Chapter XI: The Phalanx in Virginia (1)

The laurels won by the Phalanx in the Southern States, notwithstanding the "no quarter" policy, was proof of its devotion to the cause of liberty and the old flag, which latter, until within a short period had been but a symbol of oppression to the black man; Cailloux had reddened it with his life's blood, and Carney, in a seething fire had planted it on the ramparts of Wagner. The audacious bravery of the Phalanx had wrung from Generals Banks and Gillmore congratulatory orders, while the loyal people of the nation poured out unstinted praises. Not a breach of discipline marred the negro soldier's record; not one cowardly act tarnished their fame. Grant pronounced them gallant and reliable, and Weitzel was willing to command them.

In New York City, where negroes had been hung to lamp posts, and where a colored orphan asylum had been sacked and burned, crowds gathered in Broadway and cheered Phalanx regiments on their way to the front. General Logan, author of the Illinois Black Code, greeted them as comrades, and Jefferson Davis finally accorded to them the rights due captured soldiers as prisoners of war. Congress at last took up the question of pay, and placed the black on an equal footing with the white soldiers. Their valor, excelled by no troops in the field, had finally won full recognition from every quarter, and henceforth they were to share the full glory as well as the toils of their white comrades-in-arms. Not until those just rights and attentions were attained, was the Phalanx allowed, to any great extent, to show its efficiency and prowess in the manoeuvres in Virginia and vicinity, where that magnificent "Army of Northern Virginia," the hope and the pride of the Confederacy, was operating against the Federal government. But when General Grant came to direct the movements of the Eastern armies of the United States, there was a change. He had learned from his experience at Vicksburg and other places in his western campaigns, that the negro soldiers were valuable; that they could be fully relied upon in critical times, and their patriotic zeal had made a deep impression upon him. Therefore, as before stated, there were changes, and quite a good many Phalanx regiments--numbering about 20,000 men--were taken from Southern and Western armies and transferred to the different armies in Virginia.

The 19th Army Corps sent one brigade. General Gillmore brought a brigade from the Tenth Army Corps. At least ten thousand of them were veterans, and had driven many confederates out of their breastworks.

The world never saw such a spectacle as America presented in the winter and early spring of 1864. The attempt to capture Richmond and Petersburg had failed. The Army of the Potomac lay like a weary lion under cover, watching its opponent. Bruised, but spirited and defiant, it had driven, and in turn had been driven time and again, by its equally valient foe. It had advanced and retreated until the soldiers were foot-sore from marching and counter-marching, crossing and re-crossing the now historic streams of the Old Dominion. Of all this, the loyal people were tired and demanded of the Administration a change. The causes of the failures to take the confederate capitol were not so much the fault of the commanders of the brave army as that of the authorities at Washington, whose indecision and interference had entailed almost a disgrace upon McClellan, Hooker, Burnside and Meade. But finally the people saw the greatest of the difficulties, and demanded its removal, which the Administration signified its willingness to do. Then began an activity at the North, East and West, such as was never before witnessed. The loyal heart was again aroused by the President's call for troops, and all realized the necessity of a more sagacious policy, and the importance of bringing the war to a close. The lion of the South must be bearded in his lair, and forced to surrender Richmond, the Confederate Capitol, that had already cost the Government millions of dollars, and the North thousands of lives. The cockade city,--Petersburg,--like the Gibralter of the Mississippi, should haul down the confederate banner from her breastworks; in fact, Lee must be vanquished. That was the demand of the loyal nation, and right well did they enter into preparations to consummate it; placing brave and skillful officers in command.

The whole North became a recruiting station. Sumner, Wilson, Stevens and Sherman, in Congress, and Greeley, Beecher, Philips and Curtis, with the press, had succeeded in placing the fight upon the highest plane of civilization, and linked _freedom_ to the cause of the Union thus making the success of one the success of the other,--"Liberty and Union, one and inseparable." What patriotism should fail in accomplishing, bounties--National, State, county, city and township--were to induce and effect. The depleted ranks of the army were filled to its maximum, and with a hitherto victorious and gallant leader would be hurled against the fortifications of the Confederacy with new energy and determination.

Early in January, General Burnside was ordered again to take command of the Ninth Army Corps, and to recruit its strength to fifty thousand effective men, which he immediately began to do. General Butler, then in command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, began the organization of the Army of the James, collecting at Norfolk, Portsmouth and on the Peninsula, the forces scattered throughout his Department, and to recruit Phalanx regiments. In March, General Grant was called to Washington, and received the appointment of Lieutenant General, and placed in command of the armies of the Republic. He immediately began their reorganization, as a preliminary to attacking Lee's veteran army of northern Virginia.

As has before been stated, the negro had, up to this time, taken no very active part in the battles fought in Virginia. The seed of prejudice sown by Generals McDowell and McClellan at the beginning of hostilities, had ripened into productive fruit. The Army of the Potomac being early engaged in apprehending and returning runaway slaves to their presumed owners, had imbibed a bitter, unrelenting hatred for the poor, but ever loyal, negro. To this bitterness the Emancipation Proclamation gave a zest, through the pro-slavery press at the North, which taunted the soldiers with "_fighting to free the negroes_." This feeling had served to practically keep the negro, as a soldier, out of the Army of the Potomac.

General Burnside, upon assuming his command, asked for and obtained permission from the War Department to raise and unite a division of Negro troops to the 9th Army Corps. Annapolis, Md., was selected as the "depot and rendezvous," and very soon Camp Stanton had received its allowance of Phalanx regiments for the Corps. Early in April, the camp was broken, and the line of march taken for Washington. It was rumored throughout the city that the 9th Corps would pass through there, and that about 6,000 Phalanx men would be among the troops. The citizens were on the _qui vive_; members of Congress and the President were eager to witness the passage of the Corps.

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 25th of April, the head of the column entered the city, and at eleven the troops were marching down New York Avenue. Halting a short distance from the corner of 14th street, the column closed up, and prepared to pay the President a marching salute, who, with General Burnside and a few friends, was awaiting their coming. Mr. Lincoln and his party occupied a balcony over the entrance of Willard's Hotel. The scene was one of great beauty and animation. The day was superbly clear; the soft atmosphere of the early spring was made additionally pleasant by a cool breeze; rain had fallen the previous night, and there was no dust to cause discomfort to the soldiers or spectators. The troops marched and appeared well; their soiled and battered flags bearing inscriptions of battles of six States. The corps had achieved almost the first success of the war in North Carolina; it had hastened to the Potomac in time to aid in rescuing the Capitol, when Lee made his first Northern invasion; it won glory at South Mountain, and made the narrow bridge at Antietam, forever historic; it had likewise reached Kentucky in time to aid in driving the confederates from that State. Now it appeared with recruited ranks, and new regiments of as good blood as ever was poured out in the cause of right; and with a new element--those whom they had helped set free from the thraldom of slavery--whom they were proud to claim as comrades.

Their banners were silent, effective witnesses of their valor and their sacrifices; Bull's Run, Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, Newburn, Gaines' Mills, Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, South Mountain, Knoxville, Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg, were emblazoned in letters of gold. The firm and soldierly bearing of the veterans, the eager and expectant countenances of the men and officers of the new regiments, the gay trappings of the cavalry, the thorough equipment and fine condition of the artillery, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking of sabres, the drum-beat, the bugle call, and the music of the bands were all subjects of interest. The President beheld the scene. Pavement, sidewalks, windows and roofs were crowded with people. A division of veterans passed, saluting the President and their commander with cheers. And then, with full ranks--platoons extending from sidewalk to sidewalk--brigades which had never been in battle, for the first time shouldered arms for their country; they who even then were disfranchised and were not American citizens, yet they were going out to fight for the flag. Their country was given them by the tall, pale, benevolent hearted man standing upon the balcony. For the first time, they beheld their benefactor. They were darker hued than their veteran comrades, but they cheered as lustily, "hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Massa Linkun! Three cheers for the President!" They swung their caps, clapped their hands and shouted their joy. Long, loud and jubilant were the rejoicings of these redeemed sons of Africa. Regiment after regiment of stalwart men,--slaves once, but freemen now,--with steady step and even ranks, passed down the street, moving on to the Old Dominion. It was the first review of the negro troops by the President. Mr. Lincoln himself seemed greatly pleased, and acknowledged the plaudits and cheers of the Phalanx soldiers with a dignified kindness and courtesy. It was a spectacle which made many eyes grow moist, and left a life-long impression. Thus the corps that had never lost a flag or a gun, marched through the National Capitol, crossed long bridge and went into camp near Alexandria, where it remained until the 4th of May.

The Phalanx regiments composing the 4th division were the 19th, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th and 43rd, commanded by General E. Ferrero.

The Army of the James, under General Butler, which was to act in conjunction with the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, was composed of the 10th and 18th Corps. The 10th Corps had two brigades of the Phalanx, consisting of the 7th, 9th, 29th, 16th, 8th, 41st, 45th and 127th Regiments, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, Jr., and Ulysses Doubleday, and constituted the 3rd division of that Corps commanded by Brigadier-General Wm. Birney.

The 3rd division of the 18th Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General Charles G. Paine, was composed of the 1st, 22nd, 37th, 5th, 36th, 38th, 4th, 6th, 10th, 107th, 117th, 118th and 2nd Cavalry, with Colonels Elias Wright, Alonzo G. Draper, John W. Ames and E. Martindale as brigade commanders of the four brigades. A cavalry force numbering about two thousand, comprising the 1st and 2nd, was under command of Colonel West,[31] making not less than 20,000 of the Phalanx troops, including the 4th Division with the Ninth Corps, and augmenting Butler's force to 47,000, concentrated at Yorktown and Gloucester Point.

On the 28th of April, Butler received his final orders, and on the night of the 4th of May embarked his troops on transports, descended the York river, passed Fortress Monroe and ascended the James River. Convoyed by a fleet of armored war vessels and gunboats, his transports reached Bermuda Hundreds on the afternoon of the 5th. General Wilde, with a brigade of the Phalanx, occupied Fort Powhatan, on the south bank of the river, and Wilson's Wharf, about five miles below on the north side of the James, with the remainder of his division of 5,000 of the Phalanx. General Hinks landed at City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox. The next morning the troops advanced to Trent's, with their left resting on the Appomattox, near Walthall, and the right on the James, and intrenched. In the meantime, Butler telegraphed Grant:

"OFF CITY POINT, VA., May 5th.

"LIEUT. GEN. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States,
Washington, D. C.:

"We have seized Wilson's Wharf Landing; a brigade of Wilde's
colored troops are there; at Fort Powhatan landing two
regiments of the same brigade have landed. At City Point,
Hinks' division, with the remaining troops and battery, have
landed. The remainder of both the 18th and 10th Army Corps
are being landed at Bermuda Hundreds, above Appomattox. No
opposition experienced thus far, the movement was
comparatively a complete surprise. Both army corps left
Yorktown during last night. The monitors are all over the
bar at Harrison's landing and above City Point. The
operations of the fleet have been conducted to-day with
energy and success. Gens. Smith and Gillmore are pushing the
landing of the men. Gen. Graham with the army gunboats, lead
the advance during the night, capturing the signal station
of the rebels. Colonel West, with 1800 cavalry, made several
demonstrations from Williamsburg yesterday morning. Gen.
Rantz left Suffolk this morning with his cavalry, for the
service indicated during the conference with the
Lieut.-General. The New York flag-of-truce boat was found
lying at the wharf with four hundred prisoners, whom she had
not time to deliver. She went up yesterday morning. We are
landing troops during the night, a hazardous service in the
face of the enemy.

"BENJ. F. BUTLER,

"A. F. PUFFER, Capt. and A. D. C. _Maj.-Gen. Commanding._"

About two miles in front of their line ran the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, near which the enemy was encountered. Butler's movements being in concert with that of the Army of the Potomac and the 9th Corps,--the latter as yet an independent organization.

General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, numbering 120,000 effective men, crossed the Rapidan _en route_ for the Wilderness, each soldier carrying fifty rounds of ammunition and three days rations. The supply trains were loaded with ten days forage and subsistence. The advance was in two columns, General Warren being on the right and General Hancock on the left. Sedgwick followed closely upon Warren and crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford. The Ninth Corps received its orders on the 4th, whereupon General Burnside immediately put the Corps in motion toward the front. Bivouacking at midnight, the line of march was again taken up at daylight, and at night the Rapidan was crossed at Germania Ford. The corps marched on a road parallel to that of its old antagonist, General Longstreet's army, which was hastening to assist Lee, who had met the Army of the Potomac in the entanglements of the wilderness, where a stubborn and sanguinary fight raged for two days. General Ferrero's division, composed of the Phalanx regiments, reached Germania Ford on the morning of the 6th, with the cavalry, and reported to General Sedgwick, of the 6th Corps, who had the care of the trains. The enemy was projecting an attack upon the rear of the advancing columns. Gen. Ferrero was ordered to guard with his Phalanx division, the bridges, roads and trains near and at the Rapidan river. That night the confederates attacked Sedgwick in force; wisely the immense supply trains had been committed to the care of the Phalanx, and the enemy was driven back before daylight, while the trains were securely moved up closer to the advance. General Grant, finding that the confederates were not disposed to continue the battle, began the movement toward Spottsylvania Court House on the night of the 7th. The 9th Corps brought up the rear, with the Phalanx division and cavalry covering the trains.

Butler and his Phalanx troops, as we have seen, was within six miles of Petersburg, and on the 7th, Generals Smith and Gillmore reached the railroad near Port Walthall Junction, and commenced destroying it; the confederates attacked them, but were repulsed. Col. West, on the north side of the James River, forded the Chickahominy with the Phalanx cavalry, and arrived opposite City Point, having destroyed the railroad for some distance on that side.

Leaving General Hinks with his Phalanx division to hold City Point, on the 9th Butler again moved forward to break up the railroad which the forces under Smith and Gillmore succeeded in doing, thus separating Beaureguard's force from Lee's. He announced the result of his operation's in the following message to Washington:

"May 9th, 1864.

"Our operations may be summed up in a few words. With one
thousand and seven hundred cavalry we have advanced up the
Peninsula, forced the Chickahominy and have safely brought
them to our present position. These were _colored cavalry_,
and are now holding our advanced pickets toward Richmond.
General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on
the same day with our movement up James river, forced the
Blackwater, burned the railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below
Petersburg, cutting in two Beauregard's force at that point.
We have landed here, intrenched ourselves, destroyed many
miles of railroad, and got possession, which, with proper
supplies, we can hold out against the whole of Lee's army. I
have ordered up the supplies. Beauregard, with a large
portion of his force, was left south, by the cutting of the
railroad by Kautz. That portion which reached Petersburg
under Hill, I have whipped to-day, killing and wounding
many, and taking many prisoners, after a well contested
fight. General Grant will not be troubled with any further
re-inforcements to Lee from Beaureguard's force.

"BENJ. F. BUTLER, _Major-General._"

But for having been misinformed as to Lee's retreating on Richmond,--which led him to draw his forces back into his intrenchments,--Butler would have undoubtedly marched triumphantly into Petersburg. The mistake gave the enemy holding the approaches to that city time to be re-enforced, and Petersburg soon became well fortified and garrisoned. Beaureguard succeeded in a few days time in concentrating in front of Butler 25,000 troops, thus checking the latter's advance toward Richmond and Petersburg, on the south side of the James, though skirmishing went on at various points.

General Grant intended to have Butler advance and capture Petersburg, while General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, advanced upon Richmond from the north bank of the James river. Gen. Butler failed to accomplish more than his dispatches related, though his forces entered the city of Petersburg, captured Chester Station, and destroyed the railroad connection between Petersburg and Richmond. Failure to support his troops and to intrench lost him all he had gained, and he returned to his intrenchments at Bermuda Hundreds.

The Phalanx (Hinks division) held City Point and other stations on the river, occasionally skirmishing with the enemy, who, ever mindful of the fact that City Point was the base of supplies for the Army of the James, sought every opportunity to raid it, but they always found the Phalanx ready and on the alert.

After the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, Butler thought to remain quiet in his intrenchments, but Grant, on the 22nd, ordered him to send all his troops, save enough to hold City Point, to join the Army of the Potomac; whereupon General W. F. Smith, with 16,000 men, embarked for the White House, on the Pamunky river, Butler retaining the Phalanx division and the Cavalry. Thus ended the operations of the Army of the James, until Grant crossed the river with the army of the Potomac.

Negro baggage train drivers watering their mules.]

On the 13th of May, Grant determined upon a flank movement toward Bowling Green, with a view of making Port Royal, instead of Fredericksburg, his depot for supplies. Sending his reserve artillery to Belle Plain, he prepared to advance. It was in this manoeuvre that Lee, for the last time, attacked the Federal forces, outside of cover, in any important movement. The attempt to change the base of supply was indeed a hazardous move for Grant; it necessitated the moving of his immense train, numbering four thousand wagons, used in carrying rations, ammunition and supplies for his army, and transportation of the badly wounded to the rear, where they could be cared for.

Up to this time the Wilderness campaign had been a continuous fight and march. The anxiety which Grant felt for his train, is perhaps best told by himself:

"My movements are terribly embarrassed by our immense wagon
train. It could not be avoided, however."

It was the only means by which the army could obtain needful supplies, and was consequently indispensable. It was the near approach to the train that made the confederates often fight so desperately, for they knew if they could succeed in capturing a wagon they would probably get something to eat. Soon after the advance began, it was reported to Grant, that the confederate cavalry was in the rear, in search of the trains. On the 14th he ordered General Ferrero to "keep a sharp lookout for this cavalry, and if you can attack it with your (Phalanx) infantry and (white) cavalry, do so." On the 19th Ferrero, with his Phalanx division, (4th division, 9th Corps) was on the road to Fredericksburg, in rear of and to the right of General Tyler's forces, in the confederates' front. The road formed Grant's direct communication with his base, and here the confederates, under Ewell attacked the Federal troops. Grant sent this dispatch to Ferrero:

"The enemy have crossed the Ny on the right of our lines, in
considerable force, and may possibly detach a force to move
on Fredericksburg. Keep your cavalry pickets well out on the
plank road, and all other roads leading west and south of
you. If you find the enemy moving infantry and artillery to
you, report it promptly. In that case take up strong
positions and detain him all you can, turning all your
trains back to Fredericksburg, and whatever falling back
you may be forced to do, do it in that direction."

The confederates made a dash for the train and captured twenty-seven wagons, but before they had time to feast off of their booty the Phalanx was upon them. The enemy fought with uncommon spirit; it was the first time "F. F. V's," the chivalry of the South,--composing the Army of Northern Virginia,--had met the negro soldiers, and true to their instinctive hatred of their black brothers, they gave them the best they had; lead poured like rain for a while, and then came a lull. Ferrero knew what it meant, and prepared for their coming. A moment more and the accustomed yell rang out above the roar of the artillery. The confederates charged down upon the Phalanx, but to no purpose, save to make the black line more stable. They retaliated, and the confederates were driven as the gale drives chaff, the Phalanx recapturing the wagons and saving Grant's line of communication. General Badeau, speaking of their action, in his military history of Grant, says:

"It was the first time at the East when colored troops had
been engaged in any important battle, and the display of
soldierly qualities won a frank acknowledgment from both
troops and commanders, not all of whom had before been
willing to look upon negroes as comrades. But after that
time, white soldiers in the army of the Potomac were not
displeased to receive the support of black ones; they had
found the support worth having."

Ferrero had the confidence of his men, who were ever ready to follow where Grant ordered them to be led.

But this was not the last important battle the Phalanx took part in. Butler, after sending the larger portion of his forces to join the Army of the Potomac, was not permitted to remain quiet in his intrenchments. The confederates felt divined to destroy, if not capture, his base, and therefore were continually striving to break through the lines. On the 24th of May, General Fitzhugh Lee made a dash with his cavalry upon Wilson's Wharf, Butler's most northern outpost, held by two Phalanx Regiments of General Wilde's brigade. Lee's men had been led to believe that it was only necessary to yell at the "niggers" in order to make them leave the Post, but in this affair they found a foe worthy of their steel. They fought for several hours, when finally the confederate troops beat a retreat. An eye witness of the fight says:

"The chivalry of Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry division was
badly worsted in the contest last Tuesday with negro troops,
composing the garrison at Wilson's Landing; the chivalry
made a gallant fight, however. The battle began at half-past
twelve P. M., and ended at six o'clock, when the chivalry
retired, disgusted and defeated. Lee's men dismounted far in
the rear, and fought as infantry; they drove in the pickets
and skirmishers to the intrenchments, and made several
valiant charges upon our works. To make an assault, it was
necessary to come across an opening in front of our
position, up to the very edge of a deep and impassable
ravine. The rebels, with deafening yells, made furious
onsets, but the negroes did not flinch, and the mad
assailants, discomforted, returned to cover with shrunken
ranks. The rebels' fighting was very wicked; it showed that
Lee's heart was bent on taking the negroes at any cost.
Assaults on the center having failed, the rebels tried first
the left, and then the right flank, with no greater success.
When the battle was over, our loss footed up, one man killed
outright, twenty wounded, and two missing. Nineteen rebels
were prisoners in our hands. Lee's losses must have been
very heavy; the proof thereof was left on the ground.
Twenty-five rebel bodies lay in the woods unburied, and
pools of blood unmistakably told of other victims taken
away. The estimate, from all the evidence carefully
considered, puts the enemy's casualties at two hundred.
Among the corpses Lee left on the field, was that of Major
Breckenridge, of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry. There is no
hesitation here in acknowledging the soldierly qualities
which the colored men engaged in the fight have exhibited.
Even the officers who have hitherto felt no confidence in
them are compelled to express themselves mistaken. General
Wilde, commanding the Post, says that the troops stood up to
their work like veterans."

Newspaper correspondents were not apt to overstate the facts, nor to give too much favorable coloring to the Phalanx in those days. Very much of the sentiment in the army--East and West--was manufactured by them. The Democratic partizan press at the North, especially in New York and Ohio, still engaged in throwing paper bullets at the negro soldiers, who were shooting lead bullets at the country's foes.

The gallantry and heroic courage of the Phalanx in the Departments of the Gulf and South, and their bloody sacrifices, had not been sufficient to stop the violent clamor and assertions of those journals, that the "niggers won't fight!"

Many papers favorable to the Emancipation; opposed putting negro troops in battle in Virginia. But to all these bomb-proof opinions Grant turned a deaf ear, and when and where necessity required it, he hurled his Phalanx brigades against the enemy as readily as he did the white troops. The conduct of the former was, nevertheless, watched eagerly by the correspondents of the press who were with the army, and when they began to chronicle the achievements of the Phalanx, the prejudice began to give way, and praises were substituted in the place of their well-worn denunciations. A correspondent of the New York _Herald_ thus wrote in May:

"The conduct of the colored troops, by the way, in the
actions of the last few days, is described as superb. An
Ohio soldier said to me to-day, 'I never saw men fight with
such desperate gallantry as those negroes did. They advanced
as grim and stern as death, and when within reach of the
enemy struck about them with a pitiless vigor, that was
almost fearful.' Another soldier said to me, 'These negroes
never shrink, nor hold back, no matter what the order.
Through scorching heat and pelting storms, if the order
comes, they march with prompt, ready feet.' Such praise is
great praise, and it is deserved. The negroes here who have
been slaves, are loyal, to a man, and on our occupation of
Fredericksburg, pointed out the prominent secessionists, who
were at once seized by our cavalry and put in safe quarters.
In a talk with a group of faithful fellows, I discovered in
them all a perfect understanding of the issues of the
conflict, and a grand determination to prove themselves
worthy of the place and privileges to which they are to be
exalted."

The ice was thus broken, and then each war correspondent found it his duty to write in deservedly glowing terms of the Phalanx.

The newspaper reports of the engagements stirred the blood of the Englishman, and he eschewed his professed love for the freedom of mankind, and particularly that of the American negro. The London _Times_, in the following article, lashed the North for arming the negroes to shoot the confederates, forgetting, perhaps, that England employed negroes against the colonist in 1775, and at New Orleans, in 1814, had her black regiments to shoot down the fathers of the men whom it now sought to uphold, in rebellion against the government of the United States:

"THE NEGRO UNION SOLDIERS.

"Six months have now passed from the time Mr. Lincoln issued
his proclamation abolishing slavery in the States of the
Southern Confederacy. To many it may seem that this measure
has failed of the intended effect and this is doubtless in
some respects the case. It was intended to frighten the
Southern whites into submission, and it has only made them
more fierce and resolute than ever. It was intended to raise
a servile war, or produce such signs of it as should compel
the Confederates to lay down their arms through fear for
their wives and families; and it has only caused desertion
from some of the border plantations and some disorders along
the coast. But in other respects the consequences of this
measure are becoming important enough. The negro race has
been too much attached to the whites, or too ignorant or too
sluggish to show any signs of revolt in places remote from
the presence of the federal armies: but on some points where
the federals have been able to maintain themselves in force
in the midst of a large negro population, the process of
enrolling and arming black regiments has been carried on in
a manner which must give a new character to the war. It is
in the State of Louisiana, and under the command of General
Banks, that this use of negro soldiers has been most
extensive. The great city of New Orleans having fallen into
the possession of the federals more than a year ago, and the
neighboring country being to a certain degree abandoned by
the white population, a vast number of negroes have been
thrown on the hands of the General in command to support
and, if he can, make use of. The arming of these was begun
by General Butler, and it has been continued by his
successor. Though the number actually under arms is no doubt
exaggerated by Northern writers, yet enough have been
brought into service to produce a powerful effect on the
imaginations of the combatants, and, as we can now clearly
see, to add almost grievously to the fury of the struggle.

"Of all wars, those between races which had been accustomed
to stand to each other in the relation of master and slave
have been so much the most horrible that by general consent
the exciting of a servile insurrection has been considered
as beyond the pale of legitimate warfare. This had been held
even in the case of European serfdom, although there the
rulers and the ruled are of the same blood, religion and
language. But the conflict between the white men and the
negro, _and particularly the American white man and the
American negro, is likely to be more ruthless than any which
the ancient world, fruitful in such histories, or the modern
records of Algeria can furnish_. There was reason to hope
that the deeds of 1857 in India would not be paralleled in
our time or in any after age. The Asiatic savagery rose upon
a dominant race scattered throughout the land, and wreaked
its vengeance upon it by atrocities which it would be a
relief to forget. But it has been reserved for the New
World to present the spectacle of civil war, calling servile
war to its aid, and of men of English race and language so
envenomed against each other that one party places arms in
the hands of the half savage negro, and the other acts as if
resolved to give no quarter to the insurgent race or the
white man who commands them or fights by their side. In the
valley of the Mississippi, where these negro soldiers are in
actual service, it seems likely that a story as revolting as
that of St. Domingo is being prepared for the world. No one
who reads the description of the fighting at Port Hudson,
and the accounts given by the papers of scenes at other
places, can help fearing that the worst part of this war has
yet to come, and that a people who lately boasted that they
took the lead in education and material civilization are now
carrying on a contest without regard to any law of
conventional warfare,--one side training negroes to fight
against its own white flesh and blood, the other
slaughtering them without mercy whenever they find them in
the field.

" * * * It is pitiable to find these unhappy Africans, whose
clumsy frames are no match for the sinewy and agile white
American, thus led on to be destroyed by a merciless enemy.
Should the war proceed in this manner, it is possible that
the massacre of Africans may not be confined to actual
conflict in the field. Hitherto the whites have been
sufficiently confident in the negroes to leave them
unmolested, even when the enemy was near; but with two or
three black regiments in each federal corps, and such events
as the Port Hudson massacre occuring to infuriate the minds
on either side, who can foresee what three months more of
war may bring forth?

"All that we can say with certainty is that the unhappy
negro will be the chief sufferer in this unequal conflict.
An even greater calamity, however, is the brutalization of
two antagonistic peoples by the introduction into the war of
these servile allies of the federals. Already there are
military murders and executions on both sides. The horrors
which Europe has foreseen for a year past are now upon us.
Reprisal will provoke reprisal, until all men's natures are
hardened, and the land flows with blood."

The article is truly instructive to the present generation; its malignity and misrepresentation of the Administration's intentions in regard to the arming of negroes, serves to illustrate the deep-seated animosity which then existed in England toward the union of the States. Nor will the American negro ever forget England's advice to the confederates, whose massacre of negro soldiers fighting for freedom she endorsed and applauded. The descendants of those black soldiers, who were engaged in the prolonged struggle for freedom, can rejoice in the fact that no single act of those patriots is in keeping with the Englishman's prediction; no taint of brutality is even charged against them by those whom they took prisoners in battle. The confederates themselves testify to the humane treatment they unexpectedly received at the hands of their negro captors. Mr. Pollard, the historian, says:

"No servile insurrections had taken place in the South."

But it is gratifying to know that all Englishmen did not agree with the writer of the _Times_. A London letter in the New York Evening _Post_, said:

"Mr. Spurgeon makes most effective and touching prayers,
remembering, at least once on a Sunday, the United States.
'Grant, O God,' he said recently, 'that the right may
conquer, and that if the fearful canker of slavery must be
cut out by the sword, it be wholly eradicated from the body
politic of which it is the curse.' He is seldom, however, as
pointed as this; and, like other clergymen of England, prays
for the return of peace. Indeed, it must be acknowledged
that if the English press and government have done what they
could to continue this war, the dissenting clergy of England
have nobly shown their good will and hearty sympathy with
the Americans, and their sincere desire for the settlement
of our difficulties. 'If praying would do you Americans any
good,' said an irreverent acquaintance last Sunday, 'you
will be gratified to learn that a force of a
thousand-clergymen-power is constantly at work for you over
here.'"

After the heroic and bloody effort at Cold Harbor to reach Richmond, or to cross the James above the confederate capitol, and thus cut off the enemy's supplies,--after Grant had flanked, until to flank again would be to leave Richmond in his rear,--when Lee had withdrawn to his fortifications, refusing to accept Grant's challenge to come out and fight a decisive battle,--when all hope of accomplishing either of these objects had vanished, Grant determined to return to his original plan of attack from the coast, and turned his face toward the James river. On the 12th of June the Army of the Potomac began to move, and by the 16th it was, with all its trains across, and on the south side of the James.

Petersburg Grant regarded as the citadel of Richmond, and to capture it was the first thing on his list to be accomplished. General Butler was made acquainted with this, and as soon as General Smith, who, with a portion of Butler's forces had been temporarily dispatched to join the army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor, returned to Bermuda Hundreds with his force, he was ordered forward to capture the Cockade City. It was midnight on the 14th, when Smith's troops arrived. Butler ordered him immediately forward against Petersburg, and he moved accordingly. His force was in three divisions of Infantry, and one of Cavalry, under General Kautz, who was to threaten the line of works on the Norfolk road. General Hinks, with his division of the Phalanx, was to take position across the Jordon's Point road on the right of Kautz; Brooks' division of white troops was to follow, Hinks coming in at the center of the line, while General Martindale with the other division was to move along the Appomattox and strike the City Point road. Smith's movement was directed against the northeast side of Petersburg, extending from the City Point to the Norfolk railroad. About daylight on the 15th, as the columns advanced on the City Point road at Bailey's farm, six miles from Petersburg, a confederate battery opened fire. Kautz reconnoitered and found a line of rifle trench, extending along the front, on rapidly rising ground, with a thicket covering. The work was held by a regiment of cavalry and a light battery. At once there was use for the Phalanx; the works must be captured with the battery before the troops could proceed. The cavalry was re-called, and Hinks began the formation of an attacking party from his division. The confederates were in an open field, their battery upon a knoll in the same field, commanding a sweeping position to its approaches. The advancing troops must come out from the woods, rush up the slope and carry it at the point of the bayonet, exposed to the tempest of musketry and cannister of the battery. Hinks formed his line for the assault, and the word of command was given,--"forward." The line emerged from the woods, the enemy opened with cannister upon the steadily advancing column, which, without stopping, replied with a volley of Minie bullets.

"The long, dusky line, arm to arm, knee to knee."

Then shells came crashing through the line, dealing death and shattering the ranks; but on they went, with a wild cheer, running up the slope; again a storm of cannister met them; a shower of musketry came down upon the advancing column, whose bristling bayonets were to make the way clear for their white comrades awaiting on the roadside. A hundred black men went down under the fire; the ranks were quickly closed however, and with another wild cheer the living hundreds went over the works with the impetuosity of a cyclone; they seized the cannon and turned them upon the fleeing foe, who, in consternation, stampeded toward Petersburg, to their main line of intrenchments on the east. Thus the work of the 5th and 22nd Phalanx regiments was completed and the road made clear for the 18th Corps.

Brooks now moved up simultaneously with Martindale, on the river road. By noon the whole corps was in front of the enemy's main line of works, Martindale on the right, Brooks in the center, the Phalanx and cavalry on the left, sweeping down to the Jerusalem Plank Road on the southeast. Hinks, with the Phalanx, in order to gain the position assigned him, had necessarily to pass over an open space exposed to a direct and cross-fire. Nevertheless, he prepared to occupy his post, and forming a line of battle, he began the march. The division numbered about 3,000, a portion of it being still at Wilson's Landing, Fort Powhatan, City Point and Bermuda Hundreds. This was a march that veterans might falter in, without criticism or censure. The steady black line advanced a few rods at a time, when coming within range of the confederate guns they were obliged to lie down and wait for another opportunity. Now a lull,--they would rise, go forward, and again lie down. Thus they continued their march, under a most galling, concentrated artillery fire until they reached their position, from which they were to join in a general assault; and here they lay, from one till five o'clock,--four long hours,--exposed to ceaseless shelling by the enemy. Badeau says, in speaking of the Phalanx in this ordeal:

"No worse strain on the nerves of troops is possible, for it
is harder to remain quiet under cannon fire, even though
comparatively harmless, than to advance against a storm of
musketry."

General W. F. Smith, though brave, was too cautious and particular in detail, and he spent those four hours in careful reconnoissance, while the troops lay exposed to the enemy's concentric fire.

The main road leading east from Petersburg ascends a hill two or more miles out, upon the top of which stood what was then known as Mr. Dunn's house. In front of it was a fort, and another south, and a third north, with other works; heavy embankments and deep ravines and ditches, trunks of hewn trees blackened by camp fires, formed an abatis on the even ground. Here the sharpshooters and riflemen had a fair view of the entire field. The distance from these works to the woods was about three hundred and sixty paces, in the edge of which lay the black Phalanx division, ready, like so many tigers, waiting for the command, "forward." The forts near Dunn's house had direct front fire, and those on the north an enfilading fire on the line of advance. Smith got his troops in line for battle by one o'clock, but there they lay. Hinks impatiently awaited orders; oh! what a suspense--each hour seemed a day,--what endurance--what valor. Shells from the batteries ploughed into the earth where they stood, and began making trouble for the troops. Hinks gave the order, "lie down;" they obeyed, and were somewhat sheltered. Five o'clock--yet no orders. At length the command was given, "forward." The skirmishers started at quick time; the enemy opened upon them vigorously from their batteries and breastworks, upon which they rested their muskets, in order to fire with accuracy. A torrent of bullets was poured upon the advancing line, and the men fell fast as autumn leaves in a gale of wind. Then the whole line advanced, the Phalanx going at double-quick; their well aligned ranks, with bayonets glittering obliquely in the receding sunlight, presented a spectacle both magnificent and grand.

Duncan rushed his skirmishers and reached the ditches in front of the breastworks, which, without waiting for the main body, they entered and clambered up the steep embankments. A sheet of flame from above was rained down, causing many a brave man to stagger and fall back into the ditch, never to rise again. The troops following, inspired by the daring of the skirmishers, pressed forward on the run up to the forts, swept round the curtains, scaled the breastworks and dashed with patriotic rage at the confederate gunners, who deserted their pieces and ran for their lives. Brooks and Martindale advanced simultaneously upon the works at Osborn's house and up the railroad, sweeping everything before them. The Phalanx seized upon the guns and turned them instantly upon the fleeing foe, and then with spades and shovels reversed the fortifications and prepared to hold them. Fifteen pieces of artillery and three hundred confederates were captured. "The Phalanx," says the official report, took two-thirds of the prisoners and nine pieces of artillery. General Smith, finding that General Birney, with the 2nd Corps, had not arrived, instead of marching the troops into Petersburg, waited for re-inforcements unnecessarily, and thereby lost his chance of taking the city, which was soon garrisoned with troops enough to defy the whole army. Thus Grant was necessitated afterward to lay siege to the place.

The confederates never forgot nor forgave this daring of the "niggers," who drove them, at the point of the bayonet, out of their breastworks, killing and capturing their comrades and their guns. They were chided by their brother confederates for allowing negroes to take their works from them. The maidens of the Cockade City were told that they could not trust themselves to men who surrendered their guns to "niggers." The soldiers of the Phalanx were delirious with joy. They had caught "ole massa," and he was theirs. General Hinks had their confidence, and they were ready to follow wherever he led.

The chaplin of the 9th Corps, in his history, says:

"In this movement a division of colored troops, under
Brigadier-General Hinks, seems to have won the brightest
laurels. They first attacked and carried the enemy's outpost
at Bailey's farm, capturing one piece of artillery in the
most gallant manner. On their arrival before Petersburg,
they lay in front of the works for nearly five hours,
waiting for the word of command. They then, in company with
the white troops, and showing equal bravery, rushed and
carried the enemy's line of works, with what glorious
success has already been related."

This, indeed, was a victory, yet shorn of its full fruits; but that Petersburg was not captured was no fault of the Phalanx. They had carried and occupied the most formidable obstacles.

Badeau, in chronicling these achievements, says:

"General Smith assaulted the works on the City Point and
Prince George Court House roads. The rebels resisted with a
sharp infantry fire, but the center and left dashed into the
works, consisting of five redan's on the crest of a deep and
difficult ravine. Kiddoo's (22d) black regiment was one of
the first to gain the hill. In support of this movement, the
second line was swung around and moved against the front of
the remaining works. The rebels, assaulted thus in front and
flank, gave way, four of the guns already captured were
turned upon them by the negro conquerors, enfilading the
line, and before dark, Smith was in possession of the whole
of the outer works, two and a half miles long, with fifteen
pieces of artillery and three hundred prisoners. Petersburg
was at his mercy."

This failure made a siege necessary, and General Grant began by regular approaches to invest the place, after making the three desperate assaults on the 16th, 17th and 18th. It had been indeed a bloody June; the soil of the Old Dominion, which for two centuries the negro had tilled and made to yield the choicest products, under a system of cruel and inhuman bondage he now reddened with his blood in defense of his liberty, proving by his patriotism, not only his love of liberty, but his courage and capacity to defend it. The negro troops had marched and fought with the white regiments with equal intrepidity and courage; they were no longer despised by their comrades; they now had recognition as soldiers, and went into the trenches before Petersburg as a part of as grand an army as ever laid siege to a stronghold or stormed a fortification.

On the 18th of June, General Ferrero reported to General Meade, with his division of the Phalanx, (4th Division, 9th Corps), and was immediately ordered to join its own proper corps,--from which it had been separated since the 6th of May,--at the crossing of the Rapidan. It had served under Sedgwick and Sheridan until the 17th, when it came under the direct command of General Grant, and thus remained until the 25th of May, when General Burnside, waiving rank to Meade, the 9th Corps was incorporated into the Army of the Potomac. During its absence the division sustained the reputable renown of its corps, not only in protecting the trains, but in fighting the enemy, and capturing prisoners. Before rejoining the corps, the division was strengthened by three regiments of cavalry,--the 5th New York, 3rd New Jersey and 2nd Ohio. From the 9th of May till the 17th, the division occupied the plank road, looking to the old Wilderness tavern, covering the extreme right of the army, extending from Todd's to Banks' Ford. On the 17th, the division moved to Salem Church, near the main road to Fredericksburg, where, as we have seen, it defended the rear line against the attack made by the confederates, under General Ewell.

The historian of the corps says:

"The division on the 21st of May was covering
Fredericksburg, and the roads leading hence to Bowling
Green. On the 22nd it marched toward Bowling Green, and on
the 23rd it moved to Milford Station. From that date to the
27th it protected the trains of the army in the rear of the
positions on the North Anna. On the 27th, the division moved
to Newtown; on the 28th, to Dunkirk, crossing the Maltapony;
on the 29th, to the Pamunkey, near Hanovertown. On the 1st
of June the troops crossed the Pamunkey, and from the 2nd to
the 6th, covered the right of the army; from the 6th to the
12th they covered the approaches from New Castle Ferry,
Hanovertown, Hawe's shop, and Bethusda Church. From the 12th
to the 18th they moved by easy stages, by way of Tunstall's
New Kent Court House, Cole's Ferry, and the pontoon bridge
across the James, to the line of the army near Petersburg.
The dismounted cavalry were left to guard the trains, and
the 4th Division prepared to participate in the more active
work of soldiers. Through the remainder of the month of
June, and the most of July, the troops were occupied in the
second line of trenches, and in active movements towards the
left, under Generals Hancock and Warren. While they were
engaged in the trenches they were also drilled in the
movements necessary for an attack and occupation of the
enemy's works. A strong feeling of pride and esprit de
corps sprung up within the hearts of the blacks, and they
began to think that they too might soon have the opportunity
of some glory for their race and country."

How natural was this feeling. As we have seen, their life for more than a month had been one of marching and counter-marching, though hazardous and patriotic. When on the 18th, they entered upon the more active duty of soldiers, they found the 3rd Division of the 18th Corps, composed of the Phalanx of the Army of the James, covered with glory, and the welkin ringing with praises of their recent achievements. The men of the 4th Division chafed with eager ambition to rival their brothers of the 18th Corps, in driving the enemy from the Cockade City. General Burnside was equally as anxious to give his black boys a chance to try the steel of the chivalry in deadly conflict, and this gave them consolation, with the assurance that their day would ere long dawn, so they toiled and drilled carefully for their prospective glory.