The Colored Regulars in the United States Army | Page 6

force of the same kind. The soldier stands for
something far higher than the pugilist represents, although he has need
of the same qualities of physical hardihood--contempt for suffering and
coolness in the presence of danger, united with skill in the use of his
weapons. The pugilist is his own general and never learns the high
lessons of obedience; the soldier learns to subordinate himself to his
commander, and to fight bravely and effectively under the direction of
another.
The evolution of the Afro-American soldier was the work of a short
period and suffered many interruptions. When the War of the
Revolution broke out the colored man was a slave, knowing nothing of
the spirit or the training of the soldier; before it closed several thousand
colored men had entered the army and some had won distinction for
gallantry. Less than forty years later, in the war of 1812, the black man
again appeared to take his stand under the flag of independence. The
War of Secession again witnessed the coming forth of the black soldier,
this time in important numbers and performing heroic services on a
grand scale, and under most discouraging circumstances, but with such
success that he won a place in arms for all time. When the Civil War
closed, the American black man had secured his standing as a
soldier--the evolution was complete. Henceforth he was to be found an
integral part of the Army of the United States.
The black man passed through the trying baptism of fire in the Sixties
and came out of it a full-fledged soldier. His was worse than an

impartial trial; it was a trial before a jury strongly biased against him;
in the service of a government willing to allow him but half pay; and in
the face of a foe denying him the rights belonging to civilized warfare.
Yet against these odds, denied the dearest right of a soldier--the hope of
promotion--scorned by his companions in arms, the Negro on more
than two hundred and fifty battle-fields, demonstrated his courage and
skill, and wrung from the American nation the right to bear arms. The
barons were no more successful in their struggle with King John when
they obtained Magna Charta than were the American Negroes with
Prejudice, when they secured the national recognition of their right and
fitness to hold a place in the Standing Army of the United States. The
Afro-American soldier now takes his rank with America's best, and in
appearance, skill, physique, manners, conduct and courage proves
himself worthy of the position he holds. Combining in his person the
harvested influences of three great continents, Europe, Africa and
America, he stands up as the typical soldier of the Western World, the
latest comer in the field of arms, but yielding his place in the line to
none, and ever ready to defend his country and his flag against any and
all foes.
The mission of this book is to make clear this evolution, giving the
historical facts with as much detail as possible, and setting forth finally
the portrait of this new soldier. That this is a prodigious task is too
evident to need assertion--a task worthy the most lofty talents; and in
essaying it I humbly confess to a sense of unfitness; yet the work lies
before me and duty orders me to enter upon it. A Major General writes:
"I wish you every success in producing a work important both
historically and for the credit of a race far more deserving than the
world has acknowledged." A Brigadier General who commanded a
colored regiment in Cuba says to me most encouragingly: "You must
allow me--for our intimate associations justify it--to write frankly. Your
education, habits of thought, fairness of judgment and comprehension
of the work you are to undertake, better fit you for writing such a
history than any person within my acquaintance. Those noble men
made the history at El Caney and San Juan; I believe you are the man
to record it. May God help you to so set forth the deeds of that
memorable first of July in front of Santiago that the world may see in

its true light what those brave, intelligent colored men did."
Both these men fought through the Civil War and won distinction on
fields of blood. To the devout prayer offered by one of them I heartily
echo an Amen, and can only wish that in it all my friends might join,
and that God would answer it in granting me power to do the work in
such a way as to bring great good to the race and reflect some glory to
Himself, in whose name the work is undertaken.
CHAPTER I.
SKETCH OF SOCIAL HISTORY.
The Importation of the Africans--Character of the Colored Population