Private Samuel Dudley
Pvt. Samuel Dudley
Samuel Dudley was born in 1835 in Franklin County, Virginia. He stood 5’5” with a copper complexion, black hair, and black eyes. He enlisted in the Union Army on September 1, 1863, in Natchez, Mississippi, for three years. While nothing is known about Dudley prior to enlistment, he was likely enslaved. Natchez was an epicenter of the U.S. Slave Trade, and many enslaved people were emancipated by the advancing Union Army.
On his enlistment papers he expressed his name with a mark, implying that he could not read or write. His decision to join the Union forces coincided with the broader movement of formerly enslaved men taking the opportunity to fight for their freedom and the destruction of slavery.
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At the time of enlistment, his occupation was listed as Tobacconist, so he was in some way involved in the tobacco trade. Tobacco was a major cash crop in Virginia, but along with cotton, played a major economic and political role across the Upper South.
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Dudley served in the 6th Regiment Heavy Artillery Company C until December 31, 1863, when he died in camp at Natchez, Mississippi, from pneumonia. Dudley was likely freed by the Union advance into Natchez through Vicksburg. The Vicksburg campaign, which began in 1862 and ended with a siege on July 4, 1863, was a pivotal series of victories for the Union army, securing control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy in half. Following the successful siege of Vicksburg, the Union advanced on Natchez, further securing their hold on the Mississippi.
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While Dudley served in the fall of 1863, the U.S. Army took control of the Mississippi River and troops stationed at Natchez received orders to tear down slave pens at the Forks of the Road, the second largest domestic slave market in the Deep South. An article published by the African American Intellectual History Society (AAISH) shared a white officer’s account of USCT doing this work: “Natchez Black soldiers working through the night to tear down the slave pens with ‘wildest enthusiasm’ and ‘terrible earnestness’ attests to their vehement commitment to abolishing those enslaving structures forever.”
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Although his time in service was brief, Samuel Dudley is buried with a military headstone in Natchez National Cemetery, Section G Site 3104.
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Contributors: Chance Cheek, Sarah Plummer, Brendan Breitzmann, Jess Stear, Kenzie Thomas, Richard Quach, Brooke Corley, and Alec DiLeonardo
