Retourner à la fiche de: Paul-Octave Hebert

Civil War Confederate Brigadier General, Louisiana Governor. He graduated 1st in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and received a commission as 2nd Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1840. He served at the Military Academy as Assistant Professor of Engineering till resigning from the Army in 1845 to accept the position of Chief Engineer of the State of Louisiana. At outbreak of the Mexican War in 1847, he was re-appointed to the United States Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, in the 14th Infantry. He was brevetted to Colonel, September 8, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battle of Molina del Rey. After the war he became a planter in Iberville Parish and was elected Governor of Louisiana in 1852, serving from January 1, 1853 to January 28, 1856. With the advent of the Civil War, he was commissioned Colonel, 1st Louisiana (CSA) Artillery in early 1861 and promoted Brigadier General on August 17, 1861. He commanded the Texas defenses at Galveston, the District of North Louisiana and was involved in the conflict at Milliken's Bend on June 7, 1863. In August, 1864, he was appointed commander of the eastern District of Texas and held this post until May, 1865. On May 25, 1865, he assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi Department and surrendered to Union General Gordon Granger the next day on May 26, 1865. Following the Civil War he returned to Louisiana, was a planter and remained active in politics till his death from cancer at age 61.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith