The African American Experience in Louisiana

K. Military
Although the history of distinguished
service of people of African descent in the
military in Louisiana begins in the
eighteenth century, the earliest known
resources associated with this context date
to the Civil War. The best known of these
is the battlefield of Port Hudson, where the
Union Army implemented the African
American Native Guard soldiers in major
combat for the first time. This State
Historic Site is listed on the National
Register for this significance. Fort Pike
State Historic Site is also listed on the
National Register, but its nomination for
military and architectural significance
mentions nothing of the Corps D’Afrique
(Figure 112). Regiments of African
American soldiers were trained and
stationed at Fort Pike outside New Orleans
and it was from here that the future
governor, Capt. P. B. S. Pinchback,
tendered his resignation, citing the
impossibility of continuing in his situation
due to the “inimical” behavior of his
fellow officers. 264 A notable association
with the Corps D’Afrique is also absent
from the education-focused National
Figure 112: Fort Pike State Historic Site, New Orleans, Orleans
Parish.
Figure 113: Centenary College, Jackson, East Feliciana Parish.
Register nomination for Centenary College, which Union soldiers used as a recruiting and
training center for the 12 th Regiment of the Corps (Figure 113). In 1863, Confederate soldiers
ambushed the 12 th Regiment and other Union soldiers here and it was near here that captured
Corps D’Afrique men were massacred in transit by Confederate troops. St. James AME Church
in New Orleans, which had a distinctive antebellum history discussed elsewhere in this
document, is also significant for its Civil War use as the headquarters of African American
soldiers led by Colonel James Lewis. 265 The diversity of these properties – a battlefield, a fort, a
school, and a church – and the earlier lack of acknowledgement of the African American military
significance of the latter three suggests that many other sites may have significant associations
with this context yet to be recognized by Register listing. No associations with WWI, WWII, the
Korean War or peacetime military activities of African Americans in Louisiana were identified
for military sites already listed on the National Register, but there is good potential for the future
identification of significant sites connected to the twentieth century military service of African
Americans. One example of a property of this type that could potentially be significant for its
association with this context is segregated military housing such as the Barksdale Annex, in
264 Hollandsworth, in Vincent, Part B, 74.
265 Kingsley, 78.
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