Historical Romance of the American Negro

by Charles Henry Fowler

As the hospital where my husband was staying was at this time one of the greatest attractions of New Orleans, the authorities determined to make the most of our arrival there, and in short get up a demonstration in force in honor of the colored soldier and the glorious deeds he had done on the far-extended battle-field, all the way from the Potomac to the Rio Grande; and it was decided that some high military general should be asked to take the chair at this great meeting in the largest hall at the hospital. As the newspaper reporters were once more on hand in force, it will be unnecessary for me to say any more about this grand demonstration, only I may say that men have a peculiar love for flattering the fair sex, and I think that newspaper reporters, at least those in the Sunny South, lead all the rest of the flatterers. I will here insert a copy from the article of the same paper that contained the glowing account of our arrival at New Orleans:

"GRAND DEMONSTRATION AT THE MILITARY HOSPITAL—MRS. BEULAH LINCOLN ON THE COLORED SOLDIER.

"It will be a long time before the citizens of New Orleans and Louisiana will forget the mighty gathering that took place last night at the Military Hospital, where the commanding general took the chair, and nobly presided for two hours over a mixed multitude of all races and professions, to be entertained by Capt. Thos. Lincoln, Mrs. Beulah Lincoln and their two daughters, all of whom are by this time well-known to the people of Louisiana. The colored soldiers, officers, and general population were out in force, and between them and the white portion of the audience, standing room at last was a premium, and hundreds were turned away for want of room in the hall.

"All things being now in readiness, the chairman called the meeting to order by saying,—'Ladies and Gentlemen! We are assembled here to-night for an evening's entertainment from the Lincoln Family of Buffalo, and we may also consider this a public reception of the same family. And inasmuch as Mrs. Lincoln is a splendid hand on the piano, and a 'number one' singer in the bargain, and as I had the pleasure of hearing her myself, only the other day, going through the 'Mocking Bird' at a rate and in a way such as I have never heard—no, never, elsewhere—I will ask this accomplished lady to give us 'The Mocking Bird,' and sing to her own accompaniment at the same time.'

"When Mrs. Lincoln arose and advanced to the grand piano on the stage in front of the audience, a most tremendous outburst of applause arose from the audience, and almost brought down the roof. But our plucky and accomplished musician struck in without stint, and such a 'Mocking Bird' came forth from her lungs and off the chords of the piano as has not been heard for many a long day on the lower Mississippi. The attention was such as could be felt, and when she got through with the performance, the applause was simply indescribable. An encore was immediately called for with such vigor that the fair player was forced to comply, and with grand spirit and vim she gave us 'We Are Coming Father Abraham, Six Hundred Thousand More.' This really is a grand story, to which Mrs. Lincoln's clever hands and powerful, sweet voice did ample justice. Another encore was called for, but the gallant chairman interfered by rising and saying, 'We now call upon Captain Thos. Lincoln for a few remarks. Let us all give our most earnest attention to Captain Tom.'

"When the applause that had greeted his appearance had somewhat died down, Captain Lincoln went on to say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, such a night as this makes up for all I have suffered in the cause of the Union and Freedom. When I first entered the army to assist in putting down the rebellion, I came down to the State of Louisiana and did my level best against the enemy along the lower Mississippi. While we in Louisiana and the colored troops in South Carolina under General Hunter, proved from our first blows that we could and would fight, the President and his Cabinet were deterred by many prejudiced men in the north and in the very army itself from enlisting colored men. A portion of the northern press were forever thundering against the enlistment of colored men, on account of the prejudice against the color of the skin, or at least against the inheritance of a few drops of African blood. They were envious and jealous lest the descendant of African parentage should fall side by side with the fair-skinned Caucasian, should die and be buried with him, or if he survived the shock of war, should receive the self-same honors as his Anglo-Saxon brother. Of course the white man of the north knew that we could fight quite as well as himself. Why not? But he was afraid of our proving that our claims to manhood were as good as anything he could claim for himself; and therefore he felt unwilling to give us a chance. Then again, not only did the slave-holders of the south desire the continuation of slavery, but there was an 'immense mixed multitude' of their sympathizers north of Mason and Dixon's Line, who took the same view of the situation, and who foresaw that, once the colored race marched to the field, slavery would come to an end. This opposition was rampant in the Union Army and throughout the north till the Southrons had given us dozens, if not hundreds of lickings on many a hard fought field, and the winter of 1862 saw the entire nation in a fearful state of depression. What was to be done?—The answer was at hand!—As a matter of immediate military necessity call the colored men into the field,—free them,—and end the war! Then drilling of colored men began at once, from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Great Lakes to the Ohio and Missouri rivers, and now I believe that we have some two hundred thousand colored men in the field and in the fleets together. Neither have we fought for pay nor from any other personal selfish motive; we have fought for the salvation of Uncle Sam and the freedom of the slave at one and the same time. We have not fought for ourselves alone, we have fought for others, and all the commanding generals have ever given us a good word, and never a bad one. They have uniformly praised our men with a good grace, and praised them without stint. Now the south is steadily going down, down, down. All they have left is a small section in the northeastern part of the confederacy, and they cannot hold out much longer. Still like rats, they will fight as long as there is one man left standing on his feet. I am afraid we shall have to kill every one of them for they are a stiff-necked and rebellious generation, and they will never surrender whilst they have a man in front who can carry a flag.

"'I ought to be in Virginia now myself, where so many of my friends and compatriots, under Grant, are wearing out the rebellion to a nonentity. I would like to be there, and would soon show the rebels and rebel sympathizers again whether I will fight or not. But I am not entirely recovered, even now, from the wounds I received up the river, and here I will remain until I am cured.'

"Captain Lincoln having thus spoken resumed his seat amidst a perfect storm of applause all over the hall.

"The gallant chairman once more arose and said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen. It is now my extreme pleasure to bring under your kind notice the two accomplished young daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, two of the sweetest girls that I ever met with in all my life. They are regular attendants of a Christian Church at Buffalo, and have also received a first class musical education in the north. They will now treat us all to a fine duet on the grand piano.'

"When the commanding general had thus spoken, these two elegant girls advanced to the piano, took their seats, and commenced a duet which gave a world of pleasure to all assembled in the hall, both soldiers and citizens alike, and where and how these girls had got so much training and perfected musical education was a wonder to many. Be that as it may, the girls were not at all daunted, and played as quietly and collected as if they had been in a private parlor at home. When the girls had got through their lively and enthusiastic duet, the applause that followed was so great and continued that they were obliged to comply with the demand for an encore, which they accordingly gave, and which was, if possible, better than the one before it, and was rewarded with another tremendous round of applause.