The Black Phalanx Part 7

"_An Act to authorize the raising of Two Regiments of Men of Color; pa.s.sed Oct. 24, 1814._

"SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and a.s.sembly, That the Governor of the State be, and he is hereby authorized to raise, by voluntary enlistment, two regiments of free men of color, for the defence of the State for three years, unless sooner discharged.

"SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said regiments shall consist of one thousand and eighty able-bodied men; and the said regiments shall be formed into a brigade, or be organized in such manner, and shall be employed in such service, as the Governor of the State of New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said State.

"SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the commissioned officers of the said regiments and brigade shall be white men; and the Governor of the State of New York shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to commission, by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments and brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until the council of appointment shall have appointed the officers of the said regiments and brigade, in pursuance of the Const.i.tution and laws of the said State.

"SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any able-bodied slave, with the written a.s.sent of his master or mistress, to enlist into the said corps; and the master or mistress of such slave shall be ent.i.tled to the pay and bounty allowed him for his service: and, further, that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge, shall be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted from that time, and his said master or mistress shall not thenceforward be liable for his maintenance.--_Laws of the State of New York, pa.s.sed at the Thirty-eighth Session of the Legislature_, chap. xviii."

The organization of negro troops was now fairly begun; at the South enlistment was confined to the free negroes as set forth in Gen.

Jackson's Proclamation. In New York, the slaves who should enlist with the consent of their owners were to be free at the expiration of their service, as provided in the Sixth section of the law quoted above.

Animated by that love of liberty and country which has ever prompted them, notwithstanding the disabilities under which they labored, to enter the ranks of their country's defenders whenever that country has been a.s.sailed by foes without or traitors within, the negroes responded to the call of General Jackson and to that of New York, with a zeal and energy characteristic only of a brave and patriotic people. Inspired by the hope of impartial liberty, they rallied to the support of that banner which Commodore Barron lowered when he failed to protect them from British aggression, but which Commodore Decatur gallantly and successfully defended.

The forcible capture and imprisonment of Ware, Martin and Strachan, the three negroes taken from the Chesapeake, and who were recognized by the United States authorities as citizens of the republic, was sounded as the key-note and rallying cry of the war; the outrage served greatly to arouse the people. The fact that the government sought to establish the liberty of the free negroes, and the further fact that she regarded them as citizens, heightened their indignation at the outrage committed by the British, and appealed to their keenest patriotic sensibilities. New York was not long in raising her two battalions, and sending it forward to the army, then at Sacket's Harbor.

On the 18th of December, 1814, following the issuing of his Proclamation, Gen. Jackson reviewed the troops under his command at New Orleans, amounting to about six thousand, and of this force about five hundred were negroes, organized into two battalions, commanded by Maj.

Lacoste and Maj. Savory. These battalions, at the close of the review, says Parton, in his Life of Jackson, had read to them by Edward Livingston, a member of Jackson's staff, the following address, from the Commander of the American forces:

"TO THE EMBODIED MILITIA.--_Fellow Citizens and Soldiers:_ The General commanding in chief would not do justice to the n.o.ble ardor that has animated you in the hour of danger, he would not do justice to his own feeling, if he suffered the example you have shown to pa.s.s without public notice.

"Fellow-citizens, of every description, remember for what and against whom you contend. For all that can render life desirable--for a country blessed with every gift of nature--for property, for life--for those dearer than either, your wives and children--and for liberty, without which, country, life, property, are no longer worth possessing; as even the embraces of wives and children become a reproach to the wretch who could deprive them by his cowardice of those invaluable blessings.

"TO THE MEN OF COLOR.--Soldiers! From the sh.o.r.es of Mobile I collected you to arms,--I invited you to share in the perils and to divide the glory of your white countrymen. I expected much from you; for I was not uninformed of those qualities which must render you so formidable to an invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the hards.h.i.+ps of war. I knew that you loved the land of your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that is most dear to man. But you surpa.s.s my hopes. I have found in you, united to these qualities, that n.o.ble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.

"Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be informed of your conduct on the present occasion; and the voice of the Representatives of the American nation shall applaud your valor, as your General now praises your ardor.

The enemy is near. His sails cover the lakes. But the brave are united; and, if he finds us contending among ourselves, it will be for the prize of valor, and fame its n.o.blest reward."--_Niles's Register_, vol. vii. pp. 345, 346.

Thus in line with the white troops on the soil of Louisiana, amid a large slave population, the negro soldiers were highly praised by the commanding General. The British had already made their appearance on the coast near the mouth of the Mississippi, and at the time of their landing, General Jackson went out to meet them with two thousand one hundred men; the British had two thousand four hundred. This was on the 23rd of December. The two armies met and fought to within a few miles of the city, where the British general, Pakenham, who had arrived with reinforcements, began on the 31st to lay siege. On Jan. 8th the short but terrible struggle took place which not only taxed the energies and displayed the great courage of both forces, but made the engagement one of historic interest. In the short s.p.a.ce of twenty-five minutes seven hundred of the British were killed; fourteen hundred were wounded and four hundred were taken prisoners. The American army was so well protected that only four were killed and thirteen wounded. It was in this great battle that two battalions of negroes partic.i.p.ated, and helped to save the city, the coveted prize, from the British. The two battalions numbered four hundred and thirty men, and were commanded by Maj. Lacoste and Maj. Savory. Great Britain also had her negro soldiers there,--a regiment imported from the West Indies which headed the attacking column against Jackson's right,--they led her van in the battle; their failure, with that of the Irish regiment which formed also a part of the advance column, lost the British the battle. The conduct of the negro soldiers in Gen. Jackson's army on that occasion has ever been applauded by the American people. Mr. Day, in Nell's "Colored Patriots of the American Revolution," says:

"From an authenticated chart, belonging to a soldier friend, I find that, in the battle of New Orleans, Major-General Andrew Jackson, Commander-in-Chief, and his staff, were just at the right of the advancing left column of the British, and that very near him were stationed the colored soldiers.

He is numbered 6, and the position of the colored soldiers 8. The chart explanation of No. 8 reads thus:--'8. Captains Dominique and Bluche, two 24 pounders; Major Lacoste's battalion, formed of the men of color of New Orleans and, Major Daquin's battalion, formed of the men of color of St.

Domingo, under Major Savary, second in command.'

"They occupied no mean place, and did no mean service.

"From other doc.u.ments in my possession, I am able to state the number of the 'battalion of St. Domingo men of color' to have been one hundred and fifty; and of 'Major Lacoste's battalion of Louisiana men of color,' two hundred and eighty.

"Thus were over four hundred 'men of color' in that battle.

When it is remembered that the whole number of soldiers claimed by Americans to have been in that battle reached only 3600, it will be seen that the 'men of color' were present in much larger proportion than their numbers in the country warranted.

"Neither was there colorphobia then. Major Planche's battalion of uniformed volunteer companies, and Major Lacoste's 'men of color,' fought together; so, also, did Major Daquin's 'men of color,' and the 44th, under Captain Baker."

Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his speech in Congress on the Imprisonment of Colored Seamen, September, 1850, bore this testimony to their gallant conduct:

"I have an impression, that, not, indeed, in these piping times of peace, but in the time of war, when quite a boy, I have seen black soldiers enlisted, who did faithful and excellent service. But, however it may have been in the Northern States, I can tell the Senator what happened in the Southern States at this period. I believe that I shall be borne out in saying, that no regiments did better service, at New Orleans, than did the black regiments, which were organized under the direction of General Jackson himself, after a most glorious appeal to the patriotism and honor of the people of color of that region; and which, after they came out of the war, received the thanks of General Jackson, in a proclamation which has been thought worthy of being inscribed on the pages of history."

Perhaps the most glowing account of the services of these black American soldiers, appeared in an article in the New Orleans _Picayune_:

"Not the least interesting, although the most novel feature of the procession yesterday, was the presence of ninety of the colored veterans who bore a conspicuous part in the dangers of the day they were now for the first time called to a.s.sist in celebrating, and who, by their good conduct in presence of the enemy, deserved and received the approbation of their ill.u.s.trious commander-in-chief. During the thirty-six years that have pa.s.sed away since they a.s.sisted to repel the invaders from our sh.o.r.es, these faithful men have never before partic.i.p.ated in the annual rejoicings for the victory which their valor contributed to gain. Their good deeds have been consecrated only in their memories, or lived but to claim a pa.s.sing notice on the page of the historian. Yet, who more than they deserve the thanks of the country, and the grat.i.tude of succeeding generations? Who rallied with more alacrity in response to the summons of danger? Who endured more cheerfully the hards.h.i.+ps of the camp, or faced with greater courage the perils of the fight?

If, in that hazardous hour, when our homes were menaced with the horrors of war, we did not disdain to call upon the colored population to a.s.sist in repelling the invading horde, we should not, when the danger is pa.s.sed, refuse to permit them to unite with us in celebrating the glorious event, which they helped to make so memorable an epoch in our history. We were not too exalted to mingle with them in the affray; they were not too humble to join in our rejoicings.

"Such, we think, is the universal opinion of our citizens.

We conversed with many yesterday, and, without exception, they expressed approval of the invitation which had been extended to the colored veterans to take part in the ceremonies of the day, and gratification at seeing them in a conspicuous place in the procession.

"The respectability of their appearance, and the modesty of their demeanor, made an impression on every observer, and elicited unqualified approbation. Indeed, though in saying so we do not mean disrespect to any one else, we think that they const.i.tuted decidedly the most interesting portion of the pageant, as they certainly attracted the most attention."

It was during the rebellion of 1861-65 that the author saw one of the colored drummer boys of that column beating his drum at the head of a negro United States regiment marching through the streets of New Orleans in 1862.

The New York battalion was organized and marched to the reinforcement of the American army at Sacket's Harbor, then threatened by the enemy.

This battalion was said to be a fine looking body of men, well drilled and disciplined. In Congress Mr. Martindale, of New York, said, in a speech delivered on the 22nd January 1828, before that body:

"Slaves or negroes who had been slaves were enlisted as soldiers in the war of the Revolution: and I myself saw a battalion of them,--as fine martial looking men as I ever saw attached to the Northern army in the last war (1812),--on its march from Plattsburg to Sacket's Harbor, where they did service for the country with credit to New York and honor to themselves."

As in the dark days of the Revolution, so now in another period of national danger, the negroes proved their courage and patriotism by service in the field. However, the lamentable treatment of Major Jeffrey[10] is evidence that these services were not regarded as a protection against outrage.

In the two wars in which the history of the negroes has been traced in these pages, there is nothing that mitigates against his manhood, though his condition, either bond or free, was lowly. But on the contrary the honor of the race has been maintained under every circ.u.mstance in which it has been placed.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] So indiscriminate were English officers in these outrages, that it sometimes happened that black men were seized as English seamen. At that time the public opinion of the world was such, that few statesmen troubled themselves much about the rights of negroes. But in another generation, when it proved convenient in the United States to argue that free negroes had never been citizens, it was remembered that the cabinets of Jefferson and Madison, in their diplomatic discussions with Great Britain, had been willing to argue that the impressment of a free negro was the seizure of an American citizen.--_Bryant's History of the United States._

[9] "Hammond Golar, a colored man who lived in Lynn for many years, died a few years since at the age of 80 years. He was born a slave, was a privateer "powder boy" in the war of 1812, and was taken to Halifax as a prisoner. The English Government did not exchange colored prisoners because they would then be returned to slavery, and Golar remained a prisoner until the close of the war."

[10] See page 50

PART II.

THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.

1861.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNSHACKLED.]

CHAPTER I.

PUBLIC OPINION.