Despite the hardships and indignities of enslavement, the decision to escape was seldom taken lightly. Factors to be weighed by the prospective runaway included not only certain physical punishment and likely resale to a distant owner under possibly even harsher conditions, but also emotional ties to family, fellow bondpersons, place, and occasionally, even to a master. Yet while it is not known how many runaways failed in attempts to flee, it is safe to say that most recognized that the probability of recapture was high, given the ubiquity of slave patrols, the unavailability of clear and direct routes, and the physical difficulties of the journey itself. Most runaways traveled by night and by foot, with little or no assistance from others as they made their way toward free states. Accounts by Underground Railroad operators such as Levi Coffin and Laura S. Haviland frequently describe...