"giving credit where credit is due" Topic

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Nikole Hannah Jones actually is correct, but only in a narrow sense. The initial northern war aim was preserving the Union. The Confederate war aims were independence and preserving slavery. But of course the destruction of slavery became a secondary northern war aim in 1862. And indeed, one could argue that when they finally had to choose, the Confederate Congress' decision to arm slaves (in the final months of the war) represented a (no doubt reluctant) prioritization of independence over slavery. So both sides had multiple objectives, and the war itself changed what the war was about. As often is the case.

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I wonder how many fit slaves were available for call up and what the units would've been like?

Would it have been "volunteer" or drafting with a "reward" of freedom on the back end?

I wonder what the reliability of these units would be like and how they would've been used. I understand there were not a few desertions from the "colored" units in the Union army.

I've read the law but do not recall details. Lee wanted them integrated into existing units as individuals, as the CSA did. I would assume that it was evident to everyone that Confederate defeat was imminent, so reluctance would be the norm.

Confederate Law Authorizing the Enlistment of Black Soldiers, as Promulgated in a Military Order
ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Richmond, Va., March 23, 1865.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 14.

I. The following act of Congress and regulations are published for the information and direction of all concerned:

AN ACT to increase the military force of the Confederate States.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That, in order to provide additional forces to repel invasion, maintain the rightful possession of the Confederate States, secure their independence, and preserve their institutions, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to ask for and accept from the owners of slaves, the services of such number of able-bodied negro men as he may deem expedient, for and during the war, to perform military service in whatever capacity he may direct.

SEC 2. That the General-in-Chief be authorized to organize the said slaves into companies, battalions, regiments, and brigades, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, and to be commanded by such officers as the President may appoint.

SEC 3. That while employed in the service the said troops shall receive the same rations, clothing, and compensation as are allowed to other troops in the same branch of the service.

SEC 4. That if, under the previous sections of this act, the President shall not be able to raise a sufficient number of troops to prosecute the war successfully and maintain the sovereignty of the States and the independence of the Confederate States, then he is hereby authorized to call on each State, whenever he thinks it expedient, for her quota of 300,000 troops, in addition to those subject to military service under existing laws, or so many thereof as the President may deem necessary to be raised from such classes of the population, irrespective of color, in each State, as the proper authorities thereof may determine: Provided, That not more than twenty-five per cent. of the male slaves between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, in any State, shall be called for under the provisions of this act.

SEC 5. That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which the said slaves shall bear toward their owners, except by consent of the owners and of the States in which they may reside, and in pursuance of the laws thereof.

Approved March 13, 1865.

II. The recruiting service under this act will be conducted under the supervision of the Adjutant and Inspector General, according to the regulations for the recruiting service of the Regular Army, in so far as they are applicable, and except when special directions may be given by the War Department.

III. There will be assigned or appointed for each State an officer who will be charged with the collection, enrollment, and disposition of all the recruits that may be obtained under the first section of this act. One or more general depots will be established in each State and announced in orders, and a suitable number of officers will be detailed for duty in the staff departments at the depots. There will be assigned at each general depot a quartermaster, commissary, and surgeon, and the headquarters of the superintendent will be at the principal depot in the State. The proper officers to aid the superintendent in enlisting, mustering, and organizing the recruits will be assigned by orders from this office or by the General-in-Chief.

IV. The enlistment of colored persons under this act will be made upon printed forms, to be furnished for the purpose, similar to those established for the regular service. They will be executed in duplicate, one copy to be returned to this office for file. No slave will be accepted as a recruit unless with his own consent and with the approbation of his master by a written instrument conferring, as far as he may, the rights of a freedman, and which will be filed with the superintendent. The enlistments will be made for the war, and the effect of the enlistment will be to place the slave in the military service conformably to this act. The recruits will be organized at the camps in squads and companies, and will be subject to the order of the General-in-Chief under the second section of this act.

V. The superintendent in each State will cause a report to be made on the first Monday of every month showing the expenses of the previous month, the number of recruits at the various depots in the State, the number that has been sent away, and the destination of each. His report will show the names of all the slaves recruited, with their age, description, and the names of their masters. One copy will be sent to the General-in-Chief and one to the adjutant and Inspector General.

VI. The appointment of officers to the companies to be formed of the recruits aforesaid will be made by the President.

VII. To facilitate the raising of volunteer companies, officers recruiting therefor are authorized to muster their men into service as soon as enrolled. As soon as enrolled and mustered, the men will be sent, with descriptive lists, to the depots of rendezvous, at which they will be instructed until assigned for service in the field. When the organization of any company remains incomplete at the expiration of the time specified for its organization, the companies or detachments already mustered into service will be assigned to other organizations at the discretion of the General-in-Chief.

VIII. It is not the intention of the President to grant any authority for raising regiments or brigades. The only organizations to be perfected at the depots or camps of instructions are those of companies and (in exceptional cases where the slaves are of one estate) of battalions consisting of four companies, and the only authority to be issued will be for the raising of companies or the aforesaid special battalions of four companies. All larger organizations will be left for future action as experience may determine.

IX. All officers who may be employed in the recruiting service, under the provisions of this act, or who may be appointed to the command of troops raised under it, or who may hold any staff appointment in connection with them, are enjoined to a provident, considerate, and humane attention to whatever concerns the health, comfort, instruction, and discipline of those troops, and to the uniform observance of kindness, forbearance, and indulgence to their treatment of them, and especially that they will protect them from injustice and oppression.

By order:

S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General.

So the plan was to raise squads and companies. A battalion of four companies only where all were from the same estate. They'd have been assigned to existing regiments in small groups.

In general, it seems "too little too late." Might have worked had it been done in fall 1864 and they had the winter months to work with.

No slave will be accepted as a recruit unless with his own consent and with the approbation of his master by a written instrument conferring, as far as he may, the rights of a freedman, and which will be filed with the superintendent. The enlistments will be made for the war, and the effect of the enlistment will be to place the slave in the military service conformably to this act.

There'd have been some volunteers. Anybody's guess how many.

IX. All officers who may be employed in the recruiting service, under the provisions of this act, or who may be appointed to the command of troops raised under it, or who may hold any staff appointment in connection with them, are enjoined to a provident, considerate, and humane attention to whatever concerns the health, comfort, instruction, and discipline of those troops, and to the uniform observance of kindness, forbearance, and indulgence to their treatment of them, and especially that they will protect them from injustice and oppression.

I'd say they anticipated problems with white reactions.

Slavery was a giant trap, almost impossible to escape from within, whether one were black or white.

Well, Black slavery was a giant trap. I think that if it had been white slavery, something might have been hashed out. I dont think the South (or the North) liked the idea of large numbers of former black slaves with geographic mobility.

They were going to integrate black companies into white regiments? I wonder if that was a way to get the black recruits up to speed fast and also to make sure that any potential for mutiny would be small.

See Win Jordan's WHITE OVER BLACK. In a pre-industrial society someone has to do the heavy lifting. It was understood by 1700 in Virginia that if blacks were not available, whites would be the subordinate workers (as many were, as indentures). Black slavery was understood to be the basis of white freedom.

And by 1850 one had only to look at the Irish in the New England mills to confirm.

And at the sharecroppers, white and black, after Reconstruction.

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The few times I did a re-enactment (about four, iirc) they put me between two vets, with another behind me, to guide/push me into position and especially to keep me from getting lost during complex maneuvers. It worked.

I do think that white and black (and brown) men (and ladies, too, though I have no experience with that) can work together just fine on teams. I doubt mutiny was a major concern. Desertion though, maybe, was?

Might add "defection" doc mcb. Obviously this was far too late, but had it been done earlier, I think you'd have to consider the possibility of brigade or larger black units switching sides. Someone did an alternate history piece in which such measures were taken a year earlier, with black regiments joining existing white brigades from the same states, which might have been feasible.

But the partial freedom this law envisions really wasn't. I can see freedmen fighting for southern independence, but not when their women and children were to remain slaves. As far as I know, every serious military advocate of Confederate use of freedmen as soldiers understood this entailed the end of the "peculiar institution." The Confederate Congress doesn't seem to have grasped this.

Well, we are talking of a half million men or so, from the wisest range of circumstances. Generalities seem impossible. Agree that the Confederate Congress didn't "get it" and iirc the law passed by a very narrow margin. Desperate times and desperate measures. And yes, you give slaves guns, you cannot reverse the process of freedom.

Well, we are talking of a half million men or so, from the wisest range of circumstances. Generalities seem impossible. Agree that the Confederate Congress didn't "get it" and iirc the law passed by a very narrow margin. Desperate times and desperate measures.

It wouldve been interesting to see what would happen when a black Southern unit faced off against a black Union one.

As far as I know, every serious military advocate of Confederate use of freedmen as soldiers understood this entailed the end of the "peculiar institution." The Confederate Congress doesn't seem to have grasped this.

I would argue that those who opposed admitting blacks into the armed ranks of the army of the Confederate States of America understood this all too well, and very early on. Those opponents probably understood it well before those who advocated using blacks as soldiers came to that conclusion.

It would have been easy enough for the Confederacy in 1861 and early 1862 to begin formally admitting free blacks into integrated units. There was a precedent for this in the later stages of the AWI. Having done so, and with a record of blacks fighting successfully along side of whites, it would establish a good precedent for expanding the pool to include slaves who would be offered their freedom and their families' freedom in return for serving. Opponents of blacks serving in the army realized that at some point along this road the Confederacy would hit a point of no return. Thus the desire not to go down that road at all.

I agree with Bill. Everybody understood guns = free in the long run. Mary Chesnut mentions arming slaves in several diary entries; either everyone must do it, or no one can do it.

But I feel very sure that blacks would have been integrated into white regiments as individuals. Which solves some problems and perhaps creates others.

Levi Miller's case is perhaps unique, and certainly very rare, but his company was glad to enroll him.

Captain J. E. Anderson, in support of Miller getting a Confederate pension:

In the spring of 1864 we returned to Virginia and rejoined General Lee's army. In the battle of the Wilderness, Va., where General Lee started to lead the Texas brigade in a charge and the men turned his horse and made him go to the rear before we would charge – for we would not see him killed – Capt. McBride, during the desperate fighting had both legs broken and was considered to be fatally wounded. This occurred in the early morning of May 6, 1864. Levi Miller was at that time with the wagon trains and did not know of the Captain being wounded until he got to Spotsylvania Courthouse where we arrived on the morning of May 8. On the morning of May 10 Levi Miller brought to me a haversack of rations and in order to get to me in our little temporary ditch and breastworks, had to cross an open field of about 200 yards and as he came across the field in full run the enemy's sharpshooters clipped the dirt all around him. I told him he could not go back until dark as those sharpshooters would get him. I gave him directions where he could find Capt. McBride and as soon as it got dark for him to go and nurse the captain until he died and then return to me.

About two o'clock on that day I saw from the maneuvers of the enemy in our front that they were fixing to charge us and I told Levi Miller that he would get a chance to get in a battle. He asked for a gun and ammunition. We had several extra guns in our ditch and the men gave him a gun and ammunition. About 4 p. m. the enemy made a rushing charge. 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. During the fight the shout of my men was ‘Give ‘em hell, Lee!'

After the fight was over one of the men made a motion that Levi Miller be enrolled as a full member of the company. I put the motion and of course it passed unanimously and I immediately enrolled his name as a full member of the company, which roll I have yet in my possession.

As soon as dark came Levi Miller went to Capt. McBride who was taken to a hospital at Charlottesville, Va., and Levi Miller stayed and nursed him until October, 1865 which was some time after the war closed. Capt. McBride returned to Texas and died there in 1880. He owed his life to Levi Miller's good nursing.

As one Confederate politician (pretty sure it was either Tombs or Cobb) put it: "If slaves will make good soldiers our whole theory of government is wrong." (Which it was.)

Well, sure. Hence the opposition to, e.g., Cleburne's proposal.

It does occur to me that Levi had been part of the company for years, and thta there was some number of black cooks and teamsters etc as part of most regiments. Iirc Confederate regulations authorized some number -- a dozen maybe> -- of cooks who doubled as stretcher bearers, and who might be either free blacks or slaves. Men like thta could have been armed and added to the ranks relatively easily, I think.