The candidates were proud of their martial bearing. Their cleanliness made a favorable impression everywhere they went. Soon after they went to Des Moines some of the café and restaurant owners thought it unwise to serve them, and when a number of the men entered a chop suey “palace,” the Chinese proprietor rushed up to them waving his arms wildly and shouting, “No servee black men; me lose all bliziness.” When some other proprietors showed a disposition to act with similar policy, Colonel George W. Ball of the 1st Iowa Infantry ordered that all men, regardless of color, must be fed, saying, “This is Government business and there can be no refusal to serve these men”; and drastic action was threatened against all restaurant keepers who persisted in drawing the color line. Naturally Utopian conditions did not always prevail at the camp and there were many disappointments. Many an ambitious “rookie” was sent home because of some defect or peculiarity that prevented his making an officer, and even after some had served the allotted time it was found that they were not suitable material. In the process of elimination there were those who thought that they were unjustly marked, and it is true that at Des Moines only five civilian captains were made and that there the outcome was just the reverse of that in the training camps for white men, which was that the men with the superior training most frequently received the higher commissions. Because of the policy followed one colonel said that “A great harm was done not only the colored officer but the colored race as well,” for in many cases the standard for officers was lowered by the commissioning as captains of men with a sixth or eighth grade education and as second lieutenants many college graduates. Through it all, however, there was hope, because the candidates believed in themselves and others believed in them, chief among whom was Secretary Baker, who said in one of the darkest hours, “I am depending on you and the Fort Des Moines colored officers’ training school. It should not be surpassed by any of the other camps which are training officers, and the promotions are not to be limited to lieutenants and captains, but to what you are capable of making.”
As the end of the training period drew near an extra month was added. This action raised doubts, not only in the minds of the candidates but with the colored people throughout the country. It was a trying season everywhere, for the extension of time came close upon the riots at Houston. A general from the War Department came to the camp and spoke in a most discouraging manner of the future of the candidates. He questioned the advisability of continuing the camp and raised doubts as to whether the candidates would ever be commissioned. A few days after his visit it was announced that all who wanted to leave might do so. Some of the more faint-hearted left, but most of the men continued their studies and gained further knowledge of the essentials of warfare. Gradually the clouds cleared away and those who remained looked forward to the time when they would be real officers in the Army of the United States.
Then came the day of days, October 15, 1917, when 625 colored men were commissioned in the United States Army. As they came forward to receive their commissions they were deeply moved, and even the commanding officer showed visible signs of emotion as he gave to them words of farewell and impressed upon them the seriousness of the task before them. Dr. Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, said to them: “I know you will bear in mind that in a very real sense you and those who serve with you have in your keeping the good name of a proud, expectant, and confident people”; and each man went away with the feeling of responsibility that comes when life is dedicated to a great cause. Thus a new chapter was begun in the history of the Negro on this continent and the first skirmish to prove that Negro men could absorb the training required of officers was won with honors.
After a brief vacation of fifteen days, the new officers reported to the various camps and were assigned to their duties. While they had successfully completed the course of study at Fort Des Moines, the real test of making officers was still before them. This task was made more difficult by the assignments to duty which some of them received. Some were sent to the artillery and engineering corps and given tasks for which they had had no preparation. Having already absorbed army discipline, however, they went about their tasks with the hope of mastering them, though with opinion against them.
The organization of the 92nd Division, composed entirely of Negroes drafted into the National Army, made it necessary to train officers and men in other branches than infantry and cavalry, with which Negroes had formerly served and for which they had been trained. Therefore engineer, artillery, and machine-gun regiments were formed along with the other branches required in the full organization of a division. While divisions were usually trained in one camp, the regiments of the 92nd were distributed in several groups.
The engineers were trained at Camp Sherman. Draftees with a knowledge of the building trades were especially desirable for this branch of service, and volunteers from well known industrial schools entered this regiment. Colored infantry officers from Des Moines, captains and lieutenants, who were without training in engineering, were put in command. After seven months of training prior to their embarkation for France, the captains were sent to infantry outfits, being relieved by white engineer officers. This action on the part of the War Department affected somewhat the morale of the regiment. After nearly three months in France the colored lieutenants were also transferred. There remained, however, five colored officers with the outfit—two tram officers, two physicians, and a dentist. When these also were not retained they and the soldiers felt that there was discrimination. It is true that they were not trained as engineers, but the ultimate trouble would seem rather to lie in withholding engineer training from them while they were in the officers’ training school in Des Moines.
Negro soldiers had long been distinguished in the infantry and cavalry, but they had never been placed in the artillery branch of service. It was said that they could not learn the principles of artillery warfare, and, as for their being officers, it was doubtful if they could measure up to the requirements. Nevertheless at Camp Dix the 349th and 350th artillery regiments were formed with colored men, and officers who had graduated at Des Moines were put in command. Since it had been said that Negro men could not be trained as artillerymen, it is interesting that it should be thought that they could make artillery officers without any training at all. A week before the recruits appeared at the camp, some classes in artillery subjects were held for the officers, and during the training of the regiment the officers were many times taught subjects just the night before they were to teach them to the men, school being held from one to two hours. Even under these conditions a surprisingly efficient organization was developed. After nearly seven months, however, the colored artillery officers were declared inefficient. It was then decided that they would have to go to the artillery school at Fort Sill, Okla. Twenty-four men were sent, these being largely regular army men. Many of the well educated infantry officers from other regiments applied for the artillery work, but it was claimed that they could not be spared from their organizations, and in some cases officers with low rating were sent to Fort Sill against their desires. Is it surprising that many of these failed to pass the entrance examination and that about half of them asked to be returned to Camp Dix after the first week?
While the artillery school at Fort Sill gave the men every chance, after the first two weeks the camp began returning the colored officers to their outfits, until at the end of ten weeks only six remained. These six were given artillery commissions. During their training period they had separate barracks and a separate mess, though the camp commander, Colonel Fleming, demanded that they receive the courtesy due officers.
Soon after these graduates returned to Camp Dix, all the colored officers were ordered to Camp Meade to attend an artillery school. On their arrival at Meade, orders were issued that they put on enlisted men’s clothes. The impression among the white officers of the 351st Artillery, said to be due to verbal orders, was that senior colored officers would first salute junior white officers and that, as far as white officers were concerned, the colored officers were considered officer candidates. They could wear their uniforms on Sunday, if passes were given them to leave the camp. The War Department was notified of conditions in the school and in four days the men were again returned to their outfit just before it sailed for France.