We have a curious incident from the Mississippi army, illus-
trating the feeling and attitude of the negroes. Captain Dwight, one of four brothers serving in the Northern army, in riding from his own camp to that of his brother, General Dwight, found himself surrounded by a party of four Con- federates. Being quite unarmed he declared himself their prisoner, but one of the captors suggesting that it would be better to shoot him down, he fell with a ball through his head. The body was recovered and taken to the youngest brother's hotel at New Orleans. When Mr. Dwight entered the empty room where the corpse lay the next morning, he found the walls draped with muslin and the room filled with a profusion of Southern flowers, and was told that this had been done by the ne,gro women during the night. On receiving his thanks they asked him how they could do enough for soldiers who were dying in their cause ; all they asked was that their sons and brothers might be allowed to fight by the side of the Northern soldiers. They have proved again and again that they are their equals in courage, perhaps their superiors in discipline, and this, among many similar stories, proves that many of them are not inferior even in that delicacy and nobleness of sentiment which is supposed to be the mono- poly of culture.
Previous page
