AEMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



25 



overstay furloughs or to desert was lessened, 

 and the efficiency of the army thereby greatly 

 promoted. As the example of officers abusing 

 the privileges of their furloughs was naturally 

 supposed to exert an injurious influence upon 

 the rank and file of the army, the commander- 

 in-chief, in accordance with a special privilege 

 in the Conscription Act, instructed courts mar- 

 tial, in all parts of the country, that they had 

 power to sentence officers who should absent 

 themselves from their commands without leave, 

 to be reduced to the ranks to serve three years 

 or during the war ; and, by a general order from 

 the War Department, commanding officers 

 were required to report in their monthly re- 

 turns of deserters the names of men joined 

 from desertion, as well as those who deserted 

 during the month. So effective were these 

 provisions, that at the close of the year the 

 general-in-chief was enabled to report a con- 

 siderable abatement in straggling and deser- 

 tion, as well as in the overstaying of furloughs, 

 although he was of the opinion that the pun- 

 ishment was not quite sufficiently prompt and 

 certain to entirely prevent the evil. From the 

 report of the provost marshal-general, to whom 

 was intrusted the general direction of the sub- 

 ject, it appears that, between May 1st and No- 

 vember 1st, nearly twenty-two thousand 'de- 

 serters and absentees were arrested ; and that, 

 owing to the greater probability of arrest and 

 to the punishments that had been inflicted, the 

 number of deserters in September and October 

 was only one half as great as in May and June. 



Previous to 1863, the employment of colored 

 soldiers in the United States service was con- 

 fined to two or three localities. At Hilton 

 Head, S. Carolina, Gen. Hunter had caused the 

 able-bodied negroes from the neighboring plan- 

 tations to be formed into regiments and drilled 

 by competent officers ; and Gen. Butler, find- 

 ing in New Orleans a colored corps of the 

 Louisiana State militia, raised under the cer- 

 tificate of a former governor of the State, 

 placed it in the service of the Goyernment, 

 and encouraged the formation of similar or- 

 ganizations. These troops were originally in- 

 tended chiefly for local service, or, if sent be- 

 yond the localities in which they were raised, 

 were to be employed to garrison posts which 

 the unacclimated Northern soldiers could not 

 safely occupy during the unhealthy season. 

 Public opinion had not yet decided that they 

 could become an integral portion of the army 

 and as such be available for every species of 

 military service, notwithstanding that Congress, 

 by two acts passed in July, 1862, had expressly 

 authorized the employment of colored men as 

 troops. 



The first of these, known as the Confiscation 

 Act| permitted the President to employ as 

 many persons of African descent as he might 

 deem necessary and proper for the suppression 

 of the rebellion and for that purpose to or- 

 ganize and use them in such manner as he 

 might judge best for the public welfare. The 



second act authorized him to receive into 

 the service of the United States for any spe- 

 cies of labor or military or naval service for 

 which they might be found competent, persons 

 of African descent, who should be enrolled 

 and organized under such regulations, not in- 

 consistent with the Constitution and the laws, 

 as he might prescribe ; and should receive $10 

 per month and one ration per day, of which 

 monthly pay $3 dollars might be in clothing. 



Both laws were made with reference to 

 those persons who by force of arms or by pro- 

 visions of statutes had been recently freed from 

 bondage; and the important class of colored 

 soldiers from the free States was probably not 

 then in the contemplation of Congress. Many 

 considerations were urged upon the President 

 to induce him to exercise the power conferred 

 upon him in a restricted sense only. The em- 

 ployment of negroes as laborers iipon fortifica- 

 tions, teamsters, boatmen, and in similar ca- 

 pacities, was declared legitimate and sufficient 

 for the present needs of the country ; but, in 

 the opinion of many, the arming of any con- 

 siderable body of such persons was a measure 

 fraught with ominous consequences. "Whether 

 or not these reasons were deemed conclusive, it 

 is certain that, previous to 1863, the number of 

 persons of African descent employed as sol- 

 diers was exceedingly limited. But with the 

 commencement of the year, a vigorous move- 

 ment was initiated in various parts of the coun- 

 try to organize colored regiments, and espe- 

 cially to bring to the aid of the Government the 

 latent strength of the large negro population 

 in the seceded States. 



On January 12th, Mr. Stevens, of Pennsyl- 

 vania, introduced into the House of Eepresent- 

 atives a bill authorizing the President to raise, 

 equip, and organize 150,000 colored troops, 

 which, after being amended so as to provide 

 for the enlistment of not over 300,000, was 

 passed, February. 2d, in the face of a deter- 

 mined opposition from members of the border 

 States, and from some friends of the adminis- 

 tration. A similar bill introduced by Mr. Sum- 

 ner in the Senate, having been reported back 

 from the Committee on Military Affairs, with a 

 recommendation that it should not pass, on the 

 ground that sufficient authority to raise such 

 troops was conferred by the act of 1862, no 

 further action was taken on either bill. The 

 subject had, however, been by this time very 

 generally discussed, both in and out of Con- 

 gress, and in deference to the wishes of a large 

 portion of the community, and of many promi- 

 nent public men, including officers of expe- 

 rience, the President determined to exercise, to 

 their fullest extent, the powers conferred upon 

 him by the act of 1862. Congress having in the 

 Conscription Act avoided making any distinc- 

 tion between white and colored citizens, and re- 

 quired them equally to be enrolled and drafted 

 in the armies of the United States, the policy 

 of the administration thenceforth became clear- 

 ly defined, and "persons of African descent," 



