Peter Carmichael is not trying to reduce anything; rather he is trying to understand the role slaves played in the Confederate army. There were no black Confederates – there were thousands of Confederate slaves that played various roles as slaves. Some no doubt even carried weapons and may have even shot at Union troops. The problem with this issue is the failure to frame the issue correctly as well as the lack of scholarly research. That is beginning to change. The UDC and SCV do not engage in scholarly research. The site you link to, for example, is not an example of serious research. Please understand that future references will be censored as I am not interested in sharing partisan sources that reflect a complete lack of scholarly research. Thanks for your understanding.

I would suggest that you read Bruce Levine’s book _Confederate Emancipation_ (Oxford University Press) for an overview of this issue. You may also want to browse the category “Confederate Slaves” on this blog for more information.

Here is a man who claims his confederate roots.

Maybe I am misunderstanding the issue Dr. Carmichael is addressing. I see him trying to marginalize the service of Black Confederates by reducing them to just personal servants when records show how ever spotty that free blacks and others served and to quote Gen Forrest He said they were the best soldiers he had. I want to remove emotion and past racial conflict, and focus upon the Facts as best as we can gather them about the Confederate Army and who fought for States Rights in the South.
I know this is a very complex issue as we hear it divided families. I am afraid that many in the Academic world are to use a movie phrase ” Truth, You want the TRUTH! , You can’t handle the TRUTH. It is out there may be not as appealing at the SCV and the UDC wants but it is not a bad as so many in modern academia try to portray. May we all strive to find and record the TRUTH in all its facets as we study and teach the Civil War. Or a my Great grandpa in Arkansas called it The Great War of Northern Aggression.

Yes, Hispanics did fight in the Confederate Army, but they also fought in the Union Army in about equal numbers. As a teacher of Texas history, what I have found in my research on this topics is that the Tejano population was equally despised by Texans on both sides of the slavery and secession issues before the war. Like Native Americans, this was, in a way, a separate front of the Civil War amongst a subculture in the nation. To use Hispanics or Jews to support your claim that other cultural groups fought for the Confederacy so we can assume that slaves and free blacks also served does not have any significant bearing toward answering the question of how blacks were viewed by white soldiers in the Confederate Army.

I don’t know what the NAACP says about these issues. Regardless, as far as we know free blacks and slaves did not fight in Confederate ranks in anything approaching substantial numbers.

Here is the link: http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/maps/comparison/c_geographic.html

I will take your word for it that this is a mistake. Thanks

I don’t see anywhere in the site that they say that both are part of the Shenandoah Valley.

Really?! Then, regretfully, that is incorrect. The Shenandoah Valley ends with Jefferson and Berkeley counties in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

Franklin and Cumberland Co., Pa., as well as Washington Co., Md., are all considered part of the Cumberland Valley. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Valley

Now, if we’re talking about the “Great Valley,” the number of counties is immense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Appalachian_Valley

According to the website, they are both considered to be part of the Shenandoah Valley.