My personal forebodings proved to be correct, and so were the threats
of the surgeons. In May, 1864, I went home invalided, was compelled to
resign in October from the same cause, and never saw the First South
Carolina again. Nor did any one else see it under that appellation, for
about that time its name was changed to the Thirty-Third United States
Colored Troops, "a most vague and heartless baptism," as the man in the
story says. It was one of those instances of injudicious sacrifice of
_esprit de corps_ which were so frequent in our army. All the pride of
my men was centred in "de Fus' Souf"; the very words were a recognition
of the loyal South as against the disloyal. To make the matter worse, it
had been originally designed to apply the new numbering only to the new
regiments, and so the early numbers were all taken up before the older
regiments came in. The governors of States, by especial effort, saved
their colored troops from this chagrin; but we found here, as more than
once before, the disadvantage of having no governor to stand by us.
"It's a far cry to Loch Awe," said the Highland proverb. We knew to
our cost that it was a far cry to Washington in those days, unless an
officer left his duty and stayed there all the time.
In June, 1864, the regiment was ordered to Folly Island, and remained
there and on Cole's Island till the siege of Charleston was done. It
took part in the battle of Honey Hill, and in the capture of a fort on
James Island, of which Corporal Robert Vendross wrote triumphantly in a
letter, "When we took the pieces we found that we recapt our own pieces
back that we lost on Willtown Revear (River) and thank the Lord did not
lose but seven men out of our regiment."
In February, 1865, the regiment was ordered to Charleston to do provost
and guard duty, in March to Savannah, in June to Hamburg and Aiken, in
September to Charleston and its neighborhood, and was finally mustered
out of service--after being detained beyond its three years, so great
was the scarcity of troops--on the 9th of February, 1866. With dramatic
fitness this muster-out took place at Fort Wagner, above the graves
of Shaw and his men. I give in the Appendix the farewell address of
Lieutenant-Colonel Trowbridge, who commanded the regiment from the time
I left it. Brevet Brigadier-General W. T. Bennett, of the One Hundred
and Second United States Colored Troops, who was assigned to the
command, never actually held it, being always in charge of a brigade.
The officers and men are scattered far and wide. One of our captains
was a member of the South Carolina Constitutional Convention, and is
now State Treasurer; three of our sergeants were in that Convention,
including Sergeant Prince Rivers; and he and Sergeant Henry Hayne
are still members of the State Legislature. Both in that State and hi
Florida the former members of the regiment are generally prospering, so
far as I can hear. The increased self-respect of army life fitted them
to do the duties of civil life. It is not in nature that the jealousy
of race should die out in this generation, but I trust they will not see
the fulfilment of Corporal Simon Cram's prediction. Simon was one of the
shrewdest old fellows in the regiment, and he said to me once, as he
was jogging out of Beaufort behind me, on the Shell Road, "I'se goin'
to leave de Souf, Cunnel, when de war is over. I'se made up my mind dat
dese yere Secesh will neber be cibilized in my time."
The only member of the regiment whom I have seen since leaving it is a
young man, Cyrus Wiggins, who was brought off from the main-land in a
dug-out, in broad day, before the very eyes of the rebel pickets, by
Captain James S. Rogers, of my regiment. It was one of the most daring
acts I ever saw, and as it happened under my own observation I was glad
when the Captain took home with him this "captive of his bow and spear"
to be educated under his eye in Massachusetts. Cyrus has done credit
to his friends, and will be satisfied with nothing short of a
college-training at Howard University. I have letters from the men, very
quaint in handwriting and spelling; but he is the only one whom I have
seen. Some time I hope to revisit those scenes, and shall feel, no
doubt, like a bewildered Rip Van Winkle who once wore uniform.
We who served with the black troops have this peculiar satisfaction,
that, whatever dignity or sacredness the memories of the war may have to
others, they have more to us. In that contest all the ordinary ties of
patriotism were the same, of course, to us as to the rest; they had no
motives which we had not, as they have now no memories which are not
also ours. But the peculiar privilege of associating with an outcast
race, of training it to defend its rights and to perform its duties,
this was our especial meed. The vacillating policy of the Government
sometimes filled other officers with doubt and shame; until the negro
had justice, they were but defending liberty with one hand and crushing
it with the other. From this inconsistency we were free. Whatever the
Government did, we at least were working in the right direction. If
this was not recognized on our side of the lines, we knew that it was
admitted on the other. Fighting with ropes round our necks, denied the
ordinary courtesies of war till we ourselves compelled then: concession,
we could at least turn this outlawry into a compliment. We had touched
the pivot of the war. Whether this vast and dusky mass should prove the
weakness of the nation or its strength, must depend in great measure,
we knew, upon our efforts. Till the blacks were armed, there was no
guaranty of their freedom. It was their demeanor under arms that shamed
the nation into recognizing them as men.
APPENDIX
Appendix A
Roster of Officers
FIRST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS,
Afterwards Thirty-Third United States Colored Troops.
Colonels
T. W. HIGGINSON, 51st Mass. Vols., Nov. 10, 1862; Resigned,
Oct. 27, 1864. WM. T. BENNETT, 102d U. S. C. T., Dec. 18, 1864; Mustered
out
with regiment
Lieutenant-Colonels
LIBERTY BILLINGS, Civil Life, Nov. 1, 1862; Dismissed by Examining
Board, July 28, 1863.
JOHN D. STRONG, Promotion, July 28, 1863; Resigned, Aug. 15, 1864.
CHAS. T. TROWBRIDGE, Promotion, Dec. 9, 1864; Mustered out, &c.
Majors
JOHN D. STRONG, Civil Life, Oct. 21, 1862; Lt-Col., July 28, 1863. CHAS.
T. TROWBRIDGE, Promotion, Aug. 11, 1863; Lt.-Col., Dec. 9, 1864.
H. A. WHTTNEY, Promotion, Dec. 9, 1864; Mustered out, &c.
Surgeons
SETH ROGERS, Civil Life, Dec. 2, 1862; Resigned, Dec. 21, 1863.
WM. B. CRANDALL, 29th Ct, June 8, 1864; Mustered out, &c.
Assistant Surgeons
J. M. HAWKS, Civil Life, Oct 20, 1862; Surgeon 3d S. C. Vols.,
Oct. 29, 1863.
THOS. T. MINOR, 7th Ct., Jan. 8, 1863; Resigned, Nov. 21, 1864.
E. S. STUARD, Civil Life, Sept. 4, 1865; Mustered out, &c.
Chaplain
JAS. H. FOWLER, Civil Life, Oct. 24, 1862; Mustered out, &c.
Captains
CHAS. T. TROWBRIDGE, N. Y. Vol. Eng., Oct. 13, 1862; Major, Aug. 11,
1863.
WM. JAMES, 100th Pa., Oct. 13, 1862; Mustered out, &c.
W. J. RANDOLPH, 100th Pa., Oct. 13, 1862; Resigned, Jan. 29, 1864.
H. A. WHITNEY, 8th Me., Oct. 13, 1862; Major, Dec. 9, 1864.
ALEX. HEASLEY, 100th Pa., Oct 13, 1862; Killed at Augusta, Ga., Sept. 6,
1865.
GEORGE DOLLY, 8th Me., Nov. 1, 1862; Resigned, Oct. 30, 1863.
L. W. METCALF, 8th Me., Nov. 11, 1862; Mustered out, &c.
JAS. H. TONKING, N. Y. Vol. Eng., Nov. 17, 1862; Resigned, July 28,
1863.
JAS. S. ROGERS, 51st Mass., Dec. 6, 1862; Resigned, Oct. 20, 1863.
J. H. THIBADEAU, Promotion, Jan. 10, 1863; Mustered out, &c.
GEORGE D. WALKER, Promotion, July 28, 1863; Resigned, Sept 1, 1864.
WM. H. DANILSON, Promotion, July 28, 1863; Major 128th U. S. C. T., May,
1865 [now 1st Lt 40th U. S. Infantry].
WM. W. SAMPSON, Promotion, Nov. 5, 1863; Mustered out, &c.
JOHN M. THOMPSON, Promotion, Nov. 7, 1863; Mustered out, &c. [Now 1st
Lt. and Bvt Capt. 38th U. S. Infy.]
ABR. W. JACKSON, Promotion, April 30, 1864; Resigned, Aug. 15, 1865.
NILES G. PARKER, Promotion, Feb., 1865; Mustered out, &c.
CHAS. W. HOOPER, Promotion, Sept, 1865; Mustered out, &c.
E. C. MERMAM, Promotion, Sept., 1865; Resigned, Dec. 4, 1865.
E. W. ROBBINS, Promotion, Nov. 1, 1865; Mustered out, &c.
N. S. WHITE, Promotion, Nov. 18, 1865; Mustered out, &c.
First Lieutenants
G. W. DEWHURST (Adjutant), Civil Life, Oct 20, 1862; Resigned, Aug. 31,
1865.
J. M. BINOHAM (Quartermaster), Civil Life, Oct. 20, 1862; Died from
effect of exhaustion on a military expedition, July 20, 1863.
G. M. CHAMBERUN (Quartermaster), llth Mass. Battery, Aug. 29, 1863;
Mustered out, &c.
GEO. D. WALKER, N. Y. VoL Eng., Oct 13, 1862; Captain, Aug. 11, 1863.
W. H. DANILSON, 48th N. Y., Oct 13, 1862; Captain, July 26, 1863.
J. H. THTBADEAU, 8th Me., Oct 13, 1862; Captain, Jan. 10, 1863.
EPHRAIM P. WHITE, 8th Me., Nov. 14, 1862; Resigned, March 9, 1864.
JAS. POMEROY, 100th Pa., Oct 13,1862; Resigned, Feb. 9, 1863.
JAS. F. JOHNSTON, 100th Pa., Oct 13, 1862; Resigned, March 26, 1863.
JESSE FISHER, 48th N. Y., Oct 13, 1862; Resigned, Jan. 26, 1863.
CHAS. I. DAVIS, 8th Me., Oct 13, 1862; Resigned, Feb. 28, 1863.
WM. STOCKDALE, 8th Me., Oct 13, 1862; Resigned, May 2, 1863.
JAS. B. O'NEIL, Promotion, Jan. 10, 1863; Resigned, May 2, 1863.
W. W. SAMPSON, Promotion, Jan. 10, 1863; Captain, Oct 30,
1863. J. M. THOMPSON, Promotion, Jan. 27, 1863; Captain, Oct. 30,
1863. R. M. GASTON, Promotion, April 15, 1863; Killed at Coosaw Ferry,
S. C., May 27, 1863.
JAS. B. WEST, Promotion, Feb. 28, 1863; Resigned, June 14, 1865.
N. G. PARKER, Promotion, May 5, 1863; Captain, Feb., 1865.
W. H. HYDE, Promotion, May 5, 1863; Resigned, April 3, 1865.
HENRY A. STONE, 8th Me., June 26, 1863; Resigned, Dec. 16, 1864.
J. A. TROWBRTDGE, Promotion, Aug. 11, 1863; Resigned, Nov. 29, 1864.
A. W. JACKSON, Promotion, Aug. 26, 1863; Captain, April 30, 1864.
CHAS. E. PARKER, Promotion, Aug. 26, 1863; Resigned, Nov. 29, 1864.
CHAS. W. HOOPER, Promotion, Nov. 8, 1863; Captain, Sept., 1865.
E. C. MERRIAM, Promotion, Nov. 19, 1863; Captain, Sept., 1865.
HENRY A. BEACH, Promotion, April 30, 1864; Resigned, Sept 23, 1864.
E. W. ROBBINS, Promotion, April 30, 1864; Captain, Nov. 1, 1865.
ASA CHILD, Promotion, Sept, 1865; Mastered out, &c.
N. S. WHITE, Promotion, Sept, 1865; Captain, Nov. 18, 1865.
F. S. GOODRICH, Promotion, Oct., 1865; Mustered out, &c.
E. W. HYDE, Promotion, Oct 27, 1865; Mustered out, &c.
HENRY WOOD, Promotion, Nov., 1865; Mustered out, &c.
Second Lieutenants
J. A. TROWBMDGE, N. Y. Vol. Eng., Oct 13, 1862; First Lt, Aug. 11, 1863.
JAS. B. O-NBIL, 1st U. S. Art'y, Oct 13, 1862; First Lt, Jan. 10, 1863.
W. W. SAMPSON, 8th Me., Oct 13, 1862; First Lt, Jan 10, 1863.
J. M. THOMPSON, 7th N. H., Oct 13, 1862; First Lt, Jan. 27, 1863.
R. M. GASTON, 100th Pa., Oct. 13, 1862; First Lt, April 15, 1863.
W. H. HYDE, 6th Ct, Oct 13, 1862; First Lt, May 5, 1863.
JAS. B. WEST, 100th Pa., Oct. 13. 1862; First Lt, Feb. 28, 1863.
HARRY C. WEST, 100th Pa., Oct 13, 1862; Resigned, Nov. 4, 1864.
E. C. MERRIAM, 8th Me., Nov. 17, 1862; First Lt., Nov. 19, 1863.
CHAS. E. PARKER, 8th Me., Nov. 17, 1862; First Lt, Aug. 26, 1863.
C. W. HOOPER, N. Y. Vol. Eng., Feb. 17, 1863; First Lt, April 15, 1863.
N. G. PARKER, 1st Mass. Cavalry, March, 1863; First Lt, May 5, 1863.
A. H. TIRRELL, 1st Mass. Cav., March 6, 1863; Resigned, July 22, 1863.
A. W. JACKSON, 8th Me., March 6, 1863; First Lt, Aug. 26, 1863.
HENRY A. BEACH, 48th N. Y., April 5, 1863; First Lt, April 30, 1864.
E. W. ROBBINS, 8th Me., April 5, 1863; First Lt, April 30, 1864.
A. B. BROWN, Civil Life, April 17, 1863; Resigned, Nov. 27, 1863.
F. M. GOULD, 3d R. I. Battery, June 1, 1863; Resigned, June 8, 1864.
ASA CHILD, 8th Me., Aug. 7, 1863; First Lt, Sept., 1865.
JEROME T. FURMAN, 52d Pa., Aug. 30, 1863; Killed at Walhalla, S. C.,
Aug. 26, 1865.
JOHN W. SELVAGE, 48th N. Y., Sept 10, 1863; First Lt. 36th U. S. C. T.,
March, 1865.
MIRAND W. SAXTON, Civil Life, Nov. 19, 1863; Captain 128th U. S. C. T.,
June 25, 1864 [now Second Lt 38th U. S. Infantry].
NELSON S. WHITE, Dec. 22, 1863; First Lt, Sept., 1865.
EDW. W. HYDE, Civil Life, May 4, 1864; First Lt, Oct. 27, 1865.
F. S. GOODRICH, 115th N. Y., May, 1864; First Lt., Oct., 1865.
B. H. MANNING, Aug. 11, 1864; Capt 128th U. S. C. T., March 17, 1865.
R. M. DAVIS, 4th Mass. Cavalry, Nov. 19, 1864; Capt. 104th U. S. C. T.,
May 11, 1865.
HENRY WOOD, N. Y. Vol. Eng., Aug., 1865; First Lt, Nov., 1865.
JOHN M. SEAKLES, 1st N. Y. Mounted Rifles, June 15, 1865; Mustered out,
&c.
Appendix B The First Black Soldiers
It is well known that the first systematic attempt to organize colored
troops during the war of the rebellion was the so-called "Hunter
Regiment." The officer originally detailed to recruit for this purpose
was Sergeant C. T. Trowbridge, of the New York Volunteer Engineers (Col.
Serrell). His detail was dated May 7, 1862, S. O. 84 Dept. South.
Enlistments came in very slowly, and no wonder. The white officers and
soldiers were generally opposed to the experiment, and filled the ears
of the negroes with the same tales which had been told them by their
masters,--that the Yankees really meant to sell them to Cuba, and the
like. The mildest threats were that they would be made to work without
pay (which turned out to be the case), and that they would be put in the
front rank in every battle. Nobody could assure them that they and their
families would be freed by the Government, if they fought for it, since
no such policy had been adopted. Nevertheless, they gradually enlisted,
the most efficient recruiting officer being Sergeant William Bronson,
of Company A, in my regiment, who always prided himself on this service,
and used to sign himself by the very original title, "No. 1, African
Foundations" in commemoration of his deeds.
By patience and tact these obstacles would in time have been overcome.
But before long, unfortunately, some of General Hunter's staff became
impatient, and induced him to take the position that the blacks _must_
enlist. Accordingly, squads of soldiers were sent to seize all the
able-bodied men on certain plantations, and bring them to the camp. The
immediate consequence was a renewal of the old suspicion, ending in a
widespread belief that they were to be sent to Cuba, as their masters
had predicted. The ultimate result was a habit of distrust, discontent,
and desertion, that it was almost impossible to surmount. All the men
who knew anything about General Hunter believed in him; but they all
knew that there were bad influences around him, and that the Government
had repudiated his promises. They had been kept four months in service,
and then had been dismissed without pay. That having been the case, why
should not the Government equally repudiate General Saxton's promises or
mine? As a matter of fact, the Government did repudiate these pledges for
years, though we had its own written authority to give them. But that
matter needs an appendix by itself.
The "Hunter Regiment" remained in camp on Hilton Head Island until
the beginning of August, 1862, kept constantly under drill, but much
demoralized by desertion. It was then disbanded, except one company.
That company, under command of Sergeant Trowbridge, then acting as
Captain, but not commissioned, was kept in service, and was sent (August
5, 1862) to garrison St. Simon's Island, on the coast of Georgia. On
this island (made famous by Mrs. Kemble's description) there were then
five hundred colored people, and not a single white man.
The black soldiers were sent down on the Ben De Ford, Captain Hallett.
On arriving, Trowbridge was at once informed by Commodore Goldsborough,
naval commander at that station, that there was a party of rebel
guerillas on the island, and was asked whether he would trust his
soldiers in pursuit of them. Trowbridge gladly assented; and the
Commodore added, "If you should capture them, it will be a great thing
for you."
They accordingly went on shore, and found that the colored men of the
island had already undertaken the enterprise. Twenty-five of them had
armed themselves, under the command of one of their own number, whose
name was John Brown. The second in command was Edward Gould, who was
afterwards a corporal in my own regiment The rebel party retreated
before these men, and drew them into a swamp. There was but one path,
and the negroes entered single file. The rebels lay behind a great log,
and fired upon them. John Brown, the leader, fell dead within six feet
of the log,--probably the first black man who fell under arms in
the war,--several other were wounded, and the band of raw recruits
retreated; as did also the rebels, in the opposite direction. This was
the first armed encounter, so far as I know, between the rebels and
their former slaves; and it is worth noticing that the attempt was a
spontaneous thing and not accompanied by any white man. The men were
not soldiers, nor in uniform, though some of them afterwards enlisted in
Trowbridge's company.
The father of this John Brown was afterwards a soldier in my regiment;
and, after his discharge for old age, was, for a time, my servant.
"Uncle York," as we called him, was as good a specimen of a saint as I
have ever met, and was quite the equal of Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom." He
was a fine-looking old man, with dignified and courtly manners, and his
gray head was a perfect benediction, as he sat with us on the platform
at our Sunday meetings. He fully believed, to his dying day, that the
"John Brown Song" related to his son, and to him only.
Trowbridge, after landing on the island, hunted the rebels all day with
his colored soldiers, and a posse of sailors. In one place, he found
by a creek a canoe, with a tar-kettle, and a fire burning; and it was
afterwards discovered that, at that very moment, the guerillas were hid
in a dense palmetto thicket, near by, and so eluded pursuit The rebel
leader was one Miles Hazard, who had a plantation on the island, and the
party escaped at last through the aid of his old slave, Henry, who
found them a boat One of my sergeants, Clarence Kennon, who had not then
escaped from slavery, was present when they reached the main-land; and
he described them as being tattered and dirty from head to foot, after
their efforts to escape their pursuers.
When the troops under my command occupied Jacksonville, Fla., in March
of the following year, we found at the railroad station, packed for
departure, a box of papers, some of them valuable. Among them was a
letter from this very Hazard to some friend, describing the perils of
that adventure, and saying, "If you wish to know hell before your time,
go to St Simon's and be hunted ten days by niggers."
I have heard Trowbridge say that not one of his men flinched; and they
seemed to take delight in the pursuit, though the weather was very hot,
and it was fearfully exhausting.
This was early in August; and the company remained two months at St
Simon's, doing picket duty within hearing of the rebel drums, though
not another scout ever ventured on the island, to their knowledge.
Every Saturday Trowbridge summoned the island people to drill with his
soldiers; and they came in hordes, men, women, and children, in every
imaginable garb, to the number of one hundred and fifty or two hundred.
His own men were poorly clothed and hardly shod at all; and, as no new
supply of uniform was provided, they grew more and more ragged. They got
poor rations, and no pay; but they kept up their spirits. Every week or
so some of them would go on scouting excursions to the main-land; one
scout used to go regularly to his old mother's hut, and keep himself hid
under her bed, while she collected for him all the latest news of rebel
movements. This man never came back without bringing recruits with him.
At last the news came that Major-General Mitchell had come to relieve
General Hunter, and that Brigadier-General Saxton had gone North; and
Trowbridge went to Hilton Head in some anxiety to see if he and his men
were utterly forgotten. He prepared a report, showing the services and
claims of his men, and took it with him. This was early in October,
1862. The first person he met was Brigadier-General Saxton, who informed
him that he had authority to organize five thousand colored troops, and
that he (Trowbridge) should be senior captain of the first regiment
This was accordingly done; and Company A of the First South Carolina
could honestly claim to date its enlistment back to May, 1862, although
they never got pay for that period of their service, and their date of
muster was November, IS, 1862.
The above facts were written down from the narration of
Lieutenant-Colonel Trowbridge, who may justly claim to have been the
first white officer to recruit and command colored troops in this war.
He was constantly in command of them from May 9, 1862, to February 9,
1866.
Except the Louisiana soldiers mentioned in the Introduction,--of whom
no detailed reports have, I think, been published,--my regiment was
unquestionably the first mustered into the service of the United States;
the first company muster bearing date, November 7, 1862, and the others
following in quick succession.
The second regiment in order of muster was the "First Kansas Colored,"
dating from January 13, 1863. The first enlistment in the Kansas
regiment goes back to August 6, 1862; while the earliest technical date
of enlistment in my regiment was October 19, 1862, although, as was
stated above, one company really dated its organization back to May,
1862. My muster as colonel dates back to November 10, 1862, several
months earlier than any other of which I am aware, among colored
regiments, except that of Colonel Stafford (First Louisiana Native
Guards), September 27, 1862. Colonel Williams, of the "First Kansas
Colored," was mustered as lieutenant-colonel on January 13, 1863;
as colonel, March 8, 1863. These dates I have (with the other facts
relating to the regiment) from Colonel R. J. Hinton, the first officer
detailed to recruit it.
To sum up the above facts: my late regiment had unquestioned priority in
muster over all but the Louisiana regiments. It had priority over those
in the actual organization and term of service of one company. On the
other hand, the Kansas regiment had the priority in average date of
enlistment, according to the muster-rolls.
The first detachment of the Second South Carolina Volunteers (Colonel
Montgomery) went into camp at Port Royal Island, February 23, 1863,
numbering one hundred and twenty men. I do not know the date of his
muster; it was somewhat delayed, but was probably dated back to about
that time.
Recruiting for the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts (colored) began on
February 9, 1863, and the first squad went into camp at Readville,
Massachusetts, on February 21, 1863, numbering twenty-five men. Colonel
Shaw's commission (and probably his muster) was dated April 17, 1863.
(Report of Adjutant-General of Massachusetts for 1863, pp. 896-899.)
These were the earliest colored regiments, so far as I know.
Appendix C General Saxton's Instructions
[The following are the instructions under which my regiment was raised.
It will be seen how unequivocal were the provisions in respect to pay,
upon which so long and weary a contest was waged by our friends in
Congress, before the fulfilment of the contract could be secured.]
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., August 25, 1862.
GENERAL, Your despatch of the 16th has this moment been received. It is
considered by the Department that the instructions given at the time of
your appointment were sufficient to enable you to do what you have now
requested authority for doing. But in order to place your authority
beyond all doubt, you are hereby authorized and instructed,
1st, To organize in any convenient organization, by squads, companies,
battalions, regiments, and brigades, or otherwise, colored persons of
African descent for volunteer laborers, to a number not exceeding fifty
thousand, and muster them into the service of the United States for the
term of the war, at a rate of compensation not exceeding five dollars
per month for common laborers, and eight dollars per month for
mechanical or skilled laborers, and assign them to the Quartermaster's
Department, to do and perform such laborer's duty as may be required
during the present war, and to be subject to the rules and articles of
war.
2d. The laboring forces herein authorized shall, under the order of
the General-in-Chief, or of this Department, be detailed by the
Quartermaster-General for laboring service with the armies of the United
States; and they shall be clothed and subsisted, after enrolment, in the
same manner as other persons in the Quartermaster's service.
3d. In view of the small force under your command, and the inability of
the Government at the present time to increase it, in order to guard the
plantations and settlements occupied by the United States from invasion,
and protect the inhabitants thereof from captivity and murder by the
enemy, you are also authorized to arm, uniform, equip, and receive into
the service of the United States, such number of volunteers of African
descent as you may deem expedient, not exceeding five thousand, and
may detail officers to instruct them in military drill, discipline, and
duty, and to command them. The persons so received into service, and
their officers, to be entitled to, and receive, the same pay and rations
as are allowed, by law, to volunteers in the service.
4th. You will occupy, if possible, all the islands and plantations
heretofore occupied by the Government, and secure and harvest the crops,
and cultivate and improve the plantations.
5th. The population of African descent that cultivate the lands and
perform the labor of the rebels constitute a large share of their
military strength, and enable the white masters to fill the rebel
armies, and wage a cruel and murderous war against the people of the
Northern States. By reducing the laboring strength of the rebels, their
military power will be reduced. You are therefore authorized by every
means in your power, to withdraw from the enemy their laboring force and
population, and to spare no effort, consistent with civilized warfare,
to weaken, harass, and annoy them, and to establish the authority of the
Government of the United States within your Department.
6th. You may turn over to the navy any number of colored volunteers that
may be required for the naval service.
7th. By recent act of Congress, all men and boys received into the
service of the United States, who may have been the slaves of rebel
masters, are, with their wives, mothers, and children, declared to be
forever free. You and all in your command will so treat and regard them.
Yours truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War. BRIGADIER-GENERAL SAXTON.
Appendix D The Struggle for Pay
The story of the attempt to cut down the pay of the colored troops is
too long, too complicated, and too humiliating, to be here narrated. In
the case of my regiment there stood on record the direct pledge of the
War Department to General Saxton that their pay should be the same as
that of whites. So clear was this that our kind paymaster, Major W. J.
Wood, of New Jersey, took upon himself the responsibility of paying the
price agreed upon, for five months, till he was compelled by express
orders to reduce it from thirteen dollars per month to ten dollars,
and from that to seven dollars,--the pay of quartermaster's men and
day-laborers. At the same time the "stoppages" from the pay-rolls for
the loss of all equipments and articles of clothing remained the same
as for all other soldiers, so that it placed the men in the most painful
and humiliating condition. Many of them had families to provide for, and
between the actual distress, the sense of wrong, the taunts of those who
had refused to enlist from the fear of being cheated, and the doubt how
much farther the cheat might be carried, the poor fellows were goaded
to the utmost. In the Third South Carolina regiment, Sergeant William
Walker was shot, by order of court-marital, for leading his company to
stack arms before their captain's tent, on the avowed ground that they
were released from duty by the refusal of the Government to fulfill
its share of the contract. The fear of such tragedies spread a cloud of
solicitude over every camp of colored soldiers for more than a year, and
the following series of letters will show through what wearisome labors
the final triumph of justice was secured. In these labors the chief
credit must be given to my admirable Adjutant, Lieutenant G. W.
Dewhurst In the matter of bounty justice is not yet obtained; there is
a discrimination against those colored soldiers who were slaves on April
19, 1861. Every officer, who through indolence or benevolent design
claimed on his muster-rolls that all his men had been free on that
day, secured for them the bounty; while every officer who, like myself,
obeyed orders and told the truth in each case, saw his men and
their families suffer for it, as I have done. A bill to abolish this
distinction was introduced by Mr. Wilson at the last session, but failed
to pass the House. It is hoped that next winter may remove this last
vestige of the weary contest
To show how persistently and for how long a period these claims had to
be urged on Congress, I reprint such of my own printed letters on the
subject as are now in my possession. There are one or two of which I
have no copies. It was especially in the Senate that it was so difficult
to get justice done; and our thanks will always be especially due to
Hon. Charles Sumner and Hon. Henry Wilson for their advocacy of our
simple rights. The records of those sessions will show who advocated the
fraud.
To the Editor of the _New York Tribune_:
SIR,--No one can overstate the intense anxiety with which the officers
of colored regiments in this Department are awaiting action from
Congress in regard to arrears of pay of their men.
It is not a matter of dollars and cents only; it is a question of common
honesty,--whether the United States Government has sufficient integrity
for the fulfillment of an explicit business contract.
The public seems to suppose that all required justice will be done by
the passage of a bill equalizing the pay of all soldiers for the future.
But, so far as my own regiment is concerned, this is but half the
question. My men have been nearly sixteen months in the service, and for
them the immediate issue is the question of arrears.
They understand the matter thoroughly, if the public do not Every one
of them knows that he volunteered under an explicit _written assurance_
from the War Department that he should have the pay of a white soldier.
He knows that for five months the regiment received that pay, after
which it was cut down from the promised thirteen dollars per month to
ten dollars, for some reason to him inscrutable.
He does _not_ know for I have not yet dared to tell the men--that the
Paymaster has been already reproved by the Pay Department for fulfilling
even in part the pledges of the War Department; that at the next payment
the ten dollars are to be further reduced to seven; and that, to crown
the whole, all the previous overpay is to be again deducted or "stopped"
from the future wages, thus leaving them a little more than a dollar a
month for six months to come, unless Congress interfere!
Yet so clear were the terms of the contract that Mr. Solicitor Whiting,
having examined the original instructions from the War Department issued
to Brigadier-General Saxton, Military Governor, admits to me (under
date of December 4, 1863,) that "the faith of the Government was thereby
pledged to every officer and soldier enlisted under that call."
He goes on to express the generous confidence that "the pledge will be
honorably fulfilled." I observe that every one at the North seems
to feel the same confidence, but that, meanwhile, the pledge is
unfulfilled. Nothing is said in Congress about fulfilling it. I have not
seen even a proposition in Congress to pay the colored soldiers, _from
date of enlistment_, the same pay with white soldiers; and yet anything
short of that is an unequivocal breach of contract, so far as this
regiment is concerned.
Meanwhile, the land sales are beginning, and there is danger of every
foot of land being sold from beneath my soldiers' feet, because they
have not the petty sum which Government first promised, and then refused
to pay.
The officers' pay comes promptly and fully enough, and this makes the
position more embarrassing. For how are we to explain to the men the
mystery that Government can afford us a hundred or two dollars a month,
and yet must keep back six of the poor thirteen which it promised them?
Does it not naturally suggest the most cruel suspicions in regard to us?
And yet nothing but their childlike faith in their officers, and in that
incarnate soul of honor, General Saxton, has sustained their faith, or
kept them patient, thus far.
There is nothing mean or mercenary about these men in general. Convince
them that the Government actually needs their money, and they would
serve it barefooted and on half-rations, and without a dollar--for a
time. But, unfortunately, they see white soldiers beside them, whom they
know to be in no way their superiors for any military service, receiving
hundreds of dollars for re-enlisting for this impoverished Government,
which can only pay seven dollars out of thirteen to its black regiments.
And they see, on the other hand, those colored men who refused to
volunteer as soldiers, and who have found more honest paymasters than
the United States Government, now exulting in well-filled pockets, and
able to buy the little homesteads the soldiers need, and to turn
the soldiers' families into the streets. Is this a school for
self-sacrificing patriotism?
I should not speak thus urgently were it not becoming manifest that
there is to be no promptness of action in Congress, even as regards the
future pay of colored soldiers,--and that there is especial danger of
the whole matter of _arrears_ going by default Should it be so, it
will be a repudiation more ungenerous than any which Jefferson Davis
advocated or Sydney Smith denounced. It will sully with dishonor all
the nobleness of this opening page of history, and fix upon the North
a brand of meanness worse than either Southerner or Englishman has yet
dared to impute. The mere delay in the fulfillment of this contract has
already inflicted untold suffering, has impaired discipline, has relaxed
loyalty, and has begun to implant a feeling of sullen distrust in the
very regiments whose early career solved the problem of the nation,
created a new army, and made peaceful emancipation possible.
T. W. HIGGINSON, Colonel commanding 1st S. C. Vols.
BEAUFORT, S. C., January 22, 1864.
HEADQUARTERS FIRST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS, BEAUFORT, S. C., Sunday,
February 14, 1864.
To the Editor of the _New York Times_:
May I venture to call your attention to the great and cruel injustice
which is impending over the brave men of this regiment?
They have been in military service for over a year, having volunteered,
every man, without a cent of bounty, on the written pledge of the War
Department that they should receive the same pay and rations with white
soldiers.
This pledge is contained in the written instructions of
Brigadier-General Saxton, Military Governor, dated August 25, 1862. Mr.
Solicitor Whiting, having examined those instructions, admits to me that
"the faith of the Government was thereby pledged to every officer and
soldier under that call."
Surely, if this fact were understood, every man in the nation would see
that the Government is degraded by using for a year the services of the
brave soldiers, and then repudiating the contract under which they
were enlisted. This is what will be done, should Mr. Wilson's bill,
legalizing the back pay of the army, be defeated.
We presume too much on the supposed ignorance of these men. I have never
yet found a man in my regiment so stupid as not to know when he was
cheated. If fraud proceeds from Government itself, so much the worse,
for this strikes at the foundation of all rectitude, all honor, all
obligation.
Mr. Senator Fessenden said, in the debate on Mr. Wilson's bill, January
4, that the Government was not bound by the unauthorized promises of
irresponsible recruiting officers. But is the Government itself an
irresponsible recruiting officer? and if men have volunteered in good
faith on the written assurances of the Secretary of War, is not Congress
bound, in all decency, either to fulfill those pledges or to disband the
regiments?
Mr. Senator Doolittle argued in the same debate that white soldiers
should receive higher pay than black ones, because the families of the
latter were often supported by Government What an astounding statement
of fact is this! In the white regiment in which I was formerly an
officer (the Massachusetts Fifty-First) nine tenths of the soldiers'
families, in addition to the pay and bounties, drew regularly their
"State aid." Among my black soldiers, with half-pay and no bounty, not
a family receives any aid. Is there to be no limit, no end to the
injustice we heap upon this unfortunate people? Cannot even the fact
of their being in arms for the nation, liable to die any day in its
defence, secure them ordinary justice? Is the nation so poor, and so
utterly demoralized by its pauperism, that after it has had the lives
of these men, it must turn round to filch six dollars of the monthly pay
which the Secretary of War promised to their widows? It is even so, if
the excuses of Mr. Fressenden and Mr. Doolittle are to be accepted by
Congress and by the people.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T, W. HIGGINSON, Colonel commanding 1st S. C. Volunteers.
NEW VICTORIES AND OLD WRONGS To the Editors of the Evening Post:
On the 2d of July, at James Island, S. C., a battery was taken by three
regiments, under the following circumstances:
The regiments were the One Hundred and Third New York (white), the
Thirty-Third United States (formerly First South Carolina Volunteers),
and the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts, the two last being colored. They
marched at one A. M., by the flank, in the above order, hoping to
surprise the battery. As usual the rebels were prepared for them, and
opened upon them as they were deep in one of those almost impassable
Southern marshes. The One Hundred and Third New York, which had
previously been in twenty battles, was thrown into confusion; the
Thirty-Third United States did better, being behind; the Fifty-Fifth
Massachusetts being in the rear, did better still. All three formed in
line, when Colonel Hartwell, commanding the brigade, gave the order to
retreat. The officer commanding the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts, either
misunderstanding the order, or hearing it countermanded, ordered his
regiment to charge. This order was at once repeated by Major Trowbridge,
commanding the Thirty-Third United States, and by the commander of the
One Hundred and Third New York, so that the three regiments reached the
fort in reversed order. The color-bearers of the Thirty-Third United
States and of the Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts had a race to be first
in, the latter winning. The One Hundred and Third New York entered the
battery immediately after.
These colored regiments are two of the five which were enlisted in
South Carolina and Massachusetts, under the written pledge of the War
Department that they should have the same pay and allowances as
white soldiers. That pledge has been deliberately broken by the War
Department, or by Congress, or by both, except as to the short period,
since last New-Year's Day. Every one of those killed in this action from
these two colored regiments under a fire before which the veterans of
twenty battles recoiled _died defrauded by the Government of nearly one
half his petty pay_.
Mr. Fessenden, who defeated in the Senate the bill for the fulfillment
of the contract with these soldiers, is now Secretary of the Treasury.
Was the economy of saving six dollars per man worth to the Treasury the
ignominy of the repudiation?
Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, on his triumphal return to his
constituents, used to them this language: "He had no doubt whatever as
to the final result of the present contest between liberty and slavery.
The only doubt he had was whether the nation had yet been satisfactorily
chastised for their cruel oppression of a harmless and long-suffering
race." Inasmuch as it was Mr. Stevens himself who induced the House of
Representatives, most unexpectedly to all, to defeat the Senate bill for
the fulfillment of the national contract with these soldiers, I should
think he had excellent reasons for the doubt.
Very respectfully,
T. W. HIGGINSON, Colonel 1st S. C. Vols (now 33d U. S.) July 10, 1864.
To the Editor of the _New York Tribune_:
No one can possibly be so weary of reading of the wrongs done by
Government toward the colored soldiers as am I of writing about them.
This is my only excuse for intruding on your columns again.
By an order of the War Department, dated August 1, 1864, it is at length
ruled that colored soldiers shall be paid the full pay of soldiers from
date of enlistment, provided they were free on April 19, 1861,--not
otherwise; and this distinction is to be noted on the pay-rolls. In
other words, if one half of a company escaped from slavery on April 18,
1861, they are to be paid thirteen dollars per month and allowed three
dollars and a half per month for clothing. If the other half were
delayed two days, they receive seven dollars per month and are allowed
three dollars per month for precisely the same articles of clothing.
If one of the former class is made first sergeant, Us pay is put up to
twenty-one dollars per month; but if he escaped two days later, his pay
is still estimated at seven dollars.
It had not occurred to me that anything could make the payrolls of these
regiments more complicated than at present, or the men more rationally
discontented. I had not the ingenuity to imagine such an order. Yet it
is no doubt in accordance with the spirit, if not with the letter,
of the final bill which was adopted by Congress under the lead of Mr.
Thaddeus Stevens.
The ground taken by Mr. Stevens apparently was that the country might
honorably save a few dollars by docking the promised pay of those
colored soldiers whom the war had made free. _But the Government should
have thought of this before it made the contract with these men
and received their services_. When the War Department instructed
Brigadier-General Saxton, August 25, 1862, to raise five regiments
of negroes in South Carolina, it was known very well that the men so
enlisted had only recently gained their freedom. But the instructions
said: "The persons so received into service, and their officers, to be
entitled to and receive the same pay and rations as are allowed by law
to volunteers in the service." Of this passage Mr. Solicitor Whiting
wrote to me: "I have no hesitation in saying that the faith of the
Government was thereby pledged to every officer and soldier enlisted
under that call." Where is that faith of the Government now?
The men who enlisted under the pledge were volunteers, every one;
they did not get their freedom by enlisting; they had it already. They
enlisted to serve the Government, trusting in its honor. Now the nation
turns upon them and says: Your part of the contract is fulfilled; we
have had your services. If you can show that you had previously been
free for a certain length of time, we will fulfil the other side of the
contract. If not, we repudiate it Help yourselves, if you can.
In other words, a freedman (since April 19, 1861) has no rights which a
white man is bound to respect. He is incapable of making a contract No
man is bound by a contract made with him. Any employer, following the
example of the United States Government, may make with him a written
agreement receive his services, and then withhold the wages. He has no
motive to honest industry, or to honesty of any kind. He is virtually a
slave, and nothing else, to the end of time.
Under this order, the greater part of the Massachusetts colored
regiments will get their pay at last and be able to take their wives and
children out of the almshouses, to which, as Governor Andrew informs us,
the gracious charity of the nation has consigned so many. For so much I
am grateful. But toward my regiment, which had been in service and under
fire, months before a Northern colored soldier was recruited, the
policy of repudiation has at last been officially adopted. There is no
alternative for the officers of South Carolina regiments but to wait
for another session of Congress, and meanwhile, if necessary, act as
executioners for those soldiers who, like Sergeant Walker, refuse
to fulfil their share of a contract where the Government has openly
repudiated the other share. If a year's discussion, however, has at
length secured the arrears of pay for the Northern colored regiments,
possibly two years may secure it for the Southern.
T. W. HIGGINSON, Colonel 1st S. C. Vols. (now 33d V. S.)
August 12, 1864.
To the Editor of the _New York Tribune_:
SIR,--An impression seems to prevail in the newspapers that the lately
published "opinion" of Attorney-General Bates (dated in July last) at
length secures justice to the colored soldiers in respect to arrears of
pay. This impression is a mistake.
That "opinion" does indeed show that there never was any excuse for
refusing them justice; but it does not, of itself, secure justice to
them.
It _logically_ covers the whole ground, and was doubtless intended to do
so; but _technically_ it can only apply to those soldiers who were free
at the commencement of the war. For it was only about these that the
Attorney-General was officially consulted.
Under this decision the Northern colored regiments have already got
their arrears of pay,--and those few members of the Southern regiments
who were free on April 19, 1861. But in the South Carolina regiments
this only increases the dissatisfaction among the remainder, who
volunteered under the same pledge of full pay from the War Department,
and who do not see how the question of their _status_ at some antecedent
period can affect an express contract If, in 1862, they were free enough
to make a bargain with, they were certainly free enough to claim its
fulfilment.
The unfortunate decision of Mr. Solicitor Whiting, under which all
our troubles arose, is indeed superseded by the reasoning of the
Attorney-General. But unhappily that does not remedy the evil, which is
already embodied in an Act of Congress, making the distinction between
those who were and those who were not free on April 19, 1861.
The question is, whether those who were not free at the breaking out of
the war are still to be defrauded, after the Attorney-General has shown
that there is no excuse for defrauding them?
I call it defrauding, because it is not a question of abstract justice,
but of the fulfilment of an express contract
I have never met with a man, whatever might be his opinions as to the
enlistment of colored soldiers, who did not admit that if they had
volunteered under the direct pledge of full pay from the War Department,
they were entitled to every cent of it. That these South Carolina
regiments had such direct pledge is undoubted, for it still exists in
writing, signed by the Secretary of War, and has never been disputed.
It is therefore the plain duty of Congress to repeal the law which
discriminates between different classes of colored soldiers, or at least
so to modify it as to secure the fulfilment of actual contracts. Until
this is done the nation is still disgraced. The few thousand dollars
in question are nothing compared with the absolute wrong done and the
discredit it has brought, both here and in Europe, upon the national
name.
T. W. HIGGINSON,
Late Col. 1st S. C. Vols. (now 33d U. S. C. T.) NEWPORT, R. I, December
8, 1864.
PETITION
"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States in Congress assembled:
"The undersigned respectfully petitions for the repeal of so much of
Section IV. of the Act of Congress making appropriations for the army
and approved July 4, 1864, as makes a distinction, in respect to pay
due, between those colored soldiers who were free on or before April 19,
1861, and those who were not free until a later date;
"Or at least that there may be such legislation as to secure the
fulfillment of pledges of full pay from date of enlistment, made by
direct authority of the War Department to the colored soldiers of South
Carolina, on the faith of which pledges they enlisted.
"THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON, Late Colonel 1st S. C. Vols. (now 33d U. S.
C. Vols.)
"NEWPORT, R. L, December 9, 1864."
Appendix E Farewell Address of Lt. Col. Trowbridge
HEADQUARTERS 33d UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS, LATE 1ST SOUTH CAROLINA
VOLUNTEERS,
MORRIS ISLAND, S. C.,
February 9, 1866. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 1.
COMRADES,--The hour is at hand when we must separate forever, and
nothing can ever take from us the pride we feel, when we look back upon
the history of the First South Carolina Volunteers,--the first black
regiment that ever bore arms in defence of freedom on the continent of
America.
On the ninth day of May, 1862, at which time there were nearly four
millions of your race in a bondage sanctioned by the laws of the land,
and protected by our flag,--on that day, in the face of floods of
prejudice, that wellnigh deluged every avenue to manhood and true
liberty, you came forth to do battle for your country and your kindred.
For long and weary months without pay, or even the privilege of being
recognized as soldiers, you labored on, only to be disbanded and sent
to your homes, without even a hope of reward. And when our country,
necessitated by the deadly struggle with armed traitors, finally granted
you the opportunity _again_ to come forth in defence of the nation's
life, the alacrity with which you responded to the call gave abundant
evidence of your readiness to strike a manly blow for the liberty of
your race. And from that little band of hopeful, trusting, and brave
men, who gathered at Camp Saxton, on Port Royal Island, in the fall of
1862, amidst the terrible prejudices that then surrounded us, has grown
an army of a hundred and forty thousand black soldiers, whose valor
and heroism has won for your race a name which will live as long as the
undying pages of history shall endure; and by whose efforts, united with
those of the white man, armed rebellion has been conquered, the millions
of bondmen have been emancipated, and the fundamental law of the land
has been so altered as to remove forever the possibility of human
slavery being re-established within the borders of redeemed America. The
flag of our fathers, restored to its rightful significance, now floats
over every foot of our territory, from Maine to California, and beholds
only freemen! The prejudices which formerly existed against you are
wellnigh rooted out
Soldiers, you have done your duty, and acquitted yourselves like men,
who, actuated by such ennobling motives, could not fail; and as the
result of your fidelity and obedience, you have won your freedom. And O,
how great the reward!
It seems fitting to me that the last hours of our existence as
a regiment should be passed amidst the unmarked graves of your
comrades,--at Fort Wagner. Near you rest the bones of Colonel Shaw,
buried by an enemy's hand, in the same grave with his black soldiers,
who fell at his side; where, in future, your children's children will
come on pilgrimages to do homage to the ashes of those that fell in this
glorious struggle.
The flag which was presented to us by the Rev. George B. Cheever and his
congregation, of New York City, on the first of January, 1863,--the
day when Lincoln's immortal proclamation of freedom was given to the
world,--and which you have borne so nobly through the war, is now to
be rolled up forever, and deposited in our nation's capital. And while
there it shall rest, with the battles in which you have participated
inscribed upon its folds, it will be a source of pride to us all to
remember that it has never been disgraced by a cowardly faltering in the
hour of danger or polluted by a traitor's touch.
Now that you are to lay aside your arms, and return to the peaceful
avocations of life, I adjure you, by the associations and history of the
past, and the love you bear for your liberties, to harbor no feelings of
hatred toward your former masters, but to seek in the paths of honesty,
virtue, sobriety, and industry, and by a willing obedience to the laws
of the land, to grow up to the full stature of American citizens. The
church, the school-house, and the right forever to be free are now
secured to you, and every prospect before you is full of hope and
encouragement. The nation guarantees to you full protection and justice,
and will require from you in return the respect for the laws and
orderly deportment which will prove to every one your right to all the
privileges of freemen.
To the officers of the regiment I would say, your toils are ended, your
mission is fulfilled, and we separate forever. The fidelity, patience,
and patriotism with which you have discharged your duties, to your men
and to your country, entitle you to a far higher tribute than any words
of thankfulness which I can give you from the bottom of my heart You
will find your reward in the proud conviction that the cause for which
you have battled so nobly has been crowned with abundant success.
Officers and soldiers of the Thirty-Third United States Colored Troops,
once the First South Carolina Volunteers, I bid you all farewell!
By order of Lt.-Col. C. T. TROWBRIDGE, commanding Regiment
E. W. HYDE, Lieutenant and Acting Adjutant.
INDEX
[page numbers have been retained for the W. W. Norton paperback reprint
to show relative location in file.]
Index
Aiken, William, GOT., 166
Aiken, South Carolina, 249
Allston, Adam, Corp., 103
Andrew, J. A., Gov., 29, 215, 216, sends Emancipation Proclamation to
Higginson, 85
Bates, Edward, 275
Battle of the Hundred Pines, 95, 104
Beach, H. A., Lt, 257, 258
Beaufort, South Carolina, 33, 34, 38, 106, 142, 215 Higginson visits, 64
Negro troops march through, 74 picket station near, 134 residents visit
camp, 147 Negro troops patrol, 219
Beauregard, P. G.T., Gen., 45, 73
Beecher, H. R., Rev., 241
Bell, Louis, Col., 225
Bennett, W. T., Gen., 249, 255
Bezzard, James, 95
Bigelow, L. F., Lt, 28
Billings, L., Lt.-Col., 255
Bingham, J. M., Lt, 170, 257
Brannan, J. M, Gen., 107
Brisbane, W. H., 60
Bronson, William, Sgt, 260
Brown, A. B., Lt, 258
Brown, John, 29, 45, 61, 76
Brown, John (Negro), 262
Brown, York, 262 Bryant, J. E., Capt, 220
Budd, Lt, 83
Burnside, A. E., Gen., 54, 55
Butler, B. F., Gen., 27
Calhoun, J. C., Capt., 150 Camplife, 30 evening activities, 36-39, 44-49
Casualties, 89
Chamberlin, G. B., Lt., 177, 257 Chamberlin, Mrs., 229
Charleston, South Carolina, attacked, 137, 143, 150 Negro troops in,
249 Charleston and Savannah Railway, 163
Cheever, G. B., Rev., 278
Child, A. Lt, 258
Christmas, 55, 56
Clark, Capt, 84, 89, 102
Clifton, Capt, 100, 101
Clinton, J. B., Lt, 165
Colors, Stands of, 56, 60
Confederates, 35 use spies, 91, 93 attack Negro troops, 86-87, 100-102
threaten to burn Jacksonville, 110 civilians fear Negro troops, 116
retreat, 126-127,142
Connecticut Regiment, Sixth, 122, 124, 126 Seventh, 93
Corwin, B. R., MaJ., 120, 126
Crandall, W. B., Surg., 255
Crum, Simon, Corp., 249
Cushman, James, 241
Danilson, W. H., Maj., 93, 256,
Davis, C. I., Lt., 257
Davis., R. M., Lt., 259
Davis, W. W. H., Gen., 164
Department of the South, 15, 80 quiet, 106 colored troops in, 137
Desertions, 62
Dewhurst, G. W., Adjt, 256
Dewhurst, Mrs., 229
Discipline, need for, 29 Negroes accept, 39
Dolly, George, Capt., 172, 256
Doolittle, J. R., 271
Drill, of Negroes, 46, 51, 245 whites, 64-65
Drinking, absence of, 58
Duncan, Lt. Com., 109, 111
Dupont, S. F., Admiral, 15, 82, 91, 99, 108, 137
Dutch, Capt., 166
Edisto expedition, 163-176, 214
Education, desire for, 48
Emancipation Proclamation, 65 read, 60 sent to Higginson, 85
Fernandina, Florida, 84, 91, 104
Fessenden, W. P., 271, 272
Finnegan, Gen., 115
Fisher, J., Lt., 257
Florida, 221 men under Higginson, 35 slaves know about Lincoln, 46
refugees from, 49 Foraging, 99, 104, 117, 120 restraint in, 96-97 in
Florida, 221
Fowler, J. H., Chap., 59, 119, 221,
Fremont, J. C., Gen., 46, 61
French, J., Rev., 60, 123
Furman, J. T., Lt, 258
Gage, F. D., Mrs., 61
Garrison, W. L., 236
Gaston, William, Lt., 257
Gilmore, Q. A., Gen., 176, 224, 226, 228 writes on Charleston, 163
approves Edisto expedition, 164
Goldsborough, Commodore, 231,
Goodell, J. B., Lt., 28
Goodrich, F. S., Lt., 258, 259
Gould, E. Corp., 261
Gould, F. M., Lt, 258
Greeley, Horace, 164
Greene, Sgt, 125
Hallett, Capt, 80, 81, 261
Hallowell, E. N., Gen., 216, 230,
Hamburg, South Carolina, 249
Hartwell, A. S., Gen., 272
Hawks, J. M., Surg., 256
Hawley, J. R., Gen., 93,102,114
Hayne, H. E., Sgt., 249
Hazard, Miles, 262
Heasley, A, Capt., 220, 256
Heron, Charles, 126
Hilton Head, 32 Higginson visits, 106 troops on duty at, 214
Hinton, R. J., Col., 264
Holden, Lt, 126
Hooper, C. W., Capt., 154, 226, 256, 257, 258
Hospital, camp, 56, 63
Howard University, 250
Hughes, Lt. Com., 91, 93, 94
Hunter, David., Gen.-28, 35, 40, 62, 80, 124, 130, 131, 138, 164, 260,
261, 263 takes Negro sgt to N.Y., 73 visits camp, 76 speaks to
Negro troops, 76 Higginson confers with, 106 orders evacuation of
Jacksonville, 107 attacks Charleston, 137 goes North, 150
Hyde, E. W., Lt, 258, 259, 279
Hyde, W. H., Lt, 89, 257
Jackson, A. W., Capt, 87, 89, 256, 257, 258
Jacksonville, Florida Confederates threaten to burn, 110 Higginson's men
reach, 112-113 description of, 114-115 order to evacuate, 130 attempts
to bum, 130-131
James, William, Capt., 96,165,256
Jekyll Island, 83
Johnston, J. F., Lt, 257
Jones, Lt., 89
Kansas, 29, 43, 64
Kemble, Fanny, 82, 261
Kennon, Clarence, Cpl., 262
King, T. B., 82
Lambkin, Prince, Cpl., 45, 116
Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, 56
Lincoln, Abraham, 46, 238
London Spectator, 76
Long, Thomas, CpL, 240
Mclntyre, H., Sgt., 85, 86, 239
Maine, 43
Maine Regiment, Eighth, 75, 123, 124, 126
Manning, B. H., Lt, 259
Maroons, 235, 237
Massachusetts Regiment, First, 139 Fifty-Fourth, 27, 215, 232
Meeker, L., Maj., 122, 126
Merriam, E. C., Capt, 256, 257
Metcalf, L. W., Capt, 85, 87, 96, 220, 256
Miller family, 234
Minor, T. T, Surg., 87, 256
Mitchell, O. M., Gen., 263
Montgomery, James, Col., 114, 120, 130, 264 enters Jacksonville, 112
river raid led by, 120, 129, 164
Moses, Acting Master, 83
Mulattoes, 33, 42, 234 pass for white, 49-50
Music, troops play, 47, 187-213
Negro soldiers visited, 30 work at night, 38-39 as sentinels, 42, 66-69
honor and fidelity, 66 march to Beaufort, 74-75 conduct under fire,
86-87, 100-101, 128-129 treatment of whites by, 116 on picket duty, 133
on raid up Edisto, 167-176 appraisal of, 231-247 from North and South
compared,
Negro spirituals, 187-213
Negroes, traits of, 66, 69-71 physical condition of, 72, 246 set free by
Higginson's men, 166-169
New Hampshire Regiment, Fourth, 139, 225
New Year's celebration, 55, 56, 57-61
New York, 34 Officers, white, 51
O'Neil, J. B., Lt., 257
Osborne, Lt., 220
Parker, C. E., Lt., 257
Parker, N. B., Capt., 256, 257, 258
Parsons, William, 89
Phillips, Wendell, 118, 236
Pomeroy, J., Lt, 257
Port Royal, 82, 83, 124 capture of, 164 as winter camp, 177 new camp at,
215 objective of Sherman, 247
Ramsay, Allan, 209
Randolph, W. J., Capt, 120, 256
Rebels. See Confederates Religious activities, 47, 48, 240-241
Rivers, Prince, Sgt., 61,75,245,249 qualities of, 73, 78 plants colors,
99
Robbins, E. W., Capt, 256, 257,
Roberts, Samuel, 231
Rogers, J. S., Capt, 103, 173, 250, 256
Rogers, Seth, Surg., 89, 103, 255
Rust, J. D., Col., 124, 125,126,131
Sammis, Col., 49
St. Simon's Island, 83, 84
Sampson, W. W., Capt, 170, 256,
Savannah, Georgia, 115, 249
Saxton, M. W., Lt., 258
Saxton, Rufus, Gen., 29, 55, 58, 59, 61,70,76,80,88,102,108, 143,
164, 216, 224, 225, 229, 232, 235, 261, 263, 267, 269, 270, 273 offers
command to Higginson, 78 Higginson reports to, 33 issues proclamation,
34 receives recruits, 40 speaks on New Year's program, Negroes idolize,
66 speaks to troops, 76 initiates plans for Shaw monument, 217 Christmas
party, 219
Searles, J. M., Lt., 259
Sears, Capt., 94
Selvage, J. M., Lt, 258
Serrell, E. W., Col., 260
Seward, W. H., 238
Seymour, T., Gen., 132, 228
Shaw, R. G., Col., 170, 264, 278 camp named for, 215 Higginson meets,
216 killed, 217
Sherman, W. T., Gen., 170, 247
Showalter, Lt.-Col, 128
"Siege of Charleston," 163
Simmons, London, Cpl., 245
Slavery, effect of, 38, 244
Smalls, Robert, Capt, 33, 80
Songs, Negro, 136, 187-213
South Carolina, 29 men under Higginson, 35, 40 man reads Emancipation
Proclamation, 59-60
South Carolina Volunteers, First, 27, 237 order to Florida
countermanded, 225 becomes Thirty-third U.S. Colored Troops, 248 South
Carolina Volunteers, Second, 27, 126, 264
Sprague, A. B. R., Col., 28
Stafford, Col., 264
Stanton, E. M., 266
Steedman, Capt, 130
Stevens, Capt, 83
Stevens, Thaddeus, 272, 273
Stickney, Judge, 61, 106, 114
Stockdale, W, Lt, 257
Stone, H. A., Lt, 257
Strong, J. D., Lt.-Col., 80, 121, 126, 172, 174, 175, 255
Stuard, E. S., Surg., 256
Sumner, Charles, 268
Sunderland, Col., 113
Sutton, Robert, Sgt, 61, 88, 94, 95, 188 character of, 78-79 leads men,
85-86 wounded, 90 exhibits slave jail, 97-98 court-martialed, 104
Thibadeau, J. H., Capt, 257
Thompson, J. M., Capt, 256, 257
Tirrell, A. H., Lt, 258
Tobacco, use of, 58
Tonking, J. H., Capt, 256
Trowbridge, C. T., Lt-Col., 164, 167, 169, 175, 226, 231, 235, 243, 245,
249, 255, 256, 260, 262, 263, 272, 277-279 commands "Planter," 80,103
and men construct Ft Montgomery, 121 on river raid, 165
Trowbridge, J. A., Lt, 257, 258
Tubman, Harriet 37 Twichell, J. F., Lt-CoL, 123, 126 Virginia
Vendross, Robert, Cpl., 249
Walker, G. D., Capt, 257
Walker, William, Sgt., 267, 274
War Department, 40, 93
Washington, William, 44
Watson, Lt., 109
Webster, Daniel, 27
Weld, S. M., 216
West, H. C., Lt, 258
West, J. B., Lt, 257, 258
White, E. P., Lt, 257
White, N. S, Capt, 256, 258, 259
Whiting, William, 269, 270, 274, 275
Whitney, H. A., Maj, 170, 220, 255, 256
Wiggins, Cyrus, 250
Williams, Harry, Sgt., 220
Williams, Col., 264
Wilson, Henry, 268, 271
Wilson family, 233
Wood, H., Lt, 258, 25?
Wood, W. J., Maj., 267
Woodstock, Georgia, 95
Wright, Gen., 107, 112
Wright, Fanny, 234
Yellow Fever, fear of, 74
Zachos, Dr., 41