Chapter 4 No Moses to Lead It

 "The arrival among us of these hordes was like the oncoming of cities. There was no plan in this exodus, no Moses to lead it." "A blind terror stung them, and equally blind hope allured them, and to us they came." "[A] slave population…forsaking…the old plantation life, coming garbed in rags or in silks, with feet shod or bleeding, individually or in families and larger groups." "Often the slaves met prejudices against their color more bitter than any they had left behind." Chaplain John Eaton was describing the conditions of the formerly enslaved who made their way to the area around Grand Junction and La Grange, TN before Nov of 1862. Can you imagine how chaotic it must have been? Men women and children, many of them only half clothed -- sharing diseases with each other and with the troops they encountered. The situation was made worse for both groups because in the meantime Grant’s Army of the Tennessee occupied Memphis (next time, I promise) and had advanced into Holly Springs (where Ida Wells was only 4 months old) and he was closing in on Oxford. This expansion of operations drew even more enslaved Americans whose main intention beyond freedom, was to not go back to the old plantation system. To meet this challenge Grant appointed John Eaton to “take charge of the contrabands that come into camp in the vicinity of the post, organizing them into suitable companies for working, see that they are properly cared for, and set them to work picking, ginning and baling all cotton now out and ungathered in field.” Grant was HQ’d in La Grange and the main brigade was in Grand Junction. An ideal spot for the camps because of the RR and all the abandoned cotton and corn fields in that portion of W TN. There were three camps that I know of: Camp Shiloh, Camp Fiske, and Camp Dixie. The good news is that with the camps there was work for the women and children, cuz while they couldn’t do most of the work involved with the military camps, they could pick and gin cotton. The women could serve as laundresses, cooks, and nurses in the makeshift hospitals Eaton set up. But, do you remember when we talked about how the enslaved raided their enslavers’ houses and barns? Well, they didn’t get to keep all that. Most of the animals and wagons were confiscated and put to military use, the rest, including the farm tools were used “for the benefit” of the contrabands. As for the nature of the pay, they were given clothes and standard rations if available; and they earned 12½ cents per pound of cotton picked or ginned, and the only number I have for other jobs is fifty cents a day. Fair enough I guess, but the money wasn’t paid directly to them. It was: “expended judiciously for their benefit” in the form of food clothing and supplies. To make matters worse, Eaton experienced resistance from both Officers and Enlisted men. Eaton commented that he was lucky to find one man in a thousand willing to work in the camps, to do so drew hostility from the other soldiers. From the start, Gen Grant had to issue special orders that commanders would indeed cooperate with Chaplain Eaton. The existing buildings in and around Grand Junction were used as hospitals and lunchrooms and, to house as many of the contrabands as possible, but there weren’t nearly enough. It wasn’t long before the contrabands, by their own hands, replaced many of the makeshift tents and shacks with log cabins and frame houses. And still they were looked upon as stupid, lazy and as if they were somehow less than human. Never mind that, with the aid of the American Missionary Association, they held services under brush arbor churches, and organized congregations. And, as you might already assume they organized and eagerly attended the makeshift schools, the most notable is Lincoln Chapel which was started by Miss Lucinda Humphery of the AMA in Camp Shiloh. Unfortunately, this is all I know about Miss Humphery, but isn’t it extraordinary that she and her students lit candles to learn by, and their little light has grown into the beacon we call, Le Moyne-Owen College? Why do you think the hard work and eagerness to learn demonstrated by the formerly enslaved was not enough to change the racist attitudes of their Union protectors? Do you see any patterns emerging that persist even today? What are some signs of Hope contained in the narrative so far? And as always: Keep me honest. Point out my mistakes. Ask me the hard questions. Thank you again, remember the PC and see you in Memphis next time. Keep me Honest.