Report of Violence Against Freedmen by Union Soldiers
Carte de visite by Thomas W. Bankes of Helena, Ark. Chaplain Jacob Gilbert Forman and Capt. George Sinclair posed for this portrait in the Helena, Ark., studio of Thomas W. Bankes during the second half of 1863 or early 1864. The men followed different paths before they arrived in Bankes' studio.
Sinclair, an Illinois native and resident of Yatesville at the beginning of the war, bade his wife Mildred and young children farewell and traveled to St. Louis, where he enlisted in the 1st Missouri Cavalry. In mid-1863, he left his regiment to accept the captaincy of Company I of the 1st Regiment Arkansas Infantry, African Decent. The regiment mustered into federal service as the 46th U.S. Colored Infantry. In early 1864, Sinclair resigned due to the illness of his wife. The lack of any paper trail for her following their 1859 marriage, or their children, suggests they all perished from disease. Sinclair died in 1874 at about age 39.
Forman, a Canadian by birth who settled in Massachusetts, became an ardent abolitionist, acquaintance of William Lloyd Garrison, and a Unitarian minister. His views on slavery caused friction with his congregation and he left about 1857 for the St. Louis suburb of Alton, Ill., where he received a better reception. When the war came, he joined the 3rd Missouri Infantry as chaplain. He also served as Superintendent of Refugees in St. Louis, Secretary of the Western Sanitary Commission, and Superintendent of Contrabands at Helena.
On Dec. 29, 1862, in Helena, Forman and others sent a letter to Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Department of Missouri, regarding violence against enslaved people who entered Union lines. Here's the letter:
The undersigned Chaplains and Surgeons of the army of the Eastern District of Arkansas would respectfully call your attention to the Statements & Suggestions following
The Contrabands within our lines are experiencing hardships oppression & neglect the removal of which calls loudly for the intervention of authority. We daily see & deplore the evil and leave it to your wisdom to devise a remedy. In a great degree the contrabands are left entirely to the mercy and rapacity of the unprincipled part of our army (excepting only the limited jurisdiction of capt Richmond) with no person clothed with Specific authority to look after & protect them. Among their list of grievances we mention these:
Some who have been paid by individuals for cotton or for labor have been waylaid by soldiers, robbed, and in several instances fired upon, as well as robbed, and in no case that we can now recal have the plunderers been brought to justice–
The wives of some have been molested by soldiers to gratify thier licentious lust, and thier husbands murdered in endeavering to defend them, and yet the guilty parties, though known, were not arrested. Some who have wives and families are required to work on the Fortifications, or to unload Government Stores, and receive only their meals at the Public table, while their families, whatever provision is intended for them, are, as a matter of fact, left in a helpless & starving condition
Many of the contrabands have been employed, & received in numerous instances, from officers & privates, only counterfeit money or nothing at all for their services. One man was employed as a teamster by the Government & he died in the service (the government indebted to him nearly fifty dollars) leaving an orphan child eight years old, & there is no apparent provision made to draw the money, or to care for the orphan child. The negro hospital here has become notorious for filth, neglect, mortality & brutal whipping, so that the contrabands have lost all hope of kind treatment there, & would almost as soon go to their graves as to their hospital. These grievances reported to us by persons in whom we have confidence, & some of which we know to be true, are but a few of the many wrongs of which they complain– For the sake of humanity, for the sake of christianity, for the good name of our army, for the honor of our country, cannot something be done to prevent this oppression & to stop its demoralizing influences upon the Soldiers themselves? Some have suggested that the matter be laid befor the [War] Department at Washington, in the hope that they will clothe an agent with authority, to register all the names of the contrabands, who will have a benevolent regard for their welfare, though whom all details of fatigue & working parties shall be made though whom rations may be drawn & money paid, & who shall be empowered to organize schools, & to make all needfull Regulations for the comfort & improvement of the condition of the contrabands; whose accounts shall be open at all times for inspection, and who shall make stated reports to the Department–All which is respectfully submitted
Forman mustered out of the army in November 1865. He returned to Massachusetts, studied medicine at Harvard, and opened a drug store in Lynn, Mass., in 1869. He died in 1885 at age 65. He outlived one wife and was survived by his second wife, Emily, and at least two children.
The many writings he left behind include:
A Book of Common Prayer (1863)
History of the Western Sanitary Commission (1864)
Woman’s Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience (1867)
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
carte de visite, civil war, Thomas W. Bankes, Helena, Arkansas, enslaved, slaves, contraband Missouri, infantry, cavalry, 3, 1, Jacob, Gilbert, Forman, Canada, Massachusetts, Illinois, George, Sinclair, sanitary commission, u.s. colored, 46
Report of Violence Against Freedmen by Union Soldiers
Carte de visite by Thomas W. Bankes of Helena, Ark. Chaplain Jacob Gilbert Forman and Capt. George Sinclair posed for this portrait in the Helena, Ark., studio of Thomas W. Bankes during the second half of 1863 or early 1864. The men followed different paths before they arrived in Bankes' studio.
Sinclair, an Illinois native and resident of Yatesville at the beginning of the war, bade his wife Mildred and young children farewell and traveled to St. Louis, where he enlisted in the 1st Missouri Cavalry. In mid-1863, he left his regiment to accept the captaincy of Company I of the 1st Regiment Arkansas Infantry, African Decent. The regiment mustered into federal service as the 46th U.S. Colored Infantry. In early 1864, Sinclair resigned due to the illness of his wife. The lack of any paper trail for her following their 1859 marriage, or their children, suggests they all perished from disease. Sinclair died in 1874 at about age 39.
Forman, a Canadian by birth who settled in Massachusetts, became an ardent abolitionist, acquaintance of William Lloyd Garrison, and a Unitarian minister. His views on slavery caused friction with his congregation and he left about 1857 for the St. Louis suburb of Alton, Ill., where he received a better reception. When the war came, he joined the 3rd Missouri Infantry as chaplain. He also served as Superintendent of Refugees in St. Louis, Secretary of the Western Sanitary Commission, and Superintendent of Contrabands at Helena.
On Dec. 29, 1862, in Helena, Forman and others sent a letter to Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Department of Missouri, regarding violence against enslaved people who entered Union lines. Here's the letter:
The undersigned Chaplains and Surgeons of the army of the Eastern District of Arkansas would respectfully call your attention to the Statements & Suggestions following
The Contrabands within our lines are experiencing hardships oppression & neglect the removal of which calls loudly for the intervention of authority. We daily see & deplore the evil and leave it to your wisdom to devise a remedy. In a great degree the contrabands are left entirely to the mercy and rapacity of the unprincipled part of our army (excepting only the limited jurisdiction of capt Richmond) with no person clothed with Specific authority to look after & protect them. Among their list of grievances we mention these:
Some who have been paid by individuals for cotton or for labor have been waylaid by soldiers, robbed, and in several instances fired upon, as well as robbed, and in no case that we can now recal have the plunderers been brought to justice–
The wives of some have been molested by soldiers to gratify thier licentious lust, and thier husbands murdered in endeavering to defend them, and yet the guilty parties, though known, were not arrested. Some who have wives and families are required to work on the Fortifications, or to unload Government Stores, and receive only their meals at the Public table, while their families, whatever provision is intended for them, are, as a matter of fact, left in a helpless & starving condition
Many of the contrabands have been employed, & received in numerous instances, from officers & privates, only counterfeit money or nothing at all for their services. One man was employed as a teamster by the Government & he died in the service (the government indebted to him nearly fifty dollars) leaving an orphan child eight years old, & there is no apparent provision made to draw the money, or to care for the orphan child. The negro hospital here has become notorious for filth, neglect, mortality & brutal whipping, so that the contrabands have lost all hope of kind treatment there, & would almost as soon go to their graves as to their hospital. These grievances reported to us by persons in whom we have confidence, & some of which we know to be true, are but a few of the many wrongs of which they complain– For the sake of humanity, for the sake of christianity, for the good name of our army, for the honor of our country, cannot something be done to prevent this oppression & to stop its demoralizing influences upon the Soldiers themselves? Some have suggested that the matter be laid befor the [War] Department at Washington, in the hope that they will clothe an agent with authority, to register all the names of the contrabands, who will have a benevolent regard for their welfare, though whom all details of fatigue & working parties shall be made though whom rations may be drawn & money paid, & who shall be empowered to organize schools, & to make all needfull Regulations for the comfort & improvement of the condition of the contrabands; whose accounts shall be open at all times for inspection, and who shall make stated reports to the Department–All which is respectfully submitted
Forman mustered out of the army in November 1865. He returned to Massachusetts, studied medicine at Harvard, and opened a drug store in Lynn, Mass., in 1869. He died in 1885 at age 65. He outlived one wife and was survived by his second wife, Emily, and at least two children.
The many writings he left behind include:
A Book of Common Prayer (1863)
History of the Western Sanitary Commission (1864)
Woman’s Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience (1867)
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
carte de visite, civil war, Thomas W. Bankes, Helena, Arkansas, enslaved, slaves, contraband Missouri, infantry, cavalry, 3, 1, Jacob, Gilbert, Forman, Canada, Massachusetts, Illinois, George, Sinclair, sanitary commission, u.s. colored, 46