VICTIMS AND HEROES
352: Statement by a Discharged Virginia Black Soldier

Alexandria,Va., August 11,1865
JOHN BERRY of Alexandria, Virginia, vs. Benjamin Triplet of Fauquier County, near Ashby's Gap, Va. Complaint of refusal to allow him to bring away his family and of threatening his life as follows:

Berry states that on Monday the 7th inst. he went to Triplets, who said he went to the d---d yankees to fight against him-told him that the war was not over yet-that the niggers were not free. He asked him for his family, but Triplet told him he should not have them-that nobody should take them away,and that if anybody came into the yard he would shoot them. Berry has a wife and 6 children from 4 to 14 years of age. Statement of John berry, 11, August, 1865, Misc. records: Court Cases, ser. 3878, Alexandria, Va. Spt., RG 105 (A-10025) Statement taken by the Alexandria Freedmens Bureau Agent.