A Black Patriot and a White Priest - (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) by Stephen J Ochs (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Stephen J. Ochs chronicles the intersecting lives of the first black military Civil War hero, Captain André Cailloux of the 1st Louisiana Native Guards, and the lone Catholic clerical voice of abolition in New Orleans, the Reverend Claude Paschal Maistre. Their paths converged in July 1863, when Maistre, in defiance of his archbishop, officiated at a large public military funeral for Cailloux, who had perished while courageously leading a doomed charge against the Confederate bastion of Port Hudson. The story of how Cailloux and Maistre arrived at that day and what happened as a consequence provides a prism through which to view the black military experience and the complex interplay of slavery, race, radicalism, and religion during American democracy's most violent upheaval.

Review Quotes

A fascinating and complex tale of two men who fought for racial justice and paid dearly for their efforts.-- "Journal of Southern History"

A window into the life of free people of color, the inner workings of the Roman Catholic Church in antebellum and wartime New Orleans, the military and religious experience of blacks, and Afro-Creole radicalism. A tall order by any measure, yet Ochs is successful.-- "Arkansas Review"

An invaluable resource for the study of race relations in nineteenth-century Creole New Orleans.-- "Catholic Historical Review"

Rarely do books meet such high aspirations, yet this one certainly does. Well written and impressively researched in social, military, and religious history, [it] relates a tragic yet inspiring story of two quite different individuals who, while they never seemed to have met, fought for equal rights regardless of color.-- "Journal of American History"

About the Author

Stephen J. Ochs is the author of two previous books, including Desegregating the Altar: The Josephites and the Struggle for Black Priests, 1871-1960. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is chair of the history department at Georgetown Preparatory School.