"For those that fly may fight again,
Which he can never do that's slain;
Hence, timely running's no mean part
Of conduct in the martial art;
By which some glorious feats achieve,
As citizens by breaking thrive."
When the war broke out, some of the gamblers in New Orleans got up
a cavalry company, and named it the Wilson Rangers. I was a member
of the company. We armed and equipped ourselves, and the ladies
said we were the finest looking set of men in the army. If fine
uniforms and good horses had anything to do with it, we were a fine
body. When we were ordered out to drill (which was every day), we
would mount our fine horses, gallop out back of the city, and the
first orders we would receive from our commanding officer would
be: "Dismount! Hitch horses! March! Hunt shade! Begin playing!"
There was not a company of cavalry in the Southern army that obeyed
orders more promptly than we did; for in less than ten minutes from
the time the order was given, there would not be a man in the sun.
They were all in the shade, seated on the ground in little groups
of four, five, and six; and in each group could be seen a little
book of tactics (or at least it looked something like a book at a
distance). We would remain in the shade until the cool of the
evening, when the orders would be given: "Cease playing! Put up
books! Prepare to mount! Mount! March!" When we would get back
to the city, the people would come out, cheer, wave handkerchiefs,
and present us with bouquets; for we had been out drilling in the
hot sun, preparing ourselves to protect their homes from the Northern
invaders.
After we had become proficient in drill, we were ordered to do
patrol duty in the city. The citizens called us their defenders;
and we did defend them, so long as there was no hostile foe within
five hundred miles of them. We were as brave a body of men as
there was in the South, until the news reached us that Commodore
Farragut was bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip; then we began
to realize that the war was getting pretty close to home, and we
were a little fearful that our knowledge of the tactics would be
but little protection to us if the forts should capitulate. We
threw aside the old books we had been studying for so long a time,
and took up a new edition that our commander told us was much better
in times of immediate danger. So for about six days we devoted
ourselves to studying how to get out of the "jack-pot" we had got
into, without losing our stake.
We were not kept very long in suspense, for early one beautiful
April morning we learned the terrible news that Farragut's fleet
had passed the forts, and General Butler with a large land force
was marching on the city. We heard the old familiar orders:
"Prepare to mount! Mount! March!" But we did not swing into our
saddles feeling as gay as when we were on our way to the drill-
grounds. We were ordered to the front, and as we rode through the
streets the ladies presented us with bouquets, and cheered after
us; but then there was but little cheer in that fine body of
gamblers. We had many times before attacked the enemy (Tiger)
without fear or trembling; but now we were marching to meet a foe
with which we were but slightly acquainted. As we passed the old
drill-grounds on our way to the front, there was a sigh passed the
lips of every man, and our horses turned in, for they (poor dumb
brutes) did not know that things had changed.
We were about six miles below the city when the Yankees saw us;
but we did not see them, as they were about four miles distant.
They were up in the rigging with their glasses, looking for just
such suckers as we were; and they turned loose a salute of canister,
which came buzzing about our ears, and the next instant we heard
an order that we had never heard before: "Retreat!" but we understood
it, and lost no time in obeying the command; for I believe we would
have executed the movement without orders, if they had not been
given just after the first salute. We had a great deal just then
to make us feel nervous, but we were thankful for one thing, and
that was, we had good fast horses. I had taken mine off the race
track, and I was glad of it, for in that race I came out several
lengths ahead. When we got back to the city we dismounted without
orders, and even forgot to tell the darkies to give our horses a
good rubbing-down. We cut the buttons off our coats, buried our
sabres, and tried to make ourselves look as much like peaceful
citizens as possible; for we had enough of military glory, and were
tired of war.
After destroying immense quantities of cotton, sugar, steamboats,
ships, and other property, to prevent its falling into the hands
of the Unionists, General Lovell with his Confederate troops
retreated into the interior of the State, and left the city without
any other defense except our company of cavalry; but as we had
buried our arms and cut the brass buttons off our beautiful brown
corduroy suits, the citizens hadn't as much confidence in our
ability to defend as they had when the enemy was five hundred miles
away. The merchants expected that the Yankees would sack the city,
so they threw open their stores and told everybody to take all they
wanted. Bush was boarding with me at the time, and as he was one
of the biggest eaters in the world, I wanted more than I could
carry; so I hired a dray (for which I had to pay $10), and loaded
it down to the guards. We put on a hogshead of sugar, twenty-five
hams, a sack of coffee, box of tea, firkin of butter, barrel of
potatoes, some hominy, beans, canned fruits, etc. I would have
put on more, but the dray wouldn't hold it; and as the load started
up Canal Street, I thought, when Bush gets away with all that stuff,
I'll make him change his boarding-house. After laying in my stock,
I went down to the river to see the fleet come in, and there were
all of our company, but they did not make the slightest resistance.
The Captain said, "It's no use trying to bluff them fellows, for
they have got a full hand."