A TRIBUTE
TO
COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG
CoL Chaouzs ybi//v<s,
BY DR. W. S. SCARBOROUGH
Fjrm;rly Presiisnt of WHberforce University
PRICE 15 Cents
A. 1' E. Book Concern, Printers,
A TRIBUTE
TO
Colonel Charles Y oung
BY
Dr. W. S. Scarborough
Formerly President of Wilberforce University
Ohio
A. M. E. Book Concern, Printers,
631 Fine St., Philadelphia, Pa.
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG 3
Many Negroes have entered West Point, the
Nation's great Military training school, the rock-
ribbed stronghold of American prejudice, but only
three of them were able to stem the tide and re¬
ceive commissions: H. O. Flipper, John H. Alexan¬
der and Charles Young—an illustrious trio that
would now be hard to match.
I knew these men and knew them intimately.
Flipper and I were schoolmates at Atlanta Univer¬
sity and often recited in the same class. After a
time we separated. I went to Oberlin College, and
he to West Point to which he had been appointed
as a cadet. As a student in the University, he was
remarkably brilliant. I admired him for his char¬
acter, his scholarship, and for the excellent record
made by him preliminary to entering the Academy.
Brain will tell and it told in his case, as it has told
in the lives of other colored students, who, against
tremendous odds, have risen to eminence in our
American life.
It was Flipper who "broke the ice" at West
Point and made it easier for those of the race who
followed him. His achievement was a triumiph
for the Negro people. He was given an assign-
A A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
rnent to the 10th Cavalry as second lieutenant.
Tohn H. Alexander, the second Niegro to grad¬
uate from the Academy, was a Freshman in Ober-
lin College when his appointment was made. He,
too, was a superior youth in point of ability and
mental preparation. In rank he stood among the
best in his class while in Oberlin College. Thus
equipped, it was not difficult for Alexander to hold
his own from the time he entered West Point till
the day of his graduation. He was assigned to
the 9th Cavalry as second lieutenant. Alexander's
success was the second triumph for the race.
Charles Young (later Colonel) was the third
Negro to enter West Point and to graduate from
that institution. Like Lieutenants Flipper and
Alexander he was above the average of his fellows
in mind and in training. God seemed to have giv¬
en Lieutenant Young superior mental endowment,
an endowment that enabled him to maintain a high
standing in the Academy from the time he entered
till he finished. He was commissioned second lieu¬
tenant in the 9th Cavalry and this was the third
triumph for the race.
General Ballou, on one occasion, told the writer
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
5
that he himself was then a cadet at West Point
and that Alexander and Young were among the
best students in the Academy in brain and in de¬
portment and that they were exceptionally brilliant,
but, he added, "they had a tough time, due to the
color prejudice that existed there." He also said
that these men deserved praise for the manner in
which they had conducted themselves during that
trying period of their lives. General Ballou was
sympathetic and so expressed himself.
It was during the Administration of President
Cleveland (his second term) that a Military De¬
partment was established at Wilberforce Univer¬
sity and an Army Officer appointed to take charge
of the same. This officer was Lieut. John H. Alex¬
ander of the 9th Cavalry. He was the first officer
detailed at that institution as Professor of Military
Science and Tactics but lived only a few weeks
after having taken up his duties at the University
where I was then Professor of Greek and Greek
Literature.
Lieutenant Alexander and I became warm
friends. He was a man of fine character, affable
and easily approached. The short time he was
6 A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
with us, he made many friends. His death was sud¬
den and startling. It took place in Springfield,
Ohio while he was sitting in a barber's chair where
he had gone for tonsorial work. He had left my
house seemingly in good health but died in less
than three hours afterwards of heart's disease. His
last words to me were, "I will return Monday
morning." He did return, but a lifeless body es¬
corted by the boys of the Military Department
that he had so recently organized. He was given
a military funeral and his body now lies in a cem¬
etery in Xenia, Ohio, unnoticed and uncared for,
except by local authorities.
Being a graduate of West Point, the death of
Alexander shocked the citizens of Springfield,
white and colored. Before the body was removed
one of the officers of a company of the Ohio Na¬
tional Guard desired to know if the colored com¬
pany intended to escort the remains to the
county line, adding that if it did not, the white
company would do so as it did not intend to per¬
mit a West Point graduate (regardless of color)
to die in their midst and his body be removed from
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
7
the county without proper military escort, at least
to the county line.
I replied that I would see to it and I did as I
promised. A colored military company of the
Ohio National Guard paid the honor.
Lieutenant Charles Young was detailed to fill
the vacancy and succe«d Lieutenant Alexander as
Commandant and Professor of Military Science and
Tactics. In this position Colonel Young served
the University two terms of four years each, mak¬
ing altogether eight years of service.
The interim between these two periods of ser¬
vice was filled by Lieut. B. O. Davis of the 10th
Cavalry, now Colonel, and by Lieut. John A. Green
of the 24th Infantry, now Major Green. Both of
these officers were promoted from the ranks.
From the day of his first appointment until
his death, Col. Charles Young was a staunch friend
of the University in times of peace and in times of
war and showed his friendship in a variety of
ways. His love for the institution, though not
one of its graduates, prompted him to render many
forms of service that were both useful and helpful
and that, too, without remuneration. Aside from
8
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
his official duties, he taught the upper classes in
French and in higher Mathematics. He was thor¬
oughly loyal to the interest of the College and at
no time when called upon did he refuse to give
service, though not officially bound to do so. He
was altruistic and was loved, honored, and admired
by all the men of his department as well as by all
the member's of the faculty.
He had a big heart, just such a heart as a man
of his rank and station should possess. To meet
him, to shake his hand, to chat with him, and get
a glimpse of his eye were all an inspiration such as
any one might justly covet. His home was open
to everybody and everybody came. Breakfast,
lunch, dinner, supper were all more than simply
family meals. People far and wide—friends, and
even strangers—made his home a Mecca for pil¬
grimages and often came in numbers, but they al¬
ways found an hospitable welcome.
During the Spanish-American War, Col. Young
took to the front many of the boys whom he had
trained and there remained with them until the
close of that conflict. He took command of the
9th Battalion of the Ohio National Guard where
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG 9
he served with distinction and with his usual dash
and brilliancy.
In the recent World War, though retired
and that too, unjustly, as most of us believe, a
scheme no doubt to get rid of him and thereby pre¬
vent his promotion, Col. Charles Young remained
loyal and faithful to his country's interest. He
was ever ready to lend a hand regardless of the
criticisms of others when the good of his country
demanded it. At no time did he shirk a duty or
responsibility or find an excuse as a reason for his
unwillingness. He was no Slacker.
I was then the War President of the Univer¬
sity and it was one of the most trying periods of
my official life. I often needed his advise and ex¬
perience as well as influence, and I never failed to
get it, no question asked, but duty done. It was
a time of stress. We had seemingly been neglect¬
ed, and as I supposed, intentionally. Officers to
examine our boys and to get them ready for the
R. O. T C., as had been announced, failed to show
up. The time allotted had almost expired. Some¬
thing had to be done and quickly, too. I sought
the Colonel and told him the situation. He came
10 A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
;
forthwith, spent all of one Sunday, examined the
boys and made them ready for camp, all of whom
made good and at the end of the allotted time
received commissions.
Though I found the Hon. N. D. Baker, then
Secretary of War, friendly and cooperative, I need¬
ed just such help as Colonel Young furnished.
Without him we would have found ourselves
blocked by circumstances over which we had no
control. As a result, Wilberforce held her own
throughout the War and at all the Cantonments.
The Student's Army Training Corps of 400
men, Academic and vocational, at that time fell to
the command of Lieut. Piper and Lieut. Curtis,
both able officers, but the influence of Colonel
Young was seen and felt even here.
Colonel Young was every inch a man—loyal
and patriotic to the core. At no time could he be
induced to utter a word against the flag of his
country or to denounce those who had been the
means of his unjust retirement. It was a bitter
pill but he took it like a man and made the most
of an undesirable situation. Knowing the unpleas¬
antness of his predicament, without the knowledge
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG 11
of the Colonel, I made a trip to Chicago for a con¬
ference with General Heistand. the commanding
officer of the Western Division of the Army. At
his suggestion after an hour's talk, I went to Fort
Des Moines to see General Ballou to get his as¬
sistance in an effort to have Colonel Young restored
to the army. He received me cordially, but made no
promises. We discussed the retirement from every
angle. I insisted that the treatment of Colonel
Young was unjust but the General did not regard
it so, and gave his reasons, but they did not satisfy
me.
Colonel Young had previously visited Fort Ders
Moines and had been given the freedom of the
place. The 1200 men then in training there for
commissions were turned over to him for review
or drill as suited him best. General Ballou
referred to this incident, the royal reception and
ovation given him and stated how pleased he was
to see it. He declared that he was an admirer
of the Colonel and would be glad to help him so
far as he could, but he was not yet convinced that
the medical board was wrong. He did not think
as the writer, that prejudice played any part in
12 A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
the decision and gave as proof an incident in his
own life.
Later, I called on General Ballou again. It
was at Camp Funston where 22 Wilberforce boys
had undergone training for commissions and were
now ready to receive them. It was their Com¬
mencement. I had gone there to speak by invita¬
tion of the Knights of Columbus. General Ballou
was the commanding officer. I spent a large part
of an afternoon with him again urging him to use
his influence to have Colonel Young restored to
the Army with full rank and with full pay. The
General was then smarting under the criticism of
his men and was greatly agitated over their atti¬
tude in regard to an order issued by him touching
their civil rights as these rights pertained to res¬
taurants, theaters, and public places of amusement.
His men felt that they were imposed on by the
General and they were embittered against him
The whole camp was stirred and inclined to resent
it as an insult. The General knew it and felt it
keenly. He went over the entire situation with me
touching conditions in the camp, and also the case
of Colonel Young, and had much to say in praise of
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG 13
the Colonel. As before he was sympathetic but
still expressed confidence in the medical board. I
saw then that it was useless to continue the dis¬
cussion further, so I dropped it. All of this took
place without the knowledge of Colonel Young.
Later, the Colonel's trip from Wilberforce to
Washington, D. C., on horseback was conclusive
proof that he thought himself physically strong
enough for any emergency or else he would not
have undertaken it: and he was not alone in that
thought.
Colonel Young was not only a soldier, but
a man of letters, a poet, a musician and a lover of
art—an unusual combination for one trained to
fight, but it was his good fortune to be so endowed,
for he was a genius. He was a man of high ideals.
The vulgar and the low were not to his liking and
hence found no place in his heart or in his home.
He delighted in books because he, himself, was a
lover of books. His motto was, "Look up and not
down," and he followed it closely, as the record of
his life clearly shows.
Whether in the Philippines, in Liberia, in Hay-
ti, in Mexico, or in any part of the civilized world
14 A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
where he chanced to find himself, or in his own
native land, Colonel Young quit himself like a man.
The American flag was his flag and he honored
it as every good soldier does, in spite of his griev¬
ances.
He had a beautiful family in his mother, his
wife, and his two children who are now in Paris
studying to complete their education. Mrs Adia
Young, his widow, represents the best type of
American womanhood; cultured, gracious, a pleas¬
ing conversationalist—in every way an honor to
her sex and to her race. The Colonel's mother,
like most mothers, was devoted to her son and he,
filial and obedient, was equally devoted to his
mother. The two children w'ho complete the
household were fond of their father and their fath¬
er fond of them. All looked forward eagerly to
his return from Africa. It was thus I found them
when I spent three months in Europe in the summer
of 1921. The Colonel's widow was then in Paris.
Though I had already made two trips to Paris that
season, I made a special journey from London to
Paris before leaving Europe that I might see Mrs.
Young and bring greetings from her and the chil-
A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG 15
dren across the seas to her mother-in-law and to
her friends. The Colonel was then in Africa but
he had written to his wife that he hoped to arrive
on a certain date. She anxiously awaited his com¬
ing, for she had not seen him for two years. It
was the burden of her talk while we were dining
at one of the Palace Hotels at Versailles. I left
her hopefully waiting, but the Colonel never came.
She never saw him again. He died in Africa faith¬
ful to the last to his country and the work it had
sent him to do.
Colonel Young's death, viewed from any
angle, humanly speaking, was untimely, as it re¬
moved from active military service the last one of
that famous trio who honored, riot only themselves
but their race and their country by their brilliant
achievements and the glory that crowned their
efforts. The names of Flipper, Alexander and
Young should find a place in every Negro family as
an inspiration to the young and to generations
yet to come, and their portraits should adorn
every wall of every Negro home as an incentive
to their children to go and do likewise—to strive
16 A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL YOUNG
continually to make "of their dead selves", as the
poet sings, "steppping stones to higher things."
That the remains of Colonel Charles should tfe
brought from Africa (Logos) where he died, to
America the land of his birth and should be buried
in Arlington—the Nation's grave yard where lie
other illustrious dead, is a fitting finale of a life
well spent—of a life of a distinguished citizen—a
brave soldier—hero and patriot.
W. S. SCARBOROUGH