Louisiana in the American Civil War
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The state of Louisiana during the American Civil War was a part of the Confederate States of America. Strategically important as a port city due to its location along the Mississippi River and its access to the Gulf of Mexico, the United States War Department very early on planned on the capture of New Orleans, the largest city in the entire South.
Antebellum Louisiana was a leading slave state. It also had one of the largest free black populations in the United States. Much of the white population, particularly in the cities, supported states rights and slavery, while pockets of support for the Federal government existed in the more rural areas.
Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. New Orleans was captured by Federal troops on April 25, 1862. Because a large part of the population had Union sympathies (or compatible commercial interests), the Federal government took the unusual step of designating the areas of Louisiana then under Federal control as a state within the Union, with its own elected representatives to the U.S. Congress. For the latter part of the war, both the Union and the Confederacy recognized their own distinct Louisiana governors.
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[edit] Notable leaders from Louisiana
A number of notable leaders were associated with Louisiana during the Civil War, including some of the Confederate army's senior ranking generals, as well as several men who led brigades and divisions. Antebellum Louisiana residents P.G.T. Beauregard, 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 led a brigade during the middle of the war before becoming the Confederate Governor of Louisiana from 1864–65. Randall L. Gibson, another competent brigade commander, was a postbellum U.S. Senator. Other brigadiers of note included Alfred Mouton (killed at the Battle of Mansfield), Harry T. Hays (commander of the celebrated "Louisiana Tigers" of the Army of Northern Virginia), and Francis T. Nicholls (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.
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 as the state capital, relocating to Opelousas in May. 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.
 P.G.T. Beauregard |
 Braxton Bragg |
 Richard Taylor |
 Henry W. Allen |
 Randall L. Gibson |
 Harry T. Hays |
 St. John Liddell |
 Alfred Mouton |
[edit] Battles in Louisiana
Battle of Baton Rouge
Battle of Bayou Bourbeux (aka Grand Coteau)
Battle of Blair's Landing
Battle of Calcasieu Pass
Battle of Donaldsonville I
Battle of Donaldsonville II
Battle of Fort Bisland
Battle of Fort De Russy
Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip
Battle of Georgia Landing
Battle of Goodrich's Landing
Battle of Irish Bend
Battle of Kock's Plantation
Battle of LaFourche Crossing
Battle of Mansfield (aka Sabine Cross-Roads)
Battle of Mansura
Battle of Milliken's Bend
Battle of Monett's Ferry
Battle of New Orleans (Civil War)
Battle of Plains Store
Battle of Pleasant Hill
Battle of Port Hudson
Battle of Stirling's Plantation
Battle of Vermillion Bayou
Battle of Yellow Bayou
[edit] See also
- Category:Louisiana in the American Civil War - links to various articles on battles, people, nad places related to Louisiana during the war years.
[edit] External links
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