Tirailleurs: A History of The 4th Louisiana and The Acadians of Company H [Paperback]

Thomas Richey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2003

The Tirailleurs was a company of soldiers from Brusly Landing, West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. They were mostly Acadians and fought gallantly for the Southern Cause. This book follows them through the Civil War and uses diaries, letters, and memoirs to allow the soldiers to tell their own story. From a bloodbath at Shiloh's Hornet's, Nest, we follow them through the terrible debacle at the Battle of Nashville. Tirailleurs is the first definitive history of the 4th Louisiana Infantry, CSA. Over sixteen hundred men served in the 4th LA and are all listed by company in the book s appendix making it an excellent genealogical resource.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Richey is a 55-year-old General Surgeon born in the Louisiana Delta. While doing genealogy research he discovered that the 4th Louisiana Infantry had been all but forgotten by history. Five years of research has led to what he hopes is a book worthy of these long gone Confederates.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (June 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595272584
• ISBN-13: 978-0595272587
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,841,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, Interesting, January 14, 2006

By 

Avid One - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tirailleurs: A History of The 4th Louisiana and The Acadians of Company H (Paperback)

The author has carefully researched and presented a history of the Confederate Fourth Louisiana Regiment and its Company H, comprised mostly of Acadians from West Baton Rouge Parish. He focuses primarily on Company H but does not neglect the larger context of the regiment's concurrent experiences.

Company H, a Civil War infantry unit of about 100 men, organized initially as the Tirailleurs, (pronounced TEE-ray-your), was mostly Acadians. That is a distinct social class in antebellum south Louisiana derived from French extract Canadians driven out of Nova Scotia (Acadia) around 1755. The Tirailleurs and 4th Louisiana were Southerners to the core. Young patriots who at the war's beginning were itching to sally forth and obtain glory for themselves and the cause while defending hearth and home from Yankees.

The intrinsic value of this work is in revealing the daily life of at least one Confederate infantry unit, complete with their ruminations on the war, emotional swings, victories and disappointments. I particularly liked the way author Richey eventually traces the arc of each man's life and death from the company's inception to their demise on the battlefield or beyond. None of them are left out. That alone may offer lines of research for someone tracing a particular genealogy but more than that you get to know these young men and are affected by their experiences.

Another reason to follow this particular unit is that they happened to be at some of the more famous locations familiar to Civil War buffs, such as the Hornet's Nest, Shiloh Church, the first siege of Vicksburg and the battles around Atlanta. The Tirailleurs had guard and provost duty at less illuminated places such as Mobile and Baton Rouge, from which the Civil War student can glean additional bits.

If you are familiar with south Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, you will be interested in the level of detail that Richey provides about familiar landscapes, locations, sights and sounds. There are many gems found in the details.

Overall the book is fairly well written. Unfortunately the author tends to be tied to a clipped sentence style that is linear and chronological like reading a diary. To some degree Richey uses reflection, first person narrative and omniscience to flesh out the story but generally it's like reading a diary. I found several editorial mistakes that typically occur in self published or cottage books. A severe criticism is the hand drawn maps and hand drawn pictures of generals mentioned in the book. There are some historical photos, such as that of Sgt. Trasimond Landry, a central figure of Company H but it is as if the author ran out of funds or permission to use available photos and decided to trace the picture instead. Very crude. However, the appendices are helpful.

The alert reader may find a half dozen or so instances where the author belies his personal Confederate sympathies and if inclined might be offended at the anti-Yankee or anti-Lincoln bias that slips out. It didn't bother me and doesn't detract from the book's value because it doesn't change the veracity of the narrative. The book is interesting and a real accomplishment of research at the company and regimental level. I will especially use it to fill in the gaps around divisional movements in big battles and to get a feel for the single soldier's experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tirailleurs Book from Amazon, May 14, 2011

By 

J. M. Verbois "rodeo pro" (Tylertown,Ms.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tirailleurs: A History of The 4th Louisiana and The Acadians of Company H (Paperback)

This book is about many of my relatives from Port Allen and the area around that fought in the war. Thanks Amazon you did it again.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sources..., November 19, 2005

By 

Jerald J. Gassie "jerry623" (Kenosha, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tirailleurs: A History of The 4th Louisiana and The Acadians of Company H (Paperback)

I've just begun reading this book, and it should prove very interesting for anyone who has some ancestry from the West Baton Rouge Parish. Although there are sources sited for much of this book, I found some information regarding my family that does not reference what sources were used. I'd like to know how to contact the author and find the sources that were used for this specific information.