Column: Bill Minor - Unlikely Story of Black Member of Confederate Army who served with Robert E. Le
- Dec 11, 2015
- 2 min read
So you think you've heard the most unlikely Civil War story involving peoples' ancestors? Well, I'm about to challenge that from a Civil War ancestry story that has fallen into my lap.
Out of the blue, Alfred Arnold has become my physical therapist and in doing so he was fascinated by a framed, certified document from the state Department of Archives and History hanging on the wall in my home. The document shows that my grandfather (yes, grandfather) Alexander Minor had been a private in Company B of the 9th Regiment of the Mississippi Infantry, CSA.
Arnold could barely resist telling me that his great, great grandfather had been a Confederate soldier, an African-American mind you. His ancestor's name was Turner Hall Jr., a native of Okolona.
What's special about Mr. Hall? Well, as Arnold found out after a decade of research, the Confederate veteran was an orderly for Gen. Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Southern forces and surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the terrible war.
And there is something else about Mr. Hall that you need to know: He was a slave owned by Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest, of course, is best known in southern literature as a founder of the Ku Klux Klan.
What makes Arnold's story about Hall especially fascinating is that he declared an abiding loyalty to his Confederate legacy.
Noted in a 1938 a copy of the Hugo, Oklahoma, newspaper was a story and photo about his attending the final Confederate reunion at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Hall, who lived to the ripe old age of 104 is buried in a cemetery in Monroe County, Mississippi.
Arnold knew nothing of his great, great grandfather’s service with Gen. Lee until a decade ago when his Aunt Pearl produced a family heritage book during a reunion.
Arnold self-published a book called “Robert E. Lee's Orderly: A Modern Black Man's Confederate Journey” which makes a surprisingly strong defense of black slave ownership by whites during that era.
So does Arnold defend the Confederate battle flag, which he describes as the symbol of “a unique culture and heritage,” adding, “I don’t think I have a right to frown on that heritage or culture any more than the Confederates have a right to frown upon mine.”
In the defense of his great, great grandfather Arnold writes we should strive to see that blacks of his generation should be remembered and held in high esteem for their service.
As the book’s end notes describe, Arnold seeks to bestow dignity and honor on his Confederate ancestor and challenges the traditional thoughts of modern African-Americans in opposing the Civil War. Arnold relies on his religious faith as the uniting force that reconciles our colorful past to our bright future.
The book is available as a Kindle edition from amazon.com for $7.99 or at orderlyforlee.com as a paperback for $13.99.
BILL MINOR is a syndicated columnist who has covered Mississippi since 1947. Contact him through edinman@earthlink.net.
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