What It Was Really Like Being A Teenager During The Civil War

Posted by Delta Gatti on Sunday, June 2, 2024

Born into slavery in 1848, Susan Baker, later known as Susie King Taylor, experienced a dramatic escape to freedom. Before that, she had to overcome barriers to her education. In 1855, according to the American Battlefield Trust, Taylor was allowed to live with her free grandmother in Savannah, Ga. Though she was legally forbidden to pursue an education, Taylor learned to read at two secret schools.

When she was only 14 years old, the National Park Service says, Taylor fled with her uncle and a small group of other slaves to a Union gunboat near Fort Pulaski, which was currently under the control of Confederate troops. Taylor went to live in a freed slave encampment on St. Simons Island, a Union-controlled bit of land off the southern coast of Georgia. 

Because she was literate, 14-year-old Taylor quickly became the lead educator on St. Simon's Island, making her the first Black teacher to openly educate other African Americans in Georgia. In a letter, she recalled having to teach an estimated 40 children, along with multiple adults who also wanted to learn how to read. In 1862, the teenaged Taylor married Edward King, an officer in the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment. She became a nurse and laundress for his regiment, while still working as a literacy teacher for the soldiers. After the war, she continued her work as an educator and published her memoirs, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp.

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