Desperate Jeff ready to trump Abe?
From The New-York Times August 30, 1863:
VERY IMPORTANT NEWS.; The Last Rebel Card Played by Jeff. Davis. Call for Five Hundred Thousand Negro Troops. Their Freedom and Fifty Acres of Land Promised to Them. Four Rebel War Vessels Run Into Wilmington Harbor. Two Rebel Spies Captured.
FORTRESS MONROE, Saturday, Aug. 29.
The steamer C.W. Thomas has arrived from Newbern with Lieut. STERLING, of Gen. PECK’s Staff, as bearer of dispatches.
Rebel papers received at Morehead City say that JEFF. DAVIS has decided, after a conference with the Governors of the Confederate States, to call out 500,000 black troops, who are to receive their freedom and fifty acres of land at the end of the war.
A dispatch from the blockading fleet says that on the morning of the 17th inst. a large sloop-of-war of ten guns, with the British flag flying, swept past the blockading steamers and immediately hoisted the rebel flag and passed into Wilmington, which is the fourth rebel war vessel which has run this blockade within six weeks.
FORTRESS MONROE, Friday, Aug. 28.
Two rebel soldiers recently made their way into Norfolk, Va., and after taking notes of everything of military interest in and about the city, attempted to return to Richmond, but were captured before passing our lines. They are now prisoners in Fort Norfolk, and it is expected will meet their deserts in a few days. Their names are WILLIAM T. BACKUS and NATHANIEL WILKERSON.
Although the Confederate Congress did not approve the use of slaves as soldiers until March 13, 1865, Scott K. Williams has written:
It has been estimated that over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the Confederate ranks. Over 13,000 of these, “saw the elephant” also known as meeting the enemy in combat. These Black Confederates included both slave and free. The Confederate Congress did not approve blacks to be officially enlisted as soldiers (except as musicians), until late in the war. But in the ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate officers did not obey the mandates of politicians, they frequently enlisted blacks with the simple criteria, “Will you fight?
The Times served up other misinformation 150 years ago today:
CINCINATTI, Saturday, Aug. 29.
Late information from Vicksburgh confirms the death of Gen. PEMBERTON. He was shot by Texan soldiers. No particulars of the affair are given. …
The political cartoon from 1863 does not mention arming slaves. You can read about it at the Library of Congress
