He was also a carpenter and he helped found and build the first black church in his hometown, West Point, Mississippi.

Lucy was the child of a mulatto house slave named Polly and an unnamed plantation owner.

Another version of the story has Kyle purchasing the whiskey, which may have been for a hometown doctor and not an Army surgeon.

Silas was then sent back to the front to serve as a servant for Andrew's younger brother, Benjamin Chandler, in the 9th Mississippi Cavalry.

[1] Some in the Chandler family later claimed that Silas's service showed his loyalty to the white members of the family, although, others point to his desire to keep in touch with his wife and the birth of his first son, William Henry, during the war as the cause of his loyalty.

Silas and Lucy had 12 children, of whom 8 survived childhood: William Henry, Clarence Rufus, Charlie, Robert E., George, Mamie, Willie B., and Sarah.

In a 1949 newspaper article in the West Point, Mississippi Daily Times includes the photo and gives Silas the title of slave, not soldier.

For that story, a copy of the photo was donated by Bobbie Chandler, who was working for the paper.

[3] In a 2007 book, Clint Johnson calls Silas the most well-recognized black Confederate soldier.

The pair continued to be used as an example of black Confederate soldiers at least up until January 2016, where they were used in a syndicated column of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.