Negro Soldiers Quotes
This letter was signed by a local white Priest and two other leading planters. This quotation gives us a marvelous feeling for what occurred when parts of the South was occupied by the Union Army shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Minor and his fellows just did not “get it.” The concept of freedom of the slaves was intellectually so foreign to them, that they wanted the Union Army to “compel” the freed slaves to work. They were horrified that slaves went wherever they wanted, and they were most outraged when former slaves who had enlisted in the Army, would “visit” their old plantation setting such a terrible example. The letter gives us a perspective on how difficult it was to change the mental set of Southern Whites and why Reconstruction was so difficult. The year of the letter is somewhat uncertain as the original letter appears to be dated 1862 but the writing is not clear and that date does not comport with the history of the era and we believe 1863 was the correct year. The photograph is of the first official colored troops mustered into the Union Army. They were called the Louisiana Native Guards and contained the ex slaves who went over to the Union side just before the time this slave owner complained. These ex slaves, in uniform, and with arms would sometimes visit the plantations where they and been enslaved, thrilling the remaining slaves and infuriating owners like Minor.
General Washington and his officers were constantly trying to get around the Southern bloc in the Continental Congress. South Carolina was willing because, perhaps more so than any other region of the country the South Carolina civilian population were suffering from the British military initiatives. See related quotes.
He stated that he had a vision and made these two prophesies that indeed came true. The first was the South Carolina secession starting the Civil War. The second, when the North used former slaves as soldiers who fought their old masters.
Benjamin was the Confederacy’s strongest proponent for use of Negro troops in exchange for a promise of freedom. Ironically, the racial prejudice of the Southern soldier may well have doomed the South’s last chance for independence. Lee, although he personally favored such a course of action, could not get a general sentiment from the army as a whole.
It is not known what actually happened thereafter. However, from the intensity of this letter, it is likely that unless Rice was killed or wounded in battle, he went to get his daughter and deal with her “owner”. An interesting side note is that the slave owner actually sent the letter to the Commanding Union General Rosecrans complaining. The mental set of Southern Slave Owners was incredible to us today, but that is one of the reasons that Reconstruction was so difficult. Southerners could not see anything that they did that was wrong. Unfortunately, there are a few racist people with those views still in America plus many throughout the world.
In the middle of WWII where Black soldiers were fighting and dying on the war front, there were fears of racists that the Blacks would return and demand full equality and an end to segregation. There were threats in the South of armed attacks against any returning serviceman who would push for desegregation.
The Southerners were terrified at the thought of runaway and freed slaves as soldiers for the Union Army—even moreso than the Union leadership assumed. The Southerners knew far better than the Northerners how badly the slaves had been brutalized and assumed that the Blacks would want the same kind of revenge that they would seek if the roles were reversed.
