Lets go back to the original argument. Where there Black troops in the Confederate Army?
[Confederate Constitution.
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the [Union] Confederate States, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
Section III. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the [United] Confederate States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the Discipline prescribed by Congress; A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed; The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the [United] Confederate States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the [United] Confederate States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the [United] Confederate States, except in Cases of Impeachment.]
The militia is the backbone to the Confederate land forces according to its laws. Clearly these men qualified as militia, and being such they were recognized by the Confederate Government by the laws of its own Constitution. The larger portion of all Confederate land forces formed as local militia then State troops then mustered in to Confederate leadership.
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David Upton