The second, biennial conference on the Louisiana Native Guards was held on Saturday, June 15, 2002, at Port Hudson north of Baton Rouge and Rosedown Plantation near St. Francisville. This conference was sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and was open to the public at no charge. More than sixty people ranging in ages from eight to eighty attended.

The morning session at the Port Hudson State Historic Site started with a living history presentation by Murry Dorty and Bernard Siler. Dr. Ken Ashworth then presented a slide show of the most recent archeological evidence related to the Native Guards' heroic assault on May 27, 1863. Unfortunately, conference attendees were prevented from retracing the Native Guards advance up Telegraph Road because of high water from the Mississippi River, but they did get the opportunity to visit the battleground to see the steep bluffs against which the Native Guards made their futile charge.

After a break for lunch, the conference reconvened in an auditorium on the grounds of the Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site near St. Francisville. The program consisted of a talk about living history by Allison Pena, a biographical profile of Captain André Cailloux by Stephen Ochs, and two presentations concerning historic records related to the Native Guards by C. P. Weaver and Budge Weidman, respectively. The afternoon session culminated with a special tribute to descendants of men who served in the Native Guards led by Isiah Edwards and Greg Osborn.

   The Program

   Speakers List

Photographs of the conference

  Port Hudson State Historic Site (battlefield tour on Saturday morning)

  Living History of the Native Guards (Saturday morning and afternoon)

  Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site (optional activity on Friday afternoon)

  The First Native Guards Conference in New Orleans on April 9, 2000
 

Return to the Native Guards' home page.