, seized the Confederate line still further to the
north, and quickly dispersed the remaining brigades of his
division to confirm his successes."

The truth is over-reached in the statement of this orator if he intended
to convey the idea that the men of the Phalanx division were drunk from
strong drink; but it may be looked upon as an excuse offered for the
treatment the courageous negro soldiers received at the hands of their
captors, who, worse than enraged by strong drink, gave the battle-cry on
their way to the front, "_No quarter to niggers!_" This has been
admitted by those in a position, at the time, to know what went on. In
his "Recollections of the Recapture of the Lines," Colonel Stewart of
the 61st Virginia Regiment, says:

"When nearly opposite the portions of our works held by the
Federal troops, we met several soldiers who were in the
works at the time of the explosion. Our men began ridiculing
them for going to the rear, when one of them remarked, 'Ah,
boys, you have got hot work ahead,--they are negroes, and
show no quarter.' This was the first intimation we had that
we were to fight negro troops, and it seemed to _infuse_ the
little band with impetuous daring, as they pressed toward
the fray. I never felt more like fighting in my life. Our
comrades had been slaughtered in a most inhuman and brutal
manner, and slaves were trampling over their mangled and
bleeding corpses. Revenge must have fired every heart, and
strung every arm with nerves of steel, for the herculean
task of blood."

On the Monday morning after the assault of Saturday, the Richmond
_Enquirer_ said:

"Grant's war cry of 'no quarter' shouted by his negro
soldiers, was returned with interest, we regret to hear, not
so heavily as ought to have been, since some negroes were
captured instead of being shot. Let every salient we are
called upon to defend, be a Fort Pillow, and butcher every
negro that Grant hurls against our brave troops, and permit
them not to soil their hands, with the capture of one
negro."

There is no truth in the statement. No such cry was ever made by negro
soldiers; and when it is remembered that the confederate congress, in
four short months after this declaration, began arming slaves for the
defense of Richmond, it is readily seen how deep and with what sincerity
such declarations were made.