INAUGURATION OF A GREAT ENTERPRISE.
Plans for Arming the Negroes along the Mississippi.--Opposition to the
Movement.--Plantations Deserted by their Owners.--Gathering Abandoned
Cotton.--Rules and Regulations.--Speculation.--Widows and Orphans
in Demand.--Arrival of Adjutant-General Thomas.--Designs of the
Government.
I have elsewhere alluded to the orders of General Grant at Lagrange,
Tennessee, in the autumn of 1862, relative to the care of the negroes
where his army was then operating.
The plan was successful in providing for the negroes in Tennessee
and Northern Mississippi, where the number, though large, was not
excessive. At that time, the policy of arming the blacks was being
discussed in various quarters. It found much opposition. Many persons
thought it would be an infringement upon the "rights" of the South,
both unconstitutional and unjust. Others cared nothing for the South,
or its likes and dislikes, but opposed the measure on the ground of
policy. They feared its adoption would breed discontent among the
white soldiers of the army, and cause so many desertions and so much
uneasiness that the importance of the new element would be more than
neutralized. Others, again, doubted the courage of the negroes,
and thought their first use under fire would result in disgrace and
disaster to our arms. They opposed the experiment on account of this
fear.
In South Carolina and in Kansas the negroes had been put under arms
and mustered into service as Union soldiers. In engagements of a minor
character they had shown coolness and courage worthy of veterans.
There was no valid reason why the negroes along the Mississippi would
not be just as valuable in the army, as the men of the same race
in other parts of the country. Our Government determined to try the
experiment, and make the _Corps d'Afrique_ a recognized and important
adjunct of our forces in the field.
When General Grant encamped his army at Milliken's Bend and Young's
Point, preparatory to commencing the siege of Vicksburg, many of the
cotton plantations were abandoned by their owners. Before our advent
nearly all the white males able to bear arms had, willingly or
unwillingly, gone to aid in filling the ranks of the insurgents. On
nearly every plantation there was a white man not liable to military
service, who remained to look after the interests of the property.
When our army appeared, the majority of these white men fled to the
interior of Louisiana, leaving the plantations and the negroes to the
tender mercy of the invaders. In some cases the fugitives took the
negroes with them, thus leaving the plantations entirely deserted.
When the negroes remained, and the plantations were not supplied with
provisions, it became necessary for the Commissary Department to issue
rations for the subsistence of the blacks. As nearly all the planters
cared nothing for the negroes they had abandoned, there was a very
large number that required the attention of the Government.
On many plantations the cotton crop of 1862 was still in the field,
somewhat damaged by the winter rains; but well worth gathering at the
prices which then ruled the market. General Grant gave authority for
the gathering of this cotton by any parties who were willing to take
the contract. The contractors were required to feed the negroes and
pay them for their labor. One-half the cotton went to the Government,
the balance to the contractor. There was no lack of men to undertake
the collection of abandoned cotton on these terms, as the enterprise
could not fail to be exceedingly remunerative.
This cotton, gathered by Government authority, was, with a few
exceptions, the only cotton which could be shipped to market. There
were large quantities of "old" cotton--gathered and baled in previous
years--which the owners were anxious to sell, and speculators ready to
buy. Numerous applications were made for shipping-permits, but nearly
all were rejected. A few cases were pressed upon General Grant's
attention, as deserving exception from the ordinary rule.
There was one case of two young girls, whose parents had recently
died, and who were destitute of all comforts on the plantation where
they lived. They had a quantity of cotton which they wished to take to
Memphis, for sale in that market. Thus provided with money, they would
proceed North, and remain there till the end of the war.
A speculator became interested in these girls, and plead with all his
eloquence for official favor in their behalf. General Grant softened
his heart and gave this man a written permit to ship whatever cotton
belonged to the orphans. It was understood, and so stated in the
application, that the amount was between two hundred and three
hundred bales. The exact number not being known, there was no quantity
specified in the permit.
The speculator soon discovered that the penniless orphans could claim
two thousand instead of two hundred bales, and thought it possible
they would find three thousand bales and upward. On the strength
of his permit without special limit, he had purchased, or otherwise
procured, all the cotton he could find in the immediate vicinity. He
was allowed to make shipment of a few hundred bales; the balance was
detained.
Immediately, as this transaction became known, every speculator was on
the _qui vive_ to discover a widow or an orphan. Each plantation
was visited, and the status of the owners, if any remained, became
speedily known. Orphans and widows, the former in particular, were at
a high premium. Never in the history of Louisiana did the children
of tender years, bereft of parents, receive such attention from
strangers. A spectator might have imagined the Millennium close at
hand, and the dealers in cotton about to be humbled at the feet of
babes and sucklings. Widows, neither young nor comely, received the
warmest attention from men of Northern birth. The family of John
Rodgers, had it then lived at Milliken's Bend, would have been hailed
as a "big thing." Everywhere in that region there were men seeking
"healthy orphans for adoption."
The majority of the speculators found the widows and orphans of whom
they were in search. Some were able to obtain permits, while others
were not. Several officers of the army became interested in these
speculations, and gave their aid to obtain shipping privileges. Some
who were innocent were accused of dealing in the forbidden fiber,
while others, guilty of the transaction, escaped without suspicion.
The temptation was great. Many refused to be concerned in the traffic;
but there were some who yielded.
The contractors who gathered the abandoned cotton were enabled to
accumulate small fortunes. Some of them acted honestly, but others
made use of their contracts to cover large shipments of purchased or
stolen cotton, baled two or three years before. The ordinary yield of
an acre of ground is from a bale to a bale and a half. The contractors
were sometimes able to show a yield of ten or twenty bales to the
acre.
About the first of April, Adjutant-General Thomas arrived at
Milliken's Bend, bringing, as he declared, authority to regulate every
thing as he saw fit. Under his auspices, arrangements were made
for putting the able-bodied male negroes into the army. In a speech
delivered at a review of the troops at Lake Providence, he announced
the determination of the Government to use every just measure to
suppress the Rebellion.
The Rebels indirectly made use of the negroes against the Government,
by employing them in the production of supplies for their armies in
the field. "In this way," he said, "they can bring to bear against us
all the power of their so-called Confederacy. At the same time we are
compelled to retain at home a portion of our fighting force to furnish
supplies for the men at the front. The Administration has determined
to take the negroes belonging to disloyal men, and make them a part
of the army. This is the policy that has been fixed and will be fully
carried out."
General Thomas announced that he brought authority to raise as many
regiments as possible, and to give commissions to all proper persons
who desired them. The speech was listened to with attention, and
loudly cheered at its close. The general officers declared themselves
favorable to the new movement, and gave it their co-operation. In a
few days a half-dozen regiments were in process of organization. This
was the beginning of the scheme for raising a large force of colored
soldiers along the Mississippi.
The disposition to be made of the negro women and children in our
lines, was a subject of great importance. Their numbers were very
large, and constantly increasing. Not a tenth of these persons could
find employment in gathering abandoned cotton. Those that found such
employment were only temporarily provided for. It would be a heavy
burden upon the Government to support them in idleness during the
entire summer. It would be manifestly wrong to send them to the
already overcrowded camps at Memphis and Helena. They were upon our
hands by the fortune of war, and must be cared for in some way.
The plantations which their owners had abandoned were supposed to
afford the means of providing homes for the negroes, where they could
be sheltered, fed, and clothed without expense to the Government. It
was proposed to lease these plantations for the term of one year, to
persons who would undertake the production of a crop of cotton. Those
negroes who were unfit for military service were to be distributed
on these plantations, where the lessees would furnish them all needed
supplies, and pay them for their labor at certain stipulated rates.
The farming tools and other necessary property on the plantations were
to be appraised at a fair valuation, and turned over to the lessees.
Where the plantations were destitute of the requisite number of
mules for working them, condemned horses and mules were loaned to
the lessees, who should return them whenever called for. There were
promises of protection against Rebel raids, and of all assistance that
the Government could consistently give. General Thomas announced that
the measure was fully decided upon at Washington, and should receive
every support.
The plantations were readily taken, the prospects being excellent
for enormous profits if the scheme proved successful. The cost of
producing cotton varies from three to eight cents a pound. The staple
would find ready sale at fifty cents, and might possibly command a
higher figure. The prospects of a large percentage on the investment
were alluring in the extreme. The plantations, the negroes, the
farming utensils, and the working stock were to require no outlay. All
that was demanded before returns would be received, were the necessary
expenditures for feeding and clothing the negroes until the crop
was made and gathered. From five to thirty thousand dollars was the
estimated yearly expense of a plantation of a thousand acres. If
successful, the products for a year might be set down at two hundred
thousand dollars; and should cotton appreciate, the return would be
still greater.