Courtesy of  TV Guide UK

During the March 4, 2011 original episode of NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?: Lionel Richie, Mr. Richie uncovers that his great-grandfather John Louis Brown was the Body Servant of Morgan W. Brown of the 20th Tennessee Infantry (Confederate States Army).  The evidence presented was Tennessee Confederate Pension Record C186.  When Mr. Richie asked the historian in the episode if his great-grandfather was a soldier, the historian simply replied that "he was a servant." This begs the question: Were Confederate States Army Body Servants soldiers?

Findings:

As of today, a muster roll record for John L. Brown serving with the 20th Tennessee Infantry has not been located.   However, John L. Brown's State of Tennessee Confederate Pension Record number is C186.  

In addition, the researcher of this website did find a servant, who is not a relative or connected to John L. Brown, on a Confederate Soldier Service Record. (See image below.)

Pad, a servant of Thomas M Omohundro, was enlisted with the 40th Virginia Infantry Company D as a cook.  The official record of Pad's Confederate Soldier Service Record is found in The National Archives and Records Administration Catalog ID 586957, M324.  The digitized image source is from footnote.com.

Today's question:

Many of the Confederate States Army records were destroyed due to the devastation of the American Civil War.  Does Pad's company muster roll record below, with an enlistment date, prove that body servants were considered by some Confederate Officers as soldiers during the 19th Century American Civil War?

Works Cited

"Who Do You Think You Are: What's a Body Servant." nbc.com. Web. 4 March 2011.