Our comrades in Georgia are unveiling a new historical marker as part
of their Civil War commemoration.  Cleburne's proposal echoed the
attempt during the Revolution by Laurens and Hamilton to "give them
their freedom with their muskets"; which was similarly howled down.
This just came over the wire from the GA Hist Society --

General Cleburne's Proposal to Arm Slaves

Here on January 2, 1864, Gen. Patrick Cleburne proposed arming slaves
in exchange for their freedom to alleviate the manpower shortage
facing the Confederacy.  Almost all the other generals present opposed
the idea of black Confederate soldiers because it violated the
principles upon which the Confederacy was founded.  Gen. Patton
Anderson said the proposal "would shake our governments, both state
and Confederate, to their very foundations," and Gen. A.P. Stewart
said it was "at war with my social, moral and political principles."
Considering the proposal treasonous, Gen. W.H.T. Walker informed
President Jefferson Davis, who ordered any mention of it to be
suppressed. In March 1865, with defeat looming, the Confederate
Congress approved enlisting slaves, but few did and none saw combat.
Conversely, nearly 200,000 free African Americans served in the U.S.
armed forces.

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