GIFT OF D. C. Fes sen-! en HISTORY NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS BY RICHARD B. IRWIN FORMERLY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL U. S. VOLUNTEERS, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE CORPS AND OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF G. P. PUTNAM S SONS NEW YORK LONDON 2 7 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND &fje fimtherbockex |)ress 1892 oJ \SK COPYRIGHT, 1892 BY G. P. PUTNAM S SONS Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by Ube Iknicfcerbccfcer ipress, 1Wew Uor?? G. P. PUTNAM S SONS IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR LATE COMMANDER MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM HEMSLEY EMORY AND OF THE MANY COMRADES WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY THIS HISTORY IS INSCRIBED BY THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS M94884: CONTENTS. CHAPTER. INTRODUCTORY . I. NEW ORLEANS . II. THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG III. BATON ROUGE . IV. LA FOURCHE . V. BANKS IN COMMAND VI. ORGANIZING THE CORPS . VII. MORE WAYS THAN ONE . VIII. FARRAGUT PASSES PORT HUDSON . IX. THE TECHE X. BlSLAND . XL IRISH BEND XII. OPELOUSAS XIII. BANKS AND GRANT . XIV. ALEXANDRIA XV. BACK TO PORT HUDSON . XVI. THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MAY XVII. THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE . XVIII. UNVEXED TO THE SEA . XIX. HARROWING LA FOURCHE XX. IN SUMMER QUARTERS . XXI. A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS . XXII. WINTER QUARTERS . XXIII. THE RED RIVER XXIV. SABINE CROSS-ROADS i 3 17 32 43 52 66 72 77 8$ 94 104 121 135 M3 152 163 I8 5 209 235 2 5 6 264 277 282 2Q9 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER. XXV. PLEASANT HILL . * XXVI. GRAND ECORE XXVII. THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER XXVIII. THE DAM . . . . . XXIX. LAST DAYS IN LOUISIANA XXX. ON THE POTOMAC . . . . . XXXI. IN THE SHENANDOAH . XXXII. THE OPEQUON . . XXXIII. FISHER S HILL . . XXXIV. CEDAR CREEK . XXXV. VICTORY AND HOME, , . . . APPENDIX : ROSTERS . . . . . LOSSES IN BATTLE . . . / . . . OFFICERS KILLED OR MORTALLY WOUNDED, PORT HUDSON FORLORN HOPE . ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION . . NOTE ON EARLY S STRENGTH . . INDEX 323 328 337 344 355 368 378 396 439 464 483 488 506 507 509 MAPS AND PLANS. PAGE MAP OF LOUISIANA. SHEET I. . 16 and 17 " " II. . . . 3 2 33 " III. . . . 80 " 81 BATTLE PLAN OF BISLAND, APRIL 12-13, 1863 . 96 BATTLE PLAN OF IRISH BEND, APRIL 14, 1863 . 112 BATTLE PLAN OF PORT HUDSON. . . 192 MAP OF LOUISIANA. SHEET IV. . 288 and 289 BATTLE PLAN OF SABINE CROSS-ROADS, APRIL 8, 1864. FROM GENERAL EMORY S MAP . 304 BATTLE PLAN OF PLEASANT HILL, APRIL 9, 1864. FROM GENERAL EMORY S MAP . . 3 2 BATTLE PLAN OF CANE RIVER CROSSING OR MONETT S BLUFF, APRIL 23, 1864. FROM GEN ERAL EMORY S MAP . . . . THE RED RIVER DAM . . . . MAP OF SHENANDOAH VALLEY CAMPAIGN. FROM MAJOR W. F. TIEMANN S "HISTORY OF THE 159TH, NEW YORK . . . . BATTLE PLAN OF OPEQUON, SEPTEMBER 19, 1864. FROM THE OFFICIAL MAP, 1873 34 aiid BATTLE PLAN OF FISHER S HILL, SEPTEMBER 22, 1864. FROM THE OFFICIAL MAP . . 400 BATTLE PLAN OF CEDAR CREEK, OCTOBER 19, 1864. FROM THE OFFICIAL MAP OF 1873 . 4 l6 and 4*7 INTRODUCTORY. THE history of the Nineteenth Army Corps, like that of by far the greater number of the organizations of like character, in which were arrayed the great armies of volunteers that took up arms to maintain the Union, is properly the history of all the troops that at any time belonged to the corps or served within its geographical limits. To be complete, then, the narrative my comrades have asked me to write must go back to the earliest service of these troops, at a period before the corps itself was formally established, and must continue on past the time when the earlier territorial organization became merged or lost and the main body of the corps was sent into the Shenandoah, down to the peace, and the final muster of the last regiment. If hitherto less known and thus less considered than the proud record of those great corps of the Armies of the Potomac, of the Tennessee, and of the Cumberland, on whom in the fortune of war fell the heat and burthen of so many pitched battles, whose colors bear the names of so many decisive victories, yet the story of the Nineteenth Army Corps is one whose simple facts suffice for all that need be told or claimed of valor, of achievement, of sacrifice, or of patient endurance. I shall, therefore, attempt neither eulogy nor apology, nor shall I feel called upon to 2 INTRO D UCTOR Y. Undertake to criticise the actions or the failures of the living or the dead, save where such criticism may prove to be an essential part of the narrative. From the brows of other soldiers, no one of us could ever wish to pluck the wreaths so dearly won, so honor ably worn ; yet, since the laurel grows wild on every hill-side in this favored land, we may without trespass be permitted to gather a single spray or two to decorate the sacred places where beneath the cypresses and the magnolias of the lowlands of Louisiana, or under the green turf among the mountains of Vir ginia, reposes all that was mortal of so many thou sands of our brave and beloved comrades. THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. CHAPTER i: NEW ORLEANS. THE opening of the Mississippi and the capture of New Orleans formed important parts of the first comprehensive plan of campaign, conceived and pro posed by Lieutenant-General Scott soon after the outbreak of the war. When McClellan was called to Washington to command the Army of the Potomac, one of his earliest communications to the President set forth in general terms his plans for the suppres sion of the Rebellion. Of these plans, also, the cap ture of New Orleans formed an integral and important part. Both Scott and McClellan contemplated a move ment down the river by a strong column. However nothing had been done by either toward carrying out this project, when, in September, 1861, the Navy Department took up the idea of an attack on New Orleans from the sea. At the time of the secession of Louisiana, New Orleans was not only the first city in wealth, popula tion, and importance in the seceded States, but the sixth in all the Union. With a population of nearly 170, 000 souls, she carried on an export trade larger 3 4 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Than that of any other port in the country, and en joyed a commerce in magnitude and profit second only to that of New York. The year just ended had witnessed the production of the largest crop of cotton ever grown in America, fully two fifths of which passed through the presses and paid toll to the . Factors of. New. Orleans. The receipts of cotton at 1860-1861 were but little less than ; bales/ t valued at nearly $100, 000, 000. Of SUgr> &airiLy:t&6 production of the State of Louisi ana, the receipts considerably exceeded 250, 000 tons, valued at more than $25, 000, 000 ; the total receipts of products of all kinds amounted to nearly $200, 000, - ooo. The exports were valued at nearly $110, 000, - ooo ; the imports at nearly $23, 000, 000. It is doubtful if any other crop in any part of the world then paid profits at once so large and so uniform to all persons interested as the cotton and sugar of Louisiana. If cotton were not exactly king, as it was in those days the fashion to assert, there could be no doubt that cotton was a banker, and a generous banker for New Orleans. The factors of Carondelet Street grew rich upon the great profits that the planters of the "coast, " as the shores of the river are called, paid them, almost without feeling it, while the planters came, nearly every winter, to New Orleans to pass the season and to spend, in a round of pleasure, at least a portion of the net proceeds of the account sales. In the transport of these products nearly two thousand sailing ships and steamers were engaged, and in the town itself or its suburb of Algiers, on the opposite bank, were to be found all the appli ances and facilities necessary for the conduct of so extensive a commerce. These, especially the work- NEW ORLEANS. 5 shops and factories, and the innumerable river and bayou steamers that thronged the levee, were des tined to prove of the greatest military value, at first to the Confederacy, and later to the forces of the Union. For food and fuel, however, New Orleans was largely dependent upon the North and West. Finally, beside her importance as the guardian of the gates of the Mississippi, New Orleans had a direct military value as the basis of any operations destined for the control or defence of the Mississippi River. About the middle of November the plan took definite shape, and on the 23d of December Far- ragut received preparatory orders to take command of the West Gulf Squadron and the naval portion of the expedition destined for the reduction of New Orleans. Farragut received his final orders on the 2Oth of January, 1862, and immediately afterward hoisted his flag on the sloop-of-war Hartford. The land portion of the expedition was placed under the command of Major-General Benjamin F. Butler. On the loth and i2th of September, 1861, Butler had been authorized by the War Department to raise, organize, arm, uniform, and equip, in the New England States, such troops as he might judge fit for the purpose, to make an expedition along the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia to Cape Charles ; but early in November, before Butler s forces were quite ready, these objects were accom plished by a brigade under Lockwood, sent from Baltimore by Dix. On the 23d of November the advance of Butler s expedition sailed from Portland, Maine, for Ship Island, in the steamer Constitution, and on the 2d of December, in reporting the sailing, Butler submitted to the War Department his plan for 6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Invading the coast of Texas and the ultimate capture of New Orleans. On the 24th of January, 1862, McClellan, then commanding all the armies of the United States, was called on by the Secretary of War to report whether the expedition proposed by General Butler should be prosecuted, abandoned, or modified, and in what manner. McClellan at once urged that the expedi tion be suspended. In his opinion, "not less than 30, 000 men, and it is believed 50, 000, would be re quired to insure success against New Orleans in a blow to be struck from the Gulf. " This suggestion did not meet the approval of the government, now fully determined on the enterprise. Brigadier-General J. G. Barnard, the chief engi neer of the Army of the Potomac, an engineer also of more than common ability, energy, and experience, was now called into consultation. On the 28th of January, 1862, he submitted to the Navy Depart ment a memorandum describing fully the defences of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and outlining a plan for a combined attempt on these works by the army and navy. The military force required for the purpose he estimated at 20, 000 men. Meanwhile the work of transferring Butler s forces by sea to Ship Island had been going on with vigor. He had raised thirteen regiments of infantry, ten batteries of light artillery, and three troops of cavalry, numbering in all about 13, 600 men. To these were now added from the garrison of Baltimore three regiments, the 2ist Indiana, 4th Wisconsin, and 6th Michigan, and the 2d Massachusetts battery, thus increasing his force to 14, 400 infantry, 275 cavalry, and 580 artillerists; in all, 15, 255 officers and men. NEW ORLEANS. 7 On the 23d of February, 1862, Butler received his final orders : " The object of your expedition, " said McClellan, " is one of vital importance the capture of New Orleans. The route selected is up the Missis sippi River, and the first obstacle to be encountered (perhaps the only one) is in the resistance offered by Forts St. Philip and Jackson. It is expected that the navy can reduce these works. Should the navy fail to reduce the works, you will land your forces and siege-train, and endeavor to breach the works, silence their guns, and carry them by assault. "The next resistance will be near the English bend, where there are some earthen batteries. Here it may be necessary for you to land your troops to co-operate with the naval attack, although it is more than probable that the navy, unassisted, can accom plish the result. If these works are taken, the city of New Orleans necessarily falls. " After obtaining possession of New Orleans, the instructions went on to say, Butler was to reduce all the works guarding the approaches, to join with the navy in occupying Baton Rouge, and then to en deavor to open communication with the northern column by the Mississippi, always bearing in mind the necessity of occupying Jackson, as soon as this could safely be done. Mobile was to follow, then Pensa- cola and Galveston. By the time New Orleans should have fallen the government would probably reinforce his army sufficiently to accomplish all these objects. On the same day a new military department was created called the Department of the Gulf, and Butler was assigned to the command. Its limits were to comprise all the coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of Pensacola harbor, and so much of the Gulf 8 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. States as might be occupied by Butler s forces. Since the middle of October he had commanded the expe ditionary forces, under the name of the Department of New England. Arriving at Ship Island on the 2oth of March, he formally assumed the command of the Department of the Gulf, announcing Major George C. Strong, as Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Godfrey Weitzel as Chief Engineer, and Surgeon Thomas Hewson Bache as Medical Director. To these were afterward added Colonel John Wilson Shaffer as Chief Quartermaster, Colonel John W. Turner, as Chief Commissary, and Captain George A. Kensel, as Acting Assistant Inspector-General and Chief of Artillery. By the end of March all the troops destined for the expedition had landed at Ship Island, with the exception of the i3th Connecticut, i5th Maine, 7th and 8th Vermont regiments, ist Vermont and 2d Massachusetts batteries. Within the next fort night all these troops joined the force except the 2d Massachusetts battery, which being detained more than seven weeks at Fortress Monroe, and being nearly five weeks at sea, did not reach New Orleans until the 2ist of May. Meanwhile, of the six Maine batteries, all except the ist had been di verted to other fields of service. While awaiting at Ship Island the completion of the preparations of the navy for the final attempt on the river forts, Butler proceeded to organize his com mand and to discipline and drill the troops composing it. Many of these were entirely without instruction in any of the details of service. On the 22d of March, he divided his forces into three brigades of five NEW ORLEANS. 9 or six regiments each, attaching to each brigade one or more batteries of artillery and a troop of cavalry. The brigades were commanded by Brigadier-Generals John W. Phelps and Thomas Williams, and Colonel George F. Shepley of the I2th Maine. When finally assembled the whole force reported about 13, 500 officers and men for duty, and from that moment its strength was destined to undergo a steady diminu tion by the natural attrition of service, augmented, in this case, by climatic influences. The fleet under Farragut consisted of seventeen vessels, mounting 154 guns. Four were screw-sloops, one a side-wheel steamer, three screw corvettes, and nine screw gunboats. Each of the gunboats carried one i i-inch smooth-bore gun, and one 3O-pounder rifle ; but neither of these could be used to fire at an enemy directly ahead, and, in the operations awaiting the fleet, it is within bounds to say that not more than one gun in four could be brought to bear at any given moment. With this fleet were twenty mortar- boats, under Porter, each carrying one 1 3-inch mortar, and six gunboats, assigned for the service of the mortar-boats and armed like the gunboats of the river fleet. Farragut, with the Hartford, had reached Ship Island on the 2oth of February ; the rest of the vessels assigned to his fleet soon followed. Then entering the delta, from that time he conducted the blockade of the river from the head of the passes. The Confederacy was now being so closely pressed in every quarter as to make it impossible, with the forces at its command, to defend effectively and at the same moment every point menaced by the troops and fleets of the Union. Thus the force that might otherwise have been employed hi defending New io THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Orleans was, under the pressure of the emergency, so heavily drawn from to strengthen the army at Corinth, then engaged in resisting the southward advance of the combined armies of the Union under Halleck, as to leave New Orleans, and indeed all Louisiana, at the mercy of any enemy that should succeed in passing the river forts. At this time the entire land-force, under Major-General Mansfield Lovell, hardly exceeded 5, 000 men. Of these, 1, 100 occupied Forts Jackson and St. Philip, under the command of General Duncan ; 1, 200 held the Chal- mette line, under General Martin L. Smith, and about 3, 000, chiefly new levies, badly armed, were in New Orleans. Besides this small land-force, the floating defences consisted of four improvised vessels of the Confederate navy, two belonging to the State of Louisiana, and six others of what was called the Montgomery fleet. These were boats specially con structed for the defence of the river, but most of them had been sent up the river to Memphis to hold off Foote and Davis. The twelve vessels carried in all thirty-eight guns. Each of the boats of the river- fleet defence had its bows shod with iron and its engines protected with cotton. This was also the case with the two sea-going steamers belonging to the State, Of this flotilla the most powerful was the iron-clad Louisiana^ whose armor was found strong enough to turn an n-inch shell at short range, and, as her armament consisted of two 7-inch rifles, three 9-inch shell guns, four 1 8-inch shell guns, and seven 6-inch rifles, she might have proved a formidable foe had her engines been equal to their work. At the Plaquemine Bend, twenty miles above the head of the passes and ninety below New Orleans, the NEW ORLEANS. N engineers of the United States had constructed two permanent fortifications, designed to defend the entrance of the river against the foreign enemies of the Union. These formidable works had now to be passed or taken before New Orleans could be occu pied. Fort St. Philip, on the left or north bank, was a work of brick and earth, flanked on either hand by a water battery. In the main work were mounted, in barbette, four 8-inch columbiads and one 24-pounder gun ; the upper water battery carried sixteen 24- pounders, the lower one 8-inch columbiad, one 7-inch rifle, six 42-pounders, nine 32-pounders, and four 24- pounders. Besides these, there were seven mortars, one of 13-inch calibre, five of lo-inch, and one of 8-inch. Forty-two of the guns could be brought to bear upon the fleet ascending the river. Fort Jackson, on the south or left bank of the river, was a casemated pentagon of brick, mounting in the casemates fourteen 24-pounder guns, and ten 24- pounder howitzers, and in barbette in the upper tier two lo-inch columbiads, three 8-inch columbiads, one 7-inch rifle, six 42-pounders, fifteen 32-pounders, and eleven 24-pounders, in all sixty-two guns. The water battery below the main work was armed with one lo-inch columbiad, two 8-inch columbiads, and two rifled 32-pounders. Fifty of these pieces were avail able against the fleet, but of the whole armament of one hundred and nine guns, fifty-six were old 24- pounder smooth-bores. The passage of the forts had been obstructed by a raft or chain anchored between them. The forts once overcome, no other defence remained to be encoun tered until English Turn was reached, where earth works had been thrown up on both banks. Here at 12 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Chalmette, on the left bank, it was that, in 1815, Jackson, with his handful of raw levies, so signally defeated Wellington s veterans of the Peninsula, under the leadership of the fearless Pakenham. Fort St. Philip stands about 700 yards higher up the river than Fort Jackson ; the river at this point is about 800 yards wide, and the distance between the nearest salients of the main works is about 1, 000 yards. A vessel attempting to run the gauntlet of the bat teries would be under fire while passing over a dis tance of three and a half miles. The river was now high, and the banks, everywhere below the river level, and only protected from inundation by the levees, were overflowed. There was no standing room for an investing army ; the lower guns were under water, and in the very forts the platforms were awash. When the fleet was ready, Butler embarked eight regiments and three batteries under Phelps and Wil liams on transports, and, going to the head of the passes, held his troops in readiness to co-operate with the navy. On the i6th of April the fleet took up its position. The mortar-boats, or " bombers/ as they began to be called, were anchored between 3, 000 and 4, 000 yards below Fort Jackson, upon which the attack was mainly to be directed. From the view of those in the fort, the boats that lay under the right bank were covered by trees. Those on the opposite side of the river were screened, after a fashion, by covering their hulls with reeds and willows, cut for the purpose. On the 1 8th of April the bombardment began. It soon became evident that success was not to be at tained in this way, and Farragut determined upon NEW ORLEANS. 13 passing the forts with his fleet. Should he fail in reducing them by this movement, Butler was to land in the rear of Fort St. Philip, near Quarantine, and carry the works by storm. Accordingly, he remained with his transports below the forts, and waited for the hour. Shepley occupied Ship Island with the rest of the force. Early in March the raft, formed of great cypress trees, forty feet long and fifty inches through, laid lengthwise in the river about three feet apart, anchored by heavy chains and strengthened by massive cross- timbers, had been partly carried away by the flood. To make good the damage, a number of large schooners had then been anchored in the gap. On the morning of the 2ist of April this formidable obstruction was cleverly and in a most gallant manner broken through by the fleet. On the night of the 23d of April, Farragut moved to the attack. His fleet, organized in three divisions of eight, three, and six vessels respectively, was formed in line ahead. The first division was led by Captain Bailey, in the Cayuga, followed by the Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, and Wissahickon ; the second division followed, composed of Farragut s flag-ship, the Hartford, Com mander Richard Wainwright, the Brooklyn, and the Richmond ; while the third division, forming the rear of the column, was led by Captain Bell, in the Sciota, followed by the Iroquois, Kennebec, Pinola, Itasca, and Winona. At half-past two o clock on the morning of the 24th of April the whole fleet was under way ; a quarter of an hour later the batteries of Forts Jackson and St. Philip opened simultaneously upon the Cayuga. It was 14 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Some time before the navy could reply, but soon every gun was in action. Beset by perils on every hand, the fleet pressed steadily up the river. The Confederate boats were destroyed, the fire-rafts were overcome, the gunners of the forts were driven from their guns, and when the sun rose Farragut was above the forts with the whole of his fleet, except the Itasca, Winona, and Kennebec, which put back dis abled, and the Varuna, sunk by the Confederate gun boats. The next afternoon, having made short work of Chalmette, Farragut anchored off New Orleans, and held the town at his mercy. The casualties were 37 killed and 147 wounded, in all 184. The Confederate loss was 50, n killed and 39 wounded. The Louisiana, McCrea, and De fiance, sole survivors of the Confederate fleet, escap ing comparatively unhurt, took refuge under the walls of Fort St. Philip. Leaving Phelps, with the 3Oth Massachusetts and T2th Connecticut and Manning s 4th Massachusetts battery, at the head of the passes, in order to be prepared to occupy the works immediately on their surrender, Butler hastened with the rest of his force to Sable Island in the rear of Fort St. Philip. When the transports came to anchor on the morning of the 26th, the Confederate flags on Forts St. Philip and Jackson were plainly visible to the men on board, while these, in their turn, were seen from the forts. Here the troops received the news of Farragut s arrival at New Orleans. On the morning of the 28th they saw the Confederate ram Louisiana blown up while floating past the forts, and on the same day Jones landed with the 26th Massachusetts and Paine with two companies of the 4th Wisconsin and a de- NEW ORLEANS. 15 tachment of the 2ist Indiana, to work their way through a small canal to Quarantine, six miles above Fort St. Philip, for the purpose of seizing the narrow strip by which the garrison must escape, if at all. This was only accomplished by a long and tiresome transport in boats, and finally by wading. However, at half-past two on the afternoon of the 28th April, the Confederate flags over Forts Jackson and St. Philip were observed to disappear ; the national ensign floated in their stead ; and soon it became known that Duncan had surrendered to Porter. Porter immediately took possession and held it until Phelps came up the river to relieve him. Then Major Whittemore, of the 3Oth Massachusetts, with about two hundred men of his regiment, landed and took command at Fort St. Philip, while Manning occupied Fort Jackson. Almost simultaneously the frigate Mississippi came down the river, bringing Jones with the news that his regiment was at Quar antine, holding both banks of the river, and thus effectually sealing the last avenue of escape ; for at this time the levee formed the only pathway. On the 29th Phelps put Deming in command of Fort Jackson, intending to leave his regiment, the I2th Connecticut, in garrison there, and to place Dudley, with the 30th Massachusetts, at Fort St. Philip ; but before this arrangement could be carried out, orders came from Butler, designating the 26th Mas sachusetts as the garrison of the two forts, with Jones in command. Phelps, with his force, was directed to New Orleans On the ist of May Butler landed at New Or leans and took military possession of the city. Si multaneously, at five o clock in the afternoon, the 1 6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 3 ist Massachusetts with a section of Everett s 6th Massachusetts battery, and six companies of the 4th Wisconsin, under Paine, disembarked and marched up the broad levee to the familiar airs that announced the joint coming of "Yankee Doodle" and of " Picayune Butler. " The outlying defences on both banks of the river and on the lakes were abandoned by the Confederates without a struggle. Forts Pike and Wood, on Lake Pontchartrain, were garrisoned by detachments from the 7th Vermont and 8th New Hampshire regiments. The 2ist Indiana landed at Algiers, and marching to Brashear, eighty miles distant on Berwick Bay, took possession of the New Orleans and Opelousas railway. New Orleans itself was occupied by the 3Oth and 3ist Massachusetts, the 4th Wisconsin and 6th Michigan, 9th and i2th Connecticut, 4th and 6th Massachusetts batteries, 2d Vermont battery, and Troops A and B of the Massachusetts cavalry. At Farragut s approach Lovell, seeing that further resistance was useless, abandoned New Orleans to its fate and withdrew to Camp Moore, distant seventy-eight miles, on the line of the Jackson railway. MILES LOUISIANA SHEET I. CHAPTER II. THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VIQKSBURG. WITH the capture of New Orleans the first and vital object of the expedition had been accomplished. The occupation of Baton Rouge by a combined land and naval force was the next point indicated in McClellan s orders to Butler. Then he was to endeavor to open communication with the northern column coming down the Mississippi. McClellan was no longer General-in-chief ; but this part of his plan represented the settled views of the government. On the 2d of May, therefore, Farragut sent Craven with the Brooklyn and six other vessels of the fleet up the river. On the 8th, as early as the river transports could be secured, Butler sent Williams with the 4th Wisconsin and the 6th Michigan regiments, and two sections of Everett s 6th Massachusetts battery, to follow and accompany the fleet. The next day Wil liams landed his force at Bonnet Carre, on the east bank of the river, about thirty-five miles above the town. After wading about five miles through a swamp, where the water and mud were about three feet deep, the troops halted at night at Frenier, a station of the Jackson railway, situated on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about ten miles above Kenner. A detachment of the 4th Wisconsin, under Major Boardman, was sent to Pass Manchac. The Confed- 2 I 7 1 8 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Crates made a slight but ineffective resistance with artillery, resulting in trivial losses on either side. The bridges at Pass Manchac and Frenier being then destroyed, on the following morning, the loth, the troops marched back the weary ten miles along the uneven trestle-work of the railway from Frenier to Kenner and there took transport. After their long confinement on shipboard, with scant rations, without exercise or even freedom of movement, the excessive heat of the day caused the troops to suffer severely. The embarkation completed, the transports, under convoy of the navy, set out for Baton Rouge. There on the morning of the I2th of May the troops landed, the capitol was occupied by the 4th Wis consin, and the national colors were hoisted over the building. The troops then re-embarked for Vicksburg. Natchez surrendered on the i2th of May to Com mander S. Phillips Lee, of the Oneida, the advance of Farragut s fleet. On the i8th of May the Oneida and her consorts arrived off Vicksburg, and the same day Williams and Lee summoned " the authorities " to surrender the town and " its defences to the lawful authority of the United States. " To this Brigadier- General Martin L. Smith, commander of the defences, promptly replied : " Having been ordered here to hold these defences, my intention is to do so as long as it is in my power. " On the i Qth the transports stopped for wood at Warrenton, about ten miles below Vicksburg, and here a detachment of the 4th Wisconsin, sent to guard the working party, became involved in a skir mish with the Confederates, in which Sergeant-Major N. H. Chittenden and Private C. E. Perry, of A THE FIRST A TTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 19 Company, suffered the first wounds received in battle by the troops of the United States in the Department of the Gulf. The Confederates were easily repulsed, with small loss. Almost at the instant when Farragut was deciding to run the gauntlet of the forts, Beauregard had begun to fortify Vicksburg. Up to this time he had trusted the defence of the river above New Orleans to Fort Pillow, Helena, and Memphis. When Smith took command at Vicksburg on the 1 2th of May, in accordance with the orders of Lovell, the department commander, three of the ten batteries laid out for the defence of the position had been nearly completed and a fourth had been begun. These batteries were intended for forty-eight guns from field rifles to loinch columbiads. The garrison was to be 3, 000 strong, but at this time the only troops present were parts of two Louisiana regiments. When the fleet arrived, on the i8th, six of the ten batteries had been completed, and two days later twenty-three heavy guns were in place and the defenders numbered more than 2, 600. The guns of the navy could not be elevated suffi ciently for their projectiles to reach the Confederate batteries on the bluff, and the entire land-force, under Williams, was less than 1, 100 effective. Even had it been possible by a sudden attack to surprise and overcome the garrison and seize the bluffs, the whole available force of the Department of the Gulf would have been insufficient to hold the position for a week, as things then stood. The truth is that the northern column with which, following their orders, Butler and Farragut were now trying to co-operate had ceased to exist ; Jackson 20 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Meant Beauregard s rear ; and, as for any co-opera tion between Halleck and Williams, Beauregard stood solidly between them. On the I7th of April, the day before Porter s mortars first opened upon Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the whole land force of this northern column, under Pope, at that moment preparing for the attack on Fort Pillow, had been withdrawn by imperative orders from Halleck, and, on the very evening before the attack on Fort Pillow was to have been made, had gone to swell the great army assembled under Halleck at Corinth ; but as yet neither Butler nor Farragut knew any thing of all this. Save by the tedious roundabout of Washington, New York, the Atlantic, and the Gulf, there was at this time no regular or trustworthy means of communication between the forces descend ing the Mississippi and those that had just achieved the conquest of New Orleans and were now ascend ing the river to co-operate with the northern column. Thus it was that a single word, daubed in a rude scrawl upon the walls of the custom-house, meet ing the eyes of Paine s men after they had made a way into the building with their axes, gave to Butler the first intelligence of the desperate battle of the 6th and 7th of April, on which the fate of the whole Union campaign in the West had been staked, if not imperilled, and which in its result was destined to change materially the whole course of operations in the Gulf Department. That word was Shiloh. By the 26th of May the Oneida had been joined by the rest of the fleet, under the personal command of the restless and energetic flag-officer. On the after noon of this day the fleet opened fire. The Confed erates replied sparingly, as much to economize their THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 21 ammunition and to keep the men fresh, as to avoid giving the Union commanders information regarding the range and effect of their fire. The river was now falling. The Hartford in com ing up had already grounded hard, and so remained helpless for fifty hours, and had only been got off by incredible exertions. Provisions of all kinds were running very low. On the 25th of May, after a thorough reconnoissance, Farragut and Williams decided to give up the attempt on Vicksburg as evidently impracticable. Farragut left Palmer with the Iroquois and six gunboats to blockade the river and to amuse the garrison at Vicksburg by an occasional bombardment in order to prevent Smith from sending reinforcements to Corinth. While Williams was descending the river on the 26th, the transports were fired into by the Confed erate battery on the bluff at Grand Gulf, sixty miles below Vicksburg. About sixty rounds were fired in all, many of which passed completely through the transport La^^, rel Hill, bearing the 4th Wisconsin, part of the 6th Michigan, and the 6th Massachu setts battery. One private of the 6th Michigan was killed and Captain Chauncey J. Bassett, of the same regiment, wounded. The Ceres, bearing the remainder of the 6th Michigan and the 6th Massa chusetts battery, was following the Laurel Hill and was similarly treated. After a stern chase of about twenty miles, the convoy was overhauled, and the gunboat Kineo, returning, shelled the town and caused the withdrawal of the battery. During the evening Williams sent four companies of the 4th Wisconsin, under Major Boardman, to overtake the enemy s battery and break up the camp, about one 22 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Mile and a half in the rear of the town. Boardman came upon the Confederates as they were retiring, and shots were exchanged. The casualties were few, but Lieutenant George DeKay, a gallant and attractive young officer, serving as aide-de-camp to General Williams, received a mortal wound. On the 2Qth the troops under Williams once more landed and took post at Baton Rouge. During their absence of seventeen days, the Confederates had im proved the opportunity to remove much valuable property that had been found stored in the arsenal on the occasion of the first landing of the Union forces. On his return to New Orleans Farragut received pressing orders from the Navy Department to take Vicksburg. He therefore returned with his fleet, re inforced by a detachment of the mortar flotilla, and Butler once more despatched Williams, this time with an increased force, to co-operate. Williams left Baton Rouge on the morning of the 2Oth of June with a force composed of the 3<Dth Massachusetts, Qth Con necticut, 7th Vermont, and 4th Wisconsin regiments, Nims s 2d Massachusetts battery and two sections of Everett s 6th Massachusetts battery. This time a gar rison was left to hold Baton Rouge, consisting of the 2 ist Indiana and 6th Michigan regiments, the remain ing section of Everett s battery and Magee s Troop C of the Massachusetts cavalry battalion. On the 22d of June the transports arrived off Ellis s Cliffs, twelve miles below Natchez, where Williams found three gun boats waiting to convoy him past the high ground. Here he landed a detachment consisting of the 3Oth Massachusetts regiment and two guns of Nims s bat tery to turn the supposed position of two field-pieces said to have been planted by the Confederates on the THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 23 bluffs, while a second force, composed of the 4th Wisconsin, gih Connecticut, the other two sections of Nims s battery, and the four guns of Everett s, marched directly forward up the cliff road. An aban doned caisson or limber was all that the troops found. On the 24th, anticipating more serious resistance from the guns said to be in position on the bluffs at Grand Gulf, Williams entered Bayou Pierre with his whole force in the early morning, intending to strike the crossing, about seventeen miles up the stream, of the railway from Port Gibson to Grand Gulf, and thence to move directly on the rear of the town. Half-way up the bayou the boats were stopped by obstructions and had to back down again. Toward noon the troops landed and marched on Grand Gulf in two detachments, one under Paine, consist ing of the 4th Wisconsin and Qth Connecticut regiments and a section of Nims s battery ; the other, under Dudley, embracing the remainder of the force. Paine had a short skirmish with the enemy near Grand Gulf, and captured eight prisoners, but their camp, a small one, was found abandoned. The same evening the troops re-embarked, and on the 25th arrived before Vicksburg. The orders from Butler, under which Williams was now acting, required him to take or burn Vicks burg at all hazards. Here, too, we catch the first glimpse of the famous canal upon which so much labor was to be expended during the next year with so little result. "You will send up a regiment or two at once, " Butler said, " and cut off the neck of land beyond Vicksburg by means of a trench, making a gap about four feet deep and five feet wide. " To accomplish this purpose Williams had with him 24 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Four regiments and ten guns, making an effective force, in all less than three thousand, rapidly dimin ished by hard work, close quarters, meagre rations, and a bad climate nearly at its worst. On the 24th of June the Monarch, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred W. Ellet, arrived in the reach above Vicksburg. This was one of the nondescript fleet of rams, planned, built, equip ped, and manned, under the orders of the War De partment, by Ellet s elder brother, Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr. , but now acting under the orders of the Commander of the Mississippi fleet. Ellet promptly sent a party of four volunteers, led by his young nephew, Medical Cadet Charles R. Ellet, to com municate with Farragut across the narrow neck of land opposite Vicksburg. This was the first direct communication between the northern and southern columns. By it Farragut learned of the abandonment of Fort Pillow by the Confederates on the 4th of June, and the capture of Memphis on the 6th, after a hard naval fight, in which nearly the whole Confederate fleet was taken or destroyed. There Charles Ellet was mortally wounded. When the Monarch party went back to their vessel, they bore with them a letter from Farragut, the contents of which being promptly made known by Ellet to Davis, brought that officer, with his fleet, at once to Vicksburg. On the following day, June 25th, a de tachment of the 4th Wisconsin, sent up the river overland by Colonel Paine, succeeded in establishing a second communication with the Monarch, believing it to be the first. Farragut s fleet, now anchored below Vicksburg, comprised the flagship Hartford, the sloops-of-war THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 25 Brooklyn and Richmond, the corvettes Iroquois and Oneida, and six gunboats. Porter had joined with the Octorara, Miami, six other steamers, and seven teen of the mortar schooners. The orders of the government were peremptory that the Mississippi should be cleared. The Confederates held the river by a single thread. The fall of Memphis and the ruin of the famous river-defence fleet left between St. Louis and the Gulf but a solitary obstruction. This was Vicksburg. Vicksburg stands at an abrupt turn, where within ten miles the winding river doubles upon itself, form ing on the low ground opposite a long ringer of land, barely three quarters of a mile wide. Opposite the extreme end of this peninsula, known as De Soto, the bluff reaches the highest point attained along the whole course of the river, the crest standing about 250 feet above the mean stage of water. Slop ing slowly toward the river, the bluff follows it with a diminished altitude for two miles. Here stands the town of Vicksburg, then a place of about ten thou sand inhabitants. Below the town the bluffs draw away from the river until, about four miles be yond the bend, their height diminishes to about 150 feet. For the defence of this line, as has been already seen, a formidable series of batteries had been constructed, extending from the bluff at the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou on the north to Warren- ton on the south. These batteries now mounted twenty-six heavy guns, served by gunners com paratively well trained and instructed, and sup ported against an attack by land by about 6, 000 in fantry under Lovell. Almost simultaneously with the arrival of Farragut and Williams, came Breckin- 26 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ridge with his division, augmenting the effective force of the defenders to not less than 10, 000. On the 3Oth of May Beauregard evacuated Corinth and drew back to Tupelo ; Halleck did not follow ; and so 35, 000 Confederates were now set free to strengthen Vicksburg. Thus defended and supported Vicksburg was obviously impregnable to any attack by the com bined forces of Farragut and Williams. On the 28th of June, Van Dorn arrived and took command of the Confederate forces. After some preliminary bombarding and recon noitring Farragut, who was well informed as to the condition of the defences, determined upon repeating before Vicksburg his exploit below New Orleans. Accordingly, on the 28th of July, in the darkness of the early morning, under cover of the fire of Porter s mortar flotilla, Farragut got under way with his fleet to pass the batteries of Vicksburg. The fleet was formed in two columns, with wide intervals, the star board column led by the Hartford, the port column by the Iroquois. The battle was opened by the mortars at four o clock, the enemy replying instantly. By six o clock the Hartford and six of her consorts had successfully run the gauntlet, and lay safely anchored above the bend, while the rest of the fleet, through some confusion of events or misapprehension of orders, had resumed its former position below the bend. The losses of the navy in this engagement were fifteen killed and thirty wounded, including many scalded by the effect of a single shot that pierced the boiler of the Clifton. The eight rifled guns of Nims s and Everett s batteries having been landed, were placed in position behind the levee at Barney s Point, and replied effectively to the fire of the heavy guns THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 27 on the high bluff, at a range of about fourteen hun dred yards. This slight service was the only form of active co-operation by the army that the circum stances admitted ; yet all the troops stood to arms, ready to do any thing that might be required. On the ist of July Davis joined Farragut with four gunboats and six mortar-boats of the Mississippi fleet. On the Qth Farragut received orders from the Navy Department, dated on the 5th, and forwarded by way of Cairo, to send Porter with the Octorara, and twelve mortar-boats at once to Hampton Roads. Porter steamed down the river on the loth. This was obviously one of the first-fruits of the campaign of the Peninsula just ended by the withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac to the James. Indeed, at this crisis, all occasions seemed to be informing against the Union plan of campaign, and the same events that drew the Confederate armies together served to draw the Union armies apart. Just as we have seen Pope called away from Fort Pillow on the eve of an attack that must have resulted in its capture, and taken in haste to swell the slow march of Halleck s army before Corinth, so now, when for a full month Corinth had been abandoned by the Confederates, Halleck s forces were being broken up and dispersed to all four of the winds, save that which might have blown them to the south. Halleck declared himself unable to respond to Farragut s urgent appeal for help. " I cannot, " he said, when urged by Stanton ; " I am sending reinforcements to General Curtis, in Arkansas, and to General Buell, in Tennessee and Kentucky. " Not only this, but he was being called upon by Lincoln himself for 25, 000 troops to rein force the Army of the Potomac before Richmond. 28 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. " Probably I shall be able to do so, " Halleck told Far- ragut, "as soon as I can get my troops more concen trated. This may delay the clearing of the river, but its accomplishment will be certain in a few weeks. " Meanwhile Williams was hard at work on the canal. In addition to such details as could be furnished by the troops without wholly neglecting the absolutely necessary portions of their military duties, Williams had employed a force of about 1, 200 negroes, rather poorly provided with tools. The work was not confined to excavation, but involved the cutting down of the large cottonwoods and the clearing away of the dense masses of willows that covered the low ground and matted the heavy soil with their tangled roots. By the 4th of July the excavation had reached a depth in the hard clay of nearly seven feet. The length of the canal was about one and a half miles. By the nth of July the cut, originally intended to be four feet deep and five feet wide, with a profile of twenty square feet, had been excavated through this stiff clay to a depth of thirteen feet and a width of eighteen feet, presenting a profile of 234 feet. The river, which, up to this time, had been falling more rapidly than the utmost exertions had been able to sink the bottom of the canal, had now begun to fall more slowly, so that at last the grade was about eighteen inches below the river level. In a few hours the water was to have been let in. Suddenly the banks began to cave, and before any thing could be done to remedy this, the river, still falling, was once more below the bottom of the cut. Although with this scanty and overworked force he had already performed nearly twelve times the amount of labor originally contemplated, Williams does not THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 29 seem to have been discouraged at this ; his orders were to make the cut, and his purpose clearly was to make it, even if it should take, as he thought it would, the whole of the next three months. He set to work with vigor to collect laborers, wheelbarrows, shovels, axes, carts, and scrapers, and " to make a real canal, " to use his own words, " to the depth of the greatest fall of the river at this point, say some thirty-five to forty feet. " But this was not to be. Until toward the end of June, the Polk and Living ston, the last vestiges of the Confederate navy on the Mississippi spared from the general wreck at Memphis, lay far up the Yazoo River, with a barrier above them, designed to cover the building of the ram Arkan sas. This formidable craft was approaching completion at Yazoo City. The Ellets, uncle and nephew, with the Monarch and Lancaster, steamed up the Yazoo River to reconnoitre. The rams carried no armament whatever, but this the Confederate naval commander in the Yazoo did not know ; so, unable to pass the barrier, he set fire to his three gunboats immediately on perceiving Ellet s approach. On the i4th of July, Flag-Officers Farragut and Davis sent the gunboats Carondelet and Tyler, and the ram Queen of the West, on a second expedition up the Yazoo to gain infor mation of the Arkansas. This object was greatly facilitated by the fact that the Arkansas had at this very moment just got under way for the first time, and was coming down the Yazoo to gather informa tion of the Federal fleet. The Arkansas, which had been constructed and was now commanded by Captain Isaac N. Brown, formerly of the United States Navy, was, for defensive purposes, probably the most effective of all the gunboats ever set afloat by the Confederacy 30 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Upon the western waters. Her deck was covered by a single casemate protected by three inches of railroad iron, set aslant like a gable roof, and heavily backed up with timber and cotton bales. Her whole bow formed a powerful ram ; the shield, flat on the top, was pierced for ten guns of heavy calibre, three in each broadside, two forward, and two aft. Had her means of propulsion proved equal to her power of attack and defence, it is doubtful if the whole Union navy on the Mississippi could have stood against her single-handed. The situation thus strangely recalls that presented by the Merrimac, or Virginia, in Hampton Roads before the opportune arrival of the Monitor. On board the Tyler was a detachment of twenty sharpshooters of the 4th Wisconsin regiment, under Captain J. W. Lynn, and on the Carondelet were twenty men of the 3Oth Massachusetts regiment, under Lieutenant E. A. Fiske. About six miles above the Yazoo the Union gunboats encountered the Arkansas. The unarmed ram Queen of the West promptly fled. After a hard fight the Carondelet was disabled and run ashore, and the Tyler was forced to retire, with the Arkansas in pursuit. The sharpshooters of the 4th Wisconsin suffered more severely than if they had been en gaged in an ordinary pitched battle, Captain Lynn and six of his men being killed and six others wounded. The Queen of the West, flying out of the mouth of the Yazoo under a full head of steam, gave to the fleet at anchor the first intimation, though perhaps a feeble one, of what was to follow. Not one vessel of either squadron had steam. The ram Bragg, which might have been expected to do something, did nothing. The Arkansas, so seriously injured by the THE FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 31 guns of the Carondclet and Tyler that the steam pressure had gone from 1 20 pounds to the square inch down to 20 pounds, kept on her course, and proceeded to run the gauntlet of the Union fleet, giving and taking blows as she went. Battered, but safe, she soon lay under the guns of Vicksburg. This decided the fate of the campaign, and extin guished in the breast of Farragut the last vestige of the ardent hope he had expressed to the government a few days earlier that he might soon have the pleas ure of recording the combined attack of the army and navy, for which all so ardently longed. The river was falling ; the canal was a failure. Of the officers and men of the navy, two fifths, and of the effective force of the army nearly three fourths, were on the sick-list. There was no longer any thing to hope for or to wait for. The night that followed the exploit of the Arkansas saw Farragut s fleet descending the river and once more running the gauntlet of the batteries of Vicksburg. A flying attempt was made by each vessel in succession, but by all unsuccessfully, to destroy the offending Arkansas. On the 24th of July, Williams, with his small force, under convoy of Farragut s fleet, sailed down the river. So ended the second attempt on Vicksburg, usually called the first, when remembered. Its sud den collapse gave the Confederates the river for another year. CHAPTER III. BATON ROUGE. ON the 26th of July, the troops landed at Baton Rouge. In the five weeks that had elapsed since their departure their effective strength had been diminished, by privations, by severe labor, and by the effects of a deadly climate, from 3, 200 to about 800. For more than three months, ever since their re-embarkation at Ship Island on the roth of April, they had under gone hardships such as have seldom fallen to the lot of soldiers, in a campaign whose existence is scarcely known and whose name has been wellnigh forgotten ; but their time for rest and recreation had not yet come. No sooner did Van Dorn see the allied fleets of Davis and Farragut turning their backs on one another and steaming one to the north and the other to the south, than he determined to take the initia tive. His preparations had been already made in anticipation of this event. He now ordered Breckin- ridge to hasten with his division to the attack of Baton Rouge, and even as the fleet got under way, the train bearing Breckinridge s troops was also in motion. Breckinridge received his orders on the 26th, and arrived at Camp Moore by the railway on the 28th. At Jackson he had been told that he would receive rations sufficient for ten days, but he could get no 32 LOUISIANA SHEET II. BATON ROUGE. 33 more than half the quantity. Van Dorn had esti mated the Union force to be met at Baton Rouge at about 5, 000, and had calculated that Breckinridge would find himself strong enough to dislodge the Union army and drive it away. In fact, Van Dorn estimated Breckinridge s division, including i, ooomen under Brigadier-General Ruggles, that were to meet him at Camp Moore, at 6, 000 men. The Arkansas was to join in the attack, and she was justly consid ered a full offset to any naval force the Union com mander would be likely to have stationed at Baton Rouge. Breckinridge left Vicksburg with less than 4, 000. On the 3Oth of July he reports his total effective force, including Ruggles, at 3, 600. The same day he marched on Baton Rouge, and on the 4th of August encamped at the crossing of the Comite, distant about ten miles from his objective. His morning report of that day shows but 3, 000 effectives, according to the method by which effective strength was commonly counted by the Confederates. The distance from Camp Moore to Baton Rouge is about sixty miles, and the march had been thus retarded to await the co-operation of the Arkansas. This Breckinridge was finally assured he might ex pect at daylight on the morning of the 5th of August. The Arkansas had in fact left Vicksburg on the 3d. Van Dorn s object obviously was by crushing Wil liams to regain control of the Mississippi from Vicks burg to Baton Rouge, to break the blockade of Red River and to open the way for the recapture of New Orleans. Williams was expecting the attack and awaited the result with calmness. At Baton Rouge the Mississippi washes for the last time the base of the high and steep bluffs that 3 34 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. For so many hundreds of miles have followed the coasts of the great river and formed the contour of its left bank, overlooking its swift yellow waters and the vast lowlands of the western shore. The bluff is lower at Baton Rouge than it is above and slopes more gently to the water s edge ; and here the high land draws back from the river and gradually fades away in a southeasterly direction toward the Gulf, while the surface of the country becomes more open and less broken. The stiff post-tertiary clays that compose the soil of these bluffs were in many places covered with a rich growth of timber, great magnolias and beautiful live oaks replacing the rank cottonwood and tangled willows of the lowlands, as well as the giant cypresses of the impenetrable swamps, with their mournful hangings of Spanish moss, and the wild grape binding them fast in a deadly embrace. Six roads led out of the town in various directions. Of these the most northerly was the road from Bayou Sara. Passing behind the town its course continued toward the south along the river. Between these outstretched arms ran the road to Clinton, the Green- well Springs road, by which the Confederates had come, the Perkins road, and the Clay Cut road. In numbers the opposing forces were nearly equal. The Confederates went into action with about 2, 600, without counting the partisan rangers and militia, numbering 400 or 500 more. Williams had about 2, 500 fighting men. He had eighteen guns, the Confederates eleven. On both sides the men were enfeebled by malaria and exposure ; yet the Con federates had left their sick behind, while the Union force included convalescents that came out of the BATON ROUGE. 35 hospital to take part in the battle. " There were not 1, 200, " said Weitzel after the battle, "who could have marched five miles. None of our men had been in battle; very few had been under fire. " Among the Confederates were many of the veterans of Shiloh and more of the triumphant defenders of Vicksburg. The advantage of position was slight on either side. On the one hand Williams was forced to post his left with regard to the expected attack of the Arkansas, so that in the centre his line fell behind the camps. To offset this his right rested securely on the gun boats. As it turned out the Arkansas was not encountered, and the gunboats told off to meet her were therefore able to render material assistance on the left by their oblique fire across Williams s front. Breckinridge commanded four picked brigades, three selected from his own division and one of Mar tin L. Smith s Vicksburg brigades, the whole organ ized in two divisions, under Brigadier-Generals Charles Clark and Daniel Ruggles. Clark had the brigades of Brigadier-General Bernard H. Helm and Colonel Thomas B. Smith, of the 2Oth Tennessee, with the Hudson battery and Cobb s battery. Ruggles had the brigades of Colonel A. P. Thompson, of the 3d Kentucky, and Colonel Henry W. Allen, of the 4th Louisiana, with Semmes s battery. From right to left the order of attack ran, Helm, Smith, Thomp son, Allen. Clark moved on the right of the Greenwell Springs road, and Ruggles on the left. Scott s cavalry was posted on the extreme left, four guns of Semmes s battery occupied the centre of Rug- gles s division, while in Clark s centre were the four guns of the Hudson battery and one of Cobb s ; the other two having been disabled in a panic during the 36 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Night march before the battle. On the extreme right the Clinton road was picketed and held by a detach ment of infantry and rangers and the remaining sec tion of Semmes s battery. To meet the expected attack, Williams had posted his troops in rear of the arsenal and of the town, occu pying an irregular line, generally parallel to the Bayou Sara road, and extending from the Bayou Grosse, on the left, to and beyond the intersection of the Perkins and Clay Cut roads, on the right. On the extreme left, behind the Bayou Grosse, was the 4th Wisconsin, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Bean. Next, but on the left bank of the bayou, stood the 9th Connecticut. Next, and on the left of the Greenwell Springs road, the i4th Maine. On the right of that road was posted the 2ist Indiana, under Lieutenant-Colonel Keith, with three guns attached to the regiment, under Lieutenant J. H. Brown. Across the Perkins and Clay Cut roads the 6th Michigan was formed, under command of Captain Charles E. Clarke, while in the rear of the interval between the 6th Michigan and the 2ist Indiana stood the 7th Vermont. The ex treme right and rear were covered by the 3Oth Massachusetts, in column, supporting Nims s battery, under Lieutenant Trull. On the centre and left were planted the guns of Everett s battery, under Carruth, and of Manning s 4th Massachusetts battery. The left flank was supported by the Essex, Com mander William D. Porter ; the Cayuga, Lieutenant Harrison ; and the Sumter t Lieutenant Erben ; the right flank by the Kineo, Lieutenant-Commander Ransom, and Katahdin, Lieutenant Roe. These dispositions were planned expressly to meet BATON ROUGE. 37 the expected attack by the ram Arkansas, and in that view the arrangement was probably the best that the formation of the ground permitted. But the fighting line was very far advanced ; the camps still farther ; the reserve on the right was posted quite a mile and a half behind the capitol, and, as at Shiloh, no portion of the line was fortified or protected in any way, though the field was an open plain and the converging roads gave to the attacking party a wide choice of position. About daylight Breckinridge moved to the attack in a summer fog so dense that those engaged could at first distinguish neither friend nor enemy. The blow fell first, and heavily, upon the centre and right, held by the i4th Maine, 2ist Indiana, and 6th Michigan. As our troops were pressed back by the vigor of the first onset, the exposed camps of the 1 4th Maine, 7th Vermont, and 2ist Indi ana fell into the hands of the Confederates. The 9th Connecticut, with Manning s battery, moved to the support of the I4th Maine and 2ist Indiana, on the right of the former, and the 4th Wisconsin formed on the left of the I4th. Further to the right, the 3Oth Massachusetts advanced to the sup port of the 2ist Indiana and 6th Michigan, cov ering the interval between the two battalions to replace the 7th Vermont. In the first fighting in the darkness and the fog this regiment had been roughly handled ; its colonel fell, a momentary confusion followed, and the regiment drifted back into a convenient position, where it was soon re formed, under Captain Porter. Nims brought his guns into battery on the right of the 6th Michigan. The battle was short, but the fighting was severe ; both sides suffered heavily, and each fell into 38 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Some disorder. At different moments both wings of the Confederate force were broken, and fell back in something not very unlike panic. The colors of the 4th Louisiana were captured by the 6th Michigan. As the fog lifted, under the influence of the increasing heat, it became clear to both sides that the attack had failed. The force of the fierce Confederate onset was quite spent. The Union lines, however thinned and shattered, remained in possession of the prize. " It was now ten o clock, " says Breckinridge. " We had listened in vain for the guns of the Arkansas : I saw around me not more than 1, 000 exhausted men. " The battle was over. Indeed it had been over for some hours ; these words probably indicate the period when the Confederate commander gave up his last hope. The Arkansas, disabled within sight of the goal by an accident to her machinery, was run ashore and destroyed by her commander to save her from capture. The Confederate losses were about 84 killed, 313 wounded, and 56 missing; total, 453. Clark was severely wounded and made prisoner. Allen was killed, and two other brigade commanders wounded. Helm, Hunt, and Thompson had been previously disabled by an accident during the night panic. The Union losses were 84 killed, 266 wounded, and 33 missing ; total, 383. The heaviest loss fell upon the 2ist Indiana, which suffered 126 casualties, and upon the i4th Maine, which reported 118. Of the killed, 36, or nearly one half, belonged to the i4th Maine, while more than two thirds of the killed and nearly two thirds of the total belonged to that regi ment and the 2ist Indiana. The 4th Wisconsin, BATON ROUGE. 39 being posted quite to the left of the point of attack, was not engaged. Colonel G. T. Roberts, of the 7th Vermont, fell early in the action, and near its close Williams was instantly killed while urging his men to the attack. In him his little brigade lost the only commander present of experience in war ; the country, a brave and accomplished soldier. If he was, as must be confessed, arbitrary, at times unreasonable, and often harsh, in his treatment of his untrained volunteers, yet many who then thought his discipline too severe to be endured, lived to know, and by their conduct vindi cate, the value of his training. The Confederates appear to have suffered to some extent during the last attack, until the lines drew too near together, from the fire of the Essex and her con sorts. Ransom also speaks of having shelled the enemy with great effect during the afternoon from the Kineo and Katahdin, accurately directed by sig nals from the capitol ; but no other account even men tions any firing at that period of the day ; the effect cannot, therefore, have been severe, and it seems probable that the troops against whom it was directed may have been some outlying party. Cahill s seniority entitled him to the command after Williams fell, yet during the remainder of the battle Dudley seems to have commanded the troops actually engaged. Shortly after the close of the action Cahill assumed the command and sent word to Butler of the state of affairs. The Confederates were still to be seen upon the field of battle. Their force was naturally enough over-estimated. Another attack was expected during the afternoon, and reinforcements were urgently called 40 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. For. Butler had none to give without putting New Orleans itself in peril. However, during the evening he determined to release from arrest a number of offi cers who had been deprived of their swords by Wil liams at various times, and for various causes, mainly growing out of the confused and as yet rather un settled policy of the government in reference to the treatment of the negroes, and to send all these officers to Baton Rouge. Among them were Colonel Paine of the 4th Wisconsin and Colonel Clark of the 6th Michigan. Since the nth of June Paine had been in arrest ; an arrest of a character peculiar and perhaps unprecedented in the history of armies. Whenever danger was to be faced, or unusual duty to be per formed, he might wear his sword and command his men, but the moment the duty or the danger was at an end he must go back into arrest. Paine, who was an ex tremely conscientious officer, as well as a man of high character and firmness of purpose, had from the first taken strong ground against the use of any portion of his force in aid of the claims of the master to the ser vice of the slave. Williams, strict in his idea of obedi ence due his superiors, not less than in his notions of obedience due to him by his own inferiors in rank, stood upon his construction of the law and the orders of the War Department, as they then existed ; hence in the natural course of events inevitably arose more than one irreconcilable difference of opinion. Paine was now ordered to go at once to Baton Rouge and take command: He was told by Butler to burn the town and the capitol. The library, the paintings, the stat uary, and the relics were to be spared, as well as the charitable institutions of the town. The books, the paintings, and the statue of Washington, he was to BATON ROUGE. 41 send to New Orleans ; he was then to evacuate Baton Rouge and retire with his whole force to New Orleans. At midnight on the 6th of August Paine arrived at Baton Rouge. There he found every thing quiet, with the troops in camp on an interior and shorter line, but expecting another attack. There was in fact an alarm before morning came, but nothing happened. On the 7th Paine took command and set about putting the town in complete condition for an effective defence. With his accustomed care and energy he soon rectified the lines and en trenched them with twenty-four guns in position, and, in co-operation with the navy, concerted every measure for an effective defence, even against large numbers. Breckinridge, however, after continuing to menace Baton Rouge for some days, had, by Van Dorn s orders, retired to Port Hudson, and was now en gaged in fortifying that position. Ru^ gles was sent there on the i2th of August. The next day Breckin ridge received orders from Van Dorn, then at Jack son, to follow with his whole force. " Port Hudson, " Van Dorn said, "must be held if possible. " "Port Hudson, " remarks Breckinridge, in his report of the battle of Baton Rouge, " is one of the strongest points on the Mississippi, which Baton Rouge is not, and batteries there will command the river more completely than at Vicksburg. " Meanwhile Butler had changed his mind with regard to the evacuation of Baton Rouge, and had directed Paine to hold the place for the present. With- an accuracy unusual at this period, Butler esti mated Breckinridge s entire force at 5, 000 men and fourteen guns. On the I3th the defences were com- 42 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Plete, the entrenchments forming two sides of a triangle of which the river was the base and the cemetery mound the apex. The troops stood to arms at three o clock every morning ; one fourth of the force was constantly under arms, day and night, at its station. At two points on each face of the entrenchments flags were planted by day and lights by night, to indicate to the gunboats their line of fire. On the 1 6th of August Butler renewed his orders to burn and evacuate Baton Rouge. Its retention up to this time he had avowedly regarded as having political rather than military importance. Now he wrote to Paine : " I am constrained to come to the con clusion that it is necessary to evacuate Baton Rouge. . . . Begin the movement quietly and rapidly ; get every thing off except your men, and then see to it that the town is destroyed. After mature deliberation I deem this a military necessity of the highest order. " Against these orders Paine made an earnest appeal, based upon considerations partly humane, partly military. He was so far successful that Butler was induced to countermand the order to burn. The movement was not to be delayed on account of the statue of Washington. However, the statue had been already packed. It is now in the Patent Office at the national capital. All the books and paintings were brought off, " except, " to quote from Paine s diary, " the portrait of James Buchanan, which we left hanging in the State House for his friends. " Finally, on the 2Oth, Paine evacuated Baton Rouge, and on the following day reached the lines of Carrolton, known as Camp Parapet, and turned over his command to Phelps. CHAPTER IV. LA FOURCHE. ON the 22d of August Paine was assigned to the command of what was called the "reserve bri gade " of a division under Phelps. The brigade was composed of the 4th Wisconsin, 2ist Indiana, and 1 4th Maine, with Brown s battery attached to the Indiana regiment. But this was not to last, for the tension that had long existed between Phelps and the department commander, on the subject of the treatment of the negroes, as well as on the question of arming and employing them, finally resulted in Phelps s resignation on the 2ist of August. On the J3th of September he was succeeded by Brigadier-General Thomas W. Sherman, himself recently relieved from command of the Department of the South, partly, perhaps, in consequence of differ ences of opinion of a like character. On the 29th of September the division, then known as Sherman s was reorganized, and Paine took com mand of the ist brigade, composed of the 4th Wisconsin, 2ist Indiana, and 8th New Hampshire regiments with the ist and 2d Vermont batteries and Brown s guns of the 2 ist Indiana. Paine s com mand also included Camp Parapet. These lines had been originally laid out by the Confederates for the defence of New Orleans against an attack by 43 44 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Land from the north ; as, for example, by a force approaching through Lake Ponchartrain and Pass Manchac. They were now put in thorough order, and the Indianians, who had received some artillery instruction during their term of service at Fort McHenry, completed the foundation for their future service as heavy artillerists by going back to the big guns. In October and November the 8th New Hampshire and 2ist Indiana were transferred to Weitzel s brigade and were replaced in Paine s by the 2d Louisiana and temporarily by the I2th Maine. The official reports covering this period afford several strong hints of a Confederate plan for the recapture of New Orleans. With this object, ap parently, Richard Taylor, a prominent and wealthy Louisianian, closely allied to Jefferson Davis by his first marriage with the daughter of Zachary Tay lor, was made a major-general in the Confederate army, and on the ist of August was assigned to com mand the Confederate forces in Western Louisiana. It seems likely that the troops of Van Dorn s depart ment, as well as those at Mobile, were expected to take part. On the 8th of August orders were issued by the War Department transferring the district of West Florida to the Department of the Gulf. West Florida meant Pensacola. Fort Pickens, on the sands of Santa Rosa, commanding the entrance to the splendid harbor, owed to the loyalty of a few staunch officers of the army and the navy the proud distinction of being the one spot between the Chesa peake and the Rio Grande over which, in spite of all hostile attempts, the ensign of the nation had never ceased to float ; for the works at Key West and the LA FOURCHE. 45 Dry Tortugas, though likewise held, were never menaced. Though Bragg early gathered a large force for the capture of the fort, the only serious attempt, made in the dawn of the gth of October, 1 86 1, was repulsed with a loss to the Confederates of 87, to the Union troops of 61. Of these, the 6th New York had 9 killed, 7 wounded, 1 1 missing in all, 27. In December the 75th New York came down from the North to reinforce the defenders. Finally, after learning the fate of New Orleans, Bragg evacu ated Pensacola, and burned his surplus stores, and on the loth of May, 1862, Porter, seeing from the passes the glare of the flames, ran over and anchored in the bay. The advantage thus gained was held to the end. This transfer gave Butler two strong infantry regi ments, as well as several fine batteries and companies of the regular artillery, but at the same time corre spondingly increased the territory he had to guard, already far too extensive and too widely scattered for the small force at his disposal. Toward the end of September Lieutenant Godfrey Weitzel, of the engineers, having been made a briga dier-general on Butler s recommendation, a promotion more than usually justified by service and talent, a brigade was formed for him called the Reserve Bri gade, and consisting of the i2th and i3th Connecti cut, 75th New York, and 8th New Hampshire, Carruth s 6th Massachusetts battery, Thompson s ist Maine battery, Perkins s Troop C of the Massachusetts cavalry, and three troops of Louisiana cavalry under Williamson. From that time, through all the changes, which were many and frequent, Weitzel s brigade changed less than any thing else, and its history 46 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. May almost be said to be the military history of the Department. Taylor, with his accustomed energy and enthusiasm, had collected and organized a force, primarily for the defence of the La Fourche country and the Teche, ultimately for the offensive operations already planned. Butler at once committed to Weitzel the preparations for dislodging Taylor and occupying La Fourche. This object was important, not only to secure the defence of New Orleans, but because the territory to be occupied comprised or controlled the fertile region between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya. The country lies low and flat, and is intersected by numer ous navigable bayous, with but narrow roadways along their banks and elsewhere none. Without naval assistance, the operation would have been difficult, if not impossible ; and the navy had in Louisiana no gunboats of a draught light enough for the service. With the funds of the army Butler caused four light gunboats, the Estrella, Calhoun, Kinsman, and Diana, to be quietly built and equipped, the navy furnishing the officers and the crews. Under Com mander McKean Buchanan they were then sent by the gulf to Berwick Bay. When he was ready, Weitzel took transports, under convoy of the Kineo, Sciota, Katahdin, and Itasca, landed below Donaldsonville, entered the town, and on the 27th of October moved on Thibodeaux, the heart of the district. At Georgia Landing, about two miles above Labadieville, he encountered the Con federates under Mouton, consisting of the i8th and 33d Louisiana, the Crescent and Terre Bonne regi ments, with Ralston s and Semmes s batteries and the 2d Louisiana cavalry, in all reported by Mouton as LA FOURCHE. 47 1, 392 strong. They had taken up a defensive position on both sides of the bayou. Along these bayous the standing room is for the most part nar row ; and as the land, although low, is in general heavily wooded and crossed by many ditches of con siderable depth, the country affords defensive posi tions at once stronger and more numerous than are to be found in most flat regions. Small bodies of troops, familiar with the topography, have also this further advantage, that there are few points from which their position and numbers can be easily made out. After a short but spirited engagement Mouton s force was compelled to retreat. Weitzel pursued for about four miles. Mouton then called in his outlying detachments, including the La Fourche regiment, 500 strong, 300 men of the 33d Louisiana, and the regiments of Saint Charles and St. John Baptist, burned the railway station of Terre Bonne and the bridges at Thibo- deaux, La Fourche Crossing, Terre Bonne, Des Allemands, and Bayou Bceuf, and evacuated the district. By the 3Oth, every thing was safely across Berwick Bay. For this escape, he was indebted to an opportune gale that compelled Buchanan s gun boats to lie to in Caillou Bay on their way to Berwick Bay, to cut off the retreat. Mouton s re port accounts for 5 killed, 8 wounded, and 186 missing; in all 199. Among the killed was Colonel G. P. McPheeters of the Crescent regiment. Weitzel followed to Thibodeaux, and went into camp beyond the town. He claims to have taken 208 prisoners and one gun, and states his own losses as 1 8 killed, and 74 wounded, agreeing with the nomi- 48 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Nal lists, which also contain the names of 5 missing, thus bringing the total casualties to 97. Arriving off Brashear a day too late, Buchanan was partly consoled by capturing the Confederate gunboat Seger. On the 4th and 5th of November he made a reconnoissance fourteen miles up the Teche with his own boat, the Calhoun, and the Estrella, Kinsman, Saint Marys, and Diana, and meeting a portion of Mouton s forces and the Confederate gunboat J. A. Cotton, received and inflicted some damage and slight losses, yet with no material result. Simultaneously with Weitzel s movement on La Fourche, Butler pushed the 8th Vermont and the newly organized ist Louisiana Native Guards for ward from Algiers along the Opelousas Railway, to act in conjunction with Weitzel and to open the railway as they advanced. Weitzel had already turned the enemy out of his position, but the task committed to Thomas was slow and hard, for all the bridges and many culverts had to be rebuilt, and from long disuse of the line the rank grass, that in Louisi ana springs up so freely in every untrodden spot above water, had grown so tall and thick and strongly matted, that the troops had to pull it up by the roots before the locomotive could pass. So ended operations in Louisiana for this year. Until the following spring, Taylor continued to occupy the Teche region, while Weitzel rested quietly in La Fourche, with his headquarters at Thibodeaux and his troops so disposed as to cover and hold the country without losing touch. On the Qth of Novem ber, the whole of Louisiana lying west of the Missis sippi, except the delta parishes of Plaquemine and Terre Bonne, was constituted a military district to be LA FOURCHE. 49 known as the District of La Fourche, and Weitzel was assigned to the command. Meanwhile General Butler, with the consent of the War Department, had raised, organized, and equipped, in the neighborhood of New Orleans, two good regi ments of infantry, the ist Louisiana, Colonel Richard E. Holcomb, and the 2d Louisiana, Colonel Charles J. Paine, both regiments admirably commanded and well officered ; three excellent troops of Louisiana cavalry, under fine leaders, Captains Henry F. Wil liamson, Richard Barrett, and J. F. Godfrey ; and beside these white troops, three regiments of ne groes, designated as the ist, 2d, and 3d Louisiana Native Guards. This was the name originally em ployed by Governor Moore early in 1861, to describe an organization of the free men of color of New Or leans enrolled for the defence of the city against the expected attack by the forces of the Union. This action was taken by Butler of his own motion. It was never formally approved by the government, but it was not interfered with. These three regiments were the first negro troops mustered into the service of the United States. At least one of them, the ist, was largely made up of men of that peculiar and ex clusive caste known to the laws of slavery as the free men of color of Louisiana. All the field and staff officers were white men, mainly taken from the rolls of the troops already in service ; but at first all the company officers were negroes. As this was the first experiment, it was perhaps, in the state of feeling then prevailing, inevitable, yet not the less to be regretted, that the white officers were, with some notable ex ceptions, inferior men. Fortunately, however, courts- martial and examining boards made their career for 50 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The most part a short one. As for the colored officers of the line, early in 1863 they were nearly all dis qualified on the most rudimentary examination, and then the rest resigned. After that, the government having determined to raise a large force of negro troops, it became the settled policy to grant commis sions as officers to none but white men. The ist and 26. Regiments were sent into the district of La Fourche to guard the railway. Then, between Butler and Weitzel, in spite of con fidence on the one hand and respect and affection on the other, began the usual controversy about arming the negro. To one unacquainted with the history of this question and of those times it must seem strange indeed to read the emphatic words in which a soldier so loyal and, in the best sense, so subordinate as Weitzel, declared his unwillingness to command these troops, and to reflect that in little more than two years he was destined to accept with alacrity the command of a whole army corps of black men, and at last to ride in triumph at their head into the very capital of the Confederacy. With the exception of the levies raised by its com mander, the Department of the Gulf had so far re ceived no access of strength from any quarter. From the North had come hardly a recruit. In the intense heat and among the poisonous swamps the effective strength melted away day by day. Thus the num bers present fell 3, 795 during the month of July; in October, when the sickly season had done its worst, the wastage reached a total of 5, 390. At the time of the battle of Baton Rouge, Butler s effective force can hardly have exceeded 7, 000. When his strength was the greatest it probably did not exceed, if indeed it LA FOURCHE. 51 reached, the number of 13, 000 effective. The condi tion of affairs was therefore such that Butler found himself with an army barely sufficient for the secure defence of the vast territory committed to his care, and for any offensive operation absolutely powerless. To hold what had been gained it was practically necessary to sit still ; and to sit still then, as always in all wars, was to invite attack. These things Butler did not fail to represent to the government, and to repeat. At last, about the middle of November, he received a few encouraging words from Halleck, dated the 3d of that month, in which he was assured that the " delay in sending reinforce ments has not been the fault of the War Department. It is hoped that some will be ready to start as soon as the November elections are over. Brigadier- generals will be sent with these reinforcements. " With them was to be a major-general, the new com mander of the department ; but this Halleck did not say. CHAPTER V. BANKS IN COMMAND. WHEN the campaigns of 1862 were drawing to an end, the government changed all the commanders and turned to the consideration of new plans. With President Lincoln, as we have seen, the opening of the Mississippi had long been a favored scheme. His early experience had rendered him familiar with the waters, the shores, and the vast traffic of the great river, and had brought home to him the common interests and the mutual dependence of the farmers, the traders, the miners, and the manufacturers of the States bordering upon the upper Mississippi and the Ohio on the one hand, and of the merchants and planters of the Gulf on the other. Thus he was fully prepared to enter warmly into the idea that had taken possession of the minds and hearts of the people of the Northwest. From a vague longing this idea had now grown into a deep and settled sen timent. Indeed in all the West the opening of the Mississippi played a part that can only be realized by comparing it with the prevailing sentiment of the East, so early, so long, so loudly expressed in the cry, "On to Richmond!" That the President should have been in complete accord with the popular impulse is hardly to be wondered at by any one that has followed, with the 52 BANKS IN COMMAND. 53 least attention, the details of his remarkable career. Moreover, the popular impulse was right. Wars take their character from the causes that produce them and the people or the nations by whom they are waged. This was not a contest upon some petty question involving the fate of a ministry, a dynasty, or even a monarchy, to be fought out between regular armies upon well-known plans at the convergence of the roads between two opposing capitals. The strug gle was virtually one between two peoples hitherto united as one, between the people of the North, who had taken up arms for the maintenance and the restoration of the Union, and the people of the South, who had taken up arms to destroy the Union. Of such an issue there could be no compromise ; to such a contest there could be no end short of ex haustion. For four long years it was destined to go on, and at times to rage with a fury almost unex ampled along lines whose length was measured by the thousand miles and over a battle-ground nearly as large as the continent of Europe. Looked at merely from the standpoint of strategy, and discard ing all considerations not directly concerning the movements of armies, true policy might, perhaps, have dictated the concentration of all available resources in men and material upon the great central line of operations, roughly indicated by the mention of Chattanooga and Atlanta, the road eventually fol lowed by Sherman in his triumphant march to the sea. Apart, however, from considerations strictly tactical, the importance of cutting off the trans- Mississippi region as a source of supply for the main Confederate armies was obvious ; while from the governments of Europe, of England and France 54 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Above all, the pressure was great for cotton, partly, indeed, as a pretext for interfering in our domestic struggle to their own advantage, but largely, also, to enable those governments to quiet the cry of the starving millions of their people. Instructed, as well as warned, by the events of the previous summer, the President now resolved on a combined attempt by two strong columns. On the 2 ist of October he sent Major-General John A. McClernand to Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, with confidential orders, authorizing him to raise troops for an expedition, under his command, to move against Vicksburg from Cairo or Memphis as a place of rendezvous, and " to clear the Mississippi River and open navigation to New Orleans. " Perhaps because of the confidence still felt in Grant by the President himself, although within narrowing limits, Grant was not to share the fate of McClellan, of Buell, and of so many others. The secret orders were not made known to him, yet it was settled that he was to retain the command of his department, while the principal active operations of the army within its limits were to be conducted by another. Even for this consideration it is rather more than likely he was indebted in a great degree to the exceptional advantage he enjoyed in having at all times at the seat of government, in the person of Washburne, a strong and devoted party of one, upon whose assist ance the government daily found it convenient to lean. A few days later, on the 3ist of October, Major- General Nathaniel P. Banks was sent to New York and Boston, with similar orders, to collect in New England and New York a force for the co-operating BANKS IN COMMAND. 55 column from New Orleans. On the 8th of Novem ber this was followed by the formal order of the President assigning Banks to the command of the Department of the Gulf, including the State of Texas. This assignment was wholly unexpected by Banks. It was, indeed, unsought and unsolicited, and the first offer, from the President himself, came as a sur prise. At the close of Pope s campaign, when the reorganized Army of the Potomac, once more under McClellan, was in march to meet Lee in Maryland, Banks had been forced, by injuries re ceived at Cedar Mountain, to give up the command of the Twelfth Army Corps to the senior division commander, Brigadier-General A. S. Williams. As soon as this was reported at headquarters, McClellan created a new organization under the name of the "Defences of Washington, " and placed Banks in command. For some time after this Banks was unable to leave his room ; yet, within forty-eight hours, a mob of thirty thousand wounded men and convalescents, who knew not where to go, and of stragglers, who meant not to go where they were wanted, was cleared out of the streets of Washington, and pandemonium was at an end. Order was rather created than restored, since none had existed in any direction. The Fifth Corps was sent to join the army in the field ; within a fortnight, a full army corps of able-bodied stragglers followed ; the fortifications were completed ; ample garrisons of instructed artillerists were provided. These became "the Heavies" of Grant s campaigns. Almost another full army corps was organized from the new regiments. Finally the whole force of the defences, about equ- l in numbers to Lee s army, was 56 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. So disposed that Washington was absolutely secure. The dispositions for the defence of the capital and the daily operations of the command were clearly and constantly made known to the President and Secre tary of War as well as to the General-in-chief. Thus it was that, less than two months later, in the closing days of October, President Lincoln sent for Banks and said : ll You have let me sleep in peace for the first time since I came here. I want you to go to Louisiana and do the same thing there. " On the 9th of November Halleck communicated to Banks the orders of the President to proceed imme diately to New Orleans with the troops from Balti more and elsewhere, under Emory, already assembling in transports at Fort Monroe. An additional force of ten thousand men, he was told, would be sent to him from Boston and New York as soon as possible. Though this order was never formally revoked or modified, yet in fact it was from the first a dead letter, and Banks, who received it in New York, re mained there to complete the organization and to look after the collection and transport of the addi tional force mentioned in Halleck s instructions. In cluding the eight regiments of Emory, but not counting four regiments of infantry and five bat talions of cavalry diverted to other fields, the rein forcements for the Department of the Gulf finally included thirty-nine regiments of infantry, six batteries of artillery, and one battalion of cavalry. Of the infantry twenty-one regiments were composed of officers and men enlisted to serve for nine months. Even of this brief period many weeks had, in some cases, already elapsed. To command the brigades and divisions, when organized, Major-General Chris- BANKS IN COMMAND. 57 topher C. Augur, and Brigadier-Generals Cuvier Grover, William Dwight, George L. Andrews, and James Bowen were ordered to report to Banks. The work of chartering the immense fleet required to transport this force, with its material of all kinds, was confided by the government to Cornelius Van- derbilt, possibly in recognition of his recent princely gift to the nation of the finest steamship of his fleet, bearing his own name. This service Vanderbilt per formed with his usual vigor, " laying hands, " as he said, "upon every thing that could float or steam, " including, it must be added, more than one vessel to which it would have been rash to ascribe either of these qualities. Before the embarkation each vessel was carefully inspected by a board of officers, usually composed of the inspector-general or an officer of his department, an experienced quartermaster, and an officer of rank and intelligence, who was himself to sail on the ves sel. This last was a new, but, as soon appeared, a very necessary precaution. When every thing was nearly ready the embarkation began at New York, and as each vessel was loaded she was sent to sea with sealed orders directing her master and the com manding officer of the troops to make the best of their way to Ship Island, and there await the further instructions of the general commanding. Ship Island was chosen for the place of meeting because of the great draught of water of some of the vessels. At the same time Emory s force, embarking at Hampton Roads, set out under convoy of the man-of-war Au gusta, Commander E. G. Parrott, for the same des tination with similar orders. For three months the Florida had lain at anchor 58 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. In the harbor at Mobile, only waiting for a good opportunity to enter upon her historic career of de struction. Since the 2oth of August the Alabama was known to have been scourging our commerce in the North Atlantic from the Azores to the Antilles. On the 5th of December she took a prize off the northern coast of San Domingo. Relying on the in formation with which he was freely furnished, Semmes expected to find the expedition off Galveston about the middle of January. In the dead of night, " after the midwatch was set and all was quiet, " he meant, in the words of his executive officer, 1 slowly to approach the transports, " steam among them with both bat teries in action, slowly steam through the midst of them, pouring in a continuous discharge of shell, and sink them as we went. " Fortunately Semmes s infor mation, though profuse and precise, was not quite accurate, for it brought him off Galveston on the 1 3th of January: the wrong port, a month too late. What might have happened is shown by the ease with which he then destroyed the Hatteras. To guard against these dangers, it had been the wish of the government, and was a part of the original plan, that the transports sailing from New York should be formed in a single fleet and proceed, under strong convoy, to its destination. However, it soon became evident that as the rate of sailing of a fleet is governed by that of its slowest ship, the expedition, thus organized, would be forced to crawl along the coast at a speed hardly greater than five miles an hour. This would not only have exposed three ships out of five, and five regiments out of six, for at least 1 "Cruise and Combats of the Alabama by her Executive Officer, John Mackintosh Kell. " Century War Book, " vol. Iv. , p. 603. BANKS IN COMMAND. 59 twice the necessary time to the perils of the sea, in creased by having to follow an inshore track at this inclement season ; it would not only have introduced chances of detention and risks of collision and of separation, but the peril from the Alabama would have been augmented in far greater degree than the security afforded by any naval force the government could just then spare. Therefore, the slow ships were loaded and sent off first and the faster ones kept back to the last ; then, each making the best of its way to Ship Island, nearly all came in together. Thus, when the North Star, bearing the flag of the commanding general and sailing from New York on the 4th of December, arrived in the early morning of the 1 3th at Ship Island, nearly the whole fleet lay at anchor or in the offing; and as soon as a hasty inspection could be completed and fresh orders given, the expedition got under way for New Orleans. The larger vessels, however, like the Atlantic, Baltic, and Ericsson being unable to cross the bar, lay at anchor at Ship Island until they could be lightened. Truly grand as was the spectacle afforded by the black hulls and white sails of this great concourse of ships at anchor, in the broad roadstead, yet a grander sight still was reserved for the next day, a lovely Sunday, as all these steamers in line ahead, the North Star leading, flags flying, bands playing, the decks blue with the soldiers of the Union, majesti cally made their way up the Mississippi. Most of those on board looked for the first time, with mingled emotions, over the pleasant lowlands of Louisiana, and all were amused at the mad antics of the pageant- loving negroes, crowding and capering on the levee as plantation after plantation was passed. So closely 60 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Had the secret been kept that, until the transports got under way from Ship Island for the passes, probably not more than three or four officers, if so many, of all the force really knew its destination. Nor was it until the two generals met at New Or leans that Butler learned that Banks was to relieve him. On the 1 5th of December Banks took the com mand of the Department of the Gulf, although the formal orders were not issued till the i7th. The officers of the department, as well as of the personal staff of General Butler, were relieved from duty and permitted to accompany him to the North. The new staff of the department included Lieutenant-Colonel Richard B. Irwin, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Lieu tenant-Colonel William S. Abert, Assistant Inspector- General ; Major G. Norman Lieber, Judge-Advocate ; Colonel Samuel B. Holabird, Chief Quartermaster ; Colonel Edward G. Beckwith, Chief Commissary of Subsistence ; Surgeon Richard H. Alexander, Medi cal Director ; Major David C. Houston, Chief Engineer ; Captain Henry L. Abbot, Chief of To pographical Engineers ; First-Lieutenant Richard M. Hill, Chief of Ordnance ; Captain Richard Arnold, Chief of Artillery ; Captain William W. Rowley, Chief Signal Officer. Banks s orders from the government were to go up the Mississippi and open the river, in co-operation with McClernand s expedition against Vicksburg. " As the ranking general of the Southwest, " Hal- leek s orders proceeded, "you are authorized to assume control of any military forces from the upper Mississippi which may come within your command. The line of the division between your department BANKS IN COMMAND. 61 and that of Major-General Grant is, therefore, left undecided for the present, and you will exercise su perior authority as far north as you may ascend the river. The President regards the opening of the Mississippi river as the first and most important of all our military and naval operations, and it is hoped that you will not lose a moment in accomplishing it. " Immediately on assuming command Banks ordered Grover to take all the troops that were in condition for service at once to Baton Rouge, under the protec tion of the fleet, and there disembark and go into camp. Augur was specially charged with the arrange ments for the despatch of the troops from New Orleans. Before starting they were carefully inspected, and all that were found to be affected with disease of a con tagious or infectious character were sent ashore and isolated. On the morning of the i6th the advance of Gro- ver s expedition got under way, under convoy of a detachment of Farragut s fleet, led by Alden in the Richmond. Grover took with him about 4, 500 men, but when all were assembled at Baton Rouge there were twelve regiments, three batteries, and two troops of cavalry. The Confederates, who were in very small force, promptly evacuated Baton Rouge, and Grover landed and occupied the place on the 1 7th of Decem ber. After sending off the last of the troops, Augur went up and took command. The lines constructed by Paine in August were occupied and strengthened, and all arrangements promptly made for their defence in view of an attack, such as might not unnaturally be looked for from Port Hudson, whose garrison then numbered more than 12, 000 effectives. The two places are but a long day s march apart. Since the 62 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Occupation in August, the Confederate forces at Port Hudson had been commanded by Brigadier-General William N. R. Beall. On the 28th of December, how ever, he was relieved by Major-General Frank Gard ner, who retained the command thenceforward until the end. While the war lasted, Baton Rouge con tinued to be held by the Union forces without oppo sition or even serious menace. An attempt to occupy Galveston was less fortunate. This movement was ordered by Banks a few days after his arrival at New Orleans, apparently under the pressure of continued importunity from Andrew J. Hamilton, and in furtherance of the policy that had led the government to send him with the expedition, nominally as a brigadier-general, but under a special commission from the President that named him as military governor of Texas. On the 2ist of Decem ber, three companies, D, G, and I, of the 42d Massa chusetts, under Colonel Isaac S. Burrell, were sent from New Orleans without disembarking from the little Saxon, on which they had made the journey from New York. With them went Holcomb s 2d Vermont battery, leaving their horses to folloAV ten days later on the Cambria, with the horses and men of troops A and B of the Texas cavalry. Protected by the flotilla under Commander W. B. Renshaw, comprising his own vessel, the Westfield, the gunboats Harriet Lane, Commander J. M. Wainwright ; Clifton, Commander Richard L. Law ; Owasco, Lieutenant Henry Wilson; and Sachem, Acting-Master Amos Johnson ; and the schooner Corypheus, Acting-Master Spears, Burrell landed unopposed at Kuhn s Wharf on the 24th, and took nominal possession of the town in accordance with his instructions. These were indeed rather BANKS IN COMMAND. 63 vague, as befitted the shadowy nature of the objects to be accomplished. " The situation of the people of Galveston, " wrote General Banks, "makes it expedi ent to send a small force there for the purpose of their protection, and also to afford such facilities as may be possible for recruiting" soldiers for the military service of the United States. " Burrell was cautioned not to involve himself in such difficulty as to endan ger the safety of his command, and it was rather broadly hinted that he was not to take orders from General Hamilton. In reality, Burrell s small force occupied only the long wharf, protected by barricades at the shore end, and seaward by the thirty-two guns of the fleet, lying at anchor within 300 yards. Magruder, who had been barely a month in com mand of the Confederate forces in Texas, had given his first attention to the defenceless condition of the coast, menaced as it was by the blockading fleet, and thus it happened that Burrell s three companies, per forming their maiden service on picket between wind and water, found themselves confronted by the two brigades of Scurry and Sibley, Cook s regiment of heavy artillery, and Wilson s light battery, with twenty- eight guns, and two armed steamboats, having their vulnerable parts protected by cotton bales. Long before dawn on the ist of January, 1863, under cover of a heavy artillery fire, the position of the 42d Massachusetts was assaulted by two storm ing parties of 300 and 500 men respectively, led by Colonels Green, Bagby, and Cook, the remainder of the troops being formed under Scurry in support. A brisk fight followed, but the defenders had the con centrated fire of the fleet to protect them ; the scal ing ladders proved too short to reach the wharf, and 64 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. As day began to break, the baffled assailants were about to draw off, when, suddenly, the Confederate gunboats appeared on the scene and in a few moments turned the defeat into a signal victory. The Nep tune was disabled and sunk by the Plarriet Lane, the Harriet Lane was boarded and captured by the Bayoii City, the Westfield ran aground and was blown up by her gallant commander, and soon the white flag floated from the masts of all the Union fleet. Wain- wright and Wilson had been killed ; Renshaw, with his executive officer, Zimmermann, and his chief en gineer, Green, had perished with the ship. The sur vivors were given three hours to consider terms. When Burrell saw the flag of truce from the fleet, he too showed the white flag and surrendered to the commander of the Confederate troops. The Con federates ceased firing on him as soon as they per ceived his signal, but the navy, observing that the fire on shore went on for some time, notwithstanding the naval truce, thought it had been violated ; accord ingly the Clifton, Owasco, Sachem, and Corypheus put to sea, preceded by the army transport steamers Saxon and Mary A. Boardman. On the latter vessel were the military governor of Texas, with his staff, and the men and guns of Holcomb s battery. The Confederates lost 26 killed and 1 17 wounded ; the Union troops 5 killed and 15 wounded, and all the survivors (probably about 250 in number) were made prisoners save the adjutant, Lieutenant Charles A. Davis, who had been sent off to communicate with the fleet. The navy lost 29 killed, 31 wounded, and 92 captured. So ended this inauspicious New Year s day. The transports made the best of their way to New BANKS IN COMMAND. 65 Orleans with the news. The Cambria, with the Texas cavalry and the horses of the 2d Vermont battery, arrived in the offing on the evening of the 2d of January. For two days a strong wind and high sea rendered fruitless all efforts to communicate with the shore ; then learning the truth, the troops at once returned to New Orleans. Orders had been left with the guard ship at Pilot Town to send the transport steamers, Charles Osgood and Shetucket, with the remainder of the 42 d, directly to Galveston. It was now necessary to change these orders, and to do it promptly. The bad news reached headquarters early in the afternoon of the 3d Janu ary : " Stop every thing going to Galveston, " was at once telegraphed to the Pass. CHAPTER VI. ORGANIZING THE CORPS. MEANWHILE the new troops continued to come from New York, although it was not until the nth of February that the last detachments landed. The work of organizing the whole available force of the department for the task before it was pursued with vigor. In order to form the moving column, as well as for the purposes of administration, so that the one might not interfere with the other, the main body of troops was composed of four divisions of three bri gades each. The garrisons of the defences and the permanent details for guard and provost duty were kept separate. While this was in progress orders came from the War Office dated the 5th of January, 1863, by which all the forces in the Department of the Gulf were designated as the Nineteenth Army Corps, to take effect December 14, 1862, and Banks was named by the President as the corps com mander. To Augur was assigned the First division, to Sher man the Second, to Emory the Third, and to Grover the Fourth. Weitzel, retaining his old brigade, be came the second in command in Augur s division. In making up the brigades the regiments were so selected and combined as to mingle the veterans 66 ORGANIZING THE CORPS. 67 with the raw levies, and to furnish, in right of senior ity, the more capable and experienced of the colonels as brigade commanders. Andrews, who had been left in New York to bring up the rear of the expedi tion, became Chief-of-Staff on the 6th of March, and Bowen was made Provost- Marshal General. To each division three batteries of artillery were given, including at least one battery belonging to the regular army, thus furnishing, except for the second division, an experienced regular officer as chief of artillery of the division. The cavalry was kept, for the most part, unattached, mainly serving in La Fourche, at Baton Rouge, and with the moving column. The 2ist Indiana, changed into the ist Indiana heavy artillery, was told off to man the siege train, for which duty it was admirably suited. When all had joined, the whole force available for active operations that should not uncover New Orleans was about 25, 000. Two thirds, however, were new levies, and of these half were nine months men. Some were armed with guns that refused to go off. Others did not know the simplest evo lutions. In one instance, afterwards handsomely redeemed, the colonel, having to disembark his men, could think of no way save by the novel command, " Break ranks, boys, and get ashore the best way you can. " The cavalry, except the six old companies, was poor and quite insufficient in numbers. Of land and water transportation, both indispensable to any possible operation, there was barely enough for the movement of a single division. In Washington, Banks had been led to expect that he might count on the depots or the country for all the material required for moving his army ; yet Butler found New Orleans 68 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. On the brink of starvation ; the people had now to be fed, as well as the army, and the provisions that formerly came from the West by the great river had now to find their way from the North by the Atlantic and the Gulf. The depots were calculated, and barely sufficed, for the old force of the department, while the country could furnish very little at best, and nothing at all until it should be occupied. Again, until he reached his post, Banks was not informed that the Confederates were in force any where on the river save Vicksburg, yet, in fact, Port Hudson, 250 miles below Vicksburg and 135 miles above New Orleans, was found strongly intrenched with twenty-nine heavy guns in position and garri soned by 12, 000 men. Long before Banks could have assembled and set in motion a force sufficient to cope with this enemy behind earthworks, the 12, 000 became 16, 000. Moreover, Banks was not in communication either with Grant or with McClernand ; he knew next to nothing of the operations, the move ments, or the plans of either ; he had not the least idea when the expedition would be ready to move from Memphis ; he was even uncertain who the commander of the Northern column was to be. On their part, not only were Grant, the department com mander ; McClernand, the designated commander of the Vicksburg expedition ; and Sherman, its actual commander, alike ignorant of every thing pertaining to the movements of the column from the Gulf, but, at the most critical period of the campaign, not one of the three was in communication with either of the others. Under these conditions, all concert between the co-operating forces was rendered impossible from the start, and the expectations of the government ORGANIZING THE CORPS. 69 that Banks would go against Vicksburg immediately on landing in Louisiana were doomed to sharp and sudden, yet inevitable, disappointment. Grant, believing himself free to dispose of McCler- nand s new levies, had projected a combined move ment by his own forces, marching by Grand Junction, and Sherman s, moving by water from Memphis, on the front and rear of Vicksburg. Sherman set out from Memphis on the 2Oth of December in complete ignorance of Halleck s tele gram of the 1 8th, conveying the President s positive order that McClernand was to command the expedi tion. Forrest cut the wires on the morning of the 1 9th just in time to intercept this telegram, as well as its counterpart, addressed to McClernand at Springfield, Illinois. On the 29th of December, Sherman met with the bloody repulse of Chickasaw Bluffs. On the 2d of January he returned to the mouth of the Yazoo, and there found McClernand armed with the bowstring and the baton. Where was Grant ? While his main body was still at Oxford, in march to the Yallabusha, Forrest, the ubiquitous, irrepressible Forrest, struck his line of communications, and, on the 2Oth of December, at the instant when Sherman was giving the signal to get under way from Memphis, Van Dorn was receiving the surrender of Holly Springs and the keys of Grant s depots. There seemed nothing for it but to fall back on Memphis or starve. Of this state of affairs Grant sent word to Sherman on the 2oth. Eleven days later the despatch was telegraphed to Sherman by McClernand ; nor was it until the 8th of January that Grant, at Holly Springs, learned from Washington the bad news from Sherman, then ten days old. As 70 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. If to complete a very cat s-cradle of cross-purposes, Washington had heard of it only through the Rich mond newspapers. The collapse of the northern column, coupled with the Confederate occupation of Port Hudson, had completely changed the nature of the problem con fided to Banks for solution. If he was to execute the letter of his instructions at all, he had now to choose between three courses, each involving an im possibility : to carry by assault a strong line of works, three miles long, defended by 16, 000 good troops ; to lay siege to the place, with the certainty that it would be relieved from Mississippi, and with the reasonable prospect of losing at least his siege train in the venture ; to leave Port Hudson in his rear and go against Vicksburg, upon the supposition, in the last degree improbable, that he might find Grant, or McClernand, or Sherman there to meet him and furnish him with food and ammunition. This last alternative appears to have been the one towards which the government leaned, as far as its intentions can be gathered, yet Banks could only have accepted it by sacrificing his communications, putting New Orleans in imminent peril, and creating irreparable and almost inevitable disaster as the price of a remote chance of achieving a great success. In point of fact, in the early days of January, McClernand, accompanied by Sherman as a corps commander, was moving tow ard the White River and the brilliant adventure of Arkansas Post. After capturing this place on the iith, McClernand meant to go straight to Little Rock, but Grant rose to the occasion and peremp torily recalled the troops to Milliken s Bend. " This wild-goose chase, " as Grant not inaptly termed it, ORGANIZING THE CORPS. 71 cost McClernand his new-fledged honors as com mander of "The Army of the Mississippi, " and brought him to Sherman s side as a commander of one of his own corps ; a bitter draught of the same medicine he had so recently administered to Sher man. Had Banks marched straight to Vicksburg at the same time that McClernand was moving on Little Rock, with Grant cut off somewhere in northern Mississippi, the Confederate commanders must have been dull and slow indeed had they failed to seize with promptitude so rare an opportunity for resuming, at a sweep, the complete mastery of the river, ruining their adversary s campaign, and eliminating 100, 000 of his soldiers. Thus, almost at the first step, the two great expe ditions were brought to a standstill. They could neither act together nor advance separately. The generals began to look about them for a new way. CHAPTER VII. MORE WAYS THAN ONE. SINCE Port Hudson could neither be successfully attacked nor safely disregarded, the problem now presented to Banks was to find a way around the obstacle without sacrificing or putting in peril his communications. The Atchafalaya was the key to the puzzle, and to that quarter attention was early directed, yet for a long time the difficulties encoun tered in finding away to the Atchafalaya seemed well- nigh insuperable. The rising waters were expected to render the largest of the bayous that connect the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi navigable for steam boats of small size and light draught. Of these there were, indeed, but few, so that the work of transport ing troops from the one line to the other must have been, at the best, slow and tedious, yet, once accom plished, the army would have found itself, with the help of the navy, above and beyond Port Hudson, with a sufficient line of communications open to the rear, and the Mississippi and the Red River closed against the enemy. The Confederates had in Western Louisiana, near the mouth of the Teche, a small division of Taylor s troops, about 4, 500 strong, with one gunboat. At first Banks thought to leave a brigade, with two or three light-draught gunboats, on Berwick Bay to 72 MORE WA YS THAN ONE. 73 observe Taylor s force, and then to disregard it as a factor in the subsequent movements. This, while the Atchafalaya was high and the eastern lowlands of the Attakapas widely overflowed, might have been safely done, but all these plans were destined to be essentially modified by a series of unexpected events in widely different quarters. In the second week of January, Weitzel heard that Taylor meditated an attack on the outlying force at Berwick Bay, and that with this view the armament of the gunboat Cotton was being largely augmented. Weitzel resolved to strike the first blow. For this purpose he concentrated his whole force of seven regiments, including four of his own brigade, be sides the 2 ist Indiana, 6th Michigan, and 23d Con necticut, with Carruth s and Thompson s batteries, four pieces of Bainbridge s battery, Barrett s Troop B of the Louisiana cavalry, and Company B of the 8th New Hampshire, commanded by Lieutenant Charles H. Camp. The ist Louisiana held Donaldsonville and the ii4th New York guarded the railway. To open the way, as well as to meet the fire of the Cotton, there were four gunboats of the light-draught flotilla under Buchanan the flagship Calhoun, Es- trella, Kinsman, and Diana. At three o clock on the morning of the i3th of Jan uary the crossing of Berwick Bay began ; by half-past ten the gunboats had completed the ferriage of the cavalry and artillery ; the infantry following landed at Pattersonville ; then the whole force formed in line and, moving forward in the afternoon to the junction of the Teche with the Atchafalaya, went into bivouac. The next morning began the ascent of the Teche. The 8th Vermont was thrown over to the east or left 74 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Bank of the bayou, while the main line moved for ward on the west bank to attack the Cotton, now in plain sight. The gunboats led the movement, neces sarily in line ahead, owing to the narrowness of the bayou. On either bank Weitzel s line of battle, with skirmishers thrown well forward, was preceded by sixty volunteers from the 8th Vermont and the same number from the 75th New York, whose orders were to move directly up to the Cotton and pick off her gunners. The line of battle moved forward steadily with the column of gunboats. Between the Union gunboats and the Cotton the bayou had been ob structed so as to prevent any hostile vessel from ascending the stream beyond that point. A brisk fight followed. Under cover of the guns of the navy and of the raking and broadside fire of the batteries, the 8th Vermont and 75th New York first drove off the land supports and then moving swiftly on the Cotton silenced her. In this advance the Vermonters captured one lieutenant and forty-one men. The Cotton retreated out of range. That night her crew applied the match and let her swing across the bayou to serve as an additional obstruction. In a few mo ments she was completely destroyed. Then, having thus easily gained his object, Weitzel returned to La Fourche. His losses in the movement were i officer and 5 men killed, and 2 officers and 25 men wounded. Lieutenant James E. Whiteside, of the 75th New York, who had volunteered to lead the sharpshooters on the right bank, was killed close to the Cotton, in the act of ordering the crew to haul down her flag. Among the killed, also, was the gal lant Buchanan a serious loss, not less to the army than to the navy. MORE WA YS THAN ONE. 75 During a lull in the naval operations above Vicks- burg, occasioned by the want of coal, eleven steam boats that had been in use by the Confederates on the Mississippi between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, took advantage of Porter s absence to slip up the Yazoo for supplies. There Porter s return caught them as in a trap. Toward the end of January Grant landed on the long neck opposite Vicksburg, and once more set to work on the canal. Porter now determined to let a detachment of his fleet run the gauntlet of the bat teries of Vicksburg for the purpose of destroying every thing the Confederates had afloat below the town. The ram Queen of the West, Colonel Charles R. Ellet, protected by two tiers of cotton bales, was told off to lead the adventure. On the 2d of Feb ruary she performed the feat ; then passing on down the river, on the 3d, ran fifteen miles below the mouth of the Red River, and the same distance up that stream, took and burned three Confederate supply steamboats, and got safely back to Vicksburg on the 5th. Porter was naturally jubilant, for, as it seemed, the mastery of the great river had been the swift re ward of his enterprise. A week later Ellet again ran down the Missis sippi and up the Red, burning and destroying until, pushing his success too far, he found himself under the guns of Fort De Russy. A few shots sufficed to disable the Queen of the West, which fell into the hands of the Confederates, while Ellet and his men escaped in one of their captures. Below Natchez they met the Indianola coming down the river, after safely passing Vicksburg. On the 24th the Confederate gunboat Webb, and the ram 76 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Queen of the West, now also flying the Confederate colors, came after the Indianola, attacked her off Pal myra Island, and sank her. Thus, as suddenly as it had gone from them, the control of the long reach of the Mississippi once more passed over to the Confederates. At this news Farragut took fire. Between him and the impudent little Confederate flotilla, whose easy triumph had suddenly laid low the hopes and plans of his brother admiral, there stood nothing save the guns of Port Hudson. These batteries he would pass, and for the fourth time, yet not the last, would look the miles of Confederate cannon in the mouth. Banks, whose movements were retarded and to some extent held in abeyance, from the causes already mentioned, promptly fell in with the Admiral s plans, and both commanders conferring freely, the details were soon arranged. CHAPTER VIII. FARRAGUT PASSES PORT HUDSON. WHILE Farragut was putting his fleet in thorough order for this adventure, looking after all needful arrangements with minute personal care, Banks con centrated all his disposable force at Baton Rouge. By the 7th of March, leaving T. W. Sherman to cover New Orleans and Weitzel to hold strongly La Fourche, Banks had a marching column, composed of Augur s, Emory s, and Grover s divisions, 15, 000 strong. On the Qth of March tents were struck, to be pitched no more for five hard months, and the next morning the troops were ready, but repairs de layed the fleet, the last vessels of which did not reach Baton Rouge until about the I2th. On that day, for the first time, Banks reviewed his army, on the old battle-ground, in the presence of the admiral, his staff, and many officers of the fleet. The new regiments, with some exceptions, showed plainly the progress already attained under the energetic train ing and constant work of their officers. The degree of instruction and care then apparent forecast the value of their actual service. The 38th Massachu setts and 1 1 6th New York were specially commended in orders. To hold Baton Rouge about 3, 000 men were de tached, under Chickering, including the 4-ist Massa- 77 78 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Chusetts, 1 73d New York, i75th New York, ist In diana heavy artillery, 3d Louisiana native guards, Mack s battery, and Troop F of the Rhode Island cavalry. All arrangements being concerted for the passage of the batteries on the evening of the I4th of March, Grover set out on the afternoon of the i3th, fol lowed, at daybreak the next morning, by Emory, with Augur bringing up the rear. In the afternoon Grover went into camp, covering the intersection of the Bayou Sara road and the road that leads from it toward the river. Emory formed on his left, cover ing the branches of this road that lead to Springfield Landing and to Ross Landing, his main body support ing the centre at Alexander s plantation. Augur, on the right, held the cross-road that leads from the Bayou Sara road by Alexander s to the Clinton road at Vallandigham s. At two o clock in the afternoon the signal officers opened communication from Spring field Landing with the fleet at anchor near the head of Prophet Island, and a strong detachment was posted near the landing to maintain the connection. As the Confederates were known to have a force of about 1, 200 cavalry somewhere between Clinton and Baton Rouge, strong detachments became neces sary to observe all the approaches and to hold the roads and bridges in the rear in order to secure the withdrawal of the army when the demonstration should be completed, as well as to guard the opera tion from being inopportunely interrupted. These dispositions reduced the force for battle to about 1 2, 000. It had been intended to concentrate nearly all the artillery near the river in the vicinity of Ross Land- FA RRA G UT PA SSES FOR T HUDSON. 79 ing in such a manner as to engage, or at least divide, the attention of the lower batteries of Port Hudson ; but the maps were even more imperfect than usual, and when a reconnoissance, naturally retarded by the enemy s advance guard, showed that the road by which the guns were to have gone into position did not exist, the daylight was already waning. A broken bridge also caused some delay. At five o clock in the afternoon Banks received a despatch from Farragut announcing an important change in the hour fixed for the movement of the fleet. Instead of making the attempt " in the gray of the morning, " as had been the admiral s first plan, he now meant to get under way at eight o clock in the evening. When darkness fell, therefore, it found the troops substantially in the positions already de scribed, yet with their outposts well thrown forward. About ten o clock the fleet weighed anchor and moved up the river. The flagship Hartford took the lead, with the Albatross lashed to her port side, next the Richmond with the Genesee, the Monongahela with the Kineo, and last the side-wheeler Mississippi alone. The Essex and Sachem remained at anchor below, with the mortar boats, to cover the advance. An hour later a rocket shot up from the bluff and in stantly the Confederate batteries opened fire. They were soon joined by long lines of sharpshooters. To avoid the shoal that makes out widely from the western bank, as well as to escape the worst of the enemy s fire, both of musketry and artillery, the ships hugged closely the eastern bluff; so closely, indeed, that the yards brushed the leaves from the overhanging trees and the voices of men on shore could be distinctly heard by those on board. Watch- 8o THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Fires were lighted by the Confederates to show as well the ships as the range ; yet this did more harm than good, since the smoke, united with that of the guns ashore and afloat to render the fleet invisible. On the other hand, the pilots were soon unable to see. The Hartford, meeting the swift eddy at the bend, where the current describes nearly a right angle, narrowly escaped being driven ashore. The Richmond, following, was disabled by a shot through her engine- room when abreast of the upper battery at the turn. The Monongahelds consort, the Kineo, lost the use of her rudder, and the Monongahela herself ran aground on the spit ; presently the Kineo, drifting clear, also grounded, but was soon afloat again, and, with her assistance, the Monongahela too swung free, after nearly a half hour of imminent peril. Then the Kineo, cast loose by her consort, drifted helplessly down the stream, while the Monongahela passed up until a heated bearing brought her engines to a stop and she too drifted with the current. Last of the fleet, the Mississippi, unseen in the smoke, and therefore safe enough from the Con federate guns, yet equally unable to see either friend, foe, or landmark, was carried by the current hard on the spit ; then, after a half hour of ineffectual exertion, lying alone and helpless under the concentrated aim of the Confederate batteries, she was abandoned and set on fire by her captain. About three in the morn ing, becoming lighter, as the fire did its work, she floated free and drifted down the stream one mass of flames, in plain view, not merely of the fleet, but also of the army, condemned to stand to arms in sight and sound of the distant battle and now to look on idly LOUISIANA SHEET III. FARRAGUT PASSES PORT HUDSON. 81 as, with a mighty flash and roar, the Mississippi cast to the heavens her blazing timbers, amid a myriad of bursting shells, in one mountain of flame : then black silence. Thus, when at last the gray of the morning came, the Hartford and Albatross rode in safety above Port Hudson, while the Richmond, Monongahela, Genesee, and Kineo, all battered and more or less injured, lay at anchor once more near Prophet Island, and the Mississippi had perished in a blaze of glory. Narrowly escaping the total failure of his plans and the destruction of his fleet, Farragut had so far suc ceeded in his objects that henceforth the Confederates practically lost the control of the Mississippi above Port Hudson, as well as the use of the Red River as their base of supplies. Save in skiff-loads, beef, corn, and salt could no longer be safely carried across the Mississippi, and the high road from Galveston and Matamoras was closed against the valuable and sorely needed cargoes brought from Europe by the block ade runners. As for the army, it had gained some facility of movement, some knowledge of its deficiencies, and some information of great future value as to the topography of the unknown country about Port Hudson ; more than this could hardly have been ex pected. Indeed, the sole object of the presence of the army was defeated by the movement of the fleet so many hours before the time agreed upon. This object was to make a diversion that might attract the enemy s attention and thus tend to reduce the fire of musketry on the exposed decks of the fleet, and to draw off or hold off the fire of the field- pieces that might otherwise be massed on the river 6 82 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Front. The disparity between the relative strength of Banks s army and that of the garrison was too well known to justify the thought of an actual attack upon the works. Such, however, was not the opinion of the govern ment, which to the last seems to have taken for granted that all that was needed to insure the surren der of Port Hudson was a desire to attack it. Even after the surrender, Halleck, in his annual report for 1863, speaking of the position of affairs in March, said : " Had our land forces invested Port Hudson at this time, it could have been easily reduced, as its garrison was weak . . . But the strength of the place was not then known. " In truth, the place was never so strong, before or after, as at this time ; nor is it often in war that the information tallies so nearly with the fact. The effective strength of the garrison was more than 16, 000. Gardner s monthly report ac counts for 1, 366 officers and 14, 921 men present for duty, together 16, 287, out f a total present of 20, 388. Besides the twenty-two heavy guns in position, he had thirteen light batteries. Morning found the army alone and in a bad position, either for attack or defence. Nothing was to be gained by staying there, and much was to be risked. As soon, therefore, as word came through the ever-active and adventurous signal-officers that all was well with what remained of the fleet, Banks once more took up the line of march for Baton Rouge, and went into bivouac in great discomfort on the soggy borders of the Bayou Montesano, about eight miles north of the town. Meanwhile, what had become of Farragut ? The last seen of the Hartford and Albatross was on the FARRA G UT PA SSES FOR T HUDSON. 83 morning of the i5th by the signal officers at Spring field Landing. The two vessels then lay at anchor beyond the bend above Port Hudson. Several attempts were made to communicate with the Admi ral across the intervening neck of lowland. The first was on the i6th, by Parmele, with the i74th New York and a squadron of the 2d Rhode Island cavalry. Next, on the i8th, Banks, eager to advance the effort, took Dudley s brigade, two sections of Rawles bat tery, and Magee s troop, and joined Parmele. But for a time these efforts accomplished nothing, since it was impossible to see far over the flat and wooded country ; and the Confederates having cut the great levee at M organza, the whole neighborhood was under water and the bridges gone. Finally, on the iQth, Colonel Charles J. Paine went out with the 2d Louis iana, the 1 74th New York, and a small squad of cavalry, and leaving first the infantry and then most of the troopers behind, and riding on almost alone, succeeded in crossing the bend and gained the levee at the head of the old channel known as Fausse River, about three miles above Port Hudson. There he had a good view of the river, yet nothing was to be seen of the Hartford and Albatross. Again, on the 24th, Dudley sent Magee with his troop to Hermitage Landing. Pushing on with a few men, Magee got a full view of the reach above Waterloo for five miles, but he too learned nothing of the fleet. Far- ragut had in fact gone up the river on the I5th, after vainly attempting to exchange signals with his ships below and with the army, and was now near Vicksburg in communication with Admiral Porter, engaged in concerting plans for the future. Before getting under way he had caused three guns to be 84 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Fired from the Hartford. This was the signal agreed upon with Banks, but for some reason it was either not heard or not reported. Just before separating at Baton Rouge, Banks had handed to Farragut a letter addressed to Grant, to be delivered by the Admiral in the event of success. This letter, the first direct communication between the two generals, Grant received on the 2Oth of March, and from it derived his first information of the actual state of affairs in the Department of the Gulf. After stating his position and force Banks wound up by saying : " Should the Admiral succeed in his attempt, I shall try to open communication with him on the other side of the river, and, in that event, trust I shall hear from you as to your position and movements, and especially as to your views as to the most efficient mode of co-operation upon the part of the forces we respectively command. " With the Hartford and Albatross controlling the reach between Port Hudson and Vicksburg, as well as the mouth of the Red River and the head of the Atchafalaya, Banks might now safely disregard the movements of the Confederate gunboats. Accord ingly, while waiting for Grant s answer, he turned to the execution of his former plan. CHAPTER IX. THE TECHE. IN effect, this plan was to turn Port Hudson by way of the Atchafalaya. For the original conception, the credit must be given to Weitzel, who seems in deed to have formed a very similar scheme when he first occupied La Fourche. However, his force was, at that time, barely sufficient for the defence of the territory confided to his care. Not only was there then no particular object in moving beyond the Atchafalaya, but any advance in that direction would have exposed his little corps to disaster on account of the great facilities afforded by the numberless streams for a movement by detachments of the enemy into his rear. It was largely to prepare for an advance into Western Louisiana, as well as to defend his oc cupancy of La Fourche, that Butler, upon Weitzel s suggestion, had created the gunboat flotilla. Soon after Banks took the command, Weitzel, who had opinions and the courage to enforce them, laid his ideas before his new chief. On the i8th of January, disturbed by hearing that Admiral Farragut meant to take one of the army gunboats, recently transferred to the navy, away from Berwick Bay, instead of sending more, Weitzel expressed himself strongly in a despatch to headquarters. 85 86 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. " With such a naval force in that bay, in co-operation with a suitable land force, the only true campaign in this section could be made. Look at the map. Berwick Bay leads into Grand Lake, Grand Lake into the Atchafalaya, the Atchafalaya into Red River. Boats drawing not more than four or five feet and in the force I mention [10 or 12], with a proper land force, could clear out the Atchafalaya, Red River, and Black River. All com munications from Vicksburg and Port Hudson cross this line in dicated by me. By taking it in the manner I propose, Vicksburg and Port Hudson would be a cipher to the rebels. It would be a campaign that 100, 000 men could not so easily fight, and so suc cessfully. It is an operation to which the taking of Galveston Island is a cipher and the capture of the Mobile Bay forts a nonentity. " With these views Banks was himself in accord, yet not in their entirety. The pressure of time led him to desire to avoid divergences into the Teche coun try. If it were possible, he wished to gain the Atch afalaya by some route at once speedier and more direct. While the explorations were in progress to discover such a route, Weitzel once more took occa sion to urge his original plan. On the i5th of Feb ruary, he wrote to Augur, his division commander : " I feel it a duty which I owe you and my country to address you at this late hour in the night on the present proposed move ment on Butte a la Rose and the Teche country. . . . In all honesty and candor, I do not believe the present plan to be a proper one. . . . Sibley s Texan brigade is somewhere in the Opelousas country. . . . Mouton s main body is in rear of in- trenchments on Madame Meade s plantation, six miles below Centreville. If we defeat these two commands we form a junc tion with our forces near Vicksburg. By pursuing our success to Alexandria we may capture General Mouton s force, and with little loss, unless it form a junction with Sibley. If it forms a junction, we will meet them near Iberia and engage them in open field, and with a proper force can defeat them. General Em ory s whole division (moved to Brashear City) and my brigade can do this work. Let the light transportation, now with General THE TECHE. 87 Emory, and all destined for and collected by me be collected at Brashear City. Let two of the brigades be moved to and landed at Indian Bend, while the other two are crossed and attack in front. If Mouton escapes (which I think, if properly conducted, will be doubtful) we form a junction at Indian Bend. We pro ceed to attack and with much superior force, because I do not believe Mouton and Sibley united will exceed 6, 000 men. We can defeat them, pursue our success to Alexandria and of course get Butte a la Rose ; our gunboats to facilitate its fall, attacking it, as they cannot accompany us farther up than Saint Martin- ville. I believe this to be the true and only correct plan of the campaign. " These views were unquestionably sound ; they were such as might have been expected of an officer of Weitzel s skill and experience and special knowledge of the theatre of operations. Supported by the strong current of events, they were now to be carried into effect. At the date of this despatch, Emory s division had been for several weeks near the head of the Bayou Plaquemine, with headquarters at Indian Village, en deavoring to find or force a waterway to the Atch- afalaya, while Weitzel was holding his brigade in readiness to co-operate by a simultaneous movement against Taylor on the Teche. Many attempts were made by Emory to carry out the object confided to him, yet all proved failures. Bayou Sorrel, Lake Chicot, Grand River, and the Plaquemine itself, from both ends of the stream, were thoroughly explored, but only to find the bayous choked with driftwood impossible to remove, and until removed rendering the streams impassable. Two of these drifts in Bayou Sorrel were carefully examined by Captain Henry Cocheu, of the 1 73d New York. The first he reported to be about a mile in length, "composed of one mass of logs, roots, big and small trees, etc. , jammed tightly 88 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. For thirty feet, the whole length of my pole. " The second drift, just beyond, was found nearly as bad, and farther on lay another even worse. Moreover, a thorough reconnoissance showed the whole country, between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya above the Plaquemine, to be impracticable at that season for all arms. After more than a month of this sort of work, Emory was called across the river to Baton Rouge to take part in the events narrated in the last chapter. Banks returned to New Orleans on the 24th of March, and the next day ordered Grover to embark and move down the river to Donaldsonville, and thence march down the Bayou La Fourche to Thibo- deaux. At the same time Emory was ordered, as soon as Grover s river transports should be released, to em bark his command for Algiers, and thence move by the railway to Brashear. Meanwhile, on the i8th of March, Weitzel learned of the presence of the Queen of the West and Webb in the Atchafalaya, and as this seemed to indicate an intention to attack him, and the navy had no more light-draught gunboats to spare for his further security, to avoid having his hand forced and the game spoiled, he discreetly fell back on the 2ist to the railway bridge over Bayou Bceuf, and took up a position where he was not exposed, as at Brashear, to the risk of being cut off by any sudden movement of the enemy. On the 28th of March the Diana was sent to recon noitre the Confederate position and strength on the lower Teche ; but continuing on down the Atchafa laya, instead of returning by Grand Lake as intended, and thus running into the arms of the enemy, she fell an easy prey. The Calhoun went to her relief, but ran aground, and the Estrella had to go to the assist- THE TECHE. 89 ance of the Calhoun. Acting-Master James L. Peterson, commanding 1 the Diana, was killed, and Lieutenant Pickering D. Allen, aide-de-camp to Gen eral Weitzel, was wounded. With the Diana there fell into the enemy s hands nearly one hundred and fifty prisoners. This gave the Confederates three rather formidable boats in the Atchafalaya and the Teche. The movement of the troops was necessarily slow, as well by reason of the extremely limited facilities*for transportation, as because of the state of the roads, but by the 8th of April every thing was well advanced, and on that day Banks moved his headquarters to Brashear. Weitzel, who had been reinforced by the siege-train, manned by the ist Indiana heavy artil lery, had already re-occupied his former front on Ber wick Bay. Emory was in bivouac at Bayou Ramos, about five miles in the rear of Weitzel, and Groverat Bayou Bceuf, about four miles behind Emory. Thus the whole movement was almost completely masked from the Confederates, who from their side of the bay saw only Weitzel, and knew little or nothing of the gathering forces in his rear. So little, indeed, that Taylor, with his usual enterprise, seems to have thought this a favorable moment for attempting upon Weitzel the same operation that Weitzel had been so long meditating for the discomfiture of Taylor. Emory marched early in the morning of the gth of April and closed up on Weitzel, who, an hour later, about ten o clock, began to cross. No enemy was seen save a small outpost, engaged in observing the movement. This detachment retired before Weitzel s advance, without coming to blows. Weitzel at once sent his Assistant Adjutant-General, Captain John B. 90 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hubbard, with Perkins s and Williamson s troops of cavalry and one section of Bainbridge s battery to dis cover the enemy s position. The Confederates were found to be in some force in front of Pattersonville, with their cavalry pickets advanced to within a mile of Weitzel s front. As soon as Weitzel had completed his crossing, and released the boats, Emory followed him. The four brigades bivouacked in front of the landing-place that night. The gunboats, having done the greater share of the ferriage, went back to the east bank for Grover. Grover, who had marched from Bayou Bceuf at nine o clock, just as Emory was arriving at Brashear, came there, in his turn, early in the afternoon. The plan had been that Grover should embark immedi ately, and, having his whole force on board by an early hour in the night, the boats should set out at daylight, so as to place Grover by nine o clock on the morning of the nth in position for the work cut out for him. With few pilots, and the shores un- lighted, it was out of the question to attempt the navigation of the waters of the Grand Lake during the night. However, it was not until the night of the iith that Grover was able to complete the embarkation of his division. To understand this it is necessary to observe that Emory and Weitzel, in making the passage of Berwick Bay, were merely crossing a short ferry, so that the boats engaged in the transfer could be loaded rapidly to almost any extent, so long as they remained afloat, and being unloaded with equal facility, were in a few minutes ready to repeat the operation. In Grover s case, however, the infantry, artillery, cavalry, and stores THE TECHE. 91 had all to be taken care of at once, with every provision for fighting a battle. For this the artillery was considered indispensable, and it was not without great trouble and long delay that the guns and horses were got afloat. Fate seemed to be against Grover, for after all had been accomplished, by the greatest exertion on his part, as well as on the part of his officers and the corps quartermasters, a fog set in so dense that the pilots were unable to see their way. This continued until nine o clock on the morning of the 1 2th ; then at last the movement began. About noon, on the nth of April, Weitzel, leading the advance of the main column, moved forward. At once his skirmishers felt the skirmishers of the enemy, who retired slowly, without attempting any serious opposition. In the evening, Weitzel rested in line of battle a short distance above Pattersonville. Emory followed closely, and went into bivouac on Weitzel s left. The march had not been begun earlier, and the enemy was not pressed, because it was desired to keep him amused until Grover should have gained his rear, and Grover had not yet started. After the early morning of Sunday the I2th of April, had been spent in light skirmishing and in demonstrations of the cavalry, designed to observe the enemy, and at the same time to attract and hold his attention, word came that Grover was under way. Banks knew that the passing fleet must soon be in plain sight of the Confederates. Therefore, it was now necessary to move promptly, and to feel the enemy strongly, yet not too strongly, lest he should abandon his position too soon and suddenly spoil all. From this moment it is important to remember that, save in the event of complete success, no word could 92 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Come from Grover for nearly two days. The first news from him was expected to be the sound of his guns in the enemy s rear. At eleven o clock the bugle again sounded the ad vance. The whole line moved forward, continually skirmishing, until, about four o clock in the afternoon, the infantry came under fire of the Confederate guns in position on the lines known as Camp Bisland. The line of march led up the right bank of the Atchafalaya until the mouth of the Teche was reached, thence up the Teche, partly astride the stream, yet mainly by the right bank. At first Weitzel formed on the right, Emory on the left, but as the great bend of the Teche was reached, about four miles below Bisland, and by the nature of the ground the front became narrowed at the same time that in following the change of direction of the bayou the line was brought to a wheel, Weitzel took ground to the left in two lines, while Emory advanced Paine s brigade into the front line on Weitzel s right, placed Ingraham in his second line, and made a third line with Gooding. Then finding the enemy beyond the Teche too strong for the cavalry to manage single-handed, Banks called on Emory to reinforce the right bank. Emory sent Bryan across with the i75th New York and a section of the ist Maine battery, commanded by Lieutenant Eben D. Haley. They were to push the enemy back, and to conform to the advance of the main line. The day was hot, the air close, and the march over the fields of young cane, across or aslant the heavy fur rows and into and over the deep ditches, was trying to the men, as yet but little accustomed to marches. THE TECHE. 93 Fortunately, however, there was no need of pressing the advance until Grover s guns should be heard. About half-past five in the afternoon a brisk artillery fire began, and was kept up until night fell ; then Emory moved the 4th Wisconsin forward to hold a grove In front of a sugar-house, near the bayou, well in advance of his right, in order to prevent the Confederates from occupying it, to the annoyance of the whole line. After dark all the pickets were thrown well for ward in touch with those of the enemy, but the main lines were drawn back out of range, for the sake of a good night s sleep before a hard day s work. CHAPTER X. BISLAND. THE works behind which the Confederates now stood to battle were named Camp Bisland or Fort Bisland, in honor of the planter whose fields were thus given over to war. The defences consisted of little more than a line of simple breastworks, of rather low relief, thrown completely across the neck of dry land on either bank of the Teche, the flanks resting securely on the swamps that border Grand Lake on the left and on the right extend to the Gulf. The position was well chosen, for five miles below Cen- treville, where the plantation of Mrs. Meade adjoins the Bethel Place, the neck is at its narrowest. The Teche, passing a little to the left of the centre of the works, enabled the guns of the Diana, moving freely around the bends, to contribute to the defence, while the obstructions placed below the works hindered the ascent of the bayou by the Union gunboats. The Confederate right was also somewhat strengthened by the embankment of the unfinished railroad to Opelousas. On the other hand, from the nature of the ground, low and flat as it was, the works were in part rather commanded than commanding ; yet the difference of level was inconsiderable, and for a force as small as Taylor s, outnumbered as his was, any slight disadvantage in this way was more than com pensated by the shortness of the line. 94 BISLAND. 95 Along the banks of the bayou were a few live oaks ; on either flank the swamp was densely wooded, mainly with cypress, cottonwood, and willow, with an out lying and almost impenetrable canebrake, while be tween the attacking columns and the Confederate position, on either bank of the bayou, stretched a field where the young shoots of the sugar-cane stood knee-high. This was crossed, at right angles with the bayou, by many of those wide and deep ditches by which the planters of Louisiana are accustomed to drain their tilled lowlands. Such was the scene of the action now about to be fought, known to the Union army as the battle of Bisland or Fort Bisland ; to the Confederates, as the battle of Bethel Place or Bayou Teche. During the whole of the night of the i2th a dense fog prevailed, but this lifting about eight o clock on the morning of Monday, the i3th of April, disclosed a day as bright and beautiful as the scene was fair. At an early hour the whole line advanced to within short musketry range, in substantially the same order as on the previous day. An attack by a detachment of Confederate cavalry upon the skirmishers of the 4th Wisconsin, in advance of the sugar-house, was easily thrown off, and a later demonstration by the Confederate infantry upon Paine s position in the grove shared the same fortune. Emory moved first the 8th New Hampshire, and afterwards the i33d and 1 73d New York, to the support of the 4th Wis consin. At the same time Banks ordered Emory to send the other four regiments of Gooding s brigade and the two remaining sections of the ist Maine bat tery to reinforce Bryan with the i75th New York on the left bank of the Teche, in order to be prepared, 96 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Not only to meet a flank movement of the Confeder ates from that direction, but also to carry the works on that side, should this be thought best. After these dispositions had been completed, the advance was steady and continuous, yet not rapid, until toward noon the last of the Confederates retired behind their breastworks and opened fire with musketry. The ditches already spoken of hindered the progress of the Union artillery, yet not seriously, while they afforded an efficient protection for the supports of the batteries and enabled the lines of infantry to rest at intervals : no small gain, for the sun grew very hot, and the march over the heavy windrows and across the deep ditches was exhausting. The Confederate gunboat Diana took position well in front of the works, so as to command completely the right flank of Emory and Weitzel as they ap proached by a fire that, had it not been checked, must have enfiladed the whole line. Just as this fire was beginning to be disturbing it was silenced by a fortunate shot from one of the two 3O-pounder Par- rott guns, served by the ist Indiana, posted in rear of Weitzel s left and trained upon the Diana, under the personal supervision of Arnold. The third shot from this battery, aimed at the flash of the Diana s guns, exploded in her engine room ; then above the trees, whose leafage full and low hid the vessel, was seen a flash like a puff of vapor ; a rousing cheer was heard from the sharpshooters of the 4th Wisconsin and 8th New Hampshire, who had been told off to keep down the fire of the gunboat ; and the Diana was seen to pass up the bayou and out of the fight. All risk of an enfilade fire being thus removed, the X BISLAND APRIL JZ-/3-/863 ALSO CALLED F O RT BlSLAND OR CAMP BiSLAND AND BY THE CONFEDERATES BETHEL PLACE B ISLAND. 97 whole Union line quickly closed with the Confeder ates, and the engagement became general with artil lery and musketry. On both sides of the bayou the firing was brisk, at times even severe. Save where the view was broken here and there by the trees or became lightly clouded by the smoke of battle, the whole field lay in plain sight. As the course of the Teche in ascending turned toward the left, Gooding, on the east bank, had the wheeling flank, while Weitzel formed the pivot. Gooding went forward in gallant style, his men quickening their pace at times to a run, in order to keep the alignment with the main body on the west bank. Perceiving on his extreme right, toward the lake, a fine grove or copse, Gooding threw out Sharpe with the i56th New York to examine the wood with a view of attempting to turn the left flank of the Confederate lines. These, as it proved, did not extend beyond the grove, but there ended in an un finished redoubt. Indeed, nearly the whole of the Con federate works on the east side of the bayou, although laid out long since, had been but recently and hastily thrown up, after it became known to Taylor that Banks was crossing to attack him. In the wood, about five hundred yards in advance of the breast works, Mouton had posted Bagby s 3d Texas regi ment. The Texans held their ground so stifBy that Gooding found it necessary to send his own regiment, the 3ist Massachusetts, to the support of Sharpe. Mouton supported Bagby with the left wing of the 1 8th Louisiana and parts of Fournet s and Waller s battalions. Gooding s men carried the rifle-pits in the wood by a spirited charge, in which they took two officers and eighty-four men prisoners. His main line X 98 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. In the open ground between the wood and the bayou was formed by the 38th Massachusetts, deployed as skirmishers, covering the front and followed, at a distance of about one hundred and fifty yards, by the 53d Massachusetts, in like order. Behind the 53d, two sections of the ist Maine battery were posted to command two parallel plantation roads leading up the bayou, while the third section was held in reserve. After the 3ist Massachusetts had gone to the support of the right, the main line here was composed of the 1 75th New York. Shortly after five o clock the 53d Massachusetts relieved the 38th, which had expended its ammunition, and was falling back under orders to replenish. When this was done, the 38th once more advanced and formed in support of the skirmish line. Meanwhile on the left of the Teche the main body moved forward in two lines of battalions deployed, Paine on the right and Weitzel on the left, while In- graham, in column of companies, formed the reserve for both. Paine s first line on the right, nearest the bayou, was composed of the 4th Wisconsin and 8th New Hampshire, his second line of the i33d New York and the i73d New York. Mack s 2O-pounders commanded the bayou road, and Duryea went into battery in advance of the centre, between Paine and Weitzel. Weitzel s front line was composed of the 8th Ver mont and ii4th New York, with the I2th Connecti cut, i6oth New York, and 75th New York in the second line. The guns of Bainbridge and Carruth went into battery near the left flank, and working slowly kept down the fire of the Confederate artil lery in their front. When the fire of musketry be came hot, Weitzel sent the 75th New York to try BISLAND. 99 to gain the canebrake on the left, in advance of the enemy s works, with a view of turning that flank. Of this movement Taylor says in his report that it was twice repulsed by the 5th Texas and Waller s battalion, under Green, and the 28th Louisiana, Col onel Gray, aided by the guns of Semmes s battery and the Valverde battery. However, the counter-move ment on the part of the Confederates, being begun in plain view, was instantly seen, and Banks sent word to Weitzel to check it. With this object, Weit- zel ordered the i i4th New York to go to the support of the 75th. A brisk fight followed, without material advantage to either side. In truth, the canebrake formed an impenetrable obstacle to the combatants, who, when once they had passed within the outer edge of the tangle, were unable either to see or ap proach one another, although the struggle was plainly visible from the front of both armies. The reserve of Parrott guns, manned by the ist In diana and composed of four 3opounders and four 2o-pounders, was posted under McMillan to cover the left flank and the broken centre where it was pierced by the bayou, as well as to watch for the return of the Diana to activity. Toward evening the remain ing guns of the ist Indiana, two 12-pounder rifles under Cox, after being posted in support of the cen tre, were sent to the left to assist Bainbridge and Carruth, whose ammunition was giving out. Banks, after gaining advanced positions in contact with the enemy, forbore to press them hard because, as has been seen, his whole purpose was to hold the Confederates where they stood until he could hear of Grover or from Grover. As the day advanced with out news or the long-expected sound of Grover s ioo THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Guns, Banks began to grow impatient and to fear that the adventure from which so much had been hoped had somehow miscarried. He therefore became even more anxious than before lest the Confederates should move off under cover of the coming night. Accord ingly, during the afternoon, although it had been his previous purpose not to deliver an assault until cer tain that Grover held the Confederate line of retreat, Banks gave discretionary orders to Emory and Weit- zel to form for an attack and move upon the Con federate works if a favorable opportunity should present itself. The exercise of this discretion in turn devolved upon the commanders of the front line, that is, upon Weitzel and Paine, for Gooding, being out of communication, except by signal, with the troops on the west bank, was occupied in conforming to their movements. Paine and Weitzel, after conferring, resolved to attack, and, having made every prepara tion, only waited for the word from the commanding general. The day was waning ; it was already past four o clock ; and Banks was still somewhat anxiously weighing the approach of night and the cost of the assault against the chance of news from Grover, when suddenly, straight up the bayou, and high above the heads of Banks and his men, a 9-inch shell came hurtling, and as it was seen to burst over the lines of Bisland, from far in the rear broke the deep roar of the Clifton s bow-gun. Soon from below the obstruc tions that barred her progress came a messenger bearing the long-expected tidings of Grover. At last he was on land and in march toward his position. With a sense of relief Banks recalled his orders for the assault and drew his front line back out of fire BISLAND. Of the Confederate musketry so that the men might rest. To relieve the exhausted skirmish line, the 4th Massachusetts and the i62d New York of Ingraham s brigade were sent forward from the reserve, leaving him only the uoth New York. By dawn the next morning, at all events, Banks calculated, the turning column would be in place ; accordingly during the night he gave orders to as sault along- the whole front as soon as it should be o light enough to see. However, shortly after midnight, sounds were heard on the picket line, indicating some unusual movement behind the Confederate works. When, at daybreak, the various skirmishers moved forward in eager rivalry, they found the Confederates gone. Captain Allaire, leading his company of the i33d New York, was the first to enter the works ; the regi ment itself and the 8th New Hampshire followed closely, and the colors of the 8th were the first to mount the parapet, where they were planted by Paine, On the left bank, this honor fell to the 53d Massa chusetts. But in truth the surge was so nearly simul taneous that the whole line of entrenchments on both sides of the bayou, from right to left, was crossed almost at the same instant. It was nine o clock on Monday night when Taylor learned of Grover s movements and position, as nar rated in the next chapter. Taylor at once began to move out of the lines of Bisland and to direct his attention to Grover in order to secure a retreat. Just before daylight Green, to whom, with his 5th Texas, Waller s battalion, and West s section of Semmes s battery, Taylor had given the more than usually deli cate task of covering the rear, marched off the ground, riOi THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Leaving nothing behind save one 24-pounder siege gun and a disabled howitzer of Cornay s battery. Without losing an instant the pursuit of the retreat ing Confederates was begun, Weitzel leading the way, and was conducted with vigor and with scarcely a halt, notwithstanding the energetic opposition of the Con federate rear-guard, until early in the afternoon, just beyond Franklin, Emory s advance guard, under Paine, following the bayou road, ran into Grover s, under Dwight, approaching from the opposite direc tion. Weitzel, having entered Franklin without op position, kept the left-hand or cut-off road until he came to the burnt bridge over the Choupique, by which, as will presently be seen, the Confederates had escaped. Gooding, after occupying the works in his front, crossed the Teche by a bridge to the west bank and fell into Emory s column behind Ingraham. The Clifton, as soon as the obstructions could be removed, got under way and moved up the bayou abreast with the advance of the army. The losses of the Nineteenth Army Corps in this its first battle were 3 officers and 37 men killed, 8 officers and 176 men wounded ; in all 224. The 38th Massachusetts headed the list with 6 killed and 29 wounded, and Gooding s brigade, to which this regi ment belonged, reported 87 casualties, or 38 percent, of the whole. In the six light batteries 15 horses were killed and 12 wounded, and one caisson of the ist Maine was upset and lost in crossing the Teche to go into action. The losses of the Confederates have never been reported and no means are known to exist for estima ting them. BISLAND. 103 The disparity of the forces engaged was more than enough to overcome the Confederate advantage of position, for Banks had 10, 000 men with 38 guns, while Taylor reports but 4, 000 men with four bat teries, estimated at 24 or 25 guns. To these must be added the Diana, until disabled on Monday morning, and to the Union strength the Clifton, after she arrived and opened fire at long range on Monday afternoon. At Bisland the new headquarters flags were for the first time carried under fire. These distinguishing colors, as prescribed in General Orders on the i8th of February, were guidons four feet square attached to a lance twelve feet long, made for convenience in two joints. In camp or garrison they served to indicate the quarters of the general commanding the corps, division, or brigade, while on the march they were borne near his person by a mounted orderly, commonly a trusty sergeant. The flag of the Nineteenth Army Corps was blue with a white four-pointed star in the middle, and on the star the figures 19 in red. From this the division flags differed only in having a red ground and the number of the division in black. The brigade flags had blue, white, and blue horizontal stripes of equal width, with the number of the brigade in black in the white stripe. Thenceforward these colors were borne through every engagement in which the corps took part. Not one of them was ever abandoned by its bearer or taken by the enemy. CHAPTER XL IRISH BEND. GROVER S instructions were to gain a landing on the shore of Grand Lake, and then marching on Frank lin, to cut off Taylor s retreat or to attack him in the rear, as circumstances might suggest. We have seen how, instead of being ready to move from Berwick Bay on the morning of the loth of April, Grover found his departure delayed by the various causes already mentioned until the morning of the 1 2th was well advanced. The flotilla, under Lieutenant-Commander Cooke, composed of the flag-ships Estrella, Arizona, Clifton, and Calhoun, having completed the ferriage of Emory and Weitzel over Berwick Bay, was now occupied in assisting the army transports to convey Grover to his destination, besides standing ready to protect his movement and his landing with its guns. About noon, when off Cypress Island, the Arizona ran hard and fast aground, and four precious hours were lost in a vain attempt to get her afloat. If, in the light of after events, this may seem like time wasted, it should always be remembered that all four of the gunboats were crowded with troops, while an attack from the Qticen of the West and her consorts was to be looked for at any moment. Finally, rather than to put the adventure in peril by a longer delay, 104 IRISH BEND. 105 Cooke determined to leave the Arizona to take care of herself, and once more steaming ahead, at half- past seven o clock, the gunboats and transports came to anchor below Miller s Point, off Madame Porter s plantation. At this place, known as Oak Lawn, Grover in the orders under which he was acting had been told he might expect to find a good shell road leading straight to the Teche, and crossing the bayou about the middle of the bow called Irish Bend. Grover at once sent Fiske with two companies of the ist Louisiana ashore in the Clifton s boats to reconnoi tre. It was midnight when, after carefully examining the ground, Fiske returned to the gunboat and re ported the road under water, and quite impracticable for all arms. The fleet then got under way, and pro ceeding about six miles farther up the lake, anchored beyond Magee s Point. Before daylight Dwight sent two of his staff officers, Captain Denslow and Lieutenant Matthews, ashore, with a small detachment from the 6th New York, to examine the plantation road leading from this point to the Teche. The road being found practicable for all arms, the debarkation began at daybreak. Dwight landed first. As soon as his leading regi ment, the ist Louisiana, reached the shore, Holcomb threw forward two companies, under Lieutenant-Colo nel Fiske, as skirmishers, and formed the battalion in line to cover the landing. Taylor, when he first learned that the gunboats and transports had passed up Grand Lake, had sent Vin cent, with the 2d Louisiana cavalry and a section of Cornay s battery, to Verdun Landing, about four miles behind Camp Bisland, to observe and oppose the movement. This was about noon on Sunday, the 106 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 1 2th. In the evening, hearing of the progress of the fleet, Taylor sent a second section of Cornay s battery to the lake, and going himself to Vincent ordered him to follow the movement and try to prevent a landing. The next morning Taylor sent Reily with the 4th Texas, to join Vincent and aid him in retard ing Grover s progress. Taylor seems to have censured Vincent for letting Grover land, yet in truth Vincent was not to blame. The line he had to watch was too long for his num bers, and the Union flotilla could and did move more rapidly on the lake than the Confederate troops by the roads. When he had stationed his pickets at the probable landing-places, and taken up a central posi tion to support them, he had done all that lay in his power. The range and weight of the 9-inch shells of the navy . Were alone enough to put a serious oppo sition to the landing out of the question, but as soon as Vincent found where the attempt was to be made, he disposed his men and guns to retard it. Two of Cornay s guns even tried, ineffectually of course, to destroy the transports : Cooke quickly drove them off. As Holcomb s skirmishers deployed they were met by a brisk fusillade from Vincent s men strongly posted in ambush behind a high fence in the thick wood that skirts the shore ; but when Holcomb advanced his battalion Vincent s men fell back on their main body and left the wood to Holcomb, who immediately moved to the edge of the clearing and held it, obser ving the enemy on the farther border. This was Vincent with his regiment and the four guns of Cor- nay ; and from this moment all that was happening on the lake shore passed unseen by the Confederates. Meanwhile the landing went on very slowly, for the IRISH BEND. 107 transports could not come nearer to the beach than a hundred yards, and, although the foot-soldiers were able to jump overboard and scramble ashore, and the horses could also take to the water, it was necessary to make a bridge of flats for the guns and caissons of the artillery. Thus it was four o clock in the after noon before the whole division found itself assembled on the plantation of Duncan McWilliams on the shore of the lake, with the Teche at the upper reach of Irish Bend four miles to the southward, and Char- enton in the hollow of Indian Bend lying but two miles toward the southwest. There were roads in either direction, but Irish Bend was the way to Frank lin, and to Franklin Grover was under orders to go. About nine o clock in the morning Dwight had bor rowed from Birge his two leading regiments, the I3th Connecticut and the i5Qth New York, to support the ist Louisiana. Grover also gave Dwight Closson s battery and Barrett s troop of cavalry. Toward noon, moving a detachment by his left, Dwight seized the bridge that crosses the Teche in approaching Madame Porter s plantation from the northward, just in time to extinguish the flames that Vincent s men had lighted to destroy it. After seizing the bridge at Oak Lawn, Barrett galloped down the left bank of the Teche and seized the bridge a mile or two below, by which the same plantation is reached from the eastward ; probably by the shell road that Grover had been told to take, and at which he had tried to land. Barrett was in time to save the bridge from Vincent, and to hold the advantage thus gained Dwight soon sent Holcomb with the ist Louisiana, i3ist New York, 6th New York, 22d Maine, and Closson s battery. Meanwhile, the division being entirely without io8 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Wagons, save a few that were loaded with the re serve ammunition, still another wait took place while the men s haversacks were being filled with hard bread and coffee. All these delays were now having their effect upon Grover s own calculations. He now knew nothing of Banks s movements or of his situation. Of his own movements he was bound to suppose that Taylor had received early and full information. More over, the topography of the country where Grover found himself was obscure and to him unknown. In stead, therefore, of marching forward as fast as his troops could land, boldly and at all hazards to seize the roads by which Taylor must retreat, Grover now took counsel with prudence and concealing his force behind the natural screen of the wood, waited till his whole division should be fully ready. Thus it was six o clock and the sun stood low among the tree-tops when Grover, with Birge and Kimball, took up the line of march for the Teche. Crossing the upper of the two bridges, he went into bivouac on the right bank on the plantation of Madame Porter, and called in Dwight s detachment. Before setting out to rejoin the division Holcomb burned the lower bridge, under orders, and then marching up the left bank, crossed the upper bridge at a late hour of the night. In Grover s front stood Vincent alone, for Reily had not yet come ; but in the darkness it was impossible for Grover to make out the enemy s force, or even to find his exact position. When about nine o clock that night, as related in the last chapter, Taylor heard the news from Reily, he supposed Grover to be already in strong possession of the only road by which the Confederates could make good their retreat up the Teche ; yet desperate IRISH BEND. 109 as the situation seemed, Taylor at once made up his mind to try to extricate himself from the toils. Send ing his wagon train ahead, soon after midnight he silently moved out of the lines of Bisland and marched rapidly on Franklin, leaving Green to cover the rear and retard the pursuit. These dispositions made, Taylor himself rode at once to his reversed front, a mile east of Franklin. With him were Reily, whom he had picked up on the road below Frank lin, Vincent who with the four guns of Cornay was still watching Grover, and Clack s Louisiana bat talion, which had come in from New Iberia just in the nick of time. The plantation with the sugar- house, then belonging to McKerrall, is now known as Shaffer s. The grounds of Oak Lawn adjoin it toward the east and north, and along its western boundary stand Nerson s Woods, whence the com ing battle takes the name given to it in the Confed erate accounts. Here, beneath the trees, along their eastern skirt and behind a stout fence, Taylor formed his line of battle, facing toward the east, and waited for the coming of Grover. South of the bayou road stood Clack ; on his left, two pieces of Cornay s bat tery, next Reily, then Vincent with a second section of Cornay s guns. The task before them was simple but desperate. They were to hold off Grover until all but they had safely passed behind the living barrier. Then they were to extricate themselves as best they could, and falling in rear of the main column of the Confederate army try to make good their own escape. Before this could happen, Grover might overwhelm them or Banks might overtake them ; yet there was no other way. As early on the morning of Tuesday the I4th of i io THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. April as it was light enough to see, Grover marched on Franklin by the winding bayou road. Preceded by Barrett and a strong line of skirmishers, Birge with Rodgers s battery led the column ; Dwight with Clos- son s battery, followed ; while Kimball with Nims s battery brought up the rear. The head of Grover s column had gone about two miles, and in a few moments more would have turned the sharp corner of the bayou and faced toward Franklin, when, on the right, near the sugar-house, Birge s skirmishers ran into those of Clack s battalion, and the battle of Irish Bend began. Between Birge and the concealed Confederate ranks, past which he was in fact marching, while his line of direction gave his right flank squarely to the hostile front, lay the broad and open fields of McKerrall s plantation, where the young sugar-cane stood a foot high above the deep and wide furrows. From recent ploughing and still more recent rains the fat soil was soft and heavy under foot, and here and there the cross-furrows, widening and deepening into a ditch, added to the toil and difficulty of move ment, both for men and guns. On the left flowed the dark and sluggish Teche. On the right lay the swamp, thickly overgrown and nearly impassable, whence the waters of the Choupique begin to ooze toward the Gulf. Along the southern border of this morass ran a great transverse ditch that carried off the gathered seepage of the lesser drains. In front, on the western edge of the cane-field, stood Nerson s woods, where, as yet unseen, the Confederates lay in wait ; while before them, like a screen, stretched a low fringe of brake and undergrowth. Birge s order of march placed the 25th Connecticut IRISH BEND. In in the advance, one wing deployed as skirmishers across the road, the other wing in reserve. Next came the 26th Maine with Bradley s section of Rodgers s battery, then the iSQth New York, then the remainder of Rodgers s battery, while the I3th Connecticut brought up the rear. When he saw his skirmishers briskly engaged and by the sound and smoke discovered the position of the enemy, Birge made the reserved battalion of the 25th Connecticut change front forward and move across the field against the Confederate left. Bissell led his men quickly to within a hundred yards of the wood, where they lay down under the partial cover of a ditch and began firing. Hubbard, with the 26th Maine, came up on Bissell s left and took up the same tactics. At once the enfilade fire of Cornay s section near the bayou on the right of the Confederate line became vigorous and annoying, until Bradley took his two guns at a gallop to the skirt of the undergrowth opposite the interval between the infantry battalions and, opening fire at five hundred yards range, engaged for a time the whole attention of the Confederate cannoneers. Then Grover, who rode with Birge, sent in the i5Qth New York on the left of the 26th Maine, with orders to take the wood, while the i3th Connecticut, march ing round the bend of the bayou, formed on the ex treme left between the stream and the road. Molineux promptly deployed his regiment, and gallantly led it forward at the double-quick over and beyond the left of the line already formed, until the men were within short point-blank range of the enemy s musketry ; there, finding them exhausted by the rapid advance over the rough and heavy ground, as well as suffering severely from the bullets of the enemy, he ii2 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Made the men throw off their blankets and overcoats, lie down, and open a vigorous fire. Perhaps under the stress of this, but more probably in preparation for the counter-attack, the Confederates slackened their fire, and Molineux, perceiving his opportunity, as it seemed, was in the act of uttering the command " Forward !" when a bullet struck him in the mouth and he fell, painfully wounded, leaving the command of the regiment, for the time, to Captain Dayton. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper had already fallen, and Major Burt was with Grover, serving on the staff. At the word the men sprang to their feet, but before the command could be carried out, suddenly came the crisis of the battle. About seven o clock, Gray had brought up the 28th Louisiana to Taylor s aid, and with it the news that the rest of the forces from Bisland were close at hand and all was well with them. Under cover of the wood, Taylor moved Gray quickly to the left, and perceiving that his line now overlapped Grover s right, promptly determined to gain the brief time he still needed for the safe retreat of his main body by a bold and vigorous attack with the whole force he had under his hand. The order was obeyed with spirit. Out of the wood beyond the right, and from the main ditch, well in the rear of the i5Qth, the Confederates came charging strongly, and halting, they poured in a hot volley. Seeing that the situation was critical Dayton ordered the regiment to retire. Under a severe fire it fell back quickly, yet in good order, to the road. There it promptly re-formed on its colors, and Burt rejoining took the command. In their retreat the New Yorkers swept over the position of the 26th Maine and the 25th Connecticut and carried these already shaken regiments with T IRISH BEND APRIL /4- T ?/863 CALLED BY THE. CONFEDERATES IRISH BEND. 113 them, in some natural disorder ; but this lasted hardly longer than was needed for Dwight to hear and obey the command that now came back from Grover, to deploy the first brigade and take up the broken battle. Bradley held his ground stoutly to the last moment, and when finally the choice was narrowed to retreat or capture, he retired in good order to a fresh posi tion, and there serving his canister with coolness and deliberation, held off the enemy s advance. At this point, Rodgers, who with his centre section was in the road on the left, engaged at 800 and 400 yards with Cornay s right section, turned his attention to the Confederate infantry on the right, and crossing with spherical case-shot the canister fire of his Lieu tenant, made good the check. Almost at the moment when Taylor s left was thus roughly bearing down the right of Birge, on his left his own 1 3th Connecticut, under Lieutenant-Colonel Warner, enveloped in a grove, was moving steadily on the Confederate right, where Clack stood and the two guns of Cornay. Emerging from the grove into an open field that still lay between them and the enemy in the wood, Warner s men instantly replied to the volleys of cannon and small-arms that greeted their appearance and pushed on, firing as they went. More fortunate than their comrades in the direction and the moment of their attack, they pressed back Clack, drove off Cornay s guns, and took two of his caissons, a limber, and a color presented to his bat tery by the ladies of Franklin. Nearly 60 prisoners at the same time fell into their hands. They were still advancing when Grover s orders recalled them to the restored line of battle of the brigade. As Birge s right retired, Dwight deployed in two 1 14 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Lines, the 6th New York and the Qist New York in front, the 22d Maine, ist Louisiana, and i3ist New York in support, and advancing against Taylor s left flank and overlapping it in its turn pushed it back into and beyond the woods. In this movement D wight took 70 prisoners. The resistance he encountered was feeble compared with the vigor with which Birge had been met and turned back, for in that effort the Confederate line of battle had practically gained its main object and had now only to extricate itself and make good its own withdrawal. Birge, at the same time that he drew back the I3th Connecticut, once more moved forward his three other regiments and re-formed the brigade in two lines on Dwight s left. Kimball, whose brigade was in two lines in reserve, brought up the i2th Maine to the support of the I3th Connecticut. This done, Grover advanced the whole division through the woods to the open fields on their farther or western verge, and seeing the Confederates in force on the knoll beyond, to which they had retired, halted and began to observe and reconnoitre. To cover the right flank of the last Confederate position Semmes brought up the Diana, whose inju ries of the day before he had during the night partly made good by repairs. Her 3O-pounder Parrott now opened a slow fire without great effect other than to add to Grover s caution. Shortly after eight o clock Mouton rode up. To him Taylor turned over the command of the force confronting Grover, and then rode into Franklin to direct the retreat. By half-past nine Green with the rear-guard moved out on the direct road toward IRISH BEND. 115 New Iberia. The last of Green s troopers had not quitted the little town at the upper end when the first of Weitzel s entered at the lower end. Some time passed before Mouton knew of this. Then for a brief space his peril was great ; but for tunately for him the unlooked-for situation of affairs raised a momentary doubt in the minds of Green s pursuers. Should they go to the right or to the left ? And where was Grover? After questioning prisoners and towns-people, Banks directed Weitzel to fol low by the cut-off road and Emory to move up the bayou. The interval, short as it was, enabled Mou ton to fall back quickly, and taking a by-way across country to strike into the cut-off road beyond the northern outskirts of Franklin. Not an instant too soon, for in the confusion Sibley had fired the bridge over the Choupique and across the blazing timbers lay Mouton s last hope of escape. Hardly had his men reached the north bank in safety when Weitzel s advance guard came in sight down the road. They galloped to the bridge only to find it impassable. Before retiring the Confederates blew up the Diana and applied the match to all their transport steamers on the Teche save the hospital boat, the Cornie, which loaded with the sick and wounded of Bisland fell into the hands of the Union forces. Captain Semmes, who had but the day before left his battery to command the Diana, was taken prisoner, with all his crew. He and Weitzel had been friends and classmates at West Point ; he now refused the offered courtesies of his captor, and a few hours later, finding himself rather loosely guarded, cleverly managed to regain his liberty. To return to Grover. The situation of the enemy s u6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Force in his front, the vigorous resistance encountered in his advance, and lastly, the information gathered from the prisoners he had taken, had convinced him that he had to deal with Taylor s whole force, save a small rear-guard, and that Taylor had already suc ceeded in passing him, so that it was no longer possi ble to cut the Confederate line of retreat. Indeed, Grover seems rather to have thought that Taylor meant to attack him. It was while careful reconnois- sances were being conducted to develop the true facts that Taylor slipped away, as we have seen, having thus adroitly extricated himself from the net spread in his sight. About two o clock, however, as Taylor did not attack, Grover moved fonvard, and as he marched down the bayou road soon met Emory coming up, as related in the last chapter. Banks, seeing that the bridge could not be made passable before morning, and that nothing was to be gained by marching his tired troops over the long roundabout of the bayou road, went into bivouac early in the afternoon, covering the northern approaches of Franklin. Grover occupied his battle-field of the morning, Emory held the bayou road between Grover and the town, and Weitzel the cut-off road. Taylor crossed the Cypremort and having marched fifteen miles since quitting Franklin, or twenty-five since midnight, rested near Jeannerette. Grover reported his loss during the i3th, i4th, and 1 7th as 53 killed, 270 wounded, and 30 captured or missing ; in all 353. In the battle of Irish Bend, ac cording to the nominal lists as compiled in the Official Records, his loss was 6 officers and 43 men killed, 1 7 officers and 257 men wounded, and 30 men missing; IRISH BEND, 117 in all 353 ; agreeing with the first statement covering the three days, yet differing slightly in the details. Of this total Dwight s brigade lost 3 killed and 9 wounded on the i3th, i killed and 5 wounded on the 1 7th, and only 2 killed and 1 3 wounded in the battle. Both statements seem to leave out the ist Louisiana, which had 2 men killed and the lieutenant-colonel and 2 men wounded on the I3th. In Birge s brigade the loss in the battle, according to Grover s report, was 46 killed, 2 36 wounded, 49 missing; in all 312. The official reports show 16 less in the columns of wounded and in the total : these are probably the 16 wounded officers accounted for in the nominal lists. Of the regiments engaged the heaviest loss fell upon the i59th New York, in which the nominal lists show 4 officers and 15 men killed, 5 officers and 73 men wounded, and 20 men captured or missing; in all 117. But this fine regiment suffered even more severely than these figures indicate, for besides having to mourn the death of the gallant and promising Draper, Molineux re ceived a grievous wound that for many weeks deprived the regiment of one of the best colonels in the service, while of the wounded officers two were mortally hurt and died soon afterward. Birge s loss was nearly one man in four or five, for his strength did not exceed 1, 500, and it is probable that his fighting line num bered not more than 1, 200. Th Confederate loss is not reported. They left on the field, to be cared for by their adversary, 2 1 of their dead and 35 of their wounded. Among these were Gray, Vincent, and Reily. Taylor gives the number of his infantry engaged 1 According to the regimental history (MS. ), 4 officers and 22 men killed ; 5 officers and 76 men wounded ; n men missing; in all, 118 : of the wounded, 2 officers and 10 men mortally. U8 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. In the charge on Birge s right as less than 1, 000. The disparity of the opposing forces in that affair was, therefore, not important, and Birge s somewhat greater numbers may fairly be considered as off-set by the advantages of Taylor s position and the famil iarity with the country common to nearly all the Confederate soldiers there engaged, while to their antagonists it was an unknown land. Grover s whole force was about 5, 000, of all arms, but of these, though all are to be taken into account, nearly a third were in reserve, neither firing nor under fire, while another third met a resistance so light that its loss was no more than one per cent, of its numbers hardly more than it had suffered in the skirmishes of the day before. Grover had eighteen pieces of artil lery, of which but four were in action ; Taylor also had four guns of which he made good use, and these, toward the close of the battle, were reinforced by the five heavy guns of the Diana, of which, however, it is probable that but one, or at most two, could be brought to bear. The field of battle was so contracted that Taylor s strength sufficed to occupy its front, while Grover was hindered or prevented from deploying a force large enough to outflank and crush his antagonist at a blow. Viewed from a Confederate standpoint, the issue forms an instructive example of the great results that may be achieved by a right use of small forces. If, on the other hand, one turns to consider the lost opportunity of Grover, two things stand out in strong relief : the one, the positive disadvantage of employ ing forces too large for the affair in hand or for the scene of operations ; the other, that bold adventures must be carried boldly to the end. IRISH BEND. 119 Instead of making the campaign with four brigades and twenty-four guns, as Weitzel s original plan had contemplated, Banks, for greater security, set out with seven brigades and fifty-six guns. So far as concerned the main body ascending the Teche, this excess of strength could do no harm, but it was otherwise with the turning column by the lake ; for to the needless augmentation of the artillery were directly due not only the day and night first lost, but also the still more pre cious hours of daylight consumed in landing guns that were not to fire a shot. Two brigades of infantry, with six guns at most, landing at Indian Bend, and march ing directly toward the Cypremort, and quickly en trenching across both roads at or near their upper fork, would have been enough to hold the position against the best efforts of the whole of Taylor s army, with Emory close on their heels ; and thus Taylor must have been lost and the war in Western Louisiana brought to an end. Consequences many and far- reaching would have followed. Moreover, when it was determined to use more than two divisions one of these was naturally Grover s, and thus it happened that to Grover, who knew nothing of the country, was assigned the delicate duty first cut out for Weit- zel, while Weitzel, who had studied to the last point every detail of the topography and of the plan, stayed behind as the third in command of the column des tined to butt its nose against the breastworks of Bis- land and wait for the real work to be done a day s march on their farther side. Grover has been often criticised and much misun derstood for alleged over-caution and for taking the wrong direction after quitting the borders of the lake. Both criticisms are unjust. Generals, like other men, 120 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Act according to their temperaments. In the whole war no braver man than Grover ever rode at the head of a division, nor any more zealous, more alert, more untiring in his duty. No troops of his ever went into battle but he was with them. But he was by nature cautious, and the adventure was essentially one that called for boldness. Moreover, he was by nature conscientious. That his orders, based as they were on misinformation of a date much later than Weitzel s intelligence, required him to land at Irish Bend instead of at Indian Bend, as first arranged, and to march on Franklin instead of toward the Cypremort, was not his affair. Surely no soldier is to be blamed, least of all in combined and complex operations, for choosing to obey the clearly expressed orders of those set over him, rather than to follow the illusory inspirations of the will-o -the-wisp commonly mistaken for genius. As for the orders themselves, they were correct upon the information at hand when they were given and the state of affairs then existing. To land at Madame Porter s and to seize the roads at Franklin was better than to go farther afield to gain the same end ; for the distance was less, and while on the march Grover was enabled to offer his front instead of his flank to the enemy. But the information proved inexact ; when Madame Porter s road was tried it was found impassable, and with this and the unfore seen delays it happened that the orders became in applicable. CHAPTER XII. OPELOUSAS. COOKE, after detaching the Clifton to go up the Teche after the Diana, as already related, remained at anchor in Grand Lake opposite Grover s landing- place and awaited developments. He had not long to wait. The first news of Banks s movement across Berwick Bay had overtaken and recalled Taylor on his way up the Atchafalaya to bring down the Queen of the West and her consorts, the Grand Duke and Mary T, to join in the intended operations against Weitzel. Although Taylor at once sent a staff officer to urge despatch, yet from some cause more than two full days had passed before, on the afternoon of the 1 3th, the distant smoke of the Confederate gun-boats coming down Lake Chicot was seen by the lookouts of the Union navy in Grand Lake. At daylight the Queen of the West and the Mary T, were seen approaching from Chicot Pass. Cooke at once got the Estrella, Calhoim, and Arizona under way, opened fire at long range, and forming his boats in a crescent began to close with the enemy. Soon, however, the Queen of the West was seen to be in flames, from the explosion of the Union shells, and, her consort having promptly taken to flight, Cooke ceased firing and lowered all his boats to save the crew of the burning vessel from drowning. Captain Fuller, who had formerly com- 121 122 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Manded the Cotton, was rescued with 90 of his men, but nearly 30 were lost. Then with a loud explosion the eventful career of the Queen of the West came to an end, leaving her five guns, however, once more in the hands of the Union navy. This fortunate stroke gave the mastery of the Atchafalaya into Cooke s hands with nothing save Butte-a-la-Rose and two feeble gunboats to hinder his taking possession. Once safely across the Cypremort, Taylor s army began to melt away and his men, as they passed their homes, to fall out without hindrance. Many were of the simple class called Acadians, with scant sympa thy for either side of the great war into which they found themselves drawn, and in all the regiments there were many conscripts. On the 1 5th of April, Taylor marched ten miles to New Iberia. While there, he had the unfinished ironclad gunboat Stevens, previously known as the Hart, floated two miles down the Teche, destroyed by fire, and the wreck sunk in the channel. On the 1 6th he marched twenty miles, crossed the Vermilion River, went into camp on the high ground on the north bank, and burned the bridges behind him. Early in the morning of the I5th of April, Banks took up the pursuit with his united force, now out numbering Taylor s as three to one. Weitzel led the advance of the main column on the direct road. Emory followed him, and Grover marching at first on the bayou road fell in the rear after passing the fork. The army halted for the night at Jeannerette. On the following afternoon Banks entered New Iberia. Here the ways parted, the right-hand road by Saint Martinsville following for many miles the OPELOUSAS. 123 windings of the Teche, while the left-hand road leads almost directly to Opelousas, by way of Vermilion- ville, now called Lafayette. Beyond Indian Bend the lowlands, in many places below and nowhere much above the level of the adjacent waters, may be said to end and the plains to begin ; and soon after leaving New Iberia and Saint Martinsville the troops found themselves on the broad prairies of Western Louisiana, where the rich grasses that flourish in the light soil sustain almost in a wild state vast herds of small yet fat beeves and of small yet strong horses ; where in favored spots the cotton plant is cultivated to advantage ; where the ground, gently undulating, gradually rises as one travels northward ; where the streams become small rivers that drain the land upon their borders, instead of merely bayous taking the back waters of the Mississippi and the Red. Near the right bank of the Teche runs even a narrow ribbon of bluffs that may be said to form the western margin of the great swamps of the Atchafalaya. Along the streams live- oaks, magnolias, pecans, and other trees grow luxuri antly ; but, for the most part, the prairies are open to the horizon, and at this time, though the gin-houses were full of cotton, the fields were mainly given over to the raising of corn for the armies and the people of the Confederacy. From New Iberia Banks ordered Grover to send a detachment to destroy the famous Avery salt-works, on Petit Anse Island, distant about twelve miles toward the southwest. On the 1 7th of April, Grover accord ingly despatched Kimball on this errand, with his 1 2th Maine, the 41 st Massachusetts, one company of the 24th Connecticut, and Snow s section of Nims s 124 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Battery. This extremely rich natural deposit of rock salt was, at that time, in the hands of the Confederate government, being, indeed, the main source of supply of this indispensable article for the whole Confederacy, especially for the region between the Mississippi and the Atlantic. The works required for its extraction are, however, very simple, for the deposit lies close to the surface, and has only to be quarried in blocks of convenient size. These, always as clear and beautiful as crystal, have only to be crushed or broken to be ready for use for common purposes, and when pul verized, however rudely, yield the finest table salt. Kimball burned all the buildings, destroyed the engines and implements, with six hundred barrels of salt, and marched back to New Iberia, and, on the 1 9th, rejoined Grover on the Vermilion. The Con federates having drawn off the detachment and the guns previously posted to guard the works, Kimball met with no opposition. On the 1 7th of April, Grover, with the main body of his division, reinforced by Gooding s brigade, tem porarily commanded by Colonel John W. Kimball, of the 53d Massachusetts, continued the pursuit toward Vermilion, while Banks, with Weitzel and Emory, marched to Saint Martinsville, on the Teche. Early in the afternoon Grover caught sight of Green s rear-guard of Taylor s retreating forces, then about two miles distant, and in the act of crossing the Vermilion. Before Grover could overtake them, the bridges were in flames. Dwight s skirmishers deployed on the right and left of the road, and, with the help of the guns of Closson and N ims, drove off the enemy, posted to hinder or prevent the work of reconstruction. In this affair D wight lost one killed OPELOUSAS. 125 and five wounded. The next day, the iSth of April, was spent by Grover in rebuilding the main bridge. Then began to be felt the need of such a force of mounted troops as on these plains formed the main strength of Taylor s little army, and the source of its safety ; for Banks s cavalry, taken as a whole, with some splendid exceptions, was at this time greatly inferior, not only in numbers but in fitness for the work in hand, to the rough riders led by the restless and indomitable Green. A few more horsemen, under leaders like Barrett, Williamson, and Perkins, would have saved the bridge and insured the dispersion or the destruction of Taylor s force. Weitzel, who, as far as Saint Martinsville, had led the advance of the main column, followed by Emory with Paine and Ingraham, there took the road to the left and halted on the evening of the 1 7th of April at Cote Gelee, four miles in the rear of Grover. The next morning Weitzel moved up to Grover s support, while Banks, with Emory, rested at Cote Gelee to await the rebuilding of the bridge. From St. Martinsville, Emory sent the 1 73d New York, under Major Gallway, with Norris s section of Duryea s battery, to follow the Teche road to Breaux Bridge and endeavor to capture the bayou steamboats, five in number, that were still left to the Confederates. Five miles below the village of that name, Gallway met a small Confederate picket, and pushing it aside, soon afterward found the bridge over the bayou in flames. On the morning of the i8th he learned that four of the boats had been burned by the Confeder ates, and about the same time his farther advance was stopped by orders from Banks, despatched as soon as it was known that Grover had been brought 126 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. To a stand. A courier from headquarters having lost his way in the night of the i8th, on the following morning Gallway found himself in the air without any apparent object. He accordingly marched along the banks of the Teche and the Bayou Fusilier, and taking the road to Opelousas, there rejoined Paine on the 2 1 st. On the i Qth of April the army crossed the Ver milion and the Carencro, and marched unopposed sixteen miles over the prairie to Grand Coteau. Gooding s brigade rejoined Emory during the day. On the 2Oth the march was continued about eight miles to Opelousas. Just outside the town the Corps went into bivouac, after throwing forward all the cav alry, the 1 3th Connecticut, and a section of Rodgers s battery, to Washington, on the Courtableau. On the same day, after a brief engagement, Cooke, with the gunboats Estrella, Arizona, and Calhoun, and a detachment of four companies of the i6th New Hampshire from Brashear, captured Fort Burton at Butte-a-la-Rose, with its garrison of 60 men of the Crescent regiment and its armament of two 32-pound- ers ; thus at last gaining the complete control of the Atchafalaya, and at the same time opening communi cation with Banks by way of Port Barre or Barre s Landing on the Courtableau, distant about nine miles northeasterly from Opelousas. Then Cooke steamed up the Atchafalaya to make his report to Farragut, lying in the Mississippi off the mouth of the Red River, and to seek fresh orders. At the outset of the campaign the i6th New Hamp shire had been detached from Ingraham s brigade of Emory and left at Brashear to guard the main depots and the surplus baggage. After the battle of Bisland, OPELOUSAS. 127 the 4th Massachusetts was turned back to Brashear to relieve the i6th New Hampshire. This regiment having assisted in the capture of Butte-a-la-Rose, now formed the garrison of that desolate and deadly hummock. While at Opelousas the army could draw its sup plies from Brashear by the Atchafalaya and the Cour- tableau, but so long as the direction of the future operations remained uncertain, it was necessary to keep a firm hold of the communications by the Teche. Accordingly, the 1 75th New York took post at Frank lin and the 22d Maine at New Iberia. On the 22d of April the i62d New York, under Blanchard, with a section of the ist Maine battery and one troop of the 2d Rhode Island cavalry, marched to Barre s Landing, seized the position, and captured the little steamboat Ellen, the last of the Teche fleet. On the 23d of April the little Cornie arrived at Barre s Landing from the depot at Brashear, and the next day the first wagon-train came into camp laden with the supplies now sadly needed. At sight of the white-covered wagons winding over the plain, the men gave way to those demonstrations of delight so familiar to all who have ever seen soldiers rejoice. For fifteen days they had been subsisting upon an uncertain issue of hard bread, coffee, and salt, eked out by levies, more or less irregular, upon the countryside. They were sick of chickens and corn- bread, and fairly loathed the very sight, to say nothing of the smell, of fresh-killed beef ; tough at best, even in the heart of the tenderloin, the flesh had to be eaten with the odor and the warmth of the blood still in it, under penalty of finding it fly-blown before the next meal. Thus it was that, as Paine relates in his 128 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Diary, the men now " howled for salt pork and hard tack. " Although the army had now a double line of com munication with its base, yet the long haul from New Iberia and the scarcity of light-draught steamboats adapted to the navigation of the narrow and tortuous bayous made the task of supplying even the urgent wants of the troops both tedious and difficult. The herds near Opelousas were fast disappearing under the ravages of the foragers, authorized and unauthor ized, yet had it not been for the beef obtained from this source and for the abundant grass of the prairie men and horses must soon have suffered greatly. On the 24th of April, Banks reviewed his army in the open plain, near Opelousas. The troops, not as yet inured to the long and hard marches, were indeed greatly diminished in numbers by the unaccustomed toil and exposure, as well as by the casualties of battle and the enervating effects of the climate, yet they presented a fine appearance, and were in the best of spirits. On learning of Cooke s success at Butte-a-la-Rose, Banks detached Dwight, posted him at Washington in observation, and placed Grover with his remaining brigades at Barre s Landing, to secure the depots, while Emory and Weitzel covered Opelousas. Having by burning the Vermilion bridge gained a day s rest for his tired soldiers, Taylor resumed the retreat at noon on the i7th of April, and passing through Opelousas and Washington on the i8th and i gth, on the following day found himself with all his trains behind the Cocodrie and the Bceuf. On the 2Oth he sent Mouton, with all the cavalry except Waller s battalion, westward over the prairie toward OPELOUSAS. 129 Niblett s Bluff, on the Sabine. Then, with Waller and the frayed remnant of the infantry, day by day wearing away at the edges, Taylor continued his re treat toward Alexandria, halting with what may be called his main body at Lecompte. To hinder the pursuit he burned the bridges over the Bayou Coco- drie and the Bayou Bceuf. Opelousas, miles away from every thing, in the heart of a vast prairie, presented in itself no object for an invading army. Even the temptation of a good position was wanting. Banks meant merely to halt there a day or two for rest, and then, if it should be found practicable to obtain the necessary supplies, to push on rapidly to Alexandria, and dispose for the season of Taylor s disordered fragments. Whether this could have been done will never be known, for although the army had now far outmarched its supplies, and even from its secondary base at Brashear was separated by nearly a hundred miles, and although the campaign had so far been made upon less than half the regular rations for men and animals, supplemented from farm, sugar- house, and prairie, the country on the line of march was no longer to be counted on for any thing save sugar in plenty and a little corn ; nevertheless, it might have been possible, by great exertions, to replenish the trains and depots, as well as to fill up the haversacks. Moreover, a three days march would find the army on the banks of the Red River, with a new and ample source of supply open to them, and within easy reach of Grant, provided only the navy might be counted upon to control the waters of that stream and its larger tributaries. Of this Banks had no doubt what ever. To open communication with Grant and to 130 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Dispose of Taylor had been the chief ends that Banks had proposed to himself in setting out on the cam paign. These ends he now held almost in his hand. But on the 2ist of April an event occurred that, slight as was its apparent importance, was destined, in its train of consequences, vitally to affect the operations of the Army of the Gulf. This was the arrival at headquarters of Lieutenant Joseph T. Tenney, one of Dudley s aides-de-camp, who had been sent by Augur to find Banks, where- ever he might be. With him Tenney brought impor tant despatches from Grant and Farragut. What the contents were and what came of them will be related in the next chapter. From Opelousas Bean, with the 4th Wisconsin, a section of Duryea s battery, and a squadron of the 2d Rhode Island cavalry, went a day s march toward the southwest, to the crossing of the Plaquemine Brule, and discovered that Mouton was retreating be yond the Mermentau. From Washington, Dwight moved out twenty miles along the Bayou Bceuf to Satcham s plantation without finding the enemy in force. After learning these things, on the 25th of April, Banks turned over the command of the forces to Emory and went to New Orleans to give his attention to affairs of urgency, chiefly affecting the civil ad ministration of the department. He returned to head quarters in the field on the evening of the ist of May. Meanwhile Emory sent Paine, who, when crossing the Carencro, had seen the last of the Confederates disappearing in the distance, with his brigade and a section of Duryea s battery far out on the Plaquemine Brule road, in order to find and disperse some cavalry, vaguely reported to be moving about somewhere in OPELOUSAS. 131 that quarter, a constant menace to the long trains from New Iberia. In fact Mouton, with the Texans, was now on the prairie, beyond the Calcasieu eighty miles away, in good position to retreat to Texas or to hang on the flank and rear of the Union army, as circumstances might suggest. On the 26th of April Paine marched sixteen miles to the Plaque- mine Brule, and on the following day sent four com panies on horseback twenty miles farther toward the southwest across Bayou Queue de Tortue, and another detachment to Bayou Mallet to reconnoitre. Seeing nothing of the enemy, on the 28th Paine rejoined his division and resumed the command of it at Opelousas. Some time before this orders had been given to mount the 4th Wisconsin, and when the army finally marched from Opelousas this capital regiment made its ap pearance in the new role of mounted infantry. To say nothing of the equipments, a wide divergence in the size, color, and quality of the horses, hastily gathered from the four quarters of the prairie, gave to these im provised dragoons rather a ludicrous appearance it must be confessed ; yet marching afoot or standing to horse, the 4th Wisconsin was always ready and equal to the work cut out for it. From his advanced camp, on Shields s plantation, twenty-three miles beyond Washington and twenty- nine from Opelousas, Dwight fell back on the 28th of April to his bivouac at Washington and waited for the movement of the army to begin. In preparation for this, on the evening of the ist of May, Bean, with the 4th Wisconsin, mounted, was sent forward to join the main body of the cavalry, under Major Robinson, in front of Washington. That night Dwight, with the cavalry, his own brigade, 132 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. And a section of Nims s battery, marched out some distance to discover the position of the Confederate outposts. These, in the interval that elapsed, had been advanced to the junction of the Cocodrie and the Boeuf. After driving them in Dwight returned the next morning to Washington. The advance of the column from Franklin to Ope- lousas had been disfigured by the twin evils of strag gling and marauding. Before the campaign opened, Banks had taken the precaution to issue stringent orders against pillage, yet no means adequate to the enforcement of these orders were provided, and the marches were so long and rapid, the heat at times so intense, and the dust so intolerable, that compara tively few of the men were able to keep up with the head of the column. This contributed greatly to disorder of the more serious kind. One regiment, neither the best nor the worst, halting at the end of a particularly hard day s march, found itself with scarcely fifty men in the ranks. Then, too, the men were on short rations, in what they considered the enemy s country ; the whole region was sparsely popu lated ; and the residents had, for the most part, fled from their homes at the news of the approach of the Union army. With these disorders there sprang up a third, less prevalent indeed, but to the last degree annoying and not without its share of danger, for when the straggler chanced to find himself in easy range of any thing, from a steer to a chicken, that he happened to fancy for his supper, he was not always careful in his aim or accurate in his judgment of distance ; thus a number of officers and men were wounded and the lives of many put in peril. OPELOUSAS. 133 As if to complete the lesson so often taught in all wars, that discipline, care, and efficiency go hand in hand, when the army moved out from Opelousas, though but a fortnight later, a different state of things was seen. This must be ascribed to the fact that immediately after entering Opelousas the most stringent and careful orders were given for the regu lation of future marches, and the punishment of strag glers and marauders. By these orders was provided for the first time a system adequate to their enforce ment, and sufficiently elastic to meet without annoy ance and difficulty all those cases, of hourly and even momentary occurrence in the movement of an army, that require officers or men to quit the column. In the rear of each regiment was posted a surgeon, without whose permission no sick man was allowed to fall out. In the rear of each brigade and division marched a detachment of cavalry, under the orders of the provost marshal of the brigade or division, charged with the duty of picking up as stragglers all men found out of the ranks without a written permit from the surgeon or the company commander. The vital importance of a strict enforcement of these arrangements was personally impressed upon the division and brigade commanders ; yet this was not now necessary, for there were but few persons in the column of any rank that did not realize, in part at least, the evil consequences resulting from the irregu lar practices that had hitherto prevailed. Thus the march to the Red River was made rapidly and in order, and now for the first time the soldiers of the Nineteenth Army Corps marched with that swift and regulated movement of the column as a unit that was to be ever afterwards a source of comfort to the men, 134 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Of satisfaction to their officers, and of just pride to every one belonging to the corps. Unhappily, on the 25th of April, before the result of these arrangements had had a chance to show them selves, Dwight, while on detached service in the ad vance, caught an unfortunate man of the i3ist New York, Henry Hamill by name, absent from his regi ment under circumstances that pointed him out as a plunderer. Then, without pausing to communicate with the general commanding, Dwight took upon himself the task of trial and judgment on the spot, and becoming satisfied of the man s guilt, caused him to be shot to death at sunset in front of the brigade. This action Banks, who was just setting out for New Orleans, sustained in special orders as soon as he re turned. Indeed, between this course and the instant delivery of Dwight to punishment, Banks had practi cally no choice. Nevertheless, whatever may have been the excuse or how extreme the provocation, the act was altogether wrong. The rules and articles of war lay down the penal code of armies in all its se verity, in terms too clear to be misunderstood and too ample to warrant an attempt on the part of any one in the service, however exalted his rank, to enlarge or evade them. The offender should have been tried by court-martial. No emergency or exi gency existed to delay the assembling of the court. Had he been found guilty, his death might swiftly have followed. Then the terrible lesson would have been impressive. Then none would have thought it hasty, needless, violent, or unlawful. As it was, the wretched man s punishment fur nished chiefly matter for regret, and an example to be avoided. CHAPTER XIII. BANKS AND GRANT. THE first effect of the despatches from Grant and Farragut, referred to in the preceding chapter, was to cause Banks to reconsider his plan of campaign, and to put the direction of his next movement in sus pense. While waiting for fresh advices in answer to his own communications and proposals Banks halted, and while he halted Taylor got time to breathe and Kirby Smith to gather new strength. This correspondence has been so much discussed, yet so little understood, that, chronology being an essential part of history, the narrative of the events now at hand may be rendered clearer, if we turn aside for a moment to consider not only the substance of what was said upon both sides, but, what was even more important, the time at which it was heard. Farragut s letter, written from the Hartforddfoove Port Hudson on the 6th of April, was the first com munication Banks had received from Farragut, save a brief verbal message brought to him by the Admiral s secretary, Mr. E. C. Gabaudan, on the loth of April, just before the army set out from Brashear. Mr. Gabaudan had come straight from the Admiral, but without anything in writing, having floated past Port Hudson by night in a skiff covered with twigs so as to look like a drift log. Farragut s letter gave assur- 135 136 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ance of the complete control of the Red River and the Atchafalaya by the navy of the Union. Grant s despatch bore date the 23d of March. It was the first writing received from him. It conveyed the answer to the letter addressed to him by Banks on the 1 3th of March, and placed in the hands of Farragut just before the Hartford ran the batteries of Port Hudson. Thus on either side began a cor respondence clearly intended by both commanders to bring about an effective co-operation between the two armies, aided by the combined fleets of Farragut and Porter. Yet in the end, while the consequences re mained unfelt in the Army by the Tennessee, upon the Army of the Gulf the practical effect, after the first period of delay and doubt, was to cause its com mander to give up the thought of moving toward Grant and to conform all his movements to the ex pectation that Grant would send an army corps to Bayou Sara to join in reducing Port Hudson. Thus, quite apart from the confusion and the eventual dis appointment, much valuable time was lost while the matter was in suspense ; and so was demonstrated once more the impossibility, well established by the history of war, of co-ordinating the operations of two armies widely separated, having different objectives, while an enemy strongly holds the country between them. When Banks wrote his despatch of the I3th of March, he was at Baton Rouge, about to demonstrate against Port Hudson. When Grant received this despatch he was on the low land opposite Vicksburg, with the rising river between him and his enemy, laboriously seeking a practical pathway to the rear of Vicksburg, and in the meantime greatly troubled to BANKS AND GRANT. 137 find dry ground for his seventy thousand men to stand on. Grant s first idea, derived from Halleck s de spatches, was that Banks should join him before Vicksburg, with the whole available force of the Army of the Gulf. When he learned from Banks that this would be out of the question so long as Port Hudson should continue to be held by the Confederates, Grant took up the same line of thought that had already attracted Banks, and began to meditate a junction by the Atchafalaya, the Red, the Tensas, and the Black rivers. What Grant then needed was not more troops, but standing-room for those he had. Accordingly, he began by preparing to send twenty thousand men to Banks, when the Ohio River steamers he had asked for should come. 1 They never came, yet even after he had embarked upon the campaign, alike sound in conception and splendid in execution, that was to become the corner-stone of his great and solid fame, Grant kept to his purpose. On the 1 4th of April he penned this brief telegram to Banks : " I am concentrating my forces at Grand Gulf ; will send an army corps Bayou Sara by the 25th, to co-operate with you on Port Hudson. Can you aid me and send troops after the reduc tion of Port Hudson to assist me at Vicksburg ? " This message, although Banks and Grant were then only about two hundred miles apart, had to travel three thousand miles to reach its destination. Banks received it just before marching from Opelousas I sent several weeks ago for this class of steamers, and expected them before this. Should they arrive and Admiral Porter get his boats out of the Yazoo, so as to accompany the expedition, I can send a force of say 20, 000 effective men to co-operate with General Banks on Port Hudson. " Grant to Farragut, March 23d ; received by Banks, April 2ist. The cipher message that followed seemed to Banks a confirmation of this. 138 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. On the 5th of May, twenty-one days after it left Grant s hands. As received, the message was in cipher and without a date. As the prevailing practice was, in conformity with the orders of the Secretary of War, the only persons in the Department of the Gulf who held the key to the cipher were the Super intendent of Military Telegraphs and such of his assistants as he chose to trust, and Mr. Bulkley was at New Iberia, where the wires ended. The code employed was the route cipher in common use in the service, and with the help of the words " Bayou " and " Sara" as guides the meaning was not hard to make out. Banks did not trust to this, however, and waited until, late at night, he received from the Superintendent an official translation, still without date, as indeed was the original document received at headquarters from New Orleans. The 25th Banks naturally took to mean the 25th of May. Grasping eagerly at the first real chance of effective co-operation, he at once replied : " By the 25th probably, by the ist, certainly, I will be there. " This despatch was not in cipher, because he had no code. Captain Crosby carried it to the Hartford at the mouth of the Red River. Cap tain Palmer, who was found in command, the Admiral having crossed Fausse Point and joined his fleet below, at once forwarded the despatch. Near Natchez Crosby met Captain Differs of Grant s staff and turned back with him bringing Grant s despatch of the loth of May, written at Rocky Springs. This Banks re ceived at Alexandria on the I2th of May. From it he learned that Grant was not coming. Having met the Confederates after landing at Grand Gulf and fol lowed on their heels to the Big Black, he could not afford to retrace his steps ; but he urged Banks to BANKS AND GRANT. 139 join him or to send all the force he could spare " to co-operate in the great struggle for opening the Mis sissippi River. " The reasons thus assigned by Grant for his change of mind were certainly valid ; yet it must be doubted whether in these hurried lines the whole of the matter is set forth, for three weeks earlier, on the igth of April, five days after the promise to send an army corps to Bayou Sara by the 25th, Grant had reported to Halleck : " This will now be impossible. " Moreover, until the moment when he crossed the river with his advance on the 3Oth of April he not only held firmly to his intention to send the twenty thousand men to join Banks at Bayou Sara as soon as the landing should have been secured, but the corps for this service had been designated ; it was to be made up of the main body of McClernand s corps and McPherson s, and Grant himself meant to go with it. It was indeed the 2d of May when Grant received at Port Gibson Banks s despatch sent from Brashear on the loth of April indicating his purpose of returning to Baton Rouge by the loth of May, and although Grant also attributes to this despatch the change of his plans, the loth of May had already come before he made known the change to Banks. All this time Banks bore with him Halleck s in structions of the Qth of November, and more than once studied with care and solicitude these significant words : " As the ranking general in the Southwest you are authorized to assume the control of any military force from the upper Mississippi which may come within your command. The line of division between your department and that of Major-General Grant is, therefore, left undecided for the present, and you will exercise superior authority as far north THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. As you may ascend the river. " By the articles of war, without these words, Banks would have been entitled to the command they gave him, but the words showed him plainly what was expected of him by his govern ment. To the incentives of patriotism and duty were thus superadded one of the most powerful motives that can affect the mind of the commander of an army, the hope and assurance of power and promo tion. If, then, he held back from joining Grant in Mississippi, it was because he hesitated to take the extraordinary risks involved in the movement. In this he was more than justified. Since the miscarriage of Sherman s attempt at the beginning of the year, Grant had been engaged in a series of tentative efforts, steadily prosecuted in vari ous directions, yet all having a common object, the finding of a foothold of dry ground for a decisive move ment against Vicksburg. Four of these experimental operations had failed completely, and Grant was now entering upon a fifth, destined indeed to lead to a great and glorious result, yet in itself conveying hardly more assurance of success than the most promising of its predecessors, while involving perils greater than any that had been so far encountered. Of these the greatest danger was that the enemy, after allowing him to land on the east bank of the river and to penetrate, with a portion of his army, into the heart of Mississippi, might then concentrate all the available forces of the Confederacy in that region and fall upon him with vigor at the moment when his supplies should be exhausted and his communications interrupted. In such an event the fortune of war might have rendered it imperative for him to retire down the river ; but what would have BANKS AND GRANT. 141 happened then if Banks, disregarding Port Hudson in his eagerness to join Grant before Vicksburg, should in his turn have abandoned his communications ? Both armies would have been caught in a trap of their own making, whence not merit but some rare stroke of luck could alone have rescued either. In the strong light of the great and decisive vic tory of Vicksburg, it is scarcely possible to reproduce, even in the mind of the most attentive reader, the exact state of affairs as they existed at the moment of Grant s landing below Grand Gulf. This phenome nal success was not foreshadowed by any thing that had gone before it, and it would have been the height of imprudence to stake upon it the fate of two armies, the issue of an entire campaign, and the mastery of the Mississippi River, if not the final result of the war. Nor should it be forgotten that Grant himself regarded this movement as experimental, like its fore runners, and that up to the moment he set foot on the soil of Mississippi, he had formed no conception of the brilliant campaign on which he was about presently to embark. But instead of concentrating and acting with instant determination upon a single plan with a single idea, at the critical moment the Confederates became divided in council, distracted in purpose, and involved in a maze of divergent plans, cross purposes, and conflicting orders. While events caused the Con federate leaders to shift from one plan to the other, with the chances of the day, Grant was prompt to see and quick to profit by his advantage, and thus the campaign was given into his hands. But on the 4th of May these great events were as yet hidden in the unknown future, and when, after waiting thirteen days at Opelousas, Banks began his 142 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. March on Alexandria, it was with the earnest hope of a speedy meeting of the two Union armies on the Mississippi ; then came the cipher telegram to exalt this hope into a firm and just expectation of finding three weeks later an entire corps from Grant s army at Bayou Sara, and as Banks mounted his horse to ride toward the head of his column, it was with the fixed purpose of being with his whole force at the appointed place at the appointed time. CHAPTER XIV. ALEXANDRIA. EVERY one was in high spirits at the prospect of meeting the Army of the Tennessee, and, to add to the general good-humor, just before quitting Opelou- sas two pieces of good news became known. Grierson rode into Baton Rouge on the 2d of May at the head of his own 6th Illinois and Prince s 7th Illinois cavalry, together 950 horse, bringing the first intimation of his remarkable march. Leaving La Grange on the 1 7th of April, he had within sixteen days ridden nearly 600 miles around the rear of Vicksburg and Port Hudson and along the whole line of the Jackson and Great Northern railroad. Beside breaking up the railway and the telegraph, and destroying for the time being their value to the Confederate army, Grierson s ride had an indirect effect, perhaps even more important than the direct objects Grant had in view when he gave his orders. That the railway should be rendered useless for the movement of troops and supplies, and the telegraph for the transmission of orders and intelligence, was of course the essential purpose of the operation, yet no one could have foreseen the extent of the confusion that followed, aided by Grierson s rapid movements, amid the fluttering and distracted councils at Vicks burg. Thus it happened that, when he heard of Grant s 143 144 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Landing below Grand Gulf, Pemberton actually thought himself menaced by the advance of Banks, and this misapprehension was the parent of the first of those mistakes of his adversary of which Grant made such good use. Lieutenant Sargent, 1 the aide-de-camp sent to com municate with Admiral Farragut, as stated in the last chapter, found at the mouth of the Red River Ad miral Porter, with the gunboats Bcnton, Lafayette, Pittsburg, and Price, the ram Switzerland, and the tugboat Ivy, with which he had run the batteries of Vicksburg in preparation for Grant s movement. Porter brought, indeed, no despatches, but he brought the great news that Grant had secured his landing at Grand Gulf and had begun his victorious march on Vicksburg. When Sargent returned to headquarters at Opelousas, he brought with him a despatch from Porter, promising to meet the army at Alexandria. Banks had already broken up the depots at Barre s Landing and New Iberia. On the afternoon of the 4th of May, he set Dwight in motion from his advance post at Washington. Weitzel marched from Opelou sas at five o clock the same afternoon, and Emory s division under Paine followed on the morning of the 5th. Emory, who had been suffering for some weeks, had at last consented to obey his surgeon s orders and go to New Orleans for a brief rest. Grover fol lowed from Barre s Landing early in the afternoon of the same day. Banks himself remained at Opelousas until early in the morning of the 6th, having waited to receive and answer the translation of the cipher 1 Professor Charles Sprague Sargent, of Harvard University, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, the distinguished author of the great book on Forest Trees of North America. At this time he was serving zealously as a volunteer aide- de-camp without pay. ALEXANDRIA. 14$ telegram from Grant ; then he rode forward rapidly and joined his troops near Washington. From this time the communications of the army were to be by the Atchafalaya and the Red River. On the 4th of May, while riding to the front to join the advance commanded by his brother, Captain Howard Dwight, Assistant Adjutant-General, was surprised and cut off at a sharp turn in the Bayou Boeuf by a party of armed men on the opposite bank. Having no reason to apprehend any special danger so far in the rear of the advance, the little party was proceeding along the road without precaution. At the moment of the encounter Captain Dwight was quite alone, concealed by the turn in the road from the ambulance and the few orderlies that were follow ing at leisure. Armed only with his sword, and seeing that escape was hopeless, he instantly declared his readiness to surrender. " Surrender be damned !" cried the guerillas, and, firing a volley without further parley, shot him dead. When the orderlies who were with the ambulance heard the firing they galloped forward, only to find poor Dwight s lifeless body lying in the dusty road. The murderers had fled. By this painful event the service lost a brave and promising young officer and the staff a pleasant and always cheerful comrade. The distinguished family to which this gallant gentleman belonged had given four brothers to the service of their country. Of these Howard himself most nearly resembled in char acter, looks, and bearing his elder brother Wilder, who fell at Antietam, honored and lamented by all that knew him. Upon hearing the news, Banks instantly sent orders to Brigadier-General Dwight to arrest all the white 146 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Men he might find near the line of his march to the number of one hundred, and to send them to New Orleans to be held as hostages for the delivery of the murderers. " The people of the neighborhood who harbor and feed these lawless men, " Banks wrote, " are even more directly responsible for the crimes which they commit, and it is by punishing them that this detestable practice will be stopped. " There were not a hundred white men in the region through which Dwight was marching, but many were punished by imprisonment after this order a harsh measure, it must be admitted, yet not without the justification that the countryside was infested by men wearing no uniform, who acted in turn the part of soldiers in front of the Union army, of citizens on its line of march, and of guerillas in its rear. When, under a flag of truce, Dwight presently demanded from Tay lor the surrender of his brother s murderers, the Con federate officers not only disavowed but severely condemned the crime, declaring themselves, however, unable to pick out the criminals. Two miles beyond Washington the Bayous Bceuf and Cocodrie unite to form the Bayou Courtableau, out of which again, below the town, flows the Bayou Maricroquant, forming a double connection with the Teche at its head. For a long distance the Bceuf and the Cocodrie keep close company, each following a crooked channel cut deeply into the light soil. Crossing the Courtableau above Washington, the line of march now lay along the east bank of the Boeuf, by Holmesville and Cheneyville, through a country of increasing richness and beauty, gradually rising with quickened undulations almost until the bluffs that border the Red River draw in sight. ALEXANDRIA. 147 Banks had promised that he would be in Alexandria on the morning of the Qth of May ; but no opposition was encountered ; the roads were good, dry, and easy under foot ; the weather fine, and the men were filled with a desire to push the march, and with an eager rivalry to be first in Alexandria. Early on the after noon of the 7th of May the brigades of Dwight and Weitzel, both under Weitzel s command, arrived at the beautiful plantation of Governor Moore, and went into bivouac. Here the cavalry, who had ridden well forward, returned, bringing the news that Porter, with his gunboats, was already in the river off Alex andria, where the fleet had cast anchor early that morning, a full day before its time. This made Banks desire to push on, and he at first ordered Paine to continue the march, preceded by all the cavalry. When Weitzel heard this, his spirit rose for the honor of his brigade, and in emphatic yet respectful terms he protested against being deprived at the last moment of the post he had held almost since leaving Brashear. Banks yielded to Weitzel s wishes, and his men, not less eager than their commander, notwithstanding the long march of twenty miles they had already made, at once broke camp and with a swinging stride set out to accomplish the twelve miles that still separated them from the river. One of the ever-present regi mental wits sought to animate the spirits and quicken the flagging footsteps of his comrades by offering a turkey ready trussed upon his bayonet to the man that should get to Alexandria before him. For a long part of the way the men of the 8th Vermont and the 75th New York amused themselves by taking advantage of the wide and good roadway to run a regimental race. As the eager rivals came swinging" 148 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Down the hill, they found their progress checked by a momentary halt of the horsemen in their front, while watering their jaded animals. Then " Get out of the way with that cavalry, " was the cry, " or we 11 run over you ! " It was ten o clock at night when Weitzel s men led the way into Alexandria. A full ration of spirits was served out to the men, who then threw themselves on the ground without further ceremony and used to the full the permission to enjoy for once a long sleep mercifully unbroken by a reveille. Paine followed and encamped near Alexandria on the following morning ; Grover rested near Lecompte, about twenty miles in the rear. Beside his own vessels, Porter brought with him to Alexandria the Estrella and Arizona from the flotilla that had been operating on the Atchafalaya under Cooke. Porter was thus fully prepared to deal with any opposition he might encounter from the Confed erate batteries at Fort De Russy ; but, although only the day before the Albatross, Estrella, and Arizona had been driven off after a sharp fight of forty minutes, when, on the 5th of May, Porter arrived at Fort De Russy, he found the place deserted and the guns gone. 1 On the 8th of May, finding that the river was falling, Porter, after conferring freely with Banks, withdrew all his vessels except the Lafayette, and descending the Red River, sent four of the gunboats 1 Under orders from Kirby Smith to Taylor, dated April 22d : " The General is of the opinion that if a portion of the force pursuing you should move against Fort De Russy by the road from Hauffpaur, it would be impossible to hold it. " See also Smith to Cooper, April 23d : " The people at Fort De Russy cannot stand a land attack. The advance of the enemy s column to the Hauffpaur . . . Will ensure its speedy fall, with loss of guns and garrison. Under these circumstances, General Taylor has ordered the removal of the 32-pounder rifle and n-inch columbiads to a position higher up the Red River. " ALEXANDRIA. 149 seventy miles up the Black and its principal affluent, the Washita, to Harrisonburg. This latter expedition had no immediate result, but it served to show the ease with which the original plan of campaign might have been followed to its end. While Banks was still at Opelousas, Kirby Smith, taking Dwight s approach to signify a general advance of the Union army, had arranged to retire up the Red River and to concentrate at Shreveport. Thither, on the 24th of April, he removed his headquarters from Alexandria and called in not only Taylor but a division of infantry under Walker, and three regiments of Texans already on the Red River. All the troops that Magruder could spare from the 8, 000 serving in Eastern Texas he was at once to put in march to the Sabine. These orders, though too late for the emergency, brought about the concentration that was presently to threaten the ruin of Banks s main cam paign on the Mississippi. Weitzel, with Dwight, followed the Confederate rear-guard to Lawson s Ferry, forty-one miles by the river beyond Alexandria, taking a few prisoners. Taylor himself appears to have had a narrow escape from being among them. During the week spent at Alexandria, Banks was for the first time in direct and comparatively rapid communication with Grant, now in the very heart of his Vicksburg campaign, and here, as we have seen, the correspondence was brought to a point. When he first learned that Grant had given up all intention of sending to him any portion of the Army of the Tennessee, Banks was greatly cast down, and his plans rapidly underwent many changes and perturba tions. At first he was disposed to think that nothing i 50 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Remained but to retrace his steps over the whole toil some way by Opelousas, the Teche, Brashear, New Orleans, and the Mississippi to Baton Rouge, and thence to conduct a separate attack upon Port Hudson. This movement would probably have consumed two months, and long before the expiration of that time it was fair to suppose the object of such an operation would have ceased to exist. What led Banks to this despondent view was the fact that he had been count ing upon Grant s steamboat transportation for the crossing of the Mississippi to Bayou Sara, and at first he did not see how this deficiency could now be met. Indeed, on the i2th of May, he went so far as to issue his preparatory orders for the retrograde move ment ; but the next day careful reconnoissances by his engineers, Major Houston and Lieutenant Harwood, led him to change his mind and to conclude that it would, after all, be possible to march to Simmesport, and there, using the light-draught boats of the* De partment of the Gulf, supplemented by such steamers as Grant might be able to spare for this purpose, to transfer the whole column to Grand Gulf and thence march to join Grant in the rear of Vicksburg. Ac cordingly, on the 1 3th of May, Banks gave orders for the immediate movement of his whole force in accord ance with this plan, and set aside all the preparations that had previously been made. When the news reached Washington that Grant had gone to Jackson and Banks to Alexandria, great was the dissatisfaction of the Government and emphatic its expression. On the i9th of May Halleck wrote to Banks : " These operations are too eccentric to be pursued. I must again urge that you co-operate as soon as possible with General ALEXANDRIA. 151 Grant east of the Mississippi. Your forces must be united at the earliest possible moment. Otherwise the enemy will concentrate on Grant and crush him. Do all you can to prevent this. . . . " We shall watch with the greatest anxiety the movements of yourself and General Grant. I have urged him to keep his forces concentrated as much as possible and not to move east until he gets control of the Mississippi River. " And again, on the 23d of May, still more pointedly: " If these eccentric movements, with the main forces of the enemy on the Mississippi River, do not lead to some serious disaster, it will be because the enemy does not take full advantage of his opportunity. I assure you the Government is exceedingly disappointed that you and General Grant are not acting in con junction. It thought to secure that object by authorizing you to assume the entire command as soon as you and General Grant could unite. " When these despatches were penned, Grant and Banks were already committed to their own plans for the final campaign on the Mississippi. When they were received, Grant was before Vicksburg, Banks before Hudson ; each had delivered his first assault and entered upon the siege. The censure was with drawn as soon as, in the light of full explanations, the circumstances came to be understood. CHAPTER XV. BACK TO PORT HUDSON. ON the 7th of May Porter relieved Farragut in the guardianship of the Mississippi and its tributaries above the mouth of the Red River. This left Farra gut free to withdraw his fleet so long blockading and blockaded above Port Hudson. Accordingly he gave discretionary orders to Palmer to choose his time for once more running the gauntlet, and Palmer was only watching his opportunity when he yielded to the earnest entreaty of Banks, and agreed to remain and co-operate if the General meant to go against Port Hudson. Grover began the movement on the i4th of May ; Paine followed early on the morning of the I5th; while Weitzel, still retaining Dwight, was ordered to hold Alexandria until the 1 7th, and then to retire to Murdock s plantation, where the east and west road along the Bayou HaufTpaur crosses the road from Alexandria to Opelousas, and there await further orders. Besides the ordinary duty of a rear-guard, the object of this disposition of Weitzel s force was to cover the withdrawal toward Brashear of the long train of sur plus wagons for which there was now no immediate need, and which would only have encumbered the proposed movement of the Corps by water. All the 152 BACK TO PORT HUDSON. 153 troops took the road by Cheneyville instead of that by Marksville, in order to conceal from the Confed erates as long as possible the true direction of the movement. Having given these orders, Banks embarked on one of the river steamboats on the evening of the 1 5th and transferred his headquarters to Simmes s plantation on the east bank of the Atchafalaya oppo site Simmesport. Thence he proceeded down the Atchafalaya to Brashear, and so by rail to New Orleans. Grover broke camp at Stafford s plantation on the 1 4th of May, and marched seventeen miles to Cheney ville ; on the 1 5th, fourteen miles to Enterprise; on the 1 6th, sixteen miles to the Bayou de Glaise ; and, on the morning of the 1 7th, twelve miles to Simmes port, and immediately began to cross on large flat- boats rowed by negro boatmen. To these were presently added a little, old, slow, and very frail stem-wheel steamboat, named the Bee, which, a short time afterwards, quietly turned upside down, without any observable cause, while lying alongside the levee ; then the Laiirel Hill, one of the best boats in the service of the quartermaster ; afterward gradually but very slowly the other steamers began to come in. Grover finished crossing on the morning of the i8th, and went into camp near the Corps headquarters. Paine, with the 6th New York added to his com mand for the few remaining days of its service, followed in the footsteps of Grover. Leaving Alex andria on the morning of the i5th, Paine marched twenty miles and halted at Lecompte. On the i6th, he marched twenty-five miles to the Bayou Rouge ; on the 1 7th, twenty miles to the Bayou de Glaise, 154 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Where the Marksville road crosses it; on the i8th, seven miles to Simmesport, and on the following morning began to cross. Before leaving Alexandria, Weitzel, on the I4th of May, sent two companies of cavalry to reconnoitre a small force of the enemy said to be near Boyce s Bridge on Bayou Cotile. The Confederates were found in some force. A slight skirmish followed, with trifling loss on either side, and when, the next day, Weitzel sent the main body of the cavalry with one piece of Nims s battery, accompanied by the ram Switzerland with a detachment of 200 men of the 75th New York, the Confederates once more retired beyond Cane River. Weitzel moved out of Alexandria at four o clock on the morning of the i7th of May, and, lengthening his march to thirty-eight miles during the night, encamped on Murdock s plantation on the following morning. The gunboats Estrella and Arizona and the ram Switzerland stayed in the river off Alexandria until noon of the 1 7th to cover Weitzel s withdrawal, and then dropped down to the mouth of the Red River and the head of the Atchafalaya. The Confederates slowly followed Weitzel at some distance, observing his movements, and, on the morning of the 2Oth, attacked his pickets. Then Bean, who commanded Weitzel s advance guard, consisting of his own 4th Wisconsin, mounted, the i2th Connecticut, and all the cavalry, threw off the attack and pursued the Confederates nearly to Cheneyville, where Barrett, advancing too boldly after the main body had halted, was cut off, with a detachment of seventeen of his troop, and, finding himself surrounded, was forced to surrender. Barrett himself and several of his men BACK TO PORT HUDSON. 155 afterwards succeeded in making their escape. The attacking party of the Confederates consisted of Lane s regiment, fresh from Texas, Waller s battalion, and a part of Sibley s brigade, with a battery of artillery. On the morning of the 22d, Weitzel, having com pleted the object of his halt at Murdock s plantation, marched at a stretch the thirty-four miles to Simmes- port without further molestation, and arriving there on the morning of the 23d, at once began the crossing. Chickering marched from Barre s Landing on the morning of the 2ist of May. His force consisted of his own regiment, the4ist Massachusetts, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sargent and mounted on prairie horses, the 52d Massachusetts, the 22d Maine, the 26th Maine, the goth New York, the ii4th New York, under Lieutenant-Colonel Per Lee, Company E of the 1 3th Connecticut, and Snow s section of Nims s battery. The QOth New York, Colonel Joseph S. Morgan, was among the older regiments in the Department of the Gulf, having been mustered into the service in December, 1861. In January, 1862, it went to Florida with Brannan, on his appointment to command the Department of Key West; and in June, 1862, it formed the garrison of Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas and of Key West ; in November it was relieved by the 47th Pennsylvania, and joined Sey mour s brigade on Port Royal Island, South Carolina. In March, 1863, it was back at Key West. There both regiments remained together until May. Mean while the district, then commanded by Woodbury, had been transferred from the Department of the South to the Department of the Gulf by orders from i $6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The War Office dated the i6th of March. These Banks received on the loth of April, just before leaving Brashear, and as soon as he learned the con dition and strength of the post, he called in the QOth New York. The regiment arrived at Barre s Land ing just in time to go back to Brashear with Chicker- ing. Morgan, though Chickering s senior in rank, waived his claim to the command and accepted a temporary brigade made up of all the infantry and the artillery. The IT 4th New York, after quitting the column on the 1 9th of April, before passing the Vermilion, and performing the unpleasant duty of driving before it to Brashear all the beeves within its reach, was so unfortunate as to arrive at Cheneyville, on the return march, on the i2th of May, at the moment when Banks had made up his mind to retire to Brashear, and so just in time to face about and once more retrace its weary steps. Passing through Opelou- sas and Grand Coteau, the ii4th turned to the left by the Bayou Fusilier and fell in with Chickering on the Teche. The way was by the Teche, on either bank. By this time Mouton, reinforced by a brigade of three regiments under Pyron, with a light battery, probably Nichols s, had recrossed the Calcasieu under orders sent him by Kirby Smith on the I4th of May, before he knew of Banks s latest movement, and was ap proaching the Vermilion just in time to harry the flank and rear of Chickering s column, scattered as it was in the effort to guard the long train that stretched for eight miles over the prairies, with a motley band of 5, 000 negroes, 2, 000 horses, and 1, 500 beeves for a cumbrous accompaniment. With the possible ex- BA CK TO FOR T HUDSON. 1 57 ception of the herd that set out to follow Sherman s march through Georgia, this was perhaps the most curious column ever put in motion since that which defiled after Noah into the ark. On the 2 ist of May, Chickering halted near Breaux Bridge ; on the 22d, above Saint Martinsville ; on the 23d, above New Iberia ; on the 24th, at Jeannerette. On the following afternoon the column had halted five miles beyond Franklin, when a small force of the enemy, supposed to be part of Green s command or of Fournet s battalion, fell upon the rear-guard and a few shots were exchanged, with slight casualties on either side, save that Lieutenant Almon A. Wood, of the noth New York, fell with a mortal wound. However, although the troops had already traversed twenty-five miles, this decided Morga-n, who seems by this time to have taken the command, to push on, and the march being kept up throughout the night, the wearied troops, after a short rest for breakfast arrived at Berwick Bay at eleven o clock on the fol lowing morning. In the last thirty-one hours the command had marched forty-eight miles. In the forty-one days that had passed since the campaign opened the n/j-th New York had covered a distance of almost 500 miles, nearly every mile of it afoot and with but three days rest. The same afternoon the crossing began, and by the 28th every thing was in safety at Brashear. Banks had sent his despatches of the i3th of May to Grant by the hands of Dwight, with instructions to lay the whole case before Grant and to urge the view held by Banks with regard to the co-operation of the two armies. Dwight proceeded to Grand Gulf by steamboat, and thence riding forward, over- 158 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Took Grant just in time to witness the battle of Champion s Hill on the i6th of May. That night he sent a despatch by way of Grand Gulf, promising to secure the desired co-operation, but urging Banks not to wait for it. The message arrived at head quarters at Simmes s plantation on the evening of the i yth, and was at once sent on to Brashear to be tele graphed to the commanding general at New Orleans. This assurance sent by Dwight really conveyed no more than his own opinion, but Banks read it as a promise from Grant, and once more convinced that it would be futile to attempt a movement toward Grand Gulf with the limited means of transport he had at hand, he again changed his plan and determined to go directly to Bayou Sara, hoping and trusting to meet there on the 25th of May a corps of 20, 000 men from Grant s army. The effective strength of the force now assembled near the head of the Atchafalaya was 8, 400 infantry, 700 cavalry, 900 artillery; in all, 10, 000. This great reduction was not wholly due to the effects of the climate, hardships, and long marches, but is partly to be ascribed to heavy detachments. These included the six regiments with Chickering, one at Butte-a-la-Rose, and one at Brashear. At Simmesport the Corps sustained its first loss by expiration of service. The 6th New York, having completed the two years term for which it had en listed, went by the Atchafalaya and the railway to New Orleans, and there presently took transport for New York to be mustered out. The movements of the army, though pressed as much as possible, were greatly retarded by the scanty means of water transportation and the pressing need BACK TO PORT HUDSON. 159 of coal. From this cause the navy was also suffering, and urgent means had to be taken to supply the deficiency. Reconnoissances, conducted by Lieutenant Har- wood, in the course of which the enemy s cavalry was seen but not engaged, showed the roads from the Atchafalaya to Waterloo to be practicable for all arms. A detachment of cavalry sent out on the 1 8th to ascertain whether the Confederates had any force on the west bank of the Mississippi, encountered near Waterloo about 120 men of the ist Alabama regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Locke, who had been sent over the day before from Port Hudson in skiffs to prevent any communication between the upper and the lower fleets. A skirmish followed, with slight loss on either side. First placing Emory in command of the defences of New Orleans, and ordering Sherman to take Dow and Nickerson and join Augur before Port Hudson, Banks left the city on the 2Oth of May, rejoined his headquarters on the 2ist, and at once set his troops in motion toward Bayou Sara. At half-past eight o clock on the morning of the 2ist of May, Paine broke up his bivouac on the Atchafalaya and marched to M organza, after detaching the i3ist New York and the 1 73d New York with a section of artillery to guard the ammunition train. Grover followed by water as fast as the steamboats could be provided. At two o clock on the morning of the 22d of May, Banks and Grover, with the advance of Grover s division, landed at Bayou Sara without meeting any opposition from the enemy, who, up to this time, seems not to have suspected the movement. The other troops followed as rapidly as the means of 160 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Transport permitted. Grover s division was sent ashore, followed by two brigades of Paine s division from M organza. The wagon train went on down the road to the landing directly opposite Bayou Sara, under the escort of the noth New York, and the i62d New York, with one section of Carruth s bat tery, all under the command of Benedict. Soon after the landing at Bayou Sara, a party of cavalry rode in, bringing the news of Augur s battle of the 2 1 st. Hearing that Augur was at that moment engaged with the enemy, Banks pressed forward his troops. In a violent storm of wind and rain Grover pushed on until he met Augur s outlying detachments. Then, finding all quiet, he went into bivouac near Thompson s Creek, north-west of Port Hudson. Paine followed, and rested on the Perkins plantation, a mile in the rear of Grover. Banks made his head quarters with Grover. Augur covered the front of the position taken up by the enemy after the battle of Plains Store. On the same day, the 22d, Sherman came up the river, landed at Springfield, and went into position on the Bayou Sara road on Augur s left. Thus at night on the 22d the garrison of Port Hudson was practically hemmed in. On the 1 8th, Banks had ordered Augur to march with his whole disposable force to the rear of Port Hudson to prevent the escape of the garrison. As early as the i3th of May, while yet the plan of cam paign was in suspense, Augur had sent Grierson with the cavalry and Dudley with his brigade to Merritt s plantation, near the junction of the Springfield Land ing and Bayou Sara roads, to threaten the enemy and discover his movements. Dudley then took post near White s Bayou, a branch of the Comite, and remained BACK TO PORT HUDSON. 161 in observation, covering the road to Clinton and the fork that leads to Jackson. On the 2Oth of May Augur moved the remainder of his force up to Dudley, in order to be ready to cover T. W. Sherman s land ing at Springfield, as well as to meet the advance of the main column under Banks from Bayou Sara, now likely to occur at any moment. With Augur now were Dudley, Chapin, Grierson, Godfrey s squadron composed of troops C and E of the Louisiana cavalry, two sections of Rawles s battery, Holcomb s battery, and one section of Mack s commanded by Sergeant A. W. McCollin. At six o clock in the morning of the 2ist of May Augur marched toward the crossing of the Plains Store and Bayou Sara roads to seize the enemy s line of retreat and to open the way for Banks. When Grierson came to the edge of the wood that forms the southern boundary of the plain, his advance fell in with a detachment of the garrison under Colo nel S. P. Powers of the i4th Arkansas regiment, and a brisk skirmish followed. The same afternoon Gard ner sent out Miles, with his battalion, about 400 strong, and Boone s battery, to feel Augur s advance and perhaps to drive it away. This brought on the action known as the battle of Plains Store. Unfor tunately, no complete reports of the affair were made and the regimental narratives are meagre. In the heavy forest that then masked the cross roads and formed the western border of the plain, Miles met Augur moving into position ; Dudley, on the right of the road that leads from Plains Store to Port Hudson, supporting Holcomb s guns, and Chapin on the left supporting Rawles s guns. For about an hour the artillery fire was brisk. The 48th Massachusetts, being badly posted in column on either side of the n 1 62 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Port Hudson road, gave way in some confusion under the sharp attack of Miles s men coming on through the thicket, and thus exposed the guns of Beck s sec tion of Rawles. As the 48th fell back through the advancing ranks of the 49th Massachusetts, the prog ress of that regiment was momentarily hindered, but a brisk charge of the ii6th New York restored the o battle. On the right, a section of Boone s battery got an enfilade fire on Rawles and Chapin, and enabled Miles to draw off and retire behind the breastworks. Thus the affair was really ended before Augur, whose duty it was to act with prudence, had time to com plete the proper development of his division as for a battle with the full force of the enemy, which he was bound to suppose was about to engage him. Then he completed the task of making good his position, and proceeded to open communication with Banks and with Sherman. The main loss fell upon Chapin, Dudley s casual ties numbering but 18, Grierson s but 2. The total casualties were 15 men killed, 3 officers and 69 men wounded, and 25 men missing in all, 102. Miles reports his loss as 8 killed, 23 wounded, and 58 missing in all, 89. When Augur quitted Baton Rouge he placed Drew with the 4th Louisiana Native Guards in Fort Williams to hold the place, supported by the fleet, and ordered Nelson with the ist and 3d Louisiana Native Guards to be ready to follow the division to Port Hudson. CHAPTER XVI. THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MAY. PORT HUDSON was now held by Gardner with a force of about seven thousand of all arms. During the interval that had elapsed since its first occupation a formidable series of earthworks had been thrown up, commanding not only the river but all the inland approaches that were deemed practicable. The first plan for land defence was mainly against the attack expected to come from the direction of Baton Rouge. Accordingly, about four miles below Port Hudson a system of works was begun that, if completed, accord ing to the original trace, would have involved a defensive line eight miles in length, requiring thirty- five thousand men and seventy guns to hold it. As actually constructed, the lines were four and a half miles long, and ran in a semicircular sweep from the river near Ross Landing, below Port Hudson, to the impassable swamp above. Following this line for thirteen hundred yards after leaving the river on the south, the bluff is broken into irregular ridges and deep ravines, with narrow plateaus ; thence for two thousand yards the lines crossed the broad cotton fields of Gibbons s and of Slaughter s plantations ; be yond these for four hundred yards they were carried over difficult gullies ; beyond these again for fourteen hundred yards the course lay through fields and over 163 164 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hilly ground to the ravine at the bottom of which runs Sandy Creek. Here, on the day of the investment, the line of Confederate earthworks stopped, the coun try lying toward the northeast being considered so difficult that no attack was looked for in that quarter. Sandy Creek finds its way into the marshy bottom of Foster s Creek, and from Sandy Creek, where the earthworks ended, to the river at the mouth of Fos ter s Creek, is about twenty-five hundred yards. Save where the axe had been busy, nearly the whole country was covered with a heavy growth of magnolia trees of great size and beauty. This was a line that, for its complete defence against a regular siege, con ducted according to the strict principles of military science, as laid down in the books, should have had a force of fifteen thousand men. At the end of March the garrison consisted of 1, 366 officers, 14, 921 men of all arms present for duty, making a total of 16, 287. The main body was organized in 5 brigades, commanded by Beall, Buford, Gregg, Maxey, and Rust. The fortifications on the river front mounted 22 heavy guns, from lo-inch columbiads down to 24-pounder siege guns, manned by 3 battalions of heavy artillerists, while 13 light batteries, probably numbering 78 pieces, were available for the defence of all the lines : of these batteries only 5 were now left, with 30 guns. When, early in May, Pemberton began to feel the weight of Grant s pressure, he called on Gardner for reinforcements ; thus Rust and Buford marched to the relief of Vicksburg on the 4th of May, Gregg followed on the 5th, and Maxey on the 8th. Miles was to have followed Maxey ; in fact the preparations and orders had been given for the evacuation of Port THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MA Y. 165 Hudson ; but now the same uncertainty and vacillation on the part of the Confederate chiefs that were to seal the doom of Vicksburg began to be felt at Port Hudson. Gardner, who had moved out with Maxey, had hardly arrived at Clinton when he was met by an order from Pemberton to return to Port Hudson with a few thousand men and to hold the place to the last. But ten days later, on the iQth of May, Johnston, who was then engaged in carrying out his own ideas, which differed radically from those of Davis and Pemberton, ordered Gardner to evacuate Port Hud son and to march on Jackson, Mississippi. This order, sent by courier as well as by telegraph, Gard ner received just as Augur was marching from Baton Rouge to cut him off. Then it was too late, and when on the 23d Johnston peremptorily renewed his order for the evacuation, even the communication was closed. The investment was made perfect by the presence in the river, above and below Port Hudson, of the ships and gunboats of the navy. Just above the place and at anchor around the bend lay the Hart ford, now Commodore Palmer s flagship, with the Albatross, Sachem, Estrella, and Arizona. Below, at anchor off Prophet s Island, were the Monongahela, bearing Farragut s flag, the Richmond, Genesee, Essex, and the mortar flotilla. Both the upper and the lower fleets watched the river at night by means of picket- boats in order to discover any movement and to in tercept any communication with the garrison. At the Hermitage plantation, on the west bank of the river, Benedict was stationed with his own regi ment, the i62d New York, the noth New York, and a section of artillery to prevent the escape of the Con- 1 66 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Federates by water. As soon as Weitzel joined, on the 25th of May, Banks began to close in his lines along the entire front. Weitzel moved up to the sugar-house on the telegraph road near the bridge over Foster s Creek ; Paine advanced into the woods on Weitzel s left ; Grover moved forward on the north of the Clinton Railway, crossed the ravine of Sandy Creek, and occupied the wooded crest of the steep hill in front. Augur prolonged the line across the Plains Store road under cover of the woods, yet in plain view of the Confederate entrenchments. Sher man held the Baton Rouge road, occupying the skirt of woods that formed the eastern edge of Slaughter s and Gibbons s fields. The ist and 3d Louisiana Native Guards, under Nelson, having come up from Baton Rouge, were posted at the sugar-house near Foster s Creek, form ing the extreme right of the line of investment. Banks now placed Weitzel in command of the right wing of the army, comprising his own brigade under Thomas, Dwight s brigade of Grover s division under Van Zandt, together forming a temporary division under Dwight, the six regiments that remained of Paine s division after the heavy detachments, and the two colored regiments under Nelson. During the day of the 25th Weitzel gained the wooded slope covering the Confederate left front. The Confederate advanced guard on this part of their line, composed in part of the Qth battalion of Louisiana partisan rangers, under Lieutenant-Colonel Wingfield, resisted Weitzel s advance stoutly, but was steadily and with out difficulty pushed back into the entrenchments. When night fell on the 26th of May the division commanders met at headquarters at Riley s on the THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MAY. 167 Bayou Sara road to consider the question of an assault. No minutes of this council were kept, and to this day its conclusions are a matter of dispute. They may safely be regarded as sufficiently indicated by the orders for the following day. By at least one of those present any immediate movement in the na ture of an assault was objected to because of the great distance that still separated the lines of invest ment from the Confederate earthworks ; it was urged that the troops would have to move to the attack over ground the precise character of which was as yet un known to them or to their commanders, although it was known to be broken and naturally difficult and to be obstructed by felled timber. The general opinion was, however, that prompt and decisive action was demanded in view of the unusual and precarious nature of the campaigns on which the two armies of Grant and Banks were now embarked, the uncertainty as to what Johnston might do, and the certainty that a disaster at Vicksburg would bring ruin in Louisiana. Moreover, officers and men alike were in high spirits and full of confidence in themselves, and they out numbered the Confederates rather more than two to one. This was the view held by Banks himself. Upon his mind, moreover, the disapproval and the repeated urgings of the government acted as a goad. Accordingly, as soon as the council broke up he gave orders for an assault on the following morning. All the artillery was to open upon the Confederate works at daybreak. For this purpose the reserve artillery was placed under the immediate orders of Arnold. He was to open fire at six. Weitzel was to take advantage of the attacks on the left and centre to force his way into the works on 1 68 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. His front, since it was natural to expect that, whether they should prove successful or not, these attacks would distract the attention of the enemy and serve to relieve the pressure in Weitzel s front. Grover was thus left with five regiments to support the left centre, to reinforce either the right or left, and to support the right flank of the reserve artillery, or to force his way into the works, as occasion might require. Augur, holding the centre, with Dudley s brigade forming his right and Chapin his left, and Sherman, at the extreme left, separated from Augur by a thick wood, were to begin the attack during the cannonade by advancing their skirmishers to kill the enemy s cannoneers and to cover the assault. They were to place their troops in position to take instant advan tage of any favorable opportunity, and, if possible, to force the enemy s works at the earliest moment. Each division commander was to provide his own means for passing the ditch. These, for the most part, consisted of cotton bags, fascines, and planks borne by detachments of men, furnished by detail or by volunteering. It will be observed that no time was fixed for the assault of either column nor any provision made to render the several attacks simultaneous. Moreover, although the order wound up with the emphatic decla ration that " Port Hudson must be taken to-morrow, " an impression prevailed in the minds of at least two of the division commanders that there were still to be reconnoissances by the engineers, and that upon the results of these would depend the selection of the points of attack. There were no roads along the front or rear of the THE TWENTY- SEVENTH OF MAY. 169 investing army, and the only means by which com-, 6iunication was maintained between the left, the centre, and the right was either by wide detours or through dense and unknown woods and thickets. It was impossible to see the troops in front or rear or on either flank. On no part of the line was either divi sion in sight of the other. The forest approached within 250 yards at the nearest point on Weitzel s front, within 450 yards on Grover s, within 500 yards on Augur s, and within 1, 200 yards on Sherman s front. The field to be passed over was partly the cleared land of the plan tations, crossed by fences and hedges, but in many places, especially on Augur s approach, the timber had been recently felled, and, lying thick upon the ground, made a truly formidable obstruction. The morning of the 2 7th of May broke bright and beautiful. As the early twilight began to open out along the entire front the artillery began a furious cannonade. At first the Confederate guns replied with spirit, but it soon became apparent that they were overweighted, and, moreover, the necessity of husbanding their scanty store of ammunition no doubt impressed itself upon the minds of the Confederate commanders. About six o clock, when Weitzel judged that the movement on the left must be well advanced, he put his columns in motion through the dense forest in his front, forming his command, as far as the nature of the ground admitted, in column of brigades, Dwight s brigade under Van Zandt leading, followed by Weitzel s brigade under Thomas. Paine formed his division in two lines in support, his own brigade under Fearing in front, and Gooding s in reserve. 1 70 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The Confederate skirmishers and outposts continued to occupy the forest and the ravines on this part of their front, and the first hour was spent in pressing them back behind their entrenchments. Then Thomas moved forward through Van Zandt s inter vals, and deploying from right to left the i6oth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Van Petten ; 8th Vermont, Lieutenant-Colonel Dillingham ; i2th Connecticut, Lieutenant-Colonel Peck ; and 75th New York, Lieu tenant-Colonel Babcock, advanced to the attack. Van Zandt, owing to the inequalities of the ground and the difficulty of finding the way, drifted somewhat toward the right. Thereupon Paine, finding his front uncovered, moved forward into the interval. Then began what has been aptly termed a " huge bushwack. " Until within three days a part of the Confederate lines in front of Weitzel had not been fortified at all, the defence resting on the great natural difficulties of the approaches no less than of the ground to be held ; but in the interval Gardner had taken notice of the indications that pointed to an advance in this quarter, and had caused light breastworks to be constructed in all haste. This the great trees that covered the hill rendered an easy task. On the morning of the 27th of May, therefore, the works that Weitzel was called upon to attack consisted mainly of big logs on the crest and following the contour of the hill, ren dered almost unapproachable by the felled timber that choked the ravines. Thus, while Weitzel s men could not even see their enemy, they were them selves unable to move beyond the cover of the hol lows and the timber without offering an easy mark for a destructive fire of small-arms, as well as of THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MAY. 171 grape, shell, shrapnel, and canister. When finally, after climbing over hills, logs, and fallen trees, and forcing the ravines filled with tangled brush and branches, Weitzel had driven the Confederates into their works, he held the ridge about two hundred yards distant from the position to be attacked. Paine s position at this time was to the right and rear of battery No. 6, as shown on the map ; Weitzel and Dwight were on the same crest near batteries 3, 4, and 5. The pioneers worked like beavers to open the roads as fast as the infantry advanced, and with such skill and zeal that hardly had the infantry formed upon the crest than the guns of Duryea, Bainbridge, Nims, Haley, and Carruth unlimbered and opened fire by their side. At length Thomas succeeded in making his way across the rivulet known as Little Sandy Creek, and, working gradually forward, began to fortify with logs the hill on the right, afterward known as Fort Bab- cock, in honor of the Lieutenant-Colonel of the 75th New York. To support Weitzel s movement, Grover sent the 1 59th New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Burt, and the 25th Connecticut by a wide detour to the right to make their way in on Paine s left. Taking advan tage of the protection afforded by the ravine, at the bottom of which ran or rather trickled Sandy Creek, these regiments, after the most difficult and exhausting scramble through the brush and over the fallen timber, came to the base of a steep bluff, near the position afterward occupied by siege battery No. 6. This, although the works directly opposite were as yet light, was naturally one of the ugliest approaches on the whole front. In spite of every exertion, it 172 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Took the i5gth an hour to move half a mile. Just before reaching the foot of the hill over which they were to charge, they captured a Confederate captain and six skirmishers, who lay concealed in the ravine, cut off by the advance and unable to retire. So crooked and obscure was the path and so difficult was it to see any thing, even a few feet ahead, that the officers had to stand at every little turning to tell the men which way to go. At last the regiment formed, and, with a rush, began the assault of the bluff, but they could get no farther than the crest, where they were met by a destructive flank fire from the Confederate riflemen. There, within thirty yards of the works, the men sought shelter. To try the effect of a diversion, Grover put in the 1 2th Maine, supported by the remaining fragment of his division, reduced to the i3th and 25th Connec ticut, against the partly exposed west face of the bastion that formed the left of the finished portion of the Confederate earthworks. The point of attack is shown at X. And XI. , and the position whence Grover moved at i and 7. After the first attack on the right had wellnigh spent itself, and when its renewal, in conjunction with an advance on the centre and the left, was momen tarily expected, Dwight thought to create a diversion and at the same time to develop the strength and position of the Confederates toward their extreme left, where their lines bent back to rest on the river, and to this end he ordered Nelson to put in his two colored regiments. This portion of the Confederate line occupied the nearly level crest of a steep bluff that completely dominates the low ground by the sugar-house, where the telegraph road crosses Foster s THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MA y. 173 Creek. Over this ground the colored troops had to advance unsupported to receive their first fire. The bridge had been burned when the Confederates retired into their works. Directly in front of the crest, and somewhat below it, a rugged bluff stands a little apart, projecting boldly from the main height with a sharp return to the right, so as to form a natural out work of great strength, practically inaccessible save by the road that winds along the bottom of the little rivulet at the foot of the almost perpendicular flank. This detached ridge is about four hundred yards in length. It was held by six companies of the 39th Mississippi regiment, under Colonel W. B. - Shelby, while behind, in the positions of land batteries III. And IV. , were planted six field pieces, and still farther back on the water front the columbiads of Whitfield and Seawell, mounted on traversing carriages, stood ready to rake the road with their 8-inch and lo-inch shell and shrapnel. Shortly after seven o clock, Nelson sent in the ist Louisiana Native Guards, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett, in column, to force the crossing of the creek. The 3d Louisiana Native Guards followed in close support. Just before the head of the column came near the creek, the movement was perceived by the Confederates, who immediately opened on the negroes a sharp fire of musketry from the rifle-pits on the detached bluff ; at the same moment the field guns opened with shell and shrapnel, from the ridge behind, and as the men struggled on through the creek and up the farther bank they became exposed to the enfilade fire of the columbiads. When, in mounting the narrow gorge that led up the hill, the head of the column, necessarily shattered as it was i 174 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. By this concentrated fire, had gained a point within about two hundred yards of the crest, suddenly every gun opened on them with canister. This was more than any men could stand. Bassett s men gave back in disorder on their supports, then in the act of cross ing the creek, and the whole column retired in confu sion to its position near the sugar-house on the north bank. Here both regiments were soon re-formed and again moved forward in good order, anticipating instructions to renew the attack ; yet none came, and, in fact, the attack was not renewed, although the con temporary accounts, some of them even official, dis tinctly speak of repeated charges. In this abortive attempt, Captain Andrew Cailloux and Second Lieu tenant John H. Crowder, of the ist regiment, were instantly killed. Cailloux, who is said to have been a free man of color, although all the officers of his race were at that time supposed to have resigned, fell at the head of the leading company of his regiment, while gallantly cheering on his men. The ist regiment lost, in this brief engagement, 2 officers, and 24 men killed and 79 men wounded in all, 105. The 3d, being far less exposed, as well as for a shorter time, lost i officer and 5 men killed, and i officer wounded in all, 7- The morning was drawing out when these move ments were well spent, and the advanced positions simply held without further effort to go forward. The hour may have been about ten o clock. Grover, Paine, and Weitzel listened in vain for any sounds of musketry on their left to indicate that either Augur or Sherman was at work, yet no sound came from that quarter save the steady pounding of the Union artillery. Now Weitzel believed that, by pursuing THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MA Y. 175 his advance in what might be called skirmishing order and working his way gradually forward from the vantage-ground of Fort Babcock, he might gain, without great addition to his losses, already heavy, a foothold on the high ground held by the Confederate left ; yet of the character of the defences of this part of the line Weitzel knew but little, and of the nature of the ground behind these defences and the direction of the roads, neither he nor any one in the Union army knew any thing. The topography of the ground in sight afforded the only indication of what might be expected farther on, and this was confusing and diffi cult to the last degree. Weitzel had, therefore, strong reason for believing that his difficulties, instead of ending with the capture of the Confederate works, might be only beginning. There was, of course, the chance that the garrison along the whole front might throw down their arms or abandon their defences the moment they should find themselves taken in reverse at any point, for it was known that they had no reserves to be reckoned with after breaking through the line. Grover had been ordered to support either the right or the left, or to attempt to make his way into the works, as circumstances might suggest. This last he had tried, and failed to accomplish. On his left there was no attack to support. When riding toward the right he met Weitzel, who, although commanding the right wing, was his junior in rank as well as in experience, Grover gave Weitzel the counsel of prudence, and Weitzel fell in with these views. The two commanners decided to ask fresh orders or to wait for an assault on the centre or left before renew ing the attack on the right. All this time Augur stood ready, his division formed 176 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. And all in perfect order, waiting for the word from Banks, who made his headquarters close at hand, and who, in his turn, waited for the sound of Sher man s musketry as the signal to put in Augur. With Sherman, Augur was in connection along the front, although not in easy communication. The precise nature of the causes that held Sherman back it is, even now, impossible to state, nor would it be easy, in the absence of the facts, to form a conjecture that should seem to be altogether probable and at the same time reasonable. The most plausible surmise seems to be that Sherman supposed he was to wait for the engineers to indicate the point of attack, and that he himself did not choose to go beyond what he conceived to be his orders to precipitate a movement whose propriety he doubted. Sherman was an officer of the old army, of wide experience, favorably known and highly esteemed throughout the service for his intelligence, his character, and his courage. He was known as one of the most distinguished of the chosen commanders of the few light batteries that the gov ernment of the United States had thought itself able to afford in the days before the war. Before coming to Louisiana he had commanded a department, and in that capacity had carried to a successful conclusion the brilliant operations that gave Hilton Head and Port Royal to the forces of the Union. Neither in his previous history nor in his conduct in the present exigency was there any thing to his personal discredit as a man or as a soldier. The fact remains, however, account for it how we may, that when about noon, greatly disturbed by the check on the right, and still more by the silence on the left, Banks himself rode almost unattended to Sherman s headquarters, he THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MA Y. 177 found Sherman at luncheon in his tent, surrounded by his staff, while in front the division lay idly under arms, without orders. Hot words passed, the precise nature of which has not been recorded, and Banks returned to his headquarters determined to replace Sherman by the chief-of-staff of the department. The roads had not yet been opened, and it was half-past one before these orders could be given. Andrews rode directly to the left, accompanied by but a single aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Fiske. When he came on the ground he found Sherman s division deployed, and Sherman himself on horseback at the head of his men, ready to lead them forward. Then Andrews, with great propriety, deferred the delivery of the orders placing him in command, and, after a few words, at a quarter past two Sherman moved to the assault. Andrews remained to witness the operation. Nickerson moved forward on the right in column of regiments. The i4th Maine, deployed as skir mishers, covered his front, followed by the 24th Maine, ijfth New York, and i65th New York in line. After emerging from the woods, Nickerson s right flank rested on the road that runs past Slaugh ter s house, near the position of battery 16. Dow formed the left of the division and of the army. He advanced at the same time as Nickerson, and in like order, his right resting near the position of battery 1 7 and his left near Gibbons s house, marked as the position of battery 18. The 6th Michigan led the brigade, followed by the i5th New Hampshire, 26th Connecticut, and i28th New York. In the interval between the two brigades rode Sherman, surrounded by his whole staff and followed by his escort. 178 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. No sooner had the line emerged from among the trees than the Confederates opened upon every part of it, as it came in sight, a galling fire of musketry and artillery. At first the troops moved forward steadily and at a good pace, but as they drew nearer to the enemy and the musketry fire grew hotter, their prog ress was delayed and their formation somewhat broken by four successive and parallel lines of fence that had to be thrown down and crossed. Once clear of the young corn, they found themselves entangled with the abatis that covered and protected the imme diate front of the Confederate works on this part of the line. This had been set on fire by the exploding shells, and the smoke and flame now added to the difficulty of the movement. Here the men suffered greatly, many being shot down in the act of climbing the great trunks of the fallen trees, and many more having their clothing reduced to tatters and almost torn from their bodies in the attempt to force their way through the entangled branches. The impetus was soon lost, the men lay down or sought cover ; numbers of Dow s men made their way to the grove in their rear and into the gulley on their left ; of Nickerson s, many drifted singly and in groups into the ravine on their right. Long before this, indeed within a few minutes after the line first marched out from the wood, Sherman had fallen from his horse, severely wounded in the leg ; under the vigorous fire concentrated upon this large group of horsemen in plain sight of the Con federates and in easy range both of the artillery and musketry, two of his staff officers had shared the same fate. This would have brought Dow to the command of the division ; but nearly at the same instant Dow THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MAY. 179 himself was wounded and went to the rear, and so the command fell to Nickerson, who was with his brigade, and, in the confusion of the moment, was not notified. Thus, for some interval, there was no one to give orders for fresh dispositions among the regiments. Many officers had fallen ; the 12 8th New York had lost its colonel, Cowles ; the i65th New York, at last holding the front of Nickerson s line, had lost two successive commanders, Abel Smith and Carr, both wounded, the former mortally, while stand ing by the colors. To retire was now only less diffi cult than to advance. Nickerson s men, lying down, held their ground until after dark ; but Dow s, being nearer the cover of the woods, fell back to their first position. Andrews now took command of the division, in virtue of the written orders of the commanding gen eral, and prepared to obey whatever fresh instructions he might receive. None came ; there was, indeed, nothing to be done but to withdraw and to restore order. As soon as Banks heard the rattle of the musketry on the left, and saw from the smoke of the Confed erate guns that Sherman was engaged, he ordered Augur forward. Augur, as has been said, had been ready and waiting all day. His arrangements were to make the attack with Chapin s brigade, deployed across the Plains Store road, and to support it with Dudley s, held in reserve under cover of one of the high and thick hedges of the Osage orange that crossed and divided the fields on the right of the road. Chapin s front was covered by the skirmishers of the 2 ist Maine ; immediately in their rear were to march the storming column of two hundred volunteers, i8o THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Under Lieutenant-Colonel O Brien, of the 48th Mas sachusetts. The stormers rested and waited for the word in the point of the wood on the left of the Plains Store road, nearly opposite the position of battery 13. Half their number carried cotton bags and fascines to fill the ditch. On the right of the road the u6th New York was deployed ; on its left the 49th Massachusetts, closely supported by the 48th Massachusetts, the 2d Louisiana, of Dudley s brigade, and the reserve of the 2ist Maine. O Brien shook hands with the officer who brought him the last order, and, turning to . His men, who were lying or sitting near by, some on their cotton bags, others on the ground, said in the coolest and most business-like manner : " Pick up your bundles, and come on ! " The movement of the stormers was the signal for the whole line. A truly magnificent sight was the advance of these battalions, with their colors flying and borne sturdily toward the front ; yet not for long. Hardly had the movement begun when the whole force officers, men, colors, stormers, and all, found themselves inextricably entangled in the dense abatis under a fierce and continuous discharge of musketry and a withering cross-fire of artillery. Besides the field-pieces bearing directly down the road, two 24-pounders poured upon their flank a storm of missiles of all sorts, with fragments of rail way bars and broken chains for grape, and rusty nails and the rakings of the scrap-heap for canister. No part of the column ever passed beyond the abatis, nor was it even possible to extricate the troops in any order without greatly adding to the list of casualties, already of a fearful length. Banks was all for putting Dudley over the open ground directly in his front, THE TWENTY- SEVENTH OF MAY. 181 but, before any thing could be done, came the bad news from the left, and at last it was clear to the most per sistent that the day was miserably lost. When, after nightfall, the division commanders reported at head quarters, among the wounded under the great trees, it was known that the result was even worse than the first accounts. The attempt had failed without inflicting serious loss upon the enemy, save in ammunition expended, yet at a fearful cost to the Union army. When the list came to be made up, it was found that 15 officers and 278 men had been killed, 90 officers and 1, 455 men wounded, 2 officers and 155 men missing, making the total killed 293, total wounded 1, 545, total missing 157, and an aggregate of 1, 995. Of the missing, many were unquestionably dead. Worse than all, if possible, the confidence that but a few hours before had run so high, was rudely shaken. It was long indeed before the men felt the same faith in themselves, and it is but the plain truth to say that their reliance on the department com mander never quite returned. The heavy loss in killed and wounded taxed to the utmost the skill and untiring exertions of the sur geons, who soon found their preparations and supplies exceeded by the unlooked-for demand upon them. All night long on that 27th of May the stretcher- bearers were engaged in removing the wounded to the field-hospitals in the rear. These were soon filled to overflowing, and many rested under the shelter of the trees. Hither, too, came large numbers of men not too badly hurt to be able to walk, and to all the tired troops the whole night was rendered dis mal to the last degree by the groans of their suffering 1 82 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Comrades mingled everywhere, the wounded with the well, the dying with the dead. Among the killed were : Colonel Edward P. Chapin, of the 1 1 6th New York; Colonel David S. Cowles, of the 1 28th New York; Lieutenant-Colonel William L. Rodman, of the 38th Massachusetts ; Lieutenant- Colonel James O Brien, of the 48th Massachusetts ; Captain John B. Hubbard, Assistant Adjutant-Gen eral, of Weitzel s brigade ; Lieutenant Ladislas A. Wrotnowski, Topographical Engineer on WeitzePs V staff. Lieutenant-Colonels Oliver W. Lull, of the 8th New Hampshire, and Abel Smith, Jr. , of the i65th New York, were mortally wounded. The long list of the wounded included Brigadier-General Thomas W. Sherman, Brigadier-General Neal Dow, Colonel Richard E. Holcomb, of the ist Louisiana; Colonel Thomas S. Clark, of the 6th Michigan ; Colonel Will iam F. Bartlett, of the 49th Massachusetts ; Major Gouverneur Carr, of the i65th New York. Farragut s ships and mortar-boats, which had been harassing the garrison at intervals, day and night, for more than ten days, joined hotly in the bombard ment, but ceased firing, by arrangement, as soon as the land batteries slackened. The fire of the fleet, especially that of the mortars, was very annoying to the garrison, especially at first, yet the actual casual ties were not great. The Confederate losses during the assault are not known. In Beall s brigade all the losses up to the ist of June numbered 68 killed, 194 wounded, and 96 missing; together, 358 ; most of these must have been incurred on the 27th of May. The Confederate artillery was soon so completely overpowered, that it became nearly useless, save when the Union guns were masked by the advance of assaulting columns. THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF MA Y. 183 Three 24-pounders were dismounted, and of these one was completely disabled. With the result of this day the last hope of a junc tion between the armies of Banks and Grant van ished. It may therefore be convenient to retrace our steps a little in order to note the closing incidents of this strange chapter of well-laid plans by fortune brought to naught. Dwight returned from his visit to Grant on the 22d of May, and reported to Banks in person at his headquarters with Grover on Thompson s Creek. In his account of what had taken place, Dwight con firmed the idea Banks had already derived from the despatch that Dwight had sent from Grand Gulf on the 1 6th, before he had seen Grant. Grant would send 5, 000 men, Dwight reported, but Banks was not to wait for them. Practically this had no effect whatever upon the campaign, and how little impression it made upon the mind of Grant himself may be seen from his description, written in 1884, of his interview with Dwight. It was the morning of the 1 7th of May, and Grant s troops were standing on the eastern bank of the Big Black ready to force the passage of the river : "While the troops were standing as here described, an officer from Banks s staff came up and presented me with a letter from General Halleck, dated the nth of May. It had been sent by way of New Orleans to Banks to forward to me. He ordered me to return to Grand Gulf and to co-operate from there with Banks against Port Hudson, and then to return with our com bined forces to besiege Vicksburg. I told the officer that the order came too late and that Halleck would not give it then if he knew our position. The bearer of the despatch insisted that I ought to obey the order, and was giving arguments to support his position when I heard great cheering to the right of our line, and looking in that direction, saw Lawler, in his shirt-sleeves, leading a charge upon the enemy. I immediately mounted my 1 84 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Horse and rode in the direction of the charge, and saw no more of the officer who delivered the despatch, I think not even to this day. " 1 Here two mistakes are perhaps worth noting as curious rather than important : Dwight was not a member of Banks s staff, and the letter from Halleck, dated the i ith of May, which General Grant strangely supposed to have come by way of New Orleans, was, in fact, Halleck s telegram of that date, sent by way of Memphis, which Dwight had picked up as he passed through Grand Gulf, after Grant had cut his communications. Dwight s account may have taken color from his hopes, yet the course of events gives some reason to think he may have had warrant for his belief. On the i Qth of May Grant s first assault of Vicks- burg was repulsed with a loss of 942. Three days later he delivered his second assault, which likewise failed, at a cost of 3, 199 killed, wounded, and missing. This drove him to the siege and put him in need of more troops ; yet when, on the 25th of May, he sat down to write to Banks, it was with the purpose of offering to send down a force of 8, 000 or 10, 000 men if Banks could now provide the means of trans port. But even while Grant wrote, word came that Johnston was gathering in his rear ; and so the whole thing was once more given up, and instead, once again he called on Banks for help ; and this time he sent down two large steamers, the Forest Queen and Mod erator, to fetch the men. But Banks had now no men to spare ; he too was cast for a siege ; he could only echo the entreaty and send back the steamboats empty as they came. So the affair ended. 1 " Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, " vol. I. , p. 524. CHAPTER XVII. THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. BANKS at once ordered up the ammunition and the stores from the depot at Riley s, near the head quarters of the day before, and early on the morning of the 28th of May established his headquarters in tents at Young s, in rear of the centre, and began his arrangements to reduce Port Hudson by gradual approaches. At six o clock in the morning he sent a flag of truce to . Gardner, from Augur s front on the Plains Store road, bearing a request for a suspen sion of hostilities until two o clock in the afternoon, to permit the removal of the dead and wounded. To this Gardner at once refused to agree unless Banks would agree to withdraw at all points to a distance of eight hundred yards. He also demanded that the fleet should drop down out of range. Banks was unable to consent. A long correspondence fol lowed, twelve letters in all, crossing and recrossing, to the utter confusion of time. At length, shortly after half-past three o clock, Banks received Gardner s assent to an armistice extending till seven o clock. The conditions were that the besiegers were to send to the lines of defence, by unarmed parties, such of the Confederate killed as remained unburied, and such of their wounded as had not already been picked up and sent to the rear. The killed and wounded of 185 1 86 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The Union army, lying between their lines and the Confederate works, were to be cared for in the same way. Arnold was ordered to bring up the siege train, manned by the ist Indiana heavy artillery, and Houston to provide entrenching tools and siege materials. When all the siege artillery was in posi tion there were forty pieces, of which six were 8-inch sea-coast howitzers on siege carriages, eight 24- pounders, seven 3Opounder Parrotts, four 6-inch rifles, four 9-inch Dahlgren guns, four 8-inch mortars, three loinch mortars, and four 1 3-inch mortars. To these were added twelve light batteries of sixty pieces, namely, six 6-pounder Sawyer rifles, two lo-pounder Parrotts, twenty-six i2-pounder Napoleons, two 12- pounder howitzers, twelve 3-inch rifles, and twelve 2O-pounder Parrotts. The Dahlgren guns were served by a detachment of fifty-one men from the Richmond and seventeen from the Essex, under Lieutenant- Commander Edward Terry, with Ensign Robert P. Swann, Ensign E. M. Shepard, and Master s Mates William R. Cox and Edmund L. Bourne for chiefs of the gun divisions. In the course of the next few days the eight regiments that had been left on the Teche and the Atchafalaya rejoined the army before Port Hudson, coming by way of Brashear, Algiers, and the river. This gave to the cavalry under Grierson one more regiment, the 4ist Massachusetts, now mounted, and henceforth known as the 3d Massachusetts cavalry, the three troops of the old 2d battalion being merged in it ; Weitzel got back the ii4th New York ; Paine recovered the 4th Massachusetts and the i6th New Hampshire of Ingraham s brigade, now practically THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE, 187 broken up ; and Grover the 22d Maine and QOth New York of Dwight s brigade, the 52d Massachusetts of Kimball s, and the 26th Maine of Dirge s, while losing the 4 ist Massachusetts by its conversion into a mounted regiment. The i6th New Hampshire, however, had suffered so severely during its six weeks confinement in the heart of the pestilential swamp that it was reduced to a mere skeleton, without strength either numerical or physical. It was easy to see that officers and men alike were suffering from some aggravated form of hepatic disorder, due to malarial poison. Many were added to the sick- report every day. Few that went to the regimental or general hospital returned to duty, while of the men called well all were yellow, emaciated, and restless, or so drowsy that the sentries were found asleep on their posts at noonday. This unfortunate regiment was therefore taken from the front and set to guard the general ammunition depot, near headquarters. Without being once engaged in battle, so that it had not a single gunshot wound to report, the i6th New Hampshire suffered a loss by disease during its seven months service in Louisiana of 5 officers and 216 men in all, 221; and nearly the whole of this occurred in the last two months. This regiment was replaced in Paine s division by the 28th Connecticut, from Pensacola. Dwight was now given the command of Sherman s division, relieving Nickerson, who had assumed com mand the morning after the assault of the 27th. Dow being disabled by his wounds, his brigade fell to Clark. The 2d Louisiana was transferred from Dudley s brigade to Chapin s, bringing Charles J. Paine in command. Halbert E. Paine s division was 1 88 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Withdrawn from the earlier formation of the right wing under Weitzel, and was established in position on Grover s left, covering the Jackson road and the second position of Duryea s battery at No. 12. Grover was placed in command, from the afternoon of the 27th, of the whole right wing, but Dwight s brigade, under Morgan, remained with Weitzel as part of a temporary division under his command, Thomas retaining the command of Weitzel s brigade. Finally, the i62d New York and the i75th New York were temporarily taken from Paine and lent to Dwight, who, directly after the i4th of June, united them with the 28th Maine of Sherman s division to form a tem porary 2d brigade. At the same time he transferred the 6th Michigan to Nickerson s brigade, evidently meaning to take the command of the ist brigade from Clark ; but these arrangements were promptly set aside by orders from headquarters. The left wing, comprising Augur s division and Sherman s, now Dwight s, was placed under the command of Augur. Along the whole front the troops now held sub stantially the advanced positions they had gained on the 27th of May. This shortened the line, and, as it was on the whole better arranged and the connections asid communications better, Augur took ground a lit tle to the left and held, with Charles J. Paine s brigade, a part of the field that had been in Sherman s front on the 27th ; while Dwight, in closing up and drawing in his left flank, moved nearer to the river and covered the road leading in a southerly direction from the Con federate works around the eastern slope of Mount Pleasant and past Troth s house. The cavalry, being of no further use to the divi sions, but rather an encumbrance upon them, was THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 189 massed, under Grierson, behind the centre, and as signed to the duty of guarding the rear, the depots, and the communications against the incursions of the Confederate cavalry, under Logan, known to be hov ering between Port Hudson and Clinton, and sup posed to be from 1, 500 to 2, 000 strong. Logan s actual force at this time was about 1, 200 effective. Grierson had about 1, 700, including his own regiment, the 6th Illinois, the ;th Illinois, Colonel Edward Prince, a detatchment of the ist Louisiana, the 3d Massachusetts cavalry, and the i4th New York. As fast as the engineers were able to survey the ground and the working parties to open the roads, Arnold and Houston chose with great care the posi tions for the siege batteries, and heavy details were soon at work upon them, as well as upon the long line of rifle-pits, connecting the batteries and practically forming the first parallel of the siege works. The positions of some of these batteries, especially on the left, were afterward changed ; but as finally con structed and mounted, they began at the north, near the position of the colored regiments on the right bank of Foster s Creek, and extended, at a distance from the Confederate works varying from six hun dred to twelve hundred yards, to the Mount Pleasant road, across which was planted siege battery No. 21. The first position of siege battery No. 20 is marked " old 20, " and the three formidable batteries on the ex treme left, Nos. 22, 23, and 24, were not established till later, the attack of the Confederate works in their front being at first left to the guns of the fleet. Two epaulements for field artillery were thrown up on either side of the road at Foster s Creek to command the passage of the stream, but no siege guns were 190 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Mounted there. The extreme right of the siege bat teries was at No. 2. While all eyes were turned upon the siege works and every nerve strained for their completion, Logan s presence in the rear, though at no time so hurtful as might fairly have been expected, was a continual source of anxiety and annoyance. To find out just what force he had and what he was about, Grierson moved toward Clinton on the morning of the 3d of June with the 6th and ;th Illinois, the old 2d Massa chusetts battalion, now merged in the 3d, a squadron of the ist Louisiana, two companies of the 4th Wis consin, mounted, and one section of Nims s battery. Grierson took the road by Jackson, and, when within three miles of that place, sent Godfrey, with 200 men of the Massachusetts and Louisiana cavalry, to ride through the town, while the main column went direct to Clinton. Godfrey pushing on briskly through Jack son, captured and paroled, after the useless fashion of the time, a number of prisoners, and rejoined the column two miles beyond. When eight miles west of Clinton, Grierson heard a report that Logan had gone that morning toward Port Hudson, but pushing on toward Clinton, after crossing the Comite Grier son found Logan s advance and drove it back on the main body, strongly posted on Pretty Creek. A three hours engagement followed, resulting in Grierson s retirement to Port Hudson, with a loss of 8 killed, 28 wounded, and 15 missing ; 3 of the dead and 7 of the wounded falling into the hands of the enemy. Logan reports his loss as 20 killed and wounded, and claims 40 prisoners. Among the killed, unfortunately, was the young cavalry officer, Lieutenant Solon A. Per kins, of the 3d Massachusetts, whose skill and daring THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 191 had commended itself to the notice of Weitzel dur ing the early operations in La Fourche, and whose long service without proper rank had drawn out the remark : " This Perkins is a splendid officer, and he deserves promotion as much as any officer I ever saw. " Banks determined to chastise Logan for this ; ac cordingly, at daylight on the morning of the 5th of June, Paine took his old brigade under Fearing, with the 52d Massachusetts, the Qist New York, and two sections of Duryea s battery, and preceded by Grier- son s cavalry, marched on Clinton by way of Olive Branch and the plank road. That night Paine en camped at Redwood Creek ; on the 6th he made a short march to the Comite, distant nine miles from his objective, and there halted till midnight. Then, after a night march, the whole force entered Clinton at daylight on the morning of the 7th, only to find that Logan, forewarned, had gone toward Jackson. Then Paine countermarched to the Comite, and, rest ing till sunset, marched that evening to Redwood, and, there going into bivouac, at two o clock on the follow ing morning, the 8th of June, returned to the lines before Port Hudson. On this fruitless expedition the men and horses suffered severely from the heat, and there were many cases of sunstroke. By the ist of June the artillery and the sharp-shoot ers of the besiegers had obtained so complete a mastery over the guns of the defenders, that on the whole line these were practically silent, if not silenced. In part, no doubt, this is to be ascribed to a desire on the part of the Confederate artillerists to reserve their ammu nition for the emergency, yet something was also due to the effect of the Union fire, by which, in the first week, twelve heavy guns were disabled. The loinch 192 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Columbiad in water battery 4 was dismounted at long range. This gun was known to the Union soldiers, and perhaps to the Confederates first, as the " Lady Davis, " and great was the dread awakened by the deep bass roar and the wail of the big shells as they came rolling down the narrow pathway, or searched the ravines where the men lay massed. The fire of the navy also did great damage among the heavy batteries along the river front. When the siege batteries were nearly ready, on the evening of the loth of June, Banks ordered a feigned attack at mid night by skirmishers along the whole front, for the purpose, as stated in the orders, " of harassing the enemy, of inducing him to bring forward and expose his artillery, acquiring a knowledge of the ground before the enemy s front, and of favoring the opera tions of pioneers who may be sent forward to remove obstructions if necessary. " None of these objects can be said to have been accomplished, nor was any advantage gained beyond a slight advance of the lines, at a single point on Weitzel s front, by the i3ist New York. The full loss in this night s reconnoissance is not known ; in Weitzel s own brigade there were 2 killed, 41 wounded, 6 missing in all, 49 ; in Mor gan s a partial report accounts for 12 wounded and 59 missing, including two companies of the 22d Maine that became entangled and for the moment lost in the ravines. On the evening of the i2th of June, all arrange ments being nearly complete, Banks ordered a vigor ous bombardment to be begun the next morning. Punctually at a quarter past eleven on the morning of the 1 3th, every gun and mortar of the army and navy that could be brought to bear upon the defences THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 193 of Port Hudson opened fire, and for a full hour kept up a furious cannonade, limited only by the endur ance of the Union guns and gunners, for the Confed erates hardly ventured to reply, save at first feebly. When the bombardment was at its fiercest, more than one shell in a second could be seen to fall and explode within the narrow circuit of the defences visible from the headquarters on the field. The defenders had three heavy guns dismounted during the day, yet suf fered little loss in men, for long before this nearly the whole garrison had accustomed themselves to take refuge in their caves and " gopher-holes " at the first sound of the Union cannon, and to await its cessa tion as a signal to return to their posts at the parapet. They were not always so fortunate, however, for more than once it happened that three or four men were killed by the bursting of a single shell. When the hour was up the cannonade ended as suddenly as it began, and profound silence followed close on the intolerable din. Then Banks sent a flag of truce summoning the garrison to surrender in these words : " Respect for the usages of war and a desire to avoid unnecessary sacrifice of life, impose on me the necessity of formally demanding the surrender of the garrison at Port Hudson. I am not unconscious, in making this demand, that the garrison is capable of continuing a vigorous and gallant defence. The events that have transpired during the pending in vestment exhibit in the commander and garrison a spirit of constancy and courage that, in a different cause, would be universally regarded as heroism. But I know the extremities to which they are reduced. . . . I desire to avoid unnecessary slaughter, and I therefore demand the immediate surrender of the 13 I 9 4 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Garrison, subject to such conditions only as are im posed by the usages of civilized warfare. " To this Gardner replied : " My duty requires me to defend this position, and therefore I decline to surrender. " In the evening the generals of division met in council at headquarters. In anticipation of what was to come, Dudley had already been ordered to send the 5oth Massachusetts, and Charles J. Paine the 48th Massachusetts, to Dwight ; and Dudley himself, with the i6ist and i/4th New York, was to report to Grover. This left under Augur s immediate com mand only five regiments of his division, namely, one, the 3Oth Massachusetts, of Dudley s brigade, and four of C. J. Paine s. Shortly before midnight a general assault was ordered for the following morning At a quarter before three Augur was to open a heavy fire of artillery on his front, following it up half an hour later by a feigned attack of skirmishers. Dwight was to take two regiments, and, with a pair of suborned deserters for guides, was to try to find an entrance on the extreme left of the works near the river. But the main attack was to be made by Grover on the priest- cap. Its position is shown on the map at XV. And XIV. , and the approach was to be from the cover of the winding ravine, near the second position of Duryea s battery, at No. 12. The artillery cross-fire at this point was to begin at three o clock, and was to cease at a signal from Grover. At half-past three the skir mishers were to attack. The general formation of each of the two columns of attack had been settled in orders issued from headquarters on the morning of the nth. Each column, assumed to consist of about 2, 000 men, was to be preceded and covered by 300 skirmishers ; immediately behind the skirmishers were to be seventy THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 195 pioneers, carrying thirty-five axes, eighteen shovels, ten pickaxes, two handsaws, and two hatchets ; next was to come the forlorn hope, or storming party, of 300 men, each carrying a bag stuffed with cotton ; fol lowing the stormers, thirty-four men were to carry the balks and chesses to form a bridge over the ditch, in order to facilitate the passage of the artillery, as well as of the men. The main assaulting column was to follow, marching in lines-of-battle, as far as the nature of the ground would permit, which, as it happened, was not far. The field-artillery was to go with the assaulting column, each battery having its own pio neers. To the cavalry, meanwhile, was assigned the task of picketing and protecting the rear, as well as of holding the telegraph road leading out of Port Hud son toward Bayou Sara, by which it was thought the garrison might attempt to escape, on finding their lines broken through, or even to avoid the blow. As was the uniform custom k during the siege, all watches at division and brigade headquarters were set at nine o clock, by a telegraphic signal, to agree with the adjutant-general s watch. These final orders for the assault bear the hour of 11. 30 P. M. This was in fact the moment at which the earliest copies were sent out by the aides-de-camp, held in readiness to carry them. There were seven hundred and fifty words to be written, and eleven o clock had already passed when the council listened to the reading of the drafts and broke up. From the lateness of the hour, as well as from the distance and the darkness of the night, it resulted that one o clock came before the last orders were in the hands of the troops that were to execute them. Many arrangements had still to be carried out and many of i 9 <5 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The detachments had still to be moved over long dis tances and by obscure ways to the positions assigned to them. In some instances all that was left of the night was thus occupied, and it was broad daylight before every thing was ready. A dense fog prevailed in the early morning of Sunday, the i4th of June, strangely veiling, while it lasted, even the sound of the big guns, so that in places it was unheard a hundred yards in the rear. Punctually at the hour fixed the cannonade opened. It was an hour later, that is to say, about four o clock, when the first attack was launched. For the chief assault Grover had selected Paine s division and had placed the main body of his own division with Weitzel s brigade, in close support Paine determined to lead the attack himself. Across his front as skirmishers he deployed the 4th Wiscon sin, now again dismounted, and the 8th New Hamp shire. The 4th Massachusetts was told off to follow the skirmishers with improvised hand-grenades made of 6-pounder shells. Next the 38th Massachusetts and the 53d Massachusetts were formed in line of battle. At the head of the infantry column the 3ist Massa chusetts, likewise deployed, carried cotton bags, to fill the ditch. The rest of Gooding s brigade fol lowed, next came Fearing s, then Ingraham s under Ferris. In rear of the column was posted the artil lery under Nims. At a point on the crest of the ridge, ninety yards distant from the left face of the priest- cap, Paine s advance was checked. Then Paine, who had previously gone along the front of every regiment, addressing to each a few words of en couragement and of preparation for the work, passed afoot from the head of the column to the front of the THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 197 skirmish line, and exerting to the full his sonorous voice, gave the order to the column to go on. At the word the men sprang forward, but almost as they did so, the Confederates behind the parapet in their front, with fairly level aim and at point-blank range, poured upon the head of the column a deadly volley. Many fell at this first discharge ; among them, unfortunately, the gallant Paine himself, his thigh crushed by a rifle-ball. Some of the men of the 4th Wisconsin, of the 8th New Hampshire, and of the 38th Massachusetts gained the ditch, and a few even climbed the parapet, but of these nearly all were made prisoners. The rear of the column fell back to the cover of the hill, while all those who had gained the crest were forced to lie there, exposed to a pitiless fire of sharp-shooters and the scarcely more endurable rays of the burning sun of Louisiana, until night came and brought relief. In this unfortunate situation the sufferings of the wounded became so unbearable, and appealed so powerfully to the sym pathy of their comrades, that many lives were risked and some lost in the attempt to alleviate the thirst, at least, of these unfortunates. Two men, quite of their own accord, took a stretcher and tried to reach the point where Paine lay, but the attempt was un successful, and cost both of them their lives. These heroes were E. P. Woods, of Company E of the 8th New Hampshire, and John Williams, of Company D, 3 ist Massachusetts. Not less nobly, Patrick H. Cohen, a private soldier of the i33d New York, himself lying wounded on the crest, cut a canteen from the body of a dead comrade and by lengthening the strap suc ceeded in tossing it within reach of his commander ; this probably preserved Paine s life, for unquestion- 198 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ably many of the more seriously hurt perished from the heat an-d from thirst on that fatal day. It was about seven o clock, and the fog had lifted, when Weitzel advanced to the attack on the right face of the priest-cap. The I2th Connecticut and the 75th New York of his own brigade were deployed to the left and right as skirmishers to cover the head of the column. Two regiments of Morgan s brigade, loosely deployed, followed the skirmishers ; in front the 9 ist New York, with hand-grenades, and next the 24th Connecticut, every man carrying two cotton bags weighing thirty pounds each. In immediate support came the remainder of Weitzel s brigade in column of regiments, in the order of the 8th Vermont, ii4th New York, and i6oth New York, followed by the main body of Morgan s brigade. Birge was in close support and Kimball in reserve. Finally, in the rear, as in Paine s formation, was massed the artillery of the division. Toward the north face of the priest-cap the only approach was by the irregular, but for some distance nearly parallel, gorges cut out from the soft clay of the bluffs by Sandy Creek and one of its many arms. The course of these streams being toward the Con federate works, the hollows grew deeper and the banks steeper at every step. At most the creeks were but two hundred yards apart, and the ridge that separated them gave barely standing room. Within a few feet of the breastworks the smaller stream and its ravine turned sharply toward the north and served as a formidable ditch until they united with the main stream and ravine below the bastion. This larger ravine near its outlet and the natural ditch throughout its length were mercilessly swept by the fire of the THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 199 bastion on the right, the breastworks in front, and the priest-cap on the left. The smaller ravine led toward the south to the crest from which Paine s men had recoiled, where their wounded and their dead lay thick, and behind which the survivors were striving to restore the broken formations. Weitzel therefore chose the main ravine. Bearing to the right from the Jackson road, the men moved by the flank and cautiously, availing themselves of every advantage afforded by the timber or the irregu larities of the ground, until they gained the crest of the ridge at points varying from twenty to fifty yards from the works near the north face of the priest-cap. In advancing to this position the column came under fire immediately on filing out of the ravine and the wood in front of the position of battery No. 9. Then, in such order as they happened to be, they went for ward with a rush and a cheer, but beyond the crest indicated few men ever got. From this position it was impossible either to advance or to retire until night came. At the appointed hour Dwight sent the 6th Michi gan, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bacon, and the I4th Maine, to the extreme left to make an attempt in that quarter, the arrangements for which have been already described ; but either Dwight gave his orders too late, or the column mistook the path, or else the difficul ties were really greater than they had been thought beforehand or than they afterward seemed, for noth ing came of it. Then recalling this detachment to the Mount Pleasant road, Dwight tried to advance in that direction. The i4th Maine was sent back to its brigade and Clark deployed his own regiment, the 6th Michigan, as skirmishers, supported by the i28th 200 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. New York, now commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Smith. The i5th New Hampshire followed and the 26th Connecticut, under Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Selden, brought up the rear. These two regiments went forward in column of companies on the main road, but as the Confederates immediately opened a heavy artillery fire upon the head of the column, they had to be deployed. However, the ground, becoming rapidly narrower, did not long permit of an advance in this order, so that it soon became necessary to ploy once more into column. About 350 yards from the outer works the Mount Pleasant road enters and crosses a deep ravine by a bridge, then destroyed. The hollow was completely choked with felled timber, through which, under the heavy fire of musketry and artillery, it was impossible to pass ; so here the brigade stayed till night enabled it to retire. Nickerson s brigade supported the move ment of Clark s, but without becoming seriously en gaged. Thus ended D wight s movement. It can hardly be described as an assault, as an attack, or even as a serious attempt to accomplish any valuable result ; yet indirectly it was the means of gaining, and at a small cost, the greatest, if not the only real, advantage achieved that day, for it gave Dwight possession of the rough hill, the true value of which was then for the first time perceived, and on the commanding position of its northern slope was pres ently mounted the powerful array of siege artillery that overlooked and controlled the land and water batteries on the lower flank of the Confederate defences. Of Augur s operations in the centre, it is enough to say that the feigned attack assigned to this portion THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 201 of the line was made briskly and in good order at the appointed time, without great loss. The result of the day may be summed up as a bloody repulse ; beholding the death and maiming of so many of the bravest and best of the officers and men, the repulse may be even termed a disaster. In the whole service of the Nineteenth Army Corps darkness never shut in upon a gloomier field. Men went about their work in a silence stronger than words. On this day 21 officers and 182 men were killed, 72 officers and 1, 245 men were wounded, 6 officers and 1 80 men missing ; besides these, 13 were reported as killed, 84 as wounded, and 2 as missing without dis tinguishing between officers and men, thus making a total of 216 killed, 1, 401 wounded, 188 missing in all, i, 805. Among the wounded many had received mortal hurts, while of the missing, as in the first assault, many must now be set down as killed. Paine, as we have seen, fell seriously hurt while in the very act of leading his division to the assault. Nine days earlier he had received his well-earned commission as brigadier-general. He was taken to New Orleans, and there nine days later, at the Hotel Dieu Hospital, after vain efforts to save the limb, the surgeons performed amputation of the thigh. A few days after the surrender, in order to avoid the increas ing dangers of the climate, Paine was sent to his home in Wisconsin on the captured steamer Starlight, the first boat that ascended the river. Thus the Nine teenth Corps lost one of its bravest and most promis ing commanders, one who had earned the affection of his men, not less through respect for his character than by his unfailing sympathy and care in all situa tions, and who was commended to the confidence and 202 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Esteem of his associates and superiors by talent and devotion of the first order joined to every quality that stamps a man among men. The fiery Holcomb, wounded in the assault of the 27th, yet refusing to leave his duty to another, fell early on this fatal morning at the head of his regiment and brigade, in the first moment of the final charge of Weitzel s men. This was another serious loss, for Holcomb had that disposition that may, for want of a better term, be described as the fighting character. All soldiers know it and respect it, and every wise general, seeing it anywhere among his officers, shuts his eyes to many a blemish and pardons many a fault that would be severely visited in another ; yet in Holcomb there was nothing to overlook or forgive. As he was the most prominent and the most earnest of the few officers of the line that to the last remained eager for the fatal assault, so he was among the earliest and the noblest of its victims. Mortally wounded at the head of Weitzel s brigade fell Colonel Elisha B. Smith, of the ii4th New York. Barely recovered from a serious illness, his spirit could not longer brook the restraint of the hospital at New Orleans with the knowledge that his men were engaged with the enemy. Thomas was ill and had received a slight wound of the scalp ; this brought Smith to the head of the brigade ; his fall devolved the command upon Lieutenant-Colonel Van Petten, for though Thomas, unable to bear the torture inflicted upon him by the sounds of battle, rose from his sick-bed and resumed the command, his weakness again overcame him when the day s work was done. No regiment at Port Hudson approached the 8th New Hampshire in the number and severity of its THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 203 losses, no brigade suffered so much as Paine s, to which this regiment belonged, and no division so much as Emory s, under the command of Paine. On this day, Fearing commanded the brigade, and later the division, and Lull having fallen in the previous assault, the regiment went into action 2 1 7 strong, led by Captain William M. Barrett ; of this number, 122, or 56 per cent. , were killed or wounded. On the 27th of May, out of 298 engaged, the regiment lost 124, or 41 per cent. Next to the 8th New Hampshire on the fatal roll stands the 4th Wisconsin. This noble regiment, at all times an honor to the service and to its State, whence came so many splendid battalions, was a shining monument to the virtue of steady, con scientious work and strict discipline applied to good material. Bean had been instantly killed by a sharp shooter on the 29th of May ; the regiment went into action on the i4th of June 220 strong, commanded by Captain Webster P. Moore ; of these, 140 fell, or 63 per cent. In the first assault, however, it had fared better, its losses numbering but 60. The eccentric Currie, who came to the service from the British army, with the lustre of the Crimea still about him, rather brightened than dimmed by time and distance, fell severely wounded on the same fatal crest. He was struck down at the head of his regi ment, boldly leading his men and urging them forward with the quaint cry of " Get on, lads ! " so well known to English soldiers, yet so unfamiliar to all Americans as to draw many a smile, even in that grim moment, from those that heard it. To the cannonade that preceded the assault and announced it to the enemy must be attributed not only 204 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The failure but a great part of the loss. The wearied Confederates were asleep behind the breastworks when the roar of the Union artillery broke the still ness of the morning, and gave them time to make ready. Such was their extremity that in Grover s front they burned their last caps in repelling the final assault, and, for the time, were able to replenish only from the pouches of the fallen. Under cover of the night all the wounded that were able to walk or crawl made their way to places of safety in the rear ; while, disregarding the incessant fire of the sharp-shooters, heavy details and volunteer parties of stretcher-bearers, plying their melancholy trade, carried the wounded with gentle care to the hospitals and the dead swiftly to the long trenches. The proportion of killed and mortally wounded, already unusually heavy, was increased by the ex posure and privations of the long day, while many, whom it was impossible to find or to reach during the night, succumbed sooner or later during the next forty-eight hours. For although when, on the morn ing of the 1 5th, Banks sent a flag of truce asking leave to send in medical and hospital supplies for the comfort of the wounded of both armies, Gardner promptly assented, and in his reply called attention to the condition of the dead and wounded before the breastworks, yet it was not until the evening of the 1 6th that Banks could bring himself to ask for a sus pension of hostilities for the relief of the suffering and the burial of the slain. But three days and two nights had already passed ; most of the hurt, and these the most grievously, were already beyond the need of succor. The same thing had already oc curred at Vicksburg. THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 205 The operations at Vicksburg and Port Hudson were so far alike in their character and objects that no just estimate of the events at either place can well be formed without considering what happened at the other. In this view it is instructive to observe that Grant assaulted the Confederate position at Vicks burg within a few hours after the arrival of his troops in front of the place, on the afternoon of the iQth of May, when two determined attacks were easily thrown off by the defenders, with a loss to their assailants of 942 men. On the 22d of May Grant delivered the second assault, in which about three fourths of his whole effective force of 4, 3, 000 of all arms were engaged. The full corps of Sherman and McPherson, comprising six divisions, were repulsed by four bri gades of the garrison, numbering probably 13, 000 effectives. In this second assault Grant s loss was 3, 199. These are the reasons he gives for his decision to attack : " Johnston was in my rear, only fifty miles away, with an army not much inferior in numbers to the one I had with me, and I knew he was being reinforced. There was danger of his coming to the assistance of Pemberton, and, after all, he might defeat my anticipations of capturing the garrison, if, indeed, he did not pre vent the capture of the city. The immediate capture of Vicks burg would save sending me the reinforcements which were so much wanted elsewhere, and would set free the army under me to drive Johnston from the State. But the first consideration of all was the troops believed they could carry the works in their front, and would not have worked so patiently in their trenches if they had not been allowed to try. " Having tried, he now " de termined upon a regular siege to * outcamp the enemy, as it were, and to incur no more losses. The experience of the 22d convinced officers and men that this was best, and they went to work on the defences and approaches with a will. " * 1 " Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, " pp. 530, 532. 206 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. It has also to be remembered, in any fair and candid consideration of the subject, that at this comparatively early period of the war even such bloody lessons as Fredericksburg had not sufficed to teach either the commanders or their followers on either side, Federal or Confederate, the full value, computed in time, of even a simple line of breastworks of low relief, or the cost in blood of any attempt to eliminate this value of time by carrying the works at a rush. Indeed, it may be doubted whether, from the beginning of the war to the end, this reasoning, in spite of all castigations that resulted from disregarding it, was ever fully im pressed upon the generals of either army, although at last there came, it is true, a time when, as at Cold Harbor, the men had an opinion of their own, and chose to act upon it. It is also very questionable whether earthworks manned by so much as a line of skirmishers, prepared and determined to defend them, have ever been successfully assaulted save as the re sult of a surprise. Sedgwick s captures of the Rappa- hannock redoubts and of Marye s Heights have indeed been cited as instances to the contrary, yet on closer consideration it is apparent that although in the former case the Confederates had been looking for an attack, they had given up all expectation of being called on to meet it that day, when, just at sunset, Russell fell suddenly upon them and finished the affair handsomely before they had time to recover. Marye s Heights, again, may be described as a moral surprise, for no Confederate officer or man that had witnessed the bloody repulse of Burnside s great army on the very same ground, but a few weeks before, could have expected to be called on so soon to meet the swift and triumphant onset of a single corps of THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 207 that army. Moreover, Sedgwick s tactical arrange ments were perfect. The truth is, the insignificant appearance of a line of simple breastworks has almost always caused those general and staff-officers especially that viewed them through their field-glasses, with the diminishing power of a long perspective, to forget that an assault upon an enemy behind entrenchments is not so much a battle as a battue, where one side stands to shoot and the other goes out to be shot, or if he stops to shoot it is in plain sight of an almost invisible foe. Euro pean examples, as usual misapplied or misunderstood, have contributed largely to the persistency of this fatal illusion, and Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos have served but as incantations to confuse many a mind to which these sounding syllables were no more than names ; ignorant, therefore, of the stern necessities that drove Wellington to these victories, forgetful of their fearful cost, and above all ignoring or forgetting the axiom, on which rests the whole art and science of military engineering that the highest and stoutest of stone walls must yield at last to the smallest trench through which a man may creep unseen. Vast, indeed, is the difference between an assault upon a walled town, delivered as a last resort after crowning the glacis and opening wide the breach, and any con ceivable movement, though bearing the same name, made as the first resort, against earthworks of the very kind whereby walled towns are taken, approached over ground unknown and perhaps obstructed. Even so, in the storm of Rodrigo the defenders struck down more than a third of their own numbers ; Badajos was taken by a happy chance after the main assault had miserably failed ; at both places the 208 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Losses of the assailants were in proportion less, and in numbers but little greater, than at Port Hudson ; yet, in the contemplation of the awful slaughter of Badajos, even the iron firmness of Wellington broke down in a passion of tears. CHAPTER XVIII. UNVEXED TO THE SEA. WITH that quick appreciation of facts that forms so large a part of the character of the American soldier, even to the extent of exercising upon the fate of bat tles and campaigns an influence not always reserved for considerations derived from a study of the prin ciples of the art of war, the men of the Army of the Gulf had now made up their minds that the end sought was to be attained by hard work on their part and by starva tion on the part of the garrison. Criticism and denun ciation, by no means confined to those officers whose knowledge of the art of war is drawn from books, have been freely passed upon this peculiarity, yet both alike have been wasted, since no proposition can be clearer than that a nation, justly proud of the superior intelligence of its soldiers, cannot expect to reap the full advantage of that intelligence and at the same time escape every disadvantage attending its exercise. Among these drawbacks, largely overbalanced by the obvious gains, not the least is the peculiar quality that has been aptly described in the homely saying, " They know too much. " When, therefore, the American volunteer has become a veteran, and has reached his highest point of discipline, endurance, and the simple sagacity of the soldier, it is often his way to stay his hand from exertions that he deems need- 14 209 210 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Less and from sacrifices that he considers useless or worse than useless, although the same exertions and the same sacrifices would, but a few months earlier in the days of his inexperience, have been met by him with the same alacrity that the ignorant peasant of Europe displays in obeying the orders of his heredi tary chief in the service of his king. After the I4th of June the siege progressed steadily without farther attempt at an assault. This was now deferred to the last resort. At four points a system of comparatively regular approaches was begun, and upon these labor was carried on incessantly, night and day ; indeed, as is usual with works of this character, the greatest progress was made in the short hours of the June nights. The main approach led from Duryea s battery No. 12 toward the priest-cap, fol lowing the windings of the ravines and the contour of the hill. When at last the sap had, with great toil and danger, been carried to the crest facing the priest-cap, and only a few yards distant, the trench was rapidly and with comparative ease extended tow ard the left, in a line parallel with the general direc tion of the defences. The least distance from this third parallel, as it was called by an easy stretch of the language, to the enemy s parapet was about twenty yards, the greatest about forty-five. About two hundred yards farther to the right of the elbow of the main sap, a zigzag ran out of the ravine on the left flank of Bainbridge s battery, No. 8, toward the bastion. Upon this approach, because of its directness, the use of the sap-roller, or some equivalent for it, could never be given up until the ditch was gained. From the extreme left, after the northern slope of UN VEXED TO THE SEA. 211 Mount Pleasant had been gained, a main approach was extended from the flank of Roy s battery of 20 pounder Parrotts, No. 20, almost directly toward the river, until the trench cut the edge of the bluff, form ing meanwhile a covered way that connected all the batteries looking north from the left flank. Of these No. 24 was the seventeen-gun battery, including two 9-inch Dahlgrens removed from the naval battery of the right wing, and commanded by Ensign Swann. On the 2d of July, Lieutenant-Commander Terry took command of the Richmond and turned over the com mand of the right naval battery to Ensign Shepard. These " blue-jacket " batteries, with their trim and alert gun crews, were always bright spots in the sombre line. From the river bank the sap ran with five stretches of fifty or sixty yards, forming four sharp elbows, to the foot and well up the slope of the steep hill on the opposite side of the ravine, where the Confederates had constructed the strong work known to both combatants as the Citadel. From the head of the sap to the nearest point of the Confederate works the distance was about ninety-five yards. From the ravine in front of the mortar battery of the left wing, No. 18, a secondary approach was carried to a parallel facing the advanced lunette, No. XXVII. , and distant from it 375 yards. The object of this approach was partly to amuse the enemy, partly to prevent his breaking through the line, now drawn out very thin, and partly also to serve as a foothold for a column of attack in case of need. From the ravine near Slaughter s house a zigzag, constructed by the men of the 2ist Maine, under the immediate direction of Colonel Johnson, led to the position of battery No. 16, where were posted the ten 212 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Guns of Rawles and Bains. The distance from this battery to the defences was four hundred yards. On the 1 5th of June, on the heels of the bloody repulse of the previous day, Banks issued a general order congratulating his troops upon the steady ad vance made upon the enemy s works, and expressed his confidence in an immediate and triumphant issue of the contest : " We are at all points on the threshold of his fortifications, " the order continues. " Only one more advance, and they are ours ! " For the last duty that victory imposes, the Commanding General summons the bold men of the corps to the organization of a storming column of a thousand men, to vindicate the flag of the Union, and the memory of its defenders who have fallen ! Let them come forward ! " Officers who lead the column of victory in this last assault may be assured of the just recognition of their services by pro motion ; and every officer and soldier who shares its perils and its glory shall receive a medal to commemorate the first grand success of the campaign of 1863 for the freedom of the Mississippi. His name will be placed in General Orders upon the Roll of Honor. " Colonel Henry W. Birge, of the I3th Connecticut, at once volunteered to lead the stormers, and although the whole project was disapproved by many of the best officers and men in the corps, partly as unneces sary and partly because they conceived that it implied some reflection upon the conduct of the brave men that had fought and suffered and failed on the 27th and the I4th, yet so general was the feeling of confi dence in Birge that within a few days the ranks of the stormers were more than filled. As nearly as can now be ascertained, the whole number of officers who volunteered was at least 80 ; of enlisted men at least 956. Of these, 17 officers and 226 men belonged to the 1 3th Connecticut. As the different parties offered UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 213 and were accepted, they were sent into camp in a retired and pleasant spot, in a grove behind the naval battery on the right. On the 25th of June Birge was ordered to divide his column into two battalions, and to drill it for its work. On the 28th this organization was complete. The battalions were then composed of eight companies, but two companies were after wards added to the first battalion. To Lieutenant- Colonel Van Petten, of the i6oth New York, Birge gave the command of the first battalion, and to Lieu tenant-Colonel Bickmore, of the i4th Maine, that of the second battalion. On that day, 67 of the officers and 826 men in all, 893, were present for duty in the camp of the stormers. Among those that volun teered for the forlorn hope but were not accepted were 54 non-commissioned officers and privates of the ist Louisiana Native Guards, and 37 of the 3d. From among the officers of the general staff and staff departments that were eager to go, two were selected to accompany the column and keep up the communication with headquarters and with the other troops ; these were Captain Duncan S. Walker, assistant adjutant-general, and Lieutenant Edmund H. Russell, of the Qth Pennsylvania Reserves, acting signal officer. Then the officers and men quietly prepared them selves for the serious work expected of them. Those that had any thing to leave made their wills in the manner sanctioned by the custom of armies, and all confided to the hands of comrades the last words for their families or their friends. Meanwhile an event took place, trifling in itself, yet accenting sharply some of the more serious reasons that had, in the first instance, led Banks to resist the 214 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Repeated urging of the government to join Grant with his whole force, and afterward had formed powerful factors in determining him to deliver and to renew the assault. Early on the morning of the i8th of June a detachment of Confederate cavalry rode into the village of Plaquemine, surprised the provost guard, captured Lieutenant C. H. Witham and twenty-two men of the 28th Maine, and burned three steamers lying in the bayou, the Sykes, Anglo-American, and Belfast. Captain Albert Stearns, of the i3ist New York, who was stationed at Plaquemine as provost marshal of the parish, made his escape with thirteen men of his guard. The Confederates were fired upon by the guard and lost one man killed and two wounded. In their turn they fired upon the steamboats, and wounded two of the crew. Three hours later the gunboat Winona, Captain Weaver, came down from Baton Rouge, and, shelling the enemy, hastened their departure. In the tension of greater events, little notice was taken at the moment of this incident ; yet it was not long before it was discovered that the raiders were the advance guard of the little army with which Taylor was about to invade La Fourche, intent upon the bold design of raising the siege of Port Hudson by blockading the river and threatening New Orleans. Thus Banks was brought face to face with the condition described in his letter of the 4th of June to Halleck : " The course to be pursued here gives me great anxiety. If I abandon Port Hudson, I leave its garrison, some 6, 000 or 7, 000 men, the force under Mouton and Sibley, now threatening Brashear City and the Army of Mobile, large or small, to threaten or attack New Orleans. If I detach from my command in the UN VEXED TO THE SEA. 215 field a sufficient force to defend that city, which ought not to be less than 8, 000 or 10, 000, my assistance to General Grant is un important, and I leave an equal or larger number of the enemy to reinforce Johnston. If I defend New Orleans and its adjacent territory, the enemy will go against Grant. If I go with a force sufficient to aid him, my rear will be seriously threatened. My force is not large enough to do both. Under these circumstances, my only course seems to be to carry this post as soon as possible, and then to join General Grant. If I abandon it I cannot materially aid him. " Taylor s incursion caused Banks some anxiety and appreciable inconvenience, without, however, exer cising a material influence on the fortunes of the siege ; accordingly, it will be better to reserve for another chapter the story of this adventure. About the same time, Logan again became trouble some. At first he seems to have thought of retiring on Jackson, Mississippi ; but this Johnston forbade, telling him to stay where he was, to observe and annoy the besiegers, and if pressed by too strong a force, to fall back only so far as necessary, hindering and retarding the advance of his assailants. By day light, on the morning of the i5th of June, Logan dashed down the Clinton road, surprised the camp of the 1 4th New York cavalry, who made little resist ance, and the guard of the hospital at the Carter House, who made none. In this raid Logan took nearly one hundred disabled prisoners, including six officers, and carried off a number of wagons, How ever, finding Grierson instantly on his heels, Logan promptly " fell back as far as necessary. " On the evening of the 3Oth of June, while hovering in the rear of Dwight, Logan captured and carried off Brigadier-General Dow, who, while waiting for his wound to heal, had taken up his headquarters in a 216 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. House some distance behind the lines. At daylight, on the morning of the 2d of July, Logan surprised the depot at Springfield Landing, guarded by the i62d New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Blanchard, and a small detachment of the i6th New Hampshire, under Captain Hersey. Careless picket duty was the cause, and a great stampede the consequence, but Logan hardly stayed long enough to find out exactly what he had accomplished, since he reports that, besides burning the commissary and quarter masters stores, he killed and wounded 140 of his enemy, captured 35 prisoners, fought an entire bri gade, and destroyed 100 wagons, with a loss on his part of 4 killed and 10 wounded ; whereas, in fact, the entire loss of the Union army was i killed, 1 1 wounded, 2 1 captured or missing, while the stores burned consisted of a full supply of clothing and camp and garrison equipment for about 1, 000 men. The wagons mentioned by Logan were part of a train met in the road, cut out, and carried off as he rapidly rode away, and the number may be correct. The end of June was now drawing near, and already the losses of the besiegers in the month of constant fighting exceeded 4, 000. At least as many more were sick in the hospitals, while the reinforcements from every quarter barely numbered 3, 000. There were no longer any reserves to draw from ; the last man was up. The effective strength of all arms had at no time exceeded 17, 000. * Of these less than 12, 000 can be regarded as available for any duty directly connected 1 The figures here given do not agree with those of the monthly and tri- monthly returns for May and June. These returns are, however, simply the returns for March carried forward, owing to the impossibility of collecting and collating the reports of regiments, brigades, and divisions during active opera tions. UN VEXED TO THE SEA, 217 with the siege, and now every day saw the command growing smaller in numbers, as the men fell under the fire of the sharp-shooter, or succumbed to the deadly climate, or gave out exhausted by incessant labor and privation. The heat became almost insupportable, even to those who from time to time found themselves so fortunate as to be able to snatch a few hours rest in the dense shade of the splendid forest, until their tour of duty should come again in the trenches, where, under the June sun beating upon and baking all three surfaces, the parched clay became like a reverberating furnace. The still air was stifling, but the steam from the almost tropical showers was far worse. Merely in attempting to traverse a few yards of this burning zone many of the strongest men were sunstruck daily. The labor of the siege, extending over so wide a front, pressed so severely upon the numbers of the besieging army, always far too weak for such an undertaking in any climate at any season, above all in Louisiana in June, that the men were almost incessantly on duty, either in digging, as guards of the trenches, as sharp shooters, or on outpost service ; and as the numbers available for duty grew smaller, and the physical strength of all that remained in the ranks daily wasted, the work fell the more heavily. When the end came at last the effective force, outside of the cavalry, hardly exceeded 8, 000, while even of this small num ber nearly every officer and man might well have gone on the sick-report had not pride and duty held him to his post. This will seem the less remarkable when it is re membered that the garrison during the same period suffered in the same proportion, while from like causes less than a year before Breckenridge had, in a much 218 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Shorter time, lost the use of half his division. Butler s experience had been nearly as severe. To the suffering and labors that are inseparable from any operation in the nature of a siege were added insupportable torments, the least of which were vermin. As the summer days drew out and the heat grew more intense, the brooks dried up ; the creek lost itself in the pestilential swamp ; the wells and springs gave out ; the river fell, exposing to the almost tropical sun a wide margin of festering ooze. The mortality and the sickness were enormous. The animals suffered in their turn, the battery horses from want of exercise, the train horses and mules from over-work, and all from the excessive heat and insufficiency of proper forage. There was never enough hay ; the deficiency was partly eked out by making fodder of the standing corn, but this resource was quickly exhausted, and after the 3d of July, when Taylor sealed the river by planting his guns below Donaldsonville, all the animals went upon half or quarter rations of grain, with little hay or none. At length, for two or three days, the forage depots fairly gave out ; the poor beasts were literally starving when the place fell, nor was it for nearly a week after that event that, by the raising of Taylor s blockade below and the arrival of supplies from Grant above, the stress was wholly relieved. The two colored regiments, the ist and 3d Louisi ana Native Guards, besides strongly picketing their front, were mainly occupied, after the 2/th of May, in fatigue duty in the trenches on the right. While the army was in the Teche country, Brigadier-General Daniel Ullmann had arrived at New Orleans from New York, bringing with him authority to raise a UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 219 brigade of colored troops. With him came a full complement of officers. A few days later, on the ist of May, Banks issued, at Opelousas, an order, which he had for some time held in contemplation, for organizing a corps of eighteen regiments of col ored infantry, to consist, at first, of five hundred men each. These troops were to form a distinct com mand, to which he gave the name of the Corps d Af- rique, and in it he incorporated Ullmann s brigade. By the end of May Ullmann had enrolled about 1, 400 men for five regiments, the 6th, 7th, 8th, gth, and loth. These recruits, as yet unarmed and undrilled, were now brought to Port Hudson, organized, and set to work in the trenches and upon the various siege operations. About the same time the formation of a regiment of engineer troops was undertaken, composed of picked men of color, formed in three battalions of four companies each, under white officers carefully chosen from among the veterans. The ranks of this regi ment, known as the ist Louisiana engineers, were soon recruited to above a thousand ; the strength for duty w r as about eight hundred. Under the skilful handling of Colonel Justin Hodge it rendered valua ble service throughout the siege. Company K of the 42d Massachusetts, commanded by Lieutenant Henry A. Harding, had for some months been serving as pontoniers, in charge of the bridge train. During the siege it did good and hard work in all branches of field engineering under the immediate direction of the Chief Engineer. While at Opelousas, Banks had applied to Halleck to order Brigadier-General Charles P. Stone to duty in the Department of the Gulf. Stone had been 220 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Without assignment since his release, in the preceding August, from his long and lonely imprisonment in the casemates of the harbor forts of New York, and, up to this moment, every suggestion looking to his em ployment had met the stern disapproval of the Secre tary of War. Even when in the first flush of finding himself at last at the top notch of his career, Hooker, in firm possession, as he believed, of the post he had long coveted, as commander of the Army of the Potomac, had asked for Stone as his Chief of Staff, the request had been met by a flat refusal. A differ ent fate awaited Banks s application. On the 7th of May Halleck issued the orders asked for, and in the last days of the month Stone reported for duty be fore Port Hudson. At first Banks was rather embar rassed by the gift he had solicited, for he saw that he himself was falling into disfavor at Washington ; the moment was critical ; and it was easy to perceive how disaster, or even the slightest check, might be magnified in the shadows of Ball s Bluff and Fort Lafayette. Moreover, Stone was equally unknown to and unknown by the troops of the Nineteenth Army Corps. Instead, therefore, of giving him the command of Sherman s division, for which his rank indicated him, Banks kept Stone at headquarters without special assignment, and made every use of his activity, as well as of his special knowledge and ready skill in all matters relating to ordnance and gunnery. On the evening of the 26th of June a strange thing happened. While it was yet broad daylight Colonel Provence of the i6th Arkansas, posted in rear of the position of battery XXIV, discovering and annoyed by the progress made on battery 16 in his front, sent UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 221 out, one at a time, two bold men, named Mieres and Parker, to see what was going on. After nightfall, on their report, he despatched thirty volunteers, under Lieutenant McKennon, to drive off the guard and the working party and to destroy the work. The position was held by the advance guard of the 2ist Maine, under Lieutenant Bartlett, who, for some reason hard to understand, ordered his men not to fire. The Ar kansas party, therefore, accomplished its purpose without further casualty than having one man knocked down, as he was leaping the parapet of the trench, by a soldier who happened to consider his orders as in applicable to this method of defence. Then Major Merry, with the reserves of the 2ist, coming promptly to the rescue, easily drove out the enterprising assail ants, with whom went as prisoners Lieutenant Bart lett and five of his men, with fourteen muskets that had not been fired. 1 As the saps in front of Bainbridge s and Duryea s batteries drew every day nearer to the bastion and the priest-cap, the working parties were harassed and began to be greatly delayed by the unceasing fire of the Confederate sharp-shooters. Moreover, in spite of the vigilance of the sharp-shooters in the trenches, their adversaries had so much the advantage of ground that they were able to render the passage of certain exposed points of the approaches slow and hazardous. At first, cotton bales were used to pro tect the head of the sap, but these the adventurous enemy set alight with blazing arrows or by sallies of small parties under cover of darkness. In the short 1 Colonel Provence, in his report, claims 7 prisoners, and says : " The enemy fired but once, and then at a great elevation. " (Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part i. , p. 150. ) 222 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Night it was impossible to raise a pile of sand-bags high enough to overlook the breastworks. Toward the end of June this was changed in a single night by the skill and ingenuity of Colonel Edward Prince, of the 7th Illinois cavalry. Happening to be at headquarters when the trouble was being talked about, he heard an officer suggest making use of the empty hogsheads at the sugar- house ; how to get them to the trenches was the next question. This he promptly offered to solve if simply ordered to do it and left to himself. Cavalry had never been of any use in a siege, he said ; it was time for a change. The order was instantly given. Prince swung himself into the saddle and rode away. Before daylight his men had carried through the woods and over the hills to the mouth of the sap, opposite the southern angle of the priest-cap, enough sugar hogsheads to make two tiers. The heads had been knocked in, a long pole thrust through each hogshead, and thus slung, it was easy for two mounted troopers to carry it between them. Quietly rolled into position by the working parties and rapidly filled with earth, a rude platform erected be hind for the sharp-shooter to mount upon, with* a few sand-bags thrown on top to protect his head, this was the beginning of the great trench cavalier, whose frowning crest the astonished Confederates awoke the next morning to find towering high above their heads. Afterwards enlarged and strengthened, it finally dominated the whole line of defence not only in its immediate front, but for a long distance on either side. Not less ingenious was the device almost instinct ively resorted to by the artillerists for the safety of UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 223 the gunners when, after the siege batteries opened, the Confederate sharp-shooters began picking off every head that came in sight. The first day saw a number of gunners stricken in the act of taking aim, an incident not conducive to deliberation or accuracy on the part of their successors at the guns. The next sunrise saw every exposed battery, from right to left, protected by a hinged shutter made of flat iron chiefly taken from the sugar troughs, covered with strips of rawhide from the commissary s, the space stuffed tight with loose cotton, and a hole made through all, big enough for the gunner s eye, but too small for the sharp-shooter s bullet. Such was substan tially the plan simultaneously adopted at three or four different points and afterwards followed every where. The remedy was perfect. On the 3d of July arrangements were made for the daily detail of a brigade commander to act as Gen eral of the Trenches during a tour of twenty-four hours, from noon to noon. His duties were to super intend the siege operations, to post the guards of the trenches, to repulse sorties, and to protect the works. The works to be constructed were indicated and laid out by the Chief Engineer, whose duties, after the 1 7th of June, when Major Houston fell seriously ill, were performed by Captain John C. Palfrey, aided and overlooked by General Andrews, the Chief of Staff. Daily, at nine o clock in the morning, the General of the Trenches and the Chief Engineer made separate reports to headquarters of everything that had happened during the previous day. Each of these officers made five reports, yet of the ten but two are to be found printed among the Official Records. These are the engineer s reports of work 224 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Done on the 5th and 6th of July. They contain almost the only details of the siege to be gathered from the record, notwithstanding the fact that every paper, however small, or irregular in size or form, or apparently unimportant in substance, that related in any way to the military operations of the Army of the Gulf was carefully preserved on the files of its Adjutant-General s office, where, for safety as well as convenience, documents of this character were kept separate from the ordinary files covering matters of routine and requiring to be handled every day or hour. The proof is strong that these important records were in due time delivered into the custody of the War Office, where, for a considerable period after the close of the war, little or no care seems to have been taken of the documents thus turned in by the several Corps and Departments, as these were discontinued ; and although the care and manage ment of the War Records division of the Adjutant- General s Office at Washington has, from its earliest organization, been such as to deserve the highest admiration, yet many of these papers are not to be found there. The probability is that they were either mislaid or else swept away and destroyed before this office was organized. Palfrey s report for the 5th of July shows the left cavalier finished and occupied, and the right cavalier nearly finished, but constantly injured by a 24-pounder gun that had so far escaped destruction by the artil lery of the besiegers. The sap in front of Bain- bridge s battery, No. 8, was advanced about twenty yards during this day, and the parallel in front of the priest-cap extended to the left eleven yards ; work was greatly retarded by a heavy rain in the night. UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 225 The mine was so far advanced that a shaft was begun to run obliquely under the salient, this course being chosen instead of the usual plan of a vertical shaft with enveloping galleries, as shorter in time and distance, although more dangerous. On the 6th the sap was pushed forward forty-two feet, and the parallel carried to the left sixty-five feet. The mine shaft, begun the day before, was carried about twenty-seven feet underground, directly toward the salient. The cavaliers were finished. During the 7th, although there is no report for that day, the shaft for the mine under the priest-cap was finished, the chamber itself excavated and charged with about twelve hundred pounds of powder, and the mine tamped with sand-bags. The mine on the left had been ready for some days ; it was now charged with fifteen hundred pounds of powder and tamped. Heavy thunder-storms, accompanied by warm rain, had been frequent of late, and the night dews had been at times heavy. Accordingly it was thought best not to trust so delicate an operation as the explo sion of the mines to the chance of a damp fuse. Day break on the Qth of July having been set as the hour for the simultaneous explosion of the mines, to be in stantly followed by one last rush through the gaps, Captain Walker was sent on the evening of the 7th, to the Richmond to ask for dry fuses from the maga zines of the Navy. Meanwhile events were moving rapidly to an end. In the early morning of Tuesday, the 7th, the gun boat General Price, came down the river bringing the great news that Vicksburg had surrendered to Grant on the 4th of July. Commodore Palmer, on board the Hartford, was the first to receive the news, 15 226 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. But for some reason it happened that signal com munication was obstructed or suspended between the Hartford and headquarters, so that it was not until a quarter before eleven that Colonel Kilby Smith, of Grant s staff, delivered to Banks the welcome message of which he was the bearer. In less time than it takes to tell, an aide-de-camp was on his way to the General of the Trenches bear ing the brief announcement, " Vicksburg surrendered on the 4th of July. " This note, written upon the thin manifold paper of the field order-books, the Gen eral of the Trenches was directed to wrap securely around a clod of clay the closest approach to a stone to be found in all the lowlands of Louisiana and toss it over into the enemy s works. At the same time the good news was sped by wire and by staff officers to the commanders of divisions. At noon a national salute was to be fired and all the bands were to play the national airs ; but the men could not wait for these slow formalities. No sooner was the first loud shout of rejoicing heard from the trenches, where for so many weary nights and days there had been little to rejoice at, than by a sort of instinct the men of both armies seem to have divined what had happened. From man to man, from com pany to company, from regiment to regiment, the word passed, and as it passed, once more the cheers of the soldiers of the Union rang out, and again the forest echoed with the strains of " The Star-Spangled Banner" from the long-silent bands. Many a rough cheek, unused to tears, was wet that morning, and the sound of laughter was heard from many lips that had long been set in silence ; but when the first thrill was spent, it gave way to a deep-drawn sigh of relief. UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 227 The work was done, all the toil and suffering was over. Nor was this feeling restricted to the outside of the parapet ; the defenders felt it even more strongly. At first they received the news with real or affected incredulity. An officer of an Arkansas regiment, to whom was first handed the little scrap of tissue paper on which the whole chapter of history was told in seven words, acknowledged the compli ment by calling back, " This is another damned Yan kee lie ! " Yet before many minutes were over the firing had died away, save here and there a scattering exception, although peremptory orders were even given to secure its renewal. In spite of everything the men began to mingle and to exchange story for story, gibe for gibe, coffee for corn-beer, and when night fell there can have been few men in either army but believed the fighting was over. That evening Gardner summoned his commanders to meet him in council. Among them all there was but one thought the end had come. Shortly after half-past twelve the notes of a bugle were heard on the Plains Store road sounding the sig nal, " Cease firing. " A few seconds later an officer with a small escort approached, bearing a lantern swung upon a long pole, with a white handkerchief tied be neath it, to serve as a flag of truce. At the outpost of Charles J. Paine s brigade the flag was halted and its purpose ascertained. This was announced to be the delivery of an important despatch from Gardner to Banks. Thus it was that a few minutes after one o clock the hoofs of two horses were heard at the same instant at headquarters, yet each with a sound of its own that seemed in keeping with its story. One, a slow and measured trot, told of duty done and 228 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Stables near ; the other, quick and nervous, spoke of pressing news. Two officers dismounted ; the clang of their sabres was heard together ; together they made their way to the tent where the writer of these lines lay awake and listening. One was Captain Walker, with the fuse, the other was Lieutenant Or- ton S. Clark, of the n6th New York, then attached to the staff of Charles J. Paine. The long envelope he handed in felt rough to the touch ; the light of a match showed its color a dull gray ; every inch of it said, " Surrender. " When opened it was found to contain a request for an official assurance as to the truth of the report that Vicksburg had surrendered. If true, Gardner asked for a cessation of hostilities with a view to consider terms. At a quarter-past one Banks replied, convey ing an exact copy of so much of Grant s despatch as related the capitulation of Vicksburg. He told when and how the despatch had come, and wound up by regretting that he could not consent to a truce for the purpose indicated. In order to avoid all chance of needless excitement or disturbance, as well as of the premature publication of the news, the Adjutant- General carried this despatch himself, and, accom panied by Lieutenant Clark, as well as, at his own request, by General Stone, rode first to Augur s head quarters to acquaint him with the news and to borrow a bugler, and then to the outposts to meet the Con federate flag of truce. A blast upon the bugle brought back the little party of horsemen, with the lantern swaying from the pole ; but it was nearly daylight before they again returned with Gardner s reply. Meanwhile, right and left word had been quietly passed to the pickets to cease firing. UN VEXED TO THE SEA. 229 In his second letter Gardner said : " Having defended this position as long as I deem my duty requires, I am willing to surrender to you, and will appoint a commission of three officers to meet a similar commission, ap pointed by yourself, at nine o clock this morning, for the purpose of agreeing upon and drawing up the terms of surrender, and for that purpose I ask a cessation of hostilities. Will you please designate a point outside of my breastworks where a meeting shall be held for this purpose ? " To this Banks answered at 4:30 A. M. : " I have designated Brigadier-General Charles P. Stone, Colo nel Henry W. Birge, and Lieutenant-Colonel Richard B. Irwin as the officers to meet the commission appointed by you. They will meet your officers at the hour designated at a point near where the flag of truce was received this morning. I will direct that all active hostilities shall entirely cease on my part until further notice for the purpose stated. " The division commanders, as well as the command ers of the upper and lower fleets, were at once notified, and at six o clock Captain Walker was sent to find Admiral Farragut, wherever he might be, and to de liver to him despatches conveying the news of the surrender, outlining Banks s plans for moving against Taylor in La Fourche, and urging the Admiral to send all the light-draught gunboats at once to Berwick Bay. Banks meant to march Weitzel directly to the near est landing, which was within the lines of Port Hud son, as soon as the formal capitulation should be accomplished, and to send Grover after him as fast as steamboats could be found. This called for many arrangements ; the occupying force had also to be seen to ; and finally, it was necessary that the starving garrison should be fed. Colonel Irwin was therefore relieved, at his own request, from duty as one of the 230 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Commissioners, and Brigadier-General Dwight was named in his stead. This drew an objection from Weitzel, who naturally felt that there were claims of service as well as of rank that might have been con sidered before those of the temporary commander of the second division ; however, it was too late to make any further change, and when Banks offered to name Weitzel, whose protest had been not for himself but for his brigades, as the officer to receive Gardner s sword, the offer was declined. Among the officers of the navy, too, especially those of the higher grades, great cause of offense was felt that, after all their services in the siege, they were left unrepresented in the honors of the surrender. This feeling was natural enough ; yet before determining how far the com plaints based on it were just, it is necessary to consider how important was every hour, almost every moment, with reference to the operations against Taylor, while three and a half hours were required to make the journey between headquarters and the upper fleet, and four and a half hours to reach the lower fleet. Moreover, the Admiral had gone to New Orleans the evening before. At nine the commissioners met under the shade of the beautiful trees, nearly on the spot where O Brien had rested among his men while waiting for the word on the 27th of May. On the Confederate side the commissioners were Colonel William R. Miles, com manding the right wing of the garrison, Colonel I. G. W. Steedman, of the ist Alabama, commanding the left wing, and Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall J. Smith, Chief of Heavy Artillery. Among those thus brought together there was more than one gentleman of marked conversational UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 231 talent ; the day was pleasant, the shade grateful, and, to one side at least, the refreshment not less so ; and thus the time passed pleasantly until two o clock, when the commissioners signed, with but a single change, the articles that had been drawn up for them and in readiness since six in the morning. The alteration was occasioned by the great and unexpected length to which the conference had been protracted. Five o clock in the afternoon had been named as the time when the besiegers were to occupy the works ; this had to be changed to seven o clock on the morn- of the 9th. The terms, which will be found in full in the Appendix, were those of an unconditional surren der. Gardner, who was in waiting conveniently near, at once approved the articles, and at half-past two they were completed by the signature of Banks. A few minutes later the long wagon-train, loaded with provisions, that had been standing for hours in the Plains Store road, was signalled to go forward. The cheers that welcomed the train, as it wound its way up the long-untravelled road and through the disused sally-port, were perhaps not so loud as those with which the besiegers had greeted the news from Vicks- burg, yet they were not less enthusiastic. From this moment the men of the two armies, and to some extent the officers, mingled freely. Andrews was designated to receive the surrender, and from each division two of the best regiments, with one from Weitzel s brigade, were told off to occupy the place. Punctually at seven o clock on the morning of the 9th of July the column of occupation entered the sally-port on the Jackson road. At its head rode Andrews with his staff. Next, in the post of honor, 232 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Came the stormers with Birge at their head, then the 75th New York of Weitzel s brigade, followed by the 1 1 6th New York and the 26. Louisiana of Augur s division, the i2th Maine, and the I3th Connecticut of Grover s division, the 6th Michigan and the i4th Maine of Dwight s division, the 4th Wisconsin and the 8th New Hampshire of Paine s. 1 With the col umn was Duryea s battery. The 38th Massachusetts was at first designated for this coveted honor, but lost it through some necessary changes due to the in tended movement down the river. Weitzel, with his own brigade under Thomas, on the way to the place of embarkation, closely followed the column and wit nessed the ceremonies. These were simple and short. The Confederate troops were drawn up in line, Gardner at their head, every officer in his place. The right of the line rested on the edge of the open plain south of the railway station ; the left extended toward the village. At the word " Ground arms " from their tried commander, followed by the command of execution from the bugles, every Confederate soldier bowed his head and laid his musket on the ground in token of submission, while Gardner himself tendered his sword to Andrews, who, in a few complimentary words, waived its acceptance. At the same instant the Stars and Bars, the colors of the Confederacy, were hauled down from the flagstaff, where they had so long waved defiance ; a detachment of sailors from the naval batteries sprang to the hal yards and rapidly ran up the flag of the United States ; the guns of Duryea s battery saluted the colors ; the garrison filed off as prisoners of war, and all was over. 1 No record exists of these details, but the list here given is believed to be nearly correct. UNVEXED TO THE SEA. 233 The last echo of the salute to the colors had hardly died away when Weitzel, at the head of the First Division, now for the first time united, marched off to the left, and began embarking on board the trans ports to go against Taylor. With the place were taken 6, 340 prisoners of war, of whom 405 were officers and 5, 935 enlisted men. The men were paroled with the exact observance of all the forms prescribed by the cartel then in force ; yet the paroles were immediately declared void by the Confederate government, and the men were required to return to duty in the ranks. The officers, in accordance with the retaliatory orders of the period, had to be kept in captivity ; they were, however, given the choice of their place of confinement. About 2 1 1 elected to go to Memphis, and were ac cordingly sent up the river a few days after the sur render, the remainder were sent to New Orleans with instructions to Emory to keep them safely under guard in some commodious house or houses, to be selected by him, and to make them as comfortable as practicable. 1 There were also captured 20 pieces of light artillery and 31 pieces of field artillery ; of these 12 heavy guns and 30 light guns were in compara tively good order. The total losses of the Corps during the siege were 45 officers and 663 men killed, 191 officers and 3, 145 men wounded, 12 officers and 307 men captured or missing ; in all, 4, 363. Very few prisoners were taken by the Confederates, and little doubt remains 1 As evidence of the considerate manner in which these gentlemen were treated see the interesting article, " Plain Living on Johnson s Island, " by Lieutenant Horace Carpenter, 4th Louisiana, printed in the Century for March, 1891, page 706. 234 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. That a large proportion of those set down as captured or missing in reality perished. Of the Confederate losses no complete return was ever made. A partial return, without date, signed by the chief surgeon, shows 176 killed, 447 wounded, total 623. In this report the number of those that had died in the hospital is included among the wounded. Nor does this total include the losses at Plains Store, which, according to the surgeon s return, were 12 killed and 36 wounded, or, according to Colo nel Miles s report, 8 killed, 23 wounded, 58 missing ; in all, 89. Major C. M. Jackson, who acted as assist ant inspector-general under Gardner, and, according to his own account, came out through the lines of investment about an hour after the surrender, reported to Johnston that the total casualties during the siege were 200 killed, between 300 and 400 wounded, and 200 died from sickness. CHAPTER XIX. HARROWING LA FOURCHE. IT will be remembered that when Banks marched to Opelousas, Taylor s little army, greatly depleted by wholesale desertions and hourly wearing away by the roadside, broke into two fragments, the main body of the cavalry retiring, under Mouton, toward the Sabine, while the remainder of the troops were conducted by Taylor himself toward Alexandria and at last to Natchitoches. As soon as Kirby Smith became aware that his adversary was advancing to the Red River, he prepared to meet the menace by concen trating on Shreveport the whole available force of the Confederacy in the Trans-Mississippi from Texas to Missouri, numbering, according to his own estimate, 18, 000 effective. He accordingly called on Magru- der for two brigades and drew in from the line of the Arkansas the division of John G. Walker. However, this concentration became unnecessary and was given up the instant Smith learned that Banks had crossed the Atchafalayaand the Mississippi and had sat down before Port Hudson. While this movement was in progress, Walker was on the march toward Natchitoches or Alexandria, by varying routes, according as the plans changed to suit the news of the day. Taylor observed Banks and followed his march to Simmesport, while Mouton 235 236 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hung upon the rear and flank of Chickering s column, guarding the big wagon-train and the spoils of the Teche campaign. Then Kirby Smith, not caring as yet to venture across the Atchafalaya, ordered Taylor to take Walk er s division back into Northern Louisiana and try to break up Grant s campaign by interrupting his com munications opposite Vicksburg ; but this attempt turned out badly, for Grant had already given up his communications on the west bank of the Mississippi and restored them on the east, and Taylor s forces, after passing from Lake Catahoula by Little River into the Tensas, ascending that stream to the neigh borhood of Richmond and occupying the town on the 3d of May, were roughly handled on the 7th in an ill-judged attempt to take Young s Point and Milli- ken s Bend. Then, leaving Walker with orders to do what damage he could along the river bank which was not much and if possible, as it was not, to throw supplies of beef and corn into Vicksburg, Taylor went back to Alexandria and prepared for his campaign in La Fourche, from which Kirby Smith s superior orders had diverted him. Meanwhile nearly a month had passed and Walker, after coming down to the Red River, a week too late, was once more out of reach. Taylor s plan was for Major, with his brigade of cav alry, to cross the Atchafalaya at Morgan s Ferry, while Taylor himself, with the main body under Mouton, should attempt the surprise and capture of Brashear : then, if successful, the whole army could be thrown into La Fourche, while in case of failure Major could easily return by the way he came. Major left Washington on the loth of June, marched twenty-eight miles to Morgan s Ferry, by a HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 237 road then high and dry although in April Banks had found it under water, and crossing the Atchafalaya on the 1 4th rode along the Bayou Fordoche with the in tention of striking the river at the Hermitage ; but a broken bridge turned him northward round the sweep of False River toward Waterloo. Sage was at False Point with six companies of his noth New York, a squadron of the 2d Rhode Island cavalry, and a sec tion of Carruth s battery. As soon as he found the enemy approaching in some force he moved down the levee to the cover of the lower fleet and thus lost the chance of gaining and giving timely notice of Major s operation. Major on his part rode off by the Grosstete through Plaquemine, as already related, and so down the Mississippi to Donaldsonville, hav ing passed on the way three gunboats without being seen by any one on board. Making a feint on Fort Butler, Major, under cover of the night, took the cut off road and struck the Bayou La Fourche six miles X below Donaldsonville; thence he rode on to Thibo- deaux, entering the town at daylight on the 2ist of June. At Thibodeaux Major picked up all the Union soldiers in the place to the number of about 100, mostly convalescents. Soon after taking command in New Orleans, Emory had begun to look forward to what might happen in La Fourche, as well as to the possible consequences to New Orleans itself. The forces in the district were the 23d Connecticut, Colonel Charles E. L. Holmes, and the i76th New York, Colonel Charles C. Nott, both regiments scattered along the railroad for its protection, Company F and some odd men and recruits of the ist Indiana, under Captain F. W. Noblett, occupying the field works at Brashear, and 238 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Two companies of the 28th Maine at Fort Butler. About this time Holmes, who as the senior colonel had commanded the district since Weitzel quitted it to enter on the Teche campaign, resigned on account of ill-health. Nott and Wordin, the lieutenant-colonel of the 23d, were on the sick-list. Finding the country thus feebly occupied and the service yet more feebly performed, as early as the 7th of June, Emory had chosen a very intelligent and spirited young officer of the 47th Massachusetts, Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Stickney, placed him in command of the district, without regard to rank, and sent him over the line to Brashear to put things straight. In this work Stick ney was engaged, when, at daylight on the morn ing of the 2oth of June, he received a telegram from Emory conveying the news that the Confederates were advancing on La Fourche Crossing ; so he left Major Anthony, of the 2d Rhode Island cavalry, in command at Brashear and went to the point where the danger threatened. When, on the afternoon of the 2ist of June, the Confederate force drew near, Stickney found himself in command of a medley of 838 men belonging to eight different organizations namely, 195 of the 23d Connecticut, 154 of the i76th New York, 46 of the 42d Massachusetts, 37 of the 26th Maine, 306 of the 26th Massachusetts, 50 troopers of the ist Louisiana cavalry, 20 artillery men, chiefly of the ist Indiana, and one section, with 30 men, of G row s 25th New York battery. The levee at this point was about twelve feet high, forming a natural fortification, which Stickney took advantage of and strengthened by throwing up slight rifle-pits on his flanks. These had only been carried a few yards, and were nowhere more than two feet HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 239 high, when, about seven o clock in the evening, under cover of the darkness, Major attacked. The attack was led by Pyron s regiment, reported by Major as 206 strong, and was received and thrown off by about three quarters of Stickney s force. For this result the credit is largely due to the gallantry and good judg- - ment of Major Morgan Morgan, Jr. , of the i/Gth New York, and the steadiness of his men, inspired by his example. Grow s guns being separated and one of them without support, this piece was abandoned by its gunners and fell for the moment into the hands of the Confederates ; the other piece, placed by Grow himself to protect the flank, poured an effective enfilade fire upon Pyron s column. Stickney s loss was 8 killed and 41 wounded, includ ing Lieutenant Starr, of the 23d Connecticut, whose hurt proved mortal. The Confederate loss is not reported, but Stickney says he counted 53 of their dead on the field, and afterward found nearly 60 wounded in the hospitals at Thibodeaux. The next morning, June 22d, their dead and wounded were removed under a flag of truce. 1 While the flag was out, Cahill came up from New Orleans with the Qth Connecticut, a further detach ment of the 26th Massachusetts, and the remainder of Grow s battery. This gave Stickney about 1, 100 men, with four guns in position and six field-pieces. Cahill s arrival was seen by Major, who, after waiting all day in a drenching rain, began to think his condi tion rather critical ; accordingly, at nine o clock in the evening he set out to force his way to Brashear, where he was expecting to find Green. Riding hard, 1 The history of the 23d Connecticut says : " We delivered to them 108 dead. We captured 40 prisoners. "" Connecticut in the War, " p. 757. 240 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. He arrived at the east bank of Bayou Boeuf late the next afternoon, and, crossing by night, at daylight on the 24th he had completely surrounded the post of Bayou Bceuf, and was just about to attack, when he saw the white flag that announced the surrender of the garrison to Mouton. Before this, Captain Julius Sanford, of the 23d Connecticut, set fire to the sugar-house filled with the baggage and clothing of the troops engaged at Port Hudson. Meanwhile, for the surprise of Brashear, Mouton had collected thirty-seven skiffs and boats of all sorts near the mouth of the Teche, and manned them with 325 volunteers, under the lead of Major Sherod Hunter. At nightfall on the 22d of June Hunter set out, and by daylight the next morning his whole party had safely landed in the rear of the defences of Bra- shear, while Green, with three battalions and two batteries of his command, stood on the western bank of Berwick Bay, ostentatiously attracting the atten tion of the unsuspicious garrison, and three more regiments were in waiting on Gibbon s Island, ready to make use of Hunter s boats in support of his movement. Banks meant to have broken up the great depot of military stores at Brashear, and to have removed to Algiers or New Orleans all regimental baggage and other property that had gone into store at Brashear and the Bceuf before and after the Teche campaign ; such were his orders, but for some reason not easy to explain they had not been carried out. Besides the Indianians, who numbered about 30 all told, there were at Brashear four companies D, G, I, K of the 23d Connecticut, two companies of the 17610 New York, about 150 strong, and one company, or HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 241 the equivalent of a company, of the 420! Massachu setts, making in all rather less than 400 effectives ; there were also about 300 convalescents, left behind by nearly thirty regiments. Notwithstanding the vast quantity of stores committed to their care, including the effects of their comrades, and in spite of all warn ings, so slack and indifferent was the performance of duty on the part of the garrison of Brashear that, on the morning of the 23d of June, the reveille was sounded for them by the guns of the Valverde battery. Thus sharply aroused, without a thought of what might happen in the rear, the garrison gave its whole attention to returning, with the heavy guns, the fire of Green s field-pieces across Berwick Bay. Soon the gunboat Hollyhock backed down the bay and out of the action, and thus it was that about half-past six Hunter s men, running out of the woods toward the railway station, and making known their presence with their rifles, took the garrison completely by sur prise, and, after a short and desultory fight, more than 700 officers and men gave up their swords and laid down their arms to a little less than one half of their own number. Of the men, nearly all were well enough to march to Algiers four days later, after being paroled. Worse still, they abandoned a forti fied position with n heavy guns 24-, 30-, and 32- pounders. The Confederate loss was 3 killed and 18 wounded. Hunter says the Union troops lost 46 killed and 40 wounded, but about this there seems to be some mistake, for the proportion is unusual, and the whole loss of the 23d Connecticut in killed and wounded was but 7, of the i76th New York but 12. Green crossed Berwick Bay as fast as he could, and pushing on found the post at Bayou Ramos aban- 16 242 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Doned. The Union troops stationed there had retired to Bayou Boeuf, and so at daylight on the 24th, without feeling or firing a single shot, the united guards of the two stations, numbering 435 officers and men, with four guns, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Du- ganne, of the i76th New York, promptly surrendered to the first bold summons of a handful of Green s adventurous scouts riding five miles ahead of their column. Taylor now turned over the immediate command of the force to Mouton and hastened back to Alexandria to bring down Walker, in order to secure and extend his conquests. Mouton marched at once on Donaldsonville. When the Union forces at La Fourche Crossing found the Confederates returning in such strength, they made haste to fall back on New Orleans, and were followed as far as Boutte Station by Waller s and Pyron s battalions. On the 2 /th of June, Green, with his own brigade, Major s brigade, and Semmes s battery appeared be fore Donaldsonville, and demanded the surrender of the garrison of Fort Butler. This was a square redoubt, placed in the northern angle between the bayou and the Mississippi, designed to command and protect the river gateway to La Fourche, mounting four guns, and originally intended for a garrison of perhaps 600 men. The parapet was high and thick, like the levee, and was surrounded by a deep ditch, the flanks on the bayou and the river being further protected by stout stockades extending from the levees to the water, at ordinary stages. The work was now held by a mixed force of 180 men, com prising two small companies of the 28th Maine F, Captain Edward B. Neal, and G, Captain Augus- HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 243 tine Thompson, besides a number of convalescents of various regiments. Major Joseph D. Bullen, of the 28th, was in command, and with him at the time was Major Henry M. Porter, of the 7th Vermont, provost-marshal of the parish of Iberville, whose quarters in the town on the other side of the bayou were no longer tenable. Farragut, who had gone down to New Orleans and hoisted his flag on the Pensacola, leaving Palmer and Alden in command of the upper and lower fleets be fore Port Hudson, had disposed his gunboats so as to patrol the river in sections. The Princess Royal, Lieutenant-Commander M. B. Woolsey, was near Donaldsonville ; the Winona, Lieutenant-Commander A. W. Weaver, near Plaquemine ; and the Kineo, Lieutenant-Commander John Watters, between Bon net Carre and the Red Church. As soon as the Con federates appeared before Donaldsonville, Woolsey was notified, and couriers were sent up and down the river to summon the Winona and the Kineo. Green brought to the attack six regiments and one battery, between 1, 300 and 1, 500 strong, 1 including three regiments of his own brigade, the 4th, 5th, and 7th Texas, and three regiments of Major s brigade Lane s, Stone s, and Phillips s. The river, and there fore the bayou, were now low, exposing wide margins of batture, and Green s plan was, while surrounding and threatening the fort on its land faces, to gain an entrance on the water front by crossing the batture and passing around the ends of the stockades. J When Green says 800, he of course refers to the four regiments actually engaged in the assault ; for, after losing, as he says, 261 of these 800, he makes the four regiments of Major s brigade, with two sections of Faries s battery, number 800 ; while his own force, with one section of Gonzales s battery, he puts at 750. 800 +750 + 261 = 1, 811. 244 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. At ten minutes past midnight the red light of a Coston signal from the fort announced to the Navy that the enemy were coming. At twenty minutes past one the fight was opened by the Confederates with musketry. Instantly the fort replied with the fire of its guns, and of every musket that could be brought to the parapet. Five minutes later the Princess Royal, which, since nightfall, had been under way and cleared for action, began shelling the woods on the right of the fort, firing a few Q-inch and 3<>pounder shells over the works and down the bayou, followed presently by 3<>pounder and 2O-pounder shrapnel and 9-inch grape, fired at point-blank range in the direction of the Confederate yells. The assault was made in the most determined manner. Shannon, with the 5th Texas, passed some of his men around the end of the river stockade, others climbed and helped one another over, some tried to cut it down with axes, many fired ^ through the loopholes ; Phillips made a circuit of the fort and tried the bayou stockade, while Herbert s 7th Texas attempted to cross the ditch on the land side. The fight at the stockade was desperate in the extreme ; those who succeeded in surmounting or turning this barrier found an impassable obstacle in the ditch, whose existence, strange to say, they had X not even suspected. Here the combatants fought hand to hand ; even the sick, who had barely strength to walk from the hospital to the rampart, took part in the defence. The Texans assailed the defenders with brickbats ; these the Maine men threw back upon the heads of the Texans ; on both sides numbers were thus injured. Lane, who was to have supported Phillips, somehow went adrift, and Hardeman, who was to have attacked the stockade on the bayou side, HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 245 was delayed by his guide, but toward daylight he came up to join in the last attack. By way of a diversion, Stone had crossed the bayou to the east bank on a bridge of sugar coolers, and his part in the fight was confined to yells. At a quarter before four the yelling, which had gone on continuously for more than two hours, sud denly died away, the fire slackened, and three rousing cheers went up from the fort. A few minutes later the Winona came down and opened fire, and at half-past four the Kineo hove in sight. The fight was ended. " The smoke clearing away, " says Woolsey, " discov ered the American flag flying over the fort. Gave three cheers and came to anchor. " Yet the same sun rose upon a ghastly sight upon green slopes gray with the dead, the dying, and the maimed, and the black ditch red with their blood. Green puts his loss at 40 killed, 114 wounded, 107 missing, in all 261. However, during the 28th, the Princess Royal and the Kineo received on board from the provost-marshal 124 prisoners, by actual count, including i lientenant-colonel, 2 majors, 3 captains, and 5 lieutenants ; and Lieutenant-Commander Wool sey says the garrison buried 69 Confederates and were " still at it. " Among the Confederates killed was Shannon, and among the missing Phillips. Of the garrison, i officer, Lieutenant Isaac Murch, of the 28th Maine, and 7 men were killed, 2 officers and ii men wounded in all 21. The Princess Royal had i man killed, 2 wounded. The vessel was struck in twenty places by grape-shot. Green has been sharply criticised for the apparent recklessness with which he delivered his assault, even after having announced to Mouton his intention of 246 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Waiting ; yet it is clear that he was sent there to attack ; if he was to attack at all, he had nothing to gain by waiting ; an assault by daylight would have been wholesale suicide ; while, on the other hand, the garrison would unquestionably be reinforced by troops and gunboats before another night. Having paid this tribute to his judgment, and to his daring and the intrepidity of his men the homage that every soldier feels to be his due, one may be allowed to quote without comment this passage from Green s report of the affair, in naked frankness hardly sur passed even among the writings of Signor Benvenuto Cellini : " At daylight I sent in a flag of truce, asking permission to pick up our wounded and bury our dead, which was refused, as I ex pected. My object in sending the flag so early was to get away a great number of our men, who had found a little shelter near the enemy s works, and who would have been inevitably taken prisoners. I must have saved one hundred men by instructing my flag-of-truce officer, as he approached the fort, to order our troops to steal away. " Bullen s message to Emory has the true ring : " The enemy have attacked us, and we have repulsed them. I want more men ; I must have more men. " Emory responded with the remaining two companies of the 28th Maine, that had been left near New Orleans when the regiment moved to Port Hudson, and Banks relieved the ist Louisiana on the lines and sent it at once to Donaldsonville, with two sections of Closson s battery under Taylor, and Stone to com mand. This put the place out of peril. Even this bright spot on the dull, dark background was not to be permitted to go untarnished, for, on the 5th of July, Bullen, the hero of this heroic defence, HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 247 whose name deserves to live in the memory of all that love a sturdy man, a stout heart, a steady mind, or a brave deed, was murdered by a tipsy mutineer of the relieving force. On Friday, the I4th of August, 1863, this wretched man, Francis Scott, private of Company F, ist Louisiana, suffered the military penalty of his crime. Taylor now gave up the attempt to capture the position at Donaldsonville, and devoted his attention to a blockade of the river by establishing his batteries at various points behind the natural fortification formed by the levee. Seven guns, under Faries, were placed on Gaudet s plantation, opposite White hall Point, while the guns of Semmes, Nichols, and Cornay were planted opposite College Point and at Fifty-five Mile Point, commanding Grand View reach. On the 3d of July Semmes opened fire on the Union transports, as they were approaching College Point on their way up the river. The steamer Iberville was disabled, and from this time until after the surrender no transport passed up, except under con voy, and it was only with great difficulty that even the fastest boats made their way down with the help of the current. When this state of things was reported to Farragut, who had gone back to Port Hudson, he sent to New Orleans for his Chief of Staff, Captain Jenkins, to come up, in order that he himself might once more go down and give his personal attention to the affair. On the 7th of July the Tennessee started from New Orleans with Jenkins aboard ; she had successfully run the gauntlet of the batteries, when, between eight and nine o clock in the evening, as Faries was firing his last rounds, a solid shot struck and instantly killed 248 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Commander Abner Read. Captain Jenkins was, at the same time, wounded by a flying fragment of a broken cutlass. Of the crew two were killed and four wounded. On the 8th the Saint Marys, a fine seagoing steamer and one of the fastest boats in the depart ment, was carrying Lieutenant Emerson, Acting-As sistant Adjutant-General, with important despatches from headquarters to Emory and to the Chief Quarter master, when, about three o clock in the morning, she drew the fire of all the Confederate guns. The Prin cess Royal and the Kineo convoyed her past the upper battery, but from this point she had to trust to her speed and her low freeboard. In rounding Fifty-five Mile Point she was struck five times, one conical shell and one shrapnel penetrating her side above the water-line and bursting inboard. At half-past six on the morning of the Qth of July, Farragut, who had left Port Hudson on the Monon- gahela on the evening of the 7th, started from Donaldsonville with the Essex, Kineo, and Tennessee in company, ran the gauntlet of the batteries, swept and silenced them with his broadsides, and endured for nearly two hours a brisk musketry fire from the enemy without serious loss suffered or inflicted. At half-past one o clock on the morning of the loth of July, the gunboat New London, bearing Captain Walker, Assistant Adjutant-General, with a despatch announcing the surrender of Port Hudson, came under the fire of Faries s battery, opposite Whitehall. She was very soon disabled by a shot through her boilers, and was run ashore near the left bank, where the Tennessee and the Essex came to her assistance from below. Landing on the east bank, Captain Walker HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 249 made his way afoot down the river along the levee until he came in sight of the Monongahela, when, at six o clock in the morning, his signals being perceived, he was taken aboard in one of the ship s boats and communicated to the admiral the good news that the campaign was at an end. To dispose of Taylor could be but a matter of a few days ; then once more, in the words of Lincoln, would the great river flow "unvexed to the sea. " Taylor s plans were well laid, and had been brill iantly executed. In no other way, with the force at his disposal, could he have performed a greater service for his cause. Save the severe yet not material check at Donaldsonville, he had had everything his own way : he had overrun La Fourche ; his guns com manded the river ; his outposts were within twenty miles of the city ; he even talked of capturing New Orleans, but this, in the teeth of an alert and power ful fleet, was at best but a midsummer fancy. In New Orleans, indeed, great was the excitement when it became known that the Confederate forces were so near. In Taylor s army were the friends, the brothers, the lovers, the husbands, even the fathers of the inhabitants. In the town were many thousands of registered enemies, and of paroled Confederate prisoners of all ranks. At one time there were no Union troops in the city, save a detachment of the 42d Massachusetts, barely two hundred and fifty strong. But the illness that had deprived Emory s division of its leader in the field had given to New Orleans a commander of a courage and firmness that now, as always, rose with the approach of danger, with whom difficulties diminished as they drew near, and whose character had earned the respect of the 250 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Townspeople. These, though their hearts beat high and their pulses were tremulous with emotion, con ducted themselves with a propriety and an outward calmness that reflected the highest credit upon their virtue and their good sense. Yet, when all that was possible had been done, things were at such a pass that, on the 4th of July, Emory thought it imperative to speak out. " I respectfully suggest, " he wrote to Banks, " that unless Port Hudson be already taken, you can only save this city by sending me reinforce ments immediately and at any cost. It is a choice between Port Hudson and New Orleans. " Banks made the choice with serenity and without a moment s hesitation determined to run the remote risk of losing New Orleans for the moment, with the destruction of Taylor s army in reserve as a consola tion, rather than to insure himself against this peril at the price of instant disaster at Port Hudson, even on the very eve of victory. " Operations here, " was the reply sent from head quarters on the 5th to Emory s urgent appeal, " can last but two or three days longer at the outside, and then the whole command will be available to drive back the enemy who is now annoying our communi cations and threatening New Orleans. " So the event proved and such was now the task to be performed. Augur, who had been ill for some time, yet unwill ing to relinquish his command, now found himself unfitted for the summer campaign that seemed in prospect. He accordingly turned over his divi sion to Weitzel, took leave of absence on surgeon s certificate, and went North to recruit his health. Shortly afterwards he was assigned to the command of the Department of Washington and did not rejoin the Nineteenth Corps. HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 251 Weitzel, as has been said, took transport on the gth of July immediately after the formal capitulation. Getting under way toward evening, he landed at Donaldsonville early the next morning. His presence there so threatened the flank and front of Taylor s forces, as to induce an immediate withdrawal of the guns from the river and the calling in of all detach ments. Morgan, with G rover s First brigade and Nims s battery, followed Weitzel about midnight on the loth, and Grover himself, with his other two brigades, on the i ith. During the night of that day, Grover therefore found himself before Donaldson ville, holding both banks of Bayou La Fourche with two divisions. He was confronted by Green with his own brigade and Major s, together with the batteries that had lately been annoying the transports and drawing the attention of the gunboats on the river. When, on the xoth, Green saw the transports coming down the Mississippi laden with troops, it did not at once occur to him that Port Hudson was lost ; he simply thought these troops were coming to attack him. Concentrating his whole force, he posted Major with four regiments and four guns on the left or east bank of the bayou, and on the right or west bank three regiments and two guns of his own brigade. Green s pickets were within two miles of Donaldson ville. As Grover developed and took more ground in his front, Green drew back toward Paincourtville. On the morning of the i3th of July, without any intention of bringing on a battle or of hastening the enemy s movements, but merely to gain a little more elbow-room and to find new fields for forage for the animals, Grover moved out an advance guard on either side of the bayou. " The enemy is evidently making preparation, " he said in his despatch of the I2th 252 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Before ordering this movement, " to escape if pur sued by a strong force or to resist a small one. Our gunboats can hardly be expected at Brashear City for some days, and it is evidently injudicious to press them until their retreat is cut off. " Dudley, with two sections of Carruth s battery under Phelps and with Barrett s troop, marched on the right bank of the bayou, supported by Charles J. Paine s brigade with Haley s battery. Morgan, under the orders of Birge, temporarily commanding Grover s division, moved in line with Dudley on the opposite bank. They went forward slowly until, about six miles out, they found themselves upon the estate of the planter whose name is variously spelled Cox, Koch, and Kock. Here, as Dudley and Morgan showed no disposition to attack, Green took the initiative, and, favored by a narrow field, a rank growth of corn, dense thickets of willows, the deep ditches common to all sugar plantations in these lowlands, and his own superior knowledge of the country, he fell suddenly with his whole force upon the heads of Dudley s and Morgan s columns, and drove them in almost before they were aware of the presence in their front of anything more than the pickets, whom they had been seeing for two days and who had been falling back before them. Morgan handled his brigade badly, and soon got it, or suffered it to fall, into a tangle whence it could only extricate itself by retiring. This fairly exposed the flank of Dudley, who was making a good fight, but had already enough to do to take care of his front against the fierce onset of Green s Texans. The result of this bad management was that the whole command was in effect clubbed and on both banks driven back about a mile, until Paine came to its support ; then HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 253 Grover rode out, and, seeing what had happened, drew in his whole force. Grover s losses in this affair, called the battle of Cox s Plantation, were 2 officers and 54 men killed, 7 officers and 210 men wounded, 3 officers and 183 men captured or missing ; in all 465. To add to the reproach of this rough treatment at the hands of an inferior force, two guns were lost, one of the ist Maine battery and one of the 6th Massachusetts, but without the least fault on the part of the artillerists. After the close of the campaign Colonel Morgan was arraigned before a general court-martial upon charges of misbehavior before the enemy and drunk enness on duty, and, being found guilty upon both charges, was sentenced to be cashiered and utterly disqualified from holding any office or employment under the government of the United States ; but Banks disapproved the proceedings, findings, and sentence on the ground that the evidence appeared to him too conflicting and unsatisfactory. " The ex ecution of the sentence, " his orders continue, " is suspended until the pleasure of the President can be known. " When the record with this decision reached the Judge Advocate-General of the Army at Wash ington, he sent it back to Banks with instructions that, as no sentence remained for the action of the President, the proceedings were at an end and Colonel Morgan must be released from arrest. This was accordingly done on the 26th of October, 1863. Green puts his loss at 3 killed and 30 wounded, including 6 mortally wounded. The Union loss, he says, was " little less than 1, 000 ; there were over 500 of the enemy killed and wounded, of whom 200 were left out on the field, and about 250 prisoners. " 254 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. When, on the evening of the i4th of July, at Port Hudson, Banks received this news, he went at once to Donaldsonville to confer with Grover and Weitzel on the situation and the plan of campaign. It was agreed on all hands that it was inexpedient to press Taylor hard or to hasten his movements in any way until time should have been allowed for the light- draught gunboats to re-enter Berwick Bay and thus gain control of Taylor s line of retreat. In thus refraining from any attempt to avenge promptly what must be regarded as a military affront, the depleted ranks and the wearied condition of the troops were perhaps taken into account, and, moreover, it must have been considered to the last degree inadvisable to entangle the command in the dense swamps that would have to be crossed, after pushing Taylor prematurely back from the fertile and comparatively high lands that border the Bayou La Fourche. Then Banks continued on to New Orleans, where he arrived on the i8th, and renewed his pressure on the admiral for the gunboats ; but, unfortunately, the gun boats were not to be had. Of those that had accom panied the army in the campaign of the Teche, only one, the feeble Hollyhock, had remained in Berwick Bay after the army descended the Red River, crossed the Atchafalaya, and moved on Port Hudson. The others, with the transports, had followed the move ment of the troops and had been caught above the head of the Atchafalaya when the waters fell. Thus they had long been without repairs, and not one of them was now in condition for immediate service. The water on the bar at the mouth of the Atchafalaya was now nearly at its lowest point, so that even of the light-draught gunboats only the lightest could HARROWING LA FOURCHE. 255 cross. Accordingly it was not until the 22d of July that the Estrella and Clifton made their appearance in Berwick Bay and put an end to Taylor s operations. On the afternoon of the 2ist of July, knowing that the gunboats were coming, Taylor set the finishing touch to his incursion by burning the rolling-stock of the railway and running the engines into the bay. He had already destroyed the bridges as far back as Tigerville, thus rendering the road quite useless to the Union forces for the next five weeks. On the morning of the 25th the advance of Weit- zel s brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Peck, consist ing of his own i2th Connecticut and the I3th Con necticut, commanded by Captain Comstock, arrived at Brashear by steamer from Donaldsonville, and, landing, once more took possession of the place ; but in the meantime Taylor had safely withdrawn to the west bank, and gone into camp on the Teche with all his army intact and all his materials and supplies and most of his captures safe. CHAPTER XX. IN SUMMER QUARTERS. BEFORE Banks parted with Grover at Donaldson- ville, he left orders for the troops to rest and go into "summer quarters" as soon as the pending operation should be decided. Accordingly, in the last days of July, Weitzel broke away from the discomforts of muddy, dusty, shadeless Donaldsonville, and march ing down the bayou, once more took up his quarters near Napoleonville and Thibodeaux, and encamped his men at ease among the groves and orchards of the garden of La Fourche. On the 1 6th of July the steamboat Imperial, from St. Louis on the 8th, rounded to at the levee at New Orleans in token that the great river was once more free. The next day she set out on her return trip. On the 5th of August a despatch from Halleck, dated the 23d of July, was received and published in orders : " I congratulate you and your army on the crowning success of the campaign. It was reserved for your army to strike the last blow to open the Mississippi River. The country, and especially the great West, will ever remember with gratitude their services. " Afterwards, on the 28th of January, 1864, Congress passed a joint resolution of thanks 256 IN SUMMER QUARTERS. 257 "to Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks and the officers and soldiers under his command for the skill, courage, and endurance which compelled the surrender of Port Hudson, and thus re moved the last obstruction to the free navigation of the Missis sippi River. " Admiral Porter now came down the river to New Orleans in his flagship Black Hawk, and arranged to relieve Admiral Farragut from the trying duty of patrolling and protecting the river, so long borne by the vessels of his fleet. Farragut then took leave of absence and went North, leaving the West Gulf Squadron to Commodore Bell. When Port Hudson surrendered, two of the nine- months regiments had already served beyond their time. The 4th Massachusetts claimed its discharge on the 26th of June, the 5Oth four days later, insisting that their time ran from the muster-in of the last company; but, being without information from Wash ington on this point, Banks counted the time from the muster-in of the field and staff, and therefore wished to hold these regiments respectively eighty- one and forty-two days longer, or at all events until the receipt of instructions or the end of the siege. To this view officers and men alike objected, many of them so strongly that whole companies refused duty. They were within their lawful rights, yet, better counsels quickly prevailing, all consented to stay, and did good service to the last. Of seven other regi ments the term of enlistment was on the point of expiring. They were the 2ist, 22d, 24th, and 26th Maine, the 52d Massachusetts, the 26th Connecticut, and the i6th New Hampshire. These nine regi ments were now detached from the divisions to which they belonged and placed under the orders of An- 17 258 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Drews to form part of the garrison of Port Hudson until the transports should be ready to take them home by sea or river. As soon as the river was opened, Grant responded freely to all the urgent demands made upon him for steamboats, forage, beef, telegraph operators, and so on. He sent Ransom to occupy Natchez, and about the 25th of July Herron arrived at Port Hudson with his division of two brigades, 3, 605 effectives, with 18 guns. Herron s command, the victor of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, formerly known as the Army of the Frontier, had been called to the aid of Grant at Vicksburg. It came to the Gulf as Herron s division, but was presently, by Grant s orders, merged in the 1 3th Corps as its Second Division. At the close of July, in response to Banks s urgent appeals for more troops to replace the nine-months men, Halleck ordered Grant to send down a corps of 10, 000 or 12, 000 men. Accordingly, between the loth and 26th of August, Grant sent the reorganized Thirteenth Corps to Carrollton. Ord, the proper commander of the Thirteenth Corps, took sick leave, and the corps came to Louisiana under the command of Washburn, with Benton, Herron, Lee, and Lawler commanding the divisions, and Colonel Mudd the brigade of cavalry. All told, the effective strength of the corps was 778 officers and 13, 934 men ; total, 14, 712- Chiefly in July and August the twenty-one nine- months regiments and in November the nine-months men of the 1 76th New York went home to be mus tered out. This left of the Nineteenth Corps thirty- seven regiments, having an effective strength, daily diminishing, of less than 350 men each ; in all, less IN SUMMER QUARTERS. 259 than 13, 000. From these it was indispensable to take one full and strong regiment for Key West and the Tortugas, another for Pensacola, and a third for Forts Jackson and Saint Philip. This disposed of 2, 000; 2, 500 more was the least force that could be expected to do the police and guard duty of a hostile town so great and populous as New Orleans, contain ing the main depots of the army ; thus the movable force of infantry was cut down to 8, 500, or, as Banks states it, 10, 000, and for any operations that should uncover New Orleans, would be but half that number. In the reorganization of the Nineteenth Corps, thus rendered necessary, the Second division was broken up and ceased to exist, its First and Third brigades being transferred to the Third division, the temporary command of which was given to Dwight, but only for a short time. The First and Third brigades of the First division were thrown into one ; Weitzel s brigade at first resumed its original name of the Reserve brigade, and a new Second brigade was provided by taking Gooding s from the Third division, so that when a fortnight later Weitzel s brigade was restored to the First division, it became the Third brigade. The Fourth division, like the Third, was reduced to two brigades. Major-General William B. Franklin, who had just come from the North under orders from Washington, was assigned to the command of the First division, while Emory was to retain the Third and Grover the Fourth ; but when the Thirteenth Corps began to arrive, Banks found himself in the anomalous position of commanding a military department within whose limits two army corps were to serve, one, numerically the smaller, under his own immediate orders, the other under its 260 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Proper commander. The approaching completion of the organization of the Corps d Afrique would add a third element. It was therefore found convenient on every account to name an immediate commander for the Nineteenth Corps, and for this post Franklin s rank, service, and experience plainly indicated him. The assignment was made on the i5th of August, and Franklin took command at Baton Rouge on the 2Oth. Then Weitzel was designated to command the First division. However, there were during the next few months, among the commanders of all grades, so many changes, due to illness or absence, that only confusion could follow the attempt to tell them all. The artillery of the corps was redistributed to correspond with the new organization, and the cavalry was concentrated at Baton Rouge, Plaquemine, Thi- bodeaux, and New Orleans, with orders that all de tails for orderly duty and the like were to be furnished from a single battalion, the i4th New York, attached to the defences of New Orleans. Weitzel s division, except his old brigade under Merritt, took post at Baton Rouge, where also Emory s division was encamped, successively com manded by Nickerson and McMillan, while Grover s division, assigned to the defence of New Orleans, was separated, Birge occupying La Fourche, with headquarters at Thibodeaux, and Cahill forming the garrison of New Orleans. At Port Hudson, after the departure of the nine- months troops, Andrews had the 6th Michigan newly converted into the ist Michigan heavy artil lery, ten troops of the 3d Massachusetts cavalry, Rawles s, Holcomb s, and Barnes s batteries ; and besides these the infantry of the Corps d Afrique, IN SUMMER QUARTERS. 261 then in process of organization, including, at the end of August, the old ist and 3d regiments and the five regiments of Ullmann s brigade the 6th to the loth. The return of the post for the 3ist of August accounts for an effective force of 5, 427 ; of these 1, 815 belonged to the white troops and 3, 612 to the colored regiments. The whole number of infantry regiments of the Corps d Afrique, then authorized, was nineteen, of which only the first four were com pleted. Besides these there were two regiments of engineers, the ist full, the 2d about half full, and three companies of heavy artillery, making the whole muster of colored troops in the department about 10, 000. Towards the end of September the regi ments of infantry numbered twenty, with ranks fairly filled. The Corps d Afrique was then organized in two divisions of two brigades each, Ullmann com manding the First division and the senior colonel the Second. Rawles s battery was assigned to the First division and Holcomb s to the Second. This divi sion, however, never became much more than a skeleton, its First brigade being from the first de tached by regiments for garrison duty in the various fortifications. Andrews at once took up the work of organization and instruction in earnest, rightly conceiving it not merely possible, but even essential, to give to the officers and men of the colored regiments, thus formed into an army corps under his command, a degree of instruction, as well in tactics as in the details of a soldier s duty, higher than was to be found in any save a few picked regiments of the volunteer and regular service. The prejudice at first entertained against the bare idea of service with colored troops 262 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Had not entirely disappeared, yet it had so far lost its edge that it was now possible to select from a number of applicants for promotion, especially to the higher grades, officers who had already shown their fitness and their capacity, while holding inferior commissions or serving in the ranks of the white regiments. Thus the original source of weakness in the composition of the first three regiments was avoided, and, small poli tics and local influence being of course absent, and Banks s instructions being urgent to choose only the best men, the colored regiments soon had a fine corps of officers. To the work now before him Andrews brought an equipment and a training such as few officers possessed. Experience had shown him the merit, the capacity, and the defects of the American volunteer officer. At the very bottom of these de fects was the looseness of his early instruction in the elements of his duty ; once wrongly taught by an instructor, himself careless or ignorant, he was likely to go on conscientiously making the same mistake to the end of his term. Realizing his opportunity, Andrews set about establishing uniformity in all details of drill and duty by establishing a school of officers. These he himself taught with the greatest pains and industry, correcting the slovenly, yet en couraging the willing, until the whole corps was brought up to a uniform standard, and on the whole a high one. Stone succeeded Andrews as Chief of Staff at de partment headquarters on the 25th of July. Franklin s staff, as commander of the Nineteenth Army Corps in the field, included Major Wickham Hoffman, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Colonel Ed ward L. Molineux, Acting Assistant Inspector-Gen- IN SUMMER QUARTERS. 263 eral ; Lieutenant-Colonel John G. Chandler, Chief Quartermaster; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry D. Wood ruff, Chief Commissary of Subsistence ; Surgeon John H. Rauch, Medical Director; Captain Henry W. Closson, Chief of Artillery ; Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, Acting Chief Engineer ; Captain Will iam A. Pigman, Chief Signal Officer. CHAPTER XXI. A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. BANKS now wished and proposed to move on Mo bile, which he rightly supposed to be defended by about 5, 000 men. 1 This had indeed been among the objects specially contemplated by his first instructions from the government, and in the progress of events had now become the next in natural order. Grant and Farragut were of the same mind ; but other ideas had arisen, and now the government, anxious to avert the impending risk of European complications, deemed it of the first importance that the flag of the nation should, without delay, be restored at some point in Texas. The place and the plan were left discretionary with Banks, but peremptory orders were given him to carry out the object. 2 Texas had no military value at that moment. To have overrun the whole State would hardly have shortened the war by a single day. The possession of Mobile, on the other hand, would, besides its direct consequences, have exercised an important if not a vital influence upon the critical operations in the central theatre of war ; would have taken from the 1 Banks to Halleck July 30 and August i, 1863: "Official Records, " vol. Xxvi. , part I, pp. 66 1, 666. 2 Halleck to Banks, July 24, . 1863, July 3ist, August 6th, August roth, August I2th : " Official Records, " vol. Xxvi. , part I, pp. 652, 664, 672, 673, 675. 264 A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 265 Confederates their only remaining line of railway communication between the Atlantic seaboard and the States bordering on the Mississippi ; would have weakened the well-nigh fatal concentration against Rosecrans at Chickamauga and Chattanooga ; would have eased the hard task of Sherman in his progress to Atlanta ; and would have given him a safe line of retreat in the event of misfortune. What was it, then, that persuaded the government to put aside its designs on Mobile, to give up the offensive, to refrain from gathering the fruits of its successes on the Mis sissippi, in order to embark in the pursuit of objects avowedly " other than military " ? A series of acts and events, more or less menacing in character, seemed to indicate a concerted purpose on the part of some, at least, of the leading nations of Europe to interfere in the domestic affairs of the United States against the government of the United States. The powerful rams, intended for the recap ture of New Orleans, that were being almost openly built to the order of the Confederacy in the port of Liverpool, in the very shipyards whence the Alabama had gone to sea, were approaching completion. Other iron-clads, not less powerful, were under construction in France, with the personal connivance of the Em peror, upon the flimsy pretence that they were in tended for the imperial government of China. Finally, on the loth of June, casting all promises and pretexts to the winds, the French troops had marched into the capital of Mexico, made themselves masters of the country, vamped up a sham throne, and upon it set an Austrian puppet. That Napoleon III. Nursed among his favorite dreams the vision of a Latin em pire in America, built upon the ruins of Mexican 266 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Liberty and taking in at least the fairest portion of the Louisiana that his illustrious uncle had parted with so cheaply, was well known. Against the in convenient spread of this ambition the occupation of some part, of any part, of Texas, was intended as a diplomatic caution. That the warning cast its shadow even upon the dark mind of Louis Napoleon Bona parte there can be no doubt ; yet in the meantime there had occurred in quick succession three events that must have sounded in his ears with tones that even his dull imagination could not easily misunder stand. These were Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson. He had not the least notion of helping the unsuccessful. The whole Confederate force under Kirby Smith in the trans-Mississippi region numbered at this time about 33, 000 effective. Of these, about 4, 000 were in the Indian country, 8, 000 in Arkansas, less than 14, 000 in Western Louisiana, and rather less than 7, 000 in Texas. Of the forces in Louisiana under Taylor, about 3, 000 were in the extreme northern district. Magruder, whose headquarters were at Houston, and who commanded not only the whole of Texas but nominally New Mexico and Arizona besides, was keeping rather more than two thirds of his forces for the defence of Galveston and the line of the Sabine, while the remainder were distributed on the Rio Grande, at Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Indianola ; he had not 2, 000 men together any where, nor could even Kirby Smith have concentrated 20, 000 at any single point without giving up all the rest of the vast territory confided to his care. At the end of August Banks had nearly 37, 000 officers and men for duty. Of these, about 13, 000 A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 267 belonged to the Thirteenth Corps and about 6, 500 to that portion of the Nineteenth Corps, being the First and Third divisions, that was concentrated and ready for active service in the field. The defences of New Orleans, including La Fourche, absorbed 7, 000 ; Port Hudson, 5, 500; the rest were holding Baton Rouge, Key West, and Pensacola. Yielding his own views as to Mobile, Banks entered heartily into the project of the government for gain ing a foothold in Texas. Learning from the Navy that the mouth of the Sabine was but feebly defended, while the entrance was practicable for gunboats of light draught, he conceived the plan of descending suddenly upon the coast at that point with a force sufficient to march to Houston and take Galveston in reverse. He selected the troops, and collected the transports and the stores. When he was ready he gave the command of the expedition to Franklin, and caused Beckwith to replace Emory in command of the defences of New Orleans, to enable him to rejoin his division for service in the field. Franklin had the brigades under Love and Merritt of Weitzel s First division, with Bainbridge s, Clos- son s, and Bradbury s batteries, and the two brigades, Nickerson s and McMillan s, of Emory s Third divi sion, with Duryea s, Trull s, and Hebard s batteries. For cavalry there were the two squadrons of the ist Texas. Commodore Bell, who then commanded the West Gulf Squadron, gave the command of the gun boats, destined to keep down the fire of the shore batteries and cover the landing of the troops, to Lieutenant Frederick Crocker, from whose personal observation while serving on the blockade the infor mation that led to the choice of the point of attack 268 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Had been largely drawn. Crocker, besides his own vessel, the Clifton, had the Sachem, Lieutenant Amos Johnson ; the Arizona, Acting-Master Howard Tib- betts ; the Granite City, Acting-M aster C. W. Lam- son. Crocker s belief was that the defences ashore and afloat consisted of two 32-pounder guns in bat tery, and two small steamboats converted into rams. Franklin s orders were to proceed to Sabine Pass ; there, if the Navy should be able to secure the land ing, he was to debark his whole force rapidly, take up a strong position, seize Beaumont, or some other point on the railroad to Houston, and then reconnoi tre the enemy to learn their position and strength. He was not to go farther into the country until re inforced. After landing, he was to turn back the transports to Brashear, where Benton s division of the Thirteenth Corps would be found waiting to join him. After many delays, due to the state and inadequacy of the transports, which, besides ten ocean steamers, fit and unfit, included six river steamers wholly of the latter class, Weitzel sailed from New Orleans on the evening of the 4th of September. Leaving the Southwest Pass on the morning of the 5th, under convoy of the Arizona, and steering westward, he was joined, early on the following morning, off Ber wick Bay, by the Clifton and the Sachem. A de tachment of about 100 sharp-shooters, mainly from Companies B and G of the 75th New York, under Lieutenants Root and Cox, was then sent aboard the Clifton, and to the Sachem an officer and 25 men from the i6ist New York. About daylight on the 7th, Crocker became con vinced that he had overrun his distance and gone A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 269 beyond Sabine Pass ; but when all the vessels had put about and for three or four hours had been steer ing to the eastward, he found himself off the entrance to the Calcasieu, thirty miles east of the Sabine. Then he and Weitzel agreed that, under the circum stances, the best thing to be done was to intercept the remainder of the expedition, supposed to be fol lowing, under the immediate command of Franklin, and assembling the whole force where they were to wait until the next morning, the 8th of September, for the attempt at Sabine Pass. But the arrange ment had been that the attack by the gunboats to cover Weitzel s landing was to be made early on the morning of the 7th. Accordingly Franklin, with his part of the fleet, carrying the supporting force, had already passed Berwick Bay ; in fact, at eleven o clock he was off Sabine Pass ; and the Suffolk, bearing the headquarters flag of the Nineteenth Corps, had crossed the bar and was about to run in, the others following, when Franklin perceived that his advance had not yet come up, and therefore stopped the movement. In the afternoon Weitzel, seeing nothing of Franklin s fleet, made up his mind that he must have gone by, and once more setting his face toward the west, joined Franklin off the Sabine about nine o clock that evening. After the full and open notice thus given the enemy, all thought of anything like a surprise was at an end ; yet it was agreed to go on and make the attempt the next morning. Accordingly, at daylight on the 8th, Crocker, with the Clifton and the other gunboats, followed by Weitzel with the 75th New York on the transport steamer Charles Thomas, entered the harbor, and after reconnoitring the land- 270 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ing-place and the defences, signalled the rest of the fleet to run in. Weitzel put a picked force of five hundred men on the transport General Banks, and following in the wake of the four gun-boats, made ready to land about a thousand yards below the fort. Shortly before four o clock the gunboats moved to the attack. Above the swamp through which the Sabine finds an outlet to the Gulf, the shore lies low and barren. The fort or sand battery was placed at the turn about one half mile below the hamlet called Sabine City, opposite the upper end of the oyster reef that for nearly a mile divides the channel into two parts, each narrow and neither straight. The Sachem, followed by the Arizona, took the eastern or Louisi ana channel, and was hardly under fire before a shot struck her steampipe and completely disabled her. The Clifton moved at full speed up the western or Texas channel until, when almost directly under the guns of the fort, she also received a shot through her boilers, grounding at the same time ; and thus, nearly at the same instant, before the action had fairly begun, the two leading gunboats were completely disabled and at the mercy of the enemy. The Louisi ana channel was too narrow for the Arizona to pass the Sachem or to turn about ; so at the moment when the Clifton received her fatal injury, the Arizona was backing down the eastern channel to ascend the western to her assistance ; but in doing this she also took the ground. The Sachem hauled down her colors and hoisted the white flag at the fore, and after bravely continuing the fight for twenty minutes longer the Clifton followed suit. The place where the Clifton grounded was fairly in range of the beach where Weitzel was expected to A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 271 land his troops. There may have been a minute, or even ten, during which it might have been possible for Weitzel, breaking away from the concerted plan, to have thrown his picked men ashore while the attention of the Confederates was fixed upon the Clifton ; yet, although this criticism has been sug gested by high authority, the point would have been a fine one at best ; and under the actual circum stances, with the Granite City in the channel ahead, the Arizona aground, and the guns of the Sachem and the Clifton about to be added to those with which the enemy had opened the action, the problem be comes one of pure speculation. What is clear is that the landing depended upon the gunboats ; that these were cruelly beaten before they had a chance to prove themselves ; and that nothing really remained to do but what was actually done : that is, to give up the expedition and go home. It is true that the orders under which Franklin was acting indicated that if he found a landing imprac ticable at Sabine Pass he was to attempt to land at some other place near by ; and it is also true that the infantry might have been set ashore almost anywhere in the soft salt marsh that serves for the neighboring coasts of Louisiana and Texas ; but this must have been without their guns and wagons and with no fresh water save what they carried with them until they should have moved successfully into the interior ; while on the transports the stock of water was al ready running so low that the men and animals were on short allowance. Therefore, with the loss of 3 officers and 94 men captured, of the 75th New York, 6 killed, 2 drowned, and 4 wounded, and 200 mules and 200, 000 rations thrown into the sea, the expedi- 272 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Tion returned to New Orleans, whence, by reason of unseaworthiness of transports, part of it had not yet started. The transports came back in a sorry plight, the Cahawba on one wheel, the river steamboat Laurel Hill without her smokestacks, and all the others of her class with their frail sides stove. The Clifton and the Sachem, whose losses are but partially reported, lost 10 killed, 9 wounded, and 39 missing. Nearly all the rest of their crews were taken prisoners. The Confederate work, known as Fort Griffin, mounted six guns, of which two were 32-pounder smooth bores, two 24-pounder smooth bores, and two 32-pounder howitzers, manned by a single company of Cook s regiment of Texas artillery, whose strength is stated variously, though with great precision, as 40, 41, 42, and 44 men. This company was commanded by Lieutenant Richard W. Dowling, and the post by Captain Frederick H. Odium. There was a support ing body of about 200 men, as well as the gunboat Uncle Ben, but Dowling s company was the only force actually engaged. They received, and certainly de served, the thanks of the Confederate Congress. Still intent on executing the instructions of the government, and having in mind Halleck s strong preference for an overland operation, Banks at once gave orders to concentrate at Brashear for a move ment up the Teche as far as Lafayette, or Ver milion, and thence across the plains by Niblett s Bluff into Texas. The route by the Atchafalaya and the Red River, Halleck s favorite, was now impracti cable, for both rivers were at their lowest stage, and the great length of this line put out of the question the movement of any large force dependent upon land transport. A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 273 During the last fortnight of September, Banks con centrated Weitzel s and Emory s divisions of the Nine teenth Corps, under Franklin, on the lower Teche, near Camp Bisland, supporting them with Wash- burn s and McGinnis s divisions of the Thirteenth Corps, under Ord. The cavalry division under A. L. Lee covered the front towards New Iberia. Emory being forced to go North on sick-leave, his division was commanded by McMillan from the i7th of September until the 6th of October, when Grover relieved him after turning over the Fourth division to Beckwith. Birge, with his reorganized brigade, occupied La Fourche, with headquarters at Thibodeaux. Sharpe s brigade of Weitzel s division remained at Baton Rouge, with Gooding as the post commander. Burbridge s division of the Thirteenth Corps re mained at Carrollton, while Herron s, at the time of the Sabine Pass expedition, had been posted at M or ganza to observe and prevent any fresh movement by the Confederates across the upper Atchafalaya. This division was about 2, 500 strong, and Herron, being ill, had just turned over the command to Dana, when on the 2Qth of September Green swept down with Speight s and Mouton s brigades and the bat talions of Waller and Rountree upon the outposts on Bayou Fordoche, at Sterling s plantation, killed 16, wounded 45, and took 454 prisoners, including nearly the full strength of the iQth Iowa and 26th Indiana. Green s loss was 26 killed, 85 wounded, and 10 miss ing ; in all, 212. On the 3d of October Franklin broke camp at Bisland and moved by easy marches to a position near the south bank of the Bayou Carencro, meeting i3 274 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. With no resistance beyond slight skirmishing at the crossing of the Vermilion. On the nth the Nine teenth Corps encamped within two miles of the Ca- rencro, its daily marches having been, on the 3d to Franklin, twelve miles ; on the 4th to Sorrell s planta tion, eleven miles ; on the 5th to Olivier s, near New Iberia, thirteen miles ; on the 8th to the Vermilion, fifteen miles ; on the gth, crossing the Vermilion, eight miles; on the nth ten miles; in all, sixty-nine miles. Ord with the Thirteenth Corps, meanwhile aug mented by Burbridge s division from Carrollton, set out from Berwick at the same time that Franklin left Bisland, and, following at an interval of a day s march, encamped on the loth of October on the Ver milion. On the 1 4th Ord closed up on Franklin at the Carencro. A week later, Ord being ill, Wash- burn took command of the detachment of the Thir teenth Corps, his division falling to Lawler. Banks with his staff left New Orleans on the 7th of October. On the following afternoon he joined the forces near New Iberia, remaining near headquarters in the field until the evening of the 1 1 th, when he returned to New Orleans. Stone stayed two days longer and then followed his chief. This left Franklin in com mand of all the forces in Western Louisiana, number ing about 19, 500 for duty, namely, 11, 000 of the Thirteenth Corps, 6, 000 of the Nineteenth Corps, and 2, 500 of the cavalry division. Banks s object in returning to New Orleans was to organize a second expedition for the coast of Texas. The advance to the Carencro had not only brought his army face to face with Taylor s forces, but also with the well-known conditions that would have to be met and overcome A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS. 275 in the movement beyond the Sabine. All idea of this march of more than two hundred miles across a barren country, with no water in the summer and fall, while in the winter and spring there is plenty of water but no road, was now given up once for all. Besides the natural obstacles, there was Magruder to be reckoned with at the end of the march and Taylor in the rear. Taylor had now about 11, 000 effectives in the divisions of Mouton, Walker, and Green, with eleven batteries. To occupy him and to push him farther away, Franklin marched to Opelousas on the 2ist of October, skirmishing by the way, and until the end of the month continued to occupy a position covering that town and Barre s Landing. On the 26th of October, with a force of about 4, 000 effectives of the Second division of the Thir teenth Corps under Dana, augmented by the I3th and 1 5th Maine, the ist Engineers and i6th infantry of the Corps d Afrique, and the ist Texas cavalry, Banks embarked at New Orleans for the mouth of the Rio Grande. After long delays and great peril from bad weather, the expedition landed at Brazos Santiago between the 3d and 5th of November, and on the 6th occupied Point Isabel and Brownsville, dis tant thirty miles on the main land. Having thus at last secured the foothold in Texas so urgently desired by the government, Banks, who had now entered heartily into this expansive scheme, set about occupying successively all the passes or in lets that connect the Gulf of Mexico with the land locked lagoons or sounds of the Texas coast from the Rio Grande to the Sabine. Accordingly, he sent for the rest of the Thirteenth 276 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Corps, and by the end of December had taken posses sion of the fringe of the coast as far east and north as Matagorda Bay. So far he had met with little opposition, the Confederate force in this part of Texas being small. The Brazos and Galveston were still to be gained, and here, if anywhere in Texas, a vigorous resistance was to be counted on. Banks was bending everything to the attempt when, as the new year opened, the government stopped him, and turned his head in a new direction. During these operations on the Texan coast the 1 3th Maine, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hes- seltine, and the i5th Maine formed part of the Second division of the Thirteenth Corps. Both regiments did good service, especially under Ransom, in the ex pedition that, led by Washburn, landed on Mustang Island on the i6th of November, took the Confederate battery commanding Aransas Pass, and then, crossing to Matagorda Island, rapidly reduced Fort Esperanza, and thus gained the control of Matagorda Bay before the month was out. CHAPTER XXII. WINTER QUARTERS. IN preparation for Washburn s departure on the 27th of October, Franklin began to draw back from Opelousas to New Iberia. Lawler led off, and was followed on the ist of November by McGinnis, Grover, Weitzel, and the cavalry under Fonda, in the order named. Burbridge, followed by Mudd s cavalry brigade, took the Teche road, by Grand Coteau. On the 3d, while the Nineteenth Corps rested at the Vermilion and McGinnis at the Carencro, Bur- bridge, who was in camp on Bayou Bourbeau, was surprised by the sudden descent of Green with two brigades. Burbridge had with him only his First brigade, about 1, 200 strong, with 500 men of the n8th Illinois mounted infantry and the I4th New York cavalry, under Fonda, Rice s 1 7th Ohio battery, and Marland s section of Nims s battery ; in all, 1, 625 men. The 23d Wisconsin, 96th Ohio, 6oth Indiana, and the gunners of Rice and Nims fought hard to prevent a rout and to save the wagon-trains and the artillery ; and, McGinnis coming up in good time, Green drew off, taking with him nothing save one of the Ohio lo-pounder Parrotts. At one moment both of Marland s guns, abandoned by their supports, were completely cut off by the Confederate cavalry, 277 278 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. But Marland, rising to the occasion, bade his can noneers draw their revolvers, and charged at a full gallop directly through the lines of Green s cavalry, to the complete astonishment of both armies, and came into battery on the right of the 46th Indiana. "The bringing off of the section of Nims s battery, commanded by Lieutenant Marland, " says Washburn, " after the regiment sent to its support had sur rendered, extorted the admiration of every beholder. " Marland s loss in this brilliant little affair was but two men missing. Burbridge had 25 killed, 129 wounded, and 562 captured or missing; in all, 716. Green reports his loss as 22 killed, 103 wounded, and 53 missing. Green s report shows that he had in the fight three regiments of infantry, seven of cavalry, and two sections of artillery. With frequent skirmishing, but without serious molestation, the march was continued, and on the 1 7th of November, the Nineteenth Corps went into camp at New Iberia. By the end of December the Thirteenth Corps, except Sheldon s brigade which was at Plaquemine, had been gradually transferred to the Texas coast. Thus Franklin was left to hold the line of the Teche with little more than 5, 000 men of the Nineteenth Corps and about 3, 500 of Lee s cavalry. This, with the winter nights and the winter roads, was too small a force to hold a position so advanced and so exposed as New Iberia, even if there had been any longer an object in doing so. Accordingly, on the evening of the 5th of January, marching orders were issued for the following morn ing ; but in the night a drizzling rain came on and, freezing as it fell, coated the deep, dense mud with a WINTER QUARTERS. 279 glaze of ice. The march was therefore put off a day, and on the morning of the 7th, through a frozen bog, a biting norther blowing, and the weather un usually cold for this region, the Nineteenth Corps floundered back to Franklin. The best of the roads were bad enough, but those across the bends, used in ordinary seasons as cut-offs, were now impassable sloughs, so the troops had to march nearly the full length of the bayou. Here a novel form of straggling was introduced through the ever industrious ingenuity of the lazy, many of whom contrived to leave the ranks, and, crossing the levee, seized canoes or made rafts, and tranquilly floated down the bayou ahead of their plodding comrades. On the morning of the gth of January the corps went into winter quarters at Franklin. Tents were not issued until a month later, but meanwhile the men built shelters and huts for themselves of such materials as they could find on the plantations or in the wooded swamps ; and with branches of live oak and boughs of laurel and the long gray Spanish moss, they constructed for their camps a lavish orna mentation of arbors and arches, mimic forts and sham monitors. The terms of service of the older regiments enlisted in the early days of 1861 being about to expire, the government now offered a bounty and a furlough for thirty days to all veterans who should again enlist for three years or during the war ; and in carrying out this plan Banks arranged to send home in each month, beginning with February, at least two regiments of re- enlisted veterans from each corps. Of the nineteen regiments and six batteries of the Nineteenth Corps raised in 1861, every one promptly embraced these 280 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Terms. In some regiments nearly every man present re-enlisted. The 7th Vermont enrolled every survivor, save 59, of the original muster; in the i3th Connecti cut out of 406 present 400 signed ; the 26th Massa chusetts returned 546. To make up, in part, for the temporary loss to be accounted for from this cause, the government sent down four fine regiments, well com manded, the 2Qth Maine, the 3Oth Maine, the i53d New York, and the i4th New Hampshire, and, these being assigned to the Nineteenth Corps, the first three joined the First division, but the I4th New Hampshire came too late for the campaign, and was assigned to temporary duty near New Orleans. About the same time Nields s ist Delaware battery and Storer s 7th Massachusetts battery joined the corps. The idea of a foothold in Texas had been gradually swelling until at length it had attained the dimensions of an overland army of occupation. For this the nature of the region to be traversed, as well as the character of the enemy to be met, demanded a large mounted force. Therefore the government sent from Washington and from other Northern stations the 2d New York veteran cavalry, the nth New York, the 1 8th New York, the 2d Maine, the 3d Rhode Island, the I2th Illinois, and the 3d Maryland, and from the West many horses. Banks also mounted seven more regiments of infantry, and having thus raised Lee s cavalry division, when all had joined, to nineteen regiments, they were finally organized in five brigades, with three batteries of horse artillery, namely, Duryea s, Rawles s, and Nims s. These three batteries were thus lost to the Nineteenth Corps, and with them four of the mounted infantry regiments, the 2d Louisiana, the 75th New York, the 8th New WINTER QUARTERS. 281 Hampshire, and the 3ist Massachusetts; the last three only for a time. Returning from sick-leave, Emory relieved Weitzel in command of the First division on the i3th of De cember. Weitzel presently went North on special service and did not resume his command but was transferred in the spring to the Army of the James. In February, 1864, while the Nineteenth Corps lay in camp at Franklin, it was once more re-organized by breaking up the First, Third and Fourth divisions, and forming two new divisions, the First, commanded by Emory, comprising the brigades of Dwight, Me Millan and Benedict ; the Second division, commanded by Grover, composed of the brigades of Nickerson, Birge, and Sharpe. Emory s division was already concentrated on the Teche, but Grover s brigades were separated, Nickerson s being in the defences of New Orleans, Birge s in La Fourche, and Sharpe s at Baton Rouge. The first intention was to concentrate the division at Madisonville, and move it by rail to join Franklin ; but events interposed. The Corps staff serving at this time at headquar ters in the field included Colonel Charles C. Dwight. Acting assistant inspector-general ; Surgeon Eugene F. Sanger, medical director ; Captain J. G. Oltman, topo graphical engineer ; Captain Thomas H. Annable, commissary of musters; Captain A. W. Chapman, judge-advocate ; Lieutenant John J. Williamson, ordnance officer; Captain Henry C. In wood, provost- marshal; Captain John P. Baker, Captain George M. Franklin, and Lieutenant David Lyon, aides-de-camp. CHAPTER XXIII. THE RED RIVER. SEVEN months had thus been spent in desultory adventures and in multitudinous preparations without a serious military object, and still the capture of Mobile was to be put off, and still the dream of a foothold in Texas was to be pursued. As for Texas, if the government had, especially at this time, any settled plan, it is by no means easy to make out what it was. In the previous July the occupation of some point in Texas had been put forward by Halleck as an object of paramount importance. At first the particular place and manner were of no consequence ; yet, when the mouth of the Rio Grande had been seized, with the effect of cutting off the contraband trade of Mat- amoras, Seward, who may be supposed to have known the diplomatic purposes of the government, was frankly delighted, while Halleck, who must be re garded as expressing its military views, was as frankly disgusted. Finally, when not one foothold but many footholds had been gained along the coast of Texas, Halleck wound up the long correspondence * by renew ing his instructions of the previous summer, looking to a combined naval and military operation on the Red River upon a scale even greater than that originally contemplated ; for now, besides the great fleet of iron- 1 January 4, 1864 Official Records, vol. Xxxiv, part ii. , p. 15. 282 THE RED RIVER. 283 clads under Porter, the project was to absorb the available strength of three armies. Banks was to move northward by the Atchafalaya ; Steele was to advance from the line of the Arkansas ; and from Vicksburg Grant was to send Sherman, with such troops as he could spare. Grant, Banks, Sherman, and Steele, as well as Admiral Porter, received corresponding instructions at the same time, and, understanding them in the same sense, the Red River expedition was fairly launched. Once committed to the scheme, Banks devoted himself loyally to the arrangements necessary for prosecuting it on a scale at least commensurate with the magnitude of the undertaking and with the expec tations of the government, as he understood them. Texas was to be his objective, and he was to lead his army up the Red River, as the shortest and best way to Texas. From the outset he was committed to the use of a large body of cavalry able to operate on the plains that lie beyond the Sabine, as well as to overcome the opposition of the mounted forces of the Confederacy in that region. Not only was forage scarce in the Red River country, but, Shreveport once taken and passed, the march would lie for three hundred miles across a desert ; an immense forage train was therefore indispensable. It was also rea sonable to suppose that, before passing Shreveport, the combined armies of the Confederacy in the trans- Mississippi would have to be met and beaten, and for this end a large force of infantry and artillery must also form part of the expedition, at least as far as Shreveport. The co-operation of the Navy was necessary, in its turn, if only to keep open the long line of supply by the Red River. Finally the 284 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. * usual time of the highest water in the upper Red River fixed the date of the movement. Sherman came from Vicksburg to New Orleans on the ist of March, and within a few hours reached a distinct agreement with Banks as to the aid ex pected from the Army of the Tennessee. Admiral Porter had already arranged to be at the mouth of the Red River with a large fleet of gunboats in time for the rising of the waters ; and now Sherman promised to send with the fleet ten thousand picked men of his army, to be at Alexandria on the i7th of March. Banks, on his part, agreed that his troops, marching north by the Teche, should meet Sherman s at Alexan dria. Steele, who was at Little Rock, undertook to move at the same time to meet the combined forces and the fleet on the Red River. Confronting Steele was Price ; across Banks s line of advance stood Tay lor ; with the whole or any part of his force, Sherman and Porter might have to reckon, and in any case Fort De Russy must be neutralized or reduced before they could get to Alexandria. Thus upon a given day two armies and a fleet, hun dreds of miles apart, were to concentrate at a remote point far within the enemy s lines, situated on a river always difficult and uncertain of navigation, and now obstructed and fortified. Not often in the history of war is the same fundamental principle twice vio lated in the same campaign ; yet here it was so, and even in the same orders, for after once concentrating within the enemy s lines at Alexandria, the united forces of Banks, Sherman, and Porter were actually to meet those of Steele within the enemy s lines at Shreveport, where Kirby Smith, strongly fortified moreover, was within three hundred miles, roughly THE RED RIVER. 285 speaking, of either Banks or Steele, while Steele was separated from Banks by nearly five hundred miles of hostile territory, practically unknown to any one in the Union armies, and neither commander could communicate with the other save by rivers in their rear, over a long circuit, destined to lengthen with each day s march, as they should approach their com mon enemy in his central stronghold. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about all this was Sherman s ready and express assent to the disre gard of the first rule of the great art of which he had always been an earnest student and long past a mas ter : yet it is to be observed that Sherman knew the Red River country better than any one in the Union armies ; he knew well the scanty numbers and the scattered state of the hostile forces ; with him, as well as with Admiral Porter, this movement had long been a favorite ; he had indeed hoped and expected to undertake it himself ; but he evidently had in mind a quick and bold movement, having for its object the destruction of the Confederate depots and workshops at Shreveport, without giving the enemy notice, breathing space, or time to concen trate. But this was not to be. On learning, at New Orleans, that Banks meant to command in person, Sherman naturally gave up all thought of accompany ing the expedition, and went back to Vicksburg to get his troops ready. The contingent he had prom ised to send from the Army of the Tennessee he now made up of two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps, united under Mower, with Kilby Smith s division of the Seventeenth Corps, and the command of the whole he gave to A. J. Smith. As early as the 2d of March Porter assembled at 286 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The mouth of the Red River a great fleet of nineteen ironclads, including fifteen of the heavier class and four of the lighter. The fleet carried 162 guns, of which 62 were of the higher calibres, from Sopounder rifles up to ii-inch Dahlgrens, and the combined weight of projectiles was but little less than five tons. On the loth of March, A. J. Smith embarked his force at Vicksburg on an admirably organized fleet of nineteen river transports, controlled by a simple sys tem of signals from the flagship Clara Bell. When, the next day, Smith joined Porter at the mouth of the Red River, six days were still left until the time when Banks had agreed to be at Alexandria with his o army. Sherman s orders to Smith required him to make use of the interval by co-operating with the navy in an expedition up the Black and the Washita, for the destruction of Harrisonburg, but Porter had already done the work single-handed. Naturally sup posing that Banks s troops were in march up the Teche toward the point of meeting, although they knew that Banks himself was still detained at New Orleans, Smith and Porter determined at once to take or turn Fort De Russy, and then to push on to Alexandria. On the morning of the i2th of March, the combined fleet entered the Red River. At the head of the Atchafalaya, Porter, with nine of the gunboats, turned off to the left and descended that stream as far as Simmesport, followed by the army transports, while Phelps, with the East-port and the remainder of the fleet, continued the ascent of the Red River, with a view of threatening Fort De Russy, and occupying the attention of its defenders until Smith could land and march across country to attack them. THE RED RIVER. 287 On the morning of the i3th of March Smith landed, and toward nightfall took up the line of march for Fort De Russy, distant by land twenty- eight miles, although by the windings of the river nearly seventy. In his front, Smith found Scurry s brigade of Walker s division partly entrenched on Yellow Bayou ; but Mower quickly brushed Scurry- aside, and Walker, after observing the strength of his enemy, concentrated on the Bayou De Glaize, to avoid being shut up in the elbow at Marksville, as well as to get Mouton in support ; and thus the way was open to Smith. On the afternoon of the i4th, Mower arrived before Fort De Russy, and just be fore nightfall the brigades of Lynch and Shaw swept over the parapet and forced a surrender, with a loss of 3 killed and 35 wounded. The captures included 25 officers and 292 men, and ten guns, of which two were 9-inch Dahlgrens from the spoils of the Indianola and the Harriet Lane, once more restored to their first owners. Phelps, who had with great energy burst through the formidable raft nine miles below Fort De Russy, came up in the Eastport in time to fire one shot from his 100 pounder Parrott, and to see the white flag displayed. When this news reached him, Porter at once ordered his fastest boats to hasten to Alexandria. The advance of the fleet arrived off the town on the 1 5th of March, just as the last of the Confederate boats were making good their escape above the falls. Kilby Smith with his division followed on the trans ports with the remainder of the fleet, and, landing at Alexandria during the afternoon of the i6th, relieved the naval detachment sent ashore some hours earlier to occupy the town. On the i8th of March, A. J. 288 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Smith marched in with Mower s two divisions. Thus the advance of Porter s fleet was at Alexandria two days, and the head of A. J. Smith s column one day, ahead of the appointed time. Walker retreated on Natchitoches, accompanied by Gray s brigade of Mouton s division from the Huffpower. Taylor, quitting his headquarters at Al exandria, called in Polignac s brigade from the line of the Tensas and concentrated his force at Carroll Jones s plantation, on the road between Opelousas and Fort Jesup, distant forty-six miles in a south-south easterly direction from Natchitoches, twelve miles south from Cotile, and twenty miles southwesterly from Alexandria. Here he was in a good position for receiving supplies and reinforcements, for cover ing Natchitoches, and for observing any approach of the Union forces either from Opelousas or from Alexandria. Meanwhile Banks had called in from Texas the divisions of Cameron and Ransom of the Thirteenth Corps and sent them to join Franklin on the lower Teche. The command of this detachment being given to Ransom, his division fell to Landram. Lee s cavalry was given the same direction, excepting Fon da s brigade, which stayed at Port Hudson. His last brigade, that of Dudley, marched from Donaldson- ville on the 6th of March, crossed Berwick Bay on the Qth, and arrived at the cavalry camp near Frank lin on the loth. Cameron s wagons reached him at Berwick on the i2th, and he marched to join the army in the field on the morning of the i3th. On the even ing of the same day Lee led the advance of the army from the town of Franklin, but, his column being quite nine miles long, it was not until the following LOUISIANA SHEET IV, THE RED RIVER. 289 morning that his rear-guard filed into the road. On the morning of the I5th of March he was followed by Emory and Ransom. Lee arrived at Alexandria on the 1 9th, Emory on the 25th, and Ransom on the 26th. The troops were, with some exceptions among the newly mounted regiments, in admirable condition, all were in fine spirits, and the long march of one hundred and sixty miles was well ordered and well executed, without confusion, haste, or delay, so that when, with closed ranks and bands playing, and with measured tread and all intervals observed, the column entered Alexandria, the appearance of the men drew exclamations of admiration even from critics the least friendly. When the news of A. J. Smith s and Porter s arri val in the Red River and of the capture of Fort De Russy reached New Orleans on the i6th of March, it found Banks himself preparing to set out on the fol lowing morning to join Franklin near New Iberia. He at once despatched Stone to Alexandria by the river, and following him on the 23d on the transport steamer Black Hawk, arrived at Alexandria on the 24th, and took command of the combined forces of Franklin and A. J. Smith. Grover, as has been said, was to have moved with Franklin, or close upon his heels, but the 7th of March had come before the first preparatory orders were given for the movement of Sharpe s brigade from Baton Rouge, and not until the loth was Grover told to concentrate his division at Thibodeaux. His route was now changed to the river. Accordingly Sharpe s brigade debarked at Alexandria on the 26th, and the Second brigade under Molineux on the 28th, but Nickerson stayed for a fortnight longer at Carrollton. 19 2QO THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Vincent, who with the 2d Louisiana cavalry had been watching and reporting Lee s movement and regularly falling back before his advance, joined Taylor at Carroll Jones s on the igth. Then Taylor sent Vincent with his regiment and Edgar s battery to watch the crossing of Bayou Jean de Jean and to hold the road by which Banks was expected to advance on Shreveport. Vincent encamped on the high ground known as Henderson s Hill, commanding the junction of the Bayous Rapides and Cotile twenty-three miles above Alexandria. Here he was in the air, and A. J. Smith, realizing the importance of seizing the passage without loss of time, at once proceeded to dislodge him. Accordingly, on the 2ist of March he sent out Mower with his two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps and Lucas s brigade of cavalry. Mower made his dispositions with great skill and promptness, and that night, during a heavy storm of rain and hail, com pletely surprised Vincent s camp and captured the whole regiment bodily, together with four guns of Edgar s battery. A few of Vincent s men managed to escape in the darkness and confusion, but about 250 were brought in and with them 200 horses. This was . A heavy blow to Taylor, since it deprived him of the only cavalry he had with him and thus of the means of scouting until Green should come from Texas. Mower returned to Alexandria on the 22d, and Taylor, probably unwilling to risk a surprise in his exposed position, withdrew about, thirty miles to Kisatchie, still covering the Fort Jesup road ; but a week later he sent his cavalry northward twenty-six miles to Natchi- toches and with his infantry retired to Pleasant Hill. Banks has been blamed for his delay in meeting A. J. Smith and Porter at Alexandria, yet, whatever THE RED RIVER. 291 may be the theoretical merits of such a criticism, in fact no loss of time that occurred up to the moment of quitting Alexandria had the least influence on the course of the campaign, for even after the concentra tion was completed the river, though very slowly rising by inches, was still so low that the gunboats were unable to pass the rapids. The Eastport hung nearly three days on the rocks in imminent peril, and at last had to be hauled off by main force, a whole brigade swaying on her hawsers to the rhythm of the field music. This was on the 26th of March, and the Eastport was the first of the gunboats to pass the rapids, the Admiral being naturally unwilling to expose the boats of lighter draught as well as of lighter armament to the risk of capture if sent up alone. The hospital steamer Woodford, which was the first boat to follow the Eastport, was wrecked in the attempt. The next five boats took three days to pass, nor was it until the 3d of April that the last of the twelve gunboats and thirty transports, selected to accompany the expedition to Shreveport, floated in safety above the obstructions. Seve ral of the transports drew too much water to permit them to pass the rapids ; these, therefore, stayed below, and with them the remaining seven gunboats. And now occurred the first important departure from the original plan of operations. The season of high water had been looked forward to as insuring constant communication along the whole length of the Red River as far as the fleet should be able to ascend. But the Red is a treacherous river at best, and this year it was at its worst. There was to be no March rise worth speaking about. Thus the rapids 292 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Presented an obstacle, impassable, or only to be passed with difficulty ; the bare rocks divided the fleet in twain, the only communication was overland by the road around the falls. The supplies had to be landed at Alexandria, loaded into wagons, hauled around, and re-shipped, and this made it necessary to establish depots in the town as well as above the falls, and to leave behind Grover s division, 4, 000 strong, to protect the stores and the carry. At the same time McPherson recalled Ellet s marine bri gade to Vicksburg, and thus the expedition lost a second detachment of 3, 000 men ; but this loss was partly made up by Dickey s brigade of colored troops, 1, 500 strong, which joined the column from the garrison of Port Hudson. Withal the force was ample, for at the end of March there were 31, 000 officers and men for duty, including about 4, 800 un der Ransom, 6, 600 under Emory, 9, 000 under A. J. Smith, and Lee s cavalry, 4, 600. Here was a superb fighting column of 25, 000 officers and men of all arms, with ninety guns. This more than met the calculations of Banks and Sherman on which the campaign was undertaken. In the three columns there were to be 40, 000 men ; of these, Sherman was to furnish 10, 000, Banks 15, 000, and Steele 15, 000. Steele had already sent word that he could not be counted upon for more than 7, 000, all told. He had expected to march from Little Rock by the i4th of March on Arkadelphia, there to be joined by Thayer moving at the same time from Fort Smith. Thayer marched on the 2ist with 4, 000 effectives and 14 guns, Steele on the 23d with 7, 500 effectives and 1 6 guns; besides these, he left Clayton with 1, 600 men and 1 1 guns to hold Pine Bluff. THE RED RIVER. 293 We have seen how, in one movement, three di vergent ideas were being carried out without either having been distinctly decided on : a foothold in Texas, an overland occupation in force, and a swift raid by the river. To these there was now to be added a fourth idea, in itself sound, yet fatally incon sistent with the others. On the 27th of March, before setting out from Alexandria, Banks received, by special messenger, the orders of Lieutenant-General Grant, dated the i5th of March, on taking command of the armies of the United States. For the first time during the war, all the armies were to move as one, with a single purpose, ruled by a single will ; along the whole line, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, a combined movement was to take place early in May, and in this the entire effective force of the Department of the Gulf was to take part. A. J. Smith was to join the Army of the Tennessee for the Atlanta campaign, and Banks was to go against Mobile. Sherman had lent A. J. Smith to Banks for thirty days. This limit Grant was willing to extend by ten or fifteen days, but if Shreveport were not to be taken by that time that is, by the 25th of April at the very latest, then Banks was to send A. J. Smith s detachment back to Vicks- burg in season to arrive there at the date originally named that is, by the loth of April, even if this should lead to the abandonment of the expedition. The orders for the expedition given by Halleck, while occupying nominally the supreme command that had now in truth fallen into the strong hand of Grant, were not revoked; the expedition was to go on ; only, to make sure that it should not be gone too long, it was to be put in irons. 294 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Grant may easily be excused if, while as yet hardly warm in the saddle, he hesitated to revoke orders that he must have known to be those of the President himself ; yet, since a door must be either open or shut, it would have been far better to revoke the orders than to trammel their execution with conditions so hard that Banks might well have thrown up the campaign then and there. However, Banks on his part had good reason to know the wishes of the gov ernment and not less the consequences of disregard ing them ; moreover, as the case must have presented itself to him, there was an off chance that Kirby Smith might not be able concentrate in time to save Shreveport ; another, still more remote, that he might give up the place without a fight ; and a third, more unlikely than either, that Steele might join Banks in time to make short work of it, or at all events to make Banks strong enough to spare A. J. Smith by the appointed time. Two weeks remained until the earliest date set for A. J. Smith to be at Vicksburg; twenty-nine days to the latest day allowed for the tak ing of Shreveport. In his dilemma Banks decided to run these chances. After seeing the first of the gunboats safely over the falls, on the 26th of March Banks set his column in motion. A. J. Smith marched on Cotile Landing to wait for his boats. On the 28th Lee, with the main body of the cavalry, preceded Smith to Henderson s Hill, in order to hold the road and the crossing of Bayou Jean de Jean. Franklin with Emory and Ransom and the main supply trains followed on the same day. Twenty miles above Cotile Landing the Red River divides, and for sixty miles, until Grand Ecore is reached, its waters flow in two unequal channels ; the THE RED RIVER. 295 most southerly of these, along which the road runs, is known as Cane River, or Old Red River. This was formerly the main stream, but the more northerly branch, at once deeper and less tortuous, now forms the only navigable channel, and is called the Rigolets du Bon Dieu, or more familiarly the Bon Dieu. Lee crossed Cane River at Monett s Ferry, and, recrossing above Cloutierville, entered Natchitoches on the 3ist of March. At Monett s Ferry on the 29th, Cloutierville on the 3Oth, and again at Natchi toches he encountered slight opposition from the enemy s skirmishers. Franklin, marching by the same road, encamped at Natchitoches on the 2d of April. Embarking on his transports as they came, A. J. Smith set out from Cotile Landing on the 2d of April in company with Porter s fleet, and landed at Grand Ecore on the 3d. The river was still rising slowly, and it was not until the 7th of April that Porter considered the draught of water sufficient to justify him in going farther. Then, leaving at Grand Ecore the six heavy boats that had come with him thus far, he began the ascent of the upper reach of the river with the Carondelet, Fort Hindman, Lexington, Osage, Neosho, and Chillicothe, convoying and closely followed by a fleet of twenty transports, bearing Kilby Smith s division and a large quantity of military stores of all kinds. Porter expected to be at Springfield Landing, no miles above Grand Ecore, on the 9th. On ar riving there, Kilby Smith was to reconnoitre towards Springfield, and if practicable, to send a regiment to seize the bridge across the Bayou Pierre in the direc tion of Mansfield. 296 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. On the 6th of April, as soon as the movement of the fleet was decided on, Banks resumed the march on Shreveport. Shortly after leaving Natchitoches the main road, with which the road from Grand Ecore unites, strikes off from the river toward the west to avoid Spanish Lake, and, traversing a barren wilderness, affords neither position nor resting-place until Shreveport is reached. Banks meant to be at Mansfield, holding the roads that there converge, simultaneously with the arrival of the fleet at Spring field Landing. Lee, who was encamped at Natchi toches with the brigades of Lucas, Robinson, and Dudley, led the advance, and marching twenty-three miles encamped that night at Crump s Corner. Ran som broke camp at Natchitoches at six o clock in the morning, and marched sixteen miles. Emory fol lowed closely upon Ransom. A. J. Smith remained at Grand Ecore till the next day, to await the de parture of the fleet, and then marching eight miles on the Shreveport road fell into the rear of the column. Dickey s colored brigade formed the guard of the main wagon train, and Gooding s brigade of cavalry covered the rear and left flank. From this time Lee s movements were to be directed by Franklin. Meanwhile, between the 3d and 5th of April, Tay lor, after consuming the forage for twenty miles around Pleasant Hill, had withdrawn his infantry to Mansfield. Green s cavalry, long expected, was now beginning to come in, largely augmented, from Texas, whither it had been hastily sent, early in the winter, to meet the threatened invasion from the coast. On the morning of the 7th of April, Lee advanced on Pleasant Hill, Robinson leading, supported by THE RED RIVER. 297 Lucas. Robinson easily drove before him the ad vance guard of the Confederate cavalry until about two o clock in the afternoon, at Wilson s farm, three miles beyond Pleasant Hill, he came upon the main body of Green s force, comprising Major s brigade, under Lane, posted in the skirt of the wood, on rising ground, behind a clearing. Robinson dismounted his men and engaged the enemy, who resisted so firmly that Lucas was sent to Robinson s support just in time to save him from being driven off the field by a determined charge. Lucas likewise dismounted his men, and the two brigades, charging together afoot, drove the Confederates from their position, and pur sued them to Carroll s saw-mill, on the southerly branch of Bayou St. Patrice, about seven miles be yond Pleasant Hill, where, toward nightfall, they made a strong stand. In this action, Lee took 23 prisoners, and suffered a loss of 1 1 killed, 42 wounded, and 9 missing. Ransom marched at half-past five in the morning, and at two o clock in the afternoon the head of his column was at Pleasant Hill, nineteen miles distant, where he went into camp, having overtaken the cavalry train during the march, and Dudley s brigade at the close. Emory, closely following Ransom, arrived at Pleasant Hill about five o clock in the afternoon, and went into carnp. The last of the infantry and all the wagons were much retarded by a heavy storm that broke over the rear of the column and cut up the road badly. The night was far spent when Ransom s train joined him, and Emory s, in spite of every exer tion, could not be brought up until late on the follow ing morning. A. J. Smith was now a good day s march behind Ransom and Emory. 298 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. When Lee found himself so obstinately opposed, and so hindered by these dilatory tactics, he sent a message to Franklin, through Banks s senior aide-de camp, who had been riding with the advance, asking that a brigade of infantry might be sent forward to his assistance. Lee s view was that the infantry, ad vancing in skirmish order, could make better progress than the cavalry, which, in a country so thickly wooded, found itself reduced to the same tactics, with the added drawback that as often as they dis lodged the enemy they had to run back after their horses before they could follow. Franklin declined to accede to this request without orders, justly re flecting that infantry thus advanced at night, after a hard day s march, must be worn out in the attempt to keep touch with the cavalry, while, in the history of these mixed forces, the instances are rare indeed in which the mounted men have not, after bringing on the action, left it, as the proper thing, for the infantry to finish. However, later in the evening Banks joined Franklin, and an hour or two before midnight ordered him to send a brigade to Lee, to report to him at dawn. Upon this Franklin directed Ransom to send either a brigade or a division, at his discre tion, and Ransom, in his turn, ordered Landram to take Emerson s brigade of his division and join the cavalry for the service indicated. CHAPTER XXIV. SABINE CROSS-ROADS. LANDRAM accordingly marched at three o clock on the morning of the 8th of April, and reported to Lee about five. Soon after sunrise Lee moved forward against the enemy, Lucas leading, with one regiment of his brigade dismounted and deployed as skirmishers, supported by two regiments of Landram s infantry, in line of battle. Green s men still adhering to the obstructive policy of the day before, after a time the two remaining regiments of Emerson s brigade were deployed and required to drive the enemy more rapidly, while the cavalry covered the flanks. About one o clock in the afternoon, when half the distance that separated Mansfield from his camp of the night before had been accomplished, Lee found himself at the edge of a large clearing on the slope of a hill, with the Confederates in force in his front and on his right flank. Ransom marched from Pleasant Hill at half-past five, and at half-past ten was ten miles distant on the northerly branch of the Bayou St. Patrice, designated as his camp for the day. He was just going into bivouac when, on a request from Lee for a fresh force of infantry to relieve the exhausted men of Emerson s brigade, Franklin directed Ransom to go forward 299 300 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Himself with Vance s brigade, and thus to make sure of Emerson s return. Franklin s arrangements for the day s march of his command, as well as Banks s for the whole force, con templated a short march for the head of the column and a longer one for the rear, so that at a compara tively early hour in the day the army would be closed up, ready to encounter the enemy in good order. Accordingly, shortly before three o clock in the after noon, Emory went into camp on the banks of the south branch of the St. Patrice, within easy support ing distance of Ransom, while A. J. Smith continued his march, until at night, having accomplished twenty-one miles, he went into bivouac about two miles before reaching Pleasant Hill. At last nearly the whole of Green s cavalry corps had joined Taylor, and at the same time two divisions of Price s army had come in from Arkansas and taken post in supporting distance of Taylor at Keachie, which is about half-way between Mansfield and Shreveport, or about twenty miles from either. With his own force, under Walker and Mouton, Green s Texans, Churchill s Arkansas division, and Parsons s Missouri division, Taylor now had at least sixteen thousand good men, with whom, if permitted, he might give battle in a chosen position, while Banks s force was stretched out the length of a long day s march on a single narrow road in a dense pine forest, with no elbow-room save such as was to be found in the narrow and infrequent clearings. In such a region excess of numbers was a hindrance rather than a help, and cavalry was worse than useless for offence. Banks was, moreover, encumbered by twelve miles of wagons bearing all his ammunition SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 301 and stores, and was weakened by the necessity of guarding this long train through the barren wilder ness deep in the heart of the enemy s country. Of these conditions Kirby Smith was planning to take advantage, and it was to guard against such an enter prise that Banks s column was closing up in readiness to meet the enemy with its full strength, when sud denly on both sides events took the bit in their teeth and precipitated a battle that was in the plans of neither. It was about eleven o clock when Ransom set out to go to the front with Vance s brigade. The distance to be passed over was about five and a half miles. Riding ahead, Ransom himself arrived on the field about half-past one in the after noon. At this time, by Lee s orders, Landram had pushed forward the iQth Kentucky, deployed as skir mishers, and supporting it strongly with the rest of Emerson s brigade, had driven Green s troopers across the open ground, over the hill, and well into the woods beyond, and had taken position on the crest. Here he was joined by Nims, who brought his guns into battery across the road. On the left of Nims were placed two of Rottaken s howitzers, detached from the 6th Missouri cavalry. On the right and left of the horse artillery Emerson formed, and Vance, as soon as he came up, took position on Emerson s right, but as Banks undertook to hasten the movement through the direct action of his own staff-officers, it resulted that the regiments of the two brigades were sandwiched. Lucas, dismounted, extended the line of battle to the right. With him were a section of Rawles s battery and another of Rottaken s. 302 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. To cover the flanks in the forest Dudley deployed as skirmishers the 8th New Hampshire on the right, and on the left the 3d and the 3ist Massachusetts, supported by the 26. Illinois. Robinson was with the cavalry train, which was rather closely following the march of its division, in order to clear the head of the infantry without starving the cavalry. Neither side could move forward without bringing on a battle. But Lee, instead of being able and ready to disengage his cavalry advance-guard and to fall back to a chosen field, was now anchored to the ground where he found himself, not alone by the concentra tion of the main body of the cavalry at the very front, but also and even more firmly by the presence of the infantry with its artillery and their employment, natu rally enough, to form the centre of his main line. The clearing, the largest yet seen by the Union Army since entering the interminable wilderness of pines, was barely half a mile in width ; across the road it stretched for about three quarters of a mile, and down the middle it was divided by a ravine. Directly in front of Banks stood Taylor in order of battle, covering the crossing of the ways that lead to Pleasant Hill, to Shreveport, to Bayou Pierre, and to the Sabine. On his right was the cavalry of Bee, then Walker s infantry astride of the main road, and on Walker s left Mouton, supported on his left by the cavalry brigades of Major and Bagby, dismounted. To this position, well selected, Taylor had advanced from Mansfield early in the morning, with the clear intention of offering battle, and, regardless of Kirby Smith s purpose of concentrating nearer Shreveport, had sent back orders for Churchill and Parsons to come forward. They marched early, and were by SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 303 this time well on the way, but a distance of twenty- five miles separated their camp of the night before from the field of the approaching combat. As on the previous day s march, Stone had been with Lee s advance since the early morning, without, however, being charged with the views of his chief and without attempting to issue orders in his name ; but now Banks himself rode to the extreme front, as his habit was. Arriving on the ground not long after Ransom, and seeing the enemy before him in force, Banks at once ordered Lee to hold his ground and sent back orders to Franklin to bring forward the column. The skirmishing that had been going on all the morning, as an incident of the advance and retreat of the opposing forces, had become the sharp prelude of battle, and through the openings of the forest the enemy could be seen in continuous move ment toward his left. This was Major and Mouton feeling their way to the Union right, beyond which and diagonally across the front ran the road that leads from Mansfield to Bayou Pierre. Whether Taylor, as he says, now became impatient at the delay and ordered Mouton to open the attack, or whether, as others have asserted, Mouton attacked without the knowledge or orders of Taylor, is not quite clear, nor is it here material. About four o clock, when the two lines had looked at each other for two hours or more, Taylor suddenly delivered his attack by a vigorous charge of Mouton s division on the east of the road. Ransom s infantry on the field numbered about 2, 400 officers and men ; including Lucas, Banks s fighting line fell below 3, 500, and the whole force he had at hand was not above 5, 000 strong. Against this, Taylor was now advancing 304 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. With nearly 10, 000. It was therefore inevitable that on both flanks his line must widely overlap that of Banks as soon as the two should meet. When Ransom perceived Mouton s movement, he threw forward his right to meet it with such spirit that Mouton s first line was driven back in con fusion upon his second ; then rallying and returning to the charge, Mouton s men halted, lay down, and began firing at about two hundred yards range. The two batteries of Landram s division, Cone s Chicago Mercantile, and Klauss s ist Indiana, now came on the field, and were posted by Ransom on the ridge near the centre, to oppose the enemy s advance on the left, before which Dudley s men were already falling back. Bee and Walker had in fact turned the whole left flank, and were rapidly moving on, breaking in the line as they advanced. This soon left Nims s guns without support, and at the same time Klauss and Cone came under a fire so severe from Walker s men, that Ransom determined to withdraw to the cover of the wood in his rear at the edge of the clearing. Unfortunately, Captain Dickey, his assistant adju tant-general, fell mortally wounded in the act of com municating these orders, and thus some of the regi ments farther toward the right, being without orders, and fighting stubbornly against great odds, stood their ground until they were completely surrounded and taken prisoners. While aiding Landram to rally and reform the remnants of his division in the skirt of timber, Ransom was severely wounded in the knee, and had to be carried off the field. Vance and Em erson were wounded and taken prisoners, each at the head of his brigade. Meanwhile, shortly after three o clock, at his quar- SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 305 ters, near Ransom s camp of the forenoon, Franklin received his first suggestion of an impending battle, in Banks s order to bring all the infantry to the front. First sending back word to Emory, Franklin set out at once and rode forward rapidly, followed by Cam eron s division. When, some time after four o clock, he entered the clearing and galloped to the hill where the guns of Nims still stood grimly defiant and Ran som s men were still desperately struggling to hold their first ground, the situation was already hopeless. Hardly had he arrived on the ground, than, by a single volley from Walker s advancing lines, Frank lin s horse was killed, and he himself and Captains Chapman and Pigman of his staff were wounded. Cameron came up just as Landram was striving hard to rally his men and to hold a second position in the lower skirt of the wood, to prevent the enemy from coming on across the clearing ; but for this, time and numbers and elbow-room were alike wanting. Moreover, every moment the Confederate troopers must be gaining on the flanks. Nor was Cameron s handful, barely 1, 300, enough to enable the remnant of the Thirteenth Corps to hold for many minutes so weak a position against such odds. Cameron deployed his four battalions and tried hard, but the whole line soon crumbled and fell apart to the rear. Until this moment, Banks and Franklin, as well as every officer of the staff of either, beginning with Stone, had exerted themselves to the utmost to sec ond the efforts of Ransom and of Landram to save the day. The retreat once fairly begun, all attempt to stay its course was for a time given up as idle, for every man knew just how far back he must go to find 20 3 o6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Room to form a line of battle longer than the road was narrow. Green s cavalry having been for the most part dismounted and on the flanks, as well as in the forest, the pursuit was not very vigorous and was now and then retarded by the successive covering lines of Lucas and of Dudley, so that the prospect seemed fair of bringing off the remnants of the fight ing force without much more loss, when about a mile behind the battle-field, at the foot of a slight descent, the retreating column came upon a knot of wagons inextricably tangled and stuck fast in a slough. This was the great cavalry train trying to escape. In stantly what had been a severe check became a seri ous disaster. Already, by holding so stiffly to his first position, in the front line, in the road, Nims had lost more than half his horses, and thus in quitting the field he found himself compelled to abandon three of his guns ; yet not until he had inflicted vast injuries upon his enemy, and to the last furnished a noble example of coolness in the performance of duty and the highest courage in the hour of trial. Now the remnant of this fine battery was swallowed up in the wreck of wagons, and scon fourteen more guns went to swell the ruin. Thus Rawles and Rottaken lost each a section, Cone and Klauss their whole batteries. In all twenty guns were lost ; three on the field and seventeen at the jam. With them went 175 wagons, n ambulances, and 1, 001 draught animals. To pass the obstruction the infantry had to turn widely out of the road and for a long distance push their way through the woods. No semblance of order survived. After this there was only one mass of men, wagons, and horses crowding to the rear. SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 307 How little expectation there had been of fighting a battle that day, especially on the line where the extreme outposts chanced to be, and how suddenly all was changed, is aptly shown by what was hap pening in Emory s camp when, at a quarter before four o clock, he received Franklin s order to go to the front. The wagons of the Thirteenth Corps were in the road in the act of passing the lines of the Nine teenth Corps on the way to join their proper com mand. Emory s wagons had been with him for some little time and several of the quartermasters were even engaged in issuing clothing when the summons came. There had been no heavy firing as yet, such as indicates a battle, and the exact degree of urgency may be best represented by saying that the marching orders were delivered to Emory in writing by a mounted orderly and were in these words : " Move your infantry immediately to the front, leaving one regiment as guard to your batteries and train. If your train has got up, you will take two days rations and the cooking utensils. " The language of this order, which may fairly be taken as an authentic reflection of the oral message from Banks, on which it was directly based, would have justified Emory in taking an hour or more for the issue of the rations ; but Emory, whose nature it was to forecast danger, had from the first hour of the campaign been appre hensive of some sudden attack that should find the army unprepared ; and thus it was that, merely stopping to take a double ration of hard bread, twelve minutes later the head of his column filed into the road and marched to the front. At this hour the battle was just beginning, and the first sounds, rolling to the rear, served to quicken the march of Emory s 308 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Men. About a quarter before five he was met by an aide-de-camp with orders to hasten, coupled with the first direct information that an engagement was in progress. A mile farther on an ambulance was met bearing Ransom to the rear. Emory exchanged a few words with the wounded officer, and then ordered his division to take the double-quick. A mile beyond, the usual rabble of camp followers and stragglers was encountered, and soon the road was filled with the swollen stream of fugitives, crying that the day was lost. And now from Emory down to the smallest drum mer-boy every man saw that the hour had come to show what the First division was made of. The leading regiments and flankers instantly fixed bayo nets ; the staff-officers drew their swords ; hardly a man fell out, but at a steady and even quickened pace, Emory s men forced their way through the confused mass in the eager endeavor to reach a position where the enemy might be held in check. This, in that country, was not an easy task, and it was not until the last rush of the flying crowd and the dropping of stray bullets here and there told that the pursuing enemy was close at hand, that Emory found room to deploy on ground affording the least advantage for the task before him. He was now less than three miles from the field where Lee had been beaten back and Ransom had been overwhelmed. The scene was a small clearing with a fenced farm, traversed by a narrow by-road and by a little creek flowing toward the St. Patrice. Here the Confede rates could be plainly seen coming on at such a pace that for some moments it was even doubtful whether Emory might not have delayed just too long the SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 309 formation of his line of battle. Such was his own thought as in the dire need of the crisis he deter mined to sacrifice his leading regiment in order to gain time and room for the division to form. Hap pily the Confederates helped him by stopping to loot the train and to rejoice loudly over each discovery of some special luxury to them long unfamiliar. Then rapidly sending orders to Dwight to hold the road at any cost, to McMillan to form on the right, to Benedict to deploy on Dwight s left, Emory himself rode up to Kinsey, and together they led for ward the i6ist New York and deployed the regiment widely as skirmishers across the whole front of the division, in the very teeth of the Confederate line of battle, rapidly advancing with wild yells and firing heavily as they came. Not a man of the division, not one of the i6ist, but felt as well as Emory the imposing duty laid on that splendid regiment and the hard sacrifice expected of it ; yet they stood their ground so well and so long that not only had the whole division time to deploy, but, when at last the Confederate line of battle refused any longer to be held back by a fringe of skirmishers, it became a serious question whether friend and foe might not enter the Union lines together. Then, when Emory saw that his line was formed, he gave the word to Kinsey to retire. For some seconds his skirmishers masked fire of their own lines, but, as the Confede rates followed with great impetuosity, Dwight s whole line, kneeling, waiting, and ready, opened a fierce fire at point-blank range and soon threw off the attack with heavy loss to their assailants. The brunt of the attack was borne by the 2Qth Maine, holding the centre and the road. An attempt followed to turn 3io THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Emory s right flank ; in this Dwight s right was pressed so heavily that Emory was obliged to deploy McMillan nearly at right angles to the main front, and thus the onset was easily checked. About the same time the Confederates, whose line was longer than Emory s, made a like attempt to turn the left, but Benedict held on firmly, and. Although his position was a bad one, soon drove off his assailants. The whole fight was over in twenty minutes, but while it lasted it was sharp. It rolled back the pursuit and changed the fortunes of the evil day. In no other battle of the war was so little use made of artillery. In Ransom s fight only a few guns could be brought into action on either side, though these indeed were served with vigor. As for Emory, he left his batteries and his baggage to the safe keeping of the 1 53d New York and swept to the front with all the rest of his infantry, while the same jam of wagons that entrapped the guns of Lee and Ransom likewise held back the guns of Taylor. Thus Emory s fight was fought by infantry alone against infantry and dismounted cavalry, and no roar of cannon was heard to break the rattle and the wail of the musketry. So great a change had these few hours wrought that the same sun rose upon an army marching full of confidence that within two days Shreveport would be in its grasp, and set upon the same army defeated, brought to bay, its campaign ruined, saved only by a triumph of valor and discipline on the part of a single division and of skill on the part of its intrepid commander from complet e destruction at the hands of an enemy inferior in everything and outnumbered almost as two to one. The passage of a wood is the SABINE CROSS-ROADS. 311 passage of a defile ; here, then, was a blind defile, where of six divisions four were suffered to be taken in detail and attacked in fractions on ground of the enemy s choosing. Hardly any tactical error was wanting to complete the discomfiture. Ransom was overwhelmed and doubly outflanked by two or three times his numbers ; even Emory had but five thousand against a force reduced by casualties and by straggling, yet still half as large again as his and flushed with victory ; moreover, his position was, whether for offence or defence, worthless beyond the passing hour. Banks s losses in the battle of Sabine Cross- Roads were as follows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. Cavalry Division . . . 39 250 144 433 Cameron s . . . . 24 99 195 318 Landram s " . . . . 28 148 909 1, 085 Emory s . . . . 24 148 175 347 Staff of Nineteenth Corps 0303 In all . . . 115 648 1, 423 2, 186 By Taylor the action is called the battle of Mans field. He puts his losses at 1, 000, all told. Fore most among the slain, while leading the fierce onset against Ransom s right, Mouton fell, a regimental color in his hand, and with him perished many of his brave Louisianians. Clearly the next thing, whatever might be the next after, was to concentrate and reform on the first fair ground in the rear. Such were Banks s orders. Accordingly at midnight Emory marched in orderly retreat, with all his material intact, and at eight o clock the next morning, the Qth of April, went into bivouac at Pleasant Hill, where A. J. 312 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Smith was found near his resting-place of the night before, and with him Gooding. Thither Lee and the shattered remnants of Ransom s Corps, now under Cameron, had already retired, and there they now reformed in comparative order. CHAPTER XXV. PLEASANT HILL. THE scenes and events of the 8th produced a deep effect on Banks. At first he was disposed to look on the campaign as lost. Whatever hope he might have had that morning of taking or even reaching Shreve- port within the time fixed for the breaking up of the expedition, was at an end before night fell. Not only must A. J. Smith be sent back to Vicksburg within two days, but Banks himself must be on the Missis sippi with his whole force ready to move against Mobile by the ist of May. Such were his orders from Grant, peremptory and repeated. Therefore Banks at once made up his mind to retreat to Grand Ecore, and sent messenger after messenger across the coun try to tell Kilby Smith and Porter what had happened and what he was about to do. In thus deciding he chose the second best course, and the one that Taylor wished for ; it would have been far better to cover Blair s Landing and thus make sure of the safety as well as the support of the gunboats and of Kilby Smith. Pleasant Hill was a village of a dozen houses dis persed about a knoll in a clearing. Beside the main highway between Natchitoches and Shreveport, by which Banks had come and was now going back, fairly good roads radiate to Fort Jesup and Many on 313 314 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The south to the crossings of the Sabine on the west, and on the north and east towards the Red River. The nearest point on the river was Blair s Landing, distant sixteen miles from Pleasant Hill by the road and forty-five miles by water above Grand Ecore. Though a good place to fight a battle, Pleasant Hill was not a position that could be held for any length of time, even if there had been an object in holding it. It was too far even from the immediate base of supplies, and there was no water to be had save from the cisterns in the village. These were merely sufficient, in ordinary times, for the storage of rain water for the daily use of the inhabitants. Now two armies had been drawing from them, and there was not enough left in them to supply the wants of Banks s men, to say nothing of the animals, for a single day ; and for this reason, if for no other, it was im possible for the army to stay there an hour longer than was really necessary to cover a safe and orderly withdrawal of the train. Accordingly, early on the 9th of April, Banks gave orders for the wagon train to be set in motion toward Grand Ecore, escorted by Lee with the cavalry and Dickey s colored brigade, and put his army into position at Pleasant Hill to cover the movement. Churchill with Tappan and Parsons had accom plished the march of twenty miles from Keachie to Mansfield too late in the evening- of the 8th to take any part in the battle of Sabine Cross -Roads. At two o clock the next morning he marched toward the front in order to arrive on the ground in time to renew the fight. By the earliest light of the morning Taylor saw that his adversary had already left the field. Then he promptly advanced his whole force, feeling PLEASANT HILL. 315 his way as he went. Green led with the cavalry ; next came Churchill with his own division, under Tappan ; then Parsons, Walker, and Polignac. The morning was wellnigh spent when Taylor with the head of his column drew near Pleasant Hill and dis covered his adversary in position. The last of his infantry did not come up until after noon. Churchill s men were so fagged by their early start and their long march of forty-five miles since the morning of the 8th that Taylor thought it best to give them two hours rest before attempting anything more. Two miles to the southward, across the main road, stood Emory, firmly holding the right of the Union lines. Dwight s brigade formed the extreme right flank, thrown back and resting on a wooded ravine that runs almost parallel with the road. Squarely across the road and somewhat more advanced, in the skirt of the wood before the village, commanding an open approach, was posted Shaw s brigade, detached from Mower s Third division, to strengthen the ex posed front of Emory. Benedict occupied a ditch traversing a slight hollow, the course of which was nearly perpendicular to the Logansport road, on which his right rested in echelon behind the left of Shaw. Benedict s front was generally hidden by a light growth of reed and willow, but his left was in the open and was completely exposed. Grow s battery, under South- worth, held the hill between Dwight and Shaw, and Closson s battery, under Franck Taylor, was planted so as to fire over the heads of Benedict s men. Mc Millan s brigade was in reserve behind Dwight and Shaw. The position thus occupied by Emory was a short distance north of the village in front of the fork of the roads that lead to Mansfield and to Logansport. 3i6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. About four hundred yards behind Benedict, and slightly overlapping his left, the line was prolonged by A. J. Smith, with the two divisions of Mower, strongly posted in the wood, to cover the crossing of the roads to Fort Jesup, to Natchitoches, and to Blair s Landing. Near Mower s right, Closson placed Hebard s battery. The extreme left flank on the Fort Jesup road was for a time held by Cameron ; but, through some uncertainty or misunderstanding of orders, he ap pears to have considered himself charged with the duty of protecting the right flank and rear of the retreating trains, rather than the left flank of the army. Accordingly five o clock found him with the wagons, two hours march from the field of battle. Lucas, with about 500 picked men of his own bri gade, taken from the i6th Indiana, the 6th Mis souri, and the i4th New York, and a like number from Gooding s brigade, was detached from the cav alry division for service under the immediate orders of Franklin. With these detachments Lucas skil fully watched all the approaches. Thus matters rested until the afternoon was well advanced, the long train steadily rolling on its way, and the prospects of being molested seeming to grow by degrees fainter as hour after hour passed and gave no sign of movement on the part of the Con federates. Taylor formed his line of battle and set his troops in motion between three and four o clock in the after noon. Bee with two brigades of cavalry was on the left or east of the Mansfield road, supported by Polignac, on whose division had fallen the heaviest losses of the day before. On the right or west of PLEASANT HILL. 317 the road was Walker, while Churchill, with three regi ments of cavalry on his right flank, moved under cover and out of sight on the right or south of the upper road to the Sabine. As early as the previous evening Taylor had con sidered the chances of Banks s retreat on Blair s Landing, and had sent a detachment of cavalry to gather intelligence of such a movement and to seize the crossing of Bayou Pierre. Now, hearing nothing from this detachment, he sent Major, with his own brigade and Bagby s, to the right of the Union army in time to seize and hold the road to the landing. Taylor s intention was that Churchill should gain the Fort Jesup road and fall upon the flank and rear of the Union army, while at the same instant Walker was to deliver a direct attack in echelon of brigades from the right. As soon as Churchill should have thrown the Union left into disorder, Bee was to charge down the Mansfield road, while Major and Bagby were to turn the flank of Emory. It was after three o clock when Churchill took up his line of march through the woods, Parsons leading. Whether for \rant of a good map of the country or from whatever cause, it seems probable that, when the head of Churchill s column had gained the lower Sabine road, which enters Pleasant Hill from the southwest, he mistook it for the Fort Jesup road, which approaches the village from the south. Then changing front to the left, the double lines of Parsons and Tappan charged swiftly down on the left flank and diagonally upon the front of Benedict, instead of falling, as Taylor meant, upon the flank and rear of Mower. Emory says the attack began at a quarter after five ; other reports name an earlier 3i8 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hour. However that may be, night was approaching, and the Union army had practically given up the idea of being attacked that day, when suddenly the battle began. Benedict s position was, unavoidably, a bad one, and this oblique order of attack was singularly adapted for searching out its weakness. When once Benedict s skirmishers had been driven back through the skirt of the woods that masked his right and centre, Churchill s men had but to descend the slope, firing as they came on, but without checking their pace, and it was a mere question of minutes when the defenders of a line so exposed and overlapped must be crushed by the weight of thrice their numbers. For one brief moment, indeed, the fight was hand to hand ; then Benedict s men were driven out of the ditch, and forced in more or less disorder up the reverse slope. So they drifted to the cover of the wood, where Mower lay in wait, and there by regiments they re-formed and sought fresh places in the front of battle ; for Benedict had fallen, and the night followed so quickly that darkness had closed in before the discreet and zealous Fessenden had gath ered the brigade and held it well in hand. The whole brigade bore the searching test like good soldiers, yet conspicuous in steadiness under the shock and in prompt recovery were the 3Oth Maine and the i73d New York, inspired by the example and the leadership of Fessenden and of Conrady. When Green heard the sound of Churchill s mus ketry he launched Bee with Debray s and Buchel s regiments in an impetuous charge against the left of Shaw s line ; but this wild swoop was quickly stopped by the muskets of the I4th Iowa and the 24th Mis- PLEASANT HILL. 319 souri at close range. Many saddles were emptied ; Bee, Buchel, and Debray were among the victims, and in great disorder the beaten remnants fled. Eighteen guns, among them, sad to say, trophies of Sabine Cross-Roads, concentrated their fire upon the six pieces of Southworth and presently overcame him by sheer weight. The giving way of Benedict had already exposed Shaw s left when Walker closed with him. Vigorously attacked in front, and menaced in flank, Shaw made a stout fight, but he was in great danger of being cut off. Not a moment too soon, A. J. Smith recalled him. When Shaw gave back, Dwight suddenly found himself attacked in front by Walker and in flank and rear by Major. At this trying moment the H4th New York and the i53d New York were covering the fork of the roads to Mansfield and to Logans- port, while beyond the Mansfield road, on the right, stood the 1 1 6th New York. To protect the left and right flanks of this little line, Dwight quickly moved the 2Qth Maine and the i6ist New York. Fortu nately his men stood firm under the trial of a fire that seemed to come from all quarters at once. For a moment, indeed, the exultant and still advancing Confederates seemed masters of the plain. Along the whole Union front nothing was to be seen in place save Dwight s men far off on the right, stand ing as it were on a rocky islet, with the gray floods surging on every side. But far away, out of sight from the plain, an event had already occurred that was to cost the Confeder ates the battle. Parsons, following up the overthrow of Benedict, offered his own right flank to Lynch, who stood alert and observant in the skirt of the 320 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Woods, beyond the left of Mower. Lynch struck hard and began doubling up the Missourians. See ing this, and noting the condition of affairs on the other flank, A. J. Smith instantly ordered forward his whole line. Shaw had already re-formed his brigade on the right of Mower. Across D wight s rear Emory was leading McMillan from his position in reserve, to restore the line on Dwight s left. Then, just at the instant when to one standing on the plain the day must have seemed hopelessly lost, the long lines of A. J. Smith, with Mower riding at the head, were seen coming out of the woods and sweeping, with un broken front and steady tread, down upon the front and flank of the enemy. To the right of this splen did line McMillan joined his brigade, and among its intervals here and there the rallied fragments of Benedict s brigade found places. Under this impet uous onset, Parsons and Tappan and Walker melted away, and before anything could be done with Polig- nac, the whole Confederate army was in hopeless confusion. Their disordered ranks were pushed back about a mile, with a loss of five guns, and after night fall Taylor s infantry and part of his cavalry fell back six miles to the stream on which Emory had en camped on the morning of the previous day, while the cavalry retired to Mansfield, but Taylor himself slept near the field of battle with the remnant of Debray s troopers. In the superb right wheel, three of the guns lost at Sabine Cross-Roads were retaken. As soon as the news of the battle of Sabine Cross- Roads reached Kirby Smith at Shreveport, he rode to the front and joined Taylor after nightfall on the Qth of April. The earliest Confederate despatches and orders of Kirby Smith and Taylor claimed a I . *f-vf T-. * 1 ^^C^t, /^l V-rvt* PLEASANT HILL. APRIL 9, 1864. FROM GENERAL EMORY S MAP. PLEASANT HILL. 321 signal and glorious victory, and to this view Taylor seems to have adhered ; but in a report dated August 28, 1864, Smith says, in giving his reasons for not adopting Taylor s ambitious plan of pursuing Banks to New Orleans, that Taylor s troops " were finally repulsed and thrown into confusion . . . The Missouri and Arkansas troops, with the brigade of Walker s di vision, were broken and scattered. The enemy recovered cannon which we had captured, and two of our pieces were left in his hands. To my great relief I found in the morning that the enemy had fallen back during the night. . . . Our troops were completely paralyzed by the repulse at Pleasant Hill. " In an article written in I888, 1 he adds : " Our repulse at Pleasant Hill was so complete and our com mand was so disorganized that had Banks followed up his suc cess vigorously he would have met with but feeble opposition to his advance on Shreveport. . . . Polignac s (previously Mou- ton s) division of Louisiana infantry was all that was intact of Taylor s force. . . . Our troops were completely paralyzed and disorganized by the repulse at Pleasant Hill. " Again in an intercepted letter, very clear and outspoken, Lieutenant Edward Cunningham, one of Kirby Smith s aides-de-camp, is even more emphatic : " That it was impossible for us to pursue Banks immediately under four or five days cannot be gainsaid. It was impossible because we had been beaten, demoralized, paralyzed, in the fight of the Qth. " The losses of the Union army in the battle of Pleasant Hill were 152 killed, 859 wounded, 495 missing; in all, 1, 506. Of these, nearly one half fell upon Emory s division, which reported 6 officers and 47 men killed, 19 officers and 275 men wounded, 1 " Century War Book, " vol. Iv. , p. 372. 21 322 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 4 officers and 374 men missing; in all, 725. The Confederate losses were estimated by Taylor at 1, 500. Each side claims to have fought a superior force, yet the numbers seem to have been nearly equal. Including the thousand horsemen, who were not seriously engaged at any time during the day, and in the battle not at all, the Union army can hardly have numbered more than 13, 000 nor less than 11, 000. Taylor s force must have been about the same, for, although Kirby Smith s figures account for 16, 000, on the one hand the attrition of battle and march is to be reckoned, and on the other hand Taylor himself owns to 12, 000. CHAPTER XXVI. GRAND ECORE. IN the first moments of elation that succeeded the victory, Banks was all for resuming the advance, but later in the evening, after consulting his corps and division commanders, he determined to continue the retreat to Grand Ecore. Unfortunately by some mistake the ambulances had gone off with the wagon train, so that there were no adequate means of reliev ing the wounded on the field. Indeed, all the wounded had not been gathered, and most of the dead lay still unburied, when, about midnight, Banks gave the orders to march. Then from each corps a detail of surgeons was ordered to stay behind, with such hospital stores as they had at hand, and two hours later, in silence and in darkness, unobserved and unmolested, the army marched to the rear, leav ing the dead and wounded of both sides on the ground. In the order of march Emory had the head of the column, Mower the rear. Early in the after noon of the loth, after a march of twenty miles, the column halted at the Bayou Mayon. At sunrise on the nth the march was resumed; and the same afternoon found the whole army in camp at Grand Ecore. Great was the astonishment of Taylor when day light revealed to him the retreat of the victors of 323 324 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Pleasant Hill. He sent Bee with some cavalry to follow, and this Bee did, yet not rashly, for in twenty miles he came not once near enough to Mower s rear-guard to exchange a shot. Green, with all the rest of the cavalry, was then brought back to Pleasant Hill to carry on operations against the fleet in the direction of Blair s Landing, while the main body of the infantry was drawn in to Mansfield to reorganize. The fleet was now in great peril. Pushing slowly up the river, constantly retarded by the low stage of water, the gunboats and the transports arrived at Loggy or Boggy Bayou at two o clock on the after noon of the loth of April. Kilby Smith at once landed a detachment of his men, and was proceeding to carry out his orders with regard to opening com munication with Banks by way of Springfield, when about four o clock Captain Andrews, of the i4th New York cavalry, rode in with his squadron, bring ing word of the battles of Sabine Cross- Roads and Pleasant Hill, and bearing a message from Banks to Kilby Smith that directed his return to Grand Ecore. He was at that moment consulting with Porter how best they might get rid of the obstructions caused by the sinking by the Confederates of a large steamboat, called the New Falls City, quite across the channel from bank to bank, and they had just decided to set fire to her and blow her up ; the bad news made it clear that nothing remained to be done but to go back down the river with all speed. The natural obstacle presented by the deep waters and by the steep banks of the Bayou Pierre would have formed a complete defence against any attack on the fleet from the west bank of the Red River, had it not been for the fact that there are three good GRAND ECORE. 325 ferries across the bayou, approached by good roads. The upper of these ways led to the river a long distance above the point attained by the fleet ; the second struck the bank at Grand Bayou, fifteen miles below where the fleet stopped ; the third was the road from Pleasant Hill to Blair s Landing, which is fifty miles below Grand Bayou. Liddell was already watching the east bank of the river, and Taylor now sent Bagby across from Mansfield to Grand Bayou with his brigade and Barnes s battery, to cut off the fleet. However, Bagby did not start from Mansfield until after daybreak on the nth, so that his arrival at the mouth of Grand Bayou was many hours too late to catch the fleet, which at eight that evening tied up for the night at Coushatta Chute. Here Kilby Smith received a second order of recall from Banks, this time in writing, and dated " On the road, April loth. " By noon on the I2th, Bagby, riding fast and making use of the short cuts, overtook the rear of the fleet ; and somewhat later Green, who had marched from Pleasant Hill early on the morning of the nth, with Woods s and Gould s regiments and Parsons s brigade of Texans, and the batteries of Nettles, West, Mc- Mahan, and Moseley, struck the river at Blair s Landing almost simultaneously with the arrival of the fleet. Here, about four o clock in the afternoon, in the bend between the high banks, Green caught the rear of the transport fleet at a disadvantage. Making the most of his opportunity, he attacked with vigor. Instantly Kilby Smith and Porter responded and a sharp fight followed, but by sunset they suc ceeded, without great loss, in driving off their assail ants. Indeed the total casualties in Kilby Smith s 326 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Division above Grand Ecore were but 19, and Porter mentions only one. Chief among the Confederate killed was the brave, impetuous, and indomitable Green. About noon on the I3th, several of the boats being aground in mid-stream, they were attacked by Liddell, strongly posted on the high bluff known as Boule- deau Point. However, all passed by without loss or serious injury, and on the morning of the i4th, the fleet reached the bar at Campti, where A. J. Smith was met marching up the left bank of the river to its relief. But, although Campti is barely twenty miles above, so crooked and shallow was the river that it was midnight on the i5th before the last of the fleet lay in safety at Grand Ecore. Below Grand Ecore there was a bad bar. As the river continued to fall, the larger gunboats were sent down as fast as possible to Alexandria, whither Porter followed them on the i6th, leaving the Osage and Lexington at Grand Ecore, and the big Eastport eight miles below, where, on the i5th, she had been sunk to her gun-deck either by a torpedo or by a snag. The admiral brought up his pump boats and after removing the guns got the Eastport afloat on the 2 1 st. As Banks realized that his campaign was ruined, he grew earnest in trying to meet Grant s expecta tions and orders, requiring him to be on the Missis sippi by the first of May. For ten days he had been waiting at Grand Ecore, only to see the last of the fleet pass down in safety. Meanwhile he had en trenched his position, thrown a pontoon bridge across the river, placed a strong detachment from Smith s command on the north bank, and sent urgent orders GRAND ECORE. 327 to Alexandria, to New Orleans, and to Texas for re inforcements. Birge, with his own brigade and the 38th Massachusetts and the i28th New York of Sharpens brigade, embarked at Alexandria on the 1 2th of April, and joined Emory on the i3th. Nick- erson s brigade came from New Orleans to join Grover at Alexandria. On the 2oth of April, learn ing that the Eastport was expected to float within a few hours, Banks sent A. J. Smith to take position covering Natchitoches, and when the next day he heard from the admiral that the Eastport was actually afloat, he lost not a moment in beginning the march on Alexandria. An hour later the Eastport again struck the bottom ; eight times more she ran hard aground ; at last on the 25th she lay immovable on a raft of logs, and the next day her crew gave her to the flames. For some time the relations between the command ing general and his chief-of-staff had been strained, and in spite of Stone s zeal and gallantry in the late battles, Banks had determined on a change, indeed had already announced it in orders, when on the i6th of April he received an order of the War Office bear ing date the 28th of March, whereby Stone was re lieved from duty in the Department of the Gulf, de prived of his rank as a brigadier-general, and ordered to go to Cairo, Illinois, and thence to report by letter to the adjutant-general of the army. For this action neither cause nor occasion has ever been made known. Then Banks recalled his own order and published this instead, and on the following day he made Dwight his chief-of-staff, the command of D wight s brigade falling to Beal. CHAPTER XXVII. THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER. BANKS broke camp at Grand Ecore at five o clock in the afternoon of the 2ist of April and turned over the direction and control of the march to Franklin. The cavalry corps, now commanded by Arnold, was separated by brigades. Gooding took the ad vance ; Crebs, who had succeeded to Robinson s com mand, rode with Birge ; E. J. Davis, with Dudley s brigade, covered the right flank ; and Lucas, report ing to A. J. Smith, formed the rear-guard. Birge led the main column with a temporary di vision formed of the I3th Connecticut and the ist Louisiana of his own brigade under Fiske, the 38th Massachusetts and the I28th New York of Sharpe s brigade under James Smith, and Fessenden s brigade of Emory s division. Next were the trains, in the same order as the troops. Emory followed with the brigades of Beal and McMillan and the artillery reserve under Closson. Then came Cameron, and last A. J. Smith, in the order of Kilby Smith and Mower. Crossing Cane River about two miles below Grand Ecore, the line of march traversed the length of the long island formed by the two branches of the Red River, and recrossed the right arm at Monett s Ferry. 328 THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER. 329 For the whole distance the army was once more sep arated from the fleet. It was half-past one on the morning of the 22d before the last of the wagons had effected the first crossing of Cane River. By three o clock Emory was on the south bank, and A. J. Smith at five. As early as the i4th of April, at Mansfield, Kirby Smith had withdrawn Churchill and Walker from Taylor and sent them to aid in driving Steele back into Arkansas. This left Taylor only the infantry of Polignac, reduced to 2, 000 muskets, and the re organized cavalry corps under Wharton, comprising the divisions of Bee, Major, and William Steele. With this handful, Taylor undertook to harry Banks by blocking his communications and beating up his out-posts ; but just at that moment Banks moved and thus, by the merest chance, brought Bee and Major, with four brigades and four batteries directly across his path, on the high ground at Monett s bluff, com manding the ford and the ferry. At three o clock in the afternoon of the 22d, Wharton with Steele s division, supported by Polignac, engaged Lucas sharply, compelling A. J. Smith to deploy and the rest of the column to halt for an hour ; and thus began a series of almost continuous skirmishes that lasted nearly to Alexandria, yet without material result. At seven o clock in the evening of the 22d of April, Birge halted for the night two miles beyond Cloutierville. Under orders inspired by the urgency, he had been pushing on at all speed to seize the crossing ; in spite of the heat and the dust, he had led the column at the furious pace of thirty-eight miles, perhaps forty, in twenty-six hours ; but Good- 330 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ing had already found the Confederates in strong possession, and now it seemed clear that the passage must be forced. At nine o clock Emory and Cam eron closed on Birge and halted, and at three in the morning A. J. Smith came up. At daylight on the 23d of April, Franklin moved down to the ferry and began to reconnoitre. His wound had now become so painful as to disable him ; accordingly, after maturing his plans, he turned over his command to Emory, with orders to dislodge the enemy and to open the way. With equal skill, care, and vigor, Emory instantly set about this critical task, upon which the fate of the army may almost be said to have depended, and with this the safety of the fleet. The ground on which the Union army found itself was, like the whole island, low and flat and largely covered with a thick growth of cane and willow. Near the river the soil was moreover swampy and the brakes were for the most part impenetrable. On the high bluff opposite, masked by the trees, stood Bee with the brigades of Debray and Terrell, Major with his two brigades under Baylor and Bagby, and the twenty-four guns of McMahon, Moseley, West, and Nettles. The position was too strong and too difficult of approach to be taken by a direct attack save at a great cost. Through the labyrinthine morass that lay between the ferry and the river s mouth Bailey and E. J. Davis searched in vain for a practicable ford. Nothing remained but to try the other flank. Birge with his temporary division augmented by Cameron s, without artillery and with no horsemen save a few mounted men of the i3th Connecticut, was to march back, to ford Cane River two miles THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER. 331 above the bluff, and by a wide detour to sweep down upon the Confederate left. To amuse the enemy and to draw his attention away from Birge, Emory, who had yielded his division to McMillan, caused him to deploy the First and Second brigades under Beal and Rust, and to threaten the crossing directly in front, while Closson advanced his guns and kept up a steady and well judged fire against the Confederate position on the hill. Birge took up the line of march at nine o clock. His progress was greatly delayed not only by the passage of Cane River, where the water was waist- deep, but also by the swampy and broken ground, and by the dense undergrowth through which he had to force his way. Thus the afternoon was well ad vanced before he found the position of the Confed erates on a hill, with their right flank resting on a deep ravine, and their left upon a marsh and a small lake, drained by a muddy bayou that wound about the foot of the hill. Up to this point Fiske had led the advance. Now, in deploying, after emerging from the thicket, he found himself before the enemy s centre, while Fessenden confronted their left. Fiske formed his men in two lines, the I3th Connecticut and the ist Louisiana in front, supported by James Smith with the 38th Massachusetts and the i28th New York. To Fessenden Birge gave the duty of carrying the hill. Behind a hedge and a high fence Fessenden de ployed his brigade from right to left in the order of the i65th New York, the i;3d New York, the 3Oth Maine, and the 1626. New York. Directly before them, on the other side of the fence, was an open field inclining toward the front in a gentle slope, and 332 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Traversed at the foot by a second and stouter fence, beyond which a sandy knoll arose, covered with trees, bushes, and fallen timber. On the crest the enemy stood, Bee having changed front to the left and rear as soon as he made out the movement of Birge. Stopping but to throw down the fence, at the word Fessenden s whole line ran across the field to the foot of the hill. There the brigade quickly re-formed for the ascent, and then, with Fessenden at the head, charged stiffly up the difficult slope straight in the teeth of the hot fire of Bee s dismounted troopers. Many fell, among them Fessenden with a bad hurt ; the 1 65th New York found itself hindered by the marsh, but gallantly led on by Hubbard, by Conrady, and by Blanchard the 3Oth Maine, the i73d New York, and the i62d New York won the crest and opened fire on the retreating foe. Once more halting to re-form his lines, Birge swept on, gained the farther hill without much trouble, and moving to the left uncovered the crossing. Birge s loss in this engagement was about 200, of whom 153 were in Fessenden s brigade, and of these 86 in the 3Oth Maine. In leading the charge across the open ground Fessenden was severely wounded in the leg, and the command of his brigade fell to Lieutenant- Colonel Blanchard. As soon as Emory, on the north bank of Cane River, heard the noise of the battle on the opposite heights, he posted five guns under Closson (two of H inkle s twenty-pounder Parrotts, one gun of Nields ist Delaware, one of Hebard s ist Vermont, and one of the 25th New York battery), to silence the Con federate artillery on their right, in front of the cross- ing, well supported by the n6th New York, and THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER. 333 deployed his skirmishers as if for an assault. Tempted by the exposed position of these guns, Bee sent a detachment across the river to capture them, but Love easily threw off the attack; and seeing this, Chrysler, whose regiment, the 2d New York Veteran Cavalry, was dismounted in skirmishing order on the left, at once led his men in pursuit and seized the crossing. Bee retreated rapidly to Beasley s, thirty miles away to the southward, on the Fort Jesup road, with out making any further effort to stay or trouble the retreat of Banks. Word coming from Davis that he had been unable to find a crossing below, Emory, when he saw the enemy in retreat, sent Chrysler and Crebs in pursuit, supported by Cameron. However, this came to nothing, for Chrysler naturally enough followed the small Confederate rear-guard that held to the main road toward Alexandria. The pontoon bridge was at once laid, and being completed soon after dark, the march was continued by night, McMillan, with Beal and Rust, moving six miles to the reversed front to cover the train. About ten o clock on the same morning Wharton charged down on Kilby Smith, who was moving up to the rear of A. J. Smith s command and of the army, but was driven off after a fight lasting an hour. By two o clock on the afternoon of April 24th, Beal s men being on the south bank of Cane River, the bridge was taken up and the march continued without further molestation by Cotile and Henderson s Hill, the head of the column resting at night near the Bayou Rapides. Marching thence at six o clock on the morning of 334 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The 25th of April, the head of the column arrived at Alexandria at two o clock that afternoon, and on the following day A. J. Smith brought up the rear. Here the fleet, with the exception of the ill-fated Eastport, was found lying in safety, yet unfortunately above the falls. Here, too, early on the 2;th came Hunter, with fresh and very positive orders from Grant to Banks, bearing date the 1 7th, requiring him to bring the ex pedition to an immediate end, to turn over his com mand at once to the next in rank, and to go himself to New Orleans. In truth, this was but the culmina tion of an earnest and persistent wish on Grant s part, shown even as far back as the beginning of the campaign, to replace Banks in command by Hunter or another. When, afterward, Grant came to learn of the perilous situation of the fleet, and moreover perceived that none of the troops engaged in the expedition could be in time to take part in the spring campaigns east of the Mississippi, he suspended these orders, and, without recalling that portion of them that required Banks to go to New Orleans, directed the operations for the rescue of the navy to go on under the senior commander present. In any case, however, it was now clearly impossible to abandon the fleet in its dangerous and helpless position above the rapids, with the river falling, and an active enemy on both banks. And Steele, where was Steele all this time? Having rejected Banks s advice to join him near Alex andria, marching by way of Monroe and so down the Onachita, Steele set out from Little Rock on the 24th of March, moved by his right on Arkadelphia, and arrived there on the 28th. His object in preferring THE CROSSING OF CANE RIVER. 335 this direction was, not only to avoid the heavy roads in the low lands of the Ouachita, but to take up Thayer, who was already on the march from Fort Smith ; thus making a fourth concentration in the enemy s country. The exigencies of the wretched farce called a State election in Arkansas had reduced Steele s effective force by fully 3, 000, so that he now moved with barely 7, 000 of all arms, and six batteries. Opposed to Steele was Price, with the cavalry divi sions of Fagan and Marmaduke, the former at Spring Hill to meet the advance from Arkadelphia, and the latter at Camden, to guard the line of the Ouachita. To strengthen himself, Price drew in Cabell and Maxey, who with three brigades were at first engaged in watching Thayer. On the ist of April, hearing nothing from Thayer, Steele advanced from Arkadelphia, crossed the Little Missouri at Elkin s Ferry on the 3d, was joined by Thayer on the 6th, and on the loth had a sharp engagement with an outlying brigade, under Shelby, of Price s army. Price was then at Prairie d Ane, covering the crossing of the roads that led to Camden and to Shreveport, but on the evening of the nth he drew back beyond the prairie to a strong position eight miles north of Washington. To have followed Price would have been to put Steele s long and length ening line of communication at the mercy of Marma duke. This was what Price wanted ; but when, on the 1 2th, Steele saw the road to Camden left open, he promptly took it, and, harried by Price in his rear, and not seriously impeded by Marmaduke in his front, he marched into Camden on the i5th, and occupied the strong line of the Confederate defences. This was four days after the return of Banks to Grand 336 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ecore, which of course put an end to any farther advance of Steele in the direction of Shreveport, and while he was waiting for authentic news, Price was busy on his line of communication with Pine Bluff, and Kirby Smith, with Churchill and Walker, was moving rapidly to join Price. On the 2oth of April Kirby Smith appeared before the lines of Camden ; but Steele had already begun his inevitable retreat a few hours earlier, and having destroyed the bridge across the Ouachita, gained so long a start that he was enabled to make good the difficult crossing of the Saline at Jenkins s Ferry, but only after a hard fight on the 3Oth of April with the combined forces of Smith and Price. Finally, the 2d of May saw Steele back at Little Rock with his army half starved, greatly reduced in men and material in these six ineffectual weeks, thinking no longer of Halleck s wide scheme of conquest, or even of Grant s wish to hold the line of the Red River, but rather hoping for some stroke of good fortune to enable him to defend the line of the Arkansas and to keep Price out of Missouri. STONE CRIB. TREE DAM. BRACKET DAM. Ted of Ri THE RED RIVER DAM. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE DAM. DIRECTLY after the capture of Port Hudson, Bailey offered to float the two Confederate transport steam ers, Starlight and Red Chief, that were found lying on their sides high and almost dry in the middle of Thompson s Creek. With smiles and a shrug or two permission was given him to try ; he tried ; he succeeded ; and this experience it undoubtedly was that caused his words to be listened to so readily when he now proposed to rescue the fleet in the same way. But to build at leisure and unmolested a pair of little wing-dams in the ooze of Thompson s Creek and to close the opening by a central boom against that sluggish current was one thing ; it was quite another to repeat the same operation against time, while sur rounded and even cut off by a strong and active enemy, this too on the scale required to hold back the rushing waters of the Red River, at a depth sufficient for the passage of the heaviest of the gunboats and for a time long enough to let the whole fleet go by. Yet, bold as the bare conception seems, and stupen dous as the work looks when regarded in detail, no sooner had it been suggested by Bailey than every engineer in the army at once entered heartily into the scheme. Palfrey, who had previously made a com plete survey of the rapids, examined the plan carefully, 337 338 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. And approved it. Franklin, to whose staff Bailey was attached, himself an engineer of distinguished attain ments and wide experience, approved it, and Banks at once gave orders to carry it out. Tn the month that had elapsed since the fleet ascended the rapids, the river had fallen more than six feet ; for more than a mile the rocks now lay bare. In the worst places but forty inches of water were found, while with seven feet the heavy gunboats could barely float, and in some places the channel, shallow as it was, narrowed to a thread. The current ran nine miles an hour. The whole fall was thirteen feet, and at the point just above the lower chute, where Bailey proposed to construct his dam, the river was 758 feet wide, with a fall of six feet below the dam. The problem was how to raise the water above the dam seven feet, backing it up so as to float the gunboats over the upper rapids. Heavy details were made from the troops, the working parties were carefully selected, and on the 3Oth of April the work was begun. From the north bank a wing-dam was constructed of large trees, the butts tied by cross logs, the tops laid towards the current, covered with brush, and weighted, to keep them in place, with stone and brick obtained by tear ing down the buildings in the neighborhood. On the south bank, where large trees were scarce, a crib was made of logs and timbers filled in with stone and with bricks and heavy pieces of machinery taken from the neighboring sugar-houses and cotton-gins. When this was done there remained an open space of about one hundred and fifty feet between the wings, through which the rising waters poured with great velocity. This gap was nearly closed by THE DAM. 339 sinking across it four of the large Mississippi coal- barges belonging to the navy. When on the 8th of May all was thus completed, the water was found to have risen five feet four and a half inches at the upper fall, giving a measured depth there of eight feet eight and one half inches. Three of the light-draught gunboats, Osage, Neosho, and Fort Hindman, which had steam up, took prompt advantage of the rise to pass the upper fall, and soon lay in safety in the pool formed by the dam ; yet for some reason the other boats of the fleet were not ready, and thus in the very hour when safety was apparently within their reach, suddenly they were once more exposed to a danger even greater than before. Early on the morning of the gth the tre mendous pressure of pent-up waters surging against the dam drove out two of the barges, making a gap sixty-six feet wide, and swung them furiously against the rocks below. Through the gap the river rushed in a roaring torrent. At sight and sound of this, the Admiral at once mounted a horse, galloped to the upper fall, and called out to the Lexington to run the rapids. Instantly the Lexington was under way, and as, with a full head of steam she made the plunge, every man in the army and the fleet held his breath in the terrible silence of suspense. For a moment she seemed lost as she reeled and almost disappeared in the foam and surge, but only to be greeted with a mighty cheer, such as brave men give to courage and good fortune, when she was seen to ride in safety below. The Osage, the Neosho, and the Fort Hindman promptly followed her down the chute, but the other six gunboats and the two tugs were still imprisoned above by the sudden sinking of the swift 340 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Rushing waters ; the jaws of danger, for an instant relaxed, had once more shut tightly on the prey. Doubt and gloom took the place of exultation. As for the army, hard as had been the work demanded of it, still greater exertions were before it, nor was their result by any means certain, for the volume of the river was daily diminishing, and there would be no more rise that year. So far Bailey had substantially followed, though on a larger scale, the same plan that had worked so successfully the year before at Port Hudson. But against a weight, a volume, and a velocity of water such as had to be encountered here, it was now plainly seen that something else would have to be tried. No emergency, however great or sudden, ever finds a man of his stamp unready. As soon therefore as the collapse showed him the defect in his first plan, he instantly set about remedying it by dividing the weight of water to be contended with. At the upper fall three wing-dams were constructed. Just above the rocks a stone crib was laid on the south side, and directly opposite to this on the north side a tree- dam, like that already described when speaking of the original dam. Just below the rocks, projecting diagonally from the north bank, a bracket-dam was built, made of logs having one end sunk to meet the current, the other end raised on trestles, and the whole then sheathed with plank. By this means the whole current was turned into one very narrow channel, and a new rise of fourteen inches was gained, giving in all six feet six and one half inches of water. Every man bending himself to the task to his utmost, by the most incredible exertions this new work was completed in three days and three nights, and thus THE DAM. 341 during the I2th and i3th the remainder of the fleet passed free of the danger. The cribs were washed away during the spring rise in 1865 ; but it is said that the main tree-dam survives to this day, having driven the channel towards the south shore, and washed away a large slice of the bank at the upper end of the town of Alexandria. For his part in the conception and execution of this great undertaking, Bailey received the thanks of Congress on the nth of June, 1864, and was after ward made a brigadier-general by the President. The troops engaged in constructing the dam were the 97th colored, Colonel George D. Robinson ; the 99th colored, Lieutenant-Colonel Uri B. Pearsall ; the 29th Maine, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles S. Emer son ; the 1 33d New York, a detail of 300 men, under Captain Anthony J. Allaire; the i6ist New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. B. Kinsey ; the pioneers of the Thirteenth Army Corps, 125 in number, com manded by Captain John B. Hutchens of the 24th Indiana, and composed of men detailed from the i ith, 24th, 34th, 46th, 47th, and 67th Indiana, the 48th, 56th, 83d, and 96th Ohio, the 24th and 28th Iowa, the 23d and 29th Wisconsin, i3Oth Illinois, and 1 9th Ken tucky ; 460 men of the 27th Indiana, 29th Wisconsin, I9th Kentucky, i3Oth Illinois, 83d Ohio, 24th Iowa, 23d Wisconsin, 77th Illinois, and i6th Ohio, com manded by Captain George W. Stein of the latter regiment. Bailey was also greatly assisted by a detail from the navy, under Lieutenant Amos R. Langthorne, commanding the Mound City. Besides these offi cers, all of whom rendered service the most laborious and the most valuable, Bailey acknowledges his in- 342 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Debtedness to Brigadier-General Dwight, Colonel James Grant Wilson, and Lieutenant Charles S. Sargent of Banks s staff ; to Major W. H. Sentell, i6oth New York, provost-marshal ; Lieutenant John J. Williamson, ordnance officer of the Nineteenth Corps ; and Lieutenant Sydney Smith Fairchild, i6ist New York. All this time the army lying about Alexandria, to secure the safety of the navy, was itself virtually in vested by the small but active forces under Taylor, who now found himself, not only foot loose, but once more able to use for his supplies the channel of the upper Red River, whence he had caused the obstruc tions to be removed as soon as the withdrawal of Banks relieved all fears of invasion, and turned the thoughts of the Confederate chiefs to dreams of conquest. On the 3ist of March Grant had peremptorily ordered the evacuation of the coast of Texas save only the position held at the mouth of the Rio Grande, and Banks, as soon as he received this order, had ordered McClernand to join him with the bulk of his troops, consisting of the First and Second divisions of the Thirteenth Corps. McClernand, with Lawler s brigade of the former, arrived at Alexandria on the 29th of April ; Warren, with the rest of his division, was on his way up the Red River, when he found himself cut off near Marksville. Then he seized Fort De Russy and held it until the campaign ended. Brisk skirmishing went on from day to day between the outposts and advanced guards, yet Banks, though he had five men to one of Taylor s, 1 held fast by his 1 Banks s return for April 3Oth shows 33, 502 officers and men for duty. May loth, Taylor says : " To keep this up with my little force of scarce 6, 000 men, I am compelled to eke out the lion s skin with the fox s hide. " (" Official Rec ords, " vol. Xxxiv. , part i. , p. 590. ) He does not count his cavalry. THE DAM. 343 earthworks without making any real effort to crush or to drive off his adversary, while on their part the Confederates refrained from any serious attempt to interrupt the navigation of the lower Red River until the evening of the 3d of May, when near David s Ferry Major attacked and, after a sharp fight, took the transport City Belle, which he caught coming up the river with 425 officers and men of the i2Oth Ohio. Many were killed or wounded, and many others taken prisoners, a few escaping through the forest. Major then sunk the steamboat across the channel and thus closed it. Early on the morning of the 5th of May Major, with Hardeman s and Lane s cavalry brigades and West s battery, met just above Fort De Russy the gunboats Signal and Covington, and the transport steamer Warner, and after a short and hard fight disabled all three of the boats. The Covington was set on fire by her commander and destroyed, but the Signal 33\& Warner fell into the hands of the Confed erates with many of the officers and men of the three boats, and of a detachment of about 250 men of the 56th Ohio, on the Warner. These captured steamers, also, were sunk across the channel. On the 2d of May, Franklin s wound compelling him to go to New Orleans and presently to the North, Banks assigned Emory to the command of the Nine teenth Army Corps. This brought McMillan to the head of the First division and gave his brigade to Beal. Captain Frederic Speed was announced as Assistant Adjutant-General of the Corps. A few days later, in consequence of McClernand s illness, Lawler was given the command of the Thirteenth Corps. CHAPTER XXIX. LAST DAYS IN LOUISIANA. ON the 1 3th of May Banks marched from Alex andria on Simmesport, Lawler leading the infantry column, Emory next, and A. J. Smith s divisions of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps bringing up the rear. As far as Fort De Russy the march followed the bank of the river, with the object of covering the withdrawal of the fleet of gunboats and transports against any possible molestation. Steele s cavalry division hung upon and harassed the rear, Polignac, Major, and Bagby hovered in front and on the flanks, while Harrison followed on the north bank of the Red River, but no serious attempt was made to obstruct the movement. On the afternoon of the 1 5th the Confederates were seen in force in front of the town of Marksville, but were soon driven off and retired rapidly through the town. On the morning of the i6th of May an event took place, described by all who saw it as the finest mili tary spectacle they ever witnessed. On the wide and rolling prairie of Avoyelles, otherwise known as the Plains of Mansura, the Confederates stood for the last time across the line of march of the retreat ing army. As battery after battery went into action and the cavalry skirmishers became briskly engaged, it seemed as if a pitched battle were imminent. 344 LAST DA YS IN LOUISIANA. 345 The infantry rapidly formed line of battle, Mower on the right, Kilby Smith next, Emory in the centre, Lawler on the left, the main body of Arnold s cav alry in column on the flanks. Save where here and there the light smoke from the artillery hindered the view, the whole lines of both armies were in plain sight of every man in either, but the disparity in numbers was too great to justify Taylor in making more than a handsome show of resistance on a field like this, where defeat was certain, and destruction must have followed close upon defeat ; and so when our lines were advanced he prudently withdrew. Banks s losses were small, but Lieutenant Haskin s horse-battery F, ist U. S. , being unavoidably ex posed in spite of its skilful handling, to a hot enfilade fire of the Confederate artillery, to cover their flank movement in retreat, suffered rather severely. In the afternoon the troops halted for a while on the banks of a little stream to enjoy the first fresh, clear water they had so much as seen for many weeks. At the sight the men broke into cheers, and almost with one accord rushed eagerly to the banks of the rivulet. That night the army bivouacked eight miles from the Atchafalaya, and early the next morning, the 1 7th of May, marched down to the river at Simmesport, where the transports and the gunboats, having arrived two days earlier, lay waiting. Near Moreauville on the i7th the rear-guard of cavalry was sharply attacked by Wharton ; at the same time Debray, lying in ambush with two regiments and a battery, opened fire on the flank of the moving col umn. While this was going on the two other regi ments of Debray made a dash on the wagon-train near the crossing of Yellow Bayou, and threw it into 346 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Some momentary confusion. Neither of these attacks were serious, and all were easily thrown off. The next day, the i8th, A. J. Smith s command was in position near Yellow Bayou to cover the cross ing of the Atchafalaya, and he was himself at the landing at Simmesport, in the act of completing his arrangements for crossing, when Taylor suddenly attacked with his whole force. Mower, who com manded in Smith s absence, advanced his lines as soon as he found his skirmishers coming in, and thus brought on one of the sharpest engagements of the campaign. With equal judgment, skill, and daring, Mower finally drove the Confederates off the field in confusion and with heavy loss, and so brought to a brilliant close the part borne by the gallant soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee in their trying service in Louisiana. Mower s loss was 38 killed, 226 wounded, and 3 missing, in all 267. Taylor reports his loss as about 500, including 30 killed, 50 severely wounded, and about 100 prisoners from Polignac s division. The Confederate returns account for 452 killed and wounded. At Simmesport the skill and readiness of Bailey were once more put to good use in improvising a bridge of steamboats across the Atchafalaya. In his report, Banks speaks of this as the first attempt of the kind, probably forgetting, since it did not fall under his personal observation, that when the army moved on Port Hudson the year before, the last of the troops and trains crossed the river at the same place in substantially the same way. However, the Atchafalaya was then low : it was now swollen to a width of six hundred or seven hundred yards by the back water from the Mississippi, and thus the floating LAST DA YS IN LOUISIANA. 347 bridge, which the year before was made by lashing together not more than nine boats, with their gang ways in line, connected by means of the gangplanks and rough boards, now required twenty-two boats to close the gap. Over this bridge, on the igthof May, the troops took up their march in retreat, and so brought the disastrous campaign of the Red River to an end just a year after they had begun, in the same way and on the same spot, the triumphant campaign of Port Hudson. On the 2Oth A. J. Smith crossed, the bridge was broken up, and in the evening the whole army marched for the Mississippi. On the 2ist, at Red River land ing, the Nineteenth Corps bade farewell to its brave comrades of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth. A. J. Smith landed at Vicksburg on the 23d of May too late for the part assigned him in the spring campaign of Sherman s army, and the operations on the Mississippi being now reduced to the defensive, . He remained on the banks of the river until called on to repulse Price s invasion of Missouri. Then, having handsomely performed his share of this service, he joined Thomas just in time to take part in the decisive battle of Nashville. At Simmesport Banks was met by Canby, who on the nth of May, at Cairo or on the way thence to Memphis, had assumed command of the new-made Military Division of West Mississippi, in virtue of orders from Washington, dated the 7th. The Presi dent still refused to yield to Grant s repeated requests that Banks might be altogether relieved from his command, nor did Grant longer persist in this ; accord ingly Banks remained the titular commander of the Department of the Gulf, with a junior officer present 348 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. As his immediate superior and his next subordinate in actual command of his troops. The Thirteenth and Nineteenth Corps, the cavalry, and the trains continued the march, under Emory, and on the 226. Of May went into camp at Morganza. From the Arkansas to the Gulf, from the Atchafa- laya to the Rio Grande there was no longer a Union soldier, save the insignificant garrison kept at Brown- ville to preserve the semblance of that foothold in Texas for the sake of which so much blood and treasure had been spilled into this sink of shame. When Steele s retreat to Little Rock had put an end to all hopes of a successful pursuit, Kirby Smith faced about and set Walker in rapid motion toward Alexandria with Churchill closely following. A day or two after Banks had left the place Walker arrived at Alexandria, too late to do anything more in Louisiana. Taylor quarrelled bitterly with Kirby Smith, who ended by ordering him to turn over his command to Walker. Leaving a small force to hold the country and to observe and annoy the Union army of occupa tion in Louisiana, Kirby Smith then gathered his forces, and passing by Steele s right flank, invaded Missouri. After arriving at Morganza, Emory, by Canby s orders, put his command in good condition for de fence or for a movement in any direction by sending to other stations all the troops except the Nineteenth Corps and the First division, Lawler s, of the Thir teenth Corps, as well as all the extra animals, wagons, and baggage of the army. For the sedentary defensive, the position at Morganza had many advantages, but except that good water for all pur- LAST DA YS IN LOUISIANA. 349 poses was to be had in plenty for the trouble of crossing the levee, the situation was perhaps the most unfortunate in which the corps was ever en camped. The heat was oppressive and daily growing more unbearable. The rude shelters of bushes and leaves, cut fresh from the neighboring thicket and often renewed, gave little protection ; the levee and the dense undergrowth kept off the breeze ; and such was the state of the soil that when it was not a cloud of light and suffocating dust, it was a sea of fat black mud. The sickly season was close at hand, the field and general hospitals were filled, and the deaths were many. The mosquitoes were at their worst ; but worse than all were the six weeks of absolute idleness, broken only by an occasional alarm or two, such as led to the brief expedition of Grover s division to Tunica and Natchez. At first Canby intended to use the Nineteenth Corps as a sort of marine patrol or coast-guard, with its trains and artillery and cavalry reduced to the lowest point, and the main body of the infantry kept always ready to embark on a fleet of transports specially assigned for the service and to go quickly to any point up or down the Mississippi or the adjacent waters that might be menaced or attacked by the enemy. The orders for the organization and equipment of the corps in this manner form a model of forethought and of minute attention to detail, yet as events turned out, they were never put in practice. Toward the end of June the corps underwent at the hands of Canby the last of its many reorganiz ations. 1 The First and Second divisions were left substantially as they had been during the campaign 1 Begun about June i6th. The final orders are dated June 27th. 350 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Just ended, but the Thirteenth Corps being broken up, 1 seventeen of its best regiments were taken to form for the Nineteenth Corps a new Third division, under Lawler. Emory, who was suffering from the effects of the climate and the hardships of the campaign, had just applied for leave of absence, supposing that all idea of a movement during the summer was at an end, and Canby, having granted this, assigned Reynolds to command the corps, to which, in truth, his rank and record entitled him, and gave the First division, Emory s own, to Roberts, a total stranger. Upon this, and learning of the move ment about to be made, Emory at once threw up his leave of absence, and Reynolds, noting with the eye of a soldier the deep and widespread disappointment among the officers and men of the corps, magnani mously persuaded Canby to leave the command of the Nineteenth Army Corps, for the time being, to Emory, while Reynolds himself commanded the forces at Morganza. The brigades of the First divi sion were commanded by Beal, McMillan, and Cur- rie. Grover kept the Second division with Birge, Molineux, and Sharpe as brigade commanders, and afterwards a fourth brigade was added, made up of four regiments from the disbanded Thirteenth Corps, under Colonel David Shunk of the 8th Indiana, and comprising, in addition to his own regiment, the 24th and 28th Iowa, and the i8th Indiana. At this later period also the ist Louisiana was taken from Moli- neux s brigade to remain in the Gulf, and its place was filled by the nth Indiana and the 22d Iowa. Lawler s new Third division had Lee, Cameron, and Colonel F. W. Moore of the 83d Ohio for bri- 1 By orders from Washington, issued at Canby s request, June nth. LAST DA YS IN LOUISIANA. 351 gade commanders. This was a splendid division, on both sides congenial ; unfortunately it was not des tined to see service with the corps. Three great reviews broke the torrid monotony of Morganza. On the nth of June Emory reviewed the corps in a tropical torrent, which suddenly de scending drenched every man to the skin and reduced the field music to discord, without interrupting the ceremony. On the i4th the troops again passed in review before Sickles, who had been sent to Louisiana on a tour of inspection, and finally on the 25th Reynolds reviewed the forces at Morganza on taking the command. Grant s orders to Canby were the same as those he had given to Banks, to go against Mobile. This was indeed an integral and important, though strictly subordinate, part of the comprehensive plan adopted by the lieutenant-general for the spring campaign. Besides distracting the attention of the Confederates, and either drawing off a large part of their forces from Sherman s front or else causing them to give up Mobile without a struggle, the control of the Alabama River would give Sherman a secure base of supplies and a safe line of retreat in any contingency, while the occupation of a line from Atlanta to Mobile would, as Grant remarked, " once more split the Confederacy in twain. " But while in Louisiana the troops stood still, await ing the full completion of Canby s exhaustive prepara tions, elsewhere events were marching with great rapidity. On the 3d of June Grant s campaign from the Rappahannock to the James came to an end in the bloody repulse at Cold Harbor, with the loss of 12, 737 officers and men. On the i4th he crossed the 352 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. James and sat down before Petersburg. In the six weeks that had passed since the Army of the Poto mac made its way into the Wilderness, Grant had lost from the ranks of the two armies of the Potomac and the James nearly as many men as Lee had in the Army of Northern Virginia. 1 While he was himself directing the movement of Meade and Butler against Richmond and Petersburg, Grant ordered Hunter, who commanded in the Shenandoah Valley, to march by Charlottesville on Lynchburg, and sent Sheridan, with the cavalry on a great raid to Charlottesville to meet Hunter ; but Lee sent Early to intercept the movement, and Early, moving with the speed and promptness to which Jackson s old corps was well used, got to Lynchburg in time to head Hunter off. Then Hunter, rightly deeming his position precarious, instead of retreating down the valley, made his escape across the mountains into West Virginia. This left the gates of the great valley thoroughfare wide open for Early, who, in stantly marching north, once more invaded Maryland, harried Pennsylvania, and menaced Washington. It was at this crisis, when nothing was being accomplished in Louisiana and everything was hap pening in Virginia, that Grant ordered Canby to put off his designs on Mobile and to send the Nine teenth Corps with all speed to Hampton Roads. 2 1 From the 5th of May to the I5th of June Meade s losses were 51, 908, and Butler s 9, 234, together 61, 142. The best estimates give 61, 000 to 64, 000 as Lee s strength at the Wilderness, or 78, 400 from the Rappahannock to the James. " Century War Book, " vol. Iv. , pp. 182-187. 2 The first suggestion seems to have come from Butler to Stanton, May 2gth, Weitzel concurring. Grant disapproved this in a telegram dated 3 P. M. , June 3d : the second assault had been made that morning. The movement across the James for the surprise and seizure of Petersburg came to a stand-still on the i8th. On the 23d Grant made the request and the orders were issued the next day. LAST DA YS IN LOUISIANA. 353 Canby understood this to mean the First and Second divisions, and placed Emory in command of this detachment. On the 3Oth of June the two divisions began moving down the river to Algiers, and on the 3d of July the advance steamed out of the river into the Gulf of Mexico with sealed orders. When the steamer Crescent, which led the way, carrying the i53d New York and four companies of the ii4th, had dropped her pilot outside of the passes, Davis broke the seal and for the first time learned his desti nation. Within a few days the remainder of the First division followed, without Roberts, Emory ac companied by the headquarters of the expedition going on the Mississippi on the 5th of July, with the 30th Massachusetts, the QOth New York, and the 1 1 6th New York, but transferring himself at the Southwest Pass to the Creole, in his impatience at finding the Mississippi aground and his anxiety to come up with the advance of his troops. The Cres cent was the first to arrive before Fortress Monroe. The last regiment of the Third brigade sailed on the i ith. Grover s division began its embarkation about the loth and finished about the 2Oth. In this movement some of the best regiments of the corps were left behind, as well as all the cavalry and the whole o f the magnificent park of field artillery. Among the troops thus cut off were the noth New York, the i6ist New York, the ;th Vermont, the 6th Michigan, the 4th Wisconsin, the ist Indiana Heavy Artillery, the ist Louisiana, and the 2d Louisi ana Mounted Infantry. Reynolds with the corps headquarters and the new Third division remained in Louisiana. Since this came from the old Thir teenth Corps, was afterwards incorporated in the 23 354 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. New Thirteenth Corps, formed for the siege of Mo bile, never saw service in the Nineteenth Corps and nominally belonged to it but a few days, and since the detachment now sent north was presently consti tuted the Nineteenth Corps, the title of the corps will hereafter be used in this narrative when speaking of the services of the First and Second divisions. On the 1 4th of June Major William H. Sentell, of the i6oth New York, was detailed by Emory as acting assistant inspector-general of the corps, and Captain Henry C. Inwood, of the i65th New York, 1 as provost marshal. To regret leaving the lowlands of Louisiana at this sickly season, the poisonous swamps, the filthy water, the overpowering heat, and the intolerable mosqui toes, was impossible ; yet there can have been no man in all that host that did not feel, as the light, cool breezes of the Gulf fanned his brow, a swelling of the heart and a tightness of the throat at the thought of all that he had seen and suffered, and the remem brance of the many thousands of his less fortunate comrades who had succumbed to the dangers and trials on which he himself was now turning his back for the last time. 1 In the official records wrongly printed as the i6oth. CHAPTER XXX. ON THE POTOMAC. GRANT had meant to send the corps to join the Army of the James under Butler at Bermuda Hun dred, but already the dust of Early s columns was in sight from the hills behind Washington, and the capital, though fully fortified, being practically with out defenders, until the Sixth Corps should come to the rescue, in the stress of the moment the detach ments of the Nineteenth Corps were hurried up the Potomac as fast as the transports entered the roads. It was noon on the nth when Davis landed the fourteen companies from the Crescent at the wharves of Washington, where he found orders to occupy and hold Fort Saratoga. 1 At the hour when Davis was disembarking at the southern end of Sixth Street wharf, Early s head quarters were at Silver Spring, barely five miles away to the northward, and his skirmishers were drawing within range of the guns of Fort Stevens. Behind the defences of Washington there were but twenty thousand soldiers of all sorts. Of these less than half formed the garrison of the works, and even of this fraction nearly all were raw, undisciplined, uninstructed, and lacking the simplest knowledge 1 About three miles N. -N. -E. From the Capitol, overlooking the Baltimore road and railway. 355 356 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Of the ground they were to defend. But five days before this, Grant had taken Ricketts from the lines of the Sixth Corps before Petersburg, and sent him by water to Baltimore, whence his superb veterans were carried by rail to the Monocacy just in time to enable Wallace, with a chance medley of garri sons and emergency men, to face Early on the 9th, and compel him to lose a day in crossing. Then, at last, made quite certain of Early s true position and plans, Grant hurried the rest of the Sixth Corps to the relief of Washington, and thus the steamboat bearing the advance of Wright s men touched the wharf about two hours after the Crescent had made fast. The guns of Fort Stevens were already heard shelling the approaches, and thither Wright was at once directed, but in the great heat and dust Early had pressed on so fast that his men arrived before the works parched with thirst and panting with exhaust ion. Moreover, evening came before the rear of his column had closed up on the front, and during these critical hours Wright s strong divisions of the veterans of the Army of the Potomac lined the works and stood stiffly across the path, while in supporting dis tance to the eastward was the little handful from the Gulf. Early, who had seen something of this and imagined more, waited, and so his opportunity, great or little, went. On the afternoon of the next day, the T2th of July, Early still not attacking, Wright sent out a brigade and roughly pushed back the Con federate advance. Then Early, realizing that he had not an hour to lose in extricating his command from its false position, fell back at night on Rockville. On the 1 3th of July the Clinton arrived at Wash ington with the 29th Maine and part of the i3th ON THE POTOMAC. 357 Maine, the St. Mary with the 8th Vermont, the Corinthian with the remaining six companies of the 1 1 4th New York, the Mississippi with the QOth and 1 1 6th New York and the 3Oth Massachusetts, the Creole with the 47th Pennsylvania. As the de tachments landed they were hurried, in most instances by long and needless circuits to Tennallytown, where they found themselves at night without supplies or wagons, without orders, and without much organi zation. Now that the enemy had gone and there were enough troops in Washington, the capital was once more a wild confusion of commands and commanders, such as seems to have prevailed at every important crisis during the war. Out of this Grant brought order by assigning Wright to conduct the pursuit of Early. When, therefore, on the morning of the i3th, Wright found Early gone from his front, he marched after him with the Sixth Corps, and ordered the detachment of the Nineteenth Corps to follow. Grant wished Wright to push on to Edwards Ferry to cut off Early s retreat across the Potomac. At nightfall Wright was at Offutt s Cross-Roads, with Russell and Getty of the Sixth Corps, the handful of the Nineteenth Corps, and the cavalry. About 3, 600 men of Emory s division had landed at Washington during the i2th and i3th of July, increasing the effective force of the Nineteenth Corps to about 4, 200, most of whom spent the night in fol lowing the windings of the road that marks the long outline of the northern fortifications. On the morning of the 1 4th, the roll-call accounted for 192 officers and 2, 987 men of the corps, representing ten regiments, in the bivouacs that lay loosely scattered about Ten- 358 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Nallytown. On the i4th these detachments marched ten miles and encamped beyond Offutt s Cross-Roads, where they were joined by Battery L of the ist Ohio, temporarily lent to the division from the artillery reserve of the defences of Washington. Emory him self arrived during the day and assumed command of the division, and Dwight, relieved from duty as Banks s chief of staff, came in the evening to rejoin the ist brigade. Gilmore, who found himself in Washington without assignment, had been given com mand of the Nineteenth Corps, but happening to sprain his foot badly he was obliged to go off duty after having held the assignment nominally for less than a day. Thereupon Emory once more took com mand of the corps, and the First division fell to Dwight. Moving by the river road, Wright, with Getty s division, was at Poolesville on the night of the I4th, with the last of the Nineteenth Corps eleven miles in the rear. But Early had already made good his escape, having crossed the Potomac that morning at White s Ford, with all his trains and captures intact, while Wright was still south of Seneca Creek. The next day Emory closed up on Getty at Pooles ville, and Halleck began sending the rest of the Sixth Corps there to join Wright. In the Union army the impression now prevailed that Early, having accomplished the main object of his diversion would, as usual, hasten to rejoin Lee at Richmond. Wright, therefore, got ready to go back to Washington, but Early was in fact at Leesburg, and word came that Hunter, whose forces were be ginning to arrive at Harper s Ferry, after their long and wide excursion over the Alleghanies and through ON THE POTOMAC. 359 West Virginia, had sent Sullivan s division across the Potomac at Berlin to Hillsborough, where it threat ened Early s flank and rear while exposing its own. Therefore Wright felt obliged to cross to the support of Hunter, and on the morning of the i6th of July the Sixth Corps, followed by Emory s detachment of the Nineteenth, waded the Potomac at White s Ford and encamped at Clark s Gap, three miles beyond Leesburg. But Early, by turns bold and wary, slipped away between Wright and Hunter, marched through Snicker s Gap, and put the Shenandoah between him and his enemies. Caution had been enjoined on the pursuit, and the 1 7th was spent in closing up and reconnoitring. On the i8th the combined forces of Wright and Hunter marched through Snicker s Gap, and in the afternoon Crook, who, having brought up his own division, found himself in com mand of Hunter s troops, sent Thoburn across the Shenandoah below Snicker s Ferry to seize and hold the ferry for the passage of the army ; but when Thoburn had gained the north bank Early fell upon him with three divisions and drove him back across the river with heavy loss. Instead of risking any thing more in the attempt to force the crossing in the face of Early s whole force in position, Wright was meditating a turning movement by way of Keyes s Gap, but Duffie, after riding hard through Ashby s Gap and crossing the Shenandoah at Berry s Ferry, likewise came to grief on the north bank, and so the day of the igih of July was lost. Meanwhile Hunter, having seen nearly all the rest of his army arrive at Harper s Ferry, sent a brigade and a half under Hayes to march straight up the Shenandoah to Snicker s Ferry, while Averell with a 360 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Mixed force of cavalry and infantry was sweeping down from Martinsburg on Winchester. Thus men aced in front, flank, and rear, Early, on the night of the i Qth of July, retreated on Strasburg. The next morning Wright crossed the Shenandoah, meaning to move toward Winchester, but when he learned where Early had gone he recrossed the river in the evening, marched by night to Leesburg, and encamped on Goose Creek, presently crossing to the south bank. On the morning of the 22d Wright marched on Washington, the Sixth Corps leading, followed by the Nineteenth. On the afternoon of the 23d Emory crossed the chain bridge and went into bivouac on the high ground overlooking the Potomac near Battery Vermont. So ended the " Snicker s Gap war. " During this expedition Kenly s brigade of the Eighth Corps served with the Nineteenth. As soon as Early s withdrawal from Maryland had quieted all apprehensions for the safety of Washing ton, the orders that had met the advance of the Nineteenth Corps at Hampton Roads were recalled, and, reverting to his original intention, Grant sent the detachments of the corps as they arrived up the James River to Bermuda Hundred to join the right wing of his armies under Butler. Indeed, at the moment of its arrival at Poolesville, the First division had been ordered to take the same destination, but this the movements of the contending armies prevented. The first of the troops to land at Bermuda Hundred was the i5th Maine on the i;th of July. It was at once sent to the right of the lines before Peters burg, and within the next ten days there were assem bled there parts of four brigades McMillan s and ON THE POTOMAC. 361 Currie s of the First division, and Birge s and Molineux s of Grover s. Part of Currie s brigade was engaged, under Hancock, in the affair at Deep Bottom on the north bank of the James on the 25th of July, losing eighteen killed and wounded and twenty-four prisoners. The work and duty in the trenches and on the skirmishing line were hard and constant, re minding the men of their days and nights before Port Hudson, but this was not to last long, and the loss was light. 1 On the 2Oth of July at Carter s Farm, three miles north of Winchester, Averell, who was following Early, met and routed Ramseur, who had been sent back to check the pursuit. Early continued his re treat to Strasburg on the 22d, but when the next day he learned that Wright was gone, he turned back to punish the weak force under Hunter, and on the 24th overwhelmed Crook at Kernstown. Crook retreated through Martinsburg into Maryland, and marching by Williamsport and Boonsborough, took post at Sharpsburg, while Averell stayed at Hagerstown to watch the upper fords of the Potomac. To break up the Baltimore and Ohio railway and to ravage the borders of Pennsylvania were favorite ideas with Early. He now entered with zest on the unopposed gratification of both desires, and while he 1 In Major William F. Tiemann s truly admirable " History of theisgth New York, " he says: "July 26th we were camped near Major-General Birney s headquarters, not far from Hatcher s house between batteries five and six, one of which enjoyed the euphonious title of Fort Slaughter. . . . The works were built more strongly and with more art than at Port Hudson, but were not nearly as strong in reality, as Port Hudson was fortified naturally and the obstructions were much harder to overcome. " (P. 87. ) I think this book a model of everything that a regimental history ought to be ; above all, for the rare gifts of modesty and accuracy. 362 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Himself bestrode the railway at Martinsburg with his army engaged in its destruction, he sent McCausland with his own brigade of cavalry and Bradley Johnson s on the famous marauding expedition that culminated in the wanton burning of Chambersburg in default of an impossible ransom, and at last resulted in the flight of McCausland s whole force, with Averell at his heels, and its ultimate destruction or dispersion by Averell, after a long chase, at Moorefield far up the south branch of the Potomac. When on the 23d of July he saw Wright back at Washington and Early at Strasburg in retreat, as was imagined, up the valley, Grant partly changed his mind about recalling the troops he had spared for the defence of Washington, and determining to content himself with Wright s corps, directed Emory to stay where he was. Emory now had 253 officers and 5, 320 men for duty. As one turn of the wheel had given the Nineteenth Corps to Butler, restoring to his command some of the regiments that had gone with him to the capture of New Orleans, so the next turn was to bring the corps under Augur, who since leaving Louisiana had been in command of the department of Washington. So at least run the orders of the 23d of July, yet hardly had Emory reported his division to Augur, when the whole arrangement was suddenly broken up, and the army that had just marched back to Washington with Wright was once more hurried off to meet what was supposed to be a fresh invasion by Early. In fact Early was quietly reposing at Bunker Hill, where he easily commanded the approaches and debouches of the Shenandoah valley, the fords of the Potomac, from Harper s Ferry to Williamsport, and ON THE POTOMAC. 363 the whole line of the railway across the great bend of the Potomac. By this time Grant had found out that it often took twenty-four hours to communicate with Washington by telegraph, and that it was consequently impossible to control from the James the movements of his forces on the upper Potomac. On his suggesting this, the government confided to Halleck the direction of Wright s operations against Early. The Sixth Corps marched from Tennallytown on the morning of the 26th of July, and immediately afterwards the Nine teenth Corps broke up its camp near the chain bridge and followed the Sixth. The line of march followed the road to Rockville, where Wright divided the column, sending a detachment to the left by way of Poolesville, while the main body pursued the direct road towards Frederick. Emory encamped that night on the Frederick road, four miles north of Rockville, after a march of nineteen miles. The next day, the 27th of July, Emory, leading the column, marched at three in the morning, moved fifteen miles, and en camped beyond Hyattstown. On the 28th Emory took the road at five, marched to Monocacy Junction, where the Sixth Corps crossed the Monocacy, then filed to the right, and crossed at the upper ford, and passing through Frederick went into bivouac four miles beyond. The distance made was thirteen miles. On the 2Qth, an intensely hot day, Emory marched at eight, following the Sixth Corps, crossed the Potomac at Harper s Ferry, marched nineteen miles, and went into bivouac at Halltown. Here Wright was joined by Crook, who came from Sharps- burg by way of Shepherdstown. It was on the 3Oth of July that McCausland burned 364 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Chambersburg. In the confusion caused by his rapid movements, Halleck imagined that Early s whole force was in Pennsylvania. Therefore he ordered Wright back into Maryland, first to Frederick and then to Emmettsburg, to hold the passes of the South Mountain against the supposed invader. About noon Wright faced about, taking Crook with him, and recrossed the Potomac. Toward evening Crook and Wright covered the passes, while Emory crossed the Catoctin and at one in the morning of the 3ist halted near Jefferson after a hard day s march of thirteen miles, during which the men and animals of all the corps suffered terribly from the heat and dust, added to the accumulated fatigue they had already undergone from a succession of long days and short nights. Reveille was sounded at five o clock, and at six the march was resumed. Emory passed through Frederick, moved about two miles on the Emmetts burg road and went into bivouac, having made thir teen miles during the day. The army was now concentrated at Frederick, holding the line of the Monocacy and observing the passes of the South Mountain. Fortunately for the men and horses, Halleck now learned from Couch, who commanded in Pennsylvania with rather less than a handful of troops, the exact dimensions of McCausland s raid. Accordingly Wright s troops were allowed to rest where they were. Grant ordered up a division of cavalry from the Army of the Potomac, and on the 4th of August set out in person for Frederick, avoiding Washington, to see for himself just what the situation was, and to make better arrangements for the future. On the 5th of August he joined Hunter on the Monocacy, and at ON THE POTOMAC. 365 once ordered him to take Wright, Emory, and Crook across the Potomac, to find the enemy, and to attack him. Grover s division and the parts of Emory s that had been at Bermuda Hundred embarked on the James on the 3ist of July, and passed up the Poto mac to Washington, but too late to join Emory on the Monocacy. Thus, before beginning the new move ment, Emory had of his own division 4, 600 effective and eight regiments of Grover s, numbering 2, 750. These, being parts of four brigades, were temporarily organized into two, and as Grover himself had not yet joined, their command was given to Molineux. About this time, Battery L, ist Ohio, was relieved from duty with the Nineteenth Corps, and four other batteries joined it from the reserve park at Washing ton. Of these Taft s 5th New York was assigned to the First division, Bradbury s ist Maine, an old friend, to the Second division, Lieutenant Chase s D, ist Rhode Island and Miner s lyth Indiana to the Artil lery Reserve, commanded at first by Captain Taft, afterward by Major Bradbury. Crook led the way across the Potomac at Harper s Ferry on the evening of the 5th of August, Emory followed the next morning, and Ricketts with the Sixth Corps brought up the rear. Averell with the cavalry, as will be remembered, was still far away, engaged in the long chase after McCausland. Hun ter took up his position covering Halltown and pro ceeded to strengthen it by entrenchments. Crook s left rested on the Shenandoah, Emory extended the line to the turnpike road, and Wright carried it to the Potomac. On the very day Grant left City Point, Early 3 66 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Marched north from Bunker Hill, meaning to cover McCausland s retreat and to destroy Hunter, and so, curiously enough, it happened that Early s whole army actually crossed the Potomac into Maryland at Martinsburg and Shepherdstown a few hours before Crook passed over the ford at Harper s Ferry into Vir ginia ; and, still more curiously, while, ten days before, the groundless apprehension of another invasion by Early had thrown the North into a fever and the government into a fright, here was Early actually in Maryland on the battle-field of Antietam without producing so much as a sensation. As soon as Early got the first inkling of what was going on behind him, he tripped briskly back to Martinsburg, and finding Hunter at Halltown resumed his old position at Bunker Hill. Grant had already proposed to unite in a single command the four distinct departments covering the theatre of war on the Shenandoah and on the upper Potomac ; as the commander he had first suggested Franklin and afterward Meade. Now, since no action had followed either suggestion, he sent up Sheridan, meaning to place him in command of all the active forces of these four departments, for the purpose of overthrowing Early or expelling him from the Shen andoah. Upon learning this, Hunter, to remove the difficulty, asked to be relieved ; and thus, on the 7th of August, Grant gained his wish, and an order was issued by the War Department, creating the Middle Military Division, to include Washington, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and part of Ohio, and Sheridan was assigned to the command. Amusing though it may have been to Early and his followers to note the panic and confusion into ON THE POTOMAC. 367 which McCausland s predatory riders once more threw the capital and the border States, this absurd freak produced far-reaching consequences that were not in the thoughts of any one on either side. Its first effect was to stop the withdrawal of the Sixth Corps, and to put Wright and Emory once more in march toward the Shenandoah. It determined Lee to keep Early in the valley, where his presence seemed so effective ; and this shortly led to the con centration there, under a single commander, and that commander Sheridan, of the largest and best appointed Union army that had ever occupied that theatre of war, and thus at last in one short campaign worked the destruction of Early s army and the elimination of the valley as a feature in the war. Upon the officers and men of the Nineteenth Corps the change from the enervating climate of Louisiana to the bracing air, the crystal waters, the rolling wheatfields, and the beautiful blue mountains of the Shenandoah acted like a tonic. Daily their spirits rose and their numbers for duty increased. The excellence of the roads and the openness of the country on either side enabled them to achieve long marches with ease and comfort. Nor were they slow in remarking that they had never had a commissary and quartermaster so good as Sheridan. CHAPTER XXXI. IN THE SHENANDOAH. THE fourth year of the war was now well advanced, and the very name of the Shenandoah valley had long since passed into a byword as the Valley of Humiliation, so often had those fair and fertile fields witnessed the rout of the national forces ; so often had the armies of the Union marched proudly up the white and dusty turnpike, only to come flying back in disorder and disgrace. With the same rough humor of the soldier, half in grim jest, half in sad earnest, yet always a grain of hard sense lying at the bottom, the Union veterans had re-named as Harper s Weekly the picturesque landscape that appeared to them so regularly ; and Lee s annual invasion of the country beyond the Potomac had come to be known among them as the Summer Excursion and Picnic into Maryland. To mete out the blame for this state of things ; to apportion the precise share of the mortifying result due to each one of several contributing causes ; to show how much should be ascribed to division and subdivision of councils ; how much to the unfitness of commanders, too often disqualified alike by nature and training, for the leadership of men in emergen cies, or even for their temporary profession, and in truth owing their commissions, in Halleck s phrase, 3 68 SHENANDOAH VALLEY CAMPAIGN. FROM MAJOR W. F. TIEMANN S "HISTORY OF THE 159TH NEW YORK. IN THE SHENANDOAH. 369 to "reasons other than military;" and how much finally to a dense ignorance or a fine disregard of the very elements and first principles of the art of war : all this lies outside of the scope of this history, curious, entertaining, and instructive though the inquiry would be. Certain it is that at no period was the problem at once comprehended and con trolled until Grant took it in hand, and equally so that the work was never done until he confided it to Sheridan. To this, in fairness, must be added three considerations of great moment. No com mander had previously enjoyed the undivided con fidence of the government as Grant did at this period ; the relations between Grant and Sheridan were those of perfect trust and harmony ; and the Army of the Shenandoah was for the first time made strong enough for its work. Moreover, though Early was a good and useful general, and was soon to prove himself the master of resources and resolution equal to the occasion, he was not Jackson ; and even had he been, no second Jackson could ever have fallen heir to the prestige of the first. The parallel ranges of the Blue Ridge, extending from the head-waters of the James to the Susque- hanna in mid-course, presented peculiar strategic con ditions of which the Confederates were as quick as the government of the United States was slow to take advantage. Rising in the southwest, the twin forks of the Shenandoah, wedged apart by the long and narrow range, or rather ranges, known as the Massanutten, unite near Front Royal, where the valley begins to widen to a plain, and pour their waters into the Potomac at Harper s Ferry. Of the two valleys thus formed, the easternmost, through 370 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Which runs the South Fork, takes the name of Luray, or, in local usage, Page, from its chief county, while the more western and more important, in the lap of which lies the North Fork, preserves the name of Shenandoah, as well for the river as the county. Through this valley lies the course of the great macadamized highway that before the days of steam formed the chief avenue of communication between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Soon after the valley begins to widen, beyond Strasburg and Front Royal, the Opequon takes its rise in the western range, here known as Little North Mountain, and, flowing northeast, falls into the Potomac below Williamsport. The Cumberland valley continues the valley of Vir ginia into Pennsylvania, the two being separated by the Potomac, which in this part of its course is usually fordable at many points. Topography was by no means Grant s strong suit, yet he was not long in perceiving that the southwesterly trend of this great valley led and must always lead an invading column at every step farther away, not only from its base on the Potomac, but practically also from its objective at Richmond. Wherefore this zone was useless to the armies of the Union, while for the Confederates it had the triple advantage of a granary, an easy and secure way into Maryland and Pennsylvania, and on the flank toward Washington a mountain wall, cut by numerous gaps, of equal convenience in advance or retreat, besides being a constant menace to Wash ington as well as to the Union army operating between the Blue Ridge and the Potomac. Thus it was that the Confederate force was able to move speedily and unobserved to the north bank of the Potomac at Williamsport, and there, ninety miles north of Wash- IN THE SHENANDOAH. 371 ington, equally distant from Baltimore and from Washington, and actually nearer to the Susquehanna than the capital is, held the whole country at its mercy until the Army of the Potomac could be hurried to the rescue. Grant s first orders to Sheridan were twofold : he was to move south by the valley, no matter where Early might be, or what he might be doing, in full confidence that Early would surely be found in his front ; and he was to devastate the valley so far as to destroy its future usefulness as a granary and a store house of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia. Following the instructions turned over to him by Hunter, Sheridan moved out from Halltown on the loth of August, and marching through Charlestown, took up a position threatening the crossing of the Opequon and Early s communications at Winchester. Crook, on the left, rested on Berryville, Emory held the centre, and Wright prolonged the line to Clifton. Torbert covered the right flank at Summit Point, which lies eleven miles east-northeast from Winches ter, and the left, with the main body of the cavalry, nine miles south by east from Winchester, at White Post, where his presence strongly emphasized the menace to Early s rear. The position thus held presently became known as the Clifton-Berryville line. While worthless for defence, it had the double advantage of covering the short roads to Washington through Snicker s Gap and Ashby s Gap, and of elbowing Early out of his favorite position at Bunker Hill, at the same time that by throwing back the right flank toward Clifton, Sheridan s road to Charles- town and Harper s Ferry was made safe. Early quietly let go his hold on the Baltimore and Ohio 372 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Railway, and, just as Grant had anticipated, hastened to place himself across Sheridan s path at Win chester. On the morning of the nth of August, Sheridan took ground to the left, meaning to seize and hold the fords of the Opequon, Wright at the turnpike road between Berryville and Winchester, Emory far ther up the creek at the Senseny road, and Crook on Emory s left, probably at the Millwood pike. The cavalry covered the right of the Sixth Corps, and on both flanks threatened Winchester. Early, who had moved on the previous day from Bunker Hill to a position covering Winchester from the south, was in the act of retiring on Strasburg when Torbert ran into his cavalry. Sharp skirmishing resulted without bringing on a general engagement. At night Early held and covered the valley turnpike between New- town and Middletown, while Sheridan, who before crossing the Opequon had heard of Early s move ment, and had simply continued his own march up the right or east bank, rested between the Millwood crossing of the Opequon and Stony Point on the road to Front Royal. The melancholy failure attending the explosion of the mine before Petersburg and the continued reduc tion of Grant s forces, brought about by Early s diversions, coming on top of the losses since crossing the Rapidan, had brought affairs on the James to a dead-lock. While Grant in this situation was willing to spare the Sixth Corps and the Nineteenth and even to strengthen them by two divisions of cavalry from the Army of the Potomac, Lee on his part not only gave up all present thought of recalling Early, as had been the custom in former years, but even IN THE SHENANDOAH. 373 sent Anderson with Kershaw s division of infantry, Fitzhugh Lee s division of cavalry, and Cutshaw s battalion of artillery, to strengthen Early, so as to enable him to hold his ground, and thus to cover the gathering of the crops in the valley, and perhaps to encourage still further detachments from the invest ing forces before Richmond and Petersburg. The first week of August found Anderson on the march and he was now moving down the valley. Therefore Early very properly drew back through Strasburg to wait for Anderson, and on the night of the i2th of August took up a strong position at Fisher s Hill. Its natural advantages he proceeded to increase by entrenchments. Sheridan, following, encamped in the same order as before on the left bank of Cedar Creek. On the 1 3th Wright crossed Cedar Creek and occupied Hupp s Hill, and sending his skirmishers into Stras burg, discovered Early in position as described ; but at nightfall Sheridan, who now had information that caused him to suspect Anderson s movement, drew back and set the cavalry to guard the Front Royal road. Then Early advanced his outposts to Hupp s Hill, and so for the next three days both armies rested. On the 1 4th of August, Sheridan received from Grant authentic, rather than exact, information of Anderson s movement, for this was supposed to include two infantry divisions, instead of one. Coupled with this was Grant s renewed order to be cautious. With his quick eye for country, Sheridan soon saw that he had but one even tolerable position for de fence, and that this was at Halltown. The Confed erate defence, on the other hand, rested on Fisher s 374 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hill, and between these two positions the wide plain lay like a chess-board between the players. And now began a series of moves, during which each side watched and waited for the adversary to weaken himself, or to make a mistake, or for some chance encounter to bring about an unlooked-for advantage. Finding his position at Cedar Creek, to use his own words, " a very bad one, " Sheridan was about to re tire to the extreme limit of the valley at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah ; and this was to be but the beginning of a series of seesaw movements, in which, as often as Sheridan went back to Halltown, Early would advance to Bunker Hill. Early, having taken the offensive, was bound to keep it, or lose his venture. Now, at this time, Early s objective was the Baltimore and Ohio railway ; but Sheridan s was Early. Thus, whenever he found Early at Bunker Hill, wreaking his pleasure on the railway and the canal, Sheridan had only to take a step forward to the Clifton-Berryville line in order to force Early to hasten back to Winchester, and to lay hold of the Opequon ; and so this alternating play might have continued as long as the war lasted, if other causes and events had not intervened. At eleven o clock on the night of the I5th of August, Sheridan s retreat began, Emory moving to Winchester, where he went into bivouac at six o clock on the morning of the i6th. At eight o clock on the evening of the i6th, Wright and Crook fol lowed, and on the 1 7th Early, who had now been joined by Anderson, marched in pursuit. The same evening Sheridan took up the Clifton-Berryville posi tion in the old order ; the cavalry, now strengthened by the arrival of Wilson s division, covering the rear IN THE SHENANDOAH. 375 and flanks. At Berryville, at midnight, Grover joined Emory, from Washington by Leesburg and Snicker s Gap, with the remainder of the Nineteenth Corps from the James 1 ; and since the receipt of these reinforcements formed Sheridan s only reason for staying at Berryville, on the i8th he fell back to Charlestown, holding the roads leading thence to Berryville and to Bunker Hill. On the i Qth and 2Oth of August, Sheridan stood still while Early occupied Bunker Hill and Win chester ; but, on the 2ist, Early from Bunker Hill and Anderson from Winchester moved together to the attack. Rodes and Ramseur had a sharp fight with Wright, which caused Sheridan to bring up Crook on the left and Emory on the right ; but neither came into action, because Merritt and Wilson stood so stiffly that Anderson got no farther than Summit Point. During the night Sheridan fell back to Halltown. In retreating from Cedar Creek Sheridan began to put in force Grant s new policy of making the valley useless to the Confederate armies by burning all the grain and carrying off all the animals above Win chester. " I have destroyed everything eatable, " are Sheridan s words. On the 25th of August, after three days spent in skirmishing, Early left Anderson to mask Halltown, and sent Fitzhugh Lee by Martinsburg to Williams- port, marching himself to Shepherdstown. A rough fight with Torbert s cavalry resulted near Kearneys- ville, in which Custer narrowly avoided the loss of 1 Grover s men made the hard march of 69 miles from Washington in three days ; the last 33 miles in 13^ hours, actual time. See Major Tiemann s " His tory of the isgth New York, " pp. 91, 92. 376 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. His brigade by a rapid flight across the Potomac at Shepherdstown. Sheridan sent two divisions of cav alry under Averell and Wilson over the Potomac to watch the fords and to hold the gaps of the South Mountain. Thus when Fitzhugh Lee got to the Po tomac, he found Averell waiting for him, and Ander son being pressed back by Crook on the 26th, Early fell back beyond the Opequon to Bunker Hill and Stephenson s Depot. On the 28th of August Sheri dan advanced to Charlestown, and waiting there five days while his cavalry was concentrating and feeling the enemy, he again moved forward to the Clifton- Berryville line on the 3d of September, and encamped in the usual order. Two marked features had now become regularly established : as often as the troops halted, no matter for how short a time, of their own accord they in stantly set about protecting their front with the spade and the axe ; and, secondly, the depots of the army were fixed behind the strong lines of Halltown with a sufficient force to guard them, and thence, as needed, supplies were sent forward to the troops in the field by strongly guarded trains, and these, as soon as unloaded, were returned to Halltown, thus reducing to a minimum the impedimenta of the army as well as the detachments usually demanded for their care. For the Nineteenth Corps, Currie s bri gade of Dwight s division performed this service during the campaign. The contingency for which Grant and Sheridan were waiting was now close at hand. Anderson had been nearly a month away from Lee, and meanwhile Grant had not only kept Lee on the watch on both banks of the James, as well for Richmond as for IN THE SHENANDOAH. 377 Petersburg, but had taken a fast hold on the Weldon railway. Unable to shake off Grant s clutch either on the James or on the Shenandoah, Lee greatly needed Anderson back with him. Accordingly, on the very day when Sheridan went back to Berryville, Anderson, seeking the shortest way to Richmond, ran into Crook in the act of going into camp, and darkness shortly put an end to a sharp fight that might otherwise have proved a pitched battle. This brought Early in haste from Stephenson s to Ander son s help, but when the next day Early saw how strongly posted Sheridan was, he fell back across the Opequon to cover Winchester, and finally, on the 1 4th of September, sent off Anderson by Front Royal and Chester Gap, but this time without Fitzhugh Lee. The interval was occupied in continual skirmishes and reconnoissances. Meanwhile Crook changed over from the left flank to the right at Summit Point, the cavalry covering the front and flanks from Snicker s Gap by way of Smithfield and Martinsburg to the Potomac. On the i6th of September, Grant, pressed by the government in behalf of the business interests disturbed by the enemy s control of the rail way and the canal, went to Charlestown to confer with Sheridan. In the breast-pocket of his coat Grant carried a complete plan of the campaign he meant Sheridan to carry out ; but when, having asked Sheridan if he could be ready to move on Tuesday, Sheridan promptly answered he should be ready whenever the General should say " Go in " at day light on Monday, if necessary, so delighted was Grant that he said not a word about the plan, but contented himself with echoing the words, " Go in ! " CHAPTER XXXII. THE OPEQUON. 1 GRANT S approval of Sheridan s attack was founded on the withdrawal of Kershaw ; but on the i8th of September, just as Sheridan was about to move on Newtown, meaning to offer Early the choice of being turned out of Winchester, or being overwhelmed if he should stay, news came from Averell that he had been driven out of Martinsburg by two divisions of infantry. These were the divisions of Rodes and Gordon, with which, enticed at last into a grave error by the temptation of hearing that the railway was being repaired, Early had marched on the 1 7th to Bunker Hill and Martinsburg. When Sheridan heard of this, and perceived that Early s forces, al ready diminished, were strung along all the way from Winchester to Martinsburg, he stopped the execution of the orders he had already issued for the movement at four o clock in the afternoon of that day, the i8th of September, and replaced them by fresh arrange ments which led to the battle of the Opequon on the 1 9th. Since last moving to the Clifton-Berryville line, Sheridan had used his cavalry to preserve in his front an open space fully six miles in depth, extend ing to the banks of the Opequon, meaning not only to have the first tidings of any offensive movement 1 Also spelled " Opequan. " Pronounced O-peck -an. 37 8 THE OPE QUO N. 379 by the enemy, but also that when himself ready to move he might be able to take the enemy by surprise. On the evening of the i8th of September, part of Early s cavalry was at Martinsburg, Gordon occupied Bunker Hill, Wharton was at Stephenson s, with Rodes closing back on him, while Ramseur alone covered Winchester in the path of Sheridan s advance. Sheridan naturally supposed that in a quick move ment he would have two divisions to deal with after crossing the Opequon. At two o clock on the morning of Monday, the 1 9th of September, on the very day when Sheridan had told Grant he would be ready to move, but just three hours earlier, Sheridan put his army in motion toward the Opequon, covering his flank by directing Merritt and Averell on Stephenson s. He sent Wil son rapidly ahead on the Berryville road to carry the ford and to seize the long and deep defile on the left or east bank through which the main column would have to advance. Wright was to lead the infantry, closely followed by Emory, who, in order to solidify the movement, was instructed to take his orders from Wright after reaching the ford. Crook, coming in from his more distant position, would naturally fall in the rear of the others, and he was to mass his men in reserve, covering the ford. Wright had to move partly across country, and had farther to go than Emory. Although both started punctually at the appointed hour, it happened that, about five o clock, the head of Wright s column ran into Emory s in march near the crest, whence the road sweeps down to the Opequon. There Emory halted, by Wright s orders, to let the Sixth Corps pass. Unfortunately, minute and thorough as Sheridan s plans and instruc- 3 8o THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Tions were, he appears to have underrated the double difficulty of crossing the ford and threading the long defile, for to this cause must be attributed the pres ence of Wright s entire wagon-train in the rear of his corps, as well as the excess of artillery for the work and the field. The head of the column could move but slowly ; thus the rear was so long retarded, that, although the crossing began about six o clock, and the whole movement was urged on by Sheridan, Wright, and Emory, and indeed by every one, it wanted but twenty minutes of noon when the line of battle was finally formed on the rolling ground over looking the vale of the Opequon to the rear and Winchester to the front. Even as it was, Sheridan s eagerness being great, and the delay seeming inter minable, Emory felt obliged to take upon himself the responsibility of departing from the strict order of march, and directed Dwight to move his men to the right of the road and pass the train. Thus it had taken six hours to advance three miles and to form in order of battle, and the immediate effect of this delay was that Sheridan had now to deal, not only with Ramseur, or with the two divisions counted on, but with the whole of Early s army ; for between five and six o clock in the morning Gordon, Rodes, and Wharton were all at Stephenson s, distant only five miles from Winchester or from the field of battle, toward which they all moved rapidly at the sound of the first firing, due to Wilson s advance. Opequon Creek flows at the foot of a broad and thickly wooded gorge, with high and steep banks. The ravine through which the Berryville road rises to the level of the rolling plain, in the middle of whose western edge stands Winchester, is nearly three miles THE OPEQUON. 381 long. Here and there the high ground is covered with large oaks, pines, and undergrowth, and is inter sected by many brooks, called runs. Of these the largest is Red Bud Run, which forms a smaller paral lel ravine flanking the defile on the north, while a still larger stream, called Abraham s Creek, after pursuing a nearly parallel course on the south side of the defile, crosses the road not far from the ford, and just below it falls into the Opequon. Wilson, after crossing the Opequon and complet ing his task of covering the advance of the infantry through the defile, had turned to the left on the high ground and taken post to cover the flank on the Senseny road, which, after crossing the Opequon about a mile and a quarter above the main ford, reaches the outskirts of Winchester at a point little more than three hundred yards from the Berryville road. The Sixth Corps formed across the Berryville road, Getty on its left, Ricketts on its right. Getty rested his left on Abraham s Creek. Behind him Russell stood in column in support. Emory pro longed the line of battle to the Red Bud on the right by posting Sharpe s and Birge s brigades of Grover, with Molineux and Shunk in the second line, the 9th Connecticut deployed as skirmishers to cover the right flank of Birge. Dwight s two brigades formed on the right and rear of Grover in echelon of regiments on the right, in order not only to support Grover s line, but to cover the flank against any turn ing movement by the Confederates or an attack by their reinforcements coming straight from Stephen- son s. Beal s brigade held the right of Dwight s line, and the brigade line from right to left was formed in order of the ii4th New York, i53d New York, n6th 382 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. New York, 2Qth Maine, and 3Oth Massachusetts. Beal covered his right flank by a detail of skirmishers taken from all his regiments and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Strain, of the I53d New York. McMillan, on the left and rear of Beal, formed in order of the 47th Pennsylvania, 8th Vermont, i6oth New York, and i2th Connecticut, with five compa nies of the 47th Pennsylvania deployed to cover the whole right flank of his brigade and to move forward with it by the flank left in front. Crook had by this time crossed the ford and was massed on the left or west bank. In climbing the hill the Berry ville road follows nearly a northwesterly course, but soon after reaching the high ground bends rather sharply toward the left, crosses the ravine called Ash Hollow forming the head of Berryville Canon, and runs for nearly a mile almost westerly. Wright was following the road, but as Emory guided upon Wright, the alignment was to be preserved by Sharpe s keeping his left in touch with the right of Ricketts. While the ground in Wright s front was for the most part open, Emory was chiefly in the dense wood, where the heavy leaf age and undergrowth prevented him from seeing not only the enemy before him, but also the full extent of his own line. It should be observed with care that Ricketts was between Sharpe and the Berryville road, while the road was between Getty and Ricketts, and formed the guide for both ; for these facts, of slight importance though they may seem, were destined presently to exert an influence wellnigh fatal on the fortunes of the day. During the early hours of the morning Ramseur, on the Berryville road, and the cavalry of Lomax on THE OPEQUON. 383 the Senseny road, had been the only Confederate force between Sheridan and Winchester. But first Gordon came up at nine o clock, and placed himself opposite Emory s right, his own left resting on the line of the Red Bud ; then Rodes, closely following Gordon, formed between him and Ramseur against the right of Emory and the left of Wright. About a quarter before twelve o clock, at the sound of Sheridan s bugle, repeated from corps, division, and brigade headquarters, the whole line moved forward with great spirit, and instantly became en gaged. Wilson pushed back Lomax, Wright drove in Ramseur, while Emory, advancing his infantry rapidly through the wood, where he was unable to use his artillery, attacked Gordon with great vigor. Birge, charging with bayonets fixed, fell upon the brigade of Evans, forming the extreme left of Gordon, and without a halt drove it in confusion through the wood and across the open ground beyond to the support of Braxton s artillery, posted by Gordon to secure his flank on the Red Bud road. In this brilliant charge, led by Birge in person, his lines naturally became disordered, and Grover, foreseeing the effect of an advance so swift and so tumultuous, ordered Birge to halt and re-form in the wood. This order Birge tried to execute ; but whether the words of command were not heard or were misunderstood, or in the wild excitement of the moment were wilfully disregarded by the men, certain it is that their officers found it impossible to restrain their ardor until they had followed on the run the broken fragments of Evans quite through the wood and beyond its farther skirt, where Braxton, using his guns with energy and skill, brought them to a stand. 384 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Sharpe, advancing simultaneously on Birge s left, tried in vain to keep the alignment with Ricketts and with Birge ; for now the peculiar feature of the long alignment across the swerving road began to work, yet, by reason of the screen of timber, without the cause being immediately observed by any one. At first the order of battle formed a right angle with the road, but the bend once reached, in the effort to keep closed upon it, at every step Ricketts was taking ground more and more to the left, while the point of direction for Birge, and equally for Sharpe, was the enemy in their front, standing almost in the exact prolongation of the defile, from which line, still plainly marked by Ash Hollow, the road, as we have seen, was steadily diverging. In short, to continue the march parallel with the road compelled a left half- wheel, while the battle was with the enemy straight in front, so that even had it been possible for Emory to execute his orders literally he must have offered his wheeling flank fairly to Rodes and to Gordon. Sharpe, seeing that the gap between himself and Ricketts was growing every moment wider, in vain tried to cover it by more than one oblique movement to the left, and Keifer, whose brigade formed the right of Ricketts, being also among the first to perceive the fault, tried to make it good by deploying three of his regiments across the interval. Birge s advance had borne him far to the right, and as Sharpe, in the vain attempt to keep his alignment with Ricketts, was always drifting to the left, there came a second and smaller gap between the two lead ing brigades of Grover. Into this Molineux was quickly thrust, and, deploying in parade order, under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, at once began THE OPEQUON. T 385 firing in return with great effect on the advancing columns of the enemy. But, shortly before this hap pened, the interval between Ricketts and Sharpe had grown to be nearly four hundred yards wide, and Birge s advance being stayed at nearly the same instant, Early saw his opportunity and seized it by throwing against the diverging flanks of Sharpe and Ricketts the fresh brigade that Battle had that moment brought up from Stephenson s. This new impulse once more carried forward the rest of Rodes s division ; Ramseur rallied ; Early restored his forma tion ; and the whole Confederate line swept forward with renewed impetuosity, broke in the whole right of Ricketts and the left of Sharpe, surged around both flanks of Molineux, and swept back Birge. Sharpe s line, thus taken fairly in flank, was quickly rolled up. By this, the left regiment of Molineux, the gallant 22d Iowa, being in quite open ground, was greatly exposed, so that it, too, was presently swept back. The iSQth New York and the i3th Connecticut, after holding on stiffly for a time under the partial cover of a sort of gully, were in like manner swept away, and on the right Birge s men paid the penalty of their own impetuosity. The left of Ricketts, less exposed to the shock, stood firm, and the right of Molineux, isolated as it was, held its ground ; but otherwise the whole front of the battle, from the road to the Red Bud, was gone. As the Confederates charged down upon a section of Bradbury s ist Maine Battery, posted about the centre of the division, Day, who under many drawbacks had brought up his regiment, the 1 3 ist New York, to a high standard of discipline and efficiency, took prompt and full advantage of the slight cover afforded by the little wooded ravine in 386 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Which he happened to be. With equal coolness and readiness he changed front forward on his tenth company, yet held his fire until he could see the shoulders and almost the backs of the enemy ; then, pouring in a hot fire, and being immediately supported by the nth Indiana, part of the 3d Massachusetts, and the i76th New York, which had quickly rallied from Sharpens reverse, the attacking force was driven back in disorder ; but unfortunately, in retiring it swept across the remains of Molineux s left centre, which had been cut off in the gully, and took many prisoners, especially from among the officers who had stood to their posts through everything. Just as when victory had seemed about to alight on the standard of the Union, the very perch itself had been suddenly and rudely shaken by the tread of Early s charging columns ; so now, at the precise moment when defeat bitter, perhaps disastrous de feat seemed inevitable, the fortunes of the battle were once more reversed, and the day was suddenly saved by the prompt and orderly advance of Russell into the fatal gap. As he changed front from the wood to the right and swept on in splendid array, it happened that the charging line of Early, already disarranged by its own success, offered its right flank to Russell s front. Russell himself, bravely leading his division, fell, yet not until he had struck the blow that gave the victory to the defenders of his country, a noble sacrifice in a noble cause. But on the right a danger almost equally serious menaced the flank of Emory, for when Birge s men came streaming back, Shunk, who had been support ing Birge without having men enough to cover the whole ground, found his left uncovered to Gordon THE OPEQUON. 387 by the giving way of Sharpe, while at the same time his line was nearly enfiladed from the right by a section or battery of Fitzhugh Lee s horse artillery on the north bank of the Red Bud. Seeing all this, Emory instantly ordered his own old division to deploy at the top of its speed, and to make good the broken line. " Have this thing stopped at once, " were the terse words of his command to Dwight. Once more, as at the Sabine Cross-Roads, the ist brigade was called upon to yield up its leading regiment for a sacrifice, and again the lot fell to New York, yet this time upon the ii4th, and upon not one of all the good veteran battalions that held the field on that igth of September if indeed upon any in all the armies of the Union could the choice have rested more securely. To the left and front, far into the open field, through the wreck of Grover s right, into the teeth of the pursuing lines of Gordon, Per Lee led his regiment. No sooner had his men emerged from the cover of the wood than they came under the fire of Gordon s infantry and artillery, crossed with the fire of Fitzhugh Lee s guns beyond the Red Bud ; yet they were not able to fire a musket in return until their own defeated comrades had passed to the rear. Cruel as the situation was, the 1 1 4th marched steadily forward nearly two hun dred yards in front of the forest ; then, finding him self quite alone and unsupported, confronted by the line of battle of the enemy at the skirt of the timber opposite, Per Lee made his men lie down without other cover than the high grass, and there, loading on their backs and at every moment losing heavily, without yielding an inch, they held off the enemy until support came. That this was longer than 3 88 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Usual in coming was no fault of their comrades, but a mere accident of the situation ; for Dwight s division being formed in echelon of battalions on the right, just as it had in the first instance been necessary to bring the ii4th into action obliquely to the left, so now Beal was forced to form the line of battle of his brigade by inversion, and this, moreover, in the woods, with the steep bank of the Red Bud hamper ing his right. Slow though it must have seemed to Per Lee, standing out there alone, this difficult move ment was in reality executed by Beal with great promptness and rapidity and in admirable order. As regiment after regiment, beginning with the i53d, came into the new line at the double-quick by the shortest path, each advanced with a shout to the rail fence on Per Lee s right and somewhat toward his rear, and, throwing down the rails, opened a rapid fire. This checked the enemy. Finding Beal unable to cover all the ground he was now trying to hold, Emory made Dwight take the i6oth New York from McMillan s brigade and posted it on the right of Seal s. McMillan had been ordered to move forward at the same time as Beal, and to form on his left. The five companies of the 47th Pennsylvania that had been detached to form a skirmish line on Red Bud Run, to cover McMillan s right flank, had somehow lost their way on the broken ground among the thickets, and, not finding them in place, McMillan had been obliged to send the remaining companies of the regi ment to do the same duty. This detail and the employment of the i6oth New York in Beal s line left McMillan but two of his battalions, the 8th Vermont and the I2th Connecticut; but although McMillan, THE OPEQUON. 389 holding the left of the formation in echelon, had farther to go to reach his position, it was only neces sary for him to move straight to the front, and thus the 8th Vermont formed the right of his line and the 1 2th Connecticut the left. Not a moment too soon did Thomas and Peck bring their good regiments to the support of Molineux s diminished and almost exhausted brigade, and thus complete the restoration of Emory s line of battle. Almost at the first fire Lieutenant-Colonel Peck, the brave, accomplished, and spirited soldier who had led the i2th Connecti cut in every action, fell mortally wounded by the fragment of a shell. The shaken regiments of Grover quickly rallied and re-formed in good order behind the lines of Dwight, and all pressing forward once more, took part in the countercharge begun by Russell, by which the whole Confederate line was driven back in con fusion quite beyond the positions from which they had advanced to the attack. To this line, substantially, Wright and Emory followed, and, correcting their position and alignment, waited for events or for orders. By one o clock the morning s fight was over. Fierce and eventful as it had been, it had lasted barely an hour. The Confederates, greatly outnumbered from the first, were now, after their losses and the rough han dling they had received, no longer in condition for the offensive, and from the defensive they had, as things stood, little to hope. Sheridan, on his part, with some reluctance, made up his mind that it would be better to give up his original plan of putting in Crook on the left to cut off Early s retreat by moving against the valley turnpike near Newtown, and instead 390 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Of this to use Crook and the cavalry on the Red Bud line against Early s left. The time needed for this movement caused a comparative lull in the battle of about two hours duration. It was not so much that the battle died away, for the fire of artillery and even of musketry was still kept up, as that neither side moved in force against the other. While waiting for Crook to come into position on the right, Emory s restored line was formed by Beal on the right, pro longed toward the left by Shunk, Birge supported by Molineux, Day with the isist New York, Allen with the battalion of the 38th Massachusetts, the 8th Vermont, and the i2th Connecticut of McMillan supported by the i6oth New York, now withdrawn from the right, and finally Neafie, leading Grover s 3d brigade in place of Sharpe, who had been carried off the field severely wounded. From his position in reserve, covering the Opequon ford, Crook moved up the right bank of the Red Bud to the rear of Dwight s first position, and then, divid ing his command, posted Thoburn on the right of Dwight, and sent Duval across the Red Bud to his point of attack. Then Thoburn, at Emory s request, relieved Beal s front line of battle, while Emory drew out the ii/j-th, the n6th, and the I53d New York and placed them under Davis to strengthen the centre. Beal himself was looking to his flank, held by the 47th Pennsylvania and the 3Oth Massa chusetts. Meanwhile Wharton had gone back from the des perate task of covering the flank at Stephenson s against Merritt s advance and had taken position in the rear of Rodes. As soon as Crook was fairly across the Red Bud, THE OPE QUO N. 391 his movement silenced the battery on the left bank that had been enfilading Emory s line, and this served to tell Emory that Crook was in place and at work. Averell and Merritt could be plainly seen surging up the valley road far in Gordon s left and rear, furiously driving before them the main body of Fitz- hugh Lee s cavalry. About four o clock the cheers of Duval s men beyond the Red Bud served as the signal for Thoburn, and now as Crook moved for ward, sweeping everything before him, from right to left the whole army responded to the impulse. To meet Thoburn, Breckinridge placed Wharton in posi tion at right angles with Gordon and with the valley road. Duval, having easily driven before him every thing on the left bank of the Red Bud, waded through the marsh on his left, crossed the run, and united with Thoburn. Then Crook, with a sudden and irregular but curiously effective half-wheel to the left, fell vigorously upon Gordon, and Torbert coming on with great impetuosity at the same instant, the weight was heavier than the attenuated lines of Breckinridge and Gordon could bear. Early saw his whole left wing give back in disorder, and as Emory and Wright pressed hard, Rodes and Ramseur gave way, and the battle was over. All that remained to Early was to make good his retreat, now seriously compromised by the steady progress of Wilson toward and at last upon the Mill wood road. Early vainly endeavored to reunite his shattered fragments behind the lines constructed in former campaigns for the defence of Winchester on the east. About five o clock Torbert and Crook, fairly at right angles to the first line of battle, covered Winchester on the north from the rocky ledges that 392 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Lie to the eastward of the town nearly to the first position of Braxton s guns. Thence Wright ex tended the line at right angles with Crook and parallel with the valley road, while Sheridan drew out Emory, who was naturally displaced by these converging movements, and sent him to extend Wright s line toward the south. The disorderly retreat of Early s men once begun, there was no staying it. Torbert pursued the fugi tives to Kernstown, where Ramseur faced about, but Sheridan, mindful that his men had been on their feet since two o clock in the morning, many of them since one, and had in the meantime fought with varying success a long and hard fight ending in a great victory, made no attempt to send his infantry after the flying enemy. For what was probably the first time in their lives, his men had seen every musket, every cannon, and every sabre put in use, and to good use, by their young and vigorous commander. They had looked upon a decisive victory ending with the rout of their enemy. Sheridan himself openly rejoiced, and catch ing the enthusiasm of their leader, his men went wild with excitement when, accompanied by his corps com manders, Wright and Emory and Crook, Sheridan rode down the front of his lines. Then went up a mighty cheer that gave new life to the wounded and consoled the last moments of the dying, for in every breast was firmly implanted the conviction that now at last the end was in sight, and that deep-toned shout that shook the hills and the heavens was not the brutal roar of a rude and barbarous soldiery, coarsely exulting over the distress and slaughter of the vanquished, but the glad voice of the American THE OPEQUON. 393 people * rejoicing from the hill-top at the first sure glimpse of the final victory that meant to them peace, home, and a nation saved. When the President heard the news his first act was to write with his own hand a warm message of congratulation, and this he followed up by making Sheridan a brigadier-general in the regular army, and assigning him permanently to the high command he had been exercising under temporary orders. The losses of the Army of the Shenandoah, ac cording to the revised statements compiled in the War Department, were 5, 018, including 697 killed, 3, 983 wounded, 338 missing. Of the three infantry corps, the Nineteenth, though in numbers smaller than the Sixth, suffered the heaviest loss, the aggregate being 2, 074, while the total casualties of the Sixth Corps were 1, 699, and those of the West Virginia forces, 794. The total loss of the cavalry was 451. The loss of the Nineteenth Corps was divided into 314 killed, 1, 554 wounded, 206 missing. Of this, far the heaviest share fell upon Grover s division, which reported 1, 527 against 542 in D wight s division. Dwight reports 80 killed, 460 wounded, 2 missing ; Grover, 234 killed, 1, 089 wounded, 204 missing; but Grover had four brigades in the action while Dwight had two, and this nearly represents the relative strength of the two divisions. Of the brigades, Birge s suffered the most, having 107 killed, 349 wounded, 69 miss*ing together, 525 ; while Molineux, who came next, had 58 killed, 362 wounded, 87 miss ing together, 507 ; yet in proportion Sharpe fared 1 " Hear that ! That s the voice of the American people ! " Thomas is said to have exclaimed on hearing the tremendous cheers of his men for their decisive victory of Nashville. 394 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The worst, for his brigade, though but half as strong as Birge s, lost 39 killed, 222 wounded, 17 missing together, 278. The ii4th New York heads the fatal record for the day with 44 killed and mortally wounded, and 141 wounded together, 185 out of about 270 in action nearly sixty-five per cent. Dwight s report having been sent back to him by Emory for correction, and not again presented, no report is to be found from the First division or any portion of it, except McMillan s brigade and the i2th Connecticut. The most useful detailed accounts of the part taken by the division are to be found in the admirable histories of the " First-Tenth-Twenty- ninth Maine " by Major John M. Gould, and of the H4th New York by Assistant-Surgeon Harris H. Beecher. Prominent among the slain of the Nineteenth Corps, besides Lieutenant-Colonel Peck, already spoken of, were Colonel Alexander Gardiner, i4th New Hampshire, Lieutenant-Colonel Willoughby Babcock, 75th New York, Major William Knowlton, 29th Maine and Major Eusebius S. Clark, 26th Massachusetts. These were fine officers, and their loss was deeply deplored. Early lost nearly 4, 000 in all, including about 200 prisoners. Rodes was killed, Fitzhugh Lee severely wounded. Early was forced to leave his dead and most of his wounded to be cared for by the victors, into whose hands also fell five guns and nine battle- flags. Severe military critics have sometimes been dis posed to find fault with Early, not merely for scatter ing his army which, though certainly a fault, was handsomely made good by the rapid concentration, THE OPEQUON. 395 but even for fighting his battle at Winchester at all. Weakened by the loss of Kershaw, Early should, these critics think, have fallen back to Fisher s Hill at the first sign of Sheridan s advance ; yet upon a broad view it is difficult to concede this. The odds against Early were the same that the Confederates had necessarily assumed from the beginning. They were desperate ; they could not possibly be otherwise than desperate ; they called for desperate campaigns, and these for desperate battles. Standing on the defensive at Fisher s Hill, Early would not only have given up the main object of his campaign and of his presence in the valley, but would have exposed him self to the risk of being cut off by a turning column gaining his rear by way of the Luray valley. Indeed, this would have been more than a risk ; sooner or later it would have been a certainty. CHAPTER XXXIII. FISHER S HILL. THE frowning heights of Fisher s Hill had long been the bugbear of the valley. The position was, in truth, a purely defensive one, its chief value being that there was no other. Except for defence it was worthless, because it was as hard to get out of as to get at ; and even for defence it was subject to the drawback that it could be easily and secretly turned upon either flank. In a word, its strength resided mainly in the fact that between the peaks of Massa- nutten and the North Mountains the jaws of the valley were contracted to a width of not more than four miles. The right flank of this shortened front rests securely upon the north fork of the Shenan- doah, where it winds about the base of Three Top Mountain before bending widely toward the east to join the south fork and form the Shenandoah River. Across the front, among rocks, between steep and broken cliffs, winds the brawling brook called Tumbling Run, and above it, from its southern edge, rises the rugged crag called Fisher s Hill. Here, behind his old entrenchments, Early gathered the remnants of his army for another stand, and began to strengthen himself by fresh works. The danger of a turning movement through the twin valley of Luray was in his mind, and to guard 396 FISHER S HILL. 397 against it he sent his cavalry to Millford, while Sheridan, who was thinking of the same thing, ordered Torbert to ride up the Luray valley from Front Royal. On the morning of the 2Oth of September Sheridan set out to follow Early, and in the afternoon took up a position before Strasburg, the Sixth Corps on the right, Emory on the left, and Crook behind Cedar Creek in support. The next morning, the 2ist, Sheridan pushed and followed Early s skirmishers over the high hill that stands between Strasburg and Fisher s Hill, overlooking both, drove them behind the defences of Fisher s Hill, and took up a position covering the front from the banks of the North Fork on the left, where Emory s left rested lightly, to the crown of the hill just mentioned, which commanded the approach by what is called the back road, or Cedar Creek grade, and was but slightly commanded by Fisher s Hill itself. This strong vantage-ground Wright wrested from the enemy after a struggle, and felling the trees for protection and for range, planted his batteries there. The ground was very difficult, broken and rocky, and to hold it the Sixth Corps had to be drawn toward the right, while Emory, follow ing the movement, in the dark hours of the early morning of the 22d of September, extended his front so as to cover the ground thus given up by Wright. Sheridan now thought of nothing short of the cap ture of Early s army. Torbert was to drive the Confederate cavalry through Luray, and thence, crossing the Massanutten range, was to lay hold of the valley pike at New Market, and plant himself firmly in Early s rear on his only line of retreat. Crook, by a wide sweep to the right, his march 398 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Hidden by the hills and woods, was to gain the back road, so as to come up secretly on Early s left flank and rear, and the first sounds of battle that were certain to follow the discovery of his unexpected approach in this quarter were to serve as a signal for Wright and Emory to fall on with everything they had. During the forenoon of the 22d, Grover held the left of the position of the Nineteenth Corps, his division formed in two lines in the order of Ma- cauley, 1 Birge ; Shunk, Molineux. Dwight, in the order of Beal, McMillan, held the right, and con nected with Wheaton. In taking ground toward the right, as already described, this line had become too extended, and, as it was necessary that the left of the skirmishers, at least, should rest upon the river, Grover shortened his front by moving forward Foster with the 1 28th and Lewis with the i;6th New York to drive in the enemy s skirmishers opposite, and to occupy the ground that they had been holding. This was handsomely done under cover of a brisk shelling from Taft s and Bradbury s guns. As on the rest of the line, the whole front of the corps was covered as usual by hasty entrenchments. In the afternoon Ricketts moved far to the right, and seized a wooded knoll commanding Ramseur s position on Fisher s Hill. In preparation for the attack Sheridan gave Emory the ground on the left of the railway, and Wright that beyond it, and Molineux moved forward to lead the advance of Grover. The sun was low when the noise of battle was heard far away on 1 As the wounding of Sharpe left no officer present with his brigade of higher rank than lieutenant-colonel, Emory took Colonel Daniel Macauley, nth Indiana, from the 4th brigade and placed him in command of the 3d. FISHER S HILL. 399 the right. This was Crook, sweeping everything before him as he charged suddenly out of the forest full upon the left flank and rear of Lomax and Ram- seur, taking the whole Confederate line completely in reverse. The surprise was absolute. Instantly Wright and Emory took up the movement, and, inspired by the presence and the impetuous com mands of Sheridan, descended rapidly the steep and broken sides of the ravine, at the bottom of which lies Tumbling Run, and then rather scrambling than charging up the rocky and almost inaccessible sides of Fisher s Hill, swarmed over the strong entrench ments, line after line, and planting their colors upon the parapets, saw the whole army of Early in dis orderly flight. Foremost to mount the parapet was Entwistle with his company of the 1 76th New York. To them the good fortune fell of being the first to lay hands on four pieces of artillery in battery, aban doned in the panic caused by the appearance of Crook, but almost at the same instant Wilson, gal lantly leading the 28th Iowa, planted the colors of his regiment on the works. That nothing might be wanting to the completeness of the victory, the Con federates, who, until that moment had felt their posi tion so secure that they had even taken the am munition boxes from the caissons, abandoned sixteen pieces of artillery where they stood. Early was unable to arrest the retreat of his army until he found himself near Edenburg, four miles beyond Woodstock. Sheridan s loss in this battle was 52 killed, 457 wounded, 19 missing, in all, 528. Of this the Sixth Corps suffered nearly half, namely, 27 killed, 208 wounded, 3 missing, in all, 238. Crook s loss was 8 400 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Killed, 152 wounded, 2 missing, total 162, and Emory accounts for 15 killed, 86 wounded, 13 miss ing, together 114. All the casualties of the cavalry numbered but 14. Early reports his loss in the infantry and artillery alone as 30 killed, 210 wounded, 995 missing, total 1, 235 > but Sheridan claims 1, 100 prisoners. Now came Torbert s opportunity, but unfortu nately, after suffering a check from the two brigades of Fitzhugh Lee under Wickham, Torbert had on the 22d fallen back down the Luray valley toward his starting-point, and when on the afternoon of the 23d word came to him of what had happened at Fisher s Hill, although he again advanced, he was then too late. Thus for once the cavalry column completely failed. Sheridan, from the tenor of his despatches from Torbert, must have felt that this result was probable, but he did not let it disturb his own move ments, and without a halt he pushed forward his whole force in pursuit, with slight regard to organization, each regiment or brigade nearly in the order in which it chanced to file into the road. Devin s cavalry brigade trod closely on the heels of what was left of Lomax, and Emory, whose line had crossed the valley road, pushed up it as fast as the men could move over the ground. Wright moved in close sup port of Emory and personally directed the operations of both corps, the Nineteenth as well as the Sixth. So fast did the infantry march that it was ten o clock at night before Devin, from his place in line on the right of the Sixth Corps, was able to take the road abreast with the Nineteenth, and broad daylight be fore his or any other horsemen passed the hardy yet toil-worn foot-soldiers of Molineux, who were left all O/VT MILE FISHER S HILL. SEPTEMBER 22, 1864. FROM THE OFFICIAL MAP. FISHER S HILL. 401 night to lead the swift pursuit. Molineux caused Day to deploy the i3ist New York as skirmishers on the right of the road, while the nth Indiana, led by Macauley, performed the same service on the left. About half-past eight the head of the column first came in contact with the rear-guard of the enemy, but this was soon driven in, and no further resistance was offered until about an hour later, at the crossing of a creek near Woodstock, a brisk fire of musketry, aided by two guns in the road, was opened on Moli- neux s front, but was quickly silenced. At dawn on the 23d of September Sheridan went into bivouac covering Woodstock, and let the infantry rest until early in the afternoon, when he again took up the pursuit with Wright and Emory, leaving Crook to care for the dead and wounded. Early fell back to Mount Jackson, and was preparing to make a stand when Averell coming up, he and Devin made so vigorous a demonstration with the cavalry alone that Early thought it best to continue his retreat beyond the North Fork to Rude s Hill, which stands between Mount Jackson and New Market. Sheridan advanced to Mount Jackson on the morn ing of the 24th of September, and before nightfall had concentrated his whole army there. He was moving his cavalry to envelop both of Early s flanks and the infantry, Wright leading, to attack in front. However, Early did not wait for this, but retreated rapidly in order of battle, pursued by Sheridan in the same order, that is by the right of regiments with an attempt at deploying intervals, through New Market and six miles beyond to a point where a country road diverges through Keezeltown and Cross Keys to Port Republic, at the head of the South Fork. Here both 402 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Armies halted face to face, Sheridan for the night ; but Early, as soon as it was fairly dark, fell back about five miles on the Port Republic road, and again halted at a point about fourteen miles short of that town. Early s object in quitting the main valley road, which would have conducted him to Harrisonburg, covering Staunton, was to receive once more the re inforcements that Lee, at the first tidings from Win chester, had again hurried forward under Kershaw. On the 25th of September, therefore, Early retreated through Port Republic toward Brown s Gap, where Kershaw, marching from Culpeper through Swift Run Gap, joined him on the 26th. Here also Early s cavalry rejoined him, Wickham from the Luray valley, and Lomax, pressed by Powell, from Harrisonburg. Sheridan, keeping to the main road, advanced to Harrisonburg with Wright and Emory, leaving Crook to hold the fork of the roads where Early had turned off. At Harrisonburg Torbert rejoined with Merritt and Wilson. Then Sheridan sent Torbert with Wil son and Lowell by Staunton to Waynesboro, where, before quitting the valley by Rockfish Gap, the main road, as well as the railway to Charlottesville, crosses the affluent of the Shenandoah known as the South River. To divert attention from this raid Sheridan reinforced Devin, who, in the absence of Torbert s main body, had been following and observing Early near Port Republic without other cavalry support, and thus Merritt presently ran into Kershaw march ing to join Early at Brown s Gap. Early, having gone as far as he wished, turned upon Merritt and drove him across the South Fork, but just then getting the first inkling of Torbert s movements, FISHERS HILL. 403 divined their purpose, and, to check them, marched with all speed, in compact order and with the greatest watchfulness in every direction, on Rockfish Gap. But Torbert, having a good start, won the race, and had accomplished his object when the advance of Early s column came up, and caused him to draw off. Sheridan, on his part, had gone nearly as far as he intended, but as he meant presently to begin with his cavalry above Staunton the work of destroying the value of the whole valley to the Confederate army, on the 29th he ordered Wright and Emory to Mount Crawford to support Torbert in this work. Grant, who, ever since he reached the James, had cast longing eyes upon the Virginia Central railway, as well as upon the great junction at Gordonsville, now strongly desired Sheridan to go to Staunton or Charlottesville, but Sheridan set himself firmly against the plan on account of the daily increasing difficulty of supplying his army and the great force that must be wasted in any attempt to keep open a line of com munication longer or more exposed than that he already had to maintain. As an alternative, Sheridan, who seems to have thought Early had quitted the valley for good, proposed to bring the Valley campaign to an end with the destruction of the crops, and then to move with his main force to join Grant on the James. Grant, at once agreeing to this, directed Sheridan to keep Crook in the valley and to transfer the rest of his force to the armies before Richmond. On the morning of the 6th of October Sheridan faced about and began moving down the valley, the infantry leading in the inverse order of its advance and the cavalry bringing up the rear in one long line that reached from mountain to mountain, busied in 404 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Burning as it marched the mills, the barns, and every thing edible by man or beast. From the Blue Ridge to the Shenandoah Mountains, nothing was spared that might be of use to the Confederates in prolonging the war. When Early discovered this he followed on the morning of the 7th of October, with his whole force, including Kershaw, as well as the cavalry brigade of Rosser, sent by Lee from Petersburg. The command of all the cavalry being given to Rosser, he at once began treading on the heels of Torbert. On the Qth at Tom s Brook, Torbert, under the energetic orders of Sheridan to whip the Confederate cavalry or get whipped himself, turned upon Rosser, and, after a sharp fight, completely overwhelmed him and hotly pursued his flying columns more than twenty miles up the valley. Several hundred prisoners, eleven guns with their caissons, and many wagons tersely described by Sheridan "as almost everything on wheels" fell into the hands of the captors. But more important even than these trophies, confidence in Rosser s cavalry was destroyed at a blow, and its early prestige wiped out forever. On the loth of October Sheridan once more crossed Cedar Creek and went into camp, Emory holding the right or west of the valley road, Crook on the left or east of the road, and the cavalry covering the flanks. Wright took up the line of march by Front Royal on Washington. The first intention of the government was that he should take advantage of the Manassas Gap railway, which was again being restored under the protection of Augur s troops ; but this work was not yet com pleted, and while Wright waited at Front Royal, FISHER S HILL. 405 Grant once more fell back on his first and favorite plan of a movement on Charlottesville and Gordons- ville. To effect this he wished Sheridan to take up an advanced position toward the head of the valley, and to this the government added its favorite notion of rebuilding the railways in the rear. Halleck even went so far as to instruct Sheridan to fortify and provision heavily the position Grant had directed him to occupy. All these ideas Sheridan combated with such earnestness that he was summoned to Wash ington for consultation. Grant at the same time re duced his call on Sheridan for troops for service on the James to the Sixth Corps, and Sheridan, having on his own motion stopped the work on the Manassas Gap railway, ordered Wright to march on Alexandria by Ashby s Gap. Wright set out on the i2th. Sheridan having lost touch with the main body of the Confederates in returning down the valley, he, in common with Grant and with the government, now thought that Early had quitted the region for good. Sheridan s information placed Early variously at Gordonsville, Charlottesville, and in the neighbor hood of Brown s Gap ; but in truth, though nothing had been seen of Early s troops for some days, they had never gone out of the valley, but had slowly and at a long and safe interval been following Sheridan s footsteps, so that on the I3th, while Wright was well on his way towards Alexandria, and Sheridan himself was getting ready to go to Washington, Early once more took post at Fisher s Hill, and sent his advance guard directly on to Hupp s Hill to look down into the Union camps on the farther bank of Cedar Creek and see what was going on there. The first news of Early s presence, within two miles of the Union 406 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Camp, at the very moment when he was thought to be sixty miles away on the line of the Virginia Cen tral railway, was brought by the shells his artillery suddenly dropped among the tents of Crook. Tho- burn at once moved out to capture the battery whose missiles had presented themselves as uninvited guests at his dinner-table, but was met by Kershaw and driven back after a sharp fight. Custer, who was covering the right flank of the army, was assailed at the same time by the Confederate cavalry, but easily threw off the attack. At the first sound Torbert sent Merritt from the left to the support of Custer, and afterward Sheridan kept him there. When on the I2th of October Sheridan received Grant s definite instructions for the movement on Gordonsville and Charlottesville, he ceased to offer any further opposition, yet, realizing that he would need his whole force, he withdrew the order for Wright s movement on Alexandria and sent him word to come back to Cedar Creek. The head of Wright s column was wading the Shenandoah when these orders overtook it. Wright at once faced about, and on the next day, the i4th of October, went into camp behind the lines of Cedar Creek on the right and rear of Emory. No change was made in the positions of the other troops, because, until Sheridan s return from Washington, the policy and plan of the campaign must remain unsettled, and Wright might at any moment be called upon to resume his march. On the 1 5th of October Sheridan received fresh instructions from Grant, limiting the proposed move ment on Charlottesville and Gordonsville to a serious menace, instead of an occupation, and again reducing FISHER S HILL. 407 the call for troops to a single division of cavalry. Sheridan at once set Merritt in motion toward Ches ter Gap, directing Powell to follow, and he himself rode with Merritt to Front Royal, meaning to pay his postponed visit to the Secretary of War at Wash ington ; but on the i6th, before quitting Front Royal, he was overtaken by an officer from Wright bringing the words of the strange message read off by our signal officers from the waving flags of the Con federates in plain sight on the crest of Three Top Mountain. 1 This message purported to have been sent by Longstreet to Early. " Be ready, " it said, " to move as soon, as my forces join you, and we will crush Sheridan. " The true story of this despatch has not until now been made public, 2 and many are the surmises, clever or stupid, that have been wasted upon the mystery. In fact, the message was, as both Sheridan and Wright naturally inferred, a trick in- 1 According to Sheridan, agreeing with the general recollection of the survivors ; but Wright and Early both say Round Top, which is behind Fisher s Hill. Might not the message sent from Round Top have been repeated from Three Top ? 2 To the courtesy and kindness of General Early, the author is greatly indebted for the key to the riddle. Under date of Lynchburg, Virginia, November 6, 1890, he writes : " The signal message . . . Was altogether fictitious. As Sheri dan s troops occupied the north bank of Cedar Creek in such a strong position as to render it impracticable for me to attack them in front, I went to the signal station just in my rear for the purpose of examining the position, and I found the officer in charge of the station reading some signals that were being sent by the Federal signal agents. I then asked him if the other side could read his signals and he told me that they had discovered the key to the signals formerly used, but that a change had been made. I then wrote the message purporting to be from Longstreet and had it signalled in full view of the Federal signal men whom we saw on the hill in front of my position, so that it might be read by them. My object was to induce Sheridan to move back his troops from the position they then occupied, and I am inclined to think that if he had then been present with his command he would have done so. However, the movement was not made, and I then determined to make the attack which was made on the igth of October. The object of that attack was to prevent any troops from being returned to Grant s army. " 408 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Tended to deceive them ; Early thought to induce them to move back without waiting for the attack which, with his reduced strength, he wished to avoid. The effect was to put the Union commanders on their guard against what was actually about to hap pen. Therefore Sheridan instantly turned back all the cavalry save one regiment, which he kept for an escort, and rode on to Rectortown, and so went by rail to Washington first, however, taking the pre caution to warn Wright to strengthen his position, to close in Powell from Front Royal, to look well to his ground, and to be prepared. In his official report of the campaign, Sheridan, speaking of the events now to be related, said : " This surprise was owing probably to not closing in Powell or that the cavalry divisions of Merritt and Custer were placed on the right of our line, where it had always occurred to me there was but little danger of attack. " But it is important to observe and remember that, although Wright, in sending Longstreet s message, had remarked " If the enemy should be strongly reinforced in cavalry he might, by turning to my right, give us a great deal of trouble. . . . I shall only fear an attack on my right, " yet Sheridan- in his reply made no allusion to any difference of opinion on his part as to the point of danger. His instructions to close in Powell, Torbert, under Wright s direction, executed by call ing in Moore s brigade to cover Buckton s Ford, on the left and rear of Crook. Powell, with the rest of his division, was left at Front Royal to hold off Lomax. Sheridan went on to Washington. Arriving there on the morning of the I7th, he at once asked for FISHER S HILL. 409 a special train to take him to Martinsburg at noon, and having, between a late breakfast and an early luncheon, transacted all his business at the War Office, including the conversion of the government to his views, set out to rejoin his command. With him went two engineer officers, Alexander and Thorn, with whom he was to consult as to the best point, if any, in the lower valley to be fortified and held ; for this venerable error was not dead, merely sleeping. Torbert rejoined the army at Cedar Creek on the 1 6th, and Merritt took up his old position on the right. On the same night Rosser took one of his brigades with a brigade of infantry mounted behind the horsemen, and, supported by the whole of Early s army, set out to capture the outlying brigade of Cus- ter s division, but found instead a single troop on picket duty. This he took, but it was a rather mortifying issue to his heavy preparations and great expectations, and a long price to pay for putting Torbert on the alert. For the next two days nothing was seen of Early, although the cavalry and both of the infantry corps of the main line kept a good watch toward the front. There was some probability that Early would attack, especially if he should have heard of Wright s de parture and not of his return. That Early must either attack soon or withdraw to the head of the valley was certain, for Sheridan had stripped the country of the supplies on which the Confederates had been accustomed to rely, and Early had now to feed his men and animals by the long haul of seventy- five miles from Staunton. It was thus that Wright viewed the situation, and in fact the same things were passing through the mind of Early. On the i8th of 4io THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. October, Crook, by Wright s orders, sent Harris with his brigade of Thoburn s division, to find out where Early really was and what he was doing. How far Harris went is not certainly known, but when he returned at nightfall he reported that he had been to Early s old camps and found them evacu ated. In reality Early was at Fisher s Hill with his whole force, engaged in his last preparations for the surprise of the morrow, but the report brought back by Harris soon spread as a camp rumor among the officers and men of Crook, so that they may have slept that night without thought of danger near, and even the vigilance of their picket line, as well as that of the cavalry to whom they largely looked for protection against a surprise, may or may not have been inopportunely relaxed. For Early, warned of the strength of Sheridan s right, by the failure of Rosser s adventure, had since been studying the chances of an attack on the oppo site flank. To this indeed the very difficulty of the approach invited, for in all wars enterprises appa rently impracticable have been carelessly guarded against and positions apparently impregnable have been loosely watched and lightly defended, so that it might not be too much to say that every insur mountable difficulty has been surmounted and every impregnable stronghold taken. Such apprehensions as the commander of the Union army may be sup posed to have entertained were directed toward his right, where Torbert was, and where the back road to Winchester gave easy access to his rear. While Early was engaged in considering this plan, he sent Gordon, accompanied by Major Hotchkiss of the engineers, to the signal station on the crest of FISHER S HILL. 411 Three Top Mountain to examine the position of the Union army and to study the details of the proposed movement. From this height these officers looked down upon the country about Cedar Creek as upon an amphitheatre and saw the Union camps as in a panorama. Every feature was in plain view ; they counted the tents ; they noted the dispositions for attack ; they made out the exact situation of the various headquarters ; and casting careful glances into the shadowy depths of the Shenandoah, winding about the foot of the mountain far below them, they perceived that the flank of Three Top afforded a footing for the passage of the infantry at least. Upon this information Early was not long in deciding upon his course. Under cover of the night he would send the divisions of Gordon, Ramseur, and Pegram, 1 all under the command of Gordon, over the Shenandoah near Fisher s Hill, across the ox-bow, to the foot of Three Top. Thence picking his way over the foot of the mountain, Gordon in two columns was to cross the river a second time at Mclnturff s Ford, just below the mouth of Cedar Creek and at Bowman s Ford, seven hundred yards below. There he would find himself on the flank and in easy reach of the rear of Crook, and indeed of the whole Union army, with nothing but a thin line of pickets to hinder the rush. While Gordon was thus stealthily creeping into position for his spring, Early meant to take Kershaw and Wharton upon the valley road and quietly to gain a good position for assailing Crook and Emory in front, as soon as the rifles of Gordon should be heard toward the rear. Rosser was to 1 Observe that Ramseur was now commanding the division that had been Rodes s ; Pegram having succeeded to Ramseur s old division. 4 i2 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Drive in the cavalry on the right of the Union army, while Lomax, from the Luray, was expected to gain the valley road somewhere near Newtown, so as to cut off the retreat. Everything that could jingle or rattle was to be left behind, and the march was to be made in dead silence, while, as the rumble of the guns would be sure to reveal the movement, the whole of the artillery was massed at Strasburg, all ready to gallop to the front as soon as the battle should begin. A closer study of the trail showed Gordon that it would be possible, however difficult and risky, for dismounted troopers to lead their horses over the path already marked out for his infantry. Accord ingly the cavalry brigade of Payne was added to Gordon s column, and after surprising and making good the passage of the fords, the first duty of these horsemen was to ride straight to Belle Grove House and capture Sheridan. Early supposed Sheridan to be still present in command. Bold as was Early s design of surprising and at tacking the vastly superior forces of Sheridan, under conditions that must inevitably stake everything upon the hazard of complete success, it may well be doubted whether in the whole history of war an instance can be found of any similar plan so carefully and successfully arranged and so completely carried out in every detail, up to the moment that must be looked for in the execution of every operation of war, when the shock of battle comes and puts even the wisest prevision in suspense. CHAPTER XXXIV. CEDAR CREEK. THE ground whereon the Army of the Shenandoah now found itself was the same on which Sheridan had left it, the troops were the same, and the forma tions were in all important particulars the same as when he had been present in command, strength ened, however, by additional entrenchments. Twice before the army had occupied the same line, and on both occasions Sheridan had emphatically con demned it as a very bad one. Briefly, the position was formed by the last great outward bend of Cedar Creek before its waters mingle with those of the Shenandoah, the left flank resting lightly on the river, the centre strongly across the valley road, and the extreme right on the creek near the end of the bow. Crook held a high and partly wooded height or range of heights on the left or east * of the valley road, and nearly parallel with it. Thoburn occupied the most advanced spur overlooking the mouth of the creek, while on his left and rear Hayes and Kitching faced toward the Shenandoah with their backs to the road. As the road descended to cross Cedar Creek 1 Strictly southeast, for the course of the turnpike toward Winchester is about northeast. 413 4H THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. By the bridge l and ford, it followed the course of a rivulet on its left, and three quarters of a mile from Crook, on the opposite side of this ravine and of the road, Emory was posted on a hill whose crest rose steeply a hundred and fifty feet above the bed of the creek. Here Emory planted nearly the whole of his artillery to command the bridge and the neighboring ford and the approaches on the opposite bank, but the slope and crest of this hill were completely and easily commanded from the higher ground held by Thoburn and by Hayes. From the valley road on the left, Emory s line stretched crescent-wise, until its right rested upon a natural bastion formed by the highest part of the hill, whence the descent is precipitous, not only to the creek in front, but on the flank to the gorge of Meadow Brook. This little stream rising some miles farther north near Newtown, and flowing now between high banks and again through marshy borders in a general direction nearly parallel to the road, empties into Cedar Creek about three quarters of a mile above the bridge. Just below the mouth of the brook Cedar Creek can be crossed by a ford lying nearly in a direct prolongation of the line of the valley road from the point where in descending it swerves to the east to pass the bridge, and midway between the bridge and the Meadow Brook ford is still another ford overlooked by Emory s right wing and commanded by the guns of his artillery. Dwight s division formed the right of Emory s line and Grover s the left. From right to left the front line was composed of the brigades of Thomas, Molinetix, Birge, and Macauley, with Davis 1 The present bridge is a short distance above where the old one was. CEDAR CREEK. 415 in reserve supporting Thomas, and Shunk, likewise in reserve, supporting Macauley and Birge. 1 The fronts of Emory and of Crook overlooking the creek were strongly entrenched, and Crook was en gaged in extending his line of works toward the left and rear of Thoburn to cover the front of Pi ayes, but this fresh line was as yet unoccupied. Wright s corps, commanded by Ricketts during the absence of Sheridan, while Wright himself commanded the army, was held in reserve on the high ground known as Red Hill overlooking Meadow Brook from the east ward, the divisions encamped for convenience in a sort of irregular echelon, with Ricketts s, under Keifer, in front, Upton s, commanded by Wheaton, on the right and rear in close support, and Getty s on the left and rear of both, and thus nearer to the valley road than either. Behind the Sixth Corps, opposite Middletown, on the high ground on both sides of Marsh Run, was Merritt, and far away on his right, watching the approaches and the crossing by the back road, stood Custer. As the Sixth Corps held no part of the front, but formed a general reserve, its position was not en trenched. Torbert, Emory, and Crook each picketed and watched his own front, and there was not a horseman between the infantry and the supposed position of the enemy at or beyond Fisher s Hill. Emory had for some days been distrustful of the excessive tranquillity, and on the previous evening his uneasiness had rather been augmented by a report 1 Dwight having been in arrest during the past fortnight by Emory s orders under charges growing out of criticisms and statements made in his report of the battle of the Opequon, McMillan commanded the First division, leaving his brigade to Thomas. Beal had gone home on leave of absence when the campaign seemed ended, and Davis commanded his brigade. 416 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. That came to him from Thomas of a little group of men in citizens dress that had been seen during the day moving about on the edge of Hupp s Hill, as if engaged in noting with more intentness than is usual among civilians the arrangement of the Union camps. This incident Emory reported to Wright for what it might be worth, and Wright, on his part, being already doubtful of the exactness of the information brought in by Harris, ordered Emory and Torbert each to send out a strong reconnoitring party in the early morning, to move in parallel columns on the valley road and on the back road, with the significant cau tion that they were to go far enough to find out whether Early was still at Fisher s Hill or not. After crossing the Shenandoah and reaching the foot of Three Top, Gordon halted his men for a few hours rest before the hard work awaiting them. At one o clock he silently took up the line of march over the rugged trail toward Mclnturff s and Bowman s fords, and at five o clock seized both crossings, with the merest show of resistance from Moore s outlying brigade, and pressed on to Cooley s house, the white house he had noted from Three Top. This land mark, as he knew, was barely thirteen hundred yards from the nearest flank of his enemy. He passed nearly half that distance beyond the house and, as pre-arranged, silently formed his three divisions for the attack. Within five minutes he could be in Kitching s camp. At the last moment, hearing that Crook was strengthening his entrenchments, Early so far changed his plan as to part company with Wharton at Strasburg, and then, bearing off to the right, to conduct Kershaw to the banks of Cedar Creek at the 1 2 SCALE 10, 000 FEET. . S ? -3$ . "&& I ^^U^"^H y CEDAR CREEK FROM THE OFFICIAL & 2a S H-S< o S5 I !l U^-^" "^- B--&---W u f x \4Vt *& I. OEZ v nD> >> U . , . , ?--c?/ MAP OF 1873. OCTOBER 19, 1864. CEDAR CREEK. 417 ford that now bears the name of Roberts. This is about twelve hundred yards above the mouth of the creek ; and there, at half-past three in the morning, in the long shadows of the full moon, 1 Early stood with Kershaw at his back and the sleeping ranks of Thoburn directly in his front, and waited only for the appointed hour. At half-past four, Early again set Kershaw in motion. The crossing of Cedar Creek was unobserved and unopposed. Once on the north bank, Kershaw deployed to the right and left, and stood to arms listening for Gordon. Wharton, who had already formed under cover of the trees, on the edge of Hupp s Hill, crept down the slope to the front of the wood, and there, likewise in shadow, hardly a thousand feet from the bridge and the middle ford, he too watched for the signal. To crown all, as the dawn drew near a light fog descended upon the river bottom and covered all objects as with a veil. Almost from the beginning it had been the custom of the Nineteenth Army Corps, at all times when in the presence of the enemy, to stand to arms at day break. Moreover as Molineux was to go out on a reconnoissance by half-past five, his men had break fasted and were lying on their arms waiting for the order to march. Birge and Macauley were to be ready to follow in support after a proper interval, and Shunk was to cover the front of all three during their absence. McMillan had also been notified to support the movement of Grover s brigades. Emory himself was up and dressed, the horses of his staff 1 Being actually three days past the full, the moon rose October 18-19, 1864 at 8. 5 P. M. , southed at 2. 25 A. M. , and set at 8. 45 A. M. . Daylight on the igth was at 5. 40 A. M. ; the sun rose at 6. 14, set at 5. 16 ; twilight ended 5. 50 P. M. 41 8 THE NINE TEE NTH A RM Y CORPS. Were saddled, and his own horses were being" saddled, when from the left a startling sound broke the still ness of the morning air. This was the roar of the one tremendous volley by which Kershaw made known his presence before the sleeping camp of Thoburn. In an instant, before a single shot could be fired in return, before the musk ets could be taken from the stacks, before the can noneers could reach their pieces, Kershaw s men, with loud and continuous yells, swarmed over the parapet in Thoburn s front, seized the guns, and sent his half- clad soldiers flying to the rear. Thus Kershaw, who a moment before had been without artillery, suddenly found himself in possession of the seven guns that had been planted to secure Thoburn s ground. Then upon Emory and upon Hayes, as well as against the flying fugitives, he turned the cannon thus snatched from their own comrades. At the first sound Molineux moved his men back into the rifle-pits they had left an hour before, and Emory, ordering his corps to stand to arms, rode at once to the left of his line at the valley road to find out the meaning of this strange outbreak. Knowing that Molineux was near and ready, Emory drew from him two regiments, the 22d Iowa and the 3d Massa chusetts, to support the artillery planted on the left to command the bridge. Hardly had this been done when the shells began to fall among the guns and to enfilade the lines of the infantry. What could this mean but the thing that had actually happened to Thoburn ? Grover joined Emory, Crook came from Belle Grove, and Wright from his camp beyond Meadow Brook. The fugitives from Thoburn s unfortunate division went streaming by. CEDAR CREEK. 419 Then suddenly from the left and rear came the startling rattle of the rifles that told of Gordon s attack on the exposed flank of Hayes and Kitching. While all eyes were directed toward Kershaw, Gor don, still further favored by the fog, the outcry, and the noise of the cannonade, was not perceived by the troops of Hayes and Kitching until the instant when his solid lines of battle, unheralded by a single skir misher of his own, and unannounced by those set to watch against him, fell upon the ranks of Crook. He tried in vain to form on the road. Startled from their sleep by the surprise of their comrades on their right, and naturally shaken by the disordered rush of the fugitives through their ranks, his men, old soldiers and good soldiers as they were, gave way at the first onset, before the fire of Gordon had become heavy and almost without stopping to return it. Then swiftly Gordon and Kershaw moved together against the uncovered left and rear of Emory, while at the same time Early, who after seeing Kershaw launched, had ridden back for Wharton and the artillery, was bringing them into position for a front attack. Besides the sounds that had aroused Emory and Crook, Wright, from his more remote position, had listened to the rattle of Rosser s carbines, 1 but after a moment of natural doubt had perceived that the true attack was on the left, and accordingly he had ordered Ricketts to advance with Getty and Keifer to the valley road toward the sound of the battle. If this was to be of the least advantage, the valley road must be somehow held by somebody until Ricketts should come. Emory sent Thomas across the road into the ravine and the wood beyond, 1 This was probably the first sound heard that morning. 420 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. And bade him stand fast at all hazards. But the time was too short. Thomas, after a desperate resistance, was forced back by the overwhelming masses of Kershaw, yet not until this tried brigade had left a third of its number on the ground to attest its valor. About the colors of the 8th Vermont the fight was furious. Again and again the colors went down ; three bearers were slain ; before the sun rose two men out of three had fallen, that the precious emblems might be saved. 1 Thus were many priceless minutes won. Then, as there was no longer anything to hinder the advance of Kershaw on the left, and of Gordon on the rear, while Wharton and the forty guns of Early s artillery were beginning their work in front, from the left toward the right, successively the brigades of the Nineteenth Corps began to give way ; yet as they drifted toward the right and rear, in that stress the men held well to their colors, and although there may and must have been many that fell out, not a brigade or a regiment lost its organization for a moment. When the pressure reached Molineux and Davis on the reverse side of the entrenchments, both brigades began moving off, under Emory s orders, by the right flank to take position near Belle Grove on the right of Ricketts s division of the Sixth Corps, which had come up and was trying to extend its line diagonally to reach the valley road. To cover this position and to hold off the onward rush of Gordon, Emory had already posted the i i4th and the i53d New York on 1 According to the regimental history (p. 218) over 100 were lost out of 159 engaged ; of 16 officers 13 were killed or wounded. The monument erected September 21, 1885, says no were killed and wounded out of 164 engaged. The revised official figures are 17 killed, 66 wounded together 83 (including 12 officers) ; besides these there were 23 missing ; in all, 106. CEDAR CREEK. 421 the commanding knoll five hundred yards to the southward overlooking the road. When driven off these regiments rejoined their brigade before Belle Grove. Thither also came the detached regiments of Molineux, and there Neafie joined them with the 3d brigade, after a strong stand at their breast works, wherein Macauley fell severely wounded, and the 1 56th and I76th had hard fighting hand-to-hand to keep their colors, at the cost of the staves. Birge retired along the line of works to the open ground beyond Meadow Brook, where Shunk joined him. In quitting their posts at the breastworks Haley, having lost forty-nine horses killed in harness, had to abandon three guns of his ist Maine battery, and Taft lost three pieces of his 5th New York battery at the difficult crossing of Meadow Brook. There, too, from the same cause, three guns of the i7th In diana and two of the Rhode Island battery were abandoned. The losses of the infantry were to be counted in thousands. Grover was slightly wounded ; Macauley, as has been said, severely. Emory had lost both his horses, and was for a time commanding the corps afoot. Birge rode a mule. Thus the Nineteenth Corps lost eleven guns. Crook had already lost seven, and the Sixth Corps was presently to lose six. With Gordon on his flank and rear, every moment drawing nearer to the mastery of the valley road, Wright had to think, and to think quickly, of the safety and the success of the army he commanded. For it there was no longer a position south of Middletown. What security was there that Custer and Powell would be able all day long to hold off, as in the event they did, the flank and rear attacks of 422 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Rosser and of Lomax ? What if the Longstreet message were true and yet a third surprise in store ? Time, time was needed, whether to bring up the troops or to change front, to march to the rear past the faces of the advancing enemy, to hold him in check, and to re-form. Whatever was to be done was to be done quickly ; and Wright, throwing prudence into the balance, made up his mind for a retreat to a fresh position, where his line of communications would be preserved and its flanks protected. Middletown and the cavalry camp pointed out the ground. Accord ingly he gave the word to Getty, Ricketts being wounded, to retire on Middletown, guiding on the valley road, and to Emory to form on Getty s right that is, on the left of the Sixth Corps in retreat. The battle had been raging for nearly an hour when Wright gave this order to abandon Belle Grove. The retreat threw upon Getty s division, now under Grant, the severe task of covering the exposed right flank of the army in retreat, while the left was gradually swinging into the direction of the new line. Getty, having handsomely performed this service, crossed Meadow Brook abreast with Middletown and took position on the high and partly wooded ground that rises beyond the brook to the west of the village and on a line with Merritt s camp. Here, on the southern edge of the village cemetery and on the crest behind it, Getty planted his artillery, posted Grant to hold the immediate front, and somewhat in his rear, under the trees, following the contour of the hill as it rises toward the west, he placed Wheaton and Keifer. To reach his position on the left of Getty in re treat, Emory had to gain ground to the westward, to descend the hill from Belle Grove, to cross Meadow CEDAR CREEK. 423 Brook, and climbing the opposite slope to face about and re-form his line in good order on the crest of Red Hill. Here, before Dr. Shipley s house, nearly across the ground where the men of Wheaton and of Getty had slept the night before, for the best part of an hour Emory stood at bay. Kershaw followed over the Belle Grove Hill, across Meadow Brook, up the slope of Red Hill, and formed line facing north ; but then, seeing the fighting part of Emory s infantry before him and the formidable array of Merritt s cavalry in close support, he refrained from renewing the attack until Early could send Gordon to his aid. Thus the bold stand at Red Hill gave the time the situation craved, and while Kershaw waited, Emory, following his orders from Wright, crossed over to the cemetery 1 and placed himself on the west of Getty. Thomas rejoined McMillan. Torbert meanwhile had moved over with Merritt to the left flank. Thus around the cemetery, about half-past seven, the un shaken strength of the Army of the Shenandoah was gathered, every eye looking once more toward the south. While awaiting the general attack for which Early was plainly preparing, Wright deployed his lines, according to the ground, from the south wall of the cemetery overlooking Meadow Brook on the left, in a rough echelon of divisions to Marsh Brook on the right, in order of Grant, Keifer, Wheaton, Grover, McMillan. Between the arms of Marsh Brook, in front and behind the Old Forge road, on open ground nearly as high as Getty s, Emory formed his corps in 1 The official map, accurate as it is in general, errs in some important particu lars ; for one, in representing Emory as retreating in a direct line toward the north from Red Hill to the Old Forge line. This would actually have carried his force through the ranks of the cavalry. 424 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Echelon of brigades. Here, not doubting that the decisive combat of the day was to be fought, Emory began fortifying his front with the help of loose rails and stones. To protect himself against the menacing move ment of the cavalry on his right in front of Middle- town, Early posted Ramseur with two batteries di rectly across the valley road, and when he saw Getty s stand near the cemetery, he brought Wharton directly down the road and sent him to the attack, but this Getty easily threw off and drove back Wharton in such confusion that before renewing the attempt Early waited to complete a new line of battle almost perpendicular to his first and therefore to the road. From the right at Middletown to the left at Red Hill the new line was formed by Pegram, Ramseur, Kershaw, and Gordon, with Wharton behind Pegram. On the right of this line also Early massed the forty guns of his artillery augmented by some of the twen ty-four pieces taken from the Union army. And now the increasing heat of the sun dissolved the fog, and revealed to the combatants the true sit uation of affairs. To Early the position of the Union army, its salient, as it were, lying directly before him where he stood, seemed so strong that he hesitated to hazard another attack until the concentrated fire of his artillery should have produced an impression ; while to Wright, not only was the menace of Early s artillery very obvious, but the weakness of his own left flank, broken by Meadow Brook and adhering lightly to the valley road, was still present. The force of Early s first onset was spent ; his one chance of seizing and holding the valley road in the CEDAR CREEK. 425 rear of the Union army had slipped away, while his cavalry had utterly failed to accomplish any part of the task confided to it. Time and strength had both been lost to the Confederates by the uncontrollable plunder of the camps and the sutlers stores. The Old Forge road is but a country lane that crosses the field from the north end of Middletown. It afforded no position, its chief value being as uniting the wings of the army, and Wright s object in taking up this line was simply to gain time to develop a better fighting line still farther to the rear. Now, seeing that Getty had accomplished his purpose in holding on at the cemetery, Wright ordered him to move slowly, in line of battle, toward the north, guiding on the valley road, with Merritt s cavalry be yond it following and covering the operation, while Emory, taking up the movement in his turn, was to look to Wheaton for his guide. Wright s order found Emory s men in the act of completing their hasty defences, while Emory was moving about among them strongly declaring his purpose not to go back another inch. Getty began by withdrawing Grant, and when Grant had passed for some distance beyond the left of Keifer, his right in retreat, Keifer followed, while on his left, in retreat, Wheaton, and on Wheaton s left Emory marched, as nearly as may be, shoulder to shoulder in a solid line. Thus Keifer formed the centre of the retreating line of battle, with Ball on his right and Emerson on his left. Having to pass over rough ground and among trees, the line was broken to the reversed front by the right of regi ments, the head of each guiding on its right-hand 426 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Neighbor. Thus it happened l that in passing through a thick wood, Keifer s division was split in two, his brigades losing sight of one another, so that on coming once more into the open field, Ball found himself alone with no other troops in sight on either hand ; but soon hearing the sound of Getty s guns over the right shoulder, he faced about and marched back to a stone wall upon a lane, where he found Getty already in position. Emerson, however, moving more quickly through the wood, because the ground was easier, continued his march toward the north, continually bearing to the right as he went, in order to regain the lost touch with Ball, while on the left Wheaton and Emory, knowing nothing of the break, naturally and gradually conformed to the movement of Emerson. Finally, when the left of the line once more entered the woods, Emerson, gradually changing the direction toward the right, drifted Wheaton away from Emory, and when this was perceived by the commanders, each began to look for his neighbor. It is also probable that when the separation took place the interval was gradually widened by Emory s movement with his right resting on a road that, while apparently following the true line of direction, really carried him every moment a little farther toward the left. However that may be, when almost at the same instant Wheaton and Emory halted and faced about, they found themselves about eight hun dred yards apart, a thousand yards behind the line that Getty had just taken up, on the westward 1 " The Battle of Cedar Creek, " by Col. Moses M. Granger, I22d Ohio, printed in the valuable collection of " Sketches of War History, " published by the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, vol. Iii. , pp. 122-125. The author is likewise indebted to General Keifer for the opportunity to use in the manuscript his paper on Cedar Creek, prepared for the same series. CEDAR CREEK. 427 prolongation of which Keifer had joined him with the brigade of Ball. The affair had now lasted five hours ; the retreat was at an end ; a tactical accident had carried it half a mile farther than was intended ; as it was, from the extreme front of Emory at daybreak to his extreme rear at eleven o clock, the measured distance was but four miles. Every step of the way had been tra versed under orders under orders that had carried the Nineteenth Corps three times across the field of battle, so that its march, from Belle Grove to the Old Forge road, might be represented by the letter N. When Early saw the Union line retreating, he moved forward to the cross-road beyond the ceme tery, and posted his troops behind the stone walls. Wharton extended the line on the east side of the turnpike, with three batteries massed between him and the road. Pegram covered the turnpike, his left resting on Meadow Brook, and beyond it Ram- seur, Kershaw, and Gordon carried the line to the east bank of Middle Marsh Brook. Early had now two courses open to him : one was to extricate his army from its position, with its enemy directly in front and Cedar Creek in rear, before the Union commander could take the initiative ; the other was to attack vigorously with all his force before the Union infantry should be able to complete the new line of battle now plainly in the act of formation. In either case, although he could easily see that on both flanks the line of his infantry far overlapped that of his antagonist, Early must have perceived that he had to reckon with the whole mass of the Union cavalry, unshaken and as yet untouched. 428 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Moreover, his men had already done a long and hard day s work after a short night. Depleted as were the ranks of the Union infantry by the heavy battle losses of the early morning, and the still heavier losses by the misconduct of the stragglers of all the corps except the cavalry, it was not to be doubted that the men who stood by the colors on the Old Forge road meant to abide to the end. As all old soldiers know, the fighting line, granting that enough remain to make a fighting line, is never so strong as at the moment after the first shock of battle has shaken out the men that always straggle on the march and skulk on the field. When, therefore, the first compact line faced about, it was with determination and with hope ; yet scarcely had the fires of resolution been relit and begun to kindle to a glow than they were suddenly extinguished and all was plunged in gloom by the unlooked-for order to retreat. Upon the whole army a lethargy fell, and though every man expected and stood ready to do his duty, it was with a certain listlessness amount ing almost to indifference that he waited for what was to come next. In the sensations of most, hunger was perhaps uppermost, and while some munched the bread and meat from their haversacks and others waited to make coffee, many threw themselves upon the ground where they stood and fell asleep. Far down the road from among the crowd of fugitives, where no man on that field cared to look, came a murmur like the breaking of the surf on a far- off shore. Nearer it drew, grew louder, and swelled to a tumult. Cheers ! The cheers of the stragglers. As the men instinctively turned toward the sound, CEDAR CREEK. 429 they were seized with amazement to see the tide of stragglers setting strongly toward the south. Then out from among them, into the field by the roadside, cantered a little man on a black horse, and from the ranks of his own cavalry arose a cry of " Sheridan ! " Through all the ranks the message flashed, and, as if it had been charged by the electric spark, set every man on his feet and made his heart once more beat high within him. This was Wednesday, and Sheridan, before finally setting out for Washington, had told Wright to look for him on Tuesday. Rapidly despatching, as has been seen, his business at the War Office, Sheridan left Washington by the special train he had asked for at noon on the i 7th, accompanied by the engineers charged with the duty of selecting the position that Halleck wished to fortify. They slept that night at Martinsburg, and rode the next day, the i8th of October, to Winchester. There Sheridan learned that all was well with his army and was also told of the reconnoissances projected for the next morning. He determined to remain at Winchester in order to go over the ground the next morning with the engineers. Aroused about six o clock by the report of heavy firing, he ascribed it to the reconnoitring column, and thought but little of it until, between half-past eight and nine, having finished his break fast, he became uneasy at the continued sound of the cannon. Then mounting " Rienzi, " accompanied by his staff and followed by his escort, he rode out to join his army where he had left it, fourteen miles away, on the banks of Cedar Creek. The fight of the morning had come to an end an hour ago. Riding at an easy trot half a mile out on the hill beyond 430 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Abraham s Creek, 1 he was shocked to see the tattered and dishevelled head of the column of stragglers, every man making the best of his way toward the Potomac, without his arms, his equipments, or his knapsack, carrying, in short, nothing but what he wore. Most of these must have been shaken out of the ranks when Kershaw surprised the camp of Thoburn. If this be so, they had travelled more than thirteen miles in little more than three hours. This appalling sight brought to Sheridan s mind the Longstreet message, " Be ready when I join you, and we will crush Sheridan. " Should he stop his routed army at Winchester and fight there ? No, he must go to his men, restore their broken ranks, or share their fate. How he rode on has been made famous in song and story, yet never so well told as in the modest narrative, stamped in every line with the impress of the soldier s truthful frankness, than in the entertaining volumes that were the last work of the great leader s life. 2 Once arrived on the field, about half-past ten or per haps eleven o clock, Sheridan lost no time in assuming personal command of the army. Establishing his headquarters on the hill behind Getty, he proceeded to complete the dispositions he found already in progress. He saw at a glance that the line on which Wright had placed Getty was well chosen ; and though knowing nothing of the break that had taken place during the accidental loss of direction by the left wing of Getty s corps, and so wrongly inferring from what he saw that Getty was a mere rear-guard, he 1 Called Mill Creek in Sheridan s report and " Memoirs. " There is a mill on the north bank. 2 " Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, " vol. Ii. , pp. 75-83. The distance from Winchester to Getty s position is ten and three quarter miles. CEDAR CREEK. 431 yet adopted the position for his fighting line, sent his staff officers with orders for the rest of the troops to form on that line, and thus actually completed the arrangements begun by Wright. It sufficed that Emerson, Wheaton, and Emory should face about, as they were already about to do, and should form on the prolongation of Getty s line. This they did promptly and in perfect order. Wright resumed the command of the Sixth Corps and Getty of his own divi sion. Then feeling his left quite strong enough under Merritt s care, Sheridan sent Custer, for whom he had other designs, back to the right flank. It was past noon before all this was accomplished. Then Sheridan, content with the position and appear ance of his own army, and perceiving that Early was getting ready to attack him, acted on the suggestion of Major George Forsyth, his aide-de-camp, and rode the length of the line of battle in order to show him self to his men. A tumult of cheers greeted him and followed him as, hat in hand, he passed in front of regiment after regiment, speaking a few words of encouragement to each. Sheridan possessed in a degree unequalled the power of raising in the hearts of his soldiers the sort of enthusiasm that, transmu ting itself into action, causes men to attempt impos sibilities, and to disregard and overcome obstacles. Almost from the moment of entering the valley he had gained the confidence of the infantry, to whom he had been a stranger. By the cavalry he had long been idolized. The feeling of an army for its gen eral is a thing not to be reasoned with or explained away ; once aroused, it belongs to him as exclusively as the expression of his face, the manner of his gait, or the form of his signature, and is not to be trans- 432 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Ferred to his successor or delegated even to the ablest of his lieutenants, whatever the skill, the merit, or the reputation of either. The mere presence of Sheridan in the ranks of the Army of the Shenan- doah that day brought with it the assurance of victory. Emory at first formed his corps in two lines, the First division under Dwight, whom Sheridan had released from arrest, on the right, and Grover on the left ; but soon the whole corps was deployed in one line in the order from right to left by bri gades of McMillan, Davis, Birge, Molineux, Neafie, Shunk. When the line of the Old Forge road was aban doned by Wright, Early moved forward and occupied it. Between one and two o clock he advanced Gor don and Kershaw to attack Wheaton and Emory. Seeing that the weight of the attack was about to fall on the right, Sheridan sent Wheaton to the sup port of Emory. However, Gordon s onset proved so light that no assistance was needed, for, after three or four volleys had been exchanged, the attack was easily and completely thrown off. Kershaw s movement was even more feeble. Several causes now delayed the counter attack of Sheridan. Crook was endeavoring to re-form the stragglers on his colors behind Merritt. Apprehen sion of the coming of Longstreet was only dissipated by the information gained from prisoners during the afternoon, and finally arose a false rumor of the appearance of a column of Confederate cavalry in the rear toward Winchester ; and this seemed plausi ble enough until at last word came from Powell that he was still holding off Lomax. Then Sheridan CEDAR CREEK. 433 gave the signal for the whole line to go forward against the enemy, beginning with Getty on the left, as a pivot, while the whole right was to sweep onward, and, driving the enemy before it, to swing toward the valley road near the camps of the morning. About four Getty started, and the movement being taken up in succession toward the right, in a few minutes the whole line was advancing steadily. From that moment to the end the men hardly stopped an instant for anything. The resistance of the Confederates, though at first steady, and here and there even spirited, was of short duration. For a few moments, indeed, the attack seemed to hang on the extreme right as McMillan, rushing on even more rapidly than the order of the combat demanded, found himself suddenly enveloped by the right wheel of the brigade of Evans, forming the extreme left of the division of Gordon and of the Confederate army. But while McMillan was thus attacked and his leading troops were called to meet the danger, this, as suddenly as it had come, was swept away by the swift onset of Davis directly upon the front and flank of Evans. To do this Davis had not only to act instantly, but also to change front under a double fire ; yet he and his brigade were equal to the emergency, and McMillan joining in, together they not only threw off the attack of Evans, but bursting through the re-entrant angle of Gordon s line, quickly swept Evans off the field. Knowing this to be the critical point of his line, because the wheeling flank, Sheridan was there. " Stay where you are, " was his order, " till you see my boy Custer over there. " 434 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Then upon the high ground appeared Custer at the head of his bold troopers, making ready to swoop down upon the broken wing of Gordon. Almost at the same instant, the whole right of the line rushed to the charge, and while Custer rode down Gordon s left flank, Dwight, with McMillan and Davis, began rolling up the whole Confederate line. Meanwhile, on the left centre the Union attack likewise hung for a moment, where Molineux, on the southerly slope of a wooded hollow, saw himself con fronted by Kershaw on the opposite crest, only to be reached by climbing the steep bare side of the " dirt hill. " But the keen eye of Molineux easily saw through the difficulties of the ground, and when he was ready his men and Dirge s, rising up and together charging boldly out of the hollow, up the hill, across the open ground, and over the stone wall, in the face of a fierce fire, settled the overthrow of Kershaw and sent a panic running down the line of Ramseur. Wright attacking with equal vigor, soon the disorder spread through every part of Early s force, and in rout and ruin the exultant victors of the morning were flying up the valley. " Back to your camps ! " had been the watchward ever since Sheridan showed himself on the field. Dwight s men were the first to stand once more upon their own ground, but by that time Sheridan s army had executed, though without much regard to order, a complete left wheel. While the infantry took up its original positions, the cavalry pursued the flying enemy with such vigor that an accidental dis placement of a single plank on a little bridge near Strasburg caused the whole of Early s artillery that had not yet passed on, to fall into the hands of Sheri- CEDAR CREEK. 435 dan. Thus were taken 48 cannon, 52 caissons, all the ambulances that had been lost in the morning, many wagons, and seven battle flags ; of the artillery 24 pieces were the same that had been lost in the early morning. From every part of the abandoned field great stacks of rifles were gathered. The pris oners taken were about 1, 200, according to the reports of Sheridan s officers, or something over 1, 000 by Early s account. Early also gives his loss in killed and wounded, without distinguishing between the two, as i, 860, and reports the capture of 1, 429 pris oners from the Union army in the early hours of the day. Of these he had made sure by sending them promptly to the rear. Ramseur was mortally wounded in the last stand made by his division, and died a few days later in the hands and under the care of his former comrades of Sheridan s army. Sheridan s loss was 644 killed, 3, 430 wounded, and 1, 591 captured or missing ; in all, 5, 665. Of these the Sixth Corps had 298 killed, 1, 628 wounded to gether, 1, 926 ; the Nineteenth Corps 257 killed, 1, 336 wounded together, 1, 593. Crook lost 60 killed, 342 wounded together, 402 ; the cavalry 29 killed, 224 wounded together, 253. The missing were thus divided : Wright 194, Emory 776, Crook 548, Torbert 43. The greatest proportionate loss of the day was suffered by the i i4th New York, which had 21 killed, 86 wounded, including 17 mortally, and 8 missing in all, 115 out of 250 engaged. Its fatal casualties reached 1 5. 2, and the killed and wounded 42. 8 per cent, of the number engaged. These figures are from the corrected reports of the War Department. The miss ing exceed the captured, as set down in Early s report, by only 132. Among the killed and mortally 436 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Wounded were Bidwell, Thoburn, Kitching, and that superb soldier and accomplished gentleman, General Charles Russell Lowell, who, although severely wounded in the morning, at the head of his bri gade held fast to the stone wall until, in the last decisive charge, his death-blow came. Grover re ceived a second severe wound early in the final charge that broke the Confederate left. Birge then took his division. Without a halt and with scarcely a show of organ ized resistance, Early retreated to Fisher s Hill. Merritt and Custer, uniting on the south bank of Cedar Creek, kept up the pursuit until the night was well advanced, but soon their captures became so heavy in men and material, that help was needed to take care of them, so, barely an hour after going into camp the jaded infantry of Dwight once more turned out and marched with alacrity to Strasburg. Toward morning Early withdrew his infantry from the lines of Fisher s Hill, and marched on New Market, leaving Rosser to cover the movement. In the morning, upon Torbert s approach, Rosser retired, closely pursued to Edenburg, sending Lomax into the Luray to guard the right flank of the retreating Confederates. The strength of the contending forces in this re markable battle may always give ground for dispute. No official figures exist to determine the question directly ; therefore on either side the numbers are a matter of opinion. The author s, formed after a careful consideration of all the authorities, is that when the battle began, Wright commanded an effective force of not more than 31, 000 officers and men of all arms, made up of 9, 000 in the Sixth Corps, 9, 500 in CEDAR CREEK. 437 the Nineteenth Corps, 6, 000 in Crook s command, and 6, 500 cavalry. The infantry probably numbered 23, 000: Ricketts 8, 500, Emory 9, 000, Crook 5, 500. Of these, therefore, the hard fighting fell on 17, 500. The losses in the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, nearly all incurred in the early morning, being about 4, 500, the two corps should have mustered 13, 500 for the coun ter-attack of the afternoon, yet the ground they then stood upon, from the road to the brook, measures barely 7, 400 feet. With all allowances, therefore, Sheridan cannot have taken more than 8, 000 of his infantry into this attack. This leaves out Crook s men bodily, and calls for 5, 500 unrepentant strag glers from the ranks of Emory and Wright one man in three. After all is said, unhappily there is nothing so extraordinary in this, but strange indeed would it have been if many of these skulkers had come back into the fight, as Sheridan considerately declares they did. As to Early s force, the difficulty of coming to a positive conclusion is even greater. General Early himself says he went into the battle with but 8, 800 muskets. General Dawes, perhaps the most accom plished statistician of the war, makes the total pres ent for duty 22, 000 : of these 1 5, 000 would be infantry. The figures presented by the unprejudiced statistician of the " Century War Book" l call for 15, 000 of all arms. Of these 10, 000 would be infantry. Early may be said to have accomplished the ulti mate object of his attack at Cedar Creek, yet at a fearful cost, for although all thought of transferring any part of Sheridan s force to the James was for the 1 Vol. Iv. , pp. 524, 532. And see appendix for the valuable memorandum kindly prepared expressly for this work by General E. C. Dawes. 438 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Moment given up, on the other hand Early had com pleted the destruction * of his prestige, had suffered an irreparable diminution of numbers, and had seen his army almost shaken to pieces. Grant once more returned to his favorite project of a movement in force on Charlottesville and Gor- donsville, but Sheridan continuing to oppose the scheme tenaciously, it came to nothing. His own plan, eventually carried out, was to hold the lower valley in sufficient strength, and to move against the line of the Virginia Central railway with all his cav alry. The rails of the Manassas Gap line, so often relaid, were once more and for the last time taken up, from the Blue Ridge back to Augur s outposts at Bull Run, and so this will-o -the-wisp, that had danced before the eyes of the government ever since 1861, was at last extinguished, while from Winchester to the Potomac the railway, abandoned by Johnston when he marched to Bull Run, was re-constructed to simplify the question of supplies. 1 Justly or unjustly ; unjustly I think, being unable to see how any one could have done better. CHAPTER XXXV. VICTORY AND HOME. ON the 7th of November, on the battle-field of Cedar Creek, Emory passed his corps in review be fore Sheridan. Sheridan spoke freely and in the highest terms of the soldierly bearing and good conduct of the officers and men. On the same day the President broke up the organization of the rem nant of the various detachments, still known as the Nineteenth Corps, left under the command of Canby in Louisiana and Mississippi, and appointed Emory to the permanent command of the Nineteenth Army Corps in the field in Virginia. The corps staff, mainly composed of the same officers who with lower rank had been serving at the headquarters of the Detachment, so called, since quitting Louisiana, included Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan S. Walker, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Lieutenant-Colonel John M. Sizer, Acting-Assistant Inspector-General ; Captain O. O. Potter, Chief Quartermaster ; Captain H. R. Sibley, Chief Com missary of Subsistence ; Captain Robert F. Wil kinson, Judge Advocate ; Surgeon W. R. Brownell, Medical Director; Captain Henry C. Inwood, Pro vost-Marshal ; Major Peter French, Captain James C. Cooley, and Captain James W. De Forest, aides- de-camp. 439 440 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. On the 1 7th of November Emory adopted a corps badge and a new system of headquarters flags. The badge was to be a fan-leaved cross with an octagonal centre ; for officers, of gold suspended from the left breast by a ribbon, the color red, white, and blue for the corps headquarters, red for the First division, blue for the Second. Enlisted men were to wear on the hat or cap a similar badge of cloth, two inches square, in colors like the ribbon. The flags were to have a similar cross, of white on a blue swallow tail for corps headquarters ; for divisions, a white cross on a triangular flag, the ground red for the First division, blue for the Second ; the brigade flags rec tangular in various combinations of red, blue, and white cross and ground, the ground divided horizon tally for the brigades of the First division, and per pendicularly for those of the Second division. On the Qth of November Sheridan drew back to Kernstown, meaning to go into winter quarters. Early eagerly followed as far as Middletown, intent on discovering what this might mean ; but when, on the 1 2th, Torbert once more fell upon the unfortunate cavalry of Rosser, on both flanks of the Confederate position, and completely routed it, while Dudley, ad vancing with his brigade * in support of the cavalry, showed that Sheridan was ready to give battle, the Confederate commander became satisfied that Sheri dan had sent no troops to Petersburg. Sheridan made all his arrangements to attack Early on the morning of the I3th, but Early did not wait for this, and when the sun rose he was again far on the way 1 Beal s, of Dwight s division. Dudley, having rejoined November 2d, com manded it till November I4th, when Beal came back and relieved him ; again from November i8th to December yth, when a dispute as to relative and brevet rank was ended by Beal s receiving his commission as a full brigadier-general. VICTORY AND HOME. 441 to New Market. It was during Dudley s movement that the Nineteenth Corps suffered its last loss in battle, the 2gth Maine having one man wounded, by name Barton H. Ross. When the approach of winter made active opera tions in the valley impossible, Lee, who had already detached Kershaw, called back to the defence of Richmond and Petersburg the whole of Early s corps, and at the same time, almost to the very day, Grant called on Sheridan for the Sixth Corps. Thus in the second week of December Wright rejoined the Army of the Potomac. Soon afterward Crook s command was divided and detached to Petersburg and West Virginia, leaving only Torbert and Emory with Sheri dan in the valley. Early, his force reduced to Whar- ton and Rosser, went into winter quarters at Staunton, with his outposts at New Market and a signal party on watch at the station on Massanutten. These reductions of force, together with the increasing seventy of the winter, made it desirable to occupy a line nearer the base of supplies at Harper s Ferry, and accordingly, on the 3Oth of December, after living for six weeks in improvised huts or "shebangs, " as they were called, roughly put together of rails, stones, and any other material to be found, the Nineteenth Corps broke up its canton ment before Kernstown, called Camp Russell, and marching over the frozen ground, took up a position to cover the railway and the roads near Stephenson s. Here, at Camp Sheridan, it was intended to build regular huts, but on the last day of the year, when the men were as yet without shelter of any kind, a heavy snow storm set in, during which they suffered severely. As soon as this was over, the men fell to 442 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS, work in earnest, and with lumber from the quarter master s department and timber from the forest, soon had the whole command comfortably housed. Meanwhile Currie s brigade, which had been so long detached, engaged in the arduous and thankless duty of guarding the wagon-trains, rejoined Dwight s division. Brigadier-General James D. Fessenden having succeeded Currie in command the 5th of January, 1865, the brigade was again detached to Winchester; McMillan was at Summit Point; and Beal, as well as the headquarters of Dwight and Emory, at Stephenson s. On the 6th of January Grover s division bade fare well to the Nineteenth Corps, and, embarking upon the cars of the Baltimore and Ohio railway, set out by way of Baltimore for some unknown destination. This presently proved to be Savannah, whither Grover was ordered to hold the ground seized by the armies under Sherman, while Sherman went on his way through the Carolinas. On the 27th of Feb ruary, Sheridan broke up what remained of his Army of the Shenandoah, and placing himself at the head of his superb column of 10, 000 troopers, marched to achieve Grant s longing for Lynchburg, Charlottes- ville, and Gordonsville, and to rejoin the Army of the Potomac. Hancock now took command of the Middle Mili tary Division. Of the Army of the Shenandoah there remained only the fragment of the Nineteenth Corps. On the I4th of March the men of Emory s old division passed for the last time before their favorite- commander. A week later was published to the command the order of the President, dated March 20, 1865, by which the Nineteenth Army VICTORY AND HOME. 443 Corps was dissolved. Then bidding them a tender and touching farewell, on the 3<Dth of March Emory quitted the cantonment at Stephenson s, and went to Cumberland to take command of the Military De partment of that name. In the early days of April the tedium of winter quarters was relieved by the good news of Grant s successes before Petersburg. It was evident that Lee s army was breaking up, and to guard against the possible escape of any fragment of it by the valley highway, on the 4th of April Hancock sent Dwight s division back to Camp Russell, but on the 7th the troops were drawn in to Winchester and encamped on the bank of Abraham s Creek. Here, at midnight on the Qth of April, the whole command turned out to hear the official announcement of Lee s surrender. The next morning, in a drenching rain, Dwight marched eighteen miles to Summit Point. On the 2Oth of April the division moved by railway to Washington, where it arrived on the morning of the 2ist, and with colors shrouded in black for the memory of Lincoln, marched past the President s house and encamped at Tennallytown on the same ground the detachments of the corps had occupied on the night of the i3th of July the year before. Here the duty devolved upon the division of guard ing all the ways out of Washington toward the northwest, from Rock Creek to the Potomac, in order to prevent the escape of such of the assassins of the President as might still be lurking within the city. This was but a part of the heavy and continu ous line of sentries that stretched for thirty-five miles around the capital. A week later Dwight moved to the neighborhood of Bladensburg and encamped on 444 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. The line the division had been ordered to defend on the afternoon of its arrival from New Orleans. In the first week of May heavy details were furnished to guard the prison on the grounds of the arsenal where the assassins were confined. The armies of Meade and Sherman were now concentrating on the hills about Washington, pre paratory to passing in review before President John son ; and Dwight being ordered to report to Willcox, then commanding the Ninth Army Corps, and to follow that corps on the occasion of the review, Willcox inspected the division on the I2th of May on the parade ground of Fort Bunker Hill. Sheridan, although he had brought up his cavalry for the great review, had been ordered to take com mand in the Southwest, and as Grant deemed the matter urgent, because of French and Mexican com plications, Sheridan was destined to have no part in the approaching ceremonies, yet he could not resist the chance of once more looking at what was left of the infantry that had followed him in triumph through the Shenandoah. When the men saw him riding at the side of Willcox, mounted once more upon " Rienzi"and wearing the same animated smile that had cheered and encouraged them in the evil hour at Winchester, before the cliffs of Fisher s Hill, and in the gloom of Cedar Creek, they were not to be restrained from violating all the solemn pro prieties of the occasion, but broke out into a tumult of cheers. On the 22d of May, Dwight broke camp near Bladensburg, and, marching to the plain east of the Capitol, near the Congressional Cemetery, went into bivouac with the Ninth Corps. Here the men, after VICTORY AND HOME. 445 their long and hard field service, gave way to open disgust at hearing the order read on parade requiring them to appear in white gloves at the great review. On Tuesday, the 23d of May, the review took place. The men were up at three, and were inspected at half- past seven, but it was half-past ten before D wight took up the line of march in the rear of the Ninth Corps, followed by the Fifth. On the ist of June, 1865, the breaking up began. The H4th and n6th New York were taken from Real s brigade, and the i33d from Fessenden s, and ordered to be mustered out of the service of the United States. The 8th Vermont had already gone to the Sixth Corps to join the old Vermont brigade. The rest of Dwight s division embarked on transport steamers, under orders for Savannah, where they landed on the 4th of June. There they found many of their comrades of Grover s division. To return to Grover. Embarking at Baltimore about the nth of January, after some detention, the advance of his division landed at Savannah on the 1 9th of January. The rest of the division gradually followed, and at Savannah the troops remained doing garrison and police duty until about the 4th of March, when Grover was ordered to take transports and join Schofield in North Carolina, in order to open com munication with Sherman s army, then advancing once more toward the sea-coast. Wilmington had fallen on the 22d of February. Then Schofield sent a force, under Cox, to open the railway from New- bern to Goldsboro, on the south bank of the Neuse. D. H. Hill met and fought him on the 8th, 9th, and loth, on the south side of the river ; but, the Con federates retreating to Goldsboro to oppose Sherman s 446 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. March, Schofield occupied Kinston on the i4th and Goldsboro on the 2ist. In these movements the 3d brigade, formerly Sharpe s, now commanded by Day, took part, while Dirge s brigade was posted at Morehead City, and Molineux s at Wilmington. On the ist of April, Schofield s force, composed of the Tenth Corps, under Terry, and the Twenty-third Corps, under Cox, was reconstructed by Sherman as the centre of his armies, and designated as the Army of the Ohio. The next day the troops of Grover s division, then in North Carolina, were attached to the Tenth Corps, reorganized into three brigades, and designated as the First division ; the command being given to Birge, and the brigades being com manded by the three senior colonels, Washburn, Graham, and Day. Some time before this, Shunk s 4th brigade of Grover s division had been broken up and its regiments distributed ; the 8th and i8th Indiana to Washburn, the 28th Iowa to Graham, and the 24th Iowa to Day. The 22d Indiana battery formed the artillery of the division. All active opera tions coming to an end with the final surrender of Johnston on the 26th of April, about the 4th of May the division went back to Savannah. On the nth of May it marched to Augusta, leaving Day with all his regiments except the 24th Iowa and the i28th New York to take care of Savannah. Meanwhile, orders being issued by the government for disbanding the regiments whose time was to ex pire before the ist of November, and the re-enlisted veterans of Dwight s division beginning to arrive in Savannah on the 5th of June, Birge s brigade came down from Augusta on the ;th and Day marched on the Qth to replace it. VICTORY AND HOME. 447 From this time the work of disintegration went on rapidly, yet all too slowly for the impatience of the soldiers, now thinking only of home, and soon sickened by the weary routine of provost duty in the first dull days of peace. What was left of the divisions of Dwight and Grover continued to occupy Charleston, Savannah, Augusta, and the chief towns of Georgia and South Carolina. When at last the final separation came, and little by little the old corps fell apart, every man, as with inexpressible yearning he turned his face homeward, bore with him, as the richest heritage of his children and his children s children, the proud consciousness of duty done. APPENDIX. 449 ROSTERS. I. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF. As of March 22, 1862. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General JOHN W. PHELPS 8th New Hampshire gth Connecticut 7th Vermont 8th Vermont 1 2th Connecticut I3th Connecticut 1st Vermont Battery 2d Vermont Battery 4th Massachusetts Battery Colonel Colonel Colonel Colonel Colonel Colonel Captain Captain Captain Captain A 2d Battalion Massachusetts Cavalry, Captain SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General THOMAS WILLIAMS 26th Massachusetts 3ist Massachusetts 2ist Indiana 6th Michigan 4th Wisconsin 6th Massachusetts Battery 2d Massachusetts Battery C 2d Battalion Massachusetts Cavalry THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel GEORGE F. SHEPLEY 1 2th Maine 1 3th Maine Colonel Colonel Colonel Colonel Colonel Captain Captain Captain Captain HAWKES FEARING, Jr. THOMAS W. CAHILL GEORGE T. ROBERTS STEPHEN THOMAS HENRY C. DEMING HENRY W. BIRGE GEORGE W. DUNCAN PYTHAGORAS E. HOLCOMB CHARLES H. MANNING ] GEORGE G. TRULL S. TYLER READ ALPHA B. FARR OLIVER P. GOODING JAMES W. MCMILLAN THOMAS S. CLARK HALBERT E. PAINE CHARLES EVERETT ORMAND F. NIMS HENRY A. DURIVAGE * JONATHAN E. COWAN 1 Resigned October 20, 1862. Lieutenant-Colonel W. K. KIMBALL Colonel NEAL Dow Colonel HENRY RUST, Jr. 2 Dro-wned Aj>ril 23, 1862. 451 452 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. I4th Maine Colonel FRANK S. NICKERSON 1 5th Maine Colonel JOHN McCLUSKY Colonel ISAAC DYER 30th Massachusetts Colonel N. A. M. DUDLEY 1st Maine Battery Captain E. W. THOMPSON B 2d Battalion Massachusetts Cavalry Captain JAMES M. MAGEE II. TECHE AND PORT HUDSON. As of April 30, 1863. FIRST DIVISION. Major-General CHRISTOPHER C. AUGUR FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD P. CHAPIN n6th New York Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN HIGGINS 2ist Maine l Colonel ELIJAH D. JOHNSON 48th Massachusetts l Colonel EBEN F. STONE 49th Massachusetts 1 Colonel WILLIAM F. BARTLETT SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General GODFREY WEITZEL 8th Vermont Colonel STEPHEN THOMAS 75th New York Colonel ROBERT B. MERRITT t6oth New York Colonel CHARLES C. DWIGHT 1 2th Connecticut Colonel LED YARD COLBURN Lieutenant-Colonel FRANK H. PECK H4th New York Colonel ELISHA B. SMITH THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel NATHAN A. M. DUDLEY 30th Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM W. BULLOCK 2d Louisiana Colonel CHARLES J. PAINE 50th Massachusetts J Colonel CARLOS P. MESSER i6ist New York Colonel GABRIEL T. HARROWER 1 74th New York Colonel THEODORE W. PARMELE ARTILLERY : ist Maine Captain ALBERT W. BRADBURY Lieutenant JOHN E. MORTON 6th Massachusetts Captain WILLIAM W. CARRUTH Lieutenant JOHN F. PHELPS A ist United States Captain E. C. BAINBRIDGE 1 Nine-months? men. APPENDIX. 453 SECOND DIVISION. Brigadier-General T. W. SHERMAN FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General NEAL Dow 6th Michigan Colonel THOMAS S. CLARK 1 28th New York Colonel DAVID S. COWLES 26th Connecticut Colonel THOMAS G. KINGSLEY 1 5th New Hampshire Colonel JOHN W. KINGMAN SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel ALPHA B. FARR 26th Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel JOSIAH A. SAWTELL gth Connecticut Colonel THOMAS W. CAHILL 47th Massachusetts Colonel Lucius B. MARSH 42d Massachusetts l Lieutenant-Colonel JOSEPH STEDMAN 28th Maine l Colonel EPHRAIM W. WOODMAN THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel FRANK S. NICKERSON i4th Maine Lieutenant-Colonel THOMAS W. PORTER 1 77th New York Colonel IRA W. AINSWORTH i6sth New York Lieutenant-Colonel ABEL SMITH, Jr. 24th Maine l Colonel GEORGE M. ATWOOD ARTILLERY : 1 8th New York Captain ALBERT G. MACK G 5th United States Lieutenant JACOB B. RAWLES ist Vermont Captain George T. HEBARD THIRD DIVISION. Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel TIMOTHY INGRAHAM, 38th Massachusetts i62d New York Colonel LEWIS BENEDICT noth New York Colonel CLINTON H. SAGF 1 6th New Hampshire l Colonel JAMES PIKE 4th Massachusetts ! Colonel HENRY WALKER SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel HALBERT E. PAINE 4th Wisconsin Lieutenant-Colonel SIDNEY A. BEAN 1 33d New York Colonel LEONARD D. H. CURRIE 1 Nine-months^ men. 454 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 1 73d New York Colonel LEWIS M. PECK 8th New Hampshire Colonel HAWKES FEARING, Jr. THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING 3 ist Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel W. S. B. HOPKINS 38th Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM L. RODMAN 1 56th New York Colonel JACOB SHARPE 1 75th New York Colonel MICHAEL K. BRYAN 53d Massachusetts l Colonel JOHN W. KIMBALL ARTILLERY : 4th Massachusetts Captain GEORGE G. TRULL F ist United States Captain RICHARD C. DURYEA 2d Vermont Captain PYTHAGORAS E. HOLCOMB FOURTH DIVISION. Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General WILLIAM DWIGHT, Jr. 6th New York 2 Colonel WILLIAM WILSON gist New York Colonel JACOB VAN ZANDT i3ist New York Lieutenant-Colonel NICHOLAS W. DAY 22d Maine ! Colonel SIMON G. JERRARD ist Louisiana Colonel RICHARD E. HOLCOMB SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel WILLIAM K. KIMBALL 1 2th Maine Lieutenant-Colonel EDWARD ILLSLEY 4ist Massachusetts Colonel THOMAS E. CHICKERING 52d Massachusetts ! Colonel H ALBERT S. GREENLEAF 24th Connecticut l Colonel SAMUEL M. MANSFIELD THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel HENRY W. BIRGE 25th Connecticut * Colonel GEORGE P. BISSELL 26th Maine Colonel NATHANIEL H. HUBBARD 1 59th New York Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX 1 3th Connecticut Lieutenant-Colonel ALEXANDER WARNER 1 Nine-months men. A Detached for muster out May 20, 1863. APPENDIX. 455 ARTILLERY . 2d Massachusetts L ist United States C 2d United States Captain ORMAND F. NIMS Captain HENRY W. CLOSSON Lieutenant JOHN I. RODGERS OUTSIDE OF THE DIVISIONS. Ist Louisiana Native Guards Colonel 2d Louisiana Native Guards 2 Colonel 3d Louisiana Native Guards J Colonel 4th Louisiana Native Guards l Colonel 1 3th Maine 2 Colonel 23d Connecticut 3, 7 Colonel 1 76th New York 3, 8 Colonel goth New York 4 Colonel 47th Pennsylvania 4 Colonel 28th Connecticut 5, Colonel 1 5th Maine 5 Colonel 7th Vermont 5 Colonel SPENCER H. STAFFORD NATHAN W. DANIELS JOHN A. NELSON CHARLES W. DREW HENRY RUST, Jr. CHARLES E. L. HOLMES CHARLES C. NOTT JOSEPH S. MORGAN TlLGHMAN H. GOOD SAMUEL P. FERRIS ISAAC DYER WILLIAM C. HOLBROOK ARTILLERY : H 2d United States 6 K 2d United States B 1st Indiana Heavy l 1 2th Massachusetts l B ist Louisiana N. G. Heavy 2 1 3th Massachusetts 2 2 ist New York 2 2$th New York 2 26th New York 2 Captain FRANK H. LARNED Captain HARVEY A. ALLEN Colonel JOHN A. Keith Lieutenant EDWIN M. CHAMBERLIN Captain LOREN RYGAARD Captain CHARLES H. J. HAMLEN Captain JAMES BARNES Captain JOHN A. GROW Captain GEORGE W. Fox CAVALRY : ist Louisiana C and E l ist Louisiana A and B 6 2d Rhode Island Battalion 6 2d Massachusetts Cavalry talion A 2 B 1 C 1 4th New York Cavalry ist Texas 2 1 With Augur. A Defences of New Orleans. 8 La Fourche District. * Key West. Bat- Captain J. F. GODFREY Captain HENRY F. WILLIAMSON Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. CORLISS Captain S. TYLER READ Captain JAMES M. MAGEE Captain JONATHAN E. COWAN Lieutenant SOLON A. PERKINS Colonel THADDEUS P. MOTT Colonel EDMUND J. DAVIS 5 Pens cicala . With Weitzel. 7 Nine-months men. 8 Partly nine-months 1 men. 456 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. M. AFTER PORT HUDSON. August, 1863. FIRST DIVISION. Brigadier-General GODFREY WEITZEL. J Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY. * FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel N. A. M. DUDLEY Colonel GEORGE M. LOVE 3oth Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel W. W. BULLOCK 2d Louisiana Colonel CHARLES J. PAINE i6ist New York Lieutenant-Colonel W. B. KINSEY 1 74th New York Colonel BENJAMIN F. GOTT n6th New York Colonel GEORGE M. LOVE SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING Colonel JACOB SHARPE 3 ist Massachusetts Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING Lieutenant-Colonel W. S. B. HOPKINS 38th Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel JAS. P. RICHARDSON 1 28th New York Colonel JAMES SMITH 1 5 6th New York Colonel JACOB SHARPE 1 75th New York Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN A. FOSTER THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel ROBERT B. MERRITT 1 2th Connecticut Colonel LED YARD COLBURN Lieutenant-Colonel FRANK H. PECK 75th New York Captain HENRY B. FITCH H4th New York Colonel SAMUEL R. PER LEE i6oth New York Colonel CHARLES C. DWIGHT Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. VAN PETTEN 8th Vermont Colonel STEPHEN THOMAS ARTILLERY : Captain E. C. BAINBRIDGE ist Maine Captain ALBERT W. BRADBURY 1 8th New York Captain ALBERT G. MACK A ist United States Captain EDMUND C. BAINBRIDGE 6th Massachusetts 8 Captain WILLIAM W. CARRUTH 1 Tc December gth. A Front December i-$th. 3 From A rtillery Reserve \ in December. APPENDIX. 457 SECOND DIVISION. Broken up July loth. THIRD DIVISION. Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY. Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General FRANK S. NICKERSON I4th Maine Colonel THOMAS W. PORTER noth New York Colonel CLINTON H. SAGE i62d New York Colonel LEWIS BENEDICT i6sth New York Lieutenant-Colonel GOUVERNEUR CARR Captain FELIX AGNUS SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General JAMES W. MCMILLAN 26th Massachusetts Colonel ALPHA B. FARR Major EUSEBIUS S. CLARK 8th New Hampshire Colonel HAWKES FEARING, Jr. Captain JAMES J. LADD 1 33d New York Colonel L. D. H. CURRIE Captain JAMES K. FULLER 1 73d New York Colonel LEWIS M. PECK ARTILLERY : 4th Massachusetts Captain GEORGE G. TRULL Lieutenant GEORGE W. TAYLOR F ist United States Captain RICHARD G. DURYEA Lieutenant HARDMAN P. NORRIS ist Vermont Captain GEORGE T. HEBARD Lieutenant EDWARD RICE, FOURTH DIVISION. Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER. Colonel EDWARD G. BECKWITH. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel HENRY W. BIRGE 1 3th Connecticut Captain APOLLOS COMSTOCK goth New York Colonel JOSEPH S. MORGAN Lieutenant-Colonel NELSON SHAURMAN 1 3 ist New York Colonel NICHOLAS W. DAY 1 59th New York Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX 458 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel THOMAS W. CAHILL gth Connecticut Lieutenant-Colonel RICHARD FITZ GIBBONS ist Louisiana Colonel WILLIAM O. FISKE I2th Maine Colonel WILLIAM K. KIMBALL I3th Maine l Colonel HENRY RUST, Jr. 1 5th Maine ! Colonel ISAAC DYER 97th Illinois * Colonel FRIEND S. RUTHERFORD ARTILLERY : 25th New York Captain JOHN A. GROW 26th New York Captain GEORGE W. Fox C 2d United States Lieutenant THEODORE BRADLEY L ist United States * Captain HENRY W. CLOSSON Lieutenant JAMES A. SANDERSON CAVALRY : 3d Massachusetts 4 Colonel T. E. CHICKERING Lieutenant-Colonel LORENZO D. SARGENT ist Texas 5 Colonel EDMUND J. DAVIS 4th Wisconsin 6 Colonel FREDERICK A. BOARDMAN Major GEORGE W. MOORE RESERVE ARTILLERY : Captain HENRY W. CLOSSON 2d Massachusetts Captain ORMAND F. NIMS 6th Massachusetts 7 Captain WILLIAM W. CARRUTH L ist United States e Captain HENRY W. CLOSSON Lieutenant FRANCK E. TAYLOR OUTSIDE OF THE DIVISIONS. Headquarters Troops Compa- Captain RICHARD W. FRANCIS nies A and B * Troop C Captain FRANK SAYLES DEFENCES OF NEW ORLEANS. Colonel E. G. BECKWITH 24th Connecticut 10 Colonel SAMUEL M. MANSFIELD 3ist Massachusetts Captain ELIOT BRIDGMAN 1 In -$d Brigade \ id Division, Thirteenth Corps \ December -$\st. * December y. St, from id Brigade, +th Division, Thirteenth Corfu. 3 From A. Rtillery Reserve, in December. * At Port Hudson. 8 At New Orleans. 6 At Baton Rouge. 7 In First Division, December yst. 8 In Fourth Division, December ^itt. 9 Raised in Louisiana; re-enlisted nine-months mer, . 10 Nine-months* men. APPENDIX. 459 1 76th New York Colonel CHARLES C. NOTT Major MORGAN MORGAN, Jr. Ist Louisiana Cavalry Lieutenant-Colonel HARAI ROBINSON A 3d Massachusetts Cavalry Lieutenant HENRY D. POPE i4th New York Cavalry Lieutenant-Colonel ABRAHAM BASSFORD I2th Massachusetts Battery Captain JACOB MILLER I3th Massachusetts Battery Captain CHARLES H. J. HAMLEN 1 5th Massachusetts Battery Captain TIMOTHY PEARSON gist New York l Colonel JACOB VAN ZANDT PORT HUDSON. Brigadier-General GEORGE L. ANDREWS ist Michigan Heavy Artillery Colonel THOMAS S. CLARK 2 ist New York Battery Captain JAMES BARNES Battery G 5th United States Lieutenant JACOB B. RAWLES 2d Vermont Battery Captain P. E. HOLCOMB IV. RED RIVER. As of March 13, 1864. FIRST DIVISION. Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY FIRST BRIGADE: Brigadier-General WILLIAM DWIGHT, Jr. 2gth Maine Colonel GEORGE L. BEAL H4th New York Colonel SAMUEL R. PER LEE Lieutenant-Colonel HENRY B. MORSE n6th New York Colonel GEORGE M. LOVE 1 5 3d New York Colonel EDWIN P. DAVIS i6ist New York Lieutenant-Colonel W. B. KINSEY 30th Massachusetts * Colonel N. A. M. DUDLEY SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General JAMES W. McMiLLAN I2th Connecticut a Lieutenant-Colonel FRANK H. PECK 1 3th Maine Colonel HENRY RUST, Jr. 1 5th Maine Colonel ISAAC DYER i6oth New York Colonel CHARLES C. DWIGHT Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. VAN PETTEN 47th Pennsylvania Colonel TILGHMAN H. GOOD 8th Vermont Colonel STEPHEN THOMAS 1 Heavy Artillery. * On veteran furlough. 460 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 9 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel LEWIS BENEDICT 30th Maine Colonel FRANCIS FESSENDEN i62d New York Lieutenant-Colonel JUSTUS \V. BLANCHARD i6sth New York Lieutenant-Colonel GOUVERNEUR CARR 1 73d New York Colonel LEWIS M. PECK Captain HOWARD C. CONRADY ARTILLERY : Captain GEORGE T. HEBARD 25th New York Captain JOHN A. GROW Lieutenant IRVING D. SOUTHWORTH L ist United States Lieutenant FRANCK E. TAYLOR ist Vermont 2 Lieutenant EDWARD RICE ist Delaware 3 BENJAMIN NIELDS SECOND DIVISION. Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General FRANK S. NICKERSON 9th Connecticut 4 Colonel THOMAS W. CAHILL 1 2th Maine 4 Colonel WILLIAM K. KIMBALL I4th Maine 4 Colonel THOMAS W. PORTER 26th Massachusetts 4 Colonel ALPHA B. FARR 1 33d New York Colonel L. D. H. CURRIE 1 76th New York Colonel CHARLES C. NOTT Major CHARLES LEWIS SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General HENRY W. BIRGE Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX 1 3th Connecticut Colonel CHARLES D. BLINN ist Louisiana Colonel WILLIAM O. FISKE goth New York 6 Major JOHN C. SMART 159th New York Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX Lieutenant-Colonel EDWARD L. GAUL i3ist New York Colonel NICHOLAS W. DAY THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel JACOB SHARPE 38th Massachusetts Lieutenant-Colonel JAMES P. RICHARDSON 1 28th New York Colonel JAMES SMITH 1 56th New York Captain JAMES J. HOYT 1 75th New York Captain CHARLES MCCARTHEY 1 The \it, th consolidated with the 173^. 3 In Reserve A rtillery, April y>th. 8 In Reserve A rtillery, March yist. 4 On veteran furlough. 8 Three companies. 6 In district of La Fourche^ Colonel Day commanding the district. APPENDIX. 461 ARTILLERY : Captain GEORGE W. Fox 7th Massachusetts Captain NEWMAN W. STORER 26th New York Captain GEORGE W. Fox F ist United States l Lieutenant HARDMAN P. NORRIS Lieutenant WILLIAM L. HASKIN C 2d United States Lieutenant JOHN I. RODGERS ARTILLERY RESERVE : Captain HENRY W. CLOSSON ist Delaware 2 Captain BENJAMIN NIELDS D ist Indiana Heavy Captain WILLIAM S. HINKLE V. SHENANDOAH. From June 27, 1864. FIRST DIVISION. Brigadier-General WILLIAM DVVIGHT FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel GEORGE 2gth Maine 3Oth Massachusetts goth New York 3 1 1 4th New York 1 1 6th New York 1 5 3d New York BEAL Colonel GEORGE L. BEAL Colonel N. A. M. DUDLEY Lieutenant-Colonel NELSON SHAURMAN Colonel SAMUEL R. PER LEE Colonel GEORGE M. LOYE Colonel EDWIN P. DAVIS SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General JAMES W. McMiLLAN 1 2th Connecticut 1 3th Maine 4 1 5th Maine 4 i6oth New York 47th Pennsylvania 8th Vermont Lieutenant-Colonel FRANK H. PECK Captain SIDNEY E. CLARKE Lieutenant-Colonel GEORGE N. LEWIS Colonel HENRY RUST, Jr. Colonel ISAAC DYER Colonel CHARLES C. DWIGHT Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. VAN PETTEN Colonel TILGHMAN H. GOOD Major J. P. SHINDEL GOBIN Colonel STEPHEN THOMAS 1 With the Cavalry i April 2 In the ist Division, April -y*th. Z On veteran furlough in A ugust and September. * On veteran furlough in August and September, at Martinsburg afterward. 462 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel L. D. II. CURRIE 3oth Maine Colonel THOMAS H. HUBBARD 1 33d New York Colonel L. D. H. CURRIE i62d New York Colonel JUSTUS W. BLANCHARD i6sth New York Lieutenant-Colonel GOUVERNEUR CARR 1 73d New York Colonel LEWIS M. PECK ARTILLERY : 5th New York Captain ELIJAH D. TAFT SECOND DIVISION. Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General HENRY W. BIRGE gth Connecticut Colonel THOMAS W. CAHILL 1 2th Maine Colonel WILLIAM K. KIMBALL i4th Maine Colonel THOMAS W. PORTER 26th Massachusetts Colonel ALPHA B. FARR I4th New Hampshire Colonel ALEXANDER GARDINER 75th New York Lieutenant-Colonel WILLOUGHBY BABCOCK SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX 1 3th Connecticut 1 Colonel CHARLES D. BLINN 3d Massachusetts Cavalry Lieutenant-Colonel LORENZO D. SARGENT (dismounted) nth Indiana Colonel DANIEL MACAULEY 22d Iowa Colonel HARVEY GRAHAM i3ist New York Colonel NICHOLAS W. DAY 159th New York Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM WALTERMIRE THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel JACOB SHARPE Colonel DANIEL MACAULEY 38th Massachusetts Major CHARLES F. ALLEN I28th New York Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. FOSTER i56th New York Lieutenant-Colonel ALFRED NEAFIE 1 75th New York Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN A. FOSTER 1 76th New York Colonel AMBROSE STEVENS 2 Major CHARLES LEWIS FOURTH BRIGADE : Colonel DAVID SHUNK 8th Indiana Lieutenant-Colonel ALEXANDER J. KENNEY i8th Indiana Colonel HENRY D. WASHBURN 24th Iowa Colonel JOHN Q. WILDS 1 On -veteran furlough in August and early September. * front November 19, 1864. APPENDIX. 463 28th Iowa Colonel JOHN CONNELL Lieutenant-Colonel BARTHOLOMEW W. WILSON ARTILLERY : A ist Maine Captain ALBERT W. BRADBURY RESERVE ARTILLERY : Captain ELIJAH D. TAFT Major ALBERT W. BRADBURY D ist Rhode Island Lieutenant FREDERICK CHASE i yth Indiana Captain MILTON L. MINER DETACHMENTS LEFT IN LOUISIANA. The following troops served under Canby in the siege of Mobile, March 20-April 12, 1865 : IST INDIANA HEAVY ARTILLERY. 3 IST MASSACHUSETTS, as mounted infantry, from Pensacola, with Steele. 20 MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY. Also engaged at Daniel s Plantation, Alabama, April ii, 1865. 4TH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY. Afterward at Galveston. 7TH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY. " " i STH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY. " 4TH WISCONSIN CAVALRY. Afterward on Rio Grande in Weitzel s corps. IST MICHIGAN HEAVY ARTILLERY. I6iST NEW YORK, in Third brigade, First division, new Xlllth Corps, Kinsey commanding the brigade. Loss : 2 killed, i wounded. Afterward in Florida. 7TH VERMONT, in First brigade, Third division, new Xlllth Corps. Loss : 18 wounded, 43 captured. Afterward on Rio Grande in Weitzel s Corps of Observation. I8TH NEW YORK BATTERY. 2 IST NEW YORK BATTERY. 26TH NEW YORK BATTERY. BATTERY G, STH U. S. ARTILLERY. STH NEW HAMPSHIRE, as mounted infantry, served at Natchez and at Vidalia, opposite. GiST NEW YORK, after returning from veteran furlough, September, 1864, went to Baltimore as part of Second separate brigade, Vlllth Corps. March, 1865, joined First brigade, Third division, Vth Corps, Army of the Potomac. Fought at White Oak Ridge, March 29-31, and Five Forks, April, 1865. Loss : 61 killed and mortally wounded, 152 wounded, 17 captured or missing ; total, 230. IIOTH NEW YORK, at Key West, Florida, from February 9, 1864. 3D MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY, detached to remount December 26, 1864 ; with Chapman s brigade ; in cavalry review May 23, 1865 ; afterward in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. LOSSES IN BATTLE. BATON ROUGE. August 5, 1862. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Id . - v w Aggregate. General officers, I I 14 126 119 18 65 15 i 5 6 13 9th Connecticut I 22 36 2 15 9 91 6 4 12 40 9 i 4 4 12 2ist Indiana . . 2 7 7 3 4 i I4th Maine 3oth Massachusetts I 6th Michigan I 5 5 7th Vermont Troop B Massachusetts Cavalry. . . . 2d Massachusetts Battery 4 5 8 i 4th Massachusetts Battery j 6th Massachusetts Battery, ,, . . . . 3 i i Total 4 80 23 243 I 32 383 GEORGIA LANDING. October 27, 1862. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Jjj O Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Aggregate. 1 2th Connecticut 3 i 10 I 16 18 34 ; i 20 7 20 48 2 1 3th Connecticut ist Louisiana Cavalry, A, B, and C. 8th New Hampshire. . 2 75th New York Total 2 16 I 73 I 4 97 464 APPENDIX. 465 BISLAND. April 12-13, 1863. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Aggregate. 1 1 (j 8 i "O S a </) <U 2* W lili O i W FIRST DIVISION, SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General GODFREY WEITZEL. ; I 7 13 5 ii 12 8 17 7 ii 15 2 2 2 f 2th Connecticut 2 I Total Weitzel s Brigade 7 | 3 4 8 58 THIRD DIVISION : Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY. SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel HALBERT E. PAINE. . 5 4 2 2 I 8 20 5 7 13 25 7 ii ~56~ 8th New Hampshire 2 Total Second Brigade 13 3 40 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING. 3 ist Massachusetts . . I 28 18 6 9 6 35 22 7 12 38th Massachusetts i i 5 3 i i 156th New York 53d Massachusetts i 2 Total Third Brigade 3 12 i 4 66 82 Total Third Division 3 25 1 06 I 3 8 ARTILLERY : A 1st U S 4 5 5 i 3 2 3 9 5 2 4 2 3 F ist U S I i 1 8th New York Battery ist Indiana Heavy Total Artillery 5 I 19 25 1st Louisiana Cavalry 3 3 Total . . 3 37 8 176 224 466 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. IRISH BEND. April 14, 1863. COMMAND. Killed. Wou e s & o nded. Captured or \ missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Aggregate. FOURTH DIVISION : Brigadier-General CUVIER GRO- VER. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier - General WILLIAM DWIGHT. 6th New York gist New York 2 I 10 3 i 13 3 i I3ist New York 22d Maine 1st Louisiana Total First Brigade. . 2 1 14 17 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel HENRY W. BIRGE. 25th. Connecticut 2 7 ii 15 7_ 40 5 5 4 72 48 73 43 IO 96 61 117 54 26th Maine iSgth New York 4 2O 1 3th Connecticut Total Third Brigade 6 16 236 30 328 ARTILLERY : Battery C 2d U. S i 1 i i l ! s Total 6~ 43 | 17 257 30 353 PLAINS STORE. May 21, 1863. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. V rt < e T! 8 : j Enlisted men. I fa w 1 ^e M 2 I I I II 3 7 4 43 68 j 14 4 20 6 56 3Oth Massachusetts . . 48th Massachusetts 2 II I I 4gth Massachusetts Ii6th New York II Total . . 15 S 14 100 APPENDIX. PORT HUDSON. May 23-July 8, 1863. 467 NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS : Major-General NATHANIEL P. BANKS. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. A - II "c fc w j/j Is fa w i i *O S a |l W g 1 1 FIRST DIVISION : Major-General CHRISTOPHER C. AUGUR. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD P. CHAPIN. 1 Colonel CHARLES J. PAINE. 2d Louisiana 32 14 8 17 18 5 3 7 10 4 103 60 46 73 IOI 4 9 144 88 62 IO2 130 2ist Maine . . I I I 2 I 48th Massachusetts 4gth Massachusetts i 5 1 1 6th New York Total First Brigade 5 89 29 383 I 19 526 SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General GODFREY WEITZEL. Staff I IOI 107 73 41 1 66 18 10 10 2 24 5 4 4 4 4 78 88 56 35 128 75th New York I 4 2 I I4th New York I i6oth New York 8th Vermont I 9 Total Second Brigade 3 6 4 21 385 I 15 489 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel NATHAN A. M. DUDLEY. 3Oth Massachusetts I I 18 4 14 9 1 9 5 i? 14 5Oth Massachusetts i6ist New York 3 2 3 3 Total Third Brigade 5 2 45 55 ARTILLERY : 1st Indiana Heavy 4 i I IO 19 i 7 22 20 I 3 19 4 69 1st Maine Battery 6th Massachusetts Battery 1 8th New York Battery 3 12 2 47 Battery A 1st U. S 3 2 IO I 2 3 Battery G $th U. S Total Artillery IO Total First Division 8 168 54 860 2 i 47 H39 1 Killed M 468 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. J li w Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. D rt I < 2 I 7 6 I 49 77 129 59 SECOND DIVISION : Brigadier-General THOMAS W. SHERMAN. 1 Brigadier - General WILLIAM D WIGHT. Staff 2 I FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General NEAL Dow. L Colonel DAVID S. COWLES. * Colonel THOMAS S. CLARK. Staff I I 14 19 17 21 5 9 5 3 3 3_ 24 151 124 55 97 47 I I 2 5 3_ ii 1 28th New York 2 I i62d New York Total First Brigade 5 76 474 I 591 THIRD BRIGADE : Brigadier-General FRANK S. NICKERSON. 5 5 23 13 8 80 38 i? 33 13 12 106 5i 23 28th Maine 3 15 5 3 i 7 5 2 3 2 i65th New York i i i 1 75th New York 1 77th New York Total Third Brigade ARTILLERY : 1st Vermont Battery 3 3i 20 179 5 238 i 6 7 Total Second Division 8 108 4 6 659 I 16 838 THIRD DIVISION : Brigadier-General HALBERT E. PAINE. 5 Colonel HAWKES FEARING, Jr. Stiff I i 62 68 37 168 FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel SAMUEL P. FERRIS. 28th Connecticut 2 I I 5 7 4 I 3 2 ___ 43 57 21, 10 i loth New York I 9 Total First Brigade 4 16 121 19 Wounded May ^th. Wounded June Killed May *ith. APPENDIX. 469 COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Jj 1 Enlisted men. I JL 7 5 6 9 Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. D I 1 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel HAWKES FEARING, Jr. , Major JOHN H. ALLCOT. 4 i 2 3 26 22 II 4 6 191 85 72 108 456 2 28 2 I 52 258 H5 92 2I 9 4th Wisconsin l I IO 105 27 3 83 684 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING. 2 2 13 13 15 3_ 44 2 5 7 2 ~I6~ 47 85 92 25 62 108 121 30 321 3 5 i ^6th New York 4 249 8 ARTILLERY : 2 2 3 2 i 2 2d Vermont Battery 2 Total Third Division 18 166 50 8 3 4 112 1180 FOURTH DIVISION : Brigadier - General C u v I E R GROVER. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier - General WILLIAM D WIGHT. Colonel JOSEPH S. MORGAN i 30 4 7 19 20 3 2 I 8 2 86 17 42 112 86 3 5 123 29 50 149 119 1 2 I 2 8 8 Total First Brigade 4 80 i 16 343 3 24 470 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel WILLIAM K. KIMBALL. H IO 8 32 6 2 2 46 57 12 66 70 24 1 2th Maine i 2 52d Massachusetts Total Second Brigade. . IO ii; 1 : 160 1 Includes losses at Clinton^ June 470 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. 1 - I 1 20 35 ii 53 O "8 . . A S "5 6 W Aggregate. THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel HENRY W. BIRGE. 1 3th Connecticut I 6 5 5 17 3 4 I I I 2 5 2 31 4 6 22 73 172 25th Connecticut . . . 26th Maine 1 5 gth New York Total Third Brigade I 33 9 119 10 ARTILLERY : 2d Massachusetts Battery 2 2 I 3 5 2 I Battery L ist U S Battery C 2d U. S Total Artillery 5 3 8 Total Fourth Division 5 145 537 35 582 3 40 215 810 3, 967 Total Nineteenth Army Corps CAVALRY : Colonel BENJAMIN H. GRIERSON 6th Illinois 39 185 2, 931 IO 6 4 1 6 5 6 i 5 13 4 40 9 28 7th Illinois 1st Louisiana 5 i 2 19 20 3d Massachusetts i 1 4th New York Total Cavalry i 9 37 i ^ 46 94 CORPS D AFRIQUE : i 2 I 7 32 9 i 2 5 2 4 26 92 37 i 19 53 129 5i 2 5 12 2 10 ist Louisiana Native Guards 3 i 3d Louisiana Native Guards . I 2 6th Infantry yth Infantry, i 3 5 8th Infantry I Qth Infantry loth Infantry I 2 3 Total Corps d Afrique . 5 62 5 1 66 i 25 264 2d Rhode Island Cavalry. . . I 191 5 2 8 Total Port Hudson 45 658 3, 139 12 288 4, 333 APPENDIX. COX S PLANTATION, OR KOCH S PLANTATION, BAYOU LA FOURCHE, July 13, 1863. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. E lg fi || 1 Enlisted men. Aggregate. AS W e o cS M FIRST DIVISION : Brigadier - General GODFREY WEITZEL. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel CHARLES J. PAINE. 2d Louisiana 7 5 21 18 9 20 37 44 n6th New York i Total First Brigade i 12 39 29 81 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel N. A. M. DUDLEY. 3Oth Massachusetts 8 7 17 2 I I 37 33 28 I 7 7 48 53 54 i6ist New York . . . . . 1 74th New York i Total Third Brigade . . . . I 32 4 103 15 155 17 i 18 ARTILLERY : i i 14 i i 6th Massachusetts . . . Total Artillery i i 15 i Total First Division 2 45 157 45 254 FOURTH DIVISION : Brigadier-General CUVIER GROVER FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel JOSEPH S. MORGAN. 3 2 2 I 14 20 10 I 13 48 42 30 7i 55 90th New York . I3ist New York Total Brigade and Division . . . 7 I 44 I 103 156 Total Nineteenth Army Corps 2 52 6 2OI I 148 410 472 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. SABINE CROSS-ROADS, April 8, and PLEASANT HILL, April 9, 1864. Compiled in the War Department from the nominal returns : impossible to separate the losses. For each day. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or 1 missing. Officers. Ii |S w Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Id ffi w d rt I THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS (DE TACHMENT) : Brigadier-General THOMAS E. G. RANSOM, 1 Brigadier - General ROBERT A. CAMERON. Staff 2 2 THIRD DIVISION : Brigadier - General ROBERT A. CAMERON I 3 3 4 21 66 9i 126 59 186 6 166 145 317 FIRST BRIGADE. Lieutenant-Colonel AARON M. FLORY l I 12 II 23 3 6 9 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel WILLIAM H. RAYNOR. . Total Third Division I 7 FOURTH DIVISION : Colonel WILLIAM J. LANDRAM. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel FRANK EMERSON. %i . I 2 I 18 5 i 4 9 i 79 50 5 28 20 2 39 8 438 23 528 524 33 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel JOSEPH W. VANCE 9 Artillery Total Fourth Division 4 24 14 134 50 859 1, 085 Total Thirteenth Army Corps NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS : Major - General WILLIAM B. FRANKLIN. 1 Staff 5 47 23 225 59 1, 045 1, 404 3 1 Wounded, A fir tilth. Wounded and cafiturtd April APPENDIX. 473 COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. O o c (/) V ^S W Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Id 1 1 H & 1 <$ FIRST DIVISION : Brigadier-General WILLIAM H. EMORY. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier - General WILLIAM DWIGHT, Jr. I 3 2 I 8 3 2 4 26 10 27 28 39 27 20 34 33 90 H4th New York 4 3 4 38 n6th New York 1 53d New York * loist New York I Total First Brigade . . . I 15 9 130 49 204 SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier - General JAMES W. MCMILLAN. I3th Maine 5 i 6 6 i 3 4 29 13 23 34 20 ii 9 55 28 44 41 2 I 3 18 8 99 40 168 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel LEWIS BENEDICT, 1 Colonel FRANCIS FESSENDEN. 3Oth Maine i 3 10 13 3 4 30 3 3 3 i 55 45 21 38 69 46 70 155 340 138 in 97 200 i62d New York I i65th New York 1 73d New York 2 Total Third Brigade 4 10 159 3 546 ARTILLERY. New York Lirfit 2<?th Battery 2 2 i 3 4 i 8 396 5 7 i 4 i 13 Total First Division 3 8 67 28 429 931 Total Nineteenth Army Corps 8 67 3i 39 6 3 429 934 Killed* April gtk. 474 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. J Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. To 4> ~ H Aggregate. CAVALRY DIVISION l : Brigadier - General ALBERT L. LEE. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel THOMAS J. LUCAS. I6th Indiana (mounted infantry). . . I i 3 2 17 ii 10 18 32 19 3 17 55 3i 19 42 I 4 5 i I4th New York 2 Total First Brigade . . . 2 8 8 56 2 7i 147 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel HARAI ROBINSON. 4 4 2 4 13 27 2 13 15 21 49 70 1st Louisiana I I Total Third Brigade 8 6 40 FOURTH BRIGADE : Colonel NATHAN A. M. DUDLEY. 2d Illinois 2 8 3 2 i i i 39 51 38 22 150 3 ii 16 31 45 7i 58 <tf 3d Massachusetts . . . . . 3ist Massachusetts (mounted infan- trv) 8th New Hampshire (mounted in fantry) I I Total Fourth Brigade 15 ~~3 61 230 FIFTH BRIGADE : Colonel OLIVER P. GOODING. L i 5 9 i 6 14 i 21 1 8th New York I I 2 3d Rhode Island (detachment) Total Fifth Brigade I I 2 15 2 ARTILLERY : 2d Massachusetts Battery I 4_ 5 2 2 16 13 29 290 I 20 _JL7 37 5th United States Battery G Total Artillery I Total Cavalry Division Grand total 3 37 21 4 150 505 16 151 7 6 qil 66 1, 624 2, 843 Losses at Wilson s Plantation, Afriljtk, also included. APPENDIX, 475 SPECIAL FIELD RETURN AFTER SABINE CROSS-ROADS. TROOPS. Killed. Wounded. Missing. "3 o H Effective strength next day. Officers. G Officers. A V Officers. A B Officers. D V % "i NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS : First Division (in fantry) 2 22 IO 138 I 174 347 243 31 9 4, 910 60 5 348 5>I53 636 357 1 53d New York Vol unteers (guard- First Division (artil- L^i-y f* . . . THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS (detach ment) : General and staff I I 2 315 Third Division : Infantry I 23 6 78 9 198 77 2 i, 475 173 i, 552 ^75 Artillery Fourth Division : Commanding offi cer and escort. . Infantry i I I. IOI 33 3 2 23 6 i 2 82 5 59 3 9 2 9 24 56 5 1, 418 204 i, 474 209 Artillery . . . . STAFF OF THE MAJOR- GENERAL COM MANDING Aggregate . . . 9, 556 6 68 27 304 72 1, 325 1, 802 423 9, 133 SPECIAL FIELD RETURN AFTER PLEASANT HILL. FIRST DIVISION, NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Killed. Wounded. Missing. "rt O H Effective strength next day. Officers. I x Officers. C V % Officers. C u % Officers. 1 1 Infantry 6 43 4 18 I 261 14 3 369 5 689 25 243 8 4, 802 33i 5, 045 339 5, 384 Artillery Aggregate . 6 47 19 275 4 374 714 251 5, 133 476 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. PARTIAL RETURN OF LOSSES AT CANE RIVER CROSSING. April 23, 1864. THIRD BRIGADE, IST DIVISION : Colonel FRANCIS FESSENDEN. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. BLAN- CHARD Killed. Wounded. Missing. "rt o H Officers. D B Officers. D V Officers. D u 2 i62d New York I 3 I 26 3 25 64 1 I I I 7 32 4 31 86 i6sth New York 1 73d New York 3 ii 2 2 3Oth Alaine, . . . . 2 3 Total 17 5 118 10 153 THE OPEQUON, September 19, 1864. NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Brevet Major-General W T ILLIAM H. EMORY. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Id IS W Aggregate. FIRST DIVISION : Brigadier - General WILLIAM DWIGHT. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel GEORGE L. BEAL. I "i 4 23 17 156 39 55 24 22 185 48 6 9 3Oth Massachusetts I I 4 20 9 10 I I4th New York 1 1 6th New York 1 53d New York Total First Brigade 2 43 13 290 348 SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier - General JAMES W. MCMILLAN. 1 2th Connecticut 3 2 7 13 i 9 to to 57 58 8 28 I I 71 77 9 37 i6oth New York 1 47th Pennsylvania Total Second Brigade 2 5 30 6 I5i 194 Total First Division 8 7 73 19 441 2 542 1 Noitr-veterans ofyoth New York, attacked. * The Third Brigade guarding trains. APPENDIX. 477 COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. I is o i 1 8 a T3 \i la w B 8 i o IS ^ H tj < SECOND DIVISION : Brigadier - General CUVIER GROVER. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General HENRY W. BIRGE. 9th Connecticut I I 112 62 139 I 3 8 73 1 2th Maine . . 2 I 12 6 38 27 17 6 6 n 9 4 77 46 69 79 4i 15 3 J 9 !9 10 14th. Maine. . . . . . 26th Masachusetts 2 I I4th New Hampshire 4 75th New York . . Total First Brigade 7 100 36 313 3 66 525 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX. I3th Connecticut 6 7 9 17 9 5 2 3 3 9 4 39 56 60 84 56 46 2 I 30 3 3i 77 70 105 106 74 75 nth Indiana i 2 2 22d Iowa 3d Masachusetts Cavalry (dis mounted) I3ist New York, . . . I Sgth New York I 19 Total Second Brigade THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel JACOB SHARPED Lieutenant - Colonel ALFRED NEAFIE. 38th Massachusetts 5 53 21 34i 4 83 507 8 6 20 5 3 5 3 3 44 46 88 30 8 63 57 in 47 I28th New York 1 5 6th New York I7oth New York 9 Total Third Brigade 39 14 208 17 278 FOURTH BRIGADE : Colonel DAVID SHUNK. 8th Indiana 2 5 9 9 i 4 8 5 3i 53 48 2 9 38 75 87 i8th Indiana i i i 24th Iowa 8 21 28th Iowa Total Fourth Brigade 3 25 13 137 | 31 209 1 Wounded. 478 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Rt s? ARTILLERY : ist Maine Battery 2 I 5_ 1, 004 8 1, 527 Total Second Division. . 15 2I 9 85 7 197 RESERVE ARTILLERY : Captain ELIJAH D. TAFT. 1 7th Indiana Battery i 4 Battery D ist Rhode Island 4 Total Reserve Artillery 5_ 1, 450 5 Total Nineteenth Army Corps 22 292 104 7 I 99 2, 074 FISHER S HILL. September 22, 1864. NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS : Brevet-Major General WILLIAM H. EMORY. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Aggregate. Officers. Enlisted men. O Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. FIRST DIVISION : Brigadier - General WILLIAM DWIGHT. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel GEORGE L. BEAL. 29th Maine I 3 6 4 9 3Oth Massachusetts 3 H4th New York n6th New York I 9 . 3 21 10 3 I53d New York Total First Brigade 4 I 26 SECOND BRIGADE : Brigadier-General JAMES W. MCMILLAN. I2th Connecticut i6oth New York * 47th Pennsvlvania 2 3 i 4 8th Vermont 1 I Total Second Brigade I 5 6 1 Including casualties incurred ov the list. * Non-veterans of gotA New York attachtd. APPENDIX. 479 COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. Enlisted men. Aggregate. ARTILLERY : 5th New York Battery I I 33 Total First Division l 2 :. . :. 4 27 SECOND DIVISION : Brigadier - General CUVIER GROVER. FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General HENRY W. BIRGE. Oth Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . 3 10 13 1 2th Maine 26th Massachusetts lAth New Hampshire I I 2 75th New York Total First Brigade I ~I5 i II SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX. I3th Connecticut 2 8 4 i i 2 IO 4 3 I 2 3d Massachusetts Cavalry (dis- 2 I3ist New York I SQth New York Total Second Brigade 4 16 20 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel DANIEL MACAULEY. 38th Massachusetts i 2 2 6 4 3 20 4 12 1 5 6th New York 1 76th New York I z 2 Total Third Brigade 4 13 12 29 FOURTH BRIGADE : Colonel DAVID SHUNK. I 4 4 5 I 6 5 5 1 8th Indiana 2 I 24th Iowa 28th Iowa Total Fourth Brigade 3 14 i? ARTILLERY : Maine Light, 1st Battery (A) Total Second Division ii 3^ 54 13 81 Tkird Brigade guarding trains. 480 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. Officers. S t H rt ll W J -52 M M to < RESERVE ARTILLERY : Captain ELIJAH D. TAFT. 1 7th Indiana Battery Battery D ist Rhode Island Total Nineteenth Armv Corus EC C 8r M 114. CEDAR CREEK. October 19, 1864. NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS : Brevet-Major-General WILLIAM H. EMORY. Killed. Wounded. Captured or missing. Officers. Enlisted men. G I O 5 S e </) 4) Ifl W | O Is *B E H < Corps Staff 2 4 5 3 6 4 7 2 127 108 73 H5 59 Si FIRST DIVISION : Brigadier-General JAMES W. MCMILLAN. Brigadier - General WILLIAM DWIGHT. FIRST BRIGADE : Colonel EDWIN P. DAVIS. 2oth Maine I I 2 I 17 II 3 20 8 66 105 91 43 80 39 56 414 3Oth Massachussetts goth New York I 22 7 9 10 1 1 4th New York I loth New York . . . . . . 1 53d New York Total First Brigade 5 I 29 48 563 SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel STEPHEN THOMAS. Brigadier-General JAMES W. MCMILLAN. 1 2th Connecticut 2 20 9 36 16 5 3 i ii 52 3i 88 55 93 23 28 23 172 66 154 1 06 i6oth New York 47th Pennsylvania I I 8th Vermont Total Second Brigade Total First Division 4 81 20 226 167 498 9 147 49 640 I 215 i, o6r 1 Third Brigade guarding trains. APPENDIX. 481 Killed. Wounded. Captured or COMMAND. , s . 2 1 i t . Y E B . 28 . 8 g | || g m "5 S j c g | 3 6 M o W O W o W 1 SECOND DIVISION : Brigadier - General CUVIER GROVER. 1 Brigadier-General HENRY W. BlRGE. Cfaff I I FIRST BRIGADE : Brigadier-General HENRY W. BlRGE. Colonel THOMAS W. PORTER. 2 6 2 3 13 20 I I 7 50 25 81 i i 4. 34 I 42 82 3 2 8 16 29 ::::: i \ 48 i 17 77 7<th Ne\v York ! 3 I 18 33 55 Total First Brigade 2 26 j i ~I4J 4 165 349 1- SECOND BRIGADE : Colonel EDWARD L. MOLINEUX. 2 4 i 6 2 2 i 4 6 2 I I 16 35 43 29 21 12 2 10 10 21 39 9 6 29 53 73 76 33 23 3d Massachusetts Cavalry (dis- i zqth New York 2 Total Second Brigade 2 17 15 I 5 6 2 95 287 THIRD BRIGADE : Colonel DANIEL MACAULEY. Lieutenant - Colonel ALFRED NEAFIE. Cfoff I I 5 i 54 95 92 3 53_ 298 Mart 18 14 3i 2 II 2 35 74 48 5 7 i I iy6th New York Total Third Brigade I 5 4 I 3i 2 18 ii 7 6 3 188 FOURTH BRIGADE : Colonel DAVID SHUNK. 2 2 8 8 6 6 2 33 43 37 69 4 ~4 21 27 41 10 66 Si 92 9 28th Iowa I Total Fourth Brigade 3 23 18 182 99 329 1 Wounded. 482 NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. COMMAND. Killed. Wounded. Captured or I missing. Officers. 1 Id 11 M Officers. Tj |1 M o Enlisted men. Io \ to Aggregate. O I oo to ARTILLERY : 1st Maine Battery I 10 2 86 I 57 16 57i 8 555 Total Second Division RESERVE ARTILLERY ; Major ALBERT W. BRADBURY. 1 7th Indiana Battery. . 13 5 i 8 8 3 6 16 12 Battery D ist Rhode Island Total Reserve Artillery . . . . Total Nineteenth Army Corps 1 5 i 16 1, 227 28 19 238 109 14 776 2, 383 OFFICERS KILLED OR MORTALLY WOUNDED. BATON ROUGE. August 5, 1862. Brigadier-General THOMAS WILLIAMS Lieutenant MATTHEW A. LATHAM 2ist Indiana Lieutenant CHARLES D. SEELY Captain EUGENE KELTY 3Oth Massachusetts GEORGIA LANDING. October 27, 1862. Captain JOHN KELLEHER 8th New Hampshire Captain Q. A. WARREN BISLAND. April 12-13, 1863. Captain SAMUEL GAULT 38th Massachusetts Lieutenant GEORGE G. NUTTING 53d Massachusetts Lieutenant JOHN T. FREER i56th New York IRISH BEND. April 14, 1863 Captain SAMUEL S. HAYDEN 25th Connecticut Lieutenant DANIEL P. DEWEY Lieutenant-Colonel GILBERT A. DRAPER I59*h New York Lieutenant ROBERT D. LATHROP Lieutenant BYRON F. LOCKWOOD Lieutenan JOHN W. MANLEY PLAINS STORE. May 21, 1863. Lieutenant CHARLES BORUSKY n6th New York PORT HUDSON. May 23-July 8, 1863. Captain JOHN B. HUBBARD, 1 Assistant Adjutant-General Lieutenant JOSEPH STRICKLAND 2 i3th Connecticut 1 In the Assault of May ^th. * In the Assault of June 14*6. 4S3 4 8 4 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Captain JEDEDIAH RANDALL Captain JOHN L. STANTON l Lieutenant HARVEY F. JACOBS * Lieutenant MARTIN R. KENYON l Captain DAVID D. HOAG 9 Lieutenant CHARLES DURAND * Colonel RICHARD E. HOLCOMB* Lieutenant MARTIN V. B. HILL Lieutenant JAMES E. COBURN Lieutenant J. B. BUTLER Captain ANDREW CAILLOUX ] Lieutenant JOHN H. CROWDER Major ADAM HAFFKILLE Lieutenant JOHN C. FULTON l Lieutenant CHARLES L. STEVENS Lieutenant AARON W. WALLACE } Captain HENRY CROSBY Lieutenant SOLON A. PERKINS 3 Captain WILLIAM H. BARTLETT 2 Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM L. RODMAN, Lieutenant FREDERICK HOLMES 2 Lieutenant-Colonel JAMES O BRIEN Lieutenant JAMES McGiNNis Lieutenant BURTON D. DEMING Lieutenant ISAAC E. JUDD l Captain GEORGE S, BLISS 2 Captain GEORGE H. BAILEY ] Captain JEROME K. TAFT 2 Lieutenant ALFRED R. GLOVER 2 Lieutenant JOSIAH H. VOSE Lieutenant FREDERICK J. CLARK Lieutenant-Colonel OLIVER W. LULL Lieutenant LUTHER T. HOSLEY 2 Lieutenant GEORGE W. THOMPSON Lieutenant JOSEPH WALLIS 2 Major GEORGE W. STACKHOUSE Captain HENRY S. HULBERT 2 Lieutenant SYLVESTER B. SHEPARD Lieutenant VALOROUS RANDALL 2 Colonel ELISHA B. SMITH 2 Captain CHARLES E. TUCKER 2 Colonel EDWARD P. CHAPIN J Lieutenant DAVID JONES Lieutenant TIMOTHY J. LINAHAN 2 Colonel DAVID S. COWLES Lieutenant CHARLES L. VAN SLYCK ! 26th Connecticut 28th Connecticut ist Louisiana zd Louisiana ist Engineers, Corps d Afrique ist Louisiana Native Guards 3d Louisiana Native Guards I4th Maine 2 ist Maine 22d Maine 3d Massachusetts Cavalry 4th Massachusetts 1 38th Massachusetts 48th Massachusetts 4Qth Massachusetts 52d Massachusetts 53d Massachusetts 6th Michigan 8th New Hampshire gist New York noth New York H4th New York 1 1 6th New York 1 28th New York In the Assault of May zjth. 2 In the Assault of June 3 In the affair at Clinton, June jo 1 . APPENDIX. 485 Lieutenant NATHAN O. BENJAMIN 2 isist New York Lieutenant BENJAMIN F. DENTON 2 issd New York Lieutenant-Colonel THOMAS FOWLER is6th New York Major JAMES H. BOGART 9 i62d New York Lieutenant JOHN NEVILLE Lieutenant STEPHEN C. OAKLEY Lieutenant-Colonel ABEL SMITH, Jr. 1 i6sth New York Lieutenant CHARLES R. CARVILLE J Major A. POWER GALLWAY I73d New York Captain HENRY COCHEU 2 Lieutenant SAMUEL H. PODGER Lieutenant MORGAN SHEA 2 Colonel MICHAEL K. BRYAN 2 175th New York Captain HARMON N. MERRIMAN 177th New York Lieutenant JAMES WILLIAMSON Lieutenant STEPHEN F. SPALDING 5 8th Vermont Colonel SIDNEY A. BEAN 4th Wisconsin Captain LEVI R. BLAKE 3 Lieutenant EDWARD A. CLAPP 1 Lieutenant DANIEL B. MAXSON s Lieutenant GUSTAVUS WINTERMEYER S Lieutenant BENJAMIN WADSWORTH loth U. S. Volunteers, Corps d Afrique COX S (OR KOCH S) PLANTATION. July 13, 1863. Captain DAVID W. TUTTLE n6th New York Lieutenant DE VAN POSTLEY i74th New York THE RED RIVER CAMPAIGN. March id-May 22, 1864. Lieutenant Louis MEISSNER i3th Connecticut. Lieutenant CHARLES C. GROW 3oth Maine Lieutenant REUBEN SEAVY Lieutenant SUMNER N. STOUT Captain JULIUS N. LATHROP 38th Massachusetts Captain CHARLES R. COTTON i6oth New York, April gth Captain WILLIAM J. VAN DEUSBN Lieutenant NICHOLAS McDoNOUGH Lieutenant LEWIS E. FITCH i6ist New York, April 8th Colonel LEWIS BENEDICT i62d New York, April gth Captain FRANK T. JOHNSON Lieutenant MADISON K. FINLEY 1 In the Assault of May vith. * In the Assault of June i^th. 8 In the affair of Clinton, June -$d. 486 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Lieutenant WILLIAM C. HAWS Lieutenant THEODORE A. SCUDDER Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM N. GREEN, Jr. Captain HENRY R. LEE Lieutenant ALFRED P. SWOYER Lieutenant James A. SANDERSON i62d New York, April gth. 1 73d Infantry 1 73d New York 47th Pennsylvania, April 8th ist United States Artillery THE OPEQUON. September 19, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel FRANK H. PECK 1 2th Connecticut Lieutenant WILLIAM S. BULKLEY " Lieutenant GEORGE W. STEADMAN " " Lieutenant WILLIAM S. MULLEN nth Indiana Captain SILAS A. WADSWORTH i8th Indiana Captain DAVID J. DAVIS 22d Iowa Captain BENJAMIN D. PARKS " Lieutenant JAMES A. BOARTS " " Captain JOSEPH R. GOULD 24th Iowa Lieutenant SYLVESTER S. DILLMAN " " Captain JOHN E. PALMER Captain SCOTT HOUSEWORTH " " Captain DANIEL M. PHILLIPS i2th Maine Captain SAMUEL F. THOMPSON " " Lieutenant WILLIAM JACKMAN i4th Maine Lieutenant AJALON GODWIN " Major WILLIAM KNOWLTON Lieutenant JASPER F. GLIDDEN Lieutenant JOHN F. POOLE Major EUSEBIUS S. CLARK Captain ENOS W. THAYER Lieutenant JOHN P. HALEY Colonel ALEXANDER GARDINER Captain WILLIAM H. CHAFFIN Captain WILLIAM A. FOSGATE Lieutenant ARTEMUS B. COLBURN Lieutenant JESSE A. FISK Lieutenant HENRY S. PAUL Lieutenant GEORGE H. STONE Lieutenant MOULTON S. WEBSTER Lieutenant-Colonel WILLOUGHBY BABCOCK 75th New York Lieutenant EDWIN E. BREED H4th New York Captain JACOB C. KLOCK I53d New York Lieutenant HERMAN SMITH 159th New York Captain Sir N. DEXTER i6oth New York Lieutenant B. FRANK MAXSON " " Maine 3d Massachusetts Cavalry. 26th Massachusetts 3Oth Massachusetts I4th New Hampshire APPENDIX. 487 CEDAR CREEK. October 19, 1864. Captain JOHN P. LOWELL i2th Connecticut Lieutenant GEORGE M. BENTON Lieutenant HORACE E. PIIELPS Lieutenant-Colonel ALEXANDER J. KENNY 8th Indiana Captain WILLIAM D. WATSON Lieutenant GEORGE W. QUAY Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM S. CHARLES nth Indiana Major JONATHAN H. WILLIAMS i8th Indiana Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN Q. WILDS 24th Iowa Captain JOHN W. RIEMENSCHNEIDER 28th Iowa Lieutenant JOHN E. MORTON ist Maine Battery Lieutenant HENRY D. WATSON i2th Maine Lieutenant-Colonel CHARLES S. BICKMORE I4th Maine Lieutenant JOHN L. HOYT 2gth Maine Lieutenant LYMAN JAMES 3d Massachusetts Cavalry (dis mounted) Lieutenant ALBERT L. TILDEN 26th Massachusetts Lieutenant GEORGE F. WHITCOMB 3oth Massachusetts Lieutenant WILLIAM F. CLARK, Jr. Major JOHN C. SMART goth New York Lieutenant THADDEUS C. FERRIS " " " Captain DANIEL C. KNOWLTON ii4th New York Lieutenant ISAAC BURCH " " " Lieutenant NORMAN M. LEWIS Lieutenant WILLIAM D. THURBER " " " Lieutenant CHRISTOPHER LARKIN i56th New York Lieutenant JOHANNES LEFEVER " " " Major ROBERT McD. HART i59th New York Captain DUNCAN RICHMOND " " " Lieutenant JULIUS A. JONES iy6th New York Captain EDWIN G. MINNICH 47th Pennsylvania Captain EDWARD HALL 8th Vermont Lieutenant NATHAN C. CHENEY " " Lieutenant AARON K. COOPER " " NOTE. Unfortunately, it has been found impossible to obtain a complete list of officers who fell in skirmishes or minor affairs. PORT HUDSON FORLORN HOPE. Officers and men who volunteered for the storming party under General Orders No. 49, Headquarters Department of the Gulf, June 15, 1863 : Colonel HENRY W. BIRGE, I3th Connecticut, Commanding. - STAFF. Captain DUNCAN S. WALKER, Assistant Adjutant-General. 3 Acting-Master EDMOND C. WEEKS, U. S. Navy, A. D. C. 2 Captain CHARLES L. NORTON, 25th Connecticut. 2 Captain JOHN L. SWIFT, 3d Massachusetts Cavalry. 2 First Lieutenant E. H. RUSSELL, gth Pennsylvania Reserves, Acting Signal Officer. Assistant-Surgeon GEORGE CLARY, i3th Connecticut. 2 Lieutenant JULIUS H. TIEMANN, A. A. D. C. , isgth New York. 2 FIRST BATTALION. 4 Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. VAN PETTEN, i6oth New York. Captain EDWARD P. HOLLISTER, 3ist Massachusetts, Senior Major. Captain SAMUEL D. HOVEY, 3ist Massachusetts, Junior Major. Captain ISAAC W. CASE, 22d Maine, Quartermaster. 1 The original roll of the storming party ivas made up in duplicate. After the siege \ one copy was retained by General Birge, the other being turned in to the Adjutant-General s Office, Department of the Gulf, by Captain, afterward Brevet Brigadier-General Duncan S. Walker, Assistant Adjutant-General. The latter copy has not been found among the documents turned over to the War Department in 1865. All Birge s papers and records "were captured by the Confederates and among them his copy of the roll was lost. In 1886, front one of his officers he obtained a book containing a third copy of the roll, described by him as " complete and perfect" and placed it in the hands of Captain Charles L. Norton, v^th Connecticut (Colonel z^th Connecticut), himself one of the stormers, by whom the vol ume was delivered to Colonel D. P. Muzzey, President, and Captain C. IV. C. Rhoades, Secretary, of the Forlorn Hope Association. The list here printed is made up by collating- -with this roll the detached and obviously incomplete memoranda gathered into the XXVItk volume of the " Official Records" So many mistakes in names have been found in the certified copy of Birge s list as furnished to the author, that others are likely to exist among the names marked [*], that could not be compared with the records. For example, it is found that Privates F. L. Scampmouse and Levi Scapmouse, Company C, 156/7% New York are the same man and, Seven Soepson, same regiment, is Sven Svenson. 2 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part I. , pj>. 57-66. 8 Not on Birge 1 s duplicate roll. * The names of the Battalion Field and Staff Officers appear again under their proper regiments. 488 APPENDIX. 489 Captain WILLIAM SMITH, 2d Louisiana, A. D. C. Lieutenant G. A. HARMOUNT, I2th Connecticut, Adjutant. Surgeon DAVID IT. ARMSTRONG, i6oth New York. SECOND BATTALION. 1 Lieutenant-Colonel CHARLES S. BICKMORE, i4th Maine. Major ALBION K. BOLAN, i4th Maine, Major. Lieutenant I. FRANK HOBBS, izjth Maine, Adjutant. Lieutenant EDWARD MARRENER, i74th New York, Quartermaster. I2TH CONNECTICUT. Company. Captain LESTER E. BRALEY, G Lieutenant A. DWIGHT McCALL, G STANTON ALLYN, S K GEORGE A. HARMOUNT (Adjutant), Private CHARLES J. CONSTANTINE, A Sergeant JOHN MULLEN, B Private CHARLES DUBOISE, B Corporal JOHN MOORE, C Private GEORGE T. DICKSON, C " WlLLOUGHBY HULL, C " WILLIAM PUTNAM, C CHRISTOPHER SPIES, C GEORGE W. WATKINS, " C " JOHN P. WOODWARD, C Sergeant ALEXANDER COHN, D Corporal GEORGE SHAW, 2 D " JAMES ROBERTSON, Jr. , * D Private L. P. FARRELL, " D " GEORGE KOHLER, D REUBEN MILES, D FREDERICK C. PAYNE, D " WILLIAM P. SMITH, 3 E EDWARD L. MILLERICK, * E Sergeant CHARLES E. MCGLAFLIN, G Company. Sergeant ANDREW H. DAVIDSON, 3 G Corporal JOHN T. GORDON, G Private OLIVER C. ANDREWS, G J. E. CHASE, - G JAMES DUNN, G PATRICK FITZPATRICK, G PATRICK FRANEY, G WILLIAM ToBiN, 2 G JOSEPH W. WEEKS/ 2 G Sergeant SOLOMON E. WHITING, J H JOHN W. PHELPS, H Corporal JOSEPH W. CARTER, H " CHARLES E. SHERMAN/ H Private EDWIN CONVERSE, H HUGH DONNALLY, - H " WARREN GAMMONS, H JOSEPH GRAHAM, 2 H MILES P. HiGLEY, 2 H " WILLIAM LENNING, H THOMAS McCuE, 2 H " MELVIN NICHOLS, H Corporal DANIEL B. LooMis, 2 K Private FRANCIS BEAUMONT, 2 K A. M. PERKINS, 3 K I3TH CONNECTICUT. Company. Captain APOLLOS COMSTOCK (com manding regiment), " CHARLES D. BLINN, C " HOMER B. SPRAGUE, H DENISON H. FINLEY, G Company. Captain CHARLES J. FULLER, D Lieutenant PERRY AVERILL, B FRANK WELLS, I CHARLES E. TIBBETS, A WILLIAM F. NORMAN, K 1 The names of the Battalion Field and Staff Officers appear again under their proper regiments. 3 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part I. , pp. 57-66. 3 Not on Bir^s duplicate roll. 490 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Company. Lieutenant CHARLES DANIELS, K CHARLES H. BEATON, E JOHN C. KINNEY, A Louis MEISNER, I NEWTON \V. PERKINS, C Louis BECKWITH/ B Corporal FRANCIS J. WOLF, A " CHRISTOPHER FAGAN, A " ANDREW BLACK, A Private WILLIAM BISHOP, A " MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM, A WALTER EAGAN, A JOHN FAGAN, A " FRANCIS J. GAFFNAY, A " JAMES GILBERT, 1 A EDWARD LANTRY, A " JOHN McGuiRE, A " JOSEPH MACK, A " JOHN MARTINA A HENRY MORTON, A LOREN D. PENFIELD, A JOHN O KEEFE, 1 A JOHN QuiGLEY, 1 A " THOMAS REILLY, A " CHARLES R. ROWELL/ A " JOHN SMITH, A " EDWARD STONED A Sergeant GEORGE E. FANCHER, B " GEORGE H. PRATT, B " ALONZO WHEELER, B Corporal FRANCIS E. WEED, B " ROSWELL TAYLOR, B " ISAAC W. BISHOP, B Private GEORGE M. BALLING, B " JOHN J. BROWN, B WILLIAM B. CASEY, B " BALTHASAR EMMERICH, B " PETER GENTIEN, B " DENNIS HEGANY, B WILLIAM W. JONES, B " JOHN KLEIN, B BENJAMIN L. MEAD, B " JOHN MOHREN, B " CHARLES NICHOLS, B VICTOR PINSAID, B " GEORGE PRINDLE, B Company. Private MORANT J. ROBERTSON, B " SIDNEY B. RUGGLES, B " FELIX SCHREGER, 1 B LOUIS SCHMEIDT, B FREDERICK L. STURGIS, B Sergeant EVERETT S. DUNBAR/ C " CHARLES H. GAYLORD/ C JOHN N. LYMAN, C " JOHN MADDOX, C Corporal LEWIS HART, 1 C " HOMER M. WELCH, C Private WILLIS BARNES/ C " SEYMOUR BUCKLEY/ C CHAUNCEY GRIFFIN, C " CHARLES HOTCHKISS/ C " CHARLES MITCHELL/ C JOHN O DELL/ C " FREDERICK W. PINDAR, C JOSEPH H. PRATT, C GEORGE RORABACK/ C " MORTIMER H. SCOTT, C " JOSEPH TAYLOR, C " DANIEL THOMPSON, C Sergeant JOHN J. SQUIER/ D EZRA M. HULL, D Corporal EDWARD ALTON, D " WILLIAM FENNIMORE/ D ANDREW HOLFORD/ I) Private THOMAS B. ANDRUS/ I) ANTONIO ASTENHOFFER/ I) " HENRY F. BISHOP, D " CHARLES BLISS/ I) " JOHN CRAREY/ D JOHN DILLON, D JOHN FEE, D HENRY F. Fox/ D " GOTLEIB FALKLING/ D " THOMAS FITZPATRICK/ I) " JOSEPH GARDNER. D " NEWTON GAYLOR/ D " CASPAR HEIDSICK/ D " Louis HETTINGER/ D JULIUS KAMP/ D " HENRY KUHLMANER/ D " HENRY LONG/ D " GEORGE LOSAW/ D Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^ part /. , //. S7- 66 - APPENDIX. 491 Company. Private LUKE McCABE, 1 D HENRY E. POLLEY/ D FREDERICK PousH, 1 D HORACE B. STODDARD, 1 D WILLIAM H. TUCKER, D " MARTIN TYLER, D " Louis WALTERS/ D " EDWARD WELDEN, D Sergeant NICHOLAS SCHUE, E " RICHARD CROLEY, E Corporal ROBERT C. BARRY, E " LEONARD L. DUGAL, E Private JACOB BROWN, E " ADAM GERZE/ E FREDERICK HANNS, E " GEORGE W. HOWLAND, E MICHAEL MURPHY, E CHARLES F. OEDEKOVEN, E FRITZ OEDEKOVEN, 1 E F. F. F. PFIEFFER, E " ANDREW REAGAN, E FREDERICK SCHUH, >E JOSEPH VoGEL, 1 E AUGUST WILSON, E Sergeant EUGENE S. NASH, 1 F * JOHN T. REYNOLDS/ F Corporal JAMES CASE, F Private JAMES BARRY/ F GEORGE BOGUE/ F DAVID H. BROWN/ F HENRY CLOUSINK/ F " JAMES COSGROVE, F BYRON CROCKER/ F " DAVID D. JAQUES/ F " ABEL JOHNSON/ F " PATRICK LEACH, F " PATRICK MARTIN/ F THOMAS R. MCCORMICK/ F JAMES O NEIL/ F " HENRY E. PHINNEY, F " THOMAS POWERS/ F ORRIN M. PRICE/ F " THEODORE SECELLE/ F " WILLIAM L. WEBB/ F Sergeant SAMUEL L. COOK/ G 11 CHARLES B. HUTCHINGS, G 1 Not on the roll as printed in Officit Company. Sergeant JOHN W. BRADLEY, G " FRANCIS HUXFORD, G Corporal MOSES GAY, G " Louis FEOTISH, G " EDMUND BOGUE, G " TIMOTHY ALLEN, G Private FRANK AUSTIN/ G " GEORGE I. AUSTIN, G " JOHN BRAND, G " OCTAVE CERESSOLLE, G " WILLIAM B. CRAWFORD/ G " CHARLES CULVER, G " JAMES GAY, G " ALBERT HOPKINS, G " JOHN HUNT, G " HENRY A. HURLBURT, G " ASAHEL I NCR AH AM, G " JEREMY T. JORDAN, G " MICHAEL KEARNEY, G " JOSEPH KEMPLE, G " ALBERT LELEITNER/ G WALTER MCGRATH/ G " JOHN MCKEON, G " WILLIAM M. MAYNARD, G DANIEL MOORE, G MORRIS NEWHOUSE/ G " TIMOTHY O CONNELL, G " WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS/ G " ELLIS B. ROBINSON/ G " HENRY ROBINSON, G " JOHN RYAN/ G " ANTON SCHLOSSER, G " MARTIN J. SHADEN, G " MARTIN SHEER, G " CHARLES SIDDERS, G " EDWARD SKINNER/ G " JOHN SUARMAN, G " ANSON F. SUBER/ G " SEBREEW. TINKER, G Sergeant WILLIAM H. HUNTLEY, H " DENNIS DOYLE, H " HERMAN W. BAILEY, H Corporal THOMAS HARRISON/ H Private PHILO ANDREWS, H " NIRAM BLACKMAN, H " JOHN BLAKE, H / Records \ vol. Xxvi. , part I. ^PP. 57-66. 492 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Company. Private FRANK PATTERSON, H " GEORGE H. TWITCHELL, H WILLIAM H. SMITH, H Sergeant JOHN DURESS, I " ABNER N. STERRY, I " SAMUEL TAYLOR, I " ENGELBERT SAUTER, I Corporal FRANCIS W. PRESTON, I " JOSEPH FRANZ, I " GARRETT HERBERT, I Private WILLIAM ALBRECHT, I 44 FRITZ BOWMAN, I " ULRICH BURGART, I " MICHAEL BURKE, I " JAMES DILLON, I 11 PATRICK HINES, I 41 THOMAS McGEE, I " CLIFFORD C. NEWBERRY, I " HENRY RELTRATH, I " EDWARD SMITH, I " EDWARD O. THOMAS, I 44 HENRY WHITEMAN, I Sergeant MILES J. BEECHF. R, K GEORGE H. WINSLOW, K Company. Sergeant CHARLES E. HUMPHREY, K Corporal HERMAN SAUNDERS, " HERBERT C. BALDWIN " JOHN NUGENT, " ROBERT HOLLINGER, Private JOHN BENNETT, " BENJAMIN E. BENSON, " FRANK C. BRISTOL, " WILLIAM CALL, 2 " GEORGE CLANCY, WILLIAM J. COJER, " THOMAS DUFFY, 44 SAMUEL EAVES, 44 EDWARD ELLISON, JOHN GALL, 14 THOMAS GRIFFIN, 44 WILLIAM KRAIGE 3 44 PATRICK MAHONEY, 44 THOMAS MORRIS, 44 RICHARD O DONNELL, GEORGE C. RUSSELL, " BERNARD STANFORD, 44 JOHN STOREY, " BARTLEY TIERNON 25TH CONNECTICUT. Company. Lieutenant HENRY C. WARD (Adjutant). 4< HENRY H. GOODELL, F Sergeant-Major CHARLES F. ULRICH. Company. Private ELI HULL, B " SAMUEL SCHLESINGER, F JOHN WILLIAMS, H Captain J. R. PARSONS, Lieutenant C. A. TRACEY, J. T. SMITH, Sergeant MICHAEL H. DUNN, JAMES YORK, 2 44 GEORGE McGRAw, Corporal HENRY CARLE, 44 JOHN EMPEROR, " Jos. A. SCOVELL, JOHN LOWER, Private CHARLES BAKER, 44 RICHARD BALSHAW, 44 PATRICK BRENNAN, 1ST LOUISIANA. Company. Company. I Private JOSEPH BRIGGS, I I " LEONARD DEMARQUIS, I I " JOHN FAHY, I I " JOHN HUNT, I I 41 HENRY KATHRA, I I <4 ALEX. KiAH, 2 I I 4 JAMES MANAHAN, I I " JAMES McGuiRE, 1 I I <4 JOHN REAS, I I 44 JOSEPH REAMAN, * I I " JERRY ROURKE, I I 4 JAMES SMITH, I I 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^ part /. , pp. 57-66. * Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. 3 Probably Krug^ or Kramer. APPENDIX. 493 2D LOUISIANA. Company. Captain WILLIAM SMITH, 2 H Private LEWIS DIEMERT, A HENRY MAYO, A " FREDERICK A. MURNSON, A Sergeant ALBERT SADUSKY, B Corporal JOHN HOFFMAN, B Private JAMES CLINTON, B MICHAEL DUNN, 2 B BARNEY MCCLOSKY, B WILLIAM ROCHER, B " JAMES SULLIVAN, B Sergeant B. E. ROWLAND, 1 C " ANDREW HARRIGON, C Private PATRICK BROWN, J -* C JAMES DONOVAN, C " JOHN FRY, 2 C WILLIAM HAYES, C ADOLPH JoiNFROio, 1 C DANIEL THEALE, C WILLIAM WILKIE, C LEON PAUL, D " JOSEPH DUPUY, F WILLIAM GALLAGHER, F Private GEORGE TYLER, " EUGENE GALLAGHER, i Sergeant THEODORE LEDERICK, Company. F G II " BENJAMIN C. ROLLINS, " H Corporal JACOB STALL, 2 H Private JOHN BRENNAN, H " PATRICK DEViNE, 2 H " JOHN ELDRIDGE, H PATRICK GARRiTY, 2 H " Louis HARRELL, H " JOHN HAYES, H LOUIS ICKS, " 2 H " JOHN LANE, H " THOMAS R. BLAKELY, * I Louis L. DREY, I " JAMES E. MARINER, 2 I FRANCIS McGAHAY, 2 I EDWIN RicE, 2 I Corporal OTTO FoucHE, 2 K Private HENRY GORDON, 2 K " GEORGE SEYMORE, 2 K PAUL E. TROSCLAIR, 2 K 1ST LOUISIANA NATIVE GUARDS. Company. Sergeant JOSEPH FRICK, " CHARLES DUGUE, " ERNEST LEGROSS, Corporal ARTHUR MEYE, Private VALCOUR BROWN, CAMILE CAZAINIER, EDMOND CHAMPANEL, EUGENE DEGRUY, " CLEMENT GALICE, " Louis LACRAIE, " PIERRE MARTIEL, JOSEPH MOUSHAUD, ARMAND ROCHE, FRANCOIS SEVERIN, HENRY SMITH, J. BAPTISTE SMITH, MARTIN WHITE, " JOSEPH LEWIS, 1 Not on the roll as printed in ( * Not on forge s duplicate roll. Private ROBERT LOTSUM, Corporal JULES FRITS, Private JAQUES AUGUSTE, " HENRY BRADFORD, JOSEPH CARTER, " ISIDORE CHARLES, EMILE CHATARD. Company. G H H H H H H FREDERICK DERINSBOURG, H FRANCIS FERNANDEZ, H ARTHUR GUYOT, H SAMUEL HALL, H JOHN HOWARD, H JOSEPH JACKSON, H RICHARD JOHN, H JOE JOSEPH, H AUGUSTE LEE, H HENRY LEE, H OSCAR POINTOISEAU, H Ida! Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part /. , //. 57-66. 3 Not on muster roll. 494 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Company. Private JOSEPH PATTERSON, Sr. , H " JOSEPH PATTERSON, Jr. , H PERRY RANDOLPH, H JAMES RICHARDS, H BENJAMIN STRING, H " RALEMY WALSE, H Sergeant JOHN J. CAGE, I " JOHN W. BERWEEKS, I Corporal THOMAS ALEXANDER, I 3D LOUISIANA Company. Private ABRAM FROST, A " HENRY MARSHEL, A Sergeant WADE HAMBLETON, C Corporal MASSALLA LOFRA, C WILLIAM MACK, C E. THOMINICK, C Private DANIEL ANDERSON, C " BRACTON, C " WILLIAM DALLIS, C JACK DORSON, C " WILLIAM FINICK, C SOLOMON FLEMING, C " WILLIAM GREEN, C " GEORGE JOSEPH, C " VICTOR LEWIS, C " SAUNDERS, C TAYLOR, C " WHITE, C Sergeant THOMAS JEFFERSON, E Company. Private CHARLES BRANSON, I " ALEXANDER JONES, I " WILLIAM MCDOWELL, I COLLIN PAGE, I THOMAS REDWOOD, I " WILLIAM WOOD, I GEORGE BURKE, K ED. MADISON, K CHARLES SMITH, K NATIVE GUARDS. 2 Company. Private W. HENRY, E " BENJAMIN JOHNSON, E " JOSEPH MILLER, E " THOMAS SIMMONS, E " J. W. THOMAS, E " EDWARD BROWN, H " ISAAC GILLIS, H " JOHNSON, H " SILAS HUFF, H " LEWIS PAULIN, H " JOHN Ross, H J. SMITH, H SILAS DICTON, I " LOUDON McDANIEL, I " JOHN TALLER, I " ISAAC TWIGGS, I " GEORGE WASHINGTON, I 11 WILLIAMS, I I2TH MAINE. Company. Captain JOHN F. APPLETON, ! H Lieutenant DANIEL M. PHILLIPS, H " MARCELLUSL. STEARNS, E Private JOHN COOPER, A " ISAAC R. DOUGLASS, A " ALMON L. GILPATRICK, A " JOHN WELLER, A Sergeant SEYMOUR A. FARRINGTON, E Corporal HENRY S. BERRY, E Company. Private EDGAR G. ADAMS, E " OLIVER D. JEWETT, E NATHAN W. KENDALL, E JAMES POWERS, E Sergeant WILLIAM M. BERRY, PI " JAMES W. SMITH, I " HENRY TYLER, * H Private FRANK E. ANDERSON, * H I3TH MAINE. Lieutenant JOSEPH B. CARSON. 1 Not OH the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^fart /. , pp. 57-66. A Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. APPENDIX. 495 I4TH MAINE. Company. Lieutenant-Colonel CHARLES S. BICKMORE. Major ALBION K. BOLAN. Captain GEORGE BLODGETT, K Lieutenant JOHN K. LAING, F " I. FRANK HOBBS, G " WARREN T. CROWELL, K * MERRILL H. ADAMS, B " WILLIAM H. GARDINER, G " CHARLES E. BLACK- WELL, * I Sergeant-Major CHARLES W. THING. * Sergeant Jos. F. CLEMENT, A " GEORGE C. HAGERTY, A Corporal WILLIAM C. TOWNSEND, A OTIS G. CROCKETT, A " ALVA EMERSON, A Private PETER BEAUMAN, A " WILSON BOWDEN, A " RICHARD J. COLBY, A SETH P. COLBY, A PETER MISHER, * A " IRVIN MORSE, A " EDWIN ORDWAY, A " ALBERT WEBSTER, 9 A Sergeant JOHN DOUGHERTY, B " JAMES SHEHAN, B Corporal PETER EMMERICH/ B Private JOHN DARBY, 3 B " BENJAMIN DOUGLASS, Jr. , B " JAMES ELDERS, B " GEORGE N. LARRABEE, B " JOHN DAILEY, C " SIMON BEATTIE, E Company. Sergeant F. H. BLACKMAN, 1 F Jos. W. GRANT, F Corporal WILLIAM M. COBB, F " WILLIAM F. JENKINS, F Private EDWARD BETHUM, F " WILLIAM E. MERRIFIELD, F " HORACE SAWYER, F Sergeant ARCHELAUS FULLER, G Corporal EDWARD BRADFORD, G Private SAMUEL CONNELLY, G " EZRA A. MERRILL, G Sergeant CALVIN S. GORDON, H Corporal Louis C. GORDON, 2 H Private JOHN CUNNINGHAM, I Sergeant C. PEMBROKE CARTER, SAMUEL T. LOGAN, JOHN S. SMITH, " WILLIAM L. BUSKER, l Corporal JOHN HAYES, Private WILLIAM R. HAWKINS, 2 " Jos. PREBLE, " ALBERT B. MESERVY, I " BENJAMIN F. ROLESON, I Sergeant WILLIAM MULLER, K " ALEX. WILSON, K " BAZEL HOGUE, K Corporal JOHN MOORE, K " WILLIAM DARBY, K Private DANIEL CONNERS, K " BENJAMIN SANDON, 1 K " GEORGE WATERHOUSE, K " JULIUS WENDLANDT, K 4< CHARLES WILKERSON, K ELLIOT WITHAM. K 2 1ST MAINE. Company. Captain JAMES L. HUNT, C " SAMUEL W. CLARKE, H Private J. MiNK, 2 A " OTIS SPRAGUE, 9 A 41 SEWELL SPRAGUE, * A " JOEL RICHARDSON, 2 B Company. Private ANDREW P. WATSON, 2 B " JOHN H. BROWN, C JOHN E. HEATH, C CHARLES T. LORD, C GEORGE F. STAGEY, C WILLIAM N. TIBBETTS, C 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part /. , //. 57-66. * Not on Birgis duplicate roll. S Not on muster roll. 49 6 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Company. Corporal GALEN A. CHAPMAN, D " ALONZO L. FARROW, D Private DAVID O. PRIEST, S D DAVID B. COLE, 2 E " CHARLES S. CROWELL, * E MELVILLE MERRILL, " E WILLIAM DOUGLASS, 2 F " GUSTAVUS HlSCOCK, 3 F Company. Corporal MINOT D. HEWETT, Private LEANDER WOODCOCK, " FREDERIC Gouo, 2 THOMAS WYM AN, 2 " JOHN B. MoRRiLL, 2 JAMES S. JEWELL/ FRANK S. WADE, * 22D MAINE. Company. H E Captain ISAAC W. CASE, " HENRY L. WOOD, Lieutenant GEORGE E. BROWN, A Private VAN BUREN CARLL, B " DANIEL MCPHETRES, B 24TH Company. Sergeant GEORGE E. TAYLOR, H Company. Corporal D. S. CHADBOURNE, 1 E Sergeant SAMUEL S. MASON, F Private TIMOTHY N. ERWIN, G " AMAZIAH W. WEBB, K MAINE. Private JAMES HUGHES, Company. H 28TH MAINE. Private JAMES N. MORROW. 3D MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY. Company. Colonel THOMAS E. CniCKERiNG. 2 Captain JOHN L. SWIFT, * C " FRANCIS E. BOYD, H Lieutenant WILLIAM T. HODGES, C " HENRY S. ADAMS 2 (Adjutant). DAVID P. MUZZEY, G " CHARLES W. C. RHOADS, H Sergeant-Major WILLIAM S. STEVENS. Private FERDINAND ROLLE, A Sergeant NATHAN G. SMITH, C HORACE P. FLINT, C Corporal GEORGE D. Cox, 1 C Private JOSEPH ELLIOTT, C " EDWARD JOHNSON, C Corporal PATRICK DUNLAY, G Sergeant JASON SMITH, 1 G Private SIMON DALY, G " PETER DONAHUE, G Company. Private JAMES GALLAGHER, 2 " JOHN GRANVILLE, " JAMES MCLAUGHLIN, Sergeant PATRICK S. CURRY, Private SOLOMON HALL, * Sergeant WILLIAM WILDMAN, " JOHN KELLY, " GEORGE E. LONG, Corporal WILLIAM S. CALDWELL, " RANDALL F. HUNNEWELL, " WILLIAM P. PETHIE, " CHARLES MILLER, WILLIAM R. DAvis, 2 Private EDWIN T. EHRLACHER, " GROS GRANADINO, ELI HAWKINS, PATRICK J. MONKS, " JOHN VELISCROSS, " GEORGE WILSON, 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records \ vol. Xxvi. , part /. , pp. S7- 66 - 2 Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. APPENDIX. 497 I3TH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY. Private CESAR DuBois, | Private JOHN V. WARNER, " 26TH MASSACHUSETTS. Lieutenant SETH BONNER, 2 Company F. 30TH MASSACHUSETTS. Company. Captain EDWARD A. FISKE, D Lieutenant THOMAS B. JOHNSTON, H " NATHANIEL K. REED, C FERDINAND C. PoREE, 2 C Sergeant W. H. H. RICHARDS, B Corporal GEORGE E. COY, B " THOMAS COURTNEY, B Private JAMES M. BROWN, B " ANDREW COLE, B " MARTIN HASSETT, B " GEORGE TOOWEY, B Sergeant LUTHER H. MARSHALL, C Private WLLIAM MCCUTCHEON, C " CHARLES B. RICHARDSON, C " GEORGE SUTHERLAND, C Sergeant GEORGE H. MOULE, D JOHN E. RING, 2 D Company. Corporal CHARLES D. MOORE, D Private JAMES BOYCE, D " WILLIAM KENNY, D * HORACE F. DAVIS, E Sergeant MURTY QUINLAN, F " THOMAS A. WARREN, F Corporal MICHAEL MEALEY, F Private J. SULLIVAN, . 3 F Sergeant JOHN LEARY, G " WlLLARD A. HUSSEY, H Private JOHN BATTLES, H " JOHN HIGGINS, H " PAUL JESEMAUGHN, H " WILLIAM F. KAVANAGH, H " JOHN WELCH, H " JOHN WILSON, H Sergeant SAMUEL RYAN, I 3 1ST MASSACHUSETTS. Company. Captain EDWARD P. HOLLISTER, A " SAMUEL D. HOVEY, K Lieutenant LUTHER C. HOWELL (Adjutant). JAMES M. STEWART, A Private CHESTER BEVINS, A " PATRICK CARNES, A Company. Private FRANK FITCH, A " WILLIAM THORINGTON, A " PETER VALUN, A " ETHAN H. COWLES, B " WILLIAM J. COLEMAN, K " MAURICE LEE, K 38TH MASSACHUSETTS. Lieutenant FRANK N. SCOTT, Company D. 48TH MASSACHUSETTS. Private MICHAEL ROACH, Company G. 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , pari I. , pp. 57-66. 2 Not on Birge^s duplicate roll. 3 Jeremiah, Co. B, James, /, or Michael, F? 32 498 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 4QTH MASSACHUSETTS. 2 Company. Lieutenant EDSON F. DRESSER, F Private JAMES W. BASSETT, A WILLIAM E. CLARK, A WILLARD L. WATKINS, A GEORGE DOWLEY, B HENRY E. GRIFFIN, B CONRAD HEINS, B Corporal THOMAS H. HUGHES, D Private PETER COME, D Company Private EDWIN N. HUBBARD, D " FRANKLIN ALLEN, H " GEORGE KNICKERBOCKER, H Corporal JOHN KELLEY, I Private ZERA BARNUM, I " PHILANDER B. CHADWICK, K " THOMAS MALONEY, K " ALBERT F. THOMPSON, K 50TII MASSACHUSETTS. Company. Corporal E. S. TUBES, Private JAMES MILLER, 5 3D MASSACHUSETTS. Company. I Private PETER T. DOWNS, G | Private PETER DYER, 6TH MICHIGAN. Company. G Company. H Company. Private ROBERT ATWOOD, A JOHN R. COWLES, A " JAMES E. ROOT, A Sergeant LESTER Fox, C " ALBERT B. CHAPMAN, 2 C Corporal WILLIAM A. PORTER, C Private WALTER B. HUNTER, C " JOSEPH W. ROLPH, C Corporal CHARLES ST. JOHN, D Private PETER DORR, D " HENRY PLUMMER, ! D " TOBIAS PORTER, 2 D Sergeant FREDERICK BUCK, E WILLIAM L. LEINRIE, E Corporal HARRY S. HOWARD, E WILLIAM KELLY, " E " HENRY RHODES, E Private JOHN AUSTIN, E " DANIEL FERO, E " WILLIAM HOGUE, S E " JAMES R. JOHNSON, E " AUGUSTUS JONES, E " WILLIAM RAPSHER, E 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part I. , pp. S7- 66 - a Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. Company. E F Private JACOB URWILER, " ALFRED E. DAY, " GEORGE W. SPARLING, F Sergeant GEORGE H. HARRIS, G Corporal PETER A. MARTINA G " FRANCIS M. HURD, G Private GEORGE W. DAILEY, S G " FREEMAN HADDEN, * G JOHN W. McBRiDE, 2 G ROBERT PAYNE, 2 G " CHARLES E. PLUMMER, * G ENOCH T. SIMPSON, a G " OSBORN SWEENEY, 2 G " THEODORE WEED, 2 G Sergeant A. C. WmTCOMB, 2 H Private HENRY B. Dow, 2 H " GEORGE A. BENET, 2 I Corporal LEVI A. LoGAN, 2 K " JOHN H. WiSNER, 2 K Private SIMON P. BoYCE, 2 K DAVID H. SERVis, 2 K FRANCIS E. Tooo, 2 K APPENDIX. 499 STH NEW HAMPSHIRE. Company. Captain Jos. J. LADD, 2 D Lieutenant DANA W. KING, A Private JOHN RiNEY, 2 Sergeant JOHN FERGUSON, ! Company. B I6TH NEW HAMPSHIRE. Company. Captain JOHN L. RiCE, 2 H Lieutenant EDGAR E. ADAMS, F Company. Corporal CLINTON BOHANNON, C Private ASA BURGESS, C EDWARD J. O DoNNELL, C Corporal WILLIAM A. RAND, Corporal DANIEL C. DACEY, A Private EDWARD J. WILEY, B Private RUFUS L. JONES, 75TH NEW YORK. Company. Private EDSON V. R. BLAKEMAN, B " LEVI COPPERNOLL, B " LENOX KENT, B " ETHAN BENNETT, l I Company. Private MARTIN- NORTON, I " JONAS L. PALMER, I " CHARLES WRIGHT, 1 I 90TH NEW Company. Captain HONORE DE LA PATURELLE, E Sergeant HENRY M. CRYDENWISE, A Private NICHOLAS ScHMiLAN, 1 A ALBERT BARNES, 1 B " GEORGE ROBINSON, l B Corporal JOHN NEIL, F Private JOHN McCoRMiCK, F MARTIN MCNAMARA, F YORK. Company. Private JAMES PROCTOR, 2 F Corporal WILLIAM DALLY, 1 G Private TIMOTHY QUIRK, l G " SERRILER, 1 G " CHRISTOPHER AUTENREITH, K " JOHN HERON, K " AMOS MAKER, K " NELSON ROOT, K 9 1ST NEW YORK. Company. Private SAMUEL WEBSTER, Sergeant JAMES A. SHATTUCK, B Private JAMES T. McCoLLUM, 2 B Sergeant EDWARD R. CONE, C Corporal PLATT F. VINCENT, C Company. Private EDWIN DE FRATE, C Corporal CHARLES E. BOWLES, E Private Jos. C. WALLACE, E Corporal CHARLES KEARNEY, K I I4TH NEW YORK. 1 Company. Sergeant WILLIAM H. CALKINS, I Corporal NATHAN SAMPSON, G C. L. WlDGER, I Company. Private HERBERT CHISLIN, G " WARREN H. HOWARD, G " WILLIAM POTTER, G 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part I. , J>j>. 57-66. 2 Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. 5oo THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Il6TH NEW YORK. Company. Corporal FRANK BENTLEY, A Private ISAAC COLVIN, A " ANDREW COOK, A " DANIEL COVENSPARROW, A " PHILIP LINEBITS, A JACOB BERGTOLD, 2 B " SYLVESTER GLASS, 2 B Corporal GEORGE W. HAMMOND, 2 C Private HENRY D. DANIEL, C " CHARLES FISHER, C FREDERICK HILDERBRAND, C " CHRISTIAN GRAWi, 2 D WILLIAM W. McCuMBER, 2 D CORNELIUS FITZPATRICK, E " JAMES GALLAGHER, E Company. Private THEODORE HANSELL, " THOMAS MALONEY, " HENRY C. MILLER, " FREDERICK WEBBER, Corporal JOSHUA D. BAKER, Private JACOB DEMERLY, " FREDERICK JOST, " WILLIAM MARTIN, " SAMUEL WHITMORE, " HENRY TRARER/ " JACOB TSCHOLE, " JACOB ZUMSTEIN, " PHILIP MARY, Corporal ALBERT D. PRESCOT, Private NICHOLAS FEDICK, E E F G C, G II II II I K K I28TH NEW YORK. Company. Captain FRANCIS S. KEESE. C Sergeant THEODORE W. KRAFFT, A " FREEMAN SKINNER, A Corporal MILO P. MOORE, A Private Jos. M. DOWNING, A " JOHN N. HAGUE, A JARED HARRISON/ A Jos. C. MOSHER, A 41 JAMES MOSHERMAN, A " FREEMAN OSTRANDER, A Sergeant CHARLES W. McKowN, C HENRY A. BRUNDAGE, C JOHN H. HAGAR, C Corporal CLEMENT R. DEAN, C " DAVID H. HAUNABURGH, C ELIJAH D. MORGAN, C GEORGE F. SIMMONS, C Private ALBERT COLE, C GEORGE CRONK, C Company. Private EDWARD DELAMATER, C " PETER DYER/ C " ALBERT P. FELTS, C CHARLES MURCH, C " DANIEL NEENAN, C " GEORGE A. NORCUTT, C " JOHN R. SCHRIVER, C " JOHN L. DELAMATER, D " WILLIAM PLATTO, D CHARLES P. W T ILSON, D Corporal CHARLES BROWER, F Sergeant C. M. DAVIDSON/ H Private JOHN A. WAMSLEY/ H CHARLES F. APPLEBY, I " STEPHEN H. MOORE, I Corporal SYLVESTER BREWER K Private THOMAS RICE, K WILLIAM VAN BAK, K 1 3 1ST NEW YORK. Company. Lieutenant EUGENE H. FALES, C EUGENE A. HINCHMAN, H JAMES O CONNOR, F Louis F. ELLIS, I Company. Lieutenant JAMES E. McBETH, K Private WILLIAM BURRIS, CHARLES CAMERON, 2 B NICHOLAS HANSLER/ B 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part I. ^pp. 57-66. 2 Not on Birgt?s duplicate roll. APPENDIX. 501 Company. Private GEORGE E. STANFORD, B Sergeant ROBERT W. REID, C Corporal JONAS CHESHIRE, C " EDWARD NORTHUP, C " ISAAC OGDEN, C Private HENRY AYRES, C Company. Private RICHARD M. EDWARDS, C " THEODORE KELLEY, . C CHARLES W. WEEKS, C JACOB HOHN, I FERDINAND NESCH, I I33D NEW Company. YORK. Captain JAMES K. FULLER, 2 C Lieutenant RICHARD W. BUTTLE, D HENRY O CONNOR, I Private NICOLAS PITT, B " NELSON BEANE, C " PATRICK BOYNE, C JOSEPH FINN, C PETER HUDSON, C " JAMES G. KELLY, C Corporal JOHN EISEMANN, D Private JOHN NEWMAN/ D " JOHN A. SHEPARD, 1 D PATRICK CALLANAN, E Company. F G G Private CYRUS TOOKER, Sergeant GEORGE GIEHL, Private JOSEPH J. BURKE, " GEORGE SCHLEIFER, G JAMES BRENNAN, I " JOHN H. DAWSON, I " JOHN H. GALE, I Sergeant GEORGE HAMEL, K Corporal WILLIAM STRATTON/ K Private PATRICK COSTELLO, K " HENRY HODINGER. K PHILIP READY, K Private INNUS A. GRAVES, 1 " THOMAS HoRTON, 1 " HENRY JONES, l " PHILIP LEWIS, BENJAMIN RoBERSON, 1 " SIMON WASHBURN, 1 Sergeant C. G. EARLE, 1 " DANIEL B. DECS/ " CLEMENT Y. CARLE, Corporal J. B. BARLISON, 1 Private STEPHEN R. AcKER, 1 " MATHEW DIETS, " STEPHEN ERNHOUT, 1 JOHN HERRINGER, 1 A. JARVIS HATER/ " ABRAHAM KEYSER/ ALEXANDER LowN, 1 F. L. SCAMPMOUSE, 1 " A. C. SCHRIVER, 1 W. SHADDUCK, 1 " A. G. SLATER, 1 I56TH NEW YORK. Company. Company. B Private J. R. SLATER/ C B " JOHN STRIVINGER, 1 C B " WILLIAM THADDUCK/ C B Corporal RICHARD ELLMANDORPH/D B " ARCHIBALD TERWILLI- B GER, 1 E C Sergeant JOHN D. FINK, F C " HIRAM S. BARROWS/ F C Corporal GEORGE BRADSHAW/ F C Private JAMES R. LANE/ F C " EDWARD LITER/ F C " MICHAEL McGoRM/ F C " CHARLES L. MEGUIRE/ F C Lieutenant EDWARD OLRENSHAW/ H C Private JOHN MARVELL/ H C Captain ORVILLE D. JEWETT/ I C Lieutenant JAMES J. RANDALL/ I C " CHARLES W. KENNEDY/ I C Sergeant EDWARD STEERS/ I C " WILLIAM S. COSTILYOU/ I C 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records^ -vol. Xxvi. ^part /. , //. 57-66. 2 Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. 502 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Company. Sergeant THOMAS F. DONNELLY/ I " THOMAS SAUNDERS/, 1 Private JAMES BROUGHAM, 1 I WELKIN MOOREHOUSE, I JOHN PROVOST, I " JAMES WATSON, ] I I Sergeant CHARLES B. WESTON, K i HENRY ABBOTT, 2 K | Corporal IVAN NETTERBERG, K " ISAAC W. FULLAGER, K Private SIMEON FRITTER/ K Company. Private CHARLES GAY K " AUGUST LEONARD, K " NEIL NEILSON, K SAMUEL OUTERKIRK, K CHARLES PODRICK, K " SVEN SVENSON, 1 K CHARLES STUMP, K " AUGUSTUS SWENSON, K " JOSEPH VON MATT, K THEODORE WEBSTER, K ALEXANDER WEHL K I59TH NEW YORK. Company. Captain ROBERT McD. HART, F Lieutenant ALFRED GREENLEAF, Jr. , B DUNCAN RICHMOND, H Private AMOS HARK, B GEORGE W. HATFIELD, B " HUGH MCKENNY, B " JOHN TAYLOR, B Sergeant MICHAEL HOGAN, C Private CHRISTIAN SCHNACK, C Sergeant JAMES T. PERKINS, E Company. Private JOHN THORP, E Sergeant GILBERT S. GULLEN, F Private BARTHOLOMEW TOSER, F Corporal E. HoLLENBACK, 1 H Private H. MclLRAVY, 1 H D. C. McNEiL, 1 H " JAMES BRAZIER, 2d, I " GEORGE W. SCHOFIELD, I Sergeant THOMAS BERGEN, 1 K I60TH NEW YORK. Company. Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. VAN PETTEN. Assistant Surgeon DAVID H. ARM STRONG. Lieutenant WILLIAM J. VANDEU- SEN, A Lieutenant ROBERT R. SEELEY, I Private OSCAR CURTIS, - B A. A. HAMMER, C JOSEPH S. INSLEY, 2 C HENRY F. MC!NTYRE, C GEORGE MATTHIES, C Company. Sergeant J. SAHVEY, 1 E Private MICHAEL HILL, E " JOHN LONG, E JOHN O LAHEY/ 2 E Sergeant B. F. MAXSON, G ELON SPINK, G " SAMUEL KRIEGELSTEIN, G " JACOB MCDOWELL, K " MICHAEL HEWITT, K Private ARTHUR CLARKSON, K " LEWIS KRAHER, K " JOHN RAINCE, K l6lST NEW YORK. Company. Major CHARLES STRAWN. 2 Lieutenant WILLIAM B. KINSEY (Adjutant). 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part /. , //. 57-66. 2 Not on Dirge s duplicate roll. Company. Captain BENJAMIN T. VAN TUYL, A Sergeant GEORGE E. ROSENKRANS, * A Corporal CLARK EVANS, A APPENDIX. 503 Company. Private WILLIAM JOLLEY, A " CORNELIUS OSTERHOUT, A " JAMES ANDERSON, B Sergeant LEWIS E. FITCH, C Corporal MAHLON M. MURCUR, C Private EDGAR L. DEWITT, C " HENRY W. MEAD, C GEORGE OLIVER, C " CHARLES SPAULDING, C Sergeant DENNIS LACY, D " BRADFORD SANFORD, D Private JAMES E. BORDEN, D Company. Private LUMAN PHILLEY, D " THOMAS A. SAWYER, D " JOHN VAN DOUSEN, D " MADISON M. COLLIER, E Sergeant BASKIN FREEMAN, F Private CHARLES ROBINSON, F Sergeant DE WITT C. AMEY, H Corporal SAMUEL ROBINSON, H Private JOHN F. YOUNG, H " JOHN REAS/ I Sergeant SILAS E. WARREN, K Private CHARLES A. HERRICK, K l62D NEW YORK. Company. Captain WILLIAM P. HUXFORD, G Lieutenant JOHN H. VAN WYCK, G " WILLIAM KENNEDY, E " R. W. LEONARD (Adjutant). 1 Sergeant JOHN McCoRMicK, A " THOMAS BARRY, - A " JOHN E. BURKE, B " HENRY LANDT, C " FREDERICK SHELLHASS, C Private ANTON BLEISTEIN, C WILLIAM F. EISELE, C " JOHN ENGEL, C ALEX. HERRMAN, C " LEO KALT, C " CONRAD SIEGLE, C Sergeant THEODORE CHURCHILL, D " WILLIAM KELLEY, 1 D Corporal THOMAS McCoNNELL, D Sergeant JAMES STACK, E GEORGE W. KEILEY, E Corporal JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, E GEORGE W. WAITE, E JAMES BALL, E " LORENZO SULLY, E Private THOMAS CLAREY, E " PETER CORBETT, E " THOMAS DUFF, E DANIEL W. DUNN, E Company. Private PATRICK GINETY, E " DANIEL GRAY, E " LAWRENCE HALLEY, E " GEORGE LARMORE, E " JAMES MCCALL, E " MATHEW MULLEN, E " THOMAS PERRY/ E " PATRICK SWEENY, E Corporal GUSTAVE NORMANN, F Private JOHN G. THALMANN, F Sergeant GEORGE W. GIBSON, G " EDMUND NOURSE, G Private WILLIAM FERGUSON, G " WILLIAM KEATING, G Corporal EDWARD MURPHY, I " JOSEPH MARTINES, I " MAXAMILLIAN MILLER, I " DAVID HART/ I " GEORGE WELCH, I Private JAMES BRADY, K " PETER CHERRY, K EUGENE DETRICH, K " JOHN FRAZER, K Jos. GITEY, K " FLEMING KNIPE, K " DOMINICK MCCONNELL, 1 K JOHN MCDONALD, K " LEWIS YOUNG, K 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part /. , //. 2 Not on Birge s duplicate roll. 504 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. I65TH NEW YORK. Company. Captain FELIX AGNUS, A " HENRY C. INWOOD, E Lieutenant GUSTAVUS F. LINGUIST, C Sergeant WALTER T. HALL, A " WILLIAM T. SINCLAIR, A " JOHN FLEMING, A " JOHN W. DICKINS, A Corporal RICHARD BAKER, A " JOSIAH C. DIXON, A " GEORGE E. ARMSTRONG, A Private JAMES E. BARKER, A " PETER BEAUCAMP, A " SAMUEL DAVIS, A GUSTAV DRUCKHAMMER, A " THOMAS KERNEY/ A " DAVID LEWIS, A GEORGE MCKINNEY, A " GEORGE A. METZEL, A " ELIAS H. TUCKER, A Company. Private JOHN H. VALK, A " EDWARD VASS, A Drummer MICHAEL DoNOHUE, 1 A Private ELISHA E. DENNISON, * B " PATRICK H. MATTHEWS, B " JOHN CASSIDY, C " ROBERT HOBBEY, C LAURENTZ LANGE, C " JOHN LAUGHTMAN, C Corporal JAMES F. CAMPBELL, D Private EUGENE DEFLANDRE, 1 D " HENRY EDWARD, l D " HENRY R. LooMis, 1 D " THOMAS BELCHER, E " JOHN FEIGHERY, E " STEPHEN GILLEN, E " EDWIN A. SHAW, E " WILLIAM VERO, E I73D NEW YORK. Private ALEXANDER HENDRICKSON, Company C. YORK. I/4TH NEW Company. Lieutenant EDWARD MARRENER, I LATHAM A. FISH, E EUGENE E. ENNSON, C " CHARLES EMERSON, 2 I Sergeant SAMUEL WILSON/ A " MORRIS LANCASTER, A Corporal Louis HAGEMAN, A Private WILLIAM COOPER, A JOHN CULLEN, A " JOHN MALONEY, A Corporal GEORGE ANDERSON, B Sergeant JOHN GRAY, C Private JOHN KUHFUSS, C " GUSTAVUS HELLER, C " GEORGE W. JONES, C WILLIAM MCELROY, l C " ERNST SCHMIDT, C Sergeant JOHN KENNEY, E Corporal JOSEPH H. MURPHY, E 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. , part /. , //. 57-66. 2 Not on Birge s duplicate roll. Company. Private THOMAS WILLIAMS, E " THOMAS FLETCHER, G " HENRY D. LASHER, G * CHARLES N. THOMPSON, G Sergeant CHARLES GARDNER, H Private THOMAS CARROLL, H " WILLIAM JOHNSON, H HENRY JONES, H " CORNELIUS MOHONEY, H " JOSEPH MESSMER, I " HENRY POOLER, I " RICHARD SCHOTTLER, I Sergeant CHARLES DRANER, K Private FREDERICK BANDKA, K " WILLIAM HEINRICHS, K " EDWARD KUHLMAN, K " JULIUS LADIGES, K " FREDERICK NILSEN, K APPENDIX. 505 I75TH NEW YORK. Company. Lieutenant SEIGMUND STERNBERG, i Sergeant Major ABRAHAM LOEB. Private FRANK MARKHAM, A Corporal TIMOTHY ALLEN, B Private OTTO DORNBACK, C " RICHARD O GORHAM, C Company. Private PATRICK MANERING, D Sergeant WILLIAM O CALLAGHAN, E " JAMES HILLIS, " E 41 JAMES H. CALLOR, 1 E Private JOHN O CONNER, E Corporal PHILIP DAUB, S K I/7TH NEW YORK. Company. Sergeant JOHN D. BROOKS, A Corporal PERCY B. S. COLE, A Private SEYMOUR D. CARPENTER, A " JOHN J. GALLUP, A " THOMAS J, GARVEY, A WILLIAM HEMSTREET, A JOHN HOUSEN, A BARNEY LA VARY, A " RICHARD C. MAIN, A " ADAM MILLIMAN, A HENRY VON LEHMAN, A " WlLLARD LOUNDSBERY, 1 A Corporal GEORGE A. MCCORMICK, B Company. B B Private EBEN HALLEY, " DAVID N. KIRK, " CHARLES M. SMITH, B " SAMUEL H. STEVENS, Jr. , B " JOHN GORMAN, C " MOSES DE COSTER, D CHARLES W. LAPE, E Corporal ALONZO G. LUDDEN, G Private S. W. MEISDEN, 2 G " ELIAS NASHOLD, G " JEDDIAH TOMPKINS, G " RUSSELL W. COONEYS, H " GEORGE MERINUS, I 8TH VERMONT. Captain JOHN L. BARSTOW, 1 - 2 Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. Company. C C C Private JOHN ADAMS, 1 " JAMES K. BENNETT, " FRANCIS C. CUSHMAN, T. E. HARRIMAN/ C " FRANK LAMARSH, 1 C JOVITE PlNARD, 1 C Sergeant GEORGE G. HuTCHiNS, 1 E Corporal N. H. HiBBARD, 1 E " BENJAMIN F. BOWMAN, ! E Private THOMAS F. FERRIN, V E " THOMAS HOLLAND/ E Company. Sergeant BYRON J. HURLBURT, F Corporal EDWARD SAurus, 2 F Private GEORGE N. FANEUF, F " DAVID LAROCK, Jr. , F " ABNER NILES, F Corporal ABNER N. FLINT, G Private SEYMOUR N. COLES, G LYMAN P. LUCE, G " ANDREW B. MORGAN, H PATRICK BOLAN, I " D. MARTIN, 1 I 2D U. S ARTILLERY. Private J. D. HiCKLEY, 1 Company C. 1 Not on the roll as printed in Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part /. , pp. 57-66. 2 Not on Birge s duplicate roll. 506 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. 4TH WISCONSIN. Company. Lieutenant ISAAC N. EARL, C Corporal L. C. BARTLETT, C Company. Private PATRICK PIGEON, ! A NOTE. On the 28th of June, 1863, Birge reported to Headquarters, 2 battalions of stormers, of 8 companies each, present for duty 67 officers, 826 men, total 893. His duplicate roll, evidently of later date than June 28th and not later than July 7th, accounts for 10 companies with 71 officers and 865 men, total 936. The list here printed gives 1, 230 names, probably representing 1, 228 persons. ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION 2 Proposed between the commissioners on the part of the garrison of Port Hudson, La. , and the forces of the United States before said place, July 8, 1863. ARTICLE I. Maj. -Gen. F. Gardner surrenders to the United States forces under Major-General Banks the place of Port Hudson and its dependencies, with its garrison, armament, munitions, public funds, and material of war, in the condition, as nearly as may be, in which they were at the hour of cessation of hostilities, viz. , 6 A. M. , July 8, 1863. ART. II. The surrender stipulated in Article I. Is qualified by no condition, save that the officers and enlisted men composing the garrison shall receive the treatment due to prisoners of war, according to the usages of civilized warfare. ART. III. All private property of officers and enlisted men shall be respected and left to their respective owners. ART. IV. The position of Port Hudson shall be occupied to-morrow at 7 A. M. By the forces of the United States, and its garrison received as prisoners of war by such general officer of the United States service as may be designated by Major-General Banks, with the ordinary formalities of rendition. The Con federate troops will be drawn up in line, officers in their positions, the right of the line resting on the edge of the prairie south of the railroad depot, the left extending in the direction of the village of Port Hudson. The arms and colors will be piled conveniently, and will be received by the officers of the United States. ART. V. The sick and wounded of the garrison will be cared for by the authorities of the United States, assisted, if desired by either party, by the medical officers of the garrison. 1 Not on Birge s duplicate roll. 2 See ante p. 231 and Official Records, vol. Xxvi. ^part I. ^pp. 52-54. NOTE ON EARLY S STRENGTH. BY BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL E. C. DAWES, U. S. V. The return of the Army of Northern Virginia for October 31, 1864, gives the present for duty " in the Second Army Corps commanded by General Early, in the infantry divisions of Ramseur (Early s old division), Rodes, Gordon, Wharton, Kershaw, and the artillery as 12, 516 The cavalry division of General Lomax, by its return of September loth, numbered for duty 3. 605 The cavalry brigade of General Rosser l about i, 3 The cavalry division of General Fitz Lee 2 1, 600 The casualties of the army at Cedar Creek were 3> IOQ Total force engaged at battle of Cedar Creek 22, 121 Lomax s division probably lost 500 men in the different actions prior to Cedar Creek after its return of September loth. To offset this no account is made of the " Valley Reserves " (men over and boys under conscript age) and " detailed men " (those subject to conscription who were permitted to remain at home to do necessary work), who joined the army after its defeat at Fisher s Hill. General Lee wrote General Early 27th September : All the reserves in the Valley have been ordered to you. " That the order was obeyed appears from the following extracts, from the diary of Mr. J. A. Waddell of Staunton, Virginia, printed in the " Annals of Augusta County, Va. , " page 325 et seq. "Saturday, September 24 [1864]: A dispatch from General Early this morning assured the people of Staunton that they were in no danger, that his army was safe and receiving reinforcements. He however ordered the detailed men to be called out. . . . October 15 : Nothing talked of except the recent order calling into service the detailed men. . . . The recent order takes millers from their grinding, but men sent from the army undertake in some cases to run the machinery. Farmers are ordered from their fields and barns and soldiers are detailed to thresh the wheat. All men engaged in making horseshoes are ordered off so that our cavalry and artillery horses will have to go barefooted. " The return of the Army of Northern Virginia for 3Oth November, 1864, confirms the figures given above. It shows " present for duty " in the infantry 1 Rosser s brigade belonged to Hampton s old division. This division, "with Rosser s brigade, numbered for duty September 10, 1864, 2. 942. On October 31^, without Rosser s brigade, 1, 547. It is fair to assume the difference as Rosser s strength. 2 Fitz Lee s division on return of August -$ist numbered for duty 1, 683, - on y>th November, 1, 524. 507 508 THE NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS. Division of Ramseur, Rodes, Gordon, Wharton, and Kershaw, and the Second Corps artillery 15, 070 In the cavalry divisions of Fitz Lee and Lomax (2 brigades, Payne s and Rosser s, not reporting) 3, 625 Add for Rosser s and Payne s brigades 2, 000 Total of Gen. Early s army, November soth 20, 695 Kershaw had returned to Richmond, but the above figures include the organizations present at Cedar Creek. CINCINNATI, August 24, 1890. INDEX. Abbot, H. L. , Captain, 60. Abert, William S. , Lieutenant-Colo nel, 60. Acadians, 122. Alabama (C), 58, 59, 265. Alabama, 1st (C), 159, 173. Albatross, 79, 81-84, 148, ^S- Alden, James, Captain U. S. N. , 61, 243- Alexander, Barton S. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 409. Alexander, Richard H. , Medical Di rector, 60. Alexandria, La. , 86 ; Banks marches to, 142, 144-148 ; quits, 152, 284, 287-294 ; retreat to, 326-334 ; the dam, 337-342 ; evacuated, 344. Allaire, Anthony J. , Captain, 101, 341. Allen, Charles F. , Major, 390. Allen, Henry W. , Colonel (C), 35; killed, 38. Allen, Pickering D. , Lieutenant, 89. " American People, the voice of the, " 392, 393- American soldier, character of, 209, 210. Anderson, R. H. , Lieutenant-General (C), 373-378. Andrews, George L. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 57, 67, 177, 179, 223, 231, 232, 257, 258, 260-262. Andrews, J. L. , 1 Captain, 324. Anglo-American, transport, 214. Annable, Thomas H. , Captain, 281. Anthony, Robert C. , Major, 238. Aransas Pass, Tenn. , 276. Arizona, 104, 105, 121, 126, 148, 154, 165, 268-272. Arkansas, Confederate ram, 29 ; fights U. S. Fleet, 29-31 ; at Baton Rouge, 33, 35, 37, 38 J destroyed, 38. Arkansas, co-operating column from, (see Steele, Frederick?) Arkansas, nth (C), 189. Arkansas, I4th (C), 161. Arkansas, i6th (C), 220, 221. Arkansas, lyth (C), 189. Arkansas division (C) (see Churchill}. Arkansas Post, 70. Army of the Shenandoah, 366, 442. Army of the Tennessee, 142, 143, 284, 285, 292 ; detachment of (see Smith, A. Y. ). Arnold, Richard, Captain, 60 ; Briga dier-General, 96, 167, 186, 189 ; commands cavalry, 328. Artillery left in Louisiana, 353. Assault, of May 27, 1863, 166-183 \ of June 14, 1863, 194-204. Assaults rarely succeed, 205-208. Atchafalaya River, 46, 72, 73, 85-88, 122 ; Confederate Navy on the, 88, 89 ; Banks crosses, 153, 154, 159 ; bridge of steamboats, 346, 347. Atlantic, transport, 59. Attakapas, 73. Augur, C. C. , Major-General, 56, 57, 61, 66, 77, 130 ; at Plains Store, 160-162 ; at Port Hudson, 159-162, 165, 166 ; first assault, 168, 169, 174-176, 179-181 ; commands left wing, 1 88 ; second assault, 194, 200, 228, 232 ; succeeded by Weit- zel, 233, 250, 362, 404. Augiista, 57. Averell, W. W. , Brigadier-General, 359, 361, 362, 365, 376, 378, 379, 391, 401. Avery Salt Works, 123, 124. Avoyelles Prairie, affair on the, 344, 345- Babcock, Willoughby, Lieutenant- Colonel, 170, 394. Bache, T. H. , Surgeon, Medical Director, 8. Bacon, Edward, Lieutenant-Colonel, 199. 1 Probably James L. A ndet 509 5io INDEX. Bagby, A. P. , Colonel (C), 63, 97, 302, 317, 325, 330, 344. Bailey, Joseph, Lieutenant-Colonel, 263, 330, 337, 338, 340, 341, 346, 347- Bailey, Theodorus, Captain, 13. Bainbridge, E. C. , Captain, 90, 98, 99, 171, 210, 221, 224, 267. Bains, J. M. , Lieutenant, 212. Baker, John P. , Captain, 281. Ball, W. H. , Colonel, 425-427. Baltic, transport, 59. Baltimore and Ohio Railway as an objective, 361, 362, 363, 371, 372, 374, 377- Baltimore, troops from, 56. Banks, Nathaniel P. , Major-General, assigned to command, 54-56, 66 ; at Washington, 55, 56 ; orders from government, 56, 60, 61 ; relieves Butler, 60 ; difficulties, 67, 68-71 ; staff, 69 ; and Farragut s plans, 76-84 ; correspondence with Grant, 84 ; Teche campaign, 85-134 ; cor respondence with Grant, 135-142, I 57> J 58, 183, 184 ; communica tion with Grant, 135-142, 149- I S I t J 57 > authorized to command united forces on Mississippi, 139 ; marches to Alexandria, 144149 ; changing plans, 149, 150 ; moves on Port Hudson, 152-162 ; opera tions against Port Hudson, 163- 234 ; summons Gardner to surrender, 193 ; calls for volunteers as stormers, 212 ; correspondence with Halleck, 214 ; Corps d Afrique, 219, 261, 262 ; correspondence with Gardner, 227-229 ; accepts surrender of Port Hudson, 231 ; thanked by Govern ment, 256, 257 ; plans to go against Mobile, 264 ; ordered to occupy Texas, 264-266 ; resulting opera tions, 266-276 ; winter quarters, 277-281 ; mounts seven infantry regi ments, 280 ; in the Red River cam paign, 282-348 ; under Canby, 347. Banks s expedition, 57-60. Barnard, J. G. , Brigadier-General, 6. Barnes, James, Captain, 260. Barney s Point, La. , 26. Barre s Landing, La. , 144. Barrett, Richard, Captain, 49, 73, 107, no, 125, 154, 252. Barrett, William M. , Captain, 203. Bartlett, Ozias E. , Lieutenant, 221. Bartlett, William F. , Colonel, wounded, 182. Bassett, Chauncey J. , Captain, 21 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, 173, 174. Baton Rouge, La. , 7, 17, 18, 22 ; battle of, 32-42 ; described, 33, 34 ; losses, 38, 39 ; evacuated, 40-42 ; fortified, 41, 42 ; reoccupied, 61, 77, 78. Batteries left in Louisiana, 353. Battle, C. A. , Brigadier-General (C) 385- Baylor, George W. , Colonel (C), 330. Bayou Boeuf, La. , 47 ; surrender, 240, 242. Bayou Bourbeau, La. , affair near, 277. Bayou Carencro, La. , 126. Bayou Choupique, La. , 102, no, 115. Bayou City (C), 64. Bayou Cypremort, La. , 116, 119, 120. Bayou Fordoche, affair near, 273. Bayou Fusilier, La. , 126. Bayou Plaquemine, 87, 88. Bayou Ramos, La. , 89 ; abandoned, 241, 242. Bayou Sara, La. , Grant s promise to meet Banks at, 136-139, 142, 151, 158; Banks lands at, 158, 159. Bayou Sorrel, La. , 87, 88. Beal, George L. , Colonel, 327, 328, 331, 333, 343, 350, 381, 382, 388, 390, 398, 415, 440, 442, 445. Beall, W. N. R. , Brigadier-General (C), 62, 164, 182. Bean, Sidney A. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 36, 130, 131, 154 ; Colonel, killed, , 203. Beauregard, G. T. , General (C), 19, 20, 26. Beck, W. B. , Lieutenant, 162. Beckwith, E. G. , Colonel, 60, 267, 273- Beecher, Harris H. , Assistant Surgeon, 394- Bee, H. P. , Brigadier-General (C), 302, 304, 316-319, 324, 329, 330, 332, 333- Belfast, transport, 314. Belle Grove House, Cedar Creek, 412, 418, 420-423, 427. Bell, H. H. , Captain, 13; Commo dore, 257, 267. Benedict, Lewis, Colonel, 160, 165, 281, 309, 310, 315-320. Benton, 144. Benton, W. P. , Brigadier-General, 258, 268. Bermuda Hundred, Va. , 355, 360, 365- Berryville Canon, Va. , 379-381. Berryville-Clifton Line, 371. Berryville, Va. , 371, 377. Berwick Bay, La. , 48, 73, 89. INDEX. 511 Bethel Place, 92-103. Bickmore, A. S. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 213. Bid well, D. D. , Brigadier-General, 436. Birge, Henry W. , Colonel, 107, 108, no, in, 113, 114, 117, 187, 199 ; to lead stormers, 212, 229, 232, 252, 260, 273, 281, 327-332, 350, 361, 381, 383-386, 390, 393, 394, 398, 414, 415, 417, 421, 432, 434, 436, 446. Bisland, battle of, 92-103 ; Camp, 86. Bissell, George P. , Colonel, in. Black Hawk, 257 ; transport, 289. Black River, La. , 86, 286. Blair s Landing, La. , 313, 314 ; affair near, 325. Blanchard, Julius W. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 216, 332. "Blue-Jacket" batteries, 186, 211, 232. Boardman, F. A. , Major, 17, 21, 22. Boardman, Mary A. , transport, 64. Boggy Bayou, La. , 324. Bonnet Carre, La. , 17. Boone, R. M. , Captain, 161, 162. Bourne, Edmund L. , Master s Mate, 186. Bowen, James, Brigadier-General, 57, 67. Bradbury, Albert W. , Captain, 175, 252, 253, 267 ; Major, 365, 385, 398. Bradley, Theodore, Lieutenant, in, 113- Bragg, Braxton, General (C), 45. Bragg, U. S. Captured ram, 30. Brannan, J. M. , Brigadier-General, 155- Brashear, La. , 48, 73, 86 ; surprise and surrender of, 236-241 ; re- occupied, 252, 254, 255. Braxton, C. M. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 383, 392. Breaux Bridge, La. , 125. Breckenridge, John C. , Major-General, 25, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 41, 217, 39 1 - Bridge of steamboats, 346, 347. Brigades (see under Names of Com manders). Brooklyn, 13, 17, 25. Brownell, W. R. , Medical Director, 439- Brown, Isaac N. , Commander (C), 29 ; destroys Arkansas (C), 38. Brown, J. H. , Lieutenant, 36, 43. Brown s Gap, Va. , 402. Brownsville, Tex. , seized, 275. Bryan, Michael K. , Colonel, 92, 95. Buchanan, James, portrait, 42. Buchanan, T. McKean, Commander, U. S. N. , 46, 73; killed, 74. Buchel, A. , Colonel (C), 318, 319. Buckley, W. W. , Captain, 365, 421. Buford, Abraham, Brigadier-General (C), 164. Bulkley, Charles S. , 138. Bullen, Joseph D. , Major, 243, 246, 247. Bunker Hill, Va. , 366, 371, 374. Burbridge, S. G. , Brigadier-General, 273, 274, 277. Burrell, Isaac S. , Colonel, 62-64. Burt, Charles A. , Major, 112 ; Lieu tenant-Colonel, 171. Butler, B. F. , Major-General, com mands expedition, 5-7 ; capture of New Orleans, 6 16 ; commands Department of the Gulf, 7, 8 ; first attempt on Vicksburg, 17, 19, 20, 23 ; and battle of Baton Rouge, 39 42, 45 ; occupies La Fourche, 46 ; equips gunboats, 46 ; raises Louisi ana regiments, 49 ; raises colored regiments, 49, 50 ; Halleck promises reinforcements, 51 ; relieved, 60, 85, 218, 352, 360, 362. Butte-a-la-Rose, La. , 86, 87, 122, 126, 128. Cahawba, transport, 272. Cahill, Thomas W. , Colonel, 39, 239, 260. Cailloux, Andrew, Captain, 174. Calhoun, 46, 48, 73, 88, 89, 104, 121, 126. Cambria, transport, 62, 65. Cameron, Robert A. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 288, 305, 311, 312, 316, 328, 330, 333, 35i. Camp Bisland, La. , 86, 92, 105, 109. Camp, Charles H. , Lieutenant, 73 Camp Moore, 16, 32, 33. Camp Parapet, 43, 44. Camp Russell, Va. , 441, 443. Camp Sheridan, Va. , 441. Campti, La. , affair near, 326. Canal opposite Vicksburg, 23, 24, 28, 29, 3 1 - Canby, E. R. S. , Major-General, 354, 439- Cane River, La. , 295 ; crossing and battle, 328-333- Carondelet, U. S. Gunboat, 29-31, 295. Carpenter, Horace, Lieutenant (C), 233- Carr, Gouverneur, Major, wounded, 179, 182. Carruth, W. W. , Lieutenant, 36, 45, 73 ; Captain, 98, 99, 160, 237, 252, 253- 512 INDEX. Cavalry, 67, 125, 126, 131, 154, 186, 189-191. Cavalry (C), 128, 189, 329. Corps, Sheridan s (see also Torbert, A. T. A. , and Merritt, Wesley), 374, 378. Division, 274, 277, 280, 311 (see Lee, A. Z. ) ; commanded by Arnold, 328 (see Arnold} ; left in Louisiana, 353. Cayuga, 13, 36. Cedar Creek, Va. , 373, 374, 404, 412 ; battle of, 410-438 ; Moon, Sun, arid Daylight, times of, 417 ; strag glers, 428, 429, 436, 437 ; the fight ing line, 428, 436, 437. Cemetery, the, at Cedar Creek, 423- 425- Centreville, La. , 86. Ceres, transport, 21. Chalmette, La. , 10-14. Chambersburg, Penn. , 363. Chandler, John G. , Lieutenant-Colo nel, 263. Chapin, E. P. , Colonel, at Plains Store, 161, 162 ; at Port Hudson, 168, 179, 180 ; killed, 182 ; suc ceeded by C. J. Paine, 187. Chapman, A. W. , Captain, 281, 305. Chareriton, La. , 107. Charles Osgood, transport, 65. Charles Thomas, transport, 269. Charleston, S. C. , 447. Charlestown, Va. , 371. Charlottesville, Va. , 403, 405, 406, 438, 442. Chase, Frederick, Lieutenant, 365. Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. , 25. Chickasaw Bluffs, 69. Chickering, T. E. , Colonel, 77, 155- 158, 236. Chillicothe, 295. Chittenden, N. H. , Sergeant-Major, 18. Choupique Bridge, La. , 102, 115. Chrysler, Morgan H. , Colonel, 333. Churchill, T. J. , Brigadier-General (C), 300, 302, 314, 315, 317-319. 329. 348. Cipher code, 138. City Belle, transport, 343. Clack, F. H. , Major (C), 109, in, 113- Clara Bell, transport, 286. Clark, Charles, Brigadier-General (C), 35 ; wounded, 38. Clarke, Charles E. , Captain, 36. Clark, Eusebius S. , Major, 394. Clark, John S. , Colonel, 298. Clark, Orton S. , Lieutenant, 228 Clark, Thomas S. , Colonel, wounded, 182, 187, 188, 199, 200. Clayton, Powell, Colonel, 292. Clifton, 26, 62, 64, loo, 102-105, 122, 255, 268-272. Clifton-Berryville Line, 371. Clifton, Va. , 371. Climatic disease, extraordinary loss by, 187. Clinton, La. , 78, 189 ; affairs at, 190, 191. Clinton, transport, 356. Closson, H. W. , Captain, 107, no, 124, 246, 263, 267, 315, 316, 328, 331, 332. Cobb s (Ky. ) Battery (C), 35. Cocheu, Henry, Captain, 87. Cohen, Patrick, private, 197. Cold Harbor, 351, 352. Colored troops (C), 49. Colored troops (U), 49, 218, 219, 260- 262. Comstock, Apollos, Captain, 255. Cone, P. S. , Captain, 304, 306. Confederate forces, in Teche country, 72, 275; trans-Mississippi, 266. Confederate navy, 10, 14 ; fleet at Memphis destroyed, 24 ; in Yazoo, 29 ; on the Teche, 48, 88, 89. Congress votes thanks, 256. Connecticut, gth, 16, 22, 23 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 37 ; at La Fourche Crossing, 239. I2th, 15, 16, 45, 73 ; at Bis-, land, 98, 154 ; at Port Hudson, 170, 198, 255 ; Opequon, 382, 388-390, 394- 1 3th, 8, 45 ; at Irish Bend, 107, in, 113, 114 ; in pursuit, 126, 155 ; at Port Hudson, 172, 212, 2 3 2 > 255 ; re-enlisted veterans, 280 ; at Cane River, 328, 330, 331 ; at Opequon, 385. 23d, 73 ; at La Fourche Cross ing. 237-239 ; at Bayou Bceuf, 240 ; at Brashier, 240, 241. 24th, 198. 25th, at Irish Bend, 110-112, 114 ; at Port Hudson, 171, 172. 26th, at Port Hudson, 177, 200, 257, 28th, at Port Hudson, 187. Conrady, Howard C. , Captain, 318, 332. Constitution, transport, 5. Cooke, A. P. , Lieutenant - Com mander, 104-106, 121, 122, 126, 128. Cook, J. J. Colonel (C), 63. Cooley, James C. , Captain, 439. INDEX. 513 Cooley s House, Cedar Creek, 416. Corinthian, transport, 357. Corinth, Miss. , 20, 21 ; Confederates evacuate, 26, 27. Cornay, Florian O. , Captain (C), 102, 105, 106, 109, 111-113, 247. Cornie (C), transport, captured, 115, 126. Corps d Afrique, 219, 260-262 ; Dickey s brigade, 292 (see also Louisiana Native Guards). I6th Infantry, 275. Corypheus, 62, 64. Cote Gelee, La. , 125. Cotton, y. A. (C), 48, 73, 74, 122. Couch, D. N. , Major-General, 364. Covingion, 343. Cowles, David S. , Colonel, 179 ; killed, 182. Cox, C. H. Lieutenant, 268. Cox, Clayton, Captain, 99. Cox s Plantation, La. , battle of, 251- 253. Cox, W. R. , Master s Mate, 186. Craven, T. T. , Captain, 17 Crebs, J. M. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 328, 333- Creole, transport, 353, 357. Crescent, transport, 353, 355, 356. Crocker, Frederick, Lieut. , U. S. N. , 267-272. Crook, George, Brigadier-General, 361, 363-367, 371, 372, 375, 377, 379, 382, 389-394, 397-404, 4o6, 408, 410, 411, 413-419, 421, 432, 435, 437, 441. Crosby, J. Schuyler, Captain, 138. Crowder, John H. , Lieutenant, 174. Cunningham, Edward, Lieutenant, 321. Currie, Leonard D. H. , Colonel, wounded, 203, 350, 353, 361, 376, 442. Custer, George A. , Brigadier-General, 375, 376, 406, 408, 409, 415, 421, 43i, 433, 434, 436. Cutshaw, W. E. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 373- Cypremort, Bayou, La. , 116, 119, 120, 122. Cypress Island, La. , 105. Dam, the, 337-342. Dana, N. J. T. , Major-General, 273, 275. Davis, Charles, A. , Lieutenant, 64. Davis, Charles Henry, Flag-Officer, 24, 27, 32. Davis, Edward J. , Colonel, 328, 330, 333- Davis, Edwin P. , Colonel, 353, 355, 390, 414, 415, 420, 432-434. Davis, Jefferson, 165. Dawes, E. C. , Brevet Brigadier-Gen eral, 437. Day, Nicholas W. , Colonel, 385, 386, 390, 401, 446. Dayton, A. J. , Captain, 112. Debray, X. B. , Colonel (C), 318-320 ; Brigadier-General, 330, 345. Deep Bottom, Va. , 361. Defiance (C), 14. De Forest, James W. , Captain, 349. De Kay, George, Lieutenant, killed, 22. Delaware, 1st battery (Nields s), 280, 332. Deming, H. C. , Colonel, 15. Denslow, W. J. , Captain, 105. Department of the Gulf (see Gulf}. Depots, Sheridan s, 376. Des Allemands, La. , 47. De Soto, La. , 26. Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley, 371, 375, 403, 404, 409- Devin, Thomas C. , Brigadier-General, 400-402. Diana, 46, 48, 73 ; captured, 88, 89^ 94, 96, 99, 103, 114 ; blown up, 115, 118, 121. Dickey, Cyrus E. , Captain, 304. Dickey, W. H. , Colonel, 292, 296, 314. Dillingham, Charles, Lieutenant-Colo nel, 170. Disease, extraordinary loss by climatic, 187. Disorder on the march, 132. District of West Florida, 44. Divisions (see under Names of Com manders). Dix, John A. , Major-General, 5. Donaldson ville, La. , 46 ; attack and repulse, 237, 242-246. Dowling, Richard W. , Lieutenant (C), 272. Dow, Neal, Brigadier-General, 159, 177-179, 182, 187, 215. Draper, Gilbert A. , Lieutenant-Colo nel, 112, (k) 117. Drew, Charles W. , Colonel, 162. Dr. Shipley s house, Cedar Creek, 423. Dry Tortugas, Fla. , 45, 155. Dudley, N. A. M. , Colonel, 15, 23, 39, 83, 130, 168, 179, 180, 252, 288, 296, 297, 302, 304, 306, 328, 440, 441 ; at Plains Store, 161, 162, 194. Duffie, A. N. , Colonel, 359. Duganne, A. J. H. , Lieutenant-Colo nel, 242. INDEX. Duncan, J. K. , Brigadier-General (C), 10, 15. Duryea, Richard C. , Captain, 126, 171, 188, 191, 194, 210, 221, 232, 267, 280. Duval, H. F. , Colonel, 390, 391. Dwight, Charles C. , Colonel, 281. Dwight, Howard, Captain, murdered, 145, 146. Dwight, Wilder, Major, 145. Dwight, William, Jr. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 57, 102, 105, 107, 108, no, 113, 114, 117, 124, 128, 130 132 ; summary execution, 134 ; to Red River, 144-147, 149 ; bears despatches to Grant, 157, 158, 183, 184 ; at Port Hudson, 166 ; first assault, 169, 171, 172 ; commands Sherman s division, 187, 188 ; his brigade falls to Morgan, 188 ; sec ond assault, 194, 199, 200, 215, 230, 232, 281, 309, 310, 315, 319, 320 ; chief of staff, 327, 358, 376, 380-382, 387-390, 393, 394, 398, 414, 415, 432, 434, 436, 442-445. Early, Jubal A. , Lieutenant-General (Q, 352, 355-364, 369, 371-380, 385, 386, 389-392, 394-398, 400-406; explains pretended Longstreet mes sage, 407-412, 416, 417, 419, 420, 423-425, 427, 432-434, 438, 440, 441- Eastport, 286, 291, 326, 327, 334. Edenburg, Va. , 399. Ellen (C), transport, 127. Ellet, Alfred W. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 24, 29. Ellet, Charles, Jr. , Colonel, 24. Ellet, Charles R. , Medical Cadet, 24, 29 ; Colonel, 75, 292. Ellet s rams, 24, 29, 75, 76. Ellis s Cliffs, Miss. , 22. Emerson, Charles, Lieutenant, 248. Emerson, Charles S. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 341. Emerson, Frank, Colonel, 298-301, 304- Emerson, William, Colonel, 425, 426, 431. Emory, William H. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 56, 57, 66, 77, 86, 87 ; in Teche campaign, 88-93 ; at Bis- land, 92, 93, 95-102, 104, 115, 116, 119 ; in pursuit, 122, 125, 126, 130 ; illness, 144 ; Paine takes his division, 144 ; commands at New Orleans, 159, 203, 233, 237, 238, 246, 248- 250, 259, 260, 267, 272, 273, 281, 289, 292, 294, 296, 297, 299, 305, 307-311, 315, 317, 320, 321, 323, 327-333 ; commands Nineteenth Corps, 343-345, 348, 35O, 351, 353, 354. Major-General : on the Poto mac, 355-365 ; in the Shenandoah, 37i, 372, 374-376, 379-394, 397- 401, 403, 404, 406, 411, 414-427, 431-437, 439-441 I bids farewell to the Corps, 442, 443. Entrenchments at every halt, 376. Entwistle, James, Captain, 399. Erben, Henry, Lieutenant, U. S. N. 36. Ericsson, transport, 59. Essex, U. S. S. , 36, 39, 79, 165, 186, 248. Estrella, 46, 48, 73, 88, 89, 104, 121, 126, 148, 154, 165, 255. Evans, C. A. , Brigadier-General (C), 383, 433- Everett, Charles, Captain, 16, 23, 26, 27. Execution, summary, 134, 247. Fairchild, Sydney Smith, Lieutenant, 342. False River, 83. Faries, T. A. , Captain, 243, 247, 248. Farragut, D. G. , Admiral, 5, 9, 12, 13 ; passage of the forts, 13, 14 ; takes New Orleans, 14-16 ; first attempt on Vicksburg, 17-22, 24- 32 ; runs batteries at Vicksburg, 26 ; asks Halleck to help, 27 ; passes Port Hudson, 76-85, 126, 130, 135, 136, 152, 165, 182, 229, 230, 243, 248, 249", 257, 264. Fearing, Hawkes, Jr. , Colonel, 169, 191, 196, 203. Ferris, Samuel P. , Colonel, 196. Fessenden, Francis, Colonel, 318, 328, 331, 332. Fessenden, James D. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 442. Fighting line, the, at Cedar Creek, 428, 436, 437. Fisher s Hill, Va, 373, 374, 395 battle of, 396-400. Fiske, E. A. , Captain, 30. Fiske, George A. , Jr. , Lieutenant, 177. Fiske, W. O. Lieutenant-Colonel. 105, 328, 331. Flags for corps headquarters, 103, 440. Florida (C), 57, 58. Florida, West, District of, 44. Fonda, John G. , Colonel, 277, 288. "Foothold in Texas, a, " 264-276, 280, 282, 283, 348. Forlorn Hope, Port Hudson, 212, 213, 232. INDEX. 515 Forrest, N. B. , General (C), 69. Forsyth, George A. , Major, 431. Fort Babcock, La. , 171, 175. Fort Bisland, La. , 86, 92-103. Fort Burton, La. , 126. Fort Butler, La. , 237, 238, 242-246. Fort DeRussy, 75, 148, 284, 286, 287, 289, 342, 343. Fort Esperanza, Tex. , 276. Fort Griffin, Tex. , 272. Fort Hindman, 295, 339. Fort Jackson, La. , 6, 7, 10-15, 259. Fort Jefferson, Fla. , 155, 259. Fort Pickens, 44. Fort Pike, 16. Fort Pillow, Tenn. , 20, 24, 27. Fortress Monroe, Va. , 56. "Fort Slaughter, " Va. , 361. Fort Stevens, D. C. , 356, 357. Fort St. Philip, La. , 6, 7, 10-15. Fort Taylor, Fla. , 155, 259. Fort Wood, 1 6. Foster, James P. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 398. Fournet, V. A. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 97, 157- France in Mexico, 265, 266. Franklin, George M. , Captain, 281. Franklin, La. , 102, 104, 107, 109, no, 113-116, 120, 278-281. Franklin, William B. , Major-General, 259, 260, 262, 267-269, 271, 273- 2 75, 2 77- 2 79 281, 288, 289, 294, 295, 297-300, 303, 305, 307, 311, 3i6, 330, 338, 343, 366. Frederick, Md. , 363, 364. Free men of color of Louisiana, 49. French, Peter, Major, 439. Frenier, La. , 17, 18. Fuller, E. W. , Captain (C), 121. Gabaudan, E. C. , Rear- Admiral s Secretary, 135. Gallway, A. P. , Major, 125, 126. Galveston, T. , 58 ; abortive attempt on, 62-65, 276. Gardiner, Alexander, Colonel, 394. Gardner, Frank, Major-General (C), 62, 82, 163-165, 170, 185, 194, 227-229, 231, 232, 234. General Banks, transport, 270. Gene see, 79, 81, 165. Georgia Landing, La. , battle of, 46, 47- Georgia, service in, 445-447. Getty, George W. , Brigadier-General, 357, 358, 381, 382, 415, 419, 422- 426, 430, 431, 433. Gillmore, Quincy A. , Major-General, 358. Godfrey, J. F. , Captain, 50, 161, 190. 41 Go in ! " 377. Gonzales, Thomas, Captain, 243. Gooding, O. P. , Colonel, 95, 97, 100, 102, 124, 126, 169, 196, 273, 296, 312, 316, 328-330. Gordon, John B. , Major-General (C), 378-380, 383, 384, 386, 387, 391, 410-412, 416, 417, 420, 421, 423, 424, 427, 432-434- Gordonsville, Va. , 403, 405, 406, 438, 442. Gould, John M. , Major, 394. Graham, Harvey, Colonel, 446. Grand Coteau, La. , 126. Grand Duke (C), 121. Grand Ecore, La. , 295 ; retreat to, 313, 314, 323-326 ; retreat from, 326-334. Grand Gulf, Miss. , 21, 23, 138, 141, 150. Grand Lake, La. , 86, 104, 105, 121. Grand Review, 444, 445. Grand River, La. , 87. Granger, Moses M. , Colonel, 426. Granite City, 268-272. Grant, Lewis A. , Brigadier-General, 422, 423, 425. Grant, U. S. , Major-General, 54, 61, 6871, 75 ; correspondence with Banks, 84, 135-142, 157, 158, 183, 184 ; communication between Banks and, 129, 130, 135-142, 144, 149- 151, 157, 158 ; censured by Halleck, 150, 151 ; letter from Halleck, 183 ; first assault at Vicksburg, 184, 205 ; second, 205 ; Vicksburg surrenders, 225, 226, 228, 236, 258, 265 ; Lieutenant-General, 283, 293, 294, 313, 326, 334, 342, 347, 351, 352, 355-357, 36o, 362-366, 369-373, 376-378, 403, 405, 406, 438, 441, 444. Gray, Henry, Colonel (C), 99, 112, 117, 288. Green, Thomas, Colonel (C), 63, 99, 101, 109, 114, 115, 124, 125, 157, 239-243, 245, 246, 251-253, 273, 275, 277, 278 ; Brigadier-General, 290, 296, 297, 299-301, 306, 315, 318, 324-326. Gregg, John, Brigadier-General (C), 164. Grierson, B. H. , Colonel, arrives at Baton Rouge, 143 ; raid, 143, 144 ; at Plains Store, 161, 162 ; Brigadier- General, at Port Hudson, 160-162, 186, 189-191, 215. Grover, Cuvier, Brigadier-General, 57, 61, 66, 77 ; in Teche campaign, 88- S i6 INDEX. 93, 100, 101 ; at Irish Bend, 104- 120 ; in pursuit, 122-125, I2 9 J inarch to Red River, 144, 148 ; to Port Hudson, 152, 153, 159, 160, 166 ; first assault, 168, 169, 171, 172, 174, 175, 187 ; commands right wing, second assault, 194, 196- 199, 229, 232 ; at Kock s planta tion, 251-254, 256, 259, 260, 273, 277, 281, 289, 292, 327, 349, 350, 353 ; at the Opequon, 365, 375, 381, 383, 384, 387, 389, 390, 393, 398, 414, 417, 418, 421, 423, 432, 436, 442, 445-447. Grow, John A. , Captain, 238, 239, 315. Gulf, Department of the, organiza tion, 7, 8, 66, 67 ; extended, 44 ; reinforcements for, 45, 49-51, 56, 5-7, 280 ; sickness, 50 ; strength, 50, 51, 67, 158, 258, 259, 261, 266, 267, 292. Haley, E. D. , Lieutenant, 92, 171, 421. Halleck, H. W. , Major-General, 19, 20, 26 ; unable to help, 27 ; prom ises reinforcements, 51, 82 ; cor respondence with Grant, 139; with Banks, 139 ; censures Grant and Banks, 150, 151 ; congratulation, 256, 258 ; Mobile and Texas, 264, 265 ; Texas, 264-276, 280, 282, 283 ; Red River, 282, 283, 293, 363, 364, 405. Halleck s army, communication with, 17, 19, 20, 27. Halltown, W. Va. , 363, 365, 366, 371, 373, 374- Hamill, Henry, private, summarily executed, 134. Hamilton, A. J. , military governor, 62-64. Hampton Roads, Va. , 56, 57, 352 Hancock, WinfieldS. , Major-General, 361, 442, 443. Hardeman, W. P. , Colonel (C), 244, 343; Harding, Henry A. , Lieutenant, 219. Harper s Ferry, W. Va. , 363, 365, 366, 371. Harper s Weekly, 368. Harriet Lane, 62, 64, 287. Harrisonburg, La. , 286. Harrisonburg, Va. , 402. Harrison, Isaac F. , Colonel (C), 344. Harrison, N. B. , Lieutenant U. S. N. , 36. Harris, T. M. , Colonel, 410, 416. Hart, afterward Stevens (C), 122. Hartford, 5, 9, 13, 21, 24, 26, 79-84, 136, 138, 165, 225, 226. Harwood, Franklin, Lieutenant, 150, 159- Haskin, William L. , Lieutenant, 345. Hatter as, 58. Hayes, R. B. , Brigadier-General, 359, 414, 415, 418, 419. Headquarters flags, 103, 440. Hebard, G. T. , Captain, 267, 316. Helm, Bernard H. , Brigadier-Gen eral (C), 35, 38. Henderson s Hill, La. , affair of, 290. Hermitage, La. , 83, 165. Herron, Francis J. , Major-General, 258, 273. Hersey, A. J. , Captain, 216. Hesseltine, Frank S. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 276. Hill, R. M. , Lieutenant, 60. Hinkle, W. S. , Captain, 332. Hodge, Justin, Colonel, 219 Hoffman, Wickham, Major, 262. Holabird, S. B. , Colonel, 60, 248. Holcomb, P. E. , Captain, 161, 260, 261. Holcomb, Richard E. , Colonel, 49, 105-107 ; wounded, 182 ; killed, 202. Hollyhock, 241, 254. Holly Springs, Miss. , 69. Holmes, C. E. L. , Colonel, 237, 238. Hotchkiss, Jed, Major (C), 410. Houston, D. C. , Major, 60, 150, 186, 189, 223. Hubbard, John B. , Captain, 89, 90 ; killed, 182. Hubbard, N. H. , Colonel, in. Hubbard, Thomas H. , Colonel, 332 Hudson (Miss. ) Battery (C), 35. Hunter, David, Major-General, 334, 352, 358, 359, 36i, 364-366, 371. Hunter, Sherrod, Major (C), 240, 241. Hunt, T. H. , Colonel (C), 38. Hupp s Hill, Va. , 405, 406, 416, 417. Hutchens, John B. , 341. Iberia, La. (see New Iberia). Iberville, transport, 247. Illinois, Chicago Mercantile battery (Cone s), 304, 306. 2d cavalry, 302. 6th cavalry, 143, 189, 190. 7th cavalry, 143, 189, 191, 222. 1 2th cavalry, 280. N8th, 276. Imperial, transport, 256. Indiana, 8th, 350, 446. Nth, 350; at Opequon, 386, 398, 401. INDEX. 517 Indiana, i6th, 316. I 8th, 446. 2ist, 6, 15, 22 ; at Baton Rouge, 36-38, 43, 44, 67, 73 (see also \st Indiana Heavy Artillery). 46th, 278. 6oth, 277. Ist heavy artillery, 67, 78, 89 ; at Bisland, 96, 99 ; at Port Hudson, 186, 211, 212 ; at Brashear, 237, 238, 240, 332 (see also 2, 1st Indiana Infantry). Ist battery (Klauss s), 304, 306. I yth battery (Miner s), 365, 421. 22d battery, 446. Brown s battery, 36, 43. Indian Bend, La. , 87, 104-120. Indianola, ram, 75 ; sunk and cap tured, 76, 287. Indian Village, La. , 87. Ingraham, Timothy, Colonel, 92 ; at Bisland, 98, 101, 102 ; in pursuit, 125, 126, 186, 196. Inwood, Henry C. , Captain, 281, 354, 439- Iowa, I4th, 318. 22d, 350 ; at Opequon, 385 ; at Cedar Creek, 418. 24th, 350, 446. 28th, 350; at Fisher s Hill, 399, 446. Irish Bend, battle of, 104-120. Iroquois, 13, 21, 25, 26. Irwin, Richard B. , Lieutenant-Colo nel, 60, 180, 195, 228, 229. Itasca, 13, 14, 46. Ivy, tugboat, 144. Jackson, C. M. , Major (C), 234. Jackson, Miss. , 7. Jackson, " Stonewall, " Lieutenant- General (C), 369. Jeannerette, La. , 116, 122. Jenkins, Thornton A. , Captain, U. S. N. , 247, 248. Johnson, Amos, Acting Master, 62, 268. Johnson, Bradley T. , Brigadier-Gen eral (C), 362. Johnson, E. D. , Colonel, 211. Johnston, Joseph E. , General (C), 165, 215, 234. Jones, E. F. , Colonel, 15. Katahdin, 13, 36, 39, 46. Kearneysville, Va. , 375, 376. Keifer, J. Warren, Colonel, 384, 415, 419, 422, 423, 425-427. Keith, John A. , Colonel, 36. Kell, J. M. , Lieutenant, C. S. N. , 58. Kenly, John R. , Brigadier-General, 360. Kennebec, 13, 14. Kenner, La. , 17, 18. Kensel, G. A. , Captain, 8. Kentucky, igth (U), 301. Cobb s battery, 35. Troops (C), 3d, 35. Kernstown, Va. , Crook s fight, 361 ; winter quarters, 440, 441. Kershaw, J. B. , Major-General (C), 373, 374, 378, 402, 404, 406, 411, 416-420, 423, 424, 427, 432, 434, 441. Key West, Fla. , 44, 45 ; transferred to Department of the Gulf, 155, 258. Kimball, John W. , Colonel, 124. Kimball, W. K. , Colonel, 108, no, 114, 125, 126, 187, 198. Kineo, 13, 21, 36, 39, 46, 79-81, 243, 245, 248. Kinsey, W. B. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 309, 341. Kinsman, 46, 48, 73. Kitching, J. Howard, Colonel, 416, 419, 436. Klauss, Martin, Captain, 304, 306. Knowlton, William, Major, 394. Koch s plantation, La. , 251-253. Kock s plantation, La. , 251-253. Labadieville, La. , 46. Lafayette, 144, 148. La Fayette, La. (see Vermilionville). La Fourche Crossing, La. , 47 ; affair, 238, 239, 242. La Fourche, District of, 48, 49. La Fourche, occupied, 45-50 ; opera tions in, 85 ; Taylor s raid, 213- 215, 229, 235-255. La Grange, Miss. , 143. Lake Chicot, La. , 87, 121. Lamson, C. W. , Acting Master, 268. Lancaster, Ellet ram, 29. Landram, W. J. , Colonel, 288, 298, 299, 301, 304, 305, 311. Lane, W. P. , Colonel (C), 243, 297, 343- Langthorne, Amos R. , Lieutenant, U. S. N. , 341. Laurel Hill, transport, 21, 272. Lawler, M. K. , Brigadier- General, 258, 274, 277, 342-345, 348, 350. Law, R. L. , Commander, 62. Lawson s Ferry, La. , 149. Lee, Albert L. , Brigadier-General 258, 280, 288-290, 292, 294-299, 301-303, 308, 310-312, 314, 351. INDEX. Lee, Fitzhugh, Major-Gen eral (C), 373, 375-377, 387, 39 1, 394, 400. Lee, Robert E. , General (C), 367, 368, 372, 376, 377, 402, 404, 441, 443- Lee, S. Phillips, Commander, U. S. N. , 18. Lewis, Charles, Major, 398. Lexington, 295, 326, 339. Liddell, St. John R. , Brigadier-Gen eral (C), 325, 326. Lieber, G. N. , Major, 60. Lincoln, Abraham, 52, 53, 56, 249, 294, 443- Little Rock, Ark. , 284, 292. Livingston, Confederate gunboat, 29. Locke, M. B. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 159. Lockwood, H. H. , Brigadier-General, 5- Logan, John L. , Colonel (C), 189- 191, 215, 216. Loggy Bayou, La. , 324. Lomax, L. L. , Major-General (C), 382, 383, 399, 400, 402, 412, 422, 432, 436. Longstreet, James, Lieutenant-Gen- eral (C), pretended message from, 407, 408, 422, 430, 432. Louisiana (C), 10, 14. Louisiana, Northern, operations in, 236. Louisiana troops (U), 1st infantry, 49, 73 ; at Irish Bend, 105-107, 114, 117 ; at Port Hudson, 182, 202, 247 ; at Cane River, 328, 331. 2d infantry, 44, 49, 83 ; at Port Hudson, 180, 187, 232 ; mounted, 280. Ist cavalry, 45, 49, 73 ; at Irish Bend, 107, no, 154 ; at Port Hudson, 161, 189, 190, 238, 252. Louisiana Native Guards (U), ist, 48, 49 ; at Port Hudson, 162, 166, 172- 174, 213- 2d, 49. 3d, 49, 78 ; at Port Hudson, 162, 166, 172-174, 213. 4th, 162. Ist engineers, 219, 261, 275. 2d, 261. Ist heavy artillery, 261. Louisiana troops (C), 4th, 35, 38, 233. I8th, 46, 97. 28th, 99, 112. 33d, 46. Clack s battalion, 109, 110, 113. Fournet s (loth) battalion, 97, 157- Miles s Legion, 161, 162. 173- 166. Louisiana Crescent regiment, 46. La Fourche regiment, 47. St. Charles regiment, 47. St. John Baptist regiment, 47. Terre Bonne regiment, 46. Boone s battery, 161, 162. - Cornay s battery, 102, 105, 106, 109, in, 113, 247. Edgar s battery, 290. Faries s battery, 247, 248. Ralston s battery, 46. Semmes s battery, 35, 36, 99, 247. Heavy artillery, I2th battalion, 2d cavalry, 46, 105-109, 290. Wingfield s (gth) battalion, Scott s cavalry, 35. Louisiana, Western, early operations in, 44, 46, 48, 72. Love, George M. , Colonel, 267. Lovell, Mansfield, Major-General (C), 10, 16, 19, 25. Lowell, Charles Russell, Colonel, 402, 436- Lucas, Thomas J. , Colonel, 290, 296, 297, 299, 301, 303, 306, 316, 328. Lull, Oliver W. , Lieutenant-Colonel, killed, 182, 203. Luray Valley, Va. , 370, 397, 400, 401, 412. Lynch, W. F. , Colonel, 287, 319, 320. Lynn, J. W. , Captain, killed, 30. Lyon, David, Lieutenant, 281. McCausland, John, Brigadier-General (C), 262-367. McClellan, George B. , Major-General, 3, 6, 7, 17- McClernand, John A. , Major-Gen eral, 54, 6p, 68-71; 138, 342, 343. McClernand s expedition, 54, 60, 68 71. McCollin, A. W. , Sergeant, 161. McCrea(C), 14. McGinnis, George F. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 273, 277. McKennon, A. S. , Lieutenant (C), 221. McKerrall s plantation, La. , 109, no. McMillan, J. W. , Colonel, 99 ; Briga dier-General, 260, 266, 273, 281, 309, 310, 315, 320, 328, 331, 333, 343, 350, 36o, 381, 382, 388, 394, 398, 415, 417, 423, 432-434, 442. McPherson, James B. , Major-General, 138, 205, 292. McWilliams s plantation, La. , Dun can, 107. INDEX. 519 Macauley, Daniel, Colonel, 398, 401, 414, 417, 421. Mack, Albert G. , Captain, 78, 98. Madisonville, La. , occupied, 281. Magee, James M. , Captain, 83. Magee s Point, La. , 105. Magruder, J. B. , Major-General, 63, 149, 235, 266, 275. Maine, I2th, 44 ; at Irish Bend, 114 ; at Port Hudson, 172, 232. I3th, in Texas, 275, 276, 337. I4th, at Baton Rouge, 36-38, 43 ; at Port Hudson, 177, 199, 213, 232. 1 5th, 8 ; in Texas, 275, 276 ; in Virginia, 360. 2ist, at Port Hudson, 179, 180, 211, 221, 257. 22d, at Irish Bend, 107, 114, 127, 155 ; at Port Hudson, 187, 192, 257. 24th, at Port Hudson, 177, 257. 26th, at Irish Bend, in, 112, 114, 155 ; at Port Hudson, 187 ; at La Fourche Crossing, 238, 257. 28th, at Port Hudson, 214, 238 ; at Donaldsonville, 242-247 ; murder, 246 ; execution, 247. 2gth, 280 ; at Sabine Cross- Roads, 309 ; at Pleasant Hill, 319 ; dam, 341, 357 ; Opequon, 382, 394, 441. 30th, 280 ; at Pleasant Hill, 318 ; at Cane River, 331, 332. Ist battery, 45, 73 ; at Bisland, 92, 95, 98, 102, 127 ; at Port Hud son, 171, 252, 253, 267, 365 ; at Opequon, 385, 395 ; at Cedar Creek, 421. Major, James P. , Brigadier-General (C), 236, 237, 239, 242, 243, 251, 297, 302, 303, 317, 319, 329, 330, 343, 344- Manning, Charles H. , Captain, 15. Mansfield, La. , 298-312. Mansura, La. , affair on the plains of, 344, 345- Marauding, 132. March, disorders on the, 133. Marksville, La. , affair near, 344. Marland, Edward, Lieutenant, 277, A. . Q - /O. Martinsburg, W. Va. , 366, 378. Maryland, brigade (U), Kenly s, 360. (U), 3d cavalry, 280. Picnic into, 368. Mary T. (C), 121. Massachusetts, 4th, at Bisland, 101 ; after, 127 ; at Port Hudson, 186, 196, 257. Massachusetts, 26th, 15 ; at La Fourche Crossing, 238, 239 ; re-enlisted vet erans, 280 ; at Opequon, 394. 3Oth, 15, 16, 22, 30 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 37 ; at Port Hudson, 194, 353, 357 J Opequon, 382, 390. 3ist, 15, 16 ; at Bisland, at Port Hudson, 196, 197 ; mounted, 281, 302. 38th, 77 ; at Bisland, 98, 102 ; at Port Hudson, 196, 197, 232 ; at Cane River, 327, 328, 331 ; at Opequon, 390. 4 ist, 77, 155 ; mounted, as 3d cavalry, 186, 187. 42d, at Galveston, 62-65 ; pontonier detachment, 219 ; at La Fourche Crossing, 238 ; at Brashear, 241, 249. 47th, 238. 48th, at Plains Store, 162 ; at Port Hudson, 180, 194. 49th, at Plains Store, 162 ; at Port Hudson, 180. 50th, at Port Hudson, 194, 257. 52d, 155 ; at Port Hudson, 187, 191, 257. 53d, at Bisland, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 196. 2cl battery (Nims), 6, 8, 22, 23, 26 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 37 ; at Irish Bend, no, 124, 132, 155 ; at Port Hudson, 171, 190, 251 ; at Bayou Bourbeau, 277, 278, 280, 302. 4th battery (Manning, Trull), 16 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 37, 267. 6th battery (Everett, Carruth), 16, 17, 21-23, 26 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 45, 73 ; at Bisland, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 161, 171, 237, 252, 253. 7th battery (Storer), 280. Cavalry, 2d battalion, 16, 22, 45, 83 ; merged in 3d, 186, 190. Cavalry, 3d, formerly 4ist in fantry, 1 86, 189, 190, 260, 302 ; dismounted : at Opequon, 386 ; at Cedar Creek, 418. Massanutten Mountains, Va. , 369, 396. Matagorda, Texas, 276. Matthews, Oliver, Lieutenant, 105. Maxey, S. B. , Brigadier-General (C), 164, 165. Meade, George G. , Major-General, 366, 444- Meade s plantation, Madame, 86, 94. Memphis taken, 24, 25. Merritt, Robert B. , Colonel, 260, 267. Merritt, Wesley, Brigadier-General, 375, 379. 390, 39*. 4O2, 406-409, 415, 423, 425, 431, 432, 436. 520 INDEX. Merry, Benj. G. , Major, 221. Mexico, France in, 265, 266. Miami, 25. Michigan, 6th, 6, 16, 17, 21, 22 ; at Baton Rouge, 36-38, 73 ; at Port Hudson, 177, 188, 199, 232 ; be comes 1st Michigan heavy artillery, 260. 1st heavy artillery (previously 6th Michigan infantry), 260. Middle Military Division, 366, 442. Middletown, Va. , 421-425. Mieres, , private (C) 221. Miles, W. R. , Colonel (C), 161, 162, 230. Military Division of West Mississippi, 347. Military telegraphs, 138. Miller s Point, La. , 105. Milliken s Bend affair, 236. Miner, M. L. , Captain, 365. Mississippi, 13, 15, 79-81. Transport, 353, 357. Mississippi, opening the, 3-31, 52-255. Troops (C), 39th, 173. Hudson s battery, 35. Missouri troops (U), 24th, 318, 319. 6th cavalry, 301, 306, 316. Division (C) (see Parsons], Mobile, Ala. , 7, 44, 264, 265, 267, 282, 293, 313, 351, 352, 354- Molineux, E. L. , Colonel, Hi (w), 112, 117, 262, 289, 350, 361, 365, 381, 384-386, 389, 390, 393, 398, 400, 401, 414, 417, 418, 420, 421, 432, 434, 446. Monarch, ram, 24, 29. Monett s Ferry, La. , 295 ; crossing and battle, 328-333. Monongahela, 79-81, 165, 248, 249. Moore, F. W. , Colonel, 350. Moore s cavalry brigade, 408. Moore, Thomas, O. , Governor, en rolls colored troops, 49, 147. Moore, Webster P. , Colonel, 203. Moreauville, La. , affair at, 345. Morgan, Joseph S. , Colonel, 155-157, 188, 192, 198, 251-253. Morgan, Morgan, Jr. , Major, 239. Morganza, La. , 83, 348, 351. Mortar boats, 9, 12, 22, 25, 27, 79, 165, 182. Mound City, 341. Mount Crawford, Va. , 403. Mounted infantry, 280. Mount Jackson, Va. , 401. Mouton, Alfred, Brigadier-General (C), 46-48, 86, 87, 97, 114, 115, 128, 129, 131, 156, 235, 240, 242, 245, 273, 275, 287, 288, 300, 302-304, 311. Mower, Joseph A. , Brigadier-General, 285, 287, 290, 315-320, 323, 324, 328, 344-347- Mudd, John J. , Colonel, 258, 277. Murch, Isaac, Lieutenant, 245. Mustang Island, Texas, 276, Napoleon III. , schemes of, 265, 266. Natchez, Miss. , 18, 22 ; occupied, 258. Natchitoches, La. , 295. Navy (C), 10, 14. Navy Department, 3, 6, 22. Navy, U. S. , at New Orleans, 3, 5, 7, 9, 17, 20 ; occupies Pensacola Har bor, 45 ; at Vicksburg, 24, 31, 75 ; at Baton Rouge, 36-39, 61 ; La Fourche, 46-48 ; Galveston, 62-65 ; Cotton (C), 73, 74 ; below Vicks burg, 75, 76 ; passage of Port Hud son, 76-84 ; Teche, 88-91, 100 ; Grand Lake, 104, 105, 121, 122, 126, 128 ; Red River, 144, 148, 149, 152, 154 ; holds Baton Rouge, 162 ; siege of Port Hudson, 165, 182, 186, 189, 192, 2ii, 230, 232 ; La Fourche raid, 214, 229 ; Brashear, 241, 254, 255 ; Donald- sonville, 243-245 ; below Donald- sonville, 247-249 ; at Sabine Pass, 267-272 ; in Red River, 283-289, 291, 295, 312, 324-327, 334 ; peril and rescue, 337~34i, 343, 345- Neafie, Alfred, Lieutenant-Colonel, 390, 421, 432. Neal, Edward B. , Captain, 242. Negroes, arming the, 43, 49 ; treat ment of, 40, 43. Nelson, John A. , Colonel, 162, 166, 172, 173. Neos ho, 295, 339. Neptune (C), 64. Nerson s Woods, La. , 109, no; bat tle of (C), 104-120. New Falls City, transport (C), 325. New Hampshire, 8th, 16, 43-45, 73 ; at Bisland, 95, 96, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 196, 197, 202, 203, 232 ; mounted, 280, 302. I4th, 280 ; at Opequon, 394. 1 5th, at Port Hudson, 177, 200. I6th, 126, 127, 186, 187, 257. New Iberia, La. , 86, 109, 115, 122- 124, 144, 276. New London, 248. New Market, Va. , 397, 401. New Orleans, importance of, 3-5 ; capture of, 3-16 ; Confederate plans for recapture, 33, 44, 46, 249, 250; defences of, 159, 237, 249, 250. INDEX. 521 Newtown, Va. , 412. New York, 6th, at Santa Rosa Island, 45 ; at Irish Bend, 105, 107, 114; joins Paine, 153 ; mustered out, 158. 75th, 45, 73, 74 ; at Bisland, 98, 99, 147 ; at Port Hudson, 170, 175, 198, 232, 268, 269, 271 ; mounted, 280 ; dismounted : at Opequon, 394. Goth, 155, 156 ; at Port Hud son, 187, 353, 357- gist, at Irish Bend, 114 ; at Port Hudson, 191, 198. Noth, at Bisland, 101, 157 ; at Port Hudson, 160, 165, 237. Ii4th, 73 ; at Bisland, 98, 99, 155-157 ; at Port Hudson, 1 86, 198, 202 ; at Pleasant Hill, 319, 353, 357 ; Opequon, 381, 387, 388, 390, 394 ; at Cedar Creek, 420, 421, 435, 445- n6th, 77 ; at Plains Store, 162 ; at Port Hudson, 180, 228, 232 ; at Pleasant Hill, 319 ; at Cane River, 332, 333, 353, 357 ; Opequon, 381, 390, 445. 1 28th, at Port Hudson, 177, 199, 200 ; at Cane River, 328, 329, 331 ; at Fisher s Hill, 398, 446. 1 3 ist, at Irish Bend, 114 ; shooting of Hamill, 134, 159; at Port Hudson, 192, 214 ; at Opequon, I3i, 385, 386, 390. I33d, at Bisland, 95, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 197, 203 ; dam, 341, 445- I53d, 280, 310 ; at Pleasant Hill, 319, 353 ; Opequon, 381, 382, 388, 390 ; at Cedar Creek, 420, 421. I56th, at Cedar Creek, 421. I59th, at Irish Bend, 107, in, 112, 114, 117 ; at Port Hudson, 170 ; at Opequon, 385. I6oth, 73 ; at Bisland, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 170, 198, 213 ; Ope quon, 382, 388, 390. I6ist, at Port Hudson, 194, 268 ; at Sabine Cross-Roads, 309 ; at Pleasant Hill, 319 ; dam, 341. I62d, at Bisland, 101, 127 ; at Port Hudson, 160, 165, 188 ; at Cane River, 331, 332. 165, at Port Hudson, 177 ; at Cane River, 331, 332. I73d, 78 ; at Bisland, 95, 98 ; in pursuit, 125, 159; at Pleasant Hill, 318 ; at Cane River, 331, 332. 1 74th, 83 ; at Port Hudson, 194. New York, I75th, 78 ; at Bisland, 92, 95, 98, 127 ; at Port Hudson, 188. 1 76th, at La Fourche Crossing, 237-239 ; at Brashear, 240, 241 ; at Bayou Ramos and Bayou Boeuf, 241, 242, 258 ; at Opequon, 386 ; at Fisher s Hill, 398, 399 ; at Cedar Creek, 421. 1 77th, at Port Hudson, 177. New York artillery, 5th battery (Taft), 365, 398, 421. 1 8th battery (Mack), 78 ; at Bisland, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 161. 2 ist battery (Barnes), 260. 25th battery (Grow), 238, 239, 315, 319, 332. New York cavalry, 2d veteran, 280, 333- nth, 280. I4th, 189, 260, 277, 316, 324. I8th, 280. Nichols, William H. , Captain (C), 156, 247. Nickerson, F. S. , Brigadier-General, 159, 177-179, 187, 188, 200, 260, 266, 281, 289, 327. Nields, Benjamin, Captain, 280. Nims, Ormand F. , Captain, 23, 26, 27, 37, no, 124, 132, 154, 171, 190, 196, 251, 277, 278, 280, 301, 304- 306. Nine months regiments, 56, 257, 258. Nineteenth Army Corps, organized, 66, 67 ; flags, 103 ; strength, 158, 274, 292 ; reorganized, 258-260 ; marches to Opelousas, 273-275 ; winters at Franklin, La. , 277-281 ; veteran re-enlistments, 279, 280 ; new regiments, 280 ; second reor ganization, 281 ; staff, 281 ; Emory commands, 343 ; as marine patrol or coast guard, 349 ; third reorgan ization, 349-350 ; 3d division, Lawler, 350, 351, 353, 354; Butler asks for, 352 ; to the James, 351- 354 ; staff, 354 ; the Potomac, 355- 365 ; the Shenandoah, 365-443 ; strength, 362, 365 ; remnant in Louisiana broken up, 439 ; new corps staff, 439 ; badge, 440; new flags, 440 ; last man wounded, 441 ; corps organization discontinued, 442 ; breaking up, 445-447. Noblett, F. W. , Captain, 237. Norris, Hardman P. , Lieutenant, 125. North Carolina, service in, 445, 446. Northern Column, communication with, 17, 19, 20, 27, 68-71 ; col lapses, 68-71. 522 INDEX. North Star, transport, 59. Nott, Charles C. , Colonel, 237. Oak Lawn, La. , 105, 107, 109, 120. O Brien, James, Lieutenant-Colonel, leads stormers, 180 ; killed, 182, 230. Octorara, 25, 27. Odium, Frederick H. , Captain (C), 272. Ohio, s6th, 343. G6th, 277. 1 20th, 343. Ist artillery, battery L, 358, 365- 1 7th battery, 277. Old Forge road, Cedar Creek, 423- 425 ; line of battle on, 423-425, 427. Oltman, J. G. , Captain, 281. Oneida, 13, 18, 20, 25. Opelousas, La. , 86, 121-135, I 4 I J 44- Opequon, battle of the, 378-395. Opequon Creek, Va. , 370, 371, 378, 380. Ord, E. O. C. , Major-General, 273- 276. Osage, 295, 326, 339. Owasco, 62, 64. Page Valley, Va. , 370. Paincourtville, La. , fight near, 251- 253- Paine, Charles J. , Colonel, 49, 83, 187, 188, 194, 227, 228, 252 ; com mands Emory s division, 144 ; near Alexandria, 148 ; march to Port Hudson, 152, 153, 159, 160, 166 ; first assault, 169-171, 174, 186-188 ; expedition to Clinton, 191 ; leads second assault, 196-198 ; wounded, 197 ; Brigadier-General, 201 ; loses leg, 201 ; character, 201, 203, 232. Paine, Halbert E. , Colonel, 16, 23, 24, 40 ; character, 40 ; commands at Baton Rouge, 40-42 ; commands reserve brigade, 43 ; commands ist brigade, Sherman s division, 43 ; at Bisland, 92, 93, 95-98, 100-102 ; in pursuit, 125, 126, 130, 131. Palfrey, John C. , Captain, 223, 224, 337- Palmer, James S. , Commander, 21 ; Commodore, 138, 152, 165, 225, 243- Parker, J. W. , private (C), 221. Parmele, T. W. , Colonel, 83. Parrott, E. G. , Commander, 57. Parsons, M. M. , Brigadier-General (C), 300, 302, 314, 315, 317, 319, 320. Pass Manchac, 17, 18. Pattersonville, La. , 91. Payne s cavalry brigade (C), 412. Pearsall, Uri B. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 34L Peck, Frank H. S Lieutenant-Colonel, 170, 255, 389, 394. Pegram, John, Brigadier-General (C), 411, 424, 427. Pemberton, J. C. , Lieutenant-General (C), 144, 164, 165. Pennsylvania, 47th, 155, 357 ; Ope quon, 382, 388, 390. Pensacola, 13, 243. Pensacola, 7, 44 ; occupied, 45. Perkins, Solon A. , Lieutenant, 45, 90, 125 ; killed, 190, 191. Per Lee, S. R. , Colonel, 155, 387, 388. Perry, C. E. , private, 18. Petersburg, Va. , 360, 361, 365. Petersen, J. L. , Acting Master, 89. Petit Anse, La. , 123. Phelps, John F. , Lieutenant, 252. Phelps, J. W. , Brigadier-General, 9, 12, 15 ; commands division, 43 ; resigns, 43. Phelps, S. Ledyard, Lieutenant-Com mander, 286, 287. Phillips, Joseph, Colonel (C), 243. Pigman, William A. , Captain, 263, 305- Pillage, 132. Pinola, 13. Pittsburg^ 144. Plains Store. La. , battle of, 161, 162. Plaquemine, Bayou, La. , 87. Pleasant Hill, La. , 311, 313, 314 ; battle of, 313-322. Point Isabel, Tex. , occupied, 275. Polignac, C. J. , Brigadier-General (C), 288, 315, 316, 320, 329, 344, 346. Polk, Confederate gunboat, 29. Pope, John, Major-General, 20, 27. Porter, D. D. , Commander, 9, 15, 25- 27, 45, 75, 83 ; Admiral, 136, 144, 148, 149, 153, 257, 283, 289, 291, 295, 313, 324-327, 339- Porter, Henry M. , Captain, 37 ; Major, 243. Porter s plantation, Madame, 105, 107-109, 120. Porter, William D. , Commander, U. S. N. , 36. Port Hudson, Confederates occupy and fortify, 41 ; natural strength, 41, 61, 62, 68, 70, 72 ; Farragut passes, 76-84 ; demonstration, 77- 84 ; garrison, 81, 82 ; turning move ment, 85-87, 136, 141 ; final move- INDEX. 523 ment on, 152-160 ; invested, 160, | 163-166 ; assault of May 27th, 166- 183 ; Confederate strength, 163, 164 ; evacuation ordered, 164 ; navy at, 165, 182, 186 ; siege of, 185- 234 ; naval batteries, 186, 211, 232 ; night attack, June loth, 192 ; bom bardment, June f3th, 192; sum moned, 193 ; refused, 194 ; assault of June 1 4th, 194-204 ; neglect of | killed and wounded, 204 ; compared j with Vicksburg, 208 ; siege works, I 210-212, 221-225 ; stormers, 212, | 213 ; surrender, 227-232 ; prisoners taken, 233 ; losses, 233, 234, 260. Port Republic, Va. , 401, 402. Potomac, operations on the, 355-365. Potter, O. O. , Captain, 439. Powell, William H. , Colonel, 402, 407, 408, 421, 432. Powers, S. P. , Colonel (C), 161. Price, 144, 225. Price, Sterling, Major-General (C), 284, 300, 334-336. Prince, Edward, Colonel, 143, 189, 222. Princess Royal, 243-245, 248. Provence, David. Colonel, 220, 221. Pyron, Charles L. , Colonel (C), 156, 239, 242. Queen of the West, ram, 29, 30, 75 ; captured, 75, 76, 88, 104, 121, 122. Rams, Ellet s fleet of, 24, 29. Ramseur, S. D. , Major-General (C), 361, 375, 379, 33o, 382, 385, 39i, 392, 398, 399, 411, 424, 427, 434, Ransom, George M. , Lieutenant-Com mander U. S. N. , 36, 39. Ransom, Thomas E. G. , Brigadier- General, 258, 276, 288, 289, 292, 294, 296-305, 308, 310, 312. Rauch, John H. , Medical Director, 263. Rawles, J. B. , Lieutenant, 83, 161, 162, 212, 260, 261, 280, 301, 306. Read, Abner, Commander, 248. Records, not found, 224. Red Chief, transport (C), captured, 337- Red Hill, Cedar Creek, 423. Red River, blockade of, 33, 81, 84 ; first march to, 142, and back, 152 ; treacherous, 291, 292 ; divides, 294, 295 (see Navy, for operations on). Campaign, first steps, 282- 285 ; opening moves, 285-291 ; the march on Shreveport, 291-298 ; Sabine Cross-Roads, 299-312 ; Pleasant Hill, 313-322 ; the retreat, 323-336 ; the dam, 337~342 ; the end, 342-348. Re-enlisted veterans, 280. Reily, James, Colonel (C), "106, 108, 109, 117. Renshaw, W. B. , Commander, 62. Review, grand, 444, 445. Reynolds, Joseph J. , Major-General, 350, 351- Rhode Island, artillery, ist, battery D (Buckley), 365, 421. Cavalry, 2d battalion, 78, 8*3, 127, 129, 237, 238. 3d cavalry, 280. Rice, C. S. , Captain, 277. Richmond, 13, 25, 61, 79, 165, 186, 211, 225. Richmond, La. , 236. Ricketts, James B. , Major-General, 356, 365, 380-382, 384, 385, 398, 415, 419, 420, 436, 437. " Rienzi, " 429, 430, 444. Rio Grande, mouth of, held, 275. Roberts, Benjamin S. , Brigadier-Gen eral, 350, 353. Roberts, G. T. , Colonel, killed, 37, 39- Robinson, George D. , Colonel, 341. Robinson, Harai, Colonel, 131, 296, 297, 302, 328. Rockfish Gap, Va. , 402, 403. Rodes, R. E. , Major-General (C), 375, 378-380, 383-385, 390, 39 1, 394, 411. Rodgers, J. L, Lieutenant, no, in, 113, 126. Rodman, William L. , Lieutenant- Colonel, killed, 182. Roe, F. A. , Lieutenant U. S. N. , 36. Root, W. H. , Lieutenant, 268. Ross, Benton H. , private, 441. Rosser, Thomas L. , Major-General (C), 404, 409-411, 419, 422, 425, 436, 440, 441. Rottaken, H. H. , Captain, 301, 306. Round Top, signal message from, 407. Rountree, L. C. , Colonel (C), 273. Rowley, W. W. , Captain, 60. Roy, William, Captain, 211. Rude s Hill, Va. , 401. Ruggles, Daniel, Brigadier-General (C), 33, 35, 4i. Russell, David A. , Brigadier-General, 357, 38i, 385, 389- Russell, Edmund H. , Lieutenant, 213. Rust, Albert, Brigadier-General (C), 164. Rust, Henry, Jr. , Colonel, 331, 333. 524 INDEX. Sabine Cross-Roads, La. , 296 ; battle of, 298-312 (Confederate name, Mansjield). Confederate name for the battle of Pleasant Hill, 313-322. Sabine Pass, attempt on, 267-272 ; fails, 270-272. Sachem, 62, 64, 79, 165, 268-272. Sage, Clinton H. , Colonel, 237. Saint Martinville, La. , 87, 122-124. Saint Mary s, 48. Cannoneers (see Louisiana troops (C), Cornay 1 s battery). Transport, 248, 357. Salt works, Avery s, 123, 124. Sanford, Julius, Captain, 240. Sanger, Eugene F. , Medical Director, 281. Santa Rosa Island, Fla. , 44, 45 ; engagement on, 45. Sargent, Charles S. , Lieutenant, 144, 342. Sargent, L. D. , Lieutenant- Colonel, IBS- Savannah, Georgia, 442, 445-447. Saxon, transport, 62. Sciota, 13, 46. Scott, Francis, Private, executed, 247. Scott, Winfield, Lieutenant-General, 3. Scurry, W. R. (C), 63, 287. Seawell, W. B. , Captain (C), 173. Sedgwick, John, Major-General, 206. Seger (C), 48. Selden, Joseph, Lieutenant-Colonel, 200. Semmes, Oliver J. , Captain (C), 99, 101, 114, 115, 242, 247. Semmes, Raphael, Captain, C. S. N. , 58. Sentell, W. H. , Major, 342, 354. Seventeenth Army Corps, detachment of, 285 (and see Smith, T. Kilby). Seward, William H. , 282. Shaffer, J. W. , Colonel, 8. Shannon, D. W. , Colonel (C), 244. Sharpe, Jacob, Colonel, 97, 273, 281, 289, 327, 328, 350, 381, 382, 384- 387, 390. 393, 398, 446. Shaw, W. T. , Colonel, 287, 315, 318- 320. Shelby, W. B. , Colonel (C), 173. Sheldon, Lionel A. , Colonel, 278. Shenandoah, Army of the, 366, 442. Shenandoah Valley, 352, 359-376 ; the Opequon, 377-395 ; Fisher s Hill, 396-409 ; Tom s Brook, 404 ; Cedar Creek, 409-437 ; the end, 438-443 ; devastation, 371, 375, 403, 404, 409. Shepard, E. M. , Ensign, 186, 211. Shepley, George F. , Colonel, 9, 13. Sheridan, Philip H. , Major-General, commands Army of the Shenandoah, 366-442 ; devastation, 371, 375 ; depots, 376 ; entrenchments, 376 ; called to Washington, 405-409 ; correspondence with Wright, 407, 408 ; rejoins his army, 428-432 ; enthusiasm, 431, 432 ; farewell, 444. Sherman, Thomas W. , Brigadier- General, commands division, 43, 66 ; at New Orleans, 77 ; joins Banks at Port Hudson, 159-162 ; siege of Port Hudson, 166 ; first assault, 168, 169, 174, 176-179 ; wounded, 178, 182 ; succeeded by Dwight, 187. Sherman, William T. , Major-General, 68-71, 140, 205, 283-286, 292, 293, 444. Shetucket, transport, 65. Shiloh, battle of, 20, 35, 37. Ship Island, Miss. , 5, 6, 8, 13, 57, 59, 60. Shipley s house, Dr. , Cedar Creek, 423. Shooting of Henry Hamill, 134. Shreveport, La. , 149, 283, 285, 291, 293, 294, 296, 313. Shunk, David, Colonel, 350, 381, 386, 387, 39, 398, 415, 417, 421, 432, 446. Sibley, H. H. , Brigadier-General (C), 63, 86, 87, 115. Sibley, H. R. , Captain, 439. Sickles, Daniel E. , Major-General, 351- Siege operations at Port Hudson, 185-234. Signal, 343. Signal service, 60, 78, 82, 83. Simmesport, La. , 150, 154, 158, 344- 347 ; bridge of steamboats, 346, 347- Sixteenth Army Corps, detachment of, 285 (and see Mower, J. A. }. Sixth Army Corps, 355-367 (and see also Wright, Ricketts, Getty}. Sizer, John M. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 439- Slaves, treatment of, 40, 43. Smith, Abel, Jr. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 179; killed, 182. Smith, Andrew J. , Major-General, 285-290, 292-297, 300, 311-313, 316, 317, 319, 320, 326-330, 333, 334, 344-347- Smith, E. Kirby, Lieutenant-General (C), 148, 149, 156, 235, 236, 266, 284, 294, 301, 302, 320-322, 329, 336, 348. INDEX. 525 Smith, Elisha B. , Colonel, killed, 202. Smith, James, Lieutenant-Colonel, 200 ; Colonel, 328, 331. Smith, Marshall J. , Colonel (C), 230. Smith, Martin L, , Major-General (C), 10, 18, 19, 21, 35. Smith, Thomas B. , Colonel (C), 35. Smith, T. Kilby, Colonel, 226 ; Brig adier-General, 285, 287, 295, 313, 324, 325, 328, 333, 344, 345. " Snicker s Gap War, " 358-360. Snow, W. K. , Lieutenant, 123, 155. Soldier, American, character of, 209, 210. South Carolina, 447. Southworth, Irving D. , Lieutenant, 315, 319- Spear, A. T. , Acting Master, 62. Speed, Frederick, Captain, 343. Speight, A. W. , Colonel (C), 273. Springfield Landing, La. (below Shreveport), 295, 296, 313. Springfield Landing, La. (near Port Hudson), surprised, 216. Stanton, Edwin M. , tells Halleck to help against Vicksburg, 27. Starlight, transport (C), captured, 201, 337- Staunton, Va. , 402, 403, 409. Stearns, Albert, Captain, 214. Steedman, J. G. W. , Colonel (C), 230. Steele, Frederick, Major-General, 283-285, 292, 294, 329, 334-336, 348. Steele, William, Brigadier-General (C), 329, 344. Stein, George W. , Captain, 341. Stephenson s Depot, Va. , 379, 380; winter quarters, 441. Sterling s plantation, affair at, 273. Stevens, previously Hart (C), 122. Stickney, Albert, Lieutenant-Colonel, 238, 239- Stone, Charles P. , Brigadier-General, 219, 220, 228, 229, 246, 262, 274, 289, 303, 305, 327- Stone, W. B. , Colonel, 243. Stormers, Port Hudson, 212, 213, 232. Stragglers at Cedar Creek, 428-430, 436, 437- Straggling, 132. Strain, Alexander, Lieutenant-Colo nel, 382. Strasburg, Va. , 397, 398, 412. Strong, George C. , Major, 8. Suffolk, transport, 269. Sullivan, J. C. , Brigadier-General, 359- Summer quarters, 1863, 256. Summit Point, Va. , 371. Sumter, 36. Swann, Robert P. , Ensign, 186, 211. Switzerland, ram, 144, 154. Sykes, transport, 214. Taft, Alonzo, D. , Captain, 365, 398, 421. Tappan, James C. , Brigadier-General (C), 314, 315, 317, 320. Taylor, Franck, Lieutenant, 246, 315. Taylor, Richard, Major-General (C), commands in Western Louisiana, 44, 46, 48, 72, 73, 89, 94 ; at Bisland, 99, 101 ; Irish Bend, 104- 106, 108, 109, 112-114, 116-119 ; retreat to Red River, 121, 122, 124, 128-130, 146, 148 ; retires on Shreveport, 149 ; raids La Fourche and blockades the river, 214, 215, 229, 233, 235, 236, 242, 247, 249- 251, 254, 255, 266, 274, 275, 284, 288, 290, 296, 300, 302-304, 310, 311, 313-317, 320-323, 325, 329; 342, 345, 346, 348. Teche Campaign, 46, 72, 73, 85-134 ; naval operations, 88, 89. Tennessee, 247, 248. Tennessee, Army of the, 54, 60, 61, 68-71. 2oth (C), 35. Tenney, J. T. , Lieutenant, 130. Tenth Army Corps, 446. Terre Bonne, La. , 47. Terrell, A. W. , Brigadier-General (C), 330. Terry, Alfred H. , Major-General, 446. Terry, Edward, Lieutenant - Com mander U. S. N. , 1 86, 211. "Texas, A Foothold in, " 264-276, 280, 282, 283, 348. Coast occupied, 275, 276 ; evacuated, 342. Included in Department of the Gulf, 55. Texas troops (U), ist cavalry, 62, 267, 275. Texas troops (C), ist Partisan regi ment (Lane s), 155, 243, 244. 2d cavalry (Pyron), 156, 239, 242. 4th (Reily), 106, 109. 3d Confederate Arizona bri gade (Phillips), 243. 4th Confederate (Hardeman), 245- 5th (Green), 99. 5th Confederate (Shannon), 244. 526 INDEX. Texas, 6th Confederate (Stone), 243, 245. 7th Confederate (Herbert), 244. Cook s regiment, 63, 272. Gould s regiment, 325. Rountree s battalion, 273. Waller s (i3th) battalion, 97, 99, 128, 129, 155, 242, 273. Woods s regiment, 325. (W. H. ) Parsons s cavalry brigade, 325. Scurry s brigade, 63, 287. Sibley s brigade, 63, 155. Barnes s battery. Gonzales s battery, 243. McMahan s battery, 325, 330. Moseley s battery, 325, 330. Nettles s battery, 325, 330. Nichols s battery, 247. Valverde battery, 99, 241. West s battery, 325, 330, 343. Wilson s batter}, 63. Thayer, J. M. , Brigadier-General, 292, Thibodeaux, La. , 46, 47. Thirteenth Army Corps, 139, 258, 259, 268, 273-278, 288, 289, 305, 307, 312, 341-343, 348, 350 ; new, 354, 355- Thoburn, J. M. , Brigadier-General, 359, 39, 39 1, 406, 414, 415, 417, 418, 436. Thomas, George H. , Major-General, 393- Thomas, Stephen, Colonel, 48, 169- 171, 188, 202, 232, 389, 414-416, ^ 419, 420, 423. Thorn, George, Colonel, 409. Thompson, A. P. , Captain, 45. Thompson, A. P. , Colonel (C), 35, 38. Thompson, Augustine, Captain, 243. Three Top Mountain, 396 ; signal message from, 407 ; Gordon and Hotchkiss reconnoitre, 410-412. Tibbetts, Howard, Acting Master, 268. Tiemann, William F. , Major, 361, 375- Torbert, A. T. A. , Major-General, 371-377, 39-393, 397, 398, 400, 402-404, 406, 408, 409, 415, 416, 423, 427, 436, 437, 440, 441. Tortugas, Dry, Fla. , 45, 259. Trans-Mississippi Department, Con federate, 266. Trull, George G. , Lieutenant, 36, 267. Tupelo, Miss. , Beauregard withdraws to, 26. Turner, J. W. , Colonel, 8. Tyler, U. S. Gunboat, 29-31. Ulffers, H. A. , Captain, 138. Ullmann, Daniel, Brigadier-General, 218, 219, 261. Uncle Ben (C), 272. Upton, Emory, Brigadier-General 415. U. S. Artillery, A, 1st (Bainbridge), at Bisland, 98 ; at Port Hudson, 171, 210, 221, 224, 267. F, ist (Duryea), at Bisland, 98, 125, 130; at Port Hudson, 171, 188, 191, 194, 210, 221, 267, 280 ; at Mansura, 345. L, ist (Closson), at Irish Bend, 107, no, 124, 246, 267, 315. C, 2d (Rodgers), at Irish Bend, no, in, 113; in pursuit, 126. G, 5th (Rawles), 83, 161, 162, 260, 261, 280, 301, 306. Left in Louisiana, 353. U. S. Colored troops, 97th, 341 99th, 341. " Valley of Humiliation, The, " 368. Vance, Joseph W. , Colonel, 300-302, 304- Vanderbilt) 57. Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 57. Van Dorn, Earl, Major-General (C), 26, 32, 33, 41, 44, 69. Van Petten, John B. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 170, 202, 213. Van Zandt, Jacob, Colonel, 166, 169, 170. Varuna, 13, 14. Verdun Landing, La. , 105. Vermilion River, or Bayou, La. , 122, 124, 126, 128. Vermont, 7th, 16, 22 ; at Baton Rouge, 36, 37, 242 ; re-enlisted veterans, 280. 8th, 8, 48, 73, 74 ; at Bisland, 98, 147 ; at Port Hudson, 170, 357, 382 ; at Opequon, 388-390 ; at Cedar Creek, 420, 445. Ist battery (Duncan, Hebard), 8, 43, 267, 316, 332. 2d battery (Holcomb), 16, 43, 62, 64, 65, 161, 260, 261. Veteran re-enlistments, 280. Vicksburg, defences of, 19, 25 ; de scribed, 25 ; first attempt on (But ler s), 16-31; second (Sherman s), 69, 140 ; third (Grant s), 136, 140, 144, 164, 183, 184, 204, 205 ; surrender, 225, 226, 228, 236. Vicksburg expedition, co-operation with, 60, 68-71. INDEX. 527 Vincent, W. G. , Colonel (C), 105- 109, 117, 290. "Voice of the American People, The, " 392. Volunteers, American, character of, 209, 210. Wainwright, J. M. , Commander, 62. Wainwright, Richard, Captain, U. S. N. , 13. Walker, Duncan S. , Captain, 213, 225, 228, 229, 248, 249 ; Lieutenant- Colonel, 439. Walker, John G. , Brigadier-General, (C), 235, 236, 242, 275, 287, 288, 300, 302, 304, 305, 315, 317, 319, 320, 329, 348. Wallace, Lewis, Major-General, 356. Waller, E. , Jr. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 97, 101, 242, 273. Warner, Alexander, Lieutenant-Colo nel, 113. Warner, transport, 343. War Records office, 224. Warren, Fitz-Henry, Brigadier-Gen eral, 342. Warrenton, Miss. , 18. Washburn, C. C. , Major-General, 258, 273-278. Washburn, Henry D. , Colonel, 446. Washburne, Elihu B. , 54. Washington, D. C. , defences of, 55 ; relief of, 355-357 ; grand review at, 444, 445- Washington, La. , 126. Washington, statue of, 40, 42. Washita River, La. , 286. Waterloo, La. , 83 ; skirmish, 159. W T atters, John, Lieutenant-Com mander, 243. Waynesboro, Va. , 402. Weaver, A. W. , Lieutenant-Com mander, 214, 243. Webb (C), 75, 88. Weitzel, Godfrey, Lieutenant, 8, 35, 44, 66 ; Brigadier-General, 45 ; commands reserve brigade, 45 ; operations in La Fourche, 1862, 46-48 ; commands district of La Fourche, 48, 49 ; objects to colored troops, 50 ; destroys Cotton (C), 73, 74 ; in La Fourche, 1863, 77 ; plans, 85-87 ; in Teche campaign, 88-93 ; at Bisland, 96-102, 104, 115, 119-121 ; pursuit, 122, 125 ; march to Red River, 144, 147-149 ; to Port Hudson, 152-155, 166 ; first assault, 167, 169-171, 174, 175, 186, 188, 192 ; second assault, 196, 198, 199, 202, 229-233 ; commands ist division, 233, 250 ; at Kock s plantation, 251, 254-256, 259, 260, 267-271, 273, 277, 281. Wellington at Badajos and Ciudad Rodrigo, 208. Westfield, 62, 64. West Florida, District of, 44. West, J. A. A. , Lieutenant (C), 101. West Mississippi, Military Division of, 347- West Virginia, Army of (see Crook> George), Wharton, G. C. , Brigadier-General(C), 379, 38o, 390, 391, 411, 416, 417, 420, 424, 425, 427, 441. Wharton, John A. , Major-General (C), 329, 333, 345. Wheaton, Frank, Brigadier-General, 398, 415, 422, 423, 425, 426, 431, 432. White Post, Va. . 371. Whitfield, J. F. , Captain (C), 173. Whittemore, H. O. , Major, 15. Wickham, W. H. , Brigadier-General (C), 400, 402. Wilkinson, Robert F. , Captain, 439. Willcox, O. B. , Major-General, 444. Williamson, H. F. , Captain, 45, 49, 90, 125. Williamson, John J. , Lieutenant, 281, 342. Williams, John, private, 197. Williams, Thomas, Brigadier-General, 9, 12 ; first attempt on Vicksburg, 17-31 ; digs canal opposite, 23, 28, 29, 31 ; in Battle of Baton Rouge, 33-39 ; killed, 39 ; character, 39, 40 ; on treatment of negroes, 40 ; singular arrests, 40, Wilson, Bartholomew W. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 399. Wilson, Henry, Lieutenant U. S. N. , 62. Wilson, G. R. , Captain (C), 63. Wilson, James Grant, Colonel, 342. Wilson, James Henry, Brigadier-Gen eral, 374-376, 379-381, 392, 402. Wilson s Farm, La. , cavalry affair, 297. Winchester, Va. , Averell s fight, 361, 371, 372, 374 ; Sheridan s battle, " the Opequon, " 378-395. Wingfield, J. H. , Lieutenant-Colonel (C), 166. Winona, 13, 14, 214, 243, 245. Wisconsin, 4th, 6, 16-18, 21-24, 30 ; at Baton Rouge, 36-38, 43 ; at. Bisland, 93, 95, 96, 98, 130 : 528 INDEX. Mounted, 131, 154 ; at Port Hud son, 190, 196, 197, 203, 232. Wisconsin, 23d, 277. Wissahickon, 13. Witham, C. H. , Lieutenant, 214. Wood, Almon A. , Lieutenant, 157. Woodbury, D. P. , Brigadier-General, 155- Wood ford, transport, 291. Woodruff, Henry D. , Lieutenant- Colonel, 263. Woods, E. P. , private, 197. Woodstock, Va. , 399, 401. Woolsey, M. B. , Lieutenant-Com mander, 243, 245. Wordin, C. W. , Lieutenant-Colonel, 238. Wright, Horatio G. , Major-General, 356-367, 37i, 372, 374, 375, 379- 386, 389, 391-393, 397-402, 404- 410, 415, 416, 418, 419, 421-425, 429-437, 441. Wrotnowski, L. A. , Lieutenant, killed, 182. Yazoo River, Confederate gunboats in, 29, 30 ; naval fight in, 29, 30. Yellow Bayou, La. , skirmish, 345 ; fight, 346. Young s Point, La. , affair, 236. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO ^ 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW APR 1 3 REC. Cifi. APR 2 S79 RECEIVED BY JUN 1 4 i385 CIRCULATION UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6, 40m, 3/78 BERKELEY, CA 94720 VC 51091 I GENERAL LIBRARY - U. C. BERKELEY BODD7bb278 M94884 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY