*Signed Bookplate*

In this dramatic Civil War story, a courageous enslaved fugitive teams with a cunning Union general to save a Union fort from the Confederates--and triggers the end of slavery in the United States.

On the night Virginia secedes from the Union, three enslaved men approach Fortress Monroe. Knowing that Virginia's secession meant they would be separated from their families and sent farther south to work for the Confederacy, the men decided to plead for sanctuary. And they were in luck. The fort's commander, Benjamin Butler, retained them--and many more that followed-- and depended on the formerly enslaved folk to provide information about the Confederates. He found an especially perfect partner in George Scott, one of the escaped men, whose heroism saved the fort from enemy hands. And, it was the plight - and heroism - of the folks who sought refuge in Fort Monroe that convinced President Lincoln that slavery MUST be abolished and inspired him to write his Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in the rebellious states.