The 1st Louisiana Regiment Cavalry was a cavalry unit in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. The regiment was one of several organized in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

in August 1862 by order of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and recruited from among "white Unionists, and pro-Northern refugees" in the city; it consisted primarily of foreigners and men of Northern birth.

Service

The unit was assigned in 1863 to the Union XIX Corps of

Maj. Gen. Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Nathaniel P. Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was prominent in local debating societies, ...

in the

Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. History United States Army (Civil War) Creation The department was co ...

. They participated in operations in Western Louisiana: Fort Bisland, Irish Bend, and Vermillion Bayou in April, 1863 and in the

Siege of Port Hudson The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Union General Ulysses Grant was besieging Vicksburg upriver, Ge ...

from May to July. The regiment participated in the Red River Campaign from March to May, 1864. The unit left Louisiana and moved to

Fort Barrancas Fort Barrancas (1839) or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (from 1787) is a United States military fort and National Historic Landmark in the former Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically within Naval Air Station Pensacola, which wa ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in February 1865. It joined the campaign against Mobile, Alabama. The regiment then marched to Blakely, across the Mobile River, taking control of its

Fort Blakely A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, a major fort during the war. This completed Confederate defeat in the area. The unit mustered out on December 18, 1865.

2nd Louisiana Regiment Cavalry

The 2nd Louisiana Regiment Cavalry was originally organized as the 3rd Louisiana Infantry in New Orleans on November 25, 1863. After serving at the defenses of Brashear City, Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, the unit was consolidated with 1st Louisiana Cavalry on September 7, 1864.

References

Louisiana Regiment Cavalry, 001 Military units and formations established in 1862 1862 establishments in Louisiana Military units and formations disestablished in 1865

Service

2nd Louisiana Regiment Cavalry

See also

References

Further reading