men numbered one officer and seventy-three enlisted
men. In striking contrast with this record of the immune regiment is
that of the Eighth Illinois, which was made up entirely of residents
of that State and officered throughout by colored men. Its medical
officers were men of high character, and its losses by death were just
twenty, or but little over one-fourth the number that occurred in the
immune regiment. An efficient auxiliary society to this regiment was
formed of colored ladies of Chicago who forwarded to the sick in Cuba
more than six hundred dollars worth of well chosen supplies, which did
much for the comfort of those in the hospital; but this would not
account for the great difference in the death rate of the two
regiments. Though not immune, the Eighth Illinois fared very much
better than the so-called immune regiment, although the latter had
the benefit of white officers. The experience of the Twenty-third
Kansas did not differ in any important respect from that of the Eighth
Illinois. Both regiments returned to their homes in March, 1899, and
were mustered out of the service, leaving behind them good records for
efficiency.

The Sixth Virginia Regiment consisted of eight companies and was under
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard C. Croxton, of the Regular Army,
white, with Majors J.B. Johnson and W.H. Johnson, colored. It was
mustered into service during the latter part of the summer and went
into camp near Knoxville, Tennessee. Here an order came from Corps
Headquarters, at Lexington, Kentucky, directing that nine of the
officers, including one major, should appear before a board of
examiners in order to give evidence of their fitness to command. The
officers named, regarding this as uncalled for, immediately tendered
their resignations. The vacancies thus created were filled by the
Governor of the State, the appointees being white men. These white
officers on arriving at the camp and finding themselves unwelcome,
immediately followed in the wake of their colored predecessors, and
tendered their resignations.

The difficulties arising from this friction were somehow adjusted, but
in what manner the reports available at this time do not show. Moving
to Macon, Georgia, the regiment remained in the service until some
time in the winter, when it was mustered out. Much was said by the
local papers to the detriment of the men composing this regiment, but
viewing their action from the standpoint of the ci