Mr. Smith calculates that between 60,000 and 93,000 blacks served the Confederacy in some capacity. Many knew Lincoln had little love for enslaved blacks and didn't wage war against the South for their benefit. I am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. It didn't apply to slaves in West Virginia and areas and states not in rebellion. They came together in 1787, as principals, to create a federal government, as their agent, giving it specific delegated authority -specified in our Constitution.
Principals always retain the right to fire their agent.
The South acted on that right when it seceded. Its firing on Fort Sumter, federal property, gave Lincoln the pretext needed for the war. The War Between the States, through force of arms, settled the question of secession, enabling the federal government to run roughshod over states'rights specified by the Constitution's 10th Amendment. Sons of Confederate Veterans is a group dedicated to giving a truer account of the War Between the States. I'd like to see it erect on Richmond's Monument Avenue a statue of one of the thousands of black Confederate soldiers.