as to their history, their experience with the army, their
motives for becoming soldiers, their ideas of army life,
their hopes for the future, &c., &c. I found that a
considerable number of them had been teamsters, cooks,
officers' servants, &c., and had thus seen a good deal of
hard service in both armies, in camp, on the march and in
battle, and so knew pretty well what to expect. In this
respect they had the advantage of most raw recruits from the
North, who were wholly 'unused to wars' alarms.' Some of
them had very noble ideas of manliness. I remember picturing
to one bright-eyed fellow some of the hardships of camp life
and campaigning, and receiving from him the cheerful reply,
'I know all about that.' I then said, 'you may be killed in
battle.' He instantly answered, 'many a better man than me
has been killed in this war.' When I told another one who
wanted to 'fight for freedom,' that he might lose his life,
he replied, 'but my people will be free.'

"The result of this careful examination convinced me that
these men, though black in skin, had men's hearts, and only
needed right handling to develope into magnificent soldiers.
Among them were the same varieties of physique, temperament,
mental and moral endowments and experiences, as would be
found among the same number of white men. Some of them were
finely formed and powerful; some were almost white; a large
number had in their veins white blood of the F. F. V.
quality; some were men of intelligence, and many of them
deeply religious.

"Acting upon my clerk's suggestion, I assigned them to
companies according to their height, putting men of nearly
the same height together. When the regiment was full, the
four center companies were all composed of tall men, the
flanking companies of men of medium height, while the little
men were sandwiched between. The effect was excellent in
every way, and made the regiment quite unique. It was not
uncommon to have strangers who saw it parade for the first
time, declare that the men were all of one size.

"In six weeks three companies were filled, uniformed, armed,
and had been taught many soldierly ways. They had been
drilled in the facings, in the manual of arms, and in some
company movements.

"November 20th, Gen. G. H