C.S.A. General

Source

# Black Confederates

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

On September 10, 1862, Lewis H. Steiner, Inspector of the Sanitary Commission stated, "At four o'clock this morning the rebel army began to move from our town, Jackson's force taking the advance. . . . The most liberal calculations could not give them more than 64,000 men.  Over 3,000 negroes must be included in this number. . . . 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. . ."¹

3000

Nathan Bedford Forrest

In an 1868 interview with General Bedford Forrest, the United States 40th Congress 3rd Session reported that General Forrest said," “I want you to understand distinctly, I am not an enemy to the negro. We want him here among us; he is the only laboring class we have, and more than that, I would sooner trust him than a white scalawag or carpet-bagger. When I entered the army I took 47 negroes into the army with me, and 45 of them were surrendered with me. I said to them at the start: 'This fight is against slavery; if we lose it, you will be made free; if we whip the fight, and you stay with me and be good boys, I will set you free. In either case you will be free. Those boys stayed with me, drove my teams, and better confederates did not live.'"²

47

George Wythe Randolph

In a 1861 Volume IV Official Records compilation by John C. Stiles, the Grapevine News reported that "A Yankee colonel wrote that his scouts reported that the Richmond Howitzer Battery, C.S.A., was manned by negroes and he thought the report was correct."³

Number unknown

John A. Wharton

Following the Battle of Murfreesborough, Tennessee, United States (Union) Lieutenant Colonel John G. Parkhurst with the 9th Michigan Infantry reports,"The forces attacking my camp were the First Regiment Texas Rangers, Colonel Wharton, and a battalion of the First Georgia Rangers, Colonel Morrison. . . . There were also quite a number of negroes attached to the Texas and Georgia troops, who were armed and equipped, and took part in the several engagements with my forces during the day."⁴

Number Unknown