ENLISTING AFRICAN AMERICANS INTO THE U.S. ARMY

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1 ENLISTING AFRICAN AMERICANS INTO THE U.S. ARMY Actors Lt. Louis McDonald Lt. Edward Ward Albert Mitchell George Loomis George Johnson Charles Johnson John Cousins Charles Cousins Narrator SETTING: There is a desk in the room with two chairs, one for each officer. There are also a number of other chairs in the room. Two of the chairs are on the opposite side of the desk from the officers. Three or four other chairs are scattered about the room for prospective recruits to sit. Narrator: The setting for our skit is the U. S. Army Recruiting Office in Louisville, Kentucky. The time is August of Lieutenant Louis McDonald and Lieutenant Edward Ward are the officers assigned to recruiting duty, or signing up men for the army. ACTION The two officers are the only people in the room. Lt. McDonald is sitting at the desk. Lt. Ward is standing. Lt. McDonald is the officer in charge of recruiting for the infantry regiments, while Lt. Ward is in charge of recruiting for the cavalry regiments. The officers are discussing the low number of recruits they have had in the past month. It sure has been difficult to recruit men into the army since the pay was lowered from $16.00 a month to $13.00 a month. Why are you complaining? Just look at my situation.

2 What do you mean? You at least are still recruiting men into the cavalry. Practically all of the men we have enlisted into the army in the past few months have want to join the cavalry. Young men have this romantic notion of a soldier riding west on a horse. You're right. Despite the reduction in pay, we still have been able to recruit a number of men for the cavalry regiments. At this point Lt. Ward exists. Lt. McDonald looks down at the paper he is reading. Three young African American men enter the room. Lt. Ward looks up from his paper. Mr. J. Cousins: Mr. J. Cousins: Can I help you? We want to know about joining the army. Come in, take a seat. (The three men sit down) I'm Lt. Ward, a recruiting officer. What are your names? My name is Albert Mitchell. I'm George Loomis. Cousins, John Cousins in my name. The army is indeed looking for young men like yourselves to serve at a number of military posts, especially in the West. First, let me ask do any of you know how to read or write? I know how to write my name. No, never had any schooling. Na, I always had to work and anyway there wasn't anyone to teach me. Well, the army is certainly a good place for you then. In addition to earning $13.00 a month, the army can teach you to read and write. At this point three more prospective recruits enter the office. Lt. McDonald introduces himself and tells the three young men that he is just telling these other men about the army. One of the men is a brother to Mr. Cousins. The others all seem to at least know each

3 other. Mr. J. Cousins: Good Afternoon, I'm Lt. McDonald. I was telling these men here about the army. (introduces his brother Charlie to the Lieutenant) This is my brother Charlie and some of his friends; they want to know about the army too. Mr. G. Johnson. : Mr. C. Johnson: Mr. C. Johnson: Sit down men. I was just saying that the army is in need of young men like yourselves. This is a good time to enlist. I've heard the army can teach you a trade. I'm tired of working for 25 cents a day. Me too! Some days I worked 12 to 14 hours and all I got was $1.50 for the whole week. Many men have learned a trade such a repairing and making wheels for wagons, or learning to shoe horses. They ve been able to use these skills to make a living after they get out of the army. Horses! I don't want anything to do with horses. Got kicked one time. I couldn't walk for three weeks. It hurt real bad. Well it sounds like the infantry is just the place for you. What about you other men? Would you prefer the cavalry or infantry? Doesn't really matter to me. Anything beats working in the cotton fields. Or working on the railroad. I once broke rocks with a sledgehammer and drove in spikes along the line. I did it all day long. Mr. C. Cousins: Don't want to work with horses, but I got to find a job. I got in trouble one, making "moonshine." If I don't get a job, I'll probably get into trouble again. At this point Lt. Ward re-enters the room. Lieutenant, I see you have some prospective recruits. Have

4 you told them that the army also has the cavalry? Mr. G. Johnson: Yes, Lieutenant, but these men are interested in joining the infantry. All of them! Now I bet one or two of them are interested in joining the cavalry. It really don't matter to me. I just came here to hear what the army men have to say. Before we go any further I need to ask all of you a couple of questions. Are any of you married and are any of you under 21? All of the men respond "no" at the same time. Mr. C. Cousins: Mr. C. Johnson: None of us are married, but why do you want to know. And why do you want to know how old we are? Well, to enlist in the army you need to be single - that is not having a wife. And if you are under 21 years of age, we will need to have the consent of one of your parents before you can enlist. Now men, if you don't have any more questions. I have the papers right here for you to sign. Then you'll officially be in the army. How long is this going to be for? The enlistment is for five years? And where will we go? First, you will go to the recruiting depot. Because you're joining the infantry, you'll be sent to either David's Island, New York or Columbus Barracks, Ohio. Then you'll be assigned to a specific company and regiment. You men will be either in the 24th U. S. Infantry or the 25th U. S. Infantry. It just depends on what company needs recruits.

5 Mr. G. Johnson: So we won't be able to stay together. Probably not. You all may be assigned to different companies. But some of you may be stationed at the same post. I'm ready, I'll sign up. Narrator: Three of the other five recruits all say they want to sign up. John Cousins and his brother Charlie says they want to think about it. They don't sign up in August, but they later do in September. The scene ends as four of the six young black men are signing up. The lieutenants have to fill out the forms as only Albert Mitchell can write and he can only write his name. The others must sign an "X" for their signatures. Narrator (optional): The scene you have just seen is based on historical facts. All of these men joined the army at Louisville, Kentucky in either August or September of Albert Mitchell enlisted on August 16, He was 21 1/2 years old and told the recruiter he was a laborer. He was assigned to Company K of the 25th U. S. Infantry and was stationed at Fort Davis. When his enlistment was up in August of 1876, he re-enlisted for another 5 years. George Loomis enlisted on August 15, He was 22 years old and also a laborer. He was assigned to Company G of the 25th U. S. Infantry. He was discharged at Fort Bliss in August He did not re-enlist. George Johnson signed his enlistment papers on August 11, He like George Loomis was assigned to Company G of the 25th Infantry. He was 21 years old and a laborer. Like George Loomis, Johnson did not re-enlist after he was discharged from the army at Fort Bliss in August of Charles Johnson was 21 years old and a laborer when he enlisted with Albert Mitchell on August 16, Like Mitchell, he was assigned to Company K of the 25th Infantry. He, too, was discharged at Fort Davis in August of 1876, and did not re-enlist. John Cousins signed his enlistment papers on September 12, He was assigned to Company F of the 24th Infantry. He was 26 years old when he enlisted and was a laborer. He served until September of 1876 when he was discharged in Texas. He did not reenlist. Charlie Cousins was 21 years old and a laborer when he enlisted six days after his older brother John on September 18, Charlie was assigned to Company B of the 24th Infantry, which was stationed at Fort Quitman, Texas, but he never joined the company.

6 He died shortly after arriving in Texas of "typhoid pneumonia" at Indianola, Texas on January 31, ********************

ENGELSKA NIVÅTEST (1) Medel Sid 1(7)

ENGELSKA NIVÅTEST (1) Medel Sid 1(7) Medel Sid 1(7) Namn: Poäng: Nivå : Adress: Tel: Complete each sentence with one item from those given below. Use each item once only. Note: Each question has One mark. You must have all words in the correct