History of the Negro Race in America Volume I Part 50

"The policy of our arming slaves is in my opinion a moot point, unless the enemy set the example. For, should we begin to form battalions of them, I have not the smallest doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of their following us in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground. The contest then must be, who can arm fastest. And where are our arms? Besides, I am not clear that a discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who remain in it. Most of the good and evil things in this life are judged of by comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of much discontent in those, who are held in servitude. But, as this is a subject that has never employed much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude ideas that have struck me upon the occasion."[562]

The gifted and accomplished Alexander Hamilton, a member of Washington's military family, was deeply interested in the plan suggested by the Hon. Henry Laurens, whose son was on Washington's staff. Col. John Laurens was the bearer of the following remarkable letter from Hamilton to John Jay, President of Congress.

"HEADQUARTERS, March 14, 1779.

"To JOHN JAY.

"DEAR SIR,--Col. Laurens who will have the honor of delivering you this letter, is on his way to South Carolina, on a project which I think, in the present situation of affairs there, is a very good one, and deserves every kind of support and encouragement. This is, to raise two, three, or four battalions of negroes, with the a.s.sistance of the government of the State, by contributions from the owners in proportion to the number they possess. If you should think proper to enter upon the subject with him, he will give you a detail of his plan. He wishes to have it recommended by Congress to the State: and, as an inducement, that they should engage to take those battalions into Continental pay.

"It appears to me, that an expedient of this kind, in the present state of Southern affairs, is the most rational that can be adopted, and promises very important advantages.

Indeed, I hardly see how a sufficient force can be collected in that quarter without it; and the enemy's operations there are growing infinitely more serious and formidable. I have not the least doubt that the negroes will make very excellent soldiers with proper management; and I will venture to p.r.o.nounce, that they cannot be put into better hands than those of Mr. Laurens. He has all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every other qualification, necessary to succeed in such an undertaking. It is a maxim with some great military judges, that, with sensible officers, soldiers can hardly be too stupid; and, on this principle, it is thought that the Russians would make the best troops in the world, it they were under other officers than their own. The King of Prussia is among the number who maintain this doctrine; and has a very emphatic saying on the occasion, which I do not exactly recollect. I mention this because I hear it frequently objected to the scheme of embodying negroes, that they are too stupid to make soldiers. This is so far from appearing to me a valid objection, that I think their want of cultivation (for their natural faculties are probably as good as ours), joined to that habit of subordination which they acquire from a life of servitude, will make them sooner become soldiers than our white inhabitants. Let officers be men of sense and sentiment; and the nearer the soldiers approach to machines, perhaps the better.

"I foresee that this project will have to combat much opposition from prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we have been taught to entertain for the blacks makes us fancy many things that are founded neither in reason nor experience; and an unwillingness to part with property of so valuable a kind will furnish a thousand arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it should be considered, that, if we do not make use of them in this way, the enemy probably will; and that the best way to counteract the temptations they will hold out will be to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is to give them their freedom with their muskets. This will secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a door to their emanc.i.p.ation. This circ.u.mstance, I confess, has no small weight in inducing me to wish the success of the project, for the dictates of humanity, and true policy, equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate cla.s.s of men.

"With the truest respect and esteem, "I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, "ALEX. HAMILTON."[563]

The condition of the Southern States became a matter of Congressional solicitude. The letter of Col. Hamilton was referred to a special committee on the 29th of March, 1779. It was represented that South Carolina especially was in great danger. The white population was small; and, while there were some in the militia service, it was thought necessary to keep as large a number of whites at home as possible. The fear of insurrection, the desertion[564] of Negroes to the enemy, and the exposed condition of her border, intensified the anxiety of the people. The only remedy seemed to lie in the employment of the more fiery spirits among the Negroes as the defenders of the rights and interests of the colonists. Congress rather hesitated to act,--it was thought that that body lacked the authority to order the enlistment of Negroes in the States,--and therefore recommended to "the states of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes." After some consideration the following plan was recommended by the special committee, and adopted:--

"IN CONGRESS, March 29, 1779.

"The Committee, consisting of Mr. Burke, Mr. Laurens, Mr.

Armstrong, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Dyer, appointed to take into consideration the circ.u.mstances of the Southern States, and the ways and means for their safety and defence, report,--

"That the State of South Carolina, as represented by the delegates of the said State and by Mr. Huger, who has come hither at the request of the Governor of the said State, on purpose to explain the particular circ.u.mstances thereof, is unable to make any effectual efforts with militia, by reason of the great proportion of citizens necessary to remain at home to prevent insurrections among the negroes, and to prevent the desertion of them to the enemy.

"That the state of the country, and the great numbers of those people among them, expose the inhabitants to great danger from the endeavors of the enemy to excite them either to revolt or desert.

"That it is suggested by the delegates of the said State and by Mr. Huger, that a force might be raised in the said State from among the negroes, which would not only be formidable to the enemy from their numbers, and the discipline of which they would very readily admit, but would also lessen the danger from revolts and desertions, by detaching the most vigorous and enterprising from among the negroes.

"That, as this measure may involve inconveniences peculiarly affecting the States of South Carolina and Georgia, the Committee are of the opinion that the same should be submitted to the governing powers of the said States; and if the said powers shall judge it expedient to raise such a force, that the United States ought to defray the expense thereof: whereupon,

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the States of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes.

"That the said negroes be formed into separate corps, as battalions, according to the arrangements adopted for the main army, to be commanded by white commissioned and non-commissioned officers.

"That the commissioned officers be appointed by the said States.

"That the non-commissioned officers may, if the said States respectively shall think proper, be taken from among the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Continental battalions of the said States respectively.

"That the Governors of the said States, together with the commanding officer of the Southern army, be empowered to incorporate the several Continental battalions of their States with each other respectively, agreeably to the arrangement of the army, as established by the resolutions of May 27, 1778; and to appoint such of the supernumerary officers to command the said negroes as shall choose to go into that service.

"Resolved, That Congress will make provision for paying the proprietors of such negroes as shall be enlisted for the service of the United States during the war a full compensation for the property, at a rate not exceeding one thousand dollars for each active, able bodied negro man of standard size, not exceeding thirty-five years of age, who shall be so enlisted and pa.s.s muster.

"That no pay or bounty be allowed to the said negroes, but that they be clothed and subsisted at the expense of the United States.

"That every negro who shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier to the end of the present war, and shall then return his arms, be emanc.i.p.ated, and receive the sum of fifty dollars."[565]

Congress supplemented the foregoing measure by commissioning young Col. Laurens to carry forward the important work suggested. The gallant young officer was indeed worthy of the following resolutions:--

"Whereas John Laurens, Esq., who has heretofore acted as aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-chief, is desirous of repairing to South Carolina, with a design to a.s.sist in defence of the Southern States;--

"_Resolved_, That a commission of lieutenant-colonel be granted to the said John Laurens, Esq."[566]

He repaired to South Carolina, and threw all his energies into his n.o.ble mission. That the people did not co-operate with him, is evidenced in the following extract from a letter he subsequently wrote to Col. Hamilton:--

"Ternant will relate to you how many violent struggles I have had between duty and inclination,--how much my heart was with you, while I appeared to be most actively employed here. But it appears to me, that I should be inexcusable in the light of a citizen, if I did not continue my utmost efforts for carrying the plan of the black levies into execution, while there remain the smallest hopes of success."[567]

The enemy was not slow in discovering the division of sentiment among the colonists as to the policy of employing Negroes as soldiers. And the suspicions of Gen. Washington, indicated to Henry Laurens, in a letter already quoted, were not groundless. On the 30th of June, 1779, Sir Henry Clinton issued a proclamation to the Negroes. It first appeared in "The Royal Gazette" of New York, on the 3d of July, 1779.

"By his Excellency Sir HENRY CLINTON, K.B. General and Commander-in-chief of all his Majesty's Forces within the Colonies laying on the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to West-Florida, inclusive, &c., &c., &.

"PROCLAMATION.

"Whereas the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling NEGROES among their Troops, I do hereby give notice That all NEGROES taken in arms, or upon any military Duty, shall be purchased for [_the public service at_] a stated Price; the money to be paid to the Captors.

"But I do most strictly forbid any Person to sell or claim Right over any NEGROE, the property of a Rebel, who may take Refuge with any part of this Army: And I do promise to every NEGROE who shall desert the Rebel Standard, full security to follow within these Lines, any Occupation which he shall think proper.

"Given under my Hand, at Head-Quarters, PHILLIPSBURGH, the 30th day of June, 1779.

"H. CLINTON.

"By his Excellency's command,

"JOHN SMITH, _Secretary_."

The proclamation had effect. Many Negroes, weary of the hesitancy of the colonists respecting acceptance of their services, joined the ministerial army. On the 14th of February, 1780, Col. Laurens wrote Gen. Washington, from Charleston, S.C., as follows:--

"Private accounts say that General Prevost is left to command at Savannah; that his troops consist of the Hessians and Loyalists that were there before, re-enforced by a corps of blacks and a detachment of savages. It is generally reported that Sir Henry Clinton commands the present expedition."[568]

Lord Cornwallis also issued a proclamation, offering protection to all Negroes who should seek his command. But the treatment he gave them, as narrated by Mr. Jefferson in a letter to Dr. Gordon, a few years after the war, was extremely cruel, to say the least.

"Lord Cornwallis destroyed all my growing crops of corn and tobacco; he burned all my barns, containing the same articles of the last year, having first taken what corn he wanted; he used, as was to be expected, all my stock of cattle, sheep, and hogs, for the sustenance of his army, and carried off all the horses capable of service; of those too young for service he cut the throats; and he burned all the fences on the plantation, so as to leave it an absolute waste. _He carried off also about thirty slaves. Had this been to give them freedom, he would have done right_; but it was to consign them to inevitable death from the small-pox and putrid fever, then raging in his camp. This I knew afterwards to be the fate of twenty-seven of them. I never had news of the remaining three, but presume they shared the same fate. When I say that Lord Cornwallis did all this, I do not mean that he carried about the torch in his own hands, but that it was all done under his eye; the situation of the house, in which he was, commanding a view of every part of the plantation, so that he must have seen every fire. I relate these things on my own knowledge, in a great degree, as I was on the ground soon after he left it. He treated the rest of the neighborhood somewhat in the same style, but not with that spirit of total extermination with which he seemed to rage over my possessions. Wherever he went, the dwelling-houses were plundered of every thing which could be carried off. Lord Cornwallis's character in England would forbid the belief that he shared in the plunder; but that his table was served with the plate thus pillaged from private houses, can be proved by many hundred eye-witnesses. From an estimate I made at that time, on the best information I could collect, I suppose _the State of Virginia lost, under Lord Cornwallis's hand, that year, about thirty thousand slaves; and that, of these, twenty-seven thousand died of the small-pox and camp-fever, and the rest were partly sent to the West Indies and exchanged for rum, sugar, coffee, and fruit; and partly sent to New York, from whence they went, at the peace, either to Nova Scotia or to England. From this last place, I believe, they have been lately sent to Africa._ History will never relate the horrors committed by the British Army in the Southern States of America."[569]

Col. Laurens was called from the South, and despatched to France on an important mission in 1780. But the effort to raise Negro troops in the South was not abandoned.

On the 13th of March, 1780, Gen. Lincoln, in a letter to Gov. Rutledge of South Carolina, dated at Charleston, urged the importance of raising a Negro regiment at once. He wrote,--

"Give me leave to add once more, that I think the measure of raising a black corps a necessary one; that I have great reason to believe, if permission is given for it, that many men would soon be obtained. I have repeatedly urged this matter, not only because Congress have recommended it, and because it thereby becomes my duty to attempt to have it executed, but because my own mind suggests the utility and importance of the measure, as the safety of the town makes it necessary."

James Madison saw in the emanc.i.p.ation and arming of the Negroes the only solution of the vexatious Southern problem. On the 20th of November, 1780, he wrote Joseph Jones as follows:--

"Yours of the 18th came yesterday. I am glad to find the Legislature persist in their resolution to recruit their line of the army for the war; though, without deciding on the expediency of the mode under their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves, as to make them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would certainly be more consonant with the principles of liberty, which ought never to be lost sight of in a contest for liberty: and, with white officers and a majority of white soldiers, no imaginable danger could be feared from themselves, as there certainly could be none from the effect of the example on those who should remain in bondage; experience having shown that a freedman immediately loses all attachment and sympathy with his former fellow-slaves."[570]

The struggle went on between Tory and Whig, between traitor and patriot, between selfishness and the spirit of n.o.ble consecration to the righteous cause of the Americans. Gen. Greene wrote from North Carolina on the 28th of February, 1781, to Gen. Washington as follows:--

"The enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be immediately embodied, and are drafting a great proportion of the young men of that State [South Carolina], to serve during the war."[571]