BUY Rebel Flags For SaleOn July 14, 2016, a suspected arson fire destroyed the Governor’s Mansion in Opelousas, Louisiana. The house had served Confederate Governor Thomas O. Moore for less than a year, between 1862 and 1863, when Opelousas was the Confederate capital of Louisiana. A nearby museum was also set on fire but was not heavily damaged. The mansion was a total loss.
Louisiana’s Wartime Capitals
When the war began, Louisiana’s capital was Baton Rouge. After New Orleans fell to Union forces in April 1862, Baton Rouge was soon in danger too, and Governor Moore moved the state government west to Opelousas, in the heart of Acadiana. For about a year, the small town served as the Confederate capital of Louisiana.
In the spring of 1863, Union troops under General Nathaniel Banks pushed up Bayou Teche toward Opelousas, and the government moved again, this time to Shreveport, which remained the capital of Confederate Louisiana until the end of the war.
Governor Thomas Overton Moore
Thomas Overton Moore was a sugar planter from Rapides Parish who was elected governor in 1859. He led Louisiana out of the Union in January 1861 and worked hard to raise and equip troops for the Confederacy. After the war, he spent time in Texas and Mexico, then returned to Louisiana, where he received a pardon and lived quietly on his plantation until his death in 1876.
A Loss for Louisiana History
Opelousas is one of the oldest cities in Louisiana, and the Governor’s Mansion was a direct link to its role in the war. The loss of a historic building to fire can never be undone. Read more about the war in Louisiana and across the South in our post The 7, 11 and 13 Rebel States, and honor Louisiana’s history with a flag from our Confederate flag collection.
Source: Washington Post: Civil War governor’s mansion in Louisiana destroyed in fire
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