In early January 1865, Confederate-controlled Montgomery, Alabama experienced a disturbance involving some enslaved Black males who clashed with local authorities. According to newspaper reports, local police stumbled onto a crowd of Blacks who had taken over a "grog shop" and thereby provoked "a general stampede." Police managed to arrest "five lusty descendants of Ham," whom they identified as Pero (slaveholder Ousby), Sandy (slaveholder Ashley), Joel (slaveholder Pric
This timeline of "slave stampedes" from across the nation details nearly 200 attempted group escapes as reported in period newspapers, with the majority coming from the Upper South states of Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Virginia. According to the existing sources, these stampedes involved nearly 12,000 freedom seekers between 1847 and 1865. Clearly, some of these attempts ended in tragedy, but a surprising number were successful, or least never produced definitive accounts of capture. The few reported stampedes in Northern states typically described alleged fugitive slaves fleeing to avoid rendition under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. The map below and the detailed listing underneath provide full access to the various narratives, records, and sources available for understanding these important episodes.
View All Stampedes, 1847-1865 // 1840s // 1850s // 1860s
Displaying 51 - 53 of 53
Start Date:
Tuesday, January 3, 1865
Numbers:
10
Starting Point:
Outcomes:
Mixed
Following the adoption of a Confederate conscription law to enroll Black men into their army in March 1865, there were reports of several stampedes by enslaved families in various places to avoid service. The New York Herald reported on one such stampede in southern Mississippi in mid-April 1865, writing: "It is said that the attempt on the part of the rebels to carry out the law of their Congress requiring the negro to fight for the enslavement of his race has
Start Date:
Saturday, April 1, 1865
Numbers:
300
Starting Point:
Outcomes:
Unknown
On July 4, 1865, according to Gen. John M. Palmer, the Union commander in charge of Kentucky, the enslaved families of the state expected to be set free. Since slavery was still legal in the state (and would remain so until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in December), this created great anxiety among white residents. So General Palmer decided to issue passes to Blacks allowing them to seek employment in Ohio or elsewhere.
Start Date:
Tuesday, July 4, 1865
Numbers:
1000
Starting Point:
Outcomes:
Unknown