There is a video in the Sun Journal of the "Battle of New Bern" which shows an African American actress who swoops out into the crowd during a burst of exuberance at the welcome sight of the progressing Union Soldiers.
Unhappily, this was probably not the reality of the African American position during the time of the Union Occupation of New Bern. This is according to Stephen Ashe, in his work "Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South".
"Accordingly, few African-Americans were willing to self-emancipate for fear that they would be severely punished should the Union be pushed out again."
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