California Militia and National
Guard Unit Histories
California Rifles
(French Guard)
A San Francisco member
of the California Militia. Based on the French style kepi, he
may be a member of the California Rifles (French Guard).
Official or Other Names: California Rifles (French Guard), Company H, First
Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Location: San Francisco, San Francisco County
Armory Location:
South side of Pine Street near Montgomery Street
Mustered In:
1860
Date of Disbanding: 1862
Commanding Officers
Michael Labertard, Captain; commissioned
January 18, 1861
Louis Fudon, First Lieutenant; commissioned
January 18, 1861
Unit papers on file at the California
State Archives:
a. Organization Papers none
b. Bonds 2 documents (1860-1862)
c. Correspondence (Unclassified letters) none
d. Election Returns none
e. Exempt Certificates, Applications for none
f. Muster Rolls, Monthly returns none
g. Oaths Qualifications none
h. Orders none
i. Receipts, invoices none
j. Requisitions none
k. Resignations none
l. Target Practice Reports none
m. Other none
Official History:
No exact date of organization and muster
in of the California Rifles was obtainable other than the-year
of 1860. The company had furnished the necessary bonds and on
June 28, 1861,. Adjutant General Kibbe issued fifty muskets and
all the necessary accoutrements to the unit.
The company was composed of French citizens
who were enterprising men and were vitally concerned in the welfare
of their adopted country. The unit was unfortunate in that the
duly elected officers would hold office for a few months and then
resign. General Kibbe expressed the hope that the company might
be placed on a permanent basis in membership and efficiency or
else the unit would be disbanded. [1]
Apparently the company was too weak to warrant
its existence for there was no mention of the unit in the Report
of the Adjutant General of 1862. A new bond for $3,000 was filed
by Theo. A. Mitchell who evidently had been elected as Captain
of the company in 1862, but it is assumed the company was disbanded
soon after the election. [2]
Footnotes
1. Adjutant
General Report 1861, Page 84.
2. Bonds on file at the California State
Archives.
This history was written in
1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in conjunction
with the office of the Adjutant General and the California State
Library
