Contrabands

[JPK Huson 1863]

Was thinking yesterday this would have made a great thread in the Naval Forum, @Mark F. Jenkins Maybe after this frantic week. Had not heard of the Salt Raids, of course not a thing of involvement by enslaved persons enroute to freeing themselves. Very cool story! Thanks 18th for bringing USS Kingfisher into the conversation.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

There's a great book on the little-heralded activities of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron by George E. Buker-- Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida's Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Univ. of Alabama Press, 2004). It goes into the 'war on salt' quite a bit, as well as the squadron's efforts to establish communications with and support Unionist elements in southern and western Florida. Highly recommended.

 

[18thVirginia]

If it's a book I read some time ago, it's a very good read, Mark. I was going to say that the salt works raids probably do deserve an extra thread.

Annie, one key to understanding the salt production business along the Gulf Coast of Florida, especially along the Panhandle, is that the salt could be transported to the railroads and distributed north without having to pass through the blockading squadron. I think that salt processors were also exempt from Confederate military service, which made that a more desirable occupation in Florida, where some were less excited about fighting in the cold than elsewhere.

Although there was great risk to your profits if the Union navy raided the salt works, it would have been quite easy to disappear quickly into the woods around a place like St. Andrews Bay, so there was less risk than say, running a blockade.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

If it's a book I read some time ago, it's a very good read, Mark. I was going to say that the salt works raids probably do deserve an extra thread.

Annie, one key to understanding the salt production business along the Gulf Coast of Florida, especially along the Panhandle, is that the salt could be transported to the railroads and distributed north without having to pass through the blockading squadron. I think that salt processors were also exempt from Confederate military service, which made that a more desirable occupation in Florida, where some were less excited about fighting in the cold than elsewhere.

Although there was great risk to your profits if the Union navy raided the salt works, it would have been quite easy to disappear quickly into the woods around a place like St. Andrews Bay, so there was less risk than say, running a blockade.

Thanks very much! That wasn't quite clear in the reading or if it was went zoom, right over my head Makes sense. ( another great thread would be " Where the Blockade failed and how ", meaning how did the Confederacy keep some vital goods coming in despite a pretty ironclad - HA- lockdown )

Yes, now I'm a little smitten by the salt raids d*mmit. Just en entire mission which escaped my notice- and an extensive one because sounds like the goods they were thwarting were extensive, very cool. Plus, somewhere may exist a log with the names of those ex-enslaved people who took to the sea as a means to get the heck out of there. That took a LOT of nerve, boy! I'm not sure but seem to remember hearing this group of folks were not big swimmers- not having been given leisure or anything like it. Taking a boat out past the breakwater, probably no skills there AND non-swimmers? Who would NOT like to know they're related to them? Red River Dam remains my knock-down, drag-out favorite naval event, this salt raid thing sounds very promising! Must ear mark it for a GOOD thread- not something I just kind of glued together quickly, you know?

There's a great book on the little-heralded activities of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron by George E. Buker-- Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida's Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Univ. of Alabama Press, 2004). It goes into the 'war on salt' quite a bit, as well as the squadron's efforts to establish communications with and support Unionist elements in southern and western Florida. Highly recommended.

Thanks very much Mark- like I said, just from reading The Kingfisher's role, became a little smitten and that seems to be the proverbial iceburg, who knew? WISH it were not so daunting a prospect, movies inclusive of Civil War ships because so many of these would make awesome, awesome movies. You wouldn't have to be a Civil War OR a Navy freak to love the Red River Dam story, for instance.

 

[18thVirginia]

Richmond, Va. Bridge over the Canal; barges beyond. Photograph of the main eastern theater of war, fallen Richmond, April-June 1865. This photograph shows Canal Bridge at foot of 7th Street, Richmond. Shows African American children standing on the bridge.(Loc 01246)

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Whoa. Generally have bumped into most of them, this is new! What a restful scene in the middle of wreckage- we know Richmond is in shambles, there's a ruin in the background but there are contemplative children, still water and laden canal boats- talk about ' A Moment In Time '. Thanks 18th!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

If it's a book I read some time ago, it's a very good read, Mark. I was going to say that the salt works raids probably do deserve an extra thread.

Annie, one key to understanding the salt production business along the Gulf Coast of Florida, especially along the Panhandle, is that the salt could be transported to the railroads and distributed north without having to pass through the blockading squadron. I think that salt processors were also exempt from Confederate military service, which made that a more desirable occupation in Florida, where some were less excited about fighting in the cold than elsewhere.

Although there was great risk to your profits if the Union navy raided the salt works, it would have been quite easy to disappear quickly into the woods around a place like St. Andrews Bay, so there was less risk than say, running a blockade.

Wish we could tie it into Ladies Tea- don't suppose one of our female soldiers had a hand in operations? Still smitten- one of those elements of the war, sounds incredible and you just do not hear about it!

 

[18thVirginia]

I'll take some photographs of at least the largest salt processing area and if I can find it, a memorial to it. It's basically a kettle in bricks-seems like the kettles were sugar boiling pans. Next week I'll go join the neighboring library system and see what they have on the salt processing industry and write something about it.

 

[18thVirginia]

Harper's Ferry from railroad--Contraband Camp is in the foreground
http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/nhnycw/ad/ad45/ad45006v.jpg

The information from earlier in the thread:

By March of 1862 Federal forces established a "contraband" camp (the refugees were officially known as contraband) at Harpers Ferry to accommodate them. That same month one area resident, David Hunter Strother, remarked that "Hitherto the Negroes who had gone went light-handed and as fugitives; now the exodus has commenced in open day, laden with the spoils of the Egyptians. The sensation created is profound."http://www.hallowedground.org/African-American-Heritage/Harpers-Ferry

 

[SJP]

Thomas Waterman Wood (American, 1823-1903), A Bit of War History: The Contraband (1865), The Recruit (1866), The Veteran (1866), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

[18thVirginia]

Great paintings, thanks for adding them, SJP.

 

[18thVirginia]

This thread was bumped and I've found a couple of new photos and will go back and repost some which have been lost, I'm guessing due to changes in the sites where they were originally posted. Both Yulie and Forever Free gave some great information about "contrabands" "free people," and "refugees." Just a note that when I've listed "Contraband" below a photo as in "Contraband Camp" as in post #109 above, that's the name under which the photo is listed in the federal archives.

I try to copy names of photos so that they'll be easier for others to find their locations within the federal online resources.

 

[TomP]

The images for Post # 44 of the Corinth Contraband Camp are not coming up. If there are photographs of the camp it would be exciting news to the staff here at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, to our knowledge there are no photos of it but we would be delighted to find some. There is a nice drawing by artist Alexander Simplot which is in the collection at Wilson's Creek. It depicts Contrabands working on the old Beauregard Line of earthworks which was on the high ground west of Phillips Creek where the camp was located.
The second image is of a contraband family arriving at the Provost Marshal's Office in Corinth which was located in the Moss House Hotel on the NE corner of Fillmore and Foote streets.

 

[ForeverFree]

There are not that many monuments/memorials to so-called Contraband Camps, but there are a few. Most of these places are called Freedmen's Colonies or Camps or Villages today.

One site is the Corinth Contraband Camp, Corinth, MS, which is part of the Shiloh National Military Park sites. These are some photos of it, the first two are from the National Park Service:

Statues inside the Civil War Interpretive Center at Corinth Contraband Camp, in Corinth, Mississippi; featuring an African American Union soldier and a freedwoman taking a class.
Image Source: Photo/Copyright by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright. Photo is not in the public domain.

In North Carolina, Hatteras Island was an early site of freedom. As noted by Drew Pullen, writing at the web site Emerging Civil War,

The capture of the Confederate forts located at Hatteras Inlet on August 29, 1861, provided the first Union victory of the Civil War. Almost immediately fugitive slaves began arriving on Hatteras Island in search of freedom. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of War Cameron, dated September 18, 1861, General John Wool inquired, "tell me what I am to do with the negro slaves that are almost arriving daily at this post [Hatteras]…" Union occupancy and control of the island provided for the beginning of the creation of a haven or colonies for fugitive slaves seeking that freedom. Hotel De' Afrique goes down in history as the first of such encampments in North Carolina.
​

To commemorate its history, a monument to the Hotel De Afrique community was dedicated in July 2013. The black stone monument, less than two miles from the original camp, is located near the entrance to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras.

Monument to the Hatteras Island's Hotel De Afrique, a freedom colony in North Carolina; image was taken during the dedication of the monument in July 2013.
Image Source: Blog for OuterBanksVacations.com.

Roanoke Island, NC, was the setting for an historic experiment during the Civil War. Following the island's occupation by Union forces in 1862, it became a haven for African American families from throughout the region. Their presence prompted the Union army to establish a Freedmen's Colony on the northern end of Roanoke Island.

A marker was erected in 2001 to designate the site of a permanent colony on Roanoke Island between 1862 and 1867. It is in the Fort Raleigh Historic Site Complex.

The Freedmen's Colony Of Roanoke Island, Roanoke Island, Manteo, NC.
Image Source: OuterBanks.orf website.

Sadly, there is no monument I am aware of near Fort Monroe, which is the birthplace of the Contraband policy and the site of a large and perhaps the first Freedmen's Village.

- Alan

 

[TomP]

@ForeverFree , love the first three photos in particular. I work at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center and we administer the Corinth Contraband Camp site. Earlier this year we had the camp accepted into the Network to Freedom
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm

 

[18thVirginia]

The images for Post # 44 of the Corinth Contraband Camp are not coming up. If there are photographs of the camp it would be exciting news to the staff here at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, to our knowledge there are no photos of it but we would be delighted to find some. There is a nice drawing by artist Alexander Simplot which is in the collection at Wilson's Creek. It depicts Contrabands working on the old Beauregard Line of earthworks which was on the high ground west of Phillips Creek where the camp was located.
The second image is of a contraband family arriving at the Provost Marshal's Office in Corinth which was located in the Moss House Hotel on the NE corner of Fillmore and Foote streets.
View attachment 155757

View attachment 155758

Thanks, TomP. I just posted that drawing on another thread about Black Women in Mississippi and a photo of the statue of the woman and girl. I have seen the photo of the family arriving at the Provost Marshal's office, but I think it was labeled something else, although it was from Mississippi.

It's always interesting finding photos, as many are mislabeled. I don't remember what the ones would have been that are now lost. But, thanks so much for your information, it's certainly a terrific addition to this thread.

 

[18thVirginia]

There are not that many monuments/memorials to so-called Contraband Camps, but there are a few. Most of these places are called Freedmen's Colonies or Camps or Villages today.

One site is the Corinth Contraband Camp, Corinth, MS, which is part of the Shiloh National Military Park sites. These are some photos of it, the first two are from the National Park Service:

View attachment 155762

View attachment 155763


View attachment 155764
Statues inside the Civil War Interpretive Center at Corinth Contraband Camp, in Corinth, Mississippi; featuring an African American Union soldier and a freedwoman taking a class.
Image Source: Photo/Copyright by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright. Photo is not in the public domain.

In North Carolina, Hatteras Island was an early site of freedom. As noted by Drew Pullen, writing at the web site Emerging Civil War,

The capture of the Confederate forts located at Hatteras Inlet on August 29, 1861, provided the first Union victory of the Civil War. Almost immediately fugitive slaves began arriving on Hatteras Island in search of freedom. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of War Cameron, dated September 18, 1861, General John Wool inquired, "tell me what I am to do with the negro slaves that are almost arriving daily at this post [Hatteras]…" Union occupancy and control of the island provided for the beginning of the creation of a haven or colonies for fugitive slaves seeking that freedom. Hotel De' Afrique goes down in history as the first of such encampments in North Carolina.
​

To commemorate its history, a monument to the Hotel De Afrique community was dedicated in July 2013. The black stone monument, less than two miles from the original camp, is located near the entrance to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras.

View attachment 155765
Monument to the Hatteras Island's Hotel De Afrique, a freedom colony in North Carolina; image was taken during the dedication of the monument in July 2013.
Image Source: Blog for OuterBanksVacations.com.

Roanoke Island, NC, was the setting for an historic experiment during the Civil War. Following the island's occupation by Union forces in 1862, it became a haven for African American families from throughout the region. Their presence prompted the Union army to establish a Freedmen's Colony on the northern end of Roanoke Island.

A marker was erected in 2001 to designate the site of a permanent colony on Roanoke Island between 1862 and 1867. It is in the Fort Raleigh Historic Site Complex.

View attachment 155766
The Freedmen's Colony Of Roanoke Island, Roanoke Island, Manteo, NC.
Image Source: OuterBanks.orf website.

Sadly, there is no monument I am aware of near Fort Monroe, which is the birthplace of the Contraband policy and the site of a large and perhaps the first Freedmen's Village.

- Alan

Thanks for sharing the photos and information, Alan. I'm a big sculpture person and I absolutely love the sculptures at the Corinth Camp site. They have a great vibrance about them.

 

[18thVirginia]

I'm just now working on writing Harriet Jacobs' bio for my book. She went to Alexandria, Virginia as a relief worker in 1862 and then stayed there from 1863 on. She and Julia Wilbur were trying to get food and clothing, housing and jobs for the refugees coming into the city, 20, 30, sometimes 40 per day (maybe more ... I don't have the exact numbers at hand.) Much is made of Harriet's story before the Civil War -- and rightly so -- but I think her work on behalf of the contrabands is well worth knowing about, too. And it does highlight what you guys have been talking about here -- the history that we don't really know a whole lot about.

We definitely don't understand the sheer magnitude of these events. Life as a contraband in Alexandria, a city wholly for the Confederacy but "kept quiet at the point of Northern bayonets" (the city was occupied by Union forces the day after Virginia voted for succession) was a rough one. Even the so-called superintendent of the contrabands, Rev. Albert Gladwin, was trying to force them to pay money they didn't have for coal (which was given as a government ration) and for rooms in the barracks (which were supposed to be given to those who didn't have money for housing), threatened them with flogging when he didn't get his way, and even smacked a little girl when he got a note that he didn't like.

Man, I just want to go back in time and punch that guy in the nose! Grr! But anyway.

Let's put some pics up here of what was going on in Alexandria because it's so nice to have an actual mental image of what folks and the city looked like as I'm writing about them.

View attachment 155724
Freedman's Barracks, Alexandria, Va. (Library of Congress)

Expired Image Removed
Contraband School students in Alexandria (N.Y. Public Library) -- The classes were ginormous, and only a few teachers were available. Harriet set up a free school there where her daughter and another young lady (both colored) taught. I think there were 160 students in the place -- and only two teachers! *faints*

Expired Image Removed
Contrabands at Cumberland Landing, VA, 1862 (LC) -- I like this one because you can actually see their faces.

One of the photos missing from this post:

Cumberland Landing, Va. Group of "contrabands" at Foller's house, LoC
http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/01000/01005v.jpg

 

[18thVirginia]

An engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 1, 1864

Contraband Camp at City Point, an Evening Prayer Meeting
http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/...aband-camp-city-point-evening-prayer-meeting/

 

[ForeverFree]

Thanks for sharing the photos and information, Alan. I'm a big sculpture person and I absolutely love the sculptures at the Corinth Camp site. They have a great vibrance about them.

You can see more photos here, at the PHOTO GALLERY for the site.

- Alan