CHAPTER XLIII.
LOYALTY AND BRAVERY OF THE BLACKS.
The assault on Fort Sumter on the 12th of April,
1861, was the dawn of a new era for the Negro. The
proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for the first
seventy-five thousand men to put down the Rebellion,
was responded to by the colored people throughout the
country. In Boston, at a public meeting of the blacks
a large number came forward, put their names to an
agreement to form a brigade, and march at once to
the seat of war. A committee waited on the Governor
three days later, and offered the services of these men.
His Excellency replied that he had no power to receive
them. This was the first wet blanket thrown over the
negro's enthusiasm. "This is a white man's war,"
said most of the public journals. "I will never fight
by the side of a nigger," was heard in every quarter
where men were seen in Uncle Sam's uniform.
Wherever recruiting offices were opened, black men offered themselves, and were rejected. Yet these people, feeling conscious that right would eventually prevail, waited patiently for the coming time, pledging themselves to go at their country's call.
