Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1862-07-23

receiving it on the part Of my regiment, 1 had
them kneel down, and with uplifted hands
swear to redeem the good name Of Indiana.
lT"Good," and spplause.l And they knelt
down, one and all, and took the solemn oath.
| "a voice" And they have kept it"l Yes,
they have Loud applausel Not many
weeks ago, the old aag under which we took
the oath, was given back, and put away in the
Tiall from which was taken. At Donelson its
stripes were shot ragged with bullets. Zap
plausel It was but tattered fragment ofits
former self and its original glory when given
back. Wherever It hoated we had victory.
rApplause.l
Again, my Eellow-citizens, we, Indanians
complained-and we are given to complaints,
you know-it seems to be the nature of men
lit is, particularly, the disposition Of soldiers
Each one seems to have his little complaint.
Sometimes he tells II, but most often he keeps
it to himself [Laughter.l Well, one of our
complaints was that our regiments, now sixty
three in number actually in the field, were
not put together in some department, that
they might fight side by ssde. But Of late
DAYS 1 have changed my opinion. 1t is bet
ter for us, better for the honor Of our State,
better for the glory Of cur arms, that we are
scattered-y7e Indisnians-as we have been.
There is no fight, no victory, that now rec
olect Of in which Indiana has not had share
[Applausel When the war is over, and the
time comes to build monuments, as a gener-
ous people will build them, whenever NON
ument is built It viii be in the honor of In
diana-ia conjunction, Of course, with other
States. [Applausel When the historian
comes to write history of the war, and he
tells Of the gallant deeds Of regiments from
other States on the banks of the Mississippi
marches, be sure-and say this with infinite
pride-be sure there will be something said
about Representative Regiment from Indiana.
Applause am no politician. Cries Of
' Good for that" and Don't want any now
a-days"l Probably for regular speech, I
had been much obliged to some of my political
friends if they had made 1t for me. r. Keep
them in the dark, and laughter.l Ifitis ex-
Pected that am to speak on subjects of a
political character tonight, know I should
been obliged to some of them to have per-
formed the task for me- If touch upon
them, bear me witness that speak of them
not as a politician, but as a soldier. [Applaues]
I was at the Senate Chamber to-day. They
were discussing the policy of the war The
question in agitation was, or what at least
seemed to be the paramount question, "Shonld
the negro be used or not2" [Cries of "Yes,"
eyes" and "No," not Well, I find my
audience precisely as found the Senate
Laughter and applauseJ Some said "yes,'
and some said no',-just as you are saying.
[Laughter.l A voice-"Will You give us a
soldiers opinion ?" Yes. let me speak about
that as soldier, r. Good"l not as apolitician.
q T''Don't want any politicians y He would be
a poor soldier in my opinion, who would fail
to use every element of war which God Al
= mighty gave him, If he could use it to his ad-
vantage Prolonged and enthusiastic cheer
= ing.l I think you concur with me in that at
least. TCries of ' Certainly we do y Every
sensible man Wilt Now, then, if we find
the negro before US, or around us as we ad-
vance, planted there by some accident-Prov-
idence may have lad great deal to do with
= it-and we can find his services available,
: would not that General be a crazy man who
would refuse to use them ? [' Most assuredly,"
and applause.l So it seems to me, and my
J position may be plainly stated upon that. If
by the services Of a negro I can make my SOL
diers comfortable if by the services of band
ofnegroes I can relieve them of onerous du-
ties and hard work; if can make them avail
able to dig my trenches ["That's right, v shall
not do it2 [Cries of " Yes, yes" Loud ap-
plauseI Yes, and will do it. [Vocierous
cheering A voice =" Soldiers will follow you
to the death for that" Another voice-"Put
no arms in their hands" Several voices,-''Oh
= yes, as many as they want"l Now, then, let
me speak about that. [Cries of All right
now" You are mighty good boy.'l If
I except Of the services of negro, and he
works well and faithfully, fed by us, clothed
by us, and he stands by my gallant regiment,
= relieving them of the hard duties have mem
toned, would it not be cruel to put them into
the army, in the " Eay of shot, and yet give
him nothing with which to defend bimseli2
TCries Of " That's so, and loud and continued
= cheering Ny fellow-citizens, I speak as
soldier all the time, recollect; am not view
, ing this matter in its political aspect, for
have as much prejudice against the negro po-
litically, and am as much opposed to slavery
agitation as any Of you can be. Yet where
he can be made available, let US make him so.
Then what shall we do with him? A voice
Place him in the rear" No, put him in
3 front" (Applause.) A voice" In the ditch. J
Stop one moment; there is policy in war as
r well as in politics One thing is very certain
nothing is to be so carefully guarded against
as the prejudices Of the soldiers, and unless it
was some desperate occasion, some last resort,
when even soldiers would be grateful for their
assistance, I would not propose to put him in
the line Of battle to the 'front.' ["That's the
true doctrine, and applausel But to every
brigade I would have 3 regiment Of negroes
to every company I would have lair COM
, plement of cooks. [ApplauSeJ Iwould feed