How the civil war unravelled slavery  Sometimes, historic events
happen in the most ad hoc way – so it was with Benjamin Butler's
decision to shelter runaway slaves     • Jump to comments ()
Union Army General Benjamin F Butler, American civil war Union
Army General Benjamin F Butler, circa 1863, whose happenstance
decision to provide refuge to fugitive slaves helped propel the
cause of emancipation. Photograph: US National Archives/Mathew
Brady  One hundred fifty years ago this week, one month into the
American civil war, three slave men made their way to Fortress
Monroe, Virginia, where General Benjamin F Butler commanded
Union forces. The three fugitives told Butler that they were
about to be sent "to Carolina" to build fortifications for the
Confederate army. Needing manpower himself, Butler decided not
to return them; instead, he put them to work. Shortly
thereafter, an agent of Colonel Charles K Mallory, their owner
and the Confederate commander in the area, arrived under a flag
of truce asking for the