Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young

Black Offi cer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment The Military Career of Charles Young

br i a n g. shellum

University of Nebraska Press Lincoln & London

© 2010 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America ∞ Library of Congress Catalogingin-Publication Data Shellum, Brian. Black officer in a Buffalo Soldier regiment : the military career of Charles Young / Brian G. Shellum. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8032-1385-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Young, Charles, 1864–1922. 2. African American soldiers—Biography. 3. United States. Army—Officers—Biography. 4. United States. Army—African American troops. I. Title. e185.97.y63s54 2010 355'.0092—dc22 [B] 2009035368 Set in Swift EF by Kim Essman.

For my father Lieutenant Colonel Alford C. Shellum, U.S. Army 1916–2005 An Old Soldier

Contents

List of Illustrations viii Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Chronology xix 1: Awaiting Orders 1 2: First Posting to Fort Robinson 9 3: New Start at Fort Duchesne 31 4: Military Instructor at Wilberforce 48 5: Volunteer Officer in the Spanish-American War 70 6: Return to Fort Duchesne 93 7: Fighting Guerillas in the Philippines 115 8: Troop Commander in San Francisco and Sequoia 136 9: Military Attaché in Hispaniola 159 10: Garrison Duty in the Philippines and Wyoming 182 11: Military Assistance Mission in Liberia 204 12: Chasing Villa in Mexico 229 13: Retirement to Ohio 246 14: Final Post in Liberia 263 Epilogue: Coming Home 280 Notes 289 Bibliography 339 Index 353

Illustrations

Following page 8 1. 2nd Lt. Charles Young 2. Ninth Cavalry, 1890s 3. Fort Robinson, Nebraska, 1892 4. Officers’ quarters, Fort Robinson Following page 46 5. Fort Duchesne, Utah, 1886 6. Officers’ quarters, Fort Duchesne 7. Post saloon, Fort Duchesne 8. Young’s Map of Fort Duchesne 9. Young with Beta Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Wilberforce University 10. Young with student military detachment, Wilberforce University Following page 134 11. Captain Young with I Troop, Ninth Cavalry 12. Captain Young, Sequoia National Park, 1903 13. Captain Young, Sequoia National Park, 1903 14. Captain Young, San Francisco, 1903 15. Ada Young, San Francisco, 1903 16. Young’s map of Haiti

Following page 202 17. Captain Young, Fort D. A. Russell 18. Officers’ quarters, Fort D. A. Russell, 1910 19. Ninth Cavalry baseball team, 1912 20. Ninth Cavalry, Wyoming State Fair, 1910 21. Ninth Cavalry, target practice, 1910 22. Ninth Cavalry Band, 1911 Following page 228 23. American Legation, Monrovia 24. Major Young’s office, 1913 25. Liberian Frontier Force, 1914 26. Liberian Frontier Force, rifle practice, 1914 27. Young’s map of Brown relief mission, 1912 Following page 244 28. Lieutenant Colonel Young, Mexico, 1916 29. Young with a white soldier, Mexico, 1916 30. Colonel Young, Camp Grant, 1919 31. Colonel Young, 1919 Following page 278 32. Rifle salute, Young’s burial, 1923 33. Funeral procession, Washington dc, 1923 34. Young’s casket, Washington dc, 1923 35. Third Infantry Honor Guard, Arlington Cemetery, 1923 36. Funeral service, Arlington Cemetery, 1923

Preface

Charles Young is an unheralded military hero, whose rich life story, from 1864 to 1922, is virtually unknown to most Americans, African Americans included. Consider his extraordinary honors: third black graduate of West Point, first African American superintendent of one of our national parks, first black U.S. military attaché, first African American officer to command a Regular Army regiment, and highest-ranking black officer in the Regular Army until his death in 1922. Unlike the first two black academy graduates before him, Young went on to a long and distinguished military career and achieved the rank of colonel. For nearly thirty years he was the standard-bearer for his race in the officer corps. Only serious medical problems discovered on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War I—and racial prejudice—prevented him from becoming the first African American general. Why have we overlooked this trail-blazing American? In my research about Charles Young, I discovered two reasons. The first is a lack of primary resources about the man. The second reason, which also explains the scarcity of research about the soldier and diplomat, is that Charles Young was black, isolated in a world where prejudice reigned and white people had power. It is my hope that further in-depth research about Charles Young will give him the prominent place in history he deserves. In my first book, entitled Black Cadet in a White Bastion: Charles

xii preface

Young at West Point, published in 2006, I uncovered a great deal of information about his experiences at the academy, how he was treated by his classmates and instructors, and the way he responded. I also discovered the difficulty of tracing the life of a man who was usually invisible to his classmates. Young faced the enormous challenges of West Point with equal portions of determination, courage, and hard work. This earned him his diploma and the respect of some, but not all, of his classmates. While my first book about Young takes the reader to his commencement at West Point and army commissioning, this volume describes his experiences as an army officer in the three decades after his graduation in 1889. Documenting Young’s performance and accomplishments in the army is fairly straightforward, since his individual and unit records are available in the archives. It is much more difficult to uncover details of how he was treated, how he reacted, and what his fellow officers thought of him. As far as we know, Young never wrote a detailed account of his years as a Buffalo Soldier, so we are left with only general comments from his letters and papers. Likewise, few of his fellow officers described how they viewed Young. Indeed, he remained largely invisible to many of his officer colleagues because of his race. Still, using primary and secondary sources, I’ve gathered sufficient information to provide a detailed examination of Young’s military experiences as a black officer in the U.S. Army. We know enough about Charles Young to confirm that he was an important African American in his time. If not for Charles Young, we may not have had Benjamin Davis Sr. as the first African American general; his son, Benjamin Davis Jr., as the first black four-star general; or Colin Powell, as the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

preface xiii

The experience of this point man for his race in the military makes for a fascinating success story and offers a sobering reminder of the effects of racial intolerance in our history. The first African American to graduate from West Point, Henry O. Flipper, United States Military Academy class of 1877, wrote a compelling autobiography of his cadet life in 1878. John H. Alexander, the second black graduate, died seven years after graduating in 1887 and left a scant record of his passage. Young graduated in 1889, the last African American graduate for nearly fifty years, yet his life remains largely a mystery. The reader will discern a number of recurring themes or threads throughout this book. During his army career, a period firmly placed in the era of Jim Crow, Young lived socially isolated within an officer corps uneasy with an African American in its ranks. In spite of this, Charles Young used his natural gifts to persevere, succeed, and prosper. The army deliberately shuffled Young between the few assignments “suitable” for a black officer in a white man’s army: the Buffalo Soldier regiments, an African American college, and diplomatic posts in black republics. Fortunately for Young, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries were among the best in the Regular Army, and the postings outside his regiments challenged and pleased him. Using the experience gained from these varied assignments, Young established himself as an exceptional cavalry officer with a strong record and important mentors. It is my hope that Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment will further the process of rescuing Charles Young from his historical obscurity and restore the prestige and recognition he enjoyed at the time of his death in 1922. He deserves our understanding and merits a place in America’s pantheon of acknowledged military leaders.

Acknowledgments

I owe the lion’s share of gratitude to my wife, Paula, for offering me the time and encouragement to complete Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment, my second book on Young. She has been my chief advocate and an avid supporter along the way. As always, I thank my daughter, Kara, and my son, Greg, for inspiring and encouraging me as only children can. In addition to the National Archives, four organizations or groups provided the majority of the research materials for this book. Floyd Thomas and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio, have been a rich source of original research materials and advice. Floyd Thomas was the first person I contacted in 1996 when I began my research on Young, and I have been back to consult with him many times since. The most important original source documents and photos on Charles Young came from the Coleman Collection. I cannot thank Jill and Malina Coleman enough for giving so freely of their time and hospitality. Suzanne Christoff and her staff generously helped me navigate the West Point Library Special Collections. I am also grateful to Michael Heinl for allowing me access to the papers of his mother, Nancy Gordon Heinl. I was fortunate to have a group of dedicated readers who worked over my various drafts. I have already mentioned Floyd Thomas, who reviewed all of my drafts and with whom I spent many hours on the phone going over chapters line by line. My

xvi acknowledgments

sister, Rolynn Anderson, a former English teacher, probably spent more time and evaluated more drafts than anyone else and recommended ways to improve my structure and organization. Tom Phillips, coauthor of The Black Regulars, offered invaluable insight into the lives of blacks in the military and reviewed the chapters of the first half of my book. Tom Buecker, author and historian at Fort Robinson, gave me a tour of the post and reviewed my chapter on Young’s first duty assignment. Brian Linn, author of two books on the Philippine War, took time on short notice to examine my chapter on Young’s experiences in that conflict. Ward Eldredge, historian at Sequoia National Park, provided critical information and reviewed the chapter on Young’s summer in Sequoia. John Prout, an authority on military intelligence, commented on the chapters concerning Young’s military attaché assignments. And finally, Mark Benbow, resident historian at the Woodrow Wilson House, assessed my chapter on Young in Mexico. Two important works guided my early investigations into the life of Charles Young. Robert E. Greene wrote a master’s thesis on Young and later expanded and published the work himself in 1985. Titled Colonel Charles Young: Soldier and Diplomat, it remains an essential resource on Young’s life. David P. Kilroy published For Race and Country: The Life and Career of Colonel Charles Young in 2003. Kilroy provides an excellent overview of Young’s life, but does not cover his military career in the detail it deserves. I would like to thank the following organizations for their support: the Ninth and Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Association, West Point Association of Graduates, Ohio Historical Society, Ripley Museum, Huntington Library, Moreland-Spingarn Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society, Utah State Historical Society, Wyoming State Archives, and Uintah County Library Regional

acknowledgments xvii

History Center. Other individuals who assisted and encouraged me along the way include Lloyd Alston, Keith Bonney, Andrew Boyd, Vincent Brooks, Edward Coffman, Mary Collins, Theodore Crackel, Clarence Davenport, Lynn David, Cheryl Dawson, Heidi Dickens, Don Doty, Geoff Drucker, Grady Dunn, Joe Fitzharris, John Gatewood, Jim Genovese, Alison Gibson, Martin Gordon, Sanford Holman, Shelton Johnson, Axel Krigsman, Roy McCullough, Dave McSween, Montgomery Meigs, Bill Montgomery, Neely Moody, John Motley, George Palmer, Robert and Sue Parker, Dorothy Pool, Antony Powell, Jim Rawlings, David Rawlings, Jim Robbins, Dennis Russell, Bob Schneller, Charles Singleton, Susan Shumaker, Richard Shuster, Scott Stephenson, Phillip Tucker, Curtis Utz, Guy Washington, Karen Winn, and my mother, Harriet Shellum.

Chronology

1864

Born in Mayslick, Mason County, Kentucky

1865

Moved to Brown County, Ohio

1870

Living in Huntington Township, Ohio

1880

Living in Ripley, Ohio

1881

Graduated from high school in Ripley, Ohio

1881–84

Taught school in Ripley, Ohio

1883

Took West Point exam in Hillsboro, Ohio (April)

1884

Nominated to West Point (April 29)

1884

Accepted nomination to West Point (May 10)

1884

Passed medical and entrance exams (June 14)

1884

Entered West Point, class of 1888 (June 15)

1885

Found deficient in mathematics (June)

1885

Readmitted with the class of 1889 (June)

1889

Found deficient in military engineering (June)

1889

Tutored in engineering (June–August)

1889

Graduated from West Point (August 31)

(March 12)

1889

Commissioned second lieutenant, Tenth Cavalry (September 14)

1889

Reassigned to Twenty-fifth Infantry (October 4)

1889

Reassigned to the Ninth Cavalry (October 31)

1889–90

Served at Fort Robinson, Nebraska

1890–94

Served at Fort Duchesne, Utah

xx chronology

1894–98

Professor at Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio 1896 Transferred (on paper) to Seventh Cavalry (December 22) 1896 Promoted to first lieutenant, Seventh Cavalry (December 22) 1897 Transferred to Ninth Cavalry (October 1) 1898 Appointed major, Volunteers, Ohio National Guard (May 14) 1898–99 Commanded Ninth Battalion, Ohio National Guard 1899 Mustered out of Ohio National Guard (January 29) 1899–1901 Served at Fort Duchesne, Utah 1901 Promoted to captain, Ninth Cavalry (February 2) 1901–2 Served in the Philippine Islands 1902–3 Served at Presidio, San Francisco, California 1903 Superintendent of Sequoia National Park (May–November) 1904 Married Ada Mills in Oakland, California (February 18) 1904–7 Military attaché in Hispaniola 1906 Son, Charles Noel, born in Ohio (December 25) 1907–8 Temporary duty in Washington dc 1908–9 Served at Camp McGrath, Philippine Islands 1909 Daughter, Marie Aurelia, born in Philippines (March 26) 1909–11 Served at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming 1912–15 Military attaché in Monrovia, Liberia 1912 Promoted to major, Ninth Cavalry (August 28) 1913 Sick leave in the United States (June–August) 1915 Reassigned to Tenth Cavalry (October 15) 1916 Awarded the Spingarn Medal (February 22)

chronology xxi

1916–17 1916 1916 1916 1917 1917 1918 1919 1920–22 1922 1922 1923

Duty in Mexico with the Punitive Expedition Promoted to lieutenant colonel, Regular Army (July 1) Temporary command of Tenth Cavalry (August 1–9) Temporary command of Tenth Cavalry (September 15-28) Temporary command of Tenth Cavalry (May 24–June 2) Medically retired and promoted to colonel (June 22) Recalled to active duty, Ohio National Guard (November 6) Relieved of duties at Camp Grant, Illinois (February) Military attaché in Monrovia, Liberia Died in Lagos, Nigeria (January 8) Buried at Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos, Nigeria (January 9) Buried at Arlington Cemetery, Virginia (June 1)

Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment

1. Awaiting Orders

I do earnestly desire the transfer to the Ninth Cavalry. charles young, 1889

W

hen Charles Young graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1889, he hoped he had ended a difficult chapter in his life. His five-year struggle to earn his coveted diploma and receive a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army was full of challenge and triumph. He repeated his plebe year after failing mathematics and graduated two months after his classmates because he had to make up for a deficiency in engineering. While West Point was a struggle for any young man, Young had to face this ordeal in a racially charged atmosphere where most of his classmates ignored him or refused to have anything to do with him. Yet he persevered and graduated. Young departed West Point for home leave in Ohio in September 1889, full of excitement, anxiety, and questions. Would the Regular Army be like his experience at West Point? Could he survive a career in the army if the treatment he received was akin to what he had experienced at the academy? At West Point he had overcome the hurdle of prejudice to pass the twin

2 awaiting orders

challenges of discipline and academics. What would it be like to add the ordeals of surviving in a white man’s officer corps, leading black soldiers, and staying alive in combat? Young would find answers to some of these questions during his first posting on the frontier, but first he needed orders. First Assignment Young’s commissioning and assignment as a second lieutenant were not routine, since West Pointers customarily chose their branch and duty posts based on class ranking shortly before graduation. Because Young had graduated months after the rest of his classmates, the army dealt with him as an exceptional case. As the only black graduate of the class of 1889, the army would have dealt with Young as a special situation anyway. The army policy at the time was to assign any black graduate of West Point to one of the four African American regiments in the Regular Army.1 The U.S. Army commissioned Charles Young as a subaltern, or additional second lieutenant, in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry on September 14, 1889.2 Young was the only member of his class of forty-nine cadets to be appointed to one of the two Buffalo Soldier regiments (the Ninth Cavalry being the other regiment).3 Two of his white classmates, Joseph Leitch and Frank Webster, who graduated near the bottom of their class with Young, were assigned to the all-black Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry regiments. In acknowledging his appointment to the adjutant general in Washington dc, Young gave notice that he would be spending home leave with his parents in Zanesville, Ohio. After his leave of absence, Young looked forward to joining his regiment and embarking on a new life in the Regular Army on the western plains.4

awaiting orders 3

Other well-known academy graduates had preceded Young to the Buffalo Soldier regiments. John Pershing, a white upperclassman Young had encountered at West Point, later earned the nickname “Black Jack” due to serving with African American troops. He initially selected the Sixth Cavalry after graduating in 1886 because, like Young, he loved horses and was a born cavalryman. He transferred to the Tenth Cavalry in 1892 in order to position himself for a promotion to first lieutenant, a fairly common practice in the Old Army at that time. Later, he served with the Tenth in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.5 Henry Flipper, the first black alumnus of the academy, also chose the Tenth Cavalry after he graduated in 1877. Initially stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Flipper found the post “a pleasant one at which to be stationed” and performed his duties admirably. Flipper’s otherwise bright career came to a disastrous end with a court-martial in 1882. When he served as a commissary officer at a new station at Fort Davis, Texas, his commanding officer charged him with embezzling funds. He was cleared of the embezzlement charge but convicted of “conduct unbecoming,” and the court-martial board dismissed Flipper from the army. Young was well aware of this case and presumed that racial prejudice was central to the decision to remove Flipper from the army. The U.S. Army exonerated Flipper of the court-martial charges in 1976 after an exhaustive review of the records, testimony, and proceedings.6 John Alexander, the second black graduate of West Point, joined the Ninth Cavalry upon graduation in 1887. Alexander and Young shared a room for three years at West Point and their paths were fated to cross again. Initially posted to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, Alexander later served at Fort Duchesne, Utah, both posts occupied by the Ninth Cavalry. He won high praise from his commanders and quickly mastered the challenging duties

4 awaiting orders

of a second lieutenant on the frontier. Alexander would serve as a key mentor to Young within a year of his graduation.7 Amended Orders The War Department informed Young while he was on leave in Ohio that he had been reassigned to the black Twenty-fifth Infantry based on a vacancy in that regiment. Young protested the change in assignments from the Tenth Cavalry in an October 1889 letter to the adjutant general, stating that he had already made arrangements to purchase a cavalry uniform and that any change would be expensive. He also added that he was fond of horses and confident that he would be a successful cavalry officer. The adjutant general responded that consideration would be given to his request and promised that if a vacancy opened for a second lieutenant in the Ninth or Tenth Cavalry, his application for transfer would be reviewed.8 Young was pleased when he received a telegram from Washington on October 29, 1889, asking if he would accept a transfer to the Ninth Cavalry. A hand-written note in the adjutant general’s files revealed the reason for this vacancy: “Lt. Young, the colored graduate, can now be re-transferred to the Cavalry— the death of Lt. Humphrey making a vacancy in the 9th Regt.” Lieutenant Young wasted no time in cabling his acceptance to the War Department the following day, writing, “I do earnestly desire the transfer to the Ninth Cavalry.” On October 31, 1889, the War Department issued special orders transferring Young from the Twenty-fifth Infantry to the Ninth Cavalry. Young had his cavalry assignment, replete with a storm of controversy.9 Maj. Guy V. Henry, acting commanding officer of the Ninth Cavalry, protested the War Department’s transfer of Young to the regiment, since 2nd Lt. John Alexander was already assigned

awaiting orders 5

to the unit.10 Henry feared that the presence of another black line officer in the Ninth would “be detrimental to the good of the regiment . . . by causing officers not to apply for assignment to the regiment.” In his letter, Henry explained: “If this transfer was made in order that Lt. Alexander might have company it has failed, for in a letter from an officer I am informed that Lieutenant Alexander objects to Lt. Young’s assignment, as keeping them together gives no benefit to their efforts to advance their race.”11 Based on their history together, John Alexander would have been the last person to object to Young’s assignment with the regiment. Alexander had shared Young’s challenges at West Point as his roommate. They had grown close in their three years together, and Alexander had done much to enable Young, three years his junior at the academy, to survive the trials of isolation, discipline, and academics. They would have looked forward to a similar supportive relationship in the Ninth Cavalry, as was eventually the case. The second-hand information Major Henry received from a fellow white officer regarding Alexander’s wishes must have been misunderstood at best. Major Henry, a grizzled veteran of many campaigns, was probably acting in what he thought was the best interests of the regiment. Henry, made a brevet brigadier general for gallant and meritorious service during the Civil War, worked for years to raise the reputation of the Ninth Cavalry as an elite regiment that attracted the best and brightest officers. Apparently, he bore Young no ill will, but reflected the attitude of many in the officer corps. To him this request was not about race but about the regiment’s reputation. He feared that the presence in the regiment of the only two black line officers in the Regular Army might cause young officers to avoid service with the Ninth Cavalry.12

6 awaiting orders

Department Policy The response to Major Henry’s protest from the War Department revealed the real reason for the rapid change in assignments for Young. The army showed little concern for the reputation of the regiment but great fear that a black officer might end up commanding white troops. The adjutant general of the U.S. Army summarized the process as follows: It will be remembered that Lt. Young was first assigned as an additional in the 10th Cavalry; that when in that position he was liable (as the senior Cavalry additional) to have a vacancy fall to him in a white regiment at any moment; that to avoid this he was appointed to a vacancy in the 25th Infantry (the Secty, having decided he should be in a colored regiment) and that, as Young had purchased a Cavalry uniform, and wanted cavalry, he was transferred to the first vacancy in a colored Cav regiment, which happened to be the 9th and he has now been confirmed by the Senate, and commissioned in the 9th. (Emphasis in the original)13 Prior to 1886, officer candidates could only pick a branch and regimental assignment in a unit with an actual vacancy for a new second lieutenant. Essentially, an officer had to be promoted, retire, or die in a regiment to create a vacancy. This caused problems for the army and the academy when too few vacancies existed in the field to cover the assignments of all the cadets graduating in a particular year. As a solution, Congress passed a law in May 1886 to allow cadets to join regiments as “supernumerary” or additional second lieutenants until actual positions opened. Young had been assigned as an additional in the Tenth Cavalry, but the death of Lieutenant Humphrey in the

awaiting orders 7

Ninth opened a second lieutenant position in that unit, which the War Department was anxious to have Young fill for fear that he might otherwise be assigned to a white regiment.14 The direct involvement of the secretary of war in a normally routine assignment of a newly minted lieutenant showed the perceived gravity of the situation. The new secretary of war, Redfield Proctor, was respected for his positive efforts to modernize the Old Army, such as revising the military justice code and instituting a system of efficiency records and promotion examinations for officers. In this case, however, he approved the adjutant general’s recommendation to move Young quickly to the Twenty-fifth Infantry and finally to the Ninth to avoid the possibility of Young going to a white cavalry unit to command white enlisted soldiers. In the black regiments, Young would work side by side with white officers, but command black troops. To the War Department, such an arrangement was the lesser of two evils. Young was off to a confusing and exasperating start as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. West Point had been a five-year struggle for Young to overcome the difficulties of discipline, academics, and racial prejudice. If he thought life would be easier or less biased in the Regular Army, he was in for a rude awakening. This assignment controversy was a harbinger that Young’s life in the U.S. Army would be defined by the same set of rules as at West Point. Young’s first encounter with the bureaucrats at the War Department was one of many in a long and distinguished career. In the future, the department deliberately shuffled Young between the few assignments “suitable” for a black officer in a white man’s army. These included the Buffalo Soldier regiments, an African American college, and diplomatic posts in

8 awaiting orders

black republics. It was a measure of Young’s abilities that he was able to thrive and succeed in spite of such obstacles. That he stood up to the War Department to obtain a cavalry commission after graduation from West Point was a first indication of his resolve. The white officer corps in the U.S. Army feared being led by a black man in 1889. The War Department hoped that by sending Second Lieutenant Young west to serve with a black cavalry unit, this issue would go away. Little did they know that Charles Young would earn his spurs with the Ninth Cavalry, causing them to fear him all the more.

1. Second Lieutenant Young in uniform (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

2. One squadron (four troops) of the Ninth Cavalry in the early 1890s (Courtesy of the Nebraska State Historical Society)

3. Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1892 (Courtesy of the Nebraska State Historical Society)

4. Officers’ quarters at Fort Robinson (Courtesy of the Nebraska State Historical Society)

2. First Posting to Fort Robinson

I would scorn to draw pay as an officer knowing that I had willfully neglected my duty as one. charles young, 1890

A

fter home leave from West Point in 1889, 2nd Lt. Charles Young reported in November to his first duty assignment with the Ninth U.S. Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Young became one of only two black cavalry officers assigned to the renowned Buffalo Soldier regiments, units composed entirely of African American enlisted men, but led almost exclusively by white officers. This was the first of many challenging duty postings in the military career of an exceptional man who was marked for greatness but hindered by the ubiquitous racial prejudice existing in the U.S. Army at the time.1 Lieutenant Young faced a tough and solitary struggle for acceptance in his first year at Fort Robinson, a frontier garrison located on the southern limit of the Sioux reservation. As his regiment fought the closing battles of the Indian Wars, Young experienced the challenges confronting any green lieutenant in the West, having to assimilate the intricacies of cavalry tactics, the challenges of leadership, and the responsibilities of garrison duties. But Young had to master this himself, as he had

10 first posting to fort robinson

at West Point, in the face of an ever-present racial prejudice that prevailed among the white officers of the Buffalo Soldier regiments. In all things official, he received at least some help from his fellow officers, but in all things unofficial or social, he was largely isolated and shunned. Assigned to B Troop Lieutenant Young arrived at Fort Robinson on November 28, 1889, and was assigned to B Troop, Ninth U.S. Cavalry. Then as now, one of the most difficult assignments an officer faced was his first, and Young had to learn quickly to survive. Young had few to mentor him at Fort Robinson. His sergeants and corporals respected him and taught him much, as evidenced by the few firsthand accounts written by the enlisted soldiers who served under him, but he received little help from his fellow officers beyond that required in the line of official duties. He was a social outcast at the post, forced to live, eat, and sleep alone. One of the few officers who might have willingly mentored him, 2nd Lt. John Alexander, who had been assigned to the Ninth Cavalry for two years, was hundreds of miles away with his troop at Fort Duchesne, Utah.2 In fact, Young’s was only one of twelve troops in the Ninth Cavalry scattered among six different posts across Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and Utah. The War Department moved the regiment to the Department of the Platte in June 1885 after it had spent most of the previous eighteen years in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona fighting the Utes, Comanches, and Apaches. The serious troubles with the Plains Indians in the regiment’s new northern territory were nearly over, so the troopers spent much of their time performing regular garrison duties such as drill, training, target practice, practice marches, and caring for their horses.3

first posting to fort robinson 11

Shortly before Young’s arrival at Fort Robinson, the Ninth Cavalry suffered the death of Col. Edward Hatch, who had commanded the regiment since its creation in 1866. Hatch was injured in a carriage accident in March 1889, breaking his leg six inches above the knee. He seemed well on the way to recovery when on April 11 he unexpectedly died. His death meant that Lt. Col. Joseph G. Tilford, Seventh Cavalry, received the colonelcy of the Ninth Cavalry due to his seniority. So Young arrived in late 1889 to a regiment that had lost its longtime chief and was in a certain amount of leadership turmoil.4 Capt. Frank B. Taylor, Young’s first troop commander, was an officer unlikely to help a new black lieutenant. Previously described by his regimental commander as “worthless,” Captain Taylor was a poor officer. Col. Thomas H. Ruger, his previous commander in the Eighteenth Infantry, tried to discharge Taylor because he lacked “force of character and capacity to command to such a degree that his presence with a company is an injury rather than a benefit to it.” But the War Department kept Taylor, and Ruger had to endure him for another five years until Taylor transferred to the Ninth Cavalry. There, in 1881, he was court-martialed for verbally abusing, pistol-whipping, and beating a black trooper with the butt of a carbine. The board sentenced him to be cashiered from the army but also recommended leniency, and Taylor’s fellow New Yorker, President Chester Arthur, reduced the sentence.5 In addition to his contempt for black enlisted men, Taylor avoided service in the same troop with African American officers. Within a week of Young joining the troop, Captain Taylor fell “ill” and remained on the sick list for nine months. Taylor returned to duty to command another troop the very day Young and B Troop rode off to their new post at Fort Duchesne, Utah. Two years earlier, after Lieutenant Alexander—Young’s

12 first posting to fort robinson

contemporary, also black—was assigned to his troop, then First Lieutenant Taylor found convenient ways to be out on detached service for five months, at the end of which time he was reassigned. It was one thing for Taylor to serve with black enlisted soldiers, and quite another for him to share his command with African American officers. For the leadership of the regiment to condone such behavior by Taylor at Fort Robinson indicates an unhealthy racial climate that was surely apparent to both Young and Alexander.6 With the commander absent, 1st Lt. Eugene F. Ladd, West Point class of 1884, the first lieutenant in B Troop, effectively commanded Young’s unit for his entire first year at Fort Robinson. Ladd had been in the regiment for more than five years since his graduation from the academy. Ladd, who hailed from Vermont, served as the acting commander of B Troop during Young’s first year. Had he not been in temporary command at Fort Robinson, Ladd might have been more inclined to help Young during his first year as a fellow lieutenant in B Troop. With the absence of Taylor, Ladd had to act the role of a commander and remain more distant to Young.7 Fort Robinson The War Department established Camp Robinson, later redesignated Fort Robinson, on March 29, 1874, and named it for 1st Lt. Levi H. Robinson, Fourteenth Infantry, who was killed in action by Indians from the Red Cloud Agency on February 9, 1874. The army often named new posts after the army officer most recently killed in the line of duty. The War Department positioned Camp Robinson just south of the border of the Great Sioux Reservation, which also formed Nebraska’s northern boundary. It was sited to the north of the White River on a level plain near Soldier Creek, and about a half a mile from the

first posting to fort robinson 13

Red Cloud Agency. The fort’s mission was to keep the Indians on the reservation and to protect the Red Cloud Agency from white encroachment.8 In the decades prior to Young’s arrival at Fort Robinson, the U.S. government had successfully subdued the tribes of the Trans–Mississippi West. With their tribal lands appropriated and traditional way of life destroyed, the Indians had no choice but to yield to a combination of military coercion and diplomatic persuasion. The army presented the proud tribes of the Great Plains with a bleak alternative—to move onto reservations and accept the government dole or be hunted down and forced to do so. Civilian officials from the Department of the Interior’s Indian Bureau administered these reservations, even though they lacked the resources to coerce or control the Indians if there was trouble.9 Young and his troop faced a far different situation at Fort Robinson than had the army twenty years before. Once the Indians were settled on reservations, the operational role of the army in the West changed, which facilitated improvements in the lives of the soldiers. Gen. John M. Schofield, the serving commander in chief of the army, declared in 1884, “The period of ‘temporary huts’ for the troops has passed.” In this new role, the army concentrated troops near the reservations where they might be needed, and those posts selected for retention, like Fort Robinson, were provided appropriations for permanent, comfortable buildings, sometimes with sewage and plumbing. The spread of the railroad and telegraph meant that these forts were no longer isolated; instead, they were regularly supplied with food and other goods. White settlements sprang up around posts, ending the soldiers’ isolation.10 Young found many of these improvements when he arrived at Fort Robinson in 1889. Connected to the outside world via

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telegraph since 1877, another line linked the post with the sixty-five-mile-distant Pine Ridge Indian Agency by 1881. The Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad reached Fort Robinson in 1886, and in the same year the town of Crawford was platted just off the eastern border of the reservation. Within two months, Crawford boasted fifty buildings, several of which contained bars, saloons, and a nearby “hog ranch,” a seedy frontier combination of bar, gambling den, and whorehouse that sprang up as soon as an army post dug in.11 With no liquor sold on post, the troops had no alternative but to escape to Crawford or other less reputable locations to find liquor and amusement. One such establishment, a typical hog ranch run by a woman named Octavia Reeves, was perfectly situated along Soldier Creek just outside the western reservation boundary. A contemporary source described it as “the resort of thieves, pimps, tramps, vagabonds, and white and colored prostitutes.” The account continued: “In this vile den of iniquity social equality exists in the broadest terms, in one corner of the dance hall can be seen a wench of the blackest type sitting on the lap of a white man, while near by can be seen a white woman adorning the knee of a colored patriot.” If the source is accurate, this was perhaps the only place in Nebraska where black soldiers could mix with white women and not risk a lynching.12 Perhaps more important to the everyday lives of Young and his troopers were the creature comforts afforded by the new permanent post. Congress approved appropriations in 1886 to complete improvements in the barracks, officers’ quarters, and other buildings at Fort Robinson. The War Department set aside seventy-five thousand dollars for the renovation of the old post garrison and for the construction of six new barracks and six new officers’ quarters. This work coincided with

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the relocation of the headquarters and the staff of the Ninth Cavalry to Fort Robinson in 1887. Col. Edward Hatch, the Ninth regimental commander, took over responsibility for the planning and soon made it his chief priority to squeeze the most construction out of the appropriations. Because the work was incomplete when the first troops of the Ninth Cavalry began arriving, the enlisted soldiers lived in tents until the barracks were finished.13 When Lieutenant Young arrived in late 1889, he moved into a newly renovated set of officers’ quarters on the old side of the post with running water and a toilet. Assigning Young to an old set of quarters had nothing to do with his color. His white classmate Piper, whose wife accompanied him to Fort Robinson, received an identical set of quarters a few doors away. The post would not have assigned Young, the most junior officer at the fort, to one of the newly built adobe duplexes, since there were only six of these to be distributed among the officers of the regimental headquarters—four troops of the Ninth Cavalry and four companies of the Eighth Infantry—all of whom were senior to Young. He and Piper, who was assigned to the Eighth Infantry, probably considered themselves lucky to be so well housed.14 Equally important, the members of Young’s Troop B lived in spanking new barracks with all of the creature comforts they could ask for. The Ninth Cavalry had spent the past two decades living in tents and temporary shelters at various postings in the Southwest. These new living quarters were a welcome change, and it was certainly not lost on the black troopers of the Ninth that they lived in buildings that were identical to those of their white counterparts in the Eighth Infantry. The army achieved this equality of housing not by design but by

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practical circumstance. Army planners had no idea whether a white or black regiment would eventually occupy the barracks and stables they funded and constructed. Social Isolation Though we know a great deal about the set of officers’ quarters Young occupied, very little is known about his day-to-day existence and social standing at Fort Robinson beyond what can be gleaned from the official record. We know of only two brief firsthand descriptions of Young’s life on post. One comes from a fellow officer and another from an African American woman; neither gives much detail. Accounts of the experiences of John Alexander, the other black officer in the regiment, are also pertinent since both were stationed at Fort Robinson during the same period and he received roughly the same treatment as Young. Both were also bachelors. The best firsthand account comes from Alexander Piper, a white academy classmate who had befriended Young as a cadet and with whom he corresponded often later in life. The army posted both officers to Fort Robinson from West Point: Young to the Ninth Cavalry and Alexander to the Eighth Infantry. They served together for about a year at Fort Robinson. Most army posts on the frontier were assigned a mix of infantry and cavalry troops to suit the mission and surrounding terrain. At the time of Young’s arrival, the complement at Fort Robinson consisted of the headquarters, band, and four troops from the Ninth Cavalry, and four companies from the Eighth Infantry.15 As officers, Young and Piper took advantage of professional and free-time activities separate from their enlisted men, with whom they were forbidden to socialize by regulation. And as a black officer, Young took part in all professional activities but did not fully participate in the social affairs on the post with

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his fellow officers. By the time of their arrival at Fort Robinson, there was an officers’ club and mess where officers and their wives could dine and socialize. The post commander hosted dances when dignitaries visited, and the officers’ club held more informal card parties, dances, and other social gatherings. Young did not dine with his fellow officers at the mess, though he made short appearances for general social activities at the club.16 Because of Young’s social exclusion from meals at the officers’ club, he took his meals at his home, alone, served by one of his soldiers. Officers often hired soldiers, nicknamed “strikers,” as servants for their households. These soldier-servants worked for the officer cooking meals, doing laundry, feeding and grooming horses, and acting as orderlies. The striker carried out this function both in garrison and in the field and could earn as much as an extra five dollars a month. The striker’s extra duties meant that he was relieved of some of his normal soldier duties in the troop. The practice of employing strikers was made illegal in 1870 but it continued anyway. Young still employed a striker twenty years later.17 As early as 1888, Fort Robinson created an officers’ lyceum, where officers gathered periodically to hear and discuss papers on pertinent professional topics. These were probably held at the officers’ club also. The War Department instituted regular lyceums for the officers’ professional education as an army-wide practice a few years later. Since this was considered an official function to promote officer professional development, Young was included in such activities. There is no known record of any formal topics that Young presented during his first year at Fort Robinson, but he was certainly there to listen and learn.18 Social activities were another matter entirely. According to Young’s classmate Alexander Piper: “When he [Young] came

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to the Post at Fort Robinson, he observed strictly all the social rules and customs. Every Officer in the Post called upon him as they did upon every new Officer who came to the Post, and Young returned the calls in every instance. At such general social affairs as the hops [dances] and receptions, he always appeared, paid his respects to the hostess and after waiting about a while would retire.” This was to be the pattern of his social conduct for the future, with Young always keeping to his side of the color line. He would fulfill the obligations customary of any army officer on post, but would bow out quickly to avoid making his fellow officers and their wives uncomfortable. It was his means of surviving in a white man’s officer corps.19 As Piper and others noted, music always played a central role in Charles Young’s life. It was his refuge from his sometimes lonely existence at Fort Robinson. Piper wrote, “He was evidently a great lover of music. His quarters were not far from mine and in passing back and forth almost every evening I would find him at his piano, playing, and it is also my recollection that he played upon the guitar or banjo.” This would be another pattern in Young’s future social life, to find solace and sanctuary in music. Young played the piano, guitar, and violin, and he also loved to sing. He encouraged his soldiers to organize unit bands and take part in musical endeavors as well.20 Young enjoyed horseback riding as another form of escape from the social isolation of Fort Robinson. Growing up in Ohio, where his father had a livery business, he learned to love horses, and he proved an excellent horseman at West Point. Officers were expected to purchase and maintain their horses, but Young probably used an army or “public horse” initially after his arrival at Fort Robinson. A cavalry second lieutenant in 1889 earned only $125 a month, slightly more than his infantry counterpart who made $116.67. A good horse could cost as much as $150,

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plus an additional $100 a year in maintenance costs, which is the reason for the difference in the two salaries.21 The second account of Young at Fort Robinson comes from Nellie A. Plummer, sister of the Ninth Cavalry chaplain, Capt. Henry V. Plummer. The U.S. Army appointed Plummer as the first African American chaplain in the Regular Army in 1884. Born a slave like Young, Plummer joined the U.S. Navy during the Civil War in 1864, serving as a sailor aboard the uss Coeur de Lion. After leaving the navy at the end of the war, Plummer taught himself to read and write and attended the Wayland Seminary, where he became a Baptist minister. He was a pastor in Bladensburg, Maryland, and Washington dc before joining the army. Young and Plummer served at different posts of the Ninth Cavalry during this time, and though neither recorded impressions of the other, they must have met and become acquainted.22 Nellie Plummer commented in her book Out of the Depths, or The Triumph of the Cross that she visited Fort Robinson in 1893 and met and was very impressed with Young. Unfortunately, she offers no details of the meeting. She remarks in her book, “I shall never forget the visit I made in 1893, to my beloved brother while he was stationed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. It was there I met Chas. Young. Of all the joys blest memory shall bring to me that summer’s joy excels all!”23 The post trader at Fort Robinson, W. E. Annin, knew the other black officer in the regiment, Lieutenant Alexander, from their service together at Fort Robinson, and said: His [Alexander’s] commission gave him a life-time position as an officer and his shoulder straps and uniform delegated to him authority equal to that of any other officer of his rank. But outside of that the poorest white

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laborer was more to be envied in some respects than the brainy, soldierly-looking mulatto who drew saber in drill and parade with L Troop of his regiment. There was no open ostracism, no expression of antagonism, no insults or studied cuts. But the line was everywhere drawn at official intercourse. He made no calls upon families of brother officers. He was not expected at receptions and balls. If he came and stayed for a moment, as a matter of form, he always quietly withdrew. He messed by himself, although most of the remaining unmarried officers used the officers’ mess and enjoyed the comradeship which it brought. He lived more or less alone.24 According to Annin, when he asked Alexander if the situation was difficult for him, he responded, “I have no fault to find. I am treated with all the consideration I deserve from the colonel down.” Alexander continued: “No man can force himself into society anywhere. I have not attempted it here. I think I have gained the respect of my associate officers by keeping in the background and not intruding myself where possibly I might not be wanted. I have often declined invitations of a social or semi-social nature, so as to give no offense to anyone. I am in no sense a martyr, nor am I ostracized by the garrison. I simply keep within my own lines.” Young, out of necessity, had adopted the same rules as Alexander at Fort Robinson. With few exceptions, Young would stay on his side of the color line throughout his army career.25 Critique and Reprimand The first four months of Young’s assignment were routine by frontier standards, according to the regimental returns. Most of the troops, including Young’s B Troop, “performed ordinary

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garrison duty during the month.” Occasionally, a troop sallied out to investigate rumors of Indian troubles or to conduct practice marches. Guard duty was one activity that Young had to supervise as a junior officer in garrison, and his performance of this duty on one occasion brought him unwanted attention. The first indication that Young was having difficulties came in a letter from the regimental adjutant, addressed to Young, and dated April 5, 1890: “I am directed by the Commanding officer to draw your attention to the tactical errors committed by you at guard mounting this morning.” The letter went on to cite that Young “failed to inspect the [ammunition] boxes of the file closers,” executed a command “before reaching the Camp Color established to mark the wheeling point,” did not salute the officer of the day at the proper point, and “gave the command ‘guide left’ before the rear platoon had passed the Officer of the day.”26 These corrections sound more like a critique of a West Point parade than a review of a Fort Robinson guard mount. Furthermore, Young had never been placed in leadership positions at West Point where he would be able to practice such marching maneuvers and formal guard-posting procedures like his classmates. Perhaps 1st Lt. Walter L. Finley, West Point class of 1879, who was the Ninth Cavalry’s adjutant, was being punctilious for a reason. Finley might have been looking for any excuse to cite Lieutenant Young for some deficiency, either on his own initiative or at the direction of the commander, or he might have been just doing his duty as a regimental adjutant. This written critique was followed by a letter from Maj. James F. Randlett, addressed to the post adjutant, reprimanding Young for not being “present at stables of B Troop this P.M. until about 10 minutes before grooming ceased.” Randlett insisted that “if this officer is to be given charge of the stable duty of his troop I

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would recommend that promptness in attendance be required of him.” This admonition was referred to Young’s commander, Lieutenant Ladd, who passed it to Young for his reply. Young responded that he believed he had acted in the spirit of the regulation that required him to be present at the stables, but agreed to comply fully with the obligation in the future.27 These two incidents, along with others, came to the attention of the leadership of the Ninth Cavalry. The regimental commander, Colonel Tilford, wrote a formal letter to the War Department concerning Young’s “indifference to duty.” This letter, dated May 7, 1890, summarized the aforementioned guard-mount episode as well as his tardy appearance for stable duty. In addition, Colonel Tilford mentioned that Young’s troop commander had frequently complained of his “habitual lateness at formations and general carelessness in regard to duty.” The combination of these charges and the commander’s decision to refer the affair to Washington made this a very serious affair.28 Colonel Tilford was well aware of the sensitive nature of Young’s status as one of two black line officers in the Regular Army and how important it was to avoid the appearance of racism. Tilford explained in his letter: “He has had more consideration shown him in this regard than any other white officer would have received, on account of the misconstruction which others might place on the fact that severe measures were used toward him. Other officers in the Post have frequently remarked on Lieutenant Young’s inattention to duty and apparent indifference thereto.” The regimental commander closed the letter by saying he hoped that Young would draw the proper lesson from the letter and that no further measures would be necessary.29

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Though Colonel Tilford rebuffed the role of racism in Young’s treatment in these charges, the official record shows that the picture of race relations at Fort Robinson was not a rosy one. At least one author makes an argument that the size of the post had a direct relationship to the pervasiveness of racism and the resulting number of court-martials. At Fort Robinson, black soldiers were court-martialed three times more often than were those at smaller posts like Forts Duchesne and McKinney. Fort Robinson’s mix of four troops of black cavalry and four companies of white infantry proved a fertile breeding ground for racism and directly affected the treatment of African Americans in the Ninth. This behavior influenced the treatment of Young as well as the other black officer in the regiment, John Alexander.30 Indifference or Inexperience? Lieutenant Young’s rebuttal of the charges, written on May 7, 1890, provides a window onto the young officer’s sense of duty and pride. His superiors’ complaint that he was “indifferent to duty” was especially painful to him since he held duty as his sole aim in life. He responded: “During my 5 months service in the Army I have always manifested a desire to correct any and everything pertaining to this [duty]; if I have failed and have been complained of, it has been through no intentional neglect as I would scorn to draw pay as an officer knowing that I had willfully neglected my duty as one.” He asked that the letter of rebuttal be filed together with the “efficiency paper” submitted by Colonel Tilford, which he felt was too vague and indefinite. He finished by stating: “That there may have been neglects and errors springing from inexperience and want of practice I do not attempt to deny; but willfully and knowingly I must say no.”31

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Colonel Tilford may have been right when he declared that Young had been afforded more regard than any white officer in the Ninth, but he was also under much closer scrutiny. One does not necessarily cancel out the other. He had no friends or mentors at Fort Robinson, and it is likely that most of the officers of the Ninth Cavalry expected and hoped that he would fail. Any new officer whose day-to-day actions were placed under a looking glass was bound to make mistakes, and Young was no exception. This treatment was akin to that which he received at the academy, designed by those who would see him fail, and intended to continuously harass and wear him down in social isolation. Young’s vehement refutation shows he was up to the challenge at Fort Robinson as he had been at West Point. How did Young’s reprimands compare to those received by other junior lieutenants in the regiment? In November 1889, the Ninth Cavalry officer roster showed twelve second lieutenants assigned to the troops. On average, and depending on vacancies, the regiment received two academy graduates a year. At the time Young arrived as the sole graduate to come from the class of 1889, the list of the second lieutenants from West Point included one from the class of 1884, two from 1885, two from 1886, one from 1887 (Alexander), and three from 1888.32 Did any of these second lieutenants have “problems” similar to Young’s during their first year? A review of the letters received by the adjutant general’s office revealed no negative efficiency reports similar to the one received by Young, although this does not prove that Young received harsher treatment than the other second lieutenants in the regiment.33 Did two reprimands irreparably damage Young’s reputation in the regiment and in his troop? Apparently not. The return for July 1890 listed Second Lieutenant Young in command of the troop due to the absence of First Lieutenant Ladd, who was

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in Bellevue, Nebraska, representing the unit in the department cavalry competition. Young commanded the troop in garrison during July and August. Ladd returned from detached service just in time to take command of the troop for the beginning of a seven-day regimental exercise at the end of August. Before the troop completed the exercise, Ladd departed once more for detached service and Young again took command of the troop. He remained in command of the troop as it prepared for rotation to Fort Duchesne, Utah. So it seems Young was by this time sufficiently experienced and trustworthy to command the troop in garrison at least.34 Indians, Training, Transition Charles Young witnessed the demise of the Plains Indian culture during his year in northern Nebraska. In 1890 Fort Robinson was the epicenter of the despair and hopelessness felt by the Sioux and Cheyenne due to the reduction of reservation lands, encroachment by whites, and deficiency of government rations. These conditions and the despair it caused were partly responsible for the Ghost Dance religion among the Sioux, which portended the appearance of a messiah and disappearance of the white people. Whites living in and around the reservations feared that the Ghost Dance was a prelude to the outbreak of general revolt and warfare.35 Despite the fears of local whites and the army about the effects of the Ghost Dance and possible unrest of the Sioux and Cheyenne, Young and the rest of Fort Robinson experienced little change from routine garrison duties for most of the year. The Ninth regimental returns mention only a single noteworthy event involving Indians. The June 1890 return reports that F Troop responded to a June 18 telegraph message from headquarters, Department of the Platte, and set out the same day

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to investigate rumors of Indian troubles near Beaver Valley, Nebraska. The command returned to post on June 23 after marching ninety-six miles and finding nothing.36 In the midst of these activities, the troopers and soldiers at Fort Robinson prepared for war contingencies. The August 1890 regimental return reports that B, F, I, and K Troops, the headquarters, and the band participated in a practice march under the command of Colonel Tilford. The Ninth Cavalry left only six men per troop behind to guard the fort, left post on August 25, and marched to Running Water, Nebraska, two days’ away. They remained encamped at Running Water for a day, engaged in a sham battle, and returned to post on August 31, having covered a total of sixty-two miles. Army authorities anticipated that large forces of infantry and cavalry might be needed and initiated “alert training” in 1889. This called for the units of the Ninth Cavalry and Eighth Infantry at Fort Robinson to periodically fall out and camp outside the post to “test their readiness for field service.” This was Young’s first long tactical march with his troop.37 Another regular activity for the Ninth Cavalry was target practice and marksmanship competition, a routine the army emphasized increasingly in the 1880s. Young and his troop spent long hours on the ranges at Fort Robinson, sometimes beginning in the early morning to avoid the high winds that might influence accuracy at long range. Young had at his disposal four six-hundred-yard ranges and one thousand-yard range, all with advanced Laidley moving targets. He and his troops competed for marksmanship and sharpshooter badges and pins, which had been recently authorized. If a soldier could hit a target eight times out of ten at six hundred yards, he won a marksmanship award. If he hit a target eight times out of ten at a thousand yards, he won the more coveted sharpshooter

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award. They also competed for slots in the departmental rifle competitions held each year at Bellevue, Nebraska.38 An ongoing War Department reorganization to reduce the peacetime strength of the army also affected Fort Robinson during 1890 and influenced Young’s future posting. This realignment called for the elimination of two troops from each cavalry regiment. In September 1890, L and M Troops of the Ninth Cavalry were eliminated and the men transferred to other units of the regiment. One of the eliminated troops was located at Fort Duchesne, Utah, which was Young’s destination in September 1890 with B Troop. The reduction of this troop necessitated the move of B Troop to Utah. Because Young and B Troop left Fort Robinson in the fall of 1890, they were not present for the Pine Ridge Campaign and Wounded Knee, the tragic end to the wars with the Plains Indians. Young’s West Point classmate Lieutenant Piper of the Eighth Infantry was there, however, along with several troops of the Ninth Cavalry. The Seventh Cavalry Regiment had taken a number of Sioux who had left their reservation as prisoners to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek. In the process of trying to disarm the prisoners, gunfire broke out and a massacre of the Indians resulted on December 29, 1890. The carnage left one hundred and fifty Indians dead and another fifty wounded, while twenty-five officers and soldiers were killed and thirtynine wounded. This was a sad and unfortunate end to the Indian Wars.39 Departure Each year some of the troops of the Ninth rotated between the scattered posts of the regiment. Young’s troop moved from the large and centrally located post of Fort Robinson to the smaller and more isolated garrison of Fort Duchesne, located in eastern

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Utah, in September 1890. The move to Utah gave Young a new start in terms of both physical and command environments. He could not have known that Fort Duchesne would give him a chance to demonstrate his potential in a more positive command climate.40 The September 1890 “Record of Events” from the regimental return lists the following under B Troop: “The troop under command of 2nd Lieut. W. D. McAnaney with 2nd Lieutenant Charles Young, 39 enlisted men, and 40 public horses left Fort Robinson, Neb. At 1030 AM Sept. 19 enroute to its new duty station (Fort DuChesne, Utah). Marched Overland to Bordeaux, Wyoming, thence to Carter Station by rail and from there to camp on Birch Creek. Distance traveled 134 miles.” The fact that the troop marched with thirty-nine enlisted men and forty public horses indicates that Young was still riding an army horse while the other officer in the column rode his own. The troop was well under its authorized strength of fifty-nine enlisted men.41 This particular summer rotation was unique in its partial use of rail, and marked the beginning of a sea change for the frontier army on the Great Plains. The previous summer’s rotation from Fort Robinson to Fort Duchesne was accomplished completely on horseback, as had all movements on the western frontier for the past century. But the completion of transcontinental rail links in the years prior to Young’s arrival at Fort Robinson heralded a new era. The army’s use of rail transport gave it the ability to move and concentrate troops in a matter of days from scattered frontier forts, where previously it had taken weeks and months. This new reality would soon spell doom to many small and isolated forts in the West and transform those like Fort Robinson that were chosen for retention.42 Under “Commissioned Officers” for the September 1890

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return, Lt. William D. McAnaney, F Troop, was listed as serving on detached duty commanding B Troop from September 19 to 21. Why was McAnaney put in command of Young’s troop for a portion of the movement to Utah? The trip took a total of seven days, consisting of a march to Bordeaux, Wyoming, a rail trip to western Wyoming, and then the final march to Fort Duchesne, Utah. Under the October 1890 “Record of Events,” B Troop “continued the march enroute to Fort Duchesne, Utah, where it arrived October 4, 1890, after a march of 72 miles.”43 The regiment likely tapped McAnaney to lead the column on the first leg of the journey because he was more experienced. A march of 134 miles in three days over unfamiliar terrain would have been a challenge for Young had he been the only officer in the column. With the exception of the regimental exercise the previous month, Young had not completed any long marches with his unit. McAnaney, on the other hand, was an experienced “ranker” with a great deal of experience on the frontier, both good and bad.44 The other factor influencing the command decision was doubtless race. It would have been extraordinary for the regiment to send a column of black troopers under the leadership of a black officer on a march into a town where Young would have had to deal with white townspeople and railroad officials to facilitate the second leg of the journey. Absent direct proof, it is assumed the army chose McAnaney to lead the black troop for the sake of appearances and to preclude trouble. We cannot know what Young thought of this temporary command arrangement, or what Young and McAnaney thought of each other. Lieutenant Young faced a long and lonely battle for acceptance his first year at Fort Robinson. He faced it with equal portions of determination and perseverance as he had at the academy.

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He overcame the challenges of assimilating the duties and responsibilities of a cavalry lieutenant in spite of the open hostility of some of his fellow officers. Young made mistakes as an inexperienced second lieutenant in this racially charged atmosphere. These mistakes were unsurprising considering that he had been given no positions of authority by which to learn the hard lessons of leadership at West Point and had no mentors to guide him at Fort Robinson. Young learned quickly, however, and never again in his career would he be in a position where he was found lacking in his duties. Clearly his experiences at Fort Robinson were poles apart from those of his white peers, and his treatment by superiors was biased. Some, like Majors Henry and Randlett, took action based on what they thought was for the good of the regiment. Others, like Captain Taylor, acted out of racial intolerance, and were unmoved by Young’s actions. A small minority, as at the academy, showed signs of grudging approval, and still fewer displayed something akin to actual acceptance. In all things official, he was treated with nearly the same Old Army discipline as the other new lieutenants. But Young’s practice of remaining on his side of the color line at Fort Robinson in all things social would be his key to survival for the rest of his career in a white officer corps.

3. New Start at Fort Duchesne

The thing then to be desired above all others is confidence in one’s self. charles young, 1894

L

ieutenant Young must have felt relieved to have a new start at Fort Duchesne after a rough first year at Fort Robinson. By this time, he had mastered the essentials of practical cavalry tactics, leadership, and garrison duties, adding to the basic lessons he had been taught at West Point. Young learned these skills by himself, for the most part, with some help from his fellow officers in all things official. In all things unofficial and social, he remained largely isolated and without mentors. He did, however, receive help and encouragement from his men, who grew to admire his determination.1 One lesson Young learned at Fort Robinson was that the treatment offered him by his superiors and peers was not uniform; quite the contrary. Some, like Captain Taylor, treated him with undisguised contempt. Others, like his West Point classmate Alexander Piper, dealt fairly and kindly with him. Between those extremes ran the gamut of officiousness, apathy, and unease. In the end Young would have to prove himself at Fort Duchesne, a wild and isolated post in the mountains of Utah

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established just four years before his arrival. But he would do this in a better command climate, with friends and mentors. Fort Duchesne Young knew about Fort Duchesne from reading official reports prior to his departure and hearing stories from his men during the journey. He knew that Buffalo Soldiers had garrisoned Fort Duchesne since its creation in 1886. The key missions of the Buffalo Soldiers in Utah were patrolling the reservations, keeping the peace between the Indians and local whites, and blocking the Utes from slipping back into their old hunting grounds in Colorado. This was a complex mission that Young would come to know well during his tenure at the post.2 The War Department set up Fort Duchesne to guard the Indian frontier in eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming. It replaced Fort Thornburgh in the Uintah Basin to the northeast, which had been abandoned by the army during the winter of 1884/85. An outbreak of interband warfare among the Utes the following year caused the Interior and War Departments to reestablish a fort on the basin. The Ute Indians occupied two reservations and divided themselves into three groups: the Uintah, White River, and the Uncompahgre bands. According to one West Pointer stationed there shortly after it was created, early occupants of Fort Duchesne derided the post as Fort “Dushame” because of its isolation and primitive living conditions.3 When Maj. Frederick W. Benteen arrived with two troops of the Ninth Cavalry at the future site of the post in August 1886, four companies of white soldiers from the Twenty-first Infantry commanded by Capt. Joseph W. Duncan awaited them. Duncan and his infantry contingent barely escaped an Indian ambush by three hundred Utes due to a timely warning by a Ute tribal

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policeman. After taking a detour to avoid the trap, the soldiers of the Twenty-first quickly threw out a picket line, dug trenches, and awaited the arrival of the Ninth Cavalry.4 The day of Benteen’s arrival, Special Indian Agent Eugene E. White recalled how one old Ute Indian headman, named Sour, intercepted him at full gallop yelling “Buffalo Soldiers! Buffalo Soldiers! Coming! Maybe so tomorrow! Indians saw them at Burnt Fort yesterday, coming this way. Don’t let them come! We can’t stand it! It’s bad—very bad!” When Agent White asked through an interpreter about the Ute’s objection to the black troopers of the Ninth, Sour’s broken English response was “All over black! All over black, buffalo soldiers! Injun heap no like him!” After rubbing his head with his hand, he screamed, “Woolly head! Woolly head! All same as buffalo! What you call him, black white man?” This is one of the earliest documented uses of the term “Buffalo Soldier” by Native Americans.5 The soldiers endured the first winter in canvas tents and dugouts, but by the following summer, the soldiers had moved into more permanent barracks. President Grover Cleveland officially designated the six square miles of the reservation as Fort Duchesne on September 1, 1887. The War Department spent approximately $22,800 to construct the fort, which paid for materials to build officers’ quarters, enlisted barracks, a commissary, a storehouse, a hospital, and stables, all of adobe brick. In June 1888 four companies of the Sixteenth Infantry and C and M Troops of the Ninth Cavalry replaced the initial contingent. By 1890, when Young arrived, the living accommodations were described as good, except for water leaking in several quarters occupied by married men.6 Young drew a sketch map of the post and surrounding environs in 1894 revealing the basic outline of the post (see illustration). The army surveyors laid out the fort running north and

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south just west of, and on a flat plain overlooking, the Uintah River. The garrison is roughly horseshoe shaped, with a parade ground in the center, barracks lining either side on the east and west, officers’ quarters on the curve of the north side, and administrative offices, stores, and stables on the southern end. A bridge spans the Uintah River near the southeast corner of the fort to connect the post by road to the city of Vernal, and a post garden and cemetery stretch to the north. A low wall defines the north, south, and west sides while a road and the river mark the eastern limit of the fort. The entire complex is surrounded on all sides by substantial hills and buttes. The reservation boundary forms a rectangle two miles, east to west, by three miles, north to south. This would be Young’s home for the next four years.7 Command Climate Waiting for Young and B Troop at Fort Duchesne in 1890 was Capt. Louis H. Rucker, their new commanding officer. Rucker had commanded M Troop during its stay in Utah, and since this unit was eliminated under the War Department reorganization discussed earlier, he remained at Fort Duchesne to take command of B Troop. Rucker, a veteran of the Ninth since its formation in 1866, commanded M Troop for more than ten years. Rucker may have assumed command of B Troop for several reasons: to accommodate the “sick” Capt. Frank B. Taylor, rehabilitate a troubled troop, facilitate a smooth handover of operations at Fort Duchesne, or provide a more racially tolerant command climate. Captain Taylor, Young’s former adversary, took command of the reduced M Troop back at Fort Robinson, giving him command of a troop with no other resident officers and few soldiers.8

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Rucker was among the officers awarded Regular Army commissions in the Ninth Cavalry when it formed in 1866 and had served with the unit since. He proved an able second lieutenant and an efficient first lieutenant regimental quartermaster, so the army promoted him to captain in 1879. Of the twelve troop commanders serving in 1890, Rucker was one of six who earned officer rank during the Civil War and was rewarded in 1866 with a commission in the Ninth Cavalry. Of the balance, five graduated from West Point and one, Captain Taylor, received his commission in 1867 as a political reward, absent previous military experience. Young was in good hands with a superior like Rucker.9 Rucker served as one of the exemplary company commanders in the Ninth Cavalry during this period. He, along with Capts. Francis Moore of L Troop and John S. Loud of D Troop, were low-keyed officers whose lower rates of troop desertion and dishonorable discharge reflected their effectiveness. An interesting and perhaps noteworthy coincidence: these three successful troop commanders began their careers as enlisted volunteers and earned officers’ commissions during the Civil War. They were among the non-West Pointers awarded commissions in 1866, and successfully achieved promotion and increased responsibility in the intervening two decades.10 Perhaps as important to Rucker’s effectiveness as a troop commander was the way he treated his African American first sergeant and noncommissioned officers. The noncommissioned officers and the first sergeant of the troop determined the real effectiveness of a unit. As an example, 1st Sgt. David Badie of B Troop was a solid veteran who neither coddled nor abused his soldiers, and Charles Young had served with him for more than a year by the time he marched into Fort Duchesne. Badie and his noncommissioned officers deserved most of the credit

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for the fact that B Troop experienced no desertions for twelve years prior to 1886.11 By 1890 there was a core of long-service, experienced frontier veterans in the Ninth Cavalry that gave the unit a solid cadre of competent soldiers and professional noncommissioned officers. This and other factors helped the Ninth develop a high esprit de corps, which in turn helped the black troopers win the grudging respect of most of their white officers. A frank letter in the Army and Navy Journal, written in 1887 by an unidentified troop commander, illustrates his respect for his black soldiers and the conflicting emotions that went with it. The writer stressed that he “was no admirer of the African” but admitted that he would have been as prejudiced as his peers if he had never served with blacks. His service with Buffalo Soldiers had led him to “think the world of the men of my company. When I look at them I do not see their black faces, I see only something beyond. . . . They are far ahead of white troops.”12 The Ninth Cavalry had two contingents at Fort Duchesne while Young was there: B and H Troops. Rucker and Young ran B Troop and Capt. Eugene D. Dimmick commanded H Troop, assisted by 2nd Lt. William J. D. Horne, with the first lieutenants of both troops on detached duty assigned temporarily to other posts. Four companies of the Sixteenth Infantry rounded out the compliment of soldiers at Fort Duchesne in 1890. Despite the initial prominence of infantry, a field grade officer from the Ninth Cavalry always commanded the post. In 1891, not long after Young’s arrival, the four infantry companies from the Sixteenth at the post rotated out and were replaced by one company from the Twenty-first Infantry. The post retained this two- to-one ratio of black cavalry to white infantry until 1892 when the single white infantry company departed and only the Ninth remained. The nonmilitary component of the post

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headquarters included a civilian surgeon, veterinarian, and two post traders.13 In spite of the primitive conditions at Fort Duchesne, some courageous women, both black and white, accompanied their husbands and comprised the post distaff, as it was referred to in the Old Army. While Young was at the fort, the distaff included a handful of officers’ wives and unmarried sisters, two post traders’ wives, and three African American women who were wives of enlisted troopers of the Ninth Cavalry and did the washing on post. The officers’ wives and other women played an important social and practical role in life at Fort Duchesne.14 Based on a report of a play performed at the post on March 16, 1891, three officers’ wives and two unmarried ladies filled roles, including the wife of Captain Dimmick, the wife of 1st Lt. Charles P. George, Sixteenth Infantry, and two unmarried daughters or sisters of officers. The local Vernal newspaper made one of only two mentions of Charles Young during his period of service at Fort Duchesne when it reported on May 29, 1891, about a performance at the post chapel. It states that a “trio, by Mrs. Seabolt [the post trader’s wife], Miss Dimmick, and Lieut. Young, also a solo by Mrs. Hazzard, proved a rare treat to the large audience that gathered at the Post Chapel Sunday evening.” Young continued to nurture his love of music and used it as a bridge to establish contact with the white community on post. The second newspaper report mentioning Young concerned a visit by him to Vernal to have some dental work done.15 Alexander Young found in Captain Rucker a troop commander who provided positive leadership and direction, but how did he get along with the other officers at Fort Duchesne? B Troop’s newly

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assigned first lieutenant remained on detached service at another post until December 1892. That left Rucker and Young running the troop for the next two years with a little help from 2nd Lt. John Alexander, Young’s old friend and former West Point roommate. Alexander added a vital complement to the positive command climate for Young at the post. The November 1890 through April 1891 regimental returns show Lieutenant Alexander still assigned to M Troop, but “on duty at Fort Duchesne, Utah.” In fact, Alexander commanded B Troop during a period from November 1890 to February 1891 while Captain Rucker was on detached service in Omaha, Nebraska.16 John Hanks Alexander was born in Helena, Arkansas, on January 6, 1864, which made him a scant two months older than Charles Young. He, like Young, was the son of escaped slaves, and who found a way to educate himself. Alexander graduated from high school in 1879, taught school for a short time, like Young, and attended Oberlin College in Ohio for two years. He competed for and received an appointment to West Point in 1883 from Ohio, prompted in part by the example of Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of the academy. Alexander thrived at West Point, despite the prejudice and academic challenges, and ranked thirty-second in the graduating class of sixty-four in 1887. He selected the Ninth Cavalry as his regiment after graduation, and like Young, traveled to Fort Robinson as his first duty posting. He remained there until his troop rotated to Fort Duchesne in June 1888.17 Young and Alexander had been roommates at West Point and their reunion at Fort Duchesne in 1890 must have been a welcome occasion for both. Their white officer peers in the Ninth Cavalry shunned them socially for the most part, so their duty together in Utah certainly made life more agreeable personally and professionally. Alexander was undoubtedly content to serve

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as Young’s friend and mentor, and Young, with his unhappy experience at Fort Robinson fresh in his memory, was grateful to have such an able and willing teacher and counselor.18 Why did Alexander stay in Utah after his unit was eliminated, and why did he command Young’s troop in Rucker’s absence? Since he was no longer needed in M Troop, due to its reduction under the army reorganization, he likely stayed on at Fort Duchesne to facilitate a smooth troop rotation. It was a common practice in this period for at least one of the three officers in a troop to be assigned on detached duty to another post or assignment. Alexander was given temporary command of B Troop because he was senior and more experienced than Young. Young had arrived at the isolated post barely a month before, and was therefore unfamiliar with the area and the unit’s complex mission.19 It is possible the army stationed Young and Alexander together at Fort Duchesne as a way of providing a situation of mutual support for the only two black line officers in the army. The acting regimental commander in 1889 hinted at this reason in an exchange of letters concerning Young’s initial assignment. In the letter mentioned in a previous chapter, Maj. Guy Henry alleged that Lieutenant Alexander objected to Young’s assignment, since keeping them together would give “no benefit to their efforts to advance their race.” If true, Alexander’s fears were reasonable since the army succeeded in keeping them out of sight at Fort Duchesne for a time.20 But far more likely, the War Department posted Young and Alexander to isolated Fort Duchesne in part to minimize the “awkward situations” inherent in having two black officers in the service. The Secretary of War took special care in 1889 to assign Young to a black regiment so he would command black soldiers only. In future assignments, the War Department would

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send Alexander and Young to “safe” postings, to teach military science at an African American university, where they would instruct black officer cadets. Washington later sent Young to a series of military attaché assignments to black countries in the Caribbean and Africa. These assignments minimized Young’s time in cavalry units where he might find himself in positions of authority over white officers. Professional Growth Young thrived at Fort Duchesne where he was able to focus on the mission of training his men and maintaining the peace on the Utah frontier. The results of Rucker’s leadership, Alexander’s mentoring, and Young’s hard work showed almost immediate results. Young’s efficiency report of December 1891 reflected dramatic improvements in his performance of duty over that reported at Fort Robinson. Major James Randlett noted his “[p]rofessional zeal and ability, excellent; attention to duty, very good; capacity for command, good” and that he was “neat in his uniform and highly spoken of [as an] officer.” This was a remarkable change in little more than a year.21 Major Randlett, the post commander, and the same officer who cited Young a year earlier for being absent from stable duties at Fort Robinson, soon began to rely heavily on Young’s talents. In March 1892, Randlett placed him in charge of the post exchange, and by August added the duties of post adjutant, quartermaster, and recruiting officer. For a short time, he was also commissary of subsistence, and for six months he was put in charge of the post school. He did this while the post chaplain, Capt. William H. Scott, was on extended sick leave. Captain Scott, the white chaplain assigned to the post, ran the post school and library. Private Nelson Scott, an educated soldier from Young’s B Troop, assisted the chaplain as a teacher at the post school.

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Young had to accomplish these extra duties in addition to his regular troop obligations, so his proficiency must have shown a marked improvement since Fort Robinson.22 The 1891 departure of the white officers and soldiers of the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment probably necessitated some of Young’s additional duties. These responsibilities entailed hard work and held risks if not done properly. The army courtmartialed and dismissed 2nd Lt. Henry Flipper in 1882 because he was found guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer in connection with a charge of embezzling funds while serving as the post commissary officer in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry. Young knew about Flipper’s dismissal and must have paid extra attention to his duties as a result.23 Occasional practice marches into the countryside around Fort Duchesne broke the routine of the usual garrison duties for Lieutenant Young. B Troop set out on one such mounted march to the Duchesne River on September 18 and returned on September 26, 1891, having covered 118 miles. This may have been an annual event since the troop undertook a similar practice march a year later. During this second march, on August 1, 1892, B Troop, consisting of two officers (Rucker and Young), thirty-four enlisted men, and thirty-four “public horses,” left post and marched 160 miles to the Duchesne River, returning on August 11. The enlisted men rode army-owned or “public horses,” while the officers rode their own mounts. The September 1891 regimental return lists the B Troop complement as one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one first sergeant, five sergeants, four corporals, two trumpeters, two farriers, one saddler, and forty-two privates.24 Another activity that broke the boredom of garrison duty was target practice. Young’s sketch map of the post shows the “Old Target Range” just north of the post along the east bank

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of the river and a “Skirmish Range” on the flat plain across the river in the northeast corner of the post. The former was for stationary shooting at targets and the latter for shooting in skirmish lines on horseback. Troops competed eagerly for marksmanship and sharpshooter buttons and pins and tried to win coveted slots for the departmental rifle competition.25 Officers were not exempt from qualifying with their weapons annually. The Office of the Inspector of Small-Arms Practice, Department of the Colorado, awarded Young “Marksman’s Certificate, No. 434” on September 8, 1893. The document reads: “2d Lieutenant Charles Young, of Troop B, 9th Regiment of Cavalry, having made under the rules prescribed in the Training Regulations for Small Arms for the United States Army, the scores necessary for qualification as a marksman, will be graded as such for the target year of 1893.” 1st Lt. Charles L. Collins of the Eleventh Infantry signed the certificate. Young qualified with the standard issue Springfield carbine but also carried the Colt Model 1873 revolver. The army began replacing this weapon with the Colt Model 1892 double-action .38-caliber revolver in 1892.26 The soldiers of Young’s B Troop participated in one other pastime that broke the tedium of garrison life: sports. The troops at Fort Duchesne enjoyed boxing, baseball, and track, according to firsthand accounts in the local Vernal newspaper. The paper celebrated in its May 22 “Duchesne Doings” section the “maiden performance of the Fort Duchesne Athletic Club, which took place at the Post Hall May 7, 1891.” Calling it “one of the greatest glove contests of modern times,” there were several preliminary rounds fought between black members of the Ninth Cavalry, and the main bout, an eleven-round marathon between two white sluggers from the Sixteenth Infantry. It does not appear that there were any boxing matches between black and white soldiers at Fort Duchesne.27

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This racial separation in boxing competition did not apply to baseball or track. The Fourth of July celebration of 1891 at Fort Duchesne featured both. After “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the program opened with a rifle contest for a barrel of beer, which was won by Company C, Sixteenth Infantry. There were other games and contests, but the only one specified in the newspaper was a long-distance race won by a member of the Sixteenth Infantry. Then came what the reporter referred to as “that game of ball.” The game, umpired by Lieutenant Brown of the Sixteenth and Lieutenant Alexander of the Ninth, began at 1:30 p.m. The score reached 2 to 1 in favor of the cavalry, when in the second inning the second baseman from the Sixteenth was “disabled by a thrown ball.” A substitute came into the game, but the injured man recovered and took his place on the field again. The Ninth Cavalry objected to this illegal substitution, time was called, the crowd got ugly, and the umpires decided to call off the match. The Ninth took the purse, much to the dismay of the Sixteenth.28 There was at least one other unofficial activity at Fort Duchesne that was conducted jointly by the whites and blacks on post. Fort Duchesne had a band that was composed of black and white soldiers and Young was active in teaching and directing the band throughout his stay at Fort Duchesne. Young enjoyed nothing more than sharing this passion for music with others, whether in a formal teaching session, a staged performance, or an informal sing-along at a social event. Young used music as a bridge to connect with his black soldiers and to create an occasional bridge to white soldiers, officers, and their wives. And when none of these was possible, he used music as an outlet from his own social isolation.29 Lieutenants Young and Alexander served together at Fort Duchesne until 1892, when the latter was transferred back to

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Fort Robinson. Young remained at Fort Duchesne until 1894, while Alexander received orders in 1893 detailing him as professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University near Xenia, Ohio. Young would follow in Alexander’s footsteps one more time under tragic circumstances. On March 26, 1894, less than a month after his arrival at Wilberforce, Alexander died unexpectedly. This must have been a deep personal loss for Young, who had been a close friend with Alexander for ten years. After Alexander’s death, Young became the lone black line officer in the service and the standard-bearer for his race in the U.S. Army. This placed a great deal of pressure directly on his already heavily burdened shoulders.30 The career of Captain Henry V. Plummer, the Ninth Cavalry’s black chaplain, also came to a sad ending in 1894. The army court-martialed Captain Plummer, found him guilty of charges, and dismissed him for conduct unbecoming of an officer. The facts of the case are largely undisputed. Plummer joined the regiment’s sergeant major and two other noncommissioned officers to celebrate a sergeant’s promotion. Plummer and the sergeants toasted the promotion with alcohol and later Plummer had an altercation with a black noncommissioned officer. In the resulting court-martial, all witnesses agreed that Plummer had consumed alcohol with enlisted men and had supplied the troopers with alcohol, both of which were prohibited and considered conduct unbecoming of an officer under the Articles of War. President Grover Cleveland approved Plummer’s dismissal in November 1894. This incident must have also put Young on his guard.31 Officer Training Lieutenant Young benefited in the early 1890s from the introduction of improvements to military professionalism

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recommended by Gen. William T. Sherman and Col. Emory Upton a decade earlier. General Sherman, then commander in chief of the U.S. Army, ordered the establishment of the School of Application for infantry and cavalry at Fort Leavenworth in 1881. Ten years later, Gen. John M. Schofield, Sherman’s successor, extended the improvement of the army’s education system by instituting lyceums. The post commander at Fort Duchesne held such lyceums and required that Lieutenant Young and other junior officers present papers on professional topics. This was perhaps the only time these officers had an opportunity to contemplate anything other than the day- to-day challenges of garrison duty at Fort Duchesne.32 One proof of Young’s professional training and development while at Fort Duchesne consists of a paper he wrote concerning army tactics. On April 16, 1894, Young completed the lyceum paper, titled “Battle Exercises and Practical Schemes in Minor Tactics Using Ground in Vicinity of Fort Duchesne, Utah.” The fifteen-page paper was laboriously typed, edited with handwritten corrections, presented verbally to the small group of officers at Fort Duchesne, and then forwarded to higher headquarters. The assistant adjutant general acknowledged and endorsed the paper for the commander of the Department of the Colorado on May 11, 1894, and the paper was returned to Young, which was normal procedure in such cases. The paper shows a young officer who was thinking of his future challenges.33 The purpose of the paper appears on the first page. After asking a number of rhetorical questions about the proper way to conduct various tactical schemes and maneuvers, he admits, “[O]ftentimes I am at a loss for the solutions to these problems.” He then states: “The only apology therefore that I have to offer for this paper is a desire of setting in order in my own mind a few definitive matters of military knowledge, to make enquiry

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as to what things are material and indispensable to be known by officers of the line, non-commissioned officers, and privates in the event of war, and finally to propose a few schemes or plans that may be carried out in time of peace the practice of which will be conducive to attaining this knowledge.”34 The second half of Young’s paper is devoted to “battle exercises” and an explanation of how the terrain in and around Fort Duchesne could be used to conduct useful training. He incorporates roles for all arms and supporting elements, from cavalry troopers and infantry soldiers to the hospital corps and signal detachments. Young even outlines an operations order that could be used in a practice exercise. He concludes with a recommendation that the reader consult the 1893 report of the commandant of the U.S. Cavalry and Light Artillery School at Fort Riley that he believes should “be in the possession of every progressive officer of the line in the Army.” He concludes with: “The thing then to be desired above all others is confidence in one’s self that he has a well defined knowledge of the elements of the Art of War combined with practical skill to carry this into effect by virtue of having been inured to doing these things until, so to speak, they have become second nature.”35 Young’s lyceum paper shows us a young and inexperienced officer in search of answers to serious questions. He is already projecting forward to the day when he might lead his troops into combat in a setting far different from that at Fort Duchesne, and sees the need for sensible training. The obvious answer is practice in as realistic conditions as can be conjured in the dusty plains surrounding Fort Duchesne. The goal would be to create officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers with confidence in their ability to master the art of war, and more importantly, fewer lives needlessly lost learning the hard lessons of combat. Young would have an opportunity to test this

5. Fort Duchesne, Utah, in 1886 (Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved)

6. Officers’ quarters at Fort Duchesne (Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved)

7. Post saloon at Fort Duchesne (Used by permission, Uintah County Library Regional History Center, all rights reserved) 8. Map of Fort Duchesne drawn by Young (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection) 9. Charles Young (seated second from left) with the Beta Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Black Cats) at Wilberforce University (Courtesy of the National Afro-American History Museum and Cultural Center)

10. First Lieutenant Young (second from left, front of formation) in front of the student military detachment at Wilberforce University (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

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theory in a future posting at Fort Duchesne preparing for a different kind of war. Little more than a month after the delivery of his lyceum paper, Young took leave of Fort Duchesne on May 18, 1894, with orders to report to Wilberforce University. Lieutenant Young had flourished at Fort Duchesne under the mentoring of Lieutenant Alexander and the leadership of Captain Rucker. Amid this positive command climate, Young honed his leadership skills and began fostering his own professional development. The army would never again find Young lacking in experience and practical military knowledge as it had at Fort Robinson during his first year with the Ninth Cavalry. Second Lieutenant Young learned a great deal and matured in the profession of arms at Fort Duchesne from 1890 to 1894. Although his experiences were still different from his white peers and his treatment was sometimes biased, superior officers grew to trust and depend on his leadership skills. True, there were so few officers at Fort Duchesne that Captain Rucker and Major Randlet had little choice but to give Young his rein. But this was all Young needed: a white man’s chance.36

4. Military Instructor at Wilberforce

[Guns are] [v]ery valuable things when backed by common sense and very harmless when the student has been educated to know their use and how not to abuse this use. charles young, 1899

T

he War Department assigned 2nd Lt. Charles Young to serve as professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University in 1894. The officer who arrived in Ohio was a thirty-year-old lieutenant who had completed his first field assignment with the Ninth Cavalry. But in terms of self-confidence and troop experience, he was far ahead of the subaltern he had been after graduating from West Point less than five years earlier. After spending the previous years on primitive frontier posts in the West, the comforts and cultivation of Wilberforce must have seemed a wonderful change to Young. Charles Young was coming home in more ways than one. First, he was coming home to Ohio, the place he had lived from the time he was a six-month-old son of runaway slaves, in 1864, to the day he departed for West Point in 1884. Young would always consider the Buckeye State his home. Second, he was coming home to his people. Wilberforce University was an important center of African American education that helped foster

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a vibrant and dynamic black society in Ohio. At Wilberforce he would have the opportunity to train and mentor students to follow in his footsteps in the army.1 Detached Duty Lieutenant Young’s assignment in 1894 as professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University was not a planned affair. As a rule, an officer in the army had to serve a minimum of five years with troops before the War Department considered him sufficiently seasoned for detached duty away from his regiment. Most lieutenants and captains served their entire terms as company-grade officers in their home regiments. Some served short tours of detached duty at nearby posts, at higher headquarters, or at service school assignments at Fort Leavenworth or Fort Riley. Fewer still served far from their regiments for longer periods of time at assignments to West Point, the military departments at colleges and universities, or as military attachés abroad. Young would have served longer with his regiment before being considered eligible for such duty, but the sudden death of John Alexander in 1894 put negotiations in motion that shortened his stay at Fort Duchesne. On March 26, 1894, less than a month after his arrival at Wilberforce, Alexander died unexpectedly at a barbershop in Springfield, Ohio, after complaining of a severe headache and collapsing. The official cause of death was listed as apoplexy, but contemporary sources listed heart disease and “the rupture of one of the large arteries near the heart” as the probable explanation. Dr. William S. Scarborough, who taught Greek and Greek Literature at Wilberforce, established a friendship with Alexander in the short time he was there. He described Alexander’s death as sudden and startling. According to Scarborough: “He left my house seemingly

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in good health but died less than three hours afterwards of heart’s disease.”2 Alexander’s death shocked the citizens of Springfield, black and white. According to Scarborough: “Before the body was removed, one of the officers of the Ohio National Guard desired to know if the colored company intended to escort the remains to the county line, adding that if it did not, the white company would do so as it did not intend to permit a West Point graduate (regardless of color) to die in their midst and his body be removed from the county without proper military escort at least to the county line.” Dr. Scarborough responded to the white Ohio National Guard officer that he would see to it that Alexander received proper honors.3 Springfield was home to one of the African American companies that comprised the black Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Battalion, a unit Young would later command. Scarborough fulfilled his promise and the Springfield Company of the Ninth Ohio provided an escort for Alexander’s body to Wilberforce. After a funeral at the university, Alexander was laid to rest by an honor guard of his Wilberforce cadets at the Cherry Grove Cemetery in Xenia, Ohio. After Alexander’s death, Young became the only black cavalry or infantry officer then serving in the army, and would remain so for the next seven years.4 Wilberforce wanted a professor to lead its new military program, and Young was the only black line officer in the Regular Army at the time to fill the position. The president of Wilberforce University, Rev. Samuel T. Mitchell, wrote letters to U.S. President Grover Cleveland and Ohio Senator Calvin Brice asking for Young as a replacement. But the U.S. Army adjutant general initially balked at the idea of Young’s assignment, citing the law passed by Congress in 1893 that restricted an officer from such detached duty until he had served five years with troops.

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This was not the first or last time Congress tried to restrict the assignment of officers away from troops and prohibit lengthy assignments at desirable locations, a term that would later be known in military jargon as “Manchu Law.”5 As a possible solution to this problem, the adjutant general informed President Mitchell that a leave of absence might be approved for Young to work at Wilberforce University until he could be formally detailed in September 1894, in accordance with the law. That date would mark the fifth anniversary of his graduation from West Point. After Mitchell informed Young of his desire to have him report as soon as possible, Young wrote the adjutant general requesting three and a half months of leave so he could report to the university in May. The War Department approved his request for leave, and detailed Young as professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University beginning on September 1, 1894.6 Military Department Wilberforce University is the nation’s oldest, private college or university owned and operated by African Americans, and was named for the eighteenth-century British abolitionist, William Wilberforce. The Methodist Episcopal Church established the institution near Xenia, Ohio, in 1856. The original Wilberforce met with early success but closed its doors in 1862 during the Civil War due to lack of funding and enrollment. The following year, Bishop Daniel Payne of the African Methodist Episcopal Church purchased the school facilities for ten thousand dollars, and the university reopened again in 1863. In 1887 the state of Ohio began to fund Wilberforce University by creating a Combined Normal and Industrial Department. This was a key step that led to the establishment of a military training program at the university a few years later.7

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Civilian colleges and universities in the United States began offering military training for their students in 1819. That year, not long after the establishment of West Point in 1802, the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy, now called Norwich University, began offering military training. During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, about 2,500 officers who studied military tactics at civilian colleges and universities served in the armies of the North and South. Congress recognized the need to train more military officers and passed the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862, which established land-grant colleges offering military tactics as part of the curriculum. West Point could graduate sufficient numbers of Regular Army officers to lead the active units of the small peacetime army, but training at civilian institutions was necessary to fill the ranks of the state militias and lead the volunteer units in time of emergency or war.8 Wilberforce University was the first black institution to establish a military science department and organize a military training program for its students. This followed a revision of the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1890 that encouraged the states to provide African American land-grant colleges with military training for their students. Wilberforce, a private sectarian institution, worked an arrangement with Ohio in 1887 to receive funding by establishing a state-funded Combined Normal and Industrial Department. The resulting funding and state participation on campus paved the way for the establishment of a military training program through an arrangement with Ohio State University, beginning in 1892, and led to Young’s assignment two years later.9 President Grover Cleveland authorized the federally sponsored military training program at Wilberforce after the strong endorsement of Ohio senators John Sherman, Calvin S. Brice, and

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Ohio congressman George W. Hulick in 1893. The War Department then budgeted $3,386.21 to supply arms, cannons, and equipment for the Wilberforce military training program. But Reverend Mitchell wanted someone with the proper charisma and experience to lead the program, which led to the assignment of John Alexander in 1894. Alexander’s death soon after his arrival at Wilberforce set the program back, but only temporarily. Young arrived to take up his duties at Wilberforce University after a three-day journey from Utah on May 21, 1894.10 Military and Academic Duties Young immediately went to work organizing the military program at the university. He had a great deal of practical work to do since Alexander had served in the position barely two months. The War Department had purchased the equipment, supplies, and weapons for the Wilberforce military program, but the real work involved putting together a coherent training regime and developing a curriculum for the students. Young likely needed all of the motivational leadership he could muster, since the infant military training department at Wilberforce was still in shock and mourning after Alexander’s sudden death. An additional challenge for Young was that few civilian colleges or universities offered military programs, certainly none that were African American institutions. According to the adjutant general, in his annual report for the secretary of war in 1894: “The number of pupils at 95 schools and colleges under military instruction by officers of the Army during the last quarter of the school year was 13,070.” This nearly doubled the 7,366 students reported in 1891. So Young was doubly challenged. Not only was he establishing a new military training program at Wilberforce, he was also part of a new and growing

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army training establishment spread across the United States in nearly one hundred institutions of higher learning.11 What were Young’s duties as professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University? First and foremost, as in any leadership position, Lieutenant Young led by example. The young black students in the military training program at Wilberforce needed a role model like Young to convince them that it was possible to become a black officer in what was then a white man’s officer corps. Young, having risen above racial prejudice and intense scrutiny at West Point, and during his first tour as a second lieutenant at Fort Robinson and Fort Duchesne, was uniquely qualified to lead young African American officer candidates. Young’s officer trainees also needed practical military schooling and a solid education to prepare them for the future challenges of leadership. According to the annual report of the inspector general in 1894, the students enrolled in the program received theoretical and practical military instruction ranging from the study of high strategy and logistics to recitations from the common drill books. Many schools had ranges, drill grounds, and armories where the instructors could lead the students through minor tactics, target practice, and extended order movements. Young had to improvise at Wilberforce to accomplish his mission with existing time and facilities.12 Not all of his students approved of Young’s rigorous regime of drill and exercise or his strict standards of behavior and discipline. A student cadet named John H. Hilton rebelled and charged that Lieutenant Young had assaulted him after a disagreement in February 1895. Hilton wrote to the War Department on February 6, 1895, alleging that Young had attacked, threatened, and drawn his sword on him. Wilberforce University conducted an investigation that cleared Young and charged

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Hilton with provoking the incident. Hilton was later dismissed over the affair and the school administration concluded that Young was doing his job very well indeed.13 Young made a great deal of progress developing the military training of his students while garnering the support of the faculty of Wilberforce University in his first year. Captain Henry O. Heistand from the Army Inspector General’s Office visited Wilberforce on May 23, 1895, on a routine inspection. His report concluded, “Lieutenant Young is very enthusiastic and energetic and has worked very conscientiously for the development of the department so recently established: he enjoys the full confidence and has the active support of the entire faculty and seems eminently qualified both from inclination and ability for the position he occupies.”14 By the time the army inspector general sent a second officer to examine the progress of the military training program at Wilberforce, Young had made further strides. The inspecting officer, Capt. Cyrus S. Roberts, who visited the military department on May 14, 1897, gave Young high praise. He stated: “I have no hesitation in commending Lieutenant Young as in all respects fitted for his position as military professor. He is conspicuously qualified mentally, is zealous, industrious and thoroughly interested in his work, and has the best interests of the University at heart, as is evidenced by his voluntarily teaching without remuneration, classes in French, Chemistry, Descriptive Geometry and Geology.15 Teaching languages and music must have been easy for Young, but mathematics? He had struggled with mathematics at West Point in 1884 and was turned back to repeat his plebe year at the academy. According to Scarborough, he taught the “upper classes” in “higher mathematics,” though the more difficult classes in undergraduate mathematics at a liberal arts college like

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Wilberforce were not on a par with those taught at an engineering school like West Point. The irony of teaching mathematics to students at Wilberforce University cannot have been lost on Young. He could identify with those students who did not take to mathematics and for that reason, was probably an effective math professor. This was an important life lesson.16 Cadet Battalion Young organized the students in the Military Department at Wilberforce University into a cadet battalion. Mirroring the method of West Point, cadets themselves officered the battalion, with rank and responsibility going to “those who excel in class standing, who are most exemplary in deportment, correct in performance of duty, and in military bearing.” Wilberforce required all cadets to purchase tailored uniforms at a cost of about ten dollars a set, including caps; not an unsubstantial sum at the time. Military training was mandatory for all male students in the Combined Normal and Industrial Department at Wilberforce. The university made it obligatory for all male students to wear uniforms at all times, participate in drill, and take instruction in military subjects.17 The course of study established by Lieutenant Young featured both theoretical and practical applications of military instruction. The theoretical side included “recitations in the drill regulations, supplemented by lectures on minor tactics; army organization, administration, and discipline; small arms, firing, regulations, and other military subjects.” Additionally, the cadets studied military signal codes and wrote essays on military subjects. Practical courses included military drill and gymnastics, artillery drill and mechanical maneuvers, target practice, military signaling, marching, castrametation, and

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exercise in minor tactics. The Military Department at Wilberforce was fortunate to have their own small battery of cannons.18 The battalion roster as listed in the Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue in 1898 reflects a fairly conventional military organization. Lt. Charles Young served as the commandant and led the battalion with a small staff made up entirely of cadets. The officers included a cadet first lieutenant adjutant, first lieutenant quartermaster, and captain in charge of artillery. The cadet noncommissioned officers consisted of a sergeant major, quartermaster sergeant, ordnance sergeant, and signal sergeant. Six signal corpsmen, a color sergeant, two color guards, a chief musician, and nine band members rounded out the battalion headquarters. To Young this would have been similar to the small leadership organization he had been part of with the Ninth Cavalry at Fort Duchesne.19 The battalion line comprised two companies of about forty cadets each. Companies A and B had nearly identical organizations and numbers, again officered by cadets. Each had a cadet company commander, first lieutenant, second lieutenant, first sergeant, four sergeants, four corporals, and 29 to 32 privates. The total strength of the Military Department of Wilberforce University in 1898 was 113 members, with 28 in the staff, band, and signal corps, 44 in Company A, and 41 in Company B. To put this in perspective, the entire corps of cadets at West Point totaled no more than 400 in the same year. By 1898, Charles Young had graduated 9 cadets from the Military Department at Wilberforce who had been examined by the “general inspecting officers” and had their names placed on file with the War Department in Washington. The U.S. Army considered these men qualified to serve as officers in the militia or National Guard units of the state.20 The home states of the African American cadets at Wilberforce

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in 1898 included most of the United States. More than half, sixty-five, hailed from Ohio, followed by the states of Kentucky with nine and Pennsylvania with six. After that came Texas, Maryland, Colorado, and Montana with three each; Mississippi, Illinois, South Carolina, and Indiana with two each; and Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Delaware, New York, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Louisiana with one each. Young molded the young men of nineteen states into trained cadets qualified for future military service.21 Surprisingly, four of Young’s cadets hailed from South Africa. These students, named Charles Dube, Theodore Kakaza, Marshall Maxeke, and James Tantzi studied at Wilberforce as African Methodist Episcopal (ame) “missionary students.” They were among about a dozen South African students at Wilberforce in 1898 sponsored by the ame General Conference under the stipulation that they agree to return to South Africa as ame missionaries after the completion of their studies. Dube, Maxeke, and Tantzi all returned later and became the backbone of the ame church in South Africa, while Kakaza went on to study medicine. Marshall Maxeke was a founding member of the African National Congress and married another South African graduate of Wilberforce, Charlotte Manye Maxeke.22 Lieutenant Young took special delight in establishing Wilberforce University’s marching band. Young’s dedication and loyalty to the army was one of the few things that surpassed his love of music. His father, Gabriel Young, had set him firmly on this path as a child by paying for piano lessons to keep him out of mischief on the streets. He later learned to play the guitar, banjo, violin, and wrote musical scores. At West Point, Fort Robinson, and Fort Duchesne, music had served as both an escape from the rigors of everyday military life and a refuge from the racial prejudice surrounding him. One of Young’s

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colleagues said: “If he saw a trace of talent especially in art or music he gave encouragement and sought to stimulate its possessor.” At Wilberforce he could share this passion with the black cadets of his Military Department and use it to create an instrument of pride.23 Family Death Little more than a month after his arrival at Wilberforce, Charles Young suffered a grievous loss in his own family. Gabriel Young, his father, died of tuberculosis on June 16, 1894, after a long illness. Charles Young claimed that “complications brought on by exposure” during the Civil War were to blame for his early death. According to his death certificate he was fifty-three. It was Gabriel’s influence and example more than anything else that had inspired Charles Young to attend West Point and persevere despite the prejudice and isolation he faced in the army.24 Born in Kentucky, Gabriel Young had lived the first half of his life as a slave on a small farm in Mason County. During the Civil War, Gabriel married and decided his future lay in freedom. He failed in his first attempt to escape north on the Underground Railroad, but succeeded in his second, and fled with his wife Arminta and infant child, Charles, to freedom in Ohio. He surfaced in Ripley, Ohio, an important way station on the Underground Railroad and home of the famous abolitionists Rev. John Rankin and John Parker. John Parker, a black businessman who had also once been enslaved, convinced Gabriel to join the army and fight for freedom.25 Gabriel was one of the more than 178,000 African American soldiers who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He enlisted in the Fifth U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery in Ripley, Ohio, on February 13, 1865, and served honorably for fifteen months with the unit in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After he was

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discharged Gabriel was ever a proud patriot, member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and thankful for the opportunities endowed by his service in the military. He passed on to his son a passionate patriotism and sense of what a military career could gain for a black man.26 The Grand Army of the Republic gave Gabriel a fitting sendoff. The Zanesville Courier listed a funeral notice stating that the “Hazlett Post G.A.R. will meet at the Grand Army Hall June 17th at 1 o’clock to attend the funeral of our late comrade, Gabriel Young.” The Zanesville Signal reported the following day: “The funeral of Gabriel Young took place yesterday afternoon under the auspices of Hazlett Post G.A.R., services being held at the Union Baptist Church.” Charles and Arminta attended with other friends and family. 2nd Lt. Charles Young must have caused a stir, glittering in his dress blue officer’s uniform. The Grand Army of the Republic was still a powerful political and social force in the 1890s, buttressed by bonds forged in battle. It is significant that the local chapter of the gar, composed of mostly white veterans, went to so much effort to honor one of its black members.27 Sometime soon after Gabriel’s death, Arminta moved from Zanesville to Wilberforce to live with her son. Arminta played a very prominent role in her son’s affairs for the rest of his life. If Gabriel conferred to Charles Young his patriotism, sense of duty, and love of music, then Arminta passed on the importance of learning and began his education. Arminta was one of the rare black women in the years after the Civil War who could read and write. It was this education and the intellectual curiosity Arminta instilled in him that enabled Charles Young to successfully compete for admission to West Point and ultimately win his diploma.28 Arminta helped her son purchase the house near Wilberforce where they lived together, using money from Gabriel’s pension

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and the sale of her house in Zanesville, Ohio. The home was on the Columbus Pike just outside of the Xenia city limits but only about a mile from the Wilberforce University campus. It was a large, two-story, brick structure with a rambling front porch situated on about one hundred acres of farmland. One of the things that may have attracted Young to the house was its history as a way station on the Underground Railroad. Charles came to call the house Youngsholm and returned there often over a long and wide-ranging military career. He maintained a lifelong commitment to the university and community by establishing his permanent residence there.29 Charles Young loved to host visitors at Youngsholm, and it was there that he felt truly at home. According to Wilberforce president Dr. Scarborough: Young had a big heart, just such a heart as a man of his rank and station should possess. To meet him, to shake his hand, to chat with him, and to get a glimpse of his eye were all an inspiration such as any one might covet. His home was open to everybody and everybody came. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper were all more than simply family meals. People far and wide—friends, and even strangers—made his home a Mecca for pilgrimages and often came in numbers, but they always found an hospitable home.30 Youngsholm soon became a meeting place for a number of Young’s friends and confidants, many of them important and influential members of the African American intelligentsia. Talented Tenth While at Wilberforce, Young broadened his stature and influence among African Americans. He proved his ability to motivate

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young black students to educate themselves and become what W. E. B. Du Bois referred to in 1903 as the “Talented Tenth.” Among the faculty at Wilberforce were many well-known and highly regarded black leaders and educators like Professor William A. Scarborough and the Reverend Samuel T. Mitchell. While at Wilberforce he entered the circle of influential African American leaders like Booker T. Washington and remained close confidants with them for the rest of his life. He also established a close if short-lived friendship with the famous black poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Young became especially close to Du Bois who also taught at Wilberforce University from 1894 to 1896.31 Du Bois was born in 1868, which made him four years younger than Charles Young but still a rough contemporary in terms of education if not temperament. Young graduated from West Point in 1889, a year after Du Bois received his undergraduate degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Du Bois then entered Harvard as a junior, graduated cum laude in 1890, remained there to do graduate work, and received his Ph.D. in 1894. They both arrived at Wilberforce the same year, Young to instruct military science and tactics, Du Bois to teach Latin and Greek. While Young later found himself teaching mathematics, French, and science, Du Bois additionally taught English, German, and history. No matter how disparate their backgrounds, they became fast and lifelong friends.32 According to author David Levering Lewis, “Young’s was the first genuine male friendship in Du Bois’ life, one of a handful in which there was genuine affinity.” Both were somewhat illsuited to the parochial and sometimes hysterically religious atmosphere at the university. Du Bois had arrived in the wake of President Mitchell’s 1894 firing of Dr. Scarborough, Wilberforce’s most distinguished professor. According to Lewis, “People at Wilberforce flaunted their religion at every opportunity.

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Revival meetings could sweep the campus like wildfire, emptying classes for days and leaving students either too agitated or too exhausted for serious work for many days after.” Neither Young nor Du Bois were cut out to function effectively in such a religiously charged atmosphere.33 According to Lewis, Du Bois often found refuge from the religious drama of Wilberforce at the home of Charles Young. As a bachelor, Du Bois lived in a sparse room in Shorter Hall, so Young’s spacious home must have been a welcome retreat. They escaped together, as Young had often done in his military career, in music. Referring to Young, Du Bois lamented: “He and I refused to attend the annual ‘revivals’ which interrupted school work every year at Christmas time.” The Christmas of 1896, Charles Young would have something very special to celebrate with Du Bois: his promotion to first lieutenant.34 Young and Du Bois also grew close in friendship with poet Paul Laurence Dunbar at Wilberforce. According to David Lewis, Young and Dunbar “were as dissimilar physically and professionally as they were similar in terms of artistic temperament and interests.” Both met Dunbar when he came to Wilberforce for a reading in 1895, when his star was still rising. The young poet, who died a decade later from tuberculosis, celebrated his first success in 1893 with his collection of poems Oak and Ivy. By 1897, William Dean Howells in Harpers Weekly dubbed Dunbar “the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the Negro life aesthetically and express it lyrically.” Years later, Charles Young would cite Dunbar as an example of an African American who had excelled in the arts.35 Oak and Ivy, as the title suggests, contained a literary mix of serious poems in Standard English, the “oak” in the title, and a smaller section of dialect pieces, representing the “ivy.” To Dunbar’s surprise and eventual chagrin, readers raved over his

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plantation verse and largely ignored his mainstream poetry. This pattern repeated itself with his second poetry collection, Majors and Minors, published in 1895, the year he met Young and Du Bois at Wilberforce. Once again the serious poetry in the “majors” section was overshadowed by the favorable comment given the dialect pieces in the less important “minors” portion. Ironically, the plantation poems in this second book gave Dunbar national prominence as a poet and set his literary course irrevocably on this path for the future. William Dean Howells gave Majors and Minors a positive review in Harpers Weekly in June 1896 and Dunbar became an instant success and celebrity.36 Booker T. Washington, the only black man with more prestige than Dunbar, made his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech at the Cotton States International Exposition on September 18, 1895, during Young’s second year at Wilberforce. According to his biographer, Louis Harlan, “Washington clearly intended the crux of the speech to be the mutuality of racial obligation in the Redeemed South. In exchange for black acceptance of restrictions on the franchise and no further demands for ‘social equality,’ the South’s white rulers were to allow gradual progress in agriculture and business and to rein in the rednecks.” Du Bois was one of many who telegraphed Washington a few days after the speech and said: “Let me heartily congratulate you upon your phenomenal success at Atlanta—it was a word fitly spoken.” Du Bois and many African Americans at the time initially applauded and embraced Washington’s Atlanta Compromise.37 In January 1896, Du Bois wrote to Washington saying that he was looking for another teaching position, explaining that he was not wholly satisfied with his duties at Wilberforce. In order to discuss the possibility of teaching at Washington’s

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Tuskegee Institute, Du Bois invited Washington for a visit at Wilberforce. But since he did not have the means to play host to Washington, he wrote that his friends, Lieutenant Young and his mother, “cordially unite in inviting you thro’ me to be their guest at their residence.” Du Bois referred in his note to a planned visit to Wilberforce by Washington in June 1896. According to David Lewis in his book on Du Bois: “The sources are silent on what would have been their first face-to-face meeting— an indication that it probably never came to pass after all.” But even if it did not occur, both had made their first steps to approach one another and Charles Young had done his best to facilitate their meeting. Young and Washington would have a number of opportunities to meet in the future.38 Promotion While at Wilberforce, Young traveled to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to take his examination for promotion to first lieutenant. The army instituted the practice of administering promotion examinations at branch schools like Fort Leavenworth to raise the quality of officers. Prior to this change, an officer achieved promotion on longevity alone. After the regulation was amended, an officer had to pass a test to show that he met the army’s standards.39 Young passed the test on June 19, 1896, and the army found Young qualified for promotion, the first of many in a long career. At least one unfortunate incident occurred during his stay at Fort Leavenworth that reminded him of the racism still existing in American society. After he had traveled from Wilberforce to Fort Leavenworth, according to the Army and Navy Journal, Young “was not permitted to stop at any of the Leavenworth hotels and he was compelled to go to Kansas City.” There were not enough temporary quarters on post for all of the examined

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officers so they had to stay outside of the base. Young had to trek all the way to Kansas City to find a hotel that would give him a room. This must have been an especially rude awakening for Young after the respectful and collegial atmosphere he had experienced at Wilberforce.40 Though the army found Young qualified for promotion, he did not automatically pin on the coveted silver bars of a first lieutenant. As in the Old Army, the final step to promotion was still through seniority: an officer had to be promoted, die, or quit the regiment to make room for more junior officers to move up in rank. In order to be promoted, Young had to wait for someone to vacate one of the available first lieutenant positions in the regiment.41 One option taken by many officers, Young included, was to move to another regiment with vacancies in order to achieve a faster promotion. Officers who were away on detached service from their units often joined other regiments on paper in order to fill a vacancy and get promoted earlier. The War Department condoned and even accommodated officers who searched for assignments that might get them promoted earlier than if they had remained with their home regiments. Officers regularly posted ads in the Army and Navy Journal seeking opportunities to move from one regiment to another to facilitate promotions.42 One puzzling assignment in Young’s military career has its basis in the practice: his posting to the Seventh U.S. Cavalry Regiment. Official military records show that he served a short tour with this regiment from December 22, 1896, to October 1, 1897, during his assignment to Wilberforce University. In his obituary of Young, West Point classmate Charles Rhodes, himself a veteran of the Seventh, leads us to believe he actually served with Custer’s unlucky regiment. Several writers

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have described Young as earning the grudging and somewhat rancorous respect of white troopers in the Seventh through a display of quiet humility and superior riding skills. Nothing could be farther from the truth.43 Young served his entire military career exclusively in troop assignments with the Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry Regiments. The War Department assigned the handful of black officers in the Regular Army between the Civil War and World War I solely to the two black infantry regiments, the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth, and the two black cavalry regiments, the Ninth and Tenth. The U.S. Army as an institution was uncomfortable with commissioning and accommodating black army officers. This was the only possible solution the army thought practicable in dealing with the three black officers who graduated from West Point in the nineteenth century. The basis for Young’s assignment to the Seventh is found in the promotion system in the nineteenth-century U.S. Army. The system was bureaucratic, arcane, and sometimes difficult to understand when compared to modern practices. Young’s promotion to first lieutenant upon reassignment to the Seventh Cavalry offers the first key to this mystery. Young’s transfer to the Seventh Cavalry shows that he was as eager and ambitious as the next officer to make promotion. It also shows that Young mastered the art of manipulating the promotion procedures fairly early in his career and used it to his advantage, rather than allowing himself to be completely dependent on the system. A close reading of the Seventh Cavalry regimental returns reveals the following chain of events. Young filled a vacancy left by 1st Lt. William H. Baldwin, H Troop, stationed at Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, when he resigned his commission on December 22, 1896. The return notes that Young never physically joined the regiment. Finally, the October 1897 regimental

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return lists 1st Lt. Charles Young transferred to I Troop, Ninth Cavalry. Once a similar vacancy opened in Young’s Ninth Cavalry, he was transferred back to his home regiment. The War Department might condone the assignment of a black officer to a white cavalry regiment on paper for the purpose of promotion, but would never have done so if there were a possibility that Young might actually serve in the all-white unit.44 The War Department had to review and approve transfers of officers between regiments, even if this occurred only on paper. In Young’s case, the U.S. Army adjutant general issued a special order endorsing his transfer and subsequent promotion. But the army also took special care to find the first available position and transfer Young back to the Ninth Cavalry so he would never actually serve in an all-white regiment like the Seventh. This would have run contrary to the War Department’s policy of having the single remaining black line officer serve only in an African American regiment. This would be a problem for Young as he achieved higher rank and the army found it increasingly difficult to find him what it considered “safe” postings.45 Second Lieutenant Young’s assignment as professor of tactics and military science at Wilberforce University from 1894 to 1898 was a watershed period for his personal and professional life. He served with great distinction at Wilberforce, established a vibrant military program, and inspired many black students to enroll in the officers’ training course. Young also contributed his time and talents to the university as a whole, teaching languages, science, mathematics, and music courses. But he also stayed current and proficient in his cavalry branch, taking and passing his promotion examination to first lieutenant. He proved adept at playing the bureaucratic promotion game

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too, transferring to the Seventh Cavalry to get his promotion to first lieutenant as quickly as possible. While at Wilberforce, Young demonstrated his academic talents and increasing stature and influence among African Americans. He proved his ability to motivate young black students to strive for education and become members of the Talented Tenth. Young also entered the circle of influential African American leaders like Washington, Du Bois, and Dunbar, and remained close confidants with them for the rest of his life. He maintained a lifelong commitment to the university, the community, and established his permanent residence near Wilberforce. But his heart was still that of a soldier and he yearned to return to his regiment, a reunion that would be delayed by a war with Spain.

5. Volunteer Officer in the Spanish-American War

We are trying to make soldiers out of those boys, and the yellow journals are trying to turn them back into tin soldiers. charles young, 1898

B

y the spring of 1898, Young was nearing the completion of his fourth year as professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University. Since Young had already spent more time away from his regiment than was normally allowed, he was expecting orders directing him to return to his regiment by the end of the year, but the War Department seemed in no hurry to send him back to the Ninth Cavalry. With Lieutenant Young serving at Wilberforce, the army had one less awkward assignment decision to make concerning the only black line officer in the Regular Army. In fact, if it had not been for the approaching war with Spain, he might have remained on detached duty in Ohio for another year. Young was a professional army officer and knew that promotion and success could only be earned by serving with his regiment. He had already proven himself as a second lieutenant, the most junior commissioned-officer position in a cavalry troop. He had worn the silver bars of a first lieutenant for two years, but he had not yet served in this position of increasing

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responsibility in a troop. For the army to promote Young to captain and assign him as a troop commander, he had first to demonstrate his proficiency as a first lieutenant. He would soon be proving his effectiveness at a much higher level of responsibility. Ohio National Guard It was common practice in the 1890s for the U.S. Army to assign officers who served as professors of tactics and military science at state institutions to assist in training the local National Guard. Accordingly, the army detailed Lieutenant Young to the Ohio National Guard (Colored) from August 25 to 30, 1897, as an inspecting officer. This extra duty came in the summer when the Wilberforce students were on summer break, giving Young a light schedule. Young could not have known at the time that this informal detail would lead to an assignment with the Ohio National Guard in time of war.1 Training in the National Guard was segregated, mirroring society, and the states seldom provided black units with activeduty officers to help train them to the level of most white units. Additionally, the states often issued African American units outdated equipment and provided them with substandard training facilities. The Ninth Ohio Battalion, the only black unit in the Ohio National Guard, was no exception to this practice and was subjected to poorly planned training under unsanitary conditions in the years before the SpanishAmerican War. But this changed in 1897, the summer Young was detailed as inspecting officer, when the battalion encamped in Wilmington, Ohio.2 The infantry company was the basic organizational building block of any volunteer infantry organization in the 1890s, comprising 106 soldiers, noncommissioned officers, and officers,

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and commanded by a captain. Four companies combined to form a battalion, which was commanded by a major. Three battalions comprised a regiment, commanded by a colonel; three regiments a brigade, commanded by a brigadier general; three brigades a division, commanded by a senior brigadier general; and three divisions a corps, commanded by a major general. The War Department table of organization for a corps called for an official strength of thirty thousand men in twenty-seven regiments, but this rarely happened in reality, especially in volunteer infantry units. Many companies, battalions, and regiments arrived at training camps below official strength.3 The Ninth Ohio had a rocky and politically charged history in the years before Lieutenant Young inspected the unit in 1897. According to one historian: “Of the states which allowed black units with complete rosters of black officers, none more dramatically pointed up the interplay of politics, patriotism, and race than Ohio.” The Ninth Battalion had formed on July 18, 1881, when two companies of African American militia from Springfield and Columbus were admitted into the Ohio National Guard. In 1887, a third company was added from Xenia, bringing it close to the normal four-company authorized strength of a battalion, but influential African Americans in the state failed in their goal to expand the Ninth into a full regiment.4 Early in 1897, Republican governor Asa S. Bushnell commissioned Maj. Charles W. Fillmore, an African American from his hometown of Springfield, as the commander of the Ninth Battalion. Fillmore was able to secure a good training facility for the battalion’s summer encampment in 1897 at the Clinton County Fairgrounds in Wilmington, Ohio. He was also fortunate to gain the services of Lieutenant Young as inspecting officer during the last week in August. Fillmore reported afterward:

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“The present success of the battalion is largely due to the untiring labors of Lieutenant Charles Young.” But this positive outlook would be short-lived, and party politics would soon unravel Fillmore’s command and again threaten the existence of the Ninth Ohio.5 Governor Bushnell won a hotly contested reelection in November 1897, but not before losing the support of many African American voters over his handling of the lynching of a black man earlier in the year. Fillmore decided to withdraw his offer of the Ninth Battalion as an escort for the governor in the inaugural parade after initially promising his participation. This flip-flop satisfied no one and the anti-Bushnell newspapers like the Cleveland Gazette and the black pro-Bushnell newspapers such as the Republican Vindicator criticized Fillmore equally. Fillmore even lost the support of some of his veteran officers in the Ninth, and one, Captain John R. Rudd, had ambitions of replacing him. This is where matters stood when the war with Spain intervened.6 War with Spain When the battleship uss Maine exploded and sank in Spanishcontrolled Havana, Cuba, on February 15, 1898, the United States counted 22 African American sailors among the 250 dead. Whatever doubts Americans of all colors had about the wisdom of U.S. intervention in Cuba went to the bottom of Havana Harbor with the Maine. The African Methodist Episcopal bishop William B. Derrick condemned the sinking and urged American retaliation. Booker T. Washington informed the secretary of war, John H. Long, that he supported raising ten thousand African American men to support the war with Spain. Many African Americans believed, as they had during the Civil War, that fighting for their country would earn them

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gratitude and better treatment from whites in return. Some black leaders also believed that the commitment to ending oppression in Cuba would cause Americans to reexamine racial problems in the United States once the war was over.7 Knowing that war was inevitable, and knowing that the small Regular Army would play a pivotal role in any fighting, Young wanted to rejoin the Ninth Cavalry. On April 9, 1898, Young sent a letter to the War Department requesting to be returned to his regiment in the event of war. Young was a soldier and his heart was with his regiment. If his beloved troopers from the Ninth were going to war, then Young would do everything in his power to go with them.8 Hard on the heels of Young’s letter, Congress passed a war resolution on April 19, 1898, which recognized Cuban independence, demanded the withdrawal of Spanish military forces from Cuba, and authorized President William McKinley to use military force if necessary. On April 23, the president called for raising 125,000 volunteers in preparation for war. In response to a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba, Spain declared war on the United States on April 24, 1898, and the United States responded by declaring war on the Kingdom of Spain retroactively to April 21, 1898. On April 24, the president asked for an additional seventy-five thousand volunteers and Congress authorized an increase in the strength of the Regular Army from twenty-five thousand to sixty-one thousand men.9 Even before the formal declaration of war, the War Department issued orders concentrating the Regular Army in camps in the Southern states so they would be close to the Caribbean. All four African American regiments in the Regular Army moved south in preparation for an invasion of Cuba. The Ninth Cavalry received orders to proceed to Chickamauga, Georgia, from its scattered posts in the West on April 15, 1898. Young’s former

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cohorts from B and F Troops of the Ninth Cavalry marched within days of receiving orders from Fort Duchesne to Price, Utah. The troopers loaded onto trains and departed for Georgia to reunite with the rest of the regiment.10 It took the volunteer regiments a bit longer to muster, but they soon followed Regular Army units to camps in the South. Congress directed the War Department to enlist ten thousand new volunteers in ten regiments “possessing immunity from diseases incident to tropical climates.” The army organized four of these regiments as African American Immune Volunteers. These black volunteer regiments were known as “immunes” because it was mistakenly thought that their African origins and residence in the South would give them immunity from tropical diseases. The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth U.S. Infantry Immune Volunteers (Colored) mustered in the Southern states from Virginia to Louisiana from May to July 1898. All positions for second and first lieutenants in these black regiments were reserved for African Americans, so a number of Young’s former noncommissioned officers from the Ninth Cavalry and a few of his Wilberforce cadets earned commissions in these new regiments.11 The War Department depended on the state National Guards to supply the majority of the roughly two hundred thousand volunteers for the war effort. By the end of the Spanish-American War, forty-five states would muster 145 volunteer regiments into federal service, and eight of these included African American soldiers. Some of these black volunteer units, like the Ninth Ohio Battalion, Eighth Illinois Regiment, Twenty-third Kansas Regiment, and Third North Carolina Regiment, were composed entirely of African Americans, including all of the officers. In the Sixth Virginia Regiment, only the commander and a surgeon

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were white. In the remainder, the senior officers were white while junior officers and all of the enlisted men were black.12 The War Department refused Young’s April request to rejoin his regiment, as it did with most officers then serving on detached duty. Instead, Lieutenant Young received a letter from the office of the governor of Ohio on May 8, 1898, which read: “If convenient I would like you to [come to] Columbus sometime Monday (9th) and upon arrival call [at] my office in Capital Building. If not convenient to come Monday come Tuesday. I enclose transportation. Very Respectfully Yours, Asa B. Bushnell, Governor.” The governor intended to offer Young the command of the Ninth Ohio Battalion.13 Since he was unable to fight with the Ninth Cavalry, Young reasoned that serving with the Ninth Ohio might be his best chance to see action in the war. Charles Young was well aware of the political struggle between Bushnell and the African American community in Ohio and certainly knew that the governor might ask him to command the battalion. He was determined to lead soldiers in the war against Spain and therefore accepted command of the battalion from the governor. Mustered In On April 25, 1898, the state ordered the Ninth Ohio Battalion to move to Columbus and begin preparations at Camp Bushnell. Knowing the governor intended to sack him, the battalion commander, Major Fillmore, had tendered his resignation. On May 13, 1898, Governor Bushnell appointed Charles Young as major and commander of the Ninth Ohio Battalion, U.S. Volunteers (usv). Bushnell realized that if he had selected one of Fillmore’s subordinates or a white officer, he would have fueled further dissention. The choice of Young to command the battalion received universal support. The black press and a number of

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prominent black leaders in Ohio, including the African Methodist Episcopal bishop, Benjamin Arnett, supported the selection of Young as the new commander of the battalion.14 Events moved quickly. The president of the United States federalized the Ninth Ohio Battalion on May 14, 1898, in Columbus, Ohio, and mustered the unit into service with Major Young as its commander. Young was granted indefinite leave by the War Department to serve in the volunteers, though he retained his permanent rank of first lieutenant in the Regular Army. The battalion initially comprised companies from Columbus, Springfield, and Xenia. Later, Bishop Arnett and others pressured the governor to expand the battalion to a full regiment, trying to create the first volunteer regiment with all African American officers and men. But the governor only approved raising one additional company from Cleveland.15 The Ninth Ohio Volunteer Battalion mustered in with a present-for-duty strength of 16 officers and 314 men. This formed a slightly undersized battalion with a small staff of seven and three infantry companies of about one hundred each. The initial three companies from Columbus, Springfield, and Xenia became Companies A, B, and C respectively. These three companies of the Ninth Ohio spent four days getting organized and departed on May 19 for Camp Alger, in Virginia, where they would complete their preparations for what they thought would be a speedy deployment. The War Department records show that the Ninth Ohio formally completed its muster on July 8, 1898, when the fourth company from Cleveland joined the battalion at Camp Alger.16 Young took fourteen cadets and ex-cadets from his Wilberforce University Military Department with him to the Ninth Ohio Battalion. 2nd Lt. Wilson Ballard served as Young’s battalion adjutant and Emmanuel D. Bass as his battalion sergeant

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major. The other twelve cadets from the Wilberforce military program served in various positions within the battalion, ranging from private to officer. Charles Burroughs and Arthur Brown, who graduated from the program at Wilberforce, served as corporals in Companies D and B respectively. Another corporal in Company D, Harry O. Atwood, would serve with Young many years in the future. Many of the relationships and bonds formed between Young and his men from Wilberforce and the Ninth Ohio would far outlast their short service in the SpanishAmerican War.17 Unfortunately for Young and the Ninth Ohio, the fighting in Cuba was already moving toward a conclusion before they completed their training at Camp Alger. U.S. troops had landed in Cuba on June 22, and the first victory of the campaign, won largely through the heroic efforts of the black Tenth Cavalry and the Rough Riders of the First Volunteer Cavalry, was gained at Las Guasimas, two days later. On July 1, 1898, the African American Twenty-fifth Infantry, flanked by the white regiments of the Fourth and the Twelfth infantries, all Regular Army units, charged up a hill to take the fortified position at El Caney. Simultaneously, the three other black units in the Regular Army, the Twenty-fourth Infantry and the Ninth and Tenth cavalry regiments, assaulted the Spanish entrenchments atop San Juan Hill. These two land victories and the destruction of the Spanish fleet outside of Santiago Harbor essentially ended the war in Cuba. The formal documents for the surrender of Cuba were signed on July 17, 1898.18 Camp Alger The Ninth Ohio Battalion arrived at Camp Russell A. Alger in Falls Church, Virginia, on May 21, 1898. This camp served as a staging area en route to the Caribbean. The Ninth initially

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joined the Twelfth Pennsylvania and Seventh Illinois Volunteer Regiments to form the Second Brigade, Second Division. In June, the Second Corps reorganized to accommodate newly arriving units, and the Ninth Ohio Battalion regrouped with the Sixth Massachusetts and Eighth Ohio Volunteer Regiments to form the Second Brigade of the First Division. All expected a brisk training and orientation regime to prepare them for a quick transfer to the Caribbean, and this would have happened had the Ninth Ohio Battalion remained in the Second Brigade, First Division.19 The First New Jersey Regiment was relieved of duty as the Second Corps headquarters guard in late June, and the corps commander, Maj. Gen. W. William Graham, assigned this duty to the Ninth Ohio Battalion. This important but thankless job required Young and his soldiers to guard the corps headquarters, man outposts that secured the camp entrance to nearby Falls Church, and safeguard the local citizens’ gardens and private property. When the Second Brigade, First Division was ordered to Cuba, General Graham, thinking the entire Second Corps would soon be sent to the Caribbean, asked the War Department’s permission to retain the Ninth Ohio as his headquarters guard. This request was granted, and the Ninth Ohio was attached once again to the Second Brigade, Second Division.20 Perhaps because it was relatively small, well disciplined, and skillfully led, Young’s battalion was relegated to headquarters guard duty and therefore missed a chance to participate in operations on Cuba or Puerto Rico. Had the Ninth Battalion remained with the Sixth Massachusetts and the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Regiments in the Second Brigade, First Division, it would certainly have seen service in Cuba or Puerto Rico. The delay until July to complete its formal muster with the addition of the fourth company from Cleveland may also have

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contributed to its missing the action, and finally, the Ninth Ohio Battalion was too small to deploy and be useful at a time when entire regiments were required for service.21 Race may have also played a role. For a short period, there was a plan to give the Ninth Ohio a company from another regiment in the brigade. Brig. Gen. George A. Garretson, who commanded the Second Brigade of the First Division, objected to having any black units in his command. The Sixth Massachusetts had one company, Company L, composed of African Americans, which Garretson attempted to eliminate from the regiment and move to the Ninth Ohio before the unit deployed to the Caribbean. To his credit, the Sixth Massachusetts’ commander, Col. Charles F. Woodward, objected and the idea was abandoned. If Brigadier General Garretson objected to having a single African American company in the Sixth Massachusetts, then he also objected to having the Ninth Ohio in his brigade. This likely contributed to the Ninth being transferred out of Garretson’s brigade and missing an opportunity to see duty in the Caribbean.22 Shortly after the Ninth arrived at Camp Alger, James M. Pierce, a corporal in A Company, wrote an upbeat letter to the Cleveland Gazette concerning the Ninth Battalion’s garrison life. He mentions that the “boys of the Ninth” had been “favored with visits from” such notables as Maj. Charles Douglass, the son of Frederick Douglass, and the Honorable Judson W. Lyons, the register of the treasury. A group of Ohio congressional representatives who visited were entertained by a performance of Macbeth by the soldiers and a reading by Young’s friend Paul Laurence Dunbar of some of his poetry.23 Pierce also discusses Major Young’s efforts to whip the Ninth Ohio into an effective fighting unit. Pierce notes: “In order to test our celerity in preparation Major Young, or ‘Dynamite’ as

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he is called by the boys, ordered us to prepare to move at once, last Monday. We were ready in fifteen minutes.” Pierce boasted: “We have no sick in our battalion at present, though some of our boys would like to be so, especially in the mornings, when we take the one mile sprints. Pies and spirituous liquors are not permitted on the grounds.” Despite Young’s efforts, Pierce predicted: “We do not expect to move soon. My candid belief is that we shall not go to the front at all. I have never heard of anything less than a regiment being called into active engagement.” Pierce was prescient in this forecast.24 On August 2, Corporal Pierce wrote a second letter to the Cleveland Gazette from Camp Alger. He reported that all was quiet in the camp and that he had completed a week serving on guard duty at the corps headquarters of General Graham. Pierce related one incident that reflected the training standard of Young’s troops, the loyalty of the corps commander to his soldiers, and the potential peril of black soldiers serving in Southern states. A soldier from the Ninth, “in pursuance of Gen. Graham’s orders, halted a distinguished Virginian who was driving through the guard lines at a very rapid pace. Of course it went against his grain to be stopped by an Afro-American soldier.” The irate Southerner hurried to Falls Church and quickly returned with a warrant charging the soldier with assault. When General Graham heard of the incident, he declared: “None of my boys will be taken to Falls Church or anywhere else to be tried for executing my orders. If anybody is to be arrested, let them arrest me.” That ended the matter.25 On August 15, word reached the Second Corps headquarters that Camp Alger was to be abandoned. General Graham, his staff, and the Ninth Ohio departed for the new camp, Camp Meade, in Pennsylvania the following day. Young and the Ninth Ohio arrived as the advance party for the headquarters

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to establish the camp late on August 16. When they reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by train, a newspaper reported: “The colored population of Harrisburg was largely represented at Union Station when the cheering and yelling colored soldiers reached there. The Ohioans were a well-behaved lot and were fine specimens physically.”26 Camp Meade Shortly after their arrival at Camp Meade, Corporal Pierce wrote a third letter to the Cleveland Gazette to describe their new surroundings and situation. He remarked: Our new camp is much better than the one we left. We are camped on a hill to the rear of Gen. Graham’s headquarters. This section abounds in hills and beautiful scenery. We are within two miles of Middletown and seven miles from Harrisburg. As we are near the Susquehanna, our boys go to that river daily for bathing. Upon our arrival here we found our reputation had preceded us. People from Harrisburg and neighboring places streamed along the road last Sunday inquiring all the way: “Where is the Ninth Battalion?” I venture to assert without the slightest degree of vanity that we have larger crowds than any other command on the grounds. But Pierce tempered his optimism with a dose of citizensoldier reality. In his opinion: Now that the hope of participating in battle is gone, our boys, in common with all volunteers, are eager to don habiliments of civilians. There is a good deal of apathy among us since the peace negotiations began. Previous to that time there was no complaint or faultfinding. Now

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the sentiments of the boys are expressed in the following characteristic strain which some of our musical soldiers have improvised: “Do ole soljer ain’t nothin’ but a slave.” We are still Gen. Graham’s guard. He is exceedingly fond of the Afro-American soldier and unstinting in his praise of us.27 Three weeks after their arrival at Camp Meade, the Ninth Ohio suffered its first death from disease. A Cleveland paper reported on September 7 that “Private Clifford Henderson, Company A, Ninth Ohio (colored) battalion, died of typhoid fever this morning in the Red Cross hospital. His body was sent home to Cleveland for burial.” Corporal Pierce, also a member of A Company, could no longer speak of the battalion’s spotless health record. Despite this and four subsequent deaths to disease, the Ninth Ohio still boasted an exemplary health record, chiefly through lessons in field sanitation that Young had learned at West Point, practiced with the Ninth Cavalry, taught his military cadets at Wilberforce, and strictly enforced in the Ninth Ohio.28 Nearly every newspaper article mentioning the Ninth Ohio during its Spanish-American War service noted its superior discipline and training. The following excerpt from September 20 is typical: The Ninth Ohio battalion is probably the best drilled and disciplined body of men at Camp Meade. It is under the command of Major Young, one of the three colored men graduated from West Point, who is a thorough soldier. The battalion has dress parade every evening at 5:30, and Major Young keeps his men at drill almost constantly. One of the privates said today that a fine of $3 is imposed for lack of cleanliness in the command and that therefore it

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pays to keep clean. Major Young is very strict, but takes good care of his men, and is popular with them.29 The military reputation of the Ninth Ohio was well deserved, but did not come without a price. The soldiers who joined the unit after the original three companies mustered never really fully integrated into the battalion. These men were homesick and tired of military life, their disenchantment growing the longer the battalion served in camp. Once the fighting was finished, the men began to dread the prospect of overseas service in Cuba or the Philippines, since this would be much like the garrison duty they had experienced at Camps Alger and Meade, with the added dangers of tropical diseases.30 Press Criticism Governor Asa Bushnell of Ohio visited Camp Meade on his way to attend the Peace Jubilee festivities in Philadelphia, arriving on October 25, 1898, just two days before the parade. Upon his arrival, Governor Bushnell paid his respects to General Graham, and then witnessed a review of the Tenth Ohio Regiment and the Ninth Ohio Battalion. “Governor Bushnell expressed his pleasure at the natty appearance and fine evolutions of the troops, especially those of the Ninth Ohio and Tenth Ohio, and personally complimented the officers of these commands after the review.” Bushnell afterwards made an inspection of the Ohio camps, finding everything in excellent order.31 Bushnell questioned both of the Ohio commanders about the morale of the men and whether they wanted to continue to serve in the army. He also discussed the criticism Young received in some of the Ohio newspapers during the past few months. The newspaper reported: “The Governor wanted to know if there was anything needed for the comfort and health

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of the Ohioans and stated that the State stood ready to aid its soldier boys in every way possible. He had received a number of applications for discharges and had secured many.” But they would have to wait until the following year to be released by the War Department.32 Major Young made at least one trip to Ohio to take care of regimental business during the stay at Camp Meade. When he arrived in Ohio, reporters asked Young what he had done to cause some of his soldiers to complain to the press. He answered: Making soldiers of them. That is all. We are trying to make soldiers out of those boys, and the yellow journals are trying to turn them back into tin soldiers. I want to tell you they are a fine lot of boys, too. They are sound from the tops of their head to the soles of their feet, and they are soldiers. It means work to make a soldier. The men did not have time, I will admit, to go to Harrisburg and get drunk, as others have done, but tended to do their duties. This has turned out a superior lot of soldiers and they are ready for any duty.33 Shortly before his departure, another controversial article appeared in a Columbus, Ohio newspaper. Under the headline, “Major Young Slandered,” the article concludes: The reports circulated are wholly untrue and are a gross injustice to one of the most capable and efficient men in the army. Major Young has won the confidence and esteem of his superiors and there is scarcely a man in his command who would not sacrifice his life for him, if such an extreme was necessary. The major is a graduate of the West Point military academy and naturally insists upon discipline. He insists that his men obey orders, but

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he is not the harsh, cruel commander that the Dispatch would have people believe. A more kind-hearted, courteous and affable officer and gentleman does not exist and the condition of his camp and the proficiency in manual of arms, field drill, etc, proves that he has the interests of his men at heart.34 The black newspapers of the country, and especially those of Ohio, followed Major Young’s service with the Ninth Battalion during the Spanish-American War very closely. As the army’s sole remaining black Regular Army officer, he was in many ways the solitary hope and standard-bearer for his race in the military. We know he read the newspapers and kept a scrapbook of the news articles that mentioned his name and discussed the exploits of the Ninth Ohio. Newspapers like the African American Cleveland Gazette and Republican Ohio State Journal were uniformly supportive and complimentary of Young’s leadership. Others, like the more independent Cleveland Press and Ohio Dispatch, gave Young and the Ninth Ohio closer scrutiny, but even they grudgingly admitted Young’s success in turning the Ninth Ohio into a disciplined military unit.35 Mustered Out The Ninth Ohio received orders the first week in November to move to Summerville, South Carolina. This would be the Ninth’s final camp before mustering out of active service. The War Department ordered the corps headquarters eliminated and the component units spread to temporary camps in the South to await final orders. As part of this move, the Ninth Ohio was combined with the Fourteenth Pennsylvania and Third Connecticut regiments to form the Second Brigade of the First Division. According to the newspapers, the brigade commander,

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Brig. Gen. William C. Oates, was “struck dumb with amazement when he learned that the dusky Ohioans had been attached to his brigade. He never dreamed that he, a [former] general in the confederate army, would be selected to command the colored troops.”36 The Harrisburg Inquirer reported the impending departure of the Ninth Ohio Battalion on November 14. The Inquirer stated: “The colored troops are wondering what will become of them when they reach Summerville. With the removal of the corps headquarters the duty of the battalion as a special guard ends. While General Graham was in command of the corps the soldiers were his personal bodyguard and performed other light duty about his headquarters. Strong pressure is being brought to bear upon President McKinley to attach the battalion to a colored regiment and promote Major Young to colonel.” There was at least one effort to enlist Young and Henry O. Flipper to lead a black regiment in the war.37 The Ninth left Camp Meade by train on November 17 and arrived at their final camp in Summerville, South Carolina, on November 21. The newspapers described Camp Marion in Summerville as lying “on high ground about four miles from Augusta, between Summerville and the Georgia Central Railway.” A trolley line ran by the camp for the soldiers to use, but Lieutenant Ballard, the Ninth’s adjutant, remarked: “When the battalion arrived in the South the white citizens were not at all favorably disposed toward colored soldiers, and it must be said that the reception was not cordial. But by their orderly conduct and soldierly behavior the men soon won the respect of all, and the battalion was well treated before it left.”38 To ensure that the Ninth Ohio stayed out of trouble with the local white population, Major Young published Special Order No. 3, which called on his men to help him deflect the deep-

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seated prejudices of the locals. He wrote: “Attention is called to the fact that considerable uneasiness among the people of this section is caused by the presence of soldiers here, especially northern soldiers. Company commanders will see that their men do nothing to warrant this and will see every man . . . understands the necessity of dispelling this opinion by treating all whom they meet with respect and courtesy.” Young and his officers succeeded and the local population had few complaints.39 Young and the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Battalion, having served about ten months on active duty in support of the United States in its war with Spain, mustered out in Summerville, South Carolina, on January 29, 1899. The unit was well prepared and the inspecting officer needed only fifteen minutes to inspect the spotless camp. The War Department detailed Major Young as the assistant commissary of musters and he signed all of the discharges except those of the staff and his own. Once the discharges were issued, the paymaster gave the soldiers thirty days’ pay and put the four companies on trains back to Ohio.40 It is difficult to compare the service and performance of the Ninth to the other regiments from Ohio. All of the other volunteer infantry units from Ohio had a regimental strength of around a thousand, compared to the battalion strength of about four hundred in the Ninth. But in relative terms, the Ninth suffered the lowest number of enlisted men who transferred out of the unit or who were discharged. The Ninth lost five men to disease, which was about the same rate as the other units from Ohio. Young’s battalion had fifteen men who deserted, while all the other larger formations had between one and twenty-five go missing. The Ninth was by all accounts the best drilled, trained, and disciplined of the Ohio units, and perhaps the best volunteer unit in the service.41

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Return to Wilberforce Young did not immediately return to Ohio with his battalion because he was once again on active duty with the Regular Army. With the exodus of volunteers mustering out of the service, the army needed the few regulars remaining to sort out the details of disbanding units and keeping track of government property. On February 2, 1899, the army adjutant general relieved Young of his duties in South Carolina and ordered him to proceed to Macon, Georgia, and report “for duty as assistant mustering officer, acting assistant quartermaster, acting commissary of subsistence, and acting ordnance officer, in connection with the muster out of volunteer troops in the State of Georgia.” It is not clear how long he was in Georgia, since these orders were revoked on February 28, but he did spend some time there.42 Macon was coincidentally the location of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, and while there, Young visited and toured the facility. Unfortunately, President Booker T. Washington was away at the time and he later wrote Young to thank him for his visit. After he returned to Ohio, upon completion of his duties in Georgia, he exchanged letters with Booker T. Washington about helping Tuskegee create a military training program of its own. He offered his services in a March 9, 1899, letter in which he advised the Tuskegee president: “[I]f you wish to get your boys under my training for the purposes of discipline and the moral and mental benefits accruing from obedience, etc. get guns from the Government and ask the President of the U.S. for me.” Young made no promises, mentioning several other assignment possibilities.43 Young’s interest in the project at the Tuskegee Institute cooled quickly when Booker T. Washington responded that he would not arm the cadets in his program, fearing the hostility

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he might face among whites in Alabama. Young was adamant that black students training to be military leaders be supplied with weapons. He wrote that guns are “[v]ery valuable things when backed by common sense and very harmless when the student has been educated to know their use and know not to abuse this use.” Young then cited an example of lack of discipline and training “upon the part of our people the disgraceful soldier-disorders of a month ago.” He was referring to an incident where a black volunteer unit rioted and went on a shooting rampage after mustering out.44 Young completed his duties in the South and by early March 1899 was back in Ohio on temporary duty with the military department at Wilberforce, awaiting orders from the War Department on his next assignment. His letter to Booker T. Washington mentioned possible assignments at Howard University, Wilberforce University, and Haiti. The president of Wilberforce sent requests to the War Department to have Young resume his duties as a professor of military science, but with the expansion of the army and the high demand for officers, the War Department was not then filling these positions with Regular Army officers. While waiting for orders, Young busied himself teaching cadets at Wilberforce and writing recommendations for officers’ commissions in the volunteers for the brightest of his Ninth Ohio Battalion officers.45 A memo in Young’s official War Department file noted that he was “[s]uggested by [the] President for [a] senior Captaincy of [a] new Colored regiment.” Three days later Young sent a telegram to the War Department requesting orders to rejoin the Ninth Cavalry Regiment, which had returned to its prewar stations but was slated to deploy to the Philippines. On August 28, 1899, the War Department asked him in a telegram if he

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would “accept appointment as senior captain in [a] Colored regiment.” Young responded, the same day, that “under no circumstance would he accept [the] rank as Captain in [the] Volunteer Army.” He followed this with a telegram the following day stating that he “desired appointment as [a] field [grade] officer only.” This may have been a War Department attempt to shuffle him off to the volunteers but Young was having none of it. With the expanding Regular Army, he would soon be promoted to captain and was determined to serve with the Ninth Cavalry again. He had missed one war serving with the volunteers and would not risk missing the next.46 When 1st Lt. Charles Young journeyed west to rejoin the Ninth Cavalry in 1899, he must have done so with mixed feelings. First, after serving as major in command of the Ninth Ohio Infantry Battalion for more than a year, he had to revert to his permanent rank of first lieutenant in the Regular Army. Young’s leadership, discipline, and training produced a superior volunteer infantry battalion, but the war ended too quickly and his unit was never tested in combat, as was his Ninth Cavalry in Cuba. In spite of this, the experience of battalion command helped Young further develop his confidence and leadership skills. It was the only time in his career when he commanded African American soldiers led exclusively by black officers. It also marked the beginning of a new level of interest by the black press in his military career. Young knew his future lay with his regiment, even if it meant he had to put away his gold major’s leaves and wear the plain silver bars of a first lieutenant again. Indeed, so strong was his sense of duty to country and loyalty to the Ninth Cavalry, Young would fight tooth and nail to prevent his ever missing action

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with his unit again, even at the risk of his own health. It must have been difficult to rejoin the Buffalo Soldiers and listen to the veterans swap war stories about service and combat in Cuba. On the other hand, he had fond memories of his previous posting at Fort Duchesne and looked forward to a return to this far-flung post in the mountains of Utah.

6. Return to Fort Duchesne

Perhaps the foolish fear of taking the initiative robs the military profession of many good and valuable things. charles young, 1900

C

harles Young rejoined his troop at Fort Duchesne, Utah, in the fall of 1899 as a first lieutenant, his resumed, or permanent, rank in the Regular Army. This meant a demotion for Young in both pay and prestige from his former temporary rank of major commanding the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the Spanish-American War. The garrison at Fort Duchesne numbered approximately one hundred men, one-quarter the number of soldiers he had commanded in the Ninth Ohio. But Young was anxious to rejoin his regiment after its constituent units returned from the Caribbean to their prewar posts on the Western frontier. Young traveled by train most of the trip from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Price, Utah, and then rode horseback or in a stagecoach the last ninety miles to Fort Duchesne. Young had traveled the same route in reverse five years earlier when he journeyed to Wilberforce University and his first assignment on detached duty. Then he had been a second lieutenant ending his first five-year cavalry tour. Now he returned to Fort Duchesne a first

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lieutenant with four years of teaching college-level military science and tactics and tempered by nearly a year serving as a battalion commander in the Ohio National Guard. I Troop Young reported for duty with I Troop, commanded by Capt. John F. Guilfoyle, when he arrived at Fort Duchesne on September 22, 1899. Guilfoyle had been assigned to the Ninth Cavalry since 1877, was promoted to captain in 1891, and had commanded I Troop for about eight years. The regiment assigned Young to I Troop in October 1897 while he was at Wilberforce University, but he had never actually served with the unit. The two certainly knew of each other from the time they had been together in the regiment between 1889 and 1894, but they had never served in the same troop. Since there were never more than four officers on duty at Fort Duchesne at any one time between 1899 and 1901, Guilfoyle and Young would have little choice but to rely heavily on one another.1 And rely on one another they did. Guilfoyle, like Young’s previous troop commander, Capt. John Rucker, was an effective leader of men and highly regarded by his peers. He treated his black troopers with fairness, and they respected him in return. As in the case with Rucker, Young could not have asked for a better mentor; and having a black lieutenant assigned to his company was nothing new for Guilfoyle. Young’s former West Point roommate, John Alexander, had served under Guilfoyle for a year in 1892, and according to the regimental returns, the two ran a tight troop. Alexander had departed for Wilberforce in 1893 and Young later filled the first lieutenant’s vacancy in the same troop.2 John Francis Guilfoyle hailed from the state of Maryland and graduated from West Point in 1877, the same year as the

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first black academy graduate, Henry O. Flipper. Young might not have known it at the time, but he and his captain shared some important experiences from their years at the academy. First, Guilfoyle, like Young, had taken five years to graduate from West Point. Young repeated his plebe year after flunking mathematics. Guilfoyle, like Young, was found deficient in engineering his senior year. But unlike Young, who was tutored and passed a retest, Guilfoyle had to repeat his entire senior year. Perhaps this shared experience and understanding helped bridge the gap between the two.3 Captain Guilfoyle was in a strong position to guide Young since he had served with the Ninth Cavalry since graduation from West Point and had commanded I Troop since late 1891. He had faced a leadership crisis upon assuming command right after his men had spent an icy winter guarding the Pine Ridge Agency after Wounded Knee. A Cpl. John Rogers and two other men circulated a petition calling for his removal after Guilfoyle referred to them as a “damned mob,” and sent the petition to Maj. Guy Henry, the Fort Robinson post commander. Henry rightly refused to act on the matter and warned the noncommissioned officers of the company to obey orders and to use “proper channels,” destroyed the petition, and conveniently forgot the names on the list. The bad feelings dragged on for a time, but in the intervening years, Guilfoyle proved himself an excellent officer and respected troop commander. Judging by his reception of Lieutenant Young in September 1899, he had come far since 1891.4 Another man who was close to Young and in a position to report on his experiences in I Troop was Pvt. H. W. Nicholas. According to Nicholas, “Capt. J. F. Guilfoyle, then Post Commander and Commanding Officer of Troop I, gave Lt. Young a hearty welcome and greeting, and a few days later turned his

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troop over to 1st Lt. Young, making the remark in private at the dinner table, ‘He is an intelligent officer, and I am going to give him full command of the troop to do as he sees fit.’” One wonders how Nicholas was in a position to overhear such a private remark by his commanding officer, but there were rarely any secrets in the troop from the company clerk on such a small post.5 Private Nicholas became an important member of Young’s inner circle and provides valuable details of their service together. Nicholas, a newly enlisted member of I Troop, was exceptional in the fact that he was educated. Generally, the younger soldiers were more educated than the older veterans who predominated in the Ninth. Young soon put Nicholas to work as his company clerk, and the two served together in the troop for the next six years. Nicholas later served in Young’s troop as a sergeant and first sergeant in addition to his duties as company clerk. He and Young were two of perhaps four African American members of the troop who were educated beyond the level of most blacks at the time.6 One other educated member of Young’s unit gave a sobering account of a female relationship Young was forced to terminate. Young’s striker, Pvt. John Blakeney, recounted that Young had become acquainted with a “very rich and influential white lady” while commanding the Ninth Ohio Battalion as a major. After Young arrived at Fort Duchesne, according to Blakeney, “she would send him candy, books, etc by almost every mail. This worried him a great deal and one day when we were sitting down in his library he said: ‘John, I must stop this lady’s attentions to me. If I don’t the Colored folk will hang me and the whites will burn me.’ Shortly after that the books, etc ceased to come.” This was a sobering comment on the racial divide of the time.7

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Unlike Nicholas and Blakeney, most of the older veterans of I Troop were illiterate, a legacy of slavery. The manner in which these veteran soldiers learned to live with this handicap is a lesson in human ingenuity. They learned soldiering and army regulations through practice and memory. One first sergeant memorized the troop’s roll by having the company clerk read it to him. When new personnel were added, he had the troop clerk add the names to the roll and then repeat it to him until he had it memorized again. Noncommissioned officers memorized the necessary regulations so they could teach and lead their soldiers. When questioned about a particular drill instruction, the sergeant could repeat the drill maneuver verbatim as well as quote the relevant paragraph and page number.8 Many of the African American enlisted men in the Ninth Cavalry had been in the army for a very long time. When Private Nichols arrived in I Troop in 1899 he was only one of about five men who were on their first enlistment. I Troop had a reputation as an “Old Soldiers’ Home,” with such veterans as Sgt. John Johnson, also known as “Old Issue,” who by that time had already served twenty years in the Twenty-fourth Infantry and eight years in the Ninth. Young was lucky to have such a reservoir of experience to draw upon and could place more reliance on these black veteran noncommissioned officers than he could their counterparts in the Ninth Ohio during the Spanish-American War.9 Another member of Young’s inner circle was his cook. When Young traveled to Fort Duchesne, he brought with him his cook, Abner “Peggy” Jones. Jones was a civilian and not a member of the Ninth Cavalry. It was not unusual in those days for officers to bring cooks and servants with them. It is unclear where Jones came from or how long he was in Young’s employ. Since Young arrived with him to Fort Duchesne, he likely brought him

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along from his tour as a professor at Wilberforce and his year as a battalion commander with the Ninth Ohio Volunteers. It would have been natural for a battalion commander to have a cook, and perhaps necessary, since Young, as a black man, had to dine separately from his white, peer field-grade officers.10 Garrison Life Young’s I Troop was the only cavalry unit from the Ninth Cavalry assigned to the out-of-the-way post at Fort Duchesne when he arrived in September. In November 1899, K Troop arrived and the fort remained a two-troop post for the next two years. Troopers from the Ninth had garrisoned Fort Duchesne since its establishment in 1886, except for a short period during the Spanish-American War when the Seventh Cavalry manned the post. Though the fort could easily have accommodated more men, it never held more than two troops of cavalry during the time Young was there.11 Young found that an army reorganization made during the Spanish-American War had restored much of the cavalry manpower that was lost in 1890. A measure passed on April 26, 1898, restored the two troops (L and M) that had been eliminated eight years earlier, and added one lieutenant, one sergeant, four corporals, and thirty-four privates to each troop. This nearly doubled the aggregate strength of a Regular Army cavalry troop, raising it from 63 to 104. This was fine on paper, but it took longer for the new recruits to reach the far-flung posts of the Ninth Cavalry and be fully trained. To make matters worse, the Ninth Cavalry lost several of their best and brightest noncommissioned officers to the new black volunteer infantry regiments being formed to fight in the Philippines. Three senior noncommissioned officers from the Ninth competed for and were awarded officer commissions in the new Forty-eighth and

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Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry Regiments. At least two of these, Sergeants John C. Proctor and Lincoln Washington, came from Young’s I Troop.12 Amid the shortage of manpower at Fort Duchesne, Captain Guilfoyle quickly assessed Young’s leadership abilities and delegated the command of the troop to him. Young had little trouble leading a troop of sixty after commanding four hundred men during the Spanish-American War. Guilfoyle remained commander of the unit on paper, but he let Young run the troop in its day- to-day duties. Guilfoyle also served as the post commander, since he was the senior officer assigned to Fort Duchesne, until the arrival of Maj. Martin Hughes in July 1900. The regimental reporting for September 1899 showed a garrison strength of 3 officers and 108 enlisted men. Guilfoyle depended on Young to run the troop so he could devote his time and energy to running the post.13 Despite its isolation, Fort Duchesne was a fairly active post and its troopers had a rather robust and complex mission in 1899. Its operations ran the gamut from the mundane tasks of administering a frontier post to the sometimes dangerous missions involved in keeping the peace between the local Indian and civilian populations. The post did so with a modest staff and relatively small garrison. Besides Guilfoyle and Young, the garrison had a post adjutant, 1st Lt. Kenzie W. Walker, and a civilian physician, Dr. William O. Davis. Since the fort no longer had an assigned chaplain, Dr. Davis also ran the post school and library.14 One month after Young and Guilfoyle welcomed K Troop to Fort Duchesne, 2nd Lt. Samuel B. Pearson arrived and was assigned to that troop. Pearson took command of the troop because the other two assigned officers were on detached duty elsewhere. Samuel Burnette Pearson was born in California and joined the

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army as an enlisted man. He served as a private, corporal, and sergeant in I Troop of the First Cavalry Regiment from 1897 to 1899, and he saw action in Cuba in the Santiago campaign. Pearson rose fairly rapidly in the enlisted ranks, passed the commissioned officer’s exam in late 1899, and pinned on the bars of a second lieutenant on October 1, 1899.15 After his arrival at Fort Duchesne, Pearson began a tight professional relationship and close personal friendship with Young that lasted their lifetimes. Pearson became one of Young’s closest white friends. Pearson later commented: “I was his lieutenant for several years and knew him more intimately probably than most others did and we used to have many intimate personal talks together when he would tell me some of his aspirations and endeavors, and I know that no officer under whom I ever served ever showed me more courtesy and consideration than did Young and I loved him for what he was.”16 Lieutenant Pearson was married soon after his arrival at Fort Duchesne. The Vernal Express reported that Pearson married Miss Margaret W. Vermeal of Plainview, New Jersey, in Salt Lake City on April 23, 1900. The same paper reported a month later: “The bride of Lieutenant Pearson is quite contented in her new home and the Lieutenant is about the happiest man on the Post.” Young may have had a hand in getting those quarters for Pearson and his bride. According to Pearson: “Many and many a time he has put himself out a lot to do little pleasant things for Mrs. Pearson and me and to make life for us in the field more pleasant and then try to hide it all under the assumption that some enlisted man had thought of it, but we knew the source and fully appreciated it and told him so much to his confusion!”17 Margaret Pearson was not the only woman at Fort Duchesne. Captain Guilfoyle was married and his wife also lived on post.

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The Vernal Express reported that Guilfoyle’s wife returned from a trip to the East Coast in June of 1900, bringing along her mother, sister, and two nieces. Her sister was Mary Garrard, married to Capt. Joseph Garrard, who commanded A Troop of the Ninth Cavalry. Captain Garrard had defended Chaplain Henry V. Plummer in the 1894 court-martial and conviction of the black officer. What is less well known is that Mary Garrard was one of the few whites who worked closely with Chaplain Plummer, serving as his organist for five years. She was one of Plummer’s most outspoken supporters and testified at the trial as a character witness.18 Most of the garrison life of Fort Duchesne centered on the activities of the enlisted men. The African American soldiers at Fort Duchesne found a number of things to do in the little free time allowed them by the army. Chief among these was baseball. The newspaper column “Duchesne Doings” noted in April 1900: “The boys are practicing for a match game of base ball, between troops, to be played Easter Sunday for the championship of Fort Duchesne. It will be a big day in the Post.” The winner of that game was not reported but Young watched I Troop prevail in another held on a Sunday in late June 1900. All of the games reported were scheduled on Sunday, which was a day of rest for most of the soldiers in garrison.19 Enlisted soldiers visited Vernal to have fun and occasionally got in trouble with the law. The Vernal Express reported this item on the day before Young arrived at Fort Duchesne: One of Uncle Sam’s soldier boys from Ft. Duchesne came over to Vernal this week apparently to have a good time—and he had it. Now he feels sorry that he didn’t remain under the protecting care of the post commandant. Vernal firewater was too much for him. When the marshal proceeded to take his

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revolver away from him he vigorously protested and swung it about in a threatening manner. . . . A guard was sent over from the post for the obstreperous colored man and the military authorities will now have the running. Lieutenant Young probably met this soldier from I Troop for the first time in the post jailhouse.20 One way of keeping soldiers occupied more constructively was to have them play in bands. Lieutenant Young had formed bands in his cadet detachment at Wilberforce University, with the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the Spanish-American War, and continued this practice at Fort Duchesne. The regiment officially had a band located with the headquarters at Fort Robinson, so a small post like Fort Duchesne had to form its own band. Young lost no time in channeling his lifelong love of music into the band at Fort Duchesne. The Vernal Express reported: “The brass band has been receiving valuable instructions under Lieutenant Young. It has made good progress and is now able to play correctly.” It is clear that the writer of this article had heard the band, perhaps during a Fourth of July program, and was happy that Young was there to teach it to “play correctly.”21 Benjamin O. Davis One member of I Troop already at Fort Duchesne, who later became one of Young’s protégés, was Benjamin O. Davis. Davis had enlisted in 1899 with his friend John C. Proctor, who had previously served as a first sergeant in I Troop. Both enlisted when they failed to get volunteer officer appointments in black units being readied for duty in the Philippines. Prior to that, Davis tried to get a nomination to West Point but was told “that appointing a black man to the United States Military Academy was not politically feasible at the time.” Both Procter and Davis

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had served as lieutenants in the Eighth U.S. Volunteer Infantry Immunes during the Spanish-American War, but were mustered out when the unit disbanded in 1899. The two planned to enlist, serve two years, and then apply to take a competitive examination for an officer’s commission.22 Before Young arrived, Davis spent long hours with veteran enlisted members like Sgt. John Johnson, learning the customs of the service and the history of the unit. Davis, who had served as an officer in the U.S. Volunteers, began to understand the role of the officer in the unit from an enlisted man’s perspective. Davis later recalled that African American soldiers looked at their commanders, men like Captain Guilfoyle, who had served more than twenty years with the Ninth, as father figures. Most commanders took this role seriously, listening to their soldiers’ problems with patience and understanding. This was a bond that was forged by officers and enlisted soldiers serving together for many years under extremely difficult circumstances.23 For his part, Davis never lost sight of his ultimate goal of gaining an officer’s commission. His first opportunity came in August 1899 before Young arrived, when the army began appointing officers for the black volunteer regiments to fight the growing insurgency in the Philippines. Though his friend John Proctor succeeded in getting a captaincy, Davis’s application was once again rejected. In 1900, when Congress expanded the Regular Army and the officer corps, Davis got another chance. He had to pass a competitive examination in order to earn his second lieutenant’s bars, but the prize would be a Regular Army commission like Young’s, and Young would be there to coach and mentor Davis this time.24 Young tutored Davis in mathematics and other topics. Davis spent all of his spare time reading and studying in the post library in preparation. When word spread around the post that he was

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preparing to take the commissioning test, Davis, who had been promoted to squadron sergeant major by this time, was troubled by the mixed reactions he received from the enlisted soldiers. Some of the old soldiers advised him that African Americans were not supposed to take the test and become officers. They warned him that even if he did pass the written test, he would not pass the physical exam. Davis explained to them that the regulations did not prohibit blacks from taking the test, but this convinced few of the skeptics. Some were persuaded by the open encouragement of the highly respected post commander, Maj. Martin Hughes, who had arrived in July 1900.25 In August 1900, Davis submitted his application for a commission along with letters of recommendation from Major Hughes and Lieutenant Young. A board of officers examined candidates for commissioning at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, starting in February 1901. Over a period of two weeks, the prospective candidates took a battery of tests, which gradually narrowed the field. The initial physical exam cut the group to twenty-three, and this was followed by a series of written tests, all of which had to be completed successfully. First was a test on English grammar and composition, followed by the Constitution of the United States, international law, mathematics, geography, history, and army regulations. After each of these written tests, Davis went into the post library to check his answers, especially those on history. These written tests were followed by an hour’s test of physical skills and another hour of questioning on drill regulations.26 On March 12 the board met to review the results, ask any final questions of the candidates, and make a final recommendation. Davis was third to be called in to the board of officers. The board questioned him on the results of the history test, the only portion he failed. The officers were surprised that

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Davis was now able to answer all of the questions correctly. He explained that the library at Fort Duchesne had few books on history and none on the modern era and that he had searched for the correct answers after the test in the Fort Leavenworth Library. The board was satisfied with this answer and informed Davis that he had passed. He later learned that he had earned an average score of 86 and ranked third among the twelve who qualified for a commission. Davis finally had his long-awaited officer’s commission, and he had Young in part to thank for this achievement.27 Indian Strife Young faced more serious Indian difficulties during his second tour than he had during his first posting to Fort Duchesne from 1890 to 1894. Lieutenant Young and his Ninth Cavalry troopers no longer had to worry about avoiding an ambush by three hundred Utes, as did the original detachment, but there were still occasional troubles: squabbles among the Ute bands themselves, conflicts between local whites and Indians, attempts by the Utes to resist assimilation, and the illegal sale of alcohol to Indians. Young had been in Utah less than two months when he had his first occasion to deal with the Utes. Captain Guilfoyle received a verbal report on November 8 that a white sheepherder had been seriously wounded and a Ute Indian killed in an incident near Rock Creek, about sixty miles from the post. Guilfoyle gave Young the mission to “preserve the peace between the herders and the Indians, make a thorough investigation of the matter, and report your actions to me; return to the post as soon as possible.” With these general instructions and a very vague picture of the situation on Rock Creek, Young and his troopers rode out of Fort Duchesne the following day.28

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Young and the detachment reached an Indian village on the Duchesne River at 7:00 p.m. that evening, after marching about forty miles. They camped the first night about eighteen miles from the scene of the conflict, and Young used the time to question the local Utes about the incident through an interpreter. He learned that the argument stemmed from a conflict between the white and Indian sheepherders over grazing land and water rights. The next day Young marched I Troop fourteen miles to a point about four miles short of the Ute camp and established an encampment. He then took eighteen men and his interpreter to investigate the conflict. Runners had spread the word of his approach, and the Utes were hiding along the approaches.29 According to Young’s account: “Upon arrival I dismounted the detachment to let it rest while I took the interpreter and went into the tent of Mountain Sheep to hear his story relative to the disturbance and to examine the wounds [of his son] which I found serious enough. One pistol shot had penetrated his jaw coming out the back of his neck; another had gone into his left breast, coming out in his back.” Mountain Sheep’s son later died of his wounds. Lieutenant Young believed Mountain Sheep’s statement that the incident was caused by the renting out of grazing land without the Indian’s consent.30 Young met with the Indians and found them willing to allow him to settle the affair, as long as the sheep were removed. Young also met with the herders and found them ready to move off the reservation as long as the army protected them. To defuse the situation, Young agreed to stay three days to protect the herders and brokered a direct meeting between the Indians and the herders. The herders moved their sheep from reservation land and Young led his men back to Fort Duchesne. Captain Guilfoyle forwarded a report on the matter to the Department

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of the Colorado on November 23 and commended Young on the efficient handling of the incident. The commanding general of the Department of the Colorado singled out Young in his report to the War Department, observing, “By his prompt action and good judgment, as well as that of his post commander, further bloodshed has probably been averted for the present.”31 There is only one other serious incident mentioned in the regimental returns concerning the Utes during Young’s tour at Fort Duchesne; this one involved K Troop, commanded by 2nd Lt. Samuel B. Pearson. Maj. Martin B. Hughes, the post commander, dispatched Pearson and K Troop to the nearby White Rocks Agency on December 12, 1900, to protect the Indian school, which the Utes had threatened to burn. Pearson put a guard on the school and then took a detachment of six men and captured an Indian named Black Hawk and brought him back to the post. The White Rocks Agency was only fourteen miles from the post so all of this was accomplished in a single day. Black Hawk was released the following month.32 The most frequent problem reported in the local newspaper, so commonplace that it did not merit mention in the official military reporting, involved the sale of liquor to the Indians by civilians and soldiers. The Vernal Express reported on March 17, 1900: “A week ago, several drunken Indians were arrested and put in the guardhouse for being drunk. They said that Private Lindsay of I Troop furnished them the fire-water with which they became intoxicated. He was also arrested.” This was a disciplinary issue Young had to deal with, since Lindsay was a member of his troop. The Express reported three weeks later that Lindsay had been released from the guardhouse for lack of proof, but then promptly deserted and was never heard from again.33

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Private Nicholas recounted long forays into the mountains to chase down Utes who wandered off the reservation and to settle disputes between whites and Indians. He boasted: “Frequently, we would have to go over into Colorado, and always in winter, for as long as 30 to 40 days, as low as 32 below zero in camp, and snow 12 to 18 inches, but we were a jolly, happy-go-lucky lot together as one man and it was almost impossible for any gang or crowd to harm any man or our leader, or ‘Uncle Charley’ was his nick-name to the men.” We have to question this account, since the official regimental record does not corroborate such a lengthy mission. But as is the case in all soldiers’ stories, there is some kernel of truth in the account, and it gives a sense of what Young’s troopers thought of him.34 Troop Training Young and all of the officers at Fort Duchesne knew they would deploy soon to the Philippine Islands since two-thirds of the Ninth Cavalry were already deploying to the Pacific by July 1900. Therefore, Young went to great lengths to make sure that his noncommissioned officers and soldiers were trained for the warfare to come. The U.S. Army had been fighting in the Philippines for several years by that time, so Young and his troop had some idea of the type of guerilla warfare they would be facing. In many ways the years of combating the hit-and-run tactics of the Indians prepared the Ninth Cavalry ideally for operations in the Philippines. Guerilla warfare put a premium on small units operating independently with experienced junior officers and noncommissioned officers. Only the enemy, terrain, and weather would be different. Captain Guilfoyle gave Lieutenant Young free reign to whip his unit into fighting shape, and Young took advantage of all

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opportunities. When Young rode out to quell the trouble between the Utes and sheepherders in November 1899, he trained his men on the march. Young wrote in his final report: In addition to the main duty imposed upon the detachment, its march was so arranged that enroute to the place of disturbance the covering force was relieved and another formed from a different part of the detachment with another chief to command it; thus giving this valuable practice to all the noncommissioned officers and placing all the men either in the planning or the advanced patrols of the vanguard under actual conditions. No time was lost in the changes as they were made at the hourly halts. At different places on the march noncommissioned officers were questioned as to the disposition they would make to meet an attack, and an immediate answer, whether right or wrong, exacted.35 Once Young completed his mission at Rock Creek and settled the grievances between the Indians and the white herders, he continued this valuable training on the journey back to Fort Duchesne. Young’s report detailed: “On the return march, field notes were taken by all the noncommissioned officers, distances calculated from rate of travel of their horses, and the bearings were taken by them to prismatic compasses. I propose later to teach them how to plot these notes.” Since Young was the only officer in the troop, he had to prepare his junior leaders, his sergeants, to be prepared to operate independently. If he or any of his noncommissioned officers were killed or wounded in action, someone had to be trained to carry on without them. He had this in mind when he later wrote: “Perhaps the foolish fear of taking the initiative robs the military profession of many good and valuable things.”36

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Young trained his troop at every opportunity. According to Nicholas: From [the date Young arrived] on it was horses and men drilled in every form of Army tactics, mounted and dismounted, bare-back and in the saddle. Sham [or practice] battles every day, save Sundays and holidays, and at the expiration of one year, every man could ride a horse at break-neck speed taking hurdles, ditches, also crossed stirrups “Cossack Style,” in fact in every style and fashion to the satisfaction of any cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He used horseflesh to its fullest capacity, with no abuse to either horse or man. . . . He taught privates as well as non-commissioned officers to drill the troops, mounted and dismounted.37 Young had preparation for future combat operations in mind when he wrote a lyceum paper titled “Military Field Exercises” sometime in 1900, drawing on lessons he learned commanding the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the Spanish-American War. The ideas presented in the paper were not oriented toward the unconventional warfare they would face in the Philippines, but rather a conventional European type of war. The eleven-page paper presents the advantages of military field exercises over other outmoded means of training such as close- order drill, parade-ground movements, and classroom training.38 It is interesting that he uses an example of American football in his paper: “[W]e organize a second team and pit it against the first team for the sake of practice, so that our men may learn to work together . . . he would be considered a foolish coach who simply trained the muscles of his men and read to them the theories and rules of football playing from the manuals, instead of giving them practice.” Young may have been one

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of the first soldiers to compare warfare to the “friendly fields of strife.”39 Young’s paper only mentions the Philippines once, in passing, and points up an interesting phenomenon of the nineteenthcentury U.S. Army. A century of fighting Indians should have taught the U.S. Army volumes about dealing with an enemy who did not fight in conventional ways. Instead, as Young illustrated in his lyceum paper, the army as an institution continued to organize its units and prepare its doctrine to fight a conventional European land war. Luckily, Young’s well trained veteran soldiers, who performed so ably against a trained European army in Cuba, would fight as skillfully against Filipino insurgents.40 Promotion and Deployment The first units of the Ninth Cavalry started moving to San Francisco, California, in July 1900, in preparation for shipment to the Philippine Islands. By August 1900, the first eight troops of the Ninth Regiment (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H Troops) were at sea and on their way to Manila. Only L and M Troops remained at Fort Apache, Arizona, and I and K Troops at Fort Duchesne. The first eight troops, organized into two squadrons of four companies each, arrived in the Philippines in September 1900. The last squadron with troops from Forts Apache and Duchesne followed in early 1901.41 Captain Guilfoyle bid farewell and handed over the troop to Young on July 22, 1900, joining the staff of the Ninth Cavalry as the regimental quartermaster before it departed San Francisco. He had commanded I Troop for more than ten years and it was time for him to step aside for the next generation of officers. Young continued to command the troop, as he had for the past year, though another man filled the command position on

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paper until Young was promoted to captain. This is the same sort of paperwork shuffle that had benefited Young in 1896 when he was assigned on paper to the Seventh Cavalry to get his promotion to first lieutenant.42 In preparation for deployment, the Ninth Cavalry sent I Troop a new lieutenant in August 1900, 2nd Lt. Edward Y. Calvert. Calvert, who was white, was born in Kentucky, attended West Point starting in 1888, and was dismissed in June 1890. He was a first-year plebe at West Point during Young’s senior year and they would have known each other. Calvert joined the First Cavalry Regiment as an enlisted man in 1898, took the officer’s exam, and was awarded a commission in the Ninth Cavalry in 1900. This marked the first time that Young formally commanded a white officer in his troop.43 Young and I Troop performed normal garrison duties for the remaining months of 1900 before their departure. In October 1900, Young conducted an inventory of weapons and ammunition preparing for their departure. He counted 97 Colt revolving .38-caliber pistols, 10,418 rounds of .38-caliber ball ammunition, 100 magazine-fed .30-caliber carbines, and 20,289 rounds of .30-caliber carbine ball ammunition. The troop kept these weapons locked in an arms locker located in the troop barracks. I Troop would deploy with these weapons and use them in combat operations in the Philippines.44 January 1901 was a busy and eventful month for Lieutenant Young. First, he was sent in command of a detachment from Fort Duchesne to escort the annual payment to the Ute Indians. A treaty signed in 1868 obligated the U.S. government to pay an annuity of thirty thousand dollars in silver to the Ute Indians on the reservation. It was Young’s responsibility in 1901 to escort the silver from the railhead in Price, Utah, by freight wagon ninety miles to Fort Duchesne for distribution

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to the Uintah Indians. Young and his I Troop escort carried out this potentially dangerous detail successfully between January 16 and 22. This same shipment of thirty thousand dollars had reportedly been the target of a robbery involving Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay in 1898.45 On January 26, 1901, Young set out for Fort Riley, Kansas, to take his examination for promotion to captain. He passed the written test, but a medical exam detected a developing kidney problem during his promotion physical. Young refused the doctor’s recommendation that he remain hospitalized for treatment, indicating that the problem was not considered serious. He did not want to miss the movement of the Ninth Cavalry to the Philippines the way he had missed the unit’s deployment to Cuba. This decision would have consequences that Young could not foresee at the time.46 On February 2, 1901, the U.S. Army appointed Young a captain in the Ninth Cavalry, making him the first black line officer in the Regular Army to hold that rank. Young knew that the future hopes of blacks in the army officer corps rested heavily and squarely on his shoulders. He was as ambitious and driven as any army officer, and hoped for many more promotions to come. According to Nicholas, Young told him: “Nick, some day I am going to be a Black General, a Toussaint L’Overture.”47 In February 1901, the War Department ordered Maj. Martin Hughes to make final preparations to move I and K Troops to the port of San Francisco by early April. Sgt. Maj. Benjamin O. Davis, fresh from his successful commissioning examination, arrived in the middle of these preparations. With his commissioning paperwork not yet arrived, Davis decided to go with the Ninth to Manila. After a troop from the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Fort Duchesne to relieve the garrison, the two troops from the Ninth departed on April 19 and marched overland with

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their horses ninety miles to Price, Utah. In Price they loaded on trains bound for San Francisco, California.48 Young’s experiences at Fort Duchesne during his second tour were much like his first assignment at this isolated post. He had an effective commander who gave him opportunities to develop his leadership and gain confidence in his own abilities. At the same time, he proved to the U.S. Army that he could effectively lead men as a first lieutenant in the Ninth Cavalry, including both black enlisted soldiers and white lieutenants. He would find this balance of leading black soldiers and white junior second lieutenants more challenging as he rose in rank, not due to any lack of ability on his part, but because of the race-biased skepticism of the U.S. Army. Young passed two milestones at the end of his stay in Utah: promotion to captain and elevation to troop command. He had earned the promotion to captain based on longevity, performance, and his ability to survive his first eleven-and-a-half years as a black line officer in a white man’s officer corps. He would soon ship off to the jungles of the Philippines where his leadership skills would be tested in the crucible of combat.

7. Fighting Guerillas in the Philippines

By practicing hill-warfare exercises, we may be enabled, doubtless, to play at guerilla warfare as well as does the Boer, Spaniard, or Filipino, and perhaps bring more men from the fight. charles young, 1900

Y

oung passed a professional milestone in early 1901 as he prepared to deploy to the Philippines. With a promotion to captain and twelve years of service he was no longer considered an inexperienced junior officer. The transition from lieutenant to captain was a major achievement in the professional life of a Regular Army officer. In the future Young would find himself increasingly in positions where he was the senior ranking man in authority. Moreover, he possessed far more leadership experience than his contemporaries in the Ninth Cavalry, having effectively commanded I Troop for more than a year and the Ninth Ohio Battalion before that. The only advantage some of the other troop commanders had over Young was combat experience in Cuba, which he would soon remedy in the Philippines. Young was deploying to a war in the Philippines for which the U.S. Army was not prepared. Early victories on sea and on land had led the United States to believe that taking and maintaining possession of the Philippines would be easy. But the

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determination of the insurgents and a shortage of American soldiers caused the Philippine War to drag on for three bloody years. A desperate U.S. government deployed every military unit to the Pacific they could muster. This included black regular and volunteer units, in spite of political doubts about their reliability in combat against a people many African Americans called their “little brown brothers.” San Francisco to Manila Young and I Troop arrived in San Francisco by train in April 1901 with K Troop from Fort Duchesne. L and M Troops from Fort Apache joined them in San Francisco to complete the Third Squadron, Ninth Cavalry, the only portion of the regiment remaining in the United States. The rest of the Ninth Regiment, which comprised the headquarters and the First and Second Squadrons, had been in the Philippines since October 4, 1900. As a foreshadowing of what Young and I Troop could look forward to, the Ninth Regiment in the Philippines suffered its first death by drowning on October 8, first death due to dysentery on October 11, and first death from gunshot wounds in battle on November 9, 1900.1 While waiting in San Francisco, Sergeant Major Davis and Captain Young visited Dr. William Purnell, a physician Davis had met during his service with the Eighth Immunes during the Spanish-American War. Purnell showed them the sights of the city while they waited for their boat. Though Davis still waited for official word on his commission, both Young and Davis had much to celebrate: one a new captain and the other soon to be a second lieutenant. They could enjoy themselves in San Francisco in a style not possible at isolated Fort Duchesne, since the city had a small but active black population. Both were well aware that they might not see an American city for years.2

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Young and Davis may have read in African American newspapers about the ongoing debate concerning the wisdom of supporting the U.S. imperial venture in the Philippines. The general patriotic enthusiasm of the black community characterizing their early support of the Spanish-American War had cooled noticeably after the outbreak of the Philippine War. By mid-1899, African American reservations about imperial oppression had hardened into downright opposition, fueled by lynching and racial violence in the South. Many blacks felt sympathy for the Filipino nationalists, whom they identified as “our kinsmen” and “our colored brothers.” Booker T. Washington, who usually espoused an accommodating approach, voiced the majority black view when he said: “My opinion, is that the Philippine Islands should be given an opportunity to govern themselves. . . . Until our nation has settled the Indian and Negro problems, I do not think we have a right to assume more social problems.”3 Neither Young nor Davis left any record of what they thought about the debate within the black community, but they were professional officers and had to focus on the mission, whatever their private doubts. When it came time to embark a week later, Davis chose to ship out with Young and the Third Squadron to the Philippines rather than wait in San Francisco for orders. An army vessel transported the four troops of cavalry from the Presidio wharf to the U.S. Army transport ship usat Logan, and on April 15, 1901, the last of the Ninth Cavalry steamed through the Golden Gate heading west toward the Philippines.4 After eight days at sea, the Logan steamed into Pearl Harbor. According to Davis, many of the soldiers of the Ninth became seasick on the voyage. Hawaii had become a territory of the United States on August 12, 1898, and only then as a direct result of the American expansion into the Pacific during the

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Spanish-American War. Young and Davis took advantage of the three days spent in port to visit the area around Honolulu. The ship set sail again and fifteen days later arrived in Manila Bay. Their horses awaited them in Manila, having arrived on a separate transport.5 Four days after their arrival, Young and Davis met their old commander, Capt. John Guilfoyle, who asked Davis why he was still with the Ninth. Guilfoyle told Davis that his commission had arrived in Manila and he was now a second lieutenant in the Tenth Cavalry, also deployed in the Philippines. Captain Guilfoyle then went back to Manila and returned with a copy of the order. Major Hughes promptly discharged Davis as an enlisted sergeant major and administered the oath of office as a second lieutenant. Davis served in M Troop, Ninth Cavalry, until he was finally reassigned to F Troop, Tenth Cavalry, in August 1901.6 Samar Island After U.S. Commodore George Dewey won a decisive victory over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, the Philippine War turned into a costly guerilla war against Filipino revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo. By the end of 1900, at about the time the first elements of the Ninth Cavalry arrived in the Philippines, the momentum had shifted back again in favor of the Americans. A turning point came on March 23, 1901, as Young and his men were readying their departure from Fort Duchesne, when a daring American raid captured the insurgent leader Aguinaldo. After his capture, the U.S. forces concentrated on the remaining centers of resistance, including the insurrecto hotbeds in the southwestern Luzon provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas, and the island of Samar. Young and I Troop would earn their baptism of fire on Samar Island.7

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Samar, a large island centrally located in the Philippine archipelago between Luzon and Mindanao, remained a backwater in the early years of the war and was largely ceded to the rebels. The situation changed in May 1901 when the U.S. military turned over neighboring Leyte to the Philippine Commission. The trouble in Samar, separated from Leyte to the south by the narrow San Juanico Strait, could no longer be ignored. On May 13, Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur transferred Samar to Brig. Gen. Robert P. Hughes’s jurisdiction and told him to take “drastic measures” against General Vicente Lukban, a ruthless rebel commander who had vowed to fight to the end.8 Young and I Troop arrived in the Philippines just in time to participate in the well-publicized Samar Island campaign. Young received his first mission on May 22, 1901, about a week after arriving in Manila Bay. Young wrote in a paper the previous year that he hoped that “by practicing hill-warfare exercises, we may be enabled, doubtless, to play at guerilla warfare as well as does the Boer, Spaniard, or Filipino, and perhaps bring more men from the fight.” I Troop was initially posted on Samar Island where Young was ordered to proceed up the Gandara River and establish a supply base. Fresh from a month-long Pacific transit, they were given no time to train at “hill-warfare exercises” or acclimate themselves, and had to learn quickly. Many members of the troop suffered malaria and dengue fever soon after they arrived on the island.9 According to John Blakeney, “Troop I, Ninth Cavalry landed at Calbayog, P.I., and several other organizations had endeavored to ascend the Gandara River in order that a base of supplies might be established—but without avail. Captain Young was ordered to take his troop and establish a base of supplies. The Gandara River is a narrow stream with thick and high underbrush on both sides, spotted with coconut and other

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tropical trees.” Corporal Nicholas recounted that, on May 22, “We started up the Gandara River in the chartered English gunboat ‘Hercules,’ with 3 cascoes in tow, men, rations, and ammunition; destination, Blanca Aurora.”10 What Nicholas called a “chartered English gunboat” was actually the tug Hercules captured by the U.S. Navy at the Spanish navy yard at Cavite after the Battle of Manila Bay. The tug pulled the flotilla up the tidal Gandara River and probably mounted some small guns to provide supporting fire. The cascoes—a type of flat-bottomed, square-ended boat then used in the Philippines to ferry goods between ship and shore—carried the bulk of the cavalry troopers as well as their equipment and supplies. As to their progress, Nicholas recounted: “We were about 12 days going the 18 miles, off and on the boats fighting our way up the stream on both sides of the river, raining day and night.”11 On the eighth day out, Nicholas reported: “It was at this point that Captain Young took a small detail of men up the river to scout around while the remainder of the troop were washing and bathing. About one hour later we heard a volley of shots from rifles. I knew by that, that the Captain and his men had been attacked. . . . When we arrived at the scene, they had captured one brass cannon, some rifles, and a stack of loaded bamboo canisters. Captain Young had fired his revolver so fast that the sight was blown off.” Young and his troops surprised and defeated the insurgents in their first engagement, a feat that gave his men confidence in the task ahead.12 Nicholas explained that it took them one week to cover just twelve miles: No one, save the Captain by the map, knew where we really were, nor the day or date of the week. We only knew day and night, and the mess-call, when we got a chance

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to eat the cold canned beef, beans, tomatoes, and hard tack. Wood was too wet or green to make fire for coffee in a hurry. The next day, about June 1st, we left [the city of] Gandara, up the river (Gandara) for Blanca Aurora, (by map) supposed to be 6 miles, with cascoes and barges loaded with rations, ammunition, two Filipino boys as guides (they were so frightened, they knew very little of value), and 25 Filipino laborers. Assuming I Troop had about a hundred men, Young commanded a force of about 127, not counting the crew of the gunboat.13 At this point, Nicholas reported the following: About a mile’s advance up the river, the tide, from the ocean which passes into the river, went out, [and] left us, the boats, and barges, high and dry on the rocky reefs. I being in charge as Supply Sergeant, the insurgents seeing my unfortunate position, began to pour fire at us. I had only 6 men with rifles. We fought back with all the courage we had in us. Meanwhile, Captain Young had the main body of men divided, with him on either side of the river banks in the ambush in advance of me, clearing the way; and upon hearing my volley firing, he knew that I had been attacked from the rear. He rushed back to my aid and rescue, drove off the attackers, got us all straightened out, and after the tide came in, several hours later, we advanced, cautiously along, arriving at Blanca Aurora, June 5th, only to find an abandoned arsenal, a burned village, along with piles of copper (large) one cent Spanish pieces where the centers had been taken out for cartridge heads.14 Nicholas provides remarkable details about Young’s armed

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advance up the Gandara River. According to Blakeney, and confirmed in later praise by General Hughes, Young succeeded where several previous military expeditions had failed. I Troop fought a running gun battle up eighteen miles of tidal river with dense jungle crowding both banks. It took them twelve days in four boats, under the watchful eyes of local guerillas that attacked at any opportunity. The rebels attempted to ambush I Troop at least twice, and Young was able to fight off both assaults without loss of life, in one case capturing an enemy brass cannon and other enemy stores. Young did all of this from boats or on foot, fighting alternately as naval and light infantry, always surprising the enemy and thus retaining the initiative. This from a black cavalry officer and an African American cavalry troop whose most recent maneuver training had been on horses in Utah! Blanca Aurora So far, Young had done well to bring his command up the Gandara River from the coast without losing a man to the enemy. Young’s mission up the Gandara River was part of General Hughes’s campaign on Samar Island to combine active military operations with the general destruction of the food that was feeding the enemy and the confiscation of property of those who supported the rebels. As a final step, the troops would send out patrols to sweep the countryside, destroy crops, and chase the guerillas out of their mountain sanctuaries.15 After Young and I Troop seized Blanca Aurora, which the natives called Matuguinao, they secured the place. According to Nicholas: Captain Young immediately set about to construct semi-

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permanent barracks and other shelter; rounded up all of the natives, women, men, and children, and with the aid of an insurgent lieutenant, who spoke several dialects— also Spanish—laid out a large plot for a town to the needs of a thousand inhabitants, got all of the natives at work on bamboo houses on laid out streets with large plots for each house; supplied all, about 500, with government rations. I was given 100 Filipino laborers and a guard to supply the 100 soldiers as well as the town’s natives with food from the commissary depot 5 miles down the river, a 3 days trip.16 Young’s ability to establish peace and protection probably saved many lives on both sides. The troop provided regular supplies of food and security, which were probably the key to the hearts of the local populace. Nicholas reported: “By August, we had everything under perfect control; the Filipinos went far and wide, got all of their relatives and friends that had been separated for years, to come in and be peaceful under this new, kind, man and a savior to them, as they had not experienced this good treatment under other officers.” Nicholas exaggerated the span of control of I Troop in Blanco Aurora, but certainly Captain Young secured the calm for a time on the Gandara River. Events would prove this a fragile peace.17 Other elements of the Third Squadron of the Ninth Cavalry had missions similar to I Troop. Lieutenant Davis, still serving with M Troop, was stationed in an area south of Calbayog in the town of Santa Rita. On May 29, he set out with a detachment of twenty-five soldiers, two native guides, and four bearers on a reconnaissance mission to Villa Real, a small town twenty-five miles to the north. He marched overland from there to Villa Real, which he also found quiet and empty of insurrectos. Davis,

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his mission complete, retraced his steps back to his base camp in Santa Rita.18 Other units and commanders on Samar were not as lucky as Davis in M Troop or as successful as Young in I Troop. On June 19, a twenty-six-man patrol of the First Infantry under Lt. Edward E. Downes left Guiuan on the southeastern tip of Samar on a routine mission to find an overland trail on a narrow peninsula. The patrol quickly degenerated into a marauding expedition, burning houses, destroying rice, and killing livestock. They were later ambushed in the dense jungle undergrowth, resulting in two killed and two more wounded, with Downes being one of the fatalities. The survivors abandoned their dead and scattered, and after a three-day ordeal made their way back to Guiuan.19 In contrast to other parts of Samar, Blanco Aurora remained quiet. It remained so quiet that according to Nicholas: “Captain Young, in a very few weeks dispensed with most of the daytime guard duty, saving his men’s health and exposure to the hot sun.” Things were not so peaceful on other parts of the island, however. Not far from Blanco Aurora, the U.S. military nearly captured the leader of the Samar Island insurgency in August 1901. In one of the most impressive feats of the campaign, Capt. Henry Jackson of the First Infantry marched his company completely across the northern half of the island and on August 13 almost captured General Lukban. Captain Jackson badly wounded Lukban in the engagement and captured Lukban’s family and most of his papers. Lukban would remain on the run for another six months.20 General Hughes visited Captain Young at Blanco Aurora two days after Lukban’s near capture. Nicholas reported: On or about August 15, 1901, General Hughes was up to

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inspect the work done by Captain Young. He said to Captain Young: ‘I have for 3 years been trying to get officers and men to accomplish just this; you are the first one who has been able to locate Blanca Aurora and carry out my orders, and I shall certainly do all that is in my power to recommend you to the War Department for your good performance of duty as an army officer. I will also see to it that you and your men shall be stationed at some choice post in the U.S. when you return there.21 Though Young and his troop departed soon after his visit, it would take General Hughes several more months of fighting to end the insurgency on Samar Island. In the southern coastal village of Balangiga, another Regular Army unit was nearly annihilated the month after General Hughes visited Blanco Aurora. A body of 450 rebel guerillas and civilians under Lieutenant Colonel Eugenio Daza swept through the seventy-four-man garrison of Company C, Ninth Infantry in a brilliant surprise attack on September 28, 1901. In all, forty-eight officers and men died in the bloodbath, and the rebels captured one hundred rifles and twenty-five thousand rounds of ammunition. The incident became known as the Balangiga Massacre.22 Just two months after Young and I Troop left Samar Island, Company E of the Ninth Infantry, who had replaced them at Blanco Aurora, nearly suffered the same fate as Company C at Balangiga. On October 16, as they prepared for breakfast at their camp on the Gandara River, now called Camp Denver, one hundred armed guerillas attacked them. According to one account: “With white baggy trousers blowing in the wind, and bolo blades glistening under applications of coconut oil, the attackers all but overwhelmed the American infantrymen.” After twelve minutes of vicious fighting the rebels withdrew,

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having killed eleven American soldiers and wounded six. One wonders if the commander of Company E squandered the good will and understanding built by Captain Young, perhaps partly in response to the massacre of his comrades at Balangiga.23 The fighting on Samar entered its most savage phase after Young and I Troop left the island. Following the Balangiga Massacre, Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, the new commander of land forces in the Philippines, selected Brig. Gen. Jacob H. Smith to command the Sixth Separate Brigade and put him in charge of the Samar campaign. The resulting punitive expedition on Samar was conducted so brutally that he and several of his subordinate officers were subsequently tried and found guilty by court-martial for the abuses committed during the campaign. Finally, on February 18, 1902, a Filipino Scout detachment led by Lt. Alphonse Strebler captured General Lukban, who was sick, emaciated, and fed up with the war. The last rebels on Samar Island surrendered on April 27, 1902, ending the most brutal pacification operation of the war.24 Luzon Island Young was fortunate to miss the vicious final phase of the campaign on Samar Island. In August 1901, the Ninth Cavalry Regiment transferred Young and his troop to southern Luzon Island to engage in more antiguerilla fighting, this time mounted. None of I Troop had been in a saddle since they departed San Francisco in May, and they had fought like light infantry for the past three months on the island of Samar. On Luzon Island, Young and his troop would garrison various posts and also participate in General Bell’s 1902 campaign against the insurgent leader Gen. Miguel Malvar.25 Young moved his troop back down the Gandara River to the coast in boats, this time without a fight. On the coast, near

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Calbayog, U.S. Navy boats picked up I Troop and transported them one hundred miles to the south. According to Sergeant Nicholas: “On August 18 Captain Young and his troop were to proceed by transport to Legaspi on Southern Luzon Island.” This was the third time I Troop had depended on local boats and U.S. Navy craft for transportation: first to Samar Island, then up the Gandara River, and finally to Luzon Island. In fact, Young and his troops benefited from the pivotal role the U.S. Navy played in the war in the Philippine archipelago.26 From the port of Legaspi, I Troop marched to the nearby village of Daraga. Nicholas noted: “[We were] stationed at Daraga, 6 miles from Legaspi and re-mounted taking over the horses of the Sixth U.S. Cavalry.” Operating on horseback once again must have been a genuine pleasure for Young and his black troopers, having spent so much of the past four months aboard ships and crowded coastal transports or carrying packs and rifles like infantry. They could not know the danger disease posed to the horses in the Philippines.27 Young and I Troop heard the news of the assassination of President McKinley while garrisoning Daraga. William McKinley hailed from Ohio like Young, and, similar to Young’s father, had served in the Civil War. Young organized a memorial program and, according to Nicholas, the troop “held funeral services in honor of President McKinley.” McKinley’s vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, succeeded him, and continued his predecessor’s policies in the Philippines. Roosevelt knew the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry intimately, having fought side-by-side with them during the charge up San Juan Hill in 1898.28 Young led I Troop the first four months of campaigning in the Philippines as the lone officer in the unit, depending heavily on his noncommissioned officers. But in September, at Daraga, the regiment sent Young a first lieutenant. Nicholas

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reported: “At this time First Lieutenant S[amuel]. B. Pearson, Ninth Cavalry, made application to the regimental commander to be transferred to Capt. Young’s troop and assigned to duty as First Lieutenant under Captain Young, of whom he was very fond.” Young and Pearson knew each other, having served together for two years at Fort Duchesne. Pearson was remarkable because he lacked prejudice to the degree that he would ask to serve under a black officer he respected.29 The Ninth Cavalry’s garrison at Daraga was clearly a safe post because the officers’ wives were permitted to join the troop there. Though these plucky women might be safe from insurgents, they risked other hardships, including poor housing, bad food, contaminated water, and above all, disease. According to Nicholas: “Lieutenant Pearson’s wife was with him and in the mean time became sick with Tropical Fever. Captain Young gave over his more desirable quarters to Mrs. Pearson and occupied some that were less livable for himself.” Pearson admitted that more than once Young gave his quarters to him and his wife with the excuse that “he was a bachelor and never stayed at home anyway except to sleep and any old place would do for that.”30 After two months of relative comfort and quiet in the garrison of Daraga, the regiment ordered Young to move his troop to a place called Tobaco. Nicholas described this move: “In October 1901 we were ordered to the town of Tobaco, Luzon, 25 miles away, at the base of the volcano ‘Mayon,’ still now active.” The threat of volcanic eruption unnerved Young’s troopers more than the local insurgents, and for good reason. The volcano erupted again in 1902 shortly after their departure.31 The mission of Young and I Troop in Tobaco, according to Nicholas, consisted of “running down Ladrones (native bandits) that were terrorizing the peaceful natives and other inhabitants

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in that section.” Nicholas and the soldiers of the Ninth referred to the rebels as ladrones, or bandits, but they were insurgents in the classic sense and referred to themselves as insurrectos. The size of the ladrone or insurrecto band was proportionate to the ability of its leadership, the success of the group, and the tenacity with which the U.S. Army pursued it. The leaders of these bands carried military titles and the men followed a military order. Some well-led groups were better drilled and uniformed than the Filipino Constabulary forces that faced them. They often had the sympathy of the local population and could, as was the case in Samar and Luzon, be very dangerous.32 To make matters worse, the horses began to suffer from disease. According to Nicholas: “In January 1902, Surra, a deadly disease, broke out among the horses; also Cholera was in full swing on most of the important islands. People (white), as well as natives were dying at the rate of 175 per day. We lost 75 per cent of the horses and mules to this disease Surra. The remainder being infected and of little or no use as mounts were ordered left in the islands to prevent its spread in the U.S.” Surra is a disease of domesticated animals that causes uncontrollable bleeding and is transmitted by biting insects. The disease ravaged the horses of the Ninth so badly, that by January the troop was mostly foot-bound again. But this was just as well since their next mission had them fighting as infantry once more.33 Batangas Two months into the new year, Young and I Troop moved again. Nicholas reported: “In March 1902, Captain Young and his troop were ordered to proceed by the U.S. transport Burnside, to Lucena, Tayabas Province, Luzon, to participate in the run-down of the insurrecto General Miguel Malvar, who was one of Aguinaldo’s insurgent leaders and followers, and was operating in or near

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Rosario.” Once again the U.S. Navy provided boats to move I Troop and the rest of the Ninth Cavalry one hundred miles north to concentrate forces on another part of Luzon Island. This time their objective was the capture of Gen. Miguel Malvar and the elimination of the insurrectos in the region of Batangas.34 Maj. Gen. Adna Chaffee, commanding general in the Philippines since July 1901, was under tremendous pressure to bring the war to a close. Chaffee, a tough, hard-riding cavalryman who had served with Young in the Ninth Cavalry as a major, picked the province of Batangas as his first target and put Brig. Gen. James Franklin Bell in charge of the operation. General Bell was a burly Kentuckian from the West Point class of 1878 who had begun his career like Young as a second lieutenant in the Ninth Cavalry. He had arrived in the Philippines as a major in the volunteers and won promotion through gallantry, winning a Medal of Honor in 1899. Bell immediately authorized severe punishment for anyone suspected of helping the insurrectos and told his men, “Neutrality should not be tolerated.”35 Young and his troop took part in the final phase of this campaign in Batangas, and I Troop once again fought on foot. Nicholas explained: “The campaign being under General Bell, we made the hike from San Juan, just 3 miles outside of Lucena, of 25 miles on foot, with all equipment in just 10 hours. When Malvar heard of us on his heels, he rushed into Lipa, Batangas Province, the next morning, after our arrival, and surrendered to the Fourteenth Cavalry, stationed there permanently, but could not affect his operations and capture.” The Ninth Cavalry played an important role in Bell’s offensive, but not the singular role Nicholas described.36 General Bell’s scorched earth tactics and isolation of the insurrectos from the people were effective, whatever ethical questions they raised. Malvar surrendered alone and unarmed

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on April 13, 1902, the last Filipino general to submit to the Americans. He told his captors he had been deserted by his closest lieutenants, chased from one hiding place to another, and was left “without a single gun.” He knew he and his men would have starved since Bell had prevented the local farmers from planting next season’s rice harvest. After his capture, the insurgency on Luzon effectively ended.37 While I Troop was operating in Batangas, Young lost a soldier during a tragic training accident. According to Lieutenant Pearson: I remember an occasion at Batangas when we were practicing swimming on a horse and Young was with other men in the water when one of the men who could not swim slipped from his horse and the strong tidal undertow carried him around the end of the pier and out to sea where he was drowned and this nearly broke Young’s heart, and we were all in the water diving and trying to rescue the body before we realized that the undertow had carried him out to sea. This must have been a devastating blow to Young, especially since he had worked so hard to bring I Troop through difficult combat operations without suffering a single death.38 The Philippine War officially ended on July 4, 1902, while Young and his troop billeted in Rosario. On Independence Day, President Roosevelt declared an official end to the war, praising the U.S. Army for “courage and fortitude . . . indomitable spirit and loyal devotion” in defeating “the great insurrection” against “the lawful sovereignty and just authority of the United States.” The war was an inexpensive one for America relative to other wars of the time. The United States lost only 4,234 dead and 2,818 wounded, though thousands more died later from

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the diseases they contracted on the islands. The war took a far larger toll of Filipinos, with at least sixteen thousand soldiers killed and many thousands of civilians who died as a result of combat, famine, or disease.39 The “butcher’s bill,” the soldiers’ term for combat losses, had been miraculously low for I Troop, thanks to the positive leadership, discipline, and training of Captain Young. During operations on Samar and Luzon islands, the troop had not lost a single soldier in combat, and only one man to a heartbreaking training accident. The war against the insurrectos was finally over for I Troop, but they would have to endure three more miserable months of the rainy season before they could go home. Panay and Departure With the insurgent leader Malvar in custody and the serious fighting ended on Luzon, I Troop moved again. Young moved his men 240 miles to the Island of Panay to a place called San Joaquin on the coast. Panay is a large island in the center of the Philippine archipelago south of Luzon and west of Samar. The Ninth Cavalry established its headquarters in the southwest port of Iloilo, the largest city on the island and the second most important seaport in the Philippines. Young commanded the post at San Joaquin and I Troop, consisting of eighty-three men, a surgeon, commissary sergeant, and signal corpsman. There Young battled an enemy that would not surrender easily: disease.40 Sergeant Nicholas mentions that dengue, malaria, and beriberi were rampant, but only one death resulted. Lieutenant Pearson, who was present, also mentions cholera. He recalled: “We were at the town of San Joaquin in Panay and it was there that the cholera epidemic struck us and through Young’s rigid method of protection there was not a single case developed in the town

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of San Joaquin but they died all around and he and I and men from Troop I buried many a corpse and burned others.”41 The man that Young lost to disease in San Joaquin succumbed to beriberi, according to Nicholas. Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a deficiency in thiamine, or vitamin b1. The crippling symptoms include a progressive paralysis of the legs or cardiac insufficiency with massive accumulation of fluid in the legs. In advanced cases, like the one that killed Young’s soldier, the disease can cause heart failure. Thiamine occurs naturally in unrefined cereals and fresh foods, particularly fresh meat, vegetables, fruit, and milk, which Nicholas complained were in short supply. Recovery is rapid when treated, but the world did not know the cause and cure until 1935.42 Even for those diseases whose causes were understood, good discipline and proper hygiene were not an absolute guarantee. Sergeant Nicholas described a debilitating bout of illness suffered by Captain Young in San Joaquin. Nicholas recounted: “The Captain then became sick in bed with Break-Bone [dengue] Fever and other complications from exposure and hard campaign duty. Many nights I had to go to his bedside 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning to administer hot applications and medicine, at the same time I was barely able to drag along with a bad stomach and Malaria Fever. My only hope and aim was to get him on his feet and save him for his future ambitions.”43 “Break-bone fever” was the soldiers’ slang for dengue. Although rarely fatal, it was harmful to the U.S. Army in the Philippines because it disabled large numbers of soldiers. In 1903, in the Philippines, the total infection rate among troops was 6,473 cases, or about seventeen per one hundred soldiers. The onset of this febrile disease in units rendered many men unfit for combat operations, inducing sudden fever with severe head, muscle, and joint pains, giving it the name break-bone

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fever. The classic dengue fever lasts about a week. The same mosquito that carries the yellow fever virus is the vector for this disease, but this was not known until several years after Young’s service in the Philippines.44 Young replaced his cook, Abner “Peggy” Jones, while stationed in San Joaquin. According to Nicholas, his cook, Peggy, “became somewhat undisciplined and the Captain ordered the First Sergeant Jasper Jones to put him to straight and full duty. Captain Young then employed a Chinese Cook who was an excellent one.” There was one other story mentioned by Lieutenant Pearson about an occasion when Peggy refused to cook for a group of white officers, but he could not remember the event and “always supposed that Peggy held no prejudice against the whites.” Pearson did recall one occasion when Peggy “fell out of a boat in the Philippine Islands and nearly drowned but was rescued in the nick of time.”45 The army soon ordered Young and I Troop to prepare for shipment back to the United States, but not before a period of quarantine. The War Department could ill afford to have units return to the United States carrying contagious diseases. According to Nicholas: “About September 25, 1902, we were ordered to embark on a transport and to proceed to the quarantine station at Marvelles [sic] for disinfections of all clothes and equipment, preparatory for sailing to the United States.” The Spanish established the quarantine station at the Lazareto de Mariveles in Bataan in the 1850s, and the Americans used Mariveles as a quarantine station for incoming and outgoing traffic beginning in 1902. I Troop remained there for ten days while doctors examined the men and all of their clothing and equipment were disinfected.46 Young and his troop departed Manila bay after quarantine in early October 1902. Sergeant Nicholas recorded: “Left Quarantine

11. Captain Young (seated center) with Lieutenant Pearson and I Troop, Ninth Cavalry in the Philippines (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

12. Captain Young (seated center) and his work crew at Sequoia National Park in 1903 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

13. Young serves his guests at a picnic at Sequoia National Park (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

14. Captain Young in San Francisco in 1903 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

15. Ada Young in San Francisco in 1903 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

16. Map of Haiti drawn by Young during horseback reconnaissance from Hinche to Cerca Carbarjal (Courtesy of the National Archives, Washington dc)

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Station October 6, 1902 by way of Korea and Nagasaki, Japan, arriving in San Francisco, California October 31, 1902, and were permanently stationed in the Presidio of San Francisco, then considered the most desirable Post in the U.S., for Services well rendered overseas.” After seventeen months in the Philippines, Young and I Troop looked forward to returning to the United States and being stationed at San Francisco. General Hughes’s promise that they “shall be stationed at some choice post in the U.S.” had been kept.47 Young and his Ninth Cavalry troopers served in a very different role in the Philippines compared to their previous frontier service in the West. The U.S. Army fought a guerilla war against native Filipinos who resisted the idea of trading their former Spanish colonial masters for new ones from the United States. The black Ninth Cavalry compiled an impressive record of fighting, in spite of early doubts about their political reliability and the necessity of operating without horses. Captain Young and his troopers adapted well to the fighting since they had used similar tactics skirmishing Indians in the West and were also used to operating independently as troop-sized units. Young proved an outstanding leader of men during his year and a half of combat operations in the Philippines. He proved a military leader who knew when to fight and when to use diplomacy, an attribute so essential in a guerilla war and valued by superior officers like General Hughes. Young led his men from the front and they followed him without question. He instilled discipline and enforced strict rules, saving many of his men’s lives from death and disease. He lost not a single man to enemy action, only one man to drowning, and another to disease. This was an extraordinary achievement in leadership, succeeding in bringing home “more men from the fight.”48

8. Troop Commander in San Francisco and Sequoia

You are going to have a white man’s chance, and that is all I ask for the Negro. charles young, 1903

A

s the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry steamed into the San Francisco harbor on October 31, 1902, the city must have appeared heaven-sent to soldiers who had spent eighteen months fighting insurgents in the disease-infested jungles of the Philippines. Since its establishment in 1866, the Ninth Cavalry had garrisoned frontier and hardship posts in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah, punctuated by overseas assignments in Cuba and on the Philippine Islands. They had never seen the culture and refinements of San Francisco as a permanent duty station. Young and the Third Squadron remained in San Francisco while the other two squadrons garrisoned other posts on the West Coast.1 Captain Young continued to command I Troop, Ninth U.S. Cavalry, as it settled into its new quarters at the Presidio of San Francisco, viewing it as a well-earned rest after the dangers and disorder of the Philippine Islands. Garrison life would still revolve around many of the mundane duties and cavalry drill

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that busied the life of a Buffalo Soldier. But some surprises were in store for I Troop in the coming year, involving presidents and national parks. Even more awaited Young. Presidio of San Francisco Once back on U.S. soil, Charles Young could expect to receive visitors and mix with society again. San Francisco was a thriving city with a population of more than 340,000, the ninth largest in the United States. San Francisco served as a leading social, cultural, political, and economic center for African Americans and contained the largest black population in California until surpassed by Los Angeles in 1900. According to his company clerk, Sergeant Nicholas, “Captain Young was visited by such notables as Mrs. [Malvina] Mitchell of Wilberforce University; his mother, Mrs. [Arminta] Young; Booker T. Washington; T. Thomas Fortune, of the New York Age; Ernest Hogan’s Comedy Company; and many others that knew of him.”2 Who were these individuals, and what do their visits say about Young? First and foremost among the visitors was his mother, Arminta Young. Born into slavery in Kentucky, prior to the Civil War, Arminta found a way to educate herself, an accomplishment exceedingly rare at that time. She later escaped with her husband, Gabriel, to freedom in Ohio, and while he went off to fight in the Civil War, she raised their only son. Charles was always very close to his mother, who had stressed education in his childhood. After his father’s death in 1894, this relationship grew in importance for both Young and his mother.3 Another visitor, Malvina (Fairfax) Mitchell, was a teacher and dean of students at Wilberforce University and also the wife of the Reverend Samuel T. Mitchell, the university president. Her visit indicates that Young maintained contact with the leaders of the institution where he had taught tactics and military

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science from 1894 to 1899, and where he would return and serve again in the future. He considered the university and his nearby home to be his refuge throughout a long army career, and he returned there often to recover from his physical and emotional wounds.4 One more on the list was Ernest Hogan, a comedian, singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, and the first African American star on Broadway. He began his career, like many black vaudevillians, in the all-black Uncle Tom companies. Later, in addition to working as a single act, he moved into management, and his troupes toured across America and as far away as Australia. His success, with that of Bert Williams, helped to pave the way into mainstream show business for African American actors, musicians, and comedians. Hogan was to the acting profession in the theatrical realm what Young was to the officer corps in the U.S. Army.5 A further visitor, T. Thomas Fortune, was one of the most prominent black journalists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born Timothy Thomas Fortune, he achieved fame as the maverick editor of a newspaper named the Globe, later the Freeman, and finally, at the time he visited Young, the New York Age. In 1900 Fortune had joined Booker T. Washington in organizing the National Negro Business League, a precursor to the Niagara Movement and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp). Fortune was responsible for coining the term Afro-American, as a substitute for Negro or colored, in the New York newspapers. Believing it a more accurate term, Fortune argued that blacks were “African in origin and American in birth.”6 The last visitor mentioned by Nicholas, Booker T. Washington, was by far the most prominent black leader in America in 1903. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,

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promoted a philosophy of self-help, practical education, racial solidarity, and accommodation. He believed this philosophy in time would lead to African Americans being fully accepted into American society. The year Washington visited was coincidentally the point in time at which Young’s friend Du Bois published an article entitled “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” which rejected Washington’s willingness to accept the status quo, calling instead for political power, civil rights, and higher education for African American youth. This was the opening salvo of the well-publicized dispute about the best way to overcome the pervasive racism of the day.7 Young felt somewhat comfortable with Washington’s philosophy of hard work and accommodation, since these were his keys to survival in the white officer corps of the army. On the other hand, he was an activist promoter of higher education, as shown in his efforts as a high school teacher in Ripley, student at West Point, and instructor at Wilberforce. Young developed a pragmatic middle road of his own out of necessity and would never totally embrace either of Du Bois’ or Washington’s competing philosophies, though a speech he gave later that year at Stanford sounded more like the voice of the former.8 In May 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt conducted a tour of the United States that included a stay in San Francisco and an inspection of the Presidio. The president also participated in a gala parade down Market Street on May 12. A film documenting his ride in a horse-drawn carriage shows Captain Young and the mounted soldiers of the Ninth in the parade. An entourage of secret-service men in top hats walked on either side of the presidential carriage to supplement mounted police and a military honor guard, the extraordinary number of security guards bent on preventing an assassination, which took down his predecessor, President William McKinley.9

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Leading the president’s carriage, serving as his honor guard, rode Troops I and M of the Ninth Cavalry under the command of Capt. Charles Young. These were the only two troops of the Third Squadron remaining in San Francisco after the departure of K and L Troops for Yosemite National Park on April 23. The honor guard is shown in the film arrayed in ranks of ten, spanning the street, with perhaps a hundred black mounted troopers in all. They ride smartly at a trot following the redand-white swallowtail flag, or guide-on, designating their troop, with Captain Young and his staff leading the formation. This was the first time that African American soldiers served as an honor guard for the president of the United States.10 President Roosevelt had good reason to be fond of the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry and to appreciate them in his honor guard. He had fought five years earlier with some of the old veterans of the Ninth Cavalry during the Spanish-American War, in 1898, when with them he charged up San Juan Hill in Cuba. Many of these veterans of Cuba still served with the unit. Roosevelt had firsthand knowledge of their bravery in combat and ability as professional soldiers. One wonders what he thought of Young when they met in San Francisco in 1903, since less than a year later Roosevelt selected him for a very important diplomatic post. Sequoia Superintendent Hard on the heels of the presidential visit to San Francisco, the Ninth Cavalry dispatched two troops of cavalry to Sequoia National Park in central California. The U.S. Army was responsible for patrolling and protecting the national parks prior to the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. Sergeant Nicholas recorded that “[o]n May 15 Troops I and M, Ninth Cavalry, were ordered by the War Department to proceed overland, mounted,

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from San Francisco to Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, a distance of 285 miles, for Park guard duty under the Department of Interior.” Their actual mission would be more complex and challenging, as Young would soon discover.11 Young’s squadron of mounted troopers traveled well-equipped for the work ahead in Sequoia. Trailing the mounted formation rode four escort wagons, one Dougherty wagon, twenty draft mules (pulling the wagons), two civilian packers, and six civilian teamsters. Young purchased fuel for fires and forage for the animals along the way in the towns and local markets. The wagons carried rations for the men and fresh meat was purchased when needed. In addition: Tentage, tarpaulins, Sibley stoves, field ranges (large and small), axes, picks, shovels, crosscut saws, zinc tubs for washing clothing, water cans, galvanized-iron buckets, horse and mule shoes, blacksmith’s and farriers’ outfits, picket lines, ammunition, target material, and records were taken. Each man was made to provide himself with two pair of shoes, one pair at least being hobnailed. Overcoats, blankets, and bedsacks were taken, and came in handy during the later part of the season.12 Young’s bone-weary squadron arrived on June 2 in Visalia, the Tulare County seat, and the nearest town of any size to Sequoia National Park. The Daily Visalia Times reported: “They are Troops I and M of the Ninth Cavalry, U.S.A. and are under the command of Captain Charles Young, the only colored captain in the U.S. Army. With the exception of Lieutenant Winston Pilcher, Lieutenant E. L. Cox, and Dr. A. T. Arwine, the two troops are colored soldiers.” The Tulare County Times described Captain Young as “a colored man and the only officer in the United States Army of his color and rank. He is a graduate of

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West Point and is a man of brilliant parts. His career has been one of hard struggle against the prejudice of race. He has, however, risen above all these difficulties by force of character and inherent ability.”13 The arrival of the troops created a sensation in the town. The army had been sending soldiers to patrol Sequoia for a number of years, but the arrival of African American soldiers commanded by a black officer caused quite a stir. Visalia’s small minority community paid a great deal of attention to the newcomers as well. The Delta described Captain Young’s reaction to the interest shown by a group of local African American children: “He questioned them kindly as to their opportunities and told them to have high aim and to be industrious.” He stood before them as a living role model of what that philosophy could achieve for a black man in 1903.14 Two days after leaving Visalia, Young led his eighty-three black troopers into the foothills community of Kaweah, a small ranching and logging settlement on the North Fork of the Kaweah River. There he established his headquarters and supply depot in preparation for a busy summer of patrolling and road building. He immediately dispatched parties of soldiers under command of his officers or trusted noncommissioned officers to various entry points of the Sequoia and General Grant national parks to guard against poaching and livestock grazing. He then set out to examine what needed to be accomplished to complete the road into Sequoia National Park, his most important mission for the summer.15 Road Building Young had nearly failed to graduate from West Point thirteen years earlier due to his difficulties mastering military engineering. His instructor, Lt. George W. Goethals, a future major

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general and builder of the Panama Canal, failed him in the subject and then spent two summer months tutoring Cadet Young so he could pass the reexamination in engineering and graduate. Young put some of Goethal’s teachings to use during his six months at Sequoia, building roads to make the park more accessible to tourists. In a peculiar twist, the year that Young was blasting his way through the mountains to Sequoia, the treaty was ratified for the construction of the Panama Canal, an entity that would influence Young’s next assignment.16 In the years before Captain Young arrived, in June 1903, civilian crews with the help of the army had improved the old colony road and completed about six miles of new roadbed into the park. On June 11, Young supervised the return to work starting about a mile above the bridge at Marble Fork. His task was to complete five miles of road in one summer; nearly matching the six miles it had taken crews to build in the preceding three seasons. He undertook the challenge with as much vigor, imagination, and inspired leadership, as he had shown in the Philippines.17 Though Young served as the acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park and was in charge of the operation, civilian workers in fact did most of the work on the road from Kaweah. Sergeant Nicholas acknowledged “with the assistance of the regular Civil Engineer Mr. [George] Welch, Chief Ranger Ernest Britten, and Ranger Louis Davis as powder man to blast the right-of-way, the Workmen and Laborers were mustered together and work began with great strides in June, or as soon as the snow cleared away.” Young administered a payroll of sixty civilians working on the road. One of these, Walter Fry, became the first civilian superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1916, the year the U.S. Army was relieved of its duties in the national parks.18

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While Young let the civilian crews do the lion’s share of the work on the road from Kaweah, his troopers cleared trails and built roads within the park boundaries. According to Nicholas, “2 miles of unfinished Road leading into Grant Park 30 miles in another direction had to be finished.” Once Young saw that the work on the main road was in good hands, he rode with a small group to relieve a fifteen-man detachment of troopers, under Lt. John H. Howard, camped in the meadows below Mount Whitney. Again, according to Nicholas: “Captain Young made several trips mounted to Mount Whitney, by trail 75 miles from the Parks to see that the trails to the top were cleared of Snow.” Along with the mission of guarding against illegal grazing, the detachment began work on two new trails between Lone Pine and Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower forty-eight states.19 By the time Young returned from Mount Whitney and his other rounds in the park in early August, most of the work on the road to the Giant Forest was complete. He sent the following report to the Interior Department in Washington on August 29: “I submit that more work has been done, and better work through rougher country than has been done in any two years previous to this. I claim no special credit for this, as it is largely due to the department’s permission to allow work to begin early in the season when the ground was moist and when good men were available.”20 The local Daily Visalia Delta on August 9 described Young’s satisfaction with the pace of construction: “Captain Young says that the men who have been working on the road have done fully three months of work in just half that length of time and he thinks they are fully deserving of compliments.” On August 15 the Delta reported “[t]hat the wagon road will be completed clean to the forest today and Captain Young will make his first

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visit into the forest in a wagon. When he began the work he made a vow not to enter the forest until he could do so in a wagon drawn by four horses. This he will do today.” According to Sergeant Nicholas, “[t]o celebrate the completion of the road, Four Mules teams were hitched to Wagons, and Captain Young, some of the Soldiers, and the Staff of Employees were the first to ride into the Grant Forest on a regular built Wagon Road.” Tourists would soon follow.21 Park Patrolling While the workers built roads and his men cleared trails, Young detailed most of his Ninth Cavalry troopers to guard the park against poachers and herders grazing their livestock illegally. This was no easy task, since the locals knew every back trail and short cut in and out of the park. They had been doing this for years before the park property was set aside, and for many, grazing their livestock on the land was their livelihood. This became a cat-and-mouse game repeated each season when the mounted soldiers arrived in Sequoia from San Francisco. One ploy Young used to catch the cattle and sheep grazers off guard was the early dispatch of Lieutenant Howard and his small detachment to the Mount Whitney area to cut off the eastern access to the park lands. According to the Delta, “During the time Captain Young was over there, he had no trouble with the sheep men or with any other stock men. As a result of the guard duty, the meadows have not been fed off and there has been plenty of feed for the stock used this year by the tourists. Heretofore, the tourists’ stock has suffered for want of feed which put those going up for pleasure at a great inconvenience.”22 Road building and trail clearing were important first steps in creating a public park, but tourists would stay home if the

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trees and animals were gone and the alpine meadows of the High Sierra stripped bare of its natural fauna. By the time Young arrived, logging no longer posed a threat in the park proper, but livestock overgrazing did. Sheepherders were the main enemy. In 1898, when the demand for soldiers to fight in Cuba and the Philippines left Sequoia unguarded, an estimated two hundred thousand sheep entered the park illegally. After the war the troops returned to stem the tide.23 The other threat was poaching. The local residents had hunted freely for years in the High Sierra. Additionally, the locals believed that the soldiers were taking advantage of their privileged position to poach themselves. In 1903, Captain Young issued an order to lock up the rifles in camp to reassure the locals and keep his own men honest, since pistols were not effective hunting weapons. The only time Young had the rifles unboxed was for annual target practice and on two occasions when patrols passed outside of the park’s boundaries. Young reported only one case of illegal hunting in 1903, by a man who fired his pistol at a deer and missed.24 Relations with Locals Young was farsighted in his thinking about the future of Sequoia Park, despite the fact that he was only assigned as the superintendent for a single season. In addition to building roads, protecting the park from poachers and grazers, and keeping his soldiers out of trouble, he found the time to tackle other long-term problems involving the park. When the U.S. government acquired the land comprising Sequoia and General Grant national parks in 1890, substantial private tracts remained within its borders. Young found a solution to this thorny problem that would save the U.S. Treasury money and also reassure the private landholders.25

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When Young arrived in 1903, individuals held eighteen legal claims to a total of 3,877 acres of parkland, which contained nine thousand giant sequoia trees. Captain Young cultivated good relations with the local landowners and approached them individually during his rounds of the park. He also consulted the local forest rangers and the land office. By the end of the season Young had convinced all of the private landholders within the park boundaries to accept a fair price for their lands. Washington did not follow through quickly, however, and the lands were purchased a decade later for three times the price negotiated by Young. One large private tract still lies within the park’s boundaries.26 Young developed a positive relationship with the local white community in the short time he was the superintendent at Sequoia. This is surprising, considering that he led an all-black army unit in a remote area populated by independently minded people and no minority residents. He developed an especially close relationship with a local settler named Philip Winser and his family. All of this was extraordinary by the standards of the day and ran counter to Young’s self-imposed regime of social separation from whites he had long practiced in the army.27 Shortly after Young’s arrival at Sequoia, he received an invitation from Philip Winser and his wife, Blanche. Winser related Young’s initial hesitation to accept the couple’s invitation: We heard he had come and Blanche, sensing what might be, asked me to call and see if he would visit us. He received me as the courteous gentleman he was, but gently turned aside the invitation. Again we returned, to at last elicit the admission that he preferred to stay on his own side of the fence. Then we told him, for us there was no fence, and after that the promise that one of his men

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should share the invitation, they came and so began a friendship with a rare and cultured soul, which lasted ’til his death.28 Winser mentioned the heartfelt note he received from Young, when the latter replied in writing to the invitation in June 1903. Young wrote: My very dear Mr. Winser: It seems tame to tell you in the conventional way how much I appreciate the kind invitation of you and Mrs. Winser. I feel like breaking a rule I have sworn by this many and a year and come—. We will be better acquainted and I shall speak to you from my heart of the many things that you believe I am able to tell you with respect to myself and my people.29 Young and the Winsers grew to be close friends and met as often as his duties as superintendent of Sequoia allowed. The strength of the friendship endured after Young left Sequoia in the fall. In a letter written a year later from the Caribbean, Young reflected fondly on his time at Sequoia and yearned for an “hours’ ride up the mountain road.” Philip Winser and Charles Young carried on an intimate correspondence for years afterward. In fact, the friendship endured after Young’s death, and both Philip and Blanche traded letters with his widow thirty years after their brief acquaintance in Sequoia.30 Booker T. Washington Tree Near the end of the summer season, Young’s black soldiers and the local white engineers and construction workers were so impressed with his leadership that they proposed that a giant sequoia be named after him. They even picked a tree for this

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purpose. Young refused the honor but agreed to name one of the great trees after Booker T. Washington. This decision was influenced by his respect for the great African American leader and also by Washington’s recent visit to San Francisco. As a government official, Young could not accept such an honor, although a man with fewer professional scruples might have been tempted.31 A newspaper version of the idea to have a tree named after Young concluded: “So much interest has Captain Young taken in the work, and so appreciative are the leading citizens and the representative men of this city that a tree has been selected and in the future Captain Young’s name will be inscribed on it never to blot it out, and the tree will bear his name.” It is significant that the leading citizens and the representative men of the city, all of whom were white, selected Young for this honor. They even selected a tree for his name.32 Young’s friend Philip Winser noted Young’s refusal of this tribute: “They wanted to name a tree for our captain but he refused, saying they could do so if they felt the same way twenty years hence and they compromised on one for Booker T. Washington.” Years later, in 1933, Winser raised the issue of naming a tree after Young with park officials to no avail. The park would wait 101 years to name a tree after Young, as was originally intended by the “leading citizens and representative men” from the area surrounding Sequoia.33 Young addressed the issue of naming trees in Sequoia in his annual report to the Interior Department in 1903. He recommended that no name be given to trees at Sequoia “that would not be acceptable to the entire nation”: I permitted the naming of three trees in Sequoia Park this season: One “G.A.R.” tree, in honor of the Grand Army of

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the Republic; another, from its particular growth of three large trees from one big trunk, was named “I.O.O.F.,” for the Odd Fellows of the country; and the third, after repeated requests from visitors and the wishes of the workmen who finished the Giant Forest road, was named after that great and good American, Booker T. Washington. These new names reflected Young’s respect for his father, his own African American heritage, and his country.34 During his short summer stay in Sequoia National Forest, Young developed a deep respect for the giant sequoia and other trees in the High Sierra. In his final report, he reasoned: Indeed, a journey through this park and the Sierra Forest Reserve to the Mount Whitney country will convince even the least thoughtful man of the needfulness of preserving these mountains just as they are, with their clothing of trees, shrubs, rocks, and vines, and of their importance to the valleys below as reservoirs for storage of water for agricultural and domestic purposes. In this, then, lies the necessity of forest preservation. His careful and studied examination of the ecology of Sequoia and General Grant national parks in his final report showed Young to possess a remarkable sophistication in thinking about the environment of the region.35 Local Landowner Captain Young took a fancy to the area around Sequoia National Park, perhaps planning to return to California after his service in the army. To that end, he purchased two parcels of land adjoining the park. One was a fruit and stock ranch close to Three Rivers near the southwestern entrance to Sequoia

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National Park. He also bought a smaller plot of land in Inyo County to the east in an area on the other side of the park near Mount Whitney. Sergeant Nicholas described the ranch near Three Rivers as follows: “Captain Young purchased a Fruit and Stock Ranch consisting of 480 acres on which there was 15 acres of Apples, and various other Fruits Trees such as Lemons, Oranges, Nuts, and Berries sufficient to market a 10 room House, Barn for 8 Horses, and a Storage House for 40 Tons of Apples.” The Tulare County Recorder’s Office shows that the 480-acre property, called the Thorne Ranch, was sold to Charles Young by Marion E. Griffes on February 4, 1904. Young made this purchase four months after his departure from Sequoia, but must have looked at the ranch and made contacts for the deal during his summer at the park.36 The second plot in Inyo County was smaller and probably less developed. Nicholas explained: “Captain Young bought 160 acres in Inyo County, California. Sergeant Pierce and myself homesteaded 160 acres adjacent to this property—all level land, and at the expiration of our term of enlistments, December 1903, Sergeant Pierce and I operated these ranches.” Young worked out an arrangement with his two most trusted sergeants who wanted to start their new lives as farmers or ranchers in California. They would keep an eye on his land investments in exchange for managing his farms while he was absent.37 Another black army officer and friend of Captain Young, Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth, founded a black settlement in Tulare County a few years later. The two had known each other while serving in the Philippines. After retiring from the army in 1906, he founded the town of Allensworth, in 1908, where a select group of black settlers built homes, laid out streets, and farmed the land. One of the roads in the town was named

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after Young. But lack of water and the death of Allensworth in 1914 doomed the town.38 There was another reason for Young to contemplate settling, or at least establishing a foothold, in California. Young had met a woman in San Francisco named Ada Mills before his departure for Sequoia. Perhaps he and Ada looked at the Thorne Ranch together and contemplated it as a future home. Ada visited Sequoia at least once that year and was on hand for the celebratory picnic at the end of the summer. A candid photo was taken of them at Sequoia, with Ada seated on the forest floor with other picnic guests, and Charles standing, in uniform, serving Ada beer with a shovel modified as a server. Celebration and Departure Young had reason to celebrate, since he had achieved as much in one season as had been completed in the three previous years. Young decided that his soldiers, engineers, and construction workers deserved a party to mark the completion of the wagon road into Sequoia from the valley below. He was careful to invite the local politicians to ensure the army’s continued public support for improvements and enforcement in the park. By the time of the celebration, the wagon road had been extended even further, from the principal camp at Round Meadow to the popular destination of Moro Rock.39 Before a party could be thrown, Young had to gather the fixings for the feast. Captain Young set out for Visalia with Nicholas and two other soldiers in a Dougherty wagon to purchase the materials for the picnic dinner. During the fifty-two-mile trip, Young found that about one hundred dollars of the money collected from the men for the picnic was missing. According to Nicholas: “The money had fallen out of his pockets in the hay and sifted through the cracks in the floor of the wagon along

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the road side in the deep dust and could not be recovered by diligent search.” Young replaced the lost money out of his funds and purchased the food and drink for the picnic.40 Nicholas went on to describe that it was the Stewards and Cooks who prepared the Picnic Dinner. Large logs served as tables covered with bleached cotton table cloths. Small Fruit Baskets, filled with Fried Chicken, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, and assorted Fresh Fruits of the season, were [served] on Picks, Shovels, and Spades, and passed along to the guests to help themselves. Beer (pint bottles) [and] Hot Coffee was served with the food. Captain Young composed a little Poem on Cards pasted in Redwood Bark as a holder with the following words: We sat in the Redwood’s shade / After the road was made / And ate our lunch from boxes laid / On shovel, pick, and spade.41 Young bid farewell to his friends and colleagues at Sequoia and prepared to march his troops back to San Francisco in late October 1903. The squadron retraced its steps of that spring, conducting a mounted march through Visalia. They arrived in Visalia on November 3, 1903, and spent the evening commemorating the summer’s accomplishments with the local leaders, who by this time they knew very well. The city and county had much to gain by the opening of the park to tourists. They appreciated the hard work and leadership shown by Young in opening the park to wagon traffic.42 After the celebration in Visalia, the rest of the trip back to San Francisco proceeded routinely. With winter in the Sierras approaching, Young and his men were anxious to get back to the more temperate climate of the coast. Living in tents in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the summer was pleasant, but the

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men yearned to be back in the clean, warm billets of the Presidio. Young too looked forward to returning to San Francisco for other reasons. Stanford Speech Within a month of Young’s arrival back at the Presidio of San Francisco, Stanford University invited him to speak to an assembly at the school. Captain Young titled his presentation “The Ideals of the Negroes in the United States.” The talk was an eloquent plea that black Americans be given “a white man’s chance.” Though Young’s 1903 oration was not a fiery diatribe against the injustices done to blacks in America, he patiently and vividly explained to his audience his hopes and views: I wish to acquaint you with the spirit strivings of the black race of which I am part and parcel. I fear that the higher interests of my people are going nether ward—and yours with them, for when one part of the body is diseased the whole body is not well, and my people are one-twelfth of the body politic. For the solution of the ill-named “Negro problem”—for it is your problem as well as mine—you have had offered your amalgamation, a hodge-podge of black and white, deportation, extermination, and finally you have had offered your industrialism. I desire to impress upon you the importance of kindliness toward this man who so much needs your good offices.43 He went on to belittle the “few thousands of dollars” given “to Booker T. Washington in order to solve this problem” at Tuskegee to train blacks to work in industry. He does not belittle Washington or the work he had done, but neither does he consider this a solution. Young also rejects in his speech the suggestion that the solution is for African Americans to

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go into business. He does so on the grounds that the black man’s “two centuries of labor have done to build up capital for someone else and he has not money to start with.” The real solution, according to Young, is higher education, and he cites the “poetry of [Paul Laurence] Dunbar” and the sculpturing of Edmonia Lewis as examples of individuals who had excelled in the arts. This seems a clear rejection of the path espoused by Booker T. Washington and an endorsement of the ideas of W. E. B. Du Bois.44 In this speech, Young claims that blacks in America are “between the devil, which would bid us give up hope, and the deep blue sea of our ambitions that are surging in our hearts.” He cites an Africa American sculptress who “invented a statue of a man eating his own heart” and notes, “Nobody but a Negro would have conceived of such a thing. We know what it is to eat our own hearts.” He rejects the white man’s efforts to stifle black aspirations, the pointed “finger of scorn,” and attempts to sugar coat the situation with “sycophancy” or sweet talk. He maintains that the only answer is higher education for African Americans, and repeats his call to give blacks a “white man’s chance.” He ends his speech with a call to “[b]e of good courage, be true to your high ideals, because these are the things on which your salvation depends.”45 We do not know the exact circumstances surrounding the invitation for Young to speak at Stanford, but it was well received. Stanford professor Max Ferrand wrote Young on February 20, 1904, after an extended trip to the East Coast thanking him for his talk. He acknowledged that it “gave me as much pleasure to learn that you enjoyed your visit to Stanford even a fraction as much as we enjoyed it.” In his letter he mentioned that he and Professor Robert Allardice intended to visit Young at the Presidio of San Francisco at the first opportunity. He also

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thanked Young for a copy of his “report as Superintendent of the National Parks,” and stated they were “in sympathy with such recommendation as are made or suggested.”46 Marriage Charles Young continued to court Ada Mills in the first three months after his return to San Francisco. According to Harry Atwood, Young “thought men and women were made for companionship. So far as I was able to see there was no suggestion of sex—and yet he thought men and women should naturally drift together—should be stirred to love.” Capt. Charles Young married Miss Ada Mills on February 18, 1903, in Oakland, California, scarcely three months after his return to the Presidio. Charles and Ada kept their planned marriage a well-kept secret until the day they were married in a private ceremony.47 According to the newspaper accounts, the wedding caught his fellow officers by surprise. The first clue they gained of Young’s new married status was the sight of “a pretty young woman standing at the door of Captain Young’s quarters.” The San Francisco Chronicle article headlined: “Presidio Colored Officer Now a Benedict,” referring to the newly married man in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, who had long been a bachelor. According to the marriage certificate, the thirtynine-year-old Young, a native of Kentucky, married Ada Mills, a much younger twenty-three, who was born in Grass Valley, California, on October 30, 1880. She was young and beautiful and he, with his dashing uniform, was naturally attractive to women.48 Reverend Otho E. Jones of the First ame Church of Oakland married the couple in a simple ceremony in the home of the bride’s aunt, F. P. Henry, in Oakland. According to the newspapers, there “were no attendants, the whole affair being entirely

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simple and informal, some of the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry acting as witnesses, and relatives of the bride being present.” The ceremony took place the evening of 18 February, and the surprised officers of the Presidio woke up the following day to find Young a married man with a new bride. It is interesting and somewhat surprising that Young did not invite any of the officers of the regiment but instead had enlisted troopers from the Ninth Cavalry serve as witnesses.49 According to the newspaper the following day: “Quite a sensation was caused at the Presidio this morning by the news that Charles Young, who is the senior colored officer in the army, had taken unto himself a bride last night.” The article described Young as a “West Point graduate, an able officer, and a skillful musician.” As to immediate plans, “the wedding trip seems to have been eliminated from the plans of Captain and Mrs. Young, who have gone into housekeeping in the spacious quarters at the junction of the broad carriage road running west through the Presidio and the main road running north and south.”50 Young’s success in San Francisco and in Sequoia National Park illuminated his rapid growth as a professional army officer. The mission at Sequoia demanded inspired leadership and diplomacy. It was a complex mission that required him to organize his troops to protect the park from encroachment while also managing a force of white workers and engineers building roads to open Sequoia to tourists. He showed better results than the officers who had preceded him, and he did so with an extraordinary leadership style that caused his black soldiers to honor him and the white workers to respect him. This was no mean feat given the task and the times. But Young also showed during his service at Sequoia and in San Francisco a

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rising self-confidence in his own leadership abilities, in spite of the continuing racism and prejudice in the army and society as a whole. He was well aware of his role as a leader and role model for his race in the army. But as was clearly shown in his speech at Stanford, he was not satisfied with the way his people were being treated in the army or in America. He expected that blacks be afforded the chance to be educated and “given a white man’s chance.” Then he, and the rest of African Americans, would do the rest.

9. Military Attaché in Hispaniola

In spite of that awful thing prejudice, give me my own U.S. if this liberty run to seed is the alternative. charles young, 1904

A

fter Captain Young had spent five years with the Ninth Cavalry Regiment as a troop commander, the army offered him another opportunity to serve on detached duty. In the spring of 1904, the War Department asked Young if he was willing to serve on diplomatic duty as the military attaché on the island of Hispaniola, comprising the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This was a voluntary assignment, one that he could have refused, but Young readily accepted the opportunity. Not only would this be a challenging mission, it would also mean working and living in a country ruled by people of color. Young recognized that there were few if any professional risks posed by serving away from his regiment on detached duty again. His previous five years at Fort Duchesne, in the Philippines, in San Francisco, and at Sequoia firmly established his credentials as a successful troop commander and cavalry leader, both in peace and at war. He had to wait for seniority and promotion to advance further in the ranks of positions of

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responsibility within the regiment, and this took time even in an expanded army. In the meantime, he could contribute to the needs of his country and to the people of his race by serving as a military attaché in Hispaniola. Attachés in Latin America The military attaché system was still in its infancy in the early 1900s when Young was selected for the post in Hispaniola. Both the U.S. Navy and the War Department began sending military attachés abroad in the 1870s on specific information collection missions. The Navy Department created an Office of Naval Intelligence (oni) and assigned its first resident naval attaché to London in 1882. The War Department followed suit by creating the Military Information Division (mid) in 1885 and established its first five military attaché posts in 1889 in London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. Other military attaché posts soon followed: Italy in 1890, Belgium in 1892, Spain in 1893, Japan in 1894, and China in 1900. Military attachés were assigned to Latin American capitals shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, beginning with Mexico in 1894, Central America (at large) in 1897, and Brazil, Cuba, Peru, and Venezuela in 1898.1 Officers posted to Central and South America faced a far different challenge than did their colleagues in the cosmopolitan capitals of Europe. According to Maj. Arthur L. Wagner, assistant adjutant general in charge of the Military Information Division (mid2) in 1898: “Our attachés in Europe are charged mainly with reporting upon military developments and progress, with a view to our own military instruction. Those in the American Republics are charged mainly with gathering information in regard to geography, the resources, the military strength, and the development of nations with whom our national policy is

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likely to cause us to form an alliance, or against whom we may be called upon to declare war.” This mandate dictated Young’s mission in Hispaniola.3 The military attaché corps at the time of Captain Young’s appointment was very small, probably numbering no more than twenty U.S. Army or Navy officers throughout the world. The military attachés in Latin America were given the mid charge: gathering information on the geography, resources, and military affairs of nations with whom the United States might form alliances or come into conflict. Considering the economic and political conditions in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the time of Young’s arrival, there was probably little doubt in his mind that he was laying the groundwork for the latter.4 The War Department records clearly show that contingency planning for military operations on Hispaniola was a high priority during the first months of 1904. Brig. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, president of the Army War College, sent a letter on January 14, 1904, to the chief of the mid, requesting information on the “Island of Santo Domingo” (Hispaniola).5 He asked specifically: “Can infantry march along the railroad from Samana Bay to the vicinity of Conception? Can infantry march along the railroad from Puerto Plata to Santiago? What is the condition of the road and roadbed? What rolling stock is on hand and what is its condition?”6 The acting chief of the mid, Capt. Harry C. Hale, responded four days later that he did not have the information to answer the specific questions posed by General Bliss, and suggested that “the only reliable way in which the information can be obtained is by sending a suitable officer to make the necessary investigations and report.” To fill this information gap, the mid needed a military attaché on the ground in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.7

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Once the War Department determined that its information on the island of Hispaniola was insufficient for contingency planning, it decided that the best solution to the problem was to assign a military attaché. It was standard practice in those days for a member of Congress or an ambassador to make a “by name” request for a military attaché. If the nominee had enough influence in the War Department, the requested person was given the assignment. Haiti was evidently not a sought-after post, as was the case of many Latin American assignments. In this situation, the War Department, following the advice of the War College Division, selected Capt. Charles Young.8 Why Young? Captain Young was a perfect choice for the military attaché post in Hispaniola. West Pointers nearly always filled these coveted political-military assignments. Young was a seasoned cavalry officer who had served in the West and fought insurgents in the Philippines. He was a gifted linguist, fluent in both French and Spanish, and able to master the Haitian Creole dialect shortly after his arrival in Port-Au-Prince. Young was also black, which enabled him to move less conspicuously among the black Creole society of Haiti, as well as the largely black and mixed population of the Dominican Republic. After getting Young’s concurrence on April 7, the War Department requested State Department approval for the designation of a military attaché to Haiti and the Dominican Republic on April 18, 1904. Secretary of State John Hay quickly approved the request, and cabled the following to the U.S. minister to Haiti, William P. Powell, on April 23, 1904: “I have to inform you that, in compliance with the request of the Secretary of War, dated the 18th instant, Captain Charles Young, 9th Cavalry, United States Army, has been designated as Military Attaché to your

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legation. Captain Young will perform, under your supervision, such duties as may be assigned to you by the Secretary of War. You will advise the Haitian and Dominican Governments of this designation.”9 At first glance, the entire decision process involved in Young’s assignment appears remarkably short, especially by today’s standards. The War Department determined that its intelligence on the island of Hispaniola was lacking in early January and had a military attaché on the ground in Haiti by the end of May. The U.S. Army was able to identify, notify, and assign Captain Young in a matter of weeks and obtain concurrence from the State Department in a matter of days. Both the federal departments and the U.S. Army were far smaller and less rigid in those days. The Regular Army numbered only about seventy thousand, up from twenty-seven thousand prior to the Spanish-American War, and the officer corps was so small that the general officers who ran the War Department knew virtually all the officers in the Regular Army by name or by reputation.10 There was another factor involved in the decision process: the fact that Young was black. It was not the primary reason for Young’s selection for the job, since he was clearly the best man for the reasons already discussed. But the War Department was relieved to have such a “safe” posting for its highest ranking African American line officer, and so Young was assigned to Hispaniola. The army needed a place to send a black officer to avoid the awkward situation of having white officers serve under a black officer. When Young was a lieutenant this was not an issue, since assignment to one of the black cavalry regiments meant he led black soldiers under white commanders. But as a captain and troop commander in the Regular Army, he had white lieutenants serving under him.

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This was not Young’s problem, as he was an excellent cavalry officer and outstanding leader of men. He had already proven himself during fifteen years of distinguished duty in the United States and the Philippines. But many white officers chafed at the idea of serving under a black officer. The vast majority of Americans at that time were not ready for racial integration. Young earned this plum assignment on his excellent credentials, but the fact that he was black clearly contributed to his being assigned as a military attaché to Hispaniola. Port-au-Prince On April 23, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Capt. Charles Young as the “Military Attaché of the United States Legation at Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo City.” When Captain Young arrived at the United States Legation in Port-Au-Prince in 1904, the Haitians were celebrating one hundred years of independence from the French and their status as the second oldest democracy in the Americas. Gen. Toussaint Louverture, one of Young’s heroes, led the world’s only successful slave revolt in 1803. Young would soon be caught up in the ambivalent commemoration of this milestone.11 Communications problems caused Young’s reception in Port-au-Prince to go awry. On May 28, 1904, the U.S. minister William F. Powell cabled the State Department from Port-auPrince asking for information on Capt. Charles Young, for whom mail had begun arriving with instructions to hold. Another cable on June 8, 1904, reported Young’s appearance on May 30, but Powell still had no official word on his assignment or mission. The secretary of state responded with a terse message on June 14, 1904, repeating the information of the April 23 communication.12

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This initial confusion caused the Department of State to rethink its decision to have Young accredited to both countries in Hispaniola. Secretary of State John Hay cabled Powell on June 28, 1904, that it was inexpedient to have Young serve both in Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, and cancelled his appointment as military attaché to the latter. He would reside and work in Haiti, but travel to the Dominican Republic to report on the conditions there. Finally, an apologetic Powell cabled John Hay on June 30 that the original message had been sent to Santo Domingo and had not been forwarded to him in Port-Au-Prince until June 10, 1904. This did not seem to be a very propitious start for Captain Young, but time would prove him a valuable asset for both the War and State departments in Haiti.13 Captain Young first presented his diplomatic credentials, the all-important note verbal, to Haitian foreign minister M. Ferere on June 4, 1904. When he delivered his credentials to President Pierre Nord Alexis at the National Palace on June 6, 1904, the local newspapers referred to him as a beau noir (handsome black) whose dash and charming manners captivated all who met him. This was an auspicious start for Young in Port-au-Prince, and Haitian society soon grew to adore the handsome “Capitaine Young” in his dashing uniform with his fluency in their native language.14 Young studied Haiti’s colorful and often blood-spattered history, and knew that President Nord Alexis, better known as Tonton (“big man”) Nord, had been president of Haiti since December 1902. Nord came to power after one of Haiti’s numerous bloody civil wars, defeating his rival Antenor Firmin. Nord’s support by the Haitian army proved decisive and he seized power and ascended to the presidency eighteen months before Young’s arrival. Firmin went into exile aboard a U.S. Navy ship and the army acclaimed Nord president and escorted him

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to the Palais National, where the assembly prudently ratified the army’s decision.15 The time Young was assigned to Haiti was a period of relative stability. The moderate, practical, and democratic constitution adopted and promulgated under President Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite in 1889, the year Young graduated from West Point, held for twenty-nine years and still holds the record for longevity. Haiti endured fifteen different constitutions in the eighty-eight years prior to that. During the period 1843 to 1889, Haiti suffered thirteen successive revolutions with fourteen leaders assassinated or overthrown. In the eight years after Young departed Haiti, seven coups d’état occurred, which led the United States to invade and take over the country in 1915.16 These violent episodes in Haiti’s history illustrate several recurring themes that Young learned about firsthand during his posting in Haiti. The European countries, and especially Germany, interfered blatantly and with impunity in Haitian affairs. This was the reason for the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and also the basis for Young’s mission in Haiti. Haiti was a poor country with a long history of instability. This weakness, combined with Haiti’s strategic location, made it a tempting target for the European powers and the United States. Support to the Minister Captain Young’s accomplishments during his three years on the island of Hispaniola were numerous. He provided the American ministers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic with timely and reliable information on the political and military situation in those countries. He also wrote detailed reports on both countries and drafted detailed maps of regions that he explored on horseback. All of this he reported to the U.S. minister

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in Haiti, who for most of the time Young was in Port-au-Prince also served as the chargé d’affaires in Santo Domingo. Though Young worked for the War Department, Minister Powell was his day-to-day supervisor. The American minister in Port-Au-Prince had a good relationship with Captain Young and valued his counsel and company. This was made easier since both were African American. The U.S. government appointed a series of black American ministers to Haiti after the first was named in 1869. On April 6 of that year, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was appointed U.S. minister to Haiti, becoming the first black American diplomat and the first African American presidential appointee. An uninterrupted line of black ministers served until Young’s time in Haiti, including Frederick Douglass, from 1889 to 1891. This was only the second time—after his service at Wilberforce University—that Young worked directly for a superior who was African American.17 Captain Young served with two ministers during his three years in Port-au-Prince, and both were black. William F. Powell, a political appointee from New Jersey, had been there since 1897 and represented the United States as the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Haiti and the chargé d’affaires to Santo Domingo. By the time Young appeared in Port-au-Prince, Powell was a veteran of the intrigue in Haiti. In the seven years before Young’s arrival, he had witnessed the short presidency of Gen. Simon Sam, the sinking of the Haitian La Crete-a-Pierrot by the German sms Panther, the Firminist civil war, and the ascendancy of President Tonton Nord. Powell’s tenure in Port-au-Prince was exceedingly peaceful and uneventful by Haitian standards.18 One of the reasons for the relative peace and tranquility during Young’s first year in Haiti was the celebration of the centenary of Haitian independence in 1904. A few brave intellectuals

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charged that it was folly to commemorate the anniversary, considering the sorry state of Haitian affairs. They asked: “Show us the civilization you have created. Where is any accomplishment or concept to which you have attached your name? Will it be civil strife, your fratricidal slaughters, your social miseries, your economic ignorance, your idolatrous militarism that you are going to glorify on 1 January 1904?” Tonton Nord was determined to venerate the occasion and remarked: “What! Not celebrate the centennial! That would be the most awful disgrace!” Nord had his centennial celebration, though the population continued to live in poverty and ignorance.19 The American minister described the scene in Port-au-Prince that Young saw daily: There are no sewers. The streets are full of all kinds of animals from a flock of sheep and several cows and goats which roam unmolested, they being the property of the President, to the ducks which swim in the gutter before the Legation and numerous pigs which wallow in the gutter. . . . Personages of high social rank, owners of fine houses luxuriously furnished, find it quite natural to throw each morning the dirt, etc., from their stables in the streets within two meters of their drawing rooms.20 After the initial flurry of welcome receptions, Young lost little time embarking on his mission of collecting information about the geography, the resources, and military strength of Haiti. He requested and received permission from Minister Powell and the Haitian authorities at the end of August 1904 to set out on the first of many reconnaissance expeditions on horseback. After an attempted coup earlier in the year, special permits were required by anyone traveling outside Port-au-Prince. This was not something that Young or any Westerner did without some

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risk. The streets of Port-au-Prince were dangerous enough, but the countryside was worse. Bandits plagued certain portions of Haiti, though Young found the rural peasants friendly and peaceful. Young traveled alone and in uniform during these reconnaissance missions, armed with his diplomatic passport and travel permit in case he was stopped.21 Though Young was collecting information for the War Department, he shared it with an appreciative Minister Powell. This enabled Powell to be more effective in carrying out his job of reporting to the Department of State and advising the U.S. government on how to react to events in Haiti. Powell praised Young in his cables to Secretary of State John Hay and to Secretary of War Elihu Root in the spring of 1905. He commended Young’s “careful and painstaking work” and also commended the thoroughness of his Haitian monograph that Young allowed him to review before he forwarded it to the War Department.22 Henry W. Furniss from Indiana replaced Powell as U.S. minister to Haiti in 1905. Furniss was the first African American to hold both an M.D. and a Ph.D. and was an 1892 graduate of Harvard. Powell departed Port-au-Prince on November 20 and Furniss arrived and presented his credentials to the Haitian Foreign Ministry on December 30, 1905, so there was a gap in representation of about a month where Young effectively acted as the United States envoy in Haiti. Furniss had previously served as the consul to Bahia, Brazil. President Roosevelt appointed Furniss as minister to Port-au-Prince on November 23, 1905, and he arrived just in time to attend the all-important New Year’s and Independence Day reception at the National Palace with Captain Young.23 Young continued the close and cooperative relationship with Furniss that he had enjoyed with Powell. Furniss invited Young to attend the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of

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the death of the founder of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, on October 17, 1906. Toussaint Louverture began the slave revolt against the French in 1791, but Dessalines brought the insurrection to its bloody ending in 1804. Dessalines was one of Toussaint’s ablest generals, teaching the French how effectively black Haitians could fight at the Battle of Crete-a-Pierrot. He proclaimed himself emperor in 1804, and, after two years of bloody rule, he was so hated and despised by his people, they hacked him to pieces with machetes on October 17, 1806. Furniss and Young attended the hundredth anniversary commemoration of this enigmatic character in Haitian history. Tonton Nord, the heir to Dessalines, was eighty-six in 1906 and old enough to have met some of the emperor’s murderers.24 Young and Furniss attended the New Year’s reception at the National Palace on December 31, 1906. Furniss cabled Elihu Root that he had acted as the dean, or most senior diplomatic official, in wishing President Nord a happy New Year on the part of the diplomatic corps. He wrote: “I have to note that our Government was about the only Government represented.” Furniss also reported that when the British consul general and German minister had arrived at the palace together, the officer in charge at the gate refused them permission to drive in, and the “German minister got mad and went home.” In June 1904, sentinels of the presidential guard threw stones at the French and German ministers and wives in their carriages when they mistakenly took a shortcut behind the National Palace.25 Both Powell and Furniss valued Young’s contributions to their missions, but not all U.S. Legation heads in Latin America wanted a military attaché on their staffs. In 1903, the U.S. minister to Brazil assured his German colleague in Petropolis that “as long as he could stop it, no military attaché would come to his legation.” The marginal comment by Kaiser William II on

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the report from the German minister read: “He will scarcely succeed in that.” The emperor was right, for he recognized the force of military service pressure. Military attachés served in Brazil before, during, and after this particular minister’s tenure. Even though the U.S. minister in Haiti was never consulted by the State Department on the feasibility of assigning a military attaché to his country, Young was treated as a valued member of the legation staff in Port-Au-Prince. He proved to be an even better asset to the War Department.26 Military Reporting In addition to supporting the U.S. ministers in Port-au-Prince, Captain Young did an excellent job of supplying the War Department with all of the detailed intelligence and reporting it asked for. Young wrote voluminous reports on both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, drafted detailed maps of regions that he explored on horseback, and authored a 284-page monograph and a thorough handbook on Haiti. With a keen professional eye, he supplied the Military Information Division of the War Department with all the information it needed to conduct contingency planning for future military operations on the island of Hispaniola.27 A review of Captain Young’s reports from Hispaniola reveals the wide range of subjects he observed and his attention to detail. Of these, fifty-one are of an administrative nature (setting up the office, finances, codes, supplies, acknowledgements). The sixty-four remaining reports pertain to Young’s operational mission in Hispaniola—to collect information necessary to support military contingency planning. The bulk of these concerned Haitian and Dominican geography (Maps and information on Santo Domingo), military structure (Military Establishment of Hayti), government (Political Situation, Hayti), ports

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(Meteorological Obs. Port-Au-Prince), fortifications (Map of St. Marc, Hayti), language (Monograph-French Creole Handbook), and culture (Monograph-Vaudau Cult). The vast majority concerned the island’s military topography, infrastructure, and forces, the same items of information requested in General Bliss’s January 1904 memorandum to the mid.28 Young’s talents went far beyond his proficiency in military science and technology. A scholar by any account, he was fluent in several languages including Greek, Latin, German, French, and Spanish. Young had been assigned as a professor of tactics and military science at Wilberforce University from 1894 to 1898, and in addition to his military duties, he had found time to teach French, German, and mathematics. While in Port-AuPrince, he compiled a French-English-Creole dictionary, a copy of which can be found in the rare-book collection of the Army War College. He also wrote a carefully researched study, The Military Morale of Nations and Races, published in Kansas City in 1912, with a forward that was dated Port-Au-Prince, November 23, 1906.29 Young’s observations on the Haitian military establishment were important to military planners in the War Department. He noted in his report on land forces the novel method of Haitian “recruiting.” Once the army established a quota, the army “sent out officers and noncommissioned officers in bands in all directions on a man hunt. The taking of a man as a recruit is generally preceded by a chase with coco-macaques (native clubs) through the towns and villages of the country.” Once captured, according to Young: “Until his first parade or until the man can be uniformed and so surrounded by other soldiers as to preclude all possibility of escape, he is generally committed to the jail for safe-keeping.” Exemptions were granted to a few who were sick, had commissions, or could bribe the officials

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with gifts of land, money, or property. Strangely, mixed-race individuals were also exempted who “by a tacit understanding or secret fear or distrust on the part of the authorities in some way generally escape.” The rank and file of the army comprised the pure blacks taken from the rural classes and lower orders of the towns and cities.30 Young’s main criticism of the army was its size and the strain it put on the economy of Haiti: “Their army is a boomerang that any and all of the leaders and rulers of the Haitians know to be a detriment to the country in that it keeps 18,000 able-bodied men from the tillage of the fields and has forced the planters, for the most part, from their habitations to the cities, resulting in the killing of the sole good of the island, it’s agriculture.” He laments: “Beholding the prettiest Island of the world, which would be capable of supporting at least 15 millions of people in comfort, thus suffering and ground down by such a monstrous military system, one can not fail to feel at what a great price are bought the Haitian’s so-called ‘liberty, fraternity, and equality’ which have since degenerated from these things if they ever existed at all, which is much to be doubted.” Young’s sentiments on the utility of the army could not be clearer.31 The army served one other perverse civic function in Haiti: it voted. Minister Furniss observed: “The voters are the soldiers. . . . In Port-au-Prince I have seen soldiers come up in companies and remain all day voting and repeating at command of their officers, while none of the better or middle class were trying to vote, if it indeed had been possible.” Young must have observed this phenomenon also.32 Captain Young traveled on horseback throughout Hispaniola, penetrating areas not seen by foreigners since the days of the Spanish and French. He was given permission on August

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31, 1904, by Minister Powell and the Haitian Interior Ministry “to travel through the interior of the country from Gonaives to the Cape and returning by the way of Mirebalais, Lascohobas, Hinche, and L’Arcathaie.” This mounted reconnaissance in the north, around Hinche, reached one of the most remote regions of Haiti, which had not been surveyed by foreign eyes since the French.33 Young also conducted at least one extensive reconnaissance trip into the Dominican Republic. He set out on this surveying expedition on April 6, 1905, riding from Port-au-Prince southeast to the border, along the southern coastline of the Dominican Republic to the capital of Santo Domingo, and then rode back through the mountains to central Haiti. His detailed report is a military planner’s dream in the particulars about the terrain, people, military facilities, and armed forces along the route. The authorities were kind enough to give Young a tour of the fortress in Santo Domingo where he counted “2 Maxim guns, 4 Gatlings, 6 Hotchkiss rapid fire guns, 24 Krupp field guns (cal. 3” and 3.2”), 8 Krupp mountain guns, and 2 Dynamite guns (Sims Dudley) which they do not understand the workings of.” His typed report goes on with such detail for thirty-six pages.34 Young conducted an extensive mounted reconnaissance of southern Haiti between November 29 and December 24, 1905. Young reported at least two additional horseback intelligence missions to northern Haiti and elsewhere. His maps, a number of which survive in the National Archives, constitute the first modern cartographic representations of much of the interior of Haiti. He sketched many remote and hitherto uncharted sections of the island, revising existing maps, and producing detailed maps of the principal towns, geographic features, and military posts in his meticulous West Point hand. Young’s work, along with some slightly earlier maps done by

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the German engineer L. G. Tippenhauer, comprise the earliest modern topographic surveys of Haiti.35 Family and Friends Though Young spent a good deal of time on the road, he spent the majority of his days in Port-au-Prince, where he shared his experiences with his wife. His assignment to Haiti was the first one in which Young had to think about moving a family. Charles Young and the former Ada Mills married in San Francisco only three months prior to their arrival in Port-au-Prince. Young had lived under primitive conditions on the frontier and in the jungles of the Philippines, but Ada was born and raised in middle-class California. For her the squalid capitol of Port-au-Prince must have been a shocking change from her comfortable and orderly San Francisco. Charles and Ada Young suffered one of their most painful personal tragedies while they lived in Port-au-Prince. In May 1905, Young wrote of this to his friend Lt. Benjamin Davis, who had recently arrived in Wilberforce as professor of military science (the institution had been without the services of a Regular Army officer since Young’s departure in 1899). Young wrote in the letter that he hoped the recently married Davis would be luckier having children than he had, “as I have lost one before its time, due to the hot climate here doctors say.” Young added that he hoped “there were plenty more where that came from.”36 In the spring of 1906, Ada became pregnant again. Rather than risking a recurrence of the medical problems of the previous year, Charles insisted that Ada return to Ohio and live with his mother in their house at Youngsholm to “save her life and that of the child.” Captain Young served out the balance of his tour in Haiti alone. The proud father was not present in

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Ohio to witness the event, but Ada gave birth to a healthy son on December 25, 1906. They named the boy Charles Noel as a tribute to his father and to note the date of his birth. He also acquired the nickname Tonton, or “big man,” the familiar title used by rulers in Haiti, to mark his conception in Haiti. Charles Young would have to wait until the completion of his tour the following year to see his son.37 Young kept in touch with family as well as old friends such as Davis. He wrote to his dear friend and colleague from Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar, shortly after he arrived in Haiti. Young wrote: “God bless you, boy you would be in clover down here if you once got to the informal Creole. It is wholly unworked field (tenor cognita), full of surprises, cockroaches, and revolution.” Dunbar responded the following month with a letter expressing joy that Young had written after so many years and complaining that ill health prevented him visiting Haiti. Dunbar jokes: “You say you write, you read, you work, and did you say nothing about what the soldier does? Does he drink?” Dunbar asks Young for a picture of him in uniform and wishes “he was a lieutenant in the regiment of the finest negro soldier that we have ever had, who is your own damn self.”38 The most frank assessment Young made of Haiti, its government, and its people is contained in a letter to the white couple with whom Young had grown close during his tenure as superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1903. Young wrote Philip and Blanche Winser in 1904: During the time we have been here we have been trying to adjust ourselves to the heat and particular scenes and customs of an always peculiar people. Such funny scenes as are enacted in dead earnest, it seems too ridiculous to be serious. In fact more like a blooming nightmare than

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anything else in the world. From the government down to the market woman who has just left our court on her donkey, all would fit in a glorious comic opera. Still they are our people and our sympathies must be with them in spite of everything. But one wishes for a strong band to subvert the whole system or want of system and a decent government under which the poor might live. In spite of that awful thing prejudice, give me my own U.S. if this liberty run to seed is the alternative.39 Charles Young had always been fascinated with the story of Haiti’s Gen. Toussaint Louverture. He had commented years earlier to his company clerk: “Nick, some day I am going to be a Black General, a Toussaint Louverture,” showing his clear admiration for the man. His tour in Haiti allowed him to indulge this passion and visit the sites of the general’s most famous battles. Toussaint Louverture began life as an educated slave, coachman, and veterinarian and fought his way to becoming the most powerful man of color in the French colony of St. Dominique. By 1801 Louverture was able to name himself governor-for-life without the approval of France. Later the same year Napoleon sent his brother-in-law, Gen. Victor Emmanuel Leclerc, to put down the rebellion with an army of twenty-two thousand picked troops. Leclerc failed and died in the attempt, and only twelve hundred of the more than fifty-five thousand French troops eventually sent to St. Dominique ever saw France again. Though Louverture was betrayed and died in a French prison in 1803, the country he founded lived on under his generals.40 Young was disappointed during his travels around Haiti at the few memorials and lack of scholorship concerning this “pure Negro and slave” who “routed the best troops of Napoleon Bonaparte.” During the Firminist civil war, U.S. Minister

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Powell reported that Antenor Firmin’s library at the Cap, “the finest in the Republic, containing many rare books of priceless value was destroyed . . . a work he was preparing for the press and near completion, styled ‘The History of Haiti,’ representing the work of twenty years, was given to the flames.” During Young’s regular research visits to the College of St. Martial to learn more about the general, he came to know Haiti’s leading meteorologist, Father Scherer, and historian J. F. Geffrard, who dedicated a book in 1915 to “My Friend Major Charles Young.” Young’s lifelong passion to tell the story of Toussaint Louverture began during his tour of service in Haiti when he began researching and writing a drama about his life. He also painted Louverture’s profile on canvas while in Haiti and carried it back to Ohio.41 Diplomatic Incident Young’s horseback reconnaissance missions were not entirely without risk or consequence. Near the end of his tour, at the same time that he was making inquiries to the War Department about his next assignment with the Ninth Cavalry, an incident occurred that hastened his departure. In February 1907, reports came to the attention of the legation in Port-Au-Prince that some Haitians were accusing Young of gathering information about the Haitian government. There were also rumors that Haitian soldiers had arrested Young. Minister Furness reported to the State Department in a March 1, 1907, cable that these reports were mere gossip.42 Furniss explained the incident: Captain Young recently returned from [a] trip to the interior . . . where it was circulated, that he had been caught sketching fortifications, had been beaten by Haitian soldiers,

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and cast into jail for some days. It was likewise said that he had used abusive words relative to Haitian officials, particularly the Secretary of Interior, who has charge of the soldier-police. . . . Young denies the whole thing. . . . I am sure he would never say a disrespectful word against Haitian officials. While I believe this, and so would any sensible person who knows him, yet knowing as I do the Haitian officials, I would not be surprised to know that some parts of this malicious gossip are believed by them. Haitian officials who were uncomfortable with Young’s ability to move freely about the country, communicate in Creole with the local population, and collect information so easily may have set up Young. They likely concocted the story and started the rumors in the hope of causing a diplomatic incident that would lead to his withdrawal.43 In this same cable, Minister Furniss reported a far more serious incident. While Captain Young was away on a trip to Cape Haitian and northern Haiti, some confidential papers were stolen from his office. Furniss detailed the incident, in which a clerk employed by Young had broken into the captain’s quarters and stolen four letters of instruction and a draft monograph on Santo Domingo. He reported a rumor that the papers might have been purchased by the Haitian government for six hundred dollars. But the minister concluded that despite the seriousness of the incident, he wanted Young to stay in Port-au-Prince for the time being. He gave as his reasons the fact that he was in a far better position to complete his work than would be a replacement and that his immediate departure would be taken as evidence that the United States really intended to invade Hispaniola. Again, this whole affair may have been a setup to embarrass Young and cause his early departure.44

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The U.S. government was alarmed at the diplomatic implications of the theft of the classified papers. Since much of the stolen paperwork covered the Dominican Republic, Minister Furniss immediately cabled his counterpart, Thomas C. Dawson, who had taken over as chargé d’affaires in Santo Domingo in 1905. Furniss stated: “Charles Stephens, clerk, broke open a drawer and stole certain important documents including a monograph on Santo Domingo, and material of interest to a nation conducting military and naval operations against said country. . . . Paper could be used to show that the United States had intentions on annexing Santo Domingo.”45 The State Department was concerned enough about the incident that it recommended to the War Department that Captain Young immediately be relieved of his military duties in Port-Au-Prince. The War Department decided on March 26, 1907, to withdraw Young from military attaché duty on Hispaniola. Despite the fact that the papers were subsequently found in Santo Domingo and returned to the U.S. government, the U.S. Army chief of staff directed that Captain Young be relieved of his military attaché duties on April 15, 1907. The Department of State was concerned for Young’s safety, and the War Department felt that most of his intelligence work was already done.46 Captain Young departed Port-Au-Prince by ship on April 28, 1907. He arrived in Washington dc on May 7, 1907, for temporary duty with the mid at the War Department. He remained on the mid staff until June 1, 1908, where he finished compiling information left incomplete due to his premature departure from Hispaniola. It is inconceivable that army war planners, so desperate for detailed information on Hispaniola four years earlier, did not debrief Captain Young thoroughly for valuable contingency planning intelligence. And a rich harvest of detailed information Young must have provided.47

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Young rejoined the Ninth Cavalry as a troop commander in the Philippine Islands in August 1908. It was left to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to occupy Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916. They did so armed with a rich store of military attaché reports on the geography, military, government, infrastructure, language, and people of the island of Hispaniola. After the initial hasty decision to move into Port-Au-Prince in 1915, the balance of the takeover of Haiti and the incursion into the Dominican Republic the following year were well-planned and relatively bloodless due in no small part to the contributions of Capt. Charles Young. The occupation of the Dominican Republic lasted until 1924, and that of Haiti until 1934.48 The results of Captain Young’s mission to Haiti and the Dominican Republic are not difficult to assess. The information Young provided to the U.S. Legation in Port-au-Prince helped the State Department assess the political-military situation during the period 1904 to 1907. The Military Information Division of the War Department used the monographs, intelligence, and maps he supplied in the contingency planning before and during the intervention and subsequent occupation of Hispaniola. Once more, as in the Philippines, Young acted as an enthusiastic and efficient agent of empire for the army. Young was not only a portent of an invasion, but a point man for his race in the U.S. Army. His skills and color brought him success in Hispaniola. His service in Port-au-Prince added to his already impressive list of accomplishments as a Regular Army officer that marked him as a man destined for promotion and increased responsibility. For many officers like John Pershing and Tasker Bliss, a successful tour as a military attaché served as an important stepping stone to the rank of general. But Young was returning to an army that was unlikely to optimize his skills because of his color.

10. Garrison Duty in the Philippines and Wyoming

The Negro soldier knows the reason for which he is to uphold the laws and to fight for the country. charles young, 1911

W

hen Captain Charles Young returned to the United States in 1907, he had been away from the Ninth Cavalry for three years on attaché duty in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His withdrawal from Port-au-Prince was rather abrupt, so he actually had about a year left on his detail away from the troops before he was expected back to his unit. The War Department needed detailed intelligence about the island of Hispaniola for contingency planning and was not willing to let Young return to his regiment until they were satisfied that they had all the information they required. Officers assigned to attaché posts abroad routinely spent some time in Washington prior to deployment, as well as after the completion of their tour. The Ninth Cavalry Regiment was in the process of assembling in San Francisco from its scattered posts in the West to prepare for the month-long journey to return to the Philippines. No actual fighting was taking place in any of the Philippine Islands in 1907, so the Ninth Cavalry anticipated routine garrison duties

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at their future base of Camp McGrath on Luzon Island. When he finally rejoined his regiment in 1908, Young would find his second tour of duty in the Pacific far different from his first during the Philippine War. War Department Capt. Charles Young arrived in Washington dc on May 7, 1907, from Haiti for temporary duty with the Military Information Division (mid) at the War Department and worked there for a year until June 1, 1908. Since the War Department withdrew Young prematurely from Port-au-Prince, due to diplomatic incidents earlier in the year, the mid put Young to work organizing the voluminous reports he wrote during his three years on the island of Hispaniola. Who better to edit the reports, notate the maps, and write the final monographs that would influence future contingency planning to be used for the invasion of Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916?1 President Roosevelt took a special interest in the problems in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and read many of Young’s reports. The secretary to the president wrote Young on May 2, 1907, saying, “The President has sent for and read your reports, and is extremely pleased at the admirable character of the work you have done in Haiti.” The situation in both countries was an example of what Roosevelt had in mind when he declared his 1904 Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. If nations within the American defensive zone in the Western Hemisphere failed to live up to their legal obligations, the United States would see to it that they did so, by direct military intervention if necessary.2 While Young was in Washington he tried to drum up interest for the publication and use of his book Military Morale of Nations and Races. On November 28, 1906, in Haiti, he had asked

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for and received permission from the mid to publish the work. After arriving in the United States, he tried to get the manuscript published and possibly convince the Army War College to adopt it as a text. The book was examined at the Army War College at Fort Leavenworth. Reviewers there “thought that it possessed undoubted merit, but as it was mainly sociological in character, it was not a production that the War Department could adopt for use in the army.” Young also sent the book to Professor F. M. Davenport of the Department of Political Science at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, for publication review. Young would have to wait three more years before the book was finally published by Franklin Hudson Publishing Company in 1912.3 Young was also able to spend time with family and nurture old friendships in Washington dc. He spent time with his wife, Ada, from whom he had been separated for a year, and their six-month-old son, whom he had never seen. Young caught up with old friends in the city as well, chief among them William L. Board, a physician, and Charles Cuney, a lawyer. Both had been his students at Wilberforce and were now established professionals in the capital. Cuney was from Texas and served on Young’s cadet staff at Wilberforce as a signal sergeant, and Board was from Bunker Hill, Virginia, and an early honor graduate of Young’s cadet program. Washington dc had a vibrant African American community and Young came to love the “dear town . . . and the many cherished friends there.”4 At about the same time that Young was settling into Washington dc, his regiment deployed on its second tour to the Philippine Islands. Most of the Ninth Cavalry vacated its bases at Fort Riley, Kansas, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Fort Sheridan, Illinois, in April 1907 en route to San Francisco, California. From San Francisco, the Buffalo Soldiers shipped out to the Philippines,

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arriving in Manila on May 31, 1907. By June 2, they had reached their new duty station at Camp McGrath in Batangas on Luzon Island. During the year the unit was assigned on Luzon, the region was peaceful and there was no fighting.5 Young took some leave after his temporary duty in Washington, and visited his home at Wilberforce before rejoining the Ninth Cavalry in the Philippines. The Cleveland Gazette reported that Captain Young wrote a letter from Wilberforce on June 29, 1907, soliciting donations to build a monument to Paul Laurence Dunbar. The beloved Dunbar had died of tuberculosis and alcoholism in February 1907, depriving African Americans of their finest poet. The article noted that five hundred dollars had been collected thus far, mostly from whites.6 Whenever he could get away on leave, Young loved to bring his family to their home in Wilberforce. His mother, Arminta, still lived there and maintained Youngsholm, even though he and the family spent the lion’s share of their time living at scattered posts in the West and overseas. Ada Young had lived there for a year without Charles for the health of their new son toward the end of Young’s assignment in Haiti. But she did not get along well with her strong-willed mother-in-law and did not enjoy the rural setting in Ohio, so when Captain Young packed his trunks for the move, Ada packed her bags and decided that she and her son were going to the Philippines with him.7 Camp McGrath On July 1908, Capt. Charles Young, his wife, Ada, and son, Charles Noel, departed aboard the U.S. Army Transport (usat) Thomas for the Philippine Islands. The crossing took about a month and they arrived in Manila on August 3, 1908. Captain Young rejoined his troop and regiment at Camp McGrath on August 7, 1908. Young’s first order of business after reporting

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in to the Ninth regimental headquarters was to get his wife and son settled into quarters. Young was senior enough in the regiment by this time to qualify for a choice set of quarters, since officers’ quarters were allocated by rank and position, as well as by need.8 By the time Young arrived to take command of I Troop, a few changes had taken place in the regiment. When he assumed authority of his troop, he also became the commander of the Third Squadron because of his seniority. Major Macomb, who filled this position on the regimental roster, was on special duty in the United States. Therefore, command of the squadron fell to Young because he was the most senior captain of I, K, L, and M Troops, comprising the Third Squadron.9 There were also changes within I Troop. 1st Lt. Erubian Holland Rubottom, who had returned to the troop in January, moved to temporary duty in Manila in February 1908. The regiment assigned I Troop a new second lieutenant the month before Young arrived in the Philippines. 2nd Lt. William W. Erwin reported to I Troop on July 14, and remained with Young for the next three years. Erwin was a 1908 West Point graduate from Kansas, and he and Young got on well with each other. With the help of Erwin, Young commanded I Troop, which at the time of his arrival in the Philippines consisted of three officers and sixty-three enlisted men.10 By September 1908, Young had settled into the routine of commanding I Troop and the Third Squadron at Camp McGrath. Having his wife, Ada, and infant son living with him gave him a quality of life in Batangas that he would remember years later. But he also had a circle of friends, including Chaplain George W. Prioleau and his wife, Ethel, and 1st Lt. Samuel B. Pearson and his wife, Margaret. This social net of family and friends gave Charles Young the companionship and sense of

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belonging that he had missed during previous assignments with troops.11 Young grew especially close to the Ninth Cavalry’s Chaplain Prioleau, who had replaced the unfortunate Chaplain Plummer in 1895. Prioleau was a former slave from Charleston, South Carolina, and an 1884 graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio. He was teaching religion at Wilberforce and preaching at nearby Yellow Springs in 1895 when the army commissioned him as a chaplain and assigned him to the Ninth Cavalry. Young was serving at Wilberforce at the same time, so they must have become acquainted in Ohio. Camp McGrath was the first time that Prioleau and Young lived and worked at the same military post for any length of time, and it was the beginning of a long and intimate friendship. Their wives also grew close in the Philippines.12 In September 1908, Young and the noncommissioned officers of the Ninth celebrated the retirement of Regimental Color Sergeant John C. Proctor after nearly twenty-eight years of service. Proctor began his carrier as an enlisted soldier in the Tenth Cavalry, later transferred to the Ninth Cavalry, and resigned during the Spanish-American War to serve as a first lieutenant in the Eighth Volunteer Infantry Regiment. After mustering out, he reenlisted in the Ninth to be in a position to compete for an officer’s commission again during the Philippine War. Awarded a commission as a captain in the black Fortyninth Volunteer Infantry during that war, he was mustered out with the regiment in 1902. He then enlisted once again in the Ninth as a noncommissioned officer where he ended his long service. Proctor had served long and loyally for his country and had the experience, leadership, and proven ability to serve as a commissioned officer in the Regular Army if racial prejudice had not precluded this.13

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Beginning in November 1908, in addition to commanding I Troop and the Third Squadron, Young picked up the duty of summary court officer. A trial by summary court-martial was a simple procedure for resolving charges of relatively minor misconduct committed by enlisted soldiers. This quick form of nonjudicial punishment relieved the regiment of the burden of holding formal court-martial procedures for minor offenses. Captain Young acted as both prosecuting attorney and defense counsel for those soldiers brought up on charges under this procedure. Generally, Young could award sentences up to confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of pay for three months and could reduce noncommissioned officers to the ranks. The regiment assigned Young this position because of his seniority, and he served as a summary court officer for the next three years with the Ninth Cavalry.14 While commanding I Troop and the Third Squadron and serving as summary court officer, Young commanded Camp McGrath for the period January 22 to 24, 1909. Lt. Col. Charles H. Watts, then commanding the Ninth Cavalry, was away from the post for those three days in Manila. Since the other field grades in the regiment were away on temporary duty, Capt. Charles Young was the senior ranking officer at Camp McGrath and thus the post commander. Although not formally designated as such, Young essentially commanded the Ninth Regiment for those three days.15 On January 1, 1909, Young lost the only soldier to die in his troop during this second tour of service in the Philippines. Pvt. Thomas Mason died of a disease listed as “acute Endocarditic Pleurisy.” The regimental return listed Mason as an “honest and faithful” soldier and he was buried at Camp McGrath. Young lost one of the only two soldiers to die during his previous tour in the Philippine War near Batangas in a training accident in

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1902. It is significant during this tour in the Philippines that soldiers in the Ninth Cavalry were not dying of tropical diseases, but rather from the typical diseases that would have infected them anywhere. By 1909, advances in military medicine had dramatically decreased the incidence of death from tropical diseases.16 Just seven months after the Youngs arrived at Camp McGrath, Ada gave birth to a daughter, Marie Aurelia, on March 26, 1909. Charles and Ada’s first child had been conceived in Haiti and born in Ohio, so it was only fitting that their second was conceived in the United States and born in the Philippines. Less than a month after the birth of Marie, Young and his family were again on the move.17 The Ninth Cavalry left Camp McGrath on April 8, 1909, aboard the usat Logan. Their first stop was a month-long quarantine station at Lazareto de Mariveles in Bataan in preparation for sailing to the United States. Young and the regiment left Mariveles aboard the usat Thomas on May 15, 1909. After a short stop at Nagasaki, Japan, on May 19, they sailed for the United States on May 20, 1909. This ended Young’s second and final tour in the Philippine Islands, but he still had several more years of duty with the Ninth Cavalry to look forward to in the United States.18 Fort D. A. Russell Captain Young, his family, and the members of the Ninth Cavalry arrived in San Francisco aboard the Thomas on June 9, 1909. They boarded trains three days later to travel to Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, which would be the new home station for the Ninth Cavalry. After traveling 1,775 miles, the regiment arrived at the dusty post on June 15, 1909. Fort D. A. Russell was located just outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, so the post

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was not as isolated as many Western posts like Fort Duchesne and Fort Robinson.19 The army established Fort D. A. Russell in 1867 and named it after Civil War hero Maj. Gen. David A. Russell. The post was built a few miles from the Union Pacific Railroad’s regional headquarters at Crow Creek Crossing, the place that would become the city of Cheyenne. Protecting railroad workers was the primary mission of the fort, though the units stationed there played a major role in the Plains Indian wars. Fort D. A. Russell was the largest cavalry post in the country by the time of the Spanish-American War. After 1900 it grew in size and importance due to the political influence of Wyoming senator Francis E. Warren, chair of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1905 to 1911. In 1906 it was enlarged to a brigade-sized post and by 1910 the construction of red-brick quarters, two-story barracks, offices, and stables had tripled the area of the fort.20 Because Young was a senior captain accompanied by his family, the post assigned him one of the newly built sets of brick officers’ quarters. The brick double captains’ quarters at Fort D. A. Russell were of a standard design using the same plan as at dozens of other posts. The entrance bays were on either end of the duplex, set back from the front of the building, and covered with a porch. On the first floor, there was a wide reception hall with a set of stairs leading upstairs, a large parlor with a fireplace, an equally large dining room with a fireplace, kitchen, pantry, and a set of back stairs. There were four bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, and a functional third floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom for servants. These quarters were spacious and luxurious by the standards of the time.21 Cheyenne had seen contingents of black soldiers stationed at

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Fort D. A. Russell in the past. Four companies of the Twenty-fourth Infantry had been posted there after the Spanish-American War and a similar-sized unit from the Tenth Cavalry later. When the entire Ninth Cavalry arrived in 1909, the Cheyenne Daily Leader declared that the cavalry troopers had a respectable tradition and did not pose a threat to the people of Cheyenne, as some had feared. The Cheyenne Tribune noted that “the impression the Ninth Cavalry, the crack colored regiment now stationed at Fort Russell, is making on Cheyenne people is excellent.” The city’s relatively large white population, previous experience with African American troops, and significant black population mitigated the impact of the arrival of over seven hundred black troopers of the Ninth Cavalry.22 Young continued to command I Troop and the Third Squadron at Fort D. A. Russell. A new officer, 1st Lt. Charles W. Van Way, was assigned to I Troop and waiting for the unit in June when it arrived in Wyoming. Van Way joined Second Lieutenant Erwin who continued to serve in I Troop, though Young did not have the services of his two lieutenants in the troop for long. In July Van Way, a senior first lieutenant, was temporarily assigned to command D Troop, while Erwin was assigned on detached duty commanding the machine-gun platoon in July. This was the first time the regimental records show a separate unit organized around machine guns, a sign of changes to come.23 Young and the Ninth Cavalry Regiment spent June and part of July without horses, since they left their mounts behind in the Philippines. In July 1909, the quartermaster at Fort D. A. Russell accepted delivery of 573 horses. Of these, the quartermaster assigned 547 horses to the various troops for the enlisted soldiers, allocated 21 for purchase as private mounts for the officers, and the remaining 5 died. The total strength of the regiment at the time was 777, so some troopers had to

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do without horses for a time. Young might have purchased one of the twenty-one horses allocated for officers, or he may have purchased one locally. Officers were expected to purchase and maintain their own mounts, while enlisted soldiers rode army or “public” horses.24 In early August, G Troop rejoined the regiment from Fort Leavenworth, where it had remained during the unit’s Philippine tour, and the Ninth Cavalry had its full complement of twelve troops for the first time in more than a year. This was also the first time, since the Ninth Cavalry was formed four decades earlier, in which the entire regiment served together on one post for any length of time in the West. The era when squadrons and troops of the Ninth were scattered among small forts on the Western frontier was past, and the future would see the War Department experiment with combining ever larger bodies of troop to prepare for modern warfare.25 Garrison Training In August 1909, the training tempo began to pick up. The regiment sent all three squadrons out on separate practice marches of three days. Young took the Third Squadron, comprising I, K, L, and M Troops, out on a three-day practice march beginning on August 9, covering forty-one miles. Brig. Gen. Charles Morton, commanding general of the Department of the Missouri, reviewed and inspected the regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Watts on August 21. Young and the troopers of the Ninth conducted numerous rehearsals since they had not practiced such large marching formations in many years.26 During the summer of 1909, President William Howard Taft visited Fort D. A. Russell. The post received more than its fair share of presidential visits due to the political influence of

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Senator Warren. There was a report in a Cheyenne, Wyoming, newspaper that Captain Young commanded the exhibition honor-guard mounting during the president’s visit to the post. During the ceremony, a junior white officer in the honor guard refused to repeat Young’s commands because Young was black. Young had to have the black first sergeant relay the commands to the honor guard to have them executed. Young handled the situation and nothing came of the matter.27 There was at least one other time while the Ninth Cavalry was stationed at Fort D. A. Russell that a racial confrontation occurred. Young’s friend Pearson recounted: “The time that Young went to Cheyenne to stop trouble between the white and colored enlisted men was on a pay day when some of the Artillery [soldiers] undertook to run it over the colored men of the Ninth Cavalry, and Young, with several other officers, was sent to town and nipped this in the bud before it had a chance to develop.” There is no other detail on this confrontation between white soldiers of the artillery unit stationed at Fort D. A. Russell and the troopers of the Ninth, but one can imagine Captain Young showing up at the scene and defusing the altercation with the steady resolve of a veteran.28 The entire regiment, with the exception of G Troop, left the post on a regimental practice march on September 20, arriving at Douglas, Wyoming, on September 27 1909. The eightday march covered 140 miles. The regiment stayed in camp at Douglas to take part in an exercise held at the state fair from September 28 to 30. Young commanded the Third Squadron during the march and Second Lieutenant Erwin commanded I Troop, since Van Way was on detached duty at Fort Riley. This regimental practice march to Douglas became an annual event, with the Ninth Cavalry putting on a show each year at the state fair.29

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On October 2, the Ninth Cavalry headquarters, band, and eleven troops retraced their steps back to Fort D. A. Russell. The total strength of the regiment that participated in the practice march and activities in Douglas was 28 officers, 519 enlisted men, and 535 horses. After the return of the regiment to post, the remainder of the year was spent conducting normal garrison duties and preparing for another Wyoming winter. The winters were severe in Wyoming, and the fort had been laid out in a distinctive diamond pattern with the sharp narrow end facing the prevailing winds to the northwest.30 The first three months of 1910 were uneventful. In April each of the squadrons in turn conducted a three-day practice march. Young and the Third Squadron set out on April 13 and marched thirty-six miles, returning on April 15. Lieutenant Van Way left I Troop after promotion to captain in March and was replaced by 1st Lt. Louis H. Kilbourne. Kilbourne was another former enlisted soldier who had started his military service in the Fifth Pennsylvania Infantry during the Spanish-American War, before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Eighth Cavalry in 1901.31 Young departed Fort D. A. Russell with his family on May 16, 1910, for two months of leave. He took his family home to Youngsholm in Wilberforce, Ohio. Young’s mother and other family members had never seen Marie Aurelia, who was a year old, and had not seen Charles Noel for two years. Young enjoyed the long rest, but was back with his regiment by July.32 Captain Young reported from leave on July 10, 1910, in time to set out on a short regimental maneuver march. On July 13, the headquarters, band, nine troops, and the machine-gun platoon left post and marched fourteen miles before going into camp. The regiment marched nineteen miles the following day and conducted maneuver practice marches. Young commanded

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the Third Squadron, which only had three troops marching in the exercise. This was a warm-up for the eventful month to follow.33 August of 1910 was one of the busiest to date for the Ninth Cavalry. The first two weeks of the month were spent a few miles from post at Camp C. S. Otis near Dale Creek, Wyoming. On August 14 the regiment broke camp, marched thirty miles, and bivouacked near Hecla’s Ranch. The following day the regiment marched the thirty-four miles back to post. Significantly, Capt. Charles Young commanded the Ninth Cavalry Regiment from August 13 to 15, 1910. Young commanded the entire regiment, more than seven hundred officers and men, as they broke camp, marched to a temporary encampment, bivouacked for the night, and then marched back into Fort D. A. Russell. This was the first time a black officer commanded a Regular Army regiment in the field. Unlike the earlier episode at Camp McGrath where the regimental record noted that Young “commanded post,” this time he was formally designated as “commanding regiment.”34 For the remainder of August the regiment focused on preparations for the visit of former president Theodore Roosevelt. On August 22, the regiment conducted a garrison review for Brig. Gen. Ralph A. Hoyt, the post commander. A review consisted of the entire mounted regiment marching past the reviewing officer in formations of troops and squadrons. On August 26, the regiment was reviewed once again, this time by Brig. Gen. Fred G. Smith, the commander of the Department of the Missouri. On August 27, 1910, the Ninth Cavalry Regiment took part in a street parade in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in honor of former president Roosevelt. Young commanded the Third Squadron of the Ninth Cavalry and was by then the third-highest-ranking officer present in the regiment.35

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The Ninth Cavalry spent the remainder of 1910 as they had the previous year. The entire regiment set out on its annual practice march to Douglas, Wyoming, on September 20. They went into camp in Douglas on September 26, and detachments from each troop took part in the state fair demonstrations from September 27 to 30. Young was the only officer in I Troop, since the first lieutenant position was again vacant and Second Lieutenant Erwin was in Denver, Colorado, taking part in a polo tournament under official orders. The regiment marched back to Fort D. A. Russell on October 10, 1910, and settled in for a typical severe Wyoming winter.36 Maneuver Division In 1911, the U.S. Army was still scattered throughout the country in posts averaging seven hundred troops each. Army planners knew from experience in the Spanish-American War, developments in Europe, and its annual maneuvers that larger formations than regiments were necessary in time of crisis. Moreover, these units had to be mobile, self-sufficient, and composed of combined arms. The Field Service Regulations of 1905 laid out a scheme for the organization of divisions in wartime, and the War Department drew up a plan in 1910 for three permanent divisions composed of Regular Army and National Guard regiments. Because of trouble along the Mexican border in 1911, the army tested a provisional maneuver division, comprising three brigades, in San Antonio, Texas.37 On March 7, 1911, the War Department ordered the Ninth Cavalry to “proceed without delay to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, reporting on arrival to the Commanding General, Department of Texas.” The entire regiment, fully equipped for field service, with two hundred rounds of ammunition per man, left Fort D. A. Russell on March 11 by rail. The Ninth covered 1,375 miles,

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arrived at Fort Sam Houston on March 15, and immediately went into camp, forming part of the “Cavalry Brigade, Maneuver Division,” commanded by Maj. Gen. William H. Carter. This began the Ninth Cavalry’s participation in the War Department’s testing of the maneuver division concept.38 On March 18, the entire regiment went out on a practice march of eighteen miles. This was the first of many practice marches and training exercises in which the Ninth would participate over the next four months. Young had a full complement of officers in I Troop for a change. He had a new first lieutenant, Robert R. Love, who had transferred from the Thirteenth Cavalry in December 1910, and Second Lieutenant Erwin was also present. In addition, Young had several of his former officers in key positions within the Third Squadron that he commanded. His old friend Samuel Pearson had been promoted to captain in June 1909 and had commanded M Troop since October 1909. His former first lieutenant E. Holland Rubottom was promoted to captain and given command of K Troop in January 1909. L Troop was commanded by Capt. Wallace C. Craigie, the second most senior captain, who led the squadron when Young was not present.39 The Ninth Cavalry’s stay in Texas was not without controversy. On April 3, 1911, the New York Times reported that “President Taft today decided upon the prompt removal of the Negro Ninth Cavalry from the division camp . . . in order to avert the possibility of a repetition of the affair of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry at Brownsville in 1906.” The paper reported complaints that the black soldiers of the Ninth resisted efforts of the conductors to enforce Jim Crow regulations requiring them to sit in the rear of the streetcars and on two occasions beat up the conductors. The article also described incidents of African American soldiers going into town, “filling up on liquor,” and getting

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into trouble. The order to leave camp had little practical effect since a storm blew down and flooded the entire tent camp and the Ninth was slated to depart on maneuvers in a matter of days anyway.40 Captain Young felt compelled by these incidents to write a letter to Booker T. Washington to relieve any anxiety he might have had about the behavior of his troops. He assured Washington: “The conduct of the soldiers has been exemplary, notwithstanding any reports of newspapers relative to their disregard of the Jim Crow laws or drunken brutality. Of this there has been none. Their white soldier friends on two occasions removed the signs in the cars under the protest of the Negro soldiers not to do so.” Young continued: “The Negro soldier knows the reason for which he is to uphold the laws and to fight for the country. He and his officers realize all that the permission to soldier means to the colored people in general. When this permission is taken away, our people must sink to a lower caste, far lower than even slavery ever entailed I fear, so far as its moral effects are concerned.”41 Young worried about the future of his regiment and of the continued service of African Americans in the Regular Army. The same New York Times article stated that Congressman John N. Garner of Texas told President Taft he intended to introduce a bill in Congress repealing the law of 1872, which provided for the organization of four black Regular Army regiments. The proposed bill would also give the president the authority to disband any African American regiment that “made itself liable to discipline by disorderly and violent conduct.” The president reportedly supported the legislation and believed that such congressional action would “have a wholesome moral effect” on black soldiers and force them to observe the laws in the states where they were stationed. Young asked Booker

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T. Washington in his letter to “[s]peak to the President and to our friends who have faith in us and ideals and tell them what I have assured you of in all truth and honesty.”42 Later in April 1911, the testing of the maneuver division concept began in earnest and the Ninth Cavalry was able to put the troubles of San Antonio behind it. On April 18, the regimental headquarters, band, and first squadron, temporarily comprising A, E, G, and I Troops, increased to full wartime strength. They did this by taking soldiers from other troops in the regiment and attaching them to these four troops. These elements of the Ninth Cavalry marched to Leon Springs Target Maneuver Reservation on April 18, engaged in squadron maneuvers on April 19 and 20, and marched back to the main camp on April 21, having covered fifty miles. The Ninth Cavalry essentially took their four best troops, brought them up to full wartime strength, and put them under First Squadron command for the duration of the test.43 The following month the entire Ninth Cavalry Regiment marched to Leon Springs on May 2. The unit spent three weeks engaged in squadron, regiment, brigade, and division maneuvers before returning to camp on May 22. Captain Young was not present for these exercises, since he was called to be a witness at a civil court in Cheyenne from May 5 to 22 for a member of his squadron, 2nd Lt. James P. Weyland of L Troop. During his time away, Lieutenant Love commanded I Troop and Captain Craigie commanded the Third Squadron. Young’s former commander, Col. John F. Guilfoyle, returned during this time to take command of the Ninth Cavalry, on May 4, 1911.44 During the month of June, the Ninth Cavalry performed normal garrison duties at Fort Sam Houston in preparation for an end to the exercises. On July 4, 1911, the War Department ordered the regiment to return to its home station and the

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experiment with the maneuver division ended. Young loaded the Third Squadron into trains in San Antonio on July 8 and arrived back at Fort D. A. Russell on July 13, 1911. Young and the rest of the Ninth Cavalry were happy and relieved to be home after the four-month stay at Fort Sam Houston. Fort D. A. Russell and Cheyenne must have seemed a welcome change from their recent experiences with Jim Crow in San Antonio.45 The concentration of the maneuver division in 1911 proved how ill-prepared the U.S. Army was for modern warfare in time of national emergency. The assembling of the division took several months to gather the troops from across the country. In the process, the War Department had to strip nearly every post, depot, and arsenal in the United States to equip the division. And when the division finally completed its assembly in August 1911, it was far from mission capable, with glaring shortages of men and equipment. It was probably fortunate that the Mexican border remained quiet and the unit not put to any real test.46 By October 1911, all the component units were back at their home bases. Because members of congress refused to allow army units to move away from their own districts, the army could not permanently relocate units and close small bases that were no longer needed. But the army did gain valuable experience on how to mobilize larger units and test new signal corps equipment, including telephones, wireless communications, and “aeroplanes” for observation and messenger service. In 1913, when the U.S. Army was once again called upon to concentrate on the Mexican border, a division assembled in Texas in less than a week.47 Reassignment By the fall of 1911, Captain Charles Young’s tour of duty with the Ninth Cavalry was rapidly drawing to a close. For the first

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few months after his return from Texas, Young enjoyed settling back into a routine of garrison life and spending time with his family and friends. He continued to command I Troop and the Third Squadron, and to serve as a summary court officer. On September 17 the regiment marched out the front gate on their annual practice march to Douglas, Wyoming, to participate in the state fair, which was held from September 25 to 29. The first week in October the regiment made the 134-mile march back to Fort D. A. Russell.48 As Young was performing normal garrison duties with his troop and squadron in November 1911, meetings were underway in Washington dc that would influence his future assignments in the U.S. Army. During a gathering at the State Department on November 11, 1911, Young’s name was mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of military attaché to Liberia in Africa. Having spent the past four years with troops in the Ninth Cavalry, he was qualified for detached duty away from his regiment according to War Department guidelines.49 The War Department was aware that Young would be eligible for promotion to major in a few months and was actively looking for a “safe” posting for him away from troops, despite his success. As a major and field-grade officer, Young would be entitled to fill one of the squadron commander positions in the regiment, which would put him in a position of authority over more white officers. By assigning him on detached duty as the military attaché to Liberia, the army would not only satisfy the State Department requirement for an active duty Regular Army officer, but also remove him from active senior command in the Ninth Cavalry Regiment. Young found himself in a very difficult situation as a black officer in an almost exclusively white officer corps in 1911. Just three African American line officers served in the Regular

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Army at this time: Captain Young, First Lieutenant Davis, and First Lieutenant John E. Green. These three served in an officer corps numbering 4,585 in 1911. The War Department was always relieved to have a posting away from assignments that would have black officers in positions of authority over white officers. The army assigned all three of these black officers at different times to Wilberforce University and to Liberia with this reality in mind.50 Capt. Charles Young received orders on December 14, 1911, instructing him to report for temporary duty at the War Department, in preparation for his assignment to Liberia. He left Fort D. A. Russell on December 26, 1911, leaving Lieutenant Love in command of I Troop and Captain Rubottom in command of the Third Squadron. Though he did not know it at the time, Young would never again serve with the Ninth U.S. Cavalry Regiment.51 Captain Young’s three- and-one-half years of duty as a senior captain with the Ninth Cavalry in the Philippines, Wyoming, and Texas added significantly to the solid reputation he had established during his last tour with the regiment from 1899 to 1904. Then he had been a junior captain earning his spurs as a troop commander in combat. This time he was a senior captain in the regiment who was so well regarded and trusted that he was given the command of the regiment on two occasions. He commanded I Troop, served as a summary court officer, and when the regiment was in the field, commanded the Third Squadron in the absence of the assigned field-grade officer. Young carried out all of these responsibilities with confidence, efficiency, and professionalism. Young’s success combined with his seniority began to cause increasing unease within the white officer corps and in the

17. Captain Young on horseback at Fort D. A. Russell (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

18. Officers’ quarters at Fort D. A. Russell in 1910 (Courtesy of the J. E. Stimson Collection, Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources)

19. Ninth Cavalry baseball team in 1912 (Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources)

20. Ninth Cavalry at the Wyoming State Fair, in Douglas, in 1910 (Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources)

21. Ninth Cavalry at target practice, in 1910 (Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources)

22. Ninth Cavalry Band, in 1911 (Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources)

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army. In the years to come, the War Department would receive letters from congressional representatives who complained that white officers found it difficult to serve under an African American officer. By sending Young off to Liberia, the army would not have to deal with this issue for the duration of his assignment to Africa. A “safe” posting for Young in 1912 was also a “safe” posting for the War Department.

11. Military Assistance Mission in Liberia

I find that the coast has done all it can for the country and that if it ever is going to be developed and saved to my people we must get to the native man in the interior. charles young, 1915

W

hen Captain Charles Young arrived at the U.S. Legation in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1912, the country was torn by internal strife and threatened by external incursion. Having previously served as the military attaché to Haiti and the Dominican Republic under similar difficult circumstances, Captain Young was up to the challenge for this assignment. As always, Young approached his new duty as a practical man and consummate professional military officer. But he must have been deeply moved to have the opportunity to go back to the home of his ancestors and help a small African democracy to survive and grow. The War Department assigned Young to Liberia based on significant geopolitical and military considerations. The United States had a special relationship with this troubled country that had been “colonized” by freed American slaves. Liberia, Africa’s first republic, also had the distinction of being older than any of the world’s other black republics except Haiti, where Young served his first attaché posting. Young’s second assignment as

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a soldier-diplomat affords a fascinating glimpse of how well he functioned within the military attaché system. Liberia It is important to understand the history of the country to which Captain Young found himself posted in 1912. Liberia, a sovereign state since 1847, was an anomaly when compared to other African countries. While all the rest shared a legacy of having been colonized and exploited by white foreign powers, Monrovia’s ruling minority was made up solely of blacks. Liberia’s colonial era began in the early nineteenth century with the arrival of freed American slaves sent from the United States by private colonial societies to settle along the coast of West Africa. From the beginning, this ruling minority, who called themselves Americo-Liberians, discriminated against the indigenous Africans, who they referred to as “uncivilized” or “aborigines.” This tension between the two elements of Liberia’s population became an underlying source of social unrest and conflict. This was also the basis of many of Young’s later challenges, as he once again served as an agent of empire.1 The Liberian government created a Liberian Frontier Force (lff) in 1908 to defend its borders against threats from nearby European colonies and to suppress domestic unrest from the tribes in the interior of the country. Since it had no experienced military personnel to organize and lead this organization, the government of Liberia accepted the recommendation made by Capt. Braithwaite Wallis, the British consul general in Monrovia, to appoint as commander of the lff Capt. R. MacKay Cadell, an English militia officer who had seen action during the Boer War in South Africa. Cadell assumed command of the lff with the rank of major and was assisted by two other British officers who were appointed captains. Trouble soon followed.2

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Major Cadell promptly betrayed the Liberian trust, enlisted veteran soldiers from the neighboring British colony of Sierra Leone, and openly began to wield too much personal power. The lff became so undisciplined and its tactics so ruthless against the tribes of the hinterland that it exacerbated domestic unrest. The final straw came in February 1909 when Major Cadell informed the president of Liberia that the soldiers of the lff were threatening to mutiny and that Cadell could do nothing about it. Instead of yielding to force, the Liberian government called out the militia, which forced Cadell and the rebellious lff troops to surrender. The Liberian government fired Cadell, who departed the country and took the officer corps with him. Monrovia then turned to the United States for help.3 In 1908, Liberia sent a mission to Washington to request American advice on Liberia’s dealings with Britain and France and for help in maintaining its independence and territorial integrity. President William Howard Taft appointed a commission to investigate Liberia’s problems and how they affected American interests. The commission discovered that the Liberian economy was so unstable that foreign nations might decide to use force to collect their debts. Germany in particular had a great deal of money invested in Liberia, and Monrovia owed Germany, France, and Britain accumulated debts of $1.7 million. With the commission’s recommendations in hand, the United States set up a U.S.-administered receivership to pay off Monrovia’s foreign debts. It also recommended that the United States sell arms to Liberia and undertake a reorganization of the lff. Enter Davis and Young.4 Davis and Young The U.S. War Department did not know what to make of the mission in Monrovia when asked to take it on by the State

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Department in 1908. It therefore designated 1st Lt. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. as military attaché to Monrovia to study the problems involved in the undertaking. Davis, a protégé of Young’s, had just completed four years teaching military science at Wilberforce University. Upon acceptance of this assignment, he received a confidential memo from the Military Information Division (mid) at the War Department listing his duties. These included investigating the Liberian military establishment and its organization, strength, staff, mobilization system, and transportation network. Davis reported to Monrovia in December 1909 to commence his work.5 Soon after beginning his mission in Liberia, Davis contracted blackwater fever (malarial hemoglobinuria), a deadly disease that commonly afflicted new arrivals to the West African coast. He was confined to his bed with fever, chills, and anemia for two weeks and never fully recovered. As a result of his illness, he was not able to continue the mission of reorganizing the lff and was recalled in 1911. Upon arrival at the War Department, he offered his recommendation that a cadre of four officers from the U.S. Regular Army train a Liberian force of fifteen hundred men. He predicted difficulties in getting the Liberian government to agree to give the four American officers sufficient authority to turn the lff into an effective force.6 By the end of 1911, as plans for a $1.7-million loan from American bankers to Liberia neared completion, the U.S. State Department asked the War Department for an officer to replace Davis to carry out the reorganization of the Liberian Frontier Force. The matter was summed up in a November 1911 letter from Reed Paige Clark, who was appointed as the U.S. receiver in Liberia, to Booker T. Washington. Clark explained: Yesterday Mr. [Chandler] Hale, the Third Assistant Secretary of State, Captain [Frank R.] McCoy of the War Department,

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and I were discussing the matter of the appointment of a military attaché at Monrovia to aid in the reorganization of the Liberian Constabulary, or Frontier Police. The military attaché would act in an advisory capacity only, but his advice, if the services of the right man can be secured, would have great weight and would be invaluable.7 Having explained the problem, Clark identified the “right man” for the job and his qualifications. Clark continued: “There seems to be one colored officer on the active list of the Army who is especially well fitted for the work and that is Captain Charles Young, Ninth Cavalry, U.S.A., who was recently attached to our legation at Port au Prince, Haiti. He has made an admirable record and is apparently just the man for a position where considerable tact and great executive ability are required.” Clark then asked Washington to persuade Young to undertake the mission.8 Booker T. Washington wrote to Young, as requested, a week later. He enclosed a copy of the letter from Clark and noted: The matter which I wish to bring to your attention is outlined in a communication just received from Mr. Reed Paige Clark, who has been designated by President Taft to serve as Receiver of Customs for Liberia and who is planning to go to Monrovia very soon to help the Liberian people re-organize and otherwise straighten out their difficulties. I enclose a copy of Mr. Clark’s letter and also a copy of my reply. Will you kindly let me hear from you at your convenience?9 Young replied to Booker T. Washington from Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, on November 24, 1911, saying, “I am always willing to aid in any work for the good of the country in general and

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of our race in particular, whether that race be found in Africa or in the United States.” Young then summarized a proposal to have him organize a black regiment in the New York National Guard that he had considered accepting, pending War Department approval, but was clearly attracted to the idea of serving in Africa. Young concluded: “Now if you and the War Department think I can be of more good to the country and our people on the African detail with Mr. Paige [Clark], I am perfectly willing to go, and shall render him faithful and loyal service.”10 The War Department complied with the State Department request by naming Capt. Charles Young to the post and issued orders on December 14, 1911, assigning Young to temporary duty with the chief of staff of the army in Washington dc to prepare for his duties in Liberia. While he was in Washington, Young took his examination for promotion to major on January 2, appeared before a board of officers on January 25, and was found eligible for promotion. He had to wait until the following year, in Monrovia, to pin on his gold major’s leaves and celebrate the milestone of achieving field-grade rank in the Regular Army.11 Monrovia Captain Young reported for duty to the U.S. Legation in Monrovia on April 30, 1912, and immediately set about getting organized for the tasks at hand. As had been the case in Port-Au-Prince, much of his initial time was spent setting up his quarters and office and establishing a liaison with both the U.S. Legation and the Liberian government. Because of the sensitivity of his mission with the lff, Captain Young had to take special care to initiate and maintain good relations with Liberian government officials. In time he would develop access and a close personal relationship with the president of Liberia, Daniel E. Howard, which would facilitate his difficult task.12

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Waiting for Young at the American legation in Monrovia were three men whose cooperation would prove critical to his mission. William D. Crum was the minister resident and consul general to Liberia and had served there since presenting his credentials in August 1910. Crum was an African American from Charleston, South Carolina, who had studied at the University of South Carolina and earned a medical degree from Howard University. Crum followed a long line of African Americans who had served as ministers to Liberia after President Ulysses Grant appointed the first in the Reconstruction era. Crum was appointed by President William H. Taft and was the beneficiary of State Department measures to increase the prestige and pay for America’s diplomatic corps and earned a salary of five thousand dollars a year.13 The deputy to Minister Crum at the U.S. Consulate was the secretary of the legation, Richard C. Bundy, who was also black. Young referred to Bundy as “the brains of our ministership here,” and he ran the legation for two long periods in the absence of a resident minister as the chargé d’affaires—from September 1912 to December 1913 and from April to December 1915. Bundy had grown up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was appointed by an Ohio congressman to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1897, but failed the entrance examination. Bundy was a graduate of Wilberforce University and he and Young taught there at the same time and were active members of the Beta Kappa Sigma fraternity, or “Black Cats.” They worked hand in glove together for the next four years in Liberia.14 The third man at the legation who was critical to Young’s mission was the American in charge of the receivership in Monrovia, Reed Paige Clark. Young counted on Clark’s receivership to pay his American contract officers and also to finance and

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equip the lff. When Young and his black American officers took over the lff in 1912, some of its soldiers had not been paid for as long as three years. Regular pay and a steady flow of supplies were important to restoring the morale and effectiveness of the lff, so it was essential for Young to stay on good terms with Clark. Clark was the only one of this threesome in the legation who was white.15 The members of the U.S. Mission also welcomed Ada Young to Monrovia. Charles Young brought his wife and family with him to Liberia, though he later sent his two children to a boarding school in Belgium. The tight-knit legation community in Monrovia welcomed the Young family to their small circle, which included Crum, Bundy, Clark, Vice Consul John Reed, and their families. Nellie Bundy was especially active in the American community, which included a few missionaries and traders, and she hosted events for the wives and ran a school for the children. Young told his mother, Arminta, in a letter that he was pleasantly surprised with Monrovia and found it “different from what I imagined.” He rented a two-story brick house with a porch that overlooked the ocean and stocked it with his expansive personal library and “the only piano at that time in all of Liberia.”16 Within four months of his arrival, Young was promoted to major in the Ninth U.S. Cavalry with a date of rank of August 28, 1912. This promotion made him the first African American to achieve field-grade rank as a line officer in the Regular Army. Field-grade rank was a watershed for officers in the Old Army. If they performed their duties and stayed healthy long enough, they would make lieutenant colonel and colonel. If they were lucky and served in a war, they might make general. But Young could ill afford to dream of future promotions with his difficult mission at hand.17

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Military Assistance Mission Young’s mission to Monrovia would be called a “military assistance advisory group” in modern U.S. Army parlance. He was allowed to handpick three former Buffalo Soldiers, all African American ex-officers and noncommissioned officers, to take with him to Liberia to train and run the lff. While Young’s mission was to advise on the retraining of the force, these Americans would instruct, indoctrinate, discipline, and command the units themselves. The difference was important. Because Young was a military attaché and still a member of the Regular Army, he was forbidden to command the lff. The contracted officers, on the other hand, were civilians and under no such restrictions.18 First, Young picked his old friend and longtime colleague Wilson Ballard as his second in command in Liberia. Ballard was a Mississippian who had served as Young’s cadet adjutant at Wilberforce, as an adjutant in the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the Spanish-American War, and as a first lieutenant in the Forty-eighth Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Philippine War. Born in 1877, Ballard earned his bachelor’s degree at Wilberforce in 1889, and after his Philippine service, attended Ohio State University and earned a degree in dentistry. Young chose him to lead the lff during its reorganization because he had confidence in Ballard’s abilities and because Ballard had served long and competently as a field officer during the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars.19 The second officer Young selected was somewhat less experienced than Ballard. Arthur Brown was from Nebraska and had served as a cadet-company first sergeant at Wilberforce and as a corporal in the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the SpanishAmerican War. Brown returned to Wilberforce after the war to

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finish his bachelor’s degree in 1902, followed by graduate work at Howard University and Kansas State University. He taught mathematics and natural science at a number of schools before opening a private practice in podiatry in Chicago in 1911. Unlike Ballard, Brown had not served as an officer in the field or in combat.20 The third of Young’s officers was Richard H. Newton. With less formal education than the other two, Newton hailed from Baltimore, Maryland, and had served ten years in L Troop of the Ninth Cavalry, beginning in 1900. He was a veteran of the Philippine War and served under Young as his squadron commander. Toward the end of his enlisted service, Newton worked at the Army War College Detachment in Washington dc. The army discharged him in 1911 so that he could take a job as a printing clerk with the U.S. Civil Service in Washington. Young personally recommended Newton to the Department of State for the assignment as a captain with the Liberian Frontier Forces.21 All three officers accepted their positions with the lff for similar reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, they were asked by Young, a man they all knew, respected, and had served with. They were also influenced, as Young was, by the powerful draw of service to black Africa. The salary and status that came with the commissions were also a strong incentive for the three. Ballard received a major’s pay of two thousand dollars (equal to Young’s), and Brown and Newton a captain’s wage of sixteen hundred dollars annually; more money and prestige than they could hope to earn in America. And certainly the draw of adventure had to be a strong factor in young men who had worked previously in jobs as clerks, physicians, and dentists.22 At least one other U.S. officer volunteered for service in Liberia but was not selected. Capt. Samuel B. Pearson, Young’s white fellow officer from the Ninth Cavalry and close friend, wanted

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badly to join Young in Africa. Pearson, a troop commander at Fort D. A. Russell in Wyoming, wrote Young at least twice begging Young to consider him for a position in Liberia. Young never kept his promise, if it was ever made. It is unlikely the War Department would have approved the detail of another Regular Army officer, and Young might have decided after his arrival that a white officer was not suitable for the complicated situation in the lff in 1912.23 One of Young’s first tasks in Monrovia was to assess the state of the lff and the obstacles to his mission in order to reorganize the force. Major Young wrote a detailed assessment of the problem and delivered it to the chargé d’affaires, Richard C. Bundy, on October 9, 1912. Bundy was in charge of the legation since Minister Crum departed sick with blackwater fever on September 17 and died in Charleston three months later. Chief among Young’s concerns was a lack of money to fund the project, problems with bureaucratic foot-dragging on the part of the Liberian government, continuing interference by the British, French, and Germans, and a lack of serviceable equipment to supply the force. Young remained optimistic throughout his service that these impediments could be overcome.24 In the midst of all of these problems, Young and his African American officers were kept busy training the lff and responding to crises in the interior. Young, Ballard, Brown, and Newton were able to increase the effective strength of the lff by October 1912, from 356 men and 4 officers to 540 men and 17 commissioned Liberian officers, though they had only four hundred Mauser carbines with which to arm them. While recruiting and training, Young and his officers had to keep on their guard for trouble in the bush. In August, Young ordered Captain Brown to march inland to set up a garrison of fifty-two men. In September, Captain Newton took two hundred men to

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replace mutinous troops and their commander at Cape Palmas. Major Ballard also kept a reaction force of one hundred men at the ready to march at a moment’s notice to put down border disturbances. As a measure of the danger involved, Young sent a cable to the War Department in November 1912 requesting a pair of Colt revolvers for himself.25 Conflicting Missions Soon after he wrote his report to Bundy, Young had to overstep his advisory bounds and actually command the lff in the field. He had to march to the rescue of the lff troops under the command of fellow American Capt. Arthur Brown, who were surrounded deep in the interior by a group of rebellious tribesmen. Liberia’s President Howard asked Young, in a letter on November 23, 1912, to lead a relief party and offered Young the services of one hundred men to accompany him. The expedition tested Young’s leadership abilities, fighting mettle, and diplomatic skills, much like his mission up the Gandara River during the Philippine War. Only this time he did it without the trained troopers of the Ninth Cavalry.26 Major Young accepted the mission, but refused Howard’s offer of men, knowing they would take time to organize and be slow on the march. He took only six soldiers and two carriers when he departed on November 25, counting on speed and hoping to pick up reinforcements on the way. The small party encountered numerous villages along the way, some friendly but many hostile. The report of his encounters reads like something out of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, complete with man-eating Manos tribesmen, Muslim Mandingos, and skulls displayed on the entrance of stockades. He hired six hammock-bearers in one town, bought rice and supplies in another, and picked up reinforcements in several more.27

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The farther inland Young and his company moved, the fewer signs they saw of the Liberian government. When Young reached the walled town of Zorzor, which comprised about four hundred homes and a small garrison of government troops, he encountered Muslim Mandingo merchants. These Mandingos monopolized the trade, to the detriment of the Liberian government, and established a high degree of political and religious supremacy over the peoples of the hinterland. Young also noted the French influence in the village, with the French Guinea border about one- and-a-half hours distant. Young remained in Zorzor for about a week, awaiting additional troops. The relief party departed on December 9, strengthened with a band of ten chiefs and their men. They gathered additional men in the next town bringing their company to about a hundred.28 On December 11, Young and his party moved down the St. Paul River to the French border post of Tinsou. He found the native French troops there constructing an earthwork and conversed with the French sergeant in charge of the post. Young then moved south to a town called Dingama and encountered the Mano people. They told Young that he was only the second civilized American they had ever seen. Young reported: “The Manos are man-eating folk and few graves are to be seen in or near the towns. These graves are the buried heads only of their chiefs, the bodies of even these having been eaten.” The Manos feared the French and welcomed Young in all of their towns, seeking his aid and protection. In the town of Sanquilly, Young took the time to mediate a conflict between the elder chief and some exiled native chiefs before he moved on.29 When Young reached the Liberian village of Taymow, he was greeted by a welcoming line of Mandingos dressed in their finest clothes. Though they pledged their loyalty to the Liberian government, a French flag flew over the entrance to the town.

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When Young asked for an explanation, the Mandingo merchants told him “that they had put up the French flag to show that they were French citizens.” Since they claimed to be French, Young asked for a trading permit, which they could not produce. He then counted the people, inventoried and secured their goods, and “sent the women north over the French lines under the escort of one Mandingo man of their choosing.” Young then pressed forty Mandingo prisoners into service as carriers for himself, the sick, and the rice.30 Young and his relief party had been trekking the hinterlands of Liberia for nearly a month by this time. On December 24 the party was led into an ambush by an old woman they had captured and had to fight their way through. According to Young: “We fought from town to town all that day. Had three men shot and wounded. While leading the advance guard into the town, I myself was shot in the right arm. At about three o’clock in the afternoon we stopped in a town (name unknown) about fifteen miles from the place where we had started from in the morning. I was now convinced that I was going in the wrong direction. I made up my mind to rest and capture some prisoners.” The slug Young took in his arm was the two-inch rusty leg from a cooking pot fired from a musket that entered his arm below the elbow and lodged in his shoulder. It remained there for three weeks and grew infected until he reached Monrovia where a doctor safely removed the slug.31 Young turned south with his party and, after encountering a few small villages, reached Tappi on December 29, 1912. There he found Captain Brown and his seventy-eight men alive and happy to see the relief party. Young let Brown employ the now reinforced body of about two hundred men to sortie out and drive away the hostile tribesmen surrounding the town. Young commended Brown’s ability to hold together his command

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under such a difficult siege and applauded the grit of his Liberian Frontier Force soldiers. Young spent about a week in Tappi before leaving Brown in command of the now pacified garrison. He departed on January 5 with 125 men, natives, and prisoners and arrived in Monrovia on January 15, 1913. The trip back was quicker because Young took a direct route via Grand Bassa to the coast and did not have to stop along the way for troops or supplies.32 Upon his return to the capital, Young dictated a detailed report of the expedition and submitted recommendations to the Liberian government on how relations between the Americo-Liberians and the indigenous tribes might be improved to avoid future conflicts. He was convinced after his trek into the hinterland that the agricultural potential of the country and the good will of the native tribes of the interior were being squandered through the brutal administration of corrupt Liberian government officials. Much trade was also being lost to the French due to better roads and administration in neighboring French Guinea. Young also submitted a preliminary message to the U.S. War Department on January 13, 1913: Field report of this relief expedition will be made as soon as my right arm, which contains a ball received in a four day’s fight with the tribesmen, sufficiently recovers to permit me to write. . . . No military attaché work in the shape of reports for monograph has been undertaken yet, because the affairs of the country were in a state of transition, which depended upon the receivership, which only went into effect November 26, 1912. Intelligence report upon the topographic features and resources depended upon the journey into the interior of the country such as I have just completed.33

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Young would later turn the field notes made and sketches drawn while on the Brown expedition into intelligence reports, updated maps, and a monograph on Liberia.34 This letter illustrates the tension Young felt in trying to carry out two very different missions. He felt very strongly about the success of the reorganization of the lff and his commitment to the future of Liberia. To this end he was willing to risk his life and overstep the bounds of his assignment to rescue a comrade in arms and the members of the lff. Along the way, he showed exemplary fighting and diplomatic skills in dealing with hostile or neutral tribal groups. Upon his return to Monrovia, and in his first report to the War Department on the incident, his sense of duty compelled him to give reasons why he had not filed intelligence reports in the eight months since his arrival.35 Liberian president Dennis Howard was so impressed with the performance and professionalism of Major Young during the first months of his tenure that he appointed him as “Military Advisor to the War Department of Liberia,” with broad powers and free access to formulate plans, write regulations, and administer the payrolls. He also instructed the Liberian secretary of war to allow Young free access to his department and gave him the power to act in the secretary’s name in his absence. Later the Liberian secretary of war, Wilmot Dennis, complained to the president that Young was exercising excessive authority in the War Department. When the president refused to act on Dennis’s complaints, the secretary submitted his resignation in March 1913.36 Young was stricken with blackwater fever in April 1913—the same disease that forced Davis’s early recall in 1911 and killed Minister Crum in 1912. He likely contracted malignant malaria, also known as blackwater fever, in West Africa, while on his

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expedition to rescue Captain Brown. Young was also recovering from the bullet wound and infection and had his arm in a sling. This wound forced him to dictate all of his correspondence to his friend Emory Ross, a Methodist missionary. Young requested and was granted sick leave to the United States, but his health deteriorated so precipitously that Bundy sent him home sooner than planned, and he departed Monrovia on June 1, 1913. Escorted by Emory Ross, he spent much of the crossing lying delirious in his cabin. After reaching Ohio, he requested a two-month extension in August, but was back in Liberia by September. During this time the U.S. War Department records show that Major Young submitted bills for medical care of a “gunshot wound” and “for illness from black water fever.”37 Challenges One of Young’s first actions upon arrival back in Liberia was to request the appointment of two additional officers to assist in reorganizing the lff. He felt that his initial contingent of American officers—Maj. Wilson Ballard, commander of the lff, and Captains Brown and Newton, both company commanders— were stretched far too thin. He complained in his October 1912 letter to Bundy that the Liberian lieutenants were of “doubtful efficiency.” Bundy convinced the State Department and the government of Liberia to approve contracts to hire two American first lieutenants with a pay of fourteen hundred dollars annually from the receivership. Lts. Joseph H. Martin and William H. York arrived in 1914 in answer to his desperate plea for more American officers. Fortunately, 1914 was a fairly peaceful year in Liberia as the lff continued to add to its ranks.38 Young’s officer problems were not solved with the arrival of Martin and York. Captain Brown became so unpopular with the Liberian government that he was forced to give up the job.

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Capt. Richard Newton, at the point of resigning after growing increasingly frustrated with his Liberian masters, grew ill and died in Liberia of tuberculosis on July 1914, depriving Young of one of his most effective leaders. Eldridge Hawkins, a clerk at the legation, was pressed into service to fill one of the captain’s positions, and Lieutenant York eventually filled the other.39 To make matters worse, in 1915, Major Ballard and Captain Hawkins decided not to renew their contracts. Ballard was anxious to get back to the States to resume his dentistry practice. He was also worn out after three years and disillusioned with the way the ruling Americo-Liberians treated the indigenous tribes of the hinterland. It is unclear exactly why Hawkins did not stay on, but Ballard wrote him a letter in November 1914 indicating that his enemies were seeking his removal.40 Maj. William York replaced Ballard as commander of the lff in 1915. These changes caused command and continuity problems in the force, whose strength had been reduced in 1915, from about one thousand to six hundred, because of budget problems due to the war in Europe. York took command of the lff just as a serious Kru revolt on the southern coast broke out in June 1915. York and the lff were kept busy until June 1916 putting down the rebellion. Hundreds died in the fighting and sixty-two Kru leaders of the revolt were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in Greenville. Though Liberia’s President Howard commuted the death sentences of forty-seven to life imprisonment, the word did not reach Greenville in time and all but twenty were executed.41 The outbreak of World War I in Europe had a profound and detrimental effect on affairs in Liberia. Trade with Germany, which accounted for three-fourths of Liberia’s foreign commerce in 1914, was severed as a result of the war. By 1917, trade revenues plummeted to less than half their prewar level.

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Liberia maintained its neutrality during most of the war, while the rest of colonial Africa aligned with their colonial European masters. British and French forces fought with German colonial troops in the nearby German colonies of Togoland and Kamerun (modern Cameroon). Young sent numerous messages to Washington explaining the adverse effects of the war on Liberia and suggesting ways that the United States could mitigate these in the form of support, loans, and increased trade.42 The onset of war in Europe in August 1914 also caused a personal crisis for Young: his children attended school in Pieton, Belgium, directly in the path of the advancing German army. Ada caught the first European-bound steamer to search for their children and Young had the legation dispatch an urgent diplomatic message asking their whereabouts. The children were finally located in Rotterdam, and Ada traveled there and brought them to London to stay with Nina DuBois, wife of W. E. B. DuBois. In June 1915 Ada traveled with the children to Paris to continue their education, in spite of Charles Young’s worries that the war might reach the French capital. Young deferred to Ada on the children’s education in Europe, but wanted her to go back to Ohio to recover her health, which had suffered in Africa.43 In September 1915, Young wrote a long letter to the American chargé, Richard Bundy, summarizing the grave state of Liberian affairs. The Kru tribes on the coast in the south had been in revolt for a week and had cut off communication of the “civilized people” living there with the capital. Other tribes like the Picanniny Cess and Grand Cess were also hostile. The Liberian Militia, over which Young and the lff had no control, had run amuck in Sinoe, killing innocent members of the Rock Cess tribe, who were well armed by the Germans and likely to rise up in response. There were no available boats to rush

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reinforcements to these areas from the woefully inadequate six hundred members of the lff, which were scattered along the frontier and coast of Liberia and had not been paid in six months. There was also a shortage of ammunition for the lff’s Mauser carbines, since this was manufactured in Germany and embargoed due to the war. Young ended his report with: “Can’t we have the moral support of an American warship at this the most serious juncture in the affairs of the Republic since I have been here?”44 Young was once again building a road when he described his mission in Liberia in correspondence with two classmates who in his own words showed him “friendship and sympathy” during his years at West Point.45 In a July 1915 letter to Col. Alexander Piper, Young described the soldiers of the lff as “not one unit inferior to the soldier spirit to our best black troops.” In a letter the same month to Col. Delamere Skerrett, he devoted two paragraphs to his accomplishments in Liberia, stating that he was in the process of completing a road from Monrovia through to the hinterland, had finished reorganizing the lff, and had concluded work on a map of the country. Only the map had any intelligence importance to the War Department, while the road and the improvement of the lff benefited Liberia. Once finished with the road, he told Skerrett he was ready to yield himself to the “Manchu Law” the following year.46 Young’s reference to Manchu Law signaled the end of his assignment to Liberia. Manchu Law refers to legislation passed by Congress requiring that “no officer of the line of the army may be detached from duty with troops for more than four years out of six.” Since Young left his last assignment with the Ninth Cavalry in December 1911, he was only months away from this deadline by the summer of 1915 when he wrote his letter to his classmate, Skerrett. Young was later reassigned as a major

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to the Tenth Cavalry, in October 1915, and was torn about his future. On one hand, he was anxious to return to the United States and join his new regiment. On the other hand, he hated to leave Liberia with his mission incomplete.47 Accomplishments Young knew he was scheduled to leave Liberia, but was surprised when word of his relief came from the army adjutant general on October 17, 1915. He wrote to his wife, Ada, who was visiting friends in France: “I propose to catch the first steamer leaving here in November. Can’t leave sooner. My things are in the Bush, books, bedding and what not, all of which must be brought down. Then there is getting the office ready for the turn over; and I must run down the coast on account of the Kru palaver [talks] at Sinoe. British warship in harbor and American Cruiser Chester.” At least Young was able to see the American warship he so recently requested before his departure.48 On October 19, 1915, Major Young was relieved of his attaché duties and ordered to report to the Tenth Cavalry in the United States. The Liberian government and the U.S. State Department requested an extension of Young’s mission in West Africa, to no avail. Young departed Monrovia on November 25, 1915, for the United States. Liberia’s President Daniel E. Howard forwarded a laudatory letter to the U.S. War Department commending Young’s work in his country and acknowledged the “Liberian Government’s grateful appreciation of the most valuable services rendered the Republic by Major Young.” Howard regretted Young’s departure, but said, “He carries with him, however, in his new field of activity, the love and best wishes of a grateful people.” The letter was endorsed at the War Department, included as an official entry in Major Young’s efficiency record, and forwarded to him on January 7, 1916.49

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Maj. Charles Young’s military assistance mission to reorganize the Liberian Frontier Force was a limited success, despite all of the obstacles that were thrown in his path along the way. He and his American officers turned the lff into a viable constabulary, with native soldiers and noncommissioned officers whom Young considered every bit as good as his beloved Buffalo Soldiers. He received high praise for his outstanding work from the president of Liberia, and the American minister to Liberia wrote to him: “The actual result of work so well performed through your boundless energy and personal application leaves behind you a testimonial of your true work.”50 A measure of his success with the lff can be seen in its record after his departure. After Young left Liberia, 1st Lt. John E. Green, another black Regular Army officer, replaced him as military attaché. Green remained there through 1917 to supervise the lff and help the Liberian government settle its many border disputes with its British and French colonial neighbors. American officers remained in command of the lff until 1922, and it continued in existence until 1962, when it was renamed the Liberian National Guard, to reflect the country’s nonaggressive international policies.51 Major Young’s accomplishments in gathering information for the War Department are a bit harder to gauge. He filed numerous information reports, wrote a lengthy monograph, and compiled detailed maps of the uncharted interior of the country. Unfortunately, few of these, save for a list of the titles of Young’s reports, survived a house cleaning of the Military Information Division files that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. One cannot read and evaluate the content of his reports, nor say for sure that his maps and monograph were used by the War Department planning staff, as was the case in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But certainly had there been a need

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for an armed U.S. military intervention into Liberia, the information would have been available in the files of the mid to support contingency planning.52 In final recognition for his exemplary work in Liberia, W. E. B. DuBois informed Young in mid-January that he had been selected to receive the Spingarn Medal, given by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp). The gold medal, valued at one hundred dollars, was a gift of Dr. J. E. Spingarn and “awarded annually to the man or woman of African descent and of American citizenship who has made the highest achievement during the year in any field of elevated or honorable human endeavor.” The award committee included ex-president William H. Taft, Dr. James H. Dillard, Oswald G. Villard, John Hope, and Bishop John Hurst. This was only the second award of the Spingarn Medal, the first award going to Dr. Ernst E. Just, in 1915, for his achievements in medical research.53 Mary W. Ovington, a cofounder of the naacp, was present in Boston for the presentation of the Spingarn Medal to Young. She observed: “Charles Young was a strikingly handsome man of magnificent physique and a dark, mobile face. I was with him later after dinner at the Henry Street Settlement when we were at war and he was in uniform. The half-dozen newly created officers present could not keep away from this superior officer, so impressive in his quiet simplicity.” She reported that “Young made a memorable speech. He was the second of our medallists, Ernst Just having set an example of a simple murmured thank-you when the medal was given.”54 Charles Young, resplendent in the uniform of a cavalry major in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, accepted the Spingarn Medal on February 22, 1916, from Governor Samuel W. McCall of Massachusetts. The Columbia Glee Club sang at the beginning of the program,

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followed by an introductory address by Moorefield Story, the national president of the naacp and former president of the American Bar Association. Other speakers included Reverend Alexander Mann, rector of Trinity Church, Bishop Hamilton of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. Horace Bumstead, formerly president of Atlanta University and major in the Fortythird U.S. Colored Volunteers during the Civil War. Young’s friend W. E. B. Du Bois was on the program to speak, but was delayed by weather. Young then gave his “memorable speech” thanking the naacp for the award. Maj. Charles Young was one of only two American military men to ever win this coveted medal—the other being Gen. Colin T. Powell in 1991.55 As was the case in Haiti, Major Young was an ideal choice for the military attaché post in Monrovia. In addition to his previous attaché experience on Hispaniola, Young was a seasoned cavalry officer with extensive experience in the American West and in the Philippines. His experiences skirmishing with guerrillas in the Philippine War saved his life in the jungles of Liberia. Young was one of three black line officers in the Regular Army, and the War and State departments reasoned he was the only one who was senior and experienced enough to pull off the mission. And finally, the War Department was eager to find its senior black officer a “safe” assignment away from troops and situations in which he would command white officers. There is no doubt that Young completed the intelligencegathering aspect of his mission with the same efficiency and professionalism that he demanded of himself throughout his military career. But in comparative terms, his heart and soul were in the tasks of reorganizing the Liberian Frontier Force, building roads to the hinterland, and safeguarding the future of Liberia. There is no record that Young had any misgivings about

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supporting a government in Liberia that was mistreating its indigenous population. It could be argued that he was serving as an agent of Americo-Liberian elites to suppress the tribes of the interior. But he worked very hard with the Liberian government and urged them repeatedly to improve the treatment of these indigenous people. Young realized that whatever its problems, a black democratic regime in Liberia was preferable to colonial control by the French or British.

23. Monrovia street scene with the American Legation in the background (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

24. Major Young’s office at the American Legation, in 1913 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection) 25. Liberian Frontier Force in formation, in 1914 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection) 26. Liberian Frontier Force at rifle practice, in 1914 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

27. Sketch map drawn by Young during the Brown relief mission, in 1912 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

12. Chasing Villa in Mexico

I have a good squadron and the officers and men are ok so am happy. No “shirkers” among them. charles young, 1916

W

hen Maj. Charles Young departed for his new duty assignment with the Tenth Cavalry, it marked the end of his third tour on detached duty away from troops. He had learned as much about himself in Africa as about

leading others, and these lessons would help in the challenging years to come. As much as Young enjoyed shedding his sweat and blood for “his people” in Liberia, his real love lay in leading and training the black cavalry troopers of the U.S. Army. With the war in Europe approaching, they needed him now more than ever. And he needed them. Young’s posting to Fort Huachuca was his first with the officers and men of the Tenth U.S. Cavalry Regiment. Though he had been assigned briefly, on paper, to the Tenth after graduation from West Point, he had never actually ridden with them. While both regiments were referred to as Buffalo Soldiers, the Ninth and Tenth cavalries each had very different histories, identities, and collective memories. Young would find many familiar faces

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among the officers and men of the Tenth Cavalry, and it would not take him long to make the regiment his home. Mexican Border The U.S. border with Mexico had been troubled since the overthrow of longtime dictator Porfirio Díaz, the event that brought Young to Texas for division maneuvers in 1911. By early 1916, the Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa controlled much of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua and made raids into Texas and New Mexico. After an attack on Columbus, New Mexico, by Villa and four hundred of his bandits on March 9, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered him pursued and captured or killed. The Southern Department commander, Maj. Gen. Frederick Funston, ordered Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing to hunt down Villa in Mexico. Pershing organized a provisional division, called the Punitive Expedition, to carry out this task, with the Tenth Cavalry as one of its key components.1 Employing troops that were available near the border with Mexico, Pershing’s provisional division was configured differently from what was called for by field-service regulations. It consisted initially of about five thousand men in two provisional cavalry brigades, comprising two cavalry regiments and a field artillery battery each, and an infantry brigade of two infantry regiments and two engineer companies, with medical, signal, transportation, and air units grouped together as divisional troops. His plan was to hunt down the bandits with his cavalry while protecting his communication lines to the United States with the infantry.2 Young arrived at Fort Huachuca, Texas, on February 28, 1916, just ten days before the famous raid on Columbus. His old friend

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Chaplain George W. Prioleau met him at the train station with his auto and brought him to his quarters, the first time Young had arrived at a duty post greeted by this modern conveyance. He and Prioleau, who Young referred to affectionately as “Uncle George,” had known each other since 1894 when they taught together at Wilberforce University. Prioleau had been reassigned and was preparing to move to his new duty station, so Young planned to stay with him and his wife until they departed. Since Young had left his family behind in Ohio and since his regiment might soon leave for Mexico, he was not concerned about securing quarters for himself. However, his stay at Fort Huachuca was shorter than he anticipated.3 Ethel Prioleau remembered Young’s visit to their quarters at Fort Huachuca years later in a letter to Ada Young: He had been there on duty with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry a few weeks and was staying with the Major [Prioleau] at our quarters, when orders were received to proceed across the border into Mexico to capture Villa. We had been so delighted to have him with us again, but such is army life. So we told him goodbye that day—booted and spurred, head erect, mounted upon the Major’s horse, (as he had not yet secured one) and that wonderful smile upon his face—and it proved to be our last goodbye to him for when he returned we had been transferred to the Twenty-Fifth Infantry on duty in the Hawaiian Islands.4 The day of Young’s arrival at Fort Huachuca, Lt. Col. De Rosey C. Cabell, the Tenth Cavalry second-in-command, sent for him. According to Young, Cabell “told me how glad he was that I was here, and how much I could help him in the regiment by getting in touch where he could not.” This was a frank if

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somewhat presumptuous statement, but Young took it in stride since he had known Cabell as a tactical officer while attending West Point. Cabell soon learned that he would not ride with the Tenth during the incursion into Mexico because Pershing assigned him to act as his chief of staff for the expedition.5 Ten days later Young wrote from Camp Douglas, Arizona, reporting that the Tenth Cavalry was on the move to Mexico. He noted on March 11, “We left Fort Huachuca night before last and got in here this morning. I suppose we move out as soon as we hear from General Funston.” Young and the Tenth paused at Camp Douglas while General Funston and General Pershing waited for the rest of the troops to assemble near the border. Young and the Tenth Cavalry were part of one of the provisional cavalry brigades commanded by Col. George A. Dodd. The Seventh Cavalry and Battery B of the Sixth Field Artillery joined the Tenth Cavalry at Culberson’s Ranch, New Mexico, the following day to complete the Second Cavalry Brigade. The First Cavalry Brigade concentrated at Columbus, New Mexico, and comprised the Eleventh and Thirteenth Cavalry Regiments.6 On March 15, Young wrote to Ada from Culberson’s Ranch: “They say in a few hours we cross over the border into Mexico. I’m glad so that we can have the work over. I am second in command, as the lieutenant colonel and other majors are detailed elsewhere. I have a good squadron and the officers and men are ok so am happy. No ‘shirkers’ among them.” Col. William C. Brown commanded the regiment, with Young as the only other field-grade officer present at the time (Maj. Elwood Evans joined the regiment shortly thereafter). The expedition crossed the border, with Young in command of the Second Squadron, in the early hours of March 16, 1916. Young and the Tenth Cavalry were soon on the trail of Pancho Villa.7

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Chasing Villa When the Punitive Expedition crossed the border, they did so with the guarded approval of the unstable Mexican government headed by the constitutionalist revolutionary Venustiano Carranza. Pancho Villa resented the fact that the United States had recognized the Carranza regime, and his attack on the border town of Columbus was an attempt to incite Washington into a war with Mexico. Villa and Carranza had once been allies, but after a falling out the former took control of much of northern Mexico. In the process of invading northern Mexico to catch Villa, Pershing had to be careful not to offend the Carranza government, who had military forces in the area to oppose the American expedition. Both missions proved impossible from the outset.8 Villa’s trail was already cold when Major Young and the Tenth Cavalry crossed the border in March 1916. The troopers of the Tenth traveled light, with each man carrying 120 rounds of ammunition in two bandoliers. According to Lieutenant Howe, of K Troop, Tenth Cavalry: We had left our sabres and officer bed-rolls and other paraphernalia on the troop wagons at Douglas. We were now stripped down to fast marching gear, and what equipment one may have failed to get provided with in that bustling interval we continued until the middle of May to do without. Pack trains were to carry only part of the five days’ supply of rations and a little forage. Otherwise, everything that was taken into Mexico was carried on the saddle. Officers carried no more than their men [did]; for bedding, only a couple of blankets, and for rations, some hard-tack, bacon, coffee, and sugar.9

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The Second Cavalry Brigade marched south into Mexico from Culberson’s Ranch to Colonia Dublan in two days, a distance of over one hundred miles. The Seventh Cavalry received orders to split from the Tenth and march south toward San Miguel the evening of March 18. The following day General Pershing ordered the Tenth Cavalry to entrain two squadrons, sending one under Major Evans to Las Varas, and the other under Major Young to Cuevitas, leaving unfit men and horses behind. Colonel Brown accompanied Young’s squadron and all forces were to converge on San Miguel to trap the Villista forces. With limited room in the Mexican rail cars, two of the Tenth’s troops, I and K, were left behind, and L and M Troops had not yet caught up with the regiment. The Tenth was essentially operating with only two of its three squadrons, the Machine Gun Troop and the pack train.10 The trip by train was not an easy one. Lt. Orlando C. Troxel, of H Troop, reported: Our troubles in patching and nailing up the cars, getting material for camps, collecting wood for the wood-burning engine, and getting started late in the afternoon with the animals inside the freight cars and the officers and men on top in truly Mexican style, were exceeded, if possible, only by the troubles in keeping the engine going by having the men get off and chop mesquite to burn in it, only to find that the wood must be used to send the engine some place for water, and so on ad infinitum. By the time Young and the Second Squadron detrained the following day, they had only traveled twenty-seven miles!11 The trail stayed cold for two weeks with the troopers enduring harsh terrain at an altitude of seven thousand feet, blistering hot days, and bitter freezing nights. On March 29

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the Seventh Cavalry caught up with the Villistas at Guerrero in northern Mexico. The action came as a result of intelligence, collected by Colonel Dodd from Carranza garrisons, that Villa had been attacked and wounded there. In the resulting action at Guerrero, the Seventh Cavalry, with about 25 officers and 345 enlisted troopers, routed roughly 600 of Villa’s troops under the command of Gen. Nicholas Hernandez. But Dodd’s troops failed to capture Villa, who had been evacuated earlier from Guerrero for medical aid.12 On April 1, following a severe snowstorm, the Tenth Cavalry had its first battle of the expedition. Young’s Second Squadron surprised a body of about 150 Villistas under Gen. Joaquin Beltran near the outskirts of Agua Caliente at about 1:30 p.m. The U.S. troopers dismounted, attacked, and forced the Mexicans to withdraw to a wooded ridge behind the town. Under cover of overhead fire from the Machine Gun Troop, Major Young directed his Second Squadron, consisting of E, F, G, and H Troops, to assault the enemy on their flank, forcing them to retreat in disorder. Young led a pursuit of the retreating Villistas in a running fight until the horses and the men of the Tenth were overcome by exhaustion. Young picked up the trail the next morning, but the bandits had separated into small parties that were impossible to follow. Colonel Brown sent a dispatch by airplane to General Pershing reporting this engagement and commending Young’s flanking movement, which in his words “proved a good move.” It was also one of the first documented occasions in which U.S. troops used machine guns in a coordinated assault.13 The supply situation became critical at this point in the expedition. The Tenth Cavalry had eaten the last of its government rations on March 20 and was living off the land and purchasing most of its food and fodder locally. The officers resorted to using

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whatever cash they had in their pockets to buy supplies. Colonel Brown reported in a dispatch to Pershing that “he sold a $2.50 knife to a soldier for fifty cents to get money to send one short official telegram.” In the town of Cusi, Brown found he could cash a personal check “for $1,100 gold to loan to officers and the quartermaster to purchase supplies, forage, and rations.” Before this part of the campaign was over, Colonel Brown had spent $1,680 of his own money to supply his troopers and feed his horses. This money bought mainly beans, or frijoles, which gave the men digestive problems, and corn and hay, instead of oats, which caused the horses to suffer terribly.14 Pershing sent orders, delivered via airplane on April 6, for the Tenth to move to Parral in an attempt to cut off Villa again. The First Squadron, under the command of Major Evans, was operating separately from the regimental headquarters and the Second Squadron, and did not rejoin the main body until April 14. Colonel Brown and Young’s squadron reached the town of Sapien on April 12, where three troopers from the Thirteenth Cavalry brought word that the Carranza garrison at Parral had attacked Maj. Frank Tompkins and that his squadron of two troops were in danger of being overwhelmed. Colonel Brown moved the Second Squadron immediately in support and reached Tompkins within an hour. It was dark when the rescue party from the Tenth reached Santa Cruz, where the Thirteenth had retreated in good order into a fortified camp. Both American squadrons were cautious and exchanged bugle calls to identify each other.15 Although the Tenth found Tompkins and the troopers from the Thirteenth in a good defensive position, they still worried about another attack from the Mexicans, who outnumbered them. When Young brought his squadron and the Machine Gun Troop into position, the Mexican troops withdrew. After Young

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finally entered the Thirteenth Cavalry camp, a bandaged Frank Tompkins hobbled out of a trench and in his relief shouted, “I could kiss every one of you.” Young displayed his well-known smile and replied, “Hello, Tompkins! You can start with me.” Young had known Tompkins since they had served together in the Ninth Cavalry at Fort D. A. Russell. The Thirteenth Cavalry had suffered two officers and four troopers wounded, two dead, and one missing. General Pershing was incensed that Mexican government troops had fired on American soldiers and ordered a thorough investigation. When word of this battle reached the United States, the American public was outraged.16 Parral would be as far south as the Tenth Cavalry penetrated into Mexico. On April 18, two wagonloads of supplies reached them in Parral, and, on April 20, C Troop arrived with a train of thirty-six pack mules, $3,200 in coin for the purchase of supplies, and the first mail the troopers had received since entering Mexico. At that point, the regiment had 34 officers and 606 enlisted men. The regiment employed 702 horses and 149 mules, which required six tons of hay and over nine thousand pounds of grain a day. The four hundred trucks purchased by the War Department to supply the expedition were not up to the rigors of the terrain, and the Tenth Cavalry depended on pack mules and mule wagons for resupply.17 A few days later the regiment began a slow withdrawal to the north to their final camp at Colonia Dublan, which they reached by May 19. There, in the midst of a terrible windstorm, the troopers of the Tenth went to work building adobe walls on which to pitch their shelter tents. Then they began the long, tedious routine of camp life, with scouting and outpost duty to break the monotony.18 The Tenth Cavalry had one last deadly encounter in Mexico. The Carranza government sent a message to Pershing decreeing

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that American troops could retire northward toward the United States, but that movements in other directions would be opposed. General Pershing ignored this message and continued to send out scouting parties in all directions to provide security and protect supply lines. By this time, the expedition had killed or captured most of Villa’s lieutenants and scattered most of his men. In the oddest encounter, Lt. George S. Patton Jr., an aide to Pershing, dropped Villista colonel Julio Cardenas with a pistol shot during a chance meeting at a ranch. He carried the body of the rebel commander back to camp strapped to the front of his car like a deer.19 On June 19, 1916, Pershing ordered Capt. Charles T. Boyd, commander of C Troop, Tenth Cavalry, to scout east through the town of Carrizal. Pershing warned Boyd to be careful and to use discretion with his small force. Boyd left camp the following morning with 1st Lt. Henry R. Adair and thirty-nine enlisted men on what should have been a routine scouting mission. Boyd met up with K Troop, Tenth Cavalry, under Capt. Lewis Morey, eight miles northeast of Carrizal, before going into camp.20 The following day, despite counsel from Pershing and the warning of the Mexican commander, who refused him permission to enter Carrizal, Boyd attacked the town, outnumbered and unsupported. Captain Boyd and Lieutenant Adair were killed in the first rush and Captain Morey wounded. The force eventually ran low on ammunition, was flanked by the enemy, and beat a hasty withdrawal under the command of Captain Morey and the noncommissioned officers. The force lost two officers killed, one wounded, seven enlisted men killed, ten wounded, and twenty-one taken prisoner. The Mexican losses totaled twelve officers killed, including the commander, Gen. Felix Gomez, thirty-three enlisted men killed, and about fifty wounded. This marked the last major action of the expedition.21

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Colonia Dublan The Punitive Expedition, now numbering about ten thousand, stayed in and around their camp at Colonia Dublan and along the 150-mile line of communication back to the United States for the remainder of the year. The army controlled, but did not occupy, about thirty-five thousand square miles of most of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The Tenth Cavalry spent the time patrolling, training, maintaining their equipment, and making their living quarters more hospitable. The tent camps were dusty, windblown, stifling hot in the summer, and blustery cold in the fall. As colder weather approached, the men of the regiment busied themselves building adobe houses, stoves, and kitchens to prepare for winter.22 Letters and contact with loved ones in the United States became important in the tedium of camp life. Young complained in a letter to his wife, Ada, from “Somewhere in Mexico” on July 12, 1916, that it had been twenty days since he received his last letter from home. He enclosed a clipping from the New York Sun, mentioning his name in connection with a position in an African American regiment being formed in New York for the coming war in Europe, and said, “But the job does not look good to me. If I’m ordered I shall go to help in the organization only. It would not pay me to accept any but the Colonel’s position in it.” Young had already been promoted to lieutenant colonel, though he did not know it yet, and would be sent before the promotion board for colonel within the year, so he naturally set his sights high.23 The Tenth U.S. Cavalry Regiment celebrated its fiftieth birthday on July 24, 1916, with a “very clever program that was gotten up by Major Charles Young, assisted by the sergeant major and some of the first sergeants.” One description of the

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event comes from 1st Lt. George Patton, who was invited to the celebration since he was attached to the regiment on paper. Patton remarked that the dinner was preceded by reenactments showing all of the fights in which the regiment had ever taken part in its history. He commented in his diary: “Quite impressive ceremony. Ceremonies staged by Major Young who refused to sit down at the table [with the white officers] on the pretext that he was not feeling well.” This was a deliberate ploy by Young to avoid “offending” his white fellow officers by crossing his self-imposed color line. Patton considered this action by Young to be “chivalrous.”24 An article in the Army and Navy Journal provided more details of the performance. The first two episodes of the pageant featured a noncommissioned officer reciting blank verses composed by Major Young, and contrasted the men’s uniforms and drill of the present with that of fifty years ago. In the next, fifty troopers dressed as Indians recreated Lt. Powhattan Clark’s rescue of a wounded trooper under fire, which earned him the Medal of Honor. An honor guard bearing wreaths and sabers escorted Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. George Wanton of the Machine Gun Troop in the fourth. The fifth reenacted part of the Battle of Santiago, Cuba. The celebration closed with a call to colors, a great burst of cheers, and a singing of “Glory Hallelujah.”25 A week later, Young complained that the “flies are so bad and pestiferous here that I doubt whether I shall be able to finish this letter.” He did, though there was a mark on the paper from a swatted fly. Young responded to a question from Ada about his promotion exam. He replied, “No there was nothing the matter in the exam—neither physical or mental—not even hearing. The nominations with my name went to the Senate on the 26th of July—just 12 days ago. Scarcely time for me to have it here officially. . . . Many of the officers are wearing their

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Lieutenant Colonel leaves. I am signing ‘major’ and wearing my gold for modesty sake only. . . . The promotion, so says the Army and Navy Register dates from July 1st.” Young had worked hard for this promotion, but he refused to be presumptuous and wear his silver lieutenant colonel leaves until he was officially notified and properly promoted.26 Young mentioned on August 9 that several generals had been to the camp at Colonia Dublan inspecting. Referring to himself as “General Casualness,” for Ada’s amusement, Young noted: “General [Tasker H.] Bliss was in this camp inspecting. I happened to be in command of the Regiment because of the illness in hospital of Colonel Evans. An evil and very malicious correspondent took the photo of Generals Bliss and Pershing and General Casualness (Young) which I sent you as a souvenir of down old Chihuahua Way.” Evans had assumed command of the Tenth Cavalry Regiment from an ailing Colonel Brown on August 1, 1916. Young formally commanded the Tenth Cavalry Regiment from August 5 to 9, 1916, while Evans was ill. This marked another milestone for Young—the first time an African American officer formally commanded the Tenth Cavalry.27 Young was still waiting for promotion orders and chiding Ada for her concerns in an August 18 letter. He joked: “So you doubted that ‘poor’ Charlie passed his exam, did you? Don’t do it. The commission has not reached here nor have those of the other officers promoted at the same time. We don’t doubt ourselves since the Army and Navy Register and the Army and Navy Journal are official so far as truth is concerned.” A week later he added, “We have heard nothing down here yet, but everyone except myself and Lieutenant Colonel Evans of this regiment have put on the new rank. We prefer to wait. . . . He gave me a set of lieutenant colonels leaves today saying: You’ll need them in a few days.”28

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Perhaps Ada had good reason to worry about Young’s promotion examination. Even though he passed the medical portion of the examining board, the doctors detected the presence of albumen, or blood protein, in his urine, a problem Young confessed he had suffered intermittently in the past. A previous promotion exam in 1901 had detected a developing kidney problem, which Young ignored so he would not miss deployment to the Philippines. With the medical exam complete, Young passed the promotion board, with General Pershing serving as the president of the panel of officers. Both General Pershing and Colonel Brown had been impressed with Young’s service and fitness during the Punitive Expedition, so he received their endorsement.29 Young described a division review of all the troops in the Punitive Expedition in a letter on August 21. Young was most complimentary of the black Twenty-fourth Infantry, which he claimed “drills best, marches best, does athletic stunts best, and in fact is all around the very best infantry regiment I have seen.” The new commander of the Twenty-fourth was Col. Frank L. Winn, whom Young described as “a Kentuckian from Mason County and a friend of our Willett family.” This is a reference to the Willett family who had owned Young’s father and mother before they escaped slavery during the Civil War. The two officers had known each other at West Point, Winn being two years Young’s senior and a classmate of Pershing’s. Young complimented him as “the only one who has ever offered the [African American] men a chance to go up for examination for officers. I’m sorry to say there were none fit or in the eligible class.” This is a fascinating and revealing mixture of Young’s feelings about the prospects of black noncommissioned officers to become officers in the army and echoes of his slave past in Kentucky.30

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Promotion By September 10, Young reported to Ada, “I am at last wearing the lieutenant colonel’s insignia and signing as such by telegraphic authority.” He also mentioned, “Captain Scott is quite a lot of company and the men like him immeasurably and attend his service as well.” He evidently spent a great deal of time with Chaplain Oscar Scott, the Tenth Regimental chaplain, as he had previously in the Ninth with Chaplain Prioleau. Young and Scott socialized easily as the only two black officers in the camp. As a stark reminder of racial problems back home in America, Young told Ada, “I just sent $208.25 to Mr. [Oswald] Villard for the Anti-Lynching Fund. This amount I collected from the soldiers. It will help not a little to swell the fund of $10,000 they are raising toward the end of breaking up that blamed shame to the country.”31 Young received orders relieving him of command of the Second Squadron on September 11. In a letter to Ada, he said, “This means two years perhaps of laziness without I take up a hobby, which I shall. Now nobody knows where all these newlymade officers are going to be assigned. Nor do I care much, without the assignments bring me closer to you.” Four days later he noted in a letter, “For these next ten days I shall be in command of the Regiment, as the Colonel [Evans] has gone to the States. This week [with] the field-work which we are now carrying on, it will be next to impossible to get much time to write. . . . It looks now like we are to stay here for a while.” The regimental records show that Young was in command of Tenth Cavalry from September 15 to 28, 1916.32 On September 27, Young wrote about Pershing’s promotion: “General Pershing has been advanced to the grade of Major General. I took over the officers of the Regiment last night

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to congratulate him. We found all the other officers of the division there assembled. He asked me to tell the officers and men that he thanked them for contributing to his success in the Expedition, thus making his promotion possible.” In the next paragraph, Young noted, “Had a short letter from Du Bois thanking me for making a contribution for the Anti-Lynching fund of 208.61. Since then I have sent him $394.00, making a little over $600.00.”33 What a topsy-turvy world Young lived in. On one hand, he and his black soldiers had fought and died for their country in Mexico, helping raise Pershing’s status as the most professionally and politically successful general in the nation. Meanwhile, Young and his black soldiers had to contribute to a fund from their meager salaries to send home to this same country to put a stop to the barbarous practice of lynching African Americans. The Mexican wind spoiled plans for a festive Christmas celebration at Colonia Dublan in 1916. According to Young, “[t]he wind began with reveille and blew into a gale then into a hurricane.” All of the walls of the adobe shacks collapsed, roofs were carried off, and General Pershing’s tent blew away. The giant Christmas tree that was to be decorated with seven thousand presents sat silently with a lone American flag adorning its top after the storm. Most of the food was ruined and “[t]he men were mostly deprived of their Xmas dinners or ate them served with adobe dirt.” Young shared his dinner with Chaplain Scott, who “was so mad at Mexico, the Wind, and Woodrow [Wilson] that he failed to ask the blessing.”34 In January 1917, word reached the Punitive Expedition that they were going home. The march back to the United States began on January 30, with the Tenth Regiment accompanying the rest of the column until it reached Columbus, New Mexico,

28. Lieutenant Colonel Young in Mexico, in 1916 (Courtesy of the National Archives)

29. Young with a white soldier in Mexico, in 1916 (Courtesy of the National Archives) 30. Colonel Young (right, in overcoat) at Camp Grant, in 1919 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

31. Colonel Young, in 1919 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

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on February 5. From Columbus the Tenth Cavalry split off from the main body and marched back to their home station of Fort Huachuca where the last elements arrived by February 14, 1917. The men of the Tenth Cavalry had been in Mexico and away from Fort Huachuca for one month short of a year and were happy to be home. But they would soon be busy preparing for a different kind of war.35 Charles Young’s service in the Punitive Expedition in Mexico marked the pinnacle of his twenty-eight-year career in the Regular Army. He commanded a cavalry squadron in one of the most difficult expeditions ever undertaken by the U.S. Army, marching hundreds of miles and living off the land. Young received high praise for the handling of his squadron and accolades from General Pershing and Colonel Brown for his calm and skill under fire. Young and the rest of the Punitive Expedition witnessed in Mexico the passing of many aspects of a former mode of American warfare and the dawn of a new century of modern combat. Major Young used effective machine-gun covering fire in his classic flanking maneuver at Agua Caliente. He also observed the limited employment of aircraft for communications and reconnaissance. The trucks used by the expedition proved inadequate for the task and terrain, but presaged the mechanization of military units during the wars in Europe. And lastly, this was the last great use of American horse cavalry in large-scale combat operations. An era had passed for Young and the Buffalo Soldiers.

13. Retirement to Ohio

With the colored officer social equality is a small thing but social equity means much. He is working for bigger things in life. charles young, 1918

L

t. Col. Charles Young had many things on his mind after bringing his men home safely to Fort Huachuca from Mexico. Uppermost was the imminent war in Europe. From Young’s letters to Ada during the Punitive Expedition, we know he considered a number of future assignment options, including preparing young officer cadets for service at Wilberforce, commanding a black regiment being formed in New York, and training black officers at Camp Des Moines, Iowa. We also know from later correspondence that he thought seriously about possible postings in Haiti and Liberia.1 Young believed the most meaningful service for his country involved preparing himself and African American soldiers for war against Germany. And once the African American militia or National Guard units were raised, trained, and organized, he expected the army to select him to command a black regiment or brigade. With his distinguished service in the army and the endorsement of Maj. Gen. John Pershing, he could reasonably expect such a posting. Events proved otherwise.2

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Fort Huachuca Young’s first letter to his wife, Ada, from Fort Huachuca stated, “Everything is moving on o.k., although I’m obliged to study night and day to catch up.” This studying might have been connected to his upcoming promotion board to colonel, or to the officer training school he set up at Fort Huachuca for the enlisted men on post. This training school prepared black and white enlisted men at Fort Huachuca to compete for commissions in a rapidly expanding army. Sixty-two of the sixty-five African American noncommissioned officers who attended Young’s school at Fort Huachuca went on to earn commissions during World War I. Ironically, a number of white noncommissioned officers also took advantage of the school and later gave Young and his tough training credit for their eventual success.3 In his second letter to Ada after returning from Mexico, he again wrote of his future: “Of course you know that if the German Affair does not come off, I want the ‘Wilberforce detail’ if they want me. But they must make the overtures for me with the Department [of War] as I can’t. Even though my ‘Manchu’ [time] is not up, I’m sure under the exceptional circumstances of being the only officer available for the detail, the War Department can make an exception in my case if necessary.” He wanted to lead African American troops in the war in Europe, though he seemed to be laying the groundwork for an alternate plan if that did not materialize. Manchu Law would normally have made him ineligible for detached duty away from troops for two more years, but he knew the War Department could bend the rules in time of war.4 Young had some very influential supporters in the army. Chief among them was Pershing, who had seen him in action and sat on his promotion board in Mexico. With an eye toward

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the coming war in Europe, Pershing had penned a list of possible general officers to take with him to the continent, and Young was one of his nominees to command a militia brigade. Colonel Brown, his regimental commander during the Punitive Expedition, was also an enthusiastic supporter of Young. Brown felt that Young’s handling of the Second Squadron in action at Agua Caliente and Parral was exceptional. Even Colonel Cabell, who Young referred to as the “Bad Man” who “throws no bouquets at anyone,” was complimentary. Cabell was highly complimentary of Young’s “method of handling of the squadron.”5 The only known negative comments directed toward Young from a senior officer in the Punitive Expedition came from Col. Ellwood Evans. He had commanded the First Squadron competing with Young’s Second Squadron during the Tenth Cavalry’s grueling one-month chase of Pancho Villa. Evans was senior to Young, and for three periods totaling nine months while Colonel Brown was sick and Colonel Cabell was assigned to Pershing’s staff, he commanded the regiment. This period of command coincided with the time that the Punitive Expedition was camped at Colonia Dublan.6 Evans wrote an efficiency report in 1917 on Young that judged him an excellent officer, morally and mentally fitted for his duties, but criticized him as being “hampered by the characteristic racial trait of losing his head in sudden emergencies.” Evans offered the opinion that Young could not be trusted “in cases of the color line,” where he was inclined to favor men of his own race. It is puzzling to imagine how Young could favor men of his own color in a unit comprising all black enlisted men. These damning comments may have been prompted by jealousy over Young’s key role in the two victories of Agua Caliente and Parral, and Evans’s own command of the Tenth

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Cavalry during the debacle at Carrizal. Evans was also very sick, and within months of making his critical comments about Young, he died on July 24, 1917.7 Lt. Col. Charles Young spent his final term in temporary command of the Tenth U.S. Cavalry from May 24 to June 2, 1917, not knowing that this would be his last experience commanding African American troops in either of the two Buffalo Soldier cavalry regiments. Of twenty-eight years of service in the army to that point, fifteen had been spent with his beloved black troopers of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries. Less than a week after he gave up this last command of the Tenth Cavalry, he found himself in a hospital undergoing tests that would determine his future in the Regular Army.8 Promotion Board On May 9, 1917, Lt. Col. Charles Young stood for his examination board for promotion to colonel at the headquarters of the Southern Department in San Antonio, Texas. The board of officers, all of whom admitted that they were well acquainted with the sterling reputation of Young, found him professionally qualified for promotion to colonel. This was no small feat for an African American officer in 1917. But the promotion medical examination found that he suffered from albumen in his urine and high blood pressure. The board suggested that Young be sent to a larger hospital with better facilities for further tests to determine the seriousness of his ailments.9 The army ordered Young to report to Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco to undergo a comprehensive medical examination before appearing before a board again. Young was admitted to Letterman on June 4, 1917, where the doctors gave him a thorough examination. Young wrote his wife, Ada, on June 10 complaining that “[i]t is a week now and with all

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the examinations of kidneys, eyes, hearing, x-raying the heart, it seems that they have discovered very little or nothing the matter with me. I think it was only a need of rest that caused the presence of blood.” His main complaint was the waste of his time. The results of the test came the following day, though he had to wait another month for the promotion board to convene to make its final decision.10 Young’s medical report dated June 11, 1917, was straightforward and thorough. Young suffered from chronic intestinal nephritis (Bright’s disease), high blood pressure, sclerotic arteries, and hypertrophy of the left ventricle. He had high blood pressure varying between 220 and 230 mm Hg systolic, and 140 to 150 mm Hg diastolic. His urine contained albumen, with granular and hyaline casts. There was considerable enlargement of the heart, and the left ventricle showed marked hypertrophy. Lastly, the report noted a moderate amount of arteriosclerosis associated with his condition. The prognosis: “Unfavorable as to complete recovery and ability to do active field service requiring physical stress and involving endurance without danger to life.” The disability was permanent and acquired in the line of duty, and he was declared “physically unfitted for promotion.” The medical findings were so clear that Young was not required to make the customary test ride to check his skill and ability in horsemanship.11 Young was told of these results before the promotion board convened. On June 20 he wrote to Du Bois: “The surgeons claimed that as a result of their finding of ‘high blood-pressure’ and ‘Albumen in the urine’ that they could not recommend that I be continued in active service with troops as it was ‘liable to endanger my life.’” He maintained that he had no ailments, aches, or pains or any history of sickness, save for the blackwater fever in Africa. He complained to Du Bois that he had been

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taken away from important work at Fort Huachuca preparing enlisted men to compete for officers’ commissions. He wanted to “be at Des Moines helping to beat those colored officers into shape, and later to get my whole heart and soul into the work of organization of the drafted Negro troops.” He begged Du Bois to use his influence with the president and secretary of war.12 When the United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, Du Bois had urged African Americans “to join heartily in this fight” at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson. He did this even though he had lost all faith in Wilson in the years since he had been elected president. Wilson, the first Southerner elected president since Zachary Taylor, in 1848, proved himself no friend to African Americans when he allowed the introduction of segregation in the federal service departments. The perceived maltreatment of his friend Young made Du Bois very angry. In a private protest to the government, he condemned the effort “to get [Young] out of the army by unfair means.” Publicly, in the Crisis, Du Bois demanded that Young be reinstated and given command of African American troops.13 The examining board, comprising two colonels, one retired captain, and two army doctors, convened in San Francisco on July 7, 1917, to consider Young’s fate. Though they found him medically unfit for promotion, they qualified their judgment. The board wrote: “The personal appearance of this officer is astonishingly better than his physical examination indicates and his history of both health and performance of arduous duty make it a possibility that he may be able to do full duty notwithstanding his physical condition, and the board is of the opinion that his services should be utilized during the present war.” The officers recommended, “in view of the present war conditions the physical condition of this officer be waived and

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that he be promoted to the next higher grade.” The Western Department forwarded the board findings to the adjutant general of the army for a final decision.14 Trouble in Washington While Young was at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco, correspondence was exchanged in Washington dc that would decide his future in the army. President Woodrow Wilson wrote to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on June 25, 1917, concerning a meeting he had with Senator John Sharp Williams of Mississippi. Williams complained that 1st Lt. Albert B. Dockery, assigned to the Tenth Cavalry, “is a Southerner and finds it not only distasteful but practically impossible to serve under a colored commander.” Wilson was concerned at the prospect of “some serious and perhaps tragic insubordination on Lieutenant Dockery’s part if he is left under Colonel Young, who is a colored man.” Wilson suggested that Dockery be reassigned and replaced with an officer “who would not have equally intense prejudices.”15 Secretary of War Baker replied to Wilson the following day, claiming that “[s]everal Senators . . . have presented cases to me of officers in the Tenth Cavalry who are under the same embarrassment as Lieutenant Dockery with regard to serving under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Young. The situation is, of course, very embarrassing, but I am endeavoring to meet it by using Colonel Young in connection with the training of colored officers for the new Army at Des Moines, Iowa.” Baker ended his letter with the news that Young was at Letterman Hospital being examined to determine “whether his physical condition is sufficiently good to justify his return to active service.” Baker wrote that there was little chance Young would return to the Tenth Cavalry. This last part, at least, was true. Young was far

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too junior as a newly promoted colonel to command either the Ninth or Tenth Cavalry Regiments.16 After receiving a “personal and confidential note” from the president on July 3, Baker wrote to the president on July 7 that “the cause of the trouble” was removed. By this time, Baker could report the results of the medical board proceedings that Young was unfit for promotion due to Bright’s disease. In the meantime, the adjutant general of the state of Ohio had “urgently requested [Young’s] services with the colored command of that state.” Baker’s solution to the “problem” was to direct Colonel Young to report to the adjutant general of the state of Ohio for duty once the proceedings of the retiring board received War Department approval. Baker concluded: “This, I think, will remove the cause of trouble so far as I now understand it. The colonel of Captain Dockery’s regiment is a white officer as are also the other officers of the regiment.”17 This should have ended the exchange of letters on the Dockery case, but there was one more letter from Wilson. This one to Baker, marked personal, stated: “I am sorry to bother you with so many letters about the case of Captain Dockery, but the trouble it would seem is not now the fear of Captain Dockery that he will be put under a Negro officer but that it has got on his nerves that he himself remains an officer in a Negro regiment, and I was wondering whether without violation of the best practices of the department some officer of Northern birth could be substituted for him.” President Wilson and Senator Williams got their wish. Dockery earned a promotion to captain after his return from Mexico and never had to serve with the Tenth Cavalry again. He also received orders to attend the prestigious Army War College at Fort Leavenworth the following year.18 The army adjutant general felt he was not legally permitted

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to approve the examining board’s recommendation to promote and retain Young on active duty. To him the law was clear in this case: “Young should be retired with the next higher grade to which he is entitled to be promoted.” In his July 25, 1917, memo to the chief of staff of the army, he recommended that Young “be retired upon an examination for promotion” and “placed on the unlimited retired list.” This, he felt, would also serve to conserve vacancies on the “limited retired list.” The adjutant general concluded his note with the statement that Young “can be utilized in the present emergency to the same extent whether he is on the active or retired list.” This was true, if the War Department wanted Young to serve in the war effort.19 Ohio Retirement After his medical retirement, Colonel Young traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to work with state officials organizing the new Ninth Ohio National Guard Regiment for federal service. He did so as a medically retired colonel on the unlimited retired list. Secretary of War Newton Baker was from Ohio and a former mayor of Cleveland, so it was not difficult for him to facilitate Young’s service in Ohio. The main goal for Baker and the Wilson administration was to have Young out of the white officer corps of the Regular Army before he could cause any more “embarrassment” or “trouble.”20 The War Department was never serious about having Young do any meaningful work in Ohio. A memo to General Bliss, the chief of staff of the army, stated that Young’s assignment to command a colored regiment or any other regiment in Ohio in no way imposes any obligation upon the War Department in regard to that regiment. The Chief of the Militia Bureau reports that nothing whatever is

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officially known in respect to the colored regiment of which it is understood Colonel Young has been made commander. It is understood to be a regiment raised purely for political purposes, is in excess of needs, and is not required for service anywhere. In other words, Young was sent to Cleveland on a fool’s errand to organize a regiment that was never meant to be mobilized.21 When the scheme to organize the Ninth Ohio Regiment failed, Young moved on to Wilberforce and voluntarily resumed his duties as professor of military science and tactics. There at least he contributed to the war effort in a positive way and could spend time at Youngsholm with his family. Wilberforce president Dr. W. S. Scarborough sought his advice and counsel during this difficult time for the school. Scarborough gave Young credit for helping the university at a critical juncture when it was preparing and testing students for Reserve Officer Training Course qualification. Scarborough felt that the school was deliberately neglected when the examining officers did not show up to test the students when scheduled. Young volunteered to help at the request of Scarborough, administering the examinations and training the students for the camp. As a result, all of the Wilberforce students “made good and at the end of the allotted time received commissions.” At that time, the Wilberforce Student Army Training Corps had four hundred men.22 Without the knowledge of Young, Dr. Scarborough traveled to Chicago for a conference with Col. Henry O. S. Heistand, the adjutant general of the Army Department of the Lakes, to argue Young’s case. This was the same Henry Heistand who, as a captain, inspected Young during his first year as professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce in 1895. After

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spending an hour discussing Young’s retirement and forced inactivity, Heistand suggested that Scarborough travel to Fort Des Moines to talk to Brig. Gen. Charles D. Ballou about getting Young restored to active duty.23 Scarborough then traveled to Iowa and discussed the situation with General Ballou, the commander of the Colored Training Camp at Fort Des Moines. Ballou, who graduated from West Point in 1886 with John Alexander, was appointed commander of the training camp on May 29, 1917. Scarborough and Ballou “discussed the retirement from every angle,” but in the end had to agree to disagree. Ballou could not agree with Scarborough that Young had been treated unjustly.24 Young had made a trip to Fort Des Moines at the invitation of General Ballou on his trip back to Ohio from Letterman Hospital in July 1917. Young’s former regimental commander from the Tenth Cavalry in Mexico, Col. William Brown, facilitated this visit. Brown had worked hard behind the scenes to support Young’s return to active service and get him assigned to the Colored Training Camp. Young had wanted badly to be assigned to Fort Des Moines to “beat those colored officers into shape,” but this never came to pass. Young had to be content with an opportunity to see the twelve hundred African American men at the camp drill and review. Among the twelve hundred were two hundred and fifty noncommissioned officers from the Regular Army, and sixty-five of those were Young’s graduates from Fort Huachuca. There were also twenty-two young men Young had trained from Wilberforce in the camp who would eventually earn their commissions. The men at the camp gave him a “royal reception and ovation.” Young challenged them “to prove your valor and do your duty nobly.”25 Sometime during his forced retirement in Ohio, Young jotted some notes on paper in preparation for a speech. His observations

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provide a window on his thinking about the service of black officers in the military during World War I. He writes: It seems that with certain people there is doubt as to the ability of the colored American to qualify as an officer and in other minds if he were capable of becoming one, that to allow it would be of doubtful social policy, since it would lead to social equality in high official circles. Let it be said right here that no self respecting colored officer gives a tinkers hurra about any social equality upon any basis except similar tastes, mutual sympathy, and esteem for a fellow mortal. With the colored officer social equality is a small thing but social equity means much. He is working for bigger things in life. 26 In addition to Young, the War Department isolated the two other black Regular Army officers from assignments commanding troops for the war effort in Europe. Captain Benjamin O. Davis was reassigned from Wilberforce to the Ninth Cavalry Regiment in the Philippine Islands in July 1917. With the rapid promotions of Regular Army officers for the coming war, his commander, Col. Thomas B. Duggan, feared that Davis would soon become a squadron commander and have authority over white officers. He therefore recommended that Davis return to the United States to command one of the black units being formed for the war. The War Department denied the request, noting that there was no place for Captain Davis in the troop units bound for Europe. This was consistent with the War Department policy of restricting blacks from assuming positions of leadership in black regiments that were being sent to France. The other black Regular Army officer, Capt. John E. Green, was “safely” assigned to Liberia as the military attaché.27 Young’s command of a regiment in the famous “Roosevelt

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Division” never became a reality either. Theodore Roosevelt proposed such a division in 1917, with one of its regiments composed of African Americans and commanded by Young. Roosevelt felt that this black regiment would extend black and white reconciliation in the same way that his Rough Riders of 1898 had served to reconcile wealthy Easterners with working-class cowboys, as well as Yankees and Southerners. Roosevelt was convinced that Young had the leadership ability to lead the regiment and was “physically and in every other way fit to command a regiment or even a brigade.” But President Wilson refused to authorize the Roosevelt Division. Roosevelt sympathized with Young since neither of them was “needed by their government in a time of war.”28 The final possibility for Young was a position in the Fifteenth Regiment, New York National Guard, which he mentioned in his July 1916 letter from Mexico. New York City’s growing black community had succeeded in forming a provisional regiment in 1911 with Charles W. Fillmore, an attorney active in the Republican Party, as the provisional colonel. This was the same Charles Fillmore who had commanded the Ninth Ohio Battalion before a political struggle with Governor Bushnell led to his replacement by Charles Young in 1898. The effort made little progress until 1916 when a prominent white Republican named William Hayward advocated creation of the black regiment on the condition that he be appointed commander. The black Harlem leadership accepted Hayward’s appointment as a compromise necessary to start the project with the stipulation that the black officers already in the unit be retained and more company officers be recruited. The governor appointed Hayward colonel on June 6, 1916, and recruiting began. For the sake of the regiment, Fillmore accepted demotion from colonel

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to captain. There was no place for Young in this regiment, since the field-grade positions were reserved for white officers.29 Young’s Ride Young made one more desperate attempt to convince the War Department that he was fit for duty and qualified to serve in the war. He decided to take the “test ride” that the examining board did not give him the chance to make in San Francisco in 1916. On June 6, 1918, Young saddled his black Kentucky mare, Blacksmith, packed his saddlebags, put on his colonel’s uniform, and set out from Wilberforce on his famous ride to Washington dc. He explained to his wife before departing, “It’s time for my people—my brethren—to know that I am physically fit.” He knew he could make the ride, but he wanted to show African Americans he could do it and put pressure on the War Department to allow him to serve in the war effort.30 Young rode 497 miles, averaging 31 miles a day, to demonstrate his fitness for command in the army. He covered the distance in sixteen days, stopping in small towns and hamlets along the way to sleep and quarter his horse. In some towns he found no accommodations for blacks and had to sleep near the stable with his horse. In one Virginia town, he was initially refused lodging in an African American hotel because he was dirty and road weary. Later he was recognized by black hotel guests and given a room by the mortified proprietress. Oddly, in a white hotel in another Virginia town, displaying a sign that expressly excluded blacks, he was given a room. Through the entire journey, Young was buoyed by the righteousness of his cause and the hope that he might get a fair hearing.31 When Colonel Young arrived in Washington on June 22, 1918, Emmett J. Scott, the black special assistant to the secretary of war, was waiting for him. Scott ushered Young into the

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office of Secretary of War Newton Baker. After shaking hands, Baker said, “Colonel Young, I’ve been hearing a great deal about you.” Young replied, “I imagine that’s very true.” Baker then discussed the damaging campaign the black newspapers were waging against the War Department on Young’s behalf. After further discussions, Baker asked, “Colonel Young, I’d like to ask you a question. Would you prefer combatant or noncombatant service?” To this Young clicked his heals and saluted, “Combatant!” Baker promised to see what he could do, and the interview ended.32 Young got his hopes up after this interview and Baker’s promise stirred up the interest of the black press. But nothing came of it. Afterward, Young returned to Wilberforce to cool his heels once again at Youngsholm. But he did not give up. He wrote a letter on July 4, 1918, to his old West Point instructor Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals, who was the quartermaster at the War Department. Goethals responded that he could do nothing since the medical ruling was final. He followed this with a personal letter to General Pershing in September, requesting that he intervene on his behalf and persuade the secretary of war give to him command of a regiment of black draftees. Evidently, Pershing was too busy fighting a war in Europe to stand up for Young’s cause.33 Camp Grant For reasons that have never been adequately explained, it took the War Department more than a year to recall Colonel Young to active duty, and by that time, the war was nearly over. On November 6, 1918, just five days before the signing of the armistice, the War Department ordered Colonel Young to report to Camp Grant, Illinois. Young assumed command of the Development Unit at Camp Grant, which comprised a group of

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black development battalions training for labor or stevedore work. But the War Department gave the command to Young reluctantly, and only because they needed him to clean up the awful conditions and restore morale.34 When Young arrived, the camp was in turmoil, with black soldiers complaining indignantly that they were mistreated by Southern white officers and issued substandard tents and clothes ill suited to protect them from the harsh winter weather. Young threw himself enthusiastically into the work and labored diligently to improve the quality of life of the eight thousand men under his command. By the time he was relieved of his command, in February 1919, Young felt satisfied that he had “cleaned up a bad situation.”35 Though Young worked hard at Camp Grant to help the African American soldiers of his command, the War Department’s refusal to offer him meaningful employment was a bitter pill. The extent of his anger and resentment is shown in a letter he wrote on January 15, 1919, responding to a young African American seeking his advice on attending the academy. He wrote, “My advice is, don’t think of it. If you put one-half of the time, patience, diligence and ‘pep’ in any other profession or vocation, you will succeed and get rich but if you go thru the Military Academy it means a dog’s life while you are there and for years after you graduate, a pittance of a salary as a subaltern and in the end retirement on a mere competence, which does not pay if you have a little girl in view that wishes to wear diamonds.” He described himself at the end of the letter as a “Colonel on the scrap heap of the U. S. Army.”36 After Camp Grant closed, Young returned home to Youngsholm in Wilberforce, Ohio. Young was bitter at what he perceived was the War Department’s unfair treatment of his case and their refusal to take advantage of his abilities for the war

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effort. But the war was over and the soldiers were coming home. Young’s patriotism and steadfast loyalty to his country masked his resentment and bitterness at the way the army had treated him. He steadfastly refused appeals by Du Bois and others to publically condemn the government, in part because the War Department prohibited him from making public statements or speeches without army approval. Not willing to quit and still eager to serve, Young waited for another chance to serve his country. If Charles Young’s service in the Punitive Expedition in Mexico marked the pinnacle of his career in the army, the two years after his return were unquestionably the low point in his lifetime of public service. His country and his people needed him in time of war, but the War Department rebuffed him at every turn. Young was capable of many things, but inaction was not one of them. The two years after his arrival at Fort Huachuca from Mexico took a toll on his health and morale. The medical examinations detected Young’s health problems, but as long as he was serving on active duty with a mission to train black soldiers, his iron consititution seemed to keep these ailments at bay. But after the army retired him and refused to give him useful employment, even this began to fail him. One only has to look at the pictures of a vigorous Major Young in action in Mexico and compare them to photos of the shrunken and shaken Colonel Young at Camp Grant to see the difference. He may have needed the quiet of his home and support of friends, but what he really wanted was a call back to active duty.

14. Final Post in Liberia

Chum, there is so much over there to be done. charles young, 1916

C

harles Young had few options in 1919. A man of action, he could not bring himself to sit in his comfortable home in Wilberforce and enjoy his retirement, even with the war over. Many men would have welcomed the respite from

twenty-eight years in the saddle, fighting for a country that asked for great sacrifices but gave little recognition in return. Young had spent many of his later years of service separated from his wife and two children, who at the ages of nine and twelve were old enough to miss their father. He should have looked forward to a well-earned rest, but could not bring himself to give up service to his country. Rather than stay in Ohio and enjoy his retirement, he answered the call to duty to return to Liberia a second time. But this time he sailed to Africa as a fifty-five-year old veteran of three decades in an army that had declared him too sick to serve on active duty. So badly did he want to serve his country, so deep was his devotion to duty, and so desperate was he to

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show his fitness to serve, he took the assignment even though he knew it might lead to further damage to his health. Liberia Calls In the spring he wrote his friend W. E. B. Du Bois, “Africa calls, Haiti makes a bid; and the War Camp Community People have made an offer.” Both the president of Liberia and the State Department wanted Young back in West Africa to complete the task he started four years before. There were also discussions in the State Department about sending Young to Haiti, occupied by U.S. troops since 1915, to train a new constabulary. The War Camp Community Service, the third possibility Young mentioned, had established a system during the war to support soldiers and sailors. Du Bois counseled him against giving in to his powerful sense of obligation, but in the end Young’s devotion to the U.S. Army, the United States, and Africa won.1 The War Department made its decision to send Young back to Africa in October 1919. On October 29, the Military Information Division (mid) sent a telegram to Young in Ohio informing him of its wish to have him return to Monrovia. He wasted little time in making up his mind. Young notified the War Department on November 3 that he accepted the detail as military attaché to Liberia and received orders the following day. He was to replace Lt. Col. John E. Green, the officer who had succeeded Young as attaché in Monrovia in 1916. The mid notified Green of his pending relief on November 12, 1919.2 Colonel Young answered the call to serve once again as the military attaché to Liberia, even though this duty might lead to a worsening of the very ailments that in part blocked his promotion. The War Department maintained throughout the period after his promotion board, in June 1916, that Young was physically unfit for the rigors of active duty, including stateside service preparing black soldiers and officer cadets

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for the war in Europe. Yet in 1919, he was deemed fit for duty amid the primitive living conditions and tropical diseases of West Africa. These two irreconcilable decisions clearly indicate that the army was disingenuous about its resolve to keep Young out of active service during World War I, and had no regard for his health or welfare. Young spent his last Christmas with his family and packed his belongings for a long stay in Liberia. He planned to travel to Liberia alone this time, with Ada and the children accompanying him only as far as Europe. He received an extra weight allowance from the War Department to take all of the supplies and books he needed in isolated Monrovia. Young and his family made one last visit to the East Coast before departing the United States. In Boston, Young delivered the keynote address to the Grand Conclave of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, of which he was an honorary member. After the conclave he accepted an invitation to dinner at a local chapter house, where he had a “heart to heart” discussion with the young brothers for what he feared would be his “last opportunity.” He also traveled to Harlem to address a meeting of the National Urban League.3 Charles, Ada, and the children boarded the Cunard Line ship Orduna bound for Liverpool on January 3, 1920. Accompanying them were three of Young’s new African American officers who would help train and command the Liberian Frontier Force: Harry O. Atwood, Allen C. Bean, and William D. Nabors. After the ten-day crossing, Young bid farewell in Liverpool to Ada and the children, who were bound for France. Young and his officers caught the Elder Dempster steamer Onitsha to Monrovia four days later.4 Monrovia When Colonel Charles Young arrived in Monrovia in 1920, he found Liberia had changed a great deal from his previous

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attaché tour four years earlier. The country had suffered near economic collapse during World War I and was in worse shape in 1920 than when Young left Monrovia in 1915. After sitting out the war doing little meaningful work for his own country, Young was ready to throw himself into the difficult struggle in Africa. In Young’s own mind, his medical condition only indicated the possibilities and not the probabilities, and he believed his iron consititution would see him through another tour in Liberia. Ultimately, Young believed in the powerful pull of his own destiny.5 Young arrived at the U.S. Legation in Monrovia in February 1920 and spent his first months getting settled and setting up his office and quarters. Significantly, one of his predecessor’s last dispatches concerned a requisition for quinine, and one of Young’s first was a bill for the purchase of distilled water and ice. Both men were acutely aware of the dangers of disease and sickness that threatened Westerners on the West African coast. Young was especially vulnerable due to his previous bout of blackwater fever, and because he suffered from the effects of Bright’s disease, an enlarged heart, and high blood pressure. Young had never challenged the doctors’ diagnosis that he suffered from these diseases, so he knew the risk.6 A State Department post report described Monrovia as Young must have seen it in 1920. The Liberian capital had a population of about five thousand and was located on a long promontory with sea on two sides, a tidal river on the third, and a mangrove swamp in the rear. It had no deepwater port, so ships had to anchor offshore where small boats unloaded passengers and cargo. The climate was tropical, with a wet season from April to November. Malaria, blackwater fever, yellow fever, and dysentery were prevalent, in part due to the absence of public water or sewage systems. There were no carriages and only two horses

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in the country; one either walked or was carried in a hammock or chair. One dirt road, built partly by Young during his last tour, ran sixty miles out of Monrovia into the hinterland for the estimated forty autos in the country.7 Unlike his previous tour in Liberia, Young reported for attaché duty in 1920 to Monrovia without his wife. After getting their daughter, Marie, settled into school in France, Ada traveled back to Ohio, but did not stay long. She had complained often in the past that she did not like living at the family home in Wilberforce without Charles and did not get along with her mother-in-law, Arminta. On October 6, 1920, Ada made a formal application to the quartermaster general of the army for transportation to Europe for herself and her son. By November 1, 1920, she was in Paris, where she would stay for the duration of Young’s assignment in Liberia. Both of the children attended boarding schools in France.8 Young’s first letter to Ada, from Africa, written on March 8, 1920, gives a good summary of the situation in Liberia and shows that it did not take him long to get back into the routine of serious political affairs in the country. He wrote, “I am going in a few hours to Cape Palmas on a Commission for the President by special request and it may be about six weeks before I get back so I must write you now. I am well and so are the boys.” Cape Palmas was in the southern part of Liberia and an area of frequent conflict between the Liberian government and the Grebo people who lived there. It also marked the southern border with the Ivory Coast where the French were trying to seize more territory from Liberia. It is an indication of Young’s prestige in the eyes of the Liberian government that they trusted him to be a part of this mission to settle the border dispute barely a month after his arrival in country.9 Young’s mention of the “boys” referred to the African American

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contract officers who worked for the government of Liberia, training and commanding the Liberian Frontier Forces (lff). The success or failure of Young’s mission depended on these American officers and how well they carried out their difficult duties. Colonel Young had a mostly new team of black officers commanding the lff, which included none of the original four officers he brought with him in 1912. In March 1920, he reported, “Nabors has gone to the Mono Country, Harry [Atwood] goes to Cape Palmas to take station, and Bean remains as Paymaster and in charge of [the] Training School at Monrovia until my return when he goes to Belli Jella in the center of the country and where the headquarters of the Force will be located. Major Anderson goes there now until he returns home in June.”10 The commander of the lff in 1920 was Maj. John H. Anderson, from Ohio, the lone holdover from his previous tour in Liberia. But Anderson was no stranger to Young. He was another in a long line of Young’s former cadets from Wilberforce, where Anderson had served on the battalion staff in the signal section in 1898. The second officer, and perhaps Young’s closest confidant, was Capt. Harry O. Atwood. Atwood had first served with Young in the Ninth Ohio Battalion as a corporal and later attended the army officer training camp at Fort Des Moines, in 1917, and served as a captain in World War I. Capt. William C. Nabors also had a solid military background, having served as a Buffalo Soldier, attended officer training school in 1917, and served in France in 1918.11 Young’s boss at the embassy for his entire tour of duty was Dr. Joseph L. Johnson, an African American appointed on August 27, who presented his credentials in Monrovia on October 8, 1919. Johnson was born in Washington Township, Ohio, and taught school there before getting his medical degree from Howard University in 1902. Richard C. Bundy remained the

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number two man and secretary of the legation, as he had during Young’s first tour. He had served as acting minister during the time between the departure of the previous minister, James L. Curtis, in October 1917, and Johnson’s arrival. Since Bundy had grown up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and had taught at Wilberforce at the same time as Young, the three must have had a great deal in common. Young’s March letter confirmed that “Dr. Johnson is quite a nice codger and gets along with Dick [Bundy] . . . He boards with the Bundys.”12 Young was equally well acquainted with all of the senior government officials in Monrovia. In his March letter he noted that “Eddie [Edwin J.] Barkley as Secretary of State is the same old friend . . . The Kings had us to dinner the other night.” Charles D. B. King was elected president of Liberia in 1920 and served as the head of state throughout Young’s stay. King replaced Daniel E. Howard, who had served as president during Young’s first tour in Liberia. King had served as secretary of state during Young’s earlier tour, so they knew each other well, though they did not always see eye to eye. Another individual with whom Young would work closely was Secretary of War James F. Cooper.13 During the first four months on station, Young submitted only administrative messages about renting office space, setting up quartermaster accounts, ordering office supplies, and accounting for codebooks. He fretted over the loss of two-thirds of his valuable book collection sent from Ohio the previous December. He set up his office and living quarters initially in a place rented from former President Howard. But the rent was too high so he moved, in 1921, to the George W. Ellis house on Broad Street.14 Young received some unwanted attention in July 1920 when the Monrovia Weekly Review reprinted an article from The Crisis,

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titled “Haiti.” The author intimated that Liberia might suffer the same fate as Haiti, which had been invaded and occupied by the U.S. Navy and Marines in 1915. Young had played a very prominent role in laying the groundwork for that incursion while he served there as the military attaché. Young complained in a letter to his friend Du Bois, the editor of The Crisis, that Liberians were wondering whether the U.S. military attaché was in Monrovia to gather intelligence to support a future invasion of their own country. This article and the subsequent controversy it created made Young’s mission in Monrovia more difficult, and complicated negotiations for a new loan agreement.15 It was not until June 4, 1920, that Young submitted his first mission-related “Report upon progress made as Military Advisor.” This was followed by a July 20 report on the “Cable and Wireless systems in Liberia” and an August 4 report on “French West Africa.” Though none of these reports survives, due to their destruction in the 1920s, a summary of both was found in the Army Geographic Index files. The July report covered the cable and wireless systems in Liberia, the French and German lines in Monrovia, the German wireless station in Monrovia, and included a sketch map showing the cables in Monrovia. The August report from Young recommended that the Military Information Division (mid) have a monograph on Africa on file, and Young requested maps of the Ivory Coast and the French railway scheme for West Africa, as well as maps of British West Africa.16 Confidential Mission The War Department’s creation of a permanent U.S. military intelligence structure and the assignment of military attachés overseas were still in the seminal stages in the 1920s. The U.S. military attaché corps at the time of Young’s second appointment

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to Liberia was very small, numbering about thirty U.S. Army officers throughout the world. In 1920, fourteen European, eleven Latin American, two Asian, and two African capitals (in Liberia and Egypt) hosted American military attachés.17 The Military Information Division, which supervised the military attachés, started out as a small organization and did not see significant growth until World War I. During the war, one of the six offices of the Positive Branch of the mid concerned with foreign intelligence (mi 2) had a section that handled monographs in the areas of combat, economic, and political affairs. This monographic section prepared a series of military geographic handbooks and studies covering the important countries of the world. By January 1919, a year before Young was posted to Liberia, this office had readied for publication seventeen major geographical handbooks. The chief sources of information for these handbooks and country studies were the military attachés assigned around the world with firsthand access to current information.18 The instructions inside the cover of the monographs on Liberia and Nigeria provided clear instructions on how they were to be used: “Military attachés, observers, and similar officers to whom this book has been issued for their information and for completion and improvement will exercise every effort to add to, supplement, correct, amplify, and improve the contents.” Clearly, the monographs had two purposes: informing the War Department and the new military attaché of the latest information on the country, and encouraging military officials to update and correct information in the book.19 Young’s August 4, 1919, report on “French West Africa” recommended that the mid have a monograph on file and requested maps of various colonies in West Africa. This recommendation by Young was likely the reason the monographic section of

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the mid compiled the monograph on Liberia. The pages of the “Liberia Combat Factor” monograph were dated either September 17 or 18, 1920, and were compiled using much of the information reported by Young and Green on their previous attaché tours. The pages of this monograph are heavily edited and appended in Young’s own hand. This monograph presumably arrived in late 1920 or early 1921 and was updated during his last year in Liberia. Young added important details on the Liberian militia, the Liberian Frontier Force, the efficiency of the leaders of the military, the quality of the soldiers, and the organization of the Liberian armed forces.20 The mid file on Africa included an entry dated April 12, 1921, noting a U.S. Senate Joint Resolution authorizing the president of the United States to “undertake negotiations for the purchase of territories in East, Southwest, West Africa, and Oceana, over which Germany exercised sovereignty prior to the war, to purchase cables etc. in payment of debt.” This was not surprising because the United States had acquired colonies after the Spanish-American War in 1898 in the Pacific and the Caribbean. The purchase of former colonial properties was not unprecedented since Washington bought the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. At the time, the U.S. government was seriously considering the possibility of purchasing former German cable assets (stations and lines) and perhaps colonial territories in West Africa.21 Beyond this desire to snap up German colonies and cable assets, some policymakers and African American groups in the United States pushed for resettling U.S. blacks on the coast of West Africa. Many Southern politicians wanted to send African Americans back to Africa as a solution to racial problems in the South. In the summer of 1921, Young’s dispatch list shows he received a number of reports entitled the “Political Universal

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Negro Improvement Association” and “Socialotic-CollectivismGarveyism.” He sent several reports to Washington on the unia and Garveyism. He warned the State Department that unia representatives in Liberia and the Untied States were corrupt, and that they were persuading American blacks to “sell their property and abandon the land where they were born, for the sickness, suffering, and loss of money” in Liberia.22 The mid compiled the second monograph on the “Nigeria Political Factor” because of U.S. interest in the former German colony of Cameroon. The introductory page of the monograph summarized the present situation and described Nigeria as a “politically unimportant” British protectorate on the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa. The future situation acknowledged, “by the terms of a recent agreement between France and Great Britain, the latter is to receive one-fifth of the former German colony of Kamerun [German spelling], which will be attached to the protectorate of Nigeria.” The date of this Nigeria monograph was November 24, 1919, so it was prepared well before Young arrived on station in Liberia in early 1920. Young may have brought this document with him to Liberia or it may have been sent along with the Liberian monograph.23 Young planned an extended trip to British, French, Spanish, and former German colonial possessions on the West African coast beginning in November 1921. There was probably a connection between Young’s reports about the German wireless and cable systems, the French and British colonial possessions on the west coast of Africa, and the Senate resolution on the purchase of former German cable stations and colonial possessions. The United States was interested in freeing itself from dependence on British cables and wireless during this time. Young was the perfect choice for both the State and War

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departments to provide an accurate report on the situation on the west coast of Africa.24 Before he departed for West Africa, he requested a four-month leave of absence to begin on April 1, 1922, for his long-delayed trip to visit his wife and children. As early as December 1920 Young discussed a possible visit to Europe in a letter to Ada, but said that the U.S. and Liberian governments wanted him to go on the French Boundary Commission in the spring. He had made another request for four months of leave in June 1921, citing the need to visit Europe to take care of family affairs and to have dental work done. The State Department turned down the request in July, citing the confused state of affairs in Liberia and the ongoing negotiations for a second loan agreement from the United States for five million dollars. So instead of traveling north to Europe to see his family, Young journeyed south to meet his destiny.25 African Journey Young departed on the Spanish steamer Catalina on November 15, 1921, en route to Fernando Po, Cameroon, and Nigeria on an official intelligence-gathering trip. He stopped at the legation house on his way to the ship, showing signs of a slight cold but excited about the trip. The U.S. minister, Dr. Joseph L. Johnson, later reported that Young left in good health and spirits, and departed to board the steamer singing his old favorite, the “Owl and the Pussycat.” That would be the last time anyone in the legation, with the exception of Henry Atwood, would see him alive.26 Young kept a journal, titled “African Journey,” throughout his trip. The first travel notation reads: “Left morning of November 15, 1921 on Catalina for Fernando Po. Fare 8 Pounds—6 days enroute. Cared for by Dr. Don Adolfo Amilivia, Administrator

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of Carreos, Joaquim Mallo Alcalde, and Consul H. H. Gibson of Liberia. Put up with Gibson, fine fellow for ten days. Left Fernando Po December 3 for Lagos via Duala.” His reference to his being cared for by a doctor on the ship is significant. There are several other sources that indicate he became seriously ill during the crossing to Fernando Po. The only reason he would have stayed on the tiny island of Fernando Po for ten days was to rest and recuperate, which he did in the home of the Liberian consul to Fernando Po, H. H. Gibson. He was not so sick that he did not get out, visit the sights, and make two- and-a-half pages of notes in his journal about the history, people, and topography of the island.27 On December 3, Young boarded a ship for the short crossing to Douala, Cameroon. From that point through to the end of his journal there is no clear indication of his exact travel schedule, just notes indicating his observations. Immediately after his notes on Fernando Po, Young wrote five detailed pages on the “Congo River,” “Stanley Pool,” and the “Katanga Plateau,” so he may have visited the Belgian Congo, or wrote his notes based on firsthand accounts and other sources. The style of his comments is more clipped and choppy than the rest of his journal, as if he is recounting them secondhand. But there was time enough in his six-week journey to have visited the Congo.28 The next four pages of his journal deal with his observations of Cameroon. The first two pages of his entries on Cameroon concern its history, reading like his notes on the Congo, and are clipped and detached as if they were taken from a reference book. The second two pages are clearly made from firsthand observation and are full of Young’s personal comments. He notes, “The French are extremely unpopular and the people say they prefer the Germans, but if they are not to come again they prefer the English.” With his military reconnaissance

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mission in mind, he wrote, “There is a wonderfully large and well-filled market. There is a pier for landing ships right at the town. Dredgers and dry-dock left by the German’s still exist.” He then continued with details about the railroads, crops, and exports.29 The last entries in the journal concern the journey to Lagos and his visit to Nigeria. Young begins with, “Left Duala Tuesday and struck Victory (English) and the entrance to Buea and the Cameroon Mountain.” All of his comments from Duala to Lagos are exact descriptions of the geographical formations along the route. Young arrived in the port of Calabar and made his first landfall in southern Nigeria, where he notes: “First time pass-port was asked for. The official kindly disposed to African people could not refrain from delivering the usual sermon on unpreparedness of the Negro for government.” He also notes, “Here as everywhere on the West Coast of Africa the Negroes merchant class are driving their bargains. Who said the Negro is no merchant?” This is where the journal portion of the “African Journey” abruptly ends.30 Young continued his journey north to Lagos after his stop at Calabar, writing his last entry as a scribbled note, meant to be torn out and delivered, addressed to Mr. J. M. Stuart-Young, a British poet and friend of Young’s who had critiqued some of his poetry in Monrovia. It reads: “Dear Friend: Can you let me have about 4 bananas and as many oranges to whet my whistle for a while until our extravaganza getup? Hope you are well today. Tomorrow I go to Kano Ward. Yours, Young.” The message was never delivered, or perhaps rewritten and sent. Young made the trip to the famous walled city of Kano, a five-hundred-mile round trip by train from Lagos, but was in a state of near collapse upon his return on December 26, 1921.31 Young was taken from the train station directly to Grey’s

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Hospital in Lagos, suffering from chronic nephritis. He was able to write a telegram at the hospital to be sent to the British Bank of West Africa in Monrovia that read: “See Doctor Johnson Capt. Atwood telegraph quickly Lagos hundred pounds. Am seriously ill hospital. Col. Chas. Young. Dec. 26. Grays [Grey’s] Hospital.” The legation in Monrovia received the telegram on December 27, 1921, and immediately cabled money to Young. Young received the best care the British could give and was seen daily by a doctor and cared for constantly by nuns at the hospital.32 One of the first concerns upon hearing of Young’s condition was for the confidential papers he was carrying. In a message on December 28 from the legation in Monrovia marked “Strictly Confidential,” Johnson stated that Young was “likely to have his military possession notes impounded” and asked the mid at the War Department for instructions. The War Department responded in a cable on December 31 that if Young was unable to safeguard his confidential papers, the legation was to “take any necessary steps to prevent their falling into unauthorized hands.” The legation quickly dispatched one of the U.S. officers training the lff, Capt. Henry O. Atwood, to safeguard Young’s confidential papers. Nobody at this point seemed very concerned about Young’s health and welfare, or perhaps they did not suspect the gravity of his illness.33 Col. Charles Young died on January 8, 1922, at the hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, at the age of fifty-eight years. Dr. William Walker, M.D., signed the death certificate the following day citing the primary cause of death as “[n]ephritis (chronic)” and the secondary cause as “cardiac failure.” The doctor attested that he attended Young and was present at his death. Young’s friend Harry Atwood, who arrived just before his death, was also by his side.34

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Young was buried with full military honors by the British colonial authorities on January 9, 1922. The British borrowed a U.S. flag from a local Dutch company to drape over Young’s casket, which was also adorned with flowers and branches. An honor guard, lead by a native Nigerian police band and followed by native sailors and soldiers, carried Young’s body to the European section of Ikoyi Cemetery in a wonderfully carved horse-drawn hearse. The bishop of Nigeria presided over the ceremony and acknowledged that Young’s success in the U.S. Army was “proof positive of his ability and integrity” in a country renowned for its prejudice. An aide to the Nigerian governor and several resident British officers attended in their dress uniforms, aiguillettes, and pith helmets.35 Members of the local Nigerian regiment fired a volley over the gravesite as Young’s coffin was lowered into the grave and covered with African soil. A Nigerian bugler sounded “Last Post,” signifying that Colonel Young’s duty was complete, and that he could rest in peace. His body lay sheathed in the soil of his African motherland until his final call home to the country he loved so dearly.36 Colonel Young served skillfully as the War Department point man as well as the State Department soldier-diplomat in Liberia. Both hoped he could finish the work he began with such vigor and success four years earlier. Though he made progress, there was much more to be accomplished when his untimely death cut short his important work. It would be left to others to finish the task. Africa called, and Young gave in to his powerful sense of obligation and devotion to an army that had failed to fully use his talents. He did this even though he knew it might cause further damage to his health. Though he might have preferred

32. Young being given a rifle salute at burial ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

33. Young’s horse, Dolly, during the funeral procession in Washington dc, in 1923 (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection) 34. Young’s flag-draped casket on a caisson in Washington dc (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection) 35. Third Infantry Honor Guard and mourners at Arlington Cemetery (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

36. Funeral service at the amphitheater at Arlington Cemetery (Courtesy of the Coleman Collection)

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to fall in battle fighting for his country, he did at least die on active duty carrying out what he felt was an important mission, for it involved both his beloved army and the venerated land of his ancestors. Young’s dedication and iron will carried him that far, his destiny took him the rest of the way.

epilogue Coming Home

The race will never have another Colonel Charles Young. ethel prioleau, 1934

W

hen the War Department notified Ada Young of the death of her husband, she was alone at the family home in Wilberforce, Ohio, having recently returned from Europe, where the two children still attended boarding

schools. She was there waiting for her husband, who was to arrive in April 1916 for four months of leave that had finally been approved after many delays. A telegram arrived the afternoon of January 30, 1916, stating, “The Department regrets to announce the death of Colonel Charles Young on January eighth at Gray [Grey’s] Hospital Lagos Nigeria of Nephritis.”1 After she had recovered from the initial shock and grief, Ada Young wrote to the quartermaster general of the army “requesting the return of Colonel Young’s body to this country.” Had she not made this request, Charles Young would have remained buried in Nigeria. The secretary of war notified the State Department on March 4, 1922, of his wish to have Young’s body returned to the United States for burial at Arlington Cemetery. It took more

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than a year of red tape and cable traffic before Young’s remains were finally sent home for burial in Washington dc.2 Nigeria The State Department cabled the U.S. Legation in Liberia on March 10, 1922, of the War Department’s request to have the body of Colonel Young returned to the United States. This was no easy assignment. Nigerian authorities would have to exhume the body from its grave in Lagos, pack it in a proper shipping container, and send it by commercial steamer to the United States via Europe. The task was made more difficult because the legation had a new resident minister, Solomon P. Hood, who arrived in Monrovia on February 13, 1922. The request arrived barely a month after he arrived in Monrovia, and he had no idea of the complexity of the project.3 It took Minister Hood three months to assess the difficulties involved and send a response to the Department of State. Hood listed the problems. First, Lagos was twelve hundred miles from Monrovia, with a steamer as the only means of communications, and that was uncertain and unreliable. Second, the British colonial authorities had to follow strict guidelines and regulations in the procedure. Third, no undertakers or funeral directors resided in Lagos to supervise the process, so the “exhuming, conveying and placing on a steamer would be done by ordinary Kroo boys [of the Liberian Kru tribe], most likely under commercial supervision.” Hood recommended that Capt. William D. Nabors, an American officer working with the lff, be detailed to travel to Lagos to supervise the undertaking.4 Hood was able to report progress in the case to the State Department on August 15, 1922. He informed Washington via cable that he had secured the approval of the Nigerian colonial government to exhume Young’s remains. The British told Hood

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a “zinc shell in a case of oak was necessary,” so he asked if the legation should order this or whether the State Department would do so and ship it to Lagos. He also reported that the British authorities in Nigeria would take responsibility for placing Young’s body on board the ship.5 The American and Nigerian authorities did not complete the preparations for Young’s disinterment until early the following year. This was just as well since British health regulations required the body to stay in the ground in colonial Africa for a minimum of one year. Hood reported that the oak coffin finally reached Lagos on February 7, 1923. Since the Liberian government could not spare Captain Nabors, an American diplomatic clerk named Carleton A. Wall, from Monrovia, traveled to Lagos to supervise the exhumation.6 Carlton Wall reported in a diplomatic message to the State Department that the British authorities exhumed Young’s remains from vault 129, East Ikoyi Cemetery in Logos on February 22, 1923, and moved it to a customs shed. According to his report, on March 13, under the direction of the Chief Secretary of the Nigerian Government, three buglers of the West African Frontier Force, with a detachment of Nigerian Marines, Captain J. S. Wilson commanding, moved the body from the shed to the wharf moving in the following order: 1st The remains escorted by the Marines. 2nd Diplomatic Clerk of the American Legation, Monrovia with Captain Wilson. 3rd Buglers. At the raising of the body from the wharf to the steamer deck, the buglers sounded the Last Call [Last Post] or taps. [The] steamer placed its flag at half mast during two days body was on board while in harbor from 13–15 March.7

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Coming Home Young’s oak casket arrived by commercial steamer at the quartermaster depot in Brooklyn, New York, on May 20, 1923. Members of the newly named Charles Young Post of the American Legion of New York City took charge of Young’s flag-draped casket after it was unloaded from the ship. Before the body was shipped for burial to Arlington Cemetery, New York’s City College hosted a large memorial ceremony on May 27, 1923, where W. E. B. Du Bois, Joel Spingarn, Brig. Gen. Fredrick W. Sladen, and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. paid tribute to Young.8 After emphasizing Young’s many talents and achievements, Du Bois used the ceremony to blast the War Department for denying Young a command during World War I, charging that his friend died of a broken heart after enduring years of grinding institutional racism. General Sladen, who was the commandant of West Point and Young’s classmate, reportedly set aside his notes to deliver a rebuttal in defense of West Point and the army. Roosevelt tried to find a conciliatory middle way between Du Bois and Sladen, emphasizing that Colonel Young “by sheer force of character overcame prejudices which would have discouraged many a lesser man.” Roosevelt called on the audience to honor Young’s life as “a tribute of our ideal of equality of opportunity in citizenship.”9 After stopping briefly enroute in Philadelphia, where black citizens turned out to pay their respects, Young’s body reached Washington dc by train on June 1, 1923. The city closed the black public schools so the children could join their parents in mourning their black hero. Thousands of African Americans lined the streets of the capitol to view the somber parade. Escorted by mounted and marching black soldiers, a horse-drawn caisson carried Charles Young’s flag-draped coffin. Young’s

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favorite horse, Dolly, saddled and draped in black, followed the caisson with Young’s saber sheathed and facing backward, polished and spurred boots reversed in the stirrups; a cavalryman’s tribute.10 After the entourage crossed the Potomac River to Arlington Cemetery, the Third Cavalry Band played a dirge as the pallbearers unloaded the casket from the caisson. Members of the Howard University Choir preceded eight African American soldiers who carried Young’s flag-shrouded casket into the amphitheater and placed it on the catafalque.11 Colonel Young was only the fourth soldier honored with a funeral service held in the Arlington Amphitheater. Ironically, his predecessors included two Confederate veterans who fought in a war to uphold slavery. The other was the Unknown Soldier from World War I who died in a war in which Young so badly wanted to serve.12 Young’s funeral service at Arlington Cemetery began at 1:30 p.m. sharp and was attended by hundreds, including his mother, Arminta, his wife, Ada, and his children, Charles and Marie. After a hymn and a prayer by Col. John T. Axton, the chief of chaplains, Young’s old Mexico tent-mate, Chaplain Oscar E. Scott, delivered the obituary. Following the hymn “Abide With Me” and the benediction by Chaplain Scott, the choir sang the recessional and Young’s body was carried a short distance to a small hilltop overlooking the amphitheater for burial. As he was lowered into American soil, an honor guard fired a salute as a bugler sounded taps. Col. Charles Young was home.13 Tribute Ethel G. Prioleau, the wife of Chaplain George Washington Prioleau, paid homage to Colonel Young in a letter to Ada Young. The Prioleaus were very close friends to Charles and Ada. Since

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they were often the only black officer families at a post, they found frequent refuge in each other’s company. Ethel Prioleau, like Charles Young, was fiercely loyal to the army, her race, and her country. She wrote the following passages in a tribute titled “Colonel Young as I knew him”: The most prominent characteristic of his life as I remember him was his loyalty and devotion to his flag and country. His was a heart that harbored no malice or hatred toward even his foes, and during the years that I knew him—being associated with him in the Philippine Islands, at Ft. D. A. Russell, Wyoming, where he received his first orders to Africa, and later at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, after his first trip to Africa, I have never heard him utter a complaint or criticism against the government that he served, nor would he allow one to be voiced in his presence.14 His devotion to duty was remarkable. Knowing how narrowly he escaped death from the terrible [blackwater] fever during his first tour of duty in Africa, I sought to dissuade him from returning when we met at Ft. Huachuca. I pointed out to him that he had done more than his duty there for the government and that he owed to his family and his race the reasonable protection of his life and health, but his only answer to my repeated arguments was: “Chum, there is so much over there to be done.” I felt quite sure he would never return alive.15 When news of his death reached us, we were deeply grieved. The race will never have another Colonel Charles Young. And when some of the newspapers after his death, in reviewing his great life, censured the government for its treatment of him, I could but wince, for I knew he

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would not have approved of what they were saying. If he could live the life and serve the government without complaint, I felt that we, his friends, should bear his loss without complaint.16 He believed implicitly in the reward of faithful service and right living and believing thus he could never miss his reward. It matters not whether we receive it here or hereafter.17 Ethel Prioleau’s words were oddly prescient. Charles Young remains an unheralded military hero and his military accomplishments continue to be largely unknown to most Americans. He was the third black graduate of West Point, first African American superintendent of one of our National Parks, first black U.S. military attaché, first African American officer to command a Regular Army regiment, and highest-ranking black officer in the Regular Army until his death in 1922. The first African American to achieve the rank of colonel in the Regular Army, he served as a standard-bearer for his race in the officer corps for nearly thirty years. Racial prejudice prevented him from becoming the first African American general and commanding black troops in Europe in World War I. During his remarkable army career, a period firmly rooted in Jim Crow, Young lived socially isolated within an officer corps uncomfortable with an African American in its ranks. In spite of this, Charles Young used his natural gifts to persevere, succeed, and prosper. The army deliberately shuffled Young among the few assignments “suitable” for a black officer in a white man’s army: the Buffalo Soldier regiments, an African American college, and diplomatic posts in black republics. Yet despite their efforts to hide him, Young used the experience

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gained from these varied assignments to establish himself as an exceptional cavalry officer with a strong record and important mentors. Young also passed the torch to another generation of African American officers, like Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who did achieve the rank and recognition that the U.S. Army had refused Young. Charles Young deserves rescue from his historical obscurity and a restoration of the prestige and recognition he enjoyed at the time of his death in 1922. Not only has he earned his rewards, but because of them, he merits a place in America’s pantheon of acknowledged military leaders.

Notes

Abbreviations acp

Appointment, Commission, and Personal Branch of

awcc

Army War College Correspondence

dusmh

Dispatches from U.S. Ministers to Haiti

naamcc

National Afro-American Museum and Cultural

nara

National Archives and Records Administration,

ocs

Office of the Chief of Staff

rg

Record Group

usma

United States Military Academy

wplsc

West Point Library Special Collections, West Point ny

wrhs

Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland oh

the Adjutant General’s Office

Center, Wilberforce oh College Park md

1. Awaiting Orders 1. Memorandum, Adjutant General, Washington, January 30, 1890, acp, nara. 2. An officer was commissioned as an additional second lieutenant in the regiment to which he was assigned until a formal vacancy opened, at which time he became a second lieutenant. 3. I use the terms “Buffalo Soldier” and “Buffalo Soldier Regiment” throughout this book to refer to the black soldiers and the four regiments in which they served. I do this in spite of the fact that these terms were not used at the time and only came into common usage

290 notes to pages 2–9

in the twentieth century. In the nineteenth century they would have been known as “Black Regulars” or “Negro Regiments.” 4. Lt. Charles Young to the Adjutant General, September 14, 1889, Selected acp Branch Records, Charles Young, rg 94, nara. 5. There is some contention that Pershing won the nickname “Black Jack” initially as a cadet because of his serious and sometimes meanspirited manner toward other cadets. Regardless, it caught on in general use later during his service with the Tenth Cavalry and afterward. Later, while serving as a tactical officer at West Point, certain cadets, upset with his harsh treatment, called him “Nigger Jack,” which referred derisively to his service with black troops. 6. Coffman, The Old Army, 228–29; Leckie, Buffalo Soldiers, 238. 7. Willard Gatewood, “John Hanks Alexander of Arkansas,” 124– 25. 8. Young to Adjutant General, October 6, 1889, and Adjutant General to Young, October 16, 1889, acp, nara. 9. Memorandum, Adjutant General, Washington, October 29, 1889, acp; Charles Young to the Adjutant General, telegram, October 30, 1889; Special Order no. 254, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, October 31, 1889, acp, nara. This vacancy occurred with the untimely death of 1st Lt. B. S. Humphrey, Ninth U.S. Cavalry, who died of a heart attack while on hunting leave. 10. The regimental commander, Col. Joseph G. Tilford, was on leave, and the regimental lieutenant colonel, George B. Sanford, was at Fort Leavenworth. 11. Maj. G. V. Henry to the Adjutant General, January 30, 1890, acp, nara. 12. Heitman, Historical Register, 523. 13. Memorandum, Adjutant General, Washington, January 30, 1890, acp, nara. 14. U.S. Army, Military Laws of the United States, 553. 2. First Posting to Fort Robinson 1. The Buffalo Soldiers comprised the Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry regiments. Young, the third black graduate of West Point, joined Lt.

notes to pages 10–14 291

John Alexander, the second black graduate of West Point, who was already assigned to the Ninth Cavalry. The black cavalry and infantry regiments, unlike the white regiments of this time, also had chaplains assigned, and these officers were also African American. 2. F. Schubert, Buffalo Soldiers, Braves, and the Brass, 54. 3. Ninth Regimental Return, October 1889, War Department Records, nara. The headquarters, band, and B, F, I, and K Troops were at Fort Robinson, Nebraska; C and M Troops at Fort Duchesne, Utah; D and H Troops at Fort McKinney, Wyoming; E Troop at Fort Washakie, Wyoming; A and G Troops at Fort Niobrara, Nebraska; and L Troop at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The trip from Fort Duchesne, Utah, the westernmost post, to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the easternmost post, required 135 miles on horseback and 1,082 miles by train. 4. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 171–72; Heitman, Historical Register, 510. Hatch began his career during the Civil War as a volunteer officer, rose rapidly in rank, and was brevetted to major general for gallant and meritorious service in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. 5. Ninth Regimental Return, November 1889–September 1890, nara; Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 113–14; Coffman, The Old Army, 221; General Court-Martial Order 60, November 4, 1881, Department of the Missouri, U.S. Army Circuit Court, rg 393, nara. Tom Buecker reminded me that reducing the sentences of cashiered officers was not uncommon in this period, and especially during the Arthur administration. 6. Ninth Regimental Returns, November 1889–September 1890, nara; Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 113–14; General Court-Martial Order 60, November 4, 1881, Department of the Missouri, U.S. Army Circuit Court, rg 393, nara. 7. Heitman, Historical Register, 610. Beginning in 1890, promotions for all officers below the rank of major were by examination. Before that date, promotions were based only on regimental seniority. 8. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 1–20; Heitman, Historical Register, 839. 9. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 397. 10. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 399–400. 11. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 149–58. For a short while, in 1888, the

292 notes to pages 14–18

fort commander, Col. Edwin Hatch, experimented with a post canteen for the enlisted troops. The canteen offered food, beer, and wine in a controlled atmosphere at prices well below those found in Crawford. Hatch wanted to encourage his enlisted men to spend their leisure time on post, keep them out of trouble with the locals, and return the profits from sales to the soldiers. But the experiment was short-lived, and the canteen was shut down the year before Young arrived due to protests from a combination of off-post liquor salesmen, post traders, and temperance advocates. The result, according to one officer, was a return to “the old pay day times, filling the guard house to its utmost capacity. The men will drink, and now they must go off to get it.” Various post commanders throughout the army during this period experimented with the idea of post canteens, with mixed success. 12. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 158; Tate, Frontier Army, 127. 13. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 163–64. 14. During my visit in 2007, Tom Buecker, the historian at Fort Robinson, explained the layout of the post during Young’s time. Remarkably, these quarters still stand at Fort Robinson. When I visited Fort Robinson in 2007 for its semiannual history conference, these and other historic quarters were available to the participants to rent! 15. Alexander Piper to Ada Young, July 13, 1939, Coleman Collection; Returns for U.S. Military Posts, Fort Robinson, Nebraska, January 1885–December 1894, m617, roll 1029, nara. 16. Alexander Piper to Ada Young, July 13, 1939, Coleman Collection; Buecker, Fort Robinson, 159; Coffman, The Old Army, 276. 17. Charles Young to Ada Young, August 27, 1916, Coleman Collection. Young mentioned the advantages of employing a striker in this letter to his wife, from Mexico, in 1916. 18. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 159; Coffman, The Old Army, 276. 19. Alexander Piper to Ada Young, July 13, 1939, Coleman Collection. 20. Alexander Piper to Ada Young, July 13, 1939, Coleman Collection; McGlachlin reminiscences, p. 26, McGlachlin Papers, West Point Special Collections.

notes to pages 19–24 293

21. Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 84, 101–3; Coffman, “Young Officer in the Old Army,” 2. 22. Plummer, Out of the Depths, 251; Eric Cramer, “Army Rights Wrong to First African-American Chaplain,” Army News Service, February 10, 2005. Plummer’s court-martial will be discussed in chapter 3. 23. Plummer, Out of the Depths, 251. The only problem with Nellie Plummer’s account is that Young was not stationed at Fort Robinson in 1893. By that time he had been transferred to distant Fort Duchesne, Utah. More likely, Plummer, who published her account in 1927, had the date wrong and made the visit in 1890 when Young was stationed at Fort Robinson. Nellie Plummer notes the year of her brother’s courtmartial and dismissal as 1895, rather than the actual date of 1894, so her dates for the earlier visit may have been wrong also. 24. Schubert, Voices of the Buffalo Soldier, 200–201. 25. Schubert, Voices of the Buffalo Soldier, 201–2. 26. Regimental Adjutant to Young, Fort Robinson, April 5, 1890, acp, nara. The “file closer” was the last man in a file or line. A formation of troops usually wheeled or turned at a certain point—in this case at the camp colors. 27. Randlett to the Post Adjutant and endorsements, Fort Robinson, April 24, 1890, acp, nara. 28. Tilford to Adjutant General, Fort Robinson, May 8, 1890, acp, nara. 29. Tilford to Adjutant General, Fort Robinson, May 8, 1890, acp, nara. 30. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 27. During the year that Young was posted to Fort Robinson, the mix was four black troops to four white companies. From 1891 to 1894, however, the mix of six black troops to two white companies exacerbated this problem. 31. Young to the Adjutant, Ninth Cavalry, forwarded to the War Department, May 7, 1890, acp, nara. 32. Ninth Regimental Return, November 1889, nara. 33. acp files, nara. The regimental returns likewise shed little light on the relative treatment and experiences of the other second lieutenants

294 notes to pages 25–29

in the unit. The return from June 1890 listed under “Record of Events” the following for C Troop: “One public horse, for which 2nd Lieutenant E. S. Wright, Ninth, responsible, accidentally shot and died while on mounted Pistol practice June 25, 1890.” It is not clear if Lieutenant Wright shot the horse, or, more likely, if a member of his company did so. The officers in the company were signed for and held responsible for the “public” or government-owned horses in their troops. This incident must have been very embarrassing for the young lieutenant and cause for a great deal of jesting in the regiment. Wright was a member of the West Point class of 1886. 34. The far-flung troops of the Ninth Cavalry periodically rotated between posts. In September 1890, for instance, Troop B moved from Fort Robinson to Fort Duchesne, and Troop M moved from Fort Duchesne to Fort Robinson. 35. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 172–73. 36. Ninth Regimental Return, June 1890, nara. 37. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 173–74. 38. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 155; Bielakowski, U.S. Cavalryman, 19– 20. 39. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 175–77; Utley, Frontier Regulars, 407. 40. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1890, nara. 41. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1890, nara. 42. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 160. 43. Ninth Regimental Returns, September and October 1890, nara. 44. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 168–69; Heitman, Historical Register, 651. Kenner refers to McAnaney as “one of the most enigmatic officers in the army.” He had enlisted in the Eighth Cavalry in 1879 under an assumed name, rose rapidly in the enlisted ranks, competed successfully for an officer’s commission in 1884, and was assigned to the Ninth Cavalry. Though intelligent and personable, he verbally mistreated his black troopers and abused alcohol and narcotics. McAnaney made first lieutenant in 1891 and died of a massive drug overdose in 1894.

notes to pages 31–35 295

3. New Start at Fort Duchesne 1. Sergeant H. W. Nicholas to Ada Young, January 1945, Coleman Collection. 2. Brig. Gen. George Crook, commander of the Department of the Platte, selected the exact site for the fort three miles above the junction of the Uintah and Duchesne rivers on what he thought was the Duchesne, midway between the Uintah and Ouray agencies. Crook, according to one source, mistaking the Uintah for the Duchesne River, planted the Stars and Stripes, saying, “This is the future Fort Duchesne.” 3. Cozzens, Eyewitness to the Indian Wars, 521; Burton, A History of Uintah County, 27; Fort Thornburgh was named in honor of Maj. Thomas T. Thornburgh, who died in an action against the Utes during the Battle of Milk Creek in Colorado in 1879. This action and other troubles disposed the U.S. government to move the White River and Uncompahgre Utes from western Colorado to reservations in eastern Utah. 4. Schirer, “Fort Duchesne”; White, Experiences of a Special Indian Agent, 149; Dillman, Early History of Duchesne County, 84. 5. White, Experiences of a Special Indian Agent, 146–49. Sour continued, “You did not tell us that ‘buffalo soldiers’ were coming, and we did not agree for them to come. Our agreement applies only to white soldiers. That is all right. We told you that they might come, and they may. But all the Indians want you to come back quick and meet the ‘buffalo soldiers’ at the [reservation] line and send them back.” 6. Schirer, “Fort Duchesne”; Alexander and Arrington, “Utah Military Frontier,” 345; Uintah Pappoose, March 6, 1891. 7. Charles Young, hand sketched and colored map, titled “Ground and Vicinity of Fort Duchesne,” Coleman Collection. 8. Ninth Regimental Returns, October–November 1890, nara. 9. Heitman, Historical Register, 850. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 26. Louis Rucker began his career as an enlisted volunteer with the Chicago Dragoons in the Civil War in 1861. He earned a volunteer commission in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry and was a first lieutenant by the end of the war.

296 notes to pages 35–38

10. Heitman, Historical Register, 643, 722, 850; Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 26; Foner, The U.S. Soldier Between Two Wars, 95. All three officers eventually achieved field-grade rank, a noteworthy accomplishment in the Old Army, and two, Rucker and Moore, later commanded regiments and were promoted to brigadier general. 11. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 25. Guy Henry, testimony, February 14, 1876, “Reorganization of the Army and the Transfer of the Indian Bureau,” 44th Cong., 1st sess., H. Rep. 354, 1876, 189–90, serial 1760; Annual Report of the War Department, 1886, 106. 12. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 25; Army and Navy Journal, February 19, 1887, 579; written comments on draft by Tom Phillips. Though the author of the letter is unidentified, Kenner notes that the phrase “men of my company” indicates he was a captain and troop or company commander. Kenner also notes in his book that the troop desertion and alcoholism rates of the Ninth Cavalry during this period were always lower than comparable white regiments. 13. Ninth Regimental Return, October 1890, nara; Fort Duchesne Post Returns, October 1890 to October 1892, nara; Heitman, Historical Register, 374, 542; Uintah Pappoose, July 17, 1891; Alexander and Arrington, “Utah Military Frontier,” 353; Dillman, Early History of Duchesne County, 84. Dimmick was a Civil War veteran and had been with the Ninth since its formation, and Horne graduated from West Point in 1888, one year ahead of Young. In 1890, when Young arrived at Fort Duchesne, the post complement included 21 officers and 289 enlisted men. By 1893, with only two troops of cavalry in garrison, this number was reduced to 9 officers and 123 enlisted men. 14. Ninth Regimental Return, October 1890, nara; Heitman, Historical Register, 374, 542; Uintah Pappoose, July 17, 1891; Alexander and Arrington, “Utah Military Frontier,” 353; Dillman, Early History of Duchesne County, 84; Pocket Diary of John H. Alexander, June 11, 1888, John H. Alexander Papers; Uintah Pappoose, March 6, 27, and May 29, 1891. 15. Uintah Pappoose, March 16 and May 29, 1891. 16. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 26; Ninth Regimental Returns, 1890–91, nara.

notes to pages 38–44 297

17. Willard Gatewood, “John Hanks Alexander,” 103–28. 18. Ninth Regimental Returns, 1887–90, nara. I originally hypothesized here that the army may have posted Young and Alexander to isolated Fort Duchesne in part to minimize the “awkward situations” inherent in having a black officer in the service. Tom Philips flipped my argument on its head by suggesting that the army may have stationed them together at Fort Duchesne as a way of providing a situation of mutual support for the only two black line officers. 19. Ninth Regimental Returns, 1888–90, nara. 20. Maj. G. V. Henry to the Adjutant General, January 30, 1890, acp, nara. 21. Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 34. 22. Ninth Regimental Returns, 1892–94, nara; Fort Duchesne Post Returns, December 1890 to October 1892, nara; Schubert and Schubert, On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II, 257. In addition to the black regimental chaplain, each of the posts had a white chaplain assigned. 23. Fort Duchesne Post Returns, August 1891 to September 1892, nara; Leckie, Buffalo Soldiers, 238. 24. Ninth Regimental Returns, September 1891 and August 1892, nara. Farriers were soldiers who took care of horse hoof trimming and shoeing. 25. Buecker, Fort Robinson, 155; 26. Young Marksmanship Certificate, Coleman Collection; Bielakowski, U.S. Cavalryman, 1891–1920, 19. 27. Uintah Pappoose, May 22, 1891. 28. Uintah Pappoose, July 17, 1891. 29. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 27; Alexander Piper to Ada Young, July 13, 1939, Coleman Collection; McGlachlin reminiscences, p. 26, McGlachlin Papers, West Point Special Collections. 30. Willard Gatewood, “John Hanks Alexander,” 126; Cleveland Gazette 11, no. 34, March 31, 1894. Though the Buffalo Soldier regiments had African American chaplains, Young was the only black cavalry or infantry officer of the line then serving in the army.

298 notes to pages 44–50

31. Plummer, Out of the Depths, 251; Eric Cramer, “Army Rights Wrong to First African-American Chaplain,” Army News Service, February 10, 2005. In 2005, the U.S. Army Board for the Corrections of Military Records concluded that racial prejudice was involved and issued Plummer an honorable discharge. 32. Coffman, The Old Army, 271–76. 33. Charles Young Lyceum Paper, April 16, 1894, Coleman Collection. What first strikes the reader of this lyceum paper is the amount of work that went into it. The typewriter had been invented in 1873 and commercially offered for sale beginning in 1874. It would be surprising if there had been more than a single typewriter in the army inventory at Fort Duchesne twenty years later. It is easy to imagine Young laboring over this novel machine in his free time in the post headquarters, typing at night when the post clerk was not employed, composing his thoughts by candle or gaslight. Young probably used an outline and made drafts, but many a typed page probably ended in the wastebasket. The result was a practical and well-reasoned paper on how tactical training could be conducted at Fort Duchesne. 34. Charles Young Lyceum Paper, April 16, 1894, Coleman Collection. 35. Charles Young Lyceum Paper, April 16, 1894, Coleman Collection. 36. Young used this phrase in a speech in 1903. 4. Military Instructor at Wilberforce 1. Gabriel and Arminta had moved in 1885 from Ripley to Zanesville, Ohio, while Young was attending West Point. 2. Ronnick, Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough, 132–33; Scarborough, A Tribute to Colonel Charles Young, 6–7. 3. Ronnick, Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough, 132–33. Scarborough, A Tribute to Colonel Charles Young, 6–7. 4. Ronnick, Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough, 132–33; Scarborough, A Tribute to Colonel Charles Young, 6–7. Dr. Scarborough also noted that Alexander’s grave in Xenia lay “unnoticed and uncared

notes to pages 51–55 299

for.” Dr. Floyd Thomas and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center showed me in 2002 that the damaged gravestone had been replaced with a new one and is well maintained. 5. Samuel T. Mitchell to Grover Cleveland, April 2, 1894, and Senator Calvin Brice to Secretary of War Daniel Lamont, April 3, 1894, Selected acp Branch Records, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 35–36. 6. Adjutant General to Samuel T. Mitchell, April 5, 1894, Samuel T. Mitchell to Calvin S. Brice, April 11, 1894, Charles Young to Adjutant General, April 20, 1894, Special Order no. 108, Adjutant General’s Office, May 8, 1894, Selected acp Branch Records, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 36. 7. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 151–52; http://www.wilber force.edu/welcome/ history.html. The Combined Normal and Industrial Department later became the University’s sister institution, Central State University, where the rotc program now resides. Charles Young is considered the founding father of the program at Central State and is still revered by the cadets in the program. 8. “Brief History of Army rotc,” Princeton Review, http://www.Prince tonreview.com. 9. C. Johnson, African Americans and rotc, 5–7; McGinnis, A History and an Interpretation of Wilberforce University, 60–61. 10. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 27, naamcc. The two cannons purchased in 1893 were pictured in the 1897–98 Wilberforce University Catalogue and are still on display at Central State University. 11. Report of the Secretary of War, 1894, 23. 12. Report of the Secretary of War, 1894, 201–2. 13. John H. Hilton to the Adjutant General, February 6, 1895, Selected acp Branch Records, Charles Young, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 37–39; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 34–35. 14. Inspector General, War Department, to Lt. Charles Young, October 17, 1895, Coleman Collection; Register of Graduates, 4–55. Heistand was a West Point graduate from the class of 1878 and had been nominated to the academy from Ohio.

300 notes to pages 55–61

15. Inspector General, War Department, to Lieutenant Charles Young, April 29, 1889, Coleman Collection. 16. Scarborough, A Tribute to Colonel Charles Young, 7–8. 17. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898 , 10, 27–28, naamcc. 18. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 27, naamcc. 19. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35, naamcc. 20. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898 , 28, 34–36, naamcc. 21. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35–36, naamcc. 22. Campbell, Songs of Zion, 271–78. This source notes that Charles Dube and Theodore Kakaza entered Wilberforce the same year. The Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, lists an F. Kakaza and must be in error. Shillington, Encyclopedia of African History, 3:900–901. Charlotte Maxeke was a founding member of the Bantu Women’s League, a forerunner of the anc Women’s League and considered the mother of African freedom in South Africa. She was the first black South African woman to earn a bachelor’s degree. 23. Letter from Henry O. Atwood, undated, Coleman Collection; Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 25. 24. Col. Charles Young to Sen. Atlee Pomerene, August 20, 1918, Coleman Collection; Arminta Young’s Pension Certificate, Coleman Collection; Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 3–20. 25. Col. Charles Young to Sen. Atlee Pomerene, August 20, 1918, Coleman Collection; Arminta Young’s Pension Certificate, Coleman Collection; Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 3–20. 26. Gabriel Young’s Discharge Certificate, Coleman Collection. 27. Zanesville Courier, June 17, 1894; Zanesville Signal, June 18, 1894, Ohio Historical Society. 28. Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 3–9. Julia Bruen was the first African American teacher in Kentucky after the Civil War and was a cousin of Bishop Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (ame) Church in the United States. 29. Exchange Bank in Cedarville, Ohio, to Charles Young, April 13,

notes to pages 61–68 301

1899, Coleman Collection. According to Dr. Floyd Thomas, the home on Columbus Pike (Highway 42) is not in Xenia (though it is in Xenia Township). It is just outside Wilberforce, a mile or less from the campus and easily accessible to the students and faculty. The home still stands and is owned by the Friendship Foundation of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. According to Hallie Q. Brown, it was once a way station on the Underground Railroad. It was purchased by the fraternity to preserve the house of a revered brother. 30. Scarborough, A Tribute to Colonel Charles Young, 8. 31. Home and Young, W. E. B. Du Bois, 218. 32. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 176; Home and Young, W. E. B. Du Bois, 218. 33. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 176. 34. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 176. 35. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 175–76. 36. Alexander, Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow, 38. 37. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 174–76. 38. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 176–77; Harlan and Smock, eds., The Booker T. Washington Papers, 158. 39. Weigley, History of the United States Army, 273; The Army and Navy Journal, September 19, 1896. 40. Office of the Adjutant General, War Department Records, June 16, 1896; The Army and Navy Journal, September 19, 1896; New York Times, September 14, 1896, p. 1; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 31. 41. This vacancy occurred with the untimely death of 1st Lt. B. S. Humphrey, Ninth U.S. Cavalry, who died of a heart attack while on hunting leave. Special Order no. 254, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, October 31, 1889, acp, nara. 42. Rhodes, Intimate Letters of a West Point Cadet, 21. 43. Obituary of Charles Young, by Charles D. Rhodes, in the Association of Graduates, Annual Report to the Association of Graduates, June 12, 1922, wplsc. 44. Seventh Regimental Returns, December 1894 to October 1895, nara.

302 notes to pages 68–75

45. Memorandum, Adjutant General, Washington, January 30, 1890, Selected acp Branch Records, nara. See chapter 1 for a discussion of the War Department’s rationale in assigning black officers only to African American regiments. 5. Volunteer Officer in the Spanish-American War 1. Charles Young acp File, nara; Annual Report of the War Department, 1894, 23. 2. C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 55– 56. 3. Harrison, City of Canvas, 10. The Second Corps, for example, to which the Ninth Ohio was eventually assigned during the SpanishAmerican War, never reported more than 23,515 men. 4. Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 55. 5. Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 55; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 55–56. Fillmore, who was black, was well connected, active in state Republican politics, and had been associated with African American militia and independent military companies for eighteen years. The governor rewarded his hard work and party loyalty with a position as a clerk in the office of the secretary of state as well as the command of the Ninth Ohio. Soon after, Fillmore persuaded the Ohio legislature in 1897 to make a provision for the later addition of a fourth company to his battalion. Major Fillmore had reason to believe that the future of his command was assured. 6. Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 56–57; Cleveland Gazette, January 15, 1898, p.1. 7. C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 59; Edward Scott, The Unwept, 193–94. 8. Charles Young acp File, nara. 9. C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 59; Annual Report of the War Department, 1898, 3–4. 10. Annual Report of the War Department, 1898, 4; Eastern Utah Advocate, April 28, 1898, 2.

notes to pages 75–77 303

11. Annual Report of the War Department, 1898, 84; Cirillo, Bullets and Bacilli, 97, 161; Edward Scott, The Unwept, 60; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 60–61; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 282; Cunningham, “‘We are an orderly body of Men,’” 1–2. 12. Annual Report of the War Department, 1898, 258–59; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 63; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 282–87; Cunningham, “‘We are an orderly body of Men’”; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio.” Wilson Ballard, who served as Young’s battalion adjutant in the Ninth Ohio, wrote an “Outline History of the Ninth (Separate) Battalion Ohio Volunteer Infantry,” and this is printed at the end of Steward’s chapter “The Colored Volunteers,” in his book The Colored Regulars. 13. Governor Asa B. Bushnell to Lt. Charles Young, May 8, 1898, Coleman Collection. 14. Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 58–59; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 63; Broadstone, History of Greene County Ohio, 661. Fillmore temporarily retained the rank of major, but without a command. His offer to serve in the Ninth in any capacity, “even as a private,” was refused at the explicit instructions of Governor Bushnell. Later, the governor accepted his resignation as a commissioned officer in the Ohio National Guard and as a clerk in the secretary of state’s office. In the summer of 1898, Senator Hanna helped Fillmore secure a commission as a first lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry, usv, one of the four African American Immune Regiments recruited directly by the War Department. 15. Charles Young acp File, nara; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 63–64; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 290; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio,” in Steward, The Colored Regulars. 16. Annual Report of the War Department, 1900, 84–85; C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 63–64; Powell, “Roster, Ninth Ohio Volunteers.” The addition of the company from Cleveland, which became Company D, brought the battalion strength to about four hundred.

304 notes to pages 78–82

17. Powell, “Roster, Ninth Ohio Volunteers”; Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 28, 34–36, naamcc. 18. Edward Scott, The Unwept, 105–83; Ohio State Journal, September 29, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. The Ohio State Journal, a white newspaper based in Columbus, was the Republican Party’s main voice in central Ohio. 19. C. Johnson, African American Soldiers in the National Guard, 68– 69. 20. Steward, The Colored Regulars, 290; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio.” 21. Annual Report of the War Department, 1900, 76–87. 22. Edwards, The ’98 Campaign of the 6th Massachusetts, 124; Fletcher, “Black Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, 50; Heitman, Historical Register, 448. Garretson was from Ohio, served as an enlisted soldier during the Civil War, graduated from West Point in 1863, served as a lieutenant in the Fourth Artillery, and resigned in 1870. He was recalled as a brigadier general in the volunteers on May 27, 1898, and honorably discharged on November 30, 1898. 23. Willard Gatewood, Smoked Yankees, 111; Cleveland Gazette, July 2, 1898; Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 60. James Madison Pierce was a young black lawyer who volunteered for service in the Ninth Ohio. Judson W. Lyons, of Augusta, Ohio, was a prominent black lawyer and Republican politician who had been appointed register of the treasury by President William McKinley, who was also from Ohio. General Howard formerly served as the head of the Freedman’s Bureau. Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles Young knew each other from Ohio. 24. Willard Gatewood, Smoked Yankees, 111–12; Cleveland Gazette, July 2, 1898. 25. Willard Gatewood, Smoked Yankees, 113; Cleveland Gazette, August 2, 1898. 26. Newspaper article, August 15 and 17, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. Young kept a scrapbook of articles from local and Ohio newspapers that covered the Ninth Battalion during its wartime

notes to pages 83–88 305

service. Most have dates noted next to them, a few have markings noting the newspaper, but many have no source information at all. 27. Willard Gatewood, Smoked Yankees, 114. 28. Newspaper article, September 7, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 29. Cleveland Press, September 20, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. The Cleveland Press was a white newspaper, independent of party politics, and Cleveland’s leading newspaper by the turn of the century. 30. Cleveland Press, September 20, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 31. Newspaper article, October 25, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 32. Newspaper article, October 25 and 26, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 33. Newspaper article, October 29, 1898, and newspaper article, undated, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 34. Cleveland Gazette, November 19, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 35. Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. 36. Newspaper article, November 8, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection. William C. Oates, of Alabama, formerly of the Confederate States of America, served from May 28, 1898, until March 10, 1899, as a brigadier general in the volunteers. 37. Harrisburg Inquirer, November 14, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 292; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio,” in Steward, The Colored Regulars. 38. Newspaper article, November 10, 1898, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 292; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio,” in Steward, The Colored Regulars. 39. Willard Gatewood, “Ohio’s Negro Battalion,” 62. 40. Newspaper article, undated, Young Scrapbook, Coleman Collection; Annual Report of the War Department, 1900, 84; Steward, The Colored Regulars, 292; Ballard, “Outline History of the Ninth Ohio,” in

306 notes to pages 88–97

Steward The Colored Regulars. It was army policy to grant thirty days of furlough to volunteer units who had only seen stateside duty and sixty days of furlough for those that had seen service overseas. The soldiers of the Ninth were discharged in South Carolina and paid for the thirty days ahead of time. 41. Annual Report of the War Department, 1900, 84–87. 42. Special Orders no. 27, paragraph 68. Headquarters of the Army, Washington, February 2, 1899; Charles Young, Letters Received, Adjutant General’s Office, nara. 43. Charles Young to B. T. Washington, March 9, 1899, btw Papers, http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/volumes.html; Washington to Young, February 22, 1899, Coleman Collection. 44. Charles Young to B. T. Washington, March 31, 1899, btw Papers; Fletcher, “Black Volunteers in the Spanish-American War,” 51–52. 45. Charles Young to B. T. Washington, March 9, 1899, btw Papers; Charles Young, Letters Received, Adjutant General’s Office, nara. 46. Charles Young, Letters Received, Adjutant General’s Office, nara. 6. Return to Fort Duchesne 1. Ninth Cavalry Regimental Returns, January 1892 to April 1901, nara. 2. Ninth Cavalry Regimental Returns, February 1892 to March 1894, nara. 3. Heitman, Historical Register, 483; Flipper, Colored Cadet at West Point, 82. 4. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers, 310–11. 5. Sergeant H. W. Nicholas to Ada Young, January 1945, Coleman Collection. 6. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 7. John A. S. Blakeney to Henry O. Atwood, April 18, 1922, Coleman Collection. 8. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 21. Though the literacy rate of blacks in the general population was higher, the Ninth consisted mainly of veterans of multiple enlistments who were less educated.

notes to pages 97–105 307

9. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 21. 10. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 11. Ninth Cavalry Regimental Returns and Fort Duchesne Post Returns, 1886–1901, nara; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 20. 12. Fort Duchesne Post Returns, September 1899, nara; Stubbs and Connor, Armor-Cavalry, 25–26; E. Johnson, History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, 226–28. John C. Procter was commissioned a captain in the Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry on September 20, 1899, and Lincoln Washington was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry on September 13, 1899. 13. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1899, nara. 14. Ninth Regimental Return, December 1899, nara; Fort Duchesne Post Return, September 1899, nara. 15. Ninth Regimental Return, December 1899, nara; Heitman, Historical Register, 779. Years after Young’s death in 1922, Pearson corresponded with his widow, Ada Young. 16. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Samuel B. Pearson to Ada Young, May 3, 1926, Coleman Collection. 17. Vernal Express, March 23, May 19, 1900; Samuel B. Pearson to Ada Young, May 3, 1926, Coleman Collection. 18. Vernal Express, June 30, 1900. 19. Vernal Express, April 14, June 30, July 7, 1900. The “Duchesne Doings” was a column in the Vernal Express ghostwritten by an officer on post. 20. Vernal Express, September 21, 1899. 21. Vernal Express, April 28, 1900. 22. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 19–22; Davis acp File, nara. 23. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 21. 24. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 22–23. 25. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 23. 26. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 25–26. 27. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 26–27. 28. Captain Guilfoyle to the Adjutant General, Department of the

308 notes to pages 106–112

Colorado, November 9, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 55–56; Vernal Express, November 11, 1900, p. 3. 29. Lt. Charles Young to Post Adjutant, Fort Duchesne, November 21, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 56; Vernal Express, November 11, 1900, p. 3. 30. Lt. Charles Young to Post Adjutant, Fort Duchesne, November 21, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 57. 31. Captain Guilfoyle to the Adjutant General, Department of the Colorado, November 23, 1899, General Marriam to Adjutant General, Washington, November 28, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 58. 32. Ninth Regimental Return, December 1900, nara; Fort Duchesne Post Return, January 1900, nara. 33. Vernal Express, March 17, 1899. 34. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 35. Lt. Charles Young to Post Adjutant, Fort Duchesne, November 21, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 58. 36. Lt. Charles Young to Post Adjutant, Fort Duchesne, November 21, 1899, Charles Young acp File, nara; Charles Young Lyceum Paper, 1900, Coleman Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 58. 37. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 38. Charles Young Lyceum Paper, 1900, Coleman Collection. 39. Charles Young Lyceum Paper, 1900, Coleman Collection. 40. Paper delivered by Robert M. Utley at the Sixth Fort Robinson History Conference, April 28, 2007. In his lyceum paper of 1900, Young mentions the Philippines only once and in passing. He writes, “By practicing hill-warfare exercises, we may be enabled, doubtless, to play at guerilla warfare as well as does the Boer, Spaniard, or Filipino, and perhaps bring more men from the fight.” 41. Ninth Regimental Return, July, August, September 1900. 42. Ninth Regimental Return, July 1900. The adjutant general assigned Robert D. Walsh to the captain’s position in I Troop to facilitate

notes to pages 112–117 309

his promotion to captain in the Regular Army, while he served as a volunteer lieutenant colonel in the Thirty-fifth U.S. Volunteers in the Philippines. 43. Ninth Regimental Return, August 1900, nara; Heitman, Historical Register, 275; Vernal Express, August 25, 1900. 44. Ninth Regimental Return, October 1900, nara. 45. Fort Duchesne Post Return, January 1901, nara; Quintana, Ordeal of Change, 54; Patterson, Butch Cassidy, 82, 98–110. Both members of the Wild Bunch were frequent visitors to the nearby Duchesne Strip because the local lawmen had limited jurisdiction there. 46. Fort Duchesne Post Return, January 1901, nara; Notes on Young’s medical records, Nancy Heinl Papers. 47. Charles Young acp File, nara; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 48. Fort Duchesne Post Return, April 1901, nara; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 27–28. 7. Fighting Guerillas in the Philippines 1. Adjutant General’s Office, Correspondence Relating to the War With Spain, 1216, 1220, 1226, 1228, 1229. 2. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1900, April 1901, nara; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 27–28; Broussard, Black San Francisco, 19. One of William Purnell’s sons, John H. Purnell, would later serve as a captain in the U.S. Army in World War I. Scholar, historian, and educator, he wrote an article on Charles Young, which appeared in an Omega Fraternity publication titled “The Young Memorial Issue” of the February 26, 1926, Bulletin sent to members encouraging them to make contributions to the Young Memorial Monument, dedicated November 11, 1926. Oracle (Winter 1979): 58–59. 3. Fletcher, “Black Americans and the Quest for Empire, 1898–1903,” 556–58. 4. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1900, nara; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 28; Thompson, “Defender of the Gate,”

310 notes to pages 118–123

254–73. The Golden Gate was the term for the mouth of San Francisco Bay that opened into the Pacific. The Golden Gate Bridge was not built on this spot until 1937. 5. Ninth Regimental Return, September 1900, nara; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 28; Linn, Guardians of Empire, 9. According to Young’s company clerk, Nicholas, who was corporal by this time, the transit from San Francisco took thirty-one days, which is slightly more than the twenty-six noted by Davis. But this difference may be accounted for by the fact that Young and his troopers spent nearly a week anchored in Manila Bay waiting for orders. 6. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 28–30; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 7. Linn, Guardians of Empire, 13–14. 8. Linn, Philippine War, 306. 9. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Young Lyceum Paper, 1900, Coleman Collection. 10. John A. S. Blakeney to Harry O. Atwood, April 18, 1922, Coleman Collection; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. Cascoes were a type of flat-bottomed boat used to transport goods near the shore. 11. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Report of engagement at Manila Bay, May 4, 1898, uss Petrel, at http://www .history.navy.mil/docs/spanam/manila7.htm, 277. 12. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. Nicholas misspells the name of village of Gandara as Cantarge. 13. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. Nicholas and Blakeney both use the Spanish name of Blanco Aurora for the village near the head of the Gandara River. But the native name for the place was Matuguinao. 14. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 15. Linn, Philippine War, 306–7. 16. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 17. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Linn, Philippine War, 309.

notes to pages 124–131 311

18. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 29–30. 19. Linn, Philippine War, 309–10. 20. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Linn, Philippine War, 308–9. 21. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 22. Linn, Philippine War, 310–11; Hurley, Jungle Patrol, 20. 23. Hurley, Jungle Patrol, 21. 24. Linn, Philippine War, 312–21. Heitman, Historical Register, 899. 25. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 26. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Linn, “The Philippines: Nationbuilding and Pacification,” 52. 27. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 28. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Karnow, In Our Image, 187. 29. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 30. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Samuel B. Pearson to Ada Young, March 17, 1922, Coleman Collection. 31. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Mayon Volcano Web page, http:/volcano-phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/update_VMEPD/Volcano/ VolcanoList/mayon.htm. 32. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Willis, Our Philippine Problem, 127–28. 33. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; MerriamWebster Online Dictionary, http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary/ surra. 34. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 35. Karnow, In Our Image, 187–88; Deady, “Lessons from a Successful Counterinsurgency,” 56; Heitman, Historical Register, 207. So slow were promotions in the Regular Army at the time that Bell was promoted from first lieutenant to captain on March 2, 1899. 36. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 37. Karnow, In Our Image, 188. Comments on chapter draft by Brian Linn.

312 notes to pages 131–138

38. Samuel B. Pearson to Ada Young, March 17, 1922, Coleman Collection. 39. Karnow, In Our Image, 194; Boot, Savage Wars of Peace, 125; Gates, U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare, chapter 3. Most sources agree on dead and wounded for the United States, but estimates on Filipino deaths, especially those of civilians, are impossible to determine accurately. All that can be said is that disease, and especially cholera, killed the majority of civilians, and not the direct action of U.S. Troops. 40. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 41. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Samuel B. Pearson to Ada Young, March 17, 1922, Coleman Collection; Chamberlain, Philippine Problem, 114. 42. Cirillo, Bullets and Bacilli, 2, 121–22. 43. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 44. Cirillo, Bullets and Bacilli, 120–22. 45. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 46. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Manila Times, “100 Significant Events in Philippine History,” September 18, 2006. 47. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 48. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 8. Troop Commander in San Francisco and Sequoia 1. Ninth Regimental Return, October 1902, nara. 2. Broussard, Black San Francisco, 2; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 3. Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 24–25. 4. Western Reserve Historical Society Manuscript Collection, Lottie Pearl Mitchell, http://www.wrhs.org. 5. Hill and Hatch, History of African American Theatre, 130–32; Cullen, Hackman, and McNeilly, Vaudeville, Old and New, 518–21; Walton, “Negro on the American Stage.” 6. J. Johnson, Black Manhattan, 129–30; Burnett, Florida’s Past, 50–54; Fortune, Outlook, May 6, 1899, 359; Gatewood and Gatewood, Aristocrats of Color, 174; Moses, Golden Age of Black Nationalism, 216.

notes to pages 139–143 313

7. Washington, Up from Slavery, 57–61, 110–19; Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk. 8. “Assembly” section, Stanford Alumnus, vol. 5, Dec 16, 1903, Stanford University Special Collections and University Archives; S. Johnson, Invisible Men, 14–16. 9. Film and description of the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt to San Francisco in May 1903, Library of Congress American Memory Website, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?papr:1:./temp/~ammem_Nn3N; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 10. Film and description of 1903 visit of President Roosevelt; History of the Presidio of San Francisco, by the National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov. 11. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Meyerson, Nature’s Army, 233, 235. 12. Annual Report, 1903, 15. A Dougherty wagon was a horse- or mule-drawn wagon having doors on the side, transverse seats, and canvas sides that could be rolled up. An escort wagon was a standard, four-mule wagon that could haul an average load of 2,500 pounds. 13. Daily Visalia Delta, June 2, 1903; Tulare County Times, June 4, 1903; Kaweah Commonwealth, August 1, 2003; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 3. Heitman, Historical Register, 331, 792. Pilcher was from Tennessee and got his start as a volunteer officer during the Spanish-American War. Cox was from Georgia, attended West Point from 1889 to 1890, served as a private, corporal, and sergeant in the Fourth Cavalry from 1998 to 1901, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Ninth Cavalry in 1901. 14. Daily Visalia Delta, June 2, 1903; Eldredge, In the Summer of

1903, 4. 15. Annual Report, 1903, 4–5; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 6. 16. The Panamanian government ratified the treaty in 1903, the U.S. Senate in 1904, and Goethals was assigned as chief engineer in 1907. 17. Annual Report, 1903, 5; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 8.

314 notes to pages 143–149

18. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 9. 19. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 20. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 9; Charles Young to Secretary of the Interior, August 29, 1903, nara, rg 79, National Park Service Records, Sequoia National Park. 21. Daily Visalia Delta, August 9, 15, 1903; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 9. 22. Daily Visalia Delta, August 9, 1903; Eldredge, In the Summer of

1903, . 23. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 4. 24. Annual Report, 1903, 5; Daily Visalia Delta, June 2, 1903; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 6. 25. Annual Report, 1903, 4, 8–9. 26. Annual Report, 1903, 8–9; Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 15–16. 27. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 28. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 7. 29. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 7. 30. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 17, Mary Blanche and Philip Winser to Ada Young, July 20, 1934, Coleman Collection. 31. Young and his men dedicated the Booker T. Washington Tree in 1903, but sometime after that, the name plate fell off of the tree and it was forgotten. In 1999, Floyd Thomas, of the National AfroAmerican Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio, asked Ward Eldredge, historian at Sequoia, if he had ever heard of the Booker T. Washington Tree. Eldredge could not locate the tree. In 2000, using a fax of a picture sent by Thomas, Eldredge finally located the tree near Moro Rock. It still had one of the nails from the original sign imbedded in it. Eldredge, Thomas, and the author were all present for the rededication of the Booker T. Washington Tree in 2003. The tree selected by the townspeople of the Sequoia area, and intended to honor Charles Young, was finally dedicated to him in 2004. The author,

notes to pages 149–151 315

Floyd Thomas, and Neely Moody—inspector general of the Defense Intelligence Agency—were instrumental in persuading the deputy director of the National Park Service, who attended the ceremony, to bring about this long-delayed dedication. The lion’s share of credit for publicizing the efforts of Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers at Sequoia for many years prior to that goes to George Palmer. 32. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 11. 33. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 11. The author was present for the dedication of the Colonel Charles Young Tree on August 28, 2004. 34. Annual Report, 1903, 10; Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 11; Shellum, Black Cadet in a White Bastion, 9–15, 26; Brooks, Grand United Order of the Odd Fellows in America, 12, 164. The first African American Lodge 646 of the Grand United Order of the Odd Fellows in America was established in New York City by Peter Ogden in 1843. Lodge 2302, to which Gabriel Young belonged, was established on October 10, 1881, in Ripley, Ohio. 35. Annual Report, 1903, 5–7. In only one area of the natural ecosystem does Young show a flaw that would be recognized by modern environmentalists. He suggests that “permission be given rangers for the extermination of coyotes and mountains lions” in order to increase the number of deer. 36. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Tulare County Recorder’s Office, 119/231 book and page, February 4, 1904, deed. Described as: East 1/2 of East 1/2 of Section 22, the nw 1/4 and West 1/2 of the sw 1/4 of Section 23, and the South1/2 of the ne 1/4 of Section 23 (except south and east of the river and south of a line running east from Bluff Rock) = 480 acres. Sold to Charles Young by Marion E. Griffes for a ten-dollar gold coin. This is the Thorne Ranch, shown on the 1892 Historical Atlas as belonging to Marion E. Griffes, and on the 1920 Tulare County map as belonging to M. L. Thorne. “Provided that no portion of said land shall be used directly or indirectly for the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors.” 37. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection.

316 notes to pages 151–160

38. C. Alexander, Battles and Victories of Charles Allensworth, 178–87, 253. 39. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 40. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. 41. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 1 (the terms redwood and sequoia were used interchangeably by Young in his correspondence); Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. Sergeant Nicholas remembered the poem reading: “After the Forest Road was made, / We sat beneath the Redwood Shade, / And Feasted from Boxes laid, / On well-worked Shovel, Pick, and Spade.” 42. Daily Visalia Delta, November 4, 1903. 43. “Assembly” section, Stanford Alumnus, vol. 5, Dec 16, 1903, Stanford University Special Collections and University Archives. 44. “Assembly” section, Stanford Alumnus. 45. “Assembly” section, Stanford Alumnus. 46. Professor Max Ferrand, Stanford University, to Capt. Charles Young, February 20, 1904, Coleman Collection. Ferrand was a history professor and Allardice was a professor of mathematics. 47. Marriage Certificate of Charles Young and Ada Mills, filed in Alameda County, California, on February 20, 1904, book 31, p. 407; Harry Atwood, undated, Coleman Collection. 48. San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 1904; Marriage Certificate, Coleman Collection; Obituary of Ada Mills Young, Xenia [Ohio] Daily Gazette, November 21, 1953, Young Collection, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, Ohio. 49. San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 1904, Coleman Collection; Marriage Certificate, Coleman Collection. 50. San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 1904, Coleman Collection. 9. Military Attaché in Hispaniola 1. Dorwart, Office of Naval Intelligence, 31; Bidwell, History of the Military Intelligence Division, 54–55; Vagts, The Military Attache, 33; Votaw, “U.S. Military Attachés,” 235–41.

notes to pages 160–164 317

2. The mid underwent several organizational and name changes during this time period. To avoid confusion, the name mid will be used throughout this chapter. 3. Memorandum to the Adjutant General from the Officer in Charge, mid, Maj. Arthur L. Wagner, September 28, 1897, Army War College Correspondence (hereafter referred to as awcc), nara. 4. This number excludes the twenty officers sent between 1904 and 1905 to observe the Russo-Japanese War. 5. The Army War College was established on November 27, 1901, to study general staff functions and to serve as a temporary general staff. 6. Brig. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, president of the Army War College, to Chief, Second Division (mid), January 14, 1904, awcc, nara. 7. Capt. Harry C. Hale, Acting Chief of the mid, to Brig. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, President of the Army War College, January 18, 1904, awcc, nara. This military information function included “collection, arrangement, and publication of historical, statistical, and geographical information; War Department Library; system of war maps, American and foreign; general information regarding foreign armies and fortresses; preparation from official records of analytical and critical histories of important campaigns.” Memo, ocs, February 3, 1904, awc 639–22, awcc, nara. 8. Votaw, “U.S. Military Attachés,” 17–21. 9. John Hay, Secretary of State, to William P. Powell, Minister to Haiti, April 23, 1904, Diplomatic Instructions of the Department of State, 1801–1906, Haiti and Santo Domingo (hereafter referred to as dihsc), rg 59, nara. 10. Weigley, History of the United States Army, 568. 11. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 61–116, 312. 12. Powell to Hay, May 28, 1904, Dispatches from U.S. Ministers to Haiti (hereafter referred to as dusmh), 1862–1906, rg 59, nara; Powell to Hay, June 8, 1904, dusmh; Hay to Powell, June 14, 1904, Diplomatic Instructions, Haiti and Santo Domingo (hereafter referred to as dihsd); Powell to Hay, June 30, 1904, dusmh.

318 notes to pages 165–172

13. Hay to Powell, June 28, 1904, dihsd; Powell to Hay, June 30, 1904, dihsd. 14. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 315. 15. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 304–10. 16. Haggerty, Dominican Republic and Haiti, 210–45. 17. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 232, 233, 236, 292. 18. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 303–15. 19. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 312–13. 20. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 312. 21. Powell to Hay, August 31, 1904, dusmh; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 315–16. 22. Powell to Hay, April 5, 1905, dusmh; Powell to Secretary of War Elihu Root, March 1, 1905, dusmh; register of communications received from military attachés and other intelligence officers (hereafter referred to as Dispatch List), 1889–1941, Haiti, rg 165, nara. 23. U.S. Department of State Web site, Office of the Historian, List of U.S. ministers to Haiti; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 306. 24. Furniss to Young, October 15, 1906, Miscellaneous Letters from Legation, Haiti (hereafter referred to as mllh), rg 59, nara; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 102, 132, 310. 25. Furniss to Young, December 28, 1906, mllh, nara; Furniss to Root, January 7, 1907, dusmh; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 314. 26. Vagts, The Military Attache, 33. 27. E. H. Lawson, “One Out of Twelve Million,” Washington Post, May 26, 1929, 11, 14. The U.S. Marine intervention forces used parts of Young’s monograph and his maps when they invaded Hispaniola in 1915. Marine Gen. Smedley Butler commented that the Marines found the information on Haiti in the War Department files invaluable for planning their intervention into that country. Unfortunately, only portions of the monograph survived a mid housecleaning in the 1920s. 28. Dispatch List, 1889–1941, Haiti, rg 165, nara. Unfortunately, most of Young’s reports were destroyed in the 1920s when the War Department g2 cleaned out its “dead” files. Nancy G. Heinl, “Colonel Charles Young: Pointman,” Army Magazine, March 1977.

notes to pages 172–181 319

29. Dispatch List, Haiti, nara; Heinl, “Colonel Charles Young: Pointman,” 173–74. 30. Young, “Recruiting,” Heinl Collection. 31. Young, “Recruiting,” Heinl Collection. 32. Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 306. 33. Powell to Hay, August 31, 1904, mllh; Dispatch List, Haiti, nara; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 329. 34. Young, “Reconnaissance from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo,” Heinl Collection. 35. Dispatch List, Haiti, nara; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 329 36. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 68; Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 36–37. 37. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 68. 38. Young to Dunbar, November 30, 1904; Dunbar to Young, December 16, 1904, Coleman Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 72. 39. Eldredge, In the Summer of 1903, 17. 40. Sergeant Nicholas to Ada Young, Coleman Collection; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 41, 65, 92, 96–115. 41. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 68; Heinl and Heinl, Written in Blood, 308; the unframed oil painting of Louverture is in the Coleman Collection. 42. Furniss to Root, March 1, 1907, mllh, nara. 43. Furniss to Root, March 1, 1907, mllh, nara. 44. Furniss to Root, March 1, 1907, mllh, nara. 45. Furniss to Thomas C. Dawson, U.S. Minister to Santo Domingo, March 13, 1907, mllh, nara. 46. Elihu Root, Secretary of State, to Secretary of War, March 15, 1907; Correspondence of the Department of State, rg59, nara; War Department, mid File, March 26 and April 21, 1907, rg 165, nara. 47. Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 75–76. 48. Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 76; Haggerty, Dominican Republic and Haiti, 24–27, 224–27.

320 notes to pages 183–187

10. Garrison Duty in the Philippines and Wyoming 1. Dispatch List, Haiti, nara; Letters Received, Charles Young, Adjutant General’s Office, War Department, nara. 2. William Loeleb to Capt. Charles Young, May 2, 1907, naamcc; Niess, A Hemisphere to Itself, 75–77; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 72. 3. Dispatch List, Young, Captain Charles, Ninth Cavalry, p. 1, File Number 2349-3, November 28, 1906, nara; Notes by Nancy Heinl on Memo c/5 6320, Memo to Secretary of War, “Military Morale of Nations and Races,” by Capt. Charles Young, November 28, 1906, Heinl Papers. 4. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 34–35, naamcc; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 79. 5. Ninth Regimental Returns, April–June 1907, nara. G Troop of the Ninth Cavalry remained behind to support the service school at Fort Leavenworth and never deployed to the Pacific. 6. Cleveland Gazette, August 3, 1907. 7. Charles Young to Ada Young, September 8, 1915, Coleman Collection. 8. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1908, nara. 9. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1908, nara. 10. Ninth Regimental Returns, May to August 1908, nara; Register of Graduates, 4–89. If the troop had been at full strength, it would have had three officers and one hundred enlisted men. Three officers were assigned but only two on duty with the troop, because Rubottom was on detached duty. Of the sixty-three enlisted men, fifty were present for duty, nine on special duty, and four sick. 11. Charles Young to Ada Young, December 6, 1920, Coleman Collection; Ethel Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection; Samuel Pearson to Ada Young, March 17, 1922, Coleman Collection; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 80. 12. Charles Young to Ada Young, December 6, 1920, Coleman Collection; Ethel Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection; 1885 Wilberforce Alumnal, naamcc; Lamm, “Buffalo Soldier Chaplains of the Old West,” 72–73.

notes to pages 187–194 321

13. Ninth Regimental Returns, September 1908, nara; Schubert and Schubert, On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II, 234. If he had been white, like Samuel Pearson or Joseph Kuznik, both of whom came up from the ranks, he would probably have retired as a commissioned officer. 14. Ninth Regimental Returns, November 1909, nara; G. Davis, A Treatise on the Military Law, 213–15. 15. Ninth Regimental Returns, January 1909, nara. 16. Ninth Regimental Returns, January 1909, nara. 17. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 80. 18. Ninth Regimental Returns, January 1909, nara. Charles Young and his wife must have spent some time ashore in Nagasaki since years later they fondly recalled the time in a letter. 19. Ninth Regimental Returns, June 1909, nara. 20. Fifer, Pflughoff, and Morris, Wyoming’s Historic Forts, 107; Hoagland, Army Architecture in the West, 203–8; “President Taft Establishes Brigade Posts,” New York Times, July 8, 1906, 5. General Russell was killed in the Battle of Opequon. 21. Hoagland, Army Architecture in the West, 203–43. 22. F. Schubert, “Black Soldiers on the White Frontier,” 412–15. 23. Ninth Regimental Returns, June 1909, nara. 24. Ninth Regimental Returns, July 1909, nara. 25. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1909, nara. 26. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1909, nara. 27. Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 76; Washington Post, May 26, 1929, 11. 28. Samuel Pearson to Ada Young, March 17, 1922, Coleman Collection. There were almost equal contingents of cavalry, artillery, and infantry on the 2,500–strong post. 29. Ninth Regimental Returns, September 1909, nara. 30. Ninth Regimental Returns, October to December 1909, nara. 31. Ninth Regimental Returns, January to June 1910, nara; Heitman, Historical Register, 597. 32. Ninth Regimental Returns, January to June 1910, nara.

322 notes to pages 195–200

33. Ninth Regimental Returns, July 1910, nara. 34. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1910, nara. 35. Ninth Regimental Returns, August 1910, nara. 36. Ninth Regimental Returns, September to December, 1910, nara. 37. Matloff, American Military History, 9; Weigley, History of the United States Army, 333–35. 38. Ninth Regimental Returns, March 1911, nara. 39. Ninth Regimental Returns, January 1909 to March 1911, nara. 40. “Taft Sends Negros Out of San Antonio,” New York Times, April 3, 1911, 1. 41. Charles Young to Booker T. Washington, April 3, 1911, Coleman Collection. This letter is a first draft with corrections. 42. “Taft Sends Negros Out of San Antonio,” New York Times, April 3, 1911, 1; Charles Young to Booker T. Washington, April 3, 1911, Coleman Collection. John N. Garner from Texas served in Congress from 1903 to 1933, as Speaker of the House from 1931 to 1933, and as vice president of the United States from 1933 to 1941. He considered the vice presidency an office “not worth a bucket of warm piss,” and chose to run against President Roosevelt in 1941. Had he not, he would in all likelihood have become president upon the death of Roosevelt in 1943. 43. Ninth Regimental Returns, January 1909 to March 1911, nara. 44. Ninth Regimental Returns, April to July 1911, nara. The regimental returns do not specify the civil charges against 2nd Lt. James P. Weyland of L Troop. He went on trial in Cheyenne from May 5 to May 23, was found guilty, and was put under arrest by the military authorities. He was dismissed from the service by a general court-martial approved by the president of the United States on July 13, 1911. 45. Ninth Regimental Returns, June to July 1911, nara. 46. Matloff, American Military History, 9–10; Weigley, History of the United States Army, 334.

notes to pages 200–208 323

47. Matloff, American Military History, 9–10; Weigley, History of the United States Army, 334–35. 48. Ninth Regimental Returns, September 1911, nara. 49. Ninth Regimental Returns, October to November 1911, nara; Reed Paige Clark to Booker T. Washington, November 10, 1911, naamcc. 50. Weigley, History of the United States Army, 568. Both Davis and Green were awarded commissions in 1901. Green was an infantry officer. In addition to the three black line officers mentioned, four chaplains served with the four black regiments in the Regular Army. 51. Ninth Regimental Returns, December 1911, nara. 11. Military Assistance Mission in Liberia 1. Nelson, Area Handbook for Liberia, xxiii-xxiv. 2. Akingbade, “Pacification of the Liberian Hinterland,” 280–81. 3. Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 92; Duignan and Gann, United States and Africa, 195–97; Akingbade, “Pacification of the Liberian Hinterland,” 282. 4. Nelson, Area Handbook for Liberia, pp. 37–39; Duignan and Gann, United States and Africa, pp. 195–97. 5. Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 93. 6. Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 94. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “blackwater fever,” also called “malarial hemoglobinuria” is “one of the less common yet most dangerous complications of malaria.” It occurs almost exclusively with infection from the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Blackwater fever has a high mortality. Its symptoms include a “rapid pulse, high fever and chills, extreme prostration, a rapidly developing anemia, and the passage of urine that is black or dark red in colour.” Hence the name blackwater fever. 7. Reed Paige Clark to Booker T. Washington, November 10, 1911, naamcc; State Department History Office List of Mission and Principal Officials; Heitman, Historical Register, 660. 8. Reed Paige Clark to Booker T. Washington, November 10, 1911, naamcc. 9. Booker T. Washington to Capt. Charles Young, November 18, 1911, naamcc.

324 notes to pages 209–212

10. Capt. Charles Young to Booker T. Washington, November 24, 1911, naamcc. 11. Ninth Regimental Return, December 1911, nara; Adjutant General’s Office List of Letters Received, Young, Charles, nara. 12. Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 94. 13. State Department History Office List of Ministers to Liberia; Padgett, “Ministers to Liberia,” 83. Willard Gatewood, “William D. Crum.” In 1906 Secretary of State Elihu Root reorganized the consular service, instituting an entrance examination and raising annual salaries, ranging from two thousand to twelve thousand dollars, in an attempt to attract a higher quality diplomatic corps. William Demos Crum served from August 25, 1910, to September 17, 1912. In September, Minister Crum became so gravely ill with blackwater fever that he sailed back to Charleston where he died three months later. 14. State Department List of Ministers to Liberia; Padgett, “Ministers to Liberia,” 83, 91; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 84; Schneller, Breaking the Color Barrier, 60–61. In 1897, Congressman W. B. Shattuc, a former Union cavalry officer and representative of the First Ohio District, appointed Richard C. Bundy to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Shattuc was pressured to withdraw Bundy’s name by fellow congressional representatives, but refused. Bundy failed the entrance exam on September 1, 1897. 15. Padgett, “Ministers to Liberia,” 83; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 56. 16. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 84. 17. Young’s acp File, nara. Company-grade officers are those in the ranks of second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain who served in company or troop level positions. Field-grade officers, or those in the rank of major and above, serve in command or staff positions at higher levels. 18. Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 55–56. 19. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35–36; Powell, “Roster 9th Ohio Volunteers,” 2; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 55.

notes to pages 213–216 325

20. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35–36; Powell, “Roster Ninth Ohio Volunteers,” 6; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 55. Booker T. Washington voiced some doubts about the suitability of Brown in a letter he never sent to Reed Paige Clark, calling him a “bumptious, troublesome, sensitive, foolish fellow” who would “not be in Liberia ten days before he would” cause “all kinds of trouble.” (March 25, 1912, Con. 916, btw Papers, http://www.history cooperative.org/btw/volumes.html). 21. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35–36, Powell, “Roster Ninth Ohio Volunteers,” 6; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 55, 69; Newton’s enlistment papers, Bertha Rhodes Collection. 22. Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 56. 23. Samuel B. Pearson to Charles Young, May 15, 1912, and August 6, 1913, Coleman Collection. 24. Young to Bundy, October 9, 1912, nara; Willard Gatewood, “William D. Crum,” 319–20. 25. Young to Crum, October 9, 1912, nara; mid List of Correspondence, 7468-1, November 9, 1912; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 60. 26. Howard to Young, November 23, 1912, Liberian Dispatches, War Department Records, nara; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 83–84; Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 95. 27. Young to Howard, November 24, 1912, Liberian Dispatches, War Department Records, nara; Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 4–14, War Department Records, nara; Notes on Young’s Report, Heinl Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 84–87. 28. Liberian Dispatches, War Department Records, nara; Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 4–14, War Department Records, nara; Notes on Young’s Report, Heinl Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 85; Liebenou, “Liberia,” 26–27. 29. Liberian Dispatches, War Department Records, nara; Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 4–14, War Department Records, nara; Notes on Young’s Report, Heinl Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 86.

326 notes to pages 217–220

30. Liberian Dispatches, War Department Records, nara; Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 4–14, War Department Records, nara; Notes on Young’s Report, Heinl Collection; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 86–87. In his report Young describes the Muslim Mandingoes, mistakenly, as the “black Jews of Africa.” 31. Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 14; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 87; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 87. 32. Charles Young, “Report of the Brown Relief Expedition,” 15–20; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 83–89; Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 95. 33. Maj. Charles Young to the Secretary, War College Division, General Staff, January 13, 1913, Liberian Dispatches, nara. 34. Maj. Charles Young to the Secretary, War College Division, General Staff, January 19, 1913, Liberian Dispatches, nara. 35. Young discovered that it was difficult to gather intelligence information and at the same time develop the contacts necessary to run a successful security assistance mission. The diplomacy and associations necessary to carry out these missions were often at odds with each other. With the former, he had to be an advocate of the United States and do whatever was necessary to gather the information needed by the War Department. For the latter, Young had to be both loyal to his country and a supporter of Liberia as well as to use a more collegial approach as he dealt with his foreign counterparts on behalf of the State Department. This was a problem that Young wrestled with throughout his tour of duty, and not always with success. I served as an army attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, Germany, from 1986 to 1989, and know of this conflict firsthand. 36. Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 90–91. 37. Dispatch List, 1889–1941, Liberia, nara; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 88. 38. Young to Bundy, September 26, 1915, naamcc; Bundy to Secretary of State, May 15, 1913, nara; Terrell, “History of the High School for Negroes in Washington,” 265; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 69; Akingbade, “Afro-American Officers and the Reorganization of the Liberian Frontier Force,” 74–77.

notes to pages 221–226 327

39. Young to Bundy, September 26, 1915, naamcc; Ballard to Hawkins, November 30, 1914, naahmc; Buckner to Secretary of State, July 15, 1914, Bertha Rhodes Collection. 40. Ballard to Hawkins, November 30, 1914, naamc; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 69; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 89. 41. Young to Bundy, September 26, 1915, naamcc; Dunn, Beyan, and Burrowes, Historical Dictionary of Liberia, 196; Clegg, “A Splendid Type of Colored American,” 69. 42. Major Young to Maj. Charles Crawford, Liberian Dispatches, December 31, 1914, rg 165, nara. 43. George Buckner to Charles Young, October 7, 1914; Charles Young to Ada Young, September 8, 1915, Coleman Collection; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 90–91. 44. Young to Bundy, September 26, 1915, naamcc. 45. In his letter to Colonel Skerrett, Young names the following classmates who showed him friendship and sympathy: James Schermerhorn, Alexander Piper, Walter Bethel, Frank Webster, Edward McGlachlin, Ralph Harrison, James Lamblin, George Langhorne, Malvern-Hill Barnum, and Harry Bandholtz. He also mentions the “disinterested help” of two professors, Col. W. B. Gordon and Gen. George Goethels. 46. Young to Col. Delamere Skerrett, July 26, 1915; Young to Col. Alexander Piper, July 26, 1915, usma Library Special Collections. 47. Farrow, Dictionary of Military Terms, 363; Adjutant General’s Office List of Letters Received, Young, Charles, nara. 48. Charles Young to Ada Young, October 18, 1915, Coleman Collection. 49. Major Young from the Adjutant General, January 7, 1916, naamcc. 50. Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 95. 51. Nelson, Area Handbook for Liberia, 260; Fletcher, Black Soldier and Officer, 95. 52. Dispatch List, 1889–1941, Liberia, nara. 53. Boston Journal, February 26, 1916, Coleman Collection. Dr. Ernst E. Just won the award for his pioneering research on fertilization and cell division at Woods Hole in Massachusetts.

328 notes to pages 226–234

54. Ovington and Luker, Black and White Sat Down Together, 86. 55. Boston Journal, February 26, 1916; Spingarn Award Program, February 22, 1916, Coleman Collection. There have only been two Spingarn Medals awarded to military men between 1915 and the present: Charles Young in 1916 and Colin T. Powell in 1991. 12. Chasing Villa in Mexico 1. McLynn, Villa and Zapata, 313–23; Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower, 35. 2. Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower, 35. 3. Charles Young to Ada Young, March 1, 1916, Coleman Collection. 4. Ethel Prioleau to Ada Young, Coleman Collection. Young would ride into Mexico on Prioleau’s horse since his own horse had not yet arrived and the chaplain was departing for Hawaii. He purchased the mount for a down payment of fifty dollars with the balance due in May. 5. Charles Young to Ada Young, March 1, 1916, Coleman Collection; Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 7. Another cavalryman, Capt. George C. Patton, also worked with Cabell on Pershing’s staff. 6. Charles Young to Ada Young, March 11, 1916, Coleman Collection; Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 1–5. 7. Charles Young to Ada Young, March 15, 1916, Coleman Collection. 8. McLynn, Villa and Zapata, 313–34; Matloff, American Military History, 355–56. 9. Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 5–6; Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 67–68. After the First Brigade started its march from Columbus at noon on March 15, General Pershing started in an automobile for Culberson’s but an accident delayed him, and he did not arrive until midnight. 10. Troxel, “Tenth Cavalry in Mexico,” 1; Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 70, 123. 11. Troxel, “Tenth Cavalry in Mexico,” 1–2.

notes to pages 235–240 329

12. Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 7–15. 13. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 71–72, 123–24. The First Squadron separated from the Second and the regimental headquarters just before the fight at Agua Caliente on April 1 and did not rejoin them until April 14. 14. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 123–24; Troxel, “Tenth Cavalry in Mexico,” 2. 15. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 75, 125–27; Smythe, Guerilla Warrior, 241–45. Parral was also the location of Pancho Villa’s assassination in 1923. 16. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 75, 125–27; Eisenhower, Intervention, 240–42; “Reports on Parral Fight,” New York Times, April 17, 1916, 1. 17. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 76–79. McLynn, Villa and Zapata, 393–94; Essin, Shavetails and Bell Sharps, 140–45. 18. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 76–79. McLynn, Villa and Zapata, 393–94; Essin, Shavetails and Bell Sharps, 140–45. 19. Blumenson, Patton Papers, 363–66; Smythe, Guerilla Warrior, 252–57. 20. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 79–80; Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 25–28; Smythe, Guerilla Warrior, 254–57. 21. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 79–80; Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 25–28; Smythe, Guerilla Warrior, 254–57. The twentyone American prisoners were released on June 29, 1916, in El Paso, Texas. 22. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 80–81; Howe, Campaigning in Mexico, 1916, 28–30. 23. Charles Young to Ada Young, July 12, 1916, Coleman Collection. 24. Blumenson, Patton Papers, 377; D’Este, Patton, 178; Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, preface, 81. Patton, who was promoted in the field to first lieutenant on May 23, 1916, was one of three aides to Pershing. Since Pershing was only authorized two aides, Patton was assigned on paper to the Tenth Cavalry while serving in Mexico.

330 notes to pages 240–242

25. Army and Navy Journal, August 12, 1916; Greene, Colonel Charles Young, 130–31; F. Schubert, Black Valor, 137–44. George Wanton, who joined the Tenth Cavalry in 1889, the same year as Young graduated from West Point, was anything but a model soldier in his early years, with eight court-martial convictions. But he won the Medal of Honor after volunteering to join a small party for a dangerous mission to rescue wounded comrades in Cuba in 1898. 26. Charles Young to Ada Young, August 6, 1916, Coleman Collection. 27. Charles Young to Ada Young, August 9, 1916, Coleman Collection; Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 94. Maj. Gen. Tasker Bliss was the chief of staff of the army. The regimental commander, William C. Brown, who was a classmate of Henry O. Flipper, usma 1877, was sick and gave up command of the regiment. Ellwood W. Evans was a classmate of John H. Alexander, usma 1887, and was promoted to colonel and took command of the Tenth Cavalry on August 1, 1916. De Rosey C. Cabell, usma class 1884, was promoted to colonel, and commanded the Tenth Regiment in 1917 before being promoted to brigadier general. 28. Charles Young to Ada Young, August 18 and 24, 1916, Coleman Collection. Elwood Evans is referred to as a major in the regimental histories, but is called lieutenant colonel by Young on occasion. He served as a volunteer lieutenant colonel in the Maryland Volunteers during the Spanish-American War, so he may have been wearing this rank in Mexico in spite of the fact that he was still a major in the Regular Army. 29. Notes on Young’s medical records, Nancy Heinl, Nancy Heinl Collection; Charles Young acp File, Promotion and Physical Exam, June 28, 1916. 30. Charles Young to Ada Young, August 21, 1916, Coleman Collection. Frank L. Winn graduated from West Point in 1886, was an aide to General MacArthur in the Philippines from 1904 to 1909, and made major general and commanded the Eighty-ninth Division during WWI.

notes to pages 243–249 331

31. Charles Young to Ada Young, September 10, 1916, Coleman Collection. 32. Charles Young to Ada Young, September 12 and 16, 1916, Coleman Collection; Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 94. 33. Charles Young to Ada Young, September 27, 1916, Coleman Collection. 34. Charles Young to Ada Young, December 25, 1916, Coleman Collection. 35. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 81; Charles Young to Ada Young, February 5, 1917, Coleman Collection. 13. Retirement to Ohio 1. Charles Young to Ada Young, June 12 and September 8, 1917, Coleman Collection. 2. Charles Young to Ada Young, June 12 and September 8, 1917, Coleman Collection. 3. Charles Young to Ada Young, February 5, 1917, Coleman Collection; Purnell, “Colonel Charles Young”; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 112. 4. Charles Young to Ada Young, February 17, 1917, Coleman Collection. 5. Charles Young to Ada Young, February 18, 1917, Coleman Collection. 6. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 94; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 114; Register of Graduates, 4–63. 7. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 94; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 114; Register of Graduates, 4–63. Evans’s actions probably reflected the sentiments of a racially intolerant Southerner from Maryland who had graduated from West Point in 1886 with John Alexander, the second black graduate of the academy. 8. Glass, History of the Tenth Cavalry, 94. 9. “Report of an Examining Board in the Case of Lt. Colonel Charles Young,” July 7, 1917, Heinl Papers. Nancy Gordon Heinl copied this report from Young’s service record that was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1973.

332 notes to pages 250–256

10. “Report of an Examining Board,” Heinl Papers; Charles Young to Ada Young, June 10, 1917, Coleman Collection. 11. “Report of an Examining Board,” Heinl Papers. 12. Charles Young to W. E. B. Du Bois, June 20, 1917, in Du Bois, Correspondence of W. E. B. Du Bois. 13. Wolters, Du Bois and His Rivals, 112–16. 14. “Report of an Examining Board,” , Heinl Papers. 15. President Woodrow Wilson to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, June 25, 1917, nara. 16. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to President Woodrow Wilson, June 26, 1917, nara. 17. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to President Woodrow Wilson, July 7, 1917, in MacGregor and Nalty, Blacks in the U.S. Armed Forces, 65. 18. President Woodrow Wilson to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, July 9, 1917, in MacGregor and Nalty, Blacks in the U.S. Armed Forces, 66; Register of Graduates, 4–80. 19. Memo from the Adjutant General for the Chief of Staff of the Army, July 25, 1917, Heinl Collection. 20. Memo to Maj. Gen. Tasker Bliss, July 31, 1917, in MacGregor and Nalty, Blacks in the U.S. Armed Forces, 67. 21. Memo to Maj. Gen. Tasker Bliss, July 31, 1917, in MacGregor and Nalty, Blacks in the U.S. Armed Forces, 67. 22. Scarborough, A Tribute to Charles Young, 10, naamcc. 23. Scarborough, A Tribute to Charles Young, 11, naamcc; Register of Graduates, 4–55. Heistand was from Ohio and graduated from West Point in 1878. The Army Department of the Lakes was headquartered in Chicago and was responsible for Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. 24. Scarborough, A Tribute to Charles Young, 11, naamcc; Register of Graduates, 4–62. 25. Scarborough, A Tribute to Charles Young, 11, naamcc; Chase, “Struggle for Equality,” 306; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 125–26; Wolters, Du Bois and His Rivals, 115. More than a thousand African Americans served

notes to pages 257–266 333

as officers during World War I. While African Americans comprised about 13 percent of the active duty manpower, only seven-tenths of 1 percent of the officer corps was black. 26. Undated notes by Charles Young, Coleman Collection. 27. Fletcher, America’s First Black General, 50–51. 28. Slotkin, Lost Battalions, 41–42; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 124–25. Roosevelt had also endorsed Young’s book The Military Morale of Nations and Races and they shared some of the same ideas about racial personality and national ideology. 29. Slotkin, Lost Battalions, 42–44. 30. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 130; Bennett, “Old Soldier Who Wouldn’t Surrender,” 85–95. This Ebony article is largely based on a diary Young kept during his ride that surfaced in the 1970s. 31. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 131; Bennett, “Old Soldier Who Wouldn’t Surrender,” 85–95. 32. Bennett, “Old Soldier Who Wouldn’t Surrender,” 85–95. 33. Goethals to Young, July 6, 1918, naamcc; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 131. 34. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 131–32. 35. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 131–32. 36. Col. Charles Young to Charles I. Smith Jr., January 15, 1919, naamcc Collection, Wilberforce, Ohio. 14. Final Post in Liberia 1. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality, 100; Lee, “War Camp Community Service,” 198. 2. Correspondence of the Military Intelligence Division, 1917–41, m1194, roll 261, file nos. 2345-742 and 2345-743, nara. All three black officers serving in the Regular Army were stationed in Liberia as military attachés between 1909 and 1919: Benjamin O. Davis, John E. Green, and Charles Young. 3. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 144–46. 4. Kilroy, For Race and Country, 144–46. 5. Charles Young to W. E. B. Du Bois, June 20, 1917, in Du Bois, W. E. B. Du Bois Correspondence 1934–1944.

334 notes to pages 266–271

6. Dispatch List, m1271, nara. 7. Post Report Monrovia, July 24, 1926, State Department, rg 59, 124.82/15, Heinl Papers. 8. Correspondence of the mid, m1194, nara; Ada to Charles Young, November 1, 1920, Coleman Collection. 9. Charles to Ada Young, March 8, 1920, Coleman Collection; Dunn, Historical Dictionary of Liberia, 151–52. The French had occupied and then acquired by treaty a sizeable piece of land in the same area from Liberia in 1892. 10. Ada to Charles Young, March 8, 1920, Coleman Collection. 11. Wilberforce University Annual Catalogue, 1898, 35–36; Powell, “Roster, Ninth Ohio Volunteers,” 6; Ada to Charles Young, March 8, 1920, Coleman Collection; Emmett Scott, American Negro in the World War, appendix A. Capt. Samuel L. Smith, Capt. L. L. Smith, Capt. W. S. Boyle, Capt. James B. Howard are also mentioned during this period as captains in the lff, but they could have been Liberian officers. 12. State Department History Office List of Mission and Principal Officials; Padgett, “Ministers to Liberia and Their Diplomacy,” 87. Johnson replaced Minister James L. Curtis, who died during a trip to Freetown, Sierra Leone, for medical assistance on October 24, 1917. 13. Charles to Ada Young, March 8, 1920, Coleman Collection; Dunn, Historical Dictionary of Liberia, 168–69, 189. 14. Dispatch List, m1271, nara; Charles to Ada Young, November 1, 1920, Coleman Collection; Minister Johnson to State Department, January 2, 1922, Heinl Papers. 15. Monrovia Weekly Review, July 17, 1920; Charles Young to W. E. B. Du Bois, July 20, 1920, Coleman Collection; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 148. 16. Correspondence of the mid, m1474, and Dispatch List, m1271, nara. 17. Votaw, “U.S. Military Attaches,” 235–41; Memorandum to the Adjutant General from the Officer in Charge, mid, Maj. Arthur L. Wagner, September 28, 1897, Article 639-6, War College Department Correspondence, rg 165, nara.

notes to pages 271–275 335

18. Bidwell, History of the Military Intelligence Division, 151–59. 19. “Liberia Combat Factor,” Monograph Subsection, Military Information Division, War Department, September 1920, naamcc. The two War Department monographs in the collection of the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (naamcc) in Wilberforce, Ohio, are extremely valuable artifacts and important sources of historical information. They were carried by Col. Charles Young on his second tour to Liberia as a military attaché and may have accompanied him when he died on a confidential mission to Nigeria in 1922. The monographs on Liberia and Nigeria represent early attempts by the War Department to create a series of geographic handbooks and country studies on the military and political affairs of the countries of the world. These two volumes may be the only known existing monographs from the 1920s to have survived the vagaries of time. 20. Correspondence of the mid, m1474, and Dispatch List, m1271, nara; “Liberia Combat Factor,” Monograph Subsection, Military Information Division, naamcc. 21. Correspondence of the mid, m1474, nara. 22. Dispatch List, m1271, nara; R. Hill, The Marcus Garvey and unia Papers, 78–79. 23. “Nigeria Political Factor,” Monograph Subsection, Military Information Division,” naamc. 24. Johnson to Secretary of State, December 28, 1921, and January 22, 1922, Heinl Papers; Dispatch List, nara. 25. Dispatch List, nara; Charles to Ada Young, December 6, 1920, Coleman Collection; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 152. Charles Young wrote his last letter to Ada Young on October 18, 1921, and it arrived in Paris on November 16, 1916, the day he departed Monrovia on a steamer on his “African Journey.” 26. Johnson to Secretary of State, December 28, 1921, and January 22, 1922, Heinl Papers. Henry Atwood, who did not formally work at the legation, did arrive shortly before Young’s death in Nigeria. 27. Charles Young, “African Journey,” Coleman Collection; Jackson, “An African Elegy.” Inside the front cover of Young’s journal is the

336 notes to pages 275–281

Washington dc address of H. O. Atwood (1315 T St. nw) and the names and addresses of two individuals in Duala, Cameroon, named D. B. Onipede and M. S. Gabbidon Hayes. Also noted are two short tunes with words, titled “Conko Bay Song” and Woman Get Ashore.” Jackson also noted that “Every ship on which he has ‘coasted it’ remembers ‘The Colonel’s Amplified Native Songs.’” 28. Charles Young, “African Journey,” Coleman Collection. 29. Charles Young, “African Journey,” Coleman Collection. 30. Charles Young, “African Journey,” Coleman Collection. 31. Charles Young, “African Journey,” Coleman Collection; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 153. 32. Young to British Bank of West Africa, telegraph, Monrovia, December 26, 1921, Coleman Collection; Johnson to Secretary of State, December 28, 1921, and January 22, 1922, Heinl Papers; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 153. 33. Johnson to Secretary of State, cable, on December 28, and reply on December 31, 1921, Heinl Notes. 34. Death Certificate signed by Dr. William Walker, M.D., January 9, 1921, Coleman Collection. 35. Photos of the funeral ceremony, Coleman Collection; Johnson to Secretary of State, cables, December 28, 1921, January 10, 1922, and January 22, 1922, Heinl Notes; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 153. 36. Photos of the funeral ceremony, Coleman Collection; Johnson to Secretary of State, cables, December 28, 1921, January 10, 1922, and January 22, 1922, Heinl Notes; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 153. Epilogue 1. War Department to Ada Young, telegraph, January 30, 1922, Army War College Division Records, rg 165, nara. 2. Ada Young to Quartermaster General, February 2, 1922, Army War College Division Records, rg 165, nara. 3. Department of State Instruction 149, March 10, 1922, State Department Correspondence, nara; State Department History Office List of Mission and Principal Officials.

notes to pages 281–286 337

4. Solomon P. Hood to Secretary of State, June 18, 1922, Legation of Monrovia Correspondence, nara. Hood also wanted a guarantee that the cost of five hundred dollars would be reimbursed. 5. Hood to State, cable, August 15, 1923, Heinl Papers. 6. Hood to State, cable, January 25, 1922; State to Hood, cable, February 10, 1923, Heinl Papers. 7. Hood to State, cable, April 23, 1923, Heinl Papers. “Last Post”—not “Last Call”—is the British version of taps. 8. Notes from Heinl Papers; Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Fight for Equality, 101. 9. Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Fight for Equality, 101; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 156–57. 10. Photos of the funeral procession, Coleman Collection; Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Fight for Equality, 101–2; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 156–57. 11. Photos of the funeral procession, Coleman Collection; Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Fight for Equality, 101–2; Kilroy, For Race and Country, 158. 12. Photos of the funeral procession, Coleman Collection; Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: Fight for Equality, 101–2; Kilroy, For Race and Country, p158. 13. Funeral Services of Colonel Charles Young, Coleman Collection. 14. Ethel G. Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection. 15. Ethel G. Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection. 16. Ethel G. Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection. 17. Ethel G. Prioleau to Ada Young, undated, Coleman Collection.

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Index

Adair, Henry T., 238 African Methodist Episcopal Church (ame), 51, 58, 73, 77 Agua Caliente, Mexico, 235, 248 Aguinaldo, Emilio, 118, 129 airplanes, 200, 236, 245 Alcalde, Joaquim Mallo, 275 Alexander, John H., 3–5, 11–12, 19–24, 37–40, 43–44, 49–50, 53, 94, 256 Alexis, Pierre Nord, 165, 168–70 Allardice, Robert, 155, 316n46 Allensworth, Allen, 151 Americo-Liberians, 205 Amilivia, Don Adolfo, 274 Anderson, John H., 268 Annin, W. E., 19 Anti-Lynching Fund, 243–44 Arlington Cemetery, 280, 282–84 Army and Navy Journal, 66, 240, 241 Army and Navy Register, 241 Arnett, Benjamin, 77 Arthur, Chester, 11 Arwine, A. T., 141 Atlanta Compromise, 64 Atwood, Harry O., 78, 265, 268, 274, 277 Axton, John T., 284

Barkley, Edwin J., 269 baseball, 42–43, 101 Bass, Emmanuel D., 77 Bassett, Ebenezer Don Carlos, 167 Bataan, P. I., 134 Batangas, P. I., 129–32, 185–89 Bean, Allen C., 265, 268 Belgian Congo, 275 Belgium, 222 Bell, James Franklin, 126, 130 Bellevue ne, 25, 27 Beltran, Joaquin, 235 Benteen, Frederick W., 32–33 beriberi, 133 Beta Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Black Cats), 210 blackwater fever, 207, 219–20, 250, 266, 323n6 Blakeney, John, 96–97, 119–20, 122 Blanca Aurora (Matuguinao), P. I., 120–25 Bliss, Tasker H., 161, 173, 241 Board, William L., 184 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 177 Boston ma, 226–27, 265 boxing, 43 Boyd, Charles T., 238

Badie, David, 35 Baker, Newton D., 252–53, 260 Balangiga, P. I., 125–26 Baldwin, William H., 67 Ballard, Wilson, 77, 212, 220–21, 303n12 Ballou, Charles D., 256 Baltimore md, 213 band, 43, 102

Break-Bone Fever. See dengue fever Brice, Calvin, 50, 52 Bright’s disease. See nephritis British West Africa, 270 Britten, Ernest, 143 Brooklyn ny, 283 Brown, Arthur, 78, 212, 215–18, 220, 325n20

354 index Brown, William C., 232, 234–36, 241–42, 245, 248, 256 Bumstead, Horace, 227 Bundy, Nellie, 211 Bundy, Richard C., 210–11, 220, 222, 268–69, 324n14 Burroughs, Charles, 78 Bushnell, Asa S., 72–73, 76, 84, 258 Cabell, De Rosey C., 231–32, 248 Cadell, R. MacKay, 205–6 Cadet Battalion, Wilberforce University, 56–59 Calabar, Nigeria, 276 Calbayog, P. I., 119, 127 Calvert, Edward Y., 112 Cameroon (German Kamerun), 222, 273 Camp Alger va, 77–82 Camp Denver, P. I., 125 Camp Des Moines ia, 246, 251–52, 256, 275–76 Camp Douglas az, 232 Camp Grant il, 260–61 Camp Marion sc, 87–88 Camp McGrath, P. I., 185–89 Camp Meade pa, 82–87 Cape Palmas, Liberia, 267–68 Cardenas, Julio, 238 Carranza, Venustiano, 233, 235–38 Carrizal, Mexico, 238, 248 Carter, William H., 197 casco (boat), 120–21, 126 Cassidy, Butch, 113 Catalina (Spanish steamer), 274 Cavalry, Regular U.S. Regiments: First U.S. Cavalry, 100; Fifth U.S. Cavalry, 113; Sixth U.S. Cavalry, 3, 127; Seventh U.S. Cavalry, 11, 27, 66, 98, 232; Ninth U.S. Cavalry, 4–47, 67, 74–75, 83–158, 182–203, 213, 249, 257; Tenth U.S. Cavalry, 2–4, 67, 118, 187, 224, 229–49, 252–53; Eleventh U.S. Cavalry, 232; Thirteenth U.S. Cavalry, 232, 236; Fourteenth U.S. Cavalry, 130 Cavalry, Volunteer Regiments. See First Volunteer Cavalry Central State University, 299n7, 299n10

Cess (Liberian Ethnic Group), 222 Chaffee, Adna R., 126, 130 Cheyenne Daily Leader, 191 Cheyenne Tribune, 191 Cheyenne wy, 189–91, 193, 195, 199 Chickamauga ga, 74 cholera, 129 Civil War, 5, 19, 35, 59, 137, 242, 284, 291n4 Clark, Powhattan, 240 Clark, Reed Paige, 207–11 Cleveland, Grover, 33, 44, 50, 52 Cleveland Gazette, 73, 80–82, 86, 186 Cleveland oh, 27 Cleveland Press, 86, 305n29 Colonia Dublan, Mexico, 237–44, 248 Columbus nm, 230–33, 244 Columbus oh, 72, 77 Combined Normal and Industrial Department (Wilberforce University), 51–56, 299n7 Congo River, 275 Cooper, James F., 269 Cox, Edwin L., 141, 313n13 Craigie, Wallace C., 197, 199 Crawford ne, 14, 291n11 Crete-a-Pierrot, Battle of, 170 Crisis, 251, 269–70 Crum, William D., 210, 219, 324n13 Culberson Ranch nm, 232 Cuney, Charles, 184 Curtis, James L., 269 Daily Visalia Delta, 142, 144–45 Daily Visalia Times, 141 Daraga, P. I., 127–28 Davenport, F. M., 184 Davis, Benjamin O., 102–5, 113, 116–18, 123–24, 175, 202, 206–7, 257, 287 Davis, Louis, 143 Davis, William O., 99 Dawson, Thomas C., 180 Daza, Eugenio, 125 dengue fever, 133–34 Dennis, Wilmot, 219 Derrick, William B., 73 Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, 170

index 355 Dewey, George, 118 Diaz, Porfirio, 230 Dillard, James H., 226 Dimmick, Eugene D., 36–37, 296n13 Dockery, Albert B., 252–53 Dodd, George A., 232, 235 Dominican Republic, 162, 164–65, 174– 75, 180–81, 183 Douala, Cameroon, 275–76 Douglas wy, 193, 196 Douglass, Charles, 80 Douglass, Frederick, 80, 167 Downes, Edward E., 124 Dube, Charles, 58, 300n22 DuBois, Nina, 222 DuBois, W. E. B., 62–65, 69, 139, 155, 222, 227, 244, 250–51, 264, 270, 283 Duggan, Thomas B., 257 Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 62–64, 69, 80, 155, 176, 185 Duncan, Joseph W., 32 Erwin, William W., 186, 191, 193, 196–97 Evans, Elwood W., 232, 234, 236, 241, 243, 248 Falls Church va, 78–82 Fernando Po (now Bioko, part of Equatorial Guinea), 274–75 Ferrand, Max, 155, 316n46 Fifth U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 59 Filipino Constabulary, 129 Fillmore, Charles W., 72–73, 76, 258–59, 302n5, 303n14 Finley, Walter L., 21 Firmin, Antenor, 165, 178 First Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), 78 Fisk University, 62 Flipper, Henry O., 3, 41, 87 Fort Apache az, 67, 111 Fort David A. Russell wy, 189–96, 200– 202, 213, 285 Fort Davis tx, 2 Fort Duchesne ut, 3, 23, 27–29, 31–47, 75, 83–114, 291n3, 295n2

Fort Huachuca az, 229–32, 245, 247–49, 256, 285 Fort Leavenworth ks, 49, 65, 104–5, 184, 192, 253, 291n3 Fort McKinney wy, 23, 291n3 Fort Niobrara ne, 291n3 Fort Riley ks, 46, 49, 113, 184, 193 Fort Robinson ne, 3, 9–30, 291n3, 292n14 Fort Sam Houston tx, 196–200 Fort Sheridan il, 184 Fort Sill ok, 3 Fort Thornburgh ut, 32, 295n3 Fort Washakie wy, 291n3 Fortune, Timothy Thomas, 137–38 France, 177, 206, 216–17, 224, 265, 267, 270, 275 Freeman, 139 Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad, 14 French Boundary Commission, 274 French Guinea, 216, 218 French West Africa, 270–73 Fry, Walter, 143 Funston, Frederick, 230, 232 Furniss, Henry W., 169–70, 173, 178–80 Gandara River, P. I., 119–26 G.A.R. See Grand Army of the Republic Garner, John N., 198, 322n42 Garrard, Joseph, 101 Garrard, Mary, 101 Garretson, George A., 80, 304n22 Garvey, Marcus, 272–73 Geffrard, J. F., 178 George, Charles P., 37 Germany, 166–67, 170, 206, 221–22, 270–73, 276 Ghost Dance, 25–27 Gibson, H. H., 275 Goethals, George W., 142–43, 260 Gomez, Felix, 238 Graham, W. William, 79, 81, 87 Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), 60, 149 Grass Valley ca, 156 Great Britain, 205–6, 222, 273, 276–78 Grebo (Liberia ethnic group), 267

356 index Green, John E., 202, 223, 235, 257, 264, 272, 323n50 Greenville, Liberia, 221 Grey’s Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria, 276–78, 280 Griffes, Marion E., 151 Guerrero, Mexico, 235 Guilfoyle, John F., 94–96, 99–111, 118, 199 Guiuan, P. I., 124 Haiti, 90, 162–81, 183, 264 Hale, Chandler, 207 Hale, Harry C., 161 Hamilton College, 184 Harrisburg Inquirer, 87 Harrisburg pa, 82 Harvard University, 62 Hatch, Edward, 11, 15, 291n11 Havana, Cuba, 73 Hawkins, Eldridge, 221 Hay, John, 162, 165, 169 Hayward, William, 258 Heart of Darkness, 215 Heistand, Henry O., 55, 255–56, 299n14, 332n23 Henderson, Clifford, 83 Henry, F. P., 156 Henry, Guy V., 4–6, 95, 296n11 Hercules, 120 Hernandez, Nicholas, 235 Hilton, John H., 54 Hispaniola, Island of, 159–81 Hogan, Ernest, 137–38 “hog ranch,” 14 Hood, Solomon P., 281–82 Hope, John, 226 Horne, William J. D., 36 horses, 18, 110, 191–92, 237, 245, 259, 266, 283–84 Howard, Daniel E., 209, 215, 219, 224, 269 Howard, John H., 144–45 Howard University, 90, 210, 212, 268, 284 Howe, Jerome W., 233 Howells, William Dean, 64 Hoyt, Ralph A., 195

Hughes, Martin B., 99, 104, 107, 113, 118, 135 Hughes, Robert P., 119, 122, 124–25 Hulick, George W., 53 Humphrey, Ballard S., 4, 290n9, 301n41 Hurst, John, 226 Hyppolite, Louis Mondestin Florvil, 166 Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos, Nigeria, 278, 282 Iloilo, P. I., 132 Independent Order of Odd Fellows (ioof), 150 Infantry, Immune Volunteer Regiments (Colored): Seventh U.S. Infantry Immune Volunteers, 75; Eighth U.S. Infantry Immune Volunteers, 75, 103, 187; Ninth U.S. Infantry Immune Volunteers, 75; Tenth U.S. Infantry Immune Volunteers, 75 Infantry, National Guard Regiments: Ninth Ohio Infantry, 254–55; Fifteenth New York Infantry, 258–59 Infantry, Regular U.S. Regiments: First U.S. Infantry, 124; Fourth U.S. Infantry, 78; Eighth U.S. Infantry, 15–16, 27; Ninth U.S. Infantry, 125; Twelfth U.S. Infantry, 78; Fourteenth U.S. Infantry, 12; Sixteenth U.S. Infantry, 36, 41; Eighteenth U.S. Infantry, 11; TwentyFirst U.S. Infantry, 32–33, 36, 67; Twenty-Fourth U.S. Infantry, 67, 78, 97, 242; Twenty-Fifth U.S. Infantry, 4, 78, 197 Infantry, Volunteer Regiments: First New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, 79; Third Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, 86; Sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 79–80; Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 79; Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 79; Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 84; Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 79; Fourteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 86 Infantry, Volunteer Battalions (Colored). See Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Infantry, Volunteer Regiments (Colored):

index 357 Third North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, 75; Sixth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, 75; Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 75; Twenty-Third Kansas Volunteer Infantry, 75; Forty-Eighth Volunteer Infantry, 98, 212; FortyNinth Volunteer Infantry, 99, 187 insurrectos (ladrone), 120–32 Inyo County ca, 151 Ivory Coast, 267, 270 Jackson, Henry, 124 Japan, 135, 189 Jim Crow, 197–98, 200, 286 Johnson, John, 97, 103 Johnson, Joseph L., 268–69, 274, 277 Jones, Abner, 97, 134 Jones, Jasper, 134 Jones, Otho E., 156 Just, Ernst E., 226 Kaiser William II, 170 Kakaza, Theodore, 58, 300n22 Kano, Nigeria, 276 Kansas City ks, 65–66 Kansas State University, 213 Kaweah ca, 142–43 Kentucky, 59, 137, 156, 242 Kilbourne, Louis H., 194 King, Charles D. B., 269 Korea, 135 Kru (Liberia ethnic group), 221–22, 224, 281 La Crete-a-Pierrot, 167 Ladd, Eugene F., 12, 24–25 ladrones. See insurrectos Lagos, Nigeria, 276–78, 281–82 Lay, Elzy, 113 Leclerc, Victor Emmanuel, 177 Legaspi, P. I., 127 Leitch, Joseph, 2 Letterman Army Hospital, 249–52 Lewis, Edmonia, 155 Liberia, 201–2, 204–28, 263–79 Liberian Frontier Force (lff), 205–9, 212–25, 265–69, 277, 281

Liberian Militia, 206, 222 London, England, 222 Long, John H., 73 Loud, John S., 35 Louverture, Toussaint, 113, 164, 170, 177, 178 Love, Robert R., 197, 199, 202 Lucena, P. I., 129 Lukban, Vicente, 119, 124, 126 Luzon Island, P. I., 118–19, 126–32, 185–89 lyceum, 17, 45–47, 110–11 lynching, 73, 243–44 Lyons, Judson W., 80, 304n23 MacArthur, Arthur, 119 machine guns, 191, 234–35, 245 Macomb, Augustus C., 186 Macon ga, 89 malaria, 133, 266 Malvar, Miguel, 126, 129–32 “Manchu Law,” 51, 223, 247 Mandingo (a Mande people in Liberia), 215–17 Maneuver Division, 196–200 Manila, P. I., 111, 118 Mann, Alexander, 227 Mano (Liberia ethnic group), 215–16 Mariveles, P. I. (quarantine station), 134, 189 marksmanship, 26–27, 41–42 Martin, Joseph H., 220 Mason, Thomas, 188 Maxeke, Charlotte Manye, 58, 300n22 Maxeke, Marshall, 58 McAnaney, William D., 28–29, 294n44 McCall, Samuel W., 226 McCoy, Frank R., 207 McKinley, William, 74, 87, 127, 139 Medal of Honor, 130, 240 medical examinations, 113, 240, 242, 249–50 Mexican Punitive Expedition, 230–45 Mexico, 196, 200, 229–45 military attaché, 159–81, 204–28, 270–74, 286

358 index Military Information Division (mid), 160, 171, 183–84, 225, 264, 270–74, 277, 317n7 Military Morale of Nations and Races, 172, 178, 183–84 Mitchell, Malvina, 137–38 Mitchell, Samuel T., 50–53, 62 Monrovia, Liberia, 204–5, 209–11, 218– 19, 265–70, 274, 277 Moore, Francis, 35, 296n10 Morey, Lewis, 238 Morrill Land Grant Act, 52 Morton, Charles G., 192 Mount Whitney, 144–45, 150–51 mules, 237 Nabors, William D., 265, 268, 281–82 Nagasaki, Japan, 135, 189 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp), 138, 226–27 National Negro Business League, 138 National Urban League, 265 nephritis (Bright’s Disease), 250, 253, 265, 277 Newton, Richard H., 213, 220–21 New York Age, 138 New York Sun, 239 New York Times, 197–98 Niagara Movement, 138 Nicholas, H. P., 95–97, 108, 110, 113, 120–34, 137, 140, 143–45, 151, 177 Nigeria, 271, 273, 276–79, 280–82 Nigerian Marines, 282 Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 71–90, 96, 98, 212, 303n12 noncommissioned officers, 35–36 Norwich University, 52 Oakland ca, 156 Oates, William C., 87, 305n36 Oberlin College, 38 Office of Naval Intelligence (oni), 160 Ohio, 2, 4, 38, 48–78, 84–91, 175–76, 185, 194, 210, 220, 253–62, 265, 280 Ohio Dispatch, 86 Ohio National Guard, 71–88

Ohio State Journal, 86 Omaha ne, 38 Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, 265, 301n29 Onitsha (Elder Dempster steamer), 265 Orduna (Cunard Line ship), 265 Ovington, Mary W., 226 Panama Canal, 143 Panay Island, P. I., 132–34 Parker, John, 59 Parral, Mexico, 236, 248 Patton, George S. Jr., 238, 240, 329n24 Payne, Daniel, 51 Pearl Harbor hi, 117 Pearson, Margaret (Vermeal), 100, 128, 186 Pearson, Samuel B., 99–100, 107, 128, 132–34, 186, 193, 197, 213 Pershing, John J., 3, 230–48, 260, 290n5, 328n9 Philadelphia pa, 84, 283 Philippine Islands, 108, 115–35, 185–89, 257, 285 Philippine War, 115–35, 212–13 Pierce, James M., 80–83, 304n23 Pilcher, Winston, 141, 313n13 Pine Ridge Indian Agency, 14 Piper, Alexander R., 15–17, 27, 31, 223 Plummer, Henry V., 19, 44, 101, 187 Plummer, Nellie A., 19, 293n23 polo, 186 Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, 162, 164–81, 183 Powell, Colin T., 227 Powell, William F., 164, 167–69, 174, 178 Presidio of San Francisco ca, 136, 139, 156–57 Price ut, 75, 93, 112, 114 Prioleau, Ethel, 186, 231, 284–86 Prioleau, George W., 186–87, 231, 284 Proctor, John C., 99, 102, 187, 307n12 Proctor, Redfield, 7 promotion board, 65, 113, 209, 240–42, 249–54, 264, 291n7 Purnell, William, 116, 209n2 quarantine, 134, 189

index 359 Randlett, James F., 21–22, 40, 47 Rankin, John, 59 Red Cloud Agency, 12–13 Reed, John, 211 Republican Vindicator (Cleveland), 73 Rhodes, Charles, 66 Ripley oh, 59, 139 Roberts, Cyrus S., 55 Robinson, Levi H., 12 Rogers, John, 95 Roosevelt Corollary, 166, 183 “Roosevelt Division,” 257–58 Roosevelt, Theodore, 127, 131, 139–40, 169, 183, 195 Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr., 283 Root, Elihu, 169 Rosario, P. I., 131 Ross, Emory, 220 Rubottom, Erubian Holland, 186, 197, 292 Rucker, Louis H., 34–37, 47, 94, 295n9, 296n10 Rudd, John R., 73 Ruger, Thomas H., 11 Russell, David A., 190 Sam, Simon, 167 Samar Island, P. I., 118–26 San Antonio tx, 196, 249 Sanford, George B., 290n10 San Francisco ca, 111, 116–17, 135, 136–40, 153–58 San Francisco Chronicle, 156 San Joaquin, P. I., 132–33 Sanquilly, Liberia, 216 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 165, 174, 180 Scarborough, William S., 49, 55, 61–62, 255–56 Schofield, John M., 13, 45 Scott, Emmett J., 259–60 Scott, Nelson, 40 Scott, Oscar, 243–44, 284 Scott, William H., 40 Sequoia and General Grant National Park, 140–53, 176, 286 Shakespeare, 156

Sherman, John, 52 Sherman, William T., 45 Sierra Leone, 206 Sioux Indians, 12–13, 25–27 Skerrett, Delamere, 223 Sladen, Fredrick W., 283 Smith, Fred G., 195 Smith, Jacob H., 126 sms Panther, 167 South Africa, 58, 205 Spanish-American War, 3, 73–82, 103, 110, 117, 140, 160, 187, 211 Spingarn, Joel E., 226, 283 Spingarn Medal, 226–27 sports, 42–43, 101 Springfield oh, 49–50, 72, 77 Stanford University, 154–56, 158 Story, Moorefield, 227 Strebler, Alphonse, 126 “strikers,” 17 Stuart-Young, J. M., 276 summary court officer, 188 Summerville sc, 86–88 surra, 129 Taft, William Howard, 192, 197, 206, 210, 226 Tantzi, James, 58 Tappi, Liberia, 217–18 Taylor, Frank B., 11–12, 31, 34 Taylor, Zachary, 251 Taymow, Liberia, 216 Thorne Ranch ca, 151–52, 315n36 Three Rivers ca, 150–51 Tilford, Joseph G., 11, 22–24, 26, 290n10 Tinsou, Liberia, 216 Tippenhauer, L. G., 175 Tobaco, P. I., 128–29 Togoland, 222 Tompkins, Frank, 236 Troxel, Orlando C., 234 Tulare County Times, 141 Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, 89–90, 138 Underground Railroad, 59 Union Pacific Railroad, 190

360 index Upton, Emory, 45 usat Burnside, 129 usat Logan, 117, 189 usat Thomas, 185, 189 U.S. Cavalry and Light Artillery School, 46 U.S. Interior Department, 141, 144, 149 U.S. Marine Corps, 181, 270, 318n27 U.S. Military Academy. See West Point U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis), 210 U.S. Navy, 118, 120, 127, 161, 165, 181, 270 U.S. Senate, 272–73 uss Chester, 224 uss Maine, 73 U.S. Virgin Islands, 272 Ute Indians, 32–34, 105–8, 112–13, 295n5 Van Way, Charles W., 191, 193 Vernal Express, 100–101, 107 Vernal ut, 34, 37, 42, 101–2, Vicksburg ms, 59 Villa, Francisco “Pancho,” 230–38 Villard, Oswald G., 226, 243 Villa Real, P. I., 123 Visalia ca, 141–42, 152–53 Wagner, Arthur L., 160 Walker, Kenzie W., 19 Walker, William, 277 Wall, Carleton A., 282 Wallis, Braithwaite, 205 Wanton, George, 240, 330n25 War Camp Community, 265 Warren, Francis E., 190 Washington, Booker T., 64–65, 69, 73, 89–90, 117, 137–39, 149, 154–55, 198–99, 207–9 Washington, Lincoln, 99 Washington dc, 180, 183–84, 283–84 Watts, Charles H., 188, 192 Webster, Frank, 2 Welch, George, 143 West African Frontier Force, 282 West Point (U.S. Military Academy), 1–8,

24, 31, 35, 38, 54, 102, 112, 130, 162, 186, 223, 232, 242, 256, 261, 283, 286 Weyland, James P., 199, 322n44 White, Eugene E., 33 White Rocks Agency, 33, 107 Wilberforce, William, 51 Wilberforce University, 44, 47, 48–69, 89–90, 137–39, 167, 184, 185, 187, 202, 207, 210, 212, 247, 255, 257, 261 Williams, Bert, 138 Williams, John Sharp, 252 Wilmington oh, 71–72 Wilson, J. S., 282 Wilson, Woodrow, 230, 244, 251–53, 258 Winn, Frank L., 242, 330n30 Winser, Blanche, 147–48, 176 Winser, Philip, 147–49, 176 Woodward, Charles F., 80 World War I, 221, 247, 251–61, 265–66, 271, 283–84, 286 Wounded Knee, 27, 95 Xenia oh, 51, 61, 72, 77 yellow fever, 134, 266 Yellow Springs oh, 187 York, William H., 220–21 Yosemite National Park, 140 Young, Ada (Mills), 156–57, 175–76, 185–87, 189, 190, 194, 211, 222, 224, 240, 242–43, 247, 249, 265, 267, 274, 280, 284 Young, Arminta, 59–61, 137, 185, 194, 211 Young, Charles Noel, 176, 185, 194, 211, 222, 265, 267, 274, 280, 284 Young, Gabriel, 58–60, 137 Young, Marie Aurelia, 189, 194, 211, 222, 265, 267, 274, 280, 284 Youngsholm, 61, 175, 185, 194, 255, 260, 280 Zanesville Courier, 60 Zanesville oh, 2, 60–61 Zanesville Signal, 60 Zorzor, Liberia, 216