Discussion March 1865: Richmond Civilian Reaction to Black Confederate Soldiers

JeffBrooks

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Location
Hutto, TX
When, in March of 1865, the Confederate Congress passed the law allowing for the enlistment of black soldiers, two companies were raised from the staff of local hospitals and eventually had a small parade down the streets of Richmond. As is well-known, these soldiers never saw action.

I recall being at one of the Virginia Tech Civil War Symposiums in the late 1990s and one of the speakers (either James "Bud" Robertson or William C. Davis) describing this event in response to a question by a participant who had asked about black Confederates. In his answer, the speaker had said that the soldiers were pelted with rotten vegetables by a crowd of Richmond civilians as they marched past. It would have been very out of character for either Robertson or Davis to make such a claim without reliable primary source documentation.

Does anyone have the details on this particular event and what the reaction of white Richmond civilians was?
 
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