He and his second wife Edith McClenny had daughter, Elizabeth. After the end of the Civil War and just eight years before his birth, the U.S. Army had established four African American regiments which became the 24th and the 25th Infantry, and the 9th and the 10th Cavalry. At age twenty, in 1897, he enlisted as a young volunteer in the 25th Infantry and was sent to Fort Custer, Montana. Shortly after, he was sent to fight in America's first overseas conflict, the Spanish American War. Since 1885, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. In 1898, when the battleship USS "Maine" exploded in Havana Harbor, American troops were mobilized for war. The African American regiments of the 24th and 25th Infantry and 9th and 10th Cavalry were in the forefront of the fighting. Lewis Broadus saw action at the Battle of El Caney. The following excerpt is an eyewitness account of charging the blockhouse at El Caney:  African American troops bravely served their country, but the U.S. War Department refused to promote African American men as commissioned officers. "Cap" nonetheless requested promotion as he had distinguished himself by recovering the horses of the mounted officers at great personal risk, and also saved the lives of four men of the regiment. In a letter to Captain W.S. Scott, Company G, 25th Infantry, Fort McIntosh, Texas, dated September 4, 1899, he wrote the following:  Following the surrender of Spain and ceding of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States, Filipino nationalists "(Insurectos)" began launching attacks against the American forces. Lewis reported to the Presidio, which was then a military training base located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, while on the way to the Philippines in early 1899. Upon arrival in the pacific on August 1, the 25th regiment was stationed on Mindanao, the second largest island of the archipelago, and engaged in numerous skirmishes. Lewis was recommended for a commission as a Lieutenant to serve with the Philippine Scouts, but was denied. Upon returning to the U.S., he was sent back to the frontier to once again serve as a Buffalo Soldier, patrolling and defending what was called the "Indian Territories"—the Western Plains region. An incident occurred while he served as 1st Sergeant at Fort Niobrara, Nebraska on July 3, 1906. A memorandum from the Acting Secretary of the U.S. War Department, Office of the Chief of Staff, Washington dated September, 1906 states:  He was awarded the Certificate of Merit Medal on Sept. 25, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt.