The Fleet in Danger—Red River Dammed—Foraging Expedition—Departure
from Alexandria—Captured Mails—Battle of Mansura Plains—Scarcity of
Water—On the Old Road—Reach the Atchafalaya—Engagement in the Rear.
Although the army had thus reached Alexandria in safety, the fleet
was still above the rapids, and there appeared to be no prospect
of the river rising. The enemy were busily at work on the lower
part of the river, throwing up earthworks; and in a short time all
communication was cut off, and several transports captured, one of
which contained a large mail sent from Alexandria upon the arrival of
the army at that place.
But there were men in the Nineteenth Corps to whom obstacles only
brought increased energy; and the bold project of damming the Red
River, and thereby raising the water to a sufficient height to float
the iron-clads over the rapids, was undertaken by Lieut.-Col. Bailey
of the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry. Gen. Banks provided a great number
of negroes for this purpose; and assistance was rendered by details
from the several divisions of the army, which, in the meanwhile,
was engaged in throwing up an additional line of breastworks around
Alexandria.
The fatigue duty was very hard at this time; for, in addition to the
work of intrenching, the infantry had to unload the greater portion
of the transports, not only of the rations for its own use, but also
of the oats and corn for the cavalry, working night as well as day,
carrying heavy burdens up the steep banks of the levee, which were
made slippery by the frequent rains. While the infantry was thus at
work, the cavalry was no less actively engaged in reconnoissances;
and scarcely a day passed in which wounded men were not brought into
the town.
On the 7th of May, the Thirty Eighth and the One Hundred and
Twenty Eighth New York, accompanied by a squadron of cavalry,
marched thirteen or fourteen miles from Alexandria, as guard to a
wagon-train, which had been sent to procure forage. Scouts reported a
body of the enemy engaged in obstructing the road, and there had been
some skirmishing by the cavalry in the morning; so that the order,
“Over the levee!” caused no surprise. Like a wave rolling up a smooth
beach, the regiment swept over the embankment in an unbroken line,
and then paused to see what the matter was; but no explanation could
be given, and the march was resumed. This incident illustrated the
complete discipline existing in the regiment, and the promptitude
with which orders were obeyed. In the afternoon, the detachment
returned to camp, having marched nearly thirty miles since morning.
Lieut.-Col. Bailey had succeeded in his difficult undertaking; and,
on the 9th, the gun-boats floated over the rapids, and arrived at
Alexandria. Preparations were at once made to evacuate the town, and
march to the Mississippi; and the men worked night and day, loading
the transports with quartermaster’s stores and ammunition. At two
o’clock, on the morning of the 11th, the regiment broke camp; and,
with the brigade, began the march; but the progress of evacuation
was slow, and it was not until the 14th that the whole army was
fairly on the road. That day, the point was passed where the enemy
had blockaded the river; and near their rifle-pits were found the
remnants of the captured mails, the ground being covered with the
envelopes of the sixteen thousand letters that had fallen into their
hands. The postage-stamps, not yet defaced, had been carefully torn
off, as if the captors had a lurking suspicion that the portrait of
Washington was of more intrinsic value than that of either of the
Confederate chiefs.
Although the enemy had abandoned their position on the river, they
still continued to harass the retreating army, keeping the cavalry
constantly skirmishing; and on the afternoon of the 15th, the firing
became so rapid, that the army formed in line of battle several
times, with the expectation of an engagement. At sundown, the
musketry increased, accompanied by artillery, and the second division
of the Nineteenth Corps went through the little town of Marksville on
the double-quick, to the assistance of the cavalry, who were reported
to have been severely handled. The enemy drew off, however, and the
division bivouacked on an open plain beyond the village. Gen. Grover
performed an act of kindness that night for the regiment, which was
never forgotten. No water could be found nearer than the village, at
least half a mile distant; and while the men were debating whether
to hunt for wells in the dark, or to lie down parched with thirst,
the cavalry body-guard of Gen. Grover rode into the camp, with
instructions from the general to take all the canteens of the Thirty
Eighth, fill them, and bring them back; which they proceeded to do.
The morning was ushered in by discharges of artillery at the front;
and the division moved forward in line of battle across the Plains
of Mansura. In the absence of Col. Sharpe, the command of the third
brigade devolved upon Col. Smith of the One Hundred and Twenty
Eighth New York; but that brave officer being disabled, Lieut.-Col.
Richardson, at the approach of an engagement, left the ambulance in
which he had been obliged to perform the greater part of the march,
put himself at the head of the brigade, and manœuvred it over the
field of battle as coolly, and with as much skill, as when on the
parade-ground at Camp Kearney, leaving the Thirty Eighth under the
command of Capt. Wyman, who was never known to flinch in battle.
The advance of the Nineteenth Army Corps across the Plains of Mansura
on the 16th of May, was the finest military spectacle seen in the
Department of the Gulf during the war. The batteries at the front,
enveloped in smoke; the infantry moving steadily up in lines of
battle, division, brigade, and regimental flags easily distinguished;
the cavalry on the flanks, impatiently waiting an opportunity to
charge; with the long lines of ambulances and wagons in the rear,—all
of which could be taken in at a glance,—stamped itself on the memory
of those present with a vividness never to be forgotten.
As the lines moved forward, the enemy fell back, his fire gradually
slackening, until it finally ceased, and he retreated by one of the
roads branching off into the interior. The infantry had not come
within musket-shot during this engagement; and although the shot and
shell from the rebel batteries fell all over the field,—one huge
mass of iron falling a few feet in front of Co. H,—there were no
casualties in the regiment. But the whole corps suffered severely
from the want of water, being obliged to quench their thirst in
mud-holes from which the hogs had to be driven, and which was more
than lukewarm.
Continuing the march, in the afternoon a belt of woods was reached,
with a clear bayou running through it, at the sight of which one
glad cry broke from the ranks, and the brigade rushed eagerly to its
banks. A halt was made beside this stream, until the men had fully
quenched their thirst, and rested; then emerging from the woods,
the old Semmesport Road came in sight, over which the army had
marched the year before; and, as the regiment passed by the familiar
sugar-houses and plantations, sad memories rushed to the mind, of
comrades who had then shared the toils and pleasures of the march,
now done forever with life’s battles.
The army went into camp a mile beyond the resting-place of the
previous year; and the next morning, after a march of eight miles
reached the Atchafalaya, where a large number of transports and
gun-boats were collected. Although the enemy had withdrawn from the
front, he still hung in the rear; and on the 18th, an engagement took
place, when the enemy were driven back by Gen. Mower, in command
of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps, assisted by the cavalry
division. The Third and Sixth Massachusetts Cavalry made several
brilliant charges in the action, did effective service, and lost a
number of men.