No Pensions for Negroes

Athens Daily Banner April 27, 1901 Page 1
No Pensions for Negros

Carolina Board decides against all colored applicants Columbia South Carolina April 26 The state pension board rejected all applications from Negroes on the grounds that their names did not appear on the rolls of the respective companies to which they were credited on file in the adjutant generals office and that they had no authority to issue pensions to other than enlisted soldiers. These applications had the hearty approval of the county boards and some of them have been on previous pension lists.

One of the rejected negros, Elisha Buchanan, was conscripted and put the work on confederate coast defenses, and while at work on Fort Sumter his leg was mangled by a shell from the enemy's guns and had to be amputated.

Note: Here is one of the problems we have when recognizing black confederates who served. It may be possible to find the county pension requests and enumerate the soldiers names from there but what of those that did not apply for a pension