ed and hardly shod at all; and, as no new
supply of uniform was provided, they grew more and more ragged. They got
poor rations, and no pay; but they kept up their spirits. Every week or
so some of them would go on scouting excursions to the main-land; one
scout used to go regularly to his old mother's hut, and keep himself hid
under her bed, while she collected for him all the latest news of rebel
movements. This man never came back without bringing recruits with him.

At last the news came that Major-General Mitchell had come to relieve
General Hunter, and that Brigadier-General Saxton had gone North; and
Trowbridge went to Hilton Head in some anxiety to see if he and his men
were utterly forgotten. He prepared a report, showing the services and
claims of his men, and took it with him. This was early in October,
1862. The first person he met was Brigadier-General Saxton, who informed
him that he had authority to organize five thousand colored troops, and
that he (Trowbridge) should be senior captain of the first regiment

This was accordingly done; and Company A of the First South Carolina
could honestly claim to date its enlistment back to May, 1862, although
they never got pay for that period of their service, and their date of
muster was November, IS, 1862.

The above facts were written down from the narration of
Lieutenant-Colonel Trowbridge, who may justly claim to have been the
first white officer to recruit and command colored troops in this war.
He was constantly in command of them from May 9, 1862, to February 9,
1866.

Except the Louisiana soldiers mentioned in the Introduction,--of whom
no detailed reports have, I think, been published,--my regiment was
unquestionably the first mustered into the service of the United States;
the first company muster bearing date, November 7, 1862, and the others
following in quick succession.

The second regiment in order of muster was the "First Kansas Colored,"
dating from January 13, 1863. The first enlistment in the Kansas
regiment goes back to August 6, 1862; while the earliest technical date
of enlistment in my regiment was October 19, 1862, although, as was
stated above, one company really dated its organization back to May,
1862. My muster as colonel dates back to November 10, 1862, several
months earlier than any other of which I am aware, among colored
regiments, except that of Colonel Stafford (First Louisiana Native
Guards), September 27, 1862. Colonel Will