Louisiana in the American Civil War

Louisiana in the American Civil War

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, where enslaved Africans and African Americans comprised the majority of the population through the eighteenth century. By 1860 47% of the population was enslaved. 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 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.

Notable Civil War 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, Chatham Roberdeau Wheat (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.

Henry Gray, a wealthy plantation owner from Bienville Parish, 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 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 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.

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

See also

* , linking to various articles on battles, people, and places related to Louisiana during the war years.
* Louisiana Civil War Confederate Units, a list of Civil War units from Louisiana.

External links

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/LAmap.htm National Park Service map of Civil War sites in Louisiana]

ources

* http://www.answers.com/topic/louisiana-in-the-american-civil-war


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