Mike Parker: An overlooked part of Black History
One of the most overlooked parts of Black History revolves around the service that many runaway slaves provided to the Union forces – especially those at New Bern. When New Bern fell to the Burnside Expedition in March of 1862, few locals today realize that from March 1862 until March 1865, New Bern served as a Union base and stronghold.
While New Bern was under Union control, thousands of enslaved people ran away from Eastern North Carolina plantations and farms to escape to the freedom promised behind Union lines. But not all of the runaways sought refuge. Many sought an opportunity to serve in the Union Army to help crush the Confederate forces.
One such runaway was Furney Bryant. Bryant’s talents came to the attention of Vincent Colyer, founder of the United States Christian Commission. The purpose of the commission was to provide religious support to Union troops.
After Union forces took New Bern, U.S. Gen. Burnside appointed Colyer as “Superintendent of the Poor in the captured territory.” His primary responsibility was finding ways to employ the energies of thousands of slaves who escaped into the Union lines. All told, roughly 7,500 enslaved people reached Union lines at New Bern.
The connection between Colyer and Bryant began when Colyer commissioned Bryant and another runaway to serve as spies. He had sent the two men to Kinston with instructions to report only to Colyer. When the spies returned to the Union lines, pickets and officers of the outposts stopped the two and took them into custody.
The Union soldiers involved had no idea that the two men were working under Colyer’s orders. The outpost soldiers sent the two men under guard to General Foster, who also had no idea that Burnside had given Colyer authority to enlist runaways to serve as spies.
Colyer reported: “For convenience he [Gen. Foster] brought them into my office; when, to my astonishment I found that the noted negro prisoners, of whom I had heard early in the morning were my two men. So faithful were they to my order, that though subjected to suspicion and indignity all the morning, from their own friends, they had not betrayed their trust.”
When Bryant first arrived at New Bern, he was dressed in rags and did not know a single letter of the alphabet. Bryant took advantage of the education available in the school that Colyer had established for the newly escaped.
Colyer eventually left New Bern, and Bryant enlisted in the 1st North Carolina Colored Regiment. He and his regiment were ordered to serve under U.S. General Quincy Adams Gilmore off Charleston, SC. Bryant’s gallantry and intelligence caused him to receive the appointment of 1st Sergeant – and earned him a 30-day leave of absence.
Bryant made a journey to New York City while he was on his circuitous way to New Bern. He wanted to stop in and see Colyer. By this time, Bryant displayed a soldierly appearance in his new uniform of Union blue. He wrote a letter to Colyer later that revealed the once illiterate man now had more than a basic education.
Bryant and three other soldiers of his regiment arrived in New Bern in time to defend that place against a desperate attack by Confederate forces in February 1864. Bryant heroically defended his native town – and the government that had set him free.
The story of Furney Bryant is just one of the thousands that are worthy of telling. However, few written records exist for most slaves who escaped into New Bern’s Union lines. Bryant is one example of the valor and determination many of these people had in their desire to obtain freedom.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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