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Creator
Rudd, Robert R., b. 1860
Call number
Sc Micro R-6648
Physical description
2 boxes.
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Robert R. Rudd papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Correspondence, reports, rosters listing names of troops, ledgers, performance evaluations, and discharge papers, relating to Rudd's command of I Company, 48th Infantry, an all African-American unit fighting in the Spanish-American War, and the administration of Benguet Province in the Philippines. Includes a map of the province and notes on its agriculture.

Biographical/historical information

Black Americans were enthusiastic about helping to fight the Spanish-American War (1898) partly because they identified and sympathized with Afro-Cubans who lived under extreme Spanish oppression. Black volunteers flocked to the recruiting stations throughout the United States, however, they were disappointed for they were rejected or delayed by recruiting centers and were not readily given commissions.

Blacks felt they were well qualified to be awarded commissions and voiced their resentment in newspapers, sermons and by demonstrations. Initially, only organized State National Guard Volunteer units were accepted. This excluded blacks because in the Northern and Western states few blacks were accepted in state units, and the Southern states barred them altogether. Black citizens raised volunteer units with black officers and offered them to the states; however under laws governing National Guards, such units could not be accepted. Finally, blacks appealed to the President of the United States and to Congress. Congress authorized temporary regiments for blacks, but the War Department insisted upon making all field and staff officers white, while allowing the company grade to be black. The President's call for volunteers, however, was left to the state governor. Thus, the 48th infantry United States Volunteers of Ohio was formed.

`I' Company of the 48th Infantry, commanded by Captain Robert R. Rudd, was comprised entirely of black soldiers, including Rudd himself. In the words of the Regiment Commander Major William P. Duvall, “His [Rudd's] `I' Company was from the first one of the very best in the Regiment.” As for Captain Rudd, Major Duvall said that he was “an officer of marked ability and force...the most capable, thorough and efficient among all my Company officers.” The 48th Infantry was mustered out of the service after the war as were all volunteer units. `I' company served mostly in the Philippine Islands (1900-1901), administering the Benguet Province of Luzon.

Robert R. Rudd was born in July, 1860 in Nelson County, Kentucky. He began his military career in 1875 by enlisting in the Ohio National Guard and came up through the ranks of the National Guard until he was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1881. He was commissioned as such under the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1899.

Scope and arrangement

The Robert R. Rudd Papers, 1875-1906 largely record the activities of `I' Company of the 48th Infantry United States Volunteers. The collection is comprised of personal papers, correspondence, roster books, ledgers and a holograph report.

The Robert R. Rudd papers are arranged in three series:

  • Personal Papers
    1875-1901

    The series consists entirely of Rudd's discharge papers from various National Guard Units. Some of the discharges are in the form of promotions to higher ranks.

  • Correspondence

    The majority of the series consists of letters and telegrams dealing with official military business, such as supplies, orders, performance evaluations, and requests and details regarding the mustering out of the regiment. Correspondence of note are letters of introduction for Captain Rudd and those in praise of him. This incoming correspondence has been arranged chronologically, the outgoing correspondence also deals with military affairs. Of particular interest, is Rudd's letter, dated 1900, June 5, to his brother, who was also a captain, enclosing a descriptive history of the Igorrotes who inhabited the Benguet District and part of a report he made on the district to the government. The outgoing correspondence is arranged chronologically following the incoming correspondence.

  • Military Records

Administrative information

Processing information

Processed by Leslie Harrison; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor