An Army of Slaves

One of the things that researching and writing Searching for Black Confederates has done is shifted how I think about slavery and the Confederate army. More specifically, it has forced me to reconsider how to approach the relationship between the Confederate soldier and slavery.

Historians such as James McPherson have written extensively about the defense of slavery as a motivating factor for Confederate soldiers by citing letters and diaries. References to slavery have helped historians to better understand why soldiers joined, why they reenlisted as well as other topics such as Confederate nationalism. Many in the neo-Confederate heritage community and others typically respond by citing the percentage of enlisted men who owned slaves. The assumption being that if they didn’t personally own slaves they couldn’t have possibly had any interest in defending the “peculiar institution.”

“Grim Harvest of War” by Bradley Schmehl

Historian Joseph Glatthaar shifts the focus slightly in his examination of the Army of Northern Virginia by looking not simply at slaveowning Confederates, but enlisted men from slaveholding families. Both McPherson and Glatthaar have shed important light on this subject, but in the hands of both slavery often comes across as abstract or removed from much of the day-to-day experience in Lee’s army and elsewhere.

But what happens when we fully appreciate that Confederates interacted in close quarters with enslaved people every day? They did so in camp, on the march, in hospitals, and even on the battlefield. Instead of simply inquiring into the ways that slavery may have motivated Confederates at different points during the war, we need to start asking how close interaction with enslaved people shaped their understanding of the war. We need to begin to see the Army of Northern Virginia and other Confederate armies as armies of slaves.

In September 1862 Dr. Lewis Steiner reported the following about the make-up of Lee’s army as it moved through Maryland:

The most liberal calculations could not give them more than 61,000 men. Over 3,000 negroes must be included in this number. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby, but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel ranks. Most of the negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabres, bowie-knives, dirks, etc. They were supplied, in many instances, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, etc., and 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.

Notice that Steiner never once referred to these men as soldiers. What he observed was an army operating on the backs of enslaved labor, from uniformed body servants or camp slaves to teamsters and other impressed workers. What is important to acknowledge is that these men were fully integrated into the army as enslaved labor.

According to Kent Masterson Brown, Lee’s army may have included as many as 10,000 enslaved people when it arrived at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863.

I tried my best to understand the relationship between Confederate officers and their camp slaves in the book, but I am left with numerous questions about how the presence of thousands of slaves impacted the men serving throughout the army.

  • Did the rank-and-file acknowledge the crucial role that slaves played in maintaining the organization and fighting integrity of the army?
  • What responsibilities did soldiers assume in maintaining control of the army’s enslaved population?
  • How did soldiers respond to the large number of runaway slaves following campaigns such as Gettysburg?
  • What cultural significance did slaveholders and non-slaveholders alike attach to the presence of slaves in the army?

These are just a few of the many questions that I am left with. I’ve always maintained that it is important to acknowledge that Confederate armies functioned as the military arm of a government whose goal was the protection and expansion of slavery and white supremacy.

Of course, the irony is that it was an army of slaves that ultimately helped to place the Confederacy in a position where it had a chance of achieving this goal on more than one occasion during the war.

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34 comments… add one
  • John Mark King Feb 3, 2022 @ 13:41

    “Notice that Steiner never once referred to these men as soldiers. What he observed was an army operating on the backs of enslaved labor” — Kevin Levin

    What complete and utter B.S. WHAT Steiner DESCRIBED was SOLDIERS — ARMED and uniformed just as their White commrades. Libtards like you and MacPhearson can try to wish away Black Confederates, and explain away with your IMPOSED interpretations all you want. But Steiner DESCRIBED SOLDIERS — NOT “… an army operating on the backs of enslaved labor”

    • Kevin Levin Feb 3, 2022 @ 13:48

      Hi John,

      You clearly have never actually read the Steiner account. And it’s McPherson, not MacPhearson. There are plenty of accounts of enslaved men marching together in Confederate ranks, but they were not soldiers, at least that’s what real Confederates had to say during the war. You should take up your disagreement with the historical record.

    • Andy Hall Feb 4, 2022 @ 7:38

      Yet on the very next page, Steiner also described these units as being commanded by Howell Cobb, whose bonafides as a dyed-in-the-wool Confederate ideologue are unimpeachable. And yet, two years later, Cobb famously expressed dismay and disdain at even the suggestion that Black men might be enlisted as soldiers. That seems like a pretty glaring mark against Steiner’s claim, or at least your interpretation of it.

      I don’t doubt Steiner reported his understanding or interpretation of what he saw, but he didn’t have actual knowledge of the organization of the Confederate army, and he himself wasn’t a soldier, regardless. The people who would actually know, and speak to this with authority, were actual Confederate soldiers and officers, yet were silent or, like Cobb, openly dismissive of even the idea of Black Confederates as fighting soldiers. As I’ve said before, real Confederates didn’t know about Black Confederates.

      • Kevin Levin Feb 4, 2022 @ 8:10

        Thanks for the follow up, but I suspect that John will not be convinced.

  • Ace-of-Stars Jun 27, 2019 @ 9:06

    You know… all of this raises a most interesting question for me — one that had never occurred to me in all these years of examining & scrutinizing this contentious issue regarding “Black involvement” among Confederate military ranks: WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE OF NEGRO BODIES AMONG THE CONFEDERATE WAR DEAD ON THE BATTLEFIELDS?

    For all of the carnage that the War of Southern Treason had produced that became immortalized in hundreds of photographic documentations (both organic and manipulated), I’m only now realizing that I’ve no recollection at all of any “Confederate Negro” corpses or war-wounded in any of the images I’ve thus far had the opportunity of viewing!

    One would think that for all of the bloviating about the (tens-of-) thousands of “NEGRO Confederates” who played such a prominent role within the ranks of Confederate military units and who willingly fought for the “Confederate Cause,” there is an EXTREME LACK of any photographic evidence of African corpus delecti littered about the “Confederate Zones” of any significant clashes with United States forces, save those who represented the Union Blue. In fact, I’d do well to recall ANY sort of visually documented proof of such direct involvement not limited just to the photographic medium (e.g. paintings, etchings, etc.), in contrast to such image records from/about the American Revolution which frequently did include such representations of fighters/defenders of African descent.

    Your thoughts?
    Thanks.

    • Kevin Levin Jun 27, 2019 @ 9:17

      You make an excellent point.

    • hankc9174 Jun 28, 2019 @ 10:26

      or any front line battle reports or letters by US personnel

  • fundrums Apr 5, 2019 @ 3:03

    Kevin, I should know this from my own work but excuse my brain fart it’s early and I wanted to comment. Did the whites that held the same roles as the black camp slaves (cooks, teamsters etc.) get pensions equal to those who fought?

    Michael Aubrecht

    • Kevin Levin Apr 5, 2019 @ 3:20

      That’s a question that you would think I should be able to answer, but unfortunately I cannot. My guess is that it depended on the state in question. The amount allocated for former body servants in Mississippi, for example, was very limited. This was true in other states as well. It would be interesting to look at Virginia, whose pension program was the most extensive of any former Confederate state.

      • Rob Baker Apr 23, 2019 @ 10:45

        Michael and Kevin,

        I’ve got a Confederate ancestor in Virginia whose job is listed as “Teamster.” Unfortunately I do not have Fold3 anymore to access his records. I can point you in the direction if you’ve interested.

        • Kevin Levin Apr 23, 2019 @ 11:14

          Do you have a name?

          • Rob Baker Apr 24, 2019 @ 5:04

            From the NPS. I cannot remember

            Holdaway, Jackson
            BATTLE UNIT NAME: 51st Regiment, Virginia Infantry
            SIDE: Confederacy
            COMPANY: K
            SOLDIER’S RANK IN: Private
            SOLDIER’S RANK OUT: Private
            ALTERNATE NAME: Jackson/Holaway
            FILM NUMBER: M382 ROLL 27
            PLAQUE NUMBER:
            NOTES:
            General Note – Original filed under Jackson/Holaway

            • Kevin Levin Apr 24, 2019 @ 5:20

              Thanks. Let me know if you follow it up with more research.

              • Rob Baker Apr 25, 2019 @ 10:08

                Hopefully I will someday.

                House on the market, baby on the way, switching schools – so I’m a little tied down at the moment.

    • Msb Apr 6, 2019 @ 7:00

      Well, they would have been paid while serving, which enslaved people weren’t.

  • fundrums Apr 4, 2019 @ 7:58

    I’ve always been interested in how many slaves stayed with the families that they served after the war. I’m primarily speaking of the nannies and house servants who may have had a closer relationship with their owners family and continued that relationship. That said, this could also be said for those who served their masters in the army while on campaign. It seems hard to believe but there could have been bonds that were formed between them. Of course there is no way to tell but I’m sure there were instances that this was true.

    Michael Aubrecht

    • Kevin Levin Apr 4, 2019 @ 9:20

      I’m primarily speaking of the nannies and house servants who may have had a closer relationship with their owners family and continued that relationship.

      It’s a question worth pursuing, but I do think it is important to frame it around the very limited opportunities that formerly enslaved people had in the postwar South.

      It seems hard to believe but there could have been bonds that were formed between them.

      I actually pursue this to a certain extent in the book. I think it is important to remember that body servants (camp slaves) shared faced many of the same hardships during the war. Of course, any attempt to get at the complexity of this relationship must be done through the lens of the master-slave hierarchy.

    • Mike Furlan Apr 10, 2019 @ 8:35

      “I’ve always been interested in how many slaves stayed with the families that they served after the war.”

      There is a meme here, “One does not simple walk into freedom.” Even if you did walk, (after being pulled off the train, because “black”) you might not be allowed to board the steamship to get passage across the river again because “black.” Also too, if you owed your old master a dollar, there is another reason you couldn’t leave.

      “Southroners” wanted to keep “their” labor force after the war.

      Furthermore most Yankees were not exactly welcoming, to put it mildly.

      In short, unless the local white folks were not tying to kill you right now, you might logically decide to make the best of your really bad situation.

  • Mike Apr 3, 2019 @ 16:53

    Analyzing the Civil War or Slavery in a 21st century point of view is useless and smells of an agenda. That someone would mention Trump in this conversation proves my point. Saying the Civil War was fought to preserve Slavery is as misguided as saying it was fought over states rights. Much to complicated for one letter or book.

    • Kevin Levin Apr 4, 2019 @ 0:23

      Saying the Civil War was fought to preserve Slavery is as misguided as saying it was fought over states rights.

      Right, let’s just ignore what Confederates themselves said about the war.

  • Mike Hawthorne Apr 3, 2019 @ 15:27

    It would be interesting to have figures on the literacy rates of the Confederate rank and file, to get an idea of how many could have left written opinions if they had wished to.

  • Shane Anderson Apr 3, 2019 @ 5:03

    3000 is only 5% of 61,000. How many of those 61,000 men do you think actually interacted with or even saw one of that 5% on any sort of regular basis?

    • Kevin Levin Apr 3, 2019 @ 5:17

      First, this is the number that Steiner shared. The actual number could have been higher, though it is difficult to know given the condition of the Army of Northern Virginia in September 1862. As to your question, it’s difficult to know the nature of and extent of the interaction. Keep in mind that slaves functioned in a wide range of roles that were vital to the performance of the army.

      • Bernie. Cyrus May 8, 2019 @ 6:38

        ARTS & HUMANITIES
        Black Confederates

        who studies antislavery movements, the Civil War, and American social protest, says that black Confederate soldiers likely represented less than 1 percent of Southern black men of military age during that period, and less than 1 percent of Confederate soldiers.
        Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
        Their numbers in Civil War were small, but have symbolic value
        BY
        Corydon Ireland
        Harvard Staff Writer
        September 2011
        From the lecture audience, Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, had one answer: “Black people are just as complex as anybody else.”
         
        Has anyone read “The Confederate Negro: Virginia’s Craftsmen and Military Laborers, 1861-1865 By Professor James H. Brewer?

        Chapter Six: ‘Confederate Labor Troops’:

        “Virginia’s fortifications and the labor force responsible for their construction have received less attention than other phases of the Civil War. Yet, from every part of Virginia, thousands of Negroes were called upon the encircle cities and vulnerable areas with cordons of earthworks, and their labor undoubtedly prolonged the war by preventing Federal invasions from seriously affecting the resources of the state. Their story not only provides new insights into the history of the warring South, but contributes to an understanding of the many ways in which the Virginia Negro was inextricable related with the Southern war effort. When weighted against the tragic theme of the stunted existence which resulted from his enslavement, the war discloses that he had a compelling effect on the course of the war and that his service was a key piece in the mechanism of Southern defenses.” (p.163-4)

        Conclusion: “Today, in a lonely unmarked grave, forgotten and unknown, lies the Confederate Negro-a casualty of History.”

        Confederate means and refers to covenant, which the essence of the CSA. This is why Confederate Congress passed legislation in March 1865, offering instant emancipation to any slave, voluntarily enlisting in the military, to be trained for combat, upon receiving his masters permission to do so. A significant number did so, and were undergoing rigorous combat training, even when Lee was forced to surrender. Blacks had served from the beginning, but never as specifically trained for regular combat duty.

        One must remember Blacks were not allowed in the Union ranks until Lincoln began running out of white blood.

        African Americans in Confederate uniforms. for those of you who want to contradict me the second picture is William J. McDowell, Company A, 24th Tennessee Infantry. A Confederate with the same jacket! The hats could be gray, and the slacks are obvious light colored.

        https://www.facebook.com/groups/2023500534354410/permalink/2134428406594955/

        On November 7, 1864, Davis urged Congress to in­crease the number of slaves used by the Army to 40,000. To reach that number he recommended purchasing the slaves and “engaging to liberate the negro on his discharge after service faithfully rendered.” This amounted to proposing a sizable program of compensated emancipation. More significant was his statement that “should the alternative ever be presented of subjugation or the employment of the slave as a soldier, there seems no reason to doubt what should then be our decision.”
        This message was the cautious opening move in the Davis administration’s plan to arm and free the slaves. Within a few weeks Davis and his allies were pressing forward with their maneuver, both inside the Confederacy as well as abroad. In hopes that emancipation might help the South to gain European support, Davis sent Duncan Kenner to England and France. A wealthy Louisiana slaveholder who had independently advocated enlisting and freeing slave soldiers, Kenner readily accepted his diplomatic instructions.
        On the home front, the administration used Robert E. Lee, whose pres­tige within the Confederacy surpassed the president’s, as its primary advocate. At the suggestion of Secretary of State Judah Benjamin, Lee invited his men to speak out, and most declared that they needed and wanted black reinforcements. More important, Lee himself called for bold steps. In January he wrote a Virginia legislator that the Confederacy should raise African-American troops “without delay.” Lee not only had confidence that they could “be made efficient soldiers,” he also argued that the Confederacy should capture their “personal interest” by “giving immediate freedom to all who enlist, and freedom at the end of the war to the families of those who discharge their duties faithfully (whether they survive or not), together with the privilege of residing at the South. To this might be added a bounty for faithful service.” A similar letter, this one to Mississippi Congressman Ethelbert Barksdale, became public in February.
        Joe Wiley at age 90 (on the left) and Howard Divinity, age 91 taken at Brice’s Crossroads in June of 1921. Yeah…we know: They aren’t supposed to exist or if they do, they were FORCED to be there, they didn’t really fight, they were promised junk, they weren’t really in the army, they wore masks, blah, blah, blah….

        Joe was with Co A 7th GA and Howard was with Co A 12th MS. This information along with the photo is courtesy of Mississippi Department of History and Archives.

        https://www.facebook.com/mississippiscv/photos/a.808405089170635/2334247733253022/?type=3

        Mr. LEvin since you mentioned Larry Daniel’s brand new book, Conquered: Why the Army of Tennessee Failed, from UNC Press. Professor Stauffer I went straight to the chapter on General Patrick Cleburne’s enlistment proposal, which contained a brief analysis of camp slaves in the army and this wonderful account from Israel Gibbons:
        A peculiar institution of our army here is the ‘colored wing’—the military Niggers—I mean the officers servants. They dress well, ride thousand dollar horses, smoke two-bit cigars, live on the fat of the land, get up five dollar dancing parties, put on airs over the country niggers, break the wretches’ heart, and lay over the army and mankind in general. So far as ease, comfort and pleasure go, they seem to be the finest general in the army. They observe keenly the distinction of rank. A General’s nigger won’t associate with the Colonel’s or Captain’s nigger if he can help it; and they look upon the white foot soldiers as the wretchedness of mankind. Very often a tired and dusty volunteer, trudging along the road with his gun and knapsack, hears a clatter behind him, steps aside, and a dandy nigger gallops by without turning his head, stiff and dignified as a Major General. (p. 268) However, there are many stories of brave black Confederates.

        • Kevin Levin May 8, 2019 @ 6:43

          Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading your forthcoming book on this subject in which you will make sense of all this evidence.

        • Kelly Houston Jones May 8, 2019 @ 13:26

          WHAT JUST HAPPENED. I’m exhausted.

          • Kevin Levin May 9, 2019 @ 4:51

            You are exhausted? Imagine receiving this very same cut and pasted text for the last ten years. LOL

    • Andy Hall Apr 4, 2019 @ 5:01

      “How many of those 61,000 men do you think actually interacted with or even saw one of that 5% on any sort of regular basis?”

      Steiner himself addressed that when he wrote that the African American men “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.” In Steiner’s view, no one in the Confederate army at Frederick could’ve missed them, because they were present and conspicuous in every part of it.

      Steiner’s account has to be taken with some caveats, particularly since he was a civilian with little or no military experience, so his estimates of numbers and specific roles of the men he saw are subject to question. But nonetheless, there’s every reason to believe that Steiner was reporting what he saw and what he believed he’d witnessed.

      • Kevin Levin Apr 4, 2019 @ 5:18

        I completely agree. Important reminder re: Steiner’s civilian status.

  • Msb Apr 2, 2019 @ 23:34

    “The assumption being that if they didn’t personally own slaves they couldn’t have possibly had any interest in defending the “peculiar institution.””
    Of course this is a ridiculous argument, particularly when one remembers that pro-slavery advocates argued explicitly that the system engaged and benefitted every man with a white skin, by making social status dependent on color.
    Thanks for another thoughtful post.

  • Nora Carrington Apr 2, 2019 @ 22:07

    This oddly makes me feel marginally better about the raft of contemporary folks who’ve claimed slaves were eager to defend the Confederacy; so eager they “signed up” as it were, given slaves could not enter into contracts. I figured it was early-onset Trumpism, but it may be only wishful thinking combined with mistaken oral history.

    • Andy Hall Apr 5, 2019 @ 14:42

      It clarifies a great deal about the Confederate “heritage” movement when you realize that, at it’s core, it’s about promoting and reinforcing a shared, modern-day political/cultural/religious identity. It’s about imagining their ancestors 150 years ago as being just like themselves, and (in turn) taking validation from that imagined inheritance.

  • MikeC Apr 2, 2019 @ 13:59

    Woodward addressed some of those questions in Marching Masters.

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