t being of no use.

"Now, why were the colored troops left unsupported? Why were they sent
on such hopeless missions? Why were the officers informed by General
Dwight that there were clear grounds beyond Sandy Creek? There were
white troops who could have been sent to their support; the officers
expected to fight the rebels but met the river. Colonel Nelson played
General to perfection; during the whole battle he remained on the safe
side of Sandy Creek, and had his corps of orderlies to attend him; in
plain words he kept his men under fire from quarter before six A. M.,
till seven P. M. During the day he never saw a rebel's face or back.
* * * The heroes of the day were the men; not one of them showed the "white
feather." Colonel Bassett and his colored officers of the 1st were as
brave as any men who ever drew a sword, and so were Finnegass,
Lieutenant-Colonel of the 3rd, and Captains Smith, Daly, Masterson and
others. Lieutenants O'Keefe, Burnham, Wiley, Griggs, Emory, Westervelt
and Dame of the 3rd, and Captain Quinn, who commanded the left wing and
led the storming column of the 3rd. Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett was
formerly of the 4th Mississippi Regiment; Colonel Nelson and
Lieutenant-Colonel Finnegass, were both of Irish parentage; Captain
Daily and Lieutenant Emory, of the 31st Massachusetts, Lieutenant
O'Keefe of the 9th and Burnham, of the 13th Connecticut, Masterson and
Wiley, of the 26th Massachusetts, Company A, of the 3rd, were on
detached service. Captain John E. Quinn is a native of Lowell, Mass.;
born April 22nd, 1837 came from the 30th Massachusetts, in which he was
orderly of Company B."

* * * *

A correspondent of the New York _Tribune_ writing, says:

"The more I see of our colored regiments, and the more I
converse with our soldiers, the more convinced I am that
upon them we must ultimately rely as the principle source of
our strength in these latitudes. It is perfect nonsense for
any one to attempt to talk away the broad fact, evident as
the sun at noonday, that these men are capable not only of
making good soldiers, but the very best of soldiers. The
Third Louisiana Native Guard, Colonel Nelson, are encamped
here, and a more orderly, disciplined, robust, and effective
set of men I defy any one to produce.

"An old European officer, one who has followed the
profession of arms from his very boyhood, said to m