USA > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans > Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, giving a description of the natural advantages, natural history settlement, Indians, Creoles, municipal and military history, mercantile and commercial interests, banking, transportation, etc. > Part 17
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Fifth Company : Captains, W. J. Hodgson and C. H. Slocomb; First Lieutenants, W. C. D. Vaugh and J. A. Chalaron ; Second Lieutenants, Chas. L. Hero, Thos. M. Blair, A. J. Leverich and Chas. G. Johnson ; Orderly Sergts., A. Gordon Bakewell, John Bartley ; Surgeon, J. Cecil Legare.
Fenner's Louisiana Battery, noted as being the only Louisiana body of militia to remain volunteer till the end of the war, without coming under con- script law, was organized May 16, 1862, being officered as follows: Chas. E. Fenner, Captain ; Thos. J. Duggan, First Lieutenant ; W. T. Cluverius, Jr., First Lieut. ; G. P. Harris, Jr., Second Lient. Discharged for disability-C. J. Howell, Jr., Second Lieut. ; Fred Ernest, First Sergt. ; S. R. Garrett, Second Sergt. ; J. F. Early, Third Sergt. ; S. H. Copeland, Fourth Sergt .; A. P. Beers Fifth Sergt. ; E. W. Finney, Sixth Sergt .; R. Woest, Seventh Sergt.
The history of the following ten years (from 1863) in this city is a history of hard and disheartening struggle. The people had to shake off the burden laid upon them by unsuccessful war, and begin again. New Orleans is to-day as devoted to the Union as any city in America. It is in a prosperous condition and beginning to take a front stand in the world of commerce, of wealth, and of scientific improvement. But while all rancor, all bitterness, between North'
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
and South is and should be at an end, it is not well that the troubles and hard- ships of the past should be forgotten, nor the men and women who bore them so bravely and cheerfully.
The Union men in the city became more and more powerful. The "car- pet-baggers" from the North took the management of affairs into their own hands. In 1864 there were two governors elected in Louisiana,-Michael Halm, chosen by that district under control of the Union soldiers; General ITenry W. Allen by the rest of the state. The latter is still remembered for his good deeds. In 1868 Louisiana once more became a part of the Union, but her troubles were by no means at an end. A time of corruption, of debt and of tyrannical rule followed. The Metropolitan Police were always at hand to en- force obedience to the Union men. Finally, when Warmouth was followed by Kellogg as governor, when all other attempts to extricate the state from its po- sition proved vain, the White League was formed, spreading from Caddo Par- ish to New Orleans, a secret society which became immortal, September 14, 1874, when a battle was fought of great importance in New Orleans annals, its hero being General Frederick Nash Ogden. The conflict was hastened by the fact that the Governor scized and retained certain guns that were on their way to the White Leaguers. On Monday morning, September 14, 1874, at 11 o'clock, a mass meeting was held at Clay Statue, Canal street, where resolutions were adopted requesting the abdication of Governor Kellogg. This being re- fused, the White Leaguers dispersed to arm themselves, and about 4:30 the battle commenced in that portion of the city bounded by Custom House Street, Poydras, the Levee and St. Charles Street. The Metropolitan police, about 1,000 in number, were formed into a regiment under Gen. A. S. Badger, and under the supreme command of General Longstreet. They were stationed around the Custom House. One wing of about 200 men and one cannon kept up a fire on Tchoupitoulas Street, the only crossing not barricaded, and five citizens were there wounded; 250 men with four guns and General Badger, commanded the south side of the Custom House. At quarter past four the Metropolitans ad- vancing to the Levec, were attacked by the White Leaguers and completely routed, and next morning the 3,000 colored militia occupying the State House surrendered quietly.
The White Leaguer commands which took part were as follows :
16
STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
CRESCENT CITY WHITE LEAGUE, COLONEL W. J. REHAN, COMMANDING.
Section A-Captain W. T. Vaudry.
Section B-Captain George H. Lord.
Section C-Captain H. S. Buck.
Section D -- Captain Archibald Mitchell.
Section E-Captain R. B. Pleasants.
Section F -- Captain Thomas McIntyre.
Section G-Captain D. M. Kilpatrick.
The Eleventh Ward White League-Captain F. M. Andress. The Tenth Ward White League --- Captain Edward Flood.
The Sixth District White League-Captain H. E. Shropshire.
The Sixth District White League-Captain Columbus H. Allen. The Sixth Ward White League-Captain George W. Dupre. The Seventh Ward White League-Captain O. M. Tennyson. The Washington White League-Captain A. B. Philips.
The St. John White League-Captain Charles Vautier.
Second Ward White League-Captain R. Stuart Dennee. The Third Ward White League-Captain J. R. S. Selleck.
Major Gustave Le Gardeur, with Captain A. Roman's company (the re- mainder of his battalion present being unarmed).
Captain John G. Angell, commanding the First Louisiana Infantry, com- poscd of the following companies :
Company A-Captain Euclid Borland.
Company B-Captain Frank McGloin.
Company C-Captain Blanchard.
Company E-Lieutenant Frank L. Richardson.
Besides these there were two companies of artillery, one under command of Captain John Glynn, Jr., the other under command of Captain H. Dudley Coleman.
In the charge on the Metropolitan Police the White Leaguers lost twelve men killed and thirteen wounded, several of whom afterward died. Following is a list of the killed and wounded :
Killed-A. M. Gautier, A. Bozonicr, Chas. Bruland, of Colonel Glynn's command; John Graval, of Captain Vautier's company ; E. A. Toledano, S. B. Newman, Jr., of Captain Vaudry's company; Wm. A. Wells, of Captain Flood's company ; James Crossin, of Captain Lord's company; J. M. West,
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
Adrien Ferrilan, J. K. Gourdain, unattached; Michael Betz, of Captain Phil- ips' company ; F. Mohrman, of Major Allen's command ; James Considine, of Captain Blanchard's company ; Wm. C. Robbins, of Captain Buck's company ; and R. G. Lindsey, of Captain Pleasants' company. Wounded-General F. N. Ogden, Captain Andrews, Lieutenant Schiedel, John McCormick, James Davis, P. McBride, Francois Pallet, Andrew Close, J. R. A. Gauthreaux, Chas. Kit, John McCabe, J. H. Keller, D. Soniat, Martin Long, L. Fazende, P. Bernos, R. Swanson, F. Fossetelyon, Minor Kenner, W. Matthewson, Ernest Buisson, J. Bruneau, J. Savage, J. C. Potts, Emmanuel Blessey, R. Aby, W. H. Kilpat- rick, M. R. Bricon, W. C. H. Robinson, W. C. Taylor, Thomas Boyle, Mike Betts, Frank Owen, J. H. Cross, John Meru, James McCabe, Wm. Orimond, Chas. Kill, J. M. Henderson, J. P. Dalmy, -- Pollock, W. J. Butler and Henry Peel.
The killed of the Metropolitan Police were as follows :
C. F. Clermont, corporal; J. Kennedy, patrolman, died September 24; J. McManus, sergeant ; W. Thornton, corporal; M. O'Keefe, patrolman ; E. Si- monds, patrolman ; F. E. Koehler, supernumerary; I. H. Camp, patrolman ; D. Fisher, patrolman ; R. Zipple, supernumerary, unattached; and Armstead Hill, volunteer civilian.
The contribution of Louisiana to the late war with Spain consisted of two full regiments of infantry, three batteries of artillery, about 250 men to the Navy, from the Louisiana Naval militia, and a number recruited for a regular term into the Navy. The first Immune Regiment was organized at New Or- leans, Duncan N. Hood being Colonel and contained a number of Louisiani- ans. About 5,000 men went out from this state, and while, unfortunately, none of them were ordered to the scenes of warfare, they made excellent soldiers, and were eager for fighting.
In April, 1898, before the war had begun, a meeting was held of commit- tees from the Fourth and Seventh Battalions, Major William C. Dufour, of the latter being anxious to form a regiment of the two. The Fourth was repre- sented by Cooper, Waterman and Jacobs, the Seventh by Favrot, Friedrichs, Livaudais and Elmore Dufour.
The regiment was afterwards formed of the Fourth and Seventh Battal- ions, and of the Third, necessary to make the full complement of 12 companies, and the attempt failing to secure permission from the War Department to make Lieut. Jacque Lafitte Colonel, Major Elmer E. Wood was chosen Colonel, William G. Dufour being Lieutenant-Colonel.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
On May 1, 1898, Col. Wood appointed his staff as follows: Captain H. L. Favrot, adjutant; Captain C. T. Madison, quartermaster ; Major J. J. Arch- inard, chief surgeon. . Captains M. W. Rainold and F. J. Chalaron assistant surgeons, and Captain H. R. Carson chaplain. On the preceding evening at Memorial Hall was held a meeting of confederate veterans, Gen. Lombard pre- siding; J. Y. Gilmore, secretary ; J. A. Chalaron, of Camp No. 2, Army of Tennessee, chairman ; Edw. Marks, Camp No. 1, Army of Northern Virginia, F. G. Freret, Camp No. 9, Cavalry Association, B. F. Eshelman, Camp No. 5, Washington Artillery, A. B. Booth, Camp No. 16, and Henry St. Paul, be- ing appointed a committee for drawing up resolutions approving of the war, and expressing the determination of the veterans to stand by their country in a crisis.
On the first of May the new regiment went into camp at the fair grounds (Camp Foster) where already were the First Louisiana and a couple of regu- lar regiments. Col. Ovrenshine, heard from in connection with the Philippines, commanded one of the latter. Thanks to the tarpaulins donated by Mr. A. A. Maginnis, the boys were supplied with tents, but there were many inconve- niences connected with Camp Foster, the water being particularly bad. The reg- iment (850 strong) was mustered in by Major Edmund of the Regular Army, the last company being mustered in May 25th. On the 30th, the Second Regi- ment was ordered to Mobile, and after a march through the central part of this city, to the delight of numerous admiring friends and relatives, took the cars at the foot of Canal street. They reached Mobile the next morning, remained in the cars till the next day, and then went into camp about 7 miles from the city, by the side of the First Alabama regiment. Soon after, the First Louisiana ar- rived. When Col. Wood had reported to Gen. Coppinger, the Second Louisiana was assigned to the first division of his corps ; subsequently it was brigaded with the Second Texas and Second Alabama, under Col. Oppenheimer of Texas. Afterwards, when the law authorized each company to contain 106 men, 300 ad- ditional recruits were obtained for the Second Louisiana, but on account of yel- low fever breaking out, strict quarantine regulations being necessary, the great- est number attained by the regiment was 1,250.
On June 26, 1898, the regiment was ordered to Miami, Florida, arriving there June 28, and soon followed by the First Texas and First Louisiana. On July 7th, Gen. Schwan, who commanded the brigade to which the Second now belonged, was ordered to Porto Rica, but was not permitted to take his brigade
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
with him, and his troops being transferred from the Fourth corps to the Sev- enth became a portion of the First division of the army, commanded by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, Gen. J. Warren Keifer being in command of the division. On July 8th, on account of the exceedingly unhealthy condition of the camp at Mi- ami, the division was ordered to Jacksonville, leaving for the latter place Au- gust Sth, a number of soldiers having died on account of their experiences at Miami.
On October 22, 1898, the camp, with the hope of soon being sent to Cuba, was ordered to Savannalı, Georgia, where, December 5th, it was visited by Presi- dent Mckinley. The president reviewed the troops, and was pleased with their soldierly bearing. On December 24th, the regiment was conveyed on the trans- port, Mobile, to Havana, reaching there on the 27th. Here they were assigned by Gen. Lee to the excellent camping ground of Buena Vista, on Panorama Hill, seven miles from Havana. On the first of January, 1899, the regiment was among the first American troops to enter Havana. They marched down the Prado, and were reviewed by Gen. Brooke and Gen. Lee in front of the Hotel Ingleterra, the lionors done our Louisiana boys that day being one of which they will always be proud; that is, the rank given them among the first troops.
At Camp Buena Vista private Hughes was killed by private Buckley, who is now serving a life sentence at Fort Leavenworth. This was a very sad event.
On March 18th the regiment was ordered to Savannah, where, on the 18th of April, its soldiers were paid off and mustered out. They returned to New Orleans April 20th, regretting that they had not been permitted to see actual war.
Following is the roster of the regiment, the names of the several captains, and the death roll in full :
Field and Staff-Elmer E. Wood, colonel; William C. Dufour, lieutenant colonel ; William L. Hughes, major ; George M. Hodgdon, major ; Frank J. Chal- aron, major and surgeon ; Henry L. Favrot, captain and adjutant ; Mozart W. Rainold, captain and assistant surgeon ; Allen Jumel, Jr., first lieutenant and assistant surgeon ; Rufus E. Foster, first lieutenant and quartermaster; Edward Dinkelspiel, second lieutenant Company F, commissary ; James S. Rankin, ser- geant major ; Jolin E. Kearney, quartermaster sergeant; Charles L. Babled, hospital steward ; Peter Wilson, hospital steward; Leonce P. Thibaut, hospital
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
steward; John W. Sherwood, chief musician ; James L. Segar, principal musi- cian ; and Louis Fatzer, principal musician.
Captains-Company A, Harry A. Mackie; company B, Harry A. Ben- ners ; company C, Arthur W. Jacobs ; company D, Placide M. Lamberton ; company E, F. W. Matthews; company F, Carl C. Friedrichs; company G, Frank Oriol; company H, George A. Cooper; company I, Samuel McC. Hern- don ; company K, Andrew J. Boissonneau ; company L, John B. Waterman ; company M, Robert G. Guerard.
The list of those who died is as follows :
Bugler A. L. Mugnier, Company H, died July 18, 1898 ; Lieutenant John D. Nelson, Company K, died July 19, 1898; B. Muldoon, Company H, died Aug. 3, 1898; E. J. Lassere, Company M, died Aug. 7, 1898; Archie Parker, Company H, died Aug. 14, 1898; Joshua Davis, Company C, died Aug. 15, 1898; E. O. Burrows, Company H, discharged Sept. 4, died Sept. 9, 1898; Albert Laschi, Company H, died Oct. 13, 1898 ; J. P. Seigler, Company D, died Oct. 12, 1898; Lieutenant S. B. MeClure, Company K, died Oct. 17, 1898; Captain Elmore Dufour, Company I, died Nov. 13, 1898; J. D. Hughes, Com- pany E, killed Jan. 7, 1899; Louis Grelle, Company K, died Feb. 19, 1899; Julius Keller, Company G, died Feb. 24, 1899; Albert Quint, Company M, died Feb. 25, 1899; and W. G. Waterman, Company E, died March 28, 1899.
Lieutenant Gordon L. Sneed, who died at Miami, was buried in New Or- leans with military honors.
The following statistics concerning the Naval Battalion of New Orleans should prove of interest :
This important organization was mustered in with two companies Septem- ber 11, 1895, chiefly owing to the efforts of Mr. J. S. Watters. There were then 110 on roll. In the next three months, two more divisions were added. The battalion first appeared in uniform January, 1896, and gave a ball that year, and on Mardi Gras "turned out" 150 strong. In this year, also, the bat- talion visited the U. S. battleship Raleigh, camping out at Fort Eads and drill- ing on the Raleigh. In August, 1897, the U. S. cruiser Montgomery came to Ship Island and the battalion went over on three schooners to visit it. The officers' reports concerning this military body were very flattering.
In 1896, an engineer division was added to the battalion, making five divisions.
In 1898, at the outbreak of war, the command just mentioned was ready
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
for service, three parties being organized for coast signal service at Fort Eads, Mobile and Galveston. About 115, officers and men, were detailed as a crew for the Monitor Passaic, and served on her during the war, at the close of which the Government loaned the U. S. "Stranger," a yacht purchased during hostili- ties, for the use of the battalion.
The officers at the time of organization were as follows :
Captain, J. S. Watters ; Lieutenants, J. W. Bostick, H. P. Carroll, J. C. Ford, J. T. Harris, L. W. Bartlett ; Lieutenants, junior grade, W. Mc L. Fays- soux, A. C. Bell, A. M. Haas, J. H. Parker ; Ensigns, H. G. Shaw, R. Marcour, A. W. Socola, S. St. J. Eshelman ; Passed Assistant Surgeon, Will. H. Woods ; Assistant Surgeon, E. C. Renaud; Passed Assistant Engineer, R. C. Wilson ; Paymaster, A. Fourchy.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIGHT AGAINST HIGH WATER.
BY A. G. DURNO.
A CCORDING to the estimate of the Mississippi River Commission, there are in the delta or alluvial lands of the Lower Mississippi, 29,790 square
miles, or 19,065,600 acres of territory subject to overflow. This includes portions of seven states, and extends from the head of the St. Francis Basin to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of over eleven hundred miles. This vast area is apportioned among the seven states as follows :
Square Miles.
Illinois
65
Acres. 41,600
Missouri
. 2,874
1,839,360
Kentucky
125
80,000
Tennessee
453
289,920
Arkansas
.4,652
2,977,280
Mississippi
. 6,926
4,432,640
Louisiana
14,695
9,404,800
Total .
29,790
19,065,600
*
"This," says Mr. Norman Walker, in his report to the Treasury Depart- ment on the "Commerce of the Mississippi from Memphis to the Gulf of Mex- ico," "is twice as large as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, twice as as large as Switzerland, larger than many of the historic states of Europe, and larger than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It is seven times as great as the arable lands of Egypt now or at any former pe- riod."
The first white men who entered the Mississippi Valley found the river in flood. Both LaSalle, who descended the stream in 1684, and Bienville, who ex- plored it in 1699-1700, found the banks under water at several points, and the last named, who was in search of a site for his projected settlement on the river, fixed upon the location now occupied by New Orleans as the nearest point to
.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
the Gulf which was at that time above water. It happened, however, that the flood of that year did not reach the usual high water mark, and when, in 1718, he came to lay the foundations of his city, the swelling tide so interfered with the work that his men were compelled to stop it, and devote themselves to the construction of a rude levee in front of the town and some distance above it in order to keep it clear of water. This was the first levee in Louisiana, and was constructed under the supervision of Sieur Le Blond de la Tour, a Knight of St. Louis, and chief engineer of the colony. This temporary levee was worked upon every year, being raised and strengthened from time to time, and finally completed in 1727, under the administration of Governor Périer, when it pre- sented an 18-foot crown and 60-foot base, with a length of 5,400 feet, or slightly more than a mile. This was more than the city front, and afforded it ample protection. It was continued above the city for a distance of 18 miles by a smaller levee, and below it by another which extended 14 miles, for the protec- tion both of the farmers and of the city.
As the country around New Orleans was settled the levees were extended, and by 1735 they stretched a distance of 42 miles, from English Turn, below the city, to a point 30 miles above it. With the exception of that in front of New Orleans, however, they were low and weak, and unable to resist the great flood of that year which lasted from December to the end of June, 1836, caus- ing great loss, and seriously interfering with the season's planting. They were patched up, but in so slight and insufficient a manner that they afforded little resistance to the flood, and crevasses became so frequent that the government took the matter up, and issued an edict requiring proprietors of land fronting on the river to improve their levees and have them in good condition by Janu- ary 1, 1744, under penalty of confiscation. This stringent measure seems to have had the desired effect, and during the next half century Louisiana suf- fered but little loss from overflow. The levees were gradually extended and became the basis of the present levee system of the Lower Mississippi Valley,- indeed it is possible that some of them exist to this day in those sections where there has been but little change in the course of the river. These levees were constructed by the proprietors, the government reserving a supervisory power, and permitting no neglect on the part of planters. The land so protected was all under a high state of cultivation, and in 1752 nearly the whole population of the colony was concentrated within an area of 200 square miles.
The levee continued to advance slowly northward, at the rate of about a
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
mile a year, though the cost of building then was relatively much greater than at present, the planters being without proper facilities for the work. The slow settlement of the country is doubtless due to the outlay imposed by the necessity of building these dikes, which was many times greater than the cost of the land and the stock required for its cultivation. In 1782 occurred the greatest flood of the first century of the settlement of Louisiana, but there were only a few slight crevasses, which were soon repaired, and the planters escaped serious loss, as they did also in the years 1780, 1785, 1791, and 1796, though New Or- leans was flooded. This experience firmly convinced the inhabitants of the value of levees, and the work of construction went on with increased energy. In 1812 the levees on the east bank extended from Pointe à la Hache to Pass Manchac, a distance of 155 miles, and from the lower Plaquemines settlement on the west bank to Pointe Coupée, a distance of 185 miles. This 340 miles of levee had been built mostly with slave labor, and at a probable cost of $6,500,- 000, a very heavy expense for so young a country. The first serious disaster to the Louisiana levees occurred in 1813, with the breaking of the Pointe Coupée levee, since known as the Grand Levee, which protects seven parishes from over- flow. This levee, the largest and most important, as well as the most exposed in the State, has broken several times, each time causing great damage, as the overflow extends to the basins of the Atchafalaya, Bayou Têche, and Grand Lake. In 1813 the water in Grand Lake rose from 4 to 5 feet higher than any previous year since 1780. Three years later there was another notable over- flow, confined almost wholly to the city. The Maraté levee at Carrollton gave way, and the rear portions of the suburbs were flooded to a depth of from 3 to 5 feet. The water ran off, however, within twenty-five days, and all damages were repaired. By 1828 a continuous line of levees, except at points where they were not needed, extended from New Orleans to Red River Landing, 195 miles above the city, and 65 miles below it.
In 1845, in an appeal made by the Memphis river convention to the Fed- eral Government for aid in the matter of levee building, it was proposed that the flooded lands be given to the States to aid in the building of levees, and in re- claiming the swamps. As a result of the appeal Congress in this year, for the first time, granted assistance in the construction of levees, and in 1849 passed an act donating to Louisiana all the swamps and overflowed lands found unfit for cultivation. In 1850 the grant was extended so as to include all the other States in the Union in which such swamps or overflowed lands were situated, and pro-
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
vided that the proceeds of said lands, whether derived from sale or from direct appropriation in kind, "should be applied, exclusively, so far as necessary, to the reclaiming of said lands by means of levees and drains." The funds derived from the sale of these lands have been generally turned over to boards of swamp commissioners, to be used by them in levee building. The lands received by the three river States of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi aggregate 18,545,- 270 acres. Of these States Louisiana has secured the best results from the do- nation. It is still possessed of a considerable revenue from this source, the Mor- ganza levee in Pointe Coupée having in 1883 been constructed from funds real- ized from the sale of swamp lands. The assistance thus given by the Federal Government lent a new impetus to the work of levee building, and the following ten years were fruitful in good results. In 1860 there were 2,184 miles of em- bankments on the Mississippi, with an average height of from 8 to 10 feet and a width at the base of from 50 to 75 feet, their width at the top being something less than their height.
As has been stated, the levees, under French rule, were constructed and kept in repair by the front proprietors. Later the police jury, corresponding to the county commissioners of other states, took charge of the levees in Louisi- ana, though in times of danger the riparian proprietors within seven miles of the river, whose lands were subject to overflow, were required to aid in warding off the threatened crevasse. At such times the farmers and planters met and formed a plan of action. Each gave the labor of a number of slaves, according to his means,-one giving ten slaves for twenty days or less, another thirty slaves for fifteen days. Afterwards districts were formed and taxes imposed for levee purposes.
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