1863 Petition of Union Parish Louisiana Slaveowners Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by T. D. Hudson, 10/2005 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================= 1863 Petition of Union Parish Louisiana Slaveowners ================================================================================= EXPLANATION: As part of the Yankee effort to reduce the Confederate Gibraltar at Vicksburg, in early 1863 the Union Navy began operations up the various rivers in northeastern Louisiana, including the Tensas, Black, and Ouachita Rivers. The Ouachita River was especially important to the Confederate forces, as it allowed easy access to Monroe and southern Arkansas. Thus, in response, the Confederate forces began the construction of a fort on the Ouachita south of Monroe. They selected a suitable spot at Harrisonburg, and they named the new post "Fort Beauregard". To assist in the construction of the fort, the Confederate commander of the District of Northeastern Louisiana, General Albert G. Blanchard, issued an order requiring all large slaveowners of the district to send one-fifth of their male slaves between 18 and 50 to work with the Confederate military at Harrisonburg. This measure was decidedly unpopular among the citizens, and most parishes formed petitions. The petition from the Union Parish slaveowners is transcribed below. They raised far fewer objections than their counterparts in Morehouse and Catahoula Parishes. The Union Parish slaveowners merely requested that their slaves be placed under the control of William Dean [actually, he used the older spelling of "Deanes"]. Deanes was at that time the Sheriff of Union Parish. Although the petition is not dated, it was made in the early months of 1863, at the time of Fort Beauregard's construction. What makes this more interesting is the fact that William Deanes died in April 1863 of unknown causes. I cannot help but wonder if his death resulted from some incident that occurred at Fort Beauregard. This record is in the Lt. Col. George W. Logan papers, #1560, in the Special Collections Department, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ================================================================================= Transcription of Original Petition: ================================================================================= To General A. G. Blanchard, commanding at Monroe, La. The undersigned Slaveowners, who in complyance with the law, and Your orders send one fifth of their negro now between 18 & 50, Residents of the parish of Union, do hereby respectfully petition, that William Dean, of this parish, in whose care they have placed their negroes, may be appointed to superintend or oversee the said negroes at the place where they are to be employed. He the said Dean being to our knowledge a careful and competent man and experienced in overseeing negroes at work. G. W. Moore W. H. Culbertson R. W. Windes S. W. Ramsey H. P. Anderson J. C. Manning Wm. H. Crawford Hiram Bruster R. W. Futch J. F. Fuller John Taylor Thos. Pearson Elias George Wm. Ham John Traylor J. G. Taylor John A. White J. R. Clark Lewis Powel John Culbertson Uriah Bass James H. Gully J. G. Hollis George A. Kilgore Isaac Cole George Tubb T. J. Stewart W. A. Parks [On the back:] Petition for the Employment of Mr. Dean ###########################################################