1861-1865 - A group of "Contrabands."

"Contrabands" was a term commonly used in the Civil War era to describe escaped or captured slaves. Many slaves escaped from plantations, many gained freedom, or at least more freedom, after Union forces swept through Confederate territory, and still many more were contracted out to forts and armies and escaped to the Union armies during conflicts. Seeing groups of men like this always makes me wonder what happened to the wives and children. Surely many sad stories in this lot. Learn more from Wikipedia here.

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