Madelaine Setiawan, Ph.D. Student | History

Abstract:

In the late nineteenth century, Union published post-war accounts that displayed stories of Southern Unionist women to the forefront, indicating that they were overt political actors who frequently risked their lives to feed, hide, and aid Union soldiers and prisoners using their extensive network of communication, allies, and geographical awareness. These stories became critical to the prison retribution propaganda that Republicans and the Northern citizenry advocated beginning 1865, as the atrocities at Andersonville and the arrest of Captain Henry Wirz began to unfold. This presentation uncovers the stories of the fleeing fugitives and the role of Southern Unionist women in their escape. It reveals how the term “Unionism” was never reserved strictly for white Americans. It was a term extended to Black men who fought for the Union, but also to Black women who prisoners consistently remembered in their memoirs for their kindness, hospitality, intelligence, and their help in guiding them back to safety.