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CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



A prejudice is where you do not like the thing 

 itself. We in the North had somewhat of this 

 prejudice against the colored. You of the 

 South had none. From the rarity, they were 

 offensive to us. But we are getting used to 

 the negro, and are getting free from our for- 

 mer mode of feeling and speaking on the subject. 

 That was a prejudice. But you had not any 

 such feeling of dislike or offensiveness at the 

 South. Now I am getting over that feeling, 

 and you are getting it. And it is a political 

 idea you are getting, and not a prejudice at all. 



"Now, sir, you will allow me to state how 

 I got over my prejudices. I think the House 

 got over theirs after the exhibition we had yes- 

 terday. I think no man will get up here and 

 say he speaks only to white men again. He 

 must at first show himself worthy before he 

 can speak to some colored men in this House 

 after what occurred yesterday. 



"I got over my prejudices from the exhibi- 

 tion of like high qualities of the negro, but in 

 a different manner from that, in which, I have 

 no doubt, many a prejudice was removed against 

 the negro in the House yesterday. In Louisi- 

 ana, in 1862, when our arms were meeting 

 with disasters hefore Richmond, I was in com- 

 mand of the city of New Orleans with a very 

 few troops, and those daily diminishing by 

 the diseases incident to the climate, with a 

 larger number of Confederate soldiers paroled 

 in the city than I had troops. I called upon 

 my Government for reinforcements, and they 

 could not give me any, and I therefore called 

 upon the colored men to enlist in defense of 

 their country. I brought together the officers 

 of two colored regiments that had been raised 

 by the Confederates for the defense of the city 

 against us but which disbanded when we 

 came there because they would not fight 

 against us, and staid at home when their 

 white comrades ran ; away and I said: ' How 

 soon can you enlist me 'one thousand men ? ' 

 ' In ten days, general,' they answered ; and 

 when the thousand men were brought together 

 in a large hall, I saw such a body of recruits 

 as I never saw before. Why, sir, every one 

 of them had on a clean shirt, a thing not often 

 got in a body of a thousand recruits. I put 

 colored officers in command of them, and I or- 

 ganized them. But we all had our prejudice 

 against them. I was told they would not 

 fight. I raised another regiment, and by the 

 time I got them organized, before I could test 

 their fighting qualities in the field, the exigen- 

 cies of the service required that I should be 

 relieved from the command of that depart- 

 ment. 



" I came into command again in Virginia 

 in 1863. I there, organized twenty-five regi- 

 ments, with some that were sent to me, and 

 disciplined them. Still all my brother officers 

 of the regular army said my colored soldiers 

 would not fight; and I felt it was necessa- 

 ry that they should fight to show that their 

 race were capable of the duties of citizens ; for 



one of the highest duties of citizens is to de- 

 fend their own liberties and their country's flag 

 and honor. On the 29th of September, 1864, 

 I was ordered by the commanding general of 

 the armies to cross the James River at two 

 points and attack the enemy's line of works ; 

 one in the centre of their line, Fort Harrison, 

 the other a strong work guarding their left 

 flank at New Market Heights ; and there are 

 men on this floor who will remember that day, 

 I doubt not, as I do myself. I gave the centre 

 of the line to the white troops, the Eighteenth 

 Corps, under General Ord, and they attacked 

 one very strong work and carried it gallantly. 

 I went myself with the colored troops, to at- 

 tack the enemy at New Market Heights, which 

 was the key to the enemy's flank on the north 

 side of James River. That work was a re- 

 doubt built on the top of a hill of some consider- 

 able elevation ; then running down into a 

 marsh ; in that marsh was a brook ; then ris- 

 ing again to a plain which gently rolled away 

 toward the river. On that plain, when the 

 flash of dawn was breaking, I placed a column 

 of three thousand colored troops, in close 

 column by division, right in front, with guns 

 at ' right shoulder shift.' 



" I said : ' That work must be taken by the 

 weight of your column ; no shot must be fired ; ' 

 and to prevent their firing I had the caps taken 

 from the nipples of their guns. Then I said, 

 ' Your cry, when you charge, will be, " Remem- 

 ber Fort Pillow I " ' and as the sun rose up in the 

 heavens the order was given, ' Forward ! ' and 

 they marched forward, steadily as if on parade 

 went down the hill, across the marsh, and as 

 they got into the brook they came within range 

 of the enemy's fire, which vigorously opened 

 upon them. They broke a little as they forded 

 the brook, and the column wavered. Oh, it was 

 a moment of intensest anxiety, but they formed 

 again as they reached the firm ground, march- 

 ing steadily on with closed ranks under the 

 enemy's fire, until the head of the column 

 reached the first line of abattis, some one hun- 

 dred and fifty yards from the enemy's work. 

 Then the axe-men ran to the front to cut away 

 the heavy obstructions of defense, while one 

 thousand men of the enemy, with their artillery 

 concentrated, from the redoubt poured a heavy 

 fire upon the head of the column hardly wider 

 than the clerk's desk. The axe-men went down 

 under that murderous fire ; other strong hands 

 grasped the axes in their stead, and the abattis 

 was cut away. Again, at double-quick, the col- 

 umn goes forward to within fifty yards of the 

 fort, to meet there another line of abattis. The 

 column halts, and there a very fire of hell is 

 pouring upon it. The abattis resists and holds, 

 the head of the column seemed literally to melt 

 away under the rain of shot and shell, the flags 

 of the leading regiments go down, but a brave 

 black hand seizes the colors ; they are up again 

 and wave their starry light over the storm of 

 battle ; again the axe-men fall, but strong hands 

 and willing hearts seize the heavy sharpened 



