Historians no help as Georgia museum
looks for black Confederate soldiers
By Atlanta Journal-Constitution, adapted by Newsela staff on 12.23.15
Word Count 1,069
Reenactors Larry McCalley (right) and H.L. Williams portray black Union soldiers of the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry at
Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center in Jackson, Mississippi, Oct. 24, 2014. Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis.
BOTTOM. This photo from 1864 shows a black man in the uniform of a Union Army Sergeant. Photo: Beinecke Rare Book
& Manuscript Library, Yale University via Wikimedia
ATLANTA, Ga. — In the months following the end of the Civil War, much of the South
needed to be rebuilt. Two units of black Union soldiers were assigned to the burned-out
husk of Atlanta to keep the strained peace.
Former slaves now carried guns and wore the blue suits with shiny brass buttons of the
victorious United States Army. Once they had toiled in nearby fields, and were perhaps
bought and sold on the slave market at what is currently the site of a commuter train
station.
"Ten Cent" Bill Yopp
Several miles away, “Ten Cent” Bill Yopp was trying to find his footing. Born a slave, he
spent the war as a Confederate drummer, shining boots for a dime and tending to the
wounds of his master, Capt. Thomas McCall Yopp.
After the war, “Ten Cent” raised money for Confederate veterans and stayed by his former
master’s side as he lived out his final years in the Confederate Soldiers’ Home in Atlanta.
When he died in 1933, “Ten Cent” became the first and only African-American to lie in the
Confederate Cemetery in Marietta.
These are stories that will be sifted through as officials at Stone Mountain park begin
creating a permanent museum exhibit about the role of blacks in the Civil War.
“I think it is a great idea,” said board chairwoman Carolyn Meadows. “We thought that it
was appropriate to honor African-Americans who fought, regardless of which side they
were on.”
Remembering Black Soldiers
Moving forward on a proposed museum meant slowing down a bigger plan to diversify the
Stone Mountain story. A memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. had been planned for on top of
the mountain, mere feet away from where the Ku Klux Klan re-established itself a century
ago on Nov. 25, 1915.
Stone Mountain Memorial Association CEO Bill Stephens said the museum is now the
priority. If it is indeed built, it would be only the second museum of its kind in the United
States.
In 2000, Frank Smith, a longtime Washington, D.C., city councilman, opened the African
American Civil War Memorial and Museum in the nation's capital.
Choosing which stories to tell will be the challenge for the museum’s curators. As
convoluted as Civil War history can be, the story of the black soldier is even more
complicated.
Looking For Black Confederates
Take this argument from several weeks ago: A group of Confederate flag supporters
marched on Stone Mountain to protest plans for the King memorial. They argued that
because the civil rights leader had no involvement in the Civil War, he had no place on
Stone Mountain, which is a Confederate memorial.
Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a black Confederate
soldier. Unfortunately, they couldn’t name even one — because there were none.
According to service records kept by the National Park Service, all 209,145 black soldiers
listed as having served in the Civil War fought for the Union.
Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence that blacks — former
slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.
Boston-based historian Kevin Levin said he has been working on his upcoming book,
“Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” for eight years and has yet to find one.
"A Recent Myth"
After the Civil War “it would have been hard for any Confederate to acknowledge knowing
or seeing any black soldiers,” Levin said. “The myth of the black Confederate soldier is a
recent myth that started in the late 1970s.”
At that time, as America was coming out of the Vietnam War and the end of the Civil War
was more than a century removed, memories of it began to shift toward an increased
interest in emancipation and the service of blacks in the Union.
“So there was a push to counter that by looking for their own Confederate soldiers,” Levin
said. “If you can find black men, you can defuse the talk of emancipation. … It is a myth
that lives on the Internet, but there is no reputable scholar who supports this myth.”
Several Confederacy-themed websites report that there were indeed blacks who
voluntarily fought for the South, including “Ten Cent” Bill Yopp.
"Slaves Serving Their Masters"
But the true story of “Ten Cent” — who Levin said is on a short list of former servants who
have been transformed into loyal Confederates — is more in line with what the black role
was for the Confederacy.
“The Confederate government used slaves to free up as many white men to fight on the
lines,” Levin said. “Many of these (black) men were in uniform, so when you see photos
many confuse them as evidence that they were soldiers. But they were not.”
Historian Michael Thurmond said as many as 1 million slaves worked in some way for the
Confederacy, “working in the back as cooks, digging trenches, making uniforms and
supporting troops.”
“But that didn’t make them Confederate soldiers. It made them slaves serving their
masters,” said Thurmond, Georgia’s former labor secretary and DeKalb County’s former
schools superintendent.
Arming The Slaves?
“A soldier is someone who volunteers. A slave cannot volunteer. … The Confederacy did
not want to arm slaves,” Thurmond said.
Neither did the Union, at least early on. When the war started, both sides prohibited blacks
from serving, which prompted President Abraham Lincoln to call it “a white man’s war.”
General Robert E. Lee, whose image is carved on Stone Mountain, was actually in support
of arming slaves in exchange for their freedom after the war. But the Confederate
government, at the urging of its president, Jefferson Davis, who is also carved on Stone
Mountain, voted it down.
"They Picked Slavery"
“By November of 1864, the Confederacy was faced with the decision. ‘Do we want to win
the war or protect slavery,’” Thurmond said. “They picked slavery.”
It wasn’t until April 1865 that the Confederate Congress voted to arm blacks.
After Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, some 200,000 blacks
— 90 percent of them former slaves from Confederate states — had already turned the
tide of the war by taking up arms for the Union.
The Confederates “did set up recruiting stations in Columbus and Macon and some blacks
were mustered in, but they never served,” Thurmond said. “The war ended before they
could be deployed. It was over and there is no record of this. No official records show
black soldiers in the Confederacy.”
Quiz
1
2
3
All four answer choices given below help make the claim that there were few, if any, black
Confederate soldiers. Which of the following is the STRONGEST piece of evidence to support
the claim?
(A)
Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a black Confederate
soldier. Unfortunately, they couldn’t name even one — because there were
none.
(B)
According to service records kept by the National Park Service, all 209,145
black soldiers listed as having served in the Civil War fought for the Union.
(C)
Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence that
blacks — former slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.
(D)
Boston-based historian Kevin Levin said he has been working on his
upcoming book, “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” for eight years
and has yet to find one.
Which sentence from the article BEST summarizes the disagreement over black Confederate
soldiers?
(A)
Take this argument from several weeks ago: A group of Confederate flag
supporters marched on Stone Mountain to protest plans for the King
memorial.
(B)
Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a black Confederate
soldier.
(C)
Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence that
blacks — former slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.
(D)
Historian Michael Thurmond said as many as 1 million slaves worked in
some way for the Confederacy, “working in the back as cooks, digging
trenches, making uniforms and supporting troops.”
Read the following sentence.
As convoluted as Civil War history can be, the story of the black
soldier is even more complicated.
The author uses the word "convoluted" to mean:
(A)
unclear
(B)
exciting
(C)
simple
(D)
lively
4
Read the quote from the article.
The Confederates “did set up recruiting stations in Columbus and
Macon and some blacks were mustered in, but they never served,”
Thurmond said.
What does the word "mustered" mean in the quote?
(A)
motivated
(B)
registered
(C)
encouraged
(D)
required
Answer Key
1
2
3
All four answer choices given below help make the claim that there were few, if any, black
Confederate soldiers. Which of the following is the STRONGEST piece of evidence to support
the claim?
(A)
Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a black Confederate
soldier. Unfortunately, they couldn’t name even one — because there were
none.
(B)
According to service records kept by the National Park Service, all 209,145
black soldiers listed as having served in the Civil War fought for the Union.
(C)
Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence
that blacks — former slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.
(D)
Boston-based historian Kevin Levin said he has been working on his
upcoming book, “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” for eight years
and has yet to find one.
Which sentence from the article BEST summarizes the disagreement over black Confederate
soldiers?
(A)
Take this argument from several weeks ago: A group of Confederate flag
supporters marched on Stone Mountain to protest plans for the King
memorial.
(B)
Instead, they said, they would support a monument for a black Confederate
soldier.
(C)
Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no documented evidence
that blacks — former slaves — fought on the side of the Confederacy.
(D)
Historian Michael Thurmond said as many as 1 million slaves worked in
some way for the Confederacy, “working in the back as cooks, digging
trenches, making uniforms and supporting troops.”
Read the following sentence.
As convoluted as Civil War history can be, the story of the black
soldier is even more complicated.
The author uses the word "convoluted" to mean:
(A)
unclear
(B)
exciting
(C)
simple
(D)
lively
4
Read the quote from the article.
The Confederates “did set up recruiting stations in Columbus and
Macon and some blacks were mustered in, but they never served,”
Thurmond said.
What does the word "mustered" mean in the quote?
(A)
motivated
(B)
registered
(C)
encouraged
(D)
required