1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment (Confederate)

Infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army January 2024 January 2024 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment (Confederate) File:Albert G. Blanchard.jpg 150 Albert G. Blanchard was the regiment's first colonel 28 April 1861 – 9 April 1865 Confederate States of America Confederate States of America, Flag of Louisiana (February 1861).svg Louisiana CSA Infantry Regiment 2nd Louisiana Brigade (Starke's, Nicholls', Stafford's) Albert G. Blanchard American Civil War Battle of Oak Grove (1862) Battle of Malvern Hill (1862) Second Battle of Bull Run (1862) Battle of Antietam (1862) Battle of Fredericksburg (1862) Battle of Chancellorsville (1863) Second Battle of Winchester (1863) Battle of Gettysburg (1863) Battle of Mine Run (1863) Battle of the Wilderness (1864) Battle of Spotsylvania (1864) Battle of Monocacy (1864) Third Battle of Winchester (1864) Battle of Fisher's Hill (1864) Battle of Cedar Creek (1864) Siege of Petersburg (1864–65) Battle of Appomattox (1865) Louisiana Infantry Regiments (Confederate) 1st Louisiana Regulars 2nd Louisiana Infantry The 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in April 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Joining a brigade of Louisiana regiments, it fought at Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862, at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg, and Mine Run in 1863, and at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg in 1864, and at Appomattox in 1865. At Appomattox, the regiment was only a shadow of its former self. Formation The 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment organized at New Orleans on 28 April 1861. The original field officers were Colonel Albert G. Blanchard, Lieutenant Colonel William G. Vincent, and Major William R. Shivers. Blanchard was promoted brigadier general on 21 September 1861 and was replaced as colonel by Vincent on the same date. Shivers became lieutenant colonel on 27 September 1861 and was replaced as major by Samuel R. Harrison. On 28 April 1862, the regiment elected new officers. Vincent was dropped and Harrison became colonel. Harrison resigned on 8 June 1862 and was replaced by Shivers. Michael Nolan became lieutenant colonel and James Nelligan became major. Nolan was killed on 3 July 1863 and replaced by Nelligan. Charles E. Cormier became major. When Shivers resigned at some time in 1864, Nelligan became colonel.Bergeron 1989 71–72 During the course of the war, about 960 men were enrolled in the regiment.Bergeron 1989 74 There were 10 companies named A–K, excluding J. The original Company B led by Captain Camille E. Girardey was detached as artillery on 5 July 1861 and replaced by a new Company B.Bergeron 1989 72 The artillery unit became known as the Louisiana Guard Battery.Bergeron 1989 33 The original Company C led by Captain Francis Rawle transferred to the 1st Louisiana Infantry Battalion on 16 July 1861 and was replaced by a new Company C. The original Company H led by Captain Ben M. Anderson transferred to the 1st Kentucky Infantry Regiment and was replaced by a new Company H on 6 March 1862. The second Company H led by Captain Andrew Brady transferred to the 15th Louisiana Infantry Regiment on 22 May 1862 and was replaced by a third Company H on 27 June 1862.Bergeron 1989 72–73 +Company information for the 1st Louisiana Infantry RegimentBergeron 1989 72–73 Company Nickname Captains Recruitment Parish A Caddo Rifles Charles Dailee (x) Alex Boarman Caddo B Red River Rebels James C. Wise (x) J. P. Groves (m-Monocacy) Rapides C Slocumb Rifles Robert W. Armistead (d) James E. Armorer Orleans D Emmet Guards James Nelligan (p) Albert N. Cummings Orleans E Montgomery Guards Michael Nolan (p) Michael B. Gillmore (k-Oak Grove) Thomas Rice Orleans F Orleans Light Guards, Co. D P. R. O'Rorke (x) Samuel H. Snowden (p) James Dillon (r) Orleans G Orleans Light Guards, Co. B Thomas M. Deane (x) Edward D. Willett Orleans H Shreveport Greys William E. Moore Caddo I Orleans Light Guards, Co. A Charles E. Cormier (p) Joseph Taylor Orleans K Orleans Light Guards, Co. C Charles Frost (r) William L. Randall (r) Louis W. McLaughlin Orleans Key: d = died, k = killed, m = mortally wounded, p = promoted, r = resigned, x = dropped on 28 April 1862. Service 1861–1862 thumb|right|upright=0.6|alt=Black and white oval-shaped photo of a man with a moustache and goatee. He wears a gray military uniform.|William E. Starke In 1861, the 1st Louisiana Infantry traveled to Richmond, Virginia. From there the unit moved to Norfolk, Virginia, until early 1862 when it went to North Carolina. In late May, the regiment left Weldon, North Carolina, and returned to Richmond.Bergeron 1989 73 In the Seven Days Battles the 1st Louisiana Infantry was part of Brigadier General Ambrose R. Wright's brigade and Major General Benjamin Huger's division.Sears 2001 390 On 25 June 1862, the unit fought at the Battle of Oak Grove (King's Schoolhouse).Bergeron 1989 73 It lost 135 of the 355 men taken into action that day, the most casualties of any unit on the field.Sears 2001 186 On 1 July at the Battle of Malvern Hill, Wright's brigade charged but met intense rifle and artillery fire and was unable to get closer than 300 yd m 0 from the Union line.Sears 2001 324 Between Oak Grove and Malvern Hill, the regiment lost 214 killed, wounded, or missing.Bergeron 1989 73 On 26 July 1862, the 1st Louisiana Infantry was transferred to the 2nd Louisiana Brigade, together with the 1st Louisiana Zouave Battalion and the 2nd Louisiana, 9th Louisiana, 10th Louisiana, and 15th Louisiana Infantry Regiments.Bergeron 1989 73 The 2nd Louisiana Brigade, led by Colonel Leroy Augustus Stafford arrived after the major fighting ended in the Battle of Cedar Mountain on 9 August. The brigade sustained losses of 4 killed and 20 wounded from artillery and skirmisher fire that evening.Official Records 1885 224 In the Second Battle of Bull Run on 28–30 August 1862, the brigade was led by Brigadier General William E. Starke and was part of a division commanded by Brigadier General William B. Taliaferro. Since Taliaferro was wounded on 28 August, Starke assumed command of the division.Hennessy 1999 564 Colonel Stafford of the 9th Louisiana took charge of the brigade, which sustained losses of 110 killed, 269 wounded, and 6 missing during the fighting.Battles & Leaders 1956 500 On 30 August, the 2nd Louisiana Brigade successfully defended the unfinished railroad embankment against the attacks of the Union V Corps. The brigade engaged in a furious struggle with Federal soldiers that reached as far as the opposite side of the embankment, only 15 yd m 0 away. When ammunition ran low, some Louisianans began throwing rocks at their adversaries.Hennessy 1999 341–359 Company H of the 1st Louisiana Infantry was disbanded on 5 September 1862.Bergeron 1989 73 Starke's brigade went into the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862 with about 650 men and suffered losses of 70 killed and 204 wounded. The 1st Louisiana Infantry lost 14 killed and 49 wounded.Priest 1989 328 At about 7 am, Starke's and another brigade charged toward Miller's Corn Field. Immediately, Starke was hit by four bullets and killed. The charge was stopped by intense Federal rifle and artillery fire.Priest 1989 49–52 In the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862, the regiment sustained losses of only a few men wounded.Bergeron 1989 73 After Fredericksburg, the 1st Zouave Battalion was permanently detached from the brigade.Bergeron 1989 153 1863–1865 thumb|right|upright=0.6|alt=Black and white photo shows a man from his head to his knees, wearing a long gray military coat. His right hand is thrust under the coat, Napoleon-style.|Leroy A. Stafford Brigadier General Francis T. Nicholls led the brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville on 1–3 May 1863. It was part of Brigadier General Raleigh Colston's division. The brigade suffered losses of 46 killed, 268 wounded, and 130 missing during the fighting. The 1st Louisiana Infantry lost 7 killed, 29 wounded, and 10 missing.Sears 1996 499 The regiment participated in Lieutenant General Thomas J. Jackson's flank attack on 2 May and in the fighting on 3 May.Bergeron 1989 73 Nicholls had his left foot taken off by an artillery projectile on 2 May.Sears 1996 298 He was replaced in command of the brigade by Colonel Jesse M. Williams.Sears 1996 329 In the vicious fighting on 3 May, the 1st Louisiana Infantry lost its flag.Sears 1996 343 On 15 June at the Second Battle of Winchester, the regiment had only 1 man wounded. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the 1st Louisiana Infantry fought at Culp's Hill on 2–3 July 1863,Bergeron 1989 73 taking 172 men into action and suffering 39 casualties. Nolan led the regiment and was killed. The regiment was in a brigade commanded by Williams, in a division led by Major General Edward Johnson, and in the Second Corps under Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell.Trudeau 2002 588–589 The regiment fought at the Battle of Mine Run (Payne's Farm) on 27 November 1863. It took 112 into action and sustained 28 casualties.Bergeron 1989 73 The 1st Louisiana Infantry fought at the Battle of the Wilderness on 5 May 1864.Bergeron 1989 73 The brigade was led by Brigadier General Stafford and was part of Johnson's division and Ewell's Second Corps.Battles & Leaders 1987 183 According to historian Gordon C. Rhea, Stafford's Louisiana brigade had earned a reputation for drinking, pillaging, and hard fighting.Rhea 1994 179 Stafford's brigade helped repel Union V Corps attacks at Saunders' Field between 1 and 3 pm on 5 May.Rhea 1994 146 In see-saw fighting in dense woods around 3:30 pm, the Stonewall Brigade on Stafford's right was driven back by Union VI Corps troops that then rushed into the gap between the two brigades. Stafford's soldiers were forced to retreat in confusion. Soon after giving the order to fall back, Stafford was fatally shot through the spine. The other Louisiana brigade under Brigadier General Harry T. Hays' was sent from the reserve to help, but it was also mauled in the fighting.Rhea 1994 181-182 The brigade fought in the Battle of Spotsylvania on 7–20 May 1864.Bergeron 1989 73 On 12 May, a dawn attack by the Union II Corps overran Johnson's division at the Bloody Angle, capturing 2,800 men and 20 artillery pieces. Johnson himself was captured and his division was practically destroyed. The initial Union success was followed by vicious fighting that lasted the rest of the day, with neither side gaining any further advantage.Battles & Leaders 1987 130-134 Most of the soldiers in the 1st Louisiana Infantry were captured in this action. The remnant took part in the Valley campaigns of 1864 in the summer and fall, fighting in the battles of Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.Bergeron 1989 73 At Monocacy, the two Louisiana brigades were united under the command of Brigadier General Zebulon York in Major General John B. Gordon's division.Battles & Leaders 1987 499 At Cedar Creek, in what was once Stafford's brigade, the survivors of 1st Louisiana Infantry were consolidated with the 14th Louisiana Infantry.Battles & Leaders 1987 532 By October 1864, the consolidated unit was reduced to the strength of a single company.Bergeron 1989 109 In December 1864, the regiment returned from the Shenandoah Valley to serve in the Siege of Petersburg. The Petersburg trenches were evacuated on 2 April 1865 and General Robert E. Lee surrendered on 9 April at Appomattox. At the surrender, the 1st Louisiana Infantry counted only 1 officer and 18 enlisted men present for duty. During the war, the regiment suffered losses of 162 men killed in action, 74 died of disease, and 1 died by accident. Another 88 men deserted.Bergeron 1989 74 See also List of Louisiana Confederate Civil War units Louisiana in the Civil War Notes 20em References Battles & Leaders 1956 Battles and Leaders of the Civil War 2 1956 1883 Castle New York, N.Y. Battles & Leaders 1987 Battles and Leaders of the Civil War 4 1987 1883 Castle Secaucus, N.J. 0-89009-572-8 Bergeron Arthur W. Jr. Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units 1861-1865 1989 Louisiana State University Press Baton Rouge, La. 0-8071-2102-9 Hennessy John J. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas 1999 University of Oklahoma Press Norman, Okla. 0-8061-3187-X Official Records A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies: Volume XII Part II U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 1885 224 September 22, 2022 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077728222&view=1up&seq=226&skin=2021&q1=Stafford Priest John Michael Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle 1989 Oxford University Press New York, N.Y. 0-19-508466-7 Rhea Gordon C. Gordon C. Rhea The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 1994 Louisiana State University Press Baton Rouge, La. 0-8071-1873-7 Sears Stephen W. Stephen W. Sears Chancellorsville 1996 Houghton Mifflin Co. New York, N.Y. 0-395-87744-X Sears Stephen W. Stephen W. Sears To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsular Campaign 2001 Mariner Books New York, N.Y. 0-618-12713-5 Trudeau Noah Andre Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage 2002 HarperCollins New York, N.Y. 0-06-019363-8 Category:Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Louisiana Category:1861 establishments in Louisiana Category:Military units and formations established in 1861 Category:1865 disestablishments in Louisiana Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865