The records show large numbers of slaves during the American Civil War escaped to or were brought within the Union lines. The records also show the slaves along the Red River seeking freedom followed Banks' army as it retreated back down the Red River. These slaves were sent to contraband camps where men of military age were drafted into the Federal army. Men and women not too old or infirm were put to work on plantations under Federal control. Some plantation owners sent or took their slaves to Texas to prevent them running away or falling into Federal hands. I have no information on those slaves who lived on Moreland's Plantation, but it can be assumed many of these slaves would have sought the protection of Banks' army as it retreated to the Mississippi River and some may have remained.