Yes, I have heard that and the history is dubious at best. Aside from those who were either forced into it, or did servant type work as slaves for the Confederate army, I question the numbers. I don't doubt there were a few and no doubt they were offered their freedom for fighting alongside the south. The fact they could earn their freedom by fighting for the south should not be something any defender of the South should want to brag about. It begs the question of why they were in bondage in the first place. What is a more telling number is the huge number of slaves crossing over the union lines in order to gain their freedom. Any suggestion a slave fought for the South voluntarily because he wanted to be a slave is absurd. You know, the South lost the war and that is a very, very good thing. All these claims that the slaves were happy or that this war was not at it's core about the issue of slavery is simply an attempt by Southerners to justify something that can't be justified.
Of course it is, and that is the real point, secession and the war were not *only* or even primarily, about slavery. Lincoln only freed slaves in those states "in rebellion" and not in states such as Maryland. He's on record as saying if freeing the slaves would help preserve the union, he would free them, and if not freeing them would do so, then he wouldn't.
From Lincoln's perspective the war was about forcing the Southern states to remain in the Union, despite the wishes of the legitimately elected legislatures thereof. For the South, it was about defending a newly declared independence from what they saw as a Northern oligarchy.
furthermore, KY (the only dixie state that separated her CSA pensioners by race/color. nobody seems to know WHY Kentucky chose to do that, when no other state did.) had >20% of their CSA pensioners who were black. one would presume that the percentage of other dixie states pensioners were no different in ethnicity.
SORRY, but you are WRONG on this issue. try some other tack.
free dixie,sw
The fact that slavery was ended, is the ONLY good thing about the Confederacy losing. The fact that the government by the states also ended wasn't good. The fact that Lincoln started a precedence of ruling by Executive Order isn't good. The fact that the invasion and destruction of the South's economy for 20 years or more isn't good either.
Then there is the issue of the South's traditional way of life and culture, and how that was almost destroyed.....