While the city an,
Department of the Gulf, 1862 d its
population were no longer in Confederate
control, Union generals were aghast to see
their army decimated not by bullets, but by
Louisiana’s hot, humid climate and
mosquito-borne yellow fever. Fearful of
counter-attack and watching his New
England troops fall to sickness, General
“Beast” Butler sought to organize separate,
pro-union, militia units of white and, with
misgivings, black Louisiana locals.
Proud Men
