Today we visited Fort Munroe, built after the war of 1812 to guard the water routes inland into Virginia from assault by sea. During the Civil War it was controlled by Union forces for the duration of the war, dominating the entrance to the major Virginian waterways uncontested. Major General Benjamin Butler, in command of the fort, refused to return runaway slaves to their confederate owners, calling them contraband and arguing that by their masters' abandonment of them and the union's lack of claim to them, they could be considered free.
Soon, thousands of slaves began to flock to Union lines and Fort Munroe, seeking asylum. The reaction among the Union army was mostly annoyance at having to deal with them at all.