Thomas, George H. (Gen.) - 1898

STORY OF SHAFTER
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How He Made a Show Regiment Out of Some Colored Soldiers

 
General John Coburn of Indianapolis in the fall of 1862 at Covington, Ky., was assigned to a brigade, of which the Nineteenth Michigan was a part. General Shafter, commanding in Cuba, was major of the regiment. In the fall of 1863, when the department authorized the formation of negro regiments in eastern Tennessee, Shafter was commissioned colonel of one organized at Murfreesboro, although General George H. Thomas declined to recognize the formation.

Within four months Shafter had taught every negro under him how to read and write, and he drilled the organization until it became the show regiment at Nashville.  The regiment distinguished itself in the battle at Nashville.  After the war Shafter was transferred to the regular army and was stationed on the Mexican border.  While there he gave chase to the Mexican marauders, pursuing them for many miles into Mexican territory.  This led to much diplomatic correspondence, in which Shafter was sustained.  Shafter was the first to introduce the regimental school in the army.--Cincinnati Enquirer.

~ Jeannette Dispatch, 08-Jul-1898, Page 5, Column 3