OPERATIONS IN LOUISIANA AND ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
Mention has been made of the plundering expeditions of the Federals, and
the post at Bayou des Allemands was reported as the especial center from
which raids on the helpless inhabitants were undertaken. I determined to
attempt the surprise and capture of this post, which could be reached
from the river at a point fifty miles below Donaldsonville. My estate
was in the immediate vicinity of this point, and the roads and paths
through plantations and swamps were well known to me. Colonel Waller was
assigned to the duty, with minute instructions concerning roads and
movements, and competent guides were furnished him. Moving rapidly by
night, and, to escape observation, avoiding the road near the river,
Waller with his Texans gained the enemy's rear, advanced on his camp,
and, after a slight resistance, captured two companies of infantry and
the guns. The captured arms and accouterments served to equip Waller's
men, whose rifles were altered flintlocks and worthless, and the
prisoners were sent to the Teche to be guarded by Fournet's Acadians.
This trifling success, the first in the State since the loss of New
Orleans, attracted attention, and the people rejoiced at the capture of
the Des Allemands garrison as might those of Greece at the unearthing of
the accomplished and classic thief Cacus. Indeed, the den of that worthy
never contained such multifarious "loot" as did this Federal camp.
Books, pictures, household furniture, finger rings, ear rings,
breastpins and other articles of feminine adornment and wear, attested
the catholic taste and temper of these patriots.
Persuaded that the Federal commander at New Orleans, General Benjamin
F. Butler, was ignorant of the practices of his outlying detachments, I
requested ex-Governor Wickliffe of Louisiana, a non-combatant, to visit
that officer under a flag of truce and call his attention to the
subject. Duty to the suffering population would force me to deal with
perpetrators of such misdeeds as robbers rather than as soldiers.
General Butler received Governor Wickliffe politely, invited him to
dine, and listened attentively to his statements, then dismissed him
without committing himself to a definite reply. However, the conduct
complained of was speedily stopped, and, as I was informed, by orders
from General Butler. This was the only intercourse I had with this
officer during the war. Some months later he was relieved from command
at New Orleans by General Banks, whose blunders served to endear him to
President Lincoln, as did those of Villeroy to his master, the
fourteenth Louis. When the good Scotch parson finished praying for all
created beings and things, he requested his congregation to unite in
asking a blessing for the "puir deil," who had no friends; and General
Butler has been so universally abused as to make it pleasant to say a
word in his favor. Not that he needs assistance to defend himself; for
in the war of epithets he has proved his ability to hold his ground
against all comers as successfully as did Count Robert of Paris with
sword and lance.
Preservation of the abundant supplies of the Lafourche country, and
protection of the dense population from which recruits could be drawn,
were objects of such importance as to justify the attempt to secure them
with inadequate means.
A few days after the Des Allemands affair, I was called to the north,
and will for convenience anticipate events in this quarter during my
absence. Minute instructions for his guidance were given to Colonel
Waller. The danger to be guarded against while operating on the river
was pointed out, viz.: that the enemy might, from transports, throw
forces ashore above and below him, at points where the swamps in the
rear were impassable; and this trap Waller fell into. Most of his men
escaped by abandoning arms, horses, etc. Immunity from attack for some
days had made them careless. Nothing compensates for absence of
discipline; and the constant watchfulness, even when danger seems
remote, that is necessary in war, can only be secured by discipline
which makes of duty a habit.
Meanwhile, two skeleton regiments, the 18th Louisiana and Crescent, and
a small battalion (Clack's) of infantry, with Semmes's and Ralston's
batteries, reached me from east of the Mississippi, and were directed to
the Lafourche. There also reported to me Brigadier Alfred Mouton, son of
Governor Mouton, and a West Pointer. This officer had been wounded at
Shiloh, and was now ordered to command on the Lafourche. His
instructions were to make Thibodeaux his centre of concentration, to
picket Bayou Des Allemands and Donaldsonville, thirty miles distant
each, to secure early information of the enemy's movements, and to
provide a movable floating bridge by which troops could cross the bayou,
as the water was too low to admit steamers from the river. These same
instructions had been given to the senior officer present before
Mouton's arrival, but had been imperfectly executed. A feint on Des
Allemands had induced the movement of nearly half the little force in
that direction, and Mouton had scant time after he reached Thibodeaux to
correct errors before the enemy was upon him.
In the last days of October the Federal General, Weitzel, brought up a
force of some 4,000 from New Orleans, landed at Donaldsonville, and
advanced down the Lafourche, on the west bank. There were Confederates
on both sides of the bayou, but, having neglected their floating bridge,
they could not unite. With his own, the 18th, the Crescent, Colonel
McPheeters, and the four-gun battery of Captain Ralston--in all 500
men--Colonel Armand resisted Weitzel's advance at Labadieville, eight
miles above Thibodeaux. The fighting was severe, and Armand only retired
after his ammunition was exhausted; but he lost many killed and wounded,
and some few prisoners. Colonel McPheeters was among the former, and
Captains Ralston and Story among the latter. The loss of the Federals
prevented Weitzel from attempting a pursuit; and Mouton, who deemed it
necessary to retire across Berwick's Bay, was not interrupted in his
movement. With his forces well in hand, Mouton would have defeated
Weitzel and retained possession of the Lafourche country. The causes of
his failure to concentrate have been pointed out. Information of these
untoward events reached me on the road from the north, and I arrived at
Berwick's Bay as Mouton was crossing.
To return to the time of departure from the Lafourche. Several days were
passed at New Iberia in attention to a matter of much interest. Some
eight miles to the southwest of the village there rises from the low
prairie and salt marsh, at the head of Vermilion Bay, an island of high
land, near a thousand acres in extent. Connected with the mainland by a
causeway of some length, the island was the property and residence of
Judge Avery. A small bayou, Petit Anse, navigable for light craft,
approached the western side and wound through the marsh to Vermilion
Bay. Salt wells had long been known to exist on the island, and some
salt had been boiled there. The want of salt was severely felt in the
Confederacy, our only considerable source of supply being in
southwestern Virginia, whence there were limited facilities for
distribution. Judge Avery began to boil salt for neighbors, and,
desiring to increase the flow of brine by deepening his wells, came
unexpectedly upon a bed of pure rock salt, which proved to be of immense
extent. Intelligence of this reached me at New Iberia, and induced me to
visit the island. The salt was from fifteen to twenty feet below the
surface, and the overlying soil was soft and friable. Devoted to our
cause, Judge Avery placed his mine at my disposition for the use of the
Government. Many negroes were assembled to get out salt, and a packing
establishment was organized at New Iberia to cure beef. During
succeeding months large quantities of salt, salt beef, sugar, and
molasses were transported by steamers to Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and
other points east of the Mississippi. Two companies of infantry and a
section of artillery were posted on the island to preserve order among
the workmen, and secure it against a sudden raid of the enemy, who later
sent a gunboat up the Petit Anse to shell the mine, but the gunboat
became entangled in the marsh and was impotent.
At Alexandria, where every effort was made to collect material, but
without funds and among a depressed people, progress was slow. It was
necessary to visit Monroe, the chief place of the important Washita
country; and I was further impelled thereto by dispatches from Richmond
advising me that Lieutenant-General Pemberton had been assigned to
command of the country east of the Mississippi, and that it was
important for me to meet him, in order to secure cooeperation on the
river. I rode the distance, _via_ Monroe, to a point opposite Vicksburg,
over two hundred miles, excepting forty miles east of Monroe, where the
railway was in operation. The eastern half of the line, from Bayou Macon
to the Mississippi, had been broken up by the great flood of the
previous spring.
Near Bayou Macon was encamped Colonel Henry Grey with his recently
organized regiment, the 28th infantry. Without much instruction and
badly equipped, its material was excellent, and there were several
officers of some experience, notably Adjutant Blackman, who had
accompanied my old regiment, the 9th, to Virginia, where he had seen
service. The men were suffering from camp diseases incident to new
troops, and Colonel Grey was directed to move by easy marches to the
Teche. In the low country between the Macon and the Mississippi were
some mounted men under Captain Harrison. Residents of this region, they
understood the intricate system of swamps and bayous by which it is
characterized, and furnished me guides to Vicksburg.
Vicksburg lies on the hills where the river forms a deep reentering
angle. The peninsula on the opposite or western bank is several miles in
length, narrow, and, when the waters are up, impassable except along the
river's bank. It was through this peninsula that the Federals attempted,
by digging a canal, to pass their gunboats and turn the Vicksburg
batteries. The position of the town with reference to approach from the
west was marked by me at the time, and should be borne in mind.
General Pemberton, who was at Jackson, came to Vicksburg to meet me, and
we discussed methods of cooeperation. It was of vital importance to
control the section of the Mississippi receiving the Red and Washita
Rivers. By so doing connection would be preserved between the two parts
of the Confederacy, and troops and supplies crossed at will. Port
Hudson, some forty miles below the entrance of Red River, was as
favorably situated as Vicksburg above: for there again the hills touched
the river and commanded it. My operations on the Lafourche had induced
the enemy to withdraw from Baton Rouge, fifteen miles below, and one or
two heavy guns were already mounted at Port Hudson. Pemberton engaged to
strengthen the position at once. As there were many steamers in the Red
and Washita, I undertook to supply Vicksburg and Port Hudson with corn,
forage, sugar, molasses, cattle, and salt; and this was done beyond the
ability of the garrisons to store or remove them. Quantities of these
supplies were lying on the river's bank when the surrenders of the two
places occurred.
A Pennsylvanian by birth, Pemberton graduated from West Point in 1837,
and was assigned to an artillery regiment. His first station was in
South Carolina, and he there formed his early friendships. The storm of
"nullification" had not yet subsided, and Pemberton imbibed the tenets
of the Calhoun school. In 1843 or 1844 I met him for the first time on
the Niagara frontier, and quite remember my surprise at his State-rights
utterances, unusual among military men at that period. During the war
with Mexico he was twice brevetted for gallantry in action. Later, he
married a lady of Virginia, which may have tended to confirm his
political opinions. At the beginning of civil strife he was in
Minnesota, commanding a battalion of artillery, and was ordered to
Washington. Arrived there with his command, he resigned his commission
in the United States army, went to Richmond, and offered his sword to
the Confederacy without asking for rank. Certainly he must have been
actuated by principle alone; for he had everything to gain by remaining
on the Northern side.
In the summer of 1862 General Van Dorn, commanding east of the
Mississippi, proclaimed martial law, which he explained to the people to
be the will of the commander. Though a Mississippian by birth, such a
storm was excited against Van Dorn in that State that President Davis
found it necessary to supersede him, and Pemberton was created a
lieutenant-general for the purpose. Davis could have known nothing of
Pemberton except that his military record was good, and it is difficult
to foresee that a distinguished subordinate will prove incompetent in
command. Errors can only be avoided by confining the selection of
generals to tradespeople, politicians, and newspaper men without
military training or experience. These are all great commanders
_d'etat_, and universally succeed. The incapacity of Pemberton for
independent command, manifested in the ensuing campaign, was a great
misfortune to the Confederacy, but did not justify aspersions on his
character and motives. The public howled, gnashed its teeth, and lashed
itself into a beautiful rage. He had joined the South for the express
purpose of betraying it, and this was clearly proven by the fact that he
surrendered on the 4th of July, a day sacred to the Yankees. Had he
chosen any other day, his guilt would not have been so well established;
but this particular day lacerated the tenderest sensibilities of
Southern hearts. President Davis should have known all about it; and yet
he made a pet of Pemberton. "Vox populi, vox diaboli."
Returned to Alexandria, I met my chief of artillery and ordnance, Major
J.L. Brent, just arrived from the east with some arms and munitions,
which he had remained to bring with him. This officer had served on the
staff of General Magruder in the Peninsular and Richmond campaigns,
after which, learning that I was ordered to Louisiana, where he had
family connections, he applied to serve with me. Before leaving Richmond
I had several interviews with him, and was favorably impressed.
A lawyer by profession, Major Brent knew nothing of military affairs at
the outbreak of the war, but speedily acquainted himself with the
technicalities of his new duties. Devoted to work, his energy and
administrative ability were felt in every direction. Batteries were
equipped, disciplined, and drilled. Leather was tanned, harness made,
wagons built, and a little Workshop, established at New Iberia by
Governor Moore, became important as an arsenal of construction. The lack
of paper for cartridges was embarrassing, and most of the country
newspapers were stopped for want of material. Brent discovered a
quantity of wall paper in the shops at Franklin, New Iberia, etc., and
used it for cartridges; and a journal published at Franklin was printed
on this paper. A copy of it would be "a sight" to Mr. Walter and the
staff of the "Thunderer." The _esprit de corps_ of Brent's artillery was
admirable, and its conduct and efficiency in action unsurpassed. Serving
with wild horsemen, unsteady and unreliable for want of discipline,
officers and men learned to fight their guns without supports. True,
Brent had under his command many brilliant young officers, whose names
will appear in this narrative; but his impress was upon all, and he owes
it to his command to publish an account of the services of the artillery
in western Louisiana.
_En route_ to Lafourche, I learned of the action at Labadieville, and
hurried on to Berwick's Bay, which Mouton had just crossed, and in good
time; for Federal gunboats entered from the Gulf immediately after.
Their presence some hours earlier would have been uncomfortable for
Mouton. It is curious to recall the ideas prevailing in the first years
of the war about gunboats. To the wide-spread terror inspired by them
may be ascribed the loss of Fort Donelson and New Orleans. _Omne ignotum
pro magnifico_; and it was popularly believed that the destructive
powers of these monsters were not to be resisted. Time proved that the
lighter class of boats, called "tin-clads," were helpless against field
guns, while heavy iron-clads could be driven off by riflemen protected
by the timber and levees along streams. To fire ten-inch guns at
skirmishers, widely disposed and under cover, was very like
snipe-shooting with twelve-pounders; and in narrow waters gunboats
required troops on shore for their protection.
Penetrated in all directions by watercourses navigable when the
Mississippi was at flood, my "district" was especially exposed, and
every little bayou capable of floating a cock-boat called loudly for
forts and heavy guns. Ten guns, thirty-two and twenty-four-pounders, of
those thrown into the water at Barataria and Berwick's Bays after the
surrender of New Orleans, had been recovered, and were mounted for
defense. To protect Red River against anything that might chance to run
the batteries of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, two thirty-twos were placed
in position on the south bank, thirty odd miles below Alexandria, where
the high ground of Avoyelles Prairie touches the river; and for the same
purpose two guns were mounted at Harrisonburg on the west bank of the
Washita. An abrupt hill approached the river at this point, and
commanded it.
The presence of gunboats in Berwick's Bay made it necessary to protect
the Atchafalaya also; for access to the Red and Washita could be had by
it. As yet, the waters were too low to navigate Grand Lake; but it was
now November, and the winter flood must be expected. Some twelve miles
from St. Martinsville on the Teche was a large mound on the west bank of
the Atchafalaya, called "Butte a la Rose." A short distance above the
point, where the river expands into Grand Lake, this "Butte" was the
only place for many miles not submerged when the waters were up. The
country between it and the Teche was almost impassable even in the dry
season--a region of lakes, bayous, jungle, and bog. I succeeded in
making my way through to inspect the position, the only favorable one on
the river, and with much labor two twenty-fours were taken there and
mounted. Forts Beauregard on the Washita, De Russy on the Red, and
Burton on the Atchafalaya, were mere water batteries to prevent the
passage of gunboats, and served that purpose. It was not supposed that
they could be held against serious land attacks, and but fifty to a
hundred riflemen were posted at each to protect the gunners from boats'
crews.
During the floods of the previous spring many steamers had been brought
away from New Orleans, and with others a powerful tow-boat, the Webb,
now lying at Alexandria, and the Cotton. This last, a large river
steamer, was in the lower Teche in charge of Captain Fuller, a western
steamboat man, and one of the bravest of a bold, daring class. He
desired to convert the Cotton into a gunboat, and was assisted to the
extent of his means by Major Brent, who furnished two twenty-fours and a
field piece for armament. An attempt was made to protect the boilers
and machinery with cotton bales and railway iron, of which we had a
small quantity, and a volunteer crew was put on board, Fuller in
command.
Midway between Berwick's Bay and Franklin, or some thirteen miles from
each, near the Bisland estate, the high ground from Grand Lake on the
east to Vermilion Bay on the west is reduced to a narrow strip of some
two thousand yards, divided by the Teche. Here was the best position in
this quarter for a small force; and Mouton, who had now ten guns and
about thirteen hundred men, was directed to hold it, with scouts and
pickets toward Berwick's. A floating bridge, of the kind described, was
just above the position, and two others farther up stream afforded ready
communication across the bayou. A light earthwork was thrown up from
Grand Lake Marsh to the Teche, and continued west to the embankment of
the uncompleted Opelousas Railway, which skirted the edge of Vermilion
Marsh. The objection to this position was the facility of turning it by
a force embarking at Berwick's, entering Grand Lake immediately above,
and landing at Hutchin's, not far from Franklin, through which last
passed the only line of retreat from Bisland. This danger was obvious,
but the people were so depressed by our retreat from Lafourche that it
was necessary to fight even with this risk.
Weitzel had followed slowly after Mouton, and now, in connection with
gunboats, made little attacks on our pickets below Bisland; but I knew
his force to be too small to attempt anything serious. In these affairs
Fuller was always forward with the Cotton, though her boilers were
inadequately protected, and she was too large and unwieldy to be handled
in the narrow Teche. Meanwhile, I was much occupied in placing guns on
the rivers at the points mentioned, getting out recruits for the two
skeleton infantry regiments, consolidating independent companies, and
other work of administration.
In the first days of January, 1863, Weitzel's force was increased to
forty-five hundred men (see "Report on the Conduct of the War," vol.
ii., p. 307); and on the 11th of the month, accompanied by gunboats, he
advanced up the Teche and drove in Mouton's pickets. Left unprotected
by the retreat of the pickets, the Cotton was assailed on all sides.
Fuller fought manfully, responding to the fire of the enemy's boats with
his twenty-fours, and repulsing the riflemen on either bank with his
field piece. His pilots were killed and he had an arm broken, but he
worked the wheel with his feet, backing up the bayou, as from her great
length the boat could not be turned in the narrow channel. Night stopped
the enemy's advance, and Mouton, deeming his force too weak to cope with
Weitzel, turned the Cotton across the bayou, and scuttled and burned her
to arrest the further progress of the Federal boats. Weitzel returned to
Berwick's, having accomplished his object, the destruction of the
Cotton, supposed by the Federals to be a formidable iron-clad.
Much disturbed by the intelligence of these events, as they tended still
further to depress public sentiment and increase the dread of gunboats,
I went to Bisland and tried to convince officers and men that these
tin-clads could not resist the rapid fire of field guns, when within
range. At distances the thirty-pound Parrotts of the boats had every
advantage, but this would be lost by bringing them to close quarters.
During my stay several movements from Berwick's were reported, and
Mouton and I went down with a battery to meet them, hoping to illustrate
my theory of the proper method of fighting gunboats; but the enemy, who
intended nothing beyond annoyance, always retired before we could reach
him. Yet this gave confidence to our men.
The two twenty-fours removed from the wreck of the Cotton were mounted
in a work on the west bank of the Teche, to command the bayou and road,
and the line of breastworks was strengthened. Some recruits joined, and
Mouton felt able to hold the lines at Bisland against the force in his
front.
In the last days of January, 1863, General Grant, with a large army,
landed on the west bank of the Mississippi and began operations against
Vicksburg, a fleet of gunboats under Admiral Porter cooeperating with
him. The river was now in flood, and the Federals sought, by digging a
canal through the narrow peninsula opposite Vicksburg, to pass their
fleet below the place without exposing it to fire from the batteries.
Many weeks were devoted to this work, which in the end was abandoned. In
February the Federal gunboat Queen of the West, armed with a
thirty-pound Parrott and five field guns, ran the batteries at Vicksburg
and caused much alarm on the river below. The tow-boat Webb, before
mentioned, had powerful machinery and was very fast, and I determined to
use her as a ram and attempt the destruction of the Queen. A
thirty-two-pounder, rifled and banded, was mounted forward, some cotton
bales stuffed around her boilers, and a volunteer crew organized.
Pending these preparations I took steamer at Alexandria and went down to
Fort De Russy, and thence to Butte a la Rose, which at this season could
only be reached by river. The little garrison of sixty men, with their
two twenty-fours, had just before driven off some gunboats, attempting
to ascend the Atchafalaya from Berwick's Bay. Complimenting them on
their success and warning them of the presence of the Queen in our
waters, I turned back, hoping to reach De Russy; but at Simmsport, on
the west bank of the Atchafalaya, a mile or two below the point at which
it leaves the Red, I learned that the Federal boat had passed up the
latter river, followed by one of our small steamers captured on the
Mississippi. Accompanied by Major Levy, an officer of capacity and
experience, I took horse and rode across country to De Russy, thirty
miles.
It was the 14th of February, a cold, rainy day; and as we emerged from
the swamps of Deglaize on to the prairie of Avoyelles, the rain changed
to sleet and hail, with a fierce north wind. Occasional gusts were so
sharp that our cattle refused to face them and compelled us to halt.
Suddenly, reports of heavy guns came from the direction of De Russy,
five miles away. Spurring our unwilling horses through the storm, we
reached the river as night fell, and saw the Queen of the West lying
against the opposite shore, enveloped in steam. A boat was manned and
sent over to take possession. A wounded officer, with a surgeon in
charge, and four men, were found on board. The remainder of the crew had
passed through the forest to the captured steamer below, embarked, and
made off down river. A shot from De Russy had cut a steam pipe and the
tiller rope, but in other respects the Queen was not materially injured.
She was an ordinary river steamer, with her bow strengthened for
ramming. A heavy bulwark for protection against sharp-shooters, and with
embrasures for field guns, surrounded her upper deck.
Pushing on to Alexandria, I found the wildest alarm and confusion. The
arrival of the Federal gunboat was momentarily expected, and the
intelligence of her capture was hardly credited. The Webb was dispatched
to overtake the escaped crew of the Queen, and the latter towed up to
Alexandria for repairs. Entering the Mississippi, the Webb went up
river, sighted the escaped steamer, and was rapidly overhauling her,
when there appeared, coming down, a heavy iron-clad that had passed the
Vicksburg batteries. This proved to be the Indianola, armed with two
eleven-inch guns forward and two nine-inch aft, all in iron casemates.
The Webb returned to De Russy with this information, which was forwarded
to Alexandria. We had barely time to congratulate ourselves on the
capture of the Queen before the appearance of the Indianola deprived us
again of the navigation of the great river, so vital to our cause. To
attempt the destruction of such a vessel as the Indianola with our
limited means seemed madness; yet volunteers for the work promptly
offered themselves.
Major Brent took command of the expedition, with Captain McCloskey,
staff quartermaster, on the Queen, and Charles Pierce, a brave
steamboatman, on the Webb. On the 19th of February Brent went down to De
Russy with the Queen, mechanics still working on repairs, and there
called for volunteer crews from the garrison. These were furnished at
once, sixty for the Webb under Lieutenant Handy, seventy for the Queen,
on which boat Brent remained. There were five and twenty more than
desired; but, in their eagerness to go, many Texans and Louisianians
smuggled themselves aboard. The fighting part of the expedition was soon
ready, but there was difficulty about stokers. Some planters from the
upper Red River had brought down their slaves to De Russy to labor on
earthworks, but they positively refused to furnish stokers for the
boats. It was a curious feature of the war that the Southern people
would cheerfully send their sons to battle, but kept their slaves out of
danger. Having exhausted his powers of persuasion to no purpose, Major
Brent threw some men ashore, surrounded a gang of negroes at work,
captured the number necessary, and departed. A famous din was made by
the planters, and continued until their negroes were safely returned.
In the night of the 22d of February the expedition, followed by a
tender, entered the Mississippi, and met a steamer from Port Hudson,
with two hundred men, sent up by General Gardiner to destroy the Queen
of the West, the capture of which was unknown. This, a frail river boat
without protection for her boilers, could be of no service; but she
followed Brent up the river, keeping company with his tender. On the 23d
Natchez was reached, and here the formidable character of the Indianola
was ascertained. While steaming up river in search of the enemy, the
crews were exercised at the guns, the discharge of which set fire to the
cotton protecting the boilers of the Queen. This was extinguished with
difficulty, and showed an additional danger, to be guarded against by
wetting the cotton thoroughly. Arrived in the afternoon of the 24th at a
point sixty miles below Vicksburg, Brent learned that the Indianola was
but a short distance ahead, with a coal barge lashed on each side. He
determined to attack in the night, to diminish the chances of the
enemy's fire. It was certain that a shell from one of the eleven-or
nine-inch guns would destroy either of his boats.
At 10 P.M. the Indianola was seen near the western shore, some thousand
yards distant, and the Queen, followed by the Webb, was driven with full
head of steam directly upon her, both boats having their lights
obscured. The momentum of the Queen was so great as to cut through the
coal barge and indent the iron plates of the Indianola, disabling by the
shock the engine that worked her paddles. As the Queen backed out the
Webb dashed in at full speed, and tore away the remaining coal barge.
Both the forward guns fired at the Webb, but missed her. Returning to
the charge, the Queen struck the Indianola abaft the paddle box,
crushing her frame and loosening some plates of armor, but received the
fire of the guns from the rear casemates. One shot carried away a dozen
bales of cotton on the right side; the other, a shell, entered the
forward port-hole on the left and exploded, killing six men and
disabling two field pieces. Again the Webb followed the Queen, struck
near the same spot, pushing aside the iron plates and crushing timbers.
Voices from the Indianola announced the surrender, and that she was
sinking. As she was near the western shore, not far below Grant's army,
Major Brent towed her to the opposite side, then in our possession,
where, some distance from the bank, she sank on a bar, her gun deck
above water.
Thus we regained control of our section of the Mississippi, and by an
action that for daring will bear comparison with any recorded of Nelson
or Dundonald. Succeeding events at Vicksburg and Gettysburg so obscured
this one, that in justice to the officers and men engaged it has seemed
to me a duty to recount it.
Brent returned to Red River, with his boats much shattered by the fray;
and before we could repair them, Admiral Farragut with several ships of
war passed Port Hudson, and the navigation of the great river was
permanently lost to us. Of the brave and distinguished Admiral Farragut,
as of General Grant, it can be said that he always respected
non-combatants and property, and made war only against armed men.
In the second week of March a brigade of mounted Texans, with a four-gun
battery, reached Opelousas, and was directed to Bisland on the lower
Teche. This force numbered thirteen hundred, badly armed; and to equip
it exhausted the resources of the little arsenal at New Iberia. Under
Brigadier Sibley, it had made a campaign into New Mexico and defeated
the Federals in some minor actions, in one of which, Valverde, the four
guns had been captured. The feeble health of Sibley caused his
retirement a few days after he reached the Teche, and Colonel Thomas
Green, a distinguished soldier, succeeded to the command of the
brigade. The men were hardy and many of the officers brave and zealous,
but the value of these qualities was lessened by lack of discipline. In
this, however, they surpassed most of the mounted men who subsequently
joined me, discipline among these "shining by its utter absence." Their
experience in war was limited to hunting down Comanches and Lipans, and,
as in all new societies, distinctions of rank were unknown. Officers and
men addressed each other as Tom, Dick, or Harry, and had no more
conception of military gradations than of the celestial hierarchy of the
poets.
I recall an illustrative circumstance. A mounted regiment arrived from
Texas, which I rode out to inspect. The profound silence in the camp
seemed evidence of good order. The men were assembled under the shade of
some trees, seated on the ground, and much absorbed. Drawing near, I
found the colonel seated in the center, with a blanket spread before
him, on which he was dealing the fascinating game of monte. Learning
that I would not join the sport, this worthy officer abandoned his
amusement with some displeasure. It was a scene for that illustrious
inspector Colonel Martinet to have witnessed.
There also arrived from the east, in the month of March, 1863, to take
command of the "Trans-Mississippi Department," Lieutenant-General E.
Kirby Smith, which "department," including the States of Missouri,
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, and the Indian Territory, with claims on
New Mexico, extended over some millions of square miles. The occupation
of a large part of this region by the Federals would have spared General
Smith some embarrassments, had he not given much of his mind to the
recovery of his lost empire, to the detriment of the portion yet in his
possession; and the substance of Louisiana and Texas was staked against
the shadow of Missouri and northern Arkansas.
General E. Kirby Smith graduated from West Point in 1845, in time to see
service in the war with Mexico. Resigning from the United States cavalry
to join the Confederacy, he moved with General Joseph E. Johnston's
forces from the Valley to reenforce Beauregard at Manassas, where he was
wounded while bringing up some troops to our left. Commanding in
eastern Tennessee in the summer of 1862, he led a force into Kentucky
through Cumberland Gap, to cooeperate with Bragg. At Richmond, Kentucky,
a body of Federals was driven off, and Smith moved north to Lexington
and Frankfort; after which his column was absorbed by Bragg's army. The
senior general west of the Mississippi, Holmes, was in Arkansas, where
he had accomplished nothing except to lose five thousand of his best
troops, captured at Arkansas Post by General Sherman. It was advisable
to supersede Holmes; and, though he proved unequal to extended command,
Smith, from his training and services, seemed an excellent selection.
General Smith remained for several weeks in Alexandria, when he was
driven away by the enemy's movements. The military situation of my
immediate command was explained to him.
To reopen the navigation of the Mississippi was the great desire of the
Federal Government, and especially of the Western people, and was
manifested by declarations and acts. Grant was operating against
Vicksburg, and Banks would certainly undertake the reduction of Port
Hudson; but it was probable that he would first clear the west bank of
the Mississippi to prevent interruption of his communications with New
Orleans, threatened so long as we had a force on the lower Atchafalaya
and Teche. Banks had twenty thousand men for the field, while my force,
including Green's Texans, would not exceed twenty-seven hundred, with
many raw recruits, and badly equipped. The position at Bisland might be
held against a front attack, but could be turned by the way of Grand
Lake. With five thousand infantry I would engage to prevent the
investment of Port Hudson; and as such a reenforcement must come from
Holmes, and could not reach me for a month, I hoped immediate orders
would be issued.
On the 28th of March Weitzel, who had been quiet at Berwick's Bay for
some time, sent the gunboat Diana, accompanied by a land force, up the
Teche to drive in our pickets. The capture of the Queen of the West and
destruction of the Indianola had impaired the prestige of gunboats, and
the troops at Bisland were eager to apply my theory of attacking them
at close quarters. The enemy's skirmishers were driven off; a section of
the "Valverde" battery, Captain Sayres, rapidly advanced; the fire of
the gunboat was silenced in a moment, and she surrendered, with two
companies of infantry on board. She was armed with a thirty-pounder
Parrott and two field guns, and had her boilers protected by railway
iron. Moved up to Bisland, her "Parrott" became a valuable adjunct to
our line of defense.