Confederate Officer asks to recruit Black troops

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Feb 7, 2014
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New York
Anderson J. Peeler was a young Tallahassee lawyer when he joined Co. I of the 5th FL infantry. Quickly promoted to 3rd and then 1st Lt., Peeler gained the admiration of his comrades for his battlefield courage and leadership. He was wounded and captured during the Lang- Wilcox advance on Gettysburg's 2nd day. After a month convalescing at Camp Letterman (under the care of Euphemia Goldsborough), Peeler was sent to Johnson's Island prison where he spent quite a literary internment, writing plays performed by the Camp's theatrical troupe and a florid, maudlin novella "Arthur Murray - Our Little Hero, or the Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock" about an orphaned Fredericksburg boy who volunteers as drummer for his fallen father's VA regiment and then falls himself at Gettysburg. Peeler was exchanged and paroled in March 1865 and arrived in Richmond (how did those logistics work out?).

I'm interested in Peeler because one prominent scholar described him as the primary author of Florida's black codes during the Dec. '65 - Jan. '66 state legislative session. Peeler was also one of two state assemblymen to vote against the XIII Amendment (although he opposed on state rights grounds).
While looking over Peeler's CSR on fold3.com, I came across the following letter (which was very hard to read):
Dated March 23, 1865, Richmond addressed to John C. Breckinridge. Peeler first writes that he arrived in Richmond the day before and explains a bit about his military background (first volunteering on April 1, 1861, at Pensacola), then continues as follows:
I approve most heavily the actions of the Government in placing negroes in the field as soldiers and am satisfied that they can be made effective and valuable as auxiliaries. The company I am entitled to command as captain consists now of only nine men which will be consolidated in a few days. As I cannot enter active service [illeg.] my exchange and after such a long separation from family and friends desire to accept the furlough rendered by the Govt. I am anxious while at home to do everything in my power to promote the interests of the Negro Bill as passed by Congress among the people of my state by urging prompt and immediate action. Believing I can do much good in this way, I wish to engage in the work of recruiting and enlisting negroes. I respectfully ask for authority to raise one or more companies of negroes in the State of Florida or to be detailed as recruiting officer of negro troops and to open a [illeg.] for this purpose at Tallahassee or elsewhere in the state. Signed A. J. Peeler, 1st Lt. 5th Fl Regt.

I'm not sure how to reconcile this letter with Peeler's activities shortly after the war in consigning Blacks to inferior, quasi-citizen status. Maybe there is no inconsistency?

[Edited to correct typo in 1st line of letter from "heavily" to "heartily"]
 
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