Description
Contrabands. - - A few days ago, we met two wagons full of slaves this side of Kansas City, and naturally stopped to inquire where they came from.
“Are you running away?” said we.
“Oh, no,” responded the old woman, “dey took us.”
“Who took you?”
“Why, some of Lane’s men! De blessed Kansas Jayhawkers. Dey Jayhawked us!”
Then changing tone and almost bursting into tears, she continued:
“All but one, a fine chunk of a boy, ‘bout 15, dat de secesh hid in de brush wid de mules.” They inquired how far it was to Lawrence, and marched onward to freedom.
Five years ago, we passed over the same ground, under charges of rebellion, with a great deal less safety than these Negroes now passed to a land of freedom. Blessed are the works of the Free State men.
(Researcher’s note: In May 1861 “At Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, Union Maj. General Benjamin Butler refused to send three fugitives back into the bonds of slavery. He classified the escaping slaves as contraband of war. This term meant that once the fleeing slaves crossed Union army lines, they were classified as property. All enemy property that fell into Union hands constituted contraband and would not be returned.
Because of Butler's actions, a federal policy was instituted on August 6, 1861 - fugitive slaves were declared to be "contraband of war" if their labor had been used to aid the Confederacy in anyway. If found to be contraband, they were declared free.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/living-contraband-former-slaves-in-the-nation-s-capital-during-the-civil-war.htm)Date(s) of Creation
11/7/1861
