Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-01-17
SOLDIERS STORIES.
ENTERTAINING "REMINISCENCES
OF THE WAR.
Graphic Account of Stirring Scenes
Witnessed ON the Battlefield and
I'm Camp-Veterans of the Rebel
lion Rec1te Experiences.

| Witnessed ON the Battlefield and
I'm Camp-Veterans of the Rebel
lion Recite Experiences.
The records of the war department
show that there were 1859 colored
| men regularly enlisted as soldiers in
the Union army during the rebellion,
who by their good conduct established
| a commendable record and did efficient
service in camp fortress and field. The
| first enlistment of negroes was by Gen.
| Hunter in the Department of the South
| in June, 1862. 1t was made without
| the authority of the war department,
| and was due to an emergency. Gen.
| Hunter needed men. He could not get
| white recruits, and was surrounded by
| a multitude Of able-bodied negroes who
| were idle but anxious to serve as sol
| diers.
1t was some time before the facts
were known in the North, and Hunters
| unauthorized recognition of the great
issue of the war as proper military ma
terial created considerable excitement.
| Representative Wyckliff of Kentucky
| introduced a resolution in the House of
| Representatives calling upon the Sec
| rotary of war for information. The
resolution was forwarded to Gen. Hun
| ter, who made a comprehensive and
| practical report, which was forwarded
| to congress and was recognized by the
country as a full justification of his
act Mr.. Wyckliff created a scene in
the house by denouncing Gen. Hunter
and declaring that the enlistment of
| negroes was an insult to every white
| soldier in the army. Nevertheless con-
gress authorized the president to enlist
| persons of African descent" but pro-
| vided that they should be used as la
| borers in the camps and forts, and were
| not to be allowed to bear arms
| Gen. Jim Lane Of Kansas, who had
| been commissioned to recruit volun-
| teers, took advantage Of this authority
and assumed the responsibility Of en-
| listing an entire regiment of free col
| ored men in that state. Many OF them
| were runaway slaves from Missouri
ard Arkansas. Some had purchased
their own freedom. Others had been
rescued by the abolitionists. For a
long time the war department refused
| officially to recognize Jim Lame mig
| gers" but he knew he had the sympa-
| thy of President Lincoln and Secretary
| Stanton, and marched them over the
border. where they took part in several
battles and demonstrated their courage
! and efficiency.
The enlistment of negroes was speci-
fcally prohibited by an army regula-
ton but nobody knew anything about
it, and the paragraph was not discov-
cred until the regulations were revised
several years afterward.
About the same time Gen. Butler
who was commanding at New Orleans,
began to organize the free negroes in
his department into companies, battal-
| ions and regiments. They had pre-
viously been organized by the COnfed-
crate authorities in Louisiana as state
| militia. When Gen. Butler reported to
the war department what he had done
| the secretary of war Simply acknOWl-
| edged the receipt of his communion
ton and gave his act the sanction Of
silence. President Lincoln, in private
conversation, encouraged the enlist
ment Of colored troops, but purposely
| Id 4l,o oil raonOnitiO11 of THAR
| existence for fear of awakening pub
| lie opinion in opposition to their recog
| milton. His experience during the pre-
| vious year while Gen. Butler was com
handing in the Virginia peninsula con-
| corning the employment Of negroes
about the camps had taught him eau
ton. and he preferred that those who
sympathized with the advancement of
the slaves should 60 on quietly to de-
monstrate their capacity as soldiers be-
| fore their existence was officially
| recognized 1t will be remembered that
| Cen Butler, in a correspondence that
| IS historical, took the ground that ne
| groes. or escaped slaves, like horses
| or mules, or any other property cap
| tured from the enemy, were contra
! band Of war.
Much to the annoyance Of the presi-
| dent and Secretary Stanton, and even
more SO to Gen. Butler. Gen. Godfrey
| Weitzel, who had been assigned to the
command of a brigade of negroes by
Gen. Butler. refused to accept the de-
| tail, and thus brought the matter
prominently before the public. 1t
| should be said, however, that Gen.
| Weitzel considered it an honor two
years later to command the entire
corps of negro troops.
| Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, who was adj
jutant general, was sent West by Sec
rotary Stanton about this time, and
visited the headquarters of the Union
army in several of the Western and
| Southern states where he privately adj
vised that all colOred men who pre-
1