On April 6, 1863, Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas spoke at Fort Curtis in Helena to about 4,000 soldiers drawn up in formation. Thomas, their commanding officer, the district commander, a congressman, and several colonels endorsed the new government policy of recruiting former slaves into the army. Thomas told the men that the army faced a shortage of soldiers and needed to recruit as many black men as possible. Speaking as a fellow soldier who understood the hardships of war, he referred to his Southern upbringing and prejudice and said that President Lincoln meant to arm former slaves and use them to help crush the rebellion. Thomas declared that he was authorized to raise as many regiments of Blacks as could be collected and to give commissions from the highest to the lowest, calling on people whose hearts were in the work to take hold of it. General Prentiss then asked the soldiers for a demonstration in favor of the policy for Thomas to carry back to President Lincoln, and when he told those in favor of arming the negroes to remove their hats, every head was bared, followed by three cheers. Iowa soldier Minos Miller later recalled the scene and said such yelling had never been heard.