Army Life in a Black Regiment
By . Boston; Fields, Osgood, & Co.
THE lively national mind is dwelling upon the Chinese rather than the negro at present, and, if the whole truth must be told, is doubtless a little jaded by the thought of a race with which it was really occupied a long time, — for such a very lively national mind. At the best it is a good deal like a woman’s mind : a thing pleases and interests again and again, and there is no reason to believe that it will not do so forever: repeat it yet once more, and presto ! it is of all things the most disgusting, and was always, always hated. This fatal pass has been almost attained with the negro; and we should not therefore venture to commend Colonel Higginson’s book if it were a celebration of the negro in any of his familiar aspects of martyr or hero, or his present “ transition state ” of bore, however we might praise it as excellent and charming literature. As our readers know, who have already made acquaintance with much of it in these pages, it is a series of carefully wrought studies of negro character as a phase of humanity, and of graphically recounted episodes of regimental or personal adventure, all full of the peculiar life and color of Southern scenery. A man who took command of the first negro regiment formed during the war, who led it throughout the struggle, and who, having fought the Rebels, turned and fought the more disgraceful government for the pay of its true and faithful soldiers, might be expected to write in a spirit of extravagance and even exaggeration ; but there is nothing of this kind in Colonel Higginson’s records, and nothing is more taking in him than his perfect temperance and reserve. As to the different parts of the book, it has its better and worse; and we suppose the “Camp-Diary” is the best; it came first and freshest, and is certainly easiest in manner. In some other chapters, as “ A Night in the Water,” the premeditation of effect and the literary purpose are plainer ; and generally we should say that we like our author most when he does not remember that he is an essayist as well as an officer.
A very delightful quality in many of his reminiscences is their familiar and kindly, not to say domestic tone. He is not only proud of those picturesque, brave black soldiers, but he has an affection for his simple childlike warriors that is almost paternal; and in this feeling toward his regiment all its circumstances are given a home-like air. It would be hard to find anywhere a prettier bit of genre than that account of “ The Baby of the Regiment ” : the various contrasts of the whole situation are most delicately and artfully suggested ; the softness and sweetness of the Quartermaster’s baby, and the accommodation of the camp-life’s rudeness to its lovely helplessness and innocence, are shown with the happiest touches. “Out on Picket ” pleases us almost as well, in a quite different way ; and we have no need to recall to our readers the charm of its pictures, and its agreeable humor. It has attractions common to all the sketches, with not so much of the analytical tendency as some. A faculty to which we are indebted for such faithful and accurate work as this, however, is one that is scarcely to be blamed even when it wearies; we are not certain that it quite does this, and are not prepared to say more than that sometimes we could wish a little more pencil and a little less scalpel.
The beauty of Colonel Higginson’s style is something that one is so apt to enjoy unconsciously, that we must make a point of speaking of it. The nature of his subject has relieved him in this book of the care which he sometimes, however seldom, feels, to write finely, and he has throughout written delightfully. The diction is always clear and bright, with just sufficient movement to have the graces that distinguish good prose from bad rhythm ; and that excellent taste and moderation with which the papers are written is thoroughly imparted to it. As we remember, it never oversteps the modesty of the best English, and even in its negative qualities is full of comfort and enjoyment in these days of verbal attitudinizing.