William Mouton was the first commander of the French speaking Arcadian Guards which had been formed by his first cousin, Gen. Alfred Mouton. William enlisted as a First Lieutenant in the Arcadian Guards on Oct. 5, 1861. The two Moutons were grandsons of an Acadian exile from Nova Scotia. and apparently named the unit to honor the ancestral country of many of the men who volunteered. The majority of the men of the Arcadian Guards were also of Acadian ancestry. An exception were the men from Avoyelles Parish whose ancestors were mostly from older Colonoal French Creole families. When the Guards were assigned as Company F of the 18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, William Mouton was elected captain. By the end of the war he was a lt. colonel. The 18th saw action in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama before returning to Louisiana. They were one of regiments which made up General Mouton's Army during the Red River Campaign, which brought them right back to their home territory. This book contains a little of the story of their service as they fought as well list the soldiers who were in the Arcadian Guards of the 18th Regiment.