This morning BuzzFeed published an extensive and thoughtful essay about Silas Chandler and his place in the black Confederate narrative by Adam Serwer. Serwer carefully explores the available sources related to Silas’s time in the war, but he also does an excellent job of untangling the many myths that have surfaced in connection with the famous photograph of Andrew and Silas. Just as interesting are the interviews that Serwer conducted with the descendants of both Andrew and Silas and their competing understanding of the history of the relationship between these two men and, perhaps more importantly, what that relationship means in 2016.
I have been in contact with Adam for some time and shared a number of sources with him for this essay. You will see numerous links to this website and and other essays published over the past few years. This is as comprehensive an account that you will find online and it raises all kinds of important questions. For me, it is a reminder of why the black Confederate narrative deserves attention from historians and why it needs to be challenged at every turn.