Paul Octave Hébert

Paul Octave Hébert (December 12, 1818 – August 29, 1880) was an American soldier, engineer and politician who served as 14th Governor of Louisiana from 1853 to 1856. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, he later served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.

Early life Paul Hébert was born on Acadia Plantation in Iberville Parish on December 1818, the son of Paul Gaston Hébert and Mary Eugenis Hamilton Hébert. In 1836, he graduated at the top of his class from Jefferson College. He then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he matriculated with William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas before graduating at the top of his class in 1840.

He was commissioned as second lieutenant of engineers and worked as an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. He then served as an engineer for the Port of New Orleans during which time he married his first wife, Marie Wills Vaughn, with whom he had five children. In 1845, Hébert resigned from the army after being appointed Chief Engineer of the State of Louisiana by Governor Alexandre Mouton. He was reappointed by Governor Isaac Johnson in 1846, but he resigned in March 1847 to fight in the Mexican–American War. thumb Paul Hébert graduated top of his class from West Point in 1840. Hébert accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Regiment, and then on April 9, 1847, he was transferred to the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment. As a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment he fought at Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec and Mexico City. At Molino del Rey he was honored by General Winfield Scott and was brevetted a colonel for bravery. He was cited for gallantry at Chapultepec and Mexico City. Discharged on July 25, 1848, in New Orleans, Colonel Hébert entered politics. He later participated in the defense of Vicksburg. He saw battle in June, 1863, at the Battle of Milliken's Bend in Louisiana. After that, he was again posted in Texas, where he was at the time the war ended. Hébert returned to his Louisiana plantation and received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson.

Postwar He was active in the politics of Reconstruction supporting the Liberal Republican movement and accepted a minor appointment in New Orleans. In 1872, Hébert endorsed Horace Greeley and opposed the Louisiana "Custom House" Republican faction. He supported Republican Governor Henry C. Warmoth. Governor William P. Kellogg appointed him to the Board of State Engineers in 1873 and the Board of U.S. Engineers for Mississippi River Commission in 1874.

In the presidential election of 1876, Governor Hébert changed political allegiance back to the Democrats. He died on April 29, 1880, and was buried in St. Paul Cemetery in Bayou Goula, Louisiana. Encroachment of the Mississippi River caused many individuals to be reinterred. Governor Hébert's remains, and those of his first wife, Marie Coralie Hébert, were interred at St. Raphael Cemetery in Point Pleasant, near Plaquemine, LA.