On Black Confederates

In the year-and-a-little more this blog has been online, I’ve devoted quite a few posts to the subject of so-called black Confederate soldiers (BCS). It’s not something I set out to do, though I’d followed (and actively participated in) the discussion over BCS on other blogs. But, here we are.

On this page, then, I’ll be aggregating all my past and ongoing posts on the subject, which I hope some readers will find useful. They’re grouped according to subject, but because many posts encompass more than one category, there are a number of repeats.

Biographical Profiles:

Would Crock Davis be Considered a “Black Confederate?” (June 16, 2010). A look at Crockett Davis, a former body servant and cook with the famous 8th Texas Cavalry, who attended Ranger reunions in the early 1900s.
How to Make a Black Confederate from Nothing at All (July 27, 2010). Correcting the record for Private Samuel Brown, Co. K, 137th U.S. Colored Infantry.
Confederate Reunions: Simple Images, Complex Realities (November 29, 2010). Pictures never tell the full story.
Thomas Tobe and the Limits of Confederate Pension Records (January 2, 2011). State Confederate pensions are helpful, but not definitive sources.
“Mr. Holland of Grimes” (January 11, 2011). The “highest ranking black” in Confederate service wasn’t black.
An Update on the “Last Confederate Reunion” (January 23, 2011). Sorting out the details on Dr. Ransom Gwynn, billed as “among the last Confederate Veterans of Alabama.”
Richard Quarls and the Dead Man’s Pension (February 12, 2011). A former body servant becomes a private through a clerical error, fifty years after the fact.
Peter Phelps Was Not a “Negro in Grey” (May 15, 2011). Another white soldier retroactively made a black Confederate.
What Does Hannibal Alexander Tell Us About Black Confederate PoWs? (July 10, 2011). The case of a captured servant reveals the complexities masked by the black Confederate meme.
Steve Perry and “Uncle Steve Eberhart” (November 11, 2011). Making a distinction between Steve Perry and “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” Confederate reunion entertainer.
The Black Confederate Who Stole the Steamboat Planter (May 16, 2012). A contemporary sketch of William Morrison hints at the complex predicament of many African Americans in the Confederacy.
Norris White, Black Confederate “Brothers” and the “Flipside” to Glory (April 17, 2013). A look at Randolph Vesey and Primus Kelly, and the distortions necessary to make them black Confederates.
Steve Perry: Thanks for the Slavery! A clip of Steve Perry, or “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” playing up to the newsreel camera at a Confederate reunion in 1930.

African Americans at Confederate Reunions

Would Crock Davis be Considered a “Black Confederate?” (June 16, 2010). A look at Crockett Davis, a former body servant and cook with the famous 8th Texas Cavalry, who attended Ranger reunions in the early 1900s.
John B. Gordon, “Faithful Servants,” and Veterans’ Reunions (November 14, 2010). UCV Commander-in-Chief John Brown Gordon describes the place of African Americans in Confederate service during the war, and decades after.
Confederate Reunions: Simple Images, Complex Realities (November 29, 2010). Pictures never tell the full story.
An Update on the “Last Confederate Reunion” (January 23, 2011). Sorting out the details on Dr. Ransom Gwynn, billed as “among the last Confederate Veterans of Alabama.”
General Stephen D. Lee Disses Black Confederates (November 3, 2011). The future C-in-C of the United Confederate Veterans and author of the famous charge to the SCV yucks it up at the expense of African Americans in Confederate service.
Steve Perry and “Uncle Steve Eberhart” (November 11, 2011). Making a critical distinction between Steve Perry and “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” Confederate reunion entertainer.
Research a Mile Wide, and an Inch Deep (December 28, 2011). A photo from a Confederate reunion in Alabama prompts some hard questions for the modern advocates of the “black Confederate” narrative.
Hey, I Know that Guy (January 8, 2012). A photo of Steve Perry, a.k.a. “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” at the UCV reunion at Houston, October 1920.
Steve Perry: Thanks for the Slavery! A clip of Steve Perry, or “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” playing up to the newsreel camera at a Confederate reunion in 1930.

The Thin Veneer of Research on Black Confederate Soldiers

Now We’re Finally Getting Somewhere (August 22, 2010). The ever-shifting definition of “soldier” that undermines advocacy on black Confederates.
A Hot Mess of Historiography (October 3, 2010). A leading researcher on black Confederates doesn’t understand the question — or the criticism of her work.
Oh, About that Black Confederate at Arlington. . . . (October 23, 2010). You can’t follow the play if you don’t have a program.
Real Confederates Didn’t Know About Black Confederates (October 26, 2010). General Howell Cobb’s own words undermine one of the oft-cited references on black Confederates.
Fisking Fremantle (October 27, 2010). Colonel Fremantle didn’t say what you think he said.
Thomas Tobe and the Limits of Confederate Pension Records (January 2, 2011). State Confederate pensions are helpful, but not definitive sources.
“Mr. Holland of Grimes” (January 11, 2011). The “highest ranking black” in Confederate service wasn’t black.
Richard Quarls and the Dead Man’s Pension (February 12, 2011). A former body servant becomes an infantry private through a clerical error, fifty years after the fact.
“You think I’m making this stuff up?” Um, yes, I do. (March 15, 2011). Ed Smith’s smoke and mirrors on black Confederate soldiers.
Soldiers All (July 6, 2011). An online researcher misrepresents a black Union soldier’s record, to make a point about Confederates.
Were Cooks Enlisted in the Confederate Army? (July 17, 2011). The discovery of a single (and misquoted) compiled service record for a black Confederate cook prompts the question: just how representative is his case?
Frederick Douglass and the “Negro Regiment” at First Manassas (July 30, 2011). Frederick Douglass only knows what he reads in the papers.
Famous “Negro Cooks Regiment” Found — In My Own Backyard! (August 8, 2011). A fabricated quote, a ludicrous claim.
“Durante vita” (October 11, 2011). Observations on the History Detectives episode on the famous tintype image of Andrew Chandler and Silas Chandler.
Research a Mile Wide, and an Inch Deep (December 28, 2011). A photo from a Confederate reunion in Alabama prompts some hard questions for the modern advocates of the “black Confederate” narrative.
Confederate “Body Soldier” Honored with Fake Grave, Yankee Headstone (May 29, 2012). A black Confederate gets a headstone in South Carolina. Just don’t say “slave” or “servant.”
Pension Records for Louis Napoleon Nelson (December 16, 2012). Tossing some actual historical documentation into the discussion of a well-known “black Confederate soldier.”
Norris White, Black Confederate “Brothers” and the “Flipside” to Glory (April 17, 2013). A look at Randolph Vesey and Primus Kelly, and the distortions necessary to make them black Confederates.
The (Very) Posthumous Enlistment of “Private” Clark Lee (June 14, 2013). The Georgia Civil War Commission paints a picture that few real Confederates would have recognized.
No, this is Not a Monument to “Black Confederate Regiments,” July 29, 2013. Not every regiment raised in the Confederate States was, you know, Confederate.
A Little Knowledge. . . . (December 21, 2013). A researcher in Mississippi goes looking slaves and can’t find a single one.
Frederick Douglass, Time Traveler? (January 20, 2015). A Harvard history professor claims Douglass used an 1862 speech as a source for an essay he wrote — in 1861.
A Short Review of Phillip Thomas Tucker’s “Blacks in Gray Uniforms” (March 30, 2018). Who uses a book’s index, anyhow?

Contemporary Reports of Black Confederate Soldiers

“Every company passing through this place has more or less negroes” (February 25, 2011). Did a company of black troops pass through Navasota, Texas?
Frederick Douglass and the “Negro Regiment” at First Manassas (July 30, 2011). Frederick Douglass only knows what he reads in the papers.
More on the “Negro Regiment” at Manassas (August 1, 2011). More vague press accounts from Northern newspapers, and refuted by a Southern paper.
Stonewall Jackson’s “Regiment of Free Negroes,” June 20, 2012. A rumor reported in a Northern newspaper, that might have given rise to modern claims about Ol’ Blue Light’s black troops.

Contemporary Confederate Views on Black Soldiering

“. . . and make our slaves fight for Southern slavery” (October 24, 2010). A Texas editorial writer proposes a plan to win the war.
Real Confederates Didn’t Know About Black Confederates (October 26, 2010). General Howell Cobb’s own words undermine one of the oft-cited references on black Confederates.
“The negro has no qualities out of which a soldier can be manufactured” (October 26, 2010). The Richmond Whig & Public Advertiser dismisses the notion of blacks soldiering in any uniform.
John B. Gordon, “Faithful Servants,” and Veterans’ Reunions (November 14, 2010). UCV Commander-in-Chief John Brown Gordon describes the place of African Americans in Confederate service during the war, and decades after.
Missing the Forest for the Trees (December 12, 2010). The Galveston News takes an editorial stand against “taking the slave out of his proper position, and the only position he can safely occupy in a slave country.”
120 Years of Black Confederates (March 22, 2011). General Joseph O. Shelby recalls Kirby Smith’s repsonse to a proposal to enlist slaves: “we will win or go to the grave before we enlist the negro.”
“Further legislation on that subject at this time is not advisable.” (June 17, 2011). The Texas Legislature takes a pass on the idea of enlisting slaves.
“When we arm the slaves, we abandon slavery.” (June 30, 2011). Even in the last, lingering weeks of the war, Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown rejects the notion of arming slaves outright.
General Stephen D. Lee Disses Black Confederates (November 3, 2011). The future C-in-C of the United Confederate Veterans and author of the famous charge to the SCV yucks it up at the expense of African Americans in Confederate service.
How Real Confederates Endorsed Slave Pensions (June 13, 2012). A 1913 editorial in the Confederate Veteran magazine argues for state pensions for former slaves — but not for their service to the Confederate cause.
“. . . how many may be of use without putting guns in their hands” (September 25, 2012). In January 1864, a Confederate officer writes in the Richmond Examiner how to use African American labor in the war effort, to “restore to duty in the field forty thousand white men.”
“They constitute a privileged class in the community” (June 26, 2013). The Atlanta Southern Confederacy argues that it would be a disservice to slaves to call them to arms even as the South faces its own defeat.

The Black Confederate Phenomenon

“I’m a Son of Confederate Veterans as well as a son of slavery” (June 23, 2010). Cary Clack, a San Antonio columnist, explores his history as a descendant of both a Confederate cavalry officer and a slave.
The Irresistible Appeal of Black Confederates (June 26, 2010). What is it about the idea of black Confederate soldiers that compels?
A Smart Take on Black Confederates (October 20, 2010). Adam Serwer calls out the Confederacy’s “black friends.”
Jubilo! on the Appeal of Black Confederates to African Americans (February 3, 2011). Another blogger offers an insightful meditation on the “focus on ‘bravery not slavery.’”
Sanding Smooth the Rough Edges of History (February 22, 2011). An African American reenactor asserts her ancestor “would have cheered Mr. Davis.”
Slave Labor in the Defense of Galveston (August 15, 2011). The actual use of slave labor at Galveston.
“The work of soldiers amounts to very little.” (August 16, 2011). Colonel Sulakowski, the officer in charge of building the defensive works in the island, discusses the use of slave labor here as opposed to that of white soldiers.
“Durante vita” (October 11, 2011). Observations on the History Detectives episode on the famous tintype image of Andrew Chandler and Silas Chandler.
Looking In From the Outside, Black Confederates Edition (October 17, 2011). Leslie Madsen-Brooks, an assistant professor of history at Boise State University, looks at the online discussion of BCS.
Pension Records for Louis Napoleon Nelson (December 16, 2012). Tossing some actual historical documentation into the discussion of a well-known “black Confederate soldier.”
The (Very) Posthumous Enlistment of “Private” Clark Lee (June 14, 2013). The Georgia Civil War Commission paints a picture that few real Confederates would have recognized.
Black Confederates Honored with New Strain of Weed (October 26, 2013). Medical marijuana users in California can get their mellow on while honoring Confederates of color.