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Peter (fl. 1863) (also known as Gordon, or "Whipped Peter", or "Poor Peter") was a self-emancipated, formerly enslaved man who was the subject of photographs documenting the extensive scarring of his back from whippings received in slavery.
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Who was poor Peter & how did he get enslaved?
Why did a picture of a escaped enslaved man 'Whipped Peter' savagely scar?
How did Peter and other enslaved people escape?
Did a escaped enslaved man show his scarred back?
- Overview
- HISTORY Vault: Black History
The widely circulated image of the enslaved man's wounds helped turn white Northerners against slavery.
A picture can speak volumes. In the case of an escaped enslaved man who came to be called "Whipped Peter," an 1863 photo of his savagely scarred back helped raise a national outcry against the cruelty of slavery.
By the time Peter had made it to a Union encampment in Baton Rouge in March 1863, he had been through hell. Bloodhounds had chased him. He had been pursued for miles, had run barefoot through creeks and across fields. He had survived, if barely. When he reached the soldiers, Peter’s clothing was ragged and soaked with mud and sweat.
But his 10-day ordeal was nothing compared to what he had already been through. During Peter's enslavement on John and Bridget Lyons’ Louisiana plantation, Peter endured not just the indignity of slavery, but a brutal whipping that nearly took his life. And when he joined the Union Army after his escape from slavery, Peter exposed his scars during a medical examination.
Raised welts and strafe marks crisscrossed his back. The marks extended from his buttocks to his shoulders, calling to mind the viciousness and power with which he had been beaten. It was a hideous constellation of scars: visual proof of the brutality of slavery. And for thousands of white people, it was a shocking image that helped fuel the fires of abolition during the Civil War.
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Sep 30, 2022 · In March 1863, a man in torn clothes, barefoot and exhausted, stumbled across the Union Army’s XIXth Corps in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That man was known only as Gordon, or “Whipped Peter,” a slave from St. Landry Parish who had escaped his owners John and Bridget Lyons who held roughly 40 other people in bondage.
- Morgan Dunn
Dec 9, 2022 · A photograph of an enslaved man who survived a whipping that left his body mutilated and scarred helped to reveal the brutality of American slavery.
In March 1863, a man known only as Peter escaped from slavery on a Louisiana plantation and after a harrowing journey found safety among Union soldiers encamped at Baton Rouge.
In a daring bid for freedom on March 24, 1863, an enslaved man named Peter embarked on a treacherous journey toward liberty. Peter fled his 3,000-acre Louisiana plantation. He made his way eastward, seeking refuge along the Mississippi River.
Jul 1, 2023 · “Whipped Peter” refers to an enslaved man named Gordon, who was subjected to severe physical punishment as a slave. He became known as “Whipped Peter” due to the scars on his back caused by the brutal whippings he endured.
