FEBRUARY 15,
1865:
The Chicago Tribune, always friendly to the war and to Republican war
aims, mocks the suddenly intense Southern interest in arming blacks for combat.
In an article entitled, THE REBELS COURTING THE NEGRO, the paper notes that, “The
rebels have become suddenly exceedingly regardful of the welfare of the
negro . . .” In an excoriating editorial, the paper notes that this
sudden “love for the negro” is no
love at all, being based entirely on the self-interest of Southern
slave-holding oligarchs who are desperate to win the war. “Lee may be an able General,” the Editors write, “but his bayonets can never demonstrate that
such a rebellion for slavery is a war for liberty. Nor can they give it
success. Such a cause rests on lies. Its falsehood insures its failure.”
