Louisiana secession Orleans. Two days before the city surrendered in April 1862, Moore and the legislature abandoned Baton Rouge as the state capital, relocating to Opelousas in May 1, 1862. Governor Moore began to organize military resistance at the state level, ordered the burning of cotton, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and heavily recruited troops for the state militia. However, despite a brief check at Baton Rouge, Union forces continued to advance into Louisiana and up the Mississippi, and the capital was moved again to Shreveport. New Orleans, Louisiana, the largest city in the entire South, was strategically important as
President of the Louisiana State Senate holds the power to assign the presiding officer in his absence. During session, the presiding officer controls the flow of debate on the Senate floor, and decides questions of order. The president controls the state senate offices and chamber, determines the physical arrangement and security of the chamber and committee rooms. As a state senator, the president is entitled to participate in debate and to vote. According to Article 4, Section 14, of the Louisiana Constitution, the president is fifth in the gubernatorial line of succession. The President pro tempore is appointed in the same way as the president. The