Contraband was the terminology used by Brigadier General Benjamin Butler, commander at Fort Monroe in southeastern Virginia, at the outset of the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves. A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... Benjamin Franklin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American lawyer, soldier and politician. ... Satellite Photo of Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, Virginia (also known as Fortress Monroe) is a military installation located at Old Point Comfort on the tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads on the Chesapeake Bay in eastern Virginia in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 35th 110,862 km² 320 km 690 km 7. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Abraham Lincoln† Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee Strength 2,213,363 1,064,200 Casualties KIA: 110,100 Total dead: 359,500 Wounded: 275,200 KIA: 94,000 Total dead: 258,000 Wounded: 137,000+  The American... It has been suggested that Chattel slavery be merged into this article or section. ...

Three slaves, Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory had been contracted by their owners to the Confederate Army to help construct defense batteries at Sewell's Point across the mouth of Hampton Roads from Union-held Fort Monroe. They escaped at night and rowed a skiff to Old Point Comfort, where they sought asylum at the adjacent Fort Monroe. This article is in need of attention. ... Hampton Roads, Virginia 1858 Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. ... Hampton Roads, from state map of pre-civil war Virginia circa 1858 Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia in the United States. ... Map of the division of the states during the Civil War. ... Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States. ...

Prior to the War, the owners of the slaves would have been legally entitled to request their return (as property) and this would have in all likelihood have occurred. However, Virginia had just declared (by secession) that it no longer considered itself part of the United States. General Butler, who was educated as an attorney, took the position that, if Virginia considered itself a foreign power to the U.S., then he was under no obligation to return the 3 men; he would instead hold them as "contraband of war." Thus, when Confederate Major John B. Cary made the request for their return as Butler had anticipated, it was denied on the above basis. While not truly free men (yet), the three men undoubtedly were much satisfied to have their new status as "contraband" rather than slaves. They worked at the Union Army's directions for very minimal pay. An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ...

The word spread quickly among southeastern Virginia's slave communities. While becoming a "contraband" did not equate to freedom, it was apparently seen by many slaves as at least a step in that direction. Beginning the very next day after Butler's decision, many more escaped slaves also found there way to Fort Monroe appealing to become contraband. As the numbers grew to quantities too large to be housed inside the Fort, from the burned ruins of the City of Hampton the Confederates had left behind, the contrabands erected housing outside the crowded base. The called their new settlement Grand Contraband Camp (which they nicknamed "Slabtown"). By the end of the war in April 1865, less than 4 years later, an estimated 10,000 had applied to gain "contraband" status, many living nearby. On September 17, 1861, Mrs. ...

Near Fort Monroe, but outside its protective walls in Elizabeth City County, in an area which later became part of the campus of Hampton University, both adult and child contrabands were taught to read and write by pioneering teacher Mrs. Mary S. Peake and others. Defying a Virginia law against educating slaves, classes were held outdoors under a certain large oak tree. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's the Emancipation Proclamation was read to the contrabands and free blacks there, giving the tree its name and claim to fame as the Emancipation Oak. However, due to some political considerations when drafting the Proclamation, for most of the contrabands, true emancipation did not come until the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery was ratified in late 1865. Elizabeth City County was located at the eastern tip of the Virginia Peninsula. ... Hampton University is a historically Black and Indian university located in Hampton, Virginia. ... On September 17, 1861, Mrs. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... The Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation is a declaration by United States President Abraham Lincoln announcing that all slaves in Confederate territory still in rebellion were freed. ... On September 17, 1861, Mrs. ... Look up emancipation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Amendment XIII (the Thirteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution abolished slavery and, with the exception of allowing punishments for crimes, prohibits involuntary servitude. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme...

In modern times, the Contraband Historical Society was organized by their descendents, to honor and perpetuate their story.