, 1865-12-28

/
tions; sti1l, some good and Jealous officer
were obtained, at:cTwaed, when the prcjudic
| agalnat this species Of troops had been orcl
come, higher class OF officers presente
themselves, and IN 1arger plumbers than coul,
be appointed. By means, also, Of frequen
statt, the careless and Indifferent officers wer
gotten rid Of, and more jealous ones appoint
ed. remained with the troops until the,
crossed the Mississippi River, At Bruins
burg, Miss, May l., and. atterwnrt
y Visited ths army on the Big Blacl
70 Memphis, Tenn., 70 visit The corps Of Maj
Gen. Hur1but- I visited the positions Of hi
corps as far as Corinth, BY circuEtous rout'
Of railroad Of some one hundred and eixt]
miles, and addressed the troops at seven dill
ierent stations on the first day !; then to u.
second day to the troops ut six different sta
tions, on the third day returning to Memphis
The weather was excessively hot, and the e.
posure and desertioD, together with previous
exposure. pEostrated me with sickness, md !
was ordered by my physician to leave the
country. alter several days Of sickness al
Memphis, Tenn, proceeded to Louisville,
Kentucky. where / was compelled t.
I remain In hospital over two weeks, Be-
| fore leaving Louisville, I authorized, june ls
Col. John A. Pile to raise coIored troops
under ny instructions, in the State of Mis-
souri,. He rendered good service, and was
subsequently rewarded BY the appointment OF
Brigadier General. Also, June Is, address
ed communication to Maj. Gen. Rosecrans,
commanding Department Of tho Cumberland,
at Murffeesborough Tenn, and urged him to
catFyout the yicWs of the Government, which
fully set forth to him. August 9, having
Cincinnati, Ohios- August 5, authorized Mai.
Gen. Burnside, commanding Department Of
Ohio, On bis entering Tennessee, to organize
colored troops. Likewise gire similar. au-
thos4ty to Maj. Gen. schoheld, who was ab-
sem. starting on an expedition Into Arkansas.
tue Commanding General 10 New Orleans,
La, to organize troops In the Department Of
the Gulf commanded by Mai. Gen. Banks. I
found, hoWevcs, that regiments Of tho Corps
d'AfF14ue, tWcnty-nInc In number, had been
Organized On the basis Of 500; and except, to
anthet1ze one regiment OF cavalry, directed
that the regiments should be filled up to the
maximum standard OF 1000 before another
would be authorized. This will account for
there being no additional regiments raIsed In
that Department except the one referred to.
The recruits obtained now. brought these reg
tnlents up to that standard.
Major George L. Steams, Assistant Adju-
tant General 5haying been ordered to Nash
vile, Tenn, to superintcnd the organization,
Of eoloFcd troops, reported to me, and found
that he entered into The duty With grcat zeal
and rendered good service. In the month of
December, I was compelled to leave tho Mis-
sissippi river IN consequence Of sickness. The
years. operations may be summed up as fol-
lows:
V1EHni1attons Ohcers. men,. -Agg.
Soe 'sssPs 1esy siiisry ii s. ~ 4,o: &;
-Four laitallons iisht artillery. ii s5 sW
Gwenty s four seg'e intantIy....: s45 1a7N 1867
Total. ....aaa .a:G1 a1,5aa
Other. regiments were authorized, but as
they were incomplete at this date, no returns
were rendered. The above number. are tnkea
IRON returns in the Adjutant Generals Office,
and arc below the numbers actually enlisted,
lion, could not have been less than 5000.
This may seem large estimate, but It Is
known TINT rnw troops early contract disease,
especially the mensles. and It Is further knoWn
that when the blacks become sick. not having
the vitality Of the white Eace, they sink under
disease, and the percentage Of mortality Il
very great. The able-bodied men were large
" employed In the several stat De.
partments, especially Mt the principal depots,
and by the troops themselves rs cooks and
servants, and some commanders ORES aIzed
them into pioneer parties, without being mus
tered into the service Of the United States,
Many were Induced by high wages to take
employment on the transports others again
readily found employment as wood choppers,
also as laborers IN towns on the river. Ad.
mira1 Porter statcd TO me that in the naval
1cet under his command, he had over 1000
ncsToes. state these facts to show why
larger amount Of colorcd men were not en-
listed.
Col. 4. Cummings, 10Th Regimen. Of Penn
sylvanA Cavalry, By your directions, reported
to me- ln Philadelphia, June 1. 1864, for duty,
and ordered him to Little Rock, Arkansas,
70 supcrintend the recruiting service In that
State. He e1erted himself, but as the negroes
had to great extent been sent to Texas,
comparatively few we're obtained Still some
regiments we're orgaulzed. He was 6ubse. |
9ucntly made Brigadier General. While at |
Louisville, Kentucky, In the mouth of Janu- |
IT; ~ d6S asS4 satisfied myself that from 5,ooo
the bounds OF that State Into Ohio, ILL
nois, Indiana and Tennessee, and that |
many OF them had enlisted Ia various Or
ganizationa, some into regiments being raised
II The Eastern States; also, that the entire
Of ferment. This induced me to proceed to
to Governor Bramlcttc. This did. and fllIly
set forth my opinions, urging them with what
.bDity possessed. I represented that slaYcry
vas forever at an end, to which the Governor
stantly passing the borders OF the State, and
1t could not be prevented: urged that I
might take the ablc-bodted men and organ
Ise them into troops: whereby the owners
Ehoir muster, and the State receive credit
On the quota for the draft. The Governor,
Who generally asserting, urged thai / would |
not establish recruiting stations In the State,
but deetst from my purpose, shifting that the
pie Of Kentucky, that they did not desire lie
General Government 10. Interfere and that
they desired to manage the institution In their
own way He especially deprecated any ayl-
Iation ut that time, stating also that Ken.
lucky would come up 10 the measure
egal enactment provide ior the extefnln.
atlou Of Slavery. lie remarked that,
under their present laws, some four
or dTc years would be necessary to fully ac-
,omplish this measure. ! conversed with
noss, and perhaps with nearly all, the MEM
,ers Of the Legislature. which was then In
session, all Of whom took the ground ndvo-
:ated By the Governor, and some Of them
wen requested TINT 1 should remove nv re-
:ruiting stations In Tennessee, On tie borders
# Kentucky. Finding this feeling SO preya-
ent m the State, Withdrew from 1t without
reporte to you from Louisville, under date
# Feb. l. The first recruiting Ia Kentucky /
at PnducAh, under Second Lieut..
}. Cunningham, I'd Illinois Artillery. IN Feb
uary, pursuant to request made 10 you by
he member Of Congress from. the First Dis
rict, In which P1ducah is situated The
lieutenant was authorized to raise regiment
Il artillery to man The works at thnt place.
Brig. Gen. Chetlain reported 10 ne, and ! |
sstgncd him as Superintendent ut the recruit
ug service in West Tennessee, mud afterwards
. the entire State. He proved a most valua-
lie officer, for found him to possess inteIlI-
;ence and zeal, with rarc qualification for
he organization Of troopa. He never failed
n any duty to which he was assigned, either
8 Superintendent or rs m Inspector, to which
alter duty I also assigned him; and an
ratified that he was subsequently, rewarded
y the brevet Of Major General.
Feb. 9, Maj. stearns having relinquished
is position 10 Tennessee as Superintendent |
4 the Recruiting Service, ! appointed Capt.
!. D: Hussey, who had acted as bis assistant,
he Superintendent. BE was subsequently
aadc the Colonel Of the 10oth regiment Of
olored troops, and coatinued to perform The
utics of Superintendent until recruiting had
cased, and lie rendered most efficient service.
Ie, too, has been properly rewarded by the
revet Of Brisadier General. -
Having returned to Louisville, Ky., in
unc, I BECAME satisfied that the time had
nlly arrived for the organization Of colored
roops in that State, as the negroes were
apidly coming to our military stations.
iy purpose Of doing 30, mentioned to yon
q Washington, and received your verbal
anction- Accordingly, on the 18th Of juno,
y my order No. 20 Of that date, directed
hat recruiting should commence through
'nt the entire statc, and Designated conrt
# reception In eaeh Congressional District |
where the negroes would 6e received aud or.
:aniZed into regiments. I designated Brig.
icu. Chetlain a. the Superintendent, who en-
Grad upon the duty and continued IL Its per-
ortnanee until July 9, when he was relieved
It The request Of Minor General Bur-
ridge commanding in Kentucky, mado
10Th to you and myself, who desired
he superintendence as he had, rs well
NEW, taken special interest In this measure,
1t on all proper occasions, aud
sith benefit to the service, rs he was then
he owner Of many blacks; under these cir