History of the Nineteenth Army Corps Part 12

Having thus at last secured the foothold in Texas so urgently desired by the government, Banks, who had now entered heartily into the expansive scheme, set about occupying successively all the pa.s.ses or inlets that connect the Gulf of Mexico with the land-locked lagoons or sounds of the Texas coast from the Rio Grande to the Sabine.

Accordingly, he sent for the rest of the Thirteenth Corps, and by the end of December had taken possession of the fringe of the coast as far east and north as Matagorda Bay. So far he had met with little opposition, the Confederate force in this part of Texas being small. The Brazos and Galveston were still to be gained, and here, if anywhere in Texas, a vigorous resistance was to be counted on. Banks was bending everything to the attempt when, as the new year opened, the government stopped him, and turned his head in a new direction.

During these operations on the Texas coast the 13th Maine, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hesseltine, and the 15th Maine formed part of the Second division of the Thirteenth Corps. Both regiments did good service, especially under Ransom, in the expedition that, led by Washburn, landed on Mustang Island on the 16th of November, took the Confederate battery commanding Aransas Pa.s.s, and then, crossing to Matagorda Island, rapidly reduced Fort Esperanza, and thus gained the control of Matagorda Bay before the month was out.

(1) Banks to Halleck, July 30 and August 1, 1863: "Official Records," vol. xxvi., part I, pp. 661, 666.

(2) Halleck to Banks, July 24, 1863, July 31st, August 6th, August 10th, August 12th: "Official Records," vol. xxvi., part I, pp. 652, 664, 672, 673, 675.

CHAPTER XXII. WINTER QUARTERS.

In preparation for Washburn's departure on the 27th of October, Franklin began to draw back from Opelousas to New Iberia. Lawler led off, and was followed on the 1st of November by McGinnis, Grover, Weitzel, and the cavalry under Fonda, in the order named. Burbridge, followed by Mudd's cavalry brigade, took the Teche road, by Grand Coteau.

On the 3d, while the Nineteenth Corps rested at the Vermilion and McGinnis at the Carencro, Burbridge, who was in camp on Bayou Bourbeau, was surprised by the sudden descent of Green with two brigades. Burbridge had with him only his First brigade, about 1,200 strong, with 500 men of the 118th Illinois mounted infantry and the 14th New York cavalry, under Fonda, Rice's 17th Ohio battery, and Marland's section of Nims's battery; in all, 1,625 men. The 23d Wisconsin, 96th Ohio, 60th Indiana, and the gunners of Rice and Nims fought hard to prevent a rout and to save the wagon-trains and the cavalry; and, McGinnis coming up in good time, Green drew off, taking with him nothing save one of the Ohio 10-pounder Parrotts. At one moment both of Marland's guns, abandoned by their supports, were completely cut off by the Confederate cavalry, but Marland, rising to the occasion, bade his cannoneers draw their revolvers, and charged at a full gallop directly through the lines of Green's cavalry, to the complete astonishment of both armies, and came into battery on the right of the 46th Indiana. "The bringing off of the section of Nims's battery, commanded by Lieutenant Marland," says Washburn, "after the regiment sent to its support had surrendered, extorted the admiration of every beholder."

Marland's loss in this brilliant little affair was but two men missing. Burbridge had 25 killed, 129 wounded, and 562 captured or missing; in all, 716. Green reports his loss as 22 killed, 103 wounded, and 53 missing. Green's report shows that he had in the fight three regiments of infantry, seven of cavalry, and two sections of artillery.

With frequent skirmis.h.i.+ng, but without serious molestation, the march was continued, and on the 17th of November, the Nineteenth Corps went into camp at New Iberia.

By the end of December the Thirteenth Corps, except Sheldon's brigade which was at Plaquemine, had been gradually transferred to the Texas coast. Thus Franklin was left to hold the line of the Teche with little more than 5,000 men of the Nineteenth Corps and about 3,500 of Lee's cavalry. This, with the winter nights and the winter roads, was too small a force to hold a position so advanced and so exposed as New Iberia, even if there had been any longer an object in doing so.

Accordingly, on the evening of the 5th of January, marching orders were issued for the following morning; but in the night a drizzling rain came on and, freezing as it fell, coated the deep, dense mud with a glaze of ice. The march was therefore put off a day, and on the morning of the 7th, through a frozen bog, a biting norther blowing, and the weather unusually cold for this region, the Nineteenth Corps floundered back to Franklin. The best of the roads were bad enough, but those across the bends, used in ordinary seasons as cut-offs, were now impa.s.sable sloughs, so the troops had to march nearly the full length of the bayou. Here a novel form of straggling was introduced through the ever industrious ingenuity of the lazy, many of whom contrived to leave the ranks, and, crossing the levee, seized canoes or made rafts, and tranquilly floated down the bayou ahead of their plodding comrades.

On the morning of the 9th of January the corps went into winter quarters at Franklin. Tents were not issued until a month later, but meanwhile the men built shelters and huts for themselves of such materials as they could find on the plantations or in the wooded swamps; and with branches of live oak and boughs of laurel and the long gray Spanish moss, they constructed for their camps a lavish ornamentation of arbors and arches, mimic forts and sham monitors.

The terms of service of the older regiments enlisted in the early days of 1861 being about to expire, the government now offered a bounty and a furlough for thirty days to all veterans who should again enlist for three years or during the war; and in carrying out this plan Banks arranged to send home in each month, beginning with February, at least two regiments of re-enlisted veterans from each corps. Of the nineteen regiments and six batteries of the Nineteenth Corps raised in 1861, every one promptly embraced these terms. In some regiments nearly every man present re-enlisted. The 7th Vermont enrolled every survivor, save 59, of the original muster; in the 13th Connecticut out of 406 present 400 signed; the 26th Ma.s.sachusetts returned 546. To make up, in part, for the temporary loss to be accounted for from this cause, the government sent down four fine regiments, well commanded, the 29th Maine, the 30th Maine, the 153d New York, and the 14th New Hamps.h.i.+re, and, these being a.s.signed to the Nineteenth Corps, the first three joined the First division, but the 14th New Hamps.h.i.+re came too late for the campaign, and was a.s.signed to temporary duty near New Orleans. About the same time Nields's 1st Delaware battery and Storer's 7th Ma.s.sachusetts battery joined the corps.

The idea of a foothold in Texas had been gradually swelling until at length it had attained the dimensions of an overland army of occupation. For this the nature of the region to be traversed, as well as the character of the enemy to be met, demanded a large mounted force. Therefore the government sent from Was.h.i.+ngton and from other Northern stations the 2d New York veteran cavalry, the 11th New York, the 18th New York, the 2d Maine, the 3d Rhode Island, the 12th Illinois, and the 3d Maryland, and from the West many horses. Banks also mounted seven more regiments of infantry, and having thus raised Lee's cavalry division, when all had joined, to nineteen regiments, they were finally organized in five brigades, with three batteries of horse artillery, namely, Duryea's, Rawles's, and Nims's. These three batteries were lost to the Nineteenth Corps, and with them four of the mounted infantry regiments, the 2d Louisiana, the 75th New York, the 8th New Hamps.h.i.+re, and the 31st Ma.s.sachusetts; the last three only for a time.

Returning from sick-leave, Emory relieved Weitzel in command of the First division on the 13th of December. Weitzel presently went North on special service and did not resume his command but was transferred in the spring to the Army of the James.

In February, 1864, while the Nineteenth Corps lay in camp at Franklin, it was once more re-organized by breaking up the First, Third, and Fourth divisions, and forming two new divisions, the First, commanded by Emory, comprising the brigades of Dwight, McMillan and Benedict; the Second division, commanded by Grover, composed of the brigades of Nickerson, Birge, and Sharpe. Emory's division was already concentrated on the Teche, but Grover's brigades were separated, Nickerson's being in the defences of New Orleans, Birge's in La Fourche, and Sharpe's at Baton Rouge. The first intention was to concentrate the division at Madisonville, and move it by rail to join Franklin; but events interposed.

The Corps staff serving at this time at headquarters in the field included Colonel Charles C. Dwight, acting a.s.sistant inspector-general; Surgeon Eugene F. Sanger, medical director; Captain J. G. Oltman, topographical engineer; Captain Thomas H. Annable, commissary of musters; Captain A. W. Chapman, judge-advocate; Lieutenant John J. Williamson, ordnance officer; Captain Henry C. Inwood, provost-marshal; Captain John P. Baker, Captain George M. Franklin, and Lieutenant David Lyon, aides-de-camp.

CHAPTER XXIII. THE RED RIVER.

Seven months had thus been spent in desultory adventures and in mult.i.tudinous preparations without a serious military object, and still the capture of Mobile was to be put off, and still the dream of a foothold in Texas was to be pursued. As for Texas, if the government had, especially at this time, any settled plan, it is by no means easy to make out what it was. In the previous July the occupation of some point in Texas had been put forward by Halleck as an object of paramount importance. At first the particular place and manner were of no consequence; yet, when the mouth of the Rio Grande had been seized, with the effect of cutting off the contraband trade of Matamoras, Seward, who may be supposed to have known the diplomatic purposes of the government, was frankly delighted, while Halleck, who must be regarded as expressing its military views, was as frankly disgusted. Finally, when not one foothold but many footholds had been gained along the coast of Texas, Halleck wound up the long correspondence (1) by renewing his instructions of the previous summer, looking to a combined naval and military operation on the Red River upon a scale even greater than that originally contemplated; for now, besides the great fleet of ironclads under Porter, the project was to absorb the available strength of three armies. Banks was to move northward by the Atchafalaya; Steele was to advance from the line of the Arkansas; and from Vicksburg Grant was to send Sherman, with such troops as he could spare. Grant, Banks, Sherman, and Steele, as well as Admiral Porter, received corresponding instructions at the same time, and, understanding them in the same sense, the Red River expedition was fairly launched.

Once committed to the scheme, Banks devoted himself loyally to the arrangements necessary for prosecuting it on a scale at least commensurate with the magnitude of the undertaking and with the expectations of the government, as he understood them. Texas was to be his objective, and he was the lead his army up the Red River, as the shortest and best way to Texas. From the outset he was committed to the use of a large body of cavalry able to operate on the plains that lie beyond the Sabine, as well as to overcome the opposition of the mounted forces of the Confederacy in that region. Not only was forage scarce in the Red River country, but Shreveport once taken and pa.s.sed, the march would lie for three hundred miles across a desert; an immense forage train was therefore indispensable. It was also reasonable to suppose that, before pa.s.sing Shreveport, the combined armies of the Confederacy in the trans-Mississippi would have to be met and beaten, and for this end a large force of infantry and artillery must also form part of the expedition, at least as far as Shreveport. The co-operation of the Navy was necessary, in its turn, if only to keep open the long line of supply by the Red River. Finally the usual time of the highest water in the upper Red River fixed the date of the movement.

Sherman came from Vicksburg to New Orleans on the 1st of March, and within a few hours reached a distinct agreement with Banks as to the aid expected from the Army of the Tennessee. Admiral Porter had already arranged to be at the mouth of the Red River with a large fleet of gunboats in time for the rising of the waters; and now Sherman promised to send with the fleet ten thousand picked men of his army, to be at Alexandria on the 17th of March. Banks, on his part, agreed that his troops, marching north by the Teche, should meet Sherman's at Alexandria. Steele, who was at Little Rock, undertook to move at the same time to meet the combined forces and the fleet on the Red River. Confronting Steele was Price; across Banks's line of advance stood Taylor; with the whole or any part of his force, Sherman and Porter might have to reckon, and in any case Fort De Russy must be neutralized or reduced before they could get to Alexandria.

Thus upon a given day two armies and a fleet, hundreds of miles apart, were to concentrate at a remote point far within the enemy's lines, situated on a river always difficult and uncertain of navigation, and now obstructed and fortified. Not often in the history of war is the same fundamental principle twice violated in the same campaign; yet here it was so, and even in the same orders, for after once concentrating within the enemy's lines at Alexandria, the united forces of Banks, Sherman, and Porter were actually to meet those of Steele within the enemy's lines at Shreveport, where Kirby Smith, strongly fortified moreover, was within three hundred miles, roughly speaking, of either Banks or Steele, while Steele was separated from Banks by nearly five hundred miles of hostile territory, practically unknown to any one in the Union armies, and neither commander could communicate with the other save by rivers in their rear, over a long circuit, destined to lengthen with each day's march, as they should approach their common enemy in his central stronghold.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about all this was Sherman's ready and express a.s.sent to the disregard of the first rule of the great art of which he had always been an earnest student and long past a master; yet it is to be observed that Sherman knew the Red River country better than any one in the Union armies; he knew well the scanty numbers and the scattered state of the hostile forces; with him, as well as with Admiral Porter, this movement had long been a favorite; he had indeed hoped and expected to undertake it himself; but he evidently had in mind a quick and bold movement, having for its object the destruction of the Confederate depots and workshops at Shreveport, without giving the enemy notice, breathing s.p.a.ce, or time to concentrate. But this was not to be. On learning, at New Orleans, that Banks meant to command in person, Sherman naturally gave up all thought of accompanying the expedition, and went back to Vicksburg to get his troops ready. The contingent he had promised to send from the Army of the Tennessee he now made up of two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps, united under Mower, with Kilby Smith's division of the Seventeenth Corps, and the command of the whole he gave to A. J. Smith.

As early as the 2d of March Porter a.s.sembled at the mouth of the Red River a great fleet of nineteen ironclads, including fifteen of the heavier cla.s.s and four of the lighter. The fleet carried 162 guns, of which 62 were of the higher calibres, from 80-pounder rifles up to 11-inch Dahlgrens, and the combined weight of projectiles was but little less than five tons.

On the 10th of March, A. J. Smith embarked his force at Vicksburg on an admirably organized fleet of nineteen river transports, controlled by a simple system of signals from the flags.h.i.+p Clara Bell. When, the next day, Smith joined Porter at the mouth of the Red River, six days were still left until the time when Banks had agreed to be at Alexandria with his army. Sherman's orders to Smith required him to make use of the interval by co-operating with the navy in an expedition up the Black and the Was.h.i.+ta, for the destruction of Harrisonburg, but Porter had already done the work single-handed. Naturally supposing that Banks's troops were in march up the Teche toward the point of meeting, although they knew that Banks himself was still detained at New Orleans, Smith and Porter determined at once to take or turn Fort De Russy, and then to push on to Alexandria. On the morning of the 12th of March, the combined fleet entered the Red River. At the head of the Atchafalaya, Porter, with nine of the gunboats, turned off to the left and descended that stream as far as Simmesport, followed by the army transports, while Phelps, with the Eastport and the remainder of the fleet, continued the ascent of the Red River, with a view of threatening Fort De Russy, and occupying the attention of its defenders until Smith could land and march across country to attack them.

On the morning of the 13th of March Smith landed, and toward nightfall took up the line of march for Fort De Russy, distant by land twenty-eight miles, although by the windings of the river nearly seventy. In his front, Smith found Scurry's brigade of Walker's division partly entrenched on Yellow Bayou; but Mower quickly brushed Scurry aside, and Walker, after observing the strength of his enemy, concentrated on the Bayou De Glaze, to avoid being shut up in the elbow at Marksville, as well as to get Mouton in support; and thus the way was open to Smith. On the afternoon of the 14th, Mower arrived before Fort De Russy, and just before nightfall the brigades of Lynch and Shaw swept over the parapet and forced a surrender, with a loss of 3 killed and 35 wounded. The captures included 25 officers and 292 men, and ten guns, of which two were 9-inch Dahlgrens from the spoils of the Indianola and the Harriet Lane, once more restored to their first owners.

Phelps, who had with great energy burst through the formidable raft nine miles below Fort De Russy, came up in Eastport in time to fire one shot from his 100-pounder Parrott, and to see the white flag displayed.

When this news reached him, Porter at once ordered his fastest boats to hasten to Alexandria. The advance of the fleet arrived off the town on the 15th of March, just as the last of the Confederate boats were making good their escape above the falls. Kilby Smith and his division followed on the transports with the remainder of the fleet, and, landing at Alexandria during the afternoon of the 16th, relieved the naval detachment sent ash.o.r.e some hours earlier to occupy the town. On the 18th of March, A. J. Smith marched in with Mower's two divisions. Thus the advance of Porter's fleet was in Alexandria two days, and the head of A. J. Smith's column one day, ahead of the appointed time.

Walker retreated on Natchitoches, accompanied by Gray's brigade of Mouton's division from the Huffpower. Taylor, quitting his headquarters at Alexandria, called in Polignac's brigade from the line of the Tensas and concentrated his force at Carroll Jones's plantation, on the road between Opelousas and Fort Jesup, distant forty-six miles in a south-southeasterly direction from Natchitoches, twelve miles south from Cotile, and twenty miles southwesterly from Alexandria. Here he was in a good position for receiving supplies and reinforcements, for covering Natchitoches, and for observing any approach of the Union forces either from Opelousas or from Alexandria.

Meanwhile Banks had called in from Texas the divisions of Cameron and Ransom of the Thirteenth Corps and sent them to join Franklin on the lower Teche. The command of this detachment being given to Ransom, his division fell to Landram. Lee's cavalry was given the same direction, excepting Fonda's brigade, which stayed at Port Hudson. His last brigade, that of Dudley, marched from Donaldsonville on the 6th of March, crossed Berwick Bay on the 9th, and arrived at the cavalry camp near Franklin on the 10th. Cameron's wagons reached him at Berwick on the 12th, and he marched to join the army in the field on the morning of the 13th. On the evening of the same day Lee led the advance of the army from the town of Franklin, but, his column being quite nine miles long, it was not until the following morning that his rear-guard filed into the road. On the morning of the 15th of March he was followed by Emory and Ransom. Lee arrived at Alexandria on the 19th, Emory on the 25th, and Ransom on the 26th. The troops were, with some exceptions among the newly mounted regiments, in admirable condition, all were in fine spirits, and the long march of one hundred and sixty miles was well ordered and well executed, without confusion, haste, or delay, so that when, with closed ranks and bands playing, and with measured tread and all intervals observed, the column entered Alexandria, the appearance of the men drew exclamations of admiration even from critics the least friendly.

When the news of A. J. Smith's and Porter's arrival in the Red River and of the capture of Fort De Russy reached New Orleans on the 16th of March, it found Banks himself preparing to set out on the following morning to join Franklin near New Iberia. He at once despatched Stone to Alexandria by the river, and following him on the 23d on the transport steamer Black Hawk, arrived at Alexandria on the 24th, and took command of the combined forces of Franklin and A. J. Smith.

Grover, as has been said, was to have moved with Franklin, or close upon his heels, but the 7th of March had come before the first preparatory orders were given for the movement of Sharpe's brigade from Baton Rouge, and not until the 10th was Grover told to concentrate his division at Thibodeaux. His route was now changed to the river. Accordingly Sharpe's brigade debarked at Alexandria on the 26th, and the Second brigade under Molineux on the 28th, but Nickerson stayed for a fortnight longer at Carrollton.

Vincent, who with the 2d Louisiana cavalry had been watching and reporting Lee's movement and regularly falling back before his advance, joined Taylor at Carroll Jones's on the 19th. Then Taylor sent Vincent with his regiment and Edgar's battery to watch the crossing of Bayou Jean de Jean and to hold the road by which Banks was expected to advance on Shreveport. Vincent encamped on the high ground known as Henderson's Hill, commanding the junction of the Bayou Rapides and Cotile twenty-three miles above Alexandria. Here he was in the air, and A. J. Smith, realizing the importance of seizing the pa.s.sage without loss of time, at once proceeded to dislodge him. Accordingly, on the 21st of March he sent out Mower with his two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps and Lucas's brigade of cavalry. Mower made his dispositions with great skill and promptness, and that night, during a heavy storm of rain and hail, completely surprised Vincent's camp and captured the whole regiment bodily, together with four guns of Edgar's battery. A few of Vincent's men managed to escape in the darkness and confusion, but about 250 were brought in and with them 200 horses. This was a heavy blow to Taylor, since it deprived him of the only cavalry he had with him and thus of the means of scouting until Green should come from Texas. Mower returned to Alexandria on the 22d, and Taylor, probably unwilling to risk a surprise in his exposed position, withdrew about thirty miles to Kisatchie, still covering the Fort Jesup road; but a week later he sent his cavalry northward twenty-six miles to Natchitoches and with his infantry retired to Pleasant Hill.

Banks has been blamed for his delay in meeting A. J. Smith and Porter at Alexandria, yet, whatever may be the theoretical merits of such a criticism, in fact no loss of time that occurred up to the moment of quitting Alexandria had the least influence on the course of the campaign, for even after the concentration was completed the river, though very slowly rising by inches, was still so low that the gunboats were unable to pa.s.s the rapids. The Eastport hung nearly three days on the rocks in imminent peril, and at last had to be hauled off by main force, a whole brigade swaying on her hawsers to the rhythm of the field music. This was on the 26th of March, and the Eastport was the first of the gunboats to pa.s.s the rapids, the Admiral being naturally unwilling to expose the boats of lighter draught as well as of lighter armament to the risk of capture if sent up alone. The hospital steamer Woodford, which was the first boat to follow the Eastport, was wrecked in the attempt. The next five boats took three days to pa.s.s, nor was it until the 3d of April that the last of the twelve gunboats and thirty transports, selected to accompany the expedition to Shreveport, floated in safety above the obstructions. Several of the transports drew too much water to permit them to pa.s.s the rapids; these, therefore, stayed below, and with them the remaining seven gunboats.

And now occurred the first important departure from the original plan of operations. The season of high water had been looked forward to as insuring constant communication along the whole length of the Red River as far as the fleet should be able to ascend. But the Red is a treacherous river at best, and this year it was at its worst. There was to be no March rise worth speaking about. Thus the rapids presented an obstacle, impa.s.sable, or only to be pa.s.sed with difficulty; the bare rocks divided the fleet in twain, the only communication was overland by the road around the falls. The supplies had to be landed at Alexandria, loaded into wagons, hauled around, and re-s.h.i.+pped, and this made it necessary to establish depots in the town as well as above the falls, and to leave behind Grover's division, 4,000 strong, to protect the stores and the carry. At the same time McPherson recalled Ellet's marine brigade to Vicksburg, and thus the expedition lost a second detachment of 3,000 men; but this loss was partly made up by d.i.c.key's brigade of colored troops, 1,500 strong, which joined the column from the garrison of Port Hudson. Withal the force was ample, for at the end of March there were 31,000 officers and men for duty, including about 4,800 under Ransom, 6,600 under Emory, 9,000 under A. J. Smith, and Lee's cavalry, 4,600. Here was a superb fighting column of 25,000 officers and men of all arms, with ninety guns. This more than met the calculations of Banks and Sherman on which the campaign was undertaken. In the three columns there were to be 40,000 men; of these, Sherman was to furnish 10,000, Banks 15,000, and Steele 15,000.

Steele had already sent word that he could not be counted upon for more than 7,000, all told. He had expected to march from Little Rock by the 14th of March on Arkadelphia, there to be joined by Thayer moving at the same time from Fort Smith. Thayer marched on the 21st with 4,000 effectives and 14 guns, Steele on the 23d with 7,500 effectives and 16 guns; besides these, he left Clayton with 1,600 men and 11 guns to hold Pine Bluff.

We have seen how, in one movement, three divergent ideas were being carried out without either having been distinctly decided on: a foothold in Texas, an overland occupation in force, and a swift raid by the river. To these there was now to be added a fourth idea, in itself sound, yet fatally inconsistent with the others.

On the 27th of March, before setting out from Alexandria, Banks received, by special messenger, the orders of Lieutenant-General Grant, dated the 15th of March, on taking command of the armies of the United States. For the first time during the war, all the armies were to move as one, with a single purpose, ruled by a single will; along the whole line, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, a combined movement was to take place early in May, and in this the entire effective force of the Department of the Gulf was to take part. A. J. Smith was to join the Army of the Tennessee for the Atlanta campaign, and Banks was to go against Mobile. Sherman had lent A. J. Smith to Banks for thirty days. This limit Grant was willing to extend by ten or fifteen days, but if Shreveport were not to be taken by that time-that is, by the 25th of April at the very latest,-then Banks was to send A. J. Smith's detachment back to Vicksburg in season to arrive there at the date originally named-that is, by the 10th of April,-even if this should lead to the abandonment of the expedition. The orders for the expedition given by Halleck, while occupying nominally the supreme command that had now in truth fallen into the strong hand of Grant, were not revoked; the expedition was to go on; only, to make sure that it should not be gone too long, it was to be put in irons.

Grant may easily be excused if, while as yet hardly warm in the saddle, he hesitated to revoke orders that he must have known to be those of the President himself; yet, since a door must be either open or shut it would have been far better to revoke the orders than to trammel their execution with conditions so hard that Banks might well have thrown up the campaign then and there. However, Banks on his part had good reason to know the wishes of the government and not less the consequences of disregarding them; moreover, as the case must have presented itself to him, there was an off chance that Kirby Smith might not be able to concentrate in time to save Shreveport; another, still more remote, that he might give up the place without a fight; and a third, more unlikely than either, that Steele might join Banks in time to make short work of it, or at all events to make Banks strong enough to spare A. J. Smith by the appointed time. Two weeks remained until the earliest date set for A. J. Smith to be at Vicksburg; twenty-nine days to the latest day allowed for the taking of Shreveport. In his dilemma Banks decided to run these chances.

After seeing the first of the gunboats safely over the falls, on the 26th of March Banks set his column in motion. A. J. Smith marched on Cotile Landing to wait for his boats. On the 28th Lee, with the main body of the cavalry, preceded Smith to Henderson's Hill, in order to hold the road and the crossing of Bayou Jean de Jean. Franklin with Emory and Ransom and the main supply trains followed on the same day.

Twenty miles above Cotile Landing the Red River divides, and, for sixty miles, until Grand Ecore is reached, the waters flow in two unequal channels; the most southerly of these, along which the road runs, is known as Cane River, or Old Red River. This was formerly the main stream, but the more northerly branch, at once deeper and less tortuous, now forms the only navigable channel, and is called the Rigolets du Bon Dieu, or more familiarly the Bon Dieu.

Lee crossed Cane River at Monett's Ferry, and, recrossing above Cloutierville, entered Natchitoches on the 31st of March. At Monett's Ferry on the 29th, Cloutierville on the 30th, and again at Natchitoches he encountered slight opposition from the enemy's skirmishers.

Franklin, marching by the same road, encamped at Natchitoches on the 2d of April.

Embarking on his transports as they came, A. J. Smith set out from Cotile Landing on the 2d of April in company with Porter's fleet, and landed at Grand Ecore on the 3d.

The river was still rising slowly, and it was not until the 7th of April that Porter considered the draught of water sufficient to justify him in going farther. Then, leaving at Grand Ecore the six heavy boats that had come with him thus far, he began the ascent of the upper reach of the river with the Carondelet, Fort Hindman, Lexington, Osage, Neosho, and Chillicothe, convoying and closely followed by a fleet of twenty transports, bearing Kilby Smith's division and a large quant.i.ty of military stores of all kinds. Porter expected to be at Springfield Landing, 110 miles above Grand Ecore, on the 9th. On arriving there, Kilby Smith was to reconnoitre towards Springfield, and if practicable, to send a regiment to seize the bridge across the Bayou Pierre in the direction of Mansfield.

On the 6th of April, as soon as the movement of the fleet was decided on, Banks resumed the march on Shreveport. Shortly after leaving Natchitoches the main road, with which the road from Grand Ecore unites, strikes off from the river toward the west to avoid Spanish Lake, and, traversing a barren wilderness, affords neither position nor resting-place until Shreveport is reached. Banks meant to be at Mansfield, holding the roads that there converge, simultaneously with the arrival at the fleet at Springfield Landing. Lee, who was encamped at Natchitoches with the brigades of Lucas, Robinson, and Dudley, led the advance, and marching twenty-three miles encamped that night at Crump's Corner. Ransom broke camp at Natchitoches at six o'clock in the morning, and marched sixteen miles. Emory followed closely upon Ransom. A. J. Smith remained at Grand Ecore till the next day, to await the departure of the fleet, and then marching eight miles on the Shreveport road fell into the rear of the column. d.i.c.key's colored brigade formed the guard of the main wagon train, and Gooding's brigade of cavalry covered the rear and left flank. From this time Lee's movements were to be directed by Franklin.

Meanwhile, between the 3d and 5th of April, Taylor, after consuming the forage for twenty miles around Pleasant Hill, had withdrawn his infantry to Mansfield. Green's cavalry, long expected, was now beginning to come in, largely augmented, from Texas, whither it had been hastily sent, early in the winter, to meet the threatened invasion from the coast.

On the morning of the 7th of April, Lee advanced on Pleasant Hill, Robinson leading, supported by Lucas. Robinson easily drove before him the advance guard of the Confederate cavalry until about two o'clock in the afternoon, at Wilson's farm, three miles beyond Pleasant Hill, he came upon the main body of Green's force, comprising Major's brigade, under Lane, posted in the skirt of the wood, on rising ground, behind a clearing. Robinson dismounted his men and engaged the enemy, who resisted so firmly that Lucas was sent to Robinson's support just in time to save him from being driven off the field by a determined charge. Lucas likewise dismounted his men, and the two brigades, charging together afoot, drove the Confederates from their position, and pursued them to Carroll's saw-mill, on the southerly branch of Bayou St. Patrice, about seven miles beyond Pleasant Hill, where, toward nightfall, they made a strong stand. In this action, Lee took 23 prisoners, and suffered a loss of 11 killed, 42 wounded, and 9 missing.

Ransom marched at half-past five in the morning, and at two o'clock in the afternoon the head of his column was at Pleasant Hill, nineteen miles distant, where he went into camp, having overtaken the cavalry train during the march, and Dudley's brigade at the close. Emory, closely following Ransom, arrived at Pleasant Hill about five o'clock in the afternoon, and went into camp. The last of the infantry and all the wagons were much r.e.t.a.r.ded by a heavy storm that broke over the rear of the column and cut up the road badly. The night was far spent when Ransom's train joined him, and Emory's, in spite of every exertion, could not be brought up until late on the following morning. A. J. Smith was now a good day's march behind Ransom and Emory.