As a result of reading this thread, the first link that was provided, and others I found through search engines, it wouldn't surprise me if the contributions of Black men in the Confederate side of the Civil War were systematically downplayed.

After all, the side that wins the war writes the history.

I visited the link that was provided in 2002 and would summarize the reasons given for Black men to fight on the side of the Confederacy as promises of freedom and money for their services.

Here are some excepts from the fact lists provided by that site:
3. Free black musicians, cooks, soldiers and teamsters earned the same pay as white confederate privates. This was not the case in the Union army where blacks did not receive equal pay. At the Confederate Buffalo Forge in Rockbridge County, Virginia, skilled black workers "earned on average three times the wages of white Confederate soldiers and more than most Confederate army officers ($350- $600 a year).

9. Recently the National Park Service, with a recent discovery, recognized that blacks were asked to help defend the city of Petersburg, Virginia and were offered their freedom if they did so. Regardless of their official classification, black Americans performed support functions that in today's army many would be classified as official military service. The successes of white Confederate troops in battle, could only have been achieved with the support these loyal black Southerners

11. In March 1865, Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary Of State, promised freedom for blacks who served from the State of Virginia. Authority for this was finally received from the State of Virginia and on April 1st 1865, $100 bounties were offered to black soldiers. Benjamin exclaimed, "Let us say to every Negro who wants to go into the ranks, go and fight, and you are free Fight for your masters and you shall have your freedom." Confederate Officers were ordered to treat them humanely and protect them from "injustice and oppression."

18. Nearly 180,000 Black Southerners, from Virginia alone, provided logistical support for the Confederate military. Many were highly skilled workers. These included a wide range of jobs: nurses, military engineers, teamsters, ordnance department workers, brakemen, firemen, harness makers, blacksmiths, wagonmakers, boatmen, mechanics, wheelwrights, etc. In the 1920'S Confederate pensions were finally allowed to some of those workers that were still living. Many thousands more served in other Confederate States.

from http://www.37thtexas.org/html/BlkHist.html
[the link provided in the first posts]

It also occurs to me to wonder where did the Black laborers go when a battle began. It doesn't seem reasonable to me that there was some safe zone where the non-fighting Black laborers could stay while a battle was going on. It seems more likely to me that these Black laborers would be up in the middle of any battle that would occur. It also seems likely to me that in the heat of battle they would be forced to take up arms that they might retrieve from fallen soldiers to protect themselves if for no other reasons.

Also I don't discount the fact that some Black slaves, freed Blacks, and free Blacks fought for the Confederacty because of loyalty to kind masters; because of loyalty to unkind masters {what I would call the house n---g status, snitch, and general craziness syndrome}; because of blood ties to masters; because of genuine friendship with their masters, and/or to defend their own homes and families...

All of this to say that people do things that may or may not be in their long term best interest for a number of usually compliated reasons that may or may not be reasonable in hindsight-whether that hindsight be immediate or historical..



Azizi