FOOTNOTES:
[143] Washington Correspondent of the New York Tribune, December 2, 1863.
Part 7.
THE NEGRO IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
CHAPTER XIX.
NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.
Gen. Benj. F. Butler commanded a number of Negro Troops at Fort Harrison on the 29th Sept., 1864. After white troops had been driven back by the enemy, Gen. Butler ordered his Negro troops to storm the fortified position of the enemy at the point of the bayonet. The troops had to charge down a hill, ford a creek, and—preceded by axemen who had to cut away two lines of abatis—then carry the works held by infantry and artillery. They made one of the most brilliant charges of the war, with "Remember Fort Pillow" as their battle-cry, and carried the works in an incredibly short time.
Nearly a decade after this battle, Gen. Butler, then a member of Congress from Massachusetts, said, in a speech on the Civil Rights Bill of this affair:
"It became my painful duty to follow in the track of that charging column, and there, in a space not wider than the clerk's desk, and three hundred yards long, lay the dead bodies of five hundred and forty-three of my colored comrades, fallen in defence of their country, who had offered up their lives to uphold its flag and its honor, as a willing sacrifice; and as I rode along among them, guiding my horse this way and that way, lest he should profane with his hoofs what seemed to me the sacred dead, and as I looked on their bronze faces upturned in the shining sun, as if in mute appeal against the wrongs of the country for which they had given their lives, whose flag had only been to them a flag of stripes, on which no star of glory had ever shone for them—feeling I had wronged them in the past, and believing what was the future of my country to them—among my dead comrades there, I swore to myself a solemn oath—'May my right hand forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,' if I ever fail to defend the rights of those men who have given their blood for me and my country that day and for their race forever, and God helping me, I will keep that oath."
BATTLES IN WHICH COLORED TROOPS PARTICIPATED.
"Alliance," Steamer, Fla. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. March 8, 1865. | May 4, 1864. U. S. C. T. 99th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 4th Inf. | Amite River, La. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. March 18, 1865. | May 20, 1864. U. S. C. T. 77th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. | Appomattox Court House, Va. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. April 9, 1865. | Aug. 24 and 25, 1864. U. S. C. T. 41st Inf. | U. S. C. T. 7th Inf. | Arkansas River, Ark. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. Dec. 18, 1864. | Nov. 30 and Dec. 4, 1864. U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 19th Inf. | Ash Bayou, La. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. Nov. 19, 1864. | Dec. 1, 1864. U. S. C. T. 93d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 39th Inf. | Ashepoo River, S. C. | Bermuda Hundred, Va. May 16, 1864. | Dec. 13, 1864. U. S. C. T. 34th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 23d Inf. | Ashwood, Miss. | Berwick, La. June 25, 1864. | April 26, 1864. U. S. C. T. 63d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 98th Inf. | Ashwood Landing, La. | Big Creek, Ark. May 1 and 4, 1864. | July 26, 1864. U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. | U. S. C. T. Batt'ry E, 2d Lt. Art.; | 60th Inf. | Athens, Ala. | Big Springs, Ky. Sept. 24, 1864. | Jan. ——, 1865. U. S. C. T. 106th, 110th, | U. S. C. T. 12th Hy. Art. and 111th Inf. | | Barrancas, Fla. | Black Creek, Fla. July 22, 1864. | July 27, 1864. U. S. C. T. 82d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 35th Inf. | Baxter's Springs, Kan. | Black River, La. Oct. 6, 1863. | Nov. 1, 1864. U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 6th Hy. Art. | Bayou Bidell, La. | Bogg's Mills, Ark. Oct. 15, 1864. | Jan. 24, 1864. U. S. C. T. 52d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 11th (old) Inf. | Bayou Boeuf, Ark. | Boyd's Station, Ala. Dec. 13, 1863. | March 18, 1865. U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | U. S. C. T. 101st Inf. | Bayou Mason, Miss. | Boykin's Mill, S. C. July ——, 1864. | April 18, 1865. U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 54th (Mass.) Inf. | Bayou St. Louis, Miss. | Bradford's Springs, S. C. Nov. 17, 1863. | April 18, 1865. U. S. C. T. 91st Inf. | U. S. C. T. 102d Inf. | Bayou Tensas, La. | Brawley Fork, Tenn. Aug. 10, 1863. | March 25, 1865. U. S. C. T. 48th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 17th Inf. | Bayou Tensas, La. | Brice's Cross Roads, Miss. July 30 and Aug. 26, 1864. | June 10, 1864. U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. | U. S. C. T. Batt'y F, 2d Lt. Art.; | 55th and 59th Inf. | Bayou Tunica, La. | Briggin Creek, S. C. Nov. 9, 1863. | Feb. 25, 1865. U. S. C. T. 73d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 55th (Mass.) Inf.Bryant's Plantation, Fla. | Decatur, Tenn. Oct. 21, 1864. | Aug. 18, 1864. U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 1st Hy. Art. | Cabin Creek, Caddo Nation. | Decatur, Ala. July 1 and 2, 1863. | Oct. 28 and 29, 1864. U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 14th Inf. | Cabin Creek, Caddo Nation. | Decatur, Ala. Nov. 4, 1865. | Dec. 27 and 28, 1864. U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 17th Inf. | Cabin Point, Va. | Deep Bottom, Va. Aug. 5, 1864. | Aug. 14 to 18, 1864. U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. | U. S. C. T. 7th and 9th Inf. | Camden, Ark. | Deep Bottom, Va. April 24, 1864. | Sept. 2 and 6, 1864. U. S. C. T. 57th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 2d Cav. | Camp Marengo, La. | Deep Bottom, Va. Sept. 14, 1864. | Oct. 1, 1864. U. S. C. T. 63d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 38th Inf. | Cedar Keys, Fla. | Deep Bottom, Va. Feb. 16, 1865. | Oct. 31, 1864. U. S. C. T. 2d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 127th Inf. | Chapin's Farm, Va. | Deveaux Neck, S. C. Sept. 29 and 30, 1864. | Dec. 7, 8, and 9, 1864. U. S. C. T. 2d Cav.; 1st, 4th, | U. S. C. T. 32d, 34th, 55th (Mass.), 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, | and 102d Inf. 9th, 22d, 29th (Conn.), 36th, | 37th, and 38th Inf. | Drury's Bluff, Va. | May 10, 16, and 20, 1864. Chapin's Farm, Va. | U. S. C. T. 2d Cav. Nov. 4, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 22d Inf. | Dutch Gap, Va. | Aug. 24, 1864. Chattanooga, Tenn. | U. S. C. T. 22d Inf. Feb. ——, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 18th Inf. | Dutch Gap, Va. | Sept. 7, 1864. "Chippewia," Steamer, Ark. | U. S. C. T. 4th Inf. Feb. 17, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | Dutch Gap, Va. | Nov. 17, 1864. "City Belle," Steamer, La. | U. S. C. T. 36th Inf. May 3, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 73d Int. | East Pascagoula, Miss. | April 9, 1863. City Point, Va. | U. S. C. T. Cos. B. and C., May 6, 1864. | 74th Inf. U. S. C. T. 5th Inf. | | Eastport, Miss. City Point, Va. | Oct. 10, 1864. June ——, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 61st Inf. U. S. C. T. Batt'y B, 2d Lt. Art.| | Fair Oaks, Va. Clarksville, Ark. | Oct. 27 and 28, 1864. Jan. 18, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 1st, 5th, 9th, 22d, U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | 29th (Conn.), and 37th Inf. | Clinton, La. | Aug. 25, 1864. | Federal Point, N. C. U. S. C. T. 4th Cav. | Feb. 11, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 39th Inf. Coleman's Plantation, Miss. | July 4, 1864. | Fillmore, Va. U. S. C. T. 52d Inf. | Oct. 4, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 1st Inf. Columbia, La. | Feb. 4, 1864. | Floyd, La. U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. | July —, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 51st Inf. Concordia Bayou, La. | Aug. 5, 1864. | Fort Adams, La. U. S. C. T. 6th Hy. Art. | Oct. 5, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. Cow Creek, Kan. | Nov. 14, 1864. | Fort Anderson, Ky. U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. | March 25, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 8th Hy. Art. Cox's Bridge, N. C. | March 24, 1865. | Fort Blakely, Ala. U. S. C. T. 30th Inf. | March 31 to April 9, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 47th, 48th, 50th, 51st, Dallas, Ga. | 68th, 73d, 76th,82d, and 86th Inf. May 31, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 40th Inf. | Fort Brady, Va. | Jan. 24, 1865. Dalton, Ga. | U. S. C. T. 118th Inf. Aug. 15 and 16, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 14th Inf. | Fort Burnham, Va. | Dec. 10, 1864. Darbytown Road, Va. | U. S. C. T. 41st Inf. Oct. 13, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 7th, 8th, 9th, and | Fort Burnham, Va. 29th (Conn.) Inf. | Jan. 24, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 7th Inf. Davis's Bend, La. | June 2 and 29, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. |Fort Donelson, Tenn. | Henderson, Ky. Oct. 11, 1864. | Sept. 25, 1864. U. S. C. T. 4th Hy. Art. | U. S. C. T. 118th Inf. | Fort Gaines, Ala. | Holly Springs, Miss. Aug. 2 to 8, 1864. | Aug. 28, 1864. U. S. C. T. 96th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 11th (new) Inf. | Fort Gibson, Caddo Nation. | Honey Hill, S. C. Sept. 16, 1864. | Nov. 30, 1864, U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 32d, 35th, 54th, | and 55th (Mass.), and 102d Inf. Fort Gibson, Caddo Nation. | Sept., 1865. | Honey Springs, Kan. U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. | July 17, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. Fort Jones, Ky. | Feb. 18, 1865. | Hopkinsville, Va. U. S. C. T. 12th Hy. Art. | Dec. 12, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. Fort Pillow, Tenn. | April 12, 1864. | Horse-Head Creek, Ark. U. S. C. T. Batt'y F, 2d Lt. | Feb. 17, 1864. Art.; 11th (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | Fort Pocahontas, Va. | Indian Bay, Ark. Aug., 1864. | April 13, 1864. U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. | U. S. C. T. 56th Inf. | Fort Smith, Ark. | Indiantown, N. C. Aug. 24, 1864. | Dec. 18, 1863. U. S. C. T. 11th (old) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 36th Inf. | Fort Smith, Ark. | Indian Village, La. Dec. 24, 1864. | Aug. 6, 1864. U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 11th Hy. Art. | Fort Taylor, Fla. | Island Mound, Mo. Aug. 21, 1864. | Oct. 27 and 29, 1862. U. S. C. T. 2d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | Fort Wagner, S. C. | Island No. 76, Miss. July 18 and Sept. 6, 1863. | Jan. 20, 1864. U. S. C. T. 54th (Mass.) Inf. | U. S. C. T. Batt'y E, 2d Lt. Art. | Fort Wagner, S. C. | Issaquena County, Miss. Aug. 26, 1863. | July 10 and Aug. 17, 1864. U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. | Franklin, Miss. | Jackson, La. Jan. 2, 1865. | Aug. 3, 1863. U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | U. S. C. T. 73d, 75th, and 78th Inf. | Ghent, Ky. | Jackson, Miss. Aug. 29, 1864. | July 5, 1864. U. S. C. T. 117th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | Glasgow, Mo. | Jacksonville, Fla. Oct. 15, 1864. | March 29, 1863. U. S. C. T. 62d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 33d Inf. | Glasgow, Ky. | Jacksonville, Fla. March 25, 1865. | May 1 and 28, 1864. U. S. C. T. 119th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 7th Inf. | Goodrich's Landing, La. | Jacksonville, Fla. March 24 and July 16, 1864. | April 4, 1865. U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. | Grand Gulf, Miss. | James Island, S. C. July 16, 1864. | July 16, 1863. U. S. C. T. 53d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 54th (Mass.) Inf. | Gregory's Farm, S. C. | James Island, S. C. Dec. 5 and 9, 1864. | May 21, 1864. U. S. C. T. 26th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 55th (Mass.) Inf. | Hall Island, S. C. | James Island, S. C. Nov. 24, 1863. | July 1 and 2, 1864. U. S. C. T. 33d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 33d and | 55th (Mass.) Inf. Harrodsburg, Ky. | Oct. 21, 1864. | James Island, S. C. U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. | July 5 and 7, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 7th Inf. Hatcher's Run, Va. | Oct. 27 and 28, 1864. | James Island. S. C. U. S. C. T. 27th, 39th, 41st, | Feb. 10, 1865. 43d, and 45th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 55th (Mass.) Inf. | Haynes Bluff, Miss. | Jenkins's Ferry, Ark. Feb. 3, 1864. | April 30, 1864. U. S. C. T. 53d Inf. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) and | 83d (new) Inf. Haynes Bluff, Miss. | April, 1864. | Jenkins's Ferry, Ark. U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | May 4, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. Helena, Ark. | Aug. 2, 1864. | John's Island, S. C. U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. | July 5 and 7, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 26th Inf.John's Island, S. C. | Mount Pleasant Landing, La. July 9, 1864. | May 15, 1864. U. S. C. T. 7th and 34th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 67th Inf. | Johnsonville, Tenn. | Mud Creek, Ala. Sept. 25, 1864. | Jan. 5, 1865. U. S. C. T. 13th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 106th Inf. | Jones's Bridge, Va. | Murfreesboro', Tenn. June 23, 1864. | Dec. 24, 1864. U. S. C. T. 28th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 12th Inf. | Joy's Ford, Ark. | N. and N. W. R. R., Tenn. Jan. 8, 1865. | Sept. 4, 1864. U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 100th Inf. | Lake Providence, La. | Nashville, Tenn. May 27, 1863. | May 24, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 15th Inf. Lawrence, Kan. | July 27, 1863. | Nashville, Tenn. U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | Dec. 2 and 21, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 44th Inf. Little Rock, Ark. | April 26 and May 28, 1864. | Nashville, Tenn. U. S. C. T. 57th Inf. | Dec. 7, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 18th Inf. Liverpool Heights, Miss. | Feb. 3, 1864. | Nashville, Tenn. U. S. C. T. 47th Inf. | Dec. 15 and 16, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, "Lotus," Steamer, Kan. | 18th, and 100th Inf. Jan. 17, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | Natchez, Miss. | Nov. 11, 1863. Madison Station, Ala. | U. S. C. T. 58th Inf. Nov. 26, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 101st Inf. | Natchez, Miss. | April 25, 1864. Magnolia, Tenn. | U. S. C. T. 98th Inf. Jan. 7, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 15th Inf. | Natural Bridge, Fla. | March 6, 1865. Mariana, Fla. | U. S. C. T. 2d and 99th Inf. Sept. 27, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 82d Inf. | New Kent Court House, Va. | March 2, 1864. Marion, Va. | U. S. C. T. 5th Inf. Dec. 18, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 6th Cav. | New Market Heights, Va. | June 24, 1864. Marion County, Fla. | U. S. C. T. 22d Inf. March 10, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. | Olustee, Fla. | Feb. 20, 1864. McKay's Point, S. C. | U. S. C. T. 8th, 35th, Dec. 22, 1864. | and 54th (Mass.) Inf. U. S. C. T. 26th Inf. | | Owensboro', Ky. Meffleton Lodge, Ark. | Aug. 27, 1864. June 29, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 108th Inf. U. S. C. T. 56th Inf. | | Palmetto Ranch, Texas. Memphis, Tenn. | May 15, 1865. Aug. 21, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 62d Inf. U. S. C. T. 61st Inf. | | Pass Manchas, La. Milliken's Bend, La. | March 20, 1864. June 5, 6, and 7, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 10th Hy. Art. U. S. C. T. 5th Hy. Art.; | 49th and 51st Inf. | Petersburg, Va. | June 15, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Milltown Bluff, S. C. | U. S. C. T. 5th (Mass.) Cav.; July 10, 1863. | 1st, 4th, 5th,6th, 7th, 10th, 19th, U. S. C. T. 33d Inf. | 22d, 23d, 27th, 28th, 29th, | 29th (Conn.), 30th, 31st, 36th, Mitchell's Creek, Fla. | 39th, 41st, 43d, 45th, and Dec. 17, 1864. | 116th Inf. U. S. C. T. 82d Inf. | | Pierson's Farm, Va. Morganzia, La. | June 16, 1864. May 18, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 36th Inf. U. S. C. T. 73d Inf. | | Pine Barren Creek, Ala. Morganzia, La. | Dec. 17, 18, and 19, 1864. Nov. 23, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 97th Inf. U. S. C. T. 84th Inf. | | Pine Barren Ford, Fla. Moscow, Tenn. | Dec. 17 and 18, 1864. June 15, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 82d Inf. U. S. C. T. 55th Inf. | | Pine Bluff, Ark. Moscow Station, Tenn. | July 2, 1864. Dec. 4, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. U. S. C. T. 61st Inf. | | Pleasant Hill, La. Mound Plantation, La. | April 9, 1864. June 29, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 75th Inf. U. S. C. T. 46th Inf. | | Plymouth, N. C. | Nov. 26, 1863, and April 18, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 10th Inf.Plymouth, N. C. | Saltville, Va. April 1, 1864. | Oct. 2, 1864. U. S. C. T. 37th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 5th and 6th Cav. | Point Lookout, Va. | Saltville, Va. May 13, 1864. | Dec. 20, 1864. U. S. C. T. 36th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. | Point of Rocks, Md. | Sand Mountain, Tenn. June 9, 1864. | Jan. 27, 1865. U. S. C. T. 2d Cav. | U. S. C. T. 18th Inf. | Point Pleasant, La. | Sandy Swamp, N. C. June 25, 1864. | Dec. 18, 1863. U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 5th Inf. | Poison Springs, Ark. | Scottsboro', Ala. April 18, 1864. | Jan. 8, 1865. U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | U. S. C. T. 101st Inf. | Port Hudson, La. | Section 37, N. and N.W.R.R., Tenn. May 22 to July 8, 1863. | Nov. 24, 1864. U. S. C. T. 73d, 75th, 78th, | U. S. C. T. 12th Inf. 79th (old), 80th, 81st, 82d, | and 95th Inf. | Sherwood, Mo. | May 18, 1863. Powhatan, Va. | U. S. C. T, 79th (new) Inf. Jan. 25, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. | Simpsonville, Ky. | Jan. 25, 1865. Prairie D'ann, Ark. | U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. April 13, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) and | Smithfield, Va. 83d (new) Inf. | Aug. 30, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. Pulaski, Tenn. | May 13, 1864. | Smithfield, Ky. U. S. C. T. 111th Inf. | Jan, 5, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 6th Cav. Raleigh, N. C. | April 7, 1865. | South Tunnel, Tenn. U. S. C. T. 5th Inf. | Oct. 10, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 40th Inf. Rector's Farm, Ark. | Dec. 19, 1864. | Spanish Fort, Ala. U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | March 27 to April 8, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 68th Inf. Red River Expedition, La. | May ——, 1864. | Suffolk, Va. U. S. C. T. 92d Inf. | March 9, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 2d Cav. Richland, Tenn. | Sept. 26, 1864. | Sugar Loaf Hill, N. C. U. S. C. T. 111th Inf. | Jan. 19, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 6th Inf. Richmond, Va. | Oct. 28 and 29, 1864. | Sugar Loaf Hill, N. C. U. S. C. T. 2d Cav.; 7th Inf. | Feb. 11, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 4th, 6th, and 30th Inf. Ripley, Miss. | June 7, 1864. | Sulphur Branch Trestle, Ala. U. S. C. T. 55th Inf. | Sept. 25, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 111th Inf. Roache's Plantation, Miss. | March 31, 1864. | Swift's Creek, S. C. U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | April 19, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 102d Inf. Rolling Fork, Miss. | Nov. 22, 1864. | Taylorsville, Ky. U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. | April 18, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 119th Inf. Roseville Creek, Ark. | March 20, 1864. | Timber Hill, Caddo Nation. U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. | Nov. 19, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. Ross's Landing, Ark. | Feb. 14, 1864. | Town Creek, N. C. U. S. C. T. 51st Inf. | Feb. 20, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 1st Inf. St. John's River, S. C. | May 23, 1864. | Township, Fla. U. S. C. T. 35th Inf. | Jan. 26, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 33d Inf. St. Stephen's, S. C. | March 1, 1865. | Tupelo, Miss. U. S. C. T. 55th (Mass.) Inf. | July 13, 14, and 15, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 59th, 61st, and 68th Inf. Saline River, Ark. | May 4, 1864. | Vicksburg, Miss. U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. | Aug. 27, 1863. | U. S. C. T. 5th Hy. Art. Saline River, Ark. | May ——, 1865. | Vicksburg, Miss. U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. | Feb. 13, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 52d Inf. Salkehatchie, S. C. | Feb. 9, 1865. | Vicksburg, Miss. U. S. C. T. 102d Inf. | June 4, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. Saltville, Va. | Oct. 2, 1864. | Vicksburg, Miss. U. S. C. T. 5th and 6th Cav. | July 4, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 48th Inf.Vidalia, La. | Williamsburg, Va. July 22, 1864. | March 4, 1864. U. S. C. T. 6th Hy. Art. | U. S. C. T. 6th Inf. | Wallace's Ferry, Ark. | Wilmington, N. C. July 26, 1864. | Feb. 22, 1865. U. S. C. T. 56th Inf. | U. S. C. T. 1st. Inf. | Warsaw, N. C. | Wilson's Landing, Va. April 6, 1865. | June 11, 1864. U. S. C. T. 1st Inf. | U. S. C. T. 1st Cav. | Waterford, Miss. | Wilson's Wharf, Va. Aug. 16 and 17, 1864. | May 24, 1864. U. S. C. T. 55th and 61st Inf. | U. S. C. T. Batt'y B, 2d Lt. Art.; | 1st and 10th Inf. Waterloo, La. | Oct. 20, 1864. | Yazoo City, Miss. U. S. C. T. 75th Inf. | March 5, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav.; 47th Inf. Waterproof, La. | Feb. 14, 1864. | Yazoo City, Miss. U. S. C. T. 49th Inf. | May 13, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. Waterproof, La. | April 20, 1864. | Yazoo City, Miss. U. S. C. T. 63d Inf. | March 15, 1865. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. White Oak Road, Va. | March 31, 1865. | Yazoo Expedition, Miss. U. S. C. T. 29th Inf. | Feb. 28, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. White River, Ark. | Oct. 22, 1864. | U. S. C. T. 53 Inf. |
CHAPTER XX.
HOISTING THE BLACK FLAG.—OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.
GENERAL S. D. LEE TO GENERAL COOPER.
Headquarters Department Alabama, Mississippi, and }
East Louisiana, Meridian, June 30, 1864. }General: I have the honor to transmit copies of correspondence between General Washburn, U. S. A., General Forrest, and myself, which I consider very important, and should be laid before the Department. It will be my endeavor to avoid, as far as is consistent with my idea of the dignity of my position, resorting to such an extremity as the black flag; and the onus shall be with the Federal commander.
I would like that the onus be put where it properly belongs, before the public, should the extremity arise. The correspondence is not complete yet, and the Department will be informed of the result at the earliest practicable moment.
I am, General, yours respectfully,
General S. Cooper, A. and I. G., Richmond, Va.
GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Forrest's Cavalry, }
In the Field, June 14, 1864. }Major-General Washburn, Commanding United States Forces, Memphis:
General: I have the honor herewith to enclose copy of letter received from Brigadier-General Buford, commanding United States forces at Helena, Arkansas, addressed to Colonel E. W. Rucker, commanding Sixth Regiment of this command; also a letter from myself to General Buford, which I respectfully request you will read and forward to him.
There is a matter also to which I desire to call your attention, which, until now, I have not thought proper to make the subject of a communication. Recent events render it necessary,—in fact, demand it.
It has been reported to me that all the negro troops stationed in Memphis took an oath on their knees, in the presence of Major-General Hurlbut and other officers of your army, to avenge Fort Pillow, and that they would show my troops no quarter.
Again, I have it from indisputable authority that the troops under Brigadier-General Sturgis, on their recent march from Memphis, publicly and in various places proclaimed that no quarter would be shown my men. As his troops were moved into action on the eleventh, the officers commanding exhorted their men to remember Fort Pillow, and a large majority of the prisoners we have captured from that command have voluntarily stated that they expected us to murder them, otherwise they would have surrendered in a body rather than taken to the bushes after being run down and exhausted. The recent battle of Tishemingo Creek was far more bloody than it otherwise would have been but for the fact that your men evidently expected to be slaughtered when captured, and both sides acted as though neither felt safe in surrendering even when further resistance was useless. The prisoners captured by us say they felt condemned by the announcements, etc., of their own commanders, and expected no quarter. In all my operations since the war began, I have conducted the war on civilized principles, and desire still to do so, but it is due to my command that they should know the position you occupy and the policy you intend to pursue. I therefore respectfully ask whether my men in your hands are treated as other Confederate prisoners, also the course intended to be pursued in regard to those who may hereafter fall into your hands.
I have in my possession quite a number of wounded officers and men of General Sturgis's command, all of whom have been treated as well as we have been able to treat them, and are mostly in charge of a surgeon left at Ripley by General Sturgis to look after the wounded. Some of them are too severely wounded to be removed at present. I am willing to exchange them for any men of my command you may have, and as soon as they are able to be removed will give them safe escort through my lines in charge of the surgeon left with them.
I made such an arrangement with Major-General Hurlbut when he was in command of Memphis, and am willing to renew it, provided it is desired, as it would be better than to subject them to the long and fatiguing delay necessary to a regular exchange at City Point, Virginia.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE.
Headquarters District of West Tennessee, }
Memphis, Tenn., June 17, 1864. }Major-General S. D. Lee, Commanding Confederate Forces near Tupelo, Miss.:
General: When I heard that the forces of Brigadier-General Sturgis had been driven back, and a portion of them probably captured, I felt considerable solicitude for the fate of the two colored regiments that formed a part of the command, until I was informed that the Confederate forces were commanded by you. When I learned that, I became satisfied that no atrocities would be committed upon those troops, but that they would receive the treatment which humanity as well as their gallant conduct demanded.
I regret to say that the hope that I entertained has been dispelled by facts which have recently come to my knowledge.
From statements that have been made to me by colored soldiers who were eye-witnesses, it would seem that the massacre at Fort Pillow had been reproduced at the late affair at Bryce's Cross-roads. The detail of the atrocities there committed I will not trouble you with. If true, and not disavowed, they must lead to consequences too fearful to contemplate. It is best that we should now have a fair understanding upon this question, of the treatment of this class of soldiers. If it is contemplated by the Confederate government to murder all colored troops that may by chance of war fall into their hands, as was the case at Fort Pillow, it is but fair that it should be freely and frankly avowed. Within the last six weeks I have, on two occasions, sent colored troops into the field from this point. In the expectation that the Confederate government would disavow the action of their commanding general at the Fort Pillow massacre, I have forborne to issue any instructions to the colored troops as to the course they should pursue toward Confederate soldiers. No disavowal on the part of the Confederate government having been made, but, on the contrary, laudations from the entire Southern press of the perpetrators of the massacre, I may safely presume that indiscriminate slaughter is to be the fate of colored troops that fall into your hands. But I am not willing to leave a matter of such grave import, and involving consequences so fearful, to inference, and I have therefore thought it proper to address you this, believing that you would be able to indicate the policy that the Confederate government intend to pursue hereafter on this question.
If it is intended to raise the black flag against that unfortunate race, they will cheerfully accept the issue. Up to this time no troops have fought more gallantly, and none have conducted themselves with greater propriety. They have fully vindicated their right (so long denied) to be treated as men.
I hope that I have been misinformed in regard to the treatment they have received at the battle of Bryce's Cross-roads, and that the accounts received result rather from the excited imaginations of the fugitives than from actual fact.
For the government of the colored troops under my command, I would thank you to inform me, with as little delay as possible, if it is your intention, or the intention of the Confederate government, to murder colored soldiers that may fall into your hands, or treat them as prisoners of war, and subject to be exchanged as other prisoners.
I am, General, respectfully, your obedient servant,
GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST.
Headquarters District of West Tennessee, }
Memphis, Tenn., June 19, 1864. }Major-General N. B. Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces:
General: Your communication of the fourteenth instant is received. The letter to Brigadier-General Buford will be forwarded to him.
In regard to that part of your letter which relates to colored troops, I beg to say that I have already sent a communication on the subject to the officer in command of the Confederate forces at Tupelo.
Having understood that Major-General S. D. Lee was in command there, I directed my letter to him—a copy of it I enclose. You say in your letter that it has been reported to you that all the negro troops stationed in Memphis took an oath on their knees, in the presence of Major-General Hurlbut, and other officers of our army, to avenge Fort Pillow, and that they would show your troops no quarter.
I believe it is true that the colored troops did take such an oath, but not in the presence of General Hurlbut. From what I can learn, this act of theirs was not influenced by any white officer, but was the result of their own sense of what was due to themselves and their fellows who had been mercilessly slaughtered.
I have no doubt that they went into the field, as you allege, in the full belief that they would be murdered in case they fell into your hands. The affair at Fort Pillow fully justified that belief. I am not aware as to what they proclaimed on their late march, and it may be, as you say, that they declared that no quarter would be given to any of your men that might fall into their hands.
Your declaration that you have conducted the war, on all occasions, on civilized principles, cannot be accepted; but I receive with satisfaction the intimation in your letter that the recent slaughter of colored troops at the battle of Tishemingo Creek resulted rather from the desperation with which they fought than a predetermined intention to give them no quarter.
You must have learned by this time that the attempt to intimidate the colored troops by indiscriminate slaughter has signally failed, and that, instead of a feeling of terror, you have aroused a spirit of courage and desperation that will not down at your bidding.
I am left in doubt, by your letter, as to the course you and the Confederate government intend to pursue hereafter in regard to colored troops, and I beg you to advise me, with as little delay as possible, as to your intentions.
If you intend to treat such of them as fall into your hands as prisoners of war, please so state; if you do not so intend, but contemplate either their slaughter or their return to slavery, please state that, so that we may have no misunderstanding hereafter. If the former is your intention, I shall receive the announcement with pleasure, and shall explain the fact to the colored troops at once, and desire that they recall the oath they have taken; if the latter is the case, then let the oath stand, and upon those who have aroused this spirit by their atrocities, and upon the government and people who sanction it, be the consequences.
In regard to your inquiry relating to prisoners of your command in our hands, I have to state that they have always received the treatment which a great and humane Government extends to its prisoners. What course will be pursued hereafter toward them must, of course, depend on circumstances that may arise. If your command, hereafter, does nothing which should properly exclude them from being treated as prisoners of war, they will be so treated.
I thank you for your offer to exchange wounded officers and men in your hands. If you will send them in, I will exchange man for man, so far as I have the ability to do so.
Before closing this letter, I wish to call your attention to one case of unparalleled outrage and murder that has been brought to my notice, and in regard to which the evidence is overwhelming.
Among the prisoners captured at Fort Pillow was Major Bradford, who had charge of the defence of the fort after the fall of Major Booth.
After being taken prisoner, he was started with other prisoners of war, in charge of Colonel Duckworth, for Jackson. At Brownsville they rested over night. The following morning two companies were detailed by Colonel Duckworth to proceed to Jackson with the prisoners.
After they had started, and proceeded a very short distance, five soldiers were recalled by Colonel Duckworth, and were conferred with by him; they then rejoined the column, and after proceeding about five miles from Brownsville the column was halted, and Major Bradford taken about fifty yards from the roadside and deliberately shot by the five men who had been recalled by Colonel Duckworth, and his body left unburied upon the ground where he fell.
He now lies buried near the spot, and, if you desire, you can easily satisfy yourself of the truth of what I assert. I beg leave to say to you that this transaction hardly justifies your remark, that your operations have been conducted on civilized principles, and until you take some steps to bring the perpetrators of this outrage to justice, the world will not fail to believe that it had your sanction.
I am, General, your obedient servant,
GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Forrest's Cavalry, }
Tupelo, Miss., June 20, 1864. }Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding U. S. Forces, Memphis, Tenn.
General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt (per flag of truce) of your letter of the seventeenth instant, addressed to Major-General S. D. Lee, or officer commanding Confederate forces near Tupelo. I have forwarded it to General Lee, with a copy of this letter.
I regard your letter as discourteous to the commanding officer of this department, and grossly insulting to myself.
You seek by implied threats to intimidate him, and assume the privilege of denouncing me as a murderer, and as guilty of the wholesale slaughter of the garrison at Fort Pillow, and found your assertion upon the ex parte testimony of (your friends) the enemies of myself and country. I shall not enter into the discussion, therefore, of any of the questions involved, nor undertake any refutation of the charges made by you against myself; nevertheless, as a matter of personal privilege alone, I unhesitatingly say that they are unfounded and unwarranted by the facts. But whether those charges are true or false, they, with the question you ask, as to whether negro troops, when captured, will be recognized and treated as prisoners of war, subject to exchange, etc., are matters which the governments of the United States and Confederate States are to decide and adjust, not their subordinate officers. I regard captured negroes as I do other captured property, and not as captured soldiers; but as to how regarded by my government, and the disposition which has been and will hereafter be made of them, I respectfully refer you, through the proper channel, to the authorities at Richmond. It is not the policy or the interest of the South to destroy the negro; on the contrary to preserve and protect him, and all who have surrendered to us have received kind and humane treatment.
Since the war began I have captured many thousand Federal prisoners, and they, including the survivors of the "Fort Pillow Massacre," "black and white," are living witnesses of the fact that with my knowledge or consent, or by my order, not one of them has ever been insulted, or in any way maltreated.
You speak of your forbearance in not giving your negro troops instructions and orders as to the course they should pursue in regard to Confederate soldiers that might fall into their (your) hands, which clearly conveys to my mind two very distinct impressions. The first is, that in not giving them instructions and orders, you have left the matter entirely to the discretion of the negroes as to how they should dispose of prisoners. Second, an implied threat to give such orders as will lead to "consequences too fearful" for contemplation. In confirmation of the correctness of the first impression (which your language now fully develops), refer most respectfully to my letter from the battle-field, Tishemingo Creek, and forwarded you by flag of truce on the fourteenth instant. As to the second impression, you seem disposed to take into your own hands the settlements which belong to, and can only be settled by, your government; but if you are prepared to take upon yourself the responsibility of inaugurating a system of warfare contrary to civilized usages, the onus as well as the consequences will be chargeable to yourself.
Deprecating, as I should do, such a state of affairs; determined, as I am, not to be instrumental in bringing it about; feeling and knowing, as I do, that I have the approval of my government, my people, and my conscience as to the past, and with the firm belief that I will be sustained by them in my future policy, it is left with you to determine what that policy shall be, whether in accordance with the laws of civilised nations, or in violation of them.
I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Forrest's Cavalry, }
In the Field, June 23, 1864. }Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding District of West Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn.:
Your communication of the nineteenth inst. is received, in which you say "you are left in doubt as to the course the Confederate government intends to pursue hereafter in regard to colored troops."
Allow me to say that this is a subject upon which I did not and do not propose to enlighten you. It is a matter to be settled by our governments through their proper officers, and I respectfully refer you to them for a solution of your doubts.
You ask me to state whether "I contemplate either their slaughter or their return to slavery." I answer that I slaughter no man except in open warfare, and that my prisoners, both white and black, are turned over to my government to be dealt with as it may direct. My government is in possession of all the facts as regards my official conduct, and the operations of my command since I entered the service, and if you desire a proper discussion and decision, I refer you again to the President of the Confederate States. I would not have you understand, however, that in a matter of so much importance I am indisposed to place at your command and disposal any facts desired, when applied for in a manner becoming an officer holding your rank and position, for it is certainly desirable to every one occupying a public position to be placed right before the world, and there has been no time since the capture of Fort Pillow, that I would not have furnished all the facts connected with its capture, had they been applied for properly, but now the matter rests with the two governments. I have, however, for your information, enclosed you copies of the official correspondence between the commanding officers at Fort Pillow and myself; also copies of a statement of Captain Young, the senior officer of that garrison, together with (sufficient) extracts from a report of the affair by my A. D. C., Captain Chas. W. Anderson, which I approve and endorse as correct.
As to the death of Major Bradford, I knew nothing of it until eight or ten days after it is said to have occurred.
On the thirteenth (the day after the capture of Fort Pillow) I went to Jackson, and the report I had of the affair was this: Major Bradford was, with other officers, sent to the headquarters of Colonel McCulloch, and all the prisoners were in charge of one of McCulloch's regiments. Bradford requested the privilege of attending the burial of his brother, which was granted, he giving his parole of honor to return. Instead of returning, he changed his clothing and started for Memphis. Some of my men were hunting deserters, and came on Bradford just as he had landed on the south bank of the Hatchie, and arrested him. When arrested, he claimed to be a Confederate soldier belonging to Bragg's army; that he had been on furlough, and was then on his way to join his command.
As he could show no papers he was believed to be a deserter, and was taken to Covington, and not until he was recognized and spoken to by citizens did the guards know that he was Bradford.
He was sent by Colonel Duckworth, or taken by him, to Brownsville.
All of Chalmers's command went from Brownsville, via La Grange, and as all the other prisoners had been gone some time, and there was no chance for them to catch up and place Bradford with them, he was ordered by Colonel Duckworth or General Chalmers to be sent south to me at Jackson.
I knew nothing of the matter until eight or ten days afterwards I heard that his body was found near Brownsville. I understand that he attempted to escape and was shot. If he was improperly killed, nothing would afford me more pleasure than to punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, and to show you how I regard such transactions.
I can refer you to my demand on Major-General Hurlbut (no doubt upon file in your office) for the delivery to Confederate authorities of one Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regiment, who deliberately took out and killed seven Confederate soldiers, one of whom they left to die after cutting off his tongue, punching out his eyes, splitting his mouth on each side to his ears, and cutting off his privates. I have mentioned and given you these facts in order that you may have no further excuse or apology for referring to these matters in connection with myself, and to evince to you my determination to do all in my power to avoid the responsibility of causing the adoption of the policy which you have determined to press. In your letter you acknowledge the fact that the negro troops did take an oath on bended knees to show no quarters to my men, and you say further "you have no doubt they went to the battle-field expecting to be slaughtered," and admit, also, the probability of their having proclaimed on their march that no quarter would be shown us. Such being the case, why do you ask for the disavowal on the part of the commanding general of this department of the government, in regard to the loss of life at Tishemingo Creek? That your troops expected to be slaughtered, appears to me, after the oath they took, to be a very reasonable and natural expectation. Yet you who sent them out, knowing and now admitting that they had sworn to such a policy, are complaining of atrocities, and demanding acknowledgments and disavowals on the part of the very men you sent forth sworn to slay whenever in your power.
I will, in all candor and truth, say to you that I had only heard these things, but did not believe them; indeed, did not attach to them the importance they deserved, nor did I know of the threatened vengeance as proclaimed along the line of march until the contest was over. Had I and my men known it, as you admit it, the battle of Tishemingo Creek would have been noted as the bloodiest battle of the war. That you sanctioned this policy is plain, for you say now "that if the negro is treated as a prisoner of war, you will receive with pleasure the announcement, and will explain the facts to your colored troops, and desire (not order) that they recall the oath; but if they are to be either slaughtered or returned to slavery, let the oath stand." Your rank forbids a doubt as to the fact that you and every officer and man of your department are identified with the policy and responsible for it, and I shall not permit you, notwithstanding by your studied language in both your communications you seek to limit the operations of your unholy scheme, and visit its terrible consequences alone upon that ignorant, deluded, but unfortunate people, the negroes, whose destruction you are planning in order to accomplish ours. The negroes have our sympathy, and, so far as consistent with safety, we will spare them at the expense of those who are alone responsible for the inauguration of a worse than savage warfare.
Now, in conclusion, I demand a plain and unqualified answer to two questions, and then I have done with further correspondence with you on this subject. This matter must be settled. In battle and on the battle-field do you intend to slaughter my men who fall into your hands? If you do not intend so to do, will they be treated as prisoners of war?
I have over two thousand of Sturgis's command prisoners, and will hold every officer and private hostage until I receive your declarations, and am satisfied that you carry out in good faith the answers you make, and until I am assured that no Confederate soldier has been foully dealt with from the day of the battle of Tishemingo Creek to this time. It is not yet too late for you to retrace your steps and arrest the storm.
Relying, as I do, upon that Divine power which in wisdom disposes of all things; relying also upon the support and approval of my government and countrymen, and the unflinching bravery and endurance of my troops; and with a consciousness that I have done nothing to produce, but all in my power, consistent with honor and the personal safety of myself and command, to prevent it, I leave with you the responsibility of bringing about, to use your own language, "a state of affairs too fearful to contemplate."
I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
OFFICIAL MEMORANDA.
Cahaba Hospital, Cahaba, Alabama, }
May 11, 1864. }Colonel H. C. Davis, Commanding Post Cahaba:
Colonel: I herewith transmit you, as near as my memory serves me, according to promise, the demand made by Major-General Forrest, C. S. A., for the surrender of Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
Major Booth, Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow, Tennessee:
I have force sufficient to take your works by assault. I therefore demand an unconditional surrender of all your forces. Your heroic defence will entitle you to be treated as prisoners of war, but the surrender must be unconditional. I await your answer.
Headquarters United States Forces, )
Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864.)Major-General Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces:
General: Your demand for the surrender of United States forces under my command received. I ask one hour for consultation with my officers and the commander of gunboat No. 7, at this place. I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
Major L. F. Booth, Commanding United States Forces:
I do not demand the surrender of the gunboat No. 7. I ask only for the surrender of Fort Pillow, with men and munitions of war. You have twenty minutes for consideration. At the expiration of that time, if you do not capitulate, I will assault your works.
Your obedient servant,
Headquarters United States Forces,}
Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864.}Major-General Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces:
General: Your second demand for the surrender of my forces is received. Your demand will not be complied with.
Your obedient servant,
I give you the above for your own satisfaction from memory. I think it is true in substance. My present condition would preclude the idea of this being an official statement.
I am, Colonel, your obedient servant,
CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO MAJOR-GENERAL FORREST.
Cahaba, Alabama, May 19, 1864.
Major-General Forrest, C. S. A.:
General: Your request, made through Judge P. T. Scroggs, that I should make a statement of the treatment of the Federal dead and wounded at Fort Pillow, has been made known to me. Details from Federal prisoners were made to collect the dead and wounded. The dead were buried by their surviving comrades. I saw no ill treatment of their wounded on the evening of the battle, or next morning. My friend, Lieutenant Leaming, Adjutant Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, was left wounded in the sutler's store near the fort, also a lieutenant Sixth U. S. Artillery; both were alive next morning, and sent on board U. S. transport, among many other wounded. Among the wounded were some colored troops—I don't know how many.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. S.—I have examined a report said to be made by Captain Anderson (of) A. D. C. to Major-General Forrest, appendix to General Forrest's report, in regard to making disposition of Federal wounded left on the field at Fort Pillow, and think it is correct. I accompanied Captain Anderson, on the day succeeding the battle, to Fort Pillow, for the purpose above mentioned.
A true copy.
Samuel Donalson, Lieutenant and A. D. C.Official,
Henry B. Lee, A.D.C.
GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST.
Headquarters District of West Tennessee, }
Memphis, Tenn., July 2, 1864. }Major-General N. B. Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces, near Tupelo:
General: Your communications of the twentieth and twenty-third ult. are received. Of the tone and temper of both I do not complain. The desperate fortunes of a bad cause excuse much irritation of temper, and I pass it by. Indeed, I received it as a favorable augury, and as evidence that you are not indifferent to the opinions of the civilized world.
In regard to the Fort Pillow affair, it is useless to prolong the discussion.
I shall forward your report, which you did me the favor to enclose, to my government, and you will receive the full benefit of it.
The record is now made up, and a candid world will judge of it. I beg leave to send you herewith a copy of the report of the Investigating Committee from the United States Congress on the affair. In regard to the treatment of Major Bradford, I refer you to the testimony contained in that report, from which you will see that he was not attempting to escape when shot. It will be easy to bring the perpetrators of the outrage to justice if you so desire.
I will add to what I have heretofore said, that I have it from responsible and truthful citizens of Brownsville, that when Major Bradford was started under an escort from your headquarters at Jackson, General Chalmers remarked that "he would never reach there."
You call attention, apparently as an offset to this affair of Major Bradford, to outrages said to have been committed by Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regiment (Sixth Tennessee Cavalry). The outrages, if committed as stated by you, are disgraceful and abhorrent to every brave and sensitive mind.
On receiving your letter I sent at once for Colonel Hurst, and read him the extract pertaining to him. He indignantly denies the charge against him, and until you furnish me the names of the parties murdered, and the time when, and the place where, the offence was committed, with the names of witnesses, it is impossible for me to act. When you do that, you may rest assured that I shall use every effort in my power to have the parties accused tried, and if found guilty, properly punished.
In regard to the treatment of colored soldiers, it is evidently useless to discuss the question further.
Your attempt to shift from yourself upon me the responsibility of the inauguration of a "worse than savage warfare," is too strained and far-fetched to require any response. The full and cumulative evidence contained in the Congressional Report I herewith forward, points to you as the person responsible for the barbarisms already committed.
It was your soldiers who, at Fort Pillow, raised the black flag, and while shooting, bayoneting, and otherwise maltreating the Federal prisoners in their hands, shouted to each other in the hearing of their victims that it was done by "Forrest's orders."
Thus far I cannot learn that you have made any disavowal of these barbarities.
Your letters to me inform me confidently that you have always treated our prisoners according to the rules of civilized warfare, but your disavowal of the Fort Pillow barbarities, if you intend to make any, should be full, clear, explicit, and published to the world.
The United States Government is, as it always has been, lenient and forbearing, and it is not yet too late for you to secure for yourself and your soldiers a continuance of the treatment due to honorable warriors, by a public disclaimer of barbarities already committed, and a vigorous effort to punish the wretches who committed them.
But I say to you now, clearly and unequivocally, that such measure of treatment as you mete out to Federal soldiers will be measured to you again.
If you give no quarter, you need expect none. If you observe the rules of civilized warfare, and treat our prisoners in accordance with the laws of war, your prisoners will be treated, as they ever have been, with kindness.
If you depart from these principles, you may expect such retaliation as the laws of war justify.
That you may know what the laws of war are, as understood by my Government, I beg leave to enclose a copy of General Orders No. 100 from the War Department Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, April twenty-four, 1863.
I have the honor to be, sir,
Very respectfully yours,
GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Department Alabama, Mississippi, and }
East Louisiana, Meridian, June 28, 1864. }Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding Federal Forces at Memphis, Tennessee:
General: I am in receipt of your letter of the seventeenth inst., and have also before me the reply of Major-General Forrest thereto. Though that reply is full, and approved by me, yet I deem it proper to communicate with you upon a subject so seriously affecting our future conduct and that of the troops under our respective commands.
Your communication is by no means respectful to me, and is by implication insulting to Major-General Forrest. This, however, is overlooked in consideration of the important character of its contents.
You assume as correct an exaggerated statement of the circumstances attending the capture of Fort Pillow, relying solely upon the evidence of those who would naturally give a distorted history of the affair.
No demand for an explanation has ever been made either by yourself or your government, a course which would certainly recommend itself to every one desirous of hearing truth; but, on the contrary, you seem to have been perfectly willing to allow your soldiers to labor under false impressions upon a subject involving such terrible consequences. Even the formality of parades and oaths have been resorted to for the purpose of inciting your colored troops to the perpetration of deeds which, you say, "will lead to consequences too fearful to contemplate."
As commanding officer of this Department I desire to make the following statement concerning the capture of Fort Pillow—a statement supported in a great measure by the evidence of one of your own officers captured at that place.
The version given by you and your government is untrue, and not sustained by the facts to the extent that you indicate.
The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its commanding officer assumed the responsibility of refusing to surrender after having been informed by General Forrest of his ability to take the fort, and of his fears as to what the result would be in case the demand was not complied with.
The assault was made under a heavy fire, and with considerable loss to the attacking party.
Your colors were never lowered, but retreated from the fort to the cover of the gunboats, with arms in their hands, and constantly using them.
This was true, particularly of your colored troops, who had been firmly convinced by your teachings of the certainty of their slaughter in case of capture. Even under these circumstances many of your men—white and black—were taken prisoners.
I respectfully refer you to history for numerous cases of indiscriminate slaughter, even under less aggravated circumstances.
It is generally conceded by all military precedents that where the issue has been fairly presented, and the ability displayed, fearful results are expected to follow a refusal to surrender.
The case under consideration is almost an extreme one.
You had a servile race armed against their masters, and in a country which had been desolated by almost unprecedented outrages.
I assert that our officers, with all these circumstances against them, endeavored to prevent the effusion of blood; and, as evidence of this, I refer you to the fact that both white and colored prisoners were taken, and are now in our hands.
As regards the battle of Tishemingo Creek, the statements of your negro witnesses are not to be relied on. In this panic they acted as might have been expected from their previous impressions. I do not think many of them were killed—they are yet wandering over the country, attempting to return to their masters.
With reference to the status of those captured at Tishemingo Creek and Fort Pillow, I will state that, unless otherwise ordered by my government, they will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be retained and humanely treated, subject to such future instructions as may be indicated.
Your letter contains many implied threats; these you can of course make, and you are fully entitled to any satisfaction that you may feel from having made them.
It is my intention, and that also of my subordinates, to conduct this war upon civilized principles, provided you permit us to do so; and I take this occasion to state that we will not shrink from any responsibilities that your actions may force upon us.
We are engaged in a struggle for the protection of our homes and firesides, for the maintenance of our national existence and liberty; we have counted the cost and are prepared to go to any extremes; and although it is far from our wish to fight under the "black flag," still, if you drive us to it, we will accept the issue.
Your troops virtually fought under it at the battle of Tishemingo Creek, and the prisoners taken there state that they went into battle with the impression that they were to receive no quarter, and I suppose with the determination to give none.
I will further remark that if it is raised, so far as your soldiers are concerned, there can be no distinction, for the unfortunate people whom you pretend to be aiding are not considered entirely responsible for their acts, influenced as they are by the superior intellect of their white brothers.
I enclose for your consideration certain papers touching the Fort Pillow affair, which were procured from the writer after the exaggerated statements of your press were seen.
I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
ENCLOSURE IN THE FOREGOING.
Cahaba, Alabama, May 16, 1864.
I was one of the bearers of the flag of truce, on the part of the United States authorities, at Fort Pillow. A majority of the officers of the garrison doubted whether General Forrest was present, and had the impression that it was a ruse to induce the surrender of the fort. At the second meeting of the flag of truce, General Forrest announced himself as being General Forrest; but the officers who accompanied the flag, being unacquainted with the General, doubted his word, and it was the opinion of the garrison, at the time of the assault, that General Forrest was not in the vicinity of the fort. The commanding officer refused to surrender. When the final assault was made, I was captured at my post, inside the works, and have been treated as a prisoner of war.
F. W. Underhill, First Lieutenant, Cavalry.
GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE.
Headquarters District of West Tennessee, }
Memphis, Tennessee, July 3, 1864. }Lieutenant-General S. D. Lee, Commanding Department Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana, C. S. A., Meridian, Miss.:
General: Your letter of the twenty-eighth ult., in reply to mine of the seventeenth ult., is received.
The discourtesy which you profess to discover in my letter I utterly disclaim. Having already discussed at length, in a correspondence with Major-General Forrest, the Fort Pillow massacre, as well as the policy to be pursued in regard to colored troops, I do not regard it necessary to say more on those subjects. As you state that you fully approve of the letter sent by General Forrest to me, in answer to mine of the seventeenth ult., I am forced to presume that you fully approve of his action at Fort Pillow.
Your arguments in support of that action confirm such presumption. You state that the "version given by me and my government is not true, and not sustained by the facts to the extent I indicate." You furnish a statement of a certain Captain Young, who was captured at Fort Pillow, and is now a prisoner in your hands. How far the statement of a prisoner under duress and in the position of Captain Young should go to disprove the sworn testimony of the hundred eye-witnesses who had ample opportunity of seeing and knowing, I am willing that others shall judge.
In relying, as you do, upon this certificate of Captain Young, you confess that all better resources are at an end.
You are welcome to all the relief that that certificate is calculated to give you. Does he say that our soldiers were not inhumanly treated? No. Does he say that he was in a position to see in case they had been mistreated? No. He simply says that "he saw no ill-treatment of their wounded." If he was in a position to see and know what took place, it was easy for him to say so.
I yesterday sent to Major-General Forrest a copy of the report of the Congressional Investigating Committee, and I hope it may fall into your hands. You will find there the record of inhuman atrocities, to find a parallel for which you will search the page of history in vain. Men—white men and black men—were crucified and burned; others were hunted by bloodhounds; while others, in their anguish, were made the sport of men more cruel than the dogs by which they were hunted.
I have also sent to my government copies of General Forrest's reports, together with the certificate of Captain Young.
The record in the case is plainly made up, and I leave it. You justify and approve it, and appeal to history for precedents.
As I have said, history furnishes no parallel. True, there are instances where, after a long and protracted resistance, resulting in heavy loss to the assailing party, the garrison has been put to the sword, but I know of no such instance that did not bring dishonor upon the commander that ordered or suffered it.
There is no Englishman that would not gladly forget Badajos, nor a Frenchman that exults when Jaffa or the Caves of Dahra and Shelas are spoken of. The massacre of Glencoe, which the world has read of with horror, for nearly two hundred years, pales into insignificance before the truthful recital of Fort Pillow.
The desperate defence of the Alamo was the excuse for the slaughter of its brave survivors after its surrender, yet that act was received with just execration, and we are told by the historian that it led more than anything else to the independence of Texas.
At the battle of San Jacinto the Texans rushed into action with the war-cry, "Remember the Alamo," and carried all before them.
You will seek in vain for consultation in history, pursue the inquiry as far as you may.
Your desire to shift the responsibility of the Fort Pillow massacre, or to find excuses for it, is not strange. But the responsibility still remains where it belongs, and there it will remain.
In my last letter to General Forrest I stated that the treatment which Federal soldiers received would be their guide hereafter, and that if you give no quarter you need expect none. If you observe the rules of civilized warfare I shall rejoice at it, as no one can regret more than myself a resort to such measures as the laws of war justify towards an enemy that gives no quarter.
Your remark that our colored soldiers "will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be retained and humanely treated," indicating that you consider them as of more worth and importance than your own soldiers who are now in our hands, is certainly very complimentary to the colored troops, though but a tardy acknowledgment of their bravery and devotion as soldiers; but such fair words can neither do justice to the colored soldiers who were butchered at Fort Pillow after they had surrendered to their victors, nor relieve yourself, General Forrest, and the troops serving under you, from the fearful responsibility now resting upon you for those wanton and unparalleled barbarities.
I concur in your remarks that if the black flag is once raised, there can be no distinction so far as our soldiers are concerned. No distinction in this regard as to color is known to the laws of war, and you may rest assured that the outrages we complain of are felt by our white soldiers, no less than by our black ones, as insults to their common banner, the flag of the United States.
I will close by a reference to your statement that many of our colored soldiers "are yet wandering over the country attempting to return to their masters." If this remark is intended for a joke, it is acknowledged as a good one; but, if stated as a fact, permit me to correct your misapprehensions by informing you that most of them have returned to their respective commands, their search for their late "masters" having proved bootless; and I think I do not exaggerate in assuring you that there is not a colored soldier here who does not prefer the fate of his comrades at Fort Pillow to being returned to his "master."
I remain, General,
Yours, very respectfully,
CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Memphis, Tennessee, September 13, 1864.
Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding District West Tennessee:
General: I have the honor to address you in regard to certain papers forwarded you by Major-General Forrest, of the so-called Confederate army, signed by me under protest, whilst a prisoner of war at Cahaba, Alabama. I would first call your attention to the manner by which these papers were procured. About twenty-seventh April last, all Federal prisoners (except colored soldiers) were sent to Andersonville and Macon, Georgia, myself among the number. About ten days after my arrival at Macon prison, a Confederate captain, with two men as guard, came to that prison with an order for me to return to Cahaba. I appealed to the officer in command to know why I was taken from the other officers, but received no explanation. Many of my friends among the Federal officers who had been prisoners longer than myself felt uneasy at the proceedings, and advised me to make my escape going back, as it was likely a subject of retaliation. Consequently I felt considerable uneasiness of mind. On returning to Cahaba, being quite unwell, I was placed in hospital, under guard, with still no explanation from the military authorities. On the day following, I was informed by a sick Federal officer, also in hospital, that he had learned that I had been recognized by some Confederate as a deserter from the Confederate army, and that I was to be court-martialed and shot. The colored waiters about the hospital told me the same thing, and although I knew that the muster-rolls of my country would show that I had been in the volunteer service since first May, 1861, I still felt uneasy, having fresh in my mind Fort Pillow, and the summary manner the Confederate officers have of disposing of men on some occasions. With the above impressions on my mind, about three days after my return to Cahaba I was sent for by the Provost Marshal, and certain papers handed me, made out by General Forrest for my signature. Looking over the papers, I found that signing them would be an endorsement of General Forrest's official report of the Fort Pillow affair. I of course returned the papers, positively refusing to have anything to do with them. I was sent for again the same day, with request to sign other papers of the same tendency, but modified. I again refused to sign the papers, but sent General Forrest a statement, that although I considered some of the versions of the Fort Pillow affair, which I had read in their own papers, said to be copied from Federal papers, exaggerated, I also thought that his own official report was equally so in some particulars.
Here the matter rested about one week, when I was sent for by Colonel H. C. Davis, commander of post at Cahaba, who informed me that General Forrest had sent P. T. Scroggs to see me, and have a talk with me about the Fort Pillow fight; I found the judge very affable and rather disposed to flatter me; he said that General Forrest thought that I was a gentleman and a soldier, and that the General had sent him (the judge) down to see me and talk to me about the Fort Pillow fight; he then went on to tell over a great many things that were testified to before the Military Commission, which I was perfectly ignorant of, never having seen the testimony. He then produced papers which General Forrest wished me to sign. Upon examination, I found them about the same as those previously shown me, and refused again to sign them, but the Judge was very importunate, and finally prevailed on me to sign the papers you have in your possession, pledging himself that if I wished it they should only be seen by General Forrest himself, that they were not intended to be used by him as testimony, but merely for his own satisfaction.
I hope, General, that these papers signed by me, or rather extorted from me while under duress, will not be used by my government to my disparagement, for my only wish is now, after three years' service and over, to recruit my health, which has suffered badly by imprisonment, and go in for the war.
I have the honor to be, General,
Your obedient servant,
It should not be forgotten that the material part of Gen. Forrest's defence was extorted from Capt. John T. Young, an officer in the Union forces at Fort Pillow. He was sick and a prisoner in the hands of the rebels; and while in this condition he was compelled to sign the papers given above, which had been made out by Forrest himself. The last letter of the correspondence shows that Capt. Young did not want the papers used by the United States Government, because they were not true. Moreover, the despatches of Forrest to Major Bradford make no mention of retaliation. The despatches above are not true copies. For instance, he demanded the surrender of Paducah on the 25th of March, 1864, just before he took Fort Pillow, and this was his despatch:
H'dqu'rs Forrest's Cavalry Corps, }
Paducah, March 23, 1864 }To Col. Hicks, Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah:
Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce the place, in order to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood, I demand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all the public stores. If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war; but, if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter.
And on the 19th of April, 1864, the next day after the massacre at Fort Pillow, Gen. Abe Buford demanded the surrender of Columbus, Kentucky, in the following despatch:
To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus. Ky.:
Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison by force, I desire to avoid shedding blood. I therefore demand the unconditional surrender of the forces under your command. Should you surrender, the negroes now in arms will be returned to their masters. Should I be compelled to take the place by force, no quarter will be shown negro troops whatever; white troops will be treated as prisoners of war.
I am, sir, yours,
Now, as both Bradford and Booth were dead, it was impossible to learn just what language was used by Forrest in the despatches he sent them. But from the testimony given above, the explanation of Capt. Young and the language of the two despatches just quoted, addressed to the commander of the Union forces at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, history has made out a case against Gen. Forrest that no human being would covet.
FOOTNOTES:
[144] Rebellion Records, vol. x. pp. 721-730.
Part 8.
THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM.
CHAPTER XXII.
AN EDUCATED AFRICAN.
Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce, a native African, and educated in America, presents a striking illustration of the capabilities of the Negro. He was born a pagan, and when brought in contact with the institutions of civilization he outstripped those whose earlier life had been impressed with the advantages of such surroundings. There was nothing in his blood, or in his early rearing, to develop him. He came from darkness himself as well as by his ancestry. Rev. Daniel K. Flickinger, D.D., has been secretary of the Home Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society for the past twenty-five years. He was the companion in Africa of George Thompson, and on one of his trips had a short association with Livingstone. Dr. Flickinger aided in establishing the United Brethren Mission on the Western Coast of Africa, and has had his heart in it for a quarter of a century. During that time he has made six trips to Africa to look after this mission; returning from his last voyage in May, 1881. He has studied those people and found them apt in the schools as well as in the acquiring of American customs in tilling the soil and in the trades. During Dr. Flickinger's first visit to Africa in 1855, while at Good Hope Station, Mendi Mission, located on the eastern banks of Sherbro Island, latitude 7° north, and longitude 18° west, he employed a native to watch over him at night as he slept in his hammock, there being wild and dangerous tribes in the vicinity. To that man in that time was born a child. The father came to the missionaries the next day to tell them that his wife "done born picin" and wanted them to give it a name. Mr. Burton, the missionary in charge, suggested that of Daniel Flickinger, and it was taken. The missionaries had performed the usual marriage ceremony for as many as came within their reach, and broken up the former heathen customs in their immediate vicinity as far as possible, and this man was duly married. He took as his last name that of Wilberforce after the English philanthropist, who was dear to all Colored people, and from that time on this native and his family became attached to the mission, and were known by the name of Wilberforce. This man had children born in heathendom and under quite different circumstances.
Dr. Flickinger soon afterward sailed for America, and soon forgot that he had a namesake on the distant shore. He made other trips across the water, but failed to come in contact with the Wilberforce family. Sixteen years afterward, in 1871, he was in New York City shipping goods to the African missionaries. The boxes, labelled "Daniel K. Flickinger," were being loaded and unloaded at the American Mission Rooms in that city, and the doctor noticed that the colored porter boy was about half wild over something. He asked him if there was any thing wrong, but got no reply. The young porter kept rolling his eyes and acting half scared at the name on those boxes, and finally the doctor asked him his name, to which there came the prompt reply, Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce! In his travels of a lifetime the missionary had often been surprised, but this bewildered him. A thunder-bolt could not have shocked him more. Then the two stood gazing at each other in perfect amazement, and neither able to tell how their names came to be so near alike. The boxes were forgotten. The boy soon had his relief and began laughing as few others could laugh, while the doctor was still unable to see through the mystery. He gave the young fellow two shillings and told him to proceed with the boxes. The doctor then began an investigation about the Mission Rooms, and found that this boy, just a short time before that, had been brought over on a merchant vessel to care for an invalid missionary lady during the voyage, that he had served a short time as bell-boy at a hotel, and that they had employed him in the Mission Rooms, but had promised to send him back on the next sail vessel. The doctor got his location in Africa and a complete chain of circumstances such as to convince him that this was the boy that was named after him in 1855. He told the authorities at the American Mission Rooms, to write to Africa and say that Dan. was well cared for over here, and for them to keep him till further advised. As soon as the doctor made his shipments to the missionaries he returned to Dayton and asked the Executive Committee of his Board if they would assist him in educating this African who had turned up in such a romantic manner. Consent was given, and young Wilberforce was shipped to Dayton. He was brought into Dr. Flickinger's office with the tag of an express company attached to his clothes—young, green, and, in fact, a raw recruit to the ranks of civilization. Seven years after that he bid adieu to his friends in that same office, to return to his people in Africa as a teacher, preacher, and physician. He was then one of the finest scholars of his age in this country. When he arrived at Dayton he of course had to have a private tutor. He was sixteen years old and had to start with the rudiments, but he was, at the beginning of the next school year, able to join classes on which he doubled right along. It requires a course of eight years to reach the High School, but in less than four years after his arrival in Dayton he passed the examination for admission to the High School of Dayton, Ohio, and was the first Colored pupil ever admitted to that school. Since then, other Colored pupils have annually been following his example. The course in the High School was four years, and the Board and teachers were very particularly averse to gaining time. Owing to Wilberforce's great aptness, that allowed him to go ahead of his class, he gained one year then and there, and took the honors of the class that started one year ahead of him. There were twenty-three members of that class. The Commencement was in the Opera-house at Dayton in 1878, and on that occasion the President of the Board said, without discredit to any others, he felt called upon to make special mention of young Wilberforce, which he did in a handsome manner. This was not all; the Missionary Society wanted to send Wilberforce to Africa in September of that year, and as he went along they had him at other studies. He had become an excellent musician, both vocal and instrumental. He had been studying theology and read Hebrew well. He had also taken a course of reading in medicine, so that he might be of service to the bodies as well as the souls of his brethren. Marvellous as it may seem, all of this was done in so short a time, and from a state of savage life up to civilized life; still it is true. And, besides, Wilberforce had been a reader of history and general literature, and was a writer of unusual merit. His progress has always and always will seem incredible, even to those who had personal knowledge of him during the time that he had this experience of seven years. He had a remarkable mind, was born a heathen, had no youthful advantages, and is to-day one of the best-informed and most thoroughly cultivated thinkers of his age. When he left Dayton in the summer of 1878, he was greatly missed. At the Colored United Brethren Church he was janitor, leader of a choir, organist, superintendent of the Sunday-school, and class leader, and when the pastor failed, Wilberforce also did the preaching. He was never proud. In the humble capacity of janitor he took excellent care of Dr. Flickinger's office, and was willing and ready to do anything. He was modest socially, but a favorite among his classmates, and not only respected but admired by all. He married a Dayton girl before he left for Africa, and has remained abroad since 1878, but he expects at no distant time to return to America to complete his professional studies. He belonged to the Sherbro tribe or people, and with them he is now laboring.
LAFAYETTE'S PLAN OF COLONIZATION.
Now, my dear General, that you are about to enjoy some repose, permit me to propose to you a scheme which may prove of great benefit to the black part of the human race. Let us unite in the purchase of a small estate, where we can attempt to free the negroes and employ them simply as farm laborers. Such an example set by you might be generally followed, and should we succeed in America I shall gladly consecrate a part of my time to introducing the custom into the Antilles. If this be a crude idea I prefer to be considered a fool in this way rather than be thought wise by an opposite conduct.[145]
5th February, 1783.
THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION.
As an evidence of the growing confidence in the eagerness for and capacity of the Negro to become an educated citizen, the handsome bequest of John F. Slater, Esq., for the education of the race stands forth as a conspicuous example. The Negroes of the South have acknowledged this munificent gift with that graceful gratitude so strikingly characteristic of them.
DRAFT OF AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TRUSTEES OF THE JOHN F. SLATER FUND.
Whereas, Messrs. Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio; Morrison R. Waite, of the District of Columbia; William E. Dodge, of New York; Phillips Brooks, of Massachusetts; Daniel C. Gilman, of Maryland; John A. Stewart, of New York; Alfred H. Colquitt, of Georgia; Morris K. Jesup, of New York; James P. Boyce, of Kentucky; and William A. Slater, of Connecticut, have, by their memorial, represented to the Senate and Assembly of this State that a letter has been received by them from John F. Slater, of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut, of which the following is a copy:
To Messrs. Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio; Morrison R. Waite, of the District of Columbia; William E. Dodge, of New York; Phillips Brooks, of Massachusetts; Daniel C. Gilman, of Maryland; John A. Stewart, of New York; Alfred H. Colquitt, of Georgia; Morris K. Jesup, of New York; James P. Boyce, of Kentucky; and William A. Slater, of Connecticut:
Gentlemen.—It has pleased God to grant me prosperity in my business, and to put it into my power to apply to charitable uses a sum of money so considerable as to require the counsel of wise men for the administration of it.
It is my desire at this time to appropriate to such uses the sum of one million of dollars ($1,000,000 00); and I hereby invite you to procure a charter of incorporation under which a charitable fund may be held exempt from taxation, and under which you shall organize; and I intend that the corporation, as soon as formed, shall receive this sum in trust to apply the income of it according to the instructions contained in this letter.
The general object which I desire to have exclusively pursued, is the uplifting of the lately emancipated population of the Southern States, and their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings of Christian education. The disabilities formerly suffered by these people, and their singular patience and fidelity in the great crisis of the nation, establish a just claim on the sympathy and good will of humane and patriotic men. I cannot but feel the compassion that is due in view of their prevailing ignorance which exists by no fault of their own.
But it is not only for their own sake, but also for the safety of our common country, in which they have been invested with equal political rights, that I am desirous to aid in providing them with the means of such education as shall tend to make them good men and good citizens—education in which the instruction of the mind in the common branches of secular learning shall be associated with training in just notions of duty toward God and man, in the light of the Holy Scriptures.
The means to be used in the prosecution of the general object above described, I leave to the discretion of the corporation; only indicating, as lines of operation adapted to the present condition of things, the training of teachers from among the people requiring to be taught, if, in the opinion of the corporation, by such limited selection the purposes of the trust can be best accomplished; and the encouragement of such institutions as are most effectually useful in promoting this training of teachers.
I am well aware that the work herein proposed is nothing new or untried. And it is no small part of my satisfaction in taking this share in it, that I hereby associate myself with some of the noblest enterprises of charity and humanity, and may hope to encourage the prayers and toils of faithful men and women who have labored and are still laboring in this cause.
I wish the corporation which you are invited to constitute, to consist at no time of more than twelve members, nor of less than nine members for a longer time than may be required for the convenient filling of vacancies, which I desire to be filled by the corporation, and, when found practicable, at its next meeting after the vacancy may occur.
I designate as the first President of the corporation the Honorable Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio. I desire that it may have power to provide from the income of the fund, among other things, for expenses incurred by members in the fulfilment of this trust, and for the expenses of such officers and agents as it may appoint, and generally to do all such acts as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this trust. I desire, if it may be, that the corporation may have full liberty to invest its funds according to its own best discretion, without reference to, or restriction by, any laws or rules, legal or equitable, of any nature, regulating the mode of investment of trust funds; only I wish that neither principal nor income be expended in land or buildings, for any other purpose than that of safe and productive investment for income. And I hereby discharge the corporation, and its individual members, so far as it is in my power so to do, of all responsibility, except for the faithful administration of this trust, according to their own honest understanding and best judgment. In particular, also, I wish to relieve them of any pretended claim on the part of any person, party, sect, institution, or locality, to benefactions from this fund, that may be put forward on any ground whatever; as I wish every expenditure to be determined solely by the convictions of the corporation itself as to the most useful disposition of its gifts.
I desire that the doings of the corporation each year be printed and sent to each of the State Libraries in the United States, and to the Library of Congress.
In case the capital of the Fund should become impaired, I desire that a part of the income, not greater than one half, be invested, from year to year, until the capital be restored to its original amount.
I purposely leave to the corporation the largest liberty of making such changes in the methods of applying the income of the Fund as shall seem from time to time best adapted to accomplish the general object herein defined. But being warned by the history of such endowments that they sometimes tend to discourage rather than promote effort and self-reliance on the part of beneficiaries, or to inure to the advancement of learning instead of the dissemination of it; or to become a convenience to the rich instead of a help to those who need help, I solemnly charge my Trustees to use their best wisdom in preventing any such defeat of the spirit of this trust; so that my gift may continue to future generations to be a blessing to the poor.
If at any time after the lapse of thirty-three years from the date of this foundation it shall appear to the judgment of three fourths of the members of this corporation that, by reason of a change in social conditions, or by reason of adequate and equitable public provision for education, or by any other sufficient reason, there is no further serious need of this Fund in the form in which it is at first instituted, I authorize the corporation to apply the capital of the Fund to the establishment of foundations subsidiary to then already existing institutions of higher education, in such wise as to make the educational advantages of such institutions more freely accessible to poor students of the colored race.
It is my wish that this trust be administered in no partisan, sectional, or sectarian spirit, but in the interest of a generous patriotism and an enlightened Christian faith; and that the corporation about to be formed, may continue to be constituted of men distinguished either by honorable success in business, or by services to literature, education, religion, or the State.
I am encouraged to the execution in this charitable foundation of a long-cherished purpose, by the eminent wisdom and success that has marked the conduct of the Peabody Education Fund in a field of operation not remote from that contemplated by this trust. I shall commit it to your hands, deeply conscious how insufficient is our best forecast to provide for the future that is known only to God; but humbly hoping that the administration of it may be so guided by divine wisdom, as to be, in its turn, an encouragement to philanthropic enterprise on the part of others, and an enduring means of good to our beloved country and to our fellow-men.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your friend and fellow-citizen,
Norwich, Conn., March 4, 1882.
And whereas, said memorialists have further represented that they are ready to accept said trust and receive and administer said Fund, provided a charter of incorporation is granted by this State, as indicated in said letter;
Now, therefore, for the purpose of giving full effect to the charitable intentions declared in said letter;
The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Sec. 1. Rutherford B. Hayes, Morrison R. Waite, William E. Dodge, Phillips Brooks, Daniel C. Gilman, John A. Stewart. Alfred H. Colquitt, Morris K. Jesup, James P. Boyce, and William A. Slater, are hereby created a body politic and corporate by the name of The Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, and by that name shall have perpetual succession; said original corporators electing their associates and successors, from time to time, so that the whole number of corporators may be kept at not less than nine nor more than twelve.
Said corporation may hold and manage, invest and re-invest all property which may be given or transferred to it for the charitable purposes indicated in said letter, and shall, in so doing, and in appropriating the income accruing therefrom, conform to and be governed by the directions in said letter contained; and such property and all investments and re-investments thereof, excepting real estate, shall, while owned by said corporation and held for the purposes of said trust, be exempt from taxation of any and every nature.
Sec. 2 Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, shall be the first President of the corporation, and it may elect such other officers and hold such meetings, whether within or without this State, from time to time, as its by-laws may authorize or prescribe.
Sec. 3. Said corporation shall annually file with the Librarian of this State a printed report of its doings during the preceding year.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
COLORED EMPLOYÉS IN WASHINGTON.
There are six hundred and twenty persons of color employed in the different departments of the Government at Washington, D. C., distributed as follows:
| War Department | 44 |
| Treasury Department | 342 |
| Department of Justice | 7 |
| Department of State | 20 |
| Navy Department | 40 |
| Department of the Interior | 106 men, 7 women |
| Post-Office Department | 54 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 620 |
NEWSPAPERS CONDUCTED BY COLORED MEN.
Alabama.
Mobile.-The Mobile Gazette; Phillip Joseph, Editor; $2.00 per year; office No. 36 Conti Street.
Huntsville.-Huntsville Gazette;——, Editor; $1.50 per year; Saturdays.
Arkansas.
Helena.-Golden Epoch; H. W. Stewart. Little Rock.—Arkansas Mansion; Henry Simkens, Editor; $1.50 a year.
California.
San Francisco.—The Elevator, Phillip A. Bell, Editor.
District of Columbia
Washington City.—People's Advocate, established in 1876; J. W. Cromwell, Editor; C. A. Lemar, Manager; $1.50 a year.
Washington City.—The Bee; W. C. Chase, Editor; C. C. Stewart, Business Manager; $2.00 per year; Saturdays; office, No. 1107 I Street, N. W.
Florida
Pensacola.—The Journal of Progress; Matthews & Davidson, Editors and Proprietors; $2.00; Saturdays.
Key West.—Key West News; J. Willis Menard, Editor; weekly; five columns; price, $1.50 per annum.
Georgia
Atlanta.—Weekly Defiance; W. H. Burnett, Editor.
Augusta.—The People's Defense; Smith, Nelson, & Co., Proprietors.
Augusta.—Georgia Baptist; Wm. J. White, Editor; $2.00 per year; office, No. 633 Ellis Street.
Savannah.—Savannah Echo; Hardin Bros. & Griffin, Proprietors; $2.00; Saturdays.
Illinois
Chicago.—The Conservator; Barnett, Clark, & Co., Editors and Proprietors; $2.00 per year; Saturdays; 194 Clark Street.
Cairo.—The Three States; M. Gladding, Publisher; Saturdays; $1.50 per year; 190 Commercial Avenue.
Cairo.—The Cairo Gazette; J. J. Bird, Editor; Wednesdays and Saturdays; $2.50 per year.
Kansas
Topeka.—Topeka Tribune; E. H. White.
Kentucky
Louisville.—The Bulletin; Adams Brothers; $2.00 per year; Saturdays; 562 West Jefferson Street.
Louisville.—The American Baptist; Wm. H. Stewart.
Louisville.—Ohio Falls Express; Dr. H. Fitzbutler, Editor; $1.50 per year; Saturdays.
Bowling Green.—Bowling Green Watchman; C. C. Strumm, Editor; C. R. McDowell, Manager; Saturdays; $1.50 per year.
Louisiana
New Orleans.—Observer; Saturdays; republican; four pages; size, 22 x 32; subscription, $2.00; established, 1878; G. T. Ruby, Editor and Publisher.
Massachusetts
Boston.—The Boston Leader; Howard L. Smith, Editor; $1.50 per year; office, No. 8 Boylston Street. Room 9.
Mississippi
Verona.—The Banner of Liberty; J. B, Wilkins, Editor; $1.50 per year.
Greenville.—The Baptist Signal; Rev. G. W. Gayles, Editor; $1.00 per year.
Jackson.—People's Adviser.
Jackson.—Mississippi Republican; Preston Hay, Editor; $1.00; Saturdays.
Mayersville.—Mayersville Spectator; W. E. Mollison, Editor; D. T. Williamson, Publisher; $1.50 per year; Saturdays.
Missouri
St. Louis.—Tribune; Sundays; republican; eight pages; size, 26 x 40; subscription, $2.00; established, 1876; J. W. Wilson, Editor and Publisher; circulation, I.
Kansas City.—The Kansas City Enterprise; D. V. A. Nero; published every Wednesday and Saturday; $2.00 per year; office, No. 537 Main Street, Room No. 2.
New Jersey
Trenton.—The Sentinel; R. Henri Herbert, Editor; Saturdays; $1.25 per year; No. 4 North Green Street.
New York
New York City.—Progressive American; Thursdays; four pages; size, 22 x 31; subscription, $2.00; established, 1871; John J. Freeman, Editor; George A. Washington, Publisher; circulation, J.; office, 125 W. 25th Street.
New York City.—New York Globe; Geo. Parker & Co.; T. Thos. Fortune, Editor; office, No. 4 Cedar Street, Room 15.
Brooklyn.—The National Monitor; R. Rufus L. Perry, D.D.
North Carolina
Goldsborough.—The Carolina Enterprise; E. E. Smith, Editor; $1.00 per year; Saturday.
Charlotte.—Charlotte Messenger; W. H. Smith, Editor; $1.50 per year.
Wilson.—The Wilson News; Ward, Moore, & Hill, Editors; $1.50 a year.
Raleigh.—Raleigh Banner; J. H. Williams.
Wilmington.—Africo-American Presbyterian; D. J. Sanders.
Ohio
Cincinnati.—The Afro-American; Clark, Johnson, and Jackson, Editors and Proprietors; $1.50 per year; Saturdays; office, 172 Central Avenue.
Cincinnati.—The Weekly Review; Review Publishing Co.; Chas. W. Bell, Editor; $1.50 per year.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia.—Christian Recorder; Thursdays; Methodist; four pages; size, 28 x 42; subscription, $2.00; established, 1862; Rev. Benj. T. Tanner, D.D., Editor; Rev. Theo. Gould, Publisher; circulation, G; office, 631 Pine Street.
South Carolina
Charleston.—The New Era; Wm. Holloway, Business Manager; $1.50 per year; Saturdays; democratic; 196 Meeting Street.
Charleston.—The Palmetto Press; Robert L. Smith, Editor; $1.50 per year; Saturdays.
Tennessee
Nashville.—Knights of Wise Men; J. L. Brown, Editor; office. No. 5 Cherry Street.
Chattanooga.—The Enterprise; Rev. D. W. Hays.
Texas
Austin.—The Austin Citizen; J. J. Hamilton & Co.
Dallas.—The Baptist Journal; S. H. Smothers, Editor; A. R. Greggs, Publisher.
Dallas.—Christian Preacher; C. M. Wilmeth.
Marshall.—The Christian Advocate; M. F. Jamison.
Galveston.—Spectator; Richard Nelson, Editor; $1.50 per year.
Palestine.—Colored American Journal; monthly; C. W. Porter, Editor.
Virginia
Richmond.—Virginia Star; Saturdays; four pages; size, 20 x 26; subscription, $2.00; established, 1876; R. M. Green, M.D., O. M. Stewart, and P. H. Woolfolk, Editors and Publishers; circulation, K.
Richmond.—Industrial Herald; John Oliver, Editor; $1.00 per year.
Petersburgh.—The Lancet; Geo. F. Bragg, Jr., Manager; $1.50 per year; Saturdays.
West Virginia
Wheeling.—The Weekly Times; Welcome, Buckner, & Co., Publishers; Geo. W. Welcome, Editor; 8 pages; $1.00 per annum.
NEGROES IN NORTHERN COLLEGES.
In response to a circular sent out, seventy Northern Colleges sent information; and in them are at present one hundred and sixty-nine Colored students. The exact number of graduates cannot be ascertained, as these colleges do not keep a record of the nationality of their students.
FOOTNOTES:
[145] Correspondence of American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 547.
CHAPTER XXIII.
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET, D.D.
The career of this man, who died at Monrovia, Liberia, Feb. 14, 1882, where he was the Minister of the United States, was extraordinary. Grandson of a native African, brought over in a slave-trader, himself born a slave, he was brought to Pennsylvania by his father, when he fled from slavery in 1824. Next we find him, at the age of seventeen, ridiculed for studying Greek and Latin; then mobbed in a New Hampshire seminary; then dragged from a street car in Utica; then studying theology with Dr. Beman in Troy, N. Y. Soon he was settled as a minister; afterward he travelled in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe, and was sent by a Scottish Society as Presbyterian missionary to Jamaica, West Indies. He returned to New York, and was long the pastor of the Shiloh Presbyterian Church; his house escaping the riots in 1863 "by the foresight of his daughter, who wrenched off the door plate." He was the first Colored man who ever spoke in public in the Capitol at Washington, having preached there Sunday, Feb. 12, 1865. In 1881 he was appointed Minister to Liberia. Dr. Garnet was equal in ability to Frederick Douglass, and greatly his superior in learning, especially excelling in logic and terse statement. We heard him make a speech in 1865, which in force of reasoning, purity of language, and propriety of utterance, was not unworthy of comparison with a sermon of Bishop Thomson, or an address of George William Curtis. As he was "a full-blooded Negro," he was a standing and unanswerable proof that the race is capable of all that has distinguished MAN. How much of history and progress could be crowded in a memorial inscription for him! It might be something like this: Born a slave in the country to which his grandfather was stolen away, he competed, under the greatest disadvantages, with white men for the prizes of life; attaining the highest intellectual culture, and a corresponding moral elevation, his career commanded universal respect in Europe and America, wherever he was known. He died the Minister of the United States to a civilized nation in the land whence his barbaric ancestors were stolen. To God, who "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts xvii: 26), be the glory. "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
EBENEZER D. BASSETT.
One of the ablest diplomats the Negro race has produced is the Honorable Ebenezer D. Bassett, for nearly nine years the Resident Minister and Consul-General from the United States to Hayti. He was born and educated in the State of Connecticut, and for many years was the successful Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a classical scholar and for proficiency in the use of modern languages he has few equals among his race.
Returning to this country, after years of honorable service abroad, he was promoted by the Haytian Government to the position of Consul at New York City, and at present is serving the Republic of Hayti. As an evidence of the high esteem in which he was held as an officer the following documents attest:
(COPY.)
Department of State, }
Washington, October 5, 1877. }Ebenezer D. Bassett, Esquire, etc., etc., etc.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 529, of the 23d August last, tendering your resignation of the office of Minister Resident and Consul-General of the United States to Hayti, and to inform you that it is accepted.
I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without expressing to you the appreciation of the Department of the very satisfactory manner in which you have discharged the duties of the mission at Port au Prince during your term of office. This commendation of your services is the more especially merited, because at various times your duties have been of such a delicate nature as to have required the exercise of much tact and discretion.
I enclose herewith a letter addressed by the President of the United States to the President of Hayti, announcing your retirement from the mission at Port au Prince, together with an office copy of the same. You will transmit the latter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and make arrangements for the delivery of the original to the President when your successor shall present his credentials.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(TRANSLATION.)
Boisrond Canal, President of the Republic of Hayti,
To His Excellency the President of the United States of America.
Great and Good Friend: Mr. Ebenezer D. Bassett, who has resided here in the capacity of Minister of the United States, has placed in my hands the letter by which your Excellency has brought his mission to an end.
In taking leave of me in conformity with the wishes of your Excellency, he has renewed the assurance of the friendly sentiments which so happily exist on the part of the Government and the people of the United States toward the Government and the people of the Republic of Hayti.
I have not failed to request him to transmit to your Excellency, the expression of my great desire to maintain always the relations of the two Countries upon the footing of that cordial understanding.
It is for me a pleasing duty to acknowledge fully to your Excellency, the zeal and the intelligence with which Mr. Bassett has fulfilled here the high and delicate functions that had been entrusted to him.
I have, therefore, been happy to be able to testify to him publicly before his departure, in the name of my fellow-citizens, the esteem and sincere affection which his talents, his character, his private and public conduct have won for him, as well as the particular sentiments of friendship and gratitude I personally entertain for him.
I pray God that He may have your Excellency always in His Holy keeping.
Given at the National Palace of Port au Prince, the 29th day of November, 1877.
Your Good Friend,
Countersigned.
(Signed.) F. Carrie, Secretary of State.
COLORED SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Hiram R. Revels, United States Senator from Mississippi, was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, September 1, 1822; desiring to obtain an education, which was denied in his native State to those of African descent, he removed to Indiana; spent some time at the Quaker Seminary in Union County; entered the Methodist ministry; afterward received further instructions at the Clarke County Seminary, when he became preacher, teacher, and lecturer among his people in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri; at the breaking out of the war, he was ministering at Baltimore; he assisted in the organization of the first two Colored regiments in Maryland and Missouri; during a portion of 1863 and 1864 he taught school in St. Louis, then went to Vicksburg, and assisted the provost marshal in managing the freedmen affairs; followed on the heels of the army to Jackson; organized churches, and lectured; spent the next two years in Kansas and Missouri in preaching and lecturing on moral and religious subjects; returned to Mississippi, and settled at Natchez; was chosen presiding elder of the Methodist Church, and a member of the city council; was elected a United States Senator from Mississippi as a Republican, serving from February 25, 1870, to March 3, 1871; was pastor of a Methodist Episcopal church at Holly Springs, Mississippi; removed to Indiana, where he was pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at Richmond.
Blanche K. Bruce, United States Senator from Mississippi, was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, March 1, 1841; as his parents were slaves, he received a limited education; became a planter in Mississippi in 1869; was a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and sheriff and tax-collector of Bolivar County from 1872 until his election to the United States Senate from Mississippi, February 3, 1875, as a Republican, to succeed Henry R. Pease, Republican, and took his seat March 4, 1875. His term of service expired March 3, 1881.
UNITED STATES CONGRESSMEN.
Richard H. Cain was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, April 12, 1825. His father removed to Ohio in 1831, and settled in Gallipolis. He had no education, except such as was afforded in Sabbath-school, until after his marriage; entered the ministry at an early age; became a student at Wilberforce University at Xenia, Ohio, in 1860, and remained there for one year; removed, at the breaking out of the war, to Brooklyn, New York, where he was a pastor for four years; was sent by his Church as a missionary to the freedmen in South Carolina; was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina; was elected a member of the State Senate from Charleston, and served two years; took charge of a republican newspaper in 1868; was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving 66,825 votes against 26,394 for Lewis E. Johnson, and was again elected to the Forty-fifth Congress as a Republican, receiving 21,385 votes against 16,074 votes for M. P. O'Connor, Democrat.
Robert C. De Large was born at Aiken, South Carolina, March 15, 1842; received such an education as was then attainable; was a farmer; was an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau from May, 1867, to April, 1868, when he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention; was a member of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature in 1868, 1869, and 1870; was one of the State Commissioners of the Sinking Fund; was elected in 1870 State Land Commissioner, and served until he was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, receiving 16,686 votes, against 15,700 votes for C. C. Bowen, Independent Republican; was appointed a trial justice, which office he held when he died at Charlestown, South Carolina, February 15, 1874.
Robert Brown Elliott was born at Boston, Massachusetts, August 11, 1842; received his primary education at private schools; in 1853 entered High Holborn Academy in London, England; in 1855 entered Eton College, England, and graduated in 1859; studied law, and practises his profession; was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of South Carolina in 1868; was a member of the House of Representatives of South Carolina from July 6, 1868, to October 23, 1870; was appointed on the 25th of March, 1869, assistant adjutant-general, which position he held until he was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, receiving 20,564 votes against 13,997 votes for J. E. Bacon, Democrat, serving from March 4, 1871, to 1873, when he resigned; and was re-elected to the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving 21,627 votes against 1,094 votes for W. H. McCan, Democrat, serving from December 1, 1873, to May, 1874, when he resigned, having been elected sheriff.
Jere Haralson was born in Muscogee County, Georgia, April 1, 1846, the slave property of John Walker; after Walker's death, was sold on the auction-block in the city of Columbus, and bought by J. W. Thompson, after whose death he became the property of J. Haralson, of Selma, and so remained until emancipated in 1865; received no education until after he was free, when he instructed himself; was elected to the State House of Representatives of Alabama in 1870; was elected to the State Senate of Alabama in 1872; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Forty-fourth Congress as a Republican, receiving 19,551 votes against 16,953 votes for F. G. Bromberg, Democrat, serving from December 6, 1875, to March 3, 1877; was defeated by the Republican candidate for the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 8,675 votes against 9,685 votes for Charles L. Shelley, Democrat, and 7,236 votes for James T. Rapier, Republican.
John R. Lynch was born in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, September 10, 1847, a slave; and he remained in slavery until emancipated by the results of the Rebellion, receiving no early education; a purchaser of his mother carried her with her children to Natchez, where, when the Union troops took possession, he attended evening school for a few months, and he has since by private study acquired a good English education; he engaged in the business of photography at Natchez until 1869, when Governor Ames appointed him a justice of the peace; he was elected a member of the State Legislature from Adams County, and re-elected in 1871, serving the last term as Speaker of the House; was elected a representative from Mississippi in the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving 15,391 votes against 8,430 votes for H. Cassidy, Sr., Democrat; and was re-elected to the Forty-fourth Congress as a Republican (defeating Roderick Seals, Democrat), serving from December 1, 1873, to March 3, 1877.
Charles E. Nash was born at Opelousas, Louisiana; received a common-school education at New Orleans; was a bricklayer by trade; enlisted as private in the Eighty-third Regiment, United States Chasseurs d'Afrique, April 20, 1863, and was promoted until he became acting sergeant-major of the regiment; lost a leg at the storming of Fort Blakely, and was honorably discharged from the army May 30, 1865; was elected a representative from Louisiana in the Forty-fourth Congress as a Republican, receiving 13,156 votes against 12,085 votes for Joseph M. Moore, Democrat, serving from December 6, 1875, to March 3, 1877; was defeated as the Republican candidate for the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 11,147 votes against 15,520 votes for Edward White Robertson, Democrat.
Joseph H. Rainey was born at Georgetown, South Carolina (where both of his parents were slaves, but, by their industry, obtained their freedom), June 21, 1832; although debarred by law from attending school he acquired a good education, and further improved his mind by observation and travel; his father was a barber, and he followed that occupation at Charlestown till 1862, when, having been forced to work on the fortifications of the Confederates, he escaped to the West Indies, where he remained until the close of the war, when he returned to his native town; he was elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868, and was a member of the State Senate of South Carolina in 1870, resigning when elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-first Congress as a Republican (to fill the vacancy caused by the non-reception of B. F. Whittemore), by a majority of 17,193 votes over Dudley, Conservative; was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress, receiving 20,221 votes against 11,628 votes for C. W. Dudley, Democrat; was re-elected to the Forty-third Congress, receiving 19,765 votes, being all that were cast; was re-elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, receiving 14,370 votes against 13,563 votes for Samuel Lee, Republican; was re-elected to the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 18,180 votes against 16,661 votes for J. S. Richardson, Democrat, serving from March 4, 1869.
Alonzo J. Ransier was born at Charlestown, South Carolina, in January, 1834; was self-educated; was employed as shipping-clerk in 1850 by a leading merchant, who was tried for violation of law in "hiring a Colored clerk," and fined one cent with costs; was one of the foremost in the works of reconstruction in 1865; was a member of a convention of the friends of equal rights in October, 1865, at Charlestown, and was deputed to present the memorial there framed to Congress; was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1868; was elected a member of the House of Representatives in the State Legislature in 1869; was chosen chairman of the State Republican Central Committee, which position he held until 1872; was elected a presidential elector on the Grant and Colfax ticket in 1868; was elected lieutenant-governor of South Carolina in 1870 by a large majority; was president of the Southern States Convention at Columbia in 1871; was chosen a delegate to, and was a vice-president of, the Philadelphia Convention which nominated Grant and Wilson in 1872; and was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving 20,061 votes against 6,549 votes for W. Gurney, Independent Republican, serving from December 1, 1873, to March 3, 1875.
James T. Rapier was born in Florence, Alabama, in 1840; was educated in Canada; is a planter; was appointed a notary public by the governor of Alabama in 1866; was a member of the first Republican Convention held in Alabama, and was one of the committee that framed the platform of the party; represented Lauderdale County in the Constitutional Convention held at Montgomery in 1867; was nominated for secretary of State in 1870, but defeated with the rest of the ticket; was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the second collection-district of Alabama in 1871; was appointed State commissioner to the Vienna Exposition in. 1873 by the governor of Alabama; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving 19,100 votes against 16,000 votes for C. W. Oates, Democrat, serving from December 1, 1873, to March 3, 1875; and was defeated as the Republican candidate for the Forty-fourth Congress, receiving 19,124 votes against 20,180 votes for Jeremiah N. Williams, Democrat.
Robert Smalls was born at Beaufort, South Carolina, April 5, 1839; being a slave, was debarred by statute from attending school, but educated himself with such limited advantages as he could secure; removed to Charlestown in 1851; worked as a rigger, and led a seafaring life; became connected in 1861 with "The Planter," a steamer plying in Charlestown harbor as a transport, which he took over Charlestown Bar in May, 1862, and delivered her and his services to the commander of the United States blockading squadron; was appointed pilot in the United States navy, and served in that capacity on the monitor "Keokuk" in the attack on Fort Sumter; served as pilot in the quartermaster's department, and was promoted as captain for gallant and meritorious conduct December 1, 1863, and placed in command of "The Planter," serving until she was put out of commission in 1866; was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1868; was elected a member of the State House of Representatives in 1868, and of the State Senate (to fill a vacancy) in 1870, and re-elected in 1872; and was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-fourth Congress as a Republican, receiving 17,752 votes against 4,461 votes for J. P. M. Epping, Republican; and was re-elected to the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 19,954 votes against 18,516 votes for G. D. Tillman, Democrat, serving from December, 6, 1875, to March 3, 1877; and is now a member.
Josiah T. Walls was born at Winchester, Virginia, December 30, 1842; received a common-school education; was a planter; was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1868; was elected a member of the State House of Representatives in 1868; was elected to the State Senate 1869-1872; claimed to have been elected a representative from the State-at-large to the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, but the election was contested by his competitor, Silas L. Niblack, who took the seat January 29, 1873; was re-elected for the State-at-large, receiving 17,503 votes against 15,881 votes for Niblack, Democrat; and was re-elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, receiving 8,549 votes against 8,178 votes for Jesse J. Finley, Democrat.
Benj. Sterling Turner was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, March 17, 1825; was raised as a slave, and received no early education, because the laws of that State made it criminal to educate slaves; removed to Alabama in 1830, and, by clandestine study, obtained a fair education; became a dealer in general merchandise; was elected tax-collector of Dallas County in 1867, and councilman of the city of Selma in 1869; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, receiving 18,226 votes against 13,466 votes for S. J. Cumming, Democrat, serving from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873; was defeated as the Republican candidate for the Forty-third Congress, receiving 13,174 votes against 15,607 votes for F. G. Bromberg, Democrat and Liberal and 7,024 votes for P. Joseph, Republican.
Jefferson F. Long, Macon, Georgia. Took his seat Feb. 24, 1871.
BUREAU OFFICER.
Honorable Blanche K. Bruce, Register of the United States Treasury; appointed by President James A. Garfield, 1881.
NEGROES IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
Hayti.—E. D. Bassett, Pennsylvania, 1869-77.
Hayti.—John M. Langston, District of Columbia, Minister Resident and Consul-General to Hayti, 1877.
Liberia.—J. Milton Turner, Missouri.
Liberia.—John H. Smyth, North Carolina. Reappointed in 1882.
Liberia.—Henry Highland Garnet, New York, Minister Resident and Consul-General to Liberia.
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS.
The following Colored men were Lieutenant-Governors during the years of reconstruction. At the head of them all for bravery, intelligence, and executive ability stands Governor Pinchback. One of the first men of his race to enter the army in 1862 as captain, when the conflict was over and his race free, he was the first Colored man in Louisiana to enter into the work of reconstruction. He has been and is a power in his State. He is true to his friends, but a terror to his enemies. A sketch of his life would read like a romance.