Tag Archives: Draft

William Crawford | Civil War Drafts

In 1863, the US Federal Government began to actively recruit Black men for the Union Army. In the fall of 1863, the War Department authorized the systematic enlistment of enslaved men in the Border States, including Maryland. General Order 329 promised freedom to the soldier and compensation to slaveholders loyal to the Union. The slaveholders were resistant to the enlistment of what they perceived as their “property”, despite promised compensation.

Barbara Jean Fields wrote in her book Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground that “Full-scale recruitment put an end to slavery in Maryland. Before the war was over some ten thousand Black men served in the Union army and navy. If only half of them were slaves, they would represent well over a third of the slave men aged eighteen to forty-five.”

In October 1864, the War Department organized a round of the Draft and the names were published in the Baltimore Sun. Among those pulled for the Seventh District of Prince George’s County (Queen Anne District) were Samuel and William Crawford, “slave of the estate of Benjamin Lee”.

Oct 21, 1864, Baltimore Sun, page 1 | newspapers.com

Not every name was called into service and of the two brothers, William Crawford served. A service record for the 6th regiment of the USCT Infantry, Company H shows that he was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland and was drafted from the 5th Election District (Prince George’s County).. He was enlisted for one year.

The service record describes William Crawford as 28 years old [1836] and of average height at 5 feet 8 1/2 inches. His eyes, hair, and complexion was described as Black. By April 1865, he was ill and marked as “absent sick” in the muster rolls. He was mustered out in Sept 1865 in Wilmington, NC.

For the time that Crawford was enlisted in the 6th regiment, it appears to have been fighting in North Carolina as part of the attacks on Fort Fisher, North Carolina and at Sugar Loaf Hill. In February it took part in the Battle of Wilmington and in March took part in Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign.

In 1870, William Crawford filed for a pension as an invalid. It does not provide a place of residence and Crawford has yet to be identified in the 1870 census.

Peter Stewart | Draft

The Baltimore Sun | 12 Jul 1864, Tue · Page 1 | newspapers.com

In 1864, the Baltimore Sun ran the names of the people drafted for the Union Army from Prince George’s County, including the name of “Peter Stewart, slave of the estate of Benjamin Lee“.

Dr. Benjamin Lee had died during the war and his administrators created an inventory of his estate in 1863. The inventory did not include the name Peter.

The 1867 Slave Statistics provide an incomplete list of people enslaved in Queen Anne District [District 7] of Prince George’s County as reported by their enslavers. While submission of the list was voluntary, and not all estates and enslavers submitted a list. That said, it provides the names of over fourteen hundred enslaved people. The 1860 Slave Schedule recorded almost twenty-three hundred enslaved people. The Prince George’s County Slave Statistics names about 62% of the enslaved population in Queen Anne District. Of them, there is only one named Peter: Peter Ridout enslaved by Violetta Sprigg, the neighbor of Benjamin Lee. He was also named in the list.

The list also included the names of Thomas Brown and Jno Hamilton, enslaved on the estate of Benjamin Lee.

Jno. Hamilton is named — he and his partner Patsy are named near the beginning of the inventory list. In 1870, he and Patsy are living in the household of C. A Harding, the son-in-law of Benjamin Lee, and Eleanor Lee, Benjamin Lee’s widow. Patsy is working as a servant in the household, while John is laboring in the fields.

Inventory of Benjamin Lee estate WAJ 3:126 | Maryland State Archives

Thomas Brown, like Peter Stewart, is not named in the 1863 Inventory. He may be the “Tom” who fled Lee’s enslavement in 1859. Lee described him as a 32 or 33 year old man. Further information about Thomas Brown has not been found. If Peter fled Lee’s captivity, like Tom, then Lee does not appear to have advertised for his return.

The question persists if Peter Stewart was the name of a person enslaved by Benjamin Lee, or if the editors of the Draft List in the Baltimore Sun made a mistake as they transcribed and inserted names.

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