The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1862-09-19

dictates humanity policy equsIy nterest
while I am on the subject Of southern arairs, you
gill excuse The liberty lAks in saving tha. 40 not
sufficiently vigorous pursuing fer our
defense that quarter Except the few regular troops
o,iiin. neishborins sraies Those viii
impatient Of service and leave affairs in
uniformly .-pt militia. to nothing o. the man
obvious and veil known 'neon ina. a,end ms
time ought be lost 10 making draft OF militia to
serve twevemonth, Of North and South
Carooa aud Virginia. But south Carolina, being very
YEA. In her population Q, whites: may be oxeu,.d from
The t"o others may furnish about three thousand hve
sending any ruceors to this army The to the
northward OF Virginia will be fully able TO give compe
the forS. ana exer.ons q the three state, have
to wths; and the storm which has arisen and is
rhe troop. drafted mug. be thrown into bataiions.
vii arms nsed for their troops and bet
Of supplying them s be found, should en-
to levy contribution Of arms upon the militia at
fear this southern business will become very
With the iruest respect and esteem,
SIR you. .%Exas6ss TEX Isia;i'' nsai%fos
His Excsliency. JoHx JAY.
President OF Congress"
The projec. was warmly approved by
Major General Greene. and Laurens himself.
who proposed to lead the blacks. was enthu-
siastic in his hopes. In letter written
about this time, he says:
at appears that should be inexcusabIe In the
light Of citizen il did not continue utmost efforts
while there the slightest hope OF The
inteod to qualify. a dual effort. ohi that
were. Demosthenes! The AtheniaEs new deserved q
more bitter exprooAtion than our countrymen'
But the Legislature of South Carolina
decided, as might have been expected from
the most tory of States in the Revolution.
AAiksevs Ahey0ees stsaiesseesinsh shs Roaa.
4 wrtf ma EnOwn in hictorv m ro;,cfod Il. .u
rens' proposal-his own words give the best
account Of the failure:
"rwas oasvosed having only reason on my side. and
h. Ss.1 Of
unity in all assemblies i was some :.
: :.s :; 90 as: :s:s
twics many sudeages ss before
Washington says Mr.. Moore, 'comforted
Laurens with the confession that he was not
at all astonished by the failure of the plan.
adding:
ThAs spirit Of freedom which the commencement, OF
this contest gladly sacrificed every thing to
Of ,. 0Sss S na. % p.e not
pubiic private interest, which Influences the
eoss. An exception Under these circumstances would
rather have been surprising II you had succeeded"
| But the real lesson which this rejection
OF negro aid taught this country was bi ter
one. South Carolina lost twenty five thous-
aud negroes. and in Georgia between three
fourths and seven eighths of the slaves es
cared. The British organized them, made
great use of them. and they became dan
gerous and we'll disciplined bands of ma
rauders.' As the want of recruits in the
American army increased, negroes. both
bond and free. were finally and gladly Ia
ken. In the department under General
Washington's command, on August 24th.
i77S. there we're nearly eight hundred black
Ill Ind hAn
the black regiment Of Rhode Island slaves
which had just been organized.
In l77S General Varnum proposed to
Washington that battalion OF negro slaves
be raised. to be commanded by Colonel
Greene, Lieutenant Colonel Olney, and Ma
jor Ward. Washington approved of the
plan, which. however. met with strong op
position from the Rhode Island Assembly.
The black regiment was. however, ra,sed.
tried, 'hnd not found wanting As Mr..
Moore declares:
said by Lafayette The best fought action of
Clone Greene dis,n sushed itself by de-per
ate v.lo, repei,s three time. ts. aeros assaults o. an
continued dchAi their duty with zeal and hdey
I, is not improSahie Colonel John witness
ed and drew some Of his insPira Ion r'm the scene OF
n
was raised and commanded by the late
General Humphreys. who was attached to
the family Of Washington. OF this com.
pany cotemporary account says that they
conducted themselves with fidelity and ef-
iciency throughout the war; So. little by
little, the negro came to be an effective aid.
after all the formal reflections of his service.
In 1850. an act was passed in Mary land to
procure one thousand men to serve 3 years.
The property in the State was divided into
classes Of sixteen thousand pounds, each
of which Was. within twenty days. to fur
nish one recruit, who might be either free
man or slave. In 1871. the Legislature
resolved to raise. Immediately, seven hun.
dred and fifty negroes, to be incorporated
, with the other troops.
In Virginia an act had been passed in
1777. declaring that free negroes. and free
negroes only. might be enlisted on the foot
ing with white men. Great numbers Of
Virginisns who wished to escape military
service. caused their slaves to enlist. having
rendered them to the recruiting officers as
substitutes for free persons. whose lot or
duty il vas to serve in the army, at the
same time representing that these slaves
were fresmsn: On the expiration of the
term Of enlistment, the former owners at
! tempted 10 force them to return TO state
OF servitude. with equal disregard Of the
principles of justice and their own solemn
promise.
The iniquity Of such proceedings soon
raised . storm Of indignation. and the re-
suit was the passage Of m Act Of Emanci-