1. Aptitude for drill.2. Capacity for marching.3. Endurance of fatigue and hunger.4. Powers of digestion and assimilation.5. Immunity from or liability to disabling diseases.
1. Aptitude for drill.2. Capacity for marching.3. Endurance of fatigue and hunger.4. Powers of digestion and assimilation.5. Immunity from or liability to disabling diseases.
1. Aptitude for drill.2. Capacity for marching.3. Endurance of fatigue and hunger.4. Powers of digestion and assimilation.5. Immunity from or liability to disabling diseases.
1. Aptitude for drill.
2. Capacity for marching.
3. Endurance of fatigue and hunger.
4. Powers of digestion and assimilation.
5. Immunity from or liability to disabling diseases.
All of which points are treated with great detail, and summed up as follows:
“For the purposes of the soldier he has all the physical characteristics required, his temperament adapts him to camp life, and his morale conduces to discipline. He is also brave and steady in action. In all subsequent wars the country will rely largely upon its Negro population as a part of its military power.”
Under the act of Congress passed July 12, 1862, the President of the United States was authorized to have prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, Medals of Honor to be presented in the name of the Congress to such soldiers as should most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldierly qualities. So chary has the Government been in their issue that the award has not reached two thousand among the three millions of volunteers and regulars in the Army and Navy. So that these medals are more rare than the “Victoria Cross” of England, the “Iron Cross” of Germany, or the “Cross of the Legion of Honor” of France.
I copy the list of those issued to Negro soldiers as they stand upon the records, that is, in the numerical order of the regiments to which the recipients belonged. It will be therefore understood that this order does not indicate priority of time or degree of excellence.
After each war, of 1776, of 1812, and of 1861, history repeats itself in the absolute effacement of remembrance of the gallant deeds done for the country by its brave black defenders and in their relegation to outer darkness.
History further repeats itself in the fact that in every war so far known to this country, the first blood, and, in some cases, the last also, has been shed by the faithful Negro, and this in spite of all the years of bondage and oppression, and of wrongs unspeakable. Under the sun there has nothing been known in the history of any people more marvellous than these facts!
Oh, to the living few,Comrades, be just, be true.Hail them as heroes tried,Fight with them side by side;Never in field or tent,Scorn the Black Regiment.
Oh, to the living few,Comrades, be just, be true.Hail them as heroes tried,Fight with them side by side;Never in field or tent,Scorn the Black Regiment.
Oh, to the living few,Comrades, be just, be true.Hail them as heroes tried,Fight with them side by side;Never in field or tent,Scorn the Black Regiment.
Oh, to the living few,
Comrades, be just, be true.
Hail them as heroes tried,
Fight with them side by side;
Never in field or tent,
Scorn the Black Regiment.
It is but a little thing to ask, they could ask no less:be just; but, oh, the shame of it for those who need be asked!
There is no need for panegyric, for sounding phrases or rounded periods. The simple story is eloquent with all that is necessary to make the heart swell with pride. In the hour allotted me to fill, it is possible only to indicate in skeleton the worth of the Negro as a soldier. If this brief sketch should awaken even a few to interest in his achievements, and one be found willing and fitted to write the history that is their due, that writer shall achieve immortality.
Transcriber’s Notes:Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.Typographical errors were silently corrected.Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book.