We need to go to school on this topic.

"Louisiana was a Confederate State, therefore its government was a Confederate government." David, we have a Federal system of government, not a unified system like the old Soviet Union. The Confederate government didn't change that. State governors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, &c took steps to maintain their own militia system apart from the military force of the Confederate government. Governor Joseph Brown is best known for his advocacy of a strong militia system for the State of Georgia.

As for the Confederate Constitution, note the way that troops entered the Confederate army in 1861. Visit the Mississippi State Archives and read the military correspondence of Governor Pettus for the early months of 1861. In each case, a company organized under the militia laws of Mississippi submitted a tender of service to Governor Pettus. If he accepted the offer (and some offers were declined), the company captain received instructions as to when and where to report to camp. At camp companies were organized into regiments and battalions and elected officers.

At this point Governor Pettus offered his newly-organized commands to the Confederate War Department. As far as I can tell, nearly all these offers were accepted. The date of acceptance was important, as was the date volunteers were sworn into Confederate service. When vacancies arose after beng turned over to Confederate service, volunteers sometimes used militia conventions to elect new officers. These were declined by the Confederate government and the process had to be repeated under Confederate military law. Of course that's because these commands were no longer militia.

If you study CSRs of officers for this early period, pay usually dated from the date they were accepted in state service. Of course all expenses incurred up until a company entered Confederate service, such as transportation, lodging &c., were the responsibility of the state. In many cases the Confederate government agreed to accept and pay the expenses incurred by the state. You will see pay vouchers for this period in files of many early oficers.

David, it doesn't matter whether we're talking about Black Confederates or your ancestors in the Mississippi state militia. I have been making this argument with little old ladies on the Alabama message board for over a decade. When they ask why their ancestor's pension application was denied, I have to explain the difference between militia and actual Confederate commands. The Alabama pension law made that clear distinction, and most ladies seemed to understand.

At one time I had a post-war letter from a Confederate letter on this subject. Without drawing on any of the material I outlined above, he explained how militia got to stay at home, sleep in their own beds, not worry about being shot at or be concerned about family members at home. Obviously none of that was true for a Confederate soldier, who usually slept out in the open, ate and drank whatever little happened to be available, took chances with his life on a regular basis, and was usually out of contact with his family for the duration.

Thinking that the state government might grant pension benefits to militiamen, the old Confederate veteran was adamant about the distinction between what he did during the war, and what they did. Wish he could speak for himself. Since he's not, I will take up the argument for him.

Let me repeat, White militia, Black militia, Creole militia - makes no difference. They're all the same -- none of them are Confederate soldiers.