Andre Cailloux Andre Cailloux ( 1825 – May 27 , 1863 ) was one of the first black officers in the Union Army to be killed in combat during the American Civil War . He died heroically during the unsuccessful first attack on the Confederate fortifications during the Siege of Port Hudson , Louisiana . Accounts of his heroism were widely reported in the press , and became a rallying cry for the recruitment of African Americans into the Union Army . Early life . Born a slave in Louisiana in 1825 , Cailloux lived his entire life in and around New Orleans . He was owned by members of the Duvernay family until 1846 , when his petition for manumission , which was supported by his owner , was granted by an all - white police jury in the city of New Orleans . In 1847 , Cailloux married Felicie Coulon , whose mother , Feliciana , a mulatto woman , had participated in the local placage system as the common law wife of a white plantation owner , Valentin Encalada , for several years . Though Felicie was not Encalada ’ s daughter , she remained his property until her mother bought her freedom from Encalada in 1842 . Cailloux and Coulon had four children , three of whom survived to adulthood . As a young man , Cailloux had learned the cigar making trade as an apprentice . Upon gaining his freedom , he earned his living as a cigar maker , and prior to the beginning of the Civil War , established his own cigar making business . Though his financial circumstances were modest , Cailloux became recognized as a leader within the free Afro - French Creole community of New Orleans . An avid sportsman , Cailloux was admired as one of the best boxers in the city . He was also an active supporter of the Institute Catholique , a school for orphaned black children , that also taught the children of free people of color . After his manumission , Cailloux learned to read , probably with the assistance of the teachers at the Institute Catholique . He became fluent in both English and French . By 1860 , Cailloux was a well - respected member of the 10 , 000 “ free men of color ” Afro - Creole community in New Orleans . At the time , New Orleans was the largest city in the South , and the sixth largest city in the United States , with a population of about 100 , 000 . Civil War . At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 , Cailloux became a lieutenant in the Native Guard , a Confederate regiment organized to defend the city of New Orleans . This made him one of the first African - American officers of any North American unit . The regiment consisted entirely of free men of color who resided in and around New Orleans . Though the regiment was organized primarily as a public relations move by the Confederate Government of the state of Louisiana , and provided no financial support to its members , Cailloux took his responsibilities seriously , and his unit was observed to be well drilled and well trained . The Confederate Native Guard were never called to active duty , and were disbanded before Union Admiral David Farragut captured the city of New Orleans in April 1862 . In September 1862 , Union General Benjamin F . Butler , military commander of the Department of the Gulf , who made his headquarters in New Orleans , organized an all - black Union Army 1st Louisiana Native Guard regiment . Andre Cailloux joined this regiment and was made captain of Company E . Cailloux ’ s company was considered one of the best drilled in the Native Guard , and Cailloux gradually earned the respect of the white officer who commanded the regiment , Colonel Spencer Stafford . When General Nathaniel P . Banks replaced Butler as Commander of the Department of the Gulf in December 1862 , he brought with him an additional 30 , 000 troops , bringing the total troop strength under his command to 42 , 000 . By this time , the all - black Native Guard had grown to three regiments . Though the line officers ( lieutenants and captains ) were black , the commanding officers ( colonels , lieutenant colonels , and majors ) were white . Banks set out to remove all black officers from their positions , and generally accomplished this with the 2nd and 3rd Regiments , but was unable to do so with the 1st Regiment , to which Andre Cailloux belonged . The 1st Regiment of the Native Guard was assigned primarily to fatigue duty ( chopping wood , digging trenches ) until May 1863 , when Banks moved most of his army ( 35 , 000 men ) in a position to surround the Confederate fortifications at Port Hudson , Louisiana . Port Hudson was a strategically located fort on a bend in the Mississippi River just north of Baton Rouge , Louisiana . At the time , the Confederacy controlled the two - hundred - mile stretch of the Mississippi River between Vicksburg , Mississippi , in the north and Port Hudson in the south . While General Ulysses Grant laid siege to Vicksburg , Banks laid siege to Port Hudson . Death . On May 27 , 1863 , Banks launched a poorly coordinated attack on the well defended , well fortified Confederate positions at Port Hudson . As part of the attack , Cailloux was ordered to lead his company of 100 men in an almost suicidal assault against sharpshooting Confederate troops . Cailloux ’ s company suffered heavy casualties , but Cailloux , shouting encouragement to his men in French and English , led several increasingly futile charges . On his last charge , a Minié ball tore through his arm , which was left dangling uselessly by his side . Severely wounded , Cailloux continued to lead the charge until a Confederate artillery shell killed him . Despite a truce the next day asked for by Banks , and granted by the Confederate commander Franklin Gardner , for the purpose of recovering the Union dead from the field of battle , rebel sharpshooters kept Northern soldiers from collecting black casualties . Cailloux ’ s decomposing body lay on the ground for 47 days until Port Hudson finally surrendered to Banks on July 9 , 1863 . Funeral . Cailloux ’ s funeral was held in New Orleans on July 29 , 1863 , and was attended by thousands . His heroism became almost mythical during the Civil War , and was often referred to by leading proponents of African - American soldiers serving in the Union Army . He was buried in Saint Louis Cemetery . After Cailloux ’ s death , his widow , Felicie , struggled to receive the financial benefits promised by the United States Government . After several years of effort , she received a small pension . However , she died in poverty in 1874 , working at the time as a domestic servant for the Catholic priest who had preached the eulogy at her husband ’ s funeral .