10-12-2017, 05:02 AM
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Too old to care
Industry Role:
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: On the sofa, watching TV or doing my jigsaws.
Posts: 52,943
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Confederacy approves black soldiers - Mar 13, 1865 - HISTORY.com
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On this day in 1865, with the main Rebel armies facing long odds against must larger Union armies,the Confederacy, in a desperate measure,reluctantly approves the use of black troops.
The situation was bleak for the Confederates in the spring of 1865. The Yankees had captured large swaths of Southern territory, General William T. Sherman?s Union army was tearing through the Carolinas, and General Robert E. Lee was trying valiantly to hold the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia,against General Ulysses S. Grant?s growing force. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis had only two options. One was for Lee to unite with General Joseph Johnston?s army in the Carolinas and use the combined force to take on Sherman and Grant one at a time. The other option was to arm slaves, the last source of fresh manpower in the Confederacy.
The idea of enlisting blacks had been debated for some time. Arming slaves was essentially a way of setting them free, since they could not realistically be sent back to plantations after they had fought. General Patrick Cleburne had suggested enlisting slaves a year before, but few in the Confederate leadership considered the proposal, since slavery was the foundation of Southern society. One politician asked, ?What did we go to war for, if not to protect our property?? Another suggested, ?If slaves will make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong.? Lee weighed in on the issue and asked the Confederate government for help. ?We must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves be used against us, or use them ourselves.? Lee asked that the slaves be freed as a condition of fighting, but the bill that passed the Confederate Congress on March 13, 1865,did not stipulate freedom for those who served.
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Originally Posted by oppoten
There were blacks who fought for the Confederacy. Not that the disease-media would give a fuck.
They should bring back lynchings. For reporters, not blacks.
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