My horse had been kept in a vacant and dilapidated stable belonging to the hotel, but the landlord refused to take any responsibility for the animal.  He had no corn or hay, and his hostler had “gone to the Yankees!” During my stay I employed a man to purchase corn and give the desired attention to the horse.  The landlord made a charge of one dollar per day for “hoss-keeping,” and was indignant when I entered a protest.  Outside of Newport and Saratoga, I think there are very few hotel-keepers in the North who would make out and present a bill on so small a basis as this.

This taverner’s wife and daughter professed an utter contempt for all white persons who degraded themselves to any kind of toil.  Of course, their hostility to the North was very great.  Beyond a slight supervision, they left every thing to the care of the negroes.  A gentleman who was with me sought to make himself acquainted with the family, and succeeded admirably until, on one evening, he constructed a small toy to amuse the children.  This was too much.  He was skillful with his hands, and must therefore be a “mudsill.”  His acquaintance with the ladies of that household came to an end.  His manual dexterity was his ruin.

There was another hotel in Lagrange, a rival establishment, that bore the reputation of being much the worse in point of comfort.  It was owned by a widow, and this widow had a son—­a lank, overgrown youth of eighteen.  His poverty, on one point, was the greatest I ever knew.  He could have been appropriately selected as the hero of a certain popular novel by Wilkie Collins.  No name had ever been given him by his parents.  In his infancy they spoke of him as “the boy.”  When he grew large enough to appear on the street with other boys, some one gave him the sobriquet of “Rough and Ready.”  From that time forward, his only praenomen was “Rough.”  I made several inquiries among his neighbors, but could not ascertain that he bore any other Christian appellative.

The first comprehensive order providing for the care of the negroes in the Southwest, was issued by General Grant while his army lay at Lagrange and Grand Junction.  Previous to that time, the negroes had been disposed of as each division and post commander thought best, under his general instructions not to treat them unkindly.  Four months earlier, our authorities at Memphis had enrolled several hundred able-bodied negroes into an organization for service in the Quartermaster’s Department, in accordance with the provisions of an order from District Head-Quarters.  They threw up fortifications, loaded and unloaded steamboats, and performed such other labor as was required.  In General Grant’s army there was a pioneer corps of three hundred negroes, under the immediate charge of an overseer, controlled by an officer of engineers.  No steps were then taken to use them as soldiers.

The number of negroes at our posts and in our camps was rapidly increasing.  Under the previous orders, they were registered and employed only on Government work.  None but the able-bodied males were thus available.  The new arrangements contemplated the employment of all who were capable of performing any kind of field labor.  It was expected to bring some revenue to the Government, that would partially cover the expense of providing for the negroes.