UDC member Martha Willis unveils the official marker at black Confederate Pvt. Henry Henderson's grave.
UDC Chapter Registrar Pamela Wood presented Ella Price, one of Henry's granddaughters from Sparta, and Oscar Fingers, a great-grandson and family genealogist from Evansville, IN, special framed plaques of the Confederate battle flag, the St. Andrew's Cross.
After a volley of gunfire, the Highland Brigade of the Sons of Confederate Veterans continued the ceremony by firing cannons to commemorate the service of Pvt. Henderson.
Good pics from the event
As the South honors the service of the black soldier, the North dissavows its' existance.
..Sounds like the Nukeman of Iran and his denial of the holocaust...
abolitionists never quit , huh?
who would have thunk it....
goes to show , never let the tyrants win !
BTW, The Washington Times has a while back an article about blacks fighting for the Confederacy and of a black reenactor on the side of the South because of this link.
Most of the comments which I have made were based on my memories from my early college days, which was over 30 years ago, when I started out as a History Major with an emphasis on US History. 30 years is a long time and memories can fade.
After these discussions, I spent a few hours over the weekend reading the above book, which is a college level textbook written in 1997. I believe the author is British, as the book was originally published in England. Reading the sections on the Civil War, I learned a few things and also confirmed a few others, such as:
** Vermont was the first state to seriously consider secession, but nothing came of it (this was long before the CW)
** South Carolina seriously considered seceding, but this was avoided by the intervention of John C. Calhoun (again long before the CW)
** The majority of Southern plantations were not profitable annually, and often required financial assistance, which was provided by the North (at a substantial profit).
** Most of the slave ships were operated by Northern Captains and again at a substantial profit.
** The North had passed high tariff laws primarily because of their adverse affect on the southern states.
** Northern factories refused to open up in the south, due in part for the desire to keep the south from improving its over all lot.
** Lincoln felt it was his duty to uphold the Constitution, above all other questions. Since slavery was Constitutional, he was willing to allow it to stand.
** Early in the CW it was common for Union officers to grant emancipation to local slaves, after the CSA had been driven out. Lincoln overruled these orders and wrote orders that this practice be stopped.
** Jefferson Davis owned 75 (this was in the 1850's) slaves but forbade corporal punishment of them and declared that punishment of the slaves would be decided upon by the slaves themselves.
** When Davis was gone for long periods (as he often was) the man in charge of the plantation was a slave who was his most trusted assistant.
** For the record, I found no specific mention of Blacks serving in the CSA.
Based on the above, I stand behind what I have said from the very beginning:
1) The Emancipation of the slaves was a result of the war and not Lincoln's primary cause for going to War.
2) Lincoln would have settled peacefully with the South, if given the opportunity, even if it meant that slavery was to continue.
3) The economic policies of the North (1810-1860) were in no small part designed to take financial advantage of the South. It was these policies that ultimately led to the Southern states desire to secede
4) Some Blacks did participate in the war for the CSA, although the extent and reasons for such participation are subject to dispute (the above book is not a source for that comment).
Last comment, Amazon.com has 65 copies of the book available at $9.95 each. Some of you might benefit by reading it.