Sidelights on Negro Soldiers

by Charles H. Williams

The late Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, said that two hundred thousand men out of the first two million composing the American army could neither write to their mothers and fathers nor read the letters written to them. Just how many Negro soldiers were illiterate will probably never be known, but it is certain that tens of thousands of them could not read or write. The percentage of illiteracy was highest in the non-combatant units, where education was not primarily essential and where the first requirement was that the men be physically fit to do the heavy work necessary. In such organizations it was not unusual to find that 75 per cent of the men were illiterate. At one time when an order was given a company that all men who could neither read nor write should step forward, practically the whole company advanced. In a machine-gun group of 167 men there were 127 illiterates; in a class of seventeen of these men four had never heard of Abraham Lincoln, seven had never heard of Booker T. Washington, and none had ever heard of Frederick Douglass. Many soldiers had never heard of Germany, Servia, France, or Russia, or of kaisers and czars. Hundreds, born and raised in the states from which they were called, did not know what city was their state capital. Birthdays were given to many, and sometimes even names were furnished. Thousands were away from the old plantations for the first time; until called to register, some did not know that the Great War was raging.

In striking contrast to these men was another group, those whom education and experience had fitted for the great undertaking. These were graduates from representative institutions, they were trained in the various crafts, arts, and professions, and were neat in appearance, responsive, and fired with enthusiasm. Great numbers of those of whom we have been speaking, however, had never attended school a day in their lives. Naturally they had little or no knowledge of the laws of health. They did not always understand that clothes were to be changed at bedtime and sometimes punishment had to be meted out for failure to take the required number of baths per week. Guards frequently were on duty at night to see that barrack windows were not closed in the effort to keep out the treacherous night air.

The barracks at the different camps to which these men were sent were usually comfortably built. This was especially true in the national army cantonments, where they were satisfactorily heated, lighted, and ventilated, with spacious mess halls, sanitary latrines, and adequate bathing facilities. Such provisions was not always found where tents had to be used, though the situation was improved when the tents were boxed and floored and had stoves and electric lights. It is regrettable that in the army, when there was a supply of old tents to be used, the Negro soldiers were generally the recipients. When camps were crowded and units had to be moved to less desirable quarters, most frequently it was the Negro units that were moved. In rainy seasons they suffered from exposure, and influenza made great inroads among them.

The task of supplying the men with clothes was a stupendous one. Even honest attempts to get clothing for any group of men did not always meet with success, and for the Negro soldiers it was at times exceedingly difficult to secure what was necessary. When there was a shortage they were the ones to suffer. In Camp McClellan, Anniston, Ala., late in November they were found wearing little besides a fatigue suit because winter underwear, “O. D.” suits, overcoats, and shoes had not yet arrived. When there were second hand, unmatched khaki suits and second hand hats, these passed to the Negroes. On one occasion at Camp Sevier, Greenville, S. C., such clothing arrived in boxes marked for the “current colored draft.” At Camp Hill, Newport News, Va., where there were several thousand of the suits referred to as the “old Civil War blue,” it was decided that the Negro soldiers should wear them. When one of the organizations thus clad marched through the camp it became the laughing-stock of the rest of the soldiers and the men were humiliated. In Camp Humphrey, Va., through which 40,000 Negro soldiers passed, not until after the Armistice and until the white soldiers were discharged did the Negro men have such conveniences as barracks, comfortable mess halls, and sanitary facilities; and their “Y” tent was especially leaky. Such conditions in different places easily gave the Negro people the impression that their sons were being mistreated and were suffering in the camps, and this accounted for considerable unrest. In spite of the occasional lack of clothing, however, and poorly prepared food, those soldiers who survived the test were discharged from the army more fit physically than when they entered it, and thus the manhood of the country was made stronger and better.

The modern American cantonments required the labor of hundreds of soldiers to keep them up to the requirements set by the inspectors. Negro soldiers who were stationed in all the camps did their full share of this work, and their special achievement is described in our chapter on the Stevedore. The ambition of every man in camp, however, was to be a real soldier, one who took up his knapsack and marched off to battle. “I don’t want to stagger under heavy boxes,” said one stevedore, “I want a gun on my shoulder and the opportunity to go to the front.” Nearly three-fourths of all the Negro soldiers, however, were in non-combatant units. In these units very little military training was given. “Our drilling,” said one soldier, “consisted in marching to and from work with hoes, shovels, and picks on our shoulders.” In some of the more liberal camps the men got from thirty minutes to one hour of drill without guns after the day’s work. Where there was an absence of genuine military training there was always a lack of soldierly spirit on the part of both officers and men. Where there was conscientious effort to train and instruct the men in military science, however, there was enthusiasm for the work.

The Negro is able to adjust himself to the life of a soldier with comparative ease. His happy disposition and responsiveness to sincere, efficient leadership, his regard for discipline and love for his uniform, his sense of rhythm and his physical courage, are distinct military assets. The fact that many officers preferred to command Negro troops was a splendid tribute to their ability. In one camp where there were eight commands with Negro soldiers, one hundred and fourteen officers applied for the posts. With the exception of the 92nd and 93rd Divisions, Negro soldiers were almost entirely commanded by white officers. In combatant units, and even in non-combatant units where some military training was given, there were few complaints and the officers were proud of their men.

In non-combatant organizations, on the other hand, some of the commanding officers were disappointed because they had not been placed with fighting units. They felt detached and humiliated. While as the usual thing the corporals were colored, the sergeants were generally white men. Only in rare cases were the non-commissioned officers all white or all colored. Several reasons were given for placing white sergeants in these units. It was said that most of the Negroes forming such organizations had little or no knowledge of military tactics and that experienced white men were needed to organize them; moreover, that white officers could get more work out of labor units than could Negro “non-coms.” It was felt that these men, having come in contact with Negroes on plantations, public works, and turpentine farms, would be especially competent to handle them. Unfortunately these officers were often ignorant and when provoked would curse the men and call them abusive names. In rare cases they even went so far as to strike the men. There were also some examples of colored sergeants who belonged to the “treat ’em rough” group. On the other hand, there was a class of white non-commissioned officers from the Western and Northern states who, claiming no previous acquaintance with the Negro, managed by considerate handling to have excellent morale in their organizations.

There were various rules in the camps concerning the issuing of passes. In a few camps Negroes were not required to get passes in order to leave, provided they returned by a certain hour at night. Most frequently, however, passes were issued, though with less frequency than to white soldiers. Sometimes the Negroes were denied the privilege of visiting the cantonment cities for fear that trouble might arise. One very effective means of restriction was the establishing of a state of quarantine.

Much was said during the war about throwing the arm of protection about the soldier lest evil should befall him. The Government desired him to return to his home a cleaner and a better man. In states where there were no prohibition laws the Government prohibited saloons within a radius of twenty-five miles from a camp. Federal and city officials worked to carry out the letter of the law, but their task was exceedingly difficult. While no open saloons existed in cantonment cities, there was evidence of almost free access to some kind of intoxicating liquor. Bootleggers sold their wares for from six to sixteen dollars a quart, and numerous resorts were close at hand. Fortunately, while there were cases in which individual soldiers were arrested for drunkenness, the vigilance of the authorities prevented the problem from becoming serious in cantonment cities.

In the army it was not generally felt that gambling or swearing affected the fighting ability of the soldier. As a result of this attitude little was done to influence the men in regard to these evils. Officers occasionally prohibited gambling in their commands, but generally it flourished. Y. M. C. A. secretaries sometimes called the sergeants together and instituted campaigns against gambling, and these did some good, but as long as camp officials were tolerant, little could be accomplished. “Shooting craps” was a popular form of recreation, and some officers encouraged this as long as it was played in the open. Great crowds of men would gather in camp streets or barracks and “roll” their last dime away. With other things affecting the moral welfare of the men we shall deal in a later chapter.