, Co. B., 73rd U.S.C.T., holds the distinction
of
being the sole Creole / Person of Color Officer on the Blakeley Battlefield.
Snaer was considered a free person of color in New Orleans upon
his joining the Louisiana Native Guards in 1862. At the final
charge at Blakeley he received a shell wound in his left foot
and was treated for six days in the Field Hospital near Fort
Blakeley.
Colonel Merriam said about Snaer, "Captain Snaer fell with
a severe wound at my feet as I reached the line. He refused
to sheathe his sword or to be carried off the field . .
|
. No
braver officer has honored any flag." Snaer moved to California
and died there in 1917 at the age of 75.
|
Major-General
Henry C. Merriam, in a paper read May 3, 1905 to the Military
Order of the Loyal Legion of United States, concluded by stating
what was unknown to many:
"Thus ended the assault and capture of Fort Blakeley
with its garrison of four thousand men and forty heavy guns.
It lost much attention and public appreciation through the
overshadowing event transpiring in Virginia on the same day
. . . the surrender of Lee . . . but its place in history,
as the last assault of our great and bloody Civil War, will
always be assured."
The Moors...... A good place to start Creole History....Click here
|
