A sheet music cover with a comic scene of escaping slaves, produced around the time of Union general Benjamin F. Butler's declaration of such fugitives as contraband of war. (See "The (Fort) Monroe Doctrine," no. 1861-37.) The song was composed by Septimus Winner, and dedicated to Butler.
Four black men tumble down a grassy knoll, pursued by a planter or overseer who hastens down the steps behind. The music cover was deposited for copyright on August 7, 1861.
