Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
Thomas was to organize would play a part in this. “The negro Regiments could
give protection to these plantations,” he told Stanton, “and also operate effectively
against the guerrillas. This would be particularly advantageous on the
Mississippi River, as the negroes, being acquainted with the peculiar country
lining its banks, would know where to act effectively.” Reports of the 1st South
Carolina’s coastal operations had begun to arrive in Washington in January, and
Thomas may have absorbed the lesson that black troops’ local knowledge was
important to the success of Union military operations. In supposing an active
role for these regiments, the adjutant general and the secretary of war seemed for
once to have been in agreement. 29
While Thomas was in Cairo, General Halleck, who remained in Washington,
explained the new policy to Grant, who was preparing his campaign against
Vicksburg. Emancipation was a military necessity: “So long as the rebels retain
and employ their slaves in producing grains, & c.,” he told Grant, “they can
employ all the whites [as soldiers]. Every slave withdrawn from the enemy is
equivalent to a white man put hors de combat.” Halleck saw the new black regiments
primarily as a defensive force, especially along the Mississippi “during
the sickly season,” but thought that the Union would eventually use them “to the
very best advantage we can.” The character of the war had changed during the
previous year, Halleck declared, and since there was “no possible hope of reconciliation
with the rebels,” it became the duty of every officer, whatever his private
opinion, “to cheerfully and honestly endeavor to carry out” the administration’s
policy. 30
As Halleck’s letter made its way to Grant, Adjutant General Thomas steamed
down the Mississippi, stopping at Memphis, where he explained the new policy to
Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, an Illinois politician who commanded the District
of West Tennessee. Hurlbut wanted to raise a regiment of black artillerists to
garrison the forts around Memphis, and Thomas authorized him to recruit six
companies and select their officers. “The experience of the Navy is that blacks
handle heavy guns well,” Thomas remarked. The rest of the generals’ conversation
had to do with administrative matters: the employment of black refugees,
who “come here in a state of destitution, especially the women and children”;
the cotton trade, licit and illicit; and the problem of smuggling, which resulted
partly from the vast quantity of quartermaster’s stores warehoused at Memphis. 31
On 5 April, Thomas boarded a riverboat for Helena, Arkansas. There, he
addressed an audience of seven thousand soldiers. His efforts were seconded
by speeches from the outgoing and incoming commanders of the District of
Eastern Arkansas and the commanding general of the 12th Division, Army of the
Tennessee. Thomas’ impression was that “the policy respecting arming the blacks
29 Brig Gen L. Thomas to E. M. Stanton, 1 Apr 1863, Entry 159BB, Generals’ Papers and
Books (L. Thomas), Record Group (RG) 94, Rcds of the Adjutant General’s Office (AGO), National
Archives (NA). The reports from South Carolina that appear in OR, ser. 1, 14: 189–94, arrived at
the Adjutant General’s Office on 16 January 1863 and 4 February 1863. NA Microfilm Pub M711,
Registers of Letters Received, AGO, roll 37. The reports themselves bear no indication of Thomas
having read them. Entry 729, RG 94, Union Battle Rpts, NA.
30 OR, ser. 1, vol. 24, pt. 3, pp. 156–57 (quotations).
31 OR, ser. 3, 3: 116.