‘It is said that slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties.’
Major-General Patrick Cleburne – Confederate Army (1864)
The purpose of my writing of various accounts of the American Civil War (1861-1865) focusing upon the Confederate experience – is to counter the false propaganda and myths that replace objective fact (this problem of American misrepresentation of history can also be seen in the false history pertaining to the USSR and Socialist Bloc in general). The sheer scale of racism that still exists throughout the entirety of the contemporary United States proves that a) White racism exists everywhere evenly, b) the North was just as “racist” (and non-racist) as the South, and that c) the victory of the North did NOTHING to uproot – and rid the US of its endemic racism. And yet, as the North States (as the victors) produces the history discribing this aspect of their past, it is done so from the lie that no one in the North owned slaves and that no one in the North was racist (Abraham Lincoln routinely expressed racist viewpoints and many Northerners owned slaves). Of equal impotance, is that this Northern history also falsely claims that everyone in the South was racist and that all owned slaves. Presenting these two aspects as being the only motivation behind the Confederate Uprising. This skewed perspective permeates US academia today and contributes toward what is broadly termed “anti-intellectualism” – as many of its underlying assumptions are illogical, irrational, immature, bias, and without any objective merit.
As I have written elsewhere, many Irishmen joined both sides – with Irish Confederates fighting not for slavery (the English had viewed the Irish as sub-human for centuries) – but rather for the freedom of the Southern people to live free of the European (industrialised) capitalism that Abraham Lincoln wanted to inflict upon the Southern States. These States were happy living through their agrarian capitalist system – an altogether different approach to life. Lincoln (and others) understood that if slavery was abolished – the workforce that toiled the Southern plantations would collapse – and the South would be forced to adjust to widespread industialisaion. Irish people, by the way, often lived as indentured labourers (often paying-off huge debts through “free” labour) living next to African-Americans, working in exactly the same fields – doing exactly the same work. On top of this, poor White men from all different backgrounds also toiled in the fields (although they were paid for their labour and were not slaves or indentured labourers). The problem was that the White (European) invasion of the Americans stole so much land (and so quickly) from the indigenous population that there was not a large enough population of incomers to work the fields. The British solution to this problem was the forced importation of Black slaves from Africa (via so-called and odeous “Golden Triangle” – a repeating cycle over four-hundred years which saw chains made in Sheffield England, placed on slaves kidnapped in Africa, and transported to the Americas – generating immense wealth for the UK economy).
Up until the founding of the Irish Free State in 1921 – the UK controlled the entirety of the island of Ireland (Eire). Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (1828-1864) was born in Killumney, Munster, County Cork, Eire. As a “British” citizen, Patrick Cleburne joined the 41st Infantry Regiment of Foot of the British Army (serving between 1846-1849) rising to the rank of “Corporal” (and NCO signified by two-chevron stripes worn on the upper-shoulder – pointing-down). He served in the Garrison of Spike Island, situated in Cork Harbour. Here, the British Authorities brutally “processed” ethnic Irish prisoners – and Cleburne got to learn first-hand what anti-Irish racism was really like. Due to this experience, he eventually emigrated with his family to the United States, and was accepted with open arms by the people of Arkansas. He was not interested in preserving slavery and certainly did not own any slaves himself (indeed, Cleburne settled in Helena – becoming a very successful lawyer). As he appreciated the kindness of the Southern people – he decided to enlist as a “Private” soldier in the “Yell Rifles” – a local Militia in Arkansas. As these local grass-roots Confederate Units were entirely democratic in nature, all NCOs and Officers were elected by popular vote. This is how Cleburne was elected to the rank of “Captain”. Quite extraordinarily, when the Local Militias and Guards Unit were reformed with many being integrated into Infantry Regiments proper that constituted the Confederate States Army – Patrick Cleburne rose through the ranks to Major-General (CSA). Indeed, Cleburne insisted that all Confederate soldiers under his Command must learn to drill to the high standards of the British Red Coats. Cleburne’s men could march in strict rank and file, quickly deploy in any direction, and deliver devastating volley fire – giving the impression to the enemy that they numbered more than they actually did.
His bravery, leadership skills, and cleverness on the battlefield (particularly within the Western Theatre of the American Civil War) aside – Cleburne was renowned for his Revolutionary viewpoints regarding the slave population of the South. Although free Black people, Chinese people, and Native American people already were serving in the Confederate Army – Black slaves were only used as work details – ordered to fetch, carry, lift, drop, to dig, build or dismantle structures, and clear the dead and wounded from the battlefield after the fighting ceased. During late 1863, particularly following two major battles (Gettysburg and Chickamauga) and numerous minor battles, it was clear that the South had a manpower problem and that the North possessed an endless supply of men. This situation had only worsened by 1864, with the Union Army making more and more use of “free” Black soldiers. Cleburne proposed that as many Southern slaves were loyal to the Confederacy, he proposed to the leadership of the Army of the Tennessee that the CSA should “free” the Black population provided each man agreed to fight in the Confederate Army. By this time, Cleburne possessed a very good reputation and although he was politely listened to, he was also politely ignored. Cleburne was killed on November 30th, 1864, leading an infantry assault from the front (which he thought ill-conceived) – on Union fortifications at the Battle of Franklin, situated south of Nashville, Tennessee.
English Language References:
PT Tucker: Irish Confederates – The Civil War’s Forgotten Soldiers, McWhiney Foundation Press, (2006), Pages 13, 15-16, & 20 – although Tucker does not mention Cleburne’s suggestion to free the slaves.
CL Symonds: Stonewall of the West – Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War, University Press of Kansas, (1997)
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 