The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-08


sword In his left hand; and leads his men.
Advance the colors TO the front,n cries the
General. Anselmo, the brave color-bearer
springs to the front; he is shot, he falls he hugs
the flag TO his bosom. Two corporals struggle
with each other for the colors, one is killed by
a shell, the other takes the flag and bears it
trIumphaatly to the front.
forward! and with one pulse sublime
And ringing tread OF ancient rhyme
They sweep; and onward as they sweep
The thundeTs of the cannon leap Ti
Upon them, and their bleeding host
Within the battle-cloud is lost.
Flash sword and bayonet shot and shell
Fly screaming in that mist of hell;
But onward onward, undismayed
They hold their way, the Black Brlgade
And On-and on-and on they tread
And all the field is heaped with dead,
And slippery grows the ground with gore,
But onward, onward, yet once more; IT..
In vainl in vain! the noated wall
Mocks them, but valiantly they fall.
Anselmo dies, but to his breast
The flag he bore in life is pressed"
"Those rife pits must be taken, t" shouted the
General. Five hundred men rush forward.
They are lost to view in the dense smoke. The
roar Of artillery, the rattle OF musketry, the
groans of the dying and the wounded fill the
air. The smoke clears away-they have taken
the pits! they have taken the pits! Cheer after
cheer goes up from the whole line of the
national troops; the whites take 1t up, and the
woods in the distance reverberate with the
cheers, like rolling thunder, and it echoes
along the banks OF the river, the fleet take it
up, and cheer after cheer rises from the gun
boats. Our men hold the works for three
hours, amid storm of shot, shell, and mus
kerry. All the guns of the Rebel fort turn
against them, but they do not fater. The
order for retreat is given, and our brave
boys return. Great was the slaughter, and
humanity can scarcely forgive General Banks
tor the sacrlhce. But did these valiant men die
tor naughR
The speaker then passed to the fields
of Olustee, Florida, and Honey HILL South
Carolina, the achievements OF the colored
in Qt.,tp hnfn
vividly portrayed. He then continued as fol-
lows:-
But it was not merely on the battlefield that
the blacks showed distinguished gallantry.
There is a heroism still more sublime than that
which makes man meet his tellow-man IN deadly
combat. 1t is that calm deliberate bravery
which, in the absence OF the clash OF arms,
causes one to forget himself for the good of
others, or to give his lite for the benefit of his
country. For an illustration of this let US go
back TO that fearful tragedy at Balls Bluff.
When our army was ordered to that point,
slave came to the commanding general and said,
'Massa, ,deIwoods ober deiribber Is full of secesh
eff you send SO few men deyll kill EN- al.n
The black man was told to ''get out of the
way;' and when it was found that he was
slave, he was promptly sent back over the
lines. The Union troops cross the river True,
the woods are filled with Rebel soldiers. They
attack our men; they are ten to our one. The
battle RACES for an hour and a half. The
Union men, outnumbered and oVerpowered, aIe
cut to pieces. The brave Baker, while cheering
up his Spartan band, Is shot, and falls. Ali
hope is lost; the men throw down their arms,
the Rebels cry, mo quarter ~ Night comes
on, that dreadful stormy night. The rain falls
in torrents, the river is turbulent, the current
is strong. Union men leap into the river; they
are fired upon until the water is dyed with
their blood. Our soldiers seek shelter along
the banks of the river, under cover OF the dark
ness. They are hunted out and killed.
a little further down the river row-boat, with
muffled oars is filled with Union soldiers. II
crosses and recrosses the river. The owner OF
the boat charges nothing-he only begs you to
keep still. The Union men call him the "Good
Samaritan" He is black, as he is the same man
who, the day before, was sent back over the
Union lines. In the humanity of his soul he
has forgotten the wrong, and now risks hls own
life to save the helpless white men. He ferries
over the river one hundred aud twenty soldiers.
! The next morning he is captured by the Rebels,
| and hung in the woods.
The kindness of the blacks of the South to all
! whites who needed their assistance was pro.
verbal during the Rebellion. Junius Henri
| Brown, in his -Four ears in Secessia," writing
of the escape of himself and friends, says: THE
negro who guided us to the railroad told us OF
! another of his race to whom we could apply
for shelter and food at the end of our next
! journey. We could not find him till nearly
! dawn, and when we did, he directed us to a
barn filed with corn husks. Into that we crept
! with our dripping garments and lay there for
fifteen hours, until we could again venture
! forth. Flounderng about in the husks we lost
! our haversack, pipe, and hat. About nine
o'clock we procured hearty supper from the
generous negro, who even gave me his hat.
''The black man did picket duty while we ate
our meal and stood by his blazing fire. The
old African and his wife gave us God bless
| you massa! with trembling voice and moist.
! ened eyes, as we parted with themswith grateful
hearts. God bless the negroesl say l, with
earnest lips. During our entire captivity and
after our escape, they were our firm, brave, un
hlnchlng friends. We never made an appeal tc
them they did not answer. They never hesi-
| lated to do us service, at the risk even o
life; and under the most trying circumstances
revealed devotion and a spirit of self-sacri
fce that were heroic. The magic word
Yankee opened all their hearts, and ELECTED
the lottiest virtues. They never abandoned OF
turned aside from man who sought food ol
shelter on his way to freedom"
This writer fairly represents the feelings OF
al classes OF whites who needed the aid OF the
blacks OF the South during the trying scenes OF
the Rebellion. They gave food to starving
Union men, they sheltered prisoners in theil
escape, and when the proclamation of Emanci
patton went forth they took up arms and gave
thelT nVes for the salvation of the Union. When
tne Federal Government called to its assistance
ihe colored population of the South, it pledged
70 10 'nem hberty and protection. BY accepting
the invitation to fight for the Union cause, they
aroused all the ill-teeling of their old masters,
Whlch is now showing itself in the unpIovoked
murders committed upon the freedmen. In
named bV loss of property in slaves and thelI
ueleats on the battle-heds, and armed with eX'
| SluslVe polltlcal privileges, the tyrants OF tnt
South are more oppressive to-day than ever
before; and the negro, even if technically free
ls sun slave while destitute OF civil and
| political rights.
The only thing to save the black man in the
South is the ballot. Liberty without equality
Is no boon. Talk not of civil without political
emanclpauon. II man has no vote for the
men ana the measures which tax himself, ms
ms properly, and all that determines NJ
ON io ogkfI II. iva