They are the “black forgotten Confederates,” said White, who has extensively researched the role of blacks in the Confederate Army for a book he is writing, Black Texans Who Served in the Confederate Army.
Much attention has been given in movies such as Glory and in books and articles written by prominent U.S. military and Civil War era historians to the exploits and heroics of black soldiers serving in the Union forces, White said, but “very little observance, if any, has been given to their counterparts in the Confederate Army.”
“Their voices have been omitted from the pages of history,’” White said.
Traditionally, the consensus has been that the Civil War was a battle among white men, White said.
“That's pretty accurate but it's not complete and I'm finding out that many different, diverse ethnic groups participated for the Union cause and the Southern cause,” he said.
His research has uncovered that blacks, Latinos and Native Americans served in the Confederate Army.
“I approached this as a historical topic that needs great attention,” White said. Since it's well documented that blacks fought for the Union forces, White said, he likes to take in his research the road that has been traveled.
He found that black Texans served in the Confederate Army in many diverse capacities, such as infantrymen on the battlefield, personal body servants, teamsters or laborers.
The topic caught White's attention while he was working on his thesis on the Buffalo soldiers, the first regular black soldiers in the U.S. military, as he pursues a master's degree in history from Stephen F. Austin State University.
White found that several Buffalo soldiers had prior service in the Confederate Army and said the thought occurred to him that they are a category that has not really been explored.
“When I first began my research, I was somewhat ridiculed that I'm chasing a mystical category,” White said. “But, three years later, I can show you evidence that indicates at least over 7.500 black Texans participated in the Confederate Army.”
That's the number of “forgotten Confederates” he said he has documented in his research. But White estimates the number of black Texans who participated in the Confederate Army in the War Between the States may have been as high as 50,000.
“The goals of my research are to historically recognize and acknowledge black Texans who served in the Confederate Army,” said White, a board member for the Museum for East Texas Culture in Palestine and a preservation fellow for the Texas Historical Commission.
Since this is a country that honors its veterans, it should acknowledge, recognize and honor all of its veterans, including blacks who fought for the South, White said.
“My issue is simply I'd like to recognize the service of veterans — in this case, they are black Texans who fought on behalf of the Confederacy,” he said.
Many families are proud and honored when he shows them evidence that their ancestors are Confederate veterans, White said.
White is still in the investigation process, which he undertook three years ago. He says several publishers have expressed interest in his book which he hopes to publish in 2014.
“A lot of folks may wonder why blacks fought for the Confederacy or what may have motivated them,” White said. “My work is not to answer that; my work is to validate that they did serve in some capacity. That's the basis of my research — just to acknowledge the fact they are Confederate veterans.”
His research is based on what he calls “primary sources that indicate black Texans served in the Confederate Army.” Primary sources, White said, are “100 percent irrefutable evidence — letters, diaries, pension applications, photographs, newspaper accounts, county commission records and other evidence that give primary insight” that blacks were in the Confederate Army.
White said he has traveled more than 30,000 miles crisscrossing the state searching for primary sources validating that blacks served in the Confederate Army.
It's both black history and Confederate history, White said, calling the two interconnected and entwined.
White said he is able to do the research because of the foundation he received from his mentors in the Texas Historical Commission and his studies at Stephen F. Austin State University and at The University of Texas at Tyler.
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