In South Carolina, teenaged domestic slave Amy Spain is hanged for proclaiming herself free

Seventeen-year old slave Amy Spain, a domestic servant of attorney A.C. Spain in Darlington, South Carolina, spotted federal troops from General Sherman's march north to North Carolina, and immediately and loudly declared herself free.  When the troops had passed Confederate officials trial, convicted, and hanged her for disloyalty and theft, over the pleas of her owner, who acted as her defense counsel.  (By John Osborne) 
Source Citation
"Amy Spain," Harper's Weekly Magazine, September 30, 1865, p. 613. 
How to Cite This Page: "In South Carolina, teenaged domestic slave Amy Spain is hanged for proclaiming herself free," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/44434.