>By Scott Williams
>
> <http://37thtexas.org/html/thewargallery.html>
>
>Black Confederates Why haven't we heard more about them? National Park
>Service historian, Ed Bearrs, stated, "I don't want to call it a
>conspiracy to ignore the role of Blacks both above and below the
>Mason-Dixon line, but it was definitely a tendency that began around
>1910" Historian, Erwin L. Jordan, Jr., calls it a "cover-up" which
>started back in 1865. He writes, "During my research, I came across
>instances where Black men stated they were soldiers, but you can plainly
>see where 'soldier' is crossed out and 'body servant' inserted, or
>'teamster' on pension applications." Another black historian, Roland
>Young, says he is not surprised that blacks fought. He explains that
>"some, if not most, Black southerners would support their country" and
>that by doing so they were "demonstrating it's possible to hate the
>system of slavery and love one's country." This is the very same
>reaction that most African Americans showed during the American
>Revolution, where they fought for the colonies, even though the British
>offered them freedom if they fought for them.
>
>It has been estimated that over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the
>Confederate ranks. Over 13,000 of these, "saw the elephant" also known
>as meeting the enemy in combat. These Black Confederates included both
>slave and free. The Confederate Congress did not approve blacks to be
>officially enlisted as soldiers (except as musicians), until late in the
>war. But in the ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate
>officers did not obey the mandates of politicians, they frequently
>enlisted blacks with the simple criteria, "Will you fight?" Historian
>Ervin Jordan, explains that "biracial units" were frequently organized
>"by local Confederate and State militia Commanders in response to
>immediate threats in the form of Union raids". Dr. Leonard Haynes, an
>African-American professor at Southern University, stated, "When you
>eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you've eliminated the history
>of the South."
>
>As the war came to an end, the Confederacy took progressive measures to
>build back up its army. The creation of the Confederate States Colored
>Troops, copied after the segregated northern colored troops, came too
>late to be successful. Had the Confederacy been successful, it would
>have created the world's largest armies (at the time) consisting of
>black soldiers,even larger than that of the North. This would have given
>the future of the Confederacy a vastly different appearance than what
>modern day racist or anti-Confederate liberals conjecture. Not only did
>Jefferson Davis envision black Confederate veterans receiving bounty
>lands for their service, there would have been no future for slavery
>after the goal of 300,000 armed black CSA veterans came home after the
>war.
>
>1. The "Richmond Howitzers" were partially manned by black militiamen.
>They saw action at 1st Manassas (or 1st Battle of Bull Run) where they
>operated battery no. 2. In addition two black "regiments", one free and
>one slave, participated in the battle on behalf of the South. "Many
>colored people were killed in the action", recorded John Parker, a
>former slave.
>
>2. At least one Black Confederate was a non-commissioned officer. James
>Washington, Co. D 35th Texas Cavalry, Confederate States Army, became
>it's 3rd Sergeant. Higher ranking black commissioned officers served in
>militia units, but this was on the State militia level (Louisiana)and
>not in the regular C.S. Army.
>
>3. Free black musicians, cooks, soldiers and teamsters earned the same
>pay as white confederate privates. This was not the case in the Union
>army where blacks did not receive equal pay. At the Confederate Buffalo
>Forge in Rockbridge County, Virginia, skilled black workers "earned on
>average three times the wages of white Confederate soldiers and more
>than most Confederate army officers ($350- $600 a year).
>
>4. Dr. Lewis Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary
>Commission while observing Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's occupation of
>Frederick, Maryland, in 1862: "Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in
>this number [Confederate troops]. These were clad in all kinds of
>uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but
>in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby,
>but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel
>ranks. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers,
>bowie-knives, dirks, etc.....and were manifestly an integral portion of
>the Southern Confederate Army."
>
>5. Frederick Douglas reported, "There are at the present moment many
>Colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty not only as cooks,
>servants and laborers, but real soldiers, having musket on their
>shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down any loyal
>troops and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government
>and build up that of the rebels."
>
>6. Black and white militiamen returned heavy fire on Union troops at the
>Battle of Griswoldsville (near Macon, GA). Approximately 600 boys and
>elderly men were killed in this skirmish.
>
>7. In 1864, President Jefferson Davis approved a plan that proposed the
>emancipation of slaves, in return for the official recognition of the
>Confederacy by Britain and France. France showed interest but Britain
>refused.
>
>8. The Jackson Battalion included two companies of black soldiers. They
>saw combat at Petersburg under Col. Shipp. "My men acted with utmost
>promptness and goodwill...Allow me to state sir that they behaved in an
>extraordinary acceptable manner."
>
>9. Recently the National Park Service, with a recent discovery,
>recognized that blacks were asked to help defend the city of Petersburg,
>Virginia and were offered their freedom if they did so. Regardless of
>their official classification, black Americans performed support
>functions that in today's army many would be classified as official
>military service. The successes of white Confederate troops in battle,
>could only have been achieved with the support these loyal black
>Southerners.
>
>10. Confederate General John B. Gordon (Army of Northern Virginia)
>reported that all of his troops were in favor of Colored troops and that
>it's adoption would have "greatly encouraged the army". Gen. Lee was
>anxious to receive regiments of black soldiers. The Richmond Sentinel
>reported on 24 Mar 1864, "None will deny that our servants are more
>worthy of respect than the motley hordes which come against us." "Bad
>faith [to black Confederates] must be avoided as an indelible dishonor."
>
>11. In March 1865, Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary Of State,
>promised freedom for blacks who served from the State of Virginia.
>Authority for this was finally received from the State of Virginia and
>on April 1st 1865, $100 bounties were offered to black soldiers.
>Benjamin exclaimed, "Let us say to every Negro who wants to go into the
>ranks, go and fight, and you are free Fight for your masters and you
>shall have your freedom." Confederate Officers were ordered to treat
>them humanely and protect them from "injustice and oppression".
>
>12. A quota was set for 300,000 black soldiers for the Confederate
>States Colored Troops. 83% of Richmond's male slave population
>volunteered for duty. A special ball was held in Richmond to raise money
>for uniforms for these men. Before Richmond fell, black Confederates in
>gray uniforms drilled in the streets. Due to the war ending, it is
>believed only companies or squads of these troops ever saw any action.
>Many more black soldiers fought for the North, but that difference was
>simply a difference because the North instituted this progressive policy
>more sooner than the more conservative South. Black soldiers from both
>sides received discrimination from whites who opposed the concept .
>
>13. Union General U.S. Grant in Feb 1865, ordered the capture of "all
>the Negro men before the enemy can put them in their ranks." Frederick
>Douglass warned Lincoln that unless slaves were guaranteed freedom
>(those in Union controlled areas were still slaves) and land bounties,
>"they would take up arms for the rebels".
>
>14. On April 4, 1865 (Amelia County, VA), a Confederate supply train was
>exclusively manned and guarded by black Infantry. When attacked by
>Federal Cavalry, they stood their ground and fought off the charge, but
>on the second charge they were overwhelmed. These soldiers are believed
>to be from "Major Turner's" Confederate command.
>
>15. A Black Confederate, George _____, when captured by Federals was
>bribed to desert to the other side. He defiantly spoke, "Sir, you want
>me to desert, and I ain't no deserter. Down South, deserters disgrace
>their families and I am never going to do that."
>
>16. Former slave, Horace King, accumulated great wealth as a contractor
>to the Confederate Navy. He was also an expert engineer and became known
>as the "Bridge builder of the Confederacy." One of his bridges was
>burned in a Yankee raid. His home was pillaged by Union troops, as his
>wife pleaded for mercy.
>
>17. As of Feb. 1865 1,150 black seamen served in the Confederate Navy.
>One of these was among the last Confederates to surrender, aboard the
>CSS Shenandoah, six months after the war ended. This surrender took
>place in England.
>
>18. Nearly 180,000 Black Southerners, from Virginia alone, provided
>logistical support for the Confederate military. Many were highly
>skilled workers. These included a wide range of jobs: nurses, military
>engineers, teamsters, ordnance department workers, brakemen, firemen,
>harness makers, blacksmiths, wagonmakers, boatmen, mechanics,
>wheelwrights, etc. In the 1920'S Confederate pensions were finally
>allowed to some of those workers that were still living. Many thousands
>more served in other Confederate States.
>
>19. During the early 1900's, many members of the United Confederate
>Veterans (UCV) advocated awarding former slaves rural acreage and a
>home. There was hope that justice could be given those slaves that were
>once promised "forty acres and a mule" but never received any. In the
>1913 Confederate Veteran magazine published by the UCV, it was printed
>that this plan "If not Democratic, it is [the] Confederate" thing to do.
>There was much gratitude toward former slaves, which "thousands were
>loyal, to the last degree", now living with total poverty of the big
>cities. Unfortunately, their proposal fell on deaf ears on Capitol Hill.
>
>20. During the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1913,
>arrangements were made for a joint reunion of Union and Confederate
>veterans. The commission in charge of the event made sure they had
>enough accommodations for the black Union veterans, but were completely
>surprised when unexpected black Confederates arrived. The white
>Confederates immediately welcomed their old comrades, gave them one of
>their tents, and "saw to their every need". Nearly every Confederate
>reunion including those blacks that served with them, wearing the gray.
>
>21. The first military monument in the US Capitol that honors an
>African-American soldier is the Confederate monument at Arlington
>National cemetery. The monument was designed 1914 by Moses Ezekiel, a
>Jewish Confederate. Who wanted to correctly portray the "racial makeup"
>in the Confederate Army. A black Confederate soldier is depicted
>marching in step with white Confederate soldiers. Also shown is one
>"white soldier giving his child to a black woman for protection".-
>source: Edward Smith, African American professor at the American
>University, Washington DC.
>
>22. Black Confederate heritage is beginning to receive the attention it
>deserves. For instance, Terri Williams, a black journalist for the
>Suffolk "Virginia Pilot" newspaper, writes: "I've had to re-examine my
>feelings toward the [Confederate] flag started when I read a newspaper
>article about an elderly black man whose ancestor worked with the
>Confederate forces. The man spoke with pride about his family member's
>contribution to the cause, was photographed with the [Confederate] flag
>draped over his lap that's why I now have no definite stand on just what
>the flag symbolizes, because it no longer is their history, or my
>history, but our history."
>
>Resources:
>
>Charles Kelly Barrow, et.al. Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About
>Black Southerners (1995). Currently the best book on the subject.
>
>Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War
>Virginia (1995). Well researched and very good source of information on
>Black Confederates, but has a strong Union bias.
>
>Richard Rollins. Black Southerners in Gray (1994). Excellent source.
>
>Dr. Edward Smith and Nelson Winbush, "Black Southern Heritage". An
>excellent educational video. Mr. Winbush is a descendent of a Black
>Confederate and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).
>
>This fact page is not an all inclusive list of Black Confederates, only
>a small sampling of accounts. For general historical information on
>Black Confederates, contact Dr. Edward Smith, American University, 4400
>Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20016; Dean of American
>Studies. Dr. Smith is a black professor dedicated to clarifying the
>historical role of African Americans.
>
>> Blacks Who Fought For the South
>
> Most historical accounts portray Southern blacks as anxiously
>awaiting President Abraham Lincoln's "liberty-dispensing troops"
>marching south in the War Between the States. But there's more to the
>story; let's look at it.
> Black Confederate military units, both as freemen and slaves,
>fought federal troops. Louisiana free blacks gave their reason for
>fighting in a letter written to New Orleans' Daily Delta: "The free
>colored population love their home, their property, their own slaves and
>recognize no other country than Louisiana, and are ready to shed their
>blood for her defense. They have no sympathy for Abolitionism; no love
>for the North, but they have plenty for Louisiana. They will fight for
>her in 1861 as they fought in 1814-15." As to bravery, one black scolded
>the commanding general of the state militia, saying, "Pardon me,
>general, but the only cowardly blood we have got in our veins is the
>white blood."
> Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest had slaves and freemen serving in
>units under his command. After the war, Forrest said of the black men
>who served under him, "These boys stayed with me.. - and better
>Confederates did not live." Articles in "Black Southerners in Gray,"
>edited by Richard Rollins, gives numerous accounts of blacks serving as
>fighting men or servants in every battle from Gettysburg to Vicksburg.
> Professor Ed Smith, director of American Studies at American
>University, says Stonewall Jackson had 3,000 fully equipped black troops
>scattered throughout his corps at Antietam - the war's bloodiest battle.
>Mr. Smith calculates that between 60,000 and 93,000 blacks served the
>Confederacy in some capacity. They fought for the same reason they
>fought in previous wars and wars afterward: "to position themselves.
>They had to prove they were patriots in the hope the future would be
>better ... they hoped to be rewarded."
> Many knew Lincoln had little love for enslaved blacks and didn't
>wage war against the South for their benefit. Lincoln made that plain,
>saying, "I will say, then, that I am not, nor have ever been in favor of
>bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white
>and black races ... I am in favor of having the superior position
>assigned to the white race." The very words of his 1863 Emancipation
>Proclamation revealed his deceit and cunning; it freed those slaves held
>"within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall
>then be in rebellion against the United States." It didn't apply to
>slaves in West Virginia and areas and states not in rebellion. Like Gen.
>Ulysses Grant's slaves, they had to wait for the 13th Amendment, Grant
>explained why he didn't free his slaves earlier, saying, "Good help is
>so hard to come by these days."
> Lincoln waged war to "preserve the Union". The 1783 peace
>agreement with England (Treaty of Paris] left 13 sovereign nations. They
>came together in 1787, as principals, to create a federal government, as
>their agent, giving it specific delegated authority -specified in our
>Constitution. Principals always retain the right to fire their agent.
>The South acted on that right when it seceded. Its firing on Fort
>Sumter, federal property, gave Lincoln the pretext needed for the war.
> The War Between the States, through force of arms, settled the
>question of secession, enabling the federal government to run roughshod
>over states' rights specified by the Constitution's 10th Amendment.
> Sons of Confederate Veterans is a group dedicated to giving a
>truer account of the War Between the States. I'd like to see it erect on
>Richmond's Monument Avenue a statue of one of the thousands of black
>Confederate soldiers.
>
> Source: This article appeared in the Washington Times some
>years back. It was written by Walter Williams, an economics professor
>at George Mason University, a nationally syndicated columnist, an
>African-American, and one of the most effective speakers I have ever
>heard!
>
> This Page last updated 11/29/02

>Units In Which Black Confederates Served
>
>
>Tenn. Infantry
>
>1st
>2nd
>3rd
>6th
>7th
>8th
>9th
>12th
>13th
>14th
>15th
>16th
>17th
>18th
>19th
>20th
>23rd
>24th
>27th
>28th
>30th
>31st
>42nd
>43rd
>45th
>46th
>47th
>48th
>50th (Old)
>51st
>54th
>
>
>Tenn. Cavalry
>
>1st
>2nd
>3rd
>4th
>6th
>7th
>8th
>9th Battalion
>11th
>14th
>21st
>48th
>
>1st Confederate Infantry
>
>Kentucky Infantry
>
>6th
>12th
>
>Kentucky Cavalry
>
>2nd
>
>Alabama Infantry
>
>5th
>12th
>31st
>
>Alabama Cavalry
>
>11th
>
>Georgia Infantry
>
>10th
>46th
>
>Forrest's HQ
>
>Gen. Hoke's HQ
>
>Miss. Infantry
>
>6th
>9th
>14th
>15th
>29th
>
>Miss. Cavalry
>
>3rd
>
>1st Miss. Light Artillery
>
>N. Carolina Cavalry
>
>5th
>
>Texas Infantry
>
>17th
>
>White's Battery
>
>Manley's Battery
>