ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A group of slaves-turned-soldiers during the Civil War took on a 3-week-long rescue mission for their families in the true story of Wild's Raid.
In 1863, the usually peaceful shores of the Pasquotank River became a battlefield. Under the command of Union Brigadier General Edward August Wild, a brigade of Black troops besieged Confederate forces in Elizabeth City.
Many of the Black soldiers had been enslaved in the region only months before. Now they were returning to rescue family and friends in a three-week-long expedition known as Wild's Raid.
They captured camps, supplies and rebel guerilla campaigns. The brigade was able to free most of the remaining enslaved people in Elizabeth City and the surrounding counties, totaling 2,500 people saved.