Port Hudson was the portion of the Battle of Vicksburg that was fought in Louisiana, not Mississippi, thus under the command of newly appointed Major General Nathaniel Banks who replaced General Benjamin (Beast) Butler, the man who had established control of New Orleans and the Mississippi corridor as far as the capital, Baton Rouge, with notable assistance from the Louisiana Guard, consisting largely of French speaking African-American Creoles, descended from Haitian refugees to New Orleans, often via Havana. His authority relied on treating former slaves as 'contraband' as a means to establish and maintain control of the country's largest port. Banks had been governor of Massachusetts when he was promoted to general and had little military experience. His job in New Orleans was to transition from treating ex-slaves as contraband to recognizing and utilizing their new status as emancipated slaves and educable soldiers. His first week on the job Confederates in Galveston captured the federal troops who had thought they were in charge of Texas. His wife was quite good at organizing and staging elaborate and rather formal balls with music furnished by African-American musicians. Banks himself was somewhat less effective at organizing and staging military sieges with contraband soldiers led by African-American officers fluent in French. His Red River Campaign flopped in 1864 and he was replaced by General Canby as Head of the Department of the Gulf. The Louisiana Guard and its Corps d'Afrique, meanwhile, had determined that there were white officers capable of commanding 'contraband' troops and some of that capacity was demonstrated in the Siege of Mobile in 1865 which went quite smoothly compared to the Siege of Port Hudson.
Well done. Great account and tie in to today. Let us hope this band of conspirators don’t need to be taken down in the same manner as those in the 1860s
Friday afternoon, former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) posted: “Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day—when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.”
Port Hudson was the portion of the Battle of Vicksburg that was fought in Louisiana, not Mississippi, thus under the command of newly appointed Major General Nathaniel Banks who replaced General Benjamin (Beast) Butler, the man who had established control of New Orleans and the Mississippi corridor as far as the capital, Baton Rouge, with notable assistance from the Louisiana Guard, consisting largely of French speaking African-American Creoles, descended from Haitian refugees to New Orleans, often via Havana. His authority relied on treating former slaves as 'contraband' as a means to establish and maintain control of the country's largest port. Banks had been governor of Massachusetts when he was promoted to general and had little military experience. His job in New Orleans was to transition from treating ex-slaves as contraband to recognizing and utilizing their new status as emancipated slaves and educable soldiers. His first week on the job Confederates in Galveston captured the federal troops who had thought they were in charge of Texas. His wife was quite good at organizing and staging elaborate and rather formal balls with music furnished by African-American musicians. Banks himself was somewhat less effective at organizing and staging military sieges with contraband soldiers led by African-American officers fluent in French. His Red River Campaign flopped in 1864 and he was replaced by General Canby as Head of the Department of the Gulf. The Louisiana Guard and its Corps d'Afrique, meanwhile, had determined that there were white officers capable of commanding 'contraband' troops and some of that capacity was demonstrated in the Siege of Mobile in 1865 which went quite smoothly compared to the Siege of Port Hudson.
From everything I have read about the fighting @ Port Hudson, I can't imagine a worse place
I needed this today especially.
Happy to oblige, Martha. Thanks for taking the time to read.
It’s not even lunchtime & I’m already in tears reading this. History can be so moving.😭
The entire letter is so incredibly moving. Thanks for reading.
Well done. Great account and tie in to today. Let us hope this band of conspirators don’t need to be taken down in the same manner as those in the 1860s
Friday afternoon, former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) posted: “Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day—when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.”
Thanks for reading, Andrew.
This was a very good post; thanks.
Glad to hear it. Thanks, Jim.
Just love reading about the Civil War on your site. Thanks for all your work
You are very welcome. As always, thanks for reading.