“On the third point he seemed to have less difficulty, though he did not absolutely commit himself. He simply said that he would sign any commission to colored soldiers whom his Secretary of War should commend to him. Though I was not entirely satisfied with his views, I was so well satisfied with the man and with the educating tendency of the conflict that I determined to go on with the recruiting.”
From the White House, Mr. Douglass went directly to the War Department and had an interview with Stanton. Contrary to his expectation, he found the Secretary most cordial, listening to the complaints with interest and patience. Douglass says that Stanton made “the best defense that I had heard from any one of the treatment of colored soldiers by the government. I was not satisfied, yet I left in the full belief that the true course to the black man’s freedom and citizenship was over the battle-field and that my business was to get every black man I could into the Union army.
“Both the President and Secretary assured me that justice would ultimately be done to my race and,” he adds, “I gave full credit and faith to these promises.” He was now better than ever prepared to say to his people that, if they would be free, they must not be afraid to suffer injustice and, if need be, cruelty.
In his interview with Mr. Stanton, the question came up as to the advisability of commissioning colored men as officers of colored regiments. The Secretary expressed his willingness and readiness to issue a commission to Mr. Douglass, if he would accept. On being assured that he would, Stanton promised to make him assistant adjutant to General Thomas, who was recruiting and organizing troops in Mississippi. He returned to his home in Rochester, N. Y., confidently expecting that the commission would be sent him, but for some reason, not explained, it was never issued. Mr. Douglass’s only comment on this lapse of the Secretary of War was: “The government, I fear, was still clinging to the idea that positions of honor in the service should be occupied by white men and that it would not do to inaugurate the policy of perfect equality.”
At length the outlook improved. Signs appeared of better treatment of the colored soldiers by the Confederate armies. On July 30, 1863, President Lincoln issued an order “that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works.” All the Union generals readily coöperated with the President’s efforts to have his black troops receive equal consideration. General Grant was especially interested in this matter and gave instructions to the white men in his ranks to treat the colored soldiers as comrades.
The Negro troops, by their soldierly qualities, displayed at Fort Wagner, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Morris Island, and other places, had fully earned the right to honorable treatment, and such deserving had its good effects. When the government finally recognized the services of its black defenders, there was no trouble in getting the colored men to enlist. From each state and territory in and out of the Union, they offered themselves to the Federal government with as much eagerness as if they were already in possession of every right they hoped to receive.
The following table of figures will show how largely black men responded to President Lincoln’s call to the defense of the Union:
| Connecticut | 1,764 |
| Maine | 104 |
| Massachusetts | 3,966 |
| New Hampshire | 125 |
| Rhode Island | 1,837 |
| Vermont | 120 |
| New Jersey | 1,185 |
| New York | 4,125 |
| Pennsylvania | 8,612 |
| Colorado | 95 |
| Illinois | 1,811 |
| Indiana | 1,537 |
| Iowa | 440 |
| Kansas | 2,080 |
| Minnesota | 104 |
| Michigan | 1,387 |
| Ohio | 5,092 |
| Wisconsin | 165 |
| Delaware | 954 |
| District of Columbia | 3,269 |
| Kentucky | 23,703 |
| Maryland | 8,718 |
| Missouri | 8,344 |
| West Virginia | 196 |
| Alabama | 4,969 |
| Arkansas | 5,526 |
| Florida | 1,044 |
| Louisiana | 3,480 |
| Mississippi | 17,869 |
| North Carolina | 5,035 |
| South Carolina | 5,462 |
| Tennessee | 20,123 |
| Texas | 47 |
| At large | 733 |
| Not accounted for | 5,083 |
| Officers | 7,122 |
| Total | 186,017[[5]] |
[5]. History of the Negro Race in America, George W. Williams, Vol. II, p. 299.
In addition to this impressive total it is estimated that there were about 92,576 colored men serving with regiments in other capacities. That the Negroes proved to be good soldiers, whenever or wherever their fibre was put to trial, is the unvarying testimony of every officer and commander who had any opportunity to know their conduct in the field. The exigencies of the war were such that the troops thus furnished were sorely needed. The whole fighting strength of the North was none too great to cope with the Southern armies, and the enlistment of black men was effected at a critical moment in the struggle.