City Directories and History: YORK COUNTY’S BLACK CONFEDERATES
by Sam Thomas – Historian, Historical Center of York County
On August 6 and 7, 1891 one of the largest gatherings in this county’s history took place in York. Not for another 100 years would so many people meet in one spot in the county for one purpose. The occasion was the annual Survivor’s Reunion of Confederate Veterans organized by William H. McCorkle, the former Captain of Company A, 12th South Carolina Volunteers and, at the time of the reunion, Probate Judge of York County. On those two days nearly 600 veterans and over 5,000 friends and family members were on hand for the festivities.
Included in the activities of the second day was a parade of the veterans from their camping grounds at the Yorkville Graded School (the present McCelvey Building in which the Historical Center of York County is located) to the Court House and back. Thousands of people lined Jefferson and Congress streets as the procession marched by with Confederate flags and the “stars and stripes” waving side-by-side to the sounds of “Dixie”. One thing that might have seemed out of place to a spectator of today about the procession, but was not unusual at that time, was that not all of the veterans in their faded gray uniforms were white. Among the 600 veterans on that historic day in York were five blacks —also in gray uniforms.
Information and sources on black Confederates is scant at best no mention is made in the history books about slaves or free blacks following or even “supporting” their masters and former masters. Many of the sources are in publications which were turned out around the turn of the century, and were primarily publications written by and for Confederate veterans. As such, they are often discredited as to their content by many historians. At the same time, arguments are put forth that there was no voluntary service by blacks in the cause of the South — that the slaves in the Confederate armies were forced to serve, and who, when given the slightest chance, ran away to Union lines.
Following the War Between the States, the Federal government began issuing pensions to all veterans of the Union armies. All those who had served in the Confederate armies had their pension applications turned down. In order to assist the Confederate veterans, the southern states, which were in tremendous financial difficulty, awarded state pensions to these veterans. In 1902, two organizations, the United Confederate Veterans and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, recommended to the southern states that they also accept applications for pensions from blacks who served with Confederate forces. In South Carolina, the Act of 1923 did just that Blacks in Confederate service for periods of not less than six months were awarded state pensions beginning in that year. The York County Confederate pension rolls for 1923 lists the names of fifteen blacks receiving pensions from the state, and the names of those whites under whom they served.
NAMES OF BLACK VETERANS: Samuel W. Agurs, George Bird, Harvey Barron, Adam Guy, Sam Leech, Alvin Bratton Smith, Henry White, Heyward Marshall, Anthony Barnett, Noah Banks, Anderson Chambers, James Harris, George Melton, and Peter Crawford.
On August 12, 1891 the Yorkville Enquirer gave front page coverage of the Survivor’s Reunion and included a listing of those veterans in attendance by company and regiment. Within this roster of attendees were the names of five “persons of color” listed with their companies and regiments. J. Han. Beatty George Bird, Thad Archer, Erwin Watson, Dan Witherspoon Co. B, 18th SCV Co. A, 12th SCV Reserves Co. B, 5th SCV Co. A, 12th SCV
Having the names, we are left with two questions. Did any of these men volunteer for service and did any of them remain with the companies they served for the duration of the war? Information can be found on two of the men: George Bird and James Harris (Note: This is not the James Harris whose name is listed on the Catawba Indian monument in Confederate Park in Fort Mill.) George Bird, from Sandersville, is listed in the 1860 free census. Although this does not prove that he was not coerced into service to the Confederacy, it seems unlikely that if he had been coerced he would be taking part in the Reunion parade in 1891. Bird enlisted as cook in the Palmer Guards, Co. A, 12th Regt in 1861 and served the regiment until the end of the war in 1865. In 1861 William Crosby, the son of Dennis Crosby of the Bullock Creek area, joined Co. E, 5th South Carolina Volunteers and soon went to Virginia. At the battle of 2nd Manasas William was wounded so severely that he could not return home. Dennis then sent one of his slaves, James Harris, to care for the boy. Sometime within the next two months the young man died of his wounds. James Harris, however, did not return home or run away to Union lines. Instead, he served William’s company as cook until the surrender at Appomattox in 1865.
Although there was no organized movement to actually put armed southern blacks into the army until the last days of the war, blacks played an important part in the defense of their homes and the Confederacy. York County can be proud of not only furnishing whites to the Southern Cause, but also of its black participation.
(Information courtesy of and from: YCGHS – The Quarterly Magazine)
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