The prolonged struggle which culminated in permitting the Negro's
general enlistment in our Civil War had only to be repeated to secure
for him the full pay of a soldier, the right to be treated as a
prisoner of war, and to relieve him of the monopoly of fatigue and
garrison duty. He was too overjoyed with the boon of fighting for the
liberation of his race to make much contention about who was to lead
him. With meagre exception, his exclusive business in that war was to
carry a gun. Yet repeatedly Negro soldiers evinced high capacity for
command. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson draws a glowing portrait
of Sergeant Prince Rivers, Color-Sergeant of the First South Carolina
Volunteers, a regiment of slaves, organized late in 1862. The
Color-Sergeant was provost-Sergeant also, and had entire charge of the
prisoners and of the daily policing of the camp.
"He is a man of distinguished appearance and in old times was the
crack coachman of Beaufort. * * * They tell me that he was once
allowed to present a petition to the Governor of South Carolina in
behalf of slaves, for the redress of certain grievances, and that a
placard, offering two thousand dollars for his re-capture is still to
be seen by the wayside between here and Charleston. He was a sergeant
in the old 'Hunter Regiment,' and was taken by General Hunter to New
York last spring, where the chevrons on his arm brought a mob upon him
in Broadway, whom he kept off till the police interfered.
Pages:
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427