The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-03-08

Inc 1uncfal ODSeQu1eS WHICH AASG AuuIs-
dy honored the interment of his mortal re-
mains astonished many with the extent and
magnitude of the esteem in which this I'M
pretending, humble priest had been held
by the whole community. From the Ven
cradle Archbishop, who officiated in the
ceremony, to the youngest orphan, that
sadly followed her benefactor to his last
resting place, every class of the population
was.represented. The wealthiest and the
poorest the most distinguished and the
most unknown, all contributed to pay the
last tribute of their generation to his memo
~. The subioined "details from the local
column of the Times will give an idea of the
character and extent of the demonstration :
The pall-bearers> who acted on the occasion
We're: Gen. Beauregard, Gen. Gibson, Col:
Numa AugHstin, Major Leon Queyrouze, L. s.
Deloche, John Thibaut, o. DeArmas, L. Guyol.
Col. Breaux, formerly of the Thirtieth Eouisi-
ana), grand marshal Capt. Knell, assistant.
The funeral cortege altogether was one of
the largest ever witnessed in this city; was as
large as that of Col. Chas. Dreux, of Gen. Sid
ney Johnston, or of Gov. Allen. The procession
upon foot was many squares long, as it marched
streets; and in passing down Royal street, it
seemed to reach from Canal to the Cathedral.
The Rev. Isidore Turgis was n native of
France, and had attained to the age of
sixty-three years, of which number thirty
eight had been spent in the priesthood.
Before comingt to this country he had been
chaplain in the French army and fleet, and
in that capacity had passed through the
campaigns of the Crimea, Italy, and Cochin
China. This military experience had left
traces that could be detected in a certain
simplicity and straightforwardness of con-
duct which rather sighted the mannerisms
of an artificial society. But the warmth of
his charity and the delicacy of his piety
prevented any suspicion of sternness or
severity from attaching to him.
Having arrived in Louisiana during the
year 1860, he was assigned as Vicar of the
Cathedral, but he was not destined long to
enjoy relief from the clash of arms The
great American war soon broke out, and
Father Turgis started for the scene of action
as chaplain of the Orleans Guards. His
services at Shiloh and Pennington are
matters of history, and it is in Gen. Beau
regards order of the day, after the former
of those actions, that his name receives such
honorable mention. Subsequently, upon
the coalition of his battalion with the Thir-
tieth Louisiana, he became chaplain of that
regiment, and remained in that capacity
until the termination of the war. -e.r'
His devotion, his courage, and his
wounds secured to him the respect and ad-
miration of all who came within his sphere
of action. Many q poor soldier. whose
wounds he staunched on the field of battle,
or over whose sick bed he watched in the
hospital, will remember his name with
blessings as long as life lasts.
But it was not only as soldier-priest
that Father Turgis shone SO eminent.
1t was not only soldiers who followed him
to his grave. A zeal SO active as his coufi
not remain idle on any field of operations,
and it was his charitable labor in the walks
of peace that gathered around his remains
by far the larger portion of that vast
assemblage.
Besides the care of the chapel on Rampant
street, given to him after his return from
the war, he had charged himself with the
dictatorship of the Southern Hospital for
invalid soldiers, the administration of the
Asylum for Confederate Widows and Or
phans, and of the House of the Good
Shepherd. Ardent, yet enduring in his at
tachments, he could not forget the cause
which he had loved so well, and his chari-
table zeal was impressed with the patriotism
which had identified him with the Confed-