The Greensborough Patriot
May 7, 1861
Page 1
Negroes Volunteering.
About fifty
three negroes in Amelia county have offered themselves to the Government for
any service.
In our
neighboring city of Petersburg two hundred free negroes offered for any work that
might be assigned to them, either to fight under white officers, dig ditches,
or anything that could show their desire to serve Old Virginia. In the same city, a negro hackman
came to his master, and insisted, with tears in his eyes, that he should accept
all his savings, $100, to help equip the volunteers. – The free negroes of
Chesterfield have made a similar proposition.
Such is the spirit among bond and free, through the whole of the State. The fools and scoundrels who calculate on a
different state of things, will soon discover their mistake. – Dispatch.