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Andrew and Silas Chandler sit for a photograph some time between 1861 and 1863.

The image of the loyal camp slave was a popular feature in soldiers’ memoirs as well as in artwork. In this peaceful scene, Confederate general “Stonewall” Jackson leads a religious service that includes his camp slave to his right.

Depiction of enslaved people working on Confederate defenses on James Island, near Charleston, South Carolina in 1863

Camp slaves performed vital functions for their masters in camp, on the march, and on the battlefield. They also provided entertainment, as depicted in this 1862 drawing by Frank Vizetelly.

Few people who lived during the war years were confused about the roles that enslaved people played in the Confederate army. They performed a wide range of roles, but they were not remembered as having served as soldiers. In this scene, camp slaves…

Lieutenant J. Wallace Comer of the 57th Alabama along with his camp slave, identified only as Burrell. Like other camp slaves, Burrell may have been outfitted in a uniform by his master or may have paid for it with money earned in camp.

Steve Perry, known as “Uncle Steve Eberhart,” proved to be a popular attraction with white audiences at veterans’ reunions owing to his stories of foraging during the war and his practice of carrying two chickens under each arm.

The ribbons and medals worn by Jefferson Shields attest to the numerous veterans’ reunions that he attended around the turn of the twentieth century. Shields served as a personal servant to Colonel James Kerr Edmondson of Field and Staff, 27th…

Former camp slaves attend a veterans’ reunion in Tampa, Florida, in 1927. Steve Perry (“Uncle Steve Eberhart”) is fifth from the left and holds a Confederate flag, while Louis Napoleon Nelson sits on the far right with his bugle. The individual in…

The presence of African Americans at reunions reinforced the Lost Cause even as late as the 1940s. Dr. R. A. Gwynne, seated center, attended the final Confederate veterans’ reunion in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1944. He would have been roughly ten…