Gholson, Thomas S.

[Confederate Imprint] Speech of Hon. Thos. S. Gholson of Virginia. Policy of Employing Negro Troops, and the Duty of all Classes to Aid in the Prosecution of the War. Delivered in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Confederate States, on the 1st of February, 1865

Richmond: Geo. P. Evans & Co., Printers, 1865. Soft Cover. Good binding. Item #9329

Octavo. 20 pp. Confederate imprint. Stitched in later plain wrappers with manuscript title in pencil. Wrappers are quite brittle and chipped; contents are heavily toned and foxed consistent with degraded late-war paper supplies; horizontal crease through the textblock from an old fold; wear to the fore-edge margin of the late few leaves at the fold.

While Gholson bemoans the fact that enslaved individuals have not been used more fully in support of the war effort—"building fortification, as teamsters, cooks, &c." (p. 3)—he makes an interesting argument against arming enslaved individuals to fight in the war—even in these final days when fewer and fewer Southerners can imagine a Southern victory. He enumerates all the reasons both logistical and philosophical. One notable point he makes is that "[t]he States alone have power of emancipation; and if the slave must be liberated, or promised liberation before he will fight, it follows that the States alone can make him an available soldier, and that State action must precede that of the Confederate Government. Nothing, therefore, short of united and harmonious action on the part of the several States, could give efficacy and success to the experiment" (p. 11). Scarce in commerce. Parrish & Willingham 5415.

Price: $1,500.00