The Diaries Left Behind by Confederate Soldiers Reveal the True Role of Enslaved Labor at...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/diaries-left-behind-confederate-soldiers-reveals-role-enslaved-labor-gettysburg-180972538/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190702-daily-responsive&spMailingID=40111640&spUserID=ODU1Njc2OTExOTgxS0&spJobID= [login to see] &spReportId=MTU2MDE4Mjk1MAS2
This article gives a whole new meaning to the term "REMF" as we learn that...
"Anywhere between 6,000 and 10,000 enslaved people supported in various capacities Lee’s army in the summer of 1863. Many of them labored as cooks, butchers, blacksmiths and hospital attendants, and thousands of enslaved men accompanied Confederate officers as their camp slaves, or body servants. These men performed a wide range of roles for their owners, including cooking, cleaning, foraging and sending messages to families back home. Slave owners remained convinced that these men would remain fiercely loyal even in the face of opportunities to escape, but this conviction would be tested throughout the Gettysburg campaign." I'm sure that if the Confederate soldiers and their officers had thought of the term "REMF" they would have easily applied it to their black servants.