[Autograph letter to Capt. Chas. H. Scott on raising an African American battalion in Alabama].

Washington, D.C., 30 August 1899. 8vo (9.5” x 6”), 4 pp. on two identical letterheads of Ebbitt House, Army & Navy, H.C. Burch, Washington D.C. CONDITION: Good, brittle, old folds, dampstaining, and chippings and punctures along edges; no losses to the text.

A revealing letter written by a white officer Robert Gage who was selected by Alabama’s Governor to command an African American battalion in the Spanish-American War. The letter hints at Gage’s intentions for commanding the battalion, as well the role of politics and nepotism in making military appointments.

After the U.S. declared war on Spain in 1898, Alabama Governor Joseph F. Johnston called for black volunteers. Seeking to “make his negro troops a success" (Gatewood), Johnston sought to appoint men he deemed competent to lead and train Mobile’s extant African American military outfit, the Gilmer Rifles (organized in 1883), which was to be incorporated into a black volunteer battalion. Johnston selected as officers a group of socially-prominent, well-educated, white young men. The commanding officer Johnston appointed was Captain Robert Gage, the militarily-inexperienced son-in-law of a prominent Mobile physician, who replaced the Gilmer Rifles’s black captain. Although Gage delivered an impassioned appeal to the black militiamen and promised to treat them fairly, the men refused to fight under him and petitioned Johnston to grant them the same privileges as white volunteers in choosing their officers. This, however, was not allowed. Those willing to accept white officers could continue in service, while Captain Gage was authorized to recruit volunteers to replace those determined to retain the organization's black officers. By early June 1898, the influx of new recruits into the company had completely changed the company’s character.

Gage here writes to Charles H. Scott (1870–?) of Montgomery, Alabama. Scott was a businessman who served as Captain of Company A in the 2nd Alabama Regiment in the Spanish-American War. Scott is known to have corresponded with Theodore Roosevelt and helped him drum-up support in Alabama. In 1904, Scott served as delegate to the Republican National Committee. Gage’s letter to Scott reads in part:

You may be surprised to hear from me here [i.e. Washington, D.C.] especially as I was just named by the Gov. of Ala[bama] as one of his six, but near as I can see one of the ones he named did not get a place. Now there seems to be no doubt…there will be a colored Regt. raised or perhaps two. Now Ala. has gotten a good many officers appointed & between us some D–– sorry ones but I only see one or two good Republicans in it while the Democrats get the pie, while two good Republicans like you & I get left. Now can we not join forces & get in on this colored troops deal, we can handle them & get many of our old men. I can get a batallion up I think in short order. There is some talk of colored line officers but I am sure you agree with me when I say that would be a D— big mistake. Now I have called on & seen the entire outfit here & neither the adj[utant] or sec[reta]ry are sure yet what will be done, so I thought this, we might join forces & raise a company each or a battalion between us & offer it. I am satisfied if we got in, now we stay for life. I will be satisfied with a Captain’s commission but do not care much for less…Now think the thing over, work up a scheme the best you can & write me Mobile what you think…I think what is needed in this deal is to get the Gov. to call for colored officers & then our part is to show we can get good colored men & handle them. I have got heavy endorsements on file including [a] strong one from the Col.”

Of the 250,000 soldiers in the U.S. forces during the Spanish-American War, 3,300 of these were African Americans who served in regular army regiments. Over 10,000 African Americans enlisted voluntarily, an index of how for many black soldiers (and the broader African American community) military service was linked with the hope of freedom and full integration into American society.

REFERENCES: Gatewood, Willard B. “Alabama’s ‘Negro Soldier Experiment,’ 1898–1899.” The Journal of Negro History, Oct., 1972, Vol. 57, No. 4 (University of Chicago Press, 1972), pp. 333–351; Muskat, Beth Taylor. “Black Militias in Alabama” encyclopediaofalabama.org; Speidel, Matthias. "'A Race That Is Thus Willing To Die For Its Country': African-American Volunteers in the Spanish-American War 1898" In Krüger C.G., Levsen S. (eds). War Volunteering in Modern Times. London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.