Our Vicksburg army was now being bursted up and transported to
different departments. The 9th corps had gone East, and on the
morning of the 1st of August, 1863 our 2nd brigade marched on the
boats and started down the river to join General Banks’ army, or
the Department of the Gulf. Port Hudson had fallen two days after
the surrender of Vicksburg. The Mississippi was now open for
transportation, and its powerful fortresses and blockades were wiped
out forever. But the cost had been thousands of our young American
heroes’ lives, and also many many thousand had been maimed for life.
The cost which it took to make this grand American nation and
republic can never be repaid, not even the interest at a low rate can
be paid.
On the 2nd we received two months’ pay, and in the evening we had
grand review. The weather was now getting very warm. We received
orders to march and on the morning of the 5th, we got on boats and
started down the river after our 2nd brigade. We ran down the river
about one hundred miles and landed at Natchez, Mississippi.
We got off of the boats, marched back two miles, and went into camp.
This was a nice country and camp, but water was the one drawback. We
had to haul and carry water from the river.
We had a great deal of fun at this camp. We were quartered near a
camp of five thousand freedmen who kept up music, dancing and singing
day and night. They were as happy as the children of Israel when
they were encamped in the wilderness, after they had been delivered
out of bondage by Moses.
A heavy provost guard was kept in town, and many of our boys without
passes were arrested and put in the guard house. They were soon
sending for their captains to get them out as they were in a regular
jail and had to look through iron bars.
We lay here until the morning of the 11th. We then got on boats and
moved off down the river. We landed at Port Hudson, at six p. m. Our
boat had sprung a leak and we got off and stayed on shore all night,
waiting for it to be repaired. This place bore the marks of a hard
siege, some very heavy charges having been made here.
On the morning of the 12th, we started on down the river. We landed
at Carrollton, Louisiana. On the morning of the 13th we got off of
the boats, marched back one and a half miles and went into camp.
On the 14th, one of the boys in our regiment, while trying to catch a
chicken, was shot and instantly killed by a negro safeguard. The boys
planned to take him out of jail that night and lynch him, but he was
slipped out and I never heard of him afterwards.
We lay here until the morning of the 17th, when we moved down two
miles. We went into camp in the lower edge of Carrollton, five miles
above New Orleans. The next day Colonel Spicely joined us with the
remainder of our brigade, and we all moved out and went into camp
near the bank of the river.
A division of the army of 10,000 men, under General A. J. Smith,
was “lent” to General Banks to assist him in his campaign against
Shreveport and Texas.
On the 22nd Major General N. P. Banks received us into his army, and
we had grand review. On the 29th we were again reviewed by General
Banks.
September 4th, 1863, General Grant came down to see after the army
and reviewed our corps, the 13th, and the 19th corps. Late in the
evening, he was thrown from his horse. He struck a curb stone and was
seriously injured.
We lay here until September 12th when we got marching orders for a
general campaign under the command of General Banks. Our army here
consisted of the fragments of the 13th corps, the 18th corps, and the
19th corps.
We got on boats, crossed over to Algiers, and boarded a train at
night. We went to Brasier City which is on the edge of Berwick Bay,
eighty-four miles from New Orleans. This is as far as the road is
completed.
The boys had lots of fun on this trip, shooting at alligators in the
railroad ditches. The water was full of them. We almost lived on
crabs and oysters while we stayed at Brasier City. The water we had
to drink at this place was terrible. The boys played several tricks
at this place.
We went to work here and dug wells. We found plenty of water but it
was so brackish that we could hardly drink the coffee that was made
from the salty stuff.
Our pickets stood over across the bay one mile from our army. We had
left our tents at New Orleans, but we had some comfortable shelters
here. They were covered with the leaves of the palm trees which grew
in abundance here.
On the morning of the 25th, our troops were all drawn up in two
lines facing each other. A soldier that belonged to the 1st Missouri
battery was to run the gauntlet. He was drummed out of service with
a dishonorable discharge for stealing from his comrades. One side
of his head and face was shaven. Our sheepskin band ran after him,
playing the “Rogue’s March.” He looked horrible as he passed, with
everyone taunting and kicking him.
That night our officers from Lieutenant to General got on a spree.
They had some kind of a dance, music and singing of camp songs. They
had a heavy guard to keep the file and rank from bothering them. At
ten o’clock they ran out of commissary whisky, and sent a detail back
to the warehouse to get some. The guard that was at the warehouse,
and our string guard decided to have a spree also. We procured
augers, and as the floor was on piling, four feet above the ground,
we went to boring through. The first trial was successful and one
barrel was soon issued. Like a bee getting a taste of honey, the
whole camp came rushing to divide if the guard would let them through.
Several augers were soon working. A German in Company C was standing
on post, when his messmate came running out. He said, “Chris, let
me out!” “I vill, Shon, if you vill divide up mit me,” answered the
guard.
John ran to the commissary and seeing the contents of four or five
barrels spilling out, slapped his kettle under and caught it full of
what he supposed to be whisky. He didn’t take time to taste it. The
boys had struck two kinds of “oil” there. Some of it was salt beef or
“red horse” as the boys would call it. It so happened that John got
his kettle full of the salty brine.
When he stopped, he said, “Hurry oup Chris, or dey vill catch us.”
The guard gulped down two or three swallows, threw down the kettle,
and called out “Corporal of de guard--Beat No. 4. Run here queek, I
am seek at mine stomach.”
This put an end to the fun of the night. But there were several drunk
men in the regiment after all. Along in the latter part of the night
all of the officers except one had cooled down and were quiet. That
one’s song I will never forget. It was,
“Go tell Aunt Nancy, her old gray goose is dead,
One she has been saving to make her feather bed.”
The 19th corps crossed the bay. Colonel Spicely had taken command in
the absence of Colonel Barter. On the 27th our corps was reviewed by
General E. O. C. Ord. On the 28th we crossed the bay and went into
camp.
The next morning we went in wagons on a scouting expedition. While
traveling five miles we saw no dry land. This country was fit for
nothing but raising alligators.
October 3rd we took up our line of March through western Louisiana.
We marched up the bayou thirteen miles. This was on the line laid out
for the Opelousas railroad. This is a beautiful rich country with
rice fields and orange groves, sugar cane and all kinds of tropical
fruits. The water in the bayou was also getting better.
At ten o’clock on the 4th we marched through Centerville, our company
in the rear guard. We went into camp late in the evening near a bayou
in Attakapas Parish. This country is settled up by the French and
Creoles. We found plenty of large yams here and we had all of them to
eat that we wanted.
Our cavalry had a skirmish near this place, capturing a few prisoners
and taking a small gun that threw a four ounce ball. It was a breech
loader and belonged to the 2nd Texas cavalry. It was drawn by two
little mules.
On the 6th, we marched twelve miles and went into camp near the
bayou. This is a nice place, the bayou getting narrower, but very
much deeper. Here General Cameron took command of our brigade. He
was a former colonel of the 34th Indiana. We lay here until the
morning of the 10th. We then began our march early in the day. We
passed though New Iberia, and after a march of twenty miles, we went
into camp on Vermillion Bayou, near Vermillion. This country is a
beautiful rolling prairie.
While at this camp, General E. O. C. Ord issued an order to arm the
citizens, so that they could protect their property from marauders
and thieves. Our boys had no use for such generals. He was removed
from our army shortly after this order was given.
General Banks had a telegraph line built from New Orleans to our
camp, so that he could keep in communication with his army, his
headquarters being at the city of New Orleans.
On the 11th, we had inspection of quarters. We had four hours brigade
drill each day under the direction of General Cameron. On the morning
of the 15th, we received a dispatch stating that the 19th corps
which was in our advance, had struck the rebels in force and had had
skirmishing with them.
At four o’clock that evening we began marching and passed the 19th
corps at midnight. They were in line on the Carron Crow Bayou. We
crossed the bayou and moved out in the advance. At daybreak we
ran into the rebels. We moved out in the timber about a mile and
supported Nims’ battery. The rebs fell back and we went into Camp
Fairview to cook breakfast and make some strong coffee. We had
marched all night and were in need of some stimulant.
We scarcely had time to finish our breakfast, when the rebels made a
dash at us. We had a sharp fight, but they were repulsed. Our cavalry
followed them up. On the night of the 18th, firing was kept up at
intervals by our batteries and outside pickets. On the morning of the
19th, Captain Nims’ battery and the 30th Indiana went to the front on
a scout. They found a strong force five miles out. They exchanged a
few shots with their batteries and returned to camp in the evening.
While here we drew clothing and wool blankets, something that we had
not seen for six months. The nights were now getting cool and they
came in good play. We also had brigade drill that day. On the 20th
General Lee came up with a train of supplies for us, and a force of
cavalry.
On the 21st of October we moved out towards Opelousas. After a march
of a few miles we ran against a force of rebels. We formed our line
of battle and after a good shelling from Nims’ battery, we advanced
on them. They fell back without showing much resistance.
We marched through Opelousas and went into camp at Bear’s Landing on
Bayou Tableaux. Our cavalry had a skirmish with the 2nd Louisiana,
killing five men and capturing several prisoners. We found better
water than we had drunk since we left New Orleans.
On the morning of the 23rd, we built a pontoon. Our cavalry and
forage train crossed over and went out about eight miles. They
captured eleven prisoners and brought back wagons loaded with sweet
potatoes and other forage, besides driving back a bunch of beef
cattle.
We lay here until the morning of the 29th when we marched back to
Opelousas. Here we met our second brigade commanded by Colonel Slack.
On the morning of the 30th, three companies of our regiment were sent
out on a foraging expedition. We had traveled about three miles when
we met two cavalrymen coming in as fast as their horses could run.
They stopped long enough to report that the rebels were in front of
us in full force. They thought that their company had been taken
prisoners.
By the time that we had moved ahead through a dashing shower of rain
we came up to the grove where the enemy was reported to be. We met
a company of cavalry, which proved to be our own men coming out. We
went on out about eight miles, got our forage, and returned to camp
without the loss of a man.
November 1st, 1863, we went back thirteen miles and went into camp
on Carron Crow Bayou. We left General Burbridge’s brigade at Camp
Fairview, as a rear guard. On the 3d they were attacked by nine
thousand rebels. There was a general engagement. We could see the
smoke rising up out of the timber, and could hear the heavy roar of
the cannon and rattling musketry.
It is hard to describe the fearful thoughts that filled our minds
while we were waiting for the order to go and aid them. But soon it
came, “Move out Twenty-fourth on double quick time.” We had a run of
about four miles before we stopped and formed our lines within eighty
yards of the place where our retreating army was coming out of the
timber. We could not open fire on account of our boys falling back.
Here we were standing right in front, in danger.
Some negro cooks were shaking white rags from a low place into which
they had crawled for protection. Two companies of Texas cavalry
charged round our flank and went flying back to our camp. A section
of Nims’ battery, which we had left at camp, and our sick soon sent
them back about as fast as they went.
One of their number had charged through our lines, making a collision
with our cavalrymen. His horse was killed and his leg was shattered
to the hip. This brave man was a rebel, belonging to the Second Texas
cavalry. I was an eye witness to the amputation of his leg. I never
heard whether or not he recovered.
One man in our company was wounded while we stood here. We got here
just in time to save our wagon train and the rest of Burbridge’s
brigade from being captured. They were falling back rapidly, but were
contending with the rebels to the last. This battle lasted about four
hours. The tide had now turned and we drove the rebs back three or
four miles, and then drew off. We marched back to camp at night.
On the 4th the dead were buried and the wounded cared for. Burbridge
lost five hundred, killed, wounded and taken prisoners. The greater
part of these belonged to the Sixty-seventh Indiana. We were all
drawn back to Vermillion Bayou, where we joined the Nineteenth corps,
commanded by General Franklin.