in
In our old chains again!"
Oh! what a shout there went
From the black regiment!

"Charge!" Trump and drum awoke,
Onward the bondmen broke;
Bayonet and sabre-stroke
Vainly opposed their rush.
Through the wild battle's crush,
With but one thought aflush,
Driving their lords like chaff,
In the guns' mouths they laugh;
Or at the slippery brands
Leaping with open hands,
Down they tear man and horse,
Down in their awful course;
Trampling with bloody heel
Over the crashing steel,
All their eyes forward bent,
Rushed the black regiment.

"Freedom!" their battle-cry--
"Freedom! or leave to die!"
Ah! and they meant the word,
Not as with us 't is heard,
Not a mere party-shout:
They gave their spirits out
Trusted the end to God,
And on the gory sod
Rolled in triumphant blood.
Glad to strike one free blow,
Whether for weal or woe;
Glad to breathe one free breath,
Though on the lips of death,
Praying--alas! in vain!--
That they might fall again,
So they could once more see
That burst to liberty!
This was what "freedom" lent
To the black regiment.

Hundreds on hundreds fell;
But they are resting well;
Scourges and shackles strong
Never shall do them wrong.
Oh, to the living few,
Soldiers, be just and true!
Hail them as comrades tried;
Fight with them side by side;
Never, in field or tent,
Scorn the black regiment!

The battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on the 6th of June, 1863. The
troops at this point were under the command of Brig.-Gen. E. S.
Dennis. The force consisted of the 23d Iowa, 160 men; 9th La., 500;
11th La., 600; 1st Miss., 150; total, 1,410. Gen. Dennis's report
places the number of his troops at 1,061; but evidently a clerical
error crept into the report. Of the force engaged, 1,250 were Colored,
composing the 9th and 11th Louisiana and the 1st Mississippi. The
attacking force comprised six Confederate regiments--about 3,000
men,--under the command of Gen. Henry McCulloch. This force, coming
from the interior of Louisiana, by the way of Richmond, struck the 9th
Louisiana and two companies of Federal cavalry, and drove them within
sight of the earthworks at the Bend. It was now nightfall, and the
enemy rested, hoping and believing himself able to annihilate the
Union forces on the morrow.

During t