soldiers Where the When news reached Connecticut that Gage had sent a came from. force into the country, and that blood had been shed, Putnam was at work in his field. Leaving his plough in the furrow, he started for Cambridge, without changing his garments. When Stark heard the same tidings, he was sawing pine-logs, and without a coat: shutting down the gate of his mill, he commenced his journey to Boston in his shirt-sleeves. The same spirit animated the Whigs far and near; and the capital of New England was invested with fifteen thousand armed men. "How was it at Charleston? That city was the great mart of the South, and, what Boston still is, the centre of the export and import trade of a large population. In grandeur, in splendor of buildings, in decorations, in equipages, in shipping and commerce, Charleston was equal to any city in America. But its citizens did not rally to save it; and Gen. Lincoln was compelled to accept of terms of capitulation. He was much censured for the act. Yet whoever calmly examines the circumstances will be satisfied, I think, that the measure was unavoidable; and that the inhabitants, as a body, preferred to return to their allegiance to the British Crown. The people, on whom Congress and Gen. Lincoln depended to complete his force, refused to enlist under the Whig banner; but, after the surrender of the city, they flocked to the royal standard by hundreds. In a word, so general was the defection, that persons who had enjoyed Lincoln's confidence joined the royal side; and men who had participated in his councils bowed their necks anew to the yoke of Colonial vassalage. Sir Henry Clinton considered his triumph complete, and communicated to the ministry the intelligence that the whole State had yielded submission to the royal arms, and had become again a part of the empire. To the women of South Carolina, and to Marion, Sumpter, and Pickens, the celebrated partisan chiefs, who kept the field without the promise of men, money, or supplies, it was owing that Sir Henry's declaration did not prove entirely true for a time, and that the name and the spirit of liberty did not become utterly extinct." - - The American Loyalists, pp. 30-33. This statement was not allowed to pass without contradiction, and the author of it was fiercely reproached. His facts and figures were called in question; but they were not proved to be incorrect. From a recent careful examination of the statistics as contained in the official report of General Knox, the Secretary of War, made to Congress in 1790, I am satisfied that Mr. Sabine, in this case, has not departed from his general practice of stating with scrupulous accuracy and impartiality the simple facts relating to his subject. The difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of white soldiers in the Southern States to defend them from the invasion of the enemy, and the fact that the employment of negroes, where the practice had prevailed, had proved entirely successful, led to a vigorous effort in Congress and elsewhere to secure the services of this class of persons for increasing the army, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina. Colonel John Laurens, of South Carolina, was one of the most earnest advocates of the measure. His. father, the Hon. Henry Laurens, on the 16th of March, 1779, wrote to Washington: Laurens "Our affairs in the Southern department are more fa- Henry vorable than we had considered them a few days ago; to Washnevertheless, the country is greatly distressed, and will be ington. Washing ton to Henry Laurens. more so unless further reinforcements are sent to its relief. Had we arms for three thousand such black men as I could select in Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in driving the British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida, before the end of July."- Sparks's Washington, vol. vi. p. 204, note. In his reply to Mr. Laurens, on the 20th of the same month, Washington, with his characteristic caution and modesty, suggests his doubts, but adds that they are "only the first crude ideas" that struck him. "The policy of our arming slaves, is, in my opinion, a moot point, unless the enemy set the example. For, should we begin to form battalions of them, I have not the smallest doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of their following us in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground. The contest then must be, who can arm fastest. And where are our arms? Besides, I am not clear that a discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who remain in it. Most of the good and evil things in this life are judged of by comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of much discontent in those who are held in servitude. But, as this is a subject that has never employed much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude ideas that have struck me upon the occasion." Sparks's Washington, vol. vi. p. 204. Alexander Hamilton, who had thought much on the subject, and had considered it in its various relations, gave his unqualified and hearty support to the measure. In a letter to Mr. Jay, which has been preserved and published, he states his views with great clearness : "HEADQUARTERS, March 14, 1779. "To JOHN JAY. Hamilton soldiers. "DEAR SIR, Col. Laurens, who will have the honor of Alexander delivering you this letter, is on his way to South Carolina, on negro on a project which I think, in the present situation of affairs there, is a very good one, and deserves every kind of support and encouragement. This is, to raise two, three, or four battalions of negroes, with the assistance of the government of that State, by contributions from the owners, in proportion to the number they possess. If you should think proper to enter upon the subject with him, he will give you a detail of his plan. He wishes to have it recommended by Congress to the State; and, as an inducement, that they should engage to take those battalions into Continental pay. "It appears to me, that an expedient of this kind, in the present state of Southern affairs, is the most rational that can be adopted, and promises very important advantages. Indeed, I hardly see how a sufficient force can be collected in that quarter without it; and the enemy's operations there are growing infinitely more serious and formidable. I have not the least doubt that the negroes will make very excellent soldiers with proper management; and I will venture to pronounce, that they cannot be put into better hands than those of Mr. Laurens. He has all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every other qualification, necessary to succeed in such an undertaking. It is a maxim with some great military judges, that, with sensible officers, soldiers can hardly be too stupid; and, on this principle, it is thought that the Russians would make the best troops in the world, if they were under other officers than their own. The King of Prussia is among the number who maintain this doctrine; and has a very emphatic saying on the occasion, which I do not exactly recollect. I mention this because I hear it frequently objected to the scheme of embodying negroes, that they are too stupid to make soldiers. This is so far from appearing to me a valid objection, that I think their want of cultivation (for their natural faculties are probably as good as ours), joined to that habit of subordination which they acquire from a life of servitude, will make them sooner become soldiers than our white inhabitants. Let officers be men of sense and sentiment; and the nearer the soldiers approach to machines, perhaps the better. "I foresee that this project will have to combat much opposition from prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we have been taught to entertain for the blacks makes us fancy many things that are founded neither in reason nor experience; and an unwillingness to part with property of so valuable a kind will furnish a thousand arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it should be considered, that, if we do not make use of them in this way, the enemy probably will; and that the best way to counteract the temptations they will hold out will be to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is to give them their 'freedom with their muskets. This will secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a door to their emancipation. This circumstance, I confess, has no small weight in inducing me to wish the success of the project; for the dictates of humanity, and true policy, equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of men. "With the truest respect and esteem, "I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, (Life of John Jay, by William Jay, vol. ii. pp. 31, 32.) Congress, although it had no power to control the action of the individual States in this matter, considered the subject so important, that it was referred to |