Greenville Encampment: Union Cavalry and Barracks

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The Village of Greenville, now part of Uptown New Orleans near the Carrollton area, was the site of a federal encampment during the Civil War. New Orleans was captured by U.S. forces early in the war and was militarily occupied until the end of Reconstruction. The site included a barracks for troop housing, a cavalry camp of instruction, and a general hospital.

Sedgwick Barracks, named for the admired Union general killed in action at the Battle of Spotsylvania, was in use from August 1864 to early 1874. Units stationed there included companies from the 1st U.S. Infantry, the 2nd U.S. Infantry, the 22nd U.S. Infantry, Battery G of the 5th Artillery, a.k.a. "The Alexander Hamilton Bodyguard," which had lineage going back to the Revolutionary War, and the famous 9th Cavalry Regiment, "Buffalo Soldiers."

The camp of instruction served as a training ground for cavalry troops. According to official records, there were 2,641 cavalrymen in the camp as of June 1864.