why did they hide the slaves in the barn during the civil war

Question

its my understanding that slaves were hiden in the tilson house barn during the civil war but i cant find out why and that is why they took the grist mill from the tilson house and its now in nashville

Answer 1

One of several reasons, to keep them from being "liberated" by northern soldiers, to keep them from running away, to keep them safe and protected. They buried the family silver etc. under trees, to protect it from marauders, so putting slaves in the barn would be the equivalent. At Belle Meade in Nashville, they put the children and I've always assumed some of the slaves in the icehouse, to protect them from stray bullets during the Battle of Nashville.

Comments

If the slave hiding was being done in the north they were probably runaways at a "safe house" on the underground railroad and were being hidden until it was safe to be moved to the next station.