1st Louisiana Battalion (Dreux’s Battalion) Ball Cap

The Battalion completed its organization at New Orleans, Louisiana, during the spring of 1861 with men from Orleans, Caddo, and Terrebonne Parishes. Its six companies moved to Virginia and for a time served in the Department of the Peninsula. Later the Battalion was placed under the command of General Griffith and in April 1862, totaled 315 men. In June it disbanded, and the men transferred to other Louisiana commands. Lieutenant Colonels Charles D. Dreux and Nicholas Rightor, and Major James H. Beard were its field officers.

On July 5, 1861, Colonel Dreux was killed while leading an attempted ambush against the enemy near Newport News, Virginia. Dreux thus became the first Louisiana officer and one of the first Confederate officers to be killed in the Civil War. Dreux’s body was returned to New Orleans for the hero’s funeral where a large crowd watched silently as his coffin was unloaded and escorted to the City Hall by a company of Militia. The Colonel’s body lay in state for several days and was viewed by thousands of mourners. On July 13th, following a funeral service that involved forty Catholic priests, his casket was placed on an artillery carriage drawn by six coal black horses, escorted by a squadron of cavalry, to Saint Louis Cemetery. Over 200 carriages with such dignitaries as Governor Moore and Mayor Monroe followed the casket, while another 10,000 mourners walked behind. The procession was viewed by an estimated 60,000 people and is one of the largest funeral processions ever held in the City of New Orleans.

This flag was restored through the efforts of the Pelican Arms Collectors, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

008.001.057