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Georges De Coppens

Georges Augustus Gaston De Coppens (1836-17 September 1862) was a Confederate States Army colonel who raised the 1st Louisiana Zouaves during the American Civil War. He was killed at the Battle of Antietam in 1862.

Biography[]

Georges Augustus Gaston De Coppens was born in France, and he attended the Marine Academy before moving with the rest of his family to New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States. He became known as an avid military arts student and duelist, and he joined the Confederate States Army at the start of the American Civil War and was given permission from President Jefferson Davis to form a Zouave battalion. Coppens served as its colonel, while two of his brothers also served in the battalion and his father, Baron August de Coppens, served as quartermaster. His 1st Louisiana Zouaves joined the Army of Northern Virginia for the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, and he was given temporary command of the 8th Florida Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Antietam, where he was killed.

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