Laura Plantation in Vacherie salutes formerly enslaved Union soldiers on Veterans Day

VACHERIE, La. (WGNO) — The state of Louisiana provided over 24,000 soldiers of color to fight for the Union in the Civil War. That’s more than any other state, and some of those veterans are still being honored.

Historian Katy Shannon explained, “Laura Plantation, which has existed since 1805. It existed as a sugar cane plantation; sugar cane is still grown here today. It was founded by a French Naval Veteran and many generations of his family lived here. French was the language spoken at this plantation and it’s still here today.”

While the history of Laura mirrors that of many plantations along the river, Laura’s operators make a concerted effort to tell the story of not only the owners of the property but the enslaved that worked there.

“Not only were there the Duparcs and and Locouls in the big house, there was a whole village of people living here. In fact, the majority of the people living here at Laura Plantation were enslaved. And they spoke French. Some of them, originally in 1805 were from different African tribes,” said Shannon.

During the Civil War, New Orleans was occupied by the Union in 1862. The Native Guard, a militia of free men of color, offered their services and were accepted, taking on the challenge of fighting guerrilla Confederate operations in the area.

“The men who were enslaved at Laura Plantation were forcibly held in bondage. So, they were familiar with that kind of service, an involuntary service, but by enlisting, by voluntarily choosing to serve their country, they were showing that they, too, were citizens of this nation. It was the first time that Black men saw action, and when the second Louisiana Native Guard came through, they liberated the enslaved population here at Laura,” according to Shannon.

Those formerly enslaved men joined the fight for their freedom. Shannon says, “They took the train to New Orleans and enlisted at the Touro Building on Canal Street and were part of what was known as the 3rd Louisiana Native Guard, One of them Edward Gros. His story is told here every day at Laura Plantation. He was a brick mason here, he was born here, we have his baptismal certificate, so he was Catholic, and he spoke French. He was Creole.”

In unison with the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C., Gros and the other men from the 75th US Colored Infantry will be honored at Laura Plantation on Veterans Day.

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