Rev. T.G. Steward, Chaplain 25th Infantry, Wilberforce, Ohio.

Dear Sir:--Your letter of the 20th ultimo was duly received, but my
time has been so much engrossed with official duties, requiring my
presence part of the time out of the city, that it has not been
practicable to comply with your request earlier; and even now I can
only reply very briefly.

You will remember that my acquaintance with negro character commenced
during the Civil War. The colored race then presented itself to me in
the character of numerous contrabands of war, and as a people who,
individually, yearned for the light and life of liberty. Ages of
slavery had reduced them to the lowest ebb of manhood. From that
degree of degradation I have been an interested spectator of the
marvelously rapid evolution of the down-trodden race. From the
commencement of this evolution to the present time I have been more or
less in a position to closely observe their progress. At the close of
the war I was in command of one of the very important military
districts of the South, and my concern for the welfare of all the
people of that district, not excluding the people of color, you will
find evidenced in the measures taken by me, more especially in regard
to educational matters, at that time. The first regiment which I
commanded on entering the Regular Army of the United States at the
close of the war was made up of colored troops. That regiment--the
40th Infantry--achieved a reputation for military conduct which forms
a record that may be favorably compared with the best regiments in the
service. Then, again, refer to my General Order No. 1, issued after
the fall of Santiago, and you will see that recognition is not
grudgingly given to the troops who heroically fought there, whether of