Late in the American Civil War, with man power decreasing for the South, it was proposed by Major General Patrick R. Cleburne, that the Confederacy offer the slaves and their families freedom following the war in exchange for their service in the Confederate Army. The plan was accepted and on March 13,1865 they began to train.

 

It is widely accepted today that the War was solely fought over slavery and nothing could be further from the truth. Today when African-Americans are mentioned in the same breath with the Confederacy, their service becomes marginalized, as they are often only remembered as cooks and laborers. When in reality they were serving as armed soldiers. Soldiers who were not serving in segregated regiments, as in the North, and only commanded by white officers, but openly integrated into the armies. One might openly question African-American service but they were also Southerners fighting for their homes and many became the first to offer their service at the start of the hostilities. While the Confederate government didn't enlist African Americans, each individual state could make its own decisions and chose to do so.  It also must be remembered the United States returned run away slaves and that that same government did not except on either a federal or state level African-American troops until May 22, 1863.

 

In September of 1861 the prominent abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass had this to say on African-Americans and their service within the Confederate Army. 

 

"It is now pretty well established, that there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may to destroy the Federal Government and build up that of the traitors and rebels."

 

Other quotes at the time include that of abolitionist and newspaper man Horace Greeley "For more then two years Negroes had been extensively employed in belligerent operations by the Confederacy." 

 

Some 50,000 to 60,000 served. Confederate Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest said "These boys stayed with me, drove my teams, and better Confederates did not live."  These men should not be forgotten and swept under the rug.  But remembered for all they gave in the face of adversity, men who not only fought for freedom of their country but also for themselves.