14 June 1862: “Distribution of Captured Rebel Soldiers’ Clothing to the Contrabands”

Headquarters of Vincent Collyer

Item: “THE CAMPAIGN IN NORTH CAROLINA—HEADQUARTERS OF VINCENT COLLYER, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR AT NEWBERNE-—DISTRIBUTION OF CAPTURED REBEL SOLDIERS’ CLOTHING TO THE CONTRABANDS.—From a Sketch by our Special Artist, J. H. Schell.—See Page 171.”  Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, June 14, 1862, p. 164.

Accompanying article: (from page 171)

PUTTING CONTRABANDS INTO REBEL UNIFORM,
at Newberne, N. C.

Never has Shakespeare’s line, “To what base uses may we
not return,” had a more fitting illustration, than the picture we give
on page 164 of the distribution of the clothes of the captured rebels
among the contrabands. As one of the Southern chivalry said,
“This is adding insult to injury. You first entice our property to
run away, and then you clothe them in the glorious uniform of the
South.” It is needless to add that no insult is intended; it is simply
the inevitable result of war, and as such must be accepted. Our
sketch represents the headquarters of Vincent Collyer, Superinten-
dent of the Poor, at Newberne, with the process of turning a darkey
into an external rebel in full blast. Mr. Collyer, a most able and in-
defatigable man, has inaugurated a school for these benighted dar-
keys, and his labors will doubtless not be lost, although Mr. Schell
says the grotesque attempts of the sable scholars to spell are mirth–
provocative to all the white spectators.

Item Citation: North Carolina Counties Collection, Flat Box 02, folder P0001/0311.  North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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