The Opelousas Post Militia of 1779

The army Bernardo de Gálvez led from New Orleans in August 1779 was a patchwork. By one standard account it began with about 520 regulars, two thirds of them new recruits, 60 militiamen, 80 free Black and mulatto soldiers and ten American volunteers under Oliver Pollock, then gained some 600 more, including Native men and Acadians, and peaked above 1,400. Fort Bute fell on September 7. At Baton Rouge, Lt. Col. Alexander Dickson surrendered 375 regulars after heavy mortar fire. The Opelousas militia marched in that mixed company.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Le Vieux Village and the Venus House — steps away
  A heritage park in Opelousas built around the Venus House of about 1791, the home of a free Creole woman of color, Marie Francois Venus, with an old schoolhouse, Methodist church and the visitor center's zydeco music exhibit.
• Prairie Acadian Cultural Center — 21 mi
  A National Park Service center in Eunice on the Cajun prairie, with exhibits on the Acadians who settled the prairies, a Courir de Mardi Gras display, free music and cooking demonstrations, and the shuttered Liberty Theatre nearby.
• Vermilionville — 22 mi
  A living-history village of about 23 acres on Bayou Vermilion in Lafayette, opened in 1990 to interpret the Native peoples, Acadians, Creoles and people of African descent of the Attakapas region.
• Atchafalaya Welcome Center — 25 mi
  A state welcome center inside the Atchafalaya Basin, the nation's largest river swamp, with exhibits on Basin history and life, a film, a crawfishing boat and French-speaking staff.

More markers nearby

• Rodney Milburn — steps away
• J.S. Clark High School — steps away
• Opelousas Firsts and Famous / Hall of Fame — steps away
• La Chapelle House — steps away