The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-12-28

master, and therefore deride the idea
that any considerable number of the
servile race can be induced to take up
arms in support of the South. EXpe-
ricnce alone must teach these skeptics
Of their error
! Does any one doubt the South can.
| raise, equip and put in the field three
| hundred thousand negro soldiers, who
| will prove as efficient to her in a mill
! tary cause as our sable auxiliaries prove
| to us? Let Us see. She has full three
millions Of slaves and among them there
| Is n much larger proportion of@ablc-
bodied men than among the same mum
/ ber OF whites in any country. If she
| could contribute one IN five of her white
! population to the war, she can certainly
contribute one in two Of her slaves. The
! only difficulty will arise from the neces-
sary reduction of her agricultural pro
duccrs; but this will hardly prove SO
! much as an Inconvenience, since owing
to the influx into her present limited ter
! Tltory of slaves from States overrun by
our armies, she can readily spare three
| hundred thousand able-bodied negroes
without serious damage to her producing
resources.
VIII they fight? "Thero's the rub"
derisively cxclaims the AbOlltionist, who
thinks he knows more Of the natural III
stinct aud educated sympathy of the
| Southern slave than he knows Of those
| of his own race. Says he, with conf
| denCe, " You may raise, arm and put
them in the field, but they won't fight
! like our negro soldiers" What founda-
| tion has he for this ilattering conclusion
| Men fight at the bidding of incentives OF
many kinds, and their yalor is called
| forth in proportion as their incentives
are strong or weak Array an army OF
Southern slaves against an army of Fed
cral negroes, as the South proposes, and
which will have the strongest incentive
To fight! Certainly the Southern slaves
The best part Of our negro auXiliarieS
/ arc impressed in the army; and those Of
! the remainder that are not hribed into
! the service by hountieS, take up arms
| only TO secure the ncccssaricS of life
food and clothes. The small per cent.
! that fight voluntarily mast know that
| their assistance will never be properly
appreciated on recognized. Looking be-
yoid the war, they see but little in their
| future lot above a condition Of slavery to
| the white race. What incentives have
| those classes to fight that cannot be
| found influencing the Southern slave to
| fight III the interest Of the rebellion ?
| The latter are offered their freedom and
fifty acres Of land in the South, which
guarantees them q home in the land
claiming all their native Sympathies and
| associations, while the former fight tOr
nought.
So far, we have only viewed the differ
ent interests which prevail on therespcc.
tive sides. Bnt there is another influence
ut W ork upon the Southern slave tending
to make him play the part of a faithful
soldier to the rebellion 1t Is that rcla-
ton, affection and sympathy between
himself and master. It's existence was
once generally diScrcdltcd in the North,
in spite ni manifold proofs ; but the war
has furnished too many notorious Incl
dents of the devotion of Il majority OF
the slaves to allow it longer to he doubt
cd Thousands of slaves follow their
masters, be they in the ranks or mt the
head of armies, through the dangers of
the battle field, and many have laid down
their lives as the price OF the tetnerity
dictated 10y their love. During Earlys
last invasion Of Maryland, General
McCausland owed his life to the valor OF
his faithful body servant, who came to
the rescue of his master when hard
pressed by Averill's troops, and relieved
him by seriously wounding the Federal
captain at the head Of the attacking party.
General McCauSland is represented as
the toughest of Virginia's cavaliers, yet
he binds the heart Of his lowly slave by
the ties of affection that cannot be stited
by the dangers of battle. There are
many such masters and slaves in the
South