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The Slave Narratives

Sarah Virgil, Georgia, (The Slave Narratives)

Speaking of the Yankees, who came to Hawkinsville after the close of the war, the old woman "allowed": "I surely did hate them things."

Amanda Styles, Georgia, (The Slave Narratives)

The only event during slavery that impresssd itself on Mrs. Styles was the fact that when the Yanks came to their farm they carried off her mother and she was never heard of again.

Charlie Tye Smith, Georgia, (The Slave Narratives)

Charlie Tye recalls vividly when the Yankees passed through and graphically related the following incident. "The Yankees passed through and caught "ole Marse" Jim and made him pull off his boots and run bare-footed through a cane brake with half a bushel of potatoes tied around his neck; then they made him put his boots back on and carried him down to the mill and tied him to the water post. They were getting ready to break his neck when one of Master's slaves, "ole Peter Smith", asked them if they intended to kill Marse Jim, and when they said "Yes", Peter choked up and said, "Well, please, suh, let me die wid ole Marse!" Well, dem Yankees let ole Marse loose and left! Yes, Missy, dat's de truf 'case I've heered my daddy tell it many's the time!"

Lucindy Allison, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"When the 'Old War' come on and the Yankees come they took everything and the black men folks too. They come by right often. They would drive up at mealtime and come in and rake up every blessed thing was cooked. Have to go work scrape about and find something else to eat. What they keer 'bout you being white or black? Thing they was after was filling theirselves up. They done white folks worse than that. They burned their cribs and fences up and their houses too about if they got mad. Things didn't suit then. If they wanted a colored man to go in camp with them and he didn't go, they would shoot you down like a dog. Ma told about some folks she knowd got shot in the yard of his own quarters

Josephine Ann Barnett, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"The slaves hated the Yanksee. They treated them mean. They was having a big time. They didn't like the slaves. They steal from the slaves too. Some poor folks didn't have slaves.

Belle Buntin, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

……"Master Alex was a legislator. He had to leave when the Yankees come through. They killed all the legislators. I loved him. He run a store and we three children went to the store to see him nearly every day. He took us all three on his knees at the same time. I loved him

Betty Curlett, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

Grandma Becky said when the Yankees came to Mrs. Moores house and to Judge Rieds place they demanded money but they told them they didn't have none. They stole and wasted all the food clothes; beds. Just tore up what they didn't carry with then and burned it in a pile. They tock two legs of the chickens and tore them apart and threw them down on the ground, leaving piles of them to waste.

Sponcer Eornett, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

Old mistress cried more on one time. The Yankees starved out more black faces than white at their stealing. After that war it was hard for the slaves to have a shelter and enough eatin' that winter. They died in piles bout after that August I tole you bout. Joe Innes was our overseer when the house burned.

Rachel Fairley, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"When the Yanks came through, they took everything. Made the niggers all leave. My mother said they just came in droves, riding horses, killing everything, even the babies

Robert Farmer, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

The Yankees used to come in blue uniforms and come right on in without asking anything. They would take your horse and ask nothing. They would go into the smokehouse and take out shoulders, home, and side meat, and they would take all the wine and brandy that was there.

Neely Gray, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"I was scared of the Yankees 'cause they always p'inted a gun at me to see me run. They'd come in the yard and take anything they wanted, too.

Elmira Hill, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"When we heard the Yankees was comin' we went out at night and hid the silver spoons and silver in the toilet and buried the meat. After the war was over and the Yankees had gone home and the jayhawkers had went in - then we got the silver and the meat. Yes, honey, we seed a time - we seed a time. I ain't grumblin' - I tell em I'm havin' a wusser time now than I ever had.

"Yankees used to call me a 'know nothin' cause I wouldn't tell where things was hid.

Molly Horn, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"I could walk when I first seed the Yankees. I run out to see em good. Then I run back and told Miss Becky. I said, 'What is they?' She told ma to put all us under the bed to hide us from the soldiers. One big Yankee stepped inside and says to Miss Becky, 'You own any niggers?' She say, 'No.' Here I come outen under the bed and ask her fer bread. Then the Yankee lieutenant cursed her. He made the other four come outen under the bed. They all commenced to cryin' and I commenced to cry. We never seed nobody lack him fore. We was scared to deaf of him. He talked so loud and bad. He loaded us in a wagon. Mama too went wid him straight to Helena. He put us in a camp and kept us. Mama cooked fer the Yankees six or seven months. She heard em -- the white soldiers -- whisperin' round bout freedom. She told em, 'You ain't goiner keep me here no longer.' She took us walkin' back to her old master and ax him for us a home.

George Key, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"One thing I can tell you she told me so often. The Yankees come by and called her out of the cabin at the quarters. She was a brown girl. They was going out on a scout trip---to hunt and ravage over the country. They told her to get up her clothes, they would be by for her. She was grandma's and grandpa's owners' nurse girl. She told them and they sent her on to tell the white folks. They sent her clear off. She didn't want to leave. She said her master was plumb good to her and them all. They kept her hid out. The Yankees come slipping back to tole her off. They couldn't find her nowhere. They didn't ax about her. They was stealing her for a cook she thought. She couldn't cook to do no good she said. She wasn't married for a long time after then. She said she was scared nearly to death till they took her off and hid her.

Henry Henderson, Oklahoma – (Captured Body Servant), (The Slave Narratives)

I use to be a fighting man and a strong Southern soldier, until the Yank's captured me and made me fight with them. I don't know what the year was, but there was some Southern Indians took in the same battle and they fought with the North too. There was whole regiments deserted from the South, but I was captured; never figured on running away from my own people. Some of the Cherokee Indians who fought with the North were Bob Crittenden, Zeke Proctor and Luke Six Killer. Luke's father was with the South and got killed; some of the folks said young Luke killed his own father in the war.

William H. Harrison, Arkansas – (Captured Body Servant), (The Slave Narratives)

The son was Gummal L. Harrison. I went with him to war. I was his servant in the battle-field till we fought at Gettysburg and Manassas Gap. Then I was captured at Bulls Gap and brought to Knoxville, Tennessee and made a soldier. I was in the War three and one half years…

..."I was with my young master till my capture. That was my part in freedom. I was forced to fight by the Yankees then in the Union army

Liney Chambers, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

What the Yankees didn't take they wasted and set fire to it. They set fire to the rail fences so the stock would get out all they didn't kill and take off. Both sides was mean. But it seemed like cause they was fightin' down here on the Souths ground it was the wurst here. Now that's just the way I sees it. They done one more thing too. They put any colored man in the front where he would get killed first and they stayed sorter behind in the back lines……

... When they come along they try to get the colored men to go with them and that's the way they got treated.

George Greene, Arkansas , (The Slave Narratives)

My father's name was Nathan Greene. I reckon he went by that name, I can't swear to it. I wasn't with him when he died. I was up in Mississippi on the Mississippi River and didn't get the news in time to get there till after he was dead. He was an old soldier. When the Yankees got down in Mississippi, they grabbed up every nigger that was able to fight.

Rebecca Brown Hill, Arkansas , (The Slave Narratives)

I had two brothers sent to Louisiana as refugees. The place they was sent to was taken by the Yankees and they was taken and the Yankees made soldiers out of them.

Elizabeth Hines, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

My father never told me what his master was to him, whether he was good or mean. He got free early because he was in the army. He didn't run away. The soldiers came and got him and carried him off and trained him.

Charlie Rigger, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"I recollect the soldiers come by in July 1863 or 1864 and back in Decamber. I heard talk so long 'fore they got there I knowed who they was. They took my oldest brother. He didn't want to go. We never heard from him. He never come back.

Ous Williams,- Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"I was born in Chatham County, Georgia--Savannah is de county seat. My marster's name was Jim Williams. Never seen my daddy cause de Yankees carried him away durin' de War, took him away to de North. Old marster was good to his slaves, I was told, but don't ricollect anything about em. Of course I was too young

Soldier Williams, - Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"I was sway to Louisville to j'ine the Yankees one day. I was seared to death all the time. They put us in front to shield themselves. They said they was fighting for us--for our freedom. Piles of them was killed. I got a flesh wound. I'm scarred up some. We got plenty to eat. I was in two or three hot battles. I wanted to quit but they would catch them and shoot them if they left.

Annie Little, Texas, (The Slave Narratives)

"Dem de good old days, but dey didn't last, for de war am over to sot de slaves free and old massa ask if we'll stay or go. My folks jes' stays till I's a growed gal and gits married and has a home of my own. Den my old man tell me how de Yankees stoled him from de fields. Dey some cavalry sojers and dey make him take care of de hosses. He's 'bout twict as old as me, and he say he was in de Bull Bun Battle. He's capture in one battle and run 'way and 'scape by de help of a Southern regiment and fin'ly come back to Mississip'.

Matilda Miller, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

Mamma said the Yankees told the Negroes when they got em freed they'd give em a mule and a farm or maybe a part of the plantation they'd been working on for their white folks. She thought they just told em that to make them dissatisfied and to get more of them 'to join up with em' and they were dressed in pretty blue clothes and had nice horses and that made lots of the Negro men go with them. None of em ever got anything but what their white folks give em, and just lots and lots of em never come back after the war cause the Yankees put them in front where the shooting was and they was killed

Maggie Snow And Charlie Snow, Arkansas, (The Slave Narratives)

"Papa said the Yankees made all the slaves fight they could run across. Some kept hid in the woods. Seem like from way he told bout it they wanted freedom but they didn't want to go to war.

William Sherman, Florida, (The Slave Narratives)

Many of the slaves were joining the Union army. Those slaves who joined were trained about two days and then sent to the front; due to lack of training they were soon killed

Martha Organ, North Carolina, (The Slave Narratives)

"I 'members 'specially what mammy said 'bout when de Mankees come. She said dat it was on a Thursday an' dat de ole master was sick in de bed an' had sent some slaves ter de mill wid grain. When dese men started back frum de mill de Yankees overtook 'em an' dey killed de oxes in de harness, cut off de quarters an' rid ten de house wid dat beef hangin' all over de horses. Dey throwed what dey ain't wanted away, but of course dey took de meal an' de grain.

"De ole master had hyard dat dem Yankees was comin' an' he had buried de silverware in a san' bar, but Lawd dem Yankees foun' hit jist lak it were on top o' de groun'. Dey stold eber' thing dat dey git dere han' s on, 'specially de meat frum de smoke house. Dey went down inter de cellar an' dey drunk up master's brandy an' dey got so drunk dat dey ain't got no sense atall. When dey left dey carried my bruther off wid 'em, an' nobody ever hyard frum him ag'in.

On The Web: http://www.georgiaheritagecoalition.org/site2/commentary/vallante-black-history-month18.phtml

Also: http://www.georgiaheritagecoalition.org/site2/commentary/vallante-black-history-month17.phtml