SLAVE SOLDIERS FIGHTING FOR THE CONFEDERACY IN THE CIVIL WAR

Imagine being a slave and being told you will go to war, the Civil War, for the Confederacy, by the person who owns you! If a researcher finds that their ancestors who was enslaved was in the war, they may wonder "did he see action?"

The answer, generally but emphatically, is NO.  Confederate law prohibited it.  Yet, there were reports that this was so. And, there was always the possibility that a person who was forced to follow the troops as a cook or another useful supportive role could use that opportunity to escape or go north and join the Union Army! There is also another consideration. What if the person was a Free Person of Color and then joined up?

So, some of the things a researcher wants to do is to verify which company/troop the person fought in. Check the census or other records to see if that person reports being disabled or is not working for money after the war. Also see where they are living after that war. 

AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST : BLACK CONFEDERATES - TRUTH Excellent article!

Excerpt: Many Southern slaves took advantage of the fog of war to escape towards freedom. Before the Emancipation Proclamation was officially adopted, these escapes usually meant congregating around the Union armies that were operating in Southern territory. Vast columns of escaped slaves followed almost every major Union army at one point or another. These people, sometimes called “contrabands,” as in “confiscated enemy property,” frequently served as scouts and spies for the Union soldiers. 

...There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war and no documentation whatsoever exists for any black man being paid or pensioned as a Confederate soldier, although some did receive pensions for their work as laborers.

... To be specific, in the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,” a collection of military records from both sides which spans more than 50 volumes and more than 50,000 pages, there are a total of seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates.

***

BUT THERE WAS AN EXCEPTION FOR A LITTLE WHILE

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE : ARMING THE ENSLAVED

Excerpt: Near 21st and Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, the first legally authorized African American Confederate soldiers were assembled and trained in the final weeks of the Civil War. Legislation passed by the Confederate congress on March 13, 1865, allowed for enslaved African Americans to be mustered and equipped on an experimental basis as combat soldiers. Before that date (less than a month before the end of hostilities in Virginia), Confederate law specified that only white men were permitted to serve as soldiers....

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CASTLE GARDEN UPDATE : NATIONAL ARCHIVES CASTLE GARDEN COLLECTION BEING DIGITALIZED

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE : CASTLE GARDEN   This Castle Garden information page tells us what the new immigrant saw and went through as they arrived in New York Harbor before the Ellis Island facility was set up. Castle Garden opened in 1855 and was used until 1890 - or so.

In the past I had a link to a Castle Garden search page, which I've personally used for my own research. (Ancestors who came on first and second class tickets did not go through Ellis Island.) However, that page no longer exists and has been taken down from my sidebar.

The NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES is planning digitalization of those records: NATIONAL ARCHIVES CASTLE GARDEN COLLECTION

public domain image

Publisher Charles Magnus

In the meantime, you can find records for all classes of passengers on ships coming into New York harbor on genealogy databases under topics such as New York Passenger Lists.

THE HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862 PROVIDED 160 ACRES OF LAND #2 FINDING DOCUMENTS OF YOUR ANCESTORS APPLICATION and ACHIEVEMENT OF LAND

The NATIONAL ARCHIVES of the United States (NARA) holds documents on the Homestead Act. There were at least 2 million claims on land through the Homestead Act in the many years it existed.  You may want to read this article from the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

NPS - NATIONAL PARK SERVICE UNITED STATES

The United States General Land Office was the holder of the paper documents and these documents were on paper.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES records of the BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT  Register with the National Archives so you can communicate with archivists there.

While we can easily imagine homesteaders in North Dakota, Missouri, or Arizona, let's look at that list...  People homesteaded in cities like San Francisco and Chicago too.

Using their location or address on what is a farmstead or acreage, from a census after 1862, we can send an e-mail for more information about these Federal records.

If you're wondering if these paper records are being digitalized, the answer is YES.  It's a huge project taken on by NATIONAL PARK SERVICE - HOMESTEAD RECORDS DIGITALIZATION PROJECT   (Nebraska records are competed.) 

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM THESE RECORDS?

Excerpt: Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Wyoming, and Utah are searchable up to 1908 at Homestead National Historical Park at no charge. (some pay-for genealogy databases are charging for these as part of special collections.)

HOMESTEAD CASE FILES ARE TREASURE TROVES OF HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION.  WITHIN THEM CAN OFTEN BE FOUND INFORMATION ABOUT A HOMESTEADER'S DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH, THE NAMES OF CHILDREN THAT LIVED ON THE HOMESTEAD, NATURALIZATION INFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRANT HOMESTEADERS, NOTATIONS REGARDING MILITARY SERVICE... THE TYPES OF CROPS PLANTED...HOMES AND OTHER BUILDINGS - AND more!

Very exciting!

This post is part of a series.  To pull up the series, click on the tag Help - Homestead Act - AWG

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All Rights Reserved

ISLAND OF HOPE - ISLAND OF TEARS - ELLIS ISLAND DOCUMENTARY by CHARLES GUGGENHEIM

Island of Hope - Island of Tears; Charles Guggenheim; National Park Service; AVA15996VNB1 1992 (1989); From 1892-1954, Ellis Island was the port of entry for millions of European immigrants.

Old footage of life in the agricultural old country.  How our ancestors left their villages to immigrate to the United States for work.