To the tread of mournful feet,
Then the crimson flag shall be
Martial cloak and shroud for thee."
The warrior took that banner proud,
And it was his martial cloak and shroud.




CHAPTER III.

THE BLACK REGULARS OF THE ARMY OF INVASION IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN
WAR.

Organization of Negro Regiments in the Regular Army--First
Move in the War--Chickamauga and Tampa--Note.


Altogether the colored soldiers in the Civil War took part and
sustained casualties in two hundred and fifty-one different
engagements and came out of the prolonged conflict with their
character so well established that up to the present hour they have
been able to hold an important place in the Regular Army of the United
States. No regiment of colored troops in the service was more renowned
at the close of the war or has secured a more advantageous position in
the history of that period than the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts
Regiment of Infantry. Recruited among the free colored people of the
North, many of them coming from Ohio, it was remarkable for the
intelligence and character of its men, and for the high purpose and
noble bearing of its officers. Being granted but half the pay per