No Prejudice There
July 23, 1898
Summary
The white soldiers fighting alongside African American battalions state that they fight just as well as the white battalions.
Transcription
It seems that the prejudice against the colored brother exists mostly among those Negro-haters who did not go to the front. The following is form a correspondent at Fort Monroe, Va.:
“In the hospital, the black alternate on cots in the rows with white soldiers. The later, especially the Rough Riders, never tire in telling of the heroism of their black comrades. They say they fought like demons, and in making charges gave terrific yells that were calculated to frighten their enemies. When they were ordered to charge entrenchments, they seemed to think that they were to keep right on into the city of Santiago and their officers had trouble to restrain them.
“When the wounded were asked what they thought of the Cubans as soldiers they shook their heads, and the invariable comment was ‘no good.’ But for the Spaniards they had great respect and declared that they were fighters.
“There are a number of colored troopers among the wounded. They belong to the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-third and Twenty-Fourth Infantry.
“Another white soldier was asked what sort of account the colored men gave of themselves in battle
“Them niggers fought like hell” was his terse remark.
“In the hospital, the black alternate on cots in the rows with white soldiers. The later, especially the Rough Riders, never tire in telling of the heroism of their black comrades. They say they fought like demons, and in making charges gave terrific yells that were calculated to frighten their enemies. When they were ordered to charge entrenchments, they seemed to think that they were to keep right on into the city of Santiago and their officers had trouble to restrain them.
“When the wounded were asked what they thought of the Cubans as soldiers they shook their heads, and the invariable comment was ‘no good.’ But for the Spaniards they had great respect and declared that they were fighters.
“There are a number of colored troopers among the wounded. They belong to the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-third and Twenty-Fourth Infantry.
“Another white soldier was asked what sort of account the colored men gave of themselves in battle
“Them niggers fought like hell” was his terse remark.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Cali Hughes
Citation
“No Prejudice There,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1460.