have ever seen. The reason is apparent,--not that they are
smarter than white men, but they feel promoted; they feel as
though their whole sphere of life was advanced and enlarged. They
are willing, obedient, and cheerful; move with agility, and _are
full of music_, which is almost a _sine qua non_ to soldierly
bearing.'

"Soon after the letter of which the above is an extract was
written, the regiment was ordered to the field from which the
Major writes again: 'The more I know and see of these negro
regiments, the more I am delighted with the whole enterprise. It
is truly delightful to command a regiment officered as these are.
In all my experience I have never known a better class of
officers.... I have charge of the school of non-commissioned
officers here. I drill them once a day and have them recite from
the oral instructions given them the day before. I find them more
anxious to learn their duties and more ready to perform them when
they know them than any set of non-commissioned officers I ever
saw.... There is no discount on these fellows at all. Give me a
thousand such men as compose this regiment and I desire no
stronger battalion to lead against an enemy that is at once their
oppressors and traitors to my, and my soldiers' country.'

"This testimony is worth a chapter of speculation. The Major
alludes to one fact above, moreover, to which the public
attention has not been often directed--the excellent and able men
who are in command of our colored troops. They are generally men
of heart--men of opinions--men whose generous impulses have not
been chilled in 'the cold shade of West Point.'

"The officer from whose letter I have quoted was a volunteer in
the ranks of a Pennsylvania regiment from the day of the attack
on Sumter until August, 1862. His bravery, his devotion to the
principles of freedom, his zeal in the holy cause of his country
through all the campaigns of the calamitous McClellan, won the
regard and attention of our loyal Governor Curtin, who, with rare
good sense and discrimination, took him from the ranks and made
him first, Lieut.-Colonel, and then Colonel of a regiment in the
nine months' service. He carried himself through all in such a
manner as fully justified the Governor's confidence, and has
stepped no