The National tribune., 1902-11-13

Every American schoolboy knows the
| result of the battle of New Orleans. but
how many of them are aware of the i'm
portant historical fact that one-twelfth OF
Jackson's army that SO heroically defend
ed New Orleans were AfrO-American vol
| unteers?
We come now to the slave-owners re-
bellion, the great American civil war,
where the Afro-American came to the
| front as soldier in defense of National
unity and National honor as well as in
defense Of his own inalienable rights, and
| there he truly earned the right to life,
| liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with
| each and every other right that belongs
to any American citizen.
The American civil war, one of the
most terrible wars, in all history, grew
directly out of the question OF slavery.
| The event of 1919 at Jamestown, Vlr-
ginia, small as it seemed at the time
only the purchase and enslavement of ~
poor, friendless negroes stolen from their
| African homes-had borne bitter fruit.
The mills of the gods grind slowly, bur
they never cease to turn, and 1t matters
not as to the quantity or quality of the
grist, these everlasting mills of justice
will grind it out at last.
For nearly two and half centuries
this boasted "land of the free and home
Of the brave" had been in fact land of
oppression for whole race of people and
| the home of millions Of slaves, but
through all those guilty years the mills
of the gods ground on, and the time came
when, in the language of Abraham Lin
coin, the Liberator, the God appointed,
the immortal, every drop Of blood drawn
by the lash from the enslaved negro s
back demanded in atonement another drop
| of blood drawn by the engines and
weapons of war from the heart of tie
Anglo-American."
| But surely God demanded not that the
victim of more than 200 years Of bonds
and stripes and unrequited toll should
furnish his quota of that atoning blood
| Here is the most remarkable fact COIL
nected with that great war-that the
Afro-American came forward cheerfully
and volunteered his strength, his Drawn,
his hearts blood to save the honor of
the flag that to him and his race had
been the symbol Of every dishonOr.
At first the Government was not will
ing to give the Afro-American an OppOr-
tunity to die for the Union and for Lib
erty, but after time it became evident
| to those in authority that we needed his
assistance. Some regiments of colOred
troops were recruited in 1862, but it was
not until January, 1868, that the United
States began in earnest to organize such
regiments. In May, 1863, a board was
organized in Washington, d. c., for the
examination of soldiers who were willing
| to accept positions as officers in these
regiments, and it was owing to this fact
that l am able to claim the honor of
holding a commission in a colored regi-
ment from December, 1868, until the
close Of the war.
| ORGANIZING A CoLoRED REGIMENT.
| During the last days Of December,
! 1863, Lieuts. Warren Ii. Hurd, Nj. Il.
/ Case and myself, with 2S enlisted negroes
and mule team loaded with supplies and
camp equipage, crossed over Long Bridge
from Washington into Virginia, and es-
tablished the nucleus of the 23d U. S. G.
L. at what was afterwards known as
Camp Casey"
| Then began the work of organizing and
| drilling-of manufacturing soldiers out of
raw recruits, many Of whom had been
slaves, most of whom had never handled
a gun in their lives. As fast as men
could be enlisted at the recruiting sta
tions in Washington and Baltimore they
were sent to us. Other officers reported
for duty from time to time as the work
progressed, and when the Spring cam.
paign opened in May, 1864, we had our
regiment ready for the field, although
some of the companies last organized had
but slight knowledge of the handling OF
arms.
| The recruiting station In Washington
was run by Capt. Sheetz, and from him
we received the original % men with
which we organized Co. A. We learned
later, when the first payday arrived and the
Paymaster visited the regiment, that large
majority of these first % recruits were
marked on the payrOlls as "deserters," and
$50 charged up against each name. The
men claimed they never had deserted, but
when they enlisted the Captain told them
they might 60 home and remain for q
few days until the camp was ready fol
them and that he would notify them
4 when to return to the Office for duty, and
that afterward he SO notified them by
sending a guard to bring them back to
the Office. 1 took some pains to inves
tigate the matter, and was fully satisfied
as all were who organized the regiment
that the men told the truth, and that
about 20 Of them had been robbed of $50
each, or an aggregate of $500. We re
ported what we learned to the Paymas
ter and other officials, but so far as
was able to learn no attention was given
! to 1t, and the defrauded private soldiers