As Jeffry alluded to, there is no doubt that the slaves on the plantations directly contributed to the southern war effort by continuing to work the fields and help keep the southern economy running, but that is not what I was referring to.
There are many references to servants going off to war with their masters and performing tasks directly towards the war effort. Examples would be cooking the meals for the soldiers, help in foraging for food, delivering messages, food, clothing, weapons and ammunition from home to the soldiers on the front lines, etc. Even though they were not officially organized, and on a military roll-book, they performed the support roll that our present day supply and logistics soldiers do. Unlike the “caterer at the Fort Bragg PX”, these black men were exposed to enemy fire, were wounded and sometimes killed, just the same as their white soldier counterparts. And there are documented quotes from Federal officers concerning the black Confederates that their troops encountered. There are also many references to blacks in fighting rolls from southern sources, but those are considered suspect by some, simply because they are from ex-Confederates. After the war, ex-Confederate soldiers made a point of praising their former servants for their service during the war. Reading through the many issues of The Confederate Veteran magazines will confirm this, and I believe them to be valid. One may read through the many books that contain the remembrances, letters to and from home, or diaries of Confederate soldiers, and find references to the servants who were in the camps and on the marches with them.
Not all black men who volunteered to go to war for the south were slaves. I can document the fact that companies were formed of southern free black men and that they volunteered to serve at the beginning of the war. They were not immediately accepted, but neither were many all white companies who volunteered. Anyone on this list may feel free to e-mail me and I’ll send you the info that I have concerning this.
I believe that it is an insult to the black men who served the southern war effort to deny them the honor of even recognizing the fact that they served. Just my two cents worth.
Bob