History of the Negro Race in America Volume II Part 85

In my last letter to General Forrest I stated that the treatment which Federal soldiers received would be their guide hereafter, and that if you give no quarter you need expect none. If you observe the rules of civilized warfare I shall rejoice at it, as no one can regret more than myself a resort to such measures as the laws of war justify towards an enemy that gives no quarter.

Your remark that our colored soldiers "will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be retained and humanely treated,"

indicating that you consider them as of more worth and importance than your own soldiers who are now in our hands, is certainly very complimentary to the colored troops, though but a tardy acknowledgment of their bravery and devotion as soldiers; but such fair words can neither do justice to the colored soldiers who were butchered at Fort Pillow after they had surrendered to their victors, nor relieve yourself, General Forrest, and the troops serving under you, from the fearful responsibility now resting upon you for those wanton and unparalleled barbarities.

I concur in your remarks that if the black flag is once raised, there can be no distinction so far as our soldiers are concerned.

No distinction in this regard as to color is known to the laws of war, and you may rest a.s.sured that the outrages we complain of are felt by our white soldiers, no less than by our black ones, as insults to their common banner, the flag of the United States.

I will close by a reference to your statement that many of our colored soldiers "are yet wandering over the country attempting to return to their masters." If this remark is intended for a joke, it is acknowledged as a good one; but, if stated as a fact, permit me to correct your misapprehensions by informing you that most of them have returned to their respective commands, their search for their late "masters" having proved bootless; and I think I do not exaggerate in a.s.suring you that there is not a colored soldier here who does not prefer the fate of his comrades at Fort Pillow to being returned to his "master."

I remain, General, Yours, very respectfully, C. C. WASHBURN, _Major-General_.

CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, September 13, 1864.

Major-General C. C. WASHBURN, Commanding District West Tennessee:

GENERAL: I have the honor to address you in regard to certain papers forwarded you by Major-General Forrest, of the so-called Confederate army, signed by me under protest, whilst a prisoner of war at Cahaba, Alabama. I would first call your attention to the manner by which these papers were procured. About twenty-seventh April last, all Federal prisoners (except colored soldiers) were sent to Andersonville and Macon, Georgia, myself among the number. About ten days after my arrival at Macon prison, a Confederate captain, with two men as guard, came to that prison with an order for me to return to Cahaba. I appealed to the officer in command to know why I was taken from the other officers, but received no explanation. Many of my friends among the Federal officers who had been prisoners longer than myself felt uneasy at the proceedings, and advised me to make my escape going back, as it was likely a subject of retaliation.

Consequently I felt considerable uneasiness of mind. On returning to Cahaba, being quite unwell, I was placed in hospital, under guard, with still no explanation from the military authorities.

On the day following, I was informed by a sick Federal officer, also in hospital, that he had learned that I had been recognized by some Confederate as a deserter from the Confederate army, and that I was to be court-martialed and shot. The colored waiters about the hospital told me the same thing, and although I knew that the muster-rolls of my country would show that I had been in the volunteer service since first May, 1861, I still felt uneasy, having fresh in my mind Fort Pillow, and the summary manner the Confederate officers have of disposing of men on some occasions.

With the above impressions on my mind, about three days after my return to Cahaba I was sent for by the Provost Marshal, and certain papers handed me, made out by General Forrest for my signature. Looking over the papers, I found that signing them would be an endors.e.m.e.nt of General Forrest's official report of the Fort Pillow affair. I of course returned the papers, positively refusing to have anything to do with them. I was sent for again the same day, with request to sign other papers of the same tendency, but modified. I again refused to sign the papers, but sent General Forrest a statement, that although I considered some of the versions of the Fort Pillow affair, which I had read in their own papers, said to be copied from Federal papers, exaggerated, I also thought that his own official report was equally so in some particulars.

Here the matter rested about one week, when I was sent for by Colonel H. C. Davis, commander of post at Cahaba, who informed me that General Forrest had sent P. T. Scroggs to see me, and have a talk with me about the Fort Pillow fight; I found the judge very affable and rather disposed to flatter me; he said that General Forrest thought that I was a gentleman and a soldier, and that the General had sent him (the judge) down to see me and talk to me about the Fort Pillow fight; he then went on to tell over a great many things that were testified to before the Military Commission, which I was perfectly ignorant of, never having seen the testimony. He then produced papers which General Forrest wished me to sign. Upon examination, I found them about the same as those previously shown me, and refused again to sign them, but the Judge was very importunate, and finally prevailed on me to sign the papers you have in your possession, pledging himself that if I wished it they should only be seen by General Forrest himself, that they were not intended to be used by him as testimony, but merely for his own satisfaction.

I hope, General, that these papers signed by me, or rather extorted from me while under duress, will not be used by my government to my disparagement, for my only wish is now, after three years' service and over, to recruit my health, which has suffered badly by imprisonment, and _go in for the war_.

I have the honor to be, General, Your obedient servant, JOHN T. YOUNG, _Captain, Company A, Twenty-fourth Mo. Inf._[144]

It should not be forgotten that the material part of Gen. Forrest's defence was extorted from Capt. John T. Young, an officer in the Union forces at Fort Pillow. He was sick and a prisoner in the hands of the rebels; and while in this condition he was compelled to sign the papers given above, which had been made out by Forrest himself. The last letter of the correspondence shows that Capt. Young did not want the papers used by the United States Government, because they were not true. Moreover, the despatches of Forrest to Major Bradford make no mention of retaliation. The despatches above are not true copies. For instance, he demanded the surrender of Paducah on the 25th of March, 1864, just before he took Fort Pillow, and this was his despatch:

H'DQU'RS FORREST'S CAVALRY CORPS, } PADUCAH, March 23, 1864 }

To Col. HICKS, _Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah_:

Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce the place, in order to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood, I demand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all the public stores. If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war; but, _if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter_.

N. B. FORREST, _Maj.-Gen. Com'ding_.

And on the 19th of April, 1864, the next day after the ma.s.sacre at Fort Pillow, Gen. Abe Buford demanded the surrender of Columbus, Kentucky, in the following despatch:

_To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus. Ky.:_

Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison by force, I desire to avoid shedding blood. I therefore demand the unconditional surrender of the forces under your command. Should you surrender, the negroes now in arms will be returned to their masters. Should I be compelled to take the place by force, no quarter will be shown negro troops whatever; white troops will be treated as prisoners of war.

I am, sir, yours, A. BUFORD, _Brig.-Gen._

Now, as both Bradford and Booth were dead, it was impossible to learn just what language was used by Forrest in the despatches he sent them.

But from the testimony given above, the explanation of Capt. Young and the language of the two despatches just quoted, addressed to the commander of the Union forces at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, history has made out a case against Gen. Forrest that no human being would covet.

FOOTNOTES:

[144] Rebellion Records, vol. x. pp. 721-730.

Part 8.

_THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM._

CHAPTER XXII.

AN EDUCATED AFRICAN.

Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce, a native African, and educated in America, presents a striking ill.u.s.tration of the capabilities of the Negro. He was born a pagan, and when brought in contact with the inst.i.tutions of civilization he outstripped those whose earlier life had been impressed with the advantages of such surroundings. There was nothing in his blood, or in his early rearing, to develop him. He came from darkness himself as well as by his ancestry. Rev. Daniel K.

Flickinger, D.D., has been secretary of the Home Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society for the past twenty-five years. He was the companion in Africa of George Thompson, and on one of his trips had a short a.s.sociation with Livingstone. Dr. Flickinger aided in establis.h.i.+ng the United Brethren Mission on the Western Coast of Africa, and has had his heart in it for a quarter of a century. During that time he has made six trips to Africa to look after this mission; returning from his last voyage in May, 1881. He has studied those people and found them apt in the schools as well as in the acquiring of American customs in tilling the soil and in the trades. During Dr.

Flickinger's first visit to Africa in 1855, while at Good Hope Station, Mendi Mission, located on the eastern banks of Sherbro Island, lat.i.tude 7 north, and longitude 18 west, he employed a native to watch over him at night as he slept in his hammock, there being wild and dangerous tribes in the vicinity. To that man in that time was born a child. The father came to the missionaries the next day to tell them that his wife "done born picin" and wanted them to give it a name. Mr. Burton, the missionary in charge, suggested that of Daniel Flickinger, and it was taken. The missionaries had performed the usual marriage ceremony for as many as came within their reach, and broken up the former heathen customs in their immediate vicinity as far as possible, and this man was duly married. He took as his last name that of Wilberforce after the English philanthropist, who was dear to all Colored people, and from that time on this native and his family became attached to the mission, and were known by the name of Wilberforce. This man had children born in heathendom and under quite different circ.u.mstances.

Dr. Flickinger soon afterward sailed for America, and soon forgot that he had a namesake on the distant sh.o.r.e. He made other trips across the water, but failed to come in contact with the Wilberforce family.

Sixteen years afterward, in 1871, he was in New York City s.h.i.+pping goods to the African missionaries. The boxes, labelled "Daniel K.

Flickinger," were being loaded and unloaded at the American Mission Rooms in that city, and the doctor noticed that the colored porter boy was about half wild over something. He asked him if there was any thing wrong, but got no reply. The young porter kept rolling his eyes and acting half scared at the name on those boxes, and finally the doctor asked him his name, to which there came the prompt reply, Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce! In his travels of a lifetime the missionary had often been surprised, but this bewildered him. A thunder-bolt could not have shocked him more. Then the two stood gazing at each other in perfect amazement, and neither able to tell how their names came to be so near alike. The boxes were forgotten.

The boy soon had his relief and began laughing as few others could laugh, while the doctor was still unable to see through the mystery.

He gave the young fellow two s.h.i.+llings and told him to proceed with the boxes. The doctor then began an investigation about the Mission Rooms, and found that this boy, just a short time before that, had been brought over on a merchant vessel to care for an invalid missionary lady during the voyage, that he had served a short time as bell-boy at a hotel, and that they had employed him in the Mission Rooms, but had promised to send him back on the next sail vessel. The doctor got his location in Africa and a complete chain of circ.u.mstances such as to convince him that this was the boy that was named after him in 1855. He told the authorities at the American Mission Rooms, to write to Africa and say that Dan. was well cared for over here, and for them to keep him till further advised. As soon as the doctor made his s.h.i.+pments to the missionaries he returned to Dayton and asked the Executive Committee of his Board if they would a.s.sist him in educating this African who had turned up in such a romantic manner. Consent was given, and young Wilberforce was s.h.i.+pped to Dayton. He was brought into Dr. Flickinger's office with the tag of an express company attached to his clothes--young, green, and, in fact, a raw recruit to the ranks of civilization. Seven years after that he bid adieu to his friends in that same office, to return to his people in Africa as a teacher, preacher, and physician. He was then one of the finest scholars of his age in this country. When he arrived at Dayton he of course had to have a private tutor. He was sixteen years old and had to start with the rudiments, but he was, at the beginning of the next school year, able to join cla.s.ses on which he doubled right along. It requires a course of eight years to reach the High School, but in less than four years after his arrival in Dayton he pa.s.sed the examination for admission to the High School of Dayton, Ohio, and was the first Colored pupil ever admitted to that school.

Since then, other Colored pupils have annually been following his example. The course in the High School was four years, and the Board and teachers were very particularly averse to gaining time. Owing to Wilberforce's great aptness, that allowed him to go ahead of his cla.s.s, he gained one year then and there, and took the honors of the cla.s.s that started one year ahead of him. There were twenty-three members of that cla.s.s. The Commencement was in the Opera-house at Dayton in 1878, and on that occasion the President of the Board said, without discredit to any others, he felt called upon to make special mention of young Wilberforce, which he did in a handsome manner. This was not all; the Missionary Society wanted to send Wilberforce to Africa in September of that year, and as he went along they had him at other studies. He had become an excellent musician, both vocal and instrumental. He had been studying theology and read Hebrew well. He had also taken a course of reading in medicine, so that he might be of service to the bodies as well as the souls of his brethren.

Marvellous as it may seem, all of this was done in so short a time, and from a state of savage life up to civilized life; still it is true. And, besides, Wilberforce had been a reader of history and general literature, and was a writer of unusual merit. His progress has always and always will seem incredible, even to those who had personal knowledge of him during the time that he had this experience of seven years. He had a remarkable mind, was born a heathen, had no youthful advantages, and is to-day one of the best-informed and most thoroughly cultivated thinkers of his age. When he left Dayton in the summer of 1878, he was greatly missed. At the Colored United Brethren Church he was janitor, leader of a choir, organist, superintendent of the Sunday-school, and cla.s.s leader, and when the pastor failed, Wilberforce also did the preaching. He was never proud. In the humble capacity of janitor he took excellent care of Dr. Flickinger's office, and was willing and ready to do anything. He was modest socially, but a favorite among his cla.s.smates, and not only respected but admired by all. He married a Dayton girl before he left for Africa, and has remained abroad since 1878, but he expects at no distant time to return to America to complete his professional studies. He belonged to the Sherbro tribe or people, and with them he is now laboring.

LAFAYETTE'S PLAN OF COLONIZATION.

Now, my dear General, that you are about to enjoy some repose, permit me to propose to you a scheme which may prove of great benefit to the black part of the human race. Let us unite in the purchase of a small estate, where we can attempt to free the negroes and employ them simply as farm laborers. Such an example set by you might be generally followed, and should we succeed in America I shall gladly consecrate a part of my time to introducing the custom into the Antilles. If this be a crude idea I prefer to be considered a fool in this way rather than be thought wise by an opposite conduct.[145]

5th February, 1783.

THE RESULTS OF EMANc.i.p.aTION.

As an evidence of the growing confidence in the eagerness for and capacity of the Negro to become an educated citizen, the handsome bequest of John F. Slater, Esq., for the education of the race stands forth as a conspicuous example. The Negroes of the South have acknowledged this munificent gift with that graceful grat.i.tude so strikingly characteristic of them.

DRAFT OF AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TRUSTEES OF THE JOHN F. SLATER FUND.

_Whereas_, Messrs. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, of Ohio; MORRISON R.

WAITE, of the District of Columbia; WILLIAM E. DODGE, of New York; PHILLIPS BROOKS, of Ma.s.sachusetts; DANIEL C. GILMAN, of Maryland; JOHN A. STEWART, of New York; ALFRED H. COLQUITT, of Georgia; MORRIS K. JESUP, of New York; JAMES P. BOYCE, of Kentucky; and WILLIAM A. SLATER, of Connecticut, have, by their memorial, represented to the Senate and a.s.sembly of this State that a letter has been received by them from JOHN F. SLATER, of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut, of which the following is a copy:

To Messrs. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, of Ohio; MORRISON R. WAITE, of the District of Columbia; WILLIAM E. DODGE, of New York; PHILLIPS BROOKS, of Ma.s.sachusetts; DANIEL C. GILMAN, of Maryland; JOHN A. STEWART, of New York; ALFRED H. COLQUITT, of Georgia; MORRIS K. JESUP, of New York; JAMES P. BOYCE, of Kentucky; and WILLIAM A. SLATER, of Connecticut: