A few months ago I sketched out an idea for a short book that focuses specifically on the role of Confederate slaves in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign.
Congratulations, this sounds like a great project! I'll be curious to see if you find out anything about enslaved laborers working with the medical staff, particularly Dr. McGuire. Sarah Kay Bierle has done a lot of research and writing about the McGuires in ECW and I believe most, if not all, of the medical records were destroyed.
Hi Margaret. I will definitely keep an eye out for McGuire and thanks for referencing Sarah's work on him. Enslaved labor was most definitely utilized by the medical staff during the campaign.
I know that Lee's army kidnapped Free Blacks that lived in Pennsylvania to take back. But how many of the enslaved that moved north as part of Lee's labor force too the opportunity to escape?
Great question, Mark. Thankfully, the kidnapping of free Blacks during the campaign has been well documented in recent years. I found plenty of evidence of slaves taking advantage of the opportunity to run off, especially during the retreat. The Army of Northern Virginia was in no position to maintain control of its enslaved population during this phase of the campaign. I highly recommend Kent Masterson Brown's excellent book, *Retreat From Gettysburg.*
How deeply do you plan to go into the operational role played by the enslaved men? The reason I’m asking is it seems to me a researched and referenced work on this topic (as yours will be) is a contribution to the re-emerging field of operational military history. I am looking forward to the book
Hi Michael. Great question. I would like to get into the operational aspect as much as possible, but it all depends on the availability of source material. Let me know if you have any ideas.
The closest thing the Army of Northern Virginia would have had to service and support element was probably it’s Quartermaster element. Whether those record’s survived the war and what they might show about the day to day employment of enslaved labors I have now idea. You might find the proverbial goldmine or the proverbial rabbit hole. I just watched the video, very interesting discussion
Looking forward to reading it!
And Otis looks very handsome.
Looking forward to your book on a fascinating topic. Also awesome T. rex Easter bunny that Otis is guarding.
Thanks, George.
Congratulations!
Thank you.
A 40,000 word book?! Even I might finish reading that one, fully, in time for a book club meeting. 🤣
Congratulations, this sounds like a great project! I'll be curious to see if you find out anything about enslaved laborers working with the medical staff, particularly Dr. McGuire. Sarah Kay Bierle has done a lot of research and writing about the McGuires in ECW and I believe most, if not all, of the medical records were destroyed.
Hi Margaret. I will definitely keep an eye out for McGuire and thanks for referencing Sarah's work on him. Enslaved labor was most definitely utilized by the medical staff during the campaign.
I know that Lee's army kidnapped Free Blacks that lived in Pennsylvania to take back. But how many of the enslaved that moved north as part of Lee's labor force too the opportunity to escape?
Great question, Mark. Thankfully, the kidnapping of free Blacks during the campaign has been well documented in recent years. I found plenty of evidence of slaves taking advantage of the opportunity to run off, especially during the retreat. The Army of Northern Virginia was in no position to maintain control of its enslaved population during this phase of the campaign. I highly recommend Kent Masterson Brown's excellent book, *Retreat From Gettysburg.*
How deeply do you plan to go into the operational role played by the enslaved men? The reason I’m asking is it seems to me a researched and referenced work on this topic (as yours will be) is a contribution to the re-emerging field of operational military history. I am looking forward to the book
Hi Michael. Great question. I would like to get into the operational aspect as much as possible, but it all depends on the availability of source material. Let me know if you have any ideas.
The closest thing the Army of Northern Virginia would have had to service and support element was probably it’s Quartermaster element. Whether those record’s survived the war and what they might show about the day to day employment of enslaved labors I have now idea. You might find the proverbial goldmine or the proverbial rabbit hole. I just watched the video, very interesting discussion
I definitely need to check out what, if anything, is available in the records of the Quartermaster Department.