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October 16, 1864 | Letter
Letter from station/road masters to Adna Anderson, October 16, 1864
Labor bosses ask Adna Anderson to pressure the Quarter Master to approve the sale of winter clothing to contrabands.
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September 16, 1864 | Letter
Letter from George S. Rosser to Adna Anderson, September 16 , 1864
George Rosser asks that small houses be built for the families of black railroad laborers.
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September 13, 1864 | Letter
Letter from J. M. Nash to Adna Anderson, September 13, 1864
J. M. Nash requests a guard to ensure that the African American engineer at the Lavergne station is not harassed or his work interfered with.
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March 17, 1864 | Book
The Congressional Globe [excerpts]
In these excerpts from a Senate debate over regulations for a District of Columbia street railroad, many typical arguments for and against public segregation are aired in language that also reveals attitudes towards race and equality as the Civil War continued.
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February 20, 1864 | Letter
Letter from E. Benjamin to Adna Anderson, February 20, 1864
E. Benjamin requests passes for black workers so that they may avoid impressment.
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February 18, 1864 | Letter
Letter from John Isom to Daniel Craig McCallum, February 18, 1864
John Isom designates a black church in Nashville to serve as a copper and tin shop.
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January 29, 1864 | Letter
Letter from W. W. McCafferty to J. H. Devereaux, January 29, 1864
An inquiry about re-hiring a blacksmith for the military railroad.
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1864 | Photograph
Boxcars with Refugees at Railroad, Atlanta, Ga., 1864
With the capture of Atlanta, General William T. Sherman?s army seized an important rail hub for the Confederacy. This image of refugees and African Americans, sitting on rail cars with their possessions, indicates the massive displacement that came with the war.
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1864 | Photograph
No. 1. Steam engines "Telegraph" and "O. A. Bull," Atlanta, Ga., 1864
No. 1. Steam engines ?Telegraph? and ?O. A. Bull? remained in position amid the ruins of a Confederate roundhouse in Atlanta in 1864. The South possessed some of the most beautiful depots and railroad facilities in the nation in 1861. Sherman?s campaigns sought to dismantle the Confederate railroad system and in so doing deny any claim to modernity and progress. African American workers stand atop the old Georgia Railroad flatcar.
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1864 | Letter
Request for passes for African American railroad workers
Passes for African American railroad employees requested of W. J. Stevens, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, Nashville.
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November 19, 1863 | Letter
Letter from W. W. McCafferty to F. P. Lord, November 19, 1863
McCafferty notes damage done to Engine Rapidan by contrabands.
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October 13, 1863 | Letter
Letter from Clifford Percival to John H. Devereux, October 13, 1863
An engineer/machinist escaped from the South inquires about employment opportunities on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
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June 7, 1863 | Letter
Letter from Samuel B. Reed to Jennie Reed, June 7, 1863
In this letter from June 7, 1863, Samuel Reed writes to his wife upon learning of the death of family friend Charles H. Abbott in the war. He notes the heavy losses of Union troops and, referencing Vicksburg, states that hundreds more are added each day. He tells his wife that after the directors of the railroad meet on the 17th of June, he will "know what to do about remaining on the road." Reed also describes an unexpected encounter with three "contrabands from Arkansas" while scouting timberland for purchase.
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May 1, 1863 | Government report
Testimony of Major Erasmus L. Wentz, Superintendent of Norfolk and Petersburg R.R
Major Erasmus L. Wentz, supervising work on the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, testifies as to the quality of contraband labor over that of Irish workers. Wentz notes that the contrabands work for less pay.
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March 7, 1863 | Illustration
Pickets of the 1st Louisiana ?Native Guard? Guarding the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad
United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) recruiters in 1863 fanned out along the railroads, especially in Tennessee, stopping at depots along the route to sign up soldiers. Over 180,000 black men volunteered and enlisted for service in the U.S.C.T. Both white regiments and U.S.C.T. units found themselves guarding railroads and watching for guerrillas.
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November 13, 1862 | Letter
Letter from E. L. Wentz to Daniel Craig McCallum, October 13, 1862
E. L. Wentz, of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, asks for suggestions about providing shoes for contraband workers on the railroad.
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June 24, 1862 | Letter
Telegram regarding travel of enslaved African Americans via railroad.
In this June 24, 1862 telegram between a Mr. Young and E. H. Stokes, Young informs Stokes that he has "sent you by train three (3) negroes," which cost $1,800.
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1862 | Photograph
Railroad construction workers hammer track as a third watches
African American laborers, free and contraband, worked for the Union Army to build and repair rail lines across the South. Note the bent and broken rails scattered in the background, signs of earlier destruction.
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1862 | Photograph
African American Laborers on the U.S. Military Railroad in Northern Virginia, c. 1862 or 1863
From the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans worked on the railroads, transferring their labor to the Union cause.
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1862 | Photograph
Contrabands at Cumberland Landing, Virginia, May 1862
In the Peninsular Campaign, Federal forces encountered thousands former slaves who sought freedom and work in the Union army camps. Even if slaves fled slavery, their status was unclear in the first year of the war. In July 1862 Congress declared such refugees from slavery ?forever and henceforth free.?
