Levi On A Horse

Today is Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday, and seems a good day to reflect on the particulars and the significance of this Civil War vintage photo of the young black man on a horse. The role of African-Americans in the Civil War is difficult for many of us to discuss. The fact is that both the north and south used freedmen and slaves the same way for the first half of the war. They were restricted to being servants and doing hard labor.

The manpower needs of both sides grew as the war reached into its third year, causing the north finally to put segregated regiments of black men into the field. The fine 1989 movie, Glory, well portrays one of those early regiments of African-American soldiers. 

Historically, both of the Confederate regiments featured in my two novels engaged in firefights against regiments of US Colored troops. Some 200,000 black Americans did indeed eventually join the US Army and fight against the armies of the Confederacy, in all three theaters of the war, from Texas to Virginia.

The Confederate armies never fielded African-American troops in any significant numbers. In fact, armed black Confederates were rarely seen. That can’t be surprising, given that slavery was a core issue that brought about the attempted secession of the southern states and the war itself.

 As a sidebar, my favorite Confederate general is Patrick Cleburne, a handsome Irishman who served as an enlisted soldier in the British army before he emigrated to Arkansas. Cleburne effectively capped his career as a general when he wrote a lengthy request to CSA President Jefferson Davis suggesting that southern slaves be given the chance to earn their freedom by fighting as Confederate soldiers.

President Davis squashed the idea with such vigor that Cleburne was ever after not trusted, even as his troops excelled in battle after battle under his command.  Cleburne was among the very best combat generals in the Confederate army, but he was condemned for his belief that black men were capable of being good soldiers, his belief that black men would loyally fight for the nation that went to war to keep their race in slavery. Maybe President Jefferson was right about that, and Cleburne was wrong, but we’ll never know.

Back to the image: It seems unremarkable at first look, but a few details are worth noting.  The man appears to be wearing gray military jacket with 9 buttons and sleeve trim. His pants are a darker color than his coat, maybe sky blue, maybe tan or brown. Perhaps his jacket is a faded blue instead of gray. He’s wearing shoes and a well-shaped felt hat. His horse is outfitted in military fashion, including what is probably a pistol holster at the front of the saddle.

Whether he is a slave body-servant belonging to a southern officer, or is a contraband or freeman working for pay for a Union officer, the young black man is most likely a servant, not a fighting soldier.

Existing photographs of mounted men during the Civil War are not rare, but they are not common, either. Horses couldn’t go inside a photographer’s tent or studio. Setting up a camera outside and getting the subjects to freeze for about ten seconds was much harder than posing men in chairs inside.  Moreover, horses don’t freeze on demand for ten seconds.  

Photographs were also expensive, beyond the means of a servant. So, this image of a young black man mounted on a military horse, is an anomaly.

Did an officer, the man for whom the young black man worked, pay to have his servant photographed on the officer’s horse? That seems unlikely. Did the photographer ask the young black man to sit still on the horse and take his picture, while he waited for someone else?  Was the young black man perhaps employed by the photographer and being used for a practice run? We don’t know.

Whatever the circumstances, the result may be the only Civil War image of a mounted African-American man, and he looks pretty spiffy.  When I look at the image, I see Levi, one of the main characters in Tangled Honor, and I’m thankful to have found a primary source visual likeness of what Levi and the other body-servants in my story might have looked like.  Early in the story I made a point of Levi asking his new master for a soldier’s uniform to wear, and it’s nice to see supporting evidence for that scene.

All in all, not knowing the story behind the image, I see a proud man who looks assured of his place, whatever it was. A good photograph to post on Martin Luther King Day, as we enter the 150^th anniversary of the final year of the Civil War.