Arnold Bertonneau was a New Orleans wine merchant, black soldier, and is best known as one of the first African American participants in Louisiana’s Reconstruction period.
Born in New Orleans sometime in 1834, in 1862-63, Bertonneau was a captain in the 1st Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards.
This volunteer black regiment originated in 1861 under the Confederacy and included only free blacks.
Once the Union Army occupied New Orleans in April 1862, the Native Guards were re-commissioned to serve in the Union as reinforcement troops.
They also now accepted runaway slaves.
On May 27, 1863, the Louisiana Native Guards were among the first troops in the Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana.
Two months prior to this battle, however, Bertonneau resigned his commission in protest due to the mistreatment and misuse of his men.
Bertonneau returned to New Orleans and became a central figure in the campaign to win black suffrage.