NEWS FROM RICHMOND.
The interest in recruiting had in no wise abated, and the major’s
headquarters gave evidences daily of this fact. At every public
gathering the movement concerning the new troops was discussed.
But in the midst of the most active preparations and hopeful
anticipations news reached Charleston, simultaneously with that of the
national calamity, that Lee had surrendered. At this moment, when the
recollection of that important epoch of the war returns to the mind,
it is difficult to determine which regretted it the most--the southern
blacks or whites, but from altogether different motives. In the new
battalion the feeling was anything but joyful, as they were just
preparing for the contest. The major, on receiving the news, announced
to them, “Gentlemen, Lee has surrendered! Thank God, the war is over!”
without meeting a response of approbation from the men or officers.
It was difficult to convince these soldiers that the surrender of
General Lee’s army was the surrender of the South to the conquering
North, and they still looked forward hopefully for orders approving
the continuance of the camp. They were not kept in this state of
doubt as to the intention of the department, for soon the order came
from Washington discontinuing the raising of troops, succeeded by the
special order which follows below:--
HEADQUARTERS OF SUPERINTENDENT RECRUITING AND
ORGANIZATION COLORED TROOPS,
DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
BEAUFORT, S. C., June 7, 1865.
_Special Orders. No. 36._
I. Major M. R. Delany, 104th United States Colored Troops,
is hereby relieved from further duty at Charleston, S. C.,
and will report without delay to these headquarters, prior to
assignment to duty with his regiment.
By order of
Brevet Major General R. SAXTON,
_Gen. Supt. Rect. & Org. Col. Troops, D. S._
STUART M. TAYLOR, _Asst. Adjt. Gen._
Major M. R. DELANY, _104th U. S. C. T._
On the reception of this order a general depression was felt by the
colored people, the freedmen, especially regarding it in the light of
a preparatory abandonment of the service: naturally they felt this
order sorely; their best friend and faithful counsellor leaving them
without an apparent cause, was by no means comprehensible to them.
And soon after its promulgation, the major’s quarters were beset by
an eager crowd anxious for explanations from his own lips, but as the
most satisfactory answer or explanation would only elicit from them
a sorrowful shake of the head, it was evident nothing would content
them except the order being recalled for the major’s departure. Having
many imperative duties connected with the enlistment of the troops
unfinished, he immediately wrote to the general for an extension of
time, and while awaiting the required authority, the time solicited
expired. He left Charleston June 26, reporting the forenoon of the next
day at Hilton Head, and received the following special order:--
HEADQUARTERS SUPERINTENDENT OF RECRUITING
AND ORGANIZING COLORED TROOPS,
DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
BEAUFORT, S. C., June 29, 1865.
_Special Orders. No. 47._
III. Major M. R. Delany, 104th United States Colored Troops,
having reported at these headquarters in obedience to Special
Order No. 36, Par. I, current series, from these headquarters,
will remain in Beaufort until instructions in regard to
the duties to be assigned to him are received from the war
department.
By order of
Brevet Major General R. SAXTON.
STUART M. TAYLOR, _Brevet Major and Asst. Adjt. Gen._
Major M. R. DELANY, _104th. U. S. C. T._
Major Delany met the general on Tuesday morning at Hilton Head, while
_en route_ for New York. The 104th--the major’s regiment--was then at
Camp Duane, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Wilson. Colonel Douglass
Frazer being in command at Hilton Head, in expectation of seeing him,
but adhering strictly to his instructions received from the department
at Washington, the basis of his own cherished principles, did not join
his regiment, awaiting further orders from the department.
While awaiting instructions, he was necessarily unemployed, and there
being many duties connected with the welfare of the freedmen, he was
compelled daily to witness their imperfect performance. Just across
the river from him rumors would reach him of the dissatisfied state of
the people; and as he was anxious to aid in restoring the industry and
labor of the South, he went to St. Helena Island to use his influence
with them, and instruct them as to their duty on the subject.
The next day, to his surprise, he was informed that his mission to St.
Helena’s was for the purpose of urging the freedmen to insurrection,
and it was thus reported at the general’s and post headquarters; but
the malice of his enemies, blinded by prejudice, was of no avail with
his official superiors, with the exception of its being somewhat
annoying to him, as a rumor augmenting as it extended: it passed off
without an official notice.
While this incendiary character was falsely assigned to him, the
following order from Washington was received, and the current of
speculation as to the black major’s rôle was turned in another
direction:--
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 15, 1865.
_Special Orders. No. 372._
_Extract._
46. The following named officers of the 104th United States
Colored Troops are hereby relieved from duty with that
regiment, and assigned to duty in the bureau of refugees,
freedmen, and abandoned lands.
They will report in person without delay, to Brevet Major
General R. Saxton, assistant commissioner for the States of
South Carolina and Georgia.
Major MARTIN R. DELANY.
By order of the Secretary of War,
E. D. TOWNSEND,
_Asst. Adjt. Gen._
Official.
E. D. TOWNSEND,
_Asst. Adjt. Gen._
HEADQUARTERS ASST. COMR. BUREAU REFUGEES,
FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS, S. C., GEO., AND FL.,
BEAUFORT, S. C., July 26, 1865.
Official.
STUART M. TAYLOR,
_Asst. Adjt. Gen._