Known to us who live in the South but, hey, who listens to us?
Some of the "handful":
It has been estimated that over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the Confederate ranks. Over 13,000 of these, "saw the elephant" also known as meeting the enemy in combat. These Black Confederates included both slave and free. The Confederate Congress did not approve blacks to be officially enlisted as soldiers (except as musicians), until late in the war. But in the ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate officers did not obey the mandates of politicians, they frequently enlisted blacks with the simple criteria, "Will you fight?" Historian Ervin Jordan, explains that "biracial units" were frequently organized "by local Confederate and State militia Commanders in response to immediate threats in the form of Union raids". Dr. Leonard Haynes, an African-American professor at Southern University, stated, "When you eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you've eliminated the history of the South."
http://www.37thtexas.org/html/BlkHist.html
"Dr. Leonard Haynes, an African-American professor at Southern University, stated, "When you eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you've eliminated the history of the South.""
Exactly. I don't think people in other parts of the country realize how much interaction between Blacks and Whites there actually is down here. Having spent a great deal of time in the Northeast and the Deep South, I can honestly say that there is far more interaction down here. In pont of fact, I have known many Blacks who are as proud of the South as any White man.
65,00 CSA black soldiers. C'mon. Of course, a lot of slaves were used for the dirty work and a handful of personal servants occassionally took potshots at Yankees but the CSA did not allow black soldiers until the end of the war (whe it was too late). The only exception were some free blacks in the Louisiana home guard, but these were used for purely defensive purposes and in a very limited way.