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diff --git a/31339-h/31339-h.htm b/31339-h/31339-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d4e814 --- /dev/null +++ b/31339-h/31339-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,23272 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Black Phalanx, by Joseph T. 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Wilson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Black Phalanx + African American soldiers in the War of Independence, the + War of 1812, and the Civil War + +Author: Joseph T. Wilson + +Release Date: February 21, 2010 [EBook #31339] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK PHALANX *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h4>THE</h4> + +<h1><span class="smcap">Black Phalanx</span></h1> + +<h2>AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, THE WAR OF 1812, +AND THE CIVIL WAR</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JOSEPH T. WILSON</h2> + +<p class="center"> +LATE OF THE <span class="smcap">2nd.</span> REG'T. LA. NATIVE GUARD VOLS. <span class="smcap">54th</span> MASS. VOLS.<br /> +AIDE-DE-CAMP TO THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF G. A. B.<br /> +</p> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF</h4> + +<p class="center">"EMANCIPATION," "VOICE OF A NEW RACE," "TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF FREEDOM," +<span class="smcap">Etc.</span>, <span class="smcap">Etc.</span></p> + +<h4>New Foreword by</h4> + +<h3>DUDLEY TAYLOR CORNISH</h3> + +<p class="center"> +DA CAPO PRESS NEW YORK<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="center">Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data</p> + +<p>Wilson, Joseph T. (Joseph Thomas), 1836-1891.</p> + +<p>The Black phalanx: African American soldiers in the War of Independence, +the War of 1812, and the Civil War / by Joseph T. Wilson; foreword by +Dudley Taylor Cornish.—1st Da Capo Press ed.</p> + +<p>p. cm.</p> + +<p>Previously published: Hartford, Conn.: American Pub. Co., 1890.</p> + +<p>Includes bibliographical references.</p> + +<p>ISBN 0-306-80550-2</p> + +<p> +1. Afro-American soldiers—History. 2. United States—History—Civil +War, 1861-1865—Participation, Afro-American. 3. +United States—History—Revolution, 1775-1783—Participation, +Afro-American. 4. United States—History—War of 1812—Participation, +Afro-American. I. Cornish, Dudley Taylor. II. Title. +E185.63.W632 1994 93-40117 +973.7-dc20 CIP<br /> +</p> + +<p>First Da Capo Press edition 1994</p> + +<p>This Da Capo Press paperback edition of <i>The Black Phalanx</i> is an +unabridged republication of the edition published in Hartford, +Connecticut, in 1887. It is here supplemented with a new foreword by +Dudley Taylor Cornish.</p> + +<p>Foreword © 1994 by Dudley Taylor Cornish</p> + +<p> +Published by Da Capo Press, Inc.<br /> +A Subsidiary of Plenum Publishing Corporation<br /> +233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013<br /> +</p> + +<p>All Rights Reserved</p> + +<p>Manufactured in the United States of America</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>By way of introduction to the American public, of the author and editor +of this book, we beg to say that Mr. Wilson is not altogether unknown to +the literary world, having already published several works relative to +the Negro race.</p> + +<p>His services during the war of the Rebellion secured for him a +flattering recognition. He served in the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Native +Guard Volunteers, also the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers,—the most +famous of the Union negro regiments that engaged in the struggle, +receiving several wounds. He was the first negro member of the National +Council of Administration of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a +delegate to the National Encampment, and was appointed Colonel—A. D. C. +to the Commander-in-Chief G. A. R. He was chosen by his comrades to be +the historian of the negro soldiers, and has overcome many almost +insurmountable difficulties in gathering the scattered facts, +particularly those of the early wars of the United States, that were +necessary to complete this work.</p> + +<p class="right">THE PUBLISHERS.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>DEDICATION.</h2> + + +<h3><i>To the Brave Men Who Commanded the Black Phalanx.</i></h3> + +<p>SOLDIERS:—As a mark of esteem and respect for your patriotic devotion +to the cause of human freedom, I desire to dedicate to you this record +of the services of the negro soldiers, whom you led so often and +successfully in the struggle for liberty and union during the great war +of 1861-'65.</p> + +<p>Your coming from the highest ranks of social life, undeterred by the +prevailing spirit of caste prejudice, to take commands in the largest +negro army ever enrolled beneath the flag of any civilized country, was +in itself a brave act. The organization and disciplining of over two +hundred thousand men, of a race that for more than two centuries had +patiently borne the burdens of an unrequited bondage, for the +maintenance of laws which had guaranteed to them neither rights nor +protection, was indeed a magnificent undertaking.</p> + +<p>You were outlawed by the decrees of Jefferson Davis, criticised by many +friends at home, and contemptuously received by brother officers at +headquarters, in the field, in the trenches, and at the mess table; yet, +you did not waver in your fidelity to principle or in your heroic +leadership of those whose valor was denied until it was proven in +carnage and victory.</p> + +<p>The record of the Black Phalanx invites the scrutiny of all who have +been disposed to taunt you for associating with "armed barbarians." No +massacre of vanquished foe stains the banners of those who followed you, +giving quarter but receiving none. It was your teaching that served as a +complete restraint against retaliation, though statesmen hinted that it +would be just. Your training developed patriotism and courage, but not +revenge. Ungrateful as Republics are said to be, ours has aimed to +recognize merit and reward it, and those who at first hailed you with +contumely, are now glad to greet you as heroes and saviors of a common +country.</p> + +<p>No true soldier desires to forget the price of his country's liberty, or +that of his own; it is the recollection of the terrible bloody +onset—the audacious charge—the enemy's repulse, which sweetens +victory. And surely no soldiers can appreciate the final triumph with a +keener sense of gladness than those who fought against such odds as did +the Black Phalanx. Beating down prejudice and upholding the national +cause at the same time, they have inscribed upon their banners every +important battle from April, 1863, to April, 1865.</p> + +<p>If what I have written here shall call to your minds, and present justly +to the patriotic public, the indescribable hardships which you endured +on the march, in the bivouac, and in the seething flames of the battle's +front, my task will have served its purpose. In the name of and as a +token of the gratitude of a freed race, this book is dedicated to you.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">JOSEPH T. WILSON.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40"><i>Navy Hill, Richmond, Va.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>It was a dark, stormy night in the winter of 1882, when less than a +hundred men, all of whom had served their country in crushing the great +Rebellion of 1861-'65, gathered around a camp-fire. The white and the +colored American were there; so were the German, Frenchman, and +Irishman,—all American citizens,—all veterans of the last war. The +empty sleeve, the absent leg, the sabred face, the bullet-scarred body +of the many, told the story of the service they had seen. It was the +annual Encampment of the Department of Virginia, Grand Army of the +Republic, and the comrades of Farragut Post had tastefully arranged +their quarters for the occasion.</p> + +<p>At midnight a sumptuous soldiers fare—baked beans, hot coffee and hard +tack—was spread before the veterans, who ate and drank heartily as in +the days when resting from the pursuit of the enemy. In the morning +hour, when weary from the joy of song and toast, it was proposed that +the history of the American negro soldier should be written, that +posterity might have a fuller and more complete record of the deeds of +the negro soldiers than had been given in the numerous already published +histories of the conflicts in which they played so important a part.</p> + +<p>The task of preparing the history fell to my lot, and it is in obedience +to the duty laid upon me by my former comrades, with whom I shared the +toils and joys of camp, march, battle and siege, that this volume, the +result of my efforts, is launched upon the sea of war literature.</p> + +<p>Whether or not there is any merit in the work, the reader must judge. +His charity is asked, however, toward such defects as may be apparent, +and which, perhaps, might be expected in the literary work of one whose +life has been largely spent amid the darkness of the South American +countries and the isolation of the South Sea Islands. It was not until +May, 1862, while domiciled at the capitol of Chili, that I first learned +of the war in the United States, when, hastening to this country, I fell +into the ranks with the first negro soldiers that left the Touro +Building at New Orleans, in November, 1862, and marched out on the +Opelousas road, to serve in defence of the Union.</p> + +<p>With whatever forebodings of failure I entered upon the work of +collecting the literature of the war, from which to cull and arrange +much of the matter contained herein,—which has required years of +incessant search and appeal,—I can but <i>feel</i> that it has been +thoroughly done. The public libraries of the cities of Boston, +Cincinnati, New Bedford, New York, the War Department at Washington, and +the private libraries of several eminent citizens, have alike been made +use of by me.</p> + +<p>It seemed proper, also, that the memory of our forefathers should not be +allowed to remain in longer obscurity; that it was fitting to recall +<i>their</i> deeds of heroism, that all might know the sacrifices they made +for the freedom their descendants were so long denied from enjoying. In +gathering together the scattered facts relating to the negroe's +participation in the wars of 1775 and 1812, difficulties well-nigh +insurmountable have been overcome, and it has been only through patient +and persistent effort that I have been able to prepare the chapters +devoted to the early wars of the United States.</p> + +<p>Descriptions of a number of the battles in which negro troops took part +in the late war of the Rebellion, are given to call attention to the +unsurpassed carnage which occurred, and to give them proper place in the +war's history rather than to present a critical account of the battles. +My aim has been to write in the spirit which impelled the soldiers to go +forth to battle, and to reverse the accounts given in the popular +histories which ascribe to the generals and colonels who commanded, +instead of the soldiers who did the fighting, victory or defeat. "The +troops who do what can neither be expected nor required, are the ones +which are victorious. The men, who, tired and worn and hungry and +exhausted, yet push into battle, are those who win. They who persist +against odds, against obstacles, against hope, who proceed or hold out +reasonably, are the conquerors," says Gen. Grant's historian. With no +desire of detracting from the commanders—if I were able—the honor due +them, my aim is to credit the soldiers with whatever heroism they may +have displayed.</p> + +<p>I acknowledge it has been a labor of love to fight many of the battles +of the war of the rebellion over again, not because of a relish for +blood and the destruction of human life, but for the memories of the +past; of the bondage of a race and its struggle for freedom, awakening +as they do the intense love of country and liberty, such as one who has +been without either feels, when both have been secured by heroic effort.</p> + +<p>To those who have responded to my appeal for information regarding the +negro soldier, I have aimed to give full credit; if any are omitted it +is not intentionally done. To no one am I more indebted for assisting in +collecting data, than to Lt. J. M. Trotter, of the 55th Mass. Reg't. nor +am I unmindful of the kindness of Hon. Robert Lincoln, late Secretary of +War, nor that of Col. James D. Brady, member of Congress from Virginia, +for copies of public records; to Col. H. C. Corbin, for the record of +the 14th Reg't.; and to Col. D. Torrance for that of the 29th Reg't. +Conn. I am also indebted to Maj. Gen. Wm. Mahone for a map of the +defences of Petersburg, showing the crater; to the librarian of the +Young Men's Mercantile Library, of Cincinnati, for the use of Col. +Albert's carved map of Fort Wagner, and to Col. G. M. Arnold and Hon. +Joseph Jergenson for copies of historical papers; also to Hon. Libbey.</p> + +<p class="right"> +J. T. W. +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<h3>PART I.</h3> + +<h3><i>THE WARS FOR INDEPENDENCE.</i></h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.—<span class="smcap">The War of 1775.</span></h4> +<p><span class="tocnum">PAGE.</span></p> + +<p>The Sentiments of the Colonists—The Agreement of 1774—The Resolutions +of Ga.—The Virginians Boycotting a Slaver—Tories Opposed to a Negro +Army—Caste Prejudice not strong—The Militia Law of Mass. in +1652—Negro Sentinels at Meeting houses—Crispus Attucks leads the +whites to an attack upon British Soldiers—Resolution of the Committee +of Safety—Battle of Bunker Hill—Peter Salem Kills the British Maj. +Pitcairn—Petition to the General court of Mass. Bay—Biographical +account of Peter Salem—Manumitting of Slaves to allow them to become +Soldiers—Meeting of the Committee of Conference—Gen. Washington writes +the President regarding Negro Soldiers—Action of Congress sustaining +Gen. Washington—The First Question of "color" in the Army—Negroes +allowed in the S. C. Militia—Dr. Hopkins' Article concerning +Slavery—Lord Dunmore visits Norfolk, 1775—Proclamation of Lord +Dunmore—The Dread of the Colonists—An Unreasonable Fear—Action of the +Conn. General Assembly, 1777—Letter from Gen. Green to Gen. +Washington—Daring Exploits of Prince and other Negroes at Newport, R. +I.—The Storming of Fort Griswold—Action of the State of R. I.—Action +of the State of New York, 1781—Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton—The +Colonists beginning to favor Negro Troops—Gen. Washington's Emphatic +Language—Re-enslavement of Discharged Negro Soldiers—Action of the +Legislature of Virginia <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_21'>21</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.—<span class="smcap">The War of 1812.</span></h4> + +<p>The Principal Cause of the War—Seizure of American Negro +Sailors—Outrages upon American Ships—The Declaration of War—The +Battle of Lake Erie—Negroes on American Privateers—Action of the +Legislature of La.—Review of Negro Troops in New Orleans—The Battle of +New Orleans <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></span></p> + + +<h3>PART II.</h3> + +<h3><i>THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.</i></h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.—<span class="smcap">Public Opinion.</span></h4> + +<p>Existing Prejudice—No Prejudice in Europe—DeTocqueville's Views—The +New Race—Southern Opinions—The Negro's Ambition—The Coast Pursuit in +the Navy—A Change of Policy—Public Opinions Changed <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_81'>81</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.—<span class="smcap">Recruiting and Organizing.</span></h4> + +<p>The Unpleasant duties of a Recruiting Officer—Henry Wilson's Bill in +Congress for the Arming of Negroes, 1862—Mr. Stevens' Amendment to the +Enrollment Act, 1864—Orders for the Enrollment of Negroes in the Miss. +Valley—Curious way of Keeping ranks full—The Date of the First +Organization of Colored Troops—The Organization of the 24th Mass. +Regiment—Their Quarters at Morris Island—Refusing to do Menial +Service—Short Pay for Negro Troops—Negroes Enlisting for +Bounty—Record of total number of Negroes who Served in the Army <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.—<span class="smcap">Recruiting and Organizing in South Carolina.</span></h4> + +<p>Private Miles O'Reilly's Account of Gen. Hunter's Black Troops—The +First Negro Troops in the Field—Gen. Hunter's Humorous Report to +Congress—Jefferson Davis declares Gen. Hunter and his Officers +Outlaws—Gen. Hunter's suppressed Letter to Jefferson Davis—Miles +O'Reilly's Humorous Poem, "Sambo's Right to be Kil't" <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_145'>145</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.—<span class="smcap">Officers of the Phalanx.</span></h4> + +<p>Officers of the Phalanx—Character and Qualifications of the men who +commanded Negro Troops—The Examination of Candidates for +Commissioners—Some of the Negroes who rose from the Ranks—Gen. Banks' +idea of Officering the Corps d'Afrique 166</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER V.—<span class="smcap">Department of the Gulf.</span></h4> + +<p>The Surrender of Confederate Negro Troops at New Orleans—Slaves +flocking to the Union Camp—Gen. Phelps desires to Arm them—Butler +Refuses—Gen. Phelps' Resignation—Gen. Butler converted to the Policy +of Arming Negroes—Negroes Enlisted at New Orleans—Gen. Weitzel placed +in Command—The fight at Mansfield—The Battle of Milliken's +Bend—Indignities offered to Phalanx Soldiers—The affair at Ship +Island—Port Hudson—The Struggle—Desperate Fighting of the Phalanx—A +Useless Effort—Perilous Duties of the Engineers—Boker's Poem on the +fight at Port Hudson <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_183'>183</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VI.—<span class="smcap">The Army of the Frontier.</span></h4> + +<p>Iowa's splendid Response to the Call—Refusal of the Phalanx Troops to +Accept the Pay offered by the Government—Active times at Helena—The +Confederate General Dobbins makes an Attack—A Spirited Fight—A +Critical Situation—Re-enforcement by White Cavalry—The Honor Due to +Kansas—The report of the Service of Kansas Negro Troops—Col. +Crawford's report for the 2nd Kansas Regiment <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.—<span class="smcap">Department of the South.</span></h4> + +<p>Gen. Hunter's Important Action—Organization of the 1st South +Carolina—An Expedition up the St. Mary's River—Fort +Wagner—Description of the Fort—Plans for the Assault—The forming of +the line—The Assault—Magnificent Fighting—Death of Col. Shaw—Useless +Slaughter—The Confederate Account of the Assault upon Fort +Wagner—Movements in Florida—The Landing at Jacksonville—Raids on the +surrounding country—The Advance towards Tallahassee—The Troops reach +Barbour's Station—The Battle of Olustee—Desperate Fighting on both +Sides—A Terrible Defeat—The Union Troops routed—Drawing away the +Wounded on railway cars—Return to Baldwin's—The 54th Mass.—Boykin's +Mill—The "Swamp Angel"—Inquiries Respecting Negro Troops—Labor Days +of the Negro Troops <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_249'>249</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.—<span class="smcap">The Army of the Cumberland.</span></h4> + +<p>Services in the West—The Mississippi River Guarded by the Phalanx—Gen. +Morgan's Historical Sketch—The Rendezvous at Gallatin—The Place +Threatened by Guerillas—Organizing a Regiment—Negro Soldiers ordered +to Alabama—An Incident—A School in camp—The Battle at Dalton, +Ga.—Good Behavior of the troops there—Honors to the 51st +Colored—Sharp Fighting at Pulaski, Tenn.—An Incident of the Fight—An +Engagement at Decatur—Ordered to Nashville—Severe Fighting at that +place—A Reconnoissance—The Defeat of Gen. Hood—A Pursuit to +Huntsville—A Glorious Record <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_286'>286</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IX.—<span class="smcap">The Phalanx at Marion, Tenn.</span></h4> + +<p>Sherman's March to the Sea—Destruction of the Confederate Bridge over +the Big Black river—Confederates Attack Federals near +Morristown—Gillem's Troops Driven into Knoxville—The Confederates +Retreat—Federals Pursued to Marion—Struggle for the Possession of the +Salt Works—The Charge of the 6th Regiment—Gen. Brisbin's account of +the Battle—The Salt Works Destroyed—Personal Bravery <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_308'>308</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER X.—<span class="smcap">The Black Flag.</span></h4> + +<p>The Phalanx acquiring a Reputation—No Blacks Paroled—Gen. Grant's +Letter to the Confederate General Taylor—Jefferson Davis' Proclamation +respecting Negro Soldiers—Mr. Davis' Third Annual Message—Action of +the Confederate Congress—Negro Soldiers Captured by the Confederates +receive Punishment—Retaliation by the Federal Government—Refusal to +Exchange captured Negro Troops—Order from President Lincoln in relation +thereto—Report of the Congressional Committee in regard to Barbarities +Inflicted upon captured Union Prisoners—Report of the Congressional +Committee in regard to the Fort Pillow Massacre—Testimony +given—Sketches of Prison Life—Schemes for Escaping from Confederate +Prisons—Life in Libby Prison—The Effect of the Fort Pillow Massacre on +the Black Soldiers—Their Desire to Retaliate—Correspondence between +Gens. Forrest and Washburn—A Confederate Account, written in 1883—A +Confederate Account of Price's Cross-Roads—Heavy Fighting—Gallant +Conduct of the Federal Cavalry—The Rout of the Federal Force—The +Phalanx Saves the White Troops from Capture—Gen. Sturgis Criticised <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_315'>315</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XI.—<span class="smcap">The Phalanx in Virginia.</span></h4> + +<p>Transfer of Negro Troops from the West and South to +Virginia—Preparations for a New Campaign—9th Army Corps passing +Through Washington—Army of the Potomac—Battle at Bailey's farm—Siege +of Petersburg—Digging a Mine—Phalanx Troops preparing to lead the +Assault—Disappointment—Explosion of the Mine—Terrible +Slaughter—Failure of the Attempt to Take the Redoubt—New Movement +Against Richmond—New Market Heights—Capture of Petersburg—Fall of +Richmond—Appomattox—Surrender of Lee <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_377'>377</a></span></p> + + +<h4>Chapter XII.—<span class="smcap">The Roll of Honor.</span></h4> + +<p>Phalanx Soldiers who received Medals of Honor from the United States +Government for Heroism <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_463'>463</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.—<span class="smcap">The Roster of the Black Phalanx.</span></h4> + +<p>Complete list from the Government Records, as far as can be obtained, of +Negro Military Organizations in all branches of the Service, with their +Chief Commanders—Battles—Dates of Organization and Dismissal <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_464'>464</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.—<span class="smcap">The Confederate Service.</span></h4> + +<p>Preparation in the South for Hostilities—Early Organizations of +Battalions of Free Negroes—Review of Troops in New Orleans—Employment +of Negroes in Constructing Fortifications—Early Enacting of State Laws +authorizing the enrollment of Negroes for Military Service—The +Appearance of a few Negro Troops announced by the Press—Apparent +Enthusiasm of some Blacks—Effect on the Negroes of the Change in +Northern Policy—Necessity for Negro Troops—Strong Opposition +throughout the South—Letters from Gen. R. E. Lee urging the +Organization of Black Regiments—Exciting Debates in the Confederate +Congress—Passage of the Negro Bill—The Clerk's of the War Department +Record—Letter from Jefferson Davis—Enlistment began, etc. <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_481'>481</a></span></p> + + +<h3>PART III.</h3> + +<h3><i>MISCELLANY.</i></h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.—<span class="smcap">The Phalanx at School.</span></h4> + +<p>Efforts of Negro Soldiers to Educate themselves—Studies pursued in the +Army—Officers acting as Teachers—Contributions to Educational +Institutions <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_503'>503</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.—<span class="smcap">Benevolence and Frugality.</span></h4> + +<p>Personal Economy practiced for Benevolent purposes—Contributions to the +Lincoln Institute as a Monument—Magnificent Contributions to the +Lincoln Monument—Some figures in reference to the Freemen's Bank <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_508'>508</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.—<span class="smcap">Bibliography.</span></h4> + +<p>List of Publications made use of <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_517'>517</a></span></p> + + +<h4>APPENDIX.</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<p class="notes">Transcriber's Note: This book did not have the frontispiece.</p> + + +<p> +1. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Joseph T. Wilson</span> <span class="tocnum">Frontispiece.</span><br /> +2. <span class="smcap">Death of Crispus Attucks</span> <span class="tocnum">Face Page <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></span><br /> +3. <span class="smcap">Battle of Bunker Hill</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></span><br /> +4. <span class="smcap">On Picket</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></span><br /> +5. <span class="smcap">Naval Battle</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_77'>77</a></span><br /> +6. <span class="smcap">Unshackled</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_89'>90</a></span><br /> +7. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Robert Smalls</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +8. " —<span class="smcap">William Morrison</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +9. " —<span class="smcap">A. Gradine</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +10. " —<span class="smcap">John Smalls</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +11. <span class="smcap">Quarters for Contrabands</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_103'>103</a></span><br /> +12. <span class="smcap">Driving Government Cattle</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_104'>104</a></span><br /> +13. <span class="smcap">Scene in and Near a Recruiting Office</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_108'>110</a></span><br /> +14. <span class="smcap">Teamster of the Army</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></span><br /> +15. <span class="smcap">Headquarters of Superintendent of the Poor</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></span><br /> +16. <span class="smcap">Provost Guard Securing Conscripts</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></span><br /> +17. <span class="smcap">New Recruits Taking Cars</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></span><br /> +18. <span class="smcap">Scene at New Berne, N. C.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_133'>134</a></span><br /> +19. <span class="smcap">Mustering Into Service</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></span><br /> +20. <span class="smcap">Organizing and Drilling</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_142'>142</a></span><br /> +21. <span class="smcap">Fortifications at Hilton Head</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></span><br /> +22. <span class="smcap">Building Roads</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_154'>154</a></span><br /> +23. <span class="smcap">Off For the War</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_160'>160</a></span><br /> +24. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Major Martin R. Delaney</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_166'>166</a></span><br /> +25. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Capt. O. S. B. Wall</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></span><br /> +26. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Capt. P. B. S. Pinchback.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> +27. " —<span class="smcap">Lt. James M. Trotter</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> +28. " —<span class="smcap">Surgeon A. T. Augusta</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> +29. " —<span class="smcap">Lt. W. H. Dupree.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> +30. Portrait—<span class="smcap">Serg't W. H. Carney</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_180'>180</a></span><br /> +31. <span class="smcap">Washing In Camp</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></span><br /> +32. <span class="smcap">Cooking in Camp</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_191'>191</a></span><br /> +33. <span class="smcap">Point Isabel, Texas</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_199'>199</a></span><br /> +34. <span class="smcap">The Recruiting Office</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_200'>200</a></span><br /> +35. <span class="smcap">Battle of Milliken's Bend</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_204'>204</a></span><br /> +36. <span class="smcap">Unloading Government Stores</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_211'>211</a></span><br /> +37. <span class="smcap">Charge of the Phalanx at Port Hudson</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_214'>214</a></span><br /> +38. <span class="smcap">Presentation of Colors</span> (1) <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_223'>223</a></span><br /> +39. <span class="smcap">Repelling an Attack</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_231'>231</a></span><br /> +40. <span class="smcap">Cavalry Bringing in Prisoners</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_236'>236</a></span><br /> +41. <span class="smcap">Capturing Battery of Artillery</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_242'>242</a></span><br /> +42. <span class="smcap">The Wooden Horse</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_249'>249</a></span><br /> +43. <span class="smcap">At Fort Wagner</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_255'>255</a></span><br /> +44. <span class="smcap">Brilliant Charge of the Phalanx</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_270'>270</a></span><br /> +45. <span class="smcap">River Picket Duty</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_277'>277</a></span><br /> +46. <span class="smcap">Changed Conditions</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_286'>286</a></span><br /> +47. <span class="smcap">Serving Refreshments to Union Troops</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_306'>306</a></span><br /> +48. <span class="smcap">Scouting Service</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_311'>312</a></span><br /> +49. <span class="smcap">Fighting Bloodhounds</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_320'>320</a></span><br /> +50. <span class="smcap">Negroes Feeding Escaping Union Prisoners</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_342'>342</a></span><br /> +51. <span class="smcap">Massacre at Fort Pillow</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_350'>350</a></span><br /> +52. <span class="smcap">Phalanx Regiment Receiving Its Flags</span> (2) <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_377'>377</a></span><br /> +53. <span class="smcap">Parade of the 20th Regiment U. S. C. T. in New York</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_378'>378</a></span><br /> +54. <span class="smcap">Scene in the Army of the Potomac</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_391'>391</a></span><br /> +55. <span class="smcap">At Work On River Obstructions</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_401'>401</a></span><br /> +56. <span class="smcap">Phalanx Charge At Petersburg, Va.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_402'>402</a></span><br /> +57. <span class="smcap">In the Trenches</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_411'>411</a></span><br /> +58. <span class="smcap">Before Petersburg, Burying Dead Under Flag of Truce</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_425'>425</a></span><br /> +59. <span class="smcap">A Government Blacksmith Shop</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_446'>445</a></span><br /> +60. <span class="smcap">General Grant and the Negro Sentinel</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_449'>446</a></span><br /> +61. <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln Entering Richmond</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_452'>452</a></span><br /> +62. <span class="smcap">On Duty For the Confederates</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_484'>484</a></span><br /> +63. <span class="smcap">A Confederate Sharpshooter</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_499'>499</a></span><br /> +64. <span class="smcap">"Paying Off"</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_506'>506</a></span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART I.</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Wars For Independence</span></h3> + +<h3>1775-1812.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE WAR OF 1775.</h3> + + +<p>The history of the patriotic Negro Americans who swelled the ranks of +the Colonial and Continental armies has never been written, nor was any +attempt made by the historians of that day to record the deeds of those +who dared to face death for the independence of the American Colonies. +W. H. Day, in addressing a convention of negro men at Cleveland, O., in +1852, truly said: "Of the services and sufferings of the colored +soldiers of the Revolution, no attempt has, to our knowledge, been made +to preserve a record. Their history is not written; it lies upon the +soil watered with their blood; who shall gather it? It rests with their +bones in the charnel house; who shall exhume it?" Upon reading these +lines, it occurred to me that somewhere among the archives of that +period there must exist at least a clue to the record of the negro +patriots of that war. If I cannot exclaim <i>Eureka</i>, after years of +diligent search, I take pride in presenting what I <i>have</i> found +scattered throughout the pages of the early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> histories and literature, +and from the correspondence of men who in that period discussed the +topics of the day—who led and fashioned public opinion, many of whom +commanded in the field. Not a few biographers have contributed to my +fund of knowledge. To avoid as much as possible the charge of plagiarism +I have aimed to give credit to my informants for what shall follow +regarding the colored patriots in the war of the Revolution. I have +reason to believe that I have gathered much that has been obscure; that +I have exhumed the bones of that noble Phalanx who, at Bunker Hill and +Yorktown, in various military employments, served their country. It is +true they were few in number when compared to the host that entered the +service in the late Rebellion, but it must be remembered that their +number was small at that time in the country, and that the seat of war +was at the North, and not, as in the late war, at the South, where their +numbers have always been large.</p> + +<p>Of the three hundred thousand troops in the Revolutionary war, it has +been estimated that five thousand were colored, and these came +principally from the North, whose colored population at that time was +about 50,000, while the Southern colonies contained about 300,000. The +interest felt in the two sections for the success of the cause of +independence, if referred to the army, can easily be seen. The Northern +colonies furnished two hundred and forty-nine thousand, five hundred and +three, and the Southern colonies one hundred and forty-seven thousand, +nine hundred and forty soldiers, though the whole population of each +section was within a few hundred of being equal.</p> + +<p>The love of liberty was no less strong with the Southern than with the +Northern colored man, as their efforts for liberty show. At the North he +gained his freedom by entering the American army; at the South, only by +entering the British army, which was joined by more than fifteen +thousand colored men. Jefferson says 30,000 negroes from Virginia alone +went to the British army. I make the digression simply to assert that +had the colored men at the South possessed the same opportunity as those +at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> North, of enlisting in the American army, a large force of +colored men would have been in the field, fighting for America's +independence. Of the services of the little band, scattered as they were +throughout the army, two or three in a company composed of whites, a +squad in a regiment, a few companies with an army, made it quite +impossible for their record, beyond this, to be distinct from the +organizations they were attached to. However, enough has been culled +from the history of that conflict, to show that they bore a brave part +in the struggle which wrested the colonies from the control of Great +Britain, and won for themselves and offspring, freedom, which many of +them never enjoyed. I have studiously avoided narrating the conduct of +those who cast their fortune with the British, save those who went with +Lord Dunmore, for reasons too obvious to make mention of.</p> + +<p>The sentiments of a majority of the people of the colonies were in full +accord with the declaration opposing slavery, and they sought to give it +supremacy by their success in the conflict. Slavery, which barred the +entrance to the army of the colored man at the South, had been denounced +by the colonist before the adoption of the articles of confederation, +and was maintained solely by local regulations. As early as 1774, all +the colonies had agreed to, and their representatives to the congress +had signed, the articles of the Continental Association, by which it was +agreed, "that we will neither import nor purchase any slave imported +after the first day of December next, (1774), after which we will wholly +discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be concerned in it +ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or +manufactories to those who are concerned in it." Georgia not being +represented in this Congress, consequently was not in the Association, +but as soon as her Provincial Congress assembled in July, 1775, it +passed the following resolutions:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>I.</i>—<i>Resolved</i>, That this Congress will adopt and carry +into execution all and singular the measures and +recommendations of the late Continental Congress.</p> + +<p>"<i>IV.</i>—<i>Resolved</i>, That we will neither import or purchase +any slave imported from Africa or elsewhere after this day, +(July, 6.") +</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sincerity with which this agreement was entered into may be seen by +the action of the colonists at Norfolk, Virginia, where, in March, 1775, +a brig arrived from the coast of Guinea, via Jamaica, with a number of +slaves on board consigned to a merchant of that town. To use a modern +phrase the vessel was <i>boycotted</i> by the committee, who published the +following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"TO THE FREEMEN OF VIRGINIA.<br /></span> +<span class="i26">{ <span class="smcap">Committee Chamber</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i26">{ <span class="smcap">Norfolk</span>, March 6th, 1775.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Trusting to your sure resentment against the enemies of +your country, we, the committee, elected by ballot for the +Borough of Norfolk, hold up for your just indignation Mr. +John Brown, merchant, of this place.</p> + +<p>"On Thursday, the 2nd of March, this committee were informed +of the arrival of the brig Fanny, Capt. Watson, with a +number of slaves for Mr. Brown; and, upon inquiry, it +appeared they were shipped from Jamaica as his property, and +on his account; that he had taken great pains to conceal +their arrival from the knowledge of the committee; and that +the shipper of the slaves, Mr. Brown's correspondent, and +the captain of the vessel, were all fully apprised of the +Continental prohibition against the article.</p> + +<p>"From the whole of this transaction, therefore, we, the +committee for Norfolk Borough, do give it as our unanimous +opinion, that the said John Brown has wilfully and +perversely violated the Continental Association, to which he +had with his own hand subscribed obedience; and that, +agreeable to the eleventh article, we are bound, forthwith, +to publish the truth of the case, to the end that all such +foes to the rights of British America may be publicly known +and universally contemned as the enemies of American +liberty, and that every person may henceforth break off all +dealings with him."</p></div> + +<p>This was the voice of a majority of the colonists, and those who +dissented were regarded as Tories, and in favor of the crown as against +the independence of the colonies, although there were many at the North +and South who held slaves, and were yet loyal to the cause of the +colonies; but the public sentiment was undoubtedly as strong against the +institution as it was in 1864. But the Tories were numerous at the +South, and by continually exciting the imagination of the whites by +picturing massacre and insurrection on the part of the negros if they +were armed, thwarted the effort of Col. Lauren's and of Congress to +raise a "negro army" at the South. The leaders were favorable to it, but +the colonists, for the reason cited, were distrustful of its +practicability. Though a strong effort was made, as will be seen, the +scare raised by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Tories prevented its success. Notwithstanding, +hundreds of colored men, slave and free, at the South, not only followed +the army but in every engagement took an active part on the side of the +colonist. They were not enrolled and mustered into the army, it is true, +but they rendered important service to the cause.</p> + +<p>The caste prejudice now so strong in the country was then in its +infancy. A white man at that time lived with a colored woman without +fear of incurring the ostracism of his neighbors, and with the same +impunity he lived with an Indian Squaw. So common was this practice, +that in order to correct it laws were passed forbidding it. The +treatment of the slaves was not what it came to be after the war, nor +had the spirit of resentment been stifled in them as it was +subsequently. Manifestations of their courage and manliness were not +wanting when injustice was attempted to be practiced against them, +consequently the spirit and courage with which they went into the +conflict were quite equal to that of the whites, who were ever ready to +applaud them for deeds of daring. It is only through this medium that we +have discovered the meed of praise due the little Phalanx, which linked +its fortune with the success of the American army, and of whom the +following interesting facts can now be recorded.</p> + +<p>It is well for the negro and for his descendants in America, +cosmopolitan as it is, that his race retains its distinctive +characteristics, color and features, otherwise they would not have, as +now, a history to hand down to posterity so gloriously patriotic and +interesting. His amalgamation with other races is attributable to the +relation which it bore to them, although inter-marriage was not allowed. +By the common consent of his enslavers, he was allowed to live +clandestinely with the women of his own color; sometimes from humane +considerations, sometimes from a standpoint of gain, but always as a +slave or a subject of the slave code. Reduced from his natural state of +freedom by his misfortune in tribal war, to that of a slave, and then +transported by the consent of his captors and enemies to these shores, +and sold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> into an unrequited bondage, the fire of his courage,—like +that of other races similarly situated, without hope of liberty; doomed +to toil,—slackened into an apathetic state, and seeming willing +servitude, which produced a resignation to fate from 1619 to 1770, more +than a century and a half. At the latter date, for the first time in the +history of what is now the United States, the negro, inspired with the +love of liberty, aimed a blow at the authority that held him in bondage. +In numerous instances, when the Indians attacked the white settlers, +particularly in the Northern colonies, negroes were summoned and took +part in the defense of the settlements.</p> + +<p>As early as 1652, the militia law of Massachusetts required negroes, +Scotchmen and Indians,—the indentured slaves of Cromwell, who +encountered his army at the battle of Dunbar,—to train in the militia. +Nor was it an uncommon occurrence for them to be manumitted for +meritorious and courageous action in defending their masters' families, +often in the absence of the master, when attacked by the red men of the +woods. It was not infrequent to find the negro as a sentinel at the +meeting-house door; or serving as a barricade for the master's mansion. +The Indian was more of a terror to him than the boa-constrictor; though +slaves, they knew that if captured by the Indians their fate would be +the same as that of the white man; consequently they fought with a +desperation equal to that of the whites, against the common enemy. So +accustomed did they become to the use of arms, that one of the first +acts of the settlers after the Indians were driven from the forest, was +to disarm and forbid negroes keeping or handling fire-arms and weapons +of every sort. This was done from a sense of self-preservation and fear +that the negroes might (and many did) attempt to revenge themselves when +cruelly treated, or rise in mutiny and massacre the whites.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image1.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="DEATH OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS" title="" /> +<span class="caption">DEATH OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS.<br /> + +While leading an attack against British troops in Boston.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>But it was not until 1770, when the fervor of rebellion had influenced +the people of the colonies, and Capt. Preston, with the King's soldiers, +appeared in King Street, Boston, to enforce the decree of the British +Parliament, that the people met the troops face to face. This lent force +to the rebellious spirit against the Mother Country, which the people of +the United Northern Colonies had felt called upon to manifest in public +meetings and by written resolutions. The soldiers were regarded as +invaders. And while the leading men of Boston were discussing and +deliberating as to what steps should be taken to drive the British +troops out of the town, Crispus Attucks, a negro runaway slave,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> led a +crowd against the soldiers, with brave words of encouragement. The +soldiers fired upon them, killing the negro leader, Attucks, first, and +then two white men, and mortally wounding two others. A writer says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The presence of the British soldiers in King Street, +excited the patriotic indignation of the people. The whole +community was stirred, and sage counsellors were +deliberating and writing and talking about the public +grievances. But it was not for the 'wise and prudent' to be +first to <i>act</i> against the encroachments of arbitrary power. +A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattoes, Irish +Jeazues, and outlandish Jack tars, (as John Adams described +them in his plea in defence of the soldiers), could not +restrain their emotion, or stop to enquire if what they +<i>must</i> do was according to the letter of the law. Led by +Crispus Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting, 'The way +to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main guard; +strike at the root; this is the nest;' with more valor than +discretion they rushed to King Street, and were fired upon +by Capt. Preston's company. Crispus Attucks was the first to +fall; he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on +the spot. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally +wounded. The excitement which followed was intense. The +bells of the town were rung. An impromptu town-meeting was +held, and an immense assembly was gathered. Three days +after, on the 17th, a public funeral of the martyr took +place. The shops in Boston were closed, and all the bells of +Boston and the neighboring towns were rung. It is said that +a greater number of persons assembled on this occasion, than +ever before gathered on this continent for a similar +purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto, had been +placed in Fanueil Hall with that of Caldwell; both being +strangers in the city. Maverick was buried from his +mother's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> house in Union Street, and Gray, from his +brother's, in Royal Exchange Lane. The four hearses formed a +junction in King Street, and then the procession marched in +columns six deep, with a long file of coaches belonging to +the most distinguished citizens, to the Middle Burying +Ground, where the four victims were deposited in one grave; +over which a stone was placed with the inscription:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Dear to your country shall your fame extend;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">While to the world the lettered stone shall tell<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The anniversary of this event was publicly commemorated in +Boston by an oration and other exercises every year until +our National Independence was achieved, when the Fourth of +July was substituted for the Fifth of March, as the more +proper day for a general celebration. Not only was the event +commemorated, but the martyrs who then gave up their lives +were remembered and honored."</p></div> + +<p>Thus the first blood for liberty shed in the colonies was that of a real +slave and a negro. As the news of the affray spread, the people became +aroused throughout the land. Soon, in every town and village, meetings +were held, and the colonists urged to resist the oppressive and +aggressive measures which the British Parliament had passed, and for the +enforcement of which troops had been stationed in Boston, and as we see, +had shot down those who dared to oppose them. In all the colonies +slavery was at this time tolerated, though the number of slaves was by +no means large in the Northern Colonies, nor had there been a general +ill treatment of them, as in after years in the Southern States. Their +war-like courage, it is true, had been slackened, but their manhood had +not been crushed.</p> + +<p>Crispus Attucks was a fair representative of the colonial negro, as they +evinced thereafter, during the prolonged struggle which resulted in the +Independence of the United States. When the tocsin sounded "to arms, to +arms, ye who would be free," the negro responded to the call, and side +by side with the white patriots of the colonial militia, bled and died.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bancroft in his history of the United States says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Nor should history forget to record, that as in the army at +Cambridge, so also in this gallant band, the free negroes of +the colony had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> their representatives. For the right of free +negroes to bear arms in the public defense was, at that day, +as little disputed in New England as other rights. They took +their place, not in a separate corps, but in the ranks with +the white men; and their names may be seen on the +pension-rolls of the country, side by side with those of +other soldiers of the Revolution."</p></div> + +<p>It was not the free only who took up arms in defence of America's +independence; not alone those who, in preceding wars,—Indian and +French,—had gained their liberty, that swelled the ranks of the +colonial militia; but slaves, inspired by the hope of freedom, went to +the front, as Attucks had done when he cut the Gordian knot that held +the colonies to Great Britain. "From that moment we may date the +severance of the British Empire," said Daniel Webster, in his Bunker +Hill oration, referring to the massacre on the 5th of March, 1770. The +thirst for freedom was universal among the people of New England. With +them liberty was not circumscribed by condition and now, since the slave +Attucks had struck the first blow for America's independence, thereby +electrifying the colonies and putting quite a different phase upon their +grievances, the people were called upon to witness a real slave +struggling with his oppressors for his freedom. It touched the people of +the colonies as they had never been touched before, and they arrayed +themselves for true freedom.</p> + +<p>Dr. Joseph Warren thus heralds the sentiment of the colonist, in his +oration delivered at Boston, March 5th, 1775:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That personal freedom is the natural right of every man, +and that property, or an exclusive right to dispose of what +he has honestly acquired by his own labor, necessarily +arises therefrom, are truths which common sense has placed +beyond the reach of contradiction. And no man, or body of +men, can, without being guilty of flagrant injustice, claim +a right to dispose of the persons or acquisitions of any +other man or body of men, unless it can be proved that such +a right has arisen from some compact between the parties, in +which it has been explicitly and freely granted."</p></div> + +<p>The year previous, John Hancock was the orator on the occasion of the +4th anniversary of the shedding of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> the first blood for the Independence +of America, and he thus presents the case to a Boston audience yet +smarting under the insult and sting given them by the British soldiery:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of +that dismal night, when in such quick succession, we felt +the extremes of grief, astonishment and rage; when Heaven, +in anger, for a dreadful moment suffered Hell to take the +reins; when Satan with his chosen band opened the sluices of +New England's blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land +with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons. Let this sad +tale of death never be told without a tear; let the heaving +bosom cause to burn with a manly indignation at the +barbarous story, through the long tracts of future time; let +every parent tell the shameful story to his listening +children 'til tears of pity glisten in their eyes, and +boiling passions shake their tender frames; and whilst the +anniversary of that ill-fated night is kept a jubilee in the +grim court of pandemonium, let all America join in one +common prayer to Heaven, that the inhuman, unprovoked +murders of the 5th of March, 1770, planned by Hillsborough +and a knot of treacherous knaves in Boston, and executed by +the cruel hand of Preston and his sanguinary coadjutors, may +ever stand in history without a parallel. But what, my +countrymen, withheld the ready arm of vengeance from +executing instant justice on the vile assassins? Perhaps you +feared promiscuous carnage might ensue, and that the +innocent might share the fate of those who had performed the +infernal deed. But were not all guilty? Were you not too +tender of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your +necks? But I must not too severely blame you for a fault +which great souls only can commit. May that magnificence of +spirit which scorns the low pursuit of malice; may that +generous compassion which often preserves from ruin, even a +guilty villain, forever actuate the noble bosoms of +Americans! But let not the miscreant host vainly imagine +that we feared their arms. No, those we despised; we dread +nothing but slavery. Death is the creature of a poltroon's +brains; 'tis immortality to sacrifice ourselves for the +salvation of our country. We fear not death. That gloomy +night, the pale-face moon, and the affrighted stars that +hurried through the sky, can witness that we fear not death. +Our hearts, which, at the recollection, glow with rage that +four revolving years have scarcely taught us to restrain, +can witness that we fear not death; and happy it is for +those who dared to insult us, that their naked bones are not +now piled up an ever-lasting monument of Massachusetts +bravery. But they retired; they fled, and in that flight +they found their only safety. We then expected that the hand +of public justice would soon inflict that punishment upon +the murderers, which, by the laws of God and man, they had +incurred. But let the unbiassed pen of a Robertson, or +perhaps of some equally famed American, conduct this trial +before the great tribunal of succeeding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> generations. And +though the murderers may escape the just resentment of an +enraged people; though drowsy justice, intoxicated by the +poisonous draft prepared for her cup, still nods upon her +rotten seat, yet be assured, such complicated crimes will +meet their due reward. Tell me, ye bloody butchers! ye +villains high and low! ye wretches who contrived, as well as +you who executed the inhuman deed! do you not feel the goads +and stings of conscious guilt pierce through your savage +bosoms? Though some of you may think yourselves exalted to a +height that bids defiance to human justice, and others +shroud yourselves beneath the mask of hypocrisy, and build +your hopes of safety on the low arts of cunning, chicanery +and falsehood; yet do you not sometimes feel the gnawings of +that worm which never dies; do not the injured shades of +Maverick, Gray, Cadwell, Attucks and Carr, attend you in +your solitary walks; arrest you in the midst of your +debaucheries and fill even your dreams with terror?"</p></div> + +<p>The orators of New England poured out upon this once slave,—now hero +and martyr,—their unstinted praise. We have but to recall the +recollection of the earliest conflicts which the colonist had with the +British, in order to see the negro occupying a place in the ranks of the +patriot army. Their white fellow-citizens were only too glad to take +ground to the left, in order that they could fall in on their colors. +And they did good service whenever they fought, as the record shows.</p> + +<p>The Committee of safety upon reviewing the situation and the army, +before the first great battle of the Revolution had been fought, adopted +the following resolution:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That it is the opinion of this committee, that +as the contest now between Great Britain and the Colonies +respects the liberties and privileges of the latter, which +the Colonies are determined to maintain, that the admission +of any persons, as soldiers, into the army now raising, but +such as are Freeman, will be inconsistent with the +principals that are supported, and reflect dishonor on this +Colony; and that no Slaves be admitted into this army upon +any consideration whatever."</p></div> + +<p>The exception was well taken, and this act of the Committee, excluding +slaves from the army, placed the rebels upon the basis of patriots, +fighting for freedom. This, however, did not detract from those who had +already distinguished themselves, by their bravery at Bunker Hill a few +weeks previous, where Peter Salem, once a slave, fought side by side in +the ranks with the white soldiers. When the British Major Pitcairn +mounted the redoubt,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> upon that memorable occasion, shouting, "The day +is ours!" Peter Salem poured the contents of his gun into that officer's +body, killing him instantly, and checking, temporarily, the advance of +the British. Swett, in his "Sketches of Bunker Hill Battle," says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Major Pitcairn caused the first effusion of blood at +Lexington. In that battle, his horse was shot under him, +while he was separated from his troops. With presence of +mind he feigned himself slain; his pistols were taken from +his holsters, and he was left for dead, when he seized the +opportunity and escaped. He appeared at Bunker Hill, and, +says the historian, 'Among those who mounted the works was +the gallant Major Pitcairn, who exultingly cried out, 'The +day is ours!' when a black soldier, named Salem, shot him +through and he fell. His agonized son received him in his +arms, and tenderly bore him to the boats.' A contribution +was made in the army for the colored soldier, and he was +presented to Washington as having performed this feat."</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Aaron White, of Thompson, Conn., in a letter to George Livermore, +Esq., of the Massachusetts Historical Society, writes:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"With regard to the black Hero of Bunker Hill, I never knew +him personally, nor did I ever hear from his lips the story +of his achievements; but I have better authority. About the +year 1809, I heard a soldier of the Revolution, who was +present at the Bunker Hill Battle, relate to my father the +story of the death of Major Pitcairn. He said the Major had +passed the storm of fire without, and had mounted the +redoubt, when, waving his sword, he commanded, in a loud +voice, the 'rebels' to surrender. His sudden appearance, and +his commanding air, at first startled the men immediately +before him. They neither answered nor fired; probably not +being exactly certain what was next to be done. At this +critical moment, a negro soldier stepped forward, and, +aiming his musket directly at the Major's bosom, blew him +through. My informant declared that he was so near, that he +distinctly saw the act. The story made quite an impression +on my mind. I have frequently heard my father relate the +story, and have no doubt of its truth. My father on the day +of the battle was a mere child, and witnessed the battle and +burning of Charlestown from Roxbury Hill, sitting on the +shoulders of the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who said to him as he +placed him on the ground, 'Now, boy, do you remember this!' +Consequently, after such an injunction, he would necessarily +pay particular attention to anecdotes concerning the first +and only battle he ever witnessed."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image2.jpg" width="600" height="364" alt="BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.<br /> + +Peter Salem shooting the British Major Pitcairn.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>Salem was undoubtedly one of the chief heroes of that ever memorable +battle. Orator, historian, poet, all give this sable patriot credit for +having been instrumental in checking the British advance and saving the +day.</p> + +<p>At the unveiling of the statue erected to the memory of Gen. Joseph +Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, the orator of the occasion, Hon. Edward +Everett, said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is the monument of the day of the event, of the battle +of Bunker Hill; all of the brave men who shared its +perils,—alike of Prescott and Putnam and Warren, the chiefs +of the day, and the colored man, Salem, who, is reported to +have shot the gallant Pitcairn, as he mounted the parapet. +Cold as the clods on which it rests, still as the silent +Heaven to which it soars, it is yet vocal, eloquent, in +their individual praise."</p></div> + +<p>The following is a copy of a petition now in the Archive Department of +Massachusetts:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"TO THE HONORABLE GENERAL COURT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS' BAY.</p> + +<p>"The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable +House, (which we do in justice to the character of so brave +a man), that under our own observation, we declare that a +negro man named Salem Poor, of Col. Frye's regiment, Capt. +Ame's company, in the late battle at Charleston, behaved +like an experienced officer, as well as an excellent +soldier. To set forth particulars of his conduct would be +tedious. We only beg leave to say, in the person of this +said negro, centers a brave and gallant soldier. The reward +due to so great and distinguished a character, we submit to +Congress.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Jona. Brewer</span>, Col.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Thomas Nixon</span>, Lt. Col.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Wm. Prescott</span>, Col.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Ephm. Corey</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Joseph Baker</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Joshua Row</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Jonas Richardson</span>, Capt<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Eliphalet Bodwell, Sg't.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Thomas Nixon</span>, Lt. Col.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Wm. Prescott</span>, Col.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Ephm. Corey</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Joseph Baker</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Joshua Row</span>, Lieut.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Jonas Richardson</span>, Capt.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Cambridge</span>, Dec. 5, 1775.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"In Council Dec. 21, 1775.—Read, and sent down.<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Perez Morton</span>, Dep'y Sec'y."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A biographical account of Peter Salem is given in the following +newspaper extract:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"April, 1882, the town of Framingham voted to place a +memorial stone over the grave of Peter Salem, alias Salem +Middlesex, whose last resting place in the old burial ground +at Framingham Centre has been unmarked for years. For this +purpose $150 was appropriated by the town. The committee in +charge of the matter has placed a neat granite memorial over +his grave, and it bears the following inscription: "Peter +Salem, a soldier of the revolution, Died Aug. 16, 1816. +Concord, Bunker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> Hill, Saratoga. Erected by the town, 1882." +Peter Salem was the colored man who particularly +distinguished himself in the revolutionary war by shooting +down Major Pitcairn at the battle of Bunker Hill, as he was +mounting a redoubt and shouting, "The day is ours!" this +being the time when Pitcairn fell back into the arms of his +son. Peter Salem served faithfully in the war for seven +years in the companies of minute men under the command of +Capt. John Nixon and Capt. Simon Edgell of Framingham, and +came out of it unharmed. He was a slave, and was owned, +originally, by Capt. Jeremiah Belknap of Framingham, being +sold by him to Major Lawson Buckminster of that town, he +becoming a free man when he joined the army. Salem was born +in Framingham, and, in 1783, married Katie Benson, a +Granddaughter of Nero, living for a time near what is now +the State muster field. He removed to Leicester after the +close of the war, his last abode in that town being a cabin +on the road leading from Leicester to Auburn. He was removed +to Framingham, where he had gained a settlement in 1816 and +there he died."</p></div> + +<p>Salem was not the only negro at the battle of Bunker Hill. Says an +authority:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Col. Trumbull in his celebrated historic picture of this +battle, introduces conspicuously the colored patriot. At the +time of the battle, the artist, then acting as adjutant, was +stationed with his regiment at Roxbury, and saw the action +from this point. The picture was painted in 1786 when the +event was fresh in his mind. It is a significant historical +fact, pertinent to our present research, that, among the +limited number of figures introduced on the canvas, more +than one negro soldier can be distinctly seen."</p></div> + +<p>Of the others who participated in the battle we have knowledge of Salem +Poor, whose bravery won for him favorable comment.</p> + +<p>Major Wm. Lawrence, who fought through the war for independence, from +Concord, until the peace of 1783, participating in many of the severest +battles of the war. Says a memoir:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At Bunker Hill, where he was slightly wounded, his coat and +hat were pierced with the balls of the enemy, and were +preserved in the family for several years. At one time he +commanded a company whose rank and file were all negroes, of +whose courage, military discipline, and fidelity, he always +spoke with respect. On one occasion, being out +reconnoitering with his company, he got so far in advance of +his command, that he was surrounded, and on the point of +being made prisoner by the enemy. The men, soon discovering +his peril, rushed to his rescue, and fought with the most +determined bravery till that rescue was effectually<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +secured. He never forgot this circumstance, and ever took +special pains to show kindness and hospitality to any +individual of the colored race, who came near his dwelling."</p></div> + +<p>The Committee of Safety having excluded slaves from the army, many were +thereafter manumitted, that they might enlist. There was no law +regulating enlistment in the army at the time which required the color +of a soldier's skin to be recorded or regarded. A prejudice existed in +the legislature that prompted that body to begin a series of special +enactments, regarding negroes, which did not exclude them altogether +from the army, but looked to their organization into exclusive +companies, batallions and regiments.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the record made by the negroes who had swollen the ranks +of the American army a few weeks after the battle of Bunker Hill, +General Gates, then at Cambridge, issued the following order to the +officers, then recruiting for the service:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministerial +army, nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or persons +suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America, nor +any under eighteen years of age. As the cause is the best +that can engage men of courage and principle to take up +arms, so it is expected that none but such will be accepted +by the recruiting officer. The pay, provision, &c., being so +ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon +this service will, without delay, complete their respective +corps, and march the men forthwith to camp. You are not to +enlist any person that is not an American born, unless such +person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in +this country. The persons you enlist must be provided with +good and complete arms."</p></div> + +<p>This was in July, and on the 26th of the following September, Edward +Rutledge, of South Carolina, moved in the Colonial Congress that all +negroes be discharged that were in the army. As might be expected, his +proposition was strongly supported by the Southern delegates, but the +Northern delegates being so much stronger, voted it down. The negroes +were crowding so rapidly into the army, and the Northern colonists +finding their Southern comrades so strongly opposing this element of +strength, submitted the question of their enlistment to a conference +committee in October, composed of such men as Dr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> Franklin, Benjamin +Harrison and Thomas Lynch, with the Deputy Governors of Connecticut and +Rhode Island. This committee met at Cambridge, with a committee of the +council of Massachusetts Bay. The object and duty of the meeting was to +consider the condition of the army, and to devise means by which it +could be improved.</p> + +<p>General Washington was present at the meeting, and took part in the +discussions. Among others, the following subject was considered and +reported upon: "'Ought not negroes to be excluded from the new +enlistment, especially those such as are slaves?' All were thought +improper by the council of officers. '<i>Agreed</i>, That they may be +rejected altogether.'"</p> + +<p>In the organization of the new army, were many officers and men, who had +served with negroes in the militia, and who had been re-enlisted in the +colonial army. They protested against the exclusion of their old +comrades, on account of color. So very strong were their protests that +most of the rank and file of the Northern troops regarded the matter as +of serious import to the colonies, and of danger to the wives and +families of those in the field. There was quite a large number of free +negroes in the Northern Colonies at this time, and the patriotism +displayed by those who had the opportunity of serving in the militia +during the early stages of the war, aroused a feeling which prompted a +great many masters to offer to the commander of the army the services of +their slaves, and to the slaves their freedom, if their services were +accepted. So weighty were the arguments offered, and to soften the gloom +which hung about the homes and the camps of the soldiers, Gen. +Washington wrote to the President of Congress regarding the matter, from +Cambridge, in December, 1775:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It has been represented to me that the free negroes who +have served in this army are very much dissatisfied at being +discarded. As it is to be apprehended that they may seek +employment in the Ministerial army, I have presumed to +depart from the resolution respecting them, and have given +license for their being enlisted. If this is disapproved by +Congress, I will put a stop to it."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> +<p>The letter was submitted to Congress, and General Washington's action +was sustained by the passage of the following resolution: "That the free +negroes, who had served faithfully in the army at Cambridge, may be +re-enlisted therein, but no others."</p> + +<p>The question of color first entered the army by order of Washington's +predecessor, Gen. Artemus Ward, who in his first general order required +the "complexion" of the soldier to be entered upon the roll. In October, +1775, Gen. Thomas wrote the following letter to John Adams. The general +was in every way competent to draw a true picture of the army, and had +the opportunity of observation. He says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am sorry to hear that any prejudices should take place in +any Southern Colony, with respect to the troops raised in +this. I am certain that the insinuations you mention are +injurious, if we consider with what precipitation we are +obliged to collect an army. In the regiments at Roxbury, the +privates are equal to any that I served with in the last +war; very few old men, and in the ranks very few boys. Our +fifes are many of them boys. We have some negroes; but I +look on them, in general, as equally serviceable with other +men for fatigue; and in action many of them have proved +themselves brave. I would avoid all reflection, or anything +that may tend to give umbrage; but there is in this army +from the southward, a number called riflemen, who are the +most indifferent men I ever served with. These privates are +mutinous, and often deserting to the enemy; unwilling for +duty of any kind; exceedingly vicious; and I think the army +here would be as well off without them. But to do justice to +their officers, they are, some of them, likely men."</p></div> + +<p>Despite all prejudice, the negro, as in all conflicts since, sought +every opportunity to show his patriotism, and his unquenchable thirst +for liberty; and no matter in what capacity he entered the service, +whether as body-servant, hostler or teamster, he always displayed the +same characteristic courage. In November of the same year the Provincial +Congress of South Carolina, by the passage of the following resolution, +gave permission to her militia officers, to use slaves in the army for +certain purposes:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"On motion, <i>Resolved</i>, That the colonels of the several +regiments of militia throughout the Colony have leave to +enroll such a number of able male slaves, to be employed as +pioneers and laborers, as public exegencies may require; and +that a daily pay of seven shillings and six-pence be allowed +for the service of each such slave while actually employed."</p></div> + +<p>The foregoing resolution must not in any way be understood as +sanctioning the employment of negroes as soldiers, notwithstanding some +of the ablest men of the State advocated the enlistment of negroes in +the army; the opposition was too strong to carry the measure through +either Congress or the legislature. The feeling among the Northern +colonists may be shown by citing the views of some of their leading men, +and none perhaps was better calculated to give a clear expression of +their views, than the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Newport, R. I., who wrote a +"Dialogue Concerning the slavery of the Africans," published soon after +the commencement of hostilities. Here is an extract from a note to the +Dialogue:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"God is so ordering it in his providence, that it seems +absolutely necessary something should speedily be done with +respect to the slaves among us, in order to our safety, and +to prevent their turning against us in our present struggle, +in order to get their liberty. Our oppressors have planned +to gain the blacks, and induce them to take up arms against +us, by promising them liberty on this condition; and this +plan they are prosecuting to the utmost of their power, by +which means they have persuaded numbers to join them. And +should we attempt to restrain them by force and severity, +keeping a strict guard over them, and punishing them +severely who shall be detected in attempting to join our +oppressors, this will only be making bad worse, and serve to +render our inconsistence, oppression, and cruelty more +criminal, perspicuous, and shocking, and bring down the +righteous vengeance of Heaven on our heads. The only way +pointed out to prevent this threatening evil is to set the +blacks at liberty ourselves by some public acts and laws, +and then give them proper encouragement to labor, or take +arms in the defence of the American cause, as they shall +choose. This would at once be doing them some degree of +justice, and defeating our enemies in the scheme that they +are prosecuting."</p></div> + +<p>Therefore it will be observed that public opinion regarding the arming +of negroes in the North and South, was controlled by sectional interest +in the one, and the love of liberty in the other. That both desired +America's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Independence, no one will doubt, but that one section was +more willing than the other to sacrifice slavery for freedom, I think is +equally as plain. While the colonists were debating with much anxiety +the subject of what to do with the negroes, the New England States were +endeavoring to draw the Southern States or Colonies into the war by +electing George Washington as Commander of the army at Cambridge, and +accepting the mis-interpretations of the declarations of war. The Punic +faith with which the Southern States entered the war for liberty +humiliated the army, and wrung from its commander the letter written to +Congress, and its approval of his course in re-enlisting free negroes. +Meanwhile the British were actively engaged in recruiting and organizing +negroes into their army and navy.</p> + +<p>In November, 1775, Lord Dunmore visited Norfolk, Virginia,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and, as +Governor, finding his authority as such not regarded by the whites, +issued a proclamation offering freedom to the slaves who would join the +British army. A full description of the State of affairs at that time, +is thus given by an English historian:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In letters which had been laid before the English +Parliament, and published to the whole world, he (Lord +Dunmore) had represented the planters as ambitious, selfish +men, pursuing their own interest and advancement at the +expense of their poorer countrymen, and as being ready to +make every sacrifice of honesty and principle, and he had +said more privately, that, since they were so anxious for +liberty,—for more freedom than was consistent with the free +institutions of the Mother Country and the charter of the +Colony,—that since they were so eager to abolish a fanciful +slavery in a dependence on Great Britain, he would try how +they liked abolition of real slavery, by setting free all +their negroes and indentured servants, who were, in fact, +little better than <i>white</i> slaves. This to the Virginians +was like passing a rasp over a gangrened place; it was +probing a wound that was incurable, or one which had not yet +been healed. Later in the year, when the battle of Bunker's +Hill had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> fought, when our forts on Lake Champlain had +been taken from us, and when Montgomery and Arnold were +pressing on our possessions in Canada, Lord Dunmore carried +his threat into execution. Having established his +headquarters at Norfolk, he proclaimed freedom to all the +slaves who would repair to his standard and bear arms for +the King. The summons was readily obeyed by the most of the +negroes who had the means of escape to him. He, at the same +time, issued a proclamation, declaring martial law +throughout the colony of Virginia; and he collected a number +of armed vessels, which cut off the coasting trade, made +many prizes, and greatly distressed an important part of +that Province. If he could have opened a road to slaves in +the interior of the Province, his measures would have been +very fatal to the planters. In order to stop the alarming +desertion of the negroes, and to arrest his Lordship in his +career, the provincial Assembly detached against him a +strong force of more than a thousand men, who arrived in the +neighborhood of Norfolk in the month of December. Having +made a circuit, they came to a village called Great Bridge, +where the river Elizabeth was traversed by a bridge; but +before their arrival the bridge had been made impassable, +and some works, defended chiefly by negroes, had been thrown +up."</p></div> + +<p>During the same month Edmund Pendleton wrote to Richard Henry Lee that +many slaves had flocked to the British standard:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Governor, * * * * marched out with three hundred and +fifty soldiers, Tories and <i>slaves</i>, to Kemp's Landing; and +after setting up his standard, and issuing his proclamation, +declaring all persons rebels who took up arms for the +country, and inviting all slaves, servants and apprentices +to come to him and receive arms, he proceeded to intercept +Hutchings and his party, upon whom he came by surprise, but +received, it seems, so warm a fire, that the ragmuffins ran +away. They were, however, rallied on discovering that two +companies of our militia gave away; and left Hutchings and +Dr. Reid with a volunteer company, who maintained their +ground bravely till they were overcome by numbers, and took +shelter in a swamp. The slaves were sent in pursuit of them; +and one of Col. Hutching's, with another, found him. On +their approach, he discharged his pistol at his slave, but +missed him; and he was taken by them, after receiving a +wound in the face with a sword. The number taken or killed +on either side is not ascertained. It is said the Governor +went to Dr. Reid's shop, and after taking the medicines and +dressing necessary for his wounded men, broke all the others +to pieces. Letters mention that slaves flock to him in +abundance: but I hope it is magnified."</p></div> + +<p>Five months after he issued the proclamation, Lord Dunmore thus writes, +concerning his success:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">[No. 1]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"<i>Lord Dunmore to the Secretary of State.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i26">{<span class="smcap">Ship 'Dunmore,' in Elizabeth River, Va.</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i26">{ 30th March, 1776.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Your Lordship will observe by my letter, No. 34, that I +have been endeavoring to raise two regiments here—one of +white people, the other of black. The former goes on very +slowly, but the latter very well, and would have been in +great forwardness, had not a fever crept in amongst them, +which carried off a great many very fine fellows."</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">[No. 3]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">{"<span class="smcap">Ship 'Dunmore,' in Gwin's Island Harbor, Va.</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i26">{ June 26, 1776.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am extremely sorry to inform your Lordship, that that +fever of which I informed you in my letter No. 1 has proved +a very malignant one, and has carried off an incredible +number of our people, especially the blacks. Had it not been +for this horrid disorder, I am satisfied I should have had +no doubt of penetrating into the heart of this colony."</p></div> + +<p>The dread in which the colonists held the negro was equal to that with +which they regarded the Indians. The incendiary torch, massacre, +pillage, and revolt, was ever presenting a gloomy and disastrous picture +to the colonists at the South. Their dreams at night; their thoughts by +day; in the field and in the legislature hall, were how to keep the +negro down. If one should be seen in a village with a gun, a half score +of white men would rush and take it from him, while women in the street +would take shelter in the nearest house. The wrongs which they continued +to practice upon him was a terror to them through their conscience, +though then, as in later years, many, and particularly the leaders, +endeavored to impress others with their feigned belief of the natural +inferiority of the negro to themselves. This doctrine served them, as +the whistle did the boy in the woods; they talked in that way simply to +keep their courage up, and their conscience down.</p> + +<p>The commander of the American army regarded the action of Lord Dunmore +as a serious blow to the national cause. To take the negroes out of the +field from raising produce for the army, and place them in front of the +patriots as opposing soldiers, he saw was a danger that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> should be +averted. With this in view he wrote to Joseph Reed in December, saying:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"If the Virginians are wise, that arch-traitor to the rights +of humanity, Lord Dunmore, should be instantly crushed, if +it takes the whole army to do it; otherwise, like a snowball +in rolling, his army will get size, some through fear, some +through promises, and some through inclination, joining his +standard; but that which renders the measure indispensable +is the negroes; for, if he gets formidable, numbers of them +will be tempted to join, who will be afraid to do it +without."</p></div> + +<p>Notwithstanding this, the Southern States still kept the negro out of +the army. It was not until affairs became alarmingly dangerous, and a +few weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, that +the subject of arming the slaves came again before the people.</p> + +<p>In May, 1777, the General Assembly of Connecticut postponed in one house +and rejected in the other the report of a committee "that the effective +negro and mulatto slaves be allowed to enlist with the Continental +battallions now raising in this State." But under a law passed at the +same session "white and black, bond and free, if 'able bodied,' went on +the roll together, accepted as the representatives of their 'class,' or +as substitutes for their employers." At the next session (October, +1777), the law was so amended as to authorize the selectmen of any town, +on the application of the master—after 'inquiry into the age, +abilities, circumstances, and character' of the servant or slave, and +being satisfied 'that it was likely to be consistent with his real +advantage, and that he would be able to support himself,'—to grant +liberty for his emancipation, and to discharge the master 'from any +charge or cost which may be occasioned by maintaining or supporting the +servant or slave made free as aforesaid.' Mr. J. H. Trumbull, of +Connecticut, in giving the foregoing facts, adds:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The slave (or servant for term of years) might receive his +freedom; the master might receive exemption from draft, and +a discharge from future liabilities, to which he must +otherwise have been subjected. In point of fact, some +hundreds of blacks,—slaves and freemen,—were enlisted, +from time to time, in the regiments of State troops and of +the Connecticut line."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>The British were determined, it seems, to utilize all the available +strength they could command, by enlisting negroes at the North as well +as at the South. They conceived the idea of forming regiments of them at +the North, as the letter of Gen. Greene to Gen. Washington will show:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26"><span class="smcap">"Camp on Long Island</span>, July 21, 1776, two o'clock.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—Colonel Hand reports seven large ships are coming up +from the Hook to the Narrows.</p> + +<p>"A negro belonging to one Strickler, at Gravesend, was taken +prisoner (as he says) last Sunday at Coney Island. Yesterday +he made his escape, and was taken prisoner by the rifle +guard. He reports eight hundred negroes collected on Staten +Island, this day to be formed into a regiment.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">I am your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i26"><span class="smcap">N. Greene.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i4">"To His Excellency Gen. Washington, Headquarters, New York."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Occasionally the public would be startled by the daring and bravery of +some negro in the American army, and then the true lovers of liberty, +North and South, would again urge that negroes be admitted into the +ranks of the army. When Lt.-Col. Barton planned for the capture of the +British Maj.-Gen. Prescott, who commanded the British army at Newport R. +I., and whose capture was necessary in order to effect the release of +Gen. Lee, who was then in the hands of the British, and of the same rank +as that of Gen. Prescott, Col. Barton's plan was made a success through +the aid of Prince, a negro in Col. Barton's command. The daring of the +exploit excited the highest patriotic commendations of the Americans, +and revived the urgent appeals that had been made for a place in the +armed ranks for all men, irrespective of color. The Pennsylvania Evening +<i>Post</i> of Aug. 7th, 1777, gives the following account of the capture:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"They landed about five miles from Newport, and three +quarters of a mile from the house, which they approached +cautiously, avoiding the main guard, which was at some +distance. <i>The Colonel went foremost, with a stout active +negro close behind him, and another at a small distance; the +rest followed so as to be near but not seen.</i></p> + +<p>"A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the Colonel; +he answered by exclaiming against and inquiring for, rebel +prisoners, but kept slowly advancing. The sentinel again +challenged him and required<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> the countersign. He said he had +not the countersign; but amused the sentry by talking about +rebel prisoners, and still advancing till he came within +reach of the bayonet, which, he presenting, the colonel +struck aside, and seized him. He was immediately secured, +and ordered to be silent, on pain of instant death. +<i>Meanwhile, the rest of the men surrounding the house, the +negro, with his head, at the second stroke, forced a passage +into it, and then into the landlord's apartment. The +landlord at first refused to give the necessary +intelligence; but, on the prospect of present death, he +pointed to the General's chamber, which being instantly +opened by the negro's head, the Colonel, calling the General +by name, told him he was a prisoner.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>Congress voted Col. Barton a magnificent sword, but the real captor of +Gen. Prescott, so far as known, received nothing. A surgeon in the +American army, Dr. Thacher, writes, under date of Aug. 3d, 1777, at +Albany:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The pleasing information is received here that Lieut.-Col. +Barton, of the Rhode Island Militia, planned a bold exploit +for the purpose of surprising and taking Maj.-Gen. Prescott, +the commanding officer of the Royal army at Newport. Taking +with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats, with +oars muffled, he had the address to elude the vigilance of +the ships-of-war and guard boats; and, having arrived +undiscovered at the quarters of Gen. Prescott, they were +taken for the sentinels; and the general was not alarmed +till the captors were at the door of his lodging chamber, +which was fast closed. <i>A negro man, named Prince, instantly +thrust his beetle head through the panel door, and seized +his victim while in bed.</i> This event is extremely honorable +to the enterprising spirit of Col. Barton, and is considered +an ample retaliation for the capture of Gen. Lee by Col. +Harcourt. The event occasions great joy and exultation, as +it puts in our possession an officer of equal rank with Gen. +Lee, by which means an exchange may be obtained. Congress +resolved that an elegant sword should be presented to Col. +Barton, for his brave exploit."</p></div> + +<p>To recite here every incident and circumstance illustrating the heroism +and the particular services rendered the patriotic army by negroes, who +served in regiments and companies with white soldiers, would fill this +entire volume. Yet, with the desire of doing justice to the memory of +all those negroes who aided in achieving the independence of America, I +cannot forbear introducing notices,—gathered from various sources,—of +some prominent examples.</p> + +<p>Ebenezer Hill, a slave at Stonington, Conn., who served throughout the +war, and who took part in the battles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> of Saratoga and Stillwater, and +witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne.</p> + +<p>Prince Whipple acted as bodyguard to General Whipple, one of +Washington's aids. Prince is the negro seen on horseback in the +engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware, and again pulling the +stroke oar in the boat which Washington crossed in.</p> + +<p>At the storming of Fort Griswold, Maj. Montgomery was lifted upon the +walls of the fort by his soldiers, and called upon the Americans to +surrender. John Freeman, a negro soldier, with his pike, pinned him dead +to the earth. Among the American soldiers who were massacred by the +British soldiers, after the surrender of the fort, were two negro +soldiers, Lambo Latham and Jordan Freeman.</p> + +<p>Quack Matrick, a negro, fought through the Revolutionary war, as a +soldier, for which he was pensioned. Also Jonathan Overtin, who was at +the battle of Yorktown. The grandfather of the historian Wm. Wells +Brown, Simon Lee, was also a soldier "in the times which tried men's +souls."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Samuel Charlton was born in the State of New Jersey, a +slave, in the family of Mr. M., who owned, also, other +members belonging to his family—all residing in the English +neighborhood. During the progress of the war, he was placed +by his master (as a substitute for himself) in the army then +in New Jersey, as a teamster in the baggage train. He was in +active service at the battle of Monmouth, not only +witnessing, but taking a part in, the great struggle of that +day. He was also in several other engagements in different +sections of that part of the State. He was a great admirer +of General Washington, and was, at one time, attached to his +baggage train, and received the General's commendation for +his courage and devotion to the cause of liberty. Mr. +Charlton was about fifteen or seventeen years of age when +placed in the army, for which his master rewarded him with a +silver dollar. At the expiration of his time, he returned to +his master, to serve again in bondage, after having toiled, +fought and bled for liberty, in common with the regular +soldiery. Mr. M., at his death, by will, liberated his +slaves, and provided a pension for Charlton, to be paid +during his lifetime.</p> + +<hr style="width: 35%;" /> + +<p>"James Easton, of Bridgewater, a colored man, participated +in the erection of the fortifications on Dorchester Heights, +under command of Washington, which the next morning so +greatly surprised the British soldiers then encamped in +Boston."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Among the brave blacks who fought in the battles for +American liberty was Major Jeffrey, a Tennesseean, who, +during the campaign of Major-General Andrew Jackson in +Mobile, filled the place of "regular" among the soldiers. In +the charge made by General Stump against the enemy, the +Americans were repulsed and thrown into disorder,—Major +Stump being forced to retire, in a manner by no means +desirable, under the circumstances. Major Jeffrey, who was +but a common soldier, seeing the condition of his comrades, +and comprehending the disastrous results about to befall +them, rushed forward, mounted a horse, took command of the +troops, and, by an heroic effort, rallied them to the +charge,—completely routing the enemy, who left the +Americans masters of the field. He at once received from the +General the title of "Major," though he could not, according +to the American policy, so commission him. To the day of his +death, he was known by that title in Nashville, where he +resided, and the circumstances which entitled him to it were +constantly the subject of popular conversation.</p> + +<p>"Major Jeffrey was highly respected by the whites generally, +and revered, in his own neighborhood, by all the colored +people who knew him.</p> + +<p>"A few years ago receiving an indignity from a common +ruffian, he was forced to strike him in self-defense; for +which act, in accordance with the laws of slavery in that, +as well as many other of the slave States, he was compelled +to receive, on his naked person, <i>nine and thirty lashes +with a raw hide!</i> This, at the age of seventy odd, after the +distinguished services rendered his country,—probably when +the white ruffian for whom he was tortured was unable to +raise an arm in its defense,—was more than he could bear; +<i>it broke his heart</i>, and he sank to rise no more, till +summoned by the blast of the last trumpet to stand on the +battle-field of the general resurrection."</p></div> + +<p>Jeffrey was not an exception to this kind of treatment. Samuel Lee died +on a tobacco plantation after the war.</p> + +<p>The re-enslaving of the negroes who fought for American Independence +became so general at the South, that the Legislature of Virginia in +1783, in compliance with her honor, passed an act directing the +emancipation of certain slaves, who had served as soldiers of the State, +and for the emancipation of the slave Aberdeen.</p> + +<p>James Armistead during the war acted as a scout and spy for LaFayette +during his campaign in Virginia, and at one time gave information of an +intended surprise to be made upon the forces of the Marquis, thereby +saving probably a rout of the army. Armistead, after the surrender of +Cornwallis at Yorktown, was returned to his master three years after the +close of the war. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> manumitted by especial act of the Virginia +Legislature, whose attention was called to the worthiness of the service +rendered by Armistead.</p> + +<p>The opposition to the employment of negroes as soldiers, by the +persistency of its advocates and the bravery of those who were then +serving in white regiments, was finally overcome, so that their +enlistment became general and regulated by law. Companies, battalions +and regiments of negro troops soon entered the field and the struggle +for independence and liberty, giving to the cause the reality of +freedmen's fight. For three years the army had been fighting under the +smart of defeats, with an occasional signal victory, but now the tide +was about to be turned against the English. The colonists had witnessed +the heroism of the negro in Virginia at Great Bridge, and at Norfolk; in +Massachusetts at Boston and Bunker Hill, fighting, in the former, for +freedom under the British flag, in the latter for liberty, under the +banner of the colonies. The echoing shouts of the whites fell heavily +upon the ears of the black people; they caught the strain as by martial +instinct, and reverberated the appeal, "<i>Liberty and Independence</i>."</p> + +<p>The negro's ancestors were not slaves, so upon the altar of their hearts +the fire of liberty was re-kindled by the utterances of the white +colonists. They heard Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, whose eloquence +vehemently aroused their compatriots, and, like them, they too resolved +to be free. They held no regular organized meetings; at the North they +assembled with their white fellow-citizens; at the South each balmy gale +that swept along the banks of the rivers were laden with the negro's +ejaculations for freedom, and each breast was resolute and determined. +The advocates and friends of the measure for arming all men for freedom, +were on the alert, and now the condition of the army was such as to +enable them to press the necessity of the measure upon the attention of +the American people. Washington needed reinforcements; nay, more, the +perilous situation of the army as it lay in camp at Valley Forge, at the +conclusion of the campaign of 1777, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> indeed distressing. The +encampment consisted of huts, and there was danger of a famine. The +soldiers were nearly destitute of comfortable clothing. "Many," says the +historian, "for want of shoes, walked barefoot on the frozen ground; +few, if any, had blankets for the night. Great numbers sickened; near +three thousand at a time were incapable of bearing arms."</p> + +<p>Within fifteen miles of them lay the city of Philadelphia and the +British army. These gloomy circumstances overshadowed the recent victory +at Bennington, and the surrender of Burgoyne. Under these circumstances, +the difficulty of recruiting the patriot army may be easily imagined. A +general enlistment bill had failed to pass the legislature in the +spring, because, perhaps, the spirit of the patriots were up at the +time; but now they were down, and the advocates of arming negroes sought +the opportunity of carrying their plan. It was not attempted in +Connecticut, but in the General Assembly of Rhode Island an act was +passed for the purpose. Here are some of the principal provisions of +this act:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>It is Voted and Resolved</i>, That every able-bodied negro, +mulatto, or Indian man slave in this State, may enlist into +either of the said two battalions to serve during the +continuance of the present war with Great Britain; that +every slave so enlisted shall be entitled to receive all the +bounties, wages, encouragements allowed by the Continental +Congress to any soldier enlisted into their service.</p> + +<p>"<i>It is further Voted and Resolved</i>, That every slave so +enlisting shall, upon his passing muster before Col. +Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the +service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free, +as though he had never been encumbered with any kind of +servitude or slavery. And in case such slave shall, by +sickness or otherwise, be unable to maintain himself, he +shall not be chargable to his master or mistress, but shall +be supported at the expense of the State.</p> + +<p>"And whereas slaves have been by the laws deemed the +property of their owners; and therefore compensation ought +to be made to the owners for the loss of their service,—</p> + +<p>"<i>It is further Voted and Resolved</i>, That there be allowed, +and paid by this State to the owners, for every such slave +so enlisting, a sum according to his worth at a price not +exceeding one hundred and twenty pounds for the most +valuable slave, and in proportion for a slave of less value; +<i>Provided</i> the owner of said slave shall deliver up to the +officer who shall enlist him the clothes of said slave; or +otherwise he shall not be entitled to said sum."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image3.jpg" width="500" height="587" alt="ON PICKET" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>To speak of the gallantry of the negro soldiers recalls the recollection +of some of their daring deeds at Red Bank, where four hundred men met +and repulsed, after a terrible, sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred +Hessian troops led by Count Donop.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The glory of the defence of Red Bank, which has been +pronounced one of the most heroic actions of the war, +belongs in reality to black men; yet who now hears them +spoken of in connection with it? Among the traits which +distinguished the black regiment was devotion to their +officers. In the attack made upon the American lines, near +Croton river, on the 13th of May, 1781, Col. Greene, the +commander of the regiment, was cut down and mortally +wounded; but the sabres of the enemy only reached him +through the bodies of his faithful blacks, who gathered +around him to protect him, <i>and every one of whom was +killed</i>."</p></div> + +<p>Now the negro began to take the field; not scattered here and there +throughout the army, filling up the shattered ranks of white regiments, +but in organizations composed entirely of men of their own race, +officered, however, by white officers, men of high social and military +character and standing. The success of the measure in Rhode Island, +emboldened the effort in Massachusetts, where the advocates of separate +negro organizations had been laboring zealously for its accomplishment. +Officers of the army in the field, expressed their desire to be placed +in command of negro troops, in separate and distinct organizations. +Every effort, however, up to this time to induce Massachusetts to +consent to the proposition had failed. Rhode Island alone sent her negro +regiments to the field, whose gallantry during the war more than met the +most sanguine expectations of their warmest friends, and fully merited +the trust and confidence of the State and country. As the struggle +proceeded, re-enforcements were more frequently in demand; but recruits +were scarce, and the question of arming negroes became again prominent +in the colonies and the army.</p> + +<p>In April, 1778, Thomas Kench, then serving in an artillery regiment, +addressed letters to the Massachusetts Legislature urging the enlistment +of negroes. He wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A re-enforcement can quickly be raised of two or three +hundred men. Will your honors grant the liberty, and give me +the command of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the party? And what I refer to is negroes. +We have divers of them in our service, mixed with white men. +But I think it would be more proper to raise a body by +themselves, than to have them intermixed with the white men; +and their ambition would entirely be to outdo the white men +in every measure that the fortunes of war calls a soldier to +endure. And I could rely with dependence upon them in the +field of battle or to any post that I was sent to defend +with them; and they would think themselves happy could they +gain their freedom by bearing a part of subduing the enemy +that is invading our land, and clear a peaceful inheritance +for their masters, and posterity yet to come, that they are +now slaves to."</p></div> + +<p>The letter from which this extract was made was duly referred to a joint +committee "to consider the same and report." Some days later "a +resolution of the General Assembly of Rhode Island for enlisting negroes +in the public service" was referred to the same committee. They duly +reported the draft of a law, differing little from the Rhode Island +Resolution. A separate organization of negro companies, by Kench, does +not appear to have been deemed advisable at that time. The usage was +continued of "taking," in the words of Kench, "negroes in our service, +intermixed with the white men."</p> + +<p>The negroes of Boston and their abolition friends, rather insisted upon +the intermingling of the races in the army, believing that this course +had a greater tendency to destroy slavery, and the inequality of rights +among the blacks and whites; though it deprived the negroes, as we now +see, of receiving due credit for their valor, save in a few individual +cases. It was not in Massachusetts alone, but in many other States that +the same idea prevailed; and now the facts connected with the services +of the negroes are to be gathered only in fragments, from the histories +of villages and towns, or among the archives of the State, in a +disconnected and unsatisfactory form.</p> + +<p>The legislature of New York, two months after the murder of Col. Greene +and his faithful negro troops at Point's Bridge, in that State, by the +British, passed an act (March, 1781) looking to the raising of two +regiments. The sixth section of the act reads as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that +any person who shall deliver one or more of his able-bodied +male slaves to any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> warrant officer, as aforesaid, to serve +in either of the above regiments or independent corps, and +produce a certificate thereof, signed by any person +authorized to muster and receive the men to be raised by +virtue of this act, and produce such certificate to the +Surveyor-General, shall, for every male slave so entered and +mustered as aforesaid, be entitled to the location and grant +of one right, in manner as in and by this act is directed; +and shall be, and hereby is discharged from any further +maintenance of such slave, any law to the contrary +notwithstanding. And such slave so entering as aforesaid, +who shall serve for the term of three years or until +regularly discharged, shall, immediately after such service +or discharge, be, and is hereby declared to be, a free man +of this State."</p></div> + +<p>In 1821, in the convention which revised the constitution of New York, +Mr. Clark, speaking in favor of allowing negroes to vote, said in the +course of his remarks:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My honorable colleague has told us, that, as the colored +people are not required to contribute to the protection or +defence of the State, they are not entitled to an equal +participation in the privileges of its citizens. But, Sir, +whose fault is this? Have they ever refused to do military +duty when called upon? It is haughtily asked, Who will stand +in the ranks shoulder to shoulder with a negro? I answer, No +one, in time of peace; no one, when your musters and +trainings are looked upon as mere pastimes; no one, when +your militia will shoulder their muskets and march to their +trainings with as much unconcern as they would go to a +sumptuous entertainment or a splendid ball. But, Sir, when +the hour of danger approaches, your white 'militia' are just +as willing that the man of color should be set up as a mark +to be shot at by the enemy, as to be set up themselves. In +the War of the Revolution, these people helped to fight your +battles by land and by sea. Some of your States were glad to +turn out corps of colored men, and to stand 'shoulder to +shoulder' with them.</p> + +<p>"In your late war, they contributed largely towards some of +your most splendid victories. On Lakes Erie and Champlain, +where your fleets triumphed over a foe superior in numbers +and engines of death, they were manned, in a large +proportion, with men of color. And, in this very house, in +the fall of 1814, a bill passed, receiving the approbation +of all the branches of your government, authorizing the +Governor to accept the services of a corps of two thousand +free people of color. Sir, these were times which tried +men's souls. In these times it was no sporting matter to +bear arms. These were times, when a man who shouldered his +musket did not know but he bared his bosom to receive a +death wound from the enemy ere he laid it aside; and in +these times, these people were found as ready and as willing +to volunteer in your service as any other. They were not +compelled to go; they were not drafted. No, your pride had +placed them beyond your compulsory power. But there was no +necessity for its exercise; they were volunteers; yes, Sir,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +volunteers to defend that very country from the inroads and +ravages of a ruthless and vindictive foe, which had treated +them with insult, degradation and slavery.</p> + +<p>"Volunteers are the best of soldiers. Give me the men, +whatever be their complexion, that willingly volunteer, and +not those who are compelled to turn out. Such men do not +fight from necessity, nor from mercenary motives, but from +principle."</p></div> + +<p>Hon. Mr. Martindale, who represented a District of the State of New +York, in Congress in 1828, thus speaks of the negro soldiers:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Slaves, or negroes who have been slaves, were enlisted as +soldiers in the War of the Revolution; and I myself saw a +battalion of them, as fine martial-looking men as I ever +saw, attached to the Northern army."</p></div> + +<p>Up to this time the East had been the theatre of the war, with now and +then a battle in some one of the Middle Colonies, but the British +discovering that the people of the South acted indifferently in +maintaining and recruiting the army, transferred their operations to +that section. Maryland then stood as a middle State or Colony. Her +statesmen, seeing the threatened danger of the invasion of Pennsylvania, +endeavored to prepare to meet it, and taking council from her sister +States at the East, accepted the negro as a soldier. In June, 1781, John +Cadwater, writing from Annapolis, Md., to Gen. Washington, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have resolved to raise, immediately, seven hundred and +fifty negroes, to be incorporated with the other troops; and +a bill is now almost completed."</p></div> + +<p>It does not appear that the negroes were formed into separate +organizations in this State, but filled the depleted ranks of the +Continental regiments, where their energy and daring was not less than +that displayed by their white comrades, with whom they fought, shoulder +to shoulder. The advocates of arming the negroes were not confined to +the Eastern and Middle sections; some of the best men of the South +favored and advocated the enlistment of free negroes, and made many, +though for a long time unsuccessful, efforts to obtain legal sanction +for such enlistment throughout the South. But their advice was not +listened to, even in the face of certain invasion, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> then the whites +would not, and could not be induced to rally to the defence of their own +particular section and homes.</p> + +<p>For fear that I may be accused of too highly coloring the picture of the +Southern laxity of fervor and patriotism, I quote from the valuable +essay which accompanies the history of the American Loyalists:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The whole number of regulars enlisted for the Continental +service, from the beginning to the close of the struggle, +was 231,959. Of these, I have once remarked, 67,907 were +from Massachusetts; and I may now add, that every State +south of Pennsylvania provided but 59,493, or 8,414 <i>less</i> +than this single State."</p></div> + +<p>The men of Massachusetts did not more firmly adhere to their policy of +mixed troops as against separate organizations, based upon color, than +did the men of the South to their peculiar institution, and against the +arming of negroes, free or slave. The war having fairly set in upon +Southern soil, and so urgent the necessity for recruiting the army, that +Congress again took up the subject of enrolling negroes as soldiers. It +was decided that the general Government had no control over the States +in the matter, but a series of resolutions were adopted recommending to +the States of Georgia and South Carolina, the arming of three thousand +able-bodied negroes.</p> + +<p>Now began an earnest battle for the carrying out of the policy, as +recommended by Congress. Its friends were among the bravest and truest +to the cause of freedom in the States. Hon. Henry Laurens lead in the +effort. Even before the matter was brought to the attention of Congress, +he wrote to Gen. Washington, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Our affairs in the Southern department are more favorable +than we had considered them a few days ago; nevertheless, +the country is greatly distressed, and will be so unless +further re-inforcements are sent to its relief. Had we arms +for three thousand such black men as I could select in +Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in driving the +British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida before the +end of July."</p></div> + +<p>Washington knew the temper of the Southerners. He was well aware that +slaves could not be entrusted with arms within sight of the enemy's +camp, and within hearing of his proclamation of freedom to all who would +join<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> his Majesty's standard, unless equal inducements were offered them +by the colonists, and to this he knew the Southern colonist would not +consent. In his reply to Mr. Laurens, he said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The policy of our arming slaves, is, in my opinion a moot +point, unless the enemy set the example. For, should we +begin to form battallions of them, I have not the smallest +doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of their following us +in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground. The +contest then must be, who can arm fastest. And where are our +arms? Besides, I am not clear that a discrimination will not +render slavery more irksome to those who remain in it. Most +of the good and evil things in this life are judged of by +comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be +productive of much discontent in those who are held in +servitude. But, as this is a subject that has never employed +much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude +ideas that have struck me upon the occasion."</p></div> + +<p>Washington certainly had no doubts as to the value of the negro as a +soldier, but for the reasons stated, did not give the weight of his +influence, at this important juncture, to the policy of their +enlistment, while so many of the leading men of the colonies were +favorable to the action.</p> + +<p>Among those who advocated the raising of negro troops was Col. John +Laurens, a native of South Carolina and a brave patriot, who had acted +as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, and had seen service in Rhode +Island and elsewhere. He was the son of Hon. Henry Laurens, at one time +President of Congress, and was noted for his high qualities of +character. A commission of lieutenant-colonel was granted to him by +Congress, and he proceeded to South Carolina to use his personal +influence to induce the Legislature to authorize the enlistment of +negroes. His services in Rhode Island had given him an opportunity to +witness the conduct and worth of the negro soldier.</p> + +<p>Alexander Hamilton in the course of a long letter to John Jay, relating +to the mission of Col. Laurens to South Carolina, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I foresee that this project will have to combat much +opposition from prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we +have been taught to entertain for the blacks makes us fancy +many things that are founded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> neither in reason nor +experience; and an unwillingness to part company with +property of so valuable a kind will furnish a thousand +arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious +tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it +should be considered, that, if we do not make use of them in +this way, the enemy probably will; and that the best way to +counteract the temptations they will hold out will be to +offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is to +give them their freedom with their muskets. This will secure +their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will +have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a +door to their emancipation. This circumstance, I confess has +no small weight in inducing me to wish the success of the +project; for the dictates of humanity and true policy, +equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of +men."</p></div> + +<p>The patriotic zeal of Col. Laurens for the accomplishment of his design +was earnest and conscientious. He wrote to his friend Hamilton in these +words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Ternant will relate to you how many violent struggles I +have had between duty and inclination—how much my heart was +with you, while I appeared to be most actively employed +here. But it appears to me, that I should be inexcusable in +the light of a citizen, if I did not continue my utmost +efforts for carrying the plan of the black levies into +execution, while there remains the smallest hope of +success."</p></div> + +<p>The condition of the colonies and the Continental army at that time was +critical in the extreme. The campaign of 1779 had closed gloomily for +the Americans. The British had not only been active in raiding in +Virginia and destroying property, but in organizing negro troops. Lord +Dunmore, as we have seen, as early as November, 1775, had issued a +proclamation, inviting the negroes to join the Royal forces, to which a +great many slaves responded, and were organized into companies. A +regiment had been organized by the British on Long Island in 1776, and +now, Sir Henry Clinton invited them by the following proclamation:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"By his Excellency Sir Henry Clinton, K. B., General and +Commander-in-Chief of all his Majesty's Forces, within the +Colonies lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to +West Florida, inclusive, &c., &c.</p> + +<h4>PROCLAMATION.</h4> + +<p>"Whereas the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling +<i>Negroes</i> among their <i>Troops</i>, I do hereby give notice +<i>That</i> all Negroes taken in arms, or upon any military +<i>Duty</i>, shall be purchased for <i>the public service</i> at a +stated <i>Price</i>; the money to be paid to the <i>Captors</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But I do most strictly forbid any <i>Person</i> to sell or claim +<i>Right</i> over any Negro, the property of a Rebel, who may +take refuge in any part of this <i>Army</i>: And I do promise to +every negro who shall desert the <i>Rebel Standard</i>, full +security to follow within these <i>Lines</i>, any Occupation +which he shall think proper.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"Given under my Hand at Head-Quarters, Philipsburg, the 30th day of June, 1779. <span class="smcap">H. Clinton</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"By his Excellency's command, John Smith, Secretary."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is highly probable that many negroes made their way to the British +camp. Col. Laurens wrote to General Washington, under date of February, +1780, six months after the issuing of Sir Henry Clinton's proclamation, +as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Private accounts say that General Provost is left to +command at Savannah; that his troops consist of Hessians and +Loyalists that were there before, <i>re-inforced by a corps of +blacks and a detachment of savages</i>. It is generally +reported that Sir. Henry Clinton commands the present +expedition."</p></div> + +<p>Clinton left New York in the latter part of 1779, for the reduction of +Charleston, which he completed in May, three months after the date of +Col. Laurens' letter. Gen. Lincoln, who commanded the American forces at +Charleston, joined in the effort to arm the negroes. In a letter to Gov. +Rutledge, dated Charleston, March 13th, 1780, he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Give me leave to add once more, that I think the measure of +raising a black corps a necessary one; that I have great +reason to believe, if permission is given for it, that many +men would soon be obtained. I have repeatedly urged this +matter, not only because Congress has recommended it, and +because it thereby becomes my duty to attempt to have it +executed, but because my own mind suggests the utility and +importance of the measure, as the safety of the town makes +it necessary."</p></div> + +<p>The project of raising negro troops gained some friends in all sections, +and Statesmen, both South and North, as they talked about it, became +more free to express their approbation of the measure. They had +witnessed the militia from Virginia and North Carolina, at the battle of +Camden, throw down their arms before the enemy;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> they had seen black +and white troops under command<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> of Gen. Provost occupy Savannah; the +surrender of Charlestown had become necessary; and these evils were all +brought about by the apathy of the white inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Among those who spoke out in favor of Col. Laurens' and Gen. Lincoln's +plan, was Hon. James Madison, who, on the 20th of November, 1780, wrote +to Joseph Jones:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am glad to find the Legislature persisting in their +resolution to recruit their line of the army for the war; +though, without deciding on the expediency of the mode under +their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and +make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves, as to make +them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would +certainly be more consonant with the principles of liberty: +and, with white officers and a majority of white soldiers, +no imaginable danger could be feared from themselves; as +there certainly could be none from the effect of the example +on those who should remain in bondage; experience having +shown that a freedman immediately loses all attachment and +sympathy with his former fellow slaves."</p></div> + +<p>No circumstances under which the South was placed, could induce either +their legislators or the people to adopt the recommendations of Congress +or the advice of the patriots and statesmen of their section. The +opposition to the arming of the negroes was much stronger than the love +for independence. The British, however, adopted the plan, and left no +stone unturned to augment the strength of their army. Thousands of +negroes flocked to the Royal standard at every opportunity, just as in +the war of the Rebellion in 1861-'65, they sought freedom under the +national banner.</p> + +<p>It has ever been the rule among American historians to omit giving +credit to those negroes who sought to gain their freedom by joining the +British. They have generally also failed to acknowledge the valor of +those who swelled the ranks of the Continental army. Enough, however, +can be gathered, mostly from private correspondence, to show that the +hope of success for the Americans rested either in the docility of the +negroes at the South, or in their loyalty to the cause of Independence. +At all events, upon the action of the blacks more than upon the bravery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +and valor of the American troops, depended the future status of the +Colonies; hence the solicitude of officers and of the leading citizens; +and it was not the love of universal freedom, which prompted their +efforts for arming negroes; not at all, but their keen appreciation of +the value of a neutral power, which could be utilized for the benefit of +America's Independence. Nor do I attribute other than the same motive to +the British, who did arm and did free a great many of the negroes, who +joined their service, especially at the South, where they must have +organized quite a large force,—not less than 5,000. Early in 1781, +(Feb'y) Gen. Greene, then in command in North Carolina, writing to +General Washington about the doings of the enemy in South Carolina, +where he formally commanded, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be +immediately embodied, and are drafting a great portion of +the young men of that State [South Carolina], to serve +during the war."</p></div> + +<p>A few days after writing this letter, Gen. Greene met the British at +Guilford Court House, and again witnessed the cowardice of the Southern +militia,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> whose conduct gave victory to the British, under Cornwallis.</p> + +<p>The persistency of Col. Laurens in his effort to organize negro troops, +was still noteworthy. Having returned from France, whither he went on +important business, connected with the welfare of the States, he resumed +his "favorite pursuit." Under date of May, 19, 1782, in a letter +addressed to Washington, he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The plan which brought me to this country was urged with +all the zeal which the subject inspired, both in our Privy +Council and Assembly; but the single voice of reason was +drowned by the howling of a triple-headed monster, in which +prejudice, avarice, and pusillanimity were united. It was +some degree of consolation to me, however, to perceive that +the truth and philosophy had gained some ground; the +suffrages in favor of the measure being twice as numerous as +on a former occasion. Some hopes have been lately given me +from Georgia; but I fear, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the question is put, we +shall be out-voted there with as much disparity as we have +been in this country.</p> + +<hr style="width: 35%;" /> + +<p>"I earnestly desire to be where any active plans are likely +to be executed, and to be near your Excellency on all +occasions in which my services can be acceptable. The +pursuit of an object which, I confess, is a favorite one +with me, because I always regarded the interests of this +country and those of the Union as intimately connected with +it, has detached me more than once from your family, but +those sentiments of veneration and attachments with which +your Excellency has inspired me, keep me always near you, +with the sincerest and most zealous wishes for a continuance +of your happiness and glory."</p></div> + +<p>Here ended the project of arming negroes in South Carolina, and before +an earnest effort could be made in Georgia, the brave man laid his life +upon the altar of American liberty.</p> + +<p>But to show the state of public opinion at the South, as understood by +the Commander-in-Chief of the American army, we have but to read +Washington's reply to Col. Laurens' last letter, in which he speaks of +"making a last effort" in Georgia. Gen. Washington uses this emphatic +language:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I must confess that I am not at all astonished at the +failure of your plan. That spirit of freedom, which, at the +commencement of this contest, would have gladly sacrificed +everything to the attainment of its object, has long since +subsided, and every selfish passion has taken its place. It +is not the public but private interest which influences the +generality of mankind; nor can the Americans any longer +boast an exception. Under the circumstances, it would rather +have been surprising if you had succeeded; nor will you, I +fear, have better success in Georgia."</p></div> + +<p>This letter settles forever any boast of the Southerners, that to them +is due the credit of gaining the independence of the United States. It +is true Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown, Va., was the last of the +series of battles fought for independence.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> But we must remember that +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> French were at Yorktown. It cannot be doubted but that from +Charleston to Yorktown the Americans met negro troops more than once +fighting under the Royal flag; while at the east, in every important +engagement between the two enemies,—British and American,—the negro +was found fighting with the Americans. This division of the negroes can +easily be accounted for, since at the North and East the object of the +war was acknowledged to be set forth in the Declaration of Independence; +at the South only so much of the Declaration was accepted as demanded +Independence from Great Britain. Therefore, though in separate and +opposing armies, the object of the negro was the same—liberty. It is to +be regretted that the historians of the Revolutionary period did not +more particularly chronicle the part taken by negroes at the South, +though enough is known to put their employment beyond doubt.</p> + +<p>Johnson, the author of the life of Gen. Greene, speaking of Greene's +recommendation to the Legislature of South Carolina to enroll negroes, +says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There is a sovereign, who, at this time, draws his soldiery +from the same class of people; and finds a facility in +forming and disciplining an army, which no other power +enjoys. Nor does his immense military force, formed from +that class of his subjects, excite the least apprehension; +for the soldier's will is subdued to that of his officer, +and his improved condition takes away the habit of +identifying himself with the class from which he has been +separated. Military men know what mere machines men become +under discipline, and believe that any men, who may be +obedient, may be made soldiers; and that increasing their +numbers increases the means of their own subjection and +government."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>Cornwallis doubtless had gathered within his lines a large number of +negroes, to whose energy and labor, the erection of his breastworks were +mainly due. Lafayette feeling satisfied that the position of his army +before Yorktown would confine the British, and make the escape of +Cornwallis impossible without battle, wrote to Gen. Washington in +September:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I hope you will find we have taken the best precautions to +lessen his Lordship's escape. I hardly believe he will make +the attempt. If he does, he must give up ships, artillery, +baggage, part of his horses, and all the negroes."</p></div> + +<p>All this time in some of the Northern States an opposition as strong as +at the South had existed against organizing negro troops, and in some +instances even against employing them as soldiers. The effort for +separate organizations had been going on, but with only the little +success that has been already noticed. In a biographical sketch of Col. +David Humphreys, in the "National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished +Americans," is the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In November, 1782, he was, by resolution of Congress, +commissioned as a Lieutenant-Colonel, with order that his +commission should bear date from the 23rd of June, 1780, +when he received his appointment as aid-de-camp to the +Commander-in-Chief. He had, when in active service, given +the sanction of his name and influence in the establishment +of a company of colored infantry, attached to Meigs', +afterwards Butler's, regiment, in the Connecticut line. He +continued to be the nominal captain of that company until +the establishment of peace."</p></div> + +<p>Though the Legislature of Connecticut had taken up the subject of arming +negroes generally, as early as 1777, and a bill, as we have seen, was +presented to that Legislature, for their enrollment, the advocates of +the measure, in every attempt to pass it, had been beaten. Nevertheless, +as appears by the record given above, Col. Humphrey took charge and +organized a company, with which he served until the close of the war. +But this company of fifty odd men were not all that did service in the +army from Connecticut, for in many of her white regiments, negroes, bond +and free, stood in the ranks with the whites. And, notwithstanding the +unsuccessful attempts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> of Col. Laurens and the advocates of negro +soldiery at the South, the negro was an attache of the Southern army, +and rendered efficient aid during the struggle, in building breastworks, +driving teams and piloting the army through dense woods, swamps, and +across rivers. Not a few were spies and drummers. To select or point out +a particular battle or siege, in which they rendered active service to +the British, would not be a difficult task, though the information at +hand is too limited for a detailed account of the part which they bore +in these struggles. The true patriots of the Revolution were not slow in +according to their black compatriots that meed of praise which was their +due. In almost every locality, either North or South, after the war, +there lived one or two privileged negroes, who, on great +occasions,—days of muster, 4th of July, Washington's birthday, and the +like,—were treated with more than ordinary courtesy by the other +people. That a great and dastardly wrong was committed upon many, in +like manner in which Simon Lee<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> was treated, is true. Many negroes at +the South, who fought for American independence were re-enslaved, and +this is so far beyond a doubt that no one denies it. The re-enslaving of +these soldiers,—not by those who took part in the conflict, but the +<i>stay-at-home's</i>,—was so flagrant an outrage that the Legislature of +Virginia, in 1783, in order to give freedom to those who had been +re-enslaved, and to rebuke the injustice of the treatment, passed the +following act:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>An Act directing the Emancipation of certain Slaves who had +served as Soldiers in this State, and for the Emancipation +of the Slave, Aberdeen.</i></p> + +<p>"I. Whereas, it hath been represented to the present General +Assembly, that, during the course of the war, many persons +in this State had caused their slaves to enlist in certain +regiments or corps, raised within the same, having tendered +such slaves to the officers appointed to recruit forces +within the State, as substitutes for free persons whose lot +or duty it was to serve in such regiments or corps, at the +same time representing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> to such recruiting officers that the +slaves, so enlisted by their direction and concurrence, were +freemen; and it appearing further to this Assembly, that on +the expiration of the term of enlistment of such slaves, +that the former owners have attempted again to force them to +return to a state of servitude, contrary to the principles +of justice, and to their own solemn promise;</p> + +<p>"II. And whereas it appears just and reasonable that all +persons enlisted as aforesaid, who have faithfully served +agreeable to the terms of their enlistment, and have hereby +of course contributed towards the establishment of American +liberty and independence, should enjoy the blessings of +freedom as a reward for their toils and labors.</p> + +<p>"<i>Be it therefore enacted</i>, That each and every slave, who, +by the appointment and direction of his owner, hath enlisted +in any regiment or corps raised within this State, either on +Continental or State establishment, and hath been received +as a substitute for any free person whose duty or lot it was +to serve in such regiment or corps, and hath served +faithfully during the term of such enlistment, or hath been +discharged from such service by some officer duly authorized +to grant such discharge, shall, from and after the passing +of this act, be fully and completely emancipated, and shall +be held and deemed free, in as full and ample a manner as if +each and every one of them were specially named in this act; +and the Attorney-general for the Commonwealth is hereby +required to bring an action, <i>in forma pauperis</i>, in behalf +of any of the persons above described who shall, after the +passage of this act, be detained in servitude by any person +whatsoever; and if, upon such prosecution, it shall appear +that the pauper is entitled to his freedom in consequence of +this act, a jury shall be empaneled to assess the damages +for his detention.</p> + +<p>"III. And whereas it has been represented to this General +Assembly, that Aberdeen, a negro man slave, hath labored a +number of years in the public service at the lead mines, and +for his meritorious services is entitled to freedom;</p> + +<p>"<i>Be it therefore enacted</i>, That the said slave Aberdeen, +shall be, and he is hereby, emancipated and declared free in +as full and ample a manner as if he had been born free."</p></div> + +<p>In 1786 an act was passed to emancipate a negro slave who had acted as a +spy for Lafayette. This practice was not perhaps wholly confined to the +South. Although Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, her territory +was, it seems, still subject to slave hunts, and her negro soldiers to +the insult of an attempt to re-enslave them. But Gen. Washington, though +himself a slave-holder, regarded the rights of those who fought for +liberty and national independence, with too much sacredness and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +honor of the country with too much esteem, to permit them to be set +aside, merely to accommodate those who had rendered the nation's cause +no help or assistance. Gen. Putnam received the following letter, which +needs no explanation:</p> + + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Headquarters</span>, Feb. 2, 1783.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—Mr. Hobby having claimed as his property a negro man +now serving in the Massachusetts Regiment, you will please +to order a court of inquiry, consisting of five as +respectable officers as can be found in your brigade, to +examine the validity of the claim and the manner in which +the person in question came into service. Having inquired +into the matter, with all the attending circumstances, they +will report to you their opinion thereon; which you will +report to me as soon as conveniently may be.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"I am, Sir, with great respect, your most obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">"<span class="smcap">George Washington</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"P. S.—All concerned should be notified to attend.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">"Brig.-Gen. Putnam."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Not only did some of the negro soldiers who fought in the American Army +receive unjust treatment at the close of the war, but those who served +under the Royal standard, also shared a fate quite different from what +they supposed it would be when the proclamations of Lord Dunmore, +Clinton and Cornwallis, were inviting them to cast their lot with the +British.</p> + +<p>The high character of Thomas Jefferson induces me to reproduce his +letter to Dr. Gordon, or rather that portion of it which refers to the +treatment of the negroes who went with the British army. Mr. Jefferson +says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"From an estimate I made at that time, on the best +information I could collect, I supposed the State of +Virginia lost, under Lord Cornwallis' hand, that year, about +thirty thousand slaves; and that, of these, twenty-seven +thousand died of the small-pox and camp fever; the rest were +partly sent to the West Indies, and exchanged for rum, +sugar, coffee and fruit; and partly sent to New York, from +whence they went, at the peace, either to Nova Scotia or to +England. From this last place, I believe they have lately +been sent to Africa. History will never relate the horrors +committed by the British army in the Southern States of +America."</p></div> + +<p>The heroism of the negro soldier has ever been eulogized by the true +statesmen of our country, whenever the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> question of the American +patriots was the theme. And I find no better eulogy to pronounce upon +them than that Hon. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, delivered in +the United States House of Representatives in 1820, and that of Hon. Wm. +Eustis, of Massachusetts, during the same debate. Mr. Pinckney said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is a remarkable fact, that notwithstanding, in the +course of the Revolution, the Southern States were +continually overrun by the British, and that every negro in +them had an opportunity of leaving their owners, few did; +proving thereby not only a most remarkable attachment to +their owners, but the mildness of the treatment, from whence +their affection sprang. They then were, as they still are, +as valuable a part of our population to the union as any +other equal number of inhabitants. They were in numerous +instances the pioneers, and in all the laborers, of your +armies. To their hands were owing the erection of the +greatest part of the fortifications raised for the +protection of our country; some of which, particularly Fort +Moultrie, gave, at the early period of the inexperience and +untried valor of our citizens, immortality to American arms; +and, in the Northern States, numerous bodies of them were +enrolled into, and fought, by the side of the whites, the +battles of the Revolution."—<i>Annals of Congress.</i></p></div> + +<p>And said Mr. Eustis:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At the commencement of the Revolutionary war, there were +found in the Middle and Northern States, many blacks, and +other people of color, capable of bearing arms; a part of +them free, the greater part slaves. The freemen entered our +ranks with the whites. The time of those who were slaves was +purchased by the States; and they were induced to enter the +service in consequence of a law by which, on condition of +their serving in the ranks during the war, they were made +freemen.</p> + +<p>"The war over, and peace restored, these men returned to +their respective States; and who could have said to them, on +their return to civil life, after having shed their blood in +common with the whites in the defence of the liberties of +their country, 'You are not to participate in the liberty +for which you have been fighting?' Certainly no white man in +Massachusetts."</p></div> + +<p>Such is the historic story of the negro in the American Revolution, and +it is a sad one as regards any benefit to his own condition by his +connection with either side. But it is one of the most memorable of all +history on exhibition of the fidelity of a race to the cause of the +freedom of all men.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> "Ran away from his master, William Brown, of Framingham, on +the 30th of Sept. last, a Mullato Fellow, about 27 years of age, named +<i>Crispus</i>, 6 feet 2 inches high, short, curl'd hair, his knees nearer +together than common; had on a light coloured Bearskin Coat, plain brown +Fustain Jacket, or brown All Wool one, new Buck skin breeches, blue Yarn +Stockings, and a checked woolen shirt. Whoever shall take up said +Runaway, and convey him to his abovesaid master, shall have <i>ten +pounds</i>, old Tenor Reward, and all necessary charges paid. And all +Masters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned against concealing +or carrying off said Servant on Penalty of the Law. Boston, October 2, +1750."—<i>Boston Gazette.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Mr. Sparks appends to this letter the following note: "At a +meeting of the general officers, previously to the arrival of the +committee from Congress in camp, it was unanimously resolved, that it +was not expedient to enlist slaves in the new army; and by a large +majority, negroes of every description were excluded from enlistment. +When the subject was referred to the Committee in conference, the +resolve was not adhered to, and probably for the reason here mentioned +by Washington. Many black soldiers were in the service during all stages +of the war."—Spark's Washington, Vol. III. pp. 218-219.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Dunmore after destroying Norfolk, sailed with his fleet of +men-of-war and more than fifty transports, on board of which were many +armed negroes and Royal troops, to the mouth of the Piankatank river, +and took possession of Gwynn's Island, where he landed his troops and +entrenched. Here he was attacked by Gen. Lewis' men from the opposite +shore. One of Dunmore's ships was badly damaged by cannon balls, and he +drew off and sailed up the Potomoc river, and occupied St. Georgia's +Island, after having burned a mansion at the mouth of Aqua Creek. He was +here attacked by a militia force and retired. Misfortune followed him; +disease, shipwreck and want of provisions. He soon made sail, and with +his negroes reached England, where he remained.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> At the first onset, a large body of the Virginia militia, +under a charge of the British infantry with fixed bayonets, threw down +their arms and fled. A considerable part of the North Carolina militia +followed their unworthy example. But the Continentals evinced the most +unyielding firmness, and pressed forward with unusual ardor. Never did +men acquit themselves more honorably. They submitted only when forsaken +by their brethren in arms, and when overpowered by numbers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> "The British loss, in this battle, exceeded five hundred in +killed and wounded, among whom were several of the most distinguished +officers. The American loss was about four hundred, in killed and +wounded, of which more than three-fourths fell upon the Continentals. +Though the numerical force of Gen. Greene nearly doubled that of +Cornwallis, yet, when we consider the difference between these forces; +the shameful conduct of the North Carolina militia, who fled at the +first fire; the desertion of the second Maryland regiment, and that a +body of reserve was not brought into action, it will appear that our +numbers, actually engaged, but little exceeded that of the +enemy."—<i>Grimshaw's U. S. History.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The Burlington <i>Gazette</i>, in an issue of some time ago, +gives the following account of an aged negro Revolutionary patriot: "The +attention of many of our citizens has doubtless been arrested by the +appearance of an old colored man, who might have been seen, sitting in +front of his residence, in east Union street, respectfully raising his +hat to those who might be passing by. His attenuated frame, his silvered +head, his feeble movements, combine to prove that he is very aged: and +yet, comparatively few are aware that he is among the survivors of the +gallant army who fought for the liberties of our country. +</p><p> +"On Monday last, we stopped to speak to him, and asked how old he was. +He asked the day of the month, and upon being told that it was the 24th +of May, replied, with trembling lips, 'I am very old—I am a hundred +years old to-day.' +</p><p> +"His name is Oliver Cromwell, and he says that he was born at the Black +Horse, (now Columbus), in this county, in the family of John Hutchins. +He enlisted in a company commanded by Capt. Lowry, attached to the +Second New Jersey Regiment, under the command of Col. Israel Shreve. He +was at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Princetown, Monmouth, and +Yorktown, at which latter place, he told us, he saw the last man killed. +Although his faculties are failing, yet he relates many interesting +reminiscences of the Revolution. He was with the army at the retreat of +the Delaware, on the memorable crossing of the 25th of December, 1776, +and relates the story of the battle on the succeeding day, with +enthusiasm. He gives the details of the march from Trenton to +Princetown, and told us, with much humor, that they 'knocked the British +around lively,' at the latter place. He was also at the battle of +Springfield, and says that he saw the house burning in which Mrs. +Caldwell was shot, at Connecticut Farms." +</p><p> +"I further learn, (says the author of the 'Colored Patriots of the +Revolution'), that Cromwell was brought up a farmer, having served his +time with Thomas Hutchins, Esq., his maternal uncle. He was, for six +years and nine months under the immediate command of Washington, whom he +loved affectionately." +</p><p> +"His discharge," says Dr. M'Cune Smith, "at the close of the war, was in +Washington's own handwriting, of which he was very proud, often speaking +of it. He received annually, ninety-six dollars pension. He lived a long +and honorable life. Had he been of a little lighter complexion, (he was +just half white), every newspaper in the land would have been eloquent +in praise of his many virtues."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Simon Lee, the grandfather of William Wells Brown, on his +mother's side, was a slave in Virginia, and served in the war of the +Revolution. Although honorably discharged, with the other Virginia +troops, at the close of the war, he was sent back to his master, where +he spent the remainder of his life toiling on a tobacco +plantation.—<i>Patriotism of Colored Americans.</i></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE WAR OF 1812.</h3> + + +<p>While there is no intention of entering into an examination of the +causes of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, +yet in order to carry out the design of the author to show that in this +war,—like all others in which the government of the United States has +been engaged,—the negro, as a soldier, took part, it is deemed +necessary to cite at least one of the incidents, perhaps <i>the</i> incident, +which most fired the national heart of America, and hastened the +beginning of hostilities.</p> + +<p>The war between England and France gave to the American merchant marine +interest an impetus that increased the number of vessels three-fold in a +few years; it also gave command of the carrying trade of the West +Indies, from which Napoleon's frigates debarred the English merchantmen. +In consequence England sought and used every opportunity to cripple +American commerce and shipping. One plan was to deprive American ships +of the service of English seamen. Her war vessels claimed and exercised +the right of searching for English seamen on board American vessels. +During the year 1807, the English Admiral Berkeley, in command of the +North American Station, issued instructions to commanders of vessels in +his fleet to look out for the American frigate Chesapeake, and if they +fell in with her at sea, to board her and search for deserters, as all +English seamen in the American service were regarded by England. With +the instructions, were the descriptions of four sailors, three negroes +and one white man, who were missing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>The persons who deserted from the Melampus, then lying in Hampton Roads, +were William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan, John Little and Ambrose +Watts. Within a month from their escape from the Melampus, the first +three of these deserters offered themselves for enlistment, and were +received on board the Chesapeake, then at Norfolk, Va., preparing for +sea. The British consul at Norfolk, being apprized of the circumstance, +wrote a letter to the American naval officer, requesting the men to be +returned. With this request, the officer refused to comply, and the +British lost no time in endeavoring to procure an order from the +American government for their surrender. On receipt of the application, +the Secretary of the Navy ordered an examination into the characters and +claims of the men in question. The examination resulted in proof that +the three negroes, Ware, Martin and Strachan were natives of America. +The two former had "<i>protections</i>," or notarial certificates of their +citizenship;<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Strachan had no "<i>protection</i>," but asserted that he +lost it previous to his escape. Such being the circumstances, the +government refused to give the men up, insisting that they were American +citizens, and though, they had served in the British navy, they were +pressed into the service and had a right to desert it.</p> + +<p>The Chesapeake was one of the finest of the frigates in the American +Navy, and after receiving an outfit requiring six months to complete at +the Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk, Va., started for the Mediterranean. +The English frigate Leopard, which lay in the harbor at Norfolk when the +Chesapeake sailed, followed her out to sea, hailed her and sent a letter +to her commander, Commodore James Barron, demanding the surrender of the +deserters. Barron sent a note refusing to comply with the demand, +whereupon the Leopard fired several broadsides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> into the Chesapeake. +Barron struck his colors without firing a shot, and permitted the +officers of the Leopard to board his vessel and search her. The British +captain refused to accept the surrender of the Chesapeake, but took from +her crew the three men who had been demanded as deserters; also a +fourth, John Wilson, a white man, claimed as a runaway from a merchant +ship.</p> + +<p>The white sailor, it was admitted by the American government, was a +British subject, and his release was not demanded; he was executed for +deserting the British Navy. Of the negroes, two only were returned by +the British government, the other one having died in England. Says an +American historian:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An outrage like this, inflicted not by accident or the +brutality of a separate commander, naturally excited the +whole nation to the utmost.</p> + +<p>"President Jefferson very soon interdicted American harbors +and waters to all vessels of the English Navy, and forbade +intercourse with them. He sent a vessel of war with a +special minister to demand satisfaction. The English Admiral +hanged the deserter, and dismissed the three black men with +a reprimand, blaming them for <i>disturbing the peace of two +nations</i>. That the outrage did not end in immediate war, was +due partly to the fact that the Americans had no Navy to +fight with."</p></div> + +<p>Nearly four years elapsed before the final settlement of the Chesapeake +affair, and then the English government insisted upon its right to, and +issued orders for the search for British sailors to be continued; thus a +cause for quarrel remained.</p> + +<p>The principal grounds of war, set forth in a message of the President to +Congress, June 1st, 1812, and further explained by the Committee on +Foreign Relations, in their report on the subject of the message, were +summarily:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The impressment of American seamen by the British; the +blockade of her enemy's ports, supported by no adequate +force, in consequence of which the American commerce had +been plundered in every sea, and the great staples of the +country cut off from their legitimate markets; and the +British orders in council."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image4.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="A NAVAL BATTLE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A NAVAL BATTLE.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>On these grounds, the President urged the declaration of war. In unison +with the recommendation of the President, the Committee on Foreign +Relations concluded their reports as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Your committee, believing that the freeborn sons of America +are worthy to enjoy the liberty which their fathers +purchased at the price of much blood and treasure, and +seeing by the measures adopted by Great Britain, a course +commenced and persisted in, which might lead to a loss of +national character and independence, feel no hesitation in +advising resistance by force, in which the Americans of the +present day will prove to the enemy and the world, that we +have not only inherited that liberty which our fathers gave +us, but also the will and power to maintain it. Relying on +the patriotism of the nation, and confidently trusting that +the Lord of Hosts will go with us to battle in a righteous +cause, and crown our efforts with success, your committee +recommend an immediate appeal to <i>arms</i>."</p></div> + +<p>War was declared by Congress on the 17th of June, and proclaimed by the +President on the second day following.</p> + +<p>The struggle was principally carried on upon the water, between the +armed vessels of the two nations, consequently no great armies were +called into active service upon the field. This was indeed fortunate for +America, whose military establishments at the time were very defective. +Congress called for twenty thousand men, but a very few enlisted. The +President was authorized to raise fifty thousand volunteers and to call +out one hundred thousand militia for the defence of the seacoast and +frontiers; but officers could not be found to nominally command the few +thousand that responded to the call; which state of affairs was no doubt +largely due to the opposition to the war, which existed in the New +England States.</p> + +<p>Since the peace of 1783, a class of marine merchants at the North had +vied with each other in the African slave trade, in supplying the +Southern planters. Consequently the increase in negro population was +great; in 1800 it was 1,001,463, and in 1810, two years before war was +declared, 1,377,810, an increase of 376,347. Of the 1,377,810, there +were 1,181,362 slaves, and 186,448 free. Of course their increase was +not due solely to the importation by the slave trade, but the aggregate +increase was large, compared with the increase of the white population +for the same period.</p> + +<p>The free negroes were mainly residents of the Northern States, where +they enjoyed a nominal freedom. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> entered the service with alacrity; +excluded from the army, they enlisted in the navy, swelling the number +of those who, upon the rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, manned the guns +of the war vessels, in defense of Free Trade, Sailor's Rights and +Independence on the seas as well as on the land. It is quite impossible +to ascertain the exact number of negroes who stood beside the guns that +won for America just recognition from the maritime powers of the world. +Like the negro soldiers in the Revolutionary war who served with the +whites, so the negro sailors in the war of 1812 served in the American +Navy; in the mess, at the gun, on the yard-arm and in the gangway, +together with others of various nationalities, they achieved many +victories for the navy of our common country. The best evidence I can +give in substantiation of what has been written, is the following letter +from Surgeon Parsons to George Livermore, Esq., of the Massachusetts +Historical Society:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Providence</span>, October 18, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:—In reply to your inquiries about the +employing of blacks in our navy in the war of 1812, and +particularly in the battle of Lake Erie, I refer you to +documents in Mackenzie's 'Life of Commodore Perry,' vol. i. +pp. 166 and 187.</p> + +<p>"In 1814, our fleet sailed to the Upper Lakes to co-operate +with Colonel Croghan at Mackinac. About one in ten or twelve +of the crews were black.</p> + +<p>"In 1816, I was surgeon of the 'Java,' under Commodore +Perry. The white and colored seamen messed together. About +one in six or eight were colored.</p> + +<p>"In 1819, I was surgeon of the 'Guerriere,' under Commodore +Macdonough; and the proportion of blacks was about the same +in her crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of +prejudice against the blacks as messmates among the crew. +What I have said applies to the crews of the other ships +that sailed in squadrons.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Yours very respectfully,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Usher Parsons</span>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Dr. Parsons had reference to the following correspondence between +Captain Perry and Commodore Chauncey, which took place in 1813, before +the former's victory on Lake Erie. As will be seen, Perry expressed +dissatisfaction as to the recruits sent him to man the squadron then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> on +Lake Erie, and with which he gained a decisive victory over the British +fleet, under command of Capt Barley:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed +letter from General Harrison. If I had officers and +men,—and I have no doubt you will send them,—I could fight +the enemy, and proceed up the lake; but, having no one to +command the 'Niagara,' and only one commissioned lieutenant +and two acting lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, going +out is out of the question. The men that came by Mr. +Champlin are a motley set,—blacks, soldiers, and boys. I +cannot think you saw them after they were selected. I am, +however, pleased to see any thing in the shape of a +man."—<i>Mackenzie's Life of Perry</i>, vol. i. pp. 165, 166.</p></div> + +<p>Commodore Chauncey then rebuked him in his reply, and set forth the +worth of the negro seaman:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—I have been duly honored with your letters of the +twenty-third and twenty-sixth ultimo, and notice your +anxiety for men and officers. I am equally anxious to +furnish you; and no time shall be lost in sending officers +and men to you as soon as the public service will allow me +to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not +pleased with the men sent you by Messrs Champlin and Forest; +for, to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpassed by +any seamen we have in the fleet: and I have yet to learn +that the color of the skin, or the cut and trimmings of the +coat, can effect a man's qualifications or usefulness. I +have nearly fifty blacks on board of this ship, and many of +them are among my best men; and those people you call +soldiers have been to sea from two to seventeen years; and I +presume that you will find them as good and useful as any +men on board of your vessel; at least if you can judge by +comparison; for those which we have on board of this ship +are attentive and obedient, and, as far as I can judge, many +of them excellent seamen: at any rate, the men sent to Lake +Erie have been selected with a view of sending a fair +proportion of petty officers and seamen; and I presume, upon +examination, it will be found that they are equal to those +upon this lake."—<i>Mackenzie's Life of Perry</i>, vol. i. pp. +186, 187.</p></div> + +<p>The battle of Lake Erie is the most memorable naval battle fought with +the British; of it Rossiter Johnson, in his "History of the War of +1812," in the description of the engagement, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As the question of the fighting qualities of the black man +has since been considerably discussed, it is worth noting +that in this bloody and brilliant battle a large number of +Perry's men were negroes."</p></div> + +<p>It was not left to Commodores Chauncey and Perry, solely, to applaud +them; there was not an American war<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> vessel, perhaps, whose crew, in +part, was not made up of negroes, as the accounts of various sea fights +prove. And they are entitled to no small share of the meed of praise +given the American seamen, who fought and won victory over the British. +Not only in the Navy, but on board the privateers,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> the American negro +did service, as the following extract will show:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Extract of a Letter from Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of +the private-armed Schooner Gov. Tompkins, to his Agent in +New York.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">At Sea</span>, Jan. 1, 1813.</p> + +<p>"Before I could get our light sails on, and almost before I +could turn round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, +but of a large <i>frigate</i>! and not more than a quarter of a +mile from her. * * Her first broadside killed two men and +wounded six others * * My officers conducted themselves in a +way that would have done honor to a more permanent service * +* * The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought +to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with +reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was +a black man by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four pound +shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part +of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the +deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, '<i>Fire +away, my boy: no haul a color down</i>' The other was a black +man, by the name of John Davis, and was struck in much the +same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be +thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others.</p> + +<p>"When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the +tyrants of the ocean."—<i>Nile's Weekly Register, Saturday, +Feb. 26, 1814.</i></p></div> + +<p>As in the late war of the rebellion, the negroes offered their services +at the outset when volunteers were called for, and the true patriots at +the North sought to have their services accepted; but the government +being in the control of the opponents of universal freedom and the +extension of the rights of citizenship to the negro, the effort to admit +him into the ranks of the army, even in separate organizations, was +futile. At the same time American whites would not enlist to any great +extent, and but for the tide of immigration, which before the war had +set in from Ireland, the fighting on shore would probably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> not have +lasted six months; certainly the invasion of Canada would not have been +attempted.</p> + +<p>The reverses which met the American army in the first year of the war, +slackened even the enlistment that was going on and imperiled the safety +of the country, and the defences of the most important seaports and +manufacturing states. Battle after battle had been lost, the invasion of +Canada abandoned, and the British had turned their attention southward. +The war in Europe had been brought to a close, and Napoleon was a +captive. England was now at liberty to reinforce her fleet and army in +America, and fears were entertained that other European powers might +assist her in invading the United States. The negro soldier again loomed +up, and as the British were preparing to attack New Orleans with a +superior force to that of Gen. Jackson's, he sought to avail himself of +every possible help within his reach. Accordingly he issued the +following proclamation:</p> + + +<h4>GENERAL JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION TO THE NEGROES.</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30"><span class="smcap">Headquarters, Seventh Military District</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">Mobile</span>, September 21, 1814.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana</i>:</p> + +<p>Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived +of a participation in the glorious struggle for national +rights in which our country is engaged. This no longer shall +exist.</p> + +<p>As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our +most inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks +with confidence to her adopted children for a valorous +support, as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed +under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, +husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the +standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in +existence.</p> + +<p>Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not +wish you to engage in her cause without amply remunerating +you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds are +not to be led away by false representations. Your love of +honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt +to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier and the +language of truth I address you.</p> + +<p>To every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color +volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great +Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty, +in money and lands, now received by the white soldiers of +the United States, viz: one hundred and twenty-four dollars +in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The +non-commissioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> officers and privates will also be +entitled to the same monthly pay, and daily rations, and +clothes, furnished to any American soldier.</p> + +<p>On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major-General +Commanding will select officers for your government from +your white fellow-citizens. Your non-commissioned officers +will be appointed from among yourselves.</p> + +<p>Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freeman and +soldiers. You will not, by being associated with white men +in the same corps, be exposed to improper comparisons or +unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, independent battalion or +regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will, undivided, +receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.</p> + +<p>To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my +anxiety to engage your invaluable services to our country, I +have communicated my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, +who is fully informed as to the manner of enrollment, and +will give you every necessary information on the subject of +this address.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Andrew Jackson</span>, <i>Major-General Commanding.</i></p> + +<p>[<i>Niles Register, vol. vii. p. 205.</i>]</p></div> + +<p>When the news of Gen. Jackson arming the free negroes reached the North +it created no little surprise, and greatly encouraged those, who, from +the commencement of hostilities, had advocated it. The successes of the +summer were being obliterated by the victories which the British were +achieving. The national capitol was burned; Maine had virtually fallen +into their hands; gloom and disappointment prevailed throughout the +country. Enlistment was at a stand-still, and as the British were +threatening with annihilation the few troops then in the field, it +became evident that the States would have to look to their own defence. +New York again turned her attention to her free negro population; a bill +was prepared and introduced in the legislature looking to the arming of +her negroes, and in October, a month after Gen. Jackson issued his +appeal to the negroes of Louisiana, the Legislature passed a bill of +which the following are the most important sections:</p> + +<h4>"<i>An Act to authorize the raising of Two Regiments of Men of Color; +passed Oct. 24, 1814.</i></h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sect</span>. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New +York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the Governor +of the State be, and he is hereby authorized to raise, by +voluntary enlistment, two regiments<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of free men of color, +for the defence of the State for three years, unless sooner +discharged.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sect</span>. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said +regiments shall consist of one thousand and eighty +able-bodied men; and the said regiments shall be formed into +a brigade, or be organized in such manner, and shall be +employed in such service, as the Governor of the State of +New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said State.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sect</span>. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the +commissioned officers of the said regiments and brigade +shall be white men; and the Governor of the State of New +York shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to commission, +by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments and +brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until +the council of appointment shall have appointed the officers +of the said regiments and brigade, in pursuance of the +Constitution and laws of the said State.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sect</span>. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful +for any able-bodied slave, with the written assent of his +master or mistress, to enlist into the said corps; and the +master or mistress of such slave shall be entitled to the +pay and bounty allowed him for his service: and, further, +that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge, +shall be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted +from that time, and his said master or mistress shall not +thenceforward be liable for his maintenance.—<i>Laws of the +State of New York, passed at the Thirty-eighth Session of +the Legislature</i>, chap. xviii."</p></div> + +<p>The organization of negro troops was now fairly begun; at the South +enlistment was confined to the free negroes as set forth in Gen. +Jackson's Proclamation. In New York, the slaves who should enlist with +the consent of their owners were to be free at the expiration of their +service, as provided in the Sixth section of the law quoted above.</p> + +<p>Animated by that love of liberty and country which has ever prompted +them, notwithstanding the disabilities under which they labored, to +enter the ranks of their country's defenders whenever that country has +been assailed by foes without or traitors within, the negroes responded +to the call of General Jackson and to that of New York, with a zeal and +energy characteristic only of a brave and patriotic people. Inspired by +the hope of impartial liberty, they rallied to the support of that +banner which Commodore Barron lowered when he failed to protect them +from British aggression, but which Commodore Decatur gallantly and +successfully defended.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>The forcible capture and imprisonment of Ware, Martin and Strachan, the +three negroes taken from the Chesapeake, and who were recognized by the +United States authorities as citizens of the republic, was sounded as +the key-note and rallying cry of the war; the outrage served greatly to +arouse the people. The fact that the government sought to establish the +liberty of the free negroes, and the further fact that she regarded them +as citizens, heightened their indignation at the outrage committed by +the British, and appealed to their keenest patriotic sensibilities. New +York was not long in raising her two battalions, and sending it forward +to the army, then at Sacket's Harbor.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of December, 1814, following the issuing of his +Proclamation, Gen. Jackson reviewed the troops under his command at New +Orleans, amounting to about six thousand, and of this force about five +hundred were negroes, organized into two battalions, commanded by Maj. +Lacoste and Maj. Savory. These battalions, at the close of the review, +says Parton, in his Life of Jackson, had read to them by Edward +Livingston, a member of Jackson's staff, the following address, from the +Commander of the American forces:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">To the Embodied Militia</span>.—<i>Fellow Citizens and Soldiers:</i> +The General commanding in chief would not do justice to the +noble ardor that has animated you in the hour of danger, he +would not do justice to his own feeling, if he suffered the +example you have shown to pass without public notice.</p> + +<p>* * * *</p> + +<p>"Fellow-citizens, of every description, remember for what +and against whom you contend. For all that can render life +desirable—for a country blessed with every gift of +nature—for property, for life—for those dearer than +either, your wives and children—and for liberty, without +which, country, life, property, are no longer worth +possessing; as even the embraces of wives and children +become a reproach to the wretch who could deprive them by +his cowardice of those invaluable blessings.</p> + +<p>* * * *</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">To the Men of Color</span>.—Soldiers! From the shores of Mobile I +collected you to arms,—I invited you to share in the perils +and to divide the glory of your white countrymen. I expected +much from you; for I was not uninformed of those qualities +which must render you so formidable to an invading foe. I +knew that you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the +hardships of war. I knew that you loved the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> land of your +nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all +that is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I have +found in you, united to these qualities, that noble +enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.</p> + +<p>"Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be +informed of your conduct on the present occasion; and the +voice of the Representatives of the American nation shall +applaud your valor, as your General now praises your ardor. +The enemy is near. His sails cover the lakes. But the brave +are united; and, if he finds us contending among ourselves, +it will be for the prize of valor, and fame its noblest +reward."—<i>Niles's Register</i>, vol. vii. pp. 345, 346.</p></div> + +<p>Thus in line with the white troops on the soil of Louisiana, amid a +large slave population, the negro soldiers were highly praised by the +commanding General. The British had already made their appearance on the +coast near the mouth of the Mississippi, and at the time of their +landing, General Jackson went out to meet them with two thousand one +hundred men; the British had two thousand four hundred. This was on the +23rd of December. The two armies met and fought to within a few miles of +the city, where the British general, Pakenham, who had arrived with +reinforcements, began on the 31st to lay siege. On Jan. 8th the short +but terrible struggle took place which not only taxed the energies and +displayed the great courage of both forces, but made the engagement one +of historic interest. In the short space of twenty-five minutes seven +hundred of the British were killed; fourteen hundred were wounded and +four hundred were taken prisoners. The American army was so well +protected that only four were killed and thirteen wounded. It was in +this great battle that two battalions of negroes participated, and +helped to save the city, the coveted prize, from the British. The two +battalions numbered four hundred and thirty men, and were commanded by +Maj. Lacoste and Maj. Savory. Great Britain also had her negro soldiers +there,—a regiment imported from the West Indies which headed the +attacking column against Jackson's right,—they led her van in the +battle; their failure, with that of the Irish regiment which formed also +a part of the advance column, lost the British the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> battle. The conduct +of the negro soldiers in Gen. Jackson's army on that occasion has ever +been applauded by the American people. Mr. Day, in Nell's "Colored +Patriots of the American Revolution," says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"From an authenticated chart, belonging to a soldier friend, +I find that, in the battle of New Orleans, Major-General +Andrew Jackson, Commander-in-Chief, and his staff, were just +at the right of the advancing left column of the British, +and that very near him were stationed the colored soldiers. +He is numbered 6, and the position of the colored soldiers +8. The chart explanation of No. 8 reads thus:—'8. Captains +Dominique and Bluche, two 24 pounders; Major Lacoste's +battalion, formed of the men of color of New Orleans and, +Major Daquin's battalion, formed of the men of color of St. +Domingo, under Major Savary, second in command.'</p> + +<p>"They occupied no mean place, and did no mean service.</p> + +<p>"From other documents in my possession, I am able to state +the number of the 'battalion of St. Domingo men of color' to +have been one hundred and fifty; and of 'Major Lacoste's +battalion of Louisiana men of color,' two hundred and +eighty.</p> + +<p>"Thus were over four hundred 'men of color' in that battle. +When it is remembered that the whole number of soldiers +claimed by Americans to have been in that battle reached +only 3600, it will be seen that the 'men of color' were +present in much larger proportion than their numbers in the +country warranted.</p> + +<p>"Neither was there colorphobia then. Major Planche's +battalion of uniformed volunteer companies, and Major +Lacoste's 'men of color,' fought together; so, also, did +Major Daquin's 'men of color,' and the 44th, under Captain +Baker."</p></div> + +<p>Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his speech in Congress on the Imprisonment +of Colored Seamen, September, 1850, bore this testimony to their gallant +conduct:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have an impression, that, not, indeed, in these piping +times of peace, but in the time of war, when quite a boy, I +have seen black soldiers enlisted, who did faithful and +excellent service. But, however it may have been in the +Northern States, I can tell the Senator what happened in the +Southern States at this period. I believe that I shall be +borne out in saying, that no regiments did better service, +at New Orleans, than did the black regiments, which were +organized under the direction of General Jackson himself, +after a most glorious appeal to the patriotism and honor of +the people of color of that region; and which, after they +came out of the war, received the thanks of General Jackson, +in a proclamation which has been thought worthy of being +inscribed on the pages of history."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>Perhaps the most glowing account of the services of these black American +soldiers, appeared in an article in the New Orleans <i>Picayune</i>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Not the least interesting, although the most novel feature +of the procession yesterday, was the presence of ninety of +the colored veterans who bore a conspicuous part in the +dangers of the day they were now for the first time called +to assist in celebrating, and who, by their good conduct in +presence of the enemy, deserved and received the approbation +of their illustrious commander-in-chief. During the +thirty-six years that have passed away since they assisted +to repel the invaders from our shores, these faithful men +have never before participated in the annual rejoicings for +the victory which their valor contributed to gain. Their +good deeds have been consecrated only in their memories, or +lived but to claim a passing notice on the page of the +historian. Yet, who more than they deserve the thanks of the +country, and the gratitude of succeeding generations? Who +rallied with more alacrity in response to the summons of +danger? Who endured more cheerfully the hardships of the +camp, or faced with greater courage the perils of the fight? +If, in that hazardous hour, when our homes were menaced with +the horrors of war, we did not disdain to call upon the +colored population to assist in repelling the invading +horde, we should not, when the danger is passed, refuse to +permit them to unite with us in celebrating the glorious +event, which they helped to make so memorable an epoch in +our history. We were not too exalted to mingle with them in +the affray; they were not too humble to join in our +rejoicings.</p> + +<p>"Such, we think, is the universal opinion of our citizens. +We conversed with many yesterday, and, without exception, +they expressed approval of the invitation which had been +extended to the colored veterans to take part in the +ceremonies of the day, and gratification at seeing them in a +conspicuous place in the procession.</p> + +<p>"The respectability of their appearance, and the modesty of +their demeanor, made an impression on every observer, and +elicited unqualified approbation. Indeed, though in saying +so we do not mean disrespect to any one else, we think that +they constituted decidedly the most interesting portion of +the pageant, as they certainly attracted the most +attention."</p></div> + +<p>It was during the rebellion of 1861-65 that the author saw one of the +colored drummer boys of that column beating his drum at the head of a +negro United States regiment marching through the streets of New Orleans +in 1862.</p> + +<p>The New York battalion was organized and marched to the reinforcement of +the American army at Sacket's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> Harbor, then threatened by the enemy. +This battalion was said to be a fine looking body of men, well drilled +and disciplined. In Congress Mr. Martindale, of New York, said, in a +speech delivered on the 22nd January 1828, before that body:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Slaves or negroes who had been slaves were enlisted as +soldiers in the war of the Revolution: and I myself saw a +battalion of them,—as fine martial looking men as I ever +saw attached to the Northern army in the last war +(1812),—on its march from Plattsburg to Sacket's Harbor, +where they did service for the country with credit to New +York and honor to themselves."</p></div> + +<p>As in the dark days of the Revolution, so now in another period of +national danger, the negroes proved their courage and patriotism by +service in the field. However, the lamentable treatment of Major +Jeffrey<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> is evidence that these services were not regarded as a +protection against outrage.</p> + +<p>In the two wars in which the history of the negroes has been traced in +these pages, there is nothing that mitigates against his manhood, though +his condition, either bond or free, was lowly. But on the contrary the +honor of the race has been maintained under every circumstance in which +it has been placed.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> So indiscriminate were English officers in these outrages, +that it sometimes happened that black men were seized as English seamen. +At that time the public opinion of the world was such, that few +statesmen troubled themselves much about the rights of negroes. But in +another generation, when it proved convenient in the United States to +argue that free negroes had never been citizens, it was remembered that +the cabinets of Jefferson and Madison, in their diplomatic discussions +with Great Britain, had been willing to argue that the impressment of a +free negro was the seizure of an American citizen.—<i>Bryant's History of +the United States.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Hammond Golar, a colored man who lived in Lynn for many +years, died a few years since at the age of 80 years. He was born a +slave, was a privateer "powder boy" in the war of 1812, and was taken to +Halifax as a prisoner. The English Government did not exchange colored +prisoners because they would then be returned to slavery, and Golar +remained a prisoner until the close of the war."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See page 50</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> +<h2>PART II.</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The War Between the States</span>.</h3> + +<h3>1861.</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 293px;"> +<img src="images/image5.jpg" width="293" height="400" alt="UNSHACKLED." title="" /> +<span class="caption">UNSHACKLED.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>PUBLIC OPINION.</h3> + + +<p>It seems proper, before attempting to record the achievements of the +negro soldiers in the war of the Rebellion, that we should consider the +state of public opinion regarding the negroes at the outbreak of the +war; also, in connection therewith, to note the rapid change that took +place during the early part of the struggle.</p> + +<p>For some cause, unexplained in a general sense, the white people in the +Colonies and in the States, came to entertain against the colored races +therein a prejudice, that showed itself in a hostility to the latter's +enjoying equal civil and political rights with themselves. Various +reasons are alleged for it, but the difficulty of really solving the +problem lies in the fact that the early settlers in this country came +without prejudice against color. The Negro, Egyptian, Arab, and other +colored races known to them, lived in European countries, where no +prejudice, on account of color existed. How very strange then, that a +feeling antagonistic to the negroes should become a prominent feature in +the character of the European emigrants to these shores and their +descendants. It has been held by some writers that the American +prejudice against the negroes was occasioned by their docility and +unresenting spirit. Surely no one acquainted with the Indian will agree +that he is docile or wanting in spirit, yet occasionally there is +manifested a prejudice against him; the recruiting officers in +Massachusetts refused to enlist Indians, as well as negroes, in +regiments and companies made up of white citizens, though members of +both races, could sometimes be found in white regiments. During the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +rebellion of 1861-5, some Western regiments had one or two negroes and +Indians in them, but there was no general enlistment of either race in +white regiments.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The objection was on account of color, or, as some +writers claim, by the fact of the races—negro and Indian<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>—having +been enslaved. Be the cause what it may, a prejudice, strong, +unrelenting, barred the two races from enjoying with the white race +equal civil and political rights in the United States. So very strong +had that prejudice grown since the Revolution, enhanced it may be by +slavery and docility, that when the rebellion of 1861 burst forth, a +feeling stronger than law, like a Chinese wall only more impregnable, +encircled the negro, and formed a barrier betwixt him and the army. +Doubtless peace—a long peace—lent its aid materially to this state of +affairs. Wealth, chiefly, was the dream of the American from 1815 to +1860, nearly half a century; a period in which the negro was friendless, +save in a few strong-minded, iron-hearted men like John Brown in Kansas, +Wendell Philips in New England, Charles Sumner in the United States +Senate, Horace Greeley in New York and a few others, who dared, in the +face of strong public sentiment, to plead his cause, even from a humane +platform. In many places he could not ride in a street car that was not +inscribed, "<i>Colored persons ride in this car</i>." The deck of a +steamboat, the box cars of the railroad, the pit of the theatre and the +gallery of the church, were the locations accorded him. The church lent +its influence to the rancor and bitterness of a prejudice as deadly as +the sap of the Upas.</p> + +<p>To describe public opinion respecting the negro a half a century ago, is +no easy task. It was just budding into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> maturity when DeTocqueville +visited the United States, and, as a result of that visit, he wrote, +from observation, a pointed criticism upon the manners and customs, and +the laws of the people of the United States. For fear that I might be +thought over-doing—heightening—giving too much coloring to the +strength, and extent and power of the prejudice against the negro I +quote from that distinguished writer, as he clearly expressed himself +under the heading, "<i>Present and Future condition of the three races +inhabiting the United States</i>." He said of the negro:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I see that in a certain portion of the United States at the +present day, the legal barrier which separates the two races +is tending to fall away, but not that which exists in the +manners of the country. Slavery recedes, but the prejudice +to which it has given birth remains stationary. Whosoever +has inhabited the United States, must have perceived, that +in those parts of the United States, in which the negroes +are no longer slaves, they have in nowise drawn nearer the +whites; on the contrary, the prejudice of the race appears +to be stronger in those States which have abolished slavery, +than in those where it still exists. And, nowhere is it so +intolerant as in the states where servitude has never been +known. It is true, that in the North of the Union, marriages +may be legally contracted between negroes and whites, but +public opinion would stigmatize a man, who should content +himself with a negress, as infamous. If oppressed, they may +bring an action at law, but they will find none but whites +among their judges, and although they may legally serve as +jurors, prejudice repulses them for that office. In theatres +gold cannot procure a seat for the servile race beside their +former masters, in hospitals they lie apart. They <i>are</i> +allowed to invoke the same divinity as the whites. The gates +of heaven are not closed against those unhappy beings; but +their inferiority is continued to the very confines of the +other world. The negro is free, but he can share, neither +the rights, nor the labor, nor the afflictions of him, whose +equal he has been declared to be, and he cannot meet him +upon fair terms in life or death."</p></div> + +<p>DeTocqueville, as is seen, wrote with much bitterness and sarcasm, and, +it is but fair to state, makes no allusion to any exceptions to the +various conditions of affairs that he mentions. In all cases matters +might not have been exactly as bad as he pictures them, but as far as +the deep-seated prejudice against the negroes, and indifference to their +rights and elevation are concerned, the facts will freely sustain the +views so forcibly presented.</p> + +<p>The negro had no remembrance of the country of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> ancestry, Africa, +and he abjured their religion. In the South he had no family; women were +merely the temporary sharer of his pleasures; his master's cabins were +the homes of his children during their childhood. While the Indian +perished in the struggle for the preservation of his home, his hunting +grounds and his freedom, the negro entered into slavery as soon as he +was born, in fact was often purchased in the womb, and was born to know, +first, that he was a slave. If one became free, he found freedom harder +to bear than slavery; half civilized, deprived of nearly all rights, in +contact with his superiors in wealth and knowledge, exposed to the rigor +of a tyrannical prejudice moulded into laws, he contented himself to be +allowed to live.</p> + +<p>The Negro race, however, it must be remembered, is the only race that +has ever come in contact with the European race, and been able to +withstand its atrocities and oppression; all others, like the Indian, +whom they could not make subservient to their use, they have destroyed. +The Negro race, like the Israelites, multiplied so rapidly in bondage, +that the oppressor became alarmed, and began discussing methods of +safety to himself. The only people able to cope with the Anglo-American +or Saxon, with any show of success, must be of <i>patient fortitude, +progressive intelligence, brave in resentment and earnest in endeavor</i>.</p> + +<p>In spite of his surroundings and state of public opinion the African +lived, and gave birth, largely through amalgamation with the +representatives of the different races that inhabited the United States, +to a new race,—the <i>American Negro</i>. Professor Sampson in his mixed +races says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Negro is a new race, and is not the direct descent of +any people that have ever flourished. The glory of the negro +race is yet to come."</p></div> + +<p>As evidence of its capacity to acquire glory, the record made in the +late struggle furnishes abundant proof. At the sound of the tocsin at +the North, negro waiter, cook, barber, boot-black, groom, porter and +laborer stood ready at the enlisting office; and though the recruiting +officer refused to list his name, he waited like the "patient ox" for +the partition—<i>prejudice</i>—to be removed. He waited two years before +even the door of the partition was opened; then he did not hesitate, but +walked in, and with what effect the world knows.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 511px;"> +<img src="images/image6.jpg" width="511" height="600" alt="ROBERT SMALLS, (pilot). WILLIAM MORRISON, (sailor). A. +GRADINE, (Engineer). JOHN SMALLS, (sailor)." title="" /> +<span class="caption">ROBERT SMALLS, (pilot). WILLIAM MORRISON, (sailor). A. +GRADINE, (Engineer). JOHN SMALLS, (sailor).</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Four of the crew who, while the white officers were ashore in +Charleston. S. C., ran off with the Confederate war steamer, "Planter," +passed Fort Sumter and delivered the vessel to the United States +authorities. On account of the daring exploit a special act of Congress +was passed ordering one-half the value of the captured vessel to be +invested in U. S. bonds, and the interest thereof to be annually paid +them or their heirs. Robert Smalls joined the Union army, and after the +war became active and prominent in politics.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p></div> + +<p>The war cloud of 1860 still more aroused the bitter prejudice against +the negro at both the North and South; but he was safer in South +Carolina than in New York, in Richmond than in Boston.</p> + +<p>It is a natural consequence, when war is waged between two nations, for +those on either side to forget local feuds and unite against the common +enemy, as was done in the Revolutionary war. How different was the +situation now when the threatened war was not one between nations, but +between states of the same nation. The feeling of hostility toward the +negro was not put aside and forgotten as other troublesome matters were, +but the bitterness became intensified and more marked.</p> + +<p>The Confederate Government though organized for the perpetual +enslavement of the negro, fostered the idea that the docility of the +negroes would allow them to be used for any purpose, without their +having the least idea of becoming freemen. Some idea may be formed of +public opinion at the South at the beginning of the war by what Mr. +Pollard, in his history, gives as the feeling at the South at the close +of the second year of the struggle:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Indeed, the war had shown the system of slavery in the +South to the world in some new and striking aspects, and had +removed much of that cloud of prejudice, defamation, +falsehood, romance and perverse sentimentalism through which +our peculiar institution had been formerly known to Europe. +It had given a better vindication of our system of slavery +than all the books that could be written in a generation. It +had shown that slavery was an element of strength to us; +that it had assisted us in our struggle; that no servile +insurrections had taken place in the South, in spite of the +allurements of our enemy; that the slave had tilled the soil +while his master had fought; that in large districts, +unprotected by our troops, and with a white population, +consisting almost exclusively of women and children, the +slave had continued his work, quiet, faithful, and cheerful; +and that, as a conservative element in our social system, +the institution of slavery had withstood the shocks of war, +and been a faithful ally of our army, although instigated to +revolution by every art of the enemy, and prompted to the +work of assassination and pillage by the most brutal +examples of the Yankee soldiers."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>With this view, the whole slave population was brought to the assistance +of the Confederate Government, and thereby caught the very first hope of +freedom. An innate reasoning taught the negro that slaves could not be +relied upon to fight for their own enslavement. To get to the +breastworks was but to get a chance to run to the Yankees; and thousands +of those whose elastic step kept time with the martial strains of the +drum and fife, as they marched on through city and town, enroute to the +front, were not elated with the hope of Southern success, but were +buoyant with the prospects of reaching the North. The confederates found +it no easy task to watch the negroes and the Yankees too; their +attention could be given to but one at a time; as a slave expressed it, +"when marsa watch the Yankee, nigger go; when marsa watch the nigger, +Yankee come." But the Yankees did not always receive him kindly during +the first year of the war.</p> + +<p>In his first inaugural, Mr. Lincoln declared "that the property, peace +and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the new +incoming administration." The Union generals, except Fremont and Phelps +and a few subordinates, accepted this as public opinion, and as their +guide in dealing with the slavery question. That opinion is better +expressed in the doggerel, sung in after months by the negro troops as +they marched along through Dixie:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"McClellan went to Richmond with two hundred thousand braves,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said, '<i>keep back the niggers and the Union he would save</i>.'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Little Mac. he had his way, still the Union is in tears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And they call for the help of the colored volunteers."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The first two lines expressed the sentiment at the time, not only of the +Army of the Potomoc, but the army commanders everywhere, with the +exceptions named. The administration winked at the enforcement of the +fugitive slave bill by the soldiers engaged in capturing and returning +the negroes coming into the Union lines.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Undoubtedly it was the idea +of the Government to turn the course of the war from its rightful +channel, or in other words,—in the restoration of the Union,—to +eliminate the anti-slavery sentiment, which demanded the freedom of the +slaves.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image7.jpg" width="600" height="398" alt="QUARTERS PROVIDED FOR CONTRABANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">QUARTERS PROVIDED FOR CONTRABANDS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hon. Elisha R. Potter, of Rhode Island,—"who may," said Mr. Greeley, +"be fairly styled the hereditary chief of the Democratic party of that +State,"—made a speech on the war in the State Senate, on the 10th of +August 1861, in which he remarked:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have said that the war may assume another aspect, and be +a short and bloody one. And to such a war—<i>an anti-slavery +war</i>—it seems to me we are <i>inevitably</i> drifting. It seems +to me hardly in the power of human wisdom to prevent it. We +may commence the war without meaning to interfere with +slavery; but let us have one or two battles, and get our +blood excited, and we shall not only not restore any more +slaves, but shall proclaim freedom wherever we go. And it +seems to me almost judicial blindness on the part of the +South that they do not see that this must be the inevitable +result, if the contest is prolonged."</p></div> + +<p>This sentiment became bolder daily as the thinking Union men viewed the +army turning aside from its legitimate purposes, to catch runaway +negroes, and return them. Party lines were also giving away; men in the +army began to realize the worth of the negroes as they sallied up to the +rebel breastworks that were often impregnable. They began to complain, +finding the negro with his pick and spade, a greater hinderance to their +progress than the cannon balls of the enemy; and more than one said to +the confederates, when the pickets of the two armies picnicked together +in the battle's lull, as frequently they did: "We can whip you, if you +keep your negroes out of your army."</p> + +<p>Quite a different course was pursued in the navy. Negroes were readily +accepted all along the coast on board the war vessels, it being no +departure from the regular and established practice in the service. The +view with which the loyal friends of the Union began to look at the +negro and the rebellion, was aptly illustrated in an article in the +Montgomery (Ala.) <i>Advertiser</i> in 1861, which said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Slaves as a Military Element in the South</span>.—The total +white population of the eleven States now comprising the +Confederacy is 6,000,000, and, therefore, to fill up the +ranks of the proposed army (600,000) about ten per cent of +the entire white population will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> required. In any other +country than our own such a draft could not be met, but the +Southern States can furnish that number of men, and still +not leave the material interests of the country in a +suffering condition. Those who are incapacitated for bearing +arms can oversee the plantations, and the negroes can go on +undisturbed in their usual labors. In the North the case is +different; the men who join the army of subjugation are the +laborers, the producers, and the factory operatives. Nearly +every man from that section, especially those from the rural +districts, leaves some branch of industry to suffer during +his absence. The institution of slavery in the South alone +enables her to place in the field a force much larger in +proportion to her white population than the North, or indeed +any country which is dependent entirely on free labor. The +institution is a tower of strength to the South, +particularly at the present crisis, and our enemies will be +likely to find that the 'moral cancer' about which their +orators are so fond of prating, is really one of the most +effective weapons employed against the Union by the South. +Whatever number of men may be needed for this war, we are +confident our people stand ready to furnish. We are all +enlisted for the war, and there must be no holding back +until the independence of the South is fully acknowledged."</p></div> + +<p>The facts already noted became apparent to the nation very soon, and +then came a change of procedure, and the war began to be prosecuted upon +quite a different policy. Gen. McClellan, whose loyalty to the new +policy was doubted, was removed from the command of the Army of the +Potomac, and slave catching ceased. The XXXVII Congress convened in Dec. +1861, in its second session, and passed the following additional article +of war:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All officers are prohibited from employing any of the +forces under their respective commands for the purpose of +returning fugitives from service or labor who may have +escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is +claimed to be due. Any officer who shall be found guilty by +court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed +from the service."</p></div> + +<p>This was the initatory measure of the new policy, which progressed to +its fulfillment rapidly. And then what Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War, +had recommended in December, 1861, and to which the President objected, +very soon developed, through a series of enactments, in the arming of +the negro; in which the loyal people of the whole country acquiesced, +save the border states people, who fiercely opposed it as is shown in +the conduct of Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky; Salisbury, of Delaware, and +others in Congress.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image8.jpg" width="500" height="446" alt="DRIVING GOVT. CATTLE" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>Public opinion was now changed, Congress had prohibited the surrender of +negroes to the rebels, the President issued his Emancipation +Proclamation, and more than 150,000 negroes were fighting for the Union. +The Republican party met in convention at Chicago, and nominated Mr. +Lincoln for the second term as President of the United States; the +course of his first administration was now to be approved or rejected by +the people. In the resolutions adopted, the fifth one of them related to +Emancipation and the negro soldiers. It was endorsed by a very large +majority of the voters. A writer in one of the magazines, prior to the +election, thus reviews the resolutions:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The fifth resolution commits us to the approval of two +measures that have aroused the most various and strenuous +opposition, the Proclamation of Emancipation and the use of +negro troops. In reference to the first, it is to be +remembered that it is a war measure. The express language of +it is: 'By virtue of the power in me vested as +commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States +in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and +Government of the United States, and as a <i>fit and necessary +war measure for suppressing said rebellion</i>.' Considered +thus, the Proclamation is not merely defensible, but it is +more; it is a proper and efficient means of weakening the +rebellion which every person desiring its speedy overthrow +must zealously and perforce uphold. Whether it is of any +legal effect beyond the actual limits of our military lines, +is a question that need not agitate us. In due time the +supreme tribunal of the nation will be called to determine +that, and to its decision the country will yield with all +respect and loyalty. But in the mean time let the +Proclamation go wherever the army goes, let it go wherever +the navy secures a foothold on the outer border of the rebel +territory, and let it summon to our aid the negroes who are +truer to the Union than their disloyal masters; and when +they have come to us and put their lives in our keeping, let +us protect and defend them with the whole power of the +nation. Is there anything unconstitutional in that? Thank +God, there is not. And he who is willing to give back to +slavery a single person who has heard the summons and come +within our lines to obtain his freedom, he who would give up +a single man, woman, or child, once thus actually freed, is +not worthy the name of American. He may call himself +Confederate, if he will.</p> + +<p>"Let it be remembered, also that the Proclamation has had a +very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> important bearing upon our foreign relations. It +evoked in behalf of our country that sympathy on the part of +the people in Europe, whose is the only sympathy we can ever +expect in our struggle to perpetuate free institutions. +Possessing that sympathy, moreover, we have had an element +in our favor which has kept the rulers of Europe in +wholesome dread of interference. The Proclamation relieved +us from the false position before attributed to us of +fighting simply for national power. It placed us right in +the eyes of the world, and transferred men's sympathies from +a confederacy fighting for independence as a means of +establishing slavery, to a nation whose institutions mean +constitutional liberty, and, when fairly wrought out, must +end in universal freedom."</p></div> + +<p>The change of policy and of public opinion was so strongly endorsed that +it affected the rebels, who shortly passed a Congressional measure for +arming 200,000 negroes themselves. What a reversal of things; what a +change of sentiment, in less than twenty-four months!<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Mr. Lincoln, +in justifying the change, is reported to have said to Judge Mills, of +Wisconsin:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The slightest knowledge of arithmetic will prove to any man +that the rebel armies cannot be destroyed with Democratic +strategy. It would sacrifice all the white men of the North +to do it. There are now in the service of the United States +near two hundred thousand able-bodied colored men, most of +them under arms, defending and acquiring Union territory. +The Democratic strategy demands that these forces be +disbanded, and that the masters be conciliated by restoring +them to slavery. The black men who now assist Union +prisoners to escape, they are to be converted into our +enemies in the vain hope of gaining the good will of their +masters. We shall have to fight two nations instead of one. +You cannot conciliate the South if you guarantee to them +ultimate success; and the experience of the present war +proves their success is inevitable if you fling the +compulsory labor of millions of black men into their side of +the scale. Will you give our enemies such military +advantages as insure success, and then depend on coaxing, +flattery, and concession to get them back into the Union? +Abandon all the posts now garrisoned by black men; take two +hundred thousand men from our side and put them in the +battle-field or cornfield against us, and we would be +compelled to abandon the war in three weeks. We have to hold +territory in inclement and sickly places; where are the +Democrats<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> to do this? It was a free fight, and the field +was open to the war Democrats to put down this rebellion by +fighting against both master and slave, long before the +present policy was inaugurated. There have been men base +enough to propose to me to return to slavery the black +warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee, and thus win the +respect of the masters they fought. Should I do so, I should +deserve to be dammed in time and eternity. Come what will, I +will keep my faith with friend and foe. My enemies pretend I +am now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of +abolition. So long as I am President, it shall be carried on +for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no human +power can subdue this rebellion without the use of the +emancipation policy, and every other policy calculated to +weaken the moral and physical forces of the rebellion. +Freedom has given us two hundred thousand men raised on +southern soil. It will give us more yet. Just so much it has +subtracted from the enemy; and instead of alienating the +South, there are now evidences of a fraternal feeling +growing up between our men and the rank and file of the +rebel soldiers. Let my enemies prove to the country that the +destruction of slavery is not necessary to the restoration +of the Union. I will abide the issue."</p></div> + +<p>But the change of policy did not change the opinion of the Southerners, +who, notwithstanding the use which the Confederate Government was making +of the negro, still regarded him, in the <i>United States</i> uniform, as a +vicious brute, to be shot at sight. I prefer, in closing this chapter, +to give the Southern opinion of the negro, in the words of a +distinguished native of that section. Mr. George W. Cable, in his +"Silent South," thus gives it:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He was brought to our shores a naked, brutish, unclean, +captive, pagan savage, to be and remain a kind of connecting +link between man and the beasts of burden. The great changes +to result from his contact with a superb race of masters +were not taken into account. As a social factor he was +intended to be as purely zero as the brute at the other end +of his plow line. The occasional mingling of his blood with +that of the white man worked no change in the sentiment; +one, two, four, eight, multiplied upon or divided in to +zero, still gave zero for the result. Generations of +American nativity made no difference; his children and +children's children were born in sight of our door, yet the +old notion held fast. He increased to vast numbers, but it +never wavered. He accepted our dress, language, religion, +all the fundamentals of our civilization, and became forever +expatriated from his own land; still he remained, to us, an +alien. Our sentiment went blind. It did not see that +gradually, here by force and there by choice, he was +fulfilling a host of conditions that earned at least a +solemn moral right to that naturalization which no one at +first had dreamed of giving him. Frequently he even bought +back the freedom of which he had been robbed, became a +tax-payer, and at times an educator of his children at his +own expense; but the old idea of alienism passed laws to +banish him, his wife, and children by thousands from the +State, and threw him into loathsome jails as a common felon +for returning to his native land. It will be wise to +remember that these were the acts of an enlightened, God +fearing people."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image9.jpg" width="500" height="405" alt="SCENE IN AND NEAR A RECRUITING OFFICE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCENE IN AND NEAR A RECRUITING OFFICE.</span> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> I arrived in New York in August, 1862, from Valparaiso, +Chili, on the steamship "Bio-Bio," of Boston, and in company with two +Spaniards, neither of whom could speak English, enlisted in a New York +regiment. We were sent to the rendezvous on one of the islands in the +harbor. The third day after we arrived at the barracks, I was sent with +one of my companions to carry water to the cook, an aged negro, who +immediately recognized me, and in such a way as to attract the attention +of the corporal, who reported the matter to the commanding officer, and +before I could give the cook the hint, he was examined by the officer of +the day. At noon I was accompanied by a guard of honor to the launch, +which landed me in New York. I was a negro, that was all; how it was +accounted for on the rolls I cannot say. I was honorably discharged, +however, without receiving a certificate to that effect.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The Indians referred to are many of those civilized and +living as citizens in the several States of the Union.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See Appendix, "A."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "Those who have declaimed loudest against the employment +of negro troops have shown a lamentable amount of ignorance, and an +equally lamentable lack of common sense. They know as little of the +military history and martial qualities of the African race as they do of +their own duties as commanders. +</p><p> +"All distinguished generals of modern times who have had opportunity to +use negro soldiers, have uniformly applauded their subordination, +bravery, and powers of endurance. Washington solicited the military +services of negroes in the revolution, and rewarded them. Jackson did +the same in the war of 1812. Under both those great captains, the negro +troops fought so well that they received unstinted praise."—<i>Charles +Sumner.</i></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>RECRUITING AND ORGANIZING.</h3> + + +<p>The recruiting officer, in the first year of the enlistment of negroes, +did not have a pleasant service to perform. At New Orleans there was no +trouble in recruiting the regiments organized under Butler's command, +for, beside the free negroes, the slave population for miles around were +eager to enlist, believing that with the United States army uniform on, +they would be safe in their escape from "ole master and the rebs." And +then the action of the confederate authorities in arming the free +negroes lent a stimulant and gave an ambition to the whole slave +population to be soldiers. Could arms have been obtained, a half a dozen +regiments could have been organized in sixty days just as rapidly as +were three. Quite early in 1862, while the negroes in New Orleans were +being enrolled in the Confederate service, under Gov. Moore's +proclamation, in separate and distinct organizations from the whites, +the Indians and negroes were enlisting in the Union service, on the +frontier, in the same company and regiments, with white officers to +command them. In the "Kansas Home Guard," comprising two regiments of +Indians, were over 400 negroes, and these troops were under Custer, +Blunt and Herron. They held Fort Gibson twenty months against the +assaults of the enemy. Two thousand five hundred negroes served in the +Federal army from the Indian Nations, and these, in all probability, are +a part of 5,896 "not accounted for" on the Adjutant General's rolls.</p> + +<p>Quite a different state of things existed in South Carolina;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> rumors +were early afloat, when recruiting began, that the government officers +were gathering up the negroes to ship away to Cuba, Africa and the West +Indies. These reports for a long time hindered the enlistment very much. +Then there was no large city for contrabands to congregate in; besides +they had no way of traveling from island to island except on government +vessels. Before the Proclamation of freedom was issued, the city of +Washington, with Virginia and Maryland as additional territory to +recruit from, afforded an officer a better field to operate in than any +other point except New Orleans. The conduct of the Government in +revoking Gen. Fremont's Proclamation, and of McClellan's with the Army +of the Potomac, in catching and returning escaped slaves, also had a +tendency for some time to keep back even the free negroes of Virginia +and Maryland. But this class of people never enlisted to any great +numbers, either before or after 1863, and there finally came to be a +general want of spirit with them, while with the slave class there was a +ready enthusiasm to enlist. Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, was +Chairman of the Committee of Military Affairs, and reported from that +committee on the 8th of July 1862, a bill authorizing the arming of +negroes as a part of the army. The bill finally passed both houses and +received the approval of the President on the 17th of July, 1862. The +battle for its success is as worthy of record as any fought by the +Phalanx. The debate was characterized by eloquence and deep feeling on +both sides. Says an account of the proceedings in Henry Wilson's +"Anti-slavery Measures of Congress:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image10.jpg" width="500" height="559" alt="TEAMSTER OF THE ARMY" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Sherman (Rep.) of Ohio said, "The question arises, +whether the people of the United States, struggling for +national existence, should not employ these blacks for the +maintenance of the Government. The policy heretofore pursued +by the officers of the United States has been to repel this +class of people from our lines, to refuse their services. +They would have made the best spies; and yet they have been +driven from our lines."—"I tell the President," said Mr. +Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine, "from my place here as a senator, +I tell the generals of our army, they must reverse their +practices and their course of proceeding on this subject. * +* * I advise it here from my place,—treat your enemies as +enemies, as the worst of enemies, and avail yourselves like +men of every power which God has placed in your hands to +accomplish your purpose within the rules of civilized +warfare." Mr. Rice, (war Dem.) of Minnesota, declared that +"not many days can pass before the people of the United +States North must decide upon one of two questions: we have +either to acknowledge the Southern Confederacy as a free and +independent nation, and that speedily; or we have as +speedily to resolve to use all the means given us by the +Almighty to prosecute this war to a successful termination. +The necessity for action has arisen. To hesitate is worse +than criminal. Mr. Wilson said, "The senator from Delaware, +as he is accustomed to do, speaks boldly and decidedly +against the proposition. He asks if American soldiers will +fight if we organize colored men for military purposes. Did +not American soldiers fight at Bunker Hill with negroes in +the ranks, one of whom shot down Major Pitcairn as he +mounted the works? Did not American soldiers fight at Red +Bank with a black regiment from your own State, sir? (Mr. +Anthony in the chair.) Did they not fight on the +battle-field of Rhode Island with that black regiment, one +of the best and bravest that ever trod the soil of this +continent? Did not American soldiers fight at Fort Griswold +with black men? Did they not fight with black men in almost +every battle-field of the Revolution? Did not the men of +Kentucky and Tennessee, standing on the lines of New +Orleans, under the eye of Andrew Jackson, fight with colored +battalions whom he had summoned to the field, and whom he +thanked publicly for their gallantry in hurling back a +British foe? It is all talk, idle talk, to say that the +volunteers who are fighting the battles of this country are +governed by any such narrow prejudice or bigotry. These +prejudices are the results of the teachings of demagogues +and politicians, who have for years undertaken to delude and +deceive the American people, and to demean and degrade +them."</p> + +<p>Mr. Grimes had expressed his views a few weeks before, and +desired a vote separately on each of these sections. Mr. +Davis declared that he was utterly opposed, and should ever +be opposed, to placing arms in the hands of negroes, and +putting them into the army. Mr. Rice wished "to know if Gen. +Washington did not put arms into the hands of negroes, and +if Gen. Jackson did not, and if the senator has ever +condemned either of those patriots for doing so." "I deny," +replied Mr. Davis, "that, in the Revolutionary War, there +ever was any considerable organization of negroes. I deny, +that, in the war of 1812, there was ever any organization of +negro slaves. * * * In my own State, I have no doubt that +there are from eighty to a hundred thousand slaves that +belong to disloyal men. You propose to place arms in the +hands of the men and boys, or such of them as are able to +handle arms, and to manumit the whole mass, men, women, and +children, and leave them among us. Do you expect us to give +our sanction and our approval to these things? No, no! We +would regard their authors as our worst enemies; and there +is no foreign despotism that could come to our rescue, that +we would not joyously embrace, before we would submit to +any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> such condition of things as that. But, before we had +invoked this foreign despotism, we would arm every man and +boy that we have in the land, and we would meet you in a +death-struggle, to overthrow together such an oppression and +our oppressors." Mr. Rice remarked in reply to Mr. Davis, +"The rebels hesitate at nothing. There are no means that God +or the Devil has given them that they do not use. The +honorable senator said that the negroes might be useful in +loading and swabbing and firing cannon. If that be the case, +may not some of them be useful in loading, swabbing, and +firing the musket?"</p></div> + +<p>On the 10th of February, 1864, Mr. Stevens (Republican) of Pennsylvania, +in the House of Representatives, moved an amendment to the Enrollment +Act. Says the same authority before quoted:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Enrollment Bill was referred to a Conference Committee, +consisting of Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, Mr. Nesmet of +Oregon, and Mr. Grimes of Iowa, on the part of the Senate; +and Mr. Schenck of Ohio, Mr. Deming of Connecticut, and Mr. +Kernan of New York, on the part of the House. In the +Conference Committee, Mr. Wilson stated that he never could +assent to the amendment, unless the drafted slaves were made +free on being mustered into the service of the United +States. Mr. Grimes sustained that position; and the House +committee assented to it. The House amendment was then +modified so as to read, "That all able-bodied male colored +persons between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, +whether citizens or not, resident in the United States, +shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, +and of the act to which this is an amendment, and form part +of the national forces; and, when a slave of a loyal master +shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United +States, his master shall have a certificate thereof; and +thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of a +hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, +shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was +owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the +service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall +appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented +in Congress, charged to award, to each loyal person to whom +a colored volunteer may owe service, a just compensation, +not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored +volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutation; +and every such colored volunteer, on being mustered into the +service, shall be free."</p> + +<p>"The report of the Conference Committee was agreed to; and +it was enacted that every slave, whether a drafted man or a +volunteer, shall be free on being mustered into the military +service of the United States, not by the act of the master, +but by the authority of the Federal Government."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image11.jpg" width="600" height="369" alt="HEADQUARTERS OF VINCENT COLLYER, SUPT. OF THE POOR AT +NEWBERNE N. C. Distributing clothing, captured from the Confederates, to +the free negroes." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HEADQUARTERS OF VINCENT COLLYER, SUPT. OF THE POOR AT +NEWBERNE N. C.<br /> Distributing clothing, captured from the Confederates, to +the free negroes.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Gen. Banks took command of the Gulf Department, Dec. 1862, he very +soon after found the negro troops an indispensable quantity to the +success of his expeditions; consequently he laid aside his prejudice, +and endeavored to out-Herod Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General of the +Army,—who in March had been dispatched on a military inspection tour +through the armies of the West and the Mississippi Valley, and also to +organize a number of negro regiments<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>—by issuing in May the +following order:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='center'><i>Corps d'Afrique.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 40.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">19th Army Corps</span>,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'><i>Opelousas</i>, May 1, 1863.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Major General commanding the Department proposes the +organization of a corps d'armee of colored troops, to be +designated as the "Corps d'Afrique." It will consist +ultimately of eighteen regiments, representing all +arms—Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry, organized in three +Divisions of three Brigades each, with appropriate corps of +Engineers and flying Hospitals for each Division. +Appropriate uniforms, and the graduation of pay to +correspond with value of services, will be hereafter +awarded.</p> + +<p>In the field, the efficiency of every corps depends upon the +influence of its officers upon the troops engaged, and the +practicable limits of one direct command is generally +estimated at one thousand men. The most eminent military +historians and commanders, among others Thiers and Chambray, +express the opinion, upon a full review of the elements of +military power, that the valor of the soldier is rather +acquired than natural. Nations whose individual heroism in +undisputed, have failed as soldiers in the field. The +European and American continents exhibit instances of this +character, and the military prowess of every nation may be +estimated by the centuries it has devoted to military +contest, or the traditional passion of its people for +military glory. With a race unaccustomed to military +service, much more depends on the immediate influence of +officers upon individual members, than with those that have +acquired more or less of warlike habits and spirit by +centuries of contest. It is deemed best, therefore, in the +organization of the Corps d'Afrique, to limit the regiments +to the smallest number of men consistent with efficient +service in the field, in order to secure the most thorough +instruction and discipline, and the largest influence of the +officers over the troops. At first they will be limited to +five hundred men. The average of American regiments is less +than that number.</p> + +<p><i>The Commanding General desires to detail for temporary or +permanent duty the best officers of the army, for the +organization, instruction and discipline of this corps.</i> +With their aid, he is confident that the corps will render +important service to the Government. It is not established +upon any dogma of equality or other theory, but as a +practical and sensible matter of business. The Government +makes use of mules, horses, uneducated and educated white +men, in the defense of its institutions. Why should not the +negro contribute whatever is in his power for the cause in +which he is as deeply interested as other men? We may +properly demand from him whatever service he can render. The +chief defect in organizations of this character has arisen +from incorrect ideas of the officers in command. Their +discipline has been lax, and in some cases the conduct of +the regiments unsatisfactory and discreditable. +Controversies unnecessary and injurious to the service have +arisen between them and other troops. The organization +proposed will reconcile and avoid many of these troubles.</p> + +<p>Officers and soldiers will consider the exigencies of the +service in this Department, and the absolute necessity of +appropriating every element of power to the support of the +Government. The prejudices or opinions of men are in nowise +involved. The co-operation and active support of all +officers and men, and the nomination of fit men from the +ranks, and from the lists of non-commissioned and +commissioned officers, are respectfully solicited from the +Generals commanding the respective Divisions.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6"><span class="smcap">By command of Major General Banks</span>:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">RICHARD B. IRWIN,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><i>Assistant Adjutant General.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">WAR DEPARTMENT,<br /></span> +<span class="i30"><i>Washington City</i>, March 25th, 1803.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> +<p>His plan of organization is here given, but it was never fully +consummated:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='center'><i>Corps d'Afrique.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 47.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">19th Army Corps,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'><i>Before Port Hudson</i>, June 6th, 1863.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I.—The regiments of infantry of the Corps d'Afrique, +authorized by General Orders No. 44, current series, will +consist of ten companies each, having the following minimum +organization:</p> + +<p>1 Captain, 1 First Lieutenant, 1 Second Lieutenant, 1 First +Sergeant, 4 Sergeants, 4 Corporals, 2 Buglers, 40 Privates.</p> + +<p>To the above may be added hereafter, at the discretion of +the Commanding General, four corporals and forty-two +privates; thus increasing the strength to the maximum fixed +by law for a company of infantry.</p> + +<p>The regimental organization will be that fixed by law for a +regiment of infantry.</p> + +<p>II.—The Commissary and Assistant Commissaries of Musters +will muster the Second Lieutenant into service as soon as he +is commissioned; the First Lieutenant when thirty men are +enlisted; and the Captain when the minimum organization is +completed.</p> + +<p>III.—The First, Second, Third and Fourth Regiments of +Louisiana Native Guards will hereafter be known as the +First, Second, Third and Fourth Regiments of Infantry of the +Corps d'Afrique.</p> + +<p>IV.—The regiment of colored troops in process of +organization in the district of Pensacola will be known as +the Fifth Regiment of Infantry of the Corps d'Afrique.</p> + +<p>V.—The regiments now being raised under the direction of +Brigadier General Daniel Ullman, and at present known as the +First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Regiments of Ullman's +Brigade, will be respectively designated as the Sixth, +Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Regiments of Infantry of +the Corps d'Afrique.</p> + +<p>VI.—The First Regiment of Louisiana Engineers, Colonel +Justin Hodge, will hereafter be known as the First Regiment +of Engineers of the Corps d'Afrique.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL BANKS:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">RICHARD B. IRWIN,<br /></span> +<span class="i30"><i>Assistant Adjutant General.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">OFFICIAL:<br /></span> +<span class="i6">NATHANIEL BURBANK, <i>Acting Assistant Adjutant General.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>General Banks' treatment of the negroes was so very different from that +which they had received from Gen. Butler,—displacing the negro officers +of the first three regiments organized,—that it rather checkmated +recruiting, so much so that he found it necessary to resort to the +provost guard to fill up regiments, as the following order indicates:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image12.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="PROVOST GUARD SECURING CONSCRIPTS. Compelling all +able-bodied men to join the army." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PROVOST GUARD SECURING CONSCRIPTS. <br />Compelling all +able-bodied men to join the army.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td colspan="3"><i>Commission of Enrollment.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 64.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='right'><i>New Orleans</i>, August 29, 1863.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I. Colonel <span class="smcap">John S. Clark</span>, Major <span class="smcap">B. Rush Plumly</span> and Colonel +<span class="smcap">George H. Hanks</span>, are hereby appointed a Commission to +regulate the Enrollment, Recruiting and Employment and +Education of persons of color. All questions concerning the +enlistment of troops for the Corps d'Afrique, the regulation +of labor, or the government and education of negroes, will +be referred to the decision of this commission, subject to +the approval of the Commanding General of the Department.</p> + +<p>II. No enlistments for the Corps d'Afrique will be +authorized or permitted, except under regulations approved +by this Commission.</p> + +<p>III. <i>The Provost Marshal General will cause to be enrolled +all able-bodied men of color in accordance with the Law of +Conscription, and such number as may be required for the +military defence of the Department, equally apportioned to +the different parishes, will be enlisted for the military +service under such regulations as the Commission may adopt. +Certificates of exemption will be furnished to those not +enlisted, protecting them from arrest or other interference, +except for crime.</i></p> + +<p>IV. Soldiers of the Corps d'Afrique will not be allowed to +leave their camps, or to wander through the parishes, except +upon written permission, or in the company of their +officers.</p> + +<p>V. Unemployed persons of color, vagrants and camp loafers, +will be arrested and employed upon the public works, by the +Provost Marshal's Department, without other pay than their +rations and clothing.</p> + +<p>VI. Arrests of persons, and seizures of property, will not +be made by colored soldiers, nor will they be charged with +the custody of persons or property, except when under the +command, and accompanied by duly authorized officers.</p> + +<p>VII. Any injury or wrong done to the family of any soldier, +on account of his being engaged in military service, will be +summarily punished.</p> + +<p>VIII. As far as practicable, the labor of persons not +adapted to military service will be provided in substitution +for that of enlisted men.</p> + +<p>IX. All regulations hitherto established for the government +of negroes, not inconsistent herewith, will be enforced by +the Provost Marshals of the different parishes, under the +direction of the Provost Marshal General.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6"><span class="smcap">By command of Major General Banks</span>:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">RICHARD B. IRWIN,<br /></span> +<span class="i30"><i>Assistant Adjutant General.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the department the actual number of negroes enlisted was never known, +from the fact that a practice prevailed of putting a live negro in a +dead one's place. For instance, if a company on picket or scouting lost +ten men, the officer would immediately put ten new men in their places +and have them answer to the dead men's names. I learn from very reliable +sources that this was done in Virginia, also in Missouri and Tennessee. +If the exact number of men could be ascertained, instead of 180,000 it +would doubtless be in the neighborhood of 220,000 who entered the ranks +of the army. An order was issued which aimed to correct the habit and to +prevent the drawing, by collusion, of the dead men's pay.</p> + +<p>The date of the first organization of colored troops is a question of +dispute, but it seems as if the question might be settled, either by the +records of the War Department or the personal knowledge of those +interested. Of course the muster of a regiment or company is the record<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +of the War Department, but the muster by no means dates the organization +of the troops.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> For example, a colonel may have been commissioned +July, 1862, and yet the muster of his regiment may be September 1862, +and even later, by two months, as is the case in more than one instance. +It is just as fair to take the date of a soldier's enlistment as the +date of the organization of a regiment, as that of the date of the order +detailing an officer to recruit as the date of the colonel's commission. +The writer's discharge from the Second Reg't. Louisiana Native Guards +credits him as enlisting on the 1st day of September, 1862; at this date +the 1st Reg't. La. N. G. was in the field, in November the Second +Regiment took the field, so that the date of the organization of the +first regiment of colored troops was in September, 1862. Col. Higginson, +says in his volume:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Except the Louisiana soldiers mentioned,—of whom no +detailed reports have, I think, been published,—my regiment +was unquestionably the first mustered into the service of +the United States; the first company mustered bearing date, +November 7, 1862, and the others following in quick +succession."</p></div> + +<p>Save the regiments recruited in Kansas, South Carolina and New Orleans +during the year 1862, nothing was done towards increasing the negro +army, but in January 1863, when the policy of the Government was changed +and the Emancipation Proclamation foreshadowed the employment of negroes +in the armed service, an activity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> such as had not been witnessed since +the beginning of the war became apparent. Many officers without +commands, and some with, but who sought promotion, were eager to be +allowed to organize a regiment, a battalion or a brigade of negro +troops. Mr. Lincoln found it necessary in less than six months after +issuing his Proclamation of Freedom, to put the whole matter of negro +soldiers into the hands of a board.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Ambition, as ambition will, +smothered many a white man's prejudice and caused more than one West +Pointer to forget his political education. This order was issued:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,<br /></span> +<span class="i30"><i>Washington, D. C.</i>, January 13th, 1863.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Brigadier General D. Ullman</span>, Washington, D. C.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—By direction of the Secretary of War you are hereby +authorized to raise a Brigade of (four regiments) of +Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, to be recruited in that State +to serve for three years or during the War.</p> + +<p>Each regiment of said Brigade will be organized as +prescribed in General orders No. 126, series of 1862, from +this office.</p> + +<p>The recruitment will be conducted in accordance with the +rules of the service, and the orders of the War Department, +and by the said department all appointments of officers will +be made.</p> + +<p>All musters will be made in strict conformity to Paragraph +86 Revised Mustering Regulations of 1862.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">I am, Very Respectfully Your Obedient Servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i40">THOMAS M. VINCENT, <i>Asst. Adjt. Gen'l.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><i>Washington, D. C.</i>, March 24, 1863.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6"><span class="smcap">Brig. General Ullman</span>, Washington, D. C.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">General</span>:—By direction of the Secretary of War, you are +hereby authorized to raise a Battalion (six companies) of +Louisiana Volunteer Infantry to be used for scouting +purposes, to be recruited in that State, and to serve for +three years or during the war.</p> + +<p>The said force will be organized as prescribed in Paragraph +83, Mustering Regulations.</p> + +<p>The recruitment will be conducted in accordance with the +rules of the service, and the orders of the War Department, +and by the said Department all appointments of officers will +be made.</p> + +<p>All musters will be made in accordance with the orders given +in reference to the troops authorized by the instructions +from this office of January 13, 1863.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">I am, General Very Respectfully Your Obedient Servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">THOMAS M. VINCENT, <i>Asst. Adjt. General.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>In furtherance of the order General Ullman proceeded to New Orleans and +assumed command of seven thousand troops already organized. It was said +that he had arranged to place 500 white officers in command of the +troops in Louisiana.</p> + +<p>In October thereafter General Banks issued the following order, which +fully explains itself:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="3">Recruiting for the Corps d'Afrique.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='right'>HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 77.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='right'><i>New Orleans</i>, October 27, 1863.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I. All persons of Color coming within the lines of the army, +or following the army when in the field, other than those +employed in the Staff Department of the army, or as servants +of officers entitled by the Regulations to have servants, or +cooks, will be placed in charge of and provided for by the +several Provost Marshals of the Parishes, or if the army be +on the march, or in the field, by the Provost Marshal of the +Army.</p> + +<p>II. The several Provost Marshals of the Parishes and of the +Army will promptly forward to the nearest recruiting depot +all able bodied males for service in the Corps d'Afrique.</p> + +<p>III. Recruits will be received for the Corps d'Afrique of +all able bodied men from sections of the country not +occupied by our forces, and beyond our lines, without regard +to the enrollment provided for in General Orders No. 64 and +70, from these Headquarters.</p> + +<p>IV. Instructions will be given by the President of the +Commission of Enrollment to the Superintendent of +Recruiting, to govern in all matters of detail relating to +recruiting, and officers will be held to a strict +accountability for the faithful observance of existing +orders and such instructions; but no officer will be +authorized to recruit beyond the lines without first having +his order approved by the officer commanding the nearest +post, or the officer commanding the Army in the Field, who +will render such assistance as may be necessary to make the +recruiting service effective.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL BANKS:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">G. NORMAN LIEBER, <i>Act. Asst. Adjt. Gen'l.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At the North where negroes had been refused admission to the army, the +President's Proclamation was hailed with delight. Gov. Andrew, of +Massachusetts, at once began the organization of the 54th Regiment of +his State, composed entirely of negroes, and on the 28th of May the +regiment being ready to take the field, embarked for South Carolina. +Other Northern States followed. Pennsylvania established Camp Wm. Penn, +from which several regiments took their departure, while Connecticut and +Rhode Island both sent a regiment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image13.jpg" width="600" height="416" alt="NEW RECRUITS TAKING CARS FOR CAMP." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NEW RECRUITS TAKING CARS FOR CAMP.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>The taste with which the negro soldiers arranged their quarters often +prompted officers of white regiments to borrow a detail to clean and +beautify the quarters of their commands. An occurrence of this kind came +very near causing trouble on Morris Island, S.C. The matter was brought +to the commanding General's attention and he immediately issued this +order:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="3">DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, <span class="smcap">Headquarters in the Field</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General Orders,</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'><i>Morris Island, S.C.</i>, Sept. 17th, 1863.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 77.</td><td align='left'>}</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>1. It has come to the knowledge of the Brig. Gen. Commanding +that detachments of colored troops, detailed for fatigue +duty, have been employed in one instance at least, to +prepare camps and perform menial duty for white troops. Such +use of these details is unauthorized and improper, and is +hereafter expressly prohibited. Commanding Officers of +colored regiments are directed to report promptly, to the +Headquarters, any violations of this order which may come to +their knowledge.</p></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>By Order of Gen. Q. A. GILLMORE,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Official:</td><td align='left'>Ed. W. Smith, <i>Asst. Adjt. Gen'l.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"><i>ISRAEL Z. SEALEY, Capt. 47th N.Y. Vols.,</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><i>Act. Asst. Adjt. General.</i></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>The Southern troops generally made no objection to cleaning the quarters +of their white allies, but when a detail from the 54th Mass. Reg't., on +its way to the front, was re-detailed for that purpose, they refused to +obey. The detail was placed under arrest. When this information reached +the regiment it was only by releasing the prisoners that a turbulent +spirit was quieted. There were about ten thousand negro troops in and +about Morris Island at that time, and they quickly sneezed at the 54th's +snuff. The negro barbers in this department had been refusing to shave +and to cut the hair of negro soldiers in common with the whites. +Corporal Kelley of the 54th Mass. Regiment, who had been refused a shave +at a shop located near one of the brigade Headquarters, went there one +evening accompanied by a number of the members of Company C. The men +gathered around the barber's place of business, which rested upon posts +a little up from the ground; the negro barbers were seated in their +chairs resting from their labors and listening to the concert, which it +was customary for a band to give each evening. As the last strains of +music were being delivered, one side of the barber shop was lifted high +and then suddenly dropped; it came down with a crash making a wreck of +the building and its contents, except the barbers, who escaped unhurt, +but who never made their appearance again. The episode resulted in the +issuing of an order forbidding discrimination on account of color.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Washington authorities established recruiting stations throughout +the South. Of the difficulties under which recruiting officers labored +some idea may be formed by reading the following, written by the +historian of the 7th Regiment:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The position of recruiting officer for colored troops was +by no means a sinecure; on the contrary, it was attended +with hardships, annoyances and difficulties without number. +Moving about from place to place; often on scant rations, +and always without transportation, save what could be +pressed into service; sleeping in barns, out-houses, public +buildings,—wherever shelter could be found, and meeting +from the people everywhere opposition and dislike. To have +been an officer of colored troops was of itself sufficient +to ostracize, and when, in addition, one had to take from +them their slaves, dislike became absolute hatred. There +were, of course, exceptions, and doubtless every officer +engaged on this disagreeable duty can bear testimony to +receiving at times a hospitality as generous as it was +unexpected, even from people whom duty compelled them to +despoil. But this was always from "<i>union men</i>," for it must +be confessed that a large proportion of the property-holders +on both the eastern and western shores of the Chesapeake +were as deeply in sympathy with the rebellion as their +brethren over the Virginia border.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the most disagreeable feature of this recruiting +duty was that Gen. Birney (Supt. of recruiting of negro +troops in Maryland) seldom saw fit to give his subordinates +anything but <i>verbal</i> instructions. Officers were ordered to +open recruiting stations; to raid through the country, +carrying off slaves from under the eyes of their masters; to +press horses for their own use and that of their men, and +teams and vehicles for purposes of transportation; to take +forage when needed; to occupy buildings and appropriate +fuel; in short, to do a hundred things they had really no +legal right to do, and had they been called upon, as was +likely to happen at any time, for the authority under which +they were acting, they would have had nothing to show but +their commissions; and if, in carrying out these verbal +instructions from their chief, they had become involved in +serious difficulty, they had little reason to suppose that +they would be sustained by him.</p> + +<p>"When it is remembered that slavery was at that time still a +recognized institution, and that the duty of a recruiting +officer often required him to literally strip a plantation +of its field hands, and that, too, at a time of the year +when the crops were being gathered, it is perhaps to be +wondered that the bitter feelings of the slave-owners did +not often find vent in open resistence and actual violence. +That this delicate and disagreeable duty was performed in a +manner to avoid serious difficulty certainly speaks well for +the prudence and good judgment of the officers and men +engaged in it.</p> + +<p>"The usual method of proceeding was, upon reaching a +designated point, to occupy the most desirable public +building, dwelling-house, warehouse,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> or barn found vacant, +and with this as a rendezvous, small parties were sent into +the surrounding country, visiting each plantation within a +radius of twenty or thirty miles. The parties, sometimes +under charge of an officer, usually consisted of a +non-commissioned officer and ten or twelve men.</p> + +<p>"In these journeys through the country the recruiting +officer often met with strange experiences. Recruits were +taken wherever found, and as their earthly possessions +usually consisted of but what they wore upon their backs, +they required no time to settle their affairs. The laborer +in the field would throw down his hoe or quit his plow and +march away with the guard, leaving his late owner looking +after him in speechless amazement. On one occasion the +writer met a planter on the road, followed by two of his +slaves, each driving a loaded wagon. The usual questions +were asked and the whilom slaves joined the recruiting +party, leaving their teams and late master standing in the +highway. At another time a negro was met with a horse and +wagon. Having expressed his desire to "'list," he turned his +horse's head toward home, and marched away in the opposite +direction.</p> + +<p>"On one occasion the writer visited a large plantation near +Capeville, Va., and calling upon the proprietor asked him to +call in his slaves. He complied without a word, and when +they came and were asked if they wished to enlist, replied +that they did, and fell into the ranks with the guard. As +they started away the old man turned to me, and with tears +in his eyes, said, "Will you take them all? Here I am, an +old man; I cannot work; my crops are ungathered; my negroes +have all enlisted or run away, and what am I to do?" A hard +question, truly. Another officer was called upon by a +gentleman with this question, "You have taken all my +able-bodied men for soldiers, the others have run away, and +only the women and children are left;—what do you propose +to do with them?" Another hard question.</p> + +<p>"At another time, when the <i>Balloon</i> was lying at the mouth +of the Pocomoke, accompanied by Lieut. Brown and with a +boat's crew, we pulled up the river to the plantation of a +Mrs. D., a noted rebel sympathizer. We were met, as we +expected, with the most violent abuse from the fair +proprietoress, which was redoubled when three of her best +slaves, each of whom had probably been worth a couple of +thousand dollars in <i>ante-bellum</i> days, took their bundles +and marched off to the boat. We bade the lady farewell, and +pushed off amid the shouts and screams of a score of negro +women and children, and the tears and execrations of the +widow.</p> + +<p>"To illustrate the unreasonable orders Gen. Birney was +sometimes in the habit of giving to officers engaged under +him on recruiting service, the writer well remembers being +placed by him, at Pungoteague, Va., in charge of some 200 +recruits he had forcibly taken from an officer recruiting +under Col. Nelson's orders, and receiving from him (Gen. +Birney) the most positive orders under no circumstances to +allow Col. Nelson to get possession of them,—Col. Nelson's +steamer was hourly expected—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> that I should be held +personally responsible that they were put on board his own +steamer, and this when I had neither men nor muskets to +enforce the order. Fortunately (for myself) Gen. Birney's +steamer arrived first and the men were safely put on board. +Some days later, Lieut. Brown, who was then in charge of the +same station, had a squad of recruits taken from him by Col. +Nelson, in retaliation.</p> + +<p>"Many a hap-hazard journey was undertaken in search of +recruits and recruiting stations. On one occasion an officer +was ordered by Gen. Birney to take station at a town(?) not +many miles from Port Tobacco, on the Potomac. After two +days' careful search he discovered that the town he was in +search of had been a post-office twenty years before, but +then consisted of one house, uninhabited and uninhabitable, +with not another within the circuit of five miles."</p></div> + +<p>When the Government decided to arm the negroes and ordered the +organization of a hundred regiments, it was with great difficulty the +equipment department met the requisitions. It necessitated a departure +from the accustomed uniform material for volunteers, and helped to +arouse the animosity of the white troops. Instead of the coarse material +issued at first, the Phalanx was clothed in a fine blue-black dress coat +for the infantry, and a superb dark blue jacket for the artillery and +cavalry, all neatly trimmed with brass buttons and white, red and yellow +cord, representing the arm of service; heavy sky blue pantaloons, and a +flannel cap, or high crown black felt hat or <i>chapeau</i> with a black +feather looped upon the right side and fastened with a brass eagle. For +the infantry and for the cavalry two swords crossed; for the artillery +two cannons on the front of the <i>chapeau</i> crossed, with the letters of +the company, and number of the regiment to which the soldier belonged. +On the caps these insignias were worn on the top of the crown. The +uniform of the Phalanx put the threadbare clothes of the white veterans +in sad contrast, and was the cause of many a black soldier being badly +treated by his white comrades.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<p>At the outbreak of the Rebellion, the pay of soldiers (volunteers) was +the same as soldiers of the regular army, by law, $13 per month. The +soldiers of the Phalanx enlisted under the same law and regulations as +did the white volunteers, as to pay and term of service, but the +Secretary of War, after a few regiments were in the field, decided, and +so ordered, that negro troops should be paid ten dollars per month. The +instructions given to General Saxton on the 25th day of August, 1862, +had stated that the pay would be the same as that of the other troops:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In view of the small force under your command, and the +inability of the Government at the present time to increase +it, in order to guard the plantations and settlements +occupied by the United States, from invasion, and to protect +the inhabitants thereof from captivity and murder by the +enemy, you are also authorized to arm, uniform, equip, and +receive into the service of the United States, such number +of volunteers of African descent as you may deem expedient, +not exceeding five thousand, and may detail officers to +instruct them in military drill, discipline and duty, and to +command them. <i>The persons so received into service, and +their officers, to be entitled to, and receive, the same pay +and rations as are allowed, by law, to volunteers in the +service.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>As to the white officers they were paid in full, but the privates and +non-commissioned officers were allowed but $10 per month, three of which +were deducted on account of clothing. In several instances the paymaster +not having received special instructions to that effect, disregarded the +general orders, and paid the negro soldiers in full, like other +volunteers; but the order was generally recognized, though many of the +regiments refused to receive the $7 per month, which was particularly +the case of regiments from the Northern States. The order at one time in +the Department of the Gulf, came very near causing a mutiny among the +troops, because white troops, and conscripts at that, and those who had +done provost duty about the cities, were paid $16 per month,—Congress +having raised the pay,—while the Phalanx regiments in the field and +fortifications were offered $7. The dissatisfaction was so strongly +manifested as to cause twelve members of the Phalanx to lose their +lives, which were not the only ones lost by the bad faith on the part of +the Government.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> However, in no instance did the Phalanx refuse to do +its duty when called upon, and at the sound of the long roll, though the +black flag was raised against them, and many of their families were +suffering at home, their patriotic ardor never abated in the least. At +the North, provisions were made by the States to relieve the families of +the brave men. Massachusetts sent paymasters to make good the promises +of the Government, but the deficiency was rejected. Her regiments, +although a year without pay, refused to accept, and demanded full pay +from the Government. The loyal people of the country, at public meetings +and the press,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> severely criticised the Government, while the +patriotic black men continued to pour out their blood and to give their +lives for liberty and the Union.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 593px;"> +<img src="images/image14.jpg" width="593" height="398" alt="SCENE AT NEW BERNE, N. C." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCENE AT NEW BERNE, N. C.<br /> + +Enthusiasm of the Blacks at the prospect of their being allowed to +enlist as U.S. Soldiers.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>The matter being one for Congress to adjust, Henry Wilson, of +Massachusetts, on the 8th of Jan. 1864, introduced in the Senate of the +United States, a bill to promote enlistments in the army, and in this +measure justice to the black soldiers was proposed. After months of +debate, it was finally passed; not only placing the Phalanx soldiers on +a footing with all other troops, but made free, the mothers, wives and +children of the noble black troops.</p> + +<p>The fight of the Phalanx for equal pay and allowance with the white +troops, was a long one. The friends of the black soldiers in Congress +fought it, however, to the successful issue. Senator Wilson, of +Massachusetts, took the lead in the matter in the Senate, as he did in +the amending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> of the enrolling acts, and the act calling out the +militia, whereby negroes were enrolled.</p> + +<p>In the winter of '64 Gen. Butler began the organization of the Army of +the James and the enlistment of negro troops. A camp was established +near Fortress Monroe, where a great many men enlisted. The Secretary of +War gave permission to the several Northern States to send agents South, +and to enlist negroes to fill up their quotas of troops needed. Large +bounties were then being paid and many a negro received as much as $500 +to enlist; while many who went as substitutes received even more than +that. The recruiting officers or rather agents from the different States +established their headquarters largely within Gen. Butlers departments, +where negro volunteers were frequently secured at a much less price than +the regular bounty offered, the agent putting into his own pocket the +difference, which often amounted to $200 or even $400 on a single +recruit. To correct this wrong, Gen. Butler issued the following order:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="3">HEADQUARTERS DEP'T. VIRGINIA & NORTH CAROLINA,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS,</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Field</span>, Va., <i>August 4th, 1864.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 90.</td><td align='left'>}</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>With all the guards which the utmost vigilance and care have +thrown around the recruitment of white soldiers, it is a +fact, as lamentable as true, that a large portion of the +recruits have been swindled of part, if not all, of their +bounties. Can it be hoped that the colored man will be +better able to protect himself from the infinite ingenuity +of fraud than the white?</p> + +<p>Therefore, to provide for the families of the colored +recruits enlisted in this Department—to relieve the United +States, as far as may be, from the burden of supporting the +families,—and to insure that at least a portion of the +bounty paid to the negro shall be received for his use and +that of his family;</p> + +<p><i>It is ordered</i>: I—That upon the enlistment of any negro +recruit into the service of the United States for three (3) +years, by any State agent or other person not enlisting +recruits under the direct authority of the War Department, a +sum of one hundred (100) dollars, or one-third (1/3) of the +sum agreed to be paid as bounty, shall be paid if the amount +exceeds three times that sum, into the hands of the +Superintendent of Recruiting, or an officer to be designated +by him, and in the same proportion for any less time; and no +Mustering Officer will give any certificate or voucher for +any negro recruit mustered into the service of the United +States, so that he may be credited to the quota of any +State, or as a substitute, until a certificate is filed with +him that the amount called for by this order has been paid, +to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Recruiting of +the district wherein the recruit was enlisted; but the +mustering officer will, in default of such payment, certify +upon the roll that the recruit is not to be credited to the +quota of any State, or as a substitute.</p> + +<p>II—The amount as paid to the Superintendent of Recruiting +shall be turned over, on the last day of each month, to the +Superintendent of Negro Affairs, to be expended in aid of +the families of negro soldiers in this Department. The +certificates filed with Commissary of Musters will be +returned to said Superintendent of Negro Affairs, on the +first day of every month, so that the Superintendent may +vouch for the accounts of the Superintendent of Recruiting, +for the amounts received by him.</p> + +<p>And the Superintendent of Negro Affairs will account monthly +to the Financial Agent of this Department for the amounts +received and expended by him.</p> + +<p>III—As there are unfilled colored Regiments in this +Department sufficient to receive all the negro recruits +therein, no negro male person above the age of sixteen (16) +years, shall be taken out or attempted to be taken out of +this Department, either as a recruit, as officer's servant, +or otherwise, in any manner whatever, without a pass from +these Head Quarters. Any officer, Master of Transportation, +Provost Marshal, or person, who shall aid, assist or permit +any male negro of the age of sixteen (16) years or upwards, +to go out of this Department, in contravention of this +order, will be punished, on conviction thereof before the +Provost Court, by not less than six (6) months imprisonment +at hard labor, under the Superintendent of Prison Labor, at +Norfolk, and if this offence is committed by or with the +connivance of any Master of Steamboat, Schooner, or other +vessel, the steamboat or other vessel shall be seized and +sold, and the proceeds be paid to the Superintendent of +Negro Affairs, for the use of the destitute negroes +supported by the Government.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">By command of Major General <span class="smcap">B. F. Butler:</span><br /></span> +<span class="i40"><i>R. S. DAVIS, Major and Asst. Adjt. General.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i6"><span class="smcap">Official</span>: H. T. SCHROEDER, Lt. & A. A. A. Gen'l.<br /></span> +<span class="i6"><span class="smcap">Official</span>: WM. M. PRATT, Lt. & Aide-de-Camp.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image15.jpg" width="600" height="395" alt="MUSTERING INTO SERVICE" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MUSTERING INTO SERVICE<br /> + +Phalanx soldiers taking the oath of allegiance to the United States.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<p>The chief result of Butler's order was the establishment of the +Freedmens' Savings Bank. At the close of the war, there were in the +hands of the Superintendent of Negro Affairs, eight thousand dollars +unclaimed bounties, belonging, the most of it without doubt, to <i>dead +men</i>; it was placed in a bank at Norfolk, Va. This sum served as a +nucleus for the Freedmens' Bank, which, after gathering large sums of +the Freedmens' money, collapsed suddenly.</p> + +<p>At Camp Hamilton several regiments were organized, including two of +cavalry. The general enlistment ordered by the War Department was pushed +most actively and with great results, till more than one hundred and +seventy-eight thousand, by the records, were enlisted into the army.</p> + +<p>The opposition to negro soldiers did not cease with many of the Union +generals even after the Government at Washington issued its mandate for +their enlistment and impressment, and notwithstanding that the many +thousands in the service, with their display of gallantry, dash and +courage, as exhibited at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, Wagner, and in a +hundred other battles, had astonished and aroused the civilized world. +In view of all this, and, even more strangely, in the face of the Fort +Pillow butchery, General Sherman wrote to the Washington authorities, in +September, 1864, protesting against negro troops being organized in his +department. If Whitelaw Reid's "Ohio in the War," is to be relied upon, +Sherman's treatment of the negroes in his march to the sea was a +counterpart of the Fort Pillow massacre. His opposition was in keeping +with that of the authorities of his state,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> notwithstanding it has +credited to its quota<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> of troops during the war 5,092 negroes, but one +regiment was raised in the State, out of a negro population of 36,673 by +the canvas of 1860.</p> + +<p>According to the statistics on file in the Adjutant General's office, +the States are accredited with the following number of negroes who +served in the army during the Rebellion:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>ALABAMA,</td><td align='right'>2,969</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LOUISIANA,</td><td align='right'>24,052</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NEW HAMPSHIRE,</td><td align='right'>125</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MASSACHUSETTS,</td><td align='right'>3,966</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CONNECTICUT,</td><td align='right'>1,764</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NEW JERSEY,</td><td align='right'>1,185</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>DELAWARE,</td><td align='right'>954</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,</td><td align='right'>3,269</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NORTH CAROLINA,</td><td align='right'>5,035</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SOUTH CAROLINA,</td><td align='right'>5,462</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FLORIDA,</td><td align='right'>1,044</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TENNESSEE,</td><td align='right'>20,133</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MICHIGAN,</td><td align='right'>1,387</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>INDIANA,</td><td align='right'>1,537</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MISSOURI,</td><td align='right'>8,344</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>IOWA,</td><td align='right'>440</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>KANSAS,</td><td align='right'>2,080</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>COLORADO TERRITORY,</td><td align='right'>95</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MISSISSIPPI,</td><td align='right'>17,869</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MAINE,</td><td align='right'>104</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VERMONT,</td><td align='right'>120</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>RHODE ISLAND,</td><td align='right'>1,837</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NEW YORK,</td><td align='right'>4,125</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>PENNSYLVANIA,</td><td align='right'>8,612</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MARYLAND,</td><td align='right'>8,718</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VIRGINIA,</td><td align='right'>5,723</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WEST VIRGINIA,</td><td align='right'>196</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GEORGIA,</td><td align='right'>3,486</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ARKANSAS,</td><td align='right'>5,526</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>KENTUCKY,</td><td align='right'>23,703</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>OHIO,</td><td align='right'>5,092</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ILLINOIS,</td><td align='right'>1,811</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MINNESOTA,</td><td align='right'>104</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WISCONSIN,</td><td align='right'>165</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TEXAS,</td><td align='right'>47</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NOT ACCOUNTED FOR,</td><td align='right'>5,896</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TOTAL,</td><td align='right'>178,975.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The losses these troops sustained from sickness, wounds, killed in +battle and other casualties incident to war, was 68,178.</p> + +<p>The aggregate negro population in the U. S. in 1860 was 4,449,201, of +which 3,950,531 were slaves.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image16.jpg" width="600" height="368" alt="PHALANX SOLDIERS ORGANIZING AND DRILLING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX SOLDIERS ORGANIZING AND DRILLING.</span> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> General:—The exigencies of the service require that an +inspection should be made of the Armies, military posts and military +operations in the West; you will therefore make arrangements immediately +to perform that service. Without entering into any minute details, I beg +to direct your attention to the following subjects of investigation: +</p><p> +First. On arriving at Cairo, you will make a careful examination of the +military condition of that post, in the various branches of service, and +report to this Department, the result of your investigation, suggesting +whatever in your opinion, the service may require. You will observe +particularly the condition of that class of population known as +contrabands; the manner in which they are received, provided for and +treated by the military authorities, and give such directions to the +Commissary and Quartermaster Departments, and to the officers +commanding, as shall, in your judgement, be necessary to secure to them +humane and proper treatment, in respect to food, clothing, compensation +for their service, and whatever is necessary to enable them to support +themselves, and to furnish useful service in any capacity to the +Government. +</p><p> +Second. You will make similar observation at Columbus, Memphis and other +posts in your progress to the Headquarters of General Grant's Army. +</p><p> +Third. The President desires that you should confer freely with Major +General Grant, and the officers with whom you may have communication, +and explain to them the importance attached by the Government to the use +of the colored population emancipated by the President's Proclamation, +and particularly for the organization of their labor and military +strength. You will cause it to be understood that no officer in the +United States service is regarded as in the discharge of his duties +under the Acts of Congress, the President's Proclamation, and orders of +this Department, who fails to employ to the utmost extent, the aid and +co-operation of the loyal colored population in performing the labor +incident to military operations, and also in performing the duties of +soldiers under proper organization, and that any obstacle thrown in the +way of these ends, is regarded by the President as a violation of the +Acts of Congress, and the declared purposes of the Government in using +every means to bring the war to an end. +</p><p> +Fourth. You will ascertain what military officers are willing to take +command of colored troops; ascertain their qualifications for that +purpose, and if troops can be raised and organized, you will, so far as +can be done without prejudice to the service, relieve officers and +privates from the service in which they are engaged, to receive +commissions such as they may be qualified to exercise in the +organization of brigades, regiments and companies of colored troops. You +are authorized in this connection, to issue in the name of this +department, letters of appointment for field and company officers, and +to organize such troops for military service to the utmost extent to +which they can be obtained in accordance with the rules and regulations +of the service. You will see, more over, and expressly enjoin upon the +various staff departments of the service, that such troops are to be +provided with supplies upon the requisition of the proper officers, and +in the same manner as other troops in the service. +</p><p class="center"> +* * * * +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">Very Respectfully Your Obedient Servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i26">EDWARD M. STANTON, <i>Sec. of War.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i40">BRIG. GEN. L. THOMAS,<br /></span> +<span class="i40">Adjt. Gen'l. U.S. Army.<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson in an appendix to his +"Army Life in a Black Regiment," gives some account of the organization +of negro troops, from which is condensed the following: +</p><p> +"It is well known that the first systematic attempt to organize colored +troops during the war of the rebellion was the so-called "Hunter +Regiment." The officer originally detailed to recruit for this purpose +was Sergeant C. T. Trowbridge, of the New York Volunteer Engineers (Col. +Serrell.) His detail was dated May 7, 1862, S. O. 84, Dept. South. +</p><p> +"The second regiment in order of muster was the First Kansas Colored, +dating from January 13, 1863. The first enlistment in the Kansas +regiment goes back to August 6, 1862; while the earliest technical date +of enlistment in my regiment was October 19, 1862, although, as was +stated above, one company really dated its organization back to May, +1862. My muster as Colonel dates back to November 10, 1862, several +months earlier than any other of which I am aware, among colored +regiments, except that of Col. Stafford, (First Louisiana Native +Guards,) Sept. 27, 1862. Colonel Williams, of the First Kansas Colored, +was mustered as Lt. Colonel on Jan. 13, 1863; as Col., March 8, 1863. +These dates I have (with the other facts relating to the regiment) from +Col. R. J. Hinton, the first officer detailed to recruit it. +</p><p> +"The first detachment of the Second South Carolina Volunteers (Col. +Montgomery) went into camp at Port Royal Island, February 23, 1863, +numbering one hundred and twenty men. I do not know the date of his +muster; it was somewhat delayed, but was probably dated back to about +that time. +</p><p> +"Recruiting for the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts (colored) began on +February 9, 1863, and the first squad went into camp at Readville, +Massachusetts, on February 21, 1863, numbering twenty-five men. Col. +Shaw's commission—and probably his muster—was dated April 17, 1863. +(Report of Adjutant General of Massachusetts for 1863, pp. 896-899.) +These were the earliest colored regiments, so far as I know."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>GENERAL ORDERS</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='right'>WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant General's Office,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 143.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='right'><i>Washington</i>, May 22, 1863.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>I.—A Bureau is established in the Adjutant General's Office for the +record of all matters relating to the organization of Colored Troops. An +officer will be assigned to the charge of the Bureau, with such number +of clerks as may be designated by the Adjutant General. +</p><p> +II.—Three or more field officers will be detailed as Inspectors to +supervise the organization of colored troops at such points as may be +indicated by the War Department in the Northern and Western States. +</p><p> +III.—Boards will be convened at such posts as may be decided upon by +the War Department to examine applicants for commissions to command +colored troops, who, on application to the Adjutant General, may receive +authority to present themselves to the board for examination. +</p><p> +IV—No persons shall be allowed to recruit for colored troops except +specially authorized by the War Department; and no such authority will +be given to persons who have not been examined and passed by a board; +nor will such authority be given any one person to raise more than one +regiment. +</p><p> +V.—The reports of Boards will specify the grade of commission for which +each candidate is fit, and authority to recruit will be given in +accordance. Commissions will be issued from the Adjutant General's +Office when the prescribed number of men is ready for muster into +service. +</p><p> +VI.—Colored troops may be accepted by companies, to be afterwards +consolidated in battalions and regiments by the Adjutant General. The +regiments will be numbered <i>seriatim</i>, in the order in which they are +raised, the numbers to be determined by the Adjutant General. They will +be designated: "—— Regiment of U. S. Colored Troops." +</p><p> +VII.—Recruiting stations and depots will be established by the Adjutant +General as circumstances shall require, and officers will be detailed to +muster and inspect the troops. +</p><p> +VIII.—The non-commissioned officers of colored troops may be selected +and appointed from the best men of their number in the usual mode of +appointing non-commissioned officers. Meritorious commissioned officers +will be entitled to promotion to higher rank if they prove themselves +equal to it. +</p><p> +IX.—All personal applications for appointments in colored regiments, or +for information concerning them, must be made to the Chief of the +Bureau; all written communications should be addressed to the Chief of +the Bureau, to the care of the Adjutant General. +</p> +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">By Order of the Secretary of War</span>:<br /> +E. D. TOWNSEND. <i>Asst. Adjt. General.</i></p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> I attempted to pass Jackson Square in New Orleans one day +in my uniform, when I was met by two white soldiers of the 24th Conn. +They halted me and then ordered me to undress. I refused, when they +seized me and began to tear my coat off. I resisted, but to no good +purpose; a half a dozen others came up and began to assist. I recognized +a sergeant in the crowd, an old shipmate on board of a New Bedford, +Mass., Whaler; he came to my rescue, my clothing was restored and I was +let go. It was nothing strange to see a black soldier <i>a la Adam</i> come +into the barracks out of the streets. This conduct led to the killing of +a portion of a boat's crew of the U. S. Gunboat <i>Jackson</i>, at Ship +Island, Miss., by members of a Phalanx regiment stationed there.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> The injustice done the Phalanx, in discriminating between +the Northern and Southern negro, may be clearly seen by the following +letters: +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">New Victories and Old Wrongs</span>.—<i>To the Editors of the Evening Post</i>: On +the 2d of July, at James Island, S. C., a battery was taken by three +regiments, under the following circumstances: +</p><p> +"The regiments were the One Hundred and Third New York (white), the +Thirty-Third United States (formerly First South Carolina Volunteers), +and the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts, the two last being colored. They +marched at one A. M., by the flank, in the above order, hoping to +surprise the battery. As usual the rebels were prepared for them, and +opened upon them as they were deep in one of those almost impassable +Southern marshes. The One Hundred and Third New York, which had +previously been in twenty battles, was thrown into confusion; the +Thirty-Third United States did better, being behind; the Fifty-Fifth +Massachusetts being in the rear, did better still. All three formed in +line, when Colonel Hartwell, commanding the brigade, gave the order to +retreat. The officer commanding the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts, either +misunderstanding the order, or hearing it countermanded, ordered his +regiment to charge. This order was at once repeated by Major Trowbridge, +commanding the Thirty-Third United States, and by the commander of the +One Hundred and Third New York, so that the three regiments reached the +fort in reversed order. The color-bearers of the Thirty-Third United +States and of the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts had a race to be first in, +the latter winning. The One Hundred and Third New York entered the +battery immediately after. +</p><p> +"These colored regiments are two of the five which were enlisted in +South Carolina and Massachusetts, under the written pledge of the War +Department that they should have the same pay and allowances as white +soldiers. That pledge has been deliberately broken by the War +Department, or by Congress, or by both, except as to the short period, +since last New Year's Day. Every one of those killed in this action from +these two colored regiments—under a fire before which the veterans of +twenty battles recoiled—<i>died defrauded by the Government of nearly +one-half of his petty pay</i>. +</p><p> +"Mr. Fessenden, who defeated in the Senate the bill for the fulfillment +of the contract with these soldiers, is now Secretary of the Treasury. +Was the economy of saving six dollars per man worth to the Treasury the +ignominy of the repudiation? +</p><p> +"Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, on his triumphal return to his +constituents, used to them this language: 'He had no doubt whatever as +to the final result of the present contest between liberty and slavery. +The only doubt he had was whether the nation had yet been satisfactorily +chastised for their cruel oppression of a harmless and long-suffering +race.' Inasmuch as it was Mr. Stevens himself who induced the House of +Representatives, most unexpectedly to all, to defeat the Senate bill for +the fulfilment of the national contract with these soldiers, I should +think he had excellent reasons for the doubt. +</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Very respectfully,</td><td align='right'>T. W. HIGGINSON,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>July 10, 1864.</td><td align='right'><i>Col. 1st S. C. Vols. (now 33d U. S.)</i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">* * * *</span><br /> +</p><p> +"<i>To the Editor of the New York Tribune</i>: No one can possibly be so +weary of reading of the wrongs done by Government toward the colored +soldiers as I am of writing about them. This is my only excuse for +intruding on your columns again. +</p><p> +"By an order of the War Department, dated Aug 1, 1864, it is at length +ruled that colored soldiers shall be paid the full pay of soldiers from +date of enlistment, provided they were free on April 19, 1861,—not +otherwise; and this distinction is to be noted on the pay-rolls. In +other words, if one half of a company escaped from slavery on April 18, +1861, they are to be paid thirteen dollars per month and allowed three +dollars and a half per month for clothing. If the other half were +delayed two days, they receive seven dollars per month and are allowed +three dollars per month for precisely the same articles of clothing. If +one of the former class is made first sergeant, his pay is put up to +twenty-one dollars per month; but if he escaped two days later, his pay +is still estimated at seven dollars. +</p><p> +"It had not occurred to me that anything could make the pay-rolls of +these regiments more complicated than at present, or the men more +rationally discontented. I had not the ingenuity to imagine such an +order. Yet it is no doubt in accordance with the spirit, if not with the +letter, of the final bill which was adopted by Congress under the lead +of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens. +</p><p> +"The ground taken by Mr. Stevens apparently was that the country might +honorably save a few dollars by docking the promised pay of those +colored soldiers whom the war had made free. <i>But the Government should +have thought of this before it made the contract with these men and +received their services.</i> When the War Department instructed +Brigadier-General Saxton, August 25, 1862, to raise five regiments of +negroes in South Carolina, it was known very well that the men so +enlisted had only recently gained their freedom. But the instructions +said: 'The persons so received into service, and their officers, to be +entitled to and receive the same pay and rations as are allowed by law +to volunteers in the service.' Of this passage Mr. Solicitor Whiting +wrote to me: 'I have no hesitation in saying that the faith of the +Government was thereby pledged to every officer and soldier enlisted +under that call.' Where is that faith of the Government now? +</p><p> +"The men who enlisted under the pledge were volunteers, every one; they +did not get their freedom by enlisting; they had it already. They +enlisted to serve the Government, trusting in its honor. Now the nation +turns upon them and says: Your part of the contract is fulfilled; we +have had your services. If you can show that you had previously been +free for a certain length of time, we will fulfil the other side of the +contract. If not, we repudiate it. Help yourselves, if you can. +</p><p> +"In other words, a freedman (since April 19, 1861) has no rights which a +white man is bound to respect. He is incapable of making a contract. No +man is bound by a contract made with him. Any employer, following the +example of the United States Government, may make with him a written +agreement, receive his services, and then withhold the wages. He has no +motive to honest industry, or to honesty of any kind. He is virtually a +slave, and nothing else, to the end of time. +</p><p> +"Under this order, the greater part of the Massachusetts colored +regiments will get their pay at last, and be able to take their wives +and children out of the almshouses, to which, as Governor Andrew informs +us, the gracious charity of the nation has consigned so many. For so +much I am grateful. But toward my regiment, which had been in service +and under fire, months before a Northern colored soldier was recruited, +the policy of repudiation has at last been officially adopted. There is +no alternative for the officers of South Carolina regiments but to wait +for another session of Congress, and meanwhile, if necessary, act as +executioners for these soldiers who, like Sergeant Walker, refuse to +fulfil their share of a contract where the Government has openly +repudiated the other share. If a year's discussion, however, has at +length secured the arrears of pay for the Northern colored regiments, +possibly two years may secure it for the Southern.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>"T. W. HIGGINSON,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"August 12, 1864.</td><td align='right'><i>Col. 1st S. C. Vols., (now 33d U. S.)</i>"</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "It has been said that one negro regiment was raised in +1863. More ought to have been secured; let it never be said that it was +the fault of the colored men themselves that they were not. +</p><p> +"At the first call for troops in 1861, Governor Dennison was asked if he +would accept negro volunteers. In deference to a sentiment then almost +universal, not less than to the explicit regulations of the Government, +he replied that he could not. When the Emancipation Proclamation changed +the status of negroes so completely, and the Government began to accept +their services, they resumed their applications to the State +authorities. Governor Tod still discouraged them. He had previously +committed himself, in repelling the opportunities of their leaders, to +the theory that it would be contrary to our laws, and without warrant +either in their spirit or letter, to accept them, even under calls for +militia. He now did all he could to transfer such as wished to enlist, +to the Massachusetts regiments. +</p><p> +"The Adjutant-General, in his report for 1863, professed his inability +to say why Massachusetts should be permitted to make Ohio a +recruiting-ground for filling her quotas. If he had looked into the +correspondence which the Governor gave to the public in connection with +his message, he would have found out. As early as May 11th the Governor +said, in a letter to Hon. Wm. Porter, of Millon, Ohio: 'I do not propose +to raise any colored troops. Those now being recruited in this State are +recruited by authority from Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts.' +</p><p> +"A few days later he wrote to Hon. John M. Langston: 'As it was +uncertain what number of colored men could be promptly raised in Ohio. I +have advised and still do advise, that those disposed to enter the +service promptly join the Massachusetts regiments. * * * Having +requested the Governor of Massachusetts to organize the colored men from +Ohio into separate companies, so far as practicable, and also to keep me +fully advised of the names, age, and place of residence of each, Ohio +will have the full benefit of all enlistments from the State, and the +recruits themselves the benefit of the State Associations to the same +extent nearly as if organized into a State regiment.' And to persons +proposing to recruit said companies he wrote that all commissions would +be issued by the Governor of Massachusetts. In this course he had the +sanction if not the original suggestion of the Secretary of War. +Afterward his applications for authority to raise an Ohio regiment were +for sometime refused, but finally he secured it, and the One Hundred and +Twenty-Seventh was the quick result. Unfortunately it was numbered the +Fifth United States Colored. The result of all this was that Ohio +received credit for little over a third of her colored citizens who +volunteered for the war."—<i>Reid's Ohio in the War, Vol. I, p. 176.</i></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>RECRUITING AND ORGANIZING IN SOUTH CAROLINA.</h3> + + +<p>"Private Miles O'Reilly" was the <i>nom de plume</i> of a talented literary +gentleman of the city of New York, who wrote much in humorous prose and +verse. His real name was Charles G. Halpine. After an honorable service +in the war, rising to high rank, he was elected Register of New York, +and died suddenly while in office, in 1868. The following sketches from +his pen, published during the war, give an account of matters connected +with the recruiting and organizing of negro troops in South Carolina, +and are quoted here as interesting historical facts connected with the +subject:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Black troops are now an established success, and +hereafter—while the race can furnish enough able-bodied +males—the probability would seem that one-half the +permanent naval and military forces of the United States +will be drawn from this material, under the guidance and +control of the white officers. To-day there is much +competition among the field and staff officers of our white +volunteers—more especially in those regiments about being +disbanded—to obtain commission of like or even lower grades +in the colored regiments of Uncle Sam. General Casey's board +of examination cannot keep in session long enough, nor +dismiss incompetent aspirants quick enough, to keep down the +vast throngs of veterans, with and without shoulder-straps, +who are now seeking various grades of command in the colored +brigades of the Union. Over this result all intelligent men +will rejoice,—the privilege of being either killed or +wounded in battle, or stricken down by the disease, toil and +privations incident to the life of a marching soldier, not +belonging to that class of prerogative for the exclusive +enjoyment of which men of sense, and with higher careers +open to them, will long contend. Looking back, however, but +a few years, to the organization of the first regiment of +black troops in the departments of the South, what a change +in public opinion are we compelled to recognize! In sober +verity, war is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> not only the sternest, but the quickest, of +all teachers; and contrasting the Then and Now of our negro +regiments, as we propose to do in this sketch, the contrast +will forcibly recall Galileo's obdurate assertion that 'the +world still moves.'</p> + +<p>"Be it known, then, that the first regiment of black troops +raised in our recent war, was raised in the Spring of 1862 +by the commanding general of the department of the South, of +his own motion, and without any direct authority of law, +order, or even sanction from the President, the Secretary of +War, or our House of Congress. It was done by General Hunter +as 'a military necessity' under very peculiar circumstances, +to be detailed hereafter; and although repudiated at first +by the Government as were so many other measures originated +in the same quarter, it was finally adopted as the settled +policy of the country and of our military system; as have +likewise since been adopted, all the other original measures +for which these officers, at the time of their first +announcement, was made to suffer both official rebuke and +the violently vituperative denunciation of more than +one-half the Northern press.</p> + +<p>"In the Spring of 1862, General Hunter, finding himself with +less than eleven thousand men under his command, and charged +with the duty of holding the whole tortuous and broken +seacoast of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, had applied +often, and in vain, to the authorities at Washington for +reinforcements. All the troops that could be gathered in the +North were less than sufficient for the continuous drain of +General McClellan's great operations against the enemy's +capital; and the reiterated answer of the War Department +was: 'You must get along as best you can. Not a man from the +North can be spared.'</p> + +<p>"On the mainland of three States nominally forming the +Department of the South, the flag of the Union had no +permanent foothold, save at Fernandina, St. Augustine, and +some few unimportant points along the Florida coast. It was +on the Sea-islands of Georgia and South Carolina that our +troops were stationed, and continually engaged in +fortifying,—the enemy being everywhere visible, and in +force, across the narrow creeks dividing us from the +mainland; and in various raids they came across to our +islands, and we drove them back to the mainland, and up +their creeks, with a few gunboats to help us—being the +order of the day; yea, and yet oftener, of the night.</p> + +<p>"No reinforcements to be had from the North; vast fatigue +duties in throwing up earthworks imposed on our insufficient +garrison; the enemy continually increasing both in insolence +and numbers; our only success the capture of Fort Pulaski, +sealing up of Savannah; and this victory offset, if not +fully counter-balanced, by many minor gains of the enemy; +this was about the condition of affairs as seen from the +headquarters fronting Port Royal bay, when General Hunter +one fine morning, with twirling glasses, puckered lips, and +dilated nostrils, (he had just received another +'don't-bother-us-for-reinforcements' dispatch from +Washington) announced his intention of 'forming a negro +regiment, and compelling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> every able-bodied black man in the +department to fight for the freedom which could not but be +the issue of our war.'</p> + +<p>"This resolution being taken, was immediately acted upon +with vigor, the General causing all the necessary orders to +be issued, and taking upon himself, as his private burden, +the responsibility for all the irregular issues of arms, +clothing, equipments, and rations involved in collecting and +organizing the first experimental negro regiment. The men he +intended to pay, at first, by placing them as laborers on +the pay-roll of the Chief Quartermaster; but it was his hope +that the obvious necessity and wisdom of the measure he had +thus presumed to adopt without authority, would secure for +it the immediate approval of the higher authorities, and the +necessary orders to cover the required pay and supply-issue +of the force he had in contemplation. If his course should +be endorsed by the War Department, well and good; if it were +not so indorsed, why, he had enough property of his own to +pay back to the Government all he was irregularly expending +in this experiment.</p> + +<p>"But now, on the very threshold of this novel enterprise, +came the first—and it was not a trivial—difficulty. Where +could experienced officers be found for such an +organization? 'What! command niggers?' was the reply—if +possible more amazed than scornful—of nearly every +competent young lieutenant or captain of volunteers to whom +the suggestion of commanding this class of troops was made. +'Never mind,' said Hunter, when this trouble was brought to +his notice; 'the fools or bigots who refuse are enough +punished by their refusal. Before two years they will be +competing eagerly for the commission they now reject.' +Straightly there was issued a circular to all commanding +officers in the department, directing them to announce to +the non-commissioned officers and men of their respective +commands that commissions in the 'South Carolina Regiment of +Colored Infantry,' would be given to all deserving and +reputable sergeants, corporals; and men who would appear at +department headquarters, and prove able to pass an +examination in the manual and tactics before a Band of +Examiners, which was organized in a general order of current +date. Capt. Arthur M. Kenzie, of Chicago, aid-de-camp,—now +of Hancock's Veterans Reserve Corps—was detailed as Colonel +of the regiment, giving place, subsequently, in consequence +of injured health, to the present Brig.-Gen. James D. +Fessenden, then a captain in the Berdan Sharpshooters, +though detailed as acting aid-de-camp on Gen. Hunter's +staff. Capt. Kenzie, we may add, was Gen. Hunter's nephew, +and his appointment as Colonel was made partly to prove—so +violent was then the prejudice against negro troops—that +the Commanding General asks nothing of them which he was not +willing that one of his own flesh and blood should be +engaged in.</p> + +<p>"The work was now fairly in progress, but the barriers of +prejudice were not to be lightly overthrown. +Non-commissioned officers and men of the right stamp, and +able to pass the examination requisite, were scarce +articles. Ten had the hardihood or moral courage to face +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> screaming, riotous ridicule of their late associates in +the white regiments. We remember one very striking instance +in point, which we shall give as a sample of the whole.</p> + +<p>"Our friend Mr. Charles F. Briggs, of this city, so well +known in literary circles, had a nephew enlisted in that +excellent regiment the 48th New York, then garrisoning Fort +Pulaski and the works of Tybee Island. This youngster had +raised himself by gallantry and good conduct to be a +non-commissioned officer; and Mr. Briggs was anxious that he +should be commissioned, according to his capacities, in the +colored troops then being raised. The lad was sent for, +passed his examination with credit, and was immediately +offered a first lieutenancy, with the promise of being made +captain when his company should be filled up to the required +standard,—probably within ten days.</p> + +<p>"The inchoate first-lieutenant was in ecstasies; a gentleman +by birth and education, he longed for the shoulder-straps. +He appeared joyously grateful; and only wanted leave to run +up to Fort Pulaski for the purpose of collecting his traps, +taking leave of his former comrades, and procuring his +discharge-papers from Col. Barton. Two days after that came +a note to the department headquarters respectfully declining +the commission! He had been laughed and jeered out of +accepting a captaincy by his comrades; and this—though we +remember it more accurately from our correspondence with Mr. +Briggs—was but one of many scores of precisely similar +cases.</p> + +<p>"At length, however, officers were found; the ranks were +filled; the men learned with uncommon quickness, having the +imitativeness of so many monkeys apparently, and such +excellent ears for music that all evolutions seemed to come +to them by nature. At once, despite all hostile influence, +the negro regiment became one of the lions of the South; and +strangers visiting the department, crowded out eagerly to +see its evening parades and Sunday-morning inspection. By a +strange coincidence, its camp was pitched on the lawn and +around the mansion of Gen. Drayton, who commanded the rebel +works guarding Hilton Head, Port Royal and Beaufort, when +the same were first captured by the joint naval and military +operations under Admiral DuPont and General Timothy W. +Sherman,—General Drayton's brother, Captain Drayton of our +navy, having command of one of the best vessels in the +attacking squadron; as he subsequently took part in the +first iron-clad attack on Fort Sumpter.</p> + +<p>"Meantime, however, the War Department gave no sign, and the +oracles of the Adjutant-General's office were dumb as the +statue of the Sphynx. Reports of the organization of the +First South Carolina infantry were duly forwarded to army +headquarters; but evoked no comment, either of approval or +rebuke. Letters detailing what had been done, and the reason +for doing it; asking instructions, and to have commissions +duly issued to the officers selected; appeals that the +department paymaster should be instructed to pay these negro +troops like other soldiers; demands that the Government +should either shoulder the responsibility of sustaining the +organization, or give such orders as would absolve Gen. +Hunter from the responsibility of backing out from an +experiment which he believed to be essential to the +salvation of the country,—all these appeals to Washington +proved in vain; for the oracles still remained profoundly +silent, probably waiting to see how public opinion and the +politicians would receive this daring innovation.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image17.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="FORTIFICATIONS AT HILTON HEAD. + +Gen'l. Hunter's black regiment in the distance." title="" /> +<span class="caption">FORTIFICATIONS AT HILTON HEAD. + +Gen'l. Hunter's black regiment in the distance.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At length one evening a special dispatch steamer plowed her +way over the bar, and a perspiring messenger delivered into +Gen. Hunter's hands a special despatch from the War +Department, 'requiring immediate answer.' The General was +just about mounting his horse for his evening ride along the +picket-line, when this portentous missive was brought under +his notice. Hastily opening it, he first looked grave, then +began to smile, and finally burst into peals of +irrepressible laughter, such as were rarely heard from +'Black David,' his old army name. Never was the General +seen, before or since, in such good spirits; he literally +was unable to speak from constant interruption of laughter; +and all his Adjutant-General could gather from him was: +'That he would not part with the document in his hand for +fifty thousand dollars.'</p> + +<p>"At length he passed over the dispatch to his Chief of +Staff, who on reading it, and re-reading it, could find in +its texts but little apparent cause for merriment. It was a +grave demand from the War Department for information in +regard to our negro regiment—the demand being based on a +certain resolution introduced by the Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of +Kentucky, asking for specific information on the point, in a +tone clearly not friendly. These resolutions had been +adopted by Congress; and as Hunter was without authority for +any of his actions in this case, it seemed to his then not +cheerful Adjutant-General that the documents in his hands +were the reverse of hilarious.</p> + +<p>"Still Hunter was in extravagant spirits as he rode along, +his laughter startling the squirrels in the dense pine +woods, and every attempt that he made to explain himself +being again and again interrupted by renewed peals of +inextinguishable mirth. 'The fools!' he at length managed to +say; 'that old fool has just given me the very chance I was +growing sick for! The War Department has refused to notice +my black regiment; but now, in reply to this resolution, I +can lay the matter before the country, and force the +authorities either to adopt my negroes or to disband them.' +He then rapidly sketched out the kind of reply he wished to +have prepared; and, with the first ten words of his +explanation, the full force of the cause he had for laughter +became apparent. Never did a General and his Chief-of-Staff, +in a more unseemly state of cachinnation, ride along a +picket-line. At every new phase of the subject it presented +new features of the ludicrous; and though the reply at this +late date may have lost much of the drollery which then it +wore, it is a serio-comic document of as much vital +importance in the moral history of our late contest as any +that can be found in the archives under the care of Gen. E. +D. Townsend. It was received late Sunday evening, and was +answered very late that night, in order to be in time for +the steamer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> <i>Arago</i>, which sailed at daylight next +morning,—the dispatch-steamer which brought the request +'for immediate information' having sustained some injuries +which prevented an immediate return. It was written after +midnight, we may add, in a tornado of thunder and tempest +such as has rarely been known even on that tornado-stricken +coast; but loud as were the peals and vivid the flashes of +heaven's artillery, there were at least two persons within +the lines on Hilton Head who were laughing far too noisily +themselves to pay any heed to external clamors. The reply +thus concocted and sent, from an uncorrected manuscript copy +now in our possession, ran as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><i>Hilton Head, S. C.</i>, June, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"To the <span class="smcap">Hon. E. M. Stanton</span>, Secretary of War, Washington, D. +C.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a +communication from the Adjutant-General of the Army, dated +June 13, 1862, requesting me to furnish you with the +information necessary to answer certain Resolutions +introduced in the House of Representatives June 9, 1862, on +motion of the Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky; their +substance being to enquire:</p> + +<p>"1st—Whether I had organized, or was organizing, a regiment +of 'fugitive slaves' in this department.</p> + +<p>"2d—Whether any authority had been given to me from the War +Department for such an organization; and</p> + +<p>"3rd—Whether I had been furnished, by order of the War +Department, with clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments, and +so forth, for such a force?</p> + +<p>"Only having received the letter at a late hour this +evening, I urge forward my answer in time for the steamer +sailing to-morrow morning,—this haste preventing me from +entering, as minutely as I could wish, upon many points of +detail, such as the paramount importance of the subject +would seem to call for. But, in view of the near termination +of the present session of Congress, and the wide-spread +interest which must have been awakened by Mr. Wickliffe's +resolutions, I prefer sending even this imperfect answer to +waiting the period necessary for the collection of fuller +and more comprehensive data.</p> + +<p>"To the first question, therefore, I reply: That no regiment +of 'fugitive slaves' has been, or is being, organized in +this department. There is, however, a fine regiment of loyal +persons whose late masters are fugitive rebels—men who +everywhere fly before the appearance of the national flag, +leaving their loyal and unhappy servants behind them, to +shift, as best they can, for themselves. So far, indeed, are +the loyal persons composing the regiment from seeking to +evade the presence of their late owners, that they are now, +one and all, endeavoring with commendable zeal to acquire +the drill and discipline requisite to place them in a +position to go in full and effective pursuit of their +fugacious and traitorous proprietors.</p> + +<p>"To the second question, I have the honor to answer that the +instructions given to Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman by the Hon. +Simon Cameron, late Secretary of War, and turned over to me, +by succession, for my guidance, do distinctly authorize me +to employ 'all loyal persons offering their service in +defence of the Union, and for the suppression of this +rebellion,' in any manner I may see fit, or that +circumstances may call for. There is no restriction as to +the character or color of the persons to be employed, or the +nature of the employment—whether civil or military—in +which their services may be used. I conclude, therefore, +that I have been authorized to enlist 'fugitive slaves' as +soldiers, could any such fugitives be found in this +department. No such characters, however, have yet appeared +within view of our most advanced pickets,—the loyal negroes +everywhere remaining on their plantations to welcome us, aid +us, and supply us with food, labor and information. It is +the masters who have in every instance been the 'fugitives,' +running away from loyal slaves as well as loyal soldiers; +and these, as yet, we have only partially been able to +see—chiefly their heads over ramparts, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> dodging behind +trees, rifles in hand, in the extreme distance. In the +absence of any 'fugitive master law,' the deserted slaves +would be wholly without remedy had not the crime of treason +given them right to pursue, capture and bring those persons +of whose benignant protection they have been thus suddenly +and cruelly bereft.</p> + +<p>"To the third interrogatory, it is my painful duty to reply +that I have never received any specific authority for issue +of clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments and so forth, to the +troops in question,—my general instructions from Mr. +Cameron, to employ them in any manner I might find +necessary, and the military exigencies of the department and +the country, being my only, but I trust, sufficient +justification. Neither have I had any specific authority for +supplying these persons with shovels, spades, and pickaxes, +when employing them as laborers; nor with boats and oars, +when using them as lighter-men; but these are not points +included in Mr. Wickliffe's resolution. To me it seemed that +liberty to employ men in any particular capacity implied and +carried with it liberty, also, to supply them with the +necessary tools; and, acting upon this faith, I have +clothed, equiped, and armed the only loyal regiment yet +raised in South Carolina, Georgia or Florida.</p> + +<p>"I must say, in vindication of my own conduct, that, had it +not been for the many other diversified and imperative +claims on my time and attention, a much more satisfactory +result might to have been achieved; and that, in place of +only one regiment, as at present, at least five or six +well-drilled, and thoroughly acclimated regiments should, by +this time, have been added to the loyal forces of the Union.</p> + +<p>"The experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have made +it, has been a complete and even marvellous success. They +are sober, docile, attentive, and enthusiastic; displaying +great natural capacities in acquiring the duties of the +soldier. They are now eager beyond all things to take the +field and be led into action; and it is the unanimous +opinion of the officers who have had charge of them that, in +the peculiarities of this climate and country, they will +prove invaluable auxiliaries, fully equal to the similar +regiments so long and successfully used by the British +authorities in the West India Islands.</p> + +<p>"In conclusion, I would say, it is my hope—there appearing +no possibility of other reinforcements, owing to the +exigencies of the campaign in the Peninsula—to have +organized by the end of next fall, and be able to present to +the government, from forty-eight to fifty thousand of these +hardy and devoted soldiers.</p> + +<p>"Trusting that this letter may be made part of your answer +to Mr. Wickliffe's resolutions, I have the honor to be,</p> + +<p class="right">Very respectfully your most obedient servant,<br /> +DAVID HUNTER, <i>Maj.-Gen. Commanding.</i>"</p> + + +<p>"This missive was duly sent, with many misgivings that it +would not get through the routine of the War Department in +time to be laid before Congress previous to the adjournment +of that honorable body which was then imminent. There were +fears; too, that the Secretary of War might think it not +sufficiently respectful, or serious in its tone; but such +apprehensions proved unfounded. The moment it was received +and read in the War Department, it was hurried down to the +House, and delivered, <i>ore retundo</i>, from the clerk's desk.</p> + +<p>"Here its effects were magical. The clerk could scarcely +read it with decorum; nor could half his words be heard +amidst the universal peals of laughter in which both +Democrats and Republicans appeared to vie as to which should +be the more noisy. Mr. Wickliffe, who only entered during +the reading of the latter half of the document, rose to his +feet in a frenzy of indignation, complaining that the reply, +of which he had only heard some portion, was an insult to +the dignity of the House, and should be severely noticed. +The more he raved and gesticulated, the more irrepressibly +did his colleagues, on both sides of the slavery question,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +scream and laugh; until finally, the merriment reached its +climax on a motion made by some member—Schuyler Colfax, if +we remember rightly—that 'as the document appeared to +please the honorable gentleman from Kentucky so much, and as +he had not heard the whole of it the Clerk be now requested +to read the whole again'—a motion which was instantaneously +carried amid such an uproar of universal merriment and +applause as the frescoed walls of the chamber have seldom +heard, either before or since. It was the great joke of the +day, and coming at a moment of universal gloom in the public +mind, was seized upon by the whole loyal press of the +country as a kind of politico-military champaign cocktail.</p> + +<p>"This set that question at rest forever; and not long after, +the proper authorities saw fit to authorize the employment +of 'fifty thousand able-bodied blacks for labor in the +Quartermaster's Department,' and the arming and drilling as +soldiers of five thousand of these, but for the sole purpose +of 'protecting the women and children of their +fellow-laborers who might be absent from home in the public +service.'</p> + +<p>"Here we have another instance of the reluctance with which +the National Government took up this idea of employing +negroes as soldiers; a resolution, we may add, to which they +were only finally compelled by General Hunter's disbandment +of his original regiment, and the storm of public +indignation which followed that act.</p> + +<p>"Nothing could have been happier in its effect upon the +public mind than Gen. Hunter's reply to Mr. Wickliffe, of +Kentucky, given in our last. It produced a general broad +grin throughout the country, and the advocate who can set +his jury laughing rarely loses his cause. It also +strengthened the spinal column of the Government in a very +marked degree; although not yet up to the point of fully +endorsing and accepting this daring experiment.</p> + +<p>"Meantime the civil authorities of course got wind of what +was going on,—Mr. Henry J. Windsor, special correspondent +of the New York <i>Times</i>, in the Department of the south, +having devoted several very graphic and widely-copied +letters to a picture of that new thing under the sun, +'Hunter's negro regiment.'</p> + +<p>"Of course the chivalry of the rebellion were incensed +beyond measure at this last Yankee outrage upon Southern +rights. Their papers teemed with vindictive articles against +the commanding general who had dared to initiate such a +novelty. The Savannah <i>Republican</i>, in particular, +denouncing Hunter as 'the cool-blooded abolition miscreant +who, from his headquarters at Hilton Head, is engaged in +executing the bloody and savage behest of the imperial +gorilla who, from his throne of human bones at Washington, +rules, reigns and riots over the destinies of the brutish +and degraded North.'</p> + +<p>"Mere newspaper abuse, however, by no means gave content to +the outraged feeling of the chivalry. They therefore sent a +formal demand to our Government for information as to +whether Gen. Hunter, in organizing his regiment of +emancipated slaves, had acted under the authority of our War +Department, or whether the villany was of his own +conception. If he had acted under orders, why then terrible +measures of fierce retaliation against the whole Yankee +nation were to be adopted; but if, <i>per contra</i>, the +iniquity were of his own motion and without the sanction of +our Government, then the foreshadowed retribution should be +made to fall only on Hunter and his officers.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image18.jpg" width="500" height="564" alt="BUILDING ROADS" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To this demand, with its alternative of threats, President +Lincoln was in no mood to make any definitive reply. In fact +no reply at all was sent, for, as yet, the most far-seeing +political augurs could not determine whether the bird seen +in the sky of the Southern Department would prove an eagle +or a buzzard. Public opinion was not formed upon the +subject, though rapidly forming. There were millions who +agreed with Hunter in believing that 'that the black man +should be made to fight for the freedom which could not but +be the issue of our war;' and then they were outraged at the +prospect of allowing black men to be killed or maimed in +company with our nobler whites.</p> + +<p>"Failing to obtain any reply therefor, from the authorities +at Washington, the Richmond people determined to pour out +all their vengeance on the immediate perpetrators of this +last Yankee atrocity; and forthwith there was issued from +the rebel War Department a General Order number 60, we +believe, of the series of 1862—reciting that 'as the +government of the U. S. had refused to answer whether it +authorized the raising of a black regiment by Gen. Hunter or +not' said General, his staff, and all officers under his +command who had directly or indirectly participated in the +unclean thing, should hereafter be outlaws not covered by +the laws of war; but to be executed as felons for the crimes +of 'inciting negro insurrections wherever caught.'</p> + +<p>"This order reached the ears of the parties mainly +interested just as Gen. Hunter was called to Washington, +ostensibly for consultation on public business; but really +on the motion of certain prominent speculators in marine +transportation, with those 'big things,' in Port Royal +harbor,—and they were enormous—with which the General had +seen fit to interfere. These frauds, however, will form a +very fruitful and pregnant theme for some future chapters. +At present our business is with the slow but certain growth +in the public mind of this idea of allowing some black men +to be killed in the late war, and not continuing to arrogate +death and mutilation by projectiles and bayonets as an +exclusive privilege for our own beloved white race.</p> + +<p>"No sooner had Hunter been relieved from this special duty +at Washington, than he was ordered back to the South, our +Government still taking no notice of the order of outlawry +against him issued by the rebel Secretary of War. He and his +officers were thus sent back to engage, with extremely +insufficient forces, in an enterprise of no common +difficulty, and with an agreeable sentence of <i>sus. per +col.</i>, if captured, hanging over their devoted heads!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why not suggest to Mr. Stanton, General, that he should +either demand the special revocation of that order, or +announce to the rebel War Department that our Government has +adopted your negro-regiment policy as its own—which would +be the same thing.</p> + +<p>"It was partly on this hint that Hunter wrote the following +letter to Jefferson Davis,—a letter subsequently suppressed +and never sent, owing to influences which the writer of this +article does not feel himself as yet at liberty to +reveal,—further than to say that Mr. Stanton knew nothing +of the matter. Davis and Hunter, we may add, had been very +old and intimate friends, until divided, some years previous +to our late war, by differences on the slavery question. +Davis had for many years been adjutant of the 1st U. S. +Dragoons, of which Hunter had been Captain Commanding; and a +relationship of very close friendship had existed between +their respective families. It was this thorough knowledge of +his man, perhaps, which gave peculiar bitterness to Hunter's +pen; and the letter is otherwise remarkable as a prophecy, +or preordainment of that precise policy which Pres't. +Johnson has so frequently announced, and reiterated since +Mr. Lincoln's death. It ran—with some few omissions, no +longer pertinent or of public interest—as follows:</p> + +<h4>"TO JEFFERSON DAVIS, TITULAR PRESIDENT OF THE SO-CALLED +CONFEDERATE STATES.</h4> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—While recently in command of the Department of the +South, in accordance with the laws of the war and the +dictates of common sense, I organized and caused to be +drilled, armed and equipped, a regiment of enfranchised +bondsmen, known as the 1st South Carolina Volunteers.</p> + +<p>"For this action, as I have ascertained, the pretended +government of which you are the chief officer, has issued +against me and all of my officers who were engaged in +organizing the regiment in question, a General Order of +Outlawry, which announces that, if captured, we shall not +even be allowed the usual miserable treatment extended to +such captives as fall into your hands; but that we are to be +regarded as felons, and to receive the death by hanging due +to such, irrespective of the laws of war.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Davis, we have been acquainted intimately in the past. +We have campaigned together, and our social relations have +been such as to make each understand the other thoroughly. +That you mean, if it be ever in your power, to execute the +full rigor of your threats, I am well assured; and you will +believe my assertion, that I thank you for having raised in +connection with me and my acts, this sharp and decisive +issue. I shall proudly accept, if such be the chance of war, +the martyrdom you menace; and hereby give you notice that +unless your General Order against me and my officers be +formally revoked, within thirty days from the date of the +transmission of this letter, sent under a flag of truce, I +shall take your action in the matter as finale; and will +reciprocate it by hanging every rebel officer who now is, or +may hereafter be taken, prisoner by the troops of the +command to which I am about returning.</p> + +<p>"Believe me that I rejoice at the aspect now being given to +the war by the course you have adopted. In my judgment, if +the undoubted felony of treason had been treated from the +outset as it deserves to be—as the sum of all felonies and +crimes—this rebellion would never have attained its present +menacing proportions. The war you and your fellow +conspirators have been waging against the United States must +be regarded either as a war of justifiable defence, carried +on for the integrity of the boundaries of a sovereign +Confederation of States against foreign aggression, or as +the most wicked, enormous, and deliberately planned +conspiracy against human liberty and for the triumph of +treason and slavery, of which the records of the world's +history contain any note.</p> + +<p>"If our Government should adopt the first view of the case, +you and your fellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> rebels may justly claim to be +considered a most unjustly treated body of disinterested +patriots,—although, perhaps, a little mistaken in your +connivance with the thefts by which your agent, John B. +Floyd, succeeded in arming the South and partially disarming +the North as a preparative to the commencement of the +struggle.</p> + +<p>"But if on the other hand—as is the theory of our +Government—the war you have levied against the U. S. be a +rebellion the most causeless, crafty and bloody ever +known,—a conspiracy having the rule-or-ruin policy for its +basis; the plunder of the black race and the reopening of +the African slave trade for its object, the continued and +further degradation of ninety per cent. of the white +population of the South in favor of a slave driving ten per +cent. aristocracy, and the exclusion of all foreign-born +immigrants from participation in the generous and equal +hospitality foreshadowed to them in the Declaration of +Independence,—if this, as I believe, be a fair statement of +the origin and motives of the rebellion of which you are the +titular head, then it would have been better had our +Government adhered to the constitutional view of treason +from the start, and hung every man taken in arms against the +U. S. from the first butchery in the streets of Baltimore, +down to the last resultless battle fought in the vicinity of +Sharpsburg. If treason, in other words, be any crime, it is +the essence of all crimes; a vast machinery of guilt, +multiplying assassinations into wholesale slaughter, and +organizing plunder as the basis for supporting a system of +National Brigandage. Your action, and that of those with +whom you are in league, has its best comment in the sympathy +extended to your cause by the despots and aristocracies of +Europe. You have succeeded in throwing back civilization for +many years; and have made of the country that was the +freest, happiest, proudest, richest, and most progressive +but two short years ago, a vast temple of mourning, doubt, +anxiety and privation; our manufactories of all but war +material nearly paralyzed; the inventive spirit which was +forever developing new resources destroyed, and our flag, +that carried respect everywhere, now mocked by enemies who +think its glory tarnished, and that its power is soon to +become a mere tradition of the past.</p> + +<p>"For all these results, Mr. Davis, and for the three hundred +thousand lives already sacrificed on both sides in the +war—some pouring out their blood on the battle-field, and +others fever stricken and wasting away to death in +overcrowded hospitals—you and the fellow miscreants who +have been your associates in this conspiracy are +responsible. Of you and them it may, with truth be said, +that if all the innocent blood which you have spilled could +be collected in one pool, the whole government of your +Confederacy might swim in it.</p> + +<p>"I am aware that this is not the language in which the +prevailing etiquette of our army is in the habit of +considering your conspiracy. It has come to pass—through +what instrumentalities you are best able to decide—that the +greatest and worst crime ever attempted against the human +family, has been treated in certain quarters as though it +were a mere error of judgment on the part of some gifted +friend; a thing to be regretted, of course, as causing more +or less disturbance to the relation of amity and esteem +heretofore existing between those charged with the +repression of such eccentricities and the eccentric actors; +in fact, as a slight political miscalculation or peccadillo, +rather than as an outrage involving the desolation of a +continent, and demanding the promptest and severest +retribution within power of human law.</p> + +<p>"For myself, I have never been able to take this view of the +matter. During a lifetime of active service, I have seen the +seeds of this conspiracy planted in the rank soil of +slavery, and the upas-growth watered by just such tricklings +of a courtesy alike false to justice, expediency, and our +eternal future. Had we at an earlier day commenced to call +things by their right names, and to look at the hideous +features of slavery with our ordinary eyesight and common +sense, instead of through the rose-colored glasses of +supposed political expediency, there would be three hundred +thousand more men alive to-day on American soil; and our +country would never for a moment have forfeited her proud +position as the highest exampler of the blessings—morals, +intellectual and material—to be derived from a free form of +government.</p> + +<p>"Whether your intention of hanging me and those of my staff +and other officers who were engaged in organizing the 1st S. +C. Volunteers, in case we are taken prisoners in battle, +will be likely to benefit your cause or not, is a matter +mainly for your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> own consideration. For us, our profession +makes the sacrifice of life a contingency ever present and +always to be accepted; and although such a form of death as +your order proposes, is not that to the contemplating of +which soldiers have trained themselves, I feel well assured, +both for myself and those included in my sentence, that we +could die in no manner more damaging to your abominable +rebellion and the abominable institution which is its +origin.</p> + +<p>"The South has already tried one hanging experiment, but not +with a success—one would think—to encourage its +repetition. John Brown, who was well known to me in Kansas, +and who will be known in appreciative history through +centuries which will only recall your name to load it with +curses, once entered Virginia with seventeen men and an +idea. The terror caused by the presence of his idea, and the +dauntless courage which prompted the assertion of his faith, +against all odds, I need not now recall. The history is too +familiar and too painful. 'Old Ossawatomie' was caught and +hung; his seventeen men were killed, captured or dispersed, +and several of them shared his fate. Portions of his skin +were tanned, I am told, and circulated as relics dear to the +barbarity of the slave-holding heart. But more than a +million of armed white men, Mr. Davis, are to-day marching +South, in practical acknowledgement that they regard the +hanging of three years ago as the murder of a martyr; and as +they march to a battle which has the emancipation of all +slaves as one of its most glorious results, his name is on +their lips; to the music of his memory their marching feet +keep time; and as they sling knapsacks each one becomes +aware that he is an armed apostle of the faith preached by +him,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"'Who has gone to be a soldier<br /></span> +<span class="i6">In the army of the Lord!'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"I am content, if such be the will of Providence to ascend +the scaffold made sacred by the blood of this martyr; and I +rejoice at every prospect of making our struggle more +earnest and inexorable on both sides; for the sharper the +conflict the sooner ended; the more vigorous and remorseless +the strife, the less blood must be shed in it eventually.</p> + +<p>"In conclusion, let me assure you, that I rejoice with my +whole heart that your order in my case, and that of my +officers, if unrevoked, will untie our hands for the future; +and that we shall be able to treat rebellion as it deserves, +and give to the felony of treason a felon's death.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very obediently yours,<br /></span> +<span class="i40">DAVID HUNTER, <i>Maj.-Gen.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Not long after General Hunter's return to the Department of +the South, the first step towards organizing and recognizing +negro troops was taken by our Government, in a letter of +instructions directing Brigadier-General Rufus Saxton—then +Military Governor of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, +within the limits of Gen. Hunter's command—to forthwith +raise and organize fifty thousand able-bodied blacks, for +service as laborers in the quartermaster's department; of +whom five thousand—only five thousand, mark you—might be +armed and drilled as soldiers for the purpose of 'protecting +the women and children of their fellow-laborers who might be +absent from home in the public service.'</p> + +<p>"Here was authority given to Gen. Saxton, over Hunter's +head, to pursue some steps farther the experiment which +Hunter—soon followed by General Phelps, also included in +the rebel order of 'outlawry'—had been the first to +initiate. The rebel order still remained in full force, and +with no protest against it on the part of our Government; +nor to our knowledge, was any demand from Washington ever +made for its revocation during the existence of the +Confederacy. If Hunter, therefore, or any of his officers, +had been captured in any of the campaigns of the past two +and a half years, they had the pleasant knowledge for their +comfort that any rebel officers into whose hands they might +fall, was strictly enjoined to—not 'shoot them on the +spot,' as was the order of General Dix, but to hang them on +the first tree; and hang them quickly.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image19.jpg" width="600" height="398" alt="OFF FOR THE WAR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">OFF FOR THE WAR.<br /> + +Negro men marching aboard a steamer to join their regiments at Hilton +Head, S. C.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"With the subsequent history of our black troops the public +is already familiar. General Lorenzo Thomas, titular +Adjutant-General of our army, not being regarded as a very +efficient officer for that place, was permanently detailed +on various services; now exchanging prisoners, now +discussing points of military law, now organizing black +brigades down the Mississippi and elsewhere. In fact, the +main object seemed to be to keep this Gen. Thomas—who must +not be confounded with Gen. George H. Thomas, one of the +true heroes of our army,—away from the Adjutant-General's +office at Washington, in order that Brigadier-General E. W. +Townsend—only a Colonel until quite recently—might perform +all the laborious and crushing duties of Adjutant-General of +our army, while only signing himself and ranking as First +Assistant Adjutant-General. If there be an officer who has +done noble service in the late war while receiving no public +credit for the same,—no newspaper puffs nor public +ovation,—that man is Brigadier-General E. W. Townsend, who +should long since have been made a major-general, to rank +from the first day of the rebellion.</p> + +<p>"And now let us only add, as practical proof that the +rebels, even in their most rabid state, were not insensible +to the force of proper "reasons," the following anecdote: +Some officers of one of the black regiments—Colonel +Higginson's, we believe—indiscreetly rode beyond our lines +around St. Augustine in pursuit of game, but whether +feathered or female this deponent sayeth not. Their guide +proved to be a spy, who had given notice of the intended +expedition to the enemy, and the whole party were soon +surprised and captured. The next we heard of them, they were +confined in the condemned cells of one of the Florida State +prisons, and were to be "tried"—i. e., sentenced and +executed—as 'having been engaged in inciting negro +insurrection.'</p> + +<p>"We had some wealthy young slave-holders belonging to the +first families of South Carolina in the custody of +Lieutenant-Colonel J. F. Hall—now Brigadier-General of this +city, who was our Provost Marshal; and it was on this basis +Gen. Hunter resolved to operate. 'Release my officers of +black troops from your condemned cells at once, and notify +me of the fact. Until so notified, your first family +prisoners in my hands'—the names then given—'will receive +precisely similar treatment. For each of my officers hung, I +will hang three of my prisoners who are slave-holders.' This +dose operated with instantaneous effect, and the next letter +received from our captured officers set forth that they were +at large on parole, and treated as well as they could wish +to be in that miserable country.</p> + +<p>"We cannot better conclude this sketch, perhaps, than by +giving the brief but pregnant verses in which our +ex-orderly, Private Miles O'Reilly, late of the Old Tenth +Army Corps, gave his opinion on this subject. They were +first published in connection with the banquet given in New +York by Gen. T. F. Meagher and the officers of the Irish +Brigade, to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> returned veterans of that organization on +the 13th of Jan. 1864, at Irving Hall. Of this song it may, +perhaps, be said, in verity and without vanity, that, as +Gen. Hunter's letter to Mr. Wickliffe had settled the negro +soldiers' controversy in its official and Congressional +form, so did the publication and immediate popular adoption +of these verses conclude all argument upon this matter in +the mind of the general public. Its common sense, with a +dash of drollery, at once won over the Irish, who had been +the bitterest opponents of the measure, to become its +friends; and from that hour to this, the attacks upon the +experiment of our negro soldiery have been so few and far +between that, indeed, they may be said to have ceased +altogether. It ran as follows, and appeared in the <i>Herald</i> +the morning after the banquet as a portion of the report of +the speeches and festivities:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"SAMBO'S RIGHT TO BE KIL'T.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">(<i>Air—The Low-Backed Chair.</i>)<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">Some say it is a burnin' shame<br /></span> +<span class="i8">To make the naygurs fight,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' that the thrade o' being kilt<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Belongs but to the white;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">But as for me, upon me sowl,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">So liberal are we here,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">I'll let Sambo be murthered in place o' meself<br /></span> +<span class="i8">On every day in the year.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">On every day in the year, boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' every hour in the day,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The right to be kil't I'll divide wid him,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">An' divil a word I'll say.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">In battle's wild commotion<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I shouldn't at all object,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">If Sambo's body should stop a ball<br /></span> +<span class="i8">That was comin' for me direct;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' the prod of a Southern bagnet,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">So liberal are we here,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">I'll resign and let Sambo take it,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">On every day in the year.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">On every day in the year boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' wid none o' your nasty pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">All right in a Southern bagnet prod<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Wid Sambo I'll divide.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">The men who object to Sambo<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Should take his place and fight;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' it's betther to have a naygur's hue<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Than a liver that's wake an' white;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Though Sambo's black as the ace o' spades<br /></span> +<span class="i8">His finger a thrigger can pull,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' his eye runs sthraight on the barrel sight<br /></span> +<span class="i8">From under its thatch o' wool.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">So hear me all, boys, darlins!<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Don't think I'm tippen' you chaff,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The right to be kilt I'll divide wid him,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">An' give him the largest half!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"In regard to Hunter's reply to Mr. Wickliffe, we shall only +add this anecdote, told us one day by that brilliant +gentleman and scholar, the Hon "Sunset" Cox, of Ohio (now of +New York): 'I tell you, that letter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> from Hunter spoiled the +prettiest speech I had ever thought of making. I had been +delighted with Wickliffe's motion, and thought the reply to +it would furnish us first-rate Democrat's thunder for the +next election. I made up my mind to sail in against Hunter's +answer—no matter what it was—the moment it came; and to be +even more humorously successful in its delivery and +reception than I was in my speech against War Horse Gurley, +of Ohio, which you have just been complimenting. Well, you +see, man proposes, but providence orders otherwise. When the +Clerk announced the receipt of the answer, and that he was +about to read it, I caught the Speaker's eye and was booked +for the first speech against your negro experiment. The +first sentence, being formal and official, was very well; +but at the second the House began to grin, and at the third, +not a man on the floor—except Father Wickliffe, of +Kentucky, perhaps—who was not convulsed with laughter. Even +my own risibles I found to be affected; and before the +document was concluded, I motioned the Speaker that he might +give the floor to whom he pleased, as my desire to +distinguish myself in that particular tilt was over.'"</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>OFFICERS OF THE PHALANX.</h3> + + +<p>The character, qualifications and proficiency of the men, who, as +officers, commanded the negro troops, may be judged by the process which +they had to undergo in order to obtain commissions. Unlike the officers +of the white volunteers (with whom loyalty and dash were the essential +qualifications) they were required to possess much more than an ordinary +knowledge of military tactics. Major-General Hunter, by whose order the +first negro regiment with white officers was organized, commencing May, +1862, had an eye single to the make up of the men who should be placed +in command of the regiments. As a beginning, Gen. Saxton addressed the +following letter to Capt. T. W. Higginson, of the 51st Reg't. Mass. +Volunteers, Beaufort, S. C., Nov. 5th, 1862:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:—I am organizing the First Regiment of South +Carolina Volunteers, with every prospect of success. Your +name has been spoken of in connection with the command of +this regiment, by some friends in whose judgment I have +confidence. I take great pleasure in offering you the +position of Col. in it, and hope that you may be induced to +accept. I shall not fill the place until I hear from you, or +sufficient time shall have passed for me to receive your +reply. Should you accept I enclose a pass for Port Royal, of +which I trust you will feel disposed to avail yourself at +once. I am, with sincere regard,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">Yours truly,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">R. Saxton</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><i>Brig. Gen., Mil. Gov.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This was an excellent selection, and Captain Higginson's acceptance +rather assured a fair trial for the men who should compose this +regiment, as well as the quality of its officers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image20.jpg" width="435" height="650" alt="MAJOR MARTIN R. DELANEY, U. S. A." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MAJOR MARTIN R. DELANEY, U. S. A.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first Kansas regiment which recruited in that State, commencing in +August, 1862, was also fortunate in having Colonel R. J. Hinton.</p> + +<p>General Butler, at New Orleans, was prevented by circumstances +surrounding him at the time, from choosing among the friends of the +negro race, as was the case in the before mentioned regiments, men to +command the first and second regiments organized by him in the above +named city, in August, 1862. He was only too glad to find white men of +military capacity to take charge of the drilling and disciplining of the +troops. As an experiment he was more than lucky in the appointment of +Colonels Stafford and Daniels to the command of these regiments, +seconded by Lieut. Cols. Bassett and Hall, and Finnegass of the 3rd +Regiment. These officers proved themselves worthy of the trust reposed +in them, and made these regiments, in drill and discipline, second to +none in the Department of the Gulf. Notwithstanding the captains and +subordinate officers of the first and second regiments were men, who +like those in a large majority of the white regiments had never made +arms a profession, and, who, through American prejudice, had but very +limited opportunities for acquiring even the rudiments of a common +English education. Several of them, however, being mulattoes, had had +some training in the schools of the parishes, and some few in the higher +schools of France, and in the Islands of the Caribbean Sea. Maj. Dumas, +of the 2nd Regiment, whose slaves composed nearly one whole company, was +a gentleman of fine tact and ability, as were others.</p> + +<p>Considering that they were all negroes, free and slave, their dash and +manly courage, no less than their military aptitude, was equal, and in +many instances superior, to those found in the regiments of Maine and +New York. The 3rd Regiment was officered by soldiers of undoubted +character and pluck, as they proved themselves to be, during the siege +of Port Hudson, especially Capt. Quinn, who won distinction and +promotion, as the record shows. The regiments raised thereafter were +officered, more or less, by the non-commissioned officers of the white +regiments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> as a reward for gallantry and meritorious service upon the +field, or on account of proficiency in drill. This rule of selection +held good throughout all the departments in the organizing of negro +troops. In May, 1863, President Lincoln, with a view of correcting an +abuse that a certain commanding general had begun to practice in +assigning inferior, though brave, men to the command of negro regiments; +and in keeping with his new policy of arming the negroes, for which Gen. +Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General of the Army, had gone into the +Mississippi Valley region to raise twenty regiments, he appointed a +Board for the examination of those applying for commands in negro +regiments.</p> + +<p>The "Record of the 7th Reg't. U.S. Colored Troops," in regard to the +matter, says: "That the labors of this Board contributed very materially +to the success of the experiment of raising this class of troops, no one +cognizant with the facts can doubt. The operations of the Board can best +be shown by quoting the following letter received from Gen. Casey in +reply to some enquiries on the subject:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Brooklyn</span>, Nov. 30th, 1875.</p> + +<p>* * * "The Board for the Examination of candidates for +officers in colored regiments, of which I was President, was +appointed in May, 1863, and continued its duties about two +years. This movement was, at first, very unpopular with a +portion of the people of the country, as also with a large +portion of the army. I, although doubting at first with +regard to the expediency of operating in large bodies with +this species of force, determined, that so far as I was +concerned, it should have a fair trial.</p> + +<p>"A system was adopted for the examination of candidates +which did not allow influence, favor or affection to +interfere with the enforcement of its provisions. The Board +examined nearly three thousand candidates, seventeen hundred +of whom they recommended for commissions in various grades, +from colonel down.</p> + +<p>"From my knowledge of the officers of white volunteers, +gained in my duties connected with receiving and organizing, +in the city of Washington, 300,000 of them, and also as +commander of a division on the Peninsula, I have no +hesitation in saying that the officers of the colored +regiments, <i>who passed the Board</i>, as a body were superior +to them, physically, mentally and morally.</p> + +<p>"From the concurrent reports received from various sources, +there is but little doubt that the success of the colored +troops in the field was brought about in no small degree by +the action of the Board.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The following is the copy of a letter which I addressed to +a gentleman of Philadelphia, and which you may find of +interest:</p> + +<p>'In conversation with you a few days since, I promised to +elaborate somewhat the ideas which I expressed with regard +to the appointment of officers of colored troops.</p> + +<p>'Military men, whose opinion is worth having, will agree in +this, that to have good and efficient troops it is +indispensable that we should have good officers. The +material for soldiers which the loyal States have furnished +during this rebellion, I have no hesitation in saying, is +the best that the world has ever seen. Such men deserve to +have officers to command them who have been educated to the +military profession. But few men are really fit to command +men who have not had such an education. In default of this, +as a sufficient number of such men cannot be found in the +country, the number has to be made up from the best +available material. In order to ascertain whether or not the +aspirant possesses the proper knowledge and capacity for +command, it is necessary that he be examined by a board of +competent officers. The fact that the life and death of the +men of the regiment is intimately connected with the +competency of its officers, is not sufficiently appreciated +by the community.</p> + +<p>'The Board for the examination of officers of colored troops +over which I preside, considers three things as +indispensable before recommending a candidate, viz.: A good +moral character, physical capacity, true loyalty to the +country. A person possessing these indispensable +qualifications is now submitted to an examination as to his +knowledge of tactics and capacity for command.</p> + +<p>'The following grades are entertained, viz.:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel—</td><td align='left'>1st, 2d and 3d Class.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieut.-Colonel—</td><td align='left'>1st, 2d and 3d Class.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Major—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Captain—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>1st Lieut.—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>2d Lieut.—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>and the recommendations for appointment made according to +the applicant's merits.</p> + +<p>'We have endeavored, to the best of our ability, to make +this recommendation without partiality, favor or affection. +We consider alone, in making our awards, the ability of the +person to serve his country in the duties appertaining to +the office. If, in the opinion of the Board, the person is +not possessed of sufficient knowledge or capacity to fill +either of the above named to the advantage of his country, +he is rejected, notwithstanding any influence he may be able +to bring to bear in the case. Let it be remembered that zeal +alone is not sufficient; but what we require for a good +officer is zeal combined with knowledge. No ordinary man can +properly fill the office of colonel of a regiment. To +acquire that knowledge of tactics as would fit him to +command his regiment, as it ought to be in all situations, +requires much study and practice, and is by no means easy. +He should, besides, possess good administrative qualities, +in order that affairs should run smoothly in his command, +and the officers and privates be as contented and happy as +circumstances admit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> Nor can too much trouble be taken +properly to prepare persons to fill the responsible position +of officers. Each State should have its military academy. In +the meantime much good can be done by instituting a school +for the instruction of persons (especially those who have +had some experience in the service) who may have the +requisite capacity and zeal to serve their country with +advantage. Eschew all humbuggery and mere pretension, and +let merit be the test of advancement.</p> + +<p>'Let it be impressed deeply on the conscience of every man +of influence and authority that when he places in command an +incompetent officer he is guilty of manslaughter. The +country has lost millions of treasure and thousands of lives +by the incompetency of officers. We have many enemies on +earth besides the Southern rebels. The fate of free +institutions, not only in our own country, but in other +lands, the destiny of millions unborn, depend upon our +ability to maintain this contest to a successful issue +against all our enemies, both foreign and domestic.</p> + +<p>'The system of examination instituted by this Board, in my +opinion, should be extended to the white as well as colored +troops.</p> + +<p>'Many of those who have been unsuccessful in the examination +before the Board have, no doubt, in some cases, felt +aggrieved, as also their friends.</p> + +<p>'We have established a system of examination for officers, +the good effects of which are already apparent in the +colored organizations in the field. In the performance of +this responsible, and not always agreeable duty, of +presiding over this Board, I have always endeavored to be +guided by conscientious regard for the good of the country, +and I have every confidence that a just and intelligent +people will award their approbation.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">SILAS CASEY,<br /></span> +<span class="i30"><i>Bvt. Major-General U.S. Army.</i>'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Of course this did not apply to regiments raised at the North, +generally. They were officered by the <i>elite</i>, such as Col. R. G. Shaw, +of the 54th Massachusetts, a former member of the 7th New York Regiment, +and upon whose battle monument his name is carved. Cols. James C. +Beecher, Wm. Birney and a host of others, whose names can now be found +on the army rolls, with the prefix General, commanded these regiments. +Of those who commanded Southern regiments this is equally true, +especially of those who served in the 9th, 10th, 18th and 19th Corps. +Col. Godfred Weitzel, who in March, 1865, had been promoted to Major +General of Volunteers, commanded the 25th Corps of 30,000 negro +soldiers. The select corps of officers intended to officer Gen. Ullman's +brigade of four regiments to be raised at New Orleans by order of the +War Department, dated January 1863, as well as the battalion, which he +was also ordered to raise for scouting purposes, the following March, +included many men of rank. To command a negro regiment or company was at +this date a coveted prize, for which men of wealth and education +contended. The distinction which they were continually winning for their +officers, frequently overcame the long-cherished prejudice of West +Point, and the graduates of this caste institution now vied for +commissions in negro regiments, in which many of them served during the +Rebellion and since.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image21.jpg" width="500" height="542" alt="CAPT. O. S. B. WALL, U. S. A." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CAPT. O. S. B. WALL, U. S. A.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was the idea of Gen. Banks when organizing the Corps d'Afrique to +appoint even the non-commissioned officers from the ranks of white +regiments, and he did so in several instances. His hostility to negro +officers was the cause of his removing them from the regiments, which +Major General Butler organized at New Orleans in 1862. In organizing the +Corps d'Afrique, the order, No. 40, reads:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Commanding General desires to detail for temporary or +permanent duty, the best officers of the army, for the +organization, instruction, and discipline of this Corps. +With them he is confident that the Corps will render +important service to the Government. It is not established +upon any dogma of equality or other theory, but as a +practical and sensible matter of business. The Government +makes use of mules, horses, uneducated white men in the +defence of its institutions; why should not the negro +contribute whatever is in his power, for the cause in which +he is as deeply interested as other men? We may properly +demand from him whatever service he can render."</p></div> + +<p>At first it was proposed to pay the officers of negro troops less than +was paid the officers of white soldiers, but this plan was abandoned. +Toward the close of the war nearly all the chaplains appointed to negro +regiments were negroes; non-commissioned officers were selected from the +ranks, where they were found as well qualified as those taken from the +ranks of white regiments. In the 10th and 18th Corps it was a common +thing for the orderly sergeants to call their company's roll from +memory, and the records of many companies and regiments are kept at the +War Department in Washington, as mementoes of their efficiency.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>Such were the men who commanded the Black Phalanx. The following are the +names of the negro commissioned officers of the Butler Louisiana +Regiments:</p> + + +<h4>ROSTER OF NEGRO OFFICERS OF THE LOUISIANA NATIVE GUARD VOLUNTEER +REGIMENTS.</h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">First Regiment</span>.</h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Capts.</td><td align='left'>Andrew Cailloux,</td><td align='left'>Louis A. Snaer,</td><td align='left'>John Depass,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Henry L. Rey,</td><td align='left'>Edward Carter,</td><td align='left'>Joseph Follin,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>James Lewis,</td><td align='left'>James H. Ingraham,</td><td align='left'>Aleide Lewis.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts.</td><td align='left'>Lewis Petit,</td><td align='left'>Ernest Sougpre,</td><td align='left'>J. G. Parker,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J. E. Morre,</td><td align='left'>Wm. Harding,</td><td align='left'>John Hardman,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>F. Kimball,</td><td align='left'>V. Lesner,</td><td align='left'>J. D. Paddock,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Louis D. Lucien.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Second Regiment</span>.</h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Major</td><td align='left'>F. E. Dumas,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Capts.</td><td align='left'>E. A. Bertinnean,</td><td align='left'>Hannibal Carter,</td><td align='left'>E. P. Chase,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. P. Barrett,</td><td align='left'>S. W. Ringgold,</td><td align='left'>P. B. S. Pinchback,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>William Bellez,</td><td align='left'>Monroe Menllim,</td><td align='left'>Joseph Villeverde,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Samuel J. Wilkerson, R. H. Isabella.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts.</td><td align='left'>Octave Rey,</td><td align='left'>J. P. Lewis,</td><td align='left'>Jasper Thompson,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Ernest Murphy,</td><td align='left'>Calvin Glover,</td><td align='left'>J. Wellington,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Louis Degray,</td><td align='left'>George T. Watson,</td><td align='left'>Joseph Jones,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Alphonso Fluery,</td><td align='left'>Rufus Kinsley,</td><td align='left'>Ernest Hubian,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Theo. A. Martin,</td><td align='left'>Soloman Hoys,</td><td align='left'>Alfred Arnis,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Peter O. Depremont.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Third Regiment</span>.</h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Capts.</td><td align='left'>Jacques Gla,</td><td align='left'>Peter A. Gardner,</td><td align='left'>Leon G. Forstall,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph C. Oliver,</td><td align='left'>Charles W. Gibbons,</td><td align='left'>Samuel Laurence,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>John J. Holland.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts.</td><td align='left'>Paul Paree,</td><td align='left'>Morris W. Morris,</td><td align='left'>Emile Detrege,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Eugene Rapp,</td><td align='left'>E. T. Nash,</td><td align='left'>Alfred Bourgoan,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>E. Moss,</td><td align='left'>Chester W. Converse, G. B. Miller,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>G. W. Talmon,</td><td align='left'>Octave Foy,</td><td align='left'>Chas. Butler.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<h4>NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.</h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">74th U. S. C. T. Co. I. 2d La. N. G.</span></h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Joseph Boudraux,</td><td align='left'>Andrieu Vidal,</td><td align='left'>Joseph Bellevue,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Louis Martin,</td><td align='left'>Jessy C. Wallace,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Paul Bonne,</td><td align='left'>Thos. William,</td><td align='left'>Joseph Labeaud,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph Toolmer,</td><td align='left'>Louis Ford,</td><td align='left'>Peter Fleming,</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>As "muster in" rolls show.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">74th U. S. C. T. Co. D. 2nd N. G.</span></h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>1st Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Joseph Francois,</td><td align='left'>Adolph Augustin,</td><td align='left'>John Frick,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Francois Remy,</td><td align='left'>Louis Duquenez.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Dorsin Sebatier,</td><td align='left'>Auguste Martin,</td><td align='left'>Lucien Boute,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Adolphe Decoud,</td><td align='left'>Oscar Samuel,</td><td align='left'>Andre Gregoire,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph Armand,</td><td align='left'>Achilles Decoud.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>As "muster out" rolls show.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 459px;"> +<img src="images/image22.jpg" width="459" height="650" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">75th U. S. C. T. Co. F. 3rd N. G.</span></h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Hy. White,</td><td align='left'>Robert Williams,</td><td align='left'>Mathew Roden,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Frank Nichols,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Alfred Kellie,</td><td align='left'>Philip Craff,</td><td align='left'>Julius Vick.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>As mustered out.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">73rd U. S. C. T. Co. A. 1st La. N. G.</span></h4> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Joseph R. Forstall,</td><td align='left'> Edmund Tomlinson,</td><td align='left'>Edgar Thezan,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Numa Brihou,</td><td align='left'>Edward P. Ducloslange,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>John G. Seldon,</td><td align='left'>Thelesphore J. Sauvinet,</td><td align='left'> Alonzo Tocca,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph Francois,</td><td align='left'>Antonio Segura,</td><td align='left'>Auguste Martin,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Francois Remy,</td><td align='left'>Ernest Brustic,</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">73rd U. S. C. T. Co. B. 1st La. N. G.</span></h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Faustin Zenon,</td><td align='left'>Louis Francois,</td><td align='left'>August Bartholenny,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph Alfred,</td><td align='left'>Wm. Armstrong,</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Arthur Gaspard was a Sergeant at "muster in" of company; discharged for +wounds Dec. 10th, 1863.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Alphonse Barbe,</td><td align='left'>Albert Victor,</td><td align='left'>Wm. John Baptist,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Louis Gille.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>These were non-commissioned officers of Co. B at "muster out."</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">73rd U. S. C. T. Co. H. 1st La. N. G.</span></h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Capt. Henry L. Rey,</td><td align='left'>1st Lieut. Eugene Rapp,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>2nd Lieut. Louis Arthur Thibaut,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>1st Sergt. Henry Mathien,</td><td align='left'>2nd Sergt. Armand Daniel,</td><td align='left'>3rd Sergt. J. B. Dupre.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>4th " Felix Mathien,</td><td align='left'>5th " Lucien Dupre,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls. Ernest Hewlett,</td><td align='left'>Frank Delhomme,</td><td align='left'>D. J. Marine,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>" Felix Santini,</td><td align='left'>Celestine Ferrand,</td><td align='left'>Auguste Campbell,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>" Narcis Hubert,</td><td align='left'>Caliste Dupre.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<p>As "muster in."</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">73rd U. S. C. T. Co. G, 1st La. N. G.</span></h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Theodule Drinier,</td><td align='left'>Peter Pascal,</td><td align='left'>Peter Robin,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Gustave St. Leger,</td><td align='left'>Armand Le Blanc.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Edward Louis,</td><td align='left'>Cherry Fournette,</td><td align='left'>Townsen Lee,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>John Thompson,</td><td align='left'>Perrin Virgile,</td><td align='left'>William Charity,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>John Marshall,</td><td align='left'>Soloman Fisher.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>The above were the non-commissioned officers at "muster out" of Company.</p> + +<p>Corporal W. Heath, killed at Port Hudson.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">74th U. S. C. T. Co. G. 2nd La. N. G.</span></h4> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Sergts.</td><td align='left'>Thos. Martin,</td><td align='left'>Etienne Duluc,</td><td align='left'>Arthur Frilot,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Louis Martin,</td><td align='left'>J. B. Lavigne,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corpls.</td><td align='left'>Martin Forstals,</td><td align='left'>Emile Duval,</td><td align='left'>Gustave Ducre,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Joseph Naroce,</td><td align='left'>Polin Paree,*</td><td align='left'>Jerome Alugas,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Ernest Butin,</td><td align='left'>Pierre Jignac.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>* Deserted Oct. 5th, 1863.</p> + +<p>The above were the non-commissioned officers at "muster in" of company, +Oct. 1862.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Other Regiments</span>.</h4> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Surgeons U. S. Army.—</td><td align='left'>Dr. W. P. Powell,</td><td align='left'>Dr. A. T. Augusta.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Major,</td><td align='left'>Martin R. Delaney.</td><td align='left'>Capt., O. S. B. Wall.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts. 55th Regt.—</td><td align='left'>James M. Trotter,</td><td align='left'>Chas. L. Mitchell,</td><td align='left'>W. H. Dupree,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J. F. Shorter.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>There were a number of negroes commissioned during the war whose record +it has not been possible to obtain. Quite a number of mulattoes served +in white regiments, some as officers; they were so light in complexion +that their true race connection could not be told. This is true of one +of the prominent Ohioans of to-day, who served on the staff of a Major +General of volunteers. There were several among the Pennsylvania troops, +and not a few in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> the New York and Massachusetts regiments. While lying +on a battle-field wounded and exhausted, an officer of the brigade to +which the writer belonged, rode up, passed me his canteen, and enquired +if I knew him. A negative answer was given. "I am Tom Bunting," he +replied. "You know me now, don't you? We used to play together in our +boyhood days in Virginia; keep the canteen. I will let your people know +about you." So saying he dashed away to his command; he belonged to a +Massachusetts regiment. There was quite a large number of mulattoes who +enlisted under Butler, at New Orleans, and served in white regiments; +this is also true of the confederate army. The writer has an intimate +acquaintance now living in Richmond, Va., who served in a New York +Regiment, who, while marching along with his regiment through Broad +street, after the capture of that city, was recognized by his mother, +and by her was pulled from the ranks and embraced. A man who became +United States Marshal of one of the Southern States after the war, was +Captain in the 2nd Louisiana Native Guards Regiment. Numerous instances +of this kind could be cited.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image23.jpg" width="500" height="615" alt="SERG'T. W. H. CARNEY.—Co. C. 54th Mass. Vols." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SERG'T. W. H. CARNEY.—Co. C. 54th Mass. Vols.<br /> + +"The old flag never touched the ground, boys!"</span> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Capt. F. E. Dumas organized a company of his own slaves, +and attached it to this regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Major, +and commanded two companies at Pascagoula, Miss., during the fight. He +was a free negro, wealthy, brave and loyal.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.</h3> + + +<p>When Admiral Farragut's fleet anchored at New Orleans, and Butler +occupied the city, three regiments of confederate negro troops were +under arms guarding the United States Mint building, with orders to +destroy it before surrendering it to the Yankees. The brigade, however, +was in command of a Creole mulatto, who, instead of carrying out the +orders given him, and following the troops out of the city on their +retreat, counter-marched his command and was cut off from the main body +of the army by the Federal forces, to whom they quietly surrendered a +few days after.</p> + +<p>General Phelps commanded the Federal forces at Carrolton, about seven +miles from New Orleans, the principal point in the cordon around the +city. Here the slaves congregated in large numbers, seeking freedom and +protection from their barbarous overseers and masters. Some of these +poor creatures wore irons and chains; some came bleeding from gunshot +wounds. General Phelps was an old abolitionist, and had early conceived +the idea that the proper thing to do was for the government to arm the +negroes. Now came his opportunity to act. Hundreds of able-bodied men +were in his camps, ready and willing to fight for their freedom and the +preservation of the Union. The secessionists in that neighborhood +complained to General Butler about their negroes leaving them and going +into camp with the Yankees. So numerous were the complaints, that the +General, acting under orders from Washington, and also foreseeing that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +General Phelps intended allowing the slaves to gather at his post, +issued the following order:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, May 23, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General</span>:—You will cause all unemployed persons, black and +white, to be excluded from your lines.</p> + +<p>"You will not permit either black or white persons to pass +your lines, not officers and soldiers or belonging to the +navy of the United States, without a pass from these +headquarters, except they are brought in under guard as +captured persons, with information, and those to be examined +and detained as prisoners of war, if they have been in arms +against the United States, or dismissed and sent away at +once, as the case may be. This does not apply to boats +passing up the river without landing within the lines.</p> + +<p>"Provision dealers and marketmen are to be allowed to pass +in with provisions and their wares, but not to remain over +night.</p> + +<p>"Persons having had their permanent residence within your +lines before the occupation of our troops, are not to be +considered unemployed persons.</p> + +<p>"Your officers have reported a large number of servants. +Every officer so reported employing servants will have the +allowance for servants deducted from his pay-roll.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">B. F. Butler</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Phelps</span>, Commanding Camp Parapet."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This struck Gen. Phelps as an inhuman order, though he obeyed it and +placed the slaves just outside of his camp lines. Here the solders, +having drank in the spirit of their commander, cared for the fugitives +from slavery. But they continued to come, according to divine +appointment, and their increase prompted Gen. Phelps to write this +patriotic, pathetic and eloquent appeal, knowing it must reach the +President:</p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Camp Parapet, near Carrollton, La</span>., June 16, 1862.<br /> +"Capt. R. S. <span class="smcap">Davis</span>, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, New Orleans. La.:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: I enclose herewith, for the information of the +major-general commanding the department, a report of Major +Peck, officer of the day, concerning a large number of +negroes, of both sexes and all ages, who are lying near our +pickets, with bag and baggage, as if they had already +commenced an exodus. Many of these negroes have been sent +away from one of the neighboring sugar plantations by their +owner, a Mr. Babilliard La Blanche, who tells them, I am +informed, that 'the Yankees are king here now, and that they +must go to their king for food and shelter.'</p> + +<p>"They are of that four millions of our colored subjects who +have no king or chief, nor in fact any government that can +secure to them the simplest natural rights. They can not +even be entered into treaty stipulations with and deported +to the east, as our Indian tribes have been to the west. +They have no right to the mediation of a justice of the +peace or jury between them and chains and lashes. They have +no right to wages for their labor; no right to the Sabbath; +no right to the institution of marriage; no right to letters +or to self-defense. A small class of owners, rendered +unfeeling, and even unconscious and unreflecting by habit, +and a large part of them ignorant and vicious, stand between +them and their government, destroying its sovereignty. This +government has not the power even to regulate the number of +lashes that its subjects may receive. It can not say that +they shall receive thirty-nine instead of forty. To a large +and growing class of its subjects it can secure neither +justice, moderation, nor the advantages of Christian +religion; and if it can not protect <i>all</i> its subjects, it +can protect none, either black or white.</p> + +<p>"It is nearly a hundred years since our people first +declared to the nations of the world that all men are born +free; and still we have not made our declaration good. +Highly revolutionary measures have since then been adopted +by the admission of Missouri and the annexation of Texas in +favor of slavery by the barest majorities of votes, while +the highly conservative vote of two-thirds has at length +been attained against slavery, and still slavery +exists—even, moreover, although two-thirds of the blood in +the veins of our slaves is fast becoming from our own race. +If we wait for a larger vote, or until our slaves' blood +becomes more consanguined still with our own, the danger of +a violent revolution, over which we can have no control, +must become more imminent every day. By a course of +undecided action, determined by no policy but the vague will +of a war-distracted people, we run the risk of precipitating +that very revolutionary violence which we seem seeking to +avoid.</p> + +<p>"Let us regard for a moment the elements of such a +revolution.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image24.jpg" width="600" height="505" alt="WASHING IN CAMP" title="" /> +<span class="caption">WASHING IN CAMP</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Many of the slaves here have been sold away from the border +States as a punishment, being too refractory to be dealt +with there in the face of the civilization of the North. +They come here with the knowledge of the Christian religion, +with its germs planted and expanding, as it were, in the +dark, rich soil of their African nature, with feelings of +relationship with the families from which they came, and +with a sense of unmerited banishment as culprits, all which +tends to bring upon them a greater severity of treatment and +a corresponding disinclination 'to receive punishment'. They +are far superior beings to their ancestors, who were brought +from Africa two generations ago, and who occasionally +rebelled against comparatively less severe punishment than +is inflicted now. While rising in the scale of Christian +beings, their treatment is being rendered more severe than +ever. The whip, the chains, the stocks, and imprisonment are +no mere fancies here; they are used to any extent to which +the imagination of civilized man may reach. Many of them are +as intelligent as their masters, and far more moral, for +while the slave appeals to the moral law as his vindication, +clinging to it as to the very horns of the altar of his +safety and his hope, the master seldom hesitates to wrest +him from it with violence and contempt. The slave, it is +true, bears no resentment; he asks for no punishment for his +master; he simply claims justice for himself; and it is this +feature of his condition that promises more terror to the +retribution when it comes. Even now the whites stand +accursed by their oppression of humanity, being subject to a +degree of confusion, chaos, and enslavement to error and +wrong, which northern society could not credit or +comprehend.</p> + +<p>"Added to the four millions of the colored race whose +disaffection is increasing even more rapidly than their +number, there are at least four millions more of the white +race whose growing miseries will naturally seek +companionship with those of the blacks. This latter portion +of southern society has its representatives, who swing from +the scaffold with the same desperate coolness, though from a +directly different cause, as that which was manifested by +John Brown. The traitor Mumford, who swung the other day for +trampling on the national flag, had been rendered placid and +indifferent in his desperation by a government that either +could not or would not secure to its subjects the blessings +of liberty which that flag imports. The South cries for +justice from the government as well as the North, though in +a proud and resentful spirit; and in what manner is that +justice to be obtained? Is it to be secured by that wretched +resource of a set of profligate politicians, called +'reconstruction?' No, it is to be obtained by the abolition +of slavery, and by no other course.</p> + +<p>"It is vain to deny that the slave system of labor is giving +shape to the government of the society where it exists, and +that that government is not republican, either in form or +spirit. It was through this system that the leading +conspirators have sought to fasten upon the people an +aristocracy or a despotism; and it is not sufficient that +they should be merely defeated in their object, and the +country be rid of their rebellion; for by our constitution +we are imperatively obliged to sustain the State against the +ambition of unprincipled leaders, and secure to them the +republican form of government. We have positive duties to +perform, and should hence adopt and pursue a positive, +decided policy. We have services to render to certain states +which they cannot perform for themselves. We are in an +emergency which the framers of the constitution might easily +have foreseen, and for which they have amply provided.</p> + +<p>"It is clear that the public good requires slavery to be +abolished; but in what manner is it to be done? The mere +quiet operation of congressional law can not deal with +slavery as in its former status before the war, because the +spirit of law is right reason, and there is no reason in +slavery. A system so unreasonable as slavery can not be +regulated by reason. We can hardly expect the several states +to adopt laws or measures against their own immediate +interests. We have seen that they will rather find arguments +for crime than seek measures for abolishing or modifying +slavery. But there is one principle which is fully +recognized as a necessity in conditions like ours, and that +is that the public safety is the supreme law of the State, +and that amid the clash of arms the laws of peace are +silent. It is then for our president, the commander-in-chief +of our armies, to declare the abolition of slavery, leaving +it to the wisdom of congress to adopt measures to meet the +consequences. This is the usual course pursued by a general +or by a military power. That power gives orders affecting +complicated interests and millions of property, leaving it +to the other functions of government to adjust and regulate +the effects produced. Let the president abolish slavery, and +it would be an easy matter for congress, through a +well-regulated system of apprenticeship, to adopt safe +measures for effecting a gradual transition from slavery to +freedom.</p> + +<p>"The existing system of labor in Louisiana is unsuited to +the age; and by the intrusion of the national forces it +seems falling to pieces. It is a system of mutual jealousy +and suspicion between the master and the man—a system of +violence, immorality and vice. The fugitive negro tells us +that our presence renders his condition worse with his +master than it was before, and that we offer no alleviation +in return. The system is impolitic, because it offers but +one stimulent to labor and effort, viz.: the lash, when +another, viz.: money, might be added with good effect. Fear, +and the other low and bad qualities of the slave, are +appealed to, but never the good. The relation, therefore, +between capital and labor, which ought to be generous and +confiding, is darkling, suspicious, unkindly, full of +reproachful threats, and without concord or peace. This +condition of things renders the interests of society a prey +to politicians. Politics cease to be practical or useful.</p> + +<p>"The questions that ought to have been discussed in the late +extraordinary convention of Louisiana, are: <i>First</i>, What +ought the State of Louisiana to do to adopt her ancient +system of labor to the present advanced spirit of the age? +And <i>Second</i>, How can the State be assisted by the general +government in effecting the change? But instead of this, the +only question before that body was how to vindicate slavery +by flogging the Yankees!</p> + +<p>"Compromises hereafter are not to be made with politicians, +but with sturdy labor and the right to work. The interests +of workingmen resent political trifling. Our political +education, shaped almost entirely to the interest of +slavery, has been false and vicious in the extreme, and it +must be corrected with as much suddenness, almost, as that +with which Salem witchcraft came to an end. The only +question that remains to decide is how the change shall take +place.</p> + +<p>"We are not without examples and precedents in the history +of the past. The enfranchisement of the people of Europe has +been, and is still going on, through the instrumentality of +military service; and by this means our slaves might be +raised in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> scale of civilization and prepared for +freedom. Fifty regiments might be raised among them at once, +which could be employed in this climate to preserve order, +and thus prevent the necessity of retrenching our liberties, +as we should do by a large army exclusively of whites. For +it is evident that a considerable army of whites would give +stringency to our government, while an army, partly of +blacks, would naturally operate in favor of freedom and +against those influences which at present most endanger our +liberties. At the end of five years they could be sent to +Africa, and their places filled with new enlistments.</p> + +<p>"There is no practical evidence against the effects of +immediate abolition, even if there is not in its favor. I +have witnessed the sudden abolition of flogging at will in +the army, and of legalized flogging in the navy, against the +prejudice-warped judgments of both, and, from the beneficial +effects there, I have nothing to fear from the immediate +abolition of slavery. I fear, rather, the violent +consequences from a continuance of the evil. But should such +an act devastate the whole State of Louisiana, and render +the whole soil here but the mere passage-way of the fruits +of the enterprise and industry of the Northwest, it would be +better for the country at large than it is now as the seat +of disaffection and rebellion.</p> + +<p>"When it is remembered that not a word is found in our +constitution sanctioning the buying and selling of human +beings, a shameless act which renders our country the +disgrace of Christendom, and worse, in this respect, even +than Africa herself, we should have less dread of seeing the +degrading traffic stopped at once and forever. Half wages +are already virtually paid for slave labor in the system of +tasks which, in an unwilling spirit of compromise, most of +the slave states have already been compelled to adopt. At +the end of five years of apprenticeship, or of fifteen at +farthest, full wages could be paid to the enfranchised negro +race, to the double advantage of both master and man. This +is just; for we now hold the slaves of Louisiana by the same +tenure that the State can alone claim them, viz: by the +original right of conquest. We have so far conquered them +that a proclamation setting them free, coupled with offers +of protection, would devastate every plantation in the +State.</p> + +<p>"In conclusion, I may state that Mr. La Blanche is, as I am +informed, a descendant from one of the oldest families of +Louisiana. He is wealthy and a man of standing, and his act +in sending away his negroes to our lines, with their clothes +and furniture, appears to indicate the convictions of his +own mind as to the proper logical consequences and +deductions that should follow from the present relative +status of the two contending parties. He seems to be +convinced that the proper result of the conflict is the +manumission of the slave, and he may be safely regarded in +this respect as a representative man of the State. I so +regard him myself, and thus do I interpret his action, +although my camp now contains some of the highest symbols of +secessionism, which have been taken by a party of the +Seventh Vermont volunteers from his residence.</p> + +<p>"Meantime his slaves, old and young, little ones and all, +are suffering from exposure and uncertainty as to their +future condition. Driven away by their master, with threats +of violence if they return, and with no decided welcome or +reception from us, what is to be their lot? Considerations +of humanity are pressing for an immediate solution of their +difficulties; and they are but a small portion of their race +who have sought, and are still seeking, our pickets and our +military stations, declaring that they can not and will not +any longer serve their masters, and that all they want is +work and protection from us. In such a state of things, the +question occurs as to my own action in the case. I cannot +return them to their masters, who not unfrequently come in +search of them, for I am, fortunately, prohibited by an +article of war from doing that, even if my own nature did +not revolt at it. I can not receive them, for I have neither +work, shelter, nor the means or plan of transporting them to +Hayti, or of making suitable arrangements with their masters +until they can be provided for.</p> + +<p>"It is evident that some plan, some policy, or some system +is necessary on the part of the government, without which +the agent can do nothing, and all his efforts are rendered +useless and of no effect. This is no new condition in which +I find myself; it is my experience during the some +twenty-five years of my public life as a military officer of +the government. The new article of war recently adopted by +congress, rendering it criminal in an officer of the army to +return fugitives from injustice, is the first support that I +have ever felt from the government in contending against +those slave influences which are opposed to its character +and to its interests. But the mere refusal to return +fugitives does not now meet the case. A public agent in the +present emergency must be invested with wider and more +positive powers than this, or his services will prove as +valueless to the country as they are unsatisfactory to +himself.</p> + +<p>"Desiring this communication to be laid before the +president, and leaving my commission at his disposal, I have +the honor to remain, sir,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i40">J. W. <span class="smcap">Phelps</span>, <i>Brigadier-General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the day on which he received this letter, Gen. Butler forwarded to +Washington this dispatch:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans, La.,</span> June 18, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Hon. E. M. <span class="smcap">Stanton</span>, Secretary of War:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—Since my last dispatch was written, I have received +the accompanying report from General Phelps.</p> + +<p>"It is not my duty to enter into a discussion of the +questions which it presents.</p> + +<p>"I desire, however, to state the information of Mr. La +Blanche, given me by his friends and neighbors, and also +<i>Jack</i> La Blanche, his slave, who seems to be the leader of +this party of negroes. Mr. La Blanche I have not seen. He, +however, claims to be loyal, and to have taken no part in +the war, but to have lived quietly on his plantation, some +twelve miles above New Orleans, on the opposite side of the +river. He has a son in the secession army, whose uniform and +equipments, &c., are the symbols of secession of which +General Phelps speaks. Mr. La Blanche's house was searched +by the order of General Phelps, for arms and contraband of +war, and his neighbors say that his negroes were told that +they were free if they would come to the general's camp.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image25.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="COOKING IN CAMP" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That thereupon the negroes, under the lead of Jack, +determined to leave, and for that purpose crowded into a +small boat which, from overloading, was in danger of +swamping.</p> + +<p>"La Blanche then told his negroes that if they were +determined to go, they would be drowned, and he would hire +them a large boat to put them across the river, and that +they might have their furniture if they would go and leave +his plantation and crop to ruin.</p> + +<p>"They decided to go, and La Blanche did all a man could to +make that going safe.</p> + +<p>"The account of General Phelps is the negro side of the +story; that above given is the story of Mr. La Blanche's +neighbors, some of whom I know to be loyal men.</p> + +<p>"An order against negroes being allowed in camp is the +reason they are outside.</p> + +<p>"Mr. La Blanche is represented to be a humane man, and did +not consent to the 'exodus' of his negroes.</p> + +<p>"General Phelps, I believe, intends making this a test case +for the policy of the government. I wish it might be so, for +the difference of our action upon this subject is a source +of trouble. I respect his honest sincerity of opinion, but I +am a soldier, bound to carry out the wishes of my government +so long as I hold its commission, and I understand that +policy to be the one I am pursuing. I do not feel at liberty +to pursue any other. If the policy of the government is +nearly that I sketched in my report upon the subject and +that which I have ordered in this department, then the +services of General Phelps are worse than useless here. If +the views set forth in his report are to obtain, then he is +invaluable, for his whole soul is in it, and he is a good +soldier of large experience, and no braver man lives. I beg +to leave the whole question with the president, with perhaps +the needless assurance that his wishes shall be loyalty +followed, were they not in accordance with my own, as I have +now no right to have any upon the subject.</p> + +<p>"I write in haste, as the steamer 'Mississippi' is awaiting +this dispatch.</p> + +<p>"Awaiting the earliest possible instructions, I have the +honor to be,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Your most obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"<span class="smcap">B. F. Butler</span>, <i>Major General Commanding.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Gen. Phelps waited about six weeks for a reply, but none came. Meanwhile +the negroes continued to gather at his camp. He said, in regard to not +receiving an answer, "I was left to the inference that silence gives +consent, and proceeded therefore to take such decided measures as +appeared best calculated, to me, to dispose of the difficulty." +Accordingly he made the following requisition upon headquarters:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Camp Parapet, La.</span>, July 30, 1862.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Captain <span class="smcap">R. S. Davis</span>, A. A. A. General, New Orleans, La.:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—I enclose herewith requisitions for arms, +accouterments, clothing, camp and garrison equipage, &c., +for three regiments of Africans, which I propose to raise +for the defense of this point. The location is swampy and +unhealthy, and our men are dying at the rate of two or three +a day.</p> + +<p>"The southern loyalists are willing, as I understand, to +furnish their share of the tax for the support of the war; +but they should also furnish their quota of men, which they +have not thus far done. An opportunity now offers of +supplying the deficiency; and it is not safe to neglect +opportunities in war. I think that, with the proper +facilities, I could raise the three regiments proposed in a +short time. Without holding out any inducements, or offering +any reward, I have now upward of three hundred Africans +organized into five companies, who are all willing and ready +to show their devotion to our cause in any way that it may +be put to the test. They are willing to submit to anything +rather than to slavery.</p> + +<p>Society in the South seems to be on the point of +dissolution; and the best way of preventing the African from +becoming instrumental in a general state of anarchy, is to +enlist him in the cause of the Republic. If we reject his +services, any petty military chieftain, by offering him +freedom, can have them for the purpose of robbery and +plunder. It is for the interests of the South, as well of +the North, that the African should be permitted to offer his +block for the temple of freedom. Sentiments unworthy of the +man of the present day—worthy only of another Cain—could +alone prevent such an offer from being accepted.</p> + +<p>I would recommend that the cadet graduates of the present +year should be sent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> to South Carolina and this point to +organize and discipline our African levies, and that the +more promising non-commissioned officers and privates of the +army be appointed as company officers to command them. +Prompt and energetic efforts in this direction would +probably accomplish more toward a speedy termination of the +war, and an early restoration of peace and unity, than any +other course which could be adopted.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I have the honor to remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">J. W. Phelps</span>, <i>Brigadier-General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This reply was received:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, July 31, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General</span>:—The general commanding wishes you to employ the +contrabands in and about your camp in cutting down all the +trees, &c., between your lines and the lake, and in forming +abatis, according to the plan agreed upon between you and +Lieutenant Weitzel when he visited you some time since. What +wood is not needed by you is much needed in this city. For +this purpose I have ordered the quartermaster to furnish you +with axes, and tents for the contrabands to be quartered in.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"By order of Major-General <span class="smcap">Butler</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"<span class="smcap">R. S. Davis</span>, Capt. and A. A. A. G.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"To Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">J. W. Phelps</span>, Camp Parapet."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>General Butler's effort to turn the attention of Gen. Phelps to the law +of Congress recently passed was of no avail, that officer was determined +in his policy of warring on the enemy; but finding General Butler as +firm in his policy of leniency, and knowing of his strong pro-slavery +sentiments prior to the war,—notwithstanding his "contraband" order at +Fortress Monroe,—General Phelps felt as though he would be humiliated +if he departed from his own policy and became what he regarded as a +slave-driver, therefore he determined to resign. He replied to General +Butler as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Camp Parapet, La.</span>, July 31, 1862.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Captain <span class="smcap">R. S. Davis</span>, A. A. A. General, New Orleans, La.:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—The communication from your office of this date, +signed, 'By order of Major-General Butler,' directing me to +employ the 'contrabands' in and about my camp in cutting +down all the trees between my lines and the lake, etc., has +just been received.</p> + +<p>"In reply, I must state that while I am willing to prepare +African regiments for the defense of the government against +its assailants, I am not willing to become the mere +slave-driver which you propose, having no qualifications in +that way. I am, therefore, under the necessity of tendering +the resignation of my commission as an officer of the army +of the United States, and respectfully request a leave of +absence until it is accepted, in accordance with paragraph +29, page 12, of the general regulations.</p> + +<p>While I am writing, at half-past eight o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, a +colored man is brought in by one of the pickets who has just +been wounded in the side by a charge of shot, which he says +was fired at him by one of a party of three slave-hunters or +guerillas, a mile or more from our line of sentinels. As it +is some distance from the camp to the lake, the party of +wood-choppers which you have directed will probably need a +considerable force to guard them against similar attacks.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">J. W. Phelps</span>, <i>Brigadier-General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Phelps was one of Butler's most trusted commanders, and the latter +endeavored, but in vain, to have him reconsider his resignation. General +Butler wrote him:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, August, 2, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General</span>:—I was somewhat surprised to receive your +resignation for the reasons stated.</p> + +<p>"When you were put in command at Camp Parapet, I sent +Lieutenant Weitzel, my chief engineer, to make a +reconnoissance of the lines of Carrollton, and I understand +it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> was agreed between you and the engineer that a removal +of the wood between Lake Pontchartrain and the right of your +intrenchment was a necessary military precaution. The work +could not be done at that time because of the stage of water +and the want of men. But now both water and men concur. You +have five hundred Africans organized into companies, you +write me. This work they are fitted to do. It must either be +done by them or my soldiers, now drilled and disciplined. +You have said the location is unhealthy for the soldier; it +is not to the negro; is it not best that these unemployed +Africans should do this labor? My attention is specially +called to this matter at the present time, because there are +reports of demonstrations to be made on your lines by the +rebels, and in my judgment it is a matter of necessary +precaution thus to clear the right of your line, so that you +can receive the proper aid from the gunboats on the lake, +besides preventing the enemy from having cover. To do this +the negroes ought to be employed; and in so employing them I +see no evidence of 'slave-driving' or employing you as a +'slave-driver.'</p> + +<p>"The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac did this very thing +last summer in front of Arlington Heights; are the negroes +any better than they?</p> + +<p>"Because of an order to do this necessary thing to protect +your front, threatened by the enemy, you tender your +resignation and ask immediate leave of absence. I assure you +I did not expect this, either from your courage, your +patriotism, or your good sense. To resign in the face of an +enemy has not been the highest plaudit to a soldier, +especially when the reason assigned is that he is ordered to +do that which a recent act of congress has specially +authorized a military commander to do, <i>i. e.</i>, employ the +Africans to do the necessary work about a camp or upon a +fortification.</p> + +<p>"General, your resignation will not be accepted by me, leave +of absence will not be granted, and you will see to it that +my orders, thus necessary for the defense of the city, are +faithfully and diligently executed, upon the responsibility +that a soldier in the field owes to his superior. I will see +that all proper requisitions for the food, shelter, and +clothing of these negroes so at work are at once filled by +the proper departments. You will also send out a proper +guard to protect the laborers against the guerilla force, if +any, that may be in the neighborhood.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Benj. F. Butler</span>, <i>Major-General Commanding.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Brigadier-General J. W. <span class="smcap">Phelps</span>, <i>Commanding at Camp Parapet.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the same day, General Butler wrote again to General Phelps:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, August 2, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General</span>:—By the act of congress, as I understand it, the +president of the United States alone has the authority to +employ Africans in arms as a part of the military forces of +the United States.</p> + +<p>"Every law up to this time raising volunteer or militia +forces has been opposed to their employment. The president +has not as yet indicated his purpose to employ the Africans +in arms.</p> + +<p>"The arms, clothing, and camp equipage which I have here for +the Louisiana volunteers, is, by the letter of the secretary +of war, expressly limited to white soldiers, so that I have +no authority to divert them, however much I may desire so to +do.</p> + +<p>"I do not think you are empowered to organize into companies +negroes, and drill them as a military organization, as I am +not surprised, but unexpectedly informed you have done. I +cannot sanction this course of action as at present advised, +specially when we have need of the services of the blacks, +who are being sheltered upon the outskirts of your camp, as +you will see by the orders for their employment sent you by +the assistant adjutant-general.</p> + +<p>"I will send your application to the president, but in the +mean time you must desist from the formation of any negro +military organization.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"<span class="smcap">Benj. F. Butler</span>, <i>Major-General Commanding.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">Phelps</span>, <i>commanding forces at Camp Parapet.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>General Phelps' resignation was accepted by the Government. He received +notification of the fact on the 8th of September and immediately +prepared to return to his farm in Vermont. In parting with his officers, +who were, like his soldiers, much attached to him, he said: "And now, +with earnest wishes for your welfare, and aspirations for the success of +the great cause for which you are here, I bid you good-bye." Says +Parton:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When at length, the government had arrived at a negro +policy, and was arming slaves, the president offered General +Phelps a major-general's commission. He replied, it is said, +that he would willingly accept the commission if it were +dated back to the day of his resignation, so as to carry +with it an approval of his course at Camp Parapet. This was +declined, and General Phelps remains in retirement. I +suppose the president felt that an indorsement of General +Phelps' conduct would imply a censure of General Butler, +whose conduct every candid person, I think, must admit, was +just, forbearing, magnanimous."</p></div> + +<p>General Butler was carrying out the policy of the Government at that +time, but it was not long before he found it necessary to inaugurate a +policy of his own for the safety of his command. On the 5th of August +Breckenridge assaulted Baton Rouge, the capital of the State, which +firmly convinced General Butler of the necessity of raising troops to +defend New Orleans. He had somewhat realized his situation in July and +appealed to the "home authorities" for reinforcements, but none could be +sent. Still, the Secretary of War said to him, in reply to his +application: "New Orleans must be held at all hazards."</p> + +<p>With New Orleans threatened and no hope of reinforcement, General +Butler, on the 22d day of August, before General Phelps had retired to +private life, was obliged to accept the policy of arming negroes. He +issued the following order:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="3">"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">GENERAL ORDERS</span></td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, August 22, 1862.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NO. 63.</td><td align='left'>}</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Whereas on the 23d day of April, in the year eighteen +hundred and sixty-one, at a public meeting of the free +colored population of the city of New Orleans, a military +organization, known as the "Native Guards" (colored,) had +its existence, which military organization was duly and +legally enrolled as a part of the militia of the State, its +officers being commissioned by Thomas O. Moore, Governor and +Commander-in-Chief of the militia of the State of Louisiana, +in the form following, that is to say:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">The State of Louisiana</span>.<br /></span> +<span class="i40">[Seal of the State.]<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'By Thomas Overton Moore, Governor of the State of +Louisiana, and commander-in-chief of the militia thereof.</p> + +<p>"'In the name and by the authority of the State of +Louisiana: Know ye that ——- ——, having been duly and +legally elected captain of the "Native Guards" (colored,) +1st division of the Militia of Louisiana, to serve for the +term of the war,</p> + +<p>"'I do hereby appoint and commission him captain as +aforesaid, to take rank as such, from the 2d day of May, +eighteen hundred and sixty-one.</p> + +<p>"'He is, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge +the duties of his office by doing and performing all manner +of things thereto belonging. And I do strictly charge and +require all officers, non-commissioned officers and privates +under his command, to be obedient to his orders as captain; +and he is to observe and follow such orders and directions, +from time to time, as he shall receive from me, or the +future Governor of the State of Louisiana, or other superior +officers, according to the Rules and Articles of War, and in +conformity to law.</p> + +<p>"'In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be +made patent, and the seal of the State to be hereunto +annexed.</p> + +<p>"'Given under my hand, at the city of Baton Rouge, on the +second day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand +eight hundred and sixty-one.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">[L.S.] [Signed,] <span class="smcap">Thos. O. Moore</span>.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">By the Governor:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">[Signed,] "'P. D. Hardy, Secretary of State.<br /></span> +<span class="i27">[Endorsed.]<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'I, Maurice Grivot, Adjutant and Inspector General of the +State of Louisiana, do hereby certify that —— ——, named +in the within commission, did, on the second day of May, in +the year 1861, deposit in my office his written acceptance +of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> office to which he is commissioned, and his oath of +office taken according to law.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">[Signed,] "'<span class="smcap">M. Grivot</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Adjutant and Inspector General, La.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"And whereas, said military organization elicited praise and +respect, and was complimented in General Orders for its +patriotism and loyalty, and was ordered to continue during +the war, in the words following:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">"'Headquarters Louisiana Militia</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">"'Order No. 426.] "'Adjutant General's Office, March 24, 1862.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'I.—The Governor and Commander-in-Chief, relying +implicitly upon the loyalty of the free colored population +of the city and State for the protection of their homes, +their property, and for Southern rights, from the pollution +of a ruthless invader, and believing that the military +organization which existed prior to the 15th of February, +1862, and elicited praise and respect for the patriotic +motives which prompted it, should exist for and during the +war, calls upon them to maintain their organization, and to +hold themselves prepared for such orders as may be +transmitted to them.</p> + +<p>"'II.—The colonel commanding will report without delay to +Major General Lewis, commanding State militia.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"'By order of <span class="smcap">Thos. O. Moore</span>, Governor.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">[Signed,] <span class="smcap">M. Grivot</span>, Adjutant General.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"And whereas, said military organization, by the same order, +was directed to report to Major-General Lewis for service, +but did not leave the city of New Orleans when he did:</p> + +<p>"Now, therefore, the Commanding General, believing that a +large portion of this militia force of the State of +Louisiana are willing to take service in the volunteer +forces of the United States, and be enrolled and organized +to 'defend their homes from 'ruthless invaders;' to protect +their wives and children and kindred from wrong and outrage; +to shield their property from being seized by bad men; and +to defend the flag of their native country as their fathers +did under Jackson at Chalmette against Packenham and his +myrmidons, carrying the black flag of 'beauty and booty;'</p> + +<p>"Appreciating their motives, relying upon their 'well-known +loyalty and patriotism,' and with 'praise and respect' for +these brave men—it is ordered that all the members of the +'Native Guards' aforesaid, and all other free colored +citizens recognized by the first and late governor and +authorities of the State of Louisiana as a portion of the +militia of the State, who shall enlist in the volunteer +service of the United States, shall be duly organized by the +appointment of proper officers, and accepted, paid, +equipped, armed and rationed as are other volunteer troops +of the United States, subject to the approval of the +President of the United States. All such persons are +required at once to report themselves at the Touro Charity +Building, Front Levee St., New Orleans, where proper +officers will muster them into the service of the United +States.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"By command of Major General Butler:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"R. S. DAVIS, <i>Capt. and A. A. A. G.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Notwithstanding the harsh treatment they had been receiving from +Military-Governor Shepley and the Provost Guard, the rendezvous +designated was the scene of a busy throng the next day. Thousands of men +were enlisted during the first week, and in fourteen days a regiment was +organized. The first regiment's line officers were colored, and the +field officers were white. Those who made up this regiment were not all +free negroes by more than half. Any negro who would swear that he was +free, if physically good, was accepted, and of the many thousand slave +fugitives in the city from distant plantations, hundreds found their way +into Touro building and ultimately into the ranks of the three regiments +formed at that building. The second, like the first, had all colored +line officers; the third was officered regardless of color. This was +going beyond the line laid down by General Phelps. He proposed that +white men should take command<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> of these troops exclusively. By November +these three regiments were in the field, where in course of time they +often met their former masters face to face and exchanged shots with +them. The pro-slavery men of the North and their newspapers endeavored +to make the soldiers in the field believe that the negroes would not +fight; while not only the papers and the soldiers, but many officers, +especially those from the West Point Academy, denounced General Butler +for organizing the regiments. General Weitzel, to whose command these +regiments were assigned in an expedition up the river, objected to them, +and asked Butler to relieve him of the command of the expedition. Butler +wrote him in reply:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"You say that in these organizations you have no confidence. +As your reading must have made you aware, General Jackson +entertained a different opinion upon that subject. It was +arranged between the commanding general and yourself, that +the colored regiments should be employed in guarding the +railroad. You don't complain, in your report, that they +either failed in this duty, or that they have acted +otherwise than correctly and obediently to the commands of +their officers, or that they have committed any outrage or +pillage upon the inhabitants. The general was aware of your +opinion, that colored men will not fight. You have failed to +show, by the conduct of these free men, so far, anything to +sustain that opinion. And the general cannot see why you +should decline the command, especially as you express a +willingness to go forward to meet the only organized enemy +with your brigade alone, without farther support. The +commanding general cannot see how the fact that they are +guarding your line of communication by railroad, can weaken +your defense. He must, therefore, look to the other reasons +stated by you, for an explanation of your declining the +command.</p> + +<p>"You say that since the arrival of the negro regiment you +have seen symptoms of a servile insurrection. But as the +only regiment that arrived there got there as soon as your +own command, of course the appearance of such symptoms is +since their arrival.</p> + +<p>"Have you not mistaken the cause? Is it the arrival of a +negro regiment, or is it the arrival of United States +troops, carrying by the act of congress freedom to this +servile race? Did you expect to march into that country, +drained, as you say it is, by conscription of all its +able-bodied white men, without leaving the negroes free to +show symptoms of servile insurrection? Does not this state +of things arise from the very fact of war itself? You are in +a country where now the negroes outnumber the whites ten to +one, and these whites are in rebellion against the +government, or in terror seeking its protection. Upon +reflection, can you doubt that the same state of things +would have arisen without the presence of a colored +regiment? Did you not see symptoms of the same things upon +the plantations here upon our arrival, although, under much +less favorable circumstances for revolt?</p> + +<p>"You say that the prospect of such an insurrection is +heart-rending, and that you cannot be responsible for it. +The responsibility rests upon those who have begun and +carried out this war, and who have stopped at no barbarity, +at no act of outrage, upon the citizens and soldiers of the +United States. You have forwarded me the records of a +pretended court-martial, showing that seven men of one of +your regiments, who enlisted here in the Eighth Vermont, who +had surrendered themselves prisoners of war, were in cold +blood murdered, and, as certain information shows me, +required to dig their own graves! You are asked if this is +not an occurrence as heart-rending as a prospective servile +insurrection.</p> + +<p>"The question is now to be met, whether, in a hostile, +rebellious part of the state, where this very murder has +been committed by the militia, you are to stop in the +operations of the field to put down servile insurrection, +because the men and women are terror-stricken? Whenever was +it heard before that a victorious general, in an +unsurrendered province, stopped in his course for the +purpose of preventing the rebellious inhabitants of that +province from destroying each other, or refuse to take +command of a conquered province lest he should be made +responsible for their self-destruction?</p> + +<p>"As a military question, perhaps, the more terror-stricken +the inhabitants are that are left in your rear, the more +safe will be your lines of communication. You say there have +appeared before your eyes the very facts, in terror-stricken +women and children and men, which you had before +contemplated in theory. Grant it. But is not the remedy to +be found in the surrender of the neighbors, fathers, +brothers, and sons of the terror-stricken women and +children, who are now in arms against the government within +twenty miles of you? And when that is done, and you have no +longer to fear from these organized forces, and they have +returned peaceably to their homes, you will be able to use +the full power of your troops to insure your safety from the +so much feared (by them, not by you) servile insurrection.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image26.jpg" width="600" height="402" alt="POINT ISABEL, TEXAS. Phalanx soldiers on duty, throwing +up earthworks." title="" /> +<span class="caption">POINT ISABEL, TEXAS.<br /> Phalanx soldiers on duty, throwing +up earthworks.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"If you desire, you can send a flag of truce to the +commander of these forces, embracing these views, and +placing upon him the responsibility which belongs to him. +Even that course will not remove it from you, for upon you +it has never rested. Say to them, that if all armed +opposition to the authority of the United States shall cease +in Louisiana, on the west bank of the river, you are +authorized by the commanding general to say, that the same +protection against negro or other violence will be afforded +that part of Louisiana that has been in the part already in +the possession of the United States. If that is refused, +whatever may ensue is upon them, and not upon you or upon +the United States. You will have done all that is required +of a brave, humane man, to avert from these deluded people +the horrible consequences of their insane war upon the +government. * * * *</p> + +<p>"Consider this case. General Bragg is at liberty to ravage +the houses of our brethren of Kentucky because the Union +army of Louisiana are protecting his wife and his home +against his negroes. Without that protection he would have +to come back to take care of his wife, his home and his +negroes. It is understood that Mrs. Bragg is one of the +terrified women of whom you speak in your report.</p> + +<p>"This subject is not for the first time under the +consideration of the commanding general. When in command of +the Department of Annapolis, in May, 1861, he was asked to +protect a community against the consequences of a servile +insurrection. He replied, that when that community laid down +its arms, and called upon him for protection, he would give +it, because from that moment between them and him war would +cease. The same principle initiated there will govern his +and your actions now; and you will afford such protection as +soon as the community through its organized rulers shall ask +it.</p> + +<p>"* * * * In the mean time, these colored regiments of free +men, raised by the authority of the president, and approved +by him as the commander-in-chief of the army, must be +commanded by the officers of the army of the United States, +like any other regiment."</p></div> + +<p>General Butler continued General Weitzel in command but placed the +negroes under another officer. However, General Weitzel; like thousands +of others, changed his mind in regard to the colored troops. "If he was +not convinced by General Butler's reasoning," says Parton, "he must have +been convinced by what he saw of the conduct of those very colored +regiments at Port Hudson, where he himself gave such a glorious example +of prudence and gallantry."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding these troops did good service, it did not soften or +remove very much of the prejudice at the North against the negro +soldiers, nor in the ranks of the army. Many incidents might be cited to +show the feeling of bitterness against them.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> However, General +Butler's example was followed very soon by every officer in command, and +by the time the President's Emancipation Proclamation was issued there +were not less than 10,000 negroes armed and equipped along the +Mississippi river. Of course the Government knew nothing of this.(?) +Not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> only armed, but some of them had been in skirmishes with the enemy. +That as a Phalanx they were invaluable in crushing the rebellion, let +their acts of heroism tell. In the light of history and of their own +deeds, it can be said that in courage, patriotism and dash, they were +second to no troops, either in ancient or modern armies. They were +enlisted after rigid scrutiny, and the examination of every man by +competent surgeons. Their acquaintance with the country in which they +marched, encamped and fought, made them in many instances superior to +the white troops. Then to strengthen their valor and tenacity, each +soldier of the Phalanx knew when he heard the long roll beat to arms, +and the bugle sound the charge, that they were not to go forth to meet +those who regarded them as opponents in arms, but who met them as a man +in his last desperate effort for life would meet demons; they knew, +also, that there was no reserve—no reinforcements behind to support +them when they went to battle; their alternative was <i>life or death</i>. It +was the consciousness of this fact that made the black phalanx a wall of +adamant to the enemy.</p> + +<p>The not unnatural willingness of the white soldiers to allow the negro +troops to stop the bullets that they would otherwise have to receive was +shown in General Bank's Red River Campaign. At Pleasant Grove, Dickey's +black brigade prevented a slaughter of the Union troops. The black +Phalanx were represented there by a brigade attached to the first +division of the 19th Corps. When the confederates routed the army under +Banks at Sabine Cross Roads, below Mansfield, they drove it for several +hours toward Pleasant Grove, despite the ardor of the combined forces of +Banks and Franklin. It became apparent that unless the confederates +could be checked at this point, all was lost. General Emory prepared for +the emergency on the western edge of a wood, with an open field sloping +toward Mansfield. Here General Dwight formed a brigade of the black +Phalanx across the road. Hardly was the line formed when out came the +gallant foe driving 10,000 men before them. Flushed with two days' +victory, they came charging at double quick time, but the Phalanx held +its fire until the enemy was close upon them, and then poured a deadly +volley into the ranks of the exultant foe, stopping them short and +mowing them down like grass. The confederates recoiled, and now began a +fight such as was always fought when the Southerners became aware that +black soldiers were in front of them, and for an hour and a half they +fought at close quarters, ceasing only at night. Every charge of the +enemy was repulsed by the steady gallantry of General Emory's brigade +and the black Phalanx, who saved the army from annihilation against a +foe numbering three to one. During this memorable campaign the Phalanx +more than once met the enemy and accepted the face of their black flag +declarations. The confederates knew full well that every man of the +Phalanx would fight to the last; they had learned that long before.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image27.jpg" width="600" height="421" alt="THE RECRUITING OFFICE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE RECRUITING OFFICE.<br /> + +Negroes enlisting in the army, and being examined by surgeons.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>As early as June, 1863, General Grant was compelled, in order to show a +bold front to Gens. Pemberton and Johnston at the same time, while +besieging Vicksburg, to draw nearly all the troops from Milliken's Bend +to his support, leaving three infantry regiments of the black Phalanx +and a small force of white cavalry to hold this, to him an all important +post. Milliken's Bend was well fortified, and with a proper garrison was +in condition to stand a siege. Brigadier-General Dennis was in command, +and the troops consisted of the 9th and 11th Louisiana Regiments, the +1st Mississippi and a small detachment of white cavalry, in all about +1,400 men, raw recruits. General Dennis looking upon the place more as a +station for organizing and drilling the Phalanx, had made no particular +arrangements in anticipation of an attack. He was surprised, therefore, +when a force of 3,000 men, under General Henry McCulloch, from the +interior of Louisiana, attacked and drove his pickets and two companies +of the 23d Iowa Cavalry, (white) up to the breastworks of the Bend. The +movement was successful, however, and the confederates, holding the +ground, rested for the night, with the expectation of marching into the +fortifications in the morning, to begin a massacre, whether a resistance +should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> be shown them or not. The knowledge this little garrison had of +what the morrow would bring it, doubtless kept the soldiers awake, +preparing to meet the enemy and their own fate. About 3 o'clock, in the +early grey of the morning, the confederate line was formed just outside +of the intrenchments; suddenly with fixed bayonets the men came rushing +over the works, driving everything before them and shouting, "No +quarter! No quarter to negroes or their officers!" In a moment the +blacks formed and met them, and now the battle began in earnest, hand to +hand. The gunboats "Choctaw" and "Lexington" also came up as the +confederates were receiving the bayonets and the bullets of the +Unionists, and lent material assistance. The attacking force had flanked +the works and was pouring in a deadly, enfilading musketry fire. The +defenders fell back out of the way of the gunboat's shells, but finally +went forward again with what was left of their 150 white allies, and +drove the enemy before them and out of the captured works. One division +of the enemy's troops hesitated to leave a redoubt, when a company of +brave black men dashed forward at double-quick time and engaged them. +The enemy stood his ground, and soon the rattling bayonets rang out amid +the thunders of the gunboats and the shouts of enraged men; but they +were finally driven out, and their ranks thinned by the "Choctaw" as +they went over the works. The news reached General Grant and he +immediately dispatched General Mower's brigade with orders to re-enforce +Dennis and drive the confederates beyond the Tensas river.</p> + +<p>A battle can be best described by one who observed it. Captain Miller, +who not only was an eye-witness, but participated in the Milliken's Bend +fight, writes as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We were attacked here on June 7, about three o'clock in the +morning, by a brigade of Texas troops, about two thousand +five hundred in number. We had about six hundred men to +withstand them, five hundred of them negroes. I commanded +Company I, Ninth Louisiana. We went into the fight with +thirty-three men. I had sixteen killed, eleven badly +wounded, and four slightly. I was wounded slightly on the +head, near the right eye, with a bayonet, and had a bayonet +run through my right hand, near the forefinger; that will +account for this miserable style of penmanship.</p> + +<p>"Our regiments had about three hundred men in the fight. We +had one colonel wounded, four captains wounded, two first +and two second lieutenants killed, five lieutenants wounded, +and three white orderlies killed, and one wounded in the +hand, and two fingers taken off. The list of killed and +wounded officers comprised nearly all the officers present +with the regiment, a majority of the rest being absent +recruiting."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image28.jpg" width="600" height="333" alt="BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND" title="" /> +<span class="caption">BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We had about fifty men killed in the regiment and eighty +wounded; so you can judge of what part of the fight my +company sustained. I never felt more grieved and sick at +heart, than when I saw how my brave soldiers had been +slaughtered,—one with six wounds, all the rest with two or +three, none less than two wounds. Two of my colored +sergeants were killed; both brave, noble men, always prompt, +vigilant, and ready for the fray. I never more wish to hear +the expression, 'The niggers won't fight.' Come with me, a +hundred yards from where I sit, and I can show you the +wounds that cover the bodies of sixteen as brave, loyal, and +patriotic soldiers as ever drew bead on a rebel.</p> + +<p>"The enemy charged us so close that we fought with our +bayonets, hand to hand. I have six broken bayonets to show +how bravely my men fought. The Twenty-third Iowa joined my +company on the right; and I declare truthfully that they had +all fled before our regiment fell back, as we were all +compelled to do.</p> + +<p>Under command of Col. Page, I led the Ninth and Eleventh +Louisiana when the rifle-pits were retaken and held by our +troops, our two regiments doing the work.</p> + +<p>"I narrowly escaped death once. A rebel took deliberate aim +at me with both barrels of his gun; and the bullets passed +so close to me that the powder that remained on them burnt +my cheek. Three of my men, who saw him aim and fire, thought +that he wounded me each fire; One of them was killed by my +side, and he fell on me, covering my clothes with his blood; +and, before the rebel could fire again, I blew his brains +out with my gun.</p> + +<p>"It was a horrible fight, the worst I was ever engaged +in,—not even excepting Shiloh. The enemy cried, 'No +quarter!' but some of them were very glad to take it when +made prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Col. Allen, of the Sixteenth Texas, was killed in front of +our regiment, and Brig.-Gen. Walker was wounded. We killed +about one hundred and eighty of the enemy. The gunboat +"Choctaw" did good service shelling them. I stood on the +breastworks after we took them, and gave the elevations and +direction for the gunboat by pointing my sword; and they +sent a shell right into their midst, which sent them in all +directions. Three shells fell there, and sixty-two rebels +lay there when the fight was over.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>"This battle satisfied the slave-masters of the South that +their charm was gone; and that the negro as a slave, was +lost forever. Yet there was one fact connected with the +battle of Milliken's Bend which will descend to posterity, +as testimony against the humanity of slave-holders; and that +is, that no negro was ever found alive that was taken a +prisoner by the rebels in this fight."</p></div> + +<p>The Department of the Gulf contained a far greater proportion of the +Phalanx than did any other Department, and there were very few, if any, +important engagements fought in this Department in which the Phalanx did +not take part.</p> + +<p>It is unpleasant here, in view of the valuable services rendered by the +Phalanx, to be obliged to record that the black soldiers were subjected +to many indignities, and suffered much at the hands of their white +fellow comrades in arms. Repeated assaults and outrages were committed +upon black men wearing the United States' uniform, not only by +volunteers but conscripts from the various States, and frequently by +confederate prisoners who had been paroled by the United States; these +outrages were allowed to take place, without interference by the +commanding officers, who apparently did not observe what was going on.</p> + +<p>At Ship Island, Miss., there were three companies of the 13th Maine, +General Neal Dow's old regiment, and seven companies of the 2nd Regiment +Phalanx, commanded by Colonel Daniels, which constituted the garrison at +that point. Ship Island was the key to New Orleans. On<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> the opposite +shore was a railroad leading to Mobile by which re-enforcements were +going forward to Charleston. Colonel Daniels conceived the idea of +destroying the road to prevent the transportation of the confederate +troops. Accordingly, with about two hundred men he landed at Pascagoula, +on the morning of the 9th of April. Pickets were immediately posted on +the outskirts of the town, while the main body marched up to the hotel. +Before long some confederate cavalry, having been apprised of the +movement, advanced, drove in the pickets, and commenced an attack on the +force occupying the town. The cavalry made a bold dash upon the left of +the negroes, which was the work of but a moment; the brave blacks met +their charge manfully, and emptied the saddles of the front rank, which +caused the rear ones first to halt and then retire. The blacks were +outnumbered, however, five to one, and finally were forced to abandon +the town; they went, taking with them the stars and stripes which they +had hoisted upon the hotel when entering it. They fell back towards the +river to give the gunboat "Jackson" a chance to shell their pursuers, +but the movement resulted in an apparently revengeful act on the part of +the crew of that vessel, they having previously had some of their number +killed in the course of a difficulty with a black sentry at Ship Island.</p> + +<p>The commanding officer of the land force, doubtless from prudential +reasons, omitted to state in his report that the men fought their way +through the town while being fired upon from house-tops and windows by +boys and women. That the gunboat opened fire directly on them when they +were engaged in a hand to hand conflict, which so completely cut off a +number of the men from the main body of the troops that their capture +appeared certain. Major Dumas, however, seeing the condition of things, +put spurs to his horse and went to their succor, reaching them just as a +company of the enemy's cavalry made a charge. The Major, placing himself +at the head of the hard-pressed men, not only repulsed the cavalry and +rescued the squad, but captured the enemy's standard-bearer. The +retreating force reached their transport with the loss of only one man; +they brought with them some prisoners and captured flags. Colonel +Daniels, in his report, speaks as follows of the heroism of the +soldiers:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image29.jpg" width="600" height="462" alt="UNLOADING GOVT. STORES" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The expedition was a perfect success, accomplishing all +that was intended; resulting in the repulse of the enemy in +every engagement with great loss; whilst our casualty was +only two killed and eight wounded. Great credit is due to +the troops engaged, for their unflinching bravery and +steadiness under this their first fire, exchanging volley +after volley with the coolness of veterans; and for their +determined tenacity in maintaining their position, and +taking advantage of every success that their courage and +valor gave them; and also to their officers, who were cool +and determined throughout the action, fighting their +commands against five times their numbers, and confident +throughout of success,—all demonstrating to its fullest +extent that the oppression which they have heretofore +undergone from the hands of their foes, and the obloquy that +had been showered upon them by those who should have been +friends, had not extinguished their manhood, or suppressed +their bravery, and that they had still a hand to wield the +sword, and a heart to vitalize its blow.</p> + +<p>"I would particularly call the attention of the Department +to Major F. E. Dumas, Capt. Villeverd, and Lieuts. Jones and +Martin, who were constantly in the thickest of the fight, +and by their unflinching bravery, and admirable handling of +their commands, contributed to the success of the attack, +and reflected great honor upon the flag under and for which +they so nobly struggled. Repeated instances of individual +bravery among the troops might be mentioned; but it would be +invidious where all fought so manfully and so well.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I have the honor to be, most respectfully your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"N. U. DANIELS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Col. Second Regiment La. N. G. Vols., Commanding Post.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The 2nd Regiment, with the exception of the Colonel, Lieut.-Colonel and +Adjutant, was officered by negroes, many of whom had worn the galling +chains of slavery, while others were men of affluence and culture from +New Orleans and vicinity.</p> + +<p>The 2nd Regiment had its full share of prejudice to contend with, and +perhaps suffered more from that cause than any other regiment of the +Phalanx. Once while loading transports at Algiers, preparatory to +embarking for Ship Island, they came in contact with a section of the +famous Nim's battery, rated as one of the finest in the service. The +arms of the 2nd Regiment were stacked and the men were busy in loading +the vessel, save a few who were doing guard duty over the ammunition +stored in a shed on the wharf. One of the battery-men attempted to enter +the shed with a lighted pipe in his mouth, but was prevented by the +guard. It was more than the Celt could stand to be ordered by a negro; +watching for a chance when the guard about-faced, he with several others +sprang upon him. The guard gave the Phalanx signal, and instantly +hundreds of black men secured their arms and rushed to the relief of +their comrade. The battery-men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> jumped to their guns, formed into line +and drew their sabres. Lieut.-Colonel Hall, who was in command of the +2nd Regiment, stepped forward and demanded to know of the commander of +the battery if his men wanted to take the men the guard had arrested. +"Yes," was the officer's reply, "I want you to give them up." "Not until +they are dealt with," said Colonel Hall. And then a shout and yell, such +as the Phalanx only were able to give, rent the air, and the abortive +menace was over. The gunners returned their sabres and resumed their +work. Col. Hall, who always had perfect control of his men, ordered the +guns stacked, put on a double guard, and the men of the 2nd Regiment +resumed their labor of loading the transport. Of course this was early +in the struggle, and before a general enlistment of the blacks.</p> + +<p>The first, second and third regiments of the Phalanx were the nucleus of +the one hundred and eighty that eventually did so much for the +suppression of the rebellion and the abolition of slavery. The 1st and +3rd Regiments went up the Mississippi; the 2nd garrisoned Ship Island +and Fort Pike, on Lake Pontchartrain, after protecting for several +months the Opelousa railroad, so much coveted by the confederates.</p> + +<p>A few weeks after the fight of the 2nd Regiment at Pascagoula, General +Banks laid siege to Port Hudson, and gathered there all the available +forces in his department. Among these were the 1st and 3rd Infantry +Regiments of the Phalanx. On the 23rd of May the federal forces, having +completely invested the enemy's works and made due preparation, were +ordered to make a general assault along the whole line. The attack was +intended to be simultaneous, but in this it failed. The Union batteries +opened early in the morning, and after a vigorous bombardment Generals +Weitzel, Grover and Paine, on the right, assaulted with vigor at 10 <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span>, while Gen. Augur in the center, and General W. T. Sherman on the +left, did not attack till 2 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span></p> + +<p>Never was fighting more heroic than that of the federal army and +especially that of the Phalanx regiments<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> If valor could have triumphed +over such odds, the assaulting forces would have carried the works, but +only abject cowardice or pitiable imbecility could have lost such a +position under existing circumstances. The negro regiments on the north +side of the works vied with the bravest, making three desperate charges +on the confederate batteries, losing heavily, but maintaining their +position in the advance all the while.</p> + +<p>The column in moving to the attack went through the woods in their +immediate front, and then upon a plane, on the farther side of which, +half a mile distant, were the enemy's batteries. The field was covered +with recently felled trees, through the interlaced branches of which the +column moved, and for two or more hours struggled through the obstacles, +stepping over their comrades who fell among the entangled brushwood +pierced by bullets or torn by flying missiles, and braved the hurricane +of shot and shell.</p> + +<p>What did it avail to hurl a few thousand troops against those +impregnable works? The men were not iron, and were they, it would have +been impossible for them to have kept erect, where trees three feet in +diameter were crashed down upon them by the enemy's shot; they would +have been but as so many ten-pins set up before skillful players to be +knocked down.</p> + +<p>The troops entered an enfilading fire from a masked battery which opened +upon them as they neared the fort, causing the column first to halt, +then to waver and stagger; but it recovered and again pressed forward, +closing up the ranks as fast as the enemy's shells thinned them. On the +left the confederates had planted a six-gun battery upon an eminence, +which enabled them to sweep the field over which the advancing column +moved. In front was the large fort, while the right of the line was +raked by a redoubt of six pieces of artillery. One after another of the +works had been charged, but in vain. The Michigan, New York and +Massachusetts troops—braver than whom none ever fought a battle—had +been hurled back from the place, leaving the field strewn with their +dead and wounded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> The works must be taken. General Nelson was ordered +by General Dwight to take the battery on the left. The 1st and 3rd +Regiments went forward at double quick time, and they were soon within +the line of the enemy's fire. Louder than the thunder of Heaven was the +artillery rending the air shaking the earth itself; cannons, mortars and +musketry alike opened a fiery storm upon the advancing regiments; an +iron shower of grape and round shot, shells and rockets, with a perfect +tempest of rifle bullets fell upon them. On they went and down, scores +falling on right and left. "The flag, the flag!" shouted the black +soldiers, as the standard-bearer's body was scattered by a shell. Two +file-closers struggled for its possession; a ball decided the struggle. +They fell faster and faster; shrieks, prayers and curses came up from +the fallen and ascended to Heaven. The ranks closed up while the column +turned obliquely toward the point of fire, seeming to forget they were +but men. Then the cross-fire of grape shot swept through their ranks, +causing the glittering bayonets to go down rapidly. "Steady men, +steady," cried bold Cailloux; his sword uplifted, his face the color of +the sulphureous smoke that enveloped him and his followers, as they felt +the deadly hail which came apparently from all sides. Captain +Cailloux<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> was killed with the colors in his hands; the column seemed +to melt away like snow in sunshine, before the enemy's murderous fire; +the pride, the flower of the Phalanx, had fallen. Then, with a daring +that veterans only can exhibit, the blacks rushed forward and up to the +brink and base of the fortified elevation, with a shout that rose above +it. The defenders emptied their rifles, cannon and mortars upon the very +heads of the brave assaulters, making of them a human hecatomb. Those +who escaped found their way back to shelter as best they could.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image30.jpg" width="600" height="402" alt="PORT HUDSON. + +Brilliant charge of the Phalanx upon the Confederate works." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PORT HUDSON.<br /> + +Brilliant charge of the Phalanx upon the Confederate works.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>The battery was not captured; the battle was lost to all except the +black soldiers; they, with their terrible loss,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> had won and conquered a +much greater and stronger battery than that upon the bluff. Nature seems +to have selected the place and appointed the time for the negro to prove +his manhood and to disarm the prejudice that at one time prompted the +white troops to insult and assault the negro soldiers in New Orleans. It +was all forgotten and they mingled together that day on terms of perfect +equality. The whites were only too glad to take a drink from a negro +soldier's canteen, for in that trying hour they found a brave and +determined ally, ready to sacrifice all for liberty and country. If +greater heroism could be shown than that of the regiments of the Phalanx +already named, surely the 1st Regiment of Engineers displayed it during +the siege at Port Hudson. This regiment, provided with picks and spades +for the purpose of "mining" the enemy's works, often went forward to +their labor without any armed support except the cover of heavy guns, or +as other troops happened to advance, to throw up breastworks for their +own protection. It takes men of more than ordinary courage to engage in +such work, without even a revolver or a bayonet to defend themselves +against the sallies of an enemy's troops. Nevertheless this Engineer +Regiment of the black Phalanx performed the duty under such trying and +perilous circumstances. Many times they went forward at a double-quick +to do duty in the most dangerous place during an engagement, perhaps to +build a redoubt or breastworks behind a brigade, or to blow up a bastion +of the enemy's. "They but reminded the lookers on," said a correspondent +of a Western newspaper, "of just so many cattle going to a +slaughterhouse."</p> + +<p>A writer, speaking of the other regiments of the Phalanx, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"They were also on trial that day, and justified the most +sanguine expectations by their good conduct. Not that they +fought better than our white veterans; they did not and +could not."</p></div> + +<p>But there had been so much incredulity avowed regarding the courage of +the negroes; so much wit lavished on the idea of negroes fighting to any +purpose, that General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> Banks was justified in according a special +commendation to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments, and to the 1st Engineer +Regiment, of the Phalanx, saying, "No troops could be more determined or +daring." The 1st lost its Cailloux, the 2nd its Paine, but the Phalanx +won honor for the race it represented. No higher encomium could be paid +a regiment than that awarded the gallant 2nd by the poet Boker:</p> + +<h4>"THE BLACK REGIMENT, OR THE SECOND LOUISIANA AT THE STORMING OF PORT +HUDSON.</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dark as the clouds of even,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Banked in the western heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Waiting the breath that lifts<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All the dread mass, and drifts<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tempest and falling brand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Over a ruined land—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So still and orderly<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Arm to arm, and knee to knee<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Waiting the great event,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stands the Black Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Down the long dusky line<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the bright bayonet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bristling and firmly set,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Flashed with a purpose grand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Long ere the sharp command<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the fierce rolling drum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Told them their time had come—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Told them what work was sent<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For the Black Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Now,' the flag sergeant cried,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Though death and hell betide,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let the whole nation see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If we are fit to be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Free in this land; or bound<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down like the whining hound—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bound with red stripes of pain<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In our old chains again!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh! what a shout there went<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the Black Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Charge!' trump and drum awoke;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Onward the bondmen broke<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bayonet and sabre stroke<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vainly opposed their rush<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through the wild battle's crush,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With but one thought aflush,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Driving their lords like chaff,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In the gun's mouth they laugh;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or at the slippery brands<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leaping with open hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down they tear, man and horse,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down in their awful course;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trampling with bloody heel<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Over the crashing steel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All their eyes forward bent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rushed the Black Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Freedom!' their battle cry,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Freedom!' or leave to die!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ah! and they meant the word,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not as with us its heard,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor a mere party shout,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They gave their spirits out;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trusted the end to God,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on the gory sod<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rolled in triumphant blood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glad to strike one free blow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whether for weal or woe;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glad to breathe one free breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though on the lips of death<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Praying—alas! in vain!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That they might fall again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So they could once more see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That burst of liberty!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This was what 'Freedom' lent<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the Black Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hundreds on hundreds fell;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But they are resting well;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scourges and shackles strong<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never shall do them wrong.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh! to the living few,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soldiers, be just and true!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hail them as comrades tried;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fight with them side by side;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never in field or tent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scorn the Black Regiment."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="center">[See Appendix for further matter relating to the Department +of the Gulf.]</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In November, while the 2nd Regiment was guarding the +Opelousas railway, about twenty miles from Algiers, La., their pickets +were fired upon, and quite a skirmish and firing was kept up during the +night. Next morning the cane field along the railroad was searched but +no trace of the firing party was found. A company of the 8th Vermont +(white) Regiment was encamped below that of the 2nd Regiment, but they +broke camp that night and left. The supposition was that it was this +company who fired upon and drove in the pickets of the Phalanx +regiment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Captain Andre Cailloux fell, gallantly leading his men +(Co. E) in the attack. With many others of the charging column, his body +lay between the lines of the Confederates and Federals, but nearer the +works of the former, whose sharpshooters guarded it night and day, and +thus prevented his late comrades from removing it. Several attempts were +made to obtain the body, but each attempt was met with a terrific storm +of lead. It was not until after the surrender that his remains were +recovered, and then taken to his native city, New Orleans. The writer of +this volume, himself wounded, was in the city at the time, and witnessed +the funeral pageant of the dead hero, the like of which was never before +seen in that, nor, perhaps, in any other American city, in honor of a +dead negro. The negro captains of the 2nd Regiment acted as +pall-bearers, while a long procession of civic societies followed in the +rear of detachments of the Phalanx. A correspondent who witnessed the +scene thus describes it: +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>" * * * * The arrival of the body developed to the white +population here that the colored people had powerful +organizations in the form of civic societies; as the Friends +of the Order, of which Capt. Cailloux was a prominent +member, received the body, and had the coffin containing it, +draped with the American flag, exposed in state in the +commodious hall. Around the coffin, flowers were strewn in +the greatest profusion, and candles were kept continually +burning. All the rites of the Catholic Church were strictly +complied with. The guard paced silently to and fro, and +altogether it presented as solemn a scene as was ever +witnessed. +</p><p> +"In due time, the band of the Forty-second Massachusetts +Regiment made its appearance, and discoursed the customary +solemn airs. The officiating priest, Father Le Maistre, of +the Church of St. Rose of Lima, who has paid not the least +attention to the excommunication and denunciations issued +against him by the archbishop of this this diocese, then +performed the Catholic service for the dead. After the +regular services, he ascended to the president's chair, and +delivered a glowing and eloquent eulogy on the virtues of +the deceased. He called upon all present to offer +themselves, as Cailloux had done, martyrs to the cause of +justice, freedom, and good government. It was a death the +proudest might envy. +</p><p> +"Immense crowds of colored people had by this time gathered +around the building, and the streets leading thereto were +rendered almost impassable. Two companies of the Sixth +Louisiana (colored) Regiment, from their camp on the Company +Canal, were there to act as an escort; and Esplanade Street, +for more than a mile, was lined with colored societies, both +male and female, in open order, waiting for the hearse to +pass through. +</p><p> +"After a short pause, a sudden silence fell upon the crowd, +the band commenced playing a dirge; and the body was brought +from the hall on the shoulders of eight soldiers, escorted +by six members of the society, and six colored captains, who +acted as pall-bearers. The corpse was conveyed to the hearse +through a crowd composed of both white and black people, and +in silence profound as death itself. Not a sound was heard +save the mournful music of the band, and not a head in all +that vast multitude but was uncovered. +</p><p> +"The procession then moved off in the following order: The +hearse containing the body, with Capts. J. W. Ringgold, W. +B. Barrett, S. J. Wilkinson, Eugene Mailleur, J. A. Glea, +and A. St. Leger, (all of whom, we believe, belong to the +Second Louisiana Native Guards), and six members of The +Friends of the Order, as pall-bearers; about a hundred +convalescent sick and wounded colored soldiers; the two +companies of the Sixth Regiment; a large number of colored +officers of all native guard regiments; the carriages +containing Capt. Cailloux's family, and a number of army +officers; followed by a large number of private individuals, +and thirty-seven civic and religious societies. +</p><p> +"After moving through the principal down-town streets the +body was taken to the Beinville-street cemetery, and there +interred with military honors due his rank." * * +</p><p> +The following lines were penned at the time:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<h4><span class="i6">ANDRE CAILLOUX.<br /></span></h4> +<span class="i6">He lay just where he fell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Soddening in a fervid summer's sun.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Guarded by an enemy's hissing shell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Rotting beneath the sound of rebels' gun<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Forty consecutive days,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">In sight of his own tent.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And the remnant of his regiment.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">He lay just where he fell.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Nearest the rebel's redoubt and trench,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Under the very fire of hell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">A volunteer in a country's defence,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Forty consecutive days.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And not a murmur of discontent,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Went from the loyal black regiment.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">A flag of truce couldn't save,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">No, nor humanity could not give<br /></span> +<span class="i6">This sable warrior a hallowed grave.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Nor army of the Gulf retrieve.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Forty consecutive days,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">His lifeless body pierced and rent,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Leading in assault the black regiment.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">But there came days at length,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">When Hudson felt their blast,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Though less a thousand in strength,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">For "our leader" vowed the last;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Forty consecutive days<br /></span> +<span class="i6">They stormed, they charged, God sent<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Victory to the loyal black regiment.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">He lay just where he fell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And now the ground was their's,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Around his mellowed corpse, heavens tell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">How his comrades for freedom swears.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Forty consecutive nights<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The advance pass-word went.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Captain Cailloux of the black regiment.<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARMY OF THE FRONTIER.</h3> + + +<p>At the Far West the fires of liberty and union burned no less brightly +upon the altar of the negro's devotion than at the North, East and +South. The blacks of Iowa responded with alacrity to the call of the +governor to strengthen the Army of the Ohio. Though the negro population +was sparse—numbering in 1860, only 1069—and thinly scattered over the +territory, and were enjoying all the rights and privileges of American +citizenship, nevertheless they gave up the luxuries of happy homes, +threw down their implements of peaceful industry, broke from the loving +embrace of wives and children, and with the generous patriotism which +has always characterized the conduct of the race, they rushed to the aid +of their yet oppressed countrymen, and the defense of the Union.</p> + +<p>The Gibralters of the Mississippi, Vicksburg and Port Hudson, had fallen +by the might of the Union armies; the Mississippi was open to the Gulf. +The shattered ranks of the victorious troops, and the depleted ranks of +the Phalanx, rent and torn by the enemy during the long siege of Port +Hudson, lent an inspiring zeal to the negroes of the country, which +manifested itself in the rapidity of the enlistment of volunteers to +fill up the gaps.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/image31.jpg" width="430" height="650" alt="A PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING A GIFT OF COLORS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING A GIFT OF COLORS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>In August, 1863, the authorities of the State of Iowa began the +enlistment of negroes as a part of her quota. Keokuk was selected as the +place of rendezvous. On the 11th of the following October nine full +companies under the command of Colonel John G. Hudson, took the oath of +allegiance to the United States, and became a part of the active +military force of the National Government. The regiment was designated +the 1st A. D. (African Descent) Regiment Iowa Volunteers, and was +mustered for three years, or during the war. Leaving Keokuk Barracks, +the regiment proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., and was quartered in Benton +Barracks, as a part of the forces under command of Major-General J. M. +Schofield. Here company G. joined the regiment, making ten full +companies. A memorable and patriotic incident occurred here: Mrs. I. N. +Triplet, in behalf of the ladies of the State of Iowa, and of the city +of Muscatine, presented the regiment with a beautiful silk national +flag, which was carried through the storms of battle, and returned at +the close of the war to the State.</p> + +<p>On the first day of January, 1864, the regiment was ordered to report to +General Beaufort at Helena, Ark., becoming a part of the garrison of +that place until the following March.</p> + +<p>One Sergeant Phillips, with some others, agitated the propriety of +refusing to accept the seven dollars per month offered them by the +Government, and of refusing to do duty on account of it. Sergeant +Barton, however, held it was better to serve without pay than to refuse +duty, as the enforcement of the President's Emancipation Proclamation +was essential to the freedom of the negro race. To this latter the +regiment agreed, and passed concurrent resolutions, which quelled a +discussion which otherwise might have led to mutiny.</p> + +<p>While the regiment was at Helena it took part in several skirmishes and +captured a number of prisoners. In July, Colonel W. S. Brooks, in +command of the 56th, 60th, and a detachment of the 3rd Artillery Phalanx +Regiment, with two field guns, sallied out of Helena and proceeded down +the Mississippi River, to the mouth of White River, on a transport. Here +the troops disembarked. The next morning, after marching all night, +Brooks halted his command for breakfast; arms were stacked and the men +became scattered over the fields. Suddenly, General Dobbins, at the head +of a superior confederate force, made an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> attack upon them; the +confederates at first formed no regular line of battle, but rushed +pell-mell on the scattered federals, intending, doubtless, to annihilate +them at once. The Union men soon recovered their arms, but before they +got into line, their commander, Colonel Brooks, had been killed, and +Captain Ransey of Co. C, 60th Regiment, assumed command. The men of the +Phalanx, though they had had but a short time to rest from a long march, +rallied with the ardor of veterans, and fought with that desperation +that men display when they realize that the struggle is either victory +or death. It was not a question of numbers with them; it was one of +existence, and the Phalanx resolved itself into a seeming column of iron +to meet the foe as it rushed over the bodies of their dead and wounded +with the rage of madmen.</p> + +<p>The two field guns, skillfully handled by black artillery-men, did good +work, plowing huge furrows through the assailants and throwing them into +confusion at every charge. Still the confederates, having finally +organized into line of battle, continued to charge after each repulse, +pouring a terrific fire upon the United States force at each advance. It +seemed as if the Phalanx must surrender; they were outnumbered two to +one, and every line officer was dead or wounded. Sergeant Triplet was +directing the fire of Company C; the artillery sergeant was in command +of the field guns, and worked them well for two long hours. The enemy's +sharpshooters stationed in the trees no longer selected their victims, +for one man of the Phalanx was as conspicuous as another.</p> + +<p>Yet another assault was made; firm stood the little band of iron men, +not flinching, not moving, though the dead lay thick before them. The +cannon belched out their grape shot, the musketry rattled, and once more +the enemy fled back to the woods with ranks disordered. Thus from six +o'clock till noonday did the weary soldiers hold their foes back. The +situation became critical with the Phalanx. Their ammunition was nearly +exhausted; a few more rounds and their bayonets would be their only +protection against a massacre; this fact however, did not cool their +determination.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>In front and on their flanks the enemy began massing for a final onset. +For five hours the Phalanx had fought like tigers, against a ruthless +foe, and though no black flag warned them, they were not unmindful of +the fate of their comrades at Fort Pillow. General Dobbins was evidently +preparing to sweep the field. Several times already had he sent his men +to annihilate the blacks, and as many times had they been repulsed. +There was no time for the Phalanx soldiers to manœuvre; they were in +the closing jaws of death, and though they felt the day was lost, their +courage did not forsake them; it was indeed a dreadful moment. The enemy +was about to move upon them, when suddenly a shout,—not the yell of a +foe, was heard in the enemy's rear, and the next moment a detachment of +the 15th Illinois Cavalry, under command of Major Carminchæl, broke +through the confederate ranks and rushed to the support of the Phalanx, +aligning themselves with the black soldiers, amid the cheers of the +latter. Gathering up their dead and wounded, the federal force now began +a retreat, stubbornly yielding, inch by inch, each foot of ground, until +night threw her mantle of darkness over the scene and the confederates +ceased their firing. The Phalanx loss was 50, while that of the enemy +was 150. At the beginning couriers were dispatched to Helena for +re-enforcements, and Colonel Hudson, with the remainder of the Phalanx +troops, reached them at night too late to be of any assistance, as the +confederates did not follow the retreating column.</p> + +<p>Two days later, Colonel Hudson, with all the available men of the two +Phalanx regiments,—60th, 56th and a detachment of the 3rd Phalanx +artillery, with two cannons,—went down the Mississippi and up the White +river, disembarked and made a three days march across the country, where +the enemy was found entrenched. The Phalanx, after a spirited contest, +drove them out of their works, burned their store, captured a few Texas +rangers and returned to Helena. In March, 1865, the 60th Regiment was +ordered to join Brig.-Gen. Reynolds' command at Little Rock, where the +regiment was brigaded with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> 57th, 59th and 83rd Phalanx regiments. +The brigade was ordered to Texas overland, but the surrender of General +Lee to Grant obviated this march. The gallant 60th was mustered out at +Davenport, Iowa, on the 2nd of November, 1865, "where," says Sergeant +Burton, the regimental historian, "they were greeted by the authorities +and the loyal thousands of Iowa."</p> + +<p>Kansas has undoubtedly the honor of being the first State in the Union +to <i>begin</i> the organization of negroes as soldiers for the Federal army. +The State was admitted into the Union January 29, 1861, after a long +reign of hostilities within her borders, carried on by the same +character of men and strictly for the same purpose which brought on the +war of the Great Rebellion. In fact, it was but a transfer of +hostilities from Missouri and Kansas to South Carolina and Virginia. +Missouri and the South had been whipped out of Kansas and the territory +admitted into the Union as a free State. This single fact was accepted +by the South as a precursor of the policy of the incoming Republican +administration, and three Southern senators resigned or left the United +States Senate before the vote was taken for the admission of Kansas. The +act of admitting Kansas as a free State, was the torch that inflamed the +South, and led to the firing upon Fort Sumter the following April. The +men of Kansas had long been inured to field service, and used to +practice with Sharps' rifles. The men of Kansas, more than in any other +State of the Union, had a right to rush to the defence of the Federal +government, and they themselves felt so.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of February, eleven days after the admission of the State +into the Union, Governor Robinson took the oath of office, and on the +15th of April President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand +volunteers. The first regiment responded to the call by the close of +May; others speedily followed, until Kansas had in the field 20,000 +soldiers. Of the regiments and companies which represented this State in +the Federal army, several were composed of negroes, with a slight +mixture of Indians.</p> + +<p>It has been no easy task to learn about these regiments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> but, after a +long search, the writer has been enabled, through the patriotic efforts +of Governor Crawford, of Kansas, who is also ex-Colonel of the 2nd +Kansas Regiment, to find Mr. J. B. McAfee, late chaplain of the same +regiment and Adjutant-General of Kansas, now engaged in business in +Topeka. With the finding of Mr. McAfee came another difficulty; the +report of the Adjutant-General, containing an account of the regiments +in the war, had been accidentally burned before leaving the printing +office. This difficulty was overcome, however, by the consideration ever +shown the negro by Mr. McAfee, who kindly loaned his only volume of the +"Military History of Kansas."</p> + +<p>The service rendered by the Phalanx soldiery of Kansas stands second to +none upon the records of that State. Their patriotism was nothing less +than a fitting return for the love of liberty shown by the Free State +men in rescuing Kansas from the clutches of the slave power. The +discussions at the national capitol pointed Kansas out to the negro as a +place where he might enjoy freedom in common with all other American +citizens. He regarded it then as he does now,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> the <i>acme</i> of +Republican States. Those negroes who enjoyed and appreciated the +sentiment that made her so, were determined as far as they were able, to +stand by the men who had thus enlarged the area of freedom.</p> + +<p>Without comment upon the bravery of these troops, the report is +submitted of their conduct in camp, field, on the march and in battle, +as made by those who commanded them on various occasions.</p> + +<p>"On the 4th day of August, 1862, Captain James M. Williams, Co. F, 5th +Kansas Cavalry, was appointed by Hon. James H. Lane, Recruiting +Commissioner for that portion of Kansas lying north of the Kansas River, +for the purpose of recruiting and organizing a regiment of infantry for +the United States service, to be composed of men of African descent. He +immediately commenced the work of recruiting by securing the muster-in +of recruiting officers with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and by procuring +supplies from the Ordnance Quartermaster and Commissary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> departments, +and by establishing in the vicinity of Leavenworth a camp of rendezvous +and instruction.</p> + +<p>"Capt. H. C. Seaman was about the same time commissioned with like +authority for that portion of Kansas lying south of the Kansas river. +The work of recruiting went forward with rapidity, the intelligent +portion of the colored people entering into the work heartily, and +evincing by their actions a willing readiness to link their future and +share the perils with their white brethren in the war of the rebellion, +which then waged with such violence as to seriously threaten the +nationality and life of the Republic.</p> + +<p>"Within sixty days five hundred men were recruited and placed in camp, +and a request made that a battallion be mustered into the United States +service. This request was not complied with, and the reasons assigned +were wholly unsatisfactory, yet accompanied with assurances of such a +nature as to warrant the belief that but a short time would elapse ere +the request would be complied with.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime complications with the civil authorities in the +Northern District had arisen, which at one time threatened serious +results. These complications originated from the following causes, each +affecting different classes:</p> + +<p>"1st.—An active sympathy with the rebellion.</p> + +<p>"2nd.—An intolerant prejudice against the colored race, which would +deny them the honorable position in society which every soldier is +entitled to, even though he gained that position at the risk of his life +in the cause of the nation, which could ill afford to refuse genuine +sympathy and support from any quarter.</p> + +<p>"3rd.—On the part of a few genuine loyalists who believed that this +attempt to enlist colored men would not be approved by the War +Department, and that the true interests of the colored man demanded that +their time should not be vainly spent in the effort.</p> + +<p>"4th.—A large class who believed that the negro did not possess the +necessary qualifications to make efficient soldiers, and that +consequently the experiment would result in defeat, disaster and +disgrace.</p> + +<p>"Col. Williams, acting under the orders of his military superiors felt +that it was no part of his duty to take council of any or all of these +classes. He saw no course for him to pursue but to follow his +instructions to the letter. Consequently, when the civil authorities +placed themselves in direct opposition to those of the military, by +arresting and confining the men of the command on the most frivolous +charges, and indicting their commanders for crime, such as unlawfully +restraining persons of their liberty, &c., by enforcing proper military +discipline, he ignored the right of the civil authorities to interfere +with his military actions in a military capacity and under proper +authority.</p> + +<p>"On the 28th of October, 1862, a command consisting of detachments from +Captain Seaman's and Captain William's recruits, were moved and camped +near Butler. This command—about two hundred and twenty-five men, under +Captain Seaman,—was attacked by a confederate force of about five +hundred, commanded by Colonel Cockrell but after a severe engagement the +enemy was defeated with considerable loss. The negro loss was ten killed +and twelve wounded, including Captain A. J. Crew; a gallant young +officer, being among the first mentioned. The next morning the command +was re-enforced by a few recruits under command of Captain J. M. +Williams, when the enemy was pursued a considerable distance but without +further fighting. This is supposed to have been the first engagement in +the war in which colored troops were actually engaged. The work of +recruiting, drilling and disciplining the regiment was continued under +the adverse circumstances until the 13th of January, 1863, when a +battallion of six companies, formed by the consolidation of Colonel +Williams' recruits with those of Captain Seaman, was mustered into the +U. S. service by Lieutenant Sabin, of the regular army. Between January +13th and May 2nd, 1863, the other four companies were organized, when +the regimental organization was completed, appears by the roster of the +regiment.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image32.jpg" width="600" height="367" alt="PHALANX SOLDIERS REPELLING AN ATTACK." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX SOLDIERS REPELLING AN ATTACK.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Immediately after its organization, the regiment was ordered to Baxter +Springs, where it arrived in May, 1863, and the work of drilling the +regiment was vigorously prosecuted.</p> + +<p>"Parts of two companies of the regiment, and a detachment of cavalry, +and one piece of artillery, made a diversion on Shawnee, Mo. attacked +and dispersed a small opposing force and captured five prisoners.</p> + +<p>"While encamped here, on the 18th of May, a foraging party, consisting +of twenty-five men from the Phalanx regiment and twenty men of the 2nd +Kansas Battery, Major R. G. Ward commanding, was sent into Jasper +County, Mo. This party was surprised and attacked by a force of three +hundred confederates commanded by Major Livingston, and defeated, with a +loss of sixteen killed and five prisoners, three of which belonged to +the 2nd Kansas Battery and two of the black regiment. The men of the 2nd +Kansas Battery were afterwards exchanged under a flag of truce for a +like number of prisoners captured by the negro regiment. Livingston +refused to exchange the black prisoners in his possession, and gave as +his excuse that he should hold them subject to the orders of the +confederate War Department. Shortly after this Col. Williams received +information that one of the prisoners held by Livingston had been +murdered by the enemy. He immediately sent a flag of truce to Livingston +demanding the body of the person who committed the barbarous act. +Receiving an evasive and unsatisfactory reply, Col. Williams determined +to convince the Major that was a game at which two could play, and +directed that one of the prisoners in his possession be shot, and within +thirty minutes the order was executed. He immediately informed Major +Livingston of his action, sending the information by the same party that +brought the despatch to him. Suffice it to say that this ended the +barbarous practice of murdering prisoners of war, so far as Livingston's +command was concerned.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Williams says:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'I visited the scene of this engagement the morning after +its occurrence, and for the first time beheld the horrible +evidences of the demoniac spirit of these rebel fiends in +their treatment of our dead and wounded. Men were found with +their brains beaten out with clubs, and the bloody weapons +left by their sides and their bodies most horribly +mutilated.'</p></div> + +<p>"It was afterwards ascertained that the force who attacked this foraging +party consisted partially of citizens of the neighborhood, who, while +enjoying the protection of our armies, had collected together to assist +the rebel forces in this attack. Colonel Williams directed that the +region of country within a radius of five miles from the scene of +conflict should be devastated, and is of opinion that this effectually +prevented a like occurrence in the same neighborhood.</p> + +<p>"Subsequently, while on this expedition, the command captured a prisoner +in arms who had upon his person the evidence of having been paroled by +the commanding officer at Fort Scott, Kansas, he was shot on the spot.</p> + +<p>"The regiment remained in camp at Baxter Springs until the 27th of June, +1863, when it struck tents and marched for Fort Gibson in connection +with a large supply train from Fort Scott <i>en route</i> to the former +place.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Williams had received information that satisfied him that the +train would be attacked in the neighborhood of Cabin Creek, Cherokee +Nation. He communicated this information to Lieutenant-Colonel Dodd, of +the 2nd Colorado Infantry, who was in command of the escort, and +volunteered to move his regiment in such manner as would be serviceable +in case the expected attack should be made. The escort proper to the +train consisted of six companies of the 2nd Colorado Infantry, a +detachment of three companies of cavalry from the 6th and 9th Kansas, +and one section of the 2nd Kansas Battery. This force was joined, on the +28th of June, by three hundred men from the Indian Brigade, commanded by +Major Foreman, making altogether a force of about eight hundred +effective men.</p> + +<p>"On arriving at Cabin Creek, July 1st, 1863, the rebels were met in +force—under command of Gen. Cooper. Some skirmishing occurred on that +day, when it was ascertained that the enemy occupied a strong position +on the south bank of the creek, and upon trial it was found that the +stream was not fordable for infantry, on account of a recent shower, but +it was supposed that the swollen current would have sufficiently +subsided by the next morning to allow the infantry to cross. The +regiment then took a strong position on the north side of the stream and +camped for the night. After a consultation of officers, it was agreed +that the train should be parked in the open prairie and guarded by three +companies of the 2nd Colorado and a detachment of one hundred men of the +1st Colorado, and that the balance of the troops, Col. Williams +commanding, should engage the enemy and drive him from his position.</p> + +<p>"Accordingly, the next morning, July 2nd, 1863, the command moved, which +consisted of the 1st Kansas Volunteer Colored Infantry, three companies +of the 2nd Colorado Infantry, commanded by the gallant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> Major Smith, of +that regiment, the detachments of cavalry and Indian troops before +mentioned and four pieces of artillery, making altogether a force of +about twelve hundred men. With this force, after an engagement of two +hours duration, the enemy was dislodged and driven from his position in +great disorder, with a loss of one hundred killed and wounded and eight +prisoners. The loss on our side was eight killed and twenty-five +wounded, including Major Foreman, who was shot from his horse while +attempting to lead his men across the creek under the fire of the enemy, +and Captain Ethan Earl, of the 1st Colored, who was wounded at the head +of his company. This was the first battle in which the whole regiment +had been engaged, and here they evinced a coolness and true soldiery +spirit which inspired the officers in command with that confidence which +subsequent battle scenes satisfactorily proved was not unfounded.</p> + +<p>"The road being now open, the entire command proceeded to Fort Gibson, +where it arrived on the evening of the 5th of July, 1863. On the 16th of +July the entire force at Fort Gibson, under command of Gen. Blunt, moved +upon the enemy, about six thousand strong, commanded by Gen. Cooper, and +encamped at Honey Springs, twenty miles south of Fort Gibson. Our forces +came upon the enemy on the morning of the 17th of July, and after a +sharp and bloody engagement of two hours' duration, the enemy was +totally defeated, with a loss of four hundred killed and wounded, and +one hundred prisoners. At the height of the engagement, Gen. Blunt +ordered Colonel Williams to move his regiment against that portion of +the enemy's line held by the 29th and 30th Texas regiments and a rebel +battery, with directions to charge them if he thought he could carry and +hold the position. The regiment was moved at a shoulder arms, pieces +loaded and bayonets fixed, under a sharp fire, to within forty paces of +the rebel lines, without firing a shot. The regiment then halted and +poured into their ranks a well directed volley of 'buck and ball' from +the entire line, such as to throw them into perfect confusion, from +which they could not immediately recover. Col. Williams' intention was, +after the delivery of this volley, to charge their line and capture +their battery, which the effect of this volley had doubtless rendered it +possible for him to accomplish. But he was at that instant rendered +insensible from gunshot wounds, and the next officer in rank, +Lieutenant-Colonel Bowles, not being aware of his intentions, the +project was not fully carried out. Had the movement been made as +contemplated, the entire rebel line must have been captured. As it was, +most of the enemy escaped, receiving a lesson, however, which taught +them not to despise on the battle field the race they had long +tyrannized over as having 'no rights which a white man was bound to +respect.'</p> + +<p>"Colonel Williams says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'I had long been of the opinion that this race had a right +to kill rebels, and this day proved their capacity for the +work. Forty prisoners and one battle flag fell into the +hands of my regiment on this field.'</p></div> + +<p>"The loss to the regiment in this engagement was five killed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +thirty-two wounded. After this, the regiment returned to Fort Gibson and +went into camp, where it remained until the month of September, when it +again moved with the Division against the confederate force under +General Cooper, who fled at our approach.</p> + +<p>"After a pursuit of one hundred miles, and across the Canadian river to +Perryville, in the Choctaw Nation, all hopes of bringing them to an +engagement was abandoned, and the command returned to camp on the site +of the confederate Fort Davis, situated on the south side of the +Arkansas river, near its junction with Grand river.</p> + +<p>"The regiment remained in this camp, doing but little duty, until +October, when orders were received to proceed to Fort Smith, where it +arrived during the same month. At this point it remained until December +1st, making a march to Waldron and returning via Roseville, Arkansas, +and in the same month went into winter quarters at the latter place, +situated fifty miles east of Fort Smith, on the Arkansas river. The +regiment remained at Roseville until March, 1864, when the command moved +to join the forces of Gen. Steele, then about starting on what was known +as the Camden Expedition. Joining Gen. Steele's command at the Little +Missouri river, distant twenty-two miles northeast of Washington, +Arkansas, the entire command moved upon the enemy, posted on the west +side of Prairie de Anne, and within fifteen miles of Washington. The +enemy fled, and our forces occupied their works without an engagement.</p> + +<p>"The pursuit of the enemy in this direction was abandoned. The command +arrived at Camden on the 16th of April, 1864, and occupied the place +with its strong fortifications without opposition. On the day following, +Colonel Williams started with five hundred men of the 1st Colorado, two +hundred Cavalry, detailed from the 2nd, 6th and 14th, Kansas regiments, +and one section of the 2nd Indian Battery, with a train to load forage +and provisions at a point twenty miles west of Camden, on the Washington +road. On the 17th he reached the place and succeeded in loading about +two-thirds of the train, which consisted of two hundred wagons. At dawn +the command moved towards Camden, and loaded the balance of the wagons +from plantations by the wayside. At a point fourteen miles west of +Camden the advance encountered a small force of the enemy, who, after a +slight skirmishing, retreated down the road in such a manner as to lead +Col. Williams to suspect that this movement was a feint intended to +cover other movements or to draw the command into an ambuscade.</p> + +<p>"Just previous to this he had been re-enforced by a detachment of three +hundred men of the 18th Iowa Infantry, and one hundred additional +cavalry, commanded by Capt. Duncan, of the 18th Iowa.</p> + +<p>"In order to prevent any surprise, all detached foraging parties were +called in, and the original command placed in the advance, leaving the +rear in charge of Captain Duncan's command, with orders to keep flankers +well out and to guard cautiously against a surprise. Colonel Williams at +the front, with skirmishers and flankers well out, advanced cautiously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +to a point about one and a half miles distant, sometimes called Cross +Roads, but more generally known as Poison Springs, where he came upon a +skirmish line of the enemy, which tended to confirm his previous +suspicion of the character and purpose of the enemy. He therefore closed +up the train as well as possible in this thickly timbered region, and +made the necessary preparations for fighting. He directed the cavalry, +under Lieutenant Henderson, of the 6th, and Mitchell, of the 2nd, to +charge and penetrate the rebel line of skirmishers, in order to develop +their strength and intentions. The movement succeeded most admirably in +its purposes, and the development was such that it convinced Colonel +Williams that he had before him a struggle of no ordinary magnitude.</p> + +<p>"The cavalry, after penetrating the skirmish line, came upon a strong +force of the enemy, who repulsed and forced them back to their original +line, not, however, without hard fighting and severe loss on our part in +killed and wounded, including in the latter the gallant Lieutenant +Henderson, who afterwards fell into the hands of the enemy.</p> + +<p>"The enemy now opened on our lines with ten pieces of artillery—six in +front and four on the right flank. From a prisoner Colonel Williams +learned that the force of the enemy was from eight to ten thousand, +commanded by Generals Price and Maxey. These developments and this +information convinced him that he could not hope to defeat the enemy; +but as there was no way to escape with the train except through their +lines, and as the train and its contents were indispensable to the very +existence of our forces at Camden, who were then out of provisions, he +deemed it to be his duty to defend the train to the last extremity, +hoping that our forces at Camden, on learning of the engagement, would +attack the enemy in his rear, thus relieving his command and saving the +train.</p> + +<p>"With this determination, he fought the enemy's entire force from 10 <span class="smcap">a. +m</span>. until 2 <span class="smcap">p. m</span>., repulsing three successive assaults and inflicting +upon the enemy severe loss.</p> + +<p>"In his report Colonel Williams says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The conflict during these four hours was the most terrific +and deadly in its character of any that has ever fallen +under my observation.'</p></div> + +<p>"At 2 <span class="smcap">p. m</span>. nearly one-half of our force engaged had been placed <i>hors +de combat</i>, and the remainder were out of ammunition. No supplies +arriving, the Colonel was reluctantly compelled to abandon the train to +the enemy and save as much of the command as possible by taking to the +swamps and canebrakes and making for Camden by a circuitous route, +thereby preventing pursuit by cavalry. In this manner most of the +command that was not disabled in the field reached Camden during the +night of the 18th. For a more specific and statistical report of this +action, in which the loss to the 1st Colored alone was 187 men and +officers, the official report of Colonel J. M. Williams is herewith +submitted:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">'<span class="smcap">Camden, Arkansas</span>. April 24, 1867.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'<span class="smcap">Captain</span>:—I have the honor to submit the following report +of a foraging expedition under my command:</p> + +<p>'In obedience to verbal orders received from +Brigadier-General Thayer, I left Camden,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Arkansas on the +11th instant with 695 men and two guns, with a forage train +of 198 wagons.</p> + +<p>'I proceeded westerly on the Washington road a distance of +eighteen miles, where I halted the train and dispatched part +of it in different directions to load; one hundred wagons +with a large part of the command, under Major Ward, being +sent six miles beyond the camp. These wagons returned to +camp at midnight, nearly all loaded with corn.</p> + +<p>'At sunrise on the 18th, the command started on the return, +loading the balance of the train as it proceeded, there +being but a few wagon loads of corn to be found at any one +place. I was obliged to detail portions of the command in +different directions to load the wagons, until nearly all of +my available force was so employed.</p> + +<p>'At a point known as Cross Roads, four miles west of my +camping ground, I was met by a re-enforcement of three +hundred and seventy-five men of the 18th Iowa Infantry, +commanded by Capt. Duncan, twenty-five men of the 6th +Kansas, Lieut. Phillips commanding, forty-five men of the +2nd Kansas Cavalry, Lieut. Ross commanding, twenty men of +the 14th Kansas Cavalry, Lieut. Smith commanding, and two +mountain howitzers from the 6th Kansas Cavalry, Lieut. +Walker commanding,—in all, 465 men and two mountain +howitzers. These, added to my former command, made my entire +force consist of eight hundred and seventy-five, two hundred +and eighty-five cavalry, and four guns. But the excessive +fatigue of the preceeding day, coming as it did at the close +of a toilsome march of twenty-four hours without halting, +had so affected the infantry that fully one hundred of the +1st Kansas Colored were rendered unfit for duty. Many of the +cavalry had, in violation of orders, straggled from their +command, so that at this time my effective force did not +exceed one thousand men.</p> + +<p>'At a point one mile east of this, my advance came upon a +picket of the enemy, which was driven back one mile, when a +line of the enemy's skirmishers presented itself. Here I +halted the train, formed a line of the small force I then +had in advance, and ordered that portion of the 1st Kansas +Colored which had previously been guarding the rear of the +train to the front, and gave orders for the train to be +packed as closely as the nature of the ground would permit. +I also opened a fire upon the enemy's line from the section +of the 2nd Indiana Battery, for the double purpose of +ascertaining if possible if the enemy had artillery in +position in front, and also to draw in some foraging parties +which had previously been dispatched upon either flank of +the train. No response was elicited save a brisk fire from +the enemy's skirmishers.</p> + +<p>'Meanwhile, the remainder of the first Kansas Colored had +come to the front, as also three detachments, which formed +part of the original escort, which I formed in line facing +to the front, with a detachment of the 14th Kansas Cavalry, +on my right, and detachments of the 2nd and 6th Kansas +Cavalry on the left flank. I also sent orders to Capt. +Duncan, commanding the 18th Iowa Infantry, to so dispose of +his regiment and the cavalry and howitzers which came out +with him as to protect the rear of the train, and to keep a +sharp lookout for a movement upon his rear and right flank.</p> + +<p>'Meanwhile a movement of the enemy's infantry toward my +right flank had been observed through the thick brush which +covered the face of the country in that direction. Seeing +this, I ordered forward the cavalry on my right, under +Lieuts. Mitchell and Henderson, with orders to press the +enemy's line, force it if possible, and at all events to +ascertain his position and strength, fearing as I did that +the silence of the enemy in front was but for the purpose of +drawing me on to the open ground which lay in my front. At +this juncture, a rebel rode into my lines and inquired for +Col. DeMorse. From him I learned that General Price was in +command of the rebel force and that Col. DeMorse was in +command of the force on my right.</p> + +<p>'The cavalry had advanced but four hundred yards, when a +brisk fire of musketry was opened upon them from the brush, +which they returned with true gallantry, but were forced to +fall back. In this skirmish many of the cavalry were +unhorsed, and Lieut. Henderson, of the 6th Kansas Cavalry, +fell, wounded in the abdomen, while bravely and gallantly +urging his command forward.</p> + +<p>'In the meantime I formed five companies of the 1st Kansas +Colored, with one piece of artillery, on my right flank, and +ordered up to their assistance four companies of the 18th +Iowa Infantry. Soon my orderly returned from the rear with a +message from Captain Duncan, stating that he was so closely +pressed in the rear by the enemy's infantry and artillery +that the men could not be spared.</p> + +<p>'At this moment the enemy opened on me with two +batteries,—one of six pieces, in front, and one, of three +pieces, on my right flank,—pouring in an incessant and well +directed cross-fire of shot and shell. At the same time he +advanced his infantry both in front and on my right flank.</p> + +<p>'From the force of the enemy—now the first time made +visible—I saw that I could not hope to defeat him, but +still resolved to defend the train to the last, hoping that +re-enforcements would come up from Camden.</p> + +<p>'I suffered them to approach within one hundred yards of my +line, when I opened upon them with musketry charged with +buck and ball, and after a contest of fifteen minutes +duration compelled them to fall back. Two fresh regiments +coming up, they again rallied and advanced upon my line, +this time with colors flying and continuous cheering, so +loud as to drown even the roar of the musketry. Again I +suffered them to approach even nearer than before, and +opened upon them with buck and ball, their artillery still +pouring in a cross-fire of shot and shell over the heads of +their infantry, and mine replying with vigor and effect. And +thus, for another quarter of an hour, the battle was waged +with desperate fury. The noise and din of this almost hand +to hand conflict was the loudest and most terrific it has +ever been my lot to listen to. Again were they forced to +fall back, and twice during this conflict were their colors +brought to the ground, but as often raised.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image33.jpg" width="600" height="388" alt="PHALANX CAVALRY BRINGING IN CONFEDERATE PRISONERS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX CAVALRY BRINGING IN CONFEDERATE PRISONERS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'During these engagements fully one-half of my infantry +engaged were either killed or wounded. Three companies were +left without any officers, and seeing the enemy again +re-enforced with fresh troops, it became evident that I +could hold my line but little longer. I now directed Maj. +Ward to hold the line until I could ride back and form the +18th Iowa in proper shape to support the retreat of the +advanced line.</p> + +<p>'Meanwhile, so many of the gunners had been shot from around +their pieces that there were not enough to serve the guns, +so I ordered them to retire to the rear of the train, and +report to the cavalry officer there. Just as I was starting +for the line of the 18th Iowa, my horse was shot, which +delayed me until another could be procured, when I rode to +the rear and formed a line of battle facing in the direction +the enemy was advancing.</p> + +<p>'Again did the enemy hurl his columns against the remnant of +men that formed my front and right flank, and again were +they met as gallantly as before. But my decimated ranks were +unable to resist the overpowering force hurled against them, +and after their advance had been checked, seeing that our +lines were completely flanked on both sides, Major Ward gave +the order to retire, which was done in good order, forming +and charging the enemy twice before reaching the rear of the +train.</p> + +<p>'With the assistance of Major Ward and other officers, I +succeeded in forming a portion of the 1st Kansas Colored in +the rear of the 18th Iowa, and when the enemy approached +this line, they gallantly advanced to the line of the 18th, +and with them poured in their fire. The 18th maintained +their line manfully, and stoutly contested the ground until +nearly surrounded, when they retired, and forming again, +checked the advancing foe, and still held their ground until +again nearly surrounded, when they again retired across a +ravine which was impassable for artillery, and I gave orders +for the piece to be spiked and abandoned.</p> + +<p>'After crossing the ravine I succeeded in forming a portion +of the cavalry, which I kept in order to give the infantry +time to cross the swamp which lay in our front, which they +succeeded in doing. By this means nearly all, except the +badly wounded, were enabled to reach the camp. Many wounded +men belonging to the 1st Kansas Colored fell into the hands +of the enemy, and I have the most positive assurance from +eyewitnesses that they were murdered on the spot. I was +forced to abandon everything to the enemy, and they thereby +became possessed of the large train.</p> + +<p>'With two six pounder guns and two twelve pounder mountain +howitzers, together with what force could be collected, I +made my way to this post, where I arrived at 11 <span class="smcap">p. m</span>. of the +same day.</p> + +<p>'At no time during the engagement, such was the nature of +the ground and size of the train, was I obliged to employ +more than five hundred men and two guns to repel the +assaults of the enemy, whose force, from the statement of +prisoners, I estimate at ten thousand men and twelve guns. +The columns of assault which were again thrown against my +front and right flank consisted of five regiments of +infantry and one of cavalry, supported by a strong force +which operated against my left flank and rear. My loss, in +killed, wounded and missing during this engagement was as +follows: Killed—ninety-two, wounded—ninety-seven, +missing—one hundred and six.</p> + +<p>'Many of those reported missing are supposed to have been +killed, others are supposed to have been wounded and taken +prisoners. The loss of the enemy is not known, but in my +opinion it will exceed our own. The conduct of all the +troops under my command, officers and men, were +characterized by true soldiery bearing, and in no case was a +line broken, except when assaulted by an overwhelming force, +and then falling back only when so ordered. The officers and +men all evinced the most heroic spirit, and those that fell +died the death of the true soldier. The action commenced at +10 <span class="smcap">a. m</span>., and terminated at 2 <span class="smcap">p. m</span>. I have named this +engagement the action of Poison Springs, from a spring of +that name in the vicinity.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">'Very respectfully yours,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">'J. M. WILLIAMS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">'<i>Colonel 1st Kansas Colored Vol. Infantry, Commanding Expedition.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">'Capt. <span class="smcap">Wm. S. Whitten</span>, <i>Assistant Adjutant General.</i>'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"On the 26th day of April following, Gen. Steele's command evacuated +Camden and marched for Little Rock. At Saline Crossing, on the 30th of +April, the rear of Gen. Steele's command was attacked by the entire +force of the enemy, commanded by Gen. Kirby Smith. The engagement which +followed resulted in the complete defeat of the enemy, with great loss +on his part. In this engagement the 1st Kansas Colored was not an active +participant, being at the moment of the attack in the advance, distant +five miles from the rear and scene of the engagement. The regiment was +ordered back to participate in the battle, but did not arrive on the +line until after the repulse of the enemy and his retirement from the +field.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>"On the day following, May 1st, 1864, Colonel Williams was ordered to +take command of the 2nd Brigade, composed of the following Phalanx +regiments: 1st Regiment, commanded by Major Ward; 2nd Regiment, +commanded by Colonel S. J. Crawford; 11th Regiment, commanded by +Lieut.-Col. James M. Steele; 54th Regiment, Lieut.-Col. Chas. Fair; of +the Frontier Division 7th Army Corps.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Williams never afterwards resumed direct command of his +regiment. It constituted for most of the time, however, a part of the +Brigade, which he commanded until he was mustered out of service with +the regiment.</p> + +<p>"The regiment remained with the Division at Little Rock until some time +during the month of May, when it Marched for Fort Smith,—then +threatened by the enemy,—at which point it arrived during the same +month. This campaign was one of great fatigue and privation, and +accomplished only with great loss of life and material, with no adequate +recompense or advantage gained.</p> + +<p>"The regiment remained on duty at Fort Smith until January 16th, 1865, +doing heavy escort and fatigue duty. On the 16th of September, 1864, a +detachment of forty-two men of Co. K, commanded by Lieut. D. M. +Sutherland, while guarding a hay-making party near Fort Gibson, were +surprised and attacked by a large force of rebels under Gen. Gano, and +defeated after a gallant resistence, with a loss of twenty-two killed +and ten prisoners—among the latter the Lieutenant commanding. On the +16th of January, 1865, the regiment moved to Little Rock, where it +arrived on the 31st of the same month, here it remained on duty until +July 1865, when it was ordered to Pine Bluffs, Ark. Here it remained, +doing garrison and escort duty, until October 1st, 1865, when it was +mustered out of service and ordered to Fort Leavenworth for final +payment and discharge. The regiment received its final payment and was +discharged at Fort Leavenworth on the 30th day of October, 1865."</p> + +<p>The heroism of the negro people of Kansas was not all centered in this +one regiment. Elated with the success of their brethren already in the +field, there was a general desire to emulate their heroic deeds. In +June, 1863, the second regiment was organized at Fort Scott. The +regimental organization was completed at Fort Smith, Ark., by the +mustering in of the field and staff officers.</p> + +<p>The regiment went into camp on the Poteau River, about two miles south +of Fort Smith. Here the work of drill and discipline was the daily +routine of duty until the regiment maintained a degree of proficiency +second to none in the Army of the Frontier.</p> + +<p>On the 24th of March, 1864, the regiment left Fort Smith and started on +what was known as the Camden Expedition,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> forming a part of Colonel +Williams' Brigade of General Thayer's Division. Major-General Steele's +forces left Little Rock about the same time that General Thayer's +Division left Fort Smith, the latter uniting with the former on the +Little Missouri river, all destined for active operations in the +direction of Red River.</p> + +<p>Colonel Crawford, in reply to the writer's circular letter asking for +information respecting the 2nd Regiment's service on the frontier, thus +pungently details the operations of the army of which his regiment was a +part:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Washington. D. C.</span>, Dec. 31st., 1885.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Joseph T. Wilson</span>, Esq., Richmond, Va.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:</p> + +<p>"The Second Kansas, afterwards designated as the 83rd United +States Colored Troops, was organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, +on the 3rd day of October, 1863. Most of the companies were +organized and mustered into service during the spring and +summer preceding. The regiment, when organized, was full to +the maximum, or nearly so, and composed of active, +able-bodied young men. Immediately upon assuming command of +the regiment, I moved to the front through Missouri, to Fort +Smith, in Arkansas, where the regiment was stationed during +the winter 1863-4, and when not on other duty or in the +field, spent the time in company and regimental drill.</p> + +<p>"On the 24th day of March, 1864, with the Kansas Division of +the Frontier Army under the command of General Thayer, I +moved south and joined the 7th Army Corps under the command +of Major-General Fred. Steele, in an expedition against the +rebel armies under Generals Price, Kirby Smith and Dick +Taylor, then encamped in the vicinity of Shreveport, La.</p> + +<p>"While Steele was advancing from the North, General Banks +was at the same time moving up the Red river from the East. +Price, Smith and Taylor, seeing the two armies of Steele and +Banks, closing in upon them, concentrated their forces, +first upon Banks, and after defeating and routing his +forces, turned upon Steele, who was then near Red river, in +south-western Arkansas.</p> + +<p>"Steele hearing of the Banks disaster, changed his course +and moved eastward, to Camden, a strongly fortified town on +the Washita river. From the point at which he turned +eastward, to Camden, a distance of about sixty miles, the +march was almost continuous, except when it became necessary +to skirmish with the enemy's cavalry, which hovered +unpleasantly close during the greater part of the distance.</p> + +<p>"In each of the light engagements which took place on this +march from Red river to Camden, the 2nd Regiment +participated, and behaved in a manner creditable to itself +and the army.</p> + +<p>"After remaining at Camden about three days (so as to give +the victorious rebel armies full time to concentrate upon +him) General Steele crossed the Washita to the North and +commenced a disgraceful retreat or run back toward Little +Rock.</p> + +<p>"The enemy, under Price and Kirby Smith, followed in close +pursuit, and within a few hours were again upon our flank +and rear. The march or retreat was continuous, night and +day, until the village of Princeton was reached, where +Steele's army encamped one night, and received a full ration +of fresh beef and New Orleans sugar, the latter of which had +been captured, or rather found in Camden. Early on the +following morning the army resumed its onward march, towards +the North Pole as the apparent objective point.</p> + +<p>"Now mind you this was an army (the 7th Army Corps) about +thirty thousand strong; mostly Western troops, and +splendidly armed and equipped. Better soldiers never wore +spurs or carried muskets. Yet under the command of a tenor +singing dog fancier, that magnificent army was thus +retreating before an army in every way its inferior save, +and except, the Commanding General.</p> + +<p>"Thus things went, disgracefully, until the afternoon of the +day on which we left Princeton, April 29, 1864. Then, for +the first time after turning our backs to the enemy, in the +vicinity of Red river, there seemed to be a bare possibility +of escape,—not from the enemy, but from absolute disgrace +and humiliation.</p> + +<p>"At no time during that disgraceful retreat, was there a +moment when the whole army corps, except the Commanding +General, would not have welcomed a battle, with one +universal shout.</p> + +<p>"About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the day mentioned, the +rebel Cavalry appeared in force and commenced skirmishing +with our forces in the rear, which continued, more or less, +until darkness set in. Meantime our distinguished leader, +the Major-General Commanding, had arrived at the crossing of +the Saline river, thrown a pontoon bridge over that swollen +stream, and made good his escape to the north side, taking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +with him the whole army, except one Section of artillery and +two brigades of infantry of which the 2nd Kansas colored +formed a part.</p> + +<p>"These two brigades—six regiments in all—stood in line of +battle all night long, while the rain poured in torrents +most of the time.</p> + +<p>"During the night the enemy's infantry moved up and formed +in our immediate front; in fact made every necessary +preparation for battle, while the dog fancier, who was +unfortunately at the head of our army across the river, was +either sleeping or devising the ways and means by which he +could most easily elude the enemy.</p> + +<p>"But when daylight came the six regiments were there in +line, every man ready, willing and determined to return, +volley for volley, and if necessary force the fighting, so +as to bring on a general engagement.</p> + +<p>"There were but six regiments of us south of the river, with +two pieces of artillery. But we were there to stay until a +battle was fought.</p> + +<p>"General Rice of Iowa, formed his brigade in the center; the +12th Kansas Infantry, commanded by Col. Hayes was on his +left, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, commanded by +myself, was on the right.</p> + +<p>"As soon as it was fairly light, the battle began; both +lines moving slightly forward until within close range. From +the beginning, the crash of musketry was terrific. Our men +stood firm against the advanced Division of the enemy's +infantry, and used their Springfield and Enfield rifles with +deadly effect.</p> + +<p>"The enemy seeing our weakness in numbers, pressed heavily +in the center and upon both flanks, with the evident design +of breaking our line before re-enforcements could reach us.</p> + +<p>"But in this they were disappointed. We held our position +until re-enforcements arrived.</p> + +<p>"At one time my regiment was under a heavy fire from the +front and also from the flank, but not a man wavered. In +fact it seemed to inspire them with additional courage. The +re-enforcements as they arrived, passed to the rear and +formed on the left, leaving me to hold the right. After +about three hours hard fighting, the enemy having failed to +dislodge my regiment from its position, which was regarded +as the key to the situation, brought into position a battery +of artillery, planted it immediately in front of my regiment +and opened with canister.</p> + +<p>"As soon as this was done I gave the order to cease firing +and fix bayonets, and followed that immediately with the +order to charge the battery.</p> + +<p>"These orders were executed with a courage and daring seldom +equaled by even older troops, and never excelled by a +volunteer regiment.</p> + +<p>"In less than two minutes from the time the charge was +ordered, the rebel battery was in our possession, and out of +thirty-six horses used in the battery, but two were left +standing when we passed the guns.</p> + +<p>"Most of the artillery-men lay dead and wounded around the +battery while the line of infantry support in the rear of +battery, fell back in disorder before our bayonets; not, +however, until many of them had for the first time felt the +effects of cold steel.</p> + +<p>"The charge, though bloody on both sides, was pre-eminently +successful, and my regiment, "the 2nd Iron Clads," as it was +called, brought away the battery so captured.</p> + +<p>"In the charge, the regiment lost in killed and wounded, +some forty odd men and officers. All of our horses, field +and staff, were shot and most of them killed. The color +bearer Harrison Young, a hero among men, was wounded and +fell, raised to his feet and was again twice wounded. A +comrade then took the flag and was wounded, and a third man +brought it off the field.</p> + +<p>"A wounded lieutenant of the battery was brought to me, as a +prisoner;<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> but in view of the massacre of colored troops +by the rebels at Fort Pillow and other places, I sent the +Lieutenant immediately back through the lines, pointing him +to the regiment that had made the charge, and telling him +that since the rebel authorities had concluded to take no +prisoners, belonging to colored regiments, it would hardly +be proper for me to hold him as a prisoner; that they had +established the precedent, and that in so far as I was +concerned, they could 'lay on MacDuff.' The Lieutenant +rejoined his command a sadder if not a wiser man.</p> + +<p>"After the charge I moved with my regiment to the centre, +where the battle was then raging hottest. Here it remained +in the thickest of the fight until an advance was ordered +all along the line, which was made, the enemy falling back +slowly before our troops, and finally retired from the +field, leaving us in full possession, with a complete +victory.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image34.jpg" width="600" height="404" alt="PHALANX SOLDIERS BRINGING IN A CAPTURED BATTERY" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX SOLDIERS BRINGING IN A CAPTURED BATTERY</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Only infantry was engaged on either side except the rebel +battery, which my regiment captured.</p> + +<p>"Our cavalry, some five thousand strong, and artillery, +about forty pieces, as already stated, were on the North +side of the river, and could not be brought into action, to +advantage, on account of the dense forest and swampy nature +of the ground. We had about fifteen thousand men engaged, +while the enemy had the armies of Price and Kirby Smith, +from which our <i>gallant</i> commander, Steele, had for many +days been fleeing, as from the wrath to come. During the +entire battle Steele remained on the north side of the +river, beyond the reach of the enemy's guns, and at a point +from which he could continue his flight with safety in case +of defeat. But the victory was ours, so the march from +Saline river to Little Rock was made in peace.</p> + +<p>"During this battle my regiment lost in killed and wounded +about eighty men, but we were richly rewarded by the +achievements of the day. We, perhaps, had as much to do with +bringing on the battle as any other one regiment. I went +into action in the morning without orders. In fact I +disobeyed an order to cross the river at daylight, and +instead, I formed my regiment and faced the enemy. The +regiment charged the battery by my orders, and against an +order from a superior officer, to hold back and wait for +orders.</p> + +<p>"My regiment, though among the first in action, and having +suffered a greater loss than that of any other, was the last +to leave the field.</p> + +<p>"From this time forward until the close of the war, in so +far as the Western army was concerned, we heard no more of +the question, 'Will they fight?'</p> + +<p>"The reputation of at least one colored regiment was +established, and it stands to-day, in the estimation of men +who served in the Western army, as the equal of any other +volunteer regiment.</p> + +<p>"After the Saline river battle the regiment moved back to +Little Rock and thence to Fort Smith, in western Arkansas.</p> + +<p>"In July 1864, with the 2nd and other troops, I conducted an +expedition through the Choctaw Nation in the Indian +Territory, against, or rather in pursuit of a brigade of +rebel forces, driving them out of that country. During this +campaign several light engagements were fought, in each of +which the 2nd took a prominent part, and in each of which +the 2nd was invariably successful.</p> + +<p>"In the fall of 1864<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>, I resigned my position as Colonel +to assume other duties.</p> + +<p>"What took place from then until the regiment was mustered +out of service, I only know from heresay, but it is safe to +say that the regiment maintained its reputation as one of +the best infantry regiments in the 7th Army Corps.</p> + +<p>"A short time before I left the regiment, General Marcy, +then Inspector General of the U.S. Army, inspected the +Kansas Division, to which my regiment belonged, and his +report, which is now on file in the War Department, if I am +not mistaken, shows that the 2nd Colored in point of drill, +discipline and military appearance, stood first of all the +regiments in that Division.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Yours truly,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">SAMUEL J. CRAWFORD</span>.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Gilpatrick, promoted from Major, took command of the +regiment succeeding Colonel Crawford, and in December made a forced +march to Hudson's crossing on the Neosho river, by way of Fort Gibson, a +distance of one hundred and fifty miles, on quarter rations, and +returned as escort to a large supply train. It was then, with all the +Phalanx regiments at Fort Smith, ordered to Little Rock, where it +arrived with a very large train of refugees under charge, on the 4th of +February, after a march of seventeen days.</p> + +<p>Colonel Gilpatrick says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The men suffered severely on the march by exposure to wet +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> cold and for the want of proper and sufficient food, +clothing and shelter. Many of them were barefooted, almost +naked, and without blankets."</p></div> + +<p>The regiment remained at Little Rock until the spring of 1865, when it +formed part of an expedition which proceeded some distance south of +Little Rock, and operated against a band of guerillas on the Saline +river, which they succeeded in driving out and partly capturing. On the +25th of July the regiment broke camp and proceeded to Camden, Arkansas, +and was mustered out of the United States service, and proceeding by way +of Pine Bluff, Ark., Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., reached +Leavenworth, Kansas, where the men were finally paid and discharged on +the 27th of November, 1865. These brave men immediately returned to +their homes to enjoy the blessings of a free government.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image35.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="THE WOODEN HORSE. + +A mode of punishment for slight offences." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE WOODEN HORSE.<br /> + +A mode of punishment for slight offences.</span> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Not less than 70,000 negroes—5,000 at least of which +fought for the Union.—have been driven by persecution into Kansas from +the Southern States, and the exodus still continues.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> "Colonel Crawford ordered the prisoners to be taken to the +rear without insult or injury, which conduct on his part is in striking +contrast to the treatment bestowed upon our colored troops at Poison +Springs. He also told a rebel lieutenant and other prisoners to inform +their commanding General that colored troops had captured them, and that +he must from necessity leave some of his wounded men in hospitals by the +way, and that he should expect the same kind treatment shown to them +that he showed to those falling into his hands; but that just such +treatment as his wounded men received at their hands, whether kindness +or death, should from this time forward, be meted out to all rebel +falling into his hands. That if they wished to treat as prisoners of war +our colored soldiers, to be exchanged for theirs, the decision was their +own; but if they could afford to murder our colored prisoners to gratify +their fiendish dispositions and passions, the responsibility of +commensurate retaliation, to bring them to a sense of justice, was also +their own. But, notwithstanding the kindness shown to their prisoners, +so soon as our command left, a Texas soldier, in the presence of one of +their officers, killed, in the hospital, nine of the wounded men +belonging to the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry."—<i>McAfee's Military +History of Kansas.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> About the middle of October, Colonel Crawford received +information of his nomination for the office of Governor, and came from +Fort Smith to Kansas, arriving about the 20th instant, just in time to +be an active participant in the expulsion of General Price and his army +from the border of the State.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH.</h3> + + +<p>The appearance of the negro in the Union army altered the state of +affairs very much. The policy of the general Government was changed, and +the one question which Mr. Lincoln had tried to avoid became <i>the</i> +question of the war. General Butler, first at Fortress Monroe and then +at New Orleans, had defined the status of the slave, "contraband" and +then "soldiers," in advance of the Emancipation Proclamation. General +Hunter, in command at the South, as stated in a previous chapter, had +taken an early opportunity to strike the rebellion in its most vital +part, by arming negroes in his Department, after declaring them free.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the President revoked Hunter's order, a considerable +force was organized and equipped as early as December, 1862; in fact a +regiment of blacks was under arms when the President issued the +Emancipation Proclamation. This regiment, the 1st South Carolina, was in +command of Colonel T. W. Higginson, who with a portion of his command +ascended the St. Mary's river on transports, visited Florida and +Georgia, and had several engagements with the enemy. After an absence of +ten or more days, the expedition returned to South Carolina without the +loss of a man.</p> + +<p>Had there been but one army in the field, and the fighting confined to +one locality, the Phalanx would have been mobilized, but as there were +several armies it was distributed among the several forces, and its +conduct in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> battle, camp, march and bivouac, was spoken of by the +commanders of the various armies in terms which any class of soldiers, +of any race, might well be proud of.</p> + +<p>General Grant, on the 24th of July, following the capture of Vicksburg, +wrote to the Adjutant-General:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The negro troops are easier to preserve discipline among +than are our white troops, and I doubt not will prove +equally good for garrison duty. All that have been tried +have fought bravely."</p></div> + +<p>This was six days after the unsurpassed bravery of the 54th Regiment +Massachusetts Volunteers—representing the North in the black +Phalanx—had planted its bloodstained banner on the ramparts of Fort +Wagner. It was the Southern negroes, who, up to this time, had reddened +the waters of the Mississippi. It was the freedman's blood that had +moistened the soil, and if ignorance could be so intrepid still greater +daring might be expected on the part of the more intelligent men of the +race.</p> + +<p>The assault on Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863, was one of the most heroic of +the whole four years' war. A very graphic account of the entire movement +is given in the following article:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At daylight, on the morning of the 12th of July a strong +column of our troops advanced swiftly to the attack of Fort +Wagner. The rebels were well prepared, and swept with their +guns every foot of the approach to the fort, but our +soldiers pressed on, and gained a foothold on the parapet; +but, not being supported by other troops, nor aided by the +guns of the fleet, which quietly looked on, they were forced +to retreat, leaving many of their comrades in the hands of +the enemy.</p> + +<p>"It is the opinion of many that if the fleet had moved up at +the same time, and raked the fort with their guns, our +troops would have succeeded in taking it; but the naval +captains said in their defence that they knew nothing of the +movement, and would have gladly assisted in the attack had +they been notified.</p> + +<p>"This, unfortunately, was not the only instance of a want of +harmony or co-operation between the land and naval forces +operating against Charleston. Had they been under the +control of one mind, the sacrifice of life in the siege of +Forts Wagner and Sumter would have been far less. We will +not assume to say which side was at fault, but by far the +greater majority lay the blame upon the naval officers. +Warfare kindles up the latent germs of jealousy in the human +breast, and the late rebellion furnished many cruel examples +of its effects, both among the rebels and among the +patriots. We have had the misfortune to witness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> them in +more than one campaign, and upon more than one bloody and +disastrous field.</p> + +<p>"By the failure of this attack, it was evident that the guns +of Wagner must be silenced before a successful assault with +infantry could be made; and, in order to accomplish this, a +siege of greater or less duration was required. Therefore +earthworks were immediately thrown up at the distance of +about a thousand yards from the fort, and the guns and +mortars from Folly Island brought over to be placed in +position.</p> + +<p>"This Morris Island is nothing but a narrow bed of sand, +about three miles in length, with a breadth variable from a +few hundred yards to a few feet. Along the central portion +of the lower end a ridge of white sand hills appear, washed +on one side by the tidal waves, and sloping on the other +into broad marshes, more than two miles in width, and +intersected by numerous deep creeks. Upon the extreme +northern end, Battery Gregg, which the rebels used in +reducing Fort Sumter in 1861, had been strengthened, and +mounted with five heavy guns, which threw their shot more +than half way down the island. A few hundred yards farther +down the island, and at its narrowest portion, a strong fort +had been erected, and armed with seventeen guns and mortars. +This was the famous Fort Wagner; and, as its cannon +prevented any farther progress up the island, it was +necessary to reduce it before our forces could approach +nearer to Fort Sumter.</p> + +<p>"It was thought by our engineers that a continuous +bombardment of a few days by our siege batteries and the +fleet might dismount the rebel cannon, and demoralize the +garrison, so that our brave boys, by a sudden rush, might +gain possession of the works. Accordingly our siege train +was brought over from Folly Island, and a parallel commenced +about a thousand yards from Wagner. Our men worked with such +energy that nearly thirty cannon and mortars were in +position on the 17th of July. On the 18th of July the +bombardment commenced. The land batteries poured a tempest +of shot into the south side of Wagner, while the fleet moved +up to within short range, and battered the east side with +their great guns. In the mean time the rebels were not +silent, but gallantly stood to their guns, returning shot +for shot with great precision. But, after a few hours, their +fire slackened; gun after gun became silent, as the men were +disabled, and, when the clock struck four in the afternoon, +Wagner no longer responded to the furious cannonade of the +Federal forces. Even the men had taken shelter beneath the +bomb-proofs, and no sign of life was visible about the grim +and battered fortress.</p> + +<p>"Many of our officers were now so elated with the apparent +result of demolition, that they urged General Gillmore to +allow them to assault the fort as soon as it became dark. +General Gillmore yielded to the solicitations of the +officers, but very reluctantly, for he was not convinced +that the proper time had arrived; but the order was finally +given for the attack to take place just after dark. Fatal +error as to time, for our troops in the daytime would have +been successful, since they would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> have collided with +each other; they could have seen their foes, and the arena +of combat, and the fleet could have assisted them with their +guns, and prevented the landing of the re-enforcements from +Charleston.</p> + +<p>"It was a beautiful and calm evening when the troops who +were to form the assaulting column moved out on to the broad +and smooth beach left by the receding tide.</p> + +<p>"The last rays of the setting sun illumined the grim walls +and shattered mounds of Wagner with a flood of crimson +light, too soon, alas! to be deeper dyed with the red blood +of struggling men.</p> + +<p>"Our men halted, and formed their ranks upon the beach, a +mile and more away from the deadly breach. Quietly they +stood leaning upon their guns, and awaiting the signal of +attack. There stood, side by side, the hunter of the far +West, the farmer of the North, the stout lumber-man from the +forests of Maine, and the black Phalanx Massachusetts had +armed and sent to the field.</p> + +<p>"In this hour of peril there was no jealousy, no contention. +The black Phalanx were to lead the forlorn hope. And they +were proud of their position, and conscious of its danger. +Although we had seen many of the famous regiments of the +English, French, and Austrian armies, we were never more +impressed with the fury and majesty of war than when we +looked upon the solid mass of the thousand black men, as +they stood, like giant statues of marble, upon the +snow-white sands of the beach, waiting the order to advance. +And little did we think, as we gazed with admiration upon +that splendid column of four thousand brave men, that ere an +hour had passed, half of them would be swept away, maimed or +crushed in the gathering whirlwind of death! Time passed +quickly, and twilight was fast deepening into the darkness +of night, when the signal was given. Onward moved the chosen +and ill-fated band, making the earth tremble under the heavy +and monotonous tread of the dense mass of thousands of men. +Wagner lay black and grim in the distance, and silent. Not a +glimmer of light was seen. Not a gun replied to the bombs +which our mortars still constantly hurled into the fort. Not +a shot was returned to the terrific volleys of the giant +frigate Ironsides, whose shells, ever and anon, plunged into +the earthworks, illuminating their recesses for an instant +in the glare of their explosion, but revealing no signs of +life.</p> + +<p>"Were the rebels all dead? Had they fled from the pitiless +storm which our batteries had poured down upon them for so +many hours? Where were they?</p> + +<p>"Down deep beneath the sand heaps were excavated great +caverns, whose floors were level with the tide, and whose +roofs were formed of huge trunks of trees laid in double +rows. Still above these massive beams sand was heaped so +deeply that even our enormous shells could not penetrate the +roofs, though they fell from the skies above. In these dark +subterranean retreats two thousand men lay hid, like +panthers in a swamp, waiting to leap forth in fury upon +their prey.</p> + +<p>"The signal given, our forces advanced rapidly towards the +fort, while our mortars in the rear tossed their bombs over +their heads. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts [Phalanx +Regiment] led the attack, supported by the 6th Conn., 48th +N. Y., 3rd N. H., 76th Penn. and the 9th Maine Regiments. +Onward swept the immense mass of men, swiftly and silently, +in the dark shadows of night. Not a flash of light was seen +in the distance! No sentinel hoarsely challenged the +approaching foe! All was still save the footsteps of the +soldiers, which sounded like the roar of the distant surf, +as it beats upon the rock-bound coast.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image36.jpg" width="600" height="402" alt="AT FORT WAGNER. + +Desperate charge of the 54th Mass. Vols. in the assault on Fort Wagner, +July 18, 1863." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AT FORT WAGNER.<br /> + +Desperate charge of the 54th Mass. Vols. in the assault on Fort Wagner, +July 18, 1863.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Ah, what is this! The silent and shattered walls of Wagner +all at once burst forth into a blinding sheet of vivid +light, as though they had suddenly been transformed by some +magic power into the living, seething crater of a volcano! +Down came the whirlwind of destruction along the beach with +the swiftness of lightning! How fearfully the hissing shot, +the shrieking bombs, the whistling bars of iron, and the +whispering bullet struck and crushed through the dense +masses of our brave men! I never shall forget the terrible +sound of that awful blast of death, which swept down, +shattered or dead, a thousand of our men. Not a shot had +missed its aim. Every bolt of steel, every globe of iron and +lead, tasted of human blood.</p> + +<p>"'Forward!' shouted the undaunted Putnam, as the column +wavered and staggered like a giant stricken with death.</p> + +<p>"'Steady, my boys!' murmured the brave leader, General +Strong, as a cannon-shot dashed him, maimed and bleeding, +into the sand.</p> + +<p>"In a moment the column recovered itself, like a gallant +ship at sea when buried for an instant under an immense +wave.</p> + +<p>"The ditch is reached; a thousand men leap into it, clamber +up the shattered ramparts, and grapple with the foe, which +yields and falls back to the rear of the fort. Our men swarm +over the walls, bayoneting the desperate rebel cannoneers. +Hurrah! the fort is ours!</p> + +<p>"But now came another blinding blast from concealed guns in +the rear of the fort, and our men went down by scores. Now +the rebels rally, and, re-enforced by thousands of the +chivalry, who have landed on the beach under cover of +darkness, unmolested by the guns of the fleet. They hurl +themselves with fury upon the remnant of our brave band. The +struggle is terrific. Our supports hurry up to the aid of +their comrades, but as they reach the ramparts they fire a +volley which strikes down many of our men. Fatal mistake! +Our men rally once more; but, in spite of an heroic +resistance, they are forced back again to the edge of the +ditch. Here the brave Shaw, with scores of his black +warriors went down, fighting desperately. Here Putnam met +his death wound, while cheering and urging on the +overpowered Phalanx men.</p> + +<p>"What fighting, and what fearful carnage! Hand to hand, +breast to breast! Here, on this little strip of land, scarce +bigger than the human hand, dense masses of men struggled +with fury in the darkness; and so fierce was the contest +that the sands were reddened and soaked with human gore.</p> + +<p>"But resistance was vain. The assailants were forced back +again to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> the beach, and the rebels trained their recovered +cannon anew upon the retreating survivors.</p> + +<p>"What a fearful night was that, as we gathered up our +wounded heroes, and bore them to a place of shelter! And +what a mournful morning, as the sun rose with his clear +beams, and revealed our terrible losses! What a rich harvest +Death had gathered to himself during the short struggle! +Nearly two thousand of our men had fallen. More than six +hundred of our brave boys lay dead on the ramparts of the +fatal fort, in its broad ditch, and along the beach at its +base. A flag of truce party went out to bury our dead, but +General Beauregard they found had already buried them, where +they fell, in broad, deep trenches."</p></div> + +<p>Colonel Shaw, the young and gallant commander of the 54th Regiment, was +formerly a member of the famous 7th N. Y. Regiment. He was of high, +social and influential standing, and in his death won distinction. The +confederates added to his fame and glory, though unintentionally, by +burying him with his soldiers, or as a confederate Major expressed the +information, when a request for the Colonel's body was made, "we have +buried him with his niggers!"</p> + +<p>A poet has immortalized the occurrence and the gallant Shaw thus:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'They buried him with his niggers!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Together they fought and died.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There was room for them all where they laid him,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(The grave was deep and wide).<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For his beauty and youth and valor,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their patience and love and pain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And at the last together<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They shall be found again.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'They buried him with his niggers!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Earth holds no prouder grave;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There is not a mausoleum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the world beyond the wave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That a nobler tale has hallowed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or a purer glory crowned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than the nameless trench where they buried<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The brave so faithful found.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'They buried him with his niggers!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A wide grave should it be;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They buried more in that shallow trench<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than human eye could see.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aye, all the shames and sorrows<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of more than a hundred years<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lie under the weight of that Southern soil<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Despite those cruel sneers.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'They buried him with his niggers!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the glorious souls set free<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are leading the van of the army<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That fights for liberty.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brothers in death, in glory<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The same palm branches bear;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the crown is as bright o'er the sable brows<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As over the golden hair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">* * * *<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Buried with a band of brothers<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who for him would fain have died;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Buried with the gallant fellows<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who fell fighting by his side;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Buried with the men God gave him,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Those whom he was sent to save;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Buried with the martyr heroes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He has found an honored grave.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Buried where his dust so precious<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Makes the soil a hallowed spot;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Buried where by Christian patriot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He shall never be forgot.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Buried in the ground accursed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which man's fettered feet have trod;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Buried where his voice still speaketh,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Appealing for the slave to God;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fare thee well, thou noble warrior,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who in youthful beauty went<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On a high and holy mission,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the God of battles sent.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Chosen of him, 'elect and precious,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Well didst thou fulfil thy part;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When thy country 'counts her jewels,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She shall wear thee on her heart.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>The heroic courage displayed by the gallant Phalanx at the assault upon +Fort Wagner was not surpassed by the Old Guard at Moscow. Major-General +Taliaferro gives this confederate account of the fight, which is +especially interesting as it shows the condition of affairs inside the +fort:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"On the night of the 14th the monster iron-plated frigate +New Ironsides, crossed the bar and added her formidable and +ponderous battery to those destined for the great effort of +reducing the sullen earthwork which barred the Federal +advance. There were now five monitors, the Ironsides and a +fleet of gunboats and monster hulks grouped together and +only waiting the signal to unite with the land batteries +when the engineers should pronounce them ready to form a +cordon of flame around the devoted work. The Confederates +were prepared for the ordeal. For fear that communications +with the city and the mainland, which was had by steamboat +at night to Cummings' Point should be interrupted, rations +and ordnance stores had been accumulated, but there was +trouble about water. Some was sent from Charleston and wells +had been dug in the sand inside and outside the fort, but it +was not good. Sand bags had been provided and trenching +tools supplied sufficient for any supposed requirement.</p> + +<p>"The excitement of the enemy in front after the 10th was +manifest to the Confederates and announced an 'impending +crisis.' It became evident that some extraordinary movement +was at hand. The Federal forces on James Island had been +attacked on the morning of the 16th by General Hagood and +caused to retire, Hagood occupying the abandoned positions, +and on the 17th the enemy's troops were transferred to +Little Folly and Morris Islands. It has been stated that the +key to the signals employed by the Federals was in +possession of General Taliaferro at this time, and he was +thus made acquainted with the intended movement and put upon +his guard. That is a mistake. He had no such direct +information, although it is true that afterwards the key was +discovered and the signals interpreted with as much ease as +by the Federals themselves. The 18th of July was the day +determined upon by the Federal commanders for the grand +attempt which, if successful, would level the arrogant +fortress and confuse it by the mighty power of their giant +artillery with the general mass of surrounding sand hills, +annihilate its garrison or drive them into the relentless +ocean, or else consign them to the misery of hostile +prisons.</p> + +<p>"The day broke beautifully, a gentle breeze slightly +agitated the balmy atmosphere, and with rippling dimples +beautified the bosom of the placid sea. All nature was +serene and the profoundest peace held dominion over all the +elements. The sun, rising with the early splendors of his +midsummer glory, burnished with golden tints the awakening +ocean, and flashed his reflected light back from the spires +of the beleaguered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> city into the eyes of those who stood +pausing to gather strength to spring upon her, and of those +who stood at bay to battle for her safety. Yet the profound +repose was undisturbed; the early hours of that fair morning +hoisted a flag of truce between the combatants which was +respected by both. But the tempest of fire which was +destined to break the charm of nature, with human thunders +then unsurpassed in war, was gathering in the south. At +about half-past 7 o'clock the ships of war moved from their +moorings, the iron leviathan the Ironsides, an Agamemnon +among ships, leading and directing their movements, then +monitor after monitor, and then wooden flagships. Steadily +and majestically they marched; marched as columns of men +would march, obedient to commands, independent of waves and +winds, mobilized by steam and science to turn on a pivot and +manœuvre as the directing mind required them; they halted +in front of the fort; they did not anchor as Sir Peter +Parker's ships had done near a hundred years before in front +of Moultrie, which was hard by and frowning still at her +ancient enemies of the ocean. They halted and waited for +word of command to belch their consuming lightnings out upon +the foe. On the land, engineering skill was satisfied and +the deadly exposure for details for labor was ended; the +time for retaliation had arrived when the defiant shots of +the rebel batteries would be answered; the batteries were +unmasked; the cordon of fire was complete by land and by +sea; the doomed fort was encircled by guns.</p> + +<p>"The Confederates watched from the ramparts the approach of +the fleet and the unmasking of the guns, and they knew that +the moment had arrived in which the problem of the capacity +of the resistant power of earth and sand to the forces to +which science so far developed in war could subject them was +to be solved and that Battery Wagner was to be that day the +subject of the crucial test. The small armament of the fort +was really inappreciable in the contest about to be +inaugurated. There was but one gun which could be expected +to be of much avail against the formidable naval power which +would assail it and on the land side few which could reach +the enemy's batteries. When these guns were knocked to +pieces and silenced there was nothing left but passive +resistance, but the Confederates, from the preliminary tests +which had been applied, had considerable faith in the +capacity of sand and earth for passive resistance.</p> + +<p>"The fort was in good condition, having been materially +strengthened since the former assault by the indefatigable +exertions of Colonel David Harris, chief engineer, and his +valuable assistant, Captain Barnwell. Colonel Harris was a +Virginian, ex-officer of the army of the United States and a +graduate of West Point, who had some years before retired +from the service to prosecute the profession of civil +engineering. Under a tempest of shells he landed during the +fiercest period of the bombardment at Cummings' Point, and +made his way through the field of fire to the beleaguered +fort to inspect its condition and to inspire the garrison by +his heroic courage and his confidence in its strength. +Escaping all the dangers of war, he fell a victim to yellow +fever in Charleston, beloved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> and honored by all who had +ever known him. The heavy work imposed upon the garrison in +repairs and construction, as well as the strain upon the +system by constant exposure to the enemy's fire, had induced +General Beauregard to adopt the plan of relieving the +garrison every few days by fresh troops. The objection to +this was that the new men had to be instructed and +familiarized with their duties; but still it was wise and +necessary, for the same set of officers and men, if retained +any length of time, would have been broken down by the +arduous service required of them. The relief was sent by +regiments and detachments, so there was never an entirely +new body of men in the works.</p> + +<p>"The garrison was estimated at one thousand seven hundred +aggregate. The staff of General Taliaferro consisted of +Captain Twiggs, Quartermaster General; Captain W. T. +Taliaferro, Adjutant General; Lieutenants H. C. Cunningham +and Magyck, Ordnance Officers; Lieutenants Meade and Stoney, +Aides-de-Camp; Major Holcombe; Captain Burke, Quartermaster, +and Habersham, Surgeon-in-Chief; Private Stockman, of +McEnery's Louisiana Battalion, who had been detailed as +clerk because of his incapacity for other duty, from most +honorable wounds, acted also in capacity of aid.</p> + +<p>"The Charleston Battalion was assigned to that part of the +work which extended from the Sally port or Lighthouse Inlet +creek around to the left until it occupied part of the face +to the south, including the western bastion; the Fifty-first +North Carolina connected with these troops on the left and +extended to the southeast bastion; the rest of the work was +to be occupied by the Thirty-first North Carolina Regiment, +and a small force from that regiment was detailed as a +reserve, and two companies of the Charleston Battalion were +to occupy outside of the fort the covered way spoken of and +some sand-hills by the seashore; the artillery was +distributed among the several gun-chambers and the light +pieces posted on a traverse outside so as to sweep to sea +face and the right approach. The positions to be occupied +were well known to every officer and man and had been +verified repeatedly by day and night, so there was no fear +of confusion, mistake or delay in the event of an assault. +The troops of course were not ordered to these positions +when at 6 o'clock it was evident a furious bombardment was +impending, but, on the contrary, to the shelter of the +bomb-proofs, sand-hills and parapet; a few sentinels or +videttes were detailed and the gun detachments only ordered +to their pieces.</p> + +<p>"The Charleston Battalion preferred the freer air of the +open work to the stifling atmosphere of the bomb-proofs and +were permitted to shelter themselves under the parapet and +traverses. Not one of that heroic band entered the opening +of a bomb-proof during that frightful day. The immense +superiority of the enemy's artillery was well understood and +appreciated by the Confederate commander, and it was clear +to him that his policy was to husband his resources and +preserve them as best he could for the assault, which it was +reasonable to expect would occur during the day. He +recognized the fact that his guns were only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> defensive and +he had little or no offensive power with which to contend +with his adversaries. Acting on this conviction he had the +light guns dismounted and covered with sand bags, and the +same precaution was adopted to preserve some of the shell +guns or fixed carriages. The propriety of this determination +was abundantly demonstrated in the end.</p> + +<p>"About a quarter past 8 o'clock the storm broke, ship after +ship and battery after battery, and then apparently all +together, vomited forth their horrid flames and the +atmosphere was filled with deadly missiles. It is impossible +for any pen to describe or for anyone who was not an +eye-witness to conceive the frightful grandeur of the +spectacle. The writer has never had the fortune to read any +official Federal report or any other account of the +operations of this day except an extract from the graphic +and eloquent address of the Rev. Mr. Dennison, a chaplain of +one of the Northern regiments, delivered on its nineteenth +anniversary at Providence, R. I. He says: 'Words cannot +depict the thunder, the smoke, the lifted sand and the +general havoc which characterized that hot summer day. What +a storm of iron fell on that island; the roar of the guns +was incessant; how the shots ploughed the sand banks and the +marshes; how the splinters flew from the Beacon House; how +the whole island smoked like a furnace and trembled as from +an earthquake.'</p> + +<p>"If that was true outside of Wagner it is easy to conceive +how intensified the situation was within its narrow limits +towards which every hostile gun was pointed. The sand came +down in avalanches; huge vertical shells and those rolled +over by the ricochet shots from the ships, buried themselves +and then exploded, rending the earth and forming great +craters, out of which the sand and iron fragments flew high +in the air. It was a fierce sirocco freighted with iron as +well as sand. The sand flew over from the seashore, from the +glacis, from the exterior slope, from the parapet, as it was +ploughed up and lifted and driven by resistless force now in +spray and now almost in waves over into the work, the men +sometimes half buried by the moving mass. The chief anxiety +was about the magazines. The profile of the fort might be +destroyed, the ditch filled up, the traverses and bomb-proof +barracks knocked out of shape, but the protecting banks of +sand would still afford their shelter; but if the coverings +of the magazines were blown away and they became exposed, +the explosion that would ensue would lift fort and garrison +into the air and annihilate all in general chaos. They were +carefully watched and reports of their condition required to +be made at short intervals during the day.</p> + +<p>"Wagner replied to the enemy, her 10-inch columbiad alone to +the ships, deliberately at intervals of fifteen minutes, the +other guns to the land batteries whenever in range, as long +as they were serviceable. The 32-pounder rifled gun was soon +rendered useless by bursting and within two hours many other +guns had been dismounted and their carriages destroyed. +Sumter, Colonel Alfred Rhett in command, and Gregg, under +charge of Captain Sesesne, with the Sullivan and James +Island batteries at long range, threw all the power of their +available metal at the assailants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> and added their thunders +to the universal din; the harbor of Charleston was a +volcano. The want of water was felt, but now again +unconsciously the enemy came to the assistance of the +garrison, for water was actually scooped from the craters +made in the sand by the exploded shells. The city of +Charleston was alive and aflame with excitement; the bay, +the wharves, the steeples and streets filled with anxious +spectators looking across the water at their defenders, whom +they could not succor.</p> + +<p>"At 2 o'clock the flag halliards were cut by a shot and the +Confederate garrison flag was blown over into the fort; +there was an instant race for its recovery through the storm +of missiles, over the broken earth and shells and splinters +which lined the parade. Major Ramsey, Sergeant Shelton and +private Flinn, of the Charleston Battalion, and Lieutenant +Riddick, of the Sixty-third Georgia, first reached it and +bore it back in triumph to the flagstaff, and at the same +moment Captain Barnwell, of the engineers, seized a +battle-flag, and leaping on the ramparts, drove the staff +into the sand. This flag was again shot away, but was again +replaced by Private Gaillard, of the Charleston Battalion. +These intrepid actions, emulating in a higher degree the +conduct of Sergeant Jasper at Moultrie during the +Revolution, were cheered by the command and inspired them +with renewed courage.</p> + +<p>"The day wore on; thousands upon thousands of shells and +round shot, shells loaded with balls, shells of guns and +shells of mortars, percussion shells, exploding upon impact, +shells with graded fuses—every kind apparently known to the +arsenals of war leaped into and around the doomed fort, yet +there was no cessation; the sun seemed to stand still and +the long midsummer day to know no night. Some men were dead +and no scratch appeared on their bodies; the concussion had +forced the breath from their lungs and collapsed them into +corpses. Captain Twiggs, of the staff, in executing some +orders was found apparently dead. He was untouched, but +lifeless, and only strong restoratives brought him back to +animation, and the commanding officer was buried knee-deep +in sand and had to be rescued by spades from his +imprisonment. The day wore on, hours followed hours of +anxiety and grim endurance, but no respite ensued. At last +night came; not however, to herald a cessation of the +strife, but to usher in a conflict still more terrible. More +than eleven hours had passed. The fort was torn and +mutilated; to the outside observer it was apparently +powerless, knocked to pieces and pounded out of shape, the +outline changed, the exterior slope full of gaping wounds, +the ditch half filled up, but the interior still preserved +its form and its integrity; scarred and defaced it was yet a +citadel which, although not offensive, was defiant.</p> + +<p>"It was nearly eight o'clock at night, but still twilight, +when a calm came and the blazing circle ceased to glow with +flame. The ominous pause was understood; it required no +signals to be read by those to whom they were not directed +to inform them that the supreme moment to test the value of +the day's achievements was now at hand. It meant nothing but +assault. Dr. Dennison says the assault was intended to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> a +surprise. He over-estimates the equanimity of the +Confederate commander if he supposes that that bombardment, +which would have waked the dead, had lulled him into +security and repose. The buried cannon were at once exhumed, +the guns remounted and the garrison ordered to their +appointed posts. The Charleston Battalion were already +formed and in position; they had nestled under the parapet +and stood ready in their places. The other troops with the +exception of part of one regiment, responded to the summons +with extraordinary celerity, and the echoes of the Federal +guns had hardly died away before more than three-fourths of +the ramparts were lined with troops; one gap remained +unfilled; the demoralized men who should have filled it +clung to the bomb-proofs and stayed there. The gallant +Colonel Simpkins called his men to the gun-chambers wherever +guns existed. De Pass, with his light artillery on the +traverse to the left, his guns remounted and untouched, +stood ready, and Colonel Harris moved a howitzer outside the +fort to the right to deliver an enfilade fire upon the +assailants.</p> + +<p>"The dark masses of the enemies columns, brigade after +brigade, were seen in the fading twilight to approach; line +after line was formed and then came the rush. A small creek +made in on the right of the fort and intercepted the enemy's +left attack; they did not know it, or did not estimate it. +Orders were given to Gaillard to hold his fire and deliver +no direct shot. It was believed the obstacle presented by +the creek would confuse the assailants, cause them to +incline to the right and mingle their masses at the head of +the obstacle and thus their movements would be obstructed. +It seemed to have the anticipated effect and the assaulting +columns apparently jumbled together at this point were met +by the withering volleys of McKethan's direct and Gaillard's +cross-fire and by the direct discharge of the shell guns, +supplemented by the frightful enfilading discharges of the +lighter guns upon the right and left. It was terrible, but +with an unsurpassed gallantry the Federal soldiers breasted +the storm and rushed onward to the glacis.</p> + +<p>"The Confederates, not fourteen hundred strong, with the +tenacity of bull dogs and a fierce courage which was roused +to madness by the frightful inaction to which they had been +subjected, poured from the ramparts and embrasures sheets of +flame and a tempest of lead and iron, yet their intrepid +assailants rushed on like the waves of the sea by whose +shore they fought. They fell by hundreds, but they pushed +on, reeling under the frightful blasts that almost blew them +to pieces, some up to the Confederate bayonets. The +southeast bastion was weakly defended, and into it a +considerable body of the enemy made their way but they were +caught in a trap, for they could not leave it. The fight +continued; but it was impossible to stem the torrent of +deadly missiles which poured out from the fort, the reflux +of that terrible tide which had poured in all day, and the +Federals retreated, leaving near a thousand dead around the +fort.</p> + +<p>"There was no cessation of the Confederate fire. Sumter and +Gregg threw their shells along with those of Wagner upon the +retiring foe; nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> was the conflict over in the fort itself. +The party which had gained access by the salient next the +sea could not escape. It was certain death to attempt to +pass the line of concentrated fire which swept the faces of +the work, and they did not attempt it; but they would not +surrender, and in desperation kept up a constant fire upon +the main body of the fort. The Confederates called for +volunteers to dislodge them—a summons which was promptly +responded to by Major McDonald, of the Fifty-first North +Carolina, and by Captain Rion, of the Charleston Battalion, +with the requisite number of men. Rion's company was +selected, and the gallant Irishman, at the head of his +company, dashed at the reckless and insane men, who seemed +to insist upon immolation. The tables were now singularly +turned; the assailants had become the assailed and they held +a fort within the fort, and were protected by the traverses +and gun chambers, behind which they fought. Rion rushed at +them, but he fell, shot outright, with several of his men, +and the rest recoiled. At this time General Hagood reported +to General Taliaferro with Colonel Harrison's splendid +regiment, the Thirty-second Georgia, sent over by Beauregard +to his assistance as soon as a landing could be effected at +Cummings' Point. These troops were ordered to move along on +the traverses and bomb-proofs, and to plunge their +concentrated fire over the stronghold. Still, for a time, +the enemy held out, but at last they cried out and +surrendered.</p> + +<p>"The carnage was frightful. It is believed the Federals lost +more men on that eventful night than twice the entire +strength of the Confederate garrison. The Confederates lost +eight killed and twenty wounded by the bombardment and about +fifty killed and one hundred and fifty wounded altogether +from the bombardment and assault. Among the killed were +those gallant officers, Lieutenant Colonel Simkins and Major +Ramsey and among the wounded Captains DePass and Twiggs, of +the staff, and Lieutenants Storey (Aide-de-Camp), Power and +Watties. According to the statement of Chaplain Dennison the +assaulting columns in two brigades, commanded by General +Strong and Colonel Putnam (the division under General +Seymour), consisted of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, Third +and Seventh New Hampshire, Sixth Connecticut and One +Hundredth New York, with a reserve brigade commanded by +General Stephenson. One of the assaulting regiments was +composed of negroes (the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts) and to +it was assigned the honor of leading the white columns to +the charge. It was a dearly purchased compliment. Their +Colonel (Shaw) was killed upon the parapet and the regiment +almost annihilated, although the Confederates in the +darkness could not tell the color of their assailants. Both +the brigade commanders were killed as well as Colonel +Chatfield.</p> + +<p>"The same account says: 'We lost 55 officers and 585 men, a +total of 640, one of the choicest martyr rolls of the war.' +By 'lost,' 'killed' is supposed to be meant, but still that +number greatly falls short of the number reported by the +Confederates to have been buried on the 19th by them and by +their own friends under a flag of truce. These reports show<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +that 800 were buried, and as a number were taken prisoners, +and it is fair to estimate that three were wounded to one +killed, the total loss of the Federals exceeded 3,000. The +writer's official report estimates the Federal loss at not +less than 2,000; General Beauregard's at 3,000. The Federal +official reports have not been seen.</p> + +<p>"The limits prescribed for this paper would be exceeded if +any account of the remaining forty-eight days of the heroic +strife on Morris Island were attempted. It closes with the +repulse of the second assault, and it is a fit conclusion to +render the homage due to the gallantry of the contestants by +quoting and adopting the language of Dr. Dennison's address: +'The truest courage and determination was manifested on both +sides on that crimson day at that great slaughter-house, +Wagner.'"</p></div> + +<p>It was no longer a question of doubt as to the valor of Northern +negroes. The assault on Fort Wagner completely removed any prejudice +that had been exhibited toward negro troops in the Department of the +South. General Gillmore immediately issued an order forbidding any +distinction to be made among troops in his command. So that while the +black Phalanx had lost hundreds of its members, it nevertheless won +equality in all things save the pay. The Government refused to place +them on a footing even with their Southern brothers, who received $7 per +month and the white troops $13. However, they were not fighting for pay, +as "Stonewall" of Company C argued, but for the "<i>freedom of our kin</i>." +Nobly did they do this, not only at Wagner, as we have seen, but in the +battles on James Island, Honey Hill, Olustee and at Bodkin's Mill.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1864, the troops in the Department of the South lay +encamped on the islands in and about Charleston harbor, resting from +their endeavors to drive the confederates from their strongholds. The +city was five miles away in the distance. Sumter, grim, hoary and in +ruins, yet defying the National authority, was silent. General Gillmore +was in command of the veteran legions of the 10th Army Corps, aided by a +powerful fleet of ironclads and other war vessels. There laid the city +of Charleston, for the time having a respite. General Gillmore was +giving rest to his troops, before he began again to throw Greek fire +into the city and batter the walls of its defences. The shattered ranks +of the Phalanx soldiers rested in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> midst of thousands of their white +comrades-in-arms, to whom they nightly repeated the story of the late +terrible struggle. The solemn sentry pacing the ramparts of Fort Wagner +night and day, his bayonet glittering in the rays of the sun or in the +moonlight, seemed to be guarding the sepulchre of Col. Shaw and those +who fell beside him within the walls of that gory fort, and who were +buried where they fell. Only those who have lived in such a camp can +appreciate the stories of hair-breadth escapes from hand-to-hand fights.</p> + +<p>The repose lasted until January, when an important movement took place +for the permanent occupation of Florida. The following account, written +by the author of this book, was published in "The Journal," of Toledo, +O.:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The twentieth day of February, 1864, was one of the most +disastrous to the Federal arms, and to the administration of +President Lincoln, in the annals of the war for the union. +Through private advice Mr. Lincoln had received information +which led him to believe that the people in the State of +Florida, a large number of them, at least, were ready and +anxious to identify the State with the cause of the Union, +and he readily approved of the Federal forces occupying the +State, then almost deserted by the rebels. Gen. Gillmore, +commanding the Department of the South had a large force +before Charleston, S. C., which had been engaged in the +capture of Fort Wagner and the bombardment of the city of +Charleston, and the reduction of Sumter.</p> + +<p>"These objects being accomplished, the army having rested +several months, Gen. Gillmore asked for leave to undertake +such expeditions within his Department as he might think +proper. About the middle of December, 1863, the War +Department granted him his request, and immediately he began +making preparations for an expedition, collecting +transports, commissary stores, drilling troops, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>"About the 1st of January, 1864, General Gillmore wrote to +the General-in-Chief, Halleck, that he was about to occupy +the west bank of St. Johns river, with the view (1st) to +open an outlet to cotton, lumber, etc., (2d) to destroy one +of the enemy's sources of supplies, (3d) to give the negroes +opportunity of enlisting in the army, (4th) to inaugurate +measures for the speedy restoration of Florida to the Union.</p> + +<p>"In accordance with instructions from President Lincoln +received through the assistant Adjutant General, Major J. H. +Hay, who would accompany the expedition, on the 5th of +February the troops began to embark under the immediate +command of General Truman Seymour, on board of twenty +steamers and eight schooners, consisting of the following +regiments, numbering in all six thousand troops, and under +convoy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> of the gunboat Norwich:</p> + +<p>"40th Massachusetts Mounted Infantry, Col. Guy V. Henry.</p> + +<p>"7th Connecticut, Col. J. R. Hawley.</p> + +<p>"7th New Hampshire, Col. Abbott.</p> + +<p>"47th, 48th and 115th New York, Col. Barton's command.</p> + +<p>"The Phalanx regiments were: 8th Pennsylvania, Col. Fribley; +1st North Carolina, Lt.-Col. Reed; 54th Massachusetts, Col. +Hallowell; 2d South Carolina, Col. Beecher; 55th +Massachusetts, Col. Hartwell, with three batteries of white +troops, Hamilton's, Elder's and Langdon's. Excepting the two +last named regiments, this force landed at Jacksonville on +the 7th of February, and pushed on, following the 40th +Massachusetts Mounted Infantry, which captured by a bold +dash Camp Finnigan, about seven miles from Jacksonville, +with its equipage, eight pieces of artillery, and a number +of prisoners. On the 10th, the whole force had reached +Baldwin, a railroad station twenty miles west of +Jacksonville. There the army encamped, except Col. Henry's +force, which continued its advance towards Tallahassee, +driving a small force of Gen. Finnegan's command before him. +This was at the time all the rebel force in east Florida. On +the 18th Gen. Seymour, induced by the successful advance of +Col. Henry, lead his troops from Baldwin with ten days' +rations in their haversacks, and started for the Suwanee +river, about a hundred and thirty miles from Baldwin +station, leaving the 2d South Carolina and the 55th +Massachusetts Phalanx regiments to follow. After a fatiguing +march the column, numbering about six thousand, reached +Barbour's Station, on the Florida Central Railroad, twenty +miles from Baldwin. Here the command halted and bivouaced, +the night of the 19th, in the woods bordering upon a wooded +ravine running off towards the river from the railroad +track.</p> + +<p>"It is now nineteen years ago, and I write from memory of a +night long to be remembered. Around many a Grand Army +Camp-fire in the last fifteen years this bivouac has been +made the topic of an evening's talk. It was attended with no +particular hardship. The weather was such as is met with in +these latitudes, not cold, not hot, and though a thick +vapory cloud hid the full round moon from early eventide +until the last regiment filed into the woods, yet there was +a halo of light that brightened the white, sandy earth and +gave to the moss-laden limbs of the huge pines which stood +sentry-like on the roadside the appearance of a New England +grove on a frosty night, with a shelled road leading through +it.</p> + +<p>"It was well in the night when the two Phalanx regiments +filed out of the road into the woods, bringing up the rear +of the army, and took shelter under the trees from the +falling dew. Amid the appalling stillness that reigned +throughout the encampment, except the tramp of feet and an +occasional whickering of a battery horse, no sound broke the +deep silence. Commands were given in an undertone and +whispered along the long lines of weary troops that lay +among the trees and the underbrush of the pine forest. Each +soldier lay with his musket beside him, ready to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> spring to +his feet and in line for battle, for none knew the moment +the enemy, like a tiger, would pounce upon them. It was a +night of intense anxiety, shrouded in mystery as to what +to-morrow would bring. The white and black soldier in one +common bed lay in battle panoply, dreaming their common +dreams of home and loved ones.</p> + +<p>"Here lay the heroic 54th picturing to themselves the +memorable nights of July 17 and 18, their bivouac on the +beach and their capture of Fort Wagner and the terrible fate +of their comrades. They were all veteran troops save the 8th +Pennsylvania, which upon many hard-fought fields had covered +themselves with gallant honor in defense of their country's +cause, from Malvern Hill to Morris Island.</p> + +<p>"It was in the gray of the next morning that Gen. Seymour's +order aroused the command. The men partook of a hastily +prepared cup of coffee and meat and hard-tack from their +haversacks. At sunrise the troops took up the line of march, +following the railroad for Lake City. Col. Henry, with the +40th Massachusetts Mounted Infantry and Major Stevens' +independent battalion of Massachusetts cavalry, led the +column. About half-past one o'clock they reached a point +where the country road crossed the railroad, about two miles +east of Olustee, and six miles west of Sanderson, a station +through which the troops passed about half-past eleven +o'clock. As the head of the column reached the crossing the +rebel pickets fired and fell back upon a line of +skirmishers, pursued by Col. Henry's command. The enemy's +main force was supposed to be some miles distant from this +place, consequently General Seymour had not taken the +precaution to protect his flanks, though marching through an +enemy's country. Consequently he found his troops flanked on +either side.</p> + +<p>"Col. Henry drove the skirmishers back upon their main +forces, which were strongly posted between two swamps. The +position was admirably chosen; their right rested upon a +low, slight earthwork, protected by rifle-pits, their center +was defended by an impassable swamp, and on their left was a +cavalry force drawn up on a small elevation behind the +shelter of a grove of pines. Their camp was intersected by +the railroad, on which was placed a battery capable of +operating against the center and left of the advancing +column, while a rifle gun, mounted on a railroad flat, +pointed down the road in front.</p> + +<p>"Gen. Seymour, in order to attack this strongly fortified +position, had necessarily to place his troops between the +two swamps, one in his front, the other in the rear. The +Federal cavalry, following up the skirmishers, had attacked +the rebel right and were driven back, but were met by the +7th New Hampshire, 7th Connecticut, a regiment of the black +Phalanx (8th Pennsylvania), and Elder's battery of four and +Hamilton's of six pieces. This force was hurled against the +rebel right with such impetuosity that the batteries were +within one hundred yards of the rebel line of battle before +they knew it. However, they took position, and supported by +the Phalanx regiment, opened a vigorous fire upon the rebel +earthworks. The Phalanx regiment advanced within twenty or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +thirty yards of the enemy's rifle-pits, and poured a volley +of minie balls into the very faces of those who did not fly +on their approach.</p> + +<p>"The 7th Connecticut and the 7th New Hampshire, the latter +with their seven-shooters, Spencer repeaters, Col. Hawley, +commanding, had taken a stand further to the right of the +battery, and were hotly engaging the rebels. The Phalanx +regiment (8th), after dealing out two rounds from its +advanced position, finding the enemy's force in the center +preparing to charge upon them, fell back under cover of +Hamilton's battery, which was firing vigorously and +effectively into the rebel column. The 7th Connecticut and +New Hampshire about this time ran short of ammunition, and +Col. Hawley, finding the rebels outnumbered his force three +to one, was about ordering Col. Abbott to fall back and out +of the concentrated fire of the enemy pouring upon his men, +when he observed the rebels coming in for a down upon his +column.</p> + +<p>"Here they come like tigers; the Federal column wavers a +little; it staggers and breaks, falling back in considerable +disorder! Col. Hawley now ordered Col. Fribley to take his +Phalanx Regiment, the 8th, to the right of the battery and +check the advancing rebel force. No time was to be lost, the +enemy's sharpshooters had already silenced two of Hamilton's +guns, dead and dying men and horses lay in a heap about +them, while at the remaining four guns a few brave +artillerists were loading and fixing their pieces, retarding +the enemy in his onward movement.</p> + +<p>"Deficient in artillery, they had not been able to check the +Federal cavalry in its dash, but the concentrated fire from +right to center demoralized, and sent them galloping over +the field wildly. Col. Fribley gave the order by the right +flank, double quick! and the next moment the 8th Phalanx +swept away to the extreme right in support of the 7th New +Hampshire and the 7th Connecticut. The low, direct aim of +the enemy in the rifle-pits, his Indian sharpshooters up in +the trees, had ere now so thinned the ranks of Col. Hawley's +command that his line was gone, and the 8th Phalanx met the +remnant of his brigade as it was going to the rear in +complete disorder. The rebels ceased firing and halted as +the Phalanx took position between them and their fleeing +comrades. They halted not perforce, but apparently for +deliberation, when with one fell swoop in the next moment +they swept the field in their front.</p> + +<p>"The Phalanx did not, however, quit the field in a +panic-stricken manner but fell hastily back to the battery, +only to find two of the guns silent and their brave workers +and horses nearly all of them dead upon the field. With a +courage undaunted, surpassed by no veteran troops on any +battle-field, the Phalanx attempted to save the silent guns. +In this effort Col. Fribley was killed, in the torrent of +rebel bullets which fell upon the regiment. It held the two +guns, despite two desperate charges made by the enemy to +capture them, but the stubbornness of the Phalanx was no +match for the ponderous weight of their enemy's column, +their sharpshooters and artillery mowing down ranks of their +comrades at every volley. A grander spectacle was never +witnessed than that which this regiment gave of gallant +courage. They left their guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> only when their line officers +and three hundred and fifty of their valiant soldiers were +dead upon the field, the work of an hour and a half. The +battery lost forty of its horses and four of its brave men. +The Phalanx saved the colors of the battery with its own. +Col. Barton's brigade, the 47th, 48th and 115th New York, +during the fight on the right had held the enemy in the +front and center at bay, covering Elder's battery, and nobly +did they do their duty, bravely maintaining the reputation +they had won before Charleston, but like the other troops, +the contest was too unequal. The rebels outnumbered them +five to one, and they likewise gave way, leaving about a +fourth of their number upon the field, dead and wounded.</p> + +<p>"Col. Montgomery's brigade, comprising two Phalanx +regiments, 54th Massachusetts and 1st North Carolina, which +had been held in reserve about a mile down the road, now +came up at double-quick. They were under heavy marching +orders, with ten days' rations in their knapsacks, besides +their cartridge boxes they carried ten rounds in their +overcoat pockets. The road was sandy, and the men often +found their feet beneath the sand, but with their wonted +alacrity they speed on up the road, the 54th leading in +almost a locked running step, followed closely by the 1st +North Carolina. As they reached the road intersected by the +railroad they halted in the rear of what remained of +Hamilton's battery, loading a parting shot. The band of the +54th took position on the side of the road, and while the +regiments were unstringing knapsacks as coolly as if about +to bivouac, the music of the band burst out on the +sulphurous air, amid the roar of artillery, the rattle of +musketry and the shouts of commands, mingling its +soul-stirring strains with the deafening yells of the +charging columns, right, left, and from the rebel center. +Thus on the very edge of the battle, nay, in the battle, the +Phalanx band poured out in heroic measures 'The Star +Spangled Banner.' Its thrilling notes, soaring above the +battles' gales, aroused to new life and renewed energy the +panting, routed troops, flying in broken and disordered +ranks from the field. Many of them halted, the New York +troops particularly, and gathered at the battery again, +pouring a deadly volley into the enemy's works and ranks. +The 54th had but a moment to prepare for the task. General +Seymour rode up and appealed to the Phalanx to check the +enemy and save the army from complete and total +annihilation. Col. Montgomery gave Col. Hallowell the order +'Forward,' pointing to the left, and away went the 54th +Phalanx regiment through the woods, down into the swamp, +wading up to their knees—in places where the water reached +their hips; yet on they went till they reached terra firma. +Soon the regiment stood in line of battle, ready to meet the +enemy's advancing cavalry, emerging from the extreme left.</p> + +<p>"'Hold your fire!' the order ran down the line. Indeed, it +was trying. The cavalry had halted but the enemy, in their +rifle-pits in the center of their line, poured volley after +volley into the ranks of the Phalanx, which it stood like a +wall of granite, holding at bay the rebel cavalry hanging on +the edge of a pine grove. The 1st Phalanx regiment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> entered +the field in front, charged the rebels in the centre of the +line, driving them into their rifle-pits, and then for half +an hour the carnage became frightful. They had followed the +rebels into the very jaws of death, and now Col. Reid found +his regiment in the enemy's enfilading fire, and they swept +his line. Men fell like snowflakes. Driven by this terrific +fire, they fell back. The 54th had taken ground to the +right, lending whatever of assistance they could to their +retiring comrades, who were about on a line with them, for +although retreating, it was in the most cool and deliberate +manner, and the two regiments began a firing at will against +which the rebels, though outnumbering them, could not face. +Thus they held them till long after sunset, and firing +ceased.</p> + +<p>"The slaughter was terrible; the Phalanx lost about 800 men, +the white troops about 600. It was Braddock's defeat after +the lapse of a century."</p></div> + +<p>The rout was complete; the army was not only defeated but beaten and +demoralized. The enemy had succeeded in drawing it into a trap for the +purpose of annihilating it. Seymour had advanced, contrary to the orders +given him by General Gillmore, from Baldwin's Station, where he was +instructed to intrench and await orders. Whether or not he sought to +retrieve the misfortunes that had attended him in South Carolina, in +assaulting the enemy's works, is a question which need not be discussed +here. It is only necessary to show the miserable mismanagement of the +advance into the enemy's country. The troops were marched into an +ambuscade, where they were slaughtered by the enemy at will. Even after +finding his troops ambuscaded, and within two hundred yards of the +confederate fortifications, General Seymour did not attempt to fall back +and form a line of battle, though he had sufficient artillery, but +rushed brigade after brigade up to the enemy's guns, only to be mowed +down by the withering storm of shot. Each brigade in turn went in as +spirited as any troops ever entered a fight, but stampeded out of it +maimed, mangled and routed. At sunset the road, foot-paths and woods +leading back to Saunders' Station, was full of brave soldiers hastening +from the massacre of their comrades, in their endeavor to escape +capture. At about nine o'clock that night, what remained of the left +column, Colonel Montgomery's brigade, consisting of the 54th and 35th +Phalanx Regiments, and a battery, arrived at the Station, and reported +the confederates in hot pursuit.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image37.jpg" width="600" height="398" alt="CHARGE OF THE PHALANX." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CHARGE OF THE PHALANX.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>Instantly the shattered, scattered troops fled to the roads leading to +Barber's, ten miles away, with no one to command. Each man took his own +route for Barber's, leaving behind whatever would encumber him,—arms, +ammunition, knapsacks and cartridge boxes; many of the latter containing +forty rounds of cartridges. It was long past midnight when Barber's was +reached, and full day before the frightened mob arrived at the Station. +At sunrise on the morning of the 21st, the scene presented at Barber's +was sickening and sad. The wounded lay everywhere, upon the ground, +huddled around the embers of fagot fires, groaning and uttering cries of +distress. The surgeons were busy relieving, as best they could, the more +dangerously wounded. The foot-sore and hungry soldiers sought out their +bleeding and injured comrades and placed them upon railroad flats, +standing upon the tracks, and when these were loaded, ropes and strong +vines were procured and fastened to the flats. Putting themselves in the +place of a locomotive,—several of which stood upon the track at +Jacksonville,—the mangled and mutilated forms of about three hundred +soldiers were dragged forward mile after mile. Just in the rear, the +confederates kept up a fire of musketry, as though to hasten on the +stampede. It was well into the night when the train reached Baldwin's, +where it was thought the routed force would occupy the extensive work +encircling the station, but they did not stop; their race was continued +to Jacksonville. At Baldwin's an agent of the Christian Commission gave +the wounded each two crackers, without water. This over with, the train +started for Jacksonville, ten miles further. The camp of Colonel +Beecher's command, 2nd Phalanx Regiment, was reached, and here coffee +was furnished. At daylight the train reached Jacksonville, where the +wounded were carried to the churches and cared for. The battle and the +retreat had destroyed every vestige of distinction based upon color. The +troops during the battle had fought together, as during the stampede +they had endured its horrors together.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>The news of the battle and defeat reached Beaufort the night of the 23rd +of February. It was so surprising that it was doubted, but when a boat +load of wounded men arrived, all doubts were dispelled.</p> + +<p>Colonel T. W. Higginson, who was at Beaufort at the time with his +regiment, (1st S. C), thus notes the reception of the news in his diary, +which we quote with a few comments from his admirable book, "Army Life +in a Black Regiment":</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">February, 19th</span>.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'Not a bit of it! This morning the General has ridden up +radiant, has seen General Gillmore, who has decided not to +order us to Florida at all, nor withdraw any of this +garrison. Moreover, he says that all which is intended in +Florida is done—that there will be no advance to +Tallahassee, and General Seymour will establish a camp of +instruction in Jacksonville. Well, if that is all, it is a +lucky escape.'</p> + +<p>"We little dreamed that on that very day the march toward +Olustee was beginning. The battle took place next day, and I +add one more extract to show how the news reached Beaufort.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">February 23, 1864.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"'There was a sound of revelry by night at a ball in +Beaufort last night, in a new large building beautifully +decorated. All the collected flags of the garrison hung +round and over us, as if the stars and stripes were devised +for an ornament alone. The array of uniforms was such, that +a civilian became a distinguished object, much more a lady. +All would have gone according to the proverbial marriage +bell, I suppose, had there not been a slight palpable shadow +over all of us from hearing vague stories of a lost battle +in Florida, and from the thought that perhaps the very +ambulances in which we rode to the ball were ours only until +the wounded or the dead might tenant them.</p> + +<p>"'General Gillmore only came, I supposed, to put a good face +upon the matter. He went away soon, and General Saxton went; +then came a rumor that the Cosmopolitan had actually arrived +with wounded, but still the dance went on. There was nothing +unfeeling about it—one gets used to things,—when suddenly, +in the midst of the 'Lancers,' there came a perfect hush, +the music ceasing, a few surgeons went hastily to and fro, +as if conscience stricken (I should think they might have +been),—and then there 'waved a mighty shadow in,' as in +Uhland's 'Black Knight,' and as we all stood wondering we +were aware of General Saxton who strode hastily down the +hall, his pale face very resolute, and looking almost sick +with anxiety. He had just been on board the steamer; there +were two hundred and fifty wounded men just arrived, and the +ball must end. Not that there was anything for us to do, but +the revel was mis-timed, and must be ended; it was wicked to +be dancing with such a scene of suffering near by.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image38.jpg" width="600" height="394" alt="PHALANX RIVER PICKETS DEFENDING THEMSELVES. + +Federal picket boat near Fernandina, Fla., attacked by Confederate +sharpshooters stationed in the trees on the banks." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX RIVER PICKETS DEFENDING THEMSELVES.<br /> + +Federal picket boat near Fernandina, Fla., attacked by Confederate +sharpshooters stationed in the trees on the banks.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'Of course the ball was instantly broken up, though with +some murmurings and some longings of appetite, on the part +of some, toward the wasted supper.</p> + +<p>"'Later, I went on board the boat. Among the long lines of +wounded, black and white intermingled, there was the +wonderful quiet which usually prevails on such occasions. +Not a sob nor a groan, except from those undergoing removal. +It is not self-control, but chiefly the shock to the system +produced by severe wounds, especially gunshot wounds, and +which usually keeps the patient stiller at first than at any +later time.</p> + +<p>"'A company from my regiment waited on the wharf, in their +accustomed dusky silence, and I longed to ask them what they +thought of our Florida disappointment now? In view of what +they saw, did they still wish we had been there? I confess +that in presence of all that human suffering, I could not +wish it. But I would not have suggested any such thought to +them.</p> + +<p>"'I found our kind-hearted ladies, Mrs. Chamberlin and Mrs. +Dewhurst, on board the steamer, but there was nothing for +them to do, and we walked back to camp in the radiant +moonlight; Mrs. Chamberlin more than ever strengthened in +her blushing woman's philosophy, 'I don't care who wins the +laurels, provided we don't!'</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">February 29th.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"'But for a few trivial cases of varioloid, we should +certainly have been in that disastrous fight. We were +confidently expected for several days at Jacksonville, and +the commanding general told Hallowell that we, being the +oldest colored regiment, would have the right of the line. +This was certainly to miss danger and glory very closely.'"</p></div> + +<p>At daybreak on the 8th of March, 1864, the 7th Regiment, having left +Camp Stanton, Maryland, on the 4th and proceeded to Portsmouth, Va., +embarked on board the steamer "Webster" for the Department of the South. +Arriving at Hilton Head, the regiment went into camp for a few days, +then it embarked for Jacksonville, Fla., at which place it remained for +some time, taking part in several movements into the surrounding country +and participating in a number of quite lively skirmishes. On the 27th of +June a considerable portion of the Regiment was ordered to Hilton Head, +where it arrived on July 1st; it went from there to James Island, where +with other troops a short engagement with the confederates was had. +Afterwards the regiment returned to Jacksonville, Fla., remaining in +that vicinity engaged in raiding the adjacent territory until the 4th of +August, when the regiment was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> ordered to Virginia, to report to the +Army of the Potomoc, where it arrived on Aug. 8th. The 55th +Massachusetts Regiment was also ordered to the Department of the South, +It left Boston July 21st, 1863, on the steamer "Cahawba," and arrived at +Newbern on the 25th. After a few days of rest, to recover from the +effects of the voyage, the regiment was put into active service, and +performed a large amount of marching and of the arduous duties required +of a soldier. Many skirmishes and actions of more or less importance +were participated in. February 13th, 1864, the regiment took a steamer +for Jacksonville, Fla., and spent considerable time in that section and +at various points on the St. Johns river. In June the regiment was +ordered to the vicinity of Charleston, and took part in several of the +engagements which occurred in that neighborhood, always sustaining and +adding to the reputation they were acquiring for bravery and good +soldierly conduct. The regiment passed its entire time of active service +in the department to which it was first sent, and returned to Boston, +Mass., where it was mustered out, amid great rejoicing, on the 23rd of +September, 1865.</p> + +<p>The battles in which the 54th Regiment were engaged were some of the +most sanguinary of the war. The last fight of the regiment, which, like +the battle of New Orleans, took place after peace was declared, is thus +described by the Drummer Boy of Company C, Henry A. Monroe, of New +Bedford, Mass.:</p> + + +<h4>BOYKIN'S MILL.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">One wailing bugle note,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then at the break of day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With Martial step and gay.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The army takes its way<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From Camden town.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There lay along the path,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Defending native land;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A daring, desperate band<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Entrenched on either hand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In ambuscade.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A low and dark ravine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath a rugged hill,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where stood the Boykin Mill<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spanning the creek, whose rill<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Flows dark an deep.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Only a narrow bank<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where one can scarcely tread:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thick branches meet o'erhead;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Across the mill-pond's bed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A bridge up-torn.<br /></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">One single sharp report!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A hundred muskets peal,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A wild triumphant yell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As back the army fell<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stunned, bleeding, faint.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">As when some mighty rock<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Obstructs the torrent's course,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After the moment's pause<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Twill rush with greater force<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resistless on.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A moment's pause and then,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our leader from his post,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Viewing the stricken host.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cried 'Comrades, all is lost<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If we now fail!'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Forming in single file.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They gaze with bated breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Around—before—beneath—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On every hand, stern Death<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His visage showed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Forward!' They quickly spring<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With leveled bayonet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each eye is firmly set<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon that pathway wet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With crimson gore.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That 'Balaklava' dash!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Right through the leaden hail.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er dyke mid timbers frail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With hearts that never fail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They boldly charge.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Facing the scathing fire<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without a halt or break;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Save when with moan or shriek,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the blood-mingled creek<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wounded fall.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What could resist that charge?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Above the battle's roar,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There swells a deafening cheer<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Telling to far and near,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Mill is won!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The slaughter was terrible, and among the killed was young Lieutenant +Stevenson, a graduate of Harvard. The affair was an unnecessary +sacrifice of human life, for the war was over, peace had been declared, +and President Lincoln had been assassinated; but in the interior of the +Carolinas, the news did not reach until it was too late to prevent this +final bloodshed of the war. Perhaps it may be regarded as a fitting seal +of the negro to his new covenant with freedom and his country.</p> + +<p>The very large number of negro troops which General Gillmore had under +his command in the Department of the South, afforded him a better +opportunity to test their fitness for and quality as soldiers, than any +other commander had. In fact the artillery operations in Charleston +harbor, conducted throughout with remarkable engineering skill, +perseverence and bravery, won for General Gillmore and his troops the +attention and admiration of the civilized world, and an exceptional +place in the annals of military siege. Such fame is sufficient to prompt +an inquiry into the capacity of the men who performed the labor of +planting the "Swamp Angel," which threw three hundred pound shot into +the heart of Charleston, more than four miles away, and also mounted the +six 200-pound cannons which demolished the forts in the harbor two miles +distant. The work of mounting these immense guns in swamp and mud could +only be done by men who feared neither fatigue, suffering nor death. +After the accomplishment of these worlds, wonders, and the subjugation +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> "arrogant" Wagner, the following circular was addressed to the +subordinate engineers for information regarding the negro troops, which +drew forth explicit and interesting answers:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"COLORED TROOPS FOR WORK.—CIRCULAR.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters Department of the South</span>,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"<span class="smcap">Engineer's Office, Morris Island, S. C.</span>, Sept. 10th, 1863.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As the important experiment which will test the fitness of +the American negro for the duties of a soldier is now being +tried, it is desirable that facts bearing on the question be +carefully observed and recorded.</p> + +<p>"It is probable that in no military operations of the war +have negro troops done so large a proportion, and so +important and hazardous, fatigue duty, as in the siege +operations on this island.</p> + +<p>"As you have directed the operations of working parties of +both white and black troops here, I respectfully ask, for +the object above stated, an impartial and carefully prepared +answer to the following inquiries, together with such +statements as you choose to make bearing on this question:</p> + +<p>"I. Courage as indicated by their behavior under fire.</p> + +<p>"II. Skill and appreciation of their duties, referring to +the quality of the work performed.</p> + +<p>"III. Industry and perseverence, with reference, to the +quantity of the work performed.</p> + +<p>"IV. If a certain work were to be accomplished in the least +possible time, <i>i. e.</i>, when enthusiasm and direct personal +interest is necessary to attain the end, would whites or +blacks answer best?</p> + +<p>"V. What is the difference, considering the above points +between colored troops recruited from the free States and +those from the slave States?</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very respectfully your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"T. B. BROOKS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Major, Aide-de-Camp and Ass't Engineer.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><i>Six</i> replies to these enquiries were received from engineer officers +who had been engaged in the siege, the substance of which is embraced in +the following summary, following which two replies are given in full,</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"1. To the first question all answer that the black is more +timorous than the white, but is in a corresponding degree +more docile and obedient, hence more completely under the +control of his commander, and much more influenced by his +example.</p> + +<p>"2. All agree that the black is less skillful than the white +soldier, but still enough so for most kinds of siege work.</p> + +<p>"3. The statements unanimously agree that the black will do +a greater amount of work than the white soldier because he +labors more constantly.</p> + +<p>"4. The whites are decidedly superior in enthusiasm. The +blacks cannot be easily hurried in their work, no matter +what the emergency.</p> + +<p>"5. All agree that the colored troops recruited from free +States are superior to those recruited from slave States.</p> + +<p>"It may with propriety be repeated here, that the average +percentage of sick among the negro troops during the siege +was 13.9, while that of the white infantry was 20.1 per +cent.</p> + +<p>"The percentage of tours of duty performed by the blacks as +compared with the white infantry, was as 56 to 41. But the +grand guard duty, which was considered much more wearing +than fatigue, was all done by the whites.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The efficiency and health of a battalion depends so much +upon its officers, that, in order to institute a fair +comparison, when so small a number of troops are considered, +this element should be eliminated. This has not, however, +been attempted in this paper."</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">[<i>Reply in Full No. 1.</i>]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Morris Island</span>, S. C., Sept. 11th, 1863.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Major</span>:—In answer to your several queries as per circular +of September 10, 1863, requesting my opinion as to the +relative merits of white and black troops, for work in the +trenches, I have the honor to make the the following +replies:</p> + +<p>"I. 'Their courage as indicated by their behavior under +fire.' I will say, in my opinion, their courage is rather of +the passive than the active kind. They will stay, endure, +resist, and follow, but they have not the restless, +aggressive spirit. I do not believe they will desert their +officers in trying moments, in so great numbers as the +whites; they have not the will, audacity or fertility of +excuse of the straggling white, and at the same time they +have not the heroic, nervous energy, or vivid perception of +the white, who stands firm or presses forward.</p> + +<p>"I do not remember a single instance, in my labors in the +trenches, where the black man has skulked away from his +duty, and I know that instances of that kind have occurred +among the whites; still I think that the superior energy and +intelligence of those remaining, considering that the whites +were the lesser number by the greater desertion, would more +than compensate.</p> + +<p>"II. 'Skill and appreciation of their duties referring to +the quality of the work.'</p> + +<p>"They have a fair share of both; enough to make them very +useful and efficient, but they have not apparently that +superior intelligence and skill that may be found largely +among the non-commissioned officers and privates of the +white regiments.</p> + +<p>"III. 'Industry and perseverence with reference to the +quantity of the work done.'</p> + +<p>"I think they will do more than the whites; they do not have +so many complaints and excuses, but stick to their work +patiently, doggedly, obediently, and accomplish a great +deal, though I have never known them to work with any marked +spirit or energy. I should liken the white man to the horse +(often untractable and balky), the black man to the ox.</p> + +<p>"IV. 'If a certain work were to be accomplished in the least +possible time, <i>i. e.</i>, when enthusiasm and direct personal +interest is necessary to attain the end, would whites or +blacks answer best?'</p> + +<p>"I cannot make up my mind that it is impossible to arouse +the enthusiasm of the blacks, for I have seen enough of them +to know that they are very emotional creatures; still though +they might have more dash than I have seen and think +possible, it is unquestionable to my mind that were the +enthusiasm and personal interest of both aroused, the white +would far surpass the black.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It seems to me that there is a hard nervous organization at +the bottom of the character of the white, and a soft +susceptible one at the bottom of the character of the black.</p> + +<p>"V. 'What is the difference, considering the above points, +between colored troops recruited from the free States and +those from the slave States?'</p> + +<p>"I should say that the free State men were the best; they +have more of the self-reliance, and approximate nearer to +the qualities of the white man in respect to dash and +energy, than those from the slave States.</p> + +<p>"<i>Summary.</i>—To me they compare favorably with the whites; +they are easily handled, true and obedient; there is less +viciousness among them; they are more patient; they have +great constancy. The character of the white, as you know, +runs to extremes; one has bull-dog courage, another is a +pitiful cur; one is excessively vicious, another pure and +noble. The phases of the character of the white touches the +stars and descends to the lowest depths. The blacks +character occupies the inner circle. Their status is +mediocrity, and this mediocrity and uniformity, for military +fatigue duty, I think, answers best.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am respectfully your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Joseph Walker</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<i>Captain New York Volunteer Engineers.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Major T. B. <span class="smcap">Brooks</span>,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">"<i>Aide-de-Camp and Ass't. Eng. Dept. of the South."</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">[<i>Reply in Full No. 2.</i>]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Morris Island</span>, Sept. 16th, 1863.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Major T. B. Brooks</span>, <i>Ass't. Engineer Dept. of the South.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: I have the honor to state that I received from you a +circular of inquiry respecting the comparative merits of +white and black soldiers for fatigue duty, requesting my +opinion as derived from observation and actual intercourse +with them, on several specified points, which I subjoin with +the respective answers.</p> + +<p>"I. 'Courage as indicated by conduct under fire.'</p> + +<p>"I have found that the black troops manifest more timidity +under fire than the white troops, but they are at the same +time more obedient to orders, and more under control of +their officers, in dangerous situations, than white +soldiers.</p> + +<p>"II. 'Skill and appreciation of their duties with reference +to the quality of the work performed.'</p> + +<p>"White soldiers are more intelligent and experienced and of +course more skillful than the black ones, but they have not +generally a corresponding appreciation of their duties. As a +consequence I have found in most cases the work as well done +by black as by white soldiers.</p> + +<p>"III. 'Industry and perseverence with reference to the +amount of work performed.'</p> + +<p>"White soldiers work with more energy while they do work +than the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> black ones, but do not work as constantly. Black +soldiers seldom intermit their labors except by orders or +permission. The result, as far as my observations extends, +is that a greater amount of work is usually accomplished +with black than with white soldiers.</p> + +<p>"IV. 'If a certain work were to be accomplished in the least +possible time, when enthusiasm and direct personal interest +is necessary to the attainment of the end, would whites or +blacks answer best?'</p> + +<p>"Whites. Because though requiring more effort to control, +they possess a greater energy of character and +susceptibility of enthusiasm than the black race, which can +be called into action by an emergency or by a sufficient +effort on the part of their officers.</p> + +<p>"V. 'What is the difference, considering the above points, +between colored troops recruited from the free States and +those from the slave States?'</p> + +<p>"I have observed a decided difference in favor of those +recruited from the free States.</p> + +<p>"The problem involved in the foregoing investigation is more +difficult of a solution than appears at first sight, owing +to the fact that the degree of efficiency peculiar to any +company of troops depends so much on the character of their +officers, an element that must eliminate from the question +in order to ascertain the quality of the material of which +the troops are composed.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I have the honor to be your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">"H. Farrand,</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>1st Lieut. New York Volunteer Engineers.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In his report to Major-General Gillmore, dated "Morris Island, Sept. +27th, 1863," Major Brooks, his Assistant Engineer, says: "Of the +numerous infantry regiments which furnished fatigue details, the Fourth +New Hampshire Volunteers did the most and best work. Next follow the +blacks, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, and Third United +States Colored Troops."</p> + +<p>Annexed to these reports is also a statement of the labor days of the +troops.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<h4>"WORKING PARTIES AND HEALTH OF TROOPS.</h4> + +<p>"The total number of days' work, of six hours each, expended +in Major Brooks' operations was, by engineers, 4,500, and by +infantry 19,000, total 23,500; of the 19,000 days' work by +infantry, one-half was performed by colored troops. In +addition to the above, 9,500 days' work was expended in +preparing siege materials for Major Brooks' operations. The +infantry soldiers' days' work is about one-fifth what a +citizen laborer would do on civil works. Of my work, over +eight-twentieths was against Wagner, about seven-twentieths +on the defensive lines, and nearly five-twentieths on the +batteries against Sumter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The approximate amount of labor actually expended on the +more important works is as follows: One emplacement for a +siege piece, 40 days; one emplacement for a heavy breaching +gun, 100 days; one bomb-proof magazine, 250 days; +construction and repairs of each yard of approach having +splinter-proof parapet, 2 days; a lineal yard of narrow +splinter-proof shelter, 4 days; a lineal yard of wide +splinter-proof shelter, 8 days; to make and set one yard of +inclined palisading, 2 days.</p> + +<p>"At least three-fourths of the manual labor was simply +shoveling sand; one-half of the remainder was carrying +engineer material. The balance was employed in various kinds +of work.</p> + +<p>"About three-fourths of this work was executed in the +night-time, and at least nine-tenths of it under a fire of +artillery or sharpshooters, or both. The sharpshooters +seldom fired during the night. The artillery fire was most +severe during the day. Thirty-five projectiles fired by the +enemy at our works per hour was called "heavy firing," +although sometimes more than double that number were thrown.</p> + +<p>"In the order of their number the projectiles were from +smooth-bore guns, mortars, and rifled guns.</p> + +<p>"The James Island batteries were from two thousand to four +thousand yards from our works; Fort Sumter and Battery Gregg +were respectively about three thousand five hundred and two +thousand one hundred; Fort Wagner was from thirteen hundred +to one hundred yards.</p> + +<p>"The total number of casualties in the working parties and +the guard of the advanced trenches, (not including the main +guard of the trenches), during the siege, was about one +hundred and fifty. When it is considered that on an average +over two hundred men were constantly engaged in these +duties, being under fire for fifty days, the number of +casualties is astonishingly small.</p> + +<p>"The camp at which the fatigue parties were quartered and +fed were, in order to be beyond the reach of the enemy's +fires, two miles from the centre of the works; hence the +distance of four miles had to be marched each tour of duty, +which required nearly two hours, and added greatly to the +labor of the siege.</p> + +<p>"This siege has been conducted through the hottest part of +the season,—July, August and September,—yet the troops +have suffered but little from excess in heat, on account of +the large proportion of night work, and the almost continual +sea-breeze, which was always cool and refreshing.</p> + +<p>"The amount of sickness was great, the large amount of duty +being the probable cause. On the 7th of August the +percentage was the smallest observed during the siege, being +18.6. At this date the aggregate garrison of Morris Island +was 9,353, of which 1,741 were sick. On the 17th of August +22.9 per cent. of the whole garrison were on the sick list. +This was the most unhealthy period of the siege.</p> + +<p>"The average strength of the command on Morris Island during +the siege was, of all arms, 10,678 men, of which the average +percentage sick was 19.88. The number of black troops varied +from 1,127 to 1947.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Average percentage of sick in Artillery, 6.2; ditto, in +Engineers, 11.9; ditto, in Black Infantry, 13.9; ditto, in +White Infantry, (excluding one brigade), 20.1.</p> + +<p>"This brigade consisted of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania, +Twenty-fourth Massachusetts and Tenth Connecticut +Volunteers. It averaged thirty per cent sick. This was due +to the fact that these three regiments had been stationed, +before moving to Morris Island, on Seabrook Island, which +proved very unhealthy. The engineers and black infantry were +employed exclusively on fatigue duty. The white infantry +served as guard of the trenches, as well as for work in the +same.</p> + +<p>"Details from the troops on Folly Island took part in the +operations on Morris Island.</p> + +<p>"It was found by experience that men under these +circumstances could not work more than one-fourth the time. +A greater amount at once increased the sick list. Eight +hours in thirty-two, or eight hours on and twenty-four off, +was found to be the best arrangement, as it made a daily +change in the hours of duty for those regiments permanently +detailed for work.</p> + +<p>"The organization found most advantageous in working a +command permanently detailed for fatigue duty, was to divide +its effective force into four equal detachments, on duty +eight hours each, relieving each other at 4 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, 12 <span class="smcap">m.</span> and +8 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> The large number of extra troops employed in the +trenches each night were usually changed daily.</p> + +<p>"The engineer officers in charge of the works were divided +into corresponding groups, four in each, relieving each +other at 8 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, 4 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, and 12 midnight, four hours +different from the time of relieving the troops. This +difference enabled the engineer officers to carry the work +through the period of relieving the fatigue details.</p> + +<p>"One engineer officer, having from two to four different +kinds or jobs of work to superintend, was found to work +advantageously in the night, with the help of +non-commissioned officers of engineers, from one hundred to +two hundred men.</p> + +<p>"The working parties of engineers and black infantry seldom +carried their arms into the trenches, while the white +infantry fatigue parties usually did."</p></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Note</span>.—Boykin's Mill, a few miles from Camden, S. C, was +the scene of one of the bloodiest skirmishes that the 54th Regt. ever +participated in. We had literally fought every step of the way from +Georgetown to Camden, and the enemy made a last desperate stand at this +place. No better position could be found for a defense, as the only +approach to it, was by a narrow embankment about 200 yards long, where +only one could walk at a time. The planks of the bridge over the +mill-race were torn up, compelling the troops to cross on the timbers +and cross-ties, under a galling fire which swept the bridge and +embankment, rendering it a fearful 'way of death.' The heroes of Wagner +and Olustee did not shrink from the trial, but actually charged in +single file. The first to step upon the fatal path, went down like grass +before the scythe, but over their prostrate bodies came their comrades, +until the enemy, panic-stricken by such determined daring, abandoned +their position and fled.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.</h3> + + +<p>Important services were rendered by the Phalanx in the West. The +operations in Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, afforded an excellent +opportunity to the commanders of the Union forces to raise negro troops +in such portions of the territory as they held; but in consequence of +the bitterness against such action by the semi-Unionists and Copperheads +in the Department of the Ohio and Cumberland, it was not until the fall +of 1863 that the organizing of such troops in these Departments fairly +began. The Mississippi was well-nigh guarded by Phalanx regiments +enlisted along that river, numbering about fifty thousand men. They +garrisoned the fortifications, and occupied the captured towns. Later +on, however, when the confederate General Bragg began preparations for +the recovery of the Tennessee Valley, organization of the Phalanx +commenced in earnest, and proceeded with a rapidity that astounded even +those who were favorable to the policy. St. Louis became a depot and +Benton Barracks a recruiting station, from whence, in the fall of 1863, +went many a regiment of brave black men, whose chivalrous deeds will +ever live in the annals of the nation. It was not long after this time +that the noble Army of the Cumberland began to receive a portion of the +black troops, whose shouts rang through the mountain fastnesses. The +record made by the 60th Regiment is the boast of the State of Iowa, to +which it was accredited: but of those which went to the assistance of +General Thomas' army none won greater distinction and honor than the +gallant brigade commanded by Colonel T. J. Morgan, afterwards raised to +Brigadier-General. The gallant 14th Infantry was one of its regiments, +the field officers of which were Colonel, Thomas J. Morgan, who had been +promoted through various grades, from a 1st Lieutenancy in the 70th +Indiana Volunteer Infantry; Lieutenant-Colonel, H. C. Corbin, who had +risen from a 1st Lieutenancy of the 79th O. V. I., and Major N. J. Vail, +who had served as an enlisted man in the 19th Illinois Volunteers. All +the officers passed a rigid examination before the board of examiners +appointed by the War Department for that purpose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image39.jpg" width="500" height="657" alt="CHANGED CONDITIONS. + +The Confederate Generals Edward Johnson and G. H. Stewart, as prisoners, +under guard of Phalanx Soldiers, May 12th, 1864." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CHANGED CONDITIONS.<br /> + +The Confederate Generals Edward Johnson and G. H. Stewart, as prisoners, +under guard of Phalanx Soldiers, May 12th, 1864.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>General Morgan, by request furnishes the following highly interesting +and historical statement of his services with the Phalanx Brigade:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The American Civil War of 1861-5 marks an epoch not only in +the history of the United States, but in that of democracy, +and of civilization. Its issue has vitally affected the +course of human progress. To the student of history it ranks +along with the conquests of Alexander; the incursions of the +Barbarians; the Crusades; the discovery of America and the +American Revolution. It settled the question of our National +unity with all the consequences attaching thereto. It +exhibited in a very striking manner the power of a free +people to preserve their form of government against its most +dangerous foe, Civil War. It not only enfranchised four +millions of American slaves of African descent, but made +slavery forever impossible in the great Republic, and gave a +new impulse to the cause of human freedom. Its influence +upon American slaves was immediate and startlingly +revolutionary, lifting them from the condition of despised +chattels, bought and sold like sheep in the market, with no +rights which the white man was bound to respect,—to the +exalted plane of American citizenship; made them free men, +the peers in every civil and political right, of their late +masters. Within about a decade after the close of the war, +negroes, lately slaves, were legislators, state officers, +members of Congress, and for a brief time one presided over +the Senate of the United States, where only a few years +before, Toombs had boasted that he would yet call the roll +of his slaves in the shade of Bunker Hill.</p> + +<p>"To-day slavery finds no advocate, and the colored race in +America is making steady progress in all the elements of +civilization. The conduct of the American slave during, and +since the war, has wrought an extraordinary change in public +sentiment, regarding the capabilities of the race.</p> + +<p>"The manly qualities of the negro soldiers, evinced in camp, +on the march and in battle, won for them golden opinions, +made their freedom a necessity and their citizenship a +certainty.</p> + +<p>"Those of us who assisted in organizing, disciplining and +leading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> negro troops in battle, may, perhaps, be pardoned +for feeling a good degree of pride in our share of the +thrilling events of the great war.</p> + +<p>"When Sumter was fired upon, April, 1861, I was 21; a member +of the Senior Class in Franklin College, Indiana. I enlisted +in the 7th Indiana Volunteer infantry and served as a +private soldier for three months in West Virginia, under +Gen. McClellan,—'the young Napoleon,' as he was even then +known. I participated in the battle of Carricks Ford, where +Gen. Garnett was killed and his army defeated. In August, +1862, I re-enlisted as a First Lieutenant in the 70th +Indiana, (Col. Benjamin Harrison) and saw service in +Kentucky and Tennessee.</p> + +<p>"In January 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Proclamation of +Emancipation, and incorporated in it the policy of arming +the negro for special service in the Union army. Thus the +question was fairly up, and I entered into its discussion +with the deepest interest, as I saw that upon its settlement +hung great issues.</p> + +<p>"On the one hand the opponents of the policy maintained that +to make soldiers of the negroes would be to put them on the +same level with white soldiers, and so be an insult to every +man who wore the blue. It was contended, too, that the negro +was not fit for a soldier because he belonged to a degraded, +inferior race, wanting in soldierly qualities; that his long +bondage had crushed out whatever of manliness he might +naturally possess; that he was too grossly ignorant to +perform, intelligently, the duties of the soldier; that his +provocation had been so great as a slave, that when once +armed, and conscious of his power as a soldier, he would +abuse it by acts of revenge and wanton cruelty.</p> + +<p>"It was urged, on the other hand, that in its fearful +struggle for existence, the Republic needed the help of the +able-bodied negroes; that with their natural instincts of +self-preservation, desire for liberty, habit of obedience, +power of imitation, love of pomp and parade, acquaintance +with the southern country and adaptation to its climate, +they had elements which peculiarly fitted them for soldiers. +It was further urged that the negro had more at stake than +the white man, and that he should have a chance to strike a +blow for himself. It was particularly insisted upon that he +needed just the opportunity which army service afforded to +develop and exhibit whatever of manliness he possessed. As +the war progressed, and each great battle-field was piled +with heaps of the killed and wounded of our best citizens, +men looked at each other seriously, and asked if a black man +would not stop a bullet as well as a white man? Miles +O'Reilly at length voiced a popular sentiment when he said,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"'The right to be killed I'll divide with the nayger,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And give him the largest half.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"With the strong conviction that the negro was a man worthy +of freedom, and possessed of all the essential qualities of +a good soldier, I early advocated the organization of +colored regiments,—not for fatigue or garrison duty, but +for field service.</p> + +<p>"In October, 1863, having applied for a position as an +officer in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> colored service, I was ordered before the +Board of Examiners at Nashville, Tennessee, where I spent +five rather anxious hours. When I entered the army I knew +absolutely nothing of the details of army life; had never +even drilled with a fire company. During the first three +months I gathered little except a somewhat rough +miscellaneous experience. As a lieutenant and staff officer +I learned something, but as I had never had at any time +systematic instruction from any one, I appeared before the +Board with little else than vigorous health, a college +education, a little experience as a soldier, a good +reputation as an officer, a fair amount of common sense and +a good supply of zeal. The Board averaged me, and +recommended me for a Major.</p> + +<p>"A few days after the examination, I received an order to +report to Major George L. Stearns, who had charge of the +organization of colored troops in that Department. He +assigned me to duty temporarily in a camp in Nashville. +Major Stearns was a merchant in Boston, who had been for +years an ardent abolitionist, and who, among other good +deeds, had befriended John Brown. He was a large-hearted, +broad-minded genial gentleman. When the policy of organizing +colored troops was adopted, he offered his services to the +Government, received an appointment as Assistant Adjutant +General, and was ordered to Nashville to organize colored +regiments. He acted directly under the Secretary of War, and +independently of the Department Commander. To his zeal, good +judgment and efficient labor, was due, very largely, the +success of the work in the West.</p> + +<p>"November 1st, 1863, by order of Major Stearns, I went to +Gallatin, Tennessee, to organize the 14th United States +Colored Infantry. General E. A. Paine was then in command of +the post at Gallatin, having under him a small detachment of +white troops. There were at that time several hundred negro +men in camp, in charge of, I think, a lieutenant. They were +a motley crowd,—old, young, middle aged. Some wore the +United States uniform, but most of them had on the clothes +in which they had left the plantations, or had worn during +periods of hard service as laborers in the army. Gallatin at +that time was threatened with an attack by the guerilla +bands then prowling over that part of the State. General +Paine had issued a hundred old muskets and rifles to the +negroes in camp. They had not passed a medical examination, +had no company organization and had had no drill. Almost +immediately upon my arrival, as an attack was imminent, I +was ordered to distribute another hundred muskets, and to +'prepare every available man for fight.' I did the best I +could under the circumstances, but am free to say that I +regard it as a fortunate circumstance that we had no +fighting to do at that time. But the men raw, and, untutored +as they were, did guard and picket duty, went foraging, +guarded wagon trains, scouted after guerillas, and so +learned to soldier—by soldiering.</p> + +<p>"As soon and as fast as practicable, I set about organizing +the regiment. I was a complete novice in that kind of work, +and all the young officers who reported to me for duty, had +been promoted from the ranks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> and were without experience, +except as soldiers. The colored men knew nothing of the +duties of a soldier, except a little they had picked up as +camp-followers.</p> + +<p>"Fortunately there was one man, Mr. A. H. Dunlap, who had +had some clerical experience with Col. Birney, in Baltimore, +in organizing the 3rd U.S. Colored Infantry. He was an +intelligent, methodical gentleman, and rendered me +invaluable service. I had no Quartermaster; no Surgeon; no +Adjutant. We had no tents, and the men were sheltered in an +old filthy tobacco warehouse, where they fiddled, danced, +sang, swore or prayed, according to their mood.</p> + +<p>"How to meet the daily demands made upon us for military +duty, and at the same time to evoke order out of this chaos, +was no easy problem. The first thing to be done was to +examine the men. A room was prepared, and I and my clerk +took our stations at a table. One by one the recruits came +before us <i>a la Eden, sans</i> the fig leaves, and were +subjected to a careful medical examination, those who were +in any way physically disqualified being rejected. Many bore +the wounds and bruises of the slave-driver's lash, and many +were unfit for duty by reason of some form of disease to +which human flesh is heir. In the course of a few weeks, +however, we had a thousand able-bodied, stalwart men.</p> + +<p>"I was quite as solicitous about their mental condition as +about their physical status, so I plied them with questions +as to their history, their experience with the army, their +motives for becoming soldiers, their ideas of army life, +their hopes for the future, &c., &c. I found that a +considerable number of them had been teamsters, cooks, +officers' servants, &c., and had thus seen a good deal of +hard service in both armies, in camp, on the march and in +battle, and so knew pretty well what to expect. In this +respect they had the advantage of most raw recruits from the +North, who were wholly 'unused to wars' alarms.' Some of +them had very noble ideas of manliness. I remember picturing +to one bright-eyed fellow some of the hardships of camp life +and campaigning, and receiving from him the cheerful reply, +'I know all about that.' I then said, 'you may be killed in +battle.' He instantly answered, 'many a better man than me +has been killed in this war.' When I told another one who +wanted to 'fight for freedom,' that he might lose his life, +he replied, 'but my people will be free.'</p> + +<p>"The result of this careful examination convinced me that +these men, though black in skin, had men's hearts, and only +needed right handling to develope into magnificent soldiers. +Among them were the same varieties of physique, temperament, +mental and moral endowments and experiences, as would be +found among the same number of white men. Some of them were +finely formed and powerful; some were almost white; a large +number had in their veins white blood of the F. F. V. +quality; some were men of intelligence, and many of them +deeply religious.</p> + +<p>"Acting upon my clerk's suggestion, I assigned them to +companies according to their height, putting men of nearly +the same height together. When the regiment was full, the +four center companies were all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> composed of tall men, the +flanking companies of men of medium height, while the little +men were sandwiched between. The effect was excellent in +every way, and made the regiment quite unique. It was not +uncommon to have strangers who saw it parade for the first +time, declare that the men were all of one size.</p> + +<p>"In six weeks three companies were filled, uniformed, armed, +and had been taught many soldierly ways. They had been +drilled in the facings, in the manual of arms, and in some +company movements.</p> + +<p>"November 20th, Gen. G. H. Thomas commanding the Department +of the Cumberland, ordered six companies to Bridgeport, +Alabama, under command of Major H. C. Corbin. I was left at +Gallatin to complete the organization of the other four +companies. When the six companies were full, I was mustered +in as Lieutenant-Colonel. The complete organization of the +regiment occupied about two months, being finished by Jan. +1st, 1864. The field, staff and company officers were all +white men. All the non-commissioned officers,—Hospital +Steward, Quartermaster, Sergeant, Sergeant-Major, Orderlies, +Sergeants and Corporals were colored. They proved very +efficient, and had the war continued two years longer, many +of them would have been competent as commissioned officers.</p> + +<p>"When General Paine left Gallatin, I was senior officer and +had command of the post and garrison, which included a few +white soldiers besides my own troops. Colored soldiers acted +as pickets, and no citizen was allowed to pass our lines +either into the village or out, without a proper permit. +Those presenting themselves without a pass were sent to +headquarters under guard. Thus many proud Southern +slave-holders found themselves marched through the street, +guarded by those who three months before had been slaves. +The negroes often laughed over these changed relations as +they sat around their camp fires, or chatted together while +off duty, but it was very rare that any Southerner had +reason to complain of any unkind or uncivil treatment from a +colored soldier.</p> + +<p>"About the first of January occurred a few days of extreme +cold weather, which tried the men sorely. One morning after +one of the most severe nights, the officers coming in from +picket, marched the men to headquarters, and called +attention to their condition: their feet were frosted and +their hands frozen. In some instances the skin on their +fingers had broken from the effects of the cold, and it was +sad to see their sufferings. Some of them never recovered +from the effects of that night, yet they bore it patiently +and uncomplainingly.</p> + +<p>"An incident occurred while I was still an officer in a +white regiment, that illustrates the curious transition +through which the negroes were passing. I had charge of a +company detailed to guard a wagon train out foraging. Early +one morning, just as we were about to resume our march, a +Kentucky lieutenant rode up to me, saluted, and said he had +some runaway negroes whom he had arrested to send back to +their masters, but as he was ordered away, he would turn +them over to me. At<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> that time a reward could be claimed for +returning fugitive slaves. I took charge of them, and +assuming a stern look and manner, enquired, 'Where are you +going?' 'Going to the Yankee army.' 'What for?' 'We wants to +be free, sir.' 'All right, you are free, go where you wish.' +The satisfaction that came to me from their heartfelt +'thank'ee, thank'ee sir,' gave me some faint insight into +the sublime joy that the great emancipator must have felt +when he penned the immortal proclamation that set free four +millions of human beings.</p> + +<p>"These men afterward enlisted in my regiment, and did good +service. One day, as we were on the march, they—through +their lieutenant—reminded me of the circumstance, which +they seemed to remember with lively gratitude.</p> + +<p>"The six companies at Bridgeport were kept very busily at +work, and had but little opportunity for drill. +Notwithstanding these difficulties, however, considerable +progress was made in both drill and discipline. I made +earnest efforts to get the regiment united and relieved from +so much labor, in order that they might be prepared for +efficient field service as soldiers.</p> + +<p>"In January I had a personal interview with General Thomas, +and secured an order uniting the regiment at Chattanooga. We +entered camp there under the shadow of Lookout Mountain, and +in full view of Mission Ridge, in February, 1864. During the +same month Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas, from Washington, +then on a tour of inspection, visited my regiment, and +authorized me to substitute the eagle for the silver leaf.</p> + +<p>"Chattanooga was at that time the headquarters of the Army +of the Cumberland. Gen Thomas and staff, and a considerable +part of the army were there. Our camp was laid out with +great regularity; our quarters were substantial, comfortable +and well kept. The regiment numbered a thousand men, with a +full compliment of field, staff, line and non-commissioned +officers. We had a good drum corps, and a band provided with +a set of expensive silver instruments. We were also fully +equipped; the men were armed with rifled muskets, and well +clothed. They were well drilled in the manual of arms, and +took great pride in appearing on parade with arms burnished, +belts polished, shoes blacked, clothes brushed, in full +regulation uniform, including white gloves. On every +pleasant day our parades were witnessed by officers, +soldiers and citizens from the North, and it was not +uncommon to have two thousand spectators. Some came to make +sport, some from curiosity, some because it was the fashion, +and others from a genuine desire to see for themselves what +sort of looking soldiers negroes would make.</p> + +<p>"At the time that the work of organizing colored troops +began in the West, there was a great deal of bitter +prejudice against the movement, and white troops threatened +to desert, if the plan should be really carried out. Those +who entered the service were stigmatized as 'nigger +officers,' and negro soldiers were hooted at and mal-treated +by white ones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Apropos of the prejudice against so called nigger officers, +I may mention the following incident: While an officer in +the 70th Indiana, I had met, and formed a passing +acquaintance with Lieut.-Colonel ——, of the —— Ohio +Regiment. On New Years Day, 1864, I chanced to meet him at a +social gathering at General Ward's headquarters in +Nashville. I spoke to him as usual, at the same time +offering my hand, which apparently he did not see. Receiving +only a cool bow from him, I at once turned away. As I did so +he remarked to those standing near him that he 'did not +recognize these nigger officers.' In some way, I do not know +how, a report of the occurrence came to the ears of Lorenzo +Thomas, the Adjutant-General of the Army, then in Nashville, +who investigated the case, and promptly dismissed Colonel +—— from the United States service.</p> + +<p>"Very few West Point officers had any faith in the success +of the enterprise, and most Northern people perhaps, +regarded it as at best a dubious experiment. A college +classmate of mine, a young man of intelligence and earnestly +loyal, although a Kentuckian, and a slave-holder, plead with +me to abandon my plan of entering this service, saying, 'I +shudder to think of the remorse you may suffer, from deeds +done by barbarians under your command.'</p> + +<p>"General George H. Thomas, though a Southerner, and a West +Point graduate, was a singularly fair-minded, candid man. He +asked me one day soon after my regiment was organized, if I +thought my men would fight. I replied that they would. He +said he thought 'they might behind breastworks.' I said they +would fight in the open field. He thought not. 'Give me a +chance General,' I replied, 'and I will prove it.'</p> + +<p>"Our evening parades converted thousands to a belief in +colored troops. It was almost a daily experience to hear the +remark from visitors, 'Men who can handle their arms as +these do, will fight.' General Thomas paid the regiment the +compliment of saying that he 'never saw a regiment go +through the manual as well as this one.' We remained in +'Camp Whipple' from February, 1864, till August, 1865, a +period of eighteen months, and during a large part of that +time the regiment was an object lesson to the army, and +helped to revolutionize public opinion on the subject of +colored soldiers.</p> + +<p>"My Lieutenant-Colonel and I rode over one evening to call +on General Joe Hooker, commanding the 20th Army Corps. He +occupied a small log hut in the Wauhatchie Valley, near +Lookout Mountain and not far from the Tennessee river. He +received us with great courtesy, and when he learned that we +were officers in a colored regiment, congratulated us on our +good fortune, saying that he 'believed they would make the +best troops in the world.' He predicted that after the +rebellion was subdued, it would be necessary for the United +States to send an army into Mexico. This army would be +composed largely of colored men, and those of us now holding +high command, would have a chance to win great renown. He +lamented that he had made a great mistake in not accepting a +military command, and going to Nicaragua with General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +Walker. 'Why,' said he, 'young gentlemen, I might have +founded an empire.'</p> + +<p>"While at Chattanooga, I organized two other regiments, the +42nd and the 44th United States Colored Infantry. In +addition to the ordinary instruction in the duties required +of the soldier, we established in every company a regular +school, teaching men to read and write, and taking great +pains to cultivate in them self-respect and all manly +qualities. Our success in this respect was ample +compensation for our labor. The men who went on picket or +guard duty, took their books as quite as indispensable as +their coffee pots.</p> + +<p>"It must not be supposed that we had only plain sailing. +Soon after reaching Chattanooga, heavy details began to be +made upon us for men to work upon the fortifications then in +process of construction around the town. This almost +incessant labor, interfered sadly with our drill, and at one +time all drill was suspended, by orders from headquarters. +There seemed little prospect of our being ordered to the +field, and as time wore on and arrangements began in earnest +for the new campaign against Atlanta, we grew impatient for +work, and anxious for opportunity for drill and preparations +for field service.</p> + +<p>"I used every means to bring about a change, for I believed +that the ultimate status of the negro was to be determined +by his conduct on the battle-field. No one doubted that he +would work, while many did doubt that he had courage to +stand up and fight like a man. If he could take his place +side by side with the white soldier; endure the same +hardships on the campaign, face the same enemy, storm the +same works, resist the same assaults, evince the same +soldierly qualities, he would compel that respect which the +world has always accorded to heroism, and win for himself +the same laurels which brave soldiers have always won.</p> + +<p>"Personally, I shrink from danger, and most decidedly prefer +a safe corner at my own fireside, to an exposed place in the +face of an enemy on the battle-field, but so strongly was I +impressed with the importance of giving colored troops a +fair field and full opportunity to show of what mettle they +were made, that I lost no chance of insisting upon our right +to be ordered into the field. At one time I was threatened +with dismissal from the service for my persistency, but that +did not deter me, for though I had no yearning for +martyrdom, I was determined if possible to put my regiment +into battle, at whatever cost to myself. As I look back upon +the matter after twenty-one years, I see no reason to regret +my action, unless it be that I was not even more persistent +in claiming for these men the rights of soldiers.</p> + +<p>"I was grievously disappointed when the first of May, 1864, +came, and the army was to start south, leaving us behind to +hold the forts we had helped to build.</p> + +<p>"I asked General Thomas to allow <i>me</i>, at least, to go +along. He readily consented, and directed me to report to +General O. O. Howard, commanding the 4th Army Corps, as +Volunteer Aide. I did so, and remained with him thirty days, +participating in the battles of Buzzard's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> Roost, Resaca, +Adairsville and Dallas. At the end of that time, having +gained invaluable experience, and feeling that my place was +with my regiment, I returned to Chattanooga, determined to +again make every possible effort to get it into active +service.</p> + +<p>"A few days after I had taken my place on General Howard's +staff, an incident occurred showing how narrowly one may +escape death. General Stanley and a staff officer and +General Howard and myself were making a little +reconnoissance at Buzzards Roost. We stopped to observe the +movements of the enemy, Stanley standing on the right, +Howard next on his left, and I next. The fourth officer, +Captain Flint, stood immediately in the rear of General +Howard. A sharpshooter paid us a compliment in the shape of +a rifle ball, which struck the ground in front of General +Howard, ricocheted, passed through the skirt of his coat, +through Captain Flint's cap, and buried itself in a tree +behind.</p> + +<p>"At Adairsville a group of about a dozen mounted officers +were in an open field, when the enemy exploded a shell just +in front and over us, wounding two officers and five horses. +A piece of the shell passed through the right fore leg of my +horse, a kind, docile, fearless animal, that I was greatly +attached to. I lost a friend and faithful servant.</p> + +<p>"On asking leave to return to my command, I was delighted to +receive from General Howard the following note:</p> + +<p>"'HEADQUARTERS 4TH ARMY CORPS,</p> + +<p>"'<span class="smcap">On Ackworth and Dallas Road, 8 Miles From Dallas, Ga.</span>, May +31st 1864.</p> + +<p>"'<span class="smcap">Colonel</span>:—This is to express my thanks for your services +upon my staff during the past month, since starting upon +this campaign. You have given me always full satisfaction, +and more, by your assiduous devotion to duty.</p> + +<p>"'You have been active and untiring on the march, and +fearless in battle. Believe me,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Your friend, O. O. HOWARD.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"'<i>Major-General Commanding 4th Army Corps.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"'To Col. T.J. Morgan, <i>Commanding 14th U. S. C. I.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"General James B. Steadman, who won such imperishable renown +at Chickamauga, was then in command of the District of +Etowah, with headquarters at Chattanooga. I laid my case +before him; he listened with interest to my plea, and +assured me that if there was any fighting to be done in his +district, we should have a hand in it.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dalton, Ga.</span>—August 15th, 1864, we had our first fight, at +Dalton, Georgia. General Wheeler, with a considerable force +of confederate cavalry, attacked Dalton, which was occupied +by a small detachment of Union troops belonging to the 2nd +Missouri, under command of Colonel Laibold. General Steadman +went to Laibold's aid, and forming line of battle, attacked +and routed the Southern force. My regiment formed on the +left of the 51st Indiana Infantry, under command of Col. A. +D. Streight. The fight was short, and not at all severe. The +regiment was all exposed to fire. One private was killed, +one lost a leg, and one was wounded in the right hand. +Company B, on the skirmish line killed five of the enemy, +and wounded others. To us it was a great battle, and a +glorious victory. The regiment had been recognized as +soldiers; it had taken its place side by side with a white +regiment; it had been under fire. The men had behaved +gallantly. A colored soldier had died for liberty. Others +had shed their blood in the great cause. Two or three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +incidents will indicate the significance of the day. Just +before going into the fight, Lieutenant Keinborts said to +his men: 'Boys, some of you may be killed, but remember you +are fighting for liberty.' Henry Prince replied, 'I am ready +to die for liberty.' In fifteen minutes he lay dead,—a +rifle ball through his heart,—a willing martyr.</p> + +<p>"During the engagement General Steadman asked his Aide, +Captain Davis, to look especially after the 14th colored. +Captain Davis rode up just as I was quietly rectifying my +line, which in a charge had been disarranged. Putting spurs +to his horse, he dashed back to the General and reassured +him by reporting that 'the regiment was holding dress parade +over there under fire.' After the fight, as we marched into +town through a pouring rain, a white regiment standing at +rest, swung their hats and gave three rousing cheers for the +14th Colored. Col. Streight's command was so pleased with +the gallantry of our men that many of its members on being +asked, 'What regiment?' frequently replied, '51st Colored.'</p> + +<p>"During the month of August we had some very hard marching, +in a vain effort to have another brush with Wheeler's +cavalry.</p> + +<p>"The corn in East Tennessee was in good plight for roasting, +and our men showed great facility in cooking, and marvelous +capacity in devouring it. Ten large ears were not too much +for many of them. On resuming our march one day, after the +noon halt, one of the soldiers said he was unable to walk, +and asked permission to ride in an ambulance. His comrades +declared that, having already eaten twelve ears of corn, and +finding himself unable to finish the thirteenth, he +concluded that he must be sick, and unfit for duty.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Pulaski, Tenn.</span>—September 27th, 1864, I reported to +Major-General Rousseau, commanding a force of cavalry at +Pulaski, Tenn. As we approached the town by rail from +Nashville, we heard artillery, then musketry, and as we left +the cars we saw the smoke of guns. Forest, with a large body +of cavalry, had been steadily driving Rousseau before him +all day, and was destroying the railroad. Finding the +General, I said: 'I am ordered to report to you, sir.' 'What +have you?' 'Two regiments of colored troops.' Rousseau was a +Kentuckian, and had not much faith in negro soldiers. By his +direction I threw out a strong line of skirmishers, and +posted the regiments on a ridge, in good supporting +distance. Rousseau's men retired behind my line, and +Forest's men pressed forward until they met our fire, and +recognizing the sound of the minie ball, stopped to reflect.</p> + +<p>"The massacre of colored troops at Fort Pillow was well +known to us, and had been fully discussed by our men. It was +rumored, and thoroughly credited by them, that General +Forest had offered a thousand dollars for the head of any +commander of a 'nigger regiment.' Here, then, was just such +an opportunity as those spoiling for a fight might desire. +Negro troops stood face to face with Forest's veteran +cavalry. The fire was growing hotter, and balls were +uncomfortably thick. At length, the enemy in strong force, +with banners flying, bore down toward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> us in full sight, +apparently bent on mischief. Pointing to the advancing +column, I said, as I passed along the line, 'Boys, it looks +very much like fight; keep cool, do your duty.' They seemed +full of glee, and replied with great enthusiasm: 'Colonel, +dey can't whip us, dey nebber get de ole 14th out of heah, +nebber.' 'Nebber, drives us away widout a mighty lot of dead +men,' &c., &c.</p> + +<p>"When Forest learned that Rousseau was re-enforced by +infantry, he did not stop to ask the color of the skin, but +after testing our line, and finding it unyielding, turned to +the east, and struck over toward Murfreesboro.</p> + +<p>"An incident occurred here, illustrating the humor of the +colored soldier. A spent ball struck one of the men on the +side of the head, passed under the scalp, and making nearly +a circuit of the skull, came out on the other side. His +comrades merrily declared that when the ball struck him, it +sang out 'too thick' and passed on.</p> + +<p>"As I was walking with my adjutant down toward the picket +line, a ball struck the ground immediately in front of us, +about four feet away, but it was so far spent as to be +harmless. We picked it up and carried it along.</p> + +<p>"Our casualties consisted of a few men slightly wounded. We +had not had a battle, but it was for us a victory, for our +troops had stood face to face with a triumphant force of +Southern cavalry, and stopped their progress. They saw that +they had done what Rousseau's veterans could not do. Having +traveled 462 miles, we returned to Chattanooga, feeling that +we had gained valuable experience, and we eagerly awaited +the next opportunity for battle, which was not long delayed.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Decatur, Ala.</span>—Our next active service was at Decatur, +Alabama. Hood, with his veteran army that had fought Sherman +so gallantly from Chattanooga to Atlanta, finding that his +great antagonest had started southward and seaward, struck +out boldly himself for Nashville. Oct. 27th I reported to +General R. S. Granger, commanding at Decatur. His little +force was closely besieged by Hood's army, whose right +rested on the Tennessee river below the town, and whose left +extended far beyond our lines, on the other side of the +town. Two companies of my regiment were stationed on the +opposite side of the river from Hood's right, and kept up an +annoying musketry fire. Lieutenant Gillett, of Company G, +was mortally wounded by a cannon ball, and some of the +enlisted men were hurt. One private soldier in Company B, +who had taken position in a tree as sharpshooter, had his +right arm broken by a ball. Captain Romeyn said to him, 'You +would better come down from there, go to the rear, and find +the surgeon.' 'Oh no, Captain!' he replied, 'I can fire with +my left arm,' and so he did.</p> + +<p>"Another soldier of Company B, was walking along the road, +when hearing an approaching cannon ball, he dropped flat +upon the ground, and was almost instantly well nigh covered +with the dirt plowed up by it, as it struck the ground near +by. Captain Romeyn, who witnessed the incident, and who was +greatly amused by the fellow's trepidation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> asked him if he +was frightened? His reply was, 'Fore God, Captain, I thought +I was a dead man, sure!'</p> + +<p>"Friday, Oct. 28th, 1864, at twelve o'clock, at the head of +355 men, in obedience to orders from General Granger, I +charged and took a battery, with a loss of sixty officers +and men killed and wounded. After capturing the battery, and +spiking the guns, which we were unable to remove, we retired +to our former place in the line of defense. The conduct of +the men on this occasion was most admirable, and drew forth +high praise from Generals Granger and Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Hood, having decided to push on to Nashville without +assaulting Decatur, withdrew. As soon as I missed his troops +from my front, I notified the General commanding, and was +ordered to pursue, with the view of finding where he was. +About ten o'clock the next morning, my skirmishers came up +with his rear guard, which opened upon us a brisk infantry +fire. Lieutenant Woodworth, standing at my side, fell dead, +pierced through the face. General Granger ordered me to +retire inside of the works, and the regiment, although +exposed to a sharp fire, came off in splendid order. As we +marched inside the works, the white soldiers, who had +watched the manœuvre, gave us three rousing cheers. I +have heard the Pope's famous choir at St. Peters, and the +great organ at Freibourg, but the music was not so sweet as +the hearty plaudits of our brave comrades.</p> + +<p>"As indicating the change in public sentiment relative to +colored soldiers, it may be mentioned that the +Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 68th Indiana Volunteer +Infantry, requested me as a personal favor to ask for the +assignment of his regiment to my command, giving as a reason +that his men would rather fight along side of the 14th +Colored than with any white regiment. He was ordered to +report to me.</p> + +<p>"After Hood had gone, and after our journey of 244 miles, we +returned to Chattanooga, but not to remain.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Nashville, Tenn.</span>—November 29, 1864, in command of the +14th, 16th and 44th Regiments U. S. C. I., I embarked on a +railroad train at Chattanooga for Nashville. On December +1st, with the 16th and most of the 14th, I reached my +destination, and was assigned to a place on the extreme left +of General Thomas' army then concentrating for the defence +of Nashville against Hood's threatened attack.</p> + +<p>"The train that contained the 44th colored regiment, and two +companies of the 14th, under command of Colonel Johnson, was +delayed near Murfreesboro until Dec. 2nd, when it started +for Nashville. But when crossing a bridge not far from the +city, its progress was suddenly checked by a cross-fire of +cannon belonging to Forest's command. I had become very +anxious over the delay in the arrival of these troops, and +when I heard the roar of cannon thought it must be aimed at +them. I never shall forget the intensity of my suffering, as +hour after hour passed by bringing me no tidings. Were they +all captured? Had they been massacred? Who could answer? No +one. What was to be done? Nothing. I could only wait and +suffer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The next day Colonel Johnson reached Nashville, reporting +that when stopped, he and his men were forced, under heavy +fire, to abandon the train, clamber down from the bridge, +and run to a blockhouse near by, which had been erected for +the defence of the bridge, and was still in possession of +the Union soldiers. After maintaining a stubborn fight until +far into the night, he withdrew his troops, and making a +detour to the east came into our lines, having lost in +killed, wounded and missing, two officers and eighty men of +the 44th, and twenty-five men of the 14th.</p> + +<p>"Just as Captain C. W. Baker, the senior officer of the +14th, was leaving the car, a piece of shell carried off the +top of his cap, thus adding immensely to its value—as a +souvenir. Some of the soldiers who escaped lost everything +except the clothes they had on, including knapsacks, +blankets and arms. In some cases they lay in the water +hiding for hours, until they could escape their pursuers.</p> + +<p>"Soon after taking our position in line at Nashville, we +were closely besieged by Hood's army; and thus we lay facing +each other for two weeks. Hood had suffered so terribly by +his defeat under Schofield, at Franklin, that he was in no +mood to assault us in our works, and Thomas needed more time +to concentrate and reorganize his army, before he could +safely take the offensive. That fortnight interval was +memorable indeed. Hood's army was desperate. It had been +thwarted by Sherman, and thus far baffled by Thomas, and +Hood felt that he must strike a bold blow to compensate for +the dreadful loss of prestige occasioned by Sherman's march +to the sea. His men were scantily clothed and poorly fed; if +he could gain Nashville, our great depot of supplies, he +could furnish his troops with abundance of food, clothing +and war material; encourage the confederacy, terrify the +people of the North, regain a vast territory taken from the +South at such great cost to us, recruit his army from +Kentucky, and perhaps invade the North.</p> + +<p>"Thomas well knew the gravity of the situation, and was +unwilling to hazard all by a premature battle. I think that +neither he nor any of his army ever doubted the issue of the +battle when it should come, whichever force should take the +initiative.</p> + +<p>"The authorities at Washington grew restive, and the people +at the North nervous. Thomas was ordered to fight, Logan was +dispatched to relieve him if he did not, and Grant himself +started West to take command. Thomas was too good a soldier +to be forced to offer battle, until he was sure of victory. +He knew that time was his best ally, every day adding to his +strength and weakening his enemy. In the meantime the +weather became intensely cold, and a heavy sleet covered the +ground, rendering it almost impossible for either army to +move at all. For a few days our sufferings were quite +severe. We had only shelter tents for the men, with very +little fuel, and many of those who had lost their blankets +keenly felt their need.</p> + +<p>"On December 5th, before the storm, by order of General +Steadman, I made a little reconnoissance, capturing, with +slight loss, Lieutenant Gardner and six men, from the 5th +Mississippi Regiment. December 7th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> we made another, in +which Colonel Johnson and three or four men were wounded. On +one of these occasions, while my men were advancing in face +of a sharp fire, a rabbit started up in front of them. With +shouts of laughter, several of them gave chase, showing that +even battle could not obliterate the negro's love of sport.</p> + +<p>"But the great day drew near. The weather grew warmer; the +ice gave way. Thomas was ready, and calling together his +chiefs, laid before them his plan of battle.</p> + +<p>"About nine o'clock at night December 14th, 1864, I was +summoned to General Steadman's headquarters. He told me what +the plan of battle was, and said he wished me to open the +fight by making a vigorous assault upon Hood's right flank. +This, he explained, was to be a feint, intended to betray +Hood into the belief that it was the real attack, and to +lead him to support his right by weakening his left, where +Thomas intended assaulting him in very deed. The General +gave me the 14th United States Colored Infantry, under +Colonel H. C. Corbin; the 17th U. S. C. I., under the +gallant Colonel W. R. Shafter; a detachment of the 18th U. +S. C. I., under Major L. D. Joy; the 44th U. S. C. I., under +Colonel L. Johnson; a provisional brigade of white troops +under Colonel C. H. Grosvenor, and a section of Artillery, +under Captain Osburn, of the 20th Indiana Battery.</p> + +<p>"The largest force I had ever handled was two regiments, and +as I rather wanted to open the battle in proper style, I +asked General Steadman what suggestion he had to make. He +replied: 'Colonel, to-morrow morning at daylight I want you +to open the battle.' 'All right, General, do you not think +it would be a good plan for me to—', and I outlined a +little plan of attack. With a twinkle in his kindly eye, he +replied: 'To-morrow morning, Colonel, just as soon as you +can see how to put your troops in motion, I wish you to +begin the fight.' 'All right, General, good night.' With +these explicit instructions, I left his headquarters, +returned to camp, and gave the requisite orders for the +soldiers to have an early breakfast, and be ready for +serious work at daybreak. Then taking Adjutant Clelland I +reconnoitered the enemy's position, tracing the line of his +camp fires, and decided on my plan of assault.</p> + +<p>"The morning dawned with a dense fog, which held us in check +for some time after we were ready to march. During our stay +in Nashville, I was the guest of Major W. B. Lewis, through +whose yard ran our line. He had been a warm personal friend +of Andrew Jackson, occupying a place in the Treasury +Department during his administration. He gave me the room +formerly occupied by the hero of New Orleans, and +entertained me with many anecdotes of him. I remember in +particular one which I especially appreciated, because of +the scarcity of fuel in our own camp. At one time General +Jackson ordered certain troops to rendezvous for a few days +at Nashville. Major Lewis, acting as Quartermaster, laid in +a supply of several hundred cords of wood, which he supposed +would be ample to last during their entire stay in the city. +The troops arrived on a 'raw and gusty day,' and being +accustomed to comfortable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> fires at home, they burned up +every stick the first night, to the quartermaster's great +consternation.</p> + +<p>"To return: On the morning of December 15th, Major Lewis +said he would have a servant bring me my breakfast, which +was not ready, however, when I started. The boy, with an eye +to safety, followed me afar off, so far that he only reached +me, I think, about two o'clock in the afternoon. But I +really believe the delay, improved the flavor of the +breakfast.</p> + +<p>"As soon as the fog lifted, the battle began in good +earnest. Hood mistook my assault for an attack in force upon +his right flank, and weakening his left in order to meet it, +gave the coveted opportunity to Thomas, who improved it by +assailing Hood's left flank, doubling it up, and capturing a +large number of prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Thus the first day's fight wore away. It had been for us a +severe but glorious day. Over three hundred of my command +had fallen, but everywhere our army was successful. Victory +perched upon our banners. Hood had stubbornly resisted, but +had been gallantly driven back with severe loss. The left +had done its duty. General Steadman congratulated us, saying +his only fear had been that we might fight too hard. We had +done all he desired, and more. Colored soldiers had again +fought side by side with white troops; they had mingled +together in the charge; they had supported each other; they +had assisted each other from the field when wounded, and +they lay side by side in death. The survivors rejoiced +together over a hard fought field, won by a common valor. +All who witnessed their conduct, gave them equal praise. The +day that we had longed to see had come and gone, and the sun +went down upon a record of coolness, bravery, manliness, +never to be unmade. A new chapter in the history of liberty +had been written. It had been shown that, marching under a +flag of freedom, animated by a love of liberty, even the +slave becomes a man and a hero.</p> + +<p>"At one time during the day, while the battle was in +progress, I sat in an exposed place on a piece of ground +sloping down toward the enemy, and being the only horseman +on that part of the field, soon became a target for the +balls that whistled and sang their threatening songs as they +hurried by. At length a shot aimed at me struck my horse in +the face, just above the nostril, and passing up under the +skin emerged near the eye, doing the horse only temporary +harm, and letting me off scot-free, much to my satisfaction, +as may be supposed. Captain Baker, lying on the ground near +by, heard the thud of the ball as it struck the horse, and +seeing me suddenly dismount, cried out, 'the Colonel is +shot,' and sprang to my side, glad enough to find that the +poor horse's face had been a shield to save my life. I was +sorry that the animal could not appreciate the gratitude I +felt to it for my deliverance.</p> + +<p>"During that night Hood withdrew his army some two miles, +and took up a new line along the crest of some low hills, +which he strongly fortified with some improvised breast +works and abatis. Soon after our early breakfast, we moved +forward over the intervening space. My position<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> was still +on the extreme left of our line, and I was especially +charged to look well to our flank, to avoid surprise.</p> + +<p>"The 2nd Colored Brigade, under Colonel Thompson, of the +12th U. S. C. I., was on my right, and participated in the +first days' charge upon Overton's Hill, which was repulsed. +I stood where the whole movement was in full view. It was a +grand and terrible sight to see those men climb that hill +over rocks and fallen trees, in the face of a murderous fire +of cannon and musketry, only to be driven back. White and +black mingled together in the charge, and on the retreat.</p> + +<p>"When the 2nd Colored Brigade retired behind my lines to +re-form, one of the regimental color-bearers stopped in the +open space between the two armies, where, although exposed +to a dangerous fire, he planted his flag firmly in the +ground, and began deliberately and coolly to return the +enemy's fire, and, greatly to our amusement, kept up for +some little time his independent warfare.</p> + +<p>"When the second and final assault was made, the right of my +line took part. It was with breathless interest I watched +that noble army climb the hill with a steady resolve which +nothing but death itself could check. When at length the +assaulting column sprang upon the earthworks, and the enemy +seeing that further resistance was madness, gave way and +began a precipitous retreat, our hearts swelled as only the +hearts of soldiers can, and scarcely stopping to cheer or to +await orders, we pushed forward and joined in the pursuit, +until the darkness and the rain forced a halt.</p> + +<p>"The battle of Nashville did not compare in numbers engaged, +in severity of fighting, or in the losses sustained, with +some other Western battles. But in the issues at stake, the +magnificent generalship of Thomas, the completeness of our +triumph, and the immediate and far-reaching consequences, it +was unique, and deservedly ranks along with Gettysburg, as +one of the decisive battles of the war.</p> + +<p>"When General Thomas rode over the battle-field and saw the +bodies of colored men side by side with the foremost, on the +very works of the enemy, he turned to his staff, saying: +'Gentlemen, the question is settled; negroes will fight.' He +did me the honor to recommend me for promotion, and told me +that he intended to give me the best brigade that he could +form. This he afterward did.</p> + +<p>"After the great victory, we joined in the chase after the +fleeing foe. Hood's army was whipped, demoralized, and +pretty badly scattered. A good many stragglers were picked +up. A story circulated to this effect: Some of our boys on +making a sharp turn in the road, came upon a forlorn +Southern soldier, who had lost his arms, thrown away his +accoutrements, and was sitting on a log by the roadside, +waiting to give himself up. He was saluted with, 'Well, +Johnny, how goes it?' 'Well, Yank, I'll tell ye; I confess +I'm horribly whipped, and badly demoralized, but blamed if +I'm <i>scattered</i>!'</p> + +<p>"After we had passed along through Franklin, we had orders +to turn about and return to that city. I was riding at the +head of the column,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> followed by my own regiment. The men +were swinging along 'arms at will,' when they spied General +Thomas and staff approaching. Without orders they brought +their arms to 'right shoulder shift,' took the step, and +striking up their favorite tune of 'John Brown,' whistled it +with admirable effect while passing the General, greatly to +his amusement.</p> + +<p>"We had a very memorable march from Franklin to +Murfreesboro, over miserable dirt roads. About December 19th +or 20th, we were on the march at an early hour, but the rain +was there before us, and stuck by us closer than a brother. +We were drenched through and through, and few had a dry +thread. We waded streams of water nearly waist deep; we +pulled through mud that seemed to have no bottom, and where +many a soldier left his shoes seeking for it. The open woods +pasture where we went into camp that night, was surrounded +with a high fence made of cedar rails. That fence was left +standing, and was not touched—until—well, I do believe +that the owner's bitterness at his loss was fully balanced +by the comfort and good cheer which those magnificent rail +fires afforded us that December night. They did seem +providentially provided for us.</p> + +<p>"During the night the weather turned cold, and when we +resumed our march the ground was frozen and the roads were +simply dreadful, especially for those of our men who had +lost their shoes the day before and were now compelled to +walk barefoot, tracking their way with blood. Such +experiences take away something of the romance sometimes +suggested to the inexperienced by the phase, 'soldiering in +the Sunny South,' but then a touch of it is worth having for +the light it throws over such historical scenes as those at +Valley Forge.</p> + +<p>"We continued in the pursuit of Hood, as far as Huntsville, +Ala., when he disappeared to return no more, and we were +allowed to go back to Chattanooga, glad of an opportunity to +rest. Distance travelled, 420 miles.</p> + +<p>"We had no more fighting. There were many interesting +experiences, which, however, I will not take time to relate. +In August, 1865, being in command of the Post at Knoxville, +Tenn., grateful to have escaped without imprisonment, +wounds, or even a day of severe illness, I resigned my +commission, after forty months of service, to resume my +studies.</p> + +<p>"I cannot close this paper without expressing the conviction +that history has not yet done justice to the share borne by +colored soldiers in the war for the Union. Their conduct +during that eventful period, has been a silent, but most +potent factor in influencing public sentiment, shaping +legislation, and fixing the status of colored people in +America. If the records of their achievements could be put +into such shape that they could be accessible to the +thousands of colored youth in the South, they would kindle +in their young minds an enthusiastic devotion to manhood and +liberty."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>THE PHALANX AT MARION, TENN.</h3> + + +<p>In the winter of 1864, while Sherman was marching his army toward the +sea, raiding parties and expeditions were sent out from the several +departments to intercept rebel communications, destroy telegraph lines, +railroads and stores; in nearly all of which Phalanx troops actively +participated, and shared the perils and honors of the achievements.</p> + +<p>From Vicksburg, Miss., Brevet Brigadier-General E. D. Osband, with the +Third Phalanx Regiment, on the 27th of November captured and destroyed +the Mississippi Central Railroad bridge over the Big Black River, near +Canton, also thirty miles of the railroad, with two locomotives and a +large amount of stores.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, General Breckenridge, with a large confederate force, +attacked the Federals under General Gillem, near Morristown, Tenn., +captured the artillery, with several hundred men, and drove the +remainder of Gillem's troops into Knoxville. Breckenridge soon retired, +however, pursued by General Ammen's forces. On the 12th of December, +General Stoneman having concentrated the commands of Generals Burbridge +and Gillem, near Bean Station, Tenn., started in pursuit of Breckenridge +intending to drive him into Virginia and to destroy the railroad and +Salt Works at Saltville, West Virginia. General Burbridge's command was +principally composed of Kentucky troops, three brigades, numbering about +five thousand men, all mounted. The 6th Phalanx Cavalry was attached to +the 3rd brigade, which Colonel Jas. F. Wade, of the 6th, commanded. +Gillem's defeat rather inspired the men in the new column, and they +dashed forward with a determination to annihilate the enemy. Four days +after leaving Bean Station, the confederates were overtaken at Marion, +General Vaughn being in command, and were routed, the Federals capturing +all their guns, trains and a number of prisoners. Vaughn fell back to +Wytheville, pursued by the Federals, who captured and destroyed the +town, with its stores and supplies and the extensive lead mines.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image40.jpg" width="600" height="448" alt="SERVING REFRESHMENTS TO UNION TROOPS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SERVING REFRESHMENTS TO UNION TROOPS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> + +<p>Having accomplished their mission, the Federals about faced for Marion, +where they met with a large force of confederates under Breckenridge, +including the garrison of Saltville. Now came the decisive struggle for +the Salt Works between the two forces. The Federals had been enjoying +their signal victory, which they now attempted to enhance by pressing +the enemy, who had crossed a bridge and there taken up a position. +During the night an advance regiment succeeded in crossing the bridge, +after re-laying the planks which the confederates had torn up, but they +were driven back, and there remained till the next morning. The 6th +Phalanx was assigned its usual position, and was held in reserve. The +battle opened in the morning, and continued with varying success during +the day. Late in the afternoon General Stoneman found his troops badly +beaten, and unable to extricate themselves from the confederate coil; +they were not the "Old Guard," and the question with them was not +"victory or death," but surrender or death. Nor was this long a +question. General Stoneman ordered up the 6th Phalanx, dividing them +into three columns, placing himself at the head of one, and giving one +each to Colonel Wade, (their valiant colonel), and his chief of staff, +General Brisbin. The regiment dashed into the fight for the rescue of +the pro-slavery Kentuckians and haughty Tennesseeians, who were now +nearly annihilated. The historian of this campaign, General Brisbin, who +but a day or two previous to this battle had attempted to shoot one of +the brave black<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> boys of the 6th for retaliating for the murder of one +of his comrades by shooting a confederate prisoner, thus writes, +twenty-two years afterwards, about the battle and the conduct of the +6th:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Early in the day General Stoneman had sent General Gillem +off to the right with orders to get in Breckenridge's rear +and if possible cut him off from the salt works. It was +believed the Kentucky troops could handle Breckenridge until +Gillem could strike in the rear, but the action in front +about noon became terrific and Gillem was recalled to aid +Burbridge. Our right flank had been driven back and our +extreme left was almost at right angles with the original +position held early in the morning. To add to our +misfortunes, a party of Confederate cavalry had got in our +rear and captured some of our pack train. The packers had at +one time become demoralized and fell back almost into the +hands of the Confederates operating in our rear. General +Burbridge saw the movement, and drawing his revolver placed +himself in front of the leading packs and ordered them back, +but the crazy men kept on until the General wounded the man +who was leading them off, and with the aid of some officers +who used their sabres freely, the packs were forced back +into the timber close to our lines and compelled to stay +there. Thus over five hundred packs and animals were saved +to the army by the prompt action of the General and his +aids.</p> + +<p>"At 3:30 o'clock the situation was critical in the extreme. +Colonel Boyle had been killed in leading a charge and his +regiment repulsed. The Twelfth Ohio Cavalry had promptly +come to Boyle's support and checked the confederates, who +were coming into our centre. The hospital in our rear, where +our sick were, had been charged, and for a short time was in +the hands of the enemy. Burbridge and Stoneman had their +headquarters on a little knoll near the centre of our line, +where they could see the fighting. The Confederate right, in +swinging around, had covered this hill and it was no longer +tenable. A lieutenant, in reporting to General Burbridge on +this knoll, had been shot by a Confederate rifleman through +the head and fell dead at the General's feet. Orderlies, +horses and men were being shot down, and I begged General +Burbridge to retire. He asked me if there were no more +troops we could bring up and put into action. I told him all +we had left was the Sixth United States Colored Cavalry and +the horse-holders. He said:</p> + +<p>"'Well, go and bring up the negroes and tell everybody to +tie the horses as well as they can. We might as well lose +them as to be whipped, when we will lose them anyway.'</p> + +<p>"I made haste to bring up the Sixth Colored and all the +horse-holders I could get. The Sixth Colored was a fine +regiment, but few had faith in the fighting qualities of the +negroes. General Burbridge divided them into three columns, +and taking one himself gave the other two to General Wade +and myself. Wade had the right, Burbridge the left and I was +in the centre. Wade got off first and sailed in in gallant +style.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> Burbridge piled his overcoat on the ground, and +drawing his sword led his column forward. The men were all +on foot and most of the officers. But few were mounted. It +was unpleasant riding under fire where so many were on foot. +Wade's horse was soon shot, but he kept on with his men, +leading on foot. Looking to the left I saw Burbridge +surrounded by a black crowd of men, his form towering above +them and his sword pointing to the enemy. Wade was first to +strike the Confederate line. They fired and fired, but the +darkies kept straight on, closing for a hand-to-hand fight. +Then the cry was raised along the Confederate lines that the +negroes were killing the wounded. Wade went through the +Confederate line like an iron wedge, and it broke and fled. +Burbridge hit hard, but the insistence was less stubborn +than in Wade's front. Of my own part in the action I prefer +not to write. Suffice it to say that never did soldiers do +better on any battle-field than the black men I led that +day.</p> + +<p>"When their guns were empty they clubbed them, and I saw one +negro fighting with a gun barrel, swinging it about his head +like a club, and going straight for the enemy. He did not +hit anybody for nobody waited to be hit, but some of the +Confederates jumped fully fifteen feet down the opposite +side of that hill to get out of the way of the negroes, and +I would have jumped too, probably, if I had been on their +side, for I never yet saw anything in battle so terrible as +an infuriated negro.</p> + +<p>"Gillem returned just as night was putting an end to the +fighting and in the approaching darkness we mistook his +column for a new column of the enemy coming in on our right +and rear. Burbridge hurried back with his victorious negroes +and was about to advance with the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry and +Eleventh Michigan, when the glad news came that the supposed +Confederates were Gillem's column returning to our support.</p> + +<p>"During the night Breckenridge retreated in the direction of +the salt works, but Colonel Buckley, returning from the +direction of the lead mines with his brigade, and having got +in Breckenridge's rear at Seven Mile Ford, charged his +advance, capturing ten prisoners. Breckenridge, no doubt +thinking he had been outflanked and was about to be enclosed +between two columns, abandoned all idea of going to the salt +works and put back in confusion to Marion, where he took the +North Carolina road and fled over the mountains. Colonel +Bentley, with his Twelfth Ohio, was sent up with +Breckenridge's rear. The Confederates felled trees across +the road to retard Bentley's advance, but he cleared them +out and he and his gallant regiment hammered Breckenridge's +rear all the way into North Carolina."</p></div> + +<p>The road to the Salt Works was thus opened and their destruction +accomplished by the bravery and matchless valor of the gallant Sixth. +Many of the regiment forfeited their lives in rescuing the force from +defeat, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> securing a victory; those who survived the terrible +struggle no longer had opprobrious epithets hurled at them, but modestly +received the just encomiums that were showered upon them by the white +troops, who, amid the huzzas of victory, greeted them with loud shouts +of "Comrades!"</p> + +<p>General Brisbin, continuing, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There were many instances of personal bravery, but I shall +only mention one. A negro soldier had got a stump quite +close to the Confederate line, and despite all efforts to +dislodge him, there he stuck, picking off their men. The +Confederates charged the stump, but the Federal line +observing it concentrated their fire on the advancing men +and drove them back. Then there were long and loud cheers +for the brave darkey, who stuck to his stump and fired away +with a regularity that was wonderful. His stump was riddled +with bullets, but he stuck to it, although he was at times +nearer the Confederate lines than our own."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image41.jpg" width="500" height="559" alt="SCOUTS" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>THE BLACK FLAG.</h3> + +<h3>FORT PILLOW—EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS, ETC.</h3> + + +<p>It was not long after each army received its quota of Phalanx soldiers, +before the white troops began regarding them much as Napoleon's troops +did the Imperial Guard, their main support. When a regiment of the +Phalanx went into a fight, every white soldier knew what was meant, for +the black troops took no ordinary part in a battle. Where the conflict +was hottest; where danger was most imminent, there the Phalanx went; and +when victory poised, as it often did, between the contending sides, the +weight of the Phalanx was frequently thrown into the balancing scales; +if some strong work or dangerous battery had to be taken, whether with +the bayonet alone or hand grenade or sabre, the Phalanx was likely to be +in the charging column, or formed a part of the storming brigade.</p> + +<p>The confederates were no cowards; braver men never bit cartridge or +fired a gun, and when they were to meet "their slaves," as they +believed, in revolt, why, of course, honor forbade them to ask or give +quarter. This fact was known to all, for, as yet, though hundreds had +been captured, none had been found on parole, or among the exchanged +prisoners. General Grant's attention was called to this immediately +after the fight at Milliken's Bend, where the officers of the Phalanx, +as well as soldiers, had been captured and hung. Grant wrote Gen. +Taylor, commanding the confederate forces in Louisiana, as follows:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I feel no inclination to retaliate for offences of +irresponsible persons, but, if it is the policy of any +general intrusted with the command of troops, to show no +quarter, or to punish with death, prisoners taken in battle, +<i>I will accept the issue</i>. It may be you propose a different +line of policy to black troops, and officers commanding +them, to that practiced toward white troops. If so, I can +assure you that these colored troops are regularly mustered +into the service of the United States. The government, and +all officers under the government, are bound to give the +same protection to these troops that they do to any other +troops."</p></div> + +<p>General Taylor replied that he would punish all such acts, "disgraceful +alike to humanity and the reputation of soldiers," but declared that +officers of the "Confederate Army" were required to turn over to the +civil authorities, to be dealt with according to the laws of the State +wherein such were captured, all negroes taken in arms.</p> + +<p>As early as December, 1862, incensed by General Butler's administration +at New Orleans in the arming of negroes, Jefferson Davis, President of +the Confederate Government, issued the following proclamation:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">First.</span>—That all commissioned officers in the command of +said Benjamin F. Butler be declared not entitled to be +considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare, but as +robbers and criminals, deserving death; and that they, and +each of them, be, whenever captured, reserved for execution.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Second.</span>—That the private soldiers and non-commissioned +officers in the army of said Benj. F. Butler, be considered +as only instruments used for the commission of crimes, +perpetrated by his orders, and not as free agents; that +they, therefore, be treated when captured as prisoners of +war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent home on the +usual parole; that they will in no manner aid or serve the +United States in any capacity during the continuance of war, +unless duly exchanged.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Third.</span>—That all negro slaves captured in arms be at once +delivered over to the executive authorities, of the +respective States to which they belong, and to be dealt with +according to the laws of said States.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Fourth.</span>—That the like orders be executed in all cases with +respect to all commissioned officers of the United States +when found serving in company with said slaves in +insurrection against the authorities of the different States +of this Confederacy.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Signed and sealed at Richmond, Dec. 23, 1862.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"JEFFERSON DAVIS."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This Proclamation was the hoisting of the black flag against the +Phalanx, by which Mr. Davis expected to bring about a war of +extermination against the negro soldiers.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>In his third annual message to the Confederate Congress, Mr. Davis said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We may well leave it to the instincts of that common +humanity which a beneficient creator has implanted in the +breasts of our fellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> men of all countries to pass judgment +on a measure by which several millions of human beings of an +inferior race—peaceful and contented laborers in their +sphere—are doomed to extermination, while at the same time +they are encouraged to a general assassination of their +masters by the insiduous recommendation to abstain from +violence unless in necessary defence. Our own detestation of +those who have attempted the most execrable measures +recorded in the history of guilty man is tempered by +profound contempt for the impotent rage which it discloses. +So far as regards the action of this government on such +criminals as may attempt its execution, I confine myself to +informing you that I shall—unless in your wisdom you deem +some other course expedient—deliver to the several State +authorities all commissioned officers of the United States +that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the +States embraced in the Proclamation, that they may be dealt +with in accordance with the laws of those States providing +for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile +insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to +treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these +crimes, and shall direct their discharge and return to their +homes on the proper and usual parole."</p></div> + +<p>The confederate Congress soon took up the subject, and after a +protracted consideration passed the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Resolved</i>, By the Congress of the Confederate States of +America, in response to the message of the President, +transmitted to Congress at the commencement of the present +session. That, in the opinion of Congress, the commissioned +officers of the enemy <i>ought</i> not to be delivered to the +authorities of the respective States, as suggested in the +said message, but all captives taken by the confederate +forces, ought to be dealt with and disposed of by the +Confederate Government.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 2.</span>—That in the judgment of Congress, the +Proclamations of the President of the United States, dated +respectively September 22nd, 1862, and January 1st, 1863, +and other measures of the Government of the United States, +and of its authorities, commanders and forces, designed or +intended to emancipate slaves in the Confederate States, or +to abduct such slaves, or to incite them to insurrection, or +to employ negroes in war against the Confederate States, or +to overthrow the institution of African slavery and bring on +a servile war in these States, would, if successful, produce +atrocious consequences, and they are inconsistent with the +spirit of those usages which, in modern warfare, prevail +among the civilized nations; they may therefore be lawfully +suppressed by retaliation.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 3.</span>—That in every case wherein, during the war, any +violation of the laws and usages of war among civilized +nations shall be, or has been done and perpetrated by those +acting under the authority of the United States, on the +persons or property of citizens of the Confederate States, +or of those under the protection or in the land or naval +service of the Confederate States, or of any State of the +Confederacy, the President<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> of the Confederate States is +hereby authorized to cause full and ample retaliation to be +made for every such violation, in such manner and to such +extent as he may think proper.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 4.</span>—That every white person, being a commissioned +officer, or acting as such, who during the present war shall +command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate +States, or who shall arm, train, organize or prepare negroes +or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate +States, or who shall voluntarily use negroes or mulattoes in +any military enterprise, attack or conflict, in such +service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, +and shall, if captured, be put to death, or to be otherwise +punished at the discretion of the court.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 5.</span>—Every person, being a commissioned officer, or +acting as such in the service of the enemy, who shall during +the present war, excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be +excited a servile insurrection, or who shall incite, or +cause to be incited a slave to rebel, shall, if captured, be +put to death, or otherwise punished at the discretion of the +court.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 6.</span>—Every person charged with an offence punishable +under the preceeding resolutions shall, during the present +war, be tried before the military court, attached to the +army or corps by the troops of which he shall have been +captured, or by such other military court as the President +may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations as +the President shall prescribe; and after conviction, the +President may commute the punishment in such manner and on +such terms as he may deem proper.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 7.</span>—All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in +war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or +shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate +States, shall, where captured in the Confederate States, be +delivered to authorities of the State or States in which +they shall be captured, to be dealt with according to such +present or future laws of such State or States."</p></div> + +<p>In March, 1863, this same Confederate Congress enacted the following +order to regulate the impressment of negroes for army purposes:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 9.</span>—Where slaves are impressed by the Confederate +Government, to labor on fortifications, or other public +works, the impressment shall be made by said Government +according to the rules and regulations provided in the laws +of the States wherein they are impressed; and, in the +absence of such law, in accordance with such rules and +regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this +act, as the Secretary of War shall from time to time +prescribe; <i>Provided</i>, That no impressment of slaves shall +be made, when they can be hired or procured by the owner or +agent.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sec. 10.</span>—That, previous to the 1st day of December next, +no slave laboring on a farm or plantation, exclusively +devoted to the production of grain and provisions, shall be +taken for the public use, without the consent of the owner, +except in case of urgent necessity."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thus it is apparent that while the Confederate Government was holding +aloft the black flag, even against the Northern Phalanx regiments +composed of men who were never slaves, it was at the same time engaged +in enrolling and conscripting slaves to work on fortifications and in +trenches, in support of their rebellion against the United States, and +at a period when negro troops were not accepted in the army of the +United States.</p> + +<p>Soon after the admission of negroes into the Union army, it was reported +to Secretary Stanton that three negro soldiers, captured with the +gunboat "Isaac Smith," on Stone river, were placed in close confinement, +whereupon he ordered three confederate prisoners belonging to South +Carolina to be placed in close confinement, and informed the Confederate +Government of the action. The Richmond <i>Examiner</i> becoming cognizant of +this said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is not merely the pretension of a regular Government +affecting to deal with 'rebels,' but it is a deadly stab +which they are aiming at our institutions themselves; +because they know that, if we were insane enough to yield +this point, to treat black men as the equals of white, and +insurgent slaves as equivalent to our brave white soldiers, +the very foundation of slavery would be fatally wounded."</p></div> + +<p>Several black soldiers were captured in an engagement before Charleston, +and when it came to an exchange of prisoners, though an immediate +exchange of all captured in the engagement had been agreed upon, the +confederates would not exchange the negro troops. To this the +President's attention was called, whereupon he issued the following +order:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Executive Mansion, Washington</span>, July 30th, 1863.</p> + +<p>"It is the duty of every government to give protection to +its citizens, of whatever color, class, or condition, and +especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in +the public service. The law of nations and the usages and +customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no +distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of +war, as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured +person, on account of his color, and for no offense against +the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a crime +against the civilization of the age. The government of the +United States will give the same protection to all its +soldiers; and if the enemy shall enslave or sell any one +because of his color, the offense shall be punished by +retaliation upon the enemy's prisoners in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> our possession. +It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United +States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel +soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the +enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed +at hard labor on public works, and continued at such labor +until the other shall be released and receive the treatment +due to a prisoner of war.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"ABRAHAM LINCOLN,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"By order of the Secretary of War.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">E. D. Townsend</span>, Ass't. Adjt.-General."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>However, this order did not prevent the carrying out of the intentions +of the confederate President and Congress.</p> + +<p>The saddest and blackest chapter of the history of the war of the +Rebellion, is that which relates to the treatment of Union prisoners in +the rebel prison pens, at Macon, Ga., Belle Island, Castle Thunder, +Pemberton, Libbey, at and near Richmond and Danville, Va., Cahawba, +Ala., Salisbury, N. C., Tyler, Texas, Florida, Columbia, S. C., Millen +and Andersonville, Ga. It is not the purpose to attempt a general +description of these modern charnel houses, or to enter into a detailed +statement of the treatment of the Union soldiers who were unfortunate +enough to escape death upon the battle-field and then fall captive to +the confederates. When we consider the fact that the white men who were +engaged in the war upon both sides, belonged to one nation, and were +Americans, many of whom had been educated at the same schools, and +many—very many—of them members of the same religious denominations, +and church; not a few springing from the same stock and loins, the +atrocities committed by the confederates against the Union soldiers, +while in their custody as prisoners of war, makes their deeds more +shocking and inhuman than if the contestants had been of a different +nationality.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image42.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt="TERRIBLE FIGHT WITH BLOODHOUNDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">TERRIBLE FIGHT WITH BLOODHOUNDS.<br /> + +The 1st South Carolina Regiment was attacked by the Confederates with +bloodhounds, at Pocaralago Bridge, Oct. 23rd, 1862. The hounds rushed +fiercely upon the troops, who quickly shot or bayoneted them and +exultingly held aloft the beasts that had been so long a terror to the +negro race.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<p>The English soldiers who lashed the Sepoys to the mouths of their +cannon, and then fired the pieces, thus cruelly murdering the captured +rebels, offered the plea, in mitigation of their crime, and as an excuse +for violating the rules of war, that their subjects were not of a +civilized nation, and did not themselves adhere to the laws governing +civilized nations at war with each other. But no such plea can be +entered in the case of the confederates, who starved, shot and murdered +80,000 of their brethren in prison pens, white prisoners of war. If such +treatment was meted to those of their own color and race, as is related +by an investigating committee of Senators, what must have been the +treatment of those of another race,—whom they had held in slavery, and +whom they regarded the same as sheep and horses, to be bought and sold +at will,—when captured in battle, fighting against them for the Union +and their own freedom?</p> + +<p>The report of the Congressional Committee furnishes ample proof of the +barbarities:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>38th Congress,</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>{</td><td align='left'>Rep. Com.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><i>1st Session.</i></td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>{</td><td align='left'><i>No. 68.</i></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><h4>"IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.</h4> + +<p>"<i>Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct and +Expenditures of the War.</i></p> + +<p>"On the 4th inst., your committee received a communication +of that date from the Secretary of War, enclosing the report +of Colonel Hoffman, commissary general of prisoners, dated +May 3, calling the attention of the committee to the +condition of returned Union prisoners, with the request that +the committee would immediately proceed to Annapolis and +examine with their own eyes the condition of those who have +been returned from rebel captivity. The committee resolved +that they would comply with the request of the Secretary of +War on the first opportunity. The 5th of May was devoted by +the committee to concluding their labors upon the +investigation of the Fort Pillow massacre. On the 6th of +May, however, the committee proceeded to Annapolis and +Baltimore, and examined the condition of our returned +soldiers, and took the testimony of several of them, +together with the testimony of surgeons and other persons in +attendance upon the hospitals. That testimony, with the +communication of the Secretary of War, and the report of +Colonel Hoffman, is herewith transmitted.</p> + +<p>"The evidence proves, beyond all manner of doubt, a +determination on the part of the rebel authorities, +deliberately and persistently practiced for a long time +past, to subject those of our soldiers who have been so +unfortunate as to fall in their hands to a system of +treatment which has resulted in reducing many of those who +have survived and been permitted to return to us in a +condition, both physically and mentally, which no language +we can use can adequately describe. Though nearly all the +patients now in the Naval Academy hospital at Annapolis, and +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> the West hospital, in Baltimore, have been under the +kindest and most intelligent treatment for about three weeks +past, and many of them for a greater length of time, still +they present literally the appearance of living skeletons, +many of them being nothing but skin and bone; some of them +are maimed for life, having been frozen while exposed to the +inclemency of the winter season on Belle Isle, being +compelled to lie on the bare ground, without tents or +blankets, some of them without overcoats or even coats, with +but little fire to mitigate the severity of the winds and +storms to which they were exposed.</p> + +<p>"The testimony shows that the general practice of their +captors was to rob them, as soon as they were taken +prisoners, of all their money, valuables, blankets, and good +clothing, for which they received nothing in exchange +except, perhaps, some old worn-out rebel clothing hardly +better than none at all. Upon their arrival at Richmond they +have been confined, without blankets or other covering, in +buildings without fire, or upon Belle Isle with, in many +cases, no shelter, and in others with nothing but old +discarded army tents, so injured by rents and holes as to +present but little barrier to the wind and storms; on +several occasions, the witnesses say, they have arisen in +the morning from their resting-places upon the bare earth, +and found several of their comrades frozen to death during +the night, and that many others would have met the same fate +had they not walked rapidly back and forth, during the hours +which should have been devoted to sleep, for the purpose of +retaining sufficient warmth to preserve life.</p> + +<p>"In respect to the food furnished to our men by the rebel +authorities, the testimony proves that the ration of each +man was totally insufficient in quantity to preserve the +health of a child, even had it been of proper quality, which +it was not. It consisted usually, at the most, of two small +pieces of corn-bread, made in many instances, as the +witnesses state, of corn and cobs ground together, and badly +prepared and cooked, of, at times, about two ounces of meat, +usually of poor quality, and unfit to be eaten, and +occasionally a few black worm-eaten beans, or something of +that kind. Many of your men were compelled to sell to their +guards, and others, for what price they could get, such +clothing and blankets as they were permitted to receive of +that forwarded for their use by our government, in order to +obtain additional food sufficient to sustain life; thus, by +endeavoring to avoid one privation reducing themselves to +the same destitute condition in respect to clothing and +covering that they were in before they received any from our +government. When they became sick and diseased in +consequence of this exposure and privation, and were +admitted into the hospitals, their treatment was little if +any, improved as to food, though they, doubtless, suffered +less from exposure to cold than before. Their food still +remained insufficient in quantity and altogether unfit in +quality. Their diseases and wounds did not receive the +treatment which the commonest dictates of humanity would +have prompted. One witness, whom your committee examined, +who had lost all the toes of one foot from being frozen +while on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> Belle Isle, states that for days at a time his +wounds were not dressed, and they had not been dressed for +four days when he was taken from the hospital and carried on +the flag-of-truce boat for Fortress Monroe.</p> + +<p>"In reference to the condition to which our men were reduced +by cold and hunger, your committee would call attention to +the following extracts from the testimony. One witness +testifies:</p> + +<p>"'I had no blankets until our Government sent us some.</p> + +<p>"'Question.—How did you sleep before you received those +blankets?</p> + +<p>"'Answer.—We used to get together just as close as we +could, and sleep spoon-fashion, so that when one turned over +we all had to turn over.'</p> + +<p>"Another witness testifies:</p> + +<p>"'Question.—Were you hungry all the time?</p> + +<p>"'Answer.—Hungry! I could eat anything that came before us; +some of the boys would get boxes from the North with meat of +different kinds in them; and, after they had picked the meat +off, they would throw the bones away into the spit-boxes, +and we would pick the bones out of the spit-boxes and gnaw +them over again.'</p> + +<p>"In addition to this insufficient supply of food, clothing +and shelter, our soldiers, while prisoners, have been +subjected to the most cruel treatment from those placed over +them. They have been abused and shamefully treated on almost +every opportunity. Many have been mercilessly shot and +killed when they failed to comply with all the demands of +their jailors, sometimes for violating rules of which they +had not been informed. Crowded in great numbers in +buildings, they have been fired at and killed by the +sentinels outside when they appeared at the windows for the +purpose of obtaining a little fresh air. One man, whose +comrade in the service, in battle and in captivity, had been +so fortunate as to be among those released from further +torments, was shot dead as he was waving with his hand a +last adieu to his friend; and other instances of equally +unprovoked murder are disclosed by the testimony.</p> + +<p>"The condition of our returned soldiers as regards personal +cleanliness, has been filthy almost beyond description. +Their clothes have been so dirty and so covered with vermin, +that those who received them have been compelled to destroy +their clothing and re-clothe them with new and clean +raiment. Their bodies and heads have been so infested with +vermin that, in some instances, repeated washings have +failed to remove them; and those who have received them in +charge have been compelled to cut all the hair from their +heads, and make applications to destroy the vermin. Some +have been received with no clothing but shirts and drawers +and a piece of blanket or other outside covering, entirely +destitute of coats, hats, shoes or stockings; and the bodies +of those better supplied with clothing have been equally +dirty and filthy with the others, many who have been sick +and in the hospital having had no opportunity to wash their +bodies for weeks and months before they were released from +captivity.</p> + +<p>"Your committee are unable to convey any adequate idea of +the sad and deplorable condition of the men they saw in the +hospitals they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> visited; and the testimony they have taken +cannot convey to the reader the impressions which your +committee there received. The persons we saw, as we were +assured by those in charge of them, have greatly improved +since they have been received in the hospitals. Yet they are +now dying daily, one of them being in the very throes of +death as your committee stood by his bed-side and witnessed +the sad spectacle there presented. All those whom your +committee examined stated that they have been thus reduced +and emaciated entirely in consequence of the merciless +treatment they received while prisoners from their enemies; +and the physicians in charge of them, the men best fitted by +their profession and experience to express an opinion upon +the subject, all say that they have no doubt that the +statements of their patients are entirely correct.</p> + +<p>"It will be observed from the testimony, that all the +witnesses who testify upon that point state that the +treatment they received while confined at Columbia, South +Carolina, Dalton, Georgia, and other places, was far more +humane than that they received at Richmond, where the +authorities of the so-called confederacy were congregated, +and where the power existed, had the inclination not been +wanting, to reform those abuses and secure to the prisoners +they held some treatment that would bear a public comparison +to that accorded by our authorities to the prisoners in our +custody. Your committee, therefore, are constrained to say +that they can hardly avoid the conclusion, expressed by so +many of our released soldiers, that the inhuman practices +herein referred to are the result of a determination on the +part of the rebel authorities to reduce our soldiers in +their power, by privation of food and clothing, and by +exposure, to such a condition that those who may survive +shall never recover so as to be able to render any effective +service in the field. And your committee accordingly ask +that this report, with the accompanying testimony be printed +with the report and testimony [which was accordingly done] +in relation to the massacre of Fort Pillow, the one being, +in their opinion, no less than the other, the result of a +predetermined policy. As regards the assertions of some of +the rebel newspapers, that our prisoners have received at +their hands the same treatment that their own soldiers in +the field have received, they are evidently but the most +glaring and unblushing falsehoods. No one can for a moment +be deceived by such statements, who will reflect that our +soldiers, who, when taken prisoners, have been stout, +healthy men, in the prime and vigor of life, yet have died +by hundreds under the treatment they have received, although +required to perform no duties of the camp or the march; +while the rebel soldiers are able to make long and rapid +marches, and to offer a stubborn resistance in the field.</p> + +<p>"Your committee, finding it impossible to describe in words +the deplorable condition of these returned prisoners, have +caused photographs to be taken of a number of them, and a +fair sample to be lithographed and appended to their report, +that their exact condition may be known by all who examine +it. Some of them have since died.</p> + +<p>"There is one feature connected with this investigation, to +which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> your committee can refer with pride and satisfaction; +and that is the uncomplaining fortitude, the undiminished +patriotism exhibited by our brave men under all their +privations, even in the hour of death.</p> + +<p>"Your committee will close their report by quoting the +tribute paid these men by the chaplin of the hospital at +Annapolis, who has ministered to so many of them in their +last moments; who has smoothed their passage to the grave by +his kindness and attention, and who has performed the last +sad offices over their lifeless remains. He says:</p> + +<p>"'There is another thing I would wish to state. All the men, +without any exception among the thousands that have come to +this hospital, have never in a single instance expressed a +regret (notwithstanding the privations and sufferings they +have endured) that they entered their country's service. +They have been the most loyal, devoted and earnest men. Even +on the last days of their lives they have said that all they +hoped for was just to live and enter the ranks again and +meet their foes. It is a most glorious record in reference +to the devotion of our men to their country. I do not think +their patriotism has ever been equalled in the history of +the world.'</p> + +<p>"All of which is respectfully submitted.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"B. F. WADE, <i>Chairman.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Also the following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Office of Commissary-General of Prisoners,</span><br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">Washington</span>, D. C., May 3, 1864.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—I have the honor to report that, pursuant to your +instructions of the 2nd instant, I proceeded, yesterday +morning, to Annapolis, with a view to see that the paroled +prisoners about to arrive there from Richmond were properly +received and cared for.</p> + +<p>"The flag-of-truce boat 'New York,' under the charge of +Major Mulford, with thirty-two officers, three hundred and +sixty-three enlisted men, and one citizen on board, reached +the wharf at the Naval School hospital about ten o'clock. On +going on board, I found the officers generally in good +health, and much cheered by their happy release from the +rebel prisons, and by the prospect of again being with their +friends.</p> + +<p>"The enlisted men who had endured so many privations at +Belle Isle and other places were, with few exceptions, in a +very sad plight, mentally and physically, having for months +been exposed to all the changes of the weather, with no +other protection than a very insufficient supply of +worthless tents, and with an allowance of food scarcely +sufficient to prevent starvation, even if of wholesome +quality; but as it was made of coarsely-ground corn, +including the husks, and probably at times the cobs, if it +did not kill by starvation, it was sure to do it by the +disease it created. Some of these poor fellows were wasted +to mere skeletons, and had scarcely life enough remaining to +appreciate that they were now in the hands of their friends, +and among them all there were few who had not become too +much broken down and dispirited by their many privations to +be able to realize the happy prospect of relief from their +sufferings which was before them. With rare exception, every +face was sad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> with care and hunger; there was no brightening +of the countenance or lighting up of the eye, to indicate a +thought of anything beyond a painful sense of prostration of +mind and body. Many faces showed that there was scarcely a +ray of intelligence left.</p> + +<p>"Every preparation had been made for their reception in +anticipation of the arrival of the steamer, and immediately +upon her being made fast to the wharf the paroled men were +landed and taken immediately to the hospital, where, after +receiving a warm bath, they were furnished with a suitable +supply of new clothing, and received all those other +attentions which their sad condition demanded. Of the whole +number, there are perhaps fifty to one hundred who, in a +week or ten days, will be in a convalescent state, but the +others will very slowly regain their lost health.</p> + +<p>"That our soldiers, when in the hands of the rebels, are +starved to death, cannot be denied. Every return of the +flag-of-truce boat from City Point brings us too many living +and dying witnesses to admit of a doubt of this terrible +fact. I am informed that the authorities at Richmond admit +the fact, but excuse it on the plea that they give the +prisoners the same rations they give their own men. But can +this be so? Can an army keep the field, and be active and +efficient, on the same fare that kills prisoners of war at a +frightful percentage? I think not; no man can believe it; +and while a practice so shocking to humanity is persisted in +by the rebel authorities, I would very respectfully urge +that retaliatory measures be at once instituted by +subjecting the officers we now hold as prisoners of war to a +similar treatment.</p> + +<p>"I took advantage of the opportunity which this visit to +Annapolis gave me to make a hasty inspection of Camp Parole, +and I am happy to report that I found it in every branch in +a most commendable condition. The men all seemed to be +cheerful and in fine health, and the police inside and out +was excellent. Colonel Root, the commanding officer, +deserves much credit for the very satisfactory condition to +which he has brought his command.</p> + +<p>"I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient +servant,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"W. HOFFMAN,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Colonel 3rd Infantry, Commissary General of Prisoners.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Hon. E. M. Stanton</span>, <i>Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This report does not refer to the treatment of the soldiers of the +<i>Phalanx</i> who were taken by the confederates in battle,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> after the +surrender of Fort Pillow, Lawrence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> and Plymouth, and at several other +places. It is inserted to enable the reader to form an opinion as to +what the negro soldier's treatment must have been. The same committee +also published as a part of their report, the testimony of a +number,—mostly black, soldiers, who escaped death at Fort Pillow; a few +of their statements are given:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>38th Congress,</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>{</td><td align='left'>Rep. Com.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>1st Session.</td><td align='left'>}</td><td align='left'>{</td><td align='left'>No. 63 & 68.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><h4>IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.</h4> + +<p><i>Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct and +Expenditures of the War to whom was Referred the Resolution +of Congress Instructing them to Investigate the late +Massacre at Fort Pillow.</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Deposition of John Nelson in relation to the capture of +Fort Pillow.</i></p> + +<p>"John Nelson, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith:</p> + +<p>"'At the time of the attack on and capture of Fort Pillow, +April 12, 1864, I kept a hotel within the lines at Fort +Pillow, and a short distance from the works. Soon after the +alarm was given that an attack on the fort was imminent, I +entered the works and tendered my services to Major Booth, +commanding. The attack began in the morning at about 5-1/2 +o'clock, and about 1 o'clock <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> a flag of truce +approached. During<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> the parley which ensued, and while the +firing ceased on both sides, the rebels kept crowding up to +the works on the side near Cold Creek, and also approached +nearer on the south side, thereby gaining advantages pending +the conference under the flag of truce. As soon as the flag +of truce was withdrawn the attack began, and about five +minutes after it began the rebels entered the fort. Our +troops were soon overpowered, and broke and fled. A large +number of the soldiers, black and white, and also a few +citizens, myself among the number, rushed down the bluff +toward the river. I concealed myself as well as I could in a +position where I could distinctly see all that passed below +the bluff, for a considerable distance up and down the +river.</p> + +<p>"'A large number, at least one hundred, were hemmed in near +the river bank by bodies of the rebels coming from both +north and south. Most all of those thus hemmed in were +without arms. I saw many soldiers, both white and black, +throw up their arms in token of surrender, and call out that +they had surrendered. The rebels would reply, 'G—d d—n +you, why didn't you surrender before?' and shot them down +like dogs.</p> + +<p>"'The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. Many +colored soldiers sprang into the river and tried to escape +by swimming, but these were invariably shot dead.</p> + +<p>"'A short distance from me, and within view, a number of our +wounded had been placed, and near where Major Booth's body +lay; and a small red flag indicated that at that place our +wounded were placed. The rebels however, as they passed +these wounded men, fired right into them and struck them +with the butts of their muskets. The cries for mercy and +groans which arose from the poor fellows were heart-rending.</p> + +<p>"'Thinking that if I should be discovered, I would be +killed, I emerged from my hiding place, and, approaching the +nearest rebel, I told him I was a citizen. He said, 'You are +in bad company, G—d d—n you; out with your greenbacks, or +I'll shoot you.' I gave him all the money I had, and under +his convoy I went up into the fort again.</p> + +<p>"'When I re-entered the fort there was still some shooting +going on. I heard a rebel officer tell a soldier not to kill +any more of those negroes. He said that they would all be +killed, any way, when they were tried.</p> + +<p>"'After I entered the fort, and after the United States flag +had been taken down, the rebels held it up in their hands in +the presence of their officers, and thus gave the rebels +outside a chance to still continue their slaughter, and I +did not notice that any rebel officer forbade the holding of +it up. I also further state, to the best of my knowledge and +information, that there were not less than three hundred and +sixty negroes killed and two hundred whites. This I give to +the best of my knowledge and belief.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"JOHN NELSON.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2nd day of May, A. D. 1864.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"J. D. LLOYD,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Capt. 11th Inf., Mo. Vols., and Ass't. Provost Mar., Dist. of Memphis.</i>"<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Henry Christian, (colored), private, company B, 6th United +States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:</p> + +<p>'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In East +Tennessee.</p> + +<p>'Question. Have you been a slave? 'Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where did you enlist? 'Answer. At Corinth, +Mississippi.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer. +Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. When were you wounded? 'Answer. A little before +we surrendered.</p> + +<p>'Question. What happened to you afterwards? 'Answer. +Nothing; I got but one shot, and dug right out over the hill +to the river, and never was bothered any more.</p> + +<p>'Did you see any men shot after the place was taken? +'Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where? 'Answer. Down to the river.</p> + +<p>'Question. How many? 'Answer. A good many; I don't know how +many.</p> + +<p>'Question. By whom were they shot? 'Answer. By secesh +soldiers; secesh officers shot some up on the hill.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see those on the hill shot by the +officers? 'Answer. I saw two of them shot.</p> + +<p>'Question. What officers were they? 'Answer. I don't know +whether he was a lieutenant or captain.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did the men who were shot after they had +surrendered have arms in their hands? 'Answer. No, sir; they +threw down their arms.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any shot the next morning? 'Answer. I +saw two shot; one was shot by an officer—he was standing, +holding the officer's horse, and when the officer came and +got his horse he shot him dead. The officer was setting fire +to the houses.</p> + +<p>'Question. Do you say the man was holding the officer's +horse, and when the officer came and took his horse he shot +the man down? 'Answer. Yes, sir; I saw that with my own +eyes; and then I made away into the river, right off.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any buried? 'Answer. Yes, sir; a +great many, black and white.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any buried alive? 'Answer. I did not +see any buried alive.</p> + +<p>"Jacob Thompson, (colored), sworn and examined. By Mr. +Gooch:</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow? 'Answer. No, +sir, I was not a soldier; but I went up in the fort and +fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head.</p> + +<p>'Question. When were you shot? 'Answer. After I surrendered.</p> + +<p>'Question. How many times were you shot? 'Answer. I was shot +but once; but I threw my hand up, and the shot went through +my hand and my head.</p> + +<p>'Question. Who shot you? 'Answer. A private.</p> + +<p>'Question. What did he say? 'Answer. He said, 'G—d d—n +you,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> I will shoot you, old friend.'</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see anybody else shot? 'Answer. Yes, sir; +they just called them out like dogs, and shot them down. I +reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. +They nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the +logs on fire.</p> + +<p>'Question. When did you see that? 'Answer. When I went there +in the morning I saw them; they were burning all together.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did they kill them before they burned them? +'Answer. No, sir, they nailed them to the logs; drove the +nails right through their hands.</p> + +<p>'Question. How many did you see in that condition? 'Answer. +Some four or five; I saw two white men burned.</p> + +<p>'Question. Was there any one else there who saw that? +Answer. I reckon there was; I could not tell who.</p> + +<p>'Question. When was it that you saw them? 'Answer. I saw +them in the morning after the fight; some of them were +burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men, +because they were whiter than the colored men.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you notice how they were nailed? 'Answer. I +saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was +nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to +the boat when I saw it.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see them kill any white men? 'Answer. +They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed +more than twenty after it was all over; called them out from +under the hill, and shot them down. They would call out a +white man and shoot him down, and call out a colored man and +shoot him down; do it just as fast as they could make their +guns go off.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any rebel officers about there when +this was going on? 'Answer. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you know Forrest? 'Answer. Yes, sir; he was a +little bit of a man. I had seen him before at Jackson.</p> + +<p>'Question. Are you sure he was there when this was going on? +'Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any other officers that you knew? +'Answer. I did not know any other but him. There were some +two or three more officers came up there.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any buried there? 'Answer. Yes, sir; +they buried right smart of them. They buried a great many +secesh, and a great many of our folks. I think they buried +more secesh than our folks.</p> + +<p>'Question. How did they bury them? 'Answer. They buried the +secesh over back of the fort, all except those on Fort hill; +them they buried up on top of the hill where the gunboats +shelled them.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did they bury any alive? 'Answer. I heard the +gunboat men say they dug two out who were alive.</p> + +<p>'Question. You did not see them? 'Answer. No, sir.</p> + +<p>'What company did you fight with? 'Answer. I went right into +the fort and fought there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Question. Were you a slave or a free man? 'Answer. I was a +slave.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In old Virginia.</p> + +<p>'Question. Who was your master? 'Answer. Colonel Hardgrove.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where did you live? 'Answer. I lived three miles +the other side of Brown's mills.</p> + +<p>'Question. How long since you lived with him? 'Answer. I +went home once and staid with him a while, but he got to +cutting up and I came away again.</p> + +<p>'Question. What did you do before you went into the fight? +'Answer. I was cooking for Co. K, of Illinois cavalry; I +cooked for that company nearly two years.</p> + +<p>'Question. What white officers did you know in our army? +'Answer. I knew Captain Meltop and Colonel Ransom; and I +cooked at the hotel at Fort Pillow, and Mr. Nelson kept it. +I and Johnny were cooking together. After they shot me +through the hand and head, they beat up all this part of my +head (the side of his head) with the breach of their guns.</p> + +<p>"Ransome Anderson, (colored), Co. B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:</p> + +<p>'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In Mississippi.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you a slave? 'Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where did you enlist? 'Answer. At Corinth.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer. +Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Describe what you saw done there. 'Answer. Most +all the men that were killed on our side were killed after +the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. +Then they put some in the houses and shut them up, and then +burned the houses.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see them burn? 'Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were any of them alive? 'Answer. Yes, sir; they +were wounded, and could not walk. They put them in the +houses, and then burned the houses down.</p> + +<p>'Question. Do you know they were in there? 'Answer. Yes, +sir; I went and looked in there.</p> + +<p>'Question. Do you know they were in there when the house was +burned? 'Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when +the houses were burning.</p> + +<p>'Question. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead, +when they were put in there? 'Answer. Yes, sir; they told +them they were going to have the doctor see them, and then +put them in there and shut them up, and burned them.</p> + +<p>'Question. Who set the house on fire? 'Answer. I saw a rebel +soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, and set it +on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy.</p> + +<p>'Question. Was the door fastened up? 'Answer. Yes, sir; it +was barred with one of those wide bolts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p> + +<p>"James Walls, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:</p> + +<p>'Question. To what company did you belong? 'Answer. Company +E, 13th Tennessee cavalry.</p> + +<p>'Question. Under what officers did you serve? 'Answer. I was +under Major Bradford and Captain Potter.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer. +Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. State what you saw there of the fight, and what +was done after the place was captured. 'Answer. We fought +them for some six or eight hours in the fort, and when they +charged, our men scattered and ran under the hill; some +turned back and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag +of truce came in I went down to get some water. As I was +coming back I turned sick, and laid down behind a log. The +secesh charged, and after they came over I saw one go a good +ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and +threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there +I thought I could not live there, so I threw down my arms +and surrendered. He did not shoot me then, but as I turned +around he or some other one shot me in the back.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did they say anything while they were shooting? +'Answer. All I heard was, 'Shoot him, shoot him!' 'Yonder +goes one!' 'Kill him, kill him!' That is about all I heard.</p> + +<p>'Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they +surrendered? 'Answer. I did not see but two or three shot +around me. One of the boys of our company, named Taylor, ran +up there, and I saw him shot and fall. Then another was shot +just before me, like—shot down after he threw down his +arms.</p> + +<p>'Question. Those were white men? 'Answer. Yes, sir. I saw +them make lots of niggers stand up, and then they shot them +down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there +waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying +around there, and would come to a nigger and say, 'You ain't +dead are you?' They would not say anything, and then the +secesh would get down off their horses, prick them in their +sides, and say, 'D—n you, you aint dead; get up.' Then they +would make them get up on their knees, when they would shoot +them down like hogs.</p> + +<p>'Question. Do you know of their burning any buildings? +'Answer. I could hear them tell them to stick torches all +around, and they fired all the buildings.</p> + +<p>'Question. Do you know whether any of our men were in the +buildings when they were burned? 'Answer. Some of our men +said some were burned; I did not see it, or know it to be so +myself.</p> + +<p>'Question. How did they bury them—white and black together? +'Answer. I don't know about the burying; I did not see any +buried.</p> + +<p>'Question. How many negroes do you suppose were killed after +the surrender? 'Answer. There were hardly any killed before +the surrender. I reckon as many as 200 were killed after the +surrender, out of about 300 that were there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> + +<p>Question. Did you see any rebel officers about while this +shooting was going on? 'Answer. I do not know as I saw any +officers about when they were shooting the negroes. A +captain came to me a few minutes after I was shot; he was +close by me when I was shot.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did he try to stop the shooting? 'Answer. I did +not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they were +shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged +him not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would +not. One man, after he was shot down, was shot again. After +I was shot down, the man I surrendered to went around the +tree I was against and shot a man, and then came around to +me again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up to him, +and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got +the watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow +knife I had in my pocket. It was not worth five cents; was +of no account at all, only to cut tobacco with.'</p> + +<p>"Nathan G. Fulks, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:</p> + +<p>'Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? +'Answer. To Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry.</p> + +<p>'Question. Where are you from? 'Answer. About twenty miles +from Columbus, Tennessee.</p> + +<p>'Question. How long have you been in the service? 'Answer. +Five months, the 1st of May.</p> + +<p>'Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight +there? Answer. Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>'Question. Will you state what happened to you there? +'Answer. I was at the corner of the fort when they fetched +in a flag for a surrender. Some of them said the major stood +a while, and then said he would not surrender. They +continued to fight a while; and after a time the major +started and told us to take care of ourselves, and I and +twenty more men broke for the hollow. They ordered us to +halt, and some of them said, 'God d—n 'em, kill 'em!' I +said, 'I have surrendered.' I had thrown my gun away then. I +took off my cartridge-box and gave it to one of them, and +said, 'Don't shoot me;' but they did shoot me, and hit just +about where the shoe comes up on my leg. I begged them not +to shoot me, and he said,' God d—n you, you fight with the +niggers, and we will kill the last one of you!' Then they +shot me in the thick of the thigh, and I fell; and one set +out to shoot me again, when another one said, 'Don't shoot +the white fellows any more.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any person shot besides yourself? +'Answer. I didn't see them shot. I saw one of our fellows +dead by me.</p> + +<p>'Question. Did you see any buildings burned? 'Answer. Yes, +sir. While I was in the major's headquarters they commenced +burning the buildings, and I begged one of them to take me +out and not let us burn there; and he said, 'I am hunting up +a piece of yellow flag for you.' I think we would have +whipped them if the flag of truce had not come in. We would +have whipped them if we had not let them get the dead-wood +on us. I was told that they made their movement while the +flag of truce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> was in. I did not see it myself, because I +had sat down, as I had been working so hard.</p> + +<p>'Question. How do you know they made their movement while +the flag of truce was in? 'Answer. The men that were above +said so. The rebs are bound to take every advantage of us. I +saw two more white men close to where I was lying. That +makes three dead ones, and myself wounded."</p></div> + +<p>Later on during the war the policy of massacring was somewhat abated, +that is it was not done on the battle-field. The humanity of the +confederates in Virginia permitted them to take their black prisoners to +the rear. About a hundred soldiers belonging to the 7th Phalanx +Regiment, with several of their white officers, were captured at Fort +Gilmer on the James River, Va., and taken to Richmond in September, +1864. The following account is given of their treatment in the record of +the Regiment:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The following interesting sketches of prison-life, as +experienced by two officers of the regiment, captured at +Fort Gilmer, have been kindly furnished. <i>The details of the +sufferings of the enlisted men captured with them we shall +never know, for few of them ever returned to tell the sad +story.</i></p> + +<p>"'An escort was soon formed to conduct the prisoners to +Richmond, some seven or eight miles distant, and the kinder +behavior of that part of the guard which had participated in +the action was suggestive of the freemasonry that exists +between brave fellows to whatever side belonging. On the +road the prisoners were subjected by every passer-by, to +petty insults, the point in every case, more or less +obscene, being the color of their skin. The solitary +exception, curiously enough, being a <i>nymph du pave</i> in the +suburbs of the town.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>"'About dusk the prisoners reached the notorious Libby, +where the officers took leave of their enlisted +comrades—from most of them forever. The officers were then +searched and put collectively in a dark hole, whose purpose +undoubtedly was similar to that of the 'Ear of Dionysius.' +In the morning, after being again searched, they were placed +among the rest of the confined officers, among whom was +Capt. Cook, of the Ninth, taken a few weeks previously at +Strawberry Plains. Some time before, the confederates had +made a great haul on the Weldon Railroad, and the prison was +getting uncomfortably full of prisoners and—vermin. After a +few days sojourn in Libby, the authorities prescribed a +change of air, and the prisoners were packed into box and +stock cars and rolled to Salisbury, N. C. The comforts of +this two day's ride are remembered as strikingly similar to +those of Mr. Hog from the West to the Eastern market before +the invention of the S. F. P. C. T. A.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +"'At Salisbury the prisoners were stored in the third story +of an abandoned tobacco factory, occupied on the lower +floors by political prisoners, deserters, thieves and spies, +who during the night made an attempt on the property of the +new-comers, but were repulsed after a pitched battle. In the +morning the Post-Commandant ordered the prisoners to some +unused negro quarters in another part of the grounds, +separated from the latter by a line of sentries. During the +week train-loads of prisoners—enlisted men—arrived and +were corralled in the open grounds. The subsequent +sufferings of these men are known to the country, a parallel +to those of Andersonville, as the eternal infamy of Wirtz is +shared by his <i>confrere</i> at Salisbury—McGee.</p> + +<p>"'The weakness, and still more, the appalling ferocity of +the guards, stimulated the desire to escape; but when this +had become a plan it was discovered, and the commissioned +prisoners were at once hurried off to Danville, Va., and +there assigned the two upper floors of an abandoned tobacco +warehouse, which formed one side of an open square. Here an +organization into messes was effected, from ten to eighteen +in each—to facilitate the issue of rations. The latter +consisted of corn-bread and boiled beef, but gradually the +issues of meat became like angels' visits, and then for +several months ceased altogether. It was the art of feeding +as practised by the Hibernian on his horse—only their +exchange deprived the prisoners of testing the one straw per +day.</p> + +<p>"Among the democracy of hungry bellies there were a few +aristocrats, with a Division General of the Fifth Corps as +Grand Mogul, whose Masonic or family connections in the +South procured them special privileges. On the upper floor +these envied few erected a cooking stove, around which they +might be found at all hours of the day, preparing savory +dishes, while encircled by a triple and quadruple row of +jealous noses, eagerly inhailing the escaping vapors, so +conducive to day-dreams of future banquets. The social +equilibrium was, however, bi-diurnally restored by a common +pursuit—a general warfare under the black flag against a +common enemy, as insignificant individually as he was +collectively formidable—an insect, in short, whose +domesticity on the human body is, according to some +naturalists, one of the differences between our species and +the rest of creation. This operation, technically, +'skirmishing,' happened twice a day, according as the sun +illumined the east or west sides of the apartments, along +which the line was deployed in its beams.</p> + +<p>"Eating, sleeping, smelling and skirmishing formed the +routine of prison-life, broken once in a while by a walk, +under escort, to the Dan river, some eighty yards distant, +for a water supply. Generally, some ten or twelve prisoners +with buckets were allowed to go at once, and this +circumstance, together with the fact that the guard for all +the prisons in town were mounted in the open square in +front, excited the first idea of escape. According to high +diplomatic authority, empty stomachs are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> conducive to +ingenuity, so the idea soon became a plan and a conspiracy. +While the new guard had stacked arms in the open square +preparatory to mounting, some ten or twelve officers, under +the lead of Col. Ralston, the powerful head of some New York +regiment, were to ask for exit under pretense of getting +water, and then to overpower the opposing sentries, while +the balance of the prisoners, previously drawn up in line at +the head of the short staircase leading direct to the exit +door, were to rush down into the square, seize the stacked +arms and march through the Confederacy to the Union +lines—perhaps!</p> + +<p>"'Among the ten or twelve pseudo-water-carriers—the forlorn +hope—were Col. Ralston, Capt. Cook, of the Ninth, and one +or two of the Seventh—Capt. Weiss and Lieut. Spinney. On +the guard opening the door for egress, Col. Ralston and one +of the Seventh threw themselves on the first man, a powerful +six-footer, and floored him. At the same moment, however, +another guard with great presence of mind, slammed the door +and turned the key, and that before five officers could +descend the short staircase. The attempt was now a failure. +One of the guards on the outside of the building took +deliberate aim through the open window at Col. Ralston, who +was still engaged with the struggling fellow, and shot him +through the bowels. Col. Ralston died a lingering and +painful death after two or three days. Less true bravery +than his has been highly sung in verse.</p> + +<p>"'This attempt could not but sharpen the discipline of the +prison, but soon the natural humanity of the commandant, +Col. Smith, now believed to be Chief Engineer of the +Baltimore Bridge Company, asserted itself, and things went +on as before. Two incidents may, however, be mentioned in +this connection, whose asperities time has removed, leaving +nothing but their salient grotesque features.</p> + +<p>"'Immediately after the occurrence, an unlimited supply of +dry-salted codfish was introduced. This being the first +animal food for weeks, was greedily devoured in large +quantities, mostly raw—producing a raging thirst. The water +supply was now curtailed to a few bucketsful, but even these +few drops of the precious fluid were mostly wasted in the +<i>melee</i> for their possession. The majority of the +contestants retired disappointed to muse on the comforts of +the Sahara Desert, and as the stories about tapping camels +recurred to them, suggestive glances were cast at the more +fortunate rivals. After a few days, conspicuous for the +sparing enjoyment of salt cod, the water supply was ordered +unlimited. An immediate 'corner' in the Newfoundland staple +took place, the stock being actively absorbed by <i>bona fide</i> +investors, who found that it bore watering with impunity.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>"'At the beginning of February, 1865, thirty boxes of +provisions, etc., from friends in the North arrived for the +prisoners. The list of owners was anxiously scanned and the +lucky possessor would not have exchanged for the capital +prize in the Havana lottery. The poor fellows of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> the +Seventh were among the fortunate, and from that day none +knew hunger more.</p> + +<p>"'With the advent of the boxes came the dawn of a brighter +day. Cartels of exchange were talked about, and by the +middle of February the captives found themselves on the rail +for Richmond. The old Libby appeared much less gloomy than +on first acquaintance, the rays of hope throwing a halo +about everywhere. Many asked and obtained the liberty of the +town to lay in a supply of those fine brands of tobacco for +which Richmond is famous. In a few days the preliminaries to +exchange were completed, and on the 22d of +February—Washington's birthday—the captives also stepped +into a new life under the old flag."</p> + +<p>"Captain Sherman, of Co. C., gives the following account:</p> + +<p>"'Further resistence being useless, and having expressed our +willingness to surrender, we were invited into the fort. As +I stepped down from the parapet I was immediately accosted +by one of the so-called F. F. V.'s, whose smiling +countenance and extended hand led me to think I was +recognized as an acquaintance. My mind was soon disabused of +that idea, however, for the next instant he had pulled my +watch from its pocket, with the remark, 'what have you +there?' Quick as thought, and before he could realize the +fact, I had seized and recovered the watch, while he held +only a fragment of the chain, and placing it in an inside +pocket, buttoned my coat and replied, 'that is my watch and +you cannot have it.'</p> + +<p>"'Just then I discovered Lieut. Ferguson was receiving a +good deal of attention—a crowd having gathered about +him—and the next moment saw his fine new hat had been +appropriated by one of the rebel soldiers, and he stood +hatless. Seeing one of the rebel officers with a Masonic +badge on his coat, Lieut. F. made himself known as a brother +Mason, and appealed to him for redress. The officer quickly +responded and caused the hat to be returned to its owner, +only to be again stolen, and the thief made to give it up as +before.</p> + +<p>"'In a little while we (seven officers and eighty-five +enlisted men) were formed in four ranks, and surrounded by a +guard, continued the march 'on to Richmond,' but under very +different circumstances from what we had flattered ourselves +would be the case, when only two or three hours before our +brigade-commander had remarked, as he rode by the regiment, +that we would certainly be in Richmond that night. We met a +great many civilians, old and young, on their way to the +front, as a general alarm had been sounded in the city, and +all who could carry arms had been ordered to report for duty +in the intrenchments. After a few miles march we halted for +a rest, but were not allowed to sit down, as I presume the +guards thought we could as well stand as they. Here a squad +of the Richmond Grays, the <i>elite</i> of the city, came up and +accosted us with all manner of vile epithets. One of the +most drunken and boisterous approached within five or six +feet of me, and with the muzzle of his rifle within two feet +of my face swore he would shoot me. Fearless of +consequences, and feeling that immediate death even could +not be worse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> than slow torture by starvation, to which I +knew that so many of our soldiers had been subjected, and +remembering that the Confederate Congress had declared +officers of colored troops outlaws, I replied, as my eyes +met his, 'shoot if you dare.' Instead of carrying out his +threat he withdrew his aim and staggered on. Here Lieut. +Ferguson lost his hat, which had been already twice stolen +and recovered. One of the rebs came up behind him and taking +the hat from his head replaced it with his own and ran off. +The lieutenant consoled himself with the reflection that at +last he had a hat no one would steal.</p> + +<p>"'At about 7 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> we arrived at Libby Prison <i>and were +separated from the enlisted men, who, we afterward learned, +suffered untold hardships, to which many of them succumbed. +Some were claimed as slaves by men who had never known them; +others denied fuel and shelter through the winter, and +sometimes water with which to quench their thirst; the sick +and dying neglected or mal-treated and even murdered by +incompetent and fiendish surgeons; without rations for days +together; shot at without the slightest reason or only to +gratify the caprice of the guards,—all of which harrowing +details were fully corroborated by the few emaciated wrecks +that survived</i>.</p> + +<p>"'We were marched inside the prison, searched, and what +money we had taken from us. I was allowed to retain +pocket-book, knife and watch. Our names were recorded and we +were told to follow the sergeant. Now, I thought, the +question will be decided whether we are to go up stairs +where we knew the officers were quartered, or be confined in +the cells below. As we neared the corner of the large room +and I saw the sergeant directing his steps to the stairs +leading down, I thought it had been better had we fallen on +the battle-field. He led the way down to a cell, and as we +passed in barred and locked the door and left us in +darkness. Here, without rations, the bare stone floor for a +bed, the dampness trickling down the walls on either side, +seven of us were confined in a close room about seven feet +by nine. It was a long night, but finally morning dawned and +as a ray of light shone through the little barred window +above our heads we thanked God we were not in total +darkness. About 9 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> rations, consisting of bread and +meat, were handed in, and being divided into seven parts, +were drawn for by lot. About noon we were taken from the +cell and put in with the other officers. Here we met Capt. +Cook, of the Ninth Regiment, who had been captured about a +month previous while reconnoitering the enemy's line.</p> + +<p>"'We were now in a large room, perhaps forty by ninety feet, +with large windows, entirely destitute of glass. No blankets +nor anything to sit or lie upon except the floor, and at +night when we lay down the floor was literally covered.</p> + +<p>"'About the middle of the second night we were all hurriedly +marched out and packed in filthy box-cars—like sardines, +for there was not room for all to sit down—for an unknown +destination. After a slow and tedious ride we arrived at +Salisbury, N. C. When we arrived there were but few +prisoners, and for two or three days we received fair +rations of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> bread, bean soup and a little meat. This did not +last long, for as the number of prisoners increased our +rations were diminished. There were four old log houses +within the stockade and into these the officers were moved +the next day, while a thousand or more prisoners, brought on +from Petersburg, were turned into the pen without shelter of +any kind. From these we were separated by a line of +sentinels, who had orders to shoot any who approached within +six paces of their beat on either side. This was called the +'dead-line,' which also extended around the enclosure about +six paces from the stockade.</p> + +<p>"'The second Sunday after our arrival, just as we were +assembling to hear preaching, an officer who had +thoughtlessly stepped to a tree on the dead-line was shot +and killed by the sentry, who was on an elevated platform +outside the fence, and only about two rods distant. For this +fiendish act the murderer was granted a sixty days furlough.</p> + +<p>"'Prisoners were being brought in almost daily, and at this +time there were probably six thousand within the enclosure. +A pretence of shelter was furnished by the issue of a few +Sibley tents, but not more than a third of the prisoners +were sheltered. Many of them built mud hovels or burrowed in +the ground; some crawled under the hospital building. Very +few had blankets and all were thinly clad, and the rations +were barely sufficient to sustain life. What wonder that men +lost their strength, spirits, and sometimes reason. The +story of exposure, sickness and death is the same and rivals +that of Andersonville.</p> + +<p>"'The guard was strengthened, a portion of the fence taken +down and a piece of artillery stationed at the corners to +sweep down the crowd, should an outbreak occur. This we had +thought of for some time, and a plan of action was decided +upon. At a given signal all within the enclosure were to +make a break for that part of the fence nearest them, and +then scatter, each one for himself. Of course, some would +probably be killed, but it was hoped most would escape +before the guards could load and fire a second time. This +plot, which was to have been carried out at midnight, was +discovered the previous afternoon. The inside guard, +separating the enlisted-men from the officers, had become +more vigilant, and the only means of communication was to +attach a note to a stone and throw it across. This an +officer attempted. The note fell short; the sentry picked it +up, called the corporal of the guard, who took it to the +officer of the guard, and in less than five minutes the +whole arrangement was known. Two hours afterward we were +formed in line and learned that we were to change our +quarters. We had then been in Salisbury twenty days. Before +we left one of our mess found and brought away a bound copy +of <i>Harper's Magazine</i>. It proved a boon to us, as it served +for a pillow for one of us at night, and was being read by +some one from dawn until night, until we had all read it +through, when we traded it off for a volume of the <i>Portland +Transcript</i>.</p> + +<p>"'We were packed in box cars and started North. The next +morning we arrived at Danville and were confined in a +tobacco warehouse, built of brick and about eighty feet +long, forty wide, and three stories<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> high. When we first +entered the prison the ration was fair in quantity. We had +from twelve to sixteen ounces of corn-bread, and from two to +four ounces of beef or a cup of pea-soup, but never beef and +soup the same day. True, the soup would have an abundance of +worms floating about in it, but these we would skim off, and +trying to forget we had seen them, eat with a relish. Hunger +will drive one to eat almost anything, as we learned from +bitter experience. About the 1st of November the soup and +beef ration began to decrease, and from the middle of the +month to the 20th of February, when I was paroled, not a +ration of meat or soup was issued. Nothing but corn-bread, +made from unbolted meal, and water, and that growing less +and less. Sometimes I would divide my ration into three +parts and resolve to make it last all day, but invariably it +would be gone before noon. Generally I would eat the whole +ration at once, but that did not satisfy my hunger, and I +had to go without a crumb for the next twenty-four hours. To +illustrate how inadequate the ration was, I can say that I +have seen officers picking potato-peelings from the large +spittoons, where they were soaking in tobacco spittle, wash +them off and eat them.</p> + +<p>"'We had an abundance of good, pure water, which was a great +blessing. Pails were furnished, and when five or six men +were ready, the sentry would call the corporal of the guard, +who would send a guard of from four to six with us to the +river, about two hundred yards distant. Twice a day an +officer would come in and call the roll; that is form us +into four ranks and count the files. If any had escaped, it +was essential that the number should be kept good for some +days, to enable them to get a good start, and for this +purpose various means were used. Some, times one of the rear +rank, after being counted, would glide along unseen to the +left of the line and be recounted. A hole was cut in the +upper floor, and while the officer was going upstairs, some +would climb through the hole and be counted with those on +the third floor. This created some confusion, as the number +would occasionally overrun.</p> + +<p>"'As the season advanced we suffered more and more from the +cold, for being captured in September our clothing was not +sufficient for December and January. Very few had blankets, +and the rebel authorities never issued either blankets or +clothing of any kind. The windows of the lower rooms were +without glass, and only the lower half of each boarded up; +the wind would whistle through the large openings, and +drawing up through the open floor, upon which we had to lie +at night, would almost freeze us. I finally succeeded in +trading my watch with one of the guard for an old bed-quilt +and twenty dollars Confederate money. The money came in very +good time, for I then had the scurvy so badly that my +tongue, lips and gums were so swollen that by evening I +could scarcely speak. In the morning the swelling would not +be quite so bad, and by soaking the corn-bread in water, +could manage to swallow a little. The surgeon, who visited +the prison every day, cauterized my mouth, but it continued +to grow worse, until at last I could not eat the coarse +bread. Sometimes I would have a chance to sell it for from +one to two dollars, which, with the twenty, saved me from +starvation. I bought rice of the guard for two dollars the +half-pint, and good-sized potatoes for a dollar each. These +were cooked usually over a little fire in the yard with wood +or chips picked up while going for water. Sometimes, by +waiting patiently for an hour or more, I could get near +enough to the stove to put my cup on. The heating apparatus +was a poor apology for a cylinder coal-stove, and the coal +the poorest I ever saw, and gave so little heat that one +could stand all day by it and shiver.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image43.jpg" width="600" height="361" alt="Escaping Prisoners fed by Negroes in their Master's +Barn." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Escaping Prisoners fed by Negroes in their Master's +Barn.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'The bed-quilt was quite narrow, but very much better than +none.</p> + +<p>"'Capt. Weiss and I would spread our flannel coats on the +floor, use our shoes for pillows, spread the quilt over us, +and with barely space to turn over, would, if the night was +not too cold, go to sleep; usually to dream of home and +loved ones; of Christmas festivities and banquets; of trains +of army wagons so overloaded with pies and cakes that they +were rolling into the road; of a general exchange; a thirty +day's leave of absence, and a thousand things altogether +unlike that which we were experiencing; and would wake only +to find ourselves cold and hungry.</p> + +<p>"'Our mess had the volume of <i>Harper's Magazine</i>, found at +Salisbury, and we each could have it an hour or more daily. +A few games of checkers or cribbage, played sitting on the +floor, tailor-fashion, were always in order. All who were +accustomed to smoking would manage to secure a supply of +tobacco at least sufficient for one smoke per day, and, if +they could not obtain it in any other way, would sell half +their scanty ration, and perhaps get enough to last a week. +It was a good place to learn how to economize. I have known +some to refuse a light from the pipe, for fear of losing a +grain of the precious weed. Evenings we would be in +darkness, and as we could not move about without frequent +collisions, would gather in little groups and talk of home, +friends, and the good time coming, when we would have one +good, square meal; arrange the bill of fare, comprising all +the delicacies that heart could wish, or a morbid mind +prompted by a starving stomach could conceive; lay plans for +escape and discuss the route to be followed; sing a few +hymns and the national airs, and wind up with 'We'll Hang +Jeff Davis on a Sour Apple Tree.'</p> + +<p>"'There were with us two officers who, when we arrived at +Salisbury, had been in solitary confinement and whom the +rebels were holding as hostages for two guerillas whom Gen. +Burnside had condemned to be shot. When the removal of the +officers to Danville occurred, these two were released from +close confinement and sent on with us, and it was thought +they were no longer considered as hostages. They had planned +an escape and well nigh succeeded. They had dug a hole +through the brick wall, and passing into an adjoining +unoccupied building, cut through the floor, dug under the +stone foundation and were just coming through on the +outside, when some one in passing stepped on the thin crust +and fell in. Whether he or the men digging were the most +frightened it would be hard to tell. The next morning these +two who had worked so hard to regain their liberty were +taken out and probably placed in close confinement again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'After this attempt to escape, the rebel authorities made +an effort to rob us of everything, particularly +pocket-knives, watches, or any thing that could aid us to +escape. In this they were foiled. They made us all go to one +end of the room and placing a guard through the middle, +searched us one by one and passed us to the other side. If +one had a knife, watch or money, he had only to toss it over +to some one already searched, and when his turn came would +have nothing to show.</p> + +<p>"'The guards would not allow us to stand by the windows, and +on one occasion, without warning, fired through a +second-story window and badly wounded an officer on the +third floor.</p> + +<p>"'My shoes were nearly worn out when I was captured, and +soon became so worn that I could only keep <i>sole</i> and <i>body</i> +together by cutting strings from the edge of the uppers and +lacing them together. These strings would wear but a little +while, and frequent cuttings had made the shoes very low.</p> + +<p>"'Toward the last of January, Capt. Cook received +intelligence that a special exchange had been effected in +his case and he was to start at once for the North. Here was +an opportunity to communicate with our comrades and friends, +for up to this time we did not know whether any of our +letters had been received. Capt. Cook had a pair of good +stout brogans. These shoes he urged me to take in exchange +for my dilapidated ones. At first, I felt reluctant to do +so, but finally made the exchange and he left us with a +light heart, but his anticipations were not realized, for +instead of going directly North he was detained in Libby +Prison until just before the rest of us arrived, and when we +reached Annapolis he was still there awaiting his leave, and +had been obliged to wear my old shoes until two days +previous.</p> + +<p>"'Rumors of a general exchange began to circulate, and a few +boxes of provisions and clothing, sent by Northern friends, +were delivered. Among the rest, was a well-filled box from +the officers of our regiment, and twelve hundred dollars +Confederate money (being the equivalent of sixty dollars +greenbacks) which they had kindly contributed. Could we have +received the box and money in November, instead of just +before our release, we could have subsisted quite +comfortably all winter. As it was, we lived sumptuously as +long as the contents of the box lasted, and when about a +week later we started for Richmond to be paroled, we had +drawn considerably upon the twelve hundred dollars.</p> + +<p>"'February 17th, we left Danville for Richmond and were +again quartered in Libby. On the 19th, we signed the parole +papers.</p> + +<p>"'The second morning after signing the rolls, one of the +clerks came in and said that for want of transportation, +only a hundred would be sent down the river that day, and +the rest would follow soon; that those whose names were +called would fall in on the lower floor, ready to start. As +he proceeded to call the roll there was a death-like +stillness, and each listened anxiously to hear his own name. +Of our mess only one name was called. As he stopped reading +and folded his rolls and turned to leave, I thought, what if +our army should commence active operations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> and put an end +to the exchange, and resolved to go with the party that day, +if possible. I had noticed that the clerk had not called the +names in their order nor checked them, and knew he could not +tell who had been called. I therefore hurried down to the +lower floor and fell in with the rest, thinking all the time +of the possibility of detection and the consequent solitary +confinement, and although my conscience was easy so far as +the papers I had signed were concerned—for I had only +agreed not to take up arms until duly exchanged—I did not +breath freely until I had disembarked from the boat and was +under the Stars and Stripes. Fortunately, the rest of the +party came down on the boat the next day.</p> + +<p>"'One other incident and I am done: Sergt. Henry Jordan, of +Company C, was wounded and captured with the rest of us, but +on account of his wounds was unable to be sent South with +the other enlisted-men. After his recovery he was kept as a +servant about the office of Major Turner, the commandant of +the prison, and when, on the 2d of April, 1865, the rebels +evacuated Richmond and paroled the prisoners, he remained +until our forces came in and took possession of the city. +When, a few days later, Maj. Turner was captured by our +troops and confined in the same cell we had occupied, Sergt. +Jordan was detailed to carry him his rations, and although +he was not of a vindictive or revengeful disposition, I will +venture to say that the rations allowed Turner were not much +better than had been given the sergeant through the winter. +Had Turner been guarded by such men as Henry Jordan, or even +by the poorest soldiers of the regiment, he would not have +escaped within three days of his capture, as was the case.'"</p></div> + +<p>Very few of the black soldiers were exchanged, though the confederate +government pretended to recognize them and treat them as they did the +whites. General Taylor's reply to General Grant, was the general policy +applied to them when convenient. In the latter days of the war, when—in +June, 1864, at Guntown, Miss.,—the confederate Gen. Forrest attacked +and routed the Union forces, under Sturgis, through the stupidity of the +latter, (alluded to more at length a few pages further on,) a number of +black soldiers were captured, Sturgis having had several Phalanx +regiments in his command. The confederates fought with desperation, and +with their usual "no quarter," because, as Forrest alleges, the Phalanx +regiments meant to retaliate for his previous massacre of the blacks at +Fort Pillow. Seeking to justify the inhuman treatment of his black +prisoners, he wrote as follows to General Washburn, commanding the +District of West Tennessee:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It has been reported to me that all of your colored troops +stationed in Memphis took, on their knees, in the presence +of Major General Hurlburt and other officers of your army, +an oath to avenge Fort Pillow, and that they would show my +troops no quarter. Again I have it from indisputable +authority that the troops under Brigadier General Sturgis on +their recent march from Memphis, publicly, and in many +places, proclaimed that no quarter would be shown my men. As +they were moved into action on the 10th they were exhorted +by their officers to remember Fort Pillow. The prisoners we +have captured from that command, or a large majority of +them, have voluntarily stated that they expected us to +murder them, otherwise they would have surrendered in a body +rather than have taken to the bushes after being run down +and exhausted."</p></div> + +<p>The massacre at Fort Pillow had a very different effect upon the black +soldiers than it was doubtless expected to have. Instead of weakening +their courage it stimulated them to a desire of retaliation; not in the +strict sense of that term, but to fight with a determination to subdue +and bring to possible punishment, the men guilty of such atrocious +conduct. Had General Sturgis been competent of commanding, Forrest would +have found himself and his command no match for the Phalanx at Guntown +and Brice's Cross Roads. Doubtless Forrest was startled by the reply of +General Washburn, who justly recognized the true impulse of the Phalanx. +He replied to Forrest, June 19, 1864, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"You say in your letter that it has been reported to you +that all the negro troops stationed in Memphis took an oath, +on their knees, in the presence of Major General Hurlburt +and other officers of our army, to avenge Fort Pillow and +that they would show your troops no quarter. I believe it is +true that the colored troops did take such an oath, but not +in the presence of General Hurlburt. From what I can learn +this act of theirs was not influenced by any white officer, +but was the result of their own sense of what was due to +themselves and their fellows who had been mercilessly +slaughtered."</p></div> + +<p>The chief of Forrest's artillery writes in the Philadelphia <i>Times</i>, in +September, 1883:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Col. Arthur T. Reeve, who commanded the Fifty-fifth Colored +Infantry in this fight, tells me that no oath was taken by +his troops that ever he heard of, but the impression +prevailed that the black flag was raised, and on his side +was raised to all intents and purposes. He himself fully +expected to be killed if captured. Impressed with this +notion a double effect was produced. It made the Federals +afraid to surrender<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> and greatly exasperated our men, and in +the break-up the affair became more like a hunt for wild +game than a battle between civilized men."</p></div> + +<p>In his description of the battle at Brice's Cross Roads, he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The entire Confederate force was brought into action at +once. We kept no reserves; every movement was quickly +planned and executed with the greatest celerity. A potent +factor which made the battle far bloodier than it would have +been, was it being reported, and with some degree of truth, +that the negroes had been sworn on their knees in line +before leaving Memphis to show 'no quarter to Forrest's +men,' and badges were worn upon which were inscribed, +'Remember Fort Pillow.' General Washburn, commanding the +district of West Tennessee, distinctly admits that the negro +troops with Sturgis had gone into this fight with the +declared intention to give no quarter to Forrest's men."</p></div> + +<p>The fate of the black soldiers taken in these fights is unknown, which +is even worse than of those who are known to have been massacred.</p> + +<p>The details of the massacre at Fort Pillow have been reserved for this +portion of the present chapter in order to state them more at length, +and in connection with important movements which soon after took place +against the same confederate force.</p> + +<p>The most atrocious of all inhuman acts perpetrated upon a brave +soldiery, took place at Fort Pillow, Kentucky, on the 13th of April, +1864. No cause can be assigned for the shocking crime of wanton, +indiscriminate murder of some three hundred soldiers, other than that +they were "niggers," and "fighting with niggers."</p> + +<p>On the 12th, General Forrest suddenly appeared before Fort Pillow with a +large force, and demanded its surrender. The fort was garrisoned by 557 +men in command of Major L. F. Booth, consisting of the 13th Tennessee +Cavalry, Major Bradford, and the 6th Phalanx Battery of heavy artillery, +numbering 262 men, and six guns. At sunrise on the 13th, General +Forrest's forces advanced and attacked the fort. The garrison maintained +a steady brisk fire, and kept the enemy at bay from an outer line of +intrenchments. About 9 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Major Booth was killed, and Major Bradford +taking command, drew the troops back into the Fort, situated on a high, +steep and partially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> timbered bluff on the Mississippi river, with a +ravine on either hand. A federal gunboat, the "New Era," assisted in the +defence, but the height of the bluff prevented her giving material +support to the garrison. In the afternoon both sides ceased firing, to +cool and clean their guns. During this time, Forrest, under a flag of +truce, summoned the federals to surrender within a half hour. Major +Bradford refused to comply with the demand. Meantime the confederates +taking advantage of the truce to secret themselves down in a ravine, +from whence they could rush upon the Fort at a given signal. No sooner +was Bradford's refusal to surrender received, than the confederates +rushed simultaneously into the Fort. In a moment almost the place was in +their possession. The garrison, throwing away their arms fled down the +steep banks, endeavoring to hide from the promised "no quarter," which +Forrest had embodied in his demand for surrender: "<i>If I have to storm +your works, you may expect no quarter.</i>" The confederates followed, +"butchering black and white soldiers and non-combatants, men, women and +children. Disabled men were made to stand up and be shot; others were +burned within the tents wherein they had been nailed to the floor." This +carnival of murder continued until dark, and was even renewed the next +morning. Major Bradford was not murdered until he had been carried as a +prisoner several miles on the retreat.</p> + +<p>It is best that the evidence in this matter, as given in previous pages +of this chapter, should be read. It is unimpeachable, though Forrest, S. +D. Lee and Chalmers have attempted to deny the infernal work. The last +named, under whose command these barbarous acts were committed, offered +on the floor of the United States Congress, fifteen years afterward, an +apologetic denial of what appears from the evidence of those who +escaped,—taken by the Congressional Committee,—and also contradictory +to the confederate General S. D. Lee's report, in which he fails to +convince himself even of the inaccuracy of the reports of brutality, as +made by the few who escaped being murdered. Lee says:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image44.jpg" width="600" height="435" alt="THE MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW.—April 12th, 1864." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW.—April 12th, 1864.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its +commanding officer assumed the responsibility of refusing to +surrender after having been informed by General Forrest of +his ability to take the Fort, and of his fears of what the +result would be in case the demand was not complied with. +The assault was made under a heavy fire, and with +considerable loss to the attacking party. Your colors were +never lowered, and your garrison never surrendered, but +retreated under cover of a gunboat, with arms in their hands +and constantly using them. This was true particularly of +your colored troops, who had been firmly convinced by your +teaching of the certainty of slaughter, in case of capture. +Even under these circumstances, many of your men, white and +black, were taken prisoners."</p></div> + +<p>Continuing, he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The case under consideration is almost an extreme one. You +had a servile race armed against us. I assert that our +officers with all the circumstances against them endeavored +to prevent the effusion of blood."</p></div> + +<p>This is an admission that the massacre of the garrison actually +occurred, and because Phalanx troops were a part of the garrison. That +the black soldiers had been taught that no quarter would be shown them +if captured, or if they surrendered, is doubtless true. It is also too +true that the teaching was the <i>truth</i>. One has but to read the summons +for the surrender to be satisfied of the fact, and then recollect that +the President of the Confederate States, in declaring General Butler an +outlaw, also decreed that negroes captured with arms in their hands, +their officers as well, should be turned over to the State authorities +wherein they were captured, to be dealt with according to the laws of +that State and the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>The sentiment of the chief confederate commander regarding the +employment of negroes in the Union army, notwithstanding the Confederate +Government was the first to arm and muster them into service, as shown +in previous and later chapters, is manifested by the following dispatch, +though at the time of writing it, that General had hundreds of blacks +under his command at Charleston building fortifications.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Charleston</span>, S. C., Oct. 13th, 1862.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Hon. Wm. P. Miles, Richmond, Va.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Has the bill for the execution of abolition prisoners, +after January next, been passed? Do it, and England will be +stirred into action. It is high time to proclaim the black +flag after that period: let the execution be with the +garrote. <span class="smcap">G. T. Beauregard.</span>"</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p> + +<p>The confederate thirst for "nigger" blood seemed to have been no +stronger in Kentucky than in other Departments, but it does appear, for +some reason, that Kentucky and northern Mississippi were selected by the +confederate generals, Pillow and Forrest, as appropriate sections in +which to particularly vent their spite. The success of Forrest at Fort +Pillow rather strengthened General Beauford's inhumanity. He commanded a +portion of Pillow's forces which appeared before Columbus the day after +the Fort Pillow massacre, and in the following summons demanded its +surrender:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus, +Ky.</i>:</p> + +<p>"Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison, I desire +to avoid shedding blood. I therefore demand the +unconditional surrender of the forces under your command. +Should you surrender, the negroes in arms will be returned +to their masters. Should I be compelled to take the place by +force, <i>no quarter will be shown negro troops whatever</i>; +white troops will be treated as prisoners of war.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am, sir, yours,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">A. Beauford</span>, Brig. Gen."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Colonel Lawrence, of the 34th New Jersey, declined to surrender, and +drove the enemy off, who next appeared in Paducah, but retired without +making an assault upon the garrison.</p> + +<p>These occurrences, with the mysterious surrender of Union City to +Forrest, on the 16th of March, so incensed the commander of the +Department that a strong force was organized, and in command of General +S. D. Sturgis, started, on the 30th of April, in pursuit of Forrest and +his men, but did not succeed in overtaking him. A few weeks later, +General Sturgis, with a portion of his former force, combined with that +of General Smith's,—just returning from the Red River (Banks) +<i>fiasco</i>,—again went in pursuit of General Forrest. At Guntown, on the +10th of June, Sturgis' cavalry, under General Grierson, came up with the +enemy, charged upon them, and drove them back upon their infantry posted +near Brice's Cross Roads. General Grierson, needing support, sent back +for the infantry, which was several miles in his rear. The day was +intensely hot, and the roads, from constant rains, in very bad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> +condition. However, Sturgis marched the troops up at double-quick to the +position where General Grierson was holding the confederates in check. +The infantry had become so exhausted when they reached the scene of +action, that they were unable to fight as they otherwise would have +done. Sturgis, either ignorant of what was going on or incapacitated for +the work, heightened the disorder at the front by permitting his train +of over two hundred wagons to be pushed up close to the troops, thus +blocking their rear, and obstructing their manœuvring; finally the +wagons were parked a short distance from the lines and in sight of the +foe. The troops exhausted by the rapid march, without proper formation +or commanders, had been brought up to the support of the cavalry, who +were hotly engaged with the enemy, whose desperation was increased at +the sight of the Phalanx regiments. General Beauford had joined Forrest, +augmenting his force 4,000. Sturgis' force numbered about 12,000, in +cavalry, artillery and infantry. Forrest was well provided with +artillery, which was up early and took a position in an open field +enfilading the Federal line, which fought with a determination worthy of +a better fate than that which befel it.</p> + +<p>A confederate writer says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At early dawn on the 10th Lyon took the advance, with +Morton's artillery close behind, Rucker and Johnson +following. Meanwhile, Bell, as we have stated, at Rienzi, +eight miles further north, was ordered to move up at a trot. +The roads, soaked with water from recent continuous heavy +rains and so much cut up by the previous passage of cavalry +and trains, greatly retarded the progress of the artillery, +so that Rucker and Johnson soon passed us. On reaching old +Carrollville, five miles northeast of Brice's Cross Roads, +heavy firing could be heard just on ahead. Forrest, as was +his custom, had passed to the front of the entire column +with his escort.</p> + +<p>"He had, however, ordered Lieutenant R. J. Black, a dashing +young officer, temporarily attached to his staff, to take a +detachment of men from the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry and +move forward and develop the enemy. Black soon reported that +he had met the advance of the Federal cavalry one and a half +miles from Brice's Cross Roads and there was skirmishing +with them. General Forrest ordered Lyon to press forward +with his brigade. A courier hastening back to the artillery +said: 'General Forrest says, 'Tell Captain Morton to fetch +up the artillery at a gallop.' Lyon in the meantime had +reached the enemy's outposts, dismounted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> his brigade and +thrown it into line and had warmly opposed a strong line of +infantry or dismounted cavalry, which, after stubborn +resistance, had been driven back to within half a mile of +Brice's Cross Roads."</p></div> + +<p>The columns of the Federals could not do more than retreat, and if they +had been able to do this in any order, and recover from their +exhaustion, they would have been ready to drive the foe, but they were +hotly pursued by the confederates, who were continually receiving +re-enforcements. It was soon evident that the confederates intended to +gain the rear and capture the whole of the Union troops. The Federals, +therefore, began to retire leisurely.</p> + +<p>Says the confederate account:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"General Forrest directed General Buford to open vigorously +when he heard Bell on the left, and, taking with him his +escort and Bell's Brigade, moved rapidly around +southeastward to the Guntown-Ripley road. He formed Wilson's +and Russel's Regiments on the right of the road, extending +to Rucker's left, and placed Newsom's Regiment on the left +of the road; Duffs Regiment, of Rucker's Brigade, was placed +on the left of Newsom; Captain H. A. Tyler, commanding +Company A, Twelfth Kentucky, was ordered by Lyon and +subsequently by Forrest to take his company, with Company C, +Seventh Kentucky, and keep mounted on the extreme left of +the line. The escort, under Captain Jackson, moved around +the extreme left of the line, and on striking the Baldwyn +and Pontotoc road about two miles south of the cross roads +had a sharp skirmish and pressed the enemy's cavalry back to +where Tishamingo creek crosses that road; here it was joined +by Captain Gartrell's Georgia company and a Kentucky +company. By mutual agreement Captain Jackson, of the escort, +was placed in command of the three companies and Lieutenant +George L. Cowan in command of the escort. Meanwhile General +Buford had ordered Barteau's Second Tennessee Cavalry to +move across the country and gain the Federal rear, and if +possible destroy their trains and then strike them in +flank."</p></div> + +<p>The gallant conduct of the Federal cavalry inspired the other troops. +They made a stand, and for awhile advanced, driving the confederate line +before them on the right, doubling it up and gaining the rear.</p> + +<p>The same writer says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It was at this critical moment an officer of Bell's staff +dashed up to General Forrest, very much excited, and said: +'General Forrest, the enemy flanked us and are now in our +rear. What shall be done?' Forrest, turning in his saddle, +very coolly replied: 'We'll whip these in our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> front and +then turn around, and wont we be in their rear? And then +we'll whip them fellows!' pointing in the direction of the +force said to be in his rear. Jackson and Tyler, charging on +the extreme left, drove back two colored regiments of +infantry upon their main line at the cross roads. In this +charge the gallant Captain Tyler was severely wounded.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile the Federals, with desperation, hurled a double +line of battle, with the four guns at Brice's house +concentrated upon Rucker and Bell, which for a moment seemed +to stagger and make them waver. In this terrible onslaught +the accomplished Adjutant, Lieutenant W. S. Pope, of the +Seventh Tennessee, was killed, and a third of his regiment +was killed and wounded. Soon another charge was sounded. +Lieutenant Tully Brown was ordered, with his section of +three-inch rifles, close on the front at the Porter house, +from which position he hurled a thousand pounds of cold iron +into their stubborn lines. A section of twelve-pounder +howitzers, under Lieutenant B. F. Haller, pressed still +further to the front and within a stone's throw almost of +the enemy's line. Mayson's section of three-inch rifles were +quickly placed in line with Haller's. Just then, General +Buford, riding up and seeing no support to the artillery, +called General Forrest's attention to the fact, when Forrest +remarked: 'Support, h—l; let it support itself; all the +d—n Yankees in the country can't take it."'</p></div> + +<p>The lines were now closing upon each other, and the confederates began +to feel the effect of the Union fire. The dash of the Phalanx, charging +the enemy's flank, gave renewed courage to the troops, now pouring +deadly volleys into the confederate's faces, and their guns had gained a +position, from which they began to sweep the enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>Says the same account:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Now rose the regular incessant volleys of musketry and +artillery. The lines in many places were not over thirty +paces apart and pistols were freely used. The smoke of +battle almost hid the combatants. The underbrush and dense +black-jack thickets impeded the advance of the dismounted +cavalry as the awful musketry fire blazed and gushed in the +face of these gallant men. Every tree and brush was barked +or cut to the ground by this hail of deadly missiles. It was +here the accomplished and gallant William H. Porter, brother +of Major Thomas K. and Governor James D. Porter, fell +mortally wounded. This promising young officer had not +attained his manhood. He was a cadet in the regular +Confederate States army and had been ordered to report to +General Bell, who assigned him to duty as A. D. C. Captain +J. L. Bell, General Bell's Assistant Inspector-General, had +just been killed from his horse, and almost at the same +moment young Porter lost his own horse and just mounted +Captain Bell's when he received the fatal shot. Lieutenant +Isaac Bell, aide-de-camp of Bell's staff, was severely +wounded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> The loss in officers right here was very heavy; +sixteen were killed and sixty-one wounded. Captain Ab Hust, +a mere boy, who commanded Bell's escort, rendered most +efficient service at this critical juncture, and Major Tom +Allison, the fighting Quartermaster of Bell's Brigade, was +constantly by the side of his fearless commander, and in +this terrible loss in staff officers his presence was most +opportune.</p> + +<p>"Like a prairie on fire the battle raged and the volleying +thunder can be likened in my mind to nothing else than the +fire of Cleburne's Division at Chickamauga, on that terrible +Saturday at dusk. At length the enemy's lines wavered, +Haller and Mayson pressed their guns by hand to within a +short distance of Brice's house, firing as they advanced. +Bell, Lyon and Rucker now closed in on the cross roads and +the Federals gave way in disorder, abandoning three guns +near Brice's house. General Sturgis, in his official report +of the fight, says: 'We had four pieces of artillery at the +cross roads. * * * Finding our troops were being hotly +pressed, I ordered one section to open on the enemy's +reserves. The enemy's artillery soon replied, and with great +accuracy, every shell bursting over and in the immediate +vicinity of our guns.' A shell from one of the Confederate +guns struck the table in Brice's porch, was used by General +Sturgis, stunning that officer."</p></div> + +<p>The terrible struggle which now ensued was not surpassed, according to +an eye-witness, by the fighting of any troops. The Phalanx were +determined, if courage could do it, to whip the men who had so dastardly +massacred the garrison of Fort Pillow. This fact was known to Forrest, +Buford and their troops, who fought like men realizing that anything +short of victory was death, and well may they have thus thought, for +every charge the Phalanx made meant annihilation. They, too, accepted +the portentous fiat, victory or death.</p> + +<p>Though more than twenty years have passed since this bloody fight, yet +the chief of the confederate artillery portrays the situation in these +words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Is was soon evident that another strong line had formed +behind the fence by the skirt of woods just westward of +Phillips' branch. General Forrest riding up, dismounted and +approached our guns, which were now plying shell and solid +shot. With his field glasses he took in the situation. The +enemy's shot were coming thick and fast; leaden balls were +seen to flatten as they would strike the axles and tires of +our gun carriages; trees were barked and the air was ladened +with the familiar but unpleasant sound of these death +messengers.</p> + +<p>"Realizing General Forrest's exposure, we involuntarily +ventured the suggestion that, 'You had better get lower down +the hill, General.' Instantly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> we apologized, as we expected +the General to intimate that it was none of our business +where he went. He, however, stepped down the hill out of +danger and seating himself behind a tree, seemed for a few +moments in deep study, but soon the head of our cavalry +column arriving, he turned to me and said: 'Captain, as soon +as you hear me open on the right and flank of the enemy over +yonder,' pointing to the enemy's position, 'charge with your +artillery down that lane and cross the branch.' The genial +and gallant Captain Rice coming up at this time and hearing +the order, turned to me and said: 'By G—d! whoever heard of +artillery charging?' Captain Brice's Battery had been +stationed at Columbus, Miss., and other points on local +duty, and only a few months previous had been ordered and +assigned to our command. He accepted his initiation into the +ways and methods of horse artillery with much spirit and +good grace.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile, watching Forrest at the head of the cavalry +moving through the woods and across the field in the +direction of the enemy's right, I directed Lieutenants +Tully, Brown and H. H. Briggs, whose sections had been held +in the road below the Hadden house for an emergency, to be +ready to move into action at a moments notice. The enemy, +observing our cavalry passing to their right, began to break +and retire through the woods. Forrest, seeing this, dashed +upon them in column of fours. At the same moment Lieutenant +Brown pressed his section down the road, even in advance of +the skirmish line, and opened a terrific fire upon the +enemy, now breaking up and in full retreat. Lieutenant +Briggs also took an advanced position and got in a few +well-directed shots. Brown's section and a section of Rice's +Battery were pushed forward across Phillips' branch and up +the hill under a sharp fire, the former taking position on +the right of the road and the latter in the road just where +the road turns before reaching Dr. Agnew's house.</p> + +<p>"Our skirmishers had driven the enemy's skirmishers upon +their main line, when we were about to make another +artillery charge, but distinctly hearing the Federal +officers giving orders to their men to stand steady and +yell, 'Remember Fort Pillow.' 'Charge! charge! charge!' ran +along their lines, and on they came. Our right was pressed +back on the 'negro avengers of Fort Pillow.' They moved +steadily upon our guns and for a moment their loss seemed +imminent. Our cannoneers, standing firm and taking in the +situation, drove double-shotted cannister into this +advancing line. The cavalry rallying on our guns sent death +volleys into their ranks, which staggered the enemy and +drove them back, but only to give place to a new line that +now moved down upon us with wild shouts and got almost +within hand-shaking distance of our guns.</p> + +<p>"Lyon coming up opportunely at this moment formed his +brigade on our right, and springing forward with loud +cheers, hurled them back with so stormful an onset that +their entire line gave way in utter rout and confusion. +Lieutenant Brown's horse was shot under him. The gallant +young soldier, Henry King, of Rice's Battery, fell with his +rammer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> staff in hand, mortally wounded. His grave now marks +the spot where he fell. Several members of the artillery +were wounded and a great many battery horses were killed. +The reason for this desperate stand was soon discovered. The +road was filled with their wagons, ambulances and many +caissons, the dying and wounded. Cast-away arms, +accoutrements, baggage, dead animals and other evidences of +a routed army were conspicuous on every side. The sun had +set, but the weary and over-spent Confederates maintained +the pursuit for some five or six miles beyond and until it +became quite too dark to go further. A temporary halt was +ordered, when a section from each battery was directed to be +equipped with ammunition and the best horses from their +respective batteries and be ready to continue the pursuit at +daylight."</p></div> + +<p>The rout was all the enemy could desire, the Federals fought with a +valor creditable to any troops, but were badly worsted, through the +incompetency of Sturgis. They were driven back to Ripley, in a most +disastrously confused state, leaving behind their trains, artillery, +dead and wounded. But for the gallantry of the Phalanx, the enemy would +have captured the entire force.</p> + +<p>The same writer describes the rout:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Johnson, pressing his brigade forward upon the enemy's +position at Brice's Quarter, with Lyon supporting the +artillery in the road below Brice's house, the position was +soon captured with many prisoners and three pieces of +artillery. Hallers and Mayson's sections were moved up at a +gallop and established on the hill at Brice's Quarter and +opened a destructive fire with double-shotted cannister upon +the enemy's fleeing columns and wagon trains. The bridge +over Tishamingo creek, still standing, was blocked up with +wagons, some of whose teams had been killed. Finding the +bridge thus obstructed the enemy rushed wildly into the +creek, and as they emerged from the water on the opposite +bank in an open field, our artillery played upon them for +half a mile, killing and disabling large numbers. Forrests +escort, under the dashing Lieutenant Cowan, having become +detached in the meantime, had pressed around to the west +side of the creek and south of the Ripley road, and here +made one of its characteristic charges across an open field +near the gin house, upon the enemy's wagon train, capturing +several wagons.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile Barteau was not idle. He had moved his regiment, +as we have stated, across to get in the enemy's rear, and in +his own language says: 'I took my regiment across the +country westward, to reach the Ripley road, on which the +enemy was moving, and being delayed somewhat in passing +through a swampy bottom, I did not reach that road, at +Lyon's gin, three miles from Brice's Cross Roads, until +probably 1 o'clock. I then learned that the last of the +Federal regiments, with all their train, had passed by rapid +march, and as there was now a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> lull in the engagement (for I +had been hearing sharp firing in front), I greatly feared +that Forrest was defeated and that the Federals were pushing +him back, so I moved rapidly down the road till I reached +the open field near the bridge.'</p> + +<p>"This could not have been the Ripley Guntown road, as that +road was filled with Federal troops, wagons and artillery +from Dr. Agnew's house to the cross roads, a distance of two +miles. 'Having placed some sharpshooters, whose sole +attention was to be directed to the bridge,' he continues, +'I extended my line nearly half a mile, and began an attack +by scattering shots at the same time. Sounding my bugle from +various points along the line, almost immediately a +reconnoitering force of the enemy appeared at the bridge, +and being fired upon returned. This was followed, perhaps, +by a regiment, and then a whole brigade came down to the +creek. My men, taking good aim, fired upon them coolly and +steady. Soon I saw wagons, artillery, etc., pushing for the +bridge. These were shot at by my sharpshooters. I now began +to contract my line and collect my regiment, for the +Federals came pouring in immense numbers across the creek. +Your artillery was doing good work. Even the bullets from +the small arms of the Confederates reached my men. I +operated upon the flank of the enemy until after dark.'</p> + +<p>"The wagons blockading the bridge were soon removed by being +thrown into the stream and a section from each battery was +worked across by hand, supported by the escort, and brought +to bear upon a negro brigade with fearful loss; the other +two sections were quickly to the front, ahead of any support +for the moment, and drove the enemy from the ridge back of +Holland's house across Dry creek. The cavalry in the +meantime had halted, reorganized and soon joined in the +pursuit. The road was narrow, with dense woods on each side, +so that it was impossible to use more than four pieces at a +time, but that number were kept close upon the heels of the +retreating enemy and a murderous fire prevented them from +forming to make a stand.</p> + +<p>"The ridge extending southward from the Hadden house offered +a strong natural position for defensive operations. Upon +this ridge the Federals had established a line of battle, +but a few well directed shots from the artillery stationed +near the Holland house and a charge by our cavalry across +Dry creek readily put them to flight. A section of each +battery was ordered at a gallop to this ridge, which was +reached in time to open with a few rounds of double-shotted +cannister upon their demoralized ranks as they hastily +retreated through the open fields on either side of Phillips +branch. Our cannoneers were greatly blown and well nigh +exhausted from excessive heat and continuous labor at their +guns for full five hours. We noticed a number drink with +apparant relish the black powder water from the sponge +buckets."</p></div> + +<p>The enemy followed the fleeing column, capturing and wounding many at +the town of Ripley. Next morning the Federals made a stand. Again the +Phalanx bore the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> brunt of the battle, and when finally the troops +stampeded, held the confederates in check until the white troops were +beyond capture. But this was all they could do, and this was indeed an +heroic act.</p> + +<p>The confederate says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Long before daylight found us moving rapidly to overtake +the flying foe. We had changed positions. The cavalry now +being in advance, overtook the enemy at Stubb's farm; a +sharp skirmish ensued, when they broke, leaving the +remainder of their wagon train. Fourteen pieces of artillery +and some twenty-five ambulances, with a number of wounded, +were left in Little Hatchie bottom, further on. The +discomfited Federals were badly scattered throughout the +country. Forrest, therefore, threw out his regiment on +either side of the roads to sweep the vicinity. A number +were killed and many prisoners captured before reaching +Ripley, twenty-five miles from Brice's Cross Roads. At this +point two strong lines were formed across the road. After a +spirited onset the Federals broke, leaving one piece of +artillery, two caissons, two ambulances. Twenty-one killed +and seventy wounded were also left on the field. Colonel G. +M. McCraig, of the One Hundred and Twentieth Illinois +Infantry, was among the killed; also Captain W. J. Tate, +Seventh Tennessee Cavalry. This was accomplished just as the +artillery reached the front.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Frank Rodgers, of Rucker's staff, the night +previous, with a small, select detachment of men, assisted +by Captain Gooch, with the remnant of his company, hung +constantly upon the Federal rear, with a daring never +surpassed. Their series of attacks greatly harrassed and +annoyed the enemy, numbers of whom were killed and wounded. +The artillery followed to Salem, twenty-five miles distant +from Ripley."</p></div> + +<p>The Phalanx regiments would not consent to be whipped, even with the +black flag flying in their front, and deserted by their white comrades. +A correspondent of the Cleveland <i>Leader</i>, in giving an account of this +"miserable affair," writes:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"About sunrise, June 11, the enemy advanced on the town of +Ripley, and threatened our right, intending to cut us off +from the Salem Road. Again the colored troops were the only +ones that could be brought into line; the Fifty-ninth being +on the right, and the Fifty-fifth on the left, holding the +streets. At this time, the men had not more than ten rounds +of ammunition, and the enemy were crowding closer and still +closer, when the Fifty-ninth were ordered to charge on them, +which they did in good style, while singing,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"'We'll rally round the flag, boys.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This charge drove the enemy back, so that both regiments +retreated to a pine grove about two hundred yards distant.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> + +<p>"By this time, all the white troops, except one squadron of +cavalry, that formed in the rear, were on the road to Salem +and, when this brigade came up, they, too, wheeled and left, +and in less than ten minutes this now little band of colored +troops found themselves flanked. They then divided +themselves into three squads, and charged the enemy's lines; +one squad taking the old Corinth Road, then a by-road, to +the left. After a few miles, they came to a road leading to +Grand Junction. After some skirmishing, they arrived, with +the loss of one killed and one wounded.</p> + +<p>"Another and the largest squad covered the retreat of the +white troops, completely defending them by picking up the +ammunition thrown away by them, and with it repelling the +numerous assaults made by the rebel cavalry, until they +reached Collierville, a distance of sixty miles. When the +command reached Dan's Mills, the enemy attempted to cut it +off by a charge; but the colored boys in the rear formed, +and repelled the attack, allowing the whole command to pass +safely on, when they tore up the bridge. Passing on to an +open country, the officers halted, and re-organized the +brigade into an effective force. They then moved forward +until about four, <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>; when some Indian flank skirmishers +discovered the enemy, who came up to the left, and in the +rear, and halted. Soon a portion advanced, when a company +faced about and fired, emptying three saddles. From this +time until dark, the skirmishing was constant.</p> + +<p>"A corporal in Company C, Fifty-ninth, was ordered to +surrender. He let his would-be captor come close to him; +when he struck him with the butt of his gun.</p> + +<p>"While the regiment was fighting in a ditch, and the order +came to retreat, the color-bearer threw out the flag, +designing to jump out and get it; but the rebels rushed for +it, and in the struggle one of the boys knocked down with +his gun the reb who had the flag, caught it, and ran.</p> + +<p>"A rebel, with an oath, ordered one of our men to surrender. +He, thinking the reb's gun was loaded, dropped his gun; but, +on seeing the reb commence loading, our colored soldier +jumped for his gun, and with it struck his captor dead.</p> + +<p>"Capt. H., being surrounded by about a dozen rebels, was +seen by one of his men, who called several of his +companions; they rushed forward and fired, killing several +of the enemy, and rescued their captain.</p> + +<p>"A rebel came up to one, and said, 'Come my good fellow, go +with me and wait on me.' In an instant, the boy shot his +would-be master dead.</p> + +<p>"Once when the men charged on the enemy, they rushed forth +with the cry, 'Remember Fort Pillow.' The rebs called back, +and said, 'Lee's men killed no prisoners.'</p> + +<p>"One man in a charge threw his antagonist to the ground, and +pinned him fast; and, as he attempted to withdraw his +bayonet, it came off his gun, and, as he was very busy just +then, he left him transfixed to mother earth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One man killed a rebel by striking him with the butt of his +gun, which he broke; but, being unwilling to stop his work, +he loaded and fired three times before he could get a better +gun; the first time not being cautious, the rebound of his +gun badly cut his lip.</p> + +<p>"When the troops were in the ditch, three rebels came to one +man, and ordered him to surrender. His gun being loaded, he +shot one and bayoneted another; and, forgetting he could +bayonet the third, he turned the butt of his gun, and +knocked him down."</p></div> + +<p>General Sturgis was severely criticised by the press immediately after +the affair. Historians since the war have followed up these criticisms. +He has been accused of incompetency, rashness and drunkenness, none of +which it is the purpose of this volume to endorse. Possibly his reports +furnish a sufficient explanation for the disaster, which it is hoped +they do, inasmuch as he is not charged with either treason or cowardice.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">[<i>General Sturgis' Report, No. 1.</i>]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters United States Forces,</span><br /></span> +<span class="i30"><span class="smcap">Colliersville, Tenn.</span>, June 12, 1864.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General</span>:—I have the honor to report that we met the enemy +in position and in heavy force about 10 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> on the 10th +instant at Brice's Cross-Roads on the Ripley and Fulton road +and about six miles northwest of Guntown, Miss. A severe +battle ensued which lasted until about 4 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, when I +regret to say my lines were compelled to give way before the +overwhelming numbers by which they were assailed at every +point. To fall back at this point was more than ordinarily +difficult as there was a narrow valley in our rear through +which ran a small creek crossed by a single narrow bridge. +The road was almost impassable by reason of the heavy rains +which had fallen for the previous ten days and the +consequence was that the road soon became jammed by the +artillery and ordnance wagons. This gradually led to +confusion and disorder.</p> + +<p>"In a few minutes, however, I succeeded in establishing two +colored regiments in line of battle in a wood on this side +of the little valley. These troops stood their ground well +and checked the enemy for a time. The check, however, was +only temporary and this line in turn gave way. My troops +were seized with a panic and became absolutely +uncontrollable. One and a half miles in rear by dint of +great exertion and with pistol in hand, I again succeeded in +checking up the flying column and placing it in line of +battle.</p> + +<p>"This line checked the enemy for ten or fifteen minutes +only, when it again gave way and my whole army became +literally an uncontrollable mob. Nothing now remained to do +but allow the retreat to continue and endeavor to force it +gradually into some kind of shape. The night was exceedingly +dark, the roads almost impassable and the hope of saving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> my +artillery and wagons altogether futile, so I ordered the +artillery and wagons to be destroyed. The latter were burned +and the former dismantled and spiked, that is all but six +pieces which we succeeded in bringing off in safety. By 7 <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span> next morning we reached Ripley (nineteen miles). Here we +re-organized and got into very respectable shape. The +retreat was continued, pressed rapidly by the enemy. Our +ammunition soon gave out, this the enemy soon discovered and +pressed the harder. Our only hope now lay in continuing the +retreat which we did to this place, where we arrived about 7 +o'clock this morning.</p> + +<p>"My losses in material of war was severe, being 16 guns and +some 130 wagons. The horses of the artillery and mules of +the train we brought away. As my troops became very greatly +scattered and are constantly coming in in small parties, I +am unable to estimate my loss in killed and wounded. I fear, +however, it will prove severe, probably ten or twelve +hundred. While the battle lasted it was well contested and I +think the enemy's loss in killed and wounded will not fall +short of our own.</p> + +<p>"This, general, is a painful record, and yet it was the +result of a series of unfortunate circumstances over which +human ingenuity could have no control.</p> + +<p>"The unprecedented rains so delayed our march across a +desert country that the enemy had ample time to accumulate +an overwhelming force in our front, and kept us so long in +an exhausted region as to so starve and weaken our animals +that they were unable to extricate the wagons and artillery +from the mud.</p> + +<p>"So far as I know every one did his duty well, and while +they fought no troops ever fought better. The colored troops +deserve great credit for the manner in which they stood to +their work.</p> + +<p>"This is a hasty and rather incoherent outline of our +operations, but I will forward a more minute account as soon +as the official reports can be received from division +commanders.</p> + +<p>"I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your +obedient servant,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"S. D. STURGIS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<i>Brig.-Gen. Commanding.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"To Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">C. C. Washburn</span>, Commanding District W. Tenn."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>An extract from a letter from Colonel Arthur T. Reeve, who commanded the +55th Colored Infantry in this fight, reads:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Our (the Federal) command having been moved up on +double-quick—a distance of about five miles—immediately +before their arrival on the field and the consequent fact +that this arm of our force went into the engagement very +seriously blown, in fact, very nearly exhausted by heat and +fatigue, with their ranks very much drawn out, were whipped +in detail and overwhelmed by the very brilliant and vigorous +assaults of your forces. When the engagement first began I +was at the rear of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> Federal column, in command of the +train guard, and hence passed over the ground on the way to +the battle-field after the balance of the army had passed, +and am able to speak advisedly of the extreme exhaustion of +the infantry, as I passed large numbers entirely prostrated +by heat and fatigue, who did not reach the field of battle +and must have fallen into your hands after the engagement."</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">[<i>General Sturgis' Report, No. 2.</i>]<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Memphis, Tenn.</span>, June 24, 1864.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the +operations of the expedition which marched from near La +Fayette, Tenn., under my command on the 2nd instant. This +expedition was organized and fitted out under the +supervision of the major general commanding the District of +West Tennessee and I assumed command of it on the morning of +the 2nd of June, near the town of La Fayette, Tenn., in +pursuance of Special Orders, No. 38, dated Headquarters, +District of West Tennessee, Memphis, May 31, 1864, and which +were received by me on the 1st inst. The strength of the +command in round numbers was about 8,000 men,' (which +included the following Phalanx regiments: 59th Regt., 61st +Regt., 68th Regt., Battery I, 2nd Artillery, (Light,) 2 +pieces.)</p> + +<p>"My supply train, carrying rations for 18 days, consisted of +181 wagons, which with the regimental wagons made up a train +of some 250 wagons. My instructions were substantially as +follows, viz: To proceed to Corinth, Mississippi by way of +Salem and Ruckersville, capture any force that might be +there, then proceed south, destroying the Mobile and Ohio +Railroad to Tupelo and Okolona and as far as possible +towards Macon and Columbus with a portion of my force, +thence to Grenada and back to Memphis. A discretion was +allowed me as to the details of the movement where +circumstances might arise which could not have been +anticipated in my instructions. Owing to some +misunderstanding on the part of the quartermaster, as to the +point on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad at which some +forage was to have been deposited from the cars, there was +some little delay occasioned in getting the column in +motion.</p> + +<p>"The following incidents of the march are taken from the +journal kept from day to day by one of my staff, Capt. W. C. +Rawolle, A. D. C. and A. A. A. G.:</p> + +<p>"'Wednesday, June 1st.—Expedition started from Memphis and +White's Station toward La Fayette.</p> + +<p>"'Thursday, June 2nd.—The general and staff left Memphis on +the 5 o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> train and established headquarters at +Leaks' House, near La Fayette, and assumed command. Cavalry +moved to the intersection of State line and Early Grove +roads, six miles from La Fayette. It rained at intervals all +day and part of the night.</p> + +<p>"'Friday, June 3rd.—Ordered the cavalry to move to within +three four miles of Salem. Infantry marched to Lamar, 18 +miles from La Fayette. Owing to the heavy rains during the +day and the bad condition of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> the roads and bridges, the +train could only move to within four miles of Lamar, and did +not get into park until 11 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, the colored +brigade remaining with the train as a guard.</p> + +<p>"'Saturday, June 4th.—Informed General Grierson that the +infantry and train under the most favorable circumstances +could only make a few miles beyond Salem and to regulate his +march accordingly. Train arrived at Lamar about noon, issued +rations to the infantry and rested the animals. It rained +heavily until 1 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, making the roads almost +impassable. Moved headquarters to the Widow Spright's house, +two miles west of Salem, and Colonel Hoge's brigade of +infantry to Robinson's house, four miles from Salem.</p> + +<p>"'Sunday, June 5th.—Infantry and train started at half past +four o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, and joined the cavalry, two miles east +of Salem. At 10 o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, issued rations to the cavalry +and fed the forage collected by them. Infantry remained in +camp during the day; cavalry moved to the intersection of +the LaGrange and Ripley and the Salem and Ruckersville +roads. Col. Joseph Karge, 2nd New Jersey, with 400 men, +started at 6 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, with instructions to move via Ripley to +Rienzi, to destroy the railroad; to proceed north, destroy +bridge over Tuscumbia and to join General Grierson at +Ruckersville. Heavy showers during the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"'Monday, June 6th.—Infantry and train moved at 4 o'clock +<span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, on the Ruckersville road. Commenced raining at 5 <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span>, and continued at intervals all day. Progress very slow, +marched 13 miles and made headquarters at Widow Childers, at +intersection of the Saulsbury and Ripley and the +Ruckersville and Salem roads. Cavalry moved to Ruckersville. +The advance guard of the infantry encountered a small party +of rebels about noon and chased them towards Ripley on La +Grange and Ripley roads.</p> + +<p>"'Tuesday, June 7th.—Upon information received from General +Grierson that there was no enemy near Corinth, directed him +to move toward Ellistown, on direct road from Ripley, and +instruct Colonel Karge to join him by way of Blackland or +Carrollsville. Infantry moved to Ripley and cavalry encamped +on New Albany road two miles south. Encountered a small +party of rebels near Widow Childers and drove them toward +Ripley. In Ripley, met an advance of the enemy and drove +them on New Albany road. Cavalry encountered about a +regiment of rebel cavalry on that road and drove them south. +Several showers during the afternoon, and the roads very +bad.</p> + +<p>"Wednesday, June 8th.—Received information at 4 o'clock <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span> that Colonel Karge was on an island in the Hatchie River +and sent him 500 men and two howitzers as re-inforcements. +Winslow's brigade of cavalry moved 6 miles on the Fulton +Road. Infantry and train moved five miles on same road. +Colonel Waring's brigade remained in Ripley awaiting return +of Colonel Karge, who joined him at 5 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, having +swam the Hatchie River. Rained hard during the night.</p> + +<p>"'Thursday, June 9th.—Sent back to Memphis 400 sick and +wounded men and 41 wagons. Cavalry and infantry moved to +Stubbs', fourteen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> miles from Ripley; issued five days' +rations (at previous camp.) Rained two hours in the evening.</p> + +<p>"'Friday, June 10th.—Encountered the enemy at Brice's +Cross-Roads, 23 miles from Ripley and six miles from +Guntown.'</p> + +<p>"At Ripley it became a serious question in my mind as to +whether or not I should proceed any farther. The rain still +fell in torrents; the artillery and wagons were literally +mired down, and the starved and exhausted animals could with +difficulty drag them along. Under these circumstances, I +called together my division commanders and placed before +them my views of our condition. At this interview, one +brigade commander and two members of my staff were, +incidentally, present also. I called their attention to the +great delay we had undergone on account of the continuous +rain and consequent bad condition of the roads; the +exhausted condition of our animals; the great probability +that the enemy would avail himself of the time thus afforded +him to concentrate an overwhelming force against us in the +vicinity of Tupelo and the utter hopelessness of saving our +train or artillery in case of defeat, on account of the +narrowness and general bad condition of the roads and the +impossibility of procuring supplies of forage for the +animals; all agreed with me in the probable consequences of +defeat. Some thought our only safety lay in retracing our +steps and abandoning the expedition. It was urged, however, +(and with some propriety, too,) that inasmuch as I had +abandoned a similar expedition only a few weeks before and +given as my reasons for so doing, the "utter and entire +destitution of the country," and that in the face of this we +were again sent through the same country, it would be +ruinous on all sides to return again without first meeting +the enemy. Moreover, from all the information General +Washburn had acquired, there <i>could be no considerable</i> +force in our front and all my own information led to the +same conclusion. To be sure my information was exceedingly +meagre and unsatisfactory and had I returned I would have +been totally unable to present any facts to justify my +cause, or to show why the expedition might not have been +successfully carried forward. All I could have presented +would have been my conjectures as to what the enemy would +naturally do under the circumstances and these would have +availed but little against the idea that the enemy was +scattered and had no considerable force in our front.</p> + +<p>"Under these circumstances, and with a sad forboding of the +consequences, I determined to move forward; keeping my force +as compact as possible and ready for action at all times; +hoping that we might succeed, and feeling that if we did +not, yet our losses might at most be insignificant in +comparison with the great benefits which might accrue to +General Sherman by the depletion of Johnson's army to so +large an extent.</p> + +<p>"On the evening of the 8th, one day beyond Ripley, I +assembled the commanders of infantry brigades at the +headquarters of Colonel McMillen, and cautioned them as to +the necessity of enforcing rigid discipline in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> their camps; +keeping their troops always in hand and ready to act on a +moment's notice. That it was impossible to gain any accurate +or reliable information of the enemy, and that it behooved +us to move and act constantly as though in his presence. +That we were now where we might encounter him at any moment, +and that we must under no circumstances allow ourselves to +be surprised. On the morning of the 10th, the cavalry +marched at half-past 5 o'clock and the infantry at seven, +thus allowing the infantry to follow immediately in rear of +the cavalry as it would take the cavalry a full hour and a +half to clear their camp. The habitual order of march was as +follows, viz: Cavalry with its artillery in advance; +infantry with its artillery; next, and lastly, the supply +train, guarded by the rear brigade with one of its regiments +at the head, one near the middle and one with a section of +artillery in the rear. A company of pioneers preceded the +infantry for the purpose of repairing the roads, building +bridges, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>"On this morning, I had preceded the head of the infantry +column and arrived at a point some five miles from camp, +when I found an unusually bad place in the road and one that +would require considerable time and labor to render +practicable. While halted here to await the head of the +column, I received a message from General Grierson that he +had encountered a portion of the enemy's cavalry. In a few +minutes more I received another message from him, saying the +enemy numbered some 600 and were on the Baldwyn road. That +he was himself at Brice's Cross-Roads and that his position +was a good one and he would hold it. He was then directed to +leave 600 or 700 men at the cross-roads, to precede the +infantry on its arrival, on its march towards Guntown, and +with the remainder of his forces to drive the enemy toward +Baldwyn and there rejoin the main body by way of the line of +the railroad, as I did not intend being drawn from my main +purpose. Colonel McMillen arrived at this time and I rode +forward toward the cross-roads. Before proceeding far, +however, I sent a staff officer back directing Colonel +McMillen to move up his advance brigade as rapidly as +possible without distressing his troops. When I reached the +cross-roads, found nearly all the cavalry engaged and the +battle growing warm, but no artillery had yet opened on +either side. We had four pieces of artillery at the +cross-roads, but they had not been placed in position, owing +to the dense woods on all sides and the apparent +impossibility of using them to advantage. Finding, however, +that our troops were being hotly pressed, I ordered one +section to open on the enemy's reserves. The enemy's +artillery soon replied, and with great accuracy, every shell +bursting over and in the immediate vicinity of our guns.</p> + +<p>"Frequent calls were now made for re-enforcements, but until +the infantry should arrive, I had none to give. Colonel +Winslow, 4th Iowa Cavalry, commanding a brigade and +occupying a position on the Guntown road a little in advance +of the cross-roads, was especially clamorous to be relieved +and permitted to carry his brigade to the rear. Fearing that +Colonel Winslow might abandon his position without +authority,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> and knowing the importance of the cross-roads to +us, I directed him in case he should be overpowered, to fall +back slowly toward the cross-roads, thus contracting his +line and strengthening his position. I was especially +anxious on this point because through some misunderstanding, +that I am yet unable to explain, the cavalry had been +withdrawn without my knowledge from the left, and I was +compelled to occupy the line, temporarily, with my escort, +consisting of about 100 of the 19th Penn. Cavalry. This +handful of troops under the gallant Lieut.-Colonel Hess, +behaved very handsomely and held the line until the arrival +of the infantry. About half-past 1 p. m. the infantry began +to arrive. Col. Hodge's brigade was the first to reach the +field and was placed in position by Colonel McMillen, when +the enemy was driven a little. General Grierson now +requested authority to withdraw the entire cavalry as it was +exhausted and well nigh out of ammunition. This I authorized +as soon as sufficient infantry was in position to permit it +and he was directed to reorganize his command in the rear +and hold it ready to operate on the flanks. In the mean time +I had ordered a section of artillery to be placed in +position on a knoll near the little bridge, some three or +four hundred yards in the rear, for the purpose of opposing +any attempt of the enemy to turn our left. I now went to +this point to see that my orders had been executed and also +to give directions for the management and protection of the +wagon-train. I found the section properly posted and +supported by the 72nd Ohio Infantry, with two companies +thrown forward as skirmishers, and the whole under the +superintendence of that excellent officer, Colonel Wilkins, +of the 9th Minn. While here, the head of the wagon train, +which had been reported still a mile and a half in rear, +arrived. It was immediately ordered into an open field near +where the cavalry were reorganizing, there to be turned +round and carried farther toward the rear. The pressure on +the right of the line was now becoming very great and +General Grierson was directed to send a portion of his +cavalry to that point. At this time I received a message +from Colonel Hodge that he was satisfied that the movement +on the right was a feint and that the real attack was being +made on the left. Another section of artillery was now +placed in position a little to the rear of Colonel Wilkins, +but bearing on the left of our main line, and a portion of +the cavalry was thrown out as skirmishers. The cavalry which +had been sent to the extreme right began now to give way, +and at the same time the enemy began to appear in force in +rear of the extreme left, while Colonel McMillen required +re-enforcements in the centre. <i>I now endeavored to get hold +of the colored brigade which formed the guard to the train. +While traversing the short distance to where the head of +that brigade should be found, the main line began to give +way at various points; order soon gave way to confusion and +confusion to panic. I sent an aid to Col. McMillen informing +him that I was unable to render him any additional +assistance, and that he must do all in his power with what +he had to hold his position until I could form a line to +protect his retreat. On reaching the head of the supply +train, Lieut.-Colonel Hess was directed to place in position +in a wood the first regiment of colored troops I could find. +This was done, and it is due to those troops to say here +that they stood their ground well and rendered valuable aid +to Colonel McMillen</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>who was soon after compelled to +withdraw from his original line and take up new positions in +rear. It was now 5 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> For seven hours, these +gallant officers and men had held their ground against +overwhelming numbers, but at last overpowered and exhausted +they were compelled to abandon not only the field, but many +of their gallant comrades who had fallen to the mercy of the +enemy. Everywhere the army now drifted toward the rear and +was soon altogether beyond control. I requested General +Grierson to accompany me and to aid in checking the fleeing +column and establishing a new line. By dint of entreaty and +force and the aid of several officers, whom I called to my +assistance, with pistols in their hands we at length +succeeded in checking some 1200 or 1500 and establishing +them in a line of which Colonel Wilkins, 9th Minnesota, was +placed in command. About this time it was reported to me +that Col. McMillen was driving the enemy. I placed but +little faith in this report, yet disseminated it freely for +the good effect it might produce upon the troops. In a few +minutes, however, the gallant Colonel McMillen, sad and +disheartened, arrived himself, and reported his lines broken +and in confusion. The new line under Colonel Wilkins also +gave way soon after and it was now impossible to exercise +any further control. The road became crowded and jammed with +troops; the wagons and artillery sinking into the deep mud +became inextricable and added to the general confusion which +now prevailed. No power could now check or control the +panic-stricken mass as it swept toward the rear, led off by +Colonel Winslow at the head of his brigade of cavalry, and +who never halted until he had reached Stubbs', ten miles in +rear. This was the greater pity as his brigade was nearly, +if not entirely, intact, and might have offered considerable +resistance to the advancing foe. About 10 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, I +reached Stubbs' in person, where I found Colonel Winslow and +his brigade. I then informed him that his was the only +organized body of men I had been able to find, and directed +him to add to his own every possible force he could rally, +as they passed, and take charge of the rear, remaining in +position until all should have passed. I also informed him +that on account of the extreme darkness of the night and the +wretched condition of the road, I had little hope of saving +anything more than the troops, and directed him therefore to +destroy all wagons and artillery which he might find +blocking up the road and preventing the passage of the men. +In this way about 200 wagons and 14 pieces of artillery were +lost, many of the wagons being burned and the artillery +spiked and otherwise mutilated; the mules and horses were +brought away. By 7 o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, of the 11th, we had +reorganized at Ripley, and the army presented quite a +respectable appearance, and would have been able to +accomplish an orderly retreat from that point but for the +unfortunate circumstances that the cartridge boxes were +well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> nigh exhausted. At 7 o'clock the column was again put +in motion on the Salem road, the cavalry in advance, +followed by the infantry. The enemy pressed heavily on the +rear, and there was now nothing left but to keep in motion +so as to prevent the banking up of the rear, and to pass all +cross-roads before the enemy could reach them, as the +command was in no condition to offer determined resistance, +whether attacked in the front or the rear. At 8 o'clock a. +m. on the 12th, the column reached Colliersville, worn out +and exhausted by the fatigues of fighting and marching for +two days and two nights without rest and without eating. +About noon of the same day a train arrived from Memphis, +bringing some 2,000 infantry, commanded by Colonel Wolf, and +supplies for my suffering men, and I determined to remain +here until next day for the purpose of resting and affording +protection to many who had dropped by the wayside, through +fatigue and other causes. Learning, however, toward evening, +that the commander at White's Station had information of a +large force of the enemy approaching that place from the +southeast, and knowing that my men were in no condition to +offer serious resistance to an enemy presenting himself +across my line of march, I informed the general commanding +the district, by telegraph, that I deemed it prudent to +continue my march to White's Station. Accordingly, at 9 p. +m., the column marched again, and arrived at White's Station +at daylight next morning. This report having already become +more circumstantial than was anticipated, I have purposely +omitted the details of our march from Ripley to White's +Station, as they would extend it to a tiresome length, but +would respectfully refer you for these to the sub-reports +herewith enclosed. Casualties are as follows:</p> + +<p>"Killed, 223, wounded, 394; missing, 1623; total, 2240. That +our loss was great, is true; yet that it was not much +greater is due in an eminent degree to the personal +exertions of that model soldier, Col. W. L. McMillen, of the +95th Ohio Infantry, who commanded the infantry, and to the +able commanders under him.</p> + +<p>"The strength of the enemy is variously estimated by my most +intelligent officers at from 15,000 to 20,000 men. A very +intelligent sergeant who was captured and remained five days +in the hands of the enemy, reports the number of the enemy +actually engaged, to have been 12,000, and that two +divisions of infantry were held in reserve. It may appear +strange that so large a force of the enemy could be in our +vicinity and we be ignorant of the fact, but the surprise +will exist only in the minds of those who are not familiar +with the difficulty, (I may even say impossibility) of +acquiring reliable information in the heart of the enemy's +country. Our movements and numbers are always known to the +enemy, because every woman and child is one of them, but we, +as everybody knows who has had any experience in this war, +can only learn the movements of the enemy and his numbers by +actually fighting for the information; and in that case the +knowledge often comes too late.</p> + +<p>"While I will not prolong this already extended report by +recording individual acts of good conduct, and the names of +many brave officers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> and men who deserve mention, but will +respectfully refer you for these to the reports of division +and brigade commanders, yet I cannot refrain from expressing +my high appreciation of the valuable services rendered by +that excellent and dashing officer, Col. Joseph Karge, of +the 2nd New Jersey Vols., in his reconnoissance to Corinth +and his subsequent management of the rear-guard, during a +part of the retreat, fighting and defending the rear during +one whole afternoon and throughout the entire night +following.</p> + +<p>"To the officers of my staff,—Lieut.-Col. J. C. Hess, 19th +Pa. Cavalry, commanding escort, Capt. W. C. Rawolle, A. D. +C. and A. A. A. G.; Capt. W. C. Belden, 2nd Iowa Cavalry, A. +D. C.; Lieut. E. Caulkins 7th Indiana Cavalry, A. D. C.; +Lieut. Samuel (name illegible) 19th Penn. Cavalry, A. D. C.; +Lieut. Dement, A. A. Q. M.; Lieut. W. H. Stratton, 7th Ills. +Cavalry, A. A. C. S.,—whose names appear in no other +report, I am especially grateful, for the promptness and +zeal with which my orders were executed at all times and +often under trying and hazardous circumstances.</p> + +<p>"I am, major, very respectfully your obedient servant,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">S. D. STURGIS,<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">Maj. W. H. Morgan</span>, A. A. G., <i>Brig.-Gen. Commanding.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Hdqrs. Dist. West Tenn., Memphis, Tenn.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Amid these scenes we noted the arrival of 95 more men; +those who had belonged to a <i>raid</i> sent from Memphis, Tenn., +under command of General Sturgis, and were attacked and +badly defeated by the rebel General Forrest, at a place in +Mississippi. General Sturgis is said to have been +<i>intoxicated</i> during the engagement, and that just as soon +as he saw things were likely to go against him, he turned +away with a portion of his cavalry, and <i>sought to save +himself from capture</i>.—'<i>Life and Death in Rebel +Prisons.</i>'"</p></div> + +<p>Notwithstanding the arrangements usually and speedily entered into by +two belligerent powers for the exchange of prisoners of war, it proved a +most difficult task for the Federal Government to consummate an +arrangement with the confederates, and much suffering was caused among +the prisoners in the hands of the latter while negotiations were in +progress. The agreement entered into by the commissioners, after a long +delay, did not anticipate there being any black soldiers to exchange; +nor would the confederate authorities thereafter allow the terms of the +cartel to apply to the blacks, because Jefferson Davis and the +confederate Congress regarded it as an outrage against humanity, and the +rules of civilized warfare to arm the negroes against their masters.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a year after the black soldiers had become a part of the Union +forces before even a <i>quasi</i> acknowledgment of their rights as prisoners +was noted in Richmond. The grounds upon which the greatest difficulty +lingered was the refusal of the Federal government at first to accord +belligerent rights to the confederates but this difficulty was finally +overcome in July, 1862, and the exchange of prisoners proceeded with +until the confederate authorities refused to count the black soldiers +captured in the interpretation of the cartel. But the time arrived when +Grant assumed command of the armies, when it was no longer an open +question, for the confederate Congress began devising plans for arming +the slaves.</p> + +<p>However, the inhuman treatment did not cease with "irresponsible +parties," whose conduct was doubtless approved by the rebel authorities, +Jefferson Davis having declared General Butler an outlaw, and committed +him and his officers and black soldiers to the mercy of a chivalry which +affected to regard them as mercenaries. With this spirit infused in the +confederate army, what else than barbarity could be expected?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image45.jpg" width="600" height="386" alt="PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING ITS FLAGS. + +Presentation of colors to the 20th United States Colored Infantry, Col. +Bertram, in N. Y., March 5th, 1864." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING ITS FLAGS. + +Presentation of colors to the 20th United States Colored Infantry, Col. +Bertram, in N. Y., March 5th, 1864.</span> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Among the captured rebel flags now in the War Department, +Washington, D. C., are several Black Flags. No. 205 was captured near +North Mountain, Md., Aug. 1st, 1864. Another Captured from General +Pillow's men at Fort Donelson, is also among the rebel archives in that +Department. Several of them were destroyed by the troops capturing them, +as at Pascagoula, Miss., and near Grand Gulf on the Mississippi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> General Brisbin, in his account of the expedition which, +in the Winter of 1864, left Bean Station, Tenn., under command of +General Stoneman, for the purpose of destroying the confederate Salt +Works in West Virginia, says the confederates after capturing some of +the soldiers of the Sixth Phalanx Cavalry Regiment, butchered them. His +statement is as follows: +</p><p> +"For the last two days a force of Confederate cavalry, under Witcher, +had been following our command picking up stragglers and worn-out horses +in our rear. Part of our troops were composed of negroes and these the +Confederates killed as fast as they caught them, laying the dead bodies +by the roadside with pieces of paper pinned to their clothing, on which +were written such warnings as the following: 'This is the way we treat +all nigger soldiers,' and, 'This is the fate of nigger soldiers who +fight against the South.' We did not know what had been going on in our +rear until we turned about to go back from Wytheville, when we found the +dead colored soldiers along the road as above described. General +Burbridge was very angry and wanted to shoot a Confederate prisoner for +every one of his colored soldiers he found murdered, and would +undoubtedly have done so had he not been restrained. As it was, the +whole corps was terribly excited by the atrocious murders committed by +Witcher's men, and if Witcher had been caught he would have been shot." +</p><p> +This gallant soldier,(?) twenty years after the close of the war, writes +about the incidents and happenings during the march of the army to +Saltville, and says: +</p><p> +"Before we reached Marion we encountered Breckenridge's advance and +charged it vigorously driving it back in confusion along the Marion and +Saltville road for several miles. In one of these charges (for there +were several of them and a sort of running fight for several miles) one +of Witcher's men was captured and brought in. He was reported to me and +I asked him what his name was and to what command he belonged. He gave +me his name and said 'Witcher's command.' Hardly were the words out of +his mouth before a negro soldier standing near raised his carbine and +aimed at the Confederate soldier's breast. I called out and sprang +forward, but was too late to catch the gun. The negro fired and the poor +soldier fell badly wounded. Instantly the negro was knocked down by our +white soldiers, disarmed and tied. I drew my revolver to blow his brains +out for his terrible crime, but the black man never flinched. All he +said was, pointing to the Confederate soldier, 'He killed my comrades; I +have killed him.' The negro was taken away and put among the prisoners. +The Provost Marshal had foolishly changed the white guard over the +prisoners and placed them under some colored troops. An officer came +galloping furiously to the front and said the negroes were shooting the +prisoners. General Burbridge told me to go back quickly and do whatever +I pleased in his name to restore order. It was a lively ride, as the +prisoners were more than four miles back, being forced along the road as +rapidly as possible toward Marion. All the prisoners, except a few +wounded men, were on foot, and of course they could not keep up with the +cavalry. I soon reached them and never shall I forget that sight while I +live. Men with sabres were driving the poor creatures along the road +like beasts. I halted the motley crew and scolded the officer for his +inhumanity. He said he had orders to keep the prisoners up with the +column and he was simply trying to obey his orders. As I was General +Burbridge's chief of staff and all orders were supposed to emanate from +my office, I thought I had better not continue the conversation. As it +was, I said such orders were at an end and I would myself take charge of +the prisoners."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "When the successful attempt was made, by tunneling, to +escape from Libby Prison in 1862, many of the fugitives were honorably +harbored by this unfortunate class till a more quiet opportunity +occurred for leaving the city. This I have from one of the escaped +officers."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE PHALANX IN VIRGINIA.</h3> + + +<p>The laurels won by the Phalanx in the Southern States, notwithstanding +the "no quarter" policy, was proof of its devotion to the cause of +liberty and the old flag, which latter, until within a short period had +been but a symbol of oppression to the black man; Cailloux had reddened +it with his life's blood, and Carney, in a seething fire had planted it +on the ramparts of Wagner. The audacious bravery of the Phalanx had +wrung from Generals Banks and Gillmore congratulatory orders, while the +loyal people of the nation poured out unstinted praises. Not a breach of +discipline marred the negro soldier's record; not one cowardly act +tarnished their fame. Grant pronounced them gallant and reliable, and +Weitzel was willing to command them.</p> + +<p>In New York City, where negroes had been hung to lamp posts, and where a +colored orphan asylum had been sacked and burned, crowds gathered in +Broadway and cheered Phalanx regiments on their way to the front. +General Logan, author of the Illinois Black Code, greeted them as +comrades, and Jefferson Davis finally accorded to them the rights due +captured soldiers as prisoners of war. Congress at last took up the +question of pay, and placed the black on an equal footing with the white +soldiers. Their valor, excelled by no troops in the field, had finally +won full recognition from every quarter, and henceforth they were to +share the full glory as well as the toils of their white +comrades-in-arms. Not until those just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> rights and attentions were +attained, was the Phalanx allowed, to any great extent, to show its +efficiency and prowess in the manœuvres in Virginia and vicinity, +where that magnificent "Army of Northern Virginia," the hope and the +pride of the Confederacy, was operating against the Federal government. +But when General Grant came to direct the movements of the Eastern +armies of the United States, there was a change. He had learned from his +experience at Vicksburg and other places in his western campaigns, that +the negro soldiers were valuable; that they could be fully relied upon +in critical times, and their patriotic zeal had made a deep impression +upon him. Therefore, as before stated, there were changes, and quite a +good many Phalanx regiments—numbering about 20,000 men—were taken from +Southern and Western armies and transferred to the different armies in +Virginia.</p> + +<p>The 19th Army Corps sent one brigade. General Gillmore brought a brigade +from the Tenth Army Corps. At least ten thousand of them were veterans, +and had driven many confederates out of their breastworks.</p> + +<p>The world never saw such a spectacle as America presented in the winter +and early spring of 1864. The attempt to capture Richmond and Petersburg +had failed. The Army of the Potomac lay like a weary lion under cover, +watching its opponent. Bruised, but spirited and defiant, it had driven, +and in turn had been driven time and again, by its equally valient foe. +It had advanced and retreated until the soldiers were foot-sore from +marching and counter-marching, crossing and re-crossing the now historic +streams of the Old Dominion. Of all this, the loyal people were tired +and demanded of the Administration a change. The causes of the failures +to take the confederate capitol were not so much the fault of the +commanders of the brave army as that of the authorities at Washington, +whose indecision and interference had entailed almost a disgrace upon +McClellan, Hooker, Burnside and Meade. But finally the people saw the +greatest of the difficulties, and demanded its removal, which the +Administration signified its willingness to do. Then began an activity +at the North, East and West, such as was never before witnessed. The +loyal heart was again aroused by the President's call for troops, and +all realized the necessity of a more sagacious policy, and the +importance of bringing the war to a close. The lion of the South must be +bearded in his lair, and forced to surrender Richmond, the Confederate +Capitol, that had already cost the Government millions of dollars, and +the North thousands of lives. The cockade city,—Petersburg,—like the +Gibralter of the Mississippi, should haul down the confederate banner +from her breastworks; in fact, Lee must be vanquished. That was the +demand of the loyal nation, and right well did they enter into +preparations to consummate it; placing brave and skillful officers in +command.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image46.jpg" width="600" height="415" alt="PARADE OF THE 20th REGT. U. S. C. T. IN NEW YORK." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PARADE OF THE 20th REGT. U. S. C. T. IN NEW YORK.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span></p> + +<p>The whole North became a recruiting station. Sumner, Wilson, Stevens and +Sherman, in Congress, and Greeley, Beecher, Philips and Curtis, with the +press, had succeeded in placing the fight upon the highest plane of +civilization, and linked <i>freedom</i> to the cause of the Union thus making +the success of one the success of the other,—"Liberty and Union, one +and inseparable." What patriotism should fail in accomplishing, +bounties—National, State, county, city and township—were to induce and +effect. The depleted ranks of the army were filled to its maximum, and +with a hitherto victorious and gallant leader would be hurled against +the fortifications of the Confederacy with new energy and determination.</p> + +<p>Early in January, General Burnside was ordered again to take command of +the Ninth Army Corps, and to recruit its strength to fifty thousand +effective men, which he immediately began to do. General Butler, then in +command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, began the +organization of the Army of the James, collecting at Norfolk, Portsmouth +and on the Peninsula, the forces scattered throughout his Department, +and to recruit Phalanx regiments. In March, General Grant was called to +Washington, and received the appointment of Lieutenant General, and +placed in command of the armies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> of the Republic. He immediately began +their reorganization, as a preliminary to attacking Lee's veteran army +of northern Virginia.</p> + +<p>As has before been stated, the negro had, up to this time, taken no very +active part in the battles fought in Virginia. The seed of prejudice +sown by Generals McDowell and McClellan at the beginning of hostilities, +had ripened into productive fruit. The Army of the Potomac being early +engaged in apprehending and returning runaway slaves to their presumed +owners, had imbibed a bitter, unrelenting hatred for the poor, but ever +loyal, negro. To this bitterness the Emancipation Proclamation gave a +zest, through the pro-slavery press at the North, which taunted the +soldiers with "<i>fighting to free the negroes</i>." This feeling had served +to practically keep the negro, as a soldier, out of the Army of the +Potomac.</p> + +<p>General Burnside, upon assuming his command, asked for and obtained +permission from the War Department to raise and unite a division of +Negro troops to the 9th Army Corps. Annapolis, Md., was selected as the +"depot and rendezvous," and very soon Camp Stanton had received its +allowance of Phalanx regiments for the Corps. Early in April, the camp +was broken, and the line of march taken for Washington. It was rumored +throughout the city that the 9th Corps would pass through there, and +that about 6,000 Phalanx men would be among the troops. The citizens +were on the <i>qui vive</i>; members of Congress and the President were eager +to witness the passage of the Corps.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock on the morning of the 25th of April, the head of the +column entered the city, and at eleven the troops were marching down New +York Avenue. Halting a short distance from the corner of 14th street, +the column closed up, and prepared to pay the President a marching +salute, who, with General Burnside and a few friends, was awaiting their +coming. Mr. Lincoln and his party occupied a balcony over the entrance +of Willard's Hotel. The scene was one of great beauty and animation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> +The day was superbly clear; the soft atmosphere of the early spring was +made additionally pleasant by a cool breeze; rain had fallen the +previous night, and there was no dust to cause discomfort to the +soldiers or spectators. The troops marched and appeared well; their +soiled and battered flags bearing inscriptions of battles of six States. +The corps had achieved almost the first success of the war in North +Carolina; it had hastened to the Potomac in time to aid in rescuing the +Capitol, when Lee made his first Northern invasion; it won glory at +South Mountain, and made the narrow bridge at Antietam, forever +historic; it had likewise reached Kentucky in time to aid in driving the +confederates from that State. Now it appeared with recruited ranks, and +new regiments of as good blood as ever was poured out in the cause of +right; and with a new element—those whom they had helped set free from +the thraldom of slavery—whom they were proud to claim as comrades.</p> + +<p>Their banners were silent, effective witnesses of their valor and their +sacrifices; Bull's Run, Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, Newburn, Gaines' Mills, +Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern, +Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, South Mountain, Knoxville, +Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg, were emblazoned in letters of +gold. The firm and soldierly bearing of the veterans, the eager and +expectant countenances of the men and officers of the new regiments, the +gay trappings of the cavalry, the thorough equipment and fine condition +of the artillery, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking of sabres, the +drum-beat, the bugle call, and the music of the bands were all subjects +of interest. The President beheld the scene. Pavement, sidewalks, +windows and roofs were crowded with people. A division of veterans +passed, saluting the President and their commander with cheers. And +then, with full ranks—platoons extending from sidewalk to +sidewalk—brigades which had never been in battle, for the first time +shouldered arms for their country; they who even then were disfranchised +and were not American citizens, yet they were going out to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> fight for +the flag. Their country was given them by the tall, pale, benevolent +hearted man standing upon the balcony. For the first time, they beheld +their benefactor. They were darker hued than their veteran comrades, but +they cheered as lustily, "hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Massa Linkun! Three +cheers for the President!" They swung their caps, clapped their hands +and shouted their joy. Long, loud and jubilant were the rejoicings of +these redeemed sons of Africa. Regiment after regiment of stalwart +men,—slaves once, but freemen now,—with steady step and even ranks, +passed down the street, moving on to the Old Dominion. It was the first +review of the negro troops by the President. Mr. Lincoln himself seemed +greatly pleased, and acknowledged the plaudits and cheers of the Phalanx +soldiers with a dignified kindness and courtesy. It was a spectacle +which made many eyes grow moist, and left a life-long impression. Thus +the corps that had never lost a flag or a gun, marched through the +National Capitol, crossed long bridge and went into camp near +Alexandria, where it remained until the 4th of May.</p> + +<p>The Phalanx regiments composing the 4th division were the 19th, 23rd, +27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th and 43rd, commanded by General E. +Ferrero.</p> + +<p>The Army of the James, under General Butler, which was to act in +conjunction with the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, was composed of +the 10th and 18th Corps. The 10th Corps had two brigades of the Phalanx, +consisting of the 7th, 9th, 29th, 16th, 8th, 41st, 45th and 127th +Regiments, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, Jr., and Ulysses Doubleday, +and constituted the 3rd division of that Corps commanded by +Brigadier-General Wm. Birney.</p> + +<p>The 3rd division of the 18th Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General +Charles G. Paine, was composed of the 1st, 22nd, 37th, 5th, 36th, 38th, +4th, 6th, 10th, 107th, 117th, 118th and 2nd Cavalry, with Colonels Elias +Wright, Alonzo G. Draper, John W. Ames and E. Martindale as brigade +commanders of the four brigades. A cavalry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> force numbering about two +thousand, comprising the 1st and 2nd, was under command of Colonel +West,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> making not less than 20,000 of the Phalanx troops, including +the 4th Division with the Ninth Corps, and augmenting Butler's force to +47,000, concentrated at Yorktown and Gloucester Point.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of April, Butler received his final orders, and on the night +of the 4th of May embarked his troops on transports, descended the York +river, passed Fortress Monroe and ascended the James River. Convoyed by +a fleet of armored war vessels and gunboats, his transports reached +Bermuda Hundreds on the afternoon of the 5th. General Wilde, with a +brigade of the Phalanx, occupied Fort Powhatan, on the south bank of the +river, and Wilson's Wharf, about five miles below on the north side of +the James, with the remainder of his division of 5,000 of the Phalanx. +General Hinks landed at City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox. The +next morning the troops advanced to Trent's, with their left resting on +the Appomattox, near Walthall, and the right on the James, and +intrenched. In the meantime, Butler telegraphed Grant:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Off City Point, Va.</span>, May 5th.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Lieut. Gen. Grant</span>, Commanding Armies of the United States, Washington, D. C.:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have seized Wilson's Wharf Landing; a brigade of Wilde's +colored troops are there; at Fort Powhatan landing two +regiments of the same brigade have landed. At City Point, +Hinks' division, with the remaining troops and battery, have +landed. The remainder of both the 18th and 10th Army Corps +are being landed at Bermuda Hundreds, above Appomattox. No +opposition experienced thus far, the movement was +comparatively a complete surprise. Both army corps left +Yorktown during last night. The monitors are all over the +bar at Harrison's landing and above City Point. The +operations of the fleet have been conducted to-day with +energy and success. Gens. Smith and Gillmore are pushing the +landing of the men. Gen. Graham with the army gunboats, lead +the advance during the night, capturing the signal station +of the rebels. Colonel West, with 1800 cavalry, made several +demonstrations from Williamsburg yesterday morning. Gen. +Rantz left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> Suffolk this morning with his cavalry, for the +service indicated during the conference with the +Lieut.-General. The New York flag-of-truce boat was found +lying at the wharf with four hundred prisoners, whom she had +not time to deliver. She went up yesterday morning. We are +landing troops during the night, a hazardous service in the +face of the enemy.</p> + +<p class="right">"BENJ. F. BUTLER,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">A. F. Puffer</span>, Capt. and A. D. C. <i>Maj.-Gen. Commanding.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>About two miles in front of their line ran the Richmond & Petersburg +Railroad, near which the enemy was encountered. Butler's movements being +in concert with that of the Army of the Potomac and the 9th Corps,—the +latter as yet an independent organization.</p> + +<p>General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, numbering 120,000 effective +men, crossed the Rapidan <i>en route</i> for the Wilderness, each soldier +carrying fifty rounds of ammunition and three days rations. The supply +trains were loaded with ten days forage and subsistence. The advance was +in two columns, General Warren being on the right and General Hancock on +the left. Sedgwick followed closely upon Warren and crossed the Rapidan +at Germania Ford. The Ninth Corps received its orders on the 4th, +whereupon General Burnside immediately put the Corps in motion toward +the front. Bivouacking at midnight, the line of march was again taken up +at daylight, and at night the Rapidan was crossed at Germania Ford. The +corps marched on a road parallel to that of its old antagonist, General +Longstreet's army, which was hastening to assist Lee, who had met the +Army of the Potomac in the entanglements of the wilderness, where a +stubborn and sanguinary fight raged for two days. General Ferrero's +division, composed of the Phalanx regiments, reached Germania Ford on +the morning of the 6th, with the cavalry, and reported to General +Sedgwick, of the 6th Corps, who had the care of the trains. The enemy +was projecting an attack upon the rear of the advancing columns. Gen. +Ferrero was ordered to guard with his Phalanx division, the bridges, +roads and trains near and at the Rapidan river. That night the +confederates attacked Sedgwick in force; wisely the immense supply +trains had been committed to the care of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> the Phalanx, and the enemy was +driven back before daylight, while the trains were securely moved up +closer to the advance. General Grant, finding that the confederates were +not disposed to continue the battle, began the movement toward +Spottsylvania Court House on the night of the 7th. The 9th Corps brought +up the rear, with the Phalanx division and cavalry covering the trains.</p> + +<p>Butler and his Phalanx troops, as we have seen, was within six miles of +Petersburg, and on the 7th, Generals Smith and Gillmore reached the +railroad near Port Walthall Junction, and commenced destroying it; the +confederates attacked them, but were repulsed. Col. West, on the north +side of the James River, forded the Chickahominy with the Phalanx +cavalry, and arrived opposite City Point, having destroyed the railroad +for some distance on that side.</p> + +<p>Leaving General Hinks with his Phalanx division to hold City Point, on +the 9th Butler again moved forward to break up the railroad which the +forces under Smith and Gillmore succeeded in doing, thus separating +Beaureguard's force from Lee's. He announced the result of his +operation's in the following message to Washington:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">"May 9th, 1864.</p> + +<p>"Our operations may be summed up in a few words. With one +thousand and seven hundred cavalry we have advanced up the +Peninsula, forced the Chickahominy and have safely brought +them to our present position. These were <i>colored cavalry</i>, +and are now holding our advanced pickets toward Richmond. +General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on +the same day with our movement up James river, forced the +Blackwater, burned the railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below +Petersburg, cutting in two Beauregard's force at that point. +We have landed here, intrenched ourselves, destroyed many +miles of railroad, and got possession, which, with proper +supplies, we can hold out against the whole of Lee's army. I +have ordered up the supplies. Beauregard, with a large +portion of his force, was left south, by the cutting of the +railroad by Kautz. That portion which reached Petersburg +under Hill, I have whipped to-day, killing and wounding +many, and taking many prisoners, after a well contested +fight. General Grant will not be troubled with any further +re-inforcements to Lee from Beaureguard's force.</p> + +<p class="right">"BENJ. F. BUTLER, <i>Major-General.</i>"</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> + +<p>But for having been misinformed as to Lee's retreating on +Richmond,—which led him to draw his forces back into his +intrenchments,—Butler would have undoubtedly marched triumphantly into +Petersburg. The mistake gave the enemy holding the approaches to that +city time to be re-enforced, and Petersburg soon became well fortified +and garrisoned. Beaureguard succeeded in a few days time in +concentrating in front of Butler 25,000 troops, thus checking the +latter's advance toward Richmond and Petersburg, on the south side of +the James, though skirmishing went on at various points.</p> + +<p>General Grant intended to have Butler advance and capture Petersburg, +while General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, advanced upon +Richmond from the north bank of the James river. Gen. Butler failed to +accomplish more than his dispatches related, though his forces entered +the city of Petersburg, captured Chester Station, and destroyed the +railroad connection between Petersburg and Richmond. Failure to support +his troops and to intrench lost him all he had gained, and he returned +to his intrenchments at Bermuda Hundreds.</p> + +<p>The Phalanx (Hinks division) held City Point and other stations on the +river, occasionally skirmishing with the enemy, who, ever mindful of the +fact that City Point was the base of supplies for the Army of the James, +sought every opportunity to raid it, but they always found the Phalanx +ready and on the alert.</p> + +<p>After the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, Butler thought to remain +quiet in his intrenchments, but Grant, on the 22nd, ordered him to send +all his troops, save enough to hold City Point, to join the Army of the +Potomac; whereupon General W. F. Smith, with 16,000 men, embarked for +the White House, on the Pamunky river, Butler retaining the Phalanx +division and the Cavalry. Thus ended the operations of the Army of the +James, until Grant crossed the river with the army of the Potomac.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image47.jpg" width="600" height="401" alt="SCENE IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. + +Negro baggage train drivers watering their mules." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCENE IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.<br /> + +Negro baggage train drivers watering their mules.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the 13th of May, Grant determined upon a flank movement toward +Bowling Green, with a view of making Port Royal, instead of +Fredericksburg, his depot for supplies. Sending his reserve artillery to +Belle Plain, he prepared to advance. It was in this manœuvre that +Lee, for the last time, attacked the Federal forces, outside of cover, +in any important movement. The attempt to change the base of supply was +indeed a hazardous move for Grant; it necessitated the moving of his +immense train, numbering four thousand wagons, used in carrying rations, +ammunition and supplies for his army, and transportation of the badly +wounded to the rear, where they could be cared for.</p> + +<p>Up to this time the Wilderness campaign had been a continuous fight and +march. The anxiety which Grant felt for his train, is perhaps best told +by himself:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My movements are terribly embarrassed by our immense wagon +train. It could not be avoided, however."</p></div> + +<p>It was the only means by which the army could obtain needful supplies, +and was consequently indispensable. It was the near approach to the +train that made the confederates often fight so desperately, for they +knew if they could succeed in capturing a wagon they would probably get +something to eat. Soon after the advance began, it was reported to +Grant, that the confederate cavalry was in the rear, in search of the +trains. On the 14th he ordered General Ferrero to "keep a sharp lookout +for this cavalry, and if you can attack it with your (Phalanx) infantry +and (white) cavalry, do so." On the 19th Ferrero, with his Phalanx +division, (4th division, 9th Corps) was on the road to Fredericksburg, +in rear of and to the right of General Tyler's forces, in the +confederates' front. The road formed Grant's direct communication with +his base, and here the confederates, under Ewell attacked the Federal +troops. Grant sent this dispatch to Ferrero:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The enemy have crossed the Ny on the right of our lines, in +considerable force, and may possibly detach a force to move +on Fredericksburg. Keep your cavalry pickets well out on the +plank road, and all other roads leading west and south of +you. If you find the enemy moving infantry and artillery to +you, report it promptly. In that case take up strong +positions and detain him all you can, turning all your +trains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> back to Fredericksburg, and whatever falling back +you may be forced to do, do it in that direction."</p></div> + +<p>The confederates made a dash for the train and captured twenty-seven +wagons, but before they had time to feast off of their booty the Phalanx +was upon them. The enemy fought with uncommon spirit; it was the first +time "F. F. V's," the chivalry of the South,—composing the Army of +Northern Virginia,—had met the negro soldiers, and true to their +instinctive hatred of their black brothers, they gave them the best they +had; lead poured like rain for a while, and then came a lull. Ferrero +knew what it meant, and prepared for their coming. A moment more and the +accustomed yell rang out above the roar of the artillery. The +confederates charged down upon the Phalanx, but to no purpose, save to +make the black line more stable. They retaliated, and the confederates +were driven as the gale drives chaff, the Phalanx recapturing the wagons +and saving Grant's line of communication. General Badeau, speaking of +their action, in his military history of Grant, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It was the first time at the East when colored troops had +been engaged in any important battle, and the display of +soldierly qualities won a frank acknowledgment from both +troops and commanders, not all of whom had before been +willing to look upon negroes as comrades. But after that +time, white soldiers in the army of the Potomac were not +displeased to receive the support of black ones; they had +found the support worth having."</p></div> + +<p>Ferrero had the confidence of his men, who were ever ready to follow +where Grant ordered them to be led.</p> + +<p>But this was not the last important battle the Phalanx took part in. +Butler, after sending the larger portion of his forces to join the Army +of the Potomac, was not permitted to remain quiet in his intrenchments. +The confederates felt divined to destroy, if not capture, his base, and +therefore were continually striving to break through the lines. On the +24th of May, General Fitzhugh Lee made a dash with his cavalry upon +Wilson's Wharf, Butler's most northern outpost, held by two Phalanx +Regiments of General Wilde's brigade. Lee's men had been led to believe +that it was only necessary to yell at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> the "niggers" in order to make +them leave the Post, but in this affair they found a foe worthy of their +steel. They fought for several hours, when finally the confederate +troops beat a retreat. An eye witness of the fight says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The chivalry of Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry division was +badly worsted in the contest last Tuesday with negro troops, +composing the garrison at Wilson's Landing; the chivalry +made a gallant fight, however. The battle began at half-past +twelve <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, and ended at six o'clock, when the chivalry +retired, disgusted and defeated. Lee's men dismounted far in +the rear, and fought as infantry; they drove in the pickets +and skirmishers to the intrenchments, and made several +valiant charges upon our works. To make an assault, it was +necessary to come across an opening in front of our +position, up to the very edge of a deep and impassable +ravine. The rebels, with deafening yells, made furious +onsets, but the negroes did not flinch, and the mad +assailants, discomforted, returned to cover with shrunken +ranks. The rebels' fighting was very wicked; it showed that +Lee's heart was bent on taking the negroes at any cost. +Assaults on the center having failed, the rebels tried first +the left, and then the right flank, with no greater success. +When the battle was over, our loss footed up, one man killed +outright, twenty wounded, and two missing. Nineteen rebels +were prisoners in our hands. Lee's losses must have been +very heavy; the proof thereof was left on the ground. +Twenty-five rebel bodies lay in the woods unburied, and +pools of blood unmistakably told of other victims taken +away. The estimate, from all the evidence carefully +considered, puts the enemy's casualties at two hundred. +Among the corpses Lee left on the field, was that of Major +Breckenridge, of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry. There is no +hesitation here in acknowledging the soldierly qualities +which the colored men engaged in the fight have exhibited. +Even the officers who have hitherto felt no confidence in +them are compelled to express themselves mistaken. General +Wilde, commanding the Post, says that the troops stood up to +their work like veterans."</p></div> + +<p>Newspaper correspondents were not apt to overstate the facts, nor to +give too much favorable coloring to the Phalanx in those days. Very much +of the sentiment in the army—East and West—was manufactured by them. +The Democratic partizan press at the North, especially in New York and +Ohio, still engaged in throwing paper bullets at the negro soldiers, who +were shooting lead bullets at the country's foes.</p> + +<p>The gallantry and heroic courage of the Phalanx in the Departments of +the Gulf and South, and their bloody sacrifices, had not been sufficient +to stop the violent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> clamor and assertions of those journals, that the +"niggers won't fight!"</p> + +<p>Many papers favorable to the Emancipation; opposed putting negro troops +in battle in Virginia. But to all these bomb-proof opinions Grant turned +a deaf ear, and when and where necessity required it, he hurled his +Phalanx brigades against the enemy as readily as he did the white +troops. The conduct of the former was, nevertheless, watched eagerly by +the correspondents of the press who were with the army, and when they +began to chronicle the achievements of the Phalanx, the prejudice began +to give way, and praises were substituted in the place of their +well-worn denunciations. A correspondent of the New York <i>Herald</i> thus +wrote in May:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The conduct of the colored troops, by the way, in the +actions of the last few days, is described as superb. An +Ohio soldier said to me to-day, 'I never saw men fight with +such desperate gallantry as those negroes did. They advanced +as grim and stern as death, and when within reach of the +enemy struck about them with a pitiless vigor, that was +almost fearful.' Another soldier said to me, 'These negroes +never shrink, nor hold back, no matter what the order. +Through scorching heat and pelting storms, if the order +comes, they march with prompt, ready feet.' Such praise is +great praise, and it is deserved. The negroes here who have +been slaves, are loyal, to a man, and on our occupation of +Fredericksburg, pointed out the prominent secessionists, who +were at once seized by our cavalry and put in safe quarters. +In a talk with a group of faithful fellows, I discovered in +them all a perfect understanding of the issues of the +conflict, and a grand determination to prove themselves +worthy of the place and privileges to which they are to be +exalted."</p></div> + +<p>The ice was thus broken, and then each war correspondent found it his +duty to write in deservedly glowing terms of the Phalanx.</p> + +<p>The newspaper reports of the engagements stirred the blood of the +Englishman, and he eschewed his professed love for the freedom of +mankind, and particularly that of the American negro. The London +<i>Times</i>, in the following article, lashed the North for arming the +negroes to shoot the confederates, forgetting, perhaps, that England +employed negroes against the colonist in 1775, and at New Orleans, in +1814, had her black regiments to shoot down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> the fathers of the men whom +it now sought to uphold, in rebellion against the government of the +United States:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><h4>"THE NEGRO UNION SOLDIERS.</h4> + +<p>"Six months have now passed from the time Mr. Lincoln issued +his proclamation abolishing slavery in the States of the +Southern Confederacy. To many it may seem that this measure +has failed of the intended effect and this is doubtless in +some respects the case. It was intended to frighten the +Southern whites into submission, and it has only made them +more fierce and resolute than ever. It was intended to raise +a servile war, or produce such signs of it as should compel +the Confederates to lay down their arms through fear for +their wives and families; and it has only caused desertion +from some of the border plantations and some disorders along +the coast. But in other respects the consequences of this +measure are becoming important enough. The negro race has +been too much attached to the whites, or too ignorant or too +sluggish to show any signs of revolt in places remote from +the presence of the federal armies: but on some points where +the federals have been able to maintain themselves in force +in the midst of a large negro population, the process of +enrolling and arming black regiments has been carried on in +a manner which must give a new character to the war. It is +in the State of Louisiana, and under the command of General +Banks, that this use of negro soldiers has been most +extensive. The great city of New Orleans having fallen into +the possession of the federals more than a year ago, and the +neighboring country being to a certain degree abandoned by +the white population, a vast number of negroes have been +thrown on the hands of the General in command to support +and, if he can, make use of. The arming of these was begun +by General Butler, and it has been continued by his +successor. Though the number actually under arms is no doubt +exaggerated by Northern writers, yet enough have been +brought into service to produce a powerful effect on the +imaginations of the combatants, and, as we can now clearly +see, to add almost grievously to the fury of the struggle.</p> + +<p>"Of all wars, those between races which had been accustomed +to stand to each other in the relation of master and slave +have been so much the most horrible that by general consent +the exciting of a servile insurrection has been considered +as beyond the pale of legitimate warfare. This had been held +even in the case of European serfdom, although there the +rulers and the ruled are of the same blood, religion and +language. But the conflict between the white men and the +negro, <i>and particularly the American white man and the +American negro, is likely to be more ruthless than any which +the ancient world, fruitful in such histories, or the modern +records of Algeria can furnish</i>. There was reason to hope +that the deeds of 1857 in India would not be paralleled in +our time or in any after age. The Asiatic savagery rose upon +a dominant race scattered throughout the land, and wreaked +its vengeance upon it by atrocities which it would be a +relief to forget. But it has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> been reserved for the New +World to present the spectacle of civil war, calling servile +war to its aid, and of men of English race and language so +envenomed against each other that one party places arms in +the hands of the half savage negro, and the other acts as if +resolved to give no quarter to the insurgent race or the +white man who commands them or fights by their side. In the +valley of the Mississippi, where these negro soldiers are in +actual service, it seems likely that a story as revolting as +that of St. Domingo is being prepared for the world. No one +who reads the description of the fighting at Port Hudson, +and the accounts given by the papers of scenes at other +places, can help fearing that the worst part of this war has +yet to come, and that a people who lately boasted that they +took the lead in education and material civilization are now +carrying on a contest without regard to any law of +conventional warfare,—one side training negroes to fight +against its own white flesh and blood, the other +slaughtering them without mercy whenever they find them in +the field.</p> + +<p>" * * * It is pitiable to find these unhappy Africans, whose +clumsy frames are no match for the sinewy and agile white +American, thus led on to be destroyed by a merciless enemy. +Should the war proceed in this manner, it is possible that +the massacre of Africans may not be confined to actual +conflict in the field. Hitherto the whites have been +sufficiently confident in the negroes to leave them +unmolested, even when the enemy was near; but with two or +three black regiments in each federal corps, and such events +as the Port Hudson massacre occuring to infuriate the minds +on either side, who can foresee what three months more of +war may bring forth?</p> + +<p>"All that we can say with certainty is that the unhappy +negro will be the chief sufferer in this unequal conflict. +An even greater calamity, however, is the brutalization of +two antagonistic peoples by the introduction into the war of +these servile allies of the federals. Already there are +military murders and executions on both sides. The horrors +which Europe has foreseen for a year past are now upon us. +Reprisal will provoke reprisal, until all men's natures are +hardened, and the land flows with blood."</p></div> + +<p>The article is truly instructive to the present generation; its +malignity and misrepresentation of the Administration's intentions in +regard to the arming of negroes, serves to illustrate the deep-seated +animosity which then existed in England toward the union of the States. +Nor will the American negro ever forget England's advice to the +confederates, whose massacre of negro soldiers fighting for freedom she +endorsed and applauded. The descendants of those black soldiers, who +were engaged in the prolonged struggle for freedom, can rejoice in the +fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> that no single act of those patriots is in keeping with the +Englishman's prediction; no taint of brutality is even charged against +them by those whom they took prisoners in battle. The confederates +themselves testify to the humane treatment they unexpectedly received at +the hands of their negro captors. Mr. Pollard, the historian, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"No servile insurrections had taken place in the South."</p></div> + +<p>But it is gratifying to know that all Englishmen did not agree with the +writer of the <i>Times</i>. A London letter in the New York Evening <i>Post</i>, +said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Spurgeon makes most effective and touching prayers, +remembering, at least once on a Sunday, the United States. +'Grant, O God,' he said recently, 'that the right may +conquer, and that if the fearful canker of slavery must be +cut out by the sword, it be wholly eradicated from the body +politic of which it is the curse.' He is seldom, however, as +pointed as this; and, like other clergymen of England, prays +for the return of peace. Indeed, it must be acknowledged +that if the English press and government have done what they +could to continue this war, the dissenting clergy of England +have nobly shown their good will and hearty sympathy with +the Americans, and their sincere desire for the settlement +of our difficulties. 'If praying would do you Americans any +good,' said an irreverent acquaintance last Sunday, 'you +will be gratified to learn that a force of a +thousand-clergymen-power is constantly at work for you over +here.'"</p></div> + +<p>After the heroic and bloody effort at Cold Harbor to reach Richmond, or +to cross the James above the confederate capitol, and thus cut off the +enemy's supplies,—after Grant had flanked, until to flank again would +be to leave Richmond in his rear,—when Lee had withdrawn to his +fortifications, refusing to accept Grant's challenge to come out and +fight a decisive battle,—when all hope of accomplishing either of these +objects had vanished, Grant determined to return to his original plan of +attack from the coast, and turned his face toward the James river. On +the 12th of June the Army of the Potomac began to move, and by the 16th +it was, with all its trains across, and on the south side of the James.</p> + +<p>Petersburg Grant regarded as the citadel of Richmond, and to capture it +was the first thing on his list to be accomplished. General Butler was +made acquainted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> with this, and as soon as General Smith, who, with a +portion of Butler's forces had been temporarily dispatched to join the +army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor, returned to Bermuda Hundreds with +his force, he was ordered forward to capture the Cockade City. It was +midnight on the 14th, when Smith's troops arrived. Butler ordered him +immediately forward against Petersburg, and he moved accordingly. His +force was in three divisions of Infantry, and one of Cavalry, under +General Kautz, who was to threaten the line of works on the Norfolk +road. General Hinks, with his division of the Phalanx, was to take +position across the Jordon's Point road on the right of Kautz; Brooks' +division of white troops was to follow, Hinks coming in at the center of +the line, while General Martindale with the other division was to move +along the Appomattox and strike the City Point road. Smith's movement +was directed against the northeast side of Petersburg, extending from +the City Point to the Norfolk railroad. About daylight on the 15th, as +the columns advanced on the City Point road at Bailey's farm, six miles +from Petersburg, a confederate battery opened fire. Kautz reconnoitered +and found a line of rifle trench, extending along the front, on rapidly +rising ground, with a thicket covering. The work was held by a regiment +of cavalry and a light battery. At once there was use for the Phalanx; +the works must be captured with the battery before the troops could +proceed. The cavalry was re-called, and Hinks began the formation of an +attacking party from his division. The confederates were in an open +field, their battery upon a knoll in the same field, commanding a +sweeping position to its approaches. The advancing troops must come out +from the woods, rush up the slope and carry it at the point of the +bayonet, exposed to the tempest of musketry and cannister of the +battery. Hinks formed his line for the assault, and the word of command +was given,—"forward." The line emerged from the woods, the enemy opened +with cannister upon the steadily advancing column, which, without +stopping, replied with a volley of Minie bullets.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The long, dusky line, arm to arm, knee to knee."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image48.jpg" width="600" height="392" alt="PHALANX SOLDIERS AT WORK ON RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHALANX SOLDIERS AT WORK ON RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then shells came crashing through the line, dealing death and shattering +the ranks; but on they went, with a wild cheer, running up the slope; +again a storm of cannister met them; a shower of musketry came down upon +the advancing column, whose bristling bayonets were to make the way +clear for their white comrades awaiting on the roadside. A hundred black +men went down under the fire; the ranks were quickly closed however, and +with another wild cheer the living hundreds went over the works with the +impetuosity of a cyclone; they seized the cannon and turned them upon +the fleeing foe, who, in consternation, stampeded toward Petersburg, to +their main line of intrenchments on the east. Thus the work of the 5th +and 22nd Phalanx regiments was completed and the road made clear for the +18th Corps.</p> + +<p>Brooks now moved up simultaneously with Martindale, on the river road. +By noon the whole corps was in front of the enemy's main line of works, +Martindale on the right, Brooks in the center, the Phalanx and cavalry +on the left, sweeping down to the Jerusalem Plank Road on the southeast. +Hinks, with the Phalanx, in order to gain the position assigned him, had +necessarily to pass over an open space exposed to a direct and +cross-fire. Nevertheless, he prepared to occupy his post, and forming a +line of battle, he began the march. The division numbered about 3,000, a +portion of it being still at Wilson's Landing, Fort Powhatan, City Point +and Bermuda Hundreds. This was a march that veterans might falter in, +without criticism or censure. The steady black line advanced a few rods +at a time, when coming within range of the confederate guns they were +obliged to lie down and wait for another opportunity. Now a lull,—they +would rise, go forward, and again lie down. Thus they continued their +march, under a most galling, concentrated artillery fire until they +reached their position, from which they were to join in a general +assault; and here they lay, from one till five o'clock,—four long +hours,—exposed to ceaseless shelling by the enemy. Badeau says, in +speaking of the Phalanx in this ordeal:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"No worse strain on the nerves of troops is possible, for it +is harder to remain quiet under cannon fire, even though +comparatively harmless, than to advance against a storm of +musketry."</p></div> + +<p>General W. F. Smith, though brave, was too cautious and particular in +detail, and he spent those four hours in careful reconnoissance, while +the troops lay exposed to the enemy's concentric fire.</p> + +<p>The main road leading east from Petersburg ascends a hill two or more +miles out, upon the top of which stood what was then known as Mr. Dunn's +house. In front of it was a fort, and another south, and a third north, +with other works; heavy embankments and deep ravines and ditches, trunks +of hewn trees blackened by camp fires, formed an abatis on the even +ground. Here the sharpshooters and riflemen had a fair view of the +entire field. The distance from these works to the woods was about three +hundred and sixty paces, in the edge of which lay the black Phalanx +division, ready, like so many tigers, waiting for the command, +"forward." The forts near Dunn's house had direct front fire, and those +on the north an enfilading fire on the line of advance. Smith got his +troops in line for battle by one o'clock, but there they lay. Hinks +impatiently awaited orders; oh! what a suspense—each hour seemed a +day,—what endurance—what valor. Shells from the batteries ploughed +into the earth where they stood, and began making trouble for the +troops. Hinks gave the order, "lie down;" they obeyed, and were somewhat +sheltered. Five o'clock—yet no orders. At length the command was given, +"forward." The skirmishers started at quick time; the enemy opened upon +them vigorously from their batteries and breastworks, upon which they +rested their muskets, in order to fire with accuracy. A torrent of +bullets was poured upon the advancing line, and the men fell fast as +autumn leaves in a gale of wind. Then the whole line advanced, the +Phalanx going at double-quick; their well aligned ranks, with bayonets +glittering obliquely in the receding sunlight, presented a spectacle +both magnificent and grand.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image49.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="A GALLANT CHARGE. + +The 22nd Negro Regiment, Duncan's +Brigade, carrying the first line of Confederate works before Petersburg, +Va." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A GALLANT CHARGE. + +The 22nd Negro Regiment, Duncan's +Brigade, carrying the first line of Confederate works before Petersburg, +Va.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span></p> + +<p>Duncan rushed his skirmishers and reached the ditches in front of the +breastworks, which, without waiting for the main body, they entered and +clambered up the steep embankments. A sheet of flame from above was +rained down, causing many a brave man to stagger and fall back into the +ditch, never to rise again. The troops following, inspired by the daring +of the skirmishers, pressed forward on the run up to the forts, swept +round the curtains, scaled the breastworks and dashed with patriotic +rage at the confederate gunners, who deserted their pieces and ran for +their lives. Brooks and Martindale advanced simultaneously upon the +works at Osborn's house and up the railroad, sweeping everything before +them. The Phalanx seized upon the guns and turned them instantly upon +the fleeing foe, and then with spades and shovels reversed the +fortifications and prepared to hold them. Fifteen pieces of artillery +and three hundred confederates were captured. "The Phalanx," says the +official report, took two-thirds of the prisoners and nine pieces of +artillery. General Smith, finding that General Birney, with the 2nd +Corps, had not arrived, instead of marching the troops into Petersburg, +waited for re-inforcements unnecessarily, and thereby lost his chance of +taking the city, which was soon garrisoned with troops enough to defy +the whole army. Thus Grant was necessitated afterward to lay siege to +the place.</p> + +<p>The confederates never forgot nor forgave this daring of the "niggers," +who drove them, at the point of the bayonet, out of their breastworks, +killing and capturing their comrades and their guns. They were chided by +their brother confederates for allowing negroes to take their works from +them. The maidens of the Cockade City were told that they could not +trust themselves to men who surrendered their guns to "niggers." The +soldiers of the Phalanx were delirious with joy. They had caught "ole +massa," and he was theirs. General Hinks had their confidence, and they +were ready to follow wherever he led.</p> + +<p>The chaplin of the 9th Corps, in his history, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In this movement a division of colored troops, under +Brigadier-General Hinks, seems to have won the brightest +laurels. They first attacked and carried the enemy's outpost +at Bailey's farm, capturing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> one piece of artillery in the +most gallant manner. On their arrival before Petersburg, +they lay in front of the works for nearly five hours, +waiting for the word of command. They then, in company with +the white troops, and showing equal bravery, rushed and +carried the enemy's line of works, with what glorious +success has already been related."</p></div> + +<p>This, indeed, was a victory, yet shorn of its full fruits; but that +Petersburg was not captured was no fault of the Phalanx. They had +carried and occupied the most formidable obstacles.</p> + +<p>Badeau, in chronicling these achievements, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"General Smith assaulted the works on the City Point and +Prince George Court House roads. The rebels resisted with a +sharp infantry fire, but the center and left dashed into the +works, consisting of five redan's on the crest of a deep and +difficult ravine. Kiddoo's (22d) black regiment was one of +the first to gain the hill. In support of this movement, the +second line was swung around and moved against the front of +the remaining works. The rebels, assaulted thus in front and +flank, gave way, four of the guns already captured were +turned upon them by the negro conquerors, enfilading the +line, and before dark, Smith was in possession of the whole +of the outer works, two and a half miles long, with fifteen +pieces of artillery and three hundred prisoners. Petersburg +was at his mercy."</p></div> + +<p>This failure made a siege necessary, and General Grant began by regular +approaches to invest the place, after making the three desperate +assaults on the 16th, 17th and 18th. It had been indeed a bloody June; +the soil of the Old Dominion, which for two centuries the negro had +tilled and made to yield the choicest products, under a system of cruel +and inhuman bondage he now reddened with his blood in defense of his +liberty, proving by his patriotism, not only his love of liberty, but +his courage and capacity to defend it. The negro troops had marched and +fought with the white regiments with equal intrepidity and courage; they +were no longer despised by their comrades; they now had recognition as +soldiers, and went into the trenches before Petersburg as a part of as +grand an army as ever laid siege to a stronghold or stormed a +fortification.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of June, General Ferrero reported to General Meade, with his +division of the Phalanx, (4th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> Division, 9th Corps), and was immediately +ordered to join its own proper corps,—from which it had been separated +since the 6th of May,—at the crossing of the Rapidan. It had served +under Sedgwick and Sheridan until the 17th, when it came under the +direct command of General Grant, and thus remained until the 25th of +May, when General Burnside, waiving rank to Meade, the 9th Corps was +incorporated into the Army of the Potomac. During its absence the +division sustained the reputable renown of its corps, not only in +protecting the trains, but in fighting the enemy, and capturing +prisoners. Before rejoining the corps, the division was strengthened by +three regiments of cavalry,—the 5th New York, 3rd New Jersey and 2nd +Ohio. From the 9th of May till the 17th, the division occupied the plank +road, looking to the old Wilderness tavern, covering the extreme right +of the army, extending from Todd's to Banks' Ford. On the 17th, the +division moved to Salem Church, near the main road to Fredericksburg, +where, as we have seen, it defended the rear line against the attack +made by the confederates, under General Ewell.</p> + +<p>The historian of the corps says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The division on the 21st of May was covering +Fredericksburg, and the roads leading hence to Bowling +Green. On the 22nd it marched toward Bowling Green, and on +the 23rd it moved to Milford Station. From that date to the +27th it protected the trains of the army in the rear of the +positions on the North Anna. On the 27th, the division moved +to Newtown; on the 28th, to Dunkirk, crossing the Maltapony; +on the 29th, to the Pamunkey, near Hanovertown. On the 1st +of June the troops crossed the Pamunkey, and from the 2nd to +the 6th, covered the right of the army; from the 6th to the +12th they covered the approaches from New Castle Ferry, +Hanovertown, Hawe's shop, and Bethusda Church. From the 12th +to the 18th they moved by easy stages, by way of Tunstall's +New Kent Court House, Cole's Ferry, and the pontoon bridge +across the James, to the line of the army near Petersburg. +The dismounted cavalry were left to guard the trains, and +the 4th Division prepared to participate in the more active +work of soldiers. Through the remainder of the month of +June, and the most of July, the troops were occupied in the +second line of trenches, and in active movements towards the +left, under Generals Hancock and Warren. While they were +engaged in the trenches they were also drilled in the +movements necessary for an attack and occupation of the +enemy's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> works. A strong feeling of pride and esprit de +corps sprung up within the hearts of the blacks, and they +began to think that they too might soon have the opportunity +of some glory for their race and country."</p></div> + +<p>How natural was this feeling. As we have seen, their life for more than +a month had been one of marching and counter-marching, though hazardous +and patriotic. When on the 18th, they entered upon the more active duty +of soldiers, they found the 3rd Division of the 18th Corps, composed of +the Phalanx of the Army of the James, covered with glory, and the welkin +ringing with praises of their recent achievements. The men of the 4th +Division chafed with eager ambition to rival their brothers of the 18th +Corps, in driving the enemy from the Cockade City. General Burnside was +equally as anxious to give his black boys a chance to try the steel of +the chivalry in deadly conflict, and this gave them consolation, with +the assurance that their day would ere long dawn, so they toiled and +drilled carefully for their prospective glory.</p> + +<p>But the situation of the Phalanx before Petersburg was far from being +enviable. Smarting under the thrashing they had received from Hinks' +division, the confederates were ever ready now to slaughter the +"niggers" when advantage offered them the opportunity. A steady, +incessant fire was kept up against the positions the Phalanx occupied, +and their movements were watched with great vigilance. Although they did +not raise the black flag, yet manifestly no quarter to negro troops, or +to white troops that fought with them, was the confederates' +determination.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Judging from their actions, the presence of the negro +soldiers, both in the Eighteenth and Ninth Corps," says +Woodbury, "seemed to have the effect of rendering the enemy +more spiteful than ever before the Fourth Division came. The +closeness of the lines on the front of the corps rendered +constant watchfulness imperative, and no day passed without +some skirmishing between the opposing pickets. When the +colored soldiers appeared, this practice seemed to increase, +while in front of the Fifth Corps, upon the left of our +line, there was little or no picket firing, and the outposts +of both armies were even disposed to be friendly. On the +front of the Ninth, the firing was incessant, and in many +cases fatal."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image50.jpg" width="600" height="435" alt="IN THE TRENCHES" title="" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"General Potter, in his report, mentions that, when his +division occupied the front, his loss averaged some fourteen +or fifteen officers killed and wounded per diem. The +sharpshooters on either side were vigilant, and an exposure +of any part of the person was the signal for the exchange of +shots. The men, worn by hard marching, hard fighting and +hard digging, took every precaution to shield themselves, +and sought cover at every opportunity. They made fire proofs +of logs and earth, and with tortuous covered ways and +traverse, endeavoring to secure themselves from the enemy's +fire. The artillery and mortars on both sides were kept +almost constantly at work. These were all precursors of the +coming, sanguinary struggle for the possession of Cemetery +Hill. Immediately in front of the salient occupied by the +Ninth Corps, the rebels had constructed a very strong +redoubt, a short distance below Cemetery Hill. In the rear +of the redoubt ran a ridge nearly at right angles with the +rebels' lines, to the hill. It appeared that if this redoubt +was captured, the enemy's line would be seriously +threatened, if not entirely broken up. A feasible plan for +the destruction of the redoubt, was seriously discussed +among the soldiers of the corps; finally Colonel Pleasants, +of the 48th Pennsylvania Regiment, devised a plan to run a +mine under the intervening space between the line of the +corps and the redoubt, with the design of exploding it, +directly under the redoubt. To this plan General Burnside +lent his aid, and preparations were made for an assault upon +Cemetery Hill, at the time of its explosion. The work of +digging and preparing the mine was prosecuted under the most +disadvantageous circumstances. General Meade reluctantly +gave official sanction, and the work of excavation proceeded +with, despite the fact that General Burnside's requisitions +for supplies were not responded to. Nevertheless, in less +than a month the mine was ready, and after considerable +discussion, and not without some bickering, the plan of +attack was arranged, which, in brief, was to form two +columns, and to charge with them through the breach caused +by the explosion of the mine. Then to sweep along the +enemy's line, right and left, clearing away the artillery +and infantry, by attacking in the flank and rear. Other +columns were to make for the crest, the whole to co-operate. +General Ferrero, in command of the Phalanx division was +informed, that in accordance with the plan of attack, he was +to lead in the assault, when the attack was made, after the +mine had been fired. He was ordered to drill his troops +accordingly. After a careful examination of the ground, +Ferrero decided upon his methods of advance,—not to go +directly in the crater formed by the explosion, but rather +upon one side of it, and then to take the enemy in flank and +reverse. When he informed his officers and men that they +would be called upon to lead in the assault, they received +the information with delight. His men, desirous of emulating +their comrades of the Third Division of the Eighteenth +Corps, felt that their cherished hope,—the opportunity for +which they had prayed,—was near at hand; the hour in which +they would show themselves worthy of the honor of being +associated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> with the Army of the Potomac. They rejoiced at +the prospect of wiping off whatever reproach an ill-judged +prejudice might have cast upon them, by proving themselves +brave, thereby demanding the respect which brave men +deserve. For three weeks they drilled with alacrity in the +various movements; charging upon earthworks, wheeling by the +right and left, deployment, and other details of the +expected operations. General Burnside had early expressed +his confidence in the soldierly capabilities of the men of +the Phalanx, and now wished to give them an opportunity to +justify his good opinion."</p></div> + +<p>His white troops, moreover, had been greatly exposed throughout the +whole campaign, had suffered severely, and had been so much under the +fire of the sharpshooters that it had become a second nature with them +to dodge bullets. The negro troops had not been so much exposed, and had +already shown their steadiness under fire in one or two pretty severe +skirmishes in which they had previously been engaged. The white officers +and men of the corps were elated with the selection made by General +Burnside, and they, too, manifested an uncommon interest in their +dark-hued comrades. The demeanor of the former toward the latter was +very different from that of the other corps, of which that particular +army was composed. The 9th Corps had seen more service than any other +corps in the Army of the Potomac. Its operations in six States had given +to the men an experience calculated to destroy, very greatly, their race +prejudice; besides a very large portion of the regiments in the corps +came from the New England States, especially Massachusetts, Vermont and +Rhode Island, where race prejudice was not so strong; consequently the +treatment of the men in the 4th Division was tempered by humanity, and +pregnant with a fraternal feeling of comradeship. And then there was a +corps pride very naturally existing among the white troops, which +prompted a desire for the achievement of some great and brilliant feat +by their black comrades. This feeling was expressed in more than one way +by the entire corps, and greatly enhanced the ambition of the Phalanx to +rout the enemy and drive him out of his fortifications before +Petersburg, if not to capture the city.</p> + +<p>These high hopes were soon dissipated, however. General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> Meade had an +interview with General Burnside on the 28th; the subject was fully +discussed as to the plan of the assault, as proposed by General +Burnside, and made known to Meade by Burnside, in writing, on the 26th. +It was at this meeting that General Meade made his objections to the +Phalanx leading the assault. General Burnside argued with all the reason +he could command, in favor of his plans, and especially for the Phalanx, +going over the grounds already cited; why his white troops were unfit +and disqualified for performing the task of leading the assault, but in +vain. Meade was firm in his purpose, and, true to his training, he had +no use for the negro but as a servant; he never had trusted him as a +soldier. The plan, with General Meade's objection was referred to +General Grant for settlement. Grant, doubting the propriety of agreeing +with a subordinate, as against the commander of the army, dismissed the +dispute by agreeing with Meade; therefore the Phalanx was ruled out of +the lead and placed in the supporting column. It was not till the night +of the 29th, a few hours before the assault was made, that the change +was made known to General Ferrero and his men, who were greatly +chagrined and filled with disappointment.</p> + +<p>General Ledlie's division of white troops was to lead the assault, after +the explosion of the mine on the morning of the 30th. It was on the +night of the 29th, when General Burnside issued his battle order, in +accordance with General Meade's plan and instructions, and at the +appointed hour all the troops were in readiness for the conflict. The +mine, with its several tons of powder, was ready at a quarter past three +o'clock on the eventful morning of the 30th of July. The fuses were +fired, and "all eyes were turned to the confederate fort opposite," +which was discernible but three hundred feet distant. The garrison was +sleeping in fancied security; the sentinels slowly paced their rounds, +without a suspicion of the crust which lay between them and the awful +chasm below. Our own troops, lying upon their arms in unbroken silence, +or with an occasional murmur, stilled at once by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> the whispered word of +command, looked for the eventful moment of attack to arrive. A quarter +of an hour passed,—a half hour, yet there was no report. Four o'clock, +and the sky began to brighten in the east; the confederate garrison was +bestirring itself. The enemy's lines once more assumed the appearance of +life; the sharpshooters, prepared for their victims, began to pick off +those of our men, who came within range of their deadly aim. Another day +of siege was drawing on, and still there was no explosion. What could it +mean? The fuses had failed;—the dampness having penetrated to the place +where the parts had been spliced together, prevented the powder from +burning. Two men (Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergeant—afterwards +Lieutenant—Henry Rees,) of the 48th Pennsylvania volunteered to go and +ascertain where the trouble was. At quarter past four o'clock they +bravely entered the mine, re-arranged the fuses and relighted them. In +the meantime, General Meade had arrived at the permanent headquarters of +the 9th Corps. Not being able to see anything that was going forward, +and not hearing any report, he became somewhat impatient. At fifteen +minutes past four o'clock he telegraphed to General Burnside to know +what was the cause of the delay. Gen. Burnside was too busy in remedying +the failure already incurred to reply immediately, and expected, indeed, +that before a dispatch could be sent that the explosion would take +place. General Meade ill-naturedly telegraphed the operator to know +where General Burnside was. At half-past four, the commanding general +became still more impatient, and was on the point of ordering an +immediate assault upon the enemy's works, without reference to the mine. +Five minutes later he <i>did</i> order an assault. General Grant was there +when, at sixteen minutes before five o'clock, the mine exploded. Then +ensued a scene which beggars description.</p> + +<p>General Badeau, in describing the spectacle, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The mine exploded with a shock like that of an earthquake, +tearing up the rebels' work above them, and vomiting men, +guns and caissons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> two hundred feet into the air. The +tremendous mass appeared for a moment to hang suspended in +the heavens like a huge, inverted cone, the exploding powder +still flashing out here and there, while limbs and bodies of +mutilated men, and fragments of cannon and wood-work could +be seen, then all fell heavily to the ground again, with a +second report like thunder. When the smoke and dust had +cleared away, only an enormous crater, thirty feet deep, +sixty wide, and a hundred and fifty long stretched out in +front of the Ninth Corps, where the rebel fort had been."</p></div> + +<p>The explosion was the signal for the federal batteries to open fire, and +immediately one hundred and ten guns and fifty mortars opened along the +Union front, lending to the sublime horror of the upheaved and quaking +earth, the terror of destruction.</p> + +<p>A confederate soldier thus describes the explosion, in the Philadelphia +<i>Times</i>, January, 1883:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"About fifteen feet of dirt intervened between the sleeping +soldiers and all this powder. In a moment the superincumbent +earth, for a space forty by eighty feet, was hurled upward, +carrying with it the artillery-men, with their four guns, +and three companies of soldiers. As the huge mass fell +backwards it buried the startled men under immense +clods—tons of dirt. Some of the artillery was thrown forty +yards towards the enemy's line. The clay subsoil was broken +and piled in large pieces, often several yards in diameter, +which afterwards protected scores of Federals when +surrounded in the crater. The early hour, the unexpected +explosion, the concentrated fire of the enemy's batteries, +startled and wrought confusion among brave men accustomed to +battle."</p></div> + +<p>Says a Union account:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Now was the time for action, forward went General Ledlie's +column, with Colonel Marshall's brigade in advance. The +parapets were surmounted, the abatis was quickly removed, +and the division prepared to pass over the intervening +ground, and charge through the still smoking ruins to gain +the crest beyond. But here the leading brigade made a +temporary halt; it was said at the time our men suspected a +counter mine, and were themselves shocked by the terrible +scene they had witnessed. It was, however, but momentary; in +less than a quarter of an hour, the entire division was out +of its entrenchments, and was advancing gallantly towards +the enemy's line. The ground was somewhat difficult to cross +over, but the troops pushed steadily on with soldiery +bearing, overcoming all the obstacles before them. They +reached the edge of the crater, passed down into the chasm +and attempted to make their way through the yielding sand, +the broken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> clay, and the masses of rubbish that were +everywhere about. Many of the enemy's men were lying among +the ruins, half buried, and vainly trying to free +themselves. They called for mercy and for help. The soldiers +stopped to take prisoners, to dig out guns and other +material. Their division commander was not with them, there +was no responsible head, the ranks were broken, the +regimental organizations could not be preserved, and the +troops were becoming confused. The enemy was recovering from +his surprise, our artillery began to receive a spirited +response, the enemy's men went back to their guns; they +gathered on the crest and soon brought to bear upon our +troops a fire in front from the Cemetery Hill, and an +enfilading and cross-fire from their guns in battery. Our +own guns could not altogether silence or overcome this fire +in flank, our men in the crater were checked, felt the +enemy's fire, sought cover, began to entrench. The day was +lost, still heroic men continued to push forward for the +crest, but in passing through the crater few got beyond it. +Regiment after regiment, brigade followed brigade, until the +three white divisions filled the opening and choked the +passage to all. What was a few moments ago organization and +order, was now a disordered mass of armed men. At six +o'clock, General Meade ordered General Burnside to push 'his +men forward, at all hazards, white and black.' His white +troops were all in the crater, and could not get out. As +instructed, he ordered General Ferrero to rush in the +Phalanx; Colonel Loving was near when the order came to +Ferrero; as the senior staff officer present, seeing the +impossibility of the troops to get through the crater, at +that time countermanded the order, and reported in person to +General Burnside, but he had no discretion to exercise, his +duty was simply to repeat Meade's order. The order must be +obeyed; it was repeated; away went the Phalanx division, +loudly cheering, but to what purpose did they advance? The +historian of that valiant corps, presumably more reliable +than any other writer, says:</p> + +<p>"'The colored troops charged forward, cheering with +enthusiasm and gallantry. Colonel J. K. Sigfried, commanding +the first brigade, led the attacking column. The command +moved out in rear of Colonel Humphrey's brigade of the Third +Division. Colonel Sigfried, passing Colonel Humphrey by the +flank, crossed the field immediately in front, went down the +crater, and attempted to go through. The passage was +exceedingly difficult, but after great exertions the brigade +made its way through the crowded masses in a somewhat broken +and disorganized condition, and advanced towards the crest. +The 43rd U. S. Colored troops moved over the lip of the +crater toward the right, made an attack upon the enemy's +line of intrenchments, and won the chief success of the day, +capturing a number of prisoners and rebel colors, and +<i>re-capturing</i> a stand of national colors. The other +regiments of the brigade were unable to get up, on account +of white troops in advance of them crowding the line. The +second brigade, under command of Colonel H. G. Thomas, +followed the first with equal enthusiasm. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> men rushed +forward, descended into the crater, and attempted to pass +through. Colonel Thomas' intention was to go to the right +and attack the enemy's rifle-pits. He partially succeeded in +doing so, but his brigade was much broken up when it came +under the enemy's fire. The gallant brigade commander +endeavored, in person, to rally his command, and at last +formed a storming column, of portions of the 29th, 28th, +23rd, and 19th Regiments of the Phalanx division.'</p> + +<p>"'These troops' made a spirited attack, but lost heavily in +officers and became somewhat disheartened. +Lieutenant-Colonel Bross, of the 29th, with the colors in +his hands, led the charge; was the first man to leap upon +the enemy's works, and was instantly killed. Lieutenant +Pennell seized the colors, but was shot down, riddled +through and through. Major Theodore H. Rockwood, of the +19th, sprang upon the parapet, and fell while cheering on +his regiment to the attack. The conduct of these officers +and their associates was indeed magnificent. No troops were +ever better lead to an assault; had they been allowed the +advance at the outset, before the enemy had recovered from +his first surprise, their charge would have been successful. +But it was made too late. The fire to which they were +exposed was very hot and destructive; it came from front and +flank, it poured into the faces of the men. It enfiladed +their lines. The enemy's rage against the colored troops had +its bloody opportunity."</p></div> + +<p>And they made use of it.</p> + +<p>Captain W. L. Fagan, of the 8th Alabama Regiment, thus gives an account +of the fight, from the confederate side:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The crater combat, unlike other battles in Virginia, was a +series of deeds of daring, of bloody hand-to-hand fighting, +where the survivor could count with a certainty the men he +had slain. A few days ago a soldier said to me: 'I killed +two at the crater; they were not three feet from me when +they fell. I had followed the fortunes of the Confederacy +from Williamsburg to Appomattox Court House, and had, to the +morning of July 30, only seen two bayonet wounds;—one +received at Frazier's Farm, the other at Turkey Ridge, June +3, 1864.' Men stood face to face at the crater. Often a +bayonet thrust was given before the Minie ball went crashing +through the body. Every man took care of himself, intent on +selling his life as dearly as possible. The negroes did not +all stampede. They mingled with the white troops. The troops +of Mahone, Wilcox and Wright were greeted with defiant +yells, while their ranks were mowed down by withering fires. +Many officers commanding negro troops held their commissions +for bravery. Encouraged, threatened, emulating the white +troops, the black men fought with desperation. Some +Confederate soldiers recognized their slaves at the crater. +Captain J——, of the Forty-first Virginia, gave the +military salute to 'Ben' and 'Bob,' whom he had left hoeing +corn down in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> Dinwiddie. If White's Division had occupied +Reservoir Hill, Richmond would have been evacuated."</p></div> + +<p>But let the writer of the following tell what the brave black men met +after having advanced beyond the crater, where they grappled with the +sullen foe filled with the recollection of the capture, in June, of +their works, guns and comrades by the "niggers" of the 18th Corps. It +was not <i>lex talionis</i> that they observed, but a repetition of the Fort +Pillow Massacre. Under the head of "The Confederate Charge," the +particulars are given:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Federals now held the crater and the inner line. +Generals Lee and Mahone arrived on the field about 7:30 <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span> A ravine, which deepened on our right, ran parallel with +this inner line and was used by Mahone in which to form his +brigade when preparing to attack. At 8 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Mahone's +Brigade, commanded by Colonel D. A. Weisiger, brought from +the right of Hoke's Division, was formed in this ravine and +advanced to the assault. The Federals, concentrating a +terrific fire of musketry and artillery, ploughed out great +gaps in these fearless Virginians. Nothing daunted, they +pressed forward and recaptured the inner line. The loss of +this brigade was heavy, both in men and officers, more than +two hundred Virginians falling between the ravine and the +captured works. The Federal troops, white and colored, +fought with a desperation never witnessed on former +battle-fields. The negroes, it is said, cried 'No quarter.' +Mahone and Wright's Brigades took only twenty-nine of them +prisoners. The Federals still held the crater and part of +the line. Another charge was necessary and Wright's Georgia +Brigade was ordered up from Anderson's Division. Wright's +Brigade, forming in the ravine, moved forward to drive the +Federals from the line they still held. The enemy, expecting +their attack, poured a volley into the Georgians that +decimated their ranks, killing and wounding nearly every +field officer in the brigade. The men rushing forward, +breasting a storm of lead and iron, failed to oblique far +enough to the right to recapture the whole line, but gained +the line occupied by and contiguous to the line already +captured by Weisiger, commanding Mahone's Brigade. Mahone's +Brigade and Wright's Brigade had captured forty-two +officers, three hundred and ninety men and twenty-nine +negroes.</p> + +<p>"It was now about 10 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> General Grant made no effort to +reinforce his line or to dislodge Wright and Mahone from the +positions they held. A courier dashed up to General J. C. C. +Sanders, commanding Wilcox's Brigade, informing him that his +brigade was wanted. The men were expecting this courier, as +they were next in line, and they distinctly heard the shouts +of Mahone's and Wright's men, followed by the heavy +artillery firing, while the word had passed down the line +that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> salient had not been recaptured. General Sanders +moved his brigade, consisting of the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, +Eleventh and Fourteenth Alabama Regiments, to the left and +occupied the ravine. There was no shade or water in this +ravine, while the men were exposed nearly four hours to a +scorching sun. The heat was almost beyond human endurance. +Strong men fainted and were carried to the rear. The waves +of hot air at times were almost suffocating. For the first +and only time the men were told what was expected of them. +General Saunders explained the situation to the officers of +the regiments. Each captain spoke to his men, urging them to +retake the salient, or Petersburg and Richmond must be +evacuated. The men were ordered to fix their bayonets +securely, to trail arms—not to fire, not to yell, but to +move quietly up the side of the ravine, and then, every man +run for his life to the breastworks. They were told that +Generals Lee, Beauregard, Hill, Mahone, Hoke and every +general officer of the army would watch them as they moved +forward.</p> + +<p>"At 1:30 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> the firing had almost ceased and the +Federals, overcome with heat, did not expect an attack. +Saunders formed his brigade and moved quietly up the side of +the ravine. Hardly a word was spoken, for the Alabamians +expected to die or retake that salient. The eye of General +Lee was fixed on them. When they caught sight of the works +their old feelings came back to them and yell they must. +With the fury of a whirlwind they rushed upon the line they +had been ordered to take. The movement was so unexpected and +so quickly executed that only one shell was thrown into the +brigade. The works gained, they found the enemy on the other +side. It was stated that Lee, speaking to Beauregard, said: +'Splendid!' Beauregard spoke with enthusiasm of the +brilliant charge.</p> + +<p>"In an instant the Federal army was aroused, and batteries +opened along the whole line, while the infantry fire was a +continuous roar. Only a breastwork divided Wilcox's Brigade +from the Federals. A moment was required for Saunders to +reform, and his brigade mounted the inner line and forced +the enemy backwards to the outer line and the crater. The +crater was full of white and negro soldiers. The +Confederates, surrounding it on every side, poured volley +after volley into this heaped-up mass of terrified negroes +and their brave officers. The negroes ran in every direction +and were shot down without a thought. Bayonets, swords and +the butts of muskets were used. The deafening roar of +artillery and musketry, the yells and imprecations of the +combatants, drowned the commands of officers. A negro in the +crater attempted to raise a white flag, and it was instantly +pulled down by a Federal officer. The Federal colors were +planted on a huge lump of dirt, and waved until Sergeant +Wallace, of the Eleventh Alabama, followed by others, seized +them and tore them from the staff. Instantly a white flag +was raised, and the living, who were not many, surrendered. +The crater was won."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the exception of General Burnside, no commander of the Army of the +Potomac was in favor of the Phalanx participating in a battle. What, +then, had the Phalanx to expect of those to whom they had borne the +relation of <i>slave</i>? The confederates had a right to expect hard +fighting when they met the Phalanx, and the Phalanx knew they had to +fight hard when they met the confederates. It was the previous +associations and habits of the negro that kept him from retaliating for +the several massacres that had been perpetrated upon his +brother-soldiers. It was not for a want of courage to do it: it was only +necessary for those who commanded them to have ordered it, and they +would never have taken a confederate prisoner.</p> + +<p>Many of those who commanded them needed but public opinion to sustain +them, to give such an order as would have made every battle between the +Phalanx and the confederates bloody and inhuman. It was but the +enlightened sentiment of the North, the religious teaching of the +brotherhood of man, the high character and moral training of the +statesmen on the side of the Union, that restrained the Phalanx from +retaliation, else they possessed none of the characteristics of a +courageous, sensitive and high tempered people. The negro is not +naturally docile; his surroundings, rather than his nature, have given +him the trait; it is not naturally his, but something which his trainers +have given him; and it is not a difficult task to untrain him and +advance him beyond his apparent unconsciousness of self-duty and +self-preservation. Let him feel that he is to be supported in any +transaction uncommon to him, and he can act as aggressively as any race +of men who are naturally quicker in temperament. It is this +characteristic that made the negro what General Grant said he was: in +discipline a better soldier than the white man. It was said that he +would not fight: there is no man in the South who met him on the +battle-field that will say so now.</p> + +<p>These are a few of the thoughts that came to me as I listened for an +hour, one evening in June, 1883, to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> confederate Gen. Mahone, whose +acquaintance the writer enjoys, reciting the story of the fight at the +crater, where the negro met the confederate, and in a hand-to-hand +struggle one showed as much brute courage as the other. It would not be +doing the negro justice to accord him less, and yet that courage never +led him to acts of inhumanity. It is preferable that the confederates +themselves should tell the stories of their butcheries than for me to +attempt them. Not the stories told at the time, but fifteen years +afterward, when men could reflect and write more correctly. There is +one, an orator, who has described the fight, whose reference to the +crater so gladdened the hearts of his audience that they reproduced the +"yell," and yelled themselves hoarse. No battle fought during the war, +not even that of Bull Run, elicited so much comment and glorification +among the confederates as that of the crater. It was the bloodiest fight +on the soil of the Old Dominion, and has been the subject of praise by +poets and orators upon the confederate side. Capt. J. B. Hope eulogized +"Mahone's brigade" in true Southern verse. Capt. McCabe, on the 1st of +November, 1876, in his oration before the "Association of the Army of +Northern Virginia," in narrating the recapture of the works, said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It was now 8 o'clock in the morning. The rest of Potter's +(Federal) division moved out slowly, when Ferrero's negro +division, the men, beyond question, inflamed with drink, +(there are many officers and men, myself among the number, +who will testify to this), burst from the advanced lines, +cheering vehemently, passed at a double quick over a crest +under a heavy fire, and rushed with scarcely a check over +the heads of the white troops in the crater, spread to their +right, and captured more than two hundred prisoners and one +stand of colors. At the same time Turner, of the Tenth +corps, pushed forward a brigade over the Ninth Corps' +parapet, seized the Confederate line still further to the +north, and quickly dispersed the remaining brigades of his +division to confirm his successes."</p></div> + +<p>The truth is over-reached in the statement of this orator if he intended +to convey the idea that the men of the Phalanx division were drunk from +strong drink; but it may be looked upon as an excuse offered for the +treatment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> the courageous negro soldiers received at the hands of their +captors, who, worse than enraged by strong drink, gave the battle-cry on +their way to the front, "<i>No quarter to niggers!</i>" This has been +admitted by those in a position, at the time, to know what went on. In +his "Recollections of the Recapture of the Lines," Colonel Stewart of +the 61st Virginia Regiment, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When nearly opposite the portions of our works held by the +Federal troops, we met several soldiers who were in the +works at the time of the explosion. Our men began ridiculing +them for going to the rear, when one of them remarked, 'Ah, +boys, you have got hot work ahead,—they are negroes, and +show no quarter.' This was the first intimation we had that +we were to fight negro troops, and it seemed to <i>infuse</i> the +little band with impetuous daring, as they pressed toward +the fray. I never felt more like fighting in my life. Our +comrades had been slaughtered in a most inhuman and brutal +manner, and slaves were trampling over their mangled and +bleeding corpses. Revenge must have fired every heart, and +strung every arm with nerves of steel, for the herculean +task of blood."</p></div> + +<p>On the Monday morning after the assault of Saturday, the Richmond +<i>Enquirer</i> said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Grant's war cry of 'no quarter' shouted by his negro +soldiers, was returned with interest, we regret to hear, not +so heavily as ought to have been, since some negroes were +captured instead of being shot. Let every salient we are +called upon to defend, be a Fort Pillow, and butcher every +negro that Grant hurls against our brave troops, and permit +them not to soil their hands, with the capture of one +negro."</p></div> + +<p>There is no truth in the statement. No such cry was ever made by negro +soldiers; and when it is remembered that the confederate congress, in +four short months after this declaration, began arming slaves for the +defense of Richmond, it is readily seen how deep and with what sincerity +such declarations were made. The Southern historian Pollard thus +describes the situation after the assault and the ground had again come +into the possession of the confederates:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image51.jpg" width="600" height="407" alt="BEFORE PETERSBURG. + +Phalanx soldiers, under a flag of truce, burying their dead after one of +the terrible battles before Petersburg." title="" /> +<span class="caption">BEFORE PETERSBURG.<br /> + +Phalanx soldiers, under a flag of truce, burying their dead after one of +the terrible battles before Petersburg.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The ground all around was dotted with the fallen, while the +sides and bottom of the crater were literally lined with +dead, the bodies lying in every conceivable position. Some +had evidently been killed with the butts of muskets, as +their crushed skulls and badly smashed faces too plainly +indicated.' Within this crater—this hole of forty by eighty +feet—were lying one hundred and thirty-six dead soldiers, +besides the wounded. The soil was literally saturated with +blood. General Bartlett was here, with his steel leg broken. +He did not look as though he had been at a 'diamond +wedding,' but was present at a 'dance of death.' A covered +way for artillery was so full of dead that details were made +to throw them out, that artillery might be brought in. The +dead bodies formed a heap on each side. The Alabamians +captured thirty-four officers, five hundred and thirty-six +white and one hundred and thirty-nine colored soldiers. The +three brigades had seventeen stands of colors, held by +seventeen as brave, sweaty, dirty, powder-stained fellows as +ever wore the gray, who knew that, when presenting their +colors to division headquarters, to each a furlough of +thirty days would be granted.</p> + +<p>"The crater was filled with wounded, to whom our men gave +water. Adjutant Morgan Cleveland, of the 8th Alabama +Regiment, assisted a federal captain who was mortally +wounded and suffering intensely. Near him lay a burly, +wounded negro. The officer said he would die. The negro, +raising himself on his elbow, cried out: 'Thank God. You +killed my brother when we charged, because he was afraid and +ran. Now the rebels have killed you.' Death soon ended the +suffering of one and the hatred of the other. A darkness +came down on the battle-field and the victors began to +repair the salient. The crater was cleared of the dead and +wounded. Men were found buried ten feet under the dirt. +Twenty-two of the artillery company were missing. Four +hundred and ninety-eight dead and wounded confederates were +buried or sent to the hospitals. Between the lines lay +hundreds of wounded federals, who vainly called for water. +These men had been without water since early morning. Some +calling louder than others, their voices were recognized, +and as their cries grew fainter, we knew their lives were +ebbing away. Our men, risking their lives, carried water to +some.</p> + +<p>"I find in my diary these lines: 'Sunday, July 31, 1864. +Everything comparatively quiet along the lines. Hundreds of +federal soldiers are lying in front of the crater exposed to +a scorching sun; some are crying for water. The enemy's fire +is too heavy for a soldier to expose himself.' Late on +Sunday evening a flag of truce was sent in and forwarded to +General Lee. General Grant had asked permission to bury his +dead and remove his wounded. The truce was granted, to begin +on Monday at 5 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> and conclude at 9 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Punctual to the +hour the federal details came on the field and by 9 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> +had buried about three hundred. The work was hardly begun +and the truce was extended. Hour after hour was granted +until it was evening before the field was cleared."</p></div> + +<p>With these selections from the mass of confederate testimony before us, +of their "daring, bloody work," given by participants, it is well to +read some of the statements of those who battled for the Union on that +occasion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span></p> + +<p>Many of the correspondents at the seat of war, ignorant of the real +facts regarding the assault, attributed the failure, not to General +Meade's interference with General Burnside's plan, but to the Phalanx +division, the men who bore the brunt of the battle and gained for +themselves a fame for desperate fighting. But some of those who <i>were</i> +acquainted with the facts have left records that tell the true story and +give honor to whom honor is due. Gen. Grant is among the number; he +perfectly understood the whole matter, knew that General Burnside, not +being allowed to carry out his own plans, but at the last moment +compelled to act contrary to his judgment, could not fight with that +enthusiasm and confidence that he would have done had he been allowed to +carry out his own ideas. In his "Memoirs," General Grant gives an +account of the explosion of the mine and the assault after placing the +blame for the "stupendous failure" where it belongs. I quote a few +preliminary words which not only intimate where the trouble lies, but +gives the key to the whole matter. Speaking of General Burnside's +command, he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The four divisions of his corps were commanded by Generals +Potter, Wilcox, Ledlie and Ferrero. The last was a colored +division; and Burnside selected it to make the assault. +Meade interfered with this. Burnside then took Ledlie's +division—a worse selection than the first could have been. +* * * * Ledlie, besides being otherwise inefficient, proved +also to possess disqualifications less common among +soldiers."</p></div> + +<p>A correspondent of the New York <i>Evening Post</i> says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have been continually notified for the last fortnight, +that our sappers were mining the enemy's position. As soon +as ready, our division was to storm the works on its +explosion. This rumor had spread so wide we had no faith in +it. On the night of the 29th, we were in a position on the +extreme left. We were drawn in about nine <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, and marched +to General Burnside's headquarters, and closed in mass by +division, left in front. We there received official notice +that the long-looked-for mine was ready charged, and would +be fired at daylight next morning. The plan of storming was +as follows: One division of white troops was to charge the +works immediately after the explosion, and carry the first +and second lines of rebel intrenchments. Our division was to +follow immediately, and push right into Petersburg, take the +city, and be supported by the remainder of the Ninth and +Twenty-eighth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> corps. We were up bright and early, ready and +eager for the struggle to commence. I had been wishing for +something of this sort to do for some time, to gain the +respect of the Army of the Potomac. You know their former +prejudices. At thirty minutes after five, the ball opened. +The mine, with some fifty pieces of artillery, went off +almost instantaneously; at the same time, the white troops, +according to the plan, charged the fort, which they carried, +for there was nothing to oppose them; but they did not +succeed in carrying either of the lines of intrenchments.</p> + +<p>"We were held in rear until the development of the movement +of the white troops; but, on seeing the disaster which was +about to occur, we pushed in by the flank (for we could go +in in no other way to allow us to get in position); so you +see on this failure we had nothing to do but gain by the +flank. A charge in that manner has never proved successful, +to my knowledge; when it does, it is a surprise.</p> + +<p>"Our men went forward with enthusiasm equal to anything +under different circumstances; but, in going through the +fort that had been blown up, the passage was almost impeded +by obstacles thrown up by the explosion. At the same time, +we were receiving a most deadly cross-fire from both flanks. +At this time, our lieutenant-colonel (E. W. Ross) fell, shot +through the left leg, bravely leading the men. I immediately +assumed command, but only to hold it a few minutes, when I +fell, struck by a piece of shell in the side. Capt. +Robinson, from Connecticut, then took command; and, from all +we can learn, he was killed. At this time, our first charge +was somewhat checked, and the men sought cover in the works. +Again our charge was made, but, like the former, +unsuccessful. This was followed by the enemy making a +charge. Seeing the unorganized condition and the great loss +of officers, the men fell back to our own works. Yet a large +number still held the fort until two <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, when the enemy +charged again, and carried it. That ended the great attempt +to take Petersburg.</p> + +<p>"It will be thus seen that the colored troops did not +compose the first assaulting, but the supporting column; and +they were not ordered forward until white troops in greater +numbers had made a desperate effort to carry the rebel +works, and had failed. Then the colored troops were sent in; +moved over the broken ground, and up the slope, and within a +short distance of the parapet, in order, and with steady +courage; but finally broke and retreated under the same fire +which just before had sent a whole division of white +regiments to the right-about. If there be any disgrace in +that, it does not belong exclusively nor mainly to the +negroes. A second attack is far more perilous and unlikely +to succeed than a first; the enemy having been encouraged by +the failure of the first, and had time to concentrate his +forces. And, in this case, there seems to have been a fatal +delay in ordering both the first and second assault."</p></div> + +<p>An officer in the same engagement says:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In regard to the bravery of the colored troops, although I +have been in upwards of twenty battles, I never saw so many +cases of gallantry. The 'crater,' where we were halted, was +a perfect slaughter-pen. Had not 'some one blundered,' but +moved us up at daylight, instead of eight o'clock, we should +have been crowned with success, instead of being cut to +pieces by a terrific enfilading fire, and finally forced +from the field in a panic. We had no trouble in rallying the +troops and moving them into the rifle-pits; and, in one hour +after the rout I had nearly as many men together as were +left unhurt.</p> + +<p>"I was never under such a terrific fire, and can hardly +realize how any escaped alive. Our loss was heavy. In the +Twenty-eighth (colored) for instance, commanded by +Lieut.-Col. Russell (a Bostonian), he lost seven officers +out of eleven, and ninety-one men out of two hundred and +twenty-four; and the colonel himself was knocked over +senseless, for a few minutes, by a slight wound in the head; +both his color-sergeants and all his color-guard were +killed. Col. Bross, of the Twenty-ninth, was killed +outright, and nearly every one of his officers hit. This was +nearly equal to Bunker Hill. Col. Ross, of the Thirty-first, +lost his leg. The Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth +(colored), all charged over the works; climbing up an +earthwork six feet high, then down into a ditch, and up on +the other side, all the time under the severest fire in +front and flank. Not being supported, of course the storming +party fell back. I have seen white troops run faster than +these blacks did, when in not half so tight a place. Our +brigade lost thirty-six prisoners, all cut off after leaving +the 'crater.' My faith in colored troops is not abated one +jot.'"</p></div> + +<p>The Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War investigated the +affair, before which General Grant testified. He was severe upon General +Ledlie, whom he regarded as an inefficient officer; he blamed himself +for allowing that officer to lead the assault. General Grant also +testified:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"General Burnside wanted to put his colored division in +front; I believe if he had done so it would have been a +success."</p></div> + +<p>On the morning of the 13th of August, 1864, a brigade of the Phalanx, +consisting of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 29th Regiments, crossed from Bermuda +Hundreds to the north side of the James river, on pontoons, near Jones' +landing, and bivouacked for the night. General Grant was led to believe +that General Lee had sent a portion of his troops, at least three +divisions of infantry, and one of cavalry, from the front of Petersburg, +to re-enforce Gen. Early, then operating in the valley. Consequently he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> +thought it a favorable opportunity to threaten Richmond, and ordered +Hancock with the 2nd, and Birney with a part of the 10th Corps, with +Gregg's Cavalry, to attack the confederate works on the north side of +the James. The object was two-fold: to prevent Lee from re-enforcing +Early, confronted by Sheridan's troops; and likewise to drive the +confederates from out their works. The troops crossed the James on the +13th, the 2d Corps going to Deep Bottom by transports, the other troops +crossing the river by pontoons, and advancing, found the enemy in force. +Several spirited engagements took place, after which the main forces +withdrew again across the river, to the front of Petersburg. The +following account applies to the brigade as well as the 7th Phalanx +Regiment, from whose record it is extracted:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"During the forenoon of the 14th the (7th) Regiment acted as +reserve, moving forward occasionally as the line advanced. +Most of the work of the day was done to the right, little +being done in the immediate front except skirmishing. About +5 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> a portion of the Seventh and Ninth, forming line in +the edge of some timber, moved across an open field and +charged upon reaching the farther side and captured the +enemy's line of rifle-pits. The companies of the Seventh +pushed on some distance further toward their second line, +but were met with so severe a fire that they fell back to +the captured line; which was held. This charge, known as the +action of Kingsland Road, was made in fine style. The +battalion of the Seventh was commanded by Capt. Weiss—Col. +Shaw having been detailed as Corps Officer of the day, and +Lieut.-Col. Haskell being temporarily in command of the +brigade. Our losses were two men killed, and one officer +(Lieut. Eler) and thirty-two men wounded.</p> + +<p>"About 10 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, the troops moved down the road to +the right, and at 1 o'clock Col. Shaw withdrew the pickets +of the corps, re-crossed the pontoons, where we had crossed +in the morning, and moved down the neck. Then followed four +hours of the most wearisome night-marching—moving a few +rods at a time and then halting for troops ahead to get out +of the way; losing sight of them and hurrying forward to +catch up; straggling out into the darkness, stumbling and +groping along the rough road, and all the time the rain +coming down in a most provoking, exasperating drizzle. About +daylight crossed back to the north side and halted for +coffee, and then moved forward some four miles and rejoined +the corps, taking position behind the crest of a hill. The +Eighth and Twenty-ninth were left in a work on the hill.</p> + +<p>"About 3:30 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> orders came to pile knapsacks and be ready +to march immediately. A little after 4 o'clock the brigade +moved to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> right, some three-quarters of a mile, into an +open cornfield, and, after halting a few moments, turned +down a road through the woods to the left with Gen. Wm. +Birney, who ordered Col. Shaw to throw out skirmishers and +advance with his brigade down a road which he pointed out, +find the enemy and attack vigorously, and then rode away. +Finding the road turning to the left, Col. Shaw sent word to +Gen. Birney that the designated road would probably bring +him back on our own line. The order came back from Gen. +Birney to go ahead. The road still bearing to the left, word +was again sent that we should strike our own line if we +continued to advance in the direction we were going. A +second time the answer came to move on. A third messenger +having brought from Gen. Birney the same reply, Col. Shaw +decided to disobey the order and call in the skirmishers. +Before it could be done firing commenced and continued +briskly for several minutes, before the men recognized each +other, and it was discovered that we had been firing into +our own Second Brigade—Col. Osborn's. This sad affair, +which would not have occurred had Col Shaw's caution been +heeded, resulted in the killing of the lieutenant commanding +the picket-line and the wounding of many men on both sides. +After this <i>fiasco</i> the brigade moved out into the +cornfield, where it had halted earlier in the day, and +bivouacked for the night. The regiment had been more or less +exposed all day to shell-fire, but lost from it only four or +five men wounded, in addition to the ten or twelve men +wounded in the skirmish with Osborn's brigade.</p> + +<p>"Early on the morning of the 16th, the regiment marched back +to its knapsacks and halted for breakfast. About 10 o'clock +it was ordered out to support two batteries, and remained on +this duty until 3 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, changing position frequently, in +the meantime Gen. Terry, with the First Division of the +Tenth Corps, had charged the rebel line, near Fuzzel's +mills, and captured it, together with three colors and some +three hundred prisoners. But the enemy rallied, and with +reinforcements, soon compelled Gen. Terry to relinquish the +captured line. About dark Gen. Wm. Birney came up, and +taking the left wing of the Seventh—the right wing, under +Col. Shaw, was in support of a battery—and two companies of +the Ninth, placed them under command of Lieut.-Col. Haskell, +and ordered him with this handful of men to take an +earthwork in his front which a division a short time before +had failed to carry. The timely arrival of Gen. Terry put an +end to this mad scheme. The regiment lost during the day +eight or ten men wounded.</p> + +<p>"The general results of the day's fighting had been +unsatisfactory, for not only had Terry's attack failed in +its object, but the advance on the right, along the Charles +City road, by the troops of the Second Corps and Gregg's +cavalry division, had been equally unsuccessful. The rebel +General Chambliss was among the killed.</p> + +<p>"About 2:30 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> of the 17th, the left wing of the regiment +was sent back to a line of rifle-pits that had been thrown +up some two hundred yards to the rear, where it was joined +by the right wing in the morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> after breakfast. +Picket-firing continued during the day and heavy artillery +firing was heard in the direction of Petersburg. At 4 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> +a flag of truce was sent out and two hours given to bring in +the dead from between the lines. Gen. Chambliss' body was +delivered, and we received that of Capt. Williams, of the +Thirty-ninth Illinois. Early in the evening the regiment was +ordered on picket. Considerable picket-firing occurred +during the night and day, the men being with difficulty +restrained from it. We were relieved about noon of the 18th +by the One Hundred and Fifteenth New York and Seventy-sixth +Pennsylvania. * * *</p> + +<p>"Early in the morning the Eighth and the Twenty-ninth +Connecticut rejoined the regiment, and after the regiment +was relieved from picket, it, with the Twenty-ninth, fell +back a quarter of a mile, leaving the Eighth and Ninth on +the line. Rations having been drawn, the men got supper and +prepared for a good night's sleep. Suddenly a heavy musketry +fire broke out toward the left which rapidly extended to the +right and the entire line was soon under fire. The regiment +moved forward at double-quick, but by the time it reached +the front and formed line, darkness set in and the enemy +fell back. About 11 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> our forces were withdrawn, and, +after several hours spent in marching and halting, the +regiment went into camp two miles from the pontoons. Here it +lay all day of the 19th. The following congratulatory order +was received from corps headquarters, in which the brigade +was spoken of in very flattering terms by Maj.-Gen. D. B. +Birney, commanding:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">Headquarters Tenth Army Corps,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Fuzzel's Mills, Va.</span>, August 19, 1864.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'<i>General Orders.</i>—The Major-General commanding +congratulates the Tenth Army Corps upon its success. It has, +on each occasion, when ordered, broken the enemy's strong +lines. It has captured during this short campaign four siege +guns protected by formidable works, six colors and many +prisoners. It has proved itself worthy of its old Wagner and +Fort Sumter renown.</p> + +<p>"'Much fatigue, patience and heroism, may still be demanded +of it, but the Major-General commanding is confident of the +response. To the colored troops, recently added to us, and +fighting with us, the Major-General tenders his thanks for +their uniform good conduct and soldierly bearing. They have +set a good example to our veterans, by the entire absence of +straggling from their ranks on the march.</p> + +<p>"'By order of Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">D. B. Birney</span>.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'E.W. SMITH,<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><i>Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.</i>'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The special correspondent of the New York <i>Tribune</i> said:</p> + +<p>"'Gen. Butler, in a dispatch to the Tenth Corps, on +receiving official report of its work, said: 'All honor to +the brave Tenth Corps; you have done more than was expected +of you by the Lieutenant-General.'</p> + +<p>"'The loss in the four colored regiments is about three +hundred. The Seventh U. S. C. T. on the first day, carried, +with fixed bayonets, a line of rifle-pits, and carried it +without a shot, but with a loss of 35. It was one of the +most stirring and gallant affairs I have ever known'.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It began to rain in the afternoon and continued during the +night and until nearly noon of the following day, 20th. +During the afternoon of the 20th, orders were received to +send all sick to the rear and be ready to withdraw quietly +at dark. The movement began at 7 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, both the Second and +Tenth Corps participating—the Second Corps and the cavalry +returning to the Petersburg line, and the Tenth to the +Bermuda Hundred front. The night was dark and the roads +muddy, and after various delays the pontoons were crossed; +and at 2 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, the regiment went into camp near the spot it +occupied the first night after its arrival in Virginia.</p> + +<p>"An amusing incident occurred when we halted, after crossing +the river. When the fires were lighted our line presented +the appearance of a checker-board—alternate black and white +men. The latter belonged to the Second Corps, and having +straggled from their commands, and belonging to regiments +with the same numbers, had fallen into our solid ranks by +mistake. Their astonishment and our amusement were about +equal. Capt. Walker, having been asked if his men were all +present, replied: 'Yes, and about twenty recruits.'</p> + +<p>"Thus ended a very hard week's work, during which the +regiment was almost constantly under fire; marching, +counter-marching, supporting a battery here or strengthening +the line there—duties which required almost constant +wakefulness and watchfulness. The losses of the brigade +footed up some two hundred and fifty.</p> + +<p>"This movement, which had begun on the 12th by the +withdrawal of the Second Corps, Gen. Hancock, and Gregg's +cavalry division, from the Petersburg front to the north +bank of the James, to act in conjunction with the Tenth +Corps in an attempt to turn the left of the rebel line, +proved as abortive as the similar attempt made by the same +corps in the latter part of June; Gen. Lee, in both +instances, seeming to have received timely information of +our plans to enable him to transfer re-enforcements from the +Petersburg to the Richmond front. The Union losses during +the movement have been estimated at five thousand.</p> + +<p>"Sunday, the 21st, was a day of rest. The men put up shelter +tents and made themselves as comfortable as circumstances +would allow. Gen. Birney resumed command of the brigade and +Col. Shaw returned to the regiment. About 6 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> orders +came to be ready to move during the night with one day's +rations. Moved out of camp at 2 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, 22nd, and reported at +Maj.-Gen. Birney's headquarters, where, after remaining a +short time, the regiment returned to camp. About 8 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> +orders were received to pack everything, and at 5 the +regiment marched to the front and went into the trenches +near Battery Walker, (No. 7), relieving a regiment of +hundred-days' men, whose time had expired.</p> + +<p>"The 23d passed quietly. Tents were pitched, and in the +evening a dress-parade was held. Lieut. Mack returned to +duty from absent sick.</p> + +<p>"Line was formed at dawn on the 24th, and again about +noon—rapid picket-firing in each instance rendering an +attack probable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span></p> + +<p>"About daybreak on the 25th, the enemy attacked toward the +left, drove in our pickets—Capts. Weld and Thayer in +command—but were checked before reaching the main line. The +regiment was placed in support of Battery England (No. 5). +Two men were wounded.</p> + +<p>"Some changes in the division here took place—the +Twenty-ninth Connecticut was transferred to another brigade, +and the Tenth U. S. C. T. to ours, and Col. Duncan was +placed in command.</p> + +<p>"About noon (25th) packed up everything, crossed the +Appomattox, and after a fatiguing march through the heat and +dust, reached the Petersburg front a little before sunset +and halted for orders. Soon after dark moved to the left in +a heavy rain squall, and lay down on a hillside as reserve +to the troops in the trenches. At 11 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> ordered to report +to Gen. Terry. Marched back a mile and reported. Another +mile's march in another direction brought the regiment, +about 1 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, to its position, where it lay down in the +woods, again as a reserve. A rattling fire of musketry was +kept up all night.</p> + +<p>"On the 26th, a camp was selected and had been partially +cleared up, when orders were received for the regiment to go +into the trenches. Reported at brigade headquarters at +sunset, and soon afterward, through the mud and darkness, +the men silently felt their way into the trenches, which the +rain had reduced to the condition of a quagmire. It was a +slow process, and 10 o'clock came before all were in their +places.</p> + +<p>"During the following day (27th,) the parapet was raised and +paths made through the muddier portions of the trenches. +Soon after dark a furious cannonade began which lasted for +several hours, and afforded to the spectators on both sides +a brilliant pyrotechnic display.</p> + +<p>"Just after daybreak on the 28th, the enemy opened a heavy +musketry fire which lasted until after sunrise. He did not +leave his works, however, and our men remained stationary. A +man of Company B, while watching for a shot through a +section of stove-pipe, which he had improvised into a +port-hole, was struck and killed by a sharpshooter's bullet.</p> + +<p>"Soon after midnight on the 28th-29th, the regiment moved +out of the trenches, and after daylight marched a quarter of +a mile to the right and rear and went into camp in a +cornfield. The men were at once put to work constructing +bomb-proofs, as the position was within sight and range of +the enemy's line. This occupied the entire day.</p> + +<p>"Brig.-Gen. Birney's arrangement of the brigade did not seem +to have given satisfaction to higher authority, and it was +broken up, and the old brigade—Seventh, Eighth, Ninth U. S. +C. T., and Twenty-ninth Connecticut—were again united, with +Col. Shaw in command.</p> + +<p>"From this time until the 24th of September, the Seventh and +Eighth alternated with the Ninth and Twenty-ninth for duty +in the trenches—two days in and two out; and on the 'off' +days furnishing details of officers and men for fatigue +purposes, in constructing new works and strengthening old +ones. The main lines at this point were scarcely over a +hundred yards apart, while from the advanced posts a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> stone +could almost be thrown into the enemy's works, and it was +considered the most disagreeable portion of the line.</p> + +<p>"During the evening of the 4th of September, there was a +grand salute along the whole line, in honor of the fall of +Atlanta. At every battery the men stood at the guns, and +when the monster mortar—"The Petersburg Express"—gave the +expected signal, every lanyard was pulled. The effect was +exceedingly grand.</p> + +<p>"At 9 o'clock on the morning of the 5th, the regiment met +with an irreparable loss in the death of Capt. A. R. Walker. +Capt. Walker, who was at the time in the trenches, had +raised his head above the parapet to observe the enemy's +movements, when he was struck in the head by a bullet, and +fell without speaking against the parapet. He was carried +back and laid upon the ground in rear of the trench, but all +efforts failed to elicit any token of recognition. He +breathed for a few moments and life was extinct. His body +was sent to the rear the same afternoon under charge of +Lieut. Teeple, upon whom the command of his company +devolved, who made the necessary arrangements for having it +embalmed and forwarded to his friends at Caledonia, New +York.</p> + +<p>* * * *</p> + +<p>"On the 14th Col. Howell, who was commanding the division in +the absence of Gen. Birney, who was absent sick, died of +injuries received from a fall from his horse, and the +command of the division devolved upon Col. Pond. Col. Howell +was highly esteemed, and was a thorough gentleman and a good +officer.</p> + +<p>"On the 17th, Sergt. Wilson, Company F, color-sergeant, was +reduced to the ranks for cowardice, and Sergt. Griffin, +Company B, appointed in his place.</p> + +<p>"On the 21st, Capt. Thayer resigned.</p> + +<p>"On the 22d, Gen. Birney returned and resumed command of the +brigade; the division having been temporarily broken up by +the withdrawal of troops, and Col. Shaw returned to the +regiment.</p> + +<p>"On the 23d, companies B and C were detailed to garrison +Fort Steadman.</p> + +<p>"On the evening of the 24th, the regiment was relieved from +duty in the trenches by the Sixty-ninth New York, and moving +about two miles to the rear, went into camp with the +remainder of the brigade—some four miles from City Point. +Here regular drills and parades were resumed.</p> + +<p>"At 3 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> on the 28th, camp was broken, and an hour later +the brigade followed the two divisions of the corps on the +road toward Bermuda Hundred. A tedious night-march followed, +during which the north side of the James was reached by way +of Broadway and Jones' landings. After an hour or two of +rest on the morning of the 29th, the brigade moved forward +as a support to the First Division (Paine's), the First +Brigade of which, under Col. Duncan, charged and carried the +enemy's works on Signal-Hill, on the New Market road, beyond +the line of works taken by the Seventh and Ninth on the 14th +of August.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> [See foot-note next page.] * * * The +Eighteenth Corps at the same time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> charged and carried Fort +Harrison and a long line of rebel works. Soon after noon, +while the brigade, which had been moving by the flank down +the New Market road, had halted in the road, orders came to +form column of regiments, faced to the left, in the woods. +Scarcely had this been done when Gen. Wm. Birney, commanding +brigade, rode up to the right of the column and ordered the +Seventh to move off by the right flank. As it was crossing +the Mill road, Col. Shaw reached the head of the line and +received from him the order to "form on the right by file +into line, and charge and take the work that is firing," and +adding, "if that work is taken when you reach it, push right +on and take the next <i>before Gen. Foster can get there</i>." In +the meantime the Ninth had charged a work on the right and +had been repulsed, and the commanding officer of the Eighth +had been ordered to send four companies deployed as +skirmishers to take the work to the left, but when Major +Wagner found how strong it was he halted his line and +remained in advance as skirmishers. As the regiment was +forming for the charge, behind the crest of a knoll, Capt. +Bailey, Gen. Birney's Adjutant-General, rode up to Col. Shaw +with the order to send four companies deployed as +skirmishers to 'attack and take the work that is firing.' +Col. Shaw replied that he had orders to charge it with his +regiment, to which Capt. Bailey answered, 'well, <i>now</i> the +General directs you to send four companies, deployed as +skirmishers, to take the work.' Lieut.-Col. Haskell, being +absent on leave, and Maj. Mayer sick, companies C, D, G and +K were placed under command of Capt. Weiss, who, when he +received the order to charge, replied, 'what! take a fort +with a skirmish line?' and then added, 'I will try, but it +can't be done.' What followed can best be described by +quoting his own words:</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span> +"Captain Weiss says: 'I at once, about 1 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, ordered the +four companies on the right of the regiment, C, D, G and K, +twenty-five or thirty paces to the front, where a slight +depression in the ground secured them from the eyes, if not +the projectiles, of the enemy. After being deployed by the +flank on the right of the second company from the right, the +command advanced in ordinary quick step against the +objective point. Emerging from the swale into view, it +became at once the target for a seemingly redoubled fire, +not only from the fort in front, but also from the one on +<i>its</i> right. The fire of the latter had been reported +silenced, but instead, from its position to the left +oblique, it proved even more destructive than that of the +one in front.</p> + +<p>"'Both forts were most advantageously situated for defense, +at the extremity of a plain, variously estimated at from 500 +to 700 yards wide, whose dead level surface afforded at no +point shelter from view or shot to an assailing party. The +forts were connected by a curtain of rifle-pits containing a +re-entrant angle, thus providing for a reciprocal enfilading +fire in case either was attacked.</p> + +<p>"'The nature of the ground and the small altitude of the +ordnance above the level of the plain also made the fire in +the nature of a ricochet.</p> + +<p>"'As the party advanced the enemy's shell and schrapnel were +exchanged for grape and cannister, followed soon by a lively +rattle of musketry. When within range of the latter, and +after having traversed about three-fourths of the distance, +the order to charge was given and obeyed with an alacrity +that seemed to make the execution almost precede the order. +For a moment, judging from the slacking of their fire, the +enemy seemed to be affected by a panicky astonishment, but +soon recovering, they opened again with cannister and +musketry, which, at the shorter range, tore through the +ranks with deadlier effect. Capt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> Smith and Lieut. Prime, +both of Company G, here fell grievously wounded, while forty +or fifty enlisted-men dotted the plain with their prostrate +forms.</p> + +<p>"'In a few minutes the ditch of the fort was reached. It was +some six or seven feet deep and ten or twelve wide, the +excavated material sufficing for the embankments of the +fort. Some 120 men and officers precipitated themselves into +it, many losing their lives at its very edge. After a short +breathing spell men were helped up the exterior of the +parapet on the shoulders of others; fifty or sixty being +thus disposed an attempt was made to storm the fort. At the +signal nearly all rose, but the enemy, lying securely +sheltered behind the interior slope, the muzzles of their +guns almost touching the storming party, received the latter +with a crushing fire, sending many into the ditch below shot +through the brain or breast. Several other attempts were +made with like result, till at last forty or fifty of the +assailants were writhing in the ditch or resting forever.</p> + +<p>"'The defense having been obviously re-enforced meanwhile +from other points not so directly attacked, and having armed +the gunners with muskets, it was considered impolitic to +attempt another storm with the now greatly reduced force on +hand, especially as the cessation of the artillery fire of +the fort was considered a sufficient hint to the commander +of the Union forces that the attacking party had come to +close quarters and were proper subjects for re-enforcements. +No signs, however, of the latter appearing, it was decided +to surrender, especially as the rebels had now commenced to +roll lighted shells among the stormers, against which there +was no defense, thus inviting demoralization. Seven +officers, Capts. Weiss and McCarty, Lieuts. Sherman, Mack, +Spinney, Ferguson and Eler, and from seventy to eighty +enlisted-men, delivered up their arms to an enemy gallant +enough to have fought for a better cause.</p> + +<p>"'Many, in mounting the parapet, could not help taking a +last mournful look on their dead comrades in the ditch, +whose soldierly qualities had endeared them to their best +affections; and many, without for a moment selfishly looking +at their own dark future, were oppressed with inexpressible +sadness when reflecting on the immensity of the sacrifice +and the deplorableness of the result. It was a time for +manly tears.'</p> + +<p>"Lieut. Spinney gives the following account of the charge +against Fort Gilmer:</p> + +<p>"'The charge was made in quick time, in open order of about +three paces, until we could plainly see the enemy; then the +order was given by Capt. Weiss to 'double-quick,' which was +promptly obeyed, the line preserving its order as upon +drill. Upon arriving at the ditch there was no wavering, but +every man jumped into the trap from which but one man +returned that day (George W. Washington, Company D.)</p> + +<p>"'Upon looking about us after getting into the ditch we +found there was but one face where the enemy could not touch +us, so all the survivors rallied at that face. Then +commenced a scene which will always be very fresh in my +memory.</p> + +<p>"'Capt. Weiss gave orders to raise men upon the parapet, +which was done by two men assisting one to climb. Capt. +Weiss, having from thirty to forty men up, attempted to gain +the inside of the fort, but he with all of his storming +party were knocked back, either killed or wounded, into the +ditch. A second attempt was made with the same result, +Lieut. Ferguson being wounded by a bullet across the top of +his head. A third attempt was made with no better success.</p> + +<p>"'The enemy during this time had been rolling shell upon us, +and calling upon us to surrender, which was answered by some +of the men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> in the words, 'we will show you how to +surrender,' at the same time rising and firing into the +fort. One of these men I remember to have been Perry +Wallace, Company D.</p> + +<p>"'Upon a consultation of the officers who were in the ditch, +it was decided to surrender what was left of the command. I +was still upon the face of the parapet, when Lieut. Sherman +passed me a handkerchief which I raised upon the point of my +sword. But the rebels, fearing it was only done to gain a +foothold, would not take notice of it, but called upon me to +come in, which I did, and met with a warm reception at their +hands, being plucked of all they could lay hands upon. An +adjutant of an Alabama regiment coming up, ordered his men +to return to me what they had taken, but this was not done, +however. I stated that our men had disarmed themselves and +were ready to give up the hopeless struggle. Still they +would not believe me, but made me mount the parapet first, +when they had the courage to do so themselves, when the +remnant of the four companies marched into the fort.</p> + +<p>"'The march to Richmond was one continued insult from the +troops that were hurrying to the front; one man being +determined to kill Capt. Weiss, whom he thought was not +humble enough. The female portion of the inhabitants were +also very insolent.</p> + +<p>"'Upon arriving at Libby Prison the officer in charge asked +the commander of our guard if the 'niggers' would fight. His +answer was, 'by G—d! if you had been there you would have +thought so. They marched up just as if they were on drill, +not firing a shot.'</p> + +<p>"'After being lodged in Libby, Salisbury and Danville +prisons, we were returned to Richmond about February 17th, +paroled on the 21st, and reached our lines on the 22d.'</p> + +<p>"An article in the New York <i>Herald</i> of November 4th, 1864, +copied from a rebel newspaper, arguing for the arming of +slaves, has in it the following passage:</p> + +<p>"'But A. B. says that negroes will not fight. We have before +us a letter from a distinguished general (we wish we were at +liberty to use his name and influence) who says 'Fort Gilmer +proved the other day that they would fight. They raised each +other on the parapet to be shot as they appeared above.'</p> + +<p>"The officer referred to was understood to be Gen. Lee.</p> + +<p>"After the four companies had disappeared in the ditch of +the fort, Capt. Pratt, with Company F, was ordered to move +forward as near the work as he could get and keep down its +fire and cover their retreat. Capt. Smith and Lieut. Prime +came back, both severely wounded. Later in the day companies +A, B, E and I, under Capt. Spaulding, moved to the left and +relieved the four companies of the Eighth, who were out of +ammunition. Co. F lost two men killed and twenty-three +wounded, and the four companies under Capt. Spaulding had +eleven men killed and wounded. Lieut. Teeple, commanding +Company I, was wounded in the arm, but remained in command +of his company during the day.</p> + +<p>"Four companies annihilated, 70 killed, 110 wounded and 129 +missing tells the story of Fort Gilmer.</p> + +<p>"The regiment, or what was left of it, remained at the front +until 9 o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, when the wounded were gathered +together and it moved half a mile to the rear and slept on +its arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This day proved the most unfortunate one in the history of +the regiment. The storming of a strong field-work, whose +garrison was on the alert, with a thin skirmish line without +supports, resulted as could easily have been foreseen. +First, the Ninth was sent unsupported to charge a work to +the left of Fort Gilmer, across an open field where its line +was enfiladed by the enemy's fire, and was repulsed; then +four companies of the Eighth, as skirmishers, were sent +against the same work, with no better success, and after +this bitter experience, four companies of the Seventh were +sent to their destruction on an errand equally hopeless. Had +the brigade been sent together, instead of its three +regiments in detail, the rebel line would have been carried +and the road to Richmond opened to us. This is no +conjecture. The testimony of a rebel staff-officer on duty +at Fort Gilmer, and that of our own officers who were +captured, fully substantiate the statement.</p> + +<p>"About noon on the following day, the 30th, the regiment +moved a mile to the left and went into the rifle-pits to the +left of Fort Harrison. Soon after, the rebel Maj.-Gen. +Field, who had commanded the Ft. Gilmer line the day +previous, made a determined assault on Fort Harrison from +one side, while Hoke's division attacked on the other; but +the attack was not made simultaneously and was repulsed with +heavy loss. While this charge was being made, Col. Shaw was +struck on the head by a rifle bullet, but was uninjured. The +next morning the rebels opened their batteries on our line. +During the cannonade, Lieut. Bjornmark was wounded in the +foot by the fragment of a shell.</p> + +<p>"The following is the report of Capt. Weiss to the +commanding officer of the regiment, announcing his arrival +in Richmond:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<span class="smcap">Libby Prison, Richmond, Va.</span>, September 30, 1864.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'<i>Sir</i>:—I respectfully inform you that the following +officers of the Seventh U. S. C. T. are here, prisoners: +Capts. Weiss and McCarty, Lieuts. Mack, Sherman, Eler, +Ferguson and Spinney. Lieut. Ferguson and myself are wounded +in the head, but doing well.</p> + +<p>"'Please inform our friends of the above, and oblige,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"'Yours, on the part of my associates,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'JULIUS A. WEISS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"'<i>Capt. Seventh U. S. C. T.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"On the 5th of October, the regiment was relieved from duty +in the trenches by the Eight, and moving a short distance to +the rear, went into camp near division headquarters.</p> + +<p>"On the 6th, Gen. Birney divided the regiments of his +command into two brigades. The First Brigade, composed of +the Seventh, Ninth and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh, was +placed under command of Col. Voris, of the Sixty-seventh +Ohio, although each regiment had a colonel serving with it; +and the Second, composed of the Eighth, Twenty-ninth and +Forty-fifth, under Lieut.-Col. Armstrong, of the Ninth. +Capt. Rice returned from sick-leave the same day and was +assigned to the command of Company A, his own company (K) +having disappeared in the <i>melee</i> of the 29th of September.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span></p> + +<p>"During the forenoon of the 7th, the enemy attacked in force +on the right, driving in Kautz's cavalry and capturing +Elder's battery of the First United States Artillery, but +was checked and driven back by the First Division of the +Tenth Corps. The regiment was moved to the right, and after +changing positions several times, went into the trenches +near the New Market road.</p> + +<p>"On the afternoon of the 12th, orders came for the regiment +to be ready to move in light marching order, and later it +moved out about half of a mile to the front and right, and +deployed two companies as skirmishers. Shortly after dark it +was withdrawn to the position it held earlier in the day. A +cold rain was falling, and as the men were without +overcoats, they suffered considerably.</p> + +<p>"About 3 o'clock on the morning of the 13th, our own +division (Third), together with the First, moved out of camp +and marched to the right until it reached the Darbytown +road. Here it formed line, and advancing through the thick +undergrowth finally lay down in front of the enemy's works +to await developments. At 10 o'clock the First Division, +which, with the cavalry, had gone to the right, charged the +enemy's line, but failed to break it and had to withdraw +with considerable loss. About noon the regiment relieved the +Eighth on the skirmish line. Capt. Dickey, of the Eighth, +was killed during the movement. Here it remained until about +4 o'clock, when, the remainder of the division having been +withdrawn, it fell back covering the movement of the corps +and returned to its old camp on the New Market road. * * *</p> + +<p>"The regiment remained in camp until the 26th, furnishing in +the meantime a large picket detail, together with details +for fatigue, employed in the construction of earthworks, +abattis, etc. On this date Col. Voris was relieved from +command of the brigade by Col. Shaw, Lieut.-Col. Haskell +taking command of the regiment.</p> + +<p>"On the evening of this day orders were received for the +regiment to be ready to move on the following morning, with +three days' cooked rations, and in light marching order. At +5 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> we moved out of camp and took the road toward the +right. The Eighteenth, as well as our own corps, was in +motion. The orders were for the Tenth Corps to threaten the +enemy's line near the Darbytown road, while the Eighteenth +moving by the rear to the right, was to strike their left +flank. If they weakened their line in its front, the Tenth +Corps was to advance. The whole movement being made to cover +the advance of the Army of the Potomoc against the rebel +lines covering Hatcher's run and the Boydtown plank-road.</p> + +<p>"Marching about two miles to the right we struck the +Darbytown road, when line of battle was formed to the left, +and moved forward through the woods, and, in places, almost +impassable undergrowth—the Seventh having the left of the +division as well of the line. Our ears were soon greeted +with the scattering fire of our skirmish line, interspersed +by the crashing of an occasional shell through the +tree-tops. After an advance of half a mile the division +halted to await the result<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span> of the attack on the right. The +irregular skirmish fire soon swelled out into long, heavy +volleys, deepened by the hoarser notes of the artillery. +From 8 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> until 8 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> we lay and listened to this +concert of diabolical sounds, momentarily expecting the +order would be passed along the line to advance. About 11 <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span> it began to rain, which continued until far into the +night. At 8 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> we fell back out of the woods, behind an +old line of rebel rifle-pits, and bivouacked for the night +near Kell's House.</p> + +<p>"At 3 o'clock the following morning we were ordered in to +relieve the Twenty-ninth on the picket-line. The clouds had +cleared away and the air was keen and cold. We felt our way +through the dense, dripping undergrowth to the musical +accompaniment of rebel bullets singing above our heads. By +daybreak we were in position along the edge of a belt of +woods, something less than a quarter of a mile from the +rebel works. Their skirmishers kept up a lively fire all +through the forenoon, and as a consequence we lost some +thirty odd men, killed and wounded, from their fire. About 3 +<span class="smcap">p. m.</span> orders were given to fall back, but through some +misunderstanding, the two companies holding the extreme left +of the line failed to receive the order, and held their +ground until their retreat was nearly cut off by the rebel +advance, when they fell back without orders, meeting on +their way the remainder of the brigade coming to their +rescue. The same evening the troops returned to their camps.</p> + +<p>"Here ended our fighting for the fall. * * *</p> + +<p>"On the 28th, Gen. Birney returned and relieved Gen. Hawley +in command of the division, which he had held during the +absence of the former in Philadelphia, where he had gone +about the 21st to attend the funeral of his brother, +Maj.-Gen. D. B. Birney. Col. Shaw was placed permanently in +command of the First Brigade, and Col. Wright, Tenth U. S. +C. T., of the Second.</p> + +<p>"About the 30th, a general order was received from Gen. +Butler thanking Capt. Weiss and the officers under him for +their gallant conduct on the 29th, and saying that their +absence in prison alone prevented their promotion.</p> + +<p>"On the 1st of November, the division was reviewed by Gen. +Birney, and the proclamation of the Governor of Maryland, +announcing the adoption of the constitutional amendment +abolishing slavery in that State, was read to the command. +This paper, which conveyed to the men the knowledge that +their wives and children were no longer slaves, produced an +effect more easily imagined than described.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>"On the 5th, Capt. Cheney and Lieut. Teeple, with companies +H and I, were detached from the regiment to garrison Fort +'No. 3,' at Spring Hill—a work on the right flank of the +Army of the James—where they remained until the 6th of +December.</p> + +<p>"On the 1st of December, the reorganization of the Tenth and +Eighteenth Corps was determined upon. The white troops of +the two corps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span> were consolidated and formed the +Twenty-fourth Corps, under Gen. Foster; and the colored +troops of the Ninth, Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, with other +colored troops not assigned, formed the Twenty-fifth Corps, +under Gen. Weitzel. Its three divisions were commanded by +Gens. Wild, Birney and Paine, respectively. The First +Brigade of Birney's division was made up of the Seventh, One +Hundred and Ninth, One Hundred and Sixteenth and One hundred +and Seventeenth, under Col. Shaw. The Forty-first +Forty-fifth and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh had at +different times been attached to the brigade—<i>to learn our +ways</i>, as they said at headquarters. Eventually, however, +the One Hundred and Fifteenth was substituted for the One +Hundred and Seventeenth in the brigade.</p> + +<p>"On the 4th, a general re-assignment of positions was made. +The Seventh moved from the New Market road to Fort Burnham +(Harrison), which was garrisoned by the First Brigade. The +Second Brigade, under Doubleday, was on our right, and the +Third on our left. The Second Brigade joined the +Twenty-fourth Corps, near the New Market road, and Paine's +division was on our left and extended to the river. The +other division was in reserve to the rear. The Seventh was +under command of Lieut.-Col. Pratt, and so remained during +the remainder of our stay in Virginia."</p></div> + +<p>The prolonged but decisive struggle began to draw near. General Grant +had pushed the troops nearer and closer, at every opportunity, to the +beleaguered cities, until they were well-nigh completely invested. +General Sherman's splendid victories influenced the veteran corps lying +before these places, and filled them with the spirit of sure success. +The intrepid commander, having reached North Carolina, visited Grant at +the latter's headquarters at City Point, where he also found President +Lincoln, and received their congratulations for his successful march to +the sea, which achievement had not been surpassed by any of the +undertakings of either Hannibal or Bonaparte in point of daring and +strategy. An important conference then took place, and on the 28th of +March Sherman returned to his command.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image52.jpg" width="600" height="390" alt="GOVRNT. BLACKSMITHS' SHOP" title="" /> + +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span></p> + +<p>Grant throughout the winter had been preparing for the spring campaign. +The Phalanx regiments heretofore in the 9th, 10th and 18th Corps had +been consolidated, and formed the 25th Corps, under the command of +Major-General Godfrey Weitzel, who at New Orleans refused to command +negro troops. The Corps was divided into three divisions, with +Brigadier-Generals Wilde, Birney and Paine as commanders. Major-General +Ord had succeeded to the command of the Army of the James, then +numbering about 28,000 effective men, and was to take part with three +divisions of his command in the onward movement to commence on the 29th +of March, while Weitzel was to command the remainder of the troops north +of the James and at Bermuda Hundreds.</p> + +<p>Lee, as though he had knowledge of Grant's intention and meant to +frustrate his plans by taking the initiative, attacked the 9th Corps at +Fort Steadman on the 25th, with signal success. He was finally repulsed, +however, and Grant began moving the Union troops. On the morning of the +29th, General Birney with the 2nd Division of the 25th Corps was near +Hatcher's Run, with General Ord's command. The division consisted of +three brigades of Phalanx Infantry, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, +Jr., Ulysses Doubleday and William W. Woodward. A brigade of artillery +commanded by Captain Louis L. Langdon was attached to the Corps; but, +owing to the country being wooded, it was of little use, and most of it +was left on the north side with General Weitzel.</p> + +<p>On the same day Sheridan reached Dinwiddie, and the next morning he +encountered the confederates near the Court House. Here were W. H. F. +Lee's Cavalry, Picket's and Bushrod Johnson's divisions of Infantry, and +Wise's brigade. Sheridan made the attack. His men, on account of the +marshy ground, had to dismount. The confederates fought desperately, but +Sheridan's men contested every inch of ground, and at night fell back to +Dinwiddie Court House and bivouacked. The 5th Corps came up during the +night to attack the confederates in the rear; but at daylight it was +found that they had fallen back to Five Forks. Here was found the +cavalry of W. H. F. Lee and Fitzhugh Lee, with Ross', Picket's, Wise's +and Johnson's divisions of infantry. On the morning of the 1st of April, +Sheridan advanced the 5th Corps toward Five Forks. That afternoon it +fell upon Picket's rear, and now began the decisive battle. The roar was +deafening. Night was coming on, and Sheridan was anxious to carry out +Grant's order and "end the matter if possible to do so." He gave the +order, "Charge bayonets!" In five minutes Picket's outer line was in +possession of the federals. Crawford's division struck them in the +flank, and, with McKenzie's brigade, routed and sent the confederates +flying. The 5th Corps rallied and captured the enemy's entire force in +their front. General Sheridan says in report:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image53.jpg" width="600" height="388" alt=""YOU MUST THROW AWAY THAT CIGAR, SIR!" + +A Phalanx guard refusing to allow General U. S. Grant to pass by the +commissary store-house till he had thrown away his cigar." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"YOU MUST THROW AWAY THAT CIGAR, SIR!"<br /> + +A Phalanx guard refusing to allow General U. S. Grant to pass by the +commissary store-house till he had thrown away his cigar.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The enemy were driven from their strong line of works, +completely routed, the Fifth Corps doubling up their left +flank in confusion, and the cavalry of General Merritt +dashing on to the White Oak Road, capturing their artillery, +turning it upon them, and riding into their broken ranks, so +demoralized them that they made no serious stand after their +line was carried, but took flight in disorder."</p></div> + +<p>The writer well remembers the eagerness of the Phalanx brigade of +Colonel Shaw, composed of the 109th, 116th and 7th Regiments, as they +waited orders near Hatcher's Run. The sound of distant guns fell upon +their ears; Colonel Shaw was impatient; all seemed to feel the end was +near, and wanted to lend a hand in the consummation. Oh, what suspense! +The brigade lay upon their arms in a state of great agitation, all that +night, waiting for orders to advance upon the foe. Who can tell the +thoughts of those brave black soldiers as thus they lay upon the +rumbling earth. Fathers, mothers, sisters, wives and children, yet +slaves, behind the enemy's guns: precious property they are, and guarded +like dearest treasure and even life itself, by an army of +slave-holders—Lee's men, who, with the desperation of demons, vainly +attempted to check the advance of the men of the North, who, with their +lives, defended the Union. The black brigade wanted to strike one more +blow for freedom—for the freedom of their wives and children—to make +one more charge, and the confederate banner should go down; one more +charge, and the light of Liberty's stars should blazon over the ramparts +of the confederate forts. At length, with the dawning of day, came the +order; then the black<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span> brigade went forward, but to find the enemy gone +and their works deserted.</p> + +<p>The confederate lines were broken, and Sheridan's troopers, McKenzie and +Merritt, with their cavalry, although it was night, had followed up the +fleeing foe, capturing them by thousands. The brigade pushed on along +the captured works. The federal batteries, from every mound and hill, +were showering shot and shell into the enemy's inner works; while the +gleaming bayonets of the thousands of infantry could be seen as far as +the eye could reach, their proud banners kissing the stifling air, and +the bugles sounding the "forward march," leaving in their rear smoking +camps and blazing dwellings. What a Sunday morning was that, with its +thunders of terrific war, instead of the mellow chimes of church bells +and the repose of peace.</p> + +<p>It was late in the afternoon, and huge, black clouds of smoke rolled up +out of the city of Petersburg, and then a loud report, told that the +confederates had evacuated it. Away to the left, the huzzas of Colonel +Doubleday's Phalanx brigade (2nd) were heard. Now came a race to reach +the city, between the 7th and 8th Phalanx regiments. No matter which was +first, they were among the troops which took possession of the city, and +gladdened the hearts of the negro population, as they marched through +the streets singing their battle song:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"We will hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple-tree as we go marching on."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was a glorious victory, bringing freedom to thousands of slaves, +though it cost as many lives and millions of treasure. It was the +beginning of the end. The confederates deserted their army by thousands. +The South Side Railroad was in the hands of the federals, and starvation +threatened the enemy. Lee, says a historian, was no longer himself: he +rode wildly through his camps hither, and thither, trying to save his +shattered and routed soldiers from annihilation.</p> + +<p>The defeat at Five Forks settled the fate of the Army of North Virginia. +Grant had almost the entire federal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> army actively engaged; he stopped +the exchange of prisoners, invited President Lincoln, then at City +Point, to come out and see the army advance, which he did. He met Grant +in the city of Petersburg, amid the exultations of the troops and the +joyous demonstrations of the negro population. General Lee made no stop +at Richmond; he had informed Jefferson Davis that he must give up the +city. The latter, with his aids and all the money he could collect,—not +the confederate paper, but the gold of the United States,—stampeded.</p> + +<p>General Weitzel, with Kautz's division of the 24th Corps and Thomas' and +Ashborne's division of the 25th Corps, on the north side of the James +river, lay quietly upon their arms during the fight on the south side. +Grant kept Weitzel informed as to the results of the attack, and warned +him to be on the alert and take every advantage offered, to press the +confederates. General Longstreet's forces had been in Weitzel's front, +but were partly withdrawn to defend Petersburg; therefore the latter +kept unceasing vigil upon the fortifications before him.</p> + +<p>Sunday evening the bands were ordered out to play, and it was late into +the night when their melodious strains ceased to float through the air. +It was a night long to be remembered, the hearts of the black soldiers +of the 25th Corps, gladdened by the reports of the victories of the +troops before Petersburg, were jubilant, and with vigilant watch each +looked for morning. They were impatient for the light, and ere it dawned +they were ready for the onset which they believed must come with it. The +enemy whom they supposed were preparing to give them battle, was +silently stealing away to the enchanting strains of the Federal +musicians. It was near the morning hours when a sudden report startled +the sleeping soldiers; an explosion, another, and yet another followed +in rapid succession.</p> + +<p>General Weitzel soon became satisfied that the enemy was moving, the +continuous sound of distant cannonading away to the south, told that the +combat still raged.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> From the signal tower bright lights were +discernable at Richmond. The city appeared to be on fire; a confederate +picket was captured, but he knew nothing; he had got astray from his +comrades and command. A deserter came in with intelligence that the city +was being evacuated, and half an hour later a negro drove into camp and +gave information that the enemy was flying.</p> + +<p>The ground in front was thickly set with torpedoes, and the troops dared +not move. Day came and Colonel Draper's black brigade of the 25th Corps +went forward. The road was lumbered with all manner and sort of military +gear and munitions of war. Keeping clear of the red flags which marked +the torpedoes, the troops pushed on; they soon reached the defences of +the city to find them untenanted; the negro had told the truth and the +Phalanx brigade entered the city welcomed by thousands of happy +kinsfolks. Badeau says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The sun was an hour up, when suddenly there rose in the +streets the cry of 'Yankees! Yankees!' and the mass of +plunderers and rioters, cursing, screaming, trampling on +each other, alarmed by an enemy not yet in sight, madly +strove to extricate themselves and make an opening for the +troops. Soon about forty men of the Fourth Massachusetts +Cavalry rode into the crowd, and, trotting straight to the +public square, planted their guidons on the Capitol. +Lieutenant De Peyster, of Weitzel's staff, a New Yorker +eighteen years of age, was the first to raise the national +colors, and then, in the morning light of the 3d of April, +the flag of the United States once more floated over +Richmond.</p> + +<p>"The command of Weitzel followed—a long blue line—with +gun-barrels gleaming, and bands playing 'Hail Columbia' and +'John Brown's Soul Goes Marching On.' One regiment was +black.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The magistrates formally surrendered the city to +Weitzel at the Capitol, which stands on a hill in the centre +of the town, and overlooks the whole country for miles. The +national commander at once set about restoring order and +extinguishing the flames. Guards were established, +plundering was stopped, the negroes were organized into a +fire corps, and by night the force of the conflagration was +subdued, the rioting was at an end, and the conquered city +was rescued by the efforts of its captors from the evils +which its own authorities had allowed, and its own +population had perpetrated."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image54.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="RECEIVING THE PRESIDENT. + +Abraham Lincoln riding through Richmond, April 4th, 1865, after the +evacuation of the city by the Confederates." title="" /> +<span class="caption">RECEIVING THE PRESIDENT.<br /> + +Abraham Lincoln riding through Richmond, April 4th, 1865, after the +evacuation of the city by the Confederates.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lee and his famishing host were fleeing towards Danville, hotly pursued +by the Federal Army. Resting there until the 5th they resumed the march, +fighting and running, until, at Appomattox they gave up and surrendered. +Major Alexandria S. Johnson of the 116th Phalanx Regiment thus relates +the story in part which the Phalanx brigade took in the memorable +movement of the two armies to Appomattox. He says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As a participant in these events I will speak merely of +what came under my own observation. The One Hundred and +Sixteenth (colored) Infantry, in which I commanded a +company, belonged to the Third Brigade, Second Division of +the Twenty-fifth Army Corps, and during the winter of +1864-65 held the lines on Chapin's farm, the left resting on +Fort Burnham. The division was commanded by Major-General +Birney. The winter was passed in endeavoring to get the +troops in as high a state of discipline as possible by +constant drill and watchful training. When the spring opened +we had the satisfaction of feeling that they were the equal, +as soldiers, of most of the white troops. They were a +contented body, being well fed and clothed, and they took +delight in their various duties. The news of the capture of +Savannah by Sherman and the defeat of Hood at Nashville had +a cheering effect upon the whole command, and we looked +forward with confidence that the end was drawing near.</p> + +<p>"On the night of the 26th of March our division silently +left the lines on Chapin's farm, and marching to the rear +some three miles went into bivouac. On the night of the 27th +we crossed the James on muffled pontoons, and after a weary +march arrived at Hatcher's Run at daybreak of the 28th. +Crossing the original lines of breastworks we built new +breastworks some two hundred yards in advance and bivouacked +in the pine woods awaiting events. Sheridan at this time was +operating on the Confederate right flank. The news of his +decisive victory at Five Forks and of the complete turning +of the enemy's flank was the immediate cause of a verbal +order, given to company commanders by our colonel on the +afternoon of April 1st, to advance on the lines in our front +at dawn on the following day. That night the Union artillery +opened along the whole line. Hissing and bursting shells +from Appomattox river to Hatcher's Run filled in a scene +never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. It was as +if demons incarnate were holding a jubilee. As far as the +eye could reach there was one blaze of fiery shot. The world +has seldom seen its like. Where our brigade was to operate +was a dense wilderness of pines with matted underbrush, but +in the morning it looked as though a sirocco had kissed it.</p> + +<p>"With the dawn of day the brigade was in line of battle. Not +a breath of air was stirring. A misty vapor shed its gloom +and hung like a pall among the tree-tops. The silk covers +were taken from our flags, but their folds hung lazily along +the staff when the command, 'Forward! guide centre! march!' +was given. At first slashed timber and brush<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> obstructed our +way, but as the obstruction began to cease an obstacle in +the shape of a long line of abattis met our gaze. The dusky +line broke through the abattis, however, as if the stakes +had been so many reeds, and charged over the breastworks and +into the Confederate camp. The rush must have been a +surprise, as the enemy offered little resistance. In front +of one of the tents a Federal sergeant (white) lay dead, his +right arm extended to the full length, and firmly clenched +in his hand was a piece of fancy soap. A bullet had entered +his forehead, the blood from the wound was trickling down +his face, but the hue of health was still on his cheek. How +he came to be there is to me a mystery, as that part of the +line was forced by colored troops. Swinging by the right +flank we kept our way along the Boydton road. A Confederate +light battery in position alongside of a cottage, which +stood in a hollow, shelled the column as it advanced, and so +accurate had the gunners got the range that almost every +shell did damage. A couple of shells burst together above my +company. The flash blinded me for a few seconds. I heard a +scream of pain and just then was ordered to lie down. Not +twenty yards from me was a wounded soldier. His leg was +shattered badly. He prayed and sang hymns alternately, but +his voice gradually grew weaker until it ended in death. One +of our batteries was brought into position, and engaging the +Confederate battery, the latter was silenced, when the +column again resumed the march, arriving in front of +Petersburg about noon.</p> + +<p>"It was the intention of General Birney to carry by assault +the main fort which commanded the city, and he deployed the +division in line of battle for that purpose, but General +Ord, coming up in time, ordered him to retire his division +out of range and await further orders. We went into bivouac +for the night, and at early dawn of the 3d we entered the +city, the Confederates having evacuated the forts during the +night. The field music played "John Brown's Body," and a +tiny Union flag in the hands of a girl of ten years waved us +a welcome. Resting an hour in the city the division started +in pursuit of the Confederates. For a mile or two outside of +the city the road was strewn with plug tobacco. Blood could +be seen also at intervals in patches along the road. We +bivouacked some fifteen miles from the city. A few of our +officers took supper in a house close to our camping ground. +Our fare was "corn pone," scraps of bacon, sorghum molasses, +and a solution of something called coffee, for which we each +gave our host, a middle-aged Virginian, one dollar. The +colored troops being encamped on his farm his indignation +was stirred and he exclaimed, while the tears trickled down +his cheeks, 'Poor old Virginia! poor old Virginia! that I +should have lived to see this day!'</p> + +<p>"At dawn of the 4th the column resumed the pursuit. It is +needless for me to tell in detail how our cavalry destroyed +and burned over five hundred Confederate wagons on the 5th +and 6th, and how Ewell's command was defeated and captured +at Sailor's creek on the 6th. Our brigade having arrived at +Farmville on the afternoon of the 6th and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span> encamped for the +night, some of the citizens poured forth pitiful tales to +our officers. They told how our cavalry had entered their +houses and ripped open their feather beds, how the rude +troopers had broken open bureaus and chests in search of +valuables, and how they had carried away with them what they +could find. Nothing of interest took place until the 8th, +which was noted for the forced march made by the brigade, +starting at daybreak and going into bivouac at twelve +midnight. The morning of the 9th broke calm and serene. It +was a lovely morning, the sun had not yet gotten above the +horizon when the brigade was on the march again, but it went +only a short distance when it was halted. To the right of +the road, in a clearing, was a portion of the Twenty-fourth +Corps, with arms stacked and the men cooking breakfast. +Sides of bacon at intervals hung from their bayonets. +Although the woods were full of our cavalry and three +divisions of our infantry were in close proximity, all was +as quiet as a Sabbath morning. One of our batteries, some +six hundred yards to the right, broke the stillness by +fitfully throwing a shell once in a while, but to a +looker-on all seemed inaction. Such was the situation at +Appomattox at sunrise on the morning of the 9th.</p> + +<p>"Our brigade, after resting some thirty minutes, resumed the +march. It soon filed to the right. In a few minutes the +command was given—'Right shoulder, shift arms! double +quick, march!' Onward we went, the objective point being the +Lynchburg pike. Dismounted cavalry retreating from the front +broke through the column, saying as they passed us, 'Give it +to them, boys! they are too many for us!' In a few minutes +the head of the column reached the pike, when it halted and +faced to the front. The command—'Unsling knapsacks!'—was +given, and then we knew we were stripping for a fight. +Skirmishers were deployed on our front, and as we advanced +the Confederate skirmishers retired before us. After +advancing some eight hundred yards the brigade was ordered +to halt and form in line of battle. It formed into column of +companies. Some eight hundred yards away was the Army of +Northern Virginia, with its three lines of battle awaiting +us.</p> + +<p>"We had not been at a halt more than twenty minutes when the +news of Lee's surrender reached us. Our brigade celebrated +the event by firing volleys of musketry in the air. Officers +hugged each other with joy. About four hundred yards to the +rear was a portion of the Twenty-fourth Corps, which had +been marching to our support. The men in that long line +threw their caps upwards until they looked like a flock of +crows. From wood and dale came the sound of cheers from +thousands of throats. Appomattox will never hear the like +again. The brigade moved forward a short distance and went +into camp some three hundred yards from the Confederate +camp. In the afternoon I strolled over the ground we had +traversed in the morning. I came across the body of a dead +Confederate soldier, covered with a blanket. Some one had +taken the shoes from his feet. Uncovering him I found that a +shot had pierced his right breast. His white cotton shirt +was matted with blood. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> small bag was attached to the +button-hole of his jacket. Undoing the bag I found it +contained sixty ounces of corn meal. He was not over +twenty-six years of age, and was of fair complexion. Who +knows but he was the last soldier who fell belonging to the +Army of Northern Virginia?"</p></div> + +<p>It was Palm Sunday, celebrated by many of the followers of Christ as the +day of his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, a day of great rejoicing +among Christians, known in our annual calendar as the 9th day of April, +1865. The morning broke clear and bright in the neighborhood of +Appomattox Court House, and there was every evidence of spring. The +birds chirped in the trees half clad with the early foliage, which +trembled in the soft breeze. Along the roadside yet untrod by the +hostile feet of man or steed, the tiny floweret buds had begun to open +to the warmth of genial nature, and the larger roses, red and white, +cast their fragrance to the lingering winds. Here the half clad, sore +footed soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, were trembling with +dread impatience for the onset,—the inevitable—which would decide +their fate and their prospect of reaching the mountains just beyond. In +front of them the federal cavalry awaited their coming.</p> + +<p>It was yet grey in the morning when General Lee sent word to his +Lieutenant Gordon to cut his "<i>way through at all hazards</i>." With the +impetuosity of a cyclone, his shattered corps rushed upon the dismounted +cavalry in their front, the Federal line quivered, and bent to the gale. +On and on they came, pressing closer and closer upon the cavalry. The +struggle was becoming desperate, it was the last hope of the +confederates they must go through the lines, or perish in the attempt. +Again the confederate yell rose above the din of the battle's roar, and +soon the cavalry fell back. Where was their leader Sheridan? He came, +galloping at break-neck speed, his men cheering him as he rode to the +front. He had been to the rear some five miles away. He saw at a glance +the daring object of the foe, and ordered his men to fall back slowly. +The confederates followed up the wavering line with brightened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span> hopes, +but hopes that were to be dissipated; soon the bristling bayonets, and +glistening musket barrels of the Army of the James gleamed in their +front; then the pressure ceased, and Sheridan's bugle sounded the order +to mount, and his troopers dashed themselves against the enemy's left +flank. Then, one bearing a white flag—a flag of truce, rode to the +front of the confederate lines. Capt. J. D. Cook of General Mile's staff +went forward to meet him. It was Colonel Taylor of General Lee's staff; +he bore a note from Lee, asking a suspension of hostilities, and an +interview with General Grant. Now let us go back to the night of the +6th, and trace the flying columns to this point. Badeau says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That night once more the rebels evacuated their works, this +time in front of Meade, and when morning dawned were far on +their way, as they fondly thought, to Lynchburg, and Lee +defiantly informed his pursuer that the emergency for the +surrender had not yet arrived. But he reckoned without his +host. He was stretching, with the terrific haste that +precedes despair, to Appomattox for supplies. He need hardly +have hastened to that spot, destined to be so fatal to +himself and his cause. Grant's legions were making more +haste than he. The marvelous marching, not only of Sheridan, +but of the men of the Fifth and Twenty-Fourth Corps, was +doing as much as a battle to bring the rebellion to a close. +Twenty-eight, thirty-two, thirty-five miles a day in +succession these infantry soldiers marched, all day and all +night. From daylight until daylight again, after more than a +week of labor and fatigue almost unexampled, they pushed on +to intercept their ancient adversary, while the remainder of +the Army of the Potomac was at his heels.</p> + +<p>"Finally Lee, still defiant, and refusing to treat with any +view of surrender, came up to his goal, but found the +national cavalry had reached the point before him, and that +the supplies were gone. Still he determined to push his way +through, and with no suspicion that men on foot could have +marched from Rice's Station to his front in thirty hours, he +made his last charge, and discovered a force of infantry +greater than his own before him, besides cavalry, while two +corps of the Army of the Potomac were close in his rear. He +had run straight into the national lines. He was enclosed, +walled in, on every side, with imminent instant destruction +impending over him. He instantly offered to submit to Grant, +and in the agony of alarm, lest the blow should fall, he +applied to Meade and Sheridan also for a cessation of +hostilities. Thus in three directions at once he was +appealing to be allowed to yield. At the same moment he had +messengers out to Sheridan, Meade, and Grant. The emergency, +whose existence he had denied, had arrived.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span> He was +out-marched, out-fought, out-witted, out-generaled—defeated +in every possible way. He and his army, every man, numbering +27,516, surrendered. He and his army, every man, was fed by +the conqueror."</p></div> + +<p>From the date of Lee's surrender, the confederates, from Virginia to the +Mississippi, began to lay down their arms. Howell Cobb surrendered at +Macon, Ga., on the 21st; Johnston surrendered to General Sherman on the +26th, in North Carolina; Dick Taylor, east of the Mississippi, on the +4th of May, and on the 26th Kirby Smith surrendered his forces west of +the Mississippi. Jeff. Davis had been captured, disguised as a woman, +and thus the cause, which originated in treason, based on the +enslavement of a race, and which derived its only chance of success from +men who were false to their oaths, collapsed. The mightiest blow given +the confederacy was struck by the immortal Proclamation of Emancipation, +giving freedom to four millions of slaves; more than two hundred +thousand of whom, with dash and gallantry excelled by no other race, +tore down the traitor's banner from their deemed impregnable breastworks +and planted in its stead the national flag. That emblem, whose crimson +folds, re-baptised in the blood of liberty's martyrs, invited all men, +of all races, who would be free, to gather beneath the effulgent glare +of its heaven-lighted stars, regardless of color, creed or condition. +The Phalanx nobly bore their part all through the long night of war, and +at last they occupied Charleston,—the traitors' +nest,—Petersburg,—their eastern Gibraltar,—and Richmond—their +Capitol. They marched proudly through the streets of these once +impregnable fortresses, in all of which many of the soldiers of the +Phalanx had been slaves. Oh! what a realization of the power of right +over might. What a picture for the historian's immortal pen to paint of +the freemen of America, whose sufferings were long, whose struggle was +gigantic, and whose achievement was a glorious personal and political +freedom!</p> + +<p>At the close of the war, the government, anticipating trouble in Texas, +ordered General Steele to the command of the Rio Grande, under these +instructions:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, May 21st, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Maj. Gen. F. Steele</span>, Commanding Rio Grande Expedition.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"By assignment of the President, Gen. Sheridan takes general +command west of the Arkansas. It is the intention to +prosecute a vigorous campaign in that country, until the +whole of Texas is re-occupied by people acknowledging +allegiance to the Government of the United States. Sheridan +will probably act offensively from the Red river. But it is +highly important that we should have a strong foothold upon +the Rio Grande. You have been selected to take that part of +the command. In addition to the force you take from Mobile +Bay, you will have the 25th Corps and the few troops already +in Southern Texas.</p> + +<p>"Any directions you may receive from Gen. Sheridan, you will +obey. But in the absence of instructions from him you will +proceed without delay to the mouth of the Rio Grande and +occupy as high up that river as your force and means of +supplying will admit of.</p> + +<p>"Your landing will probably have to be made at Brazos, but +you will learn more fully upon that matter on your arrival. +We will have to observe a strict neutrality towards Mexico, +in the French and English sense of the word. Your own good +sense and knowledge of international law, and experience of +policy pursued towards us in this war teaches you what will +be proper.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Signed, U. S. GRANT, <i>Lieutenant-General.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Official: Signed, <span class="smcap">Geo. K. Leet, A. A. G.</span>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the meantime General Grant sent the following dispatches to Generals +Halleck and Weitzel:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, May 18th, 1865, 12.40 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Major-General H. W. Halleck</span>, Richmond Va.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Please direct Major-General Weitzel commanding 25th Army +Corps to get his corps in readiness for embarkation at City +Point immediately upon the arrival of ocean transportation. +He will take with him forty (40) days rations for twenty +thousand men, one-half of his land transportation and +one-fourth of his mules with the requisite amount of forage +for his animals. All surplus transportation and other public +property he may have he will turn over to the depots at City +Point.</p> + +<p>"By command of Lieutenant-General Grant.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Signed, JOHN A. RAWLINS,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<i>Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Official. Signed, <span class="smcap">George K. Leet, A. A. G.</span>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, May 21st, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Major-General G. Weitzel</span>, Commanding 25th A. C.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As soon as your corps is embarked you will proceed with it +to Mobile Bay, Ala., and report to Major-General Steele for +further orders.</p> + +<p>"In addition to rations, ammunition, and other articles +which you have received directions to take with you, you +should take a fair quantity of intrenching tools.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Signed, U. S. GRANT, <i>Lieutenant-General.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Official, Signed, <span class="smcap">George K. Leet, A. A. G.</span>"<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>On the 24th of May the 25th Corps began embarking for Texas by way of +Mobile Bay. The troops, however, occupied Texas but a short time, the +confederate forces there surrendering upon the same terms as those of +General Lee. All fears having been dissipated, the troops were slowly +mustered out of the United States service. The men returned to their +wonted fields of labor to provide for their long-neglected families, +upon a new career of peace and happiness, rising, Phœnix like, from +the ashes of slavery to join the Phalanx of industry in upbuilding the +greatness of their country, which they had aided in saving from +desolation and ruin.</p> + +<p>Such is the history of the negro in the wars of the United States. +Coming to its shores in the condition of slavery, it required more than +two centuries for the entire race to reach the estate of freedom. But +the imperishable records of their deeds show that however humble and +despised they have been in all political and social relations they have +never been wanting in patriotism at periods of public peril. Their +devotion has been not only unappreciated, but it has failed to receive a +fitting commemoration in pages of national history. It has been the +purpose of the writer of this volume to relate herein the patriotic +career of the negro race in this country in an authentic and connected +form. In the time to come the race will take care of itself. Slavery is +ended, and now they are striking off link by link the chains of +ignorance which the servitude of some and the humility of all imposed +upon them. If the past is the story of an oppressed race, the future +will reveal that of one uprisen to great opportunities, which they will +improve from generation to generation, and guard with the same vigilance +that they will the liberties and boundaries of the land.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> The reader will bear in mind that there were several +changes in the command of these troops during the campaign, on account +of promotions, but the troops remained in the Department and Army of the +James. See Roster, for changes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> THE PHALANX AT NEW MARKET HEIGHTS.<a name="FNanchor_A_A" id="FNanchor_A_A"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_A" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> +</p> + +<p> +"On the 29th of September, 1864, Gen. Grant ordered Gen. Butler to cross +the James River, at Two Points, and attack the enemy's line of work, in +the centre of which was Fort Harrison; on the left, at New Market +Heights, was a very strong work, the key of the enemy's flank on the +north side of the river. It was a redoubt built on the top of a hill of +some considerable elevation, then running down into a marsh. In that +marsh was a brook—then rising again to a plain, which gently rolled +toward the river. On that plain, when the flash of dawn was breaking, +Butler placed a column of the black Phalanx," [which consisted of the +5th, 36th, 38th and 2nd Cavalry Regts.], "numbering three thousand, in +close column, by division, right in front with guns at 'right shoulder +shift.' The center of the line was given to the eighteenth corps +composed of white troops, under Gen. Ord, and they drove the enemy from +a very strong work, capturing several pieces of cannon. +</p><p> +"Gen. Butler had been severely criticised by officers of the regular +army for organizing twenty-five regiments of negroes. 'Why.' said they, +'they will not fight' In contradiction of this assertion Butler made up +his mind to prove the worth and value of the black Phalanx. +Notwithstanding their gallantry at Petersburg and on the Fredericksburg +road, the metal of the 25th corps of the Army of the James was to be +tried; so Butler took command of the Phalanx himself with a +determination to set at rest forever the question of the fighting +capacity of a portion of his command. Addressing the Phalanx, he said, +pointing to the works on the enemy's flank, 'those works must be taken +by the weight of your column; not a shot must be fired. In order to +prevent them from firing he had the caps taken from the nipples of their +guns. 'When you charge.' he said, 'your cry will be 'Remember Fort +Pillow.' +</p><p> +"'Twas in the early grey of the morning, ere the sun had risen. The +order 'forward' set the column in motion, and it went forward as if on +parade—down the hill, across the marsh, and as the column got into the +brook they came within range of the enemy's fire, which was vigorously +opened upon them. The column broke a little, as it forded the brook, it +wavered! What a moment of intense anxiety? But they formed again, as +they reached the firm ground, marching on steadily with close ranks +under the enemy's fire until the head of the column reached the first +line of abatis, some one hundred and fifty yards from the enemy's work. +Then the axemen ran to the front to cut away the heavy obstacles of +defense while one thousand men of the enemy with their artillery +concentrated poured from the redoubt a heavy fire upon the head of the +column of fours. The axemen went down under that murderous fire; other +strong black hands grasped the axes in their stead and the abatis was +cut away. Again, at double-quick, the column went forward to within +fifty yards of the fort, to meet there another line of abatis. The +column halted and there a very fire of hell was poured upon them. The +abatis resisted and held the head of the column which literally melted +away under the rain of shot and shell; the flags of the leading +regiments went down, but a brave black hand seized the colors. They were +soon up again and waved their starry light over the storm of battle. +Again the axemen fell, but strong hands and willing hearts seized the +heavy sharpened trees and dragged them away, and the column rushed +forward and with a shout that rang out above the roar of artillery went +over the redoubt like a flash, and the enemy did not stop running within +four miles, leaving the Phalanx in possession of their deemed +impregnable work, cannons and small arms. The autocrats of the regular +army could croak no longer about the negro soldiers not fighting. +</p><p> +"This gallantry of the Phalanx won for them and the negro race the +admiration of the man who supported Jeff Davis and the slave power in +the Charleston convention in 1860. Ten years after this splendid victory +of the Phalanx, in support of their civil rights, General Butler then a +member of congress, made an eloquent appeal in behalf of the equal civil +rights of the negro race. In it he referred to the gallant charge of the +Phalanx. He said: "It became my painful duty to follow in the track of +that charging column, and there, in a space not wider than the clerk's +desk and three hundred yards long, lay the dead bodies of five hundred +and forty-three of my colored comrades, fallen in defense of their +country, who had offered up their lives to uphold its flag and its +honor, as a willing sacrifice: and as I rode along among them, guiding +my horse this way and that way, lest he should profane with his hoofs +what seemed to me the sacred dead, and as I looked on their bronzed +faces upturned in the shining sun, as if in mute appeal against the +wrongs of the country for which they had given their lives, whose flag +had only been to them a flag of stripes, on which no star of glory had +ever shone for them—feeling I had wronged them in the past and +believing what was the future of my country to them—among my dead +comrades there, I swore to myself a solemn oath—'May my right hand +forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof my mouth, if I ever +fail to defend the rights of those men who have given their blood for me +and my country that day and for their race forever, and God helping me, +I will keep that oath." +</p> +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>"NEW MARKET HEIGHTS.<a name="FNanchor_B_B" id="FNanchor_B_B"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_B" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Freedom their battle cry, freedom or leave to die.'—<i>Boker.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">At New Market Heights, there Afric's lineage stood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And poured out copiously its best blood;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of them I would sing, my lyre's restrung,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And allures not diffidently to the song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Paternal muse with thy patriot valor reign<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Supreme, and the brightness of ages regain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the deep recess of the past<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lower me, to where the battle's blast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has been given to oblivion, the sigh<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of dying patriots let greet me nigh.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And my thoughts waft on memory's wing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To where their charging shouts yet ring.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If mine the task indulgent muse vouchsafed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whilst I commune 'mongst bones that paved,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And flesh that bridged the chasm o'er,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where Butler numbered five hundred and more<br /></span> +<span class="i0">of Afric's sons, who for liberty fell.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the corridors of a stockaded hell.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'll essay their deeds of valor done,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By which the nation its victory won.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Twas early in the grey September morn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere the suns fulgent light had shown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whilst departed patriots looked out from above,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Emitting their twinkling silvery light of love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon the silent bivouac of freedom's sons,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Weary and resting upon their bayonetless guns;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quite near the bank of the James,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just above where their own fathers' names,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were first enrolled as ignoble slaves.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>The Second Brigade</i>, valiant men and braves,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saw a meteor like rocket burst high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">High up in the dewey morning sky.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then came the summons prepare to away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Butler leads to New Market heights at day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beat the long roll, sound the alarm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Break the monotone and the dead calm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the bugle's clarion notes aroused, awoke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The host that waited ere day broke;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Infantry, cavalry prepared to make away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Butler leads to New Market heights at day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From rank to rank the summons ran,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bayonets rattle and clank of sabres began.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With whetted steel the sturdy axe-men,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Capless riflemen, horseless cavalry men.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Formed on that plain in battle array,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Butler leads to New Market heights at day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When the flash of dawn was breaking,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their leader rode in front, and speaking,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gave the charging shout '<i>Remember Fort Pillow</i>,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And their banners brightened in the mellow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Light of heaven; '<i>Forward</i>,' they marched away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Went down the hill across the marsh,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into the brook—there halted—ah! how harsh<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The rebels' fire opened upon them, artillery<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hail swept the run, and the infantry<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Broke, the column wavered tho' not in dismay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Again the shattered columns form and again advance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To firmer ground, tho' the redoubt hurl'd like an avalanche<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In quick succession, bursting bombs and canister shot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But with closed ranks the column, fearing not<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unheedful of the iron hail bent its way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now the head of the column of fours go down<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Under the murderous fire and the hissing song<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the enemy's shells, now the axe men spring<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the <i>abatis</i> high and long, now their axes ring<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out on the morning air, they were swept away.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The flags are where, do they kiss the morning light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Do they wave in the battle's gale, are their stars bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Illumining the path of the brave? riddled and torn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the dead they lay. Soon again they shone,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the first gleam of the rising-sun's ray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Upon the brigade each felt that all was placed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their race and country's future honored or disgraced,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hence with Spartan courage they the charge renewed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in hot haste the Nation's enemy pursued,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sweat and blood from pore and wound inveigh,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'<i>Forward, forward!</i>' rung the command, the flags are up again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The axe-men grin, and with a shout go over the slain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To a second line of <i>abatis</i>. The welkin's aglow.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The advancing brigade shouts, '<i>Remember Fort Pillow</i>!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with a will and spirit they clear the way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Down the dismounted cavalrymen fall by ranks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Infantry an adamantine wall on the flanks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Close up briskly on right and left receive<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The enflading fire from the brazen crest, breathe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They not a word in complaint, freedom's impulse obey,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Mow the black axe-men tear from the sod the huge logs<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which science and treason placed deep in the bogs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Skill gave way to freedom's might in the dastardly fight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the black brigade, with capless rifles and starry light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Go through the gap to the Rebel's hell in gallant array,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Volley after volley poured, cannon after cannon roared,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like reapers in a field a thousand artillerists mowed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the gap, the brigade's advancing files of four,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet on through the flood of death still the brigade pour.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their battle cry, <i>Remember Fort Pillow</i>, the enemy dismay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hark! above the raging carnage swells the shout,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'<i>No quarter to Niggers</i>,' with hope of a rout,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the brigade was not deterred, they retaliate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The defiant yells, <i>Remember Fort Pillow</i>, the fate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of its garrison how it fell, on through the fray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">On for the <i>redoubt</i> over the rampart they go,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not a rifle was fired, not a shot at the foe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the weight of the column the <i>redoubt</i> is theirs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the enemy routed, the chivalry scattered everywhere<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Victorious shouts the empyrean ring in repay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In the track of the brigade lay the loyal dead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Afric's hecatomb, her lineage's pyre to liberty wed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their upturned countenances to the burning sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were appeals to Mars for their race's freedom won,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Five hundred lives on the patriotic alter lay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Following Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">No marble shaft or granate pile mark the spot<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where they fell—their bones lay harvested from sun-rot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the Nation's cities of the dead. Hannibal led<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No braver than they through Alpine snow, nor wed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To freedom were Greece's phalanx more, who o'er gory clay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Followed Butler to New Market heights that day.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> See report of 29th Regiment Connecticut Colored Volunteers +in appendix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_A" id="Footnote_A_A"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_A"><span class="label">[A]</span></a>(Author in the N. Y. <i>Globe</i>.)]</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_B" id="Footnote_B_B"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_B"><span class="label">[B]</span></a>(Author in "<i>Voice of a New Race</i>.")</p></div> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>ROLL OF HONOR.</h3> + + +<p>The following enlisted men of the Black Phalanx received medals of honor +from the United States Government for heroic conduct on the field of +battle:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sergeant-Major <span class="smcap">C. A. Fleetwood</span>, 4th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Color-Sergeant <span class="smcap">Alfred B. Hilton</span>, 4th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Private <span class="smcap">Charles Veal</span>, 4th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st Sergeant <span class="smcap">James Brownson</span>, 5th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sergeant-Major <span class="smcap">Milton M. Holland</span>, 5th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st Sergeant, <span class="smcap">Robert Pinn</span>, 5th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st Sergeant <span class="smcap">Powhatan Beaty</span>, 5th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st Sergeant <span class="smcap">Alex. Kelley</span>, 6th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sergeant <span class="smcap">Samuel Gilchrist</span>, 36th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sergeant <span class="smcap">William Davis</span>, 36th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Corporal <span class="smcap">Miles James</span>, 36th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Private <span class="smcap">James Gardner</span>, 36th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st Sergeant <span class="smcap">Edward Ratcliff</span>, 38th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Private <span class="smcap">William Barnes</span>, 38th Regiment.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>ROSTER OF THE BLACK PHALANX</h3> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Cavalry</span>.</h4> + +<p>1st Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Seip.—Organized at Camp Hamilton, Va., +December, 1863. Battles: Bermuda Hundreds, Smithfield, Wilson's Landing, +Fort Pocahontas, Cabin Point, Powhatan. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>2nd Regiment, Colonel G. W. Cole.—Organized at Ft. Monroe, December, +1863. Battles: Suffolk, Drewry's Bluff, May 10, 16th and 20th, 1864. +Point of Rocks, Deep Bottom, Chapin Farm, Richmond. Mustered out +February, 1866.</p> + +<p>3d Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel J. B. Cook.—Organized at Vicksburg, +October 9th, 1863. Battles: Haines Bluff, Shipwith's Landing, Miss., +Memphis, Tenn., Bayou Bœuf, Yazoo Expedition, Rolling Fork, +Vicksburg, Jackson, Fort Adams, Franklin, Roache's Plantation, Yazoo +City. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>4th Regiment, (1st <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>), Lieutenant-Colonel N. C. +Mitchell.—Organized September, 1863, at New Orleans, La. Battle: +Clinton. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>5th Regiment, Colonel L. Henry Carpenter.—Organized at Camp Nelson, +Ky., October, 1864. Battles: Saltville, Hopkinsville, Harrodsburg, +Simpsonville. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>5th Regiment, Massachusetts, Colonel S. E. Chamberlin.—Organized at +Readville, Mass., May, 1864. Battle: Petersburg. Mustered out October, +1865.</p> + +<p>6th Regiment, Colonel James F. Wade.—Organized at Camp Nelson, Ky., +Nov., 1864. Battles: Saltville, Marion, Smithfield. Mustered out April, +1866.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Heavy Artillery</span>.</h4> + +<p>1st Regiment, Colonel John E. McGowan.—Organized at Knoxville, Tenn., +February, 1864. Battle: Decatur.</p> + +<p>3rd Regiment, Colonel Ignatz G. Kappner.—Organized at Memphis, Tenn., +and Fort Pickering, Tenn., June, 1863, as 1st Regiment Tennessee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span> Heavy +Artillery. Its designation was changed to 2nd Regiment and to 3rd, +April, 1864. Mustered out April, 1864.</p> + +<p>4th Regiment, Major Wm. N. Lansing.—Organized at Columbus, Ky., June, +1863, as 2nd Regiment Tennessee. Its designation was changed March, +1864, to the 3rd Regiment, and to the 4th, April, 1864. Battles: Fort +Donelson. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>5th Regiment, Colonel Herman Leib.—Organized at Vicksburg, Miss., +August, 1863, as the 9th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers. Its designation +was changed to 1st Regiment, Mississippi, September, 1863, and to the +4th, March, 1864. Battles: Milliken's Bend, June 6th, 7th and 25th, +1863, Vicksburg. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>6th Regiment, Colonel Hubert A. McCaleb.—Organized at Natchez, Miss., +September, 1863, as 2nd Regiment, Miss. Its designation was changed to +the 5th Regiment, March, 1864, and to the 6th, April, 1864. Battles: +Vidalia, Concordia Bayou, Black River. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>For 7th Regiment see 11th Infantry.</p> + +<p>8th Regiment, Colonel Henry W. Barry.—Organized at Paducah, Ky., April, +1864. Battle: Fort Anderson. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>9th Regiment, Major Edward Grosskoff.—Organized at Clarksville, +Nashville, Tenn., October, 1864; broken up May, 1865; officers and +enlisted men transferred to other organizations.</p> + +<p>10th Regiment, Colonel C. A. Hartwell, (regular army).—Organized at New +Orleans, La., November, 1862, as 1st Regiment Louisiana. Its designation +was changed to 1st Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>, November, 1863, and to +the 7th Regiment United States, April, 1864; to the 10th, May, 1864. The +77th Regiment Infantry was consolidated with it October, 1865. Mustered +out February, 1867. Battle: Pass-Manchæ.</p> + +<p>11th Regiment, Colonel J. Hale Sypher.—Organized at Providence, R. I., +August, 1863, as the 14th Regiment, R. I. Its designation was changed to +the 8th Regiment United States, April, 1864, and to the 11th, May, 1864. +Battle: Indian Village. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>12th Regiment, Colonel Norman S. Andrews.—Organized at Camp Nelson, +Ky., July, 1864. Battles: Big Springs, Fort Jones. Mustered out, April, +1866.</p> + +<p>13th Regiment, Colonel Jacob T. Foster.—Organized at Camp Nelson, Ky., +June, 1865. Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>14th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Walter S. Poor.—Organized at New +Berne and Marblehead, N. C., March, 1864, as the 1st North Carolina. Its +designation was changed to the 14th, March, 1865. Mustered out December, +1865.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Light Artillery.</span></h4> + +<p>2nd Regiment.—Organized at Nashville, Tenn., April, 1864. Mustered out +January, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span></p> + +<p>Battery A, Captain F. P. Meigs.</p> + +<p>Battery B, Captain Francis C. Choate.—Organized at Fort Monroe. Va. +January, 1864. Battles: Wilson's Wharf, City Point. Mustered out March, +1866.</p> + +<p>Battery C, Captain Robert Ranney.—Organized at Hebron's Plantation, +Miss., November, 1863, as the 1st Louisiana Battery. Its designation was +changed to Battery A, 2d Regiment, March, 1864, and to Battery C April, +1864. Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>Battery D, Captain W. H. Pratt.—Organized at Black River Bridge, Miss., +December, 1863, as the 2d Louisiana Battery. Its designation was changed +to Battery B, 2d Regiment United States, March, 1864, and to Battery D +April, 1864.</p> + +<p>Battery E, Captain Edwin Bancroft.—Organized at Helena, Ark., December, +1863, as the 3d Louisiana Battery. Its designation was changed to +Battery C, 2d Regiment United States, March, 1864, and to Battery E +April. 1864. Battles: Island No. 76, Big Creek.</p> + +<p>Battery F, Captain Carl A. Lamberg.—Organized at Memphis, Tenn., as the +Memphis Light Battery, November, 1863. Its designation was changed to +Battery D, 2d United States Regiment, March, 1864, and to Battery F, +April, 1864. Consolidated with the 3d United States Heavy Artillery, +December, 1865. Battles: Fort Pillow, Brice's Cross Roads. Mustered out +April, 1866.</p> + +<p>Battery G, Captain Jeremiah S. Clark.—Organized at Hilton Head, S. C., +May, 1864. Mustered out August, 1865.</p> + +<p>Battery H, Captain John Driscoll.—Organized at Pine Bluff, Ark., June, +1864, as the 1st Arkansas Colored Battery. Changed to Battery H, 2d +United States, December, 1864. Mustered out September, 1865.</p> + +<p>Battery I, Captain Louis B. Smith.—Organized at Memphis, Tenn., April, +1864. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>Independent Battery, Captain H. Ford Douglass. Organized at Leavenworth, +Kan., December, 1864. Mustered out July, 1865.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Infantry.</span></h4> + +<p>1st Regiment,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Colonel John H. Holman.—Organized at District of +Columbia, May, 1863. Battles: Wilson's Wharf, Petersburg, Chapin's Farm, +Fair Oaks, Fillmore, Town Creek, Wilmington, Warsaw. Mustered out, +September 1865.</p> + +<p>2d Regiment, Colonel B. F. Townsend.—-Organized at Arlington, Va., +June, 1863. Battles: Fort Taylor, Cedar Keys, Natural Bridge. Mustered +out January, 1866.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p> +<p>3d Regiment, Colonel F. W. Bardwell.—Organized at Philadelphia, Penn., +August, 1863. Battles: Fort Wagner, Bryant's Plantation, Marion County, +Jacksonville. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>4th Regiment, Colonel S. A. Duncan.—Organized at Baltimore, Md., July, +1863. Battles: Bermuda Hundreds, Petersburg, Dutch Gap, Chapin's Farm, +Sugar-Loaf Hill. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>5th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Cook. Organized at Camp +Delaware, Ohio, August, 1863. Battles: Sandy Swamp, New Kent Court +House, City Point, Petersburg, Chapin's Farm, Fair Oaks, Raleigh. +Mustered out, September 1865.</p> + +<p>6th Regiment, Colonel John W. Ames, (regular army).—Organized at Camp +William Penn, Pa., 1863. Battles: Williamsburg, Chapin's. Farm, +Sugar-Loaf Hill, January 19th, February 11th, 1865. Mustered out +September, 1865.</p> + +<p>6th Regiment, Louisiana, Colonel Robert Des Anges.—Organized at New +Orleans, La., July, 1863—sixty days. Mustered out August, 1863.</p> + +<p>7th Regiment, Colonel James Shaw, Jr.—Organized at Baltimore, Md., +September, 1863. Battles: Deep Bottom, Johns Island, James Island, +Darbytown Road, Jacksonville, May 1st, 28th, 1864, Bermuda Hundreds, +Chapin's Farm, Fort Burnham, Petersburg, Richmond. Mustered out October, +1866.</p> + +<p>7th Regiment, Louisiana, Colonel M. Wilson Phanley.—Organized at New +Orleans, La.—sixty days. Mustered out August, 1863.</p> + +<p>8th Regiment, Colonel Charles W. Fribley.—Organized at Camp William +Penn., Pa., September, 1863. Battles: Olustee, Chapin's Farm, Darbytown +Road. Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>9th Regiment, Colonel Thomas Bayley.—Organized at Camp Staunton, Md., +November, 1863. Battles: Deep Bottom, Chapin's Farm, Darbytown Road, +Fair Oaks. Mustered out November, 1866.</p> + +<p>10th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel E. H. Powell.—Organized in Virginia, +November, 1863. Battles: Wilson's Wharf, Plymouth, November 26th, 1863, +April 18th, 1864, Petersburg. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>11th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel James M. Steele.—Organized (five +companies) at Fort Smith, Ark., December, 1863. Battles: Fort Smith, +Boggs Mills. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>11th Regiment consolidated with the 112th and 113th, old regiments, +April, 1865, and designated the 113th. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>11th Regiment, Colonel William D. Turner.—Organized at La Grange, +Lafayette, Memphis, Tenn., Corinth, Miss, June, 1863, as the 1st +Regiment Alabama Siege Artillery, changed to 6th Regiment United States +Heavy Artillery March, 1864, to 7th Regiment April, 1864, and to 11th +Regiment January, 1865. Battles: Fort Pillow, Holly Springs. Mustered +out January, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span></p> + +<p>12th Regiment, Colonel Charles R. Thompson.—Organized in the State of +Tennessee July, 1863. Battles: Nashville, Section 37, N. & N. W. R. R., +Murfreesboro. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>13th Regiment, Colonel John A. Hollenstein.—Organized at Nashville, +Tenn., November, 1863. Battles: Johnsonville, Nashville. Mustered out +January, 1866.</p> + +<p>14th Regiment, Colonel Henry C. Corbin.—Organized at Gallatin, Tenn., +November, 1863. Battles: Dalton, Decatur, Nashville. Mustered out March, +1866.</p> + +<p>15th Regiment, Colonel William Inness.—Organized at Nashville, Tenn., +December, 1863. Battles: Nashville, Magnolia. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>16th Regiment, Colonel William B. Gaw. Organized at Nashville, Tenn., +December, 1863. Battles: Chattanooga. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>17th Regiment, Colonel William R. Shafter.—Organized at Nashville, +Tenn., December, 1863. Battles: Nashville, Decatur, Brawley Fork. +Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>18th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Sears.—Organized in the State +of Missouri February, 1864. Battles: Nashville, December 7th, 15th, and +16th, 1864, Sand Mountain. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>19th Regiment, Colonel Joseph G. Perkins.—Organized at Camp Staunton, +Md., December, 1863. Battles: Petersburg, Bermuda Hundreds, November +30th, December 4th, 1864. Mustered out January, 1867.</p> + +<p>20th Regiment, Colonel Nelson B. Bertram.—Organized at Piker's Island, +N. Y., February, 1864. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>21st Regiment, Colonel Augustus G. Bennett. Organized at Hilton Head, S. +C., Fernandina, Fla., June, 1863, as the 3d and 4th South Carolina. +Consolidated March, 1864, and designated as the 21st U. S. Regiment. +Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>22d Regiment, Colonel Joseph B. Kiddoo. Organized at Philadelphia, Pa., +January, 1864. Battles: Petersburg, New Market Heights, Dutch Gap, +Chapin's Farm, September 29th, November 4th, 1864, Fair Oaks. Mustered +out 1865.</p> + +<p>23d Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall L. Dempey. Organized at Camp +Casey, Va., November, 1863. Battles: Petersburg, Bermuda Hundreds. +Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>24th Regiment, Colonel Orlando Brown.—Organized at Camp William Penn, +Pa., January, 1865—one year. Company F mustered out September, 1865; +remaining companies October, 1865.</p> + +<p>25th Regiment, Colonel F. L. Hitchcock.—Organized at Philadelphia, Pa., +January, 1864. Mustered out December, 1865.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span></p> + +<p>26th Regiment, Colonel William B. Guernsey.—Organized at Piker's +Island, N. Y., February, 1864. Battles: John's Island, July 5th and 7th, +McKay's Point, Gregory's Farm.</p> + +<p>27th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Dounellon.—Organized at Camp +Delaware, Ohio, January, 1864. Battles: Petersburg, Hatcher's Run. +Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>28th Regiment, Colonel Charles S Russell, (regular army).—Organized at +Indianapolis, Ind., December, 1863. Battles: Jones Bridge, Petersburg. +Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>29th Regiment, Colonel Clark E. Royce. Organized at Quincy, Ill., in the +field, Virginia, April, October, 1864—one and three years. Battles: +Petersburg, White Oak Road. Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>29th Regiment, Connecticut, Lieutenant-Colonel David +Torrence.—Organized at New Haven, Conn., March, 1864. Battles: +Petersburg, Chapin's Farm, Darbytown Road, Fair Oaks, Mustered out +October, 1865.</p> + +<p>30th Regiment, Colonel Delevan Bates.—Organized at Camp Stanton, Md., +February, 1864. Battles: Petersburg, Sugar Loaf Hill, Cox's Bridge. +Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>31st Regiment, Colonel Henry C. Ward.—Organized at Hart's Island, N. +Y., in the field, Virginia, April, November, 1864. Battle: Petersburg. +The 30th Connecticut consolidated with this regiment May, 1864. Mustered +out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>32d Regiment, Colonel George W. Baird.—Organized at Camp William Penn, +Pa., February, 1864. Battles: Honey Hill, Deveaux Neck. Mustered out +August, 1865.</p> + +<p>33d Regiment, Colonel William F. Bennett.—Organized at Beaufort, S. C., +January, 1863, as the 1st Regiment South Carolina Volunteers; changed to +33d Regiment U. S. February, 1864. Battles: Township, Mill Town Bluff, +Hall Island, Jacksonville, John's Island. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>34th Regiment, Colonel William W. Marple.—Organized at Beaufort, Hilton +Head, S. C., May, 1863. Battles: Ashepoo River, John's Island, Deveaux +Neck. Mustered out February, 1866. Organization commenced as 2d +Regiment, South Carolina; changed before completion to the 34th Regiment +U. S.</p> + +<p>35th Regiment, Colonel James C. Beecher.—Organized at New Berne, N. C., +June, 1863, as the 1st North Carolina Regiment, changed to 35th U. S. +Regiment February, 1864. Battles: Olustee, Black Creek, St. John's +River, Honey Hill. Mustered out June, 1866.</p> + +<p>36th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Hart.—Organized at +Portsmouth, Va., as the 2d Regiment North Carolina, changed February, +1864. Battles: Indian Town, Point Lookout, Pierson's Farm. Petersburg, +Chapin's Farm, Dutch Gap. Mustered out October, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span></p> + +<p>37th Regiment, Colonel Nathan Goff.—Organized at Norfolk, Va., January, +1864, as the 3d North Carolina Regiment; changed to 37th U. S. Regiment, +February, 1864. Battles: Plymouth, Chapin's Farm, Fair Oaks. Mustered +out February, 1867.</p> + +<p>38th Regiment, Colonel Robert W. Hall, (regular army).—Organized in +Virginia January, 1864. Battles: Chapin's Farm, Deep Bottom. Mustered +out January, 1867.</p> + +<p>39th Regiment, Colonel Ozora P. Stevens.—Organized at Baltimore, Md., +March, 1864. Battles: Petersburg, Federal Point, Bermuda Hundreds, +Hatcher's Run. Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>40th Regiment, Colonel F. W. Lester.—Organized at Nashville and +Greenville, Tenn. Battle: South Tunnel. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>41st Regiment, (battalion), Lieutenant-Colonel Julius A. +Weiss.—Organized at Philadelphia, Pa., September, 1864, composed of men +enlisted, drafted for one, two, and three years. Consolidated into a +battalion of four companies September, 1865, of one year men. Battles: +Hatcher's Run, Fort Burnham, Petersburg, Appomattox Court House. +Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>42d Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel J. R. Putnam.—Organized at Chattanooga +and Nashville, Tenn., April, 1864, composed of enlisted and drafted men +for one and three years. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>43d Regiment, Colonel S. B. Yoeman. Organized at Philadelphia, Pa., +March, 1864. Battles: Petersburg, Hatcher's Run. Mustered out 1865.</p> + +<p>44th Regiment, Colonel Lewis Johnson.—Organized at Chattanooga, Tenn., +Rome, Dalton, Ga., April, 1864. Battles: Nashville, December 2d, 21st, +1864. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>45th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel E. Mayer.—Organized at Philadelphia, +Pa., June, 1864. Battles: Hatcher's Run, Petersburg. Mustered out +November, 1865.</p> + +<p>46th Regiment, Colonel C. Whittlesey.—Organized in Arkansas May, 1863, +as the 1st Regiment Arkansas Volunteers; changed to 46th Regiment U. S., +May, 1864. Battle: Mound Plantation. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>47th Regiment. Colonel Hiram Schofield.—Organized at Lake Providence, +La., May, 1863, as the 8th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; changed to +47th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Lake Providence, Liverpool +Heights, Yazoo City, Fort Blakely. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>48th Regiment, Colonel F. M. Crandal.—Organized at Lake Providence and +Goodrich's Landing, La., May, 1863, as the 10th Regiment Louisiana +Volunteers; changed to 48th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Bayou +Tensa, Vicksburg, Fort Blakely. Mustered out January, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span></p> + +<p>49th Regiment, Colonel Van E. Young.—Organized at Miliken's Bend, La., +May, 1863, as the 11th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; changed to 49th +Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Miliken's Bend, Waterproof. +Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>50th Regiment, Colonel Charles A. Gilchrist.—Organized at Vicksburg, +Miss., July, 1863, as the 12th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; changed to +50th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battle: Fort Blakely. Mustered out +March, 1866.</p> + +<p>51st Regiment, Colonel A. Watson Webber.—Organized at Miliken's Bend, +La., and Vicksburg, Miss., May, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Mississippi +Volunteers; changed to 51st Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: +Miliken's Bend, Ross Landing, Floyd, Fort Blakely. Mustered out June, +1866.</p> + +<p>52d Regiment, Colonel George M. Ziegler.—Organized at Vicksburg, Miss., +July 27th, 1863, as the 2d Regiment Mississippi Volunteers; changed to +52d Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Vicksburg, Coleman's +Plantation, Bayou Bidell. Mustered out May, 1866.</p> + +<p>53d Regiment, Colonel Orlando C. Risdon.—Organized at Warrentown, +Miss., May, 1863, as the 3d Regiment Mississippi Volunteers; changed to +53d Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Haines' Bluff, Grand Gull, +White River. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>54th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Fair.—Organized in Arkansas +September, 1863, as the 2d Regiment Arkansas Volunteers; changed to 54th +Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Cow Creek, Arkansas River, Sabine +River, Fort Gibson, Cabin Creek. Mustered out August, 1866.</p> + +<p>54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Colonel E. N. +Hallowell.—Organized at Camp Meigs, Readville, Mass., March, 1863. +Battles: James Island, Fort Wagner, Olustee, Honey Hill, Boykin's Mill, +before Charleston. Mustered out August, 1865.</p> + +<p>55th Regiment, Colonel N. B. Bartman.—Organized at Corinth, Miss., May, +1863, as the 1st Regiment Alabama Volunteers; changed to 55th Regiment +U. S., 1864. Battles: Ripley, Brice's Cross Roads, Moscow, Waterford. +Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>55th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Colonel Alfred S. +Hartwell.—Organized at Camp Meigs, Readville, Mass., May, 1863. +Battles: James Island, May 21st, July 2d, 1864, February 10th, 1865, +Honey Hill, Briggen Creek, St. Stephens, Deveaux Neck. Mustered out +August, 1865.</p> + +<p>56th Regiment, Colonel Charles Bentzoni, (regular army). Organized at +St. Louis, Mo., August, 1863, as the 3d Regiment Arkansas Volunteers; +changed to 56th Regiment U. S., March, 1854. Battles: Indian Bay, +Meffleton Lodge, Wallace's Ferry. Mustered out September, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span></p> + +<p>57th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Hunter.—Organized at Duvall's +Bluff, Little Rock. Helena, Ark., December, 1863, as the 4th Regiment +Arkansas Volunteers, changed to 57th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. +Battles: Little Rock, April 26th and May 28th, 1864, Camden. Mustered +out October, 1866.</p> + +<p>58th Regiment, Colonel Simon M. Preston.—Organized at Natchez, Miss., +August, 1863, as the 6th Regiment Mississippi Volunteers; changed to +58th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battle: Natchez. Mustered out April, +1866.</p> + +<p>59th Regiment, Colonel Edward Bonton.—Organized at La Grange, Tenn., +June, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Tennessee Volunteers; changed to 59th +Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Brice's Cross Roads, Tupelo. +Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>60th Regiment, Colonel John G. Hudson.—Organized at Keokuk, Iowa, and +Benton Barracks, Mo., October, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Iowa +Volunteers; changed to 60th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battle: Big +Creek. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>61st Regiment Lieutenant-Colonel John Foley.—Organized at La Grange, +Tenn., June, 1863, as the 2nd Regiment Tennessee Volunteers; changed to +61st Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Moscow Station, Tupelo, +Waterford, Memphis, Castport. Mustered out December, 1865.</p> + +<p>62nd Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel David Branson.—Organized at Benton +Barracks, Mo., December, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Missouri Volunteers; +changed to 62nd Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Glasgow, Palmetto +Ranch. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>63rd Regiment, Major Wm. G. Sargent.—Organized at Memphis, and Island +No. 10, Tenn., Vicksburg, Miss., and Goodrich's Landing, La., November, +1863, as the 9th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; changed to 63rd Regiment +U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Waterproof, Ashwood, Marengo. Mustered out +January, 1866.</p> + +<p>64th Regiment, Colonel Samuel Thomas.—Organized at Camp Holly Springs, +Memphis, and Island No. 10, Tenn., December, 1863, as the 7th Regiment +Louisiana Volunteers, changed to the 64th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. +Battles; Ashwood Landing, Point Pleasant, Pine Bluff, David's Bend, June +2nd, 29th, 1864, Helena. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>65th Regiment, Colonel Alonzo J. Edgerton.—Organized at Benton +Barracks, Mo., December, 1863, as the 2nd Regiment Missouri Volunteers; +changed to 65th Regiment U. S. March, 1864. Mustered out January, 1867.</p> + +<p>66th Regiment, Colonel Michael W. Smith. Organized at Vicksburg, Miss., +December, 1863, as the 4th Regiment Mississippi Volunteers; changed to +66th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Columbia, Goodrich's Landing, +March 24th, and July 16th, 1864, Issequena County, July 10th and August +17th, 1864, Bayou Macon, Bayou Tensas, July 30th, and August 26th, 1864. +Mustered out March, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span></p> + +<p>67th Regiment, Colonel Alonzo J. Edgerton.—Organized at Benton +Barracks, Mo., January, 1864, as the 3rd Regiment Missouri Volunteers; +changed to 67th Regiment U. S., March 1864; consolidated with the 65th +Regiment, July 12th, 1865. Battle: Mount Pleasant Landing.</p> + +<p>68th Regiment, Major Oliver H. Holcomb.—Organized at Benton Barracks, +Mo., March, 1864, as the 4th Regiment Missouri Volunteers; changed to +68th Regiment U. S., March, 1864. Battles: Tupelo, Spanish Fort, Fort +Blakely. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>69th Regiment, Captain James T. Watson.—Organized at Pine Bluff, +Duvall's, Bluff, Little Rock, and Helena, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn., +December, 1864. Organization discontinued September, 1865, and the +commissioned officers and enlisted men transferred to the 63d and 64th +Regiments.</p> + +<p>70th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Morris Yeomans.—Organized in part, +April, 1864, at Natchez, Miss.; completed November, 1864, by the +consolidation of the 71st Regiment. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>71st Regiment, Colonel Willard C. Earle.—Organized at Black River +Bridge and Natchez, Miss., and Alexandria, La., March, 1864; +consolidated with the 70th Regiment November, 1864.</p> + +<p>72d Regiment, Colonel Alexander Duncan.—Organized at Covington, Ky., +April, 1865; discontinued May, 1865; commissioned officers ordered +before a board for examination, and enlisted men transferred to other +regiments.</p> + +<p>73d Regiment, Colonel Samuel M. Quincy.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +September, 1862, as the 1st Native Guard Volunteers; changed to 1st +Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>, and to 73d Regiment U. S., April, 1864; +consolidated with the 96th Regiment U. S., September, 1865. Battles: +Port Hudson, Jackson, Bayou Tunica, Steamer City Belle, Morganzia, Fort +Blakely. Men mustered out at the expiration of time.</p> + +<p>74th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Hall.—Organized at New Orleans, +La., October, 1862, as the 2d Regiment Louisiana Native Guard +Volunteers; changed to 2d Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>, June, 1863, and to +the 74th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: East Pascagoula. Mustered +out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>75th Regiment, Colonel Henry W. Fuller.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +November, 1862, as the 3d Regiment Louisiana Native Guard Volunteers; +changed to 3d Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>, June, 1863, and to the 75th +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battles: Jackson, Port Hudson, Pleasant +Hill, Waterloo. Mustered out November, 1865.</p> + +<p>76th Regiment, Colonel Charles W. Drew.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +February, 1863, as the 4th Regiment Louisiana Native Guard Volunteers; +changed to 4th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>, June, 1863, and to the 76th +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Fort Blakely. Mustered out +December, 1865.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span></p> + +<p>77th Regiment, Colonel Charles A. Hartwell.—Organized at Fort St. +Philip, La., December, 1863, as the 5th Regiment Infantry <i>Corps +d'Afrique</i>, by the transfer of 291 enlisted men from the 4th Corps +Regiment Volunteers; changed to 77th Regiment U. S., April, 1864; +consolidated with the 85th Regiment and with the 10th Regiment Heavy +Artillery, October, 1865. Battle: Amite River.</p> + +<p>78th Regiment, Colonel Charles L. Norton.—Organized at Port Hudson, +La., September, 1863, as the 6th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +78th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Port Hudson. Mustered out +January, 1866.</p> + +<p>79th Regiment, Colonel James C. Clark.—Organized at Port Hudson, La., +August, 1863, as the 7th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 79th +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Broken up July, 1864. Battle: Port Hudson.</p> + +<p>79th Regiment, Colonel James M. Williams.—Organized at Fort Scott, +Kan., January, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteers; changed to +79th Regiment U. S., December, 1864. Battles: Sherwood, Bush Creek, +Cabin Creek, Honey Springs, Prairie d'Anne, Poison Springs, Jenkins +Ferry, Joys Ford, Clarksville, Horse Head Creek, Roseville Creek, Timber +Hill, Lawrence, Island Mound, Fort Gibson. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>80th Regiment, Colonel William S. Mudget.—Organized at Port Hudson, +La., September, 1863, as the 8th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +80th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Port Hudson. Mustered out +March, 1867.</p> + +<p>81st Regiment, Colonel John F. Appleton.—Organized at Port Hudson, La., +September, 1863, as the 9th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 81st +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Port Hudson. Mustered out November, +1866.</p> + +<p>82d Regiment, Colonel Ladislos L Zulasky.—Organized at Port Hudson, +La., September, 1863, as the 10th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +82d Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battles: Port Hudson, Barrancas, +Mariana, Mitchell's Creek, Pine Barren Ford, Fort Blakely. Mustered out +September, 1866.</p> + +<p>83d Regiment, Colonel E. Martindale.—Organized at Port Hudson, La., +August, 1863, as the 11th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 83d +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Broken up July, 1864, and enlisted men +transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>83d Regiment, Brevet Colonel J. H. Gillpatrick.—Organized at Forts +Scott and Leavenworth, Kan., August, 1863, as the 2d Regiment Kansas +Volunteers; changed to 83d Regiment U. S., December, 1864. Battles: +Jenkins' Ferry, April 30th, May 4th, 1864, Prairie d'Anne, Sabine River, +Fort Smith, Steamer Chippewa, Steamer Lotus, Rector's Farm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span></p> + +<p>84th Regiment, Colonel William H. Dickey.—Organized at Port Hudson, +La., September, 1863, as the 12th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +84th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Morganzia. Mustered out March, +1866.</p> + +<p>85th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry C. Merriam.—Organized at New +Orleans, La., March, 1864, as the 13th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; +changed to 85th Regiment U. S., April, 1864; consolidated with the 77th +Regiment U. S., May, 1864.</p> + +<p>86th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel George E. Yarrington.—Organized at +New Orleans, La., August, 1863, as the 14th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; +changed to 86th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Fort Blakely. +Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>87th Regiment, Major H. Tobey.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +September, 1863, as the 16th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 87th +Regiment U. S., April, 1864; consolidated with the 95th Regiment U. S., +November, 1864, to form the 85th Regiment U. S.; subsequently changed to +87th Regiment U. S.</p> + +<p>87th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel William W. Bliss.—Organized by the +consolidation of the 87th and 95th Regiments U. S., November, 1864, and +designated as the 87th Regiment U. S.; consolidated with the 84th +Regiment U. S., August, 1865.</p> + +<p>88th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel George E. Biles.—Organized at Port +Hudson, La., 1863, as the 17th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +88th Regiment U. S., 1864. Broken up July, 1864, and the enlisted men +transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>88th Regiment, Colonel Edmund R. Wiley.—Organized at Memphis, Tenn., +February, 1863; consolidated with the 3d Regiment U. S. Heavy Artillery, +December, 1865.</p> + +<p>89th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert F. Atkins.—Organized at Port +Hudson, La., October, 1863, as the 18th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; +changed to 89th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Broken up July, 1864, and +the enlisted men transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>90th Regiment, Colonel Charles E. Bostwick.—Organized at Madisonville, +La., February, 1864, as the 19th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to +90th Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Broken up July, 1864, and enlisted men +transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>91st Regiment, Colonel Eliot Bridgeman.—Organized at Fort Pike, La., +September, 1863, as the 20th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 91st +Regiment U. S., July, 1864; consolidated with 74th Regiment U. S., July, +1864. Battle: Bayou St. Louis.</p> + +<p>92nd Regiment, Colonel H. N. Frisbie.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +September, 1863, as the 22nd Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 92nd +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Red River Expedition. Mustered out +Dec. 1865.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span></p> + +<p>93rd Regiment, Colonel Simon Jones.—Organized at New Iberia, La., +November, 1863, as the 25th Regiment <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 93rd +Regiment U. S., April, 1864. Broken up June 1865; enlisted men +transferred to 81st and 82nd Regiments U. S. Battle: Ash Bayou.</p> + +<p>95th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel A. F. Wrohwuski.—Organized at Camp +Parapet, La., April, 1863, as the 1st Regiment Engineers <i>Corps +d'Afrique</i>; divided to form the 3rd Regiment Engineers <i>Corps +d'Afrique</i>; changed to 95th Regiment U. S.; consolidated with 87th +Regiment November, 1864, to form 81st Regiment; changed to 87th +Regiment. Battle: Port Hudson.</p> + +<p>96th Regiment, Lieut.-Colonel O. L. F. E. Fariola.—Organized at New +Orleans, La., August, 1863, as the 2nd Regiment Engineers <i>Corps +d'Afrique</i>; changed to 96th U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Fort Gaines. +Consolidated with 73rd Regiment September, 1865; mustered out January, +1866.</p> + +<p>97th Regiment, Geo. D. Robinson.—Composed of men transferred from the +1st Regiment Engineers <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>. Organized at New Orleans, La., +August, 1863, as the 3rd Regiment Engineers <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed +to 97th U. S., April, 1864. Battle: Pine Barren Creek. Mustered out +April, 1866.</p> + +<p>98th Regiment, Colonel Chas. L. Morton.—Organized at Camp Parapet, New +Orleans, and Berwick City, La., September, 1863, as the 4th Regiment +Engineers <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed to 98th U. S., April, 1864; +consolidated with the 78th Regiment August, 1865. Battles: Berwick, +Natchez.</p> + +<p>99th Regiment, Major Samuel Pollock.—Organized at New Orleans, La., +August, 1863, as the 15th Regiment Infantry <i>Corps d'Afrique</i>; changed +to 5th Regiment Engineers <i>Corps d'Afrique</i> February, 1864, and to the +99th U. S., April, 1864; consolidated into a battalion of five +companies, December, 1865. Battles: Natural Bridge, Steamer 'Alliance.' +Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>100th Regiment, Colonel Reuben D. Massey, (regular army).—Organized in +Kentucky, May, 1864. Battles: N. & N. W. R. R., Nashville. Mustered out +December, 1865.</p> + +<p>101st Regiment, Colonel Robert W. Barnard, (regular army).—Organized in +Tennessee, September, 1864. Battles: Scottsboro, Boyd's Station, Madison +Station. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>102d Regiment, Colonel Henry L. Chipman, (regular army).—Organized at +Detroit, Mich., February, 1864, as the 1st Regiment Michigan Volunteers; +changed to 102d Regiment U. S., May, 1864. Battles: Honey Hill, Deveaux +Neck, Salkehatchie, Bradford's Spring, Swift's Creek. Mustered out +September, 1865.</p> + +<p>103d Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Bogert.—Organized at Hilton +Head, S. C., March, 1865. Mustered out April, 1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span></p> + +<p>104th Regiment, Colonel Douglas Frazar.—Organized at Beaufort, S. C., +April, 1864. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>106th Regiment, Captain Frederick Holsman.—Organized at Decatur, Ala., +March, 1864, as the 4th Regiment Alabama Infantry; changed to 106th +Regiment U. S., May, 1864. Battles: Mud Creek, Athens. Consolidated with +the 40th Regiment U. S., November, 1865.</p> + +<p>107th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel David M. Sells.—Organized at +Louisville, Ky., May, 1864. Mustered out November, 1866.</p> + +<p>108th Regiment, Colonel John S. Bishop.—Organized at Louisville, Ky., +June, 1864. Battle: Owensboro. Mustered out March, 1866.</p> + +<p>109th Regiment, Colonel Orion A. Bartholomew.—Organized at Louisville, +Ky., July, 1864. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>110th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Dedrick F. Tiedemaun.—Organized at +Pulaski, Tenn., November, 1863, as the 2d Regiment Alabama Volunteers; +changed to 110th Regiment U. S., June, 1864. Battles: Dallas, Athens. +Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>111th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Scroggs.—Organized at +Pulaski, Prospect, and Lynnville, Tenn., and Sulphur Branch Trestle, +Ala., January, 1864, as the 3d Regiment Alabama Volunteers; changed to +111th Regiment U. S., June, 1864. Battles: Pulaski, Sulphur Branch +Trestle, Athens, Richland. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>112th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel John G. Gustafson.—Organized at +Little Rock, Ark., April, 1864; consolidated with the 11th and 113th +Regiments U. S., April, 1865, to form the 113th Regiment U. S.</p> + +<p>113th Regiment, (old), Lieutenant-Colonel Lanniston W. +Whipple.—Organized at Little Rock, Ark., March, 1864, as the 6th +Regiment Arkansas Volunteers; changed to 113th Regiment U. S., June, +1864; consolidated with the 11th and 112th Regiment U. S. to form the +113th, (new), April, 1865.</p> + +<p>113th Regiment, (new), Colonel Lanniston W. Whipple.—Organized at +Little Rock, Ark,, April, 1865, by the consolidation of the 11th, 112th, +and 113th—old regiments. Mustered out April, 1866.</p> + +<p>114th Regiment, Colonel Thomas D. Sedgwick.—Organized at Camp Nelson, +Ky., July, 1864. Mustered out April, 1867.</p> + +<p>115th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel George T. Elder.—Organized at +Bowling Green, Ky., July, 1864. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>116th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Kireker.—Organized at Camp +Nelson, Ky., July, 1864. Mustered out February, 1866. Battle: +Petersburg.</p> + +<p>117th Regiment, Colonel Lewis G. Brown.—Organized at Covington, Ky., +July, 1864. Battle: Ghent. Mustered out August, 1867.</p> + +<p>118th Regiment, Colonel John C. Moon. Organized at Baltimore, Md., +October, 1864. Battles: Fort Brady, Henderson. Mustered out February, +1866.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span></p> + +<p>119th Regiment, Colonel Charles G. Bartlett, (regular army).—Organized +at Camp Nelson, Ky. Battles: Glasgow, Taylorsville. Mustered out +February, 1866.</p> + +<p>120th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John Glenn.—Organized at Henderson, +Ky., November, 1864. Discontinued June, 1865, and enlisted men +transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>121st Regiment, Colonel Hubert A. McCaleb.—Organized at Nashville, +Tenn., October, 1864. Discontinued June, 1865, and enlisted men +transferred to other regiments.</p> + +<p>122d Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel David M. Layman.—Organized at +Louisville, Ky., December, 1864; consolidated into a battalion of three +companies January, 1866. Mustered out February, 1866.</p> + +<p>123d Regiment, Colonel Samuel A. Porter.—Organized at Louisville, Ky., +December, 1864. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>124th Regiment, Colonel Frederick H. Bierbower.—Organized at Camp +Nelson, Ky., January, 1865. Mustered out October, 1865.</p> + +<p>125th Regiment, Colonel William R. Gerhart.—Organized at Louisville, +Ky., February. 1865. Mustered out October, 1867.</p> + +<p>127th Regiment, (Battalion), Lieutenant-Colonel James Givin.—Organized +at Philadelphia, Pa., August, 1864; consolidated into a battalion of +three companies September, 1865. Battle: Deep Bottom. Mustered out +October, 1865.</p> + +<p>128th Regiment, Colonel Charles H. Howard.—Organized at Hilton Head, S. +C., April, 1865. Mustered out October, 1866.</p> + +<p>136th Regiment, Colonel Richard Root.—Organized at Atlanta, Ga., July, +1865. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>137th Regiment, Colonel Martin R. Archer.—Organized at Selina, Ala., +April, 1865. Mustered into the United States service at Macon, Ga., +June, 1865. Mustered out January, 1866.</p> + +<p>138th Regiment, Colonel F. W. Benteen.—Organized at Atlanta, Ga., July, +1865. Mustered out July, 1866.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Independent Company A.</span></h4> + +<p>First Lieutenant, E. M. Harris.—Organized at Camp William Penn, Pa., +(one hundred days,) July, 1864. Mustered out November, 1864.</p> + +<p>Company A, (unassigned), Captain George L. Barnes.—Organized at +Alexandria, Va., (one year), September, 1864. Mustered out July, 1865.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Ninth Army Corps.</span></h4> + +<p>4th Division,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel Joshua K. Sigfried.—27th Regiment, 30th +Regiment, 39th Regiment, 43d Regiment.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span></p> +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel Henry G. Thomas.—19th Regiment, 29th Regiment, +23d Regiment, 28th Regiment, 31st Regiment.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Eighteenth Army Corps.</span></h4> + +<p>3d Division, (June 15th to July 31st, 1864.)—Brigadier-General E. W. +Hinks, June 1st to July 1st; Colonel John H. Holman, July 1st to 27th; +Colonel S. A. Duncan, July 27th to 29th; Brigadier-General Joseph B. +Carr, since July 29th.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel John H. Holman; Colonel Jeptha Garrard since July +2d.—1st Regiment, 10th Regiment,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> 37th Regiment,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> 1st Cavalry, +5th Massachusetts Cavalry.<a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel S. A. Duncan.—4th Regiment, 5th Regiment, 6th +Regiment, 22d Regiment, 2d Cavalry.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>The following regiments composed the Provisional Detachment of the Army +of the Tennessee, 23rd Army Corps, commanded by Major-General James B. +Steadman, in 1864:</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel T. J. Morgan.—14th Regiment, 15th Regiment, 17th +Regiment, 18th Regiment, (battalion), 44th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel Charles R. Thompson.—12th Regiment, 13th +Regiment, 100th Regiment. Post of Nashville, Battery A, 2nd Artillery.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Tenth Army Corps.</span></h4> + +<p>Army of the Ohio, Major-General A. H. Terry.—3d Division, +Brigadier-General C. J. Paine.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General D. Bates.—1st Regiment, 30th +Regiment, 107th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General S. Duncan.—4th Regiment, 6th +Regiment, 37th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Third Brigade, Colonel J. H. Holman—5th Regiment, (Mass.,) 27th +Regiment, 37th Regiment.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Tenth Army Corps.</span><a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> +</h4> +<p>3d Division, Brigadier-General William Birney.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel James Shaw, Jr.—7th Regiment, 9th Regiment, 16th +Regiment, 29th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel Ulysses Doubleday.—8th Regiment, 41st Regiment, +45th Regiment, 127th Regiment.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Eighteenth Army Corps.</span></h4> + +<p>3d Division, Brigadier-General Charles J. Paine.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel Elias Wright.—1st Regiment, 22d Regiment, 37th +Regiment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span></p><p>Second Brigade, Colonel Alonzo G. Draper.—5th Regiment, 36th Regiment, +38th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Third Brigade, Colonel John W. Ames.—4th Regiment, 6th Regiment, 10th +Regiment.</p> + +<p>Provisional Brigade, Colonel E. Martindale.—107th Regiment, 117th +Regiment, 118th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Regiment Cavalry.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Twenty-Fifth Army Corps.</span></h4> + +<p>Organized in the field December, 1864; commander, Major-General Godfrey +Weitzel.</p> + +<p>1st Division. Brigadier-General Chas. J. Paine.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel J. H. Holman.—1st Regiment, 27th Regiment, 30th +Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General Samuel A. Duncan.—4th +Regiment, 6th Regiment, 39th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Third Brigade, Colonel Elias Wright, 10th Regiment.—5th Regiment, 10th +Regiment, 37th Regiment, 107th Regiment.</p> + +<p>2nd Division. Brigadier-General Wm. Birney.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Colonel James Shaw, 7th Regiment.—7th Regiment, 109th +Regiment, 116th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel Ulysses Doubleday, 45th Regiment.—8th Regiment, +45th Regiment, 127th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Third Brigade, Colonel Chas. S. Russell, 28th Regiment.—28th Regiment, +29th Regiment, 31st Regiment, 117th Regiment.</p> + +<p>3rd Division. Brigadier-General C. A. Heckman.</p> + +<p>First Brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General A. G. Draper.—22nd Regiment, +36th Regiment, 38th Regiment, 118th Regiment.</p> + +<p>Second Brigade, Colonel E. Martindale, 81st Regiment.—9th Regiment, +29th Conn. Regiment, 41st Regiment.</p> + +<p>Third Brigade, Colonel H. G. Thomas, 10th Regiment.—19th Regiment, 23rd +Regiment, 43rd Regiment.</p> + +<p>Cavalry Brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General B. C. Ludlow.—1st Cavalry, +2nd Cavalry, Light Battery B, 2nd Artillery.</p> + +<p>Artillery Brigade.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Battery D, 1st U. S. Artillery, Battery M, 1st U. +S. Artillery, Battery E, 3rd U. S. Artillery, Battery D, 4th U. S. +Artillery, Battery C, 3rd R. I. Artillery, 4th New Jersey Battery, 5th +New Jersey Battery, Battery E, 1st Pa. Artillery.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Regiments in the Department of the South, April, 1864.</span></h4> + +<p>1st Mich., 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 21st, 26th U. S., 29th Conn., 32nd, 33rd, +34th, 35th U. S., 54th Mass., 55th Mass. Regiments.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Regiments With General Sturgis in June, 1864.</span></h4> + +<p>59th, 61st, 68th Regt's., Battery I, 2nd Reg't., Artillery (light.)</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Dr. Wright, a prominent secessionist at Norfolk, Va., +swore to shoot the first white man that he caught drilling negroes. +Lieutenant A. S. Sanborn, of this regiment, while marching a squad to +headquarters through the main street of the city was shot and killed by +this Dr. Wright, for which he was hanged.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> There was with this division eleven batteries, four +regiments of cavalry of white troops.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Detached in July.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Detached June 28th to Department Headquarters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Assigned June 22d, 1864.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Organized in November, 1864.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> All white in the Artillery Brigade.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE CONFEDERATE SERVICE.</h3> + + +<p>The leaders at the South in preparing for hostilities showed the people +of the North, and the authorities at Washington, that they intended to +carry on the war with no want of spirit; that every energy, every nerve, +was to be taxed to its utmost tension, and that not only every white +man, but, if necessary, every black man should be made to contribute to +the success of the cause for which the war was inaugurated. +Consequently, with the enrollment of the whites began the employment of +the blacks.</p> + +<p>Prejudice against the negro at the North was so strong that it required +the arm of public authority to protect him from assault, though he +declared in favor of the Union. Not so at the South, for as early as +April, 1861, the free negroes of New Orleans, La., held a public meeting +and began the organization of a battalion, with officers of their own +race, with the approval of the <i>State</i> government, which commissioned +their negro officers. When the Louisiana militia was reviewed, the +Native Guards (negro) made up, in part, the first division of the State +troops. Elated at the success of being first to place negroes in the +field together with white troops, the commanding general sent the news +over the wires to the jubilant confederacy:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, Nov. 23rd, 1861.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Over 28,000 troops were reviewed to-day by Governor Moore, +Major-General Lovell and Brigadier-General Ruggles. The line +was over seven miles long; <i>one regiment comprised 1,400 +free colored men</i>."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span></p> + +<p>The population of the city of New Orleans differs materially from that +of any other city on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. It has several +classes of colored people: the English, French, Portuguese and +Spanish,—all a mixture of the African,—and the American +Negro,—mulatto,—numerically stronger than either of the others, but +socially and politically less considered and privileged; the former +enjoyed distinctive rights, somewhat as did the mulattoes in the West +Indies before slavery was abolished there. Of these foreign classes many +were planters, and not a few merchants, all owning slaves. It was from +these classes that the 1,400 colored men, forming the Native Guard +regiment, came, and which recruited to 3,000 before the city was +captured by the Union fleet. This brigade was placed at the United +States Mint building, under command of a creole, who, instead of +following the confederate troops out of the city when they evacuated it, +allowed his command to be cut off, and surrendered to General Butler.</p> + +<p>Of course, prior to this date, the negro at the South had taken an +active part in the preparations for war, building breastworks, mounting +cannon, digging rifle-pits and entrenchments, to shield and protect his +rebelling master.</p> + +<p>January 1st, 1861, Hon. J. P. Walker, at Mobile, Ala., received from R. +R. Riordan, Esq., of Charleston, S. C., a dispatch rejoicing that—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Large gangs of negroes from plantations are at work on the +redoubts, which are substantially made of sand-bags and +coated with sheet-iron."</p></div> + +<p>These doubtless were slaves, and mere machines; but the Charleston +<i>Mercury</i> of January 3rd, brought the intelligence that—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One hundred and fifty able-bodied free colored men +yesterday offered their services gratuitously to the +governor, to hasten forward the important work of throwing +up redoubts, wherever needed, along our coast."</p></div> + +<p>Only the fire-eaters based their hope of success against the North,—the +National Government,—upon the stubborn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span> energies of the white soldiery; +the deliberate men rested their hopes,—based their expectations, more +upon the docility of the negro, than upon the audacity of their white +troops.</p> + +<p>The legislature of Tennessee, which secretly placed that State in the +Southern Confederacy, enacted in June, 1861, a law authorizing the +governor—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To receive into the military service of the State all male +free persons of color, between the age of 15 and 50, who +should receive $8 per month, clothing and rations."</p></div> + +<p>And then it further provided—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That in the event a sufficient number of free persons of +color to meet the wants of the State shall not tender their +service, the Governor is empowered, through the sheriffs of +the different counties, to <i>press</i> such persons until the +requisite number is obtained."</p></div> + +<p>A few months after, the Memphis <i>Avalanche</i>, of September 3rd, 1861, +exultingly announced the appearance on the streets of Memphis, of two +regiments of negroes, under command of confederate officers. On the 7th +of September, again the <i>Avalanche</i> said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Upwards of 1000 negroes armed with spades and pickaxes have +passed through the city within the past few days. Their +destination is unknown, but it is supposed that they are on +their way to the 'other side of Jordan.'"</p></div> + +<p>Nor were the negroes in Virginia behind those of the other Southern +States. In April, the Lynchburg <i>Republican</i> chronicled the enrollment +of a company of free negroes in that city, also one at Petersburg.</p> + +<p>Thus instead of revolts among the negroes, slaves and free, as predicted +by some Union men at the North, many became possessed of a +fervor,—originating generally in fear,—stimulated by an enthusiasm of +the whites, that swept the populace like a mighty sea current into the +channel of war. The negro who boasted the loudest of his desire to fight +the Yankees; who showed the greatest anxiety to aid the confederates, +was granted the most freedom and received the approval of his master.</p> + +<p>The gayly decked cities; the flags, bunting and streamers of all colors; +the mounted cavalry; the artillery trains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span> with brazen cannons drawn by +sturdy steeds; followed by regiments of infantry in brilliant uniforms, +with burnished muskets, glittering bayonets and beautiful plumes; +preceeded by brass bands discoursing the ever alluring strains of the +quick-step; all these scenes greatly interested and delighted the negro, +and it was filling the cup of many with ecstasy to the brim, to be +allowed to connect themselves, even in the most menial way, with the +demonstrations. There was also an intuitive force that led them, and +they unhesitatingly followed, feeling that though they took up arms +against the National Government, freedom was the ultimatum. Many of +those who enlisted feared to do otherwise than fight for slavery, for to +refuse would have invited, perchance, torture if not massacre; to avert +which many of the free blacks, as well as some of the slaves, gave an +apparent acquiescence to the fervor of their lesser informed comrades, +who regarded any remove from the monotony of plantation life a respite.</p> + +<p>The readiness with which they responded to the call was only astonishing +to those who were unacquainted with the true feelings of the unhappy +race whose highest hope of freedom was beyond the pearly gates of the +celestial domain. One thing that impressed the blacks greatly was the +failure of Denmark Vesy, Nat Turner and John Brown, whose fate was ever +held up to them as the fate of all who attempted to free themselves or +the slaves. Escape to free land was the only possible relief they saw on +earth, and <i>that</i> they realized as an individual venture, far removed +from the field-hand South of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.</p> + +<p>It was not unnatural, then, for some to spring at the opportunity +offered to dig trenches and assist Beauregard in mounting cannon, and +loading them with shot and shell to fire upon Fort Sumter.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image55.jpg" width="600" height="401" alt="DOING MILITARY DUTY FOR THE CONFEDERATES. + +Negroes building fortifications for the Confederates at James Island, S. +C., under direction of General Beauregard, to repel the land attack of +the Federal troops." title="" /> +<span class="caption">DOING MILITARY DUTY FOR THE CONFEDERATES.<br /> + +Negroes building fortifications for the Confederates at James Island, S. +C., under direction of General Beauregard, to repel the land attack of +the Federal troops.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span></p> + +<p>The negro did not at first realize a fight of any magnitude possible, or +that it would result in any possible good to himself. So while the +<i>free</i> negroes trembled because they <i>were</i> free, the slaves sought +refuge from suspicion of wanting to be free, behind, <i>per se</i>, an +enthusiasm springing, not from a desire and hope for the success of the +confederates, but from a puerile ambition to enjoy the holiday +excitement.</p> + +<p>Later on, however, when the war opened in earnest, and the question of +the freedom and slavery of the negro entered into the struggle; when +extra care was taken to guide him to the rear at night; when after a few +thousand Yankee prisoners, taken in battle, had sought and obtained an +opportunity of whispering to him the <i>real</i> cause of the war, and the +surety of the negroes' freedom if the North was victorious, the slave +negro went to the breastworks with no less agility, but with prayers for +the success of the Union troops, and a determination to go to the +Yankees at the first opportunity; though he risked life in the +undertaking. When the breastworks had been built and the heavy guns +mounted, when a cordon of earthworks encircled the cities throughout the +South, and after a few thousand negroes had made good their escape into +the Union lines, then those who had labored upon the fortifications of +the South were sent back to the cotton-fields and the plantations to +till the soil to supply the needs of the confederate soldiers who were +fighting to keep them in bondage. But when the policy of the North was +changed and union and <i>liberty</i> were made the issues of the struggle, as +against slavery and disunion, and the Union forces began to slay their +enemies, the Confederate Government realized the necessity of calling +the negroes from the hoe to the musket,—from the plantations to the +battle-fields.</p> + +<p>In the incipiency of the struggle, many of the States made provision for +placing the negro at the disposal of the Confederate Government; but +elated at their early victories, the leaders deemed the enforcement of +the laws unnecessary, negro troops not being needed. As the change came, +however, and defeats, with great losses in various ways depleted the +armies, the necessity of the aid of the negroes became apparent. +Stronghold after stronghold, city after city, States in part, fell +before the march<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span> of the Union troops. The negro had become a soldier in +the Union army, and was helping to crush the rebellion. President +Lincoln had declared all slaves in rebeldom free, and thousands of black +soldiers were marching and carrying the news to the slaves.</p> + +<p>This state of affairs lead President Davis and his cabinet to resign to +the inevitable, as had the North, and to inaugurate the policy of +emancipating and arming the slaves, knowing full well that it was sheer +folly to expect to recruit their shattered armies from the negro +population without giving them their freedom.</p> + +<p>It was therefore in the last days of the confederate authorities, and it +was their last hope and effort for success. Despair had seized upon +them. The army was daily thinned more by desertion than by the bullets +of the Union soldiers, while Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea had +awakened the widest alarm. In the winter of 1864 and 1865 the question +of arming the slaves was presented as a means of recruiting the depleted +and disordered ranks of the army, and it soon assumed an importance that +made it an absorbing topic throughout the Confederacy. There was no +other source to recruit from. The appeal to foreigners was fruitless. +"The blacks had been useful soldiers for the northern army, why should +they not be made to fight for their masters?" it was asked. Of course +there was the immediate query whether they would fight to keep +themselves in slavery. This opened up a subject into which those who +discussed it were afraid to look; nevertheless it seemed unavoidable +that a black conscription should be attempted, and with that in view, +every precaution was taken by those who supported the scheme to avoid +heightening the dissensions already too prevalent for good. The +newspapers were advised of the intended change of policy, to which not a +few of them acquiesced. General Lee was consulted, as the following +letter, afterward printed in the Philadelphia <i>Times</i>, shows:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters Army Northern Virginia</span>,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"January 11th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Hon. Andrew Hunter</span>: I have received your letter of the 7th +instant, and, without confining myself to the order of your +interrogatories,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span> will endeavor to answer them by a +statement of my views on the subject.</p> + +<p>"I shall be most happy if I can contribute to the solution +of a question in which I feel an interest commensurate with +my desire for the welfare and happiness of our people.</p> + +<p>"Considering the relation of master and slave controlled by +human laws, and influenced by Christianity and an +enlightened public sentiment, as the best that can exist +between the white and black races, while intermingled as at +present in this country, I would deprecate any sudden +disturbance of that relation, unless it be necessary to +avert a greater calamity to both. I should, therefore, +prefer to rely on our white population to preserve the ratio +between our forces and that of the enemy, which experience +has shown to be safe. But in view of the preparations of our +enemies it is our duty to prepare for continued war and not +for a battle or a campaign, and I own I fear we can not +accomplish this without overtaxing the capacity of our white +population.</p> + +<p>"Should the war continue under existing circumstances the +enemy may in course of time penetrate our country, and get +access to a large part of our slave population. It is his +avowed policy to convert the able-bodied men among them into +soldiers, and emancipate all. The success of the federal +arms in the south was followed by a proclamation from +President Lincoln for two hundred and eighty thousand men, +the effect of which will be to stimulate the northern states +to procure as substitutes for their own people the negroes +thus brought within their reach. Many have already been +obtained in Virginia, and should the fortunes of war expose +more of her territory the enemy will gain a large accession +of strength. His progress will thus add to his numbers, and +at the same time destroy slavery in a manner most pernicious +to the welfare of our people. Their negroes will be used to +hold them in subjection, leaving the remaining force of the +enemy free to extend his conquest.</p> + +<p>"Whatever may be the effect of our employing negro troops it +can not be as mischievous as this. If it end in subverting +slavery it will be accomplished by ourselves, and we can +devise the means of alleviating the evil consequences to +both races. I think, therefore, we must decide whether +slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves +be used against us, or use them ourselves at the risk of the +effects which may be produced upon our social institutions. +My own opinion is that we should employ them without delay. +I believe that, with proper regulations, they can be made +effective soldiers. They possess the physical qualifications +in an eminent degree. Long habits of obedience and +subordination, coupled with that moral influence which in +our country the white man possesses over the black, furnish +the best foundation for that discipline which is the surest +guarantee of military efficiency. Our chief aim should be to +secure their fidelity. There have been formidable armies +composed of men having no interests in the country for which +they fought beyond their pay or the hope of plunder. But it +is certain that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span> the best foundation upon which the fidelity +of an army can rest, especially in a service which imposes +peculiar hardships and privations, is the personal interest +of the soldier in the issue of the contest. Such an interest +we can give our negroes by granting immediate freedom to all +who enlist, and freedom at the end of the war to the +families of those who discharge their duties faithfully, +whether they survive or not, together with the privilege of +residing at the south.</p> + +<p>"To this might be added a bounty for faithful service. We +should not expect slaves to fight for prospective freedom +when they can secure it at once by going to the enemy, in +whose service they will incur no greater risk than in ours. +The reasons that induce me to recommend the employment of +negro troops at all render the effect of the measures I have +suggested upon slavery immaterial, and in my opinion the +best means of securing the efficiency and fidelity of this +auxiliary force would be to accompany the measure with a +well-digested plan of gradual and general emancipation. As +that will be the result of the continuance of the war, and +will certainly occur if the enemy succeed, it seems to me +most advisable to adopt it at once, and thereby obtain all +the benefits that will accrue to our cause.</p> + +<p>"The employment of negro troops under regulations similar to +those indicated would, in my opinion, greatly increase our +military strength, and enable us to relieve our white +population to some extent. I think we could dispense with +the reserve forces, except in cases of emergency. It would +disappoint the hopes which our enemies have upon our +exhaustion, deprive them in a great measure of the aid they +now derive from black troops, and thus throw the burden of +the war upon their own people. In addition to the great +political advantages that would result to our cause from the +adoption of a system of emancipation, it would exercise a +salutary influence upon our negro population, by rendering +more secure the fidelity of those who become soldiers, and +diminishing the inducements to the rest to abscond.</p> + +<p>"I can only say in conclusion that whatever measures are to +be adopted should be adopted at once. Every day's delay +increases the difficulty. Much time will be required to +organize and discipline the men, and action may be deferred +till it is too late.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very respectfully,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">"Your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i26">"A true copy. J. B. W." "(Signed,) R. E. LEE, <i>General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This letter was intended for members of Congress to read, and it was +circulated among them, but all was not harmony. Many members were +bitterly opposed to arming the slaves, some of them denounced General +Lee for writing the letter, and prepared to oppose the measure when it +should be introduced into Congress.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span></p> +<p>At length the period for its introduction arrived. Lee in his attempted +invasion of the north made no more careful preparations than did Mr. +Davis and his cabinet to carry through Congress the bill enrolling +slaves and to emancipate them. Finally the hour was at hand, and amid +the mutterings of dissenters, and threats of members to resign their +seats if the measure was forced through, the administration began to +realize more sensibly its weakness. However, it stood by the carefully +drawn bill.</p> + +<p>Of course the negro people about the city of Richmond heard of the +proposition to arm and emancipate them if they would voluntarily fight +for their old masters. They discussed its merits with a sagacity wiser +than those who proposed the scheme, and it is safe to say that they +concluded, in the language of one who spoke on the matter, "It am too +late, de Yankees am coming." There were those among them, however, known +as the free class, who stood ever ready to imitate the whites, believing +that course to be an evidence of their superiority over the slaves. They +were very anxious to enlist.</p> + +<p>On February 8th Senator Brown, of Mississippi, introduced a resolution +which, if it had been adopted, would have freed 200,000 negroes and put +them into the army; but on the next day it was voted down in secret +session. Upon this very February 9th, when Senator Brown's resolution +was lost, Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, addressed a large public +meeting at Richmond. He made a very extraordinary speech, setting forth +the policy of President Davis and his cabinet. Emissaries of Mr. Davis +had just returned from the Peace Conference at Fortress Monroe, where +they met representatives of the United States government, and learned +that the conditions upon which the Southern States could resume their +relations were those which they were compelled to accept finally. During +Mr. Benjamin's speech he said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have 680,000 blacks capable of bearing arms, and who +ought now to be in the field. Let us now say to every negro +who wishes to go into the ranks on condition of being free, +go and fight—you are free. My own negroes have been to me +and said, 'Master, set us free and we'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span> fight for you.' +You must make up your minds to try this or see your army +withdrawn from before your town. I know not where white men +can be found."</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Benjamin's speech created an intense excitement among the +slave-holders. The situation seemed to have narrowed itself down to a +disagreeable alternative. They must either fight themselves or let the +slaves fight. Doubtless many would have preferred submission to Lincoln, +but then they could not save their slaves. Immediately following Mr. +Benjamin's speech on the 11th, a bill was introduced into the House of +Representatives authorizing the enlistment of 200,000 slaves, with the +consent of their owners. As a test of its strength a motion was made for +the rejection of this bill, and the vote not to reject it was more than +two to one. There was every indication that the bill would pass. It was +while this measure was under discussion that General Lee wrote the +letter which follows in answer to one of inquiry from a member of the +House:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters Confederate State Armies</span>,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"February 18th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Hon. Barksdale, House of Representatives, Richmond.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your +letter of the 12th inst. with reference to the employment of +negroes as soldiers. I think the measure not only expedient +but necessary. The enemy will certainly use them against us +if he can get possession of them, and as his present +numerical superiority will enable him to penetrate many +parts of the country, I can not see the wisdom of the policy +of holding them to await his arrival, when we may, by timely +action and judicious management, use them to arrest his +progress. I do not think that our white population can +supply the necessities of a long war without overtaxing its +capacity, and imposing great suffering upon our people; and +I believe we should provide resources for a protracted +struggle, not merely for a battle or a campaign.</p> + +<p>"In answer to your second question I can only say that, in +my opinion, under proper circumstances the negroes will make +efficient soldiers. I think we could at least do as well +with them as the enemy, and he attaches great importance to +their assistance. Under good officers and good instructions +I do not see why they should not become soldiers. They +possess all the physical qualifications, and their habits of +obedience constitute a good formulation for discipline. They +furnish a more promising material than many armies of which +we read in history, which owed their efficiency to +discipline alone. I think those employed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span> should be freed. +It would be neither wisdom nor justice, in my opinion, to +require them to serve as slaves. The best course to pursue, +it seems to me, is to call for such as are willing to come +with the consent of their owners. Impressment or draft would +not be likely to bring out the best class, and the use of +coercion would make the measure distasteful to them and to +their owners. I have no doubt if Congress would authorize +their reception into service, and empower the President to +call upon individuals or States for such as they are willing +to contribute with the condition of emancipation to all +enrolled, a sufficient number would be forthcoming to enable +us to try the experiment.</p> + +<p>"If it proves successful, most of the objections to the +matter would disappear, and if individuals still remained +unwilling to send their negroes to the army, the force of +public opinion in the States would soon bring about such +legislation as would remove all obstacles. I think the +matter should be left as far as possible to the people and +the States, which alone can legislate as the necessities of +this particular service may require. As to the mode of +organizing them, it should be left as free from restraint as +possible. Experience will suggest the best course, and would +be inexpedient to trammel the subject with provisions that +might in the end prevent the adoption of reforms, suggested +by actual trial.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"With great respect,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"ROBERT E. LEE, <i>General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Meanwhile the measure, to forward which this letter was written, was +progressing very slowly. J. B. Jones, clerk of the War Department of the +Confederate Government, entered in his diary from day to day such scraps +of information as he was able to glean about the progress of this +important matter. These entries are significant of the anxiety of this +critical time. Under February 14th we find this entry:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Yesterday some progress was made with the measure of +200,000 negroes for the army. Something must be done and +soon."</p> + +<p>"February 16th.—Did nothing yesterday; it is supposed, +however, that the bill recruiting negro troops will pass. I +fear when it is too late."</p> + +<p>"February 17th.—A letter from General Lee to General Wise +is published, thanking the latter's brigade for resolutions +recently adopted declaring that they would consent to +gradual emancipation for the sake of independence and peace. +From all signs slavery is doomed. But if 200,000 negro +recruits can be made to fight and can be enlisted, General +Lee may maintain the war, very easily and successfully, and +the powers at Washington may soon become disposed to abate +the hard terms of peace now exacted."</p> + +<p>"February 21st.—The negro bill has passed one house and +will pass the other to-day, but the measure may come too +late. The enemy is enclosing us on all sides with great +vigor and rapidity."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span></p> + +<p>"February 22nd.—Yesterday the Senate postponed action on +the negro bill. What this means I cannot conjecture, unless +there are dispatches from abroad with assurance of +recognition, based on stipulations of emancipation, which +can not be carried into effect without the consent of the +States, and a majority of these seem in a fair way of +falling into the hands of the Federal generals."</p> + +<p>"February 24th.—Yesterday the Senate voted down the bill to +put 200,000 negroes into the army. The papers to-day contain +a letter from General Lee, advocating the measure as a +necessity. Mr. Hunter's<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> vote defeated it. He has many +negroes, and will probably lose them; but the loss of +popularity and fear of forfeiting all chance of the +succession may have operated upon him as a politician. What +madness! 'Under which king, Benzonian?'"</p> + +<p>"February 25th.—Mr. Hunter's eyes seem blood-shot since he +voted against Lee's plan of organizing negro troops."</p> + +<p>"February 26th.—Mr. Hunter is now reproached by the +slave-holders he thought to please for defeating the negro +bill. They say his vote will make Virginia a free State, +inasmuch as General Lee must evacuate it for want of negro +troops."</p> + +<p>"March 2d.—Negro bill still hangs fire in Congress."</p> + +<p>"March 9th.—Yesterday the Senate passed the negro troops +bill—Mr. Hunter voting for it under instruction."</p> + +<p>"March 10th.—The president has the reins now, and Congress +will be more obedient; but can they leave the city? +Advertisements for recruiting negro troops are in the papers +this morning."</p> + +<p>"March 17th.—We shall have a negro army. Letters are +pouring into the department from men of military skill and +character asking authority to raise companies, battalions, +and regiments of negro troops. It is a desperate remedy for +the desperate case, and may be successful. If 200,000 +efficient soldiers can be made of this material there is no +conjecturing when the next campaign may end. Possibly 'over +the border;' for a little success will elate our spirits +extravagantly, and the blackened ruins of our towns, and the +moans of women and children bereft of shelter, will appeal +strongly to the army for vengeance."</p> + +<p>"March 19th.—Unless food and men can be had Virginia must +be lost. The negro experiment will soon be tested. Curtis +says that the letters are pouring into the department from +all quarters asking authority to raise and command negro +troops. 100,000 troops from this source might do wonders."</p></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span></p> +<p>So ends the entries on this interesting subject in Mr. Jones' diary. +Though the conscientious war clerk ceased to record, the excitement and +effort of the advocates of the measure by no means slackened. Grant's +cordon around the city drew closer and tighter each day and hour, +continually alarming the inhabitants. Governor Smith gave the negro +soldier scheme his personal influence and attention. The newspapers +began clamoring for conscription. No little effort was made to raise a +regiment of free blacks and mulattoes in the latter days of January, and +early in February a rendezvous was established at Richmond, and a +proclamation was issued by the State authorities. A detail of white +officers was made, and enlistment began. The agitation of the subject in +Congress, though in secret session, gave some encouragement to the many +despairing and heart-sick soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> +Their chief commander, Lee, perhaps dreamed nightly that he commanded +200,000 negro troops <i>en masse</i>, and was driving the Yankees and their +Black Phalanx like chaff from off the "sacred soil" of the Old Dominion, +but, alas, such a dream was never to be realized.</p> + +<p>About twenty negroes,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> mostly of the free class, enlisted, went into +camp, and were uniformed in Confederate gray. These twenty men, three of +whom were slaves of Mr. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State, were +daily marched into the city and drilled by their white officers in the +Capitol Square, receiving the approving and congratulatory plaudits of +the ladies, who were always present.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> However, no accessions were +gained to their ranks, consequently the scheme, to raise by enlistment a +regiment of blacks, was a failure, for the few volunteers secured in +Virginia and a company in Tennessee are all that the writer has been +able to obtain any account of. The Confederate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span> authorities then sought +to strengthen the army by conscripting all able-bodied negroes, free and +slave, between the age of eighteen and fifty. Monday, April 3d, was +appointed as the day to begin the draft. The Virginia State Legislature +had come to the rescue of the Davis-Lee-Benjamin scheme, and so had the +local authorities of Richmond, but all was to no purpose. It was too +late; they had delayed too long.</p> + +<p>With a pitiable blindness to the approach of his downfall, only a few +days before he became a fugitive, Jefferson Davis wrote the following +letter:<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Richmond</span>, Va., March 30th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"His Excellency William Smith, Governor of Virginia:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Upon the receipt of your letter of the 27th inst. I had a +conference with the Secretary of War and Adjutant-General in +relation to your suggestion as to the published order for +the organization of negro troops, and I hope that the +modification which has been made will remove the objection +which you pointed out. It was never my intention to collect +negroes in depots for purposes of instruction, but only as +the best mode of forwarding them, either as individuals or +as companies, to the command with which they were to serve. +The officers in the different posts will aid in providing +for the negroes in their respective neighborhoods, and in +forwarding them to depots where transportation will be +available, and aid them in reaching the field of service for +which they were destined. The aid of gentlemen who are +willing and able to raise this character of troops will be +freely accepted. The appointment of commanders, for reasons +obvious to you, must depend on other considerations than the +mere power to recruit.</p> + +<p>"I am happy to receive your assurance of success as well as +your promise to seek legislation to secure unmistakably +freedom to the slave who shall enter the army, with a right +to return to his old home when he shall have been honorably +discharged from the military service.</p> + +<p>"I remain of the opinion that we should confine our first +efforts to getting volunteers, and would prefer that you +would adopt such measures as would advance that mode of +recruiting, rather than that of which you make enquiry, to +wit: by issuing requisitions for the slaves as authorized by +the State of Virginia.</p> + +<p>"I have the honor to be, with much respect,</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Your obedient servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i40">JEFFERSON DAVIS."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image56.jpg" width="500" height="595" alt="UNION SOLDIERS BEFORE YORKTOWN BRINGING DOWN A SOUTHERN +ALLY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">UNION SOLDIERS BEFORE YORKTOWN BRINGING DOWN A SOUTHERN +ALLY.<br /> + +This negro being a good marksman was induced by the confederates to +become a sharpshooter for them, and greatly annoyed the Union pickets +before Yorktown by firing upon them from trees, in the branches of which +he would perch himself at early morning and remain there through the +day, shooting at such Union soldiers as happened come within his range. +His hiding place was finally discovered however, and after refusing to +surrender, thinking himself safe, he was brought down by a bullet +through his head.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[Pg 499]</a></span></p> + +<p>The appointed time came, but instead of the draft, amid blazing roofs +and falling walls, smoke and ashes, deafening reports of explosions, the +frenzy of women and children, left alone not only by the negro +conscripting officers and President Davis and his Cabinet, but by the +army and navy; in the midst of such scenes, almost beyond description, +the Black Phalanx of the Union army entered the burning city, the +capitol of rebeldom, scattering President Lincoln's Proclamation of +Emancipation to the intended confederate black army. For twelve squares +they chanted their war songs, "The Colored Volunteers" and "John Brown," +in the chorus of which thousands of welcoming freed men and freed women +joined, making the welkin ring with the refrain,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Glory, glory hallelujah,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glory, glory hallelujah,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glory, glory hallelujah,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We is free to-day!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The decisive events of the next few days, following in rapid succession, +culminating with Lee's surrender, on the 9th of April, at Appomattox, +left no time for further action, and when the war was over, with the +important and radical changes that took place, it was almost forgotten +that such projects as arming and freeing the negro had ever been +entertained in the South by the Confederate Government.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> General William C. Wickham led the opponents of the +project in a very bitter pro-slavery speech.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> It was upon the discussion of this bill that Mr. Hunter, +of Virginia, made these significant statements and admissions: +</p><p> +"When we left the old government we thought we had got rid forever of +the slavery agitation; but, to my surprise, I find that this (the +Confederate) Government assumes power to arm the slaves, which involves +also the power of emancipation. This proposition would be regarded as a +confession of despair. If we are right in passing this measure, we are +wrong in denying to the old government the right to interfere with +slavery and to emancipate slaves. If we offer the slaves their freedom +as a boon we confess that we are insincere and hypocritical in saying +slavery was the best state for the negroes themselves. I believe that +the arming and emancipating the slaves will be an abandonment of the +contest. To arm the negroes is to give them freedom. When they come out +scarred from the conflict they must be free."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Of these twenty volunteers six of them are frequently to +be met on the streets of Richmond, while some of them are members of the +Colored State Militia of Virginia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> The veterans of General Henry A. Wise's Legion adopted +resolutions commending the scheme.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> On April 1st, 1865, quite a company of negroes, most of +whom were pressed into the service, paraded the streets of Richmond.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> This letter is a copy of the original now in possession of +Senator George A. Brooks. It has never before been published.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART III.</h2> + +<h3>MISCELLANY.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[Pg 503]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE BLACK PHALANX AT SCHOOL.</h3> + + +<p>The esteem in which education was held by the soldiers of the Black +Phalanx, can be judged of best by the efforts they made to educate +themselves and to establish a system of education for others of their +race. Doubtless many persons suppose that the negro soldier elated with +his release from slavery, was contented; that his patriotism was +displayed solely upon the field of battle, simply to insure to himself +that one highest and greatest boon, his freedom. Such a supposition is +far from the truth. The Phalanx soldiers had a strong race pride, and +the idea that ignorance was the cause of their oppression gave zest to +their desire to be educated.</p> + +<p>When they found following the United States Army a large number of +educated people from the North, establishing schools wherever they could +in village, city and camp, and that education was free to all, there was +awakened in the black soldier's breast an ambition, not only to obtain +knowledge, but to contribute money in aid of educational institutions, +which was done, and with liberal hands, during and subsequent to the +war.</p> + +<p>Unlettered themselves, they became daily more and more deeply impressed, +through their military associations, and by contact with things that +required knowledge, with the necessity of having an education. Each +soldier felt that but for his illiteracy he might be a sergeant, company +clerk, or quartermaster, and not a few, that if educated, they might be +lieutenants and captains.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[Pg 504]</a></span> This was not an unnatural conclusion for a +brave soldier to arrive at, when men no braver than himself, were being +promoted for bravery.</p> + +<p>Generally there was one of three things the negro soldiers could be +found doing when at leisure: discussing religion, cleaning his musket +and accoutrements, or trying to read. His zeal frequently led him to +neglect to eat for the latter. Every camp had a teacher, in fact every +company had some one to instruct the soldiers in reading, if nothing +more. Since the war I have known of more than one who have taken up the +profession of preaching and law making, whose first letter was learned +in camp; and not a few who have entered college.</p> + +<p>The negro soldier was not only patriotic in the highest sense but he was +a quick observer of both the disadvantages and opportunities of his +race. He recognized the fact that the general education of the white men +who composed the Union army in contra-distinction to so many of those of +the confederate army, gave them great prestige over the enemy. The +ingenuity of the Yankee he attributed to his education, and he readily +decided that he lacked only the Yankee's education to be his equal in +genius. Great was the incentive given him by example, arousing his +latent hope to be something more than a free man; if not that, his +children might rise from the cornfield to the higher walks of life. +Their thirst for a knowledge of letters was evinced in more ways than +one, as was their appreciation of the opportunity to assist in providing +for coming generations.</p> + +<p>Colonel G. M. Arnold says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Aside from the military duties required of the men forming +the Phalanx regiments, the school teacher was drilling and +preparing them in the comprehension of letters and figures. +In nearly every regiment a school, during the encampment, +was established, in some instances female teachers from the +North, impulsed by that philanthropy which induced an army +of teachers South to teach the freedmen, also brought them +to the barracks and the camp ground to instruct the soldiers +of the Phalanx. Their ambition to learn to read and write +was as strong as their love of freedom, and no opportunity +was lost by them to acquire a knowledge of letters. So +ardent were they that they formed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[Pg 505]</a></span> squads and hired +teachers, paying them out of their pittance of seven dollars +per month, or out of the bounty paid to them by the State to +which they were accredited. In a number of instances the +officers themselves gave instructions to their command, and +made education a feature and a part of their duty, thereby +bringing the soldier up to a full comprehension of the +responsibility of his trust. "Taps" was an unpleasant sound +to many a soldier, who, after the fatigue and drill of the +day was over, sat himself down upon an empty cracker box, +with a short candle in one hand and a spelling book in the +other, to study the ab, eb, ob's. When the truce was sounded +after a day or night's hard fighting, many of these men +renewed their courage by studying and reading in the 'New +England Speller.' And where they have fought,—died where +they fell, and their bodies left to the enemy's mercy, they +often found in the dead soldier's knapsack a spelling-book +and a Testament. At the siege of Port Hudson and Charleston, +and of Richmond, agents of the Christian Commission and of +various other societies, made a specialty of the +spelling-book for distribution among the soldiers of the +Phalanx, and upon more than one occasion have these soldiers +been found in the trenches with the speller in hand, +muttering, bla, ble."</p></div> + +<p>The historian of the 55th Regiment says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A great desire existed among those who had been deprived of +all educational privileges to learn to read and write, and +through the kindness and labors of Dr. Bowditch and others, +a school was established to teach those who desired to +learn. Many availed themselves of this, and many were +assisted by their company officers and their better informed +fellow-soldiers, so that a decided improvement in this +respect was effected among the men during their stay at +Readville."</p></div> + +<p>But it is not necessary to dwell upon the subject to show the eagerness +of these soldiers to learn to read and write, as many of them did.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant James M. Trotter,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> in an article published in Mr. +Fortune's paper, gives this graphic description of "The School-master in +the Army":</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Of the many interesting experiences that attended our +colored soldiery during the late war none are more worthy of +being recounted than those relating to the rather improvised +schools, in which were taught the rudimentary branches. One +would naturally think that the tented field, so often +suddenly changed to the bloody field of battle, was the last +place in the world where would be called into requisition +the schoolteacher's services; in fact it would hardly be +supposed that such a thing was possible. Yet in our colored +American army this became not only possible but really +practicable, for in it frequently, in an off-hand manner, +schools were established and maintained, not only for +teaching the soldiers to read and write but also to sing, +nor were debating societies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[Pg 506]</a></span> even, things unheard of in the +camp life of these men. Besides in quite a number of the +colored regiments military bands were formed, and under the +instruction of sometimes a band teacher from the north, and +at others under one of their own proficient fellow-soldiers, +these bands learned to discourse most entertaining music in +camp, and often by their inspiriting strains did much to +relieve the fatigue occasioned by long and tiresome marches. +But we are speaking now mainly of the work of the +school-teacher proper. And what shall we say of the halls of +learning in which were gathered his eager pupils? Well, +certainly these would not compare favorably with those of +civil life, as may well be imagined. As says Bryant, truly +and beautifully, speaking of primitive religious worship:</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">'The groves were God's first temples.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>So, too, in the groves and fields of their new land of +liberty, these men found their first temples of learning, +and in spite of all inconveniences these school tents were +rendered quite serviceable. Of the text books used there is +not much to say, for these were generally 'few and far +between.' Books were used at times, of course, but quite as +often the instruction given was entirely oral. That these +spare facilities did not render the teacher's efforts +ineffective was abundantly proven in the service, and has +been proven since in civil life. Scattered here and there +over this broad country to-day are many veteran soldiers who +are good readers and writers, some of them even fair +scholars, who took their first lessons from some manly +officer or no less manly fellow-soldier in the manner +mentioned, during such camp intervals as were allowed by the +dread arbitrament of war. In a number of regiments these +fortunate intervals were quite frequent and of long +duration, and in such cases, therefore, much progress was +made.</p> + +<p>"It must, of course, be remembered that in our colored +regiments a very large percentage of the men were +illiterate, especially in those composed of men from the +south and so lately escaped from under the iron heel of +slavery. Indeed, in many of them there could scarcely be +found at the commencement of the service a man who could +either read or write. Many an officer can recall his rather +novel experience in teaching his first sergeant enough of +figures and script letters to enable the latter to make up +and sign the company morning report. All honor to those +faithful, patient officers, and all honor, too, give to +those ambitious sergeants who after a while conquered great +difficulties and became educationally proficient in their +lines of duty.</p> + +<p>"In this connection I readily call to mind one of the most, +if not the most, unique figures of all my experience in the +army. It was Colonel James Beecher, of the famous Beecher +family, and a brother of Henry Ward Beecher. He was in +command of the First North Carolina Colored Regiment. In +this position it would be hard to overestimate the variety +and value of his services, for he became for his soldiers at +once a gallant fighter, an eloquent, convincing preacher, +and a most indefatigable and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[Pg 507]</a></span> successful school-teacher. +Preaching had been his vocation before entering the army, +and so it was but natural for him to continue in that work. +At one time our regiment lay encamped near his in South +Carolina, and I well remember how, on one Sabbath morning, +the two commands formed a union service, all listening with +deep, thrilling interest to the inspiring words of this +"fighting parson." That he was indeed a fighting parson we +fully learned not long after this Sabbath service. For again +we met on the bloody field of battle, where in the very +front of the fight we saw him gallantly leading his no less +gallant men, even after he had been wounded, and while the +blood almost streamed down his face. Seeing him thus was to +ever remember him and his noble work with his regiment.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Beecher when encamped neglected no opportunity to +form schools of instruction for his men, in order that they +might become not only intelligent, efficient soldiers, but +also intelligent, self-respecting citizens, should they +survive the perils of war. I do not know what are his +thoughts to-day, but judging from the grand work of Colonel +Beecher in his black regiment, I can not doubt that he looks +back to it all with satisfaction and pride, and as forming +the richest experience of his life.</p> + +<p>"I know another ex-colonel and scholar, of high rank as a +man of letters and in social life, who yielding to the call +of duty, not less to country than to a struggling race, left +his congenial studies and took command of a colored +regiment, becoming not only their leader, but, as chance +afforded, their school-teacher also. However, as he has +given to the world his army experience in a book abounding +in passages of thrilling dramatic interest, I need only in +this connection make mention of him. I refer to that true +and tried friend of the colored race, Colonel T. W. +Higginson.</p> + +<p>"But let it not be supposed for a moment that only officers +and men of another race were engaged in this noble work of +school-teaching in our colored army. Not a few of the best +workers were colored chaplains, who wisely divided their +time between preaching, administering to the sick by reason +of wounds or otherwise, and to teaching the old 'young idea +how to shoot;' while many non-commissioned officers and +private soldiers cheerfully rendered effective service in +the same direction. Nor must we close without expressing +warm admiration for those earnest, ambitious soldier pupils +who, when finding themselves grown to man's estate, having +been debarred by the terrible system of slavery from +securing an education, yielded not to what would have been +considered only a natural discouragement, but, instead, +followed the advice and instruction of their comrade +teachers, and, bending themselves to most assiduous study, +gained in some cases great proficiency, and in all much that +fitted them for usefulness and the proper enjoyment of their +well-earned liberty. And so we say, all honor to teachers +and taught in the Grand Army that made a free republic, +whose safe foundation and perpetuity lies in the general +education of its citizens."</p></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Now Registrar at Washington, D. C.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[Pg 508]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>BENEVOLENCE AND FRUGALITY.</h3> + + +<p>The negro troops gave striking evidence of both benevolence and +frugality with the money they received. They needed but to be shown an +opportunity to contribute to some object, when they quickly responded. +Frequently, too, they fell easy victims to the crafty camp bummers and +speculators, who were ever collecting means for some charitable object +for the benefit of the negro race. However, here it will be a pleasing +duty to name some of the more conspicuous instances where their charity +was well and nobly bestowed. At the same time they deposited a vast +aggregate sum of savings in different banks established for this +purpose.</p> + +<p>The 62nd Regiment contributed to a commendable project gotten up by its +officers, who gave, themselves, $1,034.60, the regiment giving +$3,966.50. With this money the founding of a school was commenced, which +eventually became a college known as the Lincoln Institute, situated at +Jefferson City, Mo. To this sum of $5,001.10, the 65th Regiment +contributed $1,379.50, through the efforts of their officers. The sum +was soon increased to $20,000, and the Institute stands to-day a +monument to the 62nd and 65th Phalanx Regiments.</p> + +<p>Professor Foster, in his history of this Institute, gives these +interesting details:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image57.jpg" width="600" height="402" alt="U.S. PAYMASTERS PAYING OFF PHALANX SOLDIERS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">U.S. PAYMASTERS PAYING OFF PHALANX SOLDIERS.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[Pg 511]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Dr. Allen, a man of high character and influence, gave the +scheme standing ground by declaring that he would give $100. +Both our field officers, Colonel Barrett and +Lieutenant-Colonel Branson, though neither was with us at +the time, afterwards subscribed a like amount. Others +responded in the same spirit. Officers and men entered into +the work with enthusiasm. The lieutenants gave $50 each; +officers of higher rank, $100. First Sergeant Brown, Co D, +gave $75; Sergeants Curd, Bergamire, Alexander and Moore +each gave $50, while the number who gave 25, 20, 15, 10, and +5 dollars apiece is too great for me to recall their names +on this occasion, but they are all preserved in our records. +The total result in the 62nd Regiment was $1,034.60, +contributed by the officers, and $3,966.50 by the colored +soldiers. The soldiers of the 65th Regiment afterwards added +$1,379.50. One of them, Samuel Sexton, gave $100 from his +earnings as a private soldier at $13 per month, an example +of liberality that may well challenge comparison with the +acts of those rich men who, from their surplus, give +thousands to found colleges."</p></div> + +<p>Colonel David Branson, late of the 62nd Regiment, in his dedicatory +speech, said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Friends:</span>—This, with one exception, has been the +happiest 4th of July in my life. That exception was in 1863, +when I saw the rebel flag go down at Vicksburg. I felt the +exultation of victory then, and I feel it to-day as I look +upon this splendid building. Looking in the faces of my old +comrades of the 62nd Regiment here to-day, memory goes back +to the past, when hundreds of you came to me at Benton +Barracks, ragged, starving, and freezing—some did freeze to +death—and emotions fill me that no language can express. I +cannot sit down and think of those scenes of suffering +without almost shedding tears. But happily those days are +passed. No more marching with sluggish step and plantation +gait through the streets of St. Louis, Mo., amid the jeers +of your enemies; no more crossing the Mississippi on ice; no +more sinking steamers, and consequent exposure on the cold, +muddy banks of the river; no more killing labor on +fortifications at Port Hudson, Baton Rouge and Morganza; no +more voyages over the Gulf of Mexico, packed like cattle in +the hold of a vessel; no mere weary marches in the burning +climate of Texas; no more death by the bullet, and no more +afternoons on the banks of the Rio Grande, deliberating on +the future education of yourselves when discharged from the +army; but peace and prosperity here with the result of those +deliberations before us. Our enemies predicted, that upon +the disbanding of our volunteer army—particularly the +colored portion of it—it would turn to bands of marauding +murderers and idle vagabonds, and this Institute was our +answer."</p></div> + +<p>When Colonel Shaw, of the 54th Regiment, fell at Fort Wagner, the brave +soldiers of that regiment gladly contributed to a fund for a monument to +his memory, but which, upon reflection, was appropriated to building<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[Pg 512]</a></span> +the Shaw School at Charleston, S. C. And yet all these sums sink into +insignificance when compared to that contributed by the negro soldiers +to the erection of a monument to the memory of President Lincoln, at the +capitol of the nation; seventeen hundred of them gave <i>ten thousand +dollars</i>. But let the record speak for itself, for it is only a people's +patriotism that can do such things:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">CORRESPONDENCE AND STATEMENTS OF JAMES E. YEATMAN,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"><span class="smcap">President of the Western Sanitary Commission, Relative to the Emancipation Monument.</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">"St. Louis</span>, April 26th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>James E. Yeatman, Esq.</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>; A poor negro woman, of Marietta, Ohio, one of +those made free by President Lincoln's proclamation, +proposes that a monument to their dead friend be erected by +the colored people of the United States. She has handed to a +person in Marietta five dollars as her contribution for the +purpose. Such a monument would have a history more grand and +touching than any of which we have account. Would it not be +well to take up this suggestion and make it known to the +freedmen?</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Yours truly, T. C. H. <span class="smcap">Smith</span>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Mr. Yeatman says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In compliance with General Smith's suggestion I published +his letter, with a card, stating that any desiring to +contribute to a fund for such a purpose, that the Western +Sanitary Commission would receive the same and see that it +was judiciously appropriated as intended. In response to his +communication liberal contributions were received from +colored soldiers under the command of General J. W. +Davidson, headquarters at Natchez, Miss., amounting in all +to $12,150. This was subsequently increased from other +sources to $16,242."</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Marietta, Ohio</span>, June 29th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Mr. James E. Yeatman, President Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir:</span> I have learned, with the greatest +satisfaction, through Brigadier-General T. C. H. Smith and +the public press that you are devoting your noble energies +in giving tone and direction to the collection and +appropriation of a fund for the erection of the Freedmen's +National Monument, in honor and memory of the benefactor and +savior of their race.</p> + +<p>"The general also informs me that you desire, and have +requested through him that the five dollars deposited with +the Rev. C. H. Battelle, of this city, by Charlotte Scott, +should be used as the <i>original and foundation subscription</i> +for this most praiseworthy purpose; and Mr. Battelle assures +me that he will most cheerfully remit it to you this day. As +a slave-holder by inheritance, and up to a period after the +outbreak of the rebellion, and as an ardent admirer of our +lamented president, the author of universal emancipation in +America, I feel an enthusiastic interest in the success of +the Freedmen's National Monument. I hope it may stand +unequalled and unrivalled in grandeur and magnificence. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[Pg 513]</a></span> +should be built <i>essentially</i> by <i>freedmen</i>, and should be +<i>emphatically national</i>. Every dollar should come from the +former slaves, every State should furnish a stone, and the +monument should be erected at the capital of the nation. +Nothing could be better calculated to stimulate this +downtrodden and abused race to renewed efforts for a moral +and national status.</p> + +<p>"Charlotte Scott, whose photograph General Smith will +forward, was born a slave in Campbell County, Virginia. She +is about sixty years old, but is very hale and active. Her +reputation for industry, intelligence, and moral integrity, +has always been appreciated by her friends and +acquaintances, both white and colored. She was given, with +other slaves, to my wife, by her father, Thomas H. Scott. +When we received the news of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, +the morning after its occurrence, she was deeply distressed. +In a conversation with Mrs. Rucker, she said: '<i>The colored +people have lost their best friend on earth. Mr. Lincoln was +our best friend, and I will give five dollars of my wages +towards erecting a monument to his memory.</i>' She asked me +who would be the best person to raise money for the purpose. +I suggested Mr. Battelle, and she gave him the five dollars.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am, my dear sir, truly and respectfully,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"WILLIAM P. RUCKER."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Marietta, Ohio</span>, June 29th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Mr. J. E. Yeatman.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: I was providentially called upon by Charlotte +Scott, formerly a slave of Dr. W. P. Rucker, now living in +this place, to receive the enclosed $5, as the commencement +of a fund to be applied to rearing a monument to the memory +of Hon. Abraham Lincoln.</p> + +<p>"I received her offering, and gave notice through the press +that I would receive other donations, and cheerfully do what +I could to promote so noble an object. Other persons have +signified their willingness to give when the measure is +fully inaugurated.</p> + +<p>"By the advice of General T. C. H. Smith I herewith forward +you her contribution, and I hope to here from you upon its +receipt, that I may show to Charlotte and others that the +money has gone in the right direction. After hearing from +you I hope to be able to stir up the other colored folks on +this subject.</p> + +<p>"I rejoice, dear sir, that I have some connection with this +honorable movement in its incipiency. I shall not fail to +watch its progress with thrilling interest, and hope to live +until the top stone shall be laid amid the jubilant +rejoicing of emancipated millions crying 'Grace, grace unto +it.'</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very respectfully yours,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"C. D. BATTELLE."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"The publication of the note of Mr. Yeatman, and the first communication +received concerning the colored woman's proposed offering, brought the +following letters and contributions, showing how generously the +proposition of Charlotte Scott was responded to by the colored troops +stationed at Natchez, Miss. These contributions have been duly deposited +for safe keeping towards the Freedmen's National Monument to Mr. +Lincoln.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters 6th U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery,</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Fort McPherson</span>, Natchez, May 19th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>James E. Yeatman, President Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: I hereby transmit to you, to be appropriated to +the monument to be erected to the late President Lincoln, +the sum of four thousand two hundred and forty-two dollars, +the gift from the soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[Pg 514]</a></span> and freedmen of this regiment. +Allow me to say that I feel proud of my regiment for their +liberal contribution in honor of our lamented chief. Please +acknowledge receipt.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"JOHN P. COLEMAN,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 6th U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Amounts as donated by their respective companies: Company +A, $515; Company B, $594; Company C, $514; Company D, $464; +Company E, $199; Company F, $409; Company G, $284; Company +H, $202; Company I, $423; Company K, $231; Company L, $142; +Company M, $354. Total, $4,242."</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters 70th U. S. Colored Infantry,</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">Rodney, Miss</span>., May 30th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Brevet Major-General J. W. Davidson, commanding District of Natchez, Miss.:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">General:</span> I have the honor to enclose the sum of two +thousand nine hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents +as the amount collected, under your suggestion, for the +purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of President +Lincoln. Every dollar of this money has been subscribed by +the black enlisted men of my regiment, which has only an +aggregate of six hundred and eighty-three men. Much more +might have been raised, but I cautioned the officers to +check the noble generosity of my men rather than stimulate +it. Allow me to add that the soldiers expect that the +monument is to be built by black people's money exclusively. +They feel deeply that the debt of gratitude they owe is +large, and any thing they can do to keep his 'memory green' +will be done cheerfully and promptly.</p> + +<p>"If there is a monument built proportionate to the +veneration with which the black people hold his memory, then +its summit will be among the clouds—the first to catch the +gleam and herald the approach of coming day, even as +President Lincoln himself first proclaimed the first gleam +as well as glorious light of universal freedom.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am, general, most respectfully, your obedient servant,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"W. C. EARLES,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Colonel 70th United States Colored Infantry.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">District of Natchez</span>, May 21st, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Hon. James E. Yeatman</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Upon seeing your suggestions in the <i>Democrat</i> I wrote to +my colonels of colored troops, and they are responding most +nobly to the call. Farrar's regiment, 6th United States +Heavy Artillery, sent some $4,700. The money here spoken of +has been turned over to Major W. C. Lupton, Pay-master U. S. +A., for you. Please acknowledge receipt through the Missouri +<i>Democrat</i>. The idea is, that the monument shall be raised +to Mr. Lincoln's memory at the national capital exclusively +by the race he has set free.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"Very truly yours,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"J. W. DAVIDSON, <i>Brevet Major-General.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Head Pay Department, Natchez, Miss</span>., June 15th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>James E. Yeatman, Esq., President Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir:</span> The colored soldiers of this district, Brevet +Major-General Davidson commanding, feeling the great +obligations they are under to our late president, Mr. +Lincoln, and desiring to perpetuate his memory, have +contributed to the erection of a monument at the national +capital, as follows:</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[Pg 515]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>73th. United States Colored Infantry, Colonel W. C. Earle</td><td align='right'>$2,949.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Three Companies 63d U. S. Colored Infantry—A, C, and E—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell</td><td align='right'>263.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Freedmen of Natchez</td><td align='right'>312.38</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Total</td><td align='right'>$3,529.85</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Added to this Major John P. Coleman, of the 6th United +States Colored Heavy Artillery, (those that Forrest's men +did not murder at Fort Pillow), stationed here, has sent you +nearly five thousand dollars for the same fund, and the 57th +United States Colored Infantry desire me, at the next +pay-day, to collect one dollar per man, which will swell the +amount to nearly ten thousand dollars. This is a large +contribution from not quite seventeen hundred men, and it +could have been made larger—many of the men donating over +half their pay, and in some instances the whole of it—but +it was thought best to limit them.</p> + +<p>"Will you please publish this, that the colored soldiers and +their friends may know that their money has gone forward, +and send me a copy of the paper.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i30">"I am, sir, with regard,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"W. C. LUPTON, <i>Pay-master United States Navy.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"These noble contributions are a striking evidence of the +favor with which this movement is regarded by the colored +people, and especially the brave soldiers (the Phalanx who +fought to maintain their freedom) of this oppressed race who +have been fighting to carry out the proclamation of their +benefactor, securing them their liberty."</p></div> + +<p>There is still another evidence of the appreciation of freedom by the +negro soldiers in their frugality. After the enlistment of colored +troops became general, and they began to receive pay and bounties, the +officers commanding them readily discovered the necessity of providing a +better place for keeping the money paid them than in their pocket-books +and in the soldier's knapsack. Every payday these soldiers would carry +sums of money to their officers for safe keeping, until thousands of +dollars were thus deposited, which were often lost in battle. In August, +1864, General Rufus Saxton, military governor of South Carolina, after +mature deliberation as to the best means to be adopted for the safe +keeping of these soldiers' monies, established a bank in his department. +General Butler established a similar one at Norfolk, Va., about the same +time. At the organization of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust company, +chartered by act of Congress, these institutions transferred to the +Freedmen's Bank all the monies on deposit in them, as the war had +ceased, and the troops and officers were being mustered out of the +United States service. The Butler Bank at Norfolk in July, 1865, +transferred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[Pg 516]</a></span> $7,890. In December the Saxton Bank at Beaufort transferred +$170,000. Thus the sum of $177,890, belonging to soldiers in two +departments only, was placed to their credit, subject to their order, in +the new national bank, called into existence by like motives. This bank +had branches at these places. Had similar banks been established in the +other departments an enormous sum would have been collected. The +Freedmen's bank, however, took the place of these military banks, and +had the confidence of the soldiers who continued to deposit in its +various branches throughout the south. When that institution collapsed +in 1874, of the many millions of dollars deposited in it, it is +estimated that two-thirds of the amount was the savings of the Phalanx. +There is now in the vaults of the national government more than a +quarter of a million of dollars belonging to the Phalanx, held as +unclaimed bounty and pay—an ample sum from which to erect a suitable +monument to commemorate the heroic devotion and patriotic endeavor of +those who fell in Freedom's cause. This money doubtless belongs to those +who on the battle-fields and in hospitals died for the country's honor. +These are some of the lessons taught by the history of the Black +Phalanx.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[Pg 517]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>BIBLIOGRAPHY.</h3> + + +<p>The following publications have been of service in the preparation of +this volume:</p> + +<p> +Goodrich's History of the U. S.<br /> +<br /> +The Great Rebellion.—Headley.<br /> +<br /> +Record of the Seventh U. S. C. T.<br /> +<br /> +War of 1812.—Rossiter.<br /> +<br /> +Negro in the Rebellion.—Brown.<br /> +<br /> +Butler in New Orleans—Parton.<br /> +<br /> +American Conflict.—Greeley.<br /> +<br /> +Historical Research.—Livermore.<br /> +<br /> +Record 55th Regt. Mass. Vols.<br /> +<br /> +Patriotism of Colored Americans.<br /> +<br /> +Boys of 61.—Coffin.<br /> +<br /> +Record of 37th U. S. C. T.<br /> +<br /> +History of Virginia.—Magill.<br /> +<br /> +Atlanta.—Cox.<br /> +<br /> +March to the Sea.—Cox.<br /> +<br /> +Lincoln and Slavery.—Arnold.<br /> +<br /> +Ramsey's History of America.<br /> +<br /> +Grimshaw's History of the U. S.<br /> +<br /> +Attack on Petersburg.—Congress.<br /> +<br /> +Fort Pillow Massacre.—Congress.<br /> +<br /> +Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac.—Swinton.<br /> +<br /> +Army Life in a Black Regiment.—Higginson.<br /> +<br /> +Anti-Slavery Measures in Congress.—Wilson.<br /> +<br /> +Principles and Acts of the Revolution.—Niles.<br /> +<br /> +Military History of U. S. Grant.—Badeau.<br /> +<br /> +First and Second Year of the War.—Pollard.<br /> +<br /> +Report of the Conduct of the War.—Congress.<br /> +<br /> +Bryant's Popular History of the United States.<br /> +<br /> +Virginia Campaigns of '64 and '65.—Humphrey.<br /> +<br /> +Life and Public Service of Charles Sumner.—Lester.<br /> +<br /> +Boys and Girls Magazine, 1869.—Oliver Optic.<br /> +<br /> +Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps.—Woodbury.<br /> +<br /> +Military History of Kansas.—J. B. McAfee.<br /> +<br /> +History of the Great Rebellion.—Kettell.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[Pg 518]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<h3>HISTORY OF THE 29TH CONNECTICUT NEGRO VOLUNTEERS.</h3> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<span class="smcap">Headquarters 29th Connecticut Colored Volunteers</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i40"><span class="smcap">Hartford, Conn.</span>, November 29th, 1865.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Brigadier-General H. J. <span class="smcap">Morse</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><i>Adjutant-General, State of Connecticut.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">General:</span> In obedience to your request I have the honor to submit the +following as the history of the 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers +(Colored):</p> + +<p>"Recruiting for this regiment began early in the autumn of 1863, and by +the latter part of January, 1864, the maximum number had been enlisted. +During its organization the regiment was stationed at Fair Haven, Conn. +On the 8th of March, 1864, the regiment was formally mustered into the +service of the United States.</p> + +<p>"No field officer had as yet reported, but on the 12th of March William +B. Wooster, formerly lieutenant-colonel of the 20th Connecticut +Volunteers, reported to the regiment, and soon after assumed command.</p> + +<p>"On the 19th day of March the regiment formed in line, and after the +presentation of a flag by the colored ladies of New Haven, marched on +board the transport "Warrior."</p> + +<p>"On the 20th we steamed out of New Haven harbor, and after a pleasant +voyage disembarked at Annapolis, Md.</p> + +<p>"The regiment was as yet unarmed, but on the 7th of April we received +the full complement of the best Springfield rifled muskets.</p> + +<p>"At this time the 9th Corps was assembling at Annapolis, and to it we +were assigned, but on the 8th of April the regiment received orders to +proceed to Hilton Head, S. C., and on the 9th of April we left Annapolis +for that place. Arriving at Hilton Head we were ordered to Beaufort, S. +C., where we disembarked on the 13th of April. The regiment had, up to +this time, learned nothing of drill or discipline, so that there was +plenty of work to be done.</p> + +<p>"After a fine camp had been laid out the work of converting the raw +material of the regiment into good soldiers was vigorously and +systematically commenced. The men learned rapidly, and were faithful in +the performance of their duties. While here, although the utmost +attention was paid to all that pertained to the health of the regiment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[Pg 519]</a></span> +much sickness prevailed, the change of climate telling severely upon the +untried soldiers. In less than two months a decided improvement in drill +and discipline had been effected, and our dress parades began to attract +marked attention. But as yet our soldiers had not fired a shot at the +rebellion, and had still to be tried in the fiery ordeal of battle. At +last events on the bloody fields of Virginia determined our destiny.</p> + +<p>"The battles fought during the summer campaign had demonstrated that +negro troops could fight well; they had also shown that more men were +required in Virginia, and that we could not await the slow process of a +draft to get them. The success of the entire campaign seemed dubious, +and the army, after all its gigantic toils and losses, found itself +confronted by strong lines of works, manned by a brave and resolute foe. +Under these circumstances the only policy was concentration in Virginia. +Accordingly all the troops that could be spared from other points were +ordered to Virginia.</p> + +<p>"Among the number was the 29th Connecticut Volunteers (colored). On the +8th day of August, 1864, the regiment left Beaufort, S. C., and +disembarked at Bermuda Hundreds, Va., on the 14th of the same month. +This regiment was brigaded with the 7th, 8th, and 9th United States +Colored Troops, forming with other colored regiments a division of the +10th Army Corps. We arrived just as the active movements terminating in +the capture of the Weldon Railroad had commenced. That railroad being on +the then extreme left of our line it was deemed advisable, as a feint, +to keep the enemy well engaged on our right. For this purpose the 2d and +10th Army Corps had been assembled, as secretly as possible, near +Bermuda Hundreds, and on the morning of August 14th had advanced upon +the enemy's works near Deep Bottom.</p> + +<p>"This regiment accompanied the force as far as Deep Bottom, where, with +the 7th United States Colored Troops and one light battery, it was left +to defend the post, under command of Colonel Wooster. The two corps +moved farther to the right and front, and soon became warmly engaged. +During the fighting General Butler, desirous to ascertain the strength +and position of the enemy immediately in our front, ordered Colonel +Wooster to make a reconnoissance with this regiment and the 7th United +States Colored Troops.</p> + +<p>"This was successfully accomplished, the men in this their first +encounter with the enemy, displaying great coolness and bravery. Soon +after this we were relieved and ordered to join our brigade, then +actively engaged at the front.</p> + +<p>"We set out in a drenching rain storm, and after a tiresome march +reached the battle-field about dark. Our forces had suffered a bloody +repulse, and had just finished burying our dead under a flag of truce. +The burial parties with their bloody stretchers were returning, and the +sharp crack of the rifle began again to be heard, and so continued with +more or less fierceness during the night.</p> + +<p>"At daylight hostilities, except on the picket line, were not resumed. +The opposing forces lay and narrowly watched each other's movements.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[Pg 520]</a></span> +Towards night, however, it was discovered that the enemy was massing in +our immediate front, and just before sunset they commenced the attack. +The contest was sharp and short; a fierce roar of musketry, mingled with +wild yells and the deep bass of cannon; a fainter yell and volleys less +steady; finally a few scattering shots and the attack was repulsed. As +this movement of the two corps on the right was merely a feint to cover +more active operations on the left, it was resolved to withdraw the +forces during the night. The movement began just after dark. We marched +to the Bermuda Hundreds front, and pitched our camp near Point of Rocks. +On the 24th of August, 1864, the 10th Corps relieved the 18th Corps in +front of Petersburg. Here we remained, doing duty in the trenches, until +the 24th of September, at which time the 10th Corps marched to the rear +to rest a few days preparatory to an advance upon Richmond then in +contemplation. While here our ragged, dirty, and shoeless men were clad, +washed, and shod as rapidly as possible.</p> + +<p>"At length, at about sundown, September 28th, the corps broke camp, and +we once more started for Deep Bottom, which place we reached about four +<span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, September 29th.</p> + +<p>"Just as the first faint glimmerings of light were visible the movement +against Richmond commenced. After pushing through a deep wood our +brigade formed in line of battle near the New Market Road, under fire of +a rebel battery. We had scarcely formed when it was found that the rebel +lines had been broken further to the left, and we were ordered forward +in pursuit of the flying foe. Three successive lines had been carried by +impetuous charges, and during that summer forenoon the enemy on all +sides was pressed steadily back. By noon Fort Harrison, a large powerful +work, and a key to a large portion of the rebel line, had been carried +at the bayonet point by the 18th Corps, and we found ourselves in front +of the strongest line of the outer defenses of Richmond. An assault was +immediately ordered. Two regiments of the brigade to which this regiment +was attached,—the 7th Maryland and 8th Pennsylvania—were selected to +make the attack on Fort Gilmer, the 29th Connecticut and 9th Maryland +being held in reserve. A charge was made on the double-quick through a +felled forest, half a mile in extent. They were met by a murderous +enfilading fire, and after an obstinate struggle were forced back. They +re-formed quickly and again charged, this time up the very guns of the +fort. After a most heroic fight they were again compelled to retire. +Some of the companies sprang into the ditch, and refused to surrender +even after their companions had been driven back. They continued the +unequal contest until dark, when we were forced to leave the brave men +to their fate.</p> + +<p>"After the repulse of the second charge, the brigade formed under a +galling fire, preparatory to another charge, but after a careful survey +of the enemy's position, it was deemed advisable to delay the attack for +the present. Darkness soon after coming on, the troops were quietly +withdrawn to one of the captured lines a short distance in our rear. +Next morning vigorous measures were at once taken to reverse this line,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[Pg 521]</a></span> +and to render it impregnable against a counter attack, which was +constantly expected. While busily engaged in this work the rebels opened +upon us with a fierce artillery fire. A powerful force, said to be under +the direction of General Lee in person, had been silently massed in +front of Fort Harrison, screened from our view by the inequality of the +ground. They soon made their presence known, however, and advanced with +determination. They were met by a fire that sent them reeling back with +immense loss. Again they formed, and were again driven back. Another +charge more furious, and another repulse more bloody, finally convinced +them that the attempt was useless, and we were left in possession of our +victories of the previous day. After this, comparative quiet reigned for +a few days, but they were not days of idleness; the captured lines had +to be reversed and heavy picket duty to be done, and of these duties +this regiment had its full share.</p> + +<p>"On the 7th of October, the enemy made a dash on our right, and at first +met with considerable success. This regiment was detached from the +brigade, and ordered to the right to assist in repelling the attack. +Before reaching that point the attack had been repulsed and the fighting +was nearly over. We formed a skirmish line and remained until midnight, +when we returned to the brigade.</p> + +<p>"On the 13th of October a reconnoissance was made upon the enemy's lines +in front of our right, in which this regiment took an active part. The +fighting was severe, and the loss considerable. The men behaved like +veterans: but the wary foe behind his strong works bade defiance to our +small force, and so, after fifteen hours of fighting, at night we +returned to camp. On the 27th of October a movement commenced on our +extreme left which required the active co-operation of the Army of the +James, that the enemy might be kept busily engaged at all points. This +regiment, as part of the force selected for this purpose, set out early +on the morning of the 27th, and came in contact with the outposts of the +enemy. Deploying as skirmishers, after a short, sharp action, we drove +the enemy within entrenchments. After driving in the skirmish line, we +remained in front of the enemy's works, picking his men as opportunity +offered, and keeping him engaged generally. We were in an open field, +exposed to the fire of an enemy protected by strong earthworks. The men +behaved very well; for twenty-three hours they held this position, +exposing themselves with the most reckless indifference, taking the +ammunition from the bodies of their dead and wounded companions when +their own was exhausted, and in all respects, if valor be any criteron +of manhood, proving themselves to be 'good men and true.' At length on +the morning of the 28th, the troops were withdrawn, and we returned to +camp.</p> + +<p>"On the 19th day of November, the regiment was ordered to garrison +certain detached forts on the New Market road, which were considered of +great importance on account of the relation they bore to the whole line +north of the James. That this regiment was sent to hold them, was +certainly a marked tribute to its valor and efficiency, and was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[Pg 522]</a></span> +expressly given to it on that account. We remained here until the +formation of the 25th Army Corps, when on the 5th day of December, 1864 +we removed to the left of Fort Harrison, forming a part of the 2nd +Brigade, 1st Division of that Corps.</p> + +<p>"Here we remained during the rest of the winter, picketing, drilling, +building forts, and making roads, and preparing for the spring campaign. +One division had been sent to Fort Fisher, and but two were with the +Army of the James. At length, late in the month of March, 1865, one of +the remaining divisions was sent to the left, while the division to +which this regiment was attached, together with one division of the 24th +Army Corps, was left to guard the defences north of the James. The +campaign opened vigorously. The last week in March brought a series of +splendid victories to the Union armies, and we began to feel that the +'end' so ardently desired was near at hand. This regiment had been +placed in Fort Harrison, the most important position on our line. The +fort was said to be mined, and it was feared that the rebels would make +an attack in force near that point. On Saturday and Sunday, April 1st +and 2nd, the fighting on the left had been terrific but generally +favorable to us. We were ordered to observe with great care all +movements of the enemy in our front.</p> + +<p>"At sunset of April 2nd, we witnessed the last rebel dress parade in +Virginia from the magazine of Fort Harrison. Early on the morning of +April 3rd, 1865, the picket fires of the enemy began to wane, and an +ominous silence to prevail within his lines. Very soon deserters began +to come within our lines who reported that the lines in our front were +being evacuated. In a little while we saw the barracks of Fort Darling +in flames, and tremendous explosions followed each other in rapid +succession. The earliest dawn revealed to us the deserted lines, with +their guns spiked and their tents standing. We were ordered to advance +at once, but cautiously. The troops jumped over the breastworks, and, +avoiding the torpedoes, filed through the rebel abbatis, and then began +the race for Richmond.</p> + +<p>"No words can describe the enthusiasm of the troops as they found +themselves fairly within the rebel lines, and tramping along the bloody +roads leading to the 'capitol of secessia.' The honor of first entering +that city was most earnestly contested; many regiments threw away +everything but their arms, while this regiment 'double-quicked' in heavy +marching orders. Two companies of this regiment—G and C—had been sent +forward as skirmishers reaching the city close on the heels of our +cavalry, and were, without the slightest doubt, the first companies of +infantry to enter the city. Through the heat and dust the troops +struggled on, and at last, as we came in full view of the city, the air +was rent with such cheers as only the brave men, who had fought so long +and so nobly for that city could give. Since that time our history has +been blessedly unfruitful in stirring events. We remained in Richmond +for a few days, and were then ordered to Petersburg; from here we went +to Point Lookout, Md., where we remained until the 25th Corps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[Pg 523]</a></span> was +ordered to Texas. We embarked for Texas on the 10th day of June 1865, +arriving at Brazos de Santiago July 3rd, 1865. From Brazos we marched to +Brownsville, on the Rio Grande, where we continued until ordered to +Hartford, Conn., to be mustered out. On the 26th day of October, 1865, +we left Brownsville for Hartford, where the regiment was discharged and +paid on the 25th day of November, 1865.</p> + +<p>"The following is a report of changes and casualties in the 29th +Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, (colored), from date of organization to +date of discharge:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Gain</td><td align='left'>by</td><td align='left'>recruits</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='left'>officers,</td><td align='left'>210</td><td align='left'>enlisted men.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Loss</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>discharge</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>121</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>dismissal</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>desertion</td><td align='left'>—</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>103</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>died</td><td align='left'>of disease</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>153</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>wounds</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>21</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>by</td><td align='left'>killed in battle</td><td align='left'>—</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>24</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3">Promotion into other organizations</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>—</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Total</td><td align='left'>gain</td><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>210</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>loss</td><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>13</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>422</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="7">Wounded, officers, 6; men, 102. Captured, officer, 1; missing, none.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>"It will be necessary to remark here that fully one hundred per cent of +our desertions occurred while at New Haven, and during the organization +of the regiment very few desertions occurred after we left the State. +Our total of killed and wounded was—enlisted men, 123; officers, 6. The +officer who was captured eventually re-joined us. The officers lost by +promotion into other organizations were—Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Ward, +promoted to be colonel of the 31st United States Colored Troops; Major +F. E. Camp, promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the 29th United States +Colored Troops; Captain E. W. Bacon, promoted to be major of the 117th +United States Colored Troops; Assistant Surgeon Crandall, promoted to be +surgeon of the 33d United States Colored Troops; 1st Lieutenant H. H. +Brown, promoted to be captain of the 1st United States Colored Troops; +2d Lieutenant Edward Coe, promoted to be 1st lieutenant and adjutant of +the 27th United States Colored Troops.</p> + +<p>"Thus have I attempted to trace the history of this regiment. I have +done this with some degree of minuteness, owing to the fact that, as we +were considered a United States organization less can be learned +concerning us from the reports of the adjutant-general of the State than +concerning any other Connecticut organization. And as the employment of +colored troops was at first tried as a grand experiment, the people of +Connecticut may be desirous to know how far, in the case of their +colored regiment, that experiment has been successful. Justice, too, +demands that those who are the most competent judges—those who have +been with the colored troops on the march and in the battle—should give +their testimony to the loyalty and valor of this despised race. They +went forth to fight the battles of the Union when there was every thing +to discourage even the bravest. Both officers and men knew, that should +they escape death on the battle-field a fate awaited them, if captured,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[Pg 524]</a></span> +from which death on the battle-field would have been a glorious relief. +The poor rights of a soldier were denied to them. Their actions were +narrowly watched, and the slightest faults severely commented upon. In +spite of all this the negro soldier fought willingly and bravely, and +with his rifle alone he has vindicated his manhood, and stands confessed +to-day as second in bravery to none.</p> + +<p>"I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"DAVID TORRANCE,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"(<i>Late</i>) <i>Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 29th C. V.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4>DIARY OF THE THIRD REGIMENT DURING THE SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON.</h4> + +<p>"May 1st, 1863.—Regiment broke camp at Fort William, Baton Rouge, at 5 +<span class="smcap">a. m.</span>; marched out of Bayou Monticino on the road to Port Hudson. In the +evening Company G, under Lieutenant Quinn, was detailed for picket duty +on the Clinton Road. Colonel promised to encamp close by with the rest +of the regiment, but instead of doing so he fell back to the junction of +the Clinton and Port Hudson Roads, thus leaving the rebels a fine chance +to cross the bayou and cut off Company G from all support. Lieutenant +Quinn was doubtful of the colonel, and to satisfy himself sent 2d +Lieutenant Frederick Dame with twenty men back to the woods to see how +things were. Lieutenant Dame found that Colonel Nelson had retreated +back to Baton Rouge and reported. Lieutenant Quinn, feeling that if +attacked during the night he would not receive aid from the regiment, +changed his position from the place assigned in the woods by Colonel +Nelson, to one 300 yards further down in the woods, and on the +road-side. He then threw out his pickets in all directions, but only a +short distance from the remainder of the company who were held in +reserve. Every man was on that night. Occasionally horsemen were seen in +the clearing, but as they did not appear to know of our company's +proximity the pickets did not fire on them.</p> + +<p>"12th.—Had a slight skirmish.</p> + +<p>"13th.—Companies G and E, under Lieutenant Quinn, went on a +reconnoissance; returned at midnight.</p> + +<p>"14th.—All quiet in camp.</p> + +<p>"15th.—Fell back to Bayou Monticino.</p> + +<p>"16th.—Commenced to build a second bridge at Monticino Bayou.</p> + +<p>"17th.—Company G, Lieutenant Dame, and Company E, Lieutenant John +Keefe, went on a scout under command of Lieutenant Quinn, captured one +horse, cattle, and had a skirmish with rebel pickets.</p> + +<p>"18th.—Company G on picket ordered to block the road with felled trees, +connecting the Clinton and Bayou Sara roads, to prevent the rebel +cavalry and artillery getting in the rear of Dudley's brigade, who were +camped near Plains Store.</p> + +<p>"19th.—Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Quinn rode to Dudley's +headquarters. The regiment marched two miles nearer to Port Hudson in +the evening; were ordered back and bivouacked that night.</p> + +<p>"20th.—At 10 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> again for Port Hudson. After hours of hard marching +in heavy order in a hot sun on dusty roads and very little water to +drink, the regiment camped at dark in the left of the Union line on the +road leading to Springfield landing.</p> + +<p>"21st.—Battle of Plains Store. During the morning there were rumors of +a fight, as the rebels were determined to prevent a junction of the +force under Augur and Grover, of Banks' army, who were moving down from +St. Francis. This brought on the above-named battle, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[Pg 525]</a></span> which the negro +regiment held the extreme left, and thus prevented the rebels getting in +the rear of the Union troops.</p> + +<p>"22d.—Companies A and G drove back some rebel pickets, capturing one +man, horse, equipments, and two rifles. The man was thrown by his horse +and was badly hurt, his head striking against a tree.</p> + +<p>"23d.—We formed a junction to-day with Banks, and Port Hudson is +invested.</p> + +<p>"24th.—Companies E and G, under Captain Blake, on a scout.</p> + +<p>"25th.—To-day the regiment marched from the extreme left to the extreme +right of the Union line, a hard long tramp again in heavy order. At +night we encamped near Sandy Creek, close to the Mississippi. Each man +had to carry his own baggage. This regiment was never given any wagons.</p> + +<p>"26th.—At Sandy Creek protecting men laying the pontoon bridge. +Skirmishing all day with the rebels. The boys are getting used to +fighting.</p> + +<p>"27th.—Storming the batteries. The negro soldiers prove the bravest of +the brave. To-day was fought one of the most desperate battles on +record. Our brigade, six companies of the 1st, and nine companies of 3rd +Regiment Louisiana Native Guards, commenced fighting at quarter of an +hour before 6 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> The 1st, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett, advanced +in skirmish line up through the wood and soon drew the enemy's fire. The +3rd under Lieutenant-Colonel Finnegass, were in line of battle about +fifty yards in rear of the first, the whole command under Colonel John +A. Nelson, of the 3rd Regiment. The rebels opened with infantry fire and +shells at short range, and their fire was very effective and for a short +time the first, which was in danger of utter destruction, wavered, when +Colonel Bassett and his colored officers moved among the men encouraging +them by their own fearless examples. At this crisis, Colonel Finnegass +sent forward his four left companies, under Captain John E. Quinn, to +support the 1st. Captain Quinn moved up in good order, placing his left +company under Lieutenant John O'Keefe so as to face the bridge on his +left, held by the rebels in rifle-pits, Finnegass keeping the other five +companies well in hand, to use them when most needed. When within pistol +shot of the fortifications, to their dismay they were stopped—not by +the rebels, but by a back flow of the river. The water was not more than +forty feet across, but over eight feet deep. To cross this without boat +or bridge was impossible, particularly under such a terrible fire as the +rebels poured upon them in front and on both flanks. On the left the +rebels were actually in their rear so far had the gallant fellows +advanced. The slaughter was now becoming fearful. Colonel Finnegass at +this juncture asked Captain Quinn if he could cross the water; Quinn +called on volunteers to follow him. The whole that was left of his own +company, G, and Lieutenant O'Keefe with Company E, responded to his +call, and in they plunged, the men holding their rifles and cartridge +boxes above their heads. In the mean time Bassett and Finnegass (whose +men were lying down) kept a continual fire on the rebel gunners and +drove them from their guns, but the water was too much for the men, and +only 35 or 40—with Quinn and O'Keefe and Lieutenants Burnham and +Dame—succeeded in crossing. This handful actually followed their +reckless leader up to the very cannon's mouth, and for 15 or 20 minutes +held the whole rebel battery in their hands. Colonel Finnegass seeing +that in a few minutes more his brave men would be destroyed, rushed into +the water and ordered Quinn to fall back, as a regiment of rebels were +clambering over the works to get in their rear. The brave fellows fell +back, but alas, few of them ever answered roll-call again. Out of the +band but six re-crossed alive, and of these, Lieutenants O'Keefe, +Burnham and Sergeants Vincent and Taylor, who were wounded; Quinn and +Dame were the only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[Pg 526]</a></span> ones unhurt. The whole regiment now fell back about +600 yards, in the shelter of the woods. Six times we advanced, hoping to +find some spot where the men could cross, but in vain. We entered this +fight with 1080 men, and lost 371 killed and 150 wounded; total loss, +421. The rebels shelled us with their heavy guns. On our front were +artillery and infantry; on our left a wooded ridge full of riflemen. We +had two six-pounders; one of them was dismounted early in the fight, and +the other the gunners ran out of range, it being of no use.</p> + +<p>"Now, why were the colored troops left unsupported? Why were they sent +on such hopeless missions? Why were the officers informed by General +Dwight that there were clear grounds beyond Sandy Creek? There were +white troops who could have been sent to their support; the officers +expected to fight the rebels but met the river. Colonel Nelson played +General to perfection; during the whole battle he remained on the safe +side of Sandy Creek, and had his corps of orderlies to attend him; in +plain words he kept his men under fire from quarter before six <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, +till seven <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> During the day he never saw a rebel's face or back. * * +* The heroes of the day were the men; not one of them showed the "white +feather." Colonel Bassett and his colored officers of the 1st were as +brave as any men who ever drew a sword, and so were Finnegass, +Lieutenant-Colonel of the 3rd, and Captains Smith, Daly, Masterson and +others. Lieutenants O'Keefe, Burnham, Wiley, Griggs, Emory, Westervelt +and Dame of the 3rd, and Captain Quinn, who commanded the left wing and +led the storming column of the 3rd. Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett was +formerly of the 4th Mississippi Regiment; Colonel Nelson and +Lieutenant-Colonel Finnegass, were both of Irish parentage; Captain +Daily and Lieutenant Emory, of the 31st Massachusetts, Lieutenant +O'Keefe of the 9th and Burnham, of the 13th Connecticut, Masterson and +Wiley, of the 26th Massachusetts, Company A, of the 3rd, were on +detached service. Captain John E. Quinn is a native of Lowell, Mass.; +born April 22nd, 1837 came from the 30th Massachusetts, in which he was +orderly of Company B."</p> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>A correspondent of the New York <i>Tribune</i> writing, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The more I see of our colored regiments, and the more I +converse with our soldiers, the more convinced I am that +upon them we must ultimately rely as the principle source of +our strength in these latitudes. It is perfect nonsense for +any one to attempt to talk away the broad fact, evident as +the sun at noonday, that these men are capable not only of +making good soldiers, but the very best of soldiers. The +Third Louisiana Native Guard, Colonel Nelson, are encamped +here, and a more orderly, disciplined, robust, and effective +set of men I defy any one to produce.</p> + +<p>"An old European officer, one who has followed the +profession of arms from his very boyhood, said to me to-day: +'In one essential respect, sir, I believe that in a short +time these colored soldiers will surpass any we have in our +army—I mean in subordination—without which no army can be +effective. We are in the habit of carrying our citizenship +with us into the field, and that begets an amount of undue +familiarity between officers and men that is often +destructive of obedience. Toward the black man we feel none +of these delicate sentiments of equality, and he, on his +part, has always been accustomed to be commanded. Beside +this he is acclimated, knows the country thoroughly, and if +called upon to fight will fight in earnest, for he knows +that if taken prisoner he will meet no mercy.'</p> + +<p>"Colonel Nelson, anxious to have an opportunity of +exhibiting to the world what his command is capable of, and +thus put their manhood beyond all question, has implored +General Banks to put him in the foremost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[Pg 527]</a></span> point of danger in +the coming struggle, and says that his men are as ready as +himself to stake their lives upon the result; but the +general—doubtless acting upon explicit orders—says they +must, at present at least, be confined to manning the +fortifications here.</p> + +<p>"I am happy to say that the feeling toward these colored +regiments throughout the army is undergoing the most rapid +and extraordinary changes. Soldiers that only a few months, +nay, weeks ago, would have flown into a furious passion at +the bare idea of a black man carrying a musket like +themselves, now say, 'O, if you are going to give them white +officers that is another affair altogether.'"</p></div> + +<p class="center">* * * *</p> + +<p>The following letter gives some interesting recollections of the +military events of the Department of the Gulf:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, January 18th, 1883.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>To Colonel J. T. Wilson, Norfolk, Va.</i>:<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Friend:</span> Your two circulars issued from Cailloux Post No. 2 +on the 13th inst. are received. It is quite a compliment to +Louisiana to have named your Post after the hero of Port +Hudson, who immortalized himself in those celebrated charges +in May, 1863.</p> + +<p>"It is over twenty years ago that I took a commission in the +3d Louisiana Native Guard as a senior lieutenant of Company +H. I was quite intimate with Captain Andre Cailloux.</p> + +<p>"Grave doubts had been expressed by Banks, the nominal +commander, and his officers regarding the fitness of colored +men as soldiers. The perplexing question was, 'Will they +stand their christening under such a hail storm as will come +from those bristling Port Hudson heights?' In fact those +three colored regiments—the 1st, 2d, and 3d Louisiana +Native Guards, organized in 1862, and afterward incorporated +in the Ullman Brigade as the 73d, 74th, and 75th—had become +more a subject of test than of real dependence at the +critical juncture of trial.</p> + +<p>"General Osterhaus solved the mystery by taking command of a +division, including the 1st and 3d Native Guards. Those +magnificent series of charges were made by these two +regiments. The first charge was made on a Sunday, the 27th +day of May, 1863, supported on the right by the celebrated +Duryea's Zouaves, of New York, which were mowed down like +grass before a scythe. It was then and there that Captain +Cailloux gloriously died in advance of his company while +cheering his men. It was also on that day that the immortal +color-bearer, Anselino, was killed, and fell within the +folds of his regimental flag, which was besmeared with his +blood, with the broken flag-staff in his hand. Other strong +arms came to the rescue of the flag only to meet death until +the honor of the flag alone cost the lives of sixteen men or +more. The gallant Lieutenant Crowder was killed on the field +of honor at the flower of his age. Captain Sauer was wounded +in the foot while charging. The 3d Native Guards also +sustained its reputation, and many deeds of valor were +performed by its officers and men. But when after those +engagements the roll-call was made we had many friends to +mourn. You are aware, I suppose, of an historical fact. +Jefferson Davis had issued a proclamation that any colored +officer captured at the head of black troops would not be +exchanged, but immediately hung. It was thus that Lieutenant +Oscar Orillion, when captured at Jackson, La., was hung and +shot to pieces.</p> + +<p>"Port Hudson was surrendered by General Pemberton the 8th of +July, 1863. General Osterhaus became very proud of his +colored regiments after what he had seen at Port Hudson.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[Pg 528]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Had these two regiments failed, or destiny betrayed their +courage, the colored troops would have been universally +condemned, and would not have been employed as soldiers, but +used as servants, drivers, and laborers, on fortifications, +bridges, and ditches. To the 2d Louisiana Native Guards +belongs the honor of having had the first colored major in +the army, and it is Major Ernest Dumas, now living and +actually in New Orleans.</p> + +<p>"The most terrible engagement (1st and 2d) was at Spanish +Fort in Mobile Bay, Ala., shortly after Fort Pillow's +massacre. General Osterhaus told the colored troops the +night previous to the attack that at break of day they had +to charge and take Spanish Fort. It was customary with the +general to tell the troops by what regiments they would be +sustained. The men did not seem to be very enthusiastic, but +when they were told how the rebels had murdered men of their +own color and their white fellow-soldiers without mercy, +they sprang to their guns and called unanimously for +'revenge.' Great God! they had their revenge, sure enough! +The charge was made, the fort taken, and nearly every rebel +slaughtered amid the deafening yells of the colored and +white troops of 'Remember Fort Pillow.' The 1st and the 3d +regiments cleared Alabama up to Selina.</p> + +<p>"As it is impossible for me to devote my time any longer, +and to turn over the leaves of the past in my clouded +memory, which is quite impaired lately on account of my +declining years, besides the metacarpal bone of my right +hand, which was broken by a musket in the army, is always +painful when I write too much, I will refer you to Sergeant +Calice Dupie, of Company H, 1st Louisiana Native Guards, +Captain Sauer, who is employed in the custom house. I am +told that Captain R. H. Isabell, of the 2d Louisiana Native +Guards, has taken a memorandum of all the historical +incidents of those three regiments. They are all +Louisianians, and reside in New Orleans. As for the officers +of my regiment (the 3d Native Guards) they are all dead +nearly, which makes me think that my time soon will be on +hand.</p> + +<p>"Though my information is limited, I have strictly confined +myself to facts which I am sure will be corroborated by +others, I court investigation upon my statements, and will +always be glad to furnish witnesses to sustain them.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i40">"Fraternally yours, E. LONGPIE,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"<i>Ex-1st Lt. Co. H 3d L. N. G., Ex-officer of Anselino Post No. 6 G. A. R.</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4>FINIS.</h4> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Phalanx, by Joseph T. 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