Camp Pulaski, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Robert Vernon, Nov., 2000

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>From "Encyclopedia of Forts, Posts, Named Camps, and Other Military Installations in 
Louisiana, 1700-1981." By Powell A. Casey, Claitors Publishing Division.

CAMP PULASKI

This Confederate camp was established early in June 1861 near Amite in the parish of St. 
Helena, now in the Parish of Tangipahoa.  On May 20, 1861, the Secretary of the War for the 
Confederacy authorized Major Casper Tochman, a major in the Polish army in 1831 to raise 
twenty companies of volunteers of foreign birth to serve for the duration of the war. Tochman 
arrived in New Orleans on June 4 and authorized Colonel Valery Sulakowski to accept troops 
for service as his agent.  These troops were to form the Polish brigade and a camp was set up 
near Amite to collect and train soldiers.  The Askew Guards and the Quitman Guards left for 
Camp Pulaski on June 8th.  Other units going there were the Armstrong Guards, Franklin 
Rifles, Jefferson Cadets, McClure Guards, Nixon's Rifles, Concordia Rifles (Capt. Zebulon 
York), Avegno Rifles, Gross Tete Creoles, and Lafayette Rifle Cadets.  These companies seem
to have comprised the 1st Regiment of the Polish brigade and were commanded by Colonel 
Sulakowski.  This regiment left for Virginia about August 5, 1861 via Junction City, 
Tennessee, and in Virginia was redesignated as the 14th Regiment of La. Volunteers.

Other units going to Camp Pulaski were the St. James Rifles, the Grivot Rifles, the Davenport 
Rifles, the Askew Guards, Co. B., the Bogart Guards and the St. Ceran Rifles.  While not a full 
regiment these units left for Virginia from Camp Pulaski as the 2nd regiment of the Polish 
Brigade on August 25, 1861 under the command of Lt. Col. Charles M. Bradford.  In Virginia 
these companies operated as the unit forming the 15th Regt. of Louisiana Volunteers.

On June 10, 1861 according to the "N. O. Commercial Bulletin" two Texas companies, the 
Marshall Guards and the Star Rifles went to Camp Pulaski to await orders.  They may have left 
for Virginia with the other companies.

The exact location of Camp Pulaski is uncertain.  An 1861 map of Louisiana published in 
Volume X of the Confederate Military History, edited by Evans, shows two Camp Moores in St. 
Helena Parish.  One which may have been intended to represent Camp Pulaski is placed a short 
distance north of Amite.  The Robert H. Miller collection in the L.S.U. archives has a letter 
written from Camp Pulaski dated June 22, 1861 which states that the camp was near Amite 
City and one mile from the Tangipahoa River.  Seven companies there were kept busy rolling 
heavy pine logs and burning them.

Another writer there said that the camp was on land owned by the "commanding officer" and 
that it was a cheap way to get the trees cut and the land cleared.

One clue to the possible location of the camp is found when noting that Colonel Sulakowski's 
wife was a member of the Simpson family which owned land on the south side of Amite 
located in Section 9, Township 4 South, Range 7 East.  After the war the Simpson family sold 
part of their land to Benjamin D. Gullett.