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THE 
 
 FREEDMEN OF PORT ROYAL, 
 
 SOUTH-OAEOLIE"A. 
 
 OFFICIAL REPORTS 
 
 OF 
 
 EDWARD L. PIERCE. 
 
 ^^"EW-YORK: 
 s IB E i_i Hi I o nxr i=^eooi=lid, 
 
 441 AND 448 BROADWxVY. 
 1 86 3. 
 
THE NEGROES AT PORT ROYAL, S. 0. 
 
 EEPORT OF THE GOYEEKMEOT AGEKT. 
 
 An opportunity was afforded me, while on a 
 visit to Port Royal, extending from March twen- 
 ty-fifth to April tenth, to survey the plantations, 
 the schools, and the regiments. There are in the 
 Department moi-e than thirty schools, conducted 
 by as many as forty teachers, and attended by an 
 average number of two thousand pupils, and fre- 
 quented more or less by another thousand, the 
 main body of the pupils being from seven to fif- 
 teen years of age. The advanced classes were 
 reading simple stories and didactic passages in 
 the ordinary school-books, and those who had 
 enjoyed a briefer period of teaching, were reading 
 short sentences or learning the alphabet — simple 
 lessons in arithmetic, geography, and writing 
 being taught in some of the schools. The eager- 
 ness for knowledge and facility of acquisition 
 displayed in the beginning, had not abated. 
 
 The laborers, composed of women and children 
 and disabled men exempted from the draft, were 
 working of their own accord and without compul- 
 sion, upon patches set apart for them, larger or 
 smaller as they desired, having each taken a 
 proper amount for corn, and one, two, or three 
 acres for cotton. There was some derangement 
 of labor at certain points, due to the draft and to 
 the excitement and disorder attending military 
 movements ; otherwise the industrial results 
 were satisfactory. 
 
 There had been an evident development of 
 manhood among the people, demonstrated in 
 their disposition to acquire the conveniences and 
 comforts of household life, in their desire to be- 
 come proprietors of land — five out of the forty- 
 seven plantations recently sold for taxes having 
 been bought by negroes, who united their funds 
 for the purpose — in their growing consciousness 
 of rights, and readiness to defend them when as- 
 sailed by white men, and in their voluntary en- 
 listment as soldiers, under a sense of obhgation 
 to aid us, their allies, to uphold the honor of their 
 race, and to rescue their kindred still in bonds. 
 
 As a people, they are not exempt from the 
 frailties of our common humanity, or from the 
 vices which hereditary bondage always superadds 
 to these. As it is said to take three generations 
 to subdue a freeman completely to a slave, it may 
 not be possible in one alone to restore the pris- 
 tine manhood. One who expects to find in 
 emancipated slaves complete men and women, or 
 to realize in them some fair dream of an ideal 
 race, will meet disappointment ; but there is 
 nothing in their nature or condition to daunt the 
 Christian patriot; nay, rather, there is every 
 thing to cheer and fortify his faith. They have 
 shown capacity for knowledge, for free industry, 
 for subordination to law and discipline, for sol- 
 dierly fortitude, for social and family relations, 
 
 for religious aspiration and culture; and these 
 qualities, stirred and sustained by the activities 
 and rewards of a just society, and combining 
 with the currents of our continental civilization, 
 will, under the guidance of a benevolent Provi- 
 dence, which forgets neither them nor us, make 
 them a constantly progressive race, and secure 
 them ever after from the calamity of another en- 
 slavement, and ourselves from the worse calamity 
 of being again their oppressors. E. L. P. 
 
 Boston, May 1, 1863. 
 
 Port Royal, February 3, 1862. 
 
 To the Hon. Salmon P. GJiasc., Secretary of the 
 Treasury : 
 
 Dear Sir : My first communication to you was 
 mailed on the third day after my arrrival. The 
 same day I mailed two letters to benevolent per- 
 sons in Boston, mentioned in my previous com- 
 munications to you, asking for contributions of 
 clothing, and for a teacher or missionary to be 
 sent, to be supported by the charity of those in- 
 terested in the movement, to both of which favor- 
 able answers have been received. The same day 
 I commenced a tour of the larger islands, and 
 ever since have been diligently engaged in anx- 
 ious examination of the modes of culture — the 
 amount and proportions of the products — the 
 labor required for them — the life and disposition 
 of the laborers upon them — their estimated num- 
 bers — the treatment they have received from 
 their former masters, both as to the labor re- 
 quired, the provisions and clothing allowed, and 
 the discipline imposed— their habits, capacities, 
 and desires, with special reference to their being 
 fitted for useful citizenship — and generally what- 
 ever concerned the well-being, present and future, 
 of the territory and its people. Visits have also 
 been made to the communities collected at Hilton 
 Head and Beaufort, and conferences held with 
 the authorities, both naval and military, and 
 other benevolent persons interested in the wel- 
 fare of these people, and the wise and speedy re- 
 organization of society here. No one can be im- 
 pressed more than myself with the uncertainty 
 of conclusions drawn from experiences and re- 
 flections gathered in so brief a period, however 
 industriously and wisely occupied. Neverthe- 
 less, they may be of some service to those who 
 have not been privileged with an equal oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 Of the plantations visited, full notes have been 
 taken of seventeen, with reference to number of 
 negroes in all ; of field-hands ; amount of cotton 
 and corn raised, and how much per acre ; time 
 and mode of producing and distributing manure ; 
 listing, planting, cultivating, picking, and ginning 
 cotton ; labor required of each hand ; allowance 
 of food and clothing \ the capacities of the labor- 
 
DOCUMmTS. 
 
 303 
 
 ers ; their wishes and feelings, both as to them- 
 selves and their masters. Many of the above 
 points could be determined by other sources, 
 such as persons at the North familiar with the 
 region, and pubhcations. The inquiries were, 
 however, made with the double purpose of ac- 
 quiring the information and testing the capacity 
 of the persons inquired of Some of the leading 
 results of the examination will now be submitted. 
 
 An estimate of the number of plantations open 
 to cultivation, and of the persons upon the terri- 
 tory protected by the forces of the United States, 
 if only approximate to the truth, may prove con- 
 venient in providing a proper system of adminis- 
 tration. The following islands are thus protected, 
 and the estimated number of plantations upon 
 each is given : 
 
 Port Royal, 65 
 
 Ladies', 30 
 
 Paris, including Horse, 6 
 
 Cat, 1 
 
 Gang, 1 
 
 Dathaw, 4 
 
 Coosaw, 2 
 
 Morgan, 2 
 
 St. Helena, 50 
 
 Hilton Head, 16 
 
 Pinckney, 5 
 
 Bull, including Barratria, 2 
 
 Daufuskie, 5 
 
 Hutchinson and Fenwick, 6 
 
 195 
 
 Or about two hundred in all. 
 
 There are several other islands thus protected, 
 without plantations, as Otter, Pritchard, Fripp, 
 Hunting, and Phillips. Lemon and Daw have 
 not been explored by the agents engaged in col- 
 lecting cotton. 
 
 The populous island of Edisto lying in the di- 
 rection of Charleston, and giving the name to 
 the finest cotton, is still visited by the rebels. 
 A part near Botany Bay Island is commanded by 
 the guns of one of our war vessels, under which 
 a colony of one thousand negroes sought protec- 
 tion, where they have been temporarily subsisted 
 from its stores. The number has within a few 
 days been stated to have increased to two thou- 
 sand three hundred. Among these great desti- 
 tution is said to prevail. Even to this number, 
 as the negroes acquire confidence in us, large ad- 
 ditions are likely every v^'eek to be made. The 
 whole island can be safely farmed as soon as 
 troops can be spared for the purpose of occupa- 
 tion. But not counting the plantations of this 
 island, the number on Port Royal, Ladies', St. 
 Helena, Hilton Head, and the smaller islands, 
 may be estimated at two hundred. 
 
 In visiting the plantations, I endeavored to as- 
 certain with substantial accuracy the number of 
 persons upon them, without, however, expecting 
 to determine the precise number. On that of 
 Thomas Aston Coffin, at Coffin Point, St. He- 
 lena, there were two hundred and sixty, the lar- 
 
 gest found on any one visited. There were one 
 hundred and thirty on that of Dr. J. W. Jenkins, 
 one hundred and twenty on that of the Eustis 
 estate, and on the others from eighty to thir- 
 ty-eight, making an average of eighty-one to a 
 plantation. These, however, may be ranked 
 along the best peopled plantations, and forty to 
 each may be considered a fair average. From 
 these estimates there results a population of eight 
 thousand negroes on the islands now safely pro- 
 tected by our forces. 
 
 Of the six hundred at the camp at Hilton 
 Head, about one half should be counted with the 
 aforesaid plantations whence they have come. 
 Of the six hundred at Beaufort, one third should 
 also bfe reckoned with the plantations. The other 
 fraction in each case should be added to the eight 
 thousand in computing the population now thrown 
 on our protection. 
 
 The negroes on Ladies' and St. Helena Islands, 
 have quite generally remained on their respective 
 plantations, or if absent, but temporarily, visiting 
 wives or relatives. The dispersion on Port Royal 
 and Hilton Head Islands has been far greater, 
 the people of the former going to Beaufort in con- 
 siderable numbers, and of the latter to the camp 
 at Hilton Head. 
 
 Counting the negroes M'ho have gone to Hilton 
 Head and Beaufort from places now protected by 
 our forces as still attached to the plantations, and 
 to that extent not swelling the eight thousand on 
 plantations, but adding thereto the usual negro 
 population of Beaufort, as also the negroes who 
 have fled to Beaufort and Hilton Head from places 
 not yet occupied by our forces, and adding also 
 the colony at Edisto, and we must now have 
 thrown upon our hands, for whose present and 
 future vre must provide, from ten thousand to 
 twelve thousand persons — probably nearer the 
 latter than the former number. This number is 
 rapidly increasing. This week, forty-eight es- 
 caped from a single plantation near Grahamville, 
 on the main land, held by the rebels, led by the 
 driver, and after four days of trial and peril, hid- 
 den by day and threading the waters with their 
 boats by night, evading the enemy's pickets, joy 
 fully entered our camp at Hilton Head. The ac 
 cessions at Edisto are in larger number, and ac- 
 cording to the most reasonable estimates, it would 
 only require small advances by our troops, not 
 involving a general engagement or even loss of 
 life, to double the number which would be brought 
 within our lines. 
 
 A fact derived from the census of 1860 may 
 serve to illustrate the responsibility now devolv- 
 ing on the Government. This county of Beaufort 
 had a population of slaves in proportion of 82-^^0 
 of the whole — a proportion only exceeded by 
 seven other counties in the United States, name- 
 ly, one in South-Carolina, that of Georgetown ; 
 three in Mississippi, those of Bolivar, Washing- 
 ton, and Issequena ; and three in Louisiana, those 
 of Madison, Tensas, and Coficordia, 
 
 An impression prevails that the negroes here 
 have been less cared for than in most other rebel 
 districts. If this be so, and a beneficent reform 
 
304 
 
 EEBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 shall be achieved here, the experiment may any- 
 where else be hopefully attempted. 
 
 The former white population, so far as can be 
 ascertained, are rebels, with one or two excep- 
 tions. In January, 1861, a meeting of the plan- 
 ters on St. Helena Island was held, of which 
 Thomas Aston Coffin was chairman. A vote was 
 passed, stating its exposed condition, and offer- 
 ing their slaves to the Governor of South-Caro- 
 lina, to aid in building earth works, and calling 
 on him for guns to mount upon them. A copy of 
 the vote, probably in his own handwriting, and 
 signed by Mr. Coffin, was found in his house. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the negroes now with- 
 in our lines are there by the invitation of no one ; 
 but they were on the soil when our army began 
 its occupation, and could not have been excluded, 
 except by violent transportation. A small pro- 
 portion have come in from the main land, evading 
 the pickets of l^e enemy and our own, something 
 easily done in an extensive country, with whose 
 woods and creeks they are familiar. 
 
 The only exportable crop of this region is the 
 long staple Sea Island cotton, raised with more 
 difficulty than the coarser kind, and bringing a 
 higher price. The agents of the Treasury De- 
 partment expect to gather some two million five 
 hundred thousand pounds of ginned cotton the 
 present j^ear, nearly all of which had been picked 
 and stored before the arrival of our forces. Con- 
 siderable quantities have not been picked at all, 
 but the crop for this season was unusually good. 
 Potatoes and corn are raised only for consumption 
 on the plantations — corn being raised at the rate 
 of only twenty-five bushels per acre. 
 
 Such features in plantation life as will throw 
 light on the social questions now anxiously 
 weighed deserve notice. 
 
 In this region, the master, if a man of wealth, 
 is more likely to have his main residence at Beau- 
 fort, sometimes having none on the plantation, 
 but having one for the driver, who is always a 
 negro. He may, however, have one, and an ex- 
 pensive one, too, as in the case of Dr. J enkins, at 
 St. Helena, and yet pass most of his time at Beau- 
 fort, or at the North. The plantation in such 
 cases is left almost wholly under the charge of 
 an overseer. In some cases there is not even a 
 house for an overseer, the plantation being super- 
 intended by the driver, and being visited by the 
 overseer living on another plantation belonging to 
 the same owner. The houses for the overseers 
 are of an undesirable character. Orchards of 
 orange or fig-trees are usually planted near them. 
 
 The field-hands are generally quartered at some 
 distance — eighty or one hundred rods — from the 
 overseer's or master's house, and are ranged in a 
 row, sometimes in two rows, fronting each other. 
 They are sixteen feet by twelve, each appropriated 
 to a family, and in some cases divided with a 
 partition. They numbered, on the plantations 
 visited, from ten to twenty, and on the Coffin 
 plantation they are double, numbering twenty- 
 three double houses, intended for forty-six fami- 
 lies. The yards seemed to s\varm with children, 
 the negroes coupling at an early age. 
 
 Except on Sundays, these people do not take 
 their meals at a family table, but each one takes 
 his hominy, bread, or potatoes, sitting on the 
 floor or a bench, and at his own time. They say 
 their masters never allowed them any regular 
 time for meals. Whoever, under our new system, 
 is charged with their superintendence should see 
 that they attend more to the cleanliness of their 
 persons and houses, and that, as in families of 
 white people, they take their meals together at a 
 table — habits to which they will be more dis- 
 posed when they are provided with another change 
 of clothing, and when better food is furnished 
 and a proper hour assigned for meals. 
 
 Upon each plantation visited by me, familiar 
 conversations were had with several laborers, 
 more or less extended as time permitted — some- 
 times inquiries made of them, as they collected in 
 groups, as to what they desired us to do with and 
 for them, with advice as to the course of sobriety 
 and industry which it was for their interest to 
 pursue under the new and strange circumstances 
 in which they were now placed. Inquiries as to 
 plantation economy, the culture of crops, the im- 
 plements still remaining, the number of persons 
 in all, and of field-hands, and the rations issued, 
 were made of the drivers, as they are called, an- 
 swering as nearly as the two different systems of 
 labor will permit to foremen on farms in the free 
 States. There is one on each plantation— on the 
 largest one visited, two. They still remained on 
 each visited, and their names were noted. The 
 business of the driver was to superintend the 
 field-hands generally, and see that their tasks 
 were performed fully and properly. He con- 
 trolled them, subject to the master or overseer. 
 He dealt out the rations. Another office belonged 
 to him ; he was required by the master or over- 
 seer, whenever he saw fit, to inflict corporal pun- 
 ishment upon the laborers ; nor was he relieved 
 from this office when the subject of discipline was 
 his wife or children. In the absence of the mas- 
 ter and overseer, he succeeded to much of their 
 authority. As indicating his position of conse- 
 quence, he was privileged with four suits of cloth- 
 ing a year, while only two were allowed to the 
 laborers under him. It is evident, from some of 
 the duties assigned to him, that he must have 
 been a person of considerable judgment and know- 
 ledge of plantation economy, not differing essen- 
 tially from that required of the foreman of a farm 
 in the free States, He may be presumed to have 
 known, in many cases, quite as much about the 
 matters with which he was charged as the owner 
 of the plantation, who often passed but a frac- 
 tional part of his time upon it. 
 
 The driver, notwithstanding the dispersion of 
 other laborers, quite generally remains on the 
 plantation, as already stated. He still holds the 
 keys of the granary, dealing out the rations of 
 food, and with the same sense of responsibility as 
 before. In one case I found him in a controversy 
 with a laborer, to whom he was refusing his peck 
 of corn, because of absence with his wife on an- 
 other plantation when the corn was gathered — it 
 being gathered since the arrival of our army. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 305 
 
 The laborer protested warmly that he had helped 
 to plant and hoe the corn, and was only absent 
 as charged because of sickness. The driver ap- 
 pealed to me, as the only white man near, and 
 learning from other laborers that the laborer was 
 sick at the time of gathering, I advised the driver 
 to give him his peck of corn, which he did ac- 
 cordingly. The fact is noted as indicating the 
 present relation of the driver to the plantation, 
 where he still retains something of his former 
 authority. 
 
 This authority is, however, very essentially di- 
 minished. The main reason is, as he will assure 
 you, that he has now no white man to back him. 
 Other reasons may, however, concur. A class 
 of laborers are generally disposed to be jealous 
 of one of their own number promoted to be over 
 them, and accordingly some negroes, evidently 
 moved by this feeling, will tell you that the 
 drivers ought now to work as field-hands, and 
 some field-hands be drivers in their place. The 
 driver has also been required to report dehn- 
 quencies to the master or overseer, and upon 
 their order to inflict corporal punishment. The 
 laborers will, in some cases, say that he has been 
 harder than he need to have been, while he will 
 say that he did only what he was forced to do. 
 The complainants who have sulfered under the 
 lash may be pardoned for not being sufficiently 
 charitable to him who has unwillingly inflicted it, 
 v/hile, on the other hand, he has been placed in a 
 dangerous position, where a hard nature, or self- 
 interest, or dislike for the victim, might have 
 tempted him to be more cruel than his position 
 required. The truth, in proportions impossible 
 for us in many cases to fix, may lie with both 
 parties. I am, on the whole, inclined to believe 
 that the past position of the driver and his valu- 
 able knowledge, both of the plantations and the 
 laborers, when properly advised and controlled, 
 may be made available in securing the productive- 
 ness of the plantations and the good of the labor- 
 ers. It should be added that, in all cases, the 
 drivers were found very ready to answer inquiries 
 and communicate information, and seemed de- 
 sirous that the work of the season should be 
 commenced. , 
 
 There are also on the plantations other laborers, 
 more intelligent than the average, such as the 
 carpenter, the ploughman, the religious leader, 
 who may be called a preacher, a watchman, or a 
 helper — the two latter being recognized officers 
 in the churches of these people, and the helpers 
 being aids to the watchman. These persons, 
 having recognized positions among their fellows, 
 either by virtue of superior knowledge or devo- 
 tion, when properl}^ approached by us may be 
 expected to have a beneficial influence on the 
 more ignorant, and help to create that public 
 opinion in favor of good conduct which, among 
 the humblest as among the highest, is most use- 
 ful. I saw many of very low intellectual devel- 
 opment, but hardly any too low to be reached by 
 civilizing influences, either coming directly from 
 us or mediately through their brethren. And 
 while I saw some who were sadly degraded, I met 
 
 also others who were as fine specimens of human 
 nature as one can ever expect to find. 
 
 Besides attendance on churches on Sundays, 
 there are evening prayer-meetings on the planta- 
 tions as often as once or twice a week, occupied 
 with praying, singing, and exhortations. In some 
 cases the leader can read a hymn, having picked 
 up his knowledge clandestinely, either from other 
 negroes or from white children. Of the adults, 
 about one half, at least, are members of churches, 
 generally the Baptist, although other denomina- 
 tions have communicants among them. In the 
 Baptist church, on St. Helena Island, which I vis- 
 ited on the twenty-second of Januarj^, there were 
 a few pews for the proportionally small number 
 of white attendants, and the much larger space 
 was devoted to benches for colored people. On 
 one plantation there is a negro chapel, well adapt- 
 ed for the purpose, built by the proprietor, the 
 late Mrs. Eustis. whose memory is cherished by 
 the negroes, and some of whose sons are now 
 loyal citizens of Massachusetts, i have heard 
 among the negroes scarcely any profane swearing 
 — not more than twice— a striking contrast with 
 my experience among soldiers in the army. 
 
 It seemed a part of my duty to attend some of 
 the religious meetings of these people and learn 
 further about them what could be derived from 
 such a source. Their exhortations to personal 
 piety were fervent, and though their language 
 was many times confused, at least to my ear, oc- 
 casionally an important instruction or a felicitous 
 expression could be recognized. In one case, a 
 preacher of their own, commenting on the text, 
 "Blessed are the meek," exhorted his brethren 
 not to be " stout-minded." On one plantation on 
 Ladies' Island, where some thirty negroes were 
 gathered in the evening, I read passages of Scrip- 
 ture, and pressed on them their practical duties 
 at the present time with reference to the good of 
 themselves, their children, and their people. The 
 passages read were the first and twenty-third 
 Psalms ; the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, verses 
 one to four ; the Beatitudes in the fifth chapter 
 of Matthew; the fourteenth chapter of John's 
 Gospel, and the fifth chapter of the Epistle of 
 James. In substance I told them that their mas- 
 ters had rebelled against the Government, and we 
 had come to put down the rebellion ; that we had 
 now met them, and wanted to see what was best 
 to do for them ; that Mr. Lincoln, the President 
 or Great Man at Washington, had the whole mat- 
 ter in charge, and was thinking what he could do 
 for them ; that the great trouble about doing any 
 thing for them was that their masters had always 
 told us, and had made many people believe, that 
 they were lazy, and would not work unless whip- 
 ped to it ; that Mr. Lincoln had sent us down 
 here to see if it was so ; that what they did was 
 reported to him, or to men who would tell hiui ; 
 that where I came from all were free, both white 
 and black ; that we did not sell children or sep- 
 arate man and wife, but all had to work ; that if 
 they were to be free, they would have to work, 
 and would be shut up or deprived of privileges if 
 they did not ; that this was a critical hour with 
 
306 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 them, and if they did not behave well now and 
 respect our agents and appear willing to work, 
 Mr. Lincoln would give up trying to do any thing 
 for them, and they must give up all hope of any 
 thing better, and their children and grandchild- 
 ren a hundred years hence would be worse off 
 than they had been. I told them they must stick 
 to their plantations and not run about and get 
 scattered, and assured them that what their mas- 
 ters had told them of our intention to carry them 
 off to Cuba and sell them was a lie, and their 
 masters knew it to be so, and we wanted them 
 to stay on the plantations and raise cotton, and if 
 they behaved well, they should have wages — 
 small, perhaps, at first ; that they should have 
 better food, and not have their wives and child- 
 ren sold off ; that their children should be taught 
 to read and write, for which they might be will- 
 ing to pay something ; that by and by they would 
 be as well off as the white people, and we would 
 stand by them against their masters ever coming 
 back to take them. The importance of exerting 
 a good influence on each other, particularly on 
 the young men, who were rather careless and 
 roving, was urged, as all would suffer in good re- 
 pute from the bad deeds of a few. At Hilton 
 Head, where I spoke to a meeting of two hundred, 
 and there were facts calhng for the counsel, the 
 women were urged to keep away from the bad 
 white men, who would ruin them. Remarks of 
 a like character were made familiarly on the plan- 
 tations to such groups as gathered about. At 
 the Hilton Head meeting, a good-looking man, 
 who had escaped from the southern part of Barn- 
 well District, rose and said, with much feeling, 
 that he and many others should do all they could 
 by good conduct to prove what their masters said 
 against them to be false, and to make Mr. Lincoln 
 think better things of them. After the meeting 
 closed, he desired to know if Mr. Lincoln was 
 coming down here to see them, and he wanted 
 me to give Mr. Lincoln his compliments, with his 
 name, assuring the President that he would do 
 all he could for him. The message was a little 
 amusing, but it testified to the earnestness of the 
 simple-hearted man. He had known Dr. Bris- 
 bane, who had been compelled some years since 
 to leave the South because of his sympathy for 
 slaves. The name of Mr. Lincoln was used in 
 addressing them, as more likely to impress them 
 than the abstract idea of government. 
 
 It is important to add that in no case have I 
 attempted to excite them by insurrectionary ap- 
 peals against their former masters, feeling that 
 such a course might increase the trouble of or- 
 ganizing them into a peaceful and improving 
 system, under a just and healthful temporary dis- 
 cipline ; and besides, that it is a dangerous expe- 
 riment to attempt the improvement of a class of 
 men by appealing to their coarser nature. The 
 better course toward making them our faithful 
 aUies, and therefore the constant enemies of the 
 rebels, seemed to be to place before them the 
 good things to be done for them and their child- 
 ren, and sometimes reading passages of Scripture 
 appropriate to their lot, without, however, note 
 
 or comment, never heard before by them, or heard 
 only when wrested from their just interpretation ; 
 such, for instance, as the last chapter of St. 
 James's Epistle, and the Glad Tidings of Isaiah : 
 " I have come to preach deliverance to the cap- 
 tive." Thus treated and thus educated, they may 
 be hoped to become useful coadjutors, and the 
 unconquerable foes of the fugitive rebels. 
 
 There are some vices charged upon these people 
 which deserve examination. Notwithstanding 
 their religious professions, in some cases more 
 emotional than practical, the marriage relation, or 
 what answers for it, is not, in many instances, 
 held very sacred by them. The men, it is said, 
 sometimes leave one wife and take another,— 
 something likely to happen in any society where 
 it is permitted or not forbidden by a stern public 
 opinion, and far more likely to happen under laws 
 which do not recognize marriage, and dissolve 
 what answers for it by forced separations, dictat- 
 ed by the mere pecuniary interest of others. The 
 women, it is said, are easily persuaded by white 
 men, — a facility readily accounted for by the 
 power of the master over them, whose solicita- 
 tion was equivalent to a command, and a,gainst 
 which the husband or father was powerless to 
 protect, and increased also by the degraded con- 
 dition in which they have been placed, where 
 they have been apt to regard what ought to be a 
 disgrace as a compliment, when they were ap- 
 proached by a paramour of superior condition and 
 race. Yet often the dishonor is felt, and the wo- 
 man, on whose several children her master's fea- 
 tures are impressed, and through whose veins his 
 blood flows, has sadly confessed it with an in- 
 stinctive blush. The grounds of this charge, so 
 far as they may exist, will be removed, as much 
 as in communities of our own race, by a system 
 which shall recognize and enforce the marriage 
 relation among them, protect them against the 
 solicitations of white men as much as law can, 
 still more by putting them in relations where they 
 will be inspired with self-respect and a conscious- 
 ness of their rights, and taught by a pure and 
 plain-spoken Christianity. 
 
 In relation to the veracity of these people, so 
 far as my relations with them have extended, they 
 have appeared, as a class, to intend to tell the 
 truth. Their manner, as much as among white 
 men, bore instinctive evidence of this intention. 
 Their answers to inquiries relative to the man- 
 agement of the plantations have a general concur- 
 rence. They make no universal charges of cruelty 
 against their masters. They will say, in some 
 cases, that their own was a very kind one, but 
 another one in that neighborhood was cruel. On 
 St. Helena Island they spoke kindly of " the good 
 William Fripp," as they called him, and of Dr. 
 Clarence Fripp ; but they all denounced the 
 cruelty of Alvira Fripp, recounting his inhuman 
 treatment of both men and women, xinother 
 concurrence is worthy of note. On the planta- 
 tions visited, it appeared from the statements of 
 the laborers themselves, that there were, on an 
 average, about one hundred and thirty-three 
 pounds of cotton produced to the acre, and five 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 307 
 
 acres of cotton and corn cultivated to a hand, the 
 culture of potatoes not being noted. A n article 
 of the American Agriculturist^ published in 
 Turner's Cotton Manual^ pages 132, 133, relative 
 to the culture of Sea Island Cotton on the plan- 
 tation of John H. Townsend, states that the land 
 is cultivated in the proportion of seven twelfths 
 cotton, three twelfths corn, and two twelfths po- 
 tatoes — in all, less than six acres to a hand — and 
 the average yield of cotton per acre is one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five pounds. I did not take the 
 statistics of the culture of potatoes, but about five 
 acres are planted with them on the smaller plan- 
 tations, and twenty, or even thirty, on the larger ; 
 and the average amount of land to each hand, 
 planted with potatoes, should be added to the 
 five acres of cotton and corn, and thus results not 
 diifering substantially are reached in both cases. 
 Thus the standard publications attest the verac- 
 ity and accuracy of these laborers. 
 
 Again, there can be no more delicate and re- 
 sponsible position, involving honesty and skill, 
 than that of pilot. For this purpose, these people 
 are every day employed to aid our military and 
 naval operations in navigating these sinuous chan- 
 nels. They were used in the recent reconnoissance 
 in the direction of Savannah ; and the success of 
 the affair at Port Royal Ferry depended on the 
 fidelity of a pilot, William, without the aid of 
 whom, or of one like him, it could not have been 
 undertaken. Further information on this point 
 may be obtained of the proper authorities here. 
 These services are not, it is true, in all respects, 
 illustrative of the quality of veracity, but they 
 involve kindred virtues not likely to exist with- 
 out it. 
 
 It is proper, however, to state that expressions 
 are sometimes heard from persons who have not 
 considered these people thoughtfully, to the effect 
 that their word is not to be trusted, and these 
 persons, nevertheless, do trust them, and act upon 
 their statements. There may, however, be some 
 color for such expressions. These laborers, like 
 all ignorant people, have an ill-regulated reason, 
 too much under the control of the imagination. 
 Therefore, when they report the number of sol- 
 diers, or relate facts where there is room for con- 
 jecture, they are likely to be extravagant, and 
 you must scrutinize their reports. Still, except 
 among the thoroughly dishonest, — no more nu- 
 merous among them than in other races, — there 
 will be found a colorable basis for their state- 
 ments, enough to show their honest intention to 
 speak truly. 
 
 It is true also that you will find them too will- 
 ing to express feelings which will please you. 
 This is most natural. All races, as well as all 
 animals, have their appropriate means of self-de- 
 fence, and where the power to use physical force 
 to defend one's self is taken away, the weaker 
 animal, or man, or race, resorts to cunning and 
 duplicity. Whatever habits of this kind may ap- 
 pear in these people are directly traceable to the 
 well-known features of their past condition, with- 
 out involving any essential proncness to decep- 
 tion in the race, further than may be ascribed to 
 
 human nature. Upon this point, special inquiries 
 have been made of the Superintendent at Hilton 
 Head, who is brought in direct daily association 
 with them, and whose testimony, truthful as he 
 is, is worth far more than that of those who have 
 had less nice opportunities of observation, and 
 Mr. Lee certifies to the results here presented. 
 
 Upon the question of the disposition of these 
 people to work, there are difierent reports, varied 
 somewhat by the impression an idle or an indus- 
 trious laborer, brought into immediate relation 
 with the witness, may have made on the mind. 
 In conversations with them, they uniformly an- 
 swered to assurances that if free they must work, 
 " Yes, massa, we must work to live ; that's the 
 law ;" and expressing an anxiety that the work 
 of the plantations was not going on. At Hilton 
 Head, they are ready to do for Mr. Lee, the judi- 
 cious Superintendent, whatever is desired. Hard 
 words and epithets are, however, of no use in 
 managing them, and other parties for whose ser- 
 vice they are specially detailed, who do not un- 
 derstand or treat them properly, find some trouble 
 in making their labor available, as might natur- 
 ally be expected. In collecting cotton, it is some- 
 times, as I am told, difficult to get them together, 
 when wanted for work. There may be some- 
 thing in this, particularly among the young men. 
 I have observed them a good deal ; and though 
 they often do not work to much advantage, — a 
 dozen doing sometimes what one or two stout and 
 well-trained Northern laborers would do, and 
 though less must always be expected of persons 
 native to this soil than of those bred in Northern 
 latitudes, and under more bracing air, — I have 
 not been at all impressed with their general in- 
 dolence. As servants, oarsmen, and carpenters, 
 I have seen them working faithfully and with a 
 will. There are some peculiar circumstances in 
 their condition, which no one who assumes to sit 
 in judgment upon them must overlook. They 
 are now, for the first time, freed from the restraint 
 of a master, and like children whose guardian or 
 teacher is absent for the day, they may quite na- 
 turally enjoy an interval of idleness. No system 
 of labor for them, outside of the camps, has been 
 begun, and they have had nothing to do except 
 to bale the cotton when bagging was furnished, 
 and we all know that men partially employed are, 
 •if any thing, less disposed to do the little assigned 
 them than they are to perform the full measure 
 which belongs to them in regular life, the virtue 
 in the latter case being supported by habit. At 
 the camps, they are away from their accustomed 
 places of labor, and have not been so promptly 
 paid as could be desired, and are exposed to the 
 same circumstances which often dispose soldiers 
 to make as little exertion as possible. In the 
 general chaos which prevails, and before the in- 
 spirations of labor have been set before them by 
 proper superintendents and teachers who under- 
 stand their disposition, and show by their con- 
 duct an interest in their welfare, no humane or 
 reasonable man would subject them to austere 
 criticism, or make the race responsible for the 
 delinquencies of an idle person, who happened to 
 
.308 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 be brought particularly under his own observa- 
 tion. Not thus would we have ourselves or our 
 own race judged ; and the judgment which we 
 would not have meted to us, let us not measure 
 to others. 
 
 Upon the best examination of these people, 
 and a comparison of the evidence of trustworthy 
 persons, I believe that when properly organized, 
 and with proper motives set before them, they 
 will, as freemen, be as industrious as any race of 
 men are likely to be in this climate. 
 
 The notions of the sacredness of property as 
 held by these people have sometimes been the 
 subject of discussion here. It is reported that 
 they have taken things left in their masters' 
 houses. It was wise to prevent this, and even 
 where it had been done to compel a restoration, 
 at least of expensive articles, lest they should be 
 injured by speedily acquiring, without purchase, 
 articles above their condition. But a moment's 
 reflection will show that it was the most natural 
 thing for them to do. They had been occupants 
 of the estates ; had had these things more or less 
 in charge, and when the former owners had left, 
 it was easy for them to regard their title to the 
 abandoned property as better than that of stran- 
 gers. Still, it is not true that they have, except 
 as to very simple articles, as soap or dishes, gen- 
 erally availed themselves of such property. It is 
 also stated that in camps where they have been 
 destitute of clothing, they have stolen from each 
 other, but the superintendents are of opinion that 
 they would not ha^ie done this if already well 
 provided. Besides, those familiar with large bo- 
 dies, collected together, like soldiers in camp life, 
 know how often these charges of mutual pilfering 
 are made among them, often with great injustice. 
 It should be added, to complete the statement, 
 that the agents who have been intrusted with the 
 collection of cotton have reposed confidence in 
 the trustworthiness of the laborers, committing 
 property to their charge — a confidence not found 
 to have been misplaced. 
 
 To what extent these laborers desire to be free, 
 and to serve us still further in putting down the 
 rebellion, has been a subject of examination. The 
 desire to be free has been strongly expressed, 
 particularly among the more intelligent and ad- 
 venturous. Every day, almost, adds a fresh tale 
 of escapes, both solitary and in numbers, con- 
 ducted with a courage, a forecast, and a skill wor- 
 thy of heroes. But there are other apparent fea- 
 tures in their disposition which it would be un- 
 truthful to conceal. On the plantations, I often 
 found a disposition to evade the inquiry whether 
 they wished to be free or slaves ; and though a 
 preference for freedom was expressed, it was 
 rarely in the passionate phrases which would 
 come from an Italian peasant. The secluded and 
 monotonous life of a plantation, with strict disci- 
 pline and ignorance enforced by law and custom, 
 is not favorable to the development of the richer 
 sentiments, though even there they find at least 
 a stunted growth, irrepressible as they are. The 
 inquiry was often answered in this way : "The 
 white man do what he pleases with us ; we are 
 
 yours now, massa." One, if I understood his 
 broken words rightly, said that he did not care 
 about being free, if he only had a good master. 
 Others said they would hke to be free, but they 
 wanted a white man for a " protector." All of 
 proper age, when inquired of, expressed a desire 
 to have their children taught to read and write, 
 and to learn themselves. On this point they 
 showed more earnestness than on any other. 
 When asked if they were willing to fight, in case 
 we needed them, to keep their masters from com- 
 ing back, they would seem to shrink from that, 
 saying that "black men have been kept down so 
 like dogs that they would run before white men." 
 At the close of the first week's observation, I al- 
 most concluded that on the plantations there was 
 but little earnest desire for freedom, and scarcely 
 any willingness for its sake to encounter white 
 men. But as showing the importance of not at- 
 tempting to reach general conclusions too hastily, 
 another class of facts came to my notice the sec- 
 ond week. I met then some more intelligent, who 
 spoke with profound earnestness of their desire to 
 be free, and how they had longed to see this day. 
 Other facts, connected with the military and na- 
 val operations, were noted. At the recent recon- 
 noissance toward Pulaski, pilots of this class 
 stood well under the fire, and were not reluctant 
 to the service. When a district of Ladies' Island 
 was left exposed, they voluntarily took such guns 
 as they could procure, and stood sentries. Also 
 at Edisto, where the colony is collected under the 
 protection of oar gunboats, they armed them- 
 selves and drove back the rebel cavalry. An offi- 
 cer here high in command reported to me some of 
 these facts, which had been officially communi- 
 cated to him. The suggestion may be pertinent 
 that the persons in question are divisible into two 
 classes. Those who, by their occupation, have 
 been accustomed to independent labor, and 
 schooled in some sort of self-reliance, are more 
 developed in this direction ; while others, who 
 have been bound to the routine of plantation life, 
 and kept more strictly under surveillance, are but 
 little awakened. But even among these last there 
 has been, under the quickening inspiration of 
 present events, a rapid development, indicating 
 that the same feeling is only latent. 
 
 There is another consideration which must not 
 be omitted. Many of these people have still but 
 little confidence in us, anxiously looking to see 
 what is to be our disposition of them. It is a 
 mistake to suppose that, separated from the world, 
 never having read a Northern book or newspaper 
 relative to them, or talked with a Northern man 
 expressing the sentiments prevalent in his region, 
 they are universally and with entire confidence 
 welcoming us as their deliverers. Here, as every- 
 where else, where our army has met them, they 
 have been assured by their masters that we were 
 going to carry them off to Cuba. There is prob- 
 ably not a rebel master, from the Potomac to the 
 Gulf, who has not repeatedly made this assurance 
 to his slaves. No matter what his religious vows 
 may have been, no matter what his professed 
 honor as a gentleman, he has not shrunk from the 
 
DOCTJMEXTS. 
 
 300 
 
 reiteration of this falsehood. Xever was there a 
 people, as all who know them will testify, more 
 attached to familiar places than they. Be their 
 home a cabin, and not even that cabin their own, 
 they still cling to it. The reiteration could not 
 fail to have had some effect on a point on which 
 they were so sensitive. Often it must have been 
 met with tmbelief or gi'eat suspicion of its truth. 
 It was also balanced by the consideration that 
 their masters would remove them into the interi- 
 or, and perhaps to a remote region, and separate 
 theu^ families, about as bad as being taken to Cu- 
 ba, and they felt more inclined to remain on the 
 plantations, and take then' chances with us. They 
 have told me that they reasoned in this way. But 
 in many cases they fled at the approach of our 
 army. Then one or two bolder returning, the 
 rest were reassured and came back. Recently, 
 the laborers on Paris Island, seeing some schoon- 
 ers approaching suspiciously, commenced gather- 
 ing their little effects rapidly together, and were 
 about to run, when they were Cjuieted by some 
 of our teachers coming, in whom they had confi- 
 dence. In some cases, their distrust has been 
 increased by the bad conduct of some irresponsi- 
 ble white men, of which, for the honor of human 
 nature, it is not best to speak more particularly. I 
 On the whole, their confidence in us has been ; 
 greatly increased by the treatment they have re- ' 
 ceived, which, in spite of many individual cases 
 of injury less likely to occur under the stringent 
 orders recently issued from the naval and military 
 authorities, has been generally kind and humane, j 
 But the distrust which to a greater or less extent j 
 may have existed on our arrival, renders neces- 1 
 sar}', if we would keep them faithful allies, and j 
 not informers to the enemy, the immediate adop- j 
 tion of a S3'stem which shall be a pledge of our 
 protection and of our permanent interest in their 
 welfare. 
 
 The manner of the laborers toward us has been 
 kind and deferential, doing for us such good 
 offices as were in their power, as guides, pilots, 
 or in more personal service, inviting us on the 
 plantations to lunch of hominy and milk, or po- 
 tatoes, touching the hat in courtesy, and answer- 
 ing politely such questions as were addressed to 
 them. If there have been exceptions to this rule, 
 it was in the case of those whose bearing did not 
 entitle them to the civility. 
 
 Passing from general phases of character or 
 present disposition, the leading facts in relation 
 to the plantations and the mode of rendering 
 them useful and determining what is best to be 
 done, come next in order. 
 
 The laborers of St. Helena and Ladies' Islands 
 ver}- generally remain on their respective planta- 
 tions. This fact, arising parth' from local attach- 
 ment and partly because they can thus secure 
 their allowance of corn, is important, as it will 
 facihtate their redrganization. Some are absent 
 temporarily, visiting a wife or relative on another 
 plantation, and returning periodically for their ra- 
 tions. The disposition to roam, so far as it ex- 
 ists, mainly belongs to the younger people. On 
 Port Royal and Hilton Head Islands, there is a 
 
 much greater dispersion, due in part to their hav 
 ^ ing been the scene of more active military move- 
 ments, and in part to the taking in gTeater mea- 
 ; sure on these islands of the means of subsistence 
 fi^om the plantations. When the work recom- 
 , mences, however, there is not likely to be any 
 , indisposition to return to them. 
 ' The statistics with regard to the number of 
 laborers, field-hands, acres planted to cotton and 
 corn, are not presented as accurate statements, 
 but only as reasonable approximations, which 
 may be of service. 
 
 : The highest number of people on any planta- 
 tion visited was on Coffin's, where there are two 
 ' hundred and sixty. Those on the plantation of 
 Dr. Jenkins number one hundred and thirty ; on 
 • that of the Eustis estate, one hundred and twen- 
 , ty ; and on the others, from eighty to thirty-eight. 
 ; The average number on each is eighty-one. The 
 : field-hands range generally from one third to one 
 I half of the number, the rest being house servants, 
 ; old persons, and children. About five acres of 
 i cotton and corn are planted to a hand ; and of 
 potatoes, about five acres in, all were planted on 
 , the smaller plantations, and fi-om twenty to thirty 
 ' on the larger. 
 
 ! The number of pounds in a bale of ginned cot- 
 ; ton ranges from three to four hundred, the ave- 
 ' rage number being not far from three hundred 
 and forty-five pounds per bale. The average 
 yield per acre on fifteen plantations was about 
 one hundi'ed and thirty-three pounds. 
 
 The material for compost is gathered in the pe- 
 riods of most leisure — often in July and August, 
 after the cultivation of the cotton plant is ended, 
 and before the picking has commenced. Various 
 materials are used, but quite generally mud and 
 the coarse marsh grass, which abounds on the 
 creeks near the plantations, are employed. The 
 manure is carted upon the land in January and 
 February, and left in heaps, two or three cart- 
 loads on each task, to be spread at the time of 
 listing. The land, by prevailing custom, lies fal- 
 low a year. The cotton and corn are planted in 
 elevated rows or beds. The next step is the list- 
 ing, done with the hoe, and making the bed where 
 the alleys were at the previous raising of the crop, 
 and the alleys being made where the beds were 
 before. In this process, half the old bed is hauled 
 into the alley on the one side, and the other half 
 into the alley on the other. This work is done 
 mainly in .February, being commenced sometimes 
 the last of January. A "task'' is one hundred 
 and five feet square, and contains twenty-one or 
 twenty-two beds or rows. Each laborer is re- 
 quu-ed to list a task and a half, or if the land is 
 moist and heavy, a task and five or seven beds, 
 say one fourth or three eighths of an acre. 
 
 The planting of cotton commences about the 
 twentieth or last of ^larch, and of corn about the 
 same time or earlier. It is continued through 
 April, and by some planters it is not begun fill 
 April. The seeds are deposited in the beds, a 
 foot or a foot and a half apart on light land, and 
 two feet apart on heavy land, and five or ten 
 seeds left in a place. AVhile the plant is growins:, 
 
 t 
 
310 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 the stalks are thinned so as to leave two together 
 on high land, and one by itself on low or rich 
 land. The hoeing of the early cotton begins 
 about the time that the planting of the late has 
 ended. The plant is- cultivated with tlie hoe and 
 plough during May, June, and July, keeping the 
 weeds down and thinning the stalks. The picking 
 commences the last of August. The cotton be- 
 ing properly dried in the sun, is then stored in 
 houses, ready to be ginned. The ginning, or 
 cleaning the fibre from the seed, is done either by 
 gins operated by steam or by the well-known 
 foot-gins — the latter turning out about thirty 
 pounds of ginned cotton per day, and worked by 
 one person, assisted by another, who picks out 
 the specked and yellow cotton. The steam-en- 
 gine carries one or more gins, each turning out 
 three hundred pounds per day, and requiring 
 eight or ten hands to tend the engine and gins, 
 more or less, according to the number of the gins. 
 The foot-gins are still more used than the gins 
 operated by steam, the latter being used mainly 
 on the largest plantations, on which both kinds 
 are sometimes employed. I have preserved notes 
 of the kind and number of gins used on the plan- 
 tations visited, but it is unnecessary to give them 
 here. Both kinds can be run entirely by the la- 
 borers, and after this year, the ginning should be 
 done wholly here — among other reasons, to avoid 
 transportation of the seed, which makes nearly 
 three fourths of the weight of the unginned cot- 
 ton, and to preserve in better condition the seed 
 required for planting. 
 
 The allowance of clothing to the field-hands in 
 this district has been two suits per year, one for 
 summer and another for winter. That of food 
 has been mainly vegetable — a peck of corn a 
 week to each hand, with meat only in J une, when 
 the work is hardest, and at Christmas. No meat 
 was allowed in June on some plantations, while 
 on a few more liberal it was dealt out occasion- 
 ally, as once a fortnight or once a month. On a 
 few, molasses was given at intervals. Children, 
 varying with their ages, were allowed from two 
 to six quarts of corn per week. The diet is more 
 exclusively vegetable here than almost anywhere 
 in the rebellious region, and in this respect should 
 be changed. It should be added, that there is a 
 large quantity of oysters available for food in 
 proper seasons. 
 
 Besides the above rations, the laborers were 
 allowed each to cultivate a small patch of ground, 
 about a quarter of an acre, for themselves, when 
 their work for their master was done. On this, 
 corn and potatoes, chiefly the former, were plant- 
 ed. The corn was partly eaten by themselves, 
 thus supplying in part the deficiency in rations ; 
 but it was, to a great extent, fed to a pig or 
 chickens, each hand being allowed to keep a pig 
 and chickens or ducks, but not geese or turkeys. 
 With the proceeds of the pig and chickens, gene- 
 rally sold to the masters, and at pretty low rates, 
 extra clothing, coffee, sugar, and that necessary 
 of life with these people, as they think, tobacco, 
 were bought. 
 
 In the report thus far, such facts in the condi- 
 
 tion of the territory now occupied by the forces 
 of the United States have been noted as seemed 
 to throw light on what could be done to reorgan- 
 ize the laborers, prepare them to become sober 
 and self-supporting citizens, and secure the suc- 
 cessful culture of a cotton-crop, now so necessary 
 to be contributed to the markets of the world. 
 It will appear from them that these people are 
 naturally religious and simple-hearted — attached 
 to the places where they have lived, still adhering 
 to them both from a feeling of local attachment 
 and self-interest in securing the means of subsist- 
 ence ; that they have the knowledge and expe- 
 rience requisite to do all the labor, from the pre- 
 paration of the ground for planting until the 
 cotton is baled, ready to be exported ; that they, 
 or the great mass of them, are disposed to labor, 
 with proper inducements thereto ; that they lean 
 upon white men, and desire their protection, and 
 could, therefore, under a wise system, be easily 
 brought under subordination ; that they are sus- 
 ceptible to the higher considerations, as duty and 
 the love of offspring, and are not in any way in- 
 herently vicious, their defects coming from their 
 peculiar condition in the past or present, and not 
 from constitutional proneness to evil beyond what 
 may be attributed to human nature ; that they 
 have among them natural chiefs, either by virtue 
 of religious leadership or superior intelligence, 
 who, being first addressed, may exert a healthful 
 influence on the rest ; in a word, that, in spite of 
 their condition, reputed to be worse here than in 
 many other parts of the rebellious region, there 
 are such features in their life and character, that 
 the opportunity is now offered to us to make of 
 them, partially in this generation, and fully in 
 the next, a happy, industrious, law-abiding, free 
 and Christian people, if we have but the courage 
 and patience to accept it. If this be the better 
 view of them and their possibilities, I will say 
 that I have come to it after anxious study of all 
 peculiar circumstances in their lot and character, 
 and after anxious conference with reflecting minds 
 here, who are prosecuting like inquiries, not over- 
 looking what, to a casual spectator, might appear 
 otherwise, and granting what is likely enough, 
 that there are those among them whose charac- 
 ters, by reason of bad nature or treatment, are 
 set, and not admitting of much improvement. 
 And I will submit further, that, in common fair- 
 ness and common charity, when, by the order of 
 Providence, an individual or a race is committed 
 to our care, the better view is entitled to be first 
 practically applied. If this one shall be accepted 
 and crowned with success, history will have the 
 glad privilege of recording that this wicked and 
 unprovoked rebellion was not without compensa- 
 tions most welcome to our race. 
 
 What, then, should be the true system of ad- 
 ministratioji here ? 
 
 It has been proposed to lease the plantations 
 and the people upon them. To this plan there 
 are two objections — each conclusive. In the fii st 
 place, the leading object of the parties bidding 
 for leases would be to obtain a large immediate 
 revenue — perhaps to make a fortune in a year or 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 311 
 
 two. The solicitations of doubtful men, offering 
 the highest price, would impose on the leasing 
 power a stern duty of refusal, to which it ought 
 not unnecessarily to be subjected. Far better a 
 system which shall not invite such men to harass 
 the leasing power, or excite expectations of a 
 speedy fortune, to be derived from the labor of 
 this people. Secondly, no man, not even the 
 best of men, charged with the duties which ought 
 to belong to the guardians of these people, should 
 be put in a position where there would be such 
 a conflict between his humanity and his self-in- 
 terest — his desire, on the one hand, to benefit the 
 laborer, and, on the other, the too often strong- 
 er desire to reap a large revenue — perhaps to re- 
 store broken fortunes in a year or two. Such a 
 S3^stem is beset with many of the worst vices of 
 the slave system, with one advantage in favor of 
 the latter, that it is for the interest of the plant- 
 er to look to permanent results. Let the history 
 of British East-India, and of all communities 
 where a superior race has attempted to build up 
 speedy fortunes on the labor of an inferior race 
 occupying another region, be remembered, and 
 no just man will listen to the proposition of leas- 
 ing, fraught as it is vrith such dangerous conse- 
 quences. Personal confidence forbids me to re- 
 port the language of intense indignation which 
 has been expressed against it here by some occu- 
 pying high places of command, as also by others 
 who have come here for the special purpose of 
 promoting the welfare of these laborers. Per- 
 haps it might yield to the treasury a larger im- 
 mediate revenue, but it would be sure to spoil 
 the country and its people in the end. The Gov- 
 ernment should be satisfied if the products of the 
 territory may be made sufficient for a year or 
 two to pay the expenses of administration and 
 superintendence, and of the inauguration of a 
 beneficent system which will settle a great social 
 question, insure the sympathies of foreign na- 
 tions, now wielded against us, and advance the 
 civilization of the age. 
 
 The better course would be to appoint super- 
 intendents for each large plantation, and one for 
 two or three smaller combined, compensated with 
 a good salary, say one thousand dollars per 3'ear, 
 selected with reference to peculi;>r qualifications, 
 and as carefully as one would choose a guardian 
 for his children, clothed with an adequate power 
 to enforce a paternal discipline, to require a pro- 
 per amount of labor, cleanliness, sobrijety, and 
 better habits of life, and generally to promote 
 the moral and intellectual culture of the wards, 
 with such other inducements, if there be any, 
 placed before the superintendent as shall inspire 
 him to constant efforts to prepare them for useful 
 and worth}' citizenship. To quicken and insure 
 the fidelity of the superintendents, there should 
 be a director-general or governor, who shall visit 
 the plantations, and see that they are discharging 
 these duties, and, if necessary, he should be aid- 
 ed by others in the duty of visitation. This olfi 
 cer should be invested with liberal powers over 
 all persons within his jurisdiction, so as to pro- 
 tect the blacks from each other and from white 
 
 men, being required, in most important cases to 
 confer with the mihtary authorities in punishing 
 offences. His proposed duties indicate that he 
 should be a man of the best ability and charac- 
 ter ; better if he have already, by virtue of public 
 services, a hold on the public confidence. Such 
 an arrangement is submitted as preferable for the 
 present to any cumbersome territorial government 
 
 The laborers themselves, no longer slaves of 
 their former masters, or of the Government, but 
 as yet in large numbers unprepared for the full 
 privileges of citizens, are to be treated with sole 
 reference to such preparation. No effort is to be 
 spared to work upon their better nature and the 
 motives which come from it — the love of^wages, 
 of offspring, and of famil}^, the desire of happiness, 
 and the obhgations of religion. And when these 
 fail, — and fail they will, in some c-ases, — we must 
 not hesitate to resort, not to the lash, — for as from 
 the department of war, so also from the depart- 
 ment of labor, it must be banished, — but to the 
 milder and more effective punishments of depriv- 
 ation of privileges, isolation from family and so- 
 ciety, the workhouse, or even the prison. The 
 laborers are to be assured at the outset that 
 parental and conjugal relations among them are 
 to be protected and enforced ; that children, and 
 all others desiring, are to be taught ; that they 
 will receive wages; and that a certain just meas- 
 ure of work, with reference to the ability to per- 
 form it, if not willingl}^ rendered, is to be required 
 of all. The work, so far as the case admits, 
 should be assigned in proper tasks, the standard 
 being what a healthy person of average capacity 
 can do, for which a definite sum is to be paid. 
 The remark may perhaps be pertinent, that, what- 
 ever may have been the case with women or par- 
 tially disabled persons, my observations, not 3'et 
 sufficient to decide the point, have not impressed 
 me with the conviction that healthy persons, if 
 they had been provided with an adequate amount 
 of food, and that animal in due proportion, have 
 been overworked heretofore on these islands, the 
 main trouble having been that they have not 
 been so provided, and have not had the motives 
 which smooth labor. Notwithstanding the fre- 
 quent and severe chastisements which have been 
 employed here in exacting work, the}^ have failed, 
 and naturally enough, of their intended elfects. 
 Human beings are made up so much more of 
 spirit than of muscle, that compulsory labor, en- 
 forced by physical pain, will not exceed or tqual, 
 in the long run, voluntary labor v» ith just inspira- 
 tions ; and the same law in less degree m.ay be 
 seen in the difference between the value of a 
 whipped and jaded beast, and one well disci- 
 phned and kindly treated. 
 
 What should be the standard of M'ages where 
 none have heretofore been paid, is less easy to 
 determine. It should be graduated with refer- 
 ence to the wants of the laborer and the ability 
 of the employer or Government; and this abihty 
 being determined by the value of the products of 
 the labor, and the most that should be expected 
 being, that for a year or two the system should 
 not be a burden on the treasmy. Talcing into 
 
312 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 consideration the cost of food and clothing, medi- 
 cal attendance and extras, supposing that the 
 laborer would require rations of pork or beef, 
 meal, coffee, sugar, molasses and tobacco, and 
 that he would work three hundred days in the 
 year, he should receive about forty cents a day 
 in order to enable him to lay up thirty dollars ti 
 year ; and each healthy woman could do about 
 equally well. Three hundred days in a year is, 
 perhaps, too high an estimate of working-days, 
 when we consider the chances of sickness and 
 days when, by reason of storms and other causes, 
 there would be no work. It is assumed that the 
 laborer is not to pay rent for the small house 
 tenanted by him. When the average number of 
 acres cultivated by a hand, and the average yield 
 per acre are considered with reference to market 
 prices, or when the expense of each laborer to 
 his former master, the interest on his assumed 
 value and on the value of the land worked by 
 him, — these being the elements of what it has 
 cost the master before making a profit, — are com- 
 puted, the Government could afford to pay this 
 sum, leaving an ample margin to meet the cost 
 of the necessary implements, as well as of super- 
 intendence and administration. The figures on 
 which this estimate is based are at the service of 
 the department if desired. It must also be borne 
 in mind that the plantations will in the end be 
 carried' on more scientifically and cheaply than 
 before, the plough taking very much the place of 
 the hoe, and other implements being introduced 
 to facilitate industry and increase the productive 
 power of the soil. 
 
 It being important to preserve all former habits 
 which are not objectionable, the laborer should 
 have his patch of ground on which to raise corn 
 or vegetables for consumption or sale. 
 
 As a part of the plan proposed, missionaries 
 will be needed to address the religious element 
 of a race so emotional in their nature, exhorting 
 to all practical virtues, and inspiring the laborers 
 with a religious zeal for faithful labor, the good 
 nurture of their children, and for clean and 
 healthful habits. The benevolence of the free 
 States, now being directed hither, will gladly 
 provide these. The Government should, how- 
 ever, provide some teachers specially devoted to 
 teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, say 
 some twenty-five for the territory now occupied 
 by our forces, and private benevolence might 
 even be relied on for these. 
 
 The plan proposed is, of course, not presented 
 as an ultimate result : far from it. It contem- 
 plates a paternal discipline for the time being, 
 intended for present use only, with the prospect 
 of better things in the future. As fast as the 
 laborers show themselves fitted for all the privi- 
 leges of citizens, they should be dismissed from 
 the system and allowed to follow any employ- 
 ment they please, and where they please. They 
 should have the power to acquire the fee simple 
 of land, either with the proceeds of their labor or 
 as a reward of special merit ; and it would be well 
 to quicken their zeal for good behavior by proper 
 recognitions. I shall not follow these suggestions 
 
 as to the future further, contenting myself with 
 indicating what is best to be done at once with a 
 class of fellow-beings now thrown on our protec- 
 tion, entitled to be recognized as freemen, but for 
 whose new condition the former occupants of the 
 territory have diligently labored to unfit them. 
 
 But whatever is thought best to be done, should 
 be done at once. A system ought to have been 
 commenced with the opening of the year. Be- 
 sides that, demoralization increases with delay. 
 The months of January and February are the 
 months for preparing the ground by manuring 
 and listing, and the months of March and April 
 are for planting. Already important time has 
 passed, and in a very few weeks it will be too 
 late to prepare for a crop, and too late to assign 
 useful work to the laborers for a year to come. I 
 implore the immediate intervention of your de- 
 partment to avert the calamities which must en- 
 sue from a further postponement. 
 
 There is another precaution most necessary to 
 be taken. As much as possible, persons enlisted 
 in the army and navy should be kept separate 
 from these people. The association produces an 
 unhealthy excitement in the latter, and there are 
 other injurious results to both parties which it is 
 unnecessary to particularize. In relation to this 
 matter, I had an interview with the Flag-Officer, 
 Commodore Du Pont, which resulted in an order 
 that no boats from any of the ships of the 
 squadron can be permitted to land anywhere but 
 at Bay Point and Hilton Head, without a pass 
 from the Fleet Captain," and requiring the com- 
 manding officers of the vessels to give special at- 
 tention to all intercourse between the men under 
 their command and the various plantations in 
 their vicinity. Whatever can be accomplished 
 to that end by this humane and gallant officer, 
 who superadds to skill and courage in his pro- 
 fession the liberal views of a statesman, will not 
 be left undone. The suggestion should also be 
 made that, when employment is given to this 
 people, some means should be taken to enable 
 them to obtain .suitable goods at fair rates, and 
 precautions taken to prevent the introduction of 
 ardent spirits among them. 
 
 A loyal citizen of Massachusetts, Mr. Frede- 
 rick A. Eustis, has recently arrived here. He is 
 the devisee in a considerable amount under the 
 will of the late Mrs. Eustis, who owned the large 
 estate on Ladies' Island, and also another at 
 Pocotaligo, the latter not yet in possession of 
 our forces. The executors are rebels, and reside 
 at Charleston, Mr. Eustis has as yet received 
 no funds by reason of the devise. There are two 
 other loyal devisees and some other devisees re- 
 sident in rebellious districts, and the latter are 
 understood to have received dividends. Mr. Eus- 
 tis is a gentleman of humane and liberal views, 
 and, accepting the present condition of things, 
 desires that the people on these plantations shall 
 not be distinguished from their brethren on others, 
 but equally admitted to their better fortunes. 
 The circumstances of this case, though of a per- 
 sonal character, may furnish a useful precedent. 
 With great pleasure and confidence, I recommend 
 
DOCmiEXTS. 
 
 313 
 
 that this loyal citizen be placed in charge of the 
 plantation on Ladies' Island, which he is willing 
 to accept — the questions of property and rights 
 under the will being reserved for subsequent de- 
 termination. 
 
 A brief statement in relation to the laborers 
 collected at the camps at Hilton Head and Beau- 
 fort may be desirable. At both places they are 
 under the charge of the Quartermaster's Depart- 
 ment. At Hilton Head, Mr. Barnard K. Lee, Jr., 
 of Boston, is the Superintendent, assisted bv 
 Mr. J. D. McMath of Alleghany City, Pa., both 
 civihans. The appointment of Mr. Lee is derived 
 from Captain R. Saxton, Chief Quartermaster of 
 the Expeditionary Corps, a humane officer, who 
 is deeply interested in this matter. The number 
 at this camp is about six hundred, the registered 
 number under Mr. Lee being four hundred and 
 seventy-two, of whom one hundred and thirty- 
 seven are on the pay-roll. Of these four hundred 
 and seventy-two, two hundred and seventy-nine 
 are fugitives from the main land, or other points, 
 stiU held by the rebels ; seventy-seven are from 
 Hilton Head Island; sixty-two from the adjacent 
 island of Pinckney ; thirty-eight from St. Helena ; 
 eight from Port Royal ; seven from Spring, and 
 one from Daufuskie. Of the four hundred and 
 seventy-two, the much larger number, it will be 
 seen, have sought refuge from the places now 
 held by rebels ; while the greater proportion of 
 the remainder came in at an early period, before 
 they considered themselves safe elsewhere. Since 
 the above figures were given, forty-eight more, all 
 from one plantation, and under the lead of the 
 driver, came in together from the main land. 
 Mr. Lee was appointed November tenth last, with 
 instructions to assure the laborers that they would 
 be paid a reasonable sum for their services, not 
 yet fixed. They were contented with the assur- 
 ance, and a quantity of blankets and clothing 
 captured of the rebels was issued to them with- 
 out charge. About December first, an order was 
 given that carpenters should be paid eight dollars 
 per month, and other laborers five dollars per 
 month. "Women and childi'en were fed without 
 charge, the women obtaining washing and receiv- 
 ing the pay, in some cases in considerable sums, 
 not, however, heretofore very available, as there 
 was no clothing for women for sale here. It will 
 be seen that, under the order, laborers, particu- 
 larly those with families, have been paid with 
 sufficient liberality. There were sixty-three la- 
 borers on the pay-roll on December first, and one 
 hundred and one dollars and fifty cents were paid 
 to them for the preceding month. On January 
 first there were for the preceding month one hun- 
 dred and twenty-seven on the pay-roll, entitled I 
 to four hundred and sixty-eight dollars and fifty- 
 nine cents. On February first there were for the 
 preceding month one hundred and thirty-seven 
 on the pay-roll, entitled to something more than 
 for the month of January ; making in all due 
 them not far from one thousand dollars. This \ 
 delay of payment, due, it is stated, to a deficiency { 
 of small currency, has made the laborers uneasy, | 
 and afi'ected the disposition to work. ' 
 
 On January eighteenth, a formal order was 
 issued by General Sherman, regulating the rate 
 of wages, varying from twelve dollars to eight 
 dollars per month for mechanics, and fi'om eight 
 dollars to four dollars for other laborers. Under 
 it, each laborer is to have, in addition, a ration 
 of food. But fi'om the monthly pay are to be 
 deducted rations for his family, if here, and cloth- 
 ing both for himself and family. Commodious 
 barracks have been erected for these people, and 
 a guard protects their quarters. 
 
 I ha^e been greatly impressed by the kindness 
 and good sense of Mr. Lee and his assistant, in 
 their discipline of these people. The lash, let us 
 give thanks, is banished at last. No coarse words 
 or profanity are used toward them. There has 
 been less than a case of discipKne a week, and 
 the delinquent, if a male, is sometimes made to 
 stand on a ban-el, or, if a woman, is put in a dark 
 room, and such discipline has proved successful. 
 The only exception, if any, is in the case of one 
 woman, and the difficulty there was conjugal 
 jealousy, she protesting that she was compelfed / 
 by her master, against her will, to live with the 
 man. 
 
 There is scarcely any profanity among them, 
 more than one half of the adults being members 
 of churches. Their meetings are held twice or 
 three times on Sundays, also on the evenings of 
 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. They are con- 
 ducted with fervent devotion by themselves alone 
 or in presence of a white clergyman, when the 
 services of one are procurable. They close with 
 what is called ''a glory shout," one joining hands 
 with another, together in couples singing a verse 
 and beating time with the foot. A fastidious re- 
 ligionist might object to this exercise ; but being 
 in accordance with usage, and innocent enough 
 in itself, it is not open to exception. As an evi- 
 dence of the effects of the new system in inspir- 
 ing self-reliance, it should be noted that the other 
 evening they called a meeting of their own accord, 
 and voted, the motion being regularly made and 
 put, that it was now but just that they should 
 provide the candles for their meetings, hitherto 
 provided by the Government. A collection was 
 taken at a subsequent meeting, and two dollars 
 and forty-eight cents was the result. The inci- 
 dent may be trivial, but it justifies a pleasing in- 
 ference. No school, it is to be regretted, has 
 yet been started, except one on Sundays, but the 
 call for reading-books is daily made by the la- 
 borers. The suggestion of Mr. Lee, in which I 
 most heartily concur, should not be omitted — 
 that with the commencement of the work on the 
 plantations, the laborers should be distributed 
 upon them, having regard to the family relations 
 and the places whence they have come. 
 
 Of the number and condition of the laborers 
 at Beaufort, less accurate information was attain- 
 able, and fewer statistics than could be desired. 
 They have not, till within a few days, had a 
 General Superintendent, but have been under 
 the charge of persons detailed for the purpose 
 from the army. I saw one whose manner and 
 language toward them was, to say the least, not 
 
/ 
 
 314 REBELLION RECOED, 1862. 
 
 elevating. A new Quartermaster of the post has 
 recently commenced his duties, and a better order 
 of things is expected. He has appointed as Su- 
 perintendent Mr. William Harding, a citizen of 
 Daufuskie Island. An enrolment has commenc- 
 ed, but is not yet finished. There are sup- 
 posed to be about six hundred at Beaufort. The 
 number has been larger, but some have already 
 returned to the plantations in our possession from 
 which they came. At this point, the Rev. Solo- 
 mon Peck, of Roxburj^ Mass., has done great 
 good in preaching to them and protecting them 
 from the depredations of white men. He has 
 established a school for the children, in which 
 are sixty pupils, ranging in age from six to fifteen 
 years. They are rapidly learning their letters 
 and simple reading. The teachers are of the 
 same race with the taught, of ages respectively of 
 twenty, thirty, and fifty years. The name of one 
 is John Milton. A visit to the school leaves a 
 remarkable impression. One sees there those of 
 pure African blood, and others ranging through 
 the lighter shades, and among them brunettes of 
 the fairest features. I taught several of the 
 children their letters for an hour or two, and 
 during the recess heard the three teachers, at 
 their own request, recite their spelling-lessons of 
 words of one syllable, and read two chapters of 
 Matthew. It seemed to be a morning well spent. 
 Nor have the efforts of Dr. Peck been confined to 
 this point. He has preached at Cat, Cane and 
 Ladies' Island, anticipating all other white clergy- 
 men, and on Sunday, February second, at the 
 Baptist Church on St. Helena, to a large congre- 
 gation, where his ministrations have been attend- 
 ed with excellent effects. On my visits to St. 
 Helena, I found that no white clergyman had 
 been there since our military occupation began, 
 that the laborers were waiting for one, and there 
 was a demoralization at some points which time- 
 ly words might arrest. I may be permitted to 
 state, that it was at my own suggestion that he 
 made the appointment on this island. I cannot ; 
 forbear to give a moment's testimony to the no- 
 bility of character displayed by this venerable ; 
 man. Of mild and genial temperament, equally 
 earnest and sensible, enjoying the fruits of cul- ' 
 ture, and yet not dissuaded by them from the : 
 humblest toil, having reached an age when most 
 others would have declined the duty, and left it i 
 to be discharged by younger men ; of narrow i 
 means, and yet in the main defraying his own ' 
 expenses, this man of apostolic faith and life, to < 
 whose labors both hemispheres bear witness, left ! 
 his home to guide and comfort this poor and ' 
 shepherdless flock ; and to him belongs, and ever i 
 will belong, the distinguished honor of being the i 
 first minister of Christ to enter the field which j 
 our arms had opened. i 
 The Rev. Mansfield French, whose mission was i 
 authenticated and approved by the Government, 1 
 prompted by benevolent purposes of his own, and < 
 in conference with others in the city of New- York, 
 has been here two weeks, during which time he i 
 has been industriously occupied in examining the j 
 state of the islands and their population, in con- < 
 
 , ferring with the authorities, and laying the foun- 
 • dation of beneficent appliances with reference to 
 their moral, educational, and material wants. 
 These, having received the sanction of officers in 
 command, he now returns to commend to the 
 public, and the Government will derive import- 
 ant information from his report. Besides other 
 things,^ he proposes, with the approval of the 
 authorities here, to secure authority to introduce 
 women of suitable experience and ability, who 
 shall give industrial instruction to those of their 
 own sex among these people, and who, visiting 
 from dwelling to dwelling, shall strive to improve 
 their household life, and give such counsels as 
 women can best communicate to women. All 
 civilizing influences like these should be welcom- 
 ed here, and it cannot be doubted that many 
 noble hearts among the women of the land will 
 volunteer for the service. 
 
 There are some material wants of this territory 
 requiring immediate attention. The means oi 
 subsistence have been pretty well preserved on 
 the plantations on St. Helena; so also on that 
 part of Ladies' adjacent to St. Helena. But on 
 Port Royal Island, and that part of Ladies' near 
 to it, destitution has commenced, and will, unless 
 provision is made, become very great. Large 
 amounts of corn for forage, in quantities from 
 fifty to four or five hundred bushels from a plan- 
 tation, have been taken to Beaufort. On scarce- 
 ly any within this district is there enough to last 
 beyond April, whereas it is needed till August, 
 On others, it will last only two or three weeks, 
 and on some it is entirely exhausted. It is stated 
 that the forage was taken because no adequate 
 supply was at hand, and requisitions for it were 
 not seasonably answered. The farther taking of 
 the corn in this way has now been forbidden ; 
 but the Government must be prepared to meet 
 the exigency which it has itself created. It 
 should be remembered that this is not a grain- 
 exporting region, corn being produced in moder- 
 ate crops only for consumption. Similar destitu- 
 tion will take place on other islands, from the 
 same cause, unless provision is made. 
 
 The horses, mules, and oxen, in large numbers, 
 have been taken to Beaufort and Hilton Head as 
 means of transportation. It is presumed that 
 they, or most of them, are no longer needed for 
 that purpose, and that they will be returned to 
 those who shall have charge of the plantations. 
 Cattle to the number of a hundred, and in some 
 cases less, have been taken from a plantation and 
 slaughtered, to furnish fresh beef for the army. 
 Often cattle have been killed by irresponsible 
 foraging parties, acting without competent au- 
 thority. There can be no doubt that the army 
 and navy have been in great want of the varia- 
 tion of the rations of salt beef or pork ; but it 
 also deserves much consideration, if the planta- 
 tions are to be permanently worked, how much 
 of a draught they can sustain. 
 
 The garden seeds have been pretty well used 
 up, and I inclose a desirable list furnished me by 
 a gentleman whose experience enables him to 
 designate those adapted to the soil, and useful 
 
DOCUMEXTS. 
 
 315 
 
 too for army supplies. The general cultiyation 
 of the islands also requires the sending of a qaan- 
 tity of ploughs and hoes. 
 
 Since the writing of this report was commenc- 
 ed, some action has been taken which will largely 
 increase the number of persons thrown on the 
 protection of the Government. To-day, February 
 tenth, the Forty-seventh regiment of New-York 
 volnnteevs has been ordered to take military occu- 
 pation of Edisto Island, which is stated to have 
 had formerly a population of five or six thousand, 
 and a large number of plantations, a movement 
 which involves great additional responsibility. 
 Agents for the collection of cotton are to accom- 
 pany it. 
 
 Herewith is communicated a copy of an order 
 by General Sherman, dated February sixth, 1862, 
 relative to the disposition of the plantations and 
 of their occupants. It is evidence of the deep 
 interest which the Commanding General takes in 
 this subject, and of his conviction that the exi- 
 gency requires prompt and immediate action from 
 the Government. 
 
 I leave for TTashington, to add any oral ex- 
 planations which may be desired, expecting to 
 return at once, and, with the permission of the 
 Department, to organize the laborers on some 
 one plantation, and superintend them during the 
 planting season, and upon its close, business en- 
 gagements require that I should be relieved of 
 this appointment. 
 
 I ani, with great respect, 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 Edward L. Pierce. 
 
 second report. 
 
 Port Royal, June 2, 1S62. 
 To the Eon. S. P. Chase, Secretarij of the Trea- 
 sury : 
 
 Sir: Upon the transfer of the supervision of 
 affairs at Port Royal from the Treasury to the 
 War Department, a summary of the results of 
 this agency may be expected by you ; and there- 
 fore this report is transmitted. 
 
 Your instructions of February nineteenth in- 
 trusted to me the general superintendence and 
 direction of such persons as might be employed 
 upon the abandoned plantations, with a view to 
 prevent the deterioration of the estates, to secure 
 their best possible cultivation, and the greatest 
 practicable benefit to the laborers upon them. 
 The Department, not being provided with proper 
 power to employ upon salaries superintendents 
 and teachers, under the plan submitted in my 
 report of February third, enjoined cooperation 
 with associations of judicious and humane citi- 
 zens in Boston, New- York, and other cities, who 
 proposed to commission and employ persons for 
 the religious instruction, ordinary education, and 
 general employment of the laboring population. 
 Authority was given to the Special Agent at the 
 same time to select and appoint applicants for 
 such purposes, and assign each to his respective 
 duty — such persons when compensated, to draw 
 their compensation from private sources, receiv- 
 
 ing transportation, subsistence, and quarters only 
 from the Government. The Educational Com- 
 mission of Boston had already been organized, 
 and the organization of the National Freedman's 
 Relief Association of New- York followed a few 
 days later. Still later the Port Royal Relief Com- 
 mittee of Philadelphia was appointed. 
 
 On the morning of March ninth, forty-one men 
 and twelve women, accepted for the above pur- 
 poses and approved by the first two of the above 
 Associations, disembarked at Beaufort, having 
 left New-York on the third of that month on 
 board the United States transport, the steamship 
 Atlantic, accompanied by the Special Agent. The 
 Educational Commission of Boston had commis- 
 sioned tvrenty-five of the men and four of the 
 women. The National Freedman's Relief Asso- 
 ciation of New-York had commissioned sixteen 
 of the men and five of the women, and three 
 women from Washington City had received your 
 own personal commendation. The men were of 
 various occupations, farmers, mechanics, trades- 
 men, teachers, physicans, clergymen, ranging in 
 age from twenty-one to sixty years. Not being 
 provided with full topographical knowledge of the 
 islands, it was necessary for the Special Agent to 
 explore them for locations. At the close of the 
 first fortnight after their arrival, the entire origi- 
 nal delegation had been assigned to districts 
 which they had reached. Since then others have 
 arrived, namely, fourteen on March twenty-third, 
 fourteen on April fourteenth, and a few at a later 
 date, making in all seventy-four men and nine- 
 teen women, who having been commissioned by 
 the Associations, and receiving the permit of the 
 Collector of New- York, have arrived here, and 
 been assigned to posts. Of the seventy-four men, 
 forty-six were commissioned and employed by 
 the Boston Society, and twenty-eight by'that of 
 New-York. Of the nineteen women, nine were 
 commissioned by the New- York Society, six by 
 that of Boston, one by that of Philadelphia, 
 and three others not so commissioned, but ap- 
 proved by yours'elf, were accepted. Except in 
 the case of the three women approved by your- 
 self, no persons have been received into this ser- 
 vice not previously approved by the associations 
 with whom you enjoined cooperation. Of the 
 seventy-four men, twenty-four were stationed on 
 Port Ro3^aJ Island, a few of these doing special 
 duty at Beaufort, fifteen on St. Helena, thirteen 
 on Ladies', nine on Edisto, seven on Hilton Head, 
 three on Pinckney, one on Cat and Cane, one on 
 Paris, and one on Daufuskie. A few of the above 
 returned North soon after their arrival, so that 
 the permanent number here at any one time, duly 
 commissioned and in actual service, has not ex- 
 ceeded seventy men and sixteen women. The 
 number at present is sixty-two men and thirteen 
 women. A larger corps of superintendents and 
 teachers might have been employed to advantage, 
 but as injurious results might attend the over- 
 doing of the work of supervision, it was thought 
 best not to receive more, until experience had in- 
 dicated the permanent need. 
 
 The following is a list of the islands, with the 
 
316 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 number of plantations and people upon them 
 
 which have been superintended by the above per- 
 sons : 
 
 Islands. No. of Plantations, Population. 
 
 Port Royal, 56 1,909 
 
 St. Helena (including Dathaw and Morgan,). .53 2,T21 
 Ladies' (including Wassa, Coosaw, Cat, and 
 
 Cane,) .31 1,259 
 
 Hilton Head, 15 943 
 
 Pinckney, 2 423 
 
 Daufuskie, 3 69 
 
 Paris, 5 274 
 
 Edisto,. 21 1,278 
 
 Hutchinson, Beef, and Ashe, 3 174 
 
 Total, 
 
 ,050 
 
 The above population is classified as follows : 
 three hundred and nine mechanics and house 
 servants not working in the field ; six hundred 
 and ninety-three old, sickly, and unable to work ; 
 three thousand six hundred and nineteen child- 
 ren, not useful for field labor, and four thousand 
 four hundred and twenty-nine field-hands. The 
 field-hands have been classified, as under the 
 former system, into full, three quarters, one half, 
 and one quarter hands. The term one quarter 
 generally designates boys and girls of about 
 twelve years, just sent to the field ; the term half 
 appHes often to persons somewhat infirm, and to 
 women enciente, and the term three quarters ap- 
 plies to those doing less than a full hand and 
 more than a half hand. According to this classi- 
 fication, which will aid in arriving at the effective 
 force, the field hands are made up of three thou- 
 sand two hundred and two full hands, two hun- 
 dred and ninety-five three quarter hands, five 
 hundred and ninety-seven half hands, and three 
 hundred and thirty -five one quarter hands. Com- 
 muting the fractional into full hands, according 
 to the custom of the former planters, in determin- 
 ing what crop should be required of the laborers, 
 there results the equivalent of three thousand 
 eight hundred and five and a half full field-hands. 
 Four thousand and thirty field-hands were paid 
 for work on the cotton crop. There is, then, a 
 difference of three hundred an^ ninety-nine be- 
 tween this number and the entire number of field- 
 hands. The number making this difference do 
 not appear to have worked on the cotton. Eighty- 
 seven of them are found on Hutchinson, Beef and 
 Ashe, where they were sent from Otter Island, 
 when it was too late to make it advisable to 
 attempt the planting of cotton. The statistics 
 of population and classified laborers were taken 
 some weeks before the pay-rolls were made, and 
 a number of laborers sought employment at the 
 camps in the intervening time. Some of the one 
 quarter hands were not employed in the cotton 
 culture. 
 
 The mechanics and house-servants on the plan- 
 tations have not been profitably employed — the 
 former, because they had not proper stock and 
 tools, and we were not authorized to attempt im- 
 provements of any permanent or valuable charac- 
 ter ; the latter, because the superintendents were 
 not accompanied by their families. Both classes 
 were averse to field-labor, and occasioned consid- 
 erable trouble. Some were assigned to the charge 
 of gar(ipns, and others went to the camps. The 
 
 proportion of old, sickly, and disabled is large. 
 The fugitive masters, who forced away many of 
 their other slaves, were wilHng to leave these. 
 The amount of disability among the people is 
 generally quite large, due to moral and physical 
 causes. There appears to be a want of vital en- 
 erg}^ in them such as often carries a feeble person 
 safely through great toil and vexation. This may 
 be ascribed partially to their vegetable diet, and 
 partially to their former condition, v»^hich has 
 nothing in it to give strength to will or purpose. 
 Their bedding and' sleeping apartments are un- 
 suitable, and at night they sleep on the floor 
 without change of clothing. As boatmen they 
 are often exposed, and do not properly care for 
 themselves after exposure. During this season 
 small-pox has been prevalent, and deranged the 
 labor on several plantations. For the purpose of 
 staying it there was a general vaccination, and a 
 hospital was established on Port Royal Island, 
 and put under the care of a physician employed 
 by one of the benevolent associations. Six phy- 
 sicians have been employed and paid by them. 
 It was an entirely inadequate corps for so exten- 
 sive a territory, particularly as it was impossible 
 to procure for them reasonable means of convey- 
 ance. 
 
 Since the above statistics were prepared, some 
 two hundred fugitives have come to Port Royal 
 and Edisto, and have been distributed on the 
 plantations. Besides, the table does not include 
 negroes at any of the camps as at Beaufort, Hil- 
 ton Head, Bay Point, and Otter Island, who are 
 under the control of the Quartermaster Depart- 
 ment. These will amount, with their famiHes, to 
 two thousand persons, or more. They have not 
 been under the Treasury Department, but they 
 have been instructed by the teachers and attend- 
 ed by the physicians, and they have shared in the 
 distribution of clothing contributed by the asso- 
 ciations. The able-bodied men have been em- 
 plo3'^ed on wages, very much relieving the soldiers 
 of fatigue-duty. 
 
 Some of the smaller of the above islands have 
 only been visited by the superintendents, who are 
 stationed on other islands — the visits being made 
 two or three times a week. 
 
 Five of the women authorized as above have 
 resided at the junction of Ladies' and St. Helena 
 Islands. The rest have resided on Port Royal, 
 most of those on Port Royal living at Beaufort. 
 Their labors have been directed, some to teaching 
 daily schools and others to the distribution of 
 clothing, to the visitation of the sick among these 
 people, and to endeavors for the improvement of 
 their household life. They have been welcomed 
 on plantations where no white woman had been 
 seen since our military occupation began. A cir- 
 cle at once formed around them, the colored wo- 
 men usually testifying their gladness by offering 
 presents of two or three eggs. Their genial pre- 
 sence, wherever they have gone, has comforted 
 and encouraged these people, and without the co- 
 operation of refined and Christian women the best 
 part of this work of civilization must ever remain 
 undone. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 317 
 
 The superintendents have generally had five or 
 six plantations in charge, sometimes one, aided 
 by a teacher, having under him three, four, and 
 even five hundred persons. The duty of each 
 has been to visit all the plantations under him as 
 often as practicable, some of which are one, two, 
 three, and even four miles from his quarters — 
 transport to them implements from the store- 
 houses, protect the cattle and other public pro- 
 perty upon them, converse with the laborers, ex- 
 plaining to them their own new condition, the 
 purposes of the Government towards them, what 
 is expected of them in the way of labor, and what 
 remuneration they are likely to receive ; procure 
 and distribute among them clothing and food, 
 whether issued in army rations or contributed by 
 the benevolent associations ; collecting the mate- 
 rials of a census ; making reports of the condition 
 and wants of the plantations and any peculiar 
 difficulties to the Special Agent ; drawing pay 
 rolls for labor on cotton, and paying the amounts ; 
 going when convenient to the praise meetings, 
 and reading the Scriptures ; instructing on Sun- 
 days and other days those desirous to learn to 
 read, as much as time permitted ; attending to 
 cases of discipline, protecting the negroes from 
 injuries, and in all possible ways endeavoring to 
 elevate them, and prepare them to become worthy 
 and self-supporting citizens. Such were some of 
 the labors cast upon the superintendents, for 
 which, as they were without precedent in our his- 
 tory, none could have had special experience, and 
 for which, in many cases of difficulty, they were 
 obhged to act without any precise instructions 
 from the Special Agent, as he had received none 
 such from the Government. In a very few in- 
 stances there appeared a want of fitness for the 
 art of governing men under such strange circum- 
 stances, but in none a want of just purpose. 
 Many toiled beyond their strength, and nearly all 
 did more than they could persevere in doing. 
 
 A knowledge of the culture of cotton was found 
 not necessary in a superintendent, though it would 
 have facilitated his labors. On this point the la- 
 borers were often better informed than their for- 
 mer masters. Indeed, those persons who might 
 already have possessed this knowledge, and ap- 
 plied for the post of superintendent, would have 
 been hkely in gaining it to have acquired ideas 
 of the negroes as slaves, and of the mode of deal- 
 ing with them as such, prejudicial to their success 
 in this enterprise. The duty to be performed 
 has consisted so much in explaining to the labor- 
 ers their new condition and their relations to the 
 Government, and in applying the best spiritual 
 forces to their minds and hearts, that just pur- 
 poses, and good sense, and faith in the work have 
 been of far more consequence than any mere ex- 
 perience in agriculture ; and, even in the more 
 practical matters, those who had the most in- 
 spiration for the service were found the most fer- 
 tile in resources and the most cheerful and pa- 
 tient in encountering vexations and inconveni- 
 ences. It would not be easy again to combine in 
 a body of men so much worth and capacity, and 
 it is but a deserved tribute to say that but for 
 
 Sup. Doc. 20 
 
 their unusual zeal and devotion under many ad- 
 verse influences, added to the intrinsic difiiculty 
 of the work itself, this enterprise, on which patri- 
 otism and humanity had rested their faith, would 
 have failed of the complete success which has 
 hitherto attended it. 
 
 It is proper to add that an accomplished woman 
 accepted the superintendence of a single planta- 
 tion, in addition to other duties for which she 
 specially came, and carried it on successfully. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the superintendents the 
 plantations were generally unsupplied with tools, 
 even hoes, those on hand being the tools used last 
 year, and a few found in the shops at Beaufort. 
 Some three thousand dollars' worth of ploughs, 
 hoes, and other implements and seeds were in- 
 tended to come with the superintendents. The 
 negroes had commenced putting corn and pota- 
 toes into their own patches, and in some cases 
 had begun to prepare a field of corn for the plan- 
 tation. No land had been prepared for cotton, 
 and the negroes were strongly indisposed to its 
 culture. They were willing to raise corn, because 
 it was necessary for food, but they saw no such 
 necessity for cotton, and distrusted promises of 
 payment for cultivating it. It had enriched the 
 masters, but had not fed them. Soldiers passing 
 over the plantations had told them in careless 
 speech that they were not to plant cotton. As 
 this was a social experiment in which immediate 
 industrial results were expected, it seemed im- 
 portant that all former modes of culture should 
 be kept up, and those products not neglected for 
 which the district is best adapted, and which, in 
 time of peace, should come from it. Besides, 
 when a people are passing through the most radi- 
 cal of all changes, prudence requires that all old 
 habits and modes not inconsistent with the new 
 condition should be conserved. Particularly did 
 it seem desirable that the enemies of free labor 
 in either hemisphere should not be permitted to 
 say exultingly, upon the view of a single season's 
 experiment here, that a product so important to 
 trade and human comfort could not be cultivated 
 without the forced, unintelligent, and unpaid labor 
 of slaves. Therefore no inconsiderable effort was 
 made to disabuse the laborers of their pretty 
 strong prejudice on this point, and to convince 
 them that labor on cotton was honorable, remu- 
 nerative, and necessary to enable them to buy 
 clothing and the fitting comforts they desired. 
 It was not made in vain ; and its necessity would 
 in the main have been dispensed with if we had 
 had in the beginning the money to pay for the 
 labor required, and the proper clothing and food 
 to meet the just wants and expectations of the 
 laborers. At the same time, the importance of 
 raising an adequate supply of provisions was en- 
 joined, and with entire success. On this point 
 there was no trouble. The amount of these 
 planted is equal to that of last year in proportion 
 to the people to be supplied, and probably ex- 
 ceeds it. The negro patches are far larger than 
 ever before, and as these had been begun before 
 we arrived, we were unable to make them equal 
 on the different plantations. They alone in a fair 
 
318 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 season, and if harvested in peace, would probably 
 prevent any famine. On the whole, it is quite 
 certain that without the system here put in opera- 
 tion the mass of the laborers, if left to themselves 
 and properly protected from depredations and 
 demoralization by white men, would have raised 
 on their negro patches corn and potatoes suffi- 
 cient for their food, though without the incentives 
 and moral inspirations thereby applied, they 
 would have raised no cotton, and had no export- 
 able crop, and there might, under the uncertain- 
 ties of the present condition of things, have been 
 a failure of a surplus of corn necessary for cattle 
 and contingencies, and for the purchase of needed 
 comforts. There is no disposition to claim for 
 the movement here first initiated that it is the 
 only one by which the people of this race can be 
 raised from the old to the new condition, provided 
 equal opportunities and an equal period for de- 
 velopment are accorded to them as to communi- 
 ties of the white race. But it seems to have been 
 the only one practicable where immediate mate- 
 rial and moral results were to be reached, and 
 upon a territory under military occupation. 
 
 The preparation of the ground for planting be- 
 gins usually about February first. It was not 
 until March twenty-fourth that the superintend- 
 ence of the plantations under the present sys- 
 tem can be said to have been in operation — the 
 first fortnight being occupied by the superintend- 
 ents, upon their stations being assigned, in going 
 to them with a moderate supply of implements. 
 The planting, except of the slip potatoes, which 
 are planted in July, some cow-peas and a small 
 quantity of corn, closed in the week ending with 
 May tenth. Each superintendent, in response to 
 a call fi:om the Special Agent, has furnished a 
 written statement of the acres of cotton, corn, 
 potatoes, and vegetables, then planted on each 
 plantation in his district, with an estimate of the 
 amount thereafter to be planted, the figures of 
 which have been arranged in a tabular form, pre- 
 senting the amount of each kind on all the plan- 
 tations on all the islands where agricultural ope- 
 rations are being carried on under the protection 
 of our forces. It is with pleasure that the aggre- 
 gate results is here submitted. It makes (adding 
 the negro patches to the corn-fields of the plan- 
 tations) 8314 7-8 acres of provisions (corn, po- 
 tatoes, etc.) planted, 5480 11-100 acres of cotton 
 planted — in all, 13,794 98-100 acres of provisions 
 and cotton planted. Adding to these the 2394 
 acres of' late corn, to a great extent for fodder, 
 cow-peas, etc., to be planted, and the crop of 
 this year presents a total of 16,188 98-100 acres. 
 The crops are growing, and are in good condi- 
 tion. They have been cultivated with the plough 
 and hoe, and the stalks of cotton have been thin- 
 ned, as is usual at this stage of their growth. 
 They are six or eight, and in some fields twelve, 
 inches high. Next month will close the work of 
 cultivation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the recent withdrawal of six 
 hundred able-bodied men from the plantations 
 for military purposes, a very large proportion of 
 the working force, the spirit of the laborers has 
 
 so improved that, according to present expecta- 
 tions, only a small proportion of the above acres 
 already planted will have to be abandoned. The 
 effect of the order will, however, be to diminish 
 the number of acres to be planted, as the esti- 
 mate was made just before it was issued. 
 
 The statistical table presenting the aggregate 
 result on each island is here introduced. The 
 full tabular statement, giving the amount of each 
 crop planted on each of the one hundred and 
 eighty-nine plantations, also accompanies this 
 report. 
 
 No. acres of 
 Potatoes, (slip,) 
 Cow-Peas, etc., 
 
 to be planted. 
 
 O CM 3 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 !z; 
 
 o 
 
 11 
 
 Total No. of 
 acres planted. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 tH 
 
 CO CM 
 CM T-< 
 O iO CO 
 CO 1-1 
 
 o o 
 o o 
 
 Ci o 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 lil CO CO 00 
 i—t-Tti CO 
 CO o c<> t- 
 CO rH 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Oi 
 
 t- 
 CO 
 
 No. acres of pro- 
 visions planted 
 
 by laborers on 
 their own ac- 
 count. 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO CO 0^ 
 
 OlOCOQO 
 t-r-lr-( 
 
 
 t- 
 
 o 
 
 No. acres of mis- 
 cellaneous, as 
 Vegetables, Cow- 
 Peas, Rice, etc., 
 planted. 
 
 T-f 1-1 CO 
 
 00 rJ< r-l 
 
 t- "£ 
 o 
 
 12; 
 
 
 s 
 
 1 CM 
 
 No. acres of 
 Cotton planted. 
 
 125T 75-100 
 
 1042 75-100 
 659 19-100 
 
 1554 57-100 
 221 
 
 47 60-100 
 697 25-100 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 No. acres of 
 Potatoes (root) 
 planted. 
 
 CO (NO 
 
 t- Tl 
 
 tH t-I 
 
 d 
 
 00 O (U !M 
 CO CO 0^ 
 
 <^ 
 
 
 
 No. acres of 
 Corn planted. 
 
 O C5 CO 
 
 O O iO CO 
 
 CO 1-1 00 
 
 
 Ig? 
 
 IS 
 
 Islands. 
 
 Ladies', (including Coosaw, 
 Wassa, Cat, and Cane,). 
 
 St. Helena, (including Da- 
 thaw and Morgan,) 
 
 Paris, 
 
 Pinckney and Daufuskie,. . 
 
 Hutchinson, Beef, and 
 Ashe, 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 
 Satisfactory as the result is, the crop would 
 have been considerably larger, but for several un- 
 favorable circumstances. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 319 
 
 In the first place, the laborers had just passed 
 through four months of idleness and confusion, 
 during which the only labor done by the great 
 mass of them was upon the baling and local trans- 
 portation of the cotton. During this time they 
 had no assurances as to their future, no regular 
 employment, no care of their moral interests, no 
 enlightenment as to their relations to this war, 
 except the careless and conflicting talk of soldiers 
 who chanced to visit the plantations, and whose 
 conduct toward them did not always prepossess 
 them in favor of the ideas of Northern men as to 
 the rights of property or the honor of women. 
 The effects of this injurious season had to be met 
 at the threshold, and, as far as could be, removed. 
 
 The usual season for preparing for a crop had 
 already advanced six -weeks before the superin- 
 tendence and the distribution of implements com- 
 menced. Besides the labor thus lost, there was 
 no time to devise useful plans for abridging it, and 
 so conducting it as to be able to ascertain defin- 
 itely what each had done, and to how much each 
 was entitled. The working of all the hands to- 
 gether is not the best mode for this purpose, but 
 we had no time to change the course pursued the 
 year before. In the future it will probably be 
 found that when there is time to arrange accord- 
 ingly, the best mode will be to assign a piece of 
 land to each laborer, and thus the amount done 
 and the proportionate compensation due, can be 
 more justly fixed. Nothing is found to discour- 
 age faithful laborers so much as to see the indo- 
 lent fare as well as themselves. Even now, since 
 the close of planting, some of the superintendents, 
 impressed with this difficulty, have allotted pieces 
 of ground in that way, and they report that this 
 plan works well. It will, besides, introduce ideas 
 of independent proprietorship on the part of the 
 laborers, not so likely to come from what is called 
 the "gang" system. The same cause, namely, 
 the lateness of the season, together with the in- 
 sufficient means of fencing, required the selection 
 of such fields for cultivation as could be best pro- 
 tected from cattle, and not such as could be most 
 easily and productively worked. 
 
 There was an inadequate supply of implements 
 when the work commenced. A small quantity, 
 less than that required, was purchased, and was 
 to have been sent with the superintendents, but 
 by some accident the larger part of the hoes and 
 some other articles were left behind, and did not 
 come tall some weeks later. 
 
 The plantations were bereft of mules and horses 
 necessary for ploughing and carting manure. The 
 former owners had taken away the best in many 
 cases, and nearly all the workable mules and 
 horses remaining had been seized by our army 
 for quartermaster and commissary service. On 
 a long list of plantations not a mule was left to 
 plough. Others had one only, and that one blind 
 or lame. On none was there the former number. 
 The oxen had to a great extent been slaughtered 
 for beef The laborers had become vexed and 
 dispirited at this stripping of the plantations, and 
 they had no heart to attempt the working of them 
 productively. Indeed, in some cases, it did seem 
 
 like requiring them to make bricks without straw. 
 At last, in answer to a pressing appeal to the 
 Treasury Department by the Special Agent, ninety 
 mules were forwarded from New-York, forty ar- 
 riving at Beaufort on the eighteenth April, and 
 fifty on the twenty-first. Within three days after 
 their arrival they were distributed, except some 
 dozen intended for localities not easily accessible. 
 This was a most necessary consignment. It 
 made the hand-labor available, and showed the 
 laborers that the Government was in earnest in 
 carrying on the plantations. This recognition 
 of their just complaints helped to give confi- 
 dence. This reenforcement of the implements 
 of labor must have added not far fi'om two thou- 
 sand acres to the crop of this year, and perhaps 
 even more. 
 
 Another difficulty was found in the destitution 
 of corn prevalent in many districts, as Port Royal, 
 Hilton Head, and Paris Islands. In some locali- 
 ties it had been burned by the rebels. It had 
 been taken in large quantities by our army for 
 forage under orders of General Sherman, and the 
 result indicated as soon at hand in the report of 
 the Special Agent of February third, had already 
 arrived. The first week after the return of the 
 Special Agent here, was passed in exploring loca- 
 tions for superintendents on Port Royal. Every- 
 where he was met with complaints that there 
 was no corn or provisions. A few rations had 
 been doled out, but only on a few plantations, 
 and without system or regularity. It took some 
 two or three weeks there, and longer on other 
 islands, to get a system in operation under which 
 the negroes, where the corn had been taken, or 
 there was destitution, should receive a part of a 
 soldier's ration. From Ladies' Island the corn 
 had been taken largely, and it was thought it 
 might be supplied by a possible surplus on St. 
 Helena. On these islands there was considerable 
 discontent on .account of the exclusive diet of 
 hominy, and a great call for meat, molasses, and 
 salt. On some of the best conducted plantations 
 these articles had formerly been furnished by the 
 planters in small quantities at some seasons. So 
 many cattle had been taken by the army for beef, 
 that following his instructions, which required 
 him to prevent the deterioration of the estates, the 
 Special Agent hesitated to continue the slaugh-. 
 ter. Salt was twice furnished to these two islands 
 by a special purchase — a quart being given to a 
 family. At length a consignment of two thousand 
 dollars' worth of provisions, for which an appeal 
 had been made early in March, consisting of bacon, 
 fish, molasses, and salt, arrived, being delayed by 
 many accidents, and forwarded by the Port Royal 
 Relief Committee of Philadelphia. Bacon and 
 fish, to the amount of three pounds of the former, 
 and one pound of the latter to a grown person, 
 were distributed May fifteenth, and a distribution 
 of molasses has since been made of one quart to 
 a family. The laborers have been greatly encour- 
 aged b}^ this distribution, and if it could have 
 been made earlier, or rations could have been 
 issued earlier, the crop would have been increased, 
 and we should have been relieved of many griev- 
 
320 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862, 
 
 ous complaints, the justice of which we were com- 
 pelled to confess without the power to meet them. 
 
 Again, the laborers had but very little confi- 
 dence in the promises of payment made by us on 
 behalf of the Government. The one per cent a 
 pound which had been promised on the last year's 
 crop of cotton, mostly stored when our military 
 occupation began, and for the baling and local 
 transportation of which the laborers had been em- 
 ployed in November and December last, had not 
 been paid. This sum, even if paid, was entirely 
 inadequate to supply the needed clothing and 
 other wants, and it would seem that the laborers 
 were fairly entitled upon the taking of the cotton 
 which they had raised, to have been paid for the 
 labor expended by them in raising it, or if they 
 were to be paid only for the labor of baling and 
 transporting, that they should have been provided 
 with the winter clothing which their masters had 
 not furnished before they left. The destitution 
 of clothing was such as to produce much discon- 
 tent, subsequently relieved to a considerable ex- 
 tent by the benevolent associations. 
 
 The Special Agent was not provided with funds 
 to pay for labor on this year's crop until April 
 twenty-eighth. Then the moderate sum of one 
 dollar per acre was paid for cotton planted by 
 April twenty-third, being distributed among the 
 laborers according to the amount done by each. 
 This was paid on account, the question of the 
 value of the labor already done being reserved. 
 This payment quickened the laborers very much, 
 and the work went rapidly forward until May 
 tenth, when the time for closing the regular plant- 
 ing season arrived. Indeed, from the beginning, 
 where they could clearly see that they were to 
 receive the rewards of their labor, they worked 
 with commendable diligence. Thus they worked 
 diligently on their negro patches at the time when 
 we had the most difficulty in securing the full 
 amount of proper work on the plantations. Not 
 the least among our troubles was, that many able- 
 bodied men had gone to the camps at Beaufort, 
 Hilton Head, and Bay Point, where they were 
 profitably employed on wages, occasionally re- 
 turning to the plantations on which their wives 
 remained, to display their earnings and produce 
 discontent among the unpaid laborers on them. 
 
 No money has been paid for the planting of 
 corn, or of vegetables, except in the case of a 
 large garden of ten acres, it being expected that 
 these products will be consumed on the planta- 
 tions. A second payment for the cotton planted 
 since April twenty-third, and at the same rate as 
 the first, has been made. In all, the sum of five 
 thousand four hundred and seventy-nine dollars 
 and sixty-five cents has been paid for 5480 11-100 
 acres of cotton, with ten dollars more for the gar- 
 den of vegetables. Four thousand and thirty per- 
 sons received their proportions of this sum. Small 
 as the payment was, the laborers received it with 
 great satisfaction, as, if nothing more, it was at 
 least a recognition of their title to wages, and 
 to treatment as freemen. Accurate pay-rolls for 
 each plantation, with the name of each laborer 
 
 and the amount paid, and certified by the super- 
 intendents, are preserved. 
 
 These drawbacks are not stated with any in- 
 tention to cast blame on the Government, already 
 overcharged with transcendent duties; but it 
 seemed fitting to mention them, in order to do 
 full justice to laborers who are passing from one 
 condition to another. 
 
 The order of Major-Gen. Hunter compelling the 
 able-bodied men to go to Hilton Head on May 
 twelfth, where a proportion of them still remain 
 against their will, produced apprehension among 
 these people as to our intentions in relation to 
 them, and disturbed the work on the plantations, 
 the force of which has been greatly reduced, leav- 
 ing the women, and children over twelve years 
 of age, as the main reliance on many plantations. 
 The Special Agent entered a protest against the 
 order and its harsh execution, and the retention 
 of any not disposed to enlist ; but the civil being 
 subordinate to military power, no further action 
 could be taken. 
 
 The cases of discipline for idleness have been 
 very few, and cannot have exceeded, if they have 
 equalled, forty on the islands. These have been 
 reported to the military authorities and been acted 
 upon by them. The most trouble has been upon 
 plantations lying exposed to the camps and ves- 
 sels both of the navy and sutlers, as on Hilton 
 Head Island and on St. Helena near Bay Point, 
 where there were considerable discontent and in- 
 subordination induced by visits from the ves- 
 sels and camps. This trouble, it is hoped, will 
 hereafter be removed by a more effective police 
 system than has yet been apphed. 
 
 It is not pretended that many of these laborers 
 could not have done more than they have done, 
 or that in persistent application they are the 
 equals of races living in colder and more bracing 
 latitudes. They generally went to their work 
 quite early in the morning, and returned at noon, 
 often earlier, working, however, industriously 
 while they were in the field. Late in the after- 
 noon, they worked upon their private patches. 
 They protested against working on Saturdays. 
 A contrary rule was, however, prescribed and 
 enforced, and they did double work on Friday 
 in order to secure for themselves the day follow- 
 ing. As they were making themselves self-sup- 
 porting by the amount of work which could be 
 obtained from them without discipline, it was 
 thought advisable, under the present condition 
 of things, not to exact more, but to await the 
 full effect of moral and material inspirations, 
 which can in time be applied. 
 
 What has, nevertheless, been accomplished 
 with these obstructions, with all the uncertain- 
 ties incident to a state of war, and with our own 
 want of personal familiarity at first with the indi- 
 vidual laborers themselves, gives the best reason 
 to believe that under the guidance and with the 
 help of the fugitive masters, had they been so 
 disposed, these people might have made their 
 way from bondage and its enforced labor to free- 
 dom and its voluntary and compensated labor 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 321 
 
 without any essential diminution of products or 
 any appreciable derangement of social order. In 
 this as in all things the universe is so ordered 
 that the most beneficent revolutions, which cost 
 life and treasure, may be accomplished justly 
 and in peace, if men have only the heart to ac- 
 cept them. 
 
 The contributions of clothing from the benevo- 
 lent associations have been liberal ; but liberal as 
 they have been, they have failed to meet the dis- 
 tressing want which pervaded the territory. The 
 masters had left the negroes destitute, not hav- 
 ing supplied their winter clothing when our forces 
 had arrived, so that both the winter and spring 
 clothing had not been furnished. From all ac- 
 counts it would also seem that since the war be- 
 gan the usual amount of clothing given had been 
 much diminished. That contributed by the as- 
 sociations cannot fall below ten thousand dollars. 
 It has produced a most marked change in the 
 general appearance, particularly on Sundays and 
 at the schools, and tended to inspire confidence 
 in the superintendents. 
 
 It would have been almost useless to attempt 
 labors for moral or religious instruction without 
 the supplies thus sent to clothe the naked. A 
 small amount, where there were an ability and 
 desire to pay, has, with the special authority of 
 the societies, been sold, and the proceeds returned 
 to them to be reinvested for the same purpose. 
 The rest has been delivered, without any money 
 being received. In the case of the sick and dis- 
 abled it is donated, and in case of those healthy 
 and able to work it has been charged without ex- 
 pectation of money to be paid, that being thought 
 to be the best course to prevent the laborers from 
 regarding themselves as paupers, and as a possi- 
 ble aid to the Government in case prompt pay- 
 ments for labor should not be made. 
 
 It is most pleasing to state that, with the small 
 payments for labor already made, those also for 
 the collection of cotton being nearly completed, 
 with the partial rations on some islands and the 
 supplies from benevolent sources on others, with 
 the assistance which the mules have furnished 
 for the cultivation of the crop — the general kind- 
 ness and protecting care of the superintendents 
 — the contributions of clothing forwarded by the 
 associations — the schools for the instruction of 
 the children and others desirous to learn — with 
 these and other favorable influences, confidence 
 in the Government has been inspired, the labor- 
 ers are working cheerfully, and they now present 
 to the world the example of a well-behaved and 
 self-supporting peasantry of which their country 
 has no reason to be ashamed. 
 
 The educational labors deserve a special state- 
 ment. It is to be regretted that more teachers 
 had not been provided. The labor of superin- 
 tendence at the beginning proved so onerous that 
 several originally intended to be put in charge of 
 schools, were necessarily assigned for the other 
 purpose. Some fifteen persons on an average 
 have been specially occupied with teaching, and 
 of these four were women. Others, having less 
 superintendence to attend to were able to devote 
 
 considerable time to teaching at regular hours. 
 Nearly all gave some attention to it, more or less 
 according to their opportunity, and their aptitude 
 for the work. 
 
 The educational statistics are incomplete, only 
 a part of the schools having been open for two 
 months, and the others having been opened at 
 intervals upon the arrival of persons designated 
 for the purpose. At present, according to the 
 reports, two thousand five hundred persons are 
 being taught on week-days, of whom not far from 
 one third are adults taught when their work is 
 done. But this does not complete the number 
 occasionally taught on week-days and at the 
 Sunday-schools. Humane soldiers have also aid- 
 ed in the case of their servants and others. 
 Three thousand persons are in all probability re- 
 ceiving more or less instruction in reading on 
 these islands. With an adequate force of teach- 
 ers this number might be doubled, as it is to be 
 hoped it will be on the coming of autumn. The 
 reports state that very many are now advanced 
 enough so that even if the work should stop here 
 they would still learn to read by themselves. 
 Thus the ability to read the English language 
 has been already so communicated to these peo- 
 ple that no matter what military or social vicissi- 
 tudes may come, this knowledge can never perish 
 from among them. 
 
 There have been forwarded to the Special Agent 
 the reports of the teachers, and they result in a 
 remarkable concurrence of testimony. All unite 
 to attest the universal eagerness to learn, which 
 they have not found equalled in white persons, 
 arising both from the desire for knowledge com- 
 mon to all, and the desire to raise their condition, 
 now very strong among these people. The re- 
 ports on this point are cheering, even enthusias- 
 tic, and sometimes relate an incident of aspiration 
 and affection united in beautiful combination. 
 One teacher on his first day's school, leaves in 
 the rooms a large alphabet card, and the next 
 day" returns to find a mother there teaching her 
 little child of three years to pronounce the first 
 letters of the alphabet she herself learned the day 
 before. The children learn without urging by 
 their parents, and as rapidly as white persons of 
 the same age, often more so, the progress being 
 quickened by the eager desire. 
 
 One teacher reports that on the first day of 
 her school only three or four knew a part of their 
 letters, and none knew all. In one week seven 
 boys and six girls could read readily words of 
 one syllable, and the following week there were 
 twenty in the same class. The cases of dulness 
 have not exceeded those among the whites. The 
 mulattoes, of whom there are probably not more 
 than five per cent of the entire population on the 
 plantations, are no brighter than the children of 
 pure African blood. In the schools which have 
 been opened for some weeks, the pupils who have 
 regularly attended have passed from the alpha- 
 bet, and are reading words of one syllable in 
 large and small letters. The lessons have been 
 confined to reading and spelling, except in a few 
 cases where wi'iting has been taught. 
 
 I 
 
322 
 
 REBELLION RECORD, 1862. 
 
 There has been great apparent eagerness to 
 learn among the adults and some have progressed 
 well. They will cover their books with care, 
 each one being anxious to be thus provided, car- 
 r}^ them to the fields, studying them at intervals 
 of rest, and asking explanations of the superin- 
 tendents who happen to come along. But as 
 the novelty wore away, many of the adults find- 
 ing perseverance disagreeable, dropped ofil Ex- 
 cept in rare cases it is doubtful whether adults 
 over thirty years, although appreciating the pri- 
 vilege for their children, will persevere in con- 
 tinuous study so as to acquire the knowledge for 
 themselves. Still, when books and newspapers 
 are read in negro houses, many, inspired l3y the 
 example of their children, will be likely to under- 
 take the labor again. 
 
 It is proper to state that while the memory in 
 colored children is found to be, if any thing, live- 
 lier than in the white, it is quite probable that 
 further along, when the higher faculties of com- 
 parison and combination are more to be relied on, 
 their progress may be less. While their quick- 
 ness is apparent, one is struck with their want 
 of discipline. The children have been regarded 
 as belonging to the plantation rather than to a 
 family, and the parents, who in their condition 
 can never have but a feeble hold on their off- 
 spring, have not been instructed to training their 
 children into thoughtful and orderly habits. It 
 has, therefore, been found not an easy task to 
 make them quiet and attentive at the schools. 
 
 Through the schools habits of neatness have 
 been encouraged. Children with soiled faces or 
 soiled clothing, when known to have better, have 
 been sent home from the schools, and have re- 
 turned in better condition. 
 
 In a few cases the teachers have been assisted 
 by negroes who knew how to read before we 
 came. Of these there are very few. Perhaps 
 one may be found on an average on one of two 
 or three plantations. These, so far as can be 
 ascertained, were in most cases taught clandes- 
 tinely, often by the daughters of their masters 
 who were of about the same age. A colored 
 person among these people who has learned to 
 read does not usually succeed so well as a white 
 teacher. He is apt to teach the alphabet in the 
 usual order, and needs special training for the 
 purpose. 
 
 The Sabbath-schools have assisted in the work 
 of teaching. Some three hundred persons are 
 present at the church on St. Helena in the morn- 
 ing, to be taught. There are other churches 
 where one or two hundred attend. A part of 
 these, perhaps the larger, attend some of the day 
 schools, but they comprehend others, as adults, 
 and still others coming from localities where 
 schools have not been opened. One who regards 
 spectacles in the light of their moral aspects, can 
 with difficulty find sublimer scenes than those 
 witnessed on Sabbath morning on these islands, 
 now ransomed to a nobler civilization. 
 
 The educational labors have had incidental re- 
 sults almost as useful as those which have been 
 direct. At a time when the people were chafing ' 
 
 the most under deprivations, and the assurances 
 made on behalf of the Government were most 
 distrusted, it was fortunate that we could point 
 to the teaching of their children as a proof of our 
 interest in their welfare, and of the new and bet- 
 ter life w^hich we were opening before them. 
 
 An effort has been made to promote clean and 
 healthful habits. To that end, weekly cleanings 
 of quarters were enjoined. This effort, where it 
 could be properly made, met with reasonable 
 success. The negroes, finding that we took an 
 interest in their welfare, acceded cordially, and 
 in many cases their diligence in this respect was 
 most commendable. As a race, it is a mistake 
 to suppose that they are indisposed to cleanli- 
 ness. They appear to practise it as much as 
 white people under the same circumstances. 
 There are difficulties to obstruct improvements 
 in this respect. There has been a scarcity of 
 lime and (except at too high prices) of soap. 
 Their houses are too small, not affording proper 
 apartments for storing their food. They are un- 
 provided with glass windows. Besides, some of 
 them are tenements unfit for beasts, without floor 
 or chimneys. One could not put on a face to 
 ask the occupants to clean such a place. But 
 where the building was decent or reasonably 
 commodious, there was no difficulty in securing 
 the practice of this virtue. Many of these people 
 are examples of tidiness, and on entering their 
 houses one is sometimes witness of rather amus- 
 ing scenes where a mother is trying the effect of 
 beneficent ablutions on the heads of her children. 
 
 The rehgious welfare of these people has ■ not 
 been neglected. The churches, which were closed 
 when this became a seat of war, have been opened. 
 Among the superintendents there were several 
 persons of clerical education, who have led in 
 public ministrations. The larger part of them 
 are persons of religious experience and profession, 
 who, on the Sabbath, in weekly praise meetings 
 and at funerals, have labored for the consolation 
 of these humble believers. 
 
 These people have been assured by the Special 
 Agent that if they proved themselves worthy by 
 their industry, good order, and sobriety, they 
 should be protected against their rebel masters. 
 It would be wasted toil to attempt their develop- 
 ment without such assurances. An honorable 
 nature would shrink from this w^ork without the 
 right to make them. Nor is it possible to ima- 
 gine any rulers now or in the future, who will 
 ever turn their backs on the laborers who have 
 been received, as these have been, into the ser- 
 vice of the United States. 
 
 Special care has been taken, to protect the pro- 
 perty of the Government on the plantations. The 
 cattle had been taken away in such large numbers 
 by the former owners, and later by the army, the 
 latter sometimes slaughtering fifty or more head 
 on a plantation, that the necessity of a strict rule 
 for the preservation of those remaining was felt. 
 For that purpose the Special Agent procured or- 
 ders from the military and naval authorities, 
 dated respectively April seventeenth and twenty- 
 sixth, forbidding the removal of " subsistence, 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 323 
 
 forage, mules, horses, oxen, cows, sheep, cattle 
 of any kind, or other property from the planta- 
 tions, -^i^iithout the consent of the Special Agent 
 of the Treasury Department or orders from the 
 nearest General Commanding." No such con- 
 sent has been given by the Special Agent except 
 in one case, as an act of mercy to the animal, and 
 in another where he ordered a lamb killed on a 
 special occasion, and has charged himself with 
 the same in his account with the department. 
 Your instructions which expressed your desire to 
 prevent the deterioration of the estates, have in 
 this respect been sedulously attended to. The 
 superintendents have not been permitted to kill 
 cattle, even for fresh meat, and they have sub- 
 sisted on their rations, and fish and poultry pur- 
 chased of the negroes. 
 
 The success of the movement, now upon its 
 third month, has exceeded my most sanguine 
 expectations. It has had its peculiar difficulties, 
 and some phases at times, arising from accidental 
 causes, might on a partial view invite doubt, ban- 
 ished however at once by a general survey of 
 what had been done. Already the high treason 
 of South-Carolina has had a sublime compensa- 
 tion, and the end is not yet. The churches 
 which were closed have been opened. No mas- 
 ter now stands between these people and the 
 words which the Saviour spoke for the consola- 
 tion of all peoples and all generations. The Gos- 
 pel is preached in fulness and purity, as it has 
 never before been preached in this territory, even 
 in colonial times. The reading of the English 
 language, with more or less system, is being 
 taught to thousands, so that whatever military or 
 political calamities may be in store, this precious 
 knowledge can never more be eradicated. Ideas 
 and habits have been planted, under the growth 
 of which these people are to be fitted for the re- 
 sponsibilities of citizenship, and in equal degree 
 unfitted for any restoration to what they have 
 been. Modes of administration have been com- 
 menced, not indeed adapted to an advanced com- 
 munity, but just, paternal, and developing in 
 their character. Industrial results have been 
 reached, which put at rest the often reiterated 
 assumption that this territory and its products 
 can only be cultivated by slaves. A social prob- 
 lem which has vexed the wisest approaches a so- 
 
 lution. The capacity of a race, and the possibil- 
 ity of lifting it to civilization without danger or 
 disorder, even without throwing away the present 
 generation as refuse, are being determined. And 
 thus the way is preparing by which the peace to 
 follow this war shall be made perpetual. 
 
 Finally, it would seem that upon this narrow 
 theatre, and in these troublous times, God is de- 
 monstrating against those who would mystify 
 his plans and thwart his purposes, that in the 
 councils of his infinite wisdom he has predestined 
 no race, not even the African, to the doom of 
 eternal bondage. 
 
 There are words of personal gratitude which it 
 is not easy to suppress. To the superintendents, 
 who have treated me with uniform kindness and 
 subordination ; to the Rev. Dr. Peck, to whom 
 was assigned the charge of the general interests 
 of Port Royal Island; to the Rev. Mr. French, 
 who was charged with special duties ; to the be- 
 nevolent associations in Boston, New- York, and 
 Philadelphia, without whose support and contri- 
 butions, amounting, in salaries and donations of 
 specific articles, to not less than twenty thousand 
 dollars, this enterprise could not have been car- 
 ried on or commenced ; to the Flag-Officer of the 
 Squadron and the Generals commanding, for 
 facihties cheerfully afforded, particularly to Bri- 
 gadier-General Stevens, to whom, as Port Royal, 
 Ladies', and St. Helena's Islands, were all within 
 his district, it was necessary often to apply ; to 
 the Collector of New-York, with whom the busi- 
 ness operations, have been conducted; to your- 
 self, for confidence intrusted and continued, I am 
 under special obHgations. 
 
 But, more than all, in parting with the inter- 
 esting people who have been under my charge, I 
 must bear testimony to their uniform kindness to 
 myself One of them has been my faithful guide 
 and attendant, doing for me more service than 
 any white man could render. They have come, 
 even after words of reproof or authority, to ex- 
 press confidence and good resolves. They have 
 given me their benedictions and prayers, and I 
 should be' ungrateful indeed ever to forget or de- 
 ny them. 
 
 I am your friend and servant, 
 
 Edward L. Pierce, 
 Special Agent of Treasury Department. 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 MAY" a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ii^S — i sf^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oaH? 1 TT^r^j — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Form 335. 45M 8-37. 
 
 I 
 
325.4 Z99F 1860-65 v. 14 
 
 Nos, 277-310 321752