Robert's Story

An AI characterization of Robert Forbes, U.S. Colored Cavalry, Civil War

1st Regiment Colored Cavalry- Company A, Company Descriptive Book

Robert Forbes entry, 1st Regiment, U.S.C.C., Company A

This document was used to describe each enlisted soldier in a specific company of a regiment. Here we see the description for my third great granduncle, Robert Forbes. Note that he was 17 when he enlisted on December 21, 1863.

PVT/Private, Robert Forbes. Company Descriptive Book

Notice that Uncle Robert held the rank of Private (Pvt.) when he entered military service as a Cavalryman with the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War.

Occupation Description, Robert Forbes, Company Descriptive Book, Company A

Union officers who completed this document referred to Uncle Robert as a farmer even though we clearly know from my Grandfather Isaac that he was enslaved by a man named Walter Forbes. Abraham Lincoln declared that enslaved people in the Confederate states were free, so by the time my Grandfather Isaac and Uncle Robert were allowed to enlist, Union officers and the formerly enslaved soldiers used terms like "farmer," "servant," or "laborer" to describe them unless their was an actual occupation like, for example, a barber.

Camp Hamilton During the Civil War, 1861

Notice that Camp Hamilton covered a large part of the southern portion of the city of Hampton, Virginia during the Civil War. The western portion of Camp Hamilton is now home to Hampton University.

Apple Maps Image of Fort Monroe and the Southern Portion of Hampton, Virginia

This 2024 Apple map image shows you present day Fort Monroe and an approximate location of Camp Hamilton (within the greenshape). I have not been able to find exact coordinates for the camp, but it was said to hold between 5,000-12,000 soldiers. Notice Hampton University on the western side of the map.

The author standing on Hampton University's campus where parts of Camp Hamilton used to exist while looking out at the Hampton River

A 2023 image of me standing on the southwestern edge of the Hampton University campus looking at the Hampton River. Camp Hamilton stood in this area during the Civil War. In this picture, I am imagining that Granddad Isaac and Granduncle Robert stood just here.

Camp Hamilton Historical Marker located near Hampton University

The Emancipation Oak

Amazingly enough, this tree has been alive for over three hundred years. It is called the Emancipation Oak. It lives on the campus of Hampton University and more than likely stands where Camp Hamilton stood during the Civil War. This tree sits outside of Fort Monroe, probably within a mile. Many people are familiar with the story of the Black men, women, and children who ran away from enslavers in the local area and made their way to Fort Monroe to find protection from the Union Army. The Union referred to them as contraband. A woman by the name of Mary Peake was hired to teach the contraband to read and write, and she taught them under this tree. Years later after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed enslaved people in the Confederate states, some of the contraband sat beneath this tree and listened to the first reading of the proclamation in the South.