There's no doubt a significant number of the criminal element served in the Louisiana Tigers units. Numerous letters, diaries, and memoirs attest to that fact. No one enjoys a wild Tiger story more than me, but one should not conclude that all Tigers were criminals. In fact, the vast majority were good Christian men who served honorably under very trying circumstances. Just like today, it was human nature in the 1860s to write about the sensational things one witnessed. Seeing a Louisiana Tiger kneel in the snow to pray with soldiers from other states might not warrant a comment in a letter home, but seeing a drunken Tiger attack an officer would. My book "Lee's Tigers" details many unflattering portraits of the Tigers, but (I hope)readers come away from it with an appreciation of their bravery and sacrifice. As for the prostitutes, that is a story I have never come across. I would love for someone to document it as being true, but I seriously doubt it ever happened. Perhaps Art Bergeron, who knows much more about Petersburg than I, can weigh in on this.