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 FIRST ORGANIZATION OF COLORED TROOPS 
 
 IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 
 
 T» AID IN 
 
 SUPPRESSING THE SLAVEHOLDERS' REBELLION. 
 
 STATEMENTS CONCERNLNG THE ORIGIN, DIFFICULTIES & SUCCESS 
 
 OF THE MOVEMENT: 
 
 ' Collated for the " New York Association for Colored Volunteers," 
 
 By henry O'RIELLY, Becrktary. 
 
 New York, March, 18G4. 
 
 The movements which finally resulted in the organization of Colored Troops in the 
 State of New York were preceded by efforts ou the part of sundry patriotic citizens, 
 which are deserving of remembrance as a part of the history of the times. 
 
 ; At a public meeting in the City of New York, called by sundry well-known loyalists, 
 
 " to take measures for securing the enlistment of Colored Volunteers," a Committee was, 
 on the 3d of May, 18G3, appointed to wait upon the President of the United States, to 
 ascertain what facilities would bo extended by the National Government towards the 
 organization of such troops in the State of New York. The Committee consisted of 
 
 , Messrs. Edward Gilbert, Dexter Fairbanks, James Fairman, and Lewis Francis. 
 
 \ This Committee obtained an interview with President Lincoln on the 9th of June, 
 
 r^iind on that occasion presented the following Memorial : 
 
 % To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States : 
 
 Extensive observation and inquiry among the colored population of the Free States 
 have convinced 3-our memorialists of the patriotism and devotion of this portion of 
 ^ our fellow-citizens, and of their willingness to bear their full share of the biuxlens, 
 ■" dangers, and privations of the war against the rebellion. They are willing to volunteer 
 for the service, upon the requisite assurance that they will be placed under leaders in 
 sympathy with the movement. Indeed, such is their intense enthusiasm and patriotism, 
 that if the assurance can be given them, that upon their enlistment they will be in 
 active service under the command of Major-Gencral John C. Fremont, your memorialists 
 are confident that a force of at least 10,000 could be placed under enlistment within 
 sixty days, forming a Grand Army of Liberation, swelling in numbers as they pass 
 along, thus giving elfectivertess to the Proclamation of January, 1808. 
 
 Pledges of enlistment, conditioned upon these assurances being given, have already 
 been obtained to the number of 3,000 names. 
 P Your memorialists, therefore, respectfully petition your Excellency to place John 
 
 - C. Fremont in a suitable command, and accept the 10,000 troops offered as above, atid 
 2 that the necessary orders may be issued to secure the organization and mustering of 
 the troops into the service of the United States; that a rendezvous be named and 
 ^ instructions given to the local military agents of the United States to furnish tho ma- 
 \1 terials and facilities required for these purposes. 
 
 (Signed.) JOHN E. AVILLIAMS, WM. CULLEN BRYANT, 
 , HORACE GREELEY, WM. CURTIS NO YES, 
 
 Q DANL. S. DICKINSON, PETER COOPER, 
 
 «J EDWARD HAIGIIT, MORRIS KETCH UM, 
 
 V ' EDGAR KETCH UM, PARKE GODWIN, 
 
 "' HENRY C. GARDINER, EDWARD A. STANSBURY, 
 
 HOSMER liUSHNELL. 
 
 The friends of the movement held a meeting in the Church of the Puritans, in New 
 York, when the following opinions were expressed : 
 
 liesohed. That it is the conviction of this meeting that, in view of the cause, origin 
 and progress of the Rebellion in our land, the time has arrived when the dictates of 
 justice, humanity and expediency unite in admonishing us to encourage and labor to 
 obtain a general arming of the Loyal Men of the Union, without reference to color, 
 as a means calculated to accomplish the greatest good, in the best manner, to our be- 
 loved country, in this, the hour of her trial. 
 
 \ 
 
 ^cm
 
 L'esohed, That considerations of humanity, as well as elfcctivcness, warrant us in 
 declaring that we regard the military co-operation of the emancipated Slaves of the 
 South as a uK-ans which will secure the earliest triumph to our countiy in its contest 
 with Slavery in Rebellion, as well as give the best guarantee of permanent security and 
 peace in the future. 
 
 lusolveJ, That, as an instrumentality to tliis end, we view the organization of a 
 largo force of Colored Volunteers from the Loyal States, viulcr^ the command oj 
 leialers in symjKtthy with the movement, as calculated to improve contidence and secure 
 co-operation in a degree which we can attach to no other available agency, and there- 
 fore should be encouraged by the practical action of the Government. 
 
 Jiesoheil, That we consider it to be the duty of every true citizen and soldier of the 
 Republic to facilitate such a movement with every energy they possess, that the vast 
 conspiracy against the life and liberties of our country— too extensive in crime for the 
 functions of the common hangman — may receive its death-blow from the hands they 
 seek to enslave. 
 
 liemhed, That in view of the red page of our history, written in the blood tif a 
 heroic people in the recent conflict at Port Hudson, it needs no asseveration on our part 
 to prove that the black man will fight. 
 
 licsohid. That we here pledge our best efforts to give complete and speedy success 
 to the scheme presented to the Government l)y our deputation, and we will look with 
 impatient zeal to the Goverment lor the word that will speak an immense army into 
 existence, and give a significance to the President's Proclamation of January, 1863, that 
 will inspire with energy and hope the heart of every true friend of our country. 
 
 The President's Reply. 
 
 The reply of President Lincoln to the above-named Committee, after referring to a 
 proi)Osed command for Gen. Fremont, was substantially to this effect : — 
 
 That, AS GOV. SEYMOUR TS GOVERNOR OF A LOYAL STATE, the Na- 
 tional Government declined to act in reference to Colored enlistments in that State, 
 UNTIL IT COULD BE SHOWN THAT GOV. SEYMOUR, under his own signature, 
 REFUSED TO ENCOURAGE VOLUNTEERING IN THAT WAY. 
 
 First and Second Applications to Gov. Seymour. 
 A memorial to the Governor of the State of New York, in reference to the proposed 
 organization of Colored Troops, as a part of the (]uota of the State for reinforcing the 
 armies in the Held, was sent about the s:ime time to Governor Seymour. To this respect- 
 ful application, no reply was received. 
 
 But, persevering in the object, the Committee sent another copy of the request for 
 authority to organize a. brigade of Colored Volunteers,— to be commanded by " any 
 other jierson,'' who might be selected by the Governor, if the officer named by the me- 
 morialists was not acceptable to his Excellency, as stated in the letter of Mr. Lewis 
 Franci.s, of August 13th. These papers were in the following terms : 
 
 New York City, July 9, 1863. 
 To I/i.H Krcellrnry UoRATio Seymour, (rO^iernor of the State of New York. 
 
 The undersigned would respectfully ask your Excellency to appoint Colonel James 
 Fail-man a Colonel, for the purpose of raising a brigade of Colored Volunteers for the 
 war, knowing him to bo a man every way (jualified for the purpose, from his "record " 
 at Washington, he having raised the 90th Regiment N. Y. V., at Plattsburg, and re- 
 signed, on account of ill health, from injuries received in the field. 
 Respectfully yours, JAS. BLACK, 92 William Street. 
 
 TIIOS. J. HALL, 71 East IGth Street. 
 J. W. ALDEN, lUi William Street. 
 CHAS. SULLIVAN, Df Heekman Street. 
 FRANK AV. BALLARD, lOtt Broadway. 
 F. II. JENNY, 95 East 15th Street. 
 EDWARD GILBERT. 
 LEWIS FRANCIS, 45 Maiden Lane. 
 BRADIIURST SCIIIEFFELIN, 170 William Street. 
 [The JULY RIOTS, with their horrors, indicated .some of the .schemes and difficul- 
 ties which at that lime opposed the enlistment of loyal Colored Volunteers, and, indeed, 
 of soldiers of any kind for the National Defeni;e.] 
 
 4
 
 New York, August 13, 1863. 
 To His Excellency Horatio Seyjiouk, Governor of the State of New York. 
 
 Sir: In presenting this petition, I would say that I have given the subject some 
 considerable attention, and have no doubt that if Colonel James Fairman, or any other 
 person known to he in sympathy with the movement of nsiny Colored Tfoojis in the sup- 
 pression of the Rebellion, be appointed by you to recruit such troops, at least four thou- 
 sand Colored Volunteers can be raised in this State, thereby saving that number of white 
 citizens from the draft. 
 
 If fticilities are not offered them to inlist in this State, they will go to neighboring 
 ones, and will be lost in the (juota as New York State troops. 
 
 Since the Government's guarantee of protection to colored soldiers, they are rap- 
 idly enlisting in other States, from New York. 
 
 I sent you a similar petition about two months since, and having received no an- 
 swer, I beg you will fiivor me with a reply to this, as great efforts have been made to 
 prepare our colored citizens, and I think good to the nation will result from the mea- 
 sure. Very respectfully, 
 
 LEWIS FRANCIS, 45 Maiden Lane. 
 
 But, even to these repeated respectful appeals, no reply was received fioni Gov- 
 ernor Seymour. 
 
 LeTTEK FJiOM THE SOLICITOR OF THE WaR DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Wliile waiting in suspense for authority from the Governor to raise Colored Troops 
 to be cjedited as a part of the quota of this State, the friends of the movement were 
 cheered by hearty responses from sundry quarters — of which the following reply to an 
 invitation to attend a convention at Poughkcepsie, for promoting the organization of 
 Colored Volunteers, may be taken as a specimen — the high personal character of the 
 writer adding importance to the prominent position he occupies under the National 
 Government. It is understood that, in this letter, the writer expressed the general views 
 of President Lincoln : 
 
 Letter of the Hon. Wuj.iasi Whiting, Solicitor to the War department. 
 
 War Department, AVashington City, July 10, 18li3. 
 
 Dear Sir : — Your letter, under date of July, has been received, in which you have 
 done me the honor to invite me, on behalf of the Fremont Legion, to address the grand 
 Mass Convention of Colored Citizens, to be held at Poughkcepsie on the 15th and 16th 
 instant, and in which you desire me to answer certain inquiries in relation to troops of 
 xVfrican descent. Other engagements render it impossible for me to be present on that 
 occasion, but I avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my respect and sympathy 
 for those who now, for the first time within the present century, have determined to 
 vindicate their right to be treated as patriots, — sharing in the toils, dangers and sacri- 
 fices of that great nation of which the3' constitute so important a part. 
 
 Courage, endurance, and disinterested heroism are qualtics of all brave men, what- 
 ever may be their lineage. No names yet stand upon the roll of honor more brilliant or 
 illustrious than those of Hannibal and Touissant L'Overture. Give to those Americans, 
 who claim as their fatherland the continent that gave birth to the conqueror of Rome, 
 the arms and discipline of the well-trained soldier, and they will give back to the cause 
 of the countiy all the elements of military power. Such is the teaching of history — 
 such the testimony of experience; 
 
 What has the Africo-American to fight for? He fights for that land which, now 
 about to be freed from the curse of slaver}^ will be to him "his country." In rallying 
 round the flag of the Union, he adds strength and support to the noble aiinies of the 
 West and of the East, who, on the fields of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, have added fresh 
 laurels to their imperishable fame. 
 
 Not alone for his country's honoi-, not for empire, not for conquest, not alone for the 
 crushing of RebeUion, is the African's ))lade unsheathed. He tights for the honor and 
 manhood of his race, for justice, humanity, and freedom. When love of country and of 
 fame, when thirst for justice and a sense of wrongs yet unavenged, shall nerve the arm 
 and fire the blood already kindled by the flames of freedom, how is it possible that the 
 soldier can be otherwise than brave and terrible in battle, whtm slavery and death are 
 behind him, and life and liberty lie only in the path to victory V Let history answer 
 this question. Read your answer in the bloody battles of tlxe Revolution, where negro
 
 soldiers bore a part so noble that General Washington, publicly and at the head of his 
 army, acknowledged their gallantry. Remember the honor paid by General Jackson 
 to the heroic regiment of colored men who aided in the defense of New Orleans. Let 
 the battles on the Atlantic coast and the storming of forts on the Mississippi answer. 
 Their bravery rccjiUs the memory of the world-renowned battle of Marathon, in which 
 one-tenth of those who fought and won imperishable honor were slaves " unchained 
 from the doorposts of their masters." 
 
 AVill the colored men respond to the invitation of the Government ? 
 
 They are now springing up like dragon's teeth, from the soil into which they have 
 been crushed. Masters of the ground they tread upon, they are sweeping forward in 
 steady, solid legions. Forty thousand strong arc already in the service. They are des- 
 tined to wield the sword of just retribution, — to teach their former masters, on many a 
 bloody battle-field, by many a rout and swift pursuit, which of them is " of the superior 
 race." 
 
 The military organization of Colored Troops, removing all danger of insurrectionary 
 movements, will regulate, control and utilize the physical force of the only "genuine 
 Union men" in the Gulf States. The greatest war power of treason will becoine the most 
 efficient defense of the Union, and while it will smother rebellion, it will destroy the 
 curse that caused it. 
 
 On the 22d of May, the AVar Department issued a General Order (No. 143) estab- 
 lishing a bureau in the Adjutant-General's office for the organization of Colored Regi- 
 ments, whereby the system of employing them as part of the forces of the United States 
 has become the fixed and permanent policy of the Government. That policy, sanctioned 
 by Congress, carried into practical effect by the Government, has been approved by the 
 general consent of wise and patriotic men. The country cannot afford to lose the aid of 
 its best and chief supporters in the South. 
 
 The employment of Colored Troops, it is true, was in the beginning experimental. 
 The law of 1862, which first authorized them to enter the service, provided no means of 
 payment. 
 
 The second law, which permitted their employment, authorized them to be paid ten 
 dollars per month and one ration per day. This law was, however, made with reference 
 to those who by force of arms, or by provisions of statutes, had been recently freed from 
 bondage. 
 
 The important class of colored soldiers from the Free States were probably not in 
 the contemplation of Congress when framing these Acts. But now, while colored men 
 are admitted to be citizens of several of the Northern States and of the United States, 
 and since the Conscription Act makes no distinction between white and colored citizens, 
 but requires them equally to be enrolled and drafted in the forces of the United States, 
 there seems to be no reason why such citizens should not, when volunteering to serve 
 the country, be placed upon the same footing with other soldiers as regards their pay and 
 bounty. 
 
 The attention of Congress will be directed to this subject, and from the generous 
 manner in which they have ti'cated the soldiers heretofore, it cannot be doubted that they 
 will honor themselves by doing full justice to those of every color, who rally round the 
 Union flag in time of public danger. 
 
 But I do not forget that the colored soldiers are not fighting for pay. They will not 
 let their enemies reproach them with being mean, as well as cowardly. They will not 
 lose this, their first chance, to vindicate their right to be called and treated as men. Pay 
 or no pay, they will rally round that banner of freedom which shall soonjtoat over a 
 country thut contains no slave within its borders. 
 
 The policy of the Government is fixed and immovable. Congress has passed the ir- 
 revocable Acts of p]mancipation. The Supreme Court of the United States have unani- 
 mously decided that, since July 13, 1801, we have been cngagedin a territorial civil war, 
 and have full belligerent rights against the inhabitants of the rebellious districts. The 
 President has issued proclamations under his hand and seal. Ahrnhon Lincoln 
 takes no bacAwurd i>ttp. A man once m»de free by law cannot be again made a slave. 
 The Government has no jjower, if it hail the will, to do it. Omnipotence alone can 
 re-enslave a freeman. Fear not that the Admmistration will ever take the back track. 
 The President wishes the aid of all Americans, of whatever descent or color, to defend 
 the country. He wishes every citizen to share the perils of the contest, and to reap the 
 fruits of victory. Very respectfullv, vour obedient servant, 
 
 WILLIAM WHITING. 
 Edward Gilbert, Esq., New York City.
 
 FuKTHEK Appeals to Gov. Seymock. 
 Resolved to persevere, notwithstanding the non-reception of reply to their for- 
 mer appeals to the State Executive, the friends of the movement again deputed ;i co«n- 
 mittee to address the Governor personally. For this purpose, Mr. Requa, of Albany, 
 called upon Ilis Excellency again in October, when a brief letter was elicited, which 
 letter will be found embodied in the comments which the New York Evening Post made 
 upon the subject. The entire article from that journal is here inserted, as a cotempora- 
 neous view of the course pursued by the memorialists and by the Governor: 
 
 From the New Yorh Evening Post, Oct. 14, 1863. 
 
 " In June last several gentlemen in this city, wishing to help in filling up oui- ar- 
 luios, took measures for raising several Negro Regiments. They sent a immber of agents 
 through the State to inquire into the disposition of the colored people, and ascertain 
 the number who would probably enlist. The reports of these agents showed that at that 
 time about five thousand colored men could have been mustered in. This wouUl have 
 made an important addition to the State's quota of troops. The persons in question 
 therefore applied to Governor Seymour to authorize an effort to raise a negro brigade. 
 This application was made as long ago as the 9th of July, and we have before us the 
 Governor's answer, dated October 7th ; so that three months, less two days, were re- 
 (juired by him to make up his mind whether or not he should authorize the addition to 
 the armies of the Union of at least one full brigade of able-bodied soldiers. This would 
 not only have benefited the cause to that extent, but would have placed just so many 
 thousand men to the credit of the State, to the relief of that number of white citizens 
 from draft. 
 
 "After ninety days of delay and evasion, the Governor was at last brought to bay 
 by the persistence of the gentleman who was charged with soliciting his consent, and 
 wrote the following reply : 
 
 " ' State of New York Executive Department, } 
 Albany, October 7th, 1863. ( 
 
 " ' Mr. Requa has called upon me a number of times with your request that an au- 
 thorization be given to Colonel James Fairman to raise a Negro Regiment. 
 
 " ' I do not deem it advisable to give such authorization, and I have therefore 
 declined to do it. Truly yours, &c., 
 
 " ' Horatio Seymour. 
 '"To Messrs. E. Gilbert, L. Francis, and others.' 
 
 "In a letter of Mr. Requa he adds: ' In my interviews with the Governor, in com- 
 pany with others, he expressed, in the most unequivocal manner, his disapproval of the 
 system of raising negro regiments to aid in putting down the rebellion, both as a mat- 
 ter of principle and poHcy — especially so in the northern States.' 
 
 "The armies of the Union need to be filled up; Governor Seymour's friends resist 
 a draff, and he does not discourage them in their opposition. There is a source whence 
 several thousand able-bodied men can be got ; the Governor is asked to authorize the 
 raising of these men, to be counted in the State's quota ; and he refuses. What are we 
 to think ? Has he changed his mind about the draft ? Does he want to force on an- 
 other draft V Does he really think black men so much better than white men that the 
 latter ought to be sent to the war, while the negroes arc kept safely at home ? Else, 
 why does Governor Seymour tnake himself the special protector of the blacks ? Is it 
 that he intends, by all means in his power, to prevent volunteering, and make another 
 draft necessary V or is it that he desires the Union armies to be deprived of needed re- 
 inforcements, and leave them at the mercy of superior rebel numbers? 
 
 " The people of the State want to know the Governor's intentions towards their 
 brothers and sons now in the army, and he ought to explain himself; for it is not 
 pleasant to think that he is playing a treacherous part towards them, and abandoning 
 them to the tender mercies of men in revolt against the nation. 
 
 '• In the meantime, we will point out to the people this fact, that other States, whose 
 Governors are more careful of the interests of the citizens, and more zealous for the 
 Union cause, arc profiting at our expense, through the policy of Governor Seymour. 
 While the Governor was delaying his answer, and endeavouring by all manner of pleas 
 to avoid committing himself upon the question — in these ninety-days of his delibera- 
 tion not less than six hundred able-bodied colored men left the State and enlisted in 
 Rhode Island. In the same period some four hundred more left here and entered regi-
 
 G 
 
 ments in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Thus we have already lost a full regiment 
 through the inefficiency or perversity of the tiovernor— a full regiment, which would 
 have been counted in tl»e quota of the State. What do the people of New York think 
 of ^liis ? Governor Seymour may not be able to do much to ai«i his rebel friends and 
 former political allies, but he does what he can. During the last canvass he blew hot 
 and cold on the .iue>lion of Union ; promised Fernando Wood and his followers to op- 
 pose the war, aii<l engaged himself to Loyal Democrats to support it. We warned the 
 people then that he would be true only to the peace and pro-slavery wing of his sup- 
 porters, and he has proved our words true to the extent of his abilities." 
 
 Thus much {»r the editorial statements of the New York Ecmimj Po^t. 
 
 In connection With the long-continued per.severance of the above-named Commit- 
 tee, in endeavoring, through several months, to ascertain duttinctly what Governor 
 Seymour's views were on the important subject .of enlisting Colored Volunteers, it 
 should be recollected that an explicit declaration of his j>olicy was deemed proper by 
 the National Government as a condition precedent to any action on the subject in the 
 State of New York by the President or Secretary of ^Var ; for, in June, President Lm- 
 coln declared to that Committee, substantially, " That, as Governor Seymour is Governor 
 of a Loyal State, the National Government declined to act in reference to Colored En- 
 listments in that State, until it could be shown that Governor Seymour, under his own 
 sio-naturc, refused to encourage volunteering in that way." Gov. Seymour, after re- 
 peated applications for months, finally stated, in his letter of October 7lh, above print- 
 ed, that he did "not deem it advisable to give such authorizations" (for raising a Ne- 
 gro regiment), "and therefore declined to do it." 
 
 The Association for Pkomoting Colokeu Volunteerino. 
 Such was the state of the case, when the emergencies of the times occasioned the 
 issue of the following Address to the People of New York— among the signatures to 
 which will be recognized those of many prominent citizens : — 
 To THE People of New Youk. 
 
 New York, November 9, 1863. 
 Fellow Citizens :— New York State has but a few weeks within which to raise her 
 quota of over one hundred thousand men by volunteering. ,r i u 
 
 If we allow our citizens to be drawn awav by superior inducements offered by other 
 States we lo.se them in making up our quota, "and the diaft will fall heavily upon those 
 who are left. Or, if we rai.se the men by volunteering at the last hour, we shall have 
 to pay larger bounties and heavier taxes. 
 
 Let us move in this matter without delay. Other States are fast taking our men to 
 fill their quotas, especially our colored men. Several thousands of these may be added 
 to the strength of our army, and also saved to the quota of our State, by a prompt and 
 vi"'orous movement. Our country's interest and self-interest here unite. 
 
 ° All who are in favor of supporting the Government and preserving the interestsand 
 honor of our State, are invited to attend a Preliminary Meeting at Room No. 5 Clinton 
 Hall, at 8 o'clock on Monday evening, November 16, 18G3, to take measures for uu- 
 mediatc practical action. 
 
 Peter Cooper, Henry W. Bellows, Frederic Sherwood, J. W. V,. Smith. 
 
 Maj-General Daniel E.Dr. Charles Kessman,Lewis Roberts, Henry Kimball, 
 
 Sickles, U. S. Vols. Charles Sears, Josiah M. Fiske, Wm. Hunt, 
 
 :\Iorris Ketchum, Sydney Howard Gay,Alfic(l M. Hugli, J. W.IIair, 
 
 Wm. Curtis Noycs, Theodore Tilton, G. H. Roberts, tJ. Gay, 
 
 Fred. S. Talmadgc, J.Thompson, ,J. B. Ilenick, W. S. Stover, 
 
 John Cochrane, C. E. Detmold, Henry Rawlcs, J. K. Ingalls, 
 
 William E. Dodge, Parke Godwin, Henry Hill, M. Esterly, 
 
 Israel Corse, Hiram Harney, Jas. O. Rennett, Robert T. Shannon, 
 
 David Dudley Field, Frederick Kapp, John J. llerrick, N. Mun 'ay, 
 
 flco Cabot Ward, R. II. Manning, Paul (Jrout, John Holden, 
 
 Wm. C. Bryant, P.T. Bainum, Wm. A. Brown. H. Wdliams, 
 
 James McKaye,' James Kelly, Davi.l Dows, Geo. W. Rose, 
 
 H J Raymond, A. M. Palmer, David Packer, E. ."M. \oung, 
 
 Herman Raster, Benj. F. Lee, E. A. Packer. Jackson S. Schult.s 
 
 Huch \llen Edward Cromwell, C. P. Bronson, S. Isham, 
 
 F. F. Thompson, W. H. Gedncy, Clark Orvis.
 
 The results of this call are briefly stated in the accounts given by several of the 
 newspapers — one of which statements is here quoted : 
 
 From the New Toi'Tc Tribune, of Nosemher nth, 18G3. 
 Important Meeting to Encourage Enlistments. 
 A numerous and influential meeting for the above purpose was held, pursuant to 
 the call of a large number of our most prominent citizens, at Clinton Hall, last evening. 
 There was a good attendance, and the proceedings were entirely harmonious. Gen. W. 
 K. Strong, being unanimously called to the chair, read the preamble and resolutions 
 setting forth the purpose of the organization, of which this meeting, was the first step, 
 to strengthen the military power both by white and colored soldiers of the Government; 
 to secure justice to all who enlist ; to inform them of their duties and rights as soldiers, 
 and to make the men, white or black, feel that they were backed up by friends at home. 
 These objects would be carried out by a committee of twenty-five. As Governor Sey- 
 mour had refused to authorize colored enlistments, a sub-committee was to wait upon 
 the President to endeavor to induce him to take action in the premises. A mas meeting 
 was to be held at as early a day as such could be arranged. The money received by 
 the Government for commutation under the draft ought, or a part of it, to be expended 
 in bounties. A committee of lawyers was to be formed to consult as to the extent of 
 the power of the Government in relation to enlisting negroes. Free drill rooms were to 
 be established in the city, &c. All the foregoing was embodied in the resolutions which 
 were unanimously passed by the meeting. Pending their adoption. General Strong 
 made a vigorous and eloquent speech. He was in Egypt when the war broke out, being 
 then in the first year of a three years' visit to the various countries of Europe — a visit 
 undertaken for the express purpose of comparing their Governments with our own. In 
 no case had he found a people whose condition, Government, institutions, and oppor- 
 tunities were equal to those of America. The General drew a vivid picture of the be- 
 nighted condition of Egypt when the news of the Rebellion reached him, and he felt in- 
 dignant beyond expression that the land which he had left peaceful and prosperous 
 should be desolated by this wicked treason, which originated in oppressions and wrongs 
 the most foul that the world ever saw. The framers of the Constitution intended it to 
 be one of equal rights — they did not foresee the evils that have arisen since, or if they 
 did, they thought the remedy might be left to the wisdom and patriotism of their pos- 
 terity. It has pleased God to give to this generation the work of cutting up by the roots 
 this gigantic and accursed crime. There must be no virus left to breed new rebellions. 
 Believing that his mission in the West was over, no considereable force being massed 
 west of the Missisippi, and that the murderers and house-burners would soon be disposed 
 of, he had come home to aid in putting down Copperhead treason in this city. 
 
 The General was followed by Adjutant Haggerty, who has been to the war with a 
 New York Regiment, and who made an extremely glowing and patriotic speech, de- 
 nouncing the action of Governor Seymour, and claiming that the Bradj's and the Mea- 
 ghers should be regarded as the representative men of the Irish population, and that 
 colored men .should be allowed to enlist. His remarks were much applauded. 
 
 He was followed by the Rev. H. H. Garnett, who said that, as a class, colored men 
 were most anxious to do their utmost to put down the Rebellion. Mr. Garnett gave a 
 description of the unavailing efforts of the negroes to be employed as soldiers of New 
 York, and alluded, in forcible terms, to the fact that they are leaving the city to enlist 
 in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, where they are not only appreciated, 
 but offered large bourjties and equal rights with white soldiers. 
 
 Some further remarks were made by Colonel Shannon, Henry O'Rielly, and others, 
 when the committee of twenty-five, of which Peter Cooper was elected President, was 
 appointed. The meeting, which was very enthusiastic throughout, did not adjourn un- 
 til a late hour. 
 
 The General Committee, appointed to promote the above-mentioned objects, pro- 
 ceeded promptly and energetically in the work — as shown in the following statements : 
 
 From the Times, Trihuue, and Herald of Nov. 26, 1803. 
 
 Course of the National and State Authorities Concerning Colored Volunteers — 
 
 Letters from Governor Seymour and Secretary Stanton. 
 
 The " New York As.sociation for Colored Volunteers," formed at a meeting called 
 
 by Peter Cooper, General Sickles, Wm. C. Bryant, General John Cochrane, Henry J.
 
 Raymond, Wm. Curtis Noyes, "Wm. E. Dodge, David Dows, David Dudley Field, and 
 many other citizens — of which meeting General Wm. K. Strong, late of the army, was 
 president — took prompt measures for ascertaining the views of the National and State 
 Governments concerning the conditions on which Colored Troo])S might be enlisted 
 under the President's Proclamation for more volunteers. General Strong was requested 
 to telegraph the AVar Department, and ^Ir. James Rodgers went to Albany to learn 
 the views of Governor Seymour on the subject. 
 
 The callers of the meeting said: " If we allow our citizens to be drawn away by 
 superior inducements offered by other States, we lose them in making up our quota, 
 and the draft will fall heavily upon those who are left ; or, if we raise men by volun- 
 teerin"- at the last hour, we sliall have to pay large bounties and heavier taxes. ^ Let us 
 move ?n this matter without delay. Other States are fast taking our men to fill their 
 quotas — especially our colored men. Several thousand of these may be added to the 
 strength of our army, and also saved to the quota of our State, by a prompt and vigor- 
 ous movement. Our country's interest and self-interest here unite." 
 
 The General Committee of the Association, in their letter to Secretary Stanton, 
 dated Nov. 21, said: "This application to the National Government results from the 
 refusal of certain State functionaries to recognize colored men in the call for volunteers, 
 notwithstanding the fact that the President's Proclamation makes no discrimination in 
 color, and the additional fact that that class of citizens are subject, like white men, to a 
 draft. . . 
 
 And in their representations at Albany it was added that "justice and patriotism 
 alike require that all men who are subject to draft shall have equal privilege in volun- 
 teering under the President's Proclamation " — it being desirable, also, " that our white 
 fellow-citizens shall be measurably relieved from drafting by allowing colored citizens 
 to volunteer for the war — in the course of which war the colored troops have evinced 
 discipline and bravery worthy of the noble cause of national self-defense." 
 
 Answers have been received from Washington and Albany. Under date of the 
 24th, the Secretary of War says : " On application, by suitable person.s special author- 
 ity will be granted to raise Colored Troops in New York, according to the rules and 
 regulations relative to organizing and raising Colored Troops. The troops so raised will 
 he credited to the State. Until Congress shall authorize it no bounty can be paid, and 
 the pay is limited by Act of Congress to ten dollars a month. The department will 
 recommend that, in this respect,. the Act be amended so as to make the pay the same 
 as for other colored soldiers. They will be enrolled as United Statcs^ Volunteers, and 
 the ofiBcers be appointed and commissioned by the President. (Signed EnwiN M. 
 Stanton, Secretary of War.)" , ,, n j 
 
 Governor Seymour replies thus to the inquiry made through Mr. Kodgers:— 
 
 " State of New Yokk Executive Depaktment, [ 
 Albany, Nov. 24, 18C3. ^ 
 
 " To James Rodgers, Esq., JSFo. 421 Broadway, N. Y. 
 
 " Siu : In answer to your inquiries about the enlistment of Blacks, and the organ- 
 ization of regiments and companies, I have to say : ,. . . 
 
 «< First— That, under the State laws the bounty is paid to all, without distinction, 
 who are mustered into the service of the United States, and for whom credits are given 
 to New York, under tlie President's call for troops. 
 
 '' Second— An to new organizations, I have no power to authorize any, either for 
 blacks or whites, which will be entitled to the benefit of the bounty given by the Gen- 
 eral Government. The object at Washington is to fill up the ranks of the regiments in 
 the field If any new organizations, for cither white or black troops, are made, they 
 mvst he authorised hy the War Department, to entitle those who join them to the bene- 
 fit of the money paid to volunteers. Yours, &c., 
 
 " IIoiiATio Sevmouh. 
 These answers are published for the information of the Association and all others 
 interested, and the co-operation of all loyal citizens is earnestly invoked in furtherance 
 of the objects above-mentioned. 
 
 liv order of the General Committee, 
 
 HENRY O'RTELLY, Secretary. 
 Rooms of the Association, No. 20 Pine Street, Nov. 2."i, ISf.r.. 
 It will be .seen by the above letter of Gov. Seymour, of Nov. 24th, that the rea.Koi.s 
 for non-action assigned by the Governor are diflorcnt from those given in his letter of 
 October 7, before quoted.
 
 9 
 
 The views of the Association concerning the employment of Colored Troops 
 were bricHy presented to President Lincoln in a letter from Peter Cooper, and to the 
 Secretary of War and others in the letters from the Secretaryof the Association — which 
 letters were as follows: — 
 
 Lettek fkom Peter Coopek. 
 To Eis ExcelUncy Abraham Lincoln, President of the United Stales: 
 
 Most Respectf.d Sir: Since I last had the honor to address yon in January, 1862, 
 the courae;e, skill and perseverance manifested by you in your efforts to maintain and 
 defend our union of States, with all their rightful authority and power, has commanded 
 my heartfelt gratitude, contidence, and respect. 
 
 Your efforts to bring back the rebel States to accept the supremacy of the Consti- 
 tution and the laws, with the general course of your Administration, have compelled me 
 to believe that there is nothing that you have sought and desired so much, as to know 
 and apply the best means to secure a lasting and honorable peace, and to overcome, with 
 the least'possible expense of life and treasure, a rebellion that embodies in itself the sum 
 of all that is vile. 
 
 It would have been too much to expect from any human being tii.it such a compli- 
 cation of ditticulties and dangers as those you have encountered, should have been met 
 and overcome without errors and mistakes as to the best means to restore peace to our 
 country. 
 
 Our Union of States, which has from the commencement of the Government con- 
 tinued to si)read its protecting shield over all the rights reserved to each of the indi- 
 vidual States, can never be abandoned to the despotism of Slavery, or the heresy of 
 secession, while there is life and power to maintain and defend it. 
 
 In my letter I endeavored to show that nothing but the corrupting power of buying 
 and selling human beings could ever so far demoralize a people as to cause them to del- 
 uge a nalion in blood, in order to perpetuate an institution that enslaves thousands of 
 their own children. 
 
 It nuist be api)arent to all who desire the preservation of the Union, that the slaves 
 who now cultivate the fields, and who perform a large portion of the mechanical labor of 
 the South, are as much a power to be met and overcome as the rebel armies that are 
 now doing their utmost to spread death and desolation over our country. 
 
 I believe with you, that it is impossible for a people who aie determined to per- 
 petuate Slavery at the expense of all the horrors of a civil war, to continue to hold 
 slaves and live in peace with a Government having its foundation on the equal and ina- 
 lienable rights of men. 
 
 In relation to the propriety of the employment of negroes as a loar measure or means 
 to conquer the rebellion, I fear the greatest mistakes of the war have been made. 
 
 It has taken time to educate the people to see and feel the absolute necessity of 
 uttacTciny the rebellion in tke only ioay by which it can be speedily and effectually over- 
 come, and at the same time extinguish a cause of national sorrow, demoralization, and 
 di.sgrace. 
 
 You have with great propriety asked the question, " Why should negroes do any- 
 thing for us if we will do nothing for them ?" You have rightly said that " If they stake 
 theii^livcs for us they must be prompted by the strongest motives." The correctness 
 and wisdom of that opinion cannot be called in question. 
 
 It is greatly to be deplored that the Government, and so many people of the North, 
 with somc^of the ofidccrs of the army, have been so slow to perceive and adopt the only 
 effectual means, which is to vse the negroes as a power by which this terrible war of re- 
 bellion canbe put down. 
 
 Those who have sympathized with rebels know their importance, and have uni- 
 formly raised a clamor against their use and every measure calculated to strengthen 
 our own Government, or to strike the rebellion in its weakest place. 
 
 It is cause of astonishment to all who realize the fact that this desolating war is 
 now carried on against us by less than one-third of the inhabitants of the United States. 
 This is rendered .still more astonishing when we remember that more than one-half of 
 this one-third now left within the limit of the rebel States arc our friends, and have been 
 at times ready and anxious to aid us so soon as their freedom and safety could be 
 secured. 
 
 I believe that the war of rebellion would have been short, if, at the commencement
 
 10 
 
 of the struggle, a decided policy in relation to the employment of negroes could have 
 been adopted and sustained by the people of the North. 
 
 It should have been a policy promising freedom, protection, and a soldier's bounty 
 to all able-bodied slaves of rebels who would enlist to defend the Union, the Constitu- 
 tion, and the laws which made us a nation. It should have been a policy defined by a 
 proclamation, to be constantly kept before the people, setting forth the fact that the Gov- 
 crnmeni of the United SUites have been compelled, in the most reluctant stlf-defcnse, to 
 adopt these measures, to meet in actual war those States now in open rebellion against 
 all the rightful authority and power of the Nation, thereby forcing on the Govern- 
 ment the painful necessity of using all means known in civilized %varfare in order to put 
 down a combination of wicked men who aim to destroy the Union and to build upon its 
 mins a Government where " proj)erty shall own labor," and of which the corner-stone 
 shall be the enslavement of millions of human beings. 
 
 Our National Government, after having organized all the jiublic lands into Terri- 
 torial Governments, with the right to engraft slavery upon them all, whenever the people 
 of any State shall so elect, and after passing by an almost unanimous vote in Congress 
 a resolution declaring that the Government had no intention or desire to interfere with 
 Slavery in any manner where it was then legally held, further demonstrates the sin- 
 cerity of the Government, by proposed amendment to the Constitution, in order to put 
 it forever out of the power of Congress to interfere with Slavery within the States. 
 
 All these efforts failed to satisfy the people of the South, whose present Vice-Presi- 
 dent, when in the Convention of Secessionists, defied their body to show a single act of 
 the General Government that was intended to oppress or injure the people of the South, 
 whose leading men had long before determined on a dissolution of the Union, for no 
 better reason" than the one stated by John C. Calhoun more than thirty years ago. He 
 then said their system of slavery was an aristocratic system, and that they were an 
 aristocratic people, and that so long as they could control the action of the General Gov- 
 ernment thev would remain in it, but when they could not, they would break it up. 
 This they are now trying to do by any and all means in their power. 
 To prevent them from bringing upon our country and the world such a calamity, our 
 Government will be fully justified in holding out exenj inducement to slaves of rebels to 
 •ioift o?«- «7'W)/ to fight for their freedom and independence. The ^poWcy oieviploxjing 
 the negroes in our defense, if I am not mistaken, is demanded by the highest interests of 
 the South as well as by the North. , r, , •„ 
 
 I believe that ten years will not pass before the people of the South will erect 
 monuments to commemorate their deliverance from the blight of Slavery. 
 
 They will verify the truth of what Homer declared two thousand six hundred years 
 ago, when he said that 
 
 ° " "Whatever day makes man a slave 
 
 Takes half his worth avpay." 
 
 I for one, envy not the man who, to save a nation's life, will not say : Perish 
 Slavery— ])erish idl that stands in the way of nmiiitaininQ the freedom and independence 
 that our Union was intended to secure. 
 
 Hoping that our Government will always contend for those measures best calcula- 
 ted to establish justice and promote the general welfare, 1 remain, with great respect, 
 
 y«"^^"^"^' PETER COOPER. 
 
 APPLICATION TO TOE SECRETaHV OF WAR. 
 
 Rooms of the New Yokk Association fok Coloued Volunteeks, ^ 
 2(3 Pine Street, New York, Nov. 21, 1863. ^ 
 
 ITon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington. 
 
 Siu: At a meeting of the General Committee of the New York Association for 
 Colored Volunteers— an Association formed imder the annexed call from Peter Cooper, 
 General Sickles, and many other well-known citizens — it was Rusolred : 
 
 That General AV . K. Strong, late of the United States Army, be requested to tele- 
 graph to the War Department to know whether the President will authorize the enlist- 
 ment of Colored Volunteers in this State, and c?-t<//7 ^/i<-»t on the quota of this State, 
 under the President's Proclamation for more volunteers in suppressing the rebellion. 
 
 This application to the National Government results from the refusal of certain 
 State functionaries to recognize colored men in the call for rolnnteers, notwithstanding 
 the fact that the President's Proclamation makes no discrimination in color, and the 
 additional fact that that class of citizens are subject, like white men, to a draft.
 
 11 
 
 The brevity of the time left for volunteering, and an earnest desire on our part to 
 aid in reinforcing the National Armies at the earliest practicable moment, will probably 
 furnish apology for this General Committee asking an early answer to the foregoing 
 interrogatory. 
 
 By order of the New York Association for Colored Volunteers, 
 
 HENRY O'RIELLY, Secretary. 
 Menun'anda concerning the Visit of Mr. James Rodgers to Albany, to learn the Views 
 of Gov. Sey.modr aiout Colored Troops. 
 Rooms of the New York Association for Colored Volunteers, ( 
 26 Pine Street, New York, Nov. 23, 1863. $ 
 
 To all whom it may concern : 
 
 The " New York Association for Colored Volunteers," formed at a meeting in Clin- 
 ton Hall, under a call from Peter Cooper, General Sickles, and seventy other prominent 
 citizens — of which meeting General W. K. Strong was president— appointed a General 
 Committee to promote enlistments for reinforcing our armies — of which Committee Mr. 
 James Rodgers is a member. 
 
 Personally, and as a member of the Association, Mr. Rodgers feels so deeply inter- 
 ested in advancing the above-mentioned patriotic object, that he has volunteered his 
 services to visit Albany, and ascertain, by another application, whether Governor Sey- 
 mour will authorize the reception of Colored Volunteers. As the President's Proclama- 
 tion for more volunteers makes no discrimination in the color of loyalists who are wil- 
 ling to volunteer in suppressing the rebellion, and as colored men are subject (like 
 white men) to a draft, this General Committee trusts that no impediments will be 
 thrown in the way of colored men who are willing to comply with the President's de- 
 mand for volunteers, and thus share promptly in the toil and danger of sustaining our 
 National Government in the battle-fields of the rebellion. 
 
 Justice and patriotism alike require that all men who are subject to a draft, shall 
 have equal privileges in volunteering under the President's Proclamation for the public 
 defence. 
 
 With these views and objects, and with a desire that our white fellow-citizens shall 
 be measurably relieved from drafting, by allowing the colored citizens to volunteer for 
 the war (in the course of which war the colored troops have evinced discipline and 
 bravery worthy of the noble cause of national self-defence), this statement is written in 
 evidence of the interest with which the mission of Mr. Rodgers to Albany is regarded 
 by his fellow-citizens of the New York Association for Colored Volunteers — which As- 
 sociation is now endeavoring to promote the formation of the First Division of New 
 York Colored Troops. 
 
 By order of the General Committee of the said Association, 
 
 HENRY O'RIELLY, Secretary. 
 
 Establishment of the Policy in this State. 
 
 Having thus obtained from the National and State Governments distinct avowals 
 of the policy which would control the enlistment of Colored Volunteers, attention was 
 immediately turned towards the organization of a brigade of soldiers of African descent; 
 and the result of a request to Colonel P. A. Conkling to allow his name to be present- 
 ed to the President for a commission as Brigadier, to organize the troops thus to be 
 raised, is stated in the following article : — 
 
 From the New York Tribune. 
 The Spirit of the Times. 
 
 The appearance of a colored regiment* in a city where men (with women and chil- 
 dren, too!) were recently hunted and murdered, under no other pretext than their sable 
 hue, is a significant commentary on the progress of opinion and the march of loyal 
 power. 
 
 Not less marked is the fact that an organization has been effected, under the aus- 
 pices of many well-known citizens, whose names have already appeared in these col- 
 umns, for sustaining the National Government in the policy of employing colored men 
 as auxiliaries in defending our democratic institutions against the slaveholders' treason. 
 
 Some of the con-espondcnce on these subjects may be useful in turning public atten- 
 tion more fully towai'd the importance of the policy now successfully inaugurated. A 
 
 * This refers to the Second Regiment of D. 8. Colored Volunteers, which passed through New Yorli to 
 take shipping for New Orleans— about two-thirda of whom were recently slaves In Delaware, Maryland and 
 Virginia.
 
 12 
 
 letter from the Hon. Frederick A. Conkling, late Member of Congress, as well as Colonel 
 of a gallant regiment — himself an early advocate of colored enlistments — may be taken, 
 and so we print it, as a specimen of the hearty approbation bestowed on these move- 
 ments by citizens who bavc signalized their zeal through efficient service, civil and mili- 
 tary, against the rebellion. It seems that the General Committee addressed Colonel 
 Conkling to the effect that ''his course in reference to the war had turned attention 
 toward him for the command of a brigade," and he was urged to "consent to be named 
 to the War Department for authority^ to raise" such a force. This " Association for 
 Colored Troops " includes several Generals and other officers who have deserved 
 well of their country in the field. The following — creditable alike to his regiment and 
 to himself— is Colonel Oonkling's reply : 
 
 "New York,Jsov. 27, 18C3. 
 
 " SiK : I have received your letter of this date, proposing to me to raise a brigade 
 of colored volunteers, and tendering me the recommendation of your Association for 
 the command of such a brigade, and its influence in raising it For this compliment to 
 my small military experience, I beg you to accept my sincere acknowledgments. Nor 
 can I let pass the opportunity to say that, having been among the first to advocate the 
 raising of colored troops, my pride of opinion has been flattered by the extraordinary 
 success of the measure, which I regard as fully established with the people — its popu- 
 larity, no doubt, having been greatly quickened and intensified by the heroic bravery 
 of the colored soldiers wheiever they have come under fire, or have been ordered to 
 charge upon the enemy in his intrenchments. 
 
 " The proposition, therefore, has an attraction for me which it is difficult to resist, 
 but circumstances forbid me to accept it. It would perhaps seem like boasting or com- 
 plaining, were I to detail to you the great pecuniary los.ses which I have sustained by 
 reason of this rebellion, or the voluntary sacrifices which I have made to sustain the 
 Government. I will only say that they compel me to give such attention to my private 
 affairs as I am able to do and retain command of the regiment which I have raised, and 
 to which I am much attached. 
 
 " May I say, in }>ehalt of my regiment and myself, that we will be leady at twenty- 
 four hours' notice, to march (as we have done before) to any position of actual service 
 where Me can be useful, provided that service be limited to a period not exceeding 
 three months. More than this, a sense of individual responsibility and duty does not 
 permit me for the present to promise. 
 
 " More than six months ago I tendered my services to other officers for the enlist- 
 ment and organization of Colored Volunteers in this State ; and I at that time addressed 
 a connnunication to the SeL-retur}- of War upon the subject I stand ready now, and 
 shall at all times stand read}', to render that assistance. 
 
 "Faithfully yours, F. A. CONKLING. 
 
 " Henkv O'Riellt, Esq., Secretary N. Y. A. C. V." 
 
 Colonel Dwight Morri.s, late acting Brigadier of a brigade including some New 
 York, New Jersey, and Conuectiiut Volunteer.'^, was then named as a proper commander 
 for the proposed Brigade of Coloi-ed Volunteers — as follows : 
 
 Okkick of tok Nkw Youk " Association fok Coloked Volinteek.s," ^ 
 New York, 2(5 Pine Street, Dec. 2, 1S«3. S 
 
 To the UoN. Edwin M. Staxton, tScrretnr;/ of ]\'(ir : 
 
 Sir: in your reply of Nov. 24 to our communication through (General ^\ . K. 
 Strong, late of the United States Ami}', you state that yen will gram authority to suit- 
 able persons to raise Colored N'olunteers, in New York, to be crctlited on tiie (piota of 
 the State, and to be known as United States Volunteers — the officers to be commis- 
 sioned by the l*resident. 
 
 For the j)urpo.se of sustaining this policy of the Government, and t<i expedite the 
 raising of such colored troops, the (iential Coinmittec of this Assoi'i;i(ion r(.'spei-lfull3' 
 recommend that Colonel Dwiglit Morris, late of the Fourteenth Connecticut, ^e coni- 
 missioned as r>rigadii;r-(uiicral, and assigned to dut}"^ in this city and State. The 
 Committee take jjleasure in expressing tiie belief that tliis gentleman (who, as .\cting 
 Brigadicr-(<eneral, conmiamling the Insth New Yoik, the l_*tli New Jersey, the 14th 
 Connecticut, and the I'JUlh and l.'i2d I'enn.'^ylvania, in .^^cveral of the most important 
 engagements of the war) is eminently qualified, by his views concerning tlte policy of 
 enlisting colored troop.s, as well as by his militar}- experience, to contribute largely to 
 the success of the movement now inaugurated in this State for c»rganizing a Brigade or
 
 13 
 
 Division of Colored Volunteers ; and therefore the undersigned present his name for 
 such an appointment, now that his health,' once greatly impaired in active service, is 
 such as to permit him again to take the held in active operations. 
 
 Hoping that Colonel ^lorris may be thus appointed, and detailed as above request- 
 ed, the Association pledges its most zealous efforts to aid in every practicable way in 
 raising troops to till the ranks of his command. 
 
 By order of the General Committee, 
 
 Hexky O'Riellt, Secretary. W. K. STRONG, Chairman. 
 
 The Secretar}'- of War, when called on by some Senators in furtherance of this 
 recommendation, rephed substantially that Colonel D wight Morris had just been nomi- 
 nated to the Senate for a Brigadier's commission, and that he therefore could not be 
 placed in such a command till his nomination should be approved by the Senate — Con- 
 gress bi'ing then in session ; — but that, when thus confirmed, " the assignment to the 
 specific duty in New York would be made." Secretary Stanton, in the meantime, 
 ottered to authorize Colonel Morris to raise a colored regiment in New York, with his 
 then rank of colonel; but circumstances induced Colonel Morris to decline under- 
 taking that duty at the time, in view of the pendency of his name for a brigadier- 
 ship — though ready for service, as the Association suggested and as Secretary Stanton 
 substantial!}^ approved, when decisive action should be had upon his nomination in the 
 Senate. 
 
 NojiiNATiON OP Col. Bartram. 
 
 In view of the foregoing facts, the General Committee of the Association for Colored 
 Troops, having received strong testimonials in favor of Lieut. -Col. N. B. Bartram, of 
 New York, an oflicer attached to the Eighth Regiment of Colored Troops, in camp near 
 Philadelphia, and after an interview with that officer, resolved unanimously, on motion 
 of Mr. O'Rielly, that the said Lieut-Col. Bartram be nominated as Colonel for the com- 
 mand of the First Colored Regiment to be raised in the State of New York, inasmuch 
 as he " appears to this Committee to combine the qualities and experience which 
 eminently fit him for such a command." 
 
 [The nomination of Col. Bartram was afterwards concurred in by the Joint Volun- 
 teering Committee of this Association and of the Union League Club, and he was ac- 
 cordingly appointed by the President.] 
 
 Course of the Union League Club. 
 The policy of the National Government concerning the enlistment of Colored Vol- 
 unteers in this State having been thus announced by the letter of Secretary Stanton, in 
 reply to the Association for Colored Troops (as above quoted,) the Union League Club, 
 which had raised money to promote enhstments in a white regiment, determined to de- 
 vote their means energetically in furthering the enlistment of Colored Volunteers. 
 
 Co-operation of the Association for Colored Volunteers with the Union League Club. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the " Association for Colored Volunteers " being in- 
 formed that the " Union League Club " desired co-operation in raising the regiment of 
 Colored Volunteers for whicli authority had been granted to that body by thp Genera! 
 Government, resolved to accept the invitation and to co-operate cordially in the move- 
 ment, being desirous of promoting, in every practicable way, all well-directed eftbrts for 
 accomplishing tiie important olyects for vrhich the Association was organized. ' The 
 invitation from tlie Clulj was as follows: — 
 
 50 Wall Street, New York, Dec. 5th, 1803. 
 ( leneral ^V^ K. Strong, Chairman : 
 
 Sir: At a meeting of the Volunteering Committee of the Union League Club, the 
 undersigned were appointed a committee to communicate with the body over which 
 you preside, and to inform you tliat we have received an authorization from tlie Secre- 
 tary of War to raise in this State a regiment of colored troops, to be known as the 
 " Twentieth Regiment New York Colored Troops," and to solicit the co-operation of 
 yourself and associates in raising the regiment. 
 
 Our Clulj has raised a consideral)le amount of funds, and can raise much more, if 
 needed. We have no personal ends to answer — no officers for whom we desire to make 
 places. A\'e will gladly meet yourself and any members of your body at any time youy
 
 14 
 
 may select. We believe that by a united effort of all interested in this matter, a credit- 
 able regiment can be promptly raised. Your obedient servant, 
 
 George Buss, Jk. 
 Along with this letter, Colonel Bliss transmitted a resolution of the Union League 
 Club, in the following words: — " Rcaolved, That the Committee of which General Wm. 
 K. Strong is Chairman, be requested to appoint a sub-committee of three to confer with 
 this Committee from time to time as invited by this Committee, and to represent that 
 Committee." 
 
 As the correspondence between the Union League Club and the Governor and 
 Secretary of War refers to a previous correspondence between Governor Seymour 
 and Mr. James Rodgcrs, a member of the Association for Colored Troops, the letters 
 from and replies to the Club arc herewith printed : 
 
 The Committee of the Union League Club requested Governor Seymour to com- 
 mission officers for the purpose of raising such regiment, provided they obtained the 
 consent of the War Department for its organization. They received the following letter 
 from the Governor : — 
 
 " State of New York, Executive Department, Albany, ) 
 November 27th, 1863. ) 
 
 "Gentlemen: I have received your communication in relation to the organization 
 of negro regiments into companies. The matter rests entirely with the War Depart- 
 ment at AVashington. I understand that permission has been given to persons in 
 Brooklyn to raise such regiments, and I suppose, therefore, you can get a like authori- 
 zation. 
 
 " I send you a copy of a letter written by me to Mr. Rodgers, of New York, which 
 covers the whole ground of your communication.* 
 
 "Yours truly, Horatio Seymock. 
 
 "To Messrs. Alex. Van Rensselaer, L. G. B. Cannon, George Bliss, Jr." 
 
 The committee of the Club then forwarded the following letter to Washington, 
 which we print, with the reply of the War Department : 
 " Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : 
 
 " Dear Sir : On behalf of the Union League Club of this city we respectfully ask 
 an authorization for a regiment of Colored Troops, to be raised in the State of New York, 
 under the auspices of that Club. We have already made an application to His Excel- 
 lency Governor Seymour, and have received a reply, of which we enclose a copy. x 
 
 "The Union League Club is composed of over five hundred of the wealthiest and 
 most respectable citizens of New York, whose sole bond of association is an unflinching 
 determination to support the Government. They have subscribed a large sum, to be 
 appropriated to the raising of a colored regiment, and will procure much more. They 
 believe that by their exertions and influence they can, with the permission of the Gov- 
 ernment, put in the field a regiment worthy to stand side by side with the Fifty-fourth 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 " If we are so fortunate as to receive your authorization, we shall take immediate 
 steps to carry out our plan, and shall endeavor to present for approval able and expe- 
 rienced officers, whose heart is in the work. 
 
 " We are, very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 "Geo Bliss, Jr ( Committee. 
 
 " Le Grand B, Cannon, s 
 Authority from toe War Department. 
 ''War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, WAsniNr.TON, D. C, ( 
 
 December 3, 18G3. S 
 
 " Georce Blis.s, Jk , Es(^, Union Leafiue Cluh Hoorm, Kew York : 
 
 "Sir: I am instructed by the Secretary of ^Var to inform you that you are hereby 
 authorized, as the repre.^entitive of your associates of the Union League Club, to raise 
 in the State of New York one regiment of infantry, to be composed of colored men, to 
 be mustered into the service of the United States for three years or during the war. 
 To lhe.se tro<)\is no bounties will be paid. TI\ey will receive ten dollars per month and 
 one ration, three dollars of which monthly may be in clothing. 
 
 • Qovernor Seymour's letter to Mr. Rodgers U Inserted on a previous page, among the proceedings of 
 the " Association for Colored Volunteers "—page S. See also Gov. Seymour's letter of October T, on a previ- 
 ous page.
 
 15 
 
 " The regiment will be known and designated as the Twentieth Regiment United 
 States Colored Troops. 
 
 " The organization of the regiment must conform strictly to the requirements of 
 General Orders No. 110, current series, War Department, a copy of which is herewith 
 enclosed. 
 
 " The prescribed number of commissioned officers will be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, after they shall have passed examination, as provided in the General Orders Nos. 
 143 and 1-t-l, War Department, 1863, copies of which are herewith enclosed, and your 
 attention invited thereto. The officers so appointed will be mustered into service on 
 the presentation to the mustering officer of their appointments, signed by the Secretary 
 of War. The enlisted men may be mustered into service by squads, if found more 
 convenient. 
 
 " The troops raised under the foregoing authority will rendezvous at Riker's 
 Island, New York barber, to which point they will be sent as fast as they are mus- 
 tered into service. An officer will be assigned to duty at that post to take charge of 
 the men on their arrival, and make the necessary requisitions for supplies, 
 " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " C. W. Foster, Assistant Adjutant-General." 
 
 In accordance Mith the invitation from the Union League Club Committee, a delega- 
 tion from the Association for Colored Volunteers (consisting of General AV. K. Strong and 
 Messrs. Henry O'Rielly, James Rodgers, Edward Cromwell, G. W. Rose, Jackson S. 
 Scliultz, and George Kessman) met with the Union League Volunteering Committee, at 
 the Club House on Union Square — when a general plan of operations was agreed on. 
 Immediately thereafter a committee of three (viz., Messrs. Schultz, Cromwell and 
 Rodgers) was appointed to meet regularly with the Committee of the Union League 
 Club — thus forming a General Volunteering Committee of Ten for promoting the objects 
 which caused the formation of the "Association for Colored Volunteers." 
 
 In furtherance of these arrangements, the following resolutions were adopted at a 
 meeting of the General Committee of the " Association for Colored Volunteers : " 
 
 Resolved, That all agents now employed by this Association be excused from fur- 
 ther service for this Association, inasmuch as the Committee of the Union League Club 
 have assumed, or will assume, the employment of all such agents as that Committee 
 may see tit to employ. 
 
 Jie-iolved, That Jackson S. Schultz, Edward Cromwell, and James Rodgers be a 
 committee, to act as invited by the Committee of the Union League Club, in reference 
 to volunteering for the regiment of colored men now in progress of formation, as the 
 Twentieth Regiment of United States Colored Volunteers. 
 
 Resohed, That a committee of three be appointed to look after the interests of 
 Colored Volunteers ; and that any complaints on that subject be referred to said com- 
 mittee — [which committee consisted of the three gentlemen appointed to meet and co- 
 operate with the Volunteering Committee of the Union League Club.] 
 
 -Resolved, That all the applications heretofore made to this Association for com- 
 mands of Colored Troops be referred to the committee of three (Messrs. Schultz, Crom- 
 well and Rodgers) appointed by this Association to co-operate with the Union League 
 Club Committee, now engaged in the organization of the Twentieth Regiment United 
 States Colored Volunteers, of which Colonel Bliss is chairman, and that all future ap- 
 plications of the same character be referred to the same committee. 
 
 Resolved, That among the persons named for command of a colored regiment. 
 Lieutenant- Colonel N. B. Bartram, of this city, now Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth 
 Regiment United States Colored Volunteers, in camp near Philadelphia, appears to this 
 Committee to combine the qualities and experience which eminently fit him for such a 
 command. 
 
 RESULTS OF THESE ARRANGEMENTS— THE FIRST COLORED TROOPS SENT 
 FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 The satisfactory results of the movement cannot be more appropriately stated than 
 by quoting certain articles from the New York Times and the New York Tribune. 
 Even the New York Fxjn-ess, not remarkable for eulogy on the organization of Colored 
 Troops, spoke with as much animation as the Trilune or Tinier concerning this move- 
 ment, " The regiment," says the Express, " marched in colunui, by platoon, and their 
 soldierlike appearance, the evenness of their dress, and the carriage of the muskets, justi-
 
 16 
 
 fled 
 enl 
 
 1 the praises bestowed on them, and gave evidence of close drill exercise since they 
 isted." * * ♦ "The ovation to the twentieth regiment of Colored Volunteers," 
 the Express adds, " was one of the most imposing receptions which has ever honored 
 the advent or departure of a military organization from New York." 
 
 From the Trihune of March 5, 1864. 
 
 TWENTlKTn r. S. COLORED KEfilMENT — RECEPTION BY THE UNION LEAGUE — SPEECnES OF 
 COAKLES KIXC AND COLONEL BARTKAM DEPAKTIKE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. 
 
 The 20th Regiment United States Colored Troops left Riker's Island at 9 o'clock 
 on Saturday morning, on board the steamer John Romer, and were coiivej'ud to the foot 
 of Twenty-sixth Street, East River, where they were disembarked and formed in regi- 
 mental line, and marched to Union Square, arriving in front of the Union League Club- 
 House at one o'clock. 
 
 A vast crowd of citizens of every shade of color, and every phase of social and po- 
 litical life, filled the square and streets, and every door, window, veranda, tree and 
 house-top that commanded a view of the scene, was peopled with sjiectators. < Her the 
 entrance of the Club- Room was a lari,re platform ornamented with Hags and filled with 
 ladies. In the street was another platfonu tastefully decorated and occupied by promi- 
 nent citizens. From this stand the colors were presented by President King of Columbia 
 College, who spoke as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF CHARLES KING. 
 
 "I rejoice to sec this day — I rejoice in the opportunity, beneath this glorious sim 
 and in the presence of this goodly assembly, and under the folds of our ever dear, honored 
 flag of the Union — to salute you, soldiers of the 2<Hh' Regiment U. S. Colored Troops, as 
 fellow-countrymen, fellow soldiers, for, I, too, have in other days worn the uniform of 
 the nation, and from my heart I honor it, and all who worthily wear it. 
 
 "I am proud of the opportunity to stand before you as the representative of the 
 loyal women who have united in the patriotic purpose of presenting to you a regi- 
 mental flag to be bore with the colors of the nation of which you are now the accepted 
 and sworn defenders and guardians. 
 
 "These loyal women know and feel what such a ceremonial imports; they know 
 and feel that the sacred baimer which they commit to your faithfulness and courage, is 
 a trust as full of diflBculty and of danger as of duty ; that it calls, on your j)art, for the 
 hourly exercise of self-restraint, self-discipline, self-denial ; for the implicit obedience 
 without which an army is but a mob, and for that high and patriotic devotion which 
 counts even life itself a willing sacrifice to the cause of country and of liberty. The re- 
 ligion of the flag is second only to the religion of the altar ; and our Father in heaven 
 may be implored to bless, according to its purity, the one and the other. Hence he who 
 is false to his flag is false to his altar and liis God. 
 
 " And these loyal women who thus confide to you a trust at once so dangerous and 
 so honorable, they too — be assured of it — they will do all that may be done by careful 
 ministration for the sick and the wounded, by systematic and considerate labors lor the 
 families of the soldier exjiosed to privation, to lighten the cares and gladden the iiearts 
 and strengthen the arms of those they encourage to go forth to battle. 
 
 "Go, then, soldiers of the Twentieth Regiment, go forth in the assured conviction 
 that you leave behind you ever-watchful, ever-kind, ever-active friends, who, taking .so 
 prominent a part in equipping you for war, will in nowise falter m their etlbrts for the 
 welfare of the families you leave behind. 
 
 " To these considerations, which may be fitly addressetl to all soldiers, T desire to 
 add some that belong to you alone. For, my friends — and I use the expression all the 
 more emphatically that the same expresijion was, in the fatal month of July, employed 
 by a very high functionary on a very different occasion and to a very ditlerent Ijody of 
 men — to each the choice of and responsibility for his own friends — in addressing you 
 by this name I address soldiers of order, liberty, and law — men who came forth at the 
 call of country and in vindication of her outraged constitution — nay, of the very right of 
 national existence. 
 
 " To you, then, in addition the appeal suitable to every soldier, lies in a higher and 
 holier sense, an appeal as emancipators of your own race, while acting as the defenders 
 an<l champions of another. You are in arms, not for the freedom and law of the white 
 race alone, but for universal law and freedom ; for the God implanted right of life, liberty, 
 and the pursuit of happiness to every being whom He has fashioned in His own image.
 
 / 
 
 If 
 
 When you put on the uniform and s^ear allegiance to the standard of the Union, you 
 stand emancipated, regenerated, and disenthralled — the jjcer of the proudest soldier in 
 the land ; and withered be the hand and palsied be the tongue that shall ever give con- 
 sent to your being subject to other treatment at the hands of the enemy than such as is 
 measured out to other soldiers of the Republic. Prejudice, indeed, and the rancorous 
 hate of brutalized minds and the ingrained meanness of factious partisanship may still 
 throw obstacles in your wa}', but that way is upward and onward, and j'our maich in 
 it cannot be stopped, cannot be much delayed, unless by your own want of faith and 
 want of work. To your own selves be true to your high mission as the vindicators and 
 asserters of your worth as men, and you cannot then be false to any one, or fail in any 
 high and honorable endeavor. You may fall, as many of your race did fall with the 
 gallant, good young Shaw at Wagnei", and the ignoble foe thought to dishonor that 
 youthful hero's grave \>y heaping into it the corpses of his colored soldiers. Dishonored ! 
 Who would not die such a death to be worthy of such a grave? Who that rightly feels 
 would exchange that lowly resting place on the barren shore of South Carolina, lulled 
 by the eternal requiem of the solemn sea, for the proudest mausoleum in the loftiest 
 temple built with human hands V 
 
 "No, no, my friends, you cannot be hindered now in your high caUing. It is but 
 to look back for a few years — nay, but for a few months in this city — to realize what a 
 forward step has been taken, and to feel quite sure that in such a path there is no step 
 backward. 
 
 "On! on! then, soldiers of the 20th United States Colored Troops, with .serried 
 ranks, with faith in yourselves and in your cause, with contidence and affection for your 
 officers, and with humble but earnest trust in God, and you will, you must, in con- 
 tributing to the rescue of your country and its Constitution, work out your own com- 
 plete redemption. 
 
 " Already the colored troops of the United States count by tens and twenties of 
 thousands, and nowhere have they turned back from the bloodiest conflict or failed 
 to follow their leaders into the very jaws of death. 
 
 " Dear Col. Bartram, to you and to the officers of this fine regiment it remains for 
 me to say a few words : 
 
 " The flag which I hold in my hands, to be placed in yours, tells its own story. 
 The conquering eagle and the broken yoke and the armed figure of liberty speak as 
 plainly as symbols can of the might of Freedom and the overthrow of Slavery — and flying, 
 as will this standard-sheet, beside the Stars and Stripes of the Republic, they will form 
 a spell of such power as to bind up every generous heart with one firm, fierce resolve 
 that these flags shall not be separated — shall not be surrendered — but shall go marching 
 on, and marching on, and still marching on to triumph and final victory ! 
 
 " In the faith, Colonel, that such is your resolve, I commit to your hands, for the 
 20th Regiment United States Colored Troops, in the name of those loyal women, the flag 
 they have prepared. May the blessing of God go with it, and with you and your 
 soldiers, and fighting beneath its folds, may He cover your heads in the day of 
 battle!" 
 
 At the close of his speech, President King read the following address, which had 
 been prepared by H. T. Tuckerman. The address was neatly engrossed on parchment , 
 and .signed by the ladies who presented the colors to the regiment. 
 To the Officers and Men of the Twentietli United States Colored TroojJS : 
 
 Soldiers : We, the mothers, wives, and sisters of the members of the New York 
 Union League Club, of whose liberality and intelligent patriotism, and under whose direct 
 au.spice.s, you have been organized into a body of national troops for the defense of the 
 Union, earnestly sympathizing in the great cause of American iree nationality, and de- 
 sirous of testifying, by some memorial, our profound sense of the .sacred object and the 
 holy cause in behalf of which you have enlisted, have prepared for you this banner, at 
 once the emblem of freedom and of faith, and the symbol of woman's best wishes and 
 prayers for our common country, and especially for your devotion thereto. 
 
 When you look at this flag and rush to battle, or stand at guard beneath its sublime 
 motto, "God and Liberty!" remember that it is also an emblem of love and honor 
 from the daughters of this great metropolis to her brave champions in the field, and that 
 they will anxiously watch your career, glorifying in your heroism, ministering to you 
 when wounded and ill, and honoring your martyrdom with benedictions and with tears. 
 
 Mrs. J. J. Astor, Mrs. G. W. Blunt, Mrs. J. W. Beckman, Mrs. S. Wetmore, Mrs. 
 S. B. Chittenden, Mrs. G. Bliss, jr., Mrs. S.J. Bacon, Mr.s. R. B. Minturn, Mrs. Charles 
 3
 
 18 
 
 King, ^rr?. S. W. Bridgham, Mrs. W. E. I)oilp;c, Mrs. R. Stebbins, Mrs. B. Schieftelin, 
 Miss Kin<i, Mrs. J. B. Johnston, Mrs. N. D. Smith, Mrs. T. M. Cheeseman, Mrs. II. A. 
 Colt, Mr.'?'. A. T. Mann, Mrs. J. J. Phelps, Mrs. G. B. Deforest, Mrs. Le G. B. Cannon, 
 Mrs. W. A. Butkr, Mrs. N. A. Burdock, Mrs. L. Dunlap, Mrs. T. E. Howe, Mrs. W. H. 
 Lee, Mrs. W. E. Dodt;;e, jr., Mr.s. David Iloadley, Mrs. C. Ludington, Mrs. G. Lemist, 
 Mrs. E. C. Cowden, Mrs. J. A. Roosevelt, Mr.s. J. Sampson, Mrs. R. B.Mintuni, jr., Mrs. 
 Alfred Pelt, jr., ^^r.s. W. Hatchings, Mrs. Geo. Opdyke, Mrs. G. C. Ward, Mrs. C. G. 
 Judson, Mrs. S. \V. Roo.sevelt, Mrs. E. D. Smith, Mrs. S. Gandy, Mrs. R. L. Stuart, Mrs. 
 E. W. Stouirhton, Mrs. J. \V. Bigclow, Mrs. M. 0. Roberts, Mrs. 11. K. Bogart, Mrs. E. 
 C. Hall, Mrs. J. Lo Roy, Mrs. J. Brown, ]^[rs. H. Baldwin, Mrs. M. Clarkson, Mrs. J. O. 
 Stone, Mr.s. J. G. King, jr., Mrs. H. Van Rennsselaer, Mrs. J. A. King, jr., Mrs. J. C. 
 Ca.ssegree, Mrs. J. L. Kennedy, Mrs. F. Prime, Mrs. Barnwall, Mrs. Wheelwright, Mrs. 
 E. Collins, Mrs. Bradish, ^^rs. Bruce, Mis. Tuckerman, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. 
 P. Richards, Mrs. R. AN'inthrop, Mrs. Weeks, Mr.s. Jaques, Mrs. A. Brooks, Mrs. W. 
 Felt, Mrs. .1. W. Goddard, Mrs. F. G. Shaw, Mr.s. R. G. Shaw, Mrs. G. B. Curtiss, Mrs. 
 R. C. Lovell, ^fr.s. C. (i. Kiikland, Mrs. B. De Forest, ^rr.s. Boerum, Mrs. Hamilton Fish, 
 Mrs. Alfred Pell, ]^Irs. Kennedy, ifrs. J. Johnston, Mrs. T. L. Beekman, Mrs. J. F. Gray, 
 Mrs. J. Tuckerman, Mr.s. F. A. AVhittakcr, Mrs. J. H. Macy, Mrs. F. H. Macy, Mrs. J. 
 McKaye, Airs. W. L. Felt, Mrs. T. Haskell, Mrs. I.saac Ames, Mrs. L. F. AVarner, Mrs. 
 A. G. Phelps, Mrs. N. Chandler, Mrs. H. Potter, Mrs. P. S. Van Rennsselaer, Mr.s. H. G. 
 Thomson, Mr.s. F. C. Pende.xter, Mrs. II. G. Chapman, Mrs. G. Bancroft, Mr.s. M. 
 K. Jessup, Mrs. J. C. B. Davis, Mrs. AV. H. Schieffelin, Mrs. C. C. Dodge, Mrs. John 
 Jay, Mrs. E. M. Young, Mrs. J. T. Schullz, ^Irs. J. E. Brenly, Mrs. H. Chauncy, Mrs. 
 R. M. Hunt, Miss Jones, Mrs. J. Schieffelin, Mi.'is Fi.sh, Miss Jay, Mi.ss Anna Jay, Miss 
 Young, Miss Schultz, Miss Rus.sell, Miss J. M. King, Miss Cochrane, Mrs. Vincent 
 Colyer, Mr.s. Catherine C. Hunt, Mrs. Walter, Mrs. Catherine Williams, Mr.^. Emily H. 
 Ch&uncey, Mrs. E. ^V. Cruger, Mrs. W. C. Bryant, Mrs. F. B. Godwin, Mrs. Emily 
 Boenun, Miss Norsworthy, Messrs. H. G. Chapman, Ira Brenl}', Peter Marie, C. Berry- 
 mau, C. De P. Field, C. II. Tuckerman, C. A. Heckscher, E. Schieffelin, B. N. Field, L. 
 Schieffelin, D.J. Clark, AV. H. Schieffelin, Wadsworth, S. A. Schieffelin, R. H. Hunt, B. 
 W. Gri.swold. 
 
 Colonel Bartram, who received the flag.*!, made the following response: 
 " Jj.vniKS AND Gf.nti.emex : I feel how utterly unable I am to respond in a becoming 
 manner to the eloquent addresses just pronounced. AVhile free to confess my deficiency 
 in this respect, T yet claim for myself and my command an e(|ual share of the patriotic 
 ardor and love of country. In that we yield to none. [Applause.] This beautiful 
 banner .symbolizes our country. It is this that makes death glorious l)eneath its starry 
 fcld.s — it is this that rouses the feelings of outraged honor when we see it trailed in the 
 dust. How base, and how dead to all sense of honor, must that wretch be whose brow 
 burns not with shamo and rage at the dishonor of the liag of his country. [Applause.] 
 Nearly three years since, tlic country was shocked by the spectacle of a banil of traitors 
 tearing away the emblem of our country from a fortress over which it had floated 
 proudly for year.s, and sub.stitndng in its place a miserable device of their own. Has 
 this act been fully avenged? K > ! The puni.shment for it has undoubtedly lieeii great 
 already, but I trust tiiat liic utlor humiliation and discomfiture which it deserves, are 
 about to follow. 'J"o this end this regiment is about to take the field — a regiment com- 
 posed of a race hitherto despised — of a race almost hopelessly sunk in degradation, by 
 a .sy.stem of slavery as barbarous as it is unjust. It has been the habit of those among 
 us who sympathize with the traitors now in arms against us to sneer at what they are 
 pleased to term the cowardice of the negro. 1 hope that Port Hudson, Fort >Vagner 
 and <)lustce have forever settled this question. In this regard, I must be permitted to 
 refer biiefly to the conduct of the Eighth United States Colored Troops, in the last- 
 mentiohed action. My reason for doing this is, that for some three or four months I 
 was on duty wilh this regiment, as its Lieutenant-Colonel, and during this period I had 
 ample opportunity to become thoroughly actjuainted witli its ofliccrs and the material 
 composing its rank and lile. No regiment ever went to the field better officered than 
 the Eighth, and no regiment ever contained a braver or more resolute set of men. How 
 well they fought is shown by their list of casualties ; and although a subordinate oflict-r 
 in a battery thought it a misfortune to be supjiorted by a colored regiment, yet, when we 
 bear in, mind that two veteran regiments had already found the position too hot and had 
 retired, 1 think we can afford to forgive the .slander, and .say that the misfortune, if mis- 
 fortune there was, was not in having a colored regiment for a support, but in having an
 
 19 
 
 to my duty to an old companion in ann^, wno nas laui iiown nis uiu iii)on 
 his country, did I permit this occasion to pass without paying this shglit ti 
 memory. [The allusion is to Col. Frihley, of the 8th U. S. Colored Volu 
 fell at Olustee, and who cordially recommended that iJartrani, his Lieut.-Cul 
 
 officer in the service of the United States so biased, so ungenerous, so cowardly, as to 
 slander the brave men who fell around his guns. [Applause.] I should feel recreant 
 to my duty to an old companion in anus, who has laid down his life ui)on the altar of 
 ■" " ' ... • .... ■ ,, • '■ riit tribute to his 
 
 luntecrs, who 
 lonel, should 
 be appointed Colonel of this (-^irth) Regiment of U. S. Colored Troops.] 
 
 " I trust that when the time comes for the 20th to go into action, we shall behave 
 ourselves in a manner that will rcHcct credit upon ourselves and honor upon our friends 
 and our country. AV^e feel that we have tlie sympathies and prayers of good men and 
 women. We know the interest you feel in us— the high hopes you entertain— and be- 
 lieve me when I say that it is the determination of every officer and man of my com- 
 mand that, so far as the power to fulfil in them lies, you shall not be disappointed. I 
 would that I could command appropriate words to address the noble women to whom 
 we are indebted for this beautiful stand of colors. ^Vill you accept a soldier's thanks, 
 and his pledges that they shall never know dishonor while strength remains to wield a 
 weapon in their defense V" 
 
 At the conclusion of his remarks he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers ; then 
 followed cheers for his officers and cheers for his men, and before he mounted his beauti- 
 ful steed, some one presented him with a handsome boquct. The following letter was 
 received from Gen. Dix : 
 
 Headijuahteks Depautment of the East, ) 
 New Yokk City, March 5, 1864. y 
 To the Committee for the Reeej-ttion of the Twentieth United States Colored Regiment. 
 Gentlemen: I much regret that official engagements at my headquarters vvill not 
 permit me to attend the tiag presentation to the regiment. It will cairy with it to the 
 tield my cordial wishes for its success, and the assurance that the alacrity with which 
 the colored classes in this State are coming forward to co-operate in putting down the 
 Rebellion will secure, as it deserves, the lasting gratitude of the country. 
 
 I am truly yours, 
 
 John A. Dix, Major-General. 
 
 THE COLLATION AT THE SQUARE. 
 
 ' After the presentation ceremony was over, the men stacked arms, and partook of a 
 collation provided for them. Corpulent cans of coffee and fat baskets of sandwiches were 
 carried into the square, and their contents generously distributed among the sable 
 soldiers. They ate heartily, and were not backward in expressing their sentiments in 
 relation to the reception they had met. " This is what we get for being soldiers." " If 
 Uncle Sam treats us in this way, wc should like to board with him." " Hurrah for the 
 Committee." "This doesn't look like July." " How arc you, rioters!" " Three cheers 
 for the ladies." " That {lag is a big thing, boys." " AVe'll show the Copperheads what 
 we can do for freedom when we get a chance." " That was a jolly speech made by our 
 Colonel." '■ Didn't Professor King talk like a book," &c. We might till a column with 
 the remarks made by these men during the few minutes allowed for lunch, showing 
 their appreciation of the ovation which had been tendered to them, and the great ad- 
 vancement made in public opinion in regard to their race. 
 
 After luncheon, march was resumed in the following order : 
 
 THE PROCESSION. 
 
 Police Superintendent Kennedy. 
 
 One Hundred Policemen. 
 
 Members of the Union League Club. 
 
 Colored Friends of the Recruits, marching with hands joined. 
 
 Governor's Island Band. 
 
 The 20th Regiment United States Colored Troops. 
 
 The line of march was down Broadway to Canal street, through Canal street to the 
 
 North River, where they embarked on l)oard the Ericsson for New Orleans. The men 
 
 made a tine appearance in their blue uniform, white gloves and white leggings. They 
 
 are hearty and athletic fellows, many of them six feet tall, straight, and .symmetrical. 
 
 A majority of them are black ; indeed there are but few mulattoes among them. The 
 
 20th is emphatically an African regiment, and to its credit be it .spoken, not one of its 
 
 members disobeyed orders, no one broke ranks to greet enthusiastic friends, no one 
 
 used intoxicating drinks to excess, no one manifested the least inclination to leave the 
 
 service, and their marching was very creditable.
 
 20 
 
 The inarch was truly a magniticont demonstration and a triumphant sign to progress. 
 One thousand men with black skir.s, whose color has been a crime in the eyes of multi- 
 tudes of whites, marched without molestation from the wharf where they landed, through 
 Twenty-sixth Street, the Fifth Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Broad- 
 way. The doors, windows and balconies of our city palaces were thronged with aristo- 
 cratic spectators, the ladies waving handkerchiefs, and the men cheering. 
 
 Seven months ti(/o, the homes of these soldiers were attacked by rioters, who burned 
 their dwellings, stole their property, and made the streets smoke with the blood of their 
 unoffending relatives and friends. 
 
 On the t)th of July, Mr. Geo. W. Blunt met with other gentlemen, at the New Eng- 
 land Rooms, and adriiised Governor Andreic not to send the both Maasarlinsetts Colored 
 Regiment through this city, on their wat/ to the seat of war, became the lives of colored 
 /romen and children here would he endangered. On Saturday Mr. Blunt marched with 
 other members of the club in the van of the grand procession, and saw no signs of that 
 hatred of the black race which has been such a stigma of shame to our city and nation. 
 
 THE TWENTY-SIXTH REGIMENT U. S. COLORED TROOPS. 
 Presentation of Colors — Speech of Jonx Jay, Es*^. — Reply of Col. Silliman — De- 
 
 PAKTtUE of the ReOIMEST. 
 
 The 26th Regiment United States Colored Troops broke camp at Riker's Island at 
 an early hour yesterday' morning, and came b}' barges to the foot of AVarren street. 
 North River, where they embarked on board the steamer Warrior. The proposed 
 parade of Saturday being unavoidably postponed on account of the weather, they were 
 met by a committee of the Union League Club, anil an elegant stand of colors was 
 presented to them, on behalf of the ladies of New York, by the Hon. John Jay. Mr. 
 Jay accompanied the presentation by the following chaste address : 
 
 Soldiers of the 26<A Regiment of United States Colored Troops: On behalf of the 
 ladies of New York, who have prepared for you a stand of colors, I offer you a cordial 
 greeting and a hearty God-speed ! 
 
 They had hoped, in common with tens of thousands of our fellow-citizens, to greet 
 you in person yesterday. This, to their exceeding disappointment, the stonu prevented. 
 The arrangement of the Government and the needs of the coutitry require you to depart 
 to-day. AYe, therefore, come on this beautiful Easter morning, consecrated to faith and 
 hope, to give you, as you depart on your sacred mission of iiigh duty, our kind fare- 
 well. AYe greet you as Christians for ages have greeted each other on this sacred anni- 
 versary of Christ's Resurrection. AYe invoke for you the favor and protection of our 
 risen Lord triumphant over sin and death. 
 
 The President has called upon you to unite with your fellow-citizens in defending 
 the integrity, the supremacy, and the honor of our country. 
 
 Trusting implicitly to the National Faith, which the President, as Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Army of the United States, has solemnly pledged in public Proclamations, 
 you have promptly responded to that call ; and without doubt, hesiLation, or condition, 
 you offer your lives for the defense of our common country and our common freedom. 
 Organized by the National authority, you are henceforth a pcrniaaent part of the army 
 of the Republic. 
 
 Already have thou.sands of your race, suddenly elevated from a condition of bond- 
 age, faced the Rebel cannon and sharp-shooters at \''icksburg, Port Hudson, Fort 
 AYagner, Milliken's Bend, and other battle-tields of the South, with a heroism th.it has 
 extorted the admiration and the gratitude of the American people. They have vindi- 
 cated, b}' the highest ordeal, the right and capacit)' of their race to share with us the 
 blessings which they have assisted to secure fur the Nation. 
 
 To-day you go forth from home, family and friends to emulate their bright example, 
 and to do bravely, with God's help, your part in the great contest. 
 
 Your going, enables a thousand citizens of New York, liable to military service, to 
 remain at home; and 3'ou leave behind you tho.se who will watch with interest every 
 onward step in your career, and who will remember you constantly in their pr.iyers. 
 
 If you return, as God grant many of yon may, crowned with glory an<l victory, 
 you will receive the warm welcome due to your patriotism and valor ; and if you fall, as 
 fall you may, your memories will be fondly cherished with those of the noble-hearted 
 who have died for their country. 
 
 [The speaker here read the address of the ladies of the City of New- York, accom-
 
 21 
 
 panying the flag. As it is in the same terms, and from tlie same ladies as in the case 
 of the 20th regiment, we do not repeat it] Mr. Jay continued : 
 
 CoLONEr. Silliman: In the names of these ladies and at the request of the Com- 
 mittee on Volunteering of the Union League Club, to whom the countr}^ is indebted for 
 this second regiment organized by their efforts, I have the honor to present to you this 
 stand of colors. 
 
 Your heroic conduct on the hard fought field of Gettysburg, and at Chancellors- 
 ville, where you saved the colors of the 12-ith New York, and brought out but a rem- 
 nant of your command, assures us that we could not intrust them to worthier hands. 
 
 Our Republican system, which again you go forth to maintain, while it demands 
 our highest loyalty to the Constitutional Government of the American people, and 
 makes the preservation of their National sovereignty the first duty of the American 
 citizen, teaches us also the lesson which we early learn and never forget, of pride, re- 
 gard, and affection for our respective States. "While, then, with your gallant officers 
 and brave men, you follow the flag of our country and defend it with your lives, this 
 standard will remind you, whether in camp, on the march, or on the battle-field, of your 
 connection with New York, and of the names of her citizens who bid you an aftectionate 
 farewell. 
 
 Remember, Colonel, and let every officer and man in your regiment reaiember, that 
 when the story of your prowess is told by the daily press or on the page of history, this 
 metropolis will share your triumph, and the Empire State count you proudly among her 
 sons. 
 
 Already has New York a record in this war of which her children may well be proud, 
 even while they mourn her heroic dead — EUsworth, Corcoran, Zook, Chapin, Smith, 
 Preissner, Sherill, Cowles, and all the unnumbered heroes who have fiillen in the nation's 
 cause. 
 
 We offer to you. Colonel, the banner in its fresh silken beauty, the emblem of a 
 constellation that is for the moment dim, and of a Union that seems somewhat shaken. 
 Bring it to us again — tattered, it may be, and stained with the life-blood of j'ovu- brave 
 soldiers ; but brmg it, the emblem of a nationality unbroken, of a sovereignty unim- 
 paired, of a territory undiminished — the emblem of a Republic united and supreme, from 
 which, though the stripes will have vanished, no star shall be missing. 
 
 The voice of Mr. Jay rang out clear and full upon the Sabbath air, and the free 
 winds waved the new colors, while an unclouded sky crowned the picture. 
 
 Col. SiUiman repfied briefly and to the point : 
 
 Sir : The soldiers of the 26th Regiment thank you for your good words and kind 
 wishes, and I can ask only that we may realize your highest hopes of us. 
 
 What you have said of the men I believe is God's truth, and it will be the proudest 
 day of my life when I can show their battle line to the traitor foe, and tell taem : There 
 are they that hunt for fugitive slaves ; let them each find his man. 
 
 For myself, I feel that what a man has been is nothing to what he may yet be, and 
 by the latter I will strive to merit the honor so heaped upon me here to-day. 
 
 Fair ladies, I cannot tell you how dear to us will be this banner, the gift of loyal women 
 of the North. We love it, not chiefly for its rare and costly beauty, but for what is be- 
 yond afi price, and more glorious than beauty. It is the emblem of our faith in all of 
 this life which is worth living for. It is to us the symbol of redemption from bondage, 
 differing from that which is eternal only in discharge by death, and as Christians love 
 the cross, so we love our country's flag. 
 
 We thank you for your generous gift, and, as soldiers, we have sworn to love, 
 honor and defend it with our lives. 
 
 After the reply of Col. SiUiman, Vincent Colyer," Esq., the General Superintendent, 
 came forward with a beautiful blue silk banner, trimmed with gold, on which Avere in- 
 scribed the words, " Unconditional Loyalty," and on behalf of the following named 
 Benevolent Societies of Colored men of the city of New York, which were to have acted 
 as an escort on Saturday, had not the storm prevented, in a few brief and eloquent 
 words wished the soldiers a God-speed. Mi'. Colyer then presented, thiough the Chap- 
 lain, a handsome satin rosette and badge, with the words " Unconditional Loyalty to 
 God and our Country — to the soldiers of the 26th United States Colored Troops — from 
 their friends." 
 
 The following is the list of Benevolent Societies contributing : African Civilization 
 Society, 50 men ; Freedman's Aid Society, 50 men , Stewart Benevolent Association,
 
 0,9. 
 
 306 men • Chelsea Musical Club, 40 men , Coachman's Society, 175 men ; Union Sons 
 of Barney, 75 men ; Irving Hall Club, 40 men ; Metropolitan Union League Club, 50 
 men- Shore Cadets. 120 men; Hannibal Benevolent Association, 175 men ; African So- 
 ciety for Mutual Ileliuf, 25 men; Odd Fellows' Lodges, 300 men; Congregation from 
 Brooklyn (Mr. Williams.) 50 men. Total, 1,450. 
 
 The presentation scene was truly grand and imposmg. The wharves and neighbor- 
 in" vessels were peopled with spectators. On the decks of the Warrior were a number of 
 elegantly dressed ladies, several members of the Loyal Union Club, the tall symmetrical 
 form of "the gallant Colonel, the black and comely Chaplain, and the whole regiment of 
 stalwait negro soldiers. 
 
 TiiiKTY-FiKST Regiment U. S. Colored Troops. 
 
 From 200 to 300 men are already enlisted for the 3d Colored Regiment from this 
 State, known as the Thirty-(iist Regiment United States Colored Troops. 
 
 [It is estimated that probably two thousand colored men from the State of New 
 York enlisted in the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other Regiments, while the ques- 
 tion of Colored Enlistments was in suspense in this State.] 
 
 .^»^^»^ 
 
 The Colored Troops— Honorable Testimonials from tue Army. 
 From the New Yorh Tribune. 
 
 Nothin"- in the whole course of the great Rebellion is more remarkable than the 
 manner in which the colored race has falsified the assertions of the Secessionists and 
 their Copperhead sympathizers. 
 
 AVhile the records reck with details of Rebel atrocities during these three years 
 of warfare, where is now the evidence of outrage peri)etrated by negroes upon their 
 late masters or their families? And where is the dastard that dare now impugn the 
 courage with which the colored soldiers have met the brunt of battle? Even in^the 
 late Florida campaign, where some of the blame was at first recklessly thrown by Cop- 
 perheads upon the colored troops, the courage and steadiness of the negro brigade 
 actually furnish prominent redeeming features of the disastrous enterprise. 
 
 As a part, and a most important part, of the annals of the times, it may be stated 
 that never in the history of mankind, has a great social and political convulsion been 
 attended with traits more creditable to a down-trodden race, than the moderation and 
 the bravery which have now characterized the " men of African descent," under cir- 
 cumstances signally calculated to arouse the vengeance and test, the courage and other 
 finalities of the oppressed. . 
 
 The cheerful labor and the unswerving fidelity of the colored population are re- 
 ceiving proper acknowledgment on all hands from persons who have had ample oppor- 
 tunities for witnessing the course of events wherever negro industry is required on 
 abandoned plantations, or wherever negro aid is invoked for guidance to the loyal troops 
 in regions where the white man must largely depend on negro sagacity and fidelity in 
 counteracting Rebel hostilities. 
 
 And it is truly honorable to the loyal white soldiery, that, scornmg the wretched 
 prejudices and calumnies against the colored race, the testimony from the Army is now 
 alike unanimous and enthusiastic in praising the qualities shown by the sable troops 
 while discharging the duties of the camp and the march, and amid the trials of the 
 
 battle-field. . ^ ^ ., . .• • , 
 
 On these latter points, a couple of letters copied from among the testimonials 
 collected during the researches of the "New-York Association for Colored Troops," may 
 be taken as fair specimens of the replies elicited by the inquiries instituted by that 
 Association, through Col. Charles W. Darling, one of its members : 
 
 From Col. John A. Foster, of the ]75tii Regiment, N. Y. V. 
 
 "Washington, Jan. 23, 1864. 
 
 "Col. \)ahlisg— Bear Sir: In accordance with your request, I will briefly state 
 my experience in the employment of negro soldiers. 
 
 " While before Port Hudson, during the siege of that place, I was acting on Col. 
 Gooding's staff, prior to the arrival of my regiment at that place. On the assault of May 
 27 Col. Gooding was ordered to proceed to the extreme right of our lines, and oversee 
 the charge of the two regiments constituting the negro brigade, and I accompanied 
 
 VllTTl 
 
 * " We witnessed them in line-of-battle, under a very heavy fire of musketry and 
 siege and field pieces. There was a deep gully or bayou before them, which they could
 
 23 
 
 not cross nor ford in the presence of the enemy, and hence an assault was wholly 
 impracticable. Yet they made five several attempts to swim and cross it, preparatory 
 to an assault on the enemy's works, and this, too, in fair view of the enemy, and at ^ 
 short musket range. Added to this, the nature of the enemy's works was such, that it 
 allowed an enfilading fire. Success was inqyossihlc ; yet they behaved as cool as if vet- 
 erans, and when ordered to retire, marched ofi' as if on parade. I feel satisfied that, if 
 the position of the bayou had been known, and the assault made a quarter of a mile to 
 the left of where it was, the place would have been taken by this negro brigade on that 
 
 "On that day I witnessed the attack made by the divisions of Gens. Grovor and 
 Paine, and can truly say I saw no steadier fighting by those daring men than did the 
 negroes in this their first fight. _ , _ 
 
 "On the second assault, June 14, in the assault made by Gen. Paine's Division, 
 our loss was very great in wounded ; and, as there was a want of ambulance men, 1 
 ordered about a hundred negroes, who were standing idle and unarmed, to take the 
 stretchers and carry the wounded from the field. Under a most severe fire of musketry 
 and grape and canister, they performed this duty with unflinching courage and non- 
 chalance. They suffered severely in this duty, both in killed and wounded ; yet, not a 
 man faltered. These men had just leen recruited, and were not even partially disci- 
 plined. But one man showed aiiy fear, and he tlieir white officer. Much of their cool- 
 ness was due to a captain with them, who was always foremost in his duty. 
 
 " I next saw the negroes (engineers) working in the trenches, under a heavy fire 
 of the enemy. They worked faithfully, and wholly regardless of exposure to the 
 enemy's fire. 
 
 " After the siege was over, and the new regiments recruited, I had frequent oppor- 
 tunities to see the regiments, and was peculiarly struck with their-iieatness and general 
 soldier-like bearing. They always were clean and neat— their arms and accoutrements 
 in perfect order — and this in a higher degree than their white fellow-soldiers. 
 
 " The chief difficulty in the way of having them as effective as they can be rendered, 
 will be in the selection of officers. Although the Department strives to have none but 
 those of the highest qualifications, yet, even then, rough and severe brutal officers are 
 to be found in command over them. I have had repeated instances of absolute brutality 
 told me by persons who have witnessed it. In my opinion, some remedy is required 
 more than is now furnished by the Army Regulations: for the negro knows not where 
 or to whom to apply for redress, and in fact is generally ignorant that he can obtain 
 any redress. " I remain, yours, truly, 
 
 "John A. Foster, Col. 175th Regiment, N. Y. V." 
 
 Statements Authorized bv Gen. Graham. 
 
 " Headquarters Naval Brigade, ) 
 
 " Department op Virginia and Nortu Carolina, [- 
 
 " Norfolk, Va., Feb. 22, 1804. _ ) 
 
 "Colonel: Gen. Graham duly received your favor of the 11th inst, requesting 
 such facts as have come within his knowledge relative to the efficiency of Colored Troops. 
 At the General's desire, I have collected what information I could obtain here on the 
 subject. 
 
 " Gen. Graham has never personally commanded Colored Troops ; but, from obser- 
 vation and conversation with officers who have, he entertains a very favorable opinion 
 of their qualifications in the field. 
 
 "They are excellent horsemen, and consequently excel in the cavalry service. 
 They possess strong imitative powers, which readily enable them to acquire a profi- 
 ciency in drill — conform willingly to habits of discipline and obedience— and, above all, 
 are stimulated by the motive of emulating the example of their white c(jmrades in arms. 
 
 "They present a soldierly appearance on parade — are inured to privation and 
 fatigue, and, in the estimation of those who have witnessed their conduct under fire, 
 exhibit a coolness, courage and enthusiasm worthy of the highest commendation. 
 
 " Unquestionably, they will prove a valuable acquisition to our armies — nerved as 
 they are by every incentive which stimulates men to endeavor. 
 
 "Mr. Thomas Jackson, Superintendent of the First Sub-District of Virginia, has 
 kindly furni.shed me with the following facts : 
 
 " ' In reply to your inquiry as to the proved capacity of colored men as soldiers, 1 
 can only, so far as field service, give the testimony of those who have had opportunities 
 of seeing them on the march and in presence of the enemy. There, all agree that as 
 soldiers, colored men come fully up to the expectations of their warmest friends.
 
 24 
 
 " ' In my sub-district, where, during the last summer and fall, the noted partisan 
 ranger, Burroughs, kept up constant excitement, there are a number of farms lying 
 outside of the intrenched lines around Norfolk and Portsmouth ; and, as jjrotcction 
 an'ainst incursions, the able-bodied black men on these farms were enrolled as a Home 
 Guard, and placed under the charge of an olliccr of the 21st Connecticut Volunteers. 
 
 " ' After a day's work, those men met for drill one hour daily, and their progress 
 was surprising. These men stood regular sentry every night, during all weather.^ 
 though indifiercntly clad ; and not one case occurred of absence from post or neglect of 
 duty; their error, if anj', being too literal a construction of orders, much to the disgust 
 of the Virginia chivalry. 
 
 " ' When volunteers were called for, almost every man so drilled ofTered himself for 
 enlistment, without any inducement or bounty, except the promised support of his 
 family during his term of service, thus evincing a true patriotism.' 
 
 "The regiments of colored troops raised in this district of the Department of Vir- 
 ginia and North Carolina are as follows : The 2d, 4th, oth, 0th, 10th, 3Gth and 38th 
 U. S. Colored troops, and also the 2d Regiment of cavalry. 
 
 "The 3Gth Regiment, Col. Draper, did more to break up roving bands of rebels in 
 this district, than any regiment of white troops— not the least notable of its exploits 
 being the capture of Burroughs, the guerrilla, at his chosen place of safety on Knot 
 Island. During this expedition, and on subsequent scouts, as far as Currituck Court- 
 House, nothing could be better than their endurance in marching and rapidity of move- 
 ment. 
 
 " During the expedition last October, to Charles City Court-Housc, on the Penin- 
 sula, the 4th Regiment marched steadily through storm and mud , and, on coming up 
 with the enemy, behaved as bravely under fire as veterans. An officer of the 1st N. Y. 
 Mounted Rifles — a mo.st bitter opponent and reviler of Colored troops — who was engaged 
 in this affair, colantecred the statement that they had fought bravely, and, in his own 
 language, more expressive than elegant, were 'bully boys' — which, coming from such 
 a source, might be regarded as the highest praise. 
 
 "It would thus seem that, among friends and foes, there is but one sentiment on 
 the subject of the capacity of colored soldiers. , 
 
 " During the recent advance toward Richmond, to liberate the Union prisoners, 
 the 4th, 5tb, and 9th Regiments formed part of the expedition, and behaved splendidly. 
 They marched thirty miles in ten hours, and an unusually small number straggled on 
 the route. Their skirmishing in l;ice of the enemy was said to be excellent. 
 
 " As scouts they arc invaluable, having an extraordinary facility for gaining secret 
 intelligence. AVherever they go, they find friends of their own color, whose interests 
 are identical with their.^, and they can thus acquire information where the most acute 
 white man would fail. 
 
 " As guides, their good qualities are acknowledged on every hand. 
 " As laborers for engineering purposes, their usefulness is evident, particularly in 
 southern latitudes. 
 
 " One incident deserves mention. When General Wild was threatened at North- 
 West Landing, a part of his command (colored), which had been directed to proceed 
 slowly on account of being footsore — their pace not to exceed four miles per day — 
 marched eighteen miles in seven hours to his support with alacrity, expecting to meet 
 the enemy, and eager for the fray. 
 
 " A strong point in their favor is the complete absence of revengeful feelings toward 
 their late masters, so that the cry of 'St. Domingo massacre' is without the slightest 
 ioundation. 
 
 " Hoping that the above information will prove serviceable for the purposes of the 
 "Association. " I am truly yours, " D. Guauam Adee. 
 
 " Col. CiiAKLES W. Darling." 
 
 Such testimonials must be peculiarly gratifying to all loyal people who have en- 
 couraged the organization of Colored Troops in this State, to one of the regiments of 
 which troops (the 2()tli) a stand of colors will be presented this day at Union scjuare, 
 near where sundry sable citizens were massacred last summer, for the crime, in Copper- 
 head eyes, of appearing in the color bestowed by the Almighty. 
 
 SERVICES OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON VOU'NTEEUINQ. 
 This brief record cannot be concliKlcd witliout bii expression of lienrty tb.aiikfiilne.'s towards (ho excellent 
 " Conimiltce on Volinitecring,''' wliioli suporlntenibii tlie orgnnizalion ot tlio Colored Troops in the City of 
 Now York. Tlml Coinnilttee consiM.s of die followini; ircnllenun: 
 
 Alexander V:ia IJent^ilaer, Cbnrle.'^ 1'. Kirkhuid, l.e£,'raiid IJ. Cannon, James A. Eoosevelt, Suerraan J. 
 Bacon Elliot C. C'owdln, and Ocor^'o Bliss, Jr.— on behalf of the " Vnhyn League Club." 
 
 And Jack.son a Schulti!, Edward Cromwell, and James Eodgera— on behalf of tbo " iV«c YorA- Aisociatton 
 Jot Colored VoUdUeern."
 
 UNVERaiTY OF ILUNOtt-URBANA 
 
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