Some More on Charles K. Mallory: A Benjamin Butler Connection?

Midshipman Charles Mallory was the son and namesake of Charles K. Mallory, a lawyer, plantation owner and militia colonel of Hampton, Virginia.  In May 1861, three of the senior Mallory slaves, Frank Baker, Sheppard Mallory and James Townsend, escaped to Union lines.

Their return was demanded of the Union commander in the area, General Benjamin Butler, under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Butler refused stating that since Virginia had claimed independence the Act did not apply.  And, because Virginia was at war with the United States, the runaway slaves, legally being "chattel property" were now "contraband of war."

So, that's where all that comes from.

--Old B-R'er