ment under which they live and by which they are protected, is one that is universally acknowledged and enforced. Corresponding to this obligation is the duty resting on those charged with the administration of the Government, to employ such persons in the military service whenever the public safety may demand it. Congress realized both this obligation on the one hand, and this duty on the other when, by the 12th section of the Act of the 17th of July, 1862, it was enacted that ‘the President be and is hereby authorized to receive into the service of the United States for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service or any other labor, or any military or naval service. for which they may be found competent, persons of African Descent, and such persons shall be enrolled and organized under such regulations not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws, as the President may prescribe.'

"The terms of this Act are without restriction and no distinction is made, or was intended to be made, between persons of African Descent held to service or labor or those not so held.

"The President is empowered to receive them all into the military service, and assign them such duty as they may be found competent to perform.

"The tenacious and brilliant valor displayed by troops of this race at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, and Fort Wagner, has sufficiently demonstrated to the President and to the country, the character of service of which they are capable. In the interpretation given to the Enrolment Act, free citizens of African Descent are treated as citizens of the United States, in the sense of the law, and are everywhere being drafted into the military service..

"In reference to the other class of persons of this race-those held to service or labor-the 12th section of the Act of July 17th is still in full force, and the President may in his discretion receive them into the army and assign them to such field of duty as he may deem them prepared to occupy. In view of the loyalty of this race, and of the obstinate courage which they have shown themselves to possess, they certainly constitute at this crisis in our history a most powerful and reliable arm of the public defence. Whether this arm shall now be exerted is not a question of power or right, but purely of policy, to be determined by the estimate which may be entertained of the conflict in which we are engaged, and of the necessity that presses to bring this waste of blood and treasure to a close. A man precipitated into a struggle for his life on land or sea, instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth. every energy with which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes upon every source of strength within his grasp; and a nation battling for existence, that does not do the same, may well be regarded as neither wise nor obedient to that great law of self-preservation, from which are derived

our most urgent and solemn duties.

That there exists a prejudice

against the employment of persons of African Descent is undeniable; it is, however, rapidly giving way, and never had any foundation in reason or loyalty It originated with and has been diligently nurtured by those in sympathy with the Rebellion, and its utterance at this moment is necessarily in the interests of treason.

Should the President feel that the public interests require he shall exert the power with which he is clothed by the 12th section of the Act of the 17th of July, his action should be in subordination to the Constitutional principle which exacts that compensation shall be made for private property devoted to the public uses. A just compensation to loyal claimants to the service or labor of persons of African Descent enlisted in our army, would accord with the uniform practice of the Government and the genius of our institutions!

"Soldiers of this class, after having perilled their lives in the defence of the Republic, could not be re-enslaved without a national dishonor revolting and unendurable for all who are themselves to be free. The compensation made, therefore, should be such as entirely to exhaust the interest of claimants; so that when soldiers of this class lay down their arms at the close of the war, they may at once enter into the enjoyment of that freedom symbolized by the flag which they have followed and defended."

The Negro was now a soldier, legally, "constitutionally." He had donned the uniform of an American soldier; was entrusted with the honor and defence of his country, and had set before him liberty as his exceeding great reward. Rejected at first he was at last urged into the service-even drafted! He was charged with the solution of a great problem-his fitness, his valor. History shall record his deeds of patriotism, his marvellous achievements, his splendid triumphs.

CHAPTER XIX.

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF SLAVES AS SOLDIERS. TRIALS OF THE NEGRO Soldier. HE UNDERGOES PERSECUTION FROM THE WHITE NORTHERN TROOPS, AND BARBAROUS TREATMENT FROM THE REBELS. -EDITORIAL OF THE "NEW YORK TIMES ON THE NEGRO SOLDIER IN BATTLE. —- REPORT OF THE "TRIBUNE ON THE GALLANT EXPLOITS OF THE IST SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS. NEGRO TROOPS IN ALL THE DEPARTMENTS. NEGRO SOLDIERS IN THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON. DEATH OF CAPTAIN ANDRE CALLIOUX. DEATH OF COLOR-SERGEANT ANSELMAS PLANCIANCOIS. AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF PORT HUDSON. - OFFICIAL REPORT OF GEN. BANKS. HE APPLAUDS THE VALOR OF THE COLORED REGIMENTS AT PORT HUDSON. GEORGE H. BOKER'S POFM ON THE BLACK REGIMENT." - BATTLE OF MILLIKEN'S BEND, JUNE, 1863. -- DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE. -- MEMORABLE EVENTS OF JULY, 1863. -- BATTLE ON MORRIS ISLAND. BRAVERY OF SERGEANT CARNEY. -- AN ACCOUNT OF THE 54TH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT BY EDWARD L. PIERCE TO GOVERNOR ANDREW. DEATH OF COL. SHAW, COLORED TROOPS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. BATTLE OF PETERSBURG, TABLE SHOWING THE LOSSES AT NASHVILLE. -ADJT.-GEN. THOMAS ON Negro Soldiers. — AN EXTRACT FROM THE "NEW YORK TRIbune" IN BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERLY QUALITIES OF THE NEGROES. LETTER RECEIVED BY COL. DARLING FROM MR. ADEN AND COL. FOSTER PRAISING THE EMINENT QUALIFICATIONS OF THE NEGRO FOR MILITARY LIFE. - HISTORY RECORDS THEIR DEEDS OF VALOK IN THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION.

A

LL history, ancient and modern, Pagan and Christian, justified the conduct of the Federal Government in the employment of slaves as soldiers. Greece had tried the experiment; and at the battle of Marathon there were two regiments of heavy infantry composed of slaves. The beleaguered city of Rome offered freedom to her slaves who should volunteer as soldiers; and at the battle of Cannae a regiment of Roman slaves made Hannibal's cohorts reel before their unequalled courage. When Abraham heard of the loss of his stock, he armed his slaves, pursued the enemy, and regained his possessions. Negro officers as well as soldiers had shared the perils and glories of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte; and even the royal guard at the Court of Imperial France had been mounted with black soldiers. In two wars in North America Negro soldiers had followed the fortunes of military life, and won the applause of white patriots on two continents. So then all history furnished a precedent for the guidance of the United States. Government in the Civil War in America.

But there were several aggravating questions which had to be referred to the future. In both wars in this country the Negro had fought a foreign foe-an enemy representing a Christian civilization. He had a sense of security in going to battle with the colonial fathers; for their sacred battle-songs gave him purpose and courage. And, again, the Negro knew that the English soldier had never disgraced the uniform of Hampden or Wellington by practising the cruelties of uncivilized warfare upon helpless prisoners. In the Rebellion it was altogether different. Here was a war between the States of one Union. Here was a war between two sections differing in civilization. Here was a war all about the Negro; a war that was to declare him forever bond, or forever free. Now, in such a war the Negro appeared in battle against his master. For two hundred and forty-three years the Negro had been learning the lesson of obedience and obsequious submission to the white man. The system of slavery under which he had languished had destroyed the family relation, the source of all virtue, self-respect, and moral growth. The tendency of slavery was to destroy the confidence of the slave in his ability and resources, and to disqualify him for those relations where the noblest passion of mankind is to be exercised in an intelligent manner-amor patriæ.

Negro soldiers were required by an act of Congress to fight for the Union at a salary of $10 per month, with $3 deducted for clothing-leaving them only $7 per month as their actual pay. White soldiers received $13 per month and clothing.'

The Negro soldiers had to run the gauntlet of the persecuting hate of white Northern troops, and, if captured, endure the most barbarous treatment of the rebels, without a protest on the part of the Government-for at least nearly a year. Hooted at, jeered, and stoned in the streets of Northern cities as they marched to the front to fight for the Union; scoffed at and abused by white troops under the flag of a common country, there was little of a consoling or inspiring nature in the experience of Negro soldiers.

1 This was remedied at length, after the 54th Massachusetts Infantry had refused pay for a year, unless the regiment could be treated as other regiments. Major Sturges, Agent for the State of Massachusetts, made up the difference between $7 and $13 to disabled and discharged soldiers of this regiment, until the 15th June, 1864, when the Government came to its senses respecting this great injustice to its gallant

soldiers.

"But none of these things" moved the Negro soldier. His qualifications for the profession of arms were ample and admirable. To begin with, the Negro soldier was a patriot of the highest order. No race of people in the world are more thoroughly domestic, have such tender attachments to home and friends as the Negro race. And when his soul was quickened with the sublime idea of liberty for himself and kindred-that his home and country were to be rid of the triple curse of slavery --his enthusiasm was boundless. His enthusiasm was not mere animal excitement. No white soldier who marched to the music of the Union possessed a more lofty conception of the sacredness of the war for the Union than the Negro. The intensity of his desires, the sincerity of his prayers, and the sublimity of his faith during the long and starless night of his bondage made the Negro a poet, after a fashion. To him there was poetry in our

flag-the red, white, and blue. Our national odes and airs found. a response in his soul, and inspired him to the performance of heroic deeds. He was always seeing something "sublime," "glorious," "beautiful," "grand," and "wonderful" in war. There was poetry in the swinging, measured tread of companies and regiments in drill or battle; and dress parade always found the Negro soldier in the height of his glory. His love of harmonious sounds, his musical faculty, and delight of show aided him in the performance of the most difficult manœuvres. His imitativeness gave him facility in handling his musket and sabre; and his love of domestic animals, and natural strength made him a graceful cavalryman and an efficient artilleryman.

The lessons of obedience the Negro had learned so thoroughly as a slave were turned to good account as a soldier. He obeyed orders to the letter. He never used his discretion; he added nothing to, he subtracted nothing from, his orders; he made no attempt at reading between the lines; he did not interpret-he obeyed. Used to outdoor life, with excellent hearing, wonderful eyesight, and great vigilance, he was a model picket. Heard every sound, observed every moving thing, and was quick to shoot, and of steady aim. He was possessed of exceptionally good teeth, and, therefore, could bite his cartridge and hard tack. He had been trained to long periods of labor, poor food, and miserable quarters, and therefore, could endure extreme fatigue and great exposure.

His docility of nature, patient endurance, and hopeful dispo