Rare Union officer discharge papers with a Black servant or camp servant for the officer. The officer was George G Ferres, a 1st Lieutenant and quartermaster with the 10th Kentucky Volunteers and his camp servant was Fleming, a mulatto who was actually paid for working with the Union army. Ferres’ enlistment period ran from November, 1862 to April 30, 1863, and as quartermaster, he was in charge of providing food rations, clothing, equipment, and other goods needed by the Union forces. Ferres received a monthly allowance for pay, food, and clothing, and so did Fleming, and that is all documented here. There is also a hand-written voucher on the back side of the papers. We are not sure if Fleming was an escaped slave, a free Black man (a freeman), contraband, or a personal servant to Ferres before the war. Contraband were escaped slaves who reached Union lines and were taken as “contraband” - captured enemy property - and became laborers or servants for the Union army. They were considered prizes of war and not returned to their Southern masters or owners, but remained safe on the Union side and were paid wages for supporting the Union cause. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation at the beginning of 1863 and this order freed slaves in the South, and Union soldiers took in large numbers of runaway slaves and employed them for camp duties after the Proclamation was issued. The 10th Kentucky Volunteers fought in Tennessee with the Army of the Cumberland during Ferres’ period of enlistment. The document is 10 1/8 x 16 inches wide, with chips, tears, and tape. Still, a rare document that shows Black men served with Union forces during the Civil War.