The Negro as a soldierFleetwood, Christian A. (Christian Abraham)
History
The Negro as a soldier
Fleetwood, Christian A. (Christian Abraham)
African American soldiers; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- African Americans
JONA. BREWER, Col.
THOMAS NIXON, Lt. Col.
JOSEPH BAKER, Lieut.
JONAS RICHARDSON, Capt.
EBENEZER VARNUM, 2 Lt.
WILLIAM SMITH, Capt.
RICHARD WELSH, Lieut.
WM. PRESCOTT, Col.
EPHM. COREY, Lieut.
JOSHUA ROW, Lieut.
ELIPHALETT BODWELL, Sergt.
WM. HUDSON BALLARD, Capt.
JOHN MORTON, Sergt.
This is a splendid and well attested tribute to a gallant and worthy
Negro. There were many such, but, beyond receiving and reading no action
was taken thereon by Congress. There is no lack of incidents and the
temptation to quote many of them is great, but the time allotted me is
too brief for extended mention and I must bring this branch of my
subject to a close. It is in evidence that while so many Negroes were
offering their lives a willing sacrifice for the country, in some
sections the officers of the Continental Forces received their bounty
and pay in Negroes, “grown” and “small,” instead of “dollars” and
“cents.” Fighting for _Liberty_ and taking pay in _Slaves_!
When the war was over the free men returned to meet their same
difficulties; the slaves were caught when possible and reenslaved by
their former masters. In Boston a few years later we find a party of
black patriots of the Revolution mobbed on Boston Common while
celebrating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.
The captain of a vessel trading along the coast tells of a Negro who had
fought in the war and been distinguished for bravery and soldierly
conduct. He was reclaimed and reenslaved by his master after the war,
and served him faithfully until old age rendered him useless. The master
then brought the poor old slave to this captain and asked him to take
him along on his trip and try to sell him. The captain hated to sell a
man who had fought for his country, but finally agreed, took the poor
old man to Mobile, and sold him for $100 to a man who put him to
attending a chicken coop. His former master continued to draw the old
slave’s pension as a soldier, in the Revolution, until he died.
THE WAR OF 1812.
The war of 1812 was mainly fought upon the water, and in the American
navy at that time the Negro stood in the ratio of about one to six. We
find record of complaint by Commodore Perry at the beginning because of
the large number of Negroes sent him, but later the highest tribute to
their bravery and efficiency. Capt. Shaler, of the armed brig General
Thompson, writing of an engagement between his vessel and a British
frigate, says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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