Note the flagrant racist appeal this Yankee soldier is making. Haley clearly bemoans the fact that the racial line was not being kept as bold as Northerners desired. He equates both black and white Southerners as debased and backward. This racist attitude was not something new for Northerners. The Northern racist attitude was noted by an English Abolitionist, James S. Buckingham, who in 1842 wrote, “This is only one among the many proofs I had witnessed of the fact, that the prejudice of color is not nearly so strong in the South as in the North. [In the South] it is not at all uncommon to see the black slaves of both sexes, shake hands with white people when they meet, and interchange friendly personal inquiries; but at the North I do not remember to have witnessed this once; and neither in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia would white persons generally like to be seen shaking hands and talking familiarly with blacks in the streets.”9 Is it any wonder that, with such an attitude about Southerners, the Northern army could wreak such havoc on the South?
The North was unwilling to learn from true history about the relationship between slave and master, but instead Northerners chose to perpetuate the Abolitionist lie about the South. If the North had taken the time to look at the way blacks had acted when other invading armies had sought to entice slave revolts in the South, they would have noted a strong history of blacks supporting their “home folks.”
During the American War for Independence, when the British army offered “freedom” to the slave population if they would revolt against their masters, very few took up that offer. In truth, slaves just like their masters supported the American effort for independence. During the War of 1812, the British captured Washington, D.C. At that time Washington, D.C., had more than fourteen hundred slaves and nearly a thousand free blacks in the city. The British had hoped that the blacks of Washington would fly to the British flag and help defeat the Americans. Again, the invader was disappointed.10 At the last battle of the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans, free men of color were a part of the American army that defeated the British. When the Northern armies came down South offering “freedom” to the slaves of Dixie, the words were not new to the slaves. Same song, different verse; but the slaves had heard it before.
Jerry W. May, Confederate veteran, died in 1905. A memorial service, at his gravesite, was held in his honor in August 1990. Sons of Confederate Veterans officials, who saw no irony in the tribute, paid their respects to the soldier as Confederate reenactors bestowed a twenty-one gun salute. In the August 20, 1990, edition of the Atlanta Journal, a memorial attendee stated, “We’re not honoring this man because he is black. We’re honoring him because he ivas a Confederate soldier.”
BLACK CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOUTHERN WAR EFFORT
The contributions of black Southerners to the war effort between 1861 and 1865 fall into two major categories: (1) civilian support, and (2) military support.
Black support of the civilian effort has often been overlooked or belittled by the detractors of the South. Any modern war, and it has often been said that this war was the first really modern war, cannot be carried on without proper support from the home front. Everything from food to munitions must be provided. To keep a modern army in the field, there must be an adequate and stable labor force at home. The work force must be skilled to provide those materials that an army requires to fight. As an example of such skilled labor, one only has to look at the performance of the blacks on the farms and plantations of the South during the war. With virtually no adult white males (age sixteen to forty-five years) on hand, the black farmers of the South keep food production at a level that allowed the army and civilians to be fed. Shoes, harnesses, ropes, clothes, and other necessities were made and forwarded to the men on the field of battle. The black Southerner supported the civilian war effort in many unacknowledged ways. The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, which was the most important iron works for the South, drew nearly one-half of its work force from the ranks of its black population.11 Without the support of the black population, the war effort of the South would not have lasted nearly as long as it did.
Abolitionists usually insist that the only reason that the blacks performed such acts was because they were intimidated by the whites into acting in this manner. Yet, throughout the South, the mature white males were far away in the army. In many places, the white population consisted of women, children, and elderly men. Does anyone think that a people who had proven themselves fierce in war in Africa could be cowered into doing so much against their will? Of course not. Yes, some blacks ran away from home just as some young people today run away from home, but that does not mean that all blacks of that time were unhappy with their lot or that they were being mistreated. As Prof. Edward C. Smith has said, “… blacks could … have escaped to nearby Union lines but few chose to do so and instead remained at home and became the most essential element in the Southern infrastructure to resisting Northern invasion.”12
BLACKS IN GRAY IN THE CONFEDERACY
Given that all this is true, what about the contribution to the Southern military effort by blacks? We will take the testimony of some Northern officers and enlisted men to answer that question.
In 1862 Dr. Lewis Steiner, chief inspector of the United States Army Sanitary Commission, was an eyewitness to the occupation of Frederick, Maryland, by Gen. Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson’s army. Steiner makes this statement about the makeup of that army: “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, sabres, bowie-knives, dirks, etc. … and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederacy Army.”13 Can anyone doubt that these blacks, well armed and many mounted, were with this army because some “mean old Southerner” was forcing them to be there? Of course not. They were there because, just like their white counterparts, they were fighting an invader.
Private John W. Haley, Seventeenth Maine Infantry, U.S., gives this account of black resistance to the Yankee invader by a black sharpshooter: “There seemed to be a fatality lurking in certain spots. … It wasn’t long before Mr. Reb made his whereabouts known, but he was so covered with leaves that no eye could discern him. Our sharpshooter drew a bead on him and something dropped, that something being a six-foot nigger whose weight wasn’t less than 300 pounds.”14 Both officers and private Union soldiers report the “impact” that the black Confederates had on the invader.
Black men in service to the South were such common sights that, not only did Northern officers and enlisted men write about the service to the South by blacks, but also a British officer reported on the service rendered the South by its black soldiers. Captain Arthur L. Fremantle was a British observer attached to General Lee’s army. In 1863 Captain Fremantle went with Lee’s army on the Gettysburg campaign. During this time he witnessed many accounts of black loyalty to the Southern cause, including one case in which a black soldier was in charge of white Yankee prisoners. These acts by the loyal blacks prompted the following remarks by the Englishman: “This little episode of a Southern slave leading a white Yankee soldier through a Northern village, alone and of his own accord, would not have been gratifying to an abolitionist, … Nor would the sympathizers both in England and in the North feel encouraged if they could hear the language of detestation and contempt with which the numerous Negroes with Southern armies speak of their liberators.”15
With such testimony, how can anyone continue to believe the myth that Southern blacks were longing for Yankee-induced freedom? How can anyone continue to accept the Yankee Abolitionist view of a hate-Filled and evil South? The truth is that life in the Old South was very different from that which the “politically correct” historians would have us believe. Yes, there were many blacks who fought for the South.
The follo
wing list is a small sample of the black men who fought for the Confederacy during the War for Southern Independence. Although many historians try to ignore or play down the significance of the black contribution to the war effort, this small sample will clearly show that they had a direct impact on many of their fellow white comrades. Under the heading of status you will note either a “S” for slave, or “FMC” to indicate gens de couleur libre, that is, free man of color. In some cases there is no indication of status because none could be found.
The contribution that these people made to the South, like that of their white counterparts, is worthy of our praise and admiration. The main function played by the slaves who went into service with their masters was that of a body servant. They usually referred to this function as bodyguard. Indeed, investigation of the records of these men show that their action in time of battle and in the face of great emergency was more like that of a bodyguard. Many of those who would like to downplay the importance of the black contribution to the South will tell us that blacks only served as cooks and teamsters. Those roles were very vital to the armies of that age. Many of our own ancestors provided the very same service. As you will note, even a cook can become involved in a battle and be subjected to the same dangers of death, injury, or capture. Also remember that the men in nineteenth-century armies died just as often from camp diseases as from battle wounds. Even a bodyguard was subjected to this great danger. All who served did so at great risk to themselves and to the glory of the cause for Southern independence.
Black Confederate Patriots
STATENAMEUNITSTATUSSERVICE
GA Thomas Williamson16 Light Artillery S Bodyguard
MS Julia Mason17 Nurse Nurse at Vicksburg, had arm shot off during siege
GA Neptune King18 Inf. S Crossed enemy lines & brought back body of master
GA Richmond Mitchell19 Inf. S
MS J. C. Leeper20" Cav. S Bodyguard
GA James Clarke21 Inf. FMC Fifer
TN Levi Oxendine22 FMC
GA Alexander Harris23 Inf. S Bodyguard
MS Andrew Williams24 Inf. S Served with master in VA in 1909; applied for C.S. pension; his former master drew up and signed document for him.
GA George Dwelle25 Inf.
GA Amos Rucker26 Inf.
MS Isham Marshall27 Cav. S Entered C.S. Service in 1862 with his master; in 1894 was still living on former master's plantation.
GA Richmond Eider28 Inf. S
GA Tim Billing29 Inf. S Cook
AR Hunter Beneux30 S Saved master's life while fighting off Yankees
GA BillYopp31 Inf. S Stayed with master during war and afterwards in Confederate Home
VA Dick Poplar32 FMC Cook; POW after battle of Gettysburg for 20 mo. rather than turn his back on the South
MS Moses Pringle33 Inf. S Bodyguard
LA Tom Strother34 Inf. S Bodyguard
VA Jim Lewis35 Inf. FMC Bodyguard and friend of Gen. Jackson; stayed with Jackson's army after Jackson's death
AL Toney 36 Cav. S Bodyguard; he and his master rode with Forrest
LA Charles Lutz37 Inf. FMC Participated in all major VA battles; POW after Fredericksburg; exchanged wounded at Gettysburg; POW exchanged & furloughed
LA Jean Baptiste Pierre-Auguste38 Inf. FMC Participated in battle of Vicksburg wounded; paroled
LA Lufroy Pierre-Auguste39 Inf. FMC Participated in battles of Shiloh, Farmington, and Murfreesboro
LA Evariste Guillory, Sr. Home Guard FMC Father and son served their home
Evariste Guillory, Jr.40 Home Guard FMC state throughout war, paroled June 1865
LA Levy Carnine41 Inf. S Bodyguard for three masters during war; became local hero for efforts in getting mail through Yankee lines
It may prove a little embarrassing to those who claim that the North was fighting for the blacks to note that no less than two African-Americans were taken prisoner from the Southern army at the Battle of Gettysburg, one from Virginia and one from Louisiana.
Dick Poplar was well known in Petersburg before the war as a cook. He took that specialty with him when he entered the Confederate army. However, being a cook did not prevent him from being taken prisoner by the Yanks. At Point Lookout Prison, the Negro guards tried their best to make this black man turn against his people. Dick Poplar maintained during this time that he was a loyal “Jeff Davis man.” He stayed in this hellish POW camp for twenty months. A word from him at any time would have set him free, but he never turned his back on the South.
Charles F. Lutz, enlisted in Company F, Eighth Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, on June 23,1861. Lutz was from St. Landry Parish in Louisiana. He was a free man of color and of mixed ancestry. He could easily pass for either a Creole of color or a white man. Early in the war his regiment was sent to Virginia, where it became part of Gen. Richard Taylor’s brigade of General Jackson’s Valley Army. He participated in all of Jackson’s astounding battles during the Valley Campaign. While fighting at Fredericksburg on Marye’s Heights during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lutz was taken prisoner along with two hundred of his fellow Southerners. He remained a POW for two weeks until exchanged. A few weeks later he was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Gettysburg. After he was paroled and furloughed, he went home to recuperate. In 1900 he was awarded a Confederate pension from the state of Louisiana.
One of the more impressive stories about loyal blacks during the War for Southern Independence is the story of Levy Carnine.
Levy Carnine was a young slave of a Mr. Hogan in 1861 when the war broke out. When his young master enlisted in the Pelican Rifles, the first company to leave DeSoto Parish during the war, young Levy went along with his master as his bodyguard. The Pelican Rifles became one of the companies of the Second Louisiana Volunteer Regiment and as such was sent to Virginia early in the war. Levy was near at hand when his master was killed during one of the early battles of the war. Levy saw to the affairs of burying his master and then reported to Col. Jesse M. Williams of the Second Regiment, Louisiana Volunteer Infantry. The colonel requested that Levy stay with him, which Levy did until the colonel was killed in battle. Again Levy carried out his duties to a dead master by burying and marking the grave of another Southern soldier. Then Levy returned to the Pelican Rifles, the group of men with whom his first master had enlisted. He stated that he “took up with the boys” from his old unit and home town. He served them faithfully, including going into battle with them on several occasions.
After the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, most communications with the western Confederacy were lost. The boys from DeSoto Parish in Northwest Louisiana lost all contact with their families in that part of the Confederacy. The boys collected as much Federal money as they could and asked Levy if he would take the money and letters they had written and “desert” to the Yankees. Their plan was to have Levy cross the Union lines and then make his way back to Louisiana carrying their letters home. A more difficult task could not be asked of a friend, but Levy was up to it and brought home to Northwest Louisiana mail and news to the soldiers’ friends and families. Levy became a local hero. People from all over the area came to hear his stories about the “boys” who were fighting in faraway Virginia. As if this were not enough, near the end of the war Levy joined one of the last units to be raised in that area as a bodyguard to Ben R. Hogan, a relative of Levy’s first master. After the war, Levy remained in Mansfield, Louisiana, where he had many friends. He was always sought after by those seeking information about the Pelican Rifles. His name was carried on the official roll of the United Confederate Veterans as an honorary member. When Levy Carnine passed away, the expenses for his funeral were paid by the members of the local Confederate veterans unit. The old Confederate soldiers marched en masse to the cemetery where they laid his body to rest. So well respected was Levy that the Confederate veterans insisted that Levy, a black man, be buried with all the other Confederate soldiers. Levy Carnine became one of the very few black men to be buried in the white cemetery at Mansfield, Louisia
na, where his grave is marked with the words, “Levy Carnine, C.S.A.”
The South Was Right Page 11