428 



FREEDMEN OF THE SOUTH. 



shall sell or enslave any one because of his color, the 

 offence shall be punished by retaliation upon the ene- 

 my's prisoners in our possession. It is therefore or- 

 dered 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, and continued at such 

 labor until the other shall be released, and receive the 

 treatment due to a prisoner of war. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

 By order of the Secretary of War. 

 "E. D. TOWN-SEND, Asst. Adjt.-Geo. 



But while the able-bodied men among the 

 freedmen were thus enlisted in the military 

 and naval service of the United States, and 

 many of the women found employment in the 

 vicinity of the camps, garrisons and hospitals, 

 there was a much larger class who were not 

 able-bodied, some of them capable of perform- 

 ing some labor, others feeble, decrepit and 

 helpless. In the regions which were occupied 

 by Federal troops, the planters who sympa- 

 thized with the Southern Confederacy had gen- 

 erally fled southward, taking with them or 

 sending before them their able-bodied slaves, 

 and leaving to the mercy of the invading army 

 the old and decrepit, and the children who 

 were too young to be of much value. Those 

 who escaped, too, and came into the Union 

 lines, often encountered great hardships in do- 

 ing so, and in many instances arrived sick, half- 

 starved, and with only a few rags for clothing. 

 It was obviously the duty of the Government 

 to provide in part at least for these poor crea- 

 tures, and to furnish employment for such of 

 them as were able to work, that they might 

 sustain themselves and their more helpless 

 kindred. There were, however, serious prac- 

 tical difficulties in the way. On the Mississippi, 

 especially below Vicksburg, it was a matter of 

 difficulty to obtain a sufficiency of rations for 

 the soldiers, to say nothing of the 30,000 or 

 40,000 helpless colored people who looked to 

 the Government .for food, and the Government 

 ration was not well adapted to the freedmen 

 who had been accustomed all their lives to 

 corn bread and bacon. Clothing the Govern- 

 ment had not, and could not procure, except 

 for the uniforms of its soldiers. These sick, 

 helpless, feeble and infirm persons, and all who 

 were not employed with the army, were there- 

 fore collected in camps at different points and 

 rations furnished them, such clothing as could 

 be collected provided, and appeals made to the 

 people of the North for new and second-hand 

 clothing to supply their needs. Generous re- 

 sponses were made to these appeals, and vast 

 quantities of clothing forwarded. The Western 

 Sanitary Commission at St. Louis was particu- 

 larly active in ministering to their wants, and 

 in some measure occupied the position of a 

 guardian to them, distributing clothing, books 

 and medicines among them, establishing schools, 

 and teaching them to make a judicious use of 

 the Government rations. Those who were ca- 

 pable of performing some labor, were presently 

 employed on the abandoned plantations, which 



were leased under certain restrictions to ten- 

 ants for one year. Different plans were adopted 

 in different sections for accomplishing this ; all 

 of them more or less faulty, though some better 

 devised than others. Adjutant General Thomas, 

 who had done so much in the way of organ- 

 izing colored regiments, consulted with General 

 Grant and other officers, and with the Presi- 

 dent, and announced the following plan for the 

 region from Columbus, Ky., to Grand Gulf, 

 Mississippi: 



First. The Government of the United States, in or- 

 der to secure the safety of commerce and navigation 

 on the Mississippi, have determined to locate on or 

 near its beach a loyal population, who will protect in- 

 stead of destroying as is now done the freedom of 

 commercial intercourse on this great inland sea. That 

 this policy may the more speedily receive its initiation, 

 George B. Field, Capt. A. E. Shickle, and the Rev. D. 

 S. Livermore are hereby appointed commissioners, 

 whose duty it shall be to superintend the letting of 

 plantations to persons of proper character and qualifi- 

 cations, and to see that the mutual obligations between 

 the negroes and their employers or superintendents 

 shall be faithfully performed ; to attend in some meas- 

 ure to their moral and intellectual wants, and generally 

 to carry out the policy of the Government regarding 

 negroes that are to be put to agricultural pursuits. 



Second. It being deemed the best policy as far as 

 possible to make the employment and subsistence of 

 negroes a matter to be left to private enterprise, plan- 

 tations will be placed in possession of such persons as 

 the commissioners shall deem of good character and 

 pecuniary responsibility, and in lieu of rent a tax will 

 be collected upon the product of the land, payable to 

 such agents as the Treasury Department snail desig- 

 nate, care being taken to secure as far as possible the 

 just rights of the employers and employed; in all 

 cases the negroes wilt be furnished with enough 

 clothing for comfort in advance of their earnings, in 

 consequence of their extreme destitution, and in no 

 case will negroes be subjected to corporal punishment 

 by the lash or other cruel and usual modes. 



Third. Upon the occupancy of plantations inspec- 

 tors will visit each plantation and take an inventory 

 of all the property upon the estate. Crops yet un- 

 gathered will be turned over to be gathered by the 

 lessee upon such terms as shall secure to the Govern- 

 ment its fair share, while all movable property, stock, 

 grain, Ac., will be taken possession of by the Govern- 

 ment, or sold to the lessee, if he so desires, at their 

 appraised value, payable out of the proceeds of the 

 plantation in the fall ; the appraisers to be appointed 

 by the commissioners, unless otherwise designated by 

 tne Government. 



Fourth, After the lessee shall have taken possession 

 of the plantation, as many negroes of average quality 

 as he may desire may be turned over to him upon the 

 order of the commissioners, the lessee entering into 

 bonds to employ them until the 1st of February, 1864, 

 and to feed, clothe, and treat humanely all the negroes 

 thus turned over, the clothing to be deducted from 

 their wages, and to be furnished at cost. 



Fifth. If it shall be found impracticable, in conse- 

 quence of the lateness of the season, to find persons 

 of sufficient character and responsibility to give em- 

 ployment to all the negroes coming within the lines of 

 the" army, the commissioners may appoint superinten- 

 dents, under whose supervision the soil may be culti- 

 vated for the exclusive benefit of the Government, or 

 may have the plantations worked upon such terms as 

 in their judgment shall be best adapted to the welfare 

 of the negroes, taking care that in all plans adopted 

 the negroes shall be self-sustaining, and not become n 

 charge upon the Government. 



Sixth. The wages paid for labor shall be as follows : 

 For. able-bodied men over 15 years of age, $7 per 

 month ; for able-bodied women over 15 years of age, 



