Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1864-08-27
From the Boston Advertiser.
Gen. sherman On NcuTo H'rOO1

From the Boston Advertiser.
Gen. sherman on Negro Troops.
Mr.. Spooner, agent for recruiting for
Massachusetts in General Sherman's de-
partmont, lately received from an officer the
following remarkable letter, setting forth in
u clear, shrewd and blunt manner, charac-
teristic of the man, the Generals opinions
on the mission in which Mr.. Spooner and
many other gentlemen are at present en-
gagged. The irony of the second paragraph
is highly amusing:
HEADQUARTERS, MILITARY DIVISION OF
THE Mississippi, IN THE FIELD,
NEAR ATLANTA, GA, July 80, 1854.
John Il. Spooner Esq, dgont for the Common
srealh Of Massachusetts,, NashciHe, Tenn:-
SIR-Yours from Chattanooga, July %,
Is received, notifying me of your appoint
ment by your State rs Lieutenant Colonel
and Provost Marshal of Georgia, Alabama
and Mississippi under the act of Congress,
approved July 4, 1868, to recruit volunteers
to be credited to the States respectively.
On applying TO General Webster Mt Nash
vile, he will grant you pass through our
lines to those States, and as have had
considerable experiance in those States,
would suggest recuiting depots to be es-
tablished at Macon andF Columbus, Miss,
Selma, Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama,
Columbus, AIilledgeville and Savannah,
Georgia.
do not see that the law restricts you to
black recruits but you are at liberty to col.
lect white recruits also. 1t is q waste OF
time and money to open rendezvous In
Northwest Georgia; for | assure you that
have not seen an able bodied man, black or
white, there, fit for a soldier, who was not
in our army or the one opposed to 1t.
You speak of the impression going
abroad that l am opposed to the organiza-
| ton of colorcd regiments.
My opinions are usually very positive,
| and there is no reason why you should not
know them.
Though entertaining profound reverence
for our Congress, ! do doubt their wisdom
in the passage of this law:
/. Because civilian agents about an army
are nuisance
9. The duty of citizens to fight for their
country is too sacred one to be peddlcd oil
by buying up the refuse of other States.
3. 1t is unjust to the brave soldiers and
volunteers who are fighting, as those who
compose this army do, to place them on a
pair with the class of recruits you are after.
4. The negro is u transition state, and is
not the equal Of u white man.
5. lie is liberated from his bondage by
| act of war, and the armies in the field are
entitled to all his assistance in labor and
fighting in addition to the proper quotas of
the State.
&. This bidding and barterlng for recruits,
white and black, has delayed the reinforce
ments of our armies at the time when such
reintorcements would have enabled US TO
make our successes permanent.
Z. The law is an experiment which, pen
ding war, is unwise and unsafe, ana has de-
layeq the universal draft which | believe
has become necessary to overcome the wide
spread resistance offered us and ! also be-
! licvc the universal draft will be wise and
beneficial for under the providence of God,
| it will seperate the sheep from the goats,
and demonstrate what citizens will fight for
| their country, and what will only talk.
No one will infer from this that | am not
friend of the negro as well as of the white
race ! contend that the treason and re-
! bellion of the master freed the slave, and
the armies | have commanded have con-
Quoted to safe points more negroes than
! those Of any general officer i'll the army
but prefer negroes for pioneers, tcamstcrs,
cooks and servants, Others gradually to cX-
| pertinent in the art of soldier, beginning
with the duties of local garrisons, such as
we had at Memphis, Nicksburg, Natchez,
! Nashville and Chattanooga; but | would
not draw on the poor race for too large Il
proportion of its active, athletic young men,
| for some must remain to seek new homes
and provide for the Old and young, the fee.
bic and helpless.
These are some of my notions; but as
sure you they are shared by large proper
! tion Of our fighting men.
| You may show this to the agents of the
| other States in the same business with your
| self
am, &c,
T. w. SHERMAN, Major C eneral.