Histories: Louisiana Family History: Genealogy at Pitard.net

These essays describe family branches which lived in New Orleans and Louisiana during the nineteenth century.

The Civil War on the Mississippi

Washington Artillery Hall, ca. 1910
From the Library of Congress

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), found on-line at Cornell's Making of America project.

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.)

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.

Asahel Walker McLellan and Alden Mills

These documents are biographies of Asahel Walker McLellan and his family, and of the business he founded in 1890, Alden Mills, which manufactured hosiery in New Orleans for over six decades.

"Seafaring Men, Superstitions, and Some Other Things." This is a reprint from Cotton, a trade journal, in July of 1924. This is a rather chatty biography of his personal and family history; it would seem that it resulted from a personal interview.

"Alden Mills Complete Fifty Years," from The Underwear and Hosiery Review, another trade journal, in 1941. This tells the story of the mill.