The Civil War's original corps of officers found in the Louisiana Native Guards has been dimissed in the past as being inconsequential -- because "they did not last." It is precisely their brief existence, however, that magnifies their importance. It is their struggle for survival that tells the story of the military environment of the day. They did not last because of prejudicial conditions in both civilian and military arenas, with discrimination in the latter at all levels of white personnel, from enlisted men to commanding generals. Some of the more enlightened whites with abolitionist tendencies tolerated black troops, but even for some of them the presence of black officers was considered going too far. A white army lieutenant graduate of West Point, with several years of experience under his belt before the war, was not going to pay heed to a recently appointed black captain of questionable education and background.

Colonel Daniels's command of the Second Regiment was brief. Seven months after the unit's muster in the fall of 1862, he was arrested on minor charges and later removed. The reason? He supported his men. More specifically, he supported his black officers in a disciplinary action against white troops on Ship Island who refused to obey the black leaders. This was a radical move for the times and one that drew attention to the abolitionist colonel like a lightening rod. From that point on, Daniels was being watched, monitored by others in the Department of the Gulf who opposed black officers. The latter were considered to be the problem, demoralizing both camps, when white and black regiments were posted together. The colonel, on the other hand, felt the officers were not the problem; it was the prejudicial military department.

Daniels's diary contains a rare narrative from someone of his rank and position, bringing to life his sensitive personal struggle. The responsibilities and frustrations of being between the black and white military worlds of the period weighed heavily on him as commanding officer. His greatest challenge with the regiment was defending his men's right to prove themselves as officers and soldiers in the Union Army.

The author of these notes, C. P. Weaver, edited Col. Daniels' diary for publication. The diary contains extremely rare photographs of the Native Guards on Ship Island as well as a detailed account of what it was like to be stationed there. Daniels's diary was published by LSU Press in 1998 and is available through Amazon Books.

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