Charles Kelly Barrow, J.H. Segars, and R.B. Rosenburg, Black Confederates, (originally published as Forgotten Confederates), Pelican Publishing Company, 2001, at page 97 states:
Aside from the obvious fact that southerners for years disliked equally Carpetbaggers, "Yankees," and Republicans, regardless of their races, there is a simple truth that eloquently refutes the thesis used against our ancestors. It is a little known truth; nevertheless, it is factual: The overwhelming majority of blacks during the War Between the States supported and defended with armed resistance the cause of southern independence, as did Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other minorities. In his book Blacks in Blue and Gray, H.C. Blackerby demonstrates that over three hundred thousand blacks, both free and slave, supported the Confederacy, far more than the number that supported the Union.
Dr. H.C. Blackerby, Blacks in Blue and Gray, Portals Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1979, in Appendix C at page 121 observed,
Records indicate that 300,000 or more blacks served with Confederate armies part of the time. Some were soldiers. Others served in many ways, from horsehoers to guards.
Dr. Blackerby points out, at page 18, one way Blacks might have gained entry to the forces. A law in Virginia (perhaps elsewhere) authorized a white man to change the legal status of a Black man to White by swearing before a notary. Pursuant to the law, the Black was supposed to be seven-eights or more White, but in wartime legalities are not always stringently observed.
MOST of the asians,blacks, indians & latinos who served the CSA as soldiers,sailors & marines did so, IN SPITE of laws to the contrary, by joining militias formed by cities,towns,counties,parishes, states & by PRIVATE individuals.
in point of fact, less than 1/2 of ONE percent of "dixie's lads in gray" were REGULARS!
it made no difference to the VOLUNTEERS (of ANY group that wanted to defend dixie) what unit they belonged to OR what the "fat cats" in Richmond thought!
free dixie,sw