1st Louisiana Native Guard (United States)

1st Louisiana Native Guard
Officers of Company C of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard at Fort Macomb, Louisiana
Active	1862–1865
Country	United States of America
Allegiance	USA
Branch	Union Army, American Civil War
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Port Hudson
Commanders
Notable commanders	Henry C. Merriam

The 1st Louisiana Native Guard (later became the 73rd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops) was one of the first all-black regiments to fight in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and played a prominent role in the Siege of Port Hudson. Its members included a minority of free men of color from New Orleans; most were African-American men who had escaped from slavery to join the Union cause and gain freedom.

A predecessor regiment by the same name 1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA) had served in the Confederate Louisiana militia, made up of free men of color who had served in the militia before the war.

After New Orleans fell to Admiral David Farragut in April 1862, Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler headquartered his 12,000-man Army of the Gulf in New Orleans. On September 27, 1862, Butler organized the Union Army's 1st Louisiana Native Guard regiment, some of whose members had also been part of the previous Confederate Native Guard regiment. The regiment's initial strength was 1,000 men, composed mostly of African-American men who had escaped from slavery to gain freedom.

Former Confederate Lt. Andre Cailloux, a Creole of color in New Orleans, was named captain of Company E. P. B. S. Pinchback, also a free man of color, captain of Company A. James Lewis, a former steward on the Confederate river-steamer De Soto, was captain of company K. During this period, some slaves who escaped from nearby plantations joined the regiment, but the Union Army's official policy discouraged such enrollments. In November 1862, the number of escaped slaves seeking to enlist became so great that the Union organized a second regiment and, a month later, a third regiment.