Colored regiment

“ They will remind us not only of the cause we are fighting for, and of our country, but of the friends we have left behind us, who have thus far taken so much interest in this regiment, and who, we know, will follow us in our career. Though the greater number of men in this regiment are not Massachusetts men, I know there is not one who will not be proud to fight and serve under our flag. May we have an opportunity to show that you have not made a mistake in intrusting the honor of the State to a colored regiment!—the first State that has sent one to the war. ”

“ Our evening parades converted thousands to a belief in colored troops. It was almost a daily experience to hear the remark from visitors, 'Men who can handle their arms as these do, will fight.' General Thomas paid the regiment the compliment of saying that he 'never saw a regiment go through the manual as well as this one.' We remained in 'Camp Whipple' from February, 1864, till August, 1865, a period of eighteen months, and during a large part of that time the regiment was an object lesson to the army, and helped to revolutionize public opinion on the subject of colored soldiers. ”

“ The work was pushed forward with zeal and enthusiasm. The Colored men rallied to the call, and within two weeks from the time the committee called for Colored volunteers 1,000 men responded. By the 27th of January, 1864, a second regiment was full; and thus in forty-five days the Union League Club Committee on the Recruiting of Colored Regiments had raised 2,000 soldiers!
Out of 9,000 men of color, eligible by age—18 to 45 years—to go into the service, 2,300 enlisted in less than sixty days. There was no bounty held out to them as an incentive to enlist ”

“ We feel that special emphasis should be given the 370th Infantry, because it was the only regiment that crossed the sea with a full quota of colored officers; made a splendid record for bravery; received numerous certificates from the French people setting forth their high appreciation for their excellent behavior; received numerous individual citations for conspicuous and meritorious conduct, and returned with a full quota of colored officers with the exception of a colonel, one captain, and one 2nd lieutenant. ”

“ The record of this regiment should forever silence the contention made by so many, that colored men have not the ability to be officers, and that at any rate, colored soldiers will not follow the leadership of officers of their own race. ”

“ More than three hundred colored officers served in the volunteer army in the war with Spain. Two Northern States, Illinois and Kansas, and one Southern State, North Carolina, put each in the field as part of its quota a regiment of colored troops officered throughout by colored men. Ohio and Indiana contributed each a separate battalion of colored soldiers entirely under colored officers. ”

“ When the regiment gathers itself together it is a sight to behold. There are perhaps five hundred men, all told, in two ranks. A part of them rejoice in gayly-colored uniforms, but the majority are "the flood-wood," dressed in sheep's gray and blue jeans and armed with rifles, muskets, and fowling-pieces of every pattern. ”

“ The complete organization of the regiment occupied about two months, being finished by Jan. 1st, 1864. The field, staff and company officers were all white men. All the non-commissioned officers,—Hospital Steward, Quartermaster, Sergeant, Sergeant-Major, Orderlies, Sergeants and Corporals were colored. They proved very efficient, and had the war continued two years longer, many of them would have been competent as commissioned officers.
"When General Paine left Gallatin, I was senior officer and had command of the post and garrison, which included a few white soldiers besides my own troops. ”

“ 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 [pg 283] 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. ”

“ During the battle many instances of unsurpassed bravery were shown by the common soldier, which proved that these heroic men were fighting for the freedom of their race, and the restoration of a Union that should protect man in his liberty without regard to color. No regiment did more towards extinguishing prejudice against the Negro than the patriotic Sixth. ”

“ And as to actual discipline, it is doing no injustice to the line-officers of the regiment to say that none of them received from the men more implicit obedience than Color-Sergeant Rivers. * * * It always seemed to me an insult to those brave men to have novices put over their heads, on the ground of color alone, and the men felt it the more keenly as they remained longer in the service. There were more than seven hundred enlisted men in the regiment, when mustered out after more than three years' service. ”

“ It will seem strange to most of you, almost impossible to many who saw service in other [6] outfits, when I tell you that during my entire service with the Three Hundred and Sixty-fifth Infantry, which I began as a Captain in December, 1917, and ended as a battalion commander when the regiment was broken up at Camp Upton, New York, in March, 1919, not one colored officer under my command was ever placed under arrest, and not one colored officer was ever threatened with an efficiency board. ”

“ They have been elicited by request of numerous friends of the officers of this regiment and of the colored troops, designed for their own use; and their object is not simply to give succinct statements of individual military history, or of any single command of the Colored Troop, but to furnish, also, at the same time, an unanswerable argument on the subject of this Troop, as an element in the military service on the side of Freedom and the Union; their extraordinary good discipline, efficiency and bravery, and the fact that they are very susceptible of intellectual and moral culture. ”

“ While many persons in the North—perhaps strong friends of the Union—are not prepared to endorse the idea of admitting colored regiments into its service, it might be well for us to remember that every effort is being made by the South to make their black population efficient aids in defending their soil against our army. ”

“ This regiment, being the first colored cavalry regiment, had in its ranks a rather better class of men than the infantry regiments had; some being from the North and some being the outlaw negroes who, in slavery times, had been able to maintain their liberty in the swamps of Eastern Virginia and North Carolina. The regiment was officered largely from the 3d N. Y. Cavalry, and they were a thoroughly efficient and capable corps of officers. The regiment was soon filled, mounted and equipped, and constant drill soon made it have the manner and bearing of soldiers. ”

“ Where all did so well, it is impossible, by special mention, to do justice to those who bore conspicuous part. But of certain unusual features mention cannot be omitted, namely, the cavalry dismounted, fighting and storming works as infantry, and a regiment of colored troops, who, having shared equally in the heroism as well as the sacrifices, is now voluntarily engaged in nursing yellow-fever patients and burying the dead. ”

“ In this battle it would be difficult to enumerate particular cases of great bravery, where all seem to vie with each other in the brilliancy and gallantry of their achievements. Colored non-commissioned officers fearlessly took command after their commandants (white commissioned officers) were killed, or borne severely wounded from the field, and led on the attack to the close. As each brave color bearer was shot down, another and another would immediately grasp the National emblem, all riddled with balls, and plant it further on the enemies line. ”

“ It is true the Negro officer is still a volunteer, but his standing is measurably improved, both because of the fact of his recall, and also because the regiments which he is now entering have some prospect of being incorporated into the Regular Army. It does not seem probable that the nation can much longer postpone the increase of the standing army, and in this increase it is to be hoped the American Negro, both as soldier and officer, will receive that full measure of justice of which the formation of the present two colored regiments is so conspicuous a part. ”

“ Similarly fault has been found with Secretary Root because no new colored regiments were established under the law of February 2, 1901, increasing the army by five regiments of infantry, five of cavalry, and a large number of companies of artillery. The excuse most often heard is that the negroes already have sufficient representation in comparison with the percentage of negroes to white persons within the borders of the United States. ”

“ He was assigned to the duty of organizing and commanding the first regiment of colored troops in 1862, but the government was not then ready to use colored troops. He was promoted to colonel in 1862, and in September, 1863, reported to Gen. ”

“ The old soldier rallied to the colours as a matter of habit in the confusion of battle, and the capture or the loss of a colour has always been considered a special event, glorious or the reverse, in the history of a regiment, the importance of this being chiefly sentimental, but having as a very real background the fact that, if its colour was lost, a regiment was to all intents and purposes dissolved and dispersed. ”

“ The [9] colours are usually intrusted to one or two subalterns and several sergeants, who form a sort of guard of honour over them, and are held responsible for their safety. When they are in danger the bravest men in the regiment rally round them, and it is held unworthy not to follow them wherever they are seen. They are the same to our soldiers as the white plume of Henry of Navarre was to his men, or the bronze eagles to Rome’s Tenth Legion. Knowing this, officers have sometimes thrown the colours into the very midst of the enemy, sure that their men would die rather than lose them. ”

“ The conception of the colour as the emblem of union, the rallying-point, of the regiment has been mentioned above. Many hold that such a rallying-point is more than ever required in the modern guerre de masses, when a national short-service army is collected in all possible strength on the decisive battle-field, and that scarcely any risks or loss of life would be disproportionate to the advantages gained by the presence of the colours. There is further a most important factor in the problem, which has only arisen in recent years through modern perfection in armament. ”

“ THE COLOURS OF THE FOOT GUARDS Tradition has perhaps a stronger hold in the Foot Guards than in any of the Infantry units dealt with in the chapter which follows. Accordingly, the reader must not be surprised to find that most of the general rules which affect the colours of the line regiments do not apply to the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards. We have already mentioned that the King’s colour, as a rule, consists of a Union Jack, whilst the regimental colour is a flag bearing the devices and honours of the regiment to which it belongs. ”

“ Down the long dusky line Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine; And the bright bayonet, Bristling and firmly set, [133] Flashed with a purpose grand, Long ere the sharp command Of the fierce rolling drum Told them their time had come, Told them what work was sent For the black regiment.
“Now,” the flag-sergeant cried, “Though death and hell betide, Let the whole nation see If we are fit to be Free in this land; or bound Down, like the whining hound,— Bound with red stripes of pain In our cold chains again!” Oh, what a shout there went From the black regiment! ”

“ We see very few white men. Most of them have doubtless gone into the rebel army. Now and then a planter standing on the bank gazes at us sullenly as we pass. It seemed evident that they were not over-pleased to see us. Our only welcome was from the negroes. Their shouts from the levee, accompanied by laughter and frantic gesticulations, bespoke their joy. One white man, bolder than his fellows, shouted the inquiry: “What regiment is that?” ”

“ Each battalion of an infantry regiment has its own colour, which is carried by a non-commissioned officer, and guarded as usual by a colour party. The colour is fastened to the stave by silver nails, and the ceremony of driving the first nail into the stake of a new colour is one of great solemnity. ”

“ I believe I have not yet enumerated the probable drawbacks to the success of this regiment, if any. We are exposed to no direct annoyance from the white regiments, being out of their way; and we have as yet no discomforts or privations which we do not share with them. I do not as yet see the slightest obstacle, in the nature of the blacks, to making them good soldiers,—but rather the contrary. They take readily to drill, and do not object to discipline; they are not especially dull or inattentive; they seem fully to understand the importance of the contest, and of their share in it. ”