THE NEGRO ON FATIGUE DUTY.
NEGROES EMPLOYED AS TEAMSTERS AND IN THE QUARTERMASTER'S
DEPARTMENT.--GENERAL MERCER'S ORDER TO THE SLAVE-HOLDERS ISSUED
FROM SAVANNAH.--HE RECEIVES ORDERS FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO
IMPRESS A NUMBER OF NEGROES TO BUILD FORTIFICATIONS.--THE NEGRO
PROVES HIMSELF INDUSTRIOUS AND EARNS PROMOTION.
The light began to break through the dark cloud of prejudice in the
minds of the friends of the Union. If a Negro were useful in building
rebel fortifications, why not in casting up defences for the Union
army? Succeeding Gen. Butler in command at Fortress Monroe, on the
14th of October, 1861, Major-Gen. Wool issued an order, directing that
"all colored persons called contrabands," employed by officers or
others within his command, must be furnished with subsistence by their
employers, and paid, if males, not less than four dollars per month,
and that "all able-bodied colored persons, not employed as aforesaid,"
will be immediately put to work in the Engineer's or the
Quartermaster's Department. On the 1st of November, Gen. Wool directed
that the compensation of "contrabands" working for the government
should be five to ten dollars per month, with soldier's rations. These
Negroes rendered valuable service in the sphere they were called upon
to fill.
In the Western army, Gen. James B. Steedman was the first man to
suggest the idea of employing Negroes as teamsters. He saw that every
Negro who drove a team of mules gave to the army one more white
soldier with a musket in his hands; and so with the sympathy and
approval of the gallant Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, Gen. Steedman put eighty
Negroes into uniforms, and turned them over to an experienced white
"wagon-master." The Negroes made excellent teamsters, and the plan was
adopted quite generally.
In September, 1862, an order from Washington directed the employment
of fifty thousand Negro laborers in the Quartermaster's Department,
under Generals Hunter and Saxton! This showed that the authorities at
Washington had begun to get their eyes open on this question. "And
while speaking of the negroes," wrote a "Times" correspondent, in
1862, from Hilton Head, "let me present a few statistics obtained from
an official source, respecting the success which has crowned the
experiment of employing them as free paid laborers upon the
plantations. The population of the Division (including Port Royal, St.
Helena and Ladies' islands, with the smaller ones thereto adjacent,
but excluding Hilton Head and its surroundings) is as follows:
"Effective 3,817
"Non-effective 3,110
-----
"Total 6,927
"The number of acres under cultivation on the same islands, is:
"Of Corn 6,444
"Of Cotton 3,384
"Of Potatoes 1,407
"A little calculation will show that the negroes have raised enough
corn and potatoes to support themselves, besides a crop of cotton (now
ripe) somewhat smaller than in former years, but still of very
considerable value to the Government."[88]
Gen. Mercer issued the following order at Savannah, Georgia, which
shows that the rebels did not despise the fatigue services of Negroes:
"C. S. ENGINEER'S OFFICE, }
"SAVANNAH, GA., Aug. 1, 1863.}
"The Brigadier-General Commanding desires to inform the
slave-holders of Georgia that he has received authority from the
Secretary of War to impress a number of negroes sufficient to
construct such additional fortifications as are necessary for the
defence of Savannah.
"He desires, if possible, to avoid the necessity of impressment,
and therefore urges the owners of slave property to volunteer the
services of their negroes. He believes that, while the planters
of South Carolina are sending their slaves by thousands to aid
the defence of Charleston, the slave-holders of Georgia will not
be backward in contributing in the same patriotic manner to the
defence of their own seaport, which has so far resisted
successfully all the attacks of the enemy at Fort McAllister and
other points.
"Remember, citizens of Georgia, that on the successful defence of
Georgia depends the security of the interior of your State, where
so much of value both to yourselves and to the Confederacy at
large is concentrated. It is best to meet the enemy at the
threshold, and to hurl back the first wave of invasion. Once the
breach is made, all the horrors of war must desolate your now
peaceful and quiet homes. Let no man deceive himself. If Savannah
falls the fault will be yours, and your own neglect will have
brought the sword to your hearth-stones.
"The Brigadier-General Commanding, therefore, calls on all the
slave-holders of Eastern, Southern, and Southwestern Georgia, but
especially those in the neighborhood of Savannah, to send him
immediately one fifth of their able-bodied male slaves, for whom
transportation will be furnished and wages paid at the rate of
twenty-five dollars per month, the Government to be responsible
for the value of such Negroes as may be killed by the enemy, or
may in any manner fall into his hands. By order of
"Brig.-Gen. MERCER, _Commanding_.
"JOHN MCCRADY,
"_Captain and Chief Engineer, State of Georgia_."[89]
Negroes built most of the fortifications and earth-works for Gen.
Grant in front of Vicksburg. The works in and about Nashville were
cast up by the strong arm and willing hand of the loyal Blacks. Dutch
Gap was dug by Negroes, and miles of earthworks, fortifications, and
corduroy-roads were made by Negroes. They did fatigue duty in every
department of the Union army. Wherever a Negro appeared with a shovel
in his hand, a white soldier took his gun and returned to the ranks.
There were 200,000 Negroes in the camps and employ of the Union
armies, as servants, teamsters, cooks, and laborers. What a mighty
host! Suppose the sentiment that early met the Negro on the picket
lines and turned him back to the enemy had continued, 50,000 white
soldiers would have been required in the Engineer's and
Quartermaster's Department; while 25,000 white men would have been
required for various other purposes, outside of the ranks of the army.
A narrow prejudice among some of the white troops, upon whose pedigree
it would not be pleasant to dwell, met the Negro teamster, with a blue
coat and buttons with eagles on them, with a growl. They disliked to
see the Negro wearing a Union uniform;--it looked too much like
equality.
But in his lowly station as a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, the
Negro proved himself industrious, trustworthy, efficient, and
cheerful. He earned promotion, and in due time secured it.
FOOTNOTES:
[88] Times, Sept. 4, 1862.
[89] Rebellion Recs., vol. vii. Doc. p. 479.