A friend of mine, who was an
angel of mercy to the Union prisoners, dressing their wounds and
carrying them relief, had a dear son, who always kept a Union flag at
home, which he regarded with almost religious devotion. This made him a
marked boy in the community, and during the war he was so cruelly
beaten, by some young rebels, that he never recovered, and colored women
who would wend their way under the darkness and cover of night to aid
our suffering soldiers, were in danger of being flogged, if detected,
and I understand that one did receive 75 lashes for such an offence, and
I heard of another who was shot down like a dog, for giving bread to a
prisoner, who said, 'Mammy, I am starving.' I think, (but I have no
right to dictate to you) had I been you, and my home in the North, that
I would have preferred staying there, where, to say the least, you could
have had pleasanter social relations. You and Louis are nearer the
white race than the colored. Why should you prefer the one to the
other?"
"Because," said Minnie, "the prejudices of society are so strong against
the people with whom I am connected on my mother's side, that I could
not associate with white people on equal terms, without concealing my
origin, and that I scorned to do.
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