| Charles Green lived in enslavement in Kentucky before and during the Civil War. In this excerpt, he describes the fear the enslavers put into the enslaved about the raiding Union (Yankee) soldiers, and how Confederate Soldiers (led by John Morgan) were not to be feared. However, he also mentions how his half brother and father joined the Union cause. |
Excerpt:
When old John Morgan came through raiding, he took meat and horses from our place, and just left the smokehouse empty. Father and my half-brother, George Spencer Green, joined up with the 112th Kentucky boys, and was with General Sherman marching to the sea. Father, he died, but Spence came home after the war and settled in the lower part of Mason County.
…We thought the Yankee soldiers were coming to carry us off, and they told us to hide if we saw them. I remember one night; ‘twas mostly dark; I saw some Yankee soldiers, and I was scared to death. They yelled at me, and I took to my heels; then they shot in the air and I ran all the faster getting back to the house. But when Old [Confederate General] John Morgan came along a-raiding and carrying off the meat and good horses, we weren’t afraid.
| Interviewee Formerly enslaved person | Birth Year (Age) | Interviewer WPA Volunteer | Enslaver’s Name |
| Charles Green | 1859 (78) | Not Named | Wallingsford |
| Interview Location | Residence State | Birth Location |
| Clark County, OH | Ohio | Mason County, KY |
| Themes & Keywords | Additional Tags: |
| Family, Emancipation, Civil War, | First Person, Union Troops, |
Green_C_1