Commander Ramsey Reports on NC Convention

I just returned from a month long road trip with the family to North Carolina to visit relatives and attend the National Convention. While I enjoyed the vacation immensely, (despite several truck breakdowns) I must concur with Vern Padgett’s assessment of the convention.

While I stayed in my travel trailer and did not use the local hotels, it was obvious that the evening camaraderie which has come to a part of these events just wasn’t happening. Many events seemed to be haphazardly planned and poorly executed. Confusion was the order of the day. The meetings however were conducted in an orderly and well planned manner. All business matters went smoothly with very little confusion or dissension.

On Saturday night, the Debutante presentation was the largest in recent history. There are usually 5-6 debs, but this year there were 17 young ladies. I am proud to say I had the honor of escorting the California Division’s first debutante, my daughter Samantha Jo. I am also proud to say that there were 15 Ramsey family members in attendance at the Ball, including my parents.

Kenny Ramsey
Sons of Confederate Veterans
California Division Commander
Commander, Camp 2048

Vern Padgett Reports on the Reunion in Concord

Reunion in Concord, North Carolina, was good. I've been to 9 Reunions now, and this was the best one as far as the leaders getting along. Absolutely the very best.

It was the absolute worst Reunion in many other ways. The meeting rooms were 20 miles from the hotels. So after leaving the commuting nightmare of L.A./O.C., we got to drive half an hour to the meeting, half an hour back, getting lost several times and wasting $4 a gallon gas, then we drove half an hour there again, and half an hour back. Or, we sat there all day, each day for 4 days. One day I was there from 8 am to 11 at night. I don't think I've worn the same clothes from 7 am to 11:30 pm for a long time.

During one of those long days we were all locked out of the meeting room building. People who had medical conditions and needed to use the restrooms were pounding on the doors to be let in, but the staff said they were "not authorized" to allow them in.

Even worse were the physical accomodations: Not a nice hotel, but a crummy "event center" with bare concrete floors, exposed ductwork, and so on. We ate off plastic plates and used plastic forks the whole time. It was too hot inside all the time. Quite different from the other reunions. And it cost more. A switch from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, or that beautiful old hotel in Charleston, the year the Hunley came back in.

Worst of all, according to everyone but me, was the food. I like food, and I'm not complaining, but everyone else did. In my OCS class in the Marines in 1969, everyone lost from 6 to 25 pounds in those first 6 weeks. All except me. I gained 8 pounds. The sergeant instructor called me over and asked me if I liked the food. I said yes sergeant I do. He said how can that be. I told him "it depends on what you are used to."

I missed every one of the evening receptions. These have been the highlight of every reunion. I missed them because no one showed up at the event center 20 miles away, but instead stayed at their own hotel in Charlotte. I missed the best one the last night, even though I was in the same hotel!

Those informal gatherings are the real highlight of the Reunion, and often are worth more than everything else together.

Vern Padgett

Photo: Vern Padgett and his lovely lady at the Concord Reunion last week.

Black Confederates: Southern Fantasy or Historical Fact? Part II

Did Black Confederates Serve in Combat?

by Vernon R. Padgett, Ph.D. - Adjutant, California Division, SCV

Black Southern men served in the Confederate Army, and they served as soldiers. But did they fight in combat? Yes they did. The evidence is varied, and comes from many sources.

First, eyewitness testimony from Federal physician Louis Steiner, second, a report from Frederick Douglass; third, monuments reflecting black Confederate contributions, especially the unique work of Moses Ezekiel in Washington, D.C. Third, we see a sampling of combat reports of individual black Confederates, from a variety of sources, including the Official Records, and General Forrest’s U.S. Congressional testimony regarding his 45 black slaves. Finally we review the Confederate Governmental recruitment and enlistment of black Southerners in the Confederate Army in March 1865-- and a few examples of their limited combat experience.

1. Eyewitness Testimony of Union Physician Louis Steiner

Dr. Lewis Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission, observed General Stonewall Jackson's occupation of Frederick, Maryland, in 1862. He wrote:

Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in this number [of Confederate troops]. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie knives, dirks, etc. ... and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederate Army (in Barrow, et al., 2001).

This description of men wearing shell jackets or coats and carrying weapons suggests soldiers. It does not appear indicative of cooks or musicians or body servants. Of course, we cannot know by the description, but it suggests 3,000 armed black Confederate soldiers.

2. Report of Frederick Douglass

"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 musket on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down any loyal troops and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government and build up that of the rebels" (In Williams “On Black Confederates”).

Douglass’s report is clear: Black Southerners were fighting “as real soldiers.”

3. Monuments to Black Confederates

The first military monument in the U.S. Capitol honoring an African-American soldier is the Confederate monument at Arlington National cemetery. The monument was designed in 1914 by Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish Confederate. He wanted to correctly portray the “racial makeup” in the Confederate Army.

The Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

............

Moses Jacob Ezekiel was the first Jewish cadet at the Virginia Military Institute. He was wounded in May 1864 at the Battle of New Market. As the first Jewish cadet at VMI, sculptor Ezekiel knew firsthand the nature of ethnic prejudice, and was for that reason a unique observer, and recorder, of the ethnic composition of the Confederate Army, observations which he recorded in the first military monument to honor a black American soldier in Washington, D.C. He is now buried at the base of the famous monument he created.

Enlargement of frieze of Confederate Monument, Arlington National Cemetery. Note black soldier in center and black woman at right.

In 1900, a Confederate Section was authorized in Arlington National Cemetery. Confederate casualties from around the cemetery were gathered and re-interred in that Section. A circular frieze of 32 life-sized figures shows Southern soldiers going off to war.

Black Confederate soldier depicted marching in rank with white Confederate soldiers. This is taken from the Confederate monument at Arlington National Cemetery. Designed by Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish Confederate, and erected in 1914. Ezekiel depicted the Confederate Army as he himself witnessed. As such, it is perhaps the first monument honoring a black American soldier. (Photo by Bob Crowell)

Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery depicting a Confederate soldier entrusting his children to a slave. While Confederate soldiers were away from their homes, Union soldiers frequently would victimize southern blacks in much the same ways as southern whites. Sometimes blacks experienced even worse treatment than whites, as Union officers often protected white women, but turned a blind eye when slave women were "ravaged" or abused. Photo by Bob Crowell.

In his statue, a black Confederate soldier is shown marching in step with white Confederate soldiers. Engraved in the stone, you can also see a white soldier giving his child to a black woman for protection.

4. Individual Accounts of Black Confederate Soldiers in Combat

When we think of black Southerners who served in the armies of the Confederacy, we often think of them in the roles of teamsters, cooks, surgeon’s assistants, nurses, shoemakers, blacksmiths, laborers, fortifications builders, and valets (most of these positions are now part of the modern military). But many blacks served in combat. Black Confederate Nim Wilkes said: "I was in every battle General Forrest fought after leaving Columbia ... I was mustered out at Gainesville (May 1865)" (Rollins, 1994).

One federal cavalry officer related how he was held under guard by a shotgun-wielding black who kept the weapon trained on the Yankee's head with unwavering concentration. "Here I had come South and was fighting to free this man," the disgusted major wrote in his diary. "If I had made one false move on my horse, he would have shot my head off" (Barrow et al., 2001, p. 43).

Private Louis Napoleon Nelson served the Confederate States of America at Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Brice's Crossroads and Vicksburg as soldier and chaplain in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, under Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Nelson was sent by his master to take care of his (master's) son. When the young Confederate was wounded, Nelson picked up his rifle and continued fighting against Northern aggression throughout the war. After the war, Nelson and his former master were best friends; their farms bordered each other (Winbush, 1996).

Col. Parkhurst’s (Northern) Account of Forrest’s Black Confederates: "The forces attacking my camp were the First Regiment Texas Rangers, a battalion of the First Georgia Rangers … and quite a number of Negroes attached to the Texas and Georgia troops, who were armed and equipped, and took part in the several engagements with my forces during the day" (Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst's Report (Ninth Michigan Infantry) on General Forrest's attack at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, July 13, 1862, in Official Records, Series I, Vol XVI, Part I, page 805).

The efforts of Jack, servant of an officer of the Thirteenth Arkansas Regiment, stands out as an act of heroism. Jack fought beside his master during the heat of battle. He fell seriously wounded but refused to be evacuated and continued to fire at the enemy. He later died in a hospital of his wounds sustained in the ranks of the Confederate army" (Memphis Avalanche, quoted in Charlotte Western Democrat, December 31, 1861).

At Brandy Station, Tom and Overton, two servants in the 12th Virginia Cavalry, picked up rifles discarded by Northerners and joined the 12th in a charge. They captured the black servant of a Union officer and marched him back to camp at gunpoint, where they held him prisoner. For two months, the Yankee servant waited upon the Southerners (Austerman, 1987, 47).

Levin Graham, a free colored man, was employed as a fifer, and attendant to Captain J. Welby Armstrong (2nd Tennessee). He refused to stay in camp when the regiment moved, and obtaining a musket and cartridges, went across the river with us. He fought manfully, and it is known that he killed four of the Yankees, from one of whom he took a Colt's revolver. He fought through the whole battle, and not a single man in our whole army fought better" (New Orleans Daily Crescent, 6 December 1861, cited in Rollins, 1994).

Black Confederate Levi Miller, born in Rockbridge County Virginia, was one of thousands of slaves who accompanied their owners to the war as a body servant. After nursing his master back to health from a near-fatal wounding in the Wilderness campaign, Miller was voted by the regiment to be a full-fledged soldier (Jordan, 1995).

Miller served the remainder of the war, exhibiting bravery in battles in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. His former commander spoke highly of Miller's combat record, giving a riveting account of his performance at Spotsylvania Courthouse. "About 4 p.m., the enemy made a rushing charge," wrote Captain J. E. Anderson. "Levi Miller stood by my side-- and man never fought harder and better than he did-- and when the enemy tried to cross our little breastworks and we clubbed and bayoneted them off, no one used his bayonet with more skill, and effect, than Levi Miller. Captain Anderson wrote: “During the fight, the shout of my men was 'Give 'em hell, Lee!'" (Jordan, 1995).

In his letter of recommendation, Anderson dispelled any doubts as to whether Miller had fought for the South of his own free will. "He was in the Pennsylvania campaign, and at New Castle and Chambersburg he met several Negroes whom he knew, and who had run away from Virginia," wrote Anderson. "They tried to get Levi to desert-- but he would not" (Jordan, 1995).

After the war, Miller received a full pension from Virginia as a Confederate veteran. According to the Winchester Evening Star, "The pension was granted without trouble, and he had the distinction of drawing one of the largest amounts of any person in the state." Upon his death in 1921, the Evening Star published a front-page obituary under the headline "Levi Miller, Colored War Veteran." It was the sort of stirring tribute fit for a local hero (Jordan, 1995).

Researcher Ervin Jordan (1995) cites another case of a valiant black Confederate, citing a diary that tells of an Afro-Confederate [who] became a local hero after being thrown into jail with nothing but bread and water for three days because of his support of the South and his refusal to work for the Union side ... The old man was made to chop wood with iron ball and chains attached to his arms and legs, but the curses of his jailers were unavailing: He stubbornly vowed to support the South until death.

The most telling account is from the most remarkable general officer of the War, Nathan B. Forrest.

General Forrest’s Account of his 45 Black Confederates: “Better Confederates Did Not Live”

Both slaves and Free Men of Color served with Forrest's Escort, his Headquarters, and many other units under his command (Rollins, 1994). General Forrest took 45 slaves to war in 1861. He told a Congressional committee after the war:

I said to 45 colored fellows on my plantation that I was going into the army; and if they would go with me, if we got whipped they would be free anyhow, and that if we succeeded and slavery was perpetrated, if they would act faithfully with me to the end of the war, I would set them free. Eighteen months before the war closed I was satisfied that we were going to be defeated, and I gave those 45, or 44 of them, their free papers for fear I might be called.

In late August 1868, General Nathan Bedford Forrest gave an interview to a reporter. Forrest said of the black men who served with him: "... these boys stayed with me ... and better Confederates did not live" (Rollins, 1994).

5. The Confederate Government Enlists Black Soldiers, March 1865

In March 1865, the Confederate government began actively recruiting and enlisting black soldiers. One witness recorded that the streets of Richmond were filled with 10,000 Negroes who had been gathered at Camp Lee on the outskirts of Richmond … (Rollins, 1994, p. 26). Richmond’s vast hospitals were a prime source of recruits. One writer observed “the battalion from Camps Winder and Jackson, under the command of Dr. Chambliss, will parade on the square on Wednesday evening at 4 ½ o’clock. This is the first company of Negro Troops raised in Virginia,” he noted. Thus a few black Southerners finally saw combat in authorized Confederate units in 1865. Not only did Chambliss’ regiment fight against Sheridan, but other units were noted at various points in the retreat to Appomattox.

On April 4, 1865 (Amelia County, VA), a Confederate supply train was exclusively manned and guarded by black Infantry. When attacked by Federal Cavalry, they stood their ground and fought off the charge, but on the second charge they were overwhelmed and captured (Confederate Veteran, 1915, 404; 411).

A courier reported that on April 4th he saw black Confederates … “all wore good gray uniforms and I was informed that they belonged to the only company of colored troops in the Confederate service, having been enlisted by Major Turner in Richmond. Their muskets were stacked … “ (Rollins, 1994, p. 27).

In an action on 7th April the 108th New York Infantry captured an armed black Confederate by the name of Tom Brophy; he was made a servant by the New Yorkers, and later lived in New York until his death in 1888 (Rollins, 1994, p. 28).

A book-length treatment of the topic of official black service in the Confederate Army is the excellent Gray and the Black: Confederate Debate on Emancipation by Robert F. Durden, (1972).

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References

Austermann, Wayne R. (1987). Virginia’s Black Confederates. Civil War Quarterly, 8, 47.

Barrow, C. K., & Segars, J. H., & R.B. Rosenburg, R.B. (Eds.) (2001). Black Confederates. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company.

Brewer, J. H. (1969). The Confederate Negro: Virginia’s craftsmen and military laborers, 1861-1865. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.

Confederate Veteran, 1915, 404; 411).

Durden, R. F. (1972). The Gray and the Black: The Confederate Debate on Emancipation. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Helsley, Alexia J. (1999). South Carolina’s African American Confederate Pensioners 1923-1925. South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 140 pages.

Jordan, Jr., Ervin. (1995). Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia. University Press of Virginia, 447 pages.

Oblatala, J.K. (1979). The Unlikely Story of Negroes Who Were Loyal to Dixie. Smithsonian, 9, page 94.

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. 17, Part II, p. 424.

Quarles, Benjamin (1955). The Negro in the Civil War. Boston: Little, Brown.

Rollins, Richard, Ed. (1994). Black Southerners in Gray: Essays on Afro-Americans in Confederate Armies. Rank and File Publications, Redondo Beach, California, 172 pages.

Segars, J. H. & Barrow, C. K., Eds. (2001). Black Southerners in Confederate Armies. Southern Lion Books, Atlanta, Georgia.

Tennessee Colored Man’s Pensions. Nashville Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Thomas, Emory (1971). “Black Confederates: Slavery and Wartime” in The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, pp. 119-132.

Wesley, C. H. (1919). The Employment of Negroes as Soldiers in the Confederate Army. Journal of Negro History, 4, 242.

Wesley, C. H. (1927). Negro Labor in the United States 1850 to 1925: A Study in American Economic History. New York: Russell & Russell. Chapter 4: The Negro and the Civil War

Wesley, C. H. (1937). The Collapse of the Confederacy. New York: Russell & Russell.

Williams, Scott “On Black Confederates” http://www.texasls.org/articles/reading_room/on_black_confederates_by_scott_w.htm

Winbush, Nelson (1996). Black Southern Heritage (video). Presentation delivered at Hollywood Performing Arts Center, 10 February 1996. Available for $22 from Nelson Winbush, 1428 Grandview Blvd., Kissimmee, Florida 34744.

Black Confederates: Southern Fantasy or Historical Fact? Part I

...................................
Did Blacks Serve in the Confederate Army as Soldiers?

by Vernon R. Padgett, Ph.D., Division Adjutant, California Division, SCV

Blacks served by the thousands in the Confederate States Army. Many dismiss their service as that of servants—attached to the Army, but not soldiers in the Army. But black Southerners served as soldiers in the Confederate Army, not simply with that Army.

Evidence of the service of black Southerners as regular soldiers includes proclamations by Southern State governors, and authorizations by Southern State legislatures, calling specifically for black soldiers. Near the close of the War the Confederate Government enlisted thousands of slaves as regular Confederate soldiers.

Non-combat Job Classifications are Part of Today’s Army

Black Southerners served as teamsters, cooks, musicians, nurses, hospital attendants, blacksmiths, hostlers, foragers, wheelwrights, and in other roles in the Army of the Confederate States of America. In the modern military, these same categories, or their modern equivalents, still exist. By today’s standards these black Confederates were soldiers.

To the Confederate States Army, not the United States Army, goes the distinction of having the first black to minister to white troops. A Tennessee regiment had sought diligently for a chaplain, but had been unsuccessful until “Uncle Lewis,” who accompanied the regiment, was asked to conduct a religious service. Soldiers were so pleased that they asked Lewis to serve as their chaplain, which he did from the time of Pittsburgh Landing to war's end. “He is heard with respectful attention and for earnestness, zeal, and sincerity, can be surpassed by none"-- Religious Herald, 10 Sept 1863. To the men of the regiment as well as to the editors of the Richmond newspaper, the service of the black chaplain was a matter of great pride (Barrow, 2001).

Black Southerners served as laborers on fortifications. The National Park Service, after a recent discovery, recognized that blacks were asked to help defend the city of Petersburg, Virginia, and were offered their freedom if they did so. Regardless of their official classification, black Americans performed support functions that in today's army would be classified as official military service. The successes of white Confederate troops in battle was achieved only with the support of these loyal black Southerners (Williams, “On Black Confederates” website).

General Joe Johnston wrote in early 1864 to Senator Wigfall: “I propose to substitute slaves for all soldiers … as cooks, engineer laborers, pioneers, or on any kind of work. Such details for this little army amount to more than 10,000 men. Negroes would serve for such purposes better than soldiers” (Vandiver, 1970, p. 264). Again, in today’s army, these job classifications are filled by soldiers.

Applying today’s standards to the past, blacks served as soldiers in the Confederate Army. But no historian applies modern standards to history. Let us turn to the question “did blacks serve as soldiers by the standards of 1861?”

Equal Treatment of Black and White Army: “Employees” Ordered by General Johnston

General Order Number 38, issued by Confederate General Braxton Bragg at Tullahoma, Tennessee, in January 1863, stated, "All employees of this army, black as well as white, shall receive the same rations, quarters, and medical treatment." The Confederate Army was providing equal treatment at a time when the U.S. Army discriminated against black men in the matter of pay (Barrow, et al. 2001). The Confederate government authorized equal pay for musicians, many of whom were black, in contrast to the Federal Army, in which musicians received lower pay. The Confederate Congress passed legislation requiring that black and white military bandsmen receive the same pay. Free black musicians, cooks, soldiers and teamsters earned the same pay as white Confederate privates. This was not the case in the army of the United States (Barrow, et al., 2001).

Confederate Government Impressment

“The War Department was authorized to impress up to 20,000 blacks.” State governors also drew on “private property” so that whites could fight more and dig less. … The military also rented or impressed black men, slave and free, to cook and drive wagons and ambulances … in several large hospitals more than one-half of the male nurses were black. Government and private manufacturers hired or rented black labor for skilled and unskilled work. In 1865, for example, 310 of 400 workers in the naval ordnance works at Selma, Alabama were black.

As the war wore on, the trend toward black labor became more pronounced. “Every black man employed meant one more available white soldier” (Thomas, 1971, pp. 119-132). Black Southerners served in roles now considered part of the modern army, as teamsters, etc.

Evidence of military service of blacks in the Confederacy appears in Southern states records:

The Tennessee Legislature Authorizes Male Persons of Color for Military Service

In June 1861, the Tennessee legislature authorized the governor to accept for military service all male persons of color between the ages of 15 and 50. By that time one Negro company from Nashville already had joined a white regiment in marching east to fight in Virginia (Wesley, 1927, p. 107; Barrow, 2001).

The 1st Louisiana Native Guards

In May 1861, Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana issued a proclamation providing for the enrollment of free blacks in an all-black regiment with some black officers. By early 1862, nearly 3000 men had joined this regiment and other nearby units around New Orleans. Their officers were skilled tradesmen, craftsmen, and even a few slave owners. There were several sets of fathers and sons and sets of brothers in this regiment, and “all the males in the large Duphart family were members” (Rollins, 1994, pages 22-23). Black officers included:

Captain Noel Bachus, 40, a carpenter and landowner;

Captain Michael Duphart, a 62-year old wealthy shoemaker, and

Lt. Andre Cailloux, a cigar maker and boxer.

The 1st Louisiana Native Guards was a 1307 man regiment with some black officers. It included many of the leading individuals in the New Orleans black community. Like most Southern militia regiments early in the war, they provided their own arms, and uniforms. They spent the greater part of their Confederate service as Provost Guards, although there is some indication that part of the regiment saw action at Fort Jackson during the New Orleans campaign (Official Records, I, 6, 858).

Black Louisianans played a significant part in Louisiana’s military history ever since the beginning of settlement. They fought for, and against, the French, the Spanish, the English, as well as with Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. By late 1861, about 3000 black Louisianans were enrolled in state troops and militia organizations, in the state, in service to the Confederate cause (Rollins, 1994, 22; 167-168).

Five Units of Confederate Blacks in Mobile, Alabama

Black Southerners in Mobile, Alabama took part in the defense of that city. In early 1862, a citizen wrote to the Government that he could organize a regiment of Creoles – a term for people of mixed blood— writing that “they are as true to the South as the pure white race. I can raise [a regiment] in a few days.” Black confederates were already organized and working on the city’s defenses by early 1862, and in November 1862, the state legislature of Alabama passed an act authorizing the raising of troops of “mixed blood … commonly known as Creoles” for the defense of the city. Major General Dabney Maury had written to the Adjutant General of the Confederacy, asking to enlist Creoles in Confederate service as artillerymen in the defense of Mobile. In August of 1864, the Confederate commander of Mobile formed a unit of cavalry with some blacks in it, and in October he ordered the city to enlist Creoles and free blacks; five different units of black troops were active in Mobile (Rollins, 1994, pp. 25-26).

Confederate Government Enlists Black Soldiers, March 1865

In March 1865, the Confederate government began actively recruiting and enlisting black soldiers. In early 1865 Robert E. Lee publicly advocated the enlistment of black troops, and in March the Confederate Congress authorized raising 300,000 new troops “irrespective of color.” General Ordinance No. 14 stated “no slave will be accepted unless with his own consent and with the approbation of his master by a written instrument conferring the rights of freedmen …” (Official Record, IV, 3, 1161). Shortly after, one witness recorded that the streets of Richmond were filled with 10,000 Negroes who had been gathered at Camp Lee on the outskirts of Richmond. Negroes were armed and placed in trenches near Richmond” (Rollins, 1994, p. 26).

A book length treatment of this topic is the excellent The Gray and the Black: Confederate Debate on Emancipation by Robert F. Durden.

Conclusion

The evidence is clear: Black Southerners served in the Confederate Army as soldiers.

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References

Barrow, C. K., & Segars, J. H., & R.B. Rosenburg, R.B. (Eds.) (2001). Black Confederates. Gretna:
Pelican Publishing Company, 191 pages.

Durden, Robert F. (1972). The Gray and the Black: Confederate Debate on Emancipation. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, U.S. Government.

Rollins, Richard, Ed. (1994). Black Southerners in Gray: Essays on Afro-Americans in Confederate Armies. Rank and File Publications, Redondo Beach, California, 172 pages.

Thomas, Emory (1971). “Black Confederates: Slavery and Wartime” in The Confederacy as a
Revolutionary Experience. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Pages 119-132.

Vandiver, Frank E. (1970). Their Tattered Flags: The Epic of the Confederacy. New York:
Harper’s Press.

Wesley, C. H. (1927). Negro Labor in the United States 1850 to 1925: A Study in American
Economic History. New York: Russell & Russell. Chapter 4: The Negro and the Civil War.

Williams, Scott. “On Black Confederates,” www.geocities.com/11thkentucky/blackconfed.htm or
http://www.37thtexas.org/html/BlkHist.html

"Confederates in California" Book Available for Purchase

The California Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans and Other Interested Parties:

I recently published a book titled "Confederates in California" which is the result of about 10 years research. The book contains the names of over 1600 Confederates who are buried in California or who were in California at one time (not all stayed in CA.) The book is in black and white hard bound and about 300 pages. It contains over 450 photos of markers or individuals; service info; date and place of birth and death; some family info; and a few comments related to service or the individual in CA. Price is $50.00 plus $5.00 shipping. I have 8 copies left from the last printing, but will have more printed if needed. I am working with a great printer who will print 1 or more copies as needed. If you need a printer for a book I will be happy to pass on his name and location to you.

Margaret Alley

For more information or to order a book, contact me at this address: malley1@earthlink.net

Jeff Davis Turns 200

Jeff Davis had a birthday on June 3. He was 200 years old. Here's a picture of him I haven't seen before. He was a handsome man.

Happy birthday, President Davis. You are a continuing source of inspiration to us all.

An American Trilogy

A Son of the South from Mississippi sings two great American songs. Elvis sings from 1973. Brother Elvis has been gone now going on 31 years. How time does fly.

Confederate Service Records Available Online

Gary, Thanks for the update.

One of my favorite websites is http://www.footnote.com/ This is a subscription service, however, you can look at their index and also you can look at some of the records they have posted. The cost is $59.00 per year; I think you can get a trial subscription for about 1 week if you are interested.

They currently are placing the Confederate service records on line. These are the National Archives Microfilm Records!

Their on line index : Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Missisisippi, North Carolina, South CArolina, Tennessee Texas and Virginia... Not all states are complete, but they do give you the percentage of records on line.

You can browse the index and look for the man you want, then if you find him you can down load and or print the service record if you have a subscription. If you don't have a subscription you can at least look at the index.

So if you are paying 40 or 50 dollars to get service records, you should check out this website first to see what they have on line.....

Margaret Alley

Some Great Civil War Websites - Great Pictures & Articles of Confederate Troops

I discovered the Civil War Gazette online while researching Civil War topics. They have some great articles and pictures of individual Confederates, Confederate uniforms and equipment, and burial sites of soldiers.  UPDATE:  The Civil War Gazette has recently insulted the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Confederate cause, is Yankee biased and anti-Southern.  Read at your own risk.

Here's an example. This is an original Confederate kepi worn by a soldier at the Battle of Franklin. Note the construction and the wool pattern. When purchasing replica uniforms, authenticity is important, and studying the original uniforms can aid you in achieving it.

Another worthy site is Civil War Potpourri. It has a list of articles on many aspects of the Civil War, namely the causes, casualties, uniforms, weapons, etc. The "Causes" page is of special interest to Confederate descendants -- that's because this section is told from the Southern view, what the Southern soldier thought he was fighting for. See Causes of the Civil War (From the Southern View).

Official War Records Now Available for Free

Google Books is an online source of publications that are in the public domain. These are books whose copyrights have expired and may be copied and cited for free. Google makes these books available for reading online, or for download as Adobe pdf files. You can then read the pdf file on your own computer at your leisure (or, if the book is short enough, you may be able to print the book on your printer and read the hard copy).

Google has now made available, for free, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. This book was copyrighted in 1900 and is now in the public domain. A few years ago this record was only available at a steep price, in printed form; only serious researchers owned copies.

Now you too can be a serious researcher of history. Download the book from this link.

The Google Books main page is here. Use it to download valuable books on literature, poetry and other topics.

Services to be Held for Real Son Woody Plaugher

Dear Friends and Compatriots

Finally received word of services for our Dear Friend and Real Son Woody Plaugher.

They will begin at 12 noon Saturday July 26th at the Orcutt Presbyterian Church located at 993 Patterson Road in Orcutt/ Santa Maria.

Anyone needing directions and is planning to attend please notify me at this E-mail address or telephone 805-929-2089.

There will be other activities at the Masonic Hall nearby and Woody's house later in the day. Additionally, anyone wishing to attend in uniform will be appreciated.

Barron Smith
Commander
Deaderick-Doremus-Thurmond Camp 1631 Santa Barbara

Arkansas Division Commander Passes Away

Arkansas Commander Durnett has passed away. The SCV HQ Blog has the story.

Read it here.

SCV Pin Now Available

For the California Division and SCV Member/Collector - A New SCV Pin

Lt. General Wade Hampton, Camp 2023 presents for sale their new pin. 1.5” X 2” in size with the California Grizzly Bear on top. You can purchase with our Camp number for the member/collector or order one with a blank plate to have your camp number engraved on it.

Cost is $12.75 - includes shipping. If ordering more than 1 Pin e-mail gary-stephens@sbcglobal.net for actual shipping cost . These are beautiful Pins!

Send order request with check or money order made payable to “SCV Camp 2023” to Gary
Stephens 2908 E. Whitmore Ave., H-150, Ceres, CA 95307