As support for their claim that the Civil War was not about slavery, modern Confederate apologists cite the number of African-Americans who served in the Confederate armed forces. What the apologists fail to add is the overwhelming majority of African-Americans who served were slaves who had no choice. The Confederates did not use their slaves in combat units not did they arm them. Instead using slaves were assigned support and supply roles. Civil War histories are filled with accounts of how slave deserters both reduced Confederate forces and provided significant military intelligence to the Union. Escaped slaves who had been forced to construct Confederate defenses would point out the weak points to Union troops. Escaped slaves guided Union troops through obstacles the slave had constructed. A slave who was piloting a small Confederate ship took the ship with him when he deserted. While the African-American population of the Confederacy far exceeded that of the Union, far more African-Americans voluntarily served in the Union forces. By the end of the Civil War, almost 10% of the Union military were African-Americans a significant portion of whom were escaped slaves.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:32:02 +0000
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