Army Generals and Reconstruction : Louisiana, 1862-1877

by Dawson, Joseph G., III

• ISBN13: 9780807119600
• ISBN10: 0807119601
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-09-01
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr

Summary

The U.S. Army faced extraordinary problems while policing the post-Civil War South, and the task may have been most difficult in Louisiana, where Reconstruction lasted longer than in any other of the former Confederate states. Beginning with General Benjamin Franklin Butler, who boasted that "in six months New Orleans should be a Union city or - a home of the alligators," the Union generals who commanded Louisiana met with varying degrees of success in their attempts to enforce the constantly evolving Reconstruction policies of three administrations on a people who openly despised their conquerors. Covering the period from the fall of New Orleans to Federal forces through the collapse of Stephen Packard's Republican government in 1877, Army Generals and Reconstruction, by Joseph G. Dawson III, is a history and a detailed analysis of the army's responsibilities, accomplishments, and failures in Reconstruction Louisiana.
Dawson shows how the decisions and attitudes of the army commanders were crucial to both the Republican and Democratic parties and how neither side could act confidently without knowing first how the generals would respond to their actions. He examines the army commanders' efforts to ensure that blacks and Republicans could exercise their civil and political rights, and he looks at the influence General Philip Sheridan exerted on Louisiana Reconstruction politics - both during his supervision of the state and after President Andrew Johnson reassigned him elsewhere.
Based on a close examination of archival sources, Army Generals and Reconstruction reveals the full complexity of the army's involvement in this tumultuous period in Louisiana politics.

Author Biography

Joseph G. Dawson III is associate professor of history and director of the Military Studies Institute at Texas A&M University.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations Used in the Notes
Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
The Beginnings Under Butler and Banks	p. 5
The Seed of the Rebellion	p. 24
Sheridan Sees His Duty	p. 46
Impediments to Reconstruction	p. 63
Interlude Under Mower and Reynolds	p. 94
Send Me Another Regiment	p. 113
The Flashing of Bayonets in Our Streets	p. 140
Emory and the Insurrection of 1874	p. 164
Beneath a Soldier's Vocation	p. 183
The Return of the Little Villain	p. 200
Augur and the 1876 Election	p. 216
The Troops Are Not a Political Engine	p. 243
Epilogue	p. 261
Appendix I: Departmental Changes Pertaining to Louisiana During Reconstruction, 1862-1877	p. 265
Appendix II: Reconstruction Commanders of Louisiana, 1862-1877	p. 266
Appendix III: Approximate Troop Totals in Louisiana During Reconstruction, 1865-1877	p. 267
Bibliography	p. 269
Index	p. 287
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