Histories

The Civil War on the Mississippi

The Battle of Port Hudson is overshadowed by the larger battle at Vicksburg which defined the Union campaign to capture the Mississippi in 1863. Yet while Vicksburg was the greater battle, Port Hudson also had significance. It was the longest seige in American history—48 grueling days—and Confederate troops only surrendered on hearing news of Vicksburg's fall. Once it fell, the Mississippi was owned by the North all the way to New Orleans, which had been captured the previous year.

The Siege of Vicksburg. This essay by John Abbott appeared in vol. 30 of Harper's Magazine (Dec. 1864-May 1865), found on-line at Cornell's Making of America project. Family history says that Alden McLellan fought there and was captured. Carl Eugen von Rosenberg, an ancestor from another branch of the family, also fought there in Waul's Texas Legion.

General Nathaniel Banks' Report on Port Hudson. This is the Union General's official report to Secretary Stanton on the siege (and later action in Texas) taken from the Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Series 1, vol. 26, part 1).

The Seige and Capture of Port Hudson. This is a second essay by John S. C. Abbott, continuing his "Heroic Deeds of Heroic Men" series published in vol. 30 of Harper's Magazine. Two family members from New Orleans, Gustave Pitard Sr. and Alfred Gamard Sr. (the brother of direct ancestor Alphonse Jr.), fought there in Watson's Battery. William Luce, a Union naval engineer from New York from an entirely different core tree on the database, was killed there by a sniper; his death is noted on page 17 of General Bank's report, above.)

Louisiana

On November 22, 1861 M. Grivot submitted this report describing the formation of Louisiana infantry units that year (taken from the Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 4, vol. 1). He mentions several units relevant to this site, including J.B. Prados and the 8th Louisiana; the Washington Artillery; the Crescent Rifles (Capt. Charles McLellan's first unit); and the 15th Louisiana in which Charles McLellan served for most of the war. Col. Dreux, noted on the first page, was killed on July 5, 1861; he was the first Louisianian, and in fact the first Confederate officer, to be killed in the war. The report also mentions a large parade and review held on Canal Street on November 23rd 1861. War records and pension applications can be ordered from the Louisiana State Archives.

---

Three Pitard brothers served in the war. Arthur Pitard served in the Orleans Guard Battery which saw action throughout the south during the war. Gustave J. Pitard, Sr. and Norbert Pitard, the third brother, served with Cyrus Talbot Bemiss and Alfred Gamard, Sr. in Watson's Battery, which fought in, among other battles, the Battle of Port Hudson. (The battery served at the section called Bennet's Redoubt). Norbert Pitard died during the war on 25 Mar. 1864 at the Battle of Paducah, during a raid north under the command of General Nathan B. Forrest.

Gustave Pitard's oldest son, Daniel Maupay Pitard, married Barsilla Bemiss, Cyrus' daughter. His second son, Gustave Pitard Jr., married Alfred's niece Lucie Gamard after the war.

Cousins of theirs through their mother Amelie Hacker Pitard also appear in the records: two of her brother Jean Baptiste Hacker's sons, Numa Paul Hacker and Louis Octave Hacker. Octave Hacker served in 10th (Yellow Jacket) Battalion, and Numa Paul was in the 18th Regiment, which was later consolidated with the 10th; this regiment served in the Red River campaign. Their sister Zulmee's husband Antoine Amy fought in the 8th La regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia; he was wounded at Gettysburg (apparently seriously, since he was in a Lynchburg hospital for a year), and was paroled at Appomattox.

Maj. Jean Baptiste Prados served in the 8th Regiment of the Louisiana Infantry; the story of his death was only uncovered many years afterwards, as told here.

This picture of Confederate dead along the Hagerstown road after Antietam was taken in the exact area in which Charles McLellan fought. The image is from the Library of Congress.

There is a "Maupay"—no first name or initial given—who appears as the commander of Company D of the Sumter Regiment under Col. Gustavus A. Breaux (see S299, 188). This was one of a series of militia created in 1861 for the defense of New Orleans; members of this Regiment were folded into the 30th Regiment Louisiana Infantry after the fall of New Orleans in April of 1862, but no Maupay appears on Confederate rosters that I have seen.

---

 Alden McLellan, Sr.: Vivid Reminiscences of War Times. This narrative by Alden McLellan, Sr. tells of his experiences at the end of the war including the his service battle of Blakely on April 9, 1865, his imprisonment on Ship Island, and his return home in May.

Alden's younger brother Capt. Charles McLellan ventured farther afield, spending four years in the 15th Louisiana Infantry which fought in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He participated in some 18 engagements. He was promoted from 1st Lt. to Captain for action at Antietam, where he fought in Starke's brigade under Stonewall Jackson. He was wounded at Mine Run, and was killed on June 1, 1864 by a sniper's bullet at Meadow's Bridge, near Richmond, just before Cold Harbor. He therefore fought against several of his cousins from Maine in a series of battles in Virginia.

Their sister, Sarah Antoinette McLellan, married Callender Irvine Fayssoux was an experienced soldier before the war started. He enlisted in a South Carolina infantry regiment, but was soon discharged because of ill health.

Joseph DeGrange served in the famed Washington Artillery (Company 2) from New Orleans for a year at the beginning of the War. His daughter Helen married Asahel McLellan, the oldest son of Lt. Alden McLellan. John Bozant apparently served in the First Company of the Washington Artillery, or in the Crescent Regiment, Company E ("Twigg's Guards"), or perhaps both.

Thomas Young Paine Tureman, Alden McLellan's wife Sarah Jane Cooper's brother-in-law, seems to have served in the Louisiana Militia.

Mississippi

Lt. James Scudder served in the Mississippi Cavalry and died during the War. His son Edward married Mona Fayssoux, the niece of three Fayssoux brothers who served in the war.

South Carolina

Clement Fayssoux and his brother Templar S. Fayssoux were both officers. They both started off in South Carolina units, but Clement seems to have moved to the Louisiana Militia during the war. Lt. Templar Fayssoux was present at the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor which started the war.