Washington, Aug. 4, P. M.
With what you say about Negro Organization west of the Mississippi
I entirely agree; it is a more aggressive movement than the Army of the
Potomac has ever ventured upon, and in a larger view, it is incomparably
important; every black regiment is an additional guarantee for that settlement
of these troubles which we regard as the only safe one, and will continue to be
a guarantee for the permanency of that settlement when made. Mr. Sumner has
told me some of the difficulties in finding the man. I do not know any General
who has the stuff in him, who is not too much tied up. Would it be impossible
to get Mr. J. W. Brooks made Major-General and appointed to that Department, —
he is so peculiarly the right man, — that is, if there is a chance of getting
him? It ought to be tried. He is almost the only man I know who has the grasp
and the originality for so large and so novel a work. Convince Stanton of his
fitness, and by next December Brooks would have convinced everybody.1
Military knowledge is the only thing he lacks, and that is the least of the
things required. Brigadiers enough can be found to supply it; for a start, I
would suggest General George L. Andrews; he is very strong on drill and
discipline and minor organizations. He is already in the Southwest, and has
probably lost by nine months' men the best part of his command.2
Harry knows about him. Others could be found in the West and, when the fighting
time comes, Barlow and many others would jump at the chance. In selecting
officers from the Western Army, Brooks would have peculiar advantages, — he
knows so many people there who would assist him in his inquiries. If there is
to be cavalry (and of course there should be) I shall be very glad, if no
better officer can be found, to try my hand under any General commanding. I
shall probably never be so much with my regiment as I have been — I am now in command
of the Cavalry of this Department (not very much), and if we go to the Army of
the Potomac shall undoubtedly have a Brigade. This in reply to your remark
about my leaving the Second.
Since Rob's death I have a stronger personal desire
to help make it clear that the black troops are the instrument which
alone can end the rebellion; he died to prove the fact that blacks will fight,
and we owe it to him to show that that fact was worth proving, — better worth
proving at this moment than any other. I do not want to see his proof drop
useless for want of strong men and good officers to act upon it. I did what
little I could to help the Fifty-Fourth for his sake and for its own sake
before, but since July 18th, I think I can do more.
N. B. I have no wish to be made a Brigadier for any specific
purpose, — when I am promoted I wish to be Brigadier for blacks, whites and
everybody, and wherever I go. I am sure that will come in good time, but I
shall be very glad to assist in the organization of black cavalry — if I am
wanted.
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1 Mr. John W. Brooks left Massachusetts
as a youth to begin life as a civil engineer on the New York Central, and,
later, the Michigan Central Railroad. He had grown in power even more rapidly
than these growing roads, and was occupying an important position in the
management of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He had no military
experience whatever except as having helped Governor Andrew by his advice in
the purchase, through Mr. Forbes, of English cannon. Yet Lowell, a soldier, who
knew Brooks's powers and intelligence, recommends him for a major-general, in a
place where his administrative powers would be worth more than one or two
battles gained. Mr. Forbes, in the spring of the same year, writing to Governor
Andrew, had said of him, “Brooks is more than engineer or man of business: he
has that wonderful combination which seems to me to amount almost to Genius;
his mind is both microscopic and telescopic, according as the valves are
pulled, and, above all, is sound at the medium, every-day insight which makes
common sense; just as Napoleon could make parties and command armies while
reforming his code of laws in detail. In fact, Brooks is more like Napoleon I
than anybody else. Now, on all matters relating to the handling of men, Brooks
has had great experience, and on any questions that come up about managing the
draft, or giving bounties, or getting men, . . . nobody's judgment will be as
good as his.”
2 General George L. Andrews, an
officer in the Regular Army, had been the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second
Massachusetts Infantry, which he had helped to raise.
SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of
Charles Russell Lowell, p. 292-4, 433-4
