Fold3 Proves There Were Black Confederates

The conversation with a friend turned to whether there were Black Confederates.

The man said no and with a dismissive tone added, “Well, they were teamsters, musicians and body servants, but they were not in the military. I mean they were never on any muster rolls and they never got paid. I know this to be true because a historian with a Ph.D told me this at a Civil War roundtable presentation.”

I was incensed and we had a heated conversation. Historians systematically have tried to erased or suppress this history for decades, but yet it cannot be denied. Published books about it exist but the majority of modern historians have dismissed the evidence.

The main issue is how one defines the Cause of the War Between the States. Modern historians ascribe the Cause to simply Slavery. This is the only War in human history that has one cause. If the War was about slavery, then how can People of Color who served in the Confederate military fit this narrative? Historians will respond that the men and women were forced. It is true that many were impressed. However, the conscription act will draft many into service with the Confederate military as well as the Union.

The next argument is if these men wore a confederate uniform, then they were passing for White. That conclusion does not work because the Appomattox parole list records the complexion of the men went from light to dark.

However let us go back to the argument about muster rolls and payment. The compiled Confederate service records located at the National Archives consist of information from muster rolls. Years ago one had to go to Washington, DC or perhaps examine copies of the records from a state archives. Nowadays, the website service Fold3 has made the information accessible to the public.

A few years ago, I asked my intern to use key words such as: Negro, Colored, Free, slave and mulatto in the search engine. She found nineteen pages of names listed.

There are more, because if one carried a musket (and make no mistake, there were Men of Color who carried a musket), most of the time race, now referred to as ethnicity, was not recorded on muster rolls. One must examine census records and pensions to find the service documents.

Thank goodness for Quartermasters! These men exists because of their paperwork. They had great handwriting which I love as an Archivist. Their records are easy to read and they are the bean counters for the military: Quartermasters recorded the reasons for pay. It was very important to keep track of the salaries of the combat support in the military. Why? They were paid more than the Privates. For example: Fortification workers made $15.00 per month, assistant Cooks also made $15.00 while Chief Cooks earned $20.00 per month. Laundresses were paid $10.00 to $11.00 as a base pay and then they charged for each piece of clothing that they washed. The proof can be found on pay rolls at any archives that contained Confederate Quartermaster records. Please note that a portion of the salary went to the owners of the enslaved; however extra duty pay went directly to the person who did the work. Free People of Color received the same pay as the owners. Privates made $11.00 to $13.00 per month. One service record intrigued me- George Washington, a Colored Porter earned $30.00 per month. Confederate Congress increased his pay to $40.00! How interesting! Let me repeat one more time that a Private earned $11.00 to $13.00 per month.

Colonel Greg Eanes, an Iraqi War Veteran and author of Virginia’s Black Confederates, contacted me one day. He found Confederate military discharge papers on Fold3. The papers were the same for White men, enslaved and Free People of Color. How much more evidence is needed? Modern historians can no longer deny the primary documents or perhaps the issue is understanding the logistics of the military.

In conclusion, help me to understand why is it that that Men of Color who served in the United States Colored Troops who had the same military occupation specialty such as musicians, cooks and body servants as their Colored Confederate counterparts are considered to be soldiers while the Confederates are not?

It would appear that a reappraisal of People of Color’s role in the Confederacy deserves the respect as their USCT counterparts. The Confederate military recognized the skills

and were willing to compensate their combat support personnel. In the early 20th century, almost all the former Confederate States provided provisions of these people’s service by granting pensions.