2nd Louisiana Confederate Cavalry: my Johnson family ancestors

Francois Joseph Vautrot and the other families that exiled themselves to Brazil:

the story of the Pernambuco colony of Confederados, and the story of the Johnsons—Francois J Vautrot’s step-children.

Most are misspelled. It turns out they were all related except Mrs. W. Macnett must have married William Macnett of Virginia while in Brazil. She and the children were all Andrus and returned to that name shortly after they came back to the states.  Francois Vautrot was the likely leader of the group. His wife’s first husband was William Johnson. Her sister Penelope married a Sibilli. Her daughter married Macnett. They were all from St Landry Parish, LA and all related through blood or marriage. They all returned there except the Andrus-Macnetts went to Virginia for a while.

 Just a reminder that it is my wife, Rena, and her sister, Virginia, who are the great great granddaughters of Ameilia Burleigh Johnson. Their grandfather was the youngest, I believe, of the Pernambuco Confederados. He was Early Andrus.

That’s the big story of the Pernambuco Colony of Confederados.

 Yes, Ameilia and William Johnson, Jr had several children.

William Johnson (or Jeansonne when they were married) died. I think he left her fairly well off. While Vautrot appears to have had money, I think the marriage increased his holdings. 

I would think you would be considered related just as half-brothers are related. 

I knew you would like finding someone related on the CSS Alabama. What I thought was interesting was he was in the 2nd La. Cavalry, same as the Johnsons and Andrus. I had not seen that unit in the Vicksburg campaign and they did not surrender there.

You are certainly directly related to the Burleighs which is an old Louisiana family. Her father was Charles Robert Burleigh. You can probably Google that name and come up with more family history and a lot of new cousins.

All the people in Pernambuco were related. If you look at the newspaper article you can follow this.

Mrs. Joseph Sabilli was Penelope Burleigh, sister to Emilia.

Josiah, William, & Solomon Johnson Sr. were all sons of Emilia & William.

Emilie Burleigh Johnson's son is John Johnson…he was in the Company A, 2^nd Louisiana Calvary. He enlisted Aug 18, 1862 in Opelousas, La; he died one year later on Aug 18, 1863. His wife/widow was Adelaide Johnson. His brother Josiah Johnson was also in the 2^nd Louisiana Calvary.

The widow Desire Arnaud was Sara Burleigh, sister to Ameilia

The widow Drouhin was Josephine Burleigh, niece to Ameilia.

Children of Amelia Burleigh Johnson (when married to William Johnson):

Josiah, John, William Jr, Solomon, Matilda Johnson

Now our group which is a little more confusing:

Ameilia & William's daughter, Matilda Johnson, married Steven O. Andrus. He was in the same unit during the war as some of the Johnsons. They (Steven Andrus + Matilda Johnson) had 5 children: Horace, Thurston, William Eli, Early and Mary Andrus. Steven & Matilda divorced, perhaps because he did not want to go to Brazil. He continued to try to farm in the Church Point area. 

She returned from Brazil as Mrs. William McNett (of Virginia) and all the children came back as Andrus-McNett. It’s possible she married before she left, finding William McNett of Virginia in Louisiana but I think it more likely she found him in Brazil. On return, she and the children and probably her husband went to Norfolk Virginia. She probably split from him as the names returned to Andrews for a short time and Andrus (just a different spelling). All eventually made their way back to Louisiana except Thurston Andrus stayed in Norfolk.

Amelia’s sisters: Penelope and Sarah

Josiah went to Brazil with the group.  Steven O Andrus did not but divorced Matilda instead. He was in the 2nd as well

Joseph Early Andrus was my wife's grandfather. Amelia was Early Andrus’ grandmother (he is the son of her daughter, Mathilda).

That’s pretty much the story although several loose ends and all this is from my memory and not my notes. The (Steven) Andrus / (Joshia, John) Johnson unit ended the war as the Louisiana 2nd Calvary but it was another unit earlier. Steven Andrus and the Johnson brothers were Brother-in-Laws, as Steven married their sister Mathilda.

I think the Johnsons (brothers to Matilda, sons to Ameila Burleigh Johnson Vautrot) were in the same unit as Steven O Andrus, Matilda's husband.

Have not been able to find anything on William McNett. Could be Mc Knight as that would have been pronounced as McNett using the Virginia drawl at the time.

Mrs. Solomon Johnson was Sarah Jane "Clara" Andrus so she was probably related to Steven Andrus as well but I have not nailed that down.

Cheryl is granddaughter of William Eli Andrus. Linda is from Horace (correct?). My wife, Rena, is from Joseph Early Andrus. All come from Matilda Johnson Andrus & Steven O Andrus and then Amelia Burleigh Johnson Vautrot, her mother. We have no pictures of Rena’s grandfather which is why I pursue this. They are out there somewhere in the hands of Andrus’s (in Norfolk), Johnsons, Sibillis, or Burleighs but somewhere. I have located hundreds of pictures of my family in obscure places so I know to keep looking.

At Church Point cemetery, there is a Vautrot, a Johnson, and Matilda Andrus are all buried next to each other! Check it out some time. They had the adventure of a lifetime together and are together for eternity.

 
The Lyons and Guidrys all married into the Andrus Family quite a bit. The first one listed shows the connection to the 2nd regiment where Steven O. Andrus appears

Part of 2^nd Louisiana Cavalry: Independent Rangers, Thompson’s, Prescott’s

JOHNSON, John. Pvt. He enlisted on August 18, 1862 in Opelousas, La or False River by Captain Vincent for “period of war”.  He was in Company A, 2^nd La Cavalry. He was a Private in Colonel William G. Thompson’s Company, Vincent’s Regiment, Mounted Partisan Rangers. Colonel Vincent called the 2^nd La Cavalry his “Hell Roarers.” John Johnson was KIA on Aug 18, 1863--probably in the Bayou Teche region.

JOHNSON, Josiah. Pvt. He enlisted as a Private in Company A, 2^nd La Cavalry. He joined in Vacherie, La in St. James Parish (where Oak Valley Plantation is located). He enlisted October 5, 1862, enlisted by Captain James Thompson for “period of the war”.

(James M. Thompson, served as Capt of the St. Landry Parish Independent Rangers (Thompson's Partisan Rangers) until incorporation into 2nd LA Cavalry Regt.in 1862, eventually serving as Commander of Co.A. His promotion to Major in early 1863 followed the death of Lt. Col James McWaters. He eventually resigned his command in late 1863 and transferred into the 2nd LA Reserve Corps in 1864 at the rank of Colonel. He was paroled in June 1865 from Washington, LA. Col. Thompson entered Confederate service at the age of 43, having been born at sea in 1818 as his parents were emigrating from Scotland).  

 

Josiah Johnson is recorded as a Prisoner of War (POW) in New Orleans when CSA General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered to US General Edward R. S. Canby of the Union Army on May 26, 1865. His official documents show that he was paroled at Washington, La on June 16, 1865—about 3 weeks later. His residence was listed as “St Landry Parish.”

(When the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston surrendered in the spring of 1865, Smith continued to resist with his small army in Texas. He insisted that Lee and Johnston were prisoners of war and decried Confederate deserters. On May 26, General Simon Buckner, acting for Smith, met with Union officers in New Orleans to arrange the surrender of Smith’s force under terms similar to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. Smith reluctantly agreed, and officially laid down his arms at Galveston on June 2. Smith himself fled to Mexico, and then to Cuba, before returning to Virginia in November 1865 to sign an amnesty oath. He was the last surviving full Confederate general until his death in 1893. Twenty-three days after Smith’s surrender, Brigadier General Stand Watie, a Cherokee, became the last Confederate field general to surrender.)

From Grivot Rangers Company Cavalry as Cpl. Buried Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, Church Point; his UCV grave marker calls him J. JOHNSON & places him in "BOND'S CO. LA. MTD. PARTISAN RANGERS."  Patrick E. Johnson III, great-great grandson.

 

Battles:                                                                Dates:

Donaldsonville                                                  (September 21-25, 1862);

Georgia Landing, near Labadieville              (October 27, 1862);

Bayou Teche                                                      (January 14, 1863);

Fort Bisland [in reserve]                                  (April 13-14, 1863);

Irish Bend                                                           (April 14, 1863);

Brashear City [detachment]                          (June 23, 1863);

Red River Campaign                                        (March-June 1864);

Henderson’s Hill: lost its flag;                       (March 21, 1864)

Mansfield                                                            (April 8, 1864)

 

Grivot Rangers Company Cavalry (St Landry Parish). Captain S. D. Ashe, resigned 9-8-1862, Capt. B. W. Bond, also known as Bond's Mounted Partisan Rangers. Organized Aug 21, 1862 at Opelousas from a militia company. Operated along the Mississippi River between Plaquemine and St Charles Courthouse. In skirmishes at Boutte Station and Bayou Des Allmands, Sept. 4, 1862. Mustered out Sept. 18, 1862 at Thibodaux. Some men joined Co. A, 2nd LA Cavalry Regiment.

Co A was the company John and Josiah Johnson were in so they very well could have been in Bond's Co. also

"This regiment was formed about September 1, 1862, near Donaldsonville by a merger of Breazeale’s Battalion and five independent companies. On September 25, portions of the regiment engaged a small enemy force on Bayou Lafourche several miles below Donaldsonville and drove it back to its gunboats. The men again fought the Federals in the Battle of Labadieville, October 27, and retreated with the Confederate army to near Patterson on Bayou Teche. The men skirmished with the enemy during the closing days of 1862 and fought unsuccessfully to defend the gunboat Cotton on Bayou Teche, January 14, 1863. The regiment acted as a reserve force and picketed the shore of Grand Lake during the Battle of Bisland, April 12-13. On April 14, the regiment played a major role in the Battle of Irish Bend. The men helped perform rear guard duty during the retreat of General Richard Taylor’s army from Franklin to Alexandria. When Taylor’s army moved back into south Louisiana in June, the regiment was in the vanguard. A detachment of the regiment assisted in capturing the Union garrison at Brashear City on June 23. Through the late summer and fall of 1863, the men performed picket duty and scout duty along Bayou Teche and conducted several campaigns against Jayhawkers and deserters in the southwest Louisiana prairies. The regiment was almost constantly engaged with enemy forces during the unsuccessful Federal campaign toward Opelousas in October and November 1863. Through the winter of 1863-64, the regiment remained near St. Martinville to watch the enemy at Brashear City and guard the lower Atchafalaya River. The Federal advance toward Alexandria in March, 1864, slowly pushed the regiment back past that town. On the night of March 21, at Henderson’s Hill, the regiment and a Texas artillery battery were surprised and overrun, losing 200 prisoners [100 from the 2nd Cavalry]. The 2nd Louisiana Cavalry lost its flag at Henderson Hill in a surprise attack in the early parts of the Red River Campaign in 1864. The men fought dismounted in the Battle of Mansfield, April 8. Several days later, General Taylor ordered the regiment and the 7^th Louisiana Cavalry into south Louisiana to drive out small enemy garrisons and to clear the region of Jayhawkers. The regiment returned to Taylor’s army in time to participate in several skirmishes at the end of the Red River Campaign. From the summer of 1864 until the end of the war, the regiment operated in south Louisiana. The men performed picket, outpost, and scout duty along the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Teche and conducted occasional raids into the Bayou Lafourche region. War’s end found the remnants of the regiment in camp near Natchitoches. Some of the men received their paroles there; others surrendered at Opelousas and Washington."