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Camp-Fire Stories 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Mississippi Valley 
 Campaign 
 
 BY 
 
 Marie Louise Benton Bankston 
 
 (Historian Stonewall Jackson Chapter 1 135 
 United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1912-13.) 
 
 "Not for self hut for the Cause, " 
 
 LOUISIANA SERIES 
 
 THE L. GRAHAM CO. 
 
 Publishers 
 
 NEW ORLEANS 
 
 1914 
 
C- ■-. ■ 
 
 Copyrighted by 
 
 MAEIE LOUISE BENTON BANKSTON, 
 
 New Orleans, 1914. 
 
 m \2 !8i4 
 
 ©CI,A36156i 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS 
 
 or THE SOUTH^ 
 
 THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED; 
 
 WITH THE HOPE, THAT IT MAY ASSIST TO A DEEPER 
 
 STUDY AND HIGHER APPRECIATION, OF THE 
 
 SACRIFICES, DEVOTION AND VALOR 
 
 OF THEIR FATHERS ; 
 
 KINDLING A ZEAL IN THEIR HEARTS 
 
 TO BECOME WORTHY OF THEIR HERITAGE OF 
 
 PATRIOTISM. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication. 
 
 Foreword 9 
 
 I. Causes of the War 12 
 
 II. Southern Confederacy 23 
 
 III. The Unequal Struggle 26 
 
 IV. Louisiana 30 
 
 V. Fort Sumter — Wiashington Artillery. 38 
 
 VI. General Leonidas Polk 45 
 
 VII. Who Made the Plans That Saved the 
 
 Union? 5o 
 
 VIII. Farragut and His Fleet 54 
 
 IX. New Orleans Life Under Federal 
 
 Regime 69 
 
 X. Beauty and Booty 78 
 
 XI. New Orleans Newspaper Volunteers. 100 
 
 XII. Orleans Guards 106 
 
 XIII. Siege of Port Hudson 113 
 
 XIV. Battle of Baton Rouge 119 
 
 XV. Chickasaw Bayou 123 
 
 XVI. Battle of Champion Hill 127 
 
 XVII. Grant's Canal 133 
 
 XVIII. Carroll Parish 139 
 
 XIX. The Battle of Mansfield 149 
 
 XX. Vicksburg 159 
 
 XXI. Third Louisiana 164 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 THE ebb-tide of time has taken us far adrift from 
 the issues that culminated in the war between 
 the States. All organized Southern Societies 
 now realize that the only full and final tribute, we can 
 pay to the Confederate Soldier, is to crown his deeds, 
 with a true version of his motive, and transmit un- 
 tarnished the story of his suflfering and loyalty. 
 
 Animated by this desire, I launch my little 
 volume — sheafs of grain, gathered from many fields 
 of valor, devoted first to deeds of Louisiana's sons on 
 Louisiana soil. Should it meet with favor, other works 
 will follow, as Louisiana gave freely of the flower of 
 her manhood to every battle of the Confederacy. The 
 history of the Army of Northern Virginia cannot be 
 written without telling the glory of the Louisiana Sol- 
 dier. 
 
 I ot^'er this contribution, not in memory of a Lost 
 Cause, but as a witness to a Living Principle. 
 
 The facts presented in these pages have been ob- 
 tained largely from participants in the action. It has 
 been a delightful task to draw from the Veterans of 
 the great struggle, a vivid picture of the scenes of their 
 
10 FOREWORD. 
 
 heroism. While we yet have a "cloud of living wit- 
 nesses" around us, let us work, that our children may, 
 too, bear the torch. 
 
 In the printed sources of information I have con- 
 sulted to verify the facts, I have sought both Northern 
 and Southern authorities with equal impartiality. 
 
 In the text-books put into the hands of our children, 
 the term ''Rebel" is too often used in the sense of 
 traitor. 
 
 The South did oppose the attempt of the United 
 States Government to invade Southern soil with armed 
 force for the purpose of coercion. Mr. John Fiske, 
 that admirable Northern historian, says, in treating this 
 point : 
 
 "For my own part, I have sympathized with so 
 -many of the rebellions in history, from the revolt of 
 iht Ionian cities against Darius Hystaspes down to the 
 uprising in Cuba, that I am quite unable to conceive 
 of 'rebel' as a term of reproach. In England, to this 
 day, Cromwell's admirers do not hesitate to speak 
 with pride of the Great Rebellion. While my own 
 sympathies are thoroughly Northern, as befits a Con- 
 necticut Yankee, I could still take off my hat to the 
 statute of Robert E. Lee when I passed it in New Or- 
 
FOREWORD. 11 
 
 leans. His was devotion to the self-government, which 
 seemed in mortal peril." 
 
 If we can but interest the youth of our country in 
 these great ideals of Southern manhood, aglow with 
 love of independence, the author will have cause to 
 rejoice in the fruits of her labor. 
 
 M. Louise Benton Bankston. 
 
12 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE WAR BETWEEN 
 THE STATES. 
 
 IT is a far cry, back to the first issue, between North 
 and South. Perhaps it was in 1785, when Spain 
 positively refused to yield the free navigation of 
 the Mississippi River. Mr. Jay, Secretary of State 
 then, recommended a waiver for thirty years to all 
 claims to free navigation of the Mississippi. 
 
 The seven Northern States voted solidly for this 
 measure, and the five Southern, excepting one member, 
 voted against it. 
 
 Thus began the drawing of geographical lines, upon 
 a question in which the South showed patriotic states- 
 manship, and the North a narrow jealousy of any 
 expansion beyond its own section. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, from Paris, wrote strongly to Mr. 
 Madison in disapproval. The interests, of all the 
 settlements along the waters of the Mississippi, were 
 sacrificed to the jealousy of the party in power. 
 
 In 1786 the Georgia Legislature declared by resolu- 
 tion the right of a State to self-government, and re- 
 sented the attempt of Congress to treat with the 
 Creeks — as subversive of State's Rights. 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR. 13 
 
 A crisis arose in the State of Alabama in 1833 over 
 her independent right to regulate the difficulties which 
 had arisen between the Creek Indians on the Reserva- 
 tion and the pre-emption rights of settlers. The Gov- 
 ernor of Alabama sent a lengthy note of protest to 
 Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, in the defense of State 
 Sovereignty. 
 
 ^ The President appointed Francis Scott Key Com- 
 missioner to visit Alabama and adjust all questions 
 in dispute. Mr. Key was a man of elegant address, 
 gifted with attainments in law and diplomacy. 
 
 He had already attained fame and country-wide 
 popularity at home, as the author of the greatest 
 national air, "The Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 Mr. Key's efforts effected a settlement. A con- 
 temporary author wrote : 
 
 "This controversy was not settled upon principle, 
 but smothered in compromise." 
 
 We see once more the Federal Government yield- 
 ing the point at issue to the hostile demonstration of 
 the State. 
 
 When Thomas Jefferson was President, the mari- 
 time States boldly opposed the embargo laws, declar- 
 ing their enforcement was an adequate cause for dis- 
 solving the Union. 
 
14 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 As far back as 1832, when the Convention at 
 Columbia, South Carolina, adopted the Nullification 
 Act of John C. Calhoun, rebelling against the tariff 
 adopted by the United States Government, the Con- 
 vention announced that every measure of coercion on 
 the part of the Federal Government be regarded as 
 inconsistent with a further continuance in the Union. 
 
 After the adoption of the Constitution, during the 
 administration of John Adams, the commercial States 
 of the North repudiated the right of secession and 
 opposed the resolutions of the Kentucky and Virginia 
 Legislatures, which had declared, in last resort, that 
 the State was the sole umpire as to all Federal ques- 
 tions; but as soon as the Federalists saw a danger of 
 losing control of Government they threatened dis- 
 union — ^upon every question which threatened to 
 diminish their waning power. 
 
 The suppression of the Whisky Insurrection in 
 Washington's Administration gave rise to talk of civil 
 war and overthrow of the Administration. Jefferson 
 feared the excise law would produce disunion. Wolcott 
 expressed a hope that the insurgent district be chastised 
 or rejected from the Union. 
 
 ''Hamilton was chagrined to find that the march of 
 the militia to enforce the excise laws was greeted with 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR. 16> 
 
 laughter and derision. Edmund Randolph expressed a 
 fear that the insurgents would call England to their aid, 
 and thus bring about a disruption of the Union. 
 
 ''Jefferson, in his Memoirs, said that John Quincy 
 Adams called upon him during the controversy over 
 the embargo laws, and declared he had information of 
 the most unmistakable character that certain citizens 
 of the Eastern States, Massachusetts particularly, were 
 in negotiation with the British Government, the object 
 of which was an agreement that the New England 
 States should take no further part in executing em- 
 bargo laws against hostile British orders in council, and 
 that they would withdraw from all aid and obedience 
 to the Union." 
 
 The next great issue between North and South was 
 the acquisition of Louisiana. Here we see exhibited 
 sectional jealousy against expansion of territory. The 
 North openly declared that separation from the Union 
 would be preferable to acquisition of Louisiana. 
 
 There was a movement for a combine of the North- 
 ern and Eastern States in 1804. 
 
 Mr. Adams gives incidents of a visit to Rufus King. 
 He says : i found there sitting Timothy Pickering, who 
 shortly after withdrew.' Mr. King said : 'Mr. Pickering 
 has been talking to me about a project they have for a 
 
16 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 separation of the States and the forming of a Northern 
 Confederacy.' " 
 
 Governor Plummer, of New Hampshire, was a pro- 
 nounced Secessionist. In a letter to Mr. Adams he 
 admitted he was a disunionist at that period, and in 
 favor of forming a separate Government in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 When Virginia and Kentucky passed their cele- 
 brated resolutions in 1798 against the Alien and 
 Sedition Laws, and declared as there was no umpire to 
 settle between the State and Federal Government, that 
 each State must decide upon its own redress, the com- 
 mercial States all denied the doctrine. The agricultural 
 States affirmed this power. 
 
 Now observe that, when the acquisition of Louisiana 
 was impending, these same States boldly declared they 
 would dissolve the Union. 
 
 From his seat in Congress, Josiah Quincy, a leader 
 from Massachusetts, declared if the bill for the pur- 
 chase of Louisiana became a law it was a virtual dis- 
 solution of the Union; that it would free the States 
 from their moral obligation. 
 
 "The cry was, the Union has long since been 
 dissolved ; it was time this part of the dis-united States 
 takes care of itself." 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR. 17 
 
 Further, that "it would be the right of all to prepare 
 for a separation, amicably, if they could, violently, if 
 they must." 
 
 The War of 1812 kindled anew the spirit of section- 
 alism in the North, while the South rallied as a unit to 
 the United States' defense. It was the Southern Volun- 
 teer of Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisiana that won 
 the victory for the United States on the plains of Chal- 
 mette, while the States of New England, as soon as its 
 commerce was threatened, clamored for peace. 
 
 The Governors of Connecticut and Massachusetts, 
 and the Governor of Vermont, ordered the return of 
 the militia to those States which had gone into Canada 
 to confront the British. 
 
 From the examples we have now given, in historical 
 sequence, our students of history can clearly draw the 
 conclusion that the doctrine of Secession had its birth 
 and was fostered in the New England States. 
 
 It was only when it was put into practical applica- 
 tion, by the Southern States, that it became treason in 
 their sight. 
 
 Sustaining this view, we find Aaron Burr, a promi- 
 nent statesman of New York, relying upon the consent 
 of the North and the forbearance of the South, engaged 
 in organizing an armed expedition to make New Or- 
 leans the capital of a great Southwestern Republic. 
 
18 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 In the face of all these facts, showing the reserved 
 right of self-government held by all the States North 
 or South, agitators and promoters of sectional jealousy 
 and hatred would endeavor to make Negro Slavery 
 the issue and cause of the war between the States; 
 whereas, if it were a crime to have brought the captive 
 from Africa, that crime did not rest with the Southern 
 planter. 
 
 Under Oglethorpe, of Georgia, slavery had been 
 prohibited in all that region extending from- the 
 Savannah to the Mississippi; but the greed of traders 
 and ship-owners from New England abolished this pro- 
 hibition, and engrafted the traffic on the Constitution 
 itself. 
 
 A BLESSING TO THE SLAVE. 
 
 Now, was it an unmixed evil ? Many pious people, 
 and deeply religious theologians, have contended ever 
 that, in the Providence of God, slavery was an instru- 
 ment of salvation. To bring these benighted souls 
 from the wilds of Africa, and, by the evolution of 
 civilization, to bestow upon them Christian citizenship. 
 Their emotional nature renders them very amenable to 
 religious influences. 
 
 In the patriarchial system of the South, was dis- 
 played the most picturesque and beautiful relation of 
 Master and Servant. 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR. 19 
 
 Horatio Seymour has most appropriately said : 
 "That if slavery in the South was an evil, it bred 
 the best race of men and women the world ever saw." 
 Hear the testimony of John Quincy Adams: 
 "For this much is certain, if institutions are to be 
 judged by their results, in the composition of the coun- 
 cils of the Union, the slave-holders are much more 
 ably represented than the simple freeman." 
 
 The philosophic Edmund Burke, in contrasting sec- 
 tions, concluded that the Southern States had evolved 
 the highest order of Anglo-Saxon manhood. 
 
 It becomes the duty of every Southern historian to 
 impress upon the minds of youth the falsity of the 
 assumption that preservation of the institution of 
 slavery was the cause of Secession. The fact is, that 
 the Southerners differed as widely upon this subject, 
 as upon other matters of political economiy — many of 
 the States had ideas for the gradual emancipation of 
 the slaves. 
 
 In 1832, Virginia was on the verge of emancipation. 
 A very large proportion of the Confederate Army was 
 not slave-holders. The patriots who came forth from 
 the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and the 
 Carolinas had no slaves, whereas General Grant was 
 a small slave-holder. 
 
20 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Many Southern leaders were non-slave-holders — ^all 
 along the line, from Patrick Henry, Andrew Jackson, 
 John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay to Stonewall Jackson, 
 but they were patriots, inflamed with love of freedom, 
 and a willingness to die for the holy principle of self- 
 government. 
 
 GENERAL FREMONT'S FALSE STEP— MR. 
 LINCOLN'S REPRIMAND. 
 
 As a demonstration that slavery was not acknowl- 
 edged to be the cause of the war between the States 
 but, was resorted to afterwards, as a measure of sub- 
 jugation, also a means of destroying the agricultural 
 and financial power of the South, we have but to con- 
 sider the action of General Fremont in Missouri, July 
 9, 186L He had been appointed by Mr. Lincoln to 
 command the Department of the West, which com- 
 prised the States of Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Ken- 
 tucky. John C. Fremont had gained a prestige in 
 many quarters, on account of his marriage to Jessie 
 Benton, the daughter of Thomas H. Benton, of Mis- 
 souri, whose long and devoted services to his State are 
 set forth in the celebrated book, 'Thirty Years in the 
 Senate." 
 
 General Fremont's work in the explorations of the. 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR. 21 
 
 Rocky Mountains, and the conquest of California, had 
 so added to his popularity that he was brought out as 
 candidate of the Republican party for President. 
 
 As a military chief, his career was a disappointment 
 to the Federals. While in command, he gave proof 
 of poor judgment. On the 30th of August, in St. 
 Louis, he issued his "emancipation proclamation," 
 which declared all slaves belonging to Confederates to 
 be free, and threatened death to all persons bearing 
 arms within a certain arbitrary boundary prescribed by 
 his order. 
 
 This was looked upon as a political error of the 
 gravest character. The slavery question was held as 
 entirely subordinate to the question of National Sov- 
 ereignty. As at this time, in such slave States as Mis- 
 souri and Kentucky, there were struggles between con- 
 flicting motives, opinions and interests, it was con- 
 sidered most imprudent to hint at the forcible emanci- 
 pation of slaves. Such a step immediately alarmed 
 that element of slave-holders which had hitherto held 
 themselves neutral. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was first to perceive this, and lost no 
 time to disavow the act, and to remind General Fre- 
 mont that he had gone beyond his powers. 
 
 The spirit of Patrick Henry is the spirit that ani- 
 
22 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 mated the South—a fear of aggressive Federal power, 
 and a determination to resist to the last any en- 
 croachment of State's Rights. When Lincoln declared, 
 after his election, that the relation of a State to the 
 Government was nothing more than that of a county 
 to the State, the freemen of the South, regardless of 
 property rights in slaves, marshalled from the moun- 
 tains to the sea, to uphold the sovereignty of their 
 State. Their purpose failed ; their principle lives. Great 
 men, all. 
 
 Deserving the distinction of these noble words of 
 Benjamin Disraeli, in "Lothair." 
 
 "He is a gentleman of the South. It is not unlikely 
 he may have lost his estates now; but that makes no 
 difference to me; I shall treat him and all Southern 
 gentlemen as our fathers treated the emigrant nobility 
 of France." 
 
JEFTERSON DAVIS, 
 The First and Only President of the Confederacy, 
 
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 OUR readers may plainly see from the fore- 
 going chapter that the war between the 
 States was the inevitable, the irrepressible 
 conflict. No one realized this more than Jefferson 
 Davis. 
 
 In his ''Rise and Fall of the Confederacy," he gives 
 a very interesting story of the excitement in 1850 over 
 the compromise measures which were then pending. 
 
 "He says: ''One day ! was walking in the capitol 
 grounds in Washington. I met Henry Clay, of Ken- 
 tucky, and Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, in earnest con- 
 versation. It was the 7th of March— the day on which 
 Mr. Webster had delivered his great speech. Mr. Clay, 
 addressing me in the friendly way he had always done, 
 since I was a school boy in Lexington, asked me 
 what I thought of the speech. I liked it better than 
 he did. He then suggested I should join the com- 
 promise men, saying it was a measure that would 
 probably give peace to the country for thirty years— 
 
24 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 the period which had elapsed since the adoption of the 
 compromise of 1820. Then, turning to Mr. Berrien, 
 Mr. Clay said, Tou and I will be under the ground 
 before that time, but our young friend here will have 
 trouble to meet.' I somewhat, impatiently, declared 
 my unwillingness to transfer to posterity a trial they 
 would relatively be less able to meet, than we were, 
 and passed on my way." 
 
 Even at that time the shadow of Mr. Davis' 
 vicarious sufferings had fallen over him. When, ten 
 years later, his State, Mississippi, had seceded from 
 the Union, and he arose sadly in the United States 
 Senate to bid farewell to his colleagues, he expressed 
 his sorrow that the Union must be dissolved. He ex- 
 pected that the Southerners would be allowed to go 
 in peace and establish their own Government undis- 
 turbed. 
 
 Mrs. Davis, in speaking of this final adieu to the 
 United States Senate, said of his sorrow: ''Had he 
 been bending over his bleeding father, needlessly slain 
 by his countrymen, he could not have been more 
 pathetic or inconsolable." 
 
 That night she heard his reiterated prayer: "May 
 God have us in His holy keeping, and grant that, be- 
 fore it is too late, peaceful councils may prevail." 
 
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, 25 
 
 On Saturday, February 16, 1861, a remarkable 
 meeting of the Representatives of the Confederate 
 States took place in Montgomery, Alabama, to in- 
 augurate a President. The unanimous choice of the 
 people called for 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 Mr. William L. Yancey, of Alabama, possibly the 
 greatest orator of his day, introduced Mr. Davis to the 
 multitude, in these solemn words: 
 
 "The hour — and the man have met." 
 
26 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE UNEQUAL STRUGGLE. 
 
 THE present generation, both North and South, 
 have a confused idea of the conditions, social 
 and political, which prevailed at the time of 
 the election of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 With the eye of cool observation, the student of 
 history can see nothing but the tremendous inequalities 
 of the contestants — ^the North, in control of the whole 
 power and machinery of the Government of the 
 United States, its navy, its standing army, its treasury, 
 and its credit ; the South, led by a host of knights, with 
 its fighting legion drawn from great agricultural fields, 
 of a people untrained in hardships and unskilled in 
 manufacturing. 
 
 That election was purely geographical. Owing to 
 the peculiar electoral system of our country, we see 
 that Mr. Lincoln was elected by 180 electoral votes 
 (all from above the Potomac or the Ohio), in the 
 face of a popular majority against him of 950,000 
 votes. He was the candidate of a party that had no 
 adherents in the southern part of the nation, and which 
 existed to antagonize and destroy the institutions of 
 that section of the United States. 
 
THE UNEQUAL STRUGGLE. 27 
 
 For the first time in our history, one section of the 
 country aligned itself against the other. For the first 
 time, had come to pass that geographical division of 
 the country which was anticipated by the original 
 States, and caused many of them to hesitate to sign 
 the Constitution. 
 
 A party founded on hostility to the South had 
 elected a President by a purely sectional vote against 
 the will of the people, as expressed in nearly a million 
 ballots. 
 
 This was taken as a challenge to the Southern 
 States to submit to domination or withdraw from the 
 Union. With the hot blood of their sires surging in 
 their breasts, there could be no hesitation. 
 
 ONE BY ONE EACH STATE OF THE SOUTH 
 DECLARED FOR HOME RULE. 
 
 Dear old Virginia waited long; she did not think 
 the election of Lincoln was sufficient cause to leave the 
 Union, which she had done so much to glorify. 
 
 It was only when President Lincoln, on the l5th 
 of April, 1861, called upon Virginia to furnish her 
 quota of troops to coerce the seceding States, that she 
 refused to take part in the political crime of warfare 
 against Sovereign States. Other States followed the 
 lead of Virginia, who, for honor's sake, hazarded all. 
 
28 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 There could be no discussion in those days at the 
 South, of weighing their manhood against con- 
 sequences. 
 
 The South entered upon the war, armed with little 
 else save courage and love of liberty. Men were taken 
 from all the productive fields of life ; the food supplies 
 were, from the first, meager, because the South had 
 unwisely bought her produce from the North and 
 West. She was deficient in navy, arms, ammunition, 
 and clothing. After her ports were blockaded, there 
 was no medicine, nor any means of obtaining aid from 
 outside friendly sources. 
 
 General Grant has been lauded as a great strategist ; 
 so he was, if General N. B. Forrest's definition be 
 accepted, who defined strategy as ''getting there first 
 with the most men." 
 
 The North was able to enlist an aggregate of 
 2,748,304 men. The sum total the South could pro- 
 duce, by "robbing the cradle and the grave," was 
 600,000. 
 
 This was the situation that Virginia met, but she 
 cast lots with her sister States, and the swords of her 
 great sons upheld her. She gave to the Confederacy 
 Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph E. John- 
 ston, Turner Ashby, and a host of others. 
 
THE UNEQUAL STRUGGLE, 29 
 
 The Confederacy was very deficient in supplies of 
 medicine—more necessary than ammunition at times. 
 In the supreme moment of their country's need, the 
 women rose to meet every emergency, from the 
 making of bandages, knitting of socks to weaving of 
 cloth. They dug up the floors of their smoke houses 
 and tobacco barns to extract the nitre from them ; the 
 corncobs were gathered up from the barns, that the 
 soda and potash obtained from them might be used 
 in the making of gunpowder. Women grew poppies, 
 and from the gum they made an opiate for the suffer- 
 ers in the hospitals. They learned to harvest and stew 
 dogwood, which was used as a substitute for quinine. 
 The black boys of the plantation were kept busy in the 
 woods gathering herbs and berries with which to make 
 tonics and stimulants for the sick and injured soldiers. 
 
 The carpets on their floors were cut up for blankets, 
 and the draperies converted into underwear. When all 
 else was exhausted, the women learned the art of 
 weaving, and made the cloth from which the grey 
 jackets and caps were contrived. 
 
 The town and church bells were melted and 
 moulded into bullets. 
 
30 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 LOUISIANA. 
 
 LOUISIANA has always occupied a picturesque 
 and imposing position in the history of Amer- 
 ica — from the days when La Salle and Bien- 
 ville first saw the beauty of her lakes and streams; 
 later, when she became the object of barter and sale, 
 between Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Jeflferson, 
 and finally, when Napoleon, to replenish his depleted 
 war-chest, sacrificed this wonderland of the Western 
 world for a few paltry millions. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, the greatest statesman of his 
 age, foresaw the large possibilities of the future value 
 of his purchase, but a part of his country, was willing 
 for a disruption of the Union on account of it. 
 
 In the war with Mexico, she covered herself with 
 glory. She brought about the final defeat of the 
 British in 1814 on the field of Chalmette. Is it not 
 natural, then, that Louisiana, in the War between the 
 States, should lay her treasure and her sons on the 
 altar of Constitutional Liberty? 
 
LOUISIANA, 31 
 
 FIRST STEPS TOWARD SECESSION. 
 
 On, January 16, 1861, active steps were taken, for 
 the first time, toward secession, and a strong force of 
 citizen soldiery started for Baton Rouge. The records 
 say "they were young men of hot blood and de- 
 termined to do the State some service." The next 
 day, at 11 p. m., Major Haskin, commanding the 
 Arsenal, capitulated 50,000 stand of arms and other 
 munition." 
 
 The companies from New Orleans now held the 
 Barracks. Three companies of Baton Rouge infantry 
 resented this action, and disbanded, but the volunteer 
 troops of Baton Rouge finally took charge of the Bar- 
 racks. 
 
 Captain Voorhies, during the expedition, com- 
 manded the Washington Artillery; Captain Charles 
 D. Dreux, the New Orleans Cadets; and the Orleans 
 Guards were under Captain S. M. Todd and Lieu- 
 tenant Giradey. The whole expedition was under 
 command of Colonel Walton, of the Washington 
 Artillery. 
 
 Governor Thomas Overton Moore called the 
 Legislature together in extra session, in December, 
 i860. An election of delegates to a State Convention 
 took place January 7, 1861. The convention met on 
 
32- CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 January 23rd, and elected ex-Governor Mouton as 
 President. On January 26th an Ordinance of Seces- 
 sion was framed and adopted. The ordinance was 
 signed by 121 delegates, seven voting against secession. 
 Delegates were then sent to Montgomery to form 
 a Southern Confederacy. Louisiana, from henceforth, 
 was aligned with her sister States. 
 
 LOUISIANIAN FIRED FIRST GUN OF 
 THE WAR. 
 
 General P. G. T. Beauregard, of Louisiana, opened 
 the war for Southern defense at Fort Sumter. The last 
 to stack arms in 1865 was the consolidated Eighteenth 
 Louisiana, of the Trans-Mississippi Department. 
 
 General Beauregard, in command of Louisianians, 
 won the first great battle of the war at Manassas, in 
 which the Washington Artillery, of New Orleans, 
 made its name forever immortal. 
 
 Such were the losses of Louisiana troops, that con- 
 solidation of remnants had to be practiced. For in- 
 stance, the Thirteenth Louisiana Regiment of In- 
 fantry, the very flower of the manhood of New Or- 
 leans, which left the city in 1861 with 850 men, at the 
 close of the war mustered but twenty-six — three 
 officers and twenty-three men. 
 
 Of the six full Generals in the Confederate Army, 
 
LOUISIANA. 33 
 
 Louisiana furnished two— Beauregard and Bragg; also 
 six Major-Generals and twenty-seven Brigadier-Gen- 
 erals. There were one hundred engagements fought 
 on Louisiana soil. 
 
 DISTINGUISHED LOUISIANIANS. 
 
 In the person of Judah P. Benjamin, Louisiana fur- 
 nished the first Secretary of State to the Confederacy. 
 He was subsequently Attorney-General, and then Sec- 
 retary of War. 
 
 Louisiana furnished three of the twelve Commis- 
 sioners of the Confederacy — Hon. John Slidell, Com- 
 missioner to Europe, especially to France; Hon. P. A. 
 Rost, Commissioner to Spain; Hon. A. B. Roman, 
 Commissioner to the United States of America. 
 
 From the very promptness with which Louisiana 
 responded to the call for troops, she left her own people 
 and coast defenses unprotected. She sent thirty-six 
 regiments and eight battalions to the front. 
 
 The deeds of Jackson's "Foot Cavalry" (mainly 
 Louisianians), the Washington Artillery, Gibson's 
 Brigade, and the Louisiana Tigers all bear testimony 
 to the energizing influence that the love of one's State 
 brings to bear, which could even woo the Acadian from 
 the pastoral scenes of his Attakapas home, and trans- 
 form him into the dashing debonair warrior, equally 
 
34 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 ready to fight to the death for "la belle Louislane" or 
 dance with his "bon comrades," during the lull of 
 battle, to the music of the regimental band. 
 
 A GALLANT SOLDIER AND PATRIOTIC 
 STATESMAN. 
 
 A popular soldier, and renowned son of Louisiana, 
 was General Francis T. Nicholls.* He was Captain of 
 a company in the Eighth Louisiana. At Winchester, 
 the first important fight in the Valley of Virginia, 
 Colonel Nicholls was wounded seriously, resulting in 
 the loss of his left arm. On the day of its amputation, 
 the division fell back. He remained in the enemy's 
 lines. 
 
 Colonel Nicholls was exchanged in September, 
 1862, and was immediately promoted Colonel of the 
 Fifteenth Louisiana. A few days afterward he was 
 appointed Brigadier General, and assigned to the 
 Second Louisiana Brigade, then near Fredericksburg. 
 The brigade was composed of the First, Second, 
 Tenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Louisiana Regiments. 
 It was part of the force which, under General Jackson, 
 
 * Hig father was Judge of the Court of Appeals in Ascension Parish. 
 His mother was a sister of Joseph Rodman Drake, the author of the 
 "Culprit Fay," one of the most charming poems ever produced by Amer- 
 ican genius. He graduated from West Point in 1855, and was assigned 
 to duty in the Everglades of Florida. He served in the Third United 
 States Artillery at Fort Yuma, on the Colorado River, when he resigned 
 and returned to Louisiana, 
 
LOUISIANA. 35 
 
 turned the enemy's flank near Chancellorsville. During 
 
 the same night in which Stonewall Jackson was 
 
 wounded, a heavy fire was opened on the brigade. A 
 
 shell killed General Nicholls' horse, and, passing out, 
 
 took off the General's leg. On recovering from the 
 
 v/ound, which incapacitated him for active service in 
 
 front, he was assigned to the Lynchburg District. At 
 
 the close of the war, he was in the Trans-Mississippi 
 
 Department, with headquarters at Marshall, Texas. 
 
 He continued to serve his native State, Louisiana, 
 
 after the war. He was twice elected Governor. At 
 
 the time of his death he was Judge of the Supreme 
 
 Court of Louisiana. 
 
 * * * 
 
 Captain William P. Harper, of the Seventh Lou- 
 isiana, afterward Sheriff of New Orleans, was acting 
 Assistant Adjutant General of the brigade, while Gen- 
 eral Nicholls was in command. Captain Victor St. 
 Martin also was Assistant Adjutant General for a short 
 time. Dr. Semmes, a brother of Mr. T. J. Semmes, 
 
 was surgeon of the regiment. 
 
 * * * 
 
 Thomas J. Semmes, a legal luminary of his day, 
 served from Louisiana in the Senate of the Confederate 
 States of America. 
 
36 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 And now Edward D. White, a Confederate soldier 
 from Louisiana, is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. 
 
 General Zachary Taylor, from Louisiana, the 
 father of General Dick Taylor, was a President of the 
 United States. The daughter of Zachary Taylor was 
 the first bride of Jeflferson Davis. 
 * * * 
 
 Louisiana is one of the four States which claims 
 more than a general pride and interest in this only 
 President of the Southern Confederacy — Kentucky^ 
 his birthplace, and the scene of his educational life;, 
 Mississippi, his adopted State, his home, to whose 
 service he devoted his grand talent, whether in the field 
 of Mexico as military commander, in the halls of Con-^ 
 gress as United States Senator, or as Secretary of War 
 of the United States, he was a devoted servant of Mis* 
 sissippi. He died in Louisiana, and received the last 
 earthly tribute from the people of New Orleans, the 
 city of his love. His body reposed for a time in her 
 soil, and now Richmond, Virginia, the last Capital of 
 the Confederacy, possesses the mortal remains of Jef- 
 ferson Davis. 
 
 The remains of General Albert Sidney Johnston, 
 killed at the Battle of Shiloh, were interred for a lon^ 
 
LOUISIANA. 37 
 
 while in Louisiana. The beautiful tomb of the Army 
 of Tennessee in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, is 
 surmounted by an equestrian statue of him. 
 
 The epitaph of General Albert Sidney Johnston, 
 written by Mr. John Dimitry, in this tomb, is one of 
 the most exquisite specimens of English verse in our 
 language. 
 
38 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 FORT SUMTER. 
 
 ON March 3rd, 1861, President Davis appointed 
 General G. T. Beauregard, of Louisiana, to 
 the command of all the forces in and around 
 Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
 On arriving there, and examining the fortifications, 
 he erected batteries of cannon and mortar bearing on 
 the fort. 
 
 All hopes of a peaceful pursuit of development in 
 the new-born Nation were soon dispelled. The United 
 States became the aggressor by sending armed vessels 
 to Charleston harbor, a port of a sovereign State of 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 On April 7th, Governor Pickens received a message 
 from President Lincoln, announcing that an attempt 
 would be made to supply Fort Sumter with "pro- 
 visions only." This "relief squadron," on its way 
 already for Charleston, consisted of eight vessels, 
 carrying twenty-six guns and 1,400 men. These were 
 clearly preparations to coerce a sovereign State upon 
 its own soil. General Beauregard was then ordered 
 to demand the fort's surrender at 12 o'clock on April 
 11th. Major Anderson was given permission to salute 
 
FOET SUMTER. 3^ 
 
 the flag he had defended so well. He declined to sur- 
 render. The bombardment then began. It is related 
 that the Confederates, at every discharge from the fort, 
 jumped upon the different batteries, and cheered the 
 garrison for its gallant defense, but hooted the fleet, 
 that lay alongside of the bar. 
 
 At half-past one o'clock a shot struck the flagstaflf 
 and brought down the ensign. Soon a white flag was 
 substituted. The garrison was utterly exhausted. Fort 
 Sumter surrendered. 
 
 The victory was celebrated in Charleston with 
 every demonstration of joy. In the North the news 
 was received with execration and rage. 
 
 WASHINGTON ARTILLERY. 
 
 Louisiana's oldest and most famous military or- 
 ganization is still her strong arm of defense. In 1859, 
 General Persifer F. Smith was Adjutant General of the 
 State of Louisiana, and was most successful in infusing 
 the military spirit in the young men of New Orleans. 
 It was at this time that the WJashington Battery was 
 organized, with Major C. F. Hozey in command, and 
 Captain James B. Walton as Lieutenant. 
 
 In 1846, the Regiment entered the United States 
 service, and was accepted in the Mexican War, serving 
 with Zachary Taylor on the Rio Grande. 
 
40 
 
 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 As early as the month of December, i860, a 
 requisition was made upon Governor Moore for a 
 thorough equipment to put the battery in order for 
 active service in the field. On the 27th of March the 
 petition was renewed, and subsequently made to the 
 Secretary of War at Montgomery, in which the com- 
 manding officer writes: 
 
 "The W,ashington Artillery, numbering upon the 
 rolls over three hundred men, two hundred and fifty 
 
 for service, is divided into four companies. With a 
 battery complete of six bronze six-pounder guns, six 
 cannon, twelve-pounder howitzers, one eight-pound 
 rifled cannon, the battalion can take the field at a few 
 days' notice." 
 
 In 1861, the Washington Artillery was increased to 
 
WASHINGTON ARTILLERY. 41 
 
 a battalion of four batteries, and left for the seat of 
 war in Virginia. The scope of this book prevents our 
 following them through all their glorious service in 
 Virginia. 
 
 The Washington Artillery, with fine band, brilliant 
 uniform, and carrying the flag presented to them by 
 the ladies of New Orleans, were mustered into service 
 on the 26th of May, and were marched in a body 
 to Christ Church. In a sermon preached by the Rev. 
 Mr. Leacock, they were reminded that they had been 
 educated as gentlemen, and were urged to bring back 
 their characters with their arms. The soldiers debated 
 in their minds whether they would not need sterner 
 qualities than society manners and pride of birth for 
 the life before them. 
 
 Dr. Leacock concluded his farewell by saying: 
 ^'Remember that the first convert to Christ from the 
 Gentiles was a soldier. Inscribe the cross upon your 
 banners, for you are fighting for liberty." 
 
 The day of the departure of the battalion was the 
 realization of a dream of Utopia this generation will 
 not witness again. Business men equipped regiments, 
 supplied horses, and continued the salaries of their en- 
 listed employees, without a thought of reward. Citi- 
 zens walked along the line of troops, oflfering their 
 
42 CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 purses to men they did not know; woni,en were throng- 
 ing the streets, crying and laughing by turns, scatter- 
 ing rare flowers broadcast before the martial hosts. 
 
 Rev. B. M. Palmer, the beloved Presbyterian min- 
 ister, made the final address of Benediction from the 
 steps of the City Hall, whose concluding words tell 
 the temper of the times : 
 
 'The alternative now before us is subjugation and 
 absolute anarchy — a despotism which will put an iron 
 heel upon all the human heart holds most dear. The 
 mighty issue is to be submitted to the ordeal of battle, 
 with the nations of the earth as spectators, and with 
 the God of Heaven as umpire. With such an issue, 
 we have no doubt of the part that will be assigned you 
 to play, and when we hear the thunders of your can- 
 nons, echoing from the mountains of Virginia, we will 
 understand that you mean, in the language of Crom- 
 well, to 'cut this war to the heart.' It is little to say 
 you will be remembered ; and, should the frequent fate 
 of the soldier befall you in a soldier's death, you shall 
 find your graves in a thousand hearts, and the pen of 
 history shall write your martyrdom. Soldiers! fare- 
 well ! and may the Lord of Hosts be around and about 
 you as a wall of fire, and shield your heads in the day 
 of battle." 
 
WASHINGTON ARTILLERY. 43 
 
 The Fifth Company, Washington Artillery, was 
 organized by Captain W. I. Hodgson. It joined the 
 Army of Tennessee, responding to General Beaure- 
 gard's call for ninety-day troops. It was mustered into 
 the Confederate service by Lieutenant F. C. Zacharie. 
 The company participated, with honor and glory, in 
 the Battle/ of Shiloh. Captain C. H. Slocomb was the 
 commander until the Surrender. 
 
 The Fifth Company fired the last shot at Spanish 
 Fort, one of the very last of the war, and was paroled 
 at Meridian. Captain Slocomb led the Fifth back to 
 New Orleans in perfect discipline, disbanding it in feel- 
 ing words of tribute, to its valor and fidelity. 
 
 In 1862, Colonel Walton had been promoted to 
 Chief of Artillery over Longstreet's Corps. He recom- 
 mended Captain B. F. Eshleman to General Robert E. 
 Lee in 1864, and the gallant Captain was made Colonel 
 of the Washington Artillery. The command was in 
 the last engagement in Virginia, at Appomattox Court- 
 house, the 9th of April, 1865. 
 
 Colonel John B. Richardson was in charge of the 
 section of guns that fired the last charges at Appo- 
 mattox. When negotiations were on to capitulate the 
 army, he refused to surrender his battery, and buried 
 the guns. On this dramatic occasion there figured a 
 
44 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 brave Louisianian, Lieutenant W. J. Behan, who had 
 the honor of placing one of the last guns in position. 
 
 A battery of the Fifth New York Artillery came 
 into position immediately in front of the Confederate 
 line, which at that time was very much reduced in 
 number. A charge was made on this battery by 
 Colonel Bradly Johnson's Maryland Cavalry, which 
 succeeded in caputring two pieces of this artillery, with 
 caisons, horses and men. Lieutenant Behan had lost 
 his guns on the night before, and, having participated 
 in this charge with the Maryland Cavalry, the captured 
 artillery was turned over to him for immediate use. 
 With a few of his comrades to assist, the gun was soon 
 manned. Just as they were about to open fire, an 
 officer of General Lee's staff rode up and ordered 
 operations to cease, as General Lee's Army had sur- 
 rendered. 
 
 A few minutes more of time at this crisis would 
 have enabled us to record that Louisiana fired the last 
 gun of the war in Virginia. 
 
CAMPAIGN IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 45 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 CAMPAIGN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
 
 GENERAL LEONIDAS POLK. 
 
 THE issues of the early engagements of the Con- 
 federate forces, while not so thrilling as the 
 titanic struggles toward the close of the war, 
 are of great importance to the student, because they 
 give the key to all the successes of the Federal army, 
 leading to the fall of Vicksburg, our chief fortress of 
 the Valley. 
 
 Could the strong Confederate following in Ken- 
 tucky and Missouri have controlled the Legislatures of 
 these neutral States, the result of the great strife would 
 have been different. 
 
 Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, was a Seces- 
 sionist, and when President Lincoln called for troops 
 from that State, the issue was drawn. The State 
 Guard, numbering 15,000 men fully armed, was com- 
 manded by its Inspector-General, Simon Bolivar 
 Buckner. Humphrey Marshall began drilling recruits. 
 Thousands of the best blood and sinew of the Blue 
 Grass State went out and offered their swords, their 
 
46 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 fortunes and lives to the new Confederacy. Among 
 them' were John C. Breckenridge, who had been Vice- 
 President of the United States ; General Bolivar Buck- 
 ner, Basil Duke, and General John H. Morgan, the 
 mDSt gallant, daring and captivating cavalier that 
 America has produced. He was endowed with perfect, 
 manly beauty of face and form. He dazed his enemies 
 into submission by the very admiration of his audacity. 
 
 On the 3rd of September, 1861, General Leonidas 
 Polk, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Louisiana, 
 marched on Kentucky soil and took strong position, 
 commencing war in this part of the world. 
 
 John Fiske, a Northern chronicler, speaks inter- 
 estingly of our Louisiana General: 
 
 "This very able commander was one of the 
 picturesque figures of that time. A nephew of Presi- 
 dent Polk, he had been educated at West Point, but 
 soon left the army and turned his attention to theology. 
 He had become a clergyman in the Episcopal Church, 
 and now, for twenty years, had been Bishop of Lou- 
 isiana. His martial spirit reviving at the breaking out 
 of hostilities, he exchanged his surplice for the uniform 
 of a Major-General, and was at once placed in com- 
 mand of the forces gathering on the eastern bank of 
 the Mississippi. 
 
GENERAL LE0NIDA8 POLK. 47 
 
 There was a curious flavor of mediaevalism in the 
 appearance of this Bishop at the head of an army in 
 the middle of the nineteenth century. The latest in- 
 stance of a fighting divine, before the Right Rev. Dr. 
 Polk, would seem to have been the Bishop of Derry, 
 who was slain in the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690. 
 
 "A characteristic touch of ecclesiasticism, appeared 
 in his first general order, which declared that, 'the in- 
 vasion of the South, by the Federal armies, had 
 brought with it a contempt for constitutional liberty, 
 and the withering influences of the infidelity of New 
 England and of Germany combined.' 
 
 "With sound military instinct, Polk saw the im- 
 portance of the town of Cairo, situated at the juncture 
 of the Ohio River with the Mississippi, and, advancing 
 toward the goal, he fortified himgelf at Columbus, on 
 a bold bluff completely commanding the Mississippi 
 River, about twenty miles below Cairo. At the same 
 time, General Zollicoffer entered Kentucky by way of 
 Cumberland Gap." 
 
 Destiny now brought to the service of the United 
 States Government a taciturn and apparently common- 
 place man — Ulysses S. Grant. He was the eldest son 
 of a leather dealer of Scotch extraction. He was a 
 graduate of West Point, and had served in the Mexican 
 
48 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 War. In the humble rank of a Lieutenant, he had 
 attracted the attention of his staff officer, Robert E 
 Lee. After attaining the rank of Captain, he gave up 
 his commission and engaged in different trades. The 
 opening of hostilities in 1861 found him in Galena, 
 Illinois, earning a bare living at the tanner's trade. He 
 drilled a company at Galena, and then applied for 
 a Captain's commission. No notice was taken of it 
 by the War Department at Washington. He applied 
 to General McClellan, with no better result. Return- 
 ing to Illinois, he gained the attention of the Governor 
 of that State, who had placed him in command of a 
 regiment. 
 
 Trained West Point men who had seen service were 
 rapidly promoted; so Grant soon was made a Briga- 
 dier-General. This is the man we have checkmating 
 General Leonidas Polk, and who was to bring disaster 
 to Louisiana; for the day that the Confederates occu- 
 pied Columbus, General Grant made his headquarters 
 at Cairo. 
 
 General Polk's position at Columbus blockaded the 
 Mississippi River up to that point. By next seizing 
 upon Paducah he would control the Ohio and com- 
 mand the mouths of the Tennessee and the Cumber- 
 land Rivers, which were the very arteries of the Con- 
 federacy. Battle was now unavoidable. 
 
GENERAL LEONIDAS POLK. 49 
 
 ^ While Fremont was advancing against General 
 Stirling Price, Grant was to make demonstrations on 
 the banks of the Mississippi. The first sally made 
 by Grant was to dislodge General Pillow, who, with 
 2,500 men, occupied a small garrison below Colum- 
 bus. Success followed the Federals for awhile. Soon 
 General Pillow rallied his troops, and took a position 
 between the Union men and their boats, so as to cut 
 off retreat. General Polk himself, with fresh troops, 
 arrived in time to assault the Federals' flank, and re- 
 pulse them as they were nearing their boats. General 
 Grant here narrowly escaped death or capture. It is 
 related, as he sat his horse covered with a large cloak, 
 disguising his rank. General Polk saw him, and ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 "There is a Yankee, my boys, if you want to try 
 your aim." 
 
 But the aim was not true. Horse and rider reached 
 the boats before the last unmooring, and this man of 
 destiny escaped, to strike the South her fatal blow. 
 
50 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WHO MADE THE PLANS THAT SAVED 
 THE UNION? 
 
 A VETERAN of the Sixth Mississippi, Captain 
 J. W. Smith, was a member of the Garrison 
 at Columbus, under command of General 
 Polk. He states that we had 30,000 men and a splen- 
 did line of breastworks; it would have taken 100,000 
 men many months to have captured it below. We held 
 Island No. 10 and Fort Pillow. By the move of the 
 Federals up the Tennessee and the Cumberland, all of 
 these strong forts had to be abandoned. Colonel 
 William Preston Johnston writes, in his biography of 
 his father. General Albert Sidney Johnston: 
 
 "There has ever been much discussion as to who 
 originated the movement up the Tennessee River. 
 Well, Grant made it, and it made Grant. It was 
 obvious enough, to the leaders of both sides." 
 
 This was no doubt the great strategic movement 
 of the war, as the Confederates expected the attack to 
 come by way of the Mississippi River. 
 
THE PLANS THAT SAVED THE UNION. 51 
 
 ANNA ELLA CARROLL, OF MARYLAND, 
 
 Fifty years ago there appeared before Congress a 
 woman seeking recompense for services to the Gov- 
 ernment, Anna Ella Carroll, a Southerner who did not 
 heed the cry of her country, and was unmindful of its 
 traditions. 
 
 The story, familiar through the press,* tells us that 
 Miss Carroll was born in Maryland, and early in life 
 repudiated slavery. When the war came she freed her 
 slaves, and gave her time to writing what was con- 
 sidered very able pamphlets to the cause of the Union. 
 So forceful were these that she was regularly em- 
 ployed by the War Department to put before the 
 country, in writing, the views of the Government on 
 military and other leading questions. Such was her 
 influence with the Administration that she came to be 
 practically a m^ember of Lincoln's Cabinet. Even as 
 early as Buchanan's term her friends claim that she 
 held Maryland to the Union by what she said and 
 wrote. 
 
 But it is as a war strategist that she figures most 
 conspicuously. "In those wonderful days, when the 
 South stood like a slender David barring the onward 
 path of the Northern Goliath," Assistant Secretary of 
 War Scott proposed to Mr. Lincoln that Miss Carroll, 
 
 * Godey. 
 
52 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 who had already given them such valuable hints, be 
 sent to the West to examine the topography of the 
 Mississippi Valley, and suggest, if possible, some plan 
 by which the Federal troops might force an entrance 
 into the heart of the Confederacy. 
 
 The plan already proposed by the military men was 
 the descent of the Alississippi River, but to Miss Car- 
 roll's mind this was not likely to be so effective a 
 course as an attack elsewhere. She laid on Mr. Scott's 
 table the plans and maps for a descent by the way of 
 the Tennessee, with the capture of the forts along the 
 course, and the seizure of the Memphis and Charleston 
 Railroad, which was the key of the complete fastnesses. 
 
 This, all the world knows, was the plan adopted and 
 executed, and the success whereof made possible the 
 Union triumph at Appomattox. 
 
 Thus do we find that the ultimate success of the 
 North was due to a Southern woman, and yet her 
 name is an unknown quantity on the pages of history, 
 while the men who carried out her plans were crowned 
 with chaplets of fame, while she remained in obscurity. 
 Many contestants rose to claim the honor which should 
 have been given to her. 
 
 She saw Grant, Lincoln, Halleck and others credited 
 with that which was hers, and found no means to 
 
THE PLANS THAT SA VED THE UNION. 53 
 
 recover her appropriated glory. It was said the Presi- 
 dent did not divulge her name at first, because he feared 
 the army would put no confidence in the scheme if it 
 were known that a woman originated it. He well knew 
 that the utmost skill and courage were necessary to 
 the successful accomplishment. Unquestionably, there 
 was much in this view of the matter. 
 
 The name of Miss Carroll should have been blown 
 through the country with a silver trumpet. Had Lin- 
 coln lived, this might have been. But the years went 
 by and she remained unrecompensed, both as to money 
 and reputation. Many times since, her friends tried 
 to win for her just recognition, but always without 
 success. 
 
 During various sessions of Congress, notably the 
 Fortieth and Forty-fourth, bills were presented. Among 
 those vouching for the genuineness of her claims were 
 Secretary Stanton and Assistant Secretary Scott; Ben 
 Wade, Vice-President; Henry Wilson, and others. 
 
 Some years since, she died in obscurity and poverty, 
 because an ungrateful section had not the honesty to 
 render unto her that which was hers. 
 
54: CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FARRAGUT AND HIS FLEET. 
 
 ii^T^ HE Mississippi," declared President Lincoln, 
 I ''is the backbone of the Rebellion. It is 
 * the key to the whole situation," and New 
 Orleans was the lock which the Federals determined 
 to possess. The place was of greatest importance for 
 strategic purposes, as well as a source of supply to 
 the Confederacy. It was the largest city of the South, 
 contained more machine shops, more skilled workmen, 
 more factories and food, more boats and seamen, than 
 any city of the Confederacy. 
 
 Louisiana was in touch with the vast domain of 
 Texas, which was the open sesame to Mexico. The 
 State of Louisiana, with its magical fertility of soil and 
 the unlimited variety of its production, would have 
 kept the whole army in the field supplied indefinitely. 
 In fact, Louisiana was the most valuable asset of the 
 Confederacy, and this the astute Lincoln knew. 
 
 The Confederate Government, from the first, 
 labored under the insurmountable disadvantage of an 
 insufficient navy. She had no shipyards. That at 
 Norfolk was lost early in the action. 
 
FARRAGUT AND HIS FLEET. 
 
 55 
 
 With the genius of their Admirals, Semmes and 
 Buchanan, they showed the gallantry and daring of all 
 the Confederate officers. Had the Confederacy realized 
 in the beginning, that secession would be resisted by 
 force of arms, there undoubtedly would have been 
 more preparations for naval warfare. 
 
 TO CAPTURE NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 ^ The United States Government sent a fleet of war- 
 ships of 150 guns, fitted out and accompanied by a 
 strong squadron of mortar boats. A land force of 
 15,000 men were placed under the command of Gen- 
 eral Butler. The Admiral of the Union fleet was David 
 Glasgow Farragut, a native of Tennessee. 
 
 According to Northern historians themselves, the 
 most uniformly effective military genius of the United 
 States Government in the conflict was possessed by 
 Southern men in the service. President Lincoln, of 
 Kentucky; General George H. Thomas, of Virginia, 
 and Admiral Farragut, of Tennessee, twice married 
 in Virginia, and passed his boyhood in New Orleans, 
 where he has relatives. 
 
 Farragut so yielded to his instinctive Southern feel- 
 ing that, in the beginning, he expressed an idea of re- 
 maining with the South, if the division of Governments 
 
56 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 could have been effected in peace; but he would not 
 take up arms against the nation which had bestowed 
 upon him all his honors. This declaration made it 
 uncomfortable for him to longer remain in Norfolk ; he 
 removed to the North. 
 
 The Naval Department at Washing-ton always 
 doubted his loyalty, and he sailed under stringent 
 orders. 
 
 He stated that he had entered the navy through a 
 ''port hole" at nine years of age, having been adopted 
 by Commjodore Porter. At twelve years, he had been 
 put in charge of a prize ship, navigating her fifteen 
 hundred miles into the harbor of Valparaiso. It is 
 remarked that it was fortunate for the City of New 
 Orleans that the capture was first made by Farragut, 
 instead of Butler, who afterwards occupied the city, 
 and whose administration was so severe and disgraceful. 
 
 Farragut's fleet was the last of the wooden vessels. 
 He had six sloops, sixteen gunboats, eight other ships, 
 and twenty-one mortar boats. 
 
 The Mississippi River is the greatest waterway in 
 the world. It is the main artery of a system veined by 
 16,000 miles of practically navigable rivers, bayous and 
 creeks; it drains no less than twenty States of the 
 Union; in its course it flows from the Rocky, the 
 
TO CAPTURE NEW ORLEANS. 57 
 
 Alleghanies; on the other, the Cumberland, the Ozark 
 and the Missouri ranges into a single stream. This 
 great river divides the East from the West of the 
 United States, the North from, the South. It does not 
 broaden toward the approach to the sea, but narrows 
 to a width of a half mile. 
 
 It took Farragut three weeks to pass his boats 
 through Southwest Pass, with its deposits of mud 
 which formed a natural obstruction. Captain Eads 
 had not then accomplished the great work at the jetties, 
 which has made a navigable channel for the largest 
 men-of-war or merchantmen. 
 
 New Orleans now has a port open to the commerce 
 of the world, and she is the logical point for the tide 
 of trade and travel which must come through the 
 Panama Canal. It will be but a just reparation of fate 
 that this Valley of the Mississippi, which was made to 
 suffer all the outrages of war and devastation, should 
 now reap the blessings of peace and prosperity. 
 
 THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS 
 
 lies in a crescent-shaped bend 110 miles from the 
 mouth of the Mississippi. For protection from attack by 
 sea, the Confederates had strengthened and equipped 
 two old Government fortresses at Plaquemine Bend, 
 
58 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 about ninety miles below the city. The coast of the 
 winding river at that point is nearly East and West. 
 On the left, or north bank, stood Fort St. Philip. On 
 the right bank, some 800 yards down stream, was 
 Fort Jackson. The latter was a casemented work 
 built in the form of a star, armed with seventy-five 
 guns. Fort St. Philip was openwork, strong brick 
 walls, covered with sod, mounted fifty-three guns. The 
 greater number of guns were only 24-pounders. 
 
 PASSING THE FORTS. 
 
 Forts St. Philip and Jackson were mounted and 
 armed, for the most part, with guns of obsolete pattern. 
 Farragut himself reported that the forts had been 
 stripped of their armament and poorly equipped for 
 defense. Moreover, the defense had been weakened 
 by the withdrawal of Hollin's gunboats, for service at 
 Memphis. 
 
 Below the forts there were great chain barriers 
 stretched across the river, supported by old hulks 
 anchored for that purpose. Along shore were Con- 
 federate sharpshooters, who never missed an aim. 
 
 The forts were commanded by two officers of the 
 old United States Navy. They gave out the impres- 
 sion that they could not be successfully attacked by 
 any force on the Federal side. 
 
PASSING THE FORTS. 59 
 
 If the forts had been equipped with full comple- 
 ment of modern artillery, they could have easily de- 
 stroyed the wooden ships. 
 
 General J. R. Duncan commanded Fort Jackson, 
 with a force of 1,500. Fort St. Philip was commanded 
 by Colonel Higgins, with a smaller force. The bom- 
 bardment began on the 18th of April, 1862. For six 
 days and nights tne mortar schooners threw their ter- 
 rible missiles, each a mine in itself. It is said that six 
 thousand of these shells were thrown, weighing ap- 
 proximately eight hundred and fifty tons. They killed 
 and wounded only fifty men, including the picket 
 guard. Dr. Rossiter Johnson has calculated they 
 killed or wounded about one man to every sixteen tons 
 of iron hurled into the forts. 
 
 The Confederates, in response to the mortars, sank 
 one schooner and disabled one of the steamers. The 
 brave defenders, under this rain of fire and shell, busied 
 themselves by day and night to devise methods of de- 
 stroying the enemy's fleet. They sent down the river 
 innumerable fire rafts. It required all the skill and 
 foresight of Farragut and his crew to ward them off. 
 
 After six days of hard work, Farragut gave up the 
 bombardment; he had truly "met foemen worthy of 
 his steel." 
 
60 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 BATTLE IN THE RIVER. 
 
 Farragut decided at last to make a run past the 
 forts and engage in battle with the Confederate gun- 
 boats on the other side in the river. It was a bold at- 
 tempt. It is likely that the doubts of the Government 
 at Washington, of his loyalty, added vim to his daring 
 spirit. He opened up a quick-fire on Fort Jackson, 
 and kept them engaged while a boat was sent up 
 stream to cut the chain barricade across the river. This 
 was wisdom. At 3:30 in the morning of April 24th 
 the fighting force of the fleet advanced and engaged the 
 brave Confederates in one of the most wonderful naval 
 fights in the annals of any country. 
 
 The cannonading on the forts covered the advance 
 of the Federal fleet in the darkness. This clever ruse 
 was discovered by the garrison, which opened quick 
 fire and sunk one of the boats, the "Varuna." The 
 darkness made it easy for many of the boats to get 
 past without much trouble. The 'Pensacola," of the 
 Federal fleet, lost thirty-seven men in passing. After 
 six days' storm of shot and shell, the brave men in the 
 forts ceased firing. 
 
TESTIMONY OF THE PILOT OF THE 
 "LOUISIANA." 
 
 General Duncan was in command of Fort St. 
 Philip, and Taylor Squires was second in command. 
 He gave the order that the Fort was not to open fire 
 on Farragut until the signal came from Fort Jackson. 
 
 The regulars who were in the United States Army 
 remained in the Forts after the States seceded. Among 
 them was an Irishman, who did not fancy the delay 
 in action. He said, ''Bejabers, I will give them a 
 signal," and fired away the first gun into Farragut's 
 fleet. 
 
 General Lovell was on one of the boats in the river 
 fleet. Fearing capture, he begged to be put ashore. 
 He evacuated the city with his troops, leaving the 
 Mayor in charge, who floated the flag of Louisiana 
 over the City Hall. 
 
 The State Navy comprised a motley lot of tow- 
 boats — steamboats, tugs and what-not, under the com- 
 mand of Governor Moore. Among these was the 
 ''Louisiana." Her force had a thrilling experience, 
 which is recited in the words of her acting volunteer 
 pilot. 
 
62 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE IRONCLAD ''LOUISIANA" 
 
 IN 1862. 
 
 "The Crescent Heavy Artillery was organized at 
 New Orleans, Louisiana, during the Winter of 1861, 
 and mustered into service at the beginning of the year 
 1862. 
 
 "The officers were: Captain H. T. Hutton, and 
 Lieutenants Dart, William Hervey and Thomas H. 
 Handy. 
 
 "This company volunteered to serve as gunners on 
 board the 'Louisiana' on or about the 20th day of 
 April of the year 1862, and, pursuant to that oflfer of 
 service, left New Orleans on board the 'Louisiana' at 
 about the same date. The 'Louisiana' being then in- 
 complete, was without propelling power, and was, 
 therefore, towed by the river steamer *W. Burton' 
 down to Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Because of her 
 incompleteness and inability, she could serve only as 
 a floating battery, and was anchored in the river at a 
 point about one-half mile above the Forts. 
 
 "It is my recollection that about three o'clock of 
 the morning of April 26, 1862, Commodore Farragut, 
 commanding the Federal fleet, commenced his ascent 
 of the river. His purpose was to run the gauntlet — to 
 run by the Forts without making a fight. Thirteen of 
 
THE IRONCLAD ''LO UISIANA" IN 1862. 63 
 
 his vessels negotiated this purpose and passed up the 
 river by the Forts. 
 
 "On the following morning the writer received an 
 order from Commodore Mitchell, commanding the 
 Confederate fleet, to appear before him and his staff 
 on the quarter-deck of the 'Louisiana.' He informed 
 the writer that the 'Louisiana' was then raising steam 
 for the purpose of pursuing and attacking the Federal 
 vessels. He further stated to the writer that practically 
 all the crew of the 'Louisiana,' with the exception of 
 the officers and members of the Crescent Artillery, had 
 deserted the vessel, and that among the deserters was 
 the 'Louisiana's' pilot. He said that he was empowered 
 to force my service as pilot, but that he preferred that 
 I would volunteer my services as such, which I did. 
 
 "In a very short time the chief engineer reported 
 that portions of the machinery were missing, and 
 which could not be duplicated or replaced. The 'Lou- 
 isiana' was, therefore, without propelling power, and 
 impotent to pursue. 
 
 "At about the same time a Federal vessel with a 
 flag of truce flying from her peak hove around the 
 southern bend of the river. The naval officers recog- 
 nized her as being the 'Harriet Lane,' Farragut's dis- 
 patch boat. Almost simultaneously with this a white 
 
64 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 flag appeared, flying from the staff of Fort Jackson. 
 Commodore Mitchell and other officers expressed sur- 
 prise and astonishment at such a proceeding, it having 
 come to pass without their being notified. I make 
 special mention of this incident for the reason that his- 
 tory has it that Mitchell knew of this^knew that Fort 
 Jackson was to take this step before the appearance 
 of the white flag. This is not true. Quite the con- 
 trary; he expressed surprise, was apparently chagrined 
 and provoked at such action. Moreover, he was not 
 informed as to the significance of such action, inas- 
 much as he immediately dispatched a detail of com- 
 missioned officers to Fort Jackson to learn the mean- 
 ing of that flag. They returned with the report that 
 Fort Jackson had surrendered. That was the first and 
 only notice that any one aboard the 'Louisiana' had of 
 this procedure. 
 
 "Commodore Mitchell and his staff decided at once 
 that he would not surrender the 'Louisiana,' but would 
 destroy her, which was done by setting fire to and 
 putting her adrift. The gallant Mcintosh, Commander 
 of the 'Louisiana,' and many sharpshooters were killed 
 in the action. The commissioned officers were sent 
 North to Forts Warren and Lafayette ; the privates and 
 non-commissioned men to New Orleans, where they 
 were paroled. 
 
THE IRONCLAD ''LO U 1 81 AN A" IN 1862. 65 
 
 "The writer knows it to be a report and impression 
 of some considerable circulation that some of the guns 
 on board the 'Louisiana' jumped from their carriages 
 at the first fire. This is not true. The guns were 
 never mounted. Her armament was all on one deck, 
 and my crew of gunners served two guns in the action. 
 It is true that the guns were on deck. They were put 
 there with the intention of mounting, but were never 
 mounted at any time. 
 
 TREACHERY CHARGED. 
 
 "I wish to further state that a detail of three men, 
 headed by a bar pilot, were dispatched south each night 
 to take up positions between the Federal fleet and the 
 Forts; to watch for the approach of the fleet and, upon 
 discovery of same, to notify the Forts by sending up 
 rockets. The rockets were never sent up. What be- 
 came of the men I do not know. 
 
 "When the Confederates were at Jackson for ex- 
 change that same year they all agreed that there was 
 plenty of treachery, but who the guilty ones were will 
 never be known. 
 
 "HENRY B. NOYES, 
 "Sergeant, Crescent (Heavy) Artillery." 
 
66 CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 While Farragut was forcing his way up the river, 
 Butler, with his army of 15,000 men, was at Ship 
 Island, which separates the Mississippi Sound from 
 the Gulf. 
 
 The "Mississippi," of Farragut's fleet, was rammed 
 by the Confederate ironclad "Manassas," which, in 
 turn, was destroyed by the "Mississippi." The river at 
 this point was no more than a half mile wide, so the 
 fighting was done at very close range. The memory 
 of such valor, such noble courage and dauntless spirit 
 will never fade, while Southern youth drink from the 
 fountain of Southern story. 
 
 After the destruction of the Confederate fleet, the 
 capitulation of New Orleans was a certainty. So large 
 a number of men capable of bearing arms had left for 
 the seat of war, that General Lovell had not enough 
 to defend the city. He had left to join General G. T. 
 Beauregard, who, with General Albert Sidney John- 
 ston, had taken stand at Corinth, Mississippi, after the 
 fearful battle at Shiloh. 
 
 The whole populace of the city saw the advance of 
 the Federals up the river, with feelings of rage and 
 desperation. Vast quantities of supplies were destroyed, 
 to prevent them giving aid to the invaders. Fifteen 
 thousand bales of cotton, fifteen cotton ships in the 
 
THE IRONCLAD '"LOUISIANA" IN 1862. 67 
 
 river, and a powerful ram, not yet finished, as well 
 as the dry docks, were burned. Hogsheads of molasses 
 were burst open and let flow in the streets of the city. 
 It was said no one enjoyed these "sweet conditions" 
 but the little picaninnies, who fairly floated in the 
 gutters and were swamped in syrup. 
 
 George Gary Eggleston, in his recent "History of 
 the Gonfederate War," treats this sad epoch of New 
 O'rleans life very disinterestedly: 
 
 The fighting was done at the very closest of quar- 
 ters, that the Northern and Southern Americans who 
 contested that fight met each other on that terrible 
 morning of April 24, 1862. The men who fought there 
 in the river, on the one side or upon the other, are 
 mostly dead now; only a few of them survive in sol- 
 diers' homes or sailors' snug harbors. Surely, we can 
 do no better in this new century than pay all possible 
 honor to the valor with which, on the one side and 
 upon the other, they fought for their respective causes 
 on that soft spring morning in the early sixties. They 
 were heroes all, and right heroically did they acquit 
 themselves in the brutal and bloody work they were 
 set to do. 
 
 The net result of the contest was the destruction of 
 the Confederate fleet. With that out of the way, Far- 
 
68 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 ragut pushed on to New Orleans, and, with guns out 
 for action, demanded the city's surrender. 
 
 Only one issue was possible, of course. The city 
 was at Farragut's mercy. He could easily destroy it 
 should it resist. It only remained for him to hoist the 
 National flag over it and to send General Butler's land 
 force to occupy and possess the chief city of the South, 
 which he did on the first of May. 
 
 Having thus completely achieved that "success'* 
 which the civilians of the Navy Department had "re- 
 quired" of him, Farragut was ambitious to accomplish 
 more. He proposed further operations of like character 
 against other Confederate ports from which commerce 
 was being carried on in spite of the blockade. It was 
 quite obvious that no blockade could stop this com- 
 merce on which the South so largely depended for its 
 supplies. The only way in which the shutting in of the 
 Confederacy could be made effective was to capture the 
 defensive works of every Confederate port. 
 
FLAG REMOVED FROM CITY HALL. 69 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS LIFE UNDER FEDERAL 
 REGIME. 
 
 CONFEDERATE FLAGS REMOVED FROM 
 PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 
 
 "The excitement of the populace was intense when 
 they found that the Confederate flags, which had waved 
 over the Customi House, the Mint, and the City Hall 
 for several months were ordered to be removed. The 
 city had not surrendered, and the people had still the 
 right to fly their own flag. 
 
 "A force of one hundred marines and a body of 
 soldiers, with two brass howitzers, were sent ashore by 
 the United States squadron then in our port, hauled 
 down the Confederate flags from the Custom House 
 and Mint, and hoisted the flags of the United States. 
 One of the officials hauled down the flag from the 
 City Hall, and came down with it under his arm. The 
 incensed multitude, kept at bay by the military, looked 
 daggers, and received him with a groan. It was heap- 
 ing insult upon injury, to see these beautiful flags, 
 which had been presented to the city by loving hands. 
 
70 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 which all had cherished and prized so highly, now dese- 
 crated and in possession of those who would likely 
 send them North as trophies. 
 
 THE STATE FLAG REMOVED FROM THE 
 CITY HALL. 
 
 The State flag of Louisiana floated over the City 
 Hall. On Farragut's landing at the wharf of New 
 Orleans, he immediately sent Captain Bailey to de- 
 mand the surrender of the city and the lowering of 
 the State flag. Mayor Monroe said that the city was 
 at their mercy — to take possession. "We yield," he 
 said, "to physical force alone, but we maintain our 
 allegiance to the Government of the Confederate 
 States." 
 
 The principal comfort of the people at this time 
 was Pierre Soule, the great orator and statesman. By 
 his courage and eloquence, he controlled the people and 
 prevented an open revolt against the invaders. 
 
 When the Federals came to haul down the flag of 
 Louisiana, Mayor Monroe descended into the street and 
 assumed a position before the howitzer pointing down 
 St. Charles Street. He stood with folded arms, in 
 majestic silence, looking straight into the eyes of the 
 gunners, who stood ready for action. The crowd stood 
 in sullen stillness. When the guns were removed, the 
 
FLAG REMOVED FROM CITY HALL. 71 
 
 Mayor turned and mounted the steps of the City Hall 
 
 and the people broke into loud acclaim. 
 * * * 
 
 "Four men, among whom were William B. Mum- 
 ford and Adolph Harper, more excitable, perhaps, than 
 others, and impelled by thoughts of their degradation, 
 determined to take down one, at least, of the United 
 States ensigns. 
 
 "Mounting the roof of the Mint, Adolph Harper 
 hauled down the flag and departed. There was wild 
 commotion. Mumford, being of the company, was 
 arrested, tried by Butler's Court of Military Commis- 
 sion, convicted upon circumstantial evidence, or per- 
 haps no evidence at all, condemned to death, and Gen- 
 eral Butler ordered the execution. Governor Moore, 
 speaking of this act, remarked: The noble heroism 
 of the patriot, Mumford, places his name high on the 
 list of our martyred sons.' 
 
 "Some of our most eamest and influential citizens 
 used most patriotic appeals to General Butler to spare 
 the prisoner's life, but he had denounced him, and his 
 fate was sealed. The most conclusive and affecting 
 arguments were treated with contempt. 
 
 "The question of right was waived. His compas- 
 sion and generosity were appealed to, but obstinacy 
 
72 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 and vindictiveness governed him. He had despotic 
 power given him, that he might strike terror into the 
 Southern heart, and he must begin at once! 
 
 "For Mumford's family, there was no redress; no 
 respite from suffering. In a short time the poor man 
 was executed, leaving an estimable wife and three 
 small children to be supported by charity. 
 
 ''Some charitable ladies took them in charge, and 
 did all in their power to assist them in their great 
 
 tribulation." 
 
 * * * 
 
 Butler's rule in the city, where the white population 
 at that time consisted chiefly of women and children, 
 was harsh, and even cruel — so harsh and so brutal in 
 its attitude toward women as to offend sentiment both 
 North and South, and in Europe. 
 
 He issued one order which could not have come 
 from the headquarters of any man of soldierly instincts 
 or gentle associations. By way of resenting the attitude 
 and conduct of women toward a conquering soldiery^ 
 he put forth a decree in these words : 
 
 "General Orders No. 28. 
 
 "Headquarters, Dept. of the Gulf, 
 "New Orleans, May 15, 1862. 
 "As the officers and soldiers of the United States 
 have been subject to repeated insults from the women 
 
FEDERAL REGIME IN NEW ORLEANS. 73 
 
 (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return 
 for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy 
 on our part, it is ordered tliat hereafter 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. 
 
 "By order of Major-General Butler. 
 
 ''GEORGE C. STRONG, 
 
 "Assistant Adjutant General and Chief of Staff." 
 
 It needs no argument and no exposition to show 
 that in issuing this order Benjamin F. Butler deliber- 
 ately gave license and authority to the most brutal im> 
 pulses of the most degraded men under his command — 
 authorizing them to judge for them3elves when they 
 should choose to think themselves insulted "by word, 
 gesture, or movement," and upon every such occasion, 
 without further inquiry, and upon their own initiative, 
 to treat every woman who had occasion to venture into 
 the streets as "a woman of the town plying her avoca- 
 tion." 
 
 With the cynicism that had equipped him for prac- 
 tice in the criminal courts of Boston, Butler afterwards 
 explained his order by saying that the only right way 
 to treat "a woman of the town plying her avocation,'^ 
 
74 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 is to pass her by unnoticed. But he perfectly knew 
 that that was not what his order meant to his soldiery, 
 or what he meant it to mean." 
 
 The only protection the citizens of New Orleans 
 had in their extremity were the foreign consulates and 
 their ships in the harbor. 
 
 The London 'Times" of that period says the 
 proclamation of Butler realizes all that was ever told 
 of the tyranny by victor over the vanquished, and the 
 state of slavery endured by the negroes of New Ot- 
 leans cannot be more absolute, than that now suffered 
 by the whites of that city. 
 
 In the House of Lords, on the 13th of June, Lord 
 Carnovan called attention to General Butler's procla- 
 mation. He condemned it in severe terms as without 
 precedent in the annals of war. Other members con- 
 demned it as repugnant to the feelings of the nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 A wail of anguish went up when this order was 
 issued. All others seemed endurable, but this was 
 humiliation. The women of the city were virtually 
 prisoners, for wrong motives could be attributed to 
 the most innocent movement. 
 
 Before the arrival of Butler there had been free 
 markets, to which all contributed— butchers, bakers. 
 
FEDERAL REGIME IN NEW ORLEANS, 75 
 
 grocers and planters. Mr. Thomas Murray was in 
 charge. Food was furnished without money and with- 
 out price to all whose protectors had gone to war. 
 
 When Butler took possession of the city, the free- 
 dom was so restricted that great suffering arose among 
 the poor. He levied a tax upon the people, raising a 
 great sum of money, which his report says was 
 "judiciously expended." 
 
 Thus continued the free market system on a dif- 
 ferent plan, by taxation of the property-holder. 
 
 The rigor of Butler's rule in New Orleans was in 
 some other respects salutary. He wantonly imprisoned 
 many citizens — men and women indiiferently — with- 
 out warrant or just cause ; but apart from that he ruled 
 the city to its advantage. In mortal dread of yellow 
 fever, he cleaned New Orleans as it had never been 
 cleaned before, and throughout a hot summer he kept 
 the city healthier than it had ever been in all its history. 
 
 A valiant woman, Marion Southwood, has vividly 
 depicted in a little volume which she cleverly called 
 "Beauty and Booty,"* some of the exciting and trying 
 scenes in New Orleans at this time. 
 
 She says: "I have been waiting for some one to 
 write a book which might be handed down to future 
 
 * The watchword of Sir Edward Packingham, in the Battle of New 
 Orleans, 8th of January, 1815. 
 
76 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 generations and kept as a record of the dire events 
 during our season of affliction in New Orleans, while 
 we were blockaded and while General Butler was 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Department of the Gulf, 
 and his successor. The hearts of our people were too 
 deeply bowed down, crushed, to undertake the task, 
 or perhaps most persons would draw a veil over our 
 misfortunes. Not so, me." 
 
 And we of this generation, let us pass it on. 
 
78 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 "BEAUTY AND BOOTY." 
 
 The zealous Presidentf of the Louisiana State 
 Museum affords us an opportunity to give a glimpse 
 of the life of New Orleans of that day, by these ex- 
 tracts from "Beauty and Booty": 
 
 "There was a great stir and intense excitement at 
 one time during General Banks' administration. A 
 number of 'Rebels' were to leave for the 'Confederacy.* 
 Their friends, amounting to some twenty thousand per- 
 sons, women and children principally, wended their 
 way down to the levee to see them off, and to take 
 their last farewell. 
 
 "Such a quantity of women frightened the offkials ; 
 they were exasperated at their waving of handkerchiefs, 
 their loud calling to their friends and their going on to 
 vessels in the vicinity. 
 
 IT. p. Thompson. 
 
BATTLE OF THE HANDKERCHIEFS, 79 
 
 "Orders were given to 'stand back,' but no heed 
 was given ; the bayonets were pointed at the ladies, but 
 they were not to be scared. A lady ran across to get 
 a nearer view; an officer seized her by the arm, but she 
 escaped, leaving a scarf in his possession. At last the 
 military received orders to do its duty. The aflfair was 
 called the 'Pocket Handkerchief War,' and has been put 
 in verse which is quite comical. Its caption is : 
 
 "THE GREATEST VICTORY OF THE WAR, 
 
 'LA BATAILLE DES MOiUCHOIRS,' 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, 1863." 
 
 "Of all the battles, modern or old. 
 By poet sung or historians told ; 
 Of all the routs that ever were seen 
 From the days of Saladin to Marshal Turenne ; 
 Of all the victories later yet won. 
 From Waterloo's field to that of Bull Run. 
 All, all, ntust hide their fading light. 
 In the radiant glow of the handkerchief fight ; 
 And a paean of joy must thrill the land 
 When they hear of the deeds of Banks' band. 
 
80 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 "I was on the levee where the tide 
 
 Of 'Father Mississippi' flows; 
 Our gallant lads, their country's pride, 
 
 Won this great vict'ry o'er her foes. 
 Four hundred Rebels were to leave 
 
 That morning for Secessia shades, 
 Down there came (you'd scarce believe) 
 
 A troop of children, wives and maids 
 To wave farewells, to bid God-speed, 
 
 To shed for them the parting tear. 
 To waft them kisses as the meed 
 
 Of praise to soldiers' hearts most dear. 
 
 They came in hundreds — thousands lined 
 
 The streets, the roofs, the shipping, too. 
 Their ribbons dancing in the wind, 
 
 Their bright eyes flashing love's adieu. 
 Twas then to danger we awoke, 
 
 But nobly faced the unarmed throng. 
 And beat them back with hearty stroke, 
 
 Till reinforcements came along. 
 We waited long, our aching sight 
 
 Was strained in eager, anxious gaze ; 
 At last we saw the bayonets bright 
 
 Flash in the sunlight's welcome blaze. 
 
BATTLE OF THE HANDKERCHIEFS. 81 
 
 The cannon's dull and heavy roll 
 Fell greeting on our gladdened ear, 
 Then fired each eye, then glowed each soul, 
 
 For well we knew the strife was near. 
 "Charge!" rang the cry, and on we dashed 
 
 Upon our female foes. 
 As seas, in stormy fury lashed, 
 
 Whene'er the tempest blows. 
 Like chafT their parasols went down, 
 
 And as our gallants rushed, 
 And many a bonnet, robe and gown 
 
 Was torn to shreds or crushed. 
 Though well we plied the bayonet, 
 
 Still some our efforts braved. 
 Defiant both of blow and threat. 
 
 Their handkerchiefs still waved. 
 Thick grew the fight, loud rolled the din, 
 
 When 'Charge' ! rang out again, 
 And then the cannon thundered in. 
 
 And scoured o'er the plain. 
 Down 'neath the unpitying iron heels 
 
 Of horses, children sank. 
 While through the crowd the cannon wheels 
 
 Mowed roads on either flank. 
 One startled shriek, one hollow groan, 
 
 One headlong rush, and then 
 
82 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Huzza ! the field' was all our own, 
 
 For we were Banks' men. 
 That night, released from all our toils, 
 
 Our dangers past and gone; 
 We gladly gathered up the spoils 
 
 Our chivalry had won ! 
 Five hundred kerchiefs we had snatched 
 
 From Rebel ladies' hands, 
 Ten parasols, two shoes (not matched), 
 
 Some ribbons, belts and bands. 
 And other things that I forgot ; 
 
 But then you'll find them all 
 As trophies in that hallowed spot — > 
 
 The cradle— Faneuil Hall! 
 
 "And 'long on Massachusetts' shore, 
 
 And on Green Mountains' side. 
 Or where Long Island's breakers roar, 
 
 And by the Hudson's tide. 
 In times to comie, when lamps are lit, 
 
 And fires brightly blaze, 
 . While round the knees of, heroes sit 
 
 The young of happier days, 
 Who listen to their storied deeds. 
 
 To them sublimely grand — 
 
WOMEN PATRIOTS. 8a 
 
 Then glory shall award its meed 
 
 Of praise to Banks' band, 
 And fame proclaim, that they alone 
 
 (In triumph's loudest note) 
 May wear henceforth, for valor shown, 
 
 A woman's petticoat." 
 
 * * * 
 
 Major W. H. Tunnard, in his history of the Third 
 Louisiana Infantry, which camped at Metairie Race 
 Course while being organized in 1861, speaks in his 
 book of the returned exchange prisoners : 
 
 "On Sunday, July 5, 1863, eleven hundred troops 
 belonging to the department arrived at Shreveport from 
 New Orleans, in exchange for Federal prisoners re- 
 cently sent below. They arrived filled with admiration 
 and enthusiasm, for the ladies of the Crescent City. 
 Unconquerable in spirit, enthusiastic worshippers at the 
 shrine of the Confederate cause, undismayed by the 
 presence of implacable foes, these fair patriots, with 
 untiring zeal and energy, ministered to the wants and 
 necessities of every Confederate soldier who reached 
 New Orleans during the war. fame can wear no 
 brighter chaplet; history contains no fairer page; 
 memory no more beautiful impression than was fur- 
 nished by the devotion and patriotism of Southern^ 
 
84 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 women during the recent fierce, internicine struggle. 
 To thera should be erected a monument more durable 
 than brass, more pure and polished than the finest 
 Parian marble. 
 
 'They will live ever unforgotten in the hearts of 
 the South's brave sons." 
 
 The women of New Orleans, as elsewhere in the 
 South, were devoted to the cause to their hearts' core ; 
 there was no sacrifice too great for them to make, no 
 irial could daunt their spirit of rebellion. As an ex- 
 emplification of this, is the story of Miss Pichot, a 
 Creole belle of fortune, an independent and daring 
 character. Walking down Canal Street one day, which 
 was picketed with soldiers, she jerked from her pocket 
 a handkerchief which, flaunting in the action, disclosed 
 a Confederate flag embroidered in the corner. A sol- 
 dier stepped forward to place her under arrest, saying 
 she was insolent to the authorities in displaying Rebel 
 colors. 
 
 With her cheeks flushing in anger, and her eyes 
 flashing defiance, she exclaimed : "And is this the way 
 you capture your flags — from women!" 
 
 Then, putting the little embroidered ensign to her 
 mouth, she hastily bit it oflf and, after swallowing it, 
 handed the handkerchief to the soldier. She was taken 
 
^YOMEN PATRIOTS, 85 
 
 before an officer, who put her on parole till trial. She 
 reported to the officer daily, accom,panied by a different 
 escort each day. The Colonel remarked upon that. 
 She said: "Yes, there is not a gentleman left in New 
 Orleans who will not be glad to escort me here to 
 answer for this charge." The trial was indefinitely 
 postponed. 
 
 There was a skillful modiste in New Orleans, who 
 employed a number of girls in making Confederate 
 flags. On this being reported to General Butler he 
 sent a detail to make a search of the premises. On 
 their approach, this clever woman ran out a smallpox 
 signal, and enjoyed the hasty flight of the searching 
 party. 
 
 As it was, the women dressed gaily, bedecked them- 
 selves with flowers and promenaded each day in front 
 of the partly-finished Custom House, which then con- 
 tained several thousand captured Confederates sent in 
 by Banks' raid on his way that spring through Western 
 Louisiana, endeavoring to clear the State of Confeder- 
 ate troops. 
 
 "The population of New Orleans at the beginning 
 of the war was about 170,000. The most virile and 
 able-bodied of these, some 20,000, had gone into the 
 service with Lee's Army and in the Army of Tennessee. 
 
S6 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Many families had refugeed into Alabama and other 
 Confederate sections rather than suffer the hardships 
 of Federal occupancy or to take the oath of allegiance. 
 Those left were principally Union sympathizers, for- 
 eign-declared citizens, women, negroes, and the Federal 
 troops. 
 
 "Federal Prison No. 6 was the official name of the 
 Custom House that year, and here, looking through 
 the bars, were more than 2,000 young ''Rebels," who 
 obtained some comfort and many flowers through the 
 assiduous sympathy of the "girl I left behind me." She 
 came down — up, rather — to Canal Street in great num- 
 bers and, with fluttering handkerchiefs, roses and 
 bright-colored dresses, made a most attractive and 
 moving picture to the wan-faced soldier boys who 
 crowded the windows overlooking the wide thorough- 
 fare. 
 
 The plans of this great structure, which, by the 
 way, was at that tim'e the second largest building in the 
 United States, the Capitol at Washington being first, 
 called for a very elaborate dome. The foundations 
 were laid in 1846, and consisted of cypress logs laid 
 flat, with concrete and brick arches above, equalizing 
 the weight and carrying on this batture front of the 
 
WOMAN PATRIOTS. 87 
 
 Mississippi of sand and clay the most pretentious 
 structure in size tliis side of Washington. 
 
 Beauregard, civil engineer and lieutenant, graduate 
 of West Point, when put in charge of the building in 
 the 5o's, found it settling in an uneven manner, and 
 reported conditions to Washington. So very much 
 money already had been used that it was concluded to 
 cover the unfinished walls with a temporary board roof 
 and await results in the settling. 
 
 Chains were run through and through the structure 
 and locked to the opposite walls, just as has been re- 
 cently done with the Cathedral, and this great un- 
 finished mass of masonry was allowed to remain, the 
 most conspicuous object in New Orleans, all through 
 the Reconstruction era — incomplete, an admonition, 
 ever looming through fog and sunshine, menacing per- 
 sistently with its stem, undecorated walls — likened by 
 Mark Twain in 1879 to a giant gasometer. *'If you 
 don't behave, I am also a good prison," it seemed to 
 say to the few belligerents still left in the captured city. 
 
 BUTLER'S REGIME IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 After relating the indignities suifered by the people 
 of New Orleans during Butler's occupation, there are 
 some condoning virtues which must be credited to him. 
 Besides the sanitary regulations before mentioned, 
 
88 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 which he enforced, he was impressed by the sufferings 
 of the poor and the destitution of the families wherein 
 every male member had gone to the seat of war. 
 Hunger and want began to conquer pride; provisions 
 were unobtainable ; the situation was appalling. General 
 Butler caused to be established free markets, from 
 which he supplied army rations to the people. 
 
 At the head of Canal Street, near where the Four- 
 teenth of September Monument now stands, there was 
 an ornamental iron building, built, it is believed, by the 
 samfe parties who built the Moresque Building, which 
 was destroyed by fire some years ago, in Camp Street. 
 This building was intended to house the water works 
 to supply water along the river front, but was never 
 used for this purpose. Butler took charge of this and 
 established his free market there. People of all classes, 
 rich and poor alike, availed themselves of the free 
 market. 
 
 Subsequently he commenced the building of the 
 shell road, which still remains on Washington Avenue, 
 connecting with Carrollton Avenue, for which the 
 laborers received a living wage. 
 
 By order of General Butler, Confederate money 
 was circulated for some time after the capture of the 
 city. The people had no other kind. Had it not been 
 
90 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 for this order, they would have been without any 
 means of buying anything at all. 
 
 Another excellent measure adopted by General 
 Butler was his order to open up all the warehouses 
 where provisions had been stored by speculators. Some 
 of these men had issued shinplasters, and he compelled 
 them not only to sell the provisions at reasonable 
 prices, but they had to accept the money issued by 
 them at par value. 
 
 Omnibus tickets were used in lieu of nickels or five- 
 'Cent pieces, which were then called picayunes, although 
 the original picayune represented 6l^ cents, or half a 
 bit. There were red, blue, green and white omnibus 
 tickets, the tickets taking the color of the omnibusses, 
 each line having its 'busses painted a diflferent color. 
 The tickets were of pasteboard, and bore the printed 
 picture of an omnibus drawn by two prancing horses. 
 
 The Federal soldiers were well paid, and liberal. 
 This put money in circulation, which benefited all the 
 inhabitants of the distressed city. 
 
 After the ladies, the clergy seemed to be the next 
 object of persecution by the invaders. Numbers of 
 the Episcopal clergy were ordered into exile. Dr. 
 Leacock, Dr. Fulton, Dr. Goodrich and Mr. Hedges, 
 ;all beloved of large congregations, were of this number. 
 
 On another occasion, General Butler called Father 
 
'^ 
 
 THE ST LOUIS CATHEDRAL. 
 
THE BATTLE OF ST PAUL'S. 91 
 
 Mullen before him, announcing that he was accused of 
 refusing to bury Federal soldiers. He replied: "That 
 is a mistake, General. I will bury them all, with 
 pleasure." 
 
 Dr. Goodrich commenced his career as a city mis- 
 sionary. At this time he was rector of St. Paul's 
 Church. After banishment North, he returned. A 
 popular song commemorates these stirring scenes. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF ST. PAUL'S. 
 
 Fought in New Orleans, Sunday, October 12, 1862. 
 
 "Come, boys, listen, while I sing 
 
 The greatest fight yet fought; 
 That time the Yankees 
 
 A real Tartar caught. 
 Twas not the first Manassas, 
 
 Won by our Beauregard, 
 Nor Perryville, nor Belmont, 
 
 Though Polk hit them hard. 
 Nor was it famous Shiloh, 
 
 Where Sidney Johnston fell. 
 It was fought on Sunday morning 
 
 Within the church's walls, 
 And shall be known in history 
 
 As the Battle of St. Paul's. 
 
CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 The hateful Strong commanded 
 
 For Butler the abhorred, 
 And the Reverend Mr. Goodrich 
 
 Bore the banner of the Lord. 
 The bell had ceased its tolling, 
 
 The services nearly done. 
 The Psalms and lessons over. 
 
 The Lord's Prayer just begun; 
 As the priest and people said, 
 
 "Hallowed be Thy Name," 
 A voice in tones of thunder 
 
 His order did proclaim: 
 'In the name of General Butler, 
 
 I order forevermore 
 That this assembly scatter, 
 
 And the sexton close the door.* 
 
 Up rose the congregation. 
 
 We men were all away. 
 And our wives and little children 
 
 Alone remained to pray. 
 Some cried : "We knew that Butler 
 
 On babes and women warr'd. 
 But we did not think to find him 
 
 In the temple of the Lord." 
 
THE BATTLE OF ST PAUL'S. 93 
 
 Some pressed around the pastor, 
 
 Some on the villain gazed, 
 Who against the Lord's anointed 
 
 His dastard arm had raised. 
 While a stout old lady shouted : 
 
 ''Do, some one, put him out!" 
 "Don't touch him*" cried another, 
 
 "He is worthy of his ruler. 
 For he fights with women braver 
 
 Than he fought at Ponchatoula." 
 
 But when the storm raged fiercest. 
 
 And hearts were all aflame, 
 Like oil on troubled waters 
 
 The voice of blessing came. 
 The priest, with hands uplifted, 
 
 Bade his people go in peace. 
 And called down heavenly blessing 
 
 Upon that tossing crowd, 
 While the men their teeth were clinching 
 
 And the women sobbing loud. 
 And then, with mien undaunted, 
 
 He passed along the aisle, 
 The gallant Yankee hero 
 
 Behind him all the while. 
 
94 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 ''You'd better bring a gunboat, 
 
 For that's your winning card." 
 Said a haughty little beauty, 
 
 As the strong man called a guard, 
 I guess his light artillery 
 
 'Gainst Christ Church he will range, 
 When his base of operations 
 
 Next Sunday he will "change." 
 'Twas thus the tyrant Butler, 
 
 Mid women's sobs and tears. 
 Seized a priest before the altar 
 
 He had served for twenty years. 
 
 We know in darkest ages, 
 
 A church was holy ground, 
 Where from the hands of justice, 
 
 A refuge might be found. 
 And from the meanest soldier. 
 
 To the highest in the land. 
 None dared to touch the fugitive 
 
 Who should within it stand. 
 'Twas left to beastly Butler 
 
 To violate its walls, 
 And to be known in future 
 
 As the Victor of St. Paul's 
 
; THE BATTLE OF ST. PAUL'S. 95 
 
 He has called our wives she-adders, 
 
 And he shall feel their sting, 
 
 For the voice of outraged woman 
 
 Through every land shall ring." 
 * * * 
 
 The church in which Rev. Mr. Hedges officiated 
 was, after his banishment, converted into a school 
 house for young contrabands. It caught fire "accident- 
 ally" one night. It is not recorded that the neighbors 
 mourned. 
 
 Dr. Markham, a noted Presbyterian pastor of New 
 Orleans, served through the war as Chaplain of the 
 Army of Tennessee. On one occasion he was holding 
 services, when bullets began falling around. He said: 
 "We will postpone these exercises to a time when the 
 enemy has not its eye on us." 
 
 Once in battle a dying man called for a priest. He 
 had his prayer-book in his bosom. Dr. Markham took 
 it and read from it the prayers for the dying. 
 
 Father Hubert, a Jesuit priest of New Orleans, was 
 the devoted Chaplain of the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Father Hubert went out with the First Louisiana, 
 under Colonel Blanchard, who was subsequently made 
 Brigadier-General. This beloved priest lived many 
 
96 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 years after the close of the war, and died full of honors 
 at the College of the Jesuit Order at Springhill, 
 Mobile, Ala. 
 
 The clergymen of New Orleans, for the most part, 
 were conspicuous for their encouragement to our 
 troops leaving for the front. 
 
 BUTLER PROHIBITS PRAYERS FOR MR. DAVIS. 
 
 During Butler's occupation of New Orleans, there 
 was a very zealous priest, the pastor of St. Patrick's 
 Catholic Church, Father Mullen, who offered prayers 
 always in his church for Jefferson Davis and the Con- 
 federate Government. General Butler had ordered, 
 under pain of arrest, that the practice should cease. A 
 guard was sent to the church on the next Sunday, and 
 the Reverend Father notified the congregation of the 
 order. At the appointed hour, he said : "We will bow 
 our heads in silence for ten minutes." 
 
 The guard reported to General Butler that not a 
 word about the Confederate Government was spoken. 
 
 BUTLER RETURNS TO NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 Ben Butler was being wined and dined in New 
 England on his return, and was making a tour of 
 Massachusetts towns, telling of his wonderful ex- 
 ploits — ^he had been relieved in December, 1862 — and 
 
BUTLER RETURNS TO NEW ENGLAND. 97 
 
 ^ith the Napoleonic idea that to the victor belonged 
 the spoils he had sent many and varied cargoes of mer- 
 chandise and art ahead to his home, overlooking noth- 
 ing, from spoons to statuary. It is a fact that the statue 
 of George Washington, by Powers, was taken by him 
 from the Capitol grounds at Baton Rouge, and he later 
 acknowledged the spoons in his "Own Book." 
 
 THE ADVENT OF GENERAL BANKS. 
 
 Major General Banks, who was now in charge of 
 the Gulf Department, had gone with an army down 
 through the Teche country in the early spring, and the 
 City of New Orleans at that time, but for its plucky, 
 vivacious and never-conquered women, would have, 
 indeed, been a dreary waste, all grown in grass and 
 weeds." 
 
 A lady at this time writes : 
 
 "Glad to have a change. We received General 
 Banks as kindly as any invader could be received. He 
 was a gentleman— dignified and respectful to all. No 
 guard was necessary to protect him. 
 
 General Banks tried his utmost to revive the 
 drooping spirits of the inhabitants of the city. Public 
 places of amusement were opened, concerts given, 
 public and private balls, soirees and dinner parties; but 
 
98 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 all to no purpose. The iron had entered too deeply 
 into the Southern soul to be expelled by ought that any 
 human being could devise. Time alone could heal the 
 wounded heart. 
 
 All efforts at gaiety seemed a mockery of woe, 
 The Northern element with which the city was infested 
 enjoyed itself beyond measure. Mrs. Banks was quite 
 a bright, particular star in it. 
 
 We heard of all the excitement— the feasting and 
 extravagances — a good deal of the shoddy about it. 
 The sutlers' wives, with their diamonds and satins, the 
 ladies dressed in the flag, etc., and the entertainments 
 given in palatial mansions, which had been confiscated, 
 and their owners reduced to beggary ! 
 
 The dark brown stone front dwelling standing at 
 the corner of Prytania and Fourth Streets, the mansion 
 of Pierre Soule, Esq., in Esplanade, and many others, 
 if they could speak, could tell tales which, perhaps, 
 would not be so pleasant for some persons to listen to 
 at the present time. The rooms were filled, but nobody 
 was there. 
 
 At last the old-established Mardi Gras day arrived, 
 but, alas! its pleasures had all departed. Here, as in 
 France, it had from time immemorial been kept as a 
 day of amusement and jollity; but under the clouds 
 which hung over us few felt inclined to indulge. 
 
THE ADVEJSfT OF GENERAL BANKS. 99 
 
 In a daily paper of March, 1863, was a touching 
 appeal written by a young Southern lady : 
 
 'In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the 
 day of adversity, consider. God also set one over 
 against the other, to the end that man should find noth- 
 ing after him. 
 
 Tour country is desolate, your cities are burned 
 with fire, your land, strangers devour it in your pres- 
 ence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. 
 
 'Rise up, ye women, that are at ease. . . . 
 Pause, gentle maiden, ere you whirl down the path of 
 pleasure, and drop a sympathetic tear for the older men 
 and women of your land— they who have laid their 
 victims on the altar and sacrificed their sons for your 
 protection. 
 
 Dance not over these victims, but on the day that 
 precedes the season of fasting and prayer, let no sounds 
 of revelry be heard.' " 
 
100 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 MEW ORLEANS NEWSPAPER VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 The Sixth Louisiana Volunteers were organized at 
 Camp Moore. They numbered a large contingent of 
 newspaper men of New Orleans. 
 
 On June 11th, the regiment started for the seat 
 of war in Virginia. On arriving at Manassas, it was 
 immediately sent to the front. It occupied the ad- 
 vanced posts under General Ewell, until the approach 
 of the enemy, when it fell back on Bull Run line. 
 
 Colonel I. J. Seymour was in command of the 
 Sixth Louisiana.* 
 
 Colonel Seymour, a New Orleans journalist, was 
 one of the most popular men Louisiana sent to the 
 war. He had been a fighter in the Indian and Mexican 
 Wars. At the call to arms, he was editor of the "New 
 Orleans Bulletin," with which Lewis Graham was also 
 associated. 
 
 Colonel Seymour, at Manassas, was in charge of 
 the rear guard of Johnson's retreat to Richmond, and 
 was with Jackson in his brilliant campaigns. He fought 
 
 * At the departure of the regiment, Dr. McKelvey wag surgeon. 
 During the first and second years of the war. Lieutenant Lewis Graham 
 was Adjutant, until the death of Colonel Seymour. 
 
NEWSPAPER VOLUNTEERS. 101 
 
 the First Louisiana Brigade for forty-eight hours at 
 Richmond. At Gaines' Mills he was struck by two 
 minne balls and killed. 
 
 HAY'S BRIGADE. 
 
 No grander contingent of men enlisted for the 
 Confederacy than those of Hay's Brigade, composed 
 of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Louisiana and 
 Wheat's Battalion. General Walker (afterward killed) 
 was the first commander. The appointment of Gen- 
 eral Dick Taylor made it a wonderful fighting ma- 
 chine in Virginia. At the time of the Seven Days' 
 Fight around Richmond, General Taylor was trans- 
 ferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department in the 
 Summer of 1862. 
 
 Colonel Seymour was commander of the brigade 
 in this prolonged engagerr^ent, and was killled while 
 making a charge, at the head of his troops, before the 
 end of the third day. At his side was his Adjutant, 
 Lewis Graham, who went out with him from New 
 Orleans. Adjutant Graham bore the body of Colonel 
 Seymour from the field into Richmond. 
 
 FEDERAL OPPRESSION. 
 A curious circumstance attending Colonel Sey- 
 mour's death, illustrating the animosity of the in- 
 vaders occupying New Orleans, is shown in the arrest, 
 
102 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 and sentence to Fort Jackson, of the acting editors of 
 the "Bulletin" for publishing an obituary notice of 
 Colonel Seymour, wherein he was said to have ''sol- 
 diered and died from a sense of duty." 
 
 His son, Major William J. Seymour, afterwards 
 became Chief of Staff of the First Louisiana Brigade. 
 
 On the death of Colonel Seymour, the command 
 devolved upon Colonel Strong, who met death at 
 Sharpsburg. Colonel Monnahan was the next com- 
 mander. He was also killed at the head of his troops. 
 On the night of the 18th of July the regiment was in 
 reserve, and was not called into action. 
 
 The movement of Ewell's command, as contem- 
 plated by General Beauregard, was not expected, in 
 consequence of the disappearance of the courier bear- 
 ing the order. 
 
 NEWSPAPER PATRIOTISM. 
 
 The bugle-call to arms sounded through every 
 newspaper office in the City of New Orleans. It met 
 with patriotic response from journalist to journeyman. 
 Many did not return to test whether "the pen be 
 mightier than the sword." 
 
 A sad fate was that of Alfred Scanlon.* While 
 Company F, "Orleans Rebels," was out on picket 
 
 * F'o reman of the "Picayune" office. 
 
NEWSPAPER PATRIOTISM. 103 
 
 duty, Lieutenant Scanlon went out to make the rounds 
 on the skirmish lines. He lost his bearings, and wan- 
 dered into the woods, and was finally hailed and chal- 
 lenged by a sentry. Discipline in those days was very 
 severe. His response to the "Who's there?" of the 
 sentry was not heard, whereupon the sentinel (Hays), 
 of Scanlon's own company, fired. Hearing the groans, 
 he proceeded to find his victim, and, bending over him, 
 recognized the face of the gallant officer from his own 
 command, whose soldierly bearing and amiable man- 
 ners had won the love and esteem of his comrades. 
 
 The sentinel was still standing over him, silent and 
 rigid, when the Sergeant, alarmed by the shot, brought 
 up the picket line. The surgeon's skill and unremitting 
 care were of no avail. His body was tenderly borne to 
 the little church-yard at Lee's Mills, where it now lies 
 buried, awaiting the last call. 
 
 BEAUREGARD APPEALS FOR BELLS. 
 
 General Beauregard sent a very touching appeal to 
 New Orleans for a contribution of plantation bells. 
 Why the bells ? The supply of tin was deficient, while 
 copper was abundant. Bells contain so much tin that 
 2,400 weight of bell metal, mixed with the proper 
 quantity of copper, will suffice for a field battery of 
 
104 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 six pieces. His desire was to provide light artillery for 
 the public defense. Church belfries, school-houses, 
 plantations, all made their tribute. 
 
 The first thing that Butler seized upon was this 
 precious metal, which was sent to Boston as a trophy 
 of his "hard-earned" victory. This collection was sold 
 at auction. Such trophies naturally brought forth 
 lively bidding from relic-hunters and all classes of 
 people. 
 
 The bells generally bore the trade-mark of North- 
 ern and Western cities, but among the number were 
 several Catholic church bells, cast in France, one, with 
 the inscription, "Fait par Jean Bagin, 1785," over a 
 cross; another, cast at Nantes, France, 1786; others, 
 cast in 1775, 1776 and 1783. A very elaborately deco- 
 rated one was from the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Shreveport, La. 
 
 Quoted herewith is the beautiful poem by Paul 
 Hayne, inspired by the sacrifice of the bells : 
 
 "BEAUREGARD'S APPEAL." 
 
 "Yea! though the need is bitter, 
 Take down those sacred bells! 
 Whose music spoke of our hallowed joys 
 And passionate farewells. 
 
BEAUREGARD'S APPEAL. 105 
 
 But ere ye fall dismantled, 
 
 Ring out, deep bells! once more; 
 And pour on the waves of the passing wind 
 
 The symphonies of yore. 
 
 "Let the latest born be welcomed 
 
 By pealings glad and long; 
 Let the latest dead, in the churchyard bed, 
 
 Be laid with solemn song. 
 
 ''And the bell above them throbbing. 
 
 Should sound in mournful tone. 
 As if in the grief for a human death. 
 
 They prophesied their own. 
 
 "Then crush the struggling sorrow; 
 
 Feed high the furnace fires ! 
 That shall mould into deep-mouthed guns of . 
 bronze 
 
 The bells from a hundred spires. 
 
 "A cause like ours is holy. 
 
 And useth holy things. 
 And over the storm of a righteous strife. 
 May shine the angels' wings. 
 
 "Where'er our duty leads us, 
 
 The grace of God is there. 
 And the lurid shrine of war may hold 
 
 The Eucharist of prayer." 
 
106 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 ORLEANS GUARDS. 
 
 SHILOH TO CORINTH. 
 
 NO more devoted band of men defended the Con- 
 federacy than the Battalion of Orleans Guards, 
 which answered Beauregard's ninety-day call, 
 with an enlistment of 41 1 men. Major Quey rouse com- 
 manded. He received a wound at Shiloh, from which 
 he suffered longer than the term of enlistment. 
 
 Some incidents of the service of these gallant vol- 
 unteers, flower of New Orleans' manhood, may assist 
 to a comprehension of the glory of their deeds. 
 
 From the Journal of the Orleans Guards we leam 
 that on "April 4, 1862, they left Monte Rey on the 
 right; halted on a hill half a mile further. During 
 the halt, the battle-flag of General Hardie's Division 
 was paraded in front of the battalion, so that it could 
 be recognized on the battlefield. The battalion re- 
 sumed its marching order, the Crescent Regiment to 
 the left, the Eighteenth Louisiana to the right. Met a 
 cavalry officer exhibiting General Polk's battle-flag for 
 recognition before going into battle. 
 
SHILOH TO CORINTH. 107 
 
 "April 5th. Heavy rain. Resumed marching, here 
 and there, over dead horses and pools of blood. Toward 
 2 p. m., our light baggage was abandoned along the 
 road, and our muskets loaded. At 3 o'clock General 
 Bragg passed the battalion and was received with 
 cheers. At 4 o'clock, camped in the woods near the 
 
 Tennessee River. About 8 a. m., passed through the 
 abandoned camp of the Sixth Iowa; found there an 
 abundant supply of delicacies for ten regiments. The 
 Crescent here diverged in its line of march from, the 
 Orleans and the Eighteenth Louisiana. A little further 
 on it was assailed by a brisk fire from, a Kentucky and 
 
108 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Tennessee regiment. These troops, at the sight of the 
 blue uniforms brought from New Orleans, mistook the 
 battalion for the enemfy. Two of our men were killed 
 through this error. They were now awaiting our at- 
 tack, having already repulsed the Sixteenth Louisiana. 
 The cry of 'Forward! the Eighteenth,' was now heard 
 on our right. 'Follow me!' was given in the well- 
 known voice of Colonel Mouton. Then the regiment 
 disappeared as it charged up the hill. It had charged 
 full of fire, and its ranks well dressed. When we saw 
 it again it was mutilated, cut to pieces, leaving behind 
 it a trail of blood, their faces gory with hideous wounds. 
 At this point Colonel Queyrouse gave the order to 
 charge, to the Orleans Battalion. The men moved 
 forward as a machine to the top of the plateau. The 
 command of fix bayonets was given, and the men 
 moved forward with a hurrah, striking a double-quick 
 under galling fire. The battle-flag fell from the hands 
 of G; Poree, the color-bearer, who was shot dead. Be- 
 fore touching the ground it was caught by Gallot, who 
 was shot through the head. Then it was seized by 
 Coiron, whose arm was shattered while holding it. 
 The fourth standard-bearer was Percy, who was also 
 wounded. The fifth time it was seized without ever 
 having touched the ground, and upheld by an unknown 
 private soldier. 
 
FATHER TURQIS. 109 
 
 "At forty paces from the enemy we opened fire. 
 This lasted for a few moments, when they were driven 
 from the field. The tramp, tramp of a large body of 
 men was heard. While we were expecting total de- 
 struction, the division reached the flag, with white 
 center ovale, which had been pointed out as Hardee's 
 ensign. These troops avenged fully the losses which 
 had been inflicted on the Orleans Battalion and the 
 eighteenth Louisiana."* 
 
 FATHER TURGIS. 
 
 WITH the battalion marched Father Turgis, a 
 priest who had been a soldier in his day, 
 and who was still enough of a trooper to 
 enjoy the incense of battle. This patriot-priest shared 
 the hardships of the men, followed them into the thick- 
 est of the fight, and administered the solace of religion 
 to both armies. 
 
 His time with the great Archer came at the close of 
 the war. His body was followed to the tomb by the 
 largest procession ever seen in New Orleans. 
 
 He had a happy, genial nature. His goodness, united 
 to buoyant spirits, made him the most popular of spir- 
 itual guides to the soldiers. 
 
 • Among- the lost were Colonel Queyrouse, Captain 
 Tetrau, Lieutenant Morino and 25 per cent of our number. 
 Captain Charles Roman succeeded in command. 
 
110 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 The colors of the battalion were now put upon the 
 breast of Private Fenot. As the blue color of our uni- 
 form was not in the odor of sanctity with the sharp- 
 shooters, the men were ordered to turn their uniforms 
 wrong side outwards, giving us the appearance of 
 going to a masquerade ball. As we marched on, Beau- 
 regard passed by. He was received with a prolonged 
 cheer. Waving his sword, he cried : "Forward ! fellow- 
 soldiers of Louisiana. One more eflfort and the day 
 is ours." 
 
 Mouton repeated the same cry and rushed into the 
 fight. Colonel Mouton was wounded. He was suc- 
 ceeded by Colonel Alfred Roman. At the moment of 
 hesitation in our ranks, General Beauregard rushed up 
 and, seizing the colors, shouted, ''Forward!" He was 
 relieved by Colonel Numa Augustin, his aide. 
 
 Both the Battalion and the Eighteenth suffered 
 enormously, with a loss of about 33 per cent of the 
 whole number in line. 
 
 The standard finally passed into the hands of Major 
 Ernest Puech, who planted it in the ground until the 
 line was re-formed. During tne following day the 
 troops fell back upon Corinth. The troops were shoe- 
 less, on account of swollen feet. No food was issued 
 on the retreat. 
 
8H1L0H TO CORINTH. Ill 
 
 Arriving at Corinth, the dreary place seemed like 
 Paradise, our tents palaces, and old friends we hugged 
 as brothers." 
 
 The Confederate Cause seemed certain of victory 
 on the first day's battle at Shiloh, although it had met 
 calamity in the death of General Albert Sidney John- 
 ston, a brilliant strategist. It was the most critical 
 moment of the war. 
 
 During this day of desperate strife and slaughter, 
 Grant had been driven back to the river. 
 
 SHILOH. 
 
 General Beauregard was satisfied with the success 
 of the day, and the exhausted army lay down to the 
 soldier's perfect rest. 
 
 During the night Buell, with an army outnumber- 
 ing what was left of Beauregard's, came up to reinforce 
 Grant. There could be but one result in such resist- 
 ance to overwhelming forces. After the terrible fight- 
 ing, resulting in great slaughter and the capture of the 
 whole of Prentiss' Division, 2,2CX) men, Beauregard 
 withdrew his army to Corinth. 
 
 The ravine, moreover, was confronted by the Fed- 
 eral artillery, which, in spite of defeat, stood by its 
 guns. The passage of this ravine might have meant 
 
112 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 victory for the Confederacy the second day of Shiloh. 
 It would have driven Grant's army back into the river, 
 but at such a cost of Southern blood that we must 
 sympathize with General Beauregard that he quailed 
 at the hazard. 
 
 In his official reports General Beauregard says he 
 was unwilling to order a movement so desperate in its 
 chances, and which would have involved a slaughter 
 of brave men greater than ever before recorded in 
 warfare. 
 
 This was one of the decisive battles of the war. It 
 gave the Federals an advantage in the capture of Vicks- 
 burg and the possession of the Mississippi Valley. The 
 Federals' loss was 13,047 men; the Confederates', 
 10,000. 
 
THE SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ROMANTIC INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE OF 
 PORT HUDSON. 
 
 ON the 12th of November, 1862, supported by 
 Mr. Lincoln, General Grant received from 
 General Halleck, command of all the troops 
 in his department, after making a thorough ar- 
 rangement of campaign with General Sherman, who 
 in turn quickly made a plan of action to capture Vicks- 
 burg and Port Hudson. Having failed in his efforts to 
 surprise the suffering army, behind the entrenchments 
 at Vicksburg, by means of his canal cut through the 
 river at Lake Providence, General Grant now entered 
 upon more direct tactics, which was to open up the 
 great river throughout its length, and thereby to sever 
 the Confederacy in twain, cutting off all supplies from 
 the great Southwest. Five days after the fall of Vicks- 
 burg, Port Hudson surrendered. When the news was 
 received by President Lincoln in Washington, he ex- 
 claimed, that the Mississippi could now flow on, un- 
 vexed, from its source to the sea ! 
 
 The fact of greatest importance to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, however, was the discovery of Grant ; he was 
 from henceforth the idol of the North. 
 
114 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 The siege of Port Hudson lasted about four weeks.. 
 The brave Confederates resisted to the point of the 
 limit of hunoan endurance before they would surrender 
 their swords. After existing for weeks, upon a small 
 allowance of cow-peas and corn ground into meal 
 cooked with mule and horse flesh, Company C, Lou- 
 isiana Guards, became desperate, and obtained the per- 
 mission of General Gardiner, the commanding officer, 
 to cut through the lines of the Federals. 
 
 Captain Jube Turner encountered the enemy, and 
 met in a spirited engagement at "Plains Store," almost 
 within sight of the Confederate breastworks. But few 
 of these patriots escaped; they preferred death to sur- 
 render, and all were nearly annihilated. 
 
 The engagement has been considered the hardest- 
 fought battle which took place on Louisiana soil. 
 
 There were losses of about fifty killed, and some- 
 made thrilling escapes. Among these were Major Cole- 
 man, who made his way to New Orleans; Henry Clay 
 Robertson, and others, who were enabled to rejoiit 
 their regiments and fight for the dear cause to the end. 
 
 The terms of the surrender provided that commis- 
 sioned officers should remain prisoners until the end 
 of the war. This was so galling to the soul of Lieu- 
 tenant F. M. Bankston, and three other high-spirited 
 
THE 8IEGE OF PORT HUDSON. 115 
 
 officers of Company C, that Lieutenant F. M. Bankston 
 broke his sword in front of General Gardiner's tent — a 
 sword which was presented to hinii by Mrs. Jeffersorr 
 
 Davis, and thus he would avoid the risk of having it. 
 laid at the feet of his country's foes. 
 
 These four daring young men crawled under the- 
 breastworks of Port Hudson and lay in a ravine cov- 
 
116 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 ered with leaves by day, and traveling by the North 
 star by night, until out of the Mississippi River swamps. 
 
 Soon Nature's primeval foe— jStarvation— befell 
 them, and finally dispelled all caution, until it drove 
 them to call at an old plantation home, which bore 
 evidences of thrift, which often bloomed in Southern 
 homes, even in those desolate times. The Yankees, 
 too, had observed this, and even then had the cooks 
 busy over savory pots in the old kitchen ; but ever alert, 
 here, too, was a Southern picket on the watch-tower, 
 the daughter of the house — beautiful Nellie Gray. 
 
 Discerning the furtive approach of the dull-gray 
 figures, wearing the homespun jackets, so sadly iden- 
 tified with Johnny Reb, she waved them back to 
 cover — a friendly command which was instinctively 
 understood. 
 
 After the unwelcome Federal guests had been fed 
 to repletion, making them contented to ride away, with 
 secret admiration for such gracious hospitality, our 
 young heroine then sallied forth, under friendly veil 
 of darkness, carrying under her cloak a basket of good 
 things, which Southern boys loved. By the light of 
 the stars she guided them, by secret paths, through 
 briars and brambles, until well past the Federal out- 
 posts. The grateful fugitives were thus enabled to 
 reach other Confederate commands. 
 
THE SIEGE OF POET HUDSON. 117 
 
 It is pleasant to record that these four stalwart 
 heroes fought on until the end of the war. 
 
 If any should now be among our brave surviving 
 veterans, we are sure they will rejoice to have live in 
 Southern story this noble deed of sweet Nellie Gray. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON. 
 
 THE long campaign, and futile eflforts of General 
 Grant to carry out his plans, had caused many 
 at the North to lose both patience and con- 
 fidence. The brilliant victories of the Confederates, 
 under Beauregard, Lee and Jackson, had brought home 
 to them the fact, what the dash and military genius of 
 the war were, with the Confederates, although the 
 North had the numbers and resources. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was besought to remove Grant. His 
 habit of indulgence in liquor was even brought forward 
 as an argument. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln listened to these comments, and replied, 
 with his accustomed humor: "I should like," said he, 
 "to find out the kind of whiskey he drinks. I would 
 send a barrel of it to every one of my Generals." 
 
 It was not the deficiency of General Grant, but the 
 brave, unconquerable spirit of the Confederate soldier, 
 that had retarded his progress. His peculiar tactics 
 of persistency in assault, along one line, as against the 
 
118 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 material exhaustion of the South, came at last to pro- 
 duce the inevitable result. 
 
 In December, General Banks had reached New 
 Orleans, with a force to co-operate with Admiral Far- 
 ragut's fleet in an effort to reduce Port Hudson. He 
 first thought to go up Red River, and endeavor to 
 check General Richard Taylor, who was making the 
 interior of Louisiana very lively camping-grounds for 
 the Federals. He met a warm reception from General 
 Taylor. Northern historians have very little to say of 
 this expedition. From other sources we learn that 
 Captain Dowling and company were sent down to 
 Sabine Pass, where one of the most wonderful feats 
 of the war was performed. This small force of Con- 
 federates captured more than a thousand prisoners, 
 sunk' two gunboats (one turned and escaped), without 
 any losses upon the part of the Confederates. 
 
 It was on March 14th that Admiral Farragut, with 
 seven stout vessels, set out to pass the batteries of Port 
 Hudson. It was a sorry attempt. The Confederate 
 guns sent four ships down stream disabled, and sunk 
 their fine gunboat, "Mississippi." 
 
BATTLE OF BATO^N ROUGE, 119 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE. 
 
 AFTER the capture of New Orleans, Farragut's 
 fleet proceeded up the river, compelling the 
 surrender of Baton Rouge, the Capital of the 
 "State of Louisiana. His progress was stopped by the 
 strongly-fortified city of Vicksburg, 400 miles above 
 New Orleans. 
 
 In the meantime, the gallant General Van Dorn, 
 detached from General Beauregard's army, proceeded 
 to Vicksburg, taking with him General John C. Breck- 
 enridge's brigade. They proceeded to throw up the 
 wonderful fortifications of Vicksburg. Undismayed 
 by the defeats of the navy, at New Orleans and Mem- 
 phis, the Confederates were building, up the Yazoo 
 River, which flows into the Mississippi just above 
 Vicksburg, an iron-clad ram, which they hoped would 
 be another "Merrimac." This famous ram, "The 
 Arkansas," was built like the "Merrimac," though 
 smaller in size. If her engines had been a little more 
 powerful, she would have wrought havoc to the Fed- 
 eral fleet. At her first appearance, she put to flight the 
 "Tyler" and the "Carondelet" of Commodore Porter's 
 
BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE. 121 
 
 fleet, and sent Farragut back to New Orleans, and 
 Davis up the river to Helena. 
 
 The fiery Van Dorn now sent General Brecken- 
 ridge, with 6,000 men and the ram "Arkansas," to 
 recover Baton Rouge and to re-establish the State Gov- 
 ernment there, and secure the mouth of Red River. 
 
 Butler was occupying Baton Rouge, with a garrison 
 of 4,000 troops, in addition to the ram "Essex" and a 
 couple of gunboats. An engagement took place at 
 about 1 a. m. on the 5th of August, in which the 
 machinery of the redoubtable ram, "Arkansas," broke 
 down. To prevent capture, her commander ran her 
 ashore, landed his crew, set her ablaze, and turned her 
 adrift. With a loud explosion, she sank beneath the 
 waters. 
 
 The Fourth Louisiana, Company E, under Colonel 
 Henry M. Allen, afterward Governor of Louisiana, was 
 actively engaged in this battle, with General Ruggles 
 first in command. 
 
 General John C. Breckenridge, with his Kentucky 
 troops, had arrived. He charged up and down the 
 line, while the Federals were being routed out of their 
 ditches. 
 
 Butler had turned the convicts out of the peniten- 
 tiary, expecting them to unite with him, but evea 
 
122 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 among convicts were some Rebels. The Federals had 
 a following of negroes — fugitive slaves. 
 
 It is related that the direction of the Federals' 
 flight could be traced by the blue-back spellers strewn 
 along the line, which the frightened blacks had dropped 
 in terror of pursuit and capture. 
 
 The Federals left behind vast quantities of pro- 
 visions and other supplies, but the wagons of the Con- 
 federates were so filled with the wounded and dying 
 that the hungry army had to pass them by. 
 
 General Van Dorn did not hold Baton Rouge, but, 
 undismayed, proceeded to Port Hudson, a more im- 
 portant point. 
 
 Admiral Schley, of Spanish-American War fame, 
 gave utterance to the opinion, that the Confederates 
 did their greatest defensive work before Port Hudson. 
 
CHICKASAW BAYOU. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CHICKASAW BAYOU. 
 
 ON the 27th of September, 1862, the Thirty- 
 first Louisiana, in Baldwin's Brigade, com- 
 posed of the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth 
 and Thirty-first Regiments, were camped near the old 
 City Cemetery. 
 
 Sherman's Army had been preparing for a week 
 to make an attack; the Louisianians were defending 
 the line. Major Humble was killed; also C. H. Mor- 
 rison and Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney GrifTin. 
 
 The Chickasaw Bayou was low, forming lakes at 
 intervals. A ravine in between the two lakes was in- 
 trenched on either side by the Confederates. Sher- 
 man's sharpshooters filled the woods, and commenced 
 firing, which was returned with great energy, by the 
 Confederates. They had to raise their arms over the 
 parapet and fire at random, without sighting. The Fed- 
 erals were so numerous it was hard to miss them,. 
 
 The battle lasted four days, which was sharp-shoot- 
 ing on the part of the Federals and an effort to hold 
 their position on the part of the Confederates. 
 
 On the right side of the ravine were the supplies; 
 
J24 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 on the left or south side, the Federals, who made their 
 way through the ravine, and took shelter behind the 
 earthworks. So near were they that the guns were at 
 close range. The woods were filled with the main 
 army, towards which the fire of the Confederates was 
 directed. The Federals, under shelter of night, fell 
 back to their command. 
 
 The Thirty-first Louisiana held their position to 
 the end of the engagement, which continued a heavy 
 skirmishing until retirement of the Federals. 
 
 THE REGIMENT SEPARATED. 
 
 An incident of the engagement was the separation 
 of the regiment by the ravine. Those on the south 
 side exhausted their ammunition, and it became neces- 
 sary to send a supply to them. It was a dangerous 
 undertaking, for the accomplishment of which the 
 Colonel selected W. A. Collins, of Company H, 
 Thirty-first Louisiana. Corporal Collins eagerly volun- 
 teered for the task, which at that time was considered 
 a venture of great risk. 
 
 To divert the attention of the enemy, the regiment 
 was ordered to open up heavy fire, as he was going 
 across, which relieved the situation of serious danger. 
 The mission was successfully accomplished, and Cor- 
 
CHICKASAW BAYOU. 125 
 
 poral Collins was promoted to a Lieutenancy the very 
 next day. The heaviest losses sustained by the Fed- 
 erals were in front of the fire of the Louisiana Brigade 
 at Chickasaw Bayou. 
 
 Before our earthworks, occupied by the other regi- 
 ments of our brigade, was a large cotton plantation, 
 across which the Federals charged on the Confederate 
 lines. The Federal losses were very great. The Con- 
 federates were protected behind their breastworks, 
 while the Federals were in the open field. 
 
 The following day the Federals sent a flag of truce, 
 asking a cessation of hostilities, which was readily 
 granted. 
 
 To the surprise and relief of the Confederates, the 
 dawn revealed that the Federals had embarked on their 
 transports and had proceeded to capture Arkansas Post. 
 
 Porter's fleet remained in the Bends above Vicks- 
 burg, and kept up the shelling of Vicksburg. Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Sidney Griffin, of Union Parish, was 
 killed a few days after the beginning of the Siege of 
 Vicksburg. He was an able commander, and had the 
 love and respect of his whole command. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF PORT GIBSON. 
 
 This same Louisiana Brigade was engaged in the 
 Battle of Port Gibson, which General Grant opened 
 
126 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 on the first of May. On the second day it began the 
 retreat toward Vicksburg, destroying the bridge at 
 Bayou Pierre. General Bowen was in command of 
 the Confederate forces.* 
 
 They crossed the bridge at Big Black, under fire, 
 and burned it behind them. 
 
 The brigade was engaged in the battle at Champion 
 Hill, then in the siege at Vicksburg. 
 
 Another brave Louisianian who fell at Vicksburg 
 was Colonel Matt Rogers, of Ouachita, who was killed 
 near the same spot as Colonel Griffin. 
 
 The men in the siege preserved their good nature 
 and courage. A big pot of sassafras tea was kept 
 brewing in the camp, which was free to all. As the 
 supply diminished, more water was added and the pot 
 kept boiling, which made a fine beverage to go with 
 the field-pea bread. An occasional ration of mule meat 
 rounded out the bill of fare. 
 
 • They crossed the bridge at Big Black, under fire, and 
 burned it behind them. 
 
BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL. 
 
 OF great strategic importance to both armies 
 was the possession of Champion Hill, inas- 
 much as it opened a route to Vicksburg. 
 Heroic Louisianians, under command of General Bald- 
 win, were in this engagement. General John E. Bowen 
 in command. Baldwin's Brigade had occupied Port 
 Gibson. After a day's fighting they commenced the 
 retreat toward Vicksburg, burning bridges behind them. 
 General Tracy fell at Port Gibson. There were only 
 a few Confederates who did the work. The enemy 
 thought they were skirmishers, because they were so 
 hard to hit. They crossed over the pontoon bridge at 
 Big Black, and burned it under fire, joining the Con- 
 federates at Champion Hill. 
 
 The crucial period of the war between the States 
 came co-ordinate with the carnage at Gettysburg and 
 the suffering, endurance and final surrender at Vicks- 
 burg. 
 
 After the fall of Memphis, New Orleans and Baton 
 Rouge, the Confederacy only had possession of that 
 part of the Mississippi River which lies between Vicks- 
 
128 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 burg and Port Hudson. This position enabled us to 
 blockade the river, and, the more important still, to 
 keep in communication with West Louisiana, Arkansas 
 and Texas, whence we drew supplies for the army in 
 the field. Another important line for transportation of 
 supplies was by way of Red River. To hold these 
 points was vital to the Confederacy; to cut them oflf 
 and open up the Mississippi River, from Cairo to the 
 Gulf, was the determination of General Grant; hence 
 the heroic sacrifice of our people, besieged at Vicksburg, 
 and their resistance to assault, until our men fainted 
 from hunger in the trenches, and the children wailed 
 for bread in the homes. 
 
 Farragut had attempted to assail it, but Vicksburg 
 was high on her several hills, and impregnable from 
 water attack. 
 
 The limitations of this article prevent our touching 
 upon the many strategic movements of Grant to reach 
 this citadel — ^all of which were a succession of failures 
 and disasters. After making a conjunction with Sher- 
 man, there was another plan of operation to dislodge 
 our brave Southern boys on the bluflf, which makes 
 far the most thrilling history of the war. 
 
 Finally, General Grant determined to push his 
 army in between the position of General Joseph E. 
 
BATTLE OF CHAMPION BILL. 129 
 
 Johnston at Jackson, and General Pemberton at Vicks- 
 burg. In this territory, on the l5th of May, 1863,. 
 having captured and devastated Jackson, Grant en- 
 countered Pemberton at "Champion Hill," where he 
 had taken up a strong position. This battle, where the 
 losses on either side approximated three thousand men, 
 more than the whole fatality of the Spanish-American 
 War, is scarcely known, it is said, to the millions of 
 youth who study American history. 
 
 To care for the suffering wounded, and remove our 
 honored dead to decent sepulture, was the heroic part 
 to be borne by the Southern women of the vicinity. 
 The brave soul who went over the appalling field of 
 blood, with ministrations of comfort and mercy, was 
 the wife of General John E. Bowen. 
 
 In the Mexican service were two devoted comrades: 
 Lieutenant Bowen and Captain Grant. Bowen was 
 rich — Grant was poor. 
 
 In the war between the States, these two friends 
 came to a parting of the ways. Lieutenant Bowen: 
 offered his services to the Confederacy; Captain Grant 
 to the Union. Lieutenant Bowen was commissioned 
 Colonel of the First Missouri Infantry. He was in the 
 Western Division. For gallantry in action, he rose 
 to the rank of Major-General, and was second in com- 
 mand under Pemberton at Vicksburg. 
 
130 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Mrs. Bowen followed her husband into every post 
 of danger, and rendered such services to the cause as 
 only a woman of keen wit, ardent patriotism, and un- 
 flinching courage could do. It is said that hundreds 
 would have perished at Champion Hill but for her 
 ministrations. 
 
 General Grant had given the wife of his former 
 friend a general passport through the lines, to come 
 and go at will. While her husband was at Vicksburg, 
 she made stopping place at the plantation home of Mrs. 
 Madison Smith, in Hinds County, Miss. A matron of 
 unflinching courage, and devoted to the cause, her 
 home was open at all times to the soldiers or sym- 
 pathizers. It was here that Mrs. Bowen brought in 
 the wounded from the field, and hundreds were nursed 
 back to life. In the trunks which she so often brought 
 through the lines were numerous volumnious petti- 
 coats and gowns of soft cotton, which were speedily 
 converted into bandages and scraped into lint, and 
 indeed it was said that, for so delicate a lady, she car- 
 ried about with her an immoderate supply of liquor. 
 A woman who could be so nervy on the field needed 
 a lot of restoratives at home. She could truthfully 
 swear that the Confederate soldier's need was her 
 necessity. 
 
THE BA TTLE OF CHAMPION HILL. 131 
 
 Fate had in store a cruel reward for Mrs. Bowen. 
 While she was on the firing line, assisting night and 
 day, to assuage the tortures of our sufferers. General 
 Bowen was wounded in Vicksburg from a bomb 
 thrown by General Grant's troops. General Grant 
 gave her escort and conveyance to meet her husband, 
 and she nursed and removed him to a plantation in 
 the country. He survived this attack. Finally he suc- 
 cumbed, and was buried, and still lies unclaimed or 
 unidentified, so far as known. 
 
 After offering her supreme sacrifice on her coun- 
 try's altar, Mrs. Bowen returned to the front. She had 
 three brothers still in the army. When the Confeder- 
 ates retreated before Sherman's nuarch to the sea, Mrs. 
 Bowen went with them, always in the hospital or on 
 the battlefield. When General Sherman occupied At- 
 lanta, he learned that Mrs. Bowen was there. He 
 called and urged her to accept an escort out of the 
 lines, telling her that trouble was ahead, and that 
 Atlanta was no place for a woman. She told him 
 firmly but gentle she did not intend to leave the South 
 so long as there was a Confederate soldier left to 
 suffer in the field. 
 
 She kept faith alive until the last sad surrender, 
 then she returned to her home in St. Louis, where she 
 lived and died in honor, on January 10, 1904. 
 
132 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Mrs. Bowen was one of the founders of the Mis- 
 souri Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 
 and contributed largely toward the building of the 
 Home for Confederate Soldiers at Higginsville, Mo. 
 
 May she rest in peace, valiant woman of the South I 
 
GRANTS CANAL. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 GRANT'S CANAL, LAKE PROVIDENCE, 
 LOUISIANA. 
 
 STORY OF THE FAITHFUL SLAVE. 
 
 IN pursuance of our stories of the campaign in the 
 Mississippi Valley, we find that on the 12th of 
 November, 1862, General Grant received from 
 General Halleck, command of all the troops in his 
 department. He at once made concert of action with 
 General Sherman, who quickly made a plan to capture 
 Vicksburg and Port Hudson, opening up the great river 
 throughout its length, and severing the Confederacy in 
 twain. 
 
 One of the plans of GIrant to reach the Confeder- 
 ates intrenched on the heights of Vicksburg, was to 
 detail Sherman to cut a canal across the peninsular in 
 the great bend of the river east of Vicksburg. Per- 
 haps all are not familiar with the topography of the 
 country in this section, where the river winds for a 
 hundred miles or more like a tortuous serpent, form- 
 ing acute angles in the channel, setting the current now 
 
134 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 against one bank, then the other; forming that rich- 
 section of the Mississippi Valley known as the Bends. 
 General Sherman continued at work on this device 
 until eariy in March, when a sudden flood in the river 
 overflowed the peninsular. He was compelled to make 
 a hasty retreat, to avoid the drowning of his army. 
 
 The same flood catastrophe is ever overwhelming 
 the Bends; it is a section inured to tragedy, as to pros- 
 perity, and bears both with noble equanimity. 
 
 Into this rich country, so necessary to the Con- 
 federate cause, General Grant poured his army. 
 
 About seventy-five miles above Vicksburg lies the 
 northern boundary of Louisiana, a country glowing in 
 the prodigal beauties of nature, owned and brought to 
 the highest degree of productiveness by cultured and 
 scientific planters, for the most part scions of a proud,, 
 hearty and developed race of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. 
 Each home was a manor surrounded by an estate of 
 which any English country gentleman could be proud.. 
 The lands were cultivated by armies of slaves, it is true, 
 but slaves so protected by the intelligence, the con- 
 science and the wisdom of their masters, that the hours 
 of labor had always for its accompaniment the mellow 
 chorus of the negro field chant, the predominant note 
 of which was contentment. No railroads disturbed 
 
GRANT'S CANAL. 
 
 135 
 
 this kingdom unto itself, but the great river palaces 
 anchored before each great plantation. A lake as 
 beautiful as Como, and like unto it, encircled partly 
 the little metropolis of this paradise. 
 
 When the first pioneers from Virginia and Georgia 
 stopped their caravans here, startling the herds of deer 
 and flocks of game laving on the banks, they thanked 
 God; but when they cast their lines and nets, and 
 brought forth wonderful hauls of fish of all variety, 
 they decided to there abide, and they christened the 
 beautiful like, ''Providence." 
 
136 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 It was toward this rich region that General Grant 
 next turned his efforts. The scheme was to cut an- 
 other canal from the Mississippi River into Lake Provi- 
 dence, carry his flotilla through the lake up to the 
 mouth of the Bayou Tensas, then move his boats down 
 the bayou until he reached a point of the river below 
 Vicksburg. This scheme failed utterly, but he suc- 
 ceeded in leaving a trail of ruin, rapine, and havoc 
 along his track. 
 
 Always after the fleshpots, the officers soon selected 
 for themselves comfortable mansions. 
 
 In this connection, I will relate a pathetic story 
 involving a faithful slave. 
 
 Six miles below Lake Providence, where, often, 
 has been enacted the tragedy of the flood, was the plan- 
 tation home of Colonel Warren Magruder B. — a 
 stately mansion, broad acres of waving grain, shimmer- 
 ing stretches of fleecy cotton, herds grazing on green 
 pastures — it all seemed very good to the General and 
 his cohorts. 
 
 Accordingly, it was here he made his headquarters. 
 The soldiers were given liberty to destroy what might 
 seem unprotected property. The owner being beyond 
 the age of service to the Confederacy, had remioved, 
 with his negroes and fine horses, to his place in the 
 hill country reserved for this purpose in time of floods. 
 
GRANT'S CANAL. 137 
 
 The home on the banks of the Mississippi had been 
 left in charge of trusted house servants. These, bribed 
 with promises of fortune, and won over by flattery, 
 offered little resistance to the vandalism of the soldiery. 
 
 The family portraits and works of art were made 
 targets for camp amusement; the library, elegant furni- 
 ture, and all, given over to the marauders, to extract, 
 if need be, the hiding-places of money or treasure. 
 
 The Federals soon found the retreat of Colonel 
 W. M. B. When he protested ignorance of any such 
 hiding place, a noose was put around his neck, and he 
 was subjected to indignities, as though a criminal. 
 
 Henry Bates was the foreman and confidential 
 servant of Colonel W. M. B. He had used his privilege 
 as a negro to go within Federal lines. He practiced 
 many artful expedients to obtain for his master, cigars, 
 tobacco and such other luxuries as were unobtainable 
 in the Confederate lines. He was on an expedition of 
 this kind at the time of Colonel W. M. B.'s assault. 
 At the critical moment, when the looters were suspend- 
 ing their victim from a tree, a horseman came dashing 
 through the forest, crying: "For God's sake, don't 
 hang my old marster! Take me; I am the man that 
 buried the money!" 
 
 Astonishment gave them pause. The slave, going 
 up to his master, removed the rope, and, putting it 
 
138 
 
 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 around his own neck, said to the soldiers: "Easter, the 
 house-woman, knows where I buried the box, and the 
 General himself has old Marster's money." 
 
 Seemingly satisfied with that, the disappointed 
 marauders rode away to locate other plunder. 
 
 Colonel W. M. B., with tears in his eyes, took the 
 hand of the slave, saying : 'i thank you, Henry Bates, 
 my faithful servant and white-souled friend." 
 
 The servitor, with a cunning bom of love and 
 devotion, replied: ''Don't trouble, Marster. General 
 Grant just got the Confederate money, and the silver, 
 we used at parties. Our family silver and our gold is 
 hid away under 'ole Miss' ' tombstone in the family 
 burying-ground." 
 
 And there it was found. 
 
ADVEiNTURES IN CARROLL PARISH. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 CARROLL PARISH, LOUISIANA. 
 
 ADVENTURES AND ENGAGEMENTS. 
 
 Some interesting encounters took place in Carroll 
 Parish. 
 
 Colonel Frank H. Bartlett, on the 9th of May, 
 1862, received confirmation from Captain Corbin, who 
 commanded the pickets at Caledonia, near the Arkan- 
 sas line on Bayou Macon, just six miles from Bunch's 
 Bend, that the enemy had surprised his guard and 
 crossed the Macon. Rallying every available man who 
 could be spared from guarding the railroad crossing 
 at Delhi, and the courthouse at Floyd, parish seat of 
 Carroll Parish, Colonel Bartlett marched gaily forth 
 to meet the enemy. His force, combined with Cor- 
 bin's, could only number eighty-five men, while the 
 enemy had two regiments of cavalry, numbering about 
 five hundred men. 
 
 The Federals were ambushed, resulting in a break 
 into wild confusion, leaving thirteen dead and twenty- 
 six prisoners. They made their way to the Mississippi 
 River, telling a wonderful story of their escape from 
 overwhelming numbers of Rebels. 
 
140 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Thus, skillful marksmanship and daring attack had 
 convinced the enemy they had confronted a division 
 of General Dick Taylor's army. 
 
 After giving them this scare, Colonel Bartlett 
 wisely assumed the offensive, making raids to the 
 river, capturing prisoners, supplies and war material. 
 
 About the first of June this little Confederate band 
 was reinforced by the Thirteenth Texas Infantry, under 
 the gallant Colonel Crawford, when they decided to 
 make a dash into the town of Lake Providence. The 
 first move was to improvise a bridge of logs at Cale- 
 donia, to cross Bayou Macon, marching on, surprising 
 and capturing the Federal picket at Bunch's Bend, and 
 thence pushing on to Lake Providence. Every hun- 
 dred yards of their route was disputed by the enemy's 
 cavalry, but nothing availed against the daring Con- 
 federates. 
 
 At Baxter Bayou, where the Federals had cut 
 down and set fire to the bridge, the Confederates car- 
 ried it by storm, while it was ablaze, and sinking it in 
 the middle below the surface of the water. At the 
 Tensas the bridge was found entirely destroyed. 
 
 To the great disappointment of the loyal inhabi- 
 tants of Lake Providence, which now comprised the 
 women, children and men too old for service, the Con- 
 
BRIARFIELD REBELS. 141 
 
 federates had to return to the hill country, carrying 
 with them their spoils, consisting of many prisoners, 
 nine army wagons and thirty-six mules, besides having 
 destroyed much of the enemy's property. Bartlett's 
 loss was three killed and seven wounded. 
 
 A few months later, the sub-district of North Lou- 
 isiana was broken up, the final quarters being in 
 Minden. 
 
 Carroll Parish, in November, 1861, sent 691 vol- 
 unteers to the field. Seventy-six of the number were 
 in the Carroll Guards. 
 
 ^THE BRIARFIELD REBELS." 
 A celebrated company of cavalry raised in Carroll 
 Parish was 'The Briarfield Rebels." 
 
 Enlisted in the company was Lieutenant Cicero M. 
 Allen, whose courage, ingenuity and resourcefulness 
 made him famous, even in those times of martial deeds 
 of daring. Lieutenant Allen was with the brave Lou- 
 isianians engaged in the skirmish at Newport News, 
 Virginia, where the first victim of sacrifice was laid 
 upon the altar of the South. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Dreux, Cicero and 
 Columbus Allen, Bailey V. Vinson and McVicker par* 
 ticipated in this fight, and carried the body of the 
 lamented Dreux from the field. 
 
142 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 James B. Lingan, grandson of General McC. 
 Lingan, killed in the political disturbance in Baltimore 
 in 1812, was with Dreux's Battalion, and accompanied 
 to New Orleans the remains of that gallant young 
 officer, who was among the first to fall in Virginia's 
 great campaigns. The funeral was the greatest spec- 
 tacular pageant of the day. 
 
 Allen was called "The One-Armed Scout." While 
 at Briton's Lane, Tennessee, he was wounded in the 
 arm and made prisoner; his horse was killed in the 
 charge. Having been carried to the Federal hospital, 
 where his wounds were dressed, he walked out of the 
 building, and, seeing the fine gray horse which the 
 surgeon had conveniently hitched while engaged with 
 his patients, Allen leaped into the saddle, and under 
 the shelter of darkness was soon outside of the enemy's 
 lines. 
 
 He carried the battle-flag of his regiment at Shiloh, 
 until ordered by General Hindman to replace his twin 
 brother. 
 
 At Ponchatoula, where the "Briarfield Rebels" had 
 been appointed to picket duty, to watch out for the 
 enemy, who werQ threatening Port Hudson, Allen was 
 made Lieutenant. His first affair was with the small 
 tin-clad vessel, the "Lafitte," which was reconnoitering 
 
BRIARFIELD REBELS. 143 
 
 around in the Amite River. With a small detachment 
 he annoyed the "Lafitte" so much that, in her efforts 
 to get away, she ran upon a snag and was blown up. 
 It having been discovered she had a fine gun aboard, 
 Allen managed to get possession of a schooner, and 
 one of the men dived and secured the gun by a rope 
 and slip-knot. 
 
 Allen was now left with a detail of two men to 
 get the schooner and gun where it could be shipped to 
 Port Hudson. While passing through Lake Maurepas 
 he encountered a yawl filled with nine Federals. Allen 
 quickly ran his schooner into a bayou near-by and, 
 jumping ashore, prepared an ambush. As the Fed- 
 erals came up, confident of victory, Allen commanded 
 all to fire, killing the commander of their squad. The 
 remainder jumped in the water and swam to the 
 woods. 
 
 HEROIC SUBTERFUGE. 
 
 Allen and his two men kept up the attack. After 
 running through the marsh for nearly a mile, Allen, 
 fearing to disclose his real numbers, ordered, "Cease 
 firing!" then, calling upon several imaginary com- 
 panions to "Halt!" he boldly marched forward and 
 received the surrender of the whole party. Among the 
 number were two officers. Singly he divested the 
 
144 
 
 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 prisoners of their arms and ammunition, and, moving 
 them some distance from the stacked arms, he ordered 
 his two men up and marched the prisoners on board 
 of the schooner. 
 
 General Frank Gardiner, who was then in com- 
 mand at Port Gibson, sent an orderly, complimenting 
 Lieutenant Allen for his skill and courage. 
 
 .^J^ 
 
 While his company was doing duty at Poncha- 
 toula, Allen, with eight men, crossed Lake Maurepas 
 in a yawl. Leaving the boat in one of the numerous 
 bayous, he waded with his men through a marsh 
 waist-deep. He crossed the railroad to Lake Pont- 
 chartrain, and there discovered two Federal schooners 
 lying at anchor. He found a little dug-out, boarded 
 
BRIARFIELD REBELS. 145 
 
 Ihe schooners, overpowered the crew, and made oflf 
 with his prize to Madisonville. Later, from the com- 
 missary store, there were heard the "sounds of revelry 
 by night." 
 
 The "Briarfields" did some fine service during the 
 Siege of Port Hudson, and were particularly active 
 in capturing a Federal wagon train. The advance 
 guard in the venture was commanded by Columbus 
 Allen, the twin brother of Cicero. Although a private, 
 he had been mistaken for his brother by Colonel 
 Powers. The brother availed himself of this oppor- 
 tunity for a good practical joke. Lieutenant Allen 
 came up in time to pitch into the left flank of the Fed- 
 erals and do some excellent fighting. The skirmish 
 resulted in the capture of one hundred wagons, four 
 mules and forty-odd prisoners. Twenty of the enemy 
 were killed and wounded. 
 
 To prevent any further "mix-ups" between the 
 two brothers, whose identity it was so hard to dis- 
 tinguish, Columbus Allen was transferred to another 
 division. 
 
146 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF THE ONE-ARMED SCOUT. 
 
 At daylight one morning Allen received an order 
 from the Colonel to capture some deserters. Allen 
 set out, and after marching about forty miles in one 
 day he reached the Mississippi, to find that the desert- 
 ers had taken refuge upon the boat "Rattler." 
 
 An old lady, passing by in her carriage, told him 
 the crew of the "Rattler" was in the habit of landing 
 in Rodney, making boasts that "they could whip out 
 buttermilk soldiers with cornstalks." Allen thereupon 
 camped in the woods near a cemetery, and a watch 
 was stationed. The sentry's "All well!" as the boat 
 bell struck the hour, was heard by the picket con~ 
 cealed behind an old tombstone. 
 
 Sunday morning a considerable stir was seen 
 aboard the gunboat. Soon thereafter three boats were 
 seen to shoot out from her side, filled with gaily- 
 dressed officers and marines. Allen led his few fol- 
 lowers into town, in a gallop. The cracking of pistols 
 soon told that the fight had begun. 
 
 The Federals were true soldiers. Getting their men 
 into the church, they barricaded the doors. Allen and 
 his men followed quickly, pistols in hand. A marine 
 met them at the door, and they fired simultaneously. 
 A bullet went through Allen's hat, but the leaden mis- 
 
FIGHT IN THE CHURCH. U7 
 
 sile from his pistol entered the marine's heart, who 
 fell dead in the aisle of the church. 
 
 Meantime the Confederates entered by another 
 door, whose bristling carbines influenced a quick sur- 
 render. The prisoners taken were fifteen marines, the 
 Captain and First Lieutenant. 
 
 As this affair happened while church services were 
 being held, the confusion can well be conjectured. 
 
 Allen withdrew in safety with his prisoners, not- 
 withstanding the batteries opened fire upon the town. 
 
 It was not surprising that so daring a scout was 
 captured while riding in the Federal lines. He was 
 taken on board the steamer "Iberville." Surrounded 
 by guards, one morning he leaped from the deck of 
 the steamer, and, despite having the use of only one 
 arm, he gained the shore and reached his camp. 
 
 On the hurried retreat from Collinsville, Tennes- 
 see, by the Confederates, "The Briarfields" were- 
 ordered to the rear, to hold the Federals in check 
 until the army could effect a fording of the Coldwater 
 River. Here, with a few men under his command, 
 Allen made obstinate resistance, until the Federals dis- 
 covered the smallness of the force. Then they charged 
 in large numbers, actually riding over Allen's body, 
 as he had been thrown from his horse. He was taken-. 
 
148 CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 prisoner and placed in a car en route for the old Cap- 
 itol prison. The night was dark, and the train going 
 at the rate of thirty miles an hour. When near the 
 City of Baltimore he snatched the overcoat of the 
 .guard and leaped from the car. 
 
 There were m;my ardent Confederate women in 
 Maryland. It was his good fortune to meet some of 
 these, who helped him: to cross the lines. He was 
 twice captured, and as often escaped after that. When 
 he reached the Confederacy he found the struggle 
 ■ended. 
 
 Making his way to the trans-Mississippi, he was 
 among those who made the last effort for the Con- 
 federacy he loved so dearly, and for which he had 
 dared so much. 
 
 After the war he married a lady of East Carroll 
 Parish and engaged in cotton planting on the Tensas 
 Bayou, where he died, still in his fresh manhood. 
 
THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD. 
 
 THE most important battle fought on Louisiana 
 soil was at Mansfield, April 8, 1864. 
 The Military Annals of Louisiana record 
 that, in the raid up the Red River, General Banks had 
 an army of 45,000 men and sixty transports. 
 
 General Dick Taylor gave him battle at Mansfield 
 with only 6,000 men. General Polignac rode by the 
 side of General Dick Taylor. In discussing the great 
 numbers of the enemy, General Taylor said to him: 
 "I will fight Banks if he has a million men." 
 
 THE HEROIC TWENTY-EIGHTH LOUISIANA. 
 
 The Twenty-eighth Louisiana, then commanded by 
 Colonel Walker, was very active here. The Confed- 
 erates had been resting two miles north of Mansfield. 
 When they were ordered to resume march, they did 
 so cheerfully. At a short distance south of Mansfield 
 the troops were drawn up in battle array. OVer the 
 brow of the hill repeatedly appeared the cavalry of the 
 enemy. The Confederates began firing, and the line 
 of cavalry was broken up. 
 
150 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 This little skirmish produced great enthusiasm. A 
 participant says that General Mouton, with his power- 
 ful form raised to its full. height as he stood in his 
 stirrups, hat in hand, added to it. He swept along the 
 command, shouting: "Louisiana has drawn the first 
 blood to-day, and the victory is ours!" 
 
 The enemy rested in a field behind the woods. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Milton, who took out Company A 
 from Bienville Parish, was ordered with skirmishers 
 to charge through the field. With a handful of men 
 from each regiment he dashed up the hill, in front of 
 his men, urging them to follow. The whole commiand 
 set out double-quick up the hill toward the Federals 
 concealed in the woods. They were subjected to a 
 terrific fire before they came upon the foe. 
 
 Colonel William Walker, who commanded the 
 Twenty-eighth, was mortally wounded, and expired 
 at the home of a friend in Mansfield. Many deeds of 
 daring and gallantry were performed. 
 
 Major W. F. Blackman, perceiving in some sol- 
 diers a tendency to waiver in the long uphill charge, 
 dashed for the colors, and rode towards the Federals. 
 He wheeled and cried to the men to rally to their 
 colors. This they did with a rush. A captured soldier 
 of the Federals afterwards said that not less than two 
 
THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD. 151 
 
 liundred shots were fired at Blackman when he was not 
 fifty yards distant. 
 
 After reaching the brow of the hill, the Twenty- 
 eighth was ordered to lie down behind an intervening 
 fence. It did so just in time to escape a fire of shot, 
 ^hell and grape. After resting awhile, it was ordered 
 to charge; the fence went down with a crash. The 
 regiment precipitated itself upon the Federals, who 
 then fell back in confusion to the woods, where they 
 re-formed. 
 
 The Confederates were ordered to charge, but they 
 became scattered in the woods and began to waiver, 
 when Lieutenant (afterward Captain) Kidd of Jack- 
 son Parish, seized the colors of the Twenty-eighth and 
 bore them far into the field, calling to the men to 
 follow. 
 
 After capturing the batteries before them, and all of 
 the horses of the dead and wounded, the pursuit be- 
 came general, and before sundown there was a com- 
 plete rout. 
 
 THE DEATH OF MOUTON AND ARMANT. 
 
 General Taylor, in his own book, gives ardent 
 praise to the Creole soldiery of Louisiana. No nation 
 has produced greater fighters than Mouton and Armant, 
 lost to their country at Mansfield. They should be held 
 
152 CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 as dear to the South as is Hampden or Sidney by the 
 Binglish. 
 
 Mrs. Dorsey, referring to these two heroes at the 
 Battle of Mansfield, gives this picture: 
 
 "General Mouton, with 2,500 men, forced passage 
 of a ravine to drive the Federals from their entrench- 
 ments on an opposite hill. 
 
 'The officers fell fast. Armant, at the head of his 
 Creoles, had his horse shot, while he was wounded in 
 the arm. Starting to his feet after disengaging him- 
 self from his dying horse, he ran by the side of his 
 men, waving his sword with his unhurt hand. Again 
 a shot struck him; he fell, wounded in both thighs. 
 He raised himself again on his wounded arm. With 
 the life-blood pouring in torrents, half reclining, he still 
 waved his sword, and cheered on his Louisianians. 
 They responded with a cry of vengeance. Another 
 shot struck their commander in the breast; the gleam- 
 ing sword fell to the ground — Armant lay dead. 
 
 'The Eighteenth Louisiana rushed on. Polignac 
 led his gallant Texans. Mouton was always in the 
 front. The guns were taken, after a desperate struggle. 
 The Federals broke and fled, Mouton in pursuit. He 
 passed a group of Federal soldiers; they threw down 
 their arms in toKen of surrender. Mouton turned, lift- 
 
THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD. 163 
 
 ing his hand to stay the firing of the Confederates upon 
 this group of prisoners. As he did so, five of the pris- 
 oners stooped down, picked up their guns and fired at 
 the generous Confederate. In a moment five balls 
 pierced the noble, magnanimous heart. Mouton 
 dropped from the saddle, dead, without a word or a 
 sigh. The men who witnessed this cowardly deed 
 gave a yell of vengeful indignation, and before their 
 officers could check them, the thirty-five Federals lay 
 dead around the body of Mouton." 
 
 The chase of the Federals was continued by this 
 division; then the reserves, under Walker and Church- 
 hill, took up the hunt and drove the enemy back to 
 Pleasant Hill. The Confederates bivouaced that night 
 by a stream of refreshing water. 
 
 Throughout this campaign, in General Taylor's 
 command, fought Prince Camille Polignac, a brave 
 son of France, who bestowed upon the Confederacy 
 the same kind of fidelity and assistance that his great 
 countryman, Lafayette, gave our forefathers in the 
 War of the Revolution. Prince Polignac died in 
 France in 1913. A fitting memorial was inscribed to 
 him by his grateful Louisiana comrades. 
 
154 CAMP-FIRE STORIES, 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH. 
 
 Officers of the Twenty-eighth distinguished in this 
 great battle were: Colonel T. W. Pool; Captain 
 Brice, of Bienville Parish; Captain Hines C. Mitchel, 
 of Claiborne; Lieutenant William Lewis, of Jackson 
 Parish ; Captain T. W. Abner, of Winn. 
 
 The Twenty-eighth was composed entirely of 
 North Louisiana men. Its first commander was Gen- 
 eral Henry Gray. 
 
 General Mouton and Colonel Landry were killed 
 at Mansfield. These noble, heroic souls reflect glory 
 upon Louisiana. 
 
 General Dick Taylor says, in part, in his address to 
 his army: 
 
 'The enemy was driven from, every position, his 
 artillery captured, and his men routed. In vain were 
 fresh troops brought up. Your magnificent line was 
 like a resistless wave. Twenty-one pieces of artillery, 
 twenty-five hundred prisoners, two hundred horses. 
 For twelve miles burning wagons and stores marked 
 our advance." 
 
 TRANS-MISSISSIPPI CONFLICTS. 
 
 The St. Mary's Battery participated in all the en- 
 counters along the Teche, ending in the bloody aflfair 
 at Norwood's on Bayou de Glaise. 
 
ST. MABrS CANNONEERS. 155 
 
 A brilliant engagement in western Louisiana took 
 place at Labadieville. There, Colonel Leopold Armant, 
 with five hundred men, met a force of four thousand 
 under General Weitzel, and checked for a time their 
 advance. 
 
 After Mouton's Command left the Lafourche 
 country they took position at Berwick Bay. Weitzel 
 followed with gunboats. Comay's Battery was at 
 Camp Bisland, on the Teche, between Franklin and 
 Jeanerette. The "Cotton," a large river steamer, was 
 converted into a war vessel. This boat, commanded 
 by Captain Fuller, co-operated with General Mouton 
 in defending the Teche. 
 
 The Federals, in April, sent a force of sixteen thou- 
 sand men to dislodge General Taylor's detachment of 
 three thousand Confederates at Bisland. On the 13th 
 of April a desperate battle was fought, and the Fed- 
 erals were repulsed. The Confederates withdrew in 
 perfect order to Opelousas. 
 
 The field artillery in the Army of Western Lou- 
 isiana was very numerous and in constant activity. 
 After the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, it was 
 organized into a regiment, under command of Colonel 
 Brent. Captain O. J. James and Captain Faries were 
 promoted to Major. This organization was composed 
 
156 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 of batteries from Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas nad 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The St. Mary's Cannoneers, or Cornay's Battery, 
 had done good service at and above the mouth of the 
 river in protecting the City of New Orleans. 
 
 After the defeat of General Banks at Mansfield, 
 and his retreat from Natchitoches, General Taylor 
 placed this battery on Red River, at the mouth of Cane 
 River, with the purpose of blockading against the 
 Federal fleet, which, on the 26th of April, 1864, at- 
 tempted to pass the defenses. 
 
 The transport, "Champion No. 3," with several 
 hundred negroes, taken from the plantations along the 
 Red River, under the command of Admiral Porter's 
 two gunboats, engaged the battery while the "Cham- 
 pion" attempted to pass. The "Champion" was struck 
 in her boiler by a solid shot from a twelve-pound gun. 
 She was immediately enveloped in steam and vapor. 
 It was possibly the most fatal shot fired during the 
 hostilities, as every soul on the "Champion" perished, 
 with the exception of three. The remaining fleet de- 
 clined to fight, and ran up the river. The inhumanity 
 of exposing these unarmed people to disaster rests 
 with the Federal commanders. In this unequal con- 
 flict the Confederates fought four field pieces against 
 
ST, MARY'S CANNONEERS. 157 
 
 gunboats rriiounting powerful guns. In this engage- 
 ment the heroic Captain Cornay fell while directing 
 his devoted men. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief, General E. Kirby Smith, 
 had his headquarters at Shreveport, which was the 
 War Capital of Louisiana. He did not wish to leave 
 this territory unprotected, so failed to fully sustain 
 General Dick Taylor in his pursuit of Banks and 
 Porter. After the retreat of Banks, he asked to be 
 relieved. He was soon promoted to the rank of Lieu- 
 tenant-General and assigned to duty on the east side 
 of the Mississippi. His last headquarters were at 
 Meridian, Miss., where his noble troops laid down their 
 arms and accepted the fiat of battle. 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 VICKSBURG. 
 
 AFTER the occupation of New Orleans by Gen- 
 eral Butler, Vicksburg became the coveted 
 stronghold of the Northern forces. It was 
 called the Gibraltar of the Mississippi Valley, un- 
 approachable by the steep bluflf on the front, guarded 
 by ''Haines Bluff" on the right, Port Hudson on the 
 left, it could only be assailed in the rear. A volume 
 could be filled with interesting movements of Grant's 
 and Sherman's forces in their progress toward Vicks- 
 burg, and of the brilliant dash of General Nathan 
 Forest in cutting off his railway communication. The 
 ride of the gallant Van Dorn, with some 35,000 cav- 
 alry, in Grant's rear, capturing and destroying at Holly 
 Springs vast stores for the use of the Union Army 
 isolated without supplies. Grant beat a quick retreat. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Sherman pursued his course 
 toward Vicksburg, unaware of the predicament of 
 Grant. He started from Memphis with 32,000 men 
 and sixty guns, steamed down the river, and thirteen 
 miles up the Yazoo, landed his troops on the low flats 
 in front of the range of bluffs to the North. 
 
160 
 
 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 In all Grant's operations to capture Vicksburg, Lou- 
 isiana was largely the sufferer by the presence of the 
 army of invaders. After the failure of the chimerical 
 attempt at Lake Providence to make passage through 
 Tensas and Baxter Bayous, his army was concentrated 
 at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, about twenty miles above 
 
 A GAME OF CHANCE. 
 
 Vicksburg, in the midst of the grand old plantation 
 homes — •fine foraging fields for a rapacious army. 
 
 Not knowing the real strength behind the fortifica- 
 tions of Vicksburg, Admiral Porter had been afraid to 
 make the run past the guns. The clamor at the North 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 161 
 
 for Grant's removal, on account of all of these failures, 
 spurred him on to desperation. He sent ten ship-loads 
 of rations, under cover of the gunboats, down the river. 
 
 The Confederates set houses along the bluff afire, 
 illuminating wierdly the scene, while the batteries 
 rained heavy shot upon the fleet. Every ship was 
 struck and damaged; three were disabled, but the 
 majority all ''ran the gauntlet," and Grant was ready 
 to leave Louisiana soil. Although we had no troops 
 there to give him fight, our morasses, bayous and 
 swamps gave his army a "hard road to travel," and 
 offered a very effectual resistance to his reaching Vicks- 
 burg. 
 
 Military authorities have said that the Confederate 
 Government made a grave error in withdrawing the 
 energetic Van Dorn from command around Vicksburg, 
 replacing him with General Pemberton, who seems to 
 have been wanting in military acumen. 
 
 When General Joseph E. Johnston learned of the 
 loss at Champion Hill, he sent word to Pemberton to 
 abandon Vicksburg and save his army. It is said that 
 the whole force of the disaster dawned then upon 
 General Pemberton, and threw him into consternation. 
 While he was discussing plans with his Generals, Sher- 
 man had gained control of the roads, so that the gar- 
 rison had to await its doom — by siege and starvation. 
 
162 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 Fearing that General Johnston would come up 
 with his division, Grant called for reinforcements, with 
 the result that 70,000 men were stationed before the 
 beleaguered city. To guard against the shower of shells 
 by night and day, the inhabitants became cave-dwellers, 
 like the early Christians of Rome in the Catacombs. 
 Great subterranean passages were dug in the cliffs, for 
 which high rents were paid. These were occupied, for 
 the most part, by women and children. With the 
 courage of all high-bred Southern matrons, they served 
 their country in hospitals, and cared for the wounded 
 in their caves. 
 
 Major Franklin S. Garner,* a young Marylander, 
 was shot through the mouth, and supposed to be 
 mortally wounded. He fell into the arms of Colonel 
 J. D. Hill, of New Orleans. He was then taken in 
 charge by women of Vicksburg, and nourished back 
 to life by means of a quill in the throat. This is but 
 an illustration of their unfailing devotion. 
 
 The hardships of a long siege were borne with 
 Spartan spirit. Mule meat was a delicacy, for the 
 favored. It was said an entree of "mule tongue, cold, 
 a la bray," was for company dinner only. 
 
 * Major Garner enlisted in Withers' Artillery, Sixth Mississippi, aa 
 a Lieutenant, and was thrice promoted for gallantry on the field. At 
 the surrender he held the title of Major. 
 
SIEGE OF VIOKSBURG. 163 
 
 In the two assaults of the 19th and 22nd, the Union 
 army lost 4,000 men, but there were legions to take 
 the place of the slain. As well as they knew the mettle 
 of the Confederates, they did not expect the long and 
 determined resistance. 
 
 On the Fourth of July, 1863, Grant ate dinner in 
 Vicksburg, and he brought his dinner with him, for 
 the noble garrison held out as long as there were 
 means to sustain life. 
 
 U. S. Grant— called "Unconditional Surrender" 
 
 Grant— waived his title to the extent of allowing the 
 
 garrison to march out with colors flying to stack 
 
 arms. The prisoners were released on parole. Five 
 
 days after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, Port 
 
 Hudson abandoned resistance— it seemed no longer a 
 
 benefit to the cause. 
 
 * * * 
 
 With the Louisiana troops at Vicksburg was 
 Colonel Fred Ogden's Battalion, the Seventh, which 
 remained in active service till after the surrender. 
 Colonel Ogden was then ordered to assist in organizing 
 a body of cavalry for General Polk's Division. He 
 was then assigned to Wirt Adan^s' Brigade, with orders 
 to report to Forrest. He was with the latter com- 
 mand at the close of the war. 
 
164 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 THIRD LOUISIANA. 
 
 WH. TUNNARD, in his recital of the action 
 of the Third Louisiana Infantry in the 
 • trenches at Vicksburg, in front of 
 Logan's Division, says: 
 
 The Third Louisiana was placed near the center 
 of the line on the Jackson road. Lying deep between 
 the hills on the right, were the Twenty-first and 
 Twenty-second Louisiana Regiments. On the left was 
 the Mississippi Regiment, consisting largely of the rem- 
 nants of General Hebert's Brigade. The General had 
 told the men they had the key to the whole defense 
 in their situation. They swore to defend it against all 
 odds, though beset by a million foes. The enemy con- 
 tracted their line ; their batteries opened upon every one 
 of our guns and dismounted them. 
 
 The report of a single gun within the breastworks 
 was a signal for terrific bombardment from Grant's 
 guns. No less than five cannoneers were killed in at- 
 tempting to light the fuse of one of our guns. Nearly 
 the entire line of artillery was dismounted in the dread- 
 ful fire of the Twenty-second. 
 
THIBB LOUISIANA. 165 
 
 General Grant sent in a flag of truce, asking per- 
 mission to bury the dead. General Pemberton at first 
 refused, saying the battle was not yet decided. The 
 Federals then began undermining the parapets. The 
 Confederates could plainly hear their voices under- 
 neath them. The Confederates began hurling kegs of 
 explosives, balls, rocks and every description of 
 missiles, at the Federals below the embankment. On 
 the 25th a flag of truce was sent in, asking for a ces- 
 sation of hostilities for the purpose of burying the 
 dead, and it was granted for three hours. 
 
 "Now began a strange spectacle in this thrilling 
 drama of war. Flags were displayed along both lines 
 and the troops thronged the breastworks, gaily chatting 
 with each other, discussing the issues of the war, dis- 
 puting over losses in the fights, etc. Many of the Con- 
 federates accepted invitations to visit the Federal 
 quarters, where they were most hospitably enter- 
 tained, and supplied with provisions of various kinds. 
 There were many laughable incidents resulting from 
 these visits. The foe was exultant and confident, while 
 the Confederates were defiant, and equally undaunted. 
 Captain Gallagher, the Commissary of the Regi- 
 ment, had been enjoying the hospitality of the Fed- 
 erals, partaking of their fine wines, tobacco and viands. 
 
166 CAMP-FIRE STORIES. 
 
 As they separated, his Federal host remarked : "Good- 
 day, Captain ; I hope we shall meet again in the Union, 
 as of old." Captain Gallagher, with a peculiar expres- 
 sion on his frank face, replied: 'I cannot return your 
 sentiment. The only union you and I can enjoy will 
 be in the Kingdom come.' 
 
 The expiration of the appointed time found the 
 men all back in their places. The stillness which suc- 
 ceeded the uproar of battle seemed strange and un- 
 natural. Heavy mortars of artillery of every caliber 
 and small arms once more with thunder-tones awak- 
 ened the slumbering echoes of the hills surrounding 
 the heroic City of Vicksburg. The constant daily fight- 
 ing and disturbed rest began to show its effect on the 
 men. Rations began to shorten. On May 30th, for 
 the first time, a mixture of ground peas and meal was 
 Issued; the food was very unpalatable, but the men 
 endured the hardships heroically. The men succeeded, 
 by an ingenious application of the culinary art, in pre- 
 paring a mixture which they called *cush-cush.' 
 
 The Federals procured a car frame, which they 
 placed on wheels, loading it with cotton bales. They 
 pushed this along the Jackson road, in front of the 
 breastworks held by the Third Regiment. Protected 
 by this novel movable shelter, they constructed their 
 
TRIED LOUISIANA. 167 
 
 works with impunity, almost certain of eventually 
 reaching the entrenchments. Rifles had no effect on 
 the cotton bales; there was no piece of artillery to 
 batter it down. They were not a hundred yards from 
 the regiment, and the men awaited eagerly for the 
 hand-to-hand struggle which was to ensue. The 
 movable breastworks became the source of great an- 
 noyance to the regiment. Many volunteered to sally 
 forth and set it afire, which would have been certain 
 death to the detail. 
 
 Lieutenant W. M. Washburn, of Company B, 
 loaded a rifle and fired a ball of cotton and turpentine 
 into the hated object. Another, and another, blazing 
 missile was sent on the same mission of destruction, 
 without apparent success. The men, save those on 
 guard, sought their tents for sleep, and all the line be- 
 came comparatively quiet. Suddenly the cry went up : 
 The old thing is on fire!' The whole regiment was 
 soon astir, and saw the smoke issuing from the dark 
 mass. 
 
 The invention of Lieutenant Washburn proved a 
 success; the fire, which had smouldered in the cotton 
 bales, had burst into flame. The men seized their 
 rifles, and five companies were detailed to keep up a 
 rapid fire to prevent the enemy extinguishing the 
 
168 CAMP-FIRE 8T0RIE8, 
 
 flames. It is said the enemy never understood how its 
 breastwork was given to destruction under their very 
 ■eyes. 
 
 On June 11th the enemy in front of the Third 
 Louisiana planted two-inch Columbiads not a hundred 
 yards distant from the lines. These terrible missiles, with 
 their heavy scream and tremendous explosion, some- 
 what startled the boys — being an unexpected feature of 
 the siege. After knocking the breastworks to pieces, 
 and exhibiting their force and power, the enemy com- 
 menced a systematic method of practice, so as to make 
 their shells more deadly. Our troops succeeded in 
 getting a mortar in position, in a ravine in the rear line 
 of the fortification, and opened fire on the besiegers 
 in the evening. As the shell marked its graceful curve 
 In the air, and suddenly fell into the enemy's lines, the 
 troops cheered most vociferously; they enjoyed the 
 consternation and astonishment of the enemy. Their 
 fun was soon ended, for the enemy concentrated upon 
 the point from whence it came, and delivered there a 
 heavy fire of shot and shell. 
 
 The combatants were so close that a Yankee 
 threw a hard-tack biscuit among the men of the regi- 
 ment, having written on it, 'Starvation.' The visitor 
 was immediately returned, having inscribed on it, 
 ''Forty days rations, and no thanks to you.' 
 
THIRD LOUISIANA. 169 
 
 The Vicksburg "Whig" furnished a few items con- 
 cerning the siege. It was printed on flowered wall- 
 paper, and was very small and highly 'illustrated.' 
 
 June 29th found the enemy once more under- 
 mining the works of the Third Louisiana Infantry. The 
 men went spiritedly to work making a counter-mine; 
 the laborers were so near together that the stroke of 
 the pick-axes could be distinctly heard, as well as the 
 sound of voices. 
 
 Thus the deadly struggle went on, the brave boys 
 never once dreaming of despairing or giving up, al- 
 though fighting over a volcano, that might at any 
 moment burst forth and engulf them in general ruin. 
 At 2 p. m., the enemy exploded the mine beneath the 
 works occupied by the Third Louisiana. A huge m^ss 
 of earth, suddenly and with terrific force, flew upward, 
 and, descendnig with mighty power upon the noble 
 defenders, buried them beneath its fallen fragments. 
 It seemed as though hell had yawned under the de- 
 voted band and vomited forth its sulphurous fire of 
 smoke upon them. The regiment at this time was 
 supported by the First, Fifth and Sixth Missouri. The 
 scene that followed beggars description. At first, there 
 was a rush to escape the huge mass of descending 
 earth; then the survivors, without waiting to inquire 
 
170 CAMP-FIRE 8T0BIE8. 
 
 who had fallen, hastened to the gap in the works ta 
 repel the anticipated assault. The enemy, taught by 
 dearly-bought experience, made no attempt to enter 
 the opening. An immense number of 12-pound shells 
 from the mortar-boats did fearful execution. 
 
 "The Confederates still had ammunition left. At 
 any mention of surrender, the excited question was 
 asked: '\Mhy not expend our large supply of am- 
 munition in firing upon the enemy, rather than have it 
 pass into their hands, to swell the list of their captures?' 
 The selection of the Fourth of July as the day of their 
 humiliation added to the stormy temper of the be- 
 sieged. 
 
 "When the order of surrender was conveyed to the 
 men, they received it with indignant rage. Many of 
 the Third Louisiana broke their trusty rifles against 
 the trees, and scattered the ammunition over the 
 ground which they had so ardently defended against 
 overwhelming odds. In many cases the battle-flags 
 were torn into shreds and distributed among the troops 
 in token that they were no party to the surrender. 
 Their anguish was heart-breaking. The Federals who 
 marched into the place had more the appearance of 
 being vanquished than the unarmed Confederates, who 
 gazed upon them with folded arms, in stem silence, a 
 
TRIED LOUISIANA, 171 
 
 Htxzt defiance on their bronzed features, and the old 
 
 battle-fire gleaming in their glittering eyes." 
 * * * 
 
 Amid the sad scenes of the surrender, it must be 
 recorded, in testimony of the generous feeling of the 
 Federal Army, that no word of exultation was uttered 
 to irritate the feeling of the prisoners. On the con- 
 trary, there were expressions of sympathy and 
 brotherly feeling. 
 
FINIS.