I have collected a good bit of information on Lt. Paul, but I am away from home and cannot access it at present. I should be home next week.

He was a member of Co G, of the 2nd LA Cavalry and spent much of 1864-1865 on detached duty in Rapides and Calcasieu Parishes, chasing down jayhawkers and deserters. He was captured at Henderson Hill (Rapides Parish) on 21 March 1864. He was sent to New Orleans, arriving 26 March, and imprisoned in an officers prison at 29 Rampart Street until he was exchanged at Red River Landing on 22 July 1864. He spent the rest of the war on the upper reaches of the Calcasieu River, hunting jayhawkers and deserters. I have copies of some letters he wrote to senior officers of the 2nd LA Cavalry in April and May 1865 that I can share with you.

I believe he was promoted to 1st Lt in 1865, but he never reached the rank of captain. The Captain title was an honorific based on his years of service as Sheriff of Rapides Parish and Mayor of Alexandria. He was one the three leaders of the southern men at the Colfax riot or massacre in 1873.

If you send me an e-mail (don.gayle@frontier.com), I will share as much as I have with you.

Don Parker