School for black soldiers and freedmen at Port Hudson, Louisiana.
Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

A Brief History

That scenerio applies to Louisiana's celebrated regiment of black men during the Civil War: the Native Guards. The story of the Native Guards began with their enrollment as part of the Louisiana militia and ended with their participation in the civil rights movement during Reconstruction. As a militia unit, the Native Guards paraded with Confederate troops and sought to contribute to the Southern cause in other ways. After the fall of New Orleans, many of the officers and some of the men embraced the Old Flag by forming the first officially-sanctioned black regiment in the Union Army. During the war, the Native Guards fought at Port Hudson, Mansura, and Mobile. They also guarded prisoners, built fortifications, and contributed to the Union war effort in numerous other ways. Their service in the Union Army was as honorable as it was controversial. When the war ended, veterans of the Native Guards entered a third phase of their unusual career when they took up the struggle for black civil rights.

The war and its aftermath provided the men of Louisiana's Native Guards with the opportunity to earn the right to be treated as equals in a free society. However, at every turn their attempt to achieve equality was rebuffed. The Confederate authorities used them to counter northern propaganda, but never intended to let them fight. The Union Army let them fight, but made them dig ditches when their capacity for fighting became evident. During reconstruction, whites accepted them for their labor, but repudiated their quest for equal rights. Pawns of three governments, the men of the Native Guards worked hard and did their duty, but as one of their officers wrote to his mother from Port Hudson in April 1864, "Nobody really desires our success[,] and it's uphill work."

The first black soldiers in the Union Army.

New accounts of the Native Guards at Port Hudson.

The field of battle at Port Hudson today.

The forgotten command on Ship Island.

The general who commanded the Native Guards.

New information since the publication of the book.

Native Guards buried at the Chalmette National Cemetery.

Panoramic view of the entrenchments assaulted by the Native Guards at Port Hudson. (64K; two images combined electronically, one from the Illinois State Historical Society and the other from LSU Libraries).

Return to the Native Guards' home page.