Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit, says it all at the end:
Go here to read the main article by Dan McLaughlin. Go here to comment at Instapundit. Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, in his still-born proposal to free the slaves of the Confederacy and enlist the fighting age men in the Confederate Army, wrote about this type of history:
In addition to Gen Cleburne, CSA, Gen Robert E. Lee proposed by dispatch to the Conferderate Congress that slaves be allowed to fight for their homeland. He advocated that the slaves be trained in the same manner as the soldiers; receive the same pay,;be freed and treated with respect. The Congress refused and the rest is history.