Mr. D. Aden in a letter to Col. Darling, dated Norfolk, Va., Feb. 22, 1864, said:

"During the expedition last October to Charles City Court House, on the Peninsula, the colored troops marched steadily through storm and mud; and on coming up with the enemy, behaved as bravely under fire as veterans. An officer of the 1st N. Y. Mounted Rifles-a most bitter opponent and reviler of colored troops-who was engaged in this affair, volunteered the statement that they had fought bravely, and, in his own language, more expressive than elegant, were bully boys'which coming from such a source, might be regarded as the highest praise.

"During the recent advance toward Richmond to liberate the Union prisoners, the 4th, 5th, and 9th regiments formed part of the expedition and behaved splendidly. They marched thirty miles in ten hours, and an unusually small number straggled on the route."

Col. John A. Foster of the 175th New York, in January, 1864, wrote to Col. Darling as follows:

"While before Port Hudson, during the siege of that place, I was acting on Col. Gooding's staff, prior to the arrival of my regiment at that place. On the assault of May 27, 1863, Col. Gooding was ordered to proceed to the extreme right of our lines and oversee the charge of the two regiments constituting the negro-brigade, and I accompanied him.

We witnessed them in line of battle, under a very heavy fire of musketry, and siege and field pieces. There was a deep gully or bayou before, them, which they could not cross nor ford in the presence of the enemy, and hence an assault was wholly impracticable. Yet they made five several attempts to swim and cross it, preparatory to an assault on the enemy's works; and in this, too, in fair view of the enemy, and at short musket range. Added to this, the nature of the enemy's works was such that it allowed an enfilading fire. Success was impossible; yet they behaved as cool as if veterans, and when ordered to retire, marched off as if on parade. I feel satisfied that, if the position of the bayou had been known and the assault made a quarter of a mile to the left of where it was, the place would have been taken by this negro brigade on that day.

On that day I witnessed the attack made by the divisions of Generals Grover and Paine, and can truly say I saw no steadier fighting by those daring men than did the negroes in this their first fight.

"On the second assault, June 14th, in the assault made by Gen. Paine's division, our loss was very great in wounded, and, as there was

a want of ambulance men, I ordered about a hundred negroes, who were standing idle and unharmed, to take the stretchers and carry the wounded from the field. Under a most severe fire of musketry, grape, and canister, they performed this duty with unflinching courage and nonchalance. They suffered severely in this duty both in killed and wounded; yet not a man faltered. These men had just been recruited, and were not even partially disciplined. But I next saw the negroes (engineers) working in these trenches, under a heavy fire of the enemy. They worked faithfully, and wholly regardless of exposure to the enemy's fire."

Mr. Cadwallader in his despatch concerning the battle of Spottsylvania, dated May 18th, says:

"It is a subject of considerable merriment in camp that a charge of the famous Hampton Legion, the flower of Southern chivalry, was repulsed by the Colored Troops of General Ferrero's command."

These are but a few of the tributes that brave and true white men cheerfully gave to the valor and loyalty of Colored Troops during the war. No officer, whose privilege it was to command or observe the conduct of these troops, has ever hesitated to give a full and cheerful endorsement of their worth as men, their loyalty as Americans, and their eminent qualifications for the duties and dangers of military life. No history of the war has ever been written, no history of the war ever can be written, without mentioning the patience, endurance, fortitude, and heroism of the Negro soldiers who prayed, wept, fought, bled, and died for the preservation of the Union of the United States of America!

1 New York Herald, May 20, 1864.

CHAPTER XX.

CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS.

THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROes DistasteFUL TO THE REBEL AUTHORITIES. THE CON-
FEDERATES THE FIRST TO EMPLOY NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. — JEFFERSON DAVIS REFeks to the
SUBJECT IN HIS MESSAGE, AND THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS ORDERS ALL NEGROES CAPTURED
TO BE TURNED OVER TO THE STATE AUTHORITIES, AND RAISES THE "BLACK FLAG" UPON
WHITE OFFICERS COMMANDING NEGRO SOLDIERS. THE NEW YORK PRESS CALLS UPON THE
GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT ITS NEGRO SOLDIERS. SECRETARY STANTON'S ACTION. — THE
President's Order. CORRESPONDEnce betweenN GEN. PECK AND GEN. PICKETT IN REGARD
TO THE KILLING OF A COLORED MAN AFTER HE HAD SURRENDERED AT THE BATTLE OF NEW-
BERN. -- SOUTHERN PRESS ON THE CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. THE
Rebels refusE TO EXCHANGE NEGRO SOLDIERS CAPTURED ON MORRIS AND JAMES ISLANDS ON
ACCOUNT OF THE ORDER OF THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS WHICH REQUIRED THEM TO DE
TURNED OVER TO THE AUTHORITIES OF THE SEVERAL STATES. - JEFFERSON DAVIS ISSUES A
PROCLAMATION OUTLAWING GEN. B. F. BUTLER. HE IS TO BE HUNG WITHOUT TRIAL BY
ANY CONFEDERATE OFFICER WHO MAY CAPTURE HIM. THE BATTLE OF FORT PILLOW. - THE
GALLANT DEFENCE BY THE LITTLE BAND OF UNION TROOPS. — IT REFUSES TO CAPITULATE
AND IS ASSAULTED AND CAPTURED BY AN OVERWHELMING FORCE. THE UNION TROOPS
BUTCHERED IN COLD BLOOD. THE WOUNDED ARE CARRIED INTO HOUSES WHICH ARE FIRED
AND BURNED WITH THEIR HELPLESS VICTIMS. MEN ARE NAILED TO THE OUTSIDE OF BUILD-
INGS THROUGH THEIR HANDS AND FEET AND BURNT ALIVE.— -THE WOUNDED AND DYING
ARE BRAINED WHERE THEY LAY IN THEIR EBBING BLOOD. THE OUTRAGES ARE RENEWED
IN THE MORNING, DEAD AND LIVING FIND A COMMON SEPULCHRE IN THE TRENCH.- GENERAL
CHALMERS ORDERS THE KILLING OF A NEGRO CHILD. TESTIMONY OF
THE FEW UNION
SOLDIERS WHO WERE ENABLED TO CRAWL OUT OF THE GILT EDGE, FIRE PROOF HELL AT
PILLOW. THEY GIVE A SICKENING ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE BEFORE THE SENATE
COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. GEN. FORREST'S FUTILE ATTEMPT TO DE-
STROY THE RECORD OF HIS FOUL CRIME. FORT PILLOW MASSACRE WITHOUT A PARALLEL
IN HISTORY.

T

HE appearance of Negroes as soldiers in the armies of the United States seriously offended the Southern view of "the eternal fitness of things." No action on the part of the Federal Government was so abhorrent to the rebel army. It called forth a bitter wail from Jefferson Davis, on the 12th of January, 1863, and soon after the Confederate Congress elevated its olfactory organ and handled the subject with a pair of tongs. After a long discussion the following was passed:

"Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, In response to the message of the President, transmitted to Congress at the commencement of the present session, That, in the opinion of Congress, the commissioned officers of the enemy ought not to be de

livered to the authorities of the respective States, as suggested in the said message, but all captives taken by the Confederate forces ought to be dealt with and disposed of by the Confederate Government.

"SEC. 2. That, in the judgment of Congress, the proclamations of the President of the United States, dated respectively September 22, 1862, and January 1, 1863, and the other measures of the Government of the United States and of its authorities, commanders, and forces, designed or tending to emancipate slaves in the Confederate States, or to abduct such slaves, or to incite them to insurrection, or to employ negroes in war against the Confederate States, or to overthrow the institution of African Slavery, and bring on a servile war in these States, would, if successful, produce atrocious consequences, and they are inconsistent with the spirit of those usages which, in modern warfare, prevail among civilized nations; they may, therefore, be properly and lawfully repressed by retaliation.

"SEC. 3. That in every case wherein, during the present war, any violation of the laws or usages of war among civilized nations shall be, or has been, done and perpetrated by those acting under the authority of the Government of the United States, on the persons or property of citizens of the Confederate States, or of those under the protection or in the land or naval service of the Confederate States, or of any State of the Confederacy, the President of the Confederate States is hereby authorized to cause full and ample retaliation to be made for every such violation, in such manner and to such extent as he may think proper.

"SEC. 4. That every white person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, train, organize, or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate States, or who shall voluntarily aid negroes or mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack, or conflict in such service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the

court.

"SEC. 5. Every person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such in the service of the enemy, who shall, during the present war, excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be excited, a servile insurrection, or who shall incite, or cause to be incited, a slave or rebel, shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.

"SEC. 6. Every person charged with an offence punishable under the preceding resolutions shall, during the present war, be tried before the military court attached to the army or corps by the troops of which he shall have been captured, or by such other military court as the

President may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations as the President shall prescribe; and, after conviction, the Fresident may commute the punishment in such manner and on such terms as he may deem proper.

"SEC. 7. All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, shall, when captured in the Confederate States, be delivered to the authorities of the State or States in which they shall be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or future laws of such State or States."

This document stands alone among the resolves of the civilized governments of all Christendom. White persons acting as commissioned officers in organizations of Colored Troops were to "be put to death!" And all Negroes and Mulattoes taken in arms against the Confederate Government were to be turned over to the authorities-civil, of course-of the States in which they should be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or future laws of such States! Now, what were the laws of the Southern States respecting Negroes in arms against white people? The most cruel death. And fearing some of those States had modified their cruel slave Code, the States were granted the right to pass ex post facto laws in order to give the cold-blooded murder of captured Negro soldiers the semblance of law,--and by a civil law too. Colored soldiers and their officers had been butchered before this in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, notwithstanding the rebels were the first to arm Negroes, as has been already shown. If the Confederates had a right to arm Negroes and include them in their armies, why could not the Federal Government pursue the same policy? But the Rebel Government had determined upon a barbarous policy in dealing with captured Negro soldiers, and barbarous as that policy was, the rebel soldiers exceeded its cruel provisions. tenfold. Their treatment of Negroes was perfectly fiendish.

But what was the attitude of the Federal Government? Silence, until the butcheries of its gallant defenders had sickened the civilized world, and until the Christian governments of Europe frowned upon the inhuman indifference of the Government that would force its slaves to fight its battles and then allow them to be tortured to death in the name of "State laws!" Even the most conservative papers of the North began to feel that some