lony. Her
statesmen, seeing the threatened danger of the invasion of Pennsylvania,
endeavored to prepare to meet it, and taking council from her sister
States at the East, accepted the negro as a soldier. In June, 1781, John
Cadwater, writing from Annapolis, Md., to Gen. Washington, says:

"We have resolved to raise, immediately, seven hundred and
fifty negroes, to be incorporated with the other troops; and
a bill is now almost completed."

It does not appear that the negroes were formed into separate
organizations in this State, but filled the depleted ranks of the
Continental regiments, where their energy and daring was not less than
that displayed by their white comrades, with whom they fought, shoulder
to shoulder. The advocates of arming the negroes were not confined to
the Eastern and Middle sections; some of the best men of the South
favored and advocated the enlistment of free negroes, and made many,
though for a long time unsuccessful, efforts to obtain legal sanction
for such enlistment throughout the South. But their advice was not
listened to, even in the face of certain invasion, and then the whites
would not, and could not be induced to rally to the defence of their own
particular section and homes.

For fear that I may be accused of too highly coloring the picture of the
Southern laxity of fervor and patriotism, I quote from the valuable
essay which accompanies the history of the American Loyalists:

"The whole number of regulars enlisted for the Continental
service, from the beginning to the close of the struggle,
was 231,959. Of these, I have once remarked, 67,907 were
from Massachusetts; and I may now add, that every State
south of Pennsylvania provided but 59,493, or 8,414 _less_
than this single State."

The men of Massachusetts did not more firmly adhere to their policy of
mixed troops as against separate organizations, based upon color, than
did the men of the South to their peculiar institution, and against the
arming of negroes, free or slave. The war having fairly set in upon
Southern soil, and so urgent the necessity for recruiting the army, that
Congress again took up the subject of enrolling negroes as soldiers. It
was decided that the general Government had no control over the States
in the matter, but a series of resolutions were adopted recommending to
the States of Georgia and South Carolina, the arming of three thousand
able-bodied negro