Slavery in the Confederate States Army

Slavery in the Confederate States Army

Larry Holzwarth - September 30, 2020

Slavery in the Confederate States Army
Blacks continued to serve both sides of the conflict until its end, slaves in the South, freedmen in the North. PBS

20. Contraband camps

Early in the Civil War, Union General Benjamin Butler refused to return escaped slaves to their southern civilian owners. Although Butler was not the first to describe the escaped slaves as contraband (a Naval officer, William Budd, coined the term), his action more or less defined the attitude of Union commanders towards former slaves who reached their lines. After the First Battle of Bull Run Congress passed a law that forbade the return of any property used to the benefit of the Confederate Armies, including slaves. Union troops established camps to house the former slaves, called Contraband Camps, the first established at Union-controlled territory near Fortress Monroe in Virginia.

Using materials provided by the Union, former slaves erected a camp in the ruins of the village of Hampton, Virginia, beginning in the summer of 1861. They named it the Grand Contraband Camp. Others appeared throughout territory controlled by the Union, on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, in eastern Tennessee, and around forts in the west. Hundreds of former Confederate slaves were hired by the Union Army to provide similar services they had for their former masters. Laborers, teamsters, cooks, blacksmiths, and in many cases personal servants for senior officers entered the Union Army, having previously served in the same roles for the Confederacy.

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