|
||
|
Home Page Civil Rights....Civil Wrongs Main Page Food For Thought Speeches, Writing And Thoughts Black Sports In Alabama Black Alabama's Heroes Links My Resume Contact Us Support thatsalabama.com |
THE BATTLE OF ANNISTON 
On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain and the shortest ever war undertaken by the nation unilaterally began. In the seven and a half months that the Spanish-American conflict lasted, none of the units from Alabama ever left the state, never mind making it to Cuba. However, the story of the Third Regiment of the Alabama Volunteer Infantry is one that needs to be told.
At the outset of the war, the black soldiers of the Capital City Guards of Montgomery and the Gilmer Rifles of Mobile offered their services. Initially, The War Department refused their offer, preferring to fill the fighting units from Alabama with white soldiers. However, a lack of able bodied white volunteers meant that the strategy had to be re-thought. In addition, Governor Joseph Johnson was seeking re-election, and he felt that raising a black army unit would appease black civic leaders and gain him votes. The governor would not give in to demands to have black officers, and this caused recruiting to be slower than expected. The battalion was put under the command of Captain Robert Lee Bullard of Russell County. On August 6, the unit was finally mustered at the muddy Camp Clarke near Mobile with 1,200 men. The troops and their officers trained extremely hard and unusually, were rewarded by promotions, praise and rewards instead of punishment. The men were highly disciplined, moral was high and there was very little racial tension for them in Mobile, with the exception of some of the city's streetcar conductors. The soldiers received praise from the Mobile Register and the governor was pleased. In August of 1898, the War Department announced that the regiment would be mustered out. However, after a meeting of the troops that was arranged by Captain Bullard, they voted by a margin of six to one to stay in service. The captain, accompanied by some of his officers, traveled to Washington and pleaded for garrison duty. Their wish was granted, mainly due to the number of white soldiers who wanted to return to their families. The troops prepared to sail to Cuba, however a change in orders meant that they had to head north to Camp Shipp at Anniston and into trouble. Camp Shipp contained white volunteer regiments from Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. They were poorly disciplined, disgruntled and did not want to share their camp with black troops. When Captain Bullard allowed his troops to visit Anniston, they were assaulted by a large crowd of soldiers and civilians. On other occasions, soldiers of the Third Regiment were beaten. Also, Anniston hackmen drove through the Third's designated area a high speeds, this form of harassment only ended when a horse was bayoneted by a sentry. Whenever soldiers went back into Anniston, they had to be accompanied by officers, and by November, the regiment's sentries were being fired upon. What followed became known in the white press as the "Battle of Anniston". On Thanksgiving night, Corporal James Caperton, a regimental clerk, and two other soldiers were returning from church when they were ambushed and shot in the back. Caperton was killed, and the other two were wounded. Black troops fired back, seriously wounding one white soldier and hitting a few others. The incident was described by local newspapers as a "Black Mutiny", and Senator John Tyler Morgan denounced the policy of "putting guns in the hands of Negroes as soldiers and making them the peers of white men". On March 20, 1899, the regiment was quietly mustered out and some of the soldiers returned to the Capital City Guards. The Gilmer rifles were never revived. The Capital City Guards only lasted until November 8, 1905, when they were mustered out "for the good of the service". The source of information on this page is a book entitled "Alabama, The History of a Deep South State," which is published by The University of Alabama Press. SIGN UP TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER If you would like us to keep you updated with changes and improvements to thatsalabama.com, please enter your email address here: If you would like to support thatsalabama.com with a donation via paypal, please click on this button: |
|
Email webmaster@thatsalabama.com