While
seemingly almost every aspect of the Civil War-Era has received a fair share of
scholarly examination, one significant yet largely ignored facet is finally getting some much deserved attention. Until recently, outside of a handful of books and
articles, a true gulf in scholarship existed on the experiences of those in the
war’s slave refugee camps. Jim Downs’s book, Sick from Freedom: African American Illness and Suffering during the
Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford, 2012), which explores a specific
thread of the camps helped. Chandra Manning’s recently published Troubled Refuge: Struggling for Freedom in
the Civil War (Knopf, 2016), which examines how the war’s fugitive slaves reworked
emancipation as a Union war aim and then challenged the idea of who was to be
considered a citizen in the war’s aftermath has helped fill this void, too. Now,
with Amy Murrell Taylor’s new contribution to this growing body of study with
her book, Embattled Freedom: Journeysthrough the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps, even more light is finding its
way to this underexposed historical topic.
Referred
to during the conflict as “contraband camps,” these often fluid and makeshift
settlements popped up in almost every area where the Union military showed its
might and held its ground for any length of time. Found in almost every seceded
and border state by war’s end, the 300 or so refugee camps could be places of
unbridled hope at some points, yet deadly discouraging and dangerous places at
other times.
What
largely separates Embattled Freedom
from previous studies is that in it Murrell provides a more complete grounds-eye
view into the everyday happenings of the slave refugee camps. As one would
expect, the experiences varied greatly among the estimated 500,000 men, women,
and children who fled slavery and who found varying degrees of freedom during
the four years of the Civil War. Depending on where they were from, and thus
where their refugee camp materialized; when they arrived; what they were able
to bring with them, both materially and in skills; who they encountered, and
thus those peoples’ attitudes toward African Americans; and what they were tasked
to do for service with the United States military, refugees encountered a
diversity of problems, opportunities, dangers, and dilemmas.
Murrell insightfully tackles many of these refugee camp issues by viewing them through
the lens of three individual case studies. These three examples not only help
the reader better understand the experiences of those particular refugees, but
also helps show how perhaps the refugee camps may have differed due to
geographical location, and most importantly gives us their experience from
their perspective. Taylor skillfully weaves the book’s eight chapters around
the personal stories of Edward and Emma Whitehurst, would-be shopkeepers in
southeast Virginia; Eliza Bogan, an army laundress in Helena, Arkansas; and
Gabriel Burdett, an aspiring minister at Camp Nelson, Kentucky.
The
eight chapters of the book discuss those myriads of concerns experienced by the
majority of refugee men, women, and children. In “Securing Work,” the author
explains through the Whitehurst’s story that the challenges faced in transitioning
from a forced labor system to ideally a monetary wage labor system, especially
during time of war, was not always smooth. In “Finding Shelter,” we discover
that locations allocated for refugees were the ones least desired by the
military, and that finding relatively permanent shelter was a constant struggle
for refugees. “Confronting Removal” examines the common occurrence of putting
distance between soldiers and refugee communities, often due to perceived
negative racial influences. “Facing Combat” shows the many ways that refugees
contributed to slavery’s demise, both inside the Union military and out.
“Battling Hunger” and “Clothing Bodies” also spell out other practical, yet
life-threatening challenges faced by refugees, while finding ways of “Keeping
Faith” and “Grappling with Loss,” although perhaps less tangible, were in many
cases just as important for refugee survival.
With Embattled Freedom:
Journeys through the Civil War’s Refugee Camps, Taylor gives us the
book that many of us have long been waiting for. Its particular approach to the
subject matter, thorough research, and keen writing ensures that it will
maintain a place in Civil War history for years to come as a source of better
understanding the slave refugee camp experience.
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