I see your point, Alan. That diatribe doesn't even pretend to make sense! Perhaps my opinion of Mr. Levine, and it is just an opinion, is colored by his apparent joy in his position, and his seeming denial there were ANY black Confederates. I just don't think there were never any cases of blacks, for whatever reason, who fought voluntarily in the ranks. Again, I have never thought there were organized, officially sanctioned units of black soldiers in the Confederate Army.

It seems reasonable, given the well known official position of the Confederate government, that those instances where there were blacks enlisted would not be mentioned up the chain of command. By the same token, I doubt that Cleburne and others would advocate the enlistment of blacks without some sense that there was at least the potential for effective service by them. Cleburne and Forrest both served under Bragg; maybe Cleburne saw some of Forrest's crack black troops, if they were as advertised.

I agree with you that some people, and some groups protest too much, in order to erase the lingering belief that our ancestors were a bunch of racists. Of course, by our standrds, they were, though not perhaps in the same sense as that term is understood today. I heard once, fom a patron in a bar in Queens, New York, that Yankees (his term) did not care how HIGH blacks got, so long as they didn't get too CLOSE, while Southerners did not care how CLOSE blacks got, so long as they did not get too HIGH. If you think about it, over the past forty or fifty years, there is some truth to his assessment. Baby Boy, I mean no disrespect by these commnets.

Alan, I still remember your assistance in getting the CSRS of my family, and I enjoy our posts, and Jim's, and Chief Upton's. We can agree on some points, and disagree on others, without it coloring our respect and liking for each other. There are many others who post on the board that I have similar feelings toward.

In closing, Pam, you have one interesting family! Stan