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Mr. McQueen doesn't(in the section you quote), address any historical issues. He can't, so he resorts to impugning Levine's character, the last refuge of someone who has lost an argument.
People who want to believe that tens of thousands of black men, fought or "served"(a word used to blur, not clarify), the Confederacy, believe that very intensely. They hunt for evidence that can be interpreted, however implausibily, to support that belief, and ignore or denigrate the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They are not seeking to learn about or better understand an historical event. They are trying to invent something that didn't happen. Scientists study the stars, but they don't argue about Ptolemy anymore.
The question seems to continue to be about the exaggerated numbers of blacks claimed by various folks to have fought for the Confederacy. I seriously doubt many did so. A good number, small but good, did fight for the South and for survival. The 45 or so who rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest come to mind. They were a somewhat captive group at best, though they were exposed to the same gray bullets as the white folks in the Escort. Were they simply seeking freedom in totality, looking to defend their invaded homeland, or just figuring riding with Forrest was a comparatively safe place to be; we'll never know completely for sure. 1861-65 was a time when black folks had little political clout, I'd say roughly none, and were routinely treated as property or at best as friend who couldn't vote, come inside the bar for a shot of Jack Daniels (I know, he was just getting into business), or drink out of the main bucket. Some things have changed in the South, albeit very slowly.
__________________ Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
Mr. McQueen doesn't(in the section you quote), address any historical issues. He can't, so he resorts to impugning Levine's character, the last refuge of someone who has lost an argument.
People who want to believe that tens of thousands of black men, fought or "served"(a word used to blur, not clarify), the Confederacy, believe that very intensely. They hunt for evidence that can be interpreted, however implausibily, to support that belief, and ignore or denigrate the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They are not seeking to learn about or better understand an historical event. They are trying to invent something that didn't happen. Scientists study the stars, but they don't argue about Ptolemy anymore.
So you believe Mr. Levine is unbiased?
Do you believe he has all the facts on the issue?
__________________ POWER & MONEY
"Your New-York bankers and merchants are shrewd people, but I never gave them credit for so much sagacity as when they took the Government Loan. It was not merely patriotism, it was a high stroke of policy. It has saved the Government, and what they will regard as equally important, saved them from a great financial disaster."
In my opinion, these are not the right questions. They don't engage the topic.
I think Levine describes the range of Confederate attitudes and actions towards large scale emancipation accurately. His description and conclusions are based on research and evidence. Attempts to discredit him personally, or others that present evidence or conclusions one disagrees with, is an admission that the evidence and conclusion themselves, can't be discredited.
No similar evidence exists to support tens of thousands of blacks fighting for the Confederacy.
Bruce Levine, "Black Confederates," North & South, Vol. 10, No. 2, p.41-
"...the entire history of the war demonstrates that the vast majority [my emphasis] of southern blacks wished for the success of the Union cause....Their personal loyalties and inclinations pointed [North]..."
False.
I've found too much information that points in the other direction.
*
Prisoner exchange after Battle of Antietam:
"...There were delivered at Aiken’s Landing of the Confederates 2,192 enlisted men, 82 officers and 19 contrabands all sent from Fort Delaware.
....
P. S.—The nineteen contrabands sent from Fort Delaware to Aiken’s Landing were represented by the officer in charge as having been taken on or near the battle-field and acting as teamsters. They insisted upon being sent." [my emphasis]
"Your New-York bankers and merchants are shrewd people, but I never gave them credit for so much sagacity as when they took the Government Loan. It was not merely patriotism, it was a high stroke of policy. It has saved the Government, and what they will regard as equally important, saved them from a great financial disaster."
The problem is that your "scholarship" doesn't match w/ legitimate historians doing legitimate research with the actual records. You are too well known for by gosh and by golly research for my taste.
I'll stick with the legitimate historians thank you very much. Glaathar, Trudeau etc.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
I didn't see that source say yea or nay on any of it. Taylor doesn't mention chains either; nor overseers. Does that mean there weren't any?
The contrabands were working on fortifications near Mobile. In such works, there would be some soldiers present. And the contrabands would be detailed in small groups. There would be a need for no more than an armed overseer for each detail.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
"I have found too much information that points in the other direction."
The trouble is, Battlaion, WHERE have you found that information, and in WHAT context have you presented it?
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
Bruce Levine, North & South, Vol. 10, No. 2, p.41-
"...the entire history of the war demonstrates that the vast majority [my emphasis] of southern blacks wished for the success of the Union cause....Their personal loyalties and inclinations pointed [North]..."
False.
I've found too much information that points in the other direction.
*
Prisoner exchange after Battle of Antietam:
"...There were delivered at Aiken’s Landing of the Confederates 2,192 enlisted men, 82 officers and 19 contrabands all sent from Fort Delaware.
....
P. S.—The nineteen contrabands sent from Fort Delaware to Aiken’s Landing were represented by the officer in charge as having been taken on or near the battle-field and acting as teamsters. They insisted upon being sent." [my emphasis]
...and not to forget the thousands of servants who remained with the army to the end of the war.
__________________ POWER & MONEY
"Your New-York bankers and merchants are shrewd people, but I never gave them credit for so much sagacity as when they took the Government Loan. It was not merely patriotism, it was a high stroke of policy. It has saved the Government, and what they will regard as equally important, saved them from a great financial disaster."
I didn't see that source say yea or nay on any of it. Taylor doesn't mention chains either; nor overseers. Does that mean there weren't any?
The contrabands were working on fortifications near Mobile. In such works, there would be some soldiers present. And the contrabands would be detailed in small groups. There would be a need for no more than an armed overseer for each detail.
ole
Never seen a POW roll with an absent without leave category.
__________________ POWER & MONEY
"Your New-York bankers and merchants are shrewd people, but I never gave them credit for so much sagacity as when they took the Government Loan. It was not merely patriotism, it was a high stroke of policy. It has saved the Government, and what they will regard as equally important, saved them from a great financial disaster."
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