Year: 1868

ans-Speech by SEN BulieF.


The cOlored people of Washington
celebrated the fifth anniversary of the
Emancipation Proclamation on the lst
inst. Speeches were made by Senator
Pomeroy, Gen. Howard, Prot. Wilson
and Gen Butler The following is a
report of Gen. Buffers speech:


feel, my countrymen, that it is good
for us to be here on this anniversary of
the elimination of American liberty.
Looking with the eye of logical polit-
ical principles, and the eye Of truth, we
see that that great event was the wiping
out of the stain upon the escutcheon of
that Constitution given to us by the
blood of Bunker Hill and Lexington,
and the battlefields of the revolution.
How did this great contest grow up!
Men were divided, political parties were
divided That contest which grew up
between Cass, Van Buren,, Tyler and
others, seemed to be settled by the
compromise of 1850, and the fate of the
black man sealed. The great contest
between Buchanan and Fremont was
for the extension of slavery, and from
that little cloud no bigger than a mans
hand resulted that which we celebrate
tonight. The white man was first
emancipated, and the laundering of the
guns ofSumpter did it. Wehad, before
that time, been bound by constitutional
chains. When the first gun was fred
every true man stood up and acted ac-
cording to his conscience. At first
during the war we scarcely knew what
we were fighting for, as the parricidal
hand of the slavemaster had stricken
the Constitution, and we seemed to be
drifting without any guide. Slaves
were continually ceming into our lines,
and by constitutional obligations the
Generals of our army were sending
them back again. One day in the early
part of the war crowd of black men,
covered with sand from the embank-
mentS they had been throwing up for
the rebels, made their way into a Cen
erals camp, and were seized as contra
band of war, the General concluding
that they should no longer give aid and
comfort to the rebellion, at least in his
department. A voice-"Who was
that General 2" Another voice-"Gen-
eral Butler" Tremendous applause. I
That act was but the emanation in the
minds OF the people through the man in
command at the time, and / claim no
title as discoverer of the idea, if it be
termed discovery, The idea thatth
war would crush slavery gradually be-
came apparent. Fremont saw it while
in the far West, and gave freedom to
the slaves of Missouri. Then came the
clothing of the black man with suit
of blue, and bayonet and musket in
his hand. To the rebels we are indebt-
ed for this. Upon entering the city of
New Orleans two regiments Of cOlored
troops were found with colored officers,
which was beyond the point we attain
ed The white rebel soldiers had run
away. The colored ones alone remain
ed, and were resting quietly in their
houses. The attack upon the army
which commanded before Baton Rouge
was a severe one, and we needed rein
forcements to hold our own. / tele-
graphed to Washington for aid, it being
after the second Bull Run fight, and
they answered, "We can't give a man."
l then replied, 81 must call on Africa
for help" and did so. Sending for the Off
GERS ofthe two negro regiments, l asked
them if they were willing to enlist and
fight for the Union. They replied
eyes" and in ten days / had two regi-
ments, and shortly afterwards four of
them. They asked me if their officers
could still command them. / replied
yes, as l was too far away from Wash
ington to have that question settled.
[ Laughter These men represented
SIS, 900, 900 worth of taxable property,
and had been living all their lifetime in
the State, There were their homes,
their wives and children, and they told
me that they had been asked to enter
the rebel service, and dare not refuse.
l had heard that negro would not
fight. l asked them if they would
fight. They replied, "Yes; try u.s."
l asked them if they could fight, why
already, had not some good black man
struck blow for liberty, in the absence
of so many of their masters7 They
hesitated to replyi and, after urging
them to do SO, said that if they had
raised an insurrection, war of races
would have ensued and then what Gen.
eral of your forces would have given
US aid when we would have been COM
PEELED to call for 1t? / was unable to
answer the question. From that day, I
have always believed war of races to
be an impossibility. People daily
rushed into my office, and told me long
stories of rising to take place in one
Parish or the other ] never feared
rising; events proved it to be an i'm
possibility.


We need no Constitutional amend.
ment to settle this great question of
equal rights. The hand of God, the
shock of battle and the clash of steel
have settled that great question. 1t
may be we'll enough to put it upon a
book for some one to learn who does
not know the fact. There were to be
no slaves any longer-they were to be