Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 29.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

‘That we retain in service for the war all troops now in the service, and that we immediately commence training a large reserve of the most courageous of our slaves; and, further, that we guarantee freedom within a reasonable time to every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy in this war.’

He goes on to argue his case with very considerable ability, referring finally, to the military aptitude of negroes as displayed in the Union army and elsewhere, and concluding by saying that ‘If they can be made to face and fight bravely against their former masters, how much more probable is it that with the allurement of a higher reward, and led by those masters, they would submit to discipline and face dangers?’

General Cleburne—an Irishman born and a gallant spirit—was killed in the battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864. A little while before this event, a bill had been introduced in the Confederate Congress which embodied some of the features of his plan. It was bitterly opposed, a representative from Mississippi saying, for example:

‘All nature cries out against it. The negro was ordained to slavery by the Almighty. Emancipation would be the destruction of our social and political system. God forbid that this Trojan horse should be introduced among us.’

Finally, however, the bill was passed, but with a provision ‘that nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation of the said slaves.’ But Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, had denounced it as involving emancipation, advancing this argument, among others, that ‘negroes now are deterred from going to the enemy only by the fear of being put in the army. If we put them in they will all go over.’ But the bill passed only a few months before General Lee's surrender, and never became operative.

The Sun asks whether or not, if it had been made effective at the time General Cleburne proposed it, it might not have changed the whole course of events. Reason and religion both say no. The seeds of that war were implanted in the Constitution, and their germination was only a question of time. War was inevitable, and, like other things, the manner of its termination was directed by the innate Power. But for the consolation afforded by this belief, the Southern people, at its conclusion, would have been of all men most miserable.