_Recognition of Negro Soldiers with Officers of their own
Color.--Society in New Orleans.--The Inhuman Master.--Justice.--Change
of Opinion.--The Free Colored Population._
When Major-Gen. Butler found himself in possession of New Orleans, he
was soon satisfied of the fact that there were but few loyalists amongst
the whites, while the Union feeling of the colored people was apparent
from the hour of his landing; they having immediately called upon the
commander, and, through a committee, offered their services in behalf
of the Federal cause. Their offer was accepted, as the following will
show:--
“Headquarters Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, Aug. 22, 1862.
“General Order, No. 63:
“Whereas, on the twenty-third 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 military 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:--
“‘The State of Louisiana.
[Seal of the State.]
“‘By Thomas Overton Moore, Governor of the State of Louisiana, and
Commander-in-Chief of the Militia thereof.
“‘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), First Division of the Militia
of Louisiana, to serve for the term of the war,
“I do hereby appoint and commission him Captain as aforesaid, to take
rank as such, from the second day of May, 1861.
“‘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.
“‘In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent,
and the seal of the State to be hereunto annexed.
“‘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-two.
“‘(Signed)
“‘THOMAS O. MOORE.
“‘By the Governor.
“‘P. D. HARDY, _Secretary of State_.”
[INDORSED.]
“‘I, Maurice Grivot, Adjutant and Inspector-General of the State of
Louisiana, do hereby certify that----------------, named in the within
commission, did, on the twenty-second day of May, in the year 1861,
deposit In my office his written acceptance of the office to which he is
commissioned, and his oath of office taken according to law.
“‘M. GRIVOT’”_Adjutant and Inspector-General La_.’
“And whereas such 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:--
“‘Headquarters Louisiana Militia,
“‘Adjutant-General’s Office, Mardi 24, 1862.
“‘Order No. 426:
“‘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 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 hold themselves prepared for such orders as may be
transmitted to them.
“‘II. The colonel commanding will report without delay to Major-Gen.
Lewis, commanding State Militia.
“’ By order of
“‘THOS. O. MOORE, _Governor_.
“‘31. GRIVOT, _Adjutant-General_.’
“And whereas said military organization, by the same order, was directed
to report to Major-Gen. Lewis for service, but did not leave the city of
New Orleans when he did:
“Now, therefore, the commanding-general, believing that a large portion
of this military 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 wrongs and outrages; 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 Packingham and his myrmidons, carrying the black flag of ‘beauty
and booty’.
“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
corps of the United States, subject to the approval of the President of
the United States. All such persons are required to report themselves
at the Touro Charity Building, Front Levee Street, New Orleans, where
proper officers will muster them into the service of the United States.
“By command of
“R. S. DAVIS, _Captain and A.A.A.G._
“_Major-Gen. BUTLER_.”
The commanding general soon discovered that he was amongst a different
people from those with whom he had been accustomed to associate. New
Orleans, however, though captured was not subdued. The city had been for
years the headquarters and focus of all Southern rowdyism. An immense
crowd of “loafers,” many without regular occupation or means, infested
the streets, controlled the ballot-boxes, nominated the judges, selected
the police, and affected to rule every one except a few immensely
wealthy planters, who governed them by money. These rowdies had
gradually dissolved society, till New Orleans had become the most
blood-thirsty city in the world; a city where every man went armed,
where a sharp word was invariably answered by a stab, and where the
average of murdered men taken to one hospital was three a day. The mob
were bitter advocates of slavery, held all Yankees in abhorrence, and
guided by the astute brain of Pierre Soulé, whilom ambassador to Spain,
resolved to contest with Gen. Butler the right to control the city. They
might as well have contested it with Bonaparte. The first order issued
by the general indicated a policy from which he never swerved. The
mob had surrounded the St. Charles Hotel, threatening an attack on the
building, then the general’s headquarters; and Gen. Williams, commanding
the troops round it, reported that he would be unable to control the
mob. “Gen. Butler, in his serenest manner, replied, ‘Give my compliments
to Gen. Williams, and tell him, if he finds he cannot control the mob,
to open upon them with artillery.’” The mob did that day endeavor
to seize Judge Summers, the Recorder; and he was only saved by the
determined courage of Lieut. Kinsman, in command of an armed party. From
this moment the general assumed the attitude he never abandoned, that of
master of New Orleans, making his own will the law. He at first retained
the municipal organization; but, finding the officials incurably
hostile, he sent them to Fort Lafayette, and thenceforward ruled alone,
feeding the people, re-establishing trade, maintaining public order, and
seeing that negroes obtained some reasonable measure of security. Their
evidence was admitted, “Louisiana having, when she went out of the
Union, taken her black code with her;” the whipping-house was abolished,
and all forms of torture sternly prohibited.
The following interesting narrative, given by a correspondent of “The
Atlantic Monthly,” will show, to some extent, the scenes which Gen.
Butler had to pass through in connection with slavery:--
“One Sunday morning, late last summer, as I came down to the
breakfast-room, I was surprised to find a large number of persons
assembled in the library.
“When I reached the door, a member of the staff took me by the arm, and
drew me into a room toward a young and delicate mulatto girl, who was
standing against the opposite wall, with the meek, patient bearing of
her race, so expressive of the system of repression to which they have
been so long subjected.
“Drawing down the border of her dress, my conductor showed me a sight
more revolting than I trust ever again to behold.
“The poor girl’s back was flayed until the quivering flesh resembled
a fresh beefsteak scorched on a gridiron. With a cold chill creeping
through my veins, I turned away from the sickening spectacle, and, for
an explanation of the affair, scanned the various persons about the
room.
“In the centre of the group, at his writing-table, sat the general. His
head rested on his hand, and he was evidently endeavoring to fix his
attention upon the remarks of a tall, swarthy-looking man who stood
opposite, and who, I soon discovered, was the owner of the girl, and
was attempting a defence of the foul outrage he had committed upon the
unresisting and helpless person of his unfortunate victim, who stood
smarting, but silent, under the dreadful pain inflicted by the brutal
lash.
“By the side of the slave-holder stood our adjutant-general, his face
livid with almost irrepressible rage, and his fists tight clenched, as
if to violently restrain himself from visiting the guilty wretch with
summary and retributive justice. Disposed about the room, in various
attitudes, but all exhibiting in their countenances the same mingling of
horror and indignation, were other members of the staff; while near the
door stood three or four house-servants, who were witnesses in the case.
“To the charge of having administered the inhuman castigation, Landry
(the owner of the girl) pleaded guilty, but urged, in extenuation,
that the girl had dared to make an effort for that freedom which her
instincts, drawn from the veins of her abuser, had taught her was the
God-given right of all who possess the germ of immortality, no matter
what the color of the casket in which it is hidden.
“I say ‘drawn from the veins of her abuser,’ because she declared she
was his daughter; and everyone in the room, looking upon the man and
woman confronting each other, confessed that the resemblance justified
the assertion.
“At the conclusion of all the evidence in the case, the general
continued in the same position as before, and remained for some time
apparently lost in abstraction. I shall never forget the singular
expression on his face.
“I had been accustomed to see him in a storm of passion at any instance
of oppression or flagrant injustice; but, on this occasion, he was too
deeply affected to obtain relief in the usual way.
“His whole air was one of dejection, almost listlessness; his
indignation too intense, and his anger too stern, to find expression,
even in his countenance. After sitting in the mood which I have
described at such length, the general again turned to the prisoner, and
said, in a quiet, subdued tone of voice,--
“‘Mr. Landry, I dare not trust myself to decide to-day what punishment
would be meet for your offence; for I am in that state of mind that I
fear I might exceed the strict demands of justice. I shall therefore
place you under guard for the present, until I conclude upon your
sentence.’
“A few days after, a number of influential citizens having represented
to the general that Mr. Landry was not only a ‘high-toned gentleman,’
but a person of unusual ‘amiability’ of character, and was consequently
entitled to no small degree of leniency, he answered, that, in
consideration of the prisoner’s ‘high-toned’ character, and especially
of his ‘amiability,’ of which he had seen so remarkable a proof, he had
determined to meet their views; and therefore ordered that Landry give a
deed of manumission to the girl, and pay a fine of five hundred dollars,
to be placed in the hands of a trustee for her benefit.”
It was scenes like the above that changed Gen. Butler’s views upon the
question of slavery; for it cannot be denied, that, during the first
few weeks of his command in New Orleans, he had a controversy with Gen.
Phelps, owing to the latter’s real antislavery feelings. Soon after his
arrival, Gen. Butler gave orders that all negroes not needed for service
should be removed from the camps. The city was sealed against their
escape. Even secession masters were assured that their property, if not
employed, should be returned. It is said that pledges of reimbursement
for loss of labor were made to such. Gen. Phelps planted himself on the
side of the slave; would not exile them from his camp; branded as cruel
the policy that harbored, and then drove out the slave to the inhuman
revenge that awaited him.
Yet the latter part of Gen. Butler’s reign compensated for his earlier
faults. It must be remembered, that, when he landed in New Orleans, he
was fresh from Washington, where the jails were filled with fugitive
slaves, awaiting the claim of their masters; where the return of the
escaped bondman was considered a military duty. Then how could he be
expected to do better? The stream cannot rise higher than the spring.
His removal from the Department of the Gulf, on account of the crushing
blows which he gave the “peculiar institution,” at once endeared him to
the hearts of the friends of impartial freedom throughout the land.
The following imitation of Leigh Hunt’s celebrated poem is not out of
place here:--
“ABOU BEN BUTLER.”
“Abou Ben Butler (may his tribe increase! )
Awoke one night down by the old Balize,
And saw, outside the comfort of his room,
Making it warmer for the gathering gloom,
A black man, shivering in the Winter’s cold.
Exceeding courage made Ben Butler bold;
And to the presence in the dark lie said,
“What wantest thou?” The figure raised its head,
And, with a look made of all sad accord,
Answered, “The men who’ll serve the purpose of the Lord.”
“And am I one?” said Butler. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the black man. Butler spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said, “As _I am Ben_,
You’ll not have cause to tell me that again!”
The figure bowed and vanished. The next night
It came once more, environed strong in light,
And showed the names whom love of Freedom blessed;
And, lo! Ben Butler’s name led all the rest.”
--_Boston Transcript._
It is probably well known that the free colored population of New
Orleans, in intelligence, public spirit, and material wealth, surpass
those of the same class in any other city of the Union. Many of these
gentlemen have been highly educated, have travelled extensively in this
and foreign countries, speak and read the French, Spanish, and English
languages fluently, and in the Exchange Rooms, or at the Stock Boards,
wield an influence at anytime fully equal to the same number of white
capitalists. Before the war, they represented in that city alone fifteen
millions of property, and were heavily taxed to support the schools of
the State, but were not allowed to claim the least benefit therefrom.
These gentlemen, representing so much intelligence, culture, and wealth,
and who would, notwithstanding the fact that they all have negro blood
in their veins, adorn any circle of society in the North, who would be
taken upon Broadway for educated and wealthy Cuban planters, rather than
free negroes, although many of them have themselves held slaves, have
always been loyal to the Union; and, when New Orleans seemed in danger
of being re-captured by the rebels under Gen. Magruder, these colored
men rose _en masse_, closed their offices and stores, armed and
organized themselves into six regiments, and for six weeks abandoned
their business, and stood ready to fight for the defence of New Orleans,
while, at the same time, not a single white regiment from the original
white inhabitants was raised.