My greatgrandfather was in the Confederacy as a private with Ferguson's Light Artillery. He was not a cook, not a servant, nor was he a slave. He was African American.
I have his Confederate service papers and his Union service papers from the Archives. He was a Prisoner of War
at Rock island, Ill. until he joined the Union Army and became a "Galvanized Yankee" serving the Union in the Southwest.

This is not to start a debate but to show that the full story has not been told.