On 11/25/2012 6:22 AM, ПеаБраин wrote:
On Nov 25, 5:38 am, chatnoir wrote in
part:


Black Confederates in the Civil War
.

Blacks who
shouldered arms for the Confederacy numbered more than 3,000 but fewer
than 10,000,
"..Estimates of Black Confederate Serving the South


How many black Confederates served the South in combat or direct
battlefield support ? The numbers vary wildly from 15,000 to 120,000.
The truth remains that nobody has an accurate figure. My estimate is
that 65,000 blacks scattered across the entire South followed the
Confederate armies from one battlefield to the next from 1861 to 1865.
Larger numbers of blacks loyally served the Confederacy, not as
soldiers but as employees of the Army, Navy, Confederate government or
the individual State governments.


Where does this estimate of 65,000 come from ?

Dr. Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission,
observed that Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's troops in occupation of
Frederick, Maryland, in 1862: "Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in
this number [Confederate troops]. These were clad in all kinds of
uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but
in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby,
but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel
ranks. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-
knives, dirks, etc.....and were manifestly an integral portion of the
Southern Confederate Army."


If we assume Dr. Steiner is somewhat reliable and assume that this
3,000 Negroes of Jackson's troops are a representative number of
black Confederates in a typical Confederate fighting force, then we
may be able to make a rough calculation. First we must determine how
many men were part of Jackson's troops ? If Lee had 50,000, was
Jackson's force, 25,000 ? That would be a likely estimate. So then
what percentage is 3,000 of 25,000 ? Answer: 12 %. So that would tell
us that 12% of Jackson's force was black Confederates. Now, if we
assume that Steiner meant 3,000 blacks soldiers in Lee's entire
50,000 force that crossed the Potomac, then the percentage of black
Confederates is reduced to 6%. Either way it is calculated, black
Confederates were a considerable percentage of the total...."
Considering blacks were less than 17% of the total population and half
were women thenyou have the children and the elderly it would mean that
the percentage could*NOT* be higher than 8% and that would leave no one
behind to do all the farming to grow food for the troops. And then there
is the possibility that the blacks were the tip of the spear and used as
cannon fodder. That would skew the numbers you projected also.


That's if every able bodied man was expected to sign up for the military.




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