EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.
THE QUESTION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES.--THE REBELS TAKE THE
FIRST STEP TOWARD THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES.--GRAND
REVIEW OF THE REBEL TROOPS AT NEW ORLEANS.--GENERAL HUNTER ARMS
THE FIRST REGIMENT OF LOYAL NEGROES AT THE SOUTH.--OFFICIAL
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY OF WAR AND GENERAL HUNTER
RESPECTING THE ENLISTMENT OF THE BLACK REGIMENT.--THE ENLISTMENT
OF FIVE NEGRO REGIMENTS AUTHORIZED BY THE PRESIDENT.--THE POLICY
OF GENERAL PHELPS IN REGARD TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS
SOLDIERS IN LOUISIANA.--A SECOND CALL FOR TROOPS BY THE
PRESIDENT.--AN ATTEMPT TO AMEND THE ARMY APPROPRIATION BILL SO AS
TO PROHIBIT THE FURTHER EMPLOYMENT OF COLORED TROOPS.--GOVERNOR
JOHN A. ANDREW, OF MASSACHUSETTS, AUTHORIZED BY SECRETARY OF WAR
TO ORGANIZE TWO REGIMENTS OF COLORED TROOPS.--GENERAL LORENZO
THOMAS IS DESPATCHED TO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO SUPERINTEND THE
ENLISTMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS IN THE SPRING OF 1863.--AN ORDER
ISSUED BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN THE FALL OF 1863 FOR THE
ENLISTMENT OF COLORED TROOPS.--THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF NEW YORK
CITY.--RECRUITING OF COLORED TROOPS IN PENNSYLVANIA.--GEORGE L.
STEARNS ASSIGNED CHARGE OF THE RECRUITING OF COLORED TROOPS IN
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND.--FREE MILITARY SCHOOL
ESTABLISHED AT PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.--ENDORSEMENT OF THE
SCHOOL BY SECRETARY STANTON.--THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
SCHOOL.--OFFICIAL TABLE GIVING NUMBER OF COLORED TROOPS IN THE
ARMY.--THE CHARACTER OF NEGRO TROOPS.--MR. GREELEY'S EDITORIAL ON
"NEGRO TROOPS."--LETTER FROM JUDGE ADVOCATE HOLT TO THE SECRETARY
OF WAR ON THE "ENLISTMENT OF SLAVES."--THE NEGRO LEGALLY AND
CONSTITUTIONALLY A SOLDIER.--HISTORY RECORDS HIS DEEDS OF
PATRIOTISM.
At no time during the first two years of the war was the President or
the Congress willing to entertain the idea of employing Negroes as
soldiers. It has been shown that the admission of loyal Negroes into
the Union lines, and into the service of the Engineer's and
Quartermaster's Department, had been resisted with great stubbornness
by the men in the "chief places." There were, however, a few men, both
in and out of the army, who secretly believed that the Negro was
needed in the army, and that he possessed all the elements necessary
to make an excellent soldier. Public sentiment was so strong against
the employment of Negroes in the armed service that few men had the
courage of conviction; few had the temerity to express their views
publicly. In the summer of 1860,--before the election of Abraham
Lincoln,--General J. Watts De Peyster, of New York, wrote an article
for a Hudson paper, in which he advocated the arming of Negroes as
soldiers, should the Southern States declare war against the
Government of the United States. The article was reproduced in many
other papers, pronounced a fire-brand, and General De Peyster severely
denounced for his advice. But he stood his ground, and when the war
did come he gave to his country's service three gallant sons; and from
the first to the last was an efficient and enthusiastic supporter of
the war for the Union.
The rebels took the first step in the direction of the military
employment of Negroes as soldiers. Two weeks after the firing upon
Sumter took place, the following note appeared in the "Charleston
Mercury":
Several companies of the Third and Fourth Regiments of Georgia
passed through Augusta for the expected scene of
warfare--Virginia. Sixteen well-drilled companies of volunteers
and one negro company, from Nashville, Tennessee, offered their
services to the Confederate States."[91]
In the "Memphis Avalanche" and "Memphis Appeal" of the 9th, 10th, and
11th of May, 1861, appeared the following notice:
"ATTENTION, VOLUNTEERS: Resolved by the Committee of Safety, that
C. Deloach, D. R. Cook, and William B. Greenlaw be authorized to
organize a volunteer company composed of our patriotic free men
of color, of the city of Memphis, for the service of our common
defence. All who have not enrolled their names will call at the
office of W. B. Greenlaw & Co.
"F. TITUS, _President_.
"F. W. FORSYTHE, _Secretary_."
On the 9th of February, 1862, the rebel troops had a grand review, and
the "Picayune," of New Orleans, contained the following paragraph:
"We must also pay a deserved compliment to the companies of free
colored men, all very well drilled, and comfortably uniformed.
Most of these companies, quite unaided by the administration,
have supplied themselves with arms without regard to cost or
trouble. One of these companies, commanded by the well-known
veteran, Captain Jordan, was presented, a little before the
parade, with a fine war-flag of the new style. This interesting
ceremony took place at Mr. Cushing's store, on Camp, near Common
Street. The presentation was made by Mr. Bigney, and Jordan made,
on this occasion, one of his most felicitous speeches."
And on the 4th of February, 1862, the "Baltimore Traveller" contained
the following paragraph:
"ARMING OF NEGROES AT RICHMOND.--Contrabands who have recently
come within the Federal lines at Williamsport, report that all
the able-bodied colored men in that vicinity are being taken to
Richmond, formed into regiments, and armed for the defence of
that city."
The following telegram was sent out:
"NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 23, 1861.
"Over twenty-eight thousand troops were reviewed to-day by
Governor Moore, Major-General Lovell, and Brig.-General Ruggles.
The line was over seven miles long. One regiment comprised
fourteen hundred free colored men."
These are sufficient to show that from the earliest dawn of the war
the rebel authorities did not frown upon the action of local
authorities in placing arms into the hands of free Negroes.
The President of the United States was still opposing any attempt on
the part of the supporters of the war to constrain him to approve of
the introduction of Negroes into the army. But the Secretary of War,
the Hon. Simon Cameron, had sent an order to Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman,
directing him to accept the services of all loyal persons who desired
to aid in the suppression of the Rebellion in and about Port Royal.
When Gen. David Hunter relieved Gen. Sherman, the latter turned over
to him the instructions of the Secretary of War. There was no mention
of color, nor was any class of persons mentioned save "loyal persons."
Gen. Hunter was a gentleman of broad, liberal, and humane views, and
seeing an opportunity open to employ Negroes as soldiers, in the
spring of 1862 directed the organization of a regiment of blacks. He
secured the best white officers for the regiment, and it soon obtained
a fine condition of discipline. The news of a Union Negro regiment in
South Carolina completely surprised the people at Washington. On the
9th of June, 1862, Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, introduced in the
National House of Representatives a resolution of inquiry, calling
upon Gen. Hunter to explain to Congress his unprecedented conduct in
arming Negroes to fight the battles of the Union. Mr. Stanton was now
at the head of the War Department, and the following correspondence
took place:
"GENERAL HUNTER'S NEGRO REGIMENT.
"OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, June 14, 1862.
"_Hon. G. A. Grow, Speaker of the House of Representatives_:
"SIR: A resolution of the House of Representatives has been
received, which passed the ninth instant, to the following
effect:
"'_Resolved_, That the Secretary of War be directed to inform
this House if Gen. Hunter, of the Department of South Carolina,
has organized a regiment of South Carolina volunteers for the
defence of the Union, composed of black men (fugitive slaves),
and appointed a Colonel and officers to command them.
"'2d. Was he authorized by the Department to organize and muster
into the army of the United States, as soldiers, the fugitive or
captive slaves?
"'3d. Has he been furnished with clothing, uniforms, etc., for
such force?
"'4th. Has he been furnished, by order of the Department of War,
with arms to be placed in the hands of the slaves?
"'5th. To report any orders given said Hunter, and correspondence
between him and the Department.'"
"In answer to the foregoing resolution, I have the honor to
inform the House;
"1st. That this Department has no official information whether
Gen. Hunter, of the Department of South Carolina, has or has not
organized a regiment of South Carolina volunteers for the defence
of the Union, composed of black men, fugitive slaves, and
appointed the Colonel and other officers to command them. In
order to ascertain whether he has done so or not, a copy of the
House resolution has been transmitted to Gen. Hunter, with
instructions to make immediate report thereon.
"2d. Gen. Hunter was not authorized by the Department to organize
and muster into the army of the United States the fugitive or
captive slaves.
"3d. Gen. Hunter, upon his requisition as Commander of the South,
has been furnished with clothing and arms for the force under his
command, without instructions as to how they should be used.
"4th. He has not been furnished by order of the Department of War
with arms to be placed within the hands of 'those slaves.'
"5th. In respect to so much of said resolution as directs the
Secretary 'to report to the House my orders given said Hunter,
and correspondence between him and the Department,' the President
instructs me to answer that the report, at this time, of the
orders given to and correspondence between Gen. Hunter and this
Department would, in his opinion, be incompatible with the public
welfare.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"EDWIN M. STANTON,
"_Secretary of War_."
"WAR DEPARTMENT, }
"WASHINGTON, July 2, 1862. }
"SIR: On reference to the answer of this Department of the
fourteenth ultimo to the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the ninth of last month, calling for
information respecting the organization by Gen. Hunter, of the
Department of South Carolina, of a regiment of volunteers for the
defence of the Union, composed of black men, fugitive slaves,
etc., it will be seen that the resolution had been referred to
that officer with instructions to make an immediate report
thereon. I have now the honor to transmit herewith the copy of a
communication just received from Gen. Hunter, furnishing
information as to his action touching the various matters
indicated in the resolution.
"I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
"EDWIN M. STANTON,
"_Secretary of War_.
"Hon. G. A. GROW,
"_Speaker of the House of Representatives_."
"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, }
"PORT ROYAL, S. C., June 23, 1862. }
"Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, _Secretary of War_, Washington.
"SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a
communication from the Adjutant-General of the army, dated June
thirteenth, 1862, requesting me to furnish you with the
information necessary to answer certain resolutions introduced in
the House of Representatives, June ninth, 1862, on motion of the
Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, their substance being to
inquire:
"First. Whether I had organized or was organizing a regiment of
'fugitive slaves' in this department?
"Second. Whether any authority had been given to me from the War
Department for such organization? and
"Third. Whether I had been furnished, by order of the War
Department, with clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments, etc., for
such a force?
"Only having received the letter covering these inquiries at a
late hour on Saturday night, I urge forward my answer in time for
the steamer sailing to-day (Monday)--this haste preventing me
from entering as minutely as I could wish upon many points of
detail, such as the paramount importance of the subject calls
for. But, in view of the near termination of the present session
of Congress, and the widespread interest which must have been
awakened by Mr. Wickliffe's resolutions, I prefer sending even
this imperfect answer to waiting the period necessary for the
collection of fuller and more comprehensive data.
"To the first question, therefore, I reply that no regiment of
'fugitive slaves' has been or is being organized in this
department. There is, however, a fine regiment of persons whose
late masters are 'fugitive rebels,'--men who everywhere fly
before the appearance of the national flag, leaving their
servants behind them to shift as best they can for themselves. So
far, indeed, are the loyal persons composing this regiment from
seeking to avoid the presence of their late owners, that they are
now, one and all, working with remarkable industry to place
themselves in a position to go in full and effective pursuit of
their fugacious and traitorous proprietors.
"To the second question I have the honor to answer that the
instructions given to Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman, by the Hon. Simon
Cameron, late Secretary of War, and turned over to me by
succession for my guidance, do distinctly authorize me to employ
all loyal persons offering their services in defence of the Union
and for the suppression of this rebellion in any manner I might
see fit, or that the circumstances might call for. There is no
restriction as to the character or color of the persons to be
employed, or the nature of the employment, whether civil or
military, in which their services should be used. I conclude,
therefore, that I have been authorized to enlist 'fugitive
slaves' as soldiers, could any such be found in this department.
No such characters, however, have yet appeared within view of our
most advanced pickets, the loyal slaves everywhere remaining on
their plantations to welcome us, aid us, and supply us with food,
labor, and information. It is the masters who have in every
instance been the 'fugitives,' running away from loyal slaves as
well as loyal soldiers, and whom we have only partially been able
to see--chiefly their heads over ramparts, or, rifle in hand,
dodging behind trees--in the extreme distance. In the absence of
any 'fugitive-master law,' the deserted slaves would be wholly
without remedy, had not the crime of treason given them the right
to pursue, capture, and bring back those persons of whose
protection they have been thus suddenly bereft.
"To the third interrogatory it is my painful duty to reply that I
never have received any specific authority for issues of
clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments, and so forth, to the troops
in question--my general instructions from Mr. Cameron to employ
them in any manner I might find necessary, and the military
exigencies of the department and the country being my only, but,
in my judgment, sufficient justification. Neither have I had any
specific authority for supplying these persons with shovels,
spades, and pickaxes, when employing them as laborers, nor with
boats and oars when using them as lightermen; but these are not
points included in Mr. Wickliffe's resolution. To me it seemed
that liberty to employ men in any particular capacity implied
with it liberty also to supply them with the necessary tools; and
acting upon this faith I have clothed, equipped, and armed the
only loyal regiment yet raised in South Carolina.
"I must say, in vindication of my own conduct, that had it not
been for the many other diversified and imperative claims on my
time, a much more satisfactory result might have been hoped for;
and that in place of only one, as at present, at least five or
six well-drilled, brave, and thoroughly acclimated regiments
should by this time have been added to the loyal forces of the
Union.
"The experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have made it,
has been a complete and even marvellous success. They are sober,
docile, attentive, and enthusiastic, displaying great natural
capacities for acquiring the duties of the soldier. They are
eager beyond all things to take the field and be led into action;
and it is the unanimous opinion of the officers who have had
charge of them, that in the peculiarities of this climate and
country they will prove invaluable auxiliaries, fully equal to
the similar regiments so long and successfully used by the
British authorities in the West-India Islands.
"In conclusion, I would say it is my hope--there appearing no
possibility of other reënforcements, owing to the exigencies of
the campaign in the Peninsula--to have organized by the end of
next fall, and to be able to present to the Government, from
forty-eight to fifty thousand of these hardy and devoted
soldiers.
"Trusting that this letter may form part of your answer to Mr.
Wickliffe's resolutions, I have the honor to be, most
respectfully, your very obedient servant,
"D. HUNTER,
"_Major-General Commanding_."
Mr. Wickliffe seemed to feel that he had received an exhaustive reply
to his resolution of inquiry, but his colleague, Mr. Dunlap, offered
the following resolution on the 3d of July, 1862, which was never
acted upon:
"_Resolved_, That the sentiments contained in the paper read to
this body yesterday, approving the arming of slaves, emanating
from Major-General David Hunter, clothed in discourteous
language, are an indignity to the American Congress, an insult to
the American people and our brave soldiers in arms; for which
sentiments, so uttered, he justly merits our condemnation and
censure."
There was quite a flutter among the politicians in the rear, and many
army officers felt that the United States uniform had been disgraced
by being put upon "fugitive slaves."
Within a few weeks after the affair in Congress alluded to above, two
United States Senators,[92] charmed with the bold idea of General
Hunter, called upon the President to urge him to accept the services
of two Negro regiments. The "New York Herald" of the 5th of August,
1862, gave an account of the interview under the caption of
"_Important Decision of the President_."
"The efforts of those who love the negro more than the Union to
induce the President to swerve from his established policy are
unavailing. He will neither be persuaded by promises nor
intimidated by threats. To-day he was called upon by two United
States Senators and rather peremptorily requested to accept the
services of two negro regiments. They were flatly and
unequivocally rejected. The President did not appreciate the
necessity of employing the negroes to fight the battles of the
country and take the positions which the white men of the nation,
the voters, and sons of patriotic sires, should be proud to
occupy; there were employments in which the negroes of rebel
masters might well be engaged, but he was not willing to place
them upon an equality with our volunteers, who had left home and
family and lucrative occupations to defend the Union and the
Constitution, while there were volunteers or militia enough in
the loyal States to maintain the Government without resort to
this expedient. If the loyal people were not satisfied with the
policy he had adopted, he was willing to leave the administration
to other hands. One of the Senators was impudent enough to tell
the President he wished to God he would resign."[93]
But there the regiment was,--one thousand loyal and competent
soldiers; and there was no way out but for the government to father
the regiment, and, therefore, on the 25th of August, 1862, the
Secretary of War sent General Rufus Saxton the following order:
"3. 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.
"4. 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.
"5. The population of African descent, that cultivate the land
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."
But public sentiment was growing with every passing day. The very
presence of the Negro regiment at Port Royal converted the most
pronounced enemies of Negro troops into friends and admirers. The
newspaper correspondents filled their letters to the papers North with
most extravagant praise of the Negro soldier; and the President was
driven from his position of "_no negro soldiers_."
The correspondent of the "Times," in a letter dated September 4, 1862,
wrote:
"There is little doubt that the next mail from the North will
bring an order from the War Department recalling Major-Gen.
Hunter to a field of greater activity. The Government had not
lent him a hearty support in carrying out his policy of arming
the blacks, by which alone he could make himself useful in this
department to the National cause; and, therefore, more than two
months since he applied to be relieved, rather than sit supinely
with folded hands when his military abilities might be found of
service elsewhere. Now, however, I have reason to believe that
Gen. Hunter's views upon the question of forming negro regiments,
have been unreservedly adopted by the President, and the whole
question has assumed such a different phase that Gen. Hunter
almost regrets that he is to leave the department. The last mail
brought the authorization of the President to _enlist_ five negro
regiments, each of a thousand negroes, to be armed and uniformed
for the service of the United States, and also authorizes the
enrollment of an additional 50,000 to be employed in the
Quartermaster's Department nominally as laborers, but as they are
to be organized into companies and uniformed, and a portion of
their time is to be spent in drilling, it is easy to understand
that the possibility of their being used as soldiers is not lost
sight of. The exact time of commencing the work of enlisting the
colored recruits, I am not able to state, but that it will be
shortly, to my mind, there is not a shadow of doubt. The only way
in which the men can be obtained is by the establishment of posts
at various places upon the coast, where the negroes, assured of
protection, will flock to us by thousands. Past experience and
present information both go to prove this fact, and to establish
these posts more men will be required; therefore we may soon
expect that the Government will be deriving positive advantages
from this department which, heretofore, has been only negative of
service, as the field of experiments and the testing of ideas.
Gen. Saxton will go to Washington by the first steamer, for
consultation with the President on the subject."
Just what one thing changed the President so suddenly upon the
question of the employment of Negroes as soldiers was not known.
In Louisiana the Negroes were anxious to enlist in the service of the
Union, and with this object in view thousands of them sought the
Federal camps. Brig.-Gen. J. W. Phelps, commanding the forces at
Carrolton, La., found his camps daily crowded with fugitives from
slavery. What to do with them became a question of great moment. Gen.
Phelps became convinced that it was impossible to subdue a great
rebellion if slavery were to have the protection of Federal bayonets.
He gave the Negroes who came to his camp protection; and for this was
reported to his superior officer, Gen. Butler. In a report to the
latter officer's Adjutant-General, on June 16, 1862, he said:
"The enfranchisement of the people of Europe has been, and is
still, going on, through the instrumentality of military service;
and by this means our slaves might be raised in the scale of
civilization and prepared for freedom. Fifty regiments might be
raised among them at once, which could be employed in this
climate to preserve order, and thus prevent the necessity of
retrenching our liberties, as we should do by a large army
exclusively of Whites. For it is evident that a considerable army
of Whites would give stringency to our Government; while an army
partly of Blacks would naturally operate in favor of freedom and
against those influences which at present most endanger our
liberties. At the end of five years, they could be sent to
Africa, and their places filled with new enlistments."
Receiving no specific response to this overture, Gen. Phelps made a
requisition of arms, clothing, etc., for "three regiments of Africans,
which I propose to raise for the defense of this point"; adding:
"The location is swampy and unhealthy; and our men are dying at
the rate of two or three a day.
"The Southern loyalists are willing, as I understand, to furnish
their share of the tax for the support of the war; but they
should also furnish their quota of men; which they have not thus
far done. An opportunity now offers of supplying the deficiency;
and it is not safe to neglect opportunities in war. I think that,
with the proper facilities, I could raise the three regiments
proposed in a short time. Without holding out any inducements, or
offering any reward, I have now upward of 300 Africans organized
into five companies, who are all willing and ready to show their
devotion to our cause in any way that it may be put to the test.
They are willing to submit to any thing rather than to slavery.
"Society, in the South, seems to be on the point of dissolution;
and the best way of preventing the African from becoming
instrumental in a general state of anarchy, is to enlist him in
the cause of the Republic. If we reject his services, any petty
military chieftain, by offering him freedom, can have them for
the purpose of robbery and plunder. It is for the interests of
the South, as well as of the North, that the African should be
permitted to offer his block for the temple of freedom.
Sentiments unworthy of the man of the present day--worthy only of
another Cain--could alone prevent such an offer from being
accepted.
"I would recommend that the cadet graduates of the present year
should be sent to South Carolina and this point, to organize and
discipline our African levies; and that the more promising
non-commissioned officers and privates of the army be appointed
as company officers to command them. Prompt and energetic efforts
in this direction would probably accomplish more toward a speedy
termination of the war, and an early restoration of peace and
unity, than any other course which could be adopted."[94]
Gen. Butler advised Gen. Phelps to employ "contrabands" for mere
fatigue duty, and charged him not to use them as soldiers. On the 31st
of July, 1862, Gen. Phelps rejoined by informing Gen. Butler: "I am
not willing to become the mere slave-driver you propose, having no
qualifications that way," and immediately tendered his resignation.
Nothing could stay the mighty stream of fugitives that poured into the
Union lines by day and by night. Nothing could cool the ardor of the
loyal Negroes who so earnestly desired to share the perils and honors
of the Federal army. There was but one course left and that was to
call the Negroes to arms as Gen. Jackson had done nearly a half
century before. Gen. Butler repented his action toward the gallant and
intelligent Phelps, and on the 24th of August, 1862, appealed to the
free Colored men of New Orleans to take up arms in defence of the
Union. As in the War of 1812, they responded to the call with
enthusiasm; and in just two weeks one thousand Negroes were organized
into a regiment. All the men and line officers were Colored; the
staff-officers were white. Another regiment was raised and officered
like the first--only two white men in it; while the third regiment was
officered without regard to nationality. Two Colored batteries were
raised, but all the officers were white because there were no Negroes
found who understood that arm of the service.
The summer was gone, and Gen. McClellan, instead of "taking Richmond,"
had closed his campaign on the Peninsula most ingloriously. The
President was compelled to make another call for troops--60,000.
Conscription was unavoidable in many places, and prejudice against the
military employment of Negroes began to decrease in proportion to the
increase of the chances of white men to be drafted. On the 16th of
July, 1862, Gen. Henry Wilson, United States Senator from
Massachusetts, and Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs,
introduced a bill in the Senate amending the act of 1795, prescribing
the manner of the calling forth of the militia to suppress
insurrections, etc. Several amendments were offered, much debate was
had, and finally it passed, amended, empowering the President to
accept "persons of African descent, for the purpose of constructing
entrenchments or performing camp service, or _any_ war service for
which they may be found competent." It was agreed, grudgingly, to free
the slaves of rebels _only_ who should faithfully serve the
country,--but _not_ their wives and children! The vote was 28 yeas to
9 nays. It went to the House, where it was managed by Mr. Stevens, of
Pennsylvania, and upon a call of the previous question was passed. On
the next day, July 17th, it received the signature of the President,
and became the law of the land.
On the 28th of January the Army Appropriation bill was under
consideration in the United States Senate. Garrett Davis, of Kentucky,
had opposed, by the most frantic and desperate efforts, every attempt
to use Negroes in any capacity to aid in the suppression of the
Rebellion. Accordingly he offered the following amendment to the
Appropriation bill:
"Provided, That no part of the sums appropriated by this act
shall be disbursed for the pay, subsistence, or any other
supplies, of any negro, free or slave, in the armed military
service of the United States."
It received 8 votes, with 28 against it. Those who sustained the
amendment were all Democrats:
Messrs. Carlyle, G. Davis, Kennedy, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Turpie,
and Wall.
The fight against the employment of Negroes as soldiers was renewed.
On every occasion the opposition was led by a Kentucky representative!
On the 21st of December, 1863, during the pendency of the Deficiency
bill in the House, Mr. Harding, of Kentucky, desired to amend it by
inserting the following:
"_Provided_, That no part of the moneys aforesaid shall be
applied to the raising, arming, equipping, or paying of negro
soldiers."
It was rejected: yeas, 41; nays, 105. The yeas were:
Messrs. Ancona, Bliss, James S. Brown, Coffroth, Cox, Dawson,
Dennison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall, Harding,
Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Harris, Philip Johnson,
William Johnson, King, Knapp, Law, Long, Marcy, McKinney, William H.
Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton,
Samuel J. Randall, Rogers, Ross, Scott, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart,
Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Yeaman.
On the 26th of January, 1863, the Secretary of War authorized Gov.
John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, to raise two regiments of Negro
troops to serve three years. The order allowed the governor to raise
"volunteer companies of artillery for duty in the forts of
Massachusetts and elsewhere, and such companies of infantry for the
volunteer military service as he may find convenient, and may include
persons of African descent, organized into separate corps."
The Governor of Massachusetts immediately delegated authority to John
W. M. Appleton to superintend the recruiting of the 54th
Massachusetts, the first regiment of free Colored men raised at the
North. The regiment was filled by the 13th of May, and ready to march
to the front. It had been arranged that the regiment should pass
through New York City on its way to the scene of the war in South
Carolina, but the Chief of Police of New York suggested that the
regiment would be subject to insult if it came. The regiment was sent
forth with the blessings of Massachusetts and the prayers of its
patriotic people. It went by water to South Carolina.
While Massachusetts was engaged in recruiting Negro soldiers, Gen.
Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United States Army, was
despatched from Washington to the Mississippi Valley, where he
inaugurated a system of recruiting service for Negroes. In a speech to
the officers and men in the organization of white troops, he said, on
the 8th of April, 1863, at Lake Providence, La.:
"You know full well--for you have been over this country--that
the Rebels have sent into the field all their available fighting
men--every man capable of bearing arms; and you know they have
kept at home all their slaves for the raising of subsistence for
their armies in the field. In this way they can bring to bear
against us all the strength of their so-called Confederate
States; while we at the North can only send a portion of our
fighting force, being compelled to leave behind another portion
to cultivate our fields and supply the wants of an immense army.
The Administration has determined to take from the Rebels this
source of supply--to take their negroes and compel them to send
back a portion of their whites to cultivate their deserted
plantations--and very poor persons they would be to fill the
place of the dark-hued laborer. They must do this, or their
armies will starve. * * *
"All of you will some day be on picket duty; and I charge you
all, if any of this unfortunate race come within your lines, that
you do not turn them away, but receive them kindly and
cordially. They are to be encouraged to come to us; they are to
be received with open arms; they are to be fed and clothed; they
are to be armed."
On the 1st of May, 1863, Gen. Banks, in an order directing the
recruiting of the "Corps d'Afrique," said:
"The prejudices or opinions of men are in no wise involved"; and
"it is not established upon any dogma of equality, or other
theory, but as a practical and sensible matter of business. The
Government makes use of mules, horses, uneducated and educated
White men, in the defense of its institutions. Why should not the
negro contribute whatever is in his power for the cause in which
he is as deeply interested as other men? We may properly demand
from him whatever service he can render," etc., etc.
In the autumn of 1863, Adjutant-General Thomas issued the following
order respecting the military employment of Negroes as soldiers:
"ENLISTMENT OF COLORED TROOPS.
"GENERAL ORDERS, No. 329.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, }
"WASHINGTON, D. C., October 13, 1863. }
"WHEREAS, The exigencies of the war require that colored troops
be enlisted in the States of Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee,
it is
"ORDERED BY THE PRESIDENT, That the Chief of the Bureau for the
Organization of Colored Troops shall establish recruiting
stations at convenient places within said States, and give public
notice thereof, and be governed by the following regulations:
"First. None but able-bodied persons shall be enlisted.
"Second. The State and county in which the enlistments are made
shall be credited with the recruits enlisted.
"Third. All persons enlisted into the military service shall
forever thereafter be FREE.
"Fourth. Free persons, and slaves with the written consent of
their owners, and slaves belonging to those who have been engaged
in or given aid or comfort to the rebellion, may now be
enlisted--the owners who have not been engaged in or given aid to
the rebellion being entitled to compensation as hereinafter
provided.
"Fifth. If within thirty days from the date of opening
enlistments, notice thereof and of the recruiting stations being
published, a sufficient number of the description of persons
aforesaid to meet the exigencies of the service should not be
enlisted, then enlistments may be made of slaves without
requiring consent of their owners, but they may receive
compensation as herein provided for owners offering their slaves
for enlistment.
"Sixth. Any citizen of said States, who shall offer his or her
slave for enlistment into the military service, shall, if such
slave be accepted, receive from the recruiting officer a
certificate thereof, and become entitled to compensation for the
service of said slave, not exceeding the sum of three hundred
dollars, upon filing a valid deed of manumission and of release,
and making satisfactory proof of title. And the recruiting
officer shall furnish to any claimant of descriptive list of any
person enlisted and claimed under oath to be his or her slave,
and allow any one claiming under oath that his or her slave has
been enlisted without his or her consent, the privilege of
inspecting the enlisted man for the purpose of identification.
"Seventh. A board of three persons shall be appointed by the
President, to whom the rolls and recruiting lists shall be
furnished for public information, and, on demand exhibited, to
any person claiming that his or her slave has been enlisted
against his or her will.
"Eighth. If a person shall within ten days after the filing of
said rolls, make a claim for the service of any person so
enlisted, the board shall proceed to examine the proof of title,
and, if valid, shall award just compensation, not exceeding three
hundred dollars for each slave enlisted belonging to the
claimant, and upon the claimant filing a valid deed of
manumission and release of service, the board shall give the
claimant a certificate of the sum awarded, which on presentation
shall be paid by the chief of the Bureau.
"Ninth. All enlistments of colored troops in the State of
Maryland, otherwise than in accordance with these regulations,
are forbidden.
"Tenth. No person who is or has been engaged in the rebellion
against the Government of the United States, or who in any way
has or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the
Government, shall be permitted to present any claim or receive
any compensation for the labor or service of any slave, and all
claimants shall file with their claim an oath of allegiance to
the United States. By order of the President.
"E. D. TOWNSEND,
"_Assistant Adjutant-General_."
This order was extended, on October 26th, to Delaware, at the personal
request of Governor Cannon.
On the 12th of November, 1863, the Union League Club of New York City
appointed a committee for the purpose of recruiting Colored troops.
Col. George Bliss was made chairman and entered upon the work with
energy and alacrity. On the 23d of November the committee addressed a
letter to Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, stating that as he
had no authority to grant them permission to enlist a Negro regiment;
and as the National Government was unwilling to grant such authority
without the sympathy and assent of the State government, they would
feel greatly obliged should his excellency grant the committee his
official concurrence. Gov. Seymour assured the committee of his
official inability to grant authority for the raising of Colored
troops,--just what the committee had written him,--and referred them
to the National Government, on the 27th of November. The committee
applied to the authorities at Washington, and on the 5th of December,
1863, the Secretary of War granted them authority to raise the 20th
Regiment of United States Colored Troops. Having secured the authority
of the Government to begin their work, the committee wrote Gov.
Seymour: "We express the hope that, so far as in your power, you will
give to the movement your aid and countenance." The governor never
found the time to answer the request of the committee!
The work was pushed forward with zeal and enthusiasm. The Colored men
rallied to the call, and within two weeks from the time the committee
called for Colored volunteers 1,000 men responded. By the 27th of
January, 1864, a second regiment was full; and thus in forty-five days
the Union League Club Committee on the Recruiting of Colored Regiments
had raised 2,000 soldiers!
Out of 9,000 men of color, eligible by age--18 to 45 years--to go into
the service, 2,300 enlisted in less than sixty days. There was no
bounty held out to them as an incentive to enlist; no protection
promised to their families, nor to them should they fall into the
hands of the enemy. But they were patriots! They were willing to
endure any thing rather than the evils that would surely attend the
triumph of the Confederacy. They went to the front under auspicious
circumstances.
The 20th Regiment, under the command of Col. Bartram, landed at
Thirty-Sixth Street, was headed by the police and the patriotic
members of the Union League Club, and had a triumphal march through
the city.
"The scene of yesterday," says a New York paper, "was one which
marks an era of progress in the political and social history of
New York. A thousand men with black skins and clad and equipped
with the uniforms and arms of the United States Government,
marched from their camp through the most aristocratic and busy
streets, received a grand ovation at the hands of the wealthiest
and most respectable ladies and gentlemen of New York, and then
moved down Broadway to the steamer which bears them to their
destination--all amid the enthusiastic cheers, the encouraging
plaudits, the waving handkerchiefs, the showering bouquets and
other approving manifestations of a hundred thousand of the most
loyal of our people.
"In the month of July last the homes of these people were burned
and pillaged by an infuriated political mob; they and their
families were hunted down and murdered in the public streets of
this city; and the force and majesty of the law were powerless to
protect them. Seven brief months have passed, and a thousand of
these despised and persecuted men march through the city in the
garb of United States soldiers, in vindication of their own
manhood, and with the approval of a countless multitude--in
effect saving from inevitable and distasteful conscription the
same number of those who hunted their persons and destroyed their
homes during those days of humiliation and disgrace. This is
noble vengeance--a vengeance taught by Him who commanded, 'Love
them that hate you; do good to them that persecute you.'"
The recruiting of Colored troops in Pennsylvania was carried on,
perhaps, with more vigor, intelligence, and enthusiasm than in any of
the other free States. A committee for the recruiting of men of color
for the United States army was appointed at Philadelphia, with Thomas
Webster as Chairman, Cadwalader Biddle, as Secretary, and S. A.
Mercer, as Treasurer. This committee raised $33,388.00 for the
recruiting of Colored regiments. The 54th and 55th Massachusetts
regiments had cost about $60,000, but this committee agreed to raise
three regiments at a cost of $10,000 per regiment.
The committee founded a camp, and named it "Camp William Penn," at
Shelton Hill, near Philadelphia. On the 26th of June, 1863, the first
squad of eighty men went into camp. On the 3d of February, 1864, the
committee made the following statement, in reference to the raising of
regiments:
"On the 24th July, 1863, the First (3d United States) regiment
was full.
"On the 13th September, 1863, the Second (6th United States)
regiment was full.
"On the 4th December, 1863, the Third (8th United States)
regiment was full.
"On the 6th January, 1864, the Fourth (22d United States)
regiment was full.
"On the 3d February, 1864, the Fifth (25th United States)
regiment was full.
"August 13th, 1863, the Third United States regiment left Camp
William Penn, and was in front of Fort Wagner when it
surrendered.
"October 14th, 1863, the Sixth United States regiment left for
Yorktown.
"January 16th, 1864, the Eighth United States regiment left for
Hilton Head.
"The 22d and 25th regiments are now at Camp William Penn, waiting
orders from the Government."
The duty of recruiting "Colored troops" in the Department of the
Cumberland was committed by Secretary Stanton to an able, honest, and
patriotic man, Mr. George L. Stearns, of Massachusetts. Mr. Stearns
had devoted his energies, wealth, and time to the cause of the slave
during the holy anti-slavery agitation. He was a wealthy merchant of
Boston; dwelt, with a noble wife and beautiful children, at Medford.
He had been, from the commencement of the agitation, an ultra
Abolitionist. He regarded slavery as a gigantic system of complicated
evils, at war with all the known laws of civilized society; inimical
to the fundamental principles of political economy; destructive to
republican institutions; hateful in the sight of God, and ever
abhorrent to all honest men. He hated slavery. He hated truckling,
obsequious, cringing hypocrites. He put his feelings into vigorous
English, and keyed his deeds and actions to the sublime notes of
charity that filled his heart and adorned a long and eminently useful
life. He gave shelter to the majestic and heroic John Brown. His door
was--like the heavenly gates--ajar to every fugitive from slavery, and
his fiery earnestness kindled the flagging zeal of many a conservative
friend of God's poor.
Such a man was chosen to put muskets into the hands of the Negroes in
the Department of the Cumberland. His rank was that of major, with the
powers of an assistant adjutant-general. He took up his headquarters
at Nashville, Tennessee. He carried into the discharge of the duties
of his important office large executive ability, excellent judgment,
and rare fidelity. He organized the best regiments that served in the
Western army. When he had placed the work in excellent condition he
committed it to the care of Capt. R. D. Mussey, who afterward was
made the Colonel of the 100th U. S. Colored Troops.
The intense and unrelenting prejudice against the Negroes, and their
ignorance of military tactics, made it necessary for the Government to
provide suitable white commissioned officers. The prospect was
pleasing to many young white men in the ranks; and ambition went far
to irradicate prejudice against Negro soldiers. Nearly every white
private and non-commissioned officer was expecting the lightning to
strike him; _every_ one expected to be promoted to be a commissioned
officer, and, therefore, had no prejudice against the men they hoped
to command as their _superior_ officers. To prepare the large number
of applicants for commissions in Colored regiments a "Free Military
School" was established at No. 1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Secretary Stanton gave the school the following official endorsement
in the spring of 1864.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, }
"WASHINGTON CITY, March 21, 1864. }
"THOMAS WEBSTER, ESQ., _Chairman_,
"1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
"SIR: The project of establishing a free Military School for the
education of candidates for the position of commissioned officers
in the Colored Troops, received the cordial approval of this
Department. Sufficient success has already attended the workings
of the institution to afford the promise of much usefulness
hereafter in sending into the service a class of instructed and
efficient officers.
"Very respectfully,
"Your obedient servant,
"EDWIN M. STANTON,
"_Secretary of War_."
In reply to a letter from Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, etc., of the
Recruiting Committee, General Casey sent the following letter:
"WASHINGTON, D. C., March 7, 1864.
"DEAR SIR: Yours of the 4th instant is received, and I have
directed the Secretary of the Board to attend to your request.
"It gives me great pleasure to learn that your School is
prospering, and I am also pleased to inform you that the Board of
which I am President has not as yet rejected one of your
candidates. I am gratified to see that the necessity of
procuring competent officers for the armies of the Republic is
beginning to be better appreciated by the public.
"I trust I shall never have occasion to regret my agency in
suggesting the formation of your School, and I am sure the
country owes your Committee much for the energy and judgment with
which it has carried it out. The liberality which opens its doors
to the young men of all the States is noble, and does honor to
those citizens of Philadelphia from whom its support is
principally derived.
"Truly yours,
"SILAS CASEY,
"_Major-General_.
"TO THOMAS WEBSTER, ESQ., _Chairman_,
"1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia."
In reference to applicants the following letter was written by the
Adjutant-General:
"GENERAL ORDERS, }
"No. 125." }
"WAR DEPARTMENT,"
"ADJUTANT-GEN.'S OFFICE,
"WASHINGTON, March 29, 1864.
"Furloughs, not to exceed thirty days in each case, to the
non-commissioned officers and privates of the army who may desire
to enter the Free Military School at Philadelphia, may be granted
by the Commanders of Armies and Departments, when the character,
conduct, and capacity of the applicants are such as to warrant
their immediate and superior commanders in recommending them for
commissioned appointments in the regiments of colored troops.
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. TOWNSEND,
"_Assistant Adjutant-General_."
The organization of the school was as follows:
_Chief Preceptor._
JOHN H. TAGGART
(Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps),
_Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations_.
_Assistant Professors._
_MILITARY STAFF._
ALBERT L. MAGILTON
(Graduate of West Point Military Academy, and late Colonel 4th
Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps),
_Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations._
LEVI FETTERS
(Late Captain 175th Pennsylvania Regiment),
_Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations._
STUDENT DANL. W. HERR
(Late 1st Lieutenant Co. E., 122d Pennsylvania Regiment),
_Post Adjutant._
STUDENT J. HALE SYPHER, OF PENNSYLVANIA,
_Field Adjutant._
STUDENT LOUIS M. TAFT. M.D.
(Graduate of University of Penn.),
_Surgeon._
_ACADEMIC STAFF._
JOHN P. BIRCH, A.M.,
A. E. ROGERSON, A.M.,
_Professors of Mathematics, Geography, and History_
Wm. L. WILSON,
_Librarian and Phonographic Clerk._
STUDENT CHARLES BENTRICK, SR.,
_Postmaster._
JAMES BUCHANAN (COLORED),
_Messenger._
Within less than six months 1,051 applicants had been examined; 560
passed, and 491 were rejected.
Four regular classes were formed, and in addition to daily recitations
the students were required to drill twice every day. The school
performed excellent work; and furnished for the service many brave and
efficient officers.
By December, 1863, 100,000 Colored Troops were in the service. About
50,000 were armed by that time and in the field.
Everywhere they were winning golden laurels by their aptitude in
drill, their patient performance of the duties of the camp, and by
their matchless courage in the deadly field. The young white officers
who so cheerfully bore the odium of commanding Colored Troops, and who
so heroically faced the dangers of capture and cruel death, had no
superiors in the army. They had the supreme satisfaction of commanding
brave men to whom they soon found themselves deeply attached. It was a
school in which the noblest and purest patriot might feel himself
honored and inspired to the performance of deathless deeds of valor.
The following tables indicate the manner in which the work was done.
_Analysis of Examination of Applicants for Command of Colored Troops,
before the Board at Washington, of which Major-General Silas Casey is
President, from the organization of the Board to March 29th, 1864,
inclusive._
Number accepted and for
what rank recommended.
---------------------------
Colonels.
| Lieutenant-Colonels.
| | Majors.
Rank. | | | Captains.
| | | | 1st Lieutenants.
| | | | | 2d Lieutenants.
Number | | | | | | Number
examined. | | | | | | rejected.
Colonels 4 - - 2 - - - 2
Lieutenant-Colonels 3 - 2 - - 1 - -
Majors 9 2 3 1 2 - - 1
Captains 68 3 7 8 20 5 3 22
1st Lieutenants 52 3 - 4 10 8 7 20
2d Lieutenants 24 - - - 9 2 3 10
Sergeants 505 - 1 - 62 75 133 234
Corporals 230 - - - 23 46 64 97
Privates 449 - - - 26 57 124 242
Civilians 429 1 6 15 48 49 94 216
--------------------------------------
1,773 9 19 30 200 243 428 844
Students of the
Philadelphia Free
Military School 94 2 4 6 28 25 25 4
--------------------------------------
1,867 11 23 36 228 268 453 848
_Analysis of the Examination to 31st March, 1864, of the Students of
the Philadelphia Free Military School, before the Board of Examiners
at Washington, for Applicants for Command of Colored Troops,
Major-General Silas Casey, President._
Number accepted and for
what rank recommended.
---------------------------
Colonels.
| Lieut-Colonels.
| | Majors.
Rank. | | | Captains.
| | | | 1st Lieutenants.
| | | | | 2d Lieutenants.
Number | | | | | | Number
examined. | | | | | | rejected.
Sergeants 14 - 1 - 3 3 6 1
Corporals 8 - - - 2 4 2 -
Privates 33 1 - 1 9 11 10 1
Civilians[95] 39 1 3 5 14 6 8 2
----------------------------------------
94 2 4 6 28 24 26 4
The following official table gives the entire number of Colored Troops
in the army from beginning to end.
STATES AND TERRITORIES.
Colored Troops furnished
1861-'65.
Connecticut 1,764
Maine 104
Massachusetts 3,966
New Hampshire 125
Rhode Island 1,837
Vermont 120
------
Total of New England States 7,916
New Jersey 1,185
New York 4,125
Pennsylvania 8,612
------
Total of Middle States 13,922
STATES AND TERRITORIES.--(_Continued._)
Colored Troops furnished
1861-'65.
Colorado Ter. 95
Dakota Ter. -
Illinois 1,811
Indiana 1,537
Iowa 440
Kansas 2,080
Michigan 1,387
Minnesota 104
Nebraska Ter. -
New Mexico Ter. -
Ohio 5,092
Wisconsin 165
------
Total, Western States and Territories 12,711
California -
Nevada -
Oregon -
Washington Ter. -
Delaware 954
Dist. Columbia 3,269
Kentucky 23,703
Maryland 8,718
Missouri 8,344
West Virginia 196
------
Total, Border States 45,184
Alabama 4,969
Arkansas 5,526
Florida 1,044
Georgia -
Louisiana 3,486
Mississippi 17,869
North Carolina 5,035
South Carolina 5,462
Tennessee 20,133
Texas 47
Virginia -
------
Total, Southern States 63,571
STATES AND TERRITORIES.--(_Continued._)
Colored Troops furnished
1861-'65.
Indian Nation -
Colored Troops[96] -
-------
Grand Total 173,079
At Large 733
Not accounted for 5,083
Officers 7,122
-------
Total 186,017
Notwithstanding the complete demonstration of fact that Negroes were
required as United States soldiers, there were many opposers of the
movement. Some of the best men and leading journals were very
conservative on this question. An elaborate and cautious editorial in
the "New York Times" of February 16, 1863, fairly exhibits the
nervousness of the North on the subject of the military employment of
the Negro.
"USE OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.
"One branch of Congress has rejected a bill authorizing the
enlistment of negro soldiers. Mr. Sumner declares his intention
to persist in forcing the passage of such a law by offering it as
an amendment to some other bill. Meantime the President, by laws
already enacted, has full authority over the subject, and we can
see no good object to be attained by forcing it into the
discussions of Congress and adding it to the causes of dissension
already existing in the country at large.
"A law of last Congress authorized the President to use the
negroes as laborers or _otherwise_, as they can be made most
useful in the work of quelling the rebellion. Under this
authority, it is understood that he has decided to use them in
certain cases as soldiers. Some of them are already employed in
garrisoning Southern forts, on the Mississippi River, which
whites cannot safely occupy on account of the climate. Governor
Sprague has authority to raise negro regiments in Rhode Island,
and has proclaimed his intention to lead them when raised in
person, and Gov. Andrew has received similar authority for the
State of Massachusetts. We see, therefore, not the slightest
necessity for any further legislation on this subject, and hope
Mr. Sumner will consent that Congress may give its attention,
during the short remainder of its session, to topics of pressing
practical importance.
"Whether negroes shall or shall not be employed as soldiers,
seems to us purely a question of expediency, and to be solved
satisfactorily only by experiment. As to our _right_ so to employ
them, it seems absurd to question it for a moment. The most
bigoted and inveterate stickler for the absolute divinity of
slavery in the Southern States would scarcely insist that, as a
matter of right, either constitutional or moral, we could not
employ negroes as soldiers in the army. Whether they are, or are
not, by nature, by law, or by usage, the equals of the white man,
makes not the slightest difference in this respect. Even those at
the North who are so terribly shocked at the prospect of their
being thus employed, confine their objections to grounds of
expediency. They urge:
"1st. That the negroes will not fight. This, if true, is
exclusive against their being used as soldiers. But we see no way
of testing the question except by trying the experiment. It will
take but a very short time and but very few battles to determine
whether they have courage, steadiness, subjection to military
discipline and the other qualities essential to good soldiership
or not. If they have, this objection will fall, if not then
beyond all question they will cease to be employed.
"2d. It is said that the whites will not fight with them--that
the prejudice against them is so strong that our own citizens
will not enlist, or will quit the service, if compelled to fight
by their side,--and that we shall thus lose two white soldiers
for one black one that we gain. If this is true, they ought not
to be employed. The object of using them is to strengthen our
military force; and if the project does not accomplish this, it
is a failure. The question, moreover, is one of fact, not of
theory. It matters nothing to say that it _ought_ not to have
this effect--that the prejudice is absurd and should not be
consulted. The point is, not what men _ought_ to do, but what
they will _do_. We have to deal with human nature, with
prejudice, with passion, with habits of thought and feeling, as
well as with reason and sober judgment and the moral sense.
Possibly the Government may have made a mistake in its estimate
of the effect of this measure on the public mind. The use of
negroes as soldiers may have a worse effect on the army and on
the people than they have supposed.
"But this is a matter of opinion upon which men have differed.
Very prominent and influential persons, Governors of States,
Senators, popular Editors and others have predicted the best
results from such a measure, while others have anticipated the
worst. The President has resolved to try the experiment. If it
works well, the country will be the gainer. If not, we have no
doubt it will be abandoned. If the effect of using negroes as
soldiers upon the army and the country, proves to be depressing
and demoralizing, so as to weaken rather than strengthen our
military operations, they will cease to be employed. The
President is a practical man, not at all disposed to sacrifice
practical results to abstract theories.
"3d. It is said we shall get no negroes--or not enough to prove
of any service. In the free States very few will volunteer, and
in the Slave States we can get but few, because the Rebels will
push them Southward as fast as we advance upon them. This may be
so. We confess we share, with many others, the opinion that it
will.
"But we may as well wait patiently the short time required to
settle the point. When we hear more definitely from Gov.
Sprague's black battalions and Gov. Andrew's negro brigades, we
shall know more accurately what to think of the measure as one
for the Free States; and when we hear further of the success of
Gen. Banks and Gen. Saxton in enlisting them at the South, we can
form a better judgment of the movement there. If we get very few
or even none, the worst that can be said will be that the project
is a failure; and the demonstration that it is so will have
dissipated another of the many delusions which dreamy people have
cherished about this war.
"4th. The use of negroes will exasperate the South; and some of
our Peace Democrats make that an objection to the measure. We
presume it will; but so will any other scheme we may adopt which
is warlike and effective in its character and results. If that
consideration is to govern us, we must follow Mr. Vallandingham's
advice and stop the war entirely, or as Mr. McMasters puts it in
his Newark speech, go 'for an immediate and _unconditional_
peace.' We are not quite ready for _that_ yet.
"The very best thing that can be done under existing
circumstances, in our judgment, is to possess our Souls in
patience while _the experiment_ is being tried. The problem will
probably speedily solve itself--much more speedily than heated
discussion or harsh criminations can solve it."
It didn't require a great deal of time for the Black troops to make a
good impression; and while the Congress, the press, and the people
were being exercised over the probable out-come, the first regiment of
ex-slaves ever equipped for the service was working a revolution in
public sentiment. On the last day of January, 1863, the "New York
Tribune" printed the following editorial on the subject:
"A disloyal minority in the House is factiously resisting the
passage of the Steven's bill, authorizing the President to raise
and equip 150,000 soldiers of African descent. Meanwhile, in the
Department of the South a full regiment of blacks has been
enlisted under Gen. Saxton; is already uniformed and armed, and
has been actively drilling for the last seven weeks. A letter
which we printed on Wednesday from our Special Correspondent, who
is usually well qualified to judge of its military proficiency,
says of this regiment that no honest-minded, unprejudiced
observer could come to any other conclusion than that it had
attained a remarkable proficiency in the short period during
which it had been drilled. We have in addition from an officer of
the regiment, who is thoroughly informed as to its condition, a
very interesting statement of its remarkable progress, and some
valuable suggestions on the employment of negro troops in
general.
"'This regiment--the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, Colonel
Thomas Wentworth Higginson--marched on the 17th for the first
time through the streets of Beaufort. It was the remark of many
bitterly pro-slavery officers that they looked "splendidly." They
marched through by platoons, and returned by the flank; the
streets were filled with soldiers and citizens, but every man
looked straight before him and carried himself steadily. How many
white regiments do the same? One black soldier said: "We didn't
see a thing in Beaufort; ebery man hold his head straight up to
de front, ebery step was worth a half dollar."
"'Many agreed with what is my deliberate opinion,' writes this
officer, 'that no regiment in this department can, even now,
surpass this one. In marching in regimental line I have not seen
it equalled. In the different modes of passing from line into
column, and from column into line, in changing front,
countermarching, forming divisions, and forming square, whether
by the common methods, or by Casey's methods, it does itself the
greatest credit. Nor have I yet discovered the slightest ground
of inferiority to white troops.
"'So far is it from being true that the blacks as material
soldiers are inferior to white, that they are in some respects
manifestly superior; especially in aptness for drill, because of
their imitativeness and love of music; docility in discipline,
when their confidence is once acquired; and enthusiasm for the
cause. _They_ at least know what they are fighting for. They have
also a _pride_ as soldiers, which is not often found in our white
regiments, where every private is only too apt to think himself
specially qualified to supersede his officers. They are above all
things faithful and trustworthy on duty from the start. In the
best white regiments it has been found impossible to trust
newly-enlisted troops with the countersign--they invariably
betray it to their comrades. There has been but one such instance
in this black regiment, and that was in the case of a mere boy,
whose want of fidelity excited the greatest indignation among his
comrades.
"'Drunkenness, the bane of our army, does not _exist_ among the
black troops. There has not been _one_ instance in the regiment.
Enough. The only difficulty which threatened to become at all
serious was that of absence without leave and overstaying passes,
but this was checked by a few decided measures and has ceased
entirely.
"'When this regiment was first organized, some months ago, it had
to encounter bitter hostility from the white troops at Port
Royal, and there was great exultation when General Hunter found
himself obliged to disband it. Since its reorganization this
feeling seems to have almost disappeared. There is no complaint
by the privates of insult or ill-treatment, formerly
disgracefully common from their white comrades.
"'It has been supposed that these black troops would prove fitter
for garrison duty than active service in the field. No impression
could be more mistaken. Their fidelity as sentinels adapts them
especially, no doubt, to garrison duty; but their natural place
is in the advance. There is an inherent dash and fire about them
which white troops of more sluggish Northern blood do not
emulate, and their hearty enthusiasm shows itself in all ways.
Such qualities are betrayed even in drill, as anybody may know
who has witnessed the dull, mechanical way in which ordinary
troops make a bayonet charge on the parade ground, and contrasts
it with the spirit of those negro troops in the same movement.
They are to be used, moreover, in a country which they know
perfectly. Merely from their knowledge of wood-craft and
water-craft, it would be a sheer waste of material to keep them
in garrison. It is scarcely the knowledge which is at once
indispensable and impossible to be acquired by our troops. See
these men and it is easier to understand the material of which
the famous Chasseurs d'Afrique are composed.'
"General Saxton, in a letter published yesterday, said: 'In no
regiment have I ever seen duty performed with so much
cheerfulness and alacrity. * * * In the organization of this
regiment I have labored under difficulties which might have
discouraged one who had less faith in the wisdom of the measure;
but I am glad to report that the experiment is a complete
success. My belief is that when we get a footing on the mainland
regiments may be raised which will do more than any now in the
service to put an end to this rebellion.'
"We are learning slowly, very slowly, in this war to use the
means of success which lie ready to our hands. We have learnt at
last that the negro is essential to our success, but we are still
hesitating whether to allow him to do all he can or only a part.
"It will not take many such proofs as this black regiment now
offers to convince us of the full value of our new allies. But we
ought to go beyond that selfishness which regards only our own
necessities and remember that the negro has a right to fight for
his freedom, and that he will be all the more fit to enjoy his
new destiny by helping to achieve it."
On the 28th of March, 1863, Mr. Greeley sent forth the following able
and sensible editorial on the Negro as a soldier:
"NEGRO TROOPS.
"Facts are beginning to dispel prejudices. Enemies of the negro
race, who have persistently denied the capacity and doubted the
courage of the Blacks, are unanswerably confuted by the good
conduct and gallant deeds of the men whom they persecute and
slander. From many quarters come evidence of the swiftly
approaching success which is to crown what is still by some
persons deemed to be the experiment of arming whom the
Proclamation of Freedom liberates.
"The 1st and 2d South Carolina Volunteers, under Colonels
Higginson and Montgomery, have ascended the St. John's River in
Florida as far as Jacksonville, and have re-occupied that
important town which was once before taken and afterward
abandoned by the Union forces. Many of the negroes composing
these regiments had been slaves in this very place. Their memory
of old wrongs, of the privations, outrages and tortures of
Slavery, must here, if anywhere, have been fresh and vivid, and
the passions which opportunity for just revenges stimulates even
in white breasts, ought to have been roused more than in all
other places on the spot where they had suffered.
"If, then, Jacksonville were to-day in ashes, and the ghastly
spirit visions of '_The World_' materialized into terrible
realities, the negro haters would have no, cause to be
disappointed. '_The World_' hailed the alleged repulse and
massacre of the negroes and white officers--a report which it
invented outright, in sheer malignity, in order to forestall
public opinion by creating a belief in the failure of the
expedition--would have changed into agonized shrieks over the
outrages on its Southern brethren. The experiment of subjecting
negroes to military rules and accustoming them to those amenities
of civilized warfare which the rebels so uniformly practice would
again have been declared to be a hopeless failure; and for the
hundredth time the Proclamation and the radicals who advised it
would have been pilloried for public execration.
"Since, however, the contrary of all this is true, it may be
presumed by a confiding public which does not read it that '_The
World_' has honestly acknowledged the injustice of its slanders.
It is unpleasant to disabuse a confiding public on any subject,
but we who are sometimes obliged to look at that paper as a
professional duty, regret to say that we have not discovered a
single evidence of its repentance. The facts are, however, that
Colonel Higginson's men landed quietly at Jacksonville, marched
through its streets in perfect order, committed no outrages or
excesses of any kind, and by the testimony of all witnesses
conducted themselves with a military decorum and perfect
discipline which is far from common among white regiments in
similar circumstances. They have gone before this time still
further into the interior, and will doubtless do good service in
a direction where their presence has been least expected by the
Rebels. In the only instance in which the white chivalry ventured
to make a stand against them, the whites were defeated and driven
off the field by the Blacks.
"The truth is that the fitness of negroes to be soldiers has long
since, in this country and elsewhere, been amply demonstrated,
and the success of Col. Higginson's Black Troops is no matter of
surprise to any person tolerably well informed about the history
of the race. If it were in any sense an experiment, the only
thing to be tested was the obstinacy of our Saxon prejudice which
denied the possibility of success, and did what it could to
prevent it. But even Saxon prejudice must shortly yield to the
logic of facts."
In the face of the fact that the United States Government had employed
Negroes as soldiers to fight the battles of the Union, there were men
of intelligence who held that it was all wrong in fact, in policy, and
in point of law. And this opinion attained such proportions that the
Secretary of War felt called upon to request the opinion of Judge
Advocate Holt. It is given here.
ENLISTMENT OF SLAVES.
In a letter to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated Aug. 20,
1863, Judge Advocate Holt said: "The right of the Government to
employ for the suppression of the rebellion persons of African
Descent held to service or labor under the local law, rests
firmly on two grounds:
"First, as property. Both our organic law and the usages of our
institutions under it recognize fully the authority of the
Government to seize and apply to public use private property, on
making compensation therefor. What the use may be to which it is
to be applied does not enter into the question of the right to
make the seizure, which is untrammelled in its exercise, save by
the single condition mentioned.
"Secondly, as persons. While those of African Descent held to
service or labor in several of the States, occupy under the laws
of such States, the status of property; they occupy also under
the Federal Government, the status of 'persons.' They are
referred to so _nomine_ in the Constitution of the United States,
and it is not as property but as 'persons' that they are
represented on the floor of Congress, and thus form a prominent
constituent element alike in the organization and practical
administration of the Government.
"The obligation of all persons--irrespective of creed or
color--to bear arms, if physically capable of doing so, in
defence of the Government under which they live and by which
they are protected, is one that is universally acknowledged and
enforced. Corresponding to this obligation is the duty resting on
those charged with the administration of the Government, to
employ such persons in the military service whenever the public
safety may demand it. Congress realized both this obligation on
the one hand, and this duty on the other when, by the 12th
section of the Act of the 17th of July, 1862, it was enacted that
'the President be and is hereby authorized to receive into the
service of the United States for the purpose of constructing
intrenchments, or performing camp service or any other labor, or
any military or naval service for which they may be found
competent, persons of African Descent, and such persons shall be
enrolled and organized under such regulations not inconsistent
with the Constitution, and the laws, as the President may
prescribe.'
"The terms of this Act are without restriction and no distinction
is made, or was intended to be made, between persons of African
Descent held to service or labor or those not so held.
"The President is empowered to receive them all into the military
service, and assign them such duty as they may be found competent
to perform.
"The tenacious and brilliant valor displayed by troops of this
race at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, and Fort Wagner, has
sufficiently demonstrated to the President and to the country,
the character of service of which they are capable. In the
interpretation given to the Enrolment Act, free citizens of
African Descent are treated as citizens of the United States, in
the sense of the law, and are everywhere being drafted into the
military service.
"In reference to the other class of persons of this race--those
held to service or labor--the 12th section of the Act of July
17th is still in full force, and the President may in his
discretion receive them into the army and assign them to such
field of duty as he may deem them prepared to occupy. In view of
the loyalty of this race, and of the obstinate courage which they
have shown themselves to possess, they certainly constitute at
this crisis in our history a most powerful and reliable arm of
the public defence. Whether this arm shall now be exerted is not
a question of power or right, but purely of policy, to be
determined by the estimate which may be entertained of the
conflict in which we are engaged, and of the necessity that
presses to bring this waste of blood and treasure to a close. A
man precipitated into a struggle for his life on land or sea,
instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth every energy with
which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes upon every source of
strength within his grasp; and a nation battling for existence,
that does not do the same, may well be regarded as neither wise
nor obedient to that great law of self-preservation, from which
are derived our most urgent and solemn duties. That there exists
a prejudice against the employment of persons of African Descent
is undeniable; it is, however, rapidly giving way, and never had
any foundation in reason or loyalty. It originated with and has
been diligently nurtured by those in sympathy with the Rebellion,
and its utterance at this moment is necessarily in the interests
of treason.
"Should the President feel that the public interests require he
shall exert the power with which he is clothed by the 12th
section of the Act of the 17th of July, his action should be in
subordination to the Constitutional principle which exacts that
compensation shall be made for private property devoted to the
public uses. A just compensation to loyal claimants to the
service or labor of persons of African Descent enlisted in our
army, would accord with the uniform practice of the Government
and the genius of our institutions!
"Soldiers of this class, after having perilled their lives in the
defence of the Republic, could not be re-enslaved without a
national dishonor revolting and unendurable for all who are
themselves to be free. The compensation made, therefore, should
be such as entirely to exhaust the interest of claimants; so that
when soldiers of this class lay down their arms at the close of
the war, they may at once enter into the enjoyment of that
freedom symbolized by the flag which they have followed and
defended."
The Negro was now a soldier, legally, "constitutionally." He had
donned the uniform of an American soldier; was entrusted with the
honor and defence of his country, and had set before him liberty as
his exceeding great reward. Rejected at first he was at last urged
into the service--even _drafted_! He was charged with the solution of
a great problem--his fitness, his valor. History shall record his
deeds of patriotism, his marvellous achievements, his splendid
triumphs.
FOOTNOTES:
[91] Charleston Mercury, April 30, 1861.
[92] They were, no doubt, from Massachusetts.
[93] New York Herald, Tuesday, August 5, 1862.
[94] Greeley, vol. ii, pp. 517, 518.
[95] Many of these had previously been in the three months', nine
months', and three years' service, from which they had been honorably
discharged.
[96] This gives Colored Troops enlisted in the States in rebellion;
besides this, there were 92,576 Colored Troops (included with the
white soldiers) in the quotas of the several States.