ls, without a protest on the part of the
Government--for at least nearly a year. Hooted at, jeered, and stoned
in the streets of Northern cities as they marched to the front to
fight for the Union; scoffed at and abused by white troops under the
flag of a common country, there was little of a consoling or inspiring
nature in the experience of Negro soldiers.

"But none of these things" moved the Negro soldier. His qualifications
for the profession of arms were ample and admirable. To begin with,
the Negro soldier was a patriot of the highest order. No race of
people in the world are more thoroughly domestic, have such tender
attachments to home and friends as the Negro race. And when his soul
was quickened with the sublime idea of liberty for himself and
kindred--that his home and country were to be rid of the triple curse
of slavery--his enthusiasm was boundless. His enthusiasm was not mere
animal excitement. No white soldier who marched to the music of the
Union possessed a more lofty conception of the sacredness of the war
for the Union than the Negro. The intensity of his desires, the
sincerity of his prayers, and the sublimity of his faith during the
long and starless night of his bondage made the Negro a poet, after a
fashion. To him there was poetry in our flag--the red, white, and
blue. Our national odes and airs found a response in his soul, and
inspired him to the performance of heroic deeds. He was always seeing
something "sublime," "glorious," "beautiful," "grand," and "wonderful"
in war. There was poetry in the swinging, measured tread of companies
and regiments in drill or battle; and dress parade always found the
Negro soldier in the height of his glory. His love of harmonious
sounds, his musical faculty, and delight of show aided him in the
performance of the most difficult manoeuvres. His imitativeness gave
him facility in handling his musket and sabre; and his love of
domestic animals, and natural strength made him a graceful cavalryman
and an efficient artilleryman.

The lessons of obedience the Negro had learned so thoroughly as a
slave were turned to good account as a soldier. He obeyed orders to
the letter. He never used his discretion; he added nothing to, he
subtracted nothing from, his orders; he made no attempt at reading
between the lines; he did not interpret--he _obeyed_. Used to outdoor
life, with excellent hearing, wonderful eyesight, and great vigilance,
he was a model picket. Heard eve