Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 199, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1918 — Colored Regiments. [ARTICLE]

Colored Regiments.

In 1866 congress passed a law that colored regiments should be a part of the regular army. The Ninth and Tenth cavalry and the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first regiments of infantry were organised March 3, 1869, a consolidation get was passed and the Thirty-eighth and Forty-first were reorganized as the Twenty-fourth regiment of infantry; the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth were reorganized as the Twenty-fifth regiment of infantry. The Ninth and Tenth cavalry won the reputation of being among the best Indian fighters on the frontier. At the outbreak of the Spanish war, in 1898, the four colored regiments were among the first troops ordered to the front, and they won distinction. At the first battle in Cuba, the Tenth cavalry played an important part of coming to the support of Colonel Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. The Twenty-fifth infantry took a prominent part in the battle of El Caney. The Ninth and Tenth cavalry and the Twenty-fourth infantry rendered heroic service in the battle of San Juan hill.—Boston Globe.