Date published: 2/10/2001

RECONSTRUCTED YANKEE, by Jack Maples. Writers' Collective, second edition (August 2004). 170 pages. Hardcover $19.95, softcover $16.95 (amazon.com prices).

IN THE CHRONICLES of Ameri- can history, no event tested the strength of our great nation more than the Civil War, a brutal, bloody four-year conflict that left the Confederacy defeated and the South devastated, and ended the institution of slavery at the cost of more than half a million lives. Even today, there are many aspects of the War Between the States that continue to be debated by historians and enthusiasts alike.

But no topic, with the exception of secession, instigates more heated discussions than the service of African-Americans on behalf of the Confederate States of America.

Understandably, black Confederate soldiers appear to be one aspect of the conflict that many find virtually impossible to believe. Despite the existence of photographs, military records and firsthand accounts that support the notion, some people still seem unable to comprehend why anyone would fight on behalf of a government that ultimately held its own people in bondage.

The fact is that there were free African-Americans living in the South at the outbreak of the war, and some of them took up arms alongside their white neighbors in an effort to protect their own families and interests. The discrepancy lies in the numbers of black Rebels, which have been quoted as anywhere from 10 to 10,000.

Although the Confederate Congress did not sanction so-called "Colored Units" until 1865, when it was too late, there were many "unofficial" soldiers supervised by officers who were desperate to fill the ranks that were so quickly diminishing. Also, many individual Southern states authorized "Colored Militia Units," which included free men as well as slaves and waged tremendously successful guerrilla campaigns against the occupying Federal forces.

Regardless of their exact numbers or motivation, the courage and tenacity of these men was just as extraordinary as that of any other gray-shirted combatant, and their memory is to be valued with the same respect and admiration as that of any Confederate soldier.

Date published: 2/10/2001