CORINTH, Mississippi - On Tuesday, March 9, at 11:30 am, the National Park Service will present a special program at the Corinth Contraband Camp. This lunch-time program featuring Park Ranger Tom Parson, will share the history of the Contraband Camp and focus on members of the Guy family who fled from bondage in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to the safety behind Union lines at Corinth.
Once at the Contraband Camp, former slave Henry Guy would enlist in the 1st Alabama Infantry, African-Descent, which became the nucleus for the 55th United States Colored Troops. Guy would serve through the remainder of the war, and following his discharge, attempt for years to receive a military pension from the United States Government for his service. Ranger Parson will discuss the travails of the pension process and share information on the hundreds of Guy descendants who meet annually for a reunion in Memphis.
The Corinth Contraband Camp was established in the fall of 1862 as hundreds of escaped slave families found their way to Corinth. By mid-1863, the camp resembled a small town complete with a church, commissary, hospital, and framed log houses. A school was established, military aged men joined the Union Army ranks, and older folks farmed crops and sold cotton and produce on the open market. The Corinth Contraband Camp was considered to be a model camp and turned a monthly profit of $4,000 - $5,000 a month.
Everyone is invited to this special program at one of Corinth’s most unique historic sites. Participants are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch to enjoy during the talk. All COVID mitigation protocols will be followed, and masks will be mandatory if social distancing is not possible.
In addition to the ranger program, the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center has prepared a temporary exhibit called: “Government Pensions and a Contraband Family." Twelve exhibit panels share how Henry and Hannah Guy escaped slavery in Alabama and came to the Corinth Contraband Camp. The exhibit details the Guy’s life at the contraband camp, Henry’s injuries at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads, and the difficulties they endured while securing a military pension.The exhibit will be on display through March 20, 2021. The Center is free and open to the public from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm daily.
For more information on this and other park events, contact the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center at 662-287-9273, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShilohNMP and follow us on Twitter @ShilohNPS
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Tags: civil war military slavery freedmen contraband ranger tour
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
