André Cailloux’s last name is pronounced like the old show the kids used to watch: Caillou. He was a black businessman, which is impressive in its own sense, and he was also a captain in the civil war. Cailloux was born in 1825, but the exact date is not known. However, his birthday is celebrated on February 28th. He was born a mixed-race slave on a plantation owned by Joseph Duverney near Pointe a la Hache in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. As a child, he was trained in cigar making. André Cailloux learned how to read while making cigars because it was common for there to be people who read stories to the workers (AARegistry). When André Cailloux was 21, he was emancipated. Once emancipated, Cailloux married Félicie Coulon, who was a former slave herself. He adopted her daughter and had four other children with Félicie Coulon. With the money he earned in the cigar trade, Cailloux bought a cottage in uptown New Orleans and opened up a shop. André Cailloux also sponsored the Institute Catholique, a school that educated Creole and African children (MacKenzie). He was widely liked, trusted, and prominent figure in the city’s free black community. Although he was mixed, he called himself “the blackest man in New Orleans,” which was …show more content…
It had suffered severely from the first, but the gallant captain was seen all along the line encouraging his men with brave words and inspiring them by his noble example. His left arm was shattered [struck by a Minié ball above the elbow], but he refused to leave the field. Now in English and then in French, with his voice faint from exhaustion, he urged his men to the fullest measure of duty. In one heroic effort he rushed to the front of his company and exclaimed, “Follow me!” When within about fifty yards of the fort a shell smote him to death, and he fell, like the brave soldier he was, in the advance with his face to the foe. It was a soldier’s death, and just what he would have