Lastie Richard, now and old man with
silvery
stubble on his face sat in one of the
cowhide
chairs arranged on the large wooden
porch
shaded by two huge Chinaball Trees.
He began
telling his story in French, the only
language
Eva, his daughter, and Drozin Hebert,
Eva�s
new husband understood. �Everywhere
you looked
there was carnage. The dead, decaying
and
swollen bodies of Confederate and Union
soldiers
lying all around, most were still holding
their rifles, pistols or swords. There
were
dead humans and horses; the stench
was almost
unbearable. Some of the dead were lying
in
open lush green pastures that resembled
the
rolling prairies back home, while others
were hanging over rail fences and appeared
to be looking at the cornfields; a
few were
lying in a shallow stream, as if they
were
taking their last drink of water.
There was an old dilapidated farmhouse and
barn nearby that had been burned and they
were still smoldering while its inhabitants,
an elderly couple, were both dead along with
their animals, which consisted of three horses,
four hogs, and two cows. Bellowing next to
one of the dead cows was a skinny red calf
of no more than three or four days old.
I have never seen so much worthless
killing
and destruction as near the Shenandoah
River
at Port Republic, in Rockingham County,
Virginia,�
said Lastie Richard, his eyes were
red and
glittery as he spoke about the battle.
Eva and Drozin repeated Lastie�s story
to
their daughter, Angela and her husband,
Clebert
Menard. While Eva was repeating the
story,
Clebert had to swallow back a lump
that was
rising in his throat, while Angela�s
eyes
were red rimmed and puffy as she openly
cried
for the unfortunate souls and the pain
that
her grandfather had obviously experienced.
It was then, at that moment, when Angela
decided she would never again allow
guns
in her home. A sentiment later shared
by
her children.
�On Monday, June 9, 1862, at the battle
of
Port Republic, Virginia, a beautiful
and
spectacular day, too damn pretty to
be fighting
a war. I remember seeing the Union
Armies
retreating and the next thing I know
I�m
in a farmhouse with other wounded soldiers,
some dead or dying, and a doctor was
removing
a lead bullet from my body,� added
Lastie.
Clebert had never met Lastie, his wife�s
grandfather, but he had great admiration
for the old soldier as he listened intently
to the story.
When Eva finished with her father�s story,
Angela went back to setting pear tree branches
into the ground to be used as tomato stakes.
Little did she know, the pear branches would
later grow to become large pear trees, producing
an abundance of fruit.
Lastie was born May 19, 1835, his parents
were Joseph and Eugenie Francois Richard.
The United States Federal Census of 1860
recorded Lastie as being twenty-five years
old and living in Lafayette, Louisiana, and
it lists the post office as being in Vermilionville.
Lastie enlisted March 3, 1862 in St Landry
Parish and was assigned to Company C. Why
enlist? Most Acadians did not volunteer,
but the stigma of being drafted was so great
that it induced potential draftees to volunteer.
Many referred to the war as la guerre de
les Americians. Translated in English literally
meant, the American�s war. Lastie probably
didn�t own any slaves and most likely he
was against the war, as most Cajuns, but
they were forced to fight it.
The Sixth Infantry Regiment was organized
in May of 1861 at Camp Moore, in east
Louisiana�s
Tangipahoa Parish. It was the largest
confederate
training base in the state; and its
members
were recruited in New Orleans and the
parishes
of Union, Sabine, Ouachita, St. Landry
and
St. Bernard; and the Louisiana Tigers
were
organized and trained at Camp Moore;
they
developed a reputation as being fearless
and hard fighting. And now, nearly
150 years
later the nickname Louisiana �Tigers�
lives
on with the athletic teams of LSU.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis
directly
authorized the establishment of Camp
Moore
specifically chosen due to its relatively
high ground elevation, abundance of
fresh
drinking water and being adjacent to
the
then New Orleans, Jackson and Great
Northern
Railroad; made it convenient for sending
and receiving men, material and supplies.
The camp was named after Louisiana�s Governor,
Thomas O. Moore. Just three months after
the camp opened it was struck by an epidemic
of measles; a deadly disease, which claimed
the lives of nearly 700 young and patriotic
Louisiana soldiers without having once faced
the enemies of their beloved south.
After their training Lastie and the
Louisiana
Tigers were ordered to Virginia, the
regiment
served under General Richard S. Ewell
at
the First Battle of Manassas, and then
were
assigned to General Richard Taylor�s,
Hay�s
and Tork�s Brigade. After participating
in
Stonewall Jackson�s Valley Campaign,
they
fought with the Army of Northern Virginia
from the Seven Days� Battles to Cold
Harbor.
It continued the fight with Early in
the
Shenandoah Valley and later shared
in the
Appomattox operations. The Sixth Infantry
reported sixty-six casualties at Cross
Keys
and Port Republic, one of which was
Lastie
Richard. Another forty-seven more casualties
were reported during the Maryland Campaign,
twelve at Fredericksburg, and eighty-one
at Chancellorsville. Forty-three were
killed
and wounded at Second Winchester, and
fifty-four
at Gettysburg. After the war Lastie
returned
home, and married on September 18,
1866 to
Emelie Doguet. Four years later the
United
States Federal Census of 1870 lists
Lastie
age thirty-three and Emelie, his wife,
age
thirty-one and at the time they had
two children;
they were William age three and Olida
age
one month.
Together Lastie and Emelie had four more
children. From the order of their births,
they were: Eva, Agnes, Felicianne and Felicia.
There is no record of what happened
to their
oldest son, William. Olide married
on December
9, 1889, to Eva Allemand of Lafayette.
Eva
Richard married on February 5, 1894
to Drozin
Hebert (our Great Grandparents and
the parents
of Angela Hebert, aka, Mom-mom Menard).
Agnes
married on January 9, 1895 to Oheluci
Roche,
Felicia married on October 6, 1897
to Alexis
Hebert and Felicianne married on October
1, 1898 to Adam Allemand. All three
above
mentioned names were from Rayne.
On December 13, 1880 Lastie Richard applied
for and probably received Civil War Pension
due to being wounded at Port Republic, Virginia.
Lastie Richard died, date unknown,
and was
buried south of Mire, Louisiana, beside
his
wife, Emelie Doguet Richard. Lastie�s
gravestone
is a white concrete Confederate headstone;
and is located next to a sugarcane
field
along Soldier Road, just off of highway
95.
Written by William J. Thibodeaux
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