Louisiana was a dominant population center in the southwest of the
Confederate States of America, controlling the wealthy trade center of
New Orleans, and contributing the
French Creole and
Cajun
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
populations to the demographic composition of a predominantly Anglo-American country. In the
antebellum period
In the history of the Southern United States, the Antebellum Period (from la, ante bellum, lit= before the war) spanned the end of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The Antebellum South was characterized by the ...
, Louisiana was a
slave state, where enslaved
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
had comprised the majority of the population during the eighteenth-century
French and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
dominations. By the time the
United States acquired the territory (1803) and
Louisiana became a
state (1812), the institution of
slavery was entrenched. By 1860, 47% of the state's population were enslaved, though the state also had one of the largest free black populations in the
United States. Much of the
white population, particularly in the cities, supported slavery, while pockets of support for the U.S. and its
government existed in the more rural areas.
Louisiana declared that it had
seceded
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...
from the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
on January 26, 1861.
Civil-War era New Orleans, the largest city in
the South, was strategically important as a
port city due to its southernmost location on the
Mississippi River and its access to the
Gulf of Mexico. The
U.S. War Department
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
early on planned for its capture. The city was taken by
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
forces on April 25, 1862. Because a large part of the population had Union sympathies (or compatible commercial interests), the U.S. government took the unusual step of designating the areas of Louisiana then under
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
control as a state within the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
, with its own elected representatives to the
U.S. Congress. For the latter part of the war, both the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
and the
Confederacy recognized their own distinct
Louisiana governors.
Similarly, New Orleans and 13 named parishes of the state were exempted from the
Emancipation Proclamation, which applied exclusively to states in rebellion against the Union.
Politics and strategy in Louisiana
Secession
On January 8, 1861, Louisiana Governor
Thomas Overton Moore
Thomas Overton Moore (April 10, 1804 – June 25, 1876) was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War. Anticipating that Louisiana's Ordinance of Secession would be pa ...
ordered the Louisiana militia to occupy the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
arsenal at
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
and the U.S. forts guarding New Orleans, Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. A wealthy
planter and
slave holder, Moore acted aggressively to engineer the secession of Louisiana from the Union by a convention on January 23. Only five percent of the public were represented in the convention, and the state's military actions were ordered before secession had been established—in defiance of the state constitution, which called for a popular referendum to establish a convention. Moore attempted to justify these actions, saying: "I do not think it comports with the honor and self-respect of Louisiana as a slave-holding state to live under the government of a Black Republican president", using an epithet for Republicans used by many Democrats at the time.
The strategies advanced to defend Louisiana and the other
Gulf states of the Confederacy were first, the idea of
King Cotton; that an unofficial embargo of cotton to Europe would force Britain to use its navy to intervene in protecting the new
Confederacy. The second was a
privateer fleet established by the issue of letters of
marque and reprisal by President
Jefferson Davis, which would sweep the sea clear of U.S. naval and commercial ships, and at the same time sustain Louisiana's booming
port economy. The third was a reliance on the ring of pre-war masonry forts of the
Third System of American coastal defense, combined with a fleet of revolutionary new
ironclads
An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
, to safeguard the
mouth of the
Mississippi from the U.S. Navy. All of these strategies were failures.
In March 1861, George Williamson, the Louisianan state commissioner, addressed the Texan secession convention, where he called upon the slave states of the U.S. to declare secession from the Union in order to continue practicing slavery:
One Louisianan artillery soldier gave his reasons for fighting for the Confederacy, stating that "I never want to see the day when a negro is put on an equality with a white person. There is too many free niggers ... now to suit me, let alone having four millions."
Union plans
The Union's response to Moore's leveraged secession was embodied in U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
's realization that the
Mississippi River was the "backbone of the Rebellion." If control of the river were accomplished, the largest city in the Confederacy would be taken back for the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
, and the Confederacy would be split in half. Lincoln moved rapidly to back Admiral
David Dixon Porter's idea of a naval advance up the river to both capture New Orleans and maintain Lincoln's political support; by supplying cotton to northern textile manufacturers and renewing trade and exports from the port of New Orleans. The U.S. Navy would become both a formidable invasion force and a means of transporting Union forces, along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. This strategic vision would prove victorious in Louisiana.
Notable Civil War leaders from Louisiana
A number of notable leaders were associated with Louisiana during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
, including some of the
Confederate army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
's senior ranking generals, as well as several men who led
brigades and
divisions. Antebellum Louisiana residents
P.G.T. Beauregard
Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 - February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly ...
,
Braxton Bragg, and
Richard Taylor all commanded significant independent armies during the war. Taylor's forces were among the last active Confederate armies in the field when the war closed.
Henry Watkins Allen
Henry Watkins Allen (April 29, 1820April 22, 1866) was a member of the Confederate States Army and the Texian Army as a soldier, also serving as a military leader, politician, writer, slave owner, and sugar cane planter.
He had made it to the ...
led a brigade during the middle of the war before becoming the Confederate Governor of Louisiana from 1864 to 1865.
Randall L. Gibson, another competent brigade commander, became a
postbellum U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
as a Democrat. Other brigadiers of note included
Alfred Mouton
Jean-Jacques-Alfred-Alexandre "Alfred" Mouton (February 18, 1829 – April 8, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Although trained at West Point, he soon resigned his commission to become a civil engineer and then a ...
(killed at the
Battle of Mansfield
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...
),
Harry T. Hays,
Chatham Roberdeau Wheat
Chatham Roberdeau Wheat (April 9, 1826 – June 27, 1862) was a captain in the United States Army Volunteers during the Mexican War, Louisiana State Representative, lawyer, mercenary in Cuba, Mexico, and Italy, adventurer, and major in the ...
(commander of the celebrated "
Louisiana Tigers
Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the State of Louisiana in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a bri ...
" of the
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most o ...
), and
Francis T. Nicholls
Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (August 20, 1834January 4, 1912) was an American attorney, politician, judge, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served two terms as the 28th Governor of Lou ...
(commander of the "Pelican Brigade" until he lost his left foot at
Chancellorsville).
St. John Lidell was a prominent brigade commander in the
Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...
.
Henry Gray, a wealthy plantation owner from
Bienville Parish
Bienville Parish (french: link=no, Paroisse de Bienville, ) is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,981. The parish seat is Arcadia.
The highest natural point ...
, was a brigadier general under Richard Taylor before being elected to the
Second Confederate Congress late in the war.
Leroy A. Stafford was among a handful of Louisiana generals to be killed during the war.
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Albert Gallatin Blanchard (September 6, 1810 – June 21, 1891) was a general in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. He was among the small number of high-ranking Confederates to have been born in the North. He served on the ...
was a rarity—a Confederate general born in
Massachusetts.
Governor Thomas Overton Moore, came held office from 1860 through early 1864. When war erupted, he unsuccessfully lobbied the Confederate government in
Richmond for a strong defense of New Orleans. Two days before the city surrendered in April 1862, Moore and the legislature abandoned
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
as the state capital, relocating to
Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.''
Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 ...
in May. Thomas Moore organized military resistance at the state level, ordered the burning of
cotton, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and heavily recruited troops for the state
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
.
Image:Pgt_beauregard.jpg,
Image:Braxton Bragg.jpg,
Image:Richard Taylor.jpg,
Image:HWAllen.jpg,
Image:Albert G. Blanchard.jpg,
Image:Randall L. Gibson - Brady-Handy.jpg,
Image:HGrayACW.JPG,
Image:HTHays.jpg,
Image:St. John Richardson Liddle.jpg,
Image:Alfred Mouton.jpg,
Image:Francis Redding Tillou Nichols.jpg,
Image:Leroy Stafford.jpg,
Battles in Louisiana
Battles in Louisiana tended to be concentrated along the major waterways, like the
Red River Campaign.
Restoration to Union
Following the end of the Civil War, Louisiana was part of the
Fifth Military District
The Fifth Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South from 1867 to 1870. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstru ...
.
After meeting the requirements of
Reconstruction, including ratifying amendments to the
US Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nationa ...
to abolish slavery and grant citizenship to former slaves, Louisiana's representatives were readmitted to Congress. The state was fully restored to the United States on July 9, 1868.
As part of the
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Wormley Agreement or the Bargain of 1877, was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among members of the United States Congress, to settle the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election between Ruth ...
, under which Southern Democrats acknowledged
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes as president, there was the understanding that the Republicans would meet certain demands. One affecting Louisiana was the removal of all U.S. military forces from the former
Confederate states
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
.
At the time, U.S. troops remained in only
Louisiana,
South Carolina, and
Florida, but the Compromise saw their complete withdrawal from the region.
See also
*
List of Louisiana Confederate Civil War units, a list of Confederate Civil War units from Louisiana.
*
List of Louisiana Union Civil War units
This is a list of regiments from the U.S. state of Louisiana that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The list of Louisiana Confederate Civil War units is shown separately.
Artillery
* 1st Louisiana Regiment ...
, a list of Union Civil War units from Louisiana.
Notes
;Abbreviations used in these notes:
:Official atlas: ''Atlas to accompany the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.''
:ORA (Official records, armies): ''War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.''
:ORN (Official records, navies): ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.''
References
Further reading
* Ayres, Thomas. '' Dark and Bloody Ground: The Battle of Mansfield and the Forgotten Civil War in Louisiana'' (2001)
*
* Dew, Charles B. "Who Won the Secession Election in Louisiana?." ''Journal of Southern History'' (1970): 18–32
in JSTOR* Dew, Charles B. "The Long Lost Returns: The Candidates and Their Totals in Louisiana's Secession Election." ''Louisiana History'' (1969): 353–369
in JSTOR* Dimitry, John. ''Confederate Military History of Louisiana: Louisiana in the Civil War, 1861–1865'' (2007)
* Dufrene, Dennis J. ''Civil War Baton Rouge, Port Hudson and Bayou Sara: Capturing the Mississippi''. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2012. .
*
* Hollandsworth Jr, James G. ''The Louisiana Native Guards: The Black Military Experience During the Civil War'' (LSU Press, 1995)
* Johnson, Ludwell H. ''Red River Campaign, Politics & Cotton in the Civil War'' Kent State University Press (1993). .
* Lathrop, Barnes F. "The Lafourche District in 1861–1862: A Problem in Local Defense." ''Louisiana History'' (1960) 1#2 pp: 99–129
in JSTOR* McCrary, Peyton. '' Abraham Lincoln and Reconstruction: The Louisiana Experiment'' (1979)
* Peña, Christopher G. ''Touched by War: Battles Fought in the Lafourche District''. Thibodaux, Louisiana: C.G.P. Press, 1998.
* Peña, Christopher G. ''Scarred By War: Civil War in Southeast Louisiana'' (2004)
* Pierson, Michael D. ''Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans'' (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2008)
* Ripley, C. Peter. ''Slaves and Freedmen in Civil War Louisiana'' (1976)
* Sledge, Christopher L. "The Union's Naval War in Louisiana, 1861–1863" (Army Command and General Staff College, 2006
online*
Winters, John D. ''The Civil War in Louisiana''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963. .
* Wooster, Ralph. "The Louisiana Secession Convention." ''Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1951) 34#1 pp: 103–133.
External links
First hand accounts of the Civil War in Louisiana.
{{Authority control
.American Civil War
American Civil War by state
American Civil War
Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
Western Theater of the American Civil War