Monthly Archives: October 2011

As indicated in the October 11 edition of Civil War Emancipation, abolitionists found Fall 1861 a frustrating time. Encouraging developments of the previous summer, such as the Lincoln administration’s acceptance of Gen. Butler’s Contraband-of-War policy, the Confiscation Act, and Gen. Frémont’s … Continue reading →

Dealing with the aftermath of the American Civil War, especially the topic of memory, a student of the conflict inevitably encounters the myth of the faithful slave. Slaves that allegedly stood by their owners on the battlefield or plantation, serving … Continue reading →

On October 22, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Major General John C. Frémont as commander of the U.S. Army’s Department of the West. Lincoln’s action was not unexpected. Frémont’s end-of-August martial law proclamation, which ordered freedom for the slaves of disloyal Missouri … Continue reading →

Mary Chesnut is one of the most famous southern diarists of the American Civil War. Part of the elite because of her husband’s wealth and high positions in the Confederacy, she rubbed elbows with many prominent personalities of the era, … Continue reading →

While events at Fortress Monroe riveted public attention during Summer/Fall 1861, as slaves fled there in a bold bid for freedom, at the same time an unheralded wave of even more desperate Virginia slaves escaped to an even riskier destination–the U.S. Navy’s … Continue reading →

Civil War Emancipation is supposed to be a blog about the U.S. Civil War and emancipation (hence the name), but I hope everyone will grant me a whimsical post unrelated to freedom for the slaves at the end of the week (as … Continue reading →

As October 1861 rolled around some progress had been made toward freedom for the slaves. Abolitionists could point to such things as Gen. Benjamin Butler’s “contraband of war” policy endorsed first by the Lincoln administration and then by Congress when … Continue reading →

Friday’s Disunion in the New York Times has a nice piece on Charles Sumner by Louis P. Masur of Trinity College in Connecticut. I would quibble though with his contention that “No politician was more determined than Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts … Continue reading →