T. G. Steward - The Colored Regulars in the United States Army

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Arriving at Montauk[21] early the author had the opportunity to see
the whole of the Fifth Army Corps disembark on its return from Cuba,
and was so impressed with its forlorn appearance that he then wrote of
it as coming home on stretchers. Pale, emaciated, weak and halting,
they came, with 3,252 sick, and reporting 87 deaths on the voyage.
But, as General Wheeler said in his report, "the great bulk of the
troops that were at Santiago were by no means well." Never before had
the people seen an army of stalwart men so suddenly transformed into
an army of invalids. And yet while all the regiments arriving showed
the effects of the hardships they had endured, the black regulars,
excepting the Twenty-fourth Infantry, appeared to have slightly the
advantage. The arrival of the Tenth Cavalry in "good condition" was an
early cheering item in the stream of suffering and debility landing
from the transports. Seeing all of the troops land and remaining at
Camp Wikoff until its days were nearly numbered, the writer feels sure
that the colored troops arrived from the front in as good condition as
the best, and that they recuperated with marked comparative rapidity.

The chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, while en route to join his
regiment at Montauk, thinking seriously over the condition of the men
returning from such a hard experience, concluded that nothing would be
more grateful to them than a reasonable supply of ripe fruit, fresh
from the orchards and fields. He therefore sent a dispatch to the
Daily Evening News, published in Bridgeton, N.J., asking the citizens
of that community to contribute a carload of melons and fruits for the
men of the Twenty-fifth, or for the whole camp, if they so wished.
Subsequently mentioning the fact to the commanding officer of the
regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Daggett, he heartily commended the idea,
believing that the fruit would be very beneficial. The good people of
Bridgeton took hold of the matter heartily, and in a short time
forwarded to the regiment more than four hundred of Jersey's finest
watermelons, fresh from the vines. These were distributed judiciously
and the health of the men began to improve forthwith. Soon five
hundred more arrived, sent by a patriotic citizen of Philadelphia.
These were also distributed. Ladies of Brooklyn forwarded peaches and
vegetables, and supplies of all sorts now were coming in abundance.
Our men improved so rapidly as to be the occasion of remark by
correspondents of the press. They were spoken of as being apparently
in good condition. While engaged in the work of supplying their
physical wants the chaplain was taken to task by a correspondent of
Leslie's for being too much concerned in getting a carload of
watermelons for his regiment, to go over to a graveyard and pray over
the dead. The next day the chaplain made haste to go over to that
particular graveyard to relieve the country from the crying shame that
the correspondent had pointed out, only to find two men already there
armed with prayer-books and one of them especially so fearful that he
would not get a chance to read a prayer over a dead soldier, that the
chaplain found it necessary to assure him that the opportunity to pray
should not be taken from him; and thus another popular horror was
found to be without reality.

The colored ladies of Brooklyn organized a Soldiers' Aid Society, and
besides contributing in a general way, as already mentioned, also made
and presented to the soldiers about four hundred home-made pies, which
were most highly appreciated. They also prepared a tasty souvenir
commemorative of the heroic work performed by the troops in Cuba, and
expressive of high appreciation of the gallantry of the colored
regiments. A beautiful stand of colors was also procured for the
Twenty-fourth Infantry, which were subsequently presented to the
regiment with appropriate ceremonies.

At the camp were three colored chaplains and one colored surgeon,
serving with the Regular Army, and their presence was of great value
in the way of accustoming the people at large to beholding colored men
as commissioned officers. To none were more attention shown than to
these colored men, and there was apparently no desire to infringe upon
their rights. Occasionally a very petty social movement might be made
by an insignificant, with a view of humiliating a Negro chaplain, but
such efforts usually died without harm to those aimed at and
apparently without special comfort to those who engineered them.

The following paragraphs, written while in camp at the time indicated
in them, may serve a good purpose by their insertion here, showing as
they do the reflections of the writer as well as in outlining the more
important facts associated with that remarkable encampment:

* * * * *

CAMP WIKOFF AND ITS LESSONS.

Now that the days of this camp are drawing to a close it is profitable
to recall its unique history and gather up some of the lessons it has
taught us. Despite all the sensationalism, investigations, testings,
experimentation, and general condemnation, the camp at Montauk
accomplished what was intended, and was itself a humane and patriotic
establishment. It is not for me to say whether a better site might not
have been selected, or whether the camp might not have been better
managed. I will take it for granted that improvement might have been
made in both respects, but our concern is rather with what was, than
with what "might have been."

To appreciate Camp Wikoff we must consider two things specially;
first, its purpose, and secondly, the short time allowed to prepare
it; and then go over the whole subject and properly estimate its
extent and the amount of labor involved.

The intention of the camp was to afford a place where our troops,
returning from Cuba, prostrated with climatic fever, and probably
infected with yellow fever, might receive proper medical treatment and
care, until the diseases were subdued. The site was selected with this
in view, and the conditions were admirably suited to such a purpose.
Completely isolated, on dry soil, with dry pure air, cool climate,
away from mosquitoes, the camp seemed all that was desired for a great
field hospital.

Here the sick could come and receive the best that nature had to
bestow in the way of respite from the heat, and pure ocean breezes,
and, taken altogether, the experiences of August and a good part of
September, have justified the selection of Montauk. While prostrations
were occurring elsewhere, the camp was cool and delightful most of the
time.

As to the preparations, it must be remembered that the recall of the
whole Army of Invasion from Cuba was made in response to a popular
demand, and as a measure of humanity. Bring the army home! was the
call, and, Bring it at once!

[Illustration]

Such urgency naturally leaps ahead of minor preparations. The soldiers
wanted to come; the people wanted them to come; hence the crowding of
transports and the lack of comforts on the voyages; hence the lack of
hospital accommodations when the troops began to arrive. Haste almost
always brings about such things; but sometimes haste is imperative.
This was the case in getting the army out of Cuba and into Camp at
Montauk in August, '98. Haste was pushed to that point when omissions
had to occur, and inconvenience and suffering resulted.

We must also remember the condition of the men who came to Montauk.
About 4,000 were reported as sick before they left Cuba; but, roughly
speaking, there were 10,000 sick men landing in Montauk. Those who
were classed as well were, with rare exceptions, both mentally and
physically incapable of high effort. It was an invalid army, with
nearly one-half of its number seriously sick and suffering.

Ten thousand sick soldiers were never on our hands before, and the
mighty problem was not realized until the transports began to emit
their streams of weakness and walking death at Montauk. The
preparation was altogether inadequate for such a mass of misery, and
for a time all appeared confusion.

Then came severe, cruel, merciless criticisms; deserved in some cases
no doubt, but certainly not everywhere. The faults, gaps, failures,
were everywhere to be seen, and it was easy to see and to say what
ought to have been done. But the situation at Camp Wikoff from August
15th to Sep. 15th needed more than censure; it needed help. The men
who were working for the Government in both the medical and commissary
departments needed assistance; the former in the way of nurses, and
the latter in the way of appropriate food. The censure and exposure
indulged in by the press may have contributed to direct the attention
of the benevolently disposed to the conditions in the camp.

Then came the era of ample help; from Massachusetts; from New York, in
a word, from all over the country. The Merchants' Relief Association
poured in its thousands of dollars worth of supplies, bringing them to
the camp and distributing them generously and wisely. The Women's
Patriotic Relief, the Women's War Relief, the International
Brotherhood League, and the powerful Red Cross Society, all poured in
food and comforts for the sick thousands. Besides these great
organizations there were also the spontaneous offerings of the people,
many of them generously distributed by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle's
active representatives. The tent of that journal was an excellent
way-mark and a veritable house of the good shepherd for many a lost
wanderer, as well as a place of comfort, cheer and rest. The work done
was very valuable and highly appreciated.

To the medical department came the trained hand of the female nurse.
No one who saw these calm-faced, white-hooded sisters, or the cheery
cheeked, white capped nurses from the schools, could fail to see that
they were in the right place. The sick soldier's lot was brightened
greatly when the gentle female nurse came to his cot. Woman can never
be robbed of her right to nurse. This is one of the lessons taught by
the Hispano-American War.

This vast army has been handled. No yellow fever has been spread. The
general health has been restored. The disabled are mostly housed in
hospitals, and many of them are on the road to recovery. Some have
died; some are on furlough, and many have gone to their homes.

The regulars are repairing to their stations quite invigorated, and
greatly helped in many ways by the kind treatment they have received.
Camp Wikoff was not a failure; but a great and successful object
lesson, as well as a great summer school in nationalism. Here black,
white and Indian soldiers fraternized; here Northerners and
Southerners served under the same orders. Ten thousand soldiers and as
many civilians daily attended the best school of its kind ever held in
this country, striving to take home to their hearts the lessons that
God is teaching the nations.

The Rev. Sylvester Malone thus sums up the message of the war to us in
his letter to the committee to welcome Brooklyn's soldiers:

"This short war has done so much for America at home and
abroad that we must take every soldier to our warmest
affection and send him back to peaceful pursuits on the
conviction that there is nothing higher in our American life
than to have the privilege to cheer and gladden the marine
and the soldier that have left to America her brightest and
best page of a great history. This past war must kindle in
our souls a love of all the brethren, black as well as
white, Catholic as well as Protestant, having but one
language, one nationality, and it is to be hoped, yet one
religion."

These are true words, as full of patriotism as they are of fraternity,
and these are the two special lessons taught at Montauk--a broad,
earnest, practical fraternity, and a love of country before which the
petty prejudices of race and section were compelled to yield ground.

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION IN CAMP WIKOFF.

The Young Men's Christian Association has done an excellent work in
Camp Wikoff. Their tents have afforded facilities for profitable
amusements, in the way of quiet games, thus bringing out the use of
these games distinct from their abuse--gambling.

Their reading tables have also been well supplied with papers and
magazines, religious and secular, generally very acceptable to the
soldiers, as attested by the numbers that read them. But perhaps best
of all, has been the provision made for the soldiers to write. Tables,
pens, ink, paper and envelopes have been supplied in abundance. These
were of great advantage to soldiers living in tents, and the work of
the Association in this respect cannot be too highly commended.

The specially religious work of the Association as I have seen it,
consists of three divisions: First, the meetings in their tents, held
nightly and on Sundays. These have been vigorously carried on and well
attended, the chaplains of the camp often rendering assistance.
Secondly, I have noticed the Y.M.C.A. men visiting the sick in the
hospitals and camps, giving the word of exhortation and help to the
sick. Perhaps, however, in their work of private conversation with the
well men, they have done as much real service for God as in either of
the other two fields. They have made the acquaintance of many men and
have won the respect of the camp. This I have numbered as the third
division of their work--personal contact with the soldiers of the
camp, at the same time keeping themselves "unspotted from the world."

B.

The 24th Infantry was ordered down to Siboney to do guard
duty. When the regiment reached the yellow-fever hospital it
was found to be in a deplorable condition. Men were dying
there every hour for the lack of proper nursing. Major
Markley, who had commanded the regiment since July 1st, when
Colonel Liscum was wounded, drew his regiment up in line,
and Dr. La Garde, in charge of the hospital, explained the
needs of the suffering, at the same time clearly setting
forth the danger to men who were not immune, of nursing and
attending yellow-fever patients. Major Markley then said
that any man who wished to volunteer to nurse in the
yellow-fever hospital could step forward. The whole regiment
stepped forward. Sixty men were selected from the volunteers
to nurse, and within forty-eight hours forty-two of these
brave fellows were down seriously ill with yellow or
pernicious malarial fever. Again the regiment was drawn up
in line, and again Major Markley said that nurses were
needed, and that any man who wished to do so could
volunteer. After the object lesson which the men had
received in the last few days of the danger from contagion
to which they would be exposed, it was now unnecessary for
Dr. La Garde to again warn the brave blacks of the terrible
contagion. When the request for volunteers to replace those
who had already fallen in the performance of their dangerous
and perfectly optional duty was made again, the regiment
stepped forward as one man. When sent down from the trenches
the regiment consisted of eight companies, averaging about
forty men each. Of the officers and men who remained on duty
the forty days spent in Siboney, only twenty-four escaped
without serious illness, and of this handful not a few
succumbed to fevers on the voyage home and after their
arrival at Montauk.

As a result, thirty-six died and about forty were discharged
from the regiment owing to disabilities resulting from
sickness which began in the yellow-fever hospital.--Bonsal's
Fight for Santiago.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] "After the surrender, dear Chaplain, the real trouble and
difficulties began. Such a period, from July 14, 1898 to August 14,
1898, was never before known to human beings, I hope. The starving
time was nothing to the fever time, where scores died per day. We were
not permitted to starve; but had fever, and had it bad; semi-decayed
beef, both from refrigerators and from cans. We had plenty of fever,
but no clothing until very late; no medicine save a little quinine
which was forced into you all the time, intermittent only with bad
meat."--Extract from a soldier's letter.

[21] While the Twenty-fifth Infantry was in camp at Chickamauga Park I
was ordered to Xenia, Ohio, on recruiting duty, and on July 5. on
seeing the reports of the wounded I asked officially to be ordered to
my regiment. An order to that effect came about a month later,
directing me to join my regiment by way of Tampa, Florida. Arriving in
Tampa, my destination was changed by telegraph to Montauk Point, N.Y.,
whither I arrived a few days before the regiment did.

CHAPTER X.

REVIEW AND REFLECTIONS.

Gallantry of the Black Regulars--Diary of Sergeant-Major
E.L. Baker, Tenth Cavalry.

It is time now to sum up the work of the four regiments whose careers
we have thus far followed, and to examine the grounds upon which the
golden opinions they won in battle and siege are based. We have seen
that in the first fight, that of Las Guasimas, on June 24th, the Tenth
Cavalry, especially Troops I and B, both with their small arms and
with the machine guns belonging to Troop B, did most effective work
against the Spanish right, joining with the First Cavalry in
overcoming that force which was rapidly destroying Roosevelt's Rough
Riders. Nor should it be forgotten that in this first fight, Troop B,
which did its full share, was commanded on the firing line by
Sergeants John Buck and James Thompson. In the squad commanded by
Sergeant Thompson several men of the First Regular Cavalry fought and
it is claimed were highly pleased with him as squad commander.

While this was the first fight of the men of the Tenth Cavalry with
the Spaniards, it was by no means their first experience under fire.
From the time of the organization of the regiment in 1866 up to within
a year of the war, the men had been engaged frequently in conflicts
with Indians and marauders, often having men killed and wounded in
their ranks. The fights were participated in by small numbers, and the
casualties were not numerous, but there were opportunities for the
acquirement of skill and the display of gallantry. Altogether the men
of the regiment during their experience on the plains engaged in
sixty-two battles and skirmishes. This training had transformed the
older men of the regiment into veterans and enabled them to be cool
and efficient in their first fight in Cuba.

Sergeant Buck, upon whom the command of Troop B chiefly fell after
becoming separated from his Lieutenant in the battle at Guasimas,
joined the regiment in 1880, and had already passed through eighteen
years of the kind of service above described. He was at the time of
the Cuban War in the prime of life, a magnificent horseman, an
experienced scout, and a skilled packer. In 1880, when he joined the
regiment, the troops were almost constantly in motion, marching that
one year nearly seventy-seven thousand miles, his own troop covering
twelve hundred and forty-two miles in one month. This troop with four
others made a ride of sixty-five miles in less than twenty-one hours,
arriving at their destination without the loss of a single horse. In
1893 he was mentioned by the commanding officer of Fort Missoula,
Montana, for highly meritorious service, skill and energy displayed
while in charge of pack train of an expedition across the Bitter Root
Mountains, Idaho, during the most inclement weather, in quest of a
party of gentlemen lost. (Letter of commanding officer, Fort Missoula,
Montana, February 12, 1894.) Sergeant Buck has also won the silver
medal for revolver shooting.

Sergeant James Thompson joined the regiment in 1888, and has passed
the ten years in the one troop, and proved himself at Las Guasimas a
soldier worthy his regiment.

The first battle gave the Tenth a reputation in a new field,
corresponding to that which it had gained in the West, and this was
not allowed to fade during its stay in Cuba. The fame of this first
action spread rapidly through the army and inspired the other
regiments of colored men with a desire to distinguish themselves on
this new field of honor, and their readiness to be to the front and to
take prominent part in all service was so marked that opportunity
could not be withheld from them. As the army advanced toward Santiago
these regiments became more and more the mark of observation by
foreign military men who were present, and by the great throng of
correspondents who were the eyes for the people of the civilized
world. And hence, when the lines of assault were finally determined
and the infantry and cavalry of our army deployed for its perilous
attack upon the Spanish fortifications the black regiments were in
their places, conspicuous by their vigor and enthusiasm. In them were
enlisted men whose time of service had expired a few days before, but
who had promptly re-enlisted. In at least two cases were men who
served their full thirty years and could have retired with honor at
the breaking out of the war. They preferred to share the fortunes of
their comrades in arms, and it is a comfort to be able to record that
the two spoken of came home from the fight without a wound and with
health unimpaired. How many others there were in the same case in the
army is not reported, but the supposition is that there were several
such in both the white and colored regiments.

Recalling the scenes of that memorable first of July, 1898, we can see
the Twenty-fifth Infantry advancing steadily on the stone fort at El
Caney at one time entirely alone, meeting the fire of the fort even up
to their last rush forward. Captain Loughborough, who commanded
Company B, of that regiment, and although his company was in the
reserve, was nevertheless under fire, says: "The hardest fighting of
the Twenty-fifth was between two and four o'clock," at which time all
the other troops of the attacking force, except Bates' brigade, were
under cover and remaining stationary, the Twenty-fifth being the only
organization that was advancing. The official reports give the
positions of General Chaffee's brigade during the two hours between
two o'clock and four of that afternoon as follows:

The Seventh was under partial cover and remained in its position
"until about 4.30 p.m." The Seventeenth remained with its left joined
to the right of the Seventh "until the battle was over." The Twelfth
Infantry was in its shelter within 350 yards of the fort "until about
4 p.m." Ludlow's brigade was engaged with the town, hence only Miles'
brigade, consisting of the Fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, was
advancing upon the fort. The Fourth Infantry was soon checked in its
advance, as General Daggett especially notes in his report, and the
Twenty-fifth was thus thrust forward alone, excepting Bates' brigade,
which was making its way up the right.

This conspicuous advance of the Twenty-fifth brought that regiment
into the view of the world, and established for it a brilliant
reputation for skill and courage. Arriving in the very jaws of the
fort the sharpshooters and marksmen of that regiment poured such a
deadly fire into the loopholes of the fort that they actually silenced
it with their rifles. These men with the sternness of iron and the
skill acquired by long and careful training, impressed their
characteristics on the minds of all their beholders. Of the four
hundred men who went on the field that morning very few were recruits,
and many had passed over ten years in the service. When they "took the
battle formation and advanced to the stone fort more like veterans
than troops who had never been under fire," as their commander
reports, they gave to the world a striking exhibition of the effect of
military training. In each breast a spirit of bravery had been
developed and their skill in the use of their arms did not for a
moment forsake them. They advanced against volleys from the fort and
rifle pits in front, and a galling fire from blockhouses, the church
tower and the village on their left. Before a less severe fire than
this, on that very day, a regiment of white volunteers had succumbed
and was lying utterly demoralized by the roadside; before this same
fire the Second Massachusetts Volunteers were forced to retire--in the
face of it the Twenty-fifth advanced steadily to its goal.

Lieutenant Moss, who commanded Company H on the firing line on that
day, has published an account in which he says: "The town was
protected on the north by three blockhouses and the church; on the
west by three blockhouses (and partially by the church); on the east
by the stone fort, one blockhouse, the church, and three rifle pits;
on the south and southeast by the stone fort, three blockhouses, one
loop-holed house, the church and eight rifle pits. However, the Second
Brigade was sent forward against the southeast of the town, thus being
exposed to fire from fourteen sources, nearly all of which were in
different planes, forming so many tiers of fire. The cover on the
south and southeast of the town was no better than, if as good, as
that on the other sides."

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