It was no uncommon occurrence throughout the Civil War for colored non-commissioned officers to be thrown into command of their companies by the killing or wounding of their superior officers. On many a field of battle this happened and these colored non-commissioned officers showed the same ability to take the initiative and accept the responsibility, and conducted their commands just as bravely and unfalteringly as did their successors on the firing line at La Guasima and El Caney, or in the charge up San Juan Hill.

In the battle of New Market Heights, fought on the 29th of September, 1864, as part of a comprehensive effort to turn Lee's left flank, the great heroism of the black soldiers, and the terrible slaughter among them, impressed their commander, the late Major-General Butler, to his dying day, and made him the stout champion of their rights for the rest of his life. In that battle, to quote from the orders putting on record the "gallant deeds of the officers and soldiers of the Army of the James":—

"Milton M. Holland, Sergeant-Major Fifth United States Colored Troops, commanding Company C; James H. Bronson, First Sergeant, commanding Company D; Robert Pinn, First Sergeant, commanding Company I, wounded; Powhatan Beaty, First Sergeant, commanding Company G, Fifth United States Colored Troops—all these gallant colored soldiers were left in command, all their company officers being killed or wounded, and led them gallantly and meritoriously through the day. For these services they have most honorable mention, and the commanding general will cause a special medal to be struck in honor of these gallant soldiers."

"First Sergeant Edward Ratcliff, Company C, Thirty-eighth United States Colored Troops, thrown into command of his company by the death of the officer commanding, was the first enlisted man in the enemy's works, leading his company with great gallantry for which he has a medal."

"Sergeant Samuel Gilchrist, Company K, Thirty-sixth United States Colored Troops, showed great bravery and gallantry in commanding his company after his officers were killed. He has a medal for gallantry."[31]

"Honorable mention" and "medals" were the sole reward open to the brave Negro soldiers of that day.

Not alone in camp and garrison, in charge of expeditions, or as non-commissioned officers thrown into command of their companies on the field of battle have Negro soldiers displayed unquestioned capacity for command, but as commissioned officers they commanded in camp and in battle, showing marked efficiency and conspicuous gallantry. The colored officers of the First and Second Regiments of Louisiana Native Guards, whose history has been detailed earlier in this chapter,[32] were retained in the service long enough to command their troops in bloody combat with the enemy. It will be remembered that of the Second Regiment of Louisiana Native Guards only the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel were white, the Major, F.E. Dumas, and all the line officers, as in the case of the First Regiment of Louisiana Native Guards, being colored. On April 9, 1863, Colonel N.U. Daniels, who commanded the Second Regiment of Louisiana Native Guards, with a detachment of two hundred men of his regiment, under their colored officers, engaged and repulsed a considerable body of rebel infantry and cavalry at Pascagoula, Mississippi. The engagement lasted from 10 A.M. until 2 P.M. and was remarkable for the steadiness, tenacity and bravery of these black troops in this, their first battle, where they succeeded in defeating and beating off an enemy five times their number. The official report by the Colonel commanding declared: "Great credit is due to the troops engaged for their unflinching bravery and steadiness under this, their first fire, exchanging volley after volley with the coolness of veterans, and for their determined tenacity in maintaining their position, and taking advantage of every success that their courage and valor gave them; and also to their officers, who were cool and determined throughout the action, fighting their commands against five times their number, and confident throughout of success. * * *

"I would particularly call the attention of the department to Major F.E. Dumas, Capt. Villeverd and Lieuts. Jones and Martin, who were constantly in the thickest of the fight, and by their unflinching bravery and admirable handling of their commands, contributed to the success of the attack, and reflected great honor upon the flag for which they so nobly struggled."[33]

The battle which settled for all time the bravery of black troops, and ought as well to silence all question about the capacity of colored officers, was the storming of Port Hudson, May 27, 1863. For months the Confederates had had uninterrupted opportunity to strengthen their works at Port Hudson at a time when an abundance of slave labor was at their disposal. They had constructed defenses of remarkable strength. On a bluff, eighty feet above the river, was a series of batteries mounting in all twenty siege guns. For land defenses they had a continuous line of parapet of strong profile, beginning at a point on the river a mile from Port Hudson and extending in a semi-circle for three or four miles over a country for the most part rough and broken, and ending again at the river, a half mile north of Port Hudson. At appropriate positions along this line four bastion works were constructed and thirty pieces of field artillery were posted. The average thickness of the parapet was twenty feet, and the depth of the ditch below the top of the parapet was fifteen feet. The ground behind the parapet was well adapted for the prompt movement of troops.[34]

On the 24th of May General Banks reached the immediate vicinity of Port Hudson, and proceeded at once to invest the place.

On the 27th the assault was ordered. Two colored regiments of Louisiana Native Guards, the First Regiment with all line officers colored, and the Third with white officers throughout, were put under command of Colonel John A. Nelson, of the Third Regiment, and assigned to position on the right of the line, where the assault was begun. The right began the assault in the morning; for some reason the left did not assault until late in the afternoon. Six companies of the First Louisiana and nine companies of the Third, in all 1080 men, were formed in column of attack. Even now, one cannot contemplate unmoved the desperate valor of these black troops and the terrible slaughter among them as they were sent to their impossible task that day in May. Moving forward in double quick time the column emerged from the woods, and passing over the plain strewn with felled trees and entangled brushwood, plunged into a fury of shot and shell as they charged for the batteries on the rebel left. Again and again that unsupported column of black troops held to their hopeless mission by the unrelenting order of the brigade commander, hurled itself literally into the jaws of death, many meeting horrible destruction actually at the cannon's mouth.

It was a day prodigal with deeds of fanatical bravery. The colors of the First Louisiana, torn and shivered in that fearful hail of fire, were still borne forward in front of the works by the color-sergeant, until a shell from the enemy cut the flag in two and gave the sergeant his mortal wound. He fell spattering the flag with blood and brains and hugged it to his bosom as he lay in the grasp of death. Two corporals sprang forward to seize the colors, contending in generous rivalry until a rebel sharpshooter felled one of them across the sergeant's lifeless body. The other dashed proudly forward with the flag. Sixteen men fell that day defending the colors.

Black officers and white officers commanded side by side, moving among the men to prompt their valor by word and example, revealing no difference in their equal contempt of death. Captain Quinn, of the Third Regiment, with forty reckless followers, bearing their rifles and cartridge boxes above their heads, swam the ditch and leaped among the guns, when they were ordered back to escape a regiment of rebels hastening for their rear. Six of them re-crossed alive, and of these only two were unhurt, the brave Quinn and a Lieutenant. The gallant Captain Andre Cailloux, who commanded the color company of the First Louisiana, a man black as night, but a leader by birth and education, moved in eager zeal among his men, cheering them on by words and his own noble example, with his left arm already shattered, proudly refusing to leave the field. In a last effort of heroism, he sprang to the front of his company, commanded his men to follow him, and in the face of that murderous fire, gallantly led them forward until a shell smote him to death but fifty yards from the works.

Cailloux, a pure Negro in blood, was born a freeman and numbered generations of freemen among his ancestry. He had fine presence, was a man of culture and possessed wealth. He had raised his company by his own efforts, and attached them to him, not only by his ardent pride of race, which made him boast his blackness, but also by his undoubted talents for command. His heroic death was mourned by thousands of his race who had known him. His body, recovered after the surrender, was given a soldier's burial in his own native city of New Orleans.

When the day was spent, the bleeding and shattered column was at length recalled. The black troops did not take the guns, but the day's work had won for them a fame that cannot die. The nation, which had received them into the service half-heartedly, and out of necessity, was that day made to witness a monotony of gallantry and heroism that compelled everywhere awe and admiration. Black soldiers, and led by black officers as well as white, assigned a task hopeless and impossible at the start, had plunged into that withering storm of shot and shell, poured fourth by artillery and infantry, charging over a field strewn with obstacles, and in madness of bravery had more than once thrown the thin head of their column to the very edge of the guns. They recoiled only to reform their broken lines and to start again their desperate work. When the day was gone, and they were called back, the shattered remnant of the column which had gone forth in the morning still burned with passion. With that day's work of black soldiers under black officers, a part forever of the military glory of the Republic, there are those who yet dare to declare that Negroes cannot command.

The assault on Port Hudson had been unsuccessful all along the line. A second assault was ordered June 13. It, too, was unsuccessful. The fall of Vicksburg brought the garrison to terms. The surrender took place July 9, 1863. In the report of the general commanding, the colored soldiers were given unstinted praise. General Banks declared that "no troops could be more determined or more daring."[35] The Northern press described glowingly their part in the fight. The prowess of the black soldiers had conquered military prejudice, and won for them a place in the army of the Union. And the brave black officers who led these black soldiers, they were, all of them, ordered forthwith before an examining board with the purpose of driving them from the service, and every one of them in self-respect was made to resign. In such manner was their bravery rewarded.

In the four regiments of colored troops made a part of the Regular Army since the Civil War, colored soldiers, to say nothing of the three colored graduates from West Point, referred to earlier in this chapter, have repeatedly given evidence of their capacity to command. An earlier chapter has already set forth the gallant manner in which colored non-commissioned officers, left in command by the killing or wounding of their officers, commanded their companies at La Guasima, El Caney and in the charge at San Juan. On numerous occasions, with none of the heroic setting of the Santiago campaign, have colored soldiers time and again command detachments and companies on dangerous scouting expeditions, and in skirmishes and fights with hostile Indians and marauders. The entire Western country is a witness of their prowess. This meritorious work, done in remote regions, has seldom come to public notice; the medal which the soldier wears, and the official entry in company and regimental record are in most cases the sole chronicle. A typical instance is furnished in the career of Sergeant Richard Anderson, late of the Ninth Cavalry. The sergeant has long ago completed his thirty years of service. He passed through all non-commissioned grades in his troop and regiment, and was retired as Post Commissary-Sergeant. The story of the engagements in which he commanded give ample proof of his ability and bravery. It would be no service to the sergeant to disturb his own frank and formal narrative.

The Sergeant's story:—

"While in sub-camp at Fort Cumming, New Mexico, awaiting orders for campaign duty against hostile Indians (old Naney's band), on the evening of June 5, 1880, my troop commander being absent at Fort Bayard, which left me in command of my troop, there being no other commissioned officer available, a report having come in to the commanding officer about 1 o'clock that a band of Apache Indians were marching toward Cook's Canon, Troops B and L, under general command of Captain Francis, 9th Cavalry, and myself commanding Troop B, were ordered out.

We came upon the Indians in Cook's Canon and had an engagement which lasted two or three hours. Three or four Indians were killed and several wounded. We had no men killed, but a few wounded in both L and B Troops. We followed the Indians many miles that evening, but having no rations, returned to Fort Cumming late that evening, and went into camp until the following morning, when the two troops took the trail and followed it many days, but being unable to overtake the Indians, returned to Fort Cumming.

In August, 1881, while my troop was in camp at Fort Cumming, New Mexico, awaiting orders for another campaign against these same Apache Indians, my troop commander having been ordered to Fort Bayard, New Mexico, on general court-martial duty, and during his absence having no commissioned officer available, I was in command of my troop subject to the orders of the post commander. At 12 o'clock at night, August 17, 1881, while in my tent asleep, the commanding officer's orderly knocked on my tent and informed me that the commanding officer wanted me to report to him at once. I asked the orderly what was up. He informed me that he supposed a scout was going out, as the commanding officer had sent for Lieutenant Smith, then in command of Troop H, 9th Cavalry.

I dressed myself promptly and reported, and found Lieutenant Smith and the commanding officer at the office on my arrival.

The commanding officer asked me about how many men I could mount for thirty days' detached duty, leaving so many men to take care of property and horses. I told him about how many. He ordered me to make a ration return for that number of men, and send a sergeant to draw rations for thirty days' scout; and for me to hurry up, and when ready to report to Lieutenant Smith. By 12.45 my troop was ready and mounted, and reported as ordered, and at 1 o'clock Troop's B and H pulled out from Fort Cumming for Lake Valley, New Mexico; and when the sun showed himself over the tops of the mountains we marched down the mountains into Lake Valley, thirty-five miles from Fort Cumming. We went into camp hoping to spend a few hours and take a rest, and feed our horses and men.

About 9 o'clock a small boy came running through camp crying as if to break his heart, saying that the Indians had killed his mother and their baby. Some of the men said the boy must be crazy; but many of them made for their horses without orders. Soon Lieutenant Smith ordered "Saddle up." In less than five minutes all the command was saddled up and ready to mount. We mounted and pulled out at a gallop, and continued at that gait until we came to a high mountain, when we came down to a walk. And when over the mountain we took up the gallop, and from that time on, nothing but a gallop and a trot, when the country was favorable for such. When we had marched about two miles from Lake Valley we met the father of the boy, with his leg bleeding where the Indians had shot him. We marched about half a mile farther, when we could see the Indians leaving this man's ranch. We had a running fight with them from that time until about 5 o'clock that evening, August 18th, 1881. Having no rations, we returned to Lake Valley with the intention of resting that night and taking the trail the next morning; but about 9 o'clock that night a ranchman came into camp and reported that the Indians had marched into a milk ranch and burned up the ranch, and had gone into camp near by.

Lieutenant Smith ordered me to have the command in readiness to march at 12 o'clock sharp, and said we could surprise those Indians and capture many of them and kill a few also. I went and made my detail as ordered, with five days' rations in haversacks, and at 12 o'clock reported as ordered.

About half-past 12 o'clock the command pulled out and marched within about a mile and a half of the milk ranch and went into camp; and at daylight in the morning saddled up and marched to the ranch. The Indians had pulled out a few minutes before our arrival. We took their trail and came up with them about 10 o'clock, finding the Indians in ambush. Lieutenant Smith was the first man killed, and when I heard his last command, which was "Dismount," then the whole command fell upon your humble servant. We fell back, up a canon and on a hill, and held them until 4 o'clock, when a reinforcement came up of about twenty men from Lake Valey and the Indians pulled off over the mountains. The following-named men were killed in the engagement:

Lieutenant G.W. Smith; Mr. Daily, a miner; Saddler Thomas Golding; Privates James Brown and Monroe Overstreet. Wounded—Privates Wesley Harris, John W. Williams and William A. Hallins.

After the Indians ceased firing and fell back over the mountains I cared for the wounded and sent Lieutenant Smith's body to Fort Bayard, New Mexico, where his wife was, which was about sixty miles from the battle-ground, and Mr. Daily's body to Lake Valley, all under a strong detachment of men under a non-commissioned officer; when I marched with the remainder of the command with the dead and wounded for Rodman Mill, where I arrived about 5 o'clock on the morning of August 20 and buried the dead and sent the wounded to Fort Bayard.

One thing that attracted my attention more than anything else was the suffering of Private John W. Williams, Troop H, who was shot through the kneecap and had to ride all that night from the battle-ground to Brookman's Mill. Poor fellow!

I buried all my dead, and then marched for Fort Cumming, where we arrived about sunset and reported to General Edward Hatch, then commanding the regiment and also the district of New Mexico, giving him all the details pertaining to the engagement.

General Hatch asked me about how many men I could mount the next morning, the 21st. I informed him about how many. He ordered me to have my troop in readiness by daylight and report to Lieutenant Demmick, then commanding Troop L, and follow that Indian trail.

My troop was ready as ordered, and marched. We followed those Indians to the line of Old Mexico, but were unable to overtake them. Such was my last engagement with hostile Indians."

The formula that Negroes cannot command, with the further assertion that colored soldiers will neither follow nor obey officers of their own race, we have now taken out of the heads of its upholders, and away from its secure setting of type on the printed page, and applied it to the facts. Negro soldiers have shown their ability to command by commanding, not always with shoulder-straps, to be sure, but nevertheless commanding. With wearying succession, instance after instance, where Negroes have exercised all manner of military command and always creditably, have extended for us a recital to the border of monotony, and made formidable test of our patience. In France and the West Indies, in Central and South America, Negroes have commanded armies, in one instance fighting under Napoleon, at other times to free themselves from slavery and their countries from the yoke of oppression. In our own country, from the days of the Revolution, when fourteen American officers declared in a memorial to the Congress, that a "Negro man called Salem Poor, of Colonel Frye's regiment, Captain Ames' company, in the late battle at Charlestown, behaved like an experienced officer, as well as an excellent soldier;"[36] from the first war of the nation down to its last, Negro soldiers have been evincing their capacity to command. In the Civil War, where thousands of colored soldiers fought for the Union, their ability to command has been evidenced in a hundred ways, on scouts and expeditions, in camp and in battle; on two notable occasions, Negro officers gallantly fought their commands side by side with white officers, and added lustre to the military glory of the nation. Upon the re-organization of the Regular Army at the close of the war the theatre shifted to our Western frontier, where the Negro soldier continued to display his ability to command. Finally, in the Spanish War, just closed, the Negro soldier made the nation again bear witness not alone to his undaunted bravery, but also to his conspicuous capacity to command. Out of this abundant and conclusive array of incontestable facts, frankly, is there anything left to the arbitrary formula that Negroes cannot command, but a string of ipse dixits hung on a very old, but still decidedly robust prejudice? There is no escape from the conclusion that as a matter of fact, with opportunity, Negroes differ in no wise from other men in capacity to exercise military command.

Undoubtedly substantial progress has been made respecting colored officers since 1863, when colored soldiers were first admitted in considerable numbers into the army of the Union. At the period of the Civil War colored officers for colored soldiers was little more than thought of; the sole instance comprised the short-lived colored officers of the three regiments of Louisiana Native Guards, and the sporadic appointments made near the close of the war, when the fighting was over.

More than three hundred colored officers served in the volunteer army in the war with Spain. Two Northern States, Illinois and Kansas, and one Southern State, North Carolina, put each in the field as part of its quota a regiment of colored troops officered throughout by colored men. Ohio and Indiana contributed each a separate battalion of colored soldiers entirely under colored officers.

In 1863 a regiment of colored troops with colored officers was practically impossible. In 1898 a regiment of colored volunteers without some colored officers was almost equally impossible. In 1863 a regiment of colored soldiers commanded by colored officers would have been a violation of the sentiment of the period and an outrage upon popular feelings, the appearance of which in almost any Northern city would hardly fail to provoke an angry and resentful mob. At that period, even black recruits in uniforms were frequently assaulted in the streets of Northern cities. We have seen already how Sergeant Rivers, of the First South Carolina Volunteers, had to beat off a mob on Broadway in New York city. In 1898 regiments and battalions of colored troops, with colored colonels and majors in command, came out of States where the most stringent black laws were formerly in force, and were greeted with applause as they passed on their way to their camps or to embark for Cuba.

In Baltimore, in 1863, the appearance of a Negro in the uniform of an army surgeon started a riot, and the irate mob was not appeased until it had stripped the patriotic colored doctor of his shoulder-straps. In 1898, when the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers passed through the same city, the colored officers of Company L of that regiment were welcomed with the same courtesies as their white colleagues—courtesies extended as a memorial of the fateful progress of the regiment through the city of Baltimore in 1861. One State which went to war in 1861 to keep the Negro a slave, put in the field a regiment of colored soldiers, officered by colored men from the colonel down. To this extent has prejudice been made to yield either to political necessity, or a generous change in sentiment. Thus were found States both North and South willing to give the Negro the full military recognition to which he is entitled.

With this wider recognition of colored officers the general government has not kept pace. In the four regiments of colored volunteers recruited by the general government for service in the war with Spain, only the lieutenants were colored. Through the extreme conservatism of the War Department, in these regiments no colored officers, no matter how meritorious, could be appointed or advanced to the grade of captain. Such was the announced policy of the department, and it was strictly carried out. The commissioning of this large number of colored men even to lieutenancies was, without doubt, a distinct step in advance; it was an entering wedge. But it was also an advance singularly inadequate and embarrassing. In one of these colored volunteer, commonly called "immune" regiments, of the twelve captains, but five had previous military training, while of the twenty-four colored lieutenants, eighteen had previous military experience, and three of the remaining six were promoted from the ranks, so that at the time of their appointment twenty-one lieutenants had previous military training. Of the five captains with previous military experience, one, years ago, had been a lieutenant in the Regular Army; another was promoted from Post Quartermaster-Sergeant; a third at one time had been First Sergeant of Artillery; the remaining two had more or less experience in the militia. Of the eighteen lieutenants with previous military experience, twelve had served in the Regular Army; eight of these, not one with a service less than fifteen years, were promoted directly from the ranks of the regulars for efficiency and gallantry. At the time of their promotion two were Sergeants, five First Sergeants and one a Post Quartermaster-Sergeant. The four others from the Regular Army had served five years each. Of the six remaining Lieutenants with previous military experience, four had received military training in high schools, three of whom were subsequently officers in the militia; fifth graduated from a state college with a military department; the sixth had been for years an officer in the militia. With this advantage at the start, it is no extravagance to say that the colored officers practically made the companies. To them was due the greater part of the credit for whatever efficiency the companies showed. Moreover, these colored officers were not behind in intelligence. Among them were four graduates of universities and colleges, two lawyers, two teachers, one journalist, five graduates of high schools and academies, and the men from the Regular Army, as their previous non-commissioned rank indicates, were of good average intelligence. There is no reason to believe that this one of the four colored volunteer regiments was in any degree exceptional.

These are the officers for whom the War Department had erected their arbitrary bar at captaincy, and declared that no show of efficiency could secure for them the titular rank which they more than once actually exercised. For they were repeatedly in command of their companies through sickness or absence of their captains. They served as officers without the incentive which comes from hope of promotion. They were forced to see the credit of their labors go to others, and to share more than once in discredit for which they were not responsible. They were, and in this lay their chief embarrassment, without the security and protection which higher rank would have accorded them. In case of trial by court-martial, captains and other higher officers filled the court to the exclusion of almost all others. These were white men. It is gratifying to record that the War Department recognized this special injustice to colored officers, and in the two regiments of colored volunteers recruited for service in the Philippines all the line-officers are colored men, the field officers being white, and appointed from the Regular Army in pursuance of a general policy. Thus far has the general government advanced in recognition of the military capacity of the Negro. In the swing of the pendulum the nation is now at the place where the hardy General Butler was thirty-seven years ago, when he organized the three regiments of Louisiana Native Guards with all line-officers colored.

The way in which modern armies are organized and perfected leaves little necessity for an equipment of exceptional personal gifts in order to exercise ordinary military command. The whole thing is subordinate, and the field for personal initiative is contracted to the minimum. In our own army the President is Commander-in-Chief, and the command descends through a multitude of subordinate grades down to the lowest commissioned officer in the service. We have "Articles of War" and "Regulations," and the entire discipline and government of the army is committed to writing. There is no chance to enshroud in mystery the ability to command. For ordinary military command, with intelligence the chief requisite, little is required beyond courage, firmness and good judgment. These qualities are in no respect natural barriers for colored men.

This last story of the Negro soldier's efficiency and gallantry, told in the pages of this book, teaches its own very simple conclusion. The Cuban campaign has forced the nation to recognize the completion of the Negro's evolution as a soldier in the Army of the United States. The colored American soldier, by his own prowess, has won an acknowledged place by the side of the best trained fighters with arms. In the fullness of his manhood he has no rejoicing in the patronizing paean, "the colored troops fought nobly," nor does he glow at all when told of his "faithfulness" and "devotion" to his white officers, qualities accentuated to the point where they might well fit an affectionate dog. He lays claim to no prerogative other than that of a plain citizen of the Republic, trained to the profession of arms. The measure of his demand—and it is the demand of ten millions of his fellow-citizens allied to him by race—is that the full manhood privileges of a soldier be accorded him. On his record in arms, not excluding his manifest capacity to command, the colored soldier, speaking for the entire body of colored citizens in this country, only demands that the door of the nation's military training school be freely open to the capable of his race, and the avenue of promotion from the ranks be accessible to his tried efficiency; that no hindrance prevent competent colored men from taking their places as officers as well as soldiers in the nation's permanent military establishment.

FOOTNOTES:

[26] Headquarters Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, August 22, 1862. General Orders No. 63.

"Whereas, on the 23d day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one, at a public meeting of the free colored population of the city of New Orleans, a military organization, known as the 'Native Guards' (colored), had its existence, which military organization was duly and legally enrolled as a part of the militia of the State, its officers being commissioned by Thomas O. Moore, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the militia of the State of Louisiana, in the form following, that is to say:

The State of Louisiana. (Seal of the State.)

By Thomas Overton Moore, Governor of the State of Louisiana, and commander-in-chief of the militia thereof.

"'In the name and by the authority of the State of Louisiana: Know ye that —— ——, having been duly and legally elected captain of the "Native Guards" (colored), first division of the Militia of Louisiana, to serve for the term of the war,

"'I do hereby appoint and commission him captain as aforesaid, to take rank as such, from the 2d day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-one.

"'He is, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duties of his office by doing and performing all manner of things thereto belonging. And I do strictly charge and require all officers, non-commissioned officers and privates under his command to be obedient to his orders as captain; and he is to observe and follow such orders and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me, or the future Governor of the State of Louisiana, or other superior officers, according to the Rules and Articles of War, and in conformity to law.

"'In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the State to be hereunto annexed.

"'Given under my hand, at the city of Baton Rouge, on the second day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.

(L.S.) (Signed) THOS. O. MOORE. "'By the Governor: (Signed) P.D. HARDY, Secretary of State.

(Wilson: Black Phalanx, p. 194.)

[27] De Tocqueville: L'Ancien Regime et La Revolution, p. 125-6.

[28] Thomas Westworth Higginson: Army Life in a Black Regiment, pp. 57-8.

[29] Thomas Wentworth Higginson: Army Life in a Black Regiment, p. 261.

[30] Williams's Negro Troops in the Rebellion, pp. 339-40, quoting the order.

[31] Williams's Negro Troops in the Rebellion, pp. 334-6, original order quoted.

[32] See pp. 351-6 MS.

[33] Wilson: Black Phalanx, p. 211, original order quoted.

[34] Campaigns of the Civil War. F.V. Greene. The Mississippi, p. 226 et seq.

[35] Williams's Negro Troops in the Rebellion, p. 221, original order quoted.

[36] MS. Archives of Massachusetts, Vol. 180, p. 241, quoted in Williams's Negro Troops in the Rebellion, p. 13.



APPENDIX.

The correspondence following shows the progress of the negotiations for the surrender of the city of Santiago and the Spanish Army, from the morning of July 3d until the final convention was signed on the sixteenth of the same month. This surrender virtually closed the war, but did not restore the contending nations to a status of peace. Twenty-three thousand Spanish soldiers had laid down their arms and had been transformed from enemies to friends. On the tenth of August following, a protocol was submitted by the President of the United States, which was accepted by the Spanish cabinet on the eleventh, and on the twelfth the President announced the cessation of hostilities, thus closing a war which had lasted one hundred and ten days. On the tenth of December a Treaty of Peace between the United States and Spain was signed at Paris, which was subsequently ratified by both nations, and diplomatic relations fully restored. The war, though short, had been costly. One hundred and fifty million dollars had been spent in its prosecution, and there were left on our hands the unsolved problem of Cuba and the Philippines, which promised much future trouble.

Within a month from the signing of the convention, the Army of Invasion, known as the Fifth Army Corps, was on its homeward voyage, and by the latter part of August the whole command was well out of Cuba. Well did the soldiers themselves, as well as their friends, realize, as the former returned from that campaign of a hundred days, that war in the tropics was neither a pastime nor a practice march. The campaign had tested the powers of endurance of the men to its utmost limit. The horrors of war were brought directly to the face of the people, as the ten thousand invalids dragged their debilitated forms from the transports to their detention camps, or to the hospitals, some too helpless to walk, and many to die soon after greeting their native shores. Those who had been so enthusiastic for the war were now quiet, and were eagerly laying the blame for the sorrow and suffering before them upon the shoulders of those who had conducted the war. Few stopped to think that a good part of this woe might be justly charged to those who had constantly resisted the establishment of an adequate standing army, and who, with inconsistent vehemence, had urged the nation into a war, regardless of its military equipment. The emaciated veterans arriving at Montauk were spoken of as the evidences of "military incompetency;" they were also evidence of that narrow statesmanship which ignores the constant suggestions of military experience.

* * * * *

Headquarters United States Forces, Near San Juan River, July 3, 1898—8.30 A.M.

To the Commanding General of the Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba.

Sir:—I shall be obliged, unless you surrender, to shell Santiago de Cuba. Please inform the citizens of foreign countries, and all the women and children, that they should leave the city before 10 o'clock to-morrow morning.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General U.S.V.

Reply.

Santiago de Cuba, July 3, 1898.

His Excellency the General Commanding Forces of United States, near San Juan River.

Sir:—I have the honor to reply to your communication of to-day, written at 8.30 A.M., and received at 1 P.M., demanding the surrender of this city, or, in contrary case, announcing to me that you will bombard this city, and that I advise the foreigners, women and children that they must leave the city before 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. It is my duty to say to you that this city will not surrender, and that I will inform the foreign consuls and inhabitants of the contents of your message.

Very respectfully,

JOSE TORAL, Commander-in-Chief, Fourth Corps,

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 4, 1898.

The Commanding General, Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Sir:—I was officially informed last night that Admiral Cervera is now a captive on board the U.S.S. Gloucester, and is unharmed. He was then in the harbor of Siboney. I regret also to have to announce to you the death of General Vara del Rey at El Caney, who, with two of his sons, was killed in the battle of July 1st. His body will be buried this morning with military honors. His brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Vara del Rey, is wounded and a prisoner in my hands, together with the following officers: Captain Don Antonio Vara del Rey, Captain Isidor Arias, Captain Antonio Mansas, and Captain Manuel Romero, who, though severely wounded, will all probably survive.

I also have to announce to you that the Spanish fleet, with the exception of one vessel, was destroyed, and this one is being so vigorously pursued that it will be impossible for it to escape. General Pando is opposed by forces sufficient to hold him in check.

In view of the above, I would suggest that, to save needless effusion of blood and the distress of many people, you may reconsider your determination of yesterday. Your men have certainly shown the gallantry which was expected of them.

I am, sir, with great respect,

Your obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding United States Forces.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 4, 1898.

To the Commanding General, Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Sir:—The fortune of war has thrown into my hands quite a number of officers and private soldiers, whom I am now holding as prisoners of war, and I have the honor to propose to you that a cartel of exchange be arranged to-day, by which the prisoners taken by the forces of Spain from on board the Merrimac, and any officers and men of the army who may have fallen into our hands within the past few days, may be returned to their respective governments on the terms usual in such cases, of rank for rank. Trusting that this will meet with your favorable consideration, I remain,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding United States Forces.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 4, 1898.

To the Commanding Officer, Spanish Forces, Santiago.

Sir:—It will give me great pleasure to return to the city of Santiago at an early hour to-morrow morning all the wounded Spanish officers now at El Caney who are able to be carried and who will give their parole not to serve against the United States until regularly exchanged. I make this proposition, as I am not so situated as to give these officers the care and attention that they can receive at the hands of their military associates and from their own surgeons; though I shall, of course, give them every kind treatment that it is possible to do under such adverse circumstances. Trusting that this will meet with your approbation, and that you will permit me to return to you these persons, I am,

Your very obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding United States Forces.

Army of the Island of Cuba, Fifth Corps, General Staff.

To His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the American Forces.

Excellency:—I have the honor to reply to the three communications of your Excellency, dated to-day, and I am very grateful for the news you give in regard to the generals, chiefs, officers and troops that are your prisoners, and of the good care that you give to the wounded in your possession. With respect to the wounded, I have no objection to receiving in this place those that your Excellency may willingly deliver me, but I am not authorized by the General-in-Chief to make any exchange, as he has reserved to himself that authority. Yet I have given him notice of the proposition of your Excellency.

It is useless for me to tell you how grateful I am for the interest that your Excellency has shown for the prisoners and corpse of General Vara del Rey, giving you many thanks for the chivalrous treatment.

The same reasons that I explained to you yesterday, I have to give again to-day—that this place will not be surrendered.

I am, yours with great respect and consideration,

(Signed) JOSE TORAL.

In Santiago de Cuba, July 4, 1898.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 6, 1898.

To the Commander-in-Chief, Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba.

Sir:—In view of the events of the 3d instant, I have the honor to lay before your Excellency certain propositions to which, I trust, your Excellency, will give the consideration which, in my judgment, they deserve.

I inclose a bulletin of the engagement of Sunday morning which resulted in the complete destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet, the loss of six hundred of his officers and men, and the capture of the remainder. The Admiral, General Paredes and all others who escaped alive are now prisoners on board the Harvard and St. Louis, and the latter ship, in which are the Admiral, General Paredes and the surviving captains (all except the captain of the Almirante Oquendo, who was slain) has already sailed for the United States. If desired by you, this may be confirmed by your Excellency sending an officer under a flag of truce to Admiral Sampson, and he can arrange to visit the Harvard, which will not sail until to-morrow, and obtain the details from Spanish officers and men on board that ship.

Our fleet is now perfectly free to act, and I have the honor to state that unless a surrender be arranged by noon of the 9th instant, a bombardment will be begun and continued by the heavy guns of our ships. The city is within easy range of these guns, the eight-inch being capable of firing 9,500 yards, the thirteen-inch, of course, much farther. The ships can so lie that with a range of 8,000 yards they can reach the centre of the city.

I make this suggestion of a surrender purely in a humanitarian spirit. I do not wish to cause the slaughter of any more men, either of your Excellency's forces or my own, the final result, under circumstances so disadvantageous to your Excellency being a foregone conclusion.

As your Excellency may wish to make reference of so momentous a question to your Excellency's home government, it is for this purpose that I have placed the time of the resumption of hostilities sufficiently far in the future to allow a reply being received.

I beg an early answer from your Excellency.

I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near Santiago, July 9, 1898.

Hon. Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.

I forwarded General Toral's proposition to evacuate the town this morning without consulting any one. Since then I have seen the general officers commanding divisions, who agree with me in that it should be accepted.

1st. It releases at once the harbor.

2d. It permits the return of thousands of women, children and old men, who have left the town, fearing bombardment, and are now suffering fearfully where they are, though I am doing my best to supply them with food.

3d. It saves the great destruction of property which a bombardment would entail, most of which belongs to Cubans and foreign residents.

4th. It at once releases this command while it is in good health for operations elsewhere. There are now three cases of yellow fever at Siboney in a Michigan regiment, and if it gets started, no one knows where it will stop.

We lose by this, simply some prisoners we do not want and the arms they carry. I believe many of them will desert and return to our lines. I was told by a sentinel who deserted last night that two hundred men wanted to come, but were afraid our men would fire upon them.

W.R. SHAFTER, Major-General, United States Volunteers.

Reply.

Washington, D.C., July 9, 1898.

Major-General Shafter, Playa, Cuba.

In reply to your telegram recommending terms of evacuation as proposed by the Spanish commander, after careful consideration by the President and Secretary of War, I am directed to say that you have repeatedly been advised that you would not be expected to make an assault upon the enemy at Santiago until you were prepared to do the work thoroughly. When you are ready this will be done. Your telegram of this morning said your position was impregnable and that you believed the enemy would yet surrender unconditionally. You have also assured us that you could force their surrender by cutting off their supplies. Under these circumstances, your message recommending that Spanish troops be permitted to evacuate and proceed without molestation to Holguin is a great surprise and is not approved. The responsibility for the destruction and distress to the inhabitants rests entirely with the Spanish commander. The Secretary of War orders that when you are strong enough to destroy the enemy and take Santiago, you do it. If you have not force enough, it will be despatched to you at the earliest moment possible. Reinforcements are on the way of which you have already been apprised. In the meantime, nothing is lost by holding the position you now have, and which you regard as impregnable.

Acknowledge receipt. By order of the Secretary of War. (Signed) H.C. CORBIN, Adjutant-General.

Headquarters United States Forces, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 11, 1898.

To His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba.

Sir:—With the largely increased forces which have come to me, and the fact that I have your line of retreat securely within my hands, the time seems fitting that I should again demand of your Excellency the surrender of Santiago and your Excellency's army. I am authorized to state that should your Excellency so desire, the Government of the United States will transport your entire command to Spain. I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding.

Reply.

Army of the Island of Cuba, Fourth Corps, July 11, 1898.

To His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of the United States, in the Camp of the San Juan.

Esteemed Sir:—I have the honor to advise your Eminence that your communication of this date is received, and in reply desire to confirm that which I said in my former communication, and also to advise you that I have communicated your proposition to the General-in-Chief. Reiterating my sentiments, I am,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

(Signed) JOSE TORAL, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Corps and Military Governor of Santiago.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near Santiago de Cuba, July 12, 1898.

To His Excellency, Commander-in-Chief of Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba.

Sir:—I have the honor to inform your Excellency that I have already ordered a suspension of hostilities, and I will repeat that order, granting in this manner a reasonable time within which you may receive an answer to the message sent to the Government of Spain, which time will end to-morrow at 12 o'clock noon.

I think it my duty to inform your Excellency that during this armistice I will not move any of my troops that occupy the advanced line, but the forces that arrived to-day and which are debarking at Siboney require moving to this camp.

I wish that your Excellency would honor me with a personal interview to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock. I will come accompanied by the Commanding General of the American army, and by an interpreter, which will permit you to be accompanied by two or three persons of your staff who speak English. Hoping for a favorable answer, I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding.

Army of the Island of Cuba, Fourth Corps, Santiago de cuba, July 12, 1898—9 P. M.

To His Excellency, the General of the American Troops.

Esteemed Sir:—I have the honor to answer your favor of this date, inform your Excellency that in deference to your desires I will be much honored by a conference with his Excellency, the Commanding General of your army, and your Excellency, to-morrow morning at the hour you have seen fit to appoint.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

(Signed) JOSE TORAL, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Army Corps.

Preliminary agreement for the capitulation of the Spanish forces which constitute the division of Santiago de Cuba, occupying the territory herein set forth, said capitulation authorized by the Commander-in-Chief of the Island of Cuba, agreed to by General Toral and awaiting the approbation of the Government at Madrid, and subject to the following conditions:

Submitted by the undersigned Commissioners—

Brigadier-General Don Frederick Escario, Lieutenant-Colonel of Staff Don Ventura Fontan and Mr. Robert Mason, of the city of Santiago de Cuba, representing General Toral, commanding Spanish forces, to Major-General Joseph Wheeler, U.S.V., Major-General H.W. Lawton, U.S.V., and First Lieutenant J.D. Miley, Second Artillery, A.D.C, representing General Shafter, commanding American forces, for the capitulation of the Spanish forces comprised in that portion of the Island of Cuba east of a line passing through Aserradero, Dos Palmas, Palma Soriano, Cauto Abajo, Escondida, Tanamo and Aguilera, said territory being known as the Eastern District of Santiago, commanded by General Jose Toral.

1. That pending arrangements for capitulation all hostilities between American and Spanish forces in this district shall absolutely and unequivocally cease.

2. That this capitulation includes all the forces and war material in said territory.

3. That after the signing of the final capitulation the United States agrees, with as little delay as possible, to transport all the Spanish troops in said district to the Kingdom of Spain, the troops, as near as possible, to embark at the port nearest the garrison they now occupy.

4. That the officers of the Spanish Army be permitted to retain their side arms, and both officers and enlisted men their personal property.

5. That after final capitulation the Spanish authorities agree without delay to remove, or assist the American Navy in removing, all mines or other obstructions to navigation now in the harbor of Santiago and its mouth.

6. That after final capitulation the commander of the Spanish forces deliver without delay a complete inventory of all arms and munitions of war of the Spanish forces and a roster of the said forces now in the above-described district, to the commander of the American forces.

7. That the commander of the Spanish forces, in leaving said district, is authorized to carry with him all military archives and records pertaining to the Spanish Army now in said district.

8. That all of that portion of the Spanish forces known as Volunteers, Movilizados and Guerillas, who wish to remain in the Island of Cuba are permitted to do so under parole not to take up arms against the United States during the continuance of the war between Spain and the United States, delivering up their arms.

9. That the Spanish forces will march out of Santiago de Cuba with honors of war, depositing their arms thereafter at a point mutually agreed upon, to await their disposition by the United States Government, it being understood that the United States Commissioners will recommend that the Spanish soldier return to Spain with the arms he so bravely defended.

Entered into this fifteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by the undersigned Commissioners, acting under instructions from their respecting commanding generals.

(Signed) JOSEPH WHEELER, Major-General U.S. Vols.;

H.W. LAWTON, Major-General U.S. Vols.;

J.D. MILEY, 1st Lieut. 2d Art., A.D.C. to General Shafter.

FREDERICO ESCARIO, VENTURA FONTAN, ROBERT MASON.

Army of the Island of Cuba, Fourth Corps, Santiago de Cuba, July 12, 1898—9 P.M.

To His Excellency, the General-in-Chief of the American Forces,

Esteemed Sir:—As I am now authorized by my Government to capitulate, I have the honor to so advise you, requesting you to designate the hour and place where my representatives should appear, to concur with those of your Excellency to edit the articles of capitulation on the basis of what has been agreed upon to this date.

In due time I wish to manifest to your Excellency my desire to know the resolution of the United States Government respecting the return of the arms, so as to note it in the capitulation; also for their great courtesy and gentlemanly deportment I wish to thank your Grace's representatives, and in return for their generous and noble efforts for the Spanish soldiers, I hope your Government will allow them to return to the Peninsula with the arms that the American army do them the honor to acknowledge as having dutifully defended.

Reiterating my former sentiments, I remain,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOSE TORAL, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Army Corps.

At Neutral Camp, near Santiago, Under a Flag of Truce, July 14, 1898.

Recognizing the chivalry, courage and gallantry of Generals Linares and Toral, and of the soldiers of Spain who were engaged in the battles recently fought in the vicinity of Santiago de Cuba, as displayed in said battles, we, the undersigned officers of the United States army, who had the honor to be engaged in said battle, and are now a duly organized commission, treating with a like commission of officers of the Spanish army, for the capitulation of Santiago de Cuba, unanimously join in earnestly soliciting the proper authority to accord to these brave and chivalrous soldiers the privilege of returning to their country bearing the arms they have so bravely defended.

JOSEPH WHEELER, Major-General, U.S. Vols.

H. W. LAWTON, Major-General, U.S. Vols.

First Lieut., 2d Art., A.D.C. J. D. MILEY.

Army of the Island of Cuba, Fourth Corps, Santiago de Cuba, July 16, 1898.

To His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of the United States.

Esteemed Sir:—At half-past 11 I received your communication of this date, and I am sorry to advise you that it is impossible for my representatives to come to the appointed place at midday, as you wish, as I must meet them and give them their instructions.

If agreeable to you, will you defer the visit until 4 P.M. to-day or until 7 to-morrow morning, and in the meanwhile the obstacles to the entrance of the Red Cross will be removed from the harbor.

I beg your Honor will make clear what force you wish me to retire from the railroad, as, if it is that in Aguadores, I would authorize the repair of the bridge at once by your engineers; and if it is that on the heights to the left of your lines, I beg you will specify with more precision.

I have ordered those in charge of the aqueduct to proceed at once to repair it with the means at their command.

Awaiting your reply, I remain,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOSE TORAL, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Army Corps.

Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp, July 16, 1898.

To His Excellency, General Jose Toral, Commanding Spanish Forces in Eastern Cuba.

Sir:—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of this date, notifying me that the Government at Madrid approves your action, and requesting that I designate officers to arrange for and receive the surrender of the forces of your Excellency. This I do, nominating Major-General Wheeler, Major-General Lawton, and my aide, Lieutenant Miley. I have to request that your Excellency at once withdraw your troops from along the railway to Aguadores, and from the bluff in rear of my left; also that you at once direct the removal of the obstructions at the entrance to the harbor or assist the navy in doing so, as it is of the utmost importance that I at once get vessels loaded with food into the harbor.

The repair of the railroad will, I am told, require a week's time. I shall, as I have said to your Excellency, urge my Government that the gallant men your Excellency has so ably commanded have returned to Spain with them the arms they have wielded. With great respect, I remain,

Your obedient servant and friend,

WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, General, Commanding.

Terms of the Military Convention for the capitulation of the Spanish forces occupying the territory which constitutes the Division of Santiago de Cuba and described as follows: All that portion of the Island of Cuba east of a line passing through Aserradero, Dos Palmas, Cauto Abajo, Escondida, Tanamo and Aguilara, said troops being in command of General Jose Toral; agreed upon by the undersigned Commissioners: Brigadier-General Don Federico Escario, Lieutenant-Colonel of Staff Don Ventura Fontan, and as Interpreter, Mr. Robert Mason, of the city of Santiago de Cuba, appointed by General Toral, commanding the Spanish forces, on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, and Major-General Joseph Wheeler, U.S.V., Major-General H.W. Lawton, U.S.V., and First Lieutenant J.D. Miley, Second Artillery, A.D.C., appointed by General Shafter, commanding the American forces on behalf of the United States:

1. That all hostilities between the American and Spanish forces in this district absolutely and unequivocally cease.

2. That this capitulation includes all the forces and war material in said territory.

3. That the United States agrees, with as little delay as possible, to transport all the Spanish troops in said district to the Kingdom of Spain, the troops being embarked, as far as possible at the port nearest the garrison they now occupy.

4. That the officers of the Spanish Army be permitted to retain their side arms, and both officers and private soldiers their personal property.

5. That the Spanish authorities agree to remove, or assist the American Navy in removing, all mines or other obstructions to navigation now in the harbor of Santiago and its mouth.

6. That the commander of the Spanish forces deliver without delay a complete inventory of all arms and munitions of war of the Spanish forces in above described district to the commander of the American forces; also a roster of said forces now in said district.

7. That the commander of the Spanish forces, in leaving said district, is authorized to carry with him all military archives and records pertaining to the Spanish Army now in said district.

8. That all that portion of the Spanish forces known as Volunteers, Movilizados and Guerillas, who wish to remain in the Island of Cuba, are permitted to do so upon the condition of delivering up their arms and taking a parole not to bear arms against the United States during the continuance of the present war between Spain and the United States.

9. That the Spanish forces will march out of Santiago de Cuba with the honors of war, depositing their arms thereafter at a point mutually agreed upon, to await their disposition by the United States Government, it being understood that the United States Commissioners will recommend that the Spanish soldier return to Spain with the arms he so bravely defended.

10. That the provisions of the foregoing instrument become operative immediately upon its being signed.

Entered into this sixteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by the undersigned Commissioners, acting under instructions from their respective commanding generals and with the approbation of their respective governments.

(Signed) JOSEPH WHEELER, Major-General U.S. Vols.;

H.W. LAWTON, Major-General U.S. Vols.;

J.D. MILEY, 1st Lieut. 2d Art., A.D.C. to General Shafter.

FREDERICO ESCARIO, VENTURA FONTAN, ROBERT MASON.

The following dispatch, sent by General Linares, will show how desperate were the straits into which he had been driven and how earnestly he desired to be granted authority to avoid further fighting by the surrender of his forces at Santiago:

Santiago de Cuba, July 12, 1898.

The General-in-Chief to the Secretary of War.

Although prostrated in bed from weakness and pain, my mind is troubled by the situation of our suffering troops, and therefore I think it my duty to address myself to you, Mr. Secretary, and describe the true situation.

The enemy's forces very near city; ours extended fourteen kilometres (14,000 yards). Our troops exhausted and sickly in an alarming proportion. Cannot be brought to the hospital—needing them in trenches. Cattle without fodder or hay. Fearful storm of rain, which has been pouring continuously for past twenty-four hours. Soldiers without permanent shelter. Their only food rice, and not much of that. They have no way of changing or drying their clothing. Our losses were very heavy—many chiefs and officers among the dead, wounded and sick. Their absence deprives the forces of their leaders in this very critical moment. Under these conditions it is impossible to open a breach on the enemy, because it would take a third of our men who cannot go out, and whom the enemy would decimate. The result would be a terrible disaster, without obtaining, as you desire, the salvation of eleven maimed battalions. To make a sortie protected by the division at Holguin, it is necessary to attack the enemy's lines simultaneously, and the forces of Holguin cannot come here except after many long days' marching. Impossible for them to transport rations. Unfortunately, the situation is desperate. The surrender is imminent, otherwise we will only gain time to prolong our agony. The sacrifice would be sterile, and the men understand this. With his lines so near us, the enemy will annihilate us without exposing his own, as he did yesterday, bombarding by land elevations without our being able to discover their batteries, and by sea the fleet has a perfect knowledge of the place, and bombards with a mathematical accuracy. Santiago is no Gerona, a walled city, part of the mother country, and defended inch by inch by her own people without distinction—old men and women who helped with their lives, moved by the holy idea of freedom, and with the hope of help, which they received. Here I am alone. All the people have fled, even those holding public offices, almost without exception. Only the priests remain, and they wish to leave the city to-day, headed by their archbishop. These defenders do not start now a campaign full of enthusiasm and energy, but for three years they have been fighting the climate, privations and fatigue, and now they have to confront this critical situation when they have no enthusiasm or physical strength. They have no ideals, because they defend the property of people who have deserted them and those who are the allies of the American forces.

The honor of arms has its limit, and I appeal to the judgment of the Government and of the entire nation whether these patient troops have not repeatedly saved it since May 18th—date of first bombardment. If it is necessary that I sacrifice them for reasons unknown to me, or if it is necessary for some one to take responsibility for the issue foreseen and announced by me in several telegrams, I willingly offer myself as a sacrifice to my country, and I will take charge of the command for the act of surrender, as my modest reputation is of small value when the reputation of the nation is at stake.

(Signed) LINARES.

Thus surrendered to our forces about 23,500 Spanish troops, of whom about 11,000 had been in the garrison of Santiago, the others having been stationed in garrisons outside of the city, but belonging to the Division of Santiago. With them were also surrendered 100 cannon, 18 machine guns and over 25,000 rifles. The troops were all sent back to Spain in vessels of their own nation and flying their own flag. We had lost in battles with them before the surrender 23 officers killed and 237 men; and 100 officers and 1,332 men wounded.

THE END