During the Civil War era, New Orleans, with a population of nearly 170,000, was the largest city in the South, and one of the largest cities in the United States. New Orleans was also one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, and most of its income came from two particularly Southern sources – slave trading and cotton.

As a port city, New Orleans was very important to the Southern economy. In addition to slave trading and cotton, tobacco, sugar, and other Southern exports left for ports abroad from New Orleans, and European goods arrived for Southern consumption by way of New Orleans.

But New Orleans wasn’t just important to the South. The city was home to several Federal operations, including the New Orleans Mint, the U.S. Customs Office. And as soon as Louisiana seceded from the Union, the struggle to control this important city began.

Despite the presence of the Federal government in New Orleans, [ad#adsense]the city strongly supported the Confederacy. Many regiments of Confederate soldiers were raised in New Orleans, and the city saw to it that these and other regiments were amply supplied. New Orleans was home to many free persons of color, and even a number of these citizens threw themselves behind the Confederate effort; one of the regiments raised was the Louisiana Native Guard, comprised entirely of free men of color. While the Confederate Army would not accept this regiment, the Louisiana Native Guard was employed to protect the city of New Orleans.

The Union did not intend to let a city as strategically essential as New Orleans go into enemy hands without a fight. In April 1862, after several days of battle at sea, the city of New Orleans fell to the Union, and four years of continual conflict between Union troops stationed in the city and Confederate citizens began.

“Political General” Benjamin Butler was assigned the city of New Orleans. Butler was soon reviled throughout the city as “Beast Butler” for his heavy-handedness in administering the city.

Butler’s first order of business in New Orleans was declaring martial law. Under his strict regulations, citizens of New Orleans were subjected to looting by soldiers, seizure of assets, and curfews. Citizens who openly supported the Confederacy or otherwise insulted the Union (or Butler’s sensibilities) were jailed – often without trial, and in large numbers.

Easily the most controversial of Butler’s acts while administering Union justice in New Orleans, however, was his General Order No. 28 of May 15, which read:

New Orleans, May 15, 1862. As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation. By command of Major-General Butler.

For those unfamiliar with the terminology of the Victorian era, “plying her vocation” translated to prostitution.

General Order No. 28, prompted by some real or imagined insult, soon gained national and international renown – and scorn. Granted, Butler’s order was over the top, but he and his soldiers had been provoked, on occasion; Confederate New Orleans females, resentful of Union presence in their city and apparently taking matters in their own hands, showed their displeasure in the company of Union soldiers by crossing streets to avoid them, giving them the skunk eye, or singing Confederate songs. The less-civilized ladies spat on the soldiers, and instructed their children to do so, as well.

While allusions to prostitution were enough to reform most of the city’s Confederate females, a few who refused to comply were arrested and jailed, including a Mrs. Philip Philips, who spent more than a month in jail for laughing at the funeral procession of a Union officer as it passed her home.

Regardless of its provocation, General Order No. 28 brought more than just scorn down on Butler’s head. As far away as Europe he was decried as a brute who dared to affront the gentler sex. Jefferson Davis declared him an outlaw, and promised Butler would be hanged if caught. The international scandal eventually contributed to the removal of Butler from his New Orleans post, after just less than a year of anything but peaceful administration.

Even after Butler’s removal, New Orleans remained occupied throughout the conclusion of the war. While the occupation may have been painful – or provocative – for the citizens of the city, it also prevented much of the destruction that other cities in the South suffered from Union hands, preserving both the city’s history and heritage.