Unnamed U.S. Marshals

There were thousands of uniformed "United States marshals" in the South during Reconstruction as part of the federal government's efforts to enfranchise and protect the rights of emancipated slaves and to enforce the punishments Congress imposed on former Confederate leaders and soldiers. Their role is Absalom! is described (by Shreve) as only punitive: he refers to the "taxes and levies and penalties" with which they encumber Sutpen's property (146).