LOUISIANA
US STATE 0F LOUISIANA
In 1699 the whole area drained by the Mississippi river and by its tributaries was claimed as a French dependency - to be known as Louisiane, in honor of King Louis XIV - by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643 - 1687). By the Treaty of Fontainebleau of 1762 the area - which was effectively colonized since 1699 - was ceded to Spain. In 1803 - in execution of the Treaty of Idelfonso of 1801 - Louisiane was returned to France, only to be immediately transferred to the US for about $ 15 million. The following year the most populated southern part of this new US possession was organized as the US Territory of New Orleans, which became the US State of Louisiana in 1812. (1) (1) Unlike the southern part - where there existed major white settelemnts like New Orleans (since 1718) - the northern part was nearly exclusively Native Armerican territory and white presence was limited to some trading posts. This northern area - which formally covered the future states of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and parts of the future states of Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming - was organized as a separate district of Louisiana in 1804 and became the Territory of Louisiana in 1805. (See Missouri for its further history) __________________________________________________________________________________STATE OFFICERS
Governors 1846 - 1850 Isaac Johnson 1803 - 1853 1850 - 1853 Joseph Marshall Walker 1784 - 1856 1853 - 1856 Paul Octave Hébert 1818 - 1880 1856 - 1860 Robert Charles Wickliffe 1819 - 1895 1860 - 1861 Thomas Overton Moore, continued in office as governor of the Confederate State of Louisiana 1804 - 1876
LOUISIANA 1861 - 1868 : CONFEDERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION
Chronology (See also CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA - to be added) 1861 Jan 26 : Louisiana seceded from the Union Feb 08 : Louisiana became a founding member of the Confederate States of America 1862 Apr 28 : Occupation of New Orleans by Union troops. In the course of the following three years the rest of the state was also gradually conquered by forces of the Union Military Department of the Gulf. 1864 Mar 03 : Restoration of civilian rule under Union occupation (first under the Union Military Department of the Gulf until 1865, then under the Union Military Department of Louisiana until 1866, then again under the Union Military Department of the Gulf) 1867 Feb 06 : Louisiana rejected the Fourteenth Amendent of the US Constitution, providing citizenship to - and protection of - the freed slaves. Mar 02 : As a consequence of this rejection, the state was placed under direct Union military rule. __________________________________________________________________________________STATE OFFICERS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATE OF LOUISIANA 1861 - 1865
Governors 1861 - 1864 Thomas Overton Moore, ruled only part of the state since Apr 1862 s.a. 1864 - 1865 BrigGen. Henry Watkins Allen, ruled only part of the state, fled to Mexico after Union victory 1820 - 1866 __________________________________________________________________________________ADMINISTRATORS UNDER UNION OCCUPATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 1865 - 1868
(for more on the Union administrative structure and offices in the occupied South see : The Confederate States of America : Union occupation and Reconstruction - to be added) UNION MILITARY COMMANDERS AND ADMINISTRATORS Military Governor In Jun 1862 a Military Governor was appointed to take charge of the administrative affairs of "pacified" occupied Louisiana (Hitherto managed by the commanders of the Union Military Department of the Gulf). 1862 - 1864 BrigGen. George Foster Shepley 1819 - 1878 A separate "Reconstruction" Union Department of Louisiana was established in 1865. Commander of the Union Department of Louisiana (Subordinated to the Military Division of the Gulf) 1865 - 1866 MajGen. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby 1817 - 1873 In 1866 the Union Military Department of Louisiana was abolished and the state once again became part of a re-established Union Military Department of the Gulf, while in 1867 - 1868 it was part of the Fifth Military District. Commanders of the Union District of Louisiana (= de facto military governors, directly supervising the whole state administration) 1867 - 1868 MajGen. Joseph Anthony Mower 1827 - 1870 1868 MajGen. Robert Christie Buchanan 1811 - 1878 Assistant Commissioners of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (The "Freedmen's Bureau" was concerned with the general welfare of the freed black slaves - especially with their education - and with their integration in the postwar society) 1865 Thomas W. Conway 1865 Gen. James S. Fullerton* 1865 - 1866 MajGen. Absalom Baird 1824 - 1905 1866 MajGen. Philip Henry Sheridan* 1831 - 1888 1866 - 1867 MajGen. Joseph Anthony Mower s.a. 1867 - 1868 LtCol. William H. Wood* 1821 - 1887 1868 MajGen. Robert Christie Buchanan s.a. 1868 - 1869 MajGen. Edward Hatch 1832 - 1889 STATE OFFICERS Governors 1864 - 1865 Michael Georg Decker Hahn 1830 - 1886 1865 - 1867 James Madison Wells, removed from office by the Union military authorities 1808 - 1899 1867 - 1868 Benjamin Franklin Flanders, appointed by the Union military authorities 1816 - 1896 1868 Joshua Baker, appointed by the Union military authorities 1799 - 1885
US STATE OF LOUISIANA
On Jul 09 1868 Louisiana finally ratified the 14th Amendment and was readmitted into the Union. (1) (1) The State remained however under Union military occupation until 1877. It was first under the restored Union Department of Louisiana, then under the Union Department of Texas (1870 - 1871) and finally under the - once again - re-established Union Department of the Gulf. Commanders of the Union Department of Louisiana (Subordinated to the Military Division of the South) 1869 MajGen. Robert Christie Buchanan s.a. 1869 - 1870 MajGen. Joseph Anthony Mower s.a. 1870 MajGen. Joseph Jones Reynolds 1822 - 1899 __________________________________________________________________________________STATE OFFICERS
Governors 1868 - 1872 Henry Clay Warmoth, impeached for supporting McEnery (2) 1842 - 1932 1872 - 1873 Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback* 1837 - 1921 1873 John McEnery (de jure governor from Jan to May) 1833 - 1891 1873 - 1877 William Pitt Kellogg (rival governor from Jan to May 1873, briefly deposed Sep 14-16 1874, s.b.) 1830 - 1918 1877 - 1880 Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (contested Jan to Apr 1877) 1834 - 1912 1877 Stephen Bennett Packard (rival governor Jan to Apr 1877) 1880 - 1881 Louis Alfred Wiltz 1843 - 1881 1881 - 1888 Samuel Douglas McEnery 1837 - 1910 1888 - 1892 Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (2x) 1892 - 1900 Murphy James Foster 1849 - 1921 1900 - 1904 William Wright Heard 1853 - 1926 1904 - 1908 Newton Crain Blanchard 1849 - 1922 1908 - 1912 Jared Young Sanders 1892 - 1944 1912 - 1916 Luther Egbert Hall 1869 - 1921 1916 - 1920 Ruffin Golson Pleasant 1871 - 1937 1920 - 1924 John Milliken Parker 1863 - 1939 1924 - 1926 Henry Fuqua 1865 - 1926 1926 - 1928 Oramel Hincckley Simpson* 1870 - 1932 1928 - 1932 Huey Pierce Long, Jr. "Kingfish" (3) 1893 - 1935 1932 Alvin Olin King** 1890 - 1958 1932 - 1936 Oscar Kelly Allen 1882 - 1936 1936 James Albert Noe* 1893 - 1976 1936 - 1939 Richard Webster Leche 1898 - 1965 1939 - 1940 Earl Kemps Long* 1895 - 1960 1940 - 1944 Sam Houston Jones 1897 - 1978 1944 - 1948 James "Jimmie" Houston Davis 1899 - 2000 (2) Events in Louisiana 1871 - 1877 1871 Aug : The Republican Party split into two factions : - a liberal one [headed by Governor Warmoth (s.a.)], opposed to the radical reconstruction politics of the federal government. - a radical one [headed by Stephen Bennett Packard (s.a.)], in favor of the radical reconstruction politics. 1872 Nov 04 : Louisiana State elections : John McEnery (s.a.), of the liberal faction (and supported by the Democratic Party), received a majority of votes, but was opposed by the Returning Board who decided in favour of William Pitt Kellogg (s.a.) Dec 09 : Governor Warmoth proclaimed McEnery to be his legal successor. Dec 11 : Governor Warmoth was impeached and replaced by LtGov. Pinchback (s.a.), the first Afro-American state governor. 1873 Jan 13 : Both Kellogg and McEnery were inaugurated as governor. For nearly four months Louisiana would now have two rival administrations. May 22 : The Federal Government recognized Kellogg as legitimate governor and federal troops ended the McEnery administration. In the course of the following months tensions between the two factions continued and the Kellogg administration only maintained itself with the support of the federal troops. 1874 Apr 27 : Creation of the para-military "White League" by opponents to the radical reconstruction politics of the Kellogg administration. Sep 14 : Battle of Liberty Place : the State militia was defeated by the White League. Kellogg was deposed and replaced by McEnery. Sep 16 : Federal troops defeated the White League and restored Kellogg. 1876 Nov 07 : Louisiana State elections : Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (s.a.) of the Democratic Party and Stephen Bennett Packard (s.a.) of the Republican Party both claimed victory. 1877 Jan 08 : Both Nicholls and Packard were inaugurated as governor. Like in 1873 Louisiana once again had two administrations. Mar 03 : Following the so-called "Tilden-Hayes Compromise" - whereby the southern states recognized the Republican Hayes as US president in exchange of the end of federal intervention in their internal affairs - the federal government withdrew its support to the Packard administration. Apr 25 : Retirement of Packard. (3) Long apparantely was the most powerfull state governor the US ever had and some even say that his disregard for democratic institutions and rules and the total concentration of nearly all power in his hands made him virtually a dictator. His success was based on his popularity among the masses, a consequence of his radical social politics (like the building of a modern road system, the expansion of state hospitals, the extension of the school system into remote rural areas, the organization of free nightschool courses for adults of both races, etc) In 1930 he was elected to the US Senate, but he only toke his seat in 1932 after having imposed his men - first King (s.a.) and then Allen (s.a) - as state chief executives. During his tenure of office as senator he continued however to be the real "ruler" of Louisiana, creating his own secret police, imposing bills through the Louisiana legislature (controlled by his supporters), reorganizing the state administration (by virtually abolishing local government and assuming the right to appoint all state employees), ... In 1935 he intended to run for the presidency, but before he could present his candidature he was assassinated (formally by a political opponenent, but according to other sources by the Cosa Nostra)
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