Below someone posted a quotation attributed to former slave and black activist Frederick Douglass. It reads: "There are at the present moment, many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets ready to shoot down...and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government."

I have read the quote many times before. But the discussion down the page turned to focus on the context and Douglass' reason for saying it. This is impossible to know without more information about its source and documentation.

Searching the links provided by some, I kept finding the same two or three stories circulating on the 37th Texas website, the Jewish Review, and the SCV pages that quote the statement without any footnote or reference.

Does anyone know the original source of this quotation detailing when, where, and in what context Douglass reportedly said it?