Untold Stories of the Louisiana Native Guard

Five men. One uniform.
A nation not yet ready to embrace them.

Nearly 200,000 African Americans served the Union during the Civil War, yet most of their stories — unlike the 54th Massachusetts — remain buried in pension and military files. Leading to Glory follows five Louisiana men who fought for the freedom they cherished, and whose lives afterward kept pushing the limits society set for people of color.

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André Cailloux · 1st Louisiana Native Guard Pinckney B.S. Pinchback · 2nd Louisiana Native Guard Charles Brown · 3rd La. Native Guard Alphonse Thoney · 3rd La. Native Guard Lovinsky Arsene Giles · 3rd La. Native Guard André Cailloux · 1st Louisiana Native Guard Pinckney B.S. Pinchback · 2nd Louisiana Native Guard Charles Brown · 3rd La. Native Guard Alphonse Thoney · 3rd La. Native Guard Lovinsky Arsene Giles · 3rd La. Native Guard
Leading to Glory official movie poster
Official Poster

Leading to Glory

For many, the 1989 film Glory remains the only reference point for Black military service in the Civil War — yet nearly 200,000 African Americans served in the Union Army and Navy. This film recovers five of those buried stories from Louisiana's own record.

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The Structure

A life told in three acts.

ACT I — BEFORE

Plantation & City

Life before the war in Lafourche Parish and among the free people of color in New Orleans — the world each man was born into, and the one he chose to leave.

ACT II — DURING

Service & Sacrifice

Muster into Federal service, the fight at Port Hudson, and the daily reality of soldiers fighting for a Union that did not yet consider them equal citizens.

ACT III — AFTER

Legacy & Record

Landownership, political life, and philanthropy — and the paper trail of pensions and testimony that lets these stories be told today.

The Roster

Five men, five records.

Each man's story is reconstructed from period documents — pension files, muster rolls, and correspondence — held in project archives.

FILE 01
Widow's pension declaration for Felicie Cailloux, 1871

André Cailloux

1st La. Native Guard / 73rd U.S.C.T.
FILE 02
1907 Pension Bureau postal card correspondence

Pinckney B.S. Pinchback

2nd La. Native Guard / 74th U.S.C.T.
FILE 03
Neighbor's Testimony for Charles Brown, Co. I, 75th U.S.C.I.

Charles Brown

3rd La. Native Guard / 75th U.S.C.T.
FILE 04
Pension affidavit referencing Alphonse Toney, Co. B, 75th U.S.C.I.

Alphonse Thoney

3rd La. Native Guard / 75th U.S.C.T.
FILE 05
Invalid pension certificate for Lovinsky Arsene, Co. B, 75th U.S.C. Vol. Inf.

Lovinsky Arsene Giles

3rd La. Native Guard / 75th U.S.C.T.
PENSION APPLICATION

No. 161539 — Certificate 154576
Widow Cailloux, Louisa
1st La. Native Guards, Co. E

"...state, on oath, the following facts..."
FILED
MUSTER ROLL — 1863

Louisiana Volunteer Corps d'Afrique
Company Roster, Regiment No. 2

Name / Rank / Date of Enlistment
VERIFIED
The Evidence

Built from the record, not the myth.

Every scene draws on primary sources — pension files, succession records, mortgage instruments, and muster rolls — cross-checked against published military history before they reach the script.

Where the record is silent or the handwriting illegible, the film says so on camera rather than filling the gap with invention.

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Behind the Camera

Making the film.

B-ROLL — PORT HUDSON, LA
  • 01

    On location at Port Hudson & Vicksburg

    Drone and HD cinematography of the sites as they stand today, paired with historical photographs to bridge past and present.

  • 02

    Historian interviews

    Commentary from Civil War historians, including Dr. Anthony J. Cade II, filling in context the archival record leaves open.

  • 03

    The traveling mural

    A movable mural depicting key moments accompanies the film on its festival and school circuit, later donated to a permanent home.

Behind the Film

The team.

Leonard Smith III

Leonard Smith III

Director / Producer / Editor

Story strategist and documentarian with over forty years across genealogy, photography, and film. Director/Producer of the award-winning A Place Called Desire and The Gulfside Assembly Story.

Tod A. Smith

Tod A. Smith

Writer / Producer

Emmy, Telly, and Communicator Award-winning writer and photographer with over 30 years of content-creation experience.

Larry Everage Jr.

Larry Everage Jr.

DOP / Producer

Videographer, photographer, and documentarian dedicated to capturing Black culture and traditions. Recipient of several awards, including the Telly Awards, the NOLA Millennial, and Dillard University 40 Under 40.

Get Involved

These stories are being lost. Help us finish telling them.

Leading to Glory is an independent production seeking funding, archival access, and distribution partners to bring these five men's stories to festivals, schools, and public television.

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