Black Soldiers, Southern Victory?

The article reports on the plan mooted by Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne of arming slaves in the U.S. Civil War in 1864 when all other hopes for the Confederacy was lost. He insisted that a bargain be struck, calling for a guarantee of freedom within a reasonable time to every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy. On March 13, 1865, the Confederates enacted a statute authorizing the President to enlist some slaves to military service