(GPB News) – When U.S. Gen. William T. Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah near the end of the Civil War, his army burned down Confederate buildings and plantations, freeing thousands of enslaved people along the way.
But the path to freedom was far from smooth.
That’s what Simone Adams learned at Ebenezer Creek in Rincon, Ga., earlier this year, when she found herself on waters with a dark history she had never heard of.
En route with Sherman’s march, a Union general sharing the name of Confederate President Jefferson Davis led his Union soldiers over the creek. But as the Confederate Army closed in, he took down the bridge after Union soldiers crossed but before formerly enslaved people following them could.
“There are some numbers [that] say there may have been as many as 10,000 formally enslaved folks following this part of the army,” Adams said. “So once they reached numbers en mass, the Union Army didn’t want to be responsible for feeding them or just didn’t want to be responsible for their well-being.”
Hundreds drowned and died. Some were recaptured.
The massacre was so atrocious, it led Black community leaders in Savannah to advocate for the an order issued by Sherman, promising 40 acres and one mule for each newly emancipated family.
But following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, new President Andrew Johnson rescinded the order and returned the land to the enslavers.
As the executive director of nonprofit Color My Outdoors, Adams will host a 1.5-mile paddle at Ebenezer Creek the day after Juneteenth, in remembrance of the massacre. The event will also include birdwatching, nature journaling and storytelling.
“This particular story is just one that’s lost to history,” Adams said. “I’m sure that most of the community in Rincon and surrounding Savannah have no idea that this major part of history took place right in their backyard.”
Registration is open to all for $35, and takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 20.
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