That's the Black Fact: The Devil's Punchbowl a Tragedy in History
The Devil’s Punchbowl
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By: Ervin Green
Introducing The Devil’s Punchbowl, the post American Civil War Black concentration camp!
The Devils Punchbowl (1865)
The Devil's Punchbowl is a location that has been forgotten in history occurring in 1865. This post American Civil War Black history note occurred in Natchez (Adams County), Mississippi.
As the Black enslaved made their way to freedom, the population in the town of Natchez quickly went from 10,000 to nearly 100,000. To deal with the extreme population growth due to the relocation of recent freedmen, a concentration camp was established by Union soldiers to dispose of the recently freed slaves. Don Estes, former director of the Natchez City Cemetery, said. "So, they decided to build an encampment for 'em at Devil's Punchbowl, which they walled off and wouldn't let 'em out."
The camp was called the Devil's Punchbowl because of how the area was shaped. The camp was at the bottom hollow pit with trees on the bluffs above. The women and children were locked behind the concrete walls of camp and left to die from starvation. Over 20,000 freed slaves were said to be killed inside this American concentration camp in one year.
It’s a story so horrific that it’s nearly been erased from American history.
This is a story that no matter how offensive of it may be for some, it should be remembered as a tribute to those that succumbed to the torturous ideology that prevailed at that time.
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