Miles' Legion was a unit 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 ...

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 th ...

. It was commanded by Col. William R. Miles. The unit was officially named the 32nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment but it was never referred to by that name. The legion fought at the

Battle of Plains Store The Battle of Plains Store was fought on May 21, 1863, in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, during the campaign to capture Port Hudson in the American Civil War. Union troops advancing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, clashed with 600 Confedera ...

and the

Siege of Port Hudson The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union (American Civil War), Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Major General#United States, Union Gen ...

. Captured at Port Hudson, the men were paroled, and the legion was declared exchanged in fall 1863. Many of the exchanged men never returned to duty. Those who did return joined Gober's Mounted Infantry Regiment or the 15th Louisiana Sharpshooter Battalion.

Organization

Miles' Legion was formed at

Camp Moore Camp Moore, north of the Village of Tangipahoa near Kentwood, Louisiana, was a Confederate training base and principal base of operations in eastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. The base was named for Louisiana Governor Thomas Overton ...

in April 1862. Though designated as the 32nd Regiment, Louisiana Volunteers, it never used the specified name. Unlike most Civil War formations, it was a

combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme vio ...

force composed of more than one type of unit. In this particular case, it was organized as a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of seven infantry

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

and another of five companies of cavalry at

Port Hudson, Louisiana Port Hudson is an unincorporated community in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. Located about northwest of Baton Rouge, it is known primarily as the location of an American Civil War battle, the siege of Port Hudson, in 1863. ...

, in the early summer of 1862 under the command of Colonel William R. Miles. The infantrymen were recruited from Livingston, Orleans and

Tangipahoa The Tangipahoa were a Native American tribe that lived just north of Lake Pontchartrain and between the Pearl River and the Mississippi River. Etymology The name Tangipahoa is derived from the Muskogean words ''(tonche pahoha)'' which translates ...

Parishes. The cavalry drew its ranks from

East Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Lou ...

, East Feliciana, and

St. Tammany Tamanend (historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, "the Affable," ) (–) was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the Peace Treaty wit ...

Parishes. In April 1862, a "William Bradley" joined Company G at Natchez, Mississippi; the soldier was discharged in June when it was discovered that Bradley was a woman.

In action

In April and May 1863, 2,400 Legion soldiers, including 300 cavalrymen, were assigned to help try to stop

Grierson's Raid Grierson's Raid was a Union cavalry raid during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. It ran from April 17 to May 2, 1863, as a diversion from Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's main attack plan on Vicksburg, Mississippi. Background Earl ...

from reaching

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

. Miles' Legion fought in the

under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick B. Brand. During the

on May 21, 1863, Confederate and Union forces had already fought and disengaged by the time Colonel Miles arrived with reinforcements from Port Hudson. Nevertheless, late in the day, Miles launched an attack, with some initial success, but was eventually forced to retreat by a counterattack. The unit suffered 89 casualties. On May 26, the infantrymen clashed with the men of the 116th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The following day, the unit manned artillery pieces on the battle line. Along with the rest of the defenders, the battalion surrendered on July 9, 1863. Victorious General

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, ...

paroled the enlisted men, but the officers were made prisoners of war. Though the officers were eventually exchanged, the infantry battalion was not reformed. The cavalry battalion continued to fight in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

under Major James T. Coleman, before disbanding in the spring of 1865.

References

Bibliography

External links

''National Park Service'' {{Louisiana Confederate units navbox Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Louisiana Legions of the American Civil War 1862 establishments in Louisiana

Organization

In action

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links