In this segment, Les speaks with historian Rick Britton about: TODAY IN US HISTORY – On this day in 1865—155 years ago—Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a bill allowing black men to be enlisted into the Confederate Army. This is still a controversial topic and one about which there’s still widespread confusion. The US Army had begun recruiting African Americans in September 1862. In the South the reaction was horror and disgust. They considered enemy black soldiers to be rebellious slaves—their white officers were considered to be inciting servile insurrection.

There were African Americans with every single Confederate Army—but they were body servants, wagoners, cooks, etc. They were “with” the army, not “in” the army. As numbers dwindled in the Confederate Army, Southern officers began to seriously consider enlisting blacks. Confederate Gen. Patrick Cleburne made a proposal to that effect in December 1863. He was at first ostracized, but the debate was never fully squelched. The bill appeared in the Confederate Congress on February 10, 1865: The idea was to accept slaves as soldiers, but only with their master’s permission. General Robert E. Lee approved of the measure, it passed on March 8, President Davis signed it into law on the 13^th.

Only two companies were created, both in Richmond. There are newspaper reports of black Confederates drilling on the Capitol grounds in Confederate uniforms. One unit served briefly in the trenches outside the city. The other apparently served guarding a wagon train during the retreat from Richmond in the Appomattox Campaign. One report exists of black Confederates repelling a Union cavalry attack against a wagon train. The cavalry regrouped, attacked again, and dispersed the train guards.