By 1861, the Federal Navy found it necessary to adopt an official policy on contrabands and runaway slaves who were seeking asylum aboard Union ships. Contrabands enlisted at a compensation rate no higher than ten dollars per month and one ration a day when needed by the Federal Navy. Much more than a biography of one man, this book is a history of Union naval warships, naval battles and the contrabands, or colored sailors, who served the Union cause. Colored casualties aboard Union ships are also listed. Ms. Secret's research methods will help many other genealogists. She consulted a post Civil War pension claim and a former slave living legal record. From the National Archives she compiled a roster of all Granderson(s) and/or Grandison(s) in the Civil War. Many documents are reproduced in full. These include pension declarations and claims, medical testaments, requests for increases in pensions, affidavits, marriage records, widow's pension documents and more. Mr. Grandison had some trouble proving his date of birth, because birth records of slaves were not kept on the plantation where he was born. This made it difficult for him to apply for his pension. A bibliography and an index of names, subjects and places add to the value of this work.