Pointe Coupee Artillery at Champion Hill

Vicksburger

First Sergeant
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Location
Saint Joseph
In Tim Smith's book on Champion Hill, he has an excerpt that talks about near the end of the battle, an officer in Co. C Pointe Coupee Artillery, of French descent, held his ground with his two guns, despite the fact that the rest of the Confederate army had retreated, and he was alone, and the entire Yankee army was approaching. He had been ordered to hold his ground, and through some oversight, had never gotten the order to retreat. The account came from a member of the retreating Botetourt Artillery.
Does anybody know who the officer was ? Was he a confirmed casualty? It is a heart-wrenching story.
 
In Tim Smith's book on Champion Hill ... Does anybody know who the officer was? ...

His identity is discussed further in the book's notes (page 455). Seems to point towards John Yoist of Company A instead.

However Smith doesn´t include Alexandre Amaron LeDoux, who was a 20 years-old Lieutenant in Company C; killed at Champion Hill. So it most likely was him.
 
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Hi, I have been researching the arty company from Pointe Coupee Parish since the late 90s. You are correct, the Lieut. that Sgt. Obenchain talked to was Lt. Alex A. LeDoux. A source or two shows that LeDoux was at least a Sr. 2nd Lieut. at Champion Hill and possibly a Jr. 1st Lieut. I determined this too late for Tim Smith's excellent book but let him in 2007 about LeDoux and then wrote an article in the Pointe Coupee Banner discussing this. Since that time I have learned even more interesting facts about this event. Sr. 1st. Lt. John Yoist, commanding the second section of Co. A and Sr. 1st Lt. Alex Chust, commanding the first section of Co. C were both 30 years old and survived the war. Many of my boys disappear at Champion Hill but I was not missing one single officer for the entire war, except LeDoux. He has been found and as Obenchain explained, "Bravery like his ought to be made known".
 
According to Sid Champion V,many of the Confederate dead at Champion Hill were buried in burial trenches. I seem to recall him saying that he knows the location of at least one of them on the battlefield property that remains in the family.
 
The Pointe Coupee Artillery flag is at Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans:

2017-10-26 19.40.08.jpg
 
Hi, I have been researching the arty company from Pointe Coupee Parish since the late 90s. You are correct, the Lieut. that Sgt. Obenchain talked to was Lt. Alex A. LeDoux. A source or two shows that LeDoux was at least a Sr. 2nd Lieut. at Champion Hill and possibly a Jr. 1st Lieut. I determined this too late for Tim Smith's excellent book but let him in 2007 about LeDoux and then wrote an article in the Pointe Coupee Banner discussing this. Since that time I have learned even more interesting facts about this event. Sr. 1st. Lt. John Yoist, commanding the second section of Co. A and Sr. 1st Lt. Alex Chust, commanding the first section of Co. C were both 30 years old and survived the war. Many of my boys disappear at Champion Hill but I was not missing one single officer for the entire war, except LeDoux. He has been found and as Obenchain explained, "Bravery like his ought to be made known".
Interesting. Thanks for posting.

By the way, have you done much research on 2nd Section Company A? They became detached from Loring’s division and retreated into Vicksburg. I’m interested in what type guns they had with them.
Thanks.
 
Hi, I have been researching the arty company from Pointe Coupee Parish since the late 90s. You are correct, the Lieut. that Sgt. Obenchain talked to was Lt. Alex A. LeDoux. A source or two shows that LeDoux was at least a Sr. 2nd Lieut. at Champion Hill and possibly a Jr. 1st Lieut. I determined this too late for Tim Smith's excellent book but let him in 2007 about LeDoux and then wrote an article in the Pointe Coupee Banner discussing this. Since that time I have learned even more interesting facts about this event. Sr. 1st. Lt. John Yoist, commanding the second section of Co. A and Sr. 1st Lt. Alex Chust, commanding the first section of Co. C were both 30 years old and survived the war. Many of my boys disappear at Champion Hill but I was not missing one single officer for the entire war, except LeDoux. He has been found and as Obenchain explained, "Bravery like his ought to be made known".
Could you post the article you wrote on the Pointe Coupee Banner?, sounds interesting.
 
Interesting. Thanks for posting.

By the way, have you done much research on 2nd Section Company A? They became detached from Loring’s division and retreated into Vicksburg. I’m interested in what type guns they had with them.
Thanks.
Yes, that was Yoist's section. I concluded he must have had the 12 pdr Howitzers despite having two 3-inch rifled 6 pounders in the Vicksburg trenches. But for sure his two guns were one or the other.
 
Yes, that was Yoist's section. I concluded he must have had the 12 pdr Howitzers despite having two 3-inch rifled 6 pounders in the Vicksburg trenches. But for sure his two guns were one or the other.
Thanks. I’m working on a theory that they might have had two 3.3” rifles. I wonder if you might have knowledge regarding that by any chance.
 
The Pointe Coupee Artillery flag is at Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans:

View attachment 187466
That is their flag that was taken from at Nashville by Pvt. William May of Co. H, 32nd Iowa Infantry. May won the Medal of Honor. The war department returned many flags to the respective southern states in 1905 and that flag ended up in the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum in New Orleans. It was in pristine condition when captured because they never flew it in battle and really only flew it for revues and parades. It deteriorated a good bit while in storage either in Iowa or in D. C. Bouanchaud's descendants, others and I raised money to have it restored a few years ago. The war department had marked it "202" that is still prevalent and it had other writing on it explaining who and when captured but I think all of that faded away.
 
Thanks. I’m working on a theory that they might have had two 3.3” rifles. I wonder if you might have knowledge regarding that by any chance.

What was a 3.3 inch rifle? From my notes the only type guns the two companies had were 3.67 inch smoothbore 6 pounders, 12 pdr Howitzers and 3 inch rifled 6 pounders.

What are you working on, I may be able to help. I have analyzed all CS guns at Champion Hill, type, if lost, etc.
 
What was a 3.3 inch rifle? From my notes the only type guns the two companies had were 3.67 inch smoothbore 6 pounders, 12 pdr Howitzers and 3 inch rifled 6 pounders.

What are you working on, I may be able to help. I have analyzed all CS guns at Champion Hill, type, if lost, etc.
Thanks. I will PM (personal message) you later tonight about it so as not to take this thread off topic. I look forward to your comments.
 
I have copies of all of Sgt. Obenchain's files from the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections. He was known for his remarkable memory and later in life was a Chicago stock broker which allowed him to interview those Illinois veterans about the event. He was obsessed for many years in finding the name of the Unknown Hero of Champion Hill - I have never seen one single recollection he made that wasn't 100% accurate. Everything he said describing LeDoux fits. His map of where LeDoux's two guns were located also fits perfectly if looking for an elevation in that area. Many, many other interesting things that back up everything Obenchain recalled 40 years later. Records show he was getting closer and closer to talking to the right people. He very well may have figured this out back then.
 
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