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
remarkable accuracy by my examination. What he says is moreover confirmed
by other slaves at Tybee Island.” 13
Fortunately, both for the Union position in the Sea Islands and for black
residents of the islands, Sherman had an able assistant in the expedition’s chief
quartermaster, Capt. Rufus Saxton. The captain soon had black men organized
into work gangs unloading supplies and building fortifications. A West Point
graduate of 1849, Saxton persevered with his quartermaster duties until April
1862, when a promotion to brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers placed him in
charge of all abandoned plantations in the department and their residents. Secretary
of War Edwin M. Stanton directed him to issue rations and clothing to the
indigent while “encouraging industry . . . and general self-improvement.” A military
emergency took Saxton north to command the defense of Harpers Ferry during
Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign, but he returned to the islands in June.
Again, he received orders direct from Stanton “to take such measures . . . for the
cultivation of the land, and for protection, employment, and government of the
inhabitants as circumstances may seem to require.” Saxton was to assume many
of the functions earlier exercised by Pierce and Reynolds. Men and materiel to
back this project would come from Brig. Gen. David Hunter, the commander
who succeeded General Sherman. Hunter was a West Pointer of the generation
before Saxton’s but a man much more in sympathy with the freedpeople than
Sherman had been. 14
Sherman was no abolitionist, but his successor most emphatically was. In
March 1862, Hunter took command of the newly created Department of the
South, which included, on paper, all of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, although
federal troops controlled only tiny beachheads. Adjutant General Thomas
told him to abide by the instructions Sherman had received for dealing with
“contrabands, or persons heretofore held to involuntary servitude by rebel masters,”
but he allowed Hunter “large discretion . . . for the purpose of vigorously
prosecuting the war to a successful result.” 15
Congress had recently enacted a new Article of War that barred federal
troops from returning escaped slaves to their former masters, and Hunter saw
in it a chance to smite the Slave Power. To that end, in early April he asked Secretary
of War Stanton for “50,000 muskets . . . to arm such loyal men as I can
find in the country”—clearly meaning former slaves, who were the only “loyal”
South Carolinians within Union lines. Hunter wanted a distinctive uniform
for them, too; “scarlet pantaloons,” he thought, would be right. When the War
Department failed to act, he seized the initiative. In the second week of April,
he freed the slaves near Fort Pulaski, Georgia, with the intention of putting the
able-bodied men to work for the quartermaster. Early in May, he declared free
13 Capt Q. A. Gillmore to Brig Gen T. W. Sherman, 30 Dec 1861, Entry 2254, pt. 2, RG 393, NA.
14 OR, ser. 1, 6: 186–87; ser. 3, 2: 28 (“encouraging”), 152–53 (“to take”). WGFL: LS, p. 88.
15 Brig Gen L. Thomas to Maj Gen D. Hunter, 15 Mar 1862 (“contrabands”), Entry 159GG,
Generals’ Papers and Books (Hunter), RG 94, NA.