1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA)

The 1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA) was a Confederate Louisiana militia of "free persons of color" formed in 1861^[1] in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was disbanded in February 1862; some of the members joined the Union Army's 1st Louisiana Native Guard regiment (later the 73rd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops).

Confederate Louisiana militia

Shortly after Louisiana's secession, Governor Thomas Overton Moore issued pleas for troops on April 17 and April 21, 1861. In response to the governor's request, a committee of ten prominent New Orleans free blacks called a meeting at the Catholic Institute on April 22. About two thousand people attended the meeting where muster lists were opened, with about 1,500 free blacks signing up. Governor Moore accepted the services of these men as part of the state's miltia. The new militia regiment was formed on May 2, 1861, consisting mostly of "free persons of color" Creole French Speakers (gens de couleur) between the ages of 15 and 50. At that time, an estimated 10,000 African American residents of the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans had gained their freedom. On May 29, 1861, Governor Moore appointed three white officers as commanders of the regiment, and company commanders were appointed from among the free blacks of the regiment. The militia unit was the first of any North American unit to have African-American officers.^[2] This regiment was called the Louisiana Native Guard. Though ten per cent of its members would later join the Union Army's 1st Louisiana Native Guard, the two were separate military units.

André Cailloux, who later became a hero of the Siege of Port Hudson as a Union officer, served as a lieutenant in this Confederate Louisiana militia regiment of the Native Guard. Lieutenant Morris Morris, who served as an officer in the Confederate Louisiana militia regiment and subsequently served for six weeks in the Union Native Guard regiment, was unique in that he was of Jewish ancestry, making him both the only Black Jewish Confederate officer and the only Black Jewish Union officer[1]. He later became a famous actor as Louis Morrison and his granddaughters, Joan and Constance Bennett, were actresses of the 1940s whose Black ancestry was never revealed.

The South did not use this Confederate Native Guard regiment in any military action, and failed to provide it with uniforms or arms. Most of the men in the unit used their own resources to obtain weapons and uniforms which were displayed in a parade in New Orleans on January 8, 1862.^[3] It was largely considered part of the Confederacy's "public relations" campaign. The Native Guard tried to gain notoriety by offering their service to escort Union prisoners, captured from Manassas, through New Orleans. Despite the Confederacy choosing white militiamen instead, the Native Guard still participated in two other grand reviews. The Louisiana State Legislature passed a law in January 1862 that reorganized the militia into only “...free white males capable of bearing arms… ”^[4]. The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was affected by this law. It was forced to disband on February 15, 1862, when the new law took effect. Many of its white officers were reassigned to the new Confederate regiments.

Companies of the Confederate 1st Louisiana Native Guard prior to disbanding in 1862:

See also

• Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War

References