History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest. Page: 53 of 232
147 p. : front., plates, ports. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this book.
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5I
known out on the frontier, I don't remember ever having
seen it mentioned back here that an American Indian has
a deadly fear of an American Negro. The most utterly
reckless, dare-devil savage of the copper hue stands literally
in awe of a Negro, and the blacker the Negro the more
the Indian quails. I can't understand why this should be,
for the Indians decline to give their reasons for fearing the
black men but the fact remains that even a very bad Indian
will give the mildest-mannered Negro imaginable all
the room he wants, and to spare, as any old regular army
soldier who has frontiered will tell you. The Indians, I
fancy, attribute uncanny and eerie qualities to the blacks.
" The cavalry troop to which I belonged soldiered alongside
a couple of troops of the 9th Cavalry, a black regiment,
up in the Sioux country eight or nine years ago.
We were performing chain guard, hemming-in duty, and it
was our chief business to prevent the savages from straying
from the reservation. We weren't under instructions to
riddle them if they attempted to p ss our guard posts, but
were authorized to tickle them up to any reasonable extent,
short of maiming them, with our bayonets, if any of
them attempted to bluff past us. Well, the men of my
troop had all colors of trouble while on guard in holding
the savages in. The Ogalallas would hardly pay any attention
to the white sentries of the chain guard, and when
they wanted to pass beyond the guard limits they would
invariably pick out a spot for passage that was patrolled by
a white 'post.humper.' But the guards of the two black
troops didn't have a single run-in with the savages. The
Indians made it a point to remain strictly away from the
Negro soldiers' guard posts. Moreover, the black soldiers
got ten times as much obedience from the Indiar s loafing
around the tepees and wickleups as did we of the white
outfit. The Indians would fairly jump to obey the uni-
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History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest. (Book)
Book describing the causes of the Spanish American War, the incident with the Battleship Maine, African Americans in the Navy, African Americans on San Juan Hill, Roosevelt, McKinley, Buffalo Soldiers, African American officers and regiments. General themes include civil rights and prejudice.
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Johnson, Edward A. (Edward Austin), 1860-1944. History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest., book, 1899; Raleigh, North Carolina. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth14388/m1/53/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Other.