History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest by Edward A. Johnson
page 65 of 162 (40%)
page 65 of 162 (40%)
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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. |
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