

MARYLAND. 



615 



distinction is made, or was intended to be made, be- county ; Slaughter's Creek, Dorchester county ; Prin- 

 tween persons of African descent held to service or cess Ann Wharf, Somerset county ; Forrest Wharf ; St. 

 inK,.,. .,i,,i i !,,,<,, r,,, i .,, I,,, i, i Mary's county; Leonurdtown, St. Mary's county; 



Benedict, Charles county ; Lower Marlboro, Calvert 

 county; Monocacy, Frederick county; Uagerstown, 

 Washington county ; Annapolis, Anne Arundel county ; 

 Ellicott's Mills, Howard county ; Cherrystone Creek, 

 Northampton county, Va. ; Chesconessex Creek, Ac- 

 comae county. 



All claims by alleged owners of slaves who may be 

 enlisted will be laid before the board appointed by the 

 President, and consisting of Hugh E. Bond, Thomas 

 Timmons, and L. E. Straughn. The board will hold 

 its session at Baltimore, Md. 



Rolls and recruiting lists will be furnished the board 

 for public information, and on demand exhibited to 

 any person claiming that his or her slave had been en- 

 listed. 



Claims must be presented within ten days after the 

 filing of the said rolls. No claims will be received or 

 entertained from any person who is or has been en- 

 gaged in rebellion against the Government of the Unit- 

 ed States, or who in any way has given aid or shall 

 give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Government ; 

 and all claimants shall file with their claims an oath of 

 allegiance to the Government of the United States. 



Col. Wm. Birney, 2d United States colored troops, 

 recruiting and mustering officer for the State of Ma- 

 ryland, will furnish official copies of all muster-in rolls 

 for the information and guidance of the above board. 



Any citizen of Maryland who shall offer his or her 

 slave for enlistment into the military service shall, if 

 such slave* be accepted, receive from the recruiting of- 

 ficer a certificate thereof, with a descriptive list of such 

 slave, and become entitled to compensation for the ser- 

 vice or labor of said slave not to exceed the sum of 

 three hundred dollars, upon filing with the above 

 board a valid deed of manumission and release, and 

 making satisfactory proof of title; and any slave so 

 enlisting shall be forever thereafter free. 



All enlistments will be made in accordance with the 

 provisions of General Order No. 329, current series, 

 War Department. 



By order of the Secretary of War: 



C. W. FOSTER, Assistant Adj't-Gen'l Volunteers. 



Such was the disposition of the slaves to 

 cross the lines and enter the service in the 

 counties bordering on the city of Washington, 

 that patrols were established by the owners to 

 arrest them. Thus most of them were stop- 

 ped before they reached their destination. Jt 

 was distinctly asserted by the press in Sep- 

 tember that in twelve months, with or without 

 slave enlistments, there would not be a slave in 

 Maryland who desired to be free except the 

 aged and infirm. 



But another and still more important ques- 

 tion came under discussion during the latter 

 part of the year. It related to the emancipa- 

 tion of the slaves. The development of the 

 views on this subject is shown in the move- 

 ments of the political organizations. On the 

 23d of May, 1861, a Union State convention 

 was convened at Baltimore which defined the 

 position of the Union men of Maryland, and 

 provided for the appointment of a State Cen- 

 tral Committee; under the auspices of this 

 committee a State convention was assembled, 

 officers nominated, and the State election held 

 in November of that year. In the progress of 

 events Union Leagues were organized through- 

 out the State, which were represented by the 

 Grand League of the State of Maryland. In 

 the spring of 1863, the Union men desired a 



labor, and those not so held. 



The President is empowered to receive them all into 

 the military service and to assign them such duty as 

 they may be found competent to perform. The tena- 

 cious and brilliant valor displayed by troops of this 

 race, at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend and Fort Wag- 

 ner, has sufficiently demonstrated to the President and 

 to the country the character of the service of which 

 they are capable. In the interpretation given to the 

 Enrollment Act, free persons of African descent are 

 treated as " citizens of the United States," in the sense 

 of the law, and are everywhere being drafted into the 

 military service. 



In reference to the other class of persons of this race 

 those held to service or labor the 12th section of 

 the act of 17th July is still in full force, and the Pres- 

 ident may in his discretion receive them into the army 

 and assign them such field of duty as he may deem 

 them prepared to occupy. In view of the loyalty of 

 this race, and of the'obstmate courage which they have 

 shown themselves to possess, they certainly constitute 

 at this crisis in our history a most powerful and relia- 

 ble arm of the public defence. Whether this arm shall 

 now be exerted is not a question of power or right, but 

 purely of policy, to be determined by the estimate 

 which may be entertained of the conflict in which we 

 are engaged, and of the necessity that presses to bring 

 this waste of blood and treasure to a close. A man 

 precipitated into a struggle for his life, on land or sea, 

 instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth every 

 energy with which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes 

 upon every source of strength within his grasp ; and 

 a nation battling for existence, that does not do the 

 same, may well be regarded as neither wise nor obe- 

 dient to that great law of self-preservation, from which 

 are derived our most urgent and solemn duties. That 

 there exists a prejudice against the employment of 

 soldiers of African descent, is undeniable ; it is, how- 

 ever, rapidly giving way and never had any founda- 

 tion in reason or loyalty. It originated with and has 

 been diligently nurtured by those in sympathy with 

 the rebellion, and its utterance at this moment is 

 necessarily in the interests of treason. 



Should the President feel that the public interests 

 require that he shall exert the power with which he is 

 clothed by the 12th section of the act of 17th July, his 

 action should be in subordination to the constitutional 

 principle which exacts that compensation shall be 

 made for private property devoted to the public uses. 

 A just compensation to loyal claimants to the service 

 or labor of persons of African descent enlisted in our 

 army, would accord with the uniform practice of the 

 Government and with the genius of our institutions. 



Soldiers of this class, after having perilled their 

 lives in defence of the Republic, could not be reen- 

 slaved without a national dishonor revolting and un- 

 endurable for all who are themselves worthy to be free. 

 The compensation made, therefore, should be such as 

 entirely to exhaust the interest of the claimants ; so 

 that when soldiers of this class lay down their arms at 

 the close of the war they may at once enter into the 

 enjoyment of that freedom symbolized by the flag 

 which they have followed and defended. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



J. HOLT, Judge Advocate General. 



These views were subsequently adopted in 

 the action of the Government as appears by 

 the following order of the Secretary of War : 



WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, 



BUREAU FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF COLORED TR 



WASHINGTON, October, IS 



In accordance with orders from the President of the 

 United States, the following recruiting stations have 

 been established for colored troops in the State of 

 Maryland : Baltimore ; Havre de Grace, Hartford 

 county ; Broad Creek, Cecil county ; Chestertown, 

 Kent county; Queenstown, Queen Anne's county; 

 Kent Island Landing, Kent county; Oxford, Talbot 



FICE, | 

 > TROOPS. > 

 r, 1863. j 



