The Peninsula Campaign and the Necessity of Emancipation by Glenn David Brasher

Author:Glenn David Brasher [Brasher, Glenn David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Social Science, Ethnic Studies, American, African American & Black Studies, Military
ISBN: 9780807882528
Google: 0LC-kercU-sC
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Published: 2012-04-02T03:05:08+00:00

Union soldiers and slaves interact at Foller’s farm. This remarkable 1862 photograph was taken in New Kent County during the Peninsula Campaign. Note the shy child sheltered comfortably between the soldier’s legs. (Library of Congress)

to work for the military. Slaves understood that their freedom depended on the success of the Union army. “They profess themselves willing to work, fight, or do anything for us,” a correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, “if, when we ‘whip out de Suthern army,’ they will be allowed to work for themselves.”61

Correspondents for emancipationist newspapers traveling with the Union army reported the collapse of slavery on the Peninsula with great satisfaction. On May 21, the National Anti-Slavery Standard published a letter from an army chaplain traveling with a New Jersey regiment, who described the slaves as thrilled by the “ignoble retreat of … [their] vainglorious and boasting lords…. There is a universal desire for freedom expressed by these down-trodden victims of oppression.” A correspondent’s dispatch published by the Principia was more ebullient. “Those at home,” he wrote, “though they may read continually the writings of those who wield the pen, … know but little about the great work being done here.” He found it difficult to describe the joyous “feelings of those who are careful observers of the work as it progresses.”62

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.