But he insisted that Kinsley first agree to several conditions. First, any colored regiment formed in New Bern would receive the same pay, uniforms, and rations as white troops. Second, the Union army must provide shelter, supplies, and jobs for the families of black soldiers. Third, colored schools must be reopened and education for blacks guaranteed. Kinsley had no authority to agree to any of the demands. And the final demand was impossible for him, or even Lincoln, to satisfy: Galloway wanted an assurance that any captured black soldier would be treated by the Confederacy as a prisoner of
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