Mar 10, 2011 - Sale 2239

Sale 2239 - Lot 347

Price Realized: $ 840
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Auditor's Warrant, a claim to the Confederate government for the loss of a slave. Partially Printed Document, accomplished by hand. 4to, creases where folded. South Carolina, 1864
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"Claim No 10," being a very early claim for the loss of a slave drafted by the Confederate government for the military. His owner was paid $1450.00. A number of slaves were drafted into service to reinforce the failing defenses of Charleston and other cities. Early in 1865, when things were looking increasingly bleak, a desperate Jefferson Davis embraced an idea he had thought revolting a year earlier. The Confederate Congress began looking at bills allowing the enlistment of African Americans into the army. Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin spoke at rallies around Richmond. He said 680,000 African-American males were ready to fight for the Confederacy: "Let us say to every Negro who wants to go into the ranks, 'Go and fight, and you are free... Fight for your masters, and you shall have your freedom.'"