Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler and three brave souls, James Townsend, Shepard Mallory, and Frank Baker
We gather to commemorate those whom liberation was won, not just for us, but by us. Our story is not about the institution of bondage, but of our ancestor’s resilience, fortitude, and vision for a better future.
On the night of May 23, 1861 less than 24 hours after Virginia ratified its ordinance of secession, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, determined to cast off their bonds of enslavement, crossed under the cover of night to Fortress Monroe, which was still flying the flag of the United States. The proclamation originated at Fort Monroe and rippled across the war-torn landscape: Escaped formerly enslaved men and women will no longer be returned by the Union Army to their owners as mandated by the "Fugitive Slave Act" and instead will be confiscated as "Contraband" of war.
Union Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's decision — made on May 24, 1861, at Old Point Comfort — changed the landscape of the Civil War and put pressure on President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Beginning the first steps toward liberty!
