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★ 233 ★ Appendix Senate Report 1002 51st Congress, 1st Session IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES                May 15, 1890 – Ordered to be printed.                Mr. Davis, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT (To accompany S. 1037) The Committee on Military Affairs to whom was referred the bill (S.1037) authorizing the placing of the name of James M. Williams upon the retired list of the U.S. Army, with the rank of captain of cavalry, have examined the same and report: The army record of James M. Williams, late captain of the Eighth Cavalry, shows he entered the volunteer service in July, 1861, as captain of the Fifth Kansas Cavalry, and served therewith until September, 1862, when he accepted an appointment as lieutenant-colonel of the First Kansas Colored Volunteers—afterwards the Seventy-ninth United States Colored Troops; 234 ★ Appendix that he was promoted to be colonel of that regiment and served therewith until May, 1864, when he took command of a brigade, retaining such command until near his muster out in October, 1865. His record in the volunteer service was exceptionally good. He was among the first to approve the policy of utilizing the colored men as troops on the Union side and giving them the opportunity, by displays of courage and self-control, to demonstrate their fitness for the freedom that awaited them and the higher duties of citizenship with which they were to be invested. He enlisted, equipped, and mustered into service the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, which afterwards became distinguished as the Seventy-ninth Colored Troops. While in command of this colored regiment it participated in engagements at Cabin Creek in June [July], 1863, at Honey Springs in July, 1863, and at Poison Springs April, 1864, in which last action 40 per cent of the men engaged were killed and wounded, and 22 per cent were left dead on the field. Of an action at Elk Creek, C.N., in which the regiment was engaged July 17, 1863, General Blunt, in his official report thus speaks. Much credit is due to all of them for their gallantry. The First Kansas Colored particularly distinguished itself; they fought like veterans, and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement. Their coolness and bravery I have never seen surpassed; they were in the hottest of the fight, and opposed to Texas troops twice their number, whom they completely routed. One Texas regiment (the Twentieth Cavalry) that fought against them went into the fight with 300 men and came out with only 60. It would be invidious to make particular mention of anywhere all did their duty so well. General [John] McNeil, on assuming command of Fort Smith, Ark., November 2, 1863, bears the following testimony to the thoroughness of the drill and discipline of this regiment: On Saturday, I reviewed the First Arkansas Infantry Volunteers, First Colored Infantry Kansas Volunteers, and Rabbi’s[sic] Battery. The negro regiment is a triumph of drill and discipline and reflects great honor on Colonel Williams, in command. Few volunteer regiments that I have seen make a better appearance. I regard them as first-rate infantry. Appendix ★ 235 During his volunteer service, Colonel Williams received four gunshot wounds, and had three horses shot under him; and his conspicuous gallantry, with the conscientious discharge of duty in connection with the organization, discipline, and command of this colored regiment, at a time when the performance of such duty carried with it a degree of opprobrium now difficult to appreciate, secured him a brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers, and upon the enlargement and reorganization of the regular Army, after the close of the rebellion, an appointment as captain of the Eighth Cavalry. The promise which Captain Williams gave as a volunteer officer was more than confirmed by his career in the regular service. He proved himself one of the most efficient of the Indian fighters on the frontier, winning encomiums from his superiors, and a major’s brevet conferred, according to the army record, “for conspicuous gallantry displayed in engagements with Indians on the Verde, Arizona, April 19 and 17, in Yampa, Valley, June 14, 1867, and near Music Mountain, Arizona, July 9, 1867.” In this latter action Captain Williams was wounded with two arrows, the head of one of which he still carries. The other injured his spine, which confined him in hospital and on nominal duty nearly two years, and from the effects of which he has never recovered. The injury...

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