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President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft that reports on the “murderous riot at Brownsville” Texas leave him questioning the blame placed upon the African American soldiers involved. Roosevelt asks for a thorough investigation and report on the situation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-05
President Roosevelt has “been amazed and indignant at the attitude of the negroes and of shortsighted white sentimentalists as to my action” concerning the Brownsville Affair. He defends his actions to Silas McBee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-27
President Roosevelt says the order to investigate will not be changed under any circumstances even though the soldiers guilty of misconduct are African American and not white. He says those trying to appeal to him are ignorant of the charges against the soldiers. Roosevelt feels indifferent about any political attacks the soldiers may be trying to make against him. He asserts that the race of the soldiers does not impact his decision to investigate the matter at all.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
President Roosevelt wishes to act regarding African-American soldiers Booker T. Washington previously wrote to him about. Roosevelt wishes to act upon facts from the investigation rather than privately from Washington himself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-05
President Roosevelt sends Senator Warren a proposed amendment to a bill establishing a memorial national home for African-American soldiers who fought in the Civil War, and asks if the bill is proper, as he believes “it would be a nice thing to do if it can properly be done.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-19
Charles W. Fillmore updates Theodore Roosevelt on his transfer to New York and his work forming a “colored” regiment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-26
John A. Fauset informs President Roosevelt that at a recent meeting of Post 103 of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Pennsylvania, the post adopted a resolution denouncing a recent speech of Big Bill Haywood.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-12
Paul Paquin is inspired by President Roosevelt’s “courageous application of justice” in the incident with the African American soldiers stationed near Brownsville, Texas. Paquin suggests that the country needs a thorough and unbiased investigation of the “negro problem.” He believes that education has failed to instill a “fixed moral sense” in African Americans, and he is concerned by their drop in productivity over the past forty years. Paquin has hope that African Americans can be made into “useful” citizens.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-03
Charles William Anderson tells William Loeb that it is rumored that Gilchrist Stewart, traveling with some of the soldiers discharged as a result of the Brownsville affair, intends to make a speech to President Roosevelt and give copies of it to White House reporters. Anderson thinks that Stewart, who is working for the Constitution League, will pass a copy to the papers as a “star-play for himself, and his employers.” Anderson also reports that a white lawyer, Joe Smith, has connections to the Boston Tablet and to Stewart’s employer John E. Milholland, who had told Mrs. Mary Church Terrell to call on Roosevelt “before any of the colored delegations reached him, and in that way forestall everybody in the favor of the Constitution League.” Anderson also notes that Reverend William H. Brooks is in the city and also works for the league.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-30
John Allison encloses a letter to the editor from the Nashville Banner for President Roosevelt to read. Allison tells Roosevelt that this communication verifies what he wrote in a letter to William Loeb. Allison believes that racial traits define how African Americans act when they protect other members of their race from what Allison describes as “lawful” punishment. He says that an African American clergyman, J.A. Jones, admitted this. Allison cannot remember a time when an African American denounced or condemned the criminal acts of another African American. He says while mob violence is sometimes “winked” at by the community and (police) officers, “it is condemned by the White pulpit in the South, almost all of the newspapers of influence, and by public meetings of the White population.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-24
In this open letter to Secretary of War Taft, General Nettleton defends President Roosevelt’s actions in discharging the soldiers in Brownsville “without honor.” Nettleton, commenting from Brownsville, alleges that there has been well attested evidence for the guilt of the African American troops, and that their actions constitute a conspiracy against the town. He opines that even if not every solider participated in the action, their unwillingness to identify who did has made every soldier culpable. Dismissal from the army is not punishment enough for their actions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-29
Charles V. Richey, a former member of the twenty-fifth infantry, writes what he thinks about President Roosevelt’s orders in the Brownsville affair. He believes Roosevelt acted too quickly, but that he cannot rescind his order without discrediting himself. Richey suggests that in order to apprehend the guilty people, a reward should be offered for information leading to their discovery, and the reinstatement guaranteed of everyone found not guilty. He urges people to be patient with Roosevelt and give him a chance to act after Congress makes their recommendations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-27
In spite of Secretary of War Taft’s intention to suspend President Roosevelt’s order dismissing the twenty-fifth infantry because of the Brownsville affair, Roosevelt has again declared that the soldiers must be dishonorably discharged. Significant political pressure is being brought to bear against Roosevelt’s action, because if any of several states have a close election, the loss of the African-American vote could cost them the election. However, the author of the article indicts the soldiers of the twenty-fifth infantry for their actions in Brownsville, and says that they are unfit to serve in the military.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-28
John Allison, Chancellor of the Davidson Chancery Court in Tennessee, notes that the African American churches and organizations protesting President Roosevelt’s dismissal of a battalion of African American soldiers have not made any resolutions condemning the soldiers that he believes are responsible for killing innocent civilians in Brownsville, Texas, nor have they expressed any sympathy for those victims or regret at the conduct of the battalion whom he believes are protecting the murderers. Allison tells President Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb, that this is typical behavior for African Americans, and he urges Roosevelt not to countermand his order of dismissal because it might embolden the “worst elements of their race.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-21
Fred W. Carpenter sends William Loeb the text of a telegram from Secretary of War William H. Taft that is to be sent to President Roosevelt in Panama. The context of the telegram concerns the Brownsville Affair; Taft notifies Roosevelt that Republicans are “appealing for a suspension of the order discharging colored troops” until Roosevelt returns and has a rehearing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-17
Secretary of War Taft would like President Roosevelt to read over his comments on the Brownsville affair and the discharge of African American soldiers from the 25th Infantry Regiment. In a postscript, Taft writes that he read the comments of Gilchrist Stewart on behalf of the discharged soldiers; he wonders if Stewart’s claims about the white townspeople killing the barkeeper, wounding the chief of police, and attacking women and children, before passing the blame onto the African American soldiers, are in fact possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906
The Constitution argues that Senator Benjamin R. Tillman’s antagonism to President Theodore Roosevelt’s reaction to the Brownsville affair is “inexplicable on any other ground than that it is, simply, Senator Tillman.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-14
John Roy Lynch agrees with Secretary of Commerce and Labor Cortelyou that action regarding the matter they discussed should be deferred until after the election. However, Lynch encloses the names of the men who are his first and second choices to fill vacancies. Lynch also encloses a list of army posts garrisoned by “colored” troops.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-13
Mark E. Episkopos asserts that Theodore Roosevelt resides at the center of Mark Lee Gardner’s Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill to such a degree “that it doubles as a partial biography of Roosevelt.” Episkopos highlights Gardner’s treatment of the unity of the Rough Riders, despite class differences between its cowboys and eastern college graduates, Roosevelt’s advocacy on behalf of his troopers after the war, and the various voices that tried to dismiss Roosevelt’s heroism in battle. A photograph and a painting of the Rough Riders and the front cover of the book illustrate the review.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2016
Gary Ross Mormino explores the relationship between Florida, Cuba, and the Spanish-American War. Mormino describes the enclaves of Cuban immigrants in Florida, and he notes that cities like Key West, Florida, were home to revolutionary movements and figures like Jose Marti. Mormino examines the influx of soldiers into Florida cities such as Tampa, Lakeland, and Miami, and he details the not unexpected difficulties with drink, women, and race relations between white and African American soldiers. Mormino also describes the chaotic mustering and departure of the troops from Florida, and he asserts that while much of Florida may have experienced a temporary economic boost from the war, it had “little long-term impact” on the state.
Eight photographs and five illustrations populate the article.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2009-10-24