North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1864-11-16
Negro soidIery In the conf.deracy.

provide future demands Of the war;, next
year, and so on, the purp,se is formed TO
call some two hundred and fify thousand
negro slaves into the Confederate ranks, as
soldiers.
To our mind, the surprising thing ia that
| the Confederate States have been 80 late in
coming to this determination. The hesita.
tlon has arisen from The fact of deep rooted
traditions of tie Christian ages still being
In those asricult ural, and hierarchial S ates
In the Middle Ages, the "Commons of the
Peace" exempted not only slaves, but all
humble laborerS on The SOIL, from the militia.
! ry career. In England, an act of these Com
! mons, rsti fled by Lords in Parliament, and
by the King, exempted from military service
| all who had not freehold OF twenty pounds
revenue each year. But, IN this, exception
was, of course, made, when it became auee.
| ton Of actual invasion uf the land. Then, all
| had 10 serve. While it was fight for po-
liticsl domination, or partisan ambition, the
'Comm"n" of the peace Of Grd," establish
ed 1t that such battles must be fought ont
by the magnates interested, with such rs
they might coax Or hire, but that the inter.
ests of humble labor, by which the people
lived, must not be Ipterfered with.
Modern standing armies, and modern
me,huds of warfare, have reyolutionized
| these human 1eas of Christian civilization.
When States are obliged to put forth THEN
lchole power, undsr IN 'dern military systems
| It Is folly to think of exemptug the grea
bulk Of the agricultural population. This &C
rion, hirhertD. on the part of the secedng
States Of the South, has been one OF the most
amazing evidences of the perfect confidence
they flet of their ability to sustain their &C
ton, and fight it OUT like gentlemen"
We we're surprised, IN 1861, when the war
broke out, that the Confederate States did
not utilize their negro laborers, by putting
them IN the ranks, They were unfit for the
more intrepid operations of the field. Tsey
would'never do to lead an attack, or to serve
"a viglant ,r;..Chets. But they could man
nreastwUrks, and serve as details in the
arduous labors that wear ,ut soldiers lives
The Confederate authorizes have gotten
over the punctllo OF excusing thei" slaves
from The common hazards oi battle. 1t was
pun"tilio A Methodist abolition nurse,
who WAS at Por, R'yaI in 1862, a very hor,-
est, enthusiastic woman, n her %G.y. told us
the stcry of H@""e oI South Carolina gen
n.~s,uan He had attended his master, and
done his part III the work Of preparation for
defence. On the eve Of the baul,, there, his
master babe him ''gn home You have done
nothing to expose yOnr life !" And the ne
gro was compelled 10 60, though, as he SAID,
asking, with tears in his eyes, to stay and
help his master in the fight.
A people who are, just now, debating the
use Of taer serv'le agricultural population as
common soldlers, are very far yet from being
"prshed to the wall 20
Tue calling into the army, whether BY
draft or by volunteering, of two or three hun
dred thousand negroes, now slaves, will not
interfere with the Institution nf negro slavery
al the Soafh. 1t will timyly cmanclpare
that many Of them-w,th, perhaps their
wives and children. There arc, already,
free negroes in all the Southern States
| Their condition is better than the cpm
m1n condition Of free negroes at the
North, but, hitherto, they have been looked
on by tn 'se who had masters as "poor mig
5ers, not woIth anythin9n' When trained
1" armN, and having acted as soldiers, they
can never again bc treated as slaves. Their
serVit1de must be roiuntary! But this will
be personal distinction. 1t will have no
kina vi effect ON the rest Cf tieir race
They tie negro s.ldiers- will be The frat,
and most earnest, to insist OH the dlscriini-
nation "you nggahs neber Tough with
F, m,,.. .s did. when the Yankees come kul,
aud burn Us all No, 60 long, That will
be poor Cuffy's patent Of nobility. .,
Negroes in the hands Of Southern men, iu-
dIclousy selected, will be a very different
| thing from negroes in the hands Of Northern
officers, The former knoU their 1cay $, and
moreover hsve real affection 'or them,
which the ne ,roes appreciate The latter
are brutal 70 them, or else, mistake by treat
ing them as equals. Either way destroys
negro confidence in the white man. Negroes
IN Northern hands are out Of place. Negroes
| in the hands of those who have known them
as masters and who are attached to them,
| will be formidable force.
The introduction Of the negro element in
to the military resources of the South, w hich
! is, II ow, we may concnde, resolved on, will
develop force on that side, that has not
! hitherto been understood.
| But, il will add much TO the atorcities cf
! the future years of war that threaten these
States. For the negro will not regard the
ussges CT civilized warfare !-Freemen's Jour
nal.