A Black Patriot and a White Priest: André Cailloux and Claude Paschal Maistre in Civil War New Orleans

by Stephen J. Ochs

Overview

Stephen J. Ochs chronicles the intersecting lives of the first black military Civil War hero, Captain André Cailloux of the 1st Louisiana Native Guards, and the lone Catholic clerical voice of abolition in New Orleans, the Reverend Claude Paschal Maistre. Their paths converged in July 1863, when Maistre, in defiance of his archbishop, officiated at a large public military funeral for Cailloux, who had perished while courageously leading a doomed charge against the Confederate bastion of Port Hudson. The story of how Cailloux and Maistre arrived at that day and what happened as a consequence provides a prism through which to view the black military experience and the complex interplay of slavery, race, radicalism, and religion during American democracy's most violent upheaval.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807131572
Publisher:	Louisiana State University Press
Publication date:	03/21/2006
Series:	Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Stephen J. Ochs is the author of two previous books, including Desegregating the Altar: The Josephites and the Struggle for Black Priests, 1871–1960. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is chair of the history department at Georgetown Preparatory School.

Editorial Reviews

An invaluable resource for the study of race relations in nineteenth-century Creole New Orleans.

Catholic Historical Review

Rarely do books meet such high aspirations, yet this one certainly does. Well written and impressively researched in social, military, and religious history, [it] relates a tragic yet inspiring story of two quite different individuals who, while they never seemed to have met, fought for equal rights regardless of color.

Journal of American History

A window into the life of free people of color, the inner workings of the Roman Catholic Church in antebellum and wartime New Orleans, the military and religious experience of blacks, and Afro-Creole radicalism. A tall order by any measure, yet Ochs is successful.

Arkansas Review

A fascinating and complex tale of two men who fought for racial justice and paid dearly for their efforts.

Journal of Southern History

The saga of a rebellious priest and a black hero-soldier who both played leading roles in the drama of emancipation during the Civil War in New Orleans. Ochs (Desegregating the Altar, not reviewed) a teacher and history department chairman at Georgetown Preparatory School, paints a densely ironic picture of the destiny of these two men whose lives cross as one is burying the other. Andre Cailloux, a captain in the Union Army, became the first black war hero when he led a hopeless charge against the Confederate forces at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Maistre, a priest whose shadowy past included mixed tales of sex and money, was nonetheless the sole Catholic voice of abolition in New Orleans in 1863. The French born-Maistre had developed a special ministry for black Catholics, and he defied his own bishop's orders in agreeing to preside over Cailloux' funeral. But whatever large (and perhaps even the small) points Ochs is attempting to make about the Catholic clergy of the day or the trials of free blacks (such as Cailloux) who fought in the Civil War tend to get lost in a heavily footnoted and endlessly detailed swamp. The most basic necessity of such a story (i.e., a clear and vivid picture of Cailloux and Maistre) never emerges from the thicket of Ochs's tangled narrative, leaving altogether too many unanswered questions about their lives. Indeed, it's never entirely clear if the two men ever met while Cailloux was still alive. Ochs writes that `by sharing the collective stories of our past we come to a better understanding of our common humanity and of our identity, both individual and societal.` This is true enough, and Ochs is obviously is quite sympathetic to the cause andthespirit of these two men, but it is also unfortunately true that he fails to breathe much life into them. Had done more to illuminate the humanity of these heroes, his history would have had both merit and appeal. As it is, it is for specialists only.

Kirkus Reviews