Historical Romance of the American Negro

By this time the news had been well spread throughout the hospital, and even into the city of New Orleans, that the children and I had come to see Tom. And no sooner had we got through with our dinner when the tide of visitors began – doctors, nurses, with their lady and gentlemen friends from all quarters, besides almost all the officials on the premises, at least those who could get away from their duties, to come and shake hands and speak a kind word to us three pilgrim travelers to their own hospital. No doubt but a good deal of this interest arose from the high favor in which Captain Thomas Lincoln had been held from the first, and that in turn was greatly due to his well-known bravery on the field of battle and of fame. Then Tom is of a tall, commanding, splendid personage, and a perfect magnet among all comers.

We had intended to spend the afternoon in our own way, but circumstances alter cases, and the afternoon wore away with nothing at all but one round of introductions after another round, till at last the first crowds began to die off as tea time drew near; and as the authorities at the hospital were very kind, indeed, and as we were still in that self-same parlor where we had spent the day, as an additional favor to us four our tea was served up in the same place where we had had our dinner. And so we all sat down, our hearts overflowing with joy – joy that found vent even in tears, and filled our eyes, out of gratitude to that good God who had thus allowed us all to meet again, "for His mercy endureth forever." One of the girls having said grace before meal, we all fell to, and had a most glorious repast of the very best that the hospital and the city of New Orleans could produce.

As good news flies fast in a strange place, especially where a good cause is under way, we had no sooner got through with our most capital tea than the newspaper reporters began to arrive. And those reporters were the politest gentlemen I ever saw in my life, for they treated us with as much kindly interest as if we had all been acquainted for the last twenty years. Tom and I asked them to be seated whilst we had a brief consultation between ourselves aside. This consultation was about my own coming to New Orleans at a former time, and releasing my own dear mother from slavery. But as the bottom had already been knocked out of the peculiar institution, as it was playfully called, and what remained of it would soon pass away, we did not consider that there was any risk to run, and decide to tell the whole truth, and give all the facts of the case to the reporters, leaving it to their own discretion to say and do anything that they pleased, themselves. So the reporting gentlemen took their seats, got out their note-books, and went to work, writing down our depositions, one and all, first and last, asking us questions which we answered with the greatest pleasure. There was a good deal of amusement in the parlor that evening over the reporting business, I suspect arising out of the slavery question, and the whole of us being a lot of "runaways"!

In the meantime, when all had left, the girls and myself were completely worn out both in mind and body, with travel, fatigue and excitement. Tom saw us to the gate where we all took leave for the night, after which we steered for our cosy lodgings, and all got to bed as rapidly as possible, for we were as tired and worn out as soldiers after a hard-fought field!

The children and I had a grand, long sleep, and came down late to breakfast. There had been showers of warm rain in the early morning, and the breezes that blew over New Orleans were as well perfumed with the odor of Southern flowers and vegetation as ever lady's boudoir was with the perfumes and colognes. Fresh-cut flowers in vases stood on the dining-room table, and there were plenty of the fresh fruits of the Sunny South, which the family had brought in from the market in the early morning. The girls seemed quite at sea amid so many tropical pleasures, and my first-born exclaimed, as she looked around and viewed the plants, and flowers, and shrubbery in every direction, both in the house and out of it,

"My goodness, mamma; the people have good times down here in Dixie. Papa has a grand time in that fine hospital, reading the latest news from the front, and scenting the perfumery wafted from 10,000 flowers and shrubs! I just envy him so much happiness."

"Yes," said the younger child, "and he is here all the time."

To which her elder sister rejoined,

"Oh, my dear sister, I wish that mamma and papa would stay here altogether, and not go back to Buffalo!"

"What?" said I, in great surprise, "don't you know that there are 10,000 serpents among the grasses and shrubs out in the woods? Don't you want to go back to our sweet little church on Vine street, in Buffalo? And don't you want to visit the Gibsons, at Richmond Hill, once more?"

"Oh, yes, mamma," she replied, "I want to go back to class to the church on Vine street, Buffalo, and I want to dig up potatoes, and pull down apples and peaches at Richmond Hill, where those good Gibsons live, in Western Canada."

"But," resumed my oldest daughter, "you say, mamma, that there are 10,000 serpents in this part of the Sunny South; is that so?"

"Yes," I replied, whilst I cut another orange in two, "there are more than 10,000, I suppose; but take all the hundreds of species in the world, there is not one species in a hundred that is poisonous at all; and they will seldom or never sting anybody, if one does not go in their way, or trample on them in the woods. They generally get out of the way. But tell me, my dear, what makes you so fond of the South?"

"Indeed, mamma, I can hardly tell, unless it be that there is such a sweet and delicious feeling about all our surroundings here. Why, the very winds themselves seem to be fond of blowing about in this place."

"Yes," put in the younger; "the very winds are fond of blowing about in this place."

These latter remarks were heard by some of the family and guests, and we all raised a loud laugh, whilst the youngest added:

"Sister, please pass me another of those small, sweet oranges! I don't see for the very life of me why we could not live in the State of Louisiana. And then, mamma says the snakes are not very dangerous, and we could be careful, and look out for them."

"Oh, yes," rejoined her sister; "we could be careful, and look out for them. And would not the good Lord Himself protect us against them?"

"No doubt he would," remarked the other, "if Christianity can protect us against serpents about New Orleans."

By this time we were in a great state of merriment over the two girls, and rose from the breakfast table as if we had been leaving a successful entertainment, and walked out to see the garden.

After we had made the rounds of the garden, and regaled our senses with all that was most delicious in the Sunny South, we came back to the house, when a member of this good family placed before us on the sitting-room table, one of the New Orleans morning papers, which contained the following article. I think the good reporter who wrote this most grandiloquent article on myself, family and connections must either have been drinking too much wine, or else he is on the point of getting married! I can account for such high praise in no other way. But let us hear what he has got to say:

"ARRIVAL OF MRS. THOMAS LINCOLN AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS.

"It is an old and true saying 'that wonders never cease,' and again we are reminded of the words used by Paul against his enemies, – 'Those who have turned the world up-side down have come hither also!' We Southern people, after this, need wonder no longer at the terrible war that the mighty North has brought about our ears! There arrived in the port of New Orleans yesterday, the wife and two daughters of Capt. Thos. Lincoln, an inmate of one of our hospitals, a captain of colored troops, promoted on the battle-field for bravery. Mrs. Lincoln is a perfect paragon among ladies, and seem to possess every accomplishment under the sun, – both mind and body. She is only twenty-seven years of age, and brought her children, two well-grown girls – along with her, having traveled by rail from Buffalo, New York, and from thence came on the 'Natchez,' down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. Their arrival was a great surprise to Captain Lincoln, and all the high authorities at the hospital; and a tremendous, warm welcome was what they all received from all whom they met. We ourselves heard of their arrival, hurried up to the hospital, met Captain Lincoln's wife and daughters in one of the parlors there, and were very much impressed indeed by this entire happy family, who appeared to us 'as fine as silk.' We found all four brimful of talk and intelligence; Mrs. Lincoln and the girls being expert hands on the piano, whilst the girls have evidently had splendid opportunities of getting a first-class training in every way. Indeed the intelligence of the great North has not yet been told by one half!

"We remember reading in the public papers, some nine or ten years ago, that this self-same Capt. Thos. Lincoln and Miss Beulah Jackson, now Mrs. Lincoln, made their escape from Riverside Hall, Kentucky, and were married on the evening of the same day at Cincinnati, Ohio. Tom Lincoln, as he used to be called, was general manager at the old baronial residence, and Beulah went by the facetious name of 'The Flower Girl of Riverside Hall,' and Beulah is 'Flower Girl' still.

"Mrs. Lincoln and the girls are very comfortably lodged at the house of some old friends where, according to present appearances, they will spend the winter, – a solace and a comfort to the brave husband and father, who is slowly recovering from the wounds he received on the banks of the Mississippi whilst heroically contending with the enemy up the river. The happiness of this now re-united family, and under such romantic circumstances, taught us that the age of chivalry has not yet gone by.

"We are all aware that this war sent by God himself for the downfall of slavery, was begun in Kansas, transferred to South Carolina, and then spread over almost all the Southern States. It was the abolitionism of the North aided by the anger and high-strung temper of the South that blew up the flames of war, and brought on the present state of things that we now see! And there were not only men in the great abolition campaign, but a few intrepid women also, who traveled the Northern States, attended great meetings, where they played, and sang, and even made most eloquent addresses to fire the great northern heart, and thus these talented and warring women, these Deborahs of the great North, were a mighty factor in blowing up the raging fires of abolitionism, and driving the nation into war.

"Mrs. Thomas Lincoln herself was one of those moving spirits, and her great natural intelligence, splendid training, and good looks helped to put wind in her sails, and to stir up the war spirit of the dominant North in every kind of way possible.

"As slavery is almost dead and gone, – and what remains cannot exist much longer, we must accept the entire situation with as good a grace as we can! It can do no harm now to let the cat out of the bag and tell the whole truth! We have shown that not only is Capt. Thos. Lincoln a brave man, but his affectionate and beautiful wife is brave also; and she proved it about ten years ago, when she was only some seventeen years of age, and came to this very city of New Orleans, and 'stole away' her own handsome and accomplished mother out of one of the grandest houses here, marched on board the New York steamer with her, and conveyed her to Buffalo, New York, by way of Havana and New York City. Surely that was a great feat for a mere seventeen-year-old married woman, or 'big' school girl if you prefer it, – to perform, – that is travelling all the way by rail to Cincinnati, then down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and then braving the dangers of the Gulf of Mexico and the stormy North Atlantic and all this to have her own beloved mother under the self-same roof with herself – and she succeeded in the bargain! We are informed that her mother, – formerly called Harriet Jackson, was married some eight or nine years ago to Mr. John B. Sutherland, of Buffalo, N. Y. Under all these altered circumstances we think that the right thing to do now, is to accept of the changed situation with all the grace that we can, – turn over a new leaf, and do all for our former slaves, but now our freed brothers and sisters that lies in our power. It is clearly the will of God that men should be free. It will never do to talk about 'goods and chattels' any longer. If Tom Lincoln and Beulah Jackson had not left Riverside Hall in Kentucky, it is quite clear that had it not been for God and Northern Liberty, we would never have seen such a splendid development of things, as we now behold at the hospital which we have just visited, that is, – a brave and well-trained soldier from the battle-field and a mother and two daughters that possess all the gifts and the graces that can ever be claimed by the mistress of the 'White House,' at Washington, and the queens and ladies of rank of Europe.

"With all our hearts we welcome our visitors to the Crescent City of New Orleans, and desire to make a good impression on their hearts and minds, trusting that their stay among us will be very pleasant indeed; and may they ever be much in love with the Sunny South."

CHAPTER XI

Grand Demonstration at the Military Hospital – Music and Speeches – The Armies Reviewed by President Lincoln – The War in Virginia – Fight at New Market Heights – Fall of Petersburg and Richmond – Flight of the Rebels – Their Surrender at Appomattox Court House – Rejoicing Over the Good News – The Lincoln Family Leave New Orleans, and Arrive Home at Buffalo.

As the hospital where my husband was staying was at this time one of the greatest attractions of New Orleans, the authorities determined to make the most of our arrival there, and in short get up a demonstration in force in honor of the colored soldier and the glorious deeds he had done on the far-extended battle-field, all the way from the Potomac to the Rio Grande; and it was decided that some high military general should be asked to take the chair at this great meeting in the largest hall at the hospital. As the newspaper reporters were once more on hand in force, it will be unnecessary for me to say any more about this grand demonstration, only I may say that men have a peculiar love for flattering the fair sex, and I think that newspaper reporters, at least those in the Sunny South, lead all the rest of the flatterers. I will here insert a copy from the article of the same paper that contained the glowing account of our arrival at New Orleans:

"GRAND DEMONSTRATION AT THE MILITARY HOSPITAL – MRS. BEULAH LINCOLN ON THE COLORED SOLDIER.

"It will be a long time before the citizens of New Orleans and Louisiana will forget the mighty gathering that took place last night at the Military Hospital, where the commanding general took the chair, and nobly presided for two hours over a mixed multitude of all races and professions, to be entertained by Capt. Thos. Lincoln, Mrs. Beulah Lincoln and their two daughters, all of whom are by this time well-known to the people of Louisiana. The colored soldiers, officers, and general population were out in force, and between them and the white portion of the audience, standing room at last was a premium, and hundreds were turned away for want of room in the hall.

"All things being now in readiness, the chairman called the meeting to order by saying, – 'Ladies and Gentlemen! We are assembled here to-night for an evening's entertainment from the Lincoln Family of Buffalo, and we may also consider this a public reception of the same family. And inasmuch as Mrs. Lincoln is a splendid hand on the piano, and a 'number one' singer in the bargain, and as I had the pleasure of hearing her myself, only the other day, going through the 'Mocking Bird' at a rate and in a way such as I have never heard – no, never, elsewhere – I will ask this accomplished lady to give us 'The Mocking Bird,' and sing to her own accompaniment at the same time.'

"When Mrs. Lincoln arose and advanced to the grand piano on the stage in front of the audience, a most tremendous outburst of applause arose from the audience, and almost brought down the roof. But our plucky and accomplished musician struck in without stint, and such a 'Mocking Bird' came forth from her lungs and off the chords of the piano as has not been heard for many a long day on the lower Mississippi. The attention was such as could be felt, and when she got through with the performance, the applause was simply indescribable. An encore was immediately called for with such vigor that the fair player was forced to comply, and with grand spirit and vim she gave us 'We Are Coming Father Abraham, Six Hundred Thousand More.' This really is a grand story, to which Mrs. Lincoln's clever hands and powerful, sweet voice did ample justice. Another encore was called for, but the gallant chairman interfered by rising and saying, 'We now call upon Captain Thos. Lincoln for a few remarks. Let us all give our most earnest attention to Captain Tom.'

"When the applause that had greeted his appearance had somewhat died down, Captain Lincoln went on to say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, such a night as this makes up for all I have suffered in the cause of the Union and Freedom. When I first entered the army to assist in putting down the rebellion, I came down to the State of Louisiana and did my level best against the enemy along the lower Mississippi. While we in Louisiana and the colored troops in South Carolina under General Hunter, proved from our first blows that we could and would fight, the President and his Cabinet were deterred by many prejudiced men in the north and in the very army itself from enlisting colored men. A portion of the northern press were forever thundering against the enlistment of colored men, on account of the prejudice against the color of the skin, or at least against the inheritance of a few drops of African blood. They were envious and jealous lest the descendant of African parentage should fall side by side with the fair-skinned Caucasian, should die and be buried with him, or if he survived the shock of war, should receive the self-same honors as his Anglo-Saxon brother. Of course the white man of the north knew that we could fight quite as well as himself. Why not? But he was afraid of our proving that our claims to manhood were as good as anything he could claim for himself; and therefore he felt unwilling to give us a chance. Then again, not only did the slave-holders of the south desire the continuation of slavery, but there was an 'immense mixed multitude' of their sympathizers north of Mason and Dixon's Line, who took the same view of the situation, and who foresaw that, once the colored race marched to the field, slavery would come to an end. This opposition was rampant in the Union Army and throughout the north till the Southrons had given us dozens, if not hundreds of lickings on many a hard fought field, and the winter of 1862 saw the entire nation in a fearful state of depression. What was to be done? – The answer was at hand! – As a matter of immediate military necessity call the colored men into the field, – free them, – and end the war! Then drilling of colored men began at once, from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Great Lakes to the Ohio and Missouri rivers, and now I believe that we have some two hundred thousand colored men in the field and in the fleets together. Neither have we fought for pay nor from any other personal selfish motive; we have fought for the salvation of Uncle Sam and the freedom of the slave at one and the same time. We have not fought for ourselves alone, we have fought for others, and all the commanding generals have ever given us a good word, and never a bad one. They have uniformly praised our men with a good grace, and praised them without stint. Now the south is steadily going down, down, down. All they have left is a small section in the northeastern part of the confederacy, and they cannot hold out much longer. Still like rats, they will fight as long as there is one man left standing on his feet. I am afraid we shall have to kill every one of them for they are a stiff-necked and rebellious generation, and they will never surrender whilst they have a man in front who can carry a flag.

"'I ought to be in Virginia now myself, where so many of my friends and compatriots, under Grant, are wearing out the rebellion to a nonentity. I would like to be there, and would soon show the rebels and rebel sympathizers again whether I will fight or not. But I am not entirely recovered, even now, from the wounds I received up the river, and here I will remain until I am cured.'

"Captain Lincoln having thus spoken resumed his seat amidst a perfect storm of applause all over the hall.

"The gallant chairman once more arose and said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen. It is now my extreme pleasure to bring under your kind notice the two accomplished young daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, two of the sweetest girls that I ever met with in all my life. They are regular attendants of a Christian Church at Buffalo, and have also received a first class musical education in the north. They will now treat us all to a fine duet on the grand piano.'

"When the commanding general had thus spoken, these two elegant girls advanced to the piano, took their seats, and commenced a duet which gave a world of pleasure to all assembled in the hall, both soldiers and citizens alike, and where and how these girls had got so much training and perfected musical education was a wonder to many. Be that as it may, the girls were not at all daunted, and played as quietly and collected as if they had been in a private parlor at home. When the girls had got through their lively and enthusiastic duet, the applause that followed was so great and continued that they were obliged to comply with the demand for an encore, which they accordingly gave, and which was, if possible, better than the one before it, and was rewarded with another tremendous round of applause.

"The chairman arose again and said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, we have all listened with extreme pleasure to the two duets played by these two children. We will now call upon Mrs. Thos. Lincoln to address the house. She did splendid service during the Abolition Campaign that led on to the election of Abraham Lincoln; and thousands, who are now free, have already risen up and called her blessed. But we will now have the pleasure of hearing the lady herself.'

"Mrs. Lincoln on coming forward was met with a splendid reception from the audience, who even rose to their feet and cheered loudly. It was a glorious sight to see the meeting at this time, the handsome lady waiting on the stage, and soldiers and citizens like to go frantic with joy, as well indeed they might. When order had been evolved out of chaos, Mrs. Lincoln proceeded as follows:

"'Gallant General, Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems to me that this must be the happiest day of my life, thus to stand before an audience in the famous Crescent City in company with my dear husband and daughters. Most assuredly this is the red letter day of my life, if I ever had one, to address both soldiers and citizens at New Orleans.

"'And yet I am quite overwhelmed when I contrast the little I was permitted to do in the Abolition Campaign before the war with what many a brave man, – yes, hundreds of thousands of men have done since, and are doing now, both by day and by night. I feel quite overcome when I think even of these brave men all around me here, and remember the easy times by comparison, that we Abolitionists had as we travelled the Northern States, and were not always well received. Yes, small and puny was our work compared with that of the black and white heroes who have often met a most determined and even desperate foe, on many a hard fought field. The hearts of us poor women in the North have often bled as we all these years at home lay secure and safe, whilst our loved ones were fighting like giants against the enemies of human liberty, and mankind also. The bravest of the brave were in the field. White and black all fought alike well. They were the flower of all the men of the north. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions.

"'The war, no doubt, is now drawing to a close. The host of slavery is in their last ditch, even at Richmond in Virginia, where blacks and whites will have to finish them between them. And when this cruel war is all over, and those who remain alive return home again, then the country will begin to teem with chronicles and histories of the great rebellion. But will one hundredth part of the truth ever be told? I don't think it ever will; because it will never be known, and who can write the history of that which we don't know? Such and such things could be related, but there is no one to record them.