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While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
A Southerner's
Statement,
That The Negro Cavalry Saved The "Rough Riders."
Some of the officers who accompanied the wounded soldiers on
the trip north give interesting accounts of the fighting
around Santiago. "I was standing near Captain Capron and
Hamilton Fish, Jr.," said a corporal to the Associated Press
correspondent to-night, "and saw them shot down. They were
with the Rough Riders and ran into an ambuscade, though they
had been warned of the danger. If it had not been for the
Negro Calvary the Rough Riders would have been exterminated.
I am not a Negro lover. My father fought with Mosby's
Rangers, and I was born in the South, but the Negroes saved
that fight, and the day will come when General Shafter will
give them credit for their bravery."--Asso. Press.
Reconciliation
"Members of our regiment kicked somewhat when the colored
troops were sent forward with them, but when they saw how
the Negroes fought they became reconciled to the situation
and some of them now say the colored brother can have half
of their blankets whenever they want them."
The above is an extract from a communication to the Daily
Afternoon Journal, of Beaumont, Tex., written by a Southern
white soldier: "Straws tell the way the wind blows," is a
hackneyed expression, but an apt illustration of the subject
in hand. It has been hinted by a portion of the Negro press
that when the war ended, that if there is to be the
millennium of North and South, the Negroes will suffer in
the contraction. There is no reason to encourage this
pessimistic view, since it is so disturbing in its nature,
and since it is in the province of the individuals composing
the race to create a future to more or less extent. The
wedge has entered; it remains for the race to live up to its
opportunities. The South already is making concessions.
While concessions are apt to be looked upon as too
patronizing, and not included in the classification of
rights in common, yet in time they amount to the same. The
mere statement that "the colored brother can have half of
their blankets whenever they want them," while doubtless a
figure of speech, yet it signifies that under this very
extreme of speech an appreciable advance of the race. It
does not mean that there is to be a storming of the social
barriers, for even in the more favored races definite lines
are drawn. Sets and circles adjust such matters. But what is
desired is the toleration of the Negroes in those pursuits
that the people engage in or enjoy in general and in common.
It is all that the American Negro may expect, and it is safe
to say that his ambitions do not run higher, and ought not
to run higher. Money and birth in themselves have created
some unwritten laws that are much stronger than those
decreed and promulgated by governments. It would be the
height of presumption to strike at these, to some extent
privileged classes. It is to be hoped that the good fortunes
of war will produce sanity and stability in the race,
contending for abstract justice.--Freeman.
The testimony continues:
Private Smith of the Seventy-first Volunteers, speaking
about the impression his experience at Santiago had made
upon him, said:
"I am a Southerner by birth, and I never thought much of the
colored man. But, somewhat, now I feel very differerently
toward them, for I met them in camp, on the battle field and
that's where a man gets to know a man. I never saw such
fighting as those Tenth Cavalry men did. They didn't seem to
know what fear was, and their battle hymn was, 'There'll be
a hot time in the old town to-night. That's not a thrilling
hymn to hear on the concert stage, but when you are lying in
a trench with the smell of powder in your nose and the crack
of rifles almost deafening you and bullets tearing up the
ground around you like huge hailstones beating down the
dirt, and you see before you a blockhouse from which there
belches fourth the machine gun, pouring a torrent of leaden
missiles, while from holes in the ground you see the leveled
rifles of thousands of enemies that crack out death in
ever-increasing succession and then you see a body of men go
up that hill as if it were in drill, so solid do they keep
their formation, and those men are yelling, 'There'll be a
hot time in the old town to-night,' singing as if they liked
their work, why, there's an appropriateness in the tune that
kind of makes your blood creep and your nerves to thrill and
you want to get up and go ahead if you lose a limb in the
attempt And that's what those 'niggers' did. You just heard
the Lieutenant say, 'Men, will you follow me?' and you hear
a tremendous shout answer him, 'You bet we will,' and right
up through that death-dealing storm you see men charge, that
is, you see them until the darned Springfield rifle powder
blinds you and hides them."
"And there is another thing, too, that teaches a man a
lesson. The action of the officers on the field is what I
speak of. Somehow when you watch these men with their gold
braid in armories on a dance night or dress parade it
strikes you that they are a little more handsome and
ornamental than they are practical and useful. To tell the
truth, I didn't think much of those dandy officers on parade
or dancing round a ball room. I did not really think they
were worth the money that was spent upon them. But I just
found it was different on the battlefield, and they just
knew their business and bullets were a part of the show to
them."
Negro Soldiers
The Charleston News and Courier
says:
It is not known what proportion of
the insurgent army is colored, but
the indications are that the
proportion of the same element in
the volunteer army of occupation
will be small.
On the basis of population, of
course one-third of the South's
quota should be made up of colored,
and it is to be remembered that they
made good soldiers and constitute a
large part of the regular army.
There were nearly 250,000 of them in
service in the last war.
The Negro As A
Soldier--His
Good Marksmanship--The Fight At El
Caney--"Woe To Spanish In Range."
There has been hitherto among the officers
of the army a certain prejudice against
serving in the Negro regiments. But the
other day a Lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry
said enthusiastically:
"Do you know, I shouldn't want
anything better than to have a
company in a Negro regiment? I am
from Virginia, and have always had
the usual feeling about commanding
colored troops. But after seeing
that charge of the Twenty-fourth up
the San Juan Hill, I should like the
best in the world to have a Negro
company. They went up that incline
yelling and shouting just as I used
to hear when they were hunting
rabbits in Virginia. The Spanish
bullets only made them wilder to
reach the trenches."
Officers of other regiments which
were near the Twenty-fourth on July
1 are equally strong in their praise
of the Negroes. Their yells were an
inspiration to their white comrades
and spread dismay among the
Spaniards. A Captain in a volunteer
regiment declares that the
Twenty-fourth did more than any
other to win the day at San Juan. As
they charged up through the white
soldiers their enthusiasm was
spread, and the entire line fought
the better for their cheers and
their wild rush.
Spanish evidence to the
effectiveness of the colored
soldiers is not lacking. Thus an
officer who was with the troops that
lay in wait for the Americans at La
Quasina on June 24th, said:
"What especially terrified our men
was the huge American Negroes. We
saw their big, black faces through
the underbrush, and they looked like
devils. They came forward under our
fire as if they didn't the least
care about it."
It was the Tenth Cavalry that had this
effect on the Spaniards. At San Juan the
Ninth Cavalry distinguished itself, its
commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton,
being killed. The fourth of the Negro
regiments, the Twenty-fifth Infantry, played
an especially brilliant part in the battle
of El Caney on July 1st. It was held in
reserve with the rest of Colonel Miles'
brigade, but was ordered to support General
Lawton's brigade toward the middle of the
day. At that hour marching was an ordeal,
but the men went on at a fast pace. With
almost no rest they kept it up until they
got into action. The other troops had been
fighting hard for hours, and the arrival of
the Twenty-fifth was a blessing. The Negroes
went right ahead through the tired ranks of
their comrades. Their charge up the hill,
which was surmounted by Spanish rifle pits
and a stone fort, has been told. It was the
work of only a part of the regiment, the men
coming chiefly from three companies. Colonel
Milts had intended having his whole brigade
make the final charge, but the Twenty-fifth
didn't wait for orders. It was there to take
that hill, and take the hill it did.
One of the Spanish officers captured there
seemed to think that the Americans were
taking an unfair advantage of them in having
colored men who fought like that. He had
been accustomed to the Negroes in the
insurgent army, and a different lot they are
from those in the United States army.
"Why," he said ruefully, "even your Negroes
fight better than any other troops I ever
saw."
The way the Negroes charged up the El Caney
and San Juan hills suggested inevitably that
their African nature has not been entirely
eliminated by generations of civilization,
but was bursting forth in savage yells and
in that wild rush some of them were fairly
frantic with the delight of the battle. And
it was no mere craziness. They are excellent
marksmen, and they aim carefully and well.
Woe to the Spaniards who showed themselves
above the trenches when a colored regiment
was in good range. Magnificent Showing Made
By The Negroes--Their Splendid Courage At
Santiago The Admiration Of All Officers.
They were led by Southern Men--Black Men
from the South Fought Like Tigers and end a
Question often debated--In only One or Two
Actions of the Civil War was there such a
loss of Officers as at San Juan.
Telegram To Commercial
WASHINGTON, July 6, 1898.
Veterans who are comparing the losses at the
battle of San Juan, near Santiago, last
Friday, with those at Big Bethel and the
first Bull Run say that in only one or two
actions of the late war was there such a
loss in officers as occurred at San Juan
hill.
The companies of the Twenty-fourth Infantry
are without officers. The regiment had four
captains knocked down within a minute of
each other. Capt. A.C. Ducat was the first
officer hit in the action, and was killed
instantly. His second lieutenant, John A.
Gurney, a Michigan man, was struck dead at
the same time as the captain, and Lieutenant
Henry G. Lyon was left in command of Company
D, but only for a few minutes, for he, too,
went down. Liscum, commanding the regiment,
was killed.
Negroes Fight Like Tigers
Company F, Twenty-fourth Infantry, lost
Lieutenant Augustin, of Louisiana, killed,
and Captain Crane was left without a
commissioned officer. The magnificent
courage of the Mississippi, Louisiana,
Arkansas and Texas Negroes, which make up
the rank and file of this regiment, is the
admiration of every officer who has written
here since the fight. The regiment has a
large proportion of Southern-born officers,
who led their men with more than usual
exposure. These men had always said the
Southern Negro would fight as staunchly as
any white man, if he was led by those in
whom he had confidence. The question has
often been debated in every mess of the
army. San Juan hill offered the first
occasion in which this theory could be
tested practically, and tested it was in a
manner and with a result that makes its
believers proud of the men they commanded.
It has helped the morale of the four Negro
regiments beyond words. The men of the
Twenty-fourth Infantry, particularly, and
their comrades of the Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry as well, are proud of the record
they made.
They Never Wavered
The Twenty-fourth took the brunt of the
fight, and all through it, even when whole
companies were left without an officer, not
for a moment were these colored soldiers
shaken or wavering in the face of the fierce
attack made upon them. Wounded Spanish
officers declare that the attack was thus
directed because they did not believe the
Negro would stand up against them and they
believed there was the faulty place in the
American line. Never were men more amazed
than were the Spanish officers to see the
steadiness and cool courage with which the
Twenty-fourth charged front forward on its
tenth company (a difficult thing to do at
any time), under the hottest fire. The value
of the Negro as a soldier is no longer a
debatable question.
It has been proven fully in one of the
sharpest fights of the past three years.
"Our Boys," The Soldiers
"What Army Officers and Others Have to Say
of the Negroes Conduct in War"--"Give Honor
to Whom Honor is Due"--"Acme of Bravery."
It has been said, "Give honor to whom honor
is due," and while it is just and right that
it should be so, there are times, however,
when the "honor" due is withheld. Ever since
the battle of San Juan Hill at Santiago de
Cuba nearly every paper in the land has had
nothing but praise for the bravery shown by
the "Rough Riders," and to the extent that,
not knowing the truth, one would naturally
arrive at the conclusion that the "Rough
Riders" were "the whole thing." Although
sometimes delayed, the truth, like murder,
"will out." It is well enough to praise the
"Rough Riders" for all they did, but why not
divide honors with the other fellows who
made it possible for them, the "Rough
Riders," to receive praise, and be honored
by a generous and valorous loving nation?
After the battles of El Caney and San Juan
Hill, many wounded American soldiers who
were able to travel were given furloughs to
their respective homes in the United States,
and Lieutenant Thomas Roberts, of this city,
was one of them. Shortly after Lieutenant
Roberts arrived in the city he was
interviewed by a representative of the
Illinois State Register, to whom he gave a
description of the battle of July 1st. He
said: "On the night of June 30th the second
squadron of the Tenth Cavalry did outpost
duty. Daylight opened on the soon-to-be
blood-sodden field on July 1st, and the
Tenth was ordered to the front. First went
the first squadron, followed soon after by
the second, composed of Troops G, I, B and
A. The Tenth Cavalry is composed of Negroes,
commanded by white officers, and I have
naught but the highest praise for the
swarthy warriors on the field of carnage.
Led by brave men, they will go into the
thickest of the fight, even to the wicked
mouths of deadly cannon, unflinchingly."
Lieutenant Roberts says further that "at 9
o'clock on the morning of July 1st the order
came to move. Forward we went, until we
struck a road between two groves, which road
was swept by a hail of shot and shell from
Spanish guns. The men stood their ground as
if on dress parade. Single file, every man
ready to obey any command, they bade
defiance to the fiercest storm of leaden
hail that ever hurtled over a troop of
United States cavalry. The order came, 'Get
under cover,' and the Seventy-first New York
and the Tenth Cavalry took opposite sides of
the road and lay down in the bushes. For a
short time no orders came, and feeling a
misapprehension of the issue, I hastened
forward to consult with the first lieutenant
of the company. We found that through a
misinterpreted order the captain of the
troop and eight men had gone forward.
Hastening back to my post I consulted with
the captain in the rear of Troop G, and the
quartermaster appeared upon the scene asking
the whereabouts of the Tenth Cavalry. They
made known their presence, and the
quartermaster told them to go on, showing
the path, the quartermaster led them forward
until the bend in the San Juan River was
reached. Here the first bloodshed in the
Tenth occurred, a young-volunteer named
Baldwin fell, pierced by a Spanish ball."
An aide hastened up and gave the colonel of
the regiment orders to move forward. The
summit of the hill was crowned by two
block-houses, and from these came an
unceasing fire. Lieutenant Roberts said he
had been lying on the ground but rose to his
knees to repeat an order, "Move forward,"
when a mauser ball struck him in the abdomen
and passed entirely through his body. Being
wounded, he was carried off of the field,
but after all was over, Lieutenant Roberts
says it was said (on the quiet, of course)
that "the heroic charge of the Tenth Cavalry
saved the 'Rough Riders' from destruction."
Lieutenant Roberts says he left Cuba on the
12th of July for Fort Monroe, and that a
wounded Rough Rider told him while coming
over that "had it not been for the Tenth
Cavalry the Rough Riders would never passed
through the seething cauldron of Spanish
missels." Such is the statement of one of
Springfield's best citizens, a member of the
Tenth Cavalry, United States regulars.
Some days later, Lieutenant Roberts had
occasion to visit Chicago and Fort Sheridan,
and while there he was interviewed by a
representative of the Chicago Chronicle, to
whom he related practically the same story
as above stated, "You probably know my
regiment is made up exclusively of Negroes
except for the commissioned officers, and I
want to say right here that those men
performed deeds of heroism on that day which
have no parallel in the history of warfare.
They were under fire from six in the morning
until 1:30 in the afternoon, with strict
orders not to return the hail of lead, and
not a man in those dusky ranks flinched. Our
brigade was instructed to move forward soon
after 1 o'clock to assault the series of
blockhouses which was regarded as
impregnable by the foreign attaches. As the
aide dashed down our lines with orders from
headquarters the boys realized the
prayed-for charge was about to take place
and cheered lustily. Such a charge! Will I
ever forget that sublime spectacle? There
was a river called San Juan, from the hill
hard by, but which historians will term the
pool of blood. Our brigade had to follow the
course of that creek fully half a mile to
reach the point selected for the grand
attack. With what cheering did the boys go
up that hill! Their naked bodies seemed to
present a perfect target to the fire of the
dons, but they never flinched. When the
command reached the famous stone blockhouse
it was commanded by a second sergeant, who
was promoted on the field of battle for
extraordinary bravery. San Juan fell many
minutes before El Caney, which was attacked
first, and I think the Negro soldiers can be
thanked for the greater part of that
glorious work. All honor to the Negro
soldiers! No white man, no matter what his
ancestry may be, should be ashamed to greet
any of those Negro cavalrymen with
out-stretched hand. The swellest of the
Rough Riders counted our troopers among
their best friends and asked them to their
places in New York when they returned, and I
believe the wealthy fellows will prove their
admiration had a true inspiration."
Thus we see that while the various
newspapers of the country are striving to
give the Rough Riders first honors, an
honest, straightforward army officer who was
there and took an active part in the fight,
does not hesitate to give honor to whom
honor is due, for he says, "All honor to the
Negro soldiers," and that it was they who
"saved the Rough Riders from destruction."
And right here I wish to call the reader's
attention to another very important matter
and that is, while it has been said
heretofore that the Negro soldier was not
competent to command, does not the facts in
the case prove, beyond a doubt, that there
is no truth in the statement whatever? If a
white colonel was "competent" to lead his
command into the fight, it seems that a
colored sergeant was competent
extraordinary, for he not only went into the
fight, but he, and his command, "done
something," done the enemy out of the
trenches, "saved the Rough Riders from
destruction," and planted the Stars and
Stripes on the blockhouse.
Just before the charge, one of the foreign
attaches, an Englishman, was heard to say
that he did not see how the blockhouse was
to be reached without the aid of cannon; but
after the feat had been accomplished, a
colored soldier said, "We showed him how."
Now that the colored soldier has proven to
this nation, and the representatives of
others, that he can, and does fight, as well
as the "other fellow," and that he is also
"competent" to command, it remains to be
seen if the national government will give
honor to whom honor is due, by honoring
those deserving, with commissions.
Under the second call for
volunteers by the President, the
State of Illinois raised a regiment
of colored soldiers, and Governor
Tanner officered that regiment with
colored officers from colonel down;
and that, as you might say, before
they had earned their "rank." Now
the question is, can the national
government afford to do less by
those, who have earned, and are
justly entitled to, a place in the
higher ranks? We shall see.
C.F. Anderson
Springfield, Ill.
History of
Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War,
and other items of Interest, 1899
