Civil War & Reconstruction
Trail to Freedom
12,000 Escape to Freedom
12,000 Escape to Freedom
Estimates were that 10,000 enslaved people escaped to freedom after they realized that Union forces were in Stafford. Later, Confederate newspapers said that 12,000 had left their enslavers. This greater number is probably more accurate, as Southerners considered the people they had enslaved their property and were very much aware of their loss.
