(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) Headquarters of the Corps DAfriques at

Sale 2171 - Lot 306

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Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Headquarters of the Corps D'Afriques at Fort Hudson, Louisiana. Albumen photograph 5- 1/4x7- 1/2 inches, matted and archivally framed. Louisiana, 1863

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Rare photograph showing the encampment of General Ullman''s Corps D''Afriques at Fort Hudson, Louisiana. On May 1, 1863, XIX Corps General Orders No. 40 proclaimed that, "The Major General commanding the Department proposes the organization of a corps d''armee of colored troops, to be designated as the `Corps d''Afrique.'' It will consist ultimately of eighteen regiments, representing all arms - Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry, organized in three Divisions of three Brigades each, with appropriate corps of Engineers and flying Hospitals for each Division . . . "
The first was organized at Camp Parapet, Louisiana, April 28, 1863, and saw duty at the Siege of Port Hudson, the Sabine Pass Expedition, the "Teche" Campaign, and off the Texas coast from October to April 1864. During the Civil War, more than 125,000 men served as commissioned officers in the volunteer army of the United States. One hundred and eleven of these men were black, ninety of whom served in combat units. Of these combat officers, almost all served in the Louisiana Native Guards, or Corps D''Afriques.