XIX. NEGROES AS SOLDIERS…

XIX. NEGROES AS SOLDIERS

JUSTIFICATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF SLAVES AS SOLDIERS.--TRIALS OF THE NEGRO SOLDIER.--HE UNDERGOES PERSECUTION FROM THE WHITE NORTHERN TROOPS, AND BARBAROUS TREATMENT FROM THE REBELS.--EDITORIAL OF THE "NEW YORK TIMES" ON THE NEGRO SOLDIER IN BATTLE.--REPORT OF THE "TRIBUNE" ON THE GALLANT EXPLOITS OF THE 1ST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS.--NEGRO TROOPS IN ALL THE DEPARTMENTS.--NEGRO SOLDIERS IN THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.--DEATH OF CAPTAIN ANDRE CALLIOUX.--DEATH OF COLOR-SERGEANT ANSELMAS PLANCIANCOIS.--AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.--OFFICIAL REPORT OF GEN. BANKS.--HE APPLAUDS THE VALOR OF THE COLORED REGIMENTS AT PORT HUDSON.--GEORGE H. BOKER'S POEM ON "THE BLACK REGIMENT."--BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND, JUNE, 1863.--DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE.--MEMORABLE EVENTS OF JULY, 1863.--BATTLE ON MORRIS ISLAND.--BRAVERY OF SERGEANT CARNEY.--AN ACCOUNT OF THE 54TH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT BY EDWARD L. PIERCE TO GOVERNOR ANDREW.--DEATH OF COL. SHAW.--COLORED TROOPS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.--BATTLE OF PETERSBURG.--TABLE SHOWING THE LOSSES AT NASHVILLE.--ADJT.-GEN. THOMAS ON NEGRO SOLDIERS.--AN EXTRACT FROM THE "NEW YORK TRIBUNE" IN BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERLY QUALITIES OF THE NEGROES.--LETTER RECEIVED BY COL. DARLING FROM MR. ADEN AND COL. FOSTER PRAISING THE EMINENT QUALIFICATIONS OF THE NEGRO FOR MILITARY LIFE.--HISTORY RECORDS THEIR DEEDS OF VALOR IN THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION.

All history, ancient and modern, Pagan and Christian, justified the conduct of the Federal Government in the employment of slaves as soldiers. Greece had tried the experiment; and at the battle of Marathon there were two regiments of heavy infantry composed of slaves. The beleaguered city of Rome offered freedom to her slaves who should volunteer as soldiers; and at the battle of Cannae a regiment of Roman slaves made Hannibal's cohorts reel before their unequalled courage. When Abraham heard of the loss of his stock, he armed his slaves, pursued the enemy, and regained his possessions. Negro officers as well as soldiers had shared the perils and glories of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte; and even the royal guard at the Court of Imperial France had been mounted with black soldiers. In two wars in North America Negro soldiers had followed the fortunes of military life, and won the applause of white patriots on two continents. So then all history furnished a precedent for the guidance of the United States Government in the Civil War in America.

But there were several aggravating questions which had to be referred to the future. In both wars in this country the Negro had fought a foreign foe--an enemy representing a Christian civilization. He had a sense of security in going to battle with the colonial fathers; for their sacred battle-songs gave him purpose and courage. And, again, the Negro knew that the English soldier had never disgraced the uniform of Hampden or Wellington by practising the cruelties of uncivilized warfare upon helpless prisoners. In the Rebellion it was altogether different. Here was a war between the States of one Union. Here was a war between two sections differing in civilization. Here was a war all about the Negro; a war that was to declare him forever bond, or forever free. Now, in such a war the Negro appeared in battle against his master. For two hundred and forty-three years the Negro had been learning the lesson of obedience and obsequious submission to the white man. The system of slavery under which he had languished had destroyed the family relation, the source of all virtue, self-respect, and moral growth. The tendency of slavery was to destroy the confidence of the slave in his ability and resources, and to disqualify him for those relations where the noblest passion of mankind is to be exercised in an intelligent manner--amor patriae.

Negro soldiers were required by an act of Congress to fight for the Union at a salary of $10 per month, with $3 deducted for clothing--leaving them only $7 per month as their actual pay. White soldiers received $13 per month and clothing.[97]

The Negro soldiers had to run the gauntlet of the persecuting hate of white Northern troops, and, if captured, endure the most barbarous treatment of the rebels, without a protest on the part of the Government--for at least nearly a year. Hooted at, jeered, and stoned in the streets of Northern cities as they marched to the front to fight for the Union; scoffed at and abused by white troops under the flag of a common country, there was little of a consoling or inspiring nature in the experience of Negro soldiers.

"But none of these things" moved the Negro soldier. His qualifications for the profession of arms were ample and admirable. To begin with, the Negro soldier was a patriot of the highest order. No race of people in the world are more thoroughly domestic, have such tender attachments to home and friends as the Negro race. And when his soul was quickened with the sublime idea of liberty for himself and kindred--that his home and country were to be rid of the triple curse of slavery--his enthusiasm was boundless. His enthusiasm was not mere animal excitement. No white soldier who marched to the music of the Union possessed a more lofty conception of the sacredness of the war for the Union than the Negro. The intensity of his desires, the sincerity of his prayers, and the sublimity of his faith during the long and starless night of his bondage made the Negro a poet, after a fashion. To him there was poetry in our flag--the red, white, and blue. Our national odes and airs found a response in his soul, and inspired him to the performance of heroic deeds. He was always seeing something "sublime," "glorious," "beautiful," "grand," and "wonderful" in war. There was poetry in the swinging, measured tread of companies and regiments in drill or battle; and dress parade always found the Negro soldier in the height of his glory. His love of harmonious sounds, his musical faculty, and delight of show aided him in the performance of the most difficult manoeuvres. His imitativeness gave him facility in handling his musket and sabre; and his love of domestic animals, and natural strength made him a graceful cavalryman and an efficient artilleryman.

The lessons of obedience the Negro had learned so thoroughly as a slave were turned to good account as a soldier. He obeyed orders to the letter. He never used his discretion; he added nothing to, he subtracted nothing from, his orders; he made no attempt at reading between the lines; he did not interpret--he obeyed. Used to outdoor life, with excellent hearing, wonderful eyesight, and great vigilance, he was a model picket. Heard every sound, observed every moving thing, and was quick to shoot, and of steady aim. He was possessed of exceptionally good teeth, and, therefore, could bite his cartridge and hard tack. He had been trained to long periods of labor, poor food, and miserable quarters, and therefore, could endure extreme fatigue and great exposure.

His docility of nature, patient endurance, and hopeful disposition enabled him to endure long marches, severe hardships, and painful wounds. His joyous, boisterous songs on the march and in the camp; his victorious shout in battle, and his merry laughter in camp proclaimed him the insoluble enigma of military life. He never was discouraged; melancholia had no abiding place in his nature.

But how did the Negro meet his master in battle? How did he stand fire? On the 31st of July, 1863, the "New York Times," editorially answered these questions as follows:

"Negro soldiers have now been in battle at Port Hudson and at Milliken's Bend in Louisiana; at Helena in Arkansas, at Morris Island in South Carolina, and at or near Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. In two of these instances they assaulted fortified positions and led the assault; in two they fought on the defensive, and in one they attacked rebel infantry. In all of them they acted in conjunction with white troops and under command of white officers. In some instances they acted with distinguished bravery, and in all they acted as well as could be expected of raw troops.

"Some of these negroes were from the cotton States, others from New England States, and others from the slave States of the Northwest. Those who fought at Port Hudson were from New Orleans; those who fought at Battery Wagner were from Boston; those who fought at Helena and Young's Point were from the river counties of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Those who fought in the Indian Territory were from Missouri."

This is warm praise from a journal of the high, though conservative, character of the "Times." Warmer praise and more unqualified praise of the Negro soldier's fighting qualities could not be given. And it was made after a careful weighing of all the facts and evidence supplied from careful and reliable correspondents. But more specific evidence was being furnished on every hand. The 1st South Carolina Volunteers--the first regiment of Negroes existed during the war,--commanded by Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, was the first Black regiment of its character under the fire of the enemy. The regiment covered itself with glory during an expedition upon the St. John's River in Florida. The "Times" gave the following editorial notice of the expedition at the time, based upon the official report of the colonel and a letter from its special correspondent:

"THE NEGROES IN BATTLE.

"Colonel Higginson, of the 1st S. C. Volunteers, furnishes an entertaining official report of the exploits of his black regiment in Florida. He seems to think it necessary to put his case strongly, and in rather exalted language, as well as in such a way as to convince the public that negroes will fight. In this expedition, his battalion was repeatedly under fire--had rebel cavalry, infantry, and, says he, 'even artillery' arranged against them, yet in every instance, came off with unblemished honor and undisputed triumph. His men made the most urgent appeals to him to be allowed to press the flying enemy. They exhibited the most fiery energy beyond anything of which Colonel Higginson ever read, unless it may be in the case of the French Zouaves. He even says that 'it would have been madness to attempt with the bravest white troops what he successfully accomplished with black ones.' No wanton destruction was permitted, no personal outrages desired, during the expedition. The regiment, besides the victories which it achieved, and the large amount of valuable property which it secured, obtained a cannon and a flag which the Colonel very properly asks permission for the regiment to retain. The officers and men desire to remain permanently in Florida, and obtain supplies of lumber, iron, etc., for the Government. The Colonel puts forth a very good suggestion, to the effect that a 'chain of such posts would completely alter the whole aspect of the war in the seaboard slave States, and would accomplish what no accumulation of Northern regiments can so easily effect.' This is the very use for negro soldiers suggested in the Proclamation of the President. We have no doubt that the whole State of Florida might easily be held for the Government in this way, by a dozen negro regiments."[98]

On the 11th of February, 1863, the "Times" gave the following account of the exploits of this gallant regiment in the following explicit language:

"ACCOUNT OF A SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION INTO GEORGIA AND FLORIDA WITH A FORCE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 1ST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS.

"The bravery and good conduct of the regiment more than equalled the high anticipations of its commander. The men were repeatedly under fire,--were opposed by infantry, cavalry, and artillery,--fought on board a steamer exposed to heavy musketry fire from the banks of a narrow river,--were tried in all ways, and came off invariably with honor and success. They brought away property to a large amount, capturing also a cannon and a flag, which the Colonel asks leave to keep for the regiment, and which he and they have fairly won.

"It will not need many such reports an this--and there have been several before it--to shake our inveterate Saxon prejudice against the capacity and courage of negro troops. Everybody knows that they were used in the Revolution, and in the last war with Great Britain fought side by side with white troops, and won equal praises from Washington and Jackson. It is shown also that black sailors employed on our men-of-war, are valued by their commanders, and are on equal terms with their white comrades. If on the sea, why not on the land? No officer who has commanded black troops has yet reported against them. They are tried in the most unfavorable and difficult circumstances, but never fail. When shall we learn to use the full strength of the formidable ally who is only waiting for a summons to rally under the flag of the Union? Colonel Higginson says: 'No officer in this regiment now doubts that the successful prosecution of this war lies in the unlimited employment of black troops.' The remark is true in a military sense, and it has a still deeper political significance.

"When General Hunter has scattered 50,000 muskets among the negroes of the Carolinas, and General Butler has organized the 100,000 or 200,000 blacks for whom he may perhaps shortly carry arms to New Orleans, the possibility of restoring the Union as it was, with slavery again its dormant power, will be seen to have finally passed away. The negro is indeed the key to success."[99]

So here, in the Department of the South, where General Hunter had displayed such admirable military judgment, first, in emancipating the slave, and second, in arming them; here where the white Union soldiers and their officers had felt themselves insulted; and where the President had disarmed the 1st regiment of ex-slaves and removed the officer who had organized it, a few companies of Negro troops had fought rebel infantry, cavalry, artillery, and guerillas, and put them all to flight. They had invaded the enemy's country, made prisoners, and captured arms and flags; and without committing a single depredation. Prejudice gave room to praise, and the exclusive, distant spirit of white soldiers was converted into the warm and close admiration of comradeship. The most sanguine expectations and high opinions of the advocates of Negro soldiers were more than realized, while the prejudice of Negro haters was disarmed by the flinty logic and imperishable glory of Negro soldiership.[100]

Every Department had its Negro troops by this time; and everywhere the Negro was solving the problem of his military existence. At Port Hudson in May, 1863, he proved himself worthy of his uniform and the object of the most extravagant eulogies from the lips of men who were, but a few months before the battle, opposed to Negro soldiers. Mention has been made in another chapter of the Colored regiment raised in New Orleans under General Butler. After remaining in camp from the 7th of September, 1862, until May, 1863, they were quite efficient in the use of their arms. The 1st Louisiana regiment was ordered to report to General Dwight. The regiment was at Baton Rouge. Its commanding officer, Colonel Stafford [white], was under arrest when the regiment was about ready to go to the front.

The line officers assembled at his quarters to assure him that the regiment would do its duty in the day of battle, and to tender their regrets that he could not lead them on the field. At this moment the color-guard marched up to receive the regimental flags. Colonel Stafford stepped into his tent and returned with the flags. He made a speech full of patriotism and feeling, and concluded by saying: "Color-guard, protect, defend, die for, but do not surrender these flags!" Sergeant Planciancois said: "Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or report to God the reason why!" Noble words these, and brave! And no more fitting epitaph could mark the resting-place of a hero who has laid down his life in defence of human liberty! A king might well covet these sublime words of the dauntless Planciancois!

PORT HUDSON.

It was a question of grave doubt among white troops as to the fighting qualities of Negro soldiers. There were various doubts expressed by the officers on both sides of the line. The Confederates greeted the news that "niggers" were to meet them in battle with derision, and treated the whole matter as a huge joke. The Federal soldiers were filled with amazement and fear as to the issue.

It was the determination of the commanding officer at Port Hudson to assign this Negro regiment to a post of honor and danger. The regiment marched all night before the battle of Port Hudson, and arrived at one Dr. Chambers's sugar house on the 27th of May, 1863. It was just 5 A. M. when the regiment stacked arms. Orders were given to rest and breakfast in one hour. The heat was intense and the dust thick, and so thoroughly fatigued were the men that many sank in their tracks and slept soundly.

Arrangements were made for a field hospital, and the drum corps instructed where to carry the wounded. Officers' call was beaten at 5:30, when they received instructions and encouragement. "Fall in" was sounded at 6 o'clock, and soon thereafter the regiment was on the march. The sun was now shining in his full strength upon the field where a great battle was to be fought. The enemy was in his stronghold, and his forts were crowned with angry and destructive guns. The hour to charge had come. It was 7 o'clock. There was a feeling of anxiety among the white troops as they watched the movements of these Blacks in blue. The latter were anxious for the fray. At last the command came, "Forward, double-quick, march!" and on they went over the field of death. Not a musket was heard until the command was within four hundred yards of the enemy's works, when a blistering fire was opened upon the left wing of the regiment. Unfortunately Companies A, B, C, D, and E wheeled suddenly by the left flank. Some confusion followed, but was soon over. A shell--the first that fell on the line--killed and wounded about twelve men. The regiment came to a right about, and fell back for a few hundred yards, wheeled by companies, and faced the enemy again with the coolness and military precision of an old regiment on parade. The enemy was busy at work now. Grape, canister, shell, and musketry made the air hideous with their noise. A masked battery commanded a bluff, and the guns could be depressed sufficiently to sweep the entire field over which the regiment must charge. It must be remembered that this regiment occupied the extreme right of the charging line. The masked battery worked upon the left wing. A three-gun battery was situated in the centre, while a half dozen large pieces shelled the right, and enfiladed the regiment front and rear every time it charged the battery on the bluff. A bayou ran under the bluff, immediately in front of the guns. It was too deep to be forded by men. These brave Colored soldiers made six desperate charges with indifferent success, because

"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell."

The men behaved splendidly. As their ranks were thinned by shot and grape, they closed up into place, and kept a good line. But no matter what high soldierly qualities these men were endowed with, no matter how faithfully they obeyed the oft-repeated order to "charge," it was both a moral and physical impossibility for these men to cross the deep bayou that flowed at their feet--already crimson with patriots' blood--and capture the battery on the bluff. Colonel Nelson, who commanded this black brigade, despatched an orderly to General Dwight, informing him that it was not in the nature of things for his men to accomplish any thing by further charges. "Tell Colonel Nelson," said General Dwight, "I shall consider that he has accomplished nothing unless he takes those guns." This last order of General Dwight's will go into history as a cruel and unnecessary act. He must have known that three regiments of infantry, torn and shattered by about fifteen or twenty heavy guns, with an impassable bayou encircling the bluff, could accomplish nothing by charging. But the men, what could they do?

"Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die."

DEATH OF CAPTAIN ANDRE CALLIOUX.

Again the order to charge was given, and the men, worked up to a feeling of desperation on account of repeated failures, raised a cry and made another charge. The ground was covered with dead and wounded. Trees were felled by shell and solid shot; and at one time a company was covered with the branches of a falling tree. Captain Callioux was in command of Company E, the color company. He was first wounded in the left arm--the limb being broken above the elbow. He ran to the front of his company, waving his sword and crying, "Follow me." But when within about fifty yards of the enemy he was struck by a shell and fell dead in front of his company.

Many Greeks fell defending the pass at Thermopylae against the Persian army, but history has made peculiarly conspicuous Leonidas and his four hundred Spartans. In a not distant future, when a calm and truthful history of the battle of Port Hudson is written, notwithstanding many men fought and died there, the heroism of the "Black Captain," the accomplished gentleman and fearless soldier, Andre Callioux, and his faithful followers, will make a most fascinating picture for future generations to look upon and study.

DEATH OF COLOR-SERGEANT ANSELMAS PLANCIANCOIS.

"Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or report to God the reason why." It was now past 11 A.M., May 27, 1863. The men were struggling in front of the bluff. The brave Callioux was lying lifeless upon the field, that was now slippery with gore and crimson with blood. The enemy was directing his shell and shot at the flags of the First Regiment. A shell, about a six-pounder, struck the flag-staff, cut it in two, and carried away part of the head of Planciancois. He fell, and the flag covered him as a canopy of glory, and drank of the crimson tide that flowed from his mutilated head. Corporal Heath caught up the flag, but no sooner had he shouldered the dear old banner than a musket ball went crashing through his head and scattered his brains upon the flag, and he, still clinging to it, fell dead upon the body of Sergeant Planciancois. Another corporal caught up the banner and bore it through the fight with pride.

This was the last charge--the seventh; and what was left of this gallant Black brigade came back from the hell into which they had plunged with so much daring and forgetfulness seven times.

They did not capture the battery on the bluff it's true, but they convinced the white soldiers on both sides that they were both willing and able to help fight the battles of the Union. And if any person doubts the abilities of the Negro as a soldier, let him talk with General Banks, as we have, and hear "his golden eloquence on the black brigade at Port Hudson."

A few days after the battle a "New York Times" correspondent sent the following account to that journal:

"BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON.

"In an account of the Battle of Port Hudson, the 'Times' correspondent says: 'Hearing the firing apparently more fierce and continuous to the right than anywhere else, I hurried in that direction, past the sugar house of Colonel Chambers, where I had slept, and advanced to near the pontoon bridge across the Big Sandy Bayou, which the negro regiments had erected, and where they were fighting most desperately. I had seen these brave and hitherto despised fellows the day before as I rode along the lines, and I had seen General Banks acknowledge their respectful salute as he would have done that of any white troops; but still the question was--with too many,--"Will they fight?" The black race was, on this eventful day, to be put to the test, and the question to be settled--now and forever,--whether or not they are entitled to assert their right to manhood. Nobly, indeed, have they acquitted themselves, and proudly may every colored man hereafter hold up his head, and point to the record of those who fell on that bloody field.

"'General Dwight, at least, must have had the idea, not only that they were men, but something more than men, from the terrific test to which he put their valor. Before any impression had been made upon the earthworks of the enemy, and in full face of the batteries belching forth their 62 pounders, these devoted people rushed forward to encounter grape, canister, shell, and musketry, with no artillery but two small howitzers--that seemed mere pop-guns to their adversaries--and no reserve whatever.

"'Their force consisted of the 1st. Louisiana Native Guards (with colored field-officers) under Lieut.-Colonel Bassett, and the 3d Louisiana Native Guards, Colonel Nelson (with white field-officers), the whole under command of the latter officer.

"'On going into action they were 1,080 strong, and formed into four lines, Lieut.-Colonel Bassett, 1st Louisiana, forming the first line, and Lieut.-Colonel Henry Finnegas the second. When ordered to charge up the works, they did so with the skill and nerve of old veterans, (black people, be it remembered who had never been in action before,) but the fire from the rebel guns was so terrible upon the unprotected masses, that the first few shots mowed them down like grass and so continued.

"'Colonel Bassett being driven back, Colonel Finnegas took his place, and his men being similarly cut to pieces, Lieut.-Colonel Bassett reformed and recommenced; and thus these brave people went in, from morning until 3:30 p.m., under the most hideous carnage that men ever had to withstand, and that very few white ones would have had nerve to encounter, even if ordered to. During this time, they rallied, and were ordered to make six distinct charges, losing thirty-seven killed, and one hundred and fifty-five wounded, and one hundred and sixteen missing,--the majority, if not all, of these being, in all probability, now lying dead on the gory field, and without the rites of sepulture; for when, by flag of truce, our forces in other directions were permitted to reclaim their dead, the benefit, through some neglect, was not extended to these black regiments.

"'The deeds of heroism performed by these colored men were such as the proudest white men might emulate. Their colors are torn to pieces by shot, and literally bespattered by blood and brains. The color-sergeant of the 1st. La., on being mortally wounded, hugged the colors to his breast, when a struggle ensued between the two color-corporals on each side of him, as to who should have the honor of bearing the sacred standard, and during this generous contention one was seriously wounded. One black lieutenant actually mounted the enemy's works three or four times, and in one charge the assaulting party came within fifty paces of them. Indeed, if only ordinarily supported by artillery and reserve, no one can convince us that they would not have opened a passage through the enemy's works.

"'Capt. Callioux of the 1st. La., a man so black that he actually prided himself upon his blackness, died the death of a hero, leading on his men in the thickest of the fight. One poor wounded fellow came along with his arm shattered by a shell, and jauntily swinging it with the other, as he said to a friend of mine: "Massa, guess I can fight no more." I was with one of the captains, looking after the wounded going in the rear of the hospital, when we met one limping along toward the front. On being asked where he was going, he said: "I been shot bad in the leg, captain, and dey want me to go to de hospital, but I guess I can gib 'em some more yet." I could go on filling your columns with startling facts of this kind, but I hope I have told enough to prove that we can hereafter rely upon black arms as well as white in crushing this internal rebellion. I long ago told you there was an army of 250,000 men ready to leap forward in defence of freedom at the first call. You know where to find them and what they are worth.

"'Although repulsed in an attempt which--situated as things were--was all but impossible, these regiments, though badly cut up, are still on hand, and burning with a passion ten times hotter from their fierce baptism of blood. Who knows, but that it is a black hand which shall first plant the standard of the Republic upon the doomed ramparts of Port Hudson?"[101]

The official report of Gen. Banks is given in full. It shows the disposition of the troops, and applauds the valor of the Colored regiments.

"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE GULF, } "BEFORE PORT HUDSON, May 30, 1863. }

"Major-General H: W. Halleck, General-in-Chief, Washington.

"GENERAL:--Leaving Sommesport on the Atchafalaya, where my command was at the date of my last dispatch, I landed at Bayou Sara at two o'clock on the morning of the 21st.

"A portion of the infantry were transported in steamers, and the balance of the infantry, artillery, cavalry, and wagon-train moving down on the west bank of the river, and from this to Bayou Sara.

"On the 23d a junction was effected with the advance of Major-General Augur and Brigadier-General Sherman, our line occupying the Bayou Sara road at a distance five miles from Port Hudson.

"Major-General Augur had an encounter with a portion of the enemy on the Bayou Sara road in the direction of Baton Rouge, which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, with heavy loss.

"On the 25th the enemy was compelled to abandon his first line of works.

"General Weitzel's brigade, which had covered our rear in the march from Alexandria, joined us on the 26th, and on the morning of the 27th a general assault was made upon the fortifications.

"The artillery opened fire between 5 and 6 o'clock, which was continued with animation during the day. At 10 o'clock Weitzel's brigade, with the division of General Grover, reduced to about two brigades, and the division of General Emory, temporarily reduced by detachments to about a brigade, under command of Colonel Paine, with two regiments of colored troops, made an assault upon the right of the enemy's works, crossing Sandy Creek, and driving them through the woods to their fortifications.

"The fight lasted on this line until 4 o'clock, and was very severely contested. On the left, the infantry did not come up until later in the day; but at 2 o'clock an assault was opened on the centre and left of centre by the divisions under Major-General Augur and Brigadier-General Sherman.

"The enemy was driven into his works, and our troops moved up to the fortifications, holding the opposite sides of the parapet with the enemy on the right. Our troops still hold their position on the left. After dark the main body, being exposed to a flank fire, withdrew to a belt of woods, the skirmishers remaining close upon the fortifications.

"In the assault of the 27th, the behavior, of the officers and men was most gallant, and left nothing to be desired. Our limited acquaintance of the ground and the character of the works, which were almost hidden from our observation until the moment of approach, alone prevented the capture of the post.

"On the extreme right of our line I posted the first and third regiments of negro troops. The First regiment of Louisiana Engineers, composed exclusively of colored men, excepting the officers, was also engaged in the operations of the day. The position occupied by these troops was one of importance, and called for the utmost steadiness and bravery in those to whom it was confided.

"It gives me pleasure to report that they answered every expectation. Their conduct was heroic. No troops could be more determined or more daring. They made, during the day, three charges upon the batteries of the enemy, suffering very heavy losses, and holding their position at nightfall with the other troops on the right of our line. The highest commendation is bestowed upon them by all the officers in command on the right. Whatever doubt may have existed before as to the efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this day proves conclusively to those who were in a condition to observe the conduct of these regiments, that the Government will find in this class of troops effective supporters and defenders.

"The severe test to which they were subjected, and the determined manner in which they encountered the enemy, leave upon my mind no doubt of their ultimate success. They require only good officers, commands of limited numbers, and careful discipline, to make them excellent soldiers.

"Our losses from the 23d to this date, in killed, wounded, and missing, are nearly 1,000, including, I deeply regret to say, some of the ablest officers of the corps. I am unable yet to report them in detail.

"I have the honor to be, with much respect

"Your obedient servant, "N. P. BANKS, "Major-General Commanding."

The effect of this battle upon the country can scarcely be described. Glowing accounts of the charge of the Black Regiments appeared in nearly all the leading journals of the North. The hearts of orators and poets were stirred to elegant utterance. The friends of the Negro were encouraged, and their number multiplied. The Colored people themselves were jubilant. Mr. George H. Boker, of Philadelphia, the poet friend of the Negro, wrote the following elegant verses on the gallant charge of the 1st Louisiana:

THE BLACK REGIMENT.

MAY 27, 1863.

BY GEORGE H. BOKER.

Dark as the clouds of even, Ranked in the western heaven, Waiting the breath that lifts All the dread mass, and drifts Tempest and falling brand Over a ruined land;-- So still and orderly, Arm to arm, knee to knee, Waiting the great event, Stands the black regiment.

Down the long dusky line Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine; And the bright bayonet, Bristling and firmly set, Flashed with a purpose grand, Long ere the sharp command Of the fierce rolling drum Told them their time had come, Told them what work was sent For the black regiment.

"Now," the flag-sergeant cried, "Though death and hell betide, Let the whole nation see If we are fit to be Free in this land; or bound Down, like the whining hound-- Bound with red stripes of pain In our old chains again!" Oh! what a shout there went From the black regiment!

"Charge!" Trump and drum awoke, Onward the bondmen broke; Bayonet and sabre-stroke Vainly opposed their rush. Through the wild battle's crush, With but one thought aflush, Driving their lords like chaff, In the guns' mouths they laugh; Or at the slippery brands Leaping with open hands, Down they tear man and horse, Down in their awful course; Trampling with bloody heel Over the crashing steel, All their eyes forward bent, Rushed the black regiment.

"Freedom!" their battle-cry-- "Freedom! or leave to die!" Ah! and they meant the word, Not as with us 't is heard, Not a mere party-shout: They gave their spirits out Trusted the end to God, And on the gory sod Rolled in triumphant blood. Glad to strike one free blow, Whether for weal or woe; Glad to breathe one free breath, Though on the lips of death, Praying--alas! in vain!-- That they might fall again, So they could once more see That burst to liberty! This was what "freedom" lent To the black regiment.

Hundreds on hundreds fell; But they are resting well; Scourges and shackles strong Never shall do them wrong. Oh, to the living few, Soldiers, be just and true! Hail them as comrades tried; Fight with them side by side; Never, in field or tent, Scorn the black regiment!

The battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on the 6th of June, 1863. The troops at this point were under the command of Brig.-Gen. E. S. Dennis. The force consisted of the 23d Iowa, 160 men; 9th La., 500; 11th La., 600; 1st Miss., 150; total, 1,410. Gen. Dennis's report places the number of his troops at 1,061; but evidently a clerical error crept into the report. Of the force engaged, 1,250 were Colored, composing the 9th and 11th Louisiana and the 1st Mississippi. The attacking force comprised six Confederate regiments--about 3,000 men,--under the command of Gen. Henry McCulloch. This force, coming from the interior of Louisiana, by the way of Richmond, struck the 9th Louisiana and two companies of Federal cavalry, and drove them within sight of the earthworks at the Bend. It was now nightfall, and the enemy rested, hoping and believing himself able to annihilate the Union forces on the morrow.

During the night a steamboat passed the Bend, and Gen. Dennis availed himself of the opportunity of sending to Admiral Porter for assistance. The gun-boats, "Choctaw" and "Lexington" were despatched to Milliken's Bend from Helena. As the "Choctaw" was coming in sight, at 3 o'clock in the morning, the rebels made their first charge on the Federal earthworks, filling the air with their vociferous cries: "No quarter!" to Negroes and their officers. The Negro troops had just been recruited, and hence knew little or nothing of the manual or use of arms. But the desperation with which they fought has no equal in the annals of modern wars. The enemy charged the works with desperate fury, but were checked by a deadly fire deliberately delivered by the troops within. The enemy fell back and charged the flanks of the Union columns, and, by an enfilading fire, drove them back toward the river, where they sought the protection of the gun-boats. The "Choctaw" opened a broadside upon the exulting foe, and caused him to beat a hasty retreat. The Negro troops were ordered to charge, and it was reported by a "Tribune" correspondent that many of the Union troops were killed before the gun-boats could be signalled to "cease firing." The following description of the battle was given by an eye-witness of the affair, and a gentleman of exalted character:

"My informant states that a force of about one thousand negroes and two hundred men of the Twenty-third Iowa, belonging to the Second brigade, Carr's division (the Twenty-third Iowa had been up the river with prisoners, and was on its way back to this place), was surprised in camp by a rebel force of about two thousand men. The first intimation that the commanding officer received was from one of the black men, who went into the colonel's tent and said: 'Massa, the secesh are in camp.' The colonel ordered him to have the men load their guns at once. He instantly replied: 'We have done did dat now, massa.' Before the colonel was ready, the men were in line, ready for action. As before stated, the rebels drove our force toward the gun-boats, taking colored men prisoners and murdering them. This so enraged them that they rallied and charged the enemy more heroically and desperately than has been recorded during the war. It was a genuine bayonet charge, a hand-to-hand fight, that has never occurred to any extent during this prolonged conflict. Upon both sides men were killed with the butts of muskets. White and black men were lying side by side, pierced by bayonets, and in some instances transfixed to the earth. In one instance, two men, one white and the other black, were found dead, side by side, each having the other's bayonet through his body. If facts prove to be what they are now represented, this engagement of Sunday morning will be recorded as the most desperate of this war. Broken limbs, broken heads, the mangling of bodies, all prove that it was a contest between enraged men: on the one side from hatred to a race; and on the other, desire for self-preservation, revenge for past grievances and the inhuman murder of their comrades. One brave man took his former master prisoner, and brought him into camp with great gusto. A rebel prisoner made a particular request, that his own negroes should not be placed over him as a guard. Dame Fortune is capricious! His request was not granted. Their mode of warfare does not entitle them to any privileges. If any are granted, it is from magnanimity to a fellow-foe.

"The rebels lost five cannon, two hundred men killed, four hundred to five hundred wounded, and about two hundred prisoners. Our loss is reported to be one hundred killed and five hundred wounded; but few were white men."[102]

Mr. G. G. Edwards, who was in the fight, wrote, on the 13th of June:

"Tauntingly it has been said that negroes won't fight. Who say it, and who but a dastard and a brute will dare to say it, when the battle of Milliken's Bend finds its place among the heroic deeds of this war? This battle has significance. It demonstrates the fact that the freed slaves will fight."

The month of July, 1863, was memorable. Gen. Mead had driven Lee from Gettysburg, Grant had captured Vicksburg, Banks had captured Port Hudson, and Gillmore had begun his operations on Morris Island. On the 13th of July the New York Draft Riot broke out. The Democratic press had advised the people that they were to be called upon to fight the battles of the "Niggers" and "Abolitionists"; while Gov. Seymour "requested" the rioters to await the return of his adjutant-general whom he had despatched to Washington to have the President suspend the draft. The speech was either cowardly or treasonous. It meant, when read between the lines, it is unjust for the Government to draft you men; I will try and get the Government to rescind its order, and until then you are respectfully requested to suspend your violent acts against property. But the riot went on. When the troops under Gen. Wool took charge of the city, thirteen rioters were killed, eighteen wounded, and twenty-four made prisoners. The rioters rose ostensibly to resist the draft, but there were three objects before them: robbery, the destruction of the property of the rich sympathizers with the Union, and the assassination of Colored persons wherever found. They burned the Colored Orphans' Asylum, hung Colored men to lamp posts, and destroyed the property of this class of citizens with impunity.

During these tragic events in New York a gallant Negro regiment was preparing to lead an assault upon the rebel Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. On the morning of the 16th of July, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts--first Colored regiment from the North--was compelled to fall back upon Gen. Terry from before a strong and fresh rebel force from Georgia. This was on James Island. The 54th was doing picket duty, and these early visitors thought to find Terry asleep; but instead found him awaiting their coming with all the vigilance of an old soldier. And in addition to the compliment his troops paid the enemy, the gunboats "Pawnee," "Huron," "Marblehead," "John Adams," and "Mayflower" paid their warmest respects to the intruders. They soon withdrew, having sustained a loss of 200, while Gen. Terry's loss was only about 100. It had been arranged to concentrate the Union forces on Morris Island, open a bombardment upon Fort Wagner, and then charge and take it on the 18th. The troops on James Island were put in motion to form a junction with the forces already upon Morris Island. The march of the 54th Mass., began on the night of the 16th and continued until the afternoon of the 18th. Through ugly marshes, over swollen streams, and broken dykes--through darkness and rain, the regiment made its way to Morris Island where it arrived at 6 A.M. of the 18th of July. The bombardment of Wagner was to have opened at daylight of this day; but a terrific storm sweeping over land and sea prevented. It was 12:30 P.M. when the thunder of siege guns, batteries, and gunboats announced the opening of the dance of death. A semicircle of batteries, stretching across the island for a half mile, sent their messages of destruction into Wagner, while the fleet of iron vessels battered down the works of the haughty and impregnable little fort. All the afternoon one hundred great guns thundered at the gates of Wagner. Toward the evening the bombardment began to slacken until a death-like stillness ensued. To close this part of the dreadful programme Nature lifted her hoarse and threatening voice, and a severe thunder-storm broke over the scene. Darkness was coming on. The brave Black regiment had reached Gen. Strong's headquarters fatigued, hungry, and damp. No time could be allowed for refreshments. Col. Shaw and Gen. Strong addressed the regiment in eloquent, inspiring language. Line of battle was formed in three brigades. The first was led by Gen. Strong, consisting of the 54th Massachusetts (Colored), Colonel Robert Gould Shaw; the 6th Connecticut, Col. Chatfield; the 48th New York, Col. Barton; the 3d New Hampshire, Col. Jackson; the 76th Pennsylvania, Col. Strawbridge; and the 9th Maine. The 54th was the only regiment of Colored men in the brigade, and to it was assigned the post of honor and danger in the front of the attacking column. The shadows of night were gathering thick and fast. Gen. Strong took his position, and the order to charge was given. On the brave Negro regiment swept amid the shot and shell of Sumter, Cumming's Point, and Wagner. Within a few minutes the troops had double-quicked a half mile; and but few had suffered from the heavy guns; but suddenly a terrific fire of small arms was opened upon the 54th. But with matchless courage the regiment dashed on over the trenches and up the side of the fort, upon the top of which Sergt. Wm. H. Carney planted the colors of the regiment. But the howitzers in the bastions raked the ditch, and hand-grenades from the parapet tore the brave men as they climbed the battle-scarred face of the fort. Here waves the flag of a Northern Negro regiment; and here its brave, beautiful, talented young colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was saluted by death and kissed by immortality! Gen. Strong received a mortal wound, while Col. Chatfield and many other heroic officers yielded a full measure of devotion to the cause of the Union. Three other colonels were wounded,--Barton, Green, and Jackson. The shattered brigade staggered back into line under the command of Major Plympton, of the 3d New Hampshire, while the noble 54th retired in care of Lieutenant Francis L. Higginson. The second brigade, composed of the 7th New Hampshire, Col. H. S. Putnam; 626 Ohio, Col. Steele; 67th Ohio, Col. Vorhees; and the 100th New York, under Col. Danby, was led against the fort, by Col. Putnam, who was killed in the assault. So this brigade was compelled to retire. One thousand and five hundred (1,500) men were thrown away in this fight, but one fact was clearly established, that Negroes could and would fight as bravely as white men. The following letter, addressed to the Military Secretary of Gov. Andrew, of Massachusetts, narrates an instance of heroism in a Negro soldier which deserves to go into history:

"HEADQUARTERS 54TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLS. } "MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., Oct. 15, 1863. }

"COLONEL: I have the honor to forward you the following letter, received a few days since from Sergeant W. H. Carney, Company C, of this regiment. Mention has before been made of his heroic conduct in preserving the American flag and bearing it from the field, in the assault on Fort Wagner on the 18th of July last, but that you may have the history complete, I send a simple statement of the facts as I have obtained them from him, and an officer who was an eye-witness:

"When the Sergeant arrived to within about one hundred yards of the fort--he was with the first battalion, which was in the advance of the storming column--he received the regimental colors, pressed forward to the front rank, near the Colonel, who was leading the men over the ditch. He says, as they ascended the wall of the fort, the ranks were full, but as soon as they reached the top, 'they melted away' before the enemy's fire 'almost instantly.' He received a severe wound in the thigh, but fell only upon his knees. He planted the flag upon the parapet, lay down on the outer slope, that he might get as much shelter as possible; there he remained for over half an hour, till the 2d brigade came up. He kept the colors flying until the second conflict was ended. When our forces retired he followed, creeping on one knee, still holding up the flag. It was thus that Sergeant Carney came from the field, having held the emblem of liberty over the walls of Fort Wagner during the sanguinary conflict of the two brigades, and having received two very severe wounds, one in the thigh and one in the head. Still he refused to give up his sacred trust until he found an officer of his regiment.

"When he entered the field hospital, where his wounded comrades were being brought in, they cheered him and the colors. Though nearly exhausted with the loss of blood, he said: 'Boys, the old flag never touched the ground.'

"Of him as a man and soldier, I can speak in the highest term of praise.

"I have the honor to be, Colonel, very respectfully,

"Your most obedient servant, "M. S. LITTLEFIELD, "Col. Comd'g 54th Reg't Mass. Vols.

"Col. A. G. BROWN, Jr., _Military Secretary to his Excellency John A. Andrew, Mass._"

It was natural that Massachusetts should feel a deep interest in her Negro regiment: for it was an experiment; and the fair name of the Old Bay State had been committed to its keeping. Edward L. Pierce gave the following account of the regiment to Gov. John A. Andrew:

"BEAUFORT, July 22, 1863.

"MY DEAR SIR: You will probably receive an official report of the losses in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts by the mail which leaves to-morrow, but perhaps a word from me may not be unwelcome. I saw the officers and men on James Island on the thirteenth instant, and on Saturday last saw them at Brigadier-General Strong's tent, as they passed on at six or half-past six in the evening to Fort Wagner, which is some two miles beyond. I had been the guest of General Strong, who commanded the advance since Tuesday. Colonel Shaw had become attached to General Strong at St. Helena, where he was under him, and the regard was mutual. When the troops left St. Helena they were separated, the Fifty-fourth going to James Island. While it was there, General Strong received a letter from Colonel Shaw, in which the desire was expressed for the transfer of the Fifty-fourth to General Strong's brigade. So when the troops were brought away from James Island, General Strong took this regiment into his command. It left James Island on Thursday, July sixteenth, at nine P.M., and marched to Cole's Island, which they reached at four o'clock on Friday morning, marching all night, most of the way in single file over swampy and muddy ground. There they remained during the day, with hard-tack and coffee for their fare, and this only what was left in their haversacks; not a regular ration. From eleven o'clock of Friday evening until four o'clock of Saturday they were being put on the transport, the General Hunter, in a boat which took about fifty at a time. There they breakfasted on the same fare, and had no other food before entering into the assault on Fort Wagner in the evening.

"The General Hunter left Cole's Island for Folly Island at six A.M., and the troops landed at the Pawnee Landing about half-past nine A.M., and thence marched to the point opposite Morris Island, reaching there about two o'clock in the afternoon. They were transported in a steamer across the inlet, and at five P.M. began their march for Fort Wagner. They reached Brigadier-General Strong's quarters, about midway on the island, about six or half-past six, where they halted for five minutes. I saw them here, and they looked worn and weary.

"General Strong expressed a great desire to give them food and stimulants, but it was too late, as they were to lead the charge. They had been without tents during the pelting rains of Thursday and Friday nights. General Strong had been impressed with the high character of the regiment and its officers, and he wished to assign them the post where the most severe work was to be done, and the highest honor was to be won. I had been his guest for some days, and knew how he regarded them. The march across Folly and Morris Islands was over a very sandy road, and was very wearisome. The regiment went through the centre of the island, and not along the beach where the marching was easier. When they had come within about one thousand six hundred yards of Fort Wagner, they halted and formed in line of battle--the Colonel leading the right and the Lieutenant-Colonel the left wing. They then marched four hundred yards further on and halted again. There was little firing from the enemy at this point, one solid shot falling between the wings, and another falling to the right, but no musketry.

"At this point the regiment, together with the next supporting regiments, the Sixth Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and others, remained half an hour. The regiment was addressed by General Strong and Colonel Shaw. Then at half-past seven or a quarter before eight o'clock the order for the charge was given. The regiment advanced at quick time, changed to double-quick when at some distance on. The intervening distance between the place where the line was formed and the Fort was run over in a few minutes. When within one or two hundred yards of the Fort, a terrific fire of grape and musketry was poured upon them along the entire line, and with deadly results. It tore the ranks to pieces and disconcerted some. They rallied again, went through the ditch, in which were some three feet of water, and then up the parapet. They raised the flag on the parapet, where it remained for a few minutes. Here they melted away before the enemy's fire, their bodies falling down the slope and into the ditch. Others will give a more detailed and accurate account of what occurred during the rest of the conflict.

"Colonel Shaw reached the parapet, leading his men, and was probably killed. Adjutant James saw him fall. Private Thomas Burgess, of Company I, told me that he was close to Colonel Shaw; that he waved his sword and cried out: 'Onward, boys!' and, as he did so, fell. Burgess fell, wounded, at the same time. In a minute or two, as he rose to crawl away, he tried to pull Colonel Shaw along, taking hold of his feet, which were near his own head, but there appeared to be no life in him. There is a report, however, that Colonel Shaw is wounded and a prisoner, and that it was so stated to the officers who bore a flag of truce from us, but I cannot find it well authenticated. It is most likely that this noble youth has given his life to his country and to mankind. Brigadier-General Strong (himself a kindred spirit) said of him to-day, in a message to his parents: 'I had but little opportunity to be with him, but I already loved him. No man ever went more gallantly into battle. None knew but to love him.' I parted with Colonel Shaw between six and seven, Saturday evening, as he rode forward to his regiment, and he gave me the private letters and papers he had with him, to be delivered to his father. Of the other officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Hallowell is severely wounded in the groin; Adjutant James has a wound from a grape-shot in his ankle, and a flesh-wound in his side from a glancing ball or piece of shell. Captain Pope has had a musket-ball extracted from his shoulder. Captain Appleton is wounded in the thumb, and also has a contusion on his right breast from a hand-grenade. Captain Willard has a wound in the leg, and is doing well. Captain Jones was wounded in the right shoulder. The ball went through and he is doing well. Lieutenant Homans wounded by a ball from a smooth-bore musket entering the left side, which has been extracted from the back. He is doing well.

"The above-named officers are at Beaufort, all but the last arriving there on Sunday evening, whither they were taken from Morris Island to Pawnee Landing, in the Alice Price, and thence to Beaufort in the Cosmopolitan, which is specially fitted up for hospital service and is provided with skilful surgeons under the direction of Dr. Bontecou. They are now tenderly cared for with an adequate corps of surgeons and nurses, and provided with a plentiful supply of ice, beef and chicken broth, and stimulants. Lieutenant Smith was left at the hospital tent on Morris Island. Captain Emilio and Lieutenants Grace, Appleton, Johnston, Reed, Howard, Dexter, Jennison, and Emerson, were not wounded and are doing duty. Lieutenants Jewett and Tucker were slightly wounded and are doing duty also. Lieut. Pratt was wounded and came in from the field on the following day. Captains Russell and Simpkins are missing. The Quartermaster and Surgeon are safe and are with the regiment.

"Dr. Stone remained on the Alice Price during Saturday night, caring for the wounded until she left Morris Island, and then returned to look after those who were left behind. The Assistant Surgeon was at the camp on St. Helena Island, attending to duty there. Lieutenant Littlefield was also in charge of the camp at St. Helena. Lieutenant Higginson was on Folly Island with a detail of eighty men. Captain Bridge and Lieutenant Walton are sick and were at Beaufort or vicinity. Captain Partridge has returned from the North, but not in time to participate in the action.

"Of the privates and non-commissioned officers I send you a list of one hundred and forty-four who are now in the Beaufort hospitals. A few others died on the boats or since their arrival here. There may be others at the Hilton Head Hospital; and others are doubtless on Morris Island; but I have no names or statistics relative to them. Those in Beaufort are well attended to--just as well as the white soldiers, the attentions of the surgeons and nurses being supplemented by those of the colored people here, who have shown a great interest in them. The men of the regiment are very patient, and where their condition at all permits them, are cheerful. They express their readiness to meet the enemy again, and they keep asking if Wagner is yet taken. Could any one from the North see these brave fellows as they lie here, his prejudice against them, if he had any, would all pass away. They grieve greatly at the loss of Colonel Shaw, who seems to have acquired a strong hold on their affections. They are attached to their other officers, and admire General Strong, whose courage was so conspicuous to all. I asked General Strong if he had any testimony in relation to the regiment to be communicated to you. These are his precise words, and I give them to you as I noted them at the time:

"'The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly, only the fall of Colonel Shaw prevented them from entering the Fort. They moved up as gallantly as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm they deserve a better fate.' The regiment could not have been under a better officer than Colonel Shaw. He is one of the bravest and most genuine men. His soldiers loved him like a brother, and go where you would through the camps you would hear them speak of him with enthusiasm and affection. His wound is severe, and there are some apprehensions as to his being able to recover from it. Since I found him at the hospital tent on Morris Island, about half-past nine o'clock on Saturday, I have been all the time attending to him or the officers of the Fifty-fourth, both on the boats and here. Nobler spirits it has never been my fortune to be with. General Strong, as he lay on the stretcher in the tent, was grieving all the while for the poor fellows who lay uncared for on the battle-field, and the officers of the Fifty-fourth have had nothing to say of their own misfortunes, but have mourned constantly for the hero who led them to the charge from which he did not return. I remember well the beautiful day when the flags were presented at Readville, and you told the regiment that your reputation was to be identified with its fame. It was a day of festivity and cheer. I walk now in these hospitals and see mutilated forms with every variety of wound, and it seems all a dream. But well has the regiment sustained the hope which you indulged, and justified the identity of fame which you trusted to it.

"I ought to add in relation to the fight on James Island, on July sixteenth, in which the regiment lost fifty men, driving back the rebels, and saving, as it is stated, three companies of the Tenth Connecticut, that General Terry, who was in command on that Island, said to Adjutant James:

"'Tell your Colonel that I am exceedingly pleased with the conduct of your regiment. They have done all they could do.'

"Yours truly, "EDWARD L. PIERCE."[103]

The Negro in the Mississippi Valley, and in the Department of the South had won an excellent reputation as a soldier. In the spring of 1864 Colored Troops made their debut in the army of the Potomac. In the battles at Wilson's Wharf, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Chapin's Farm, Fair Oaks, Hatcher's Run, Farmville, and many other battles, these soldiers won for themselves lasting glory and golden opinions from the officers and men of the white organizations. On the 24th of May, 1864, Gen. Fitz-Hugh Lee called at Wilson's Wharf to pay his respects to two Negro regiments under the command of Gen. Wild. But the chivalry of the South were compelled to retire before the destructive fire of Negro soldiers. A "Tribune" correspondent who witnessed the engagement gave the following account the next day:

"At first the fight raged fiercely on the left. The woods were riddled with bullets; the dead and wounded of the rebels were taken away from this part of the field, but I am informed by one accustomed to judge, and who went over the field to-day, that from the pools of blood and other evidences the loss must have been severe. Finding that the left could not be broken, Fitz-Hugh Lee hurled his chivalry--dismounted of course--upon the right. Steadily they came on, through obstructions, through slashing, past abattis without wavering. Here one of the advantages of colored troops was made apparent. They obeyed orders, and bided their time. When well tangled in the abattis the death-warrant, 'Fire,' went forth. Southern chivalry quailed before Northern balls, though fired by negro hands. Volley after volley was rained upon the superior by the inferior race, and the chivalry broke and tried to run."

On the 8th of June Gen. Gillmore, at the head of 3,500 troops, crossed the Appomattox, and moved on Petersburg by turnpike from the north. Gen. Kautz, with about 1,500 cavalry, was to charge the city from the south, or southwest; and two gun-boats and a battery were to bombard Fort Clinton, defending the approach up the river. Gillmore was somewhat dismayed at the formidable appearance of the enemy, and, thinking himself authorized to use his own discretion, did not make an attack. On the 10th of June, Gen. Kautz advanced without meeting any serious resistance until within a mile and one half of the city, drove in the pickets and actually entered the city! Gillmore had attracted considerable attention on account of the display he made of his forces; but when he declined to fight, the rebels turned upon Kautz and drove him out of the city.

Gen. Grant had taken up his headquarters at Bermuda Hundreds, whence he directed Gen. Butler to despatch Gen. W. F. Smith's corps against Petersburg. The rebel general, A. P. Hill, commanding the rear of Lee's army, was now on the south front of Richmond. Gen. Smith moved on toward Petersburg, and at noon of the 15th of June, 1864, his advance felt the outposts of the enemy's defence about two and one half miles from the river. Here again the Negro soldier's fighting qualities were to be tested in the presence of our white troops. Gen. Hinks commanded a brigade of Negro soldiers. This brigade was to open the battle and receive the fresh fire of the enemy. Gen. Hinks--a most gallant soldier--took his place and gave the order to charge the rebel lines. Here under a clear Virginia sky, in full view of the Union white troops, the Black brigade swept across the field in magnificent line. The rebels received them with siege gun, musket, and bayonet, but they never wavered. In a short time they had carried a line of rifle-pits, driven the enemy out in confusion, and captured two large guns. It was a supreme moment; all that was needed was the order, "On to Petersburg," and the city could have been taken by the force there was in reserve for the Black brigade. But he who doubts is damned, and he who dallies is a dastard. Gen. Smith hesitated. Another assault was not ordered until near sundown, when the troops cleared another line of rifle-pits, made three hundred prisoners, and captured sixteen guns, sustaining a loss of only six hundred. The night was clear and balmy; there was nothing to hinder the battle from being carried on; but Gen. Smith halted for the night--a fatal halt. During the night the enemy was reenforced by the flower of Lee's army, and when the sunlight of the next morning fell upon the battle field it revealed an almost new army,--a desperate and determined enemy. Then it seems that Gens. Meade and Hancock did not know that Petersburg was to be attacked. Hancock's corps had lingered in the rear of the entire army, and did not reach the front until dusk. Why Gen. Smith delayed the assault until evening was not known. Even Gen. Grant, in his report of the battle, said: "Smith, for some reason that I have never been able to satisfactorily understand, did not get ready to assault the enemy's main lines until near sundown." But whatever the reason was, his conduct cost many a noble life and the postponement of the end of the war.

On the 16th of June, 1864, Gens. Burnside and Warren came up. The 18th corps, under Gen. Smith, occupied the right of the Federal lines, with its right touching the Appomattox River. Gens. Hancock, Burnside, and Warren stretched away to the extreme left, which was covered by Kautz's cavalry. After a consultation with Gen. Grant, Gen. Meade ordered a general attack all along the lines, and at 6 P.M. on the 16th of June, the battle of Petersburg was opened again. Once more a division of Black troops was hurled into the fires of battle, and once more proved that the Negro was equal to all the sudden and startling changes of war. The splendid fighting of these troops awakened the kindliest feelings for them among the white troops, justified the Government in employing them, stirred the North to unbounded enthusiasm, and made the rebel army feel that the Negro was the equal of the Confederate soldier under all circumstances. Secretary Stanton was in a state of ecstasy over the behavior of the Colored troops at Petersburg, an unusual thing for him. In his despatch on this battle, he said:

"The hardest fighting was done by the black troops. The forts they stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over Gen. Smith went to thank them, and tell them he was proud of their courage and dash. He says they cannot be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he will send them in a difficult place as readily as the best white troops."[104]

The "Tribune" correspondent wrote on the day of the battle:

"The charge upon the advanced works was made in splendid style; and as the 'dusky warriors' stood shouting upon the parapet, Gen. Smith decided that 'they would do,' and sent word to storm the first redoubt. Steadily these troops moved on, led by officers whose unostentatious bravery is worthy of emulation. With a shout and rousing cheers they dashed at the redoubt. Grape and canister were hurled at them by the infuriated rebels. They grinned and pushed on, and with a yell that told the Southern chivalry their doom, rolled irresistibly over and into the work. The guns were speedily turned upon those of our 'misguided brethren,' who forgot that discretion was the better part of valor. Another redoubt was carried in the same splendid style, and the negroes have established a reputation that they will surely maintain.

"Officers on Gen. Hancock's staff, as they rode by the redoubt, surrounded by a moat with water in it, over which these negroes charged, admitted that its capture was a most gallant affair. The negroes bear their wounds quite as pluckily as the white soldiers."

Here the Colored Troops remained, skirmishing, fighting, building earthworks, and making ready for the next assault upon Petersburg, which was to take place on the 30th proximo. In the actions of the 18th, 21st, 23d, 24th, 25th, and 28th of June, the Colored Troops had shared a distinguished part. The following letter on the conduct of the Colored Troops before Petersburg, written by an officer who participated in all the actions around that city, is worth its space it gold:

"IN THE FIELD, NEAR PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, } "June 27, 1864. }

"The problem is solved. The negro is a man, a soldier, a hero. Knowing of your laudable interest in the colored troops, but particularly those raised under the immediate auspices of the Supervisory Committee, I have thought it proper that I should let you know how they acquitted themselves in the late actions in front of Petersburg, of which you have already received newspaper accounts. If you remember, in my conversations upon the character of these troops, I carefully avoided saying anything about their fighting qualities till I could have an opportunity of trying them.

"That opportunity came on the fifteenth instant, and since, and I am now prepared to say that I never, since the beginning of this war, saw troops fight better, more bravely, and with more determination and enthusiasm. Our division, commanded by General Hinks, took the advance on the morning of the fifteenth instant, arrived in front of the enemy's works about nine o'clock A.M., formed line, charged them, and took them most handsomely. Our regiment was the first in the enemy's works, having better ground to charge over than some of the others, and the only gun that was taken on this first line was taken by our men. The color-sergeant of our regiment planted his colors on the works of the enemy, a rod in advance of any officer or man in the regiment. The effect of the colors being thus in advance of the line, so as to be seen by all, was truly inspiring to our men, and to a corresponding degree dispiriting to the enemy. We pushed on two and a half miles further, till we came in full view of the main defences of Petersburg. We formed line at about two o'clock P.M., reconnoitred and skirmished the whole afternoon, and were constantly subject to the shells of the enemy's artillery. At sunset we charged these strong works and carried them. Major Cook took one with the left wing of our regiment as skirmishers, by getting under the guns, and then preventing their gunners from using their pieces, while he gained the rear of the redoubt, where there was no defence but the infantry, which, classically speaking, 'skedaddled.' We charged across what appeared to be an almost impassable ravine, with the right wing all the time subject to a hot fire of grape and canister, until we got so far under the guns as to be sheltered, when the enemy took to their rifle-pits as infantrymen. Our brave fellows went steadily through the swamp, and up the side of a hill, at an angle of almost fifty degrees, rendered nearly impassable by fallen timber. Here again our color-sergeant was conspicuous in keeping far ahead of the most advanced, hanging on to the side of the hill, till he would turn about and wave the stars and stripes at his advancing comrades; then steadily advancing again, under the fire of the enemy, till he could almost have reached their rifle-pits with his flagstaff. How he kept from being killed I do not know, unless it can be attributed to the fact that the party advancing up the side of the hill always has the advantage of those who hold the crest. It was in this way that we got such decided advantage over the enemy at South Mountain. We took, in these two redoubts, four more guns, making, in all, five for our regiment, two redoubts, and part of a rifle-pit as our day's work. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh United States colored troops advanced against works more to the left. The Fourth United States colored troops took one more redoubt, and the enemy abandoned the other. In these two we got two more guns, which made, in all, seven. The Sixth regiment did not get up in time, unfortunately, to have much of the sport, as it had been previously formed in the second line. We left forty-three men wounded and eleven killed in the ravine, over which our men charged the last time. Our loss in the whole day's operations was one hundred-and forty-three, including six officers, one of whom was killed. Sir, there is no underrating the good conduct of these fellows during these charges; with but a few exceptions, they all went in as old soldiers, but with more enthusiasm. I am delighted that our first action resulted in a decided victory.

"The commendations we have received from the Army of the Potomac, including its general officers, are truly gratifying. Hancock's corps arrived just in time to relieve us (we being out of ammunition), before the rebels were reinforced and attempted to retake these strong works and commanding positions, without which they could not hold Petersburg one hour, if it were a part of Grant's plan to advance against it on the right here.

"General Smith speaks in the highest terms of the day's work, as you have doubtless seen, and he assured me, in person, that our division should have the guns we took as trophies of honor. He is also making his word good in saying that he could hereafter trust colored troops in the most responsible positions. Colonel Ames, of the Sixth United States colored troops, and our regiment, have just been relieved in the front, where we served our tour of forty-eight hours in turn with the other troops of the corps. While out, we were subjected to some of the severest shelling I have ever seen, Malvern Hill not excepted. The enemy got twenty guns in position during the night, and opened on us yesterday morning at daylight. Our men stood it, behind their works, of course, as well as any of the white troops. Our men, unfortunately, owing to the irregular features of ground, took no prisoners. Sir, we can bayonet the enemy to terms on this matter of treating colored soldiers as prisoners of war far sooner than the authorities at Washington can bring him to it by negotiation. This I am morally persuaded of. I know, further, that the enemy won't fight us if he can help it. I am sure that the same number of white troops could not have taken those works on the evening of the fifteenth; prisoners that we took told me so. I mean prisoners who came in after the abandonment of the fort, because they could not get away. They excuse themselves on the ground of pride; as one of them said to me: 'D----d if men educated as we have been will fight with niggers, and your government ought not to expect it.' The real fact is, the rebels will not stand against our colored soldiers when there is any chance of their being taken prisoners, for they are conscious of what they justly deserve. Our men went into these works after they were taken, yelling 'Fort Pillow!' The enemy well knows what this means, and I will venture the assertion, that that piece of infernal brutality enforced by them there has cost the enemy already two men for every one they so inhumanly murdered."[105]

The 9th corps, under Burnside, containing a splendid brigade of Colored Troops, had finally pushed its way up to one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy's works. In the immediate front a small fort projected out quite a distance beyond the main line of the enemy's works. It was decided to place a mine under this fort and destroy it. Just in the rear of the 9th corps was a ravine, which furnished a safe and unobserved starting-point for the mine. It was pushed forward with great speed and care. When the point was reached directly under the fort, chambers were made to the right and left, and then packed with powder or other combustibles. It was understood from the commencement that the Colored Troops were to have the post of honor again, and charge after the mine should be sprung. The inspecting officer having made a thorough examination of the entire works reported to Gen. Burnside that the "Black Division was the fittest for this perilous service." But Gen. Grant was not of the same opinion. Right on the eve of the great event he directed the three white commanders of divisions to draw lots--who should not go into the crater! The lot fell to the poorest officer, for a dashing, brilliant movement, in the entire army; Gen. Ledlie.

The mine was to be fired at 3:30 A.M., on the morning of the 30th of July, 1864. The match was applied, but the train did not work. Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergt. Henry Rees, of the 48th Pennsylvania, entered the gallery, removed the hindering cause, and at 4:45 A.M. the match was applied and the explosion took place. The fort was lifted into the air and came down a mass of ruins, burying 300 men. Instead of a fort there was a yawning chasm, 150 feet long, 25 feet wide, and about 25 or 30 feet deep. At the same moment all the guns of the Union forces opened from one end of their line to the other. It was verily a judgment morn. Confusion reigned among the Confederates. The enemy fled in disorder from his works. The way to Petersburg was open, unobstructed for several hours; all the Federal troops had to do was to go into the city at a trail arms without firing a gun. Gen. Ledlie was not equal to the situation. He tried to mass his division in the mouth of the crater. The 10th New Hampshire went timidly into line, and when moved forward broke into the shape of a letter V, and confusion indescribable followed. Gens. Potter and Wilcox tried to support Ledlie, but the latter division had halted after they had entered the crater, although the enemy had not recovered from the shock. Gen. Potter, by some means, got his division out of the crater and gallantly led a charge toward the crest, but so few followed him that he was compelled to retire. After all had been lost, after the rebels had regained their composure, Gen. Burnside was suffered to send in his "Black Division." It charged in splendid order to the right of the crater toward the crest, but was hurled back into the crater by a destructive fire from batteries and muskets. But they rallied and charged the enemy again and again until nightfall; exhausted and reduced in numbers, they fell back into the friendly darkness to rest. The Union loss was 4,400 killed, wounded, and captured. Again the Negro had honored his country and covered himself with glory. Managed differently, with the Black Division as the charging force, Petersburg would have fallen, the war would have ended before the autumn, and thousands of lives would have been saved. But a great sacrifice had to be laid upon the cruel altar of race prejudice.

In the battles around Nashville about 8,000 or 10,000 Colored Troops took part, and rendered efficient aid. Here the Colored Troops, all of them recruited from slave States, stormed fortified positions of the enemy with the bayonet through open fields, and behaved like veterans under the most destructive fire. In his report of the battle of Nashville, Major-Gen. James B. Steedman said:

"The larger portion of these losses, amounting in the aggregate to fully twenty-five per cent. of the men under my command who were taken into action, it will be observed, fell upon the Colored Troops. The severe loss of this part of my troops was in the brilliant charge on the enemy's works on Overton Hill on Friday afternoon. I was unable to discover that color made any difference in the fighting of my troops. All, white and black, nobly did their duty as soldiers, and evinced cheerfulness and resolution, such as I have never seen excelled in any campaign of the war in which I have borne a part."[106]

The following table shows the losses in this action:

-------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----------------- | Killed.|Wounded.|Missing.| Total. | |--------+--------+--------+--------+ |Officers|Officers|Officers|Officers| | | Men | | Men| | Men| | Men | -------------------+--+-----+---+----+---+----+--+-----+----------------- Fourteenth U. S. | | | | | | | | |}Organized as the Colored Infantry | | 4 | | 41| | 20| | 65 |}First Colored Forty-fourth U. S. | | | | | | | | |}Brigade, Colored Infantry | 1| 2 | | 27| 2| 49| 3| 78 |}Colonel T. J. Sixteenth U. S. | | | | | | | | |}Morgan, Colored Infantry | | 1 | | 2| | | | 3 |}commanding. Eighteenth U. S. | | | | | | | | |} Colored Infantry | | 1 | | 5| | 3| | 9 |} Seventeenth U. S. | | | | | | | | |} Colored Infantry | 7| 14 | 4| 64| | | 6| 78 |} | | | | | | | | | Twelfth U. S. | | | | | | | | |{Organized as the Colored Infantry | 3| 10 | 3| 99| | | 6| 109 |{Second Colored Thirteenth U. S. | | | | | | | | |{Brigade, Col. Colored Infantry | 4| 51 | 4| 161| | 1| 8| 213 |{C. K. Thompson, One Hundredth U.S. | | | | | | | | |{commanding. Colored Infantry | | 12 | 5| 116| | | 5| 128 |{ | | | | | | | | | Eighteenth Ohio | | | | | | | | |}Included in the Infantry | 2| 9 | 2| 38| | 9| 4| 56 |}Provisional Sixty-eighth | | | | | | | | |}Division, Indiana Infantry | | 1 | | 7| | | | 8 |}A. C., Provisional | | | | | | | | |}Brigadier- Division, A. C. | 1| 19 | 3| 74| | 33| 4| 126 |}General Cruft, | | | | | | | | |}commanding. Twentieth Indiana | | | | | | | | | Battery | | | 2| 6| | | 2| 6 |Captain Osborn. |--+-----+---+----+---+----+--+-----+ Aggregate |18| 124 | 23| 640| 2| 115|38| 879 | | | | | | | | | 38 | | | | | | | | -----| Total | | | | | | | | 917 | -------------------+--+-----+---+----+---+----+--+-----+-----------------

At the battle of Appomattox a division of picked Colored Troops (Gen. Birney[107]) accomplished some most desperate and brilliant fighting, and received the praise of the white troops who acted as their support.

From the day the Government put arms into the hands of Negro soldiers to the last hour of the Slave-holders' Rebellion they rendered effective aid in suppressing the rebellion and in saving the Union. They fought a twofold battle--conquered the prejudices and fears of the white people of the North and the swaggering insolence and lofty confidence of the South.

As to the efficiency of Negroes as soldiers abundant testimony awaits the hand of the historian. The following letter speaks for itself.

ADJ.-GEN. THOMAS ON NEGRO SOLDIERS.

"WAR DEP'T, ADJ.-GENERAL'S OFFICE, } "WASHINGTON, May 30, 1864. }

"Hon. H. WILSON:

"DEAR SIR: On several occasions when on the Mississippi River, I contemplated writing to you respecting the colored troops and to suggest that, as they have been fully tested as soldiers, their pay should be raised to that of white troops, and I desire now to give my testimony in their behalf. You are aware that I have been engaged in the organization of freedmen for over a year, and have necessarily been thrown in constant contact with them.

"The negro in a state of slavery is brought up by the master, from early childhood, to strict obedience and to obey implicitly the dictates of the white man, and they are thus led to believe that they are an inferior race. Now, when organized into troops, they carry this habit of obedience with them, and their officers being entirely white men, the negroes promptly obey their orders.

"A regiment is thus rapidly brought into a state of discipline. They are a religious people--another high quality for making good soldiers. They are a musical people, and thus readily learn to march and accurately perform their manoeuvres. They take pride in being elevated as soldiers, and keep themselves, as their camp grounds, neat and clean. This I know from special inspection, two of my staff-officers being constantly on inspecting duty. They have proved a most important addition to our forces, enabling the Generals in active operations to take a large force of white troops into the field; and now brigades of blacks are placed with the whites. The forts erected at the important points on the river are nearly all garrisoned by blacks--artillery regiments raised for the purpose,--say at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee, Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi and most of the works around New Orleans.

"Experience proves that they manage heavy guns very well. Their fighting qualities have also been fully tested a number of times, and I am yet to hear of the first case where they did not fully stand up to their work. I passed over the ground where the 1st Louisiana made the gallant charge at Port Hudson, by far the stronger part of the rebel works. The wonder is that so many have made their escape. At Milliken's Bend where I had three incomplete regiments,--one without arms until the day previous to the attack,--greatly superior numbers of the rebels charged furiously up to the very breastworks. The negroes met the enemy on the ramparts, and both sides freely used the bayonet--a most rare occurrence in warfare, as one of the other party gives way before coming in contact with the steel. The rebels were defeated With heavy loss. The bridge at Moscow, on the line of railroad from Memphis to Corinth, was defended by one small regiment of blacks. A cavalry attack of three times their number was made, the blacks defeating them in three charges made by the Rebels.

"They fought them hours till our cavalry came up, when the defeat was made complete, many of the dead being left on the field.

"A cavalry force of three hundred and fifty attacked three hundred rebel cavalry near the Big Black with signal success, a number of prisoners being taken and marched to Vicksburg. Forrest attacked Paducah with 7,500 men. The garrison was between 500 and 600, nearly 400 being colored troops recently raised. What troops could have done better? So, too, they fought well at Fort Pillow till overpowered by greatly superior numbers.

"The above enumerated cases seem to me sufficient to demonstrate the value of the colored troops.

"I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

"Your obedient servant, "L. THOMAS, Adj.-General.

In regard to the conduct of the Colored Troops at Petersburg, a correspondent to the "Boston Journal" gave the following account from the lips of Gen. Smith:

"A few days ago I sat in the tent of Gen. W. F. Smith, commander of the 18th Corps, and heard his narration of the manner in which Gen. Hinks' division of colored troops stood the fire and charged upon the Rebel works east of Petersburg on the 16th of June. There were thirteen guns pouring a constant fire of shot and shell upon those troops, enfilading the line, cutting it lengthwise and crosswise, 'Yet they stood unmoved for six hours. Not a man flinched. [These are the words of the General.] It was as severe a test as I ever saw. But they stood it, and when my arrangements were completed for charging the works, they moved with the steadiness of veterans to the attack. I expected that they would fall back, or be cut to pieces; but when I saw them move over the field, gain the works and capture the guns, I was astounded. They lost between 500 and 600 in doing it. There is material in the negroes to make the best troops in the world, if they are properly trained.'

"These are the words of one of the ablest commanders and engineers in the service. A graduate of West Point, who, earlier in the war, had the prejudices which were held by many other men against the negro. He has changed his views. He is convinced, and honorably follows his convictions, as do all men who are not stone blind or perversely wilful."[108]

Gen. Blunt in a letter to a friend speaks of the valor of Colored Troops at the battle of Honey Springs. He says:

"The negroes (1st colored regiment) were too much for the enemy, and let me here say that I never saw such fighting as was done by that negro regiment. They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor that is unsurpassed. They preserved their line perfect throughout the whole engagement, and although in the hottest of the fight, they never once faltered. Too much praise cannot be awarded them for their gallantry. The question that negroes will fight is settled, besides they make better soldiers in every respect, than any troops I have ever had under my command."[109]

The following from the Washington correspondent of the "New York Tribune" is of particular value:

"In speaking of the soldierly qualities of our colored troops, I do not refer specially to their noble action in the perilous edge of battle; that is settled, but to their docility and their patience of labor and suffering in the camp and on the march.

"I have before me a private letter from a friend, now Major in one of the Pennsylvania colored regiments, a portion of which I think the public should find in your columns. He says in speaking of service in his regiment: 'I am delighted with it. I find that these colored men learn every thing that pertains to the duties of a soldier much faster than any white soldiers I have ever seen. The reason is apparent,--not that they are smarter than white men, but they feel promoted; they feel as though their whole sphere of life was advanced and enlarged. They are willing, obedient, and cheerful; move with agility, and are full of music, which is almost a sine qua non to soldierly bearing.'

"Soon after the letter of which the above is an extract was written, the regiment was ordered to the field from which the Major writes again: 'The more I know and see of these negro regiments, the more I am delighted with the whole enterprise. It is truly delightful to command a regiment officered as these are. In all my experience I have never known a better class of officers.... I have charge of the school of non-commissioned officers here. I drill them once a day and have them recite from the oral instructions given them the day before. I find them more anxious to learn their duties and more ready to perform them when they know them than any set of non-commissioned officers I ever saw.... There is no discount on these fellows at all. Give me a thousand such men as compose this regiment and I desire no stronger battalion to lead against an enemy that is at once their oppressors and traitors to my, and my soldiers' country.'

"This testimony is worth a chapter of speculation. The Major alludes to one fact above, moreover, to which the public attention has not been often directed--the excellent and able men who are in command of our colored troops. They are generally men of heart--men of opinions--men whose generous impulses have not been chilled in 'the cold shade of West Point.'

"The officer from whose letter I have quoted was a volunteer in the ranks of a Pennsylvania regiment from the day of the attack on Sumter until August, 1862. His bravery, his devotion to the principles of freedom, his zeal in the holy cause of his country through all the campaigns of the calamitous McClellan, won the regard and attention of our loyal Governor Curtin, who, with rare good sense and discrimination, took him from the ranks and made him first, Lieut.-Colonel, and then Colonel of a regiment in the nine months' service. He carried himself through all in such a manner as fully justified the Governor's confidence, and has stepped now into a position where his patriotic zeal can concentrate the valor of these untutored free men in defense of our imperilled country. So long as these brave colored men are officered by gallant, high-hearted, slave-hating men, we can never despair of the Republic."[110]

Mr. D. Aden in a letter to Col. Darling, dated Norfolk, Va., Feb. 22, 1864, said:

"During the expedition last October to Charles City Court House, on the Peninsula, the colored troops marched steadily through storm and mud; and on coming up with the enemy, behaved as bravely under fire as veterans. An officer of the 1st N. Y. Mounted Rifles--a most bitter opponent and reviler of colored troops--who was engaged in this affair, volunteered the statement that they had fought bravely, and, in his own language, more expressive than elegant, were 'bully boys'--which coming from such a source, might be regarded as the highest praise.

"During the recent advance toward Richmond to liberate the Union prisoners, the 4th, 5th, and 9th regiments formed part of the expedition and behaved splendidly. They marched thirty miles in ten hours, and an unusually small number straggled on the route."

Col. John A. Foster of the 175th New York, in January, 1864, wrote to Col. Darling as follows:

"While before Port Hudson, during the siege of that place, I was acting on Col. Gooding's staff, prior to the arrival of my regiment at that place. On the assault of May 27, 1863, Col. Gooding was ordered to proceed to the extreme right of our lines and oversee the charge of the two regiments constituting the negro-brigade, and I accompanied him.

"We witnessed them in line of battle, under a very heavy fire of musketry, and siege and field pieces. There was a deep gully or bayou before them, which they could not cross nor ford in the presence of the enemy, and hence an assault was wholly impracticable. Yet they made five several attempts to swim and cross it, preparatory to an assault on the enemy's works; and in this, too, in fair view of the enemy, and at short musket range. Added to this, the nature of the enemy's works was such that it allowed an enfilading fire. Success was impossible; yet they behaved as cool as if veterans, and when ordered to retire, marched off as if on parade. I feel satisfied that, if the position of the bayou had been known and the assault made a quarter of a mile to the left of where it was, the place would have been taken by this negro brigade on that day.

"On that day I witnessed the attack made by the divisions of Generals Grover and Paine, and can truly say I saw no steadier fighting by those daring men than did the negroes in this their first fight.

"On the second assault, June 14th, in the assault made by Gen. Paine's division, our loss was very great in wounded, and, as there was a want of ambulance men, I ordered about a hundred negroes, who were standing idle and unharmed, to take the stretchers and carry the wounded from the field. Under a most severe fire of musketry, grape, and canister, they performed this duty with unflinching courage and nonchalance. They suffered severely in this duty both in killed and wounded; yet not a man faltered. These men had just been recruited, and were not even partially disciplined. But I next saw the negroes (engineers) working in these trenches, under a heavy fire of the enemy. They worked faithfully, and wholly regardless of exposure to the enemy's fire."

Mr. Cadwallader in his despatch concerning the battle of Spottsylvania, dated May 18th, says:

"It is a subject of considerable merriment in camp that a charge of the famous Hampton Legion, the flower of Southern chivalry, was repulsed by the Colored Troops of General Ferrero's command."[111]

These are but a few of the tributes that brave and true white men cheerfully gave to the valor and loyalty of Colored Troops during the war. No officer, whose privilege it was to command or observe the conduct of these troops, has ever hesitated to give a full and cheerful endorsement of their worth as men, their loyalty as Americans, and their eminent qualifications for the duties and dangers of military life. No history of the war has ever been written, no history of the war ever can be written, without mentioning the patience, endurance, fortitude, and heroism of the Negro soldiers who prayed, wept, fought, bled, and died for the preservation of the Union of the United States of America!

FOOTNOTES:

[97] This was remedied at length, after the 54th Massachusetts Infantry had refused pay for a year, unless the regiment could be treated as other regiments. Major Sturges, Agent for the State of Massachusetts, made up the difference between $7 and $13 to disabled and discharged soldiers of this regiment, until the 15th June, 1864, when the Government came to its senses respecting this great injustice to its gallant soldiers.Return to passage

[98] Times, Feb. 10, 1863.Return to passage

[99] Times, Feb. 11, 1863.Return to passage

[100] For the official report of Colonel Higginson and the war correspondent, see Rebellion Records, vol. vii. Document, pp. 176-178.Return to passage

[101] New York Times, June 13, 1863.Return to passage

[102] Rebellion Records, vol. vii. Doc. p. 15.Return to passage

[103] Rebellion Recs., vol. vii. Doc., p. 215, 216.Return to passage

[104] Herald, June 18, 1864.Return to passage

[105] Rebellion Recs., vol. xi. Doc. pp. 580, 581.Return to passage

[106] Rebellion Recs., vol. xi. Doc., p. 89.Return to passage

[107] I remember now, as I was in the battle of Appomattox Court House, that Gen. Birney was relieved just after the battle of Farmville, because he refused to march his division in the rear of all the white troops. It was doubtless Gen. Foster who led the Colored Troops in the action at Appomattox.Return to passage

[108] Tribune, July 26, 1864.Return to passage

[109] Tribune, August 19, 1863.Return to passage

[110] New York Tribune, Nov. 14, 1863.Return to passage

[111] New York Herald, May 20, 1864.Return to passage

XX. CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS

THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES DISTASTEFUL TO THE REBEL AUTHORITIES.--THE CONFEDERATES THE FIRST TO EMPLOY NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.--JEFFERSON DAVIS REFERS TO THE SUBJECT IN HIS MESSAGE, AND THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS ORDERS ALL NEGROES CAPTURED TO BE TURNED OVER TO THE STATE AUTHORITIES, AND RAISES THE "BLACK FLAG" UPON WHITE OFFICERS COMMANDING NEGRO SOLDIERS.--THE NEW YORK PRESS CALLS UPON THE GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT ITS NEGRO SOLDIERS.--SECRETARY STANTON'S ACTION.--THE PRESIDENT'S ORDER.--CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GEN. PECK AND GEN. PICKETT IN REGARD TO THE KILLING OF A COLORED MAN AFTER HE HAD SURRENDERED AT THE BATTLE OF NEWBERN.--SOUTHERN PRESS ON THE CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS.--THE REBELS REFUSE TO EXCHANGE NEGRO SOLDIERS CAPTURED ON MORRIS AND JAMES ISLANDS ON ACCOUNT OF THE ORDER OF THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS WHICH REQUIRED THEM TO BE TURNED OVER TO THE AUTHORITIES OF THE SEVERAL STATES.--JEFFERSON DAVIS ISSUES A PROCLAMATION OUTLAWING GEN. B. F. BUTLER,--HE IS TO BE HUNG WITHOUT TRIAL BY ANY CONFEDERATE OFFICER WHO MAY CAPTURE HIM.--THE BATTLE OF FORT PILLOW.--THE GALLANT DEFENCE BY THE LITTLE BAND OF UNION TROOPS.--IT REFUSES TO CAPITULATE AND IS ASSAULTED AND CAPTURED BY AN OVERWHELMING FORCE.--THE UNION TROOPS BUTCHERED IN COLD BLOOD.--THE WOUNDED ARE CARRIED INTO HOUSES WHICH ARE FIRED AND BURNED WITH THEIR HELPLESS VICTIMS.--MEN ARE NAILED TO THE OUTSIDE OF BUILDINGS THROUGH THEIR HANDS AND FEET AND BURNT ALIVE.--THE WOUNDED AND DYING ARE BRAINED WHERE THEY LAY IN THEIR EBBING BLOOD.--THE OUTRAGES ARE RENEWED IN THE MORNING.--DEAD AND LIVING FIND A COMMON SEPULCHRE IN THE TRENCH.--GENERAL CHALMERS ORDERS THE KILLING OF A NEGRO CHILD.--TESTIMONY OF THE FEW UNION SOLDIERS WHO WERE ENABLED TO CRAWL OUT OF THE GILT EDGE, FIRE PROOF HELL AT PILLOW.--THEY GIVE A SICKENING ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR.--GEN. FORREST'S FUTILE ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE RECORD OF HIS FOUL CRIME.--FORT PILLOW MASSACRE WITHOUT A PARALLEL IN HISTORY.

The appearance of Negroes as soldiers in the armies of the United States seriously offended the Southern view of "the eternal fitness of things." No action on the part of the Federal Government was so abhorrent to the rebel army. It called forth a bitter wail from Jefferson Davis, on the 12th of January, 1863, and soon after the Confederate Congress elevated its olfactory organ and handled the subject with a pair of tongs. After a long discussion the following was passed:

"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 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 22, 1862, and January 1, 1863, and 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, the 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 or 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 offence punishable under the preceding resolutions shall, during the present war, be tried before the military court attached to the array 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."

This document stands alone among the resolves of the civilized governments of all Christendom. White persons acting as commissioned officers in organizations of Colored Troops were to "be put to death!" And all Negroes and Mulattoes taken in arms against the Confederate Government were to be turned over to the authorities:--civil, of course--of the States in which they should be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or future laws of such States! Now, what were the laws of the Southern States respecting Negroes in arms against white people? The most cruel death. And fearing some of those States had modified their cruel slave Code, the States were granted the right to pass ex post facto laws in order to give the cold-blooded murder of captured Negro soldiers the semblance of law,--and by a civil law too. Colored soldiers and their officers had been butchered before this in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, notwithstanding the rebels were the first to arm Negroes, as has been already shown. If the Confederates had a right to arm Negroes and include them in their armies, why could not the Federal Government pursue the same policy? But the Rebel Government had determined upon a barbarous policy in dealing with captured Negro soldiers,--and barbarous as that policy was, the rebel soldiers exceeded its cruel provisions tenfold. Their treatment of Negroes was perfectly fiendish.

But what was the attitude of the Federal Government? Silence, until the butcheries of its gallant defenders had sickened the civilized world, and until the Christian governments of Europe frowned upon the inhuman indifference of the Government that would force its slaves to fight its battles and then allow them to be tortured to death in the name of "State laws!" Even the most conservative papers of the North began to feel that some policy ought to be adopted whereby the lives of Colored soldiers could be protected against the inhuman treatment bestowed upon them when captured by the rebels. In the spring of 1863, the "Tribune," referring to this subject, said, editorially:

"The Government has sent Adj.-General Thomas to the West with full authority to arm and organize the negroes for service against the Rebels. They are to be employed to protect the navigation of the Mississippi and other rivers against guerrillas, and as garrisons at fortified posts, and are evidently destined for all varieties of military duty. Seven thousand soldiers who listened to this announcement at Fort Curtis received it with satisfaction and applause. Gen. Thomas, heretofore known as opposed to this and all similar measures, urged in his address that the Blacks should be treated with kindness; declared his belief in their capacity, and informed the officers of the army that no one would be permitted to oppose or in any way interfere with this policy of the Government.

"It is not directly stated, but may be inferred from the Despatch, that the negroes are not to be encouraged to enlist, but are to be drafted. At all events, the policy of the Government to employ Black Troops in active service is definitely established, and it becomes--as indeed it has been for months--a very serious question what steps are to be taken for their protection. The Proclamation of Jefferson Davis remains unrevoked. By it he threatened death or slavery to every negro taken in arms, and to their white officers the same fate. What is the response of our Government? Hitherto, silence. The number of negroes in its service has already increased; in South Carolina they have already been mustered into regiments by a sweeping conscription, and now in the West apparently the same policy is adopted and rigorously enforced.

"Does the Government mean that the men are to be exposed not merely to the chances of battle, but to the doom which the unanswered Proclamation of the Rebel President threatens?

"Every black soldier now marches to battle with a halter about his neck. The simple question is: Shall we protect and insure the ordinary treatment of a prisoner of war? Under it, every negro yet captured has suffered death or been sent back to the hell of slavery from which he had escaped. The bloody massacre of black prisoners at Murfreesboro, brooked, so far as the public knows, no retaliation at Washington. The black servants captured at Galveston--free men and citizens of Massachusetts--were sold into slavery and remained there. In every instance in which they have had the opportunity, the rebels have enforced their barbarous proclamation. How much longer are they to be suffered to do it without remonstrance?

"Gen. Hunter--at this moment in the field,--General. Butler, and hundreds of other white officers are included in this Proclamation, or were previously outlawed and adjudged a felon's death. Delay remonstrance much longer, and retaliation must supersede it. If the Government wishes to be spared the necessity of retaliating, it has only to say that it will retaliate--to declare by proclamation or general order that all its soldiers who may be captured must receive from the Rebels the treatment to which, as prisoners of war, they are, by the usages of war, entitled. The Government can know no distinction of color under its flag. The moment a soldier shoulders a musket he is invested with every military right which belongs to a white soldier. He is at least and above all things entitled to the safeguards which surround his white comrades.

"It is not possible to suppose the Government means to withhold them; we only urge that the wisest, safest, and humanest, as well as the most honorable policy, is at once to announce its purpose."[112]

The able article just quoted had a wholesome effect upon many thoughtful men at the South, and brought the blush to the cheek of the nation. A few of the Southern journals agreed with Mr. Greeley that the resolves of the Confederate Congress were unjustifiable; that the Congress had no right to say what color the Union soldiers should be; and that such action would damage their cause in the calm and humane judgment of all Europe. But the Confederate Congress was unmoved and unmovable upon this subject.

Three Colored men had been captured in Stone River on the gun-boat "Isaac Smith." They were free men; but, notwithstanding this, they were placed in close confinement and treated like felons. Upon the facts reaching the ear of the Government, Secretary Stanton took three South Carolina prisoners and had them subjected to the same treatment, and the facts telegraphed to the Rebel authorities. Commenting upon the question of the treatment of captured Colored soldiers the "Richmond Examiner" 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."

Shortly after this occurrence an exchange of prisoners took place in front of Charleston. The rebels returned only white prisoners. When upbraided by the Union officers for not exchanging Negroes the reply came that under the resolutions of the Confederate Congress they could not deliver up any Negro soldiers. This fact stirred the heart of the North, and caused the Government to act. The following order was issued by the President:

"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, Assistant Adjutant-General."

In the early spring of 1864, there was a great deal said in the Southern journals and much action had in the rebel army respecting the capture and treatment of Negro soldiers. The "Richmond Examiner" contained an account of the battle of Newbern, North Carolina, in which the writer seemed to gloat over the fact that a captured Negro had been hung after he had surrendered. It came to the knowledge of Gen. Peck, commanding the army of the District of North Carolina, when the following correspondence took place:

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AND DISTRICT OF } "NORTH CAROLINA, NEWBERN, NORTH } "CAROLINA, Feb. 11, 1864: }

"Major-General PICKETT, _Department of Virginia and North Carolina, "Confederate Army, Petersburg_.

"GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose a slip cut from the Richmond 'Examiner,' February eighth, 1864. It is styled 'The Advance on Newbern,' and appears to have been extracted from the Petersburg 'Register,' a paper published in the city where your headquarters are located.

"Your attention is particularly invited to that paragraph which states 'that Colonel Shaw was shot dead by a negro soldier from the other side of the river, which he was spanning with a pontoon bridge, and that the negro was watched, followed, taken, and hanged after the action at Thomasville.

"'THE ADVANCE ON NEWBERN.--The Petersburg "Register" gives the following additional facts of the advance on Newbern: Our army, according to the report of passengers arriving from Weldon, has fallen back to a point sixteen miles west of Newbern. The reason assigned for this retrograde movement was that Newbern could not be taken by us without a loss on our part which would find no equivalent in its capture, as the place was stronger than we had anticipated. Yet, in spite of this, we are sure that the expedition will result in good to our cause. Our forces are in a situation to get large supplies from a country still abundant, to prevent raids on points westward, and keep tories in check, and hang them when caught.

"'From a private, who was one of the guard that brought the batch of prisoners through, we learn that Colonel Shaw was shot dead by a negro soldier from the other side of the river, which he was spanning with a pontoon bridge. The negro was watched, followed, taken, and hanged after the action at Thomasville. It is stated that when our troops entered Thomasville, a number of the enemy took shelter in the houses and fired upon them. The Yankees were ordered to surrender, but refused, whereupon our men set fire to the houses, and their occupants got, bodily, a taste in this world of the flames eternal.'

"The Government of the United States has wisely seen fit to enlist many thousand colored citizens to aid in putting down the rebellion, and has placed them on the same footing in all respects as her white troops.

* * * * *

"Believing that this atrocity has been perpetrated without your knowledge, and that you will take prompt steps to disavow this violation of the usages of war, and to bring the offenders to justice, I shall refrain from executing a rebel soldier until I learn your action in the premises.

"I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"JOHN J. PECK, "Major-General."

REPLY OF GENERAL PICKETT.

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NORTH } "CAROLINA, PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, February 16, 1864. }

"Major-General JOHN J. PECK, U. S. A., Commanding at Newbern:

"GENERAL: Your communication of the eleventh of February is received. I have the honor to state in reply, that the paragraph from a newspaper inclosed therein, is not only without foundation in fact, but so ridiculous that I should scarcely have supposed it worthy of consideration; but I would respectfully inform you that had I caught any negro, who had killed either officer, soldier, or citizen of the Confederate States, I should have caused him to be immediately executed.

"To your threat expressed in the following extract from your communication, namely: 'Believing that this atrocity has been perpetrated without your knowledge, and that you will take prompt steps to disavow this violation of the usages of war, and to bring the offenders to justice, I shall refrain from executing a rebel soldier until I learn of your action in the premises,' I have merely to say that I have in my hands and subject to my orders, captured in the recent operations in this department, some four hundred and fifty officers and men of the United States army, and for every man you hang I will hang ten of the United States army.

"I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"J. E. PICKETT, "Major-General Commanding."[113]

As already indicated, some of the Southern journals did not endorse the extreme hardships and cruelties to which the rebels subjected the captured Colored men. During the month of July, 1863, quite a number of Colored soldiers had fallen into the hands of the enemy on Morris and James islands. The rebels did not only refuse to exchange them as prisoners of war, but treated them most cruelly.

On this very important subject, in reply to some strictures of the Charleston "Mercury" (made under misapprehension), the Chief of Staff of General Beauregard addressed to that journal the following letter:

"HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF S. C., GA., AND FLA., } "CHARLESTON, S. C., August 12, 1863. }

"Colonel R. B. RHETT, Jr., Editor of 'Mercury':

"In the 'Mercury' of this date you appear to have written under a misapprehension of the facts connected with the present status of the negroes captured in arms on Morris and James Islands, which permit me to state as follows:

"The Proclamation of the President, dated December twenty-fourth, 1862, directed that all negro slaves captured in arms should be at once delivered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to which they belong, to be dealt with according to the laws of said States.

"An informal application was made by the State authorities for the negroes captured in this vicinity; but as none of them, it appeared, had been slaves of citizens of South Carolina, they were not turned over to the civil authority, for at the moment there was no official information at these headquarters of the Act of Congress by which '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,' were directed to be turned over to the authorities of '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.'

"On the twenty-first of July, however, the Commanding General telegraphed to the Secretary of War for instructions as to the disposition to be made of the negroes captured on Morris and James Islands, and on the twenty-second received a reply that they must be turned over to the State authorities, by virtue of the joint resolutions of Congress in question.

"Accordingly, on the twenty-ninth July, as soon as a copy of the resolution or act was received, his Excellency Governor Bonham was informed that the negroes captured were held subject to his orders, to be dealt with according to the laws of South Carolina.

"On the same day (twenty-ninth July) Governor Bonham requested that they should be retained in military custody until he could make arrangements to dispose of them; and in that custody they still remain, awaiting the orders of the State authorities.

"Respectfully, your obedient servant, "THOMAS JORDAN, "Chief of Staff."

The Proclamation of Jefferson Davis, referred to in the second paragraph of Mr. Jordan's letter, had declared Gen. Butler "a felon, an outlaw, and an enemy of mankind." It recited his hanging of Mumford; the neglect of the Federal Government to explain or disapprove the act; the imprisonment of non-combatants; Butler's woman order; his sequestration of estates in Western Louisiana; and the inciting to insurrection and arming of slaves. Mr. Davis directed any Confederate officer who should capture Gen. Butler to hang him immediately and without trial. Mr. Davis's proclamation is given here, as history is bound to hold him personally responsible for the cruelties practised upon Negro soldiers captured by the rebels from that time till the close of the war.

"First. That all commissioned officers in the command of said Benjamin F. Butler be declared not entitled to be considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare, but as robbers and criminals, deserving death; and that they and each of them be, whenever captured, reserved for execution.

"Second. That the private soldiers and non-commissioned officers in the army of said Butler be considered as only the instruments used for the commission of crimes perpetrated by his orders, and not as free agents; that they, therefore, be treated, when captured as prisoners of war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent home on the usual parole that they will in no manner aid or serve the United States in any capacity during the continuance of this war, unless duly exchanged.

"Third. That all negro slaves captured in arms be at once delivered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to which they belong, to be dealt with according to the laws of said States.

"Fourth. That the like orders be executed in all cases with respect to all commissioned officers of the United States, when found serving in company with said slaves in insurrection against the authorities of the different States of this Confederacy.

"[Signed and sealed at Richmond, Dec. 23, 1862.]

"JEFFERSON DAVIS."

The ghastly horrors of Fort Pillow stand alone in the wide field of war cruelties. The affair demands great fortitude in the historian who would truthfully give a narrative of such bloody, sickening detail.

On the 18th of April, 1864, Gen. N. B. Forrest, commanding a corps of Confederate cavalry, appeared before Fort Pillow, situated about forty miles above Memphis, Tennessee, and demanded its surrender. It was held by Major L. F. Booth, with a garrison of 557 men, 262 of whom were Colored soldiers of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery; the other troops were white, under Major Bradford of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. The garrison was mounted with six guns. From before sunrise until nine A.M. the Union troops had held an outer line of intrenchments; but upon the death of Major Booth Major Bradford retired his force into the fort. It was situated upon a high bluff on the Mississippi River, flanked by two ravines with sheer declivities and partially timbered. The gun-boat "New Era" was to have cooeperated with the fort, but on account of the extreme height of the bluff, was unable to do much. The fighting continued until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when the firing slackened on both sides to allow the guns to cool off. The "New Era," nearly out of shell, backed into the river to clean her guns. During this lull Gen. Forrest sent a flag of truce demanding the unconditional surrender of the fort. A consultation of the Federal officers was held, and a request made for twenty minutes to consult the officers of the gun-boat. Gen. Forrest refused to grant this, saying that he only demanded the surrender of the fort and not the gun-boat. He demanded an immediate surrender, which was promptly declined by Major Bradford. During the time these negotiations were going on, Forrest's men were stealing horses, plundering the buildings in front of the fort, and closing in upon the fort through the ravines, which was unsoldierly and cowardly to say the least. Upon receiving the refusal of Major Booth to capitulate, Forrest gave a signal and his troops made a frantic charge upon the fort. It was received gallantly and resisted stubbornly, but there was no use of fighting. In ten minutes the enemy, assaulting the fort in the centre, and striking it on the flanks, swept in. The Federal troops surrendered; but an indiscriminate massacre followed. Men were shot down in their tracks; pinioned to the ground with bayonet and sabre. Some were clubbed to death while dying of wounds; others were made to get down upon their knees, in which condition they were shot to death. Some were burned alive, having been fastened into the buildings, while still others were nailed against the houses, tortured, and then burned to a crisp. A little Colored boy only eight years old was lifted to the horse of a rebel who intended taking him along with him, when Gen. Forrest meeting the soldier ordered him to put the child down and shoot him. The soldier remonstrated, but the stern and cruel order was repeated, emphasized with an oath, and backed with a threat that endangered the soldier's life, so he put the child on the ground and shot him dead! From three o'clock in the afternoon until the merciful darkness came and threw the sable wings of night over the carnival of death, the slaughter continued. The stars looked down in pity upon the dead--ah! they were beyond the barbarous touch of the rebel fiends--and the dying; and the angels found a spectacle worthy of their tears. And when the morning looked down upon the battle-field, it was not to find it peaceful in death and the human hyenas gone. Alas! those who had survived the wounds of the day before were set upon again and brained or shot to death.

The Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War gave this "Horrible Massacre" an investigation. They examined such of the Union soldiers as escaped from death at Fort Pillow and were sent to the Mound City Hospital, Illinois. The following extracts from the testimony given before the Committee, the Hons. Ben. F. Wade and D. W. Gooch, give something of an idea of this the most cruel and inhuman affair in the history of the civilized world.

Manuel Nichols (Colored), private. Company B, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. Were you in the late fight at Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Q. Were you wounded there?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. When?

A. I was wounded once about a half an hour before we gave up.

Q. Did they do any thing to you after you surrendered?

A. Yes, sir; they shot me in the head under my left ear, and the morning after the fight they shot me again in the right arm. When they came up and killed the wounded ones, I saw some four or five coming down the hill. I said to one of our boys: "Anderson, I expect if those fellows come here they will kill us." I was lying on my right side, leaning on my elbow. One of the black soldiers went into the house where the white soldiers were. I asked him if there was any water in there, and he said yes; I wanted some, and took a stick and tried to get to the house. I did not get to the house. Some of them came along, and saw a little boy belonging to Company D. One of them had his musket on his shoulder, and shot the boy down. He said: "All you damned niggers come out of the house; I am going to shoot you." Some of the white soldiers said: "Boys, it is only death anyhow; if you don't go out they will come in and carry you out." My strength seemed to come to me as if I had never been shot, and I jumped up and ran down the hill. I met one of them coming up the hill; he said: "Stop!" but I kept on running. As I jumped over the hill, he shot me through the right arm.

Q. How many did you see them kill after they had surrendered?

A. After I surrendered I did not go down the hill. A man shot me under the ear, and I fell down and said to myself: "If he don't shoot me any more this won't hurt me." One of their officers came along and hallooed: "Forrest says no quarter! no quarter!" and the next one hallooed: "Black flag! black flag!"

Q. What did they do then?

A. They kept on shooting. I could hear them down the hill.

Q. Did you see them bury any body?

A. Yes, sir; they carried me around right to the corner of the Fort, and I saw them pitch men in there.

Q. Was there any alive?

A. I did not see them bury any body alive.

Q. How near to you was the man who shot you under the ear?

A. Right close to my head. When I was shot in the side, a man turned me over, and took my pocket-knife and pocket-book. I had some of these brass things that looked like cents. They said: "Here's some money; here's some money." I said to myself: "You got fooled that time."

Major Williams (Colored), private. Company B, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined.

By the Chairman:

Q. Where were you raised?

A. In Tennessee and North Mississippi.

Q. Where did you enlist?

A. In Memphis.

Q. Who was your captain?

A. Captain Lamburg.

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Was your captain with you?

A. No, sir; I think he was at Memphis.

Q. Who commanded your company?

A. Lieutenant Hunter and Sergeant Fox were all the officers we had.

Q. What did you see done there?

A. We fought them right hard during the battle, and killed some of them. After a time they sent in a flag of truce. They said afterward that they did it to make us stop firing until their reinforcements could come up. They said that they never could have got in if they had not done that; that we had whipped them; that they had never seen such a fight.

Q. Did you see the flag of truce?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. What did they do when the flag of truce was in?

A. They kept coming up nearer, so that they could charge quick. A heap of them came up after we stopped firing.

Q. When did you surrender?

A. I did not surrender until they all ran.

Q. Were you wounded then?

A. Yes, sir; after the surrender.

Q. At what time of day was that?

A. They told me it was about half after one o'clock, I was wounded. Immediately we retreated.

Q. Did you have any arms in your hands when they shot you?

A. No, sir; I was an artillery man, and had no arms.

Q. Did you see the man who shot you?

A. No, sir.

Q. Did you hear him say any thing?

A. No, sir; I heard nothing. He shot me, and I was bleeding pretty free, and I thought to myself: "I will make out it was a dead shot, and maybe I will not get another."

Q. Did you see any others shot?

A. No, sir.

Q. Was there any thing said about giving quarter?

A. Major Bradford brought in a black flag, which meant no quarter. I heard, some of the rebel officers say: "You damned rascals, if you had not fought us so hard, but had stopped when we sent in a flag of truce, we would not have done any thing to you." I heard one of the officers say: "Kill all the niggers"; another one said: "No; Forrest says take them and carry them with him to wait upon him and cook for him, and put them in jail and send them to their masters." Still they kept on shooting. They shot at me after that, but did not hit me; a rebel officer shot at me. He took aim at my side; at the crack of his pistol I fell. He went on and said: "There's another dead nigger."

Q. Was there any one shot in the hospital that day?

A. Not that I know of. I think they all came away and made a raft and floated across the mouth of the creek and got into a flat bottom.

Q. Did you see any buildings burned?

A. I stayed in the woods all day Wednesday. I was there Thursday and looked at the buildings. I saw a great deal left that they did not have a chance to burn up. I saw a white man burned up who was nailed up against the house.

Q. A private or an officer?

A. An officer; I think it was a lieutenant in the Tennessee cavalry.

Q. How was he nailed?

A. Through his hands and feet right against the house.

Q. Was his body burned?

A. Yes, sir; burned all over--I looked at him good.

Q. When did you see that?

A. On the Thursday after the battle.

Q. Where was the man?

A. Right in front of the Fort.

Jacob Thompson (Colored), sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Q. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow?

A. No, sir; I was not a soldier; but I went up in the Fort and fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head.

Q. When were you shot?

A. After I surrendered.

Q. How many times were you shot?

A. I was shot but once; but I threw my hand up, and the shot went through my hand and my head.

Q. Who shot you?

A. A private.

Q. What did he say?

A. He said: "God damn you, I will shoot you, old friend."

Q. Did you see anybody else shot?

A. Yes, sir; they just called them out like dogs, and shot them down. I reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. They nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the logs on fire.

Q. When did you see that?

A. When I went there in the morning I saw them; they were burning all together.

Q. Did they kill them before they burned them?

A. No, sir; they nailed them to the logs; drove the nails right through their hands.

Q. How many did you see in that condition?

A. Some four or five; I saw two white men burned.

Q. Was there any one else there who saw that?

A. I reckon there was; I could not tell who.

Q. When was it that you saw them?

A. I saw them in the morning after the fight; some of them were burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men, because they were whiter than the colored men.

Q. Did you notice how they were nailed?

A. I saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to the boat when I saw it.

Q. Did you see them kill any white men?

A. They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed more than twenty after it was all over; called them out from under the hill, and shot them down. They would call out a white man and shoot him down, and call out a colored man and shoot him down; do it just as fast as they could make their guns go off.

Q. Did you see any rebel officers about there when this was going on?

A. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one.

Q. Did you know Forrest?

A. Yes, sir; he was a little bit of a man. I had seen him before at Jackson.

Ransom Anderson (Colored), Company B, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Q. Where were you raised?

A. In Mississippi.

Q. Were you a slave?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Where did you enlist?

A. At Corinth.

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Describe what you saw done there.

A. Most all the men that were killed on our side were killed after the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. Then they put some in the houses and shut them up, and then burned the houses.

Q. Did you see them burn?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Were any of them alive?

A. Yes, sir; they were wounded, and could not walk. They put them in the houses, and then burned the houses down.

Q. Do you know they were in there?

A. Yes, sir; I went and looked in there.

Q. Do you know they were in there when the house was burned?

A. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when the houses were burning.

Q. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead men, when they were put in there?

A. Yes, sir; they told them they were going to have the doctor see them, and then put them in there and shut them up, and burned them.

Q. Who set the house on fire?

A. I saw a rebel soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, and set it on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy.

Q. Was the door fastened up?

A. Yes, sir; it was barred with one of those wide bolts.

James Walls, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Q. To what company did you belong?

A. To Company E, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry.

Q. Under what officers did you serve?

A. I was under Major Bradford and Captain Potter.

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. State what you saw there of the fight, and what was done after the place was captured.

A. We fought them for some six or eight hours in the Fort, and when they charged our men scattered and ran under the hill; some turned back and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag of truce came in I went down to get some water. As I was coming back I turned sick, and laid down behind a log. The secesh charged, and after they came over I saw one go a good ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there I thought I could not live there, so I threw down my arms and surrendered. He did not shoot me then, but as I turned around he or some other one shot me in the back.

Q. Did they say any thing while they were shooting?

A. All I heard was: "Shoot him, shoot him!" "Yonder he goes!" "Kill him, kill him!" That is about all I heard.

Q. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they surrendered?

A. I did not see but two or three shot around me. One of the boys of our company, named Taylor, ran up there, and I saw him shot and fall. Then another was shot just before me, like--shot down after he threw down his arms.

Q. Those were white men?

A. Yes, sir. I saw them make lots of niggers stand up, and then they shot them down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying around there, and would come to a nigger, and say: "You ain't dead, are you?" They would not say any thing; and then the secesh would get down off their horses, prick them in their sides, and say: "Damn you, you ain't dead; get up." Then they would make them get up on their knees, when they would shoot them down like hogs.

* * * * *

Q. Did you see any rebel officers about while this shooting was going on?

A. I do not know as I saw any officers about when they were shooting the negroes. A captain came to me a few minutes after I was shot; he was close by me when I was shot.

Q. Did he try to stop the shooting?

A. I did not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they were shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged him not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would not. One man, after he was shot down, was shot again. After I was shot down, the man I surrendered to went around the tree I was against and shot a man, and then came around to me again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up to him, and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got the watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow knife I had in my pocket. It was not worth five cents; was of no account at all, only to cut tobacco with.

Lieutenant McJ. Leming, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. What is your rank and position?

A. I am a First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. A short time previous to the fight I was Post-Adjutant at Fort Pillow, and during most of the engagement I was acting as Post-Adjutant. After Major Booth was killed, Major Bradford was in command. The pickets were driven in just before sunrise, which was the first intimation we had that the enemy were approaching. I repaired to the Fort, and found that Major Booth was shelling the rebels as they came up toward the outer intrenchments. They kept up a steady fire by sharp-shooters behind trees and logs and high knolls. The Major thought at one time they were planting some artillery, or looking for places to plant it. They began to draw nearer and nearer, up to the time our men were all drawn into the Fort. Two companies of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry were ordered out as sharp-shooters, but were finally ordered in. We were pressed on all sides.

I think Major Booth fell not later than nine o'clock. His Adjutant, who was then acting Post-Adjutant, fell near the same time. Major Bradford then took the command, and I acted as Post-Adjutant. Previous to this, Major Booth had ordered some buildings in front of the Fort to be destroyed, as the enemy's sharp-shooters were endeavoring to get possession of them. There were four rows of buildings, but only the row nearest the fort was destroyed; the sharp-shooters gained possession of the others before they could be destroyed. The fight continued, one almost unceasing fire all the time, until about three o'clock. They threw some shells, but they did not do much damage with their shells.

I think it was about three o'clock that a flag of truce approached. I went out, accompanied by Captain Young, the Provost-Marshal of the post. There was another officer, I think, but I do not recollect now particularly who it was, and some four mounted men. The rebels announced that they had a communication from General Forrest. One of their officers there, I think, from his dress, was a colonel. I received the communication, and they said they would wait for an answer. As near as I remember, the communication was as follows:

"HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE CAVALRY, } "NEAR FORT PILLOW, April 12, 1864. }

"As your gallant defence of the Fort has entitled you to the treatment of brave men [or something to that effect], I now demand an unconditional surrender of your force, at the same time assuring you that they will be treated as prisoners of war. I have received a fresh supply of ammunition, and can easily take your position.

"N. B. FORREST.

"MAJOR L. F. BOOTH, "Commanding United States Forces."

I took this message back to the Fort. Major Bradford replied that he desired an hour for consultation and consideration with his officers and the officers of the gun-boat. I took out this communication to them, and they carried it back to General Forrest. In a few minutes another flag of truce appeared, and I went out to meet it. Some one said, when they handed the communication to me: "That gives you twenty minutes to surrender; I am General Forrest." I took it back. The substance of it was: "Twenty minutes will be given you to take your men outside of the Fort. If in that time they are not out, I will immediately proceed to assault your works," or something of that kind. To this Major Bradford replied: "I will not surrender." I took it out in a sealed envelope, and gave it to him. The general opened it and read it. Nothing was said; we simply saluted, and they went their way, and I returned back into the Fort.

Almost instantly the firing began again. We mistrusted, while this flag of truce was going on, that they were taking horses out at a camp we had. It was mentioned to them, the last time that this and other movements excited our suspicion, that they were moving their troops. They said that they had noticed it themselves, and had it stopped; that it was unintentional on their part, and that it should not be repeated.

It was not long after the last flag of truce had retired, that they made their grand charge. We kept them back for several minutes. What was called ---- brigade or battalion attacked the centre of the Fort where several companies of colored troops were stationed. They finally gave way, and, before we could fill up the breach, the enemy got inside the Fort, and then they came in on the other two sides, and had complete possession of the Fort. In the mean time nearly all the officers had been killed, especially of the colored troops, and there was no one hardly to guide the men. They fought bravely indeed until that time. I do not think the men who broke had a commissioned officer over them. They fought with the most determined bravery, until the enemy gained possession of the Fort. They kept shooting all the time. The negroes ran down the hill toward the river, but the rebels kept shooting them as they were running; shot some again after they had fallen; robbed and plundered them. After every thing was all gone, after we had given up the Fort entirely, the guns thrown away and the firing on our part stopped, they still kept up their murderous fire, more especially on the colored troops, I thought, although the white troops suffered a great deal. I know the colored troops had a great deal the worst of it. I saw several shot after they were wounded; as they were crawling around, the secesh would step out and blow their brains out.

About this time they shot me. It must have been four or half-past four o'clock. I saw there was no chance at all, and threw down my sabre. A man took deliberate aim at me, but a short distance from me, certainly not more than fifteen paces, and shot me.

Q. With a musket or pistol?

A. I think it was a carbine; it may have been a musket, but my impression is, that it was a carbine. Soon after I was shot I was robbed. A secesh soldier came along, and wanted to know if I had any greenbacks. I gave him my pocket-book. I had about a hundred dollars, I think, more or less, and a gold watch and gold chain. They took every thing in the way of valuables that I had. I saw them robbing others. That seemed to be the general way they served the wounded, so far as regards those who fell in my vicinity. Some of the colored troops jumped into the river, but were shot as fast as they were seen. One poor fellow was shot as he reached the bank of the river. They ran down and hauled him out. He got on his hands and knees, and was crawling along, when a secesh soldier put his revolver to his head, and blew his brains out. It was about the same thing all along, until dark that night.

I was very weak, but I finally found a rebel who belonged to a society that I am a member of (the Masons), and he got two of our colored soldiers to assist me up the hill, and he brought me some water. At that time it was about dusk. He carried me up just to the edge of the Fort, and laid me down. There seemed to be quite a number of dead collected there. They were throwing them into the outside trench, and I heard them talking about burying them there. I heard one of them say: "There is a man who is not quite dead yet." They buried a number there; I do not know how many.

I was carried that night to a sort of little shanty that the rebels had occupied during the day with their sharp-shooters. I received no medical attention that night at all. The next morning early I heard the report of cannon down the river. It was the gun-boat 28 coming up from Memphis; she was shelling the rebels along the shore as she came up. The rebels immediately ordered the burning of all the buildings, and ordered the two buildings where the wounded were to be fired. Some one called to the officer who gave the order, and said there were wounded in them. The building I was in began to catch fire. I prevailed upon one of our soldiers who had not been hurt much to draw me out, and I think others got the rest out. They drew us down a little way, in a sort of gully, and we lay there in the hot sun without water or any thing.

About this time a squad of rebels came around, it would seem for the purpose of murdering what negroes they could find. They began to shoot the wounded negroes all around there, interspersed with the whites. I was lying a little way from a wounded negro, when a secesh soldier came up to him, and said: "What in hell are you doing here?" The colored soldier said he wanted to get on the gun-boat. The secesh soldier said: "You want to fight us again, do you? Damn you, I'll teach you," and drew up his gun and shot him dead. Another negro was standing up erect a little way from me--he did not seem to be hurt much. The rebel loaded his gun again immediately. The negro begged of him not to shoot him, but he drew up his gun and took deliberate aim at his head. The gun snapped, but he fixed it again, and then killed him. I saw this. I heard them shooting all around there--I suppose killing them.

By the Chairman:

Q. Do you know of any rebel officers going on board our gun-boat after she came up?

A. I don't know about the gun-boat, but I saw some of them on board the "Platte Valley," after I had been carried on her. They came on board, and I think went into drink with some of our officers. I think one of the rebel officers was General Chalmers.

Q. Do you know what officers of ours drank with them?

A. I do not.

Q. You know that they did go on board the "Platte Valley" and drink with some of our officers?

A. I did not see them drinking at the time, but I have no doubt they did; that was my impression from all I saw, and I thought our officers might have been in better business.

Q. Were our officers treating these rebel officers with attention?

A. They seemed to be; I did not see much of it, as they passed along by me.

Q. Do you know whether or not the conduct of the privates, in murdering our soldiers after they had surrendered, seemed to have the approval of their officers?

A. I did not see much of their officers, especially during the worst of those outrages; they seemed to be back.

Q. Did you observe any effort on the part of their officers to suppress the murders?

A. No, sir; I did not see any where I was first carried; just about dusk, all at once several shots were fired just outside. The cry was: "They are shooting the darkey soldiers." I heard an officer ride up and say: "Stop that firing; arrest that man." I suppose it was a rebel officer, but I do not know. It was reported to me, at the time, that several darkeys were shot then. An officer who stood by me, a prisoner, said that they had been shooting them, but that the general had had it stopped.

Q. Do you know of any of our men in the hospital being murdered?

A. I do not.

Q. Do you know any thing of the fate of your Quartermaster, Lieutenant Akerstrom?

A. He was one of the officers who went with me to meet the flag of truce the last time. I do not know what became of him; that was about the last I saw of him. I heard that he was nailed to a board and burned, and I have very good reason for believing that was the case, although I did not see it. The First Lieutenant of Company D of my regiment says that he has an affidavit to that effect of a man who saw it.

Francis A. Alexander, sworn and examined.

By the Chairman:

Q. To what company and regiment do you belong?

A. Company C, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry.

Q. Were you at Fort Pillow at the fight there?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Who commanded your regiment?

A. Major Bradford commanded the regiment, and Lieutenant Logan commanded our company.

Q. By what troops was the Fort attacked?

A. Forrest was in command. I saw him.

Q. Did you know Forrest?

A. I saw him there, and they all said it was Forrest. Their own men said so.

Q. By what troops was the charge made?

A. They are Alabamians and Texans.

Q. Did you see any thing of a flag of truce?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. State what was done while the flag of truce was in.

A. When the flag of truce came up our officers went out and held a consultation, and it went back. They came in again with a flag of truce; and while they were consulting the second time, their troops were coming up a gap or hollow, where we could have cut them to pieces. They tried it before, but could not do it. I saw them come up there while the flag of truce was in the second time.

Q. That gave them an advantage?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Were you wounded there?

A. Not in the Fort. I was wounded after I left the Fort and was going down the hill.

Q. Was that before or after the Fort was taken?

A. It was afterward.

Q. Did you have any arms in your hand at the time they shot you?

A. No, sir; I threw my gun away, and started down the hill, and got about twenty yards, when I was shot through the calf of the leg.

Q. Did they shoot you more than once?

A. No, sir; they shot at me, but did not hit me more than once.

Q. Did they say why they shot you after you had surrendered?

A. They said afterward they intended to kill us all for being there with their niggers.

Q. Were any rebel officers there at the time this shooting was going on?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did they try to stop it?

A. One or two of them did.

Q. What did the rest of them do?

A. They kept shouting and hallooing at the men to give no quarter. I heard that cry very frequent.

Q. Was it the officers that said that?

A. I think it was. I think it was them, the way they were going on. When our boys were taken prisoners, if anybody came up who knew them, they shot them down. As soon as ever they recognized them, wherever it was, they shot them.

Q. After they had taken them prisoners?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did you know any thing about their shooting men in the hospitals?

A. I know of their shooting negroes in there. I don't know about white men.

Q. Wounded negro men?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Who did that?

A. Some of their troops. I don't know which of them. The next morning I saw several black people shot that were wounded, and some that were not wounded. One was going down the hill before me, and the officer made him come back up the hill; and after I got in the boat I heard them shooting them.

Q. You say you saw them shoot negroes in the hospital the next morning?

A. Yes, sir; wounded negroes who could not get along; one with his leg broke. They came there the next day and shot him.

John F. Ray, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Q. To what company and regiment do you belong?

A. Company B, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry.

Q. Were you at Fort Pillow, when it was attacked?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. At what time were you wounded?

A. I was wounded about two o'clock, after the rebels got in the breastworks.

Q. Was it before or after you had surrendered?

A. It was after I threw down my gun, as they all started to run.

Q. Will you state what you saw there?

A. After I surrendered they shot down a great many white fellows right close to me--ten or twelve, I suppose--and a great many negroes, too.

Q. How long did they keep shooting our men after they surrendered?

A. I heard guns away after dark shooting all that evening, somewhere; they kept up a regular fire for a long time, and then I heard the guns once in a while.

Q. Did you see any one shot the next day?

A. I did not; I was in a house, and could not get up at all.

Q. Do you know what became of the Quartermaster of your regiment, Lieutenant Akerstrom?

A. He was shot by the side of me.

Q. Was he killed?

A. I thought so at the time; he fell on his face. He was shot in the forehead, and I thought he was killed. I heard afterward he was not.

Q. Did you notice any thing that took place while the flag of truce was in?

A. I saw the rebels slipping up and getting in the ditch along our breastworks.

Q. How near did they come up?

A. They were right at us; right across from the breastworks. I asked them what they were slipping up there for. They made answer that they knew their business.

Q. Are you sure this was done while the flag of truce was in?

A. Yes, sir. There was no firing; we could see all around; we could see them moving up all around in large force.

Q. Was any thing said about it except what you said to the rebels?

A. I heard all our boys talking about it. I heard some of our officers remark, as they saw it coming, that the white flag was a bad thing; that they were slipping on us. I believe it was Lieutenant Akerstrom that I heard say it was against the rules of war for them to come up in that way.

Q. To whom did he say that?

A. To those fellows coming up; they had officers with them.

Q. Was Lieutenant Akerstrom shot before or after he had surrendered?

A. About two minutes after the flag of truce went back, during the action.

Q. Do you think of any thing else to state? If so, go on and state it.

A. I saw a rebel lieutenant take a little negro[114] boy up on the horse behind him; and then I heard General Chalmers--I think it must have been--tell him to "Take that negro down and shoot him," or "Take him and shoot him," and he passed him down and shot him.

Q. How large was the boy?

A. He was not more than eight years old. I heard the lieutenant tell the other that the negro was not in the service; that he was nothing but a child; that he was pressed and brought in there. The other one said; "Damn the difference; take him down and shoot him, or I will shoot him." I think it must have been General Chalmers. He was a smallish man; he had on a long gray coat, with a star on his coat.[115]

The country and the world stood aghast. The first account of this human butchery was too much for credence: after a while the truth began to dawn upon the country; and at last the people admitted that in a Christian land like America a deed so foul--blacker than hell itself!--had actually been perpetrated. The patience of the North and the Union army gave way to bitterest imprecations; the exultation and applause of the South and Confederate army were succeeded by serious thoughts and sad reflections. But it is the duty of impartial history to record that this bloody, sickening affair was not endorsed by all the rebels.

In a letter dated Okalona, Mississippi, June. 14, 1864, to the "Atlanta Appeal," a rebel gives this endorsement of Forrest's conduct at Fort Pillow:

"You have heard that our soldiers buried negroes alive at Fort Pillow. This is true. At the first fire after Forrest's men scaled the walls, many of the negroes threw down their arms and fell as if they were dead. They perished in the pretence, and could only be restored at the point of the bayonet. To resuscitate some of them, more terrified than the rest, they were rolled into the trenches made as receptacles for the fallen. Vitality was not restored till breathing was obstructed, and then the resurrection began. On these facts is based the pretext for the crimes committed by Sturgis, Grierson, and their followers. You must remember, too, that in the extremity of their terror, or for other reasons, the Yankees and negroes in Fort Pillow neglected to haul down their flag. In truth, relying upon their gun-boats, the officers expected to annihilate our forces after we had entered the fortifications. They did not intend to surrender.

"A terrible retribution, in any event, has befallen the ignorant, deluded Africans."

Gen. Forrest was a cold-blooded murderer; a fiend in human form. But as the grave has opened long since to receive him; and as the cause he represented has perished from the earth, it is enough to let the record stand without comment, and God grant without malice! It is the duty of history to record that there is to be found no apologist for cruelties that rebels inflicted upon brave but helpless Black soldiers during the war for the extirpation of slavery. The Confederate conduct at Pillow must remain a foul stain upon the name of the men who fought to perpetuate human slavery in North America, but failed.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] New York Tribune, April 14, 1863.Return to passage

[113] Rebellion Recs., vol. viii. Doc. pp. 418, 419.Return to passage

[114] Gen. Chalmers has denied, with vehemence, that he ever did any cruel act at Fort Pillow, but the record is against him. Soldiers under brave, intelligent, and humane officers could never be guilty of such cruel and unchristian conduct as these rebels at Pillow. Gen. Chalmers is responsible. As an illustration of the gentle and forgiving spirit of the Negro, it should be recorded here that many supported the candidacy of Gen. Chalmers for Congress, and voted for him at the recent election in Mississippi.Return to passage

[115] See Report of Committee on Conduct of War.Return to passage

Part 8

THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM.

XXI. RECONSTRUCTION[116]--MISCONSTRUCTION

1865-1875.

THE WAR OVER, PEACE RESTORED, AND THE NATION CLEANSED OF A PLAGUE.--SLAVERY GIVES PLACE TO A LONG TRAIN OF EVENTS.--UNSETTLED CONDITION OF AFFAIRS AT THE SOUTH.--THE ABSENCE OF LEGAL CIVIL GOVERNMENT NECESSITATES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PROVISIONAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT.--AN ACT ESTABLISHING A BUREAU FOR REFUGEES AND ABANDONED LANDS.--CONGRESSIONAL METHODS FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH.--GEN. U. S. GRANT CARRIES THESE STATES IN 1868 AND 1872.--BOTH BRANCHES OF THE LEGISLATURES IN ALL THE SOUTHERN STATES CONTAIN NEGRO MEMBERS.--THE ERRORS OF RECONSTRUCTION CHARGEABLE TO BOTH SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

Appomattox had taken her place in history; and the echo of the triumph of Federal arms was heard in the palaces of Europe. The United States Government had survived the shock of the embattled arms of a gigantic Rebellion; had melted the manacles of four million slaves in the fires of civil war; had made four million bondmen freemen; had wiped slavery from the map of North America; had demonstrated the truth that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land; and that the United States is a NATION, not a league.

The brazen-mouthed, shotted cannon were voiceless; a million muskets and swords hung upon the dusty walls of silent arsenals; and war ceased from the proud altitudes of the mountains of Virginia to where the majestic Atlantic washes the shores of the Carolinas. A million soldiers in blue melted quietly into the modest garb of citizens. The myriad hum of busy shuttles, clanking machinery, and whirling wheels proclaimed the day of peace. Families and communities were restored and bound together by the indissoluble, golden ties of domestic charities. The war was over; peace had been restored; and the nation was cleansed of a plague.

But what was to be done with the millions of Negroes at the South? The war had made them free. That was all. They could leave the plantation. They had the right of locomotion; were property no longer. But what a spectacle! Here were four million human beings without clothing, shelter, homes, and, alas! most of them without names. The galling harness of slavery had been cut off of their weary bodies, and like a worn-out beast of burden they stood in their tracks scarcely able to go anywhere. Like men coming from long confinement in a dark dungeon, the first rays of freedom blinded their expectant eyes. They were almost delirious with joy. The hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, the pain and waiting, the prayers and tears of the cruel years of slavery gave place to a long train of events that swept them out into the rapid current of a life totally different from the checkered career whence they had just emerged. It required time, patience, and extraordinary wisdom on the part of the Government to solve the problem of this people's existence--of this "Nation born in a day." Their joy was too full, their peace too profound, and their thanksgiving too sincere to attract their attention at once to the vulgar affairs of daily life. One fervent, beautiful psalm of praise rose from every Negro hut in the South, and swelled in majestic sweetness until the nation became one mighty temple canopied by the stars and stripes, and the Constitution as the common altar before whose undimmed lights a ransomed race humbly bowed.

The emancipated Negroes had no ability, certainly no disposition, to reason concerning the changes and disasters which had overtaken their former masters. The white people of the South were divided into three classes. First, those who felt that defeat was intolerable, and a residence in this country incongenial. They sought the service of the Imperial cause in war-begrimed Mexico; they went to Cuba, Australia, Egypt, and to Europe. Second, those who returned to their homes after the "affair at Appomattox," and sitting down under the portentous clouds of defeat, refused to take any part in the rehabilitation of their States. Third, those who accepted the situation and stood ready to aid in the work of reconstruction.

In the unsettled condition of affairs at the close of hostilities, as there was no legal State governments at the South, necessity and prudence suggested the temporary policy of dividing the South into military districts. A provisional military government in the conquered States was to pursue a pacific, protective, helpful policy. The people of both races were to be fed and clothed. Schools were to be established; agriculture and industry encouraged. Courts were to be established of competent jurisdiction to hear and decide cases among the people. Such a government while military in name was patriarchal in spirit. As early as the spring of 1865, before the war was over, an act was passed by Congress providing for the destitute of the South.

"AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A BUREAU FOR THE RELIEF OF FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel States, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose compensation shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and such number of clerks as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of War, not exceeding one chief clerk, two of the fourth class, two of the third class, three of the second class, and five of the first class. And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed in an act entitled, 'An act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes,' approved July 2, 1862. And the commissioners and the chief clerk shall, before entering upon their duties, give bonds to the Treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and the latter in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties respectively, with securities to be approved as sufficient by the attorney general, which bonds shall be filed in the office of the First Comptroller of the Treasury, to be by him put in suit for the benefit of any injured party, upon any breach of the conditions thereof.

"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.

"SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the States declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act, and he shall give a bond to the Treasurer of the United States in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, in the form and manner prescribed in the first section of this act. Each of said assistant commissioners shall receive an annual salary of two thousand and five hundred dollars, in full compensation for all his services. And any military officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allowances. The commissioner shall, before the commencement of each regular session of Congress, make full report of his proceedings, with exhibits of the state of his accounts, to the President, who shall communicate the same to Congress, and shall also make special reports whenever required to do so by the President, or either house of Congress. And the assistant commissioners shall make quarterly reports of their proceedings to the commissioner, and also such other special reports as from time to time may be required.

"SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen such tracts of land, within the insurrectionary States, as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation, or sale, or otherwise. And to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it is so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years, at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of said land as it was appraised by the State authorities in the year 1860, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may, by regulation, prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent as aforesaid.

"SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

"ROBERT C. SCHENCK, HENRY WILSON, "GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, JAMES HARLAN, "JAMES S. ROLLINS, W. T. WILLEY, "Managers on part of House. Managers on part of Senate."

To have subjected the late rebellious States to military rule for a stated term of years, say a decade or a generation, would have given force to the hasty statement of rebels and their sympathizers in the courts of Europe. It was charged that the United States Government fought to subjugate the Confederate States. The United States did not "begin it," and did not intend, at any time, to lay the mailed hand of military power against the throat of the rights of loyal citizens or loyal States. The sine qua non of reconstruction was loyalty to the Federal Government. But while this idea was next to the heart of the Government, the sudden and horrible taking off of Abraham Lincoln discovered many master-builders, who built not well or wisely. The early education of Andrew Johnson was not in line with the work of reconstruction. His sympathies were with the South in spite of his position and circumstances. The friends of his early political life were more potent than the friends of a sound, sensible, and loyal policy upon which to build the shattered governments of the South. And by indicating and advocating a policy at variance with the logical events of the war, he was guilty of a political crime, and did the entire nation an irreparable injury.

Congress seemed to be unequal to the task of perfecting a proper plan for reconstructing the Southern States. To couple general amnesty to the rebels with suffrage to the Negroes was a most fatal policy. It has been shown that there was but one class of white men in the South friendly to reconstruction,--numerically, small; and mentally, weak. But it was thought best to do this. To a triple element Congress committed the work of reconstruction. The "Scalawag," the "Carpet-bagger," and the Negro. Who were this trio? The scalawag was the native white man who made up the middle class of the South; the planter above, the Negro below. And between this upper and nether millstone he was destined to be ground to powder, under the old regime. A "nigger-driver," without schools, social position, or money, he was "the poor white trash" of the South. He was loyal during the war, because in the triumph of the Confederacy, with slavery as its corner-stone, he saw no hope for his condition. Those of them who fought under the rebel flag were unwilling conscripts. They had no qualifications for governing--except that they were loyal; and this was of no more use to them in this great work, than piety in the pulpit when the preacher cannot repeat the Lord's prayer without biting his tongue. The carpet-baggers ran all the way from "good to middling." Some went South with fair ability and good morals, where they lost the latter article and never found it; while many more went South to get all they could and keep all they got. The Negro could boast of numerical strength only. The scalawag managed the Negro, the latter did the voting, while the carpet-bagger held the offices. And when there were "more stalls than horses" the Negroes and scalawags occasionally got an office.

The rebels were still in a swoon.

The States were reconstructed, after a manner, and the governments went forward.

In 1868 Gen. U. S. Grant carried these States. It was like the handle on a jug, all on one side. The rebels took no part; but after a while a gigantic Ku Klux conspiracy was discovered. This organization sought to obstruct the courts, harass the Negroes, and cripple local governments. It spread terror through the South and made a political graveyard of startling dimensions. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended; arrests made, trials and convictions secured, and the penitentiary at Albany, New York, crowded with the enemies of law and order. A subsidence followed, and the scalawag-carpetbag-Negro governments began a fresh existence.

In 1872 Gen. Grant carried the Southern States again, meeting with but little resistance. In Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina there were Negro lieutenant-governors. The Negroes were learning rapidly the lesson of rotation in office, and demanded recognition. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, were represented, in part, by Negroes in the National House of Representatives, and Mississippi in the Senate as well. Both branches of the Legislatures of all the Southern States contained Negro members; while many of the most important and lucrative offices in the States were held by Negroes.

The wine cup, the gaming-table, and the parlors of strange women charmed many of these men to the neglect of important public duties. The bonded indebtedness of these States began to increase, the State paper to depreciate, the burden of taxation to grow intolerable, bad laws to find their way into the statute-books, interest in education and industry to decline, the farm Negroes to grow idle and gravitate to the infectious skirts of large cities, and the whole South went from bad to worse.

The hand of revenge reached for the shot-gun, and before its deadly presence white leaders were intimidated, driven out, or destroyed. Before 1875 came, the white element in the Republican party at the South was reduced to a mere shadow of its former self. Thus abandoned, the Negro needed the presence of the United States army while he voted, held office, and drew his salary. But even the army lacked the power to inject life into the collapsed governments at the South.

The mistake of reconstruction was twofold: on the part of the Federal Government, in committing the destinies of the Southern States to hands so feeble; and on the part of the South, in that its best men, instead of taking a lively interest in rebuilding the governments they had torn down, allowed them to be constructed with untempered mortar. Neither the South nor the Government could say: "Thou canst not say I did it: shake not thy gory locks at me." Both were culpable, and both have suffered the pangs of remorse.

FOOTNOTES:

[116] I am preparing a History of the Reconstruction of the Late Confederate States, 1865-1880. Hence I shall not enter into a thorough treatment of the subject in this work. It will follow this work, and comprise two volumes.