"One of the lost chapters of Civil War history has been the
passive and even active support that many Southern blacks, free and slave,
gave to the Confederacy. [Black Confederates] illuminates
the overlooked facet of this seemingly contradictory behavior by a group
of African-Americans who appear to have thought of themselves as
Southerners first and blacks second."
--William C. Davis, author of "A Government of Their Own: The Making of the
Confederacy"

Neither Confederate history nor black studies can afford to ignore the
efforts of black Americans on the side of the Confederacy, as this
seemingly contradictory behavior reveals and underscores the terrible
complexity of the War Between the States. To quote Edward Smith, Dean of
Minority Affairs in the August, 1991 edition of The Civil War News:
"To admit that blacks actually fought for a cause which in the minds
of many 20 th century Americans now stands exclusively for
slavery and oppression is unacceptable to many in the country concerned
with only politics and not with the historical record."
This volume reflects an effort to restore some accuracy to the
historical record with regard to black soldiers who fought for the
Confederacy. Through correspondence, military records, narrative
reminiscences, and newspaper accounts from these brave men who served what
they considered their country, we hope to discover not only that
they did fight, but also how they fought to restore honor to the fallen
among them.