Slave woman rescued by soldiers of the Abolition Regiment and smuggled to home of the reputed head of the Underground Railroad.
This restored 1862 photograph features a teenage escaped slave and the two soldiers who escorted her to safety. The men, Frank M. Rockwell (left), a twenty-two-year-old postmaster from the town of Geneva, and Jesse L. Berch, a twenty-five-year-old quartermaster sergeant from Racine, were with Wisconsin's 22nd Infantry Regiment (also called the Abolition Regiment). While the men were encamped near Nicholasville, Kentucky, a young mulatto slave girl, about 18 years old, was sold by her master to a man intent on placing her in a house of prostitution at Lexington, Kentucky. When the girl learned of her fate, she fled from her master and made her way to the camp of the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers where she told her story and asked for protection. The men there agreed to help her even though it was illegal for Northern troops to protect fugitive slaves who came within their lines. Colonel Utley wanted to get the young woman to safety and Rockwell and Berch volunteered to conduct her to Cincinnati. The girl was given soldier's clothing and was disguised as a soldier boy, hidden under some hay in a sutler's wagon. The men dressed in citizen's clothing and traveled, almost without stopping, over one hundred miles to Cincinnati, where they delivered the teen to the home of Levi Coffin, the reputed president of the Underground Railroad. The party remained in Cincinnati a day or two to recover from the fatigue of the journey before the young lady would travel on to Racine, Wisconsin where friends of the soldiers (who had been telegraphed about the situation) would be awaiting her arrival. While the group was staying in Cincinnati, they visited Ball's Photographic Gallery (where this photo was taken.) The men are shown standing with their revolvers drawn to indicate that they would protect the woman with their own lives. The young lady made it safely to Racine, where she made her residence for a few months. Afterward, she married a barber and moved to Illinois.
Size: 2568px × 4086px
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photo credit: © Alpha Historica / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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