U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES

GIFT
MAR 26 1919

THE FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT

OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

COLORD

JUNE 1863—SEPTEMBER 1865

- By BURT G. WILDER “MARI,

OF THE

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THIRD EDITION

THE RIVERDALE PRESS
BROOKLINE, MASS;
1919

U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES
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the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Colord

JUNE, 1863—SEPTEMBER, 18652

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ADDRESS BEFORE THE BROOKLINE (MASS. ) HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAYZ8,,1,914

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BY BURT G. WILDER, B.S., M.D., LATE SURGEON OF THE REGIMENT

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Third edition. revized, with additions and in Simplified Spelling, February, 19191

To ANDREW CARNEGIE—whose efficient management of the Military Railroads
and Telegraf Lines greatly facilitated the operations of the Civil War; whose regard
for the African race has been abundantly shown; whose promotion of Simplified
Spelling has diminisht labor and lengthend life; and whose munificent “Endowment
for the Advancement of Teaching” has enabld the riter to employ upon his “Records
and Recollections” the time that otherwize must hav been devoted to self-support—
is gratefully dedicated the series of which this is a preliminary part.

The speaker praizes the valor of the enlisted men and their conduct under distressing and unjust conditions
as to pay and as to military recognition by the enemy; criticizes the general management of the Departmenl
of the South; concedes the prowess and heroism of the Confederates, and thinks they would hav won but for
our blockade, if they had armd their loyal Negroes, and if they had equald the Federals in number; believs
the Civil War might hav been shortend by a year if liquor had been interdicted in our army; questions the
control of battls by the Deity, and hopes for an expurgated Bible treating les of war.

Among topics discust in the footnotes ar Drinking and Smoking by Soldiers; the Military Valu of the

Negro; the late German Kaiser’s Assumptions as to Divine Purposes; Oken’s Laudation of War; and
Sherman’s “War is Hell.”

 

1 Under the title. “Professor Wilder talks of his regiment," a report of the address was publisht in The
Brookline Chronicle of May 30. 1914. With some omissions. that report was reproduced in The Guardian (Boston)
forffune 6 under the title. “Dr. Wilder on 55th Mass.” Revized by me, the original report was soon printed as a
lea et (the first edition) for limited distribution. With omissions, corrections, and additions—the last mostly
as footnotes —— the leaflet was reprinted as a four-page folio dated August 17, 1917; an Appendix was added
to page 4. September 4, and on October 30 was inserted a slip with some additions. Of the second edition hav
been distributed. gratis. 3,000 c0pies. viz., to members of the regiment whose addresses wer known to me; to
some members of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts (the others wil reciev copies of this, the
third edition); to members of Grand Army posts of BostOn. Brookline, Newton, and Ithaca, N. Y.; to many
periodicals and public libraries; to colord citizens in varius parts of the cuntry. and to personal frends. This
edition differs from the second in the rearrangement of paragrafs and notes. in the spelling of certain words
(see belo), and in the incorporation of dates and other statistics obtaind from the U. S. Pension Buro and
from the manuscript book of Records of the Annual Meetings of the‘ ‘.Association of Officers of the F ifty-fifth";
the records ar signd by the successiv secretaries, Capt. Soule, Col. Fox, and Major Thurber; the first meeting
was held in Boston. November 22. 1866; the 39th, the last recorded. November 17, 1904. My university
duties never permitted me to attend the meetings. Those who wish copies of this edition should inclose self-
directed one-cent envelops, preferably of size N o. 13 (6% x 3} inches); corrections and the present addresses of
former members of the regiment wil be gratefully recievd. To those concernd in gathering and preserving
military records is commended the use of paper slips 3 x 5 inches; that 15 approximately the size of those which,
unaware of their probabl prior employment by others, I began to use in 1867, as stated 1n a paper. ”On a method
of recording and arranging information." printed on p. 242 of volume xi of the Proceedings of the Boston Society
of Natural History.

In this edition. excepting in quotations from other riters, the spelling conforms mainly to the rules last
adopted by the Simplified Spelling Board. of the Advizory Council of which I became a member, October 23.
1907. The Circulars of the Board may be obtaind, gratis. from the secretary. Mr. H. G. Paine, 1 Madison
Avenue. New York City. Deviations from the recommendations of the Board as a whole commonly follo
the proposals of Henry Holt, LL. D. one of the original members of its Executiv Committee, in the articl,
“Economized Commercial Spelling.” revized and reprinted from The Unpopular Review for October—
December. 1915. {42:6an 1% q 5:;

From the Brookline Chronicle, May 30, 1914. — “Thursday evening, May 28, in accordance with
the annual custom, and by courtesy of C. L. Chandler Post 143-, G.A.R., the meeting of the Brookline
Historical Society was held in Grand Army Hall, in the Town Hall. The speaker was Burt G. Wilder,
emeritus professor of Neurology and Vertebrate Zoology in Cornell University, whose youth was passed
in Brookline and Newton and who, before joining the Fifty-fifth, had served nearly a year as medical
cadet in a’ Washington army hospital [Judiciary Square] partly under the late Dr. Francis H. Brown of
Boston, and in company with the late Dr. J. F. A. Adams of Pittsfield. On blackboards were written
statistics.2

“Dr. Wilder prefaced his address with complimentary mention of three Brookline victims of the Civil
War who were not members of his regiment, m'z., C. A. Shurtlefi, medical cadet, with whom he collected
insects in boyhood; Lt.-Col. C. L. Chandler, another beloved schoolmate, for whom this Post was
named; and Brig-Gen. E. A. Wild (previously the Wilder’s family physician) who, after losing an arm
in battle, commanded the brigade including the 55th during the first three months of its service.” 3

Of the sixty-eight commissiond offisers4 of the 55th the two successiv chaplains wer colord; also
eight who wer non-commissiond ofiisers when the regiment enterd the servis, who wer commissiond at
different later dates, and in some cases not musterd for varius rezons never to their own discredit.
Excepting theseten, all the offisersgwer white; eleven wer Harvard graduates; nearly all had seen previus

servis. -:. . ‘,:~:j : '

The first commander of the 55th was N. P. Hallowell of Philadelphia, late president of the National
Bank ofiCprmnerpeg'Bbstsn; :hi9 retirement, November 2, 1863, causd by a severe wound recievd at
“Antietam,’5\i'=aé deeply regretted: ’-He died April 11, 1914. As commander he was succeded, in turn,
by A. S. Hartwell,5 Natick, C. B. Fox,6 Dorchester, and W. Nutt,7 Natick.

In the folloing list of the other offisers the rank is that under which they wer musterd out; 7. stands
for resignd and d. for died. Unles otherwize stated it may be inferd that they wer musterd out with the
regiment August 29, 1865. The members of the “Field and Staf” ar named first.

Major S. Wales, Chelsea; r. November 22, 1864; d. September 14, 1895.—Major W. Pratt,8
Sterling. —- Surg. W. S. Brown, South Reading; r. July 1, 1865; d. January 6, 1910, in Stoneham. —
Surg. B. G. Wilder; see initial paragraf. — Asst.-Surg. W. M. Babbitt, Braintree; surgeon 103d U. S.
Infantry, colord, March 7, 1865—April 30, 1866; d. November 25, 1914. —- Asst.-Surg. W. H. Lathrop,
Boston; d. December 25, 1917. — Quartermaster G. B. Mussey, Edgartown; r. August 19, 1864; d. Octo-
ber 23, 1913. — Quartermaster J. O. Mowry, Athol; d. September 18, 1884. — Capt. and Adjt. L. B.
Perry, Natick, now Buffalo, N .Y. —- Lt. and Adjt. W. P. Hallowell, brother of the first commander;
r. from il helth February 12, 1864; d. April 10, 1894. -— Capt. and Adjt. C. W. Mutell, Springfield;
d. November 18, 1912. —— Chaplain W. Jackson, New Bedford; r. January 14, 1864. —' Chaplain J. R.
Bowles, Chillicothe, 0.; r. June, 1865; d. September 3, 1874.—- Capt. W. D. Crane,9 kild at ”Honey

 

2 Taken from the “Record of the Service of the F ifty-fifth regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,"
based upon the letters and diaries of the late Col. Charles 3. Fox, and printed for the Regimental Association.
Cambridge, 1868; also from my address. “The Brain of the American Negro.” given before the First National
Negro Conference, June 1, 1909. and printed in its Proceedings. pp. 22—66; reprints may be obtaind from
Mr. Butler R. Wilson, 34 School Street Boston. I am preparing a more complete history of the regiment.
based upon my letters —- approximately daily —— which wer all preservd. supplemented by later documents.
publisht and unpublisht. I desire further information (especially if derived from letters or diaries) from or con-
cerning any members of the regiment. and respecting the actions, “Honey Hill." ”Grimball’s Causeway." and
“Rivers’ Causeway.” In the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion” (referd to as “War Records" in this
part) the first named and most considerabl of these actions is indext also under “Grahamville, S. C.” (now
Ridgeland), serial number 92; the other two under “James Island, Skirmishes," February 10, 1865, serial
number 99, and July 2, 1864, serial numbers 65 and 66. respectivly. Several of the volumes of the “War
Records" comprize more than one part. sepamtely paged and indext, and designated “serial numbers.” as
explaind in the General Index. serial number 130.

8 The Brookline Chronicle for December 8. 1918. has a group picture including Wild, Chandler, and Candler
(rongly speld Chandler) who marrid a sister of the second.

‘ This enumeration is derived from Col. Fox’s “Record" mentiond in note 2. The seven who had died
before the printing of that pamflet wer therein placed in a separate category (pp. 90—97); in this part they ar
enumerated with the rest according to the rank under which they wer musterd out. Br. stands for Brevet.
So many hav died that now precedes the addresses of the few known by me to be living at the date of printing
this third edition. Unles otherwize stated -Massachusetts is to be understood after the names of cities and towns.

5 Hartwell, after previus servis from May, 1861, was commissiond Lt.-Col. of the 55th May 30, 1863, and
Colonel, December 11. At “Honey Hill," November 30, 1864, while leading the last charge, he was twice -.
wounded. his horse was kild and fel upon him. and he was saved with difficulty; see note 15. For this he was
brevetted Brig-General. U.S. Vols. He was a member of the General Court (Mass. Legislature) 1866—7, became
Chief Justis of the Supreme Court of the Hawaian Islands in 1907, resignd in 1911, and died August 30, 1912,

6Fox, after previus servis from April 17, 1861, was commissiond Major in the 55th. June 1, 1863, Lt.—Col..
December 1, and Brevet-Colonel, U. S. Vols., March 13, 1865. He was a member of the State Legislature.
1865-6 and died March 30, 1895. During much of our servis with the 55th we wer congenial tent-mates.
So far as known to me we wer the only members of the regiment who rote home practically every day and
whose letters wer all preservd. Selections from his letters wer afterward transcribed by him into blank books
that lwrleg 1dleposited with the Massachusetts Historical Society; I was privileged to read them in March and
Apri , . .

7 Nult. after previus servis from May. 1861. was commissiond Captain in the 55th, May 31, 1863; Major:
November 28, 1864; Lt.-Col., June 25, 1865; and Brevet—Colonel, U. S.Vols., to date from March 13. He servd
his town in many capacities, was State Senator in 1902, and died October 30, 1909.

8 Pratt was erly detaild for engineer duty on Morris Island; a shel exploded near him causing an injury to
the brain that resulted in his deth, December 30, 1866.

° Crane. — Servd at “Honey Hill.” November 30. 1864. as aid and chief-of-staf of Col. Hartwell. there in
command; after his horse was wounded he continued to advance but was soon kild; his body and that of
Lieut. Boynton. his intimate frend, kild at the same time, wer burid on the field by order of Col. Colcock. the
Confederate commander. (4) ‘ .-

U.C. BERKEL Y LIBRARIES

Hill.” -- Br. Major R. J. Hamilton, Springfield, his present residence. —- Capt. C. E. Grant,10 Boston,
now ~Worcester. — Capt. C. C. Soule,11 Boston; (1. January 7, 1913. —— Capt. J. Gordon, Chelsea, now ’
Chicago, 111.; r. from .11 helth, July 20, 1864. —— Capt. C. P. Bowditch,12 Boston, now Jamaica Plain. —
Br. Major F. Goodwin 13; d. September 26, 1895. —- Br. Major J. D. Thurber,“ Plymouth his present
residence. -— Br. Major W. H. Torrey, Foxboro; d. April 14, 1914. — Capt. G. M. Woodward, Worcester;
severely wounded at ‘fHoney Hill"; d. September 24, 1904. -— Capt. T. F. Ellsworth,15 Ipswich;
d. August 29, 1911. —— Capt. J. C. Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio; severely wounded at “Honey Hill.” —— Br.
Major G. T. Garrison“, Boston; (1. January 26, 1904. — Br. Major N. E. Ladd, Groveland; ass’t. provost—
marshal, 1865; d. June 6, 1916. — Br. Major G. F. McKay, Boston; wounded February 9, 1865; d.
April 4, 1899. — Br. Capt. W. Gannett, St. Louis, Mo. — Br. Capt. R. James,17 Newport, R. I.; d. July
4, 1910. —-Br. Capt. W. C. Roberts, Weston; d. December 18, 1904. -— Br. Capt. G. H. Carter, Boston;
d. before 1914. —- Br. Capt. J. A. Bean, South Natick; d. September 21, 1898.

First Lieutenants: -— W. P. Boynton, (See note 9) Boston; kild at “Honey Hill.” —- D. H. Jones,
Jamaica Plain, kild, March 3, 1864, accidentally during a supposed attack—E. R. Hill, Salem; kild in
South Carolina, December 11, 1864.—L. C. Alden, Boston; (1. October 5, 1863.—E. A. Wood, Chelsea;
1’. November 20, 1863; d. . -— E. S. Stimpson, r. June 6. 1864. —— Harrison Holt, Andover; r. October
14, 1863. —E. Fowler, Amesbury; r. June 15, 1865. —-T. L. Harman, Cambridge; r. June 3, 1865;
d. March 1, 1918. —— A. Marsh, Fitchburg; r. September 20, 1864; d. before 1914. —— E. H. Jewett, Rox-
bury; slightly wounded at “Honey Hill.” —- H. N. Sheldon, Boston, where he stil livs; Justice Supreme
Judicnal Court of Mass., 1905—15. — P. N. Sprague, E. Weymouth; (1. August 7, 1907. —— S. C. Starbird,
New York City. — C. L. Roberts, Weston; now National Military Home, Indiana. —— Br. First Lt. C. F.
Lee, Templeton; had been seriusly wounded in previus servis; d. October 22, 1875.

Second Lieutenants. —— J. H. Kingston, Lexington, Ky.; r. July 1, 1863. —— E. P. Gould, Cambridge;
later Major in the 59th; after the war professor in the Newton Theological Seminary. —— W. D. Mes-
sin er, Peterboro, N. Y.; r. December 27, 1863. -—' J. T. Nichols, Royalston, N. Y.; r. June 4, 1864. ~—-
A. . Bradish, Boston; r. June 30, 1864. —— G. A. Glidden, Natick. — M. E. Hunter, Boston. — These
colord non-commissiond offisers wer made second lieutenants: see note 18 and remark at the beginning of
the list of offisers: — J. F. Shorter, J. M. Trotter, W. H. Dupree, C. L. Mitchell, A. W. Shadd, R. M.
White, M. F. Becker, and A. M. Jones.

 

 

1° Grant. —— At “Rivers' Causeway” he acted under fire as aid to Gen. Hartwell. the brigade commander.

11 Scale. — His company (K) led the charge at “Rivers’ Causeway”; he was slightly wounded at “Honey
Hill.” of which battl he has publisht an account; as hed of the Boston Book Company he promoted the publica-
tion of Capt. Emilio’s admirabl history of the 54th (Shaw's). “A brave black regiment.” He was very witty
and the life of any gathering of of‘fisers; at one of these he perpetrated the following epitaf on the riter, of whom
he was a belovd schoolmate: —~ “ H ic jacet Burtus, doctor medicinae; ferns natura. ferior nomine."

12 Bowditch. — Transferd. June 7, 1864. to the Fifth Mass. Cavalry. Colord; r. on account of ilnes, August
231». 1864; has preservd letters concerning his servis with the Fifty—fifth; distinguisht archeologist; Jamaica
P ain.

1' Goodwin. —-— At “Rivers’ Causeway" he was wounded in both thighs. He was soon reacht by me and
placed upon a stretcher. At the explosion of a shel over us the bearers dropt the stretcher. He raizd his hed
and at that instant the cros—bar on which it had rested was broken by the “lazy piece” of the shel. This narro
escape was witnest by me and recorded in my first letter respecting the action. The letter also states that the
bearers wer recald to their duty by my unaccustomd profane objurgations. Scrgt. A. J. Smith acted as orderly
for Col. Hartwell in that action. and has ritten me (February 19, 1918) that he remembers his criticism of the
bearers. But their timidity was quite natural. It was also my own first similar experience. There wer musketry,
shel. and canister at close range. and no shelter whatever. A medical offiser is not supposed to be in the
advance. but the artillery was wholly unexpected. My recollections ar stil vivid, and I am disposed to maintain
that “Who says he was never afraid under fire is probably iether a fool or a liar.” ‘ ’

1‘ Thurb . — He was slightly wounded at “Rivers’ Causeway”; his company (F) had been traind in artil-
lery; he and he non-commissiond oflisers carried friction-primers and at least one of the two guns captured in
that action was turnd and fired at the retreating enemy.

“Ellsworth—At “Honey Hill” he took the lead in saving Col. Hartwell under circumstances of great
difficulty and danger.

1' Garrison. — Eldest son of the great abolitionist. In the spring of 1864 he servd as regimental quarter-
meisteii. His “War Diary" has been intrusted to me by his son, Mr. Rhodes A. Garrison, and wil prove very
he pfu . '

\

N 1' James.—At “Grimball's Causeway,’ where Major E. Manigault, the Confederate commander, was
captured. Capt. James acted as aid to Gen. Hartwell. the brigade commander. In Henry James' “Notes of a
Son and Brother" (p. 376) is mentiond a spectacular dash by James. mounted. into the Confederate works, for
which it is said he was brevetted Captain. The novelist’s statement is apparently based upon his memory of a
letter recievd from his brother; I hope to obtain confirmation from other participants in the action.

1' Shorter. Delaware. Ohio; lst Sergt. Co. D., June 24, 1864; 2d Lieut., March 24, 1864, but not musterd til
Julyl.1865;Wounded at “Honey Hill." November 30, 1864; d. soon after the regiment was musterd out.——Trotter.
Cincinnati, Ohio; 1st Sergt. Co. K, June 11. 1863; Sergt.-Major. November 19, 1863; 2d Lieut., April 10, 1864.
but not musterd til July 1. 1865; slightly wounded at ”Honey Hill”; Recorder of Deeds, D.C.. author of book on
colord musicians. father of editor of The Guardian; d. February 26. 1892.—Dupree, Chillicothe. Ohio; lst Sergt.
Co. H, June 25, 1863; 2d Lieut., May 30, 1864. but musterd July 1, 1865; long the esteemd superintendent of Post
Oflis Station A in Boston, where he stil resides.— Mitchell, Boston; Sergent, June 20. 1864; 2d Lieut., September
20. 1865; not musterd because of 103 of -foot at “Honey Hill," November 30. 1864; discharged. October 20, 1865;
member of General Court. 1866—7 ; d. April 13. 1912. The four folloing wer commissiond 2d Lieutenants, but
not musterd in on account of the muster out of the regiment. —Shadd, Chatham, C. W.; at varius times
Sergent, Quartermaster-sergent. and Serg.-major; practist law in Mississippi; d. November 15, 1878. ——
While. Ohlo; sergent and commissary-sergent; d. March 3. 1905.—Becker; at different times Commissary
sergent and Quartermaster-sergent; was member of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina. —
Jones; at varius times Sergent, lst Sergent, and Color sergent; d. October 29. 187 5.

(5)

At different times there cared for me and my horse 19 two enlisted men for whom I had the highest
respect as men and as soldiers; both wer irreproachabl; niether would taste liquor; — David Lee of
Co. C. now livs in Xenia, Ohio,20 Andrew J. Smith of Co. B, in Grand Rivers, Ky.21

Like the 54th, the 55th was recruited mainly at the North; out of 980 only 182 wer born in the
slave states. Both regiments went into the field under the thret of the Confederate Congress to kil or
enslave Negro soldiers, if captured, and to kil their offisers. Both regiments enlisted with the assurance
that in all respects they wer to be treated as wer the white troops. When, later, thru administrativ
misunderstanding or pusillanimity, the enlisted men were offerd the pay of laborers, they refused to
accept it and servd for more than a year without a dollar; meantime many had died of disease, or had been
kild in battl, and the families of some wer in want.

At_“Honey Hill” after several other regiments had been repulst, a battalion of the 55th charged the
Confederate works, losing, kild and wounded, about half the offisers and one-third the enlisted men
engagedf .At “Rivers’ Causeway”,22 after the repulse of two other regiments by unexpected artillery,
the 55th enlisted men, without orders, charged and captured the guns and fired them upon the retreating
enemy. Out of about 350 present of the 55th, 10 were kild and 16 wounded.23

 

19 Thayer. —- Another body-servant was F. E. Thayer, a white boy of ten, who, with his mother’s consent,
accompanid me and proved very devoted and efficient; he became a merchant in Springfield, where he died
July 6, 1911.

20 Lee has servd for thirty-three years as a scool janitor, trusted and highly respected by the Board of
Education.

21 A. J. Smith. —— Besides other soldierly deeds, at “Honey Hill," when the color-sergent was blown to
pieces by a shel, Smith siezd and saved the colors, and later was made his successor. This is mentiond by Col.
Fox in the “Record” referd to in note 2, and I hav cald attention to it in a letter (accompanied by a picture
of Smith) in The N ational Tribune for December 10, 1914; had it been ofiisially reported at the time, Smith prob-
ably would now hold a “Medal of Honor for Distinguisht Gallantry in Action” under the Act of Congress of
April 27. 1916.

22 “Rivers’ Causeway.” — Altho the numbers engaged on both sides were comparativly small, this attack
was regarded by the Confederate military authorities as seriusly imperiling the safety of Charleston; see J. John-
son’s “The Defence of Charleston Harbor,” p. 215; C. C. Jones’ “Historical Sketch of the Chatham Artillery,”
pp. 197—200; and “War Records,” serial numbers 65 (pp. 14-15, 121—6) and 66 (pp. 546 et seq.). It was notabl
for the courage and initiativ of the enlisted men of the 55th in the face of unexpected, short-range artillery fire,
and under a confusion or misapprehension of orders —— which, indeed, may hav been disregarded. It was also
notabl for the heroism of the outnumbered Confederates. Valuabl information has been obtaind from their
commander, the late Lieut. T. M. DeLorme, and from one of the gunners, William Mather, now Dauberville,
Pa.; but there remain to be elucidated several points as to the infantry support and exact location of the guns.
An oral account of this action was presented by me before the Military Historical Society of 'Massachusetts,
December 2, 1913, but the manuscript was not completed for publication in the recently issued volume (14) 'of its
“Papers.”

23 The Negro as a Soldier. — In N icolay and Hay’s “Abraham Lincoln, a history” (vol. 6, pp. 465—6) ar
letters from which the folloing ar extracts: — From President Lincoln to General Grant, August 9, 1863:
“I believe it is a resource which, if vigorously applied now. will soon close the contest.” From Grant to Lincoln,
August 23: “I have given the subject of arming the negro my hearty support. . . . They will make good
soldiers.”

“Sambo's right to be kilt” was pungently versified by an Irish ofliser, Charles G. Halpine (“Private Miles
O'Reilly”) as recorded in the “Photographic History of the War,” vol. 9, pp. 176—7. How the opportunity
was embraced is eloquently told by Col. N. P. Hallowell:— “The Negro as a soldier in the war of the Rebellion,”
red before the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. January 5, 1892, pp. 29. separately printed, Boston,
1897, publisht, 1913, in Vol. XIII of “Papers of the M. H. S. M.,” pp.289—313:—“We called upon them in the
day of our trial, when volunteering had ceased, when the draft was a partial failure, and the bounty system a
senseless extravagance. They were ineligible for promotion, they were not to be treated as prisoners of war.
Nothing was definite except that they could be shot and hanged as soldiers. Fortunate indeed is it for us, as
well as for them, that they were equal to the crisis; that the grand historic moment which comes to a race only
once in many centuries came to them, and that they recognized it; and when the war closed the names of one
hundred and eighty-six thousand men of African descent were on the rolls.” For an admirable account of the
raising of the Massachusetts colord regiments and of the difficulties respecting their pay and their military
status see chapter X, “T he Negro Soldier,” of H. G. Pearson’s “The Life of John A. Andrew,” Boston, 1904.

One of the erliest, best informd, and most emfatic of the witnesses to the soldierly qualities of the Negro
was the late Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the organizer and first commander of the First South Carolina,
afterward the 33d U. S. Colord Troops. His testimony is vividly related in the volume, “Army Life in a
Black Regiment,” especially in the chapter. “The Negro as a Soldier.” As the result of a serius injury recievd
in the expedition “Up the Edisto," July, 1863, Colonel Higginson was compeld to go north in May, 1864, and/
to resign in the following October. Therefore he was not present at “Rivers’ Causeway,” in which his regiment
participated. A partial account of the action was publisht as a letter in the New York Evening Post of July 26,
1864, and reproduced in Appendix D in the first edition (1882) of the volume named above; the references to the
act‘im} on pa2g2es 249, 252. and 356 of the second edition (1900), wil be considered in the paper referd to at the
en 0 note .

Whether, without the “stone that the builders rejected” at first, the Union edifis could hav been restored
at all, it is now useless to discuss; certainly the contest would hav been greatly prolongd without the colord
soldiers. To their fidelity, industry, valor, and occasional initiativ. abundant testimony is supplied by the
“War Records” (serial number 46, pp. 328—30, 362, and elsewhere), and by papers (e.g., “The Colored Troops."
Gen. Selden Connor, in “War Papers,” Maine Commandery of the Loyal Legion, vol 3, pp. 61—82), “The Negro
as a Soldier,” by Brig. Gen. A. S. Burt, U.S.A.,retired, “The Crisis.” February 11,1913. Nevertheless, in the
“Photographic History of the Civil War" their servises are scantily set forth; in that magnificent travesty
of history. the foto—play. “The Birth of a Nation." and in Dixon's interesting novel, “T he Southerner” (pp. 331.
332, 355, 383, 435—8) they are grossly misrepresented. A juster estimate of their military valu was ofierd by
the Confederate general, Cleburne, in January, 1864 (“War Records,” serial number 110, p. 591). From
intimate assoc1ation.durmg two years and three months, from the sources of information above referd to, from
reports .of the Spanish War (e.g., Col. R. L. Bullard's article, “The Negro Volunteer,” Jour. Military Service
Institution. July. 1901. pp. 29—39). from accounts of the recent trubls in Mexico, and'from current reports.
I conclude that the average negro is a natural soldier, and that, in the recent “World War,” the failure to
enlist his activ and cordial co-operation would hav been a great and inexcusabl error.

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The Confederate soldiers, on the average, wer as brave as our own, and as fully convinst of the
justis of their cause; their higher oflisers wer often better traind. With equal numbers, with resources
undiminisht by our blockade, and with the arming of loyal Negroes (advocated by General Cleburne
and others) the Confederates would probably hav won.

Excepting the original occupation of Port Royal, the reduction of Fort Pulaski, the siezure of the
south end of Morris Island in July, 1863, and the advances upon Fort Wagner by “parallels” after the
fearful slauter of July 18, the military record of the Department of the South presents an almost unbroken
series of avoidabl disasters, accompanid by useless expenditure of ammunition, as upon Fort Sumter,
and barbarus disregard of non-combatants and property, as in the bombardment of Charleston.24 I am
proud of the achievments of our regiment and most of the others, but I am far from proud of what was
done by the Department of the South as a whole under the direction of the “men higher up,” most of
whom ar now ded.

Wars ar simply duels between nations. Commonly they hav no better occasion than duels between
individuals, and might be averted by the exercize of common sense, self-restraint, and the intermediation
of disinterested arties. Might not the maintenance of the Union and the abolition of slavery hav been
accomplisht wit out the Civil War, horribl and costly in itself and bitter in its consequences?

Why then, did we, the peaceabl, religius youths of the early sixties, enter the army as a matter of
course? Partly because the Gospel of Peace had not been preacht. Largely because we 'wer religius.
Because at church and in our homes we had listend to the Old Testament narrativs of wars as if inseparabl
from human history. Even when explaind (as by Swedenborg) upon the basis of an “internal sense,"
those warlike passages are not wholesome reading for the yung. I hope to liv to see the Bible expurgated
of sUch and other unedifying matter.

The “War. Records” contain frequent ascriptions of victories to an “overruling Providence.” The
Confederate commanders wer more confident than ours. Nevertheless the final outcome was adverse.25
Wer there two “Gods of War,” and did one retire? N 0. War is an invention of the Devil,26 and he may
encourage, restrain, or deciev. Unless we are prepared to concede that the Deity sanctiond the murder
of Abraham Lincoln — the greatest calamity that ever befel this nation, especially the southern portion
of it — we hav no right to assume that over human. battls He exercizes any more control than over a _
dog-fight.

A striking example of feminin superiority and domination was found by me during my servis, in the
shape of a spider, Nephila, afterward described in sientific periodicals and (with illustrations) in the
Atlantic for August, 1866. The female not only makes the net and catches the prey but weighs at least

I

 

3‘ TheBombardment of Charleston.— That and all other offisially authorized misdeeds on both sides during the
Civil War pale beside the atrocities orderd or connived at by the Imperial German Government during the last
four years. There would be les surprize at the apparently recent outbreaks of Teutonic atavistic military mania
(as exemplified in the section on “War-Worship” on pp. 133—59 of the “Gems of German Thought." compiled by
William Archer, 1917) wer there mo're general, acquaintance with the “Physiophilosophy” of Prof. Lorenz Oken
of Munich (translated by Tulk, London, 1847. first red by me in 1867): “The art of War is the highest, most
exalted art; the art of freedom and of right, of the blessed condition of Man and of humanity — the Principle of
Peace." “Die Kriegskunst isl die hdchste, erhabenste Kunst; die Kunst der Freiheit und des Rechts, des seeligen
Zuslandes des Menschen und der M enschheil — das Prinzip des Friedens." This is an amplification of one of the
concluding sentences of the original edition of 1910: “Der Held ist der Gott der Menschheit.”

35 Does Prayer Influence the Deity. — As remarkt by me at a meeting of the Brookline Historical Society,
April 14, 1915 (reported in The Chronicle of the 17th), “The Confederate commanders made much more fre-
quent and confident declarations of their partnership with the Deity than did the Union generals; a fact worth
reflecting upon by the Kaiser and his apologists. Commending ex-President Eliot’s reply to a clergyman's
query, ‘When may we begin to pray for peace?’ -— ‘When Germany is at least driven back into her own terri-
tory. and when she has been forced to pay full indemnity to Belgium.’— (Boston Herald, April 13, 1915),
Dr. Wilder insisted that -— whatever influence (by formulating and crystalizing convictions into effectiv mani-
festations), they may exert directly upon the supplicants, or indirectly upon other human beings—there is no
sientific evidence that supplications have ever affected the purposes of the Deity or changed the order of
Nature.” In the better and wiser times to come. the collation of antagonistic appeals to an assumed single
Deity during the Civil War and during the last four years may serv to indicate how slight has been our progress
from belief in “Tribal Gods" and in the direct interference of an Almighty. Indeed, to specify undesirabl con-
ditions is to ascribe ignorance to Omniscience; to implore relief from them is to imply a lack of benevolent
interest in our affairs. The assumption by Wilhelm von Hohenzollern of acquaintance with the political and
‘ ilitary plans of the Almighty is paralleld only by the Rev. William A. Sunday’s declaration of familiarity with

1% Divine scheme of salvation.

” War is an Invention of the Devil. — As stated by me in a letter publisht in the New York Tribune (N ovem-
her 4. 1914) this fraze is substantially identic with that used by Col. C. B. Fox in a letter to his wife (dated
“Folly Island, S. C., January 26, 1864”) transcribed in a manuscript volume referd to in note 6. It naturally
suggests that which is popularly attributed to Gen. W. T. Sherman and this is a fitting occasion for dispelling the
confusion between it and another epigram les widely known. viz.. “War is cruelty.” This occurs in Sherman’s
letter of September 12. 1864. adrest to the Mayor of Atlanta, Ga., justifying the expulsion of the inhabitants of
that city. It is printed in the “War Records,” vol. 39, serial number 78, pp. 418—19, and is reproduced in Bow-
manlgnsd’zlrwin’s “Sherman and his Campaigns” (p.225) and in the “Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. 2,
pp. .

The other fraze, “War is Hell,” is the one commonly quoted. Nevertheless. as related in the footnote to
p. 309 of “Sherman’s Home Letters" (edited by M. A. DeWolfe Howe, New York, 1909) Sherman himself
could not recall the occasion of its utterance, and its authenticity was not regarded as sufi’iciently establisht to
warrant placing Henry Van Dyke’s quatrain containing it on St. Gauden's equestrian statue. In The National
Tribune of November 26, 1914, Mr. Charles 0. Brown, the popular lecturer, declared that, at the graduating
exercizes of Orchard Lake Military Academy, near Pontiac, Mich., June 19, 1879, Sherman closed his address
With these words. which he says ar rememberd as distinctly as it if wer yesterday: “I have seen fields devas-
tated. homes ruined. and cities laid waste; I have seen the carnage of battle, the blood of the wounded, and the
cold faces of the dead looking up at the stars. That is war. War is H ell.”

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100 times her mate; that is as if the average man of 140 pounds should attach himself to a woman at
seven tons. Under such conditions Equal Sufl'rage would soon cease to be an academic question.27

During my servis with the regiment I was never sick a day.28 I ascribe my immunity largely to riding
horseback whenever possibl and to absolute avoidance of pork and whisky. Our regiment included an
unusually large proportion of offisers who wer iether total abstainers or very temperate. If liquor coud
hav been interdicted in our army, excepting as prescribedby the surgeons, I believ. the war might hav
been shortend by a year, with concomitant saving of life, helth, property, and money.29

 

27 As the eradication of Slavery was a secondary object and result of the War for the Preservation of the
American Union, so the recent World War Against Military Autocracy may, as a “by-product.” hav demon-
strated the fitness of Woman for unwonted fisical, intellectual, and political activities.

”'Niether during nor since the Civil War. hav I sufferd from indigestion. That freedom is ascribed to dis-
crimination and moderation respecting food and to thoro mastication. This habit was formd from the exampl
and precept of my vegetarian parents and was urged upon my pupils at Cornell from its Opening in 1868.,so long
as Higiene was included in my department. The dictum. “Eat slowly; masticate well; five minutes more at
dinner may giv you better use of an hour afterward,” was formulated in an articl, “ConcerningFOod.” in
the Cornell Era for Nov. 24, 1871 (antedating by a quarter of a century the similar doctrin of the late
Horace F letcher). and occurs in all the editions of my “Health Notes for Students" (now out of print}.

2? Smoking and Drinking by Soldiers. ——Folloing is part of an articl, “Should Our Yung Soldiers Be
Encouraged to SmokeP", ritten by me at the request of Dr. J. H. Kellogg. Superintendent of the Bat , Creek
(Michigan) Sanitarium and publisht by him as editor in Good Health for F ebruary, 1918; a reprint mayr'ccom-
pany this. Or will be sent, gratis, on reciet of a stampt and directed one-cent envelop: — “In support of proposi-
tions that tobacco smoking is artificial, needless, unwholesome, costly, a fire-menace, wasteful of space in literature.
an obtunder of the ethic sense, unjust, and inconsistent with exhortations to ‘Imitatio Christi,’ statements and
arguments hav been offerd by me on varius occasions since the fall of 1868 when first I began to advize the
students at Cornell University as to helth and conduct." During the Civil War, so far as I can recall, not more
than ten percent of our offisers and enlisted men wer habitual smokers. Now, as among male civilians. the
proportion seems to be reverst. Notwithstanding the relativly liberal pay of our army, tobacco is now provided
as part of the “ration." Cigars, cigarets, tobacco, and pipes are commonly included among the supplies sent

‘to our soldiers abroad by their relativs and frends. There is a general impression that smoking is a harmless
solace for those accustomed to it. Is not this a perilus delusion? Military efiiciency depends largely upon
conditions of the nervus and muscular organs such as are demanded for success in certain games during
training for which tobacco is forbidden. The International Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Associa-
tions has recently publisht (Association Press. 124 E. 28th Street, New York) a volume of 188 pages entitled,
“The Physical Effects of Smoking.” The authors, Dr. George J. Fisher and Prof. Elmer Berry. conducted
numerus careful and impartial experiments to show the effects of smoking upon heart rate and blood pressure.
neuro-muscular precision, accuracy in baseball pitching, etc. They conclude (p. 177) that clear eyes, stedy
nerves, and muscles capable of accurate response do not go with smoking. In an introductory note Prof. Irving
Fisher says: “The following essay would seem to indicate that smoking is more injurious than we have suspected.
It will give pause to those who smoke or contemplate smoking, if they value their physical and mental alertness."
This aspect of the subject is wel stated in a pamflet, “Tobacco and the Soldier,” by Prof. H. W. Farnam of
Yale University, who had alredy delt with the economic side in “The Food Supply and the Human Sub-
marine.” _

Literature on the several aspects of the tobacco question may be obtaind from Dr. Charles G. Pease.
president of the Non-Smokers’ Protective League of Americ 101 Wt.“ 39.5 . New York City. My own
views ar recorded in (among others) the following: “He th ofes for S u ents.” successiv editions; “H giene
and Morality.” leaflet distributed at special lectures on Intemperance and Social Diseases; Final eport.
(1903) of the Committee (of which I was one) on “Alcohol and Narcotics" of the N. Y. State Science
Teachers Association; “The Cigarette Smoker,” N. Y. Tribune, Mar. 24, 1911; “Views as to Student Con-s,
duct.” N. Y. Tribune and Ithaca (N. Y.) Journal, June 15. 1911; “When Authors Are Empty.” Boston Globe.
June 18, 1915; “Smoking on the Campus.” red at the First Non-Smokers' Protective League of America Con- .
vention, in San Francisco, Ca1.. July 17, 1915 (unpublisht); “Would Christ Smoke?” Brooklyn Eagle, Dec.
21, 1916. In letters publisht in The Tribune of Nov. 19. 1910, and March 24, 1911. and in the Ithaca Journal J
of March 25. 1911, “smogs” was employd as a concise and expressiv term for those who smoke in places:
where non-smokers have equal rights. ‘ *

As may be inferd from the foregoing paragrafs I regard as more or les objectionabl any use of tobacco-
excepting as an insecticide—by any person at any" age and under any conditions. Respecting alcoholic
beverages my views cannot be stated without qualifications; they might not be worth stating at all b1 ‘ that.
in the light of all accessibl information, they hav been maintaind thru a long life during part of whic 11 they
wer annually revized under the consciusnes of responsibility for the welfare of precius youths. .

The paragraf to which this note refers was spoken prior to the recent “World War" and printed before
our participation in it. To avoid misinterpretation I quote from my letter, “Opposes Prohibition.’ which
was publisht (in unsimplified spelling) in the Boston Herald of December 18, 1916:— “Shoud this cun
be agen involvd in war there might he demanded such restriction, not only military and naval but gener . .
Now. however. while deploring the evils of intemperance. I see no rezon for changing the opinions formd. in
1868 and publicly exprest on several occasions since. viz: Relief from the evils of intemperance is to bf! g
by the Oslo process of education; fermented drinks (cider. beer. and light wines) shoud not be clast w _
distild liquors and fortified wines; we shoud discriminate between the .use and the abuse; life shoud be e-
garded as constituted by not efficiency alone but by happines as wel; moderation and self-control shoud Be
mculcated as cardinal virtues; ‘treating' shoud be discountenanst and dram-shops abolisht; and there shoud
be rigidly enforst abstention from all grades of alcoholic beverages by youths. especially college undergraduates.”

The most eflicrent agents of the devil ar the keepers and owners of ' gambling-houses. brothels. and 11 nor-
saloons. Directly or indirectly all ar foes of helth. honor. purity. home-life. and happiness. ~ The n-
keepers ar entitld to “bad eminence" from their numbers. their unblushing activity. and the tendency of
their customers to patronize the other two. _ ' '

The solution of the drink-problem is hinderd by social, political, moral, and theologic entanglements.
and by the exaggerated statements of wel-mening but il-informd advocates. - As was wel sed by the late
Mrs. Thomas Carlyle. “It is the mixing-up of things which is the great bad."

In addition to what 18 sed in the Report on “Alcohol and Narcotics” refered to in a previu's paragra . I
suggest that youths be safegarded thru the susceptibl and habit-forming period by pecuniary or other
inducements to abstain. The free use of milk as a cheep and nurishing food for yung and old has been
advocated by me ever smce I began to teach. I now urge that, to avert the desire for alcoholics. itlbe
availabl for domestics whose work precedes the first meal; also that. in conveniently preservd form. it'be
provided for the Army and Navy. .

Chestnut Hill, Mass.
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