“A freed slave at the former slave pen, Price Birch & Co., at 1315 Duke Street, during the Civil War. During the war, the Union Army used the building as a jail.”
During the Civil War, the town of Alexandria in Virginia was occupied by Union troops. Those escaping from slavery found a safe haven in Alexandria because of the Union occupation. Alexandria's black population reached 5,300 by 1870, and the large numbers arriving during the war created a refugee crisis.
Many were housed in barracks, and disease was rampant. In 1864, after hundreds had perished, the Superintendent of Contrabands ordered that a property on the southern edge of town, across from the Catholic cemetery, be confiscated for use as a cemetery.
Alexandria Contrabands & Freedmen Cemetery served as the burial place for about 1,800 of those who fled to Alexandria to escape from slavery. A Memorial opened on the site of the cemetery in 2014, to honor the memory of the Freedmen, the hardships they faced, and their contributions to the City.
