There are records that show some slaves "rented" themselves out after the "master" had been killed. One such, (no name known) was later voted on and officers told to add his name to the roster list because he had served and had the same hardships, fought as hard as any other. This was supposed to have happened in Tenn. when Longstreets Corps was there.
In the book : Black Southerners in Gray comes the story of one Texas slave that showed up the morning the 3 brothers were going to war, with his own blanket roll followed them to war. He returned twice with wounded "brothers" and returned to the war when they returned to the fight. After the war the three white brothers got the ex-slave a loan for land next to theirs and they four worked their own farms and stayed close until death. There were stronger relationships out there in the Southland then a bunch of KKK'ers want to believe.
Many people don't realize that there were Black slave owners as well. Many owning a person they were related to so that laws wouldn't force the person back into slavery. But Virginia who had such a law, (you had three years to clear the state when "freed") chose to look the other way. In 1860 there were 53,000 freemen living in Virginia, holding and farming land, working in business, etc. There was one of three units in New Orleans that required the members to be earners of at least $10,000.00 per year! So, I suggest you quiet being the one who puts the Black man into a slot of being one thing and one thing only. Sorry, but that in my view is racist.
I find the question of the uses of the term "they" or any other word like that necessary to show a division between the two, white and black. Sorry, but it is needed so that each group that served is remembered. I do believe that in the grave there is no difference, they are both dead. And the unit markings on the marker say all that should be said. In the book: The Last Review, The Last Reunion of the Confederate Army in Richmond, Virginia 1932 , there were about 30 men of color that showed up. Proud of their service and a number of them with reunion metals and ribbons going back to the first reunions. I do believe the men were welcomed, and remembered. There was one Black that the Sons of Confederate Vets. Magazine wrote about in Ga. and how he was a fixture at the reunions and at the Home for Soldiers in Atlanta. The question isn't if they served, but how many served and in what unit.
When there is a Texas Unit with a man from China, Native Americans in the ranks, Jews in the ranks, Hispanics in the ranks, Blacks and Catholics in the ranks, it is hard to see the battleflag being used by the KKK who say they are against anyone of color, a Jew, or a Catholic. Please don't be one of them and leave out one of the bigger groups of people who served in the ranks other then white. Ed Bearess the former historian of the National Park Service told me and others in Austins Civil War Roundtable meeting back in the 1990's that there was no such thing as a Black Confederate. They don't always know what they are talking about. Just because there is a PHD or something to the name, doesn't make them an expert on everything in the war. McPherson's statement on the History Channel about the great Myth of the war, the Southern leaders not saying what they fought for until after the war, isn't the truth. I have a quote from Jefferson Davis, who in 1862 states, ..."we are not fighting for slavery, we are fighting for independence." I have Pat Cleburne stating in 1864...."they say we are fighting for slavery and if we give it up, we give up all. Which we deney, it isn't all they are fighting for....." You will find those quotes on my website: http://rebelyell1.com
I have studied this conflict and causes for over thirty years. I find that most people know what they write about and that is about all they know or understand. A PHD doesn't make them "God" of all knowing and all seeing just because you wrote some books. You will note that many up North don't read Southern lit. and therefore don't include a Southern view. That is also racist. And I am always amazed that they can sit up North and tell us without a doubt what we are thinking and what we fought for. God Save the South.
Bert Hile