Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-01-17

to be remarkably good foragers. and
| brought in more supplies than three
| times the number of white men could
| have secured
| A few months later bureau was or
ganized in the war department to direct
| the enlistment and organization of ne
gro troops BY this time the people of
the North were prepared for the limo
walton and applauded the opportunity
| that was thus given to enable the negro
to fight for the freedom of his race,
but in Kentucky. Missouri and other
border states, the prejudice was in
tense. Several recruiting officers were
tarred and feathered and others were
shot. Several officers were dismissed
from the army for refusing to command
negro troops; others resigned In pref
erence to doing so.
This prejudice in the South was the
more remarkable because the Confeder-
ate government had used negroes as
auxiliaries from the beginning OF the
war. They were employed as servants
as labOrers, as messengers, as hostlers
and in various other capacities, ana
battalions of negro sappers and miners
were constantly employed in the con-
struction of Notifications, roadwayS
camps and In other lines of labor and
proved very successful.
Among the Confederate archives at
the war record office there is good
deal of interesting material concern
ing the military service OF the negroes
on that side. 1t embraces not only the
legislation proposed or enacted by the
Confederate Congress, the reports and
orders of the military authorities of
the Confederacy relating to the employ
ment of negroes in the actual or auxll-
larry military service, but there are
many reports that testify to their sue
cess and efficiency.
Although the Confederates antici-
pated the Federal government in the
employment of negroes as military
forces, they exhibited good deal or
Indignation when their example was
followed and the records of the Con-
al measures of retaliation threatened
against the government of the United
States on this account. 1t was pro-
posed, among other things, to raise the
black flag against negro soldiers ana
white officers who commanded them,
and in some cases this retaliation was
enforced, as at Fort Pillow, but finally
the Confederate Congress formally rec
ognized the usefulness Of tie negro as
a soldier as well as laborer and au-
thoriZed President Davis to enlist an
unlimited number Of colOred troops
This fact was commented upon by
Gov. Yates, of Illinois, in message he
sent to the legislature Of that State as
a most extraordinary phenomenon in
history. He said the leaders of the in
surrection had called upon the cause
of the insurrection to save it, and had
recognized the intelligence and man
hood of the despised race by lifting it
to a level with themselves. A wise
providence, he said, was directing the
destiny of the Confederates so that
they will terminate the very evil they
are fighting to maintain. Slavery was
to be the cornerstone of their new
Confederacy, but, says Gov. Yates, a
man who has been d soldier will never
be a slave.
The first negroes were landed upon
the soil of America in 1865, by the
Spaniards In 1919 or 1920 they were
brought into the British colony of Vir-
ginia. Sir John Hawkins, the famous
buccaneer, was interest in their impor-
tation from Africa, and 1t is supposed
that Queen Elizabeth, with whom he
was great favorite, shared the profits
with him.
The first reference in American his
tory to negroes as soldiers is found in
the records of 1862, where 1t appears
that negroes, Indians and Scottish
men, were permitted to train with the
militia. Four years later, however,
negroes and Indians were exempted
from militia service In 1860 a colonial
law was passed requiring every person
above the age Of 16, excepting classes
the militia Negroes are not included
among those classified as exempts. In
1859 there is a record of the death Of
"a negro of Col King" who was
wounded while calamity fighting in
the skirmish with the Indians. In 1903
South Carolina specifically required ne
groes to enter the military service Of
the State, and freedom was offered to
every slave who killed an enemy in
battle. The colonial records for 1747
recite that several negroes and other
slaves had rendered efficient service
in repelling the attack of "his majes-
tvs enemies"
Crispus Attacks, colored man, who
was killed in the streets OF Boston
March 5, 1910, has been called the first
martyr to the cause of American indie
pendence, and a monument has been
erected to his memory which bears an
inscription to that effect. In 1887 the