Horace Greeley, The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-65: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: Intended to exhibit especially its moral and political phases with the drift and progress of American opinion respecting human slavery from 1776 to the close of the War for the Union. Volume II.

Xxii. Negro soldiery.

• Negroes in the Revolutionary armies
-- Royal attempts to win them to the British side -- the War of 1812 -- Gen. Jackson at New Orleans -- negro soldiering suppressed in 1861 -- Gen. Hunter directs a recruiting of Blacks -- Gov. Wickliffe's inquiry -- Gen. Hunter's response -- Saxton authorized to arm negroes -- Gen. Phelps's Black recruiting in Louisiana -- Gen. Butler thereon -- Jeff. Davis on Butler and Phelps together -- Congress orders a general enrollment, regardless of color -- Democratic denunciation thereof -- Gov. Andrew, of Mass., raises two Black regiments -- New York, by her loyal League, follows the example -- Rebel employment of negroes in War -- Beauregard and Jeff. Davis on Federal arming of Blacks -- the Confederate Congress punishes it with death -- President Lincoln threatens retaliation -- Garrett Davis, S. S. Cox & co. Denounce the arming of Blacks -- Adjt.-Gen. Thomas engages in the work -- his speech at Lake Providence -- Gen. Banks's order -- negro recruiting goes ahead -- efficiency of Black soldiers.

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the first fatal collision¹ between British soldiers and American patriots was popularly distinguished as “the Boston Massacre;” and Crispus Attucks, a mulatto fugitive from Massachusetts Slavery, was a leader of the patriot mob, and one of the four killed outright by the British fire. At the fight of Bunker Hill,² Peter Salem, one of the enfranchised negroes who manned the slight breast-works so gallantly defended, shot dead Maj. Pitcairn, of the British marines, who, in the final struggle, had scaled the redoubt, shouting, “The day is our own!” and was commanding the ‘Rebels’ to surrender. Negroes and mulattoes largely swelled the motley host of raw but gallant patriots suddenly collected³ around Boston by the tidings of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, and were freely accepted in regiments mainly White ; though Maj. Samuel Lawrence, of Groton, Mass., is reported as having, at an early day, commanded a company of negroes in the “Continental” line. But Slavery was then cherished in nearly all the organized colonies; and its inconsistency with the embodiment of its victims in the armies of Freedom was felt to be so galling that the Committee of Safety judiciously resolved:⁴

That it is the opinion of this Committee, as the contest now between Great Britain and the Colonies respects the liberties and privileges of the latter, which the Colonies are determined to maintain, that the admission of any persons, as soldiers, into the army now raising, but only such as are freemen, will be inconsistent with the principles that are to be supported, and reflect dishonor on this Colony; and that no slaves be admitted into this army upon any consideration whatever.

This rescript did not forbid the enlistment or retention of negroes or mulattoes, but only of those still held in bondage. Many were thereupon [512] emancipated in order that they might lawfully serve in the patriot forces; and the tendency to recruiting negroes was so strong that Gen. Gates was constrained to issue⁵ the following stringent instructions to the patriot recruiting-officers:

You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministerial army; nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America; nor any under eighteen years of age.

As the cause is the best that can engage men of courage and principle to take up arms, so it is expected that none but such will be accepted by the recruiting-officer. The pay, provisions, etc., being so ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon this service will, without delay, complete their respective corps, and march the men forthwith to camp.

You are not to enlist any person who is not an American born, unless such person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in this country. The persons you enlist must be provided with good and complete arms.

In the Continental Congress, Mr. Edward Rutledge, of S. C., moved⁶ that all negroes be dismissed from the patriot armies, and was supported therein by several Southern delegates; but the opposition was so formidable and so determined that the motion did not prevail.⁷ Negroes, instead of being expelled from the service, continued to be received, often as substitutes for ex-masters or their sons; and, in Virginia especially, it gradually became a custom among the superior race to respond to an imperative summons to the field by giving an athletic slave his freedom on condition of his taking the place in the ranks assigned to his master. It is stated that, after the close of the war, quite a number who had thus earned their freedom were constrained to sue for it; and that the Courts of the “Old Dominion” --which had not yet discovered that a slave has no will, and so can make no legal and binding contract — uniformly sustained the action, and gave judgment that compelled the master to act as if he had been honest. The Legislature felt constrained, in 1783, to provide by law⁸ that every slave who had enlisted upon the strength of such a promise should be set free accordingly; to which end, the Attorney-General was required to commence an action in favor of every such patriot soldier thereafter unjustly restrained of his liberty, who should be entitled, upon due proof of his averment, not only to his freedom, but to damages for past injury in withholding and denying it.

South Carolina⁹ authorized the enlistment of slaves — though not ostensibly as soldiers — by a vote¹⁰ of her Provincial Congress, as follows:

Resolved, That the Colonels of the several regiments of militia throughout the colony have leave to enroll such a number of able male slaves, to be employed as pioneers and laborers, as public exigencies require; and [513] that a daily pay of seven shillings and six pence be allowed for the service of such slave while actually employed.

A grand patriot Committee of Conference, civil and military, headed by Dr. Franklin, was convened¹¹ at Washington's headquarters before Boston; and, five days thereafter, voted, on the report of a council of officers, that negroes, “especially such as are slaves,” should no longer be enlisted; and an order was issued¹² accordingly; but Washington, upon full consideration, wrote¹³ to the President of Congress that “the free negroes” are reported to to be “very much dissatisfied at being discarded;” and adds:

As it is 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 by Congress, I will put a stop to it.

Congress hereupon decided¹⁴

That the free negroes, who have served faithfully in the army at Cambridge, may be reenlisted therein; but no others.

Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia, had ere this issued¹⁵ a Proclamation of martial law, wherein he called “all persons capable of bearing arms, to report to His Majesty's standard,” on pain of confiscation, forfeiture, &c., as traitors; and proceeded;

And I do hereby further declare all indented servants, negroes or others (appertaining to rebels), free, that are able and willing to bear arms; they joining His Majesty's troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedy reducing this colony to a proper sense of their duty to His Majesty's crown and dignity.

An answer to this Proclamation was made through a Williamsburg journal, wherein the existence of Slavery in these colonies was attributed to British royal policy, and the negroes assured that they were far more likely to acquire personal liberty by adhering to the cause of American and of general freedom; and were forcibly reminded that--

To none, then, is freedom promised, but to such as are able to do Lord Dunmore service. The aged, the infirm, the women and children, are still to remain the property of their masters — of masters who will be provoked to severity, should part of their slaves desert them. Lord Dunmore's declaration, therefore, is a cruel declaration to the negroes. He does not pretend to make it out of any tenderness to them, but solely upon his own account; and, should it meet with success, it leaves by far the greater number at the mercy of an enraged and injured people.

Some of the negroes listened to the voice of the Royal charmer; who at one time had large expectations of raising Black troops for King George; but he finally explained¹⁶ to his Government that a malignant fever, whereof he had already reported the existence,

has carried off an incredible number of our people, especially the Blacks. Had it not been for this horrid disorder, I am satisfied I should have had 2,000 Blacks; with whom I should have had no doubt of penetrating into the heart of this colony.

Still, negroes were enlisted on both sides; in the North, more on the side of Independence; while in the South a larger number fled from plantation Slavery to strike for King George against their “Rebel” masters.

An official return¹⁷ of the negroes serving in the army under Washington's command, soon after the battle of Monmouth, makes their number 755; and this was prior to any systematic efforts to enlist them, and while their presence in the army was rather tolerated than invited.

Rhode Island, in 1778, authorized a general enlistment of slaves for the patriot army — every one to be free [514] from the moment of enlisting, and to receive pay, bounty, &c., precisely like other soldiers. A Black regiment was raised under this policy, which fought bravely at the battle of Rhode Island,¹⁸ and elsewhere; as many of those composing it had done prior to its organization. Massachusetts, New York,¹⁹ and other States, followed the example of Rhode Island, in offering liberty to slaves who would enlist in the patriot armies; and the policy of a general freeing and arming of able and willing slaves was urged by Hon. Henry Laurens, of S. C., by his son Col. John Laurens, by Col. Alexander Hamilton, Gen. Lincoln, James Madison, Gen. Greene, and other ardent patriots. It is highly probable that, had the Revolutionary War lasted a few years longer, it would have then abolished Slavery throughout the Union. Sir Henry Clinton, the King's commander in the North, issued²⁰ a Proclamation, premising that “the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling negroes among their troops ;” and thereupon offering to pay for “all negroes taken in arms,” and guaranteeing, to every one who should “desert the Rebel standard, full security to follow within these lines any occupation which he shall think proper.” Lord Cornwallis, during his Southern campaign, proclaimed freedom to all slaves who would join him; and his subordinates — Tarleton especially — took away all who could be induced to accompany them. Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. Gordon,²¹ estimates that this policy cost Virginia no less than 30,000 slaves in one year; most of them dying soon of small-pox and camp-fever. Thirty were carried off by Tarleton from Jefferson's own homestead; and Jefferson characteristically says:²² “Had this been to give them freedom, he would have done right.”

The War of 1812 with Great Britain was much shorter than that of the Revolution, and was not, like that, a struggle for life or death. Yet, short as it was, negro soldiers — who, at the outset, would doubtless have been rejected — were in demand before its close. New York authorized²³ the raising of two regiments of “freemen of color” --to receive the same pay and allowances as Whites — and provided that “any able-bodied slave” might enlist therein “with the written assent of his master or mistress,” who was to receive his pay aforesaid, while the negro received his freedom: being manumitted at the time of his honorable discharge.

Gen. Jackson's employment of Blacks in his famous defense of New Orleans — his public and vigorous reprobation²⁴ of the “mistaken policy” which had hitherto excluded them from the service, and his emphatic attestation of their bravery and good conduct while serving under his eye — are too well known to require citation or comment.

When, upon hearing of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and still more, after the riotous massacre of Massachusetts volunteers in tile streets of Baltimore, the city of New York blazed out in a fervid though not very profound enthusiasm, and military organization [515] and arming became the order of the day, a number of Blacks quietly hired a public hall and commenced drilling therein, in view of the possibility of a call to active service, they were promptly notified by the Chief of Police that they must desist from these military exercises, or he could not protect them from popular indignation and assault. They had no choice but to do as they were bidden.

Gen. Hunter, while in command at Hilton Head, was the first to direct the organization of colored men as soldiers, soon after issuing his order of general Emancipation throughout his department, already recorded.²⁵ This movement elicited²⁶ from Mr. Wickliffe, of Ky., in the House, the following resolution of inquiry:

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 defense of the Union, composed of Black men (fugitive slaves), and appointed the Colonel and other officers to command them. 2. Was lie authorized by the Department to organize and muster into the Army of the United States, as soldiers, the fugitive or captured slaves? 3. Has he been furnished with clothing, uniforms, etc., for such force? 4. Has he been furnished, by order of the War Department, with arms to be placed in the hands of these slaves? 5. To report any orders given said Hunter, and correspondence between him and the Department.

Secretary Stanton replied²⁷ that Gen. Hunter had not been authorized to organize and muster into the service of the United States either fugitive or captured slaves, nor had he been furnished with clothing or arms for such slaves; and further, that the Government's orders to and correspondence with Gen. Hunter on this subject could not be published at this time without prejudice to the public welfare. But, some dayslater,²⁸ he made a further report, covering a letter²⁹ from Gen. Hunter, in reply to one addressed³⁰ to him by the Adjutant-General, asking for information on the subject; wherein Gen. H. makes answer to Mr. Wickliffe's several inquiries as follows:

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 every where 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 tie 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 men 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 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 every where remaining on their plantations to welcome us, aid us, and supply us with food, labor, and information. It is the masters who lave, 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 [516] 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 marvelous 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 reenforcements, 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 48,000 to 50,000 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, Maj.-Gen. Com'ding.

These responses, though not particularly satisfactory to Mr. Wickliffe, appear to have been conclusive; though his colleague, Mr. Dunlap, proposed³¹ that it be by the House

Resolved, That the sentiments contained in the paper read to this body yesterday, approving the arming of slaves, emanating from Maj.-Gen. 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.

The House did not so resolve; preferring to adjourn.

Gen. Hunter's original recruiting and organizing Blacks in South Carolina having been without express authority, there was no warrant for paying them; but this defect was cured, before Congress was ready to act decisively on the subject, by a special order from the Secretary of War,³² directed to Gen. Rufus Saxton, Military Governor of the Sea Islands, which says:

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 5,000; and may detail <*>cers 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, it 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 [517] 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.

Meantime, Brig.-Gen. J. W. Phelps, commanding under Gen. Butler at Carrollton, La., finding his camp continually beset by fugitives from Slavery on the adjacent plantations, but especially from that of Mr. B. La Blanche, a wealthy and eminent sugar-planter just above New Orleans--(who, it appears, being vexed by military interference with the police of his plantation, had driven off all his negroes, telling them to go to their friends, the Yankees)--had involved himself in a difference with his superior, by harboring and protecting those and other fugitives, contrary to the policy of the Government, which Gen. Butler was endeavoring, so far as possible, to conform to, Gen. Phelps, in his report³³ to Gen. Butler's Adjutant, justifying his conduct in the premises — after setting forth the impossibility of putting down the Rebellion and at the same time upholding its parent, Slavery, and the absolute necessity of adopting a decided anti-Slavery policy — says:

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 made³⁴ a requisition of arms, clothing, &c., 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 anything rather than to Slavery.

Society, in tile 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 tile 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 the American conflict. [518] 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.

Gen. Butler, in response, instructed Gen. Phelps to employ his ‘contra-bands’ in cutting down trees and forming abatis for the defense of his lines, instead of organizing them as soldiers. This Gen. P. peremptorily declined³⁵ to do; saying, “I am not willing to become the mere slave-driver you propose, having no qualifications that way,” and thereupon throwing up his commission. Gen. Butler declined to accept his resignation; but it was, on reference to Washington, accepted by the Government; whereupon, he quit the service and returned to his Vermont home, leaving 600 able-bodied negro men in his camp, and a very decided tendency on the adjacent plantations to increase the number.

The current of events soon carried Gen. Butler along with it; so that — though he was almost isolated from the Government, with which he communicated but fitfully — at least a fortnight being usually required to send a dispatch from New Orleans to Washington and receive an answer — he felt constrained by the necessities and perils of his position, just the day before Stanton's direction to Saxton aforesaid, to appeal to the free colored men of New Orleans to take up arms in the National service; which appeal was responded to with alacrity and enthusiasm, and a first regiment, 1,000 strong, filled within 14 days--all its line officers colored as well as the rank and file. His next regiment, filled soon afterward, had its two highest officers White; all the rest colored. His third was officered by the best men that could be had, regardless of color. His two batteries were officered by Whites only; for the simple reason that there were no others who had any knowledge of artillery.

On the reception at Richmond of tidings of Gen. Hunter's and Gen. Phelps's proceedings with reference to the enlistment of negro soldiers for the Union armies, Jefferson Davis issued³⁶ an order directing that said Generals be no longer regarded as public enemies of the Confederacy, but as outlaws; and that, in the event of the capture of either of them, or of any other commissioned officer employed in organizing, drilling, or instructing slaves, he should not be treated as a prisoner of war, but held in close confinement for execution as a felon, at such time and place as he (J. D.) should order. It is not recorded that any one was ever actually hung under this order.

So long as the ranks of the Union armies were satisfactorily filled by volunteering alone, and Whites stood ready to answer promptly every requisition for more men, negroes or mulattoes were not accepted as soldiers; though they were, as they had ever been, freely enlisted and extensively employed in the navy, with the same pay and allowances as Whites. At no time during the war was a colored person, if known as such, accepted — as many had been throughout our own Revolutionary War — for service in a regiment or other organization preponderantly [519] White.³⁷ But no sooner had McClellan's campaign against Richmond culminated in disaster and a requisition upon the loyal States for Six Hundred Thousand more recruits to our armies, rendering conscription in some localities unavoidable, than the barriers of caste began to give way.³⁸ Thus, Mr. Wilson, of Mass., having reported³⁹ to the Senate a bill to amend the act of 1795, prescribing the manner of calling forth the Militia to suppress insurrection, &c., Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, moved⁴⁰ that henceforth there shall be no exemption from Military duty because of color. On the suggestion of Mr. Preston King, of N. Y., this proposition was so amended as to authorize the President to accept “persons of African descent, for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service, or any war service for which they may be found competent.” This, and the whole project, were vehemently opposed by Messrs. Saulsbury, of Del., G. Davis, of Ky., Carlile, of Va., and others of the Opposition. Mr. G. Davis endeavored to strike out the words last above quoted; but failed: Yeas, 11; Nays, 27. After much debate, the Senate decided, by close votes, to free, as a reward for services in the Union armies, the slaves of Rebels only, and not to free the wives and children even of these. In this shape, the bill passed⁴¹ the Senate: Yeas 28 (including Mr. Rice, of Minn.); Nays 9 (all the Opposition present and voting but Mr. Rice aforesaid). And the bill going thence to the House, Mr. Stevens, of Pa., at once demanded and obtained the Previous Question thereon; and an attempt to lay it on the table having failed (Yeas 30; Nays 77), it was passed,⁴² and signed next day by the President. By another act of like date and similar history, Congress prescribed that “the enrollment of the Militia shall in all cases include all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45.”

In the next Congress, the enrollment of the National forces being under consideration in the House, Mr. Stevens, of Pa.,⁴³ moved to amend it by striking out the 27th section, and inserting instead the following:

And be it further enacted, That all able-bodied male persons of African descent, between the ages of 20 and 45. whether citizens or not, shall be enrolled and made a part of the National forces; and, when enrolled and drafted into the service, his master shall be entitled to receive $300, and the drafted man shall be free.

Mr. S. H. Boyd, of Mo., suggested that only loyal masters be entitled to the $300 bounty; which Mr. Stevens readily accepted; but, on motion of Mr. Webster, of Md., it was afterward decided--67 to 44--that any bounty accruing to a drafted man who is a slave shall be paid to his master. Mr. B. G. Harris, of Md., denied “that you have a right to enlist or enroll a slave.” Mr. Fernando Wood, of N. Y., denounced the measure as “clearly, palpably in violation of the Constitution.” Mr. [520] Stevens's proposition prevailed: so that Blacks, whether free or enslaved, were directed to be enrolled and drafted into the National service precisely like Whites. The bill was ultimately sent to a Conference Committee of three members of either House; by whom the 27th section was so amended as to read as follows:

That all able-bodied male colored persons, between the ages of 20 and 45 years, whether citizens or not, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is an amendment. and form part of the National forces; and, when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof; and thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of a hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to award to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may owe service, a just compensation, not exceeding $300, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutations; and every such colored volunteer, on being mustered into the service, shall be free.

The report of the Conference Committee was agreed to by the two Houses respectively, and the bill, thus amended, became the law of the land.

By a section of the-Act of 1862, aforesaid, the said “persons of African descent” were to be paid $10 per month, $3 of it in clothing; while the pay of the White soldiers was $13 per month, beside clothing. Gov. Andrew, of Mass., on his solicitation, was authorized⁴⁴ by Secretary Stanton to raise of three years men “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.” Under this order, Gov. A. proceeded to raise two full regiments of Blacks, known as the 54th and 55th Massachusetts; which in due time were mustered without objection into the service of the Union, and there won honorable distinction. When, at length, the paymaster made his usually welcome appearance at their camp, and offered them $10 per month, they refused to accept that or anything less than the regular pay of soldiers of the United States; and a tender of the State to make good the difference between what they were offered and what they demanded, they declined; going wholly without pay for more than a year in order to establish their right to be regarded, not especially as negroes, but as men. Those who, being meantime hopelessly disabled by wounds or by disease, received honorable discharges from the service, did accept what was offered them by the Federal paymaster, and the residue of their full pay from Maj. Sturgis, agent of the State. At last, after repeated and most urgent representations to the War Department by Gov. Andrew, and upon the opinion of Attorney-General Bates that they were legally as well as equitably entitled to it, they received from the United States the full pay they had persistently claimed. And Rev. Samuel Harrison, the Black chaplain of the 54th, being refused by the U. S. paymaster the regular pay of a chaplain because [521] cause of his color, or because of that of his regiment, appealed to Gov. Andrew; on whose representation and advocacy, backed likewise by Judge Bates's opinion as Attorney-General, he was ultimately paid in full. And, finally, it was by Congress enacted:⁴⁵

That all persons of color who were free on the 19th day of April, 1861, and who have been enlisted and mustered into the military service of the United States, shall, from the time of their enlistment, be entitled to receive the pay, bounty, and clothing, allowed to such persons by the laws existing at the time of their enlistment.

When the 54th Massachusetts were ready, in May, 1863, to proceed to the seat of war in South Carolina, application was made in their behalf to the Chief of Police of New York for advice as to the propriety of taking that city in their route, and marching down Broadway. He responded that they could not be protected from insult and probable assault if they did so. They thereupon proceeded wholly by water to their destination. Within seven or eight months thereafter, two New York regiments of Blacks, raised by voluntary efforts mainly of the Loyal League, though discountenanced by Gov. Seymour, marched proudly down Broadway and embarked for the seat of War, amid the cheers of enthusiastic thousands, and without eliciting one discordant hiss.

The use of negroes, both free and slave, for belligerent purposes, on the side of the Rebellion, dates from a period anterior to the outbreak of actual hostilities. So early as Jan. 1st, 1861, a dispatch from Mr. R. R. Riordan, at Charleston, to lion. Percy Walker, at Mobile, exultingly proclaimed that--

Large gangs of negroes from plantations are at work on the redoubts, which are substantially made of sand-bags and coated with sleet-iron.

A Washington dispatch to The Evening Post (New York), about this time, set forth that--

A gentleman from Charleston says that everything there betokens active preparations for fight. Tile thousand negroes busy in building batteries, so far from inclining to insurrection, were grinning from ear to ear at tile prospect of shooting the Yankees.

The Charleston Mercury of Jan. 3d, said:

We learn that 150 able-bodied free colored men, of Charleston, yesterday offered their services gratuitously to the Governor, to hasten forward tile important work of throwing up redoubts wherever needed along our coast.

The Legislature of Tennessee, that negotiated that State out of the Union, by secret treaty with the Confederate Executive, passed⁴⁶ an act authorizing the Governor (Isham G. Harris)--

to receive into the military service of the State all male free persons of color, between the ages of 15 and 50.

These Black soldiers were to receive $8 per month, with clothing and rations. The sheriff of each county was required, under the penalties of misdemeanor, to collect and report the names of all such persons; and it was further enacted--

That, in the event a sufficient number of free persons of color to meet the wants of the State shall not tender their services, the Governor is empowered, through the sheriffs of the different counties, to press such persons until the requisite number is obtained.

The Memphis Avalanche joyously proclaimed⁴⁷ that--

A procession of several hundred stout negro men, members of the “domestic institution,” [522] marched through our streets yesterday in military order, under command of Confederate officers. They were all armed and equipped with shovels, axes, blankets, &c. A merrier set were never seen. They were brimful of patriotism, shouting for Jeff. Davis and singing war-songs.

And again, four days later:

Upward of 1,000 negroes, armed with spades and pickaxes, have passed through the city within the past few days. Their destination is unknown; but it is supposed that they are on their way to the other side of Jordan.

The drafting of Blacks, and especially of slaves, by thousands, to work on Rebel fortifications, was, in general, rather ostentatiously paraded throughout the earlier stages of the War. The Confederate Congress was finally constrained to regulate by law the impressment of property for military service; and its general “Act to regulate Impressments” ⁴⁸ provides--

Sec. 9. Where slaves are impressed by the Confederate Government, to labor on fortifications, or other public works, the impressment shall be made by said Government according to the rules and regulations provided in the laws of the State wherein they are impressed; and, in the absence of such law, in accordance with such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as the Secretary of War shall from time to time prescribe: Provided, That no impressment of slaves shall be made when they can be hired or procured by the consent of the owner or agent.

Sec. 10. That, previous to the 1st day of December next, no slave laboring on a farm or plantation, exclusively devoted to the production of grain and provisions, shall be taken for the public use, without the consent of the owner, except in case of urgent necessity.

The Lynchburg Republican (Va.) had, so early as April, chronicled the volunteered enrollment of 70 of the free negroes of that place, to fight in defense of their State; closing with--

Three cheers for the patriotic free negroes of Lynchburg!

The next recorded organization of negroes, especially as Rebel soldiers, was at Mobile, toward Autumn ; and, two or three months later, the following telegram was flashed over the length and breadth of the rejoicing Confederacy:

New Orleans. Nov. 23, 1861.

Over 28,000 troops were reviewed today by Gov. Moore, Maj. Gen. Lovell, and Brig.-Gen. Ruggles. The line was over seven miles long. One regiment comprised 1,400 free colored men.

The (Rebel) Legislature of Virginia was engaged, so early as Feb. 4, 1862, on a bill to enroll all the free negroes in the State, for service in the Rebel forces; which was favored by all who discussed it; when it passed to its engrossment, and probably became a law.

All these, and many kindred movements in the same direction, preceded Mr. Lincoln's first or premonitory Proclamation of Freedom,⁴⁹ and long preceded any organization of negro troops to fight for the Union. The credit of having first conquered their prejudices against the employment of Blacks, even as soldiers, is fairly due to the Rebels. Had the negroes with equal facility overcome their repugnance to fighting for their own enslavement, the Black contingent in the Rebel armies might soon have been very little inferior to the White, either in numbers or in efficiency.

Yet Mr. Lincoln's initial Proclamation aforesaid had hardly been diffused throughout the Confederacy, when measures of deadly retaliation and vengeance were loudly pressed on every hand. That a Government struggling against a Rebellion founded on Slavery, should threaten to [523] fight the consequence through the cause, was esteemed an immeasurable stretch of presumption. The following dispatch aptly embodies the prevailing sentiment:--

Charleston, S. C., Oct. 13, 1862.
Hon. Wm. P. Miles, Richmond, Va.:

Has the bill for the execution of Abolition prisoners, after January next, been passed?Do it; and England will be stirred into action. It is high time to proclaim the black flag after that period. Let the execution be with the garrote.

(Signed)

G. T. Beauregard.

Prior to the issue⁵⁰ of President Lincoln's later, unconditional edict of emancipation, Jefferson Davis had, in proclaiming⁵¹ the outlawry of Gen. Butler and his officers,⁵² decreed that all slaves captured in arms be turned over to the Executives of their several States, to be dealt with according to law, and that a similar disposition be made of their White officers. So, in his third Annual Message,⁵³ he dealt, of course, very harshly with President Lincoln's final Proclamation of Freedom, then recently promulgated, which he stigmatized as a violation of a solemn assurance embodied in the author's Inaugural Address, and in the resolve of the Chicago Convention therein quoted.⁵⁴ Mr. Davis hailed the proclamation as an admission that the Union could never be restored, and as a guaranty that such restoration was impossible. Says the Confederate chief:

It has established a state of things which can lead to but one of three possible consequences — the extermination of the slaves, the exile of the whole White population of the Confederacy, or absolute and total separation of these States from the United States. This proclamation is also an authentic statement by the Government of the United States of its inability to subjugate the South by force of arms, and, as such, must be accepted by neutral nations, which can no longer find any justification in withholding our just claims to formal recognition. It is also, in effect, an intimation to the people of the North that they must prepare to submit to a separation, now become come inevitable; for that people are too acute not to understand that a restitution of the Union has been rendered forever impossible by the adoption of a measure which, from its very nature, neither admits of retraction nor can coexist with union.

But the passage which more especially concerns Negro Soldiership is the following:

We may well leave it to the instincts of that common humanity which a beneficent Creator has implanted in the breasts of our fellow-men of all countries to pass judgment on a measure by which several millions of human beings of an inferior race — peaceful and contented laborers in their sphere — are doomed to extermination, while at the same time they are encouraged to a general assassination of their masters by the insidious recommendation to abstain from violence unless in necessary self-defense. Our own detestation of those who have attempted the most execrable measures recorded in the history of guilty man is tempered by profound contempt for the impotent rage which it discloses. So far as regards the action of this Government on such criminals as may attempt its execution, I confine myself to informing you that I shall — unless in your wisdom you deem some other course more expedient — deliver to the several State authorities all commissioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation, that they may be dealt with in accordance with the laws of those States providing for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these crimes, and shall direct their discharge and return to their homes on the proper and usual parole.

The Confederate Congress took up the subject soon afterward, and, after protracted consideration, ultimately disposed of it by passing the following:

Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, In response to the message of the President, transmitted to Congress at the commencement of the present session, That, in the opinion of [524] Congress, the commissioned officers of the enemy ought not to be delivered to the authorities of the respective States, as suggested in the said message, but all captives taken by the Confederate forces ought to be dealt with and disposed of by the Confederate Government.

Sec. 2. That, in the judgment of Congress, the proclamations of the President of the United States, dated respectively September 22d, 1862, and January 1st, 1863, Land the other measures of the Government of the United States and of its authorities, commanders, and forces, designed or tending to emancipate slaves in the Confederate States, or to abduct such slaves, or to incite them to insurrection, or to employ negroes in war against the Confederate States, or to overthrow the institution of African Slavery, and bring on a servile war in these states, would, if successful, produce atrocious consequences, and they are inconsistent with the spirit of those usages which, in modern warfare, prevail among civilized nations; they may, therefore, be properly and lawfully repressed by retaliation.

Sec. 3. That in every case wherein, during the present war, any violation of the laws or usages of war among civilized nations shall be, or has been, done and perpetrated by those acting under the authority of the Government of the United States, on the persons or property of citizens of the Confederate States, or of those under the protection or in the land or naval service of the Confederate States, or of any State of the Confederacy, tile President of the Confederate States is hereby authorized to cause full and ample retaliation to be made for every such violation, in such manner and to such extent as he may think proper.

Sec. 4. That every White person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, train, organize, or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate States, or who shall voluntarily aid negroes or mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack, or conflict, in such service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 5. Every person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such in the service of the enemy, who shall, during the present war, excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be excited, a servile insurrection, or who shall incite, or cause to be incited, a slave to rebel, shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 6. Every person charged with an offense punishable under the preceding resolutions shall, during the present war, be tried before the military court attached to the army or corps by the troops of which he shall have been captured, or by such other military court as the President may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations as the President shall prescribe; and, after conviction, the President may commute the punishment in such manner and on such terms as he may deem proper.

Sec. 7. All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, shall, when captured in the Confederate States, be delivered to the authorities of the State or States in which they shall be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or future laws of such State or States.

The connection between the premises here alleged and the action based thereon is by no means obvious. For more than two years, negroes had been extensively employed in belligerent operations by the Confederacy. They had been embodied and drilled as Rebel soldiers, and had paraded with⁵⁵ White troops at a time when this would not have been tolerated in the armies of the Union. Yet, in the face of these notorious facts, it is here provided that “every White person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or mulattoes [whether ever slaves or not] in arms against the Confederate States, shall, if captured, be put to death, or otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.”

Some of the leading and most thorough Rebel journals, on reflection, admitted that this was unjustifiable — that the Confederacy could not prescribe the color of citizens of the Free States, never in bondage at [525] the South, whom our Government might justifiably employ as soldiers. But the resolve nevertheless stood for years, if not to the last, unrepealed and unmodified, and was the primary, fundamental impediment whereby the exchange of prisoners between the belligerents was first interrupted; so that tens of thousands languished for weary months in prison-camps, where many thousands died of exposure and starvation, who might else have been living to this day.

Secretary Stanton, having learned that three of our Black soldiers captured with the gunboat Isaac Smith, in Stono river, had been placed in close confinement, ordered three of our prisoners (South Carolinians) to be treated likewise, and the fact to be communicated to time Confederate leaders. The Richmond Examiner, commenting on this relation, said:

It is not merely the pretension of a regular Government affecting to deal with “Rebels,” but it is a deadly stab which they are aiming at our institutions themselves — because they know that, if we were insane enough to yield this point, to treat Black men as the equals of White, and insurgent slaves as equivalent to our brave soldiers, the very foundation of Slavery would be fatally wounded.

After one of the conflicts before Charleston, an immediate exchange of prisoners was agreed on ; but, when ours came to be received, only the Whites made their appearance. A remonstrance against this breach of faith was met by a plea of want of power to surrender Blacks taken in arms, because of the resolve just quoted and orders based thereon; and this was probably the immediate impulse to the issue of the following General Order:

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 30, 1863.

It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its citizens, of \whatever class, color, or condition. and especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations, and the usages and customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on account of his color, and for no offense against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism and a crime against the civilization of the age.

The Government of the United States will give the same protection to all its soldiers; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of his color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy's prisoners in our possession.

It is therefore ordered that, for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a Rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into Slavery, a Rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on public works, and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war.

Abraham Lincoln. By order of the Secretary of War, E. D. Townsend, Assist. Adj't.-Gen.

It must not be presumed that, because either belligerent had decided to make all possible use of Blacks in the prosecution of the War, the opposition to this policy in Congress or in the Democratic journals and popular harangues was foregone. Far otherwise.⁵⁶ [526]

The Army Appropriation bill being before the Senate, Mr. Garrett Davis, of Ky., moved⁵⁷ to add:

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.

Which was rejected: Yeas 8; Nays 28:

Yeas--Messrs. Carlile, G. Davis, Kennedy, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Turpie, and Wall (all Democrats).

At the next session — the Deficiency bill being before the House--Mr. Harding, of Ky., moved⁵⁸ to insert--

Provided, That no part of the moneys aforesaid shall be applied to the raising, arming, equipping, or paying of negro soldiers.

Which was likewise beaten: Yeas 41; Yays 105--the Yeas (all Democrats) being

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 II. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Sainuel J. Randall, Rogers, Ross, Scott, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Yeaman.

No other War measure was so strenuously, unitedly, persistently, vehemently resisted by the Opposition, whether Democratic or Border-State Unionists, as was the proposal to arm Blacks to uphold the National cause. Said Mr. S. S. Cox, of Ohio:

I believe the object of gentlemen, in forcing this bill here, is to bring about — or, rather, to make final and forever — a dissolution of the Union. * * * Every man along the border [Ohio] will tell you that the Union is for ever rendered hopeless if you pursue this policy of taking the slaves from the masters and arming them in this civil strife.

The regular, authorized, avowed employment of Blacks in the Union armies — not as menials, but as soldiers — may be said to have begun with the year 1863--that is, with the issue of the President's absolute Proclamation of Freedom. Mr. Stanton's first order to raise in the loyal States three years men, with express permission “to include persons of African descent,” was that issued to Gov. Andrew, Jan. 20th of this year; which was promptly and heartily responded to. In March, Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of our Army, was dispatched from Washington to the Mississippi Valley, there to initiate and supervise the recruiting and officering of Black regiments — a duty which he discharged with eminent zeal and efficiency; visiting and laboring at Memphis, Helena, and other points, where Blacks were congregated, addressing them in exposition of the Emancipation policy, and urging them to respond to it by rallying to the flag of their country. To our officers and soldiers, in a speech at Lake Providence, La.,⁵⁹ he forcibly said:

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 [527] 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.

There was still much prejudice against Negro Soldiers among our rank and file, as well as among their superiors; those from New England possibly and partially excepted: but the Adjutant-General was armed with a potent specific for its cure. The twenty regiments of Blacks which he was intent on raising he had authority to officer on the spot from the White veterans at hand; and this fact — at least, until the commissions should be awarded-operated as a powerful antidote to anti-negro prejudice. There were few, if any, instances of a White sergeant or corporal whose dignity or whose nose revolted at the proximity of Blacks as private soldiers, if he might secure a lieutenancy by deeming them not unsavory, or not quite intolerably so; while there is no case on record where a soldier deemed fit for a captaincy in a colored regiment rejected it and clung to the ranks, in deference to his invincible antipathy to “niggers.” And, though Gen. Banks, in his order⁶⁰ directing the recruitment of a “Corps d'afrique” in his department, saw fit to say that

“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,” &c., &c.--

yet there were few who did not see, and not many who refused to admit, that a systematic arming of the Blacks in defense of the Union imposed obligations and involved consequences incompatible not merely with the perpetuation of Slavery, but with that of Caste as well. Hence, the proclaimed repugnance in Congress, in the Press, and among the People, to arming the Blacks, was quite as acrid, pertinacious, and denunciatory, as that which had been excited by the policy of Emancipation.

Yet, in spite of ugly epithets, the work went on. Presently, a distinct Bureau was established,⁶¹ in the Adjutant-General's office at Washington, “for the record of all matters relating to the organization of colored troops;” and a Board, whereof Gen. Silas Casey was President, organized for the strict examination of all candidates for commissions in Black regiments; by whose labors and investigations a higher state of average character and efficiency was secured in the officering of these than had been attained in the (too often hasty and hap-hazard) organization of our White regiments. In August, the Adjutant-General again visited the Great Valley on this business; and he now issued from Vicksburg⁶² an order which was practically a conscription of all able-bodied male Blacks who should seek protection within the Union lines, and should not be otherwise employed, into the National service. Next appeared⁶³ an order from the War Department, establishing recruiting stations for Black soldiers in Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee, and directing the enlistment as volunteers of “all able-bodied free negroes;” also the “slaves [528] of disloyal persons [absolutely], and slaves of loyal persons with the consent of their owners,” who were to be paid $300 for each slave so enlisted, upon making proof of ownership and filing a deed of manumission. Thus the good work went on; until, in December, 1863, tile Bureau aforesaid reported that over 50,000 had been enlisted and were then in actual service; and this number had been trebled before the close of the following year. And, though some of our Generals regarded them with disfavor, while others were loud in their praise, it is no longer fairly disputable that they played a very important and useful part in the overthrow of the Rebellion. Though they were hardly allowed to participate in any of the great battles whereby the issue was determined, they bore an honorable part in many minor actions and sieges, especially those of 1864-5. In docility, in unquestioning obedience to superiors, in local knowledge, in capacity to endure fatigue, in ability to brave exposure and resist climatic or miasmatic perils, they were equal if not superior to the average of our White troops; in intelligence and tenacity, they were inferior; and no wise General would have counted a corps of them equal, man for man, ill a great, protracted battle, to a like number of our Whites. Yet there were Black regiments above the average of Whites in merit; and their fighting at Fort Wagner, Port Hudson, Helena, Mobile, and some other points, was noticed by their commanders with well deserved commendation. To exalt them to the disparagement of our White soldiers would be as unwise as unjust; but those Whites who fought most bravely by their side will be the last to detract from the gratitude wherewith the Republic fitly honors all her sons who freely offered their lives for the salvation of their country.