A Black Patriot and a White Priest: Andre Cailloux and Claude Paschal Maistre in Civil War New Orleans (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) [Hardcover]

Stephen J. Ochs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000 | Series: Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War

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.

AUTHOR BIO: 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.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The primary setting for the latest historical work by Ochs (Desegregating the Altar) is Afro-Creole New Orleans during the Civil War. The players are the Roman Catholic Church; New Orleans's Roman Catholic Afro-Creole community; Andr Cailloux, a former slave and the first black Civil War hero; and Claude Paschal Maistre, an unorthodox white abolitionist priest, who, against church policy, presided over Cailloux's funeral. A solidly researched and documented text, the book is at once a double biography of Cailloux and Maistre and the tale of how, ironically, their patriotism and their moral and political struggles often found them in opposition to their church, government, and neighbors. Cailloux died heroically for the Union cause at the Battle of Port Hudson, where the black regiment that he led fought with bravery and courage, proving to the staunchest opponents of blacks in the military that they were fit to fight. Avid readers of U.S. military history will especially enjoy this book. Recommended for African American history, military history, and religion collections.DSherri Barnes, Univ. of California Lib., Santa Barbara
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; illustrated edition edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807125318
• ISBN-13: 978-0807125311
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,015,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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