Tag Archives: contraband of war

Contraband of War

To get around the problem of having to return self-emancipated (i.e. escaped) slaves to their Confederate owners, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler dubbed them “contraband of war,” i.e. captured property that didn’t have to be returned. Later, Congress made the term … Continue reading

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The Contrabands

Captain Orlando Poe insists, to Parthenia Leila Ellis’s irritation, upon calling the slave/servants he conscripts for work on Fort Sanders and other parts of the Union’s defensive perimeter “contrabands.” It had been common usage in the Union army from the … Continue reading

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