8                    THE BLACK BRIGADE.

 series of petty tyrannies.  Among the first squads marched
 into the yard was one which had to wait several hours before
 being ordered across the river. Seeking to make themselves as
 comfortable as possible, they had collected blocks of wood, and
 piled up bricks, upon which they seated themselves on the
 shaded side of the yard. Coming into the yard, he ordered
 them all to rise, marched them to another part, then issued the
 order, "D--n you, squat."  Turning to the guard, he added,
 "Shoot the first one who rises." Reaching the other side of
 the river, the same squad were marched from the sidewalk
 into the middle of a dusty road, and again the order, "D----n
you, squat," and the command to shoot the first one who should
rise.
   The drill of his men was unique, and not set down in Scott
 or Hardee. Calling up a squad, he would address them thus:
  Now, you fellows, hold up your heads. Pat, hold your mus-
ket straight; I believe you are drunk. Now, then, I want you
fellows to go out of this pen and bring all the niggers you can
catch. Don't you come back here without niggers." Then look-
ing up at the Cathedral clock, he adds: "I'll give you forty
.minutes to be gone. Be sure and come back in that time, and
bring niggers; don't come back without niggers."
  No paper of the city protested against the outrages, except
the Gazette In its impression of Thursday, the 4th, the follow-
ing appeared:

  "Let our colored fellow-soldiers be treated civilly, and not exposed to any
unnecessary tyranny, nor to the insults of poor whites. We say poor whites
for none but poor-spirited whites insult a race which they profess to regard
as inferior. It would have been decent to have invited the colored inhabit-
ants to turn out in defense of the city. Then there would have been an op-
portunity to compare their patriotism with that of those who were recently
trying to drive them from the city. Since the services of men are required
from our colored brethren, let them be treated like men."

  This saturnalia of ruffianism continued until Thursday, Sep-
tember 4, 1862, when Judge W. M. Dickson was assigned the
task of collecting into one body all the working bands of col-
ored men, overseeing their rations, &C.
  The order giving Judge Dickson command of the Black
Brigade was as follows:




			

OHS Archives/Library Pamphlet Collection

Black Brigade of Cincinnati: Being a Report of Its Labors and a Muster-Roll of Its Members; Together with Various Orders, Speeches, Etc. Relating to It.

H.