The Black Phalanx
by Joseph T. Wilson · English · Gutenberg #31339 · 1,201,659 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Black Phalanx
Author: Joseph T. Wilson
Release date: February 21, 2010 [eBook #31339]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK PHALANX ***
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THE
BLACK PHALANX
AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, THE WAR OF 1812,
AND THE CIVIL WAR
BY
JOSEPH T. WILSON
LATE OF THE 2ND. REG'T. LA. NATIVE GUARD VOLS. 54TH MASS. VOLS.
AIDE-DE-CAMP TO THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF G. A. B.
AUTHOR OF
"EMANCIPATION," "VOICE OF A NEW RACE," "TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF FREEDOM,"
ETC., ETC.
New Foreword by
DUDLEY TAYLOR CORNISH
DA CAPO PRESS NEW YORK
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Wilson, Joseph T. (Joseph Thomas), 1836-1891.
The Black phalanx: African American soldiers in the War of Independence,
the War of 1812, and the Civil War / by Joseph T. Wilson; foreword by
Dudley Taylor Cornish.--1st Da Capo Press ed.
p. cm.
Previously published: Hartford, Conn.: American Pub. Co., 1890.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-306-80550-2
1. Afro-American soldiers--History. 2. United States--History--Civil
War, 1861-1865--Participation, Afro-American. 3.
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Participation,
Afro-American. 4. United States--History--War of 1812--Participation,
Afro-American. I. Cornish, Dudley Taylor. II. Title.
E185.63.W632 1994 93-40117
973.7-dc20 CIP
First Da Capo Press edition 1994
This Da Capo Press paperback edition of _The Black Phalanx_ is an
unabridged republication of the edition published in Hartford,
Connecticut, in 1887. It is here supplemented with a new foreword by
Dudley Taylor Cornish.
Foreword © 1994 by Dudley Taylor Cornish
Published by Da Capo Press, Inc.
A Subsidiary of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
INTRODUCTION.
By way of introduction to the American public, of the author and editor
of this book, we beg to say that Mr. Wilson is not altogether unknown to
the literary world, having already published several works relative to
the Negro race.
His services during the war of the Rebellion secured for him a
flattering recognition. He served in the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Native
Guard Volunteers, also the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers,--the most
famous of the Union negro regiments that engaged in the struggle,
receiving several wounds. He was the first negro member of the National
Council of Administration of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a
delegate to the National Encampment, and was appointed Colonel--A. D. C.
to the Commander-in-Chief G. A. R. He was chosen by his comrades to be
the historian of the negro soldiers, and has overcome many almost
insurmountable difficulties in gathering the scattered facts,
particularly those of the early wars of the United States, that were
necessary to complete this work.
THE PUBLISHERS.
DEDICATION.
_To the Brave Men Who Commanded the Black Phalanx._
SOLDIERS:--As a mark of esteem and respect for your patriotic devotion
to the cause of human freedom, I desire to dedicate to you this record
of the services of the negro soldiers, whom you led so often and
successfully in the struggle for liberty and union during the great war
of 1861-'65.
Your coming from the highest ranks of social life, undeterred by the
prevailing spirit of caste prejudice, to take commands in the largest
negro army ever enrolled beneath the flag of any civilized country, was
in itself a brave act. The organization and disciplining of over two
hundred thousand men, of a race that for more than two centuries had
patiently borne the burdens of an unrequited bondage, for the
maintenance of laws which had guaranteed to them neither rights nor
protection, was indeed a magnificent undertaking.
You were outlawed by the decrees of Jefferson Davis, criticised by many
friends at home, and contemptuously received by brother officers at
headquarters, in the field, in the trenches, and at the mess table; yet,
you did not waver in your fidelity to principle or in your heroic
leadership of those whose valor was denied until it was proven in
carnage and victory.
The record of the Black Phalanx invites the scrutiny of all who have
been disposed to taunt you for associating with "armed barbarians." No
massacre of vanquished foe stains the banners of those who followed you,
giving quarter but receiving none. It was your teaching that served as a
complete restraint against retaliation, though statesmen hinted that it
would be just. Your training developed patriotism and courage, but not
revenge. Ungrateful as Republics are said to be, ours has aimed to
recognize merit and reward it, and those who at first hailed you with
contumely, are now glad to greet you as heroes and saviors of a common
country.
No true soldier desires to forget the price of his country's liberty, or
that of his own; it is the recollection of the terrible bloody
onset--the audacious charge--the enemy's repulse, which sweetens
victory. And surely no soldiers can appreciate the final triumph with a
keener sense of gladness than those who fought against such odds as did
the Black Phalanx. Beating down prejudice and upholding the national
cause at the same time, they have inscribed upon their banners every
important battle from April, 1863, to April, 1865.
If what I have written here shall call to your minds, and present justly
to the patriotic public, the indescribable hardships which you endured
on the march, in the bivouac, and in the seething flames of the battle's
front, my task will have served its purpose. In the name of and as a
token of the gratitude of a freed race, this book is dedicated to you.
JOSEPH T. WILSON.
_Navy Hill, Richmond, Va._
PREFACE.
It was a dark, stormy night in the winter of 1882, when less than a
hundred men, all of whom had served their country in crushing the great
Rebellion of 1861-'65, gathered around a camp-fire. The white and the
colored American were there; so were the German, Frenchman, and
Irishman,--all American citizens,--all veterans of the last war. The
empty sleeve, the absent leg, the sabred face, the bullet-scarred body
of the many, told the story of the service they had seen. It was the
annual Encampment of the Department of Virginia, Grand Army of the
Republic, and the comrades of Farragut Post had tastefully arranged
their quarters for the occasion.
At midnight a sumptuous soldiers fare--baked beans, hot coffee and hard
tack--was spread before the veterans, who ate and drank heartily as in
the days when resting from the pursuit of the enemy. In the morning
hour, when weary from the joy of song and toast, it was proposed that
the history of the American negro soldier should be written, that
posterity might have a fuller and more complete record of the deeds of
the negro soldiers than had been given in the numerous already published
histories of the conflicts in which they played so important a part.
The task of preparing the history fell to my lot, and it is in obedience
to the duty laid upon me by my former comrades, with whom I shared the
toils and joys of camp, march, battle and siege, that this volume, the
result of my efforts, is launched upon the sea of war literature.
Whether or not there is any merit in the work, the reader must judge.
His charity is asked, however, toward such defects as may be apparent,
and which, perhaps, might be expected in the literary work of one whose
life has been largely spent amid the darkness of the South American
countries and the isolation of the South Sea Islands. It was not until
May, 1862, while domiciled at the capitol of Chili, that I first learned
of the war in the United States, when, hastening to this country, I fell
into the ranks with the first negro soldiers that left the Touro
Building at New Orleans, in November, 1862, and marched out on the
Opelousas road, to serve in defence of the Union.
With whatever forebodings of failure I entered upon the work of
collecting the literature of the war, from which to cull and arrange
much of the matter contained herein,--which has required years of
incessant search and appeal,--I can but _feel_ that it has been
thoroughly done. The public libraries of the cities of Boston,
Cincinnati, New Bedford, New York, the War Department at Washington, and
the private libraries of several eminent citizens, have alike been made
use of by me.
It seemed proper, also, that the memory of our forefathers should not be
allowed to remain in longer obscurity; that it was fitting to recall
_their_ deeds of heroism, that all might know the sacrifices they made
for the freedom their descendants were so long denied from enjoying. In
gathering together the scattered facts relating to the negroe's
participation in the wars of 1775 and 1812, difficulties well-nigh
insurmountable have been overcome, and it has been only through patient
and persistent effort that I have been able to prepare the chapters
devoted to the early wars of the United States.
Descriptions of a number of the battles in which negro troops took part
in the late war of the Rebellion, are given to call attention to the
unsurpassed carnage which occurred, and to give them proper place in the
war's history rather than to present a critical account of the battles.
My aim has been to write in the spirit which impelled the soldiers to go
forth to battle, and to reverse the accounts given in the popular
histories which ascribe to the generals and colonels who commanded,
instead of the soldiers who did the fighting, victory or defeat. "The
troops who do what can neither be expected nor required, are the ones
which are victorious. The men, who, tired and worn and hungry and
exhausted, yet push into battle, are those who win. They who persist
against odds, against obstacles, against hope, who proceed or hold out
reasonably, are the conquerors," says Gen. Grant's historian. With no
desire of detracting from the commanders--if I were able--the honor due
them, my aim is to credit the soldiers with whatever heroism they may
have displayed.
I acknowledge it has been a labor of love to fight many of the battles
of the war of the rebellion over again, not because of a relish for
blood and the destruction of human life, but for the memories of the
past; of the bondage of a race and its struggle for freedom, awakening
as they do the intense love of country and liberty, such as one who has
been without either feels, when both have been secured by heroic effort.
To those who have responded to my appeal for information regarding the
negro soldier, I have aimed to give full credit; if any are omitted it
is not intentionally done. To no one am I more indebted for assisting in
collecting data, than to Lt. J. M. Trotter, of the 55th Mass. Reg't. nor
am I unmindful of the kindness of Hon. Robert Lincoln, late Secretary of
War, nor that of Col. James D. Brady, member of Congress from Virginia,
for copies of public records; to Col. H. C. Corbin, for the record of
the 14th Reg't.; and to Col. D. Torrance for that of the 29th Reg't.
Conn. I am also indebted to Maj. Gen. Wm. Mahone for a map of the
defences of Petersburg, showing the crater; to the librarian of the
Young Men's Mercantile Library, of Cincinnati, for the use of Col.
Albert's carved map of Fort Wagner, and to Col. G. M. Arnold and Hon.
Joseph Jergenson for copies of historical papers; also to Hon. Libbey.
J. T. W.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
_THE WARS FOR INDEPENDENCE._
CHAPTER I.--THE WAR OF 1775. PAGE.
The Sentiments of the Colonists--The Agreement of 1774--The Resolutions
of Ga.--The Virginians Boycotting a Slaver--Tories Opposed to a Negro
Army--Caste Prejudice not strong--The Militia Law of Mass. in
1652--Negro Sentinels at Meeting houses--Crispus Attucks leads the
whites to an attack upon British Soldiers--Resolution of the Committee
of Safety--Battle of Bunker Hill--Peter Salem Kills the British Maj.
Pitcairn--Petition to the General court of Mass. Bay--Biographical
account of Peter Salem--Manumitting of Slaves to allow them to become
Soldiers--Meeting of the Committee of Conference--Gen. Washington writes
the President regarding Negro Soldiers--Action of Congress sustaining
Gen. Washington--The First Question of "color" in the Army--Negroes
allowed in the S. C. Militia--Dr. Hopkins' Article concerning
Slavery--Lord Dunmore visits Norfolk, 1775--Proclamation of Lord
Dunmore--The Dread of the Colonists--An Unreasonable Fear--Action of the
Conn. General Assembly, 1777--Letter from Gen. Green to Gen.
Washington--Daring Exploits of Prince and other Negroes at Newport, R.
I.--The Storming of Fort Griswold--Action of the State of R. I.--Action
of the State of New York, 1781--Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton--The
Colonists beginning to favor Negro Troops--Gen. Washington's Emphatic
Language--Re-enslavement of Discharged Negro Soldiers--Action of the
Legislature of Virginia 21
CHAPTER II.--THE WAR OF 1812.
The Principal Cause of the War--Seizure of American Negro
Sailors--Outrages upon American Ships--The Declaration of War--The
Battle of Lake Erie--Negroes on American Privateers--Action of the
Legislature of La.--Review of Negro Troops in New Orleans--The Battle of
New Orleans 72
PART II.
_THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES._
CHAPTER I.--PUBLIC OPINION.
Existing Prejudice--No Prejudice in Europe--DeTocqueville's Views--The
New Race--Southern Opinions--The Negro's Ambition--The Coast Pursuit in
the Navy--A Change of Policy--Public Opinions Changed 81
CHAPTER II.--RECRUITING AND ORGANIZING.
The Unpleasant duties of a Recruiting Officer--Henry Wilson's Bill in
Congress for the Arming of Negroes, 1862--Mr. Stevens' Amendment to the
Enrollment Act, 1864--Orders for the Enrollment of Negroes in the Miss.
Valley--Curious way of Keeping ranks full--The Date of the First
Organization of Colored Troops--The Organization of the 24th Mass.
Regiment--Their Quarters at Morris Island--Refusing to do Menial
Service--Short Pay for Negro Troops--Negroes Enlisting for
Bounty--Record of total number of Negroes who Served in the Army 93
CHAPTER III.--RECRUITING AND ORGANIZING IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Private Miles O'Reilly's Account of Gen. Hunter's Black Troops--The
First Negro Troops in the Field--Gen. Hunter's Humorous Report to
Congress--Jefferson Davis declares Gen. Hunter and his Officers
Outlaws--Gen. Hunter's suppressed Letter to Jefferson Davis--Miles
O'Reilly's Humorous Poem, "Sambo's Right to be Kil't" 145
CHAPTER IV.--OFFICERS OF THE PHALANX.
Officers of the Phalanx--Character and Qualifications of the men who
commanded Negro Troops--The Examination of Candidates for
Commissioners--Some of the Negroes who rose from the Ranks--Gen. Banks'
idea of Officering the Corps d'Afrique 166
CHAPTER V.--DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.
The Surrender of Confederate Negro Troops at New Orleans--Slaves
flocking to the Union Camp--Gen. Phelps desires to Arm them--Butler
Refuses--Gen. Phelps' Resignation--Gen. Butler converted to the Policy
of Arming Negroes--Negroes Enlisted at New Orleans--Gen. Weitzel placed
in Command--The fight at Mansfield--The Battle of Milliken's
Bend--Indignities offered to Phalanx Soldiers--The affair at Ship
Island--Port Hudson--The Struggle--Desperate Fighting of the Phalanx--A
Useless Effort--Perilous Duties of the Engineers--Boker's Poem on the
fight at Port Hudson 183
CHAPTER VI.--THE ARMY OF THE FRONTIER.
Iowa's splendid Response to the Call--Refusal of the Phalanx Troops to
Accept the Pay offered by the Government--Active times at Helena--The
Confederate General Dobbins makes an Attack--A Spirited Fight--A
Critical Situation--Re-enforcement by White Cavalry--The Honor Due to
Kansas--The report of the Service of Kansas Negro Troops--Col.
Crawford's report for the 2nd Kansas Regiment 220
CHAPTER VII.--DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH.
Gen. Hunter's Important Action--Organization of the 1st South
Carolina--An Expedition up the St. Mary's River--Fort
Wagner--Description of the Fort--Plans for the Assault--The forming of
the line--The Assault--Magnificent Fighting--Death of Col. Shaw--Useless
Slaughter--The Confederate Account of the Assault upon Fort
Wagner--Movements in Florida--The Landing at Jacksonville--Raids on the
surrounding country--The Advance towards Tallahassee--The Troops reach
Barbour's Station--The Battle of Olustee--Desperate Fighting on both
Sides--A Terrible Defeat--The Union Troops routed--Drawing away the
Wounded on railway cars--Return to Baldwin's--The 54th Mass.--Boykin's
Mill--The "Swamp Angel"--Inquiries Respecting Negro Troops--Labor Days
of the Negro Troops 249
CHAPTER VIII.--THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.
Services in the West--The Mississippi River Guarded by the Phalanx--Gen.
Morgan's Historical Sketch--The Rendezvous at Gallatin--The Place
Threatened by Guerillas--Organizing a Regiment--Negro Soldiers ordered
to Alabama--An Incident--A School in camp--The Battle at Dalton,
Ga.--Good Behavior of the troops there--Honors to the 51st
Colored--Sharp Fighting at Pulaski, Tenn.--An Incident of the Fight--An
Engagement at Decatur--Ordered to Nashville--Severe Fighting at that
place--A Reconnoissance--The Defeat of Gen. Hood--A Pursuit to
Huntsville--A Glorious Record 286
CHAPTER IX.--THE PHALANX AT MARION, TENN.
Sherman's March to the Sea--Destruction of the Confederate Bridge over
the Big Black river--Confederates Attack Federals near
Morristown--Gillem's Troops Driven into Knoxville--The Confederates
Retreat--Federals Pursued to Marion--Struggle for the Possession of the
Salt Works--The Charge of the 6th Regiment--Gen. Brisbin's account of
the Battle--The Salt Works Destroyed--Personal Bravery 308
CHAPTER X.--THE BLACK FLAG.
The Phalanx acquiring a Reputation--No Blacks Paroled--Gen. Grant's
Letter to the Confederate General Taylor--Jefferson Davis' Proclamation
respecting Negro Soldiers--Mr. Davis' Third Annual Message--Action of
the Confederate Congress--Negro Soldiers Captured by the Confederates
receive Punishment--Retaliation by the Federal Government--Refusal to
Exchange captured Negro Troops--Order from President Lincoln in relation
thereto--Report of the Congressional Committee in regard to Barbarities
Inflicted upon captured Union Prisoners--Report of the Congressional
Committee in regard to the Fort Pillow Massacre--Testimony
given--Sketches of Prison Life--Schemes for Escaping from Confederate
Prisons--Life in Libby Prison--The Effect of the Fort Pillow Massacre on
the Black Soldiers--Their Desire to Retaliate--Correspondence between
Gens. Forrest and Washburn--A Confederate Account, written in 1883--A
Confederate Account of Price's Cross-Roads--Heavy Fighting--Gallant
Conduct of the Federal Cavalry--The Rout of the Federal Force--The
Phalanx Saves the White Troops from Capture--Gen. Sturgis Criticised 315
CHAPTER XI.--THE PHALANX IN VIRGINIA.
Transfer of Negro Troops from the West and South to
Virginia--Preparations for a New Campaign--9th Army Corps passing
Through Washington--Army of the Potomac--Battle at Bailey's farm--Siege
of Petersburg--Digging a Mine--Phalanx Troops preparing to lead the
Assault--Disappointment--Explosion of the Mine--Terrible
Slaughter--Failure of the Attempt to Take the Redoubt--New Movement
Against Richmond--New Market Heights--Capture of Petersburg--Fall of
Richmond--Appomattox--Surrender of Lee 377
Chapter XII.--THE ROLL OF HONOR.
Phalanx Soldiers who received Medals of Honor from the United States
Government for Heroism 463
CHAPTER XIII.--THE ROSTER OF THE BLACK PHALANX.
Complete list from the Government Records, as far as can be obtained, of
Negro Military Organizations in all branches of the Service, with their
Chief Commanders--Battles--Dates of Organization and Dismissal 464
CHAPTER XIV.--THE CONFEDERATE SERVICE.
Preparation in the South for Hostilities--Early Organizations of
Battalions of Free Negroes--Review of Troops in New Orleans--Employment
of Negroes in Constructing Fortifications--Early Enacting of State Laws
authorizing the enrollment of Negroes for Military Service--The
Appearance of a few Negro Troops announced by the Press--Apparent
Enthusiasm of some Blacks--Effect on the Negroes of the Change in
Northern Policy--Necessity for Negro Troops--Strong Opposition
throughout the South--Letters from Gen. R. E. Lee urging the
Organization of Black Regiments--Exciting Debates in the Confederate
Congress--Passage of the Negro Bill--The Clerk's of the War Department
Record--Letter from Jefferson Davis--Enlistment began, etc. 481
PART III.
_MISCELLANY._
CHAPTER I.--THE PHALANX AT SCHOOL.
Efforts of Negro Soldiers to Educate themselves--Studies pursued in the
Army--Officers acting as Teachers--Contributions to Educational
Institutions 503
CHAPTER II.--BENEVOLENCE AND FRUGALITY.
Personal Economy practiced for Benevolent purposes--Contributions to the
Lincoln Institute as a Monument--Magnificent Contributions to the
Lincoln Monument--Some figures in reference to the Freemen's Bank 508
CHAPTER III.--BIBLIOGRAPHY.
List of Publications made use of 517
APPENDIX.
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Portrait--JOSEPH T. WILSON Frontispiece.
2. DEATH OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS Face Page 26
3. BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 34
4. ON PICKET 52
5. NAVAL BATTLE 77
6. UNSHACKLED 90
7. Portrait--ROBERT SMALLS 96
8. " --WILLIAM MORRISON "
9. " --A. GRADINE "
10. " --JOHN SMALLS "
11. QUARTERS FOR CONTRABANDS 103
12. DRIVING GOVERNMENT CATTLE 104
13. SCENE IN AND NEAR A RECRUITING OFFICE 110
14. TEAMSTER OF THE ARMY 112
15. HEADQUARTERS OF SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR 116
16. PROVOST GUARD SECURING CONSCRIPTS 123
17. NEW RECRUITS TAKING CARS 126
18. SCENE AT NEW BERNE, N. C. 134
19. MUSTERING INTO SERVICE 138
20. ORGANIZING AND DRILLING 142
21. FORTIFICATIONS AT HILTON HEAD 148
22. BUILDING ROADS 154
23. OFF FOR THE WAR 160
24. Portrait--MAJOR MARTIN R. DELANEY 166
25. Portrait--CAPT. O. S. B. WALL 172
26. Portrait--CAPT. P. B. S. PINCHBACK. 176
27. " --LT. JAMES M. TROTTER "
28. " --SURGEON A. T. AUGUSTA "
29. " --LT. W. H. DUPREE. "
30. Portrait--SERG'T W. H. CARNEY 180
31. WASHING IN CAMP 184
32. COOKING IN CAMP 191
33. POINT ISABEL, TEXAS 199
34. THE RECRUITING OFFICE 200
35. BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND 204
36. UNLOADING GOVERNMENT STORES 211
37. CHARGE OF THE PHALANX AT PORT HUDSON 214
38. PRESENTATION OF COLORS (1) 223
39. REPELLING AN ATTACK 231
40. CAVALRY BRINGING IN PRISONERS 236
41. CAPTURING BATTERY OF ARTILLERY 242
42. THE WOODEN HORSE 249
43. AT FORT WAGNER 255
44. BRILLIANT CHARGE OF THE PHALANX 270
45. RIVER PICKET DUTY 277
46. CHANGED CONDITIONS 286
47. SERVING REFRESHMENTS TO UNION TROOPS 306
48. SCOUTING SERVICE 312
49. FIGHTING BLOODHOUNDS 320
50. NEGROES FEEDING ESCAPING UNION PRISONERS 342
51. MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW 350
52. PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING ITS FLAGS (2) 377
53. PARADE OF THE 20TH REGIMENT U. S. C. T. IN NEW YORK 378
54. SCENE IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 391
55. AT WORK ON RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS 401
56. PHALANX CHARGE AT PETERSBURG, VA. 402
57. IN THE TRENCHES 411
58. BEFORE PETERSBURG, BURYING DEAD UNDER FLAG OF TRUCE 425
59. A GOVERNMENT BLACKSMITH SHOP 445
60. GENERAL GRANT AND THE NEGRO SENTINEL 446
61. ABRAHAM LINCOLN ENTERING RICHMOND 452
62. ON DUTY FOR THE CONFEDERATES 484
63. A CONFEDERATE SHARPSHOOTER 499
64. "PAYING OFF" 506
PART I.
THE WARS FOR INDEPENDENCE
1775-1812.
CHAPTER I.
THE WAR OF 1775.
The history of the patriotic Negro Americans who swelled the ranks of
the Colonial and Continental armies has never been written, nor was any
attempt made by the historians of that day to record the deeds of those
who dared to face death for the independence of the American Colonies.
W. H. Day, in addressing a convention of negro men at Cleveland, O., in
1852, truly said: "Of the services and sufferings of the colored
soldiers of the Revolution, no attempt has, to our knowledge, been made
to preserve a record. Their history is not written; it lies upon the
soil watered with their blood; who shall gather it? It rests with their
bones in the charnel house; who shall exhume it?" Upon reading these
lines, it occurred to me that somewhere among the archives of that
period there must exist at least a clue to the record of the negro
patriots of that war. If I cannot exclaim _Eureka_, after years of
diligent search, I take pride in presenting what I _have_ found
scattered throughout the pages of the early histories and literature,
and from the correspondence of men who in that period discussed the
topics of the day--who led and fashioned public opinion, many of whom
commanded in the field. Not a few biographers have contributed to my
fund of knowledge. To avoid as much as possible the charge of plagiarism
I have aimed to give credit to my informants for what shall follow
regarding the colored patriots in the war of the Revolution. I have
reason to believe that I have gathered much that has been obscure; that
I have exhumed the bones of that noble Phalanx who, at Bunker Hill and
Yorktown, in various military employments, served their country. It is
true they were few in number when compared to the host that entered the
service in the late Rebellion, but it must be remembered that their
number was small at that time in the country, and that the seat of war
was at the North, and not, as in the late war, at the South, where their
numbers have always been large.
Of the three hundred thousand troops in the Revolutionary war, it has
been estimated that five thousand were colored, and these came
principally from the North, whose colored population at that time was
about 50,000, while the Southern colonies contained about 300,000. The
interest felt in the two sections for the success of the cause of
independence, if referred to the army, can easily be seen. The Northern
colonies furnished two hundred and forty-nine thousand, five hundred and
three, and the Southern colonies one hundred and forty-seven thousand,
nine hundred and forty soldiers, though the whole population of each
section was within a few hundred of being equal.
The love of liberty was no less strong with the Southern than with the
Northern colored man, as their efforts for liberty show. At the North he
gained his freedom by entering the American army; at the South, only by
entering the British army, which was joined by more than fifteen
thousand colored men. Jefferson says 30,000 negroes from Virginia alone
went to the British army. I make the digression simply to assert that
had the colored men at the South possessed the same opportunity as those
at the North, of enlisting in the American army, a large force of
colored men would have been in the field, fighting for America's
independence. Of the services of the little band, scattered as they were
throughout the army, two or three in a company composed of whites, a
squad in a regiment, a few companies with an army, made it quite
impossible for their record, beyond this, to be distinct from the
organizations they were attached to. However, enough has been culled
from the history of that conflict, to show that they bore a brave part
in the struggle which wrested the colonies from the control of Great
Britain, and won for themselves and offspring, freedom, which many of
them never enjoyed. I have studiously avoided narrating the conduct of
those who cast their fortune with the British, save those who went with
Lord Dunmore, for reasons too obvious to make mention of.
The sentiments of a majority of the people of the colonies were in full
accord with the declaration opposing slavery, and they sought to give it
supremacy by their success in the conflict. Slavery, which barred the
entrance to the army of the colored man at the South, had been denounced
by the colonist before the adoption of the articles of confederation,
and was maintained solely by local regulations. As early as 1774, all
the colonies had agreed to, and their representatives to the congress
had signed, the articles of the Continental Association, by which it was
agreed, "that we will neither import nor purchase any slave imported
after the first day of December next, (1774), after which we will wholly
discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be concerned in it
ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or
manufactories to those who are concerned in it." Georgia not being
represented in this Congress, consequently was not in the Association,
but as soon as her Provincial Congress assembled in July, 1775, it
passed the following resolutions:
"_I._--_Resolved_, That this Congress will adopt and carry
into execution all and singular the measures and
recommendations of the late Continental Congress.
"_IV._--_Resolved_, That we will neither import or purchase
any slave imported from Africa or elsewhere after this day,
(July, 6.")
The sincerity with which this agreement was entered into may be seen by
the action of the colonists at Norfolk, Virginia, where, in March, 1775,
a brig arrived from the coast of Guinea, via Jamaica, with a number of
slaves on board consigned to a merchant of that town. To use a modern
phrase the vessel was _boycotted_ by the committee, who published the
following:
"TO THE FREEMEN OF VIRGINIA.
{ COMMITTEE CHAMBER,
{ NORFOLK, March 6th, 1775.
"Trusting to your sure resentment against the enemies of
your country, we, the committee, elected by ballot for the
Borough of Norfolk, hold up for your just indignation Mr.
John Brown, merchant, of this place.
"On Thursday, the 2nd of March, this committee were informed
of the arrival of the brig Fanny, Capt. Watson, with a
number of slaves for Mr. Brown; and, upon inquiry, it
appeared they were shipped from Jamaica as his property, and
on his account; that he had taken great pains to conceal
their arrival from the knowledge of the committee; and that
the shipper of the slaves, Mr. Brown's correspondent, and
the captain of the vessel, were all fully apprised of the
Continental prohibition against the article.
"From the whole of this transaction, therefore, we, the
committee for Norfolk Borough, do give it as our unanimous
opinion, that the said John Brown has wilfully and
perversely violated the Continental Association, to which he
had with his own hand subscribed obedience; and that,
agreeable to the eleventh article, we are bound, forthwith,
to publish the truth of the case, to the end that all such
foes to the rights of British America may be publicly known
and universally contemned as the enemies of American
liberty, and that every person may henceforth break off all
dealings with him."
This was the voice of a majority of the colonists, and those who
dissented were regarded as Tories, and in favor of the crown as against
the independence of the colonies, although there were many at the North
and South who held slaves, and were yet loyal to the cause of the
colonies; but the public sentiment was undoubtedly as strong against the
institution as it was in 1864. But the Tories were numerous at the
South, and by continually exciting the imagination of the whites by
picturing massacre and insurrection on the part of the negros if they
were armed, thwarted the effort of Col. Lauren's and of Congress to
raise a "negro army" at the South. The leaders were favorable to it, but
the colonists, for the reason cited, were distrustful of its
practicability. Though a strong effort was made, as will be seen, the
scare raised by the Tories prevented its success. Notwithstanding,
hundreds of colored men, slave and free, at the South, not only followed
the army but in every engagement took an active part on the side of the
colonist. They were not enrolled and mustered into the army, it is true,
but they rendered important service to the cause.
The caste prejudice now so strong in the country was then in its
infancy. A white man at that time lived with a colored woman without
fear of incurring the ostracism of his neighbors, and with the same
impunity he lived with an Indian Squaw. So common was this practice,
that in order to correct it laws were passed forbidding it. The
treatment of the slaves was not what it came to be after the war, nor
had the spirit of resentment been stifled in them as it was
subsequently. Manifestations of their courage and manliness were not
wanting when injustice was attempted to be practiced against them,
consequently the spirit and courage with which they went into the
conflict were quite equal to that of the whites, who were ever ready to
applaud them for deeds of daring. It is only through this medium that we
have discovered the meed of praise due the little Phalanx, which linked
its fortune with the success of the American army, and of whom the
following interesting facts can now be recorded.
It is well for the negro and for his descendants in America,
cosmopolitan as it is, that his race retains its distinctive
characteristics, color and features, otherwise they would not have, as
now, a history to hand down to posterity so gloriously patriotic and
interesting. His amalgamation with other races is attributable to the
relation which it bore to them, although inter-marriage was not allowed.
By the common consent of his enslavers, he was allowed to live
clandestinely with the women of his own color; sometimes from humane
considerations, sometimes from a standpoint of gain, but always as a
slave or a subject of the slave code. Reduced from his natural state of
freedom by his misfortune in tribal war, to that of a slave, and then
transported by the consent of his captors and enemies to these shores,
and sold into an unrequited bondage, the fire of his courage,--like
that of other races similarly situated, without hope of liberty; doomed
to toil,--slackened into an apathetic state, and seeming willing
servitude, which produced a resignation to fate from 1619 to 1770, more
than a century and a half. At the latter date, for the first time in the
history of what is now the United States, the negro, inspired with the
love of liberty, aimed a blow at the authority that held him in bondage.
In numerous instances, when the Indians attacked the white settlers,
particularly in the Northern colonies, negroes were summoned and took
part in the defense of the settlements.
As early as 1652, the militia law of Massachusetts required negroes,
Scotchmen and Indians,--the indentured slaves of Cromwell, who
encountered his army at the battle of Dunbar,--to train in the militia.
Nor was it an uncommon occurrence for them to be manumitted for
meritorious and courageous action in defending their masters' families,
often in the absence of the master, when attacked by the red men of the
woods. It was not infrequent to find the negro as a sentinel at the
meeting-house door; or serving as a barricade for the master's mansion.
The Indian was more of a terror to him than the boa-constrictor; though
slaves, they knew that if captured by the Indians their fate would be
the same as that of the white man; consequently they fought with a
desperation equal to that of the whites, against the common enemy. So
accustomed did they become to the use of arms, that one of the first
acts of the settlers after the Indians were driven from the forest, was
to disarm and forbid negroes keeping or handling fire-arms and weapons
of every sort. This was done from a sense of self-preservation and fear
that the negroes might (and many did) attempt to revenge themselves when
cruelly treated, or rise in mutiny and massacre the whites.
[Illustration: DEATH OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
While leading an attack against British troops in Boston.]
But it was not until 1770, when the fervor of rebellion had influenced
the people of the colonies, and Capt. Preston, with the King's soldiers,
appeared in King Street, Boston, to enforce the decree of the British
Parliament, that the people met the troops face to face. This lent force
to the rebellious spirit against the Mother Country, which the people of
the United Northern Colonies had felt called upon to manifest in public
meetings and by written resolutions. The soldiers were regarded as
invaders. And while the leading men of Boston were discussing and
deliberating as to what steps should be taken to drive the British
troops out of the town, Crispus Attucks, a negro runaway slave,[1] led a
crowd against the soldiers, with brave words of encouragement. The
soldiers fired upon them, killing the negro leader, Attucks, first, and
then two white men, and mortally wounding two others. A writer says:
"The presence of the British soldiers in King Street,
excited the patriotic indignation of the people. The whole
community was stirred, and sage counsellors were
deliberating and writing and talking about the public
grievances. But it was not for the 'wise and prudent' to be
first to _act_ against the encroachments of arbitrary power.
A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattoes, Irish
Jeazues, and outlandish Jack tars, (as John Adams described
them in his plea in defence of the soldiers), could not
restrain their emotion, or stop to enquire if what they
_must_ do was according to the letter of the law. Led by
Crispus Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting, 'The way
to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main guard;
strike at the root; this is the nest;' with more valor than
discretion they rushed to King Street, and were fired upon
by Capt. Preston's company. Crispus Attucks was the first to
fall; he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on
the spot. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally
wounded. The excitement which followed was intense. The
bells of the town were rung. An impromptu town-meeting was
held, and an immense assembly was gathered. Three days
after, on the 17th, a public funeral of the martyr took
place. The shops in Boston were closed, and all the bells of
Boston and the neighboring towns were rung. It is said that
a greater number of persons assembled on this occasion, than
ever before gathered on this continent for a similar
purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto, had been
placed in Fanueil Hall with that of Caldwell; both being
strangers in the city. Maverick was buried from his
mother's house in Union Street, and Gray, from his
brother's, in Royal Exchange Lane. The four hearses formed a
junction in King Street, and then the procession marched in
columns six deep, with a long file of coaches belonging to
the most distinguished citizens, to the Middle Burying
Ground, where the four victims were deposited in one grave;
over which a stone was placed with the inscription:
'Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend,
Dear to your country shall your fame extend;
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell.'
"The anniversary of this event was publicly commemorated in
Boston by an oration and other exercises every year until
our National Independence was achieved, when the Fourth of
July was substituted for the Fifth of March, as the more
proper day for a general celebration. Not only was the event
commemorated, but the martyrs who then gave up their lives
were remembered and honored."
Thus the first blood for liberty shed in the colonies was that of a real
slave and a negro. As the news of the affray spread, the people became
aroused throughout the land. Soon, in every town and village, meetings
were held, and the colonists urged to resist the oppressive and
aggressive measures which the British Parliament had passed, and for the
enforcement of which troops had been stationed in Boston, and as we see,
had shot down those who dared to oppose them. In all the colonies
slavery was at this time tolerated, though the number of slaves was by
no means large in the Northern Colonies, nor had there been a general
ill treatment of them, as in after years in the Southern States. Their
war-like courage, it is true, had been slackened, but their manhood had
not been crushed.
Crispus Attucks was a fair representative of the colonial negro, as they
evinced thereafter, during the prolonged struggle which resulted in the
Independence of the United States. When the tocsin sounded "to arms, to
arms, ye who would be free," the negro responded to the call, and side
by side with the white patriots of the colonial militia, bled and died.
Mr. Bancroft in his history of the United States says:
"Nor should history forget to record, that as in the army at
Cambridge, so also in this gallant band, the free negroes of
the colony had their representatives. For the right of free
negroes to bear arms in the public defense was, at that day,
as little disputed in New England as other rights. They took
their place, not in a separate corps, but in the ranks with
the white men; and their names may be seen on the
pension-rolls of the country, side by side with those of
other soldiers of the Revolution."
It was not the free only who took up arms in defence of America's
independence; not alone those who, in preceding wars,--Indian and
French,--had gained their liberty, that swelled the ranks of the
colonial militia; but slaves, inspired by the hope of freedom, went to
the front, as Attucks had done when he cut the Gordian knot that held
the colonies to Great Britain. "From that moment we may date the
severance of the British Empire," said Daniel Webster, in his Bunker
Hill oration, referring to the massacre on the 5th of March, 1770. The
thirst for freedom was universal among the people of New England. With
them liberty was not circumscribed by condition and now, since the slave
Attucks had struck the first blow for America's independence, thereby
electrifying the colonies and putting quite a different phase upon their
grievances, the people were called upon to witness a real slave
struggling with his oppressors for his freedom. It touched the people of
the colonies as they had never been touched before, and they arrayed
themselves for true freedom.
Dr. Joseph Warren thus heralds the sentiment of the colonist, in his
oration delivered at Boston, March 5th, 1775:
"That personal freedom is the natural right of every man,
and that property, or an exclusive right to dispose of what
he has honestly acquired by his own labor, necessarily
arises therefrom, are truths which common sense has placed
beyond the reach of contradiction. And no man, or body of
men, can, without being guilty of flagrant injustice, claim
a right to dispose of the persons or acquisitions of any
other man or body of men, unless it can be proved that such
a right has arisen from some compact between the parties, in
which it has been explicitly and freely granted."
The year previous, John Hancock was the orator on the occasion of the
4th anniversary of the shedding of the first blood for the Independence
of America, and he thus presents the case to a Boston audience yet
smarting under the insult and sting given them by the British soldiery:
"But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of
that dismal night, when in such quick succession, we felt
the extremes of grief, astonishment and rage; when Heaven,
in anger, for a dreadful moment suffered Hell to take the
reins; when Satan with his chosen band opened the sluices of
New England's blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land
with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons. Let this sad
tale of death never be told without a tear; let the heaving
bosom cause to burn with a manly indignation at the
barbarous story, through the long tracts of future time; let
every parent tell the shameful story to his listening
children 'til tears of pity glisten in their eyes, and
boiling passions shake their tender frames; and whilst the
anniversary of that ill-fated night is kept a jubilee in the
grim court of pandemonium, let all America join in one
common prayer to Heaven, that the inhuman, unprovoked
murders of the 5th of March, 1770, planned by Hillsborough
and a knot of treacherous knaves in Boston, and executed by
the cruel hand of Preston and his sanguinary coadjutors, may
ever stand in history without a parallel. But what, my
countrymen, withheld the ready arm of vengeance from
executing instant justice on the vile assassins? Perhaps you
feared promiscuous carnage might ensue, and that the
innocent might share the fate of those who had performed the
infernal deed. But were not all guilty? Were you not too
tender of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your
necks? But I must not too severely blame you for a fault
which great souls only can commit. May that magnificence of
spirit which scorns the low pursuit of malice; may that
generous compassion which often preserves from ruin, even a
guilty villain, forever actuate the noble bosoms of
Americans! But let not the miscreant host vainly imagine
that we feared their arms. No, those we despised; we dread
nothing but slavery. Death is the creature of a poltroon's
brains; 'tis immortality to sacrifice ourselves for the
salvation of our country. We fear not death. That gloomy
night, the pale-face moon, and the affrighted stars that
hurried through the sky, can witness that we fear not death.
Our hearts, which, at the recollection, glow with rage that
four revolving years have scarcely taught us to restrain,
can witness that we fear not death; and happy it is for
those who dared to insult us, that their naked bones are not
now piled up an ever-lasting monument of Massachusetts
bravery. But they retired; they fled, and in that flight
they found their only safety. We then expected that the hand
of public justice would soon inflict that punishment upon
the murderers, which, by the laws of God and man, they had
incurred. But let the unbiassed pen of a Robertson, or
perhaps of some equally famed American, conduct this trial
before the great tribunal of succeeding generations. And
though the murderers may escape the just resentment of an
enraged people; though drowsy justice, intoxicated by the
poisonous draft prepared for her cup, still nods upon her
rotten seat, yet be assured, such complicated crimes will
meet their due reward. Tell me, ye bloody butchers! ye
villains high and low! ye wretches who contrived, as well as
you who executed the inhuman deed! do you not feel the goads
and stings of conscious guilt pierce through your savage
bosoms? Though some of you may think yourselves exalted to a
height that bids defiance to human justice, and others
shroud yourselves beneath the mask of hypocrisy, and build
your hopes of safety on the low arts of cunning, chicanery
and falsehood; yet do you not sometimes feel the gnawings of
that worm which never dies; do not the injured shades of
Maverick, Gray, Cadwell, Attucks and Carr, attend you in
your solitary walks; arrest you in the midst of your
debaucheries and fill even your dreams with terror?"
The orators of New England poured out upon this once slave,--now hero
and martyr,--their unstinted praise. We have but to recall the
recollection of the earliest conflicts which the colonist had with the
British, in order to see the negro occupying a place in the ranks of the
patriot army. Their white fellow-citizens were only too glad to take
ground to the left, in order that they could fall in on their colors.
And they did good service whenever they fought, as the record shows.
The Committee of safety upon reviewing the situation and the army,
before the first great battle of the Revolution had been fought, adopted
the following resolution:
"_Resolved_, That it is the opinion of this committee, that
as the contest now between Great Britain and the Colonies
respects the liberties and privileges of the latter, which
the Colonies are determined to maintain, that the admission
of any persons, as soldiers, into the army now raising, but
such as are Freeman, will be inconsistent with the
principals that are supported, and reflect dishonor on this
Colony; and that no Slaves be admitted into this army upon
any consideration whatever."
The exception was well taken, and this act of the Committee, excluding
slaves from the army, placed the rebels upon the basis of patriots,
fighting for freedom. This, however, did not detract from those who had
already distinguished themselves, by their bravery at Bunker Hill a few
weeks previous, where Peter Salem, once a slave, fought side by side in
the ranks with the white soldiers. When the British Major Pitcairn
mounted the redoubt, upon that memorable occasion, shouting, "The day
is ours!" Peter Salem poured the contents of his gun into that officer's
body, killing him instantly, and checking, temporarily, the advance of
the British. Swett, in his "Sketches of Bunker Hill Battle," says:
"Major Pitcairn caused the first effusion of blood at
Lexington. In that battle, his horse was shot under him,
while he was separated from his troops. With presence of
mind he feigned himself slain; his pistols were taken from
his holsters, and he was left for dead, when he seized the
opportunity and escaped. He appeared at Bunker Hill, and,
says the historian, 'Among those who mounted the works was
the gallant Major Pitcairn, who exultingly cried out, 'The
day is ours!' when a black soldier, named Salem, shot him
through and he fell. His agonized son received him in his
arms, and tenderly bore him to the boats.' A contribution
was made in the army for the colored soldier, and he was
presented to Washington as having performed this feat."
Mr. Aaron White, of Thompson, Conn., in a letter to George Livermore,
Esq., of the Massachusetts Historical Society, writes:
"With regard to the black Hero of Bunker Hill, I never knew
him personally, nor did I ever hear from his lips the story
of his achievements; but I have better authority. About the
year 1809, I heard a soldier of the Revolution, who was
present at the Bunker Hill Battle, relate to my father the
story of the death of Major Pitcairn. He said the Major had
passed the storm of fire without, and had mounted the
redoubt, when, waving his sword, he commanded, in a loud
voice, the 'rebels' to surrender. His sudden appearance, and
his commanding air, at first startled the men immediately
before him. They neither answered nor fired; probably not
being exactly certain what was next to be done. At this
critical moment, a negro soldier stepped forward, and,
aiming his musket directly at the Major's bosom, blew him
through. My informant declared that he was so near, that he
distinctly saw the act. The story made quite an impression
on my mind. I have frequently heard my father relate the
story, and have no doubt of its truth. My father on the day
of the battle was a mere child, and witnessed the battle and
burning of Charlestown from Roxbury Hill, sitting on the
shoulders of the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who said to him as he
placed him on the ground, 'Now, boy, do you remember this!'
Consequently, after such an injunction, he would necessarily
pay particular attention to anecdotes concerning the first
and only battle he ever witnessed."
[Illustration: BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
Peter Salem shooting the British Major Pitcairn.]
Salem was undoubtedly one of the chief heroes of that ever memorable
battle. Orator, historian, poet, all give this sable patriot credit for
having been instrumental in checking the British advance and saving the
day.
At the unveiling of the statue erected to the memory of Gen. Joseph
Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, the orator of the occasion, Hon. Edward
Everett, said:
"It is the monument of the day of the event, of the battle
of Bunker Hill; all of the brave men who shared its
perils,--alike of Prescott and Putnam and Warren, the chiefs
of the day, and the colored man, Salem, who, is reported to
have shot the gallant Pitcairn, as he mounted the parapet.
Cold as the clods on which it rests, still as the silent
Heaven to which it soars, it is yet vocal, eloquent, in
their individual praise."
The following is a copy of a petition now in the Archive Department of
Massachusetts:
"TO THE HONORABLE GENERAL COURT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS' BAY.
"The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable
House, (which we do in justice to the character of so brave
a man), that under our own observation, we declare that a
negro man named Salem Poor, of Col. Frye's regiment, Capt.
Ame's company, in the late battle at Charleston, behaved
like an experienced officer, as well as an excellent
soldier. To set forth particulars of his conduct would be
tedious. We only beg leave to say, in the person of this
said negro, centers a brave and gallant soldier. The reward
due to so great and distinguished a character, we submit to
Congress.
"JONA. BREWER, Col.
THOMAS NIXON, Lt. Col.
WM. PRESCOTT, Col.
EPHM. COREY, Lieut.
JOSEPH BAKER, Lieut.
JOSHUA ROW, Lieut.
JONAS RICHARDSON, Capt
ELIPHALET BODWELL, SG'T.
THOMAS NIXON, Lt. Col.
WM. PRESCOTT, Col.
EPHM. COREY, Lieut.
JOSEPH BAKER, Lieut.
JOSHUA ROW, Lieut.
JONAS RICHARDSON, Capt.
CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 5, 1775.
"In Council Dec. 21, 1775.--Read, and sent down.
PEREZ MORTON, Dep'y Sec'y."
A biographical account of Peter Salem is given in the following
newspaper extract:
"April, 1882, the town of Framingham voted to place a
memorial stone over the grave of Peter Salem, alias Salem
Middlesex, whose last resting place in the old burial ground
at Framingham Centre has been unmarked for years. For this
purpose $150 was appropriated by the town. The committee in
charge of the matter has placed a neat granite memorial over
his grave, and it bears the following inscription: "Peter
Salem, a soldier of the revolution, Died Aug. 16, 1816.
Concord, Bunker Hill, Saratoga. Erected by the town, 1882."
Peter Salem was the colored man who particularly
distinguished himself in the revolutionary war by shooting
down Major Pitcairn at the battle of Bunker Hill, as he was
mounting a redoubt and shouting, "The day is ours!" this
being the time when Pitcairn fell back into the arms of his
son. Peter Salem served faithfully in the war for seven
years in the companies of minute men under the command of
Capt. John Nixon and Capt. Simon Edgell of Framingham, and
came out of it unharmed. He was a slave, and was owned,
originally, by Capt. Jeremiah Belknap of Framingham, being
sold by him to Major Lawson Buckminster of that town, he
becoming a free man when he joined the army. Salem was born
in Framingham, and, in 1783, married Katie Benson, a
Granddaughter of Nero, living for a time near what is now
the State muster field. He removed to Leicester after the
close of the war, his last abode in that town being a cabin
on the road leading from Leicester to Auburn. He was removed
to Framingham, where he had gained a settlement in 1816 and
there he died."
Salem was not the only negro at the battle of Bunker Hill. Says an
authority:
"Col. Trumbull in his celebrated historic picture of this
battle, introduces conspicuously the colored patriot. At the
time of the battle, the artist, then acting as adjutant, was
stationed with his regiment at Roxbury, and saw the action
from this point. The picture was painted in 1786 when the
event was fresh in his mind. It is a significant historical
fact, pertinent to our present research, that, among the
limited number of figures introduced on the canvas, more
than one negro soldier can be distinctly seen."
Of the others who participated in the battle we have knowledge of Salem
Poor, whose bravery won for him favorable comment.
Major Wm. Lawrence, who fought through the war for independence, from
Concord, until the peace of 1783, participating in many of the severest
battles of the war. Says a memoir:
"At Bunker Hill, where he was slightly wounded, his coat and
hat were pierced with the balls of the enemy, and were
preserved in the family for several years. At one time he
commanded a company whose rank and file were all negroes, of
whose courage, military discipline, and fidelity, he always
spoke with respect. On one occasion, being out
reconnoitering with his company, he got so far in advance of
his command, that he was surrounded, and on the point of
being made prisoner by the enemy. The men, soon discovering
his peril, rushed to his rescue, and fought with the most
determined bravery till that rescue was effectually
secured. He never forgot this circumstance, and ever took
special pains to show kindness and hospitality to any
individual of the colored race, who came near his dwelling."
The Committee of Safety having excluded slaves from the army, many were
thereafter manumitted, that they might enlist. There was no law
regulating enlistment in the army at the time which required the color
of a soldier's skin to be recorded or regarded. A prejudice existed in
the legislature that prompted that body to begin a series of special
enactments, regarding negroes, which did not exclude them altogether
from the army, but looked to their organization into exclusive
companies, batallions and regiments.
Notwithstanding the record made by the negroes who had swollen the ranks
of the American army a few weeks after the battle of Bunker Hill,
General Gates, then at Cambridge, issued the following order to the
officers, then recruiting for the service:
"You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministerial
army, nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or persons
suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America, nor
any under eighteen years of age. As the cause is the best
that can engage men of courage and principle to take up
arms, so it is expected that none but such will be accepted
by the recruiting officer. The pay, provision, &c., being so
ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon
this service will, without delay, complete their respective
corps, and march the men forthwith to camp. You are not to
enlist any person that is not an American born, unless such
person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in
this country. The persons you enlist must be provided with
good and complete arms."
This was in July, and on the 26th of the following September, Edward
Rutledge, of South Carolina, moved in the Colonial Congress that all
negroes be discharged that were in the army. As might be expected, his
proposition was strongly supported by the Southern delegates, but the
Northern delegates being so much stronger, voted it down. The negroes
were crowding so rapidly into the army, and the Northern colonists
finding their Southern comrades so strongly opposing this element of
strength, submitted the question of their enlistment to a conference
committee in October, composed of such men as Dr. Franklin, Benjamin
Harrison and Thomas Lynch, with the Deputy Governors of Connecticut and
Rhode Island. This committee met at Cambridge, with a committee of the
council of Massachusetts Bay. The object and duty of the meeting was to
consider the condition of the army, and to devise means by which it
could be improved.
General Washington was present at the meeting, and took part in the
discussions. Among others, the following subject was considered and
reported upon: "'Ought not negroes to be excluded from the new
enlistment, especially those such as are slaves?' All were thought
improper by the council of officers. '_Agreed_, That they may be
rejected altogether.'"
In the organization of the new army, were many officers and men, who had
served with negroes in the militia, and who had been re-enlisted in the
colonial army. They protested against the exclusion of their old
comrades, on account of color. So very strong were their protests that
most of the rank and file of the Northern troops regarded the matter as
of serious import to the colonies, and of danger to the wives and
families of those in the field. There was quite a large number of free
negroes in the Northern Colonies at this time, and the patriotism
displayed by those who had the opportunity of serving in the militia
during the early stages of the war, aroused a feeling which prompted a
great many masters to offer to the commander of the army the services of
their slaves, and to the slaves their freedom, if their services were
accepted. So weighty were the arguments offered, and to soften the gloom
which hung about the homes and the camps of the soldiers, Gen.
Washington wrote to the President of Congress regarding the matter, from
Cambridge, in December, 1775:
"It has been represented to me that the free negroes who
have served in this army are very much dissatisfied at being
discarded. As it is to be apprehended that they may seek
employment in the Ministerial army, I have presumed to
depart from the resolution respecting them, and have given
license for their being enlisted. If this is disapproved by
Congress, I will put a stop to it."[2]
The letter was submitted to Congress, and General Washington's action
was sustained by the passage of the following resolution: "That the free
negroes, who had served faithfully in the army at Cambridge, may be
re-enlisted therein, but no others."
The question of color first entered the army by order of Washington's
predecessor, Gen. Artemus Ward, who in his first general order required
the "complexion" of the soldier to be entered upon the roll. In October,
1775, Gen. Thomas wrote the following letter to John Adams. The general
was in every way competent to draw a true picture of the army, and had
the opportunity of observation. He says:
"I am sorry to hear that any prejudices should take place in
any Southern Colony, with respect to the troops raised in
this. I am certain that the insinuations you mention are
injurious, if we consider with what precipitation we are
obliged to collect an army. In the regiments at Roxbury, the
privates are equal to any that I served with in the last
war; very few old men, and in the ranks very few boys. Our
fifes are many of them boys. We have some negroes; but I
look on them, in general, as equally serviceable with other
men for fatigue; and in action many of them have proved
themselves brave. I would avoid all reflection, or anything
that may tend to give umbrage; but there is in this army
from the southward, a number called riflemen, who are the
most indifferent men I ever served with. These privates are
mutinous, and often deserting to the enemy; unwilling for
duty of any kind; exceedingly vicious; and I think the army
here would be as well off without them. But to do justice to
their officers, they are, some of them, likely men."
Despite all prejudice, the negro, as in all conflicts since, sought
every opportunity to show his patriotism, and his unquenchable thirst
for liberty; and no matter in what capacity he entered the service,
whether as body-servant, hostler or teamster, he always displayed the
same characteristic courage. In November of the same year the Provincial
Congress of South Carolina, by the passage of the following resolution,
gave permission to her militia officers, to use slaves in the army for
certain purposes:
"On motion, _Resolved_, That the colonels of the several
regiments of militia throughout the Colony have leave to
enroll such a number of able male slaves, to be employed as
pioneers and laborers, as public exegencies may require; and
that a daily pay of seven shillings and six-pence be allowed
for the service of each such slave while actually employed."
The foregoing resolution must not in any way be understood as
sanctioning the employment of negroes as soldiers, notwithstanding some
of the ablest men of the State advocated the enlistment of negroes in
the army; the opposition was too strong to carry the measure through
either Congress or the legislature. The feeling among the Northern
colonists may be shown by citing the views of some of their leading men,
and none perhaps was better calculated to give a clear expression of
their views, than the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Newport, R. I., who wrote a
"Dialogue Concerning the slavery of the Africans," published soon after
the commencement of hostilities. Here is an extract from a note to the
Dialogue:
"God is so ordering it in his providence, that it seems
absolutely necessary something should speedily be done with
respect to the slaves among us, in order to our safety, and
to prevent their turning against us in our present struggle,
in order to get their liberty. Our oppressors have planned
to gain the blacks, and induce them to take up arms against
us, by promising them liberty on this condition; and this
plan they are prosecuting to the utmost of their power, by
which means they have persuaded numbers to join them. And
should we attempt to restrain them by force and severity,
keeping a strict guard over them, and punishing them
severely who shall be detected in attempting to join our
oppressors, this will only be making bad worse, and serve to
render our inconsistence, oppression, and cruelty more
criminal, perspicuous, and shocking, and bring down the
righteous vengeance of Heaven on our heads. The only way
pointed out to prevent this threatening evil is to set the
blacks at liberty ourselves by some public acts and laws,
and then give them proper encouragement to labor, or take
arms in the defence of the American cause, as they shall
choose. This would at once be doing them some degree of
justice, and defeating our enemies in the scheme that they
are prosecuting."
Therefore it will be observed that public opinion regarding the arming
of negroes in the North and South, was controlled by sectional interest
in the one, and the love of liberty in the other. That both desired
America's Independence, no one will doubt, but that one section was
more willing than the other to sacrifice slavery for freedom, I think is
equally as plain. While the colonists were debating with much anxiety
the subject of what to do with the negroes, the New England States were
endeavoring to draw the Southern States or Colonies into the war by
electing George Washington as Commander of the army at Cambridge, and
accepting the mis-interpretations of the declarations of war. The Punic
faith with which the Southern States entered the war for liberty
humiliated the army, and wrung from its commander the letter written to
Congress, and its approval of his course in re-enlisting free negroes.
Meanwhile the British were actively engaged in recruiting and organizing
negroes into their army and navy.
In November, 1775, Lord Dunmore visited Norfolk, Virginia,[3] and, as
Governor, finding his authority as such not regarded by the whites,
issued a proclamation offering freedom to the slaves who would join the
British army. A full description of the State of affairs at that time,
is thus given by an English historian:
"In letters which had been laid before the English
Parliament, and published to the whole world, he (Lord
Dunmore) had represented the planters as ambitious, selfish
men, pursuing their own interest and advancement at the
expense of their poorer countrymen, and as being ready to
make every sacrifice of honesty and principle, and he had
said more privately, that, since they were so anxious for
liberty,--for more freedom than was consistent with the free
institutions of the Mother Country and the charter of the
Colony,--that since they were so eager to abolish a fanciful
slavery in a dependence on Great Britain, he would try how
they liked abolition of real slavery, by setting free all
their negroes and indentured servants, who were, in fact,
little better than _white_ slaves. This to the Virginians
was like passing a rasp over a gangrened place; it was
probing a wound that was incurable, or one which had not yet
been healed. Later in the year, when the battle of Bunker's
Hill had been fought, when our forts on Lake Champlain had
been taken from us, and when Montgomery and Arnold were
pressing on our possessions in Canada, Lord Dunmore carried
his threat into execution. Having established his
headquarters at Norfolk, he proclaimed freedom to all the
slaves who would repair to his standard and bear arms for
the King. The summons was readily obeyed by the most of the
negroes who had the means of escape to him. He, at the same
time, issued a proclamation, declaring martial law
throughout the colony of Virginia; and he collected a number
of armed vessels, which cut off the coasting trade, made
many prizes, and greatly distressed an important part of
that Province. If he could have opened a road to slaves in
the interior of the Province, his measures would have been
very fatal to the planters. In order to stop the alarming
desertion of the negroes, and to arrest his Lordship in his
career, the provincial Assembly detached against him a
strong force of more than a thousand men, who arrived in the
neighborhood of Norfolk in the month of December. Having
made a circuit, they came to a village called Great Bridge,
where the river Elizabeth was traversed by a bridge; but
before their arrival the bridge had been made impassable,
and some works, defended chiefly by negroes, had been thrown
up."
During the same month Edmund Pendleton wrote to Richard Henry Lee that
many slaves had flocked to the British standard:
"The Governor, * * * * marched out with three hundred and
fifty soldiers, Tories and _slaves_, to Kemp's Landing; and
after setting up his standard, and issuing his proclamation,
declaring all persons rebels who took up arms for the
country, and inviting all slaves, servants and apprentices
to come to him and receive arms, he proceeded to intercept
Hutchings and his party, upon whom he came by surprise, but
received, it seems, so warm a fire, that the ragmuffins ran
away. They were, however, rallied on discovering that two
companies of our militia gave away; and left Hutchings and
Dr. Reid with a volunteer company, who maintained their
ground bravely till they were overcome by numbers, and took
shelter in a swamp. The slaves were sent in pursuit of them;
and one of Col. Hutching's, with another, found him. On
their approach, he discharged his pistol at his slave, but
missed him; and he was taken by them, after receiving a
wound in the face with a sword. The number taken or killed
on either side is not ascertained. It is said the Governor
went to Dr. Reid's shop, and after taking the medicines and
dressing necessary for his wounded men, broke all the others
to pieces. Letters mention that slaves flock to him in
abundance: but I hope it is magnified."
Five months after he issued the proclamation, Lord Dunmore thus writes,
concerning his success:
[No. 1]
"_Lord Dunmore to the Secretary of State._
{SHIP 'DUNMORE,' IN ELIZABETH RIVER, VA.,
{ 30th March, 1776.
"Your Lordship will observe by my letter, No. 34, that I
have been endeavoring to raise two regiments here--one of
white people, the other of black. The former goes on very
slowly, but the latter very well, and would have been in
great forwardness, had not a fever crept in amongst them,
which carried off a great many very fine fellows."
* * * * *
[No. 3]
{"SHIP 'DUNMORE,' IN GWIN'S ISLAND HARBOR, VA.,
{ June 26, 1776.
"I am extremely sorry to inform your Lordship, that that
fever of which I informed you in my letter No. 1 has proved
a very malignant one, and has carried off an incredible
number of our people, especially the blacks. Had it not been
for this horrid disorder, I am satisfied I should have had
no doubt of penetrating into the heart of this colony."
The dread in which the colonists held the negro was equal to that with
which they regarded the Indians. The incendiary torch, massacre,
pillage, and revolt, was ever presenting a gloomy and disastrous picture
to the colonists at the South. Their dreams at night; their thoughts by
day; in the field and in the legislature hall, were how to keep the
negro down. If one should be seen in a village with a gun, a half score
of white men would rush and take it from him, while women in the street
would take shelter in the nearest house. The wrongs which they continued
to practice upon him was a terror to them through their conscience,
though then, as in later years, many, and particularly the leaders,
endeavored to impress others with their feigned belief of the natural
inferiority of the negro to themselves. This doctrine served them, as
the whistle did the boy in the woods; they talked in that way simply to
keep their courage up, and their conscience down.
The commander of the American army regarded the action of Lord Dunmore
as a serious blow to the national cause. To take the negroes out of the
field from raising produce for the army, and place them in front of the
patriots as opposing soldiers, he saw was a danger that should be
averted. With this in view he wrote to Joseph Reed in December, saying:
"If the Virginians are wise, that arch-traitor to the rights
of humanity, Lord Dunmore, should be instantly crushed, if
it takes the whole army to do it; otherwise, like a snowball
in rolling, his army will get size, some through fear, some
through promises, and some through inclination, joining his
standard; but that which renders the measure indispensable
is the negroes; for, if he gets formidable, numbers of them
will be tempted to join, who will be afraid to do it
without."
Notwithstanding this, the Southern States still kept the negro out of
the army. It was not until affairs became alarmingly dangerous, and a
few weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, that
the subject of arming the slaves came again before the people.
In May, 1777, the General Assembly of Connecticut postponed in one house
and rejected in the other the report of a committee "that the effective
negro and mulatto slaves be allowed to enlist with the Continental
battallions now raising in this State." But under a law passed at the
same session "white and black, bond and free, if 'able bodied,' went on
the roll together, accepted as the representatives of their 'class,' or
as substitutes for their employers." At the next session (October,
1777), the law was so amended as to authorize the selectmen of any town,
on the application of the master--after 'inquiry into the age,
abilities, circumstances, and character' of the servant or slave, and
being satisfied 'that it was likely to be consistent with his real
advantage, and that he would be able to support himself,'--to grant
liberty for his emancipation, and to discharge the master 'from any
charge or cost which may be occasioned by maintaining or supporting the
servant or slave made free as aforesaid.' Mr. J. H. Trumbull, of
Connecticut, in giving the foregoing facts, adds:
"The slave (or servant for term of years) might receive his
freedom; the master might receive exemption from draft, and
a discharge from future liabilities, to which he must
otherwise have been subjected. In point of fact, some
hundreds of blacks,--slaves and freemen,--were enlisted,
from time to time, in the regiments of State troops and of
the Connecticut line."
The British were determined, it seems, to utilize all the available
strength they could command, by enlisting negroes at the North as well
as at the South. They conceived the idea of forming regiments of them at
the North, as the letter of Gen. Greene to Gen. Washington will show:
"CAMP ON LONG ISLAND, July 21, 1776, two o'clock.
"SIR:--Colonel Hand reports seven large ships are coming up
from the Hook to the Narrows.
"A negro belonging to one Strickler, at Gravesend, was taken
prisoner (as he says) last Sunday at Coney Island. Yesterday
he made his escape, and was taken prisoner by the rifle
guard. He reports eight hundred negroes collected on Staten
Island, this day to be formed into a regiment.
I am your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
N. GREENE.
"To His Excellency Gen. Washington, Headquarters, New York."
Occasionally the public would be startled by the daring and bravery of
some negro in the American army, and then the true lovers of liberty,
North and South, would again urge that negroes be admitted into the
ranks of the army. When Lt.-Col. Barton planned for the capture of the
British Maj.-Gen. Prescott, who commanded the British army at Newport R.
I., and whose capture was necessary in order to effect the release of
Gen. Lee, who was then in the hands of the British, and of the same rank
as that of Gen. Prescott, Col. Barton's plan was made a success through
the aid of Prince, a negro in Col. Barton's command. The daring of the
exploit excited the highest patriotic commendations of the Americans,
and revived the urgent appeals that had been made for a place in the
armed ranks for all men, irrespective of color. The Pennsylvania Evening
_Post_ of Aug. 7th, 1777, gives the following account of the capture:
"They landed about five miles from Newport, and three
quarters of a mile from the house, which they approached
cautiously, avoiding the main guard, which was at some
distance. _The Colonel went foremost, with a stout active
negro close behind him, and another at a small distance; the
rest followed so as to be near but not seen._
"A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the Colonel;
he answered by exclaiming against and inquiring for, rebel
prisoners, but kept slowly advancing. The sentinel again
challenged him and required the countersign. He said he had
not the countersign; but amused the sentry by talking about
rebel prisoners, and still advancing till he came within
reach of the bayonet, which, he presenting, the colonel
struck aside, and seized him. He was immediately secured,
and ordered to be silent, on pain of instant death.
_Meanwhile, the rest of the men surrounding the house, the
negro, with his head, at the second stroke, forced a passage
into it, and then into the landlord's apartment. The
landlord at first refused to give the necessary
intelligence; but, on the prospect of present death, he
pointed to the General's chamber, which being instantly
opened by the negro's head, the Colonel, calling the General
by name, told him he was a prisoner._"
Congress voted Col. Barton a magnificent sword, but the real captor of
Gen. Prescott, so far as known, received nothing. A surgeon in the
American army, Dr. Thacher, writes, under date of Aug. 3d, 1777, at
Albany:
"The pleasing information is received here that Lieut.-Col.
Barton, of the Rhode Island Militia, planned a bold exploit
for the purpose of surprising and taking Maj.-Gen. Prescott,
the commanding officer of the Royal army at Newport. Taking
with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats, with
oars muffled, he had the address to elude the vigilance of
the ships-of-war and guard boats; and, having arrived
undiscovered at the quarters of Gen. Prescott, they were
taken for the sentinels; and the general was not alarmed
till the captors were at the door of his lodging chamber,
which was fast closed. _A negro man, named Prince, instantly
thrust his beetle head through the panel door, and seized
his victim while in bed._ This event is extremely honorable
to the enterprising spirit of Col. Barton, and is considered
an ample retaliation for the capture of Gen. Lee by Col.
Harcourt. The event occasions great joy and exultation, as
it puts in our possession an officer of equal rank with Gen.
Lee, by which means an exchange may be obtained. Congress
resolved that an elegant sword should be presented to Col.
Barton, for his brave exploit."
To recite here every incident and circumstance illustrating the heroism
and the particular services rendered the patriotic army by negroes, who
served in regiments and companies with white soldiers, would fill this
entire volume. Yet, with the desire of doing justice to the memory of
all those negroes who aided in achieving the independence of America, I
cannot forbear introducing notices,--gathered from various sources,--of
some prominent examples.
Ebenezer Hill, a slave at Stonington, Conn., who served throughout the
war, and who took part in the battles of Saratoga and Stillwater, and
witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne.
Prince Whipple acted as bodyguard to General Whipple, one of
Washington's aids. Prince is the negro seen on horseback in the
engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware, and again pulling the
stroke oar in the boat which Washington crossed in.
At the storming of Fort Griswold, Maj. Montgomery was lifted upon the
walls of the fort by his soldiers, and called upon the Americans to
surrender. John Freeman, a negro soldier, with his pike, pinned him dead
to the earth. Among the American soldiers who were massacred by the
British soldiers, after the surrender of the fort, were two negro
soldiers, Lambo Latham and Jordan Freeman.
Quack Matrick, a negro, fought through the Revolutionary war, as a
soldier, for which he was pensioned. Also Jonathan Overtin, who was at
the battle of Yorktown. The grandfather of the historian Wm. Wells
Brown, Simon Lee, was also a soldier "in the times which tried men's
souls."
"Samuel Charlton was born in the State of New Jersey, a
slave, in the family of Mr. M., who owned, also, other
members belonging to his family--all residing in the English
neighborhood. During the progress of the war, he was placed
by his master (as a substitute for himself) in the army then
in New Jersey, as a teamster in the baggage train. He was in
active service at the battle of Monmouth, not only
witnessing, but taking a part in, the great struggle of that
day. He was also in several other engagements in different
sections of that part of the State. He was a great admirer
of General Washington, and was, at one time, attached to his
baggage train, and received the General's commendation for
his courage and devotion to the cause of liberty. Mr.
Charlton was about fifteen or seventeen years of age when
placed in the army, for which his master rewarded him with a
silver dollar. At the expiration of his time, he returned to
his master, to serve again in bondage, after having toiled,
fought and bled for liberty, in common with the regular
soldiery. Mr. M., at his death, by will, liberated his
slaves, and provided a pension for Charlton, to be paid
during his lifetime.
* * * *
"James Easton, of Bridgewater, a colored man, participated
in the erection of the fortifications on Dorchester Heights,
under command of Washington, which the next morning so
greatly surprised the British soldiers then encamped in
Boston."
"Among the brave blacks who fought in the battles for
American liberty was Major Jeffrey, a Tennesseean, who,
during the campaign of Major-General Andrew Jackson in
Mobile, filled the place of "regular" among the soldiers. In
the charge made by General Stump against the enemy, the
Americans were repulsed and thrown into disorder,--Major
Stump being forced to retire, in a manner by no means
desirable, under the circumstances. Major Jeffrey, who was
but a common soldier, seeing the condition of his comrades,
and comprehending the disastrous results about to befall
them, rushed forward, mounted a horse, took command of the
troops, and, by an heroic effort, rallied them to the
charge,--completely routing the enemy, who left the
Americans masters of the field. He at once received from the
General the title of "Major," though he could not, according
to the American policy, so commission him. To the day of his
death, he was known by that title in Nashville, where he
resided, and the circumstances which entitled him to it were
constantly the subject of popular conversation.
"Major Jeffrey was highly respected by the whites generally,
and revered, in his own neighborhood, by all the colored
people who knew him.
"A few years ago receiving an indignity from a common
ruffian, he was forced to strike him in self-defense; for
which act, in accordance with the laws of slavery in that,
as well as many other of the slave States, he was compelled
to receive, on his naked person, _nine and thirty lashes
with a raw hide!_ This, at the age of seventy odd, after the
distinguished services rendered his country,--probably when
the white ruffian for whom he was tortured was unable to
raise an arm in its defense,--was more than he could bear;
_it broke his heart_, and he sank to rise no more, till
summoned by the blast of the last trumpet to stand on the
battle-field of the general resurrection."
Jeffrey was not an exception to this kind of treatment. Samuel Lee died
on a tobacco plantation after the war.
The re-enslaving of the negroes who fought for American Independence
became so general at the South, that the Legislature of Virginia in
1783, in compliance with her honor, passed an act directing the
emancipation of certain slaves, who had served as soldiers of the State,
and for the emancipation of the slave Aberdeen.
James Armistead during the war acted as a scout and spy for LaFayette
during his campaign in Virginia, and at one time gave information of an
intended surprise to be made upon the forces of the Marquis, thereby
saving probably a rout of the army. Armistead, after the surrender of
Cornwallis at Yorktown, was returned to his master three years after the
close of the war. He was manumitted by especial act of the Virginia
Legislature, whose attention was called to the worthiness of the service
rendered by Armistead.
The opposition to the employment of negroes as soldiers, by the
persistency of its advocates and the bravery of those who were then
serving in white regiments, was finally overcome, so that their
enlistment became general and regulated by law. Companies, battalions
and regiments of negro troops soon entered the field and the struggle
for independence and liberty, giving to the cause the reality of
freedmen's fight. For three years the army had been fighting under the
smart of defeats, with an occasional signal victory, but now the tide
was about to be turned against the English. The colonists had witnessed
the heroism of the negro in Virginia at Great Bridge, and at Norfolk; in
Massachusetts at Boston and Bunker Hill, fighting, in the former, for
freedom under the British flag, in the latter for liberty, under the
banner of the colonies. The echoing shouts of the whites fell heavily
upon the ears of the black people; they caught the strain as by martial
instinct, and reverberated the appeal, "_Liberty and Independence_."
The negro's ancestors were not slaves, so upon the altar of their hearts
the fire of liberty was re-kindled by the utterances of the white
colonists. They heard Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, whose eloquence
vehemently aroused their compatriots, and, like them, they too resolved
to be free. They held no regular organized meetings; at the North they
assembled with their white fellow-citizens; at the South each balmy gale
that swept along the banks of the rivers were laden with the negro's
ejaculations for freedom, and each breast was resolute and determined.
The advocates and friends of the measure for arming all men for freedom,
were on the alert, and now the condition of the army was such as to
enable them to press the necessity of the measure upon the attention of
the American people. Washington needed reinforcements; nay, more, the
perilous situation of the army as it lay in camp at Valley Forge, at the
conclusion of the campaign of 1777, was indeed distressing. The
encampment consisted of huts, and there was danger of a famine. The
soldiers were nearly destitute of comfortable clothing. "Many," says the
historian, "for want of shoes, walked barefoot on the frozen ground;
few, if any, had blankets for the night. Great numbers sickened; near
three thousand at a time were incapable of bearing arms."
Within fifteen miles of them lay the city of Philadelphia and the
British army. These gloomy circumstances overshadowed the recent victory
at Bennington, and the surrender of Burgoyne. Under these circumstances,
the difficulty of recruiting the patriot army may be easily imagined. A
general enlistment bill had failed to pass the legislature in the
spring, because, perhaps, the spirit of the patriots were up at the
time; but now they were down, and the advocates of arming negroes sought
the opportunity of carrying their plan. It was not attempted in
Connecticut, but in the General Assembly of Rhode Island an act was
passed for the purpose. Here are some of the principal provisions of
this act:
"_It is Voted and Resolved_, That every able-bodied negro,
mulatto, or Indian man slave in this State, may enlist into
either of the said two battalions to serve during the
continuance of the present war with Great Britain; that
every slave so enlisted shall be entitled to receive all the
bounties, wages, encouragements allowed by the Continental
Congress to any soldier enlisted into their service.
"_It is further Voted and Resolved_, That every slave so
enlisting shall, upon his passing muster before Col.
Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the
service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free,
as though he had never been encumbered with any kind of
servitude or slavery. And in case such slave shall, by
sickness or otherwise, be unable to maintain himself, he
shall not be chargable to his master or mistress, but shall
be supported at the expense of the State.
"And whereas slaves have been by the laws deemed the
property of their owners; and therefore compensation ought
to be made to the owners for the loss of their service,--
"_It is further Voted and Resolved_, That there be allowed,
and paid by this State to the owners, for every such slave
so enlisting, a sum according to his worth at a price not
exceeding one hundred and twenty pounds for the most
valuable slave, and in proportion for a slave of less value;
_Provided_ the owner of said slave shall deliver up to the
officer who shall enlist him the clothes of said slave; or
otherwise he shall not be entitled to said sum."
[Illustration: ON PICKET]
To speak of the gallantry of the negro soldiers recalls the recollection
of some of their daring deeds at Red Bank, where four hundred men met
and repulsed, after a terrible, sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred
Hessian troops led by Count Donop.
"The glory of the defence of Red Bank, which has been
pronounced one of the most heroic actions of the war,
belongs in reality to black men; yet who now hears them
spoken of in connection with it? Among the traits which
distinguished the black regiment was devotion to their
officers. In the attack made upon the American lines, near
Croton river, on the 13th of May, 1781, Col. Greene, the
commander of the regiment, was cut down and mortally
wounded; but the sabres of the enemy only reached him
through the bodies of his faithful blacks, who gathered
around him to protect him, _and every one of whom was
killed_."
Now the negro began to take the field; not scattered here and there
throughout the army, filling up the shattered ranks of white regiments,
but in organizations composed entirely of men of their own race,
officered, however, by white officers, men of high social and military
character and standing. The success of the measure in Rhode Island,
emboldened the effort in Massachusetts, where the advocates of separate
negro organizations had been laboring zealously for its accomplishment.
Officers of the army in the field, expressed their desire to be placed
in command of negro troops, in separate and distinct organizations.
Every effort, however, up to this time to induce Massachusetts to
consent to the proposition had failed. Rhode Island alone sent her negro
regiments to the field, whose gallantry during the war more than met the
most sanguine expectations of their warmest friends, and fully merited
the trust and confidence of the State and country. As the struggle
proceeded, re-enforcements were more frequently in demand; but recruits
were scarce, and the question of arming negroes became again prominent
in the colonies and the army.
In April, 1778, Thomas Kench, then serving in an artillery regiment,
addressed letters to the Massachusetts Legislature urging the enlistment
of negroes. He wrote:
"A re-enforcement can quickly be raised of two or three
hundred men. Will your honors grant the liberty, and give me
the command of the party? And what I refer to is negroes.
We have divers of them in our service, mixed with white men.
But I think it would be more proper to raise a body by
themselves, than to have them intermixed with the white men;
and their ambition would entirely be to outdo the white men
in every measure that the fortunes of war calls a soldier to
endure. And I could rely with dependence upon them in the
field of battle or to any post that I was sent to defend
with them; and they would think themselves happy could they
gain their freedom by bearing a part of subduing the enemy
that is invading our land, and clear a peaceful inheritance
for their masters, and posterity yet to come, that they are
now slaves to."
The letter from which this extract was made was duly referred to a joint
committee "to consider the same and report." Some days later "a
resolution of the General Assembly of Rhode Island for enlisting negroes
in the public service" was referred to the same committee. They duly
reported the draft of a law, differing little from the Rhode Island
Resolution. A separate organization of negro companies, by Kench, does
not appear to have been deemed advisable at that time. The usage was
continued of "taking," in the words of Kench, "negroes in our service,
intermixed with the white men."
The negroes of Boston and their abolition friends, rather insisted upon
the intermingling of the races in the army, believing that this course
had a greater tendency to destroy slavery, and the inequality of rights
among the blacks and whites; though it deprived the negroes, as we now
see, of receiving due credit for their valor, save in a few individual
cases. It was not in Massachusetts alone, but in many other States that
the same idea prevailed; and now the facts connected with the services
of the negroes are to be gathered only in fragments, from the histories
of villages and towns, or among the archives of the State, in a
disconnected and unsatisfactory form.
The legislature of New York, two months after the murder of Col. Greene
and his faithful negro troops at Point's Bridge, in that State, by the
British, passed an act (March, 1781) looking to the raising of two
regiments. The sixth section of the act reads as follows:
"And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
any person who shall deliver one or more of his able-bodied
male slaves to any warrant officer, as aforesaid, to serve
in either of the above regiments or independent corps, and
produce a certificate thereof, signed by any person
authorized to muster and receive the men to be raised by
virtue of this act, and produce such certificate to the
Surveyor-General, shall, for every male slave so entered and
mustered as aforesaid, be entitled to the location and grant
of one right, in manner as in and by this act is directed;
and shall be, and hereby is discharged from any further
maintenance of such slave, any law to the contrary
notwithstanding. And such slave so entering as aforesaid,
who shall serve for the term of three years or until
regularly discharged, shall, immediately after such service
or discharge, be, and is hereby declared to be, a free man
of this State."
In 1821, in the convention which revised the constitution of New York,
Mr. Clark, speaking in favor of allowing negroes to vote, said in the
course of his remarks:
"My honorable colleague has told us, that, as the colored
people are not required to contribute to the protection or
defence of the State, they are not entitled to an equal
participation in the privileges of its citizens. But, Sir,
whose fault is this? Have they ever refused to do military
duty when called upon? It is haughtily asked, Who will stand
in the ranks shoulder to shoulder with a negro? I answer, No
one, in time of peace; no one, when your musters and
trainings are looked upon as mere pastimes; no one, when
your militia will shoulder their muskets and march to their
trainings with as much unconcern as they would go to a
sumptuous entertainment or a splendid ball. But, Sir, when
the hour of danger approaches, your white 'militia' are just
as willing that the man of color should be set up as a mark
to be shot at by the enemy, as to be set up themselves. In
the War of the Revolution, these people helped to fight your
battles by land and by sea. Some of your States were glad to
turn out corps of colored men, and to stand 'shoulder to
shoulder' with them.
"In your late war, they contributed largely towards some of
your most splendid victories. On Lakes Erie and Champlain,
where your fleets triumphed over a foe superior in numbers
and engines of death, they were manned, in a large
proportion, with men of color. And, in this very house, in
the fall of 1814, a bill passed, receiving the approbation
of all the branches of your government, authorizing the
Governor to accept the services of a corps of two thousand
free people of color. Sir, these were times which tried
men's souls. In these times it was no sporting matter to
bear arms. These were times, when a man who shouldered his
musket did not know but he bared his bosom to receive a
death wound from the enemy ere he laid it aside; and in
these times, these people were found as ready and as willing
to volunteer in your service as any other. They were not
compelled to go; they were not drafted. No, your pride had
placed them beyond your compulsory power. But there was no
necessity for its exercise; they were volunteers; yes, Sir,
volunteers to defend that very country from the inroads and
ravages of a ruthless and vindictive foe, which had treated
them with insult, degradation and slavery.
"Volunteers are the best of soldiers. Give me the men,
whatever be their complexion, that willingly volunteer, and
not those who are compelled to turn out. Such men do not
fight from necessity, nor from mercenary motives, but from
principle."
Hon. Mr. Martindale, who represented a District of the State of New
York, in Congress in 1828, thus speaks of the negro soldiers:
"Slaves, or negroes who have been slaves, were enlisted as
soldiers in the War of the Revolution; and I myself saw a
battalion of them, as fine martial-looking men as I ever
saw, attached to the Northern army."
Up to this time the East had been the theatre of the war, with now and
then a battle in some one of the Middle Colonies, but the British
discovering that the people of the South acted indifferently in
maintaining and recruiting the army, transferred their operations to
that section. Maryland then stood as a middle State or Colony. Her
statesmen, seeing the threatened danger of the invasion of Pennsylvania,
endeavored to prepare to meet it, and taking council from her sister
States at the East, accepted the negro as a soldier. In June, 1781, John
Cadwater, writing from Annapolis, Md., to Gen. Washington, says:
"We have resolved to raise, immediately, seven hundred and
fifty negroes, to be incorporated with the other troops; and
a bill is now almost completed."
It does not appear that the negroes were formed into separate
organizations in this State, but filled the depleted ranks of the
Continental regiments, where their energy and daring was not less than
that displayed by their white comrades, with whom they fought, shoulder
to shoulder. The advocates of arming the negroes were not confined to
the Eastern and Middle sections; some of the best men of the South
favored and advocated the enlistment of free negroes, and made many,
though for a long time unsuccessful, efforts to obtain legal sanction
for such enlistment throughout the South. But their advice was not
listened to, even in the face of certain invasion, and then the whites
would not, and could not be induced to rally to the defence of their own
particular section and homes.
For fear that I may be accused of too highly coloring the picture of the
Southern laxity of fervor and patriotism, I quote from the valuable
essay which accompanies the history of the American Loyalists:
"The whole number of regulars enlisted for the Continental
service, from the beginning to the close of the struggle,
was 231,959. Of these, I have once remarked, 67,907 were
from Massachusetts; and I may now add, that every State
south of Pennsylvania provided but 59,493, or 8,414 _less_
than this single State."
The men of Massachusetts did not more firmly adhere to their policy of
mixed troops as against separate organizations, based upon color, than
did the men of the South to their peculiar institution, and against the
arming of negroes, free or slave. The war having fairly set in upon
Southern soil, and so urgent the necessity for recruiting the army, that
Congress again took up the subject of enrolling negroes as soldiers. It
was decided that the general Government had no control over the States
in the matter, but a series of resolutions were adopted recommending to
the States of Georgia and South Carolina, the arming of three thousand
able-bodied negroes.
Now began an earnest battle for the carrying out of the policy, as
recommended by Congress. Its friends were among the bravest and truest
to the cause of freedom in the States. Hon. Henry Laurens lead in the
effort. Even before the matter was brought to the attention of Congress,
he wrote to Gen. Washington, as follows:
"Our affairs in the Southern department are more favorable
than we had considered them a few days ago; nevertheless,
the country is greatly distressed, and will be so unless
further re-inforcements are sent to its relief. Had we arms
for three thousand such black men as I could select in
Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in driving the
British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida before the
end of July."
Washington knew the temper of the Southerners. He was well aware that
slaves could not be entrusted with arms within sight of the enemy's
camp, and within hearing of his proclamation of freedom to all who would
join his Majesty's standard, unless equal inducements were offered them
by the colonists, and to this he knew the Southern colonist would not
consent. In his reply to Mr. Laurens, he said:
"The policy of our arming slaves, is, in my opinion a moot
point, unless the enemy set the example. For, should we
begin to form battallions of them, I have not the smallest
doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of their following us
in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground. The
contest then must be, who can arm fastest. And where are our
arms? Besides, I am not clear that a discrimination will not
render slavery more irksome to those who remain in it. Most
of the good and evil things in this life are judged of by
comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be
productive of much discontent in those who are held in
servitude. But, as this is a subject that has never employed
much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude
ideas that have struck me upon the occasion."
Washington certainly had no doubts as to the value of the negro as a
soldier, but for the reasons stated, did not give the weight of his
influence, at this important juncture, to the policy of their
enlistment, while so many of the leading men of the colonies were
favorable to the action.
Among those who advocated the raising of negro troops was Col. John
Laurens, a native of South Carolina and a brave patriot, who had acted
as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, and had seen service in Rhode
Island and elsewhere. He was the son of Hon. Henry Laurens, at one time
President of Congress, and was noted for his high qualities of
character. A commission of lieutenant-colonel was granted to him by
Congress, and he proceeded to South Carolina to use his personal
influence to induce the Legislature to authorize the enlistment of
negroes. His services in Rhode Island had given him an opportunity to
witness the conduct and worth of the negro soldier.
Alexander Hamilton in the course of a long letter to John Jay, relating
to the mission of Col. Laurens to South Carolina, says:
"I foresee that this project will have to combat much
opposition from prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we
have been taught to entertain for the blacks makes us fancy
many things that are founded neither in reason nor
experience; and an unwillingness to part company with
property of so valuable a kind will furnish a thousand
arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious
tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it
should be considered, that, if we do not make use of them in
this way, the enemy probably will; and that the best way to
counteract the temptations they will hold out will be to
offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is to
give them their freedom with their muskets. This will secure
their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will
have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a
door to their emancipation. This circumstance, I confess has
no small weight in inducing me to wish the success of the
project; for the dictates of humanity and true policy,
equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of
men."
The patriotic zeal of Col. Laurens for the accomplishment of his design
was earnest and conscientious. He wrote to his friend Hamilton in these
words:
"Ternant will relate to you how many violent struggles I
have had between duty and inclination--how much my heart was
with you, while I appeared to be most actively employed
here. But it appears to me, that I should be inexcusable in
the light of a citizen, if I did not continue my utmost
efforts for carrying the plan of the black levies into
execution, while there remains the smallest hope of
success."
The condition of the colonies and the Continental army at that time was
critical in the extreme. The campaign of 1779 had closed gloomily for
the Americans. The British had not only been active in raiding in
Virginia and destroying property, but in organizing negro troops. Lord
Dunmore, as we have seen, as early as November, 1775, had issued a
proclamation, inviting the negroes to join the Royal forces, to which a
great many slaves responded, and were organized into companies. A
regiment had been organized by the British on Long Island in 1776, and
now, Sir Henry Clinton invited them by the following proclamation:
"By his Excellency Sir Henry Clinton, K. B., General and
Commander-in-Chief of all his Majesty's Forces, within the
Colonies lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to
West Florida, inclusive, &c., &c.
PROCLAMATION.
"Whereas the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling
_Negroes_ among their _Troops_, I do hereby give notice
_That_ all Negroes taken in arms, or upon any military
_Duty_, shall be purchased for _the public service_ at a
stated _Price_; the money to be paid to the _Captors_.
"But I do most strictly forbid any _Person_ to sell or claim
_Right_ over any Negro, the property of a Rebel, who may
take refuge in any part of this _Army_: And I do promise to
every negro who shall desert the _Rebel Standard_, full
security to follow within these _Lines_, any Occupation
which he shall think proper.
"Given under my Hand at Head-Quarters, Philipsburg, the 30th day
of June, 1779. H. CLINTON.
"By his Excellency's command, John Smith, Secretary."
It is highly probable that many negroes made their way to the British
camp. Col. Laurens wrote to General Washington, under date of February,
1780, six months after the issuing of Sir Henry Clinton's proclamation,
as follows:
"Private accounts say that General Provost is left to
command at Savannah; that his troops consist of Hessians and
Loyalists that were there before, _re-inforced by a corps of
blacks and a detachment of savages_. It is generally
reported that Sir. Henry Clinton commands the present
expedition."
Clinton left New York in the latter part of 1779, for the reduction of
Charleston, which he completed in May, three months after the date of
Col. Laurens' letter. Gen. Lincoln, who commanded the American forces at
Charleston, joined in the effort to arm the negroes. In a letter to Gov.
Rutledge, dated Charleston, March 13th, 1780, he says:
"Give me leave to add once more, that I think the measure of
raising a black corps a necessary one; that I have great
reason to believe, if permission is given for it, that many
men would soon be obtained. I have repeatedly urged this
matter, not only because Congress has recommended it, and
because it thereby becomes my duty to attempt to have it
executed, but because my own mind suggests the utility and
importance of the measure, as the safety of the town makes
it necessary."
The project of raising negro troops gained some friends in all sections,
and Statesmen, both South and North, as they talked about it, became
more free to express their approbation of the measure. They had
witnessed the militia from Virginia and North Carolina, at the battle of
Camden, throw down their arms before the enemy;[4] they had seen black
and white troops under command of Gen. Provost occupy Savannah; the
surrender of Charlestown had become necessary; and these evils were all
brought about by the apathy of the white inhabitants.
Among those who spoke out in favor of Col. Laurens' and Gen. Lincoln's
plan, was Hon. James Madison, who, on the 20th of November, 1780, wrote
to Joseph Jones:
"I am glad to find the Legislature persisting in their
resolution to recruit their line of the army for the war;
though, without deciding on the expediency of the mode under
their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and
make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves, as to make
them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would
certainly be more consonant with the principles of liberty:
and, with white officers and a majority of white soldiers,
no imaginable danger could be feared from themselves; as
there certainly could be none from the effect of the example
on those who should remain in bondage; experience having
shown that a freedman immediately loses all attachment and
sympathy with his former fellow slaves."
No circumstances under which the South was placed, could induce either
their legislators or the people to adopt the recommendations of Congress
or the advice of the patriots and statesmen of their section. The
opposition to the arming of the negroes was much stronger than the love
for independence. The British, however, adopted the plan, and left no
stone unturned to augment the strength of their army. Thousands of
negroes flocked to the Royal standard at every opportunity, just as in
the war of the Rebellion in 1861-'65, they sought freedom under the
national banner.
It has ever been the rule among American historians to omit giving
credit to those negroes who sought to gain their freedom by joining the
British. They have generally also failed to acknowledge the valor of
those who swelled the ranks of the Continental army. Enough, however,
can be gathered, mostly from private correspondence, to show that the
hope of success for the Americans rested either in the docility of the
negroes at the South, or in their loyalty to the cause of Independence.
At all events, upon the action of the blacks more than upon the bravery
and valor of the American troops, depended the future status of the
Colonies; hence the solicitude of officers and of the leading citizens;
and it was not the love of universal freedom, which prompted their
efforts for arming negroes; not at all, but their keen appreciation of
the value of a neutral power, which could be utilized for the benefit of
America's Independence. Nor do I attribute other than the same motive to
the British, who did arm and did free a great many of the negroes, who
joined their service, especially at the South, where they must have
organized quite a large force,--not less than 5,000. Early in 1781,
(Feb'y) Gen. Greene, then in command in North Carolina, writing to
General Washington about the doings of the enemy in South Carolina,
where he formally commanded, says:
"The enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be
immediately embodied, and are drafting a great portion of
the young men of that State [South Carolina], to serve
during the war."
A few days after writing this letter, Gen. Greene met the British at
Guilford Court House, and again witnessed the cowardice of the Southern
militia,[5] whose conduct gave victory to the British, under Cornwallis.
The persistency of Col. Laurens in his effort to organize negro troops,
was still noteworthy. Having returned from France, whither he went on
important business, connected with the welfare of the States, he resumed
his "favorite pursuit." Under date of May, 19, 1782, in a letter
addressed to Washington, he says:
"The plan which brought me to this country was urged with
all the zeal which the subject inspired, both in our Privy
Council and Assembly; but the single voice of reason was
drowned by the howling of a triple-headed monster, in which
prejudice, avarice, and pusillanimity were united. It was
some degree of consolation to me, however, to perceive that
the truth and philosophy had gained some ground; the
suffrages in favor of the measure being twice as numerous as
on a former occasion. Some hopes have been lately given me
from Georgia; but I fear, when the question is put, we
shall be out-voted there with as much disparity as we have
been in this country.
* * * *
"I earnestly desire to be where any active plans are likely
to be executed, and to be near your Excellency on all
occasions in which my services can be acceptable. The
pursuit of an object which, I confess, is a favorite one
with me, because I always regarded the interests of this
country and those of the Union as intimately connected with
it, has detached me more than once from your family, but
those sentiments of veneration and attachments with which
your Excellency has inspired me, keep me always near you,
with the sincerest and most zealous wishes for a continuance
of your happiness and glory."
Here ended the project of arming negroes in South Carolina, and before
an earnest effort could be made in Georgia, the brave man laid his life
upon the altar of American liberty.
But to show the state of public opinion at the South, as understood by
the Commander-in-Chief of the American army, we have but to read
Washington's reply to Col. Laurens' last letter, in which he speaks of
"making a last effort" in Georgia. Gen. Washington uses this emphatic
language:
"I must confess that I am not at all astonished at the
failure of your plan. That spirit of freedom, which, at the
commencement of this contest, would have gladly sacrificed
everything to the attainment of its object, has long since
subsided, and every selfish passion has taken its place. It
is not the public but private interest which influences the
generality of mankind; nor can the Americans any longer
boast an exception. Under the circumstances, it would rather
have been surprising if you had succeeded; nor will you, I
fear, have better success in Georgia."
This letter settles forever any boast of the Southerners, that to them
is due the credit of gaining the independence of the United States. It
is true Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown, Va., was the last of the
series of battles fought for independence.[6] But we must remember that
the French were at Yorktown. It cannot be doubted but that from
Charleston to Yorktown the Americans met negro troops more than once
fighting under the Royal flag; while at the east, in every important
engagement between the two enemies,--British and American,--the negro
was found fighting with the Americans. This division of the negroes can
easily be accounted for, since at the North and East the object of the
war was acknowledged to be set forth in the Declaration of Independence;
at the South only so much of the Declaration was accepted as demanded
Independence from Great Britain. Therefore, though in separate and
opposing armies, the object of the negro was the same--liberty. It is to
be regretted that the historians of the Revolutionary period did not
more particularly chronicle the part taken by negroes at the South,
though enough is known to put their employment beyond doubt.
Johnson, the author of the life of Gen. Greene, speaking of Greene's
recommendation to the Legislature of South Carolina to enroll negroes,
says:
"There is a sovereign, who, at this time, draws his soldiery
from the same class of people; and finds a facility in
forming and disciplining an army, which no other power
enjoys. Nor does his immense military force, formed from
that class of his subjects, excite the least apprehension;
for the soldier's will is subdued to that of his officer,
and his improved condition takes away the habit of
identifying himself with the class from which he has been
separated. Military men know what mere machines men become
under discipline, and believe that any men, who may be
obedient, may be made soldiers; and that increasing their
numbers increases the means of their own subjection and
government."
Cornwallis doubtless had gathered within his lines a large number of
negroes, to whose energy and labor, the erection of his breastworks were
mainly due. Lafayette feeling satisfied that the position of his army
before Yorktown would confine the British, and make the escape of
Cornwallis impossible without battle, wrote to Gen. Washington in
September:
"I hope you will find we have taken the best precautions to
lessen his Lordship's escape. I hardly believe he will make
the attempt. If he does, he must give up ships, artillery,
baggage, part of his horses, and all the negroes."
All this time in some of the Northern States an opposition as strong as
at the South had existed against organizing negro troops, and in some
instances even against employing them as soldiers. The effort for
separate organizations had been going on, but with only the little
success that has been already noticed. In a biographical sketch of Col.
David Humphreys, in the "National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished
Americans," is the following:
"In November, 1782, he was, by resolution of Congress,
commissioned as a Lieutenant-Colonel, with order that his
commission should bear date from the 23rd of June, 1780,
when he received his appointment as aid-de-camp to the
Commander-in-Chief. He had, when in active service, given
the sanction of his name and influence in the establishment
of a company of colored infantry, attached to Meigs',
afterwards Butler's, regiment, in the Connecticut line. He
continued to be the nominal captain of that company until
the establishment of peace."
Though the Legislature of Connecticut had taken up the subject of arming
negroes generally, as early as 1777, and a bill, as we have seen, was
presented to that Legislature, for their enrollment, the advocates of
the measure, in every attempt to pass it, had been beaten. Nevertheless,
as appears by the record given above, Col. Humphrey took charge and
organized a company, with which he served until the close of the war.
But this company of fifty odd men were not all that did service in the
army from Connecticut, for in many of her white regiments, negroes, bond
and free, stood in the ranks with the whites. And, notwithstanding the
unsuccessful attempts of Col. Laurens and the advocates of negro
soldiery at the South, the negro was an attache of the Southern army,
and rendered efficient aid during the struggle, in building breastworks,
driving teams and piloting the army through dense woods, swamps, and
across rivers. Not a few were spies and drummers. To select or point out
a particular battle or siege, in which they rendered active service to
the British, would not be a difficult task, though the information at
hand is too limited for a detailed account of the part which they bore
in these struggles. The true patriots of the Revolution were not slow in
according to their black compatriots that meed of praise which was their
due. In almost every locality, either North or South, after the war,
there lived one or two privileged negroes, who, on great
occasions,--days of muster, 4th of July, Washington's birthday, and the
like,--were treated with more than ordinary courtesy by the other
people. That a great and dastardly wrong was committed upon many, in
like manner in which Simon Lee[7] was treated, is true. Many negroes at
the South, who fought for American independence were re-enslaved, and
this is so far beyond a doubt that no one denies it. The re-enslaving of
these soldiers,--not by those who took part in the conflict, but the
_stay-at-home's_,--was so flagrant an outrage that the Legislature of
Virginia, in 1783, in order to give freedom to those who had been
re-enslaved, and to rebuke the injustice of the treatment, passed the
following act:
_An Act directing the Emancipation of certain Slaves who had
served as Soldiers in this State, and for the Emancipation
of the Slave, Aberdeen._
"I. Whereas, it hath been represented to the present General
Assembly, that, during the course of the war, many persons
in this State had caused their slaves to enlist in certain
regiments or corps, raised within the same, having tendered
such slaves to the officers appointed to recruit forces
within the State, as substitutes for free persons whose lot
or duty it was to serve in such regiments or corps, at the
same time representing to such recruiting officers that the
slaves, so enlisted by their direction and concurrence, were
freemen; and it appearing further to this Assembly, that on
the expiration of the term of enlistment of such slaves,
that the former owners have attempted again to force them to
return to a state of servitude, contrary to the principles
of justice, and to their own solemn promise;
"II. And whereas it appears just and reasonable that all
persons enlisted as aforesaid, who have faithfully served
agreeable to the terms of their enlistment, and have hereby
of course contributed towards the establishment of American
liberty and independence, should enjoy the blessings of
freedom as a reward for their toils and labors.
"_Be it therefore enacted_, That each and every slave, who,
by the appointment and direction of his owner, hath enlisted
in any regiment or corps raised within this State, either on
Continental or State establishment, and hath been received
as a substitute for any free person whose duty or lot it was
to serve in such regiment or corps, and hath served
faithfully during the term of such enlistment, or hath been
discharged from such service by some officer duly authorized
to grant such discharge, shall, from and after the passing
of this act, be fully and completely emancipated, and shall
be held and deemed free, in as full and ample a manner as if
each and every one of them were specially named in this act;
and the Attorney-general for the Commonwealth is hereby
required to bring an action, _in forma pauperis_, in behalf
of any of the persons above described who shall, after the
passage of this act, be detained in servitude by any person
whatsoever; and if, upon such prosecution, it shall appear
that the pauper is entitled to his freedom in consequence of
this act, a jury shall be empaneled to assess the damages
for his detention.
"III. And whereas it has been represented to this General
Assembly, that Aberdeen, a negro man slave, hath labored a
number of years in the public service at the lead mines, and
for his meritorious services is entitled to freedom;
"_Be it therefore enacted_, That the said slave Aberdeen,
shall be, and he is hereby, emancipated and declared free in
as full and ample a manner as if he had been born free."
In 1786 an act was passed to emancipate a negro slave who had acted as a
spy for Lafayette. This practice was not perhaps wholly confined to the
South. Although Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, her territory
was, it seems, still subject to slave hunts, and her negro soldiers to
the insult of an attempt to re-enslave them. But Gen. Washington, though
himself a slave-holder, regarded the rights of those who fought for
liberty and national independence, with too much sacredness and the
honor of the country with too much esteem, to permit them to be set
aside, merely to accommodate those who had rendered the nation's cause
no help or assistance. Gen. Putnam received the following letter, which
needs no explanation:
"HEADQUARTERS, Feb. 2, 1783.
"SIR:--Mr. Hobby having claimed as his property a negro man
now serving in the Massachusetts Regiment, you will please
to order a court of inquiry, consisting of five as
respectable officers as can be found in your brigade, to
examine the validity of the claim and the manner in which
the person in question came into service. Having inquired
into the matter, with all the attending circumstances, they
will report to you their opinion thereon; which you will
report to me as soon as conveniently may be.
"I am, Sir, with great respect, your most obedient servant,
"GEORGE WASHINGTON.
"P. S.--All concerned should be notified to attend.
"Brig.-Gen. Putnam."
Not only did some of the negro soldiers who fought in the American Army
receive unjust treatment at the close of the war, but those who served
under the Royal standard, also shared a fate quite different from what
they supposed it would be when the proclamations of Lord Dunmore,
Clinton and Cornwallis, were inviting them to cast their lot with the
British.
The high character of Thomas Jefferson induces me to reproduce his
letter to Dr. Gordon, or rather that portion of it which refers to the
treatment of the negroes who went with the British army. Mr. Jefferson
says:
"From an estimate I made at that time, on the best
information I could collect, I supposed the State of
Virginia lost, under Lord Cornwallis' hand, that year, about
thirty thousand slaves; and that, of these, twenty-seven
thousand died of the small-pox and camp fever; the rest were
partly sent to the West Indies, and exchanged for rum,
sugar, coffee and fruit; and partly sent to New York, from
whence they went, at the peace, either to Nova Scotia or to
England. From this last place, I believe they have lately
been sent to Africa. History will never relate the horrors
committed by the British army in the Southern States of
America."
The heroism of the negro soldier has ever been eulogized by the true
statesmen of our country, whenever the question of the American
patriots was the theme. And I find no better eulogy to pronounce upon
them than that Hon. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, delivered in
the United States House of Representatives in 1820, and that of Hon. Wm.
Eustis, of Massachusetts, during the same debate. Mr. Pinckney said:
"It is a remarkable fact, that notwithstanding, in the
course of the Revolution, the Southern States were
continually overrun by the British, and that every negro in
them had an opportunity of leaving their owners, few did;
proving thereby not only a most remarkable attachment to
their owners, but the mildness of the treatment, from whence
their affection sprang. They then were, as they still are,
as valuable a part of our population to the union as any
other equal number of inhabitants. They were in numerous
instances the pioneers, and in all the laborers, of your
armies. To their hands were owing the erection of the
greatest part of the fortifications raised for the
protection of our country; some of which, particularly Fort
Moultrie, gave, at the early period of the inexperience and
untried valor of our citizens, immortality to American arms;
and, in the Northern States, numerous bodies of them were
enrolled into, and fought, by the side of the whites, the
battles of the Revolution."--_Annals of Congress._
And said Mr. Eustis:
"At the commencement of the Revolutionary war, there were
found in the Middle and Northern States, many blacks, and
other people of color, capable of bearing arms; a part of
them free, the greater part slaves. The freemen entered our
ranks with the whites. The time of those who were slaves was
purchased by the States; and they were induced to enter the
service in consequence of a law by which, on condition of
their serving in the ranks during the war, they were made
freemen.
"The war over, and peace restored, these men returned to
their respective States; and who could have said to them, on
their return to civil life, after having shed their blood in
common with the whites in the defence of the liberties of
their country, 'You are not to participate in the liberty
for which you have been fighting?' Certainly no white man in
Massachusetts."
Such is the historic story of the negro in the American Revolution, and
it is a sad one as regards any benefit to his own condition by his
connection with either side. But it is one of the most memorable of all
history on exhibition of the fidelity of a race to the cause of the
freedom of all men.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Ran away from his master, William Brown, of Framingham, on the 30th
of Sept. last, a Mullato Fellow, about 27 years of age, named _Crispus_,
6 feet 2 inches high, short, curl'd hair, his knees nearer together than
common; had on a light coloured Bearskin Coat, plain brown Fustain
Jacket, or brown All Wool one, new Buck skin breeches, blue Yarn
Stockings, and a checked woolen shirt. Whoever shall take up said
Runaway, and convey him to his abovesaid master, shall have _ten
pounds_, old Tenor Reward, and all necessary charges paid. And all
Masters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned against concealing
or carrying off said Servant on Penalty of the Law. Boston, October 2,
1750."--_Boston Gazette._
[2] Mr. Sparks appends to this letter the following note: "At a meeting
of the general officers, previously to the arrival of the committee from
Congress in camp, it was unanimously resolved, that it was not expedient
to enlist slaves in the new army; and by a large majority, negroes of
every description were excluded from enlistment. When the subject was
referred to the Committee in conference, the resolve was not adhered to,
and probably for the reason here mentioned by Washington. Many black
soldiers were in the service during all stages of the war."--Spark's
Washington, Vol. III. pp. 218-219.
[3] Dunmore after destroying Norfolk, sailed with his fleet of
men-of-war and more than fifty transports, on board of which were many
armed negroes and Royal troops, to the mouth of the Piankatank river,
and took possession of Gwynn's Island, where he landed his troops and
entrenched. Here he was attacked by Gen. Lewis' men from the opposite
shore. One of Dunmore's ships was badly damaged by cannon balls, and he
drew off and sailed up the Potomoc river, and occupied St. Georgia's
Island, after having burned a mansion at the mouth of Aqua Creek. He was
here attacked by a militia force and retired. Misfortune followed him;
disease, shipwreck and want of provisions. He soon made sail, and with
his negroes reached England, where he remained.
[4] At the first onset, a large body of the Virginia militia, under a
charge of the British infantry with fixed bayonets, threw down their
arms and fled. A considerable part of the North Carolina militia
followed their unworthy example. But the Continentals evinced the most
unyielding firmness, and pressed forward with unusual ardor. Never did
men acquit themselves more honorably. They submitted only when forsaken
by their brethren in arms, and when overpowered by numbers.
[5] "The British loss, in this battle, exceeded five hundred in killed
and wounded, among whom were several of the most distinguished officers.
The American loss was about four hundred, in killed and wounded, of
which more than three-fourths fell upon the Continentals. Though the
numerical force of Gen. Greene nearly doubled that of Cornwallis, yet,
when we consider the difference between these forces; the shameful
conduct of the North Carolina militia, who fled at the first fire; the
desertion of the second Maryland regiment, and that a body of reserve
was not brought into action, it will appear that our numbers, actually
engaged, but little exceeded that of the enemy."--_Grimshaw's U. S.
History._
[6] The Burlington _Gazette_, in an issue of some time ago, gives the
following account of an aged negro Revolutionary patriot: "The attention
of many of our citizens has doubtless been arrested by the appearance of
an old colored man, who might have been seen, sitting in front of his
residence, in east Union street, respectfully raising his hat to those
who might be passing by. His attenuated frame, his silvered head, his
feeble movements, combine to prove that he is very aged: and yet,
comparatively few are aware that he is among the survivors of the
gallant army who fought for the liberties of our country.
"On Monday last, we stopped to speak to him, and asked how old he was.
He asked the day of the month, and upon being told that it was the 24th
of May, replied, with trembling lips, 'I am very old--I am a hundred
years old to-day.'
"His name is Oliver Cromwell, and he says that he was born at the Black
Horse, (now Columbus), in this county, in the family of John Hutchins.
He enlisted in a company commanded by Capt. Lowry, attached to the
Second New Jersey Regiment, under the command of Col. Israel Shreve. He
was at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Princetown, Monmouth, and
Yorktown, at which latter place, he told us, he saw the last man killed.
Although his faculties are failing, yet he relates many interesting
reminiscences of the Revolution. He was with the army at the retreat of
the Delaware, on the memorable crossing of the 25th of December, 1776,
and relates the story of the battle on the succeeding day, with
enthusiasm. He gives the details of the march from Trenton to
Princetown, and told us, with much humor, that they 'knocked the British
around lively,' at the latter place. He was also at the battle of
Springfield, and says that he saw the house burning in which Mrs.
Caldwell was shot, at Connecticut Farms."
"I further learn, (says the author of the 'Colored Patriots of the
Revolution'), that Cromwell was brought up a farmer, having served his
time with Thomas Hutchins, Esq., his maternal uncle. He was, for six
years and nine months under the immediate command of Washington, whom he
loved affectionately."
"His discharge," says Dr. M'Cune Smith, "at the close of the war, was in
Washington's own handwriting, of which he was very proud, often speaking
of it. He received annually, ninety-six dollars pension. He lived a long
and honorable life. Had he been of a little lighter complexion, (he was
just half white), every newspaper in the land would have been eloquent
in praise of his many virtues."
[7] Simon Lee, the grandfather of William Wells Brown, on his mother's
side, was a slave in Virginia, and served in the war of the Revolution.
Although honorably discharged, with the other Virginia troops, at the
close of the war, he was sent back to his master, where he spent the
remainder of his life toiling on a tobacco plantation.--_Patriotism of
Colored Americans._
CHAPTER II.
THE WAR OF 1812.
While there is no intention of entering into an examination of the
causes of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812,
yet in order to carry out the design of the author to show that in this
war,--like all others in which the government of the United States has
been engaged,--the negro, as a soldier, took part, it is deemed
necessary to cite at least one of the incidents, perhaps _the_ incident,
which most fired the national heart of America, and hastened the
beginning of hostilities.
The war between England and France gave to the American merchant marine
interest an impetus that increased the number of vessels three-fold in a
few years; it also gave command of the carrying trade of the West
Indies, from which Napoleon's frigates debarred the English merchantmen.
In consequence England sought and used every opportunity to cripple
American commerce and shipping. One plan was to deprive American ships
of the service of English seamen. Her war vessels claimed and exercised
the right of searching for English seamen on board American vessels.
During the year 1807, the English Admiral Berkeley, in command of the
North American Station, issued instructions to commanders of vessels in
his fleet to look out for the American frigate Chesapeake, and if they
fell in with her at sea, to board her and search for deserters, as all
English seamen in the American service were regarded by England. With
the instructions, were the descriptions of four sailors, three negroes
and one white man, who were missing.
The persons who deserted from the Melampus, then lying in Hampton Roads,
were William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan, John Little and Ambrose
Watts. Within a month from their escape from the Melampus, the first
three of these deserters offered themselves for enlistment, and were
received on board the Chesapeake, then at Norfolk, Va., preparing for
sea. The British consul at Norfolk, being apprized of the circumstance,
wrote a letter to the American naval officer, requesting the men to be
returned. With this request, the officer refused to comply, and the
British lost no time in endeavoring to procure an order from the
American government for their surrender. On receipt of the application,
the Secretary of the Navy ordered an examination into the characters and
claims of the men in question. The examination resulted in proof that
the three negroes, Ware, Martin and Strachan were natives of America.
The two former had "_protections_," or notarial certificates of their
citizenship;[8] Strachan had no "_protection_," but asserted that he
lost it previous to his escape. Such being the circumstances, the
government refused to give the men up, insisting that they were American
citizens, and though, they had served in the British navy, they were
pressed into the service and had a right to desert it.
The Chesapeake was one of the finest of the frigates in the American
Navy, and after receiving an outfit requiring six months to complete at
the Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk, Va., started for the Mediterranean.
The English frigate Leopard, which lay in the harbor at Norfolk when the
Chesapeake sailed, followed her out to sea, hailed her and sent a letter
to her commander, Commodore James Barron, demanding the surrender of the
deserters. Barron sent a note refusing to comply with the demand,
whereupon the Leopard fired several broadsides into the Chesapeake.
Barron struck his colors without firing a shot, and permitted the
officers of the Leopard to board his vessel and search her. The British
captain refused to accept the surrender of the Chesapeake, but took from
her crew the three men who had been demanded as deserters; also a
fourth, John Wilson, a white man, claimed as a runaway from a merchant
ship.
The white sailor, it was admitted by the American government, was a
British subject, and his release was not demanded; he was executed for
deserting the British Navy. Of the negroes, two only were returned by
the British government, the other one having died in England. Says an
American historian:
"An outrage like this, inflicted not by accident or the
brutality of a separate commander, naturally excited the
whole nation to the utmost.
"President Jefferson very soon interdicted American harbors
and waters to all vessels of the English Navy, and forbade
intercourse with them. He sent a vessel of war with a
special minister to demand satisfaction. The English Admiral
hanged the deserter, and dismissed the three black men with
a reprimand, blaming them for _disturbing the peace of two
nations_. That the outrage did not end in immediate war, was
due partly to the fact that the Americans had no Navy to
fight with."
Nearly four years elapsed before the final settlement of the Chesapeake
affair, and then the English government insisted upon its right to, and
issued orders for the search for British sailors to be continued; thus a
cause for quarrel remained.
The principal grounds of war, set forth in a message of the President to
Congress, June 1st, 1812, and further explained by the Committee on
Foreign Relations, in their report on the subject of the message, were
summarily:
"The impressment of American seamen by the British; the
blockade of her enemy's ports, supported by no adequate
force, in consequence of which the American commerce had
been plundered in every sea, and the great staples of the
country cut off from their legitimate markets; and the
British orders in council."
[Illustration: A NAVAL BATTLE.]
On these grounds, the President urged the declaration of war. In unison
with the recommendation of the President, the Committee on Foreign
Relations concluded their reports as follows:
"Your committee, believing that the freeborn sons of America
are worthy to enjoy the liberty which their fathers
purchased at the price of much blood and treasure, and
seeing by the measures adopted by Great Britain, a course
commenced and persisted in, which might lead to a loss of
national character and independence, feel no hesitation in
advising resistance by force, in which the Americans of the
present day will prove to the enemy and the world, that we
have not only inherited that liberty which our fathers gave
us, but also the will and power to maintain it. Relying on
the patriotism of the nation, and confidently trusting that
the Lord of Hosts will go with us to battle in a righteous
cause, and crown our efforts with success, your committee
recommend an immediate appeal to _arms_."
War was declared by Congress on the 17th of June, and proclaimed by the
President on the second day following.
The struggle was principally carried on upon the water, between the
armed vessels of the two nations, consequently no great armies were
called into active service upon the field. This was indeed fortunate for
America, whose military establishments at the time were very defective.
Congress called for twenty thousand men, but a very few enlisted. The
President was authorized to raise fifty thousand volunteers and to call
out one hundred thousand militia for the defence of the seacoast and
frontiers; but officers could not be found to nominally command the few
thousand that responded to the call; which state of affairs was no doubt
largely due to the opposition to the war, which existed in the New
England States.
Since the peace of 1783, a class of marine merchants at the North had
vied with each other in the African slave trade, in supplying the
Southern planters. Consequently the increase in negro population was
great; in 1800 it was 1,001,463, and in 1810, two years before war was
declared, 1,377,810, an increase of 376,347. Of the 1,377,810, there
were 1,181,362 slaves, and 186,448 free. Of course their increase was
not due solely to the importation by the slave trade, but the aggregate
increase was large, compared with the increase of the white population
for the same period.
The free negroes were mainly residents of the Northern States, where
they enjoyed a nominal freedom. They entered the service with alacrity;
excluded from the army, they enlisted in the navy, swelling the number
of those who, upon the rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, manned the guns
of the war vessels, in defense of Free Trade, Sailor's Rights and
Independence on the seas as well as on the land. It is quite impossible
to ascertain the exact number of negroes who stood beside the guns that
won for America just recognition from the maritime powers of the world.
Like the negro soldiers in the Revolutionary war who served with the
whites, so the negro sailors in the war of 1812 served in the American
Navy; in the mess, at the gun, on the yard-arm and in the gangway,
together with others of various nationalities, they achieved many
victories for the navy of our common country. The best evidence I can
give in substantiation of what has been written, is the following letter
from Surgeon Parsons to George Livermore, Esq., of the Massachusetts
Historical Society:
"PROVIDENCE, October 18, 1862.
"MY DEAR SIR:--In reply to your inquiries about the
employing of blacks in our navy in the war of 1812, and
particularly in the battle of Lake Erie, I refer you to
documents in Mackenzie's 'Life of Commodore Perry,' vol. i.
pp. 166 and 187.
"In 1814, our fleet sailed to the Upper Lakes to co-operate
with Colonel Croghan at Mackinac. About one in ten or twelve
of the crews were black.
"In 1816, I was surgeon of the 'Java,' under Commodore
Perry. The white and colored seamen messed together. About
one in six or eight were colored.
"In 1819, I was surgeon of the 'Guerriere,' under Commodore
Macdonough; and the proportion of blacks was about the same
in her crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of
prejudice against the blacks as messmates among the crew.
What I have said applies to the crews of the other ships
that sailed in squadrons.
"Yours very respectfully,
"USHER PARSONS."
Dr. Parsons had reference to the following correspondence between
Captain Perry and Commodore Chauncey, which took place in 1813, before
the former's victory on Lake Erie. As will be seen, Perry expressed
dissatisfaction as to the recruits sent him to man the squadron then on
Lake Erie, and with which he gained a decisive victory over the British
fleet, under command of Capt Barley:
"SIR,--I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed
letter from General Harrison. If I had officers and
men,--and I have no doubt you will send them,--I could fight
the enemy, and proceed up the lake; but, having no one to
command the 'Niagara,' and only one commissioned lieutenant
and two acting lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, going
out is out of the question. The men that came by Mr.
Champlin are a motley set,--blacks, soldiers, and boys. I
cannot think you saw them after they were selected. I am,
however, pleased to see any thing in the shape of a
man."--_Mackenzie's Life of Perry_, vol. i. pp. 165, 166.
Commodore Chauncey then rebuked him in his reply, and set forth the
worth of the negro seaman:
"SIR,--I have been duly honored with your letters of the
twenty-third and twenty-sixth ultimo, and notice your
anxiety for men and officers. I am equally anxious to
furnish you; and no time shall be lost in sending officers
and men to you as soon as the public service will allow me
to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not
pleased with the men sent you by Messrs Champlin and Forest;
for, to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpassed by
any seamen we have in the fleet: and I have yet to learn
that the color of the skin, or the cut and trimmings of the
coat, can effect a man's qualifications or usefulness. I
have nearly fifty blacks on board of this ship, and many of
them are among my best men; and those people you call
soldiers have been to sea from two to seventeen years; and I
presume that you will find them as good and useful as any
men on board of your vessel; at least if you can judge by
comparison; for those which we have on board of this ship
are attentive and obedient, and, as far as I can judge, many
of them excellent seamen: at any rate, the men sent to Lake
Erie have been selected with a view of sending a fair
proportion of petty officers and seamen; and I presume, upon
examination, it will be found that they are equal to those
upon this lake."--_Mackenzie's Life of Perry_, vol. i. pp.
186, 187.
The battle of Lake Erie is the most memorable naval battle fought with
the British; of it Rossiter Johnson, in his "History of the War of
1812," in the description of the engagement, says:
"As the question of the fighting qualities of the black man
has since been considerably discussed, it is worth noting
that in this bloody and brilliant battle a large number of
Perry's men were negroes."
It was not left to Commodores Chauncey and Perry, solely, to applaud
them; there was not an American war vessel, perhaps, whose crew, in
part, was not made up of negroes, as the accounts of various sea fights
prove. And they are entitled to no small share of the meed of praise
given the American seamen, who fought and won victory over the British.
Not only in the Navy, but on board the privateers,[9] the American negro
did service, as the following extract will show:
"_Extract of a Letter from Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of
the private-armed Schooner Gov. Tompkins, to his Agent in
New York._
AT SEA, Jan. 1, 1813.
"Before I could get our light sails on, and almost before I
could turn round, I was under the guns, not of a transport,
but of a large _frigate_! and not more than a quarter of a
mile from her. * * Her first broadside killed two men and
wounded six others * * My officers conducted themselves in a
way that would have done honor to a more permanent service *
* * The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought
to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with
reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was
a black man by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four pound
shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part
of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the
deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, '_Fire
away, my boy: no haul a color down_' The other was a black
man, by the name of John Davis, and was struck in much the
same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be
thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others.
"When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the
tyrants of the ocean."--_Nile's Weekly Register, Saturday,
Feb. 26, 1814._
As in the late war of the rebellion, the negroes offered their services
at the outset when volunteers were called for, and the true patriots at
the North sought to have their services accepted; but the government
being in the control of the opponents of universal freedom and the
extension of the rights of citizenship to the negro, the effort to admit
him into the ranks of the army, even in separate organizations, was
futile. At the same time American whites would not enlist to any great
extent, and but for the tide of immigration, which before the war had
set in from Ireland, the fighting on shore would probably not have
lasted six months; certainly the invasion of Canada would not have been
attempted.
The reverses which met the American army in the first year of the war,
slackened even the enlistment that was going on and imperiled the safety
of the country, and the defences of the most important seaports and
manufacturing states. Battle after battle had been lost, the invasion of
Canada abandoned, and the British had turned their attention southward.
The war in Europe had been brought to a close, and Napoleon was a
captive. England was now at liberty to reinforce her fleet and army in
America, and fears were entertained that other European powers might
assist her in invading the United States. The negro soldier again loomed
up, and as the British were preparing to attack New Orleans with a
superior force to that of Gen. Jackson's, he sought to avail himself of
every possible help within his reach. Accordingly he issued the
following proclamation:
GENERAL JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION TO THE NEGROES.
HEADQUARTERS, SEVENTH MILITARY DISTRICT,
MOBILE, September 21, 1814.
_To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana_:
Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived
of a participation in the glorious struggle for national
rights in which our country is engaged. This no longer shall
exist.
As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our
most inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks
with confidence to her adopted children for a valorous
support, as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed
under her mild and equitable government. As fathers,
husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the
standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in
existence.
Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not
wish you to engage in her cause without amply remunerating
you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds are
not to be led away by false representations. Your love of
honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt
to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier and the
language of truth I address you.
To every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color
volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great
Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty,
in money and lands, now received by the white soldiers of
the United States, viz: one hundred and twenty-four dollars
in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The
non-commissioned officers and privates will also be
entitled to the same monthly pay, and daily rations, and
clothes, furnished to any American soldier.
On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major-General
Commanding will select officers for your government from
your white fellow-citizens. Your non-commissioned officers
will be appointed from among yourselves.
Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freeman and
soldiers. You will not, by being associated with white men
in the same corps, be exposed to improper comparisons or
unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, independent battalion or
regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will, undivided,
receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.
To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my
anxiety to engage your invaluable services to our country, I
have communicated my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana,
who is fully informed as to the manner of enrollment, and
will give you every necessary information on the subject of
this address.
ANDREW JACKSON, _Major-General Commanding._
[_Niles Register, vol. vii. p. 205._]
When the news of Gen. Jackson arming the free negroes reached the North
it created no little surprise, and greatly encouraged those, who, from
the commencement of hostilities, had advocated it. The successes of the
summer were being obliterated by the victories which the British were
achieving. The national capitol was burned; Maine had virtually fallen
into their hands; gloom and disappointment prevailed throughout the
country. Enlistment was at a stand-still, and as the British were
threatening with annihilation the few troops then in the field, it
became evident that the States would have to look to their own defence.
New York again turned her attention to her free negro population; a bill
was prepared and introduced in the legislature looking to the arming of
her negroes, and in October, a month after Gen. Jackson issued his
appeal to the negroes of Louisiana, the Legislature passed a bill of
which the following are the most important sections:
"_An Act to authorize the raising of Two Regiments of Men of Color;
passed Oct. 24, 1814._
"SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New
York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the Governor
of the State be, and he is hereby authorized to raise, by
voluntary enlistment, two regiments of free men of color,
for the defence of the State for three years, unless sooner
discharged.
"SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said
regiments shall consist of one thousand and eighty
able-bodied men; and the said regiments shall be formed into
a brigade, or be organized in such manner, and shall be
employed in such service, as the Governor of the State of
New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said State.
"SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the
commissioned officers of the said regiments and brigade
shall be white men; and the Governor of the State of New
York shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to commission,
by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments and
brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until
the council of appointment shall have appointed the officers
of the said regiments and brigade, in pursuance of the
Constitution and laws of the said State.
"SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful
for any able-bodied slave, with the written assent of his
master or mistress, to enlist into the said corps; and the
master or mistress of such slave shall be entitled to the
pay and bounty allowed him for his service: and, further,
that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge,
shall be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted
from that time, and his said master or mistress shall not
thenceforward be liable for his maintenance.--_Laws of the
State of New York, passed at the Thirty-eighth Session of
the Legislature_, chap. xviii."
The organization of negro troops was now fairly begun; at the South
enlistment was confined to the free negroes as set forth in Gen.
Jackson's Proclamation. In New York, the slaves who should enlist with
the consent of their owners were to be free at the expiration of their
service, as provided in the Sixth section of the law quoted above.
Animated by that love of liberty and country which has ever prompted
them, notwithstanding the disabilities under which they labored, to
enter the ranks of their country's defenders whenever that country has
been assailed by foes without or traitors within, the negroes responded
to the call of General Jackson and to that of New York, with a zeal and
energy characteristic only of a brave and patriotic people. Inspired by
the hope of impartial liberty, they rallied to the support of that
banner which Commodore Barron lowered when he failed to protect them
from British aggression, but which Commodore Decatur gallantly and
successfully defended.
The forcible capture and imprisonment of Ware, Martin and Strachan, the
three negroes taken from the Chesapeake, and who were recognized by the
United States authorities as citizens of the republic, was sounded as
the key-note and rallying cry of the war; the outrage served greatly to
arouse the people. The fact that the government sought to establish the
liberty of the free negroes, and the further fact that she regarded them
as citizens, heightened their indignation at the outrage committed by
the British, and appealed to their keenest patriotic sensibilities. New
York was not long in raising her two battalions, and sending it forward
to the army, then at Sacket's Harbor.
On the 18th of December, 1814, following the issuing of his
Proclamation, Gen. Jackson reviewed the troops under his command at New
Orleans, amounting to about six thousand, and of this force about five
hundred were negroes, organized into two battalions, commanded by Maj.
Lacoste and Maj. Savory. These battalions, at the close of the review,
says Parton, in his Life of Jackson, had read to them by Edward
Livingston, a member of Jackson's staff, the following address, from the
Commander of the American forces:
"TO THE EMBODIED MILITIA.--_Fellow Citizens and Soldiers:_
The General commanding in chief would not do justice to the
noble ardor that has animated you in the hour of danger, he
would not do justice to his own feeling, if he suffered the
example you have shown to pass without public notice.
* * * *
"Fellow-citizens, of every description, remember for what
and against whom you contend. For all that can render life
desirable--for a country blessed with every gift of
nature--for property, for life--for those dearer than
either, your wives and children--and for liberty, without
which, country, life, property, are no longer worth
possessing; as even the embraces of wives and children
become a reproach to the wretch who could deprive them by
his cowardice of those invaluable blessings.
* * * *
"TO THE MEN OF COLOR.--Soldiers! From the shores of Mobile I
collected you to arms,--I invited you to share in the perils
and to divide the glory of your white countrymen. I expected
much from you; for I was not uninformed of those qualities
which must render you so formidable to an invading foe. I
knew that you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the
hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of your
nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all
that is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I have
found in you, united to these qualities, that noble
enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.
"Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be
informed of your conduct on the present occasion; and the
voice of the Representatives of the American nation shall
applaud your valor, as your General now praises your ardor.
The enemy is near. His sails cover the lakes. But the brave
are united; and, if he finds us contending among ourselves,
it will be for the prize of valor, and fame its noblest
reward."--_Niles's Register_, vol. vii. pp. 345, 346.
Thus in line with the white troops on the soil of Louisiana, amid a
large slave population, the negro soldiers were highly praised by the
commanding General. The British had already made their appearance on the
coast near the mouth of the Mississippi, and at the time of their
landing, General Jackson went out to meet them with two thousand one
hundred men; the British had two thousand four hundred. This was on the
23rd of December. The two armies met and fought to within a few miles of
the city, where the British general, Pakenham, who had arrived with
reinforcements, began on the 31st to lay siege. On Jan. 8th the short
but terrible struggle took place which not only taxed the energies and
displayed the great courage of both forces, but made the engagement one
of historic interest. In the short space of twenty-five minutes seven
hundred of the British were killed; fourteen hundred were wounded and
four hundred were taken prisoners. The American army was so well
protected that only four were killed and thirteen wounded. It was in
this great battle that two battalions of negroes participated, and
helped to save the city, the coveted prize, from the British. The two
battalions numbered four hundred and thirty men, and were commanded by
Maj. Lacoste and Maj. Savory. Great Britain also had her negro soldiers
there,--a regiment imported from the West Indies which headed the
attacking column against Jackson's right,--they led her van in the
battle; their failure, with that of the Irish regiment which formed also
a part of the advance column, lost the British the battle. The conduct
of the negro soldiers in Gen. Jackson's army on that occasion has ever
been applauded by the American people. Mr. Day, in Nell's "Colored
Patriots of the American Revolution," says:
"From an authenticated chart, belonging to a soldier friend,
I find that, in the battle of New Orleans, Major-General
Andrew Jackson, Commander-in-Chief, and his staff, were just
at the right of the advancing left column of the British,
and that very near him were stationed the colored soldiers.
He is numbered 6, and the position of the colored soldiers
8. The chart explanation of No. 8 reads thus:--'8. Captains
Dominique and Bluche, two 24 pounders; Major Lacoste's
battalion, formed of the men of color of New Orleans and,
Major Daquin's battalion, formed of the men of color of St.
Domingo, under Major Savary, second in command.'
"They occupied no mean place, and did no mean service.
"From other documents in my possession, I am able to state
the number of the 'battalion of St. Domingo men of color' to
have been one hundred and fifty; and of 'Major Lacoste's
battalion of Louisiana men of color,' two hundred and
eighty.
"Thus were over four hundred 'men of color' in that battle.
When it is remembered that the whole number of soldiers
claimed by Americans to have been in that battle reached
only 3600, it will be seen that the 'men of color' were
present in much larger proportion than their numbers in the
country warranted.
"Neither was there colorphobia then. Major Planche's
battalion of uniformed volunteer companies, and Major
Lacoste's 'men of color,' fought together; so, also, did
Major Daquin's 'men of color,' and the 44th, under Captain
Baker."
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his speech in Congress on the Imprisonment
of Colored Seamen, September, 1850, bore this testimony to their gallant
conduct:
"I have an impression, that, not, indeed, in these piping
times of peace, but in the time of war, when quite a boy, I
have seen black soldiers enlisted, who did faithful and
excellent service. But, however it may have been in the
Northern States, I can tell the Senator what happened in the
Southern States at this period. I believe that I shall be
borne out in saying, that no regiments did better service,
at New Orleans, than did the black regiments, which were
organized under the direction of General Jackson himself,
after a most glorious appeal to the patriotism and honor of
the people of color of that region; and which, after they
came out of the war, received the thanks of General Jackson,
in a proclamation which has been thought worthy of being
inscribed on the pages of history."
Perhaps the most glowing account of the services of these black American
soldiers, appeared in an article in the New Orleans _Picayune_:
"Not the least interesting, although the most novel feature
of the procession yesterday, was the presence of ninety of
the colored veterans who bore a conspicuous part in the
dangers of the day they were now for the first time called
to assist in celebrating, and who, by their good conduct in
presence of the enemy, deserved and received the approbation
of their illustrious commander-in-chief. During the
thirty-six years that have passed away since they assisted
to repel the invaders from our shores, these faithful men
have never before participated in the annual rejoicings for
the victory which their valor contributed to gain. Their
good deeds have been consecrated only in their memories, or
lived but to claim a passing notice on the page of the
historian. Yet, who more than they deserve the thanks of the
country, and the gratitude of succeeding generations? Who
rallied with more alacrity in response to the summons of
danger? Who endured more cheerfully the hardships of the
camp, or faced with greater courage the perils of the fight?
If, in that hazardous hour, when our homes were menaced with
the horrors of war, we did not disdain to call upon the
colored population to assist in repelling the invading
horde, we should not, when the danger is passed, refuse to
permit them to unite with us in celebrating the glorious
event, which they helped to make so memorable an epoch in
our history. We were not too exalted to mingle with them in
the affray; they were not too humble to join in our
rejoicings.
"Such, we think, is the universal opinion of our citizens.
We conversed with many yesterday, and, without exception,
they expressed approval of the invitation which had been
extended to the colored veterans to take part in the
ceremonies of the day, and gratification at seeing them in a
conspicuous place in the procession.
"The respectability of their appearance, and the modesty of
their demeanor, made an impression on every observer, and
elicited unqualified approbation. Indeed, though in saying
so we do not mean disrespect to any one else, we think that
they constituted decidedly the most interesting portion of
the pageant, as they certainly attracted the most
attention."
It was during the rebellion of 1861-65 that the author saw one of the
colored drummer boys of that column beating his drum at the head of a
negro United States regiment marching through the streets of New Orleans
in 1862.
The New York battalion was organized and marched to the reinforcement of
the American army at Sacket's Harbor, then threatened by the enemy.
This battalion was said to be a fine looking body of men, well drilled
and disciplined. In Congress Mr. Martindale, of New York, said, in a
speech delivered on the 22nd January 1828, before that body:
"Slaves or negroes who had been slaves were enlisted as
soldiers in the war of the Revolution: and I myself saw a
battalion of them,--as fine martial looking men as I ever
saw attached to the Northern army in the last war
(1812),--on its march from Plattsburg to Sacket's Harbor,
where they did service for the country with credit to New
York and honor to themselves."
As in the dark days of the Revolution, so now in another period of
national danger, the negroes proved their courage and patriotism by
service in the field. However, the lamentable treatment of Major
Jeffrey[10] is evidence that these services were not regarded as a
protection against outrage.
In the two wars in which the history of the negroes has been traced in
these pages, there is nothing that mitigates against his manhood, though
his condition, either bond or free, was lowly. But on the contrary the
honor of the race has been maintained under every circumstance in which
it has been placed.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] So indiscriminate were English officers in these outrages, that it
sometimes happened that black men were seized as English seamen. At that
time the public opinion of the world was such, that few statesmen
troubled themselves much about the rights of negroes. But in another
generation, when it proved convenient in the United States to argue that
free negroes had never been citizens, it was remembered that the
cabinets of Jefferson and Madison, in their diplomatic discussions with
Great Britain, had been willing to argue that the impressment of a free
negro was the seizure of an American citizen.--_Bryant's History of the
United States._
[9] "Hammond Golar, a colored man who lived in Lynn for many years, died
a few years since at the age of 80 years. He was born a slave, was a
privateer "powder boy" in the war of 1812, and was taken to Halifax as a
prisoner. The English Government did not exchange colored prisoners
because they would then be returned to slavery, and Golar remained a
prisoner until the close of the war."
[10] See page 50
PART II.
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.
1861.
[Illustration: UNSHACKLED.]
CHAPTER I.
PUBLIC OPINION.
It seems proper, before attempting to record the achievements of the
negro soldiers in the war of the Rebellion, that we should consider the
state of public opinion regarding the negroes at the outbreak of the
war; also, in connection therewith, to note the rapid change that took
place during the early part of the struggle.
For some cause, unexplained in a general sense, the white people in the
Colonies and in the States, came to entertain against the colored races
therein a prejudice, that showed itself in a hostility to the latter's
enjoying equal civil and political rights with themselves. Various
reasons are alleged for it, but the difficulty of really solving the
problem lies in the fact that the early settlers in this country came
without prejudice against color. The Negro, Egyptian, Arab, and other
colored races known to them, lived in European countries, where no
prejudice, on account of color existed. How very strange then, that a
feeling antagonistic to the negroes should become a prominent feature in
the character of the European emigrants to these shores and their
descendants. It has been held by some writers that the American
prejudice against the negroes was occasioned by their docility and
unresenting spirit. Surely no one acquainted with the Indian will agree
that he is docile or wanting in spirit, yet occasionally there is
manifested a prejudice against him; the recruiting officers in
Massachusetts refused to enlist Indians, as well as negroes, in
regiments and companies made up of white citizens, though members of
both races, could sometimes be found in white regiments. During the
rebellion of 1861-5, some Western regiments had one or two negroes and
Indians in them, but there was no general enlistment of either race in
white regiments.[11] The objection was on account of color, or, as some
writers claim, by the fact of the races--negro and Indian[12]--having
been enslaved. Be the cause what it may, a prejudice, strong,
unrelenting, barred the two races from enjoying with the white race
equal civil and political rights in the United States. So very strong
had that prejudice grown since the Revolution, enhanced it may be by
slavery and docility, that when the rebellion of 1861 burst forth, a
feeling stronger than law, like a Chinese wall only more impregnable,
encircled the negro, and formed a barrier betwixt him and the army.
Doubtless peace--a long peace--lent its aid materially to this state of
affairs. Wealth, chiefly, was the dream of the American from 1815 to
1860, nearly half a century; a period in which the negro was friendless,
save in a few strong-minded, iron-hearted men like John Brown in Kansas,
Wendell Philips in New England, Charles Sumner in the United States
Senate, Horace Greeley in New York and a few others, who dared, in the
face of strong public sentiment, to plead his cause, even from a humane
platform. In many places he could not ride in a street car that was not
inscribed, "_Colored persons ride in this car_." The deck of a
steamboat, the box cars of the railroad, the pit of the theatre and the
gallery of the church, were the locations accorded him. The church lent
its influence to the rancor and bitterness of a prejudice as deadly as
the sap of the Upas.
To describe public opinion respecting the negro a half a century ago, is
no easy task. It was just budding into maturity when DeTocqueville
visited the United States, and, as a result of that visit, he wrote,
from observation, a pointed criticism upon the manners and customs, and
the laws of the people of the United States. For fear that I might be
thought over-doing--heightening--giving too much coloring to the
strength, and extent and power of the prejudice against the negro I
quote from that distinguished writer, as he clearly expressed himself
under the heading, "_Present and Future condition of the three races
inhabiting the United States_." He said of the negro:
"I see that in a certain portion of the United States at the
present day, the legal barrier which separates the two races
is tending to fall away, but not that which exists in the
manners of the country. Slavery recedes, but the prejudice
to which it has given birth remains stationary. Whosoever
has inhabited the United States, must have perceived, that
in those parts of the United States, in which the negroes
are no longer slaves, they have in nowise drawn nearer the
whites; on the contrary, the prejudice of the race appears
to be stronger in those States which have abolished slavery,
than in those where it still exists. And, nowhere is it so
intolerant as in the states where servitude has never been
known. It is true, that in the North of the Union, marriages
may be legally contracted between negroes and whites, but
public opinion would stigmatize a man, who should content
himself with a negress, as infamous. If oppressed, they may
bring an action at law, but they will find none but whites
among their judges, and although they may legally serve as
jurors, prejudice repulses them for that office. In theatres
gold cannot procure a seat for the servile race beside their
former masters, in hospitals they lie apart. They _are_
allowed to invoke the same divinity as the whites. The gates
of heaven are not closed against those unhappy beings; but
their inferiority is continued to the very confines of the
other world. The negro is free, but he can share, neither
the rights, nor the labor, nor the afflictions of him, whose
equal he has been declared to be, and he cannot meet him
upon fair terms in life or death."
DeTocqueville, as is seen, wrote with much bitterness and sarcasm, and,
it is but fair to state, makes no allusion to any exceptions to the
various conditions of affairs that he mentions. In all cases matters
might not have been exactly as bad as he pictures them, but as far as
the deep-seated prejudice against the negroes, and indifference to their
rights and elevation are concerned, the facts will freely sustain the
views so forcibly presented.
The negro had no remembrance of the country of his ancestry, Africa,
and he abjured their religion. In the South he had no family; women were
merely the temporary sharer of his pleasures; his master's cabins were
the homes of his children during their childhood. While the Indian
perished in the struggle for the preservation of his home, his hunting
grounds and his freedom, the negro entered into slavery as soon as he
was born, in fact was often purchased in the womb, and was born to know,
first, that he was a slave. If one became free, he found freedom harder
to bear than slavery; half civilized, deprived of nearly all rights, in
contact with his superiors in wealth and knowledge, exposed to the rigor
of a tyrannical prejudice moulded into laws, he contented himself to be
allowed to live.
The Negro race, however, it must be remembered, is the only race that
has ever come in contact with the European race, and been able to
withstand its atrocities and oppression; all others, like the Indian,
whom they could not make subservient to their use, they have destroyed.
The Negro race, like the Israelites, multiplied so rapidly in bondage,
that the oppressor became alarmed, and began discussing methods of
safety to himself. The only people able to cope with the Anglo-American
or Saxon, with any show of success, must be of _patient fortitude,
progressive intelligence, brave in resentment and earnest in endeavor_.
In spite of his surroundings and state of public opinion the African
lived, and gave birth, largely through amalgamation with the
representatives of the different races that inhabited the United States,
to a new race,--the _American Negro_. Professor Sampson in his mixed
races says:
"The Negro is a new race, and is not the direct descent of
any people that have ever flourished. The glory of the negro
race is yet to come."
As evidence of its capacity to acquire glory, the record made in the
late struggle furnishes abundant proof. At the sound of the tocsin at
the North, negro waiter, cook, barber, boot-black, groom, porter and
laborer stood ready at the enlisting office; and though the recruiting
officer refused to list his name, he waited like the "patient ox" for
the partition--_prejudice_--to be removed. He waited two years before
even the door of the partition was opened; then he did not hesitate, but
walked in, and with what effect the world knows.
[Illustration: ROBERT SMALLS, (pilot). WILLIAM MORRISON, (sailor). A.
GRADINE, (Engineer). JOHN SMALLS, (sailor).
Four of the crew who, while the white officers were ashore in
Charleston. S. C., ran off with the Confederate war steamer, "Planter,"
passed Fort Sumter and delivered the vessel to the United States
authorities. On account of the daring exploit a special act of Congress
was passed ordering one-half the value of the captured vessel to be
invested in U. S. bonds, and the interest thereof to be annually paid
them or their heirs. Robert Smalls joined the Union army, and after the
war became active and prominent in politics.]
The war cloud of 1860 still more aroused the bitter prejudice against
the negro at both the North and South; but he was safer in South
Carolina than in New York, in Richmond than in Boston.
It is a natural consequence, when war is waged between two nations, for
those on either side to forget local feuds and unite against the common
enemy, as was done in the Revolutionary war. How different was the
situation now when the threatened war was not one between nations, but
between states of the same nation. The feeling of hostility toward the
negro was not put aside and forgotten as other troublesome matters were,
but the bitterness became intensified and more marked.
The Confederate Government though organized for the perpetual
enslavement of the negro, fostered the idea that the docility of the
negroes would allow them to be used for any purpose, without their
having the least idea of becoming freemen. Some idea may be formed of
public opinion at the South at the beginning of the war by what Mr.
Pollard, in his history, gives as the feeling at the South at the close
of the second year of the struggle:
"Indeed, the war had shown the system of slavery in the
South to the world in some new and striking aspects, and had
removed much of that cloud of prejudice, defamation,
falsehood, romance and perverse sentimentalism through which
our peculiar institution had been formerly known to Europe.
It had given a better vindication of our system of slavery
than all the books that could be written in a generation. It
had shown that slavery was an element of strength to us;
that it had assisted us in our struggle; that no servile
insurrections had taken place in the South, in spite of the
allurements of our enemy; that the slave had tilled the soil
while his master had fought; that in large districts,
unprotected by our troops, and with a white population,
consisting almost exclusively of women and children, the
slave had continued his work, quiet, faithful, and cheerful;
and that, as a conservative element in our social system,
the institution of slavery had withstood the shocks of war,
and been a faithful ally of our army, although instigated to
revolution by every art of the enemy, and prompted to the
work of assassination and pillage by the most brutal
examples of the Yankee soldiers."
With this view, the whole slave population was brought to the assistance
of the Confederate Government, and thereby caught the very first hope of
freedom. An innate reasoning taught the negro that slaves could not be
relied upon to fight for their own enslavement. To get to the
breastworks was but to get a chance to run to the Yankees; and thousands
of those whose elastic step kept time with the martial strains of the
drum and fife, as they marched on through city and town, enroute to the
front, were not elated with the hope of Southern success, but were
buoyant with the prospects of reaching the North. The confederates found
it no easy task to watch the negroes and the Yankees too; their
attention could be given to but one at a time; as a slave expressed it,
"when marsa watch the Yankee, nigger go; when marsa watch the nigger,
Yankee come." But the Yankees did not always receive him kindly during
the first year of the war.
In his first inaugural, Mr. Lincoln declared "that the property, peace
and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the new
incoming administration." The Union generals, except Fremont and Phelps
and a few subordinates, accepted this as public opinion, and as their
guide in dealing with the slavery question. That opinion is better
expressed in the doggerel, sung in after months by the negro troops as
they marched along through Dixie:
"McClellan went to Richmond with two hundred thousand braves,
He said, '_keep back the niggers and the Union he would save_.'
Little Mac. he had his way, still the Union is in tears,
And they call for the help of the colored volunteers."
The first two lines expressed the sentiment at the time, not only of the
Army of the Potomoc, but the army commanders everywhere, with the
exceptions named. The administration winked at the enforcement of the
fugitive slave bill by the soldiers engaged in capturing and returning
the negroes coming into the Union lines.[13] Undoubtedly it was the idea
of the Government to turn the course of the war from its rightful
channel, or in other words,--in the restoration of the Union,--to
eliminate the anti-slavery sentiment, which demanded the freedom of the
slaves.
[Illustration: QUARTERS PROVIDED FOR CONTRABANDS.]
Hon. Elisha R. Potter, of Rhode Island,--"who may," said Mr. Greeley,
"be fairly styled the hereditary chief of the Democratic party of that
State,"--made a speech on the war in the State Senate, on the 10th of
August 1861, in which he remarked:
"I have said that the war may assume another aspect, and be
a short and bloody one. And to such a war--_an anti-slavery
war_--it seems to me we are _inevitably_ drifting. It seems
to me hardly in the power of human wisdom to prevent it. We
may commence the war without meaning to interfere with
slavery; but let us have one or two battles, and get our
blood excited, and we shall not only not restore any more
slaves, but shall proclaim freedom wherever we go. And it
seems to me almost judicial blindness on the part of the
South that they do not see that this must be the inevitable
result, if the contest is prolonged."
This sentiment became bolder daily as the thinking Union men viewed the
army turning aside from its legitimate purposes, to catch runaway
negroes, and return them. Party lines were also giving away; men in the
army began to realize the worth of the negroes as they sallied up to the
rebel breastworks that were often impregnable. They began to complain,
finding the negro with his pick and spade, a greater hinderance to their
progress than the cannon balls of the enemy; and more than one said to
the confederates, when the pickets of the two armies picnicked together
in the battle's lull, as frequently they did: "We can whip you, if you
keep your negroes out of your army."
Quite a different course was pursued in the navy. Negroes were readily
accepted all along the coast on board the war vessels, it being no
departure from the regular and established practice in the service. The
view with which the loyal friends of the Union began to look at the
negro and the rebellion, was aptly illustrated in an article in the
Montgomery (Ala.) _Advertiser_ in 1861, which said:
"THE SLAVES AS A MILITARY ELEMENT IN THE SOUTH.--The total
white population of the eleven States now comprising the
Confederacy is 6,000,000, and, therefore, to fill up the
ranks of the proposed army (600,000) about ten per cent of
the entire white population will be required. In any other
country than our own such a draft could not be met, but the
Southern States can furnish that number of men, and still
not leave the material interests of the country in a
suffering condition. Those who are incapacitated for bearing
arms can oversee the plantations, and the negroes can go on
undisturbed in their usual labors. In the North the case is
different; the men who join the army of subjugation are the
laborers, the producers, and the factory operatives. Nearly
every man from that section, especially those from the rural
districts, leaves some branch of industry to suffer during
his absence. The institution of slavery in the South alone
enables her to place in the field a force much larger in
proportion to her white population than the North, or indeed
any country which is dependent entirely on free labor. The
institution is a tower of strength to the South,
particularly at the present crisis, and our enemies will be
likely to find that the 'moral cancer' about which their
orators are so fond of prating, is really one of the most
effective weapons employed against the Union by the South.
Whatever number of men may be needed for this war, we are
confident our people stand ready to furnish. We are all
enlisted for the war, and there must be no holding back
until the independence of the South is fully acknowledged."
The facts already noted became apparent to the nation very soon, and
then came a change of procedure, and the war began to be prosecuted upon
quite a different policy. Gen. McClellan, whose loyalty to the new
policy was doubted, was removed from the command of the Army of the
Potomac, and slave catching ceased. The XXXVII Congress convened in Dec.
1861, in its second session, and passed the following additional article
of war:
"All officers are prohibited from employing any of the
forces under their respective commands for the purpose of
returning fugitives from service or labor who may have
escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is
claimed to be due. Any officer who shall be found guilty by
court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed
from the service."
This was the initatory measure of the new policy, which progressed to
its fulfillment rapidly. And then what Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War,
had recommended in December, 1861, and to which the President objected,
very soon developed, through a series of enactments, in the arming of
the negro; in which the loyal people of the whole country acquiesced,
save the border states people, who fiercely opposed it as is shown in
the conduct of Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky; Salisbury, of Delaware, and
others in Congress.
[Illustration: DRIVING GOVT. CATTLE]
Public opinion was now changed, Congress had prohibited the surrender of
negroes to the rebels, the President issued his Emancipation
Proclamation, and more than 150,000 negroes were fighting for the Union.
The Republican party met in convention at Chicago, and nominated Mr.
Lincoln for the second term as President of the
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