Chapter 15

The history of all these cases, besides others, I have in full, with all their horrible particulars.

Believing, sir, you required the earliest intelligence in this matter, I concluded not to await your arrival.

With much respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant,

W.A. POILLON, _Captain and Ass't. Sup't. Freedmen_.

Brig. Gen. SWAYNE.

A true copy of the original deposited in this office.

CHARLES A. MILLER, _Major and A.A.A. General_.

No. 23.

Vicksburg, Mississippi, _July_ 8, 1865.

Captain: I have the honor to report that, in compliance with Special Orders No. 5, Headquarters Sub-district Southwest Mississippi, I proceeded to the counties of Madison, Holmes, and Yazoo, but that I did not reach Issaquena from the fact that the country between Yazoo City and that county has been so overflowed as to render the roads impassable.

I found a provost marshal of freedmen at Yazoo City--Lieutenant Fortu, who seemed to understand his duties well, and to have performed them satisfactorily. There was no officer of the bureau in either of the other counties. The whole country is in a state of social and political anarchy, and especially upon the subject of the freedom of the negroes, but very few who understand their rights and duties.

It is of the utmost importance that officers of the bureau should be sent to all the counties of the State to supervise the question of labor, and to insure the gathering of the growing crop, which, if lost, will produce the greatest suffering. In no case ought a citizen of the locality be appointed to manage the affairs of the freedmen: first, because these men will wish to stand well with their neighbors and cannot do justice to the negro; and secondly, because the negroes only know these men as oppressors of their race, and will have no confidence in their acts. The officers of the bureau should be especially charged to impress upon the freedmen the sacredness of the family relation and the duty of parents to take care of their children, and of the aged and infirm of their race. Where a man and woman have lived together as husband and wife, the relation should be declared legitimate, and all parties, after contracting such relations, should be compelled to legal marriage by severe laws against concubinage. Where parents have deserted their children, they should be compelled to return and care for them; otherwise there will be great suffering among the women and children, for many of the planters who have lost the male hands from their places threaten to turn off the women and children, who will become a burden to the community. The two evils against which the officers will have to contend are cruelty on the part of the employer, and shirking on the part of the negroes. Every planter with whom I have talked premised his statements with the assertion that "a nigger won't work without whipping." I know that this is not true of the negroes as a body heretofore. A fair trial should be made of free labor by preventing a resort to the lash. It is true that there will be a large number of negroes who will shirk labor; and where they persistently refuse compliance with their contracts, I would respectfully suggest that such turbulent negroes be placed upon public works, such as rebuilding the levees and railroads of the State, where they can be compelled to labor, and where their labor will be of benefit to the community at large.

It will be difficult for the employers to pay their laborers quarterly, as required by present orders. Money can only be realized yearly on a cotton crop, because to make such a crop requires an entire year's work in planting, picking, ginning, and sending to market. The lien upon the crop secures the laborer his pay at the end of the year, for which he can afford to wait, as all the necessaries of life are furnished by the planter, who could not pay quarterly except at a great sacrifice.

The present orders recommend that the freedmen remain with their former masters so long as they are kindly treated. This, as a temporary policy, is the best that could be adopted, but I very much doubt its propriety as a permanent policy. It will tend to rebuild the fallen fortunes of the slaveholders, and re-establish the old system of class legislation, thus throwing the political power of the country back into the hands of this class, who love slavery and hate freedom and republican government. It would, in my opinion, be much wiser to diffuse this free labor among the laboring people of the country, who can sympathize with the laborer, and treat him with humanity.

I would suggest that great care be taken in the selection of officers of the bureau to be sent to the various counties. The revolution of the whole system of labor has been so sudden and radical as to require great caution and prudence on the part of the officers charged with the care of the freedmen. They should be able to discuss the question of free labor as a matter of political economy, and by reason and good arguments induce the employers to give the system a fair and honest trial.

Nowhere that I have been do the people generally realise the fact that the negro is free. The day I arrived at Jackson _en route_ for Canton, both the newspapers at that place published leading editorials, taking the ground that the emancipation proclamation was unconstitutional, and therefore void; that whilst the negro who entered the army _might_ be free, yet those who availed themselves not of the proclamation were still slaves, and that it was a question for the State whether or not to adopt a system of gradual emancipation. These seem to be the views of the people generally, and they expressed great desire "to get rid of these garrisons," when they hope "to have things their own way." And should the care and protection of the nation be taken away from the freedmen, these people will have their own way, and will practically re-establish slavery, more grinding and despotic than of old.

Respectfully submitted:

J.L. HAYNES, _Colonel First Texas Cavalry_.

Captain B.F. MOREY, _Assistant Adjutant General_.

Official:

STUART ELDRIDGE, _Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant General_.

Colonel Haynes was born and raised near Yazoo City, Mississippi. He owns a plantation, and owned negroes before the war. He left the State in 1862, and went to New Orleans, where he received a commission to raise a regiment of Texas troops.

SAMUEL THOMAS, _Colonel_.

No. 24.

RAILROAD, _Camp near Clinton, Miss., July_ 8, 1865.

Sir: I am induced by the suffering I daily see and hear of among colored people to address you this communication. I am located with my command four miles west of Clinton, Hines county, on the railroad. A great many colored people, on their way to and from Vicksburg and other distant points, pass by my camp. As a rule, they are hungry, naked, foot-sore, and heartless, aliens in their native land, homeless, and friendless. They are wandering up and down the country, rapidly becoming vagabonds and thieves from both necessity and inclination. Their late owners, I am led to believe, have entered into a tacit arrangement to refuse labor, food or drink, in all cases, to those who have been soldiers, as well as to those who have belonged to plantations within the State; in the latter case, often ordering them back peremptorily to their "masters."

One planter said in my hearing lately, "These niggers will all be slaves again in twelve months. You have nothing but Lincoln proclamations to make them free." Another said, "No white labor shall ever reclaim my cotton fields." Another said, "Emigration has been the curse of the country; it must be prevented here. This soil must be held by its present owners and their descendants." Another said, "The constitutional amendment, if successful, will be carried before the Supreme Court before its execution can be certain, and we hope much from that court!"

These expressions I have listened to at different times, and only repeat them here in order that I may make the point clear that there is already a secret rebel, anti-emigration, pro-slavery party formed or forming in this State, whose present policy appears to be to labor assiduously for a restoration of the old system of slavery, or a system of apprenticeship, or some manner of involuntary servitude, on the plea of recompense for loss of slaves on the one hand, and, on the other, to counterbalance the influence of Yankee schools and the labor-hiring system as much as possible by oppression and cruelty. I hear that negroes are frequently driven from plantations where they either belong, or have hired, on slight provocation, and are as frequently offered violence on applying for employment. Dogs are sometimes set upon them when they approach houses for water. Others have been met, on the highway by white men they never saw before, and beaten with clubs and canes, without offering either provocation or resistance. I see negroes almost every day, of both sexes, and almost all ages, who have subsisted for many hours on berries, often wandering they know not where, begging for food, drink, and employment.

It is impossible for me or any officer I have the pleasure of an acquaintance with to afford these people relief. Neither can I advise them, for I am not aware that any provisions have been, or are to be made to reach such cases. The evil is not decreasing, but, on the contrary, as the season advances, is increasing.

I have heretofore entertained the opinion that the negroes flocked into the cities from all parts of the country; but a few weeks' experience at this station has changed my views on the subject, and I am now led to believe that those who have done so comprise comparatively a very small part of the whole, and are almost entirely composed of those belonging to plantations adjoining the towns. However, those who did go to the cities have been well cared for in comparison with those who have remained in the country. A small proportion of the latter class are well situated, either as necessary house-servants, body-servants, or favorites by inclination, as mistresses, or by necessity or duty, as each master may have been induced to regard long and faithful service or ties of consanguinity. Throughout the entire country, from Vicksburg to the capital of the State, there is but little corn growing. The manner of cultivating is very primitive, and the yield will be exceedingly small. I estimate that in this country fully one-half of the white population, and a greater proportion of the colored people, will be necessitated either to emigrate, buy food, beg it, or starve. The negro has no means to buy, and begging will not avail him anything. He will then be compelled to emigrate, which, in his case, is usually equivalent to turning vagabond, or, induced by his necessities, resort to organized banding to steal, rob, and plunder. I am at a loss to know why the government has not adopted some system for the immediate relief and protection of this oppressed and suffering people, whose late social changes have conduced so much to their present unhappy condition, and made every officer in the United States army an agent to carry out its provisions. Were I employed to do so, I should seize the largest rebel plantation in this and every other county in the State, partition it in lots of suitable size for the support of a family--say ten acres each--erect mills and cotton gins, encourage them to build houses and cultivate the soil, give them warrants for the land, issue rations to the truly needy, loan them seed, stock, and farming utensils for a year or two, and trust the result to "Yankee schools" and the industry of a then truly free and proverbially happy people. Some other system might be better; few could be more simple in the execution, and in my opinion better calculated to "save a race" now floating about in a contentious sea without hope or haven.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

H.R. BRINKERHOFF, _Lieutenant Colonel 52d U.S. Colored Infantry, Commanding Detachment_.

Major General O. O. HOWARD, _Washington, D.C._

Official:

STUART ELDRIDGE, _Lieutenant, Acting Assistant Adjutant General_.

No. 25.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _Jackson, August_ 18, 1865.

Sir: Your order No. 16, disbanding police guard for Claiborne county, has been laid before me. I apprehend you are laboring under a mistake in regard to the character of this organization. I had express authority from the President himself to organize the militia if I thought it necessary to keep order in the country. This I did not do, but authorized the organization of patrol guards or county police, for the purpose of suppressing crime, and for arresting offenders. This organization is therefore part of the civil organization of the State, as much so as sheriff, constable, and justices of the peace, and I claim the right to use this organization for these purposes, and hope you will revoke your order.

Your obedient servant,

W.L. SHARKEY, _Provisional Governor of Mississippi_.

Colonel YORK.

Official copy:

J. WARREN MILLER, _Assistant Adjutant General_.

HEADQUARTERS POST OF PORT GIBSON,

_Port Gibson, Mississippi, August_ 26, 1865.

General: I have the honor to state that my reasons for issuing the enclosed order, (No. 16,) was, that a party of citizens acting under authority from Captain Jack, 9th Indiana cavalry, and having as their chief C.B. Clark, was by their own acknowledgment in the habit of patrolling the roads in this section of the country, and ordering any one they came across to halt. If this was not promptly done, they were ordered to fire upon them. In this way one negro woman was wounded, and Union men and negroes were afraid to be out of their houses after dark. The company was formed out of what they called picked men, _i.e._, those only who had been actively engaged in the war, and were known to be strong disunionists.

The negroes in the section of the country these men controlled were kept in the most abject state of slavery, and treated in every way contrary to the requirements of General Orders No. 129 from the War Department, a copy of which order was issued by me to C.B. Clark.

Hoping, general, to receive instructions as to the manner in which I shall regulate my action,

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

P. JONES YORK, _Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Post_.

Provost Major General DAVIDSON, _Commanding Southern District of Mississippi_.

Official copy:

J. WARREN MILLER, _Assistant Adjutant General_.

[Special Orders No. 16.]

HEADQUARTERS POST OF PORT GIBSON,

_Port Gibson, Mississippi, August_ 10, 1865.

The permission given from these headquarters, dated July 3, 1865, by Captain Jack, provost marshal, is hereby revoked.

C.B. Clark, chief of police, under the permission, will notify the parties forming the said patrol to discontinue the practice of patrolling the roads and country armed. All arrests must be made by the proper military or civil authorities.

P. JONES YORK, _Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Post_.

Official copy:

J. WARREN MILLER, _Assistant Adjutant General_.

No. 26.

BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS,

OFFICE ACTING ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER FOR WESTERN DIST. OF MISS.,

_Vicksburg, Miss., September_ 28, 1865.

Colonel: I beg leave to call your attention to some of the difficulties we are still obliged to contend with, and some of the abuses still inflicted upon the freedmen, resulting from the prejudices which are still far from being eradicated. In the immediate vicinity of our military posts, and in locations that can readily be reached by the officers of this bureau, the citizens are wary of abusing the blacks; they are so because this bureau has arrested and punished people committing such offences; and the manner in which such cases have been dealt with has shown people that abuse and imposition will not be tolerated, and that such offences are sure to be punished in accordance with the enormity of the crime. But in remote localities, those that cannot well be reached by officers of the bureau, the blacks are as badly treated as ever; colored people often report themselves to the sub-commissioners with bruised heads and lacerated backs, and ask for redress, protection, to be permitted to live at their former homes, and some assurance that they will not be treated in a like manner again if they return. But nothing can be done if their homes happen to be twenty or thirty miles from any office that will protect them. A great many have thus learned that there is no protection for them, and quietly submit to anything that may be required of them, or, as is more frequently the case, they leave such places and crowd about the places where they can be protected.

A girl about twelve years of age, certainly too young to commit any serious offence, lies in No. 1 hospital now with her back perfectly raw, the results of a paddling administered by her former owner. Any number of such cases could easily be cited. In many cases negroes who left their homes during the war, and have been within our military lines, and have provided homes here for their families, going back to get their wives or children, have been driven off and told they could not have them. In several cases guards have been sent to aid people in getting their families, in many others it has been impracticable, as the distance was too great. In portions of the northern part of this district the colored people are kept in SLAVERY still. The white people tell them that they were free during the war, but the war is now over, and they must go to work again as before. The reports from sub-commissioners nearest that locality show that the blacks are in a much worse state than ever before, the able-bodied being kept at work under the lash, and the young and infirm driven off to care for themselves.

As to protection from the civil authorities, there is no such thing outside of this city. There is not a justice of the peace or any other civil officer in the district, eight (8) counties, of which I have charge, that will listen to a complaint from a negro; and in the city, since the adjudication of these cases has been turned over to the mayor, the abuse of and impositions upon negroes are increasing very visibly, for the reason that very little, if any, attention is paid to any complaint of a negro against a white person. Negro testimony is admitted, but, judging from some of the decisions, it would seem that it carries very little weight. In several cases black witnesses have been refused on the ground that the testimony on the opposite side, white, could not be controverted, and it was useless to bring in black witnesses against it. I enclose an affidavit taken on one such case. In the mayor's court, cases in which it is practicable to impose a fine and thereby replenish the city treasury, are taken up invariably, but cases where the parties have no money are very apt to pass unnoticed. One more point, and a serious one, too, for the colored people, is, that in the collection of debts, and a great many of a similar class of cases that are not taken cognizance of in the mayor's court, they have to go through a regular civil process, necessitating the feeing of lawyers, &c., which is quite a burden on a people whose means are limited. These cases have all formerly been handled by an officer of this bureau, and without any expense to the parties for fees, &c.

The prejudices of the citizens are very strong against the negro; he is considered to be deserving of the same treatment a mule gets, in many cases not as kind, as it is unprofitable to kill or maim a mule, but the breaking of the neck of the free negro is nobody's loss; and unless there is some means for meting out justice to these people that is surer and more impartial than these civil justice's courts, run by men whose minds are prejudiced and bitter against the negro, I would recommend, as an act of humanity, that the negroes be made slaves again.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.H. WEBER, _Captain and Acting Ass't. Com'r. Freedmen's Bureau for Western Dist. Miss_.

Colonel SAMUEL THOMAS, _Ass't. Com'r. Bureau Freedmen, &c., Vicksburg, Miss_.

No. 27.

OFFICE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS FOR STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,

_Vicksburg, Mississippi, September_ 28, 1865.

Dear Sir: In accordance with your request, I write the following letter, containing some of my views on the subject to which you called my attention--a subject worthy of great consideration, because a bad policy adopted now with reference to the administration of justice and the establishment of courts in the south may lead to evils that will be irreparable in the future.

You are aware that some time ago General Swayne, commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Alabama, constituted the civil officers of the provisional government of that State commissioners of the bureau for hearing and deciding all cases in which freedmen were parties, provided no invidious distinctions in receiving testimony, punishment, &c., were made between blacks and whites. Governor Parsons, of Alabama, approved of the arrangement, and urged the State officials to comply with the condition, and thus do away with the necessity for military courts in connexion with freedmen affairs. I have no doubt I could have induced the governor of Mississippi to take the same action had I thought it the policy of the government. I was under the impression that General Swayne had made a mistake, and that he would defeat the very objects for which the bureau was laboring. I thought the citizens were not to be trusted with freedmen affairs until they had given some strong evidence that they were prepared to accept the great change in the condition of the freedmen. I had not the least idea that such a limited control as General Swayne now has would accomplish what the authorities desired. The protection he gives freedmen under his order is so limited, and will fall so far short of what the freedmen have a right to expect, that I did not think of bringing the matter before the government. Late orders and instructions from the President convince me that I was mistaken, and that the trial is to be made.

I have issued an order in accordance with these instructions, which I append:

[General Orders No. 8.]

BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS, _Office Ass't. Commissioner for State of Miss., Vicksburg, Miss., September_ 20, 1865.

The following extracts from Circular No. 5, current series, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, and General Orders No. 10, current series, headquarters department of Mississippi, in reference to the same, are hereby republished for the guidance of officers of this bureau:

["Circular No. 5.]

"WAR DEPARTMENT,

"_Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Washington, May_ 30, 1865.

"RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS.

"VII. In all places where there is an interruption of civil law, or in which local courts, by reason of old codes, in violation of the freedom guaranteed by the proclamation of the President and laws of Congress, disregard the negro's right to justice before the laws, in not allowing him to give testimony, the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen being committed to this bureau, the assistant commissioners will adjudicate, either themselves or through officers of their appointment, all difficulties arising between negroes and whites or Indians, except those in military service, so far as recognizable by military authority, and not taken cognizance of by the other tribunals, civil or military, of the United States.

"O.O. HOWARD, _Major General_, _Commissioner Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, &c._

"Approved June 2, 1865.

"ANDREW JOHNSON, "President of the United States."

["General Orders No. 10.]