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Welcome to S.H.A.P.E.'s Negros in Gray website. THE PRIVATE SOLDIER.
6. In the fullest sense, any man in the military service who receives pay, whether sworn in or not, is a soldier, because he is subject to military law. Under this general head, laborers, teamsters, sutlers, chaplains, &c. are soldiers. In a more limited sense, a private soldier is a man enlisted in the military service to serve in the cavalry, artillery, or infantry. He is said to be enlisted when he has been examined, his duties of obedience explained to him, and after he has taken the prescribed oath.
General August Kautz's, USA,”Customs of Service, for Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers" (1864), page. 11
The Confederacy, for the most part, beat the Union in declaring the men and women who served in these non-combat roles as soldiers. This is found in a series of laws passed as the Confederacy was being formed. These laws and sources are posted in our forum here.
A discussion about the American Civil War, The War between the States, The War For Southern independence, Lincolns War or what ever name you chose to put on the conflict in 1860s, almost inevitably turns to the issue of Black Confederates. Regardless of which argument you lean towards, mistakes, mis-quotes, innuendos and out right lies have been made by both sides. These discussions inevitably drift from facts and soon disintegrate into endless arguments including snide remarks, complete dismissal and/or general disregard of sources and fact, and end up more or less as a contest to see who can "out slick" the other person. This is typically done while twisting the facts and ignoring the basic history of the conflict. Each side wants to be right and in the end neither side learns anything or add any useful information to the argument. It is not the intention of SHAPE to address each and every "slick" argument for the sake of being right. What we want to do here is to present as many facts as possible, and you the visitor or member can either choose to learn from this facts or not, that's up to you. We can say this, SHAPE primarly George Purvis has spent countless hours researching what we have listed on this site, and we will continue to do so for the sake of educating our visitors and guests. We ask that you the viewer join us in applying as much factual detail to our site as possible.
In this "Negros in Gray" website we will present some of these arguments and counter arguments. We will also present family stories from Black people who have researched their family lines. We will present documentation and sources that may or may not be found on the Internet, we will in all respects try to give factual information for use by everyone. We here at SHAPE fully understand and acknowledge that we do not have all the information or answers, nor do we expect everyone to agree with our positions, regardless of what information is provided. However we do invite you to submit factual information to support your argument so that we all may learn together.
In this website WE WILL use terms of the 1860s. These terms will be used in a historical discussion and is in no way, shape or form should be taken as racist remarks or a slurs against the black race. We will use our discretion and if we believe something is posted with a racist intent we will edit the offending post and may ban the poster from using our discussionn boards.
If you have any name or good references to Negroes who were in the Confederate service, no matter what capacity, please forward that information to us.
Our "roster" of men and women is not by unit, it is by state. The reason is the order in how they were found. For your convenience we do have a search feature set up to the left.
George Purvis
Vice President SHAPE
Email: gpthelastrebel©att.net
This website is under construction. The information posted should in no way be taken as all that can be found or absolutely complete. In some cases it is just a sample to make our point. Updates and changes will be made as time allows and as information is found. Please check back often.
Since April 8. 2011, SHAPE has welcomed
visitors to this website.
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