page_title: 1st Louisiana Native Guard (United States)
section_title: Siege of Port Hudson
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Louisiana Native Guard (United States) / Siege of Port Hudson
caption_attribution_description: American Civil War scene. "Our colored troops at work -- the 1st Louisiana native guards disembarking at Fort Macomb, Louisiana."
context_page_description: The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was one of the first all-black regiments to fight in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and played a prominent role in the Siege of Port Hudson. Its members included a minority of free men of color from New Orleans; most were African-American former slaves who had escaped to join the Union cause and gain freedom.
  A predecessor regiment by the same name, 1st Louisiana Native Guard, had offered their services to the Confederate Louisiana militia, although the Confederacy never used them. It was made up entirely of free men of color who had served in the state militia before the war.
context_section_description: From its formation in September 1862 until early May 1863, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard largely performed fatigue duty–chopping wood, gathering supplies, and digging earthworks. From January 1863 to May 1863, the regiment also guarded the railway depots along the rail line between Algiers (south of the Mississippi River, now part of New Orleans) to Brashear City (now called Morgan City). By this time, the Guard's numbers had diminished to 500.  Troops of the Native Guards were assigned guard duty at Fort Macomb, Fort Pike, Fort Massachusetts (Mississippi), Fort St. Philip, and Fort Jackson.
  In mid-1863, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard, along with the 3rd Louisiana Native Guard, had its first chance at combat. These units participated in the first assault at Milliken's Bend in the Siege of Port Hudson on May 27, as well as the second assault on June 14. Captain Cailloux died heroically in the first assault. Because Confederate sharpshooters shot at Union troops trying to retrieve African-American casualties, his body, as well as those of the other members of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard who fell with him that day, was left on the field of battle until the surrender of Port Hudson on July 9, 1863. News of his heroism reached New Orleans, and Cailloux received a hero's funeral in the city with a large procession and thousands of attendees along the route on July 29.
caption: Troops of the Louisiana Native Guard disembarking at Fort Macomb, Louisiana, for guard duty.
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