SERVICES
OF
COLORED AMERICANS
IN THE
WARS OF 1776 AND 1812.
BY
WILLIAM C. NELL.
REPRINTED FROM CANADA EDITION.
Printed for extensive circulation at Toronto, 1854.
-*
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
A. M. E. PUBLISHING HOUSE,
631 Pine Street,
1894.
INTRODUCTION.
The following pages are an effort to stem the tide of prejudice against the
Colored race. The white man despises the colored man, and has come to
think him fit only for the menial drudgery to which the majority of the race
has been so long doomed. " This prejudice was never reasoned up, and will-
never be reasoned down." It must be lived down. In a land where wealth is
the basis of reputation, the colored man must prove his sagacity and enter¬
prise by successful trade or speculation. To show his capacity for mental
culture he must be, not merely claim the right to be, a scholar. Professional
eminence is peculiarly the result of practice and long experience. The colored
people, therefore, owe it to each other and to their race to extend liberal en¬
couragement to colored lawyers, physicians and teachers, as well as to
mechanics and artisans of all kinds. Let no individual despair. Not to name
the living, let me hold up the example of one whose career deserves to be
often spoken of, as complete proof that a colored man can rise to social respect
and the highest employment and usefulness, in spite not only of the prejudice
that crushes his race, but of the heaviest personal burdens. Dr. David
Ruggles, poor, blind and an invalid, found a well known Water Cure Estab¬
lishment in the town where I write, erected expensive buildings, won honor¬
able distinction as a most successful and skilful practitioner, secured the warm
regard and esteem of this community, and left a name embalmed in the
hearts of many who feel that they owe life to his eminent skill and careful
practice. Black though he was, his aid was sought sometimes by those num¬
bered among the Pro-Slavery class. To be sure, his is but a single instance,
and I know it required pre-eminent ability to make a way up to light through
the overwhelming mass of prejudice and contempt. But it is these rare cases
of strong will and eminent endowment,—always sure to make the world feel
whether it will or no,—that will finally wring from a contemptuous community
the reluctant confession of the colored man's equality.
I ask, therefore, the reader's patronage of the following sheets, on several
grounds; first, as an encouragement to the author, Mr. Nell, to pursue a sub¬
ject which well deserves illustration on other points besides those on which he
has labored ; secondly, to scatter broadly as possible, the facts here collected,
as instance of the colored man's success—a record of the genius he has shown,
and the services he has rendered society in the higher departments of exer¬
tion ; thirdly, to encourage such men as Ruggles to perseverance, by showing
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<L
Sl generous appreciation of their labors and a cordial sympathy in their
trials.
Some things set down here go to prove colored men patriotic—though de¬
nied a country; and all show a wish, on their part, to prove themselves men,
in a land whose laws refuse to recognize their manhood. If the reader shall,
sometimes, blush to find that in the days of our country's weakness, we re¬
membered their power to help or harm us, and availed ourselves gladly of
their generous services, while we have since, used our strength only to crush
them the more completely, let him resolve henceforth to do them justice him¬
self and claim it for them of others. If any shall be convinced by these facts,
that they need only a free path to show the same capacity and reap the same
rewards as other races, let such labor to open every door to their efforts, and
hasten the day when to be black shall not, almost necessarily, doom a man to
poverty and the most menial drudgery. There is touching eloquence, as well
as Spartan brevity, in the appeal of a well known colored man, Rev. Petek
Williams, of New York :
"We are natives of this country; we ask only to be treated as well as
foreigners. Not a few of our fathers suffered and bled to purchase its indepen¬
dence ; we ask only to be treated as well as those who fought against it. We
have toiled to cultivate it, and to raise it to its present prosperous condition ;
we ask only to share equal privileges with those who come from distant lands
to enjoy the fruits of our labor."
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Northampton, Oct. 25, 1852.
PREFACE.
In the month of July, 1847, the eloquent Bard of Freedom, John G.
Whittier, contributed to the National Era a statement of facts relative to the
Military Services of Colored Americans in the Revolution of 1776, and the War
of 1812. Being a member of the Society of Friends, he disclaimed any eulogy
upon the shedding of blood, even in the cause of acknowledged Justice, but,
says he, " when we see a whole nation doing honor to the memories of one
class of its defenders, to the total neglect of another class, who had the mis¬
fortune to be of darker complexion, we cannot forego the satisfaction of invit¬
ing notice to certain historical facts, which, for the last half century, have
been quietly elbowed aside, as no more deserving of a place in patriotic recol¬
lection, than the descendants of the men, to whom the facts in question
relate, have a place in a Fourth of July procession, [in the nation's esti¬
mation.]
" Of the services and sufferings of the Colored Soldiers of the Revolution,
no attempt has, to our knowledge, been made to preserve a record. They
have had no historian. With here and there an exception, they have all
passed away, and only some faint traditions linger among their descendants.
Yet enough is known to show that the Free Colored Men of the United
States bore their full proportion of the sacrifices and trials of the Revolution¬
ary War.
In any attempt, then, to rescue from oblivion the name and fame of those
who, though " tinged with the hated stain," yet had warm hearts and active
hands in the " times that tried men's souls," I will first gratefully tender him
my thanks for the service his compilation has afforded me, and my acknowl¬
edgments also to other individuals who have kindly contributed facts for this
pamphlet. Imperfect as these pages may prove, to prepare even these, jour¬
neys have been made to confer with the living, and even pilgrimages to
grave-yards, to save all that may still be gleaned from their fast disappear¬
ing records.
There are those who will ask, why make a parade of the military services
of Colored Americans, instead of recording their attention to and progress in
the various other departments of civil, social, and political elevation ? To this
let me answer, that I yield to no one in appreciating the propriety and perti¬
nency of every effort on the part of Colored Americans, in all pursuits, which,
as members of the human family, it becomes them to share in; and, among
(5)
6
these, my predilections are least and last for what constitutes the pomp and
circumstances of War.
Did the limits of this work permit, I could furnish an elaborate list of
those who have distinguished themselves as Teachers, Editors, Orators,
Mechanics, Clergymen, Artists, Farmers, Poets, Lawyers, Physicians, Mer¬
chants, etc., to whose perennial fame be it recorded that most of their attain¬
ments were reached through difficulties unknown to any but those whose sin
is the curl of the hair and the hue of the skin.
There is now an institution of learning in the State of New York, Central
College, which recently employed, as Professor of Belles Lettres, a young
Colored man, Charles L. Reason, and who, on resigning his chair, dropped
his mantle gracefully upon the shoulders of William G. Allen, another Col¬
ored young man as worthy for scholastic abilities and gentlemanly depart¬
ment.
These men, as Teachers, especially in Colleges open to all, irrespective of
accidental differences, are doing a mighty work in uprooting prejudice. The
influences thus gathered are already felt. Many a young white man or wo¬
man who, in early life has imbibed wrong notions of the Colored man's infer¬
iority, is taught a new lesson by the Colored Professors at McGrawville; and
they leave its honored walls with thanksgiving in their hearts for the conver¬
sion from Pro-Slavery Heathenism to the Gospel of Christian Freedom ; and
are thus prepared to go forth as Pioneers in the cause of Human Brotherhood.
But the Orator's voice and Author's pen have both been eloquent in detail¬
ing the merits of Colored Americans in these various ramifications of society,
while a combination of circumstances have veiled from the public eye a nar¬
ration of those military services which are generally conceded as passports to
the honorable and lasting notice of Americans.
Boston, May, J 851.
SERVICES OF COLORED AMERICANS.
MASSACHUSETTS.
On the fifth of March, 1851, a petition was presented to the Massa¬
chusetts Legislature, asking an appropriation of $1,500 for erecting a
monument to the memory of Crispus Attucks, the first martyr in the
Boston Massacre of March 5th, 1770. The matter was referred to
the Committee on Military Affairs, who granted a hearing, of the peti¬
tioners, in whose behalf appeared Wendell Phillips, Esq., and Wm.
C. Nell, but finally submitted an adverse report, on the ground that
a boy. Christopher Snyder, was previously killed. Admitting this
fact, (which was the result of a very different sense from that in which
Attucks fell,) does not offset the claims of Attucks, and those who made
the fifth of March famous in our annals—the day which history selects
as the dawn of the American Revolution.
Botta's History and Hewes's Reminiscences (the tea-party survivor)
establishes the fact that the colored man, Attucks, was of and with the
people, and was never regarded otherwise.
Botta, in speaking of the scenes of the fifth March, says: "The
people was greatly exonerated. The multitude, armed with clubs, ran
towards King Street, crying, " Let us drive out these ribalds ; they have
no business here !" The rioters rushed furiously towards the Custom
House; they approached the sentinel, crying, "Kill him, kill him!"
They assaulted him with snowballs, pieces of ice, and whatever they
could lay their hands upon." The guard were then called, and, in
marching to the Custom House, "they encounted," continues Botta,
a band of the populace, led by a mulatto named Attucks, who brandished
their clubs, and peltered them with snowballs. The maledictions, the
execrations of the multitude were horrible. In the midst of a torrent
of invectives from every quarter, the military were challenged to fire.
The populace advanced to the points of their bayonets. The soldiers
appeared like statutes ; the cries, the howlings, the menaces, the violent
din of bells still sounding the alarm, increased the confusion and the
horrors of these moments; at length the mulatto and twelve of his com¬
panions, pressing forward, environed the soldiers, and striking their
muskets with their clubs cried to the multitude : " Be not afraid, they
dare not fire ; why do they hesitate, why do you not kill them, why not
crush them at once !" The mulatto lifted his arm against Captain
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8
Preston, and having turned one of the muskets, he seized the bayone
with his left hand, as if he intended to execute his threat. At t ^is
moment, confused cries were heard : " The wretches dare not re .
Firing succeeds, Attucks is slain. The other discharges follow. Three
were killed, five severely wounded, and several others slightly.
Attucks was killed by Montgomery, one of Captain Preston s soldiers.
He had been foremost in resisting, and was first slain ; as proof of front
and close engagement, received two balls, one in each breast.
John Adams, counsel for the soldiers, admitted that Attucks appeared
to have undertaken to be the Hero of the night, and to lead the army
with banners. He and Caldwell, not being residents of Boston, were
both buried from Faneuil Hall. The citizens generally participated in
the funeral solemnities.
The .Boston Transcript, of March, 1851, published an anonymous
correspondence disparaging the whole affair ; denouncing Crispus
Attucks as a very firebrand of disorder and sedition, the most conspicu¬
ous, inflammatory, and uproarious of the misguided populace, and who,
if he had not fallen a martyr, would richly have deserved hanging as an
incendiary. If the leader, Attucks, deserved the epithets above applied
is it not a legimate inference that the citizens who followed on are
included, and hence, should swing in his company on the gallows ? If
the leader and his patriot band were misguided, the distinguished
orators who, in after days, commemorated the fifth day of March, must,
indeed, have been misguided, and with them the masses who were
inspired by their eloquence ; for John Hancock, in 1774, invokes the
injured shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks, Carr.
And Judge Dawes, in 1775, thus alludes to the band of misguided
incendiaries. "The provocation of that night must be numbered among
the master springs which gave the first motion to a vast machinery, a
noble and comprehensive system of national independence."
Ramsay's History of the American Revolution, Vol. 1., p. 22, adds,
" The anniversary of the 5th of March was observed with great solemnity ;
eloquent orators were successively employed to preserve the remem¬
brance of it fresh in the mind. On these occasions the blessings of
liberty—the horrors of Slavery, and the danger of a standing urmy were
presented to the public view. These annual orations administered fuel
to the fire of liberty, and kept it burning with an irresistible fiame."
The 5th of March continued to be celebrated for the above reasons,
until the Declaration of American Independence was substituted in its
place, and its orators were expected to consider the feelings, manners,
and principles of the former as giving birth to the latter.
In judging, then, of the merits of those who launched the American
Revolution, we should not take counsel from the Tories of that or the
present day, but rather heed the approving eulogy of Lovell, Hancock
and Warren.
Welcome, then, be every taunt that such correspondents have flung
9
at Aitucks and his company, as the best evidence of their merits and
strongest claim on our gratitude. Envy and the foe do not labor to
abuse any but prominent champions of a cause.
The rejection of this petition was to be expected, if we accept the
axiom that a Colored man never gets Justice done him in the United
States, except by mistake. The petitioners only asked for that Justice, and
that the name of Crispus Attucks be surrounded with the same emblems
constantly appropriated by a grateful country to other gallant Americans.
And yet let it be recorded that the same session of the Legislature
which had refused the Attacks monument, granted one to Isaac Davis,
of Concord,—both were promoters of the American revolution ; but one
was white, the other black—and this fact is the only solution to the
problem why Justice was not meted out.
Extract from the Speech of Hon. Anson Burhngame, in Faneuil Hall,
October 13, 1852, when alluding to the volunteer participation of
Boston officials in returning Thomas Sims to bondage, in April, 1851.
" The conquering of our New England prejudices in favor of liberty,
' does not pay.' It ' does not pay,' I submit, to put our fellow citizens
under practical martial law ; to beat the drum in our streets ; to clothe
our temples of justice in chains, and to creep along by the light of the
morning star, over the ground wet with the blood of Crispus Attucks,
the noble Colored man, who fell in King Street, before the muskets of
tyranny, away in the dawn of our Revolution ; creep by Faneuil Hall,
silent and dark : by the Green Dragon, where that noble mechanic, Paul
Revere, once mustered the sons of liberty ; within, sight of Prospect
Hill, where we first unfurled the glorious banner ; creep along with fu¬
neral pace, bearing a brother, a man made in the image of his God, not
to the grave—oh, that were merciful, for in the grave there is no work
and no device, and the voice of a master never comes—but back to the
degradation of a Slavery which kills out of a living body an immortal
soul. ( Great sensation.) Oh ! where is the man now who took part in
that mournful transaction, who would wish, looking back upon it, to
avow it."
During the Revolutionary War, public opinion was so strongly in
favor of the abolition of slavery, that, in some of the country towns,
votes were passed in town meetings that they would have no slaves
among them ; and that they would not exact, of masters, any bonds for
the maintenance of liberated blacks, should they become incapable of
supporting themselves. A liberty-loving antiquarian copied the follow¬
ing from Suffolk Probate Record, and published it in the Liberator of
February, 1847.
"Know all men by these presents, that I, Jonathan Jackson, of New-
buryport, in the county of Essex, gentleman, in consideration of the im¬
propriety I feel, and have felt in beholding any person in constant bondage
more especially at the time when my country is so warmly contending
for the liberty every man ought to enjoy—and having sometime since
10
promised ray Negro man, Pomp, that I would give him his freedom—-an
in further consideration of five shillings, paid me by said Pomp, o
hereby liberate,manumit, and set him free; and I do hereby remise an
release unto said Pomp, all demands of whatever nature I hqve against
said Pomp. ' .
"In witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand and seal, this nineteenth
June, 1776. " Jonathan Jackson. [Seal.]
" Witness, Mary Coburn, Win. Noyes."
It only remains to say a word respecting the two parties of the fore¬
going indenture.
Jonathan Jackson, of Newburyport, we well remember to have heard
spoken of, in our boyish days, by honored lips, as a most upright and
thorough gentleman of the old school, possessing talents and
character of the first standing. He was the first Collector of the Port of
Boston, under Washington's administration and was Treasurer of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts for many years, and died in 1810. A
tribute to his memory and his worth, said to be from the pen of the late
John Lowell, appeared in the Columbian Centinel, March 10, 1810.
His immediate descendants have long resided in this city, are exten¬
sively known, and as widely and justly honored.
Pomp took the name of his late master, upon his emancipation, and
soon after enlisted in the army, as Pomp Jackson, served through the
whole war of the revolution and obtained an honorable discharge at its
termination. He afterwards settled in Andover, near a pond, still
known as " Pomp's Pond," where some of his descendants yet live.
In this case of emancipation, it appears, instead of "cutting his mas¬
ter's throat," he only slashed the throats of his country's enemies.
The late Governor Eustis, of Massachusetts, the pride and boast of the
democracy of the East, himself an active participant in the War., and
therefore a most competent witness, states that the Freed Colored Sol¬
diers entered the ranks with the whites. The time of those who were
Slaves were purchased of their masters, and they were induced to enter
the service in consequence of a law of Congress, by which, on condition
of their serving in the ranks during th« War, they were made Freemen.
The hope of Liberty inspired them with the courage to oppose their
breasts to the Hessian bayonet at lied Bank, and enabled them to en¬
dure with fortitude the cold and famine of Valley Forge.
Seymour Burr was a Slave in Connecticut, to a brother of Col. Aaron
Burr, from whom he derived his name. Though treated with much
lavor by his master, his heart yearned for liberty, and he seized an occa¬
sion to induce several of his fellow servants to escape in a boat, intend¬
ing to join the British, that they might become Freemen ; but being
pursued by their owners, armed with implements of death, they were
compelled to surrender.
Burr's master, contrary to his expectation, did not inflict corporal
punishment, but reminded him of the kindness with which he had b>en
11
treated, and asked what inducement he could have for leaving him.
Burr replied that he wanted his liberty. His owner finally proposed,
that if he would give him the bounty money, he might join the Ameri¬
can army, and at the end of the war be his own man. Burr, willing to
make any sacrifice for his liberty, consented, and served faithfully dur¬
ing the campaign, attached to the Seventh Regiment, commanded by
Colonel, afterwards Governor Brooks, of Melford. He was present at
the siege of Fort Catskill, and endured much suffering from starvation
and cold. After some skirmishing the army was relieved by the arrival
ox Gen. Washington', who, as witnessed by him, shed tears of joy on find¬
ing them unexpectedly safe.
Burr married one of the Punkapog tribe of Indians, and settled in
Canton, Mass., where his widow now, aged one hundred and one years,
draws his pension.
Primus Hall, a native Bostonian, and long known to the citizens
as a soap-boiler, served in the revolutionary war, and used to enter¬
tain the social circle with various anecdotes of military experience;
among them an instance, where being himself in possession of a blan¬
ket, at a time when such a luxury had become scarce, Gen. Washington
entered the tent, having appropriated his own bedding for the worn-out
soldiers, Hall immediately tendered his blanket for the General, who
replied, he preferred sharing his privations with his fellow soldiers, and
accordingly Gen. Washington and Primus Hall reposed for the night
together.
Mr. Hall was among those Colored citizens who, in the war of 1812,
repaired to Castle Island, in Boston harbor, to assist in building forti¬
fications. [See Appendix].
Joshua B. Smith narrated to me " that he was present at a company
of distinguished Massachusetts men, when the conversation turned upon
the exploits of Revolutionary times; and that the late Judge Story
related the instance of a Colored Artillerist, who, while having charge
of a cannon with a white fellow soldier, was wounded in one arm. He
immediately turned to his comrade and proposed changing his position,
exclaiming that he had yet one arm left with which he could render
some service to his country. The change proved fatal to the heroic
soldier, for another shot from the enemy killed him upon the spot.
Judge Story furnished other incidents of the bravery and devotion of
Colored Soldiers, adding, that he had often thought them and their
descendants too much neglected, considering the part they had sustained
in the Wars ; and he regretted that he did not, in early life, gather the
facts into a shape for general information.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, John Hancock presented the
Colored Soldiers, called the •'Bucks of America," an appropriate banner
(bearing his initials) as a tribute to their courage and devotion in the
cause of American Liberty, through a protracted and bloody struggle.
This banner is now in the possession of Mrs. Kay, whose father was a
member of the company.
12
When a boy, living in West Boston, I was familiar with the preseno
of " Big Dick," and of hearing the following history confirme
not wholly out of place in this collection,
Big Dick—Richard Seavers, whose death in this city we late y men
tioned, was a man of mighty mould. A short time previous to is
death, he measured six feet five inches in height, and attracted much
attention when seen in the street. He was born in Salem or \icinity
and when about sixteen years old, went to England, where he entered
the British Navy. When the war of 1812 bioke out, he would not fight
against his country, gave himself up as an American citizen, and was
made prisoner of war.
A Surgeon on board of an American privateer, who experienced the
tender mercies of the British Government in Darton prison, during the
War of 1812, makes honorable mention of King Dick, as he was there
called.
"There are about four hundred aud fifty negroes in prison No. 4,
and this assemblage of blacks affords many curious anecdotes, and
much matter for speculation. These blacks have a ruler among them
whom they call King Dick. He is by far the largest, and I suspect, the
strongest man in the prison. He is six feet five inches in height, and
proportionably large. This black Hercules commands respect, and his
subjects tremble in his presence, He goes the rounds every day, and
visits every berth to see if they are all kept clean. When he goes the
rounds, he puts on a large bearskin cap, and carries in his hand a huge
club. If any of his men are dirty, drunken or grossly negligent, he
threatens them with a beatinlg; and if they are saucy, they are sure to
receive one. They have several times conspired against him, and
attempted to dethrone him, but he has always conquered the rebels.
One night several attacked him while asleep in his hammock, he sprang
up and seized the smallest of them by his feet, and thumped another
with him. The poor negro who had thus been made a beetle of, was
carried next day to the hospital, sadly bruised, and provokingly laughed
at. This ruler of the blacks, this King Kichard IV, is a man of good
understanding, and he exercises it to a good purpose. If any one of his
color cheats, defrauds, or steals from his comrades, he is sure to be
punished for it.''—Boston Patriot.
RHODE ISLAND.
The Hon. Tristam Burgess, of .Rhode Island, in a speech in Congress
first month, 1828, said: "At the commencement of the Revolutionary
War, Rhode Island had a number of slaves. A regiment of them were
enlisted into the Continental service, and no braver men met the enemy
in battle; but not one of them was permitted to be a soldier until he
had first been m^de a freeman."
"In Rhode Island," says Governor Eustis, in his able speech against
slavery in Missouri, twelfth of Twelfth month, 1820, "the blacks
formed an entire regiment, and they discharged their duty with zeal and
fidelity. The gallant defence of lied Bank, in which the black regiment
bore a part, is among the proofs of their valor." In this contest it will
be recollected that four hundred men met and repulsed, after a terrible
and sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred Hessian troops, headed by
Count Donop. The glory of the defence of Red Bank, which has been
pronounced one of the most heroic actions of the war, belongs in real¬
ity to black men ; yet who now hears them spoken of in connection with
it? Among the traits which distinguished the black regiment, was de¬
votion to their officers. In the attack made upon the American lines,
near Croton river, on the 13th of Fifth month, 1781, Colonel Greene,
the commander of the regiment, was cut down and mortally wounded;
but the sabres of the enemy only reached him through the bodies of his
faithful guard of blacks, who hovered over- him to protect him, every
one of whom was killed.
Lieutenant Colonel Barton, of the Rhode Island militia, planned a
bold exploit for the purpose of surprising and taking Major-General
Prescott, the commanding officer of the royal army at Newport. Taking
with him in the night about forty men, in two boats, with oars muffled,
he had the address to elude the vigilance of the ships of war and guard
boats, and having arrived undiscovered at the General's quarters, they
were taken for the sentinels, and the General was not alarmed till the
captors were at the door of his lodging chamber, which was fast closed.
A negro man named Prince instantly thrust his head through the
panel door and seized the victim while in bed. The General's aid-de¬
camp leaped from a window undressed, and attempted to escape but was
taken, and with the General brought off in safety.—Thatcher's Military
Journal, August 3, 1777.
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CONNECTICUT.
Hon. Calvin Goddard, of Connecticut, states that in the little circle of
his residence, he was instrumental in securing, under the Act of 1818,
the pensions of nineteen Colored Soldiers. "I cannot, he sa^s, re¬
frain from mentioning one aged black man, Primus Babcock, who
proudly presented to me an honorable discharge from service during the
war, dated at the close of it, wholly in the handwriting of George Wash¬
ington. Nor can I forget the expression of his feelings, when informed
after his discharge had been sent to the War Department, thatit could not
be returned. At his request it was written for, as he seemed inclined to
■ spurn the pension and reclaim the discharge." There is a touching
anecdote related of Baron Steuben, on the occasion of the disbandment
of the American army. A black soldier, with his wounds unhealed,
utterly destitute, stood on the wharf just as a vessel bound for a distant
home was getting under way. The poor fellow gazed at the vessel with
tears in his eyes, and gave himself up to despair. The warm hearted
foreigner witnessed his emotion, and, inquiring into the cause of it,
took his last dollar from his purse, and gave it to him with tears of sym¬
pathy trickling down his cheeks. Overwhelmed with gratitude, the
poor wounded soldier hailed the sloop, and was received on board. As
it moved out from the wharf, he cried back to his noble friend on shore,
" God Almighty bless you, master Baron
During the Revolutionary War, and after the sufferings of a protracted
contest had rendered it difficult to procure recruits for the army, the
Colony of Connecticut adopted the expedient of forming a corps of col¬
ored soldiers. A battalion of blacks was soon enlisted, and throughout
the war conducted themselves with fidelity and efficiency. The late
General Humphreys, then a Captain, commanded a company of this
corps. It is said that some objections were made on the part of officers,
to aceepting the command of the colored troops. In this exigency,
Captain Humphreys, who was attached to the family of General Wash¬
ington, volunteered his services. His patriotism was rewarded, and his
fellow officers were afterwards as desirous to obtain appointments in that
corps as they had previously been to avoid them.
The following extract, furnished by Charles Lennox Remond, from
the pay rolls of the second company fourth regiment of the Connecticut
line of the Revolutionary army may rescue many gallant names from
oblivion.
Captain, David Humphreys.
Privates.
JackArabus, Brister Baker, John Ball,
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15
John Cleveland,
Ctesar Bagdon,
John McLean,
Phineas Strong,
Gamaliel Terry,
Jesse Vose,
Ned Fields,
Lent Munson,
Daniel Bradley,
Isaac Higgins,
Heman Rogers,
Sharp Camp,
Lewis Martin,
Job Ciesar,
Jo Otis,
Ctesar Chapman,
John Rogers,
James Dinah,
Peter Mix,
Ned Freedom,
Solomon Sowtice,
Philo Freeman,
. Ezekiel Tupham,
Peter Freeman,
Hector Williams,
Tom Freeman,
Cato Wilbrow,
Juba Freeman,
Congo Zado,
Cuff Freeman,
Cato Robinson,
Peter Gibbs,
Juba Dyer,
Prince George,
Prince Johnson,
Andrew Jack,
Prince Crosbee,
Alex. Judd,.
Peter Morando,
Shuabel Johnson,
Pomp Liberty,
Peter Lion,
Tim Caesar,
Cuff Liberty,
Sampson Cuff,
Jack Little,
Pomp Cyrus,
Dick Freedom,
Bill Sowers,
Harry Williams,
Pomp McCuff,
Dick Violet,
Sharp Rogers,
Boston, 24th April, 1851.
Dear Friexd Nell :
The names of the two brave men of Color who fell, with Ledyard, at
the storming of Fort Griswold, were Saiubo Latham and Jordan Free¬
man.
All the names of the slain, at th it time, are inscribed on a marble
tablet, wrought into the monument—the names of the Colored Soldiers
last—and not only last, but a blank space is left between them and the
whites—in genuine keeping with the "Negro Pew" distinction; set¬
ting them not only below all others, but by themselves—even after that.
And it is dificult to say why. They were not last in the fight. When
Major Montgomery, one of the leaders in the expedition against the
Americans, was lifted upon the wails of the fort by his soldiers, flourish¬
ing his sword and calling on them to follow him, Jordan Freeman re¬
ceived him on the point of a pike, and pinned him dead to the earth.
[ Vide Hist. Collections of Connecticut.] And the name of Jordan
Freeman stands away down, last on tho list of heroes, perhaps the
greatest hero of them all.
Yours, with becoming indignation,
Parker Pillsbury.
Ebenezer Hills, died at Vienna, New York, August 1849, aged 110.
He was born a Slave, in Stonington, Conn., and became free when
twenty eight years of age. He served through the revolutionary war,
and was at the battles of Saratoga and Stillwater, and was present at the
surrender of Burgoyne.
10
The Colored inhabitants of Connecticut assembled in Convention in
1849, to devise means for their elective franchise, which is yet denieJ to
seven thousand of their number ; a gentleman present reports the^ fol¬
lowing extract:—"A young man, Mr. West of Bridgeport, spoke with a
great deal of energy, and with a clear and pleasant tone of voice which
many a lawyer, statesman, or clergyman might covet, nobly vindicating
the rights of the brethren. He said that the bones of the Colored man
had bleached on every battle-field where American valor had contended
for national independence. Side by side with the white man, the black
man stood and struggled to the last for the inheritance which the white
men now enjoy, but deny to u'<. His father was a soldier Slave, and
his master said to him when the liberty of the country wa£ achieved,
' Stephen we will do something for you.' But what have they ever done
for Stephen, or for Stephen's posterity?" This orator is evidently a
young m:.m of high promise, and better capable of voting intelligently
than half of the white men who would deny him a freeman's privilege.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The Kev. Dr. Harris, of Dumbarton, N. H., a revolutionary veteran,
stated in a speech at Francestown, N. H., some years ago, that on one
occasion the regiment to which he was attached was commanded to
defend an important position which the enemy thrice assailed, and
from which they were as often repulsed. " There was," said the vene¬
rable speaker, "a regiment of blacks in the same situation —a regiment
of negroes fighting for our liberty and independence, not a white
man among them but the officers—in the same dangerous and respon¬
sible > position. Had they been unfaithful, or given way before the
enemy, all would have been lost. Three times in succession were they
attacked with most desperate fury by well-disciplined and veteran
troops, and three times did they successfully repel the assault, and thus
preserve an army. They fought thus through the war. They were
brave and hardy troops."
Ihe anecdote of the Slave of General Sullivan, of New Hampshire, is
well known. When his master told him that they were on the point of
starting for the army, to fight for liberty, he shrewdly suggested that it
would be a great satisfaction to know that he was indeed going to fi«-ht
for his liberty. Struck by the reasonableness and justice of this sugges¬
tion, Gen. S. at once gave him his freedom.
VERMONT.
Barxet, May 20, 1851.
Dear Sir ;******
In August 16th, 1777, the Green Mountain Boys, aided by troops
from New Hampshire, and some few from Berkshire County, Massachu¬
setts, under the command of Gen^ Starks, captured the left wing of the
British Army near Bennington. Soon as arrangements could be made,
after the prisoners were all collected, something more than seven hun¬
dred, they were tied to a rope, two and two, and one on each side. Gen.
Starks called for more rope.
Mrs. Robinson, wife of Hon. Moses Robinson, said to the General, I
will take down the last bedstead in the house, and present the rope to
you, with one condition. When the prisoners are all tied to the rope,
you shall permit my negro man to harness up my old mare, and hitch
the rope to the whippletree, mount the mare, and conduct the British
and tory prisoners out of town. The General willingly accepted of Mrs.
Robinson's proposition. The negro mounted the mare and thus con¬
ducted the left wing of the British A.rmy into Massachusetts, on their
way to Boston. * * * * *
Gen. Schuyler writes from Saratoga, July 23, 1777, to the President of
Massachusetts Bay, "That of the few continental troops we have had to
the Northward, one third part is composed of men too far advanced in
years for fieljl service—of boys, or rather children, and mortifying barely
to mention, of negroes."
The General also addressed a similar letter to John Hancock, and
again to the provincial Congress, that the foregoing were facts which
were altogether uncontrovertible. ******
Your Humble Servant,
Henry Stevens.
NEW YORK.
Dr. Clarke, in the Convention which revised the Constitution of New
York in 1821, speaking of the Colored inhabitants of the State, said :
' Mv honorable colleague has told us that as the Colored people are not
(17)
18
required to contribute to the protection or defence of the State they are
not entitled to an equal participation in the privileges of its citizens.
But, Sir, whose fault is this ? Have they ever refused to do military
duty when called upon ? It is haughtily asked, who will stand in the
ranks shoulder to shoulder with a negro ? I answer, no one in time of
peace ; no one when your musters and trainings are looked upon as
mere pastimes ; no one when your militia will shoulder their muskets
and march to their trainings with as much .unconcern as they would go
to a sumptuous entertainment or a splendid ball. But, Sir, wThen the
hour of danger approaches, your ' white' militia are just as willing that
the man of Color should be set up as a mark to be shot at by the enemy
as to be set up themselves. In Mie War of the Revolution, these people
helped to fight your battles by land and by sea. Some of your States
were glad to turn out corps of Colored men, and to stand 'shoulder to
shoulder' with them.
" In your late War they contributed largely towards some of your
most splendid victories. On Lakes Erie and Champlain, where your
fleets triumphed over a foe superior in numbers and engines of death,
they were manned in a large proportion with men of Color. And in
this very house, in the fall of 1814, a bill passed, receiving the appro¬
bation of all the branches of your Government, authorizing the Gover¬
nor to accept the services of a corps of two thousand free people of
Color. Sir, these were times which tried men's souls. In these times
it was no sporting matter to bear arms, These were times when a man
who shouldered a musket did not know but he bared his bosom to
receive a death wound from the enemy ere he laid it aside; and in
these times, these people were found as ready and as willing to volun¬
teer in your service as any other. They were not compelled to go ;
they were not drafted. No; your pride had placed them beyond your
compulsory power. But there was no necessity for its exercise ; they
were volunteers ; yes, Sir, volunteers to defend that very country from
the inroads and ravages of a ruthless and vindictive foe, which had
treated them with insult, degradation and Slavery."
Volunteers are the best of soldiers ; give me the men, whatever be
their complexion, that willingly volunteer, and not those who are com¬
pelled to turn out. Such men do not fight from necessity, nor from
mercenary motives, but from principle.
Said Martindale, of New York, in Congress, 22nd of first month,
1828: "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, on the march from Plattsburg to
Saekett's Harbor."
It is believed that the debate on the military services of Colored men
was a prominent feature in granting them the right of suffrage, though
the unginerous deed must also be recorded, that Colored citizens of the
19
Empire State were made subject to a property qualification of two hun-1
dred and fifty dollars.
I am indebted to Rev. Theodore Parker, of Boston, for the following
historical sketch of New York soldiery :
"Not long ago, while the excavations for the vaults of the great
retail dry goods store of New York were going on in 1851, a gentleman
from Boston noticed a large quantity of human bones thrown up by the
workmen. Everybody knows the African countenance; the skulls
also bore unmistakable marks of the race they belonged to. They were
shovelled up with the earth which they had rested in, carted off and
emptied into the sea to fill up a chasm, and make the foundation of a
warehouse.
'' On inquiry, the Bostonian learned that these were the bones of
Colored Americans soldiers, who fell in the disastrous battles of Long
Island, in 1776, and of such as died of the wounds then received. At
that day as at this, spite of the declaration that ' all men are created
equal,' the prejudice against the Colored man was intensely strong.
The black and white had fought against the same enemy, under the
same banner, contending for the same 'unalienable right' to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The same shot with promiscuous
slaughter had mowed down Africans and Americans. But in the grave
they must be divided. On the battle field the blacks and whites had mixed
their bravery and their blood, but their ashes must not mingle in the
bosom of their common mother. The white Saxon, exclusive and
haughty even in his burial, must have his place of rest proudly apart
from the grave of the African he had once enslaved.
" Now, after seventy-five years have passed by, the bones of these
forgotten victims of the revolution are shovelled up by Ixish laborers,
carted off, and shot into the sea, as the rubbish of the town. Had
they been white men's relics, how would they have been honored with
sumptuous burial anew, and the purchased prayers and preaching of
Christian divines ! Now they are the rubbish of the street!
"True, they were the bones of revolutionary soldiers; but they were
black men ; and shall a city that kidnaps its citizens, honor a Negro
with a grave? What boots it that he fought for our freedom ; that he
bled for our liberty ; that he died for you and me ! Does the ' Nigger '
deserve a tomb ? Ask the American state—the American Church !
'' Three quarters of a century have passed by since the retreat from
Long Island. What a change since then! From the Washington of
that day to the world's Washington of this, what a change ! In America
what alterations ! What a change in England ! The Briton has eman¬
cipated every bondmen; Slavery no longer burns his soil on either
Continent, the East or West. America has a population of Slaves
greater than the people of all England in the reign of Elizabeth. Under
the pavement of Broadway ; beneath the walls of the Bazaar, there still
lie the bones of the Colored martyrs to American Independence.
20
TJandies of either sex swarm gaily over the threshold, heedless of t e
dead African—contemptuous of the living. And while these faithfu
bones were getting shovelled up and carted to the sea, there was a great
Slave-hunt in New York : a man was kidnapped and carried off to bond¬
age, by the citizens, at the instigation of politicians, and to the sacra¬
mental delight of ' divines.'
" Happy are the dead Africans, whom British death mowed down !
They did not live to see a man kidnapped in the city which their blood
helped free."
PENNSYLVANIA.
The late James Forten, of Philadelphia, well known as a Colored man
of wealth, intelligence and philanthropy, relates, " that he remembered
well when Lord Cornwallis was overrunning the South, when thick gloom
clouded the prospect. Then Washington hastily gathered what forces
he was able and hurried to oppose him. And I remember," said he,
" for I saw them, when the regiments from Rhode Island, Connecticut,
and Massachusetts marched through Philadelphia, that one or two com¬
panies of Colored men were attached to each. The vessels of War of
that period, were all, to a greater or less extent, manned with Colored
men. On board the ' Royal Louis,' of twenty-six guns, commanded by
Captain Stephen Decatur, senior, there were twenty Colored seamen. I
had myself enlisted on this vessel, and on the second cruise was taken
prisoner and shortly after was confined on board the old Jersey Prison
Ship, where I remained a prisoner for seven months. The Alliance, of
thirty-six guna, commanded by Commodore Barry ; the Trumbull, of
thirty-two guns, commanded by Captain Nicholson ; and the ships
South Carolina, Confederacy, and the Randolph, each were manned in
part with Colored men."
The digression from military services to those rendered voluntarily
during the pestilence, seemed to me warrantable in this connection.
In the autumn of 1793, the yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia,
with peculiar malignity. The insolent and unnatural distinctions of
caste were overturned and the people called Colored, were solicited in the
public papers to come forward, and assist the perishing sick. The Same
mouth which had gloried against them in its prosperity, in its overwhelm¬
ing adversity implored their assistance. The Colored People of Phila¬
delphia nobly responded. The then Mayor, Mathew Clarkson, received
their deputation with respect, and recommended their course. They
21
appointed Absalom Jones and William Gray to superintend it, the Mayor
advertising the public, that by applying to them, aid could be obtained.
This took place about September.
Soon afterwards the sickness increased so dreadfully" that it became
next to impossible to remove the corpses. The Colored people volun¬
teered this painful and dangerous duty—did it extensively, and hired
help in doing it. Dr. Rush instructed the two superintendents in the
proper precautions and measures to be used.
A sick white man crept to his chamber window, and entreated the
passers by to bring him a drink of water. Several white men passed,
but hurried on. A foreigner came up—paused—was afraid to sup¬
ply the help with his own hands, but stood and offered eight dollars
to whomsoever would. At length, a poor colored man appeared ; he
heard—stopped—ran for water—took it to the sick man ; and then
staid by him to nurse him, steadily and mildly refusing all pecuniary
compensation.
Sarah Boss, a poor black widow, was active in voluntary and benevo¬
lent services.
A poor black man, named Sampson, went constantly from house to
house giving assistance everywhere gratuitously,' until he was seized with
the fever and died.
Mary Scott, a woman of Color, attended Mr. Richard Mason and his
son, so kindly and disinterestedly, that the widow, Mrs. R. Mason, set¬
tled an annuity of six pounds upon her for life.
An elderly black nurse, going about most diligently and affection¬
ately, when asked what pay she wished, used to say, "a dinner, Massa,
some cold winter's day."
A young black woman was offered any price, if she would attend a
white merchant and his wife. She would take no money; but went,
saying that, if she went from holy love, she might hope to be preserved
—but not if she went for money. She was seized with the fever, but
recovered.
A black man, riding through the streets, saw a white man push a
white woman out of the house. The woman staggered forward, fell in
the gutter and was too weak to rise. The black man dismounted, and
took her gently to the hospital at Bush-hill.
Absalom Jones and Wm. Gray, the Colored Superintendents, say,
'' a white man threatened to shoot us if we passed by his house with a
corpse. We buried him three days afterwards."
About twenty times as many black nurses as white were thus em¬
ployed during the sickness.
The fol lowing certificate was subsequently given by the Mayor :—
" Having, during the prevalence of the late malignant disorder, had
almost daily opportunities of seeing the conduct of Absalom Jones and
Richard Allan, and the people employed by them to bury their dead,
I with cheerfulness give this testimony of my approbation of their
22
proceedings, as far as the same came under my notice. The diligence,
attention, and decency of deportment, afforded me at the time much
satisfaction." Signed,
Matthew Clarkson, Mayor.
Philadelphia, June 23, 1794.
On the capture of Washington by the British forces, it was judged
expedient to fortify, without delay, the principal towns and cities
exposed to similar attacks. The Vigilance Committee of Philadelphia
waited upon three of the principal Colored citizens, namely James
Forten, Bishop Allen, and Absalom Jones, soliciting the aid of the people
of Color in erecting suitable defences for the city. Accordingly, two
thousand five hundred Colored me* assembled in the State House yard,
and from thence marched to Gray's ferry, where they labored for two
days, almost without intermission. Their labors were so faithful and
efficient, that a vote of thanks was tendered them by the committee. A
battalion of Colored troops were at the same time organized in the city,
• under an officer of the United States army ; and they were on the point
■" of marching to the frontier when peace was proclaimed.
A Colored man, whom I visited in the hospital, called to see me to¬
day. He had just got out. He looked very pitiful. His head was
bent down. He said he could not get it erect, his neck was so
injured. He is a very intelligent man, and can read and write. I will
give you his story.
Charles Black, over fifty, resides in Lombard Street. Was at home
with his little boy unconscious of what was transpiring without. Sud¬
denly, the mob rushed into his room, dragged him down stairs, and beat
him so unmercifully that he would have been killed, had not some
humane individuals interposed and prevented further violence. He was
ah impressed seaman on board an English sixty-four gun ship, in the
beginning of the War of 1812. When he heard of the war, he lefused
to fight against his country, although he had nine hundred dollars pri: e
money coming to him from the ship. He was, therefore, placed in
irons, and kept a prisoner on board some time and then sent to the well
known Dartmoor prison. He was exchanged, and shipped for France.
Shortly after he was taken and sent back to Dartmoor—was exchanged
a second time, and succeeded in reaching the United States. He soon
joined the fleet on Lake Champlain, under M'Donough ; was with him
in the celebrated battle which gave honor (?) to the American arms. He
was wounded, but never received a pension. His father was in the
battle of Bunker Hill, and his grandfather fought in the old French
War.
This devotion and these services of the Colored Pennsylvanians have
been rewarded by excluding 52,000 of their number from the ballot-
box.
NEW JERSEY.
[ From the Burlington ( N. J.) Gazette.]
" I am One Hundred Years Old To-day."
The attention of many of our citizens has doubtless been arrested by
the appearance of an old Colored man, who might have been seen sitting
iu front of his residence, in East Union Street, respectfully raising his
hat to those who might be passing by. His attenuated frame, his silvered
head, his feeble movements, combine to prove that he is very aged ; and
yet comparatively few are aware that he is among the survivors of the
gallant army who fought for the liberties of our country, " in the days
which tried men's souls."
On Monday last we stopped to speak to him, and asked him how he
was. He asked the day of the month, and upon being told that it was
tie 24th day of May, replied with trembling lips, " I am very old—I am
a hundred years old to-day.
His name is Oliver Or mwell, and he says that he was born at the
Black Horse, (now Columbus,) in this county, in the family of John
Hutchin. He enlisted in a company commanded by Captain Lowery
attached to the 2nd New Jersey JLiegiment, under the command of Col¬
onel Isaac Shreve. He was at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, JBrandv-
wine, Mam mouth and Yorktown, at which latter place, he told us, he
saw the last man killed. Although his faculties are failing, yet he re¬
lates many interesting*reminiscences of the revolution. He was with
the army at the retreat of the Delaware, on the memorable crossing of
the 25th of December, 1776, and relates the story of the battles on. the
succeeding days with enthusiasm. He gives the details of the march
from Trenton to Princeton, and told us, with much humor, that they
"knocked the British about lively " at the latter place. He was also at
the battle of Springfield, and says that he saw the house burning in
which Mrs. Caldwell was shot, at Connecticut Farms.
New Jersey disfranchises 22,000 of her Colored population.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
Even in the Slaveholding States did Colored people magnanimously
"brave the battle field," developing a heroism indeed as though their
(23)
24
own liberty was to be a recompense. Bat we found no proof that the
boasted chivalry of the Palmetto State extended the boon demanded by
simple justice.
The celebrated Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, in his speech on
the Missouri question, and in defiance of the Slave representation of the
South, made the following admission :—
" They (the Colored people) were in numerous instances the pioneers,
and in all the laborers of our armies. To their hands were owing the
greatest part of the fortifications raised for the protection of the country.
Fort Moultrie gave, at an early period of the experience an untried
valor of our citizens, immortality to the American arms."
VIRGINIA.
The Last of Bkaddock's Men.
The Lancaster (Ohio) Gazzette, February, 1849, announces the death
at that place, of Samuel Jenkins, a Colored man, aged 115 years. He
was a Slave of Captain Breadwater, in Fairfax County, Virginia,
in 1771, and participated in the memorable campaign of Gen. Brad-
dock.
Testimony of Hon. Robert C Winthrop, from his speech in Congress,
on the imprisonment of Colored Seamen, Sept. 1850 :—
* * * "I have an impression, however, 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 Gen. 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 Gen. Jackson in
a proclamation which has been thought" worthy of being inscribed on
the pages of history."
25
LOUISIANA.
In 1814, when New Orleans was in danger, and the proud aud crimi¬
nal distinctions of caste were again demolished by one of those emergen¬
cies in which nature puts to silence for the moment the base partialities
of art, the free Colored people were called into the field in common with
the whites ; and the importance of their services was thus acknowledged
by Gen. Jackson :—
" headquarteas Seventh Military District, Mobile, September 21,
1874.
" To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana :
Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a
participation in the glorious struggle for national rights, in which our
country is engaged. This no longer shall exist.
" As Sons of Freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most
ii.estimable blessings. As Americans, your country looks with confi¬
dence to her adopted children for a valorous support, as a faithful
return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable gov¬
ernment. As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to
rally around the standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in
existence.
" Your country, although calling for your existence, does not wish
yoa to engage in her cause without remunerating you for the services
renleret1. Your, intelligent minds are not to be led away by false rep¬
resentations—yonr love of honor would cause you to Jespise the man
who should attempt to deceive you. With the sincerity of a soldier
and in the language of truth I address you.
"To every noble-hearted free man of color, volunteering to serve
daring the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will
I e paid the same bounty in money and lands, now received by the
w.iite soldiers of the United States, namely, one hundred sJhd twenty-
four dollars in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The
non commissioned officers and privates will also be entitled to the same
monthly pay, daily rations and clothes furnished to any American sol¬
di ir.
" On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major General command¬
ing will select officers, for your government, from your white fellow
citizens. Yonr non-commissioned officers will be appointed from among
yourselves.
'•Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers.
You will not, by being associated with white men in the same corps, be
exposed to improper comparisons or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, in-
26
dependent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will,
undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.
"To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to
engage your inveluable services to our country, I have communicated
my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed as to the
manner of enrolments, and will give you every necessary information on
the subject of this address.
Andrew Jackson, Major Gen. Commanding."
The second proclamation is one of the highest compliments ever paid
by a military chief to his soldiers.
On December 18, 1814, General Jackson issued, in the French lan¬
guage, the following address to the free people of color :
Soldiers! When on the banks of the Mobile I called you to take up
arms, inviting you to partake the perils and glory of your white fellow
citizens, I expected much from you, for I was not ignorant that you
possessed qualities most formidable to an invading enemy. I knew
with what fortitude you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the fa¬
tigues of a campaign. I knew well how you loved your native country,
and that you, as well as ourselvps, had to defend what man holds most
dear—his parents, wife, children and property. You have done more
than I expected. • In addition to the previous qualities I before knew
you to possess, I found among you a noble enthusiasm, which leads to
the performance of great things.
"Soldiers ! The President of the United States shall hear how praise¬
worthy was your conduct in the hour of danger, and the representatives
of the American people will give you the praise your exploits entitle you
to. Your General anticipates them in applauding your noble ardor."
"The enemy approaches ; his vessels cover our lakes ; our brave citi¬
zens are united, and all contention has ceased among them. Their
only dispute is, who shall win the prize of valor, or who the most glory,
its noblest reward. By order, Thomas Butler, Aide-de-camp.
The Pennsylvania Freeman, of March 10, 1851, heralds as follows :
"The article below from the New Orleans Picayune, of a recent date,
revives an important historical fact, which, with similar evidence of the de¬
votion of free people of color, to their country's safety and welfare, not¬
withstanding the injustice|tliey have received from its hands—the enemies
of the colored people have been careful to conceal in their calumnies
against this injured people. Let those men read and ponder it, who
fear dangers to the nation from the presence in it of a population of
colored freemen, protected by law in the full possession of all their
rights. The incident narrated is also a burning rebuke from a slave-
holding community to the vulgar negro-hatred of the North, which
drives worthy colored men from popular processions, parades, schools
churches, and the so-called ' respectable avocations of life."
"The Free Colored Veterans.—Not the least interesting, although
the most novel feature of the procession yesterday (celebration of the
27
of Battle of New Orleans,) 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 assist in celebrating, and who,
by their good conduct in presence of the enemy, deserved and received
the approbation of their illustrious Commander-in-chief. During the
thirty-six years that have passed away since they assisted to repel the in¬
vaders from our shores, these faithful men have never before partici¬
pated in the annual rejoicings for the victory which their valor contri¬
buted to gain. Their good deeds have been consecrated only in their own
memories, or lived but to claim a passing notice on the page of the his¬
torian. Yet who more than they deserve the thanks of the country and
the gratitude of the succeeding generations? Who rallied with more alac¬
rity in response to the summons of danger? Who endured the hardships
of the camp, or faced with greater courage the perils of the fight? If in
that hazardous hour, when our homes were menanced with the horrors of
war, we did not disdain to call upon the Colored population to assist in
repelling the invading horde, we should not, when the danger is past,
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 con¬
versed with many yesterday and without exception they expressed ap¬
proval of the invitation which had bee^i 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 de¬
meanor made an impression on every observer and elicited unqualified
approbation, Indeed, though in saying so we do not mean disrepect to
any one else, we think that they constituted decidedly the most inter¬
esting portion of the pageant, as they certainly attracted the most at¬
tention."
The editor, after further remarks upon the procession, adding of its
Colored members, " We reflected that, beneath their dark bosoms were
sheltered faithxul hearts, susceptible of the noblest impulses," thus al¬
ludes to the free Colored population of New Orleans :
"As a class, they are peaceable, orderly, and respectable people, and
many of them own large amounts of property among us. . Their 'inter¬
ests, their homes, and their affections, are here, and such strong ties are
not easily broken by the force of theoretical philanthropy, or imagina¬
tive sentimentality. They have been true hitherto, and we will not do
them the injustice to doubt a continuance of their fidelity. While they
may be certain that insubordination will be promptly punished, de¬
serving actions will always meet with their due reward in the esteem and
gratitude of the community."
28
Heroism Rewarded —A correspondent of the New \ork Observer
writing fiom the West, says :—
"Before leaving our boat, we must not omit to notice one of the
waiters in the cabin. He is a man of history. That tall, straight, active,
copper-colored man, with a sparkling eye and intelligent countenance,
was Col. Clay's servant at Buena Vista. Fearless of danger, and faith¬
ful to his master, he attended the Colonel in the midst of the fatal
charge, saw him fall from his horse, and, surrounded by the murderous
Mexicans, at last carried the mangled dead body from the field. The
Hon. Henry, in gratitude for such fidelity to his gallant son, has allowed
this man to hire himself out for five years, and to retain half the pro¬
ceeds. and at the end of that time gives him half his freedom."
That is, a human being perils his life to save the life or bear off the
body of another human being, and for this act, he is to receive one half
of his own earnings, for five years, and at the end of that time, to be
made a present of to himself !—" Boston Christian Register."
OHIO.
The colored citizens of Ohio held a Mass Convention at Cleveland,
Sept. 8th, 1852. From their proceedings I cull the following incidents
and tributes as peculiarly appropriate to a military history of colored
Americans,
Rev. Dr. J. W. C. Pennington delivered a speech, of which Mr. How-
land, a colored phonographic reporter, furnishes this sketch :—
"The Doctor took the stand and delighted the convention with a
short, brilliant, and instructive address on the history of the past, and
the part which the colored people have taken in the struggles of this
nation for independence and its various wars since its achievement.
"Mr. P. is a graduate of America's "Peculiar Institution." His
graduation fees were paid only very recently by the beneficence of
sundry English ladies and gentlemen; and his Doctrate of*Divinity was
conferred on him by one of the German Universities. Dr. Pennington
claimed for his race the honor of being the first Americans whose
bosoms were fired by the spirit of American Independence. And that
claim, wf- think, he amply justified by documentary evidence.
"He read sundry antique papers, collected by him with great pains
from the archives of the State of New York, showing, that some thous¬
ands of Colored people in that State, thirty years before the Declaration
29
of Independence was promulgated, were charged by the King of Great
Britain with conspiring against his authority, attempting to threw off
their obedience to him, and seeking to possess themselves of the Govern¬
ment of the Colony of New York. Some of them were banished, and
others were hanged. Those Colored fathers of his, said the Rev. Doctor,
attributed their Slavery to King George, and maintained their rights to
freedom to be inviolable.
" Subsequently, when the white fathers of our Revolution, 'walking
in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessois,' declared against
Britain's King, they said to his Colored fathers : That King did make
you Slaves. Now come you and help us break his rule in this conntry,
and that done, we'll all be free together.
"Dr. P. exhibited to the audience an autograph petition of the
Colored people of Connecticut to the Government of Connecticut, pre¬
sented immediately after the Revolutionary war, and praying that
Government to comply with the promise which had been made them
of freedom, and under which they had helped fight the battles of that
war.
"He read, also, an autograph paper of George Washington, dismiss¬
ing from the service of that war, with high recommendation of their
courage and efficiency, several Colored men; and also certificates of a
like character from numbers of officers, both naval and military, in
both wars with England. We wish we could give Dr. P.'s whole speech,
and especially in his own well-chosen words."
The Convention then adjourned to join in the general jubilee, over
some of the events which Colored people have helped to make con¬
spicuous.
Thursday morning at sunrise, a salute was fired in the public square,
in honor of the day, by the " Cleveland Light Artillery," and another
at nine o'clock, as the procession formed, of which the orator of the
day, subsequently said : "They were the first thunders of artillery that
ever awaked the echoes of these hills, in honor of the Colored people.
But they shall not be the last."
Says the "Daily True Democrat." of the 10th inst:—
" The principal feature in the ceremonials of this jubilee, was the
address of our fellow-citizen, Mr. William H. Day ; a performance
worthy of its great purpose, and therefore most creditable to the author.
Not often have we heard an address listened to with so absorbing an at¬
tention, nor observed an audience to be more deeply moved, than was
Mr. Day by some parts of that address. After noticing the day, the 9th
of September, which had been selected for their jubilation, and illustra¬
tion as pre-eminent suitableness to the occassion, by happy references to
many illustrious events of which it was the anniversary, Mr. Day ad¬
dressed himself to an able vindication of the claims of his race in this
country, to an equal participation in the exercise and enjoyment of
30
those American rights which large numbers of that race, in common
with the men of fairer complexion, had fought, suffered and died to
establish. Behind the orator sat seven or eight veteran Colored men.
Mr. D.'s apostrophe to those veterans was as touching as admirable, and
produced a profound sensation."
Among the speakers, were several who took part in some of the
battles of the country. One of these men is Mr. John Julius, of Pitts¬
burgh, Pa. His age is about seventy
LAFAYETTE.
Among the Europeans who left their homes and rallied in defence of
American Independence, history records no more illustrious names than
Lafayette and Kosciusko. Not being tainted with American Colorphobia
they each expressed regret that their services had been made a partial
instead of a general boon. Read the extract from Lafayette's letter to
Clarkson :—
"I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I
could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of Slavery."
During his visit to the United States, in 1825, he made inquiries for
several Colored soldiers whom he remembered as Jparticipating with him
in various skirmishes.
KOSGIGSKO'S TRIBDTE 10 COLORED MDIS.
Kosciusko, the gallant Pole, was young when the news reached his
ear that America was endeavoring to release her neck from Britain's
yoke. He promptly devoted himself to the service, and displayed a
heroism which won universal respect. Washington loved and honored
him, and the soldiers idolized his bravery ; but his manly heart was
saddened to learn that the Colored man was not to be a recipient of
those rights—rights, too, which many a sable soldier had .fought to
obtain, and Kosciusko naturally presumed that when the victory was
31
achieved, all, irrespective of Color or accidental difference, would be
freely invited to the banquet.
But this unsophisticated Polish General was doomed to disappoint¬
ment. Kosciusko, with the feeling that all Americans should have
been proud to exhibit—but, sad to tell, few did so—endeavored to ren¬
der some signal compensation to those with whose wrongs his own had
taught him to sympathize ; and, as a grateful tribute to the neglected
and forgotten Colored man, he appropriated $20,000 of his hard earn¬
ings to purchase and educate Colored children. But, by the laws of
Virginia where the bequest was to be carried into effect, this generous
object was defeated.
On the last visit to the United States of this illustrions donor, the will
was put into the hands of Thomas Jefferson, who was appointed Execu¬
tor, to purchase Slaves and educate them, so as, in his own words, " to'
make them better sons and better daughters." Jefferson transferred
the same to Benjamin- L. Lear. In 1830, the bequest amounting then
to $25,000, was claimed by the legal heirs of the donor. Interested
parties subsequently recommended that the fund, if recovered, should
be employed by the trustees in buying and educating Slave children,
with the view of sending them to Libei ia ; an object far enough at vai-
iance from the doner's intention.
This matter has been in litigation a long while, and I have been ui-
able to learn the conclusion. The chain of circumstances reminds me
of the following question, once put to a Florida planter of twenty-five'
years standing :—
" Has any property left by will to any Colored person ever been hon¬
estly and fairly administered by any white person?" Mark his answer :
"Such instances might possibly have happened, but never to my
knowledge."
Within a recent period, several companies of Colored men in New
York City have enrolled themselves '• a la militaire." The New York
"Tribune" of August, 18~>2, awards them the following commendation:
" Coi-Oked Soldiers.—Among the many parades within a few days
we noticed yesterday a soldierly looking company of Colored men, on
their way homeward from -a target or parade drill. They looked like
men, handled their arms like men, and should occassion demand, we
presume they would fight like men.
At the New Bedford celebration August 1, 1851, of British West
India Emancipation, the procession was escorted by a Colored Company
of Cadets from New York. Among • the civilities extended in honor of
the day was an invitation to the military and strangers to visit the splen¬
did residence and ornamental grounds of James Arnold, Esq., who, with
his family, tendered the utmost kindness and courtesy in exhibiting the
beauties of nature and art that so lavishly adorn this New Bedford
palace. Rodney French, Esq., also with characteristic courtesy threw
open the doors of his hospitable mansion to the military visitors, and a
32
few invited guests. These voluntary manifestations of good-will, at
once honorable to the.donors and grateful to the recipients should be ac¬
cepted as a harbinger for a better day coming.
A number of the chivalric portion of Colored Bostonians have also
been taking initiatory steps for a military company, and accordingly
petioned the Legislature for a charter, the claims of which were pre¬
sented by Charles Lenox Remond and Robert Morris, Esqs; but like
the prayer of the Attucks petitioners, they, too, had leave to withdraw."
" I can wait," were the memorable words of John Quincy Adams
when his free speech was stopped on the floor of Congress.
The world will bear witness that we have waited ; and oh, how patient¬
ly ! VVe have learned how sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong;
but though familiar with we shall never grow reconciled to the discipline.
"Our hearts, though often times made to bleed will gush afresh at every
wound."
The t eatment meted out to us in this country, is but an illustration
of hating those whom we have injured, and calls to mind that scene
from Waverly, where Fergus Mac Ivor replies to his friend on being led
to execution. "You see the compliment they pay to our highland
strength and courage, here we have lain until our limbs are cramped
into palsy and now they send a file of soldiers with loaded muskets to
prevent our taking the castle by storm. The analogy is found in the
omnipresent and omnij o^ent ii.fluence of American Pro-Slavery in crush¬
ing every noble aspiration of the unoffending Colored men.
But despite the reign of terror infli -tel upon us by the combined
influences of the Fugitive Slave Law and the American Colonization
Society, we shall manfully contend for our rights, and as hopefully
bide our time, trusting that an enlightened public sentiment will soon
yield us the Justice so long withheld ; so far as in Nature the smiles of
summer are made sweeter by the frowns of winter, the calm of ocean is
made more placid by the tempest that has preceded it, so in tl is moral
battle these incidental skirmishes will contribute to render the hour of
triumph soon a blissful realization. So sure as night precedes day, winter
wakes springs and war ends with peace, just so sure will the persevering
efforts of Freedom's army be crowned with Victory's perennial laurels.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the seven years conflict and
also the war of 1812, were both dotted by the devotion and bravery of
Colored Americans, despite the persecutions heaped Olympus high upon
them by their fellow countrymen. They have ever proved loyal and
rjady to worship or die, if need be, at Freedom's shrine. The "amor
patriae" has always burned vividly on the altar of their hearts. They
love their native land, " its hills and valleys giejn." The white man's
banquet has been held and loud paeans to liberty have reached the sky
above, while the Colored American's share has been to stand outside and
wait for the crumbs that fall from Freedom's festive board.
A Tribute, by an Emancipator, being an Extract from the Will of
A. P. Upshur, a member of Pres. Tyler's Cabinet.
'' I make this as my last will and testament :
"1 * * * *
"2 * * * ■*
"3. I emancipate and set free, my servant, David Rich, and direct
my executors to give him one hundred dollars. I recommend him, in
the strongest manner, to the respect,esteem and confidence of any com¬
munity in which he may happen to live. He has been my Slave for
twenty-four years, during which time he has been trusted to every ex¬
tent, and in every respect. My confidence in him has been unbounded;
his relation to myself and family has always been such as to afford him
daily opportunities to deceive and injure us ; and yet he has never been
detected in a serious fault, nor ever an intentional breach of the decor¬
ums of his station. His intelligence is of a high order, his integrity
above all suspicion, and his sense of right and propriety always correct
and even delicate and refined. I feel that he is justly entitled to carry
this certificate from me, into the new relations which he now must form.
It is due to his long and most faithful services and to the sincere and
steady friendship which I bear him. In the unterrupted and confiden¬
tial intercourse of twenty-four years, I have never given, nor had
occasion to give him, an unpleasant word. I kaow no man who has
fewer faults, or more excellencies, than he.
Signed, A. ?. Upshur."
[•From the Alexandria, D. C., Gazette.]
A TRIBUTE FROM THE EMANCIPATION, BY WASHINGTON'S
FREED MEN.
Upon a recent visit to the tomb of Washington, I was much gratified
by the alteratious and improvements around it. Eleven colored men
were industriously employed in leveling the earth and turf around the
sepulchre. There was an earnest expression of feeling about them that
induced me to inquire if they belonged to the respected lady of the
mansion. They stated they were a few of the many Slaves freed by
George Washington and they had offered their services upon this last
melancholy occasion, as the only return in their power to make to the
remains of the man who had been more than a father to them; and
they should continue their labors as long as anything should be pointed
out for them to do. I was so interested in this conduct that I inquired
their several names, and the following were given me :
" Jos3ph Smith, Sambo Anderson, William Anderson his so:i, Berk¬
ley Clark, George Lear, Dick Jasper, Morris Jasper, Levi Richardson,
Joe Richardson, Wm. Moss, Win. Hays and Nancy Squander, cooking
for the men—Fairfax County, Ya., Nov. 14, 1835."
;*4
APPENDIX.
[From Godey's Lady's Book. June, 1849.]
ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON.
BY REV. HENRY F. HAHKIN'GTOX.
Primus Hall.—Throughout the Kevolutionary war he was the body
servant Qf Col. Pickering, of Massachusetts. He was free and com¬
municative and deligh^d to sit down with an interested listener and
pour out those stores of absorbing and exciting anecdotes with which his
memory was stored.
It is well known that there was no officer in the whole American army
whose friendship was dearer to Washington, and whose counsel was
more esteemed by him than that of the honest and patriotic Colonel
Pickering. He was on intimate terms with him, and unbosomed him¬
self to him with as little reserve as, perhaps, to any confidant in the
army. Whenever he was stationed within such a distance as to admit
of it, he passed many hours with the Colonel, consulting him upon an¬
ticipated measures and delighting in his reciprocated friendship.
Washington was therefore, often brought into contact with the servant
of Col. Pickering, the departed Primus. An opportunity was afforded
to the Negro to note him, under circumstances very different from those
in which he is usually brought before the public and which possess, there¬
fore, a striking charm. I remember one of these anecdotes from the
mouth of Primus. One of them is very slight, indeed, yet so peculiar
as to be replete with interest. The authenticity of both may be fully
relied upon.
Washington once came to Col. Pikering's quarters and found him
absent.
" It is no matter," said he to Primus , "I am greatly in need of exer"
cise. You must help me to get some before your master returns."
Under Washington's directions the Negro busied himself in some sim¬
ple preparations. A stake was driven into the ground about breast
high, a rope tied to it, and then Primus was desired to stand at some
distance and hold it htp-ozontally extended. The boys, the country
over, are familiar with this plan of getting sport. With true boyish
z jst, Washington ran forwards and backwars for some time, jumping
over the rope as he came and went, until he expressed himself satisfied
with the "exercise."
>i5
Repeatedly afterwards, when a favorable opportunity offered he would
sa>'—"Come, Primus, I am in need of exercise," whereat the Negro
would drive down the stake and Washington would jump over the rope
until he had exerted himself to his content.
On the second occasion, the great General was engaged in earnest
consultation with Col. Pickering in his tent until after the night had
fairly set in. Head-quarters were at a considerable distance and Wash¬
ington signified his preference to staying with the Colonel over night,
provided he had a spare blanket and straw.
" Oh yes," said Primus, who was appealed to; plenty of straw and
blankets—plenty.''
Upon assurance, Washington continued his conference with the
Colonel until it was time to retire to rest. Two humble beds were spread
side by side, in the tent, and the officers laid themselves down, while
Primus seemed to be busy with duties that required his attention before
he himself could sleep. He worked, or appeared to work, until the
breathing of the prostrate gentlemen satified him that they were sleep¬
ing ; and then, seating himself on a box or stool, he leaned his head on
his hands to obtain such repose as so inconvenient aposition would allow.
In the middle of the night Washington awoke. He looked about and
descried the Negro as he sat. He gazed at him. a while and then
spoke,
" Primus ! " said he calling , " Primus ! "
Primus started up and rubbed his eyes. " What General?" said he.
Washington rose up in bed. " Primus," said he, "what did you
mean by saying that you had blankets and straw enough ! Here you
have given up your blanket and straw to me, that I may sleep comfort¬
ably, while you are obliged to sit through the night."
" It's nothing, General," said Primus. It's nothing. I'm well enough.
Don't trouble yourself about me, General, but go to sleep again. No
matter about ine. I sleep very good."
"But it is mattt r—-it is matter," said Washington, earnestly. ' I
cannot do it, Primus. If either is to sit up, I will. But I think there
is no need of either silting up. The blanket is wide enough for two.
Come and lie down here with me."
"Oh, no, General! " said Primus, starting, and protesting against the
proposition. " No ; let me sit here. I'll do very well on the stool."
"I say come and lie down here" said Washington authoritatively.
" There is room for both and I insist upon it! "
He threw open the blanket as he spoke, and moved to one side of the
straw. Primus professess to have been exceedingly shocked at the idea
of lying under the same covering with the commander-in-chief, but his
tone was so resolute and determined that he could not hestitate. He
prepared himself, therefore, and laid himself down by Washington; and
on the same straw, and under the same blanket, the General and the
Negro servant slept until morning.