To left of this answer page is a series of "smiley faces". Some are smiling and some appear to be highly amused.

I have been monitoring this News & Views web site for over twenty years.

I have tried to read every post advancing arguments as to whether or not there were black men serving as combat soldiers in the Confederate Army.

To be fair, I have also attempted to read all of the replies that contend that there we no black men serving as Confederate combat soldiers.

Most of those arguing that no blacks served the Confederate Army except teamsters or body servants, who followed their masters into war, because they served their masters as slaves before the Civil war commenced.

Prior to 1492 there were many articles, books and learned discussions that said the earth was flat. This discussion advanced the theory that the earth was flat, and those who attempted to sail over the horizon dropped off the edge of the earth.

In 1492 Columbus disproved the "flat earth theory" and discovered America.

Since my birth in 1928, I have never read a single argument that the earth is flat.

Please, let's accept the fact that black men did serve as combat soldiers in the U.S Army and in the Confederate Army.

A very Happy New Year to All.