The Black Confederate

[Buffalo-Guard]

By now most people know something about the black troops who fought in the Union Army. But have you heard of the Black/Afro-Americans who fought for the Confederacy?

One hundred thirty-three years after the War, an African-American Scholar observed: "When you eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you've eliminated the history of the South…we share a common heritage with white Southerners who recall that era.

The story of a Black Confederate re-enactor
The Free Lance-Star
Date published: 6/30/2002
ROCKVILLE--In the Hanover County woods where men in blue and men in gray are shooting at each other, it's all noise and smoke and stink. Across a field there's cannon fire so loud it resets your heartbeat for you. Horses whicker, and men shout. Fog-thick gunpowder smoke gives off a rotten-egg reek. For Confederate Pvt. Casey of the 6th North Carolina State Troop, a Civil War re-enactment unit, the conflict is all external.
In real life, the Rebel private is Maj. Willie Levi Casey Jr. of the U.S. Army--a tasty bit of irony if you're looking for it. But Casey sees no irony at all in re-enacting as a 19th-century soldier in gray and being a 21st-century African-American. Casey, a 40-year-old resident of Spotsylvania County's Chancellor area, is a Southerner by birth and proud of it by choice.
He's been re-enacting since 1997 and was welcomed as a full member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp No. 1722 two years ago. It all makes sense, he said, if you view the Civil War not as a textbook struggle between good and evil, but as the nuanced conflict it truly was. "Look at the mentality of a black person in the South" at the time of the Civil War, Casey said. That person's ancestors might have been living in the South for 150 years before the war. In such a case, he said, "You may be a Southerner by force, but you are a Southerner."
Historians have long held that black Southerners, free or slave, did not serve the Confederacy as soldiers, but worked instead as teamsters, laborers, cooks and personal servants. If those black men took up weapons in battle, this official version of history goes, it was because of circumstances and self-defense, not because they believed in the Southern cause. But recent scholarly works--many by African-American academics--have alleged a historical understatement and even a cover-up of blacks' real participation.
Casey, who earned a degree in history from Presbyterian College in South Carolina, said his reading over the past few years leads him to believe that tens of thousands of blacks, slave and free, fought for the Confederacy. Their motivation, he believes, was not to support slavery but to support what they saw as their country--the South--and to improve their own lot in life. "You would fight to gain status. Because you know that even if you lose, you're still one of the brothers in arms," Casey said. "You're fighting to make your life better." Casey's persona as a re-enactor is a free black cabinetmaker from eastern Tennessee, able to read and write, with a wife and a child at home. But he has a real-life link to the Confederacy as well--one he always vaguely knew about but pinned down only in recent years.
Casey grew up in Cross Anchor, S.C., in the 1960s and '70s. It was an area full of Caseys, black and white. He and his siblings knew they had a white great-grandfather, a man who had never married their American Indian/African-American great-grandmother even though they had six children together. A family photo of the couple's son Barney Casey shows a bulky man in overalls with lank gray hair and white skin. He's Willie Casey's grandfather.
Willie Casey was well into adulthood when he decided to research the white side of his family. In the course of his genealogical effort he came across the Civil War record of one Pvt. Martin Luther Casey, a South Carolina soldier killed in 1862. That man was the older brother of Casey's great-grandfather. Being a collateral relative of a Civil War soldier qualified Casey for membership in the SCV. He's twice been elected aide-de-camp of the local group. His acceptance into the organization doesn't surprise him. "Most people will welcome you according to how you treat them," he said. The SCV denounces racism and has vehemently fought the usurpation of the Confederate battle flag by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. "These are guys who are trying to remember their ancestors in a positive manner," he said. And that's what he wants to do, too. Still, Casey is often asked to explain himself--not to his fellow re-enactors or SCV members, but to people who just can't understand where he's coming from. "People say to me, 'Do you support slavery?'" he said. "I say, 'No. I support preserving Southern history and telling it the way it is.'"

General Lee's opinion on arming the slaves
In 1865, three months before the end of the Civil War, Hon. Andrew Hunter wrote a letter to General Robert E. Lee. Andrew Hunter, of Charlestown, had previously been Governor Wise's special prosecutor in the trial of John Brown for his raid on Harpers Ferry and was familiar with Lee's role in Brown's capture. From the context of Lee's reply, we can only surmise the questions asked by Hunter.

Head Quarters A. N. Va
11th Jany 1865
Hon Andrew Hunter
Richmond, Va
Dear Sir: I have received your letter of the 7th inst; and without confining myself to the order of your interrogatories, will endeavour to answer them by a statement of my views on the subject. I should be most happy, if I can contribute to the solution of a question in which I feel an interest commensurate with my desire for the welfare and happiness of our people. Considering the relation of master and slave, controlled by human laws, and influenced by Christianity and enlightened public sentiment, as the best that can exist between the white & black races, which intermingled as at present in this country, I would deprecate any sudden disturbance of that relation unless it be necessary to avert a greater calamity to both. I should therefore prefer to rely upon our white population to preserve the ratio between our forces and those of the enemy, which experience has shown to be safe. But in view of the preparations of our enemy, it is our duty to provide for continued war, and not for a battle, or a campaign, & I fear we cannot accomplish this without overtaxing the capacity of our white population. Should the war continue under existing circumstances, the enemy may in course of time penetrate our country, and get access to a large part of our negro population. It is his avowed policy to convert the able bodied men among them into soldiers, and emancipate all. The success of the Federal arms in the South was followed by a Proclamation of President Lincoln for 280,000 men, the effect of which will be to stimulate the Northern States to procure substitutes for their own people from the negroes thus brought within their reach. Many have already been obtained in Virginia, and should the future of war expose more of her territory, the enemy will gain a large accession to his strength. His people will thus add to his numbers, and at the same time destroy slavery in a manner most pernicious to the welfare of our people. These negroes will be used to hold them in subjection, leaving the remaining forces of the enemy free to extend his conquest.
Whatever may be the effect of our employing negro troops, it cannot be as mischevious as this.
If it end in subverting slavery, it will be accomplished by ourselves, and we can devise the means of alleviating the evil consequences to both races. I think therefore we must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves used against us, or to use them ourselves at the risk of the effects which may be produced upon our social institutions.
My own opinion is that we should employ them without delay. I believe that with proper regulations, they can be made efficient soldiers. They possess the physical qualifications in an eminent degree,--long habits of obedience and subordination coupled with that moral influence, which in our country the white man possesses over the black, furnish the best foundation for that discipline which is the surest guarranty of military efficiency. There have been formidable armies composed of men having no interest in the cause for which they fought, beyond their pay or the hope of plunder. But it is certain that the best foundation upon which the fidelity of any army can rest, especially in a service which imposes peculiar hardships and privations, is the personal interest of the soldier in the issue of the contest. Such an interest we can give our negroes, by granting immediate freedom to all who enlist, and freedom at the end of the war to the families of those who discharge their duties faithfully (whether they survive or not) together with the privilege of residing at the South. To this might be added a bounty for faithful service. We should not expect the slaves to fight for prospective freedom, when they can secure it at once by going to the enemy in whose service they would incur no greater risk than in ours. The reasons that induce me to recommend the employment of negro troops at all render the effect on slaves of the measure. I have suggested immaterial, & in my opinion, the best means of securing the efficiency and fidelity of the auxilliary force would be to accompany the measure with a well digested plan of gradual and general emancipation. As that will be the result of the continuance of the war, & will certainly occur if the enemy succeed. It seems to me most desirable to adopt it at once, and thereby obtain all the benefits that will accrue to our cause.
The employment of negro troops under regulations similar in principal to those above indicated would in my opinion greatly increase our military strength, and enable us to relieve our white population to some extent. I think we could dispense with the reserve forces, except in cases of emergency. It would disappoint the hopes which our enemies have upon our exhaustion, deprive them in great measure of the aid they now derive from black troops, and thus throw the burden of the war upon their own people. In addition to the great political advantages which would result to our cause from the adoption of a system of emancipation, it would exercise a salutary influence upon our negro population, by rendering more secure the fidelity of those who become soldiers, and diminish the inducements to the rest to abscond. I can only say in conclusion, that whatever measures are to be adopted should be adopted at once. Every day's delay increases the difficulty; much time will be required to organize & discipline the men & action may be deferred until it is too late.
Very Respc'y
Your Obt servt
(signed) R E Lee

[olerebel]

2001, Hattiesburg, MS, Confederate Memorial Day. In the midst of the CBF controversy, The SCV promised to raise the CBF over a local Confederate Cemetery. News media stirred the water, citing the SCV as a hate/racial group. Several reporters were on hand when The Son hoisted the St. Andrews Cross..... A black Son, career military. 'Heritage, not hate' doesn't sell papers.

[olerebel]

Buff
'Black Confederates', Pelican Press is interesting. Holt Collier is a good choice also. I firmly believe that Black History has been surpressed. A person should do serious research, then form their own conclusion as to 'why'. 'A Southside View of Slavery', written about 1855 gives the Southern perspective. It's available from Elm Springs.

[samgrant]

Did You know that I think this is a lot of crap?

[unionblue]

Samgrant,

Evidence please.

Unionblue

[unionblue]

To All,

Lee's reputation as an opponent of slavery also rests in part on a letter he wrote to his wife, Mary, in 1856 that referred to bondage as "a moral and political evil." But those words merely expressed an opinion long common among Upper South masters, an opinion that had prevented few from remaining masters. It was evil, they held, but a necessary one. Like so many of his neighbors, therefore, Lee was perfectly able to acknowledge slavery's shortcomings and anticipate its eventual extinction even as he rejected all practical efforts to hasten bondage's demise. This outlook informed the letter to Mary Custis Lee. While slavery was indeed an evil, Lee argued there, it was "useless to expatiate on its disadvantages" because "the painful discipline" that the slaves "are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race." Only such discipline and instruction, Lee explained, could "prepare and lead them to better things" some day. It was just as useless to speculate about when that day might arrive, moreover, because just "how long their subjugation may be necessary is known & ordered by a wise Merciful Providence." Lee expressed little sense of urgency about the pace of this providential process. "We must leave the progress as well as the result" of this process, he advised, "in his hands who sees the end; who Chooses to work by slow influences; & with whom two thousand years are but a Single day." In the interim slavery would remain the proper status for blacks in America. Lee adhered to this view in deed as well as word. In 1859, a number of slaves on his Arlington estate tried to escape to Pennsylvania. Apprehended in Maryland, they were returned to Lee, who reportedly ordered them sent into southern Virginia, where (as Lee's admiring biographer, Douglas Southall Freeman, explained) "there would be less danger of their absconding."

Six years later, Lee reaffirmed his belief in slavery's rightness, when he wrote to state senator Andrew Hunter about employing blacks as Confederate soldiers. "The relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and enlightened public sentiment," he solemnly declared on that occasion, was "the best that can exist between the white and black races while intermingled as at present in this country."

Taken from the book Confederate Emancipation; Southern Plans To Free And Arm Slaves During The Civil War, by Bruce Levine.

Unionblue

[unionblue]

To All,

When General Lee came out in favoring arming slaves and making them into Confederate soldiers, a few comments were made.

Robert Barnwell Rhett, Jr.'s Charleston Mercury accused him of being "an hereditary Federalist, and a disbeliver in the institution of slavery," the latest in a long line that had included "some of the strongest and most influential names and individuals in Virginia." (Charleston Mercury, Feb. 3, 1865.)

But Lee did not have to send for a copy of the Mercury to find his loyalty to southern values impugned. The same challenge confronted him in a journal published much closer to home. The Richmond Examiner (edited by John M. Daniel and Edward A. Pollard) declared that Lee's opinion "suggests a doubt whether he is what used to be called a 'good Southerner'; that is, whether he is thoroughly satisfied of the justice and beneficence of negro slavery as a sound, permanent basis of our national policy." (Richmond Examiner, Feb. 25, 1865.)

Buffalo-Guard, may I inquire of what your are attempting to present on this thread? For I am of the opinion that the first three paragraphs of your first post can be ripped to shreds quite easily, if one goes to the period sources of the time.

I am curious.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[Buffalo-Guard]

As someone once said. History is History. You may not want to believe it but it is hirtory.

This fact sheet is prepared by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Education Committee for distribution to professors, teachers, librarians, principals, ethnic leaders, members of the press, and others interested in promoting an understanding of Black contributions to United States history. The SCV hopes this information will enrich the celebration of Black History Month during February. This sheet may be freely copied and distributed without permission or notice; if republished in part or whole, please credit the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"There are at the present moment, many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty...as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets...." Frederick Douglas, former slave & abolitionist (Fall, 1861)

How many? Easily tens of thousands of blacks served the Confederacy as laborers, teamsters, cooks and even as soldiers. Some estimates indicate 25% of free blacks and 15% of slaves actively supported the South during the war.

Why? Blacks served the South because it was their home, and because they hoped for the reward of patriotism; for these reasons they fought in every war through Korea, even though it meant defending a segregated United States.

Emancipation? President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave. Issued at a time when the Confederacy seemed to be winning the war, Lincoln hoped to transform a disagreement over secession into a crusade against slavery, thus preventing Great Britain (and France) from intervening on the side of the South. The proclamation allowed slavery to continue in the North as well as in Tennessee and large parts of Louisiana and Virginia. It applied only to Confederate-held slaves, which Lincoln had no authority over, but not to slaves under Federal control.

Lincoln's Views? "I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office...." 9/15/1858 campaign speech "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery...." 3/4/1861 First Inaugural Address "I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District [of Columbia]...." 3/24/1862 letter to Horace Greeley "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it...." 8/22/1862
letter to Horace Greeley, New York Tribune editor Confederate: Famed bridge engineer and former slave Horace King received naval contracts for building Confederate warships. A black servant named Sam
Ashe killed the first Union officer during the war, abolitionist Major Theodore Winthrop. John W. Buckner, a black private, was wounded at Ft. Wagner repulsing the U.S. (Colored) 54th Massachusetts Regiment. George Wallace, a servant who surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox, later served in the Georgia Senate. Jim Lewis served General Stonewall Jackson, and was honored to hold his horse "Little Sorrel" at the general's funeral. In fact he was allow a place of honor and followed Gen Jacksons casket to its final resting place. Captured black cook Dick Poplar suffered cruelty by Yankee Negro guards at Pt. Lookout, MD for being a "Jeff Davis man."

Union: A daring Robert Smalls engineered theft of the CSS Planter, presenting it to the Yankee blockading fleet at Charleston. Black Medal of Honor awardees Christian Fleetwood and William Carey bravely carried the banner at Ft. Wagner's assault in 1863. Colonial: The first man to die for the American cause of freedom was Crispus Attucks, a black seaman from Boston. At the time of the American Revolution,
New York City held almost as many slaves as all of Georgia combined.
Surprising Facts: In St. Louis, General John Fremont freed slaves of "disloyal" Missouri Confederates; an angry Lincoln fired him. Slaves in Washington, D.C. were not freed until April 1862, a year after the war began with the firing at Ft. Sumter. Slavery continued throughout the entire war in five Union-held states: DE, MD, WV, KY and MO. The New York City draft riots of July 1863 resulted in burning of a beautiful black orphanage and lynching of blacks.

A provision in the Confederate Constitution prohibited the African slave trade outright (unlike the U.S. Constitution). If only they would have abolished the slave industry. Without doing so, no country would truly reconize them as a new nation. They then could have really run on the platform of states rights.

Encouraged by General Lee, the CSA eventually freed slaves who would join the army, and did recruit and arm black regiments. C.S. General Robert E. Lee freed his family slaves before the war; Union Gen. U.S. Grant kept his wife's slaves well into the war. Many blacks owned slaves themselves. In 1861 Charleston, for example, a free colored
planter named William Ellison owned 70 slaves. Even in 1830 New York City, three decades before the war, eight black planters owned 17 slaves.

Blacks Today: Nelson W. Winbush, a retired educator and SCV member, lectures on his black Confederate ancestor, private Louis N. Nelson. A black Chicago funeral home owner, Ernest A. Griffin, flies the CSA battle flag and erected at his own expense a $20,000 monument to the 6,000 Confederate soldiers who are buried on his property, once site of the Union prison Camp Douglas. Black professor Leonard Haynes (recently deceased) of Southern University (Baton Rouge) spoke regularly on black Confederates. American University's professor Edward Smith also lectures on the truth of black Confederate history and, with Nelson W. Winbush, has prepared an educational videotape entitled "Black Southern Heritage" (available at (954) 963-4857)
Info? Contact: Dr. Edward Smith, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 885-1192; Dean of American Studies, Dr. Smith (a black professor) is dedicated to clarifying the historical role of blacks. Websites: Library of Congress

Black History Resource Guide - http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Sons of Confederate Veterans, International Headquarters - http://www.scv.org
Books: Charles Kelly Barrow, et al. Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About Black Southerners (1995)
Iver Bernstein. The New York Draft Riots (1990)
Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia (1995)
Larry Koger. Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slaveowners in South Carolina, 1790-1860 (1985, 1995)
Edward A. Miller, Jr. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls - From Slavery to Congressman, 1839-1915 (1995)
Richard Rollins. Black Southerners in Gray (1994)
Cornish Taylor. The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (1956)

For more information, call 1-800-380-1896 or visit the SCV website at http://www.scv.org
Copyright © 2004 Sons of Confederate Veterans

[johan_steele]

Just as a note there are several errors in the posted SCV bulletin. Fremont was not sacked because of Slaves but largely due to the outcry over the "Hall Incident" a case were several thousand Hall Rifles and Carbines were sold by the Govt @ public auction for $3.50 or so a piece and then immedietly resold to Fremont to arm the Western troops at $18 a piece. It smacked loudly of fraud and profiteering and was the primary impetues behind the sacking of Fremont.

There is also mentioned the raising of several Black Regiments by the CS... this is incorrect. THe 1st LA Native Guards were never accepted into the service of the CS and only 2-3 Companies fell in w/ Lee prior to Appomatox... and they never surrendered but melted away probably w/out seeing battle. THe largest group of Black CS troops in battle I have found anywhere were the manservents of a Cav unit who armed themselves and fought at Chickamauga. THey were not paid,nor treated as soldiers. My own estimate of Armed Black men serving as soldiers w/ the CS is about 1300 I believe Neil credits 13,000 and I feel that to be the maximum possible and a very liberal number. Of note in my own research I have found legitimate Black CS soldiers w/ Arkansas troops, Tennesee Troops (serving under Forrest) and precious few verifiable others. Countless teamsters, servents, and all manner of support personnel... most of whom earned their masters approx $25 a day IIRC while seeing little if any of it themselves.

While I freely admit there were some Black soldiers in the CS the number was quite insignificant w/ my own belief being less than the number of women who masqueraded as men to become soldiers. All I ask is what Regiments did they serve with, what battles, and who did they surrender to.

The CS Constitution guaranteed the institution of Slavery for the CS and IIRC made it a requirement of any who wished to become a state of the CS.

There is serious doubt about the accuracy of the Ashe claim... enough for me to question it's accuracy at all.

THe claims of Grant as a slave owner have been covered in depth on another thread and there is no doubt he did not own them and many of the claims used against him by the Lost Cause are easily discredited.

It is interesting how Lincolns letter to Greely is taken completely out of context... why?

I have a lot of respect for the SCV, they do good service w/ the exception of the element that attempts to rewrite history.

[Buffalo-Guard]

From;

http://www.civilwarrichmond.com/

See event section then look for Black Confederate

Confederate Congress: Second Congress, Second Session, Senate, March 7, 1865: The Negro Soldier Question. Southern Historical Society Papers 52 (1959), pp. 452-457.

THE NEGRO SOLDIER QUESTION

At 12 o'clock House bill to increase the military forces of the Confederate States, better known as the negro soldier bill, was taken up and read. The following is the bill; A Bill to increase the military forces of the Confederate States.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That in order to provide additional forces to repel invasion, maintain the rightful possession of the Confederate States, secure their independence and preserve their institutions, the President be and he is hereby authorized to ask for and accept from the owners of slaves the services of such number of able-bodied negro men as he may deem expedient, for and during the war, to perform military service in whatever capacity he may direct.

Section 2. That the General-in-Chief be authorized to organize the said slaves into companies, battalions, regiments and brigades, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, and to be commanded by such officers as the President may appoint.

Section 3. That while employed in the service the said troops shall receive the same rations, clothing and compensation as are allowed to other troops in the same branch of the service.

Section 4. That if, under the previous sections of this act, the President shall not be able to raise a sufficient number of troops to prosecute the war successfully, and maintain the sovereignty of the States and the independence of the Confederate States, then he is hereby authorize to call on each State, whenever he thinks it expedient for her quota of three hundred thousand troops, in addition to those subject to military service under existing laws, or so many thereof as the President may deem necessary, to be raised from such classes of the population, irrespective of colour, in each State, as the proper authorities may
determine.

Section 5. That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation of the said slaves. Mr. Hunter said that as he had instructed by the Virginia Legislature to vote against his conviction, it was proper that he should give publick expression to his opinions. Since his first appearance in publick life he had recognized the right of the Legislature to instruct; and upon that body he desired to place the responsibility of the measure should it become a law. Until this morning he had abandoned the idea of publickly expressing his views; but his friends had suggested that justice to himself required that he should do so. He would necessarily have to go over much the same ground as when a kindred measure was recently under discussion in secret session.

When we left the old Government he had thought we had gotten ride forever of the slavery agitation; that we were entering into a new Confederacy of homogeneous States upon the agitation of the slavery question, which had become intolerable under the old Union, was to have no place. But to his surprise he finds that this Government assumes the power to arm the slaves, which involves also the power of emancipation.-To the agitation of this question, the assumption of this power, he dated the origin of the gloom which now overspreads our people. They knew that if our liberties were to be achieved it was to be done by the hearts and to hands of free men. It also injured us abroad. It was regarded as a confession of despair and an abandonment of the ground upon which we had seceded from the old Union. We had insisted that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery, and upon the coming into power of the party who it was known would assume and exercise that power, we seceded.

We had also then contended that whenever the two races were thrown together one must be master and the other slave, and we vindicated ourselves against the accusations of the abolitionists by asserting that slavery was the best and happiest condition of the negro. Now what does this proposition admit? The right of the central Government to put the slaves into the militia, and to emancipate at least so many as shall be placed in the military service. It is a clear claim of the central Government to emancipate the slaves.

If we are right in passing this measure we were wrong in denying to the old government the right to interfere with the institution of slavery and to emancipate slaves. Besides, if we offer slaves their freedom as a boon we confess that we were insincere, were hypocritical, in asserting that slavery was the best state for the negroes themselves. He had been sincere in declaring that the central Government had no power over the institution of slavery, and that freedom would be no boon to the negro.

He now believed, as he had formerly said in discussion on the same subject, that arming and emancipating the slaves was an abandonment of this contest-an abandonment of the grounds upon which it had been undertaken. If this is so who it is answer for the hundreds of thousands of men who had been slain in the war? Who was to answer from them before the bar of Heaven? Not those who had entered into the contest upon principle and adhered to the principle, but those who had abandoned the principle. Not for all the gold in California would he have put his name to such a measure as this unless obliged to do it by instructions. As long as he was free to vote from his own convictions nothing could have extorted it from him.

Mr. Hunter then argued the necessity of freeing the negroes if they were made soldiers. There was something in the human heart and head that tells us it must be so; when they come out scarred from this conflict they must be free. If we could make them soldiers, the condition of the soldier being socially equal to any other in society, we could make them officers, perhaps, to command white men. Some future ambitious President might use the slaves to seize the liberties of the country and put the white men under his fee.-The Government had not power under the Constitution to arm and emancipate the slaves, and the Constitution granted no such great powers by implication.

Mr. Hunter then showed from statisticks that no considerable body of negro troops could be raised in the States over which the Government had control, without stripping the country of the labour absolutely necessary to produce food. He thought there was a much better change of getting the large number of deserters back to the army than of getting slaves into it. The negro abhored the profession of a soldiers. The commandant of conscripts, with authority to impress twenty thousand slaves had, between last September and the present time, been able to get but four thousand; and of these thirty-five hundred had been obtained in Virginia and North Carolina, and five hundred from Alabama. If he, armed with all the powers of impressment, could not get them as labourers, how will we be able to get them as soldiers? Unless they volunteer they will go to the Yankee; if we depend upon their volunteering we can't get them, and those we do get will desert to the enemy, who can offer them a better price than we can. The enemy can offer them liberty, clothing, and even farms at our expense. Negroes now were deterred from going to the enemy only by the fear of being put into the army. If we put them in they all go over.

In conclusion, he considered that the measure, when reviewed as to its expediency, was worse than as a question of principle. He was not satisfied that the majority of the army were in favour of the measure. The army had been told that the measure was necessary, and they had acquiesced. He did not believe that the heroes of Manassas, Fredericksburg and Cold Harbour were holding out their hands to the negroes to come and save them. He did not believe that our troops would fight with that constancy which should inspire troops in the hour of battle, when they knew that their flanks were being held by negroes. He repeated that he would have voted against the bill except fort the instructions which put an obligation upon him. He should endeavour to mould the bill so as to carry our the true spirit of those instructions. He believed it would pass, and hoped that it might not have the evil effects that he apprehended.

Mr. Graham also opposed the bill. He meant to hold out no threat, but he would say that when Congress adopted such a measure the States would feel called upon the consider whether such an inroad upon the Constitution did not call for additional guards being thrown around that instrument. He considered the adoption of the measure as almost a virtual abandonment of the principles of the contest.

Mr. Graham protested against the right of the Virginia Legislature to instruct its Senators after the mature deliberation of the Senate had disposed of the measure, which affected not the State of Virginia alone, but every State between the Potomac and the Rio Grande. Mr. Graham argued at length against the constitutionally and expediency of the measure.

Mr. Semmes spoke in advocacy of the bill. He advocated it as a necessity. It was better to throw over part of the cargo than to lose the ship and cargo together. It was urged by General Lee, and the consequences which would follow would not be so bad as had been represented. He hoped the bill would be so modified as to conform to the instructions given by the State of Virginia to her Senators.

Mr. Orr opposed the bill.

Mr. Burnett urged its passage.

The Senate resolved into secret session.

EVENING SESSION

After recess the Senate met at half-past seven o'clock, P. M., and resumed consideration of the negro soldier bill.

Mr. Oldham spoke in advocacy of the policy of arming the slaves.

After further debate the Senate adjourned, without taking a vote on the bill.