The story of the 26th Louisiana infantry, in the service of the Confederate States

COL. WINCHESTER HALL.

Next came a letter from Col. Winchester Hall, eighty-eight
years old, who resides at Pocomoke City, Md., who wrote me
concerning the pension laws of Louisiana. Colonel Hall com-
manded the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, was wounded
during the siege of Vicksburg, and while disabled was as-
signed to one of the military courts, from which he resigned
and returned to his reeiment as soon ag remvprpH frnm hk
wound.

Qfatttell Untuctaitt} Hihrary

Stljara, 2feui ladt

THE JAMES VERNER SCAIFE
COLLECTION

CIVIL WAR LITERATURE

THE GIFT OP

JAMES VERNER SCAIFE

CLASS OF 1889

1919

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THE STORY

OF THE

26th Louisiana Infantry.

IN THE SERVICE OF

THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

BY

Winchester Hall.

IT IS PLEASANT TO REMEMBER

THE ACTIONS OF THOSE

WHO, IN THIS BRIEF AND FLEETING

LIFE OF OURS,

HAVE FEtL, DOING THEIR DUTY.

THIS HUMBLE NARRATIVE

IS A FEEBLE TRIBUTE

TO THE MEMORY OF THE DEAD

OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY,

WHO SLEEP AT THE OUTPOSTS

OF CHICKASAW BAYOU,

OR BEHIND THE BREASTWORKS

OF VICKSBURG,

OR, WHO DIED i:* THE SERVICE,

NOT LESS NOBLY,

THE VICTIMS OF DISEASE,

ALL, GIVING THEIR LIVES A HOLOCAUST,

TO THE GRAND OLD CAUSE OF RIGHT.

CONTENTS.

I. — The Organization, -. i

II. — Retreat from New Orleans, . . 6

III. ViCKSBURG, II

IV. — Camp Hall i6

V. — Camp Lagarde, 23

VI.- — Camp Crow, 27

VII. — Chickasaw Bayou, 36

VIII. — Supporting Water Batteries, . . 53

IX. — Siege of Vicksburg, 63

X. — Within the Enemy's Lines, ... 100

XI. — In Dixie, . iii

XII. — Trans-Mississippi Department, . . 120

XIII. — The Disbanding, 132

PREKACE.

IN professing to write the Story of the 26th, I
-'■ feel an explanation is due for giving it the shape
of a personal memoir. I have done so after proper
reflection, and if it bears the faintest tinge of egoism,
I deserve the censure of the patriotic and the unsel-
fish.

The fact is, when I had collected all available
materials, and run over, in my mind, all sources of
information whence I might possibly add something
as the narrative progressed, I saw still many gaps
which might make the subject disjointed, fragment-
ary and uninteresting.

It then occurred to me that if I would give it the
form of a personal memoir, I could weave into it all
facts connected with the regiment, while my own
individual experience would not only serve to make
the story continuous, but as a back ground, would
show, in some measure, the condition of the country

at the time, and those surroundings which would
throw light upon the central figures of the sketch;
for, after all, my individual experience was only an
illustration of the experience of other officers and
men of the command, varied by circumstance.

On the other hand, I am confident those who know
me will acquit me of any desire to make myself a
conspicuous figure in that drama the 26th played
without fault, and for which it merited the applause
of all honorable men. I was simply one of the
troupe, and circumstances made me one of their
commanders.

I would rather my name utterly perish than it
should obscure, even for a moment, the halo of glory
around that faithful band, and which I trust may be
undimmed wherever independence is claimed as a
birthright, and love of country is more than a name.

26th Louisiana Infantry.

CHAPTER I.

ORGANIZATION.
February — April 1862.

Forts Henry and Donaldson, had fallen. There
was a wide spread and uneasy feeling that our great
enemy had gained two highways into the heart of
the Confederacy, which would give him terrible ad-
vantage, and require on our part every effort to
circumvent.

At this time I was a partner in the law office of
Bush & Hall, at Thibodaux, and in charge of the
office; Mr. Bush, having entered the army, with the
understanding between us, in view of the interests
committed to our hands, that I should maintain their
oversight. ' Up to this period I had contented my-
self, in bringing my family within our lines, and giv-
ing a civilian's aid to the cause.

Mr. Burton called at the office, and represented
to me the seriousness of the surrender of the forts;
that it rendered necessary on our part, an extraor-
dinary effort, and suggested as our contribution,
that another company be raised for the army, in ad-
dition to the two companies already sent from the
parish of Lafourche. Acting on his suggestion, I
made out a heading, to be signed by all who wished

2 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

to be enrolled in a company for the war, under the
following officers:

Caleb J. Tucker, Captain.

Winchester Hall, ist Lieutenant.

Lovincey Webre, 2d "

W. D. Burton, Junior Lieut.

This roll was put in circulation and soon returned
with the recommendation that the names of the
Captain and First Lieutenant should be transposed;
perhaps, because I ranked in years. It was changed
accordingly.

The roll was commenced on Saturday, February
22d. On the next Saturday the company numbered
ninety-four, about fifty names being added on the
latter day, during a barbecue at Thibodaux, after
an eloquent appeal on the part of the Hon. Pierre
Sould, and stirring addresses by Abbe Menard and
others. Mr. H. Clay Knobloch's name was substi-
tuted for Mr. Burton's, as Junior Lieutenant, Mr.
Burton, having withdrawn.

I closed the law office. Events proved it useless to
be kept open. It was subsequently sacked by Fed-
eral troops. Every one who had been recently con-
nected with it, or was connected with it at its close
by me, joined the army, seven in all; of whom three
were killed during the war and one seriously wounded.

On March 5th the company went into camp, at
Thibodaux, under the name of the Allen Rifles,
which it assumed as complimentary to Mr. R. H.
Allen, of Lafourche, a devoted friend and liberal
contributor to the organization. On March 15th it
was mustered into confederate service for the war.

The community seemed thoroughly aroused, and
the completion of the Allen Rifles whetted the pub-
lic demand for another company. Acting in con-

ORGANIZATION. 3

cert with several neighbors, I wrote out a roll for
another company, under the following officers:
Lewis Guion, Captain.

Cleophas Lagarde, ist Lieutenant.
Mathurin Boung, 2d Lieutenant.

On suggestion the offices of Captain and ist
Lieutenant were transposed, and the friends of Mr.
Bourg insisted, that on account of his age, he should
withdraw; his place being filled by Silv^re Navarre.
The company was soon made up with the requisite
rank and file.

On March i8th I received orders from Major
General Lovell, commanding the Department, to
rendezvous and encamp the company commanded
by me, and Captain Lagarde's Company, at Berwick
City. On reaching that point we occupied an old
camp called Camp Lovell, consisting of temporary
and comfortable shelters sufficient for a regiment.
As I was ranking Captain I became Post Comman-
dant.

Company drills were begun at once. As I had not
any knowledge whatever of military tactics I studied
Hardee three hours daily, and drilled the Allen Rifles
four hours.

Soon after we had encamped we were joined by
Captain Duncan S. Cage's Company, and Captain
John J. Shaffer's Company, of the parish of Terre-
bonne,

Captain Eraste Mounton's Company and Cap-
tain William C. Crow's Company, of the parish of
Lafayette,

Captain Manda W. Bateman's Company of the
parish of St. Mary,

And Captain W. W. Martin's Company of the
parish of Assumption.

On April 3d, the eight companies on the ground,

4 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

went into an election for field officers. Alexandre
De Clouet, was elected Colonel, and Duncan S.
Cage, Lieutenant Colonel, without opposition. For
the office of Major, the names of Lewis Guion, and
myself were proposed and I was elected. The offi-
cers elect were called upon for speeches by the men ;
to which Colonel De Clouet, responded in French,
and Colonel Cage, in English; on my turn being
reached I simply said, all I could promise was, that
in any meeting with the enemy, I should not ask
them to lead, but to follow.

On the next day we were advised by a telegram
from Head Quarters, that we had no inght to organ-
ize with only light companies. The organization,
however, was tacitly permitted.

While at Berwick's Bay we heard of the battle of
Shiloh, in which the two companies already sent
from the parish of Lafourche were engaged, and
in which the Allen Rifles had many friends and kin.
It was with a dimmed eye I read the list of killed
and wounded — sons of neighbors and friends; soon
after receipt of the news, I ordered the Allen Rifles
to fall in. I spoke to them of brothers, cousins and
friends slaughtered at Shiloh. I called upon every
one determined to avenge their death to hold up his
hand and swear accordingly. Every hand went up.
Raising my own, I said, "We solemnly swear to
avenge the death of our brothers, cousins and friends
who fell at Shiloh."

Later, on the same day; I received a touching note
signed by the members of the company, asking me
to lead them on at once, to the front; appealing to
me, to use their own language:

"In God's name, in the name of those who now
sleep the eternal sleep, in the name of bereaved moth-
ers, fathers, sisters and brothers, and of homes

ORGANIZATION. 5

made desolate by the loss of their hearts' idols; in
the name of all you hold dear, our beloved Captain,
do grant us this request."*

I explained to them we were under orders, and
could not move without them, but that I would do
all in my power to place them where they would
confront the enemy.

On April 20th we were ordered to New Orleans,
and went into camp in the suburbs, for the purpose
of completing our outfit. Captain Octave Metoy-
er's Company of Natchitoches, and Captain Dela-
houssaye's Company of the parish of Terrebonne,
joined us here, which completed the ten companies
requisite for a regular regiment. Our outfit was
quite thorough in arms, tents and camp equipage,
save that two companies were without serviceable
arms.

While in camp here, news came that the enemy's
fleet had passed the forts near the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi, and that we might soon expect them in
front of New Orleans. We felt that active service
was upon us, and awaited orders with eagerness.

. * See Appendix (Note A.)

CPIAPTER II.

THE RETREAT FROM NEW ORLEANS.
April 1S62.

On Thursday, April 24th, about 10 a. m. Col. De
Clouet, received orders to move the regiment to
Camp Moore at once. He ordered two days rations
to be cooked; the wagons were filled with our camp
equipage; but before we moved another order came
for us to move to Camp Chalmette, six miles below
New Orleans. The regiment was soon in line, and
the wagons ready to follow. Col. De Clouet, being
absent in the city on business of the regiment. Col.
Cage, assumed command, and made a short and ef-
fective speech, in which he stated he was glad to
say to the regiment, they had been ordered to
face the enemy, instead of retreating, and he trusted
that the plains of Chalmette, made memorable by
Andrew Jackson's victory, should afford another
bright page to our country's history. It was near
dark when we started; we reached Camp Chalmette
about II p. M. and took position behind a breast
work near the swamp; posted sentinels, and the men
slept on their arms. As Eno Guedry was on o-uard
I used his blanket, for I had none. He came in
about 2 A. M. and we then shared it together. I
arose about 5 a. m. and seeing some of the men
about to get up, told them to sleep on. Gen. Buis-
son, of the state troops, soon afterward rode up and

THE RETREAT FROM NEW ORLEANS. 7

Stated to me we might be shelled at any moment.
I now suggested to Col. De Clouet, who had joined
us during the night, that as we had moved to Chal-
mette, in obedience to orders, and had no further in-
structions, not even to report to a ranking officer,
in fact there was none on the ground to report to;
and as we could be of no avail against the enemy's
vessels, with two companies having unserviceable
arms, and the regiment without a round of ammuni-
tion; we owed it to the command not to expose it
unnecessarily. The Colonel soon ordered the regi-
ment to move further away from the river to the
woods. Gen. Tracy'y brigade of militia followed us.
This command, as well as ours, had no ammunition.
Our wagons had come, and the officers busied them-
selves in saving some personal effects. As it seemed
evident we would have to retreat, Aubain Bour-
geois and Eugene Trosclair, took my trunk to a
planter's near by. Lieut. Knobloch's was taken to
the same place. I had three fine blankets in the
wagon, quite a rarity even at that time,- the gift of
Mrs. Adam Beattie. Tell Knobloch offered to carry
one for me. I left the others to Bourgeois and Tros-
clair, who had put away my trunk.

After being in the woods some hour or two, we
moved nearer the city, in the rear of the barracks.
Col. De Clouet, rode to Head Quarters in the city
for orders. The enemy's vessels now appeared. A
battery on the river bank opened fire, and took away
from us the sting of defeat without firing a gun, but
the challenge was met in silence, if not in contempt.
Col. Cage, after a short consultation with me, deter-
mined we should assume command, respectively, of
our former companies, and that he would then order
each captain to take care of his company as best he
could.

8 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

The retreat commenced, nor did we give heed to
the order of our going; the step was lively, there
was no lagging, and no order necessary to "close
up." The companies became separated, but each
company kept well together. I purposed to take
the Allen Rifles up the river, cross it where safe and
practicable, and get to Lafourche, where I would
await orders from the Colonel. The city was soon
reached. It was in the wildest confusion. Anxious
men and women thronged the streets — objectless —
fearing the worst, and showing little of that self pos-
session with which, afterward, they so nobly with-
stood the indignities resulting from the occupation
by the enemy. The burning of cotton in various
parts of the city added a grim feature to the scene.
I met Col. Cage, who ordered us to rendezvous at
the Jackson railway station, as we could there have
transportation to Camp Moore. All the companies
reached the station save Captain Lagarde's; through
misinformation the Captain retreated up the river,
and subsequently joined us. The tops of a train of
box-cars were occupied by us; a drenching shower
soon fell upon just and unjust alike. On another
track, in passenger coaches, ready also to be moved,
secure from the rain, and comfortable and jolly as a
pic-nic party, were the Confederate Guards, a regi-
ment composed of prominent and wealthy citizens
of New Orleans, who had been encamped for some
time in Lafayette Square, but had never entered
Confederate service. General Mansfield Lovell, the
Department Commander, came to the station ap-
parently to look after the Confederate Guards, and
without recognition of the only regiment of the Con-
federate service in the city, at the time. I told him,
where I could be heard, that we were as good sol-
diers as the Confederate Guards, and I saw no rea-

THE RETREAT FROM NEW ORLEANS. 9

son why they should occupy passenger coaches, and
we the tops of box-cars.

Our train left about 3 p. m. We left all camp equi-
page and baggage. It did not seem to be a matter
of concern at Head Quarters, whether we had them
or not; perhaps more important matters required at-
tention.

When the Allen Rifles were organized their
friends subscribed over $3,000, for a uniform, and
whatever might serve for their com'fort, apart from
what could be obtained under military requisition;
with this fund and their individual means, they had
become suppHed in New Orleans with many articles
of convenience and usefulness in a soldiers life, and
which having lost, could not be replaced. I pre-
sume this was the case with other companies, but I
never heard a regret at the loss.

We reached Pontchitoula station about dark.
The train remained there all night, and on Saturday
April 26th moved us to Camp Moore. We met at
Camp Moore the Orleans Guards, and the Confed-
erate Guards; both organizations being about to
disband, the members of each command were very
kind in turning over to us, sundry articles of no fur-
ther use to them, and invaluable to us; I had several
acquaintances in the Confederate Guards, each of
whom added something to an outfit, and my valued
friend Gustave Landry, presented me with his
sword.

On returning to my quarters one day, after being
out, I was surprised to see my trunk which Captain
Shaffer, had brought from its hiding place near Camp
Chalmette. He had left camp shortly after our ar-
rival here, with a view of securing what he could, of
our personal effects, left in the retreat, and had suc-
ceeded far beyond expectation.

lO TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

As it was some days before the enemy occupied
New Orleans, General Lovell, in the meanwhile,
was diligent in removing military stores to this point
upon which we now made requisition, to supply, as
far as practicable, the losses incident to our first and
only retreat.

CHAPTER III.

VICKSBURG.
May— June, 1862.

We remained at Camp Moore until May 6th,
when we moved thence, and pitched our tents at
Camp De Clouet, a point on the Brandon Road,
four miles from Jackson, (Miss.,) in a forest where
there were good springs of water, and which was in-
terspersed with vines and shrubs, and decked and
gladdened with floral beauty. It was about this time
General Beauregard honored the regiment by the
request that it be sent to him at Corinth. The pau-
city of troops in Louisiana and Mississippi prevented
a compliance, but it did not take away from officers
and men, untried and undisciplined as they were, the
pleasure of feeling they were already worthy the fav-
orable notice of a farned soldier.

On May 14th we struck our tents and moved to
Camp Cage, near Edward's station, on the Vicks-
burg and Jackson railway. On our march the boys
noted on the wayside, a lot of sugar which had
been stored by some speculators; coming as they
had from a land of sugar cane, they secured a sample
in their havresacs for the purpose of testing its sac-
charine quality. Soon after we were camped, two
owners of the sugar appeared to complain of the
offence. Col. De Clouet received them with his
usual courtesy, listened patiently to the story of

12 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRV.

their wrongs, while I, standing by, was swelling with
indignation. The matter was with my superior offi-
cer, however, and I tried to keep quiet. But as
these owners pleaded and persisted that the men
should be punished, I gave way, and abused them,
in all the terms at my command, for their contemp-
tible mission. They soon retired in disgust, and we
never heard further of them.

As the enemy now threatened Vicksburg with
their vessels, on May 19th, the regiment was ordered
to move there, in light marching order, our camp
being left in charge of Lieut. Joseph Aycock.
Brigadier General Martin L. Smith, was then in
command at Vicksburg. His brigade consisted of
the following regiments:

26th Louisiana.

27th

28th
3d Mississippi.
As it was expected the enemy might attempt to
land on the left bank of the river below Vicksburg,
I was ordered by General Smith, to take five
companies for picket duty, about four miles out.
The companies of Capts. Lagarde, Mouton, Martin,
Shaffer and Tucker, comprised the force.

We marched at once to the place indicated. Two
companies of Col. P. B. Starke's regiment of cav-
alry, posted near, were to notify us of any appear-
ance of the enemy on their front. Rumors came to
us from time to time, of a landing; one to the ef-
fect that a small force was on the river bank, I sent-
out Lieut. Guion, with a detachment to look it up,
but it was not to be found.

We kept on duty four days, fully exposed to fre-
quent rains, and then received orders to move to
Vicksburg, where we returned on Saturday May 24th.

VICKSBURG. 13

Vicksburg looked as if the simoon of war already
had swept over it, the lowlands about were flooded,
the city deserted by all who could leave, business
houses that were not closed were barren of Pfoods-
beautiful homes, set in emerald lawns, embowered
in magnolia, rose, myrtle and wild peach, and smil-
ing with beautiful flowers, awaited the coming of
the spoiler.

On May 26th, a shell from the enemy was my
reveille. He gave some attention to the lower bat-
teries, without serious effect. On the next day the
water battery at the Hospital was shelled and many
shells were thrown into the city. I rode down to
the railway station which seemed the centre of at-
traction, and where there were pickets from the. regi-
ment. Some of the boys seemed a little frightened
under their first fire; as to myself, this, my first per-
sonal experience of heavy shelling, was not satisfac-
tory. I did not feel brave at all. Horse and rider
were alike unnerved by the novelty. If I had dis-
mounted, I was too weak in the knees to mount
again; but as I was not actually struck, I survived
it. In the meanwhile General Smith sought to make
good that answer of a true soldier which he gave to
the demand for a surrender of the place — that he
would hold the defenses entrusted to him, at all
hazards, as long as he could. The shelling was vig-
orously kept up, but the Federal fleet remained at a
respectful distance from either of the four river bat-
teries, although one of them was of quaker guns.

We foiled them in what they considered an easy
undertaking, and although infantry was of no avail
in action, the Twenty-sixth was on the ground ready
to obey orders whatever they were; daily drafted for
heavy picket duty; exposed to fire of shot and shell
from the fleet, and even debarred the poor privilege

I4 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

of giving blow for blow. Yet we would have en-
dured more to defend the homes of the noble men
and devoted women of Vicksburg — homes they gave
up without a murmur, nay, cheerfully, when military
necessity exacted it, although it made them outcasts
and refugees.

While we were quartered here in various va-
cant buildings, the measles broke out among
the men, and made a sad chapter in ou r history.
We were ill-conditioned to offer resistance to the
destroyer. It reigned in terror; we had no cots —
many of the men were even without blankets; we
had no hospital accommodations; we did not have, nor
could we procure proper medicine and nutriment;
nurses were out of the question. Soon the quarters
were filled with the sick and the dying; and it seemed
we were powerless to succor or to save.

Although not in command at the time, I was not
the less anxious to do something to relieve the poor
boys. I called upon the catholic priest of the place
Father Leray, afterward Archbishop of Louisiana.
I opened a chat with the good father; as it became
lively he ordered a bottle of wine; as we were dis-
cussing it, in the most temperate manner, I mention-
ed the condition of the regiment, pictured its desper-
ate strait, for want of proper attention and hinted
that the Sisters of Mercy, who had a small organiza-
tion in the town, might aid us, in our extremity. He
took my words to heart, and proposed we should
call upon them. The mother was asked for, and
soon appeared; on mentioning our" errand, she said
they would do what they could. They proved to be
Angels of Mercy. They turned their pretty home
into a hospital; every room was filled with our suf-
ferers, doubtless many lives were saved by their ten-
der ministrations.

VICKSBURG. 15

The ladies of the town and neighborhood also
were very kind in taking the sick to their own
homes; I succeeded in entering six of my former
company at the City Hospital. We secured a large
airy country house, a short distance out, which was
turned into a hospital; and where the sick had all
the attention practicable, under the circumstances.
The good genius of this country house was a young
unmarried woman about twenty years of age; I re-
gret I cannot recall the name of this Florence
Nightingale. The record that is on high will show it.
With all the grace and dignity culture could add to
refinement, she made her home here amid the pes-
tilence, and never wearied in her gentle offices to the
sick and dying.

The regiment when organized with eight com-
panies consisted of nearly eight hundred men.
When the companies of Captains Metoyer and
Delahoussaye were added, it was about nine hundred
strong. Our number for duty was now so reduced
that on June 13, it was only one hundred and ninety-
seven, and on June 14, two hundred and one. Of
course many absent had been detailed to attend to
the sick.

On June i8th. all of the regiment that could be
moved were ordered to return to camp, near Ed-
ward's station. We changed camp on the 21st. for
better water and more shade; and on July 8th. we
moved to Camp Hall, three miles from Edward's
station and about that distance nearer to Vicksburg.

CHAPTER IV.

CAMP HALL.
July — August, 1862,

Camp Hall was on a road leading to, and about
eighteen miles from Vicksburg; in a beautiful grove of
young oak and hickory, on a level stretch of ground,
which enabled us to lay ofif the camp in military
style. The streets between the tents of the "Field
and Staff," and the tents of the officers of the line, was
one hundred feet wide; and the street between the
tents of the latter, and those of the men was two
hundred feet in width. The former street was re-
served as a lounging place for the officers, where they
could chat, write or read and have their mess tables.
The cooking for the Field and Staff was done in the
rear of their tents, and their horses were also kept in
the rear; so this street always presented an inviting
appearance. It was quite a sight about one o'clock,
which was our dinner hour, to look through it, and
note groups of three or four around a rude table, in
a shady spot, discussing the latest effort of their
cooks. Colonel De Clouet, Captain N^e, his cousin,
who was our quartermaster, and myself messed
together, with the Colonel's old negro servant Jesse,
as our chef de cuisine. Old Jesse was provokingly
set in his ways, not always to our comfort, but I
never heard the Colonel utter a word of reproach
to him, although whenever Jesse brought in our

CAMP HALL. 1 7

coffee some time after it and the fire had parted com-
pany, he would go so far as to say in the mildest
manner, "Jesse, le caf^ n'est pas chaud."

Being alone one day I invited Captain Pilsbury,
our Adjutant, Captain Bisland and Lieutenant Jo-
seph Aycock, to dine with me. Captain Pilsbury,
with a thoughtfulness which chimed with the occa-
sion, remarked as all of his mess were away he would
"fuse" with me. I was therefore not surprised when
his servant, who was a clever cook, brought the
Captain's quota for the table; Captain Bisland fur-
nished his boy Harrison as waiter. Lieutenant Ay-
cock furnished gutta-percha tumblers and tin plates.
We had a soup Julienne from Captain Pilsbury, a
chicken gumbo from the deft hands of old Jesse,
pork and cabbage, a tempting daube, sweetmeats from
Captain P's, and caf^ noir.

Four springs under the brow of a hill hard by,
kept clean and guarded by sentries, furnished our
drinking water; the Big Black river very near gave us
water for bathing and washing clothes, besides sup-
plying us with fish. The men were pleased with the
location, and in good spirits. The neighborhood at
the time was supplied with milk, butter, eggs, chick-
ens, vegetables and fresh meat, so necessary to the
sick, to whom the ladies of the neighborhood, God
bless them, were unremitting in their attentions;
many of our sick and convalescents being at their
own homes.

Mr. M. L. Cook, whose plantation was near to us,
was very kind, but he came into camp one day in no
good temper, and complained to me that the men
had been taking boards off his gin-house. I sug-
gested we go through the men's quarters in search of
them. We went down one street and up another.
It was apparent the men were not too comfortable,

1 8 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

and we saw no boards. His brow relaxed — his big
heart would not down— he said, in his impulsive way,
" It's no use to look further. D— n it, the men want
them. Let them keep the boards ! " We gave up
the search, and went off for a chat.

Mr. Cook had a fine field of corn on the road op-
posite the camp, and I think it a credit to the men
that its savory roasting ears were allowed to mature
unharmed.

It seemed a matter of course with me, to keep a
parental eye on the Allen Rifles. I was gratified to
note they took care of each other, as so many broth-
ers. Joseph and Eugene Trosclair, Aubain Bour-
geois and Morvan were particularly active and kind
to the sick; while Oscar Webre watched over them
with a rare judgment of their necessities, and an
unobtrusive devotion to their comfort.

Our sick began to improve. On July 19 we had
two hundred and sixty nine for duty, on July 22,
three hundred and twenty seven, and on July 23,
three hundred and thirty.

Among those who attended to the sick was Mrs.
Hill, the mother of John Hill of Company I. She
was with the regiment for some time, shared our
camp fare, and devoted her time to the poor boys,
with a mother's concern and thoughtfulness.

Officers and men alike received numerous atten-
tions from the families of the neighborhood. Our
uniform here, as indeed, elsewhere, was a passport to
any household. The state of the country drew
closely the bonds of social life, so that we felt at
home wherever we went, by reason of the welcome
we met, and the hospitality with which we were
entertained.

Of the soldier-guests in Southern homes, there
was usually, with a rare and blessed delicacy, a dis-

CAMP HALL. 19

tinction made in favor of the private. It was pre-
sumed the officer had better opportunities for talcing
care of himself, and so, in truth, he had. When,
therefore, a household volunteered to take care of a
squad of sick or convalescents, it was common to
seek them among the rank and file.

As the Federal fleet now patrolled the Mississippi,
and separated us from our homes, we had news from
our families only, now and then, as some bold spirit
would undertake to run the gauntlet of the river.
The enemy had already raided the Lafourche, and it
was debatable ground. In this strait, Auguste
Roger, of Lafourche and Roi, of one of the Atta-
kapas parishes, undertook to act as express riders
from their respective neighborhoods, to our camp,
for the purpose of carrying letters to and fro, and
such parcels of clothing as could be brought to us.
It may well be imagined, the appearance in camp of
one or the other, was always hailed with delight.
As our express remained with us only long enough
to enable us to write in return, the camp in the
meanwhile seemed changed to a writing school, and
all we're sending home accounts of "moving accidents,
by flood and field."

Our expresses as I have mentioned, not only
brought us letters, but clothing, which was most ac-
ceptable; as the men and many of the officers brought
no extra clothing out of New Orleans; and our
Quartermaster's Department, at the time could not
help us.

Roger would make a trip to camp and return
about every two weeks, bringing something every
time to relieve the necessities of the exiled boys.
On one of his trips he brought two sacks and six
champagne baskets of clothing. Only a dogged
spirit could have done as much, in view of the fact.

20 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

the enemy had to be eluded, stream and swamp
crossed in small boats, the clothing packed across
the country mainly on horseback, at some points
a part only could be taken forward, compelling re-
turn trips for the remainder, and at one time he
packed part of a load .on his back for two miles,
where the water was two feet deep, making several
trips for the purpose of securing the remainder.

Our ordinary camp duties were as follows: Rev-
eille at 4 A. M. and Battalion drill for two hours.

6:15 Surgeons Call.

6:45 First Sergeants Call.

7 Breakfast Call.

8 Guard Mounting.

8 Company Drill Two Hours.

I P.M. Dinner Call.

6 " Dress Parade.

8 " Tattoo.

8:10" Taps.
On selecting these hours exposure to the mid-
day sun was avoided, which seemed necessary until
the command was thoroughly seasoned.

It had been a question among the officers wheth-
er the army regulations and articles of war, adopted
by the Confederate States and taken in substance
from the Federal Codes, were not intended for a
regular army, and did not apply in all their strictness
to us, as volunteers. We submitted the question to
Gen. Smith, who informed us they applied to volun-
teer and regular without distinction. We took
them, from that time, as a guide; they were referred
to as authority, and it was our endeavor to comply
with them in letter and spirit.

In tactics we had almost everything to learn.
Captain Martin, Lieutenant Shaffer and some others
had already served in Virginia, and their experience

CAMP HALL. 2 1

was valuable to us. Copies of Hardee's tactics were
procured at an early day, and the officers studied and
drilled. Colonel Cage, Captains Shaffer and Martin
were familiar with battalion drill and initiated the
regiment. After while I took it in charge. I
studied 'at first a few simple moves, took out the
regiment and put it through so far as I had gone.
I would then study a few more moves, add these
to the drill, and so on — learning the lesson and teach-
ing it. I never studied with more assiduity. About
the time I was conceited enough to consider I could
handle the regiment as a tactician, I would make a
sad blunder, and soon retire from the field with a
wounded and subdued vanity. On one occasion I
got the regiment so mixed and confused, I had to
invoke Captain Martin's superior skill to give shape
to the unseemly mob I had made. A blunder of
another sort, which many civilians persist in com-
mitting, arises from failing to recognize the antipo-
dal distinction between civil and military rule, and
taking the former, by way of analogy, as a guide in
the latter.

About this time I committed an indiscretion of
this kind, in making an application to General Van
Dorn, in command of the Department, in which I
expressed the unanimous desire of the regiment to
be removed to Louisiana, in order to defend the
homes of its members. It was suggested their
knowledge of the country and the people would
enable it to do good service there, and not allow a
few hundred of the enemy, as had been done,
to overrun the fairest portion of the State.

General Van Dorn endorsed on the communica-
tion: "Applications such as the within do not come
within the limits of military propriety. Good sol-
diers go where they are ordered, and serve the

2 2 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

country to the best of their ability wherever the
government sees fit to place them."

I felt thankful the application was returned with
so gentle an admonition, and endeavored afterward,
in whatever I did, to keep "within the limits of
military propriety,"

CHAPTER V.

CAMP LAGARDE.
Sept.— Oct., 1S62.

About the 25th of September we str.uck our tents
for Camp Lagarde, a point two miles in tlie rear of
Vicksbm-g, where we pitched them on several irreg-
ular spurs of ground, covered with the queenly
magnolia.

As the health of the regiment had now improved,
and as the weather was becoming cooler, we took up
books and drill eagerly, in the endeavor to reach a
high standard of discipline. The school .of company
officers was kept up, and there were company and
battalion drills daily. General Smith also drilled the
brigade.

Our commissary stores at this time, though lacking
in variety, were ample in quantity. We had corn,
meal, fresh beef, a small quantity of pork and bacon,
rice, molasses, flour for the sick, and sweet potatoes
abounded in the neighborhood. But winter was
coming on apace, and our Quartermaster's depart-
ment was sadly deficient. Roger and Roi con-
tinued their trips from our homes, always bringing
some clothing, which added much to our comfort.
The night of October 25th, and for two nights suc-
cessively, it was cold enough to form ice. Very soon
afterward thirty-five cases of pneumonia were devel-
oped in camp. Among its victims was ist Lieuten-

24 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ant Edward B. Crow, of Company E, a brother of
Captain Crow, a faithful young officer whose modest
demeanor marked intrinsic worth, and who impressed
all about him with the manly beauty of his character.
Two hundred of the regiment were at this time
without shoes; by dint of sending out to remote
places, where we could procure a few pairs, we grad-
ually had the men shod. We now received suits of
Georgia woolen for the regiment, professedly made
to order, some of which fitted, and a great many did
not. I wore my suit once, but it showed so much
wrist and ankle, I turned it over to Lieutenant
Leonard. Still the regiment suffered greatly for
want of blankets or a substitute. To obtain enough
for the regiment, in any way known to the army
regulations, was simply impracticable. Considering
that Company I had some personal claim upon me,
and was made up from the sons of old friends and
neighbors, I reconciled it to my conscience as not
doing an injustice to the other companies, if I were
to beg for them; so I asked Captain Tucker to let
me have a few of the boys of the company, and I
started with them to Vicksburg, determined to beg
from door to door, for whatever might suit our pur-
pose. At the first house we stopped, I enquired
for the lady of the house; when she appeared I men-
tioned to her the company was nearly destitute of
blankets, and that if she had anything whatever that
would serve the purpose, that she could spare, we
would be glad to have it. In a moment she pro-
duced several pieces of rag-carpeting, which she
said we were welcome to, and which the poor boys
eagerly folded and packed off, and all of us rejoiced
that our maiden effort, at a novel mode of acquisi-
tion, had been crowned with success. We then
went to the next dwelling on the street we were

CAMP LAGARDE. 25

canvassing, and the next with strict impartiality.
Very soon a negro woman came towards us laden
with quilts that, evidently, had seen service, and ten-
dered them to us. She had simply heard of our
wants, and without solicitation had taken these, per-
haps from her own bed, and in that charity that
haply, belongs to no creed and no race, gave them to
us. A lady we called upon had a parlor carpet, dis-
figured by a huge oil spot from an overturned lamp,
which she gave to us. Another we called upon said
she had nothing that would answer the purpose, but
that she had some socks, the product of her own
household, which she could offer to us, and which I
accepted, well knowing willing feet would be found
for them. By the way, this lady saw me afterward,
commanding the regiment at dress parade, when I
had been promoted to the colonelcy, and told me
she had remarked that any officer who would go
about begging for his regiment, deserved to com-
mand it, and she seemed gratified to see me at its
head.

I continued these begging expeditions some three
or four days, starting early and giving the entire day
to it, and when every man of Captain Tucker's com-
pany was supplied, I kept them up for the benefit
of Captain Lagarde's company, which was also filled
with sons of old friends and neighbors.

A morning report before me for three days, end-
ing Oct. 3d, shows:

In arrest, ... - None.

Total sick, - - - 45

Aggregate strength of the regiment, ']']-2,
The aggregate strength of each company at this
tirne, was as follows :

Company A, Captain Mouton, 107
" B, " Bateman, 71

26

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Company C,

C;

iptain

Martin,

85

D,

Lagarde,

81

" E,

Crow,

86

" F,

Shafifer,

64

G,

Metoyer,

63

" H,

Bisland,

93

I,

Tucker,

78

K,

Winder,

34

CHAPTER VI.

CAMP CROW.
Nov.— Dec. 1862.

Late in the fall we moved to Camp Crow, a
spot near the Vicksburg Cemetery; the 17th Louis-
iana Infantry, commanded by Colonel Robert Richard-
son, being encamped near. We made om"selves
quite comfortable by flooring the tents with boards,
and building chimneys so as to allow fire within.

The regiment was composed almost entirely of
Creoles, by that tei'm I mean natives of Louisiana
of French descent. The companies of Captains
Bateman and Metoyer, were about one half only of
that element, the remainder being mainly of Ameri-
can descent; and there were portions of American
descent, in all the companies. There were some
Irishmen, and very few Germans in the regiment.

The officers were about equally divided — one half
Creoles — the remainder of American parentage.
The Creoles were brought up in the Roman Catho-
lic faith. Subordination to "the powers that be,"
was the earliest lesson of their childhood; hence
they were easily governed. Their duty made known
to them, performance followed. Whenever in com-
mand, I used to make it known I obeyed orders
without question, and expected obedience in turn,
from all in ray charge. While a call for volunteers
for special service was responded to, officers and

28 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

men preferred a regular detail for the purpose. There
was not any of the looseness of discipline common
among volunteer troops. Indeed, men as well as
officers seemed to grasp readily the central idea of
subordination — the soul of military life — and sub-
mitted to it cheerfully, as a simple duty.

It is matter of profound pride to speak of the
officers, collectively, as being all that could be de-
sired. The simple name of Alexandre De Clouet,
as Colonel, gave tone to the regiment. Of French
descent, of high-bred ancestry, one could readily be-
lieve he descended from those heroes of the mother
land, whose bloody blades were never sheathed save
in honor, and whose knightly prowess illuminated the
pages of their country's history, and were the bur-
then of song and story. Dignity, courtesy and cour-
age were the triumvirs that ruled his every thought,
and proportioned his every act. He dared do all
things, save to do a wrong.

Colonel Cage was the very type of the southern
gentleman. His quiet and approachable manner,
and gracious speech, could only partially conceal a
chivalric nature, endowed with a lofty devotion to
principle, with a keen sense to perceive, and an en-
ergetic will to execute, what he believed to be right.
The instinct of military life was strong in him, and
it was a misfortune to the cause that he was not
able through ill health, as Col. De Clouet from ad-
vancing years, to undergo the privations of camp and
field.

Adjutant Pilsbury, was an agreeable, faithful and
efficient officer. We should have missed his p-ood

to

services more, if we had not been fortunate enough
to secure Mr. Bisland for the uninteresting, but nec-
essary details of this Department.

Of the company pfificers it would seem an ungrac-

CAMP CROW. 29

ious task to single out any, there were so many that
were excellent, — that gave so much of a becoming
spirit to the entire command, that the less qualified,
and there were few of these, were pricked on to
eniulate, if not to excel. With all this, I feel there
was not an officer of the regiment, that would not
heartily join me, in any commendation I might
utter of Major Martin. His mind was of that pecu-
liar turn that intuitively grasped all military evolu-
tions. In a conflict he was as much at home, as if
in his tent knitting socks — a domestic labor with
which he whiled away spare moments of camp life.
On occasions when it became necessary to select, he
was one who would be in mind, and upon whom
command would naturally devolve, and he had the
undoubted mark of merit in his simple ways, his
gentle bearing, his mild speech, and a modest nature.
He was a born soldier, and would have adorned a
much higher position than he filled, at his untimely
death in the trenches of Vicksburg.

Lieutenant Colonel Crow was "as gallant a soul
as ever blood warmed." I would have given him
charge of any desperate undertaking, in implicit
faith he would do all that could be done to achieve
it.

Adjutant Bisland was well adapted to his posi-
tion — correct, methodical, painstaking, he performed
duties without a murmur of dissatisfaction from any
quarter. Captain N6e did the very best with the
slender and inadequate resources of his department.
His office was a thankless one, and was often ex-
pected, doubtless without thought, to furnish sup-
plies, and perform services, wholly beyond its limited
means.

Captain Moss as commissary was prompt, active
and enterprising. He got the best he could on his

30 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

requisitions, and furnished the regiment as regularly
and bountifully as his usually lean larder afforded.

Surgeon Hall's forte was to improvise and substi-
tute, and make the most of the slender resources of
the Hospital Department. He was an adept at or-
ganizing — vigilant and painstaking. The sick and
wounded were as well cared for, as it was practicable
under the circumstances.

It may not be amiss to say here, I watched this
department sedulously. I made constant visits to
the sick and wounded in the regimental hospital, or
wherever they were, and knowing how careless nurses
generally are in such times, I visited the slightest
neglect and inattention on their heads, indeed would
not feel satisfied of any visit, if I did not find some-
thing out of the way, wherewith to charge them.
I think they feared me with a wholesome fear.

It may well be imagined that with such an effici-
ent and faithful body of officers, the commander of
the regiment had all he could do, to maintain his
position in keeping with the spirit and discipline in-
fused into the command, by such an array.

The non-commissioned officers, on whom so much
depends for the discipline in camp, which is neces-
sary to effectiveness on the field, were in harmony
with the remainder of the regiment, and gave a full
share to maintaining its good name; the first ser-
geants particularly, were thorough-paced soldiers,
any one of whom was worthy of the stripe of a
lieutenant. Quartermaster-Sergeant Thomas S. Bis-
land was especially efficient in his office, and although
it was not of as imposing a character as many others,
he was not behind any commissioned officer, in exe-
cuting, with zeal and fidelity, the duties assigned to him.

Chief Musician Theodore C. Minvielle deserves
the commendation of the regiment, for the skill and

CAMP CROW. 31

patience with which he taught and practiced the
band, which gave so much life to the command, and
set its fair fame to music.

Surgeon Hall secured the services of Minvielle
and two musicians. Minvielle then selected certain
men out of the regiment, of whom I made a detail.
The necessary instruments were procured after dili-
gent search, for they were rare. Minvielle and his
neophytes began practice at once, and in a few
weeks the band was able to play a few tunes credit-
ably. He labored incessantly. In a short time the
repertoire of the band had sufficient variety, and it
was in demand on any gala day; indeed it would have
been worthy of any regiment, and was a source of
much recreation to us.

It must not be supposed that in our military family
of many hundred men we did not have our domestic
troubles. Self was not entirely forgotten. Interests
sometimes clashed. The acts of ranking officers in-
vited comrhent, and may have merited censure ; but
these family jars sunk into the insignificance in which
they had birth, in a conflict with the enemy. On
that grand occasion, the regiment was one and in-
divisible. As twinkling stars fade when the Day-
God approaches so petty disagreements disappeared,
in the glory that shone around our flag, when planted
defiantly in the face of the invader.

It may not be amiss to mention here, in a general
way, the extent and character of the supplies fur-
nished the regiment while in service.

While at Camp Moore, just after the retreat from
New Orleans, we obtained, on requisition, whatever
was necessary to complete our arms and accoutre-
ments. Most of the companies were armed with
the Enfield riffe, a good muzzle-loader of that time.
Two companies had Belgian rifles, which were sub-

32 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

sequently changed for the Enfield pattern. We had
sufficient ammunition, but none to spare.

During over three years of service we received, if
I remember rightly, only two suits of clothes to the
man, through the Quartermaster's Department.
The suits consisted of a jacket and pantaloons;
whatever we had besides, was received from our
friends, or obtained by our own efforts from private
sources, by gift or purchase. As to shoes, hats and
shirts we had to take care of ourselves. Blankets
or any substitute were out of the question, save
what we might procure individually, from patriotic
citizens.

This normal condition of the Quartermaster's De-
partment was occasionally diversified by the patient
industry of Captain N^e, who would gather from
one source or another, one hardly realizes how, a
few shoes, or boots, or hats, or a small lot of cloth-
ing, by which he was able to provide, not for all the
needy, but for some of the worst cases of destitu-
tion.

As the men exhausted the occasional and partial
stores of the Quartermaster's Department, and as
the blockade of all southern ports soon depleted all
sources of private supply, it required effort on the
part of the officers to present an appearance suitable
to their rank; and it is to the credit of officers and
men that on all occasions of ceremony, their dress
was tidy and becoming.

In the commissary department we were soon re-
duced to elemental principles. Prior to the seige
of Vicksburg, and it never improved, we had corn-
meal, fresh beef, bacon as a substitute for lard, salt
and soap. The officers had nothing more, and it re-
quired all the energy of Captain Mess to regularly
provide even these for us. The corn-meal was

CAMP CROW. 33

often made into bread for three days rations, when
we were in the field. Corn bread three days old was
not palatable even to hungry men, but it stifled hun-
ger. Early in 1863, the cattle from which we had
beef were so impoverished many died every day from
sheer hunger, and the quota of beef furnished the
regiment from these famished cattle was repulsive in
its blueness. For weeks, quarters of it were daily
laid on the bench in front of the commissary tent,
for any one to take as much as wanted. Few avail-
ed themselves of the opportunity — some of the more
hungry ventured to appease a gnawing stomach with
the best portions. I complained at Brigade Head-
quarters, but was informed no other meat could be
provided at the time, and so the boys bore the pangs
of hunger, without discontent and with manly hearts.

After we left New Orleans in April, 1862, we
never had a ration of coffee or tea. We rarely had
enough spirits for hospital purposes. Rank and file
were temperate to excess. Officers, with superior
facilities, now and then secured a bottle. It is pre-
sumed it was used medicinally.

The Hospital Department was in keeping with
the other departments of supply. Dr. Hall, how-
ever, was adept in using to advantage whatever was
within his reach, and in substituting one drug by the
next best in his medicine chest. Usually, we had
wheat flour for the sick and convalescent, but willow
bark frequently took the place of quinine.

Some time in the fall of 1862 General Martin L.
Smith was promoted to the rank of Major-General,
and Brigadier-General Stephen D. Lee of South
CaroHna, a graduate of West Point, assumed com-
mand of the brigade, which about Dec. 4th was
reorganized and composed of the following com-
mands:

34 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Lieutenant Drew's Battery of Light Artillery.

Captain Bowman's " . " "

4th Regt. Miss. Infantry, Colonel Layton

46th " " " Lieutenant Col. Easterby

17th " La. " Colonel Richardson

26th " " " Colonel Cage

27th " " " - - Colonel Marks

28th " " " Colonel Allen Thomas

31st " " " - Colonel Morrison

While at this camp, General Joseph E. Johnston
came to Vicksburg, and a day was set on which he
would review the troops. I was anxious and made
every effort to give a fine appearance as to strength
of command, as well as discipline. When the regi-
ment was drawn up in line ready for the review, I
noticed a squad of twenty or more of our men pos-
ing as an audience, instead of being actors. Doubt-
less they were convalescents and men off duty, who
took advantage of their exemption to keep out of
the ranks. Considering they could have swelled our
numbers, if they had wished to do so, and that they
should have waived their exemption for the credit of
the regiment, it occured to me^ to teach them a les-
son. I went quietly up to Sergeant Stansbury, of
Company B, and told him to take six men and sur-
round and hold the idle squad. Quick as thought
Stansbury had his men out, and the squad held as
prisoners. They attempted to break through his
lines, he told them he was ordered to keep them
where they were. I then went up and ordered Stans-
bury to march them up and down in front of the
brigade. When he had done so, I went to them and
said they were the sort of men that shirked duty on
the field of battle, and they could now go to their
quarters. The squad was afterward known in camp
as "Company Q."

Camp croW. 35

On November loth Colonel De Clouet was re-
lieved from duty, his resignation having been ac-
cepted.

The vacancy was filled by the promotion of Lieut-
enant Colonel Cage to the Colonelcy. I was pro-
moted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Cap-
tain Lagarde the senior Captain having declined
promotion, Captain Crow next in rank was pro-
moted to the office of Major.

On December 18 Surgeon Lashbrook tendered his
resignation which was accepted; while his resigna-
tion was pending Dr. Alfred Hall acted as surgeon,
having already been assistant-surgeon, and he was
appointed to the office of surgeon, on the acceptance
of Dr. Lashbrook's resignation.

Adjutant Pilsbury having resigned, Mr. John R.
Bisland was appointed to the vacancy.

Other changes, in the offices of the regiment, are
noted in the appendix.

CHAPTER VII.

CHICKASAW BAYOU.
December, 1862.

As introductory to the part taken by the regiment
in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, it may be well to
state that late in the fall of the year 1862, the enemy
planned certain movements of the Army of the De-
partment of the Tennessee, co-operating with the
gun-boat fleet under command of Flag-officer Porter,
having for an ultimate object, the capture of Vicks-
burg, and opening of the Mississippi River.

In a letter of instructions from General Grant to
General Sherman, dated at Oxford, Miss., Dec. 8,
1862,* the latter was ordered to take certain troops
from Memphis and Helena, Ark., move down the
river, and with the co-operation of the gun-boat
fleet, proceed to the reduction of Vicksburg.

The instructions stated that transportation for
30,000 men would be ordered, and any deficiency
was to be supplied from the port of Memphis.

On Dec. 14, General Grant in a note to General
Sherman, relative to this expedition, states:

" The 21,000 men you have, with the 12,000 from
Helena, will make a good force."f

* See Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 283.
f Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 283.

CI-IICKASAW BAYOU. 37

In his Memoirs, General Sherman writes,

"The preparations were necessarily hasty in the
extreme, but this was the essence of the whole plan,
viz: to reach Vicksburg as it were by surprise, while
General Grant held in check Pemberton's Army
about Grenada, leaving me to contend only with the
smaller garrison at Vicksburg, and its well known
strong batteries and defences."

"On the 19th the Memphis troops were embarked
and steamed down to Helena, where on the 21st
General Steele's Division was also embarked, and on
the 22d we were all rendezvoused at Friar's Point."*

The expedition consisted of four divisions, com-
prising forty-three regiments of infantry; The
First Iowa Artillery; eight additional batteries;
Thielman's Cavalry, with some fractional commands.f

Kentucky furnished three of the regiments;
Ohio — ten; Indiana — eight; Illinois — six; Iowa —
six; Wisconsin — one; and Missouri — nine. J

Fifty-seven transports were required to move the
formidable body, and it really seemed as if "the
smaller garrison at Vicksburg" mentioned by Gen-
eral Sherman, was hardly a mouthful for the monster.

To meet this imposing array we had the 1 7th — '
26th — 28th and 31st La., the 42d Georgia — the 4th
and 46th Miss., and parts of the 3rd — i8th and 30th
Tennessee, these parts not amounting to an average
regiment, in all about three thousand men and ten
field pieces. §

Thirty-three thousand men were pitted against
three thousand! It seemed as if the odds were
against us.

* Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 285.
f Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 286.
\ See note i appendix for other details.

^ This statement is from a letter of Lieutenant General S. D. Lee, to
the writer.

38 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

In compliance with oi'dcrs from Major General
M. L. Smith, in command at Vicksburg, General S.
D. Lee, took charge of the defence of the water
front, from that city to Snyder's Mills, on the
Yazoo, where we had extensive fortifications. The'
distance from Vicksburg to Snyder's Mills was
about ten miles. This water front had a swamp in
its rear, which it was necessary to traverse in oi'der
to reach the hisfh arround, on which was the road lead-
ing to Vicksburg. There were only five points at
which the enemy could cross this swamp, save b)^
pontoons. One of these points was Chickasaw Bayou,
where there was a good road running along the
Bayou, from the Yazoo, and it was selected by Sher-
man for his main attack. It being his intention to
move on this road, across the low ground and attack
our position which was near two miles from the
Yazoo, and covered the road leading to Vicksburg
just referred to, as far as we were able to protect
it.

This position selected by General Lee, although
the best the locality afforded to intercept the move-
ment of Sherman, had no particular advantage nat-
turally, or by artificial works. A portion of the line
held rifle pits, such as might be thrown up in a
night, indeed a part of the line held by the 26th had
no pits, until they had been made by using sword
bayonets, being the only implement at hand. Some
pits in advance of the main line, which were held
by the 26th for the two days prior to the main battle
were unskillfuUy constructed, and were commanded
by an enfilading fire of the enemy, under which we
suffered seriously.

With this outline of the surroundings, I will now
confine myself more strictly to the part taken by the
regiment in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou.

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 39

On December 24th, 1862 orders came from Gen-
eral S. D. Lee, to move the regiment at once to a
point near Chickasaw Bayou, a few miles from
Vicksburg, in view of an anticipated attack, in that
vicinity, from the enemy at Yazoo River. We had
been subjected to the enemy's shelling for some time,
while on duty in Vicksburg without corresponding
advantage ; it now appeared we would soon be in a
position to give as well as take. We had, up
to this time, company and regimental and brig-
ade drills steadily — to the very confines of dis-
gust. When the regiment was drawn up, I recol-
lected how patiently it had borne the disciphne of
the drill, and how weary the men were of any move-
ment laid down by Hardee, and that now we were
to test the value of this discipline; so I gave an
order not in Hardee. "To meet the enemy — right
face — forward — march."

With a step, and a shout, the regiment responded.

On reaching the place designated, we found al-
ready there three companies of the 46th Miss., and
Captain Wofford's battery of four field pieces. Being
ranking officer, I assumed command. My orders
were to annoy the gun-boats, repel any attempt at
landing, and dispute the enemy's advance inland.
Captain Bateman was ordered to take his company
and Captain Winder's to the Yazoo, two miles away,
and annoy any gun-boats he would find there. He
remained on the river bank, in this service, until
dark, when he left Captain Winder there with a
strong picket, and bivouaced in the rear. The re-
mainder of the regiment slept on their arms on a
site afterward occupied by the enemy, and called by
it "Fort Morgan."

Next morning, (Dec. 25th.) although heavily
shelled, Captain Bateman, continued to annoy the

40 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

enemy, until relieved about noon, by Captain Crow,
with his company, and the companies of Captains
Metoyer and Tucker, and Captain Sublette, of the
46th Miss. Five gun-boats only four hundred yards
away furiously shelled Captain Crow's command,
which remained in the position, annoying the enemy
all in its power, until night, when Captain Metoyer's
and Captain Sublette's Companies were picketed for
the night on the river bank. Next morning, (Dec.
26th.) the command returned to the regiment.

On Dec. 25th Captain Mouton's company was de-
tached for service at the Indian mound and joined
the regiment the next day, or the day after. Cap-
tain Guion was also sent out with his company to
take a position on the river below Mrs. Lake's
house, in support of a section of Woflford's battery,
and to annoy the gun-boats. The battery did not
engage, but Captain Guion annoyed the gun-boats
for several hours, and until relieved by Captain
Shaffer's company.

The main body of the command bivouaced that
night near Fort Morgan within two miles of the
river. Some of the officers had made an egg-nog;
we had taken a glass, in memory of the old-time fes-
tivities of the season, and felt gay and chatty, when,
about 8 p. M. a scout rode in, and reported Captain
Shaffer's picket had a sharp skirmish with a small
body of the enemy, and were compelled to fall back.
There was a road leading from our bivouac to the
mouth of Chickasaw Bayou, where Captain Shaffer
had been placed. I ordered Captain Wofford to
take a section of his battery, and move on this road
toward the river, in support of Captain Shaffer;
Captain Martin was ordered to take his company
forward for the same purpose, and Captain Bisland
was ordered to move within supporting distance of

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 4 1

the command, in front. Captain Martin, being in
command, cautiously extended his picket line to a
point near its former position on the bank of the
river, without being further interfered with, during
the night.

MOVEMENTS ON FRIDAY, DEC. 26.

At daylight Captain Martin with ten men made a
reconnoissance and established a picket within three
or four hundred yards of the enemy's boats ; some of
the enemy being on land, but within pistol shot of
the boats. About 4 p. m. Captain Martin ordered
Lieutenant Leonard to take twenty men and drive
away a transport, and at the same time sent Lieuten-
ant Himel to take charge of the advance pickets.
Before Lieutenant Leonard reached the river bank,
the advance pickets discovered two regiments of
infantry, a battery, and a company of cavalry ap-
proaching. Lieutenant Leonard returned, and the
pickets were withdrawn. Captain Crow now came
up with his company, and assumed command. Two
details of skirmishers were ordered to the front, one
under Lieutenant Riu, and one under Sergeant
Richard, which were soon driven in, and fire opened
upon Captain Crow's command, which it returned
and kept up, as if fell back in good order for about
half a mile, where it reached the regiment, deployed
as skirmishers, in an old field near Mrs. Lake's dwell-
ing. The regiment while so deployed was shelled
by the enemy until dark, when the 17th La., took
its place, and it returned and bivouacked near Fort
Morgan.

On the same day Captain Guion had been sent
out to relieve Captain Metoyer's Company, which
had been posted on Blake's levee above the mouth
of Chickasaw Bayou. Captain Guion posted the

42 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

main body of his company about a mile from the
Yazoo, sent out a picket of twelve men under Lieu-
tenant Legendre, and bivouacked near the levee.

MOVEMENTS ON SATURDAY DEC. 27.

Captain Guion sent a detail under Lieutenant
Champagne to relieve Lieutenant Legendre. Lieu-
tenant Champagne soon reported a regiment of in-
fantry and several companies of cavalry had land-
ed. Captain Guion sent out scouts who stated
enemy were advancing. He moved his company
to the rear for a better position. A body of dis-
mounted cavalry opened fire upon his command,
which was vigorously returned, and maintained as
he retreated until sheltered by our artillery, when
he picketed half his company and bivoaucked.

The regiment early in the morning was posted in
rifle pits about five hundred yards in advance of our
main line, as appears by the accompanying sketch.
The 17th La., under Colonel Richardson, had biv-
ouacked in front of us, and were soon engaged in a
hot skirmish with the enemy. I sent out Captain
Bateman with his and Captain Shaffer's Companies,
to deploy in a piece of woods to our right, and skir-
mish with the left flank of the enemy. Bateman's
detachment was met by Colonel Withers, then rank-
ing officer on the front, who varied my order, and
directed Bateman to proceed at a double quick and
flank the enemy. Bateman soon found himself con-
fronted by artillery and three regiments of infantry.
Shot and shell and vollies of musketry soon com-
pelled him to retire. A prisoner however, reported
this detachment before retiring killed six and wound-
ed two of the enemy.

While this skirmishing was going on, the regiment
in the pits was continuously and heavily shelled.

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 43

The 17th La., were relieved during the day, by the
28th La., under Colonel Allen Thomas, whose com-
mand skirmished with the enemy until night, when
they slept on the ground they had fought over.

MOVEMENTS ON SUNDAY DEC. 28.

The enemy opened fire upon Captain Guion at
Blake's levee this morning, with artillery and small
arms. He was reinforced by a company from the
46th Miss., and subsequently relieved by a company
from the same regiment, when he joined us in the
rifle pits.

Brisk skirmishing began early on the line of the
28th. Captain Martin was ordered to take his com-
pany and Captain Metoyer's, and protect Colonel
Thomas' right flank. Colonel Thomas being heavily
pressed was forced to retire through our regimental
line, and Captain Martin brought in his detachment
under heavy fire.

There was now nothing between the enemy and
the 26th and on they came. I passed near each
company, and spoke to each a few words of cheer.
The shelling was kept up and the minnie balls soon
began to whistle about us, but as the firing was
under cover of woods which came within two hun-
dred yards of our pits, we could have only occasional
glimpses of a moving body, therefore fired sparingly.

The enemy, well under cover of the woods, main-
tained their shelling and musketry fire during the
day. There was a wagon road from the Yazoo,
running up to and through our pits. The enemy
ran up a battery on this road to within about four
hundred yards of our line, and in plain view; about
the time the guns were unlimbered we peppered
them so hotly, they retired hastily, without favoring
us with a single shot. Early in the afternoon- we

44 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

noted a movement in the woods on our right, it
seemed to be a body of men, and we opened on them.
Soon some one cried out "they are our own men."
Firing ceased without an order. I then had to de-
termine whether it was friend or foe. After a mo-
ment of awful suspense, I decided, I hardly know
how, that it was a hostile line, and ordered the firing
kept up; all signs of them soon disappeared. We
learned afterwards it was two regiments in line of
battle.

An unexpected element of danger soon revealed
itself, the pits we were in were constructed in such
manner, as to expose us to an enfilading fire of sharp-
shooters in the woods to our right, and we were
entirely at their mercy.

Another strange feature of these pits was that
they were not only raked by an enfilading fire, but
the ground in the rear was an open field sloping up-
ward for some five hundred yards to the bluff, so
that retreat would have exposed us from head to
toe for that distance to the fire of the enemy. As
an illustration of this. Lieutenant Lee, a cousin of
General S. D. Lee, and an officer of his staff, gal-
loped down to us, at the time the enemy reached us
in the morning, and as he was giving me an order I
noticed him put a finger to his mouth, he galloped
back, with a joint less on his right forefinger, a bul-
let having carrie;d it away. It is creditable to the
command that the order to occupy the pits, given
doubtless from the urgency of the case, was obeyed
with the same alacrity, as if the position had every
advantage known to modern warfare.

It was a long weary day to us. It seemed night
would never come. I wished for it as heartily as
Wellington wished for night or Blucher at Water-
loo. Captain Legarde whom we considered as Maj-

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 45

or, by right of promotion, on Colonel De Clouet
being relieved from duty, had charge of the left wing,
and I, of the right. More than once I contrasted his
cool, stubborn, matter of fact way, with my intensi-
fied and anxious condition. He miffht have been
assaulted, overpowered, every man killed about him;
but he would have been found there, still holding
the trenches.

Officers and men alike were quiet and self-pos-
sessed. The men lying low save those on the look-
out, or those in the act of firing. All felt we had
been placed there to hold the trenches, and that we
would do so coute qu'il coute. About the middle of
the afternoon Captain Tucker was struck in the
right temple by a minnie ball. He had made a seat
of a small box from which he persistently kept an
eye to the front, with his head above the embank-
ment, scorning to shield it. He was carried to the
bluff after dark, and died during the night.

Whilst we were so engaged, General Lee and
staff, the main body of the troops with their officers,
and citizens of Vicksburg, including many ladies,
were on the bluffs to our rear, where they could see
every shot fired by us, and our flag, which had forty
bullet holes made in it that day, defiantly floating
over our works.

The red sun set; with darkness the firing ceased;
we breathed freely, and we still held the trenches !

Besides Captain Tucker, we lost here six privates
killed and two wounded. Pickets were posted a rod
apart on the embankment, and I reported to General
Lee, who ordered the trenches vacated at 2 a.m., leav-
ing a picket there, at which hour the companies went
out one by one, with a tread noiseless as the step of
time, leaving the gallant Crow with his company, at
the perilous post, until after daylight, when the

46 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

picket was withdrawn, and Captain Crow thanked
by General Lee for the faithful and efficient per-
formance of his hazardous duty.

Our next position was near the foot of the hills,
five hundred yards in the rear. There were no pits
where we were placed, and we had no pioneer tools,
but by dint of using the sword bayonets, by morn-
ing the men had some protection.

MOVEMENTS OF MONDAY, DEC. 29.

In the early part of the day there was comparative
quiet. Our line of battle ran in nearly a straight
direction at the foot of a range of hills, where we
had shallow rifle pits, with two batteries, all cover-
ing substantially the open ground the enemy had to
cross in order to reach us. About 9 a. m. we could
perceive considerable stir indicating a general as-
sault, and at 10 a. m. their line was formed. A ter-
rific storm of shot and shell now burst upon us, and
in its fury its seemed as if no living thing about us
could escape. When at its heighth I cried out at
the highest pitch of my voice : "That's the music ! "
Captain Winder remarked afterward, to some gen-
tlemen in my presence, that he felt some misgivings,
until he heard me, when he dismissed all concern.

Under cover of shot and shell, the enemy ad-
vanced, with a force quite sufficient to carry our
weak lines, for the men in the pits were in single
file, and we had no reserve force. Artillery and
infantry, on both sides, soon became hotly engaged.
The enemy's line continued to advance, although
every weapon on our side was warm, and every man
was doing his best. Some approached within fifty
yards of our line, but it was their last assault. Soon
the line wavers and breaks, and confusedly attempts
to retire. Many prefer surrender rather than being

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 47

one of a mass our rifles could hardly miss. I re-
ceived an order from General Lee to report to him
with six companies of the regiment, as six had been
detached, I took the remainder, being the compa-
nies of Captains Mouton, Bateman, Bisland and
Lieutenant Webre commanding Company I. We
had hardly started, when the command reached a
point, where a body of the enemy was in full view,
only a hundred yards away. The temptation was too
great for the naughty boys. They stopped without
orders, and savagely peppered the blue coats. I
thought it best to let them have their own way for a
while, as if a part of the programme of the occasion,
as I feared they might not respond to an order to
move, with their usual subordination. I waited a
while and when the enemy had got well out of the
way, I gave the order to cease firing, and to march,
which was readily obeyed, perhaps in view of the
fact that none of their opponents were visible from
that point.

General Lee directed us to move in the open
ground in front of our line and secure whatever
prisoners we could.

We moved out, the boys considerably wrought up.
A Sergeant of Company A., spied a blue coat, and
although the order to cease firing had been given,
sent a minnie after him; I was in the rear at the
time; I ran up to the Sergeant, and gave him a
smart rap on the back, with the flat side of my sword.
He turned round to look where the blow came from,
and when he saw me, seemed as much astonished as
if a shell had stung him. I went in front, ordered
the column into line, cocked my revolver and said I
would shoot the first man that would fire. In order
to quiet them, I put them through the manual of
arms, in plain view and entirely exposed to the

48 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

enemy, most of whom had now sought cover of the
woods, where their batteries were not over four hun-
dred yards distant, although their sharpshooters
were much nearer. The line went through the ex-
ercise, as if on parade.* General Lee rode up while
we were going through the drill. We presented
arms to him, when he ordered us to fall back about
one hundred yards to the rear, where a wagon road,
worn a foot deep, afforded us a protection to that
extent, by lying flat in the bed of the road.

The enemy seemed to be arranging for a second
assault. General Lee ordered us to hold our fire
until any advance was within 100 yards of our lines.
The wagon rut, as I have said was only a foot deep,
and as the natural surface of the ground was exposed
to the fire of the enemy, we were annoyed, while in
this position, by shell and sharpshooters, and sus-
tained a loss of one man killed and two wounded. I
kept watchful eyes, beside my own, to the front.
There was lying near to me a massive young fellow,
whose depth through the body was much more than
the wagon rut could cover. He seemed anxious his
"too solid flesh " could flatten and adapt itself to cir-
cumstances; by way of diverting his attention, I called
upon him several times, to look out and let me know
if he could see any Yanks advancing. In doing so
he had to raise up, and expose himself still more, but
every time I ordered him, he raised up quietly and
took a thorough view before he reported.

It was while we were lying in this road. Captain
Paul Hamilton, adjutant of General Lee, was killed
in our rear. Of a commanding presence, an ingenu-
ous countenance and simple address, courteous and
fearless, his death was regretted in the brigade as a

*See statements of Lieutenant Eastin and Sergeants O'Brien,
Malcolm and Hepler. Appendix, Note B.

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 49

personal loss, as well as a loss to the cause for which
he offered up his young and noble manhood.

At dark a picket was detailed from our regiment. I
posted them about three hundred yards in front of our
lines, and not over two hundred yards from the line
of woods where the enemy lay; his dead and wound-
ed were all about us; many of the wounded begged
for water, I ordered water given to them, and their
canteens filled. A federal sergeant rose up from a
hiding place, and surrendered to us. He said he
had left a comrade where he had hid. I called to
the man to come out, he did not heed me, I went
toward him, when near him he jumped up and came
to me, and I sent sergeant and private as prisoners
to the rear.

Captain Martin with his company and the com-
panies of Captains Bateman, Bisland and Guion,
were also posted in front of General Smith's Head
Quarters and exposed to an artillery fire, besides be-
ing annoyed by sharpshooters.

It now began to rain, the men not on duty built
fires, but kept them alive with difl&culty. After the
men had been disposed of for the night, I crept into
a surgeon's tent where the body of Captain Hamil-
ton had been placed. I was offered some custard a
good lady had sent to us. Although not regulation
fare, I waived the point, took it without a wry face,
laid down and slept till 2 a. m. It was raining still.
I went out to look after the pickets. I met them
coming in. The enemy's sharpshooters had made
their posts unpleasant. I thought it prudent to
have the regiment up, and was about to send out
Captain Guion with his company to reconnoitre,
when the picket guard requested me to allow them
to return. They felt they had been needlessly
alarmed, and wished to retrieve their lost ground.

50 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

They returned and were not further annoyed, but
we remained on the alert until daylight.

Daylight of Tuesday, December 30, found us in
line ready for any emergency, but there was com-
parative quiet along the respective lines. An order
came to me about dark, to take a detachment and
destroy a bridge between the opposing lines, in
order to prevent the artillery of the enemy from
using it ; it was near the enemy's lines and we had
to work quietly, as the slightest noise would have
aroused suspicion, but we succeeded in the task and
returned to our bivouac without molestation.

On Wednesday, December 31, the enemy sent a
flag of truce, asking a suspension of hostilities, to
enable him to bury his dead, and care for the
wounded.

On Thursday, January i, 1863, we still expected
another attempt against our lines, but there was
quiet. General Lee sent for me, invited me to par-
take of some cake and wine that had been sent to
him by a lady, and informed me Colonel Cage's
resignation had been accepted, and he had been
relieved from duty, as Colonel of the regiment. I
was, therefore, promoted to the office of Colonel ;
Major Crow was promoted to the office of Lieuten-
ant Colonel, and as Captain Lagarde again declined
promotion. Captain Martin next in rank, to the office
of Major.

On Friday, January 2, the enemy disappeared from
our front, having returned to their transports on the
Yazoo River, which were under convoy of gun
boats. In the afternoon the regiment was drawn up
in line preparatory to returning to camp, in obe-
dience to orders. General Lee rode up in front and
said:, "I thank the 26th for its distinguished gal-
lantry ; I thank it for its endurance in the trenches.

CHICKASAW BAYOU. 5 1

Hereafter I shall know that wherever they are
placed, they will remain until ordered to leave ; I
wish you now to return to your tents, and make
yourselves comfortable, so that when your services
are again required, you will be ready." I said :
" Three cheers for General Lee, the hero of Chick-
asaw Bayou." Officers and men gave them with a
will, and amid a drenching rain we trudged to our
camp near Vicksburg cemetery, and so ended our
ten days experience with the enemy at Chickasaw
Bayou.

I have mentioned only the casualties on Sunday,
while we held the trenches, and the casualties on
Monday as far as known. There were other casual-
ties, but I have no authentic details of them at this
time.

While we were at Chickasaw Bayou an order came
for a detachment of fifty men, to aid in planting tor-
pedoes in the Yazoo. It was an enterprise full of
hazard, as the enemy with his gun boats was lord of
the stream, and was able to make effective argument
against encroachment of his sway. I had the regi-
ment fall into line, mentioned the order, that General
Lee preferred volunteers, and that all who wished to
go should step two paces to the front. Representa-
tives from every company stood out at once, and the
number of the detachment was made up. Company
B (the dear old dirty shirts) then volunteered to a
man, and requested that they alone be detached for
the purpose. The undertaking, however, for some
reason, was not prosecuted.

I noted that when the regiment felt the first rude
shock of the enemy, one man after another was taken
with an uneasy, qualmish feeling — indeed, fell sick and
asked to go to the rear, which I permitted, as a mat-
ter of course. After several had been disposed of

52 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

in that manner, an officer came up and told me he felt
unwell, and wished to go to the rear. The thought
dawned upon me these cases of illness were mere
nervousness, and that the best cure for it was for
everyone to keep to his post of duty, so I told' the
officer I would not allow him to get sick, and to go
back to his company. There was no further com-
plaining. I do not mention this as a discredit to the
officer and the men. They did not season kindly and
quickly as some others, and no such occurrence took
place at any subsequent meeting with the enemy.

The camp had been left in charge of Lieutenant
Joseph Aycock — here our provisions were cooked
and sent to us. As the only road to us was covered
completely by the enemy's fire, our good quarter-
master. Captain N^e had to send our rations by
teams at night, but with the efficient service of Cap-
tain Moss, our commissary, in procuring, and of
Lieutenant Aycock in preparing, and of Captain
N^e in getting them to us, we were regularly sup-
plied with meat and corn bread, our only rations at
the time for officers and men.

CHAPTER VIII.

SUPPORTING WATER BATTERIES.
Jamiarv 2, 1S63 to May /, iSbj.

Soon after we returned from Chickasaw Bayou to
Camp Crow, the ladies of Tensas parish in Louis-
iania sent to the regiment, a large box of clothing.
They had apparently levied upon everything in
reach, out of which a shirt or breeches, or a pair of
socks could be made. Window curtains seemed
legitimate prey for the fair spoilers, for the fabric
made warm substantial shirts, and cloth of every
shade was made into nether garments. Of course
there was not enough to supply all, but it supplied
those whose needs were greatest, and the boys appre-
ciated it. Their own homes were now in the power
of the enemy — they were in exile, and it was pleasant
to know this token of substantial sympathy came
from other homes than their own, although they had
been despoiled for the purpose.

Hitherto our color-bearer had been only a tem-
porary appointment. I determined to appoint
Sergeant Britsche of Company D permanently to
this position. Britsche was a small, wiry, skin-and-
bone son of sunny France. I knew the colors would
be safe in his hands. With a view of making the
ceremony impressive, I had the regiment drawn up
in line and rode to the front, where the colors were
near. I took them in my hand, called Sergeant

54 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Britsche to me, and said to him : "Sergeant, do you
promise to carry these colors wherever you are
ordered." Britsche raised his right hand, and in a
firm, quiet, meaning tone, replied, "Je le jure,
Colonel," and took them in charge-
It was while. we were at this camp that Mrs.
George Marshall, as she afterwards told me, met
Leonval of Company D, whom she had nursed at
her house during a spell of sickness. After some
conversation she said, " Well, Leonval, what do all
of you think of Colonel Hall ?" Leonval replied,
" He is a tyrant in camp, but very kind to us on the
battlefield."

During a visit in the neighborhood to some mem-
bers of the family of our Bishop-General, his daugh-
ter, Mrs. Gale, mentioned to me she had some pieces
of carpet that might serve some of the boys as
blankets, brought out pieces enough for six blank-
ets, and insisted I should take them. I felt our need
too great to refuse, so brought them to camp, and
disposed of five pieces to the most needy of Com-
pany D. In default of an applicant, I used the
remaining one on the floor of my tent. A few days
afterward, a young private of Company D came to
my tent and wished to know whether I had a blanket
to spare, as he had none. Knowing how careless
soldiers become, I thought I would impress a lesson
of prudence on the youngster. I took him into the
tent, showed him the carpet and made much over its
capacity for comfort; I told him I could not give it
to him without he would promise to take the very
best care of it. He replied, " Colonel, je le garderai
comme mes yeux," and he went away a happy, boy.

As the enemy were still near to us, and might
move upon us at any moment, we were kept on the
qui vive. We expected an attack by water, which

SUPPORTING WATER BATTERIES. 55

was, perhaps, the simplest way to take Vicksburg,
and would have cost the enemy less men than the
subsequent siege; To guard against attack by water,
among other precautions, the 26th was ordered to
picket every other night, a certain point on the river
immediately above Vicksburg. We moved out of
camp at two o'clock in the morning, marched two
miles to the point indicated, threw out pickets, and
slept on our arms, ready to move at a moment's
warning. We returned to camp after daylight, as it
was not expected the enemy would attack us, other
than about dawn. After performing this service for
some time, we were frequently on the same duty, at
other points on the river.

On one occasion we were sent to picket imme-
diately in front of the city. The regiment was dis-
posed of by placing one or two companies at differ-
ent points, guarding, as best we could, a mile of front-
age. While so disposed, between daylight and sun-
rise I saw a steamer coming down the river. I rode
at once to the extreme right of the line, cautioned
the officers to be on the look out, and kept my eye
on the steamer. It came down as if on a holiday
trip, though not a soul upon it could be seen. When
opposite to me, I rode down the river as it moved
'down. Our steamer, the " City of Vicksburg," lay
in front of the town. It appeared to be the object
of the enemy steamer to reach it, as it turned when
opposite the landing, as if to come in, and making a
sweep came with its bow up stream, a little below
and just behind the " City of Vicksburg." A heavy
gun just opposite to her was manned, but before it
could be moved to bear upon it, got off its pintles ;
but two companies of the 26th were there, and if a
man had showed himself he would have been picked
off, as we were only two hundred yards away. Finding

56 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

it could not aecomplish its evident purpose to cut
loose, and take or destroy our steamer, it turned
directly across the river, so as to be out of reach of
our guns as far as possible, went down stream, and
soon was out of sight.

There were sentinels posted a short distance from
each other on the brink of the river, whose instruc-
tions were that on the approach of any vessel com-
ing down the river, the sentinel on the extreme right
was to give an alarm by firing his piece, and each
sentinel successively, was to fire his piece, so as to
give the alarm all along the the line. During a
foggy night, while the regiment was on picket duty,
the sentinels gave an alarm ; a bulky mass was
descried floating leisurely down, the outline of which
could not be discerned. As it passed, each battery
in succession opened upon it. " The imperial votress
passed on," unharmed by shot and shell. All at once
the curtain of the fog was lifted, and to our intense
disgust, showed an ordinary fiat boat, with barrels,
stacked one above another, for chimneys ! A dummy
steamer sent to feel our strength ! And so it was
the enemy, without intending it, retaliated for a for-
midable battery of four siege guns, made of wood,
and placed in works on the bank of the river, which
frowned upon their field-glasses in the early days of
the fortification of Vicksburg.

We still had news from time to time of our famil-
ies in Louisiania, through our couriers and friends
success in eluding the vigilance of the enemy's
pickets and gun boat patrol. The parishes of
Assumption, Lafourche and Tenebonne were over-
run by the enemy. Informers, mainly negroes, gave
the status of every family, and to what extent it was
represented in the-confederate service. My home
was subjected to frequent visits of a predatory char-

SUPPORTING WATER BATTERIES. 57

acter, and Mrs. Hall otherwise was much annoyed.
At one time a servant came into the house and told
her the Yankees had taken her carriage horses. She
went out and found a sergeant and a squad ; the
sergeant mounted on one horse and leading the
other. She claimed them as her own, told the
sergeant he could keep them if he could establish
any right to them — indeed she talked him off the
horse, for he soon dismounted and returned both to
the stable.

These annoyances increased to such an extent she
determined to abandon her home and go into confed-
erate lines. She went to the office of the Provost
Marshal in Thibodaux, swept by a crowd of ladies in
an ante-room, who were waiting the good pleasure of
the officer, for a pass out of the lines, and spoke to
a person she presumed was in authority :
"Do I address the Provost Marshal?"
"Yes, madam," he replied.

" I am the wife of Major Hall of the confederate
army. I wish a pass."
"Where to, madam ?"

"Any where out of your lines. 1 wish it to include
my family, servants, horses, carriage and baggage."

The Provost Marshall replied he was not author-
ized to give such a pass.

She drove at once to General Weitzel's Head-
quarters, a mile below Thibodaux, told him what she
wanted, and he authorized the pass to issue.

The last thing she did before leaving Thibodaux
was to go to a place where there was concealed a
large sack filled with clothing made for our boys, by
their families, which she had placed in the carriage,
and then retreated without loss, until she and her
four children were sheltered by the guns of Vicks-
burg. The soldiers received their clothing and the

58 TWENTV-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

horses were turned over to me, as she insisted the
army had need of them more than her.

On February 19, 1863, the regiment numbered six
hundred and seventy-four rank and file.

About the first of March it was moved into vacant
warerooms and dwellings in Vicksburg. I occupied
a room on the first floor of the masonic building. I
ordered a sentry post near me, where there were
standing orders to rouse me in event of an alarm,
but my mind was in such tension, I was never once
awakened by the sentry during the next ten weeks,
when many alarms occurred. Usually I heard the
first gun fired.

In event of alarm the regiment had been instructed,
company by company, of the points to be occupied;
I had, besides, a private alarm, well understood,
given by the chief musician playing a certain air,
at which each company was at its post, ready for
action, without attracting attention.

As there were indications the enemy might move on
Vicksburg by way of Deer Creek, General Lee took
the 3d and 26th Louisiania and 46th Mississippi, and
moved up Deer Creek, in order to confront any
force of the enemy coming down the creek. Any
hostile movement, however, if planned, had not been
carried out ; the expedition was barren alike of inci-
dent and result; on March 31 we were again in
Vicksburg, after an absence of a week.

Besides the usual schools, drills and camp discipline,
at our request Colonel D. Beltzhoover, a graduate of
West Point, undertook the instruction of the officers
in battery drill, which, in time, was supplanted by
Company B offering to keep up the drill, so that
they would be able to man a battery whenever an
occasion invited such action.

As I was passing in sight of the ammunition tent

SUPPORTING WATER BATTERIES. 59

one day, I saw the sentry who was guarding it, in a
sitting posture. As our unwritten law proclaimed a
sentry should walk his post, I sent a message for him
to come to my quarters when relieved, intending to
give him a sharp reprimand. The sentry accordingly
came in as I was about to breakfast. It was the son
of an old friend of Tenebonne ! How could I be
severe to the son of an old friend ? I forgot I was a
soldier, and waived strict discipline. I administered
the very mildest rebuke in my power, and by way of
smoothing over any possible rough parts of it,
wound up by asking him to join me at breakfast.

About this time we received at Vicksburg the
fruits of the conscript levees in Louisiana. The men
so raised were placed in various Louisiania com-
mands, after receiving a white woolen uniform. The
uniform was unlike any other about us, and marked
these men amongthe volunteer soldiers, who treated
them with a contempt, in many cases, undeserved ;
but so it was the white uniform was known only as
an emblem of reproach wherever it appeared.

Soon after these men were in harness, our regi-
ment received the same kind of uniform ; now the
Quarter Master's Department of the 26th was never
so plethoric as to supply our mere necessities in this
line, and a suit of clothes all around was a rare occa-
sion. The clothing was sorely needed, but a howl of
indignation rose from the regiment, at the bare sug-
gestion of wearing the badge of a conscript. The
indignation was intensified by the fact that none of
the conscripts had been put into the ranks of the
26th, and its integrity as a volunteer organization was
intact.

Comfort, appearance, everything was forgotten in
the thought that henceforth men who had sought
the ranks, and men who had been impressed into ser-

6o TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

vice, would be blended, by the uniform, into an undis-
tinguishable mass. The indignation seemed so
becoming a volunteer, that officers were loath to
invoke the coercive measures in their power. They
appealed to the men, and showed the' folly of giving
away to a fancy. One company after another, in time,
yielded to what appeared to be inevitable, until Com-
pany B — staunch old hearts — stood out alone. Cap-
tain Bateman, however, never relaxed his efforts to
kindly bring them to a sense of duty, until only two
of the company stood out. The Captain reported
the case to me. I ordered the men to be tied up by
the thumbs until they were disposed to obey the
orders of their Captain. They soon relented, but I
fear not willingly.

Events thickened about Vicksburg. We had a
lively time for many weeks prior to its investiture by
the forces under General Grant. We were on the
qui vive day and night. As the particular duty
assigned to our brigade was to support the water
batteries, and as an attack by water was expected,
the regiment was kept well in hand, and the discip-
line of the camp was kept up, with an eye continually
on the enemy.

With a view of carrying out his plan to invest
Vicksburg, General Grant sent transports from time
to time down the river, laden with army stores, in
order to be supplied when his army should cross the
Mississippi below Vicksburg. The first attempt was
made about 9 p. m., on an evening upon which alarge
party had been given in Vicksburg, at which were
many of our officers, " and then and there was hurry-
ing to and fro." Each officer was soon at his post.
The transports were convoyed by gun-boats. Our
batteries opened. The gun-boats responded with
vigor ; shot and shell filled the air. Out of several

SUPPORTING .WATER BATTERIES. 6 1

transports we destroyed or disabled three, the
remainder passed on, probably more or less injm^ed,
and were soon out of sight. The 26th was promptly
in its trenches, but small arms were of little avail on
such an occasion.

There were several frame buildings on the shore
opposite Vicksburg. We had a picket out there,
with directions to fire any one of the houses on the
attempt of any vessel to pass the batteries.

Afterward several transports attempted to pass
soon after dark, one of the buildings was fired. The
river was illuminated ; our batteries opened. The
transports, without visible light and quiet as the
grave, steamed away for dear life. A shower of
shells burst in the air, sunk in the water, or struck
the mark. The scene, in its wild terror, was one not
to be forgotten.

At another time, early in the night a steam tug
was towing two barges. Our batteries opened upon
them. A shell sent the tug to the bottom, all on
board who were unhurt, escaped to the barges, from
which we took them prisoners, and secured the
barges and their cargo.

During all this time the forces of the enemy were
a few miles above Vicksburg, on the opposite bank,
whence General Grant moved his army by land, along
the west bank of the Mississippi, and crossed the
river at Bruensburg, below Vicksburg. A portion
of the forces at Vicksburg was sent out to meet him.
In the fight which ensued Brigadier General Tracy
was killed. General Stephen D. Lee, our brigade
commander, was assigned to duty in his place. He
asked that he be allowed to take the 26th Louisiania
with him, but the request was refused.

The enemy slowly unwound their coil of troops
around Vicksburg; finally all the forces in Vicks-

62 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

burg were sent out to meet him, save our brigade,
which was retained to support the water batteries.
The battle of Champion's Hills took place, in which
General S. D. Lee's command took part. It was
said that during the fight. General Lee ordered a
certain regiment of his brigade to advance under a
heavy fire, as it hesitated to do so, he exclaimed,
" Oh ! if I only had the 26th Louisiania here."

The battle of Champion's Hill ended in a retreat
to Vicksburg.

When the enemy landed in the east bank of the
Mississippi, Mrs. Hall and our children were enjoy-
ing the hospitality of Mrs. Downs, at her residence a
few miles out from Vicksburg. On the approach of
the troops she came with the children into Vicks-
burg, and occupied rooms which Mrs. Hansford
kindly tendered to me in her dwelling.

CHAPTER IX.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

May — June — yu/y, 1863.

It may be well, here, to pause in the narrative, for
the purpose of stating the strength of the Federal
and Confederate forces at the siege of Vicksburg,
now about to begin.

The Federal forces operating against Vicksburg,
frona May i8th to July 4th, 1863, consisted of the
following commands :*

The Ninth Army Corps under Major-General
John G. Parke, being nineteen regiments, formed
into five brigades (two divisions), with three batte-
ries.

The Thirteenth Army Corps under Major-Gene-
ral John G. McClernand, being thirty-nine regiments,
formed into eight brigades (four divisions), with ten
batteries.

The Fifteenth Army Corps under Major-General
Wm. T. Sherman, being thirty-nine regiments, formed
into nine brigades (three divisions), with nine batte-
ries.

The Sixteenth Army Corps under Major-General
C.C.Washburn, being thirty-eight regiments, formed
into ten brigades (three divisions), with nine batte-
ries.

* Official records of Union and Confederate Armies. Series I — Vol.
24— Part 2 — Page 148.

64 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

The Seventeenth Array Corps under Major-Gen-
eral Jas. B. McPherson, being forty-six regiments,
formed into eleven brigades (four divisions), with
sixteen batteries.

The Confederate forces within the fortifications of
Vicksburg, during the same period, consisted of the
following commands:*

Major-General C. L. Stevenson's division, being
nineteen regiments, formed into four brigades, and
Waul's Texas Legion, with eight batteries.

Major-General John H. Forney's division, being
twelve regiments, formed into two brigades, with
ten batteries.

Major-General M. L. Smith's division, being
eleven regiments, formed into four brigades, with
five batteries.

Major-General John S. Bowen's division, being
nine regiments, formed into two brigades, with five
batteries.

There were, therefore, one hundred and eighty-one
regiments and forty-seven batteries on the Federal
side, opposed to fifty-one regiments and twenty-six
batteries on the Confederate side.

Porter's co-operating fleet, on January 24th, 1863,
numbered sixty vessels of all classes, carrying two
hundred and eighty guns.f Against which the Con-
federates had, on the river defences, thirty-one siege
guns and thirteen light guns.J

The main assault against the Confederate works
on May 22d, was made by the Thirteenth, Fifteenth
and Seventeenth Army Corps. The Federal forces

* Official records of Union and Confederate Armies. Series I— Vol.
24 — Part 2 — Page 326.

f Badeau's Life of Grant, Vol. I, page 161. ■.

i Report of Col. Edward Hi'ggins, commanding River Defences, da-
ted July 25, 1863.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 65

were subsequently reinforced, as follows :

May 20, by Brigadier-General Lauman's Division.

June 3, by Brigadier-General Kimball's Provisional
Division.

June II, by Major-General Herron's Division.

June 12, by Brigadier-General Wm. Sooy Smith's
Division.

June 14, by the Ninth Army Corps.

The divisions of Lauman, Kimball and Smith
constituted the Sixteenth Army Corps, Laumann's
division being attached temporarily to the Thirteenth
Army Corps. Major General Herron's division joined
the Seventeenth Army Corps.*

These additional troops made the Federal forces,
operating against Vicksburgby land, 75,000 f strong.

The Confederate forces opposed numbered 18,-
500. t

The forty-seven batteries, already mentioned, as
attached to the Federal land forces numbered 220
guns.§

The twenty-six batteries attached to the Confed-
erate forces (exclusive of the artillery on the river
defences) numbered one hundred and two guns. ||

A summary of these statements will show the
besiegers had on the river :

60 vessels mounting 280 guns ;
And on land :

181 regiments numbering 75000 men ;
47 batteries " 220 guns ;

And the besieged had on the river defences :
44 guns of all calibres ;

* "The Vicksburg Campaign," by Sam. Rockwell Reed, page 118.
(Federal account.)

f Badeau's Life of Grant. Vol. I. pp. 358-359.

I Lieutenant General J. C. Pemberton's report dated August 2,

1863.

§ Report of Captains Prime and Comstock. (Off. Records, Series).

Vol. XXIV, Part 2, p. 176.

II Pemberton's report, dated August 2, 1863.

9

66 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

And on land fortifications :

51 regiments numbering 18500 men;
26 batteries " 102 guns.

It will be noted the Federal land force is put at
75,000 men, on the authority of " Badeau's Life of
Grant " — a book whose inaccuracies have been
sharply criticized on the Federal side. As the undis-
guised object of this book was to place General
Grant in the most favorable light, under all contin-
gencies, it is reasonable to believe, that while the one
hundred and eighty-one regiments officially men-
tioned as operating against Vicksburg, did not con-
tain less than 75,000 men, it is probable they con-
tained a much greater number.

I resume the narrative :

Early on Sunday, May 17, 1863, Mrs. Hall called
my attention to scattered bodies of troops coming
in, on the Jackson road, which ran near my quar-
ters ; I saw at once it was our army in retreat, and in
utter confusion — a long line of stragglers. There
would be a squad of infantry, a horseman — a gun —
a few more infantry, and so on ; with no more order
than travelers on a highway, seeking Vicksburg as a
shelter. This stream of stragglers continued nearly
all day. After breakfast, I went down town to hear
the news. It was all one story, a fight, a repulse
and a retreat. Every one I met had the gloomiest
forebodings. I felt some of the " stern joy " warriors
feel. My spirits rose as much above their normal
condition, as others were depressed. In the after-
noon an order came to move the regiment at once
to a point of the outer line of fortifications, where
we slept on our arms in the trenches.

On Monday, May 18, news reached Head Quar-
ters that a force of the enemy was moving toward
us, on a road north of the city. The 27th and 26th

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 67

Louisiania were ordered out to impede its progress.
We took a position on the outer fortifications, and
awaited, in vain, their approach ; although we were
annoyed by sharpshooters concealed by a forest in
front ; we lay behind a spur of a ridge, and were
not pleased by their attentions, particularly as we
could not place them. After some time Captain
Hymel came to me and said, " Colonel, I will show
you where they are." He took me over the spur,
pointed to some trees in the distance, anu said, " they
are there." We must have been fully exposed to
their fire, at the place where we stood, for three bul-
lets whizzed near to us in quick succession. I saw
at once they were not only concealed, but too far
away to enable us to return the compliment, and not
relishing the position of being made a target, I sought
shelter behind the spur, with as much elasticity in
my step, as my rank would allow. The captain fol-
lowing, as unconcerned as if they had been shooting
peas. We bivouacked near the outer works, and at
3 A. M. on Tuesday, May 19, we moved back to the
inner line of fortifications. I had ordered out the
band, and intended to give our opponents " Dixie "
at daylight, but Brigadier General Shoup, who now
commanded our brigade, considered it untimely to
make overtures to the enemy.

When we reached the position assigned to us, I
found rifle pits for two companies only. The
remainder of the ground to be covered by us, was on
a ridge of gentle slope fully exposed to a fire from
the front. I had ordered spades and picks to be
sent out the evening previous. We got to work at
once making pits, nor did we commence too soon ;
we had nearly completed what would have served a
temporary purpose, when Dorneville Fabre of Com-
pany A was killed while at work. I ordered the work
to cease, and the command in the trenches.

68 twentv-sixth: Louisiana infantry.

There were several mounted ofificers of the enemy
now seen on a distant hill, out of range of our rifles,
apparently taking observations with their field glasses.
The troops of the enemy were well covered, and soon
began to annoy us with artillery, and sharpshooters.
I hitched my horse in a depression out of harm's
way, as I believed. My eldest son now appeared
with my breakfast, and I took a nap as I had slept
little the night before. The firing continued. It
was Lieutenant West's first experience under fire.
He was excited. He stood up fully exposed, and in
language not held orthodox, solicited his adversary
to come on. I called out " Get down. Lieutenant."
He turned to me, " Colonel do you order me to get
down ?"

"Yes."

" Well, if you order me to get down, I will get
down," and suiting the action to the word, protected
himself in the trenches.

I walked up and down the line about fifteen paces
in the rear, protected by the crest of the ridge, as I
supposed, from the fire of the enemy. About noon,
under cover of a heavy artillery fire, the enemy
assaulted the position of the 27th Louisiania, which
was next to us in line, on our right ; they were
checked, however, aided, to some extent, by a flank
fire of the 26th. About two hours later, a charge
was niade against that portion of the line held by the
26th and the 27th Louisiania. The column which
emerged from the woods in front of us, for that pur-
pose, was driven to cover by the fire of both regi-
ments, although a color-bearer stood his ground con-
cealed in a clump of bushes, above which he waived
his colors as though he would stay there.

After this repulse the enemy stood at a prudent
distance, and maintained a heavy artillery and mus-
ketry fire until some time after dark.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 69

The Federal commander, perhaps, had reckoned
his opponents at Champion's Hill had not recovered
from that conflict, and that this assault would be met
by a disorganized mass,^ which could be routed with-
out much ado ; his rank and file did not entirely
share this opinion.

" Long enough before the lines advanced, each man
came to realize that it was a sort of forlorn hope — a des-
perate rush, with not one chance in twenty of
success. And yet when the order came, each com-
pany breasted forward like a moving wall. It is a
brave man who faces the danger he knows. Only
scattering troops — just enough to form moving tar-
gets to distract the Confederate fire — took the high-
way. One column moved to the right to make a
solid attack upon one of the forts — the other moved
to the left, to make a feint against the other.

"Illinois, Indiana and the Thirteenth Regulars took
the lead. Within four hundred feet of their start-
ing point regiments lost their alignment, from the
broken nature of the ground. Chasms had to be
crossed, hollows descended and slopes climbed, and
directly they encountered the felled trees, and then
it looked to the Confederates behind the works as if
a great mob in blue was pushing ahead.

" Now they came under fire and the fight opens.
The monster guns in the forts, aided by the field
pieces, put in position, sweep the crests of ridges as
with brooms of fire, and men demoralized for the
instant crowd into ravines for cover, only to find
that there is no hiding place safe from shot and
shell. Two or three times the blue mass pauses and
wavers, and seems to circle round, but each time it
gathers strength for a rush that carries it nearer the
belching cannon and flaming muskets."

" I could look over the smoke," said an officer of

70 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Shoup's brigade, " and see the ground blue with
Federal dead, and I wondered if we could come to
close fighting at all. Three or four times I felt sure
that the columns were being recoiled, but a fresh
start brought them closer each time, and finally we
saw that they were determined to make a rush at
the fort."

" Slowly, steadily, and with a determination, which
commanded the admiration of friend and foe, the
advance finally gained the ditch in front of Fort
Hill. Here the broken Twenty-seventh Illinois
halted on the open ground, within half-pistol shot of
five thousand hostile muskets, formed their lines
anew, and with the first cheer of the assault, dashed
at the ditch and over it. The Eighty-third Indi-
ana followed, and the Thirteenth Regulars came up
on the flank. The ditch was passed, and the slope
gained, and they could go no further. The slope
was too steep to be surmounted, and to hold the posi-
tion was to be fired down upon and exterminated,
while Federal bullets cleared the crest, and dropped to
the ground far in the rear. Lighted shells were rolled
down the slope to play terrible havoc, and the Fed-
eral flags planted in the earth were shot to shreds in
less than ten minutes."

"Fort Beauregard was being attacked on the
other side of the highway, and there was more or
less fighting all around the crescent, as Federal divi-
sions advanced to new positions, but Pemberton did
not allow these feints to distract his attention from
Fort Hill. That was the point aimed at, and that
was the point' to be defended. Thus, wliile there
was a constant boom of cannon, and a continuous
rattle of musketry along the entire front, the burden
of battle rested upon a dozen Federal regiments,
which had pushed their way right up to the works.''

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 7 1

"The assaulting columns could not carry the slope,
and yet they would not retreat. Until the recall
came they could do nothing but take the steady fire
poured down upon them. The wonder is that a
single man was left alive. The Regulars lost one-
third of their total number, and the volunteers suf-
fered such slaughter as few regiments were ever
called upon to stand."

Says the Confederate officer previously quoted :

" During the entire time the Federal troops were
in that desperate position they kept banging away
at the parapet, but I do not believe we lost a man
killed from their wild firing. The air above us was
cut by bullets, and dirt and dust were showered upon
us from those striking the parapet, but all the advan-
tage was with us. It was a shameful thing to hold
men there as they were held, and it seems a miracle
that a single one escaped. The shells made horrible
work among them, and after the fight was over and
the smoke had blown away, the sight was such as I
had never looked upon before or thought possible in
war."

" The recall came at dusk, and the remnants of the
butchered companies rallied and moved back to the
Federal lines, which had been advanced some dis-
tance during the afternoon. A constant fire was
maintained upon the troops as they fell back, adding
considerably to the list of killed and wounded, and
the roll call of the regiments which had borne the
brunt of the affair showed how terribly each company
had suffered."

" The assault, if meant as an assault, had failed,
but the Federal lines had advanced to better posi-
tions, all the army was up, and Grant was to try
again. This time every Federal on the crescent was
to move forward at the signal, and Porter was to

72 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

open such a fire on the front of Vicksburg as would
drive every living thing to shelter. Even as the
limp and bleeding regiments fell back from the first
assault, cannon were being planted and other pre-
parations made, for the far more bloody struggle to
come." *

During this assault about 2 p. m. I was walking
slowly up to the right of the line, watching the
movements in front, when I felt something strike
the calf of my right leg, as though a clod had been
thrown against it; in a moment I became dizzy. I
sat down on a bank of earth near to me. A deathly
faintness came over me. My orderly came up. I sent
him for some whiskey, and took enough to revive me.
Major Martin came up to know the extent of the
injury. All I could say or knew was, that I had been
struck, and was disabled. Colonel Crow came up,
and had me moved on a stretcher to a less exposed
place. As the fire of the enemy covered our rear,
I could not be moved from the field ; so I laid in the
rut of a wagon road, with my body close to the bank;
even here a spent minnie struck me in the side. I
was exceedingly nervous. I knew the regiment was
hotly engaged, and my anxiety was strung to its
highest pitch.

During the same afternoon the regiment sustained
the loss of Captain Winder; in his early manhood,
in the dawn of a career full of promise, in a contest
for principle, he fell where duty called him. Lieu-
tenant Ternier a faithful and efficient young officer
was killed about the same time.

I remained in this wagon rut until dark, the firing
had not ceased, but I sent for a stretcher, and with

* Note. The foregoing account of the Federal movements is given
under the signature of M. Quad in tlie Detuoit Free Press. The writer
is Mr. Charles B. Lewis, now staff contributor to the New York World.
May, 1891.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 73

bullets whistling all about us, I was taken to our
improvised hospital, whence I was taken in an
ambulance to my quarters, which I reached about
midnight. I saw Mrs, Hall at the door waiting for
me. I cried out "Hurrah for Vicksburg and the
Southern Confederacy." She quietly gave orders to
move me to a cot she had made ready for me, and
soon I was as comfortable as circumstances allowed,
but I passed une nuit blanche, as the shelling about
us was terrific and incessant. Mrs. Hansford's house
which we occupied was in the acute angle of the
Cemetery road and the Jackson road. The enemy
had a floating mortar battery in the river opposite to
us. His efforts were directed to shelling these two
roads thoroughly ; so that these roads, and any place
near to them, were unsafe for any living thing. The
grounds about the house, as well as the house, bore
many marks of the shelling, but we were unin-
jured.

The next morning Dr. Hall examined the limb,
but not being well, felt unequal to the task of decid-
ing what to do with it ; he called in a surgeon who
considered amputation proper. Dr. Hall not coin-
ciding with him, they agreed to leave the decision to
Dr. Winn the brigade surgeon, who had called in the
meanwhile. Dr. Winn declared in favor of an
attempt to save the limb. I was put under the in-
fluence of chloroform. On return to consciousness
I found a slit three inches long had been made on
the shin-bone, the minnie ball which had been split
in two, extracted, several pieces of bone taken out,
and the skin sewed together. It proved to be a com-
pound, comminuted fracture of the tibia.

As the shelling was vigorously kept up, it was
deemed prudent to move behind a hill in the rear of
Mrs. Hansford's dwelling. Here two tents were

10

74 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

pitched, and occupied by Mrs. George Marshal and
her child, and my family. It seemed to protect us
from the mortar battery across the river, whence the
heaviest shelling proceeded, as the hill had been par-
tially cut away, almost perpendicularly, and our tents
were pitched close to the cut. A portion of this
cut had been scooped out sufficient to hold one or
two persons, and to this scooped out place, my
youngest children learned to run for safety, on the
approach of a shell. During the afternoon of the
first day we were so camped, a shell was heard. A
soldier passing at the same moment, seeing this
scooped out hole in the upright bank of the hill,
sought shelter in it from the coming shell. It ex-
ploded directly over him, the concussion killing him
instantly, in the very spot my children had sought
shelter frequently during the day, fortunately, they
were, at that time, occupied with their dinner in Mrs.
Marshall's tent, and were not aware of the coming
of the shell. The tent I occupied was thrown down
by the concussion. I was covered with earth, and it
gave me a considerable shock.

I resolved to strike our tents for a more secure
position, if practicable. We pitched them behind
Sky-parlor hill. Just as I reached there I heard a
shell crash through a dwelling, near the tents. I
determined we could not remain. Colonel Henry A.
Clinch of the heavy artillery called, noting the forlorn
condition of my family, and my own helplessness, he
started off to look up a better place for us, and soon
returned stating he had found rooms for us, on the
second floor of the dwelling of Tim Dowling, on the
river just beilow the built portion of the city. Thither
went Mrs. Marshall and her child, and my family. I
followed on a stretcher. We staid here during the
remainder of the siege.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 75

The 20th and 21st of May were spent by the
enemy in erecting new batteries, and keeping up
from daylight until dark, the heaviest possible firing,
both of musketry and artillery. The 2 2d passed in
the same manner until about 2 p. m., when a column
was discovered advancing against the right of our
brigade ; it was immediately driven back. Another
then appeared on the right of the centre, this was
dispersed without great effort, and with considerable
loss. Again the enemy appeared in increased force
on the right of the division of General M. L. Smith,
of which our brigade was apart, but he was promptly
repulsed and with heavy loss. This terminated the
day's operations with the exception of the heavy fire
of musketry and artillery kept up until dark along
the entire front of the division. *

Extensive and thorough preparation had been
made by the Federal commander for this second
assault that terminated in such appalling losses to his
army.

"All along the Federal lines batteries were posted
for concentric fire, sharpshooters pushed to the front,
and every effort made by scouts to secure informa-
tion concerning the Confederate defenses. The
fleet in the river was to co-operate, and Porter prom-
ised Grant such a fire as Vicksburg had never felt.

" Grant's order was for a general assault at ten
o'clock on the morning of the 2 2d. Three hours
before the bugles sounded every preparation had
been made, and every detail carefully looked to.
Every piece of artillery which was to take part was in
position. Every corps, division, brigade and regiment
had received instructions for the assault. The com-
mands, which were to carry planks and ladders for
crossing the ditches and scaling parapets, had been

*See Report of Major General M. L. Smith in appendix.

76 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

drafted, and their materials secured ; and there was
not a soldier in that whole Federal army who had
not been instructed in regard to emergencies. They
were told how ditches were to be crossed — how to
burrow into parapets and slopes to hold their posi-
tions — how to conduct themselves in front of abat-
tis — how to shelter themselves in the ravines and
hollows, and while brigades were to act independent
of each other to a certain extent, the whole assault
was to be in harmony. The testimony of all gene-
ral officers shows that it was one of the most care-
fully planned assaults in modern warfare, and the
reports of regimental commanders prove that there
was less confusion, in the midst of repulse and dis-
aster, than was instanced before or after in our civil
war.

"At exactly ten o'clock the whole Federal army
was transformed into a monster serpent, which be-
gan to writhe and twist and turn and undulate.
Brigades broke off and advanced right or left oblique
— divisions moved up squarely to the front — cannon
began to thunder — the hoarse shouts of officers were
echoed along the line — columns closed up — the
earth began to shake and tremble — the curtain had
gone up on the tragedy of war.

"The van of Sherman's assault was composed of
a thin line of skirmishers, followed by the men de-
tailed to carry planks and ladders and pick-axes and
shovels. Then came the solid lines. The Confed-
erates who were watching every movement say, that
a grander sight was never seen during the war.
Every movement was executed with a coolness that
spoke of determination, and the Federal batteries
fired slowly and wasted but little ammunition.
' "As Sherman's van swept along after his skir-
mishers, the Confederate works appeared to have

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. "]"]

been deserted, and hundreds of men grasped at the
delusive hope that the Confederates had become
panic-stricken and retired. Sherman concentrated
the fire of twenty-eight guns upon Fort Hill alone,
and it seemed to the troops as if the place was
being torn to pieces. The Confederate sharpshoot-
ers ran in as soon as pressed by the skirmish lines,
and in such haste that more than one Federal officer
encouraged his men in the belief no resistance was
to be met with.

" With a steady tramp, and with ranks as solid as
the earth over which they moved, Sherman's first
brigades had reached within a stone's throw of Fort
Hill before a bullet fell among them. Then death
came with the rush of an avalanche. At the word a
thousand Confederates sprang upon the crest of the
parapet, and a thousand muskets flamed and cracked
and sent their bullets right down into the crowded
ranks.

" It was a sudden and terrible check. In three
minutes more the Federals would have been pouring
into the fort. There was a moment of confusion,
and then one brigade dashed to the right, and
another to the left, and the third rushed at the crest
of a hill on a level with the parapet, and there
hugged the ground, and opened such a fire that a
ramrod held in the air above the fort would have
been cut in two on the instant. Sherman's troops
were in the same position as during the first assault.

They had crossed the ditches, reached the slopes,
planted their flags, and burrowed into the ground
like foxes, but they could advance no further. Pem-
berton had not concentrated against the one corps
this tim.e. Every man in that Federal army was
marching to the grand assault, and Porter was rain-
ing such a storm of shot and shell upon the city as
bade fair to wipe it off the hills.

78 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

"The Federal artillery was playing upon Fort
Hill with a terrible fire, keeping many of its guns
silent and clearing the parapet of infantry ; but it be-
came plain after while that the only way to take the
place was by a rush of the infantry lying around it.
Two brigades formed for this purpose and dashed at
the parapet with cheers that were heard a mile away
above the roar of battle. The lines struggled up the
slopes under a hot fire, and as they braced for a dash
over the parapet, the Confederate infantry rose up
and sent their vollies into ranks so close that the
powder burned men's faces. It was butchery to hurl
men against such defences. It was death to remain
there, it was death to retreat. Thus through long
hours the brigades of Sherman's corps, bearing the
brunt of the fight, were penned up and waiting their
turn to be picked off.

" McPherson had the centre, lapping Sherman on
one hand, and McClernand on the other. Ransom's
brigade of McPherson's corps joined in Sherman's
assault on Fort Hill and Steele's brigade did some
terrific fighting further up the line, but it was the
dash of a wave against a rock.

" That portion of McPherson's corps which was
hurled against the strong lines along the Jackson
Railroad, had no more show of carrying them, than
Porter had of running his fleet over the housetops of
the city; and several desperate assaults made, re-
sulted in terrible losses. In front of a hundred feet
of Confederate line more than four hundred Federals
lay dead or wounded at sunset that day.

" We were perfectly safe from the Federal artillery
fire," says a Confederate, "and as for the infantry in
front we paid no heed to them except when they
assaulted. We waited until they were close at hand,
and then sprang up and withered them with a single

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 79

volley. Long enough before we had a wounded
man in my regiment, we could count the dead on our
front by the score.

" McClernand took the left with a determination
to carry his corps into the Confederate works. The
ground in his front was less difficult to advance over,
and there was unmistakable enthusiasm among his
men as they moved out. They were advancing upon
fort and redoubt ditch and bastion, but the move-
ment was made in fine spirits, and at the first rush
the advance brigades were carried across the ditches
and half way up the slopes of every thing on the
front. It seemed as if they must walk right into the
forts, and troops in the rear were raising cheers of
victory, when the Confederate infantry rose up and
delivered that terrible volley at short range. The
effect was the same along the whole line. Such a
volley killed every third man in the ranks moving
up. Ohio, Illinois and Indiania had their flags
planted on the Confederate works, and the men took
cover and hung right there, determined to win a
victory. Pieces of artillery were hauled up by hand
and fired into embrasures, and in several instances
small detachments of Federals crossed the parapets
or penetrated into forts, but only to be shot down
or taken prisoners.

" It seemed to McClernand as if he had gained a
decided advantage. His front was all up, advance
brigades were lying right under the Confederate
works, and he had silenced many of the guns above
him. There were evidences that the Confederates
had all they could do, to hold him at the foot of their
works. Let reinforcements come and the scale
would turn in his favor. He therefore hung on and
waited.

"Grant was ready by noon to recall his army from

8o TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

the assault. He could see that neither Sherman,
nor McPherson had gained any advantage, while
their losses had been terrible. Then came McCler-
nand's reports of success, one following the other,
and finally, much against his better judgment, he
acquiesced in McClernand's call for reinforcements,
and Sherman and McPherson were instructed to
make fresh assaults along their fronts, as a diversion."

" McClernand counted too much on the endur-
ance of his troops. He expected the sight of rein-
forcements hastening up, would dishearten the
Confederates. He fully and earnestly believed that
5,000 more men would aid him to carry everything
in his front. He hurled his corps against the rock
time after time, but only to leave his dead and
wounded along the ditches. Sherman was hurled
back, McPherson was hurled back — the great assault
was a defeat all along the line."

" When night came down the Federal army had
been beaten back at every point. Porter's tremen-
dous bombardment had failed to silence a singfle
battery, and the dead and wounded were lying in
front of the lines in such numbers as to appal
those who had safely come out of the horrible tor-
nado of death."*

The disastrous result of these attempts to carry
our lines by assault induced the Federal commander
to forego further movements of this character, and
to win his way into Vicksburg, not over the hero-
guarded battlements, but by the more prudent,
though painfully tedious way of underground ap-
proach.

Vain the endeavor to give the number and char-
acter of these siege approaches. Engineering art
was tasked to its utmost capacity. Appliances and

* This description of the Federal attack is by Mr. Charles B. Lewis.

THE, SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 8 1

skilled labor were not lacking, and day by day space
lessened between the hostile lines.

The heaviest and most dangerous of these opera-
tions in front of our division was on the extreme
right, and nobly did the 26th, 27th, 28th and 31st
Louisiana repel and endure it.*

The following extracts from the report of our
Brigade Commander may give a faint impression of
what was going on, at this time, along that thin
line of ragged, half-starved troops, that, like Jack-
son's command, stood, as a stone wall, between Vicks-
burg and the besiegers.

May 23d to 3 1 st — Enemy entrenching energetically
at night ; keeping up a continuous fire during the
day.

June 5th — During the night the enemy kept up an
incessant artillery fire and occasional musketry.

June 6th — Enemy fired nearly all night from ar-
tillery.

June 8th — Continuous fire during the night.

June 9th — Last night the enemy fired into our
working party on the left, wounding two men. We
are constructing a rough stockade at that point, to
prevent a dash from the enemy's works, now not
more than seventy-five yards distant.

June nth — The sharpshooters are extremely vigi-
lant, and are within sixty or seventy yards, excel-
lently covered. The 26th Louisiana is securing
its front against a dash, by means of a picket with
brush entanglements.

June 13th — Sharpshooting very bitter.

June 15th — Sap at redan (held by twenty-seventh
Louisiana), very close, within ten paces of ditch.
We are using hand-grenades on working parties.

June 1 7th — We are on speaking terms with the

* See Report of Major-General M, L. Smith in appendix.

02 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

enemy at the redan. The picket parties at that
point agree upon short truces during which neither
party is to fire. Notes are thrown across from one
party to the other. Some trading going on in coffee,
etc. Have forbidden communications. I permit it
only in the presence of the officer of the day.

June 2oth — Furious cannonading began at day-
Hght, and continued a good part of the day.

June 22d — Major W. W. Martin, 26th Louisiana,
was killed instantly by sharpshooters. He was one
of the most gallant and excellent young officers of
the command.

June 29th — Are using hand-grenades on him (the
enemy).

July 2d — Enemy advancing his sap in front of the
stockade. Protects himself from hand-grenades by
covering his track with rails. We are running a
gallery from our trenches, to blow in the enemy's
works.

July 3d — Enemy is running a gallery, with the in-
tention of blowing up the stockade between lunette
and redan. Is hard at work to-day. We follow the
example. The question is which shall explode first ? *

" When the real investment began, a cat could not
have crept out of Vicksburg without being discov-
ered. Every yard of river and foot of land was
watched and guarded, and the horrors of a siege were
felt alike in the streets of the city, and trenches at
the front."

" Grant learned here what he afterwards put in
practice at Petersburg. If he could not hurl Pem-
berton from his works, he could wear him out.
Sharpshooters were advanced as close as possible at
every point, artillery pushed forward, new pieces
mounted, and every arrangement made to keep the

* Report of Brigadier-General Francis L. Shoup, in appendix.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 83

Confederates on the anxious seat. The crack of the
rifles of the sharpshooters was never hushed, even at
night, and scarcely a day was passed that some de-
monstration was not made to create apprehension.
A regiment would make an advance at some point on
the lines, as if an assault was intended ; and the Con-
federates would be stirred up, upon the front a mile
long. At night some bold Federal would creep
forward among the Confederate rifle pits, and raise an
alarm that would extend to a thousand men. There
was not an hour in the twenty-four that the besieged
felt safe in resting, and anything like sound sleep
was out of the question."

" While a constant artillery fire was maintained
on both sides, most of the loss was occasioned by
sharpshooters. The Federals we're in rifle pits or
behind cover, and in some cases near enough to have
killed a sparrow resting on the Confederate works.
One of their objects was to silence the big guns by
picking off artillerists, and in a few instances they
were quite successful. There were cannon in the
Confederate forts which were struck by as many as
sixty bullets. A wooden shield in use to protect the
man at one of the guns, was, in eight hours, struck
by 44 balls ; on the other hand, the Federals suffered
even more than the Confederate sharpshooters, be-
cause less sheltered, and almost constantly making
new movements, and taking new positions."

"One who looks over the battle-field of Vicks-
burg will wonder that the peninsula (now an island)
opposite the city was not captured long before the
event took place. Porter's mortars were so far up
stream that they were of Httle service, and whenever
he came down with his gun boats to run past or en-
gage the batteries, the distance he had to make was
so great that the Confederates had warning and were

84 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

fully prepared for his coming. The Confederate
force holding the peninsula was always weak in num-
bers, and could have been routed weeks before it
was. When the Federals finally took possession of
the ground, the mortar scows were brought down
within rifle range of the city. The wooded penin-
sula hid them from sight and served as a protection,
after the siege began, and after Porter secured the
new position, the Confederates could never look
forward to an hour of rest."

"Grant was impatient at delay, and when neither
assault or bombardment would bring victory, he be-
gan to approach the Confederate works at various
points by sap and mine."

" It became certain after a while that Grant would
get into Vicksburg, if he had to tunnel under every
hill, and Fate sat down with Pemberton whenever
he rested, and glided along beside him whenever
he rode. Johnston could not gather force enough
to warrant an attack upon Grant. He was a men-
ace, but not a danger. It wasthe same with Tayloi\"
" In the last days of June, Pemberton fully realized
his position. He might repulse another assault upon
his lines, and the river batteries might now and then
disable a gun-boat, but the end must come. Grant
was determined, and Porter full of courage. Every
foot of the lines was under fire, and every fort was
being approached by a mine. In the city it was still
worse. Porter had opened with a vengeance, am-
munition was giving out in the Vicksburg batteries,
and men who had been under call for over forty days
and nights were at last wearing out."

" Grant never exhibited better generalship and
greater pluck. Porter never showed his fleet to
better advantage. Then let history, no mattter by

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 85

whom written, add, that the Confederates had done
all that brave men could do."*

It would be an idle task to attempt to describe the
horrid enginery used against us day and night, from
May 1 8th to July 3d. Bloodier inventions could
have come only from the confines of the damned.
The batteries on water and land commannded the
entire area within the fortifications. No spot within
the city and suburbs was safe or knowingly spared.
Women, children and the wounded were exposed
more than the soldiers in the trenches. There were
lulls in the storm of shot and shell, only because the
besieger required rest to gain renewed strength for
his diabolical mission.

The shelling usually was fiercest at dawn, one
battery and another and another would open, until
every gun and mortar seemed on duty — vicious and
unrelenting as artillery covering an assault. The
incessant fire of small arms about the same time, led
one readily to imagine an assault was really made. This
matinee was kept up with rare intermission; while
throughout the night, as well as day, there was, at
one point or another, more or less firing, with small
arms and artillery. Sometimes, in the dead of night,
just as an unusual stillness might be remarked, a
sudden sharp discharge of small arms would be
heard for a few moments, when the great guns
would join until we were ready to exclaim :
— " Hell is empty
and all the devils here."

There was on the grounds, about the dwelling, a
cave, which was a protection, perhaps, from frag-
ments of shell, and here Mrs. Hall would repair
with the children when the shelling seemed, as in-
surers say, extra-hazardous. The usual heavy firing

* This account of the siege, from a Federal outloolc is by Mr. Charles
B. Lewis.

86 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

at dawn would awaken me, but no one else in my
little camp. T would arouse Mrs. Hall. She and a
servant would dress the children with a deliberation
that invited a monition on my part before they
started, and they would remain in the cave until
there was a lull in the shelling.

I suffered from the wound ; for three weeks the
pain was acute and unceasing. It was necessary to
keep down the inflammation, and as ice was not to
be had, Mrs. Hall had a frame made over and
attached to the bedstead, from which she suspended
a bucket, with a small hole in the bottom filled with
candle wick, so that when the bucket was filled with
water, it would drip on the injured limb. There
was not an hour day or night in which she did not
examine and regulate the drip, as the wick some-
times clogged.

There was no way of taking off the surplus water,
so that it saturated the part of the mattress covered
by the limb, and the limb, as it could not be moved
prudently, rested for some three weeks on this wet
surface, until the bone was knit.

Members of the regiment called frequently —
Colonels H. A. Clinch, D. Betzhoover, Edward
Higgins called also from time to time. I read
several novels while lying on my back, which Colo-
nel Betzhoover kindly loaned to me. Our domestic
life went on as usual. Shelling did not affect the
appetite of the little ones, and Mrs. Hall managed
to give them three meals a day of camp fare, and
every afternoon send them out for a walk, during
which, as a pastime, they gathered some of the metal
that a liberal enemy had scattered broadcast. Twenty-
one different speciments of shot and shell was the
result of their labors. One of my sons made a
specialty of collecting minnie balls, of which he had

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 87

two or three pounds, besides a spent one which
struck him, but without serious injury.

When I was wounded and compelled to leave the
field, the command devolved upon Lieutenant-Colo-
nel Crow. With him as chief. Major Martin next
in rank and with the array of efficient company
officers, I had no misgivings of the regiment. I
knew every officer and man would do his duty, and
that I could be well spared. In the general assault
of the enemy, on Friday, May 2 2d, as already
mentioned, a heavy force thrown against the front
occupied by the regiment was repulsed with tejrific
slaughter. Its sad list of killed and wounded during
the siege attests its exposure. Forty-six consecutive
days and nights in the trenches, without relief, with-
out change of clothing, with short rations, and
constantly on the qui vive, was an ordeal only un-
alloyed metal could withstand; and from which
officers and men emerged, with their manhood
written by fire on their foreheads.

During the general assault of May 22d, Lieuten-
ant Arrieux a promising young officer was killed.
In memoranda handed to me by our regimental com-
misary Captain Moss, he says :

" In furnishing you some time ago with names of
my Sergeants at Vicksburg, I forgot to mention
that just previous to Haines, I had with me for a
short time Joseph T. Greig of Company A. Upon
the investment of Vicksburg, and the occupation of
the trenches by our troops, I was unable to restrain
the zealous and impetuous youth of 18, from seizing
his gun, and joining his company in the trenches.
On the fourth day of the siege, the brave and noble
boy fell, pierced through the head.

On June 2 ist Major Martin fell at his post of duty,
in the 22d year of his age. Endowed with a fearless
spirit, a cool head, a judgment rare, no better soldier

88 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ever stood behind the battlements of Vicksburg.
Had he fought under the eagles of Napoleon at an
earlier day, the keen insight of that great captain
would have marked him, and his transcendent worth
would have made him, in time, a marshall of the
empire."

As the enemy's work gradually approached our
own, their picket line and ours was so near together,
it was often understood, at various points, there
should be no picket firing. One night when our
pickets were in charge of Lieutenant Sanders of
Company B, he was making a tour about 2 a.m.,
when he heard a voice in ordinary tone, near to him,
say "what o'clock is it Reb." It proved to be an
officer in command of the enemy's picket !

Private Vileor Duhon of Company E, however,
had a contrary experience, as mentioned to me by
Lieutenant Gilbeau of the same company. Duhon
being one of the outer line of pickets, on reaching
his post behind a log, raised his head to look toward
the front, when a shot from the enemy's picket made
it prudent for him to protect himself behind the log,
not having been able to recognize the direction of
the shot, he changed his position behind the log,
and placing his hat at the end of a pole raised it at
the point he had first occupied, as soon as the hat
appeared a second shot was fired. Knowing now
the position of his antagonist, he gave the latter time
to reload, and then repeated the operation of raising
the hat, having previously placed his gun in the di-
rection of his opponent. The picket took another
shot at the hat, and Duhon took a shot at the picket
and threw himself behind the log where he began to
reload; before he had got through he heard a
noise on the other side of the log and rising quickly
was about to pierce his adversary with his bayonet,

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 89

when he surrendered, saying that Duhon's first ball
passed very near his head, and he was confident the
next would kill him.

The days wore on wearily; with Colonel Crow in
charge of the regiment, and Mrs. Hall in charge of
my family camp — both approved soldiers — there was
nothing more to be desired in their several lines of
duty.

Mrs. Hall had driven into Vicksburg a cow
Mrs. Downs had given to her. It was a treasure to
us. She furnished milk for the children, and was a
potent factor in our commissariat. As some soldiers
were detected at one time driving her away, I had
her guarded, and my eldest son performed some of
his earliest military duty, at thirteen, in taking his
tour of duty as sentry over her, but forage became
very scarce, as my poor thin horses mutely attested,
and I was compelled to have her killed. Indeed, as
time passed by, food and forage were at a premmm ;
the law of demand and supply was entirely ignored,
and various expedients were resorted to. The pri-
vates of the regiment successfully undertook a
decrease in the rodent population. In my weakened
condition, camp fare was repulsive. I sent out a
man to shoot a rat for me, imagining I could eat it
broiled with relish, but the hunt failed to secure the
game, and the fancy passed. The men cut up the
young growth of the wild cane, boiled it and made
a delectable dish.

Peas were ground and mixed with corn meal
but proved unpalatable — the ever-faithful mule was
looked upon with pitiless eye, and the scarcity of
forage induced us to kill several, and distribute the
flesh among the officers' messes, by way of giving
countenance to this novel addition to our menu, and
preparing the men for it. Amid this dearth of the

12

90 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

general larder, I was the recipient every day, for
several days, of a newly laid egg, kindly sent to me
by Mrs. Bond, the wife of Captain Bond of the
heavy artillery ; and a pond was found by my boys
stocked with crawfish, which furnished our table
with a toothsome dish, until the supply was ex-
hausted.

Captain Moss writes of the commissariat of the
regiment during the siege :

" The rations were issued in the city to details,
which cooked and conveyed them daily to their
respective companies. In the early part of the siege
this was done in the day time, but as there was an
open space, commanded by the Federal sharp-
shooters and artillery, where the detail was exposed,
orders were given to perform this service at night.
At intervals, during the siege, the ration was reduced,
until it was insufficient to sustain life, and the men
were forced to gather and cook weeds and grasses,
buds of trees and roots, especially the cane root. I
heard some say they ate rats. I was on the sick list
during the latter part of the siege. Feeling well
enough one day, I went to the commissary quarters
and found Lieutenant Campbell (who was on duty
in my place) issuing a strange looking meat, and
asked him what it was, he replied ' mule.' So we
did eat mule, there is no doubt about it."

And now the siege was drawing to a close from
sheer lack of vitality on our part. Ammunition was
nearly expended, provisions were well nigh exhausted,
of forage there was none. Constant duty in the
trenches had told on the noble patience of the men,
the expectation of being relieved by Johnston had
merged into hope, and hope had vanished, as the
cloud of a bursted shell in mid-air.

The surrender was made July 3d, and news

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 9 1

of it was brought to me early on the 4th of July ;
wasted in strength, nervous from suffering and con-
finement to my bed, I wept

" like a sick girl,"
to think that the 26th with its calm constant courage,
and its heroic endurance was compelled to succomb.
In my agony I wished — vain wish as it was — that the
poor privilege had been allowed to it, to cut its way
out, coute qu'il coute.

Soon a portion of the enemy's troops appeared,
and a squad of blue coats entered the grounds about
our quarters, and went to the well for water. Mrs.
Hall went out and demanded to know of them by
what right they entered our premises without
permission. One of them came up to her and said
in a quiet tone: "You had better go into the house,"
Realizing it was useless to contend single-handed with
a superior force of the enemy, like a prudent cap-
tain, she withdrew in good order.

I could now see arms stacked on a visible portion
of our line, soon a troop of Yankee calvary dashed
along a road near to us, several regiments of infantry
passed in sight, four companies of artillery parked
their guns in open ground near by, and the grand
drama was over.

In what manner the besieged forces performed
their part of that drama, is attested by General Grant,
in a note dated July 3d to General Pemberton, re-
specting the terms of capitulation.

" Men who have shown so much endurance
and courage as those now in Vicksburg will always
challenge the respect of an adversary."

In a letter to the Blue and Grey Association of
Vicksburg, dated April 17th, 1890, Admiral David
D. Porter writes to the same effect :

"I have a great veneration for old Vicksburg. I
admire the brave soldiers who so long and strenu-

92 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ously contended against the odds by which they were
confronted. I admired the calmness and endurance
of the inhabitants in holding out against an avalanche
of explosives, such as has hardly ever poured into a
city. Above all I admire the dignity of the soldiers
and people who, after doing their best to maintain
their possession, succumbed finally to the stern de-
cree of fate when nothing more could be done."

Brigadier-General Orme of Illinois occupied the
first floor of the house we were in ; having heard a
wounded officer was on the second floor, he sent his
adjutant with a kind inquiry into my wants; now I
wanted everything to begin with ; and anything
edible would not have come amiss ; but I was not
in a frame of mind tb say so. I thanked him, and
told him I was not in need of anything. General
Orme called soon, and every day afterward sent to
me some delicacy from his table, which I was too
polite and too hungry to refuse.

General Orme wished to hoist his flag over his
headquarters, and asked permission for his color-
sergeant to go through the rooms occupied by me,
for the purpose, I acceded to his request of course.
The sergeant flung it to the breeze every morning,
and at evening furled it with great care, and took it
in, so that not even the mildest dew might mar the
beauty of the rich silk of which it was made. One
evening he forgot it ; there were indications of
rain. I suggested to Mrs. Hall to send word to the
sergeant to take in his colors. She told me plumply
she would not, that he might take care of his own
flag, she would not do so for him. Soon black clouds
burst and envious rain fell upon the banner, it re-
mained out all night and next morning, red, white
and blue, was an indistinguishable mass.

Arrangements had been made to send away the sick
and wounded of our army by water, and all others by

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 93

land. Mrs. Hall called at General Grant's head-
quarters for the purpose of having some provision
made for my removal, as my limb was still in a pre-
carious condition, although with the aid of crutches,
improvised from tent poles, I was now able to move
about the room, for a few minutes at a time.
General Grant met Mrs. Hall; he was dressed plain-
ly, a black alpaca coat, being his most prominent ar-
ticle of dress. She had quite a long chat with him.
She told me he talked calmly on all subjects, and
seemed totally without excitement, save when he
spoke of what he called the guerilla attacks upon the
transports on the river, when he seemed utterly in-
dignant at their conduct, " why these fellows " said
he "will come out and fire upon our boats, do all the
damage they can, and when we go to look them up,
we find them at their homes, apparently ignorant of
our existence." General Grant in his own hand
writing, gave Mrs. Hall two passes, in order she
might avail herself of either, one to Kentucky, the
other, with consent of General Banks commanding
the Department of the Gulf, to Louisiana; in either
case transportation to be furnished by any Govern-
ment transport. We decided to go to our friends in
Louisiana.

I issued the following address to the command :

ViCKSBURG, July 9th, 1863.
" To the officers and soldiers of the 26th Regiment

Louisiana Volunteers :

Comrades — Again you have met the enemy. For
over forty days you have withstood triple numbers
armed with every missile known to warfare, and ex-
pended with the utmost prodigality. Your undaunt-
ed courage and intrepid bearing has drawn admiration
even from your antagonists. Whenever the bravery

94 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

and fortitude of her sons is called in question, our
own dear Louisiana may proudly point to the his-
toric page gilded by your deeds, in the swamp of
Chickasaw Bayou, and on the fortifications of Vicks-
burg.

Though circumstances not in your control have
forced you to surrender your riddled and battle-
stained flag to the foe, the proud consciousness that
you have done your duty should take away the sting
of defeat. The General commanding will doubtless
make such disposition of you, as you desire, until
you are exchanged.

Your Colonel has one request to make of you,
that when you are exchanged, which he trusts will
take place in a few weeks, you will promptly report
wherever ordered, in the hope we may soon meet
the invader, with renewed vigor in our arms, with
unshaken faith in the justice of our cause, and in
the full determination never to put up our weapons,
until peace smiles on our country."

I have already mentioned that the conduct of our
troops extorted praise from our adversaries. It may
seem superfluous to say more, but this record would
not be complete, if I failed to add the testimony of
the commanders under whom they fought, as to that
matchless valor and fortitude, which Grant recog-
nized and Porter so well remembered.

In General Shoup's report of the part taken by
his command, he writes :

July 4th — Capitulation ordered — At 10 a.m. we
moved out of our trenches by battalions, stacked
arms, and returned to our old quarters in town.
The men were full of indignation. Though they
have had very scant fare, and had been exposed to a
merciless and almost continuous fire, remaining at
their posts in the trenches without relief, I have

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 95

rarely heard a murmur or complaint. The tone has
always been " this is pretty hard, but we can stand
it." Too much praise cannot be given to officers and
men.*

Major-General M. L. Smith says in his report :

"The conduct of the entire division was most ex-
emplary, and its courage and cheerfulness increased,
if possible, from day to day, under the hardships and
privations of the siege."

Lieutenant-General Pemberton commanding the
besieged forces in his report of August 2d, 1863,
writes :

For forty-seven days and nights, those heroic men
had been exposed to burning suns, drenching rains,
damp fogs and heavy dews, and during all this
period, never had, by day or by night, the slightest
relief. The extent of our works required every
available man in the trenches, and, even then, they
were, in many places, insufficiently manned. It was
not in my power to relieve any portion of the line
for a sing-le hour. Confined to the narrow limits of
a trench, with their limbs cramped and swollen,
without exercise, constantly exposed to a murderous
storm of shot and shell, while the enemy's unerring
sharpshooters stood ready to pick off every man vi-
sible above the parapet.

Many had met death with a smile upon their lips,
all had cheerfully encountered danger; and, almost
without a murmur had borne privations and hard-
ships well calculated to test their manhood. They
had held the place against an enemy five times their
number, admirably clothed and fed, and abundantly
supplied with all the appliances of war. Whenever
the foe attempted an assault, they drove them back
discomfitted, covering the ground with his killed and

*i3ee appendix for report.

96

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

wounded, and had torn from his grasp five stands of
colors, as trophies of their prowess.

I am indebted to Captain A. J. Moss for a list of
the killed and wounded of the regiment during the
siege, taken from a diary kept by him up to June
29th, when sickness prevented its continuance. A
few omissions have been supplied :

Remarks.

Killed— gun-shot wound in

the head.
Killed — gun-shot wound in

the left breast.
Wounded — Fracture of the

right leg.
Killed — gun-shot wound in

the left breast.
Wounded.
Wounded severely — gun-shot

wound through the jaws.
Wounded severely — gun-she t

wound in the head.
Wounded severely — gun-shot

wound in the shoulder.
Wounded.
Wounded.

Gun-shot wound in the arm.
Killed.

Rank.

Name.

Co.
May 19.

Private

Fabre Dorneville,

A

Captain

Felix Winder,

K

Colonel

Winchester Hall,

Lieut.

Pierre N. Ternier,

G

Private

Labit Dacisse,

K

"

Smith, John J ,

I

"

Louvifire Clay,

E

Corporal

Frederic Lottinger,

H

Private

Chiasson Schuyler,

F

" Kerne, Ismael,

Jyieut. Charles M. Daspit,

Private Perot, G. E.,

Adam Mathurin,

Anslum, W.,
Sergeant Nicholas Duffy,

Private Bourgeois, Florence,

Lieut. Numa Arrieux,

Private Gaude Emile,

Greig. Joseph T. ,
Thibodaux, Martin,
Begnaud, Felix,
Hebert, Elise,
Mallet Dolze,
Lyons, L. C. P.,

Gamas Casimir,

May 20.
H
G

May 21.
D

B

C

F

May 22.

C

I

A
A
A
E
E
FI

G

severely in the

the

Wounded
head.

Wounded in the arm.

Wounded .severely in
back.

Contusion of the foot.
Killed.

Gun-shot wound in the scalp.
Killed.

Wounded severely— gun-shot
wound in the right breast.

Wound on chin and left
shoulder.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

97

Rank. Name. Co.

May 23.
Private Louvifire, Joseph L., E

Le Blanc, Theodule,

Remarks.

Sergeant Guedry, C. I.,
Private Ozelet, Jules,

Kiger, Henry C,

King, George,
" Mason, Thoma.s,

" Dubois, J. Pierre,

C

I
May 24.

F
May 26.

H
May 29.

H

B

K

King, Thomas,

'■ Bergeron, Wa.shington,

Corporal Victor Boudreau,

Private Babin, Joseph,

" Cormier, Lastie,

" Bergeron, Charles,

Lieut. Silvere, Navarre,

Private Fayette, Martin,

H

H

F
H

Fight, Martin,

Babin, Marcel,
Whitney, George,

June 5.
A

H

D
B

C

June 7.
D
F

[une 9.
I
H
C

Naquin, Melville,
Cooper, Ezra.
Fremin, Trasimond, .

fune 10.

Bourgeois, Adam, H

Falgout, Onezinie, I

June II.

Evans, J., B

Melangon, Aime, I

June 12.

Bourg, Olime, F

Bergeron, Germain, F

Babin, Theodule, H

Wounded in left arm, and

arm amputaled.
Wounded severely in the

heel by a shell.
Gun-shot wound in the arm.

Head shot off.

Gun-shot wound in the thigh.

Killed.

Leg fractured by a shell and

amputated.
Leg broken by a limb of a

tree, cut intwam by a shot,

falling on him.
Wounded in the wrist by a

shell.
Wounded in the .scalp by a

shell.
Arm broken by a shell.
Wounded in the foot by a

shell.

Wounded mortally in the
head by a shell.

Gun-shot wound in left shoul-
der of which he died.

Gun-shot wound in the back.

Serious gun-shot wound in
the head.

Wounded.

Wounded.
Wounded.

Mortally wounded.

Wounded.

Wounded.

Seriously wounded.
Wounded.

Killed.
Wounded.

Killed.

Wouiided.

Killed.

13

98

TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Rank.
Private

Private

Sergeant
Private
Major
Private

Name.

Lamb, Samuel,
Roy, Cevenne,

Boudreaux, Clitus,

Solari, Jean,
Johnson, James,

Grima, Michel,
Armaut Britsche,

Callahen, C,

W. W. Martin,

Carroll, James,

Serj^eant
Piivate

Lieut.
Private

Lieut.
Private

June

June
June

Jtine

June
June
June
June

Co.

13-
G

E

Remarks.

Comeaux, Ovide,
Arsement, Jules,
Leche, Jean Baptiste,

June
Evariste, Leonard,
Maxamillian, Antonio,
Babin, V.,
Curtis, Thomas E.,
Edward Mitchell,
Tro-sclair, Joseph,

Honore Champagne,
Crepelle, Severin,
Dugas, J. N.,

June
June

14.
C

16.
A
B

18.
D
D

19-
'F

23.
K

24.
A
C
C

25-
F
H
H
G
G
I

D
H
H
26.
D
27.
B

Private

Le Blanc, Oville,

Delmas Dubois,

Dubois, Aladin, A
June 2g.

Part Clodomire, F

Duhon, Emile, A

Guidry, Antoine, A

Boudreaux, Victor, B

Bourg, M,, B

Baldwin, Thomas J., G

July.

Cancienne Bazile, C

Hebert, Adelin, C

Killed.
Wounded.

Killed.

Disabled by concussion.
Killed.

Killed.
Wounded.

Mortally wounded.

Killed.

Wounded.

Wounded.
Wounded.
Wounded.

Wounded.

Mortally wounded.

Wounded.

Wounded.

Wounded.

Seriously wounded and died

of the wound.
Wounded.
Severely wounded.
Mortally wounded.

Severely wounded.

Wounded and foot ampu-
tated.

Wounded.

Mortally wounded.

Wounded.

Wounded.

Wounded.

Head .shot off.

Wounded.

Died in the service.
Died in the service.

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. . 99

After paroling the various commands which re-
quired several days, the troops that were on duty, at
the time of the surrender were marched out of Vicks-
burg, without retaining their separate organizations;
the sick and wounded were conveyed by water. Some
days elapsed before news was brought to me, that a
steamer was at the landing ready to take my family
and myself to our destination. We went on board
and found it filled with our wounded. It had also
among its passengers a catholic priest and a number
of ladies, all of whom had been banished from St.
Louis as southern sympathizers. Upon reaching
the Federal fort opposite Donaldsonville we landed.
The commandant of the fort furnished us an ambu-
lance to Thibodaux where we were welcomed and
sheltered under the hospitable roof of old friends.

CHAPTER X.

WITHIN THE enemy's LINES.
J^^ly ^J, i86s to February /, 1864.

At the time we reached Thibodaux, the Lafourche
parishes were not occupied by either of the contend-
ing forces. The Confederate troops had been with-
drawn a short while before, and the Federal troops
resumed possession after our arrival.

Many of the regiment crossed the hostile line in
order to reach their homes, as they had no difficulty
in passing the Federal pickets with their paroles ; I
feared they would be embarrassed in attempting to
return, as not any of them had a written permission,
as in my case, to go within the enemy's line ; how-
ever, I said nothing to them at the time, but deter-
mined, after they had rested well at their homes, to
suggest their return. We were kept under surveil-
lance by the military authorities. The men were
ordered to report weekly to the Provost-Marshal.
A pass was necessary, on my part, to make a visit
beyond the immediate neighborhood of Thibodaux.

It was most pleasant to note the conduct of my
people under the rule of the enemy. Of course all
young men were in the army. The community
about me was composed of the old, the disabled,
women and children. A few were wealthy, but the
greater portion were of moderate means — all were
devoted to the Southern cause. They did not pro-

WITHIN THE ENEMY S LINES. lOI

yoke hostility. It would have availed nothing. They
were, however, firm as adamant, and made no con-
cessions to power. They were not dismayed by the
gleam of bayonets, nor cast down by reason of an
armed and irresistible force in their midst. The few
who were exceptions to the rule were insignificant
alike in numbers, as in social position. Among the
conveniences of being a paroled prisoner within
the enemy's line, was the pleasure of being able to
communicate, through the mails, with relations and
friends in the border states and the North, many of
whom we had not heard of during over twelve
months, and to whom we could now write in a more
circumstantial way, than was usual by means of the
flag of truce channel at Richmond.

Having learned that my cousin Robert Snowden
of General John H. Morgan's command was a pris-
oner at Camp Douglas, I wrote to Mrs. S. Lisle
Smith of Chicago, a sister of Major John C. Potts
of Terrebonne, requesting her to do what she could
for his comfort. She went to the camp, with her
sister Mrs. Bender, and found young Snowden very
ill. His hfe was saved, doubtless, through their
kind ministrations. These ladies were unwearied in
their devotion to the sick and helpless prisoners at
this camp, for the sake of Him who went about
doing good without respect to country or condition.

Young Snowden soon afterward was exchanged,
and in gratitude to his fair deHverers, invested his
surplus funds in canned esculents, and as he passed
through Richmond, took them to the inmates of
Libby prison.

I have already mentioned that many of the regi-
ment had come within the enemy's line to their
homes. After several weeks recuperation, I ascer-
tained they were wilHng to return across the hostile

102 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

line, but the local military authorities at Thibodaux
declined granting them permission to do so.

About August 27th Captain Shaffer and myself
went to New Orleans to obtain the requisite permit
for the purpose, from General N. P. Banks the De-
partment Commander. As the mission was on
official business I wore my uniform. While we were
crossing the river at Algiers, a gentlemen handed
me a rose, and pointing to a lady on the ferry boat,
mentioned she had sent it to me. I looked toward
her and bowed, and she returned the greeting. I
thought it strange, as she was not known to me, not
considering, at the time, it was my uniform she
recognized in no unfriendly spirit.

Captain Shaffer and I went at once to the Head-
quarters of General Banks, but he had gone out to
a military review. We then went to Galpin's restau-
rant for dinner. Several Federal officers were dining
there. I noticed Galpin walking up and down the
room eyeing us sharply. A waiter soon brought us
a bottle of wine with Mr. Galpin's compliments. I
sent for him to drink with us. He came out, said he
had a son in the Southern Army and was delighted
to meet us.

Captain Shaffer left very soon. I remained in
the city about ten days, in the fruitless endeavor to
secure for the men, the coveted permission to pass
the Federal pickets into our lines. In interviews for
this purpose I met General Banks, General Charles
P. Stone his chief of staff, and General Bowen
Provost-Marshal. General Banks did 'not impress
me favorably as a gentleman and a soldier. General
Bowen had the courtesy of the trained soldier, and
the considerateness that graces triumph and soothes
defeat. When I called upon General Stone I sent
in my card, by the sergeant at his door and was at

WITHIN THE enemy's LINES. 103

once admitted. As I entered the door on my
crutches, he rose and came to me, took my hand and
walked with me to a seat, with a naivete of manner
that was exceedingly charming.

If, however, I failed in my mission, the visit,
otherwise, was successful and triumphant. There
were many Confederate soldiers imprisoned in the
Custom House, but I was the only one at large
within the city, and men, women and children took
delight to do me honor. The fact I was still on
crutches, doubtless, added to the manifestation, and
appealed to their sympathy. I was repaid, amply
repaid, in the ovation tendered, for the privations I
had endured, and the perils I had passed; a long
repressed and deep feeling in the cornmunity now
had a object upon which it could show its devotion,
and it spoke as unmistakably as a battery of Napo-
leons. Without thought, without warning, I was a
hero — enshrined in the hearts of a people that kept
faith with husbands and sons, fathers and brothers
on far away battle-fields, and who never bowed the
knee to a rule enforced by the bayonet, nor swerved
from that course of conduct pointed out by patriotic
duty.

I was the guest of my cousin Mrs. Snowden.
Every evening I held a levee. Even General
Banks honored me — with an eaves-dropping detect-
ive. Whenever I went out there was an endeavor
to attract my notice, or to show me some attention,
however slight.

As I hobbled along one morning, I heard some
one say, "Well ! gray is prettier than blue." I looked
up to the balcony whence the voice proceeded, and
took of my kepis to three young ladies.

At another time, it being cool, I was wearing my
top coat, bearing the pelican button. A small news-

I04 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

boy came up, and without looking at me — looked at
the buttons — said " all right," and passed on.

I was seated in a street car next to a middle-aged
woman evidently of humble walk, who after scanning
me closely for some time said, "Confederate?"
"Yes," I replied. She rejoined, "it does ray heart
good to see you."

I went into a store to make a small purchase, and
when I selected the article, offered the price, the
storekeeper remarked, " I cannot take anything
from a Confederate soldier."

It is well known the most arrant rebels were
Northern people who had lived some time in the
South. I was passing the evening with the family
of a friend, who was a native of Massachusetts, when
another Massachusetts man called. He was ardent
as fire, but timid as a child ; when we were intro-
duced, he took a seat beside me, and whispered in
my ear, " I am so glad to see you, I could halloa."

I was invited to dine at another home of New Eng-
land people, where I met a lady well known to me,
who kissed me ; the hostess followed her— as beauti-
ful in feature and person as she was lovely in char-
acter — but with whom I was not well acquainted ; as
I shook hands with her, she kissed one of the but-
tons of my coat, remarking, "At least, I can kiss one
of the buttons."

I stepped out of the street car late in the after-
noon, and as I approached the sidewalk four little
girls, prettily dressed, stopped in their walk and
awaited me. One of them approached me and of-
fered her hand, saying "We are Confederates." I
shook hands with three of them, but the other — of
some six summers — stood shyly apart ; the little
spokeswoman then pointed, as though she wanted
me to go to the fourth one, and said " She is a rebel

WITHIN THE ENEMY S LINES. IO5

too." So I went up and shook hands with the Uttle
rebel.

These incidents — a few out of many— serve to
show how a Confederate soldier, as a representative
of his country's cause, received the profound and un-
adulterate homage of the people of New Orleans.

On my return to Lafourche, and making known
my barren efforts for permission to return to our
lines, it was determined the members of the regiment
would cross the line, covertly, in squads. The first,
consisting of Capt. Webre, Lieut. Navarre and oth-
ers, agreed upon a rendezvous, for the purpose, at
the captain's dwelling ; being anxious for the success
of the enterprise, and as it would affect other sorties
of the same character, I went to Capt. Webre's to be
assured all proper arrangements were made. They
met and left about 9 p. m., taking with them a stand
of colors, which had been made by Misses Anna and
Mary Ellis, and presented by them to the regiment.
The day after they left it was ascertained two or
three horses of a planter who was friendly to the
Union cause had also disappeared, and rumor con-
nected the disappearance of men and horses.

I remained with Capt. Webre's family the night
the squad disappeared. About midnight I heard a
rapping at a front door, and some one asking that
the door be opened. I heard Mrs, Webre reply that
she would not. I inferred it was a soldier, and called
to Mrs. Webre to let him in. She opened the door,
which led into her room, and four Federal officers,
in full uniform, marched through her room, and
through her children's room, direct to mine. One
announced to me I was under arrest, and placed a
soldier at the door of my room, who kept his gun at
full cock. As I was on crutches I did not see the
necessity of the sentry, or the gun at full cock,

J4

I06 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

though, perhaps, it was an honor to consider that a
rebel with a broken leg, armed with a crutch, was still
dangerous, and could be overcome only by an able-
bodied man with a gun at full cock.

When they had thus secured me, the officer in
command stated to me he had understood there was
a rebel meeting at the house. I replied I was not
aware of any such meeting ; a diligent search of the
premises, however, was undertaken — garret, kitchen,
closet, well — nothing escaped their vigilance ; and,
by the way, they searched Capt. Webre's desk where
the flag mentioned had been taken out only three
hours before. Mrs. Webre, with a sang-froid worthy
of a soldier's wife, followed the party in their search,
and aided them where she could, but all without
avail. Neither rebel nor sign of rebel could be found.
In the meanwhile the commanding officer addressed
me two or three times as "Mr. Hall." The last time
I replied, "Colonel Hall, if you please; I give your
officers their titles, and expect the same for myself."
"Very well. Colonel," he replied.

After the search was over the officer came to me
and said, " Colonel, we will have to take you to
Headquarters." I replied, "Very well, but as I am
unable to walk, you will have to furnish transporta-
tion." Soon a vehicle was declared ready, Mrs.
Webre held a light for me to see the way to the
front, about twenty cavalry had accompanied the offi-
cers, and just as I became visible to the cavalry men
one of them, who had doubtless seen me about Thi-
bodaux, cried out in disgust, " Why, it's only that
lame Colonel." Of course it was small game for four
officers and twenty men to bag only a lame Colonel
who could not run away if he would.

It was four miles to Headquarters of Gen. Birge,
commandant of the district. I sought to bear myself

WITHIN THE ENEMY S LINES. lOj

modestly, under the novelty of a first experience
with an escort of cavalry. While on our way, the
ranking officer, considering, doubtless, there was no
charge could be preferred against me, mentioned he
would send me to my quarters, at Mr. Meads, if I
desired. I expressed my assent. The escort was
then dismissed at Thibodaux, and I was sent on to
my quarters, which I reached about daylight.

The success of this first sortie being assured, there
was not any difficulty about subsequent attempts to
cross the line, although it still had to be done se-
cretly, and in small numbers at a time. The men
were favored in their enterprises by their familiarity
with the swamps through which they had to pass,
and of the people they had to avoid, or to apply to,
for succor.

With the men safe over Federal lines, I next
turned my attention to a suitable place of refuge for
my family; as the experience at Vicksburg did not
appear to justify it in following my fortunes in the
field. Mrs. Hall went to New Orleans for the pur-
pose of procuring a pass, and to ascertain the best
route to her father's home in Kentucky, where she
had decided to go. She was also to request a pass
for me to go into Confederate lines. General Bowen
granted a pass to her, and asked her to take the oath
of allegiance. " She told him she could not; that her
husband held rank in Confederate service, and she
could not do an act he would not sanction. General
Bowen replied, "I appreciate your position, and shall
not require it."

As to a pass for myself she was not successful.
General Banks decided the pass I held from General
Grant under which I entered Federal lines, did not
warrant my exit ! I was allowed, however, a pass to
New Orleans, in order to take leave of my family.

I08 TWENTV-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

As the Mississippi River was now appropriated by the
enemy, and all river craft, presumably for hostile
purposes, ordinary travel on the river was suspended;
so that Mrs. Hall and the children had to go from
New Orleans by steamer to New York, thence to
their destination.

During this visit I pressed the authorities for a
pass into the Confederacy, as a matter of simple jus-
tice. My friend, J. Ad. Rozier, aided me all in his
power. The request was not denied, but it was not
granted ; I deemed it prudent to bide my time, and
returned to the Lafourche, where I was again wel-
comed to the hospitable roof of my friend, Mr.
Francis L. Mead, A member of his family, Miss
Margaret McKee (afterwards Mrs. Beasley,) in a
note to Mrs. Hall, gives an account of a call of a
Lieutenant and squad of cavalry of the Federal army
at Mr. Mead's, whilst I was there."

" It was now half-past nine" — so Miss McKee
writes — " suddenly the dogs begin to bark, as if they
would make mince meat of anybody who ap-
proached. Alice came running in and said, " Maas
Frank, the yard is full of soldiers." Sure enough we
heard their swords rattling, and looking through the
blinds saw the frightful gleam of weapons, while
some one was screaming, " If you do not take these
dogs away I will kill them." By this time Lieuten-
ant Foster was on the gallery, peeping through the
blinds, Uncle Mead tried to open the door, but had
to wait till Theresa could be roused — she had locked
it and gone to bed. Finally, the door was opened
and in stepped the Lieutenant "in all the pomp and
pride of war." He was so much agitated when he
came in, either from fear, shame or fatigue (he had to
climb the gate,) that he did not speak for two or
three minutes. Recovering himself, he said to Col-

WITHIN THE ENEMY S LINES. IO9

onel Hall, "Colonel, I understand there is to be a
meeting of rebel officers here to-night."

" I have not heard of it, Lieutenant."

"We were told so," rejoined the Lieutenant.

" He then wanted to know of Colonel Hall if he
made this his home — where his family was — how long
he expected to remain — what day would he be sent
out of the lines, etc., all of which questions he asked
three or four times, and which it seemed he could
not get fixed in his memory,

"After remaining about an hour, he got up to
leave, but still lingered as if loth to go. Colonel
Hall said he was glad he was about to be sent away,
as it was not pleasant to Mr. Mead to be disturbed in
this manner.

" After a while Foster took leave of us. He gave
Colonel Hall a hearty shake of the hand and said,
' While the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner
may return. I am glad to say to you that the broad
Savannahs of the South are fast becoming reduced,
we are drawing our coils closer and tighter around
you. You will soon have to give up.' Colonel Hall
replied, 'May be so. Lieutenant, but we will fight you
to the last, and will die hard.' "

About the latter part of January (A. D. 1864) I
went again to New Orleans, and by means of the
continued good services of my friend Rozier, I suc-
ceeded in obtaining a permit to pass the lines on a
schooner going to Pascagoula, and carrying an as-
sorted cargo of men, women and children — a lot of
too ardent sympathizers with the Southern cause.

Knowing I would not, for a long time, be able to
add to my stock of clothing, I supplied myself to the
full capacity of my trunk, and as each passenger was
allowed to take a lunch, my cousin, Mrs. Bowling,
put up one for me, consisting of a ham, Lyons sau-

I lO TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

sage, a pine apple, cheese, several boxes of sardines,
a loaf or two of bread, two bottles of wine and a bot-
tle of brandy. It is perhaps unneccessary to add I
did not consume all of it at a single meal. I dressed
in full uniform, wore my sword, and was driven to
the wharf where the schooner lay. I was met there
by my cousin, Mary Snowden, Mr. Thomas A.
Adams, Mr. George Trufant and other friends. We
started about noon — the last sound that grated upon
our eai'S being "Yankee Doodle," sung in a school
room by negro children !

CHAPTER XL

IN DIXIE.
Febritdry /, 1864, to April 4, iS6j.

We reached Pascagoula in due time, and I breathed
the free air of Dixie. Captive never longed more
for light, or enjoyed it more exquisitely, than I did
this first breath of Spring laden with the perfume of
her earliest flowers — a calm Confederate sky above —
the blue waters of the bay sleeping in the distance,
and good Confederate men, women and children
around me.

I went from Pascagoula to Mobile. The Fourth
and Thirtieth Louisiana Regiments had just reached
the latter place. The parish of Lafourche had fur-
nished a company to each. I went at once to a cot-
ton press where the regiments were bivouacking, and
gave our boys the latest news from home. I enter-
tained the crowd to the best of my ability, and then
I was subjected to a direct, as well as to a raking fire
of sharp-shooting questions about mother, father and
all — not omitting the girls they left behind them.

I determined to go to Richmond to redress a per-
sonal grievance in the refusal to accord to me com-
mutation for quarters in Vicksburg. I conceived it
my right and intended to spare no effort to obtain it.
As it was likely I would be on parole for some time,
I travelled by easy stages, stopping at Montgomery,
Augusta and Raleigh, where, I had friends, and in

112 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

due time reached Richmond, where, with my com-
mutation account in hand, passed up adversely by
successive headquarters, I presented myself, unheart-
ened by prior defeats, and it was allowed.

While in Richmond I called upon General M. L.
Smith, our whilom Brigadier and Division Comman-
der, now with Lee's army. The conversation, in
time, drifted into the defence of Vicksburg, and his
command there; the General remarked he consid-
ered the Louisiana and Mississippi troops he com-
manded there, a fine body of soldiers. "Indeed,"
said he, and he seemed loth to say it — so fearful he
was of uttering a sentiment that might savor of a
compliment, or detract from the sincerity of his na-
ture — " Indeed, I think they were as good as any
troops in Lee's army.'' Praise from so genuine a
source, and from one so reticent, was, in truth, a
gratification. He had tried us, and found us worthy
to stand side by side with the heroes of Stonewall
Jackson, of Longstreet, and the Hills !

I called upon General Bragg, in view of my ex-
change, to know whether I might not serve in some
capacity until able to take the field, for the injured
limb was slow in gaining strength. He offered me
membership on the military court attached to Gen-
eral S. D. Lee's Cavalry Corps, which I accepted,
and went to Raleigh to await my exchange. Pa-
tience being sorely taxed at what seemed uncalled-for
delay, I decided to go to Richmond and look into
the cause. I reached there on June 3. As the train
approached the city, the boom of great guns an-
nounced the shock of arms. It stirred me deeper
than a trumpet's sound. I longed to be free from
the shackles of my parole, and to stand side by side
with my brothers in arms, breasting the surge. A
long railway train filled with our wounded passed by

IN DIXIE. 113

on its way to hospitals in the interior. It was a sad
sight to see our own brave boys mutilated in every
conceivable manner!

Everything in Richmond wore a quiet air. 'Twas
early day. Newsboys were crying the papers. Milk-
men in their carts were ringing their bells, as of old,
at the doors of their customers, ice carts were going
their usual rounds — and amid this booming of artil-
lery at the very gates of Richmond, valise in hand, I
limped into the Spotswood Hotel, registered my
name, took a bath and breakfasted, apparently heed-
less of the great drama going on so near to me.

I went to see Commissioner Oulds about my ex-
change. He offered no explanation of what seemed
unusual delay. I could only possess my soul in pa-
tience. In the course of the day I visited the Sen-
ate and House of Representatives, then in session,
and heard the affairs of the Confederacy quietly dis-
cussed, while the welkin rung with the roar of can-
non. As it appeared I could not advance my ex-
change by remaining in Richmond, I left the matter
with my old acquaintance, Duncan F. Kenner, and
returned to Raleigh.

As an incident of the time I may mention that as
my correspondence with Mrs. Hall was now across
hostile lines, and as I wished to say much more than
I could mention in an open letter by the usual flag
of truce communication, our good friend, James J.
Tarlton, with Power, Low & Co., made an arrange-
ment under which letters passed regularly between
us, by means of blockade runners. Her letters to
me were simply directed to '-J. M. Arendano, Ha-
vana," which being opened at Havana disclosed a let-
ter directed to " Bogart & Co., Nassau, N. C," this
being opened at Nassau disclosed a letter directed to
"Power, Low & Co., Wilmington, N. C." which on

15

114 TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

being opened there showed Mrs. Hall's letter which
our friend Tarlton, who kept advised of my address,
sent to me. My letters to her were sent to Tarlton,
who sent them to her by the reverse directions and
route.

In the expectation some of my letters might be
captured, I was careful to state in them whatever
was encouraging in the way of news; whether it re-
lated to substituted material, infant manufacture, the
extent of our resources, or the determination of our
whole people to fight, if need be, to the bitter end.

I received notice of my exchange on June 13, 1864,
It had been delayed so much more than I had ex-
pected, that my limb, in the meanwhile, had recov-
ered sufficiently to enable me to take the field.
Therefore I wrote to General Bragg that I would re-
port for duty at once on the military court, but de-
sired to rejoin my regiment, as the temporary disa-
bility was now removed.

On June 18 General Bragg wrote to me and sug-
gested I recall my acceptance of the appointment on
a military court. I addressed, accordingly, a com-
munication to General S. Cooper, Adjutant and In-
spector General, recalling my acceptance of the po-
sition on the court, provided the recall would re-in-
state me as Colonel of the 26th Louisiana Infantry,
and stating I bad accepted the appointment by reason
of temporary disability, caused by a wound received
in service, and that the disability was now removed.
General Bragg made a favorable endorsement on the
communication. General Cooper forwarded it to
the Secretary of War^with the endorsement that no
promotions had been made to the vacancy caused by
my appointment ; but the Secretary of War decided
it was too late to make the change " unless with the
assent of all officers affected " by my resignation.

In DIXIE 115

On the receipt of this decision adverse to my re-
quest, I wrote to General Cooper stating the entire
facts of the case, and that while in Richmond on
June 3d last I had seen in the hands of Captain J. G.
Clark, A. A. G. of Brigadier General Allen Thomas,
an application on the part of the Lieutenant Colonel
of the 26th Louisiana Regiment, to be promoted to
the rank of Colonel, upon which there was an en-
dorsement of the War Department, refusing the ap-
plication, on the ground the regiment was depleted
to an extent that did not justify further promotion
among the field officers, and that my re-instatement
therefore would not interfere with the rights of any
officer of the regiment. I further mentioned it
would detract from the dignity of my office, and de-
crease the sphere of my usefulness, to resume my
position by the favor of subordinate officers, as inti-
mated in the communication to me from the War
Department, .and that I could not accept rank at
their hands.

I received no reply to this communication, the
Adjutant General doubtless looking upon it as the
dust and smoke that arises from a conflict and a de-
feat — something expected, but not worthy of note. _

In June, 1864, I went to Jackson, Miss., where I
joined the members of the military court. It was
composed of Colonel James Phelan of Mississippi,
formerly of the Confederate States Senate, Colonel
T. A. Jones, of Alabama, and myself, with Captain
Austin PoUand, of Mississippi, as Judge Advocate,
Captain Phelan as Provost Marshal, and Mr. Carter
Clerk. We held court at Jackson and Meridian. In
leisure moments I studied the law relative to courts
martial: We were made welcome to the inviting
hospitahty of Jackson, and as the members of the
court messed together, time did not pass tardily.

Il6 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

While camping at West Point, Mississippi, we
made an effort to get into the fight of Lee and For-
rest at Harrisonburg. Failure to procure horses
prevented us. After the battle I learned a train of
our wounded would pass through the town. I went
to the station to meet them, and to help them, or at
least speak a few words of comfort. I met a pri-
vate of "the 26th " who had been in the fight, sorely
wounded, but full of enthusiasm. The poor wounded
fellows were packed in close box cars, almost stifled
with the heat of a midsummer day. I went on one
of the cars, used my cavalry boot vigorously and suc-
ceeded in kicking off a plank or two from the sides,
so as to admit the air. Others followed my exam-
ple, and soon all the suffering boys had draughts of
fresh air.

As correspondence seemed of no avail in advanc-
ing my return to the regiment, which had rendez-
voused near Alexandria, Louisiana, and already num-
bered 312 men, I obtained leave of absence, in order
to go to Richmond and plead my cause in person.
My acquaintances there, Mr. Charles M. Conrad,
Mr. Duncan F. Kennar of the House of Represen-
tatives, General Sparrow of the Senate, Mr. Benja-
min, Secretary of State, all considered I would fail in
my endeavor.

Mr. Kennar laid the matter before the Secretary
of War and the President successively, without avail.
I was about to leave Richmond in disgust, but re-
mained, at the suggestion of Colonel Sale of General
Bragg's staff, who had encouraged me from the be-
ginning, and through Colonel Burton N. Harrison,
the President's Private Secretary, he obtained for
me another hearing before the President. I took
my papers to Mr. Harrison, who requested me to
wait and perhaps I could see the President. A page

IN DIXIE.

117

soon entered the room and informed me I could see
the President in his private room. As soon as I was
within the room, President Davis rose from his seat
and saying, "How do you do. Colonel," advanced to
meet me, with a quiet, unassuming air. His pres-
ence, simple as it was, moved me as I have seldom
been moved. I stated to him I had some papers to
lay before him relative to my return to the regiment,
and begged leave to make a verbal explanation.
When I had done so, he suggested I should put my
explanation in writing and leave it with the papers.
In a few days my application was returned with a fa-
vorable endorsement.

I was anxious to return at once to the regiment ;
there was no outgoing train, save a freight train,
which I boarded. The cars were locked, and I was
not allowed in the caboose. My sole chance was
the top of the caboose, where I found a mulatto as a
fellow passenger. We kept close to the pipe of the
stove in the caboose. It was midwinter. Snow lay
upon the ground and it was bitter cold. The train
would move only a few miles at a time. While in
motion it seemed as if the cold wind pierced every
sensitive part of my body. I laid down to avoid it,
and very near the mulatto. Seldom had I passed
such a night of suffering. I tried whiskey, without
avail, as a restorative. The dawn brought relief, as
I was then transferred to the rear platform of a car,
which shielded me from the wind.

At Jackson, Mississippi, I met D. Bergeron, a pri-
vate of " Co. D," who had been in prison at Elmira,
New York, and was returning to the regiment. I
obtained a Jersey wagon to take us to a point on the
Mississippi River where there were means of cross-
ing. We were kindly entertained on our way, our
last stopping place being a planter's dwelHng near

Il8 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA 'INFAiSfTRY.

the river, where we stayed a night with the intention
of attempting to cross in the morning, with a pro-
viso that no gun boats of the enemy were near.

I was elated with the prospect of having my regi-
ment in Louisiana, as dear to me as my native State,
associated as it was with cherished memories going
back and beyond my early manhood, and I fancied
myself saying, as soon as I touched the soil, " I stand
upon my native heath, and my name is McGregor."

On the morrow we went to the bank of the river,
our coming having previously been made known. A
ferryman soon made his appearance and offered to
take us over for $200, which I was quite willing to
give. We started and made good headway. When
about the middle of the stream, we descried the
smoke of a steamer coming down. The ferryman
pulled with a will, landed us, tumbled out my trunk,
and pushed from shore, to seek his refuge on the
other side. We hid the trunk in a clump of bushes,
and sought shelter ourselves from unfriendly obser-
vation. The steamer soon came in view. It proved
to be a transport. Any one from its deck could
have swept the field about us with glasses, but the
bushes we were in, doubtless, concealed us from
view.

It was while I was crouched in the bush, hidino-
from the enemy, and as a guilty thing, fearing to face
the day, I recalled, with pity to my " best part of
valor," the words of the Scottish chieftain :

" I stand upon my native heath, and my name is
McGregor."

The transport was hardly out of sight when my
fellow-traveller, true to a soldier's instinct, went for-
aging and soon returned with a number of eggs. We
procured a team, consisting of a yoke of oxen, and
the tongue and fore wheels of a wagon, upon which

IN DIXIE. 119

we lashed the trunk, and started to reach a planta-
tion house a mile and a half from the river, the dri-
ver of the team cheering us with the remark that a
gang of men from a gunboat had destroyed a skiff
about a fortnight before, on the spot where we
stood. When we reached the plantation house,
we entered and met some of the occupants, the
owner being out. Soon, however, he made his ap-
pearance and seemed extremely unhappy to enter-
tain us, and in his heart doubtless wished us in Hali-
fax or — a more remote region, although he allowed
us to sleep on the floor. In the morning we made
preparation to leave before breakfast. In his surly
way he intimated we could have breakfast. I
thanked him and told him that unpleasant as it was
for him to entertain, it was more unpleasant for us
to be entertained. We stopped at a negro cabin
near, bought some bread and meat for our breakfast,
and resumed our journey.

Raiding parties of the enemy's cavalry had become
more familiar than agreeable to the people within a
few miles of the river, so that we had to travel cau-
tiously to avoid being picked up by them. In time
we were beyond the limit of their forays, and among
friends. We took the road to Harrisonburg, thence
to Alexandria, which we reached on April 4, 1865.

CHAPTER XII.

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT.
April— May, 1865.

After the surrender of Vicksburg, it was Grant's
policy to disorganize and scatter the entire Confed-
erate forces there, in such manner that neither the
authority of the Confederate Government, nor any
personal appeal to the patriotism of the soldier,
would be able to unite the severed members into a
shapely and effective body.

In the valuable notes, already referred to, fur-
nished to me by Captain Moss, he says :

" My recollection is, that we were not allowed to
march out in regular military order— it seemed to be
the policy to disorganize our forces."

" After receiving rations and our paroles from the
Federals, we marched out of the city, and it soon
became known that we were to report at Enterprise,
Mississippi, and go into parole camp. It was too
much to expect from ragged, starved and suffering
men, to go into a parole camp for an indefinite time,
which proved afterwards to be about twelve months.
So, they nearly all went home — many of them had
families in want and misery — to recuperate and be
ready for duty when exchanged."

The poHcy of disintegration, we have alluded to,
was favored by the fact that the homes now sought
by these men were in territory subject to the ene-

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. 121

my's control, where this policy was not only encour-
aged, but, in a measure, enforced.

But General Grant mistook the temper of the
men with whom he was dealing, and long before an
- exchange was effected, paroled soldiers who had gone
into Federal territory to see their families had re-
turned to Confederate lines, to be ready to serve, as
soon as the ban of their parole was lifted. Captain
Moss states in the notes I have mentioned:

" In the Spring of 1864 a parole camp was estab-
lished in Lafayette Parish, for Companies A and E,
and subsequently we were ordered to report at Pine-
ville," and on May i, 1864, a parole camp was estab-
lished near Nat<;hitoches, Louisiana, for the regi-
ment, and particularly for Co- G, whose members re-
sided in its neighborhood.

In the first draft of these memoirs I had not any
notes of what occurred in relation to the regiment
after the surrender of Vicksburg and before I joined
the regiment at Pineville, Louisiana. The gap has
been happily closed by the following interesting nar-
rative from the p,en of Lieutenant Bossier of Co, G. :

" Natchitoches, La., Sept. 23, 1889.

Major Lagarde of the 26th Louisiana Regiment
reached Natchitoches, Louisiana, about May i, 1864,
three weeks after the battles of Mansfield and Pleas-
ant Hill, where Banks' army was defeated and routed
by the Confederates, under command of General
Dick Taylor.

Major Lagarde, Captain Metoyer, Lieutenant Le-
mee and myself decided to establish a parole camp
at Camp Salubrity. We notified all the paroled sol-
diers of Co. G, and persuaded about one-half to join
us in camp, about three miles north of this city,
where we had the best spring water in abundance.

122 TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Major Lagarde and myself went to work to find
cooking utensils, etc., for the men. We succeeded
in finding a supply in deserted negro quarters down
Cane River, about ten miles from this point.

Co. G remained at Cairip Salubrity, adding pa-
roled soldiers to its ranks, until about June 20, 1864.
Having now about 35 men assembled, we decided to
move to Alexandria.

We made arrangements for a steamboat to take us
down, thus avoiding to paroled soldiers the fatigue
of the march in midsummer.

Ours being the only company of the 26th in this
locality, was consequently the first to make the move
to establish a parole camp for the regiment. We se-
lected a point across the river opposite Alexandria,
near Pineville, where we established our camp about
June 25, 1864. Here we were joined by a few offi-
cers and men of the 26th from lower parishes, dur-
ing the months of July and August, but I do not re-
member from what companies.

News of our being exchanged reached us by the
last of August, 1864, when an order emanating from
headquarters, at Alexandria, was read to the soldiers,
all of whom had been assembled for that purpose.
This news was received in camp with demonstrations
of joy, and contributed largely to dispel the monot-
ony of soldiers in a parole camp.

Major Lagarde was in command, and Lieutenant
Lemee Acting Adjutant of the battalion.

Arms and accoutrements were furnished the men
in camp, a guard house improvised, guard mounting,
company drill and dress parade established ; and, in
a word, we felt like soldiers once more, and ready to
perform our duties as such.

During the months of September, October and
November officers and men continued to come in
and report for duty.

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. I 23

Guard mounting, battalion drill and dress parade
were had daily. Detachments were made from all
the battalions of our brigade to work on the two
forts, in process of construction, one mile above
Pineville, on the river. Details to guard the many
prisoners in Alexandria were of frequent occurrence.

The prisoners referred to were deserters, jay-
hawkers, etc. Among them was a noted Major Mc-
Gee, for trafficking with the Federals in cotton,
while Banks' army was at this point.

Some time in November, 1864, the 26th and. 28th
Louisiana battalions, in command of Colonel Allen
Thomas or Lieutenant Colonel Landey, were ordered
to march down to Evergreen, about thirty miles be-
low Alexandria, to meet the enemy, reported to be
advancing from below.

The boys in grey raised a shout, which meant they
were always ready for business when called upon to
meet the enemy.

We shouldered arms and marched out of camp —
haversacks pretty well filled with sweet potatoes — to
meet the enemy, for the first time since the siege of
Vicksburg.

While crossing the pontoon bridge at Alexandria,
the boys made the welkin ring with their shouts of
joy.

Our forces, about 600 strong, presented a sol-
dierly appearance, and attracted a crowd of people
on. the levee, in front of Alexandria, wondering what
was up. When told of our mission to meet the
Yanks they cheered us vociferously.

We reached Evergreen next day, where me met
General De Bray commanding picket forces of that
section.

The General was a gay old chap, and told us, 'if
we were 'not afraid,' we 'could stay all night,' and

124 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

we 'might have a little picnic with the blue-bellies
next morning.'

Next day we were told by our humorous old Gen-
eral he reckoned ' the Yanks had heard something
about your record at Chickasaw Bayou, where Gen-
eral Stephen D. Lee had whipped and routed Gen-
eral Sherman.' After pausing a while until the boys
ceased to cheer, he added, ' I wanted to say some-
thing to you about your record at the siege of Vicks-
burg, but am afraid you will cheer so loud — the
Yanks might come to see what's the matter.' One
should have been there to hear the boys cheer and
laugh. Some of them, I believe, laughed time and
again, for a month, over the old General's amusing
ways.

Being: left masters of the situation, as the Yanks
were not to be found, we marched back, passing
through Cheneyville, and reached the river, where a
boat was waiting for us.

Our brigade embarked and reached Alexandria —
all feeling better for the exercise of the march, after
a long rest, and the fun provoked about this blood-
less victory.

Some time in November, 1864, Lieutenant Gen-
eral S. B. Buckner took command of the army
corps, with headquarters at Shreveport. We then
had several brigade drills, our regiment taking part
in all.

About December, 1864, Lieutenant Moore, of the
Confederatie army, was court-martialed, found guilty
of desertion and shot opposite Alexandria. Our
regiment and others were witnesses of the sad spec-
tacle.

Some time in December, 1864, Commodore Raph-
ael Simms, of the Alabama, whose name was a terror
.to Yankee vessels, arrived at Alexandria; on which

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. I 25

occasion the 26th and all other battalions of this
army, commanded by Lieutenant General Buckner,
had a grand brigade drill, and passed in review be-
fore the hero of many daring adventures with the
renowned Alabama, on the bosom of the deep blue
seas. Firing of cannon and general rejoicing pre-
vailed on this occasion, when the Commodore made
his appearance on the field selected for the purpose,
in the rear of Alexandria.

Finally in January, 1865, the, reorganization of the
26th and other regiments being completed, formed
the Louisiana brigade of the Trans-Mississippi De-
partment. A camp was established above Pineville.

The men hastily constructed small cabins with
pine boards. Chimneys were added, and these, with
a good log fire, served to protect them from the se-
verity of this hard winter. The ground was frozen
from the ist to the loth of January, 1865. All suf-
fered much from the cold.

The different regiments composing the brigade
continued to drill by company and battalion, have
dress parades, etc., and at times working on the forts
and in fact performing all the duties of a soldier in
camp.

During the months of February and March there
was nothing of interest that transpired worth record-
ing or relating.

This scrap of history bring us up to the time Col-
onel Hall arrived in camp and assumed command."

I have already stated I reached Alexandria on
April 4th.

I called upon Brigadier General Allen Thomas,
commanding the brigade to which the 26th was now
attached, and handed him a communication from the
Department of War reinstating me in command of
the 26th, accompanied by a written request on my

126 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

part to assign me to duty. He stated he could not
do so, as the Colonelcy had been considered vacant,
and promotions made accordingly.

It appears that Lieutenant Colonel Crow had been
promoted to the office of Colonel, Major Lagarde to
to the office of Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain
Bateman to the office of Major; but as the promo-
tions had not been confirmed by the Secretary of
War, the General commanding the Trans-Missis-
sippi Department ordered them to be annulled.

Prior to these promotions I had mentioned to
Lieutenant Colonel Crow I was taking steps to re-
turn to the regiment; as General Thomas, however,
did not assign me to duty, I took a steamer at
once for Shreveport, and called at General E. Kirby
Smith's headquarters. Col. S. S. Anderson, A. A.
G., informed me that my application would be favor-
ably acted upon and forwarded to General Buckner's
headquarters at Natchitoches. I went to Natch-
toches and received orders from the latter headquar-
ters to report to the regiment.

On April 19, 1865, I joined the regiment at Pine-
ville, near Red River, opposite Alexandria, where it
had taken possession of some vacant cabins. I found
one not occupied and made it my quarters. The first
evening I passed there I had the compliment of a
serenade by the brigade band, directed by Theodore
Minvielle, who after vain efforts to hear from me as
to a regimental band, had organized a band for the
brigade.

I found the regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel
Crow's command; in fine and effective condition ;
there was nothing wanting his zeal and energy could
have secured. Lack of memoranda prevents me
from detailing all he had accomplished, from the ren-
dezvous of the regiment up to the time I resumed

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. 12 7

command. A morning report before me, of April
20, shows an aggregate of 542, only one enlisted man
under arrest, and eleven enlisted men absent without
leave.

On April 25 the morning report showed an aggre-
gate of 571,

On April 26 the division commanded by Major
General Harry T. Hays, to which our brigade be-
longed, moved up Red River under orders. From a
fragmentary itinerary kept by me at the time, I make
the following extracts :

Bivouac Near Monette's Ferry, April 29.

Left Cot'isle for Natchitoches — regiment in line
at 6.30 a. m. The division begun the march at 7.40
A. M., and went 13 miles to this place— weather op-
pressively warm — seven of the regiment had to fall
to the rear.

Bivouac, April 30.

Regiment in line before 5 a. m. Made about 13
miles to-day, weather warm and men thoroughly
tired, although we rested four times during the
march, about twenty minutes each time.

Bivouac Near Cane River,

Three Miles From Natchitoches.

Reveille at 4 a. m. Line formed before 5, the 26th
leading the brigade. The boys marched so well, the
field officer of the day told us we were going too
fast. General Thomas very soon came up and made
the same remark. Reached the camp about i p. m.

Camp Salubrity, Near Natchitoches,

May 2, 1865.

Reached here early this morning, the entire march
of about 50 miles having been made, without un-

128 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

necessary fatigue to the men, in a small fraction over
three days.

News of Ihe surrender of Lee's army in Virginia
reached us about April 20th. Viewing it, in the
most favorable light, it was, undoubtedly, a serious
blow to the Confederacy; and it is not saying too
much for the intelligence of the officers of the 26th
to assert they so regarded it; but it wrought no
change in their subordination, or their sense of mili-
tary propriety. It may be conceived that, under
tnese circumstances, I was astounded to receive a
communication from brigade headquarters to the ef-
fect that in my command " officers upon whom
devolves the high duty of sustaining a noble cause,
should have proved recreant to all principles of man-
liness and soldierly obedience, and shown by their
insubordinate and mutinous language that they are
no longer fit to fill positions of responsibility" —

— And this to officers who so gallantly led in
our first fight against heavy odds at Chickasaw
Bayou; who night and day for over forty days were
in the trenches of Vicksburg; and whose discipline
in camp was as exact and complete as their conduct
in the field was intrepid and praiseworthy !

I was directed by this communication to " insti-
tute strict inquiry, and whenever it is found that
officers use language calculated to weaken faith in
our cause, or tending to destroy discipline, you will
immediately place them under close arrest, prefer
charges against them and report the facts to these
headquarters."

I was also directed by it to report the spirit of the
command.

On April 24 I repHed to this communication,
which was dated the day preceding, stating I had in-
stituted strict inquiry as to whether any officers of

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. I2g

command had been guilty of the serious charges
mentioned, and that I had not been able to ascertain
upon whom even suspicion could rest, and that I
regretted the informer did not mention the names
of the officers accused, in order I might have at once
proceeded against them.

I continued, " I have now to respectfully ask the
names be ascertained and made known to me in or-
der I may proceed to fix the charge upon the guilty,
if such there be, and relieve the remainder of the
officers from the odium necessarily attached to this
grave accusation. I ask this as a matter of right
concerning the honor of the regiment, its officers
and men in my keeping, and that it is my duty, in
the premises, to protect those who are innocent, and
to purge the regiment of the guilty. As an act of
justice to the officers of the regiment, I beg leave to
state they have always performed their duties cheer-
fully and faithfully, and have ever been mindful of
military subordination and propriety. The spirit of
the regiment is equal to any in the army, and its dis-
cipline and subordination all I could desire"

On the same day I received a reply stating : " My
communication was not one addressed only to you
and reflecting on the officers of the 26th Regiment
Louisiana Infantry, but was a copy of a letter sent to
all the commands, for it is known to General Thomas,
that since the reception of the bad news, numbers of
officers, including some in your regiment, have ex-
pressed sentiments doing little credit to their patriot-
ism or habits of military discipline. The General is
glad to know that the spirit of the regiment is good,
and he is assured that to bring these facts to your
notice is sufficient."

As this was not responsive to my request and my
right to have the names of the officers so grievously

17

130 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

accused, but rather a repetition of the charge, though,
perhaps, in milder form, I wrote to Brigade Head-
quarters, enclosing a copy of my communication of
April 24th, stating I had not had a reply, and now
had the honor of inviting attention to it.

On May 6th I received a note from Headquarters
stating this communication and enclosure had been
received, adding: "The Brigadier General com-
manding is gratified at being assured by you of the
good spirit of officers and men of your command un-
der the recent adverses."

On the same day I acknowledged receipt of the
note, and stated: "I beg leave to call your attention
to my communication of the 24th ult., in which I de-
mand specifically, as a right, the names of the offend-
ing officers be given up to me. I now reiterate ray
request that the offenders, if such there be, be made
known to me, and I will further ask that I be placed
in possession of the evidence against them, in order
I may make the charges and specifications, and fur-
nish the evidence to the proper tribunal."

This communication was returned to me with the
following endorsement : "Mayi, 1865. Resp'ly re-
turned. It IS not necessary to take further action in
the case, the proposed ends having been attained by
calling the attention of Colonel Hall to the facts."

Subsequents events rendered it impracticable to
pursue the matter and vindicate the smitten honor
of the regiment. So the affair rested — with the ac-
cusation made — the names of the accused asked for
and not given — the evidence called for and not fur-
nished. It seems fair to presume the evidence did
not exist, and that the recreant officers were a myth.
I believed there was not the slightest ground for this
serious arraignment of the officers of the 26th upon
one of the gravest charges known to the articles of

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. I3I

war. There was not one who would not have in-
vited the strictest scrutiny into his conduct, and an
investigation would have simply served to bring to
light an unsmirched record of absolute fidelity to the
flag. The sequel will show with what stern views of
discipline, and with what lofty sense of duty, the
26th — officers and men — stood by that flag, until it
passed into history.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE DISBANDING.

May, i86s.

" Rebellion ! foul dishonoring word !

Whose wrongful blight so oft has stained,
The holiest cause that tongue or sword

Of mortal, ever lost or gained.
How many a spirit born to bless,

Hath sunk beneath that withering name,
Whom but a day, an hour's success.

Had wafted to eternal fame.
As exhalations when they burst,

From the warm earth, if chilled at first,
If checked in soaring from the plain,

Darken to fogs, and sink again ;
But if they once triumphant spread

Their wings above the mountain head,
Become enthroned in upper air.

And turn to sun-bright glories there."

I have already alluded to the fact that the surren-
der of Lee was considered by the officers of the 26th
a serious blow to the Confederacy. Indeed, these
views permeated the division to which we belonged,
and as the Army of Virginia was the keystone of the
Confederate arch, before sages recovered breath to
predict the sequence, the arch gave way, and the
Confederacy was a thing of the past.

THE DISBANDING. I 33

It must be borne in mind the Trans-Mississippi
Department was severed by hostile lines from the
main portion of the Confederacy; couriers consti-
tuted the tedious and uncertain channel of inter-
course ; and in the stirnng events that quickly suc-
ceeded the surrender at Appamatox, orders could
not be intelligently given, so that the commanding
General was left to act, as I believe, on his own
sense of duty. The situation of his command was
peculiar. The military organization was intact. No
enemy was near. To disband, under the circum-
stances, seemed to be assuming a grave responsibil-
ity, and otherwise jarred the sense of military pro-
priety.

Meanwhile, rank and file, hardly less intelligent
than the officers, perceived they could not further
serve the cause, and were anxious to return to their
families and homes. Some turbulent spirits, too,
considered the military supplies and stores were now
derelict, and belonged to the first who could seize
and hold.

In this dilemma we received the only orders mili-
tary discipline would allow — to move westward to-
wards Mansfield. The order, while not based on an
apparent motive, was not ours to question. It
served, in a measure, to distract the attention of the
men, and enabled the commanding General to take
advantage of any contingency that might arise in
our favor, hopeless as that contingency might ap-
pear.

I mention these surrounding circumstances as
those in which subsequent events are to be viewed,
explained, and to a certain extent condoned.

On May loth, while the regiment was near
Natchitoches, I received a communication from Bri-
gade Headquarters, directing me to assume charge

134 TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

of the brigade, assigning as a reason the illness of
General Thomas. Soon after this General Buckner,
our corps commander, ordered a review of the divi-
sion. An old field near Natchitoches was selected
for the purpose. At the appointed hour, under a
genial sky, at this high tide of Spring, passing sweet
and beautiful in its lavish array of Flora's choicest
offerings, there was gathered for our last ceremonial,
and as if to be anointed for our burial, as fine a body
of men as fought at Antietam or Chickamauga.

It was a scene worthy of the highest touch of art,
when General Buckner, with head uncovered, and
his long hair given to the wind, rode rapidly down
the line followed by his staff, his stalwart form and
bearing the ideal of a soldier, possessing every heart
of his command with the enthusiasm that swelled in
the breasts of the followers of Cleburne or Forrest,
and willing to go wherever he led.

On May 13, 1865, our division. Colonel Robert
Richardson commanding as Senior Colonel, in the
absence of General Flays, moved, under the orders
mentioned, in the direction of Mansfield.

In spite of the vigilance of the officers, the picket-
ing of roads, the doubling of camp guards, and other
precautions, desertions were now becoming numer-
ous among those who considered further contention
useless, butwho, I believe, to a man, would have kept
true to the last, and fought against desperate odds,
as long as there was the slightest hope of success.
The 26th stood by their colors ; there may have been
desertions from it, but none I can call to mind ; and
the organization and esprit de corps was maintained
in its integrity.

These desertions were not only demoralizing to
the men who remained with us, but as tney were ac-
companied by the depletion of our supplies, each

THE DISBANDING. I 35

squad of deserters left us with less means to keep to-
gether, or to make a lengthy march.

It is a noteworthy and creditable fact that the offi-
cers of the division were steadfast to the bitter end,
and did all in their power to preserve subordination,
although the men knew all authority had ceased —
all rank levelled. Some were ready to assert it in
speech and act. It was only the habit of disciphne
with some, and patriotic motives of others, that kept
together those of the rank and file that stood by
their colors to the last.

On May 19 we camped near Mansfield. Each
successive day had increased the desperateness of
our situation. Colonel Richardson sent for me.
We canvassed our condition. No orders had been
received by us since we left Natchitoches on the.
13th. Commissary stores were nearly exhausted,
and there was no legitimate source of supply. It
seemed impracticable to keep the command together.
We were of one mind that the only thing to be done
was to disband until further orders. Accordingly,
he issued the following order :

" Headquarters Hay's Division, )

Buckner's Corps, Army W. La., l

Camp Near Mansfield, La., 19 May, 1865. )

General Orders No. 13 :

The major portion of the command having de-
serted camp and gone to their homes, all the gov-
ernment animals and most of the wagons having
been forcibly taken possession of and carried away,
the Commissary and Quartermaster's Departments
of this command and the Post at Mansfield having
been pillaged by the troops ; all completely paraliz-
ing the present military organization, and rendering
the maintaining of discipline and the subsistence of

136 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

the troops any longer impossible ; brigade comman-
ders are hereby authorized to temporarily disband
the troops under their command, and to permit
them to proceed to their homes, there to await fur-
ther orders from their commanding officers.

By order of Col. R. Richardson,

Commanding Hays' Division.

J. J. Clarke, A. A. A. General."

Our last day in camp was a stirring time. Many
of the men looked upon the Government property
as abandoned, and sought to appropriate whatever
could be found. Early in the morning news came
to me that the ordnance stores of the brigade were
being plundered. As I did not think it expedient,
under the circumstances, to give an absolute order,
I called for volunteers from the 26th to protect the
stores. The call was without response. I thought
it strange my faithful boys would desert me in this
extremity. Soon an officer called upon me and re-
marked the men said if a formal detail was called it
would be filled. I ordered the detail. It was
promptly furnished, and very soon it was guarding
the stores.

Amid much lawlessness and confusion the 26th
drew regimental lines about its camp — established a
cordon of pickets for its protection, and officers of
other regiments availed themselves of the security
afforded, and the hospitality tendered, within these
lines.

Two captains of the 26th got into an altercation,
revolver in hand. I put both under arrest, which
they submitted to without a word. I smoothed their
difficulty and released them. .

I gave the officers and men a certificate of faith-
ful service in the form used in the following to Cap-
tain Moss:

the disbanding. 137

"Headquarters Thomas' Brigade,
Near Mansfield, May 19, 1885.

"This is to certify that Captain A. J. Moss has
honorably served from the loth March, 1862, to this
date, in the Provisional Army Confederate States,
and that this Brigade has from this day disbanded
until further orders. Winchester Hall,

"Colonel commanding Thomas' Brigade."

1

The 28th Louisiana gathered around the flag they
had long followed with infinite credit. While the
band played a dirge it >vas torn in pieces, and a piece
given to each member as a memento. Not a word
was spoken, but hardly an eye that was not dimmed
with a tear.

The 26th gathered around its colors. Again a
dirge was played by the band, with Minvielle as its
chief. The colors were taken down and torn in
pieces. Silently, with heavy hearts and eyes that
spoke more than words, each member took a piece.
I broke the staff and burned it.

After the disbanding the 26th took up its line of
march homeward, and maintained its organization
until its members one by one dropped out of the
ranks, as they reached their respective dwellings.

I remained with them until we came to a place
where our routes were in different directions. I
stood in the road, and shook hands with each one
as they filed by me, saying: " Vous avez bien fait
votre devoir."

This simple story of the 26th was written over
twenty years after the war. Its end seems like an-
other leave-taking of the regiment — so much has it
been " in my mind's eye " as I penned these pages.
I should be glad if what I have written impresses
the reader with the esprit de corps of the regiment,

18

138 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

as it impressed me. Its bearing in the closing scene
is ciiaracteristic of its career. It stood, as a Roman
phalanx, unmoved, during the sad throes of the last
days of the Confederacy. When military rank was
levelled, and subordination resolved into equality, it
denied my appeal for volunteers, but responded
promptly to a command. When the Brigade had
disbanded, its innate sense of discipline maintained
its organization intact, and it marched homeward in
unbroken ranks, and obeyed the orders of its now
self-imposed officers, with the same alacrity a repre-
sentative portion of it, went through the manual of
arms, during the heat of the battle of Chickasaw
Bayou.

There were many regiments of other States and
of our own that had shared in more battles of the
war, but a lofty position could be well accorded to
that command that surpassed the 26th in discipline,
in military propriety, in devotion to the flag and in
high patriotic purpose.

In common with the army of which it was a part,
it fell short of that material success, which is a test
of merit with the multitude; but it achieved that
grander success derived from the consciousness of
having performed a duty, amid perils of the field and
privations of the camp and the siege, in a heroic and
steadfast vindication of the right, and with a deep
scorn of the consequences.

And when the end came, and it found all resistance
vain, its elements of true manhood found relief in
the reflection that heavy battalions may overwhelm
but not subdue; that no weight of metal can mar a
principle ; and that while nations rise or fall, the tri-
umvirate of honor, fidelity, and constancy reigns
forever.

ARPfiNDIX.

Note A.

The following is a note from Co. I., alluded to in
the text, which was sent to me just after the battle
of Shiloh, when I had become major of the regi-
ment :

" Camp Lovell, April 12, 1862.
Saturday Night.
To Captain Winchester Hall.

We address you by that title, for you are still to us,
our Captain. What has transpired this evening
forces us to make a request of you, which we hope
and trust will be granted, if such power can be
assumed by you.

That is for our company, under your command,
to proceed immediately to the scene of action, where
our brothers in arms and friends have been made to
bite the dust by the Lincoln vandals.

In God's name, in the name of those who now
sleep the eternal sleep, in the name of bereaved
mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers' homes made
desolate by the loss of their hearts' idols ; in the name
of all you hold dear, our beloved Captain, do grant
us this request.

140

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

We are but dallying in this regiment ; months will
elapse, perhaps, before we may be useful to our
brothers if we are still detained here. We speak
but the hearts' truth when we say that we want you
as our leader, and will follow you wherever you will
lead us.

Your sympathy this evening for our dead brothers
and friends proves to us that you cannot, will not
refuse to reassume your command over us, and im-
mediately lead us to avenge the death of our brothers
and friends wWb fell gallantly defending our rights,
our homes, .and our sacred honor.

SIGNATURES:

L. A. Leblance,

Philip A. Vanderdoes,

C. J. Guedry,

P. Guillot,

G. A. Roger,

F. Bergeron,

T. Hepler,

E. Leonval,

H. P. Poche,

T. D. Collins,

T. F. Roussell,

P. E. Champagne,

A. Hebert,

P. Scott,

W. J. Gladish, Jr.,

E. A. Flepler,

Louis Toups,

Wm. T. Knobloch,

Terence Toups,

Joseph Sevin,

N. Chaisson,

H. C. Bernard,

A. Brand,
Jos. F. Caillouet,
Prosper Boutery,
Frangois Ledet,
E. A. Dusky,
M. Naquin,
Seraphin Laine,
Chs. M. Gaude,
Ernest Morvan,
T. P. Lawless,
Justilien Stivens,
Octave Poche,
Henry Estiven,
Jules Dantin,
Frangois Ledet,
P. A. Ledet,
Justilien Martin,
Gustave Morvan,
J. A. Champagne,
Felix Delatte,
Joseph Landry,
S. F. Dusky,

APPENDIX.

141

Jno. J. Smith,
H. F. Ledet,
Prosper Boudreau,
Prosper Toups,
Felicien Toups,
T. Emile Toups,
Wm. N. Dyer,
Wm. Tabor,
Joseph Trosclair,
Constant Simoneau,
F. Wagespack,
P. Bourgeois,
L. Trosclair,
Lovinsi Trosclair,
Victor Simoneau,
Ulger Wagespack,
E. H. Gaudet,

John H.

Pierre Boudreau,
J. B. Dusky,
Ozeme Toups,
J. N. Atkinson,
Emile Champagne,
Doradou Parr,
Clidamant Thibodaux,
Ernest Adam,
Emile Adam,
A. S. Bourgeois,
D. Barras,
Ed. Tabor,
On^sime Falgout,
Ernest Picou,
W. P. Picou,
Theophile Picou,
A. Melangon,
Hill.

Note B.

The following are the statements mentioned in a
note to the text relative to companies A., B., FL,
and I., going through the manual of arms during
the battle of Chickasaw Bayou:

STATEMENT MADE BY LIEUT. HAZARD EASTIN, OF

CO. A.

On Monday, December 29, 1862, immediately after
the main assault upon the Confederate lines, at
Chickasaw Bayou, Colonel Winchester Hall, com-
manding the 26th Louisiana Regiment, received
orders from General S. D. Lee to report to him with
six companies of that regiment. As six companies
had already been detached. Col. Flail took the re-
maining companies, to wit, the companies of Captain

142 TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Mouton, Bateman, Bisland, and Company I., com-
manded by Lieut. Webre, and moved toward Gen.
Lee's position. While on the way we came in view
of a body of the enemy at short range, and gave them
some of our ammunition. When we reached Gen.
Lee he directed us to move to the open ground in
front of our line, and secure whatever prisoners we
could. We moved out, and when we had reached a
point about a hundred yards in advance of our line.
Col. Hall came in front, ordered us into line, and put
us through the manual of arms. Gen. Lee rode up
while we were going through the drill. We presented
arms to him. He ordered us to fall back near the
trenches, where we protected ourselves as well as we
could, by lying flat in the rut of a wagon road. We
remained in this position, exposed to shells and
sharpshooters, until late in the afternoon.

H. Eastin.
Lafayette, La.,

July I St, 1889.

statement of sergeants o'brien and malcom.

We were sergeants of Company B, 26th Louisiana,
at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou. After the main
attack on our line had been repulsed. Colonel Hall,
with companies A., B., H., and I., reported to Gen.
Lee. We then moved out in the open ground about
one hundred yards in advance of our line, our object
being to secure prisoners, of which many had already
gone to the rear. There was no more of the enemy
very near that we could capture. All had retreated
to cover of the bayou banks and woods in front,
from which an artillery and sharp-shooter fire was
kept up, which annoyed us. Colonel Hall had given
the order to cease firing ; but the men were excited.

APPENDIX. 143

and some. were firing against orders. Colonel Hall
came from the rear to the front, ordered us into line,
and drawing his revolver, said he would shoot any
man that fired a shot, then put the line through the
manual of arms. General Lee rode up while we
were going through it, and we presented arms to
him. He ordered Colonel Hall to move us to the
rear, where we were less exposed, and protected
somewhat by lying flat in a wagon rut, and here we
remained until dark, and although less exposed than
at the point where we went through the drill, we
were annoyed all the afternoon by shell and sharp-
shooters.

Farley O Brien, ] o <.

T A/r > Sergeants.

James Malcom, j °

Parish of St. Mary, La.,

December, 1889.

statement of sergeant hepler.

I was a member of the 26th Louisiana Infantry,
and at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou I was Ser-
geant of Company I, commanded by Captain Tucker,
and after his death on the field, by Captain Webre.
On Monday, December 29, 1862, just after the as-
sault on our line. Colonel Hall took Companies A,
B, H and I, and reported to General S. D. Lee,,
who ordered Colonel Hall to move out on the open
ground in front of our rifle pits, and take whatever
prisoners we could. We marched out, in columns
of companies, to a point about one hundred yards in
advance of our rifle-pits, which had been reached by
the main body of the enemy during the assault.
Various ' bodies of the enemy's troops had already
been captured, and sent to the rear, and there were
no more, near to us, we could take.

144 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

The enemy were keeping up their artillery fire,
and the sharp-shooters annoyed us. The boys were
excited, and some were firing against orders whenever
a suitable mark was offered. When we had reached
the point mentioned, Colonel Hall came from the
rear to our front, ordered a halt, then ordered us into
line, drew his revolver, and said, " I will shoot the
first man that fires a shot" ; and to cool the boys
down, as I suppose, put the line through the manual
of arms. General Lee rode up while we were in
line, and we presented arms to him. He then ordered
Colonel Hall, on account of our exposed position,
as I presume, to move us to the rear, in front of our
rifle pits, where we protected ourselves, to some ex-
tent, by lying flat in a wagon rut. We remained
here exposed to rflusketry and artillery fire, for several
hours, until da,rk.

Thomas J. Hepler.
St. Charles Parish, La.
May 25, 1890.

Note i.

The forces under General Sherman at the battle of
Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, in December,
1862, consisted of four divisions :

The first division, under Brigadier General A. J.
Smith, consisted of ten regiments and two batteries.

The second division, under Brigadier-General M.
L. Smith, consisted of eight regiments and two
batteries.

The third division, under Brigadier General G.. W^.
Morgan, consisted of eight regiments and four
batteries.

The fourth division, under Brigadier General
Frederick Steele, consisted of seventeen regimectts
and the First Iowa Artillery.

APPENDIX.

H5

Besides these, there was battalion 13th United
States Infantry, Thielman's Cavalry, pontoon com-
panies, &c.

The above regiments classified by States are :

3rd, 9th, and 22nd Kentucky 3

42nd, 5^th, 57th, 58th, 76th, 83rd, 96th, 114th,

i2oth, 148th Ohio 10

6th, 1 6th, 54th, 67th, 69th, 83rd, 97th, 1 1 8th

Indiana 8

13th, 55th, 77th, 113th, ii6th, 127th Illinois.... 6

4tn, 9th, 26th, 28th, 31st, 34th Iowa 6

23rd Wisconsin i

ist, 3rd, 6th, i2th, 17th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd

Missouri 9

Note 4. *43

Extracts from the report made by Major-Geaeral
M. L. Smith of the operations of the division com-
manded by him during the siege of Vicksburg :

"During the night of the i8th (May) my troops
and artillery were all withdrawn within the mainlines
and placed in position, from which they were never
for an instant dislodged during the entire siege. On
the 19th the enemy's main force arrived, and pro-
ceeded at once to make a direct assault on my right,
and the first effort was directed against the centre of
Shoup's brigade ; but being exposed to a heavy and
well-directed fire, the enemy broke and fled. Re-
forming again, a second advance was attempted
against my extreme right, and a bold effort made to
rush over into the works. The assaulting columns
seemed to consist of six or seven regiments, and was
formed behind an elevation, concealing it from sight,

* See Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. i, p. 286.

146 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

After coming into view, it moved confidently and
determinedly forward. The 26th and 27th Louisiana,
supported by the ist Missouri, in reserve, received
the charge with a withering fire, and after a second
volley the enemy fled in confusion, leaving five colors
on the field, and strewn with the dead and wounded.
One or two feeble attempts to rally were easily re-
pulsed, and the day closed with the artillery and
sharp-shooters keeping up a continuous and heavy
fire. The 20th and 21st were spent by the enemy
in erecting new batteries, and keeping up from day-
light until dark the heaviest possible firing, both of
musketry and artillery. The 22nd passed in the
same manner until about 2 p. m., when a column was
discovered advancing Against the right of Shoup's
brigade. It was immediately driven back. Another
then appeared on the right of the centre. This was
dispersed without great effort, and with considerable
loss.

Again the enemy appeared in increasing force on
my right and Forney's left. He was promptly re-
pulsed, and with heavy loss. This terminated the
day's operations, with the exception of a heavy fire
of musketry and artillery, kept up until dark along
my entire front, After these several decided re-
pulses, the enemy seemed to have abandoned the
idea of taking by assault, and went vigorously at
work to thoroughly invest and attack by regular
approaches."

" The good conduct of both officers and men
during forty-seven days in the trenches is worthy of
special praise. Neither one or the other could have
behaved better."

In reference to the siege operations generally, he
says:

APPENDIJt. 147

"The heaviest and most dangerous attack was on
the extreme right, and nobly did the 26th, 27th, 28th,
and 31st Louisiana repel and endure it. The casual-
ties among the officers of these regiments indicate
the nature of the defence required. In the 26th
Louisiana Major Martin, one captain, and two lieu-
tenants were killed; Colonel W. Hall seriously
wounded; in the 27th Louisiana Lieut.-Colonel
McLaurin, one captain, one lieutenant killed. Colonel
D. L. Marks dangerously *; Major Norwood, one
captain, one lieutenant severely wounded ; in the
28th one lieutenant killed and three lieutenants
wounded; in the 31st Colonel Griffin wounded.

" The conduct of the entire division was most ex-
emplary, and its courage and cheerfulness increased,
if possible, from day to day, under the hardships and
privations of the siege."

Note 5.

The following quotations from the official report
of Brigadier-General F. A. Shoupe, who commanded
the brigade to which the regiment was attached, will
serve to show some of the trials and some of the
triumphs of the 26th in this memorable siege.f

" May 19th, at daylight, the enemy had taken pos-
session of the heights, abandoned a few hours before
by our troops, from which position he soon opened
upon us with artillery. By 10 a. m. he had placed
his batteries in our front, as well as at the right and
left of my position, the line making a very decided
salient. The fire from artillery and sharpshooters
soon became very heavy."

* Colouel Marks died of his wounds.

\ See the Report War of the Rebellion, Official Records, Vol 24,
Part 2, p. 405-

148 TWENTY-SiXTM LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

"About I P. M. the enemy debouched in force from
a gorge in front of the centre of my position. We
opened on him. He broke, and fled to the cover of
the hills. After a time he reappeared in greater
force farther to the right, in front of redan, occupied
by Col. Marks' regiment. Our force staggered him,
but the fragments of several regiments succeeded in
Sfainina: the cover of a ridsfe in front of the redan.
Here he remained some time, almost wholly free
from our fire. He finally made a rush with the in-
tention of carrying our line, but was met by a terrific
fire in front and flank, and fled in utter confusion,
leaving many dead."

" The enemy continued a terrific fire until dark."

"May 20th and 21st. — Continued fire from the ar-
tillery and sharp-shooters of the enemy."

" May 2 2d. — Fire from the enemy before dawn.
Keep it up with extreme vigor. A little after noon
the enemy attempted to carry my position on the ex-
treme right; another failure."

"A force on my extreme left begins to assemble.
Taking advantage of the gorge in front, they gain
the cover of the steep declivity at the foot of the
ridge, running down from our line into the gorge.
Severel regiments are finally assembled. About 3 p.
M. a very heavy force discovers itself on my right,
and General Hebert's left. It moves forward to
assault our line. It is repulsed with great loss."

"About 5 p. M. the force on my left just spoken
of makes a dash at my line, it is slaughtered and flies
in confusion.

"The troops behaved most admirably — mount the
parapets with enthusiasm. Colonel Marks, 2 7th La. ;
Lieutenant-Colonel McLauren, 27th La. ; Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Crow, 26th La.; Major Martin, 26th
La.; Major Norwood, 27th La., each display great
gallantry."

APPENDIX. 149

" May 23 to 31. — Enemy entrenching energeti-
cally at night. Keeping up a continous fire during
the clay."

"June 5. — During the night the enemy kept up
an incessant artillery fire and occasional musketry."

"June 6. — Enemy fired nearly all night from ar-
tillery."

"June 8. — Continuous fire during the night."

"June 9. — Last night the enemy fired into our
working party on the left, wounding two men. We
are constructing a rough stockade at that point, to
prevent a dash from the enemy's works, now not
more than 75 yards distant."

"June II. — The sharp-shooters are extremely vigi-
lant, and are within 60 or 70 yards, excellently cov-
ered. The 26th Louisiana is securing its front
against a dash, by means of a picket with brush en-
tanglements."

"June 13. — Sharp-shooting very bitter."

"June 15. — Gap at redan (held by 27th Louisiana)
very close, within ten paces of ditch. We are using
hand-grenades on working parties."

"June 1 7. — We are on speaking terms with the
enemy at the redan. The picket parties at that
point agree upon short truces, duringwhich neither
party is to fire. Notes are thrown across from one
party to the other. Some trading going on in cof-
fee, etc. Have forbidden communications. I per-
mit it only in presence of the officer of the day."

" June 20. — Furious cannonading began at day-
light and continued a good part of the day."

"June 22. — Major W. W. Martin, 26th Loui-
siana, was killed instantly by sharp-shooters. He was
one of the most gallant and excellent young officers
of the command."

"June 29. — Are using hand-grenades on him" (the
enemy.)

150 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

"July 2. — Enemy advancing his sap in front of
stockade. Protects himself from hand-grenades by
covering his tracks with rails. We are running a
gallery from our trenches to blow in the enemy's
works."

"July 3. — Enemy is running a gallery, with the
intention of blowing up the stockade between lu-
nette and redan. Is hard at work to-day. We fol-
low the example. The question is which shall ex-
plode first ?"

"July 4. — Capitulation ordered. At 10 a. m. we
moved out of our trenches by battalions, stacked
arms, and returned to our old quarters in town. The
men were full of indignation. Though they have
had very scant fare, and had been exposed to a mer-
ciless and almost continuous fire, remaining at their
posts in the trenches without relief, I have rarely
heard a murmur or complaint. The tone has al-
ways been, ' This is pretty hard, but we can stand
it.' Too much praise cannot be given to officers
and men."

:i: * *

" Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. C. Crow, 26th Regi-
ment Louisiana Volunteers, bore himself with
marked gallantry throughout the siege. He was the
only field officer remaining in his regiment."

* * :!:

"My thanks are due to the following officers:"
* * *

•'Lieutenant Lewis Guion, Acting Inspector Gen-
eral."

26th regiment LOUISIANA INFANTRY,

C. S. A.

FIELD AND STAFF.

Alexander de Clouet.

Duncan S. Cag-e.

Winchester Flail.

William C. Crow.

W. Whitmel Martin.

FIELD.

Elected Colonel April 8,
1862.

Captain of Company H.
Elected Lieutenant-Colonel
April 5, 1862. Colonel by-
promotion November 10,
1862. Resigned November
25, 1862. Resignation ac-
cepted December 30, 1862.
Captain of Company i.
Elected Major April 8,
1862. Lieutenant-Colonel
by promotion November
10, 1862. Colonel by pro-
motion November 25, 1862.
Captain of Company E.
Major by promotion No-
vember 10, 1862. Lieuten-
ant Colonel by promotion
November 25, 1862.
Captain of Company C.
Major by promotion No-
vember 25, 1862.

152

TWENTY-SIXH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Cleophas Lagarde,

Edward Pilsbury.

John R. Bisland.

L. E. Nee.
A. J. Moss.

E. L. Lash brook.

Alfred Hall.

Captain of Company D.
Major by promotion June

2 1, 1863.*
STAFF.

Adjutant. Resigned dur-
insr Summer of 1862.
Adjutant. Appointed dur-
ing Summer of 1862.
Captain and Quartermaster.
Private of Company A.
Captain and Assistant Com-
missary of Subsistence. Af-
terward Commissary to
Thomas' Brigade.
Surgeon. Resigned Decem-
ber 18, 1862.

Assistant Surgeon, and Sur-
geon on resignation of Sur-
geon Lash brook.

NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.

James Bryan Martin.

Sergeant Major. After-
wards elected Junior Lieu-
tenant of Company C, June
4, 1863. Actmg Ordnance
Officer and A. D. C. to
Brigadier General Allen
Thomas. Captain Com-
pany A, Weatherly's Bat-
talion of Sharp-shooters.
Sergeant of Company H.
Succeeded Sergeant Major
Martin on June 4, 1863.

* NuTE. — On promotion uf Major Crow on Nov, 25, 1862, to Lieuten-
ant Colonel, Captain Lagarde was the ranking Captain, buX d,eqlined pro-
motion at the time.

John M. Knight.

APPENDIX.

153

Aubain P. Thibodaux.
Dupre BroLissard.
George F. Hooper.

Joseph T. Greig.

Frank Haines.

H. Clay Bernard.

Hardgrove.

Charles O. Helwig.
Thomas S. Bisland.

Private of Company H,
Ordnance Sergeant.
Sergeant of Company A.
Commissary Sergeant.
Private of Company A.
Commissary Sergeant on
discharge of Sergeant Brous-
sard under Surgeon's certi-
cate.

First Sergeant of Company
A. Commissary Sergeant
on transfer of Sergeant
Hooper to a Texas com-
mand.

Private of Company B.
Commissary Sergeant on
death of Sergeant Greig,
who was killed in battle
May 22, 1863.

Corporal of Company I.
Succeeded Sergeant Haines
as Commissary Sergeant.
Assistant Surgeon.
Assistant Surgeon. Detailed
for duty Februaiy 25, 1863.
Quartermaster Sergeant.

MUSTER ROLLS, DEATHS IN THE SERVICE, CASUALTIES,
DISCHARGES, &C., OF THE SEVERAL COMPANIES.

Note. — There may be errors and omissions in the
following compilation, as it was not attempted until
many years after the war, when much valuable ma-
terial had been dissipated, and many sources of in-
formation had been sealed by death ; I have, how-
ever, made every effort in my power to have it as

^54

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

accurate as these circumstances permitted, and as
much in detail as the lapse of time allowed :

COMPANY A MUSTER ROLL AT ORGANIZATION.

RANK. NAMES.

Captain. Eraste Mouton.

1 Lieut. Hazard Eastin.

2 Lieut. William Campbell.
Junior. Fernest Martin.

1 Sergt. Joseph Sosthene Mouton,

2 Sergt. Anderson Joseph Moss,

3 Sergt. ' O. Rousseau Mouton,

4 Sergt. Valerie D. Martin,

5 Sergt. Dupre Broussard.

1 Corp. John M. Miles,

2 Corp. Ernest Bernard,

3 Corp. Benjamin Bailey,

4 Corp. Joseph T. Greig.
Private. Albarado, Sebastien,

Albarado, Bernard,
" Bernard, Joseph,

" Bernard, Alcide,

" Bernard, Desire,

" Bernard, Lucas,

Broussard, Alexandre D.,
Broussard, St. Maurice,
" Broussard, Leon,

" Broussard, Desircj,

" Broussard, Treville,

Broussard, Elizd,
Broussard, Dupreville.
Brasseux, Adam,
Babineaux, Emilien,
Babineaux, Charles V.,
Babineaux, Belizaire,
Babineaux, Athanase,

APPENDIX. 155

Private Babineaux, Theodore,

Breaux, Valerie,
Breaux, Sosthene,
" Breaux, Lucien,

" Boudreaux, Gustave,

Begnaud, Stanislas,
Begnaud, Toledano,
Begnaud, Marcel,

" Begnaud, Franyois,

Begnaud, Felix,

" Begnaud, John,

" Bausept, Xavier J. N.,

" Bourg, Frangois,

" Boutt^ Leopold,

" Comeau, Aladin,

" Comeau, Valerie V.,

" Comeau, Charles Ovide,

Cormier, Clemile,

" Cormier, Joachim,

Cormier, Lastie,
Campbell, George W.,
Dominigue, Vincent P.,
Dominigue, William J.,
Dominigue, Antoine Pierre,
Dugas, Eraste,
Dugas, Duplessin,

" Dugas, Cadet,

Dugas, Jules,
Dugas, Joseph,

" Dugas, Alexandre,

" Doucet, Gerassin,

" Duhon, Treville,

" Duhon, Emile,

" Duhon, Alexis,

" Dubois, Aladin,

" Dubois, Desir6,

156

TWENTY-SlXtH LOtJtSIAMA INPANTRV".

Private Delhomme, Octave,

Donohue, Christopher,
Fabre, Martial,
Fabre, Dorneville,
Fabre, Jean,
Guidry, Edmond,
Guidry, Jean Baptiste,
Gauthrean, Onezime,
Hidalgo, Felix,
Hooper, George F.,
Joyner, Samuel T.,
Lastrapes, Leon,
Louviere, Joseph,
Landry, J. B. Desird,
Landry, Derbes,
Landry, Sosth^ne,
Landry, Gustave,
Landry, Emile Ursin,
Landry, Desir^,
Landry, Jules,
Langlinais, Onezime,
Lee, Robert B.,
Mouton, Jules,
Mouton, Anthony,
Mouton, Jean,
Martin, Darmas,
Martin, Balthazar,
Mai-tin, Louis A.,
Martin, Alexandre,
Martin, Phileas,
Mouton, Frangois,
Mhire, Edouard,
Morvan, Norbert,
Morvan, Numa,
Morvan, Belizaire,
Melangon, Napoleon,

APPENDIX.

157

Private Melangon, Alcide,

Nerault, Andre,
Portier, Ernest,
Prejean, Dupr6,
Roy, Frangois Lastie,
Racca, Clairville,
Savoie, Hiliare,
Savoie, Desire,
Solari, Jean,
Sonnier, Oscar,
Sonnier, Cyprien,
Sonnier, Alexandre,
Trahan fils, Maximilien,
Trahan, Desir^
Trahan, Alcide,
Taylor, Hiliare,
Thibodaux, Martin.

The following roll, and the rolls of the remaining
companies of the regiment from August 31 to Octo-
ber 31, 1862, (which will be found in their proper
place,) are copies of the original rolls iu the Confed-
erate archives of the War Department of the Fed-
eral Government at Washington, D. C. :

MUSTER ROLL.

COMPANY A AUG. 3 I -OCT. 3 I, I 862.

REMARKS.

Captain. E. Mouton.

I St Lieut. H. Eastin.

2d Lieut. W. Campbell.

3d Lieut. F- Martin.
I St Sgt.

J. S, Mouton.

On furlough since
Oct. 20, '62.

Promoted to Major
by Gen. Mouton
Sept. 24.

158

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

2d Sgt. V. D. Martin.

3d Sgt. O. R. Mouton.

4th Sgt. Leon Lastrapes.

5th Sgt. J. M, Miles.

I St Corp. Benjamin Bailey. ,
2d Corp. Ernest Portier.
3d Corp. Ernest Bernard.
4th Corp. J. T. Greig.

Musician. Hiliare Taylor.

Private. Albarado, S.,
Albarado, E.,
Bernard, Jos.,
Bernard, A.,
Bernard, S.,
Bernard, L.,
Bernard, Desire.

Broussard, St. M.,
Broussard, Alex. D.

Broussard, L.,
Broussard, D.,
Broussard, Treville.
Broussard, E.,

Discharged by order
Oct. 24.

Discharged by order
July 2.

DiedinOuichitaJune
29.

Reduced to ranks
Sept. 24th. Dis-
charged on ac-
count of disability
Oct. 5.

Promoted to istSgt.
Sept. 24.

Promoted to ist Sgt.
Sept. 24.

Promoted to ist Sgt.
July 4.

Promoted to 4th Sgt.
July 4, and to ist
Sgt. Sept. 24.

Promoted to Corp.
July 2.

Promoted to Corp.
Sept. 24.

APPENDIX.

159

Private Broussard, Dupre.

Extra duty in Com
Dept. since May.
Now sick inVicks-
burg since Oct. 28.

Brasseux,

A.

Sick, Magnolia, Miss.

Babineau,

E.

Babineau,

Chs.

V.

Babineau,

B.

Babineau,

A.

Died Miss. Springs
July 30.

Breau, V.

Discharged by order
Aug. 2.

Breau, J. Sosthene.
Boudreau, G.
Begnaud, T.

Begnaud, Marvel.
Begnaud, Felix.
Begnaud, S.

Begnaud, Jean.
Bausept, J. N. K.
Bourk, F.

Boute, L.
Buzet, Edouard.
Coraeau, A.
Comeau, U.
Comeau, V. V.
Comeau, Chs. O.
Cormier, C.
Cormier, S.
Cormier, J.
Campbell, Geo. W.
Dominguez, Wm. J.

Promoted to Corp.

Sept. 24.

Discharged on ac-
count of disability
July 7-

Died, E. Depot Aug.
9-

i6o

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Private Dominguez, Ant.
Dugas, D.
" Dugas, Eraste.

" Dugas, Jules.

Dugas, Josh.
Dugas, Alex.
Doucet, G.
Duhon, E.
Duhon, F.
Duhon, A.
Dubois, A.
Desire Dubois.
Delhomme, O.

Donahou, C.
Fabre/M.
Fabre, D.
Fabre, J.
Guidry, E.

P.

Geautreau, O.
Hedalgo, F.
Flooper, Geo. F.

Joyner, S. T.

Louviere, Jos.
Landry, J. B. D.
Landry, D.
Landry, S.
Landry, G.

Promoted to Corp.
Oct. 30. Sick at
Magnolia.

Absent sick, place
not known.

Discharged on ac-
count of disability
Aug. 25.

On extra duty in
Com. Dept. since
Aug. 17.

Promoted Corp. July
2. Promoted Ser-
geant Oct. 30,

APPENDIX.

l6l

Private Landry, E. U.
" Landry, Desire.

" Landry, Jules.

" Langlinais, O.

Lee, R. B.

Mouton, D.,
" Mouton, Jules.

Mouton, J.

Mouton, A.
" Mathew, Simon.

Martin, B.

Martin, L. A.

Martin, P.

Martin, A.

Mhire, E.
" Morvan, Norbert.

Morvan, B.
" Morvan, Numas.

Melangon, N.

Melangon, A.

Nevault, A.
" Ponnier, B.

Pr^jean, D.,

Ray, F. L.
" Racca, C.

" Savoie, H.

Savoie, D.

Smith, W. O.,

" Soularie, J.

" Sonnier, O.

" Sonnier, C.

" Sonnier, Alex.

Trahan, Maximilian.
" Trahan, D.

Never joined Regt.

Discharged on acct.
disability, Ang 25.

Discharged on acct.
disability, Oct 10.

1 62 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Trahan, A., Discharged on acct.

disability Sept. 30.
" Thibodeau, J.

Thibodeau, M.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

RANK. NAMES. REMARKS.

Private. Bourg, Frangois, Died in Hospital at

Edward's Station
August 9, 1862.

Babineau, Athanase, Died in Hospital at

Mississippi Springs
July 30, 1862.
" Babineau, Theodore, Died in Masonic

Hall, Vicksburg,
June 13, 1862.

Babineau,Charles V. Died December 16,

1862.

Breaux, Lucien, Died in House of

Sisters of Mercy,
Vicksburg, June
13, 1862.

Begnaud, Fran9ois, Died in House of

Sisters of Mercy,
Vicksburg, June
12, 1862.

Bourgeois, Fergus, Died June 13, 1862.
" Domingue, Vincent,

Pierre. Died at Camp Moore,

May 6, 1862.

Dugas, Cadet, Died at City Hospital

Vicksburg, June
23, 1862.

Dubois, Aladin, Died at home, on

Furlough, fall of
1862.

APPENDIX. 163

Private Guidryjean Baptiste Died in House of

Sisters of Mercy,
Vicksburg, June
17, 1862.

" Lastrapes, Leon, Died in Ouchita

Parish, Louisiana,
June, 1862.

" Mouton, Frangois, Diedin City Hospital

Vicksburg, June
25, 1862.

" Mouton, Jean, Died at home on

Furlough, fall of
1862.

" Sonnier, Bienvenu.

" Sonnier, Eugene.

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY, ON SURGEON's CERTIFI-
CATE.

RANK. NAMES. REMARKS.

Private. Breaux, Valerie, Discharged August

2, 1862.
" Begnaud, Stanislas, Discharged July 7,

1862,
Broussard, Dupreville, Discharged June,

1862.
" Guidry, Edmond, Discharged August

25, 1862
2d Sergt. Martin. Valerie D., Discharged October

24, 1862.

3d Sergt. Mouton, O. Rousseau, Discharged July 2,

1862.
Private, Miles, John M., Discharged October

5, 1862.
" Pr^jean, Duprc^, Discharged August

25, 1862.

164 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Private Trahan, Alcide, Discharged Septem-

ber 30, 1862.
Smith, W. O., Discharged October

10, 1862.

CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.

RANK. NAMES. REMARKS.

Private, Martin, Adolph, Killed.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

RANK. NAME. REMARKS.

Private, Fabre, Dorneville, Killed, May 19, 1863.
I St Sergt. Greig, Joseph T., " " 22, "

Private, Thibodaux, Martin, " " " "

" Begnaud, Felix, " " " "

Cormier, Lastie, " June 5, 1863.

" Solari, Jean, Disabled by concuss-

ion, June 16, 1863
Comeaux, Charles Ovide, Wounded June

24, 1863.
Dubois, Aladin, Wounded June

27, 1863.
Duhon, Emile,. Wounded June

29, 1863.
Guidry, Antoine, Wounded June

29, 1863.

ROLLS OF COMPANY B.

MUSTER ROLL AT ORGANIZATION, APRIL I, 1 862.

RANK. NAMES.

Captain. Manda W. Bateman,

I St Lieut. Augustus S. Lawes,

2d Lieut. Dennis C. Daniels,

Junior, Jared Y. Sanders,

APPENDIX. 165

istSergt. Cleophas Penisson,
2d Sergt. James H. Harwood,
3d Sergt. Farley O'Brien,

4th Sergt. James Malcom,
5th Sergt. Alfred E. Sitansbury.
I St Corp. Gideon Hebert,

2d Corp. A. Burton Daisy,

3d Corp. Julius Maupas,

4th Corp. Gideon Aucoin,
Private Anslum, William,

Albert, A.,

Albert, Clairville,

Brandenburg, Otho,

Bigler, John J.,

Bigler, Nicholas,

Bourgeois,

Boudreau, Victor,

Boudreau, Joseph,

Boudreau, Louis,

Bourg, M.,

Beadle, Frank,

Chase, Frank,

Cocke, Bowman,

Coppell, John B.,

Carentine, Michael,

Concienne, Thomas,

Duval, William.

Duval, Felix,

Daisy, J. Pemberton,

Dailey, J. Dennis,

Evans, J.,

Fayette, Martin,

Fitzgerald, Jasper,

Frost, William,

Gounin, Victor,

i66

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Gautreau, Ozem^,

Green, Winfield,
Giroir, J.,
Hebert, John S.,
Head, David H.,
Haines, Frank,
Heaton, J.,

Holliday,

Hartman, James,
Irwin, William,
Imly, Frank,
Johnston, John L.,
Johnson, Charles,
Johnson, James,
Knight, John,
Kennelly, Martin,
King, William,
Leger, Frederic,
Lee, Louis,
Lauterman, John,
Leary, Patrick,
Mason, Thomas,
McCracken, Frank,
McLaughlin, Robert T.,
McKenna, Barney,
Nope, Felix,
Pulaski, Alcide,
Penisson, Victor,
Penisson, Julius,
Penisson, Etienne,
Pratt, John,
Rentrop, Leander,
Reeve, O. C,
Sanders, Austin,
Spence, John,
Salles, A.,

APPENDIX.

167

Private Swearingin, Lemuel C,

Staiisbury, Andrew,
Stevens, Zedekiah,
Stiner, Christian,
Turaro, Henry,
White, John B.,
Wafford, Joseph.

MUSTER ROLL.

Co. B, 26TH Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

DATED OCT. 3 1, 1 862.

Captain.

NAMES.

M. W. Bateman,

I St Lieut. A. S. Lawes,

2d Lieut.

ist Sergt.
2d Sergt.
3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
rst Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.
Private.

J. Y. Sanders.
C. Penisson.
J. H. Harwood.

F. O'Brien.
J. Malcom.

A. E. Stansbury.

G. Hebert.
T. Knight.
J. Dubois.
G. Aucoin.
Anslum, Wm.
Albert, A.

" C.
Brandenbug, O.

REMARKS.

Absent with leave
on furlough of
20 days from
Oct, 8.

Absent with leave
on furlough of
30 days from
Sept. 28.

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Bigler, J. J.
" N.
Bourg, M.
" Boudreaux, L.

Beadle, F
Cocke, B.,

Coppell, J. B.
Carentine, M.
Concienne, T.
Duval, W.
Duval, F.
Daisy, J. P.
Daily, D.
Dubois, Delmas.
Evans, J.
Fayette, M.
Frost, W,
Gounin, V.
Gautreaux, O.,

Discharged Oct.
5th from disab-
li.ty.

Hebert, Alexander S.,

Giroir, J.,

Rejoined from un-
avoidable ab-
sence on Oct. I,
r862.

Rejoined from un-
avoidable ab-
sence on Oct. 14
1862.

Died at Vickburg
during the bom-
bardment; no re-
cord kept of his
death.

Hebert, J. S.
Head, D. H.

APPENDIX.

169

Private Haines, F.,

Heaton, J".
Irwin, W.
Imly, F.
Johnston, J. L.
Johnson, C.
Johnson, James.
Kennelly, M.
King, W.
Leger, F.
Lee, L.
Lauterman, J.
Leary, P.
Maupas, J.
Mason, Thomas.
McLaughlin, R. T.
McKenna, B.
Nope, F.,

Pulaski, A
Pennisson, V.
Pennisson, J.
Pennisson, E
Pratt, J.
Rentrop, L.
Reeve, O. C.
Sanders, A.
Spence, J.
Stevens, L.
Stiner, C.

On daily duty at
Com. Depart-
ment.

In Confederate
Hospital at
Vicksburg, Mis-
sissippi.

In Confederate
Flospital at
Vicksburg, Mig^
sissippi.

I 70 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Turaro, H.
White, J. B.
Wofford, J.

Resignations and Promotions.

On resignation of 2d Lieut. Daniels about August
1862, junior 2d Lieut. Sanders became 2d Lieut-
enant, and Sergeant Penisson became junior 2d
Lieutenant.

On resignation of Lieut. Lawes about October 28th
1862, 2d Lieut. Sanders became ist Lieutenant;
Junior 2d Lieut. Penisson became 2d Lieutenant,
and private Delmas Dubois became Junior 2d
Lieutenant.

ROLLS OF COMPANY C,

26TH Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER roll AT ORGANIZATION, APRIL 2, 1 862.

KANK. NAMES.

Captain. W. Whitmel Martin,

ist Lieut. Lovincy Himel,

2d Lieut. Numa Arrieux,

Junior. Leon Ach^e,

ist Sergt. Emile Tailliu,

2d Sergt. John Carrifere,

3d Sergt. Aubert Hebert,

4th Sergt. Nicholas Duffy,

5th Sergt. Norbert Courcier,

ist Corp. Anatole D. Foret,

2d Corp. Trasimond A. Boudreau,

3d Corp. Guillaume Arrieux,

4th Corp. Appolinaire Gilbert,

Private. Allemand, Antoine,

" Arsement, Jules,

APPENDIX. 171

Private Aucoin, Etienne,

Aucoin, Frangois,
Aucoin, Gideon,
Aucoin, Jules,
Bergeron, Dubreg^
Bergeron, Emile,
Bergeron, Homer,
Bergeron, Alfred,
Bernard, Clezia,
Berthelotte, August,
Berthelotte, Frangois,
Blanchard, Am6d6e,
Blanchard, Louis,
Bolotte, Camille,
Bonnamour, Clovis,
Bonvillain, Liz6,
Boudeloche, Adolphe,
Boudreau, Ernest,
Boudreau, Frangois,
Boudreau, Clitus,
Boudreau, Frangois G.,
Boudreau, Trasimond,
Bourg, Alfred,
Bourg, Fdix,
Bourg, Marcillain,
Bourg, Th^odule,
Cancienne, Bazil,
Delaune, Am6d6,
Delaune, Cledomire,
Delaune, Frangois,
Devine, Charles,
Dolan, Michael,
Dooly, Patrick,
Dubois, Zephyr,
Fremin, Am^dde,
Frerain, Trasimond,

17^

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Forgi, Pierre,

Gauthreaux, Fortunatus,
Gauthreaux, Hermenegele,
Gauthreaux, Maurice,
Giroir, Achilla,
Gros, Justilien,
Gros, Seraphin,
Hebert, Adelin,
Hebert, Lovincy,
Hebert, Pierre,
Hebert, Vileor,
Himel, Adolphe,
Himel, David,
Himel, Frangois,
Jolet, John,
Kerne, Ismael,
Labiche, Gustave,
Landry, Hermog^ne,
LeBlanc, Gustave,
LeBlanc, Theodule,
Leche, Charles,
Leche, Jean Baptiste,
Martin, Leonard,
Martin, Joseph J.,
Melangon, Noe,
Pregeant, Edouard,
Robichaud, Louis,
Schmidt, Herman;
Rousseau, Edmond,
Thibodaux, Alfred,
Thibodaux, Joseph,
Thibodaux, Narcisse,
Triche, Elphege P.,
Truxillo, Andr^,

APPENDIX.

173

MUSTER ROLL.

Company C, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.
AUGUST 31-OCTOBER 31, 1862.

REMARKS.

Captain
I St Lieut,
2d Lieut.
2d Lieut.

I St Sergt.
2d Sergt.
3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
I St Corpl.
2d Corpl.
3d Corpl.
4th Corpl.
Private

W. Whitmel Martin.
Lovincy, Himel.
Numa, Arrieux.
Leon, Achee,

Resigned Septem-
ber 29, 1862.

Emil^, Talliu.
John, Carriere.
Aubert Hebert.
Nicholas Duffy.
Norbert Courcier.
Anatole D. Foret.
Trasimond A. Boudreau.
Gillaume Arrieux.
Appolinaire Gilbert.
Alleman, Antoine.
Arseman, Jules.
Aucoin, Etienne.
Aucoin, Francois.
Aucoin, Gideon.
Aucoin, Jules.
Bergeron, Dubregd.
Bergeron, Emile.
Bergeron, Omer.
Bernard, Alfred.
Bertelotte, Auguste.
Bertelotte, Francjois.
Blanchard, Am^d^e.
Bolotte, Camille.
Bonnamour, Clovis.

174

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA REGIMENT.

Private Bonvilain, Euzt^lien.
" Bonvilain, Lize.

" Boudeloche, Adolphe.

" Boudreau, Ernest.

Boudreau, Clitus.
" Boudreau, Francois.

Boudreau, Francois G.
" Boudreau, Trasimond.

Bourg, Alfred.
" Bourg, Felix.

" Bourg, Marcellain.

" Bourg Theodule.

Cancienne, Basil.

Delaune, Amedd.

Delaune, Cledomire.
" Delaune, Frangois.

Devine, Chas.

Dolan, Michael,

Sick in Hospital
at Edwards De-
pot, Miss.

Dooley, Pat'k.
Dubois, Zephire.
Fremin, Amede.
Freraiii, Trasimond.
Forgi, Pierre.

Died October 21,

1862.

Gautreau, Fortunatus.
Gautreau, Flermenegele.
Gautreau, Maurice.
Giroir, Achille.
Gros, Justilien.
Gros, Seraphin.
Hebert, Adelin.
Flebert, Auguste.
Flebert, Lovincy.
Hebert, Pierre.

APPENDIX. 175

Private Hebert, Vileor.
" Himel, Adolphe.

" Himel, David.

Himel, Franc-ois. Died October, 31,

1862.

Jolet, John.

Kerne, Ismael.

Labiche, Gustave.
" Landry, Flermog^ne.

" LeBlanc, Gustave.

" LeBlanc, Theodule.

Leche, Charles.
" Leche, J. Baptiste.

Martm, Leonard.

Melancoa, N06.

Pregeant, Edward.
" Robichaux, Louis.

Roubatham, Joseph.
" Rousseau, Edward.

" Schmidt, Herman.

Thibodaux, Alfred.

Thibodaux, Joseph.
" Thibodaux, Narcisse.

" Triche P. Elphege.

" Truxillo, Andre (fils.)

Co. C, 26TH LOUISIANA INFANTRY,

MUSTER ROLL FROM FEBRUARY 28, 1 863, TO APRIL

30, 1863.*

KANK. NAMES.

I St Lieut. Lovincy Himel,
2d Lieut. Numa, Arrieux,

Junior. Robert C. Martin,

* The above is a copy from the original roll furnished by Captain
Himel.

I 76

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

I St Sergt.
2d Sergt.
3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
I St Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.
Private

Emile Talliu,
John Carriere,
Aubert, Hebert,
Nicholas Duffy,
Norbert Courcier,
Anatole D. Foret,
Trasimond A. Boudreau,
Guillaume Arrieux,
Appolinaire Gilbert,
Allemand, Antoine,
Arsement, Jules,
Aucoin, Etienne,
Aucoin, Francois,
Bergeron, Dubr^ge,
Bergeron, Homer,
Berthelotte, Auguste
Berthelotte, Frangois,
Blanchard, Amedee,
Bolotte, Camille,
Bonnamour, Clovis,
Bonvillain, Euzdlien,
Bonvillain, Liz6,
Boudeloche, Adolph.
Boudreau, Ernest,
Boudreau, Clitus,
Boudreau, Francois,
Boudreau, Frangois G,
Boudreau, Trasimond,
Bourg, Alfred,
Bourg, Felix,
Bourg, Marcillain,
Bourg, Theodule,
Cancienne, Basil,
Delaune, Amedee,
Delaune, Cledomire,
Delaune, Frangois,

APPENDIX. 177-

Pri-vate Devine, Charles,

Dolan, Michael,
" Dooly, Patrick,

" Dubois, Zephire,

" Fremin, Am^d^e.

" Fremin, Trasimond,

" Gauthreaux, Fortunatus,

" Gauthreaux, Hermeneg^le,

" Gauthreaux, Maurice,

" Giroir, Achille,

" Gros, Justilien,

" Gros, Seraphin,

Hebert, Adelin,
" Hebert, Auguste,

" Hebert. Lovincy,

" Hebert, Pierre,

" Hebert, Vileor,

" Himel, Adolphe,

" Himel, David,

" Kerne, Ismael,

" Labiche, Gustave,

" Landry, Hermogene,

" LeBlanc, Gustave,

LeBlanc, Thdodule,

Leche, Charles,

Leche, Jean Baptiste,

Martin, Leonard,
" Pregeant, Edward,

" Robichaud, Louis,

Roubatham, Joseph,
" Rousseau, Edmond,

" Schmidt, Herman,

Thibodaux, Alfred,

Thibodaux, Joseph,

Thibodaux, Narcisse,
" Triche, Elphdgd P,

" Truxillo, Andr^,

178

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Company C, 26th Louisiana Infantry.

RESIGNATIONS AND PROMOTIONS.

On resignation of Junior 2d Lieutentant Achee, on
September 29, 1862, Robert Campbell Martin
was promoted Junior 2d Lieutenant.

On promotion of Captain Martin to the rank of
Major on November 25th, 1862, Lieutenant
Himel was promoted captain; 2d Lieutenant
Arrieux was promoted ist Lieutenant; Junior
2d Lieutenant Robert C. Martin was promoted
2d Lieutenant, and Sergeant Emil Tailliu was
was promoted junior 2d Lieutenant.

On death of Lieutenant Arrieux, killed in battle
May 22d, 1863, Lieutenant Robert C. Martin
was promoted ist Lieutenant, Junior 2d Lieu-
tenant Tailliu, was promoted 2d Lieutenant, and
James Bryan Martin was elected and promoted
Junior 2d Lieutenant.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private

Aucoin, Etienne,

Died June 14, '62.

n

Delaune, J.,

t

" 15, "

it

Formental, Louis,

•

" 23, "

It

Barilleau, D.,

i

" 27, "

Corp.

Hebert, J. B.,

i

" 30, "

Private

Blanchard, Louis,

I

July, 4, "

ti

Bourg, Clovis,

i

" 6, "

t i

Bernard, Clezia,

'

" 14, "

ti

Gauthreaux, Camille,

i

" 16, "

It

Forgi, Pierre,

Died October 21,
1862.

It

Himel, Francois,

Died October 31,
1862.

tf

Aucoin, Jules,

Died November

7

, 1862.

APPENDIX. i 79

Private Jolet, John, Died November

2d, 1862.
" Aucoin, Gideon, Died December

31, 1862.
Leche, Charles, Died May 2, '63.

" Rousseau, Edmond, " " 8, "

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON's
CERTIFICATE.

Private Achee, Kleber, Discharged July

12, 1862.
" Fremin, Rosemond, Discharged July

12, 1862.
" Martin, Joseph J., Discharged Aug-

ust 13, 1862.

CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.

Private Bergeron, Emile, Killed December

28, 1862.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Kerne, Ismael,
4th Sergt Nicholas Duffy,
2d Lieut. Numa Arrieux,

Private LeBlanc, Theodule, Wounded May

23, 1863.
" Fight, Martin, Wounded June

23. 1893-
" Fremin, Trasimond, Wounded June 9,

1863, and Died

July, 1863.
" Boudreau, Clitus, Killed June 14,

1863.

Wounded M

ay

19, 1863.
Wounded M

ay

21, 1863.
Killed May
1863.

22,

i8o

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Leche, Jean Baptiste, Wounded June

24, 1863.
Arsement, Jules, Wounded June

24, 1863.
" Cancienne, Bazil, Died July, 1863.

Hebert, Adelin,

DESERTIONS.

Private Medus, Pierre,
Zacharie, Andr6,

Deserted May 5,

1862.
Deserted May 5,

ROLLS OF COMPANY D.

I have been unable to procure a muster roll of
Company D as organized. The following were
the officers at the organization :

Captain
I St Lieut.
2d Lieut.
Junior
ist Sergt.
2d Sergt.
3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
I St Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.
Drummer

NAMES.

Cleophas Lagarde.
Lewis Guion.
Silvere Navarre.
M. Augustin Legendre.
J. Octave Picou.
Armand Britsch.
J. D. Bessons.
T. P. Larkin.
Ludger Bergeron.
Aubert Herbert.
Honord Champagne.
Oz^m^ Naquin.
Emile Trosclair.
Martin Elphdge.

APPENDIX.

I»I

MUSTER ROLL.

Company D, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 31 OCTOBER 30, I 862.

REMARKS.

Captain Lagarde, Cleophas.

I St Lieut. Guion, Lewis,

2d Lieut. Navarre, Silvere.

3d Lieut. Legendre, M. Augustin

ist Sergt. Picou, J. Octave.

2d Sergt. Britsch, Armand.

5th Sergt. Bergeron, Ludger.

ist Corp. Naquin, Ozem^,

2d Corp. Champagne, Honor^,
3d Corp. Troxler, Emile,
4th Corp. Parr, Aurelien,

Musician
Private

Promoted 3d Ser-
geant August
13, 1862

Promoted 4tii
S er ge an t Aug-
ust 13, 1862.

Promoted i st
Corporal Aug-
ust 13, 1862.

Promoted 2d
Corporal Aug-
ust 13, 1862.

Left sick at Ed-
wards Depot
Hospital Aug-
ust 26, 1862.

Adam, Mathurin.

Adam, Auguste.

Bernard, Miles Taylor, Left sick at Ed-
wards Depot
Hospital Aug-
ust 26, 1862.

Martin, Elph^ge.
Adam, Octave,

I»2

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Babin, Marcel.

Bergeron, Drozin.
Bergeron, Eugene.
Bergeron, Euzebd.
Boudreaux, Olezi.
Bourgeois, Vasseur.
Bourgeois, Marcilien.
Bourgeois, Norbert S.
Breaux, Augustin.
Breaux, Felicien.
Brown, Robert.
Cantrel, Oscar.
Cantrel, Ernest,
Cadi^re, Louis.
Cogan, John.
Champagne, J. Florestan
Cantrel, Jackson.
Cantrel, Armogene.
Dantin, Livaudais.
Darc6, L^on.
Droz, Louis.
Dupr^, Theophile.
Exnicios, Joseph.
Farell, Frank.
Grima, Michael.
Guerrin, C. G.,
Guillot, Ulysse.
Guillot, Joseph,

Guillot, Francois,

Left sick at Mis-
sissippi Springs,
June 20, 1862,
never reported.

Left sick at Don-
alsonville, La.,
April 26, r862,
never reported.

APPENDIX. 183

Private Guillot, Jean B., Died at C. S.

Hospital at Mis-
sissippi Springs
July, 1862.

Hawk, Raymond.

Hawk, Theolin.

Hebert, Hypolite.

Hebert, Oz(^m6.

Hebert, Wellington F., Promoted 4th

Corporal Aug-
ust 13, 1862,

LeBlanc, Oville.

Ledet, Am^de.

Ledet, Amdd^ A.

Lejeune, Ovile.

Lirette, Pierre.

Martin, Georges.

Malbroux, Leme, Detailed as team-

ster, August 12,
1862.

Mirre, Evariste.

Molaison, Augustin.

Naquin, Joseph.

Naquin, Eugene.

Navarre, Evariste.

Picou, Leon.

Picou, Gustave.

Rensch, Charles.

Robicheaux, Louis.

Robicheaux, Theophile.

Rodrigue, Louis. Left Company

April 26, 1862,
near Donalson-
ville, Louisiana,
never reported,

Roger, Augustin.

1 84

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Roger, Frangois.
" Roger, Joseph.

" Sevin, Nicolas.

" Tausin, Justilien.

Thibodeaux, Claiborne G., Promoted 3d

Corporal
August 13,
1862.
Thibodeaux, Frangois.
Thibodeaux, Joseph.
" Toups, Pierre.

" Toups, Onesime.

" Toups, L. Oz6m6.

PROMOTIONS.

On promotion of Captain Lagarde to the rank of
Major on June 21, 1863.

I St Lieutenant Lewis Guion was promoted to Cap-
taincy.

2d Lieutenant Silv^re Navarre was promoted to ist
Lieutenancy.

Junior 2d Lieutenant M. Augustin Legendre was
promoted to 2d Lieutenancy.

Honors Champagne was promoted to Junior 2d Lieu-
tenancy.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Guillot, Frangois,

Guillot, Joseph,

Left sick at Don-
alsonville, Loui-
siana, on April
26th, 1862, and
subsequently
died.

Left sick at Mis-
sissippi Springs,
on June 20, 1862
and died after-
ward.

APPENDIX.

185

Private Armstrong, George,

Pontiff, Charles,
Guillot, Jean B.,

" Robichaux, Louis,

" Toups, Onezime,

" Cadiere, Louis,

Died in Vicks-
burg, June 26,
1862.
Died at Camp
Cage, June, '62.
Died in Hospital
at Mississippi
Springs, July'62.
Died at Camp
Hall about Aug-
ust, 1862.
Died near Mans-
field, Louisiana,
about April, 1862
Died in Hospital
at Vicksburg.

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON's
CERTIFICATE.

I St Corp. Aubert, Hebert,

Discharged about
June, 1862.

CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.

Private Lirette, Pierre, Killed.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Adam, Mathurin,

Lieut. Silv^re, Navarre,

Private Babin, Marcel,

Private Grima, Michel,

Wounded in the

head on May 21,

1863.
Wounded June

5- 1863.
Wounded June

7. 1863.
Killed June 18,

1883.

1 86

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private

Private

Wounded June
i8, 1863.
Honore, Champagne, Wounded June

25, 1863.

Severely wound-
ed June 26, '63.

2d Sergt. Armand, Britsch,
Lieut.

Leblanc, Oville

DESERTIONS.

Rodrigue, Louis,

Left company
near Donaldson-
ville, Louisiana,
April 26, 1862.

ROLLS OF COMPANY E,

26TH Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER roll AT ORGANIZATION, APRIL, 1 862.

Captain William C. Crow,

I St Lieut. Edward B. Crow,

2d Lieut. Joseph C. Riu,

Junior Joseph Louviere,

ist Sergt. Thdodule E. Landry,

2d Sergt. John O. Richard,

3d Sergt. Pancrasse L. Riu,

4th Sergt. Aim6 D. Landry,

5th Sergt. Penotte E. Arcenaux,

ist Corp. Paul Broussard,

2d Corp. Pierre *P. Richard,

3d Corp. Alexandre M. Broussard,

4th Corp. Alfred Peck,

Private Arcenaux, Destival,

" Arcenaux, Numa,

" Braux, Clairville,
Braux, Paul O.,

APPENDIX. 187

Private Braux, Joachim,

" Braux, Norbert,

" Braux, Simon,

" Braux, Oscar,

" Bourgeois, Pierre,

" Boudreau, Adrien,

" Boudreau, Lessin,

" Bodoin, Camille,

" Bodoin, Delpliin,

" Broussard, Jules,

" Broussard, Desir^,

" Chiasson, Dupr^,

" Chiasson, Theog^ne,

" Comeau, Ovide,

" Comeau, Lessin,

" Cormier, Belonie,

Duhon, Jules,

" Duhon, Valentin,

" Duhon, Vileor,

" Duhon, Ondzime,

" Duhon, Lucien,

" Forestier, Philomien,

" Guilbeau, Adolphe L.,

Girouard, Norbert,

Grififith, John,

" Guidry, Alexandre,

" Hebert, Eliz^,

" Keough, Peter,

^ " Landry, Basil D.,

" Landry, Athanase,

" Landry, Jules,

Landry, Olivier,

" Leblanc, Neuville,

" Leblanc, Duplesin,

" Lebert, Louis,

" Lebert, Pierre,

1 88 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Langlinais, Hermogene,

" Langlinais, Jules,

" L6gere, Pierre,

" L^gere, Constant,

Louviere, Oz^m6,

Louvi^re, Olepsi,
" Louviere, Cleyt,

" Louviere, Joseph,

Melangon, On^siphore,

Mallet, Dolz6,

Mallet, Emile,

Mont6, Onezime,

Pr^jean, Andrd,
" Prdjean, Sosthene,

" Pr^jean, Agerin,

" Roy, C^venne,

" Rowan, Wyatt,

" Smith, Hypolite,

" Sonnier, S(!vign6,

" Stutes, Tobias,

" Simon, Eugene,

" Trahan, Rdmond,

" Trahan, Pierre,

" Webre, Martin.

ROLLS OF COMPANY E.
MUSTER ROLL.

Company E, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 31 TO OCTOBER 3I, 1862.

RANK NAMES. REMARKS.

Captain William C. Crow.
I St Lieut. Edward B. Crow.
2d Lieut. Jos. C. Riu.

APPENDIX. 189

2d Lieut. Joseph Louviere.
I St Sergt. John O. Richard.
2d Sergt. Pancrasse L. Riu.
3d Sergt. Th^odule E. Landry.
4th Sergt. Penotte E. Arcenaux.
5th Sergt. Adolphe L. Guilbeau.
I St Corp. Aim^ D. Landry.
2d Corp. Pierre O. Richard.
3d Corp. Paul Broussard.

4th Corp. Florence Gonzales, Died in Vicks-

burg, October
21, 1862.
Private Arcenaux, Destival.

Arcenaux, Numa.

Bourgeois, Pierre.

Broussard, Jules.

Broussard, Alex. M.

Braux, Clerville.

Braux, Joachim.

Braux, Paul O.

Braux, Simon.

Braux, Norbert.

Braux, Paul.

Boulet, Eraste.

Boudreau, Adrien.

Boudreau, Moise L.

Bodoin, Camille.

Bodoin, Delphin.

Brown, Charles.

Cormier, Belonie.

Comeau, Lozin.

Comeau, Ovide.

Chiasson, Theog(^ne.

Chiasson, Dupr6 L.

Del'hommes, Jules,

Duhon, Lucien.

190 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private D.uhon, Valentin.

Duhon, Onezime.

Duhon, Jules.

Duhon, Vileor.

Forestier, Philomien.

Guedry, Alexandre.

Girouard, Norbert.

Glaude, Ernest.

Hebert, Sylvester.

Hebert Elize.

Hebert, Theodule L.

Keough, Peter.

Landry, Olivier.

Landry, Victor Ach.

Landry, Jules.

Landry, Jean.

Landry, Athanase.

Landry, Bazil D.

Landry, Clerville.

Louvi^re, Ozemd.

Louvi^re, Cleyt.

Louviere, Olypsi.

Louviere, Jos. E.

Lebert, Pierre.

Lebert, Louis.

Leblanc, Duplesin.

Leblanc, Neuville.

Legerre, Pierre.

Legerre, Constant, On sick furlough

in Louisiana,
since July 15, '62.

Langlinais. Hermogene.

Laass, Fredric, On furlough in

Louisiana, since
April 15, 1862.

Mallet, Dolze.

APPENDIX.

191

Private Morite, Onezime.

" Melangon, Onesiphore.

" Massy, Jno. P.

" Prdjean, Andr^

Pr^jean, Sosthene.
Peck, Alfred.
Quebodeau, Andeal.
Roy, Cayenne.
Rayner, Geo.
Rowan, Wyatt.
Savoie, Jean.
Smith, Hypolite.
Sonnier, S^vignd
Stutes, Tobias.
Trahan, Pierre M.
Trahan, R6mond.
Trahan, Henriart.
Whittington, Alex.
Webre, Martin. ,

Regimental Team-
ster since Octo-
ber 28, 1862.

PROMOTIONS.

Captain William C. Crow,

I St Sergt. Joseph O. Richard,

Promoted Major
November 10,
1862, and Lieu-
tenant Colonel,
November 25,
1862.

Promoted ist Lieu-
tenant about
November 30,
1862.

tQ2

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

2d Sergt. Pancrasse L. Riu, Promoted 2d Lieu-

tenant about
November 10,
1862, and to cap-
taincy about
November 30,
1862.

5th Sergt. Adolph L. Guilbeau, Elected and pro-
moted 2d Lieu-
tenant about
November 30,
1862.

Note. — Junior 2d Lieutenant Joseph Louviere de-
clined promotion,

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Broussard, Ernest,

Private Mallet, Emile,

Corporal Gonzales, Florence,

Lieut. Edward B. Crow,

Private Boudreau, Adrien,

Lieut. Joseph C. Riu,

Private Braux, Oscar,
" Prejean, Agerin,

" Legere, Pierre,

Died in Vicksburg

on May 27, 1862.
Died in Vicksburg

May 31, 1862.
Died in Vicksburg

October 21, '62,
Died in Vicksburg

November 18,

1862.
Died in Vicksburg

April 30, 1863.
Died at home,

while on leave,

about N o V e m-

ber 1862.
Died in 1862.
Died in 1862.
Died in 1863.

APPENDIX.

193

discharges for disabilities under surgeon s
'certificate.

Private Griffith, John.
" Legere, Constant.

" Simon, Eugene.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Louvier, L.,
" Hebert, Elise,

" Louvier, J. L.,

May 19, 1863, gun

shot wound in

the head.
May 22, 1863, gun

shot wound in

the head,
May 23, 1863,

wounded. Left

arm amputated.
June 13, 1863,

wounded.
Killed.

" Roy, Cevenne,

Mallet, Dolze,
ROLLS OF COMPANY F.
MUSTER ROLL.

Company F, 2 6th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 31 OCTOBER 3 I, I 862.

Captain John J. Shaffer,

ist Lieut. J. A. Leonard.

2d Lieut. T. J. Shaffer.

3d Lieut. E. L. Aycock,

Absent without
leave since Octo-
ber 12, 1862.

ist Sergt. P. P. Le Blanc.
2d Sergt. Evariste Leonard.

194

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
ist Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.

Private

Lovincy Dugas.
X. Giroir.
N. Boudreaux.
Adrien Cancienne.
Octave Bodoin.
Henry Labit.
Gervais Duplantis,

Ancoin, Adrien.
Bergeron, Germain.
Bergeron, Trasimon.
Bergeron, Erminville.
Bourgeois, Florence.
Bougeois, Joseph.
Bourg, Aulime.
Boudreaux, Adrien.
Boudreaux, Victor.
Boudreaux, Clovis.
Boudreaux, Emile.
Besse, C. A.,

Brue, Ulysse,

Chiasson, Schuyler.
Colonate, Joseph.
Cantev, John D.

Delatte, F.
Davis, Joe.
Darce, John.
Dubois, J. B.
Gros, Gerazime.
Giroir, Theles.

Nurse at Mississip-
pi Springs.

Nurse at Vicks-
burg hospital.

Discharged on ac-
count of sickness
September 29,
1862.

Enlisted in Regi-
ment, October
27, 1862.

APPENDIX.

195

Private Giroir, J. B.
" Gautreaux, Ed.

Hebert, Theles.
" Hebert, Lusignan.

" Hebert, Evaristc.

Hebert, Oville.
" Hebert, Theodule.

" Jenkins, Ed.

" Junot, Aristide.

" Keller, Gustave.

" Kallahen, Ben.

Kallahen, C.
" LeBlanc, Prosper F.

" LeBlanc, Oleus,

" Labit, Joseph.

" Lassaigne, Abel.

" Lassaigne, John.

" Munson, T. B.

" Naquin, Joseph.

" Ozelet, Jules.

" Perilloux, Joseph.

" Pitre, Faustin.

Pitre, J. B.
" Part, Clodomire.

" Portier, Victorin.

Polit, Felix,

Roger, Alex.
Richard, Louis,

Sick at Mississippi

Springs.
Sick at Mississippi

Springs.

Died in Camp on
September 27,
1862.

Absent without
leave since March
1862.

Thibodaux, Oville.
Thibodaux, Evariste.

196

TWENTY-SIXTH LOIIISIaNA INfANTRY.

Private Thibodaux, Flilaire.
Us6, J. B,
" Whitney, George.

MUSTER ROLL.*

Company F, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MARCH IST-APRIL 3OTH, 1 863.

Captain John J. Shaffer.

I St. Lieut. F. A. Leonard.

2d. Lieut. Thomas J. Shaffer.

Junior P. P. Leblanc.

2d. Sergr. Evariste Leonard,

Promoted ist.
Sergeant, April
I, 1863.

Promoted 2d. Ser-
geant April
I, 1863.

Promoted 3d. Ser-
geant April
I, 1863.

Promoted 4th Ser-
geant April
I, 1863.

Promoted 5th Ser-
gean t April
I, 1863.

Promoted ist.
Corporal * April
h 1863,

Promoted 2d.
Corporal April
I, 1863.

" The above is a copy of the original roll furnished by Capt. Shaffer.

3d. Sergt. J. Lovincy Dugas,
4th. Sergt. X. Giroir,
5th Sergt. J. L. Canty,
ist. Corp. Adrien Cancienne,
2d. Corp. Octave Bodoin,
3d. Corp. Henri Labit,

APPENDIX. 197

3d. Corp. Gervais Duplantier Reduced April

I, 1863.
Private Aucoin, Adrien.

Bergeron, Germain.

Bergeron, Trasimon.

Bergeron, Erminville.

Bourgeois, Florence.

Bourgeois, Joseph.

Bourg, Aulime.

Boudreaux, Adrien.

Boudreaux, Clovis.

Boudreaux, Emile.

Boudreaux, Victor, Promoted 4th

Corporal April
I, 1863.

Boudreaux, N.

Brooks, T. F., Steward, Regi-

mental Hospital

Chiasson, Schuyler.

Colonate, Joseph.

Delatte, F.

Darce, John,

Dubois, J. B.

Gros, Gerazime.

Giroir, Theles.

Giroir, J. B.

Gautreaux, Ed.

Hebert, Lusignan.

Hebert, Evariste.

Hebert, Oville.

Flebert, Theodule.

Jenkins, Ed.

Junot, Aristides.

Keller, Gustave.

Kallahen, Ben.

Kallahen, C.

1 98

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private

LeBlanc, Oleus.
Labit, Joseph.
Munson, T. B.,

Naquin, Joseph.
Ozelet, Jules.
Perilloux, Joseph.
Pitre, Faustin.
Pitre, J. B.
Part, Clodomire.
Portier, Victorin.
Thibodaux, Oville.
Tnibodaux, Hiliare.
Use, J. B.
Whitney, George.
Hebert, Theles,

Besse, C. A.,
Richard, Louis,
Lassaigne, Abel,

Promoted 3d.
Corporal April
I, 1863,

Died March 16,
1863, at Regi-
mental Flospital

Steward, Vicks-
burg Hospital.

Absent without
leave.

Absent without
leave.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private LeBlanc, Prosper.
Us6, Joseph.
Molaison, Adrien,
" Pontiff, Dorneville,

" LeBlanc, Ernest,

" Polit, Felix,

Died June 3, 1862.
Died June 12,

1862.
Died June 15

1862.
Died September

27, 1862.

APPENDIX.

199

Private Lassaigne, John,
I-Iebert, Theles,

Died November
13, 1862.

Died March 18,
1862, at Regi-
mental Hospital

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON S
CERTIFICATE.

Brue, Ulysse,

Discharged Sep-
tember 29, 1862.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Chiasson, Schuyler, Wounded May 19,

1863.
" Bourgeois, Florence, Wounded May 21,

1863.
Ozelet, Jules,

Corporal Victor Boudreau,
Private Whitney, George,

Head shot off.

May 24, 1863.
Arm broken by a

shell. May 29,

1863.
Wounded, June 7,

1863.
Killed June 12,

1863.
Bergeron, Germain, Wounded June 12,

1863.
Mortally wounded

June 19, 1863.
Wounded June 25,

1863,
Mortally wounded

June 29, 1863.

Bourg, Aulime

Kallahan, C.,
Sergeant Evariste Leonard,
Private Parr, Clodomire,

20G TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ROLLS OF COMPANY G,

Company G. 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER roll AT ORGANIZATION, APRIL 3, 1 862.

RANK. NAMES.

Captain Octave V. Metoyer.

I St Lieut. George W. Cobb.
2d Lieut. Seneca Pace.

Junior Louis Alexandre Bossier.

I St Sergt. Francis M. Evans.
2d Sergt. Pierre Notrebe Ternier.

3d Sergt. Alexis E. Lemee.

4th Sergt. John M. Durrett.
5th Sergt. Richard G. Nash.
]st Corp. Joseph T. Lynch.
2d Corp. William B. Sharp.

3d Corp. William M. Lynch.

4th Corp. Pierre Emanuel Prudhomme.
Private Agaisse, Ambrose,

Afford, W. Riley,
" Bridges, L. P.,

" Bishop, Isaac C,

" Brazzcl, Russel,

Buard, Joseph Evariste,
" Baldwin, Thomas J.,

Brazzel, William,
Chelettre, F. Neville,
Cobb, John,
" Clark, James,

Chain, William D.,
Curtis, Thomas E.,
" Campion, Louis,

" Derusseaux, Frangois X.,

Duke, R. Newton,
" Derbaune, P.,

APPENDIX. 20I

Private Eversull, William F.,

Edens, John,

Edwards, Mitchell,
" Edwards, Wood,

" Favron, Azenor,

Flaniken, J. J.,
" Grandchampt, Ernest,

" Gamas, Casimir,

" Graham, Isaac,

" Goodman, Samuel E.,

" Glass, John,

" Horn, Isaac,

Horn, L. D.,

Horn, William C.,

Hernandez, Gilbert,

Hudler, William,
" Jarnac, Jean,

Jackson, Henry J.,

Jones, Hugh B.,

Jones, J. L.,
" Lavoo, George N.,

" Lamb, Samuel,

" Labatt, Jack C.,

McDonald, John R.,

McClendon, Bright H.,
" Maximilien, Antonio,

" Montgomery, Alexander,

Nash, William,

Nash, Ely,
" Ortolan, David,

Prescott, F. M.,
" Park, Joseph,

Rhodus, John J.,
" Sampitd, Albert,

Shull, John Mat.,

Taylor, J. G.,

202 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Trammell, George W.,

Vercher, John B.,
Vercher, Casimir,
Wade, Augustus,
Whiteside, James J.,
Wall, Thomas T.,
Valery, Benoist.

MUSTER ROLL.

Company G, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

August 31ST — October 31ST, 1862.

REMARKS.

Captain O. V. Metoyer.

2d Lieut. Seneca Pace.

3d Lieut. L. A. Bossier.

I St Sergt. P. N. Ternier.

2d Sergt. A. S. Lemee.

3d Sergt. J. M. Durrett.

4th Sergt. R. N. Nash.

5th Sergt. J. T. Lynch.

I St Corp. Wm. Lynch.

2d Corp. W. B. Sharp.

3d Corp. Em. Prudhomme.

4th Corp. Narcisse Prudhomme.

Private Agaisse, A.

Alford, W. B.

Bridges, L. P.

Bishop, I. C.

Brazzell, R.

Buard, J. E.

Baldwin,T. J.

Besaury, Jean.

Chelette, F. N.

Cobb, John.

APPENDIX. 203

Private Clark, James.
Chain, W. D.
Curtis, T. E.
" Campion, Louis.

" Derusseaux, F. X.

Duke, R. N.
Eversull, W. F.
" Edens, John.

" Elliot, Henry.

" Edwards, M.

" Edwards, W.

" Favron, A.

" Grandchampt, E.

" Gamas, O.

" Graham, J.

" Goodman, S. E., Discharged, Oct-

ober 13, 1862.
" Horn, I.

Horn, W. C.
" Horn, L. D.

" Hernandez, G.

" Hudler, Wm.

" Jarnac, Jean.

" Jackson, H. J.

" Lavoo, G. W.

" Lamb, Sam'l.

McDonald, J. R.
" McLandon, B. H.

Maximillian, A.
" Nash, Wm.

" Nash, Ely.

" Ortolan, David, Discharged Sep-

tember I, 1862.

Park, Jos.
Rodus, J. J.
Sampite, A.

204

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Simms, C.
Shull, J. M.
Trammell, G. W.
Taylor, J. G.,

Vercher, J. B.
Vercher, C.
Valery, B.
Wade, A.
Whiteside, J. J.
Wall, T. T.,

Discharged Sep-
tember I, 1862.

Discharged Oct-
ober 3, 1862.

Company G, 26th Louisiana Infantry.

MUSTER ROLL FROM MARCH I, 1 863, TO APRIL 30, 1 863*

RANK. NAMES.

Captain Octave V. Metoyer,

I St Lieut. Seneca Pace,
2d Lieut. Louis Alex. Bossier,
Junior Pierre N. Ternier,

I St Sergt. Alexis E. Lemee,
2d Sergt. Richard G. Nash,
3d Sergt. John M. Durrett,
4th Sergt. Joseph T. Lynch,
5th Sergt. H. N. Jones,
I st Corp. William Lynch,
2d Corp. William B. Sharp,

3d Corp. E. Prudhomme,

4th Corp. N. Prudhomme,
Private Agaisse, A.,

Alford, W. B.,

Airhart, Wm.,

Bridges, L. P.,

* The above is a copy of the original roll furnished by Lieutenant
Lemee,

APPENDIX. 205

Private Bishop, J. C,

Brazzel, R.,
Buard, J. E.,
Baldwin, T. J.,
Chelette, F. N.,
Cdbb, John,
Chain, W. D.,
Campion, Louis,
Curtis, T. E.,
Caradine, T.,
Derusseaux, F. X.,
Duke, R. N.,
Eversull, W. F.,
Edens, John,
Edens, Overton,
Edwards, M.,
Edwards, W.,
Favron, A.,
Grandchampt, E.,
Gamas, C,
Horn, Isaac,
Horn, W. C,
Horn, L. D.,
Hernandez, G.,
Jarnac, Jean,
Jackson, H. T.,
Key, T. T.,
Lavoo, G. N.,
Lamb, S.,
Labatt, J. E.,
Lacaze, A.,
McDonald, J. R„
McLandon, B. PL,
Maximillien, A.,
Nash, Ely,
Nash, Wm.,

2o6

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Park, Joseph,

Perot, G. E.,
Rachal, P.,
Rayburn, S. A.,
Sampit6, A.,
Shu]], J. M.,
Vercher, J. B.,
Vercher, C,
Va]ery, B.,
Wade, A.,
Whiteside, J. J.,
Wright, Joseph,

Company G, 26TI-1 Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER roll AT RE-ORGANIZATION IN TRANS-
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, JANUARY, 1 864.

Captain Octave V. Metoyer,

I St Lieut. Seneca Pace,

2d Lieut. Louis Aiex. Bossier,

Junior Alexis E. Lemee,

ist Sergt. Pierre E. Prudhomme,

2d Sergt. Richard S. Nash,

3d Sergt. John M. Durrett,

4th Sergt. Joseph T. Lynch,

5th Sergt. Joseph Evariste Buard,

I St Corp. William Lynch,

2d. Corp. William B. Sharp,

3d. Corp. L. Narcisse Prudhomme,

4th Corp. L. P. Bridges,

Private Agaisse, Ambrose,

Alford, W. Riley,

" Brazzel, Russell,

Chelettre, F. Neville,

APPENDIX.

207

Private Cobb, John,

Cobb, William,
Derusseaux, Frangois X.,
Duke, R. Newton,
Edens, John,
Edwards, Mitchell,
Edwards, Wood,
Favron, Azenor,
Grandchampt, Ernest,
Gamas, Casimir,
Hernandez, Gilbert,
McClendon, B. H.,
Nash, William,
Nash, Ely,
Park, Joseph,
Sampitd, Albert,
Vercher, John B.,
Valery, Benoist,
Wade, Augustin.

RESIGNATIONS AND PROMOTIONS.

1st Lieut. George W. Cobb,

2d Lieut. Seneca Pace,

Junior Louis A. Bossier,

I St Sergt. Pierre N. Ternier,

Resigned August
1862.

Promoted ist
Lieutenant
November, 1862

Promoted 2d
Lieutenant
November, 1862

Promoted Junior
Lieutenant
November, 1862

208

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

I St Sergt. Alexis E. Lemee, Promoted Junior

Lieutenant
May, 1863, and
in Trans-Missis-
sippi Depart-
ment, Acting
Adjutant of the
Regiment.
Promoted ist
Sergeant July,
1862.
Promoted ist
Sergeant Nov-
ember, 1862.

Private Joseph Evariste Buard, Promoted ist

Sergeant May,
1863.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.
Private Glass, John,

2d Sergt. Pierre N. Ternier,

]d Sergt. Alexis E. Lemee,

ist Sergt. Francis M. Evans,
Private Nash, William,

Died in Vicksburg
June, 1862.

Died at Clinton,
Mississippi, July
1862.

Died at Camp
Crow, March 1 1,
1863.

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON's
CERTIFICATE.

Private Goodman, Samuel E., Discharged Oct-
ober 13, 1862.

" Ortolan, David, Discharged Sep-

tember I, 1862.

" Taylor, J. G., Discharged Sep-

tember I, 1862.

APPENDIX.

209

Private Wall, Thomas T., Discharged Oct-
ober 2, 1862.

CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.

Private Rhodus, John J., Killed, shot

through the
head.

Shull, John M., Shot through the

legs and died in

City Hospital

March 25, 1863.

" Edwards, Mitchell, 'Wounded in the

shoulder.

Alford W. Riley, Wounded.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Jun. Lieut. Pierre N. Termer, Killed May 19, 63.
Private Perot G. E., " " 20, "

" Gamas, Casimir, Gun shot on chin

and left should-
er. May 22, 1863.
" Lamb, Samuel, Killed June 13, '63.

" Maximilien, Antonio, Mortally wounded

June 25, 1863,
and died of the
wound.
Curtis, Thomas E., Wounded June 25,

1863.
" Edwards, Mitchell, Wounded June 25,

1863.
Baldwin, Thomas J., Shot in the mouth.

DESERTIONS.

Wright, Joseph, Deserted April 24,

1863.

2IO

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ROLLS OF COMPANY H.

Company H, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER ROLL AT ORGANIZATION.

RANK.

NAMES.

Captain

Duncan S. Cage,

ist Lieut.

William A. Bisland,

2d Lieut.

Joseph Aycock,

Junior

Homer Lirette,

ist Sergt.

PI. Claiborne Daspit

2d Sergt.

Telesphor Babin,

3d Sergt.

J. Schuyler Porche,

4th Sergt.

John M. Knight,

5th Sergt.

M. Serville Trahan,

ist Corp.

Elias Haines,

2d Corp.

A. Thibodaux Porche,

3d Corp.

Leopold Boudreaux,

4th Corp.

Frederic Lottinger,

Private

Arceneaux Wilfred,

It

Arceneaux, Sosthene,

11

Antil, Albert,

iC

Ayos, G. 0.,

It

Boudreaux, Jules,

tt

Bergeron, Octave,

tl

Bergeron, Washington

It

Bergeron, Charles,

n

Bergeron, Schuyler,

tt

Brunet, Faustin,

tt

Babin, Theodule,

ti

Babin, Joseph,

tt

Bourg, Edouard,

tt

Bourg, Faustin,

It

Bernard, Lewis A.,

tt

Buford, William,

tt

Board, J. W.,

APPENDIX. ill

Private Broussard, Augustin,

" Bellanger, Henri,

Blanclrard, J. B.
" Blanchard, Theodule,

" Blanchard, Edouard,

Burns, John,
" Boudreaux, Numa,

" Bourgeois, Adam,

Crochet, Edouard,
" Crepelle, Severin,

" Cooper, Ezra,

" Clark, Thomas,

" Chaisson, Bernard.

" Chauvin, Leufroi,

" Chauvin, Felix,

" Clement, Joseph,

Davis, M. P.,
" Dupr(!, J. B.,

" Duprd, Ludger,

Dugas J. N.,
" Domingue, Antoine,

" Domingue, J. B.,

" Daignon, Euzelien,

" Dupr(§, Simeon,

" Duplantis, Euseb^,

Ellender, Henry,
" Etheridge, William G.,

" Ford, Robert B.,

" Fremin, Aurelien,

" Flippin, James D.,

" Forestier, Caesar,

" Guidry, Ludger,

" Guidry, Onezime,

" Guidry, Hebert,

" Guidry, Ernest,

Hatch, Alphonse,

212 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Hebert, Louis,

Hutchinson, Adolphe,
" Hotard, Joseph,

" Kiger, Henry C,

King, Thomas,
King, George,
Knight, W. O.,
" Knight, Joshua B.,

" Lirette, Belloni,

" Lyons, L. C. P.,

" Lecompte, Justin,

" LeBlanc, Henri,

" Lancon, Fortune,

" Landry, Sosthene,

" Lenain, J. B.,

" Lorio, Donatien,

" Munson, Frank,

" Munson, Sylvanus,

Miller, Christopher C,
Miller, Elias,
Marcel, Sead A.,
" Michel, Prosper,

•' Marlborough, Joseph,

" Munson, Asa,

Olive, Joseph,
" Ordenau, John,

" Poincot, Etienne,

Pichoff, Augustin,
Porche, H. C,
Roundtree, Thomas,
Rougelet, Alfred,
" Savoie, Marcellin,

" Savoie, William,

Sparks, J. N.,
" Skinner, Samuel,

" Thibodaux, Augustin,

" Thibodaux, Aubain P.,

APPENDIX.

213

Private Thibodaux, Emile,

Thibodaux, Adam,
Trahan, Onesiphore,
Trahan, Oz6m6,
Thenot, Aurelie,
Theriot, Oliva,
Toups, George,
Voisin, Leonard,
Vies, Emile,
Vallette, A.,
Wyman, Charles H.,

MUSTER ROLL.

Company H, 26x1-1 Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 31 OCTOBER 3I, 1862.

KEMARKS.

Captain
I St Lieut.
2d Lieut.
2d Junior
I St Sergt.
id Lieut.
3d Sergt.

Wm. A. Bisland.
Joseph Aycock.
Homer Lirette.
H. C. Daspit.
Charles M. Daspit.
John M. Knight.
Elias Miller,

4th Sergt. Aurelie Theriot,

5th Sergt
1st Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.

M. Serville 7>ahan.
Elias Haines.
A. T. Porche.
Fred'k Lottinger,

4th Corp. G. O. Ayos,

Promoted Septem-
ber 2&, 1862.

Appointed Sep-
tember 26, 1862.

Promoted Septem-
ber 26, 1862.

Appointed Sept-
ember 26, 1862.

214 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Arceneaux, Sosthene, Left at home sick-
on furlough May
8, 1862.

Antil, Albert, Died October 8,

1862, at Missis-
sippi Springs.

Boudreaux, Jules.

Bergeron, Octave.

Bergeron, Washington.

Bergeron, Charles.

Bergeron, Schuyler.

Brunet, Faustin.

Babin, Theodule.

Babin, Joseph.

Babin, Telesphor.

Bourg, Edward.

Bourg, Faustin.

Bernard, Louis A.

Buford. Wm.

Board, J. W.

Bellanger, Henry.

Blanchard, J. B.

Blanchard, Theodule.

Boudreau, Numa.

Bourgeois, Adam.

Crochet, Edward.

Crepelle, Severin.

Cooper, Ezra.

Chaisson, Bernard.

Chauvin, Leufroi.

Chauvin, Felix.

Clement, Joseph.

Davis, M. P.

Dupr6, Ludgere.

Dugas, J. N.

Domingue, J. B.

APPENDIX. 215

Private Daignon, Euzelien.
" Dupr6, Simeon.

" Duplantis Eus^b^.

Etheridge, Wm. G.

Ford, Robert B.
" Fremin, Aurelien.

" Guidry, Ludger.

Guidry, Onez^me.
" Guidry, Hubert.

" Guidry, Ernest.

" Hatch, Alphonse.

" Hebert, Louis.

Kiger, Henry C.
" King, Thomas.

" King, George.

Knight, W. O.
" Knignt, Joshua B.

" Lirette, Belloni.

Lyons, L. C. P.
" Lecompte, Justin.

" LeBIanc, Henry.

" Lancon, Fortune.

" Landry, Sosthene.

" Lenain, J. B.

" Munson, Frank.

" Munson, Sylvanus.

Marcel, S. A.
" Michel, Prosper.

" Malborough, Jos.

Munson, Asa.

Miller, C. C., Died September

27, 1862, at Ed-
wards Depot.
" Olive, Joseph.

" Ordenau, John.

" Poincot, Etienne.

2l6

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Porche, J. Schuyler

Porche, FI. C.
Pichoff, A.,

Reduced Septem-
ber 26, 1862.

Died supposed
about June, 27,
at Vicksburg.

Roundtree, Thos.
Savoie, Marcellin.
Sparks, J. N.
Skinner, Samuel.
Thibodaux, Emile.
Thibodaux, Adam.
Trahan, Onesiphor.
Trahan, Ozeme.
Theriot, Oliva.
Toups, George.
Voisin, Leonard.
Vies, Emile.
Wyman, C. H.

PROMOTIONS.

On the election and promotion of Captain Cage to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on April 3, 1862,
ist Lieutenant William A. Bisland was promot-
ed to the rank of Captain; 2d Lieutenant Joseph
Aycock to the rank of 1st Lieutenant; Junior
2d Lieutenant Lirette to the rank of 2d Lieuten-
ant, and I St Sergeant H. Claiborne Daspit to the
rank of Junior 2d Lieutenant.

On the resignation of 2d Lieutenant Lirette about
November 1862, Junior 2d Lieutenant Daspit
became 2d Lieutenant and ist Sergeant Charles
M. Daspit became Junior 2d Lieutenant.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Burns, John, Died June 7, 1862.

, 'I " I c "

Blanchard, Edward,

APPENDIX.

21/

Private

Lorio, Donatien,

Died June 17, 1862

ti

Hotard, Joseph,

" 22, '

i

(I

Savoie, William,

" 22,

it

Flippen, James D.,

" " 23, '

it

Forestier, Caesar,

" 26,

li

Broussard, Augustin,

" 26,

((

Hutchinson, Adolphe

" 26,

a

Pichoff, Augustin,

" 27,

1 (

Ellender, Henry,

" Juiyi5> "

a

Domingue, Antoine,

" 19,

a

Dupre, J. B.,

" 26,

it

Clark, Thomas,

"Aug'st2,

a

Miller, Christopher C

" Sept. 27,

i i

Antil, Albert,

" Oct, 8, "

a

Ordenau, John,

" Feb'y25, 1863.

a

Hebert, Louis,

" July 4,

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Corporal

Frederic, Lottinger,

Gun shot wound
in shoulder, May
19, 1863.

Lieut.

Charles M. Daspit,

Wounded May 20,
1863.

Private

Lyons, L. C. P.

Serious gun shot
wound in left
breast May 22,
1863.

it

Kiger, H. C.

Wounded May 26,
1863.

(t

King, George,

Killed May 29,
1863.

ii

King, Thomas,

Wounded May 29,
1863.

it

Bergeron, Washington

, Wounded in scalp
by shell May 29,

1863.

2l8

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Babin, Joseph,

Bergeron, Charles,
Cooper, Ezra,
Bourgeois, Adam,
Babin, Theodule,
Babin, V.,
Crepelle, Severin,
Dugas, J. N.

DESERTIONS.

Private Vallette, A.,

" Poincot, Etienne,

Wounded in foot

by a shell May

29, 1863.
Mortally vi^ounded

June 5, 1863.
Wounded June 9,

1863.
Severely wounded

June 10, 1863.
Killed June 12,

1863.
Wounded June 25,

1863.
Severely wounded

June 25, 1863.
Mortally wounded

June 25, 1863,

and died of the

wound June 28,

1863.

Deserted May 8,
1862.

Deserted Decem-
ber 21, 1862.

ROLLS OF COMPANY I.
Company I, 26TH Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

MUSTER ROLL AT ORGANIZATION.

RANK. NAMES.

Captain Winchester, Hall,

ist Lieut. Caleb J. Tucker,
2d Lieut. Lovincey A.- Webre,

APPENDIX.

:2i9

Junior Clay Knobloch,

I St Sergt. F. E. Guedry,
2d Sergt. Lovincey A. LeBlanc,
3d Sergt. C. J. Guedry,
4th Sergt. Aurelien Braud,
5th Sergt. Thomas J. Hepler,
I St Corp. Charles Myrtilde Gaudet,
2d Corp. Gustave Morvan,

3d Corp. Clay Bernard,

4th Corp. A. Schuyler Bourgeois,
Private Adam, Ernest,

" Adam, Emile,

Atkinson, J. N.,
" Aucoin, Alphonse,

" Bark, Auguste,

" Brown, Robert,

" Bergeron, Franklin,

" Boutary, Prosper,

" Boudreau, Pierre,

" Boudreau, Prosper,

" Bourgeois, Paul,

" Barras, Demosth^ne,

" Bourgeois, Maximilien,

" Bourgeois, Appolinaire,

" Chiasson, Octave,

Chiasson, Edmund,
Collins, Thomas J.,
" Champagne P. Ernest,

" Caillouet, Joseph F.,

" Champagne, J. A.,

" Champagne, Emile,

" Chiasson, Ulysse,

" Champagne, Robert,

Duskey, Eli D.,
Duskey, Silas F.,
Duskey, James B.,
" Dantin, Jules,

:S20

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Deslattes, Felix,

Dyer, W. N.,
Clement, Trasimon,
Estiven, Henri,
Francioni, Laurent,
Falgout, Onezime,
Guedry, J. J.,
Guedry, J. B. Eno,
Guillot, Paulin,
Guillot, Teles,
Gladish, Jr., William J.
Gaud6, Emile FL,
Green, W. P.,
Hepler, Ernest A.,
Hill, John H.,
Hebert, Alphonse,
Knobloch, Wm. Tell,
Leonval, Emile,
Ledet, Frangois,
Ledet, Paulin A.,
Ledet, Henri, F.,
Lain6, Seraphin,
Lawless, T. Percy,
Landry, Joseph,
Morvan, Ernest,
Martin, Justilien,
Melangon, Aim^,
Molaison, Jules,
Naquin, Melville,
Poch6, H. P.,
Poch6, Octave,
Picou, Ernest,
Picou, Urbain P.,
Picou, Theophile,
Parr, Doradou,
Roger, Gustave A.,
Roussel, Thomas F.,

APPENDIX.

221

Private Scott, Paul,

Sevin, Joseph,
Smith, John J.,
Stivens, Justilien,
Simoneau, Constant,
Simoneau, Victor,
Trosclair, Eusfcne,
Trosclair, Joseph,
Trosclair. Leufroi,
Trosclair, Lovincey,
Toups, Louis,
Toups, Terence,
Toups, Prosper,
Toups, Felicien,
Toups, T. Emile,
Toups, Oz6m6,
Tabor, William,
Tabor, Edward,
Thibodaux, CliSdamant,
Vanderdoes, Philip A.,
Wagespack, Florian,
Wagespack, UIger,
Webre, P. Oscar,
Wagespack, Louis.

MUSTER ROLL.

Company I, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 31, TO OCTOBER 3I, 1862.

Captain Caleb J. Tucker.

ist Lieut. Lovincey A. Webre.

2d Lieut. F. Ernest Guedry.

2d Sergt. Lovincey A. LeBlanc.

222

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.
I St Corp.

2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.
Private

C. J. Guedry.
Aurelien, Braud.
Thos. J. Hepler.
Charles M. Gaudet,

Left at Lafourche
on the 1 8th April,
1862.

Gustave Morvant.
Clay Bernard.

Aubain Schuyler Bourgeois.
Adam, Emile.
Adam, Ernest.
Aucoin, Alphonse.
Atkinson, J. N.
Boudraux, Pierre.
Boudraux, Prosper.
Bourgeois, Paul.
Bergeron, Franklin.
Bouterie, Prosper.

Clement, Trasimond, At Mississippi

Springs-nur se

Collins, Thomas.
Chiasson, Ulysse.
Champagne, J. A.
Champagne, Emile.
Duskey, Silas P.,

Duskey, Eli D.
Duskey, James B.
Dantin, Jules.
Delattes, Felix.
Dyer, Wilhard N.
Esteven, Henry.
Falgout, Onezime.
Francioni, Laurent.

in hospital.

Left in hospital at
Edwards Depot,
August 26, '63.

APPENDIX.

223

Private Guedry, J. B. E.
" Guedry, Jules J.

" Gaud6, Emile.

Gladish, Jr., W. J.

Guillot, Paulin.
" Hepler, Ernest A.

Hill, George.

Hebert, Alphonse.
Hill, John H.
Knoblock, W. T.
Landry, Joseph.
Lawless T. Percy.
Ledet, Henri F.
Ledet, Paulin.
Ledet, Frangois.
Leonval, Emile.
Martin, Justilien.
Molaison, Jules.
Morvant, Ernest.
Naquin, Melville.
Picou. Urbain P.
Picou, Ernest.
Porhe, Octave.
Part, Douradoux,

Roussel, Thomas F.
Roger, Gustave A.
Simoneau, Victor.
Simoneau, Constant.
Smith, John J.
Sevin, Joseph.
Scott, Paul.
Toups, Felicien.

Transferred Octo-
ber 1 1, from 4th
Louisiana Regi-
ment.

Left at Mississippi
Springs in hos-
pital.

224 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Toups, Louis.

Toups, J. Emile

Toups, Ozemd.

Toups, Prosper,

Toups, Terence.

Trosclair, Lovincey. Left at Camp Ben-
jamin near New
Orleans April
25, 1862.

Trosclair, Leufroy.

Trosclair, Joseph.

Trosclair, Eugene.

Thidodaux, Cledamant

Vanderdoes, Philip A.

Webre, P. Oscar.

PROMOTIONS AND RESIGNATIONS.

On election and promotion of Captain Hall to the
rank of Major, April 3, 1862, ist Lieutenant
Tucker was promoted to the rank of Captain;
2d Lieutenant Webre to the rank of ist Lieu-
tenant, and Junior 2d Lieutenant Knobloch to
to the rank of 2d Lieutenant.

On the resignation and absence of Lieutenant Knob-
loch, ist Sergeant F. Ernest Guedry was pro-
moted to the rank of 2d Lieutenant.

On the death of Captain Tucker, killed in battle
December 28, 1862, Lieutenant Webre was pro-
moted to the rank of Captain, 2d Lieutenant
Guedry to the rank of ist Lieutenant, and ist
Sergeant Lovincey A. Leblanc to the rank of
2d Lieutenant.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Stivens, Justilien, Died June 22, '62,

at Mrs. William
Smith's, near Ed-
ward's Station.

APPENDIX. 225

Private Picou, Theophile, Died in Hospital,

June 28, 1862.
Tabor, Edward, Died in Hospital

about July i, '62.

" Champagne, Ernest, Died in camp, July

8, 1862.

" Barras, Demosthene. Died in hospital

at Mississippi
Springs August,
1862.

" Toups, Felicien.

" Molaison, Jules.

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON's
CERTIFICATE.

Private Caillouet, Joseph F., Discharged July 8,

1862.
" Guedry, J. B. Eno, Discharged Octo-

ber 17, 1862.

CASUALTIES AT CHICKASAW BAYOU.

Captain Caleb J. Tucker, Killed.

Lieut. Lovincey A. LeBlanc, Wounded severely

in the shoulder.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Smith, John J., Severely wounded

May 19, 1863.
Private Gaudet, Emile, Killed May 22, '63.

Sergeant C. J. Guedry, Wounded May 23,

1863.
Private Naquin, Melville N., Mortally wounded

June 9, 1863.
Falgout, Onezime, Wounded June 10,

1863.

226

TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

Private Melangon, Aim6,
" Trosclair, Joseph,

Wouijded June 1 1,
1863.

Severely wounded
June 25, 1863,
and subsequent-
ly died of the
wound.

ROLLS OF COMPANY K.
MUSTER ROLL.

Company K, 26th Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A.

AUGUST 3I-OCTOBER 31, 1862.

Captain

2d Lieut.
2d Lieut.
I St Sergt.
2d Sergt.
3d Sergt.
4th Sergt.
5th Sergt.

ist Corp.
2d Corp.
3d Corp.
4th Corp.
Private

REMARKS.

Felix Grundy Winder, Promoted Captain

1862.
Charles Tennent.
Richard C. West.
Ernest Lirette.
Ernest Bonvillain.
Sosth^ne Aubain Dared
Wilfred Arcenaux.

Tristam S. Easton,

Crochet Prosper.
Cadet Echete.
Z^non Rodrigues.
George Coloitre.
Bonvillain, Wash.
Babin, Theophile.
Bondeloche, Jdddon.
Baudoin, William.

Promoted 5th Ser-
geant in place of
Hillier reduced
October 30, '62.

(appeVdiX. 227

Private Corneau,

Coloitre, E

Doiron, Cloo^mire

Dubois, Pier^fsg^N

Dupr6, Evariste^

'Ech6t6, Gustavd

H anagriff/i^s;^.

Labit, Daciss6-,

Hillier, James, l^e^u^^ to ranks

1^ to ranks
%§^ 30, '62.

Marcel, Emile.
Naquin, Hypolite.
Naquin, Chas.
Pitre, Alfred.
Pitre, Joseph.
Prevost, Joseph
Sanders, John.
Sice, Michael.
Us6, Leo.
Watkins, William

RESIGNATIONS AN^ ^Bm^^IONS.

Captain C. O. De La tfo^say^, resigned about
October, 1862.

I St Lieutenant Felix Grtmay Winder, elected ist
Lieutenant about July, 1862, and promoted to
Captaincy on resignation of Captain De La
Houssaye.

2d Lieutenant Charles Tennent, resigned about Aug-
ust 1 1, 1862.

Junior 2d Lieutenant Richard C. West, promoted to
I St Lieutenant on resignation of 2d Lieutenant
Tennent, and to rank of Captain on death of
Captain Winder killed in battle May 19, 1863.

Sergeant Ernest Bonvillain promoted to 2d Lieuten-

228 TWENTY-SIXTH LOUISIANA INFANTRY.

ancy on resignation of 2d Lieutenant Tennent,
and to ist Lieutenancy on death of Captain
Winder.

COMPANY K. ,

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Captain Felix Grundy Winder, Killed May 19, '63.
Private Labit, Dacis, Wounded May 19,

1863.
Dubois J. Pierre, Leg broken May

29, 1863.
" Carroll, James, Wounded June 23,

1863.

DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Gnart, Louis, Died May 31, '62.

" Enol, Died November

18, 1862.

(The two names above are from the records of the
Sexton of Vicksburg Cemetery.)

THE FOLLOWING ROLLS WERE OMITTED IN
THEIR PROPER PLACE.

Company B.
DEATHS IN THE SERVICE.

Private Bourgeois,

Duval, Felix,

" Daisy, J. Pemberton,

2d Corp. A. Burton Daisy,

Private Fitzgerald, Jasper,

Green, Winfield,
Giroir, J.

Heaton. J.
Holliday,

Hartman, James,

Nope, Felix,

Stansbury, Andrew,

Swearingen, Lem. C.

McCracken, Frank,

Died at Camp Moore

about May i, 1862.
Died at Camp Hall

about Aug. 1862.
Died at Vicksburg.
Died at Camp Hall

about Aug., 1862
Died in hospital at

Jackson, Miss.
Died at Camp Hall

about Aug. 18-62.
Died in hospital at

Vicksburg.

Died at Camp Hall

about Aug. 1862.
Died at Camp Hall

about Aug. 1862.
Died near Vicksburg

Nov. 21, 1862.
Died in Vicksburg

June 14, 1862.
Died in hospital at

Miss. Springs.
Died in Vicksburg

June 12, 1862.

DISCHARGES FOR DISABILITY UNDER SURGEON S
CERTIFICATE.

Private Cocke, Bowman
Salles, A.

REMARKS.

Discharged Oct. 5,

1862.
Discharged Oct. 5,

1862.
Stiner, Christian, Discharged at Vicks-

bure.

o

CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.
RANK. NAMES. REMARKS.

Private Sanders, Austin, Killed Dec. 28, 1862.

CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.

Private Anslum, William, Wounded May 21,

1863.
Mason, Thomas,

" Fayette, Martin,

Evans, J.,
Johnson, James,
Jr. Lieut. Delmas Dubois,

Private Boudreau, Victor,
Bourg, M.,

Wounded and died

on a transport
, after surrender.
Woundedinthe head

June 5, 1863.
Killed June 11, 1863.
Killed June 16, 1863.
Wounded and foot

amputated June

27, 1863.
Wounded.
Head shot off.

DESERTIONS.

RANK. NAMES. REMAKKS.

Private Pratt, John, Deserted at Camp

Lagarde in fall of
1862.

11 1'MLil