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historian, nor from the note-book of a prejudiced corres-
pondent, but from the lips of the inflexible old warrior,
who had often tried them in the melting flames of battle,
and, therefore, knew what he spake, and could testify to
what he had seen.
    We may cast a proud glance over the battlefield of
1812.  And we will find that there is not a single spot
lighted with the glory of military achievement; not an inch
of ground consecrated to manhood, loyalty, and freedom,
but what is familiar with the transcendent valor and the in-
comparable fidelity of the negro soldier.  The testimony
of General Jackson is the opinion of their white fellow-
soldiers, and the verdict of the history of those times.

THE RELATION OF THE COLORED SOLDIER TO THE TRIUMPH OF
   OUR NATIONAL ARMS IN THE SLAVEHOLDER'S REBELLION.
    If you had asked an anti-slavery man thirty years ago
how the slave question would be settled, he would have
most confidently answered, "By compromise, legislation,
without shedding one drop of blood."
    There were only a few men who believed that the
question would have to be settled by the sword.  But not
even the most prophetic of them thought that the negro,
who was so degraded, would play so conspicuous a part in
the bloody drama. The South was lulled into repose by
its wealth and heartlessness; was confident she was safe
from the bitterness of that mean little sect called "Aboli-
tionists;" while on the other hand, the North was trying
to gloss over her conscience; trying to find neutral ground;
trying to maintain amicable relations between the trade of
the South and the capital of the North, at the expense of
human beings in the shape of chattel goods.
    The South was determined to retain the negro in
bondage, while the North was willing she should do so.




			

OHS Archives/Library Pamphlet Collection

Centennial: The American Negro from 1776-1876; Oration Delivered at Avondale, Ohio, 1876

W.