The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-22
AN APPEAL TO THE NEGROES.

AN APPEAL TO THE NEGROES.
Captain Gadsen agreed 30 that
Very weh,' said the colonel, come
here in three hours. 1 may misjudge
them, but L think you will get your
men,,
AS soon as Captain Gadsen had de-
parted Colonel Cannon summoned Cap
! tain and Quartermaster Charles B.
Wilder, who was directly in charge of
the contraband camp, and put the case
before him.
Captain Wilder entered upon the
work as if he intended to accomplish
! it. I'VE will not fall he said come
! down yourself and we will manage it
! between US"
Two hours later Captain Wilder has
$50 sturdy black men drawn up in a
| line. This was before emancipation,
and every one of them was still slave.
You have all of you seen the great
battle. between the Merrimac and the
Monitor he said, land you know that
the Merrimac is a powerful fighter. She
is coming out again and the four great
ships which you see yonder at anchor
are going to fight her. The battle will
be a hard one and will cost many lives.
When the crew of one of the big ships
heard what they had to do, they ran
away like towards and left her. Now,
Colonel Cannon and | want to know
if you will take the places of the cow
ardly runaWayS and fight the Merri-
mac until you send her To the bottom?
We want to know the worth of ycur-
selves and your country. Now who of
you will volunteer to go on board that
ship and take the places of the desert
ers?"
Not a man moved-Hot a sign of emo
ton was shown on the sphinX-like
faces. There was no response to Cap
tain Wilder's appeal.
Colonel Cannon was more than dis
appointed. is it true, then he asked
himself, that the negro is a mere ami
NAL, to be driven like an OK to his ac-
customsd task, and worthless for any
other? that he had no manhood-no
courage%' Then he reflected. For
generations these men have been mere
slaves with no will-with nothing that
they could call their own. How would
white men come out of such expert
ences? / will not give them up on
single trial.
He mounted box and looked in the
faces of the silent mass. Men! Who
was it, he asked, that fed you when
you We're hungry, and gave you clothes
and work az good wages when you
came into this camp cold and starved?'
exclaimed many voices
THE NEGROES MANLY RESPONSE
NO. Nor said the colonel ut
was your country. 1t was this free
government that we are fighting to
preserve-that will make you free men
if you will show that you deserve your
freedom-if you win prove your man.
hood. But no people ever gained free
dom without great sacrifices. Some of
you will have to shed your blood, to lay
down your lives; for no great blessing
like that of freedom was ever gained
by any people without paying a great
price for it. But every man who sur
wives VIII be hero, and those who fall
will be counted among the martyrs
who. died for their country and the
freedom of their race. 1t is a great
honor that [ am offering to fifty iof you
the privilege of going on board that
ship and taking the places of so many
white men. Captain Gadsen will com
mand you. He asks no one to risk
danger in which he does not fully
share Shall he leave this camp with
out his men? Shall he tell Abraham
Lincoln, your friend, that you are
parcel of sheep with liverS as white as
the faces of the cowardly deserters? |
Will not believe it,
The colonel paused. The men were
silent as the grave. But every eye was
fixed, every lip was firm, every hand
was clenched as the colonel concluded:
BOYS, let every man of you who will
go on board the Arago and help TO
fight her until she sinks the Merrimac
Tor herself goes to the bottom, step out
three PAGES to the front"
There was no more hesitation. With
heads erect, eyes steady, lips and hands
clenched and step as uniform as that
of a trained regiment at dress parade,
as if moved by one great iron muscle,
the double line stepped out three PAGES
and halted.
Captain Wilder raised small flag.
The guns of a field battery roared out
their salute. It's sound, mingled with
the cheers of 10000 white soldiers, was
waited up The peninsula and across the
Warwick river to Magruders Confed-