Alfred Mouton, the name sake of our camp, was born on February 18, 1829 in Opelousas. He was the son of Alexandre Mouton, former Governor of Louisiana and the president of the Secession Convention in 1861. Alfred was educated at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, between Opelousas and Lafayette, and went onto West Point and graduated with the class of 1850. He served briefly in the US Army and resigned to take up a career in civil engineering with a railroad firm. He was also a sugar cane planter in Lafayette Parish. He became very active in the Louisiana Militia where he obtained the rank of brigadier general. In 1861, at the outbreak of the War for Southern Independence, Alfred accepted the rank of captain in the Confederate Army. He quicly rose to the rank of colonel and became commander of the 18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. This unit was made up of companies formed all around Acadiana.
Alfred was wounded while serving with the 18th at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee in April, 1862. Upon recovering, he returned to service with the rank of brigadier general and served with Gen. Richard Taylor's Army in the LaFourche, Teche and Red River Campaigns in Louisiana.
The brave "Acadian General" was killed while leading a charge at the Battle of Mansfield, Lousisiana on April 8, 1864. This battle would be the largest Confederate victory west of the Mississippi River. Originally buried on the field, his body was reinterred on April 24, 1867 in the cemetery at St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette, Louisiana. In 2000, the Alfred Mouton Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy hosted a dedication for an obelisk erected in honor of Gen. Mouton at his gravesite. |
