Black Patriot and a White Priest: Andre Cailloux and Claude Paschal Maistre in Civil War New Orleans (review)

In Black Patriot and a White Priest, Stephen J. Ochs explores the relationship between religion and race in antebellum New Orleans. The central focus is the Afro-Creole population, which was part of a tri-partite racial system specific to antebellum New Orleans. Ochs demonstrates how this population played important roles in both the Civil War and the Catholic Church. He also sheds light on the cultural, political, religious, and military issues of the day.

Ochs first addresses the lives of Andre Cailloux and Claude Pauschal Maistre separately, then brings them together symbolically. Cailloux, the first war hero of color to receive national attention, is described as an honourable, hard-working man who was a natural leader and friend. When Cailloux decided, for unclear reasons, to volunteer for military service, he became captain of the 1st Louisiana. Cailloux fought on the side of the Union in a militia unit called the Native Guards. When his men fought at Port Hudson under misguided leadership, Cailloux was killed and the mythos of this fallen captain was born. In the first part of the book, Cailloux is a symbol of the cultural and socioeconomic circumstances of Afro-Creoles in antebellum New Orleans. In the second half, he becomes a symbol of courage, loyalty, and honor to people of color who fought in the war.

The "white priest," Claude Pauschal Maistre, became increasingly involved, particularly during the war years, with the community of Afro-Creoles that yielded Cailloux. As the sole abolitionist priest in New Orleans, Maistre embraced "protest Catholicism" enabling Afro-Creoles and slaves alike to celebrate their faith without the politically engineered racism of pro-Confederate clergy.

Though Maistre's own past was mired in scandal, he nonetheless fought against church superiors and white elites in the community for his right to celebrate mass with black people. He served as head priest of St. Rose church, whose congregation included slaves, freedmen, and Afro-Creoles. When the parish was forced to close down, Maistre responded by making plans to build his own all-black church. Ochs illustrates how tirelessly and fearlessly Maistre fought to minister to the Afro-Creole community.

Though Maistre and Cailloux never actually met, Ochs repeatedly ties together the symbolic importance of their actions. Against the backdrop of turbulent times within the Catholic Church and within the United States, Maistre and Cailloux dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom. Through these two figures, Ochs depicts the struggle for racial and social equality with as much complexity as the society it reflected.