Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/354

 CHAPTER XLIII.

LOYALTY AND BRAVERY OF THE BLACKS.

The assault on Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861, was the dawn of a new era for the Negro. The proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for the first seventy-five thousand men to put down the Rebellion, was responded to by the colored people throughout the country. In Boston, at a public meeting of the blacks a large number came forward, put their names to an agreement to form a brigade, and march at once to the seat of war. A committee waited on the Governor three days later, and offered the services of these men. His Excellency replied that he had no power to receive them. This was the first wet blanket thrown over the negro's enthusiasm. "This is a white man's war," said most of the public journals. "I will never fight by the side of a nigger," was heard in every quarter where men were seen in Uncle Sam's uniform.

Wherever recruiting offices were opened, black men offered themselves, and were rejected. Yet these people, feeling conscious that right would eventually prevail, waited patiently for the coming time, pledging themselves to go at their country's call.