| General T. W. Sherman Reports on Negro Labor - December 14, 1861 War of the Rebellion Records |
| HEADQUARTERS EXPEDITIONARY CORPS, Port Royal, S. C., December 14, 1861. General LORENZO THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following to the consideration of the general-in-chief and to the War Department: ... All our work which is immense is done by volunteer soldiers and it all drags for the want of a sufficient number of able directors. The negro labor expected to be obtained here is so far almost a failure. They are disinclined to labor and will evidently not work to our satisfaction without those aids to which they have ever been accustomed, viz, the driver and the lash. A sudden change of condition from servitude to apparent freedom is more than their intellects can stand, and this circumstance alone renders it a very serious question what is to be done with the negroes who will hereafter be found on conquered soil. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, T. W. SHERMAN, Brigadier-General, Commanding. |
| General T. W. Sherman |