Louisiana secession
The U.S. state of Louisiana declared that it had seceded from the United States on January 26, 1861. It then announced that it had joined the Confederate States (C.S.); Louisiana was the sixth slave state to declare that it had seceded from the U.S. and joined the C.S.
Ordinance of secession
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AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of Louisiana and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance passed by us in convention on the November 22, in the year eighteen hundred and eleven, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of the said Constitution were adopted, and all laws and ordinances by which the State of Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union, be, and the same are hereby, repealed and abrogated; and that the union now subsisting between Louisiana and other States under the name of "The United States of America" is hereby dissolved.
We do further declare and ordain, That the State of Louisiana hereby resumes all rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America; that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said Government; and that she is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State.
We do further declare and ordain, That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed.
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge this January 26, 1861.[1]
Civil War era
Road to war
The Civil War came after years of struggle over the issue of slavery. Louisiana's political leaders hoped the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 would protect slavery and preserve the Union. But the state's planters saw the increasing pressure from abolitionists as an economic threat. Louisiana, like the other states, could not see the desolation that lay ahead when it entered a war expected to last only a few weeks.[citation needed]
Election of 1860
The pressure of the slavery issue split the Democratic Party convention wide open and led to a
Secession
On January 26, 1861, the Secession Convention voted 113 to 17 to adopt the Ordinance of Secession. Judge James G. Taliaferro of Catahoula Parish was the most outspoken opponent. He warned the secession threatened the interests and destiny of Louisiana, He predicted war, ruin, and decline. His opinion, however, was not included in the official record of the proceedings. Most of the state's citizens celebrated secession. Pine torches lighted a night parade in New Orleans. The governor called for homes and businesses to put lights in their windows to show their support. People cheered in the streets as fireworks exploded and cannons fired. The sound of cannon fire would soon create a very difficult emotion in a city under attack. Louisiana called itself a country for less than two weeks. On February 4, 1861, the State of Louisiana joined the Confederate States of America, the new nation formed by the southern states that seceded. The newly formed Confederate government gained the political skills of Louisiana's ex-United States senators. Judah P. Benjamin, called the "brains of the Confederacy", served in Confederate President Jefferson Davis's cabinet. John Slidell spent most of the war trying to persuade European nations to support the Confederacy. Louisiana also contributed four key generals to the Confederate army – Braxton Bragg, Leonidas Polk, Richard Taylor, and P. G. T. Beauregard.
Building an army
The Confederacy needed an army. Louisiana responded immediately with 5,000 volunteers. Around the state, they organized themselves into companies. They chose names like the Louisiana Swamp Rangers, Crescent City Guards, Vienna Rifles, Irish Brigade, Carondelet Invincibles, Franklin Sharpshooters, and Caddo Greys. These names and their colorful uniforms seemed suitable for the short and glorious war southerners expected. They would "teach the Yankee a lesson... and settle matters within 60 days." The spirited soldiers drilled to "save the South." Camp Walker, located at the Metairie Race Track, became the first training site. The last horse race was run there on April 9, 1861. Soon afterward the grounds were covered with marching soldiers preparing for a very different contest. The camp, although close to New Orleans, was soon abandoned. Surrounded by swamp and with no safe drinking water, the camp was a poor location for an army.
An area to the north of
Gathering supplies
In 1861, Louisiana was ready for war in the only attitude. Both motivations alone were not enough. The focus shifted fanatically to equipment and supplies. In the early days of the war, equipment and supplies were furnished by parish governments, wealthy individuals, or the soldiers themselves. Although Louisiana imported most finished goods, some manufacturing did exist. A New Orleans factory switched from making clothing for plantations to making uniforms. Converted factories made weapons from scrap iron collected by citizens. Ranches in southwest Louisiana and Texas supplied the cattle for a slaughterhouse south of Alexandria. The beef was preserved by salting it. This method left the meat tough and very salty, and the soldiers had to boil the meat for hours before they could eat it. They learned to ignore the bugs floating on the water. The salt for preserving the beef came from several salt deposits around the state. Brine was pumped out of the ground and boiled down in kettles to get the salt. Discovering the extensive salt deposits at
First governor of independent Louisiana
So bitter is this hostility felt toward slavery, which these fifteen states regard as a great social and political blessing, that it exhibits itself in legislation for the avowed purpose of destroying the rights of slaveholders guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by the Acts of Congress... [in] the North, a widespread sympathy with felons has deepened the distrust in the permanent Federal Government, and awakened sentiments favorable to a separation of states.[3]
On January 8, 1861, Governor Moore ordered the Louisiana militia to occupy the Federal arsenal at Baton Rouge and the Federal forts guarding New Orleans, Jackson and St. Philip. A wealthy planter and slaveholder, Moore acted aggressively to engineer the secession of Louisiana from the Union by a convention on January 23.[4] After the ordinance of secession passed the convention on January 26, 1861, Moore placed Colonel Braxton Bragg in command of the state military.
Governor Moore held office from 1860 through early 1864. When war erupted, he unsuccessfully lobbied the Confederate government in Richmond for a strong defense of New Orleans. Two days before the city surrendered in April 1862, Moore and the legislature abandoned Baton Rouge as the state capital, relocating to
Governor Moore began to organize military resistance at the state level, ordered the burning of cotton, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and heavily recruited troops for the state militia.
New Orleans
Notable Civil War leaders
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Gen.P.G.T. Beauregard
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Gen.
Braxton Bragg -
Lt. Gen.
Richard Taylor -
Brig. Gen. and Gov.
Henry W. Allen -
Brig. Gen.
Randall L. Gibson -
Brig. Gen.
Harry T. Hays -
Brig. Gen.
Alfred Mouton
References
- ^ "Ordinances Of Secession: Louisiana". gen.1starnet.com. 1999. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ "Election of 1860". HISTORY. A&E Television Networks, LLC. August 21, 2018. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
Stephen Douglas was the frontrunner, but Southern Democrats refused to support him because he wouldn't adopt a pro-slavery platform.
- ^ Winters (1963), p.4
- ^ Hearn (1995), pp.2–31
- ^ Hearn (1995), pp.2–3
- ^ Hearn (1995)
Bibliography
- Campbell, Anne (2007). Louisiana: The History of an American State. Clairmont Press. ISBN 978-1567331356.
- Dew, Charles B. "Who Won the Secession Election in Louisiana?." Journal of Southern History (1970): 18-32. in JSTOR
- Dew, Charles B. "The Long Lost Returns: The Candidates and Their Totals in Louisiana's Secession Election." Louisiana History (1969): 353-369. in JSTOR
- Hearn, Chester G. (1995). The Capture of New Orleans 1862. ISBN 0-8071-1945-8.
- Lathrop, Barnes F. "The Lafourche District in 1861-1862: A Problem in Local Defense." Louisiana History (1960) 1#2 pp: 99-129. in JSTOR
- Pierson, Michael D. Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2008)
- Sledge, Christopher L. "The Union's Naval War in Louisiana, 1861-1863" (Army Command and General Staff College, 2006) online
- Winters, John D. (1963). The Civil War in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-0834-0.
- Wooster, Ralph. "The Louisiana Secession Convention." Louisiana Historical Quarterly (1951) 34#1 pp: 103-133.