The modern myth of black Confederate soldiers is akin to a conspiracy theory—shoddy analysis has been presented, repeated, amplified, and twisted to such an extent that utterly baseless claims of as many as 80,000 black soldiers fighting for the Confederacy (which would roughly equal the size of Lee’s army at Gettysburg) have even made their way into classroom textbooks.  It is right to study, discover, and share facts about the complex lives of 19th century black Americans.  It is wrong to exaggerate, obfuscate, and ignore those facts in order to suit 21st century opinions.  It is a fact that the Confederate Congress passed legislation to admit former slaves in March 1865.  The war ended in Aprio 1865.