Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
Blacks in grey...!
In March 1865 the military situation for the Confederate States of America is desperate!
The Yankees under General Ulysses Grant have now conquered large parts of the territory of the southern states.
Union General William Sherman marches through the two Carolinas with his army on the "March to the Sea", extensively devastating them for miles to right and left of his march route in order to break the morale of the population - and there are not enough Confederate troops available to stop him ...:
CSA General Robert Lee is trying to defend the Confederate capital of Richmond from the Union Army with his last strength (which is no longer sufficient for a real field battle!) in fortified positions near St. Petersburg...:
Jeff Davis, the President of the Confederacy...
...sees only one possibility:
Lee's soldiers are to confront General Joe Johnston's troops, who are completely outnumbered by Sherman.
...unite in the Carolina States - and then beat first Sherman and then Grant separately!
But the question is:
Meanwhile, who's defending Richmond?
And so the question inevitably arises as to whether it would be opportune for the Confederate Army to access the last human potential that is still available: the black slaves!
More than 200,000 volonteer black soldiers are now serving in the ranks of the Union Army. They are not loved there, many also despise them, but they are needed as weapon carriers, but they are used in closed units (regiments), of course commanded by white officers!
CSA General Patrick Cleburne...
... had raised the question of slaves and their inclusion in the Confederate Army several times before, but had always been rebuffed.
In February 1865 he asked the question again - and combined it with the realization that without additional soldiers the Confederacy would inevitably lose the war.
Cleburne triggers a heated debate!
Slavery is the economic basis of Southern society.
A politician asks, "What did we go to war for if not to protect our property?"
Another even says: "If slaves become good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong."
Now General Lee ...
...me speaks out and strongly supports Cleburn's proposal: "We must decide whether slavery will be wiped out by our enemies and the slaves will be used against us, or we will use it ourselves."
Lee goes even further, asking for the slaves to be freed if they are willing to fight in the ranks of the army and prove good soldiers.
But the Congress of the Confederation does not want to go that far:
On March 13, 1865, a law was passed allowing voluntary black slaves to serve in the Confederate Army. But there is not a word of "release" or even "freedom" as a reward for their use - quite the opposite!
After the (won) war everything should be the same as before; nothing should change about the owner's ownership of his slaves (see the red arrow on the next photo)...:
The question of how and whether the black volunteers should be paid at all also remains unregulated. As slaves, they received no money from their owners for their work.
And - if you pay wages - who gets it? The slave who serves as a soldier? Its owner...?
In the south, too, the blacks are to be deployed in closed units - albeit in companies, because complete regiments are no longer available anyway...:
The desperate act of the Confederacy is also reported in the northern states...:
**continued next post**
In March 1865 the military situation for the Confederate States of America is desperate!
The Yankees under General Ulysses Grant have now conquered large parts of the territory of the southern states.
Union General William Sherman marches through the two Carolinas with his army on the "March to the Sea", extensively devastating them for miles to right and left of his march route in order to break the morale of the population - and there are not enough Confederate troops available to stop him ...:
CSA General Robert Lee is trying to defend the Confederate capital of Richmond from the Union Army with his last strength (which is no longer sufficient for a real field battle!) in fortified positions near St. Petersburg...:
Jeff Davis, the President of the Confederacy...
...sees only one possibility:
Lee's soldiers are to confront General Joe Johnston's troops, who are completely outnumbered by Sherman.
...unite in the Carolina States - and then beat first Sherman and then Grant separately!
But the question is:
Meanwhile, who's defending Richmond?
And so the question inevitably arises as to whether it would be opportune for the Confederate Army to access the last human potential that is still available: the black slaves!
More than 200,000 volonteer black soldiers are now serving in the ranks of the Union Army. They are not loved there, many also despise them, but they are needed as weapon carriers, but they are used in closed units (regiments), of course commanded by white officers!
CSA General Patrick Cleburne...
... had raised the question of slaves and their inclusion in the Confederate Army several times before, but had always been rebuffed.
In February 1865 he asked the question again - and combined it with the realization that without additional soldiers the Confederacy would inevitably lose the war.
Cleburne triggers a heated debate!
Slavery is the economic basis of Southern society.
A politician asks, "What did we go to war for if not to protect our property?"
Another even says: "If slaves become good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong."
Now General Lee ...
...me speaks out and strongly supports Cleburn's proposal: "We must decide whether slavery will be wiped out by our enemies and the slaves will be used against us, or we will use it ourselves."
Lee goes even further, asking for the slaves to be freed if they are willing to fight in the ranks of the army and prove good soldiers.
But the Congress of the Confederation does not want to go that far:
On March 13, 1865, a law was passed allowing voluntary black slaves to serve in the Confederate Army. But there is not a word of "release" or even "freedom" as a reward for their use - quite the opposite!
After the (won) war everything should be the same as before; nothing should change about the owner's ownership of his slaves (see the red arrow on the next photo)...:
The question of how and whether the black volunteers should be paid at all also remains unregulated. As slaves, they received no money from their owners for their work.
And - if you pay wages - who gets it? The slave who serves as a soldier? Its owner...?
In the south, too, the blacks are to be deployed in closed units - albeit in companies, because complete regiments are no longer available anyway...:
The desperate act of the Confederacy is also reported in the northern states...:
**continued next post**
