The Negro in The American Rebellion

The appointment of men from the ranks of the white regiments over the blacks caused the former to feel still more interest in the new levies. The position taken by Major-Gen. Hunter, in South Carolina, and his favorable reports of the capability of the freedmen for military service, and the promptness with which that distinguished scholar and Christian gentleman, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, accepted the colonelcy of the First South Carolina, made the commanding of negro regiments respectable, and caused a wish on the part of white volunteers to seek commissions over the blacks.

The new regiments filled up rapidly; the recruits adapted themselves to their new condition with a zeal that astonished even their friends; and their proficiency in the handling of arms, with only a few days’ training, set the minds of their officers at rest with regard to their future action. The following testimonial from Gen. Hunter is not without interest: —

“Headquarters Department of the South,

“Hilton Head, Port Royal, S.C., May 4, 1863.

“To His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass.

“I am happy to be able to announce to you my complete and eminent satisfaction with the results of the organization of negro regiments in this department. In the field, so far as tried, they have proved brave, active, enduring, and energetic, frequently outrunning, by their zeal, and familiarity with the Southern country, the restrictions deemed prudent by certain of their officers. They have never disgraced their uniform by pillage or cruelty, but have so conducted themselves, upon the whole, that even our enemies, though more anxious to find fault with these than with any other portion of our troops, have not yet been able to allege against them a single violation of any of the rules of civilized warfare.

“These regiments are hardy, generous, temperate, patient, strictly obedient, possessing great natural aptitude for arms, and deeply imbued with that religious sentiment – call it fanaticism, such as like – which made the soldiers of Cromwell invincible. They believe that now is the time appointed by God for their deliverance; and, under the heroic incitement of this faith, I believe them capable of showing a courage, and persistency of purpose, which must, in the end, extort both victory and admiration.

“In this connection, I am also happy to announce to you that the prejudices of certain of our white soldiers and officers against these indispensable allies are rapidly softening, or fading out; and that we have now opening before us in this department, which was the first in the present war to inaugurate the experiment of employing colored troops, large opportunities of putting them to distinguished and profitable use.

“With a brigade of liberated slaves already in the field, a few more regiments of intelligent colored men from the North would soon place this force in a condition to make extensive incursions upon the main land, through the most densely populated slave regions; and, from expeditions of this character, I make no doubt the most beneficial results would arise.

“I have the honor to be, Governor,

“Very respectfully,

“Your most obedient servant,

“D. HUNTER,

“Major-Gen. Commanding.”

Reports from all parts of the South gave corroborative evidence of the deep religious zeal with which the blacks entered the army. Every thing was done for “God and liberty.”

Col. T. W. Higginson, in “The Atlantic Monthly,” gives the following prayer, which he heard from one of his contraband soldiers: —

Let me so lib dat when I-die I shall hab manners; dat I shall know what to say when I see my heabenly Lord.

“‘Let me lib wid de musket in one hand, an’ de Bible in de oder – dat if I die at de muzzle of de musket, die in de water, die on de land, I may know I hab de bressed Jesus in my hand, an’ hab no fear.

“‘I hab lef my wife in de land o’ bondage; my little ones dey say eb’ry night, “Whar is my fader?” But when I die, when de bressed mornin’ rises, when I shall stan’ in de glory, wid one foot on de water an’ one foot on de land, den, O Lord! I shall see my wife an’ my little chil’en once more.’”

“These sentences I noted down, as best I could, beside the glimmering camp-fire last night. The same person was the hero of a singular little contre-temps at a funeral in the afternoon. It was our first funeral. The man had died in hospital, and we had chosen a picturesque burial place above the river, near the old church, and beside a little nameless cemetery, used by generations of slaves. It was a regular military funeral, the coffin being draped with the American flag, the escort marching behind, and three volleys fired over the grave. During the services, there was singing, the chaplain deaconing out the hymn in their favorite way. This ended, he announced his text: ‘This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his trouble.’ Instantly, to my great amazement, the cracked voice of the chorister was uplifted, intoning the text, as if it were the first verse of another hymn. So calmly was it done, so imperturbable were all the black countenances that I half began to conjecture that the chaplain himself intended it for a hymn, though I could imagine no prospective rhyme for trouble, unless it were approximated by debbil; which is, indeed, a favorite reference, both with the men and with his reverence. But the chaplain, peacefully awaiting, gently repeated his text after the chant, and to my great relief the old chorister waived all further recitative, and let the funeral discourse proceed.

“Their memories are a vast bewildered chaos of Jewish history and biography; and most of the great events of the past, down to the period of the American Revolution, they instinctively attribute to Moses. There is a fine bold confidence in all their citations, however, and the record never loses piquancy in their hands, though strict accuracy may suffer. Thus one of my captains, last Sunday, heard a colored exhorter at Beaufort proclaim, ‘Paul may plant, and may polish wid water, but it won’t do,’ in which the sainted Apollos would hardly have recognized himself.

“A correspondent of the Burlington “Free Press” gives an account of a Freedmen’s meeting at Belle Plain, Va. “Some of the negro prayers and exhortations were very simple and touching. One said in his prayer, ‘O Lord! we’s glad for de hour when our sins nailed us to de foot of de cross, and de bressed Lord Jesus put his soft arm around us, and tole us dat we’s his chilien: we’s glad we’s sinners, so dat we can be saved by his grace.’ Another thus earnestly prayed for the army of freedom:

“‘O Lord! bress de Union army; be thou their bulwarks and ditches. O Lord! as thou didst hear our prayer when we’s down in de Souf country, as we held de plow and de hoe in the hot sun, so hear our prayer at dis time for de Union army. Guard’em on de right, and on de lef,’ and in de rear: don’t lef’ ‘em ‘lone, though they’s mighty wicked.’ Another (a young man) thus energetically desired the overthrow of Satan’s empire: ‘O Lord! if you please, sir, won’t you come forth out of de heaven, and take ride ‘round about hell, and give it a mighty shake till de walls fall down.’

“A venerable exhorter got the story of the Prodigal Son slightly mixed, but not so as to damage the effect at all. He said, ‘He rose up and went to his fader’s house. And I propose he was ragged. And I propose de road dirty. But when his fader saw him coming over de hill, ragged and dirty, he didn’t say, “Dat ain’t my son.” He go and meet him. He throw his arms round his neck and kiss; and, while he was hugging and kissing him, he thought of dat robe in de wardroom, and he said, “Bring dat robe, and put it on him.” And when dey was a putting on de robe, he thought of de ring, dat splendid ring! and he said, “My son, dat was dead and is alive again, he like dat ring, cos it shine so.” And he made dem bring de ring and put it on his hand; and he put shoes on his feet, and killed de fatted calf. And here, my friends, see defection of de prodigal for his son. But, my bredren, you are a great deal better off dan de prodigal’s son. For he hadn’t no gemmen of a different color to come and tell him dat his fader was glad to hab him come home again. But dese handmaid bredren has kindly come dis evening to tell us dat our heabenly Father wants us to come back now. He’s ready to gib us de robe and de ring. De bressed Lord Jesus stands leaning over de bannisters of heaven, and reaching down his arms to take us up. O my friends! I ask you dis night to repent. If you lose your soul, you’ll never get anoder. I tell you all, if you don’t repent you’re goin’ straight to hell; and in de last day, when de Lord say to you, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlastin’ fire,” if you’re ‘onorable, you’ll own up, and say it’s right. O my friends.! I tell you de truth: it’s de best way to come to de Lord Jesus dis night.’”.

Regiment after regiment of blacks were mustered into the United-States service, in all the rebel States, and were put on duty at once, and were sooner or later called to take part in battle.

CHAPTER XVIII. – BATTLE OF MILLINERS BEND

Contraband Regiments; their Bravery; the Surprise. – Hand to hand Fight. – “No Quarters.” – Negroes rather die than surrender. – The Gunboat and her dreadful Havoc with the Enemy.

On the 7th of June, 1863, the first regular battle was fought between the blacks and whites in the valley of the Mississippi. The planters had boasted, that, should they meet their former slaves, a single look from them would cause the negroes to throw down their weapons, and run. Many Northern men, especially copperheads, professed to believe that such would be the case. Therefore, all eyes were turned to the far off South, the cotton, sugar, and rice-growing States, to see how the blacks would behave on the field of battle; for it is well known that the most ignorant of the slave population belonged in that section.

The following account of the fight is from an eye witness: —

“My informant states that a force of about five hundred 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 towards the gunboats, 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.

Capt. M. M. Miller, of Galena, III., who commanded a company in the Ninth Louisiana (colored) Regiment, in a letter, gives the following account of the battle: —

“We were attacked here on June 7, about three o’clock in the morning, by a brigade of Texas troops, about two thousand five hundred in number. We had about six hundred men to withstand them, five hundred of them negroes. I commanded Company I, Ninth Louisiana. We went into the fight with thirty-three men. I had sixteen killed, eleven badly wounded, and four slightly. I was wounded slightly on the head, near the right eye, with a bayonet, and had a bayonet run through my right hand, near the forefinger; that will account for this miserable style of penmanship.

“Our regiment had about three hundred men in the fight. We had one colonel wounded, four captains wounded, two first and two second lieutenants killed, five lieutenants wounded, and three white orderlies killed, and one wounded in the hand, and two fingers taken off. The list of killed and wounded officers comprised nearly all the officers present with the regiment, a majority of the rest being absent recruiting.

“We had about fifty men killed in the regiment and eighty wounded; so you can judge of what part of the fight my company sustained. I never felt more grieved and sick at heart, than when I saw how my brave soldiers had been slaughtered, – one with six wounds, all the rest with two or three, none less than two wounds. Two of my colored sergeants were killed: both brave, noble men, always prompt, vigilant, and ready for the fray. I never more wish to hear the expression, ‘The niggers won’t fight.’ Come with me, a hundred yards from where I sit, and I can show you the wounds that cover the bodies of sixteen as brave, loyal, and patriotic soldiers as ever drew bead on a rebel.

“The enemy charged us so close that we fought with our bayonets, hand to hand. I have six broken bayonets to show how bravely my men fought. The Twenty-third Iowa joined my company on the right; and I declare truthfully that they had all fled before our regiment fell back, as we were all compelled to do.

“Under command of Col. Page, I led the Ninth and Eleventh Louisiana when the rifle-pits were retaken and held by our troops, our two regiments doing the work.

“I narrowly escaped death once. A rebel took deliberate aim at me with both barrels of his gun; and the bullets passed so close to me that the powder that remained on them burnt my cheek. Three of my men, who saw him aim and fire, thought that he wounded me each fire. One of them was killed by my side, and he fell on me, covering my clothes with his blood; and, before the rebel could fire again, I blew his brains out with my gun.

“It was a horrible fight, the worst I was ever engaged in, – not even excepting Shiloh. The enemy cried, ‘No quarter!’ but some of them were very glad to take it when made prisoners.

“Col. Allen, of the Sixteenth Texas, was killed in front of our regiment, and Brig. – Gen. Walker was wounded. We killed about one hundred and eighty of the enemy. The gunboat “Choctaw” did good service shelling them. I stood on the breastworks after we took them, and gave the elevations and direction for the gunboat by pointing my sword; and they sent a shell right into their midst, which sent them in all directions. Three shells fell there, and sixty-two rebels lay there when the fight was over.

“My wound is not serious but troublesome. What few men I have left seem to think much of me, because I stood up with them in the fight. I can say for them that I never saw a braver company of men in my life.

“Not one of them offered to leave his place until ordered to fall back. I went down to the hospital, three miles, to-day to see the wounded. Nine of them were there, two having died of their wounds. A boy I had cooking for me came and bogged a gun when the rebels were advancing, and took his place with the company; and, when we retook the breastworks, I found him badly wounded, with one gun-shot and two bayonet wounds. A new recruit I had issued a gun to the day before the fight was found dead, with a firm grasp on his gun, the bayonet of which was broken in three pieces. So they fought and died, defending the cause that we revere. They met death coolly, bravely: not rashly did they expose themselves, but all were steady and obedient to orders.”

This battle satisfied the slave-masters of the South that their charm was gone, and that the negro, as a slave, was lost forever. Yet there was one fact connected with the battle of Milliken’s Bend which will descend to posterity, as testimony against the humanity of slave-holders; and that is, that no negro was ever found alive that was taken a prisoner by the rebels in this fight.

CHAPTER XIX – RAISING BLACK REGIMENTS AT THE NORTH

Prejudices at the North. – Black Laws of Illinois and Indiana. – Ill-treatment of Negroes. – The Blacks forget their Wrongs, and come to the Rescue.

In the struggle between the Federal Government and the rebels, the colored men asked the question, “Why should we fight?” The question was a legitimate one, at least for those residing in the Northern States, and especially in those States where there were any considerable number of colored people. In every State north of Mason and Dixon’s Line, except Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which attempted to raise a regiment of colored men, the blacks are disfranchised, excluded from the jury-box, and in most of them from the public schools. The iron hand of prejudice in the Northern States is as circumscribing and unyielding upon him as the manacles that fettered the slave of the South.

Now, these are facts, deny it who will. The negro has little to hope from Northern sympathy or legislation. Any attempt to engraft upon the organic law of the States provisions extending to the colored man political privileges is overwhelmingly defeated by the people. It makes no difference that here is a pen, and there a voice, raised in his behalf: the general verdict is against him; and its repetition in any case where it is demanded shows that it is inexorable. We talk a great deal about the vice of slavery, and the cruelty of denying to our fellowmen their personal freedom and a due reward of labor; but we are very careful not to concede the corollary, that the sin of withholding that freedom is not vastly greater than withholding the rights to which he who enjoys it is entitled.

When the war broke out, it was the boast of the Administration that the status of the negro was not to be changed in the rebel States. President Lincoln, in his inaugural address, took particular pains to commit himself against any interference with the condition of the blacks.

When the Rebellion commenced, and the call was made upon the country, the colored men were excluded. In some of the Western States into which slaves went when escaping from their rebel masters, in the first and second years of the war, the black-laws were enforced to drive them out. Read what “The Daily Alton Democrat” said for Illinois, in the year 1862: —

“Notice to the ‘Free Negroes.‘– I hereby give public notice to all free negroes who have arrived here from a foreign State within the past two months, or may hereafter come into the city of Alton with the intention of being residents thereof, that they are allowed the space of thirty days to remove; and, upon failure to leave the city, will, after that period, be proceeded against by the undersigned, as by law directed. The penalty is a heavy fine, to liquidate which the law-officer is compelled to offer all free negroes arrested at public auction, unless the fine and all costs of suit are promptly paid. I hope the city authorities will be spared the necessity of putting the above law in execution. All railroad companies and steamboats are also forbidden to land free negroes within the city under the penalty of the law. No additional notice will be given. Suits will positively be instituted against all offenders.

“JAMES W. DAVIS,

“May 27, 1862.”

“Prosecuting Attorney Alton-City Court.”

The authorities of the State of Indiana also got on the track of the contrabands from the rebel States; and the old black-laws were put forth as follows: —

“Any person who shall employ a negro or mulatto who shall have come into the State of Indiana subsequent to the thirty-first day of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, or shall hereafter come into said State, or who shall encourage such negro or mulatto to remain in the State, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.”

The following will show how Illinois treated the colored people, even after the proclamation of freedom was put forth by President Lincoln.

“The Whiteside (Ill.) Sentinel” says the following official notice is posted in the post-office and other public places in the city of Carthage, Hancock County, Ill. It is a practical exemplication of the Illinois “black-laws.” The notice reads as follows: —

“Public Sale. – Whereas, The following negroes and one mulatto man were, on the fifth and sixth days of February, 1863, tried before the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace within and for Hancock County, Ill., on a charge of high misdemeanor, having come into this State and county, and remaining therein for ten days and more, with the evident intention of residing in this State, and were found guilty by a jury, and were each severally fined in the sum of fifty dollars, and the judgment was rendered against said negroes and mulatto man for fifty dollars’ fine each, and costs of suit, which fines and costs are annexed opposite to each name, to wit: —

Age. Fine. Costs.

John, a negro man, tall and slim, about. 35 $50 $33.17

Sambo, a negro man, about 21 50 32.17

Austin, a negro man, heavy set, about 20 50 30.10

Andrew, a negro man, about 50 30 33.00

Amos, a negro man, about 40 50 29.67

Nelson, a mulatto man, about 55 50 30.07

“And whereas. Said fines and costs have not been paid, notice is therefore given that the undersigned will, on Thursday, the nineteenth day of February, A.D. 1863, between the hours of one and five o’clock, p.m., of said day, at the west end of the Court House, in Carthage, Hancock County, 111., sell each of said negro men, John, Austin, Sambo, Andrew, Amos, and said mulatto man, Nelson, at public auction, to the person or persons who will pay the said fine and costs appended against each respectively for the shortest time of service of said negroes and mulatto.

“The purchaser or purchasers will be entitled to the control and services of the negroes and mulatto purchased for the period named in the sale, and no longer, and will be required to furnish said negroes and mulatto with comfortable food, clothing, and lodging during said servitude. The fees for selling will be added on completion of the sale.

“C. M. CHILD, J.P

“Carthage, Feb. 9, 1863.”

It will be seen that these odious laws were rigidly enforced. With what grace could the authorities in those States ask the negro to fight? Yet they called upon him; and he, forgetting the wrongs of the past, and demanding no pledge for better treatment, left family, home, and every thing dear, enlisted, and went forth to battle. And even Connecticut, with her proscription of the negro, called on him to fight. How humiliating it must have been! And yet Connecticut, after appealing to black men, and receiving their aid in fighting her battles, retains her negro “black-laws” upon her statute-book by a vote of more than six thousand.

CHAPTER XX. – FIFTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT

Its Organization. – Its Appearance. – Col. Shaw. – Presentation of Colors. – Its Dress-Parade. – Its Departure from Boston.

The Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was called into the service of the United States by the President, under an act of Congress, passed July 21, 1861, entitled “An Act to authorize the Employment of Volunteers to aid in enforcing the Laws and protecting’ Public Property.” Recruiting began Feb. 9, 1863, in Boston. A camp of rendezvous was opened at “Camp Meigs,” Readville, Mass., on the 21st of February, with a squad of twenty-seven men; and, by the end of March, five companies were recruited, comprising four hundred and fourteen men. This number was doubled during April; and, on the 12th of May, the regiment was full.