seized by state militia on January 10, 1861, as the state convention on secession was sitting. The ordinance of secession passed the convention on January 26, 1861. Moore placed Col. Braxton Bragg in command of the state military, and Louisiana joined the Confederate States of America on March 21, 1861, the sixth state to do so. Despite Moore's appeals to the Confederate government for a strong defense of New Orleans, and brisk recruiting of troops in Louisiana, the state rapidly came under threat during the Civil War. The Union blockade disrupted commerce in New Orleans, and the naval forces assembling in the Gulf would advance up the Mississippi in early 1862. After a prolonged bombardment, the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip concluded with the destruction of the Confederate navy on the lower Mississippi and the passage of the forts by the Union fleet in the early morning of April 24, 1862. New Orleans surrendered on April 27. Two days earlier, Moore and the legislature had decided to abandon Baton Rouge as the state capital, relocating to Opelousas on May 1, 1862. Moore visited the state militia at the eponymous Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish and began organizing military resistance at the state level, ordering the burning of cotton, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and calling for the enlistment of all free white males between ages 17 and 50 in the militia. In May 1861, shortly after the onset of the civil war, 1500 free black New Orleanians formed the 1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA) as a response to Governor Moore's call for troops. It was the first military unit in American history to have black officers. However, despite a brief check at Baton Rouge, Union forces continued to advance into Louisiana and up the Mississippi, and the capital was moved again to Shreveport. After the governorship In January 1864, Moore's term as governor ended, and he was succeeded by Henry Watkins Allen. He returned to his plantation, but was soon forced to flee upriver by the Red River Campaign, soldiers of which burned the plantation in May. After the Civil War, he fled into Mexico to escape arrest, and subsequently to Havana. From Havana, Moore applied for a pardon. Moore's application for pardon was delivered by hand to Andrew Johnson by William Tecumseh Sherman. He eventually returned to Louisiana after being pardoned by Andrew Johnson on