How his comrades for freedom swears.
Forty consecutive nights
The advance pass-word went.
Captain Cailloux of the black regiment.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ARMY OF THE FRONTIER.

At the Far West the fires of liberty and union burned no less brightly
upon the altar of the negro's devotion than at the North, East and
South. The blacks of Iowa responded with alacrity to the call of the
governor to strengthen the Army of the Ohio. Though the negro population
was sparse--numbering in 1860, only 1069--and thinly scattered over the
territory, and were enjoying all the rights and privileges of American
citizenship, nevertheless they gave up the luxuries of happy homes,
threw down their implements of peaceful industry, broke from the loving
embrace of wives and children, and with the generous patriotism which
has always characterized the conduct of the race, they rushed to the aid
of their yet oppressed countrymen, and the defense of the Union.

The Gibralters of the Mississippi, Vicksburg and Port Hudson, had fallen
by the might of the Union armies; the Mississippi was open to the Gulf.
The shattered ranks of the victorious troops, and the depleted ranks of
the Phalanx, rent and torn by the enemy during the long siege of Port
Hudson, lent an inspiring zeal to the negroes of the country, which
manifested itself in the rapidity of the enlistment of volunteers to
fill up the gaps.

[Illustration: A PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING A GIFT OF COLORS.]

In August, 1863, the authorities of the State of Iowa began the
enlistment of negroes as a part of her quota. Keokuk was selected as the
place of rendezvous. On the 11th of the following October nine full
companies under the command of Colonel John G. Hudson, took the oath of
allegiance to the United States, and became a part of the active
military force of the National Government. The regiment was designated
the 1st A. D. (African Descent) Regiment Iowa Volunteers, and was
mustered for three years, or during the war. Leaving Keokuk Barracks,
the regiment proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., and was quartered in Benton
Barracks, as a part of the forces under command of Major-General J. M.
Schofield. Here company G. joined the regiment, making ten full
companies. A memorable and patriotic incident occurred here: Mrs. I. N.
Triplet, in behalf of the ladies of the State of Iowa, and of the city
of Muscatine, presented the regiment with a beautiful silk national