nigh perfect. The secret of it all was confidence in their leader. They believe in their colonel, and the colonel in turn believes in his men. Col. James H. Young possesses in a marked degree a quality of leadership as important as it is rare. He probably knows by name at least three-quarters of his regiment, and is on pleasant terms with his staff and the men in the ranks, and yet maintains a proper dignity, such as befits his official rank." |
Prof. Charles F. Meserve, Of Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C. (Who investigated and made report on the Third N.C. Volunteers.)
| "On the last afternoon of my
visit of inspection Col. Young
ordered the regiment drawn up in
front of his headquarters, and
invited me to address them. The
Colonel and his staff were mounted,
and I was given a position of honor
on a dry goods box near the head of
the beautiful horse upon which the
Colonel was mounted. Besides Colonel
James H. Young, of Raleigh, were
near me Lieutenant Colonel Taylor,
of Charlotte; Major Walker, of
Wilmington; Major Hayward, of
Raleigh; Chief Surgeon Dellinger, of
Greensboro; Assistant Surgeons Pope,
of Charlotte, and Alston, of
Asheville; Capt. Durham, of Winston;
Capt. Hamlin, of Raleigh; Capt.
Hargraves, of Maxton; Capt. Mebane,
of Elizabeth City; Capt. Carpenter,
of Rutherfordton; Capt. Alexander,
of Statesville; Capt. Smith, of
Durham; Capt. Mason, of Kinston; who
served under Colonel Shaw at Fort
Wagner; Capt. Leatherwood,
Asheville; Capt. Stitt, of
Charlotte; Capt. York, of Newbern;
and Quartermaster Lane, of Raleigh.
That highly respected citizen of
Fayetteville, Adjutant Smith, was in
the hospital suffering from a broken
leg. I told them they were on trial,
and the success or failure of the
experiment must be determined by
themselves alone; that godliness,
moral character, prompt and implicit
obedience, as well as bravery and
unflinching courage, were necessary
attributes of the true soldier." "The Y.M.C.A. tent is a great blessing to the regiment, and is very popular, and aids in every possible way the work of Chaplain Durham." "The way Col. Young manages the canteen cannot be too highly recommended. Ordinarily the term canteen is another name for a drinking saloon, though a great variety of articles, such as soldiers need, are on sale and the profits go to the soldiers. But the canteen of the Third North Carolina is a dry one. By that I mean that spiritous or malt liquors are not sold. Col. Young puts into practice the principles that have always characterized his personal habits, and with the best results to his regiment." "I had the pleasure of meeting Capt. S. Babcock, Assistant Adjutant General of the Brigade, who has known this regiment since it was mustered into the service. He speaks of it in the highest terms. I also met Major John A. Logan, the Provost Marshal, and had a long interview with him. He said the Third North Carolina was a well-behaved regiment and that he had not arrested a larger per cent of men from this regiment than from any other regiment, and that I was at liberty to publicly use this statement." "While in the sleeper on my way home I fell in with Capt. J.C. Gresham, of the Seventh Cavalry. Capt. Gresham is a native of Virginia, a graduate of Richmond College and West Point, and has served many years in the regular army. He was with Colonel Forsyth in the battle with the Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. I had met him previously, when I was in the United States Indian service in Kansas. He informed me that he mustered in the first four companies of the Third North Carolina, and the Colonel and his staff, and that he had never met a more capable man than Colonel Young." "The Third North Carolina has
never seen active service at the
front, and, as the Hispano-American
war is practically a closed chapter,
it will probably be mustered out of
the service without any knowledge of
actual warfare. I thought, however,
as I stood on the dry goods box and
gave them kindly advice, and looked
down along the line, that if I was a
soldier in a white regiment and was
pitted against them, my regiment
would have to do some mighty lively
work to clean them out." |
History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and other items of Interest, 1899