Its members included a minority of free men of color from New Orleans; most were African-American former slaves who had escaped to join the Union cause and gain freedom.

James Lewis, former steward on the Confederate river-steamer De Soto, was commissioned as captain of company K. During this period, some slaves who escaped from nearby plantations joined the regiment, but the Union Army's official policy discouraged such enrollments.

After Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks replaced Butler as Commander of the Department of the Gulf, he began a systematic campaign to purge all the black or colored line officers from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments of the Louisiana Native Guard.

[citation needed] From its formation in September 1862 until early May 1863, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard largely performed fatigue duty–chopping wood, gathering supplies, and digging earthworks.

Yet, inexplicably, the Federals left untouched the area where the Native Guards had charged the previous day--in stark contrast to their actions elsewhere on the battlefield.

The hot sun putrefied the bodies until the stench forced Confederate Colonel Shelby to ask Bank's permission to bury the dead in front of his lines.

"[3] Cailloux's body, as well as those of the other members of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard who fell with him that day, was left on the field of battle until the surrender of Port Hudson on July 9, 1863.

News of his heroism reached New Orleans, and Cailloux received a hero's funeral in the city with a large procession and thousands of attendees along the route on July 29.

In April 1864 the Corps d'Afrique was dissolved, and its members joined the newly organized 73rd and 74th Regiments of the United States Colored Troops of the Union Army.