Louisiana in the American Civil War - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Antebellum Louisiana was a leading slave state

Slave state

In the United States of America prior to the American Civil War, a slave state was a U.S. state in which slavery was legal, whereas a free state was one in which slavery was either prohibited from its entry into the Union or eliminated over time...

, 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

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

, while pockets of support for the Federal government existed in the more rural areas.

Louisiana seceded

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

from the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

on January 26, 1861. New Orleans

New Orleans in the Civil War

New Orleans, in Louisiana, was the largest city in the Southern States during the American Civil War. It provided thousands of troops for the Confederate States Army, as well as several leading officers and generals...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, the largest city in the entire South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, was strategically important as a port city due to its location along the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

and its access to the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

, and the United States War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

very early on planned on its capture. It was taken 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.

Politics and strategy in Louisiana

On January 8, 1861, Louisiana Governor Thomas Overton Moore

Thomas Overton Moore

Thomas Overton Moore was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War.-Early years:...

ordered the Louisiana militia to occupy the Federal arsenal at Baton Rouge and the Federal forts guarding New Orleans, Jackson and 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 states 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. These actions were justified by Moore's statement: "I do not think it comports with the honor and self-respect of Louisiana as a slaveholding state to live under the government of a Black Republican president." The strategies advanced to defend Louisiana and the other gulf states of the Confederacy were first, the idea of King Cotton

King Cotton

King Cotton was a slogan used by southerners to support secession from the United States by arguing cotton exports would make an independent Confederacy economically prosperous, and—more important—would force Great Britain and France to support the Confederacy because their industrial economy...

, that a unofficial embargo

Embargo

An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...

of cotton to Europe would force England to use their 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

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...

, which would sweep the sea clear of Federal 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, to safeguard the mouth of the Mississippi from the Federal navy. All of these strategies were failures.

The Federal response to Moore's leveraged secession was embodied in President Abraham Lincoln'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 retaken for the Union, and the Confederacy would be split in half. Lincoln would move rapidly to back Admiral David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

's idea of a naval advance up the Mississippi to both capture New Orleans and maintain his political supporters by supplying cotton to northeastern textile industries and renewing trade and exports from the Mississippi. The Union navy would become both a formidable invasion force, and a means of transporting Union armies along the Mississippi and it's 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, including some of the Confederate army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

's senior ranking generals, as well as several men who led brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

s and division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

s. Antebellum Louisiana residents P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg

Braxton Bragg

Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...

, and Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor (general)

Richard Taylor was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.-Early life:...

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

Henry Watkins Allen was an American soldier and politician, and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

led a brigade during the middle of the war before becoming the Confederate Governor of Louisiana from 1864–65. Randall L. Gibson

Randall L. Gibson

-External links:*...

, another competent brigade commander, was a postbellum U.S. Senator. Other brigadiers of note included Alfred Mouton

Alfred Mouton

Jean-Jacques-Alfred-Alexandre "Alfred" Mouton was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and spent most of his life in Lafayette. Beloved by those under his command, Mouton was a strict drillmaster and disciplinarian who simultaneously freely...

(killed at the Battle of Mansfield

Battle of Mansfield

The Battle of Mansfield, also known as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads, occurred on April 8, 1864, in De Soto Parish, Louisiana. Confederate forces commanded by Richard Taylor attacked a Union army commanded by Nathaniel Banks a few miles outside the town of Mansfield, near Sabine Crossroads...

), Harry T. Hays

Harry T. Hays

Harry Thompson Hays was an American Army officer serving in the Mexican-American War and a general who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War....

, Chatham Roberdeau Wheat (commander of the celebrated "Louisiana Tigers

Louisiana Tigers

Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the state of Louisiana in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a brigade, and eventually to all Louisiana troops...

" of the Army of Northern Virginia

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, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

), and Francis T. Nicholls

Francis T. Nicholls

Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls was an American attorney, politician, judge, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

(commander of the "Pelican Brigade" until he lost his left foot at Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

). St. John Lidell

St. John Richardson Liddell

St. John Richardson Liddell was a prominent Louisiana planter who served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was an outspoken proponent of Southern emancipation of slaves...

was a prominent brigade commander in the Army of Tennessee

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 in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater...

.

Henry Gray

Henry Gray (politician)

Henry Gray, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician who served in the state legislatures of Mississippi and then Louisiana...

, a wealthy plantation owner from Bienville Parish, was a brigadier general under Richard Taylor before being elected to the Second Confederate Congress

Second Confederate Congress

The Second Confederate Congress was the second and last regular term of the legislature of the Confederate States of America. Members of the Second Confederate Congress were chosen in elections held at various dates in 1863 and 1864...

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

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Governor Thomas Overton Moore, came held office from 1860 through early 1864. When war erupted, he unsuccessfully lobbied the Confederate government in Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

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, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

as the state capital, relocating to Opelousas

Opelousas, Louisiana

Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the junction of Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. Although the 2006 population estimate was 23,222, a 2004 annexation should put the city's...

in May. Moore organized military resistance at the state level, ordered the burning of cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and heavily recruited troops for the state militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

Battles in Louisiana

Battles in Louisiana tended to be concentrated along the major waterways, like the Red River Campaign

Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....

.

Battle of the Head of Passes

Battle of the Head of Passes

The Battle of the Head of Passes was a bloodless naval battle of the American Civil War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate river defense fleet, also known as the “mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union Blockade squadron anchored at the Head of Passes...

Battle of Baton Rouge

Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)

The Battle of Baton Rouge was a ground and naval battle in the American Civil War fought in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, on August 5, 1862. The Union victory halted Confederate attempts to recapture the capital city of Louisiana.-Background:...

Battle of Bayou Bourbeux

The Battle of Bayou Bourbeux also known as the Battle of Grand Coteau was fought in Southwestern Louisiana, west of the town of Grand Coteau, Louisiana during the American Civil War. The engagement was between the forces of Confederate Brigadier General Thomas Green and Union Brigadier General...

(aka Grand Coteau

Grand Coteau

Grand Coteau may refer to:* Grand Coteau, Louisiana, a town in the United States* The Battle of Grand Coteau , fought during the American Civil War...

)

Battle of Blair's Landing

Battle of Blair's Landing

The Battle of Blair's Landing was fought on April 12, 1864, in Red River Parish, Louisiana, as a part of the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War.-Battle:...

Battle of Calcasieu Pass

The Battle of Calcasieu Pass was a minor skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, in southwestern Louisiana, at the mouth of the Calcasieu River, during the American Civil War. It resulted in a Confederate victory....

Battle of Donaldsonville I

First Battle of Donaldsonville

The First Battle of Donaldsonville took place on August 9, 1862, in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, as part of the Operations against Baton Rouge in the American Civil War....

Battle of Donaldsonville II

Second Battle of Donaldsonville

The Second Battle of Donaldsonville was an American Civil War battle took place on June 28, 1863 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.-Background:On June 28, 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. Jean Alfred Mouton ordered Brig. Gen. Tom Green's and Col. James Patrick Major's brigades to take Donaldsonville,...

Battle of Fort Bisland

-Sources:* Ayres, Thomas, Dark and Bloody Ground : The Battle of Mansfield and the Forgotten Civil War in Louisiana, Cooper Square Press, 2001.* Parrish, T. Michael, Richard Taylor, Soldier Prince of Dixie, University of North Carolina Press, 1992....

Battle of Fort De Russy

The Battle of Fort De Russy was part of the Red River Campaign in the American Civil War and took place in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. On March 12, 1864, Brigadier General A.J. Smith and Brigadier General Joseph Mower led their men towards Shreveport, Louisiana, which they wanted to capture...

Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip

The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet...

Battle of Georgia Landing

The Battle of Georgia Landing was fought October 27, 1862, in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, as part of the Operations in LaFourche District , during the American Civil War.-Background: Maj. Gen. Benjamin F...

Battle of Goodrich's Landing

The Battle of Goodrich's Landing was fought on June 29 and June 30, 1863, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The Confederates attacked several Union black regiments that were protecting several captured plantations...

Battle of Irish Bend

The Battle of Irish Bend, also known as Nerson's Woods or Franklin, was fought between Union Major General Nathaniel Prentice Banks against Confederate Major General Richard Taylor during Banks's operations against the Bayou Teche region near Franklin, the seat of St...

Battle of Kock's Plantation

The Battle of Kock’s Plantation was a battle fought July 12–13, 1863, in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, during the American Civil War...

Battle of LaFourche Crossing

The Battle of LaFourche Crossing was a battle inLafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States and fought on June 20-21, 1863, during the American Civil War as part of a campaign known as Taylor’s Operations in West Louisiana.-Background:Confederate Major General Richard Taylor sent an expedition...

Battle of Mansfield

(aka Sabine Cross-Roads)

Battle of Mansura

Battle of Mansura

The Battle of Mansura was fought near Mansura, Louisiana, on May 16, 1864, during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War. A Union force defeated elements of the Confederate States Army.-Background:...

Battle of Milliken's Bend

The Battle of Milliken's Bend, fought June 7, 1863, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton and his army were besieged in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S...

Battle of Monett's Ferry

The Battle of Monett's Ferry was fought on April 23, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces. The Union Army was led by Nathaniel P. Banks. They crossed a river to attack Confederate forces, and were victorious, having forced the rebels to retreat....

Capture of New Orleans

Battle of Plains Store

Battle of Plains Store

The Battle of Plains Store or the Battle of Springfield Road was fought May 21, 1863, in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, during the campaign to capture Port Hudson in the American Civil War. The Union victory closed the last Confederate escape route from Port Hudson.-Background:The 1st...

Battle of Pleasant Hill

The Battle of Pleasant Hill was fought on April 9, 1864, during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War, near Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, between Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Confederate forces, led by Maj. Gen...

Siege of Port Hudson

The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 22 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War....

Battle of Stirling's Plantation

The Battle of Stirling's Plantation was an American Civil War battle took place on September 29, 1863 in Pointe Coupeé Parish, Louisiana.-Background:...

Battle of Vermillion Bayou

The Battle of Vermillion Bayou was fought on April 17, 1863, the third battle in a series of running battles between Union Major General Nathaniel Prentice Banks and Confederate Major General Richard Taylor...

Battle of Yellow Bayou

The Battle of Yellow Bayou took place on May 18, 1864 between Union and Confederate forces. After learning of Confederate forces in Yellow Bayou, Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower was ordered to halt their advance. Union forces subsequently attacked the Confederates and drove them back to their main line...

External links

Sources

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

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Politics and strategy in Louisiana

Notable Civil War leaders from Louisiana

Battles in Louisiana

See also

External links

Sources