The 2nd Louisiana Regiment Native Guard Infantry was a regiment in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It was organized in New Orleans and was tasked with defending the city until being redeployed to Ship Island in Mississippi. Its higher-ranking officers were white and lower grade officers and enlisted men were mixed heritage and African American.

Native Guard

The Regiment was organized in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, in October 1862, and assigned to the defenses of New Orleans to December 1862. It operated in Louisiana until January 1863, when it was sent to

Ship Island, Mississippi Ship Island is a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands. Hurricane Camille split the island into two separate islands (West Ship Island and East Ship Island) in 1969. In early 2019, ...

. As with its related regiment, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard, the field grade officers (

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

s, lieutenant colonels and majors) were white, and the original line officers were black. An exception was Major Francis E. Dumas, a wealthy creole from Louisiana who had enlisted a company of his own slaves. He resigned in July 1863. Among the company officers was

P.B.S. Pinchback Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was an American publisher, politician, and Union Army officer who served as Governor of Louisiana from December 9, 1872 to January 13, 1873. Pinchback is commonly referr ...

, an educated

free man of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also ...

who became active in the Republican Party after the war, serving as lieutenant governor and then governor of Louisiana in 1872. He was elected to the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 1874 and the

US Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

in 1876. He resigned his commission in 1863 because of discrimination. The remaining black officers of the regiment were all purged by Major General

Nathaniel P. Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, Civil War. A millworker, Banks became prominent in local ...

in early 1863.

''Corps d'Afrique''

The designation of the Regiment was changed to ''2nd Regiment, Corps d' Afrique'' on June 6, 1863. It was on garrison duty at Ship Island from June 1863 to April 1864.

74th United States Colored Troops

The Regiment designation was changed to 74th United States Colored Troops on April 4, 1864 and it was attached to defenses of New Orleans until October 1864. The regiment participated in an expedition from Fort Pike to Pearl River from September 9–12, 1864. Detachments served on an expedition from

Fort Pike Fort Pike State Historic Site is a decommissioned 19th-century United States fort, named after Brigadier General Zebulon Pike. It was built following the War of 1812 to guard the Rigolets pass in Louisiana, a strait from the Gulf of Mexico, via L ...

to Bayou Bonforica January 31 – February 1, 1865, and from Fort Pike to Bayou St. Louis March 28–30, 1865. The Regiment remained on garrison at Ship Island and mustered out on October 11, 1865.

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