In the year 1834, mob law was inaugurated in the free states, which extended into the years 1835-6 and 7.
The mobbing of the friends of freedom commenced in Boston, in October, 1835, with an attack upon William Lloyd Garrison, and the ladies’ Anti-slavery Society. This mob, made up as it was by “Gentlemen of property and standing,” and from whom Mr. Garrison had to be taken to prison to save his life, has become disgracefully historical.
The Boston mob was followed by one at Utica, New York, headed by Judge Beardsley, who broke up a meeting of the New York State Anti-slavery Society. Arthur Tappan’s store was attacked by a mob in New York City, and his property destroyed, to the value of thirty thousand dollars. The Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a brave man of the State of Maine, had located at St. Louis, where he took the editorial charge of “The St. Louis Times,” and in its columns nobly pleaded for justice to the enslaved negro. The writer of this was for a period of six months employed in the office of “The Times,” and knew Mr. Lovejoy well.Driven from St. Louis by mob law, he removed to Alton, Illinois. Here the spirit of slavery followed him, broke up his printing-press, threw it into the river, and murdered the heroic advocate of free speech.
Thus this good man died; but his death raised up new and strong friends for the oppressed. Wendell Phillips visited the grave of the martyr recently, and gave the following description of his burial-place:—
“Lovejoy lies buried now in the city cemetery, on a beautiful knoll. Near by rolls the great river. His resting-place is marked by an oblong stone, perhaps thirty inches by twenty, and rising a foot above the ground; on this rests a marble scroll bearing this inscription:
HicJacetLovejoy.Jam parce sepulto.[Here lies Lovejoy, Spare him, now, in his grave.]”
A more marked testimonial would not, probably, have been safe from insult and disfigurement, previous to 1864. He fought his fight so far in the van, so much in the hottest of the battle, that not till after nigh thirty years and the final victory could even his dust be sure of quiet.
In the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Albany, Utica, and many other places in the free states, the colored people were hunted down like wild beasts, and their property taken from them or destroyed.
In the two first-named places, the churches and dwellings of these unoffending citizens were set onfire in open day, and burnt to ashes without any effort on the part of the authorities to prevent it.
Even the wives and children of the colored men were stoned in the streets, and the school-houses sought out, their inmates driven away, and many of the children with their parents had to flee to the country for safety.
Such was the feeling of hate brought out in the North by the influence of slavery at the South.
During this reign of terror among the colored people in the free states, their brethren in slavery were also suffering martyrdom. Free blacks were arrested, thrown into jail, scourged in their own houses, and if they made the slightest resistance, were shot down, hung at a lamp-post, or even burnt at the stake.
In the month of August, 1839, there appeared in the newspapers a shocking story:—that a schooner, going coastwise from Havana to Neuvitas, in the Island of Cuba, early in July, with about twenty white passengers, and a large number of slaves, had been seized by the slaves in the night time, and the passengers and crew all murdered except two, who made their escape to land in an open boat. About the 20th of the same month, a strange craft was seen repeatedly on our coast, which was believed to be the captured Spanish coaster, in the possession of the negroes. She was spoken by several pilot-boats and other vessels, and partially supplied with water, of which she was very much in want. It was also said that the blacks appeared to have a great deal of money. The custom-house department and the officers of the navy were instantly aroused to go in pursuit of the “pirates,” as the unknown possessors of the schooner were spontaneously called. The United States steamer Fulton, and several revenue cutters were dispatched, and notice given to the collectors at the various seaports.
On the 10th of August, the “mysterious schooner” was near the shore at Culloden Point, on the east end of Long Island, where a part of the crew came on shore for water and fresh provisions, for which they paid with undiscriminating profuseness. Here they were met by Captain Green and another gentleman, who stated that they had in their possession a large box filled with gold. Shortly after, on the 26th, the vessel was espied by Captain Gedney, U. S. N., in command of the brig Washington, employed on the coast survey, who despatched an officer to board her. The officer found a large number of negroes, and two Spaniards, Pedro Montez and José Ruiz, one of whom immediately announced himself as the owner of the negroes, and claimed his protection. The schooner was thereupon taken possession of by Captain Gedney.
The leader of the blacks was pointed out by the Spaniards, and his name given as Joseph Cinque. He was a native of Africa, and one of the finest specimens of his race ever seen in this country. As soon as he saw that the vessel was in the hands of others, and all hope of his taking himself and countrymen back to their home land at an end, he leaped overboard with the agility of an antelope. The small boat was immediately sent after him, and for two hours did the sailors strive to capture him before they succeeded. Cinque swam and dived like an otter, first upon his back, then upon his breast, sometimes his head out of water, and sometimes his heels out. His countrymen on board the captured schooner seemed much amused at the chase, for they knew Cinque well, and felt proud of the untameableness of his nature. After baffling them for a time, he swam towards thevessel, was taken on board, and secured with the rest of the blacks, and they were taken into New London, Connecticut.
The schooner proved to be the Amistad, Captain Ramon Ferrer, from Havana, bound to Principe, about one hundred leagues distant, with fifty-four negroes held as slaves, and two passengers. The Spaniards said, that after being out four days, the negroes rose in the night and killed the captain and a mulatto cook; that the helmsman and another sailor took to the boat and went on shore; that the only two whites remaining were the said passengers, Montez and Ruiz, who were confined below until morning; that Montez the elder, who had been a sea-captain, was required to steer the ship for Africa; that he steered easterly in the day-time, because the negroes could tell his course by the sun, but put the vessel about in the night. They boxed about some days in the Bahama Channel, and were several times near the Islands, but the negroes would not allow her to enter any port. Once they were near Long Island, but then put out to sea again, the Spaniards all the while hoping they might fall in with some ship of war that would rescue them from their awkward situation. One of the Spaniards testified that when the rising took place, he was awaked by the noise, and that he heard the captain order the cabin boy to get some bread and throw it to the negroes, in hope to pacify them. Cinque, however, the leader of the revolt, leaped on deck, seized a capstan bar, and attacked the captain, whom he killed at a single blow, and took charge of the vessel; his authority being acknowledged by his companions, who knew him as a prince in his native land.
After a long litigation in the courts, the slaves were liberated and sent back to their native land.
In the following year, 1840, the brig Creole, laden with slaves, sailed from Richmond, bound for New Orleans; the slaves mutinied, took the vessel, and carried her into the British West Indies, and thereby became free. The hero on this occasion was Madison Washington.
The resolute and determined purpose of the Southerners to make the institution of slavery national, and the equally powerful growing public sentiment at the North to make freedom universal, showed plainly that the nation was fast approaching a crisis on this absorbing question. In Congress, men were compelled to take either the one or the other side, and the debates became more fiery, as the subject progressed.
John P. Hale led in the Senate, while Joshua R. Giddings was the acknowledged leader in the House of Representatives in behalf of freedom. On the part of slavery, the leadership in the Senate lay between Foot of Mississippi, and McDuffie of South Carolina; while Henry A. Wise, followed by a ravenous pack watched over the interest of the “peculiar institution” in the House.
The early adoption of the famous “Gag Law,” whereby all petitions on the subject of slavery were to be “tabled” without discussion, instead of helping the Southern cause, brought its abettors into contempt.In the House, Mr. Giddings was censured for offering resolutions in regard to the capture of the brig Creole.
Mr. Giddings resigned, went home, was at once re-elected, and returned to Congress to renew the contest. An attempt to expel John Quincy Adams, for presenting a petition from a number of persons held in slavery, was a failure, and from which the friends of the negro took fresh courage.
In the South, the Legislatures were enacting laws abridging the freedom of speech and of the press, and making it more difficult for Northerners to travel in the slave states. Rev. Charles T. Torry was in the Maryland Penitentiary for aiding slaves to escape, and Jonathan Walker had been branded with a red-hot iron, and sent home for the same offence. The free colored people of the South were being persecuted in a manner hitherto unknown in that section. Amid all these scenes, there was a moral contest going on at the North. The Garrison abolitionists, whose head-quarters were in Boston, were at work with a zeal which has scarcely ever been equalled by any association of men and women.
“The Liberator,” Mr. Garrison’s own paper, led the vanguard; while the “National Anti-slavery Standard,” edited at times by Oliver Johnson, Lydia Maria Child, David Lee Child, and Sydney Howard Gay, gave no uncertain sound on the slavery question.
The ladies connected with this society, headed by Maria Weston Chapman, held an annual fair, and raised funds for the prosecution of the work of changing public sentiment, and otherwise aiding the anti-slavery movement. Lecturing agents were kept in the field the year round, or as far as their means would permit.A few clergymen had already taken ground against the blood-stained sin, and were singled out by both pulpit and press, as marks for their poisoned arrows. The ablest and most ultra of these, was Theodore Parker, the singularly gifted and truly eloquent preacher of the 28th Congregational Society of Boston. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, though younger and later in the cause, was equally true, and was amongst the first to invite anti-slavery lecturers to his pulpit. The writer of this, a negro, at his invitation occupied his desk at Newburyport, when it cost something to be an abolitionist.
Brave men of other denominations, in different sections of the country, were fast taking their stand with the friends of the slave.
The battle in Congress was raging hotter and hotter. The Florida war, the admission of Texas, and the war against Mexico, had given the slaveholders a bold front, and they wielded the political lash without the least mercy or discretion upon all who offended them. Greater protection for slave property in the free states was demanded by those who saw their human chattels escaping.
The law of 1793, for the recapture of fugitive slaves, was now insufficient for the great change in public opinion, and another code was asked for by the South. On the 18th of September, 1850, the Fugitive Slave Bill was passed, and became the law of the land.
This was justly condemned by good men of all countries, as the most atrocious enactment ever passed by any legislative body. The four hundred thousand free colored residents in the non slave-holding states,were liable at any time to be seized under this law and carried into servitude.
Intense excitement was created in every section of the free states where any considerable number of colored persons resided. In Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, where there were many fugitives and descendants of former slaves, the feeling rose to fever-heat. Every railroad leading toward Canada was thronged with blacks fleeing for safety. In one town in the State of New York, every member of a Methodist Church, eighty-two in number, including the pastor, fled to Canada.
The passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill was a sad event to the colored citizens of this State. At that time there were eight thousand nine hundred and seventy-five persons of color in Massachusetts. In thirty-six hours after the passage of the bill was known here, five and thirty colored persons applied to a well-known philanthropist in this city for counsel. Before sixty hours passed by, more than forty had fled. The laws of Massachusetts could not be trusted to shelter her own children; they must flee to Canada.[52]
Numbers of these fugitives had escaped many years before, had married free partners, had acquired property, and had comfortable homes; these were broken up and their members scattered. Soon after the law went into force, the kidnappers made their appearance in Boston.
The fact that men-stealers were prowling about the streets, through which, eighty years before, the enemies of liberty had been chased, caused no littlesensation amongst all classes, and when it was understood that William Craft and his beautiful quadroon wife were the intended victims, the excitement increased fearfully. These two persons had escaped from Macon, in the State of Georgia, a year and a half before. The man was of unmixed negro, the woman, nearly white. Their mode of escape was novel. The wife, attired as a gentleman, attended by her husband as a slave, took the train for the North, and arrived in Philadelphia, after a journey of two days; part of which was made on steamboats. The writer was in the Quaker City at the time of their arrival, and was among the first to greet them. Many exciting incidents occurred during the passage to the land of freedom, which gave considerable notoriety to the particular case of the Crafts, and the slave-catchers were soon marked men.
After many fruitless attempts to have the fugitives arrested, Hughs and his companions returned to the South; while Craft and his wife fled to England.
Boston was not alone in her commotion; Daniel had been arrested at Buffalo, and taken before Henry K. Smith, a drunken commissioner, and remanded to his claimant; Hamlet was captured by the kidnappers in New York City, and Jerry was making his name famous by his arrest at Syracuse, in the same state.
The telegrams announcing these events filled the hearts of the blacks with sad emotions, and told the slave-holders that the law could be executed. News soon came from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and other states, of the arrest and rendition of persons claimed as slaves, many of whom were proven to be free-born. Boston was not permitted to remain long ere she again witnessed the reappearance of the negro-catcher.
A colored man named Shadrach was claimed as a slave; he was arrested, put in prison, and the kidnappers felt that for once they had a sure thing. Boston, however, was a strange place for a human being to be in a dungeon for wanting to be free; and Shadrach was spirited away to Canada, no one knew how. The men of Boston who traded largely with the South, felt that their city was in disgrace in not being able to execute the Fugitive Slave Bill, and many of them wished heartily for another opportunity.
So, on the night of the third of April, 1851, Thomas Simms was arrested, and after a trial which became historical, was sent back into slavery, to the utter disgrace of all concerned in his return.
Next came the rendition of Anthony Burns, a Baptist clergyman, who was arrested at the instance of Charles F. Suttle, of Virginia. The commissioner before whom the case was tried was Ellis Greely Loring. This trial excited even more commotion than did the return of Simms. A preacher in fetters because he wanted to be free was a new thing to the people of Boston.
During the progress of the hearing, the feeling extended to the country towns, and nearly every train coming in brought large numbers of persons anxious to behold the new order of things. To guard against the possibility of a rescue, the building in which the commissioner did his work was in chains. Burns was delivered to Suttle, and the Union was once more safe.
The Boston Court House in chains, two hundred rowdies and thieves sworn in as special policemen, respectable citizens shoved off the sidewalks by these slave-catchers, all for the purpose of satisfying “our brethren of the South.”
But this act did not appease the feelings or satisfy the demands of the slave-holders, while it still further inflamed the fire of abolitionism.
The “Dred Scott Decision” added fresh combustibles to the smouldering heap. Dred Scott, a slave, taken by his master into free Illinois, and then beyond the line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, and then back into Missouri, sued for and obtained his freedom, on the ground that having been taken where, by the Constitution, slavery was illegal, his master lost all claim.
But the Supreme Court, on appeal, reversed the judgment, and Dred Scott, with his wife and children, was taken back into slavery.
[52]“Rendition of Thomas Simms.” Theodore Parker, p. 20, 1852.
Caste, the natural product of slavery, did not stop at the door of the sanctuary, as might be presumed that it would, but entered all, or nearly all, of the Christian denominations of our country, and in some instances even pursued the negro to the sacramental altar. All churches had their “Negro-pew,” where there were any blacks to put into them. This was the custom at the South, and it was the same at the North.
As the religion of the country was fashioned to suit the public sentiment, which was negro-hating in its character, the blacks of the United States would have formed a poor idea of the Christian religion in its broadest sense, had not an inward monitor told them that there was still something better.
The first step towards the enjoyment of religious freedom was taken by the colored people of Philadelphia. This was caused by the unkind treatment of their white brethren, who considered them a nuisance in their houses of worship, where they were pulled off their knees while in the act of prayer, and ordered to the back seats. From these and other acts ofunchristian conduct, the blacks considered it their duty to devise means of having a house for religious worship, of their own. Therefore, in November, 1787, they seceded from the Methodist Church, in Philadelphia, formed a society, built a house to meet in, and set up for themselves.
Although the whites considered the blacks as intruders in their churches, they were, nevertheless, unwilling to allow them to worship by themselves, unless they should have the privilege of furnishing their sable brethren with preachers. The whites denied the blacks the right of taking the name of Methodist without their consent, and even went so far as to force their white preachers into the pulpits of the colored people on Sundays. The law, however, had more justice in it than the Gospel; and it stepped in between the blacks and their religious persecutors, and set the former free.
In 1793, Rev. Richard Allen built a church for his people in Philadelphia, and henceforth their religious progress was marvellous. In 1816, Richard Allen was ordained Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Morris Brown was ordained a bishop in 1828; Edward Waters in 1836; and William P. Quinn in 1844. These were known as the Bethel Methodists. About the same time, the colored Christians of New York, feeling the pressure of caste, which weighed heavily upon them, began to sigh for the freedom enjoyed by their brethren in the City of Brotherly Love; and in 1796, under the lead of Francis Jacobs, William Brown, and William Miller, separated from their white brethren, and formed a church, now known as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Thisbranch of seceders equalled in prosperity their brethren in Philadelphia.
The first annual conference of these churches was held in the city of Baltimore, in April, 1818. The example set by the colored ministers of Philadelphia and New York was soon followed by their race in Baltimore, Richmond, Boston, Providence, and other places. These independent religious movements were not confined to the sect known as Methodists, but the Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians were permitted to set up housekeeping for themselves.
The Episcopalians, however, in New York and Philadelphia, had to suffer much, for they were compelled to listen to the preacher on Sunday who would not recognize them on Monday. The settlement of the Revs. Peter Williams at New York, and William Douglass at Philadelphia, seemed to open a new era to the blacks in those cities, and the eloquence of these two divines gave the members of that sect more liberty throughout the country. In the Southern States, the religious liberty of the blacks was curtailed far more than at the North. The stringent slave-law, which punished the negro for being found outside of his master’s premises after a certain time at night, was construed so as to apply to him in his going to and from the house of God; and the poor victim was often flogged for having been found out late, while he was on his way home from church.
These laws applied as well to the free blacks as to the slaves, and frequently the educated colored preacher had his back lacerated with the “cat-o’-nine-tails” within an hour of his leaving the pulpit.
In all of the slave states laws were early enactedregulating the religious movements of the blacks, and providing that no slave or free colored person should be allowed to preach. The assembling of blacks for religious worship was prohibited, unless three or more white persons were present.
The year 1859 will long be memorable for the bold attempt of John Brown and his companions to burst the bolted door of the Southern house of bondage, and lead out the captives by a more effectual way than they had yet known; an attempt in which, it is true, the little band of heroes dashed themselves to bloody death, but, at the same time, shook the prison walls from summit to foundation, and shot wild alarm into every tyrant heart in all the slave-land. What were the plans and purposes of the noble old man is not precisely known, and perhaps will never be; but whatever they were, there is reason to believe they had been long maturing,—brooded over silently and secretly, with much earnest thought, and under a solemn sense of religious duty.
Of the five colored men who were with the hero at the attack on Harper’s Ferry, only two, Shields Green and John A. Copeland, were captured alive. The first of these was a native of South Carolina, having been born in the city of Charleston, in the year 1832. Escaping to the North in 1857, heresided in Rochester, New York, until attracted by the unadorned eloquence and native magnetism of John Brown.
Shields Green was of unmixed blood, good countenance, bright eye, and small in figure. One of his companions in the Harper’s Ferry fight, says of Green, “He was the most inexorable of all our party; a very Turco in his hatred against the stealers of men. Wiser and better men no doubt there were, but a braver man never lived than Shields Green.”[53]
He behaved with becoming coolness and heroism at his execution, ascending the scaffold with a firm, unwavering step, and died as he had lived, a brave man, expressing to the last his eternal hatred to human bondage, prophesying that slavery would soon come to a bloody end.
John A. Copeland was from North Carolina, and was a mulatto of superior abilities, and a genuine lover of liberty and justice. He died as became one who had linked his fate with that of the hero of Harper’s Ferry.
[53]“A Voice from Harper’s Ferry.” O. P. Anderson.
The assault on Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861, was the dawn of a new era for the Negro. The proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for the first seventy-five thousand men to put down the Rebellion, was responded to by the colored people throughout the country. In Boston, at a public meeting of the blacks a large number came forward, put their names to an agreement to form a brigade, and march at once to the seat of war. A committee waited on the Governor three days later, and offered the services of these men. His Excellency replied that he had no power to receive them. This was the first wet blanket thrown over the negro’s enthusiasm. “This is a white man’s war,” said most of the public journals. “I will never fight by the side of a nigger,” was heard in every quarter where men were seen in Uncle Sam’s uniform.
Wherever recruiting offices were opened, black men offered themselves, and were rejected. Yet these people, feeling conscious that right would eventually prevail, waited patiently for the coming time, pledging themselves to go at their country’s call.
While the country seemed drifting to destruction, and the administration without a policy, the heart of every loyal man was made glad by the appearance of the proclamation of Major-General John C. Fremont, then in command at the West. The following extract from that document, which at the time caused so much discussion, will bear insertion here:—
“All persons who shall be taken with arms in their hands within these lines, shall be tried by court-martial; and if found guilty, will be shot. The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men.”
The above was the first official paper issued after the commencement of the war, that appeared to have the ring of the right kind of mettle.
Without waiting for instructions from the capital, General Fremont caused manumission papers to be issued to a number of slaves, commencing with those owned by Thomas L. Snead, of St. Louis. This step taken by the brave Fremont was followed by a similar movement of General Hunter, then stationed in South Carolina. President Lincoln, however, was persuaded to annul both of the above orders.
In the month of June, 1861, the schooner S. J. Waring, from New York, bound to South America, was captured on the passage by the rebel privateer Jeff Davis, a prize-crew put on board, consisting of a captain, mate, and four seamen, and the vessel set sail for the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Three ofthe original crew were retained on board, a German as steersman, a Yankee, who was put in irons, and a black man named William Tillman, the steward and cook of the schooner. The latter was put to work at his usual business, and told that he was henceforth the property of the Confederate States, and would be sold on his arrival at Charleston as a slave.
Night comes on; darkness covers the sea; the vessel is gliding swiftly towards the South; the rebels, one after another, retire to their berths; the hour of midnight approaches; all is silent in the cabin; the captain is asleep; the mate, who has charge of the watch, takes his brandy toddy, and reclines upon the quarter-deck. The negro thinks of home and all its endearments; he sees in the dim future chains and slavery.
He resolves, and determines to put the resolution into practice upon the instant. Armed with a heavy club, he proceeds to the captain’s room. He strikes the fatal blow. He next goes to the adjoining room; another blow is struck, and the black man is master of the cabin. Cautiously he ascends to the deck, strikes the mate. The officer is wounded, but not killed. He draws his revolver, and calls for help. The crew are aroused; they are hastening to aid their commander. The negro repeats his blows with the heavy club; the rebel falls dead at Tillman’s feet. The African seizes the revolver, drives the crew below deck, orders the release of the Yankee, puts the enemy in irons, and proclaims himself master of the vessel.
Five days more, and the “S. J. Waring” arrives in the port of New York, under the command of William Tillman, the negro patriot.
The brave exploit of Tillman had scarcely ceasedbeing the topic of conversation, ere the public were again startled by the announcement that Robert Small, a slave, had escaped with the steamer Planter from Charleston, South Carolina. This event was communicated to the Secretary of War, by Commodore Dupont.
Up to this time, the services of colored men in the war had not been recognized; however, soon after Major-General B. F. Butler accepted and acknowledged their services in Louisiana.
It is probably well known that the free colored population of New Orleans, in intelligence, public spirit, and material wealth, surpass those of the same class in any other city of the Union. Many of these gentlemen have been highly educated, have travelled extensively in this and foreign countries, speak and read the French, Spanish, and English languages fluently, and in the Exchange Rooms, or at the Stock Boards, wield an influence at any time fully equal to the same number of white capitalists. Before the war, they represented in that city alone fifteen millions of property, and were heavily taxed to support the schools of the State, but were not allowed to claim the least benefit therefrom.
These gentlemen, representing so much intelligence, culture, and wealth, and who would, notwithstanding the fact that they all have negro blood in their veins, adorn any circle of society in the North, who would be taken upon Broadway for educated and wealthy Cuban planters, rather than free negroes, although many of them have themselves held slaves, have always been loyal to the Union; and, when New Orleans seemed in danger of being recaptured by the rebels under GeneralMagruder, these colored men roseen masse, closed their offices and stores, armed and organized themselves into six regiments, and for six weeks abandoned their business, and stood ready to fight for the defence of New Orleans, while at the same time not a single white regiment from the original white inhabitants was raised.
In 1862 slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, the honor of which in the main belongs to Henry Wilson, Senator from Massachusetts.
With the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, commenced a new era at our country’s capital. The representatives of the governments of Hayti and Liberia had both long knocked in vain to be admitted with the representatives of other nations. The slave power had always succeeded in keeping them out. But a change had now come over the dreams of the people, and Congress was but acting up to this new light in passing the bill admitting the representatives of the black republics.
As we have before stated, the slave-trade was still being carried on between the Southern States and Africa. Ships were fitted out in the Northern ports for the purpose of carrying on this infernal traffic. And although it was prohibited by an act of Congress, none had ever been convicted for dealing in slaves. The new order of things was to give these trafficers a trial, and test the power by which they had so longdealt in the bodies and souls of men whom they had stolen from their native land.
One Nathaniel Gordon was already in prison in New York, and his trial was fast approaching. It came, and he was convicted of piracy in the United States District Court in the city of New York; the piracy consisting in having fitted out a slaver, and shipped nine hundred Africans at Congo River, with a view to selling them as slaves. The same man had been tried for the same offence before; but the jury failed to agree, and he accordingly escaped punishment for the time. Every effort was made which the ingenuity of able lawyers could invent, or the power of money could enforce, to save this miscreant from the gallows; but all in vain; for President Lincoln utterly refused to interfere in any way whatever, and Gordon was executed on the 7th of February.
This blow appeared to give more offence to the commercial Copperheads than even the emancipation of the slaves in the District of Columbia; for it struck an effectual blow at a very lucrative branch of commerce, in which the New Yorkers were largely interested. Thus it will be seen that the nation was steadily moving on to the goal of freedom.
In September, 1862, the colored people of Cincinnati, Ohio, organized the “Black Brigade,” and rendered eminent service in protecting that city from the raids of John Morgan and other brigands.
On the first of January, 1863, President Lincoln put forth his Emancipation Proclamation, as follows:—
“Whereas, On the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred andsixty-three, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following; to wit:“That, On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or any designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, henceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval force thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any effort they may make for their actual freedom; that the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in times of actual rebellion against the authorities and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war-measure for suppressing thisrebellion, do on this, the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the date of the first above-mentioned order, designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States. The following, to wit:—“Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.“Louisiana (except the parishes of Placquemines, St. Mary, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Bernard, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not made.“And by virtue of the power, for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be,FREE; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.“And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them, that,in all cases where allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.“And I further declare and make known, that such persons, if in suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the constitution, and upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.“Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.(Signed)“Abraham Lincoln.”
“Whereas, On the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred andsixty-three, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following; to wit:
“That, On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or any designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, henceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval force thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any effort they may make for their actual freedom; that the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.
“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in times of actual rebellion against the authorities and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war-measure for suppressing thisrebellion, do on this, the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the date of the first above-mentioned order, designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States. The following, to wit:—
“Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
“Louisiana (except the parishes of Placquemines, St. Mary, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Bernard, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not made.
“And by virtue of the power, for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be,FREE; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.
“And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them, that,in all cases where allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
“And I further declare and make known, that such persons, if in suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the constitution, and upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
“Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
(Signed)“Abraham Lincoln.”
Attorney-General Bates had already given his opinion with regard to the citizenship of the negro, and that opinion was in the black man’s favor. The Emancipation Proclamation was only a prelude to calling on the colored men to take up arms, and the one soon followed the other; for the word “Emancipation” had scarcely gone over the wires, ere Adjutant-General Thomas made his appearance in the valley of the Mississippi. At Lake Providence, Louisiana, he met a large wing of the army, composed of volunteers from all parts of the country, and proclaimed to them the new policy of the administration.
The Northern regiments stationed at the South, or doing duty in that section, had met with so many reverses on the field of battle, and had been so inhumanly treated by the rebels, both men and women, that the new policy announced by Adjutant-General Thomas at Lake Providence and other places, was received with great favor, especially when the white soldiers heard from their immediate commanders that the freedmen when enlisted would be employed in doing fatigue-duty,when not otherwise needed. The slave, regarding the use of the musket as the only means of securing his freedom permanently, sought the nearest place of enlistment with the greatest speed.
The appointment of men from the ranks of the white regiments over the blacks caused the former to feel still more interest in the new levies. The position taken by Major-General Hunter, in South Carolina, and his favorable reports of the capability of the freedmen for military service, and the promptness with which that distinguished scholar and Christian gentleman, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, accepted the colonelcy of the First South Carolina, made the commanding of negro regiments respectable, and caused a wish on the part of white volunteers to seek commissions over the blacks.
The new regiments filled up rapidly; the recruits adapted themselves to their new condition with a zeal that astonished even their friends; and their proficiency in the handling of arms, with only a few days’ training, set the minds of their officers at rest with regard to their future action.
On the 7th of June, 1863, the first regular battle was fought between the blacks and whites in the valley of the Mississippi. The planters had boasted, that, should they meet their former slaves, a single look from them would cause the negroes to throw down their weapons, and run. Many Northern men, especially Copperheads, professed to believe that such would be the case. Therefore, all eyes were turned to the far-off South, the cotton, sugar, and rice-growing States, to see how the blacks would behave on the field of battle; for it is well known that the mostignorant of the slave population belonged in that section.
The first intimation that the commanding officer at Milliken’s Bend received was from one of the black men, who went into the colonel’s tent, and said, ‘Massa, the secesh are in camp.’ The colonel ordered him to have the men load their guns at once. He instantly replied,—
“We have done did dat now, massa.” Before the colonel was ready, the men were in line, ready for action.
“The enemy charged us so close that we fought with our bayonets, hand to hand. I have six broken bayonets to show how bravely my men fought,” said the colonel. “I can truly say,” continued he, “that I never saw a braver company of men in my life.
“Not one of them offered to leave his place until ordered to fall back. I went down to the hospital, three miles, to-day, to see the wounded. Nine of them were there, two having died of their wounds. A boy who had cooked for me came and begged a gun when the rebels were advancing, and took his place with the company; and when we retook the breastworks, I found him badly wounded, with one gun-shot and two bayonet wounds. A new recruit I had issued a gun to the day before the fight was found dead, with a firm grasp on his gun, the bayonet of which was broken in three pieces. So they fought and died, defending the cause that we revere. They met death coolly, bravely; not rashly did they expose themselves, but all were steady and obedient to orders.”
This battle satisfied the slave-masters of the Souththat their charm was gone; and that the negro, as a slave, was lost forever. Yet there was one fact connected with the battle of Milliken’s Bend which will descend to posterity, as testimony against the humanity of slave-holders; and that is, that no negro was ever found alive that was taken a prisoner by the rebels in this fight.
The next engagement which the blacks had, was up the St. Mary’s River, South Carolina, under the command of Colonel T. W. Higginson. Here, too, the colored men did themselves and their race great credit.
We now come to the battle of Port Hudson, in which the black forces consisted of the First Louisiana, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett, and the Third Louisiana, under Colonel Nelson. The line-officers of the Third were white; and the regiment was composed mostly of freedmen, many of whose backs still bore the marks of the lash, and whose brave, stout hearts beat high at the thought that the hour had come when they were to meet their proud and unfeeling oppressors.
The First was the noted regiment called “The Native Guard,” which General Butler found when he entered New Orleans, and which so promptly offered its services to aid in crushing the Rebellion. The line-officers of this regiment were all colored, taken from amongst the most wealthy and influential of the free colored people of New Orleans. It was said that not one of them was worth less than twenty-five thousand dollars. The brave, the enthusiastic, and the patriotic, found full scope for the development of their powers in this regiment, of which all were well educated; some were fine scholars. One of the most efficient officers was Captain André Callioux, a manwhose identity with his race could not be mistaken. This regiment petitioned their commander to allow them to occupy the post of danger in the battle, and it was granted.
As the moment of attack drew near, the greatest suppressed excitement existed; but all were eager for the fight. Captain Callioux walked proudly up and down the line, and smilingly greeted the familiar faces of his company. Officers and privates of the white regiments looked on as they saw these men at the front, and asked each other what they thought would be the result. Would these blacks stand fire? Was not the test by which they were to be tried too severe? Colonel Nelson being called to act as brigadier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Finnegas took his place. The enemy in his stronghold felt his power, and bade defiance to the expected attack. At last the welcome word was given, and our men started. The enemy opened a blistering fire of shell, canister, grape, and musketry. The first shell thrown by the enemy killed and wounded a number of the blacks; but on they went. “Charge” was the word.
At every pace, the column was thinned by the falling dead and wounded. The blacks closed up steadily as their comrades fell, and advanced within fifty paces of where the rebels were working a masked battery, situated on a bluff where the guns could sweep the whole field over which the troops must charge. This battery was on the left of the charging line. Another battery of three or four guns commanded the front, and six heavy pieces raked the right of the line as it formed, and enfiladed its flank and rear as it charged on the bluff. It was ascertained that a bayou ranunder the bluff where the guns lay,—a bayou deeper than a man could ford. This charge was repulsed with severe loss. Lieutenant-Colonel Finnegas was then ordered to charge, and in a well-dressed, steady line his men went on the double-quick down over the field of death.
No matter how gallantly the men behaved, no matter how bravely they were led, it was not in the course of things that this gallant brigade should take these works by charge. Yet charge after charge was ordered and carried out under all these disasters with Spartan firmness. Six charges in all were made. Colonel Nelson reported to General Dwight the fearful odds he had to contend with. Says General Dwight, in reply, “Tell Colonel Nelson I shall consider that he has accomplished nothing unless he take those guns.” Humanity will never forgive General Dwight for this last order; for he certainly saw that he was only throwing away the lives of his men. But what were his men? “Only niggers.” Thus the last charge was made under the spur of desperation.
The ground was already strewn with the dead and wounded, and many of the brave officers had fallen early in the engagement. Among them was the gallant and highly-cultivated Anselmo. He was a standard-bearer, and hugged the stars and stripes to his heart as he fell forward upon them pierced by five balls. Two corporals near by struggled between themselves as to who should have the honor of again raising those blood-stained emblems to the breeze. Each was eager for the honor; and during the struggle a missile from the enemy wounded one of them,and the other corporal shouldered the dear old flag in triumph, and bore it through the charge in the front of the advancing lines.
Shells from the rebel guns cut down trees three feet in diameter, and they fell, at one time burying a whole company beneath their branches. Thus they charged bravely on certain destruction, till the ground was slippery with the gore of the slaughtered, and cumbered with the bodies of the maimed. The last charge was made about one o’clock. At this juncture, Captain Callioux was seen with his left arm dangling by his side,—for a ball had broken it above the elbow,—while his right hand held his unsheathed sword gleaming in the rays of the sun; and his hoarse, faint voice was heard cheering on his men. A moment more, and the brave and generous Callioux was struck by a shell, and fell far in advance of his company.
The fall of this officer so exasperated his men, that they appeared to be filled with new enthusiasm; and they rushed forward with a recklessness that probably has never been surpassed. Seeing it to be a hopeless effort, the taking of these batteries, the order was given to change the programme; and the troops were called off. But had they accomplished anything more than the loss of many of their brave men? Yes; they had. The self-forgetfulness, the undaunted heroism, and the great endurance of the Negro, as exhibited that day, created a new chapter in American history for the colored man.
Many Persians were slain at the battle of Thermopylæ; but history records only the fall of Leonidas and his four hundred companions. So in the future, when we shall have passed away from thestage, and rising generations shall speak of the conflict at Port Hudson, and the celebrated charge of the negro brigade, they will forget all others in the admiration for André Callioux and his colored associates. General Banks, in his report of the battle of Port Hudson, says: “Whatever doubt may have existed heretofore as to the efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this day proves conclusively to those who were in a condition to observe the conduct of these regiments, that the government will find in this class of troops effective supporters and defenders. The severe test to which they were subjected, and the determined manner in which they encountered the enemy, leaves upon my mind no doubt of their ultimate success.”
The splendid behavior of the blacks in the valley of the Mississippi, was soon equalled by the celebrated Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by the lamented Robert G. Shaw.
On the sixteenth of July, the Fifty-fourth Regiment (colored), Colonel R. G. Shaw, was attacked by the enemy, on James Island, in which a fight of two hours’ duration took place, the Rebels largely out-numbering the Union forces. The Fifty-fourth, however, drove the enemy before them in confusion. The loss to our men was fourteen killed and eighteen wounded. During the same day, Colonel Shaw received orders from General Gillmore to evacuate the Island. Preparations began at dusk. The night was dark and stormy, and made the movement both difficult and dangerous. The march was from James Island to Cole Island, across marshes, streams, and dikes, and part of the way upon narrow foot-bridges, along whichit was necessary to proceed in single file. The whole force reached Cole Island the next morning, July 17, and rested during the day on the beach opposite the south end of Folly Island. About ten o’clock in the evening, the colonel of the Fifty-fourth received orders directing him to report, with his command, to General George C. Strong, at Morris Island, to whose brigade the regiment was transferred.
From eleven o’clock of Friday evening until four o’clock of Saturday, they were being put on the transport, the “General Hunter,” in a boat which took about fifty at a time. There they breakfasted on the same fare, and had no other food before entering into the assault on Fort Wagner in the evening.
The General Hunter left Cole Island for Folly Island at sixA. M.; and the troops landed at Pawnee Landing about nine and a halfA. M., and thence marched to the point opposite Morris Island, reaching there about two o’clock in the afternoon. They were transported in a steamer across the inlet, and at fourP. M., began their march for Fort Wagner. They reached Brigadier-General Strong’s quarters, about midway on the Island, about six or six and a half o’clock, where they halted for five minutes.
General Strong expressed a great desire to give them food and stimulants; but it was too late, as they had to lead the charge. They had been without tents during the pelting rains of Thursday and Friday nights. General Strong had been impressed with the high character of the regiment and its officers; and he wished to assign them the post where the most severe work was to be done, and the highest honor was to be won.
The march across Folly and Morris Islands was over a sandy road, and was very wearisome. The regiment went through the centre of the Island, and not along the beach, where the marching was easier.
When they had come within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner, they formed in line of battle, the colonel heading the first, and the major the second battalion. This was within musket-shot of the enemy. There was little firing from the enemy; a solid shot falling between the battalions, and another falling to the right, but no musketry. At this point, the regiment, together with the next supporting regiment, the Sixth Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and others, remained half an hour. The regiment was addressed by General Strong and by Colonel Shaw. Then, at seven and a half or seven and three-quarters o’clock, the order for the charge was given. The regiment advanced at quick time, changed to double-quick when at some distance on.
The intervening distance between the place where the line was formed and the fort was run over in a few minutes. When about one hundred yards from the fort, the rebel musketry opened with such terrible effect that for an instant the first battalion hesitated,—but only for an instant; for Colonel Shaw, springing to the front and waving his sword, shouted, “Forward, my brave boys!” and with another cheer and a shout they rushed through the ditch, gained the parapet on the right, and were soon engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. Colonel Shaw was one of the first to scale the walls. He stood erect, to urge forward his men, and while shouting for them to press on was shot dead, and fell into the fort. His bodywas found, with twenty of his men lying dead around him; two lying on his own body.
The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly; only the fall of Colonel Shaw prevented them from entering the fort. They moved up as gallantly as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm, they deserved a better fate.
Sergeant-Major Lewis H. Douglass, son of Frederick Douglass, the celebrated orator, sprang upon the parapet close behind Colonel Shaw, and cried out, “Come, boys, come; let’s fight for God and Governor Andrew.” This brave young man was the last to leave the parapet. Before the regiment reached the parapet, the color-sergeant was wounded; and while in the act of falling, the colors were seized by Sergeant William H. Carney, who bore them up, and mounted the parapet, where he, too, received three severe wounds. But on orders being given to retire, the color-bearer, though almost disabled, still held the emblem of liberty in the air, and followed his regiment by the aid of his comrades, and succeeded in reaching the hospital, where he fell exhausted and almost lifeless on the floor, saying, “The old flag never touched the ground, boys.” Captain Lewis F. Emilio, the junior captain,—all of his superiors having been killed or wounded,—took command, and brought the regiment into camp. In this battle, the total loss in officers and men, killed and wounded, was two hundred and sixty-one.
When inquiry was made at Fort Wagner, under flag of truce, for the body of Colonel Shaw of the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth, the answer was, “We have buried him with his niggers!” It is the custom of savages to outrage the dead, and it was only naturalthat the natives of South Carolina should attempt to heap insult upon the remains of the brave young soldier; but that wide grave on Morris Island will be to a whole race a holy sepulchre. No more fitting place for burial, no grander obsequies could have been given to him who cried, as he led that splendid charge, “On, my brave boys,” than to give to him and to them one common grave.
Shaw’s Regiment afterwards distinguished itself in the hard-fought battle of Olustee, an engagement that will live in the history of the Rebellion.
The battle of Olustee was fought in a swamp situated thirty-five miles west of Jacksonville, and four miles from Sanderson, in the State of Florida. The expedition was under the immediate command of General C. Seymour, and consisted of the Seventh New Hampshire, Seventh Connecticut, Eighth United States (colored) Battery, Third United States Artillery, Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored), and First North Carolina (colored). The command having rested on the night of the 19th of February, 1864, at Barbour’s Ford, on the St. Mary’s River, took up its line of march on the morning of the 20th, and proceeded to Sanderson, nine miles to the west, which was reached at one o’clock,P. M., without interruption; but about three miles beyond, the advance drove in the enemy’s pickets. The Seventh Connecticut, being deployed as skirmishers, fell in with the enemy’s force in the swamp, strengthened still more by rifle-pits. Here they were met by cannon and musketry; but our troops, with their Spencer rifles, played great havoc with the enemy, making an attempt to take one of his pieces of artillery, but failed. However, theyheld their ground nobly for three-quarters of an hour, and were just about retiring as the main body of our troops came up.
The Eighth (colored), which had never been in battle, and which had been recruited but a few weeks, came up and filed to the right, when they met with a most terrific shower of musketry and shell. General Seymour now came up, and pointing in front, towards the railroad, said to Colonel Fribley, commander of the Eighth, “Take your regiment in there,”—a place which was sufficiently hot to make the oldest and most field-worn veterans tremble; and yet these men, who had never heard the sound of a cannon before, rushed in where they commenced dropping like grass before the sickle. Still on they went without faltering, until they came within two hundred yards of the enemy’s strongest works. Here these brave men stood for nearly three hours before a terrible fire, closing up as their ranks were thinned out, fire in front, on their flank, and in the rear, without flinching or breaking.
Colonel Fribley, seeing that it was impossible to hold the position, passed along the lines to tell the officers to fire, and fall back gradually, and was shot before he reached the end. He was shot in the chest, told the men to carry him to the rear, and expired in a very few minutes. Major Burritt took command, but was also wounded in a short time. At this time Captain Hamilton’s battery became endangered, and he cried out to our men for God’s sake to save his battery. Our United States flag, after three sergeants had forfeited their lives by bearing it during the fight, was planted on the battery by Lieutenant Elijah Lewis, and the men rallied around it; but the guns had beenjammed up so indiscriminately, and so close to the enemy’s lines, that the gunners were shot down as fast as they made their appearance; and the horses, whilst they were wheeling the pieces into position, shared the same fate. They were compelled to leave the battery, and failed to bring the flag away. The battery fell into the enemy’s hands. During the excitement, Captain Bailey took command, and brought out the regiment in good order. Sergeant Taylor, Company D., who carried the battle-flag, had his right hand nearly shot off, but grasped the colors with the left hand, and brought them out.
The Seventh New Hampshire was posted on both sides of the wagon-road, and broke, but soon rallied, and did good execution. The line was probably one mile long, and all along the fighting was terrific.
Our artillery, where it could be worked, made dreadful havoc on the enemy; whilst the enemy did us but very little injury with his; with the exception of one gun, a sixty-four pound swivel, fixed on a truck-car on the railroad, which fired grape and canister. On the whole, their artillery was very harmless; but their musketry fearful.
Up to this time, neither the First North Carolina nor the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts had taken any part in the fight, as they were in the rear some distance. However, they heard the roar of battle, and were hastening to the field, when they were met by an aide, who came riding up to the colonel of the Fifty-fourth, saying, “For God’s sake, Colonel, double-quick, or the day is lost!” Of all the regiments, every one seemed to look to the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts with the most dependence on the field of battle. Thisregiment was under the command of Colonel E. N. Hallowell, who fell wounded by the side of Colonel Shaw, at Fort Wagner, and who, since his recovery, had been in several engagements, in all of which he had shown himself an excellent officer, and had gained the entire confidence of his men, who were willing to follow him wherever he chose to lead. When the aide met these two regiments, he found them hastening on.
The First North Carolina was in light marching order; the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts was in heavy marching order, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, and every other appurtenance of the soldier. But off went everything, and they double-quicked on to the field. At the most critical juncture, just as the rebels were preparing for a simultaneous charge along the whole line, and they had captured our artillery and turned it upon us, Colonel James Montgomery, Colonel Hallowell, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper formed our line of battle on right by file into line.
The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts went in first, with a cheer. They were followed by the First North Carolina (colored); Lieutenant-Colonel Reed, in command, headed the regiment, sword in hand, and charged upon the rebels. They broke when within twenty yards of contact with our negro troops. Overpowered by numbers, the First North Carolina fell back in good order, and poured in a destructive fire. Their colonel fell, mortally wounded. Major Bogle fell wounded, and two men were killed in trying to reach his body. The Adjutant, William C. Manning, before wounded at Malvern Hills, got a bullet in his body, but persisted in remaining until another shot struckhim. His lieutenant-colonel, learning the fact, embraced him, and implored him to leave the field. The next moment the two friends were stretched side by side; the colonel had received his own death-wound. But the two colored regiments had stood in the gap, and saved the army. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, which, with the First North Carolina, may be truly said to have saved the forces from utter rout, lost eighty men.
There were three color-sergeants shot down; the last one was shot three times before he relinquished the flag of his country. His name was Samuel C. Waters, Company C., and his body sleeps where he fell. The battle-flag carried by Sergeant Taylor was borne through the fight with the left hand, after the right one was nearly shot off. The rebels fired into the place where the wounded were being attended to; and their cavalry was about making a charge on it just as the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts appeared on the field, when they retired.
Had Colonel Hallowell not seen at a glance the situation of affairs, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers would have been killed or captured. When they entered the field with the First North Carolina, which is a brave regiment, they (the First North Carolina) fired well while they remained; but they gave way, thus exposing the right. On the left, the rebel cavalry were posted; and as the enemy’s left advanced on our right, their cavalry pressed the left. Both flanks were thus being folded up, and slaughter or capture would have been the inevitable result. We fell back in good order, and established new lines of battle, until we reached Sanderson.
Here a scene that beggars description was presented. Wounded men lined the railroad station; and the roads were filled with artillery, caissons, ammunition, baggage-wagons, infantry, cavalry, and ambulances. The only organized bodies ready to repel attack were a portion of the Fortieth Massachusetts Mounted Infantry, armed with the Spencer repeating-rifle, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, and the Seventh Connecticut, commanded by Colonel Hawley, now governor of Connecticut.
An occurrence of thrilling interest took place during the battle, which I must not omit to mention. It was this:—
Colonel Hallowell ordered the color-line to be advanced one hundred and fifty paces. Three of the colored corporals, Pease, Palmer, and Glasgow, being wounded, and the accomplished Goodin killed, there were four only left,—Wilkins, the acting sergeant, Helman, and Lenox. The colors were perforated with bullets, and the staff was struck near the grasp of the sergeant; but the color-guard marched steadily out, one hundred and fifty paces to the front, with heads erect and square to the front; and the battalion rallied around it, and fought such a fight as made Colonel Hallowell shout with very joy, and the men themselves to ring out defiant cheers which made the pines and marshes of Ocean Pond echo again.
Although these colored men had never been paid off, and their families at home were in want, they were as obedient, and fought as bravely, as the white troops, whose pockets contained “greenbacks,” and whose wives and children were provided for.
The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts went into the battlewith “Three cheers for Massachusetts, and seven dollars a month.”
It is well known that the general in command came to the colonel and said, “The day is lost; you must do what you can to save the army from destruction.” And nobly did they obey him. They fired their guns till their ammunition was exhausted, and then stood with fixed bayonets till the broken columns had time to retreat, and though once entirely outflanked, the enemy getting sixty yards in their rear, their undaunted front and loud cheering caused the enemy to pause, and allowed them time to change front. They occupied the position as rear guard all the way back to Jacksonville; and wherever was the post of danger, there was the Fifty-fourth to be found.
When the forces arrived at Jacksonville, they there learned that the train containing the wounded was at Ten-Mile Station, where it had been left, owing to the breaking down of the engine. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, fatigued and worn out as it was, was despatched at once, late at night, to the assistance of the disabled train. Arriving at Ten-Mile Station, they found that the only way to bring the wounded with them was to attach ropes to the cars, and let the men act as motive power. Thus the whole train of cars containing the wounded from the battle of Olustee was dragged a distance of ten miles by that brave colored regiment.
The battle of Poison Springs, Arkansas, between one thousand Union and eight thousand rebel troops, was one of the most severe conflicts of the war. Six hundred of the Union forces were colored, and from Kansas, some of them having served under old JohnBrown during the great struggle in that territory. These black men, as it will be seen, bore the brunt of the fight, and never did men show more determined bravery than was exhibited on this occasion.
Nothing in the history of the Rebellion equalled in inhumanity and atrocity the horrid butchery at Fort Pillow, Kentucky, on the 13th of April, 1864. In no other school than slavery could human beings have been trained to such readiness for cruelties like these. Accustomed to brutality and bestiality all their lives, it was easy for them to perpetrate the atrocities which startled the civilized foreign world, as they awakened the indignation of our own people.