[LS]

If other historians dispute it, then they are fools. A great deal of scholarship---solid stuff---has emerged in recent years about both blacks in the Confederate army and black slaveholders:

*Ervin Jordan, "Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia" for example cites the number 100,000 blacks in Confederate service. Most were NOT in combat or carrying weapons, but some were, and no one can seriously deny the number who were in uniform (largely on the promise of freedom if the South won).

*J.H. Segars, "Black Soldiers in Confederate Armies: A Collection of Historical Accounts" contains first-hand accounts of these soldiers.

*Charles Kelly Barlow, "Black Confederates"

*Larry Koger, "Black Slaveowners: Free Black Masters in South Carolina"

*Michael Johnson and James Roark, "Black Masters; A Free Family of Color in the South."

[B4Ranch]

The sole purpose of the dispute is to keep the demand for reparations alive.