Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
A Wisconsin officer refuses to give slaves back to their owners (1), 1862
News from the 4th Regiment--Col. Paine Under Arrest
In the spring of 1862 Wisconsin troops helped storm New Orleans and then moved up the Mississippi River. The Fourth Infantry, led by Col. Halbert E. Paine, was in Baton Rouge, La., in June 1862 when General Thomas Williams issued an order that no African Americans were to be harbored in U.S. soldiers' camps, but that escaping slaves were to be turned over to their owners. Paine, law partner of Carl Schurz and a staunch abolitionist, refused to obey this order from his commander. This article gives the correspondence between the two officers and describes the punishment Paine suffered for his insubordination. See the related documents elsewhere in Turning Points.
| Related Topics: |
Wisconsin in the Civil War Era Abolition and Other Reforms The Iron Brigade, Old Abe and Military Affairs |
| Creator: | Anonymous |
| Pub Data: | Unattributed newspaper clipping (Abbotsford Clarion?, June 1862) in a scrapbook at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library |
| Citation: | "News from the 4th Regiment--Col. Paine Under Arrest." Unattributed newspaper clipping (Abbotsford Clarion?, June 1862) in a scrapbook at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library; Online facsimile at: http://wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1362; Visited on: 4/20/2024 |
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