last. We heard now no jeering and hooting when
a negro or wagon load of negroes went by. The soldiers treated them with
the greatest kindness, and aided them in every way to get off to the
north.

While our boys did not hesitate long to take from the white inhabitants
any articles that they thought they were in need of, it was considered
an act of outrageous meanness to take a chicken or any other property
from the negro people.

While passing through Orleans, on our way to the present camp, a great
many slave children were standing along the streets watching us. Many of
these children were nearly white. The attention of one our captains, who
was one of the last relics among us of that class of men who were loyal
to their country but despised the negro, was fixed upon a beautiful
child of olive complexion and wavy hair, who stood gazing in innocent
wonder at the passing column. The child was indeed a picture of
unadorned beauty, in her long coarse garment of "negro cloth." The
captain turned to a staff officer and as a tear stole down his rough
cheek at the thought of the degradation of the beautiful child, he
exclaimed, "Isn't it horrible."

It is hardly necessary to say that the captain's sentiments from that
moment underwent a radical change, and ever after there were none more
ready to afford assistance to the needy refugees, than our generous but
hitherto prejudiced captain.

Many of these colored refugees had the greatest faith in what they
deemed the promises of the Bible. There was an almost universal faith in
the ultimate overthrow of the south by the north, and this belief was
founded in most cases upon their supposed Bible promises.

[Illustration: "WHAT'LL OLE MISSUS DO NOW?"]

One of these people, a gray-haired negro, bent with age and leaning
heavily upon his staff, who hoped to spend the evening of his life in
freedom, said to the writer: "Our massas tell us dat dey goin to whip de
Yankees and dat Jeff. Davis will rule de norf. But we knowd it warnt so
cause de Bible don't say so. De Bible says that de souf shall prevail
for a time and den de norf shall rise up and obertrow dem."

Where the old man found this strange prophecy he did not say, but many
of the slaves declared this to be Bible truth and all asserted it in the
same way.[5]

[5] Since the above paragraph was in print, a friend has called
my attention to the passage in Daniel, chap. xi, verses 13-15,
as the probable origin