Originally
captain of Company B of the 1st Regiment, was promoted to major
in the 2nd Louisiana Native Guards, thus becoming the highest
ranking non-white, Dumas inherited a plantation but proceeded
to enlist his slaves for service in the Union Army.
The only wealthy man among the officers of the 1st Louisiana Native Guards, Captain Francis E. Dumas of Company B, had recently
returned from France and had inherited a sugar plantation and
a large number of slaves.
Dumas left the regiment, however,
to accept a major's commission in the 3rd Regiment, thus becoming
the first nonwhite field officer in the United States Army.
In the process, he also freed his slaves and enlisted approximately
one hundred of them into his regiment.
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