There was one Black officer in the United States Army who by every consideration of justice, efficiency and long, faithful service should have been given the command of a division of Black troops. Colonel Charles Young was a graduate of West Point and by universal admission was one of the best officers in the Army. He has served in Cuba, Haiti, the Philippines, Mexico, Africa and the West with distinction. Under Young, the Negro division would have been the most efficient in the Army. This rightful command was denied him for a technical physical reason, high blood pressure. Colonel Young was quickly retired from the Regular Army. He was not allowed even a minor command or even a chance to act as an instructor during World War 1. The Coronel was third on the promotion list for Brigadair General.
On the contrary, the 92nd and 93rd Divisions of Negro troops were given Commanding Officers who with a half-dozen exceptions distrusted Negroes of actively being soldiers. These White officers persistently opposed colored officers under any circumstances. The 92nd Division, particularly, was made a dumping ground for poor and inexperienced field officers seeking promotion. A considerable number of these White officers, from the first, spent more time and ingenuity in making the life of the Negro officer hard and limiting the Negro soldier than was spent in preparing to beat the Germans.
PREJUDICE
These sadistic efforts fell under various heads. Black officers were not given any instruction in certain fields. Then, the White officers claimied that none of the Black officers were fitted for work, as in artillery and engineering. White staff persistently picking the poorest Negro candidates instead of the best for examination and tests so as to make any failure conspicuous. White command officers used court martials and efficiency boards for trivial offenses and some used wholesale removals of the Negroes. White officers subjected Negro officers and soldiers to persistent insult and discrimination by refusing salutes, "Jim-Crowing" places of accommodation and amusement, refusing leaves, etc. White Command failing to supply the Black troops with proper equipment and decent clothing. Finally, the White officers systematically attempt to poison the minds of the French against the Negroes and compel them to follow the dictates of American prejudice.
These are serious charges. The full proof of them cannot be attempted here, but a few examples will serve to indicate the nature of the proof:
1. At the colored Officers' Training Camp, no instruction was given in artillery and a dead-line was established by which no one was commissioned higher than Captain, despite several recommendations.
2. Certain Captain positions, like those of the Headquarters Companies, were reserved for Whites, and former non-commissioned officers were given preference with the hope that they would be more tractable than college-bred men, -- a hope that usually proved delusive.
The Black divisions were never assembled as units in the United States. General Ballou, a timid, changeable White man, was put in command of the 92nd Division and he antagonized it from the beginning.
General Ballou's attitude toward the men of his command, as expressed in his famous, or rather infamous, Bulletin 35, which was issued during the period of training in the United States, was manifested throughout the division during the entire time that he was
