After the Battle—Great Mail—Burial of the Dead—Remove into the
Ravines—Deserters—Fall of Vicksburg—Surrender of Port Hudson—A
Disappointment—Stores Plains—Night March to Baton Rouge—Embark for
Donaldsville—Dress-Parades—Six Months’ Pay.
On the 15th, the long-looked for mail arrived, with the letters that
had been accumulating at New Orleans for weeks; and then wounds
and sickness were momentarily forgotten in the pleasure of again
communing with those at home. The letters averaged seven or eight to
each man; and some had over a dozen; but it was sad to think how many
would be returned unopened, to strike a chill to the hearts of the
writers.
The wounded men were sent to Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and
the field-hospitals made ready for a new lot of patients; for,
notwithstanding the failure of the assault, the siege still went on.
But few of the Union dead had been brought from the field; and four
days they laid beneath that summer sun before a truce was arranged,
and the bodies buried. Previous to burial, they were placed in rows,
to the number of over a hundred; but it was impossible to recognize
them, except by some mark on their clothing, or, as was the case with
the body of Lieut. Holmes, by articles found in the pockets.
The Thirty Eighth remained in the woods until the 19th (five days),
when it was again removed to the front to support batteries,
relieving the Thirteenth Connecticut, who had excavated holes in
the side of the ravines, safe from bullets as long as the head was
kept below the crest of the hill; but a gauntlet had to be run every
time one went for water, or to the cook-houses in the woods. In the
meantime, spades were again in the ascendant; trenches had been dug
almost up to the earthworks of the enemy; and sharpshooters were
posted all through the ravines, so that it was a dangerous matter for
a rebel to raise his head above the embankment. The batteries daily
and nightly threw their missiles inside of the fortress, giving the
enemy no rest; and such an accurate range had been obtained, that
rebel guns were dismounted as soon as put in position.
Deserters came over occasionally, with stories of scarcity of food,
and that the only hope of Gen. Gardner was in outside relief;
and that if Vicksburg fell, and Grant be thus enabled to turn his
attention to Johnson, Port Hudson would fall at once. Although his
army was rapidly diminishing, by casualties and the diseases incident
to the climate and the season, Gen. Banks still pressed the siege
vigorously, encouraging the men by his presence and by appeals to
their patriotism and courage; and a storming party was organized and
drilled to take the lead in a new assault.
But stirring news was at hand, which was to crush all the hope of the
garrison in receiving help from Johnson, and leave them in the hands
of those who had toiled so hard for the prize. On the 7th of July,
the tidings of the fall of Vicksburg was received, and published
through the camps; and as it spread from regiment to regiment, till
it reached those almost directly beneath the works, one shout of
exultation arose, giving the enemy an intimation of the speedy close
of the struggle. Early on the morning of the 8th, an order from Gen.
Banks was received by all the regimental commanders, stating that
Gen. Gardner had proposed a cessation of hostilities, with a view
to settling the terms of surrender, if Gen. Banks could satisfy him
that Vicksburg had fallen. Preparations for the attack were still
to go on, but the general wished all active demonstrations to cease;
and, in a little while, flags of truce were put up, and the men, who
had been opposed to each other so long, met at the breastworks, and
carried on a brisk trade, swapping hard-tack for corn-cakes, and
exchanging tin canteens for wooden ones. The battles were discussed
freely, but perfect good-humor was maintained on both sides; and the
rebels freely passed over their corn-beer to their late antagonists.
The Fifteenth Arkansas had occupied that part of the works opposite
the post of the Thirty Eighth, and had scarcely left the front for
thirty days; and this was the second time they were to surrender, the
whole regiment having been captured at Donelson.
Gen. Gardner surrendered unconditionally, and preparations were
made to take possession at once of the fort. Two regiments from
each division were selected to go inside, and assist at the formal
surrender of the stronghold; and, in the third division, that
honor fell upon the Eighth New Hampshire and the Thirty Eighth
Massachusetts. This indorsement of their conduct by the commanding
general was especially gratifying to the regiment; but they were
not destined to see the inside of those famous works; for, on the
afternoon of the 8th, a storm came up, and the ceremonies of the
formal surrender were postponed until the next day; and, at midnight,
the regiment was called up, and sent, with the brigade, to Stores
Plains, five miles from Port Hudson, to relieve Dudley’s brigade,
which had been ordered to Donaldsonville, where the defeated army of
Taylor, having reassembled, were assuming the offensive. The regiment
remained at Stores Plains until the 11th, the complete quiet which
reigned seeming almost unnatural, so long had they been accustomed
to the almost constant discharge of cannon and musketry; and, on
the afternoon of that day, the brigade received orders to report at
Baton Rouge. All night the regiment marched, reaching the capital as
the sun arose above the housetops; and then sought shelter from the
intense heat during the day as best it could. This night-march, after
having burrowed so long in the holes at Port Hudson, told heavily on
the men; and many, who had been on duty during the whole campaign,
broke down, and fell out of the ranks.
On the 15th, the regiment embarked on transports, in company with
the One Hundred and Twenty Eighth and One Hundred and Seventy Fifth
New York, and arrived at Donaldsonville that evening; one small boat
affording sufficient room for the three regiments. Only four or five
officers accompanied the regiment, some having been wounded, and
others having obtained furloughs to visit New Orleans and the North;
so that the regiment made rather a ludicrous appearance on parade,
with one field, one staff, and two line officers, four headless
drums, and two hundred ragged men. If the dress-parades did not
afford much satisfaction, the excellent bathing facilities did; and
all day the river was alive with men who thus sought refuge from the
intense heat which prevailed.
On the 25th, the paymaster appeared, after a six months’ absence;
and soon the regiment formed itself into an irregular triangle; one
side being composed by the line marching to the paymaster’s tent,
the other side by a long procession on their way to the sutlers,
and the base by the returning crowd on their way to their quarters,
with armfuls of cheese, gingerbread, pickles, etc. The health of the
regiment was very poor at this time, nearly every one being afflicted
with a species of scurvy sore, the consequence of an almost entire
abstinence from vegetables for so long a time; and, for some days
after the arrival of the paymaster, the army rations were hardly
touched. This state of things was, of course, very gratifying to the
sutlers, and to the numerous corn-beer and gingerbread venders, whose
stands sprung up like mushrooms, all over the town, as soon as the
troops were paid.