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be treated elsewhere, and he smuggled Andrew onto a boxcar to
Atlanta where they met Andrew's uncle, Kyle Chandler, who brought them back to their home. Another version of the story has Kyle purchasing the whiskey, which may have been for a hometown doctor and not an Army surgeon. Regardless, Silas was instrumental in getting Andrew to Atlanta, away from the Army doctors. Andrew's leg was saved but it never returned to full function. Silas was then sent back to the front to serve as a servant for Andrew's younger brother, Benjamin Chandler, in the
206:. On May 7, 1865, Chandler was a part of that escort which was ordered to disband in order for Davis' escort to be less conspicuous as secrecy became paramount due to the collapse of the Confederacy. Some in the Chandler family later claimed that Silas's service showed his loyalty to the white members of the family, although, others point to his desire to keep in touch with his wife and the birth of his first son, William Henry, during the war as the cause of his loyalty.
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Also in 1994, an anthology of essays about black
Confederate soldiers written by Andrew Chandler Battaille Sr., a descendant of Andrew Chandler, wrote, "It is not difficult to speculate that as a result of sharing these very trying life experiences that a special bond existed between ". In a 2007 book, Clint Johnson calls Silas the most well-recognized black Confederate soldier. As late as 2010, the
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145:. Silas' descendants believed that Silas had saved money earned doing odd jobs as a carpenter and attempted to buy his freedom before the war started. However, manumission of Silas was likely illegal under Mississippi law, and some descendants believe Silas may have been defrauded of the money he gave to his Chandler masters in an attempted transaction.
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story in the early 1990s. For that story, a copy of the photo was donated by Bobbie
Chandler, who was working for the paper. Since the 1994 ceremony, accounts of black Confederate troops surged in popularity, accounts which are held up in defense of the display of Confederate symbols on public land.
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The relationship between Silas and Andrew and Silas' role in the
Confederate Army has long been of interest. In a 1949 newspaper article in the West Point, Mississippi Daily Times includes the photo and gives Silas the title of slave, not soldier. However, by the 1990s, a descendant of Silas's named
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founded Mount Hermon
Baptist Church on land purchased by Silas and his wife Lucy adjacent to his home. Silas purchased and donated the land. Silas Chandler applied for a pension in 1916 which depicts him as a servant rather than a soldier. Andrew Chandler appeared as witness in support of the claim
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in
Tennessee. Nearly 30% of his regiment were killed or wounded in the battle. The Army surgeon recommended the leg be amputated. Silas may have used a gold coin sewn into his jacket for emergencies to buy a crate of whiskey to bribe the surgeon to let him remove Andrew from the military hospital to
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Interpretive Center at Shiloh said that during the war, Silas was Andrew's "former slave" and says that "both boys fought together at
Chickamauga" and that Silas received a "Mississippi Confederate Veteran Pension", while in reality Silas was a slave during the war and Silas' pension was under the
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and Silas held a rifle which was laid across both of their laps. A pistol was stuffed into Silas' shirt, Andrew was holding another pistol and a third pistol was tucked into Andrew's belt. Most of these weapons were probably photographer's props. Silas's service to Andrew during the war included
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Silas returned to West Point after the war. Silas and Lucy had 12 children, of whom 8 survived childhood: William Henry, Clarence Rufus, Charlie, Robert E., George, Mamie, Willie B., and Sarah. He continued to work as a carpenter and taught the trade to his sons. His family contributed to the
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at about the age of 2. He was trained as a carpenter. Around 1860 he married Lucy Garvin, although marriages between slaves such as this were not recognized by
Mississippi law. Lucy was the child of a mulatto house slave named Polly and an unnamed plantation owner.
270:. In the 2000s and 2010s, pro-Confederate websites sold merchandise depicting the pair. The pair continued to be used as an example of black Confederate soldiers at least up until January 2016, where they were used in a syndicated column of the
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At the outset of the
American Civil War, the Chandlers had 36 slaves. Silas was sent to serve Sergeant Andrew Chandler, who initially enrolled in a company called the Palo Alto Confederates which later became part of Company F of the
258:"Application of Indigent Servants of Soldiers and Sailors of the Late Confederacy" and the center later updated its presentation. In 2010, Andrew Chandler Battaile, Jr. had the original tintype of the photo appraised on the TV show,
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placed a metal cross beside his tomb in West Point, Mississippi to honor his service as a
Confederate soldier. One of the catalysts of the 1994 ceremony was the use of the photo in a
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There were various laws restricting the manumission of slaves. In 1857, there was a "blanket ban" and after 1805, manumission required an act of the state legislature (
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Descendants of both Andrew and Silas Chandler have agreed that Chandler was a slave and not a soldier and had the Confederate honors at Silas's grave removed.
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303:). Mississippi State Supreme Court Cases Ross v Vertner (1840) accepted manumission by last will and testimate but required the person to emigrate, while
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Bobbie Chandler believed that Silas might have been a soldier—possibly having learned this from a write-up in the neo-Confederate publication, the
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for pension. Silas died in September, 1919, at age 82. His former masters Benjamin and Andrew died in 1909 and 1920 respectively.
299:). The 1842 law discussed in the paper the article references may refer to a law from that year outlawing manumission in wills (
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Silas was born in 1838 on the Chandler plantation in Virginia. He was moved with the family to Mississippi near the towns of
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building of many homes, churches, banks, and other buildings in the town and throughout the state. In 1868, Silas and other
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Some believed that this land was given to Silas by his former owners, although this story has been disproved, see
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Silas was with Benjamin Chandler when he was a part of a detached escort of guards for Confederate President
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Klebaner, Benjamin Joseph (1955). "American Manumission Laws and the Responsibility for Supporting Slaves".
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In 1861, Andrew and Silas were photographed together armed and wearing Confederate uniforms; both men held
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Sergeant A.M. Chandler of the 44th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Co. F., and Silas Chandler, family slave
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Mills, Michael P. (2001). "Slave Law in Mississippi from 1817-1861: Constitutions, Codes and Cases".
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who accompanied his owners, Andrew and Benjamin Chandler, referred to as a "manservant" in the
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transporting messages between Andrew and the Chandler family. When Andrew was captured in the
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Sampson, Myra Chandler; Levin, Kevin M. (February 2012). "The Loyalty of Silas Chandler".
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Levin, Kevin M. (2014). "Black Confederates Out of the Attic and Into the Mainstream".
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state that Silas was not freed while serving Andrew and Benjamin during the war, and
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264:, and later the relationship between Andrew and Silas was featured in the show
613:"The Secret History Of The Photo At The Center Of The Black Confederate Myth"
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to The South: (And Why It Will Rise Again)
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Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth
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state that manumission of Chandler would have been illegal.
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depicting flight of Davis including cavalry and camp slaves
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The Flight of the Confederates: A Sudden Alarm and Stampede
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482:The New York Times Opinionator Blog
244:United Daughters of the Confederacy
430:"Investigations: Chandler Tintype"
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671:People enslaved in Missisissippi
531:The Journal of the Civil War Era
611:Serwer, Adam (April 17, 2016).
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646:19th-century American slaves
438:. Season 9. Episode 12. PBS.
240:Sons of Confederate Veterans
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566:Levin, Kevin M. (2019).
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56:September 1919 (aged 82)
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489:Johnson, Clint (2007).
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107:during the
82:Lucy Garvin
61:Nationality
630:Categories
606:(1): 30–4.
461:Levin 2014
359:References
333:Levin 2014
321:Levin 2014
309:Mills 2001
301:Mills 2001
119:Early life
69:Occupation
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136:Civil War
73:Carpenter
618:BuzzFeed
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