"C" is for Contrabands

"C" is for Contrabands. Contrabands were slaves who fled to or were taken behind Northern lines during the Civil War—prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Union general Benjamin Butler claimed to be the first to apply the term “Contraband” to escaped slaves in Virginia. After refusing to return them to Confederate authorities, he used them to construct fortifications, but gave them rations and pay. Other Northern officers quickly followed Butler’s example. In April 1862 Major General David Hunter in command of the Union’s Southern Department on Hilton Head took Butler’s idea one step further. He declared all slaves behind Union lines free and organized male contrabands into the First South Carolina Volunteer Regiment. President Lincoln disallowed Hunter’s declaration of freedom but remained silent about the contrabands in the First Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers.