lowing
spring, Taylor continued to occupy the Teche region, while Weitzel
rested quietly in La Fourche, with his headquarters at Thibodeaux
and his troops so disposed as to cover and hold the country without
losing touch. On the 9th of November, the whole of Louisiana lying
west of the Mississippi, except the delta parishes of Plaquemine
and Terre Bonne, was constituted a military district to be known
as the District of La Fourche, and Weitzel was assigned to the
command.

Meanwhile General Butler, with the consent of the War Department,
had raised, organized, and equipped, in the neighborhood of New
Orleans, two good regiments of Louisianans, the 1st Louisiana, Colonel
Richard E. Holcomb, and the 2d Louisiana, Colonel Charles J. Paine,
both regiments admirably commanded and well officered; three
excellent troops of Louisiana cavalry, under fine leaders, Captains
Henry F. Williamson, Richard Barrett, and J. F. Godfrey; and beside
these white troops, three regiments of negroes, designated as the
1st, 2d, and 3d Louisiana Native Guards. This was the name originally
employed by Governor Moore early in 1861, to describe an organization
of the free men of color of New Orleans enrolled for the defence
of the city against the expected attack by the forces of the Union.

This action was taken by Butler of his own motion. It was never
formally approved by the government, but it was not interfered
with. These three regiments were the first negro troops mustered
into the service of the United States. At least one of them, the
1st, was largely made up of men of that peculiar and exclusive
caste known to the laws of slavery as the free men of color of
Louisiana. All the field and staff officers were white men, mainly
taken from the rolls of the troops already in service; but at first
all the company officers were negroes. As this was the first
experiment, it was perhaps, in the state of feeling then prevailing,
inevitable, yet not the less to be regretted, that the white officers
were, with some notable exceptions, inferior men. Fortunately,
however, courts-martial and examining boards made their career for
the most part a short one. As for the colored officers of the
line, early in 1863 they were nearly all disqualified on the most
rudimentary examination, and then the rest resigned. After that,
the government having determined to raise a large force of negro
troops, it became the settled policy to grant commissions as