According to The Valley of the Shadow, a Civil War digital archive project, the Staunton Spectator (Staunton, Virgina) newspaper on Tuesday, October 13, 1863 reported: "The Petersburg Express is informed by Lieut. Daniels, who has just arrived at Petersburg from Fort Norfolk, that some 35 or 40 Southern negroes, captured at Gettysburg, are confined at Fort McHenry. He says that they profess an undying attachment to the South. Several times Gen. Schenck has offered to release them from the Fort, if they would take the oath of allegiance to the Federal Government and join the Lincoln army. They had peremptorily refused in every instance, and claim that they should be restored to their masters and homes in the South. They say they would prefer death to liberty on the terms proposed by Schneck."¹

¹"Staunton Spectaor: October 13, 1863."  The Valley of the Shadow. 1 May 2010.