With the history fresh in mind of the successful Negro
insurrection in St. Domingo, bringing out so conspicuous a
military and administrative genius as Toussaint L'Ouverture, it
is not surprising that the services of Negroes as soldiers were
not only welcomed, but solicited by various states during the War
of 1812. Excepting the battle of New Orleans, almost all the
martial glory of the struggle was on the water. New York,
however, passed a special act of the legislature and organized
two regiments of Negro troops, while there was heavy recruiting
in other states.
When in 1814 New Orleans was in danger, the free colored people
of Louisiana were called into the field with the whites. General
Andrew Jackson's commendatory address read to his colored troops
December 18, 1814, is one of the highest compliments ever paid by
a commander to his troops. He said:
"Soldiers!—when, on the banks of the Mobile, I
called you to take up arms, inviting you to partake of the perils
and glory of your white fellow-citizens, I expected much from
you; for I was not ignorant that you possessed qualities most
formidable to an invading enemy. I knew with what fortitude you
could endure hunger and thirst, and all the fatigues of a
campaign. I knew well how you loved your native country, and that
you, as well as ourselves had to defend what man holds most
dear—his parents, wife, children and property. You have
done more than I expected. In addition to the previous qualities
I before knew you to possess, I found among you a noble
enthusiasm, which leads to the performance of great things.
"Soldiers! The President of the United States shall hear how
praiseworthy was your conduct in the hour of danger, and the
representatives of the American people will give you the praise
your exploits entitle you to. Your General anticipates them in
applauding your noble ardor."
Many incidents are on record of the gallantry of Negro soldiers
and servants also serving as soldiers, in the war with Mexico.
Colonel Clay, a son of Henry Clay, was accompanied into the thick
of the battle of Buena Vista, by his Negro servant. He remained
by his side in the fatal charge and saw Clay stricken from his
horse. Although surrounded by the murderous Mexicans he succeeded
in carrying the mangled body of his master from the field.
It has been stated and the evidence seems strong, that a Negro
saved the life of General Zachary Taylor at the battle of
Monterey. The story is that a Mexican was aiming a deadly blow at
the General, when the Negro sprang between them, slew the Mexican
and received a deep wound from a lance. The Negro was a slave at
the time, but was afterwards emancipated by President Taylor.
Upwards of 200,000 colored soldiers were regularly enlisted in
the Federal army and navy during the Civil war. President Lincoln
commissioned eight Negro surgeons for field and hospital duty.
Losses sustained by the Negro troops amounting to upwards of
37,000 men, are shown to have been as heavy in proportion to the
numbers engaged, as those of the white forces.
The record of the Negro troops in the Civil war is one of uniform
excellence. Numerous official documents attest this fact, aside
from the spoken and written commendations of many high officers.
Their bravery was everywhere recognized; many distinguished
themselves and several attained to the rank of regularly
commissioned officers. Conspicuous in Negro annals of that time
is the case of Charles E. Nash, afterwards a member of congress.
He received a primary education in the schools of New Orleans,
but had educated himself largely by his own efforts. In 1863 he
enlisted in the 83rd regiment, United States Chasseurs d'Afrique
and became acting sergeant-major of that command. At the storming
of Fort Blakely he lost a leg and was honorably discharged.
Another, William Hannibal Thomas, afterwards became prominent as
an author, teacher, lawyer and legislator. His best known book
was entitled, "The American Negro: What he was, what he is, and
what he may become." He served as a soldier during the Civil War
and lost an arm in the service.
The exploit of Robert Smalls was so brilliant that no amount of
unfairness or prejudice has been able to shadow it. It is well
known to all students of the War of the Rebellion and is recorded
in the imperishable pages of history.
Smalls was born a slave at Beaufort, South Carolina, but managed
to secure some education. Having led a sea-faring life to some
extent, the early part of the war found him employed as pilot of
the Rebel transport Planter. He was thoroughly familiar with the
harbors and inlets of the South Atlantic coast. On May 31, 1862,
the Planter was in Charleston harbor. All the white officers and
crew went ashore, leaving on board a colored crew of eight men in
charge of Smalls. He summoned aboard his wife and three children
and at 2 o'clock in the morning steamed out of the harbor, passed
the Confederate forts by giving the proper signals, and when
fairly out of reach, ran up the Stars and Stripes and headed a
course for the Union fleet, into whose hands he soon surrendered
the ship. He was appointed a pilot in the United States navy and
served as such on the monitor Keokuk in the attack on Fort
Sumter; was promoted to captain for gallant and meritorious
conduct, December 1, 1863, and placed in command of the Planter,
a position which he held until the vessel was taken out of
commission in 1866. He was a member of the South Carolina
Constitutional Convention, 1868; elected same year to the
legislature, to the state senate 1870 and 1872, and was a member
of the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses.
Among the most inspiring pages of Civil War history written by
the Negro, were the campaigns of Port Hudson, Louisiana; Fort
Wagner, South Carolina and Fort Pillow, Kentucky. Negro troops
participated in the siege of the former place by the Federal
forces under General Banks, which began in May 1863, and ended in
the surrender of the fort July 8, 1863. Fort Wagner was one of
the defenses of Charleston. It was reduced by General Gilmore,
September 6, 1863 and Negro troops contributed in a glorious and
heroic manner to the result. Fort Pillow had been taken by the
Federals and was garrisoned by a Negro regiment and a detachment
of cavalry. It was recaptured April 12, 1864 by the Confederates
under General Forrest. Practically the entire garrison was
massacred, an act that will stain forever the name of Forrest,
and the cause for which he struggled.
By the close of the Civil war, the value and fitness of the Negro
as a soldier had been so completely demonstrated that the
government decided to enlarge the Regular army and form fifty
percent of the increase from colored men. In 1866 eight new
infantry regiments were authorized of which four were to be
Negroes and four new cavalry regiments of which two were to be
Negroes. The Negro infantry regiments were numbered the 38th
39th, 40th and 41st. The cavalry regiments were known as the 9th
and 10th.
In 1869 there was a general reduction in the infantry forces of
the Regular army and the 38th and 41st were consolidated into one
regiment numbered the 24th and the 39th and 40th into one
regiment numbered the 25th. The strength and numerical titles of
the cavalry were not changed. For over forty years the colored
American was represented in our Regular Army by those four
regiments. They have borne more than their proportionate share of
hard service, including many Indian campaigns. The men have
conducted themselves so worthily as to call forth the best praise
of the highest military authorities. General Miles and General
Merritt, actively identified with the Indian wars, were
unstinting in their commendation of the valor and skill of Negro
fighters.
Between 1869 and 1889, three colored men were regularly graduated
and commissioned from the United States military academy at West
Point and served in the Regular Army as officers. They were John
H. Alexander, Charles Young and H.O. Flipper. The latter was
dismissed. All served in the cavalry. Alexander died shortly
before the Spanish-American war and up to the time of his demise,
enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his associates, white and
black. Young became major in the volunteer service during the
Spanish-American war and was placed in command of the Ninth
Battalion of Ohio volunteers. After the Spanish-American war he
returned to the Regular Army with a reduced rank, but ultimately
became a Major in that service. Upon America's entry into the
European war he was elevated to the rank of Colonel.
At the breaking out of the Spanish-American war in 1898, Negro
military organizations existed principally in the Regular Army.
These were soon filled to their maximum strength and the desire
of Negroes north and south to enlist, seemed likely to meet with
disappointment. Congress, to meet the insistence of colored men
for service, authorized the raising of ten Negro volunteer
regiments of "immunes"—men who had lived in sections where
the yellow fever and other malignant or malarial visitations had
occurred, and who had suffered from them or shown evidences that
they in all probability would be immune from the diseases. The
plan to place white men in all commands above the grade of second
lieutenant, prevented Negroes from enlisting as they otherwise
would have done. Four immune regiments were organized—the
7th, 8th, 9th and 10th.
Several of the states appreciating the value of the Negro as a
soldier and in response to his intense desire to enlist, placed
volunteer Negro organizations at the disposal of the government.
There were the Third Alabama and Sixth Virginia Infantry; Eighth
Illinois Infantry; Companies A and B Indiana Infantry;
Thirty-third Kansas Infantry, and a battalion of the Ninth Ohio
Infantry. The Eighth Illinois was officered by colored men
throughout. J.R. Marshall its first colonel commanded the
regiment during the Spanish-American war and did garrison duty in
Santiago province for some time after the war; being for a while
military governor of San Luis.
Gov. Russell of North Carolina, called out a Negro regiment, the
Third Infantry, officered by colored men throughout. Colonel
Charles Young commanding. It was not mustered into the
service.
Company L. Sixth Massachusetts Infantry, was a Negro company
serving in a white regiment. John L. Waller, deceased, a Negro
formerly United States Consul to Madagascar, was a captain in the
Kansas regiment.
About one hundred Negro second-lieutenants were commissioned in
the volunteer force during the Spanish-American war. There was a
Negro paymaster, Major John R. Lynch of Mississippi, and two
Negro chaplains, the Rev. C.T. Walker of Georgia and the Rev.
Richard Carroll of South Carolina.
Owing to the briefness of the campaign in Cuba, most of the
service of Negro troops devolved upon the Regulars who were fit
and ready. But all troops were at mobilization or training bases
and willing and anxious to serve. No pages in the history of this
country are more replete with the record of good fighting,
military efficiency and soldierly conduct, than those recording
the story of Negro troops in Cuba. Colonel Roosevelt said that
the conduct of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry reflected honor upon
the whole American people, especially on their own race. He could
hardly say otherwise in view of the splendid support given by
those two regiments that—such is, and will continue to be
the verdict of history, saved him and his "Rough Riders" from
annihilation at San Juan Hill.
Cuba, in her struggles for freedom, had among her own people two
splendid Negro leaders, Antonio and Jose Maceo.
Following the Cuban campaign, Negro troops saw distinguished
service in the Philippine Islands uprisings. They have from time
to time since garrisoned and preserved order in those
possessions. A very limited number of Negro officers have been
attached to their racial contingents in the Philippines, and
there will be found but a few of competent military authority in
this country, who will deny that educated, intelligent and
qualified Negroes, are fitted for positions of leadership and
command.
The Negro of this country is primarily and essentially concerned
with the destiny and problems of his race. His work encouraged as
it must be, by the laws and spirit of the age, will determine his
future and mark the commencement of the elimination of the
shameful prejudice against him in the land, for which, from
Lexington to the bloody trenches of France, he has given of his
blood to preserve.
Before leaving the subject of the Negro in previous wars, it is
highly fitting to review the heroic incident of June 21, 1916, at
Carrizal, Mexico. Here is a tale of daring that to duplicate,
would tax the imagination of war fiction writers, and among
incidents of fact will range along with the Texans' defense of
the Alamo, where men fought and perished against great odds.
The occasion was the celebrated expedition conducted by General
J.J. Pershing into Mexico in pursuit of the bandit leader Villa.
A picked detachment consisting of portions of Troops C and K of
the colored Tenth Cavalry, was dispatched from Pershing's main
force towards the town of Villa Ahumada. The force was commanded
by Captain Charles T. Boyd of Troop C and Captain Lewis Morey of
Troop K. Lieutenant Adair was second in command in Troop C to
Captain Boyd. Including officers and civilian scouts, the force
numbered about 80 men.
Early on the morning of June 21, the detachment wishing to pass
through the garrisoned town of Carrizal, sought the permission of
the Mexican commander. Amidst a show of force, the officers were
invited into the town by the commander, ostensibly for a parley.
Fearing a trap they refused the invitation and invited the
Mexicans to a parley outside the town. The Mexican commander came
out with his entire force and began to dispose them in positions
which were very threatening to the Americans. Captain Boyd
informed the Mexican that his orders were to proceed eastward to
Ahumada and protested against the menacing position of the
Mexican forces. The Mexican replied that his orders were to
prevent the Americans from proceeding in any direction excepting
northward, the direction from which they had just come.
Captain Boyd refused to retreat, but ordered his men not to fire
until they were attacked. The Mexican commander retired to the
flank and almost immediately opened with machine gun fire from a
concealed trench. This was quickly followed by rifle fire from
the remainder of the force. The Mexicans outnumbered the troopers
nearly two to one and their most effective force was intrenched.
The Americans were on a flat plain, unprotected by anything
larger than bunches of cactus or sage brush. They dismounted,
laid flat on the ground and responded to the attack as best they
could. The horses were mostly stampeded by the early firing.
The spray of lead from the machine gun had become so galling that
Captain Boyd decided to charge the position. Not a man wavered in
the charge. They took the gun, the Captain falling dead across
the barrel of it just as the last Mexican was killed or put to
flight. Lieutenant Adair was also killed. The Mexicans returned
in force and recaptured the position.
Captain Morey had been concerned in warding off a flank attack.
His men fought no less bravely than the others. They finally were
driven to seek refuge in an adobe house, that is; all who were
able to reach it. Here they kept the Mexicans at bay for hours
firing through windows and holes in the walls. Captain Morey
seriously wounded, with a few of his survivors, finally escaped
from the house and hid for nearly two days in a hole. The
soldiers refused to leave their officer. When they finally were
able to leave their place of concealment, the several that were
left assisted their Captain on the road towards the main force.
Arriving at a point where reinforcements could be summoned, the
Captain wrote a report to his commander and sent his men to
headquarters with it. They arrived in record time and a party was
sent out, reaching the wounded officer in time to save his
life.
About half of the American force was wiped out and most of the
others were taken prisoners. They inflicted a much heavier loss
on the Mexicans. Among the killed was the Mexican commander who
had ordered the treacherous attack.
It may be that "someone had blundered." This was not the concern
of the black troopers; in the face of odds they fought by the
cactus and lay dead under the Mexican stars.
In closing this outline of the Negro's participation in former
wars, it is highly appropriate to quote the tributes of two
eminent men. One, General Benjamin F. Butler, a conspicuous
military leader on the Union side in the Civil War, and Wendell
Phillips, considered by many the greatest orator America ever
produced, and who devoted his life to the abolition movement
looking to the freedom of the slave in the United States. Said
General Butler on the occasion of the debate in the National
House of Representatives on the Civil Rights bill; ten years
after the bloody battle of New Market Heights; speaking to the
bill, and referring to the gallantry of the black soldiers on
that field of strife:
"It became my painful duty to follow in the track of
that charging column, and there, in a space not wider than the
clerk's desk and three hundred yards long, lay the dead bodies of
543 of my colored comrades, fallen in defense of their country,
who had offered their lives to uphold its flag and its honor, as
a willing sacrifice; and as I rode along among them, guiding my
horse this way and that way, lest he should profane with his
hoofs what seemed to me the sacred dead, and as I looked on their
bronzed faces upturned in the shining sun, as if in mute appeal
against the wrongs of the country whose flag had only been to
them a flag of stripes, on which no star of glory had ever shone
for them—feeling I had wronged them in the past and
believing what was the future of my country to them—among
my dead comrades there I swore to myself a solemn oath, 'May my
right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth, if I ever fail to defend the rights of those men who
have given their blood for me and my country this day, and for
their race forever,' and, God helping me, I will keep that
oath."
Mr. Phillips in his great oration on Toussaint L'Ouverture, the
Black of St. Domingo; statesman, warrior and
LIBERATOR,—delivered in New York City, March 11, 1863, said
among other things, a constellation of linguistic brilliants not
surpassed since the impassioned appeals of Cicero swept the Roman
Senate to its feet, or Demosthenes fired his listeners with the
flame of his matchless eloquence;
"You remember that Macaulay says, comparing Cromwell
with Napoleon, that Cromwell showed the greater military genius,
if we consider that he never saw an army till he was forty; while
Napoleon was educated from a boy in the best military schools in
Europe. Cromwell manufactured his own army; Napoleon at the age
of twenty-seven was placed at the head of the best troops Europe
ever saw. They were both successful; but, says Macaulay, with
such disadvantages, the Englishman showed the greater genius.
Whether you allow the inference or not, you will at least grant
that it is a fair mode of measurement.
"Apply it to Toussaint. Cromwell never saw an army until he was
forty; this man never saw a soldier till he was fifty. Cromwell
manufactured his own army—out of what? Englishmen—the
best blood in Europe. Out of the middle class of Englishmen, the
best blood of the island. And with it he conquered what?
Englishmen—their equals. This man manufactured his army out
of what? Out of what you call the despicable race of Negroes,
debased, demoralized by two hundred years of slavery, 100,000 of
them imported into the island within four years, unable to speak
a dialect intelligible even to each other. Yet out of this mixed,
and, as you say, despicable mass, he forged a thunderbolt, and
hurled it at what? At the proudest blood in Europe, the Spaniard,
and sent him home conquered; at the most warlike blood in Europe,
the French, and put them under his feet; at the pluckiest blood
in Europe, the English, and they skulked home to
Jamaica."
The world is acquainted with the treacherous infamy inspired by
the great Napoleon, that inveigled the Black Chieftain and
liberator of his people on shipboard, the voyage to France, and
his subsequent death—STARVED!—in the dungeon of the
prison castle of St. Joux.
Whittier, the poet evangelist, whose inspired verse contributed
much to the crystallization of the sentiment and spirit that
finally doomed African slavery in America, thus referred to the
heartless tragedy and the splendid Black who was its victim:
"Sleep calmy in thy dungeon-tomb,
Beneath Besancon's alien sky,
Dark Haytien!—for the time shall come,
Yea, even now is nigh—
When, everywhere, thy name shall be
Redeemed from color's infamy;
And men shall learn to speak of thee,
As one of earth's great spirits, born
In servitude, and nursed in scorn,
Casting aside the weary weight
And fetters of its low estate,
In that strong majesty of soul,
Which knows no color, tongue or clime,
Which still hath spurned the base control
Of tyrants through all time!"
CHAPTER XI.
HOUR OF HIS NATION'S PERIL.
NEGRO'S PATRIOTIC ATTITUDE—SELECTIVE DRAFT IN
EFFECT—FEATURES AND RESULTS—BOLD RELIANCE ON FAITH IN
A PEOPLE—NO COLOR LINE DRAWN—DISTRIBUTION OF
REGISTRANTS BY STATES—NEGRO AND WHITE REGISTRATIONS
COMPARED—NEGRO PERCENTAGES HIGHER—CLAIMED FEWER
EXEMPTIONS—INDUCTIONS BY STATES—BETTER PHYSICALLY
THAN WHITES—TABLES, FACTS AND FIGURES.
As stated in a previous chapter, the Negro's real opportunity to
show his patriotic attitude did not come until the passage of the
compulsory service law; selective draft, was the name attached to
it later and by which it was generally known.
On May 18, 1917, the day the law was enacted by congress, no
advocate of preparedness could with confidence have forecasted
the success of it. There were many who feared the total failure
of it. The history of the United States disclosed a popular
adherence to the principle of voluntary enlistment, if not a
repudiation of the principle of selection or compulsory military
service.
It was to be expected that many people would look upon the law as
highly experimental; as an act that, if it did not produce grave
disorders in the country, would fall short of the results for
which it was intended. It was fortunate for the country at this
time, that the military establishment possessed in the person of
General Crowder, one who had made a special study of selective
drafts and other forms of compulsory service, not alone in this
country, but throughout the nations of the world and back to the
beginning of recorded history. He had become as familiar with all
phases of it as though it had been a personal hobby and lifetime
pursuit.
The law was extremely plain and permitted of no guessing or legal
quibbling over its terms. It boldly recited the military
obligations of citizenship. It vested the president with the most
complete power of prescribing regulations calculated to strike a
balance between the industrial, agricultural and economic needs
of the nation on the one hand and the military need on the
other.
Within 18 days between May 18, when the law was approved, and
June 5, the day the president had fixed as registration day, a
great, administrative machine was built. Practically the entire
male citizenship of the United States within the age limits fixed
by law, twenty-one to thirty years inclusive, presented itself at
the 4,000 enrollment booths with a registered result of nearly
10,000,000 names. The project had been so systematized that
within 48 hours almost complete registration returns had been
assembled by telegraph in Washington.
The order in which the ten-million registrants were to be called
was accomplished on July 20 by a great central lottery in
Washington.
The boards proceeded promptly to call, to examine physically and
to consider claims for exemption of over one and one half million
men, a sufficient number to fill the first national quota of
687,000. Thus in less than three and one-half months the nation
had accepted and vigorously executed a compulsory service
law.
On June 5, 1918, 753,834 men were added to the rolls. On August
24, 1918, that number was increased by 159,161; finally on
September 12, 1918, under the provision of the act of August
31,1918, 13,228,762 were added to the lists of those available
for military service, which, including interim and other
accessions, amounted to a grand total of 24,234,021 enrolled and
subject to the terms of the Selective Service law. This
tremendous exhibition of man power struck terror to the heart of
the Hun and hastened him to, if possible, deliver a telling blow
against the Allies before the wonderful strength and resources of
the American nation could be brought to bear against him.
Commenting on the facility with which the selective draft was put
into effect, the report of the Provost Marshall General stated in
part:
"The expedition and smoothness with which the law was
executed emphasized the remarkable flexibility, adaptability and
efficiency of our system of government and the devotion of our
people. Here was a gigantic project in which success was staked
not on reliance in the efficiency of a man, or an hierarchy of
men, or, primarily, on a system. Here was a bold reliance on
faith in a people. Most exacting duties were laid with perfect
confidence on the officials of every locality in the nation, from
the governors of states to the registrars of elections, and upon
private citizens of every condition, from men foremost in the
industrial and political life of the nation to those who had
never before been called upon to participate in the functions of
government. By all administrative tokens, the accomplishment of
their task was magic."
No distinction regarding color or race was made in the selective
draft law, except so far as non-citizen Indians were exempt from
the draft. But the organization of the army placed Negro soldiers
in separate units; and the several calls for mobilization, were,
therefore, affected by this circumstance, in that no calls could
be issued for Negro registrants until the organizations were
ready for them. Figures of total registration given previously in
this chapter include interim accessions and some that
automatically went on the rolls after September 12, 1918.
Inasmuch as the tables prepared by the Provost Marshall General's
department deal only with those placed on the rolls on regular
registration days and do not include the accessions mentioned,
comparisons which follow will be based on those tables. They show
the total registration as 23,779,997, of which 21,489,470 were
white and 2,290,527 were black. Following is a table showing the
distribution of colored and white registrants by states:
Colored
Total registrants
Colored June 5, 1917 Colored Total
and white Colored registrants colored
registrants. to Sept 11, Sept 12, registrants.
1918. 1918.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States 23,779,097 1,078,331 1,212,196 2,290,527
=====================================================
Alabama 444,692 81,963 81,410 163,373
Arizona 93,078 295 680 975
Arkansas 365,754 51,176 53,659 104,835
California 787,676 3,308 6,404 9,712
Colorado 215,178 1,103 1,867 2,970
Connecticut 373,676 3,524 4,659 8,183
Delaware 55,215 3,798 4,448 8,246
District of Columbia 89,808 11,045 15,433 26,478
Florida 208,931 39,013 43,019 82,032
Georgia 549,020 112,593 108,183 220,781
Idaho 103,740 254 255 509
Illinois 1,571,717 21,816 35,597 57,413
Indiana 639,431 11,289 16,549 27,838
Iowa 523,957 2,959 3,022 5,981
Kansas 381,315 5,575 7,448 13,023
Kentucky 486,599 25,850 30,182 56,032
Louisiana 391,654 76,223 82,256 158,479
Maine 159,350 163 179 342
Maryland 313,255 26,435 32,736 59,171
Massachusetts 884,030 6,044 8,056 14,100
Michigan 871,410 6,979 8,950 15,929
Minnesota 540,003 1,541 1,809 3,350
Mississippi 344,506 81,548 91,534 173,082
Missouri 764,428 22,796 31,524 54,320
Montana 196,999 320 494 814
Nebraska 286,147 1,614 2,417 4,031
Nevada 29,465 69 112 172
New Hampshire 95,035 77 98 175
New Jersey 761,238 14,056 19,340 33,396
New Mexico 80,158 235 350 595
New York 2,503,290 25,974 35,299 61,273
North Carolina 480,901 73,357 69,168 142,525
North Dakota 159,391 65 165 230
Ohio 1,387,830 28,831 35,156 63,987
Oklahoma 423,864 14,305 23,253 37,563
Oregon 176,010 144 534 678
Pennsylvania 2,067,023 39,363 51,111 90,474
Rhode Island 134,232 1,573 1,913 3,486
South Carolina 307,229 74,265 74,912 149,177
South Dakota 142,783 144 171 315
Tennessee 474,253 43,735 51,059 94,794
Texas 989,571 83,671 82,775 166,446
Utah 100,038 169 392 561
Vermont 71,464 63 89 152
Virginia 464,903 64,358 75,816 140,174
Washington 319,337 373 1,353 1,726
West Virginia 324,975 13,292 14,652 27,944
Wisconsin 584,639 718 1,117 1,835
Wyoming 58,700 280 570 850
White
registrants White Total
Percent of June 5, 1917 registrants white Percent
total to Sept 11 Sept 12, registrants. of total
registrants. 1918. 1918. registrants.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States 9.83 9,562,515 11,926,955 21,480,470 90.37
===================================================================
Alabama 36.74 124,247 157,072 281,319 63.26
Arizona 1.05 39,884 52,219 92,103 98.95
Arkansas 28.66 117,111 143,808 260,919 71.34
California 1.23 312,994 464,970 777,964 98.77
Colorado 1.38 90,453 121,755 212,208 98.62
Connecticut . 2.19 171,296 194,197 365,493 97.81
Delaware 14.93 20,761 26,208 46,969 85.07
District of Columbia 29.45 25,625 37,795 63,420 70.56
Florida 39.26 55,572 71,327 126,899 60.74
Georgia 40.22 147,604 180,635 328,239 59.78
Idaho 0.49 45,224 58,007 103,231 99.51
Illinois 3.65 685,254 829,050 1,514,304 96.35
Indiana 4.35 272,442 339,151 611,593 95.65
Iowa 1.14 237,744 280,232 517,976 98.86
Kansas 3.41 161,691 206,602 368,293 96.59
Kentucky 11.52 190,060 240,507 430,567 88.43
Louisiana 40.46 103,718 129,467 233,185 59.54
Maine 0.22 67,941 91,067 159,008 99.73
Maryland 18.89 110,066 144,018 254,084 81.11
Massachusetts 1.60 391,654 478,276 869,930 93.40
Michigan 1.83 404,040 451,441 855,481 98.17
Minnesota 0.62 247,750 288,903 538,653 99.38
Mississippi 50.24 75,977 95,447 171,424 49.76
Missouri 7.11 372,106 398,002 710,108 92.89
Montana 0.41 96,753 101,432 198,185 99.59
Nebraska 1.42 130,493 151,623 282,116 98.58
Nevada 0.58 12,581 16,712 29,293 99.42
New Hampshire 0.18 41,617 53,243 94,860 99.82
New Jersey 4.39 18,615 409,225 727,840 95.61
New Mexico 0.74 36,776 42,787 79,563 99.26
New York 2.44 1,092,061 1,349,956 2,442,617 97.56
North Carolina 29.63 155,102 183,274 338,376 70.37
North Dakota 0.15 72,837 85,324 159,161 98.85
Ohio 4.61 588,170 735,673 1,323,843 95.39
Oklahoma 8.86 173,851 212,450 386,301 91.15
Oregon 0.38 69,376 105,956 175,332 99.62
Pennsylvania 4.38 353,106 1,113,443 1,976,549 95.62
Rhode Island 2.59 57,433 73,313 130,746 12
South Carolina 48.56 70,395 87,657 158,052 51.44
South Dakota 0.23 64,896 77,572 142,468 99.77
Tennessee 19.99 169,674 209,785 379,459 80.01
Texas 16.82 376,385 446,740 823,125 83.18
Utah 0.56 45,930 53,547 99,477 99.44
Vermont 0.21 30,819 40,493 71,312 99.79
Virginia 30.15 141,714 183,015 324,727 69.85
Washington 0.54 123,752 193,859 317,611 99.46
West Virginia 8.60 128,852 168,179 297,031 91.40
Wisconsin 0.31 265,501 317,303 582,804 99.69
Wyoming 1.45 24,612 33,238 57,850 98.56