It seems a little singular that in the tremendous struggle between the
States in 1861-1865, the south should have been the first to take steps
toward the enlistment of Negroes. Yet such is the fact. Two weeks after
the fall of Fort Sumter, the “Charleston Mercury” records the passing
through Augusta of several companies of the 3rd and 4th Georgia Regt.,
and of sixteen well-drilled companies _and one Negro company_ from
Nashville, Tenn.
“The Memphis Avalanche” and “The Memphis Appeal” of May 9, 10, and 11,
1861, give notice of the appointment by the “Committee of Safety” of a
committee of three persons “to organize a volunteer company composed of
our patriotic freemen of color of the city of Memphis, for the service
of our common defense.”
A telegram from New Orleans dated November 23, 1861, notes the review by
Gov. Moore of over 28,000 troops, and that one regiment comprised
“_1,400 colored men_.” “The New Orleans Picayune,” referring to a review
held February 9, 1862, says: “We must also pay a deserved compliment to
the companies of free colored men, all very well drilled and comfortably
equipped.”
It is a little odd, too, that in the evacuation of New Orleans a little
later, in April, 1862, all of the troops succeeded in getting away
except the Negroes. They “got left.”
It is not in the line of this paper to speculate upon what would have
been the result of the war had the South kept up this policy, enlisted
the freemen, and emancipated the enlisting slaves and their families.
The immense addition to their fighting force, the quick recognition of
them by Great Britain, to which slavery was the greatest bar, and the
fact that the heart of the Negro was with the South but for slavery, and
the case stands clear. But the primary successes of the South closed its
eyes to its only chance of salvation, while at the same time the eyes of
the North were opened.
In 1865, the South saw, and endeavored to remedy its error. On March 9,
1865, the Confederate Congress passed a bill, recommended by Gen. Lee,
authorizing the enlistment of 200,000 Negroes; but it was then too late.
The North came slowly and reluctantly to recognize the Negro as a factor
for good in the war. “This is a white man’s war,” met the Negroes at
every step of their first efforts to gain admission to the armies of the
Union.
To General David Hunter more than to any other one man, is due the
credit for the successful entry upon the stage of the Negro as a soldier
in this war.
In the spring of 1862, he raised and equipped a regiment of Negroes in
South Carolina, and when the fact became known in Washington and
throughout the country, such a storm was raised about the ears of the
administration that they gracefully stood aside and left the brave
general to fight his enemies in the front and rear as best he might. He
was quite capable to do both, as it proved.
On the 9th of June, 1862, Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, introduced a
resolution in the House of Representatives, which was passed, calling
upon the Secretary of War for information as to the fact of these
enlistments and by what authority this matter was done.
The Secretary of War replied under date June 14, 1862, disavowing any
official knowledge of such a regiment and denying that any authority had
been given therefor. He referred the resolution to Gen. Hunter. His
reply is one of the best things of the war. I quote it entire.
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
16, 1862, requesting me to furnish you with the information
necessary to answer certain resolutions introduced in the House
of Representatives June 9, 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 conveying the 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 resolution, 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 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.-General W. T. 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 defense 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
who might 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 be found in this
department.
No such characters have, however, yet appeared within our most
advanced pickets, the loyal slaves everywhere remaining on their
plantations to welcome 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, etc., 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 under this faith I have clothed, equipped and armed
the only loyal regiment yet raised in South Carolina.
I must say in vindication of my 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 a 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 Indies.
In conclusion I would say it is my hope, there appearing to be
no possibility of other reinforcements owing to the exigencies
of the campaign in the peninsular, 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 resolution.
I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient
servant,