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Confederate Memorial Day will honor soldiers who sided against the Union
staugustine.com ^ | 18 April 2003 | PETER GUINTA

Posted on 04/18/2003 6:53:53 AM PDT by stainlessbanner

latest update: Friday, April 18, 2003 at 08:36 AM EDT





photo: news
click photo to enlarge
  A Confederate flag adorns a memorial marker placed in remembrance of Isaac Papino, an African American soldier who served in the Confederate army.
By MATT MAY, Staff




Confederate Memorial Day will honor soldiers who sided against the Union

By PETER GUINTA


Senior Writer

 

Most Civil War histories usually ignore the more than 70,000 African-Americans who served with Confederate armies.

People know little about them, but in 1861, noted black abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, "There are many colored men in the Confederate Army as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops and doing all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government."

Black soldiers' contributions to Union armies are already well known, popularized in Hollywood films such as "Glory" with Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.

However, suggesting that Southern blacks fought and died for a government that condoned and supported slavery is politically incorrect nowadays.

Nonetheless, at least three black Confederate veterans are buried in San Lorenzo Cemetery on U.S. 1 -- three of only six documented in the state.





photo: news
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  Col. John Masters unrolls an American flag before placing it at a grave of Anthony T. Welters, an African American soldier who served in the Confederate army.
By MATT MAY, Staff




These men are Emanuel Osborn, Anthony Welters and Isaac Papino, all from St. Augustine.

Their memories -- and the memories of 46 white Confederate soldiers who died during that war -- will be honored Saturday, when Nelson Wimbush of Orlando, grandson of a black soldier who rode with Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, speaks at 10 a.m. at the Plaza de la Constitucion.

Wimbush is coming to St. Augustine to mark an early observance of Confederate Memorial Day by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Gen. William Wing Loring Camp 1316, St. Augustine.

According to Jim Davis, a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam and adjutant of the Loring chapter, the observance was moved from April 26, the anniversary of Gen. Joseph E. Johnson's surrender, to avoid conflict with Flagler College's graduation.

"After the speech, the names of all veterans listed on the Confederate Monument will be read aloud," Davis said.





photo: news
click photo to enlarge
  Confederate soldier Anthony T. Welters is pictured in this late 1800's portrait. Welters is one of at least two African American Confederate soldiers buried at San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine.
Special to The Record




That memorial was raised in 1872 by the Ladies Memorial Association of St. Augustine. The names on its side include many long-time St. Augustine families and most will sound familiar -- Thomas and John Ponce, Peter Masters, Jacob, Antonio and George Mickler, Michael G. Llambias, Bartolo Pinkham, Henaro Triay, Joseph Andreu, Francis Baya and Gaspar Carreras, among others.

Loring, a veteran of the Seminole and Mexican wars, was raised in St. Augustine and accepted a commission in the Army of the Confederacy in 1862. His ashes are buried under a monument in the west Plaza, Cordova and King streets, raised in his honor in 1920 by the Anna Dummett Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy.

"All of our veterans ought to be honored for the sacrifices they gave," Davis said. "This is our way of honoring the sacrifices of our Confederate veterans."

After reading the names, participants will be invited to San Lorenzo Cemetery to place flags on the graves of the 160 Confederates -- black and white -- buried there.

John Masters of St. Augustine, a retired U.S. Army colonel with combat service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, has documented 9,000 Confederate graves in Florida. Only six of them are black, he said, because most records of the time did not list race.

"Graves of black Confederate veterans are scarce as hen's teeth," he said.

Most black Confederates worked as cooks, drivers or musicians, but at least 18,000 served as combat troops, Masters said.

"Black people don't want to believe that, but it's true," he said. "Nobody wanted to be a slave, but this was their home and the North was an aggressor nation."

All St. Augustine black Confederates survived the war.

Osborn was born here in 1843, the son of freed slaves. He was 18 when he enlisted in 1861 as a musician in Capt. John Lott Phillips' Company B, 3rd Florida Infantry Regiment, called the St. Augustine Blues.

He served in St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Tallahassee, Mobile, Ala., and Chattanooga, Tenn., fighting in the Battle of Perryville.

He was discharged in 1862 after his one-year enlistment ended and due to his ill health. He died in 1907.

In St. Augustine National Cemetery is buried a Samuel L. Osborn Jr., private in Company D, 33rd U.S. Colored Troops, who died in 1890. Masters believes this may be Emanuel's brother.

Welters, who served in the same company as Osborn and Papino, was also known under other names, such as Anthony Wetters, Tony Fontane and Antonio Huertas. A former slave, he was born in 1810 and enlisted as a fifer in 1861, when he was 51 years old.

He participated in the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville.

Returning to St. Augustine, after the war, Welters lived at 79 Bridge St. and became active in politics and with the E. Kirby Smith Camp, United Confederate Veterans. He died in 1902 at 92 years old.

Only a few facts are available about Papino. He was born in 1813 and enlisted as a musician and mechanic in 1861 at 48 years old but was discharged in November 1862.

His burial place is not precisely known, but a stone in San Lorenzo stands near his comrades' graves in memorial of his service.

Many blacks who fought for the Confederacy drew pensions for their service after the war. Arkansas, the only state which identified these individuals by race, documented 278 blacks who received such pensions.

Masters said Confederate Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who was born and raised in St. Augustine, had a black orderly, Alex Darns. After the war, the general paid for his former orderly to attend medical school.

Darns later became a successful doctor in Jacksonville.

"St. Augustine was occupied by the Union in 1862," Masters said. "Smith's mother was a Confederate spy. She and someone else cut down the flag pole in front of the arsenal (now National Guard headquarters) so they couldn't fly the Union flag on it."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: confederate; decorationday; dixie; dixielist; dunmoresproclamation; memorialday; soldiers; south
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To: thatdewd
"Rising above vulgar prejudice, the slaveholding rebel accepts the aid of the black man as readily as that of any other..."

The rebels would only accept the help of blacks -- if they were slaves -- this, up until the very end of the war, when the rebel congress passed a bill to enlist black troops, after it was too late.

Walt

181 posted on 04/21/2003 6:34:38 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: Non-Sequitur
NOPE!

sorry, wrong answer!

the PACSA was NEVER more than a few thousand (during most of the war it numbered about 3,000 men total- after the war was won, there was a plan to have about 20-25,000 regulars & a large reserve force of state, local & privately-raised troops.of course the plan was never completed, as we lost our war for independence.) men- mostly senior NCOs & senior commissioned officers.

the 4th MO Partisan Rangers, led by COL Quantrell, were MO state militia & were never part of the PACSA.

free dixie,sw

182 posted on 04/21/2003 7:56:10 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
oh, great poster of off-point, out of context,long, boring drivel, you are a fine one to talk about being "not like real in touch with reality"!

BTW, have you suddenly morphed into a "valley girl"?

free dixie,sw

183 posted on 04/21/2003 8:03:36 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: stand watie
oh, great poster of off-point, out of context,long, boring drivel...

Not in this case. You "col of medical troops" was a civilian doctor in no way associated with the government.

And you somehow morphed Antietam into Gettysburg, and you somehow morphed Dr. Steiner's 3,000 negroes of 64,000 total into "20/25%".

You are a pathetic joke.

Walt

184 posted on 04/21/2003 8:07:55 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: WhiskeyPapa; stainlessbanner; thatdewd; Colt .45; canalabamian; billbears; stand watie; ...
"There is -no- credible evidence that even a small number blacks served as soldiers in the rebel armies."

Would this be credible?? Capt. Heysinger was a Union Officer

Wednesday, September 10: At 4 o'clock this morning the Rebel army began to move from our town, Jackson's force taking the advance. The movement continued until 8 o'clock P.M., occupying 16 hours. The most liberal calculation could not give them more than 64,000 men. Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in the number. . . . They had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-knives, dirks, etc. They were supplied, in many instances, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, etc., and they were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederacy army. They were seen riding on horses and mules, driving wagons, riding on caissons, in ambulances, with the staff of generals and promiscuously mixed up with all the Rebel horde.

Capt. Isaac Heysinger

185 posted on 04/21/2003 8:10:21 AM PDT by SCDogPapa (In Dixie Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie)
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To: Non-Sequitur
sorry. wrong again!

the following independent nations recognized the CSA: Apache,Cherokee, Chickasaw,Choctaw,Comanche,Creek,Dinea (Navaho),Lakota, Mohawk & Seminole.

all of these Indian nations sent ambassadors (the Cherokee embassy is still standing;it is now a private home in Richmond.)to Richmond;all but the Lakota & Dinea sent TROOPS to fight against the damnyankees.

but of course, you damnyankees never accepted our Indian nations as anything except groups to exploit.

there were a large number of European nations who were ready to recognise the CSA, as soon as the war was won, including Denmark, several German states,South Africa, France & Great Britain.

free dixie,sw

186 posted on 04/21/2003 8:16:31 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: SCDogPapa
Wednesday, September 10: At 4 o'clock this morning the Rebel army began to move from our town, Jackson's force taking the advance. The movement continued until 8 o'clock P.M., occupying 16 hours. The most liberal calculation could not give them more than 64,000 men. Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in the number. . . . They had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-knives, dirks, etc. They were supplied, in many instances, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, etc., and they were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederacy army. They were seen riding on horses and mules, driving wagons, riding on caissons, in ambulances, with the staff of generals and promiscuously mixed up with all the Rebel horde.

Capt. Isaac Heysinger

I don't know who this guy is, but this text was in a phamplet written and published in 1862 by a Dr. Lewis Steiner.

See this link:

http://www.edinborough.com/Life/AtFront/Steiner.htm

Where'd you get your info? SCV or League of the South? Hate groups don't make real objective sources.

Walt

187 posted on 04/21/2003 8:16:40 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: Non-Sequitur; stand watie
Even stand waite uses lower case.

Though you might have found an example otherwise, in my limited checking stand watie capitalizes "Confederate" but not "yankee". 104

188 posted on 04/21/2003 8:17:03 AM PDT by rustbucket
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To: SCDogPapa; stainlessbanner; thatdewd; Colt .45; canalabamian; billbears; stand watie
See also #179 in this thread.

How very odd.

Walt

189 posted on 04/21/2003 8:20:33 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
yep. typical of the 5-6% of southerners who owned slaves;most of the rest of the south's population not only didn't own a slave, but couldn't have cared less what the planter-aristocrats wanted.

the WBTS was caused by slavery in precisely the same way that fish cause floods.

for 90% of southerners (at least), the war was about just ONE main cause: freedom for dixie.

for those of us who favor LIBERTY, it still is.

free dixie,sw

190 posted on 04/21/2003 8:20:42 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
MORE off-pont drivel!
191 posted on 04/21/2003 8:21:22 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
once again, WRONG answer.

the US Archives states that he was a COL(surgeon) of the union army.

as usual, you are twisting the truth to suit your agenda, scalawag.go read the records as i have, and stop posting revisionist PROPAGANDA.

free dixie,sw

192 posted on 04/21/2003 8:25:08 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: rustbucket
exactly.just as i lowercase the name of lincoln,the TYRANT & WAR CRIMINAL, and capitalize the name of President Jefferson Davis.

it's a southron thing.

free dixie,sw

193 posted on 04/21/2003 8:27:42 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: SCDogPapa; stainlessbanner; thatdewd; Colt .45; canalabamian; billbears; stand watie
The most liberal calculation could not give them more than 64,000 men.

Anyone with even a slight knowledge of the ACW knows that Lee's army at Antietam was only 40-45,000. No matter who wrote this (and Dr. Steiner definitely did), he's not very credible.

Neither are you.

Walt

194 posted on 04/21/2003 8:27:55 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: stand watie
the US Archives states that he was a COL(surgeon) of the union army.

It doesn't say any such thing. I usually don't respond to you at all, but you are even more over the top ludicrous today than usual.

Walt

195 posted on 04/21/2003 8:29:26 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: stainlessbanner; All
He believes the Lee and Jackson monuments should be toppled "just like the statue of Saddam in Baghdad."
196 posted on 04/21/2003 8:29:39 AM PDT by putupon (I smack Chirac and Schroeder too with my right shoe.)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
you, of all people, shouldn't talk about credible, as all you post is LIES, promolgated by the most extreme of the south-hating northeastern revisionists & wartime propaganda.

free dixie,sw

197 posted on 04/21/2003 8:30:00 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: stand watie
yep. typical of the 5-6% of southerners who owned slaves...

Slave ownership devolved on 50% of whites in MS, LA and SC and on 1/3 of southerners elsewhere. There were more slave owners in the south than there were real property owners in the north.

Walt

198 posted on 04/21/2003 8:31:45 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa (Be copy now to men of grosser blood and teach them how to war!)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
ROTFL!

what are you drinking this morning? must be strong!

as the VAST majority of southerners were POOR yeoman farmers, with total gross assets of less than $5,000 including home,livestock & their land, your claim is both ill-informed & LAUGHABLE! the average rebel soldier in the ranks had total gross assets of less than $50 & net assets of less than $ 25.

Shelby Foote said that perhaps 10% of southerners could have AFFORDED to buy a slave, even if they wanted to own one.

your silly, hatefilled,ignortant,off-point, foolish posts are a source of merriment to all but the most ignorant members of the forum AND the WORST of the south-haters.

free dixie,sw

199 posted on 04/21/2003 8:40:04 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. : Thomas Jefferson 1774)
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To: WhiskeyPapa
"It's pure fantasy,' contends James McPherson, a Princeton historian and one of the nation's leading Civil War schol

Nuff said. BTW, haven't you tired of posting that same old piece of crap from the WSJ? Everytime this issue comes up this is the first thing you go to. And McPherson's data is not only unchecked, it's suspect by his very leanings. He throws out anything that disagrees with his POV even though the paper could be staring him in the face. What? All these documents stating the existence and bravery of blacks in the Confederate Army were forged by Southerners? That's a good conspiracy theory there Walt.

200 posted on 04/21/2003 8:42:40 AM PDT by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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