The Journal of Negro History Volume IV Part 28

[4] Secretary Seddon, War Department, wrote: "They [the Negroes] have, besides, the homes they value, the families they love, and the masters they respect and depend on to defend and protect against the savagery and devastation of the enemy."--_Official Rebellion Records_, Series IV, Vol. Ill, pp. 761-762.

[5] Governor Walker of Florida, himself a former slaveholder, said before the State legislature in 1865 that "the world had never seen such a body of slaves, for not only in peace but in war they had been faithful to us. During much of the time of the late unhappy difficulties, Florida had a greater number of men in her army than const.i.tuted her entire voting population. This, of course, stripped many districts of their arms-bearing inhabitants and left our females and infant children almost exclusively to the protection of our slaves. They proved true to their trust. Not one instance of insult, outrage, or indignity has ever come to my knowledge. They remained at home and made provisions for the army." John Wallace, _Carpet-Bag Rule in Florida_, p. 23.

[6] "For more than two years, Negroes had been extensively employed in belligerent operations by the Confederacy. They had been embodied and drilled as rebel soldiers and had paraded with white troops at a time when this would not have been tolerated in the armies of the Union."--Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 524.

"It was a notorious fact that the enemy were using Negroes to build fortifications, drive teams and raise food for the army. Black hands piled up the sand-bags and raised the batteries which drove Anderson out of Sumter. At Montgomery, the Capital of the Confederacy, Negroes were being drilled and armed for military duty."--W. W. Brown, _The Negro in the Rebellion_, p. 59.

[7] _Ibid._, Vol. II, p. 521.

[8] Jones, _A Rebel War Clerk's Diary_, Vol. I, p. 237; Schwab, _The Confederate States of America_, p. 194.

[9] _Laws of Florida, 12th Session, 1862_, Chap. 1378.

[10] _Confederate War Department, Bureau of Conscription_, Circular No. 36, December 12, 1864. _Off. Reds. Reb._, Series IV, Vol. III, p.

933.

[11] _Off. Reds. Reb._, Series IV, Vol. Ill, p. 780. Journals of Congress, IV, 260.

[12] Was.h.i.+ngton, _The Story of the Negro_, Vol. II, p. 321.

[13] _Order No. 426. Adjutant-General's Office, Headquarters Louisiana Militia, March 24, 1862._ _Cf._ Brown, _The Negro in the Rebellion_, pp. 84-85.

[14] Parton, _History of the Administration of the Gulf_, 1862-1864; _General Butler in New Orleans_, p. 517.

[15] Greely, _The American Conflict_, p. 521.

[16] _The Charleston Mercury_, January 3, 1861.

[17] The announcement of the recruiting read: "Attention, volunteers: Resolved by the Committee of Safety that C. Deloach, D. R. Cook and William B. Greenlaw be authorized to organize a volunteer company composed of our patriotic free men of color, of the city of Memphis, for the service of our common defense. All who have not enrolled their names will call at the office of W. B. Greenlaw & Co." F. W. Forsythe, Secretary. F. t.i.tus, President. Williams, _History of the Negro_, Vol.

II, p. 277.

[18] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 521.

[19] _Memphis Avalanche_, September 3, 1861.

[20] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 522.

[21] _Ibid._, p. 277.

[22] _Ibid._, Vol. II, p. 522.

[23] _The Baltimore Traveler_, February 4, 1862.

[24] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 522.

[25] Schwab, _The Confederate States of America_, p. 193. Moore, _Rebellion Records_, Vol. VII, p. 210. Jones, _Diary_, Vol. I, p. 381.

[26] An indors.e.m.e.nt from the Secretary of War reads: "If all white men capable of bearing arms are put in the field, it would be as large a draft as a community could continuously sustain, and whites are better soldiers than Negroes. For war, when existence is staked, the best material should be used."--_Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 693-694.

[27] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 799.

[28] _Ibid._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 846. J. A. Seddon to Maj. E. B.

Briggs, Nov. 24, 1864.

[29] _Ibid._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 1009.

[30] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series I, Vol. XXVIII, Pt. 2, p. 13.

[31] _Ibid._, Series I, Vol. LII, Pt. 2, p. 598.

[32] Davis, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida_, p. 226.

[33] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 959-960.

[34] _Ibid._, p. 227.

[35] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 1010-1011.

[36] Rhodes, _History of the United States since the Compromise of 1850_, Vol. IV, p. 525.

[37] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1110.

[38] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1013.

[39] Williams, _Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion_, Journals of Congress, Vol. IV, pp. 572-573.

In the _American Historical Review_, January, 1913, N.W. Stephenson has an article upon "The Question of Arming the Slaves." The article is concerned particularly with the debate in the Confederate Congress upon this perplexing question and with the psychology of the statements made by President Davis, Secretary Benjamin, General Lee and by various Congressmen. The author has searched the Journals of the Confederate Congress, newspaper files and personal recollections and gives conclusions which show that "the subject was discussed during the last winter of the Confederate regime," and by inference the dissertation shows that the fear of the consequences of arming the slaves was alike in the minds of all southern people. The treatise is a study in historical psychology; and, as in similar works by men of the type of the author, the point of view of the South and of the Confederacy is presented and the Negro and his actual employment as a soldier is neglected. The author contends that a few southern leaders attempted to force the arming of the blacks upon an unwilling southern public. He neglects the evidence contained in the action of local authorities in arming the Negroes who were free and their att.i.tude concerning those who were slaves. He neglects also the sentiment of southern leaders who favored the measure. The Journals of the Confederate Congress, therefore, will be more valuable to those desiring information concerning the debates on this question.

[40] _Journal of Congress of Confederate States_, Vol. IV, p. 528 and Vol. VII, p. 595; Jones, _Diary_, Vol. II, p. 431.

[41] _Richmond Dispatch_, February 24, 1865; Jones _Diary_, Vol. II, p. 432.

[42] _Journal of Congress of Confederate States_, Vol. VII, p. 748.

[43] _Richmond Examiner_, December 9, 1864--Gov. Smith's Message.

Jones, _Diary_, Vol. II, p. 43; pp. 432-433. Schwab, _The Confederate States of America_, p. 194.

[44] _Off. Reds. Rebell., Series_ IV, Vol. III, p. 1161.

_Ibid._, Series III, Vol. V, pp. 711-712; Davis, _Confederate Government_, Vol. II, p. 660.

[45] Rhodes, _History of U. S._, Vol. V, 1864-1865, p. 81.

[46] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 1193-1194 and Appendix.

[47] _Cf. Southern Correspondence throughout the Rebellion Records._