Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-11-08
THE CONTRABANDS At FORT
RESS MONROE.


The article with the above title in the At
lAnuc Monthly fr November, is one Of
great interest. It is important also, and
viii set a good many minds at work in
lines Of thought rather novel to them. Its
author. Edward l.. Pierce, was a member Of
the Massachusetts, 81, regiment Of the
three months volunteers which was carly on
duty at Fortress Monroe and its vicinity
lie was the person detailed to supcrintcnd
tho employment a d" the contubauds' so
called by Gen. Butler, much after the man
ucr Of a lawyer who thinks it easier to puz-
zle justice by quirk than to secure his
decision 10y an appeal to fundamental laws
OF justice and humanity,A in the construc-
ton Of military work near Hampton
Though this was but for few days before
the regiment left for home, the writer had
abundant other opportunities for Intercourse
with the subjects of his essay. The good
sense and humanity which he brought to
his charge, show the fitness Of his selection
ior the duty assigned to him.
We give few Of The closing paragraphs
Of the article:
During our cncampmcnt at Hampton, I
occupied much of my leisure time in cJnvcr-
sations with the ''contrabands, - both at their
work and in their shanties, endeayorlng to
collect their currents Of thought and feeling.
l. for -, lr, far
as any could be arrived at.
There were more negroes of unmixcd Airl-
can blood than we expected to find. But
many were entirely bleached One man,
working on the brcast-works, owned by his
cousin, whose name he bore, was no darker
than white laborers exposed by their occupa-
ton to the sun, and could not be distinguish
ID as of negro descent. Opposite our quarters
was young slave woman who had been ,
times a mother without ever having been a
wife You could MT discern in her 3 daugh-
t'rs, either in color, feature or texture OF
hair, the slightest trace of African lineage.
They were as lisht-lacod and iaIr- haired as
the Saxon slaves whom the Roman Pontifl,
Gregory the Great, met IN the market
of Rome. II they We're brought here
and their pedigree concealed, they could
readily miCgle with our population and
marry white men, who would never suspect
that they were not pure Caucassians.
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES.
Separations OF families had been frequent.
Or this | obtained definite knowledge. When
was registering the number OF DEFENDANTS,
,reuaratory to the rCquisition for rauons,
the answer occasionally was " Yes, have
a WIFE, but she is not here. " Where Is
she?'' " She was sold off years ago, and ]
have not heard Of her since. The husband
Of the woman who took care of the quarters
Of Gen. Pierce. had been sold away from her
some years before. Such separations are
regarded as death, and the slaves rc-marry.
In some cases the berelt one-so an intellI-
gent negro assured mc-piaes under his be-
reavement and loses his value but 50 elastic
is human nature that this did not appear tC
be generally the case.
THEIR DESIRE FOR FREEDOM.
There is a universal desire among tn,
slaves 10 be free. Upon this point my uqui
ries were particular, and always with the
same result. When we said to them ''loU
don't want to be free-yOur masters say YOU
Ion 't''-they manifested much Indignation
answering " We do want 70 be frce-wt
want TO be for ourselves" We inquired
further " Do the house slaves who veal
their masters clothes, want to be free ?'
' We never heard of one who did not" was
the instant reply. There might be, they SAID,
some halt tcraZy one who did not care to b5
free, but thay had Fever seen one. Even old
men and old women. with crooked backs
who could hardly walk or see. shared tho
same feeling. An intelligent secessionist.
Lowry by name, who was examined at head,
quarters, admitted that the majority Of tn,
slaves wanted to be free. The more intelii
gent the slave, and The better be had beer
used, the stronger this desire seemed to be.
THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF TIRE WAR.
The most frequent question asked by OF,
who has had ANY means Of communicative
with the contrahands during the war is il
relation to their knowledge Of its cause an,
purpose and their interest in II. OGe thin.
was evident-lndced, you could not tall
with a slave wh) did not without promptin;
give the same tcstimony-that their master
had been industrious in their attempts t
persuade them that the Yankees were CON
iug down there only to get the l4nd-tha
they would Kill the negroes and manure th'
ground win them, or carry them OF Il
Cuba or Hayti and sell them. An lntelli
gent man wh- had belonged to Col. Josepl
Segar-almost the Only Union man ut hear
III That region, and wuO, Tor that reason, be
ing IN W Nashington at the time the war be.
gan, lad not dared :, return to Hamptop-
served the staff oi Le4. P.crce. lie bore the
highest testimony 1, the kindness Of In.
master, who, he sand, told him to remain
that the Yankees were the friends of hi,
peope, ard vo,uIi use them well. "But
said DAVID. 90. suaj- Va Ai> name) Il
ne''F heard "a any % er master who talked
liat way, but they all told the woIs; storie,
about ti,o Yankees, and the mistresscs W, 7,
moro furious even than the masters. -
DAVID | may add, spite Of hls good master,
longed to be free