From the Richmond Whig, 8/4/1865, p. 2, c. 5

The Negroes and their complaints. – If it were not so annoying, it would be positively ridiculous, the way the negroes bother and pester the district Provost Marshals with every little case affecting their person or purse, however remotely. If a mischievous boy throws a stone or an oath at the sacred person of an Ethiopian, or steals a watermelon, or runs away without paying for a slice eaten, off posts the party injured to the nearest Provost Marshal, and in a long rigmarole claims “de protection of de law.” If two of the sables quarrel with words or brickbats, the party worsted in the contest rushes madly to the Provost, and has his or her enemy arraigned, and thus gets revenge in that way; though then the facts come out the case is generally dismissed. – It would be well for the Provost Marshals, when such trivial cases are forced upon their notice, to send both parties – the complainant and the complained of – to the Castle for a few days.

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