MAJOR WARNER A. ROSS
My COLORED
BATTALION
BY
Major Warner A. Ross
DEDICATED TO THE
American Colored Soldier
WARNER A. ROSS, Publisher
7367 North Clark St.
CHICAGO
Copyright 1920 by Warner A. Ross
MY COLORED BATTALION
You have done me this honor tonight becauseyou know that I was the commander of a wonderfulfighting Infantry Battalion composedentirely (myself excepted) of American coloredofficers and colored men.
You know, too, that for some time, duringthe Great World War, we were in the veryfront lines of that magnificent wave of determinedAllies in France who held and at lastswept back the fiendish forces of autocracyand tyranny and made it possible for libertyloving people to continue their slow but steadyprogress toward true Democracy.
You would like to hear a great deal aboutthat battalion from its white commander becauseyou know it was made up of brave menand backed by brave women of your own colorwho did their duty by you and by their countryand did it well. Your presence here andthe expression on your faces proves that youare deeply, hopefully interested in the integrityand in the advancement of your race.
[4]You would like to know something about meas a soldier too, I suppose, because you havebeen told I was the best friend the colored soldierhad. I am afraid that word best makesit unjustly strong, for the colored soldier hasmany white friends. Nevertheless, I am gladI had the privilege and the opportunity toprove that my efforts in the common cause,the Allies’ cause, were not one bit hamperedor lessened because my officers and men werecolored.
One thing is certain, there was no doubtabout the Americanism of my outfit, no questionof hyphens, no fear that their love for ortheir hatred of some other nation exceededtheir love for our own. The devotion, the patriotism,the loyalty of the American Negrois beyond question. My only claim is that Itreated him justly—that’s all he needs or asks.
The Second Battalion of the Three Hundredand Sixty-fifth United States Infantry (thebattalion we are considering) was a remarkableorganization, in many ways, in spite ofmany things, a wonderful organization. In[5]the battle line and out of the battle line, beforethe armistice and after the armistice, there wasnot a phase of military art or of the awfulgame of war at which this battalion did notexcel. At going over the top, attacking enemypositions, resisting raids and assaults, holdingunder heavy shell fire, enduring gas of allkinds, at patrolling no-man’s land, at drill, onhard marches, in discipline and military courtesy,at conducting itself properly in camp orin French villages, and in general all aroundsnappiness, it excelled in all.
Much of this could be seen by going overthe battalion and regimental records. But thegreatest thing about that battalion is not amatter of direct record in the written data andreports. It is a