USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. III > Part 21
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In the summer of 1861, Gen. D. E. Twiggs was placed in com- mand of the lower Mississippi and the defenses of New Orleans, but on October 7 he was relieved by Gen. Mansfield Lovell. In December came the report that the Federals. had captured Ship Island, and that another formidable fleet was on its way to cap- ture New Orleans. General Lovell made the best possible prep? rations to give them a warm reception. The forts below were strengthened, and the city was soon defended with earthworks and all the available militia. But for a time cold weather put a bar on active military operations. In February, 1862, came urgent calls from General Beauregard then located at Jackson, Tenn., for reinforcements to be sent to the army concentrating in his department to operate against the Federals then near Fort Don- elson. As fast as possible his requests were complied with until he had in all from Lonisiana ten infantry regiments and four bat- teries of artillery, as follows: The First, Fourth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nine- teenth and Twentieth infantry regiments. Besides, there were the Crescent battalion, the Confederate Guards, the Response battal- ion, the Thirteenth battalion of Orleans Guards and the Fifth Company of Washington Artillery. This heavy drain left General
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Lovell less than 3,000 effective militia with which to repel the for- midable force advancing upon New Orleans from the Gulf. But more than all else to be dreaded was the powerful Federal fleet, consisting of twenty-one mortar schooners under Commodore Porter and twenty-six armed sloops of war and steam gunboats all carrying over 200 guns and under the command of Admiral Farragut. Beauregard sent to his assistance the ram Manassas, from which much was rightfully to be expected. In addition he gathered together some eight or ten other vessels, among them being three rams, rendered them bullet proof with cotton bulk- heads, provided them with iron prows for ramming, and placed them under the command of Capt. J. K. Mitchell, with orders to dispute to the last the passage of the Mississippi. He likewise stretched strong obstructions across the river between Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
Late in March the Federal fleet entered the mouth of the Mississippi, but did not attack the forts until April 18, on which date a terrible fire was opened upon them. They replied with equal fury, and for six days did the dreadful din proceed. Then under darkness they attempted to run past the heroic batteries and succeeded. Later. the two forts, commanded by General Duncan, were forced to surrender. After passing the forts the Federal fleet was free to move upon New Orleans save for the feeble ships of war which had been hastily prepared by General Lovell. When it came to the crucial test, these proved worse than useless. Even the Manassas was unable to effect any strik- ing result. New Orleans, the magnificent, was at the mercy of the enemy.
On April 25 the Federal fleet reached Chalmette, and there encountered some resistance, but pushed on toward the city. The Confederate forces in New Orleans, at 5 o'clock p. m. on the 25th, evacuated the city, partly to prevent its bombardment and partly to escape capture, and marched to Camp Moore, there to watch the enemy and await an opportunity to strike. Under orders of the Confederate secretary of war, much of the cotton and tobacco in the city was burned to prevent its falling into the lands of the Federals. On the same day, Friday, the 25th of April, came the summons to surrender; but the negotiations of the civil authorities and the Federal commander, about which there has since been much dispute, postponed the actual surren- der until the following Tuesday, April 29. It was necessary for the Federal soldiers to lower the Confederate flag over the public buildings, as every citizen refused to do so. This technicality and delay cansed several citizens to think that perhaps the inev-
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itable might be avoided; whereupon Mr. W. H. Mumford, in his enthusiasm and defiance, mounted to the top of one of the public buildings and hauled down a Federal flag which had been hoisted there by a group of soldiers from the Federal fleet. For this act lic was later, by order of General Butler, tried for treason and executed. At the worst, imprisonment would have been a suffi- cient punishment for the offense, but execution was as much out of place as would have been that of any other citizen of New Orlean's or Louisiana guilty of an overt act against the United States government, and practically all were thus guilty. Why should Mumford have been executed, when only a few months before the Federal flag had been hauled down all over Louisiana and was being kept down and fired upon by hundreds of others? Why not continue the work of extermination against all who were thus guilty of treason against the United States? But General Butler, who was appointed military commander of the Depart- ment of the Gulf, was one of those who would have executed every Confederate leader could he have had his way. He saw treason not only in the act of Mumford, but in the acts of every man in the Confederate army, or who had committed acts similar to that of Mumford.
General Butler took possession of the city on May I. Naturally, the citizens were unfriendly and sullen. They made the first mistake of dallying over the surrender and of obstructing in an irritating and independent manner the preliminaries of turning the city over to the Federals. Had they accepted the inevitable, which was unavoidable, and gracefully surrendered while retain- ing the semblance of their loyalty to the Confederacy and every scintillation of their honor, it is probable that Mumford would not have been mislead and General Butler would not have been goaded into resentful acts.
Order No. 28 of General Butler was wholly unnecessary, was an insult to the South and to civilization, and inexcusably stupid and brutal. It directed that when "any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation." What serious matter if the ladies of New Orleans did make faces. at the soldiers, or slam the doors upon them, or even spit in their faces? Was such a trifling act so galling and unbearable to the rough soldiers as to be resented with unpardonable insult? Were the bold soldiers, many of whom swore, drank or caroused, so shockingly humiliated and damaged by a few such acts that their lacerated feelings must be healed by an insult to all womanhood
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that has ever since been the shame of American chivalry? How much better it would have been had the sturdy soldiers paid not the slightest attention to such trifles. These and other arbitrary measures placed an impregnable barrier between General Butler and the citizens of New Orleans.
In accordance with the harsh rules of war, General Butler proceeded to take possession of all the railway lines, of the sup- plies, and, in short, of everything which might be of benefit to the Federal army or would tend to weaken or fret that of the Con- federates. He scattered the small remmants of Louisiana militia, and everywhere demanded and enforced obedience to his orders, if he did not secure respect for his authority or adherence to the Federal cause. Cotton, sugar and tobacco were everywhere seized as contraband of war. Cattle from Texas destined for the Confederate army, were cut off and captured. Small but suffi- ciently large expeditions were sent in all directions to compel the entire department to contribute to the Union arms. He sent a force of several thousand men under General Williams to take possession of Baton Rouge; they encountered no resistance. The Confederates had scattered with the design of assembling in the Southwest to offer resistance after they had become organized and accoutered. The southern and western parts of the state were admirably adapted to the movements of small forces, owing to the swamps, the bayous, the lakes, the navigable streams and the isolated ridges of high ground. And Louisiana was destined to introduce to the work another "Swamp Fox," another Marion, to harass without intermission and finally to defeat the Federal army sent against him.
Before the capture of New Orleans the dreadful battle of Shi- foli was fought on the 6th and 7th of April, 1862. In that historic engagement were pitted the bravest and best blood of the Northwest against that of the Southwest-young men, full of fight and valor, brave to rashness, undaunted at the frightful face of death, each with the holy merits of his cause ringing in his ears and tingling in his veins, cager to rashness to be the first to strike the foe, and even anxious to bear galling yet hon- orable wounds for his respective country. The Confederates were on their own soil, and had the wonderful incentive of driv- ing the invader across the border. The Federals had back of them the national pride of nearly a century-the determination to prevent the division of the Union which they had been taught to love and revere. The Southerners had the dash and daring of the cavalier ; the Northerner the sturdiness and invincibility of the Tenton and the Anglo-Saxon. Ont of this heroic material
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was fought the first great battle of the West. In it were many Louisianians, with the praises and prayers of their wives and mothers still fresh in their hearts. There was the First under Colonel Gladden, the Fourth under Colonel Allen, the Eleventhi under Colonel Marks, the Twelfth under Colonel Scott, the Thirteenth under Colonel Gibson, the Sixteenth under Major Gober, the Seventeenth under Colonel Hough, the Eighteenth under Colonel Mouton, the Nineteenth under Colonel Hodge, thie Twentieth under Colonel Reichard, the Crescent Guards under Colonel Smith, the Confederate Guards, the Response battalion, the Fifth company of Washington artillery under Captain Hodg- son and a few other smaller detachments-perhaps a total of about 4,500 Louisianians. It was the first great loss to the state, the dead being counted by hundreds, but no one faltered.
After the bloody battle of Shiloh, both shattered armies rested and recuperated. In the battle of Farmington between Van Dorn and Pope several Louisiana regiments participated. In the battle of luka, the Third infantry particularly distinguished itself, as it did also at Corinth, where Watson's battery and Depiere's zouaves also did excellent service. After Shiloh Beauregard succeeded the lamented Albert Sidney Johnston, but was himself succeeded by Bragg early in May, 1862.
Late in 1862, when General Sherman undertook to make the conquest of Chickasaw bayou, he encountered Gen. Stephen D. Lee, with whom were the following Louisiana commands: The Seventeenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth and Thirty first infantry regiments. Much of the success of Sher- man's defeat was due to the fierce fighting of the Louisianians; they fully sustained their splendid reputation gained thus carly in the war. Again at the siege of Vicksburg were the following Louisiana troops: Parts or the whole of the Third, Fourth, Seventeenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twen- ty-eighth and Thirty-first infantry, Eighth artillery battalion, three companies of the First artillery battalion ( Beltzhoover's), two companies of the Twenty-second artillery and two companies of the Twenty-third artillery. Other smaller detachments were also there. Their excellent deportment in that long and trying siege is yet the boast and pride of Louisiana. Many of the state's most gallant sons fell in those deadly trenches-gave their lives for independence from Federal interference and power.
In the summer of 1862 Gen. Earl Van Dorn succeeded General Lovell in command of the Lonisiana department. At this date the whole Red river country was yet unsullied by the foot of the invader. There were the herds of cattle and horses, the corn
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and other provisions, which poured across the Mississippi via Vicksburg to supply the wants of the great armies farther east. By the same route came immense supplies of the same war material from the plains and plantations of Texas. This fact . became known to the Federal authorities, whereupon one of the first objects of the Federal campaign in the Southwest was to gain possession of the Red river country for the double object of securing these valuable supplies for the Union armies and of pre- venting them from reaching the armies of the Confederates. On the other hand it was vital to the latter to retain this invaluable adjunct-this store-house of the war. One of the first steps having this object in view was the expedition of about three thousand troops under General Breckinridge, which was sent to recapture Baton Rouge. In this movement he was promised the assistance of the powerful ram Arkansas and perhaps other ves- sels. With his force were the Fourth and the Thirtieth Louisiana infantry, Boyd's and Semmes' Louisiana batteries and probably other detachments. Breckinridge attacked the strong works of the Federals and drove the enemy from point to point to the river bank. The Arkansas had failed to co-operate, and the Federal vessels kept throwing shot into his ranks. Without assistance from the river, and without promised and needed rein- forcements, Breckinridge was unable to maintain liis advantages and accordingly retreated. A few days later the place was evacu- ated by the Federals, and both commanders claimed the victory. The Federal commander, Williams, had been killed.
Van Dorn decided to make Port Hudson a central point of defense, whereupon the force under General Breckinridge was sent to occupy that place. There General Ruggles succeeded him in command. In May, 1862, that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi was 'attached to Department No. 2, and all west of the river to the Trans-Mississippi Department, and about the same time Gen. Paul O. Hebert assumed command of Western Louisiana and Texas. In June Eastern Louisiana was under the command of Gen. Braxton Bragg. A little later Gen. Richard Taylor succeeded General Hebert.
The design of General Butler was to place under Federal con- trol as soon as possible a large part or the whole of Louisiana, induce the citizens loyal to the United States if there were any, to reorganize the state government, secure from among the Louisianians troops for the Union army and elect state and con- gressional officers. In this design he was partly successful. The first step was to secure military control of the state. With that object in view he dispatched General Weitzel with a considerable
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force in October first. to Donaldsonville, thence to Napoleonville, thence down the Lafourche, in the vicinity of which it had been learned that the Confederate General Mouton was operating with a considerable body of troops and one or more vessels. Mouton made immediate preparations to dispute the progress of Weitzel. With him were parts of the Eighteenth, Crescent, the Thirty- third, the Terrebonne Guards, part of the Second Louisiana cavalry and Ralston's and Semmes' batteries-probably a total of 1,200 effectives. The Federal force was considerably larger. 'Two miles above Labadieville, Mouton fortified a strong position on both sides of the bayou and awaited the appearance of Weitzel. The battle was fought on October 27, and, through unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, Mouton was forced to retreat to a new position south of Labadieville. But the Federal force was too strong to be withstood, and he finally moved intact across the Atchafalaya. In the battle his troops had shown conspicuous gallantry and he exceptional skill. His retreat with all his supplies and with the spirit of his soldiers unquenched should be ever memorable. The Federal gunboats compelled him to evacuate his new position, whereupon he marched to the Teche and for- tified, but was again soon compelled to change his ground. He now had to assist him the Confederate gunboat Cotton and two small steamers. With these he offered battle on November 3 to four gunboats under Lieutenant Buchanan and the army of Weitzel, and, although forced back after nearly two hours of fighting, he had the satisfaction of seeing the Federals retreat to Berwick bay. Thus the movement resulted in a Confederate victory. Later Weitzel again advanced, probably with heavy reinforcements, and succeeded in destroying the gunboat Cotton, whereupon Mouton retired into the interior and Weitzel returned to Brashear City.
In December, 1862, Gen. N. P. Banks succeeded General Butler in command of this Federal department. Banks ordered 10,000 men under General Grover to advance to and occupy Baton Rouge. At this time about the same number of Confederate troops under Gen. Franklin Gardner held Port Hudson. Van Dorn with a large force was at Vicksburg. There was now a shifting of commands. General Sibley with a few hundred men advanced from Opelousas to New Iberia. Gen. Richard Taylor with a larger force occupied Opelousas, he being now the com- mander of this Confederate department. Gen. E. Kirby Smith was in command in Northwest Louisiana. Banks was given a large and well-equipped army and told to take possession of the Red river country, the ultimate objective to be Shreveport. He
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first planned to clear the southern portion of the state of the Confederates, and ordered Grover to advance to Donaldsonville and thence to Thibodeau. But General Taylor, fresh from his recent training in the art of war under "Stonewall" Jackson in the valley of the Shenandoah, had gathered together on the Teche a strong force of experienced troops numbering between 4,000 and 5,000, among them being many Texans and the follow- ing Louisiana commands: The Eighteenth, the Crescent regi- ment, the Twenty-eighth, the Second Louisiana cavalry, the Yellow Jacket battalion, Semmes' battery and the St. Mary can- noneers. This force was stationed at Fort Bisland on the Teche. As early as March, 1863, General Taylor had captured the Fed- eral gunboat Diana on the Atchafalaya, and had armed and manned her for his own nse. As a side movement and with the assistance of Maj. J. L. Brent, Taylor, in February, 1863, destroyed the Federal gunboat Indianola.
About the middle of April the Federals advanced in force up the Teche to attack the advance guard of the Confederates under General Mouton. The latter checked them for two days with desperate fighting, but was then compelled to retreat before superior numbers. He reached Franklin, ten miles distant, on the 14th and found General Taylor. It was decided that the Con- federate force was not large enough to withstand the much larger force of the Federals, whereupon it was concluded to adopt the tactics of doing them all the damage possible without sacrificing the integrity of the Confederate command. None on either side knew better how to do this than General Taylor. His experience in the Army of Northern Virginia was now invaluable. How- ever, a vigorous resistance was offered, and finally the Diana was destroyed and Taylor marched to Vermillion bayon and thence by easy stages to Opelousas. Before such a largely superior force, which was advancing rapidly, this was a masterly per- formance. Upon the appearance of the Federals at Opelousas. about the first of May, Taylor retreated toward Natchitoches and Mouton with a strong force moved toward the Southwest. Early in May the Federals moved from Opelousas toward Alex- andria, but upon reaching that point were directed to co-operate with the movement to secure an "open Mississippi" under General Grant, and accordingly marched back via Opelousas and New Iberia to Brashear City. There he left a force to hold the place and marched toward Port Hudson. Soon Taylor again appeared, fell upon the enemy at Brashear City and captured an immense store of supplies of all kinds and 1,500 prisoners and took possession of the city and vicinity.
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Taylor now began to show his resourcefulness and power. With his old command and reinforcements from Arkansas to the number of several thousand men, he promptly took possession of the Federal post on Berwick bay with many prisoners, an immense supply of medical and other army stores and 5,000 new rifles. He proceeded to take possession of the entire Lafourche country, and designed to cut off Banks' communication with New Orleans and perhaps succeed in reaching the latter city. Mouton was not idle, and had collected at the month of the Teche about fifty small water crafts. Camp Butler, near Donaldsonville, was too strong to be taken by the Confederate General Green. The Confederates were thus again in possession of much of Southern Louisiana.
But now there came a change. Vicksburg and Port Hudson fell, and thus the entire Mississippi was in possession of the Union forces. This left a large force free to operate in the Red river valley. About the middle of July, Generals Weitzel, Grover and Dwight, at the head of a force of about 6,000 troops, came down the river to Donaldsonville, and thence marched down the Lafourche, intending to find and strike the forces operating under Mouton and Taylor. But Taylor was too shrewd a soldier and tactician to be caught. He skirmished and evaded the large Federal force, finally passing northwest in advance of the enemy, opposing every obstacle he could to his advance, fighting fiercely occasionally as opportunity promised advantage. In October, 1803, the Federal army moved to Vermillion bay, thence to Carenero and so on in a northwest direction, Taylor ever retreat- ing before them yet ever touching them with his gaffs. In this Federal army were it brigades of infantry, 2 of cavalry, and 5 batteries of artillery under Gen. W. B. Franklin. General Taylor retreated from Opelousas to Washington, near which place in November, General Green defeated a strong Federal force under General Washburn. Colonel Vincent defeated another strong force near New Iberia. The Federal army was now well advanced on the second Red river expedition.
In the spring of 1863, General Gardner was in command of about 12,000 Confederates at Port Hudson. In March the Federals tried to run the batteries there, but only part of their vessels succeeded. The two that succeeded in getting through immediately blockaded Red river. It was in May, 1863, that Gen. Joseph E. Johnston recommended that General Gardner should evacuate Port Hudson, owing to the probability that Vicks- burg would soon fall and that the whole Mississippi would thus
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fall into the hands of the Federals. The loss of Vicksburg to the Confederates meant the loss of Port Hudson. But General Gard- ller did not take the advice of General Johnston, and accordingly General Banks proceeded to invest that important point. This was begun late in May, and was continued until the middle of June, when he demanded the surrender of the place. Gardner politely declined the invitation, and the cannonade continued, but when Vicksburg fell early in July, Port Iu Ison also surrendered, Gardner yielding to Banks July 9. At Port Hudson were the following Louisiana cammands : Fourth Louisiana detachment, Ninth infantry battalion, Ninth battalion of partisan rangers, Twelfth heavy artillery battalion, Thirteenth infantry battalion Louisiana legion, Boone's battery, Watson's battery and perhaps other small commands.
Immediately after the fall of Vicksburg, the Red river expedi- tion of the Federals was begun again in earnest. The Federal force in Southern Louisiana advanced toward Alexandria via Opelousas, while a large fleet of gunboats with many troops pro- ceeded to cooperate up Red river. The Federal army was under the command of General Banks. The Confederates began to concen- trate in his advance to offer battle. At the head of this force was placed the Stonewall Jackson of Louisiana, Gen. Richard Taylor, one of the ablest commanders of the great war. Ile was joined by Generals Green, Walker and Mouton, who in their spheres were scarcely inferior to Taylor himself. This concentration was at Pleasant Hill, northwest of Natchitoches. Soon with Taylor were nearly 9,000 effective men, while opposed to him were three times as many. All eyes began to be turned in this direction, regardless of the important events transpiring elsewhere. The Confederate president and the state of I,ouisiana had the utmost confidence in Taylor, and did not fear to pit him with a much smaller force against the political soldier Banks. It was believed that his prudence, sagacity, dash and boldness would fully over- come the disparity in force, and this judgment in the end proved correct. When the large army under Banks reached Natchitoches, Taylor fell back to Mansfield, and silently there prepared for battle. In the meantime, a fleet of Federal vessels had advanced up Black river against General Polignac at or near Harrisonburg, but owing to the skill of the latter did not accomplish much and accordingly continued on up the Ouachita. The Federals cap- tured Fort De Russy, a water battery below Natchitoches about the middle of March.
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