At the close of a review of the white and colored troops in New Orleans, on Sunday, December 18, 1814, General Jackson's address to the troops was read by Edward Livingston, one of his aids, and the following is the portion addressed:—
But the course of events has pretty effectually changed public opinion on the subject. From Major-General Hunter's department,2 and
1 For many of the foregoing data I am indebted to Mr. George Livermore's recent and valuable work, entitled ‘An Historical Research respecting the Opinions of the Founders of the Republic on Negroes as Slaves, as Citizens, and as Soldiers.’
2 In a letter from General Hunter, written from South Carolina, Feb. II, 1863, to a friend, he says:—
Finding that the able-bodied negroes did not enter the military service as rapidly as could be wished, I have resolved, and so ordered, that all who are not regularly employed in the Quartermaster's Department, or as officers' servants, shall be drafted. In this course I am sustained by the views of all the more intelligent among them. In drafting them I was actuated by several motives,—the controlling one being that I regarded their service as a military necessity if this war is to be ended in a triumph of the Union arms. Subordinate to this consideration, I regard the strict discipline of military life as the best school in which this people can be gradually lifted toward our higher civilization; and their enrolment in the negro brigade will have the further good effect of rendering mere servile insurrection, unrestrained by the laws and usages of war, less likely. If any further argument were needed to justify my course, it would be found in my deep conviction that freedom (like all other blessings) can never be justly appreciated except by men who have been taught the sacrifices which are its price. In this course, let me add, I expect to be sustained by all the intelligent and practically-minded friends of the enfranchised bondman.
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