Zack…Wonderful post. Had me shaking my head and literally saying 'WOW' out loud. I was mining for such examples and struck gold. True heroes in every sense of the word and so deserving of this attention. Thank you for your time and knowledge and have a Happy New Year. JSView attachment 426915
Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Sheppard Mallory
On the night of May 23, 1861, as celebrations occurred in the nearby city of Hampton, Virginia for the approval of Virginia's Ordinance of Secession by statewide referendum, these three men stole a small boat and rowed four miles from Sewell's Point to Fortress Monroe. They turned themselves over to a Union guard, explaining that they were enslaved men who had been building fortifications but, upon hearing they were to be sent further south, decided to escape to Union lines. The next day, they are brought before the fort's commander, Benjamin Butler, who issues his famous Contraband Decree.
Their actions sounded the death knell for slavery. Hundreds and then thousands and then tens of thousands followed their lead to freedom, where they provided invaluable service to the Union cause despite facing racism, starvation, disease, mistreatment, unpaid wages, and death. All told, about 500,000 slaves fled to Union lines during the war and became contraband.
As WEB DuBois wrote:
At first, the rush of the Negroes from the plantations came as a surprise and was variously interpreted. The easiest thing to say was that Negroes were tired of work and wanted to live at the expense of the government; wanted to travel and see things and places. But in contradiction to this was the extent of the movement and the terrible suffering of the refugees. If they were seeking peace and quiet, they were much better off on the plantations than trailing in the footsteps of the army or squatting miserably in the camps. They were mistreated by the soldiers; ridiculed; driven away, and yet they came. With perplexed and laggard steps, the United States Government followed the footsteps of the black slave. It made no difference how much Abraham Lincoln might protest that this was not a war against slavery . . . The slave, despite every effort, was becoming the center of the war.
Source: Troubled Refuge by Chandra Manning
Black Reconstruction in America by WEB DuBois
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View attachment 426917
View attachment 426918
Mary Peake
View attachment 426919
A free black woman in Virginia who clandestinely and illegally taught slaves to read before the war. In September 1861 she traveled to Fort Monroe to set up a school for the contrabands, teaching between fifty and sixty children in a small classroom. She taught them the alphabet, one-syllable words, multi-syllable words, arithmetic, and hymns to memorize such as "I Want to Be an Angel" and "There Is A Happy Land." They performed a Christmas recital including dramatic readings of Scripture, a potluck supper, and hymns. In February 1862, Mary Peake tragically died of tuberculosis.
TROUBLED REFUGE by Chandra Manning
Harry Jarvis
Harry Jarvis was born a slave in Virginia to a man he called "the meanest man on all the Eastern shore." He continued: "It was bad enough before, but after the war came, it was worse than ever. Finally, he shot at me one day, and I reckoned I'd stood it about as long as I could." He traveled to Fort Monroe where he asked Benjamin Butler to allow him to enlist. "I went to him and asked him to let me enlist, but he said it wasn't a black man's war. I told him it would be a black man's war before they got through." Jarvis traveled to Libera, but returned in 1863 and enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts, having "found that it had got to be black man's war for sure." He subsequently lost his leg at the Battle of Folly Island on May 10, 1863.
FOREVER FREE by Eric FonerAfrican Americans in America's Wars
The American Civil War is often conceptualized as a conflict between white northerners and white southerners, during which black slaves and free people...www.battlefields.org
Susie King Taylor
View attachment 426920
Susie King Taylor, née Baker, was born into slavery in 1848 near Savannah, Georgia. When the war broke out, her uncle led her to freedom on a Union gunboat near Fort Pulaski. She attached herself to the First South Carolina volunteers, serving as a laundress and cook. She also taught the soldiers how to read. She married Sergeant Edward King in 1862. She was the only African-American woman to record her story, publishing Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st SC in 1902.
Zack…Wonderful post. I was mining for something like this,View attachment 426915
Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Sheppard Mallory
On the night of May 23, 1861, as celebrations occurred in the nearby city of Hampton, Virginia for the approval of Virginia's Ordinance of Secession by statewide referendum, these three men stole a small boat and rowed four miles from Sewell's Point to Fortress Monroe. They turned themselves over to a Union guard, explaining that they were enslaved men who had been building fortifications but, upon hearing they were to be sent further south, decided to escape to Union lines. The next day, they are brought before the fort's commander, Benjamin Butler, who issues his famous Contraband Decree.
Their actions sounded the death knell for slavery. Hundreds and then thousands and then tens of thousands followed their lead to freedom, where they provided invaluable service to the Union cause despite facing racism, starvation, disease, mistreatment, unpaid wages, and death. All told, about 500,000 slaves fled to Union lines during the war and became contraband.
As WEB DuBois wrote:
At first, the rush of the Negroes from the plantations came as a surprise and was variously interpreted. The easiest thing to say was that Negroes were tired of work and wanted to live at the expense of the government; wanted to travel and see things and places. But in contradiction to this was the extent of the movement and the terrible suffering of the refugees. If they were seeking peace and quiet, they were much better off on the plantations than trailing in the footsteps of the army or squatting miserably in the camps. They were mistreated by the soldiers; ridiculed; driven away, and yet they came. With perplexed and laggard steps, the United States Government followed the footsteps of the black slave. It made no difference how much Abraham Lincoln might protest that this was not a war against slavery . . . The slave, despite every effort, was becoming the center of the war.
Source: Troubled Refuge by Chandra Manning
Black Reconstruction in America by WEB DuBois
View attachment 426916
View attachment 426917
View attachment 426918
Mary Peake
View attachment 426919
A free black woman in Virginia who clandestinely and illegally taught slaves to read before the war. In September 1861 she traveled to Fort Monroe to set up a school for the contrabands, teaching between fifty and sixty children in a small classroom. She taught them the alphabet, one-syllable words, multi-syllable words, arithmetic, and hymns to memorize such as "I Want to Be an Angel" and "There Is A Happy Land." They performed a Christmas recital including dramatic readings of Scripture, a potluck supper, and hymns. In February 1862, Mary Peake tragically died of tuberculosis.
TROUBLED REFUGE by Chandra Manning
Harry Jarvis
Harry Jarvis was born a slave in Virginia to a man he called "the meanest man on all the Eastern shore." He continued: "It was bad enough before, but after the war came, it was worse than ever. Finally, he shot at me one day, and I reckoned I'd stood it about as long as I could." He traveled to Fort Monroe where he asked Benjamin Butler to allow him to enlist. "I went to him and asked him to let me enlist, but he said it wasn't a black man's war. I told him it would be a black man's war before they got through." Jarvis traveled to Libera, but returned in 1863 and enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts, having "found that it had got to be black man's war for sure." He subsequently lost his leg at the Battle of Folly Island on May 10, 1863.
FOREVER FREE by Eric FonerAfrican Americans in America's Wars
The American Civil War is often conceptualized as a conflict between white northerners and white southerners, during which black slaves and free people...
Susie King Taylor
View attachment 426920
Susie King Taylor, née Baker, was born into slavery in 1848 near Savannah, Georgia. When the war broke out, her uncle led her to freedom on a Union gunboat near Fort Pulaski. She attached herself to the First South Carolina volunteers, serving as a laundress and cook. She also taught the soldiers how to read. She married Sergeant Edward King in 1862. She was the only African-American woman to record her story, publishing Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st SC in 1902.
Bringing the