Port Hudson Surrender Marker — New Orleans Connection

When Union forces took New Orleans in April 1862, the city became the staging ground for the campaign upriver against Port Hudson, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. Control of Port Hudson and Vicksburg would give the Union uninterrupted command of the entire river — cutting the Confederacy in half. On May 27, 1863, the 1st and 3rd Louisiana Native Guards — free men of color from New Orleans — charged Confederate fortifications at Port Hudson. This was the first time Black soldiers were committed to major combat in the Civil War. Their courage under fire helped convince Lincoln that Black people deserved the right to vote. The connection between New Orleans and Port Hudson is one of the most important Civil War stories in the South. New Orleans wasn't just the Union's prize — it was the arsenal and the proving ground for a fight that changed what the war meant.