18thVirginia
Major
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
With the Union victory at the Battle of Point Royal on November 7, 1861, the planters of the Sea Islands, Beaufort District abandoned their plantations and fled inland. Some 10,000 slaves were left behind. Sam Mitchell would later describe the events of November 1861 for the Slave Narratives of the WPA Writers Project:
Maussa had nine chillen, six boy been in Rebel army. Dat Wednesday in November w'en gun fust shoot to Bay Pint (Point) I t'ought it been t'under rolling, but dey ain't no cloud. My mother say, 'son, dat ain't no t'under, dat Yankee come to gib you Freedom.' I been so glad, I jump up and down and run. My father been splitting rail and Maussa come from Beaufort in de carriage and tear by him yelling for de driver. He told de driver to git his eight-oar boat name Tarrify and carry him to Charleston. My father he run to his house and tell my mother w'at Maussa say. My mother say, 'You ain't gonna row no boat to Charleston, you go out dat back door and keep a-going. So my father he did so and w'en dey git 'nuf ****** to row boat and Maussa and his family go right away to Charleston.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36022/36022-h/36022-h.html#sam-mitchell
Sam Mitchell's mother was only partially correct, as the former slaves were not yet considered free, but had become "contrabands" under the supervision of the Department of the Treasury. To prepare these contrabands for freedom, the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase sent a representative to the Sea Islands to make plans for the freedom of the abandoned slaves. Various missionary groups also sent representatives to determine what was needed to help these newly liberated people. Both Rev. Mansfield French of the American Missionary Association and Edwin Pierce, a friend of Samuel Chase, arrived in the Sea Islands in January 1862 to begin planning how to help the Sea Island African Americans like Sam Mitchell's family prepare for full emancipation.
The Federal Government concentrated on getting the former slaves to harvest Sea Island cotton while various missionary groups came in to offer education. This thread will feature some photos of this "experiment" in the Sea Islands.
Maussa had nine chillen, six boy been in Rebel army. Dat Wednesday in November w'en gun fust shoot to Bay Pint (Point) I t'ought it been t'under rolling, but dey ain't no cloud. My mother say, 'son, dat ain't no t'under, dat Yankee come to gib you Freedom.' I been so glad, I jump up and down and run. My father been splitting rail and Maussa come from Beaufort in de carriage and tear by him yelling for de driver. He told de driver to git his eight-oar boat name Tarrify and carry him to Charleston. My father he run to his house and tell my mother w'at Maussa say. My mother say, 'You ain't gonna row no boat to Charleston, you go out dat back door and keep a-going. So my father he did so and w'en dey git 'nuf ****** to row boat and Maussa and his family go right away to Charleston.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36022/36022-h/36022-h.html#sam-mitchell
Sam Mitchell's mother was only partially correct, as the former slaves were not yet considered free, but had become "contrabands" under the supervision of the Department of the Treasury. To prepare these contrabands for freedom, the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase sent a representative to the Sea Islands to make plans for the freedom of the abandoned slaves. Various missionary groups also sent representatives to determine what was needed to help these newly liberated people. Both Rev. Mansfield French of the American Missionary Association and Edwin Pierce, a friend of Samuel Chase, arrived in the Sea Islands in January 1862 to begin planning how to help the Sea Island African Americans like Sam Mitchell's family prepare for full emancipation.
The Federal Government concentrated on getting the former slaves to harvest Sea Island cotton while various missionary groups came in to offer education. This thread will feature some photos of this "experiment" in the Sea Islands.
Bringing the