For ten years previous, a dissatisfaction had prevailed among the colonists, against the mother country, in consequence of the excessive draughts of supplies, and taxation, made upon them, for the support of the wars carried on in Europe. The aspect began to change, the light grew dim, the sky darkened, the clouds gathered lower and lower, the lightning glimmered through the black elements around—the storm advanced, until on the fifth of March, 1773, it broke out in terrible blasts, drenching the virgin soil of America, with the blood of her own native sons—Crispus Attuck, a colored man, was the first who headed, the first who commanded, the first who charged, who struck the first blow, and the first whose blood was spilt, and baptized the colony, as a peace-offering on the altar of American liberty. "The people were greatly exasperated. The multitude, armed with clubs, ran towards King street, crying, 'Let us drive out the ribalds; they have no business here!' The rioters rushed furiously towards the Custom House; they approached the sentinel crying, 'Kill him, kill him!' They assaulted him with snowballs, pieces of ice, and whatever they could lay their hands upon. They encountered a band of the populace led by a mulatto named Attucks, who brandished their clubs and pelted them with snow-balls. The maledictions, the imprecations, the execrations of the multitudes were horrible. In the midst of a torrent of invectives from every quarter, the military were challenged to fire. The populace advanced to the points of the bayonets; the soldiers appeared like statues; the cries, the howlings, the menaces, the violent din of bells still sounding the alarm, increased the confusion and the horrors of these moments: at length the mulatto and twelve of his companions, pressing forward environed the soldiers, and striking their muskets with their clubs cried to the multitude: 'Be not afraid, they dare not fire; why do you hesitate, why do you not kill them, why not crush them at once?' The mulatto lifted his arm against Captain Preston, having turned one of the muskets, he seized the bayonet with his left hand, as if he intended to execute his threat. At this moment confused cries were heard: 'The wretches dare not fire!' Firing succeeds. Attucks is slain. Two other discharges follow. Three were killed, five severely wounded, and several others slightly." Attucks was killed by Montgomery, one of Captain Preston's soldiers. He had been foremost in resisting, and was first slain; as proof of front and close engagement, received two balls, one in each breast." "John Adams, counsel for the soldier, admitted that Attucks appeared to have undertaken to be the hero of the night, and to lead the army with banners. John Hancock, in 1774, invokes the injured shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks and Carr." Nell's Wars, 1776 and 1812, pp. 5, 6.—Rhode Island also contributes largely to the capital stock of citizenship. "In Rhode Island, the blacks formed an entire regiment, and they discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity. The gallant defence of Red Bank, in which the black regiment bore a part, is among the proofs of their valor." In this contest it will be recollected, that four hundred men met and repulsed, after a terrible sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred Hessian troops, headed by count Donop." Ibid., p. 10. Connecticut next claims to be heard and given credit on the nation's books. In speaking of the patriots who bore the standard of their country's glory, Judge Goddard, who held the office of commissioner of pensions for nineteen colored soldiers, says, "I cannot refrain from mentioning one aged black man, Primus Babcock, who proudly presented to me an honorable discharge from service during the war, dated at the close of it, wholly in the hand-writing of George Washington. Nor can I forget the expression of his feelings, when informed that, after his discharge had been sent to the department, that it could not be returned. At his request it was written for, as he seemed to spurn the pension and reclaim the discharge." It is related of Babcock, that when the British in a successful charge took a number of the Americans prisoners, they were ordered to deliver up their arms by the British officer of the detachment, which demand was readily conceded to by all the prisoners except Babcock, who looking at the officer sternly—at the margin of a mud pond foot of Bunker Hill—turned his musket bayonet downwards, thrusting it into the mire up to the armpit, drawing out his muddy arm, turned to the British officer, and said, "Now dirty your silk glove, and take it—you red coat!" The officer raised his sword as if to cut him down for the impertinence, then replied, "You are too brave a soldier to be killed, you black devil!" A few years since, a musket evidently a relic of the Revolution, was found near the same spot in the singular position of that thrust down by Babcock, no doubt being the same, which was deposited among the relics in the archives at Washington. Babcock died but a few years ago, aged we believe 101 years.
"When Major Montgomery, one of the leaders in the expedition against the colonists, was lifted upon the walls of the fort by his soldiers, flourishing his sword and calling on them to follow him, Jordan Freeman received him on the point of a pike and pinned him dead to the earth." "New Hampshire gives her testimony to the deposit of colored interest. There was a regiment of blacks in the same situation, a regiment of negroes fighting for our liberty and independence, not a white man among them but the officers, in the same dangerous and responsible position. Had they been unfaithful, or given way before the enemy all would have been lost. Three times in succession were they attacked with most desperate fury by well disciplined and veteran troops, and three times did they successfully repel the assault, and thus preserve the army. They fought thus through the war. They were brave and hearty troops." Nell, pp. 11, 13.
New York comes bravely to the call, and sends her investments by land and sea. In the convention of 1821, for revising the constitution of the State, the question of equal rights having been introduced, Doctor Clarke among other things said, "In the war of the Revolution, these people helped to fight our battles by land and by sea. Some of your states were glad to turn out corps of colored men, and to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with them. In your late war, they contributed largely towards some of your most splendid victories. On lakes Erie and Champlain, where your fleets triumphed over a foe superior in numbers and engines of death, they were manned in a large proportion with men of color. And in this very house, in the fall of 1814, a bill passed receiving all the branches of your government, authorising the governor to accept the services of a corps of two thousand free people of color. These were times when a man who shouldered his musket did not know but he bared his bosom to receive a death wound from the enemy ere he laid it aside; and in these times these people were found as ready and as willing to volunteer in your service as any other. They were not compelled to go; they were not draughted.... They were volunteers...." Said Martindale of New York in congress 22 of first month 1828: "Slaves, or negroes who had been slaves, were enlisted as soldiers in the War of the Revolution; and I myself saw a battalion of them, as fine martial looking men as I ever saw, attached to the northern army in the last war, on its march from Plattsburg to Sackett's Harbor."
Pennsylvania contributes an important share in the stock of Independence, as will be seen by the following historical reminiscence: "On the capture of Washington by the British forces, it was judged expedient to fortify without delay, the principal towns and cities exposed to similar attacks. The Vigilance Committee of Philadelphia waited upon three of the principal Colored citizens, namely, James Forten, Bishop Allen, and Absalom Jones, soliciting the aid of the people of Color in erecting suitable defences for the city. Accordingly two thousand five hundred Colored men assembled in the State House yard, and from thence marched to Gray's Ferry, where they labored for two days, almost without intermission. Their labors were so faithful and efficient, that a vote of thanks was tendered them by the Committee. A battalion of Colored troops were at the same time organized in the city, under an officer of the United States army; and they were on the point of marching to the frontier when peace was proclaimed."—Ibid., pp. 14-17-18.[2]
And even in the slave States, where might reasonably be expected, nothing but bitter hate and burning revenge to exist—where the displeasure of Heaven and anger of God was invoked—where it is thought the last glimmering spark of patriotic fire has been quenched, and every aid withheld—even there, in the hour of their country's danger, did they lay aside every consideration of the ten thousand wrongs inflicted—throw in their contributions, and make common cause.
Says Mr. Nell, "The celebrated Charles Pinkney, of South Carolina, in his speech on the Missouri question, in defence of the Slave representation of the South, made the following admission:—They (the colored people) were in numerous instances the pioneers, and in all the labors of our army. To their hands we are owing the greatest part of the fortifications raised for the protection of the country. Fort Moultrie gave, at an early period of inexperience and untried valor of our citizens, immortality to the American arms." And were there no other proof on record, the testimony given to the brave followers of the renowned hero of Chalmet Plains, would of itself be sufficient to establish the right of the colored man to eligibility in his native country. "In 1814," continues Mr. Nell, "when New Orleans was in danger, and the proud criminal distinctions of caste were again demolished by one of those emergencies in which nature puts to silence for the moment the base partialities of art, the free colored people were called into the field in common with the whites; and the importance of their services was thus acknowledged by General Jackson:—
"Head-Quarters Seventh Military
District, Mobile, September 21, 1814."To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana:
"Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights, in which our country is engaged. This no longer shall exist. As sons of Freedom you are now called upon to defend your most estimable blessings. As Americans, your country looks with confidence to her adopted children, for a valorous support, as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally round the standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence.
"Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish you to engage in her cause, without remunerating you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds are not to be led away by false representations—your love of honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier, and the language of truth I address you.
"To every noble hearted free man of color, volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty in money and lands now received by white soldiers of the United States, namely, one hundred and twenty-four dollars in money and one hundred and sixty acres in land. The non-commissioned officers and privates will also be entitled to the same monthly pay and daily rations and clothes furnished to any American soldiers.
"On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major General commanding will select officers for your government from your white fellow-citizens. Your non-commissioned officers will be appointed from among yourselves.
"Due regard will be paid to the feelings of free men and soldiers.
"You will not, by being associated with white men in the same corps, be exposed to improper comparison, or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, independent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will, undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.
"To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to engage your invaluable services to our country, I have communicated my wish to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed as to the manner of enrollments, and will give you every necessary information on the subject of this address.
"ANDREW JACKSON,
"Major General Commanding."
On the 18th of December, 1814, through his Aid-de-camp, Colonel Butler, the General issued another address to the colored soldiers, who had proven themselves, in every particular, worthy of their country's trust, and in every way worthy of the proudest position of enfranchised freemen. To deny to men and their descendants, who are capable of such deeds as are acknowledged in this proclamation, equal rights with other men, is a moral homicide—as assassination, which none but the most malicious and obdurate are capable of perpetrating. Surely, surely, it cannot be, that our fellow-citizens, who control the destiny of the country, one fully advised of the claims of their brethren in adversity—we cannot be persuaded that a people, claiming the self-respect and consideration of the American people, can be satisfied that the perils of war be encountered by them—their country's rights sustained—and their liberty, the liberty of their wives and children defended and protected; then, with a cool deliberation, unknown to any uncivilized people on the face of the earth, deny them a right—withhold their consent to their having equal enjoyment of human rights with other citizens, with those who have never contributed aid to our country—but we give the proclamation and let it speak for itself. Of it Mr. Nell says:—
"The second proclamation is one of the highest compliments ever paid by a military chief to his soldiers."
"Soldiers! When on the banks of the Mobile, I called you to take up arms, inviting you to partake the perils and glory of your white fellow-citizens, I expected much from you; for I was not ignorant that you possessed qualities most formidable to an invading enemy. I knew with what fortitude you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the fatigues of a campaign. I knew well how you love your native country, and that you, as well as ourselves, had to defend what man holds most dear—his parents, wife, children, and property. You have done more than I expected. In addition to the previous qualities I before knew you to possess, I found among you noble enthusiasm, which leads to the performance of great things.
"Soldiers! The President of the United States shall hear how praise-worthy was your conduct in the hour of danger; and the representatives of the American people will give you the praise your exploits entitle you to. The General anticipates them in applauding your noble ardor.
"The enemy approaches; his vessels cover our lakes; our brave citizens are united, and all contentions have ceased among them. Their only dispute is, who shall win the prize of valor, or who the most glory, its noblest reward.
"By order,
"THOMAS BUTLER, Aid-de-camp."