Casemate Museum
Built in 1834, Fort Monroe served as an important site for African Americans during the Civil War. It was the only Union-held fort in the Upper South. In May 1861, Gen. Benjamin Butler declared three runaway slaves who arrived at the fort as “contraband of war.” By declaring the three enslaved men as contrabands, Butler effectively granted the runaways their freedom. This decision sparked an influx of thousands of enslaved people to Fort Monroe who sought freedom behind Union lines. Fort Monroe, thus, gained the nickname “Freedom’s Fortress.”
The Casemate Museum explores this history in a new exhibit called “Contraband: Fort Monroe becomes Freedom's Fortress.” General Butler’s contraband decision is one important part of 400 years of the history of Old Point Comfort, including Fort Monroe, that the museum explores. Its exhibition begins with the first defensive fortification on the grounds in 1609 and concludes with the final significant command to be headquartered at Fort Monroe. The museum also displays the casemate, or “fortified chamber,” where Jefferson Davis was held captive after the Civil War.
NMAAHC discusses General Butler’s decision to declare enslaved people “contrabands of war” in The Double Victory: The African American Military Experience exhibition. This exhibition, along with the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, highlights African American men and women’s participation in all of the wars that the United States has fought. African American veterans’ medals, weapons, photographs, and uniforms are on display.
Credits and Sources:
Engs, Robert Francis. Freedom's First Generation: Black Hampton, Virginia, 1861-1890. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979;
Fort Monroe Authority. “Explore Fort Monroe’s History.” http://fortmonroe.org/visit/casemate-museum.
