Arnold Bertonneau: “Every Man Should Stand Equal before the Law”

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Arnold Bertonneau:“Every Man Should Stand Equalbefore the Law”
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Abstract

E. Arnold Bertonneau (1834–1912) was a Black wine merchant in New Orleans at the time the Civil War broke out in 1861. He was also a war veteran and an activist for African American suffrage. A free man, Bertonneau was one of the officers the First Louisiana Native Guard, a Confederate volunteer regiment that was formed in 1861. The unit was disbanded the following year. In April 1862, it was reorganized into a Union regiment under its original Black officers, thus making Bertonneau one of the few soldiers to serve in both the Confederate and Union forces, and one of the first Black army officers in American history. Bertonneau later resigned his commission, protesting unequal treatment of Black soldiers.

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