It’s impossible to estimate the number of runaway slaves that set out for a new life of freedom in Northeastern Louisiana in 1863. At the start of the year, it was minimal, though still significant. With the coming of spring, and the increased presence and strength of the Union army along the Mississippi River, more men and women collected their families and set off to Yankee lines. After the fall of Vicksburg, there was no substantial Confederate presence left, and many slaves became free without even having to leave the plantation. Their masters fled instead.

Time and again I have read Confederate accounts – mostly women’s diaries – which tell of a “trusted” slave, one who had always seemed “obedient” and “loyal,” – who then left overnight without warning or notice. This was shocking and unbelievable to the slaveholder. It was so inconceivable that it often had to be explained away – the evil Yankees had spread their lies and propaganda; the slave himself did not have it in him to voluntarily run away, most especially because he had been treated “with every kindness,” as many of the diarists would claim.

The case of Webster, a house servant of the Stone family, is a perfect example. He is described by twenty-year-old diarist Kate Stone as a “griffe Negro” (someone who was 3/4 black and 1/4 white) (p.9) . He served as the Stone’s butler and often as a coachman. He sometimes runs errands for the family or their friends, including such tasks as returning a horse that had been borrowed from a neighbor (p.91). One one occasion, Webster drove Kate and her brother from Vicksburg back to their home at Brokenburn plantation. As they crossed into Louisiana, one of the levees began to give way, and they fled to the railroad to escape the rising waters. Here, they boarded and went to Tallulah. Kate writes: “We shipped everything on a flat car – mules, carriage, Webster” (p. 104), showing just how routine it was to think of a man as common property.  Kate’s diary does reveal, by implication, exactly how much the family trusted him. He takes her horse to the canebrake for safekeeping (p. 166); another time, he goes to pickup some Confederate uniforms for the women to sew (p. 162).

Finally, in April 1863, after a frightful day when Kate had been threatened at gunpoint by runaway slaves, Webster  helped the family get ready to flee towards Monroe. He gathered saddles, bridles, and other accoutrements, and Kate’s brothers, Johnny and Jimmy, got the horses. The boys were armed, however, and would not let go of their guns for a minute. Webster’s discontent was beginning to show – more than once he had tried to trick the boys into letting their guard down. The group set off around midnight, headed to the west. While the rest of the party was making a difficult crossing of a bayou on horseback, Webster was sent back to get the baggage. “No sooner was he out of sight than he mounted a horse and set off for home,” wrote Kate. He told Charles [another slave] that he knew he was not going to Bayou Macon with Miss ‘Manda and that Charles had better come on with him. Thus by his treachery we lost almost everything we brought away with us” (p.199). Kate was flabbergasted.

A month later, Kate’s brother Jimmy went back to Brokenburn, in an effort to get more of their possessions, and to evacuate the remaining slaves. He discovered that Webster had joined the Union army, not long after the Stones left (p. 208).

During the course of the war, as narrated in Kate’s diary, we see Webster entrusted with various errands and responsibilities which could have been seized as opportunities to escape, had he been so inclined. As the war progresses, however, Webster escapes when he knows it is safe, and when he has a chance at a clear getaway. Once the Stone family has crossed the bayou, and under the opportune instructions to return for the family’s baggage, Webster takes off in the opposite direction. It’s not long until he enlists in the Union army. He was a man who knew what he wanted, and he had the patience to wait until the opportunity presented itself.  His is only one story of thousands.

Source: Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone 1861-1868, ed. John Q. Anderson (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1995).