Black U.S. soldiers assigned to fight in the Philippines described their experiences in detailed letters to African American newspapers of the era. The following letters appear in the book "Smoked Yankees" and the Struggle for Empire: Letters from Negro Soldiers, 1898-1902 by Willard B. Gatewood, Jr., copyright 1971. Used with permission of the author and the University of Arkansas Press.

A Young Soldier seeks an opportunity to prove himself

Black Americans and native Filipinos discover "an affinity of complexion"

On the battlefield

Rape of a Filipino woman

Disillusionment in the ranks

A black soldier decries expansionism