New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-01

fighting for the oppressed and threw himself
into what was to be his life work At first he
thought the negroes worse than Kanakas."
and wrote: Il am a sort OF aboiitionist, but 1
haven't learned TO love the negro" He fought
with bravery and distinction at Gettysburg. and
on his own Initiative led his company on q
highly dangerous but useful flank movement in
repening Pickett's charge. Armstrong was
promoted to be major OF his own regiment, and
a few months later. leaving 1t to become
lieutenant colonel and actual commander Of
one OF the colored regiments. be wrote to his
mother:
At first for months, they ated me: my COM
pany hated they would Satan himself
IL was because was strict, and paid no respect
to their unmilitary and unmanly humors. But
finally, especially after Gettysburg, all this
changed. Men saw go where death seemed
almost certain, and call upon them to follow,
and they did so Men saw / never fiinched, or
failed in the longest march, that nothing
sWerved me from the line Of my duty. And
1 have the utmost confidence OF almost
every man in the regiment. think many of
my old company love me. know il and l love
them. The negro troops have not yet
entirely proved themselves good soldiers; but If
the negroes can be made to nghC Wen, then Is
the question Of their freedom settled. tell you
the present is the gTandest time the world ever
saw The African race IS before the world,
expectedy to all, and all mankind are looking
to see whether the African viii show himself
equal 10 the opportunity before him. And what
Is TINS OppCrtQNlIN- 1t Is 10 OelDOISlTdlS 70
the world that he is a man. 1 gladly lend
myself TO the experiment-to this issue. 1t will
yet be n grand thing to have been identified
with the negro movement
Armstrong made good soldiers OF HIS negroes,
and. true TO his conception OF their mission for
their race eagerly pushed them and himself
into places OF danger Before they had much
chance. however. he surrendered. Armstrong
was sent off. with his regiment, to the mouth
Of the Rio Grande for seven months, and then
was mustered out of service with the brevet
rank Of brigade- general He contemplated
business career hut opportunity offering In con-
nection with the Freedmans Bureau. he became
superintendent under General Howard OF the
Virginia Peninsula There the needs Of the
negro and the vision Of Hampton came to him
The North" he wrote generally thinks that
the great thing is to free the negro from his
former owners: the real thing IS to save him
from himself" SO, as early as 1867. while yet
in the bureau he worked out his scheme for
school. picked out the site he ultimately ocCu
pied ard urged the American Missionary As
ISOLATION 10 purchase 81. himself expecting
to take charge. The tract was purchased. and
then the association insisted that he should
carry out the plan Space does not permit US
to traverse the record of his life at Hampton.
the struggles for money and the development OF
his system He lived It complete sue
cess and know that his influence was work
ing through others for civilization in every sec
ton OF the South. We note some confusion OF
dates in the text, and the author has somewhat
misapprehended the relation OF early manual
labor experiments in Northern colleges 70 the
Industrial work at Hampton. particularly with
reference to the domestic service Of the STU
dents at Wellesley. which not established
until after General Armstrong; work was we'll
under way, and could not have served as dis
couragement of efforts to combine physical and
mental labor.