Jules Desire LeBlanc was born in October 1839 at St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. When Louisiana seceded from the Union, Jules enlisted and mustered into Company C, “Attakapas Guards”, 8th Louisiana Infantry on June 19th, 1861. He was present with his regiment at the Battle of First Manassas in July 1861, but was absent sick for the rest of the year in Richmond. Jules and the 8th Louisiana were sent to the Shenandoah Valley and served in Stonewall Jackson’s army during the early months of 1862, and by the summer, they were back around Richmond, defending the city from McClellan’s U.S. Army of the Potomac. During the Seven Days Battles, Jules was wounded at Malvern Hill on July 1st, 1862, and in total, the 8th Louisiana suffered 15 men killed and 69 wounded. The injury was not severe, and Jules was back shortly with his regiment. He was captured at the Battle of Rappahannock Station on November 7th, 1863, where many Louisianans became prisoners of war trying to defend the bridgehead. The 8th Louisiana suffered 162 men alone. Jules was shortly exchanged and rejoined the 8th Louisiana in the beginning of 1864. However, he was unlucky again, because as the 8th Louisiana went forth with General Early’s Army of the Valley into the Shenandoah Valley, Jules was wounded at the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland on July 9th, 1864. This time, his imprisonment was longer, as he would sit at Point Lookout until late February 1865. Jules would return to the 8th Louisiana in the last days of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia around Petersburg and Richmond.

During the Appomattox Campaign, the 8th Louisiana was brigaded with a bunch of other Louisiana units (due to the extreme losses suffered up to that point) under the command of Colonel Eugene Waggaman. They belonged to General Clement Evans Division of the 2nd Confederate Corps commanded by General John Gordon. Jules and the 8th Louisiana were heavily engaged at Fort Stedman, and even though they were initially successful, they could not defend their newly acquired positions, and the assault failed. They retreated with the rest of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia after Richmond’s and Petersburg’s fall. Upon arriving near the Appomattox Court House village, the Louisianans prepared for a fight on the morning of April 9th, 1865. They were sent forward with the rest of Gordon’s 2nd Corps to reopen the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, the Army of Northern Virginia’s only avenue to escape and continue the retreat. Jules and the 8th Louisiana were initially successful and reopened the road, however they would not be able to hold their positions due to additional U.S. reinforcements arriving on the field of battle, resulting in the end of Lee’s army and its ultimate surrender.

Jules’ divisional commander, General Clement Evans, would ultimately address the men from Louisiana one last time with his last general order on April 12th, 1865. His words would immortalize the actions of these Louisianans including Jules who had served from the beginning of the war until the bitter end. General Evans would state:

“The sad hour has arrived when we who have served in the Confederate Army so long together must part, at least for awhile. But the saddest circumstances connected with the separation is that it occurs under a heavy disaster to our cause. To you, Colonel [Eugene Waggaman] and your brother officers and brother soldiers of Hays’ and Stafford’s [Louisiana] brigades, I claim the right to say that you carry with you the proud consciousness you have done your duty. Tell Louisiana when you reach her shores, that her sons in the Army of Northern Virginia, have made her illustrious on every battlefield from First Manassas to the last desperate blow struck by your command on the hill of Appomattox Court House, and tell her too, that in the first so in the last, the enemy fled before the valor of your charging lines. To the sad decree of an inscrutable Providence let us bow in humble resignation awaiting His will for the pillar of cloud to be lifted. For you, your gallant officers and devoted men, I shall always cherish the most pleasant memories and when I say farewell, it will be with a full heart that beats an earnest prayer to Almighty God for your future happiness.”

- C. A. Evans, Brig. Gen’l Commanding Evans’ Division