A LETTER FROM DUCHESS The word contraband has several meanings It often refers to illegally traded goods In the Civil War it meant an enslaved person who escaped to the Union lines I had never heard of this term while growing up It wasn’t until recently that I learned that my grandfather’s family was from the area near the Grand Contraband Camp in Fort Monroe Virginia In 1861 three enslaved men were sent to help the southern war effort They did not want to help the South and instead escaped They sought safety at Fort Monroe which was being run by Union general Benjamin Butler Before the Civil War slaveholders could legally request the return of escaped slaves But Virginia had rebelled against the United States Because of this General Butler felt he did not have to return the three men He would hold them as contraband of war I hope you enjoy this book and join me in a journey that tells the story of the promise of freedom
Former slaves pose for a photograph in front of a Virginia farmhouse in 1862
CHAPTER ONE
THE FIRST CONTRABAND CAMP In the spring of 1861 the United States went to war with itself This conflict was called the American Civil War 1861 1865 The two sides involved 1861 1865 The two sides involved were the Union and the Confederacy were the Union and the Confederacy Northern states had formed the Union Northern states had formed the Union The Confederacy was made up of southern The Confederacy was made up of southern states The Confederacy wanted to keep states The Confederacy wanted to keep slavery The Union opposed the expansion slavery The Union opposed the expansion of slavery Some people in the Union wanted of slavery Some people in the Union wanted to end slavery altogether to end slavery altogether An illustration depicts the arrival of the first An illustration depicts the arrival of the first escaped slaves to Fort Monroe the site of the first escaped slaves to Fort Monroe the site of the first contraband camp contraband camp
