New Bern Freedom Fighter
"But in the country of the Declaration of Independence, I was born a slave, for I was a black man. And because I was black it was believed I had no soul. I had no rights that anybody was bound to respect. For in the eyes of the law I was but a thing. I was bought and sold. I was whipped. Once I was whipped simply because it was thought I had opened a book. But I lived to see the institution of slavery into which I was born and of which I was for many years a victim pass away."
— William Henry Singleton, former slave from New Bern, N.C
Boy Runaway
William Henry Singleton was born August 10, 1843 on a plantation near New Bern, North Carolina.His father was a white man, William Singleton of New Bern,His mother was a black slave named Lettice Nelson. As Singleton later wrote in his memoir, "My presence on the plantation was continually reminding them of something they wanted to forget." It caused a quarrel between the brothers. Because John Singleton was embarrassed by his mixed-race slave nephew, And when he is 4 years old, a man shows up, offers him a stick of candy, and then simply takes him south to Atlanta. His new owner, a widow, operates an entrepreneurial “slave farm” — buying child slaves, training them, and selling them for a profit. She had a "slave farm," where she trained slaves for domestic service . After one whipping too many for dawdling, he determines to run away home . Determined to rejoin his mother.
Fortunately, the first person he encounters on the streets of Atlanta, an elderly black gentleman, sets him on the road to New Bern. He admonishes Singleton, “But don’t tell anybody your name.”
The boy is clever and daring. When he spies a white woman holding a carpetbag, he politely takes the bag from her and carries it to the stagecoach. The driver assumes he is the woman’s servant, so he lets Singleton board. In this manner he makes it as far as Wilmington, the lady’s destination. She has figured out he is a runaway, but she doesn’t divulge his secret.
Singleton walks most of the 95 miles to New Bern, catching an occasional ride on a farmer’s wagon. Then he hikes 40 miles farther on dirt tracks to the Nelson plantation. He knocks on the first cabin door he comes to.
The woman who answers says, “What do you want, little boy?”
Singleton announces, “I am looking for my mother.”
Neither recognizes the other, until Singleton’s older brother Hardy appears and pronounces, “Mamma, that’s Henry.” His mother hid him for three years; he would hide under the floorboards to escape notice.
After the overseer Nelson discovered the boy, he sold William away from the plantation again. Singleton was held for a time by a Mrs. Wheeler, who he said was kindly. But, hearing that she intended to sell him, he escaped to New Bern and found work for a time as a bellhop at the Gaston House Hotel. Finally the boy returned to the Singleton plantation. His master (and paternal uncle) agreed to keep him and have him work in the fields. Singleton's determination and resourcefulness in order to rejoin his mother were characteristics he drew from all his life.
Nelson’s nephew, Samuel Hyman, enlists in the 1st North Carolina Cavalry, and Singleton volunteers to accompany him as his manservant. Singleton is already keen to learn the ways of a soldier, for he has visions of fighting for his freedom. He becomes so adept at soldiering that he is often called upon to drill the Confederate company in his master’s stead.
After the Civil War broke out, at age 26, Singleton gained permission to drill with the First North Carolina Cavalry, recruited by Samuel Hyman of Craven County, a West Point graduate. The company was stationed at New Bern until March 14, 1862. The Union generals Ambrose Burnside and John G. Foster captured New Bern and drove the Confederates back to Kinston.
With the First North Carolina Cavalry in disarray, Singleton escaped and fled to New Bern. He secured an audience with General Burnside’s secretary and volunteered as a guide and informant. The Union victory attracted many escaped slaves to the city, and the Army set up a contraband camp nearby to house them. Some were joined by their families, stretching resources. The Union Army quickly organized to start schools for children and adults, and put the adults to work. In New Bern, Singleton helped raise a regiment of 1000 freed slaves, as many men wanted to fight for the Union.
Singleton helped organized the First North Carolina Colored Volunteers. He served as the group's unofficial colonel. Time and again, Singleton implores Gen. Ambrose Burnside, in command of the New Bern district, to allow his men to fight. Burnside has no authority to raise colored troops, he explains. But working at headquarters one day, Singleton has one of the most memorable encounters of his life. The adjutant indicates a man conferring with Burnside in the next room. “Do you know that man in there?”
“No,” Singleton replies.
“That is our President, Mr. Lincoln.”
When the president and Burnside emerge, the general points at Singleton and says, “This is the little fellow who got up a colored regiment.”
Lincoln shakes Singleton’s hand. “It is a good thing. What do you want?”
“I have a thousand men,” Singleton answers. “We want to help fight to free our race. We want to know if you will take us in the service?”
“You have got good pluck,” Lincoln says. “But I can’t take you now because you are contraband of war and not American citizens yet. But hold on to your society and there may be a chance for you.”
It’s the first and last time Singleton will ever lay eyes on the “tall, dark complexioned, raw boned man, with a pleasant face.”
When it came time for action, the unit was assigned white officers, as were all the colored units. The US Army trained and armed the men and shipped the regiment to South Carolina, where they participated in the siege of Charleston.
When President Abraham Lincoln approved the use of blacks as armed troops for the Union Army, Singleton’s recruits in February 1864 were designated part of the 35th United States Colored Troops (USCT). This unit included freedmen who had escaped from Virginia. Singleton was promoted to sergeant.
In 1864, the 35th USCT were sent to Florida as part of a campaign to be led by Brigadier General Truman Seymour. The 35th USCT participated in the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. They were commanded by Lt. Colonel William Reed and Major Archibald Bogle. The Union forces gave way before a Confederate ambush, and the 35th USCT and 54th Massachusetts lost more than 200 men while helping defend the Union line of retreat. Seymour was severely criticized by the Northern press for his losses in the battle.
In April following this conflict and the Battle of Port Hudson, President Lincoln said,
"There have been men who have proposed to me to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson & Olustee to their masters to conciliate the South. I should be damned in time & eternity for doing so." - April19, 1864
Wounded at Olustee, Singleton was assigned to a 35th garrison in South Carolina. The state was occupied by Union troops through the remainder of the war. Others of the 35th USCT were assigned to Florida. He was honorably discharged on June 1, 1866.
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