‘ [419] other rights. They took their places, not in a separate corps, but in the ranks with the white men; and their names may be read on the pension-rolls of the country side by side with those of other soldiers of the Revolution.’In the Memoir of Major Samuel Lawrence (by Rev. Dr. Lothrop, pp. 8, 9) the following passage occurs:—‘At one time he commanded a company whose rank and file were all negroes, of whose courage, military discipline, and fidelity he always spoke with respect. On one occasion, being out reconnoitring with this company, be got so far in advance of his command that he was surrounded and on the point of being made prisoner by the enemy. The men, soon discovering his peril, rushed to his rescue, and fought with the most determined bravery till that rescue was effectually secured.’When the Committee of Conference on the condition of the army agreed that negro soldiers should be rejected altogether, Washington, on the 31st of December, 1775, wrote from Cambridge to the President of Congress as follows:—‘It has been represented to me that the free negroes who have served in this army are very much dissatisfied at being discarded. As it is to be apprehended that they may seek employ in the ministerial army, I have presumed to depart from the resolution respecting them, and have given license for their being enlisted. If this is disapproved of by Congress, I will put a stop to it.’—Sparks's Life of Washington, vol. III., pp. 218, 219.Congress sustained Washington in disregarding the resolution.
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