VISUAL ACTIVITY

John Wallace Comer, C.S.A., with His Servant, Burrell Many slaveholders took personal servants with them to war. These slaves cooked, washed, and cleaned for their owners. Owners sometimes dressed their servants in uniforms, as Comer did, which led some observers to conclude erroneously that slaves were members of the Confederate military. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.

READING THE IMAGE: How would you describe the expressions on the men’s faces? Similar? Different?

CONNECTIONS: What are the possible ramifications of slaveholders bringing “body servants” to war? How were nonslaveholding soldiers, who did their own chores, likely to have responded?