Final answer:
The number of African Americans who voluntarily enlisted and fought for the Confederacy is a controversial topic, but the consensus is that it was very few, with only about a few dozen having actually enlisted near the end of the war. They were primarily used as labor rather than as armed soldiers.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of African Americans who voluntarily enlisted and fought for the Confederacy is a subject of historical debate. However, most historians agree that very few African Americans fought as enlisted soldiers for the Confederacy. In a move born of desperation late in the Civil War, the Confederate Congress passed a law in March 1865 allowing for the enlistment of African Americans. Despite the new law, only about a few dozen enlisted, and these men, mostly hospital workers from Richmond, neither saw military action nor were they allowed to carry weapons.
The reluctance of the Confederacy to enlist African Americans was rooted in the belief that their role was that of laborers and property, and their enlistment as soldiers conflicted with the Confederacy's foundational principles of slavery. Historian James Robertson noted that officially, the Confederacy did not accept black soldiers into their military service, and the notion of black Confederate units is not supported by the extensive military records of the Civil War.
In sharp contrast, following the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, the Union army and navy began to enlist African Americans more broadly. Close to 200,000 black men, including both former slaves and those born free, fought in the Union army during the war and displayed considerable valor and commitment.