There_is_no_credible_evidence_of_blacks_fighting_for_the_CSA.
"The Louisiana "Native Guards" were organized years before the Civil War. When the war came, they offered themselves to the Confederate leadership because it was the only government they had to offer themselves to in order to maintain and enhance their status as "free people of color." But the Confederacy turned down the offer.
When the United States took New Orleans, the_Native Guards offered themselves to the United States for the rest of the war, killing many Confederates.
When New Orleans was evacuated by the Confederate authorities in March 1862 they were ordered to report to Mjr. Gen. John Lewis, who commanded the state militia under the orders of Gov. Thomas O. Moore, but the Native Guards did not leave. The Creole in command, instead of following the Confederate troops out of the city when they evacuated it, allowed his command to be cut off, and then volunteered to Union Gen. Butler to serve in the Union.
On June 6, 1863, the four regiments of the Louisiana Guards were transferred into the Corps d'Afrique. On April 4, 1864, these regiments were designated the 73rd, 74th, 75th and 76th Regiments of Infantry, United States Colored Troops, respectively, and served in that capacity 'til the end of the Civil War. On May 27, 1863, the "free blacks" of the Louisiana Regiments were to distinguish themselves in the battle of Port Hudson against Confederate forces before the 54th Massachusetts Regiment would storm Fort Wagner and gain modern fame in the movie "Glory." An editorial in the New York Tribune of June 8,1863, eloquently declared: "That heap of six hundred corpses, lying there darkand grim and silent and within the Rebel works, is a better proclamation of freedom than even President Lincoln's. A race ready to die thus was never yet retained in bondage and never can be."
Walt
So you think Frederick Douglass lied about it, huh? And all those yankees writing about it during the war, and after the war, all just liars. A wonderful position from which to defend your fantasy.
But the Confederacy turned down the offer.
They were not accepted into "national" Confederate service, but remained a Confederate State Militia, complete with their "colored" officers. Many white Militia units were not taken into "national" Confederate service and remained under the control of their respective states as well.
When the United States took New Orleans, the_Native Guards offered themselves to the United States for the rest of the war, killing many Confederates.
Actually, what happened was that after New Orleans fell, many of the original members offered their services to the Union who formed new regiments and reinforced them with runaway slaves. They got rid of the black and mixed officers that had been allowed before by Confederate Louisiana, and put white officers over them. They were then promptly used as cannon fodder at Port Hudson where they were slaughtered en masse as a result of the callous way in which they were repeatedly thrown against impregnable positions that the Union commanders would not send white troops against. Afterwards the Union used them as labor to dig ditches and build fortifications for "regular" white troops, and let them act as guards over POWs and civilians. They did fight in a couple more small battles later on, and to my knowledge were not used in such a disgraceful manner as had been done previously by their Union commanders at Port Hudson. Some of the letters written by members of the unit following Port Hudson are worth reading. If you want to know real history, that is.
The Creole in command, instead of following the Confederate troops out of the city when they evacuated it, allowed his command to be cut off, and then volunteered to Union Gen. Butler to serve in the Union.
I must admit I've never heard that fascinating tidbit before. Where, pray tell, did you obtain it?