As I recall they volunteered for confederate service and were rejected.

Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
     and Public Policy
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York   12208-3494

518-445-3386 
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>>> [log in to unmask] 06/15/07 10:53 PM >>>
In a message dated 6/15/2007 9:47:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:


> 
> it is alos important to remember that the La. Guards DID NOT SERVE in
> the Confederacy, but fought for the US althought at the beginning of
hte
> war they volunteered to fight for the Confederacy.  THey thought they
> were more white than black; clearly Jeff Davis and his cohorts (who
were
> already deeply into racial science and were deeply racist) thought
> otherwise.
> 
> Paul Finkelman

Dear Paul:

From my recollections on reading about the LA Native Guards, they
started off 
as confederate militia/home guard who were only used for guard duty in
New 
Orleans.  They quickly got disenchanted by the powers at be reluctance
to use 
them and were quite happy to become functional soldiers when Benjamin
"The 
Beast" Butler took over as military governor after the fall of NO. 
Butler was an 
ardent abolitionist who asked permission for Washington to form local
union 
militia.  He conveniently and purposely left out the fact that they were
"gens du 
coleur" and his request was granted.  The Native Guards were almost 
essentially the same guys as in 1861, this changed when Butler was
ousted after he 
insulted the women of NO and was replaced by Nathaniel Banks who didn't
like 
blacks, replaced the black officers with white ones which prompted
resignations 
among the troops and newly freed slaves were enlisted.  By the time the
unit 
fights, it's membership is quite different from what it was in the
spring of 61.

Anita L. Henderson


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