Mouton's Louisiana Brigade : In the War For Southern Independence

This is the story of one of the most unique Louisiana infantry brigades in the War for Southern Independence.

It was made up of an ethnically diverse hodgepodge of Louisiana's very diverse population, including South Louisiana Cajuns, North Louisiana Rednecks, and New Orleans Irish, Germans, and other ethnic groups then populating the Crescent City.

The regiments of the brigade included the 18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, the 24th Louisiana Infantry (Crescent) Regiment, and the 10th (Yellow Jackets), and the 12/16th Louisiana infantry battalions.

Early in the war, some of the units fought in other brigades at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee.

When the brigade was formed in Louisiana in the fall of 1862, they fought in the Lafourche Campaign of 1862, the Bayou Teche Campaign of the spring of 1863, the Great Texas Overland Expedition of 1863, and the Red River Campaign of 1864.

The brigade was led by one of the most colorful, chivalrous, and competent Confederate commanders of the war, Brigadier General Alfred Mouton of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The fighting men of the brigade time and again fought with great valor and left a legacy of gallantry that makes their descendants proud to this day.