"Show Me a Record"

A Black Civil War Reenactor Responds to a Question About Black Confederates.

UPDATE: I have since learned that the audience was not all-white and I have also learned the identity of the reenactor in this video. I plan on looking into the possibility of doing an interview with him.

I don’t know who this Black reenactor is, but his response to a question about supposed Black Confederates, during a living history event marking the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Wilson’s Wharf, was perfect.

But before we get to that, let’s acknowledge that the only question asked from what appears to be an all-white audience, focused not on the history of United States Colored Troops, but on mythical Black Confederate soldiers.

Perhaps it was a sincere question, but it is just as likely that it was intended as a distraction and possibly even as a way to undercut the history that was just presented and that may have made at least one audience member uncomfortable.

That certainly wouldn’t be unusual.

It is certainly true that many people are confused about the history of Black soldiers during the Civil War, but just as often this question comes from a place of deep insecurity.

You can bet that this is not the first time that this individual has had to answer this question, but he clearly knows how to respond.

He references Patrick Cleburne’s proposal and the formation of two small companies in Richmond late in the war, which we know about, but he also takes it one step further by asking for records or evidence.

“Show me a record.”

Where is the evidence of Confederate officers discussing their Black soldiers in camp, on the march, and on the battlefield. It’s a version of a slightly different question that I pose in my book and one that I always ask of people who have fallen for this myth.

If Black soldiers were already serving in Confederate ranks, than why did no officer or enlisted man report this fact during the year-long debate over whether to enlist slaves as soldiers in 1864-65?

More to the point. Why debate the issue at all if they were already serving?

It’s important to acknowledge the challenge that reenactors like this man face when donning the Union blue. He carries the dual burden of having to educate audiences about the history of the Black men who fought and died to save this Union and confront the myths that continue to obscure the history of the Civil War and once threatened to erase the story of Black military service.