Introduction: an evening on Malvern Hill -- Preludes: war, slavery, and the Virginia peninsula -- Contraband of war: April-July 1861 -- War is a swift educator: July-December 1861 -- The best informed residents in Virginia: December 1861-April 1862 -- The monuments to negro labor: April-May 1862 -- Those by whom these relations are broken: May 1862 -- An invaluable ally: late May-July 1862 -- A higher destiny: July 1862 -- Conclusion: monarchs of all they survey.