Nelson W. Winbush facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Nelson W. Winbush
Winbush at the 2013 Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Born	1929 Ripley, Tennessee, U.S.
Education	University of Tennessee (BS, MPE)
Occupation	educator activist
Spouse(s)	Naomi Daniel
Children	2

Nelson Wyman Winbush, born in 1929, is an American educator and historian. He is known for being one of the few African-American members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He also has views that some find controversial, such as supporting the public display of the Confederate flag.

Early Life and Education
- Louis Napoleon Nelson, Grandfather
Family
Career
Opinions on Confederate History
See Also

Early Life and Education

Nelson Winbush was born in Ripley, Tennessee. His parents were Isaac and Ganelle Nelson Winbush. He had brothers, Robert and Harold, and sisters, Mary and Dorothy Jean. The family lived in a house built in 1908 by his grandfather, Louis Napoleon Nelson. Nelson Winbush was young when his grandfather was still alive. He heard many stories from his grandfather about being an enslaved person during the American Civil War. His grandfather served under brothers E.R. and Sidney Oldham, who were in the Confederate States Army.

Louis Napoleon Nelson, Grandfather

Louis Napoleon Nelson (1847–1934) was an enslaved cook and personal helper during the American Civil War. In 1862, Louis was 14 years old. He was an enslaved person on a large farm, called a plantation, in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. The plantation belonged to James and Helen C. Oldham.

The Oldhams were a well-known family who owned over 40 enslaved people. Louis was one of 19 enslaved children under 16 on their plantation. James and Helen Oldham had three sons: E.R. (18), Sidney (16), and James (12).

Experience During the Civil War

E.R. and Sidney Oldham joined Company M, Tennessee 7th Cavalry, in April 1862. Louis, who was 14, was sent by his owner to serve as a personal helper for the Oldham sons. Another enslaved person named Auterick also went with them.

As an enslaved person with the Confederate army, Louis had many duties. These included cooking meals, cleaning uniforms, caring for horses, and delivering messages. He also had to find food and help with shaving. Sometimes, enslaved people were allowed to earn money by working for others if their owner agreed.

Company M was part of the cavalry led by Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Louis later became a cook for Company M. It is not known if he was paid for his work.

Stories About Louis' Life

Nelson Winbush often talks about his grandfather, Louis, in his speeches and writings. Winbush claims that Louis was allowed to be a rifleman (a soldier with a rifle). He also says Louis became a chaplain (a religious leader) for both Black and white soldiers. Winbush states his grandfather had memorized the entire King James Bible.

In a 2007 interview, Winbush said his grandfather served as a chaplain for four campaigns after the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. However, there are no historical records to prove these claims.

In contrast, a 1929 newspaper article quoted Louis Napoleon Nelson saying: "I looked a’ter dem houses when Cap’n Bedford wuzn’t ridin’ em an’ when he wasn’t too close to de fightin’. I always stayed as far away from de fightin’ as I could an’ wit’ all dat. I had to do some powerful good runnin’ ever now an’ den." This quote suggests he avoided fighting.

Some people use a newspaper story from 1863 to support the idea that Louis was the first Black chaplain for the Confederate army. This story mentions a Tennessee regiment that had an "old negro" slave named "Uncle Lewis" leading services. However, Louis Nelson would have been about 15 years old at that time. Also, Company M is not mentioned in the article.

Historians explain that the Confederate army did not allow Black people to officially join as soldiers. They were not given uniforms, weapons, or paid like soldiers. Their role was forced labor, similar to their lives outside the military. Calling them "soldiers" would ignore the big difference between forced labor and military service. The Confederate Army rules from 1861 to 1865 stated that soldiers had to be "free white males." They could not be "the servant of a soldier." The first Black soldiers officially joined the Confederate army in March 1865. This was only a few weeks before the war ended. Louis was not among them.

Pension Records

E.R. Oldham helped Louis apply for a pension (money paid regularly after retirement or service). E.R. Oldham wrote that Louis stayed until the very end of the war. He confirmed Louis was "my cook, while I was a soldier." All existing records show Louis as a cook and servant. Louis' pension application and obituary (a notice of his death) did not mention him being a chaplain, rifleman, or soldier.

Louis' widow was not given a pension. The state of Tennessee only paid pensions to veterans, their widows, and former servants. They did not pay pensions to the widows of former servants.

Because Nelson Winbush is a descendant of Louis Nelson, he was able to join the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Winbush notes that his grandfather received a state pension from Tennessee for Confederate veterans starting in 1921. This was the first year that Black cooks and servants were allowed to apply for pensions.

Legacy

Louis was one of over 280 Black men who received a pension from Tennessee. These pensions were created for "colored men who served as servants and cooks in the Confederate Army."

Not every cook or servant qualified for a pension. To be eligible, they had to prove they could not support themselves. They also had to show they stayed with the army until the war ended. The pension paid $10 a month.

White Confederate veterans started receiving pensions in 1891, about 26 years after the war. Their widows began receiving pensions in 1905.

Most former enslaved people who served the Confederacy died before the pension bill passed in 1921. This was about 56 years after the war ended. The average age of Black pensioners in Tennessee in 1921 was almost 80 years old. At 74, Louis was one of 195 men to receive a pension for being a cook or servant.

Family

Both Nelson Winbush's mother, Ganelle, and his maternal grandmother were teachers. Education was very important in their family. Winbush and all his siblings earned college degrees. Some, like his sister Mary, also earned advanced degrees. She became a teacher and a school principal.

Winbush married Naomi Daniel from Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Mrs. Winbush passed away in 1999. They had two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Career

Nelson Winbush became a teacher and later an assistant principal. He followed in the footsteps of his mother and grandmother in the field of education. In 1955, he moved with his family to Florida. At that time, the public school system in Florida still had segregated schools. This was years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated schools were against the law.

He earned a bachelor's degree in science and a master's degree in physical education from the University of Tennessee.

Opinions on Confederate History

Membership in Sons of Confederate Veterans

In 1991, the NAACP started a campaign against displaying the Confederate flag on public buildings. Nelson Winbush disagreed with this effort. He decided to join the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is a member of the Jacob Summerlin Camp #1516 in Kissimmee, Florida.

Historian Adam Domby has noted that the Sons of Confederate Veterans group has been linked to groups that support white supremacy throughout its history.

In an article about Winbush, a young member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said that Winbush's story "wipes out" the idea of "segregation and racism." This member described Winbush's story as a way to stop criticism of the Confederacy. The same article mentioned that Winbush's comments sounded like they could come from "the mouth of any white son of the Confederate veterans."

Winbush has traveled a lot, visiting different Sons of Confederate Veterans groups and other organizations. He shares his views about the Civil War and his family history. He has been known to sing a Confederate song that includes the line, "....Black is nothing other than a darker shade of rebel gray."

Opinions on the Emancipation Proclamation

After retiring from teaching, Winbush felt ready to share his opinions on public issues. For example, unlike many other African Americans, he believes the Confederate flag is part of Southern heritage. He thinks it is fine for public display. He has stated that the Southern states left the Union because of states' rights, not because of slavery.

He also says that President Lincoln did not free the enslaved people. Winbush explains that the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the Confederate states. He argues that Lincoln no longer had authority over those states. He has called the Emancipation Proclamation "just an exercise in rhetoric." However, historians point out that Lincoln never accepted the South's right to leave the Union. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation provided a way to free enslaved people once Union forces took control of those areas.

Interview with Edward C. Smith, Black Southern Heritage

In 1998, Winbush took part in making a video called Black Southern Heritage. It was directed by Edward Smith of American University, who is also an African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The video discusses Winbush's grandfather's service with the Confederacy. It also covers his qualification for a Confederate pension after the war. The video includes other aspects of African-American heritage.

Edward C. Smith's work has been criticized because he is not a trained historian. His work often incorrectly states that "somewhere around 50,000 black men fought as combatants" in the Confederate army. He also claims that the Confederate monument at Arlington National Cemetery proves the existence of Black Confederate soldiers. Smith has made these claims since the mid-1990s but has never provided evidence.

Community Reactions

The NAACP and similar groups have criticized Winbush. They believe he supports ideas that are based on the "Neo-Confederate" movement. They think he misunderstands the history of the South. This idea may be supported by statements Winbush makes in interviews that are often not checked for facts. In one interview, Winbush stated, "People ask why a black person would fight for the Confederacy. (It was) for the same damned reason a white Southerner did." Like Edward C. Smith, Winbush has never provided proof for this claim. The claim that his grandfather was a private (a soldier) in the Confederate army was often part of his earlier interviews.

Most interviews with Winbush do not challenge his historical claims. One rare exception was an interview in the Orlando Sentinel in 2004. In that interview, his usual responses were paired with comments from Mary L. Fears. Fears was a local Black author and librarian for 30 years. Fears wrote, "Contrary to published accounts, the service of body servants was not given as 'loyal patriotism to the cause of the Southerners.' When told to go, the slaves, forced to follow their owners' orders, went to military camps. While in camp, they remained 'slaves' and, in that position, they were forced to obey their masters, no matter where they were. They were sometimes given uniforms and photographed with their slave masters, turned Confederate soldiers. To fail to obey, or show any signs of possible non-compliance, or even the slightest hint that they favored a Union victory, led to suffering from immediate punishment."