Receiving no specific response to this overture, Gen. Phelps made a requisition of arms, clothing, etc., for "three regiments of Africans, which I propose to raise for the defense of this point"; adding:

"The location is swampy and unhealthy; and our men are dying at the rate of two or three a day.

"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 300 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 any thing rather than to slavery.

"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 as 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.

"I would recommend that the cadet graduates of the present year should be sent 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."[94]

Gen. Butler advised Gen. Phelps to employ "contrabands" for mere fatigue duty, and charged him not to use them as soldiers. On the 31st of July, 1862, Gen. Phelps rejoined by informing Gen. Butler: "I am not willing to become the mere slave-driver you propose, having no qualifications that way," and immediately tendered his resignation.

Nothing could stay the mighty stream of fugitives that poured into the Union lines by day and by night. Nothing could cool the ardor of the loyal Negroes who so earnestly desired to share the perils and honors of the Federal army. There was but one course left and that was to call the Negroes to arms as Gen. Jackson had done nearly a half century before. Gen. Butler repented his action toward the gallant and intelligent Phelps, and on the 24th of August, 1862, appealed to the free Colored men of New Orleans to take up arms in defence of the Union. As in the War of 1812, they responded to the call with enthusiasm; and in just two weeks one thousand Negroes were organized into a regiment. All the men and line officers were Colored; the staff-officers were white. Another regiment was raised and officered like the first—only two white men in it; while the third regiment was officered without regard to nationality. Two Colored batteries were raised, but all the officers were white because there were no Negroes found who understood that arm of the service.

The summer was gone, and Gen. McClellan, instead of "taking Richmond," had closed his campaign on the Peninsula most ingloriously. The President was compelled to make another call for troops—60,000. Conscription was unavoidable in many places, and prejudice against the military employment of Negroes began to decrease in proportion to the increase of the chances of white men to be drafted. On the 16th of July, 1862, Gen. Henry Wilson, United States Senator from Massachusetts, and Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill in the Senate amending the act of 1795, prescribing the manner of the calling forth of the militia to suppress insurrections, etc. Several amendments were offered, much debate was had, and finally it passed, amended, empowering the President to accept "persons of African descent, for the purpose of constructing entrenchments or performing camp service, or any war service for which they may be found competent." It was agreed, grudgingly, to free the slaves of rebels only who should faithfully serve the country,—but not their wives and children! The vote was 28 yeas to 9 nays. It went to the House, where it was managed by Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, and upon a call of the previous question was passed. On the next day, July 17th, it received the signature of the President, and became the law of the land.

On the 28th of January the Army Appropriation bill was under consideration in the United States Senate. Garrett Davis, of Kentucky, had opposed, by the most frantic and desperate efforts, every attempt to use Negroes in any capacity to aid in the suppression of the Rebellion. Accordingly he offered the following amendment to the Appropriation bill:

"Provided, That no part of the sums appropriated by this act shall be disbursed for the pay, subsistence, or any other supplies, of any negro, free or slave, in the armed military service of the United States."

It received 8 votes, with 28 against it. Those who sustained the amendment were all Democrats:

Messrs. Carlyle, G. Davis, Kennedy, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Turpie, and Wall.

The fight against the employment of Negroes as soldiers was renewed. On every occasion the opposition was led by a Kentucky representative! On the 21st of December, 1863, during the pendency of the Deficiency bill in the House, Mr. Harding, of Kentucky, desired to amend it by inserting the following:

"Provided, That no part of the moneys aforesaid shall be applied to the raising, arming, equipping, or paying of negro soldiers."

It was rejected: yeas, 41; nays, 105. The yeas were:

Messrs. Ancona, Bliss, James S. Brown, Coffroth, Cox, Dawson, Dennison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall, Harding, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Harris, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, King, Knapp, Law, Long, Marcy, McKinney, William H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Samuel J. Randall, Rogers, Ross, Scott, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Yeaman.

On the 26th of January, 1863, the Secretary of War authorized Gov. John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, to raise two regiments of Negro troops to serve three years. The order allowed the governor to raise "volunteer companies of artillery for duty in the forts of Massachusetts and elsewhere, and such companies of infantry for the volunteer military service as he may find convenient, and may include persons of African descent, organized into separate corps."

The Governor of Massachusetts immediately delegated authority to John W. M. Appleton to superintend the recruiting of the 54th Massachusetts, the first regiment of free Colored men raised at the North. The regiment was filled by the 13th of May, and ready to march to the front. It had been arranged that the regiment should pass through New York City on its way to the scene of the war in South Carolina, but the Chief of Police of New York suggested that the regiment would be subject to insult if it came. The regiment was sent forth with the blessings of Massachusetts and the prayers of its patriotic people. It went by water to South Carolina.

While Massachusetts was engaged in recruiting Negro soldiers, Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United States Army, was despatched from Washington to the Mississippi Valley, where he inaugurated a system of recruiting service for Negroes. In a speech to the officers and men in the organization of white troops, he said, on the 8th of April, 1863, at Lake Providence, La.:

"You know full well—for you have been over this country—that the Rebels have sent into the field all their available fighting men—every man capable of bearing arms; and you know they have kept at home all their slaves for the raising of subsistence for their armies in the field. In this way they can bring to bear against us all the strength of their so-called Confederate States; while we at the North can only send a portion of our fighting force, being compelled to leave behind another portion to cultivate our fields and supply the wants of an immense army. The Administration has determined to take from the Rebels this source of supply—to take their negroes and compel them to send back a portion of their whites to cultivate their deserted plantations—and very poor persons they would be to fill the place of the dark-hued laborer. They must do this, or their armies will starve. * * *

"All of you will some day be on picket duty; and I charge you all, if any of this unfortunate race come within your lines, that you do not turn them away, but receive them kindly and cordially. They are to be encouraged to come to us; they are to be received with open arms; they are to be fed and clothed; they are to be armed."

On the 1st of May, 1863, Gen. Banks, in an order directing the recruiting of the "Corps d'Afrique," said:

"The prejudices or opinions of men are in no wise involved"; and "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," etc., etc.

In the autumn of 1863, Adjutant-General Thomas issued the following order respecting the military employment of Negroes as soldiers:

"ENLISTMENT OF COLORED TROOPS.

"GENERAL ORDERS, No. 329.

"WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, } "WASHINGTON, D. C., October 13, 1863. }

"WHEREAS, The exigencies of the war require that colored troops be enlisted in the States of Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee, it is

"ORDERED BY THE PRESIDENT, That the Chief of the Bureau for the Organization of Colored Troops shall establish recruiting stations at convenient places within said States, and give public notice thereof, and be governed by the following regulations:

"First. None but able-bodied persons shall be enlisted.

"Second. The State and county in which the enlistments are made shall be credited with the recruits enlisted.

"Third. All persons enlisted into the military service shall forever thereafter be FREE.

"Fourth. Free persons, and slaves with the written consent of their owners, and slaves belonging to those who have been engaged in or given aid or comfort to the rebellion, may now be enlisted—the owners who have not been engaged in or given aid to the rebellion being entitled to compensation as hereinafter provided.

"Fifth. If within thirty days from the date of opening enlistments, notice thereof and of the recruiting stations being published, a sufficient number of the description of persons aforesaid to meet the exigencies of the service should not be enlisted, then enlistments may be made of slaves without requiring consent of their owners, but they may receive compensation as herein provided for owners offering their slaves for enlistment.

"Sixth. Any citizen of said States, who shall offer his or her slave for enlistment into the military service, shall, if such slave be accepted, receive from the recruiting officer a certificate thereof, and become entitled to compensation for the service of said slave, not exceeding the sum of three hundred dollars, upon filing a valid deed of manumission and of release, and making satisfactory proof of title. And the recruiting officer shall furnish to any claimant of descriptive list of any person enlisted and claimed under oath to be his or her slave, and allow any one claiming under oath that his or her slave has been enlisted without his or her consent, the privilege of inspecting the enlisted man for the purpose of identification.

"Seventh. A board of three persons shall be appointed by the President, to whom the rolls and recruiting lists shall be furnished for public information, and, on demand exhibited, to any person claiming that his or her slave has been enlisted against his or her will.

"Eighth. If a person shall within ten days after the filing of said rolls, make a claim for the service of any person so enlisted, the board shall proceed to examine the proof of title, and, if valid, shall award just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars for each slave enlisted belonging to the claimant, and upon the claimant filing a valid deed of manumission and release of service, the board shall give the claimant a certificate of the sum awarded, which on presentation shall be paid by the chief of the Bureau.

"Ninth. All enlistments of colored troops in the State of Maryland, otherwise than in accordance with these regulations, are forbidden.

"Tenth. No person who is or has been engaged in the rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who in any way has or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Government, shall be permitted to present any claim or receive any compensation for the labor or service of any slave, and all claimants shall file with their claim an oath of allegiance to the United States. By order of the President.

"E. D. TOWNSEND, "Assistant Adjutant-General."

This order was extended, on October 26th, to Delaware, at the personal request of Governor Cannon.

On the 12th of November, 1863, the Union League Club of New York City appointed a committee for the purpose of recruiting Colored troops. Col. George Bliss was made chairman and entered upon the work with energy and alacrity. On the 23d of November the committee addressed a letter to Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, stating that as he had no authority to grant them permission to enlist a Negro regiment; and as the National Government was unwilling to grant such authority without the sympathy and assent of the State government, they would feel greatly obliged should his excellency grant the committee his official concurrence. Gov. Seymour assured the committee of his official inability to grant authority for the raising of Colored troops,—just what the committee had written him,—and referred them to the National Government, on the 27th of November. The committee applied to the authorities at Washington, and on the 5th of December, 1863, the Secretary of War granted them authority to raise the 20th Regiment of United States Colored Troops. Having secured the authority of the Government to begin their work, the committee wrote Gov. Seymour: "We express the hope that, so far as in your power, you will give to the movement your aid and countenance." The governor never found the time to answer the request of the committee!

The work was pushed forward with zeal and enthusiasm. The Colored men rallied to the call, and within two weeks from the time the committee called for Colored volunteers 1,000 men responded. By the 27th of January, 1864, a second regiment was full; and thus in forty-five days the Union League Club Committee on the Recruiting of Colored Regiments had raised 2,000 soldiers!

Out of 9,000 men of color, eligible by age—18 to 45 years—to go into the service, 2,300 enlisted in less than sixty days. There was no bounty held out to them as an incentive to enlist; no protection promised to their families, nor to them should they fall into the hands of the enemy. But they were patriots! They were willing to endure any thing rather than the evils that would surely attend the triumph of the Confederacy. They went to the front under auspicious circumstances.

The 20th Regiment, under the command of Col. Bartram, landed at Thirty-Sixth Street, was headed by the police and the patriotic members of the Union League Club, and had a triumphal march through the city.

"The scene of yesterday," says a New York paper, "was one which marks an era of progress in the political and social history of New York. A thousand men with black skins and clad and equipped with the uniforms and arms of the United States Government, marched from their camp through the most aristocratic and busy streets, received a grand ovation at the hands of the wealthiest and most respectable ladies and gentlemen of New York, and then moved down Broadway to the steamer which bears them to their destination—all amid the enthusiastic cheers, the encouraging plaudits, the waving handkerchiefs, the showering bouquets and other approving manifestations of a hundred thousand of the most loyal of our people.

"In the month of July last the homes of these people were burned and pillaged by an infuriated political mob; they and their families were hunted down and murdered in the public streets of this city; and the force and majesty of the law were powerless to protect them. Seven brief months have passed, and a thousand of these despised and persecuted men march through the city in the garb of United States soldiers, in vindication of their own manhood, and with the approval of a countless multitude—in effect saving from inevitable and distasteful conscription the same number of those who hunted their persons and destroyed their homes during those days of humiliation and disgrace. This is noble vengeance—a vengeance taught by Him who commanded, 'Love them that hate you; do good to them that persecute you.'"

The recruiting of Colored troops in Pennsylvania was carried on, perhaps, with more vigor, intelligence, and enthusiasm than in any of the other free States. A committee for the recruiting of men of color for the United States army was appointed at Philadelphia, with Thomas Webster as Chairman, Cadwalader Biddle, as Secretary, and S. A. Mercer, as Treasurer. This committee raised $33,388.00 for the recruiting of Colored regiments. The 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments had cost about $60,000, but this committee agreed to raise three regiments at a cost of $10,000 per regiment.

The committee founded a camp, and named it "Camp William Penn," at Shelton Hill, near Philadelphia. On the 26th of June, 1863, the first squad of eighty men went into camp. On the 3d of February, 1864, the committee made the following statement, in reference to the raising of regiments:

"On the 24th July, 1863, the First (3d United States) regiment was full.

"On the 13th September, 1863, the Second (6th United States) regiment was full.

"On the 4th December, 1863, the Third (8th United States) regiment was full.

"On the 6th January, 1864, the Fourth (22d United States) regiment was full.

"On the 3d February, 1864, the Fifth (25th United States) regiment was full.

"August 13th, 1863, the Third United States regiment left Camp William Penn, and was in front of Fort Wagner when it surrendered.

"October 14th, 1863, the Sixth United States regiment left for Yorktown.

"January 16th, 1864, the Eighth United States regiment left for Hilton Head.

"The 22d and 25th regiments are now at Camp William Penn, waiting orders from the Government."

The duty of recruiting "Colored troops" in the Department of the Cumberland was committed by Secretary Stanton to an able, honest, and patriotic man, Mr. George L. Stearns, of Massachusetts. Mr. Stearns had devoted his energies, wealth, and time to the cause of the slave during the holy anti-slavery agitation. He was a wealthy merchant of Boston; dwelt, with a noble wife and beautiful children, at Medford. He had been, from the commencement of the agitation, an ultra Abolitionist. He regarded slavery as a gigantic system of complicated evils, at war with all the known laws of civilized society; inimical to the fundamental principles of political economy; destructive to republican institutions; hateful in the sight of God, and ever abhorrent to all honest men. He hated slavery. He hated truckling, obsequious, cringing hypocrites. He put his feelings into vigorous English, and keyed his deeds and actions to the sublime notes of charity that filled his heart and adorned a long and eminently useful life. He gave shelter to the majestic and heroic John Brown. His door was—like the heavenly gates—ajar to every fugitive from slavery, and his fiery earnestness kindled the flagging zeal of many a conservative friend of God's poor.

Such a man was chosen to put muskets into the hands of the Negroes in the Department of the Cumberland. His rank was that of major, with the powers of an assistant adjutant-general. He took up his headquarters at Nashville, Tennessee. He carried into the discharge of the duties of his important office large executive ability, excellent judgment, and rare fidelity. He organized the best regiments that served in the Western army. When he had placed the work in excellent condition he committed it to the care of Capt. R. D. Mussey, who afterward was made the Colonel of the 100th U. S. Colored Troops.

The intense and unrelenting prejudice against the Negroes, and their ignorance of military tactics, made it necessary for the Government to provide suitable white commissioned officers. The prospect was pleasing to many young white men in the ranks; and ambition went far to irradicate prejudice against Negro soldiers. Nearly every white private and non-commissioned officer was expecting the lightning to strike him; every one expected to be promoted to be a commissioned officer, and, therefore, had no prejudice against the men they hoped to command as their superior officers. To prepare the large number of applicants for commissions in Colored regiments a "Free Military School" was established at No. 1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Secretary Stanton gave the school the following official endorsement in the spring of 1864.

"WAR DEPARTMENT, } "WASHINGTON CITY, March 21, 1864. }

"THOMAS WEBSTER, ESQ., Chairman, "1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

"SIR: The project of establishing a free Military School for the education of candidates for the position of commissioned officers in the Colored Troops, received the cordial approval of this Department. Sufficient success has already attended the workings of the institution to afford the promise of much usefulness hereafter in sending into the service a class of instructed and efficient officers.

"Very respectfully, "Your obedient servant, "EDWIN M. STANTON, "Secretary of War."

In reply to a letter from Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, etc., of the Recruiting Committee, General Casey sent the following letter:

"WASHINGTON, D. C., March 7, 1864.

"DEAR SIR: Yours of the 4th instant is received, and I have directed the Secretary of the Board to attend to your request.

"It gives me great pleasure to learn that your School is prospering, and I am also pleased to inform you that the Board of which I am President has not as yet rejected one of your candidates. I am gratified to see that the necessity of procuring competent officers for the armies of the Republic is beginning to be better appreciated by the public.

"I trust I shall never have occasion to regret my agency in suggesting the formation of your School, and I am sure the country owes your Committee much for the energy and judgment with which it has carried it out. The liberality which opens its doors to the young men of all the States is noble, and does honor to those citizens of Philadelphia from whom its support is principally derived.

"Truly yours, "SILAS CASEY, "Major-General.

"TO THOMAS WEBSTER, ESQ., Chairman, "1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia."

In reference to applicants the following letter was written by the Adjutant-General:

"GENERAL ORDERS, } "No. 125." }

"WAR DEPARTMENT," "ADJUTANT-GEN.'S OFFICE, "WASHINGTON, March 29, 1864.

"Furloughs, not to exceed thirty days in each case, to the non-commissioned officers and privates of the army who may desire to enter the Free Military School at Philadelphia, may be granted by the Commanders of Armies and Departments, when the character, conduct, and capacity of the applicants are such as to warrant their immediate and superior commanders in recommending them for commissioned appointments in the regiments of colored troops.

"By order of the Secretary of War.

"E. D. TOWNSEND, "Assistant Adjutant-General."

The organization of the school was as follows:

Chief Preceptor.

JOHN H. TAGGART

(Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps), Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.

Assistant Professors.

MILITARY STAFF.

ALBERT L. MAGILTON (Graduate of West Point Military Academy, and late Colonel 4th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps), Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.

LEVI FETTERS (Late Captain 175th Pennsylvania Regiment), Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.

STUDENT DANL. W. HERR (Late 1st Lieutenant Co. E., 122d Pennsylvania Regiment), Post Adjutant.

STUDENT J. HALE SYPHER, OF PENNSYLVANIA, Field Adjutant.

STUDENT LOUIS M. TAFT. M.D. (Graduate of University of Penn.), Surgeon.

ACADEMIC STAFF.

JOHN P. BIRCH, A.M., A. E. ROGERSON, A.M., Professors of Mathematics, Geography, and History

Wm. L. WILSON, Librarian and Phonographic Clerk.

STUDENT CHARLES BENTRICK, SR., Postmaster.

JAMES BUCHANAN (COLORED), Messenger.

Within less than six months 1,051 applicants had been examined; 560 passed, and 491 were rejected.

Four regular classes were formed, and in addition to daily recitations the students were required to drill twice every day. The school performed excellent work; and furnished for the service many brave and efficient officers.

By December, 1863, 100,000 Colored Troops were in the service. About 50,000 were armed by that time and in the field.

Everywhere they were winning golden laurels by their aptitude in drill, their patient performance of the duties of the camp, and by their matchless courage in the deadly field. The young white officers who so cheerfully bore the odium of commanding Colored Troops, and who so heroically faced the dangers of capture and cruel death, had no superiors in the army. They had the supreme satisfaction of commanding brave men to whom they soon found themselves deeply attached. It was a school in which the noblest and purest patriot might feel himself honored and inspired to the performance of deathless deeds of valor.

The following tables indicate the manner in which the work was done.

Analysis of Examination of Applicants for Command of Colored Troops, before the Board at Washington, of which Major-General Silas Casey is President, from the organization of the Board to March 29th, 1864, inclusive.

Number accepted and for what rank recommended. - Colonels. Lieutenant-Colonels. Majors. Rank. Captains. 1st Lieutenants. 2d Lieutenants. Number Number examined. rejected. Colonels 4 - - 2 - - - 2 Lieutenant-Colonels 3 - 2 - - 1 - - Majors 9 2 3 1 2 - - 1 Captains 68 3 7 8 20 5 3 22 1st Lieutenants 52 3 - 4 10 8 7 20 2d Lieutenants 24 - - - 9 2 3 10 Sergeants 505 - 1 - 62 75 133 234 Corporals 230 - - - 23 46 64 97 Privates 449 - - - 26 57 124 242 Civilians 429 1 6 15 48 49 94 216 1,773 9 19 30 200 243 428 844 Students of the Philadelphia Free Military School 94 2 4 6 28 25 25 4 1,867 11 23 36 228 268 453 848

Analysis of the Examination to 31st March, 1864, of the Students of the Philadelphia Free Military School, before the Board of Examiners at Washington, for Applicants for Command of Colored Troops, Major-General Silas Casey, President.

Number accepted and for what rank recommended. - Colonels. Lieut-Colonels. Majors. Rank. Captains. 1st Lieutenants. 2d Lieutenants. Number Number examined. rejected. Sergeants 14 - 1 - 3 3 6 1 Corporals 8 - - - 2 4 2 - Privates 33 1 - 1 9 11 10 1 Civilians[95] 39 1 3 5 14 6 8 2 94 2 4 6 28 24 26 4

The following official table gives the entire number of Colored Troops in the army from beginning to end.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

Colored Troops furnished 1861-'65. Connecticut 1,764 Maine 104 Massachusetts 3,966 New Hampshire 125 Rhode Island 1,837 Vermont 120 ——— Total of New England States 7,916

New Jersey 1,185 New York 4,125 Pennsylvania 8,612 ——— Total of Middle States 13,922

STATES AND TERRITORIES.—(Continued.)

Colored Troops furnished 1861-'65. Colorado Ter. 95 Dakota Ter. - Illinois 1,811 Indiana 1,537 Iowa 440 Kansas 2,080 Michigan 1,387 Minnesota 104 Nebraska Ter. - New Mexico Ter. - Ohio 5,092 Wisconsin 165 ——— Total, Western States and Territories 12,711

California - Nevada - Oregon - Washington Ter. - Delaware 954 Dist. Columbia 3,269 Kentucky 23,703 Maryland 8,718 Missouri 8,344 West Virginia 196 ——— Total, Border States 45,184

Alabama 4,969 Arkansas 5,526 Florida 1,044 Georgia - Louisiana 3,486 Mississippi 17,869 North Carolina 5,035 South Carolina 5,462 Tennessee 20,133 Texas 47 Virginia - ——— Total, Southern States 63,571

STATES AND TERRITORIES.—(Continued.)

Colored Troops furnished 1861-'65. Indian Nation - Colored Troops[96] - ———- Grand Total 173,079 At Large 733 Not accounted for 5,083 Officers 7,122 ———- Total 186,017

Notwithstanding the complete demonstration of fact that Negroes were required as United States soldiers, there were many opposers of the movement. Some of the best men and leading journals were very conservative on this question. An elaborate and cautious editorial in the "New York Times" of February 16, 1863, fairly exhibits the nervousness of the North on the subject of the military employment of the Negro.

"USE OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.

"One branch of Congress has rejected a bill authorizing the enlistment of negro soldiers. Mr. Sumner declares his intention to persist in forcing the passage of such a law by offering it as an amendment to some other bill. Meantime the President, by laws already enacted, has full authority over the subject, and we can see no good object to be attained by forcing it into the discussions of Congress and adding it to the causes of dissension already existing in the country at large.

"A law of last Congress authorized the President to use the negroes as laborers or otherwise, as they can be made most useful in the work of quelling the rebellion. Under this authority, it is understood that he has decided to use them in certain cases as soldiers. Some of them are already employed in garrisoning Southern forts, on the Mississippi River, which whites cannot safely occupy on account of the climate. Governor Sprague has authority to raise negro regiments in Rhode Island, and has proclaimed his intention to lead them when raised in person, and Gov. Andrew has received similar authority for the State of Massachusetts. We see, therefore, not the slightest necessity for any further legislation on this subject, and hope Mr. Sumner will consent that Congress may give its attention, during the short remainder of its session, to topics of pressing practical importance.

"Whether negroes shall or shall not be employed as soldiers, seems to us purely a question of expediency, and to be solved satisfactorily only by experiment. As to our right so to employ them, it seems absurd to question it for a moment. The most bigoted and inveterate stickler for the absolute divinity of slavery in the Southern States would scarcely insist that, as a matter of right, either constitutional or moral, we could not employ negroes as soldiers in the army. Whether they are, or are not, by nature, by law, or by usage, the equals of the white man, makes not the slightest difference in this respect. Even those at the North who are so terribly shocked at the prospect of their being thus employed, confine their objections to grounds of expediency. They urge:

"1st. That the negroes will not fight. This, if true, is exclusive against their being used as soldiers. But we see no way of testing the question except by trying the experiment. It will take but a very short time and but very few battles to determine whether they have courage, steadiness, subjection to military discipline and the other qualities essential to good soldiership or not. If they have, this objection will fall, if not then beyond all question they will cease to be employed.

"2d. It is said that the whites will not fight with them—that the prejudice against them is so strong that our own citizens will not enlist, or will quit the service, if compelled to fight by their side,—and that we shall thus lose two white soldiers for one black one that we gain. If this is true, they ought not to be employed. The object of using them is to strengthen our military force; and if the project does not accomplish this, it is a failure. The question, moreover, is one of fact, not of theory. It matters nothing to say that it ought not to have this effect—that the prejudice is absurd and should not be consulted. The point is, not what men ought to do, but what they will do. We have to deal with human nature, with prejudice, with passion, with habits of thought and feeling, as well as with reason and sober judgment and the moral sense. Possibly the Government may have made a mistake in its estimate of the effect of this measure on the public mind. The use of negroes as soldiers may have a worse effect on the army and on the people than they have supposed.

"But this is a matter of opinion upon which men have differed. Very prominent and influential persons, Governors of States, Senators, popular Editors and others have predicted the best results from such a measure, while others have anticipated the worst. The President has resolved to try the experiment. If it works well, the country will be the gainer. If not, we have no doubt it will be abandoned. If the effect of using negroes as soldiers upon the army and the country, proves to be depressing and demoralizing, so as to weaken rather than strengthen our military operations, they will cease to be employed. The President is a practical man, not at all disposed to sacrifice practical results to abstract theories.

"3d. It is said we shall get no negroes—or not enough to prove of any service. In the free States very few will volunteer, and in the Slave States we can get but few, because the Rebels will push them Southward as fast as we advance upon them. This may be so. We confess we share, with many others, the opinion that it will.

"But we may as well wait patiently the short time required to settle the point. When we hear more definitely from Gov. Sprague's black battalions and Gov. Andrew's negro brigades, we shall know more accurately what to think of the measure as one for the Free States; and when we hear further of the success of Gen. Banks and Gen. Saxton in enlisting them at the South, we can form a better judgment of the movement there. If we get very few or even none, the worst that can be said will be that the project is a failure; and the demonstration that it is so will have dissipated another of the many delusions which dreamy people have cherished about this war.

"4th. The use of negroes will exasperate the South; and some of our Peace Democrats make that an objection to the measure. We presume it will; but so will any other scheme we may adopt which is warlike and effective in its character and results. If that consideration is to govern us, we must follow Mr. Vallandingham's advice and stop the war entirely, or as Mr. McMasters puts it in his Newark speech, go 'for an immediate and unconditional peace.' We are not quite ready for that yet.

"The very best thing that can be done under existing circumstances, in our judgment, is to possess our Souls in patience while the experiment is being tried. The problem will probably speedily solve itself—much more speedily than heated discussion or harsh criminations can solve it."

It didn't require a great deal of time for the Black troops to make a good impression; and while the Congress, the press, and the people were being exercised over the probable out-come, the first regiment of ex-slaves ever equipped for the service was working a revolution in public sentiment. On the last day of January, 1863, the "New York Tribune" printed the following editorial on the subject:

"A disloyal minority in the House is factiously resisting the passage of the Steven's bill, authorizing the President to raise and equip 150,000 soldiers of African descent. Meanwhile, in the Department of the South a full regiment of blacks has been enlisted under Gen. Saxton; is already uniformed and armed, and has been actively drilling for the last seven weeks. A letter which we printed on Wednesday from our Special Correspondent, who is usually well qualified to judge of its military proficiency, says of this regiment that no honest-minded, unprejudiced observer could come to any other conclusion than that it had attained a remarkable proficiency in the short period during which it had been drilled. We have in addition from an officer of the regiment, who is thoroughly informed as to its condition, a very interesting statement of its remarkable progress, and some valuable suggestions on the employment of negro troops in general.

"'This regiment—the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson—marched on the 17th for the first time through the streets of Beaufort. It was the remark of many bitterly pro-slavery officers that they looked "splendidly." They marched through by platoons, and returned by the flank; the streets were filled with soldiers and citizens, but every man looked straight before him and carried himself steadily. How many white regiments do the same? One black soldier said: "We didn't see a thing in Beaufort; ebery man hold his head straight up to de front, ebery step was worth a half dollar."

"'Many agreed with what is my deliberate opinion,' writes this officer, 'that no regiment in this department can, even now, surpass this one. In marching in regimental line I have not seen it equalled. In the different modes of passing from line into column, and from column into line, in changing front, countermarching, forming divisions, and forming square, whether by the common methods, or by Casey's methods, it does itself the greatest credit. Nor have I yet discovered the slightest ground of inferiority to white troops.

"'So far is it from being true that the blacks as material soldiers are inferior to white, that they are in some respects manifestly superior; especially in aptness for drill, because of their imitativeness and love of music; docility in discipline, when their confidence is once acquired; and enthusiasm for the cause. They at least know what they are fighting for. They have also a pride as soldiers, which is not often found in our white regiments, where every private is only too apt to think himself specially qualified to supersede his officers. They are above all things faithful and trustworthy on duty from the start. In the best white regiments it has been found impossible to trust newly-enlisted troops with the countersign—they invariably betray it to their comrades. There has been but one such instance in this black regiment, and that was in the case of a mere boy, whose want of fidelity excited the greatest indignation among his comrades.

"'Drunkenness, the bane of our army, does not exist among the black troops. There has not been one instance in the regiment. Enough. The only difficulty which threatened to become at all serious was that of absence without leave and overstaying passes, but this was checked by a few decided measures and has ceased entirely.

"'When this regiment was first organized, some months ago, it had to encounter bitter hostility from the white troops at Port Royal, and there was great exultation when General Hunter found himself obliged to disband it. Since its reorganization this feeling seems to have almost disappeared. There is no complaint by the privates of insult or ill-treatment, formerly disgracefully common from their white comrades.

"'It has been supposed that these black troops would prove fitter for garrison duty than active service in the field. No impression could be more mistaken. Their fidelity as sentinels adapts them especially, no doubt, to garrison duty; but their natural place is in the advance. There is an inherent dash and fire about them which white troops of more sluggish Northern blood do not emulate, and their hearty enthusiasm shows itself in all ways. Such qualities are betrayed even in drill, as anybody may know who has witnessed the dull, mechanical way in which ordinary troops make a bayonet charge on the parade ground, and contrasts it with the spirit of those negro troops in the same movement. They are to be used, moreover, in a country which they know perfectly. Merely from their knowledge of wood-craft and water-craft, it would be a sheer waste of material to keep them in garrison. It is scarcely the knowledge which is at once indispensable and impossible to be acquired by our troops. See these men and it is easier to understand the material of which the famous Chasseurs d'Afrique are composed.'

"General Saxton, in a letter published yesterday, said: 'In no regiment have I ever seen duty performed with so much cheerfulness and alacrity. * * * In the organization of this regiment I have labored under difficulties which might have discouraged one who had less faith in the wisdom of the measure; but I am glad to report that the experiment is a complete success. My belief is that when we get a footing on the mainland regiments may be raised which will do more than any now in the service to put an end to this rebellion.'

"We are learning slowly, very slowly, in this war to use the means of success which lie ready to our hands. We have learnt at last that the negro is essential to our success, but we are still hesitating whether to allow him to do all he can or only a part.

"It will not take many such proofs as this black regiment now offers to convince us of the full value of our new allies. But we ought to go beyond that selfishness which regards only our own necessities and remember that the negro has a right to fight for his freedom, and that he will be all the more fit to enjoy his new destiny by helping to achieve it."

On the 28th of March, 1863, Mr. Greeley sent forth the following able and sensible editorial on the Negro as a soldier:

"NEGRO TROOPS.

"Facts are beginning to dispel prejudices. Enemies of the negro race, who have persistently denied the capacity and doubted the courage of the Blacks, are unanswerably confuted by the good conduct and gallant deeds of the men whom they persecute and slander. From many quarters come evidence of the swiftly approaching success which is to crown what is still by some persons deemed to be the experiment of arming whom the Proclamation of Freedom liberates.

"The 1st and 2d South Carolina Volunteers, under Colonels Higginson and Montgomery, have ascended the St. John's River in Florida as far as Jacksonville, and have re-occupied that important town which was once before taken and afterward abandoned by the Union forces. Many of the negroes composing these regiments had been slaves in this very place. Their memory of old wrongs, of the privations, outrages and tortures of Slavery, must here, if anywhere, have been fresh and vivid, and the passions which opportunity for just revenges stimulates even in white breasts, ought to have been roused more than in all other places on the spot where they had suffered.

"If, then, Jacksonville were to-day in ashes, and the ghastly spirit visions of 'The World' materialized into terrible realities, the negro haters would have no, cause to be disappointed. 'The World' hailed the alleged repulse and massacre of the negroes and white officers—a report which it invented outright, in sheer malignity, in order to forestall public opinion by creating a belief in the failure of the expedition—would have changed into agonized shrieks over the outrages on its Southern brethren. The experiment of subjecting negroes to military rules and accustoming them to those amenities of civilized warfare which the rebels so uniformly practice would again have been declared to be a hopeless failure; and for the hundredth time the Proclamation and the radicals who advised it would have been pilloried for public execration.

"Since, however, the contrary of all this is true, it may be presumed by a confiding public which does not read it that 'The World' has honestly acknowledged the injustice of its slanders. It is unpleasant to disabuse a confiding public on any subject, but we who are sometimes obliged to look at that paper as a professional duty, regret to say that we have not discovered a single evidence of its repentance. The facts are, however, that Colonel Higginson's men landed quietly at Jacksonville, marched through its streets in perfect order, committed no outrages or excesses of any kind, and by the testimony of all witnesses conducted themselves with a military decorum and perfect discipline which is far from common among white regiments in similar circumstances. They have gone before this time still further into the interior, and will doubtless do good service in a direction where their presence has been least expected by the Rebels. In the only instance in which the white chivalry ventured to make a stand against them, the whites were defeated and driven off the field by the Blacks.

"The truth is that the fitness of negroes to be soldiers has long since, in this country and elsewhere, been amply demonstrated, and the success of Col. Higginson's Black Troops is no matter of surprise to any person tolerably well informed about the history of the race. If it were in any sense an experiment, the only thing to be tested was the obstinacy of our Saxon prejudice which denied the possibility of success, and did what it could to prevent it. But even Saxon prejudice must shortly yield to the logic of facts."

In the face of the fact that the United States Government had employed Negroes as soldiers to fight the battles of the Union, there were men of intelligence who held that it was all wrong in fact, in policy, and in point of law. And this opinion attained such proportions that the Secretary of War felt called upon to request the opinion of Judge Advocate Holt. It is given here.

ENLISTMENT OF SLAVES.

In a letter to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated Aug. 20, 1863, Judge Advocate Holt said: "The right of the Government to employ for the suppression of the rebellion persons of African Descent held to service or labor under the local law, rests firmly on two grounds:

"First, as property. Both our organic law and the usages of our institutions under it recognize fully the authority of the Government to seize and apply to public use private property, on making compensation therefor. What the use may be to which it is to be applied does not enter into the question of the right to make the seizure, which is untrammelled in its exercise, save by the single condition mentioned.

"Secondly, as persons. While those of African Descent held to service or labor in several of the States, occupy under the laws of such States, the status of property; they occupy also under the Federal Government, the status of 'persons.' They are referred to so nomine in the Constitution of the United States, and it is not as property but as 'persons' that they are represented on the floor of Congress, and thus form a prominent constituent element alike in the organization and practical administration of the Government.

"The obligation of all persons—irrespective of creed or color—to bear arms, if physically capable of doing so, in defence of the Government under which they live and by which they are protected, is one that is universally acknowledged and enforced. Corresponding to this obligation is the duty resting on those charged with the administration of the Government, to employ such persons in the military service whenever the public safety may demand it. Congress realized both this obligation on the one hand, and this duty on the other when, by the 12th section of the Act of the 17th of July, 1862, it was enacted that 'the President be and is hereby authorized to receive into the service of the United States for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service or any other labor, or any military or naval service for which they may be found competent, persons of African Descent, and such persons shall be enrolled and organized under such regulations not inconsistent with the Constitution, and the laws, as the President may prescribe.'

"The terms of this Act are without restriction and no distinction is made, or was intended to be made, between persons of African Descent held to service or labor or those not so held.

"The President is empowered to receive them all into the military service, and assign them such duty as they may be found competent to perform.

"The tenacious and brilliant valor displayed by troops of this race at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, and Fort Wagner, has sufficiently demonstrated to the President and to the country, the character of service of which they are capable. In the interpretation given to the Enrolment Act, free citizens of African Descent are treated as citizens of the United States, in the sense of the law, and are everywhere being drafted into the military service.

"In reference to the other class of persons of this race—those held to service or labor—the 12th section of the Act of July 17th is still in full force, and the President may in his discretion receive them into the army and assign them to such field of duty as he may deem them prepared to occupy. In view of the loyalty of this race, and of the obstinate courage which they have shown themselves to possess, they certainly constitute at this crisis in our history a most powerful and reliable arm of the public defence. Whether this arm shall now be exerted is not a question of power or right, but purely of policy, to be determined by the estimate which may be entertained of the conflict in which we are engaged, and of the necessity that presses to bring this waste of blood and treasure to a close. A man precipitated into a struggle for his life on land or sea, instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth every energy with which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes upon every source of strength within his grasp; and a nation battling for existence, that does not do the same, may well be regarded as neither wise nor obedient to that great law of self-preservation, from which are derived our most urgent and solemn duties. That there exists a prejudice against the employment of persons of African Descent is undeniable; it is, however, rapidly giving way, and never had any foundation in reason or loyalty. It originated with and has been diligently nurtured by those in sympathy with the Rebellion, and its utterance at this moment is necessarily in the interests of treason.

"Should the President feel that the public interests require he shall exert the power with which he is clothed by the 12th section of the Act of the 17th of July, his action should be in subordination to the Constitutional principle which exacts that compensation shall be made for private property devoted to the public uses. A just compensation to loyal claimants to the service or labor of persons of African Descent enlisted in our army, would accord with the uniform practice of the Government and the genius of our institutions!

"Soldiers of this class, after having perilled their lives in the defence of the Republic, could not be re-enslaved without a national dishonor revolting and unendurable for all who are themselves to be free. The compensation made, therefore, should be such as entirely to exhaust the interest of claimants; so that when soldiers of this class lay down their arms at the close of the war, they may at once enter into the enjoyment of that freedom symbolized by the flag which they have followed and defended."

The Negro was now a soldier, legally, "constitutionally." He had donned the uniform of an American soldier; was entrusted with the honor and defence of his country, and had set before him liberty as his exceeding great reward. Rejected at first he was at last urged into the service—even drafted! He was charged with the solution of a great problem—his fitness, his valor. History shall record his deeds of patriotism, his marvellous achievements, his splendid triumphs.

FOOTNOTES:

[91] Charleston Mercury, April 30, 1861.

[92] They were, no doubt, from Massachusetts.

[93] New York Herald, Tuesday, August 5, 1862.

[94] Greeley, vol. ii, pp. 517, 518.

[95] Many of these had previously been in the three months', nine months', and three years' service, from which they had been honorably discharged.

[96] This gives Colored Troops enlisted in the States in rebellion; besides this, there were 92,576 Colored Troops (included with the white soldiers) in the quotas of the several States.



CHAPTER XIX.

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF SLAVES AS SOLDIERS.—TRIALS OF THE NEGRO SOLDIER.—HE UNDERGOES PERSECUTION FROM THE WHITE NORTHERN TROOPS, AND BARBAROUS TREATMENT FROM THE REBELS.—EDITORIAL OF THE "NEW YORK TIMES" ON THE NEGRO SOLDIER IN BATTLE.—REPORT OF THE "TRIBUNE" ON THE GALLANT EXPLOITS OF THE 1ST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS.—NEGRO TROOPS IN ALL THE DEPARTMENTS.—NEGRO SOLDIERS IN THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.—DEATH OF CAPTAIN ANDRE CALLIOUX.—DEATH OF COLOR-SERGEANT ANSELMAS PLANCIANCOIS.—AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.—OFFICIAL REPORT OF GEN. BANKS.—HE APPLAUDS THE VALOR OF THE COLORED REGIMENTS AT PORT HUDSON.—GEORGE H. BOKER'S POEM ON "THE BLACK REGIMENT."—BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND, JUNE, 1863.—DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE.—MEMORABLE EVENTS OF JULY, 1863.—BATTLE ON MORRIS ISLAND.—BRAVERY OF SERGEANT CARNEY.—AN ACCOUNT OF THE 54TH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT BY EDWARD L. PIERCE TO GOVERNOR ANDREW.—DEATH OF COL. SHAW.—COLORED TROOPS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.—BATTLE OF PETERSBURG.—TABLE SHOWING THE LOSSES AT NASHVILLE.—ADJT.-GEN. THOMAS ON NEGRO SOLDIERS.—AN EXTRACT FROM THE "NEW YORK TRIBUNE" IN BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERLY QUALITIES OF THE NEGROES.—LETTER RECEIVED BY COL. DARLING FROM MR. ADEN AND COL. FOSTER PRAISING THE EMINENT QUALIFICATIONS OF THE NEGRO FOR MILITARY LIFE.—HISTORY RECORDS THEIR DEEDS OF VALOR IN THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION.

All history, ancient and modern, Pagan and Christian, justified the conduct of the Federal Government in the employment of slaves as soldiers. Greece had tried the experiment; and at the battle of Marathon there were two regiments of heavy infantry composed of slaves. The beleaguered city of Rome offered freedom to her slaves who should volunteer as soldiers; and at the battle of Cannae a regiment of Roman slaves made Hannibal's cohorts reel before their unequalled courage. When Abraham heard of the loss of his stock, he armed his slaves, pursued the enemy, and regained his possessions. Negro officers as well as soldiers had shared the perils and glories of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte; and even the royal guard at the Court of Imperial France had been mounted with black soldiers. In two wars in North America Negro soldiers had followed the fortunes of military life, and won the applause of white patriots on two continents. So then all history furnished a precedent for the guidance of the United States Government in the Civil War in America.

But there were several aggravating questions which had to be referred to the future. In both wars in this country the Negro had fought a foreign foe—an enemy representing a Christian civilization. He had a sense of security in going to battle with the colonial fathers; for their sacred battle-songs gave him purpose and courage. And, again, the Negro knew that the English soldier had never disgraced the uniform of Hampden or Wellington by practising the cruelties of uncivilized warfare upon helpless prisoners. In the Rebellion it was altogether different. Here was a war between the States of one Union. Here was a war between two sections differing in civilization. Here was a war all about the Negro; a war that was to declare him forever bond, or forever free. Now, in such a war the Negro appeared in battle against his master. For two hundred and forty-three years the Negro had been learning the lesson of obedience and obsequious submission to the white man. The system of slavery under which he had languished had destroyed the family relation, the source of all virtue, self-respect, and moral growth. The tendency of slavery was to destroy the confidence of the slave in his ability and resources, and to disqualify him for those relations where the noblest passion of mankind is to be exercised in an intelligent manner—amor patriae.

Negro soldiers were required by an act of Congress to fight for the Union at a salary of $10 per month, with $3 deducted for clothing—leaving them only $7 per month as their actual pay. White soldiers received $13 per month and clothing.[97]

The Negro soldiers had to run the gauntlet of the persecuting hate of white Northern troops, and, if captured, endure the most barbarous treatment of the rebels, without a protest on the part of the Government—for at least nearly a year. Hooted at, jeered, and stoned in the streets of Northern cities as they marched to the front to fight for the Union; scoffed at and abused by white troops under the flag of a common country, there was little of a consoling or inspiring nature in the experience of Negro soldiers.

"But none of these things" moved the Negro soldier. His qualifications for the profession of arms were ample and admirable. To begin with, the Negro soldier was a patriot of the highest order. No race of people in the world are more thoroughly domestic, have such tender attachments to home and friends as the Negro race. And when his soul was quickened with the sublime idea of liberty for himself and kindred—that his home and country were to be rid of the triple curse of slavery—his enthusiasm was boundless. His enthusiasm was not mere animal excitement. No white soldier who marched to the music of the Union possessed a more lofty conception of the sacredness of the war for the Union than the Negro. The intensity of his desires, the sincerity of his prayers, and the sublimity of his faith during the long and starless night of his bondage made the Negro a poet, after a fashion. To him there was poetry in our flag—the red, white, and blue. Our national odes and airs found a response in his soul, and inspired him to the performance of heroic deeds. He was always seeing something "sublime," "glorious," "beautiful," "grand," and "wonderful" in war. There was poetry in the swinging, measured tread of companies and regiments in drill or battle; and dress parade always found the Negro soldier in the height of his glory. His love of harmonious sounds, his musical faculty, and delight of show aided him in the performance of the most difficult manoeuvres. His imitativeness gave him facility in handling his musket and sabre; and his love of domestic animals, and natural strength made him a graceful cavalryman and an efficient artilleryman.

The lessons of obedience the Negro had learned so thoroughly as a slave were turned to good account as a soldier. He obeyed orders to the letter. He never used his discretion; he added nothing to, he subtracted nothing from, his orders; he made no attempt at reading between the lines; he did not interpret—he obeyed. Used to outdoor life, with excellent hearing, wonderful eyesight, and great vigilance, he was a model picket. Heard every sound, observed every moving thing, and was quick to shoot, and of steady aim. He was possessed of exceptionally good teeth, and, therefore, could bite his cartridge and hard tack. He had been trained to long periods of labor, poor food, and miserable quarters, and therefore, could endure extreme fatigue and great exposure.

His docility of nature, patient endurance, and hopeful disposition enabled him to endure long marches, severe hardships, and painful wounds. His joyous, boisterous songs on the march and in the camp; his victorious shout in battle, and his merry laughter in camp proclaimed him the insoluble enigma of military life. He never was discouraged; melancholia had no abiding place in his nature.

But how did the Negro meet his master in battle? How did he stand fire? On the 31st of July, 1863, the "New York Times," editorially answered these questions as follows:

"Negro soldiers have now been in battle at Port Hudson and at Milliken's Bend in Louisiana; at Helena in Arkansas, at Morris Island in South Carolina, and at or near Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. In two of these instances they assaulted fortified positions and led the assault; in two they fought on the defensive, and in one they attacked rebel infantry. In all of them they acted in conjunction with white troops and under command of white officers. In some instances they acted with distinguished bravery, and in all they acted as well as could be expected of raw troops.

"Some of these negroes were from the cotton States, others from New England States, and others from the slave States of the Northwest. Those who fought at Port Hudson were from New Orleans; those who fought at Battery Wagner were from Boston; those who fought at Helena and Young's Point were from the river counties of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Those who fought in the Indian Territory were from Missouri."

This is warm praise from a journal of the high, though conservative, character of the "Times." Warmer praise and more unqualified praise of the Negro soldier's fighting qualities could not be given. And it was made after a careful weighing of all the facts and evidence supplied from careful and reliable correspondents. But more specific evidence was being furnished on every hand. The 1st South Carolina Volunteers—the first regiment of Negroes existed during the war,—commanded by Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, was the first Black regiment of its character under the fire of the enemy. The regiment covered itself with glory during an expedition upon the St. John's River in Florida. The "Times" gave the following editorial notice of the expedition at the time, based upon the official report of the colonel and a letter from its special correspondent:

"THE NEGROES IN BATTLE.

"Colonel Higginson, of the 1st S. C. Volunteers, furnishes an entertaining official report of the exploits of his black regiment in Florida. He seems to think it necessary to put his case strongly, and in rather exalted language, as well as in such a way as to convince the public that negroes will fight. In this expedition, his battalion was repeatedly under fire—had rebel cavalry, infantry, and, says he, 'even artillery' arranged against them, yet in every instance, came off with unblemished honor and undisputed triumph. His men made the most urgent appeals to him to be allowed to press the flying enemy. They exhibited the most fiery energy beyond anything of which Colonel Higginson ever read, unless it may be in the case of the French Zouaves. He even says that 'it would have been madness to attempt with the bravest white troops what he successfully accomplished with black ones.' No wanton destruction was permitted, no personal outrages desired, during the expedition. The regiment, besides the victories which it achieved, and the large amount of valuable property which it secured, obtained a cannon and a flag which the Colonel very properly asks permission for the regiment to retain. The officers and men desire to remain permanently in Florida, and obtain supplies of lumber, iron, etc., for the Government. The Colonel puts forth a very good suggestion, to the effect that a 'chain of such posts would completely alter the whole aspect of the war in the seaboard slave States, and would accomplish what no accumulation of Northern regiments can so easily effect.' This is the very use for negro soldiers suggested in the Proclamation of the President. We have no doubt that the whole State of Florida might easily be held for the Government in this way, by a dozen negro regiments."[98]

On the 11th of February, 1863, the "Times" gave the following account of the exploits of this gallant regiment in the following explicit language:

"ACCOUNT OF A SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION INTO GEORGIA AND FLORIDA WITH A FORCE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 1ST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS.

"The bravery and good conduct of the regiment more than equalled the high anticipations of its commander. The men were repeatedly under fire,—were opposed by infantry, cavalry, and artillery,—fought on board a steamer exposed to heavy musketry fire from the banks of a narrow river,—were tried in all ways, and came off invariably with honor and success. They brought away property to a large amount, capturing also a cannon and a flag, which the Colonel asks leave to keep for the regiment, and which he and they have fairly won.

"It will not need many such reports an this—and there have been several before it—to shake our inveterate Saxon prejudice against the capacity and courage of negro troops. Everybody knows that they were used in the Revolution, and in the last war with Great Britain fought side by side with white troops, and won equal praises from Washington and Jackson. It is shown also that black sailors employed on our men-of-war, are valued by their commanders, and are on equal terms with their white comrades. If on the sea, why not on the land? No officer who has commanded black troops has yet reported against them. They are tried in the most unfavorable and difficult circumstances, but never fail. When shall we learn to use the full strength of the formidable ally who is only waiting for a summons to rally under the flag of the Union? Colonel Higginson says: 'No officer in this regiment now doubts that the successful prosecution of this war lies in the unlimited employment of black troops.' The remark is true in a military sense, and it has a still deeper political significance.

"When General Hunter has scattered 50,000 muskets among the negroes of the Carolinas, and General Butler has organized the 100,000 or 200,000 blacks for whom he may perhaps shortly carry arms to New Orleans, the possibility of restoring the Union as it was, with slavery again its dormant power, will be seen to have finally passed away. The negro is indeed the key to success."[99]

So here, in the Department of the South, where General Hunter had displayed such admirable military judgment, first, in emancipating the slave, and second, in arming them; here where the white Union soldiers and their officers had felt themselves insulted; and where the President had disarmed the 1st regiment of ex-slaves and removed the officer who had organized it, a few companies of Negro troops had fought rebel infantry, cavalry, artillery, and guerillas, and put them all to flight. They had invaded the enemy's country, made prisoners, and captured arms and flags; and without committing a single depredation. Prejudice gave room to praise, and the exclusive, distant spirit of white soldiers was converted into the warm and close admiration of comradeship. The most sanguine expectations and high opinions of the advocates of Negro soldiers were more than realized, while the prejudice of Negro haters was disarmed by the flinty logic and imperishable glory of Negro soldiership.[100]

Every Department had its Negro troops by this time; and everywhere the Negro was solving the problem of his military existence. At Port Hudson in May, 1863, he proved himself worthy of his uniform and the object of the most extravagant eulogies from the lips of men who were, but a few months before the battle, opposed to Negro soldiers. Mention has been made in another chapter of the Colored regiment raised in New Orleans under General Butler. After remaining in camp from the 7th of September, 1862, until May, 1863, they were quite efficient in the use of their arms. The 1st Louisiana regiment was ordered to report to General Dwight. The regiment was at Baton Rouge. Its commanding officer, Colonel Stafford [white], was under arrest when the regiment was about ready to go to the front.

The line officers assembled at his quarters to assure him that the regiment would do its duty in the day of battle, and to tender their regrets that he could not lead them on the field. At this moment the color-guard marched up to receive the regimental flags. Colonel Stafford stepped into his tent and returned with the flags. He made a speech full of patriotism and feeling, and concluded by saying: "Color-guard, protect, defend, die for, but do not surrender these flags!" Sergeant Planciancois said: "Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or report to God the reason why!" Noble words these, and brave! And no more fitting epitaph could mark the resting-place of a hero who has laid down his life in defence of human liberty! A king might well covet these sublime words of the dauntless Planciancois!

PORT HUDSON.

It was a question of grave doubt among white troops as to the fighting qualities of Negro soldiers. There were various doubts expressed by the officers on both sides of the line. The Confederates greeted the news that "niggers" were to meet them in battle with derision, and treated the whole matter as a huge joke. The Federal soldiers were filled with amazement and fear as to the issue.

It was the determination of the commanding officer at Port Hudson to assign this Negro regiment to a post of honor and danger. The regiment marched all night before the battle of Port Hudson, and arrived at one Dr. Chambers's sugar house on the 27th of May, 1863. It was just 5 A. M. when the regiment stacked arms. Orders were given to rest and breakfast in one hour. The heat was intense and the dust thick, and so thoroughly fatigued were the men that many sank in their tracks and slept soundly.

Arrangements were made for a field hospital, and the drum corps instructed where to carry the wounded. Officers' call was beaten at 5:30, when they received instructions and encouragement. "Fall in" was sounded at 6 o'clock, and soon thereafter the regiment was on the march. The sun was now shining in his full strength upon the field where a great battle was to be fought. The enemy was in his stronghold, and his forts were crowned with angry and destructive guns. The hour to charge had come. It was 7 o'clock. There was a feeling of anxiety among the white troops as they watched the movements of these Blacks in blue. The latter were anxious for the fray. At last the command came, "Forward, double-quick, march!" and on they went over the field of death. Not a musket was heard until the command was within four hundred yards of the enemy's works, when a blistering fire was opened upon the left wing of the regiment. Unfortunately Companies A, B, C, D, and E wheeled suddenly by the left flank. Some confusion followed, but was soon over. A shell—the first that fell on the line—killed and wounded about twelve men. The regiment came to a right about, and fell back for a few hundred yards, wheeled by companies, and faced the enemy again with the coolness and military precision of an old regiment on parade. The enemy was busy at work now. Grape, canister, shell, and musketry made the air hideous with their noise. A masked battery commanded a bluff, and the guns could be depressed sufficiently to sweep the entire field over which the regiment must charge. It must be remembered that this regiment occupied the extreme right of the charging line. The masked battery worked upon the left wing. A three-gun battery was situated in the centre, while a half dozen large pieces shelled the right, and enfiladed the regiment front and rear every time it charged the battery on the bluff. A bayou ran under the bluff, immediately in front of the guns. It was too deep to be forded by men. These brave Colored soldiers made six desperate charges with indifferent success, because

"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell."

The men behaved splendidly. As their ranks were thinned by shot and grape, they closed up into place, and kept a good line. But no matter what high soldierly qualities these men were endowed with, no matter how faithfully they obeyed the oft-repeated order to "charge," it was both a moral and physical impossibility for these men to cross the deep bayou that flowed at their feet—already crimson with patriots' blood—and capture the battery on the bluff. Colonel Nelson, who commanded this black brigade, despatched an orderly to General Dwight, informing him that it was not in the nature of things for his men to accomplish any thing by further charges. "Tell Colonel Nelson," said General Dwight, "I shall consider that he has accomplished nothing unless he takes those guns." This last order of General Dwight's will go into history as a cruel and unnecessary act. He must have known that three regiments of infantry, torn and shattered by about fifteen or twenty heavy guns, with an impassable bayou encircling the bluff, could accomplish nothing by charging. But the men, what could they do?

"Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die."

DEATH OF CAPTAIN ANDRE CALLIOUX.

Again the order to charge was given, and the men, worked up to a feeling of desperation on account of repeated failures, raised a cry and made another charge. The ground was covered with dead and wounded. Trees were felled by shell and solid shot; and at one time a company was covered with the branches of a falling tree. Captain Callioux was in command of Company E, the color company. He was first wounded in the left arm—the limb being broken above the elbow. He ran to the front of his company, waving his sword and crying, "Follow me." But when within about fifty yards of the enemy he was struck by a shell and fell dead in front of his company.

Many Greeks fell defending the pass at Thermopylae against the Persian army, but history has made peculiarly conspicuous Leonidas and his four hundred Spartans. In a not distant future, when a calm and truthful history of the battle of Port Hudson is written, notwithstanding many men fought and died there, the heroism of the "Black Captain," the accomplished gentleman and fearless soldier, Andre Callioux, and his faithful followers, will make a most fascinating picture for future generations to look upon and study.

DEATH OF COLOR-SERGEANT ANSELMAS PLANCIANCOIS.

"Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or report to God the reason why." It was now past 11 A.M., May 27, 1863. The men were struggling in front of the bluff. The brave Callioux was lying lifeless upon the field, that was now slippery with gore and crimson with blood. The enemy was directing his shell and shot at the flags of the First Regiment. A shell, about a six-pounder, struck the flag-staff, cut it in two, and carried away part of the head of Planciancois. He fell, and the flag covered him as a canopy of glory, and drank of the crimson tide that flowed from his mutilated head. Corporal Heath caught up the flag, but no sooner had he shouldered the dear old banner than a musket ball went crashing through his head and scattered his brains upon the flag, and he, still clinging to it, fell dead upon the body of Sergeant Planciancois. Another corporal caught up the banner and bore it through the fight with pride.

This was the last charge—the seventh; and what was left of this gallant Black brigade came back from the hell into which they had plunged with so much daring and forgetfulness seven times.

They did not capture the battery on the bluff it's true, but they convinced the white soldiers on both sides that they were both willing and able to help fight the battles of the Union. And if any person doubts the abilities of the Negro as a soldier, let him talk with General Banks, as we have, and hear "his golden eloquence on the black brigade at Port Hudson."

A few days after the battle a "New York Times" correspondent sent the following account to that journal:

"BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.

"In an account of the Battle of Port Hudson, the 'Times' correspondent says: 'Hearing the firing apparently more fierce and continuous to the right than anywhere else, I hurried in that direction, past the sugar house of Colonel Chambers, where I had slept, and advanced to near the pontoon bridge across the Big Sandy Bayou, which the negro regiments had erected, and where they were fighting most desperately. I had seen these brave and hitherto despised fellows the day before as I rode along the lines, and I had seen General Banks acknowledge their respectful salute as he would have done that of any white troops; but still the question was—with too many,—"Will they fight?" The black race was, on this eventful day, to be put to the test, and the question to be settled—now and forever,—whether or not they are entitled to assert their right to manhood. Nobly, indeed, have they acquitted themselves, and proudly may every colored man hereafter hold up his head, and point to the record of those who fell on that bloody field.

"'General Dwight, at least, must have had the idea, not only that they were men, but something more than men, from the terrific test to which he put their valor. Before any impression had been made upon the earthworks of the enemy, and in full face of the batteries belching forth their 62 pounders, these devoted people rushed forward to encounter grape, canister, shell, and musketry, with no artillery but two small howitzers—that seemed mere pop-guns to their adversaries—and no reserve whatever.

"'Their force consisted of the 1st. Louisiana Native Guards (with colored field-officers) under Lieut.-Colonel Bassett, and the 3d Louisiana Native Guards, Colonel Nelson (with white field-officers), the whole under command of the latter officer.

"'On going into action they were 1,080 strong, and formed into four lines, Lieut.-Colonel Bassett, 1st Louisiana, forming the first line, and Lieut.-Colonel Henry Finnegas the second. When ordered to charge up the works, they did so with the skill and nerve of old veterans, (black people, be it remembered who had never been in action before,) but the fire from the rebel guns was so terrible upon the unprotected masses, that the first few shots mowed them down like grass and so continued.

"'Colonel Bassett being driven back, Colonel Finnegas took his place, and his men being similarly cut to pieces, Lieut.-Colonel Bassett reformed and recommenced; and thus these brave people went in, from morning until 3:30 p.m., under the most hideous carnage that men ever had to withstand, and that very few white ones would have had nerve to encounter, even if ordered to. During this time, they rallied, and were ordered to make six distinct charges, losing thirty-seven killed, and one hundred and fifty-five wounded, and one hundred and sixteen missing,—the majority, if not all, of these being, in all probability, now lying dead on the gory field, and without the rites of sepulture; for when, by flag of truce, our forces in other directions were permitted to reclaim their dead, the benefit, through some neglect, was not extended to these black regiments.

"'The deeds of heroism performed by these colored men were such as the proudest white men might emulate. Their colors are torn to pieces by shot, and literally bespattered by blood and brains. The color-sergeant of the 1st. La., on being mortally wounded, hugged the colors to his breast, when a struggle ensued between the two color-corporals on each side of him, as to who should have the honor of bearing the sacred standard, and during this generous contention one was seriously wounded. One black lieutenant actually mounted the enemy's works three or four times, and in one charge the assaulting party came within fifty paces of them. Indeed, if only ordinarily supported by artillery and reserve, no one can convince us that they would not have opened a passage through the enemy's works.

"'Capt. Callioux of the 1st. La., a man so black that he actually prided himself upon his blackness, died the death of a hero, leading on his men in the thickest of the fight. One poor wounded fellow came along with his arm shattered by a shell, and jauntily swinging it with the other, as he said to a friend of mine: "Massa, guess I can fight no more." I was with one of the captains, looking after the wounded going in the rear of the hospital, when we met one limping along toward the front. On being asked where he was going, he said: "I been shot bad in the leg, captain, and dey want me to go to de hospital, but I guess I can gib 'em some more yet." I could go on filling your columns with startling facts of this kind, but I hope I have told enough to prove that we can hereafter rely upon black arms as well as white in crushing this internal rebellion. I long ago told you there was an army of 250,000 men ready to leap forward in defence of freedom at the first call. You know where to find them and what they are worth.

"'Although repulsed in an attempt which—situated as things were—was all but impossible, these regiments, though badly cut up, are still on hand, and burning with a passion ten times hotter from their fierce baptism of blood. Who knows, but that it is a black hand which shall first plant the standard of the Republic upon the doomed ramparts of Port Hudson?"[101]

The official report of Gen. Banks is given in full. It shows the disposition of the troops, and applauds the valor of the Colored regiments.

"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE GULF, } "BEFORE PORT HUDSON, May 30, 1863. }

"Major-General H: W. Halleck, General-in-Chief, Washington.

"GENERAL:—Leaving Sommesport on the Atchafalaya, where my command was at the date of my last dispatch, I landed at Bayou Sara at two o'clock on the morning of the 21st.

"A portion of the infantry were transported in steamers, and the balance of the infantry, artillery, cavalry, and wagon-train moving down on the west bank of the river, and from this to Bayou Sara.

"On the 23d a junction was effected with the advance of Major-General Augur and Brigadier-General Sherman, our line occupying the Bayou Sara road at a distance five miles from Port Hudson.

"Major-General Augur had an encounter with a portion of the enemy on the Bayou Sara road in the direction of Baton Rouge, which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, with heavy loss.

"On the 25th the enemy was compelled to abandon his first line of works.

"General Weitzel's brigade, which had covered our rear in the march from Alexandria, joined us on the 26th, and on the morning of the 27th a general assault was made upon the fortifications.

"The artillery opened fire between 5 and 6 o'clock, which was continued with animation during the day. At 10 o'clock Weitzel's brigade, with the division of General Grover, reduced to about two brigades, and the division of General Emory, temporarily reduced by detachments to about a brigade, under command of Colonel Paine, with two regiments of colored troops, made an assault upon the right of the enemy's works, crossing Sandy Creek, and driving them through the woods to their fortifications.

"The fight lasted on this line until 4 o'clock, and was very severely contested. On the left, the infantry did not come up until later in the day; but at 2 o'clock an assault was opened on the centre and left of centre by the divisions under Major-General Augur and Brigadier-General Sherman.

"The enemy was driven into his works, and our troops moved up to the fortifications, holding the opposite sides of the parapet with the enemy on the right. Our troops still hold their position on the left. After dark the main body, being exposed to a flank fire, withdrew to a belt of woods, the skirmishers remaining close upon the fortifications.

"In the assault of the 27th, the behavior, of the officers and men was most gallant, and left nothing to be desired. Our limited acquaintance of the ground and the character of the works, which were almost hidden from our observation until the moment of approach, alone prevented the capture of the post.

"On the extreme right of our line I posted the first and third regiments of negro troops. The First regiment of Louisiana Engineers, composed exclusively of colored men, excepting the officers, was also engaged in the operations of the day. The position occupied by these troops was one of importance, and called for the utmost steadiness and bravery in those to whom it was confided.

"It gives me pleasure to report that they answered every expectation. Their conduct was heroic. No troops could be more determined or more daring. They made, during the day, three charges upon the batteries of the enemy, suffering very heavy losses, and holding their position at nightfall with the other troops on the right of our line. The highest commendation is bestowed upon them by all the officers in command on the right. Whatever doubt may have existed before as to the efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this day proves conclusively to those who were in a condition to observe the conduct of these regiments, that the Government will find in this class of troops effective supporters and defenders.