WEST POINT — A young white man, donning a Confederate uniform, poses with his knife and revolver. Beside him, a young black man is seated, also holding his knife, and a shotgun, also in a Confederate coat.
It”s just a photo.
But contemplating the times, the photo brings questions to mind:
Why was this young white man posing for a photo with a man, probably of similar age, who would have been a slave at the time?
It”s a mystery the PBS “History Detectives” hope to resolve, exploring the history of the family photo through records at the Clay County Courthouse and talking with a local historian.
“It”s been a fascinating investigation that has illuminated a really complex relationship between Andrew (the white man) and Silas (the black man),” said Wes Cowan, one of the hosts of “History Detectives.”
Thus far, Cowan has learned that Andrew Chandler served in the Confederate Army in 1861, with the 44th Mississippi Regiment. There is evidence that Silas Chandler traveled back and forth between Palo Alto in Clay County, where the Chandlers lived, to as far away as Chattanooga, Tenn., carrying messages and supplies.
So the story goes, during the Battle of Chickamauga, Andrew was shot in the leg, and battlefield doctors planned to amputate it, Cowan said. Silas stepped in to stop the surgery and is credited with saving Andrew”s life, carrying him three miles to a train and taking him home to be cared for. The Chandlers supposedly rewarded Silas with land for the deed.
Though the “History Detectives” won”t share their complete findings until the show airs sometime in September, local historian Jack Elliott of Palo Alto said the story of Andrew and Silas has gotten overblown over the years.
“It is really a story that has gotten so embellished,” said Elliott, who is retired from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
The Chandler family remains rooted in Clay County.
Elliott himself is related to the Chandlers through marriage. His great-uncle married Andrew”s granddaughter.
Kyle Chandler III and IV, descendants of Andrew, both work at Galloway Chandler McKinney Insurance in downtown West Point.
Kyle Chandler III has kept the original photo in his office for the past 20-30 years; the story of Andrew and Silas has been passed down through the generations.
Elliott pointed out the business as he and the PBS crew walked toward the Clay County Courthouse on Commerce Street to look at property records.
“My understanding was they were just very, very close friends during their lifetimes and during the Civil War,” Kyle Chandler III said. “It was unusual back in the 1860s for a white man and a black man to have their picture taken together, and that”s what, at one time, made this photo so interesting.”
“I think it”s fascinating, said Elliott, of PBS shooting in West Point. “Everybody is fascinated with TV, the movies, their 15 minutes of fame.”
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