Hello Tim:

Welcome again!

I was interested in Art’s remarks about this article the description of this black man’s service.

You wrote:

” I found this article recently and I guess it is particularly relevant these days since the discussion of black involvement in the Confederate forces has escalated in part due to a book on black confederate soldiers & because of the 150 year anniversary of the conflict.”

Please note that the AfriGeneas Military Forum contains empirical data from historians that refutes the mythology of a black “soldier.”

I wish that you had included newspaper articles about the service of the USCT. I’m concerned that your clipping will be referenced by the frightening groups who dismiss the valour of the USCT and blanket the internet with stories of the so-called love for faithful blacks who supported the confederate rebel army.

Indeed there were many blacks that were forced to serve in the confederate army. Some were body servants. Many more were free and enslaved blacks.

George Geder recently posted on his blog Civil War historian Bennie J. McRae’s research on the subject. You’ll be pleased to read it at the link below.

http://gedergenealogy.com/bennie-j-mcrae-jr-debunks-mythical-black-conf

Also mentioned in your posting were the pensions given to blacks after the Civil War.

Noted historian James G. Hollandsworth Jr. wrote an intriguing article on black pensioners and their service:

“African Americans who had served with the Confederate army were not included – except in Mississippi, which had included African Americans in the state’s pension program from its beginning in 1888.”

Please click on the link below:

http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/289/black-confederate-pensioners-after-the-civil-war

Any clips from black newspapers concerning the service of the United States Colored Troops would be appreciated.

Best regards,

K Wyer Lane