MaineMilitia.com

There is a great new book out titled,
Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend.
It is written by two well researched historians, Richard Williams JR and James Robertson JR.
For several years I wondered why very few writers have touched on the subject that General Stonewall Jackson was in many ways one of the first white true Civil Right's Leaders.
While several abolitionists in the North wrote and spoke for the rights of the black man, few of them had ever seen more than ten African Americans in their lives.

Jackson, on the other hand, did more than just words but by action. The book first touches on Jackson's family history and how the namesake did not own slaves. Other accounts include his teaching of black children in Lexington how to read and write, mostly during Bible lessons.
Jackson also supported the recruitment of African Americans into his ranks, giving them freedom in return. Dr. Lewis Steiner of the Federal Army had even witnessed over three thousand black soldiers marching with Jackson's corps through Frederick in 1862 writing,
"..These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby, but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel ranks. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-knives, dirks, etc.....and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederate Army."

Jim Lewis, Jackson's famed black cook was remembered as having the honor of leading Jackson's horse during the Southern general's funereal procession.

Following the war several black families took on the name Jackson because of his kindness and several black churches were named for him. In one black Virginia church there is a stain glass tribute to Jackson.
The grand monument above Stonewall Jackson's grave was partly funded by black families and a black church.

There were many other stories and cases in which other Southern leaders rebuked the common misconception that the cornerstone of the cause was white supremacy.
Others include, Forrest's 1875 speech to African Americans and black veterans of Memphis, declaring,"I came here as a friend...let us stand together. Although we differ in color, we should not differ in sentiment."
Just following the Civil War Lee was the first person at his Richmond Church to rise from his seat and take communion with a black worshiper.

Lest we forget that following the years of reconstruction and the South's destruction, the Alabama Statesman, William C Oates, who once commanded the 15th Alabama regiment advocated for black rights in his state. He was a personal friend of Booker T. Washington and lobbied against voting limitations of black voters.
Other examples include statements from Ewell, Cleaburne, Davis, and Judah Benjamin.
Militant left wing historians constantly dismiss these facts as "lost cause mythology," and that those of us who reveal these unpopular facts as, "Neo Confederates."
However, the irony is that the unveiling of these long buried facts concerning black Confederates and the documented views of Confederate leaders, is beginning to crush the one true myth that has clouded the public's view of the Confederacy and the cause. The myth that all Confederate soldiers and leaders were white supremacists and that all blacks in the South were whipped slaves is being courageously upset by the restoration of some crucial history.
And in the celebration and retelling of the long suppressed truth, I strongly recommend everyone to join me in reading this new publication, Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Stonewall-Jackson-Black-Mans-Friend/dp/158182565X/...
"Truth crushed to the earth is truth still and like a seed will rise again." - President Jefferson Davis, CSA