s undoubtedly as strong against the
institution as it was in 1864. But the Tories were numerous at the
South, and by continually exciting the imagination of the whites by
picturing massacre and insurrection on the part of the negros if they
were armed, thwarted the effort of Col. Lauren's and of Congress to
raise a "negro army" at the South. The leaders were favorable to it, but
the colonists, for the reason cited, were distrustful of its
practicability. Though a strong effort was made, as will be seen, the
scare raised by the Tories prevented its success. Notwithstanding,
hundreds of colored men, slave and free, at the South, not only followed
the army but in every engagement took an active part on the side of the
colonist. They were not enrolled and mustered into the army, it is true,
but they rendered important service to the cause.

The caste prejudice now so strong in the country was then in its
infancy. A white man at that time lived with a colored woman without
fear of incurring the ostracism of his neighbors, and with the same
impunity he lived with an Indian Squaw. So common was this practice,
that in order to correct it laws were passed forbidding it. The
treatment of the slaves was not what it came to be after the war, nor
had the spirit of resentment been stifled in them as it was
subsequently. Manifestations of their courage and manliness were not
wanting when injustice was attempted to be practiced against them,
consequently the spirit and courage with which they went into the
conflict were quite equal to that of the whites, who were ever ready to
applaud them for deeds of daring. It is only through this medium that we
have discovered the meed of praise due the little Phalanx, which linked
its fortune with the success of the American army, and of whom the
following interesting facts can now be recorded.

It is well for the negro and for his descendants in America,
cosmopolitan as it is, that his race retains its distinctive
characteristics, color and features, otherwise they would not have, as
now, a history to hand down to posterity so gloriously patriotic and
interesting. His amalgamation with other races is attributable to the
relation which it bore to them, although inter-marriage was not allowed.
By the common consent of his enslavers, he was allowed to live
clandestinely with the women of his own color; sometimes from humane
considerations, sometimes from a standpoint of gain, but always as a
slave