they left the slave houses which was more than they left violet guntharp who lived near winnsboro. she recalled, after they ravaged the whole countryside, the army went across the river and left the air full of stink of dead carcasses and the sky black. she also recalled the children sucking their thumbs for want of something to eat. the troops moved on leaving the newly freed to scavenge for their survival. lots of the children died as did the old folks while the rest of us scoured the woods for hickory nuts, acorns, and artichokes. barnett spencer who had been a slave in alabama concurred of the recollections of war. their compliance always controlled through the physical need of food, slaves were accustomed to hunger, but the union invasion heightened in already meager existence. according to spencer, the yankees starved out more black faces than whites. after they came, it was hard to find either food or shelter since many of the buildings on spencer's plantation, including the slave quarters, had been burned. many ex slaves died in piles from starvation and disease. hunger lef