Refused to Salute a Negro Officer
October 7, 1899
Summary
A white soldier is arrested after he fails to salute a black officer, and he spends a weekend in the guard-house.
Transcription
Henry Leigh was put in guard-house.
Released Monday Without Further Punishment.
Friction at the Barracks.
Henry Leigh, the rebellious private soldier of the Thirty-eighth United States Infantry, now recruiting at Jefferson Barracks, who refused to salute a Negro Captain of the Forty-ninth, which is also recruiting at the Barracks, was released from the guard-house Monday morning. Before obtaining his liberty the soldier was obliged to promise faithfully that he would commit the offense no more, and would in future salute a commissioned officer.
Leigh is a native of Lampasas, Tex. Saturday he was walking along the walk leading from the canteen and encountered a Negro Captain walking in the opposite direction. At about twenty paces from the officer Leigh assumed a swaggering gate and commenced to sing “All coons like alike to me.” Upon coming up with the Captain, he made no movement whatever that could be mistaken for a salute. The officer turned sharply about, and in a stern voice called the man to attention. The command has no other effect upon the private than to start him upon another verse of the song. The Captain raised his voice and shouted for the Corporal of the guard. That functionary hastened to the sport and was ordered to put Leigh under arrest.
A number of the enlisted men of the white regiment were seen and they were divided upon what they would do in a case like Leigh’s. Some declared that they would take a court martial rather than salute a Negro officer. Others said that as long as they had enlisted in the service they would comply with the regulations, no matter how little it agreed with their liking.
Released Monday Without Further Punishment.
Friction at the Barracks.
Henry Leigh, the rebellious private soldier of the Thirty-eighth United States Infantry, now recruiting at Jefferson Barracks, who refused to salute a Negro Captain of the Forty-ninth, which is also recruiting at the Barracks, was released from the guard-house Monday morning. Before obtaining his liberty the soldier was obliged to promise faithfully that he would commit the offense no more, and would in future salute a commissioned officer.
Leigh is a native of Lampasas, Tex. Saturday he was walking along the walk leading from the canteen and encountered a Negro Captain walking in the opposite direction. At about twenty paces from the officer Leigh assumed a swaggering gate and commenced to sing “All coons like alike to me.” Upon coming up with the Captain, he made no movement whatever that could be mistaken for a salute. The officer turned sharply about, and in a stern voice called the man to attention. The command has no other effect upon the private than to start him upon another verse of the song. The Captain raised his voice and shouted for the Corporal of the guard. That functionary hastened to the sport and was ordered to put Leigh under arrest.
A number of the enlisted men of the white regiment were seen and they were divided upon what they would do in a case like Leigh’s. Some declared that they would take a court martial rather than salute a Negro officer. Others said that as long as they had enlisted in the service they would comply with the regulations, no matter how little it agreed with their liking.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elias Sturim
Citation
“Refused to Salute a Negro Officer,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed September 14, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1724.