T.G.  Steward, U.S.A.

Note:—­In the preparation of the above paper I have been greatly assisted by the Honorable L.J.  Janvier, Charge d’affairs d’ Haiti, in London; by Right Reverend James Theodore Holly, bishop of Hayti, and by Messrs. Charles and Frank Rudolph Steward of Harvard University.  To all of these gentlemen my thanks are here expressed.  T.G.S.

Paper read at the session of the Negro Academy, Washington, D.C., 1898.

B.

Extracts from chapter XVI “Negro troops in the rebellion”—­Williams.

Adjutant-General Thomas in a letter to Senator Wilson, May 30, 1864, says:  “Experience proves that they manage heavy guns very well.  Their fighting qualities have also been fully tested a number of times, and I am yet to hear of the first case where they did not fully stand up to their work.”

Major-General James G. Blunt writing of the battle of Honey Springs, Arkansas, said of Negro troops:  “The Negroes (First Colored Regiment) were too much for the enemy, and let me here say that I never saw such fighting as was done by that Negro regiment.  They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor that is unsurpassed.  They preserved their line perfect throughout the whole engagement, and although in the hottest of the fight, they never once faltered.  Too much praise cannot be awarded them for their gallantry.  The question that Negroes will fight is settled; besides, they make better soldiers in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command.”

General Thomas J. Morgan, speaking of the courage of Negro troops in the battle of Nashville, and its effect upon Major-General George H. Thomas, says:  “Those who fell nearest the enemy’s works were colored.  General Thomas spoke very feelingly of the sight which met his eye as he rode over the field, and he confessed that the Negro had fully vindicated his bravery, and wiped from his mind the last vestige of prejudice and doubt.”

FOOTNOTES: 

[6] Confession of Nat Turner, Anglo-African Magazine, Vol. 1, p. 338, 1859.

[7] Ibid.

[8] The presentation of this banner by the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem forms the text of the poem by Longfellow beginning—­

    When the dying flame of day
    Through the chancel shot its ray,
    Far the glimmering tapers shed
    Faint light on the cowled head;
    And the censer burning swung
    Where, before the altar, hung
    The crimson banner, that with prayer
    Had been consecrated there. 
    And the nuns’ sweet hymn was heard the while,
    Sung low in the dint, mysterious aisle,
      “Take thy banner! may it wave
      Proudly o’er the good and brave;
      When the battle’s distant wail
      Breaks the Sabbath