USA > Maine > The story of the Maine Fifteenth; being a brief narrative of the more important events in the history of the Fifteenth Maine regiment; together with a complete roster of the regiment , embracing the name of every officer and enlisted man serving > Part 6
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[COL. CATHILL, LAFOURCHE CROSSING, TO GEN. EMORY, AT NEW ORLEANS. ]
I. Maj. Morgan, at Thibodeaux, reports seven thousand of the enemy moving down the Bayou Lafourche.
II. The enemy is advancing on both sitles the Bayou Lafourche in large force, four miles above. My trains have not yet arrived.
[GEN. EMORY, AT NEW ORLEANS, TO COL. CAHILL, AT LAFOURCHE. ]
I. If the report be true it is your duty to retire to Boutte Station at once with all your force. Lose no time in the matter. You might follow the track to Des Allemands and tele- graph the cars to meet you there.
II. If you believe report to be true you have no time to lose in getting away from where you are, leaving a strong guard and a light train at Lafourche. *
* If Brashear City is gone it will be necessary to destroy the bridge at Lafourche ; if they have not the force you estimate destruction of bridge will be an awful mistake.
III. Move at once your main force to Boutte ; if deceived you can move back again.
IV. Spike your guns and retire your infantry by the railroad track, destroying the bridges as your rear guard passes them.
V. Why do you wait for trains ? Retire along the track of the railroad with your in- fantry, if nothing else. Destroy your artillery if necessary.
VT. If you cannot bring your horses kill every one on the spot. Kill them with a knife so the enemy will not hear your guns. Don't let anything fall into their hands. Destroy all the bridges, including the one at Lafourche, after your rear has passed. *
* Destroy the telegraph office and all its records. Blow up your cassions, but make no fires until your main body is at least ten miles off.
VII. If you cannot get along on the train march your men on the railroad track. Hurry your force to New Orleans, leaving one regiment at Boutte Station. Destroy the track and bridges as you pass.
VIII. Hurry to this city with such forces as you can bring.
IX. Sendt Col. Dyer's regiment to Algiers. Leave one regiment at Boutte Station ; if attacked fall back to the gunboat on the river. Bring all the rest of your force to New Or- leans as rapidly as possible. Quiler train to come to Algiers and return at full steam.
[GEN. EMORY AT NEW ORLEANS TO GEN. BANKS AT PORT HUDSON. ]
I. Enemy's force at Brashear and on this side is known and ascertained to be at least nine thousand and may be more. He has part of our rolling stock and is working this way. The city is quiet on the surface but the undercurrent is in a ferment.
HI. Two regiments of Col. Cahill's force have at length reached Boutte Station. He is at Raceland with the balance of his force. His tardiness of movement is inexplicable !
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garrisons, and posting its pickets in one instance within twenty-five miles of New Orleans. Some twenty guns were also posted at eligible points on the Mississippi River, keeping up a continuous fire on our transports and gunboats, and seriously crippling a number of our vessels. The enemy held the entire Lafourche region, Berwick Bay, the key to the Attakapas, had blockaded the Mississippi, and Gen. Taylor was moving upon the Bar- ataria Canal as his favorite route in case he saw an opportunity to swoop down upon the city of New Orleans. The rebels had also been reported on the east side of the river, above Bonnet Carre, (on which account the Fifteenth was hurried across the river to the Parapet from Company Canal.) Indeed the situation appeared so critical that Gen. Emory-commanding the Defenses of Orleans-felt justified, by the exigencies of the situation. in making appeals for aid directly to the War Department, and in formally and urgently notifying Gen. Banks that he must at once come to the relief of the important interests centered at New Orleans, even at the risk of an abandonment of Port Hudson ; that he must, in fact, choose between the two points-it being, in his judgment, impossible to hold them both.
Happily, however, Gen. Banks was not a victim of the prevailing panie, but patiently and perseveringly held his grip upon Port Hudson's throat, with the tenacity of a man having unbounded faith in the ultimate triumph of his cause !
Old Camp Parapet had undergone many changes since the Fifteenth Maine boys had shaken its dust (or mud !) from their feet, some nine months before ; nevertheless the old land-marks were easily recognized. To be sure Geu. Phelps, the chief attraction (!) of the summer before, and the well-known regiments of the old brigade, had gone, and new forms and faces were to be seen about the parade-groand ; but the old-time variety of Louisiana mud, the voracious mosquito, and the ever-present malaria, with its attendant " shakes," remained, and we were very soon domesticated as members of the military household. Col. Dyer of the Fifteenth, the rank- ing officer, assumed command of the post, very acceptably playing the role of acting-brigadier-though, it must be confessed, the new commander was not an exact duplicate of his amiable (!) predecessor before referred to.
Though when hurried across the river from Company Canal, and for a number of days later, there were apprehensions of serious trouble on account of the threatened attack of Taylor's raiders upon New Orleans, the glorious victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, during the first week in July, entirely changed the aspect of affairs. Notwithstanding the fact that the enemy had established himself in the Lafourche region, on Berwick Bay, and even along the banks of the Mississippi, below Port Hudson. the capture of the rebel strongholds before mentioned left our troops free to swoop down upon Taylor's raiders, very speedily regaining possession of
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Donaldsonville, Brashear City, and other important points in Western Louisiana. Bat the task involved considerable severe fighting ; Taylor ma- king frequent raids into the Toche and Lafourche regions during the sum- mer, at least a portion of his army remaining in the Upper Louisiana coun- try until the commencement of the Red River campaign, a year later.
The great victory of the troops of the Gulf Department, at Port Hudson, was greeted with universal rejoicings. It had been a severe and most hotly-contested campaign, and of unprecedented hardship to the sol- diers participating. The siege occupied forty-five days, of which twenty- one may be said to have been characterized by incessant fighting. Our casualties are reported at seven hundred and eight killed, thirty-three hun- dred and thirty-six wounded, and three hundred and nineteen in prisoners and missing. This does not include the large list of losses from disease in- curred in the trenches and other exposure incident to the campaign. The rebel loss was of course very great, but there is no means of accurately as- certaining the figures. We captured over ten thousand prisoners, seventy- three guns. forty-five hundred pounds of powder. one hundred-and-fifty- thousand rounds of ammunition. twenty thousand head of cattle, ten thous- and bales of cotton, and much other valuable property. The victory was a costly one, but the very decided advantages accruing from the opening of the Great . Father of Waters, from its source to the sea, seems to have justified the expenditure.
Early in July -- though regimental headquarters remained at Camp Parapet -- the Fifteenth became considerably scattered by the detachment of a number of its companies to guard important points in various sections of the Department. Co. A was dispatched to the LeBarre Road, two miles from the Parapet ; E to Lake Pontchartrain ; B to Kommer Station, Jeffer- son Parish, and a week or so later to Pass Manchac, on the Jackson. Mis- sissippi and Great Northern Railroad, thirty-five miles from New Orleans ; I occupied a station seven miles below B, on the shore of the Lake ; and F relieved B. at Pass Manchac, the middle of August. Other companies may also have been detached for a short period, but there is no data from which to ascertain the precise location of each company, or to give even a general narrative of events transpiring with the several companies while thus detached.
It is worthy of note, however, as characteristic of this period of our regimental history. that the deadly malaria of the Louisiana lakes, swamps and bayous, again played sad havoc among our soldiers, and the effects of the radical change from the salubrious climate of Western Florida to the fever-impregnated atmosphere of the Mississippi, soon became strikinghy apparent. All the companies suffered more or less in this respect, accord- ing to location, but probably none more seriously than Co. B., at Pass Man-
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chac. The writer being at that station, and having a more general knowl- edge of the situation there than at other points, treats of this as a fair spec- imen of all the points occupied by the detached companies.
" Pass Manchac " is the connecting link between Lakes Maurepaus and Pontchartrain. It is located mid-way of a dense cypress swamp, ex- tending from six to ten miles on either side. The tents occupied the bridge and trestle-work " bed " of the railroad, with the miasmatic waters of the Lakes and Pass beneath and in front and rear, and the cypress-swamp on either flank. Alligators, suakes, and other hideous reptiles abounded -- their unearthly " music " furnishing the morning, noon and evening sere- nade, in the absence of the drum-corps! All the surroundings were strik- ingly suggestive of " the fever and shakes," a condition so apparent, that, upon their first inspection, Col. Dyer and the medical officer attending him agreed that " it was not a fit location for white men." The truth of this conclusion was abundantly verified by subsequent developments. Though the men were in an exceptionally healthy condition at the date of taking up the location at Manchas, it is literally true that every man present with the company during that period there contracted the poisonous malaria to a greater or less degree, and a number of them were as a result completely broken down in health during the six weeks of the company's service at this point. From twenty to thirty were prostrated at one time, and ten to twelve men for daty was more than could be mustered as a daily average the middle of August, when the company returned to the Parapet. But the experience of Co. B was not materially different from that of the other de- tatched companies. Second Lieutenant J. Edwin Libby, a faithful and popular young oficer, was an early martyr to this very unfavorable loca- tion, contracting the malarial poison at Manchac, and breathing his last at a private residence in Carrolton early in September, very keenly lamented by all his associates.
The duty of the companies at these detached posts comprised the re- ception, and escort to New Orleans, of refugees and paroled prisoners ; the inspection of baggage and correspondence of those coming within the Union lines ; the prevention of smuggling, by land and water, etc. Various ex- peditions were organized and sent into the adjacent country -- one, com- posed of men from Band I, reaching as far as the village of Pontchatoula, in Tangipahoa Parish, a dozen miles from Manchac. Much that was ex- citing and adventurous transpired, and some hair-breadth escapes might be here narrated, did space permit.
At the Parapet the few companies remaining were engaged in the usual monotonous routine, with nothing especially exciting transpiring. By the middle of August all the detached companies were called in ; and Aug. 23d we were so fortunate as to receive orders to break camp and take
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passage on the steamer " Gladiator," for New Orleans. The transport ves- sel was very aptly named-as right glad the boys were to bid a final adieu to the fated camp-ground where they had eked out but a miserable ex- istence during the two -mmumers which they had spent in the South, and the scene of so many casualties in our regiment.
As a noteworthy event of the second summer's campaign on the Mississippi, should be mentioned the very perceptible shrinkage of our reg- imental line at the evening dress-parade, as a result of the ordinary casu- alties of the service. Death and disability discharges had made appalling inroads in our ranks, old comrades, by scores and even by hundreds, having " fallen out by the way." Included among the Josses were quite a number of the commissioned officers. The sad death of Lieut. J. E. Libby, Co. B, has already been referred to. Of those resigned, on account of disabil- ity, were :- Adjutant James Nowland, Quartermaster Worthington S. Locke, and Chaplain J. I. Brown, of the regimental staff; Capt. Daniel M. Prescott, Co. C; Capt. Ransom N. Pierce, Co. G; Lieut. John Z. Swanton. Co. E; and Lieut. Harrison G. Prescott, Co. H. Capt. John B. Wilson, Co. H, and Lieut. JJohn C. Cobb, Co. D, left us to accept promo- tion in colored organizations-the former as Surgeon and the latter as Colonel. In addition to these, Major F. M. Drew, Capt. C. S. Ilsley and Capt. C. B. Smith. were temporarily detached (in August) at the North, for service in connection with gathering drafted men and substitutes into the various encampments, in Maine and elsewhere.
Upon its arrival at New Orleans the Fifteenth was assigned excel- lent quarters in an old Cotton-Press, in the lower section of the city, not far from the noted French Market. The Cotton-Press was a huge granite and brick structure, with a large open square, enveloped in substantial walls. admirably adapted to the purposes of a regimental parade-ground. The soldiers fared sumptuously as to-quarters, the location, in many re- spects, being quite as desirable as that enjoyed by the regiment while in Florida. The duty was comparatively light, comprising guard and patrol service in the city, especially designed to protect the officers and soldiers of the various regiments (other than our own, of course !) from falling into the snares and pit-falls which ever beset the unwary in that great and fearfully wicked city ! In the performance of this work the patrols were frequently required to penetrate the " slums " and " dens of infamy" of this " Paris of America." participating in some exciting adventures, which, if narrated might be regarded as a trifte .. blood-curdling."
About the latter part of August five companies of the Fifteenth were detached, to occupy various stations. Companies A and D were sent. to the village of Carrolton ; G to Hickock's Landing, Lake Pontchartrain ; IL to Fort Banks ; and K to Bayou DesAyres. These companies remained
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at these stations while the regimental headquarters remained at Orleans.
While in New Orleans the officers and soldiers, when not on duty, were generally permitted to wander about the city at pleasure, enjoying many privileges which they very highly appreciated. Among these was an opportunity to meet, for the first time, that famous " man of destiny," Gen. U. S. Grant. After the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Grant visited Banks, at New Orleans, and was tendered a most enthusias- tic reception, many courtesies being extended. Included in these was a social festival at Gen. Banks' residence, attended by a large proportion of the officers and soldiers stationed in the vicinity, all cager to grasp the il- lustrious little hero by the hand-though, as a matter of fact, few then .. realized that the modest and unassuming guest of the evening was the " Moses " for whom Father Abraham had so long been searching, and who, under God, was destined to lead the loyal people " through the wilderness " in which they had so long been groping, and to ultimate and glorious vic- tory ! At the complimentary review, at Carrolton, Gen. Grant was thrown from his spirited charger and so severely injured that he was unable to re- turn to duty for weeks; indeed, it was feared at one time that his brilliant career was likely to be brought to a premature termination on account of the unfortunate accident.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIFTEENTH " ON THE ROAD" TO THE TEXAS COAST.
AFTER PORT HUDSON, WHAT ?-- GEN. BANKS READY FOR ANOTHER JOB. - LOOKING TOWARD TEXAS. - TWO UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO PLANT THE STARS AND STRIPES UPON ITS SOIL .-- THE FIFTEENTH "TAKES A HAND" IN A GAME THAT WINS. -- A PERILOUS VOYAGE ON THE GULF OF MEXICO. - WE DROP ANCHOR OFF THE COAST OF TEXAS VERY NEAR THE MEXICAN BORDER.
ITHI the opening of the Mississippi River and the repossession of important points in Western Louisiana, the troops in this region were now free to seek other fields of usefulness; and that aggres- sive movements of some importance were on the tapis, was appar- ent from the unusual activity manifested in military and naval circles. We had been reinforced from Grant's army to the number of thirty thousand --- including the Thirteenth Army Corps and considerable cavalry and artillery, with their necessary equipments -- and although our original command had
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been reduced by very nearly that number by the casualties of the cam- paigns, the muster-out of nine months' men, and by disease, we still were able to concentrate quite a formidable body of veteran troops. A number of distinguished general officers had also joined us, including Gens. Win. B. Franklin, E. O. C. Ord. N. J. T. Dana, C. C. Washburn, F. J. Herron, T. E. G. Ransom. and others of lesser note. All this glittering array was suggestive of active service, and there was of course considerable speculation as to the objective point. Bat this, for prudential reasons, was only confid- ed to those of the inner circles of Gen. Banks' military household. As a matter of fact. moreover. it appears that this was not positively determined upon until quite late in the summer. The plan was a matter of dispute. Gen. Halleck, the then commander-in-chief, rarely agreed with the com- manders in the field as to any campaign, and he seems to have been espec- ially " mulish " in his treatment of Gen. Banks. Though affecting to give him the largest discretion as to plan and detail, a campaign was no sooner entered upon than an entire change of programme was necessitated by per- emptory instructions from Washington. But this was a characteristic of the Halleck "era of blundering " in high places, from which all our fighting generals, and the country's interests as well, suffered keenly.
Nevertheless, after much correspondence and consultation among the military commanders, a plan was perfected, in August, for a combined military and naval attack upon Mobile Bay ; and this was about being en- tered upon by Grant, Banks and Admiral Farragut, when a message was re- ceived by Gen. Banks, sent at the earnest solicitation of the State Depart- mont, setting forth that there were "reasons other than military, why our flag should be restored to some one point in Texas without delay!" And this of course, for the time being, gave to the Mobile Expedition its quictus.
In pursuance of orders from the Washington authorities Gen. Banks made his first demonstration towards Texas by way of Sabine Pass, in Sep- tomber. This had always been his favorite ronte, and seemed to present advantages over all others. The plan was to effect a landing at Sabine Pass, and push on. overland, to Houston and Galveston, thus controlling the railroad centres, and also maintaining communication with New Orleans by railroad and water-transportation. But the General made a fatal error at the start. He placed Maj .- General Franklin in command! It was de- signed that Franklin should land his troops at some eligible point and co- operate with the naval vessels in capturing the enemy's fortified position at Sabine Pas,; instead of this the gunboats were allowed to bear the brunt of the assault unaided by the infantry -- and although the rebel works were defended by less than one hundred men, the war ships not only made no impression. but really ran aground in the shallow water and narrow chan- not of the Pass. under the guns of the fort, and were compelled to surren-
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der. The infantry failed to effect a landing, and were reluctantly compelled to return to New Orleans, in very great humiliation. The expedition was worse than an utter failure, as it had advertised the plan to the rebel authorities, and brought the rebel armies of Texas and Louisiana to the threatened locality.
But, happily, the Sabine was not the only avenue of approach to the " Lone-Star State," and another expedition was at once dispatched to re- connoiter the route from the Teche to Niblett's Bluff, or, if that was found impracticable, by way of Alexandria and Shreveport. The army was trans- ferred to the Teche Sept. 13th, Gen. Herron's Division of the 13th Corps moving from Morganza. After a careful inspection, however, both of these rontes were found to be wholly impracticable. They involved a march of from three to five hundred miles, through a bitterly hostile country, with- out supplies or water, and the roads very difficult. The force was hardly adequate to such an undertaking. Nevertheless, the flag must be unfurled upon Texas soil all the same, and that without delay. There was still an- other " broad highway" to Texas " leading down," and this was by the way of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican frontier ! There was no time to lose : and for the double purpose of bewildering the enemy and testing the skill of another commander, Gen. Franklin and the greater portion of the troops which had undertaken the overland route, were left in occupancy of Berwick Bay and the Teche, while another entirely independent expedi- tion was quietly organized, to move by the only remaining route that seemed to offer any assurance of success.
And this is how it came to pass that the Fifteenth, while quietly pur- suing the even tenor of its way at its extremely pleasant camp at the New Orleans Cotton Press, was ruthlessly disturbed one day during the lat - ter part of October, by an order to prepare for a sea-voyage, reporting to Maj .- Gen. N. J. T. Dana, the immediate commander of the expedition.
Though receiving the preparatory word Oct. 19th. it was not until the 23d that transportation was furnished : the steamer Clinton taking us on board, receiving the 13th Me. at Jackson Square, and proceeding to Car- rolton, the general rendezvous. Here we were joined by all our detatched companies --- with the exception of K. which could not well be relieved. The two regiments remained on the steamer during that bitterly cold night, the soldiers being sandwiched very closely together and experiencing con- siderable discomfort. The next morning, however, Gen. Dana ordered the Clinton relieved by the transfer of several of the companies of the Fif- teenth-A, B and D-to the Gen. Banks, upon which was the 19th Iowa. Lieut .- Col. Murray-though not the senior officer -- was placed in command of the "Banks," -- a very disereet arrangement, as the sequel proved. The greater portion of the day -- October 24th-was occupied in necessary pre-
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liminaries ; but at about 4 p. m., in response to signal-guns from the flag- ship, the steamers, one after another. pulled out into the stream, and grace- fully glided down the river, dropping anchor at its mouth to await the ar- rival of the remaining vessels and supplies. Here we remained until the evening of the 27th. Five days' rations were issued-considerable activity was in progress in the cooking-galleys --- and! in various directions necessary preparatory arrangements were being perfosted. The flag-ship, with Gen. Banks and staff, Gen. Dana and staff. and other officers, joined us on the evening of the 25th, and the fleet soon after proceeded to sea.
The formation of the line and sailing of the fleet constituted a very pretty spectacle. The vessels moved with the precision of troops on par- ade, in designated positions, deployed at prescribed distances from vessel to vessel, and every movement directed from the flag-ship by a system of sig- nals manipulated by a staff officer of the commanding-general. The sail- ing-orders contemplated moving in two distinct and separate lines, one mile apart, with half-mile intervals between the vessels of the same line. The fleet, when deployed at open order, covered a very wide expanse of ocean, and at night, when the position of each ship was clearly defined by colored lights displayed in the rigging, the picture was weird and beautiful. The prescribed formation was as follows :
The Flag-ship McClellan, with Maj .- Gen. Banks and Staff, Maj. - Gen. Dana and Staff, with Head quarters Guards and Attendants. Steamer Crescent, with Brig. Gen. Win. Van lever, and detachment of the gist Illinois. Steamer St. Marys, with 94th Illinois and the roth Cavalry. Steamer Empire City, with 26th Inl., 38th Iowa, and detachment gist Illinois. Steamer Peab ly, with the 37th Illinois and 120th Cavalry. Sterner Thomas A. Scott, with the 20th Wisconsin and both lowa. Steamer Clinton, with the 13th Mine, six companies 15th Me., and a detachment of Cavalry. Steamer Belvidere, with the 31th Iowa and a detachment of the 120th Cavalry.
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