Autobiography and personal reminiscences of Major-General BenjFButler : Butler's book : a review of his legal, political, and military career . )repared. On that morning I went thereand saw such a sight as I ne^ersaw before: Two thousand menready to enlist as recruits, and nota man of them Mho had not awhite biled shirt on. One regiment was musteredwitliin fourteen days of the call, the first Iegiment of colored troops ever mustered into the service ofthe United States during the War of the Rebellion, established andbecame soldiers of the United States on the 22d day of August,1862. In a very
Autobiography and personal reminiscences of Major-General BenjFButler : Butler's book : a review of his legal, political, and military career . )repared. On that morning I went thereand saw such a sight as I ne^ersaw before: Two thousand menready to enlist as recruits, and nota man of them Mho had not awhite biled shirt on. One regiment was musteredwitliin fourteen days of the call, the first Iegiment of colored troops ever mustered into the service ofthe United States during the War of the Rebellion, established andbecame soldiers of the United States on the 22d day of August,1862. In a very short time three legiments of infantry and twobatteries of artillery were equipped, drilled, and i-eady for soldiers never shouldered a musket. Tliey were intelligent,obedient, highly appreciative of their position, and fully maintainedits dignity. They easily learned the school of the soldier. I. Changing Sentinels of First Col-ored Tkoops in New Oisleans,August, 1802. yconi an Oil Painting. 494 MUTIERS BOOK. observed a very remarkable trait about them. They learned tohandle arms and to march more readily than the most intelligentwhite men. j\Iy drillmaster could teach a regiment of negroes thatmuch of the art of war sooner than he could have taught the samenumber of students from Harvard or Yale. Why ? Because the negro was already drilled. The necessityof drills which seem interminable and never-ending to a civilian, isto teach recruits perfect and quick obedience to the word of com-mand of their ofificer, and to obey that instantly and implicitly,whatever else may be happening to attract attention. Now, fromchildhood up, the word of command had been implicitly and abjectlyobeyed by the negro. His masters voice was his perfect guide. Again, they were exceedingly imitative. Show them how tohandle a musket and at once they imitated the movement as if theyfeared it might hurt t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgenerals, bookyear189
