I think that means beaten up. Douglass related the story of Mr. Thomas Hamilton's slaves, Henrietta and Mary. The two women were the most "mangled and emaciated creatures" Douglass had ever seen. Mary's head, neck, and shoulders were cut to pieces. Most of the whippings were administered by Mrs. Hamilton. Barely an hour could pass without intense verbal epithets and beatings. The women were also starved nearly to death. Most distressingly, "so much was Mary kicked and cut to pieces, that she was oftener called 'pecked' than by her name."
