"
Corporal W.F. Johnson, B Troop, was the non-commissioned officer in
charge of the machine guns during the brief fight at Las Guasimas, and
his action was such as to call forth from the troop commander special
mention "for his efficiency and perfect coolness under fire." Here I
may be pardoned for calling attention to a notion too prevalent
concerning the Negro soldier in time of battle. He is too often
represented as going into action singing like a zany or yelling like a
demon, rather than as a man calculating the chances for life and
victory. The official reports from the Black Regulars in Cuba ought to
correct this notion. Every troop and company commander, who has
reported upon colored soldiers in that war, speaks of the coolness of
the men of his command. Captain Beck, of Troop A, Tenth Cavalry, in
the Guasimas fight, says: "I will add that the enlisted men of Troop
A, Tenth Cavalry, behaved well, silently and alertly obeying orders,
and without becoming excited when the fire of the enemy reached them."
The yell, in the charge of the regulars, is a part of the action, and
is no more peculiar to Negro troops than to the whites, only as they
may differ in the general timbre of voice. Black American soldiers
when not on duty may sing more than white troops, but in quite a long
experience among them I have not found the difference so very
noticeable.
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