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RECRUITING SLAVES. 571
slave owner found himself the occupant of cells in some of which, perhaps,
his own negroes had been incarcerated. The course pursued by Colonel
Birney in enlisting negroes excited universal comment, and considerable
correspondence grew out of it. Among others a discussion upon the question
of emancipation was carried on between himself and the Mayor and the City
Council of Baltimore, and between Governor Bradford and ex-Governor
Francis Thomas. Judge Hugh L. Bond, who became one of the most
strenuous advocates of unconditional emancipation in Maryland, addressed a
long and urgent letter to Secretary of War, Stanton, in relation to the enlistment of negroes within the limits of States which were exempted from the
operation of the President's proclamation of freedom. It attracted a great
deal of attention at the North and was widely copied by the journals of that
section of the country. He observed that in Maryland the free negroes were
nearly equal in numbers to the slave population, their aggregates being in
1860, eighty thousand and eighty-seven thousand. If enlistments were to
be confined to the former class, Baltimore and the adjoining free counties of
the northern and western section of the State would .suffer materially
in being deprived of the laboring force necesary for their welfare, if not
existence.
At the same time, in the lower slave-holding counties, a majority of
whose inhabitants he declared were at heart disloyal, the value of slave
property would very largely appreciate, a result which it was impossible to
suppose that Congress had in view when it passed the enlistment act of 1862.
The course pursued by Colonel Birney, of enlisting free negroes, would "put
money in the pockets " of the plantation interest at the expense of those who
were at this period, and had always been, loyal to the government. The judge
elaborated his views at some length and finally recommended that a proclamation be issued stating explicitly that the acts of Congress before referred
to, authorized the enlistment of all classes of persons of African descent,
and inviting free negroes and slaves alike to join the army.
In the meanwhile, however, the abduction and recruiting of slaves was
kept up in Maryland by the various negro companies in the State. It was
practised to a very large extent on the Eastern Shore, and in the southern
counties of the Western. In October, the recruiting officer at Benedict, in
Charles County, notwithstanding the protests of the Governor and county
authorities, openly declared his determination to establish recruiting stations
at all the landings on the Patuxent river, as far as Upper Marlboro', and to
carry off all the able-bodied male slaves by force, if it should be necessary.
By this means the peaceable and law-abiding people of that section of the
State suffered greatly, and were compelled to provide for the negro women
and children, and the superannuated and infirm. In October, a party of negro
soldiers from Baltimore, with two white officers, arrived at Benedict for the
purpose of obtaining negro recruits for the army. After scouring the country
and obtaining some fifty recruits from the slaves in the neighborhood and
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000606 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | RECRUITING SLAVES. 571 slave owner found himself the occupant of cells in some of which, perhaps, his own negroes had been incarcerated. The course pursued by Colonel Birney in enlisting negroes excited universal comment, and considerable correspondence grew out of it. Among others a discussion upon the question of emancipation was carried on between himself and the Mayor and the City Council of Baltimore, and between Governor Bradford and ex-Governor Francis Thomas. Judge Hugh L. Bond, who became one of the most strenuous advocates of unconditional emancipation in Maryland, addressed a long and urgent letter to Secretary of War, Stanton, in relation to the enlistment of negroes within the limits of States which were exempted from the operation of the President's proclamation of freedom. It attracted a great deal of attention at the North and was widely copied by the journals of that section of the country. He observed that in Maryland the free negroes were nearly equal in numbers to the slave population, their aggregates being in 1860, eighty thousand and eighty-seven thousand. If enlistments were to be confined to the former class, Baltimore and the adjoining free counties of the northern and western section of the State would .suffer materially in being deprived of the laboring force necesary for their welfare, if not existence. At the same time, in the lower slave-holding counties, a majority of whose inhabitants he declared were at heart disloyal, the value of slave property would very largely appreciate, a result which it was impossible to suppose that Congress had in view when it passed the enlistment act of 1862. The course pursued by Colonel Birney, of enlisting free negroes, would "put money in the pockets " of the plantation interest at the expense of those who were at this period, and had always been, loyal to the government. The judge elaborated his views at some length and finally recommended that a proclamation be issued stating explicitly that the acts of Congress before referred to, authorized the enlistment of all classes of persons of African descent, and inviting free negroes and slaves alike to join the army. In the meanwhile, however, the abduction and recruiting of slaves was kept up in Maryland by the various negro companies in the State. It was practised to a very large extent on the Eastern Shore, and in the southern counties of the Western. In October, the recruiting officer at Benedict, in Charles County, notwithstanding the protests of the Governor and county authorities, openly declared his determination to establish recruiting stations at all the landings on the Patuxent river, as far as Upper Marlboro', and to carry off all the able-bodied male slaves by force, if it should be necessary. By this means the peaceable and law-abiding people of that section of the State suffered greatly, and were compelled to provide for the negro women and children, and the superannuated and infirm. In October, a party of negro soldiers from Baltimore, with two white officers, arrived at Benedict for the purpose of obtaining negro recruits for the army. After scouring the country and obtaining some fifty recruits from the slaves in the neighborhood and |
