"Some names shall deck the page of history as it is written on stone. Some will not." (Natasha Trethewey Native Guard)The Louisiana Native Guard was an all black infantry unit for the Confederate army in the Civil War. After New Orleans fell to the Union, the Native Guards 'switched sides' as it were and began fighting for the North. Take the word 'fighting' lightly because on the list of duties delegated to the Guard it was at the very bottom. Building and guarding forts, digging trenches, and doing other menial jobs were the responsibility of the Guards- a far cry from the frontlines they were promised to defend when they became Union Soldiers.
You would think these men would be seen as honorable for their willingness to fight for the freedom of AfricanAmericans and would therefore be treated as such, however the Union soldiers treated them no better and no worse than the Confederates. After the fighting was over, most of the members of the Native Guard went on to join in movements for equal rights.
