THe La. Guards are unique because they were not "black" slaves byut free men of color who were mostly more than half white and never considred themselves to be "black." Many or even most were slaveowners or from slaveholding families. The evidence of slaves as soldiers in the Confederate Army is small and slim. Very few were in combat and therefore risked their lives in that way. Most of the blacks associated with the Army were slaves who were brought along by their masters. Of course, over 200,000 blacks -- many who had been slaves when the wr began -- served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and probably at least that many were paid civilian employees of the US military. Historically young men go off to war for adventure, as much as for a "cause." Individual slaves who went with their masters may have done so for that reason, or for loyalty to the master, or even, to escape. And some did. Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, New York 12208-3494 518-445-3386 [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 06/15/07 9:07 AM >>> Another curious aspect of the realities of Black slavery are the accounts of Black slaves and freemen serving in the army of the Confederacy. C.F. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in the Civil War Virginia by Jordan; The Louisiana Native Guard by Hollandsworth; Black Confederates by Barrow, Segars and Rosenburg; Black Southerners in Gray by Bataile, et. al; and Black Southerners in Confederate Armies by Segars and Barrow. I find it hard to believe that these slaves and former slaves served out of fear of being whipped. Rather, they must have had some deep felt feelings for the South to risk their lives in battle for "the cause". J South ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.