Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1896-12-22

Lot Of Children OF a Larger Growth.
enlisted af.or graduation at Yale In the
Twentieth Connecticut regiment and was
commissioned first lieutenant Of Company
+. Our service during S62 and 1868 was
with the Army 0f the Potomac until after
the battle of Gettysburg, In which we par
ticpated, when the Twelfth corps, under
the command ~ General Hooker, Fight
ing Joe, " was sent west to form part OF
General Shermans ) army About this time
the government was recruiting regiments
OF colorcd troops, measure / approved,
because thought the negroes should fight
for their own freedom and the elevation Of
tholr own race. and hecause, in other
words. As was said az the time, negro
would stop bullet ~ effectively as a white
man. believed too. that properly officer
ed and led the negroes would fight we'll, a
belief that was confirmed by experience.
saw four Chr-Jn. ,ps while In the
army for | was not mustered out until
lsS6--two with my old regiment, the
Twentieth Connecticut. and one, that Of
1860. while on detached service ns the judge
advocate Of "a general court martial Tho
Christmas which especially impressed IT.
self upon me, however. was that Of 1864,
which | spent with my new regiment, the
Forty. fourth l.. = C. I This regiment
was recruited from among the planta-
tion negroes recently slaves of northern
Gcorgia. Alabama and Tennessee, with
small spriBkiiug from Mississippi. Dec
%. 1851, was my first Christmas ~ a field
officer. and with the cOlDred troops-and
with al u them-it WAS their first Christ
mas as soldiers and with many of them
their first holiday as free men.
When Hood made his backward swing
from Atlanta toward Nashville, while
Sherman swung 20 on hi, famous march
10 the sea, the Forty fourth was among the
regiments left behind under Thomas 10
prevent the imucrious Hood from reach
ing the Ohio We were not with Schoheld
M franklin, one of the iiercest engage
mcuts ot the war We did succeed In get
ting into Nashville I'm time o take part In
the utter rout and dispersion Of Hoods
army on Dec n and l6 though IN getting
ther, our train ran into q cul dc sac lined
with Confederate batteries and We were
ONLY saved from annihlAton by the celer-
It's with which wc got ~ the train and
got behind cover That night, guided by
sumo II our Tennessee negroes who knew
the bypaths, we oludrd the Confederate
Ipickets and got into the Union lines.
Aftrr the fight we were sent to Chatta-
nooga and went into winter quarters. Our
men llycd I'm huts rude, but comfortable
In fact. most of them were better housed,
bettcrclothci and better fed than they had
ever been. aid. while subJect o. the restra!Dt
OF military discipline. enjoyed more real
freedom than they had ever before known.
As Christmas drcw nigh the c0lorcd troops
showed anxiety tn celebrate u appropriate
ly On all well conducted plutatl1ns in
the south before the war The holiday -,ason
was alwIysa for Enjoyment and feast
/ M with the blacks as we'll a. the whites.
The bonds Of slavery were temporarily re-
Taxed. and al went In for good time.
The white troop. were receiving from their
friends at home reminders that they We're
not forgotten IN the shape oi packages by
mail and boxes by train laden with food,
drink and clothing 81 a kind not provided
by Uncle Sam 5 commis~iry or quarter
master But our culor'd soldiers had no
friends at home % send them these tokens
of love and rcmemLmnce Thor friends.
when NOT still IN bondage, were poor, and
homes were vet thing ~ the future But
|
numerous o. their prices werc high The
officers of the regiment. both Held and line
hclpcd out tLa festivities of the black men
IN blue both ly contributions and by teach
inq them huw aid what tO buy The re-
suit wa. that so far rs creature comforts
were concerned the men Of the Forty
fourth. colur,d. Jared remarkably we'll on
their first Christmas Of freedom and Is sol
} diors.
The negro, like tho Chinese and Japa-
nese. Is initiative. but unlike them, he Is
musical. Asa race the negro possesses
positive genius for music both vocal and
instrumental The men II the Forty
fourth Col0rud were not 80 all behind In
this regard We hal number of string
bands among the men. In fact, every
company had one or more. They had
some very good performers among them,
some of those on the fiddle and banjo be-
ing remarkably good They played, Of
course by ear. knowing nothing Of writ
ten music There was one negro who
) played the accordion with marvellous skill.
Then. there were any number Of good
singers. one big fellow. the blackest man,
think. I ever saw. had tenor voice that
would have made the fame and fortune of
a white man II was clear and powerful
and a. sweet a. chime OF silver bells.
In ordinar, conversation be spoke in dia-
lect, yet in singing his pronunciation was
? correct. while his cnunciation was perfect
ly distinct He sang all the old iayOrite
ballads Of antebellum days and the war
songs Of the time His fayorite song,
though. was oue II his own composition.
Il. aII .frt.r frI-
ingnles. orange groves and cotton fields,
running brooks aud wayeless bayous,
trackless forests and hunted animals. The
, language was crude. yet endowed with the
spirit Of poetry
This nan was the leader Of "A band OF
choral singers formed hy one of our lieu
tenants, who had a musical turn, % sing
Christmas and war songs. And how they
did sing them Christmas eve was passed
, In this way sweet and touching were the
Christmas carols they sang. but they were
at their best when they gave musical voice
70 the fact that John Browns soul goes
marching on. This they sang as though
inspired, and when q thousand voices Joined
, in the chorus, filing the frosty air with a
great sound Of chanting, the effect was one
III never forget This singing and the
, music were the most characteristic featutes
OF our Christmas festivities. the one In
which We all participated as performer or
listener. and the one which afforded the
most universal pleasure and delight. Thus
all OF Christmas eve was passed. Christ
mas morning my striker, boy about IS
OF ~. black, careless, shrewd, impudent
and faithful, woke me up by crying:
: I "Crismus gif, majah, Crismus gif',
sab Izc dc fus. Wot ye gwine TO glib me
! "A drinH'
He lodged a boot and got his drink.
Thus my first Christmas with the colored
} troops began We Of course had our .ndis-
pensable military duties 70 perform, and
we formed the regiment in hollow square
on the parade ground to listen TO divine
service Then the day WAS given up TO Iol-
lity and neniment OF course the chief
a interest Of the day, especially with the col
a ored men. centered In the dinner table. IL
, is sufficient 20 say that they got the best
/. dinner they had ever had. After that they
I whiled away the time in singing and danc-
, ing, swapping stories Of their old life In
a slavery, now ended for them and soon TO
+ be for all wherever the stars and stripes
Goated; ran races and engaged in such
games as their plantation life had made
them familiar with and generally were
boisterously merry, filing the air with
their shouts of glee and unctuous negro
laughter They were a tired and happy lot
: OF big, black, oyergrOwn children when
taps, "lights out, " sounded that night and
ended day that 70 many of them no doubt
seemed 10 sat for TIE q ST time the seal OF
reality on tint wonderful possession, per-
sonal nc.z lin. IuOS B KIRBY.