les to the
negroes in camp. They had not passed a medical examination,
had no company organization and had had no drill. Almost
immediately upon my arrival, as an attack was imminent, I
was ordered to distribute another hundred muskets, and to
'prepare every available man for fight.' I did the best I
could under the circumstances, but am free to say that I
regard it as a fortunate circumstance that we had no
fighting to do at that time. But the men raw, and, untutored
as they were, did guard and picket duty, went foraging,
guarded wagon trains, scouted after guerillas, and so
learned to soldier--by soldiering.

"As soon and as fast as practicable, I set about organizing
the regiment. I was a complete novice in that kind of work,
and all the young officers who reported to me for duty, had
been promoted from the ranks and were without experience,
except as soldiers. The colored men knew nothing of the
duties of a soldier, except a little they had picked up as
camp-followers.

"Fortunately there was one man, Mr. A. H. Dunlap, who had
had some clerical experience with Col. Birney, in Baltimore,
in organizing the 3rd U.S. Colored Infantry. He was an
intelligent, methodical gentleman, and rendered me
invaluable service. I had no Quartermaster; no Surgeon; no
Adjutant. We had no tents, and the men were sheltered in an
old filthy tobacco warehouse, where they fiddled, danced,
sang, swore or prayed, according to their mood.

"How to meet the daily demands made upon us for military
duty, and at the same time to evoke order out of this chaos,
was no easy problem. The first thing to be done was to
examine the men. A room was prepared, and I and my clerk
took our stations at a table. One by one the recruits came
before us _a la Eden, sans_ the fig leaves, and were
subjected to a careful medical examination, those who were
in any way physically disqualified being rejected. Many bore
the wounds and bruises of the slave-driver's lash, and many
were unfit for duty by reason of some form of disease to
which human flesh is heir. In the course of a few weeks,
however, we had a thousand able-bodied, stalwart men.

"I was quite as solicitous about their mental condition as
about their physical status, so I plied them with questions