Is Slavery to be an Element in the War?
...Neither the rendition of fugitives by our commanders early in the contest, nor the subsequent reception and employment of many hundreds of them by General BUTLER, at Fortress Monroe, nor the later "confiscation decree" of FREMONT, in Missouri, appear to have had any considerable result. Whether this was because, in all the regions hitherto the theatre of war, the whites were far in excess of the slaves, and therefore held them under the bonds of ancient awe, or whatever may have been the cause, the result is certain––that there has nowhere, until now, been any "stampede" or insurrectionary movement of remarkable importance....
...In the upward passage of the boats to that point [Battle of Port Royal] the negroes all forsook the plantations, crowding towards our boats, "with bundles in their hands," as anxious for a passage. At Beaufort, says Flag-officer DUPONT, "they were wild with joy and revenge, and said they had been shot down like dogs, because they would not go off with their masters." Says another officers: "When General DRAYTON took to his horse, his two hundred servants took to the Wabash," that among the crowds around Captain AMMAN, one cried out joyfully, "I didn't think you could do it, masa!" and that "they were wild, plundering their masters' houses, who had been forcing them "off or shooting them down, and were still crowding to the gun-boats for protection....
[Editor's Note: The majority of this article has been omitted from our transcription except for the portions directly mentioning the term "slave stampedes" or some variant.]
"Is Slavery to be an Element in the War?," Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, November 16, 1861, p. 4.