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The War Between the States and Confederate Black Troops:In an early effort to convince Northern leaders to recruit black soldiers, black abolitionist Frederick Douglas reported his concern early in the war that: “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 muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government . . . There were such soldiers at Manassas and they are probably there still.”(Frederick Douglas, Douglass' Monthly, IV, Sept. 1861, pp. 516)Even Northern General Grant knew of the black support for the Confederacy and instructed his officers late in the war to capture as many blacks as possible to avoid having them carry arms for the South or support it in any way.***************************************************************In 1860, there were approximately 4 million blacks both free and slave in the United States and the vast majority either fought for or supported the American Confederacy, with the number of opposing US Colored Troops amounting to only a little over 186,000 men. Of the latter, it is questionable whether they were freely recruited or were impressed into service to replace Northern white soldiers who sought substitutes. Little known is the fact that Louisiana enlisted black soldiers in New Orleans nearly a year in advance of the Northern States. More on this later.In 1861, many free black companies were formed throughout theSouth with a Lynchburg newspaper commenting on the enlistment of 75 free blacks to fight for the defense of the State, concluding with “three cheers for the patriotic Negroes of Lynchburg!”The “Richmond Howitzers” who saw action at First Manassas in 1861 were an integrated artillery unit and at least two regiments, one free and one slave, fought in the battle. By integrated it is meant that black soldiers were not segregated into all-black units as in the North, and rosters might note a "c" after a name to indicate a colored soldier in a company. It is estimated that between 50,000 to 65,000 blacks fought as combatants in Confederate forces and nearly all on an unofficial basis.In March of 1865 the Confederate government officially authorizedthe enlistment of black soldiers when Congress passed an act thatenrolled slaves into the military with a quota of 300,000 soldiers. ( I find these numbers to be over exaggerated ).To serve, they had to be emancipated by their owners, and as veterans were given bounty lands. With this official act, 83% of Richmond’s black male population volunteered for duty and before Richmond fell, many black Confederates were drilling in the streets. General Lee was fully behind the enlistment of black troops and in March 1865 expressed in a letter to General Ewell his regret that more owners would not release their slaves for service. Over 3000 black soldiers served with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in its fighting retreat from Petersburg to Appomattox.While this was a late effort to emancipate, it was nonetheless discussed in the Confederate armed forces as well as in the Confederate Congress for a long white -- Secretary Judah Benjamin was a strong supporter of this measure. As Northern armies ravaged further into Southern States the poplucae was more willing to use whatever measures would help achieve political independence, including the emancipation of slaves and a new labor system in the South.Dr. Edward Smith, Dean of American Studies at American University, estimated that by February 1865, 1150 blacks had served in the Confederate Navy which amounts to about 20% of total naval personnel. Benjamin Gray, for example, was a 12-year old black youth who enlisted in Wilmington and saw combat as a powder boy on the CSS Albemarle.The US Sanitary Commission inspector Dr. Louis Steiner observed in September, 1862 that over 3000 of General Jackson’s 64,000 man army was composed of armed blacks who were fully outfitted as soldiers, not servants, and were “manifestly and integral portion of the Southern Confederacy army.”At Fort Fisher’s capitulation in January, 1865, black Privates Charles & Henry Dempsey of the 36th NC Regiment and Private James Doyle and Daniel Herring of the 40th North Carolina Regiment surrendered to Northern forces. A total of nine black Southern soldiers surrendered at the battle of Fort Fisher though it is probable that many more served along their white counterparts as it was common to see integrated Southern units. Also, there were many blacks who fought with John Hunt Morgan’s Mississippi raiders and General Nathan Bedford Forrest freed black slaves fighting with his cavalry forces.President Jefferson Davis was so impressed with the service of black Southerners, he stated in his annual message in November, 1864 that the numbers should be increased and emancipation would follow their service.Despite widespread fears in the first year of the war that the slaves were preparing for a major revolt, nothing of the kind occurred. “War…has now existed for nearly 4 years” noted Virginia Congressman Thomas S. Gholson in early 1865, “and yet . . .there has been no insurrection or attempt at insurrection . . .our wives and children have been left on our plantations frequently with no other protection than that offered by our slaves.”Let’s look at the black soldiers of 1861 New Orleans. In James Hollandsworth’s “The Louisiana Native Guards”,he states that the city was the most multi-cultural of any city in the United States with a prominent and cultured black population of doctors, dentists, cigar-makers, silversmiths and architects, which is contrasted by Philadelphia and New York being most discriminatory toward blacks.By 1860, this black population had accumulated more than $2 million in property in New Orleans. It is also true that the South in 1860 held the largest percentage of Jews in the United States with David Yulee (Levy) of Florida and Judah Benjamin of Louisiana holding US Senate seats from those States.Here were 731 black enlisted men with 33 black officers alignedin ranks alongside their white Louisiana Militia counterparts. Governor Thomas D. Moore accepted the black regiment as part of the Louisiana militia on 2 May 1861 and issued commissions for the line officers, all black.When Gen. Benjamin Butler captured New Orleans in late April 1862, the Native Guards were disbanded. With Butler’s command of the City threatened by nearby Confederate forces, and the so-called loyal Irish & German immigrants of the City resisting enlistment in the Northern army, Butler reinstated the Native Guard but succeeded in only enlisting 11% of the original State militia organization, with the other 89% of the organization being newly captured slaves.And 70% of the black former officers avoided service with the new incarnation of the regiment, with none of the men who had taken a prominent role in the organization of this regiment in the Confederate service reenlisting on the Northern side.Further, the soldiers of the occupation duty 13th Maine regiment inearly 1863 refused to follow the orders or authority of the black officers and abolitionist General Nathaniel Banks solved this dilemma by tricking the black officers into resigning their commissions due to a federal technicality, and replaced them all with white officers.-- Kev Lee