ames and the enlistment of negro troops. A camp was established
near Fortress Monroe, where a great many men enlisted. The Secretary of
War gave permission to the several Northern States to send agents South,
and to enlist negroes to fill up their quotas of troops needed. Large
bounties were then being paid and many a negro received as much as $500
to enlist; while many who went as substitutes received even more than
that. The recruiting officers or rather agents from the different States
established their headquarters largely within Gen. Butlers departments,
where negro volunteers were frequently secured at a much less price than
the regular bounty offered, the agent putting into his own pocket the
difference, which often amounted to $200 or even $400 on a single
recruit. To correct this wrong, Gen. Butler issued the following order:

HEADQUARTERS DEP'T. VIRGINIA & NORTH CAROLINA,

GENERAL ORDERS, IN THE FIELD, Va., _August 4th, 1864._
No. 90.

With all the guards which the utmost vigilance and care have
thrown around the recruitment of white soldiers, it is a
fact, as lamentable as true, that a large portion of the
recruits have been swindled of part, if not all, of their
bounties. Can it be hoped that the colored man will be
better able to protect himself from the infinite ingenuity
of fraud than the white?

Therefore, to provide for the families of the colored
recruits enlisted in this Department--to relieve the United
States, as far as may be, from the burden of supporting the
families,--and to insure that at least a portion of the
bounty paid to the negro shall be received for his use and
that of his family;

_It is ordered_: I--That upon the enlistment of any negro
recruit into the service of the United States for three (3)
years, by any State agent or other person not enlisting
recruits under the direct authority of the War Department, a
sum of one hundred (100) dollars, or one-third (1/3) of the
sum agreed to be paid as bounty, shall be paid if the amount
exceeds three times that sum, into the hands of the
Superintendent of Recruiting, or an officer to be designated
by him, and in the same proportion for any less time; and no
Mustering Officer will give any certificate or voucher for
any negro recruit mustered into the service of the United
States, s