Reminiscences of two years with the colored troops

v.

itfeKi?:

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

OF EVENTS IN THE

WAR OF THE REBELLION,

BEING PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
No. 7. . SECOND SERIES.

PROVIDENCE :
N. BANGS WILLIAMS & CO.

1880.

Copyrighted by
BANGS WILLIAMS.

1880.

REMINISCENCES

OP

TWO YEARS WITH THE COLORED TROOPS.

BY

J. M. jADDEMABT,

[LATE CAPTAIN FOURTEENTH K. i. HEAVY ARTILLERY, COLORED.]

PROVIDENCE :
N. BANGS WILLIAMS & CO.

1880.

Copyrighted by
BA^TGS WILLIAMS.

1880.

PRINTED BY E. L. FREEMAN & CO.

REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

WITH THE

COLORED TROOPS.

THE circumstances attending the organizing of a
colored regiment in this State are well remembered.
In the summer of 1863, white men were DO longer
eager to enlist for a war the end of which none could
foresee; but nevertheless the war must be prosecuted
with vigor; another draft was impending and the
State's quota must be filled. With difficulty Gover
nor Smith obtained permission to organize a company,
and, as this rapidly filled, then a battalion, and
finally a full regiment of twelve companies of colored
men for heavy artillery duty. In common with many
others I did not at the outset look with particular
favor upon the scheme. But with some hesitation I

€80

6 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

accepted an appointment from the State as a second
lieutenant and reported for duty at Camp Smith, on
the Dexter Training Ground, in this city. After
serving here for some weeks in the fall of 1863, in
the organizing of companies and forwarding them to
Dutch Island, where the regiment was in camp, I
successfully passed an examination before what was
known as " Casey's Board," and after some prelim
inary service with a company of the third battalion,
was assigned to the command of Company H of the
second battalion, with whose fortunes my lot was
cast till the close of our term of service. On the
turtle-backed crown of Dutch Island we remained
amid fierce storms and the howling winds that swept
with keen edge over the waters of the Narragansett,
until the 20th of January, 1864, when, as I was about
to make a visit home, the transport, Daniel Webster,
appeared in the harbor and orders were issued to
prepare for embarking on the following day. At the
time appointed, we were on board, but the sutler's
arrangements were not completed until early the
next morning, when we got up steam and were soon
out of sight of our familiar camp.

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 7

The incidents of the voyage it is not necessary to
recite to any comrade whose chance it was to make
a trip in an army transport, which had long since
seen its better days, and which had been practically
condemned before Uncle Sam found for it such profit
able use. The men packed like sheep in the hold,
the officers, though far better off as to quarters,
yet crowded too much for convenience and com
fort, the inevitable sea-sickness, the scanty rations,
and what was worse, the extreme scarcity of water,
were annoyances but the counterpart of those en
dured by many brave men who preceded and followed
us to the scene of duty. But in the main the weath
er favored us, and on the hurricane deck we spent
the hours off duty, gazing far across the illimitable
waste of waters, as day after day we approached a
warmer clime with its glowing sunshine and glitter
ing waves and the deep blue sky bending down in
unbroken circle around us. The rebel cruisers were
then in the midst of their destructive work and it
was natural, as we caught sight of a distant vessel,
to speculate whether it was a friendly or a hostile
craft. When we were in the latitude of Charleston,

8 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

a steamer appeared in the far distance, then a flash,
a puff of smoke and a loud report notified us that it
was sending us its compliments. It approached
nearer, a boat put out and officers from the gunboat
Connecticut came on board, examined our papers and
soon allowed us to proceed. The weather rapidly
grew warmer and our winter clothing proved very
uncomfortable. The steamer's supply of water was
exhausted and we had to depend on sea- water, dis
tilled by the vessel's boilers, for all uses. The allow
ance of an officer was, I think, a pint a day. Warm
and insipid, its only use, as I remember, was for our
morning ablutions, which were more a matter of form
than of substance. In rounding the coast of Florida
we bumped one evening on a sand bar or coral reef.
I was very unceremoniously tumbled over, and the
game of back- gammon, in which I was engaged with
a brother officer, was of course, ended at once. Rush
ing on deck we found ourselves clear of the obstruc
tion and again on our way. But the breakers, in
plain sight, gave us assurance of the peril we had so
narrowly escaped.

In the early morning of February second we

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 9

crossed the bar and noted well that line stretch
ing far to the right and left of us, drawn with al
most mathematical exactness, Which marked the
demarcation between the clear waters of the Gulf
and the turbid waters of the Mississippi. In go
ing up the river the buckets were constantly drop
ped into the muddy stream, and their contents,
when allowed to stand for a few minutes, would soon
furnish an abundance of that luxury we all craved
so much, — clear water, cooled by the ice and snows
of the far north. Reaching the inhabited portions of
the river, we saw the planters busy with their spring
work, and though the air was chilled with the icy
breath of northern climes, the orange trees in blos
som and the green shrubbery on the shores, gave in
dication of the semi-tropical climate we had reach
ed. Arriving at New Orleans in due season, our
senior captain reported for orders. I must not pause
to speak of the strange scenes which greeted our
eyes in this, the most cosmopolitan city of our land.
A delay here of two or three days proved almost as
demoralizing as a campaign, and I, for one, was glad
when the orders came to move. For reasons that af-

10 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

terwards transpired, we dropped down the stream
some fifteen miles to a point called English Turn. It
derived its name, as I remember the tradition, from
the fact that as the commander of some English ves
sel was slowly making his way up what was then an
unknown and perhaps unexplored body of water, he
was met by some French explorer, coming from the
opposite direction, who gave him to understand that
all the country he had seen in coming up the river,
was, by prior discovery, the rightful possession of
the French monarch. Though no Frenchman had
perhaps seen it, yet with his facile tongue he worked
persuasion in the mind of the bluff Englishman, who
at this point, turned about and put out to sea — hence
its name, English Turn. We found here relics of
very early times in the form of an old earthwork,
and an angle of a brick wall, built, when, and wheth
er by French or Spaniard, none could tell. Here we
soon selected a site and laid out our camp. The
time rapidly passed in the busy occupations which
each day brought, in little excursions into the sur
rounding country, in conversations with the colored
people whose sad memories of the old slavery days

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 11

recalled so vividly the experiences of Uncle Tom
and bis associates in Mrs. Stowe's famous tale. Nor
were the days unvaried by plenty of fun. Music,
vocal and instrumental, we had in abundance. The
mimic talents of our men, led to the performance of
a variety of entertainments, and in their happy-go-
easy dispositions, their troubles set very lightly on
them. Their extravagancies of expression were by
no means an unremarkable feature. When I at first
heard their threats to each other, couched sometimes
in the most diabolical language, I had deemed it my
duty at once to rush into the company street and
prevent what, among white men, I would suppose to
be the prelude to a bloody fight. u Oh, Captain,"
would be the explanation, " we'se only a foolin'."

While here, we had a little flurry of snow, which
reminded us of what we had left in abundance be
hind, but which was a startling novelty to the na
tives, few, if any, of whom, had ever seen anything
like it before. Their explanation was that the Yan
kees had brought it with them. In the course of a
week or two, an assistant Inspector- General put in
an appearance and gave us a pretty thorough over-

12 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

hauling: but what astonished him the most, was to
find us in so healthy a condition ; for it appeared
that because of a few cases of measles on board
ship, we had been represented as being in very bad
shape, and it was for sanitary reasons that we were
sent to English Turn.

We now began to hope for some change. The
place was decidedly unhealthy. Our men were
dropping off rapidly from a species of putrid sore
throat which was very prevalent. The soil was so
full of moisture that we had to use the levee for a
burial ground. Elsewhere a grave dug two feet deep
would rapidly fill with water, and to cover a coffin
decently, it was necessary that two men should stand
on it, while the extemporized sextons completed
their task.

Washington's birthday was duly celebrated, and
foot-ball, wheel-barrow and sack races, among other
sports, furnished fun for the whole camp. Even the
inevitable greased pig was provided, but he was so
greasy that he got over the lines into the swamps
and — freedom.

Our battalion commander, Major Shaw, arrived on

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 13

the third of March, and on the following day, it was
my good fortune to witness, in New Orleans, the in
auguration of Gov. Hahn, who, by some form of elec
tion, had been chosen the chief executive. The un
clouded sky, the rich foliage and the beautiful at
mosphere, combined to make a glorious day, and the
spectacular arrangements were in keeping. The
place was Lafayette Square. Flags of all nations
waved in the breeze. In seats, arranged tier above
tier, were five thousand school children of the city,
dressed in white with ribbons and sashes of the na
tional colors, while many thousands of the citizens
were gathered as spectators. Patriotic songs were
sung by the little folks; five hundred musicians filled
the air with sweet sounds, and in the anvil chorus
which was sung, fifty sons of Vulcan kept time on as
many veritable anvils ; while some half dozen bat
teries of artillery came in heavy on the choruses.
These were fired simultaneously by an electrical ar
rangement ; and the whole was under charge of P.
S. Gilmore, a name not now unknown to fame in
grand musical combinations. An elaborate address

14 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

by General Banks, then commanding the department,
was an interesting feature of the occasion.

Our life at English Turn, was varied by little of
special interest. Of course there was no enemy at
hand except those foes which a hot climate breeds
so rapidly. A mysterious order came one day, to
detail one hundred men " to join the expedition,"

and we were notified that a steamer would call for

/

them on the morrow. Details of picked men were
selected from each company. Five days7 rations and
forty rounds of ammunition, were dealt out to each,
and in light marching order they waited several
days for the steamer to appear. It was in vain,
however, and we reluctantly gave up the prospect of
some little excitement. We came to the conclusion
that somebody at headquarters had forgotten to
countermand the order, or, like Mr. Toots, had
deemed it of no consequence.

We discussed the varying prospects of change,
sometimes coming as a rumor that we should be or
dered to Texas, where was the first battalion of our
regiment ; sometimes that we should join the Red
River expedition, which was then forming, or the ex-

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 15

pedition against Mobile which was in contemplation.
But after six weeks delay at English Turn, we re
ceived orders to move up the river to Plaquemine, a
point some one hundred and twenty miles above New
Orleans, a few miles below and on the opposite bank
from Baton Rouge. This town was at the entrance of
the Bayou Plaquemine, of which Longfellow makes
mention in the story of Evangeline's search for her
lover ; a description which gives so good an idea of
the bayous by which Louisiana is intersected, that I
quote it in this connection.

" They * * * entering the Bayou of Plaquemine,
Soon were lost in a maze of sluggish and devious waters,
Which, like a network of steel, extended in every direction.
Over their heads the towering and tenebrous boughs of the

cypress

Waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient cathedrals.
Deathlike the silence seemed, and unbroken save by the herons
Home to their roosts in the cedar trees returning at sunset,
Or by the owl, as he greeted the moon with demoniac laughter."

Here we relieved the Forty-Second Ohio, and went
into camp. As we marched through the streets of
the village to the site of our camp, the scowling
looks of the white spectators, sufficiently indicated

16 REMINISCENCES OP TWO YEARS

their sentiments and especially their wrath at being
guarded by " niggers."

We found the state of affairs very different from
the tranquil neighborhood we had just left. The
surrounding country was infested with guerilla
bands, and in the jail were a number of rebel pris
oners who had been captured in recent raids. The
latter received from the town's people very gratify
ing evidences of sympathy, and in their comparative
ly comfortable quarters and abundant supplies, af
forded a vivid contrast to the treatment received by
our boys at Libby and Andersonville. Intimations
were quite freely expressed by the prisoners, that
it would soon be their turn to guard us, and we were
cautioned by friends and from headquarters, to be on
the alert against a sudden attack.

In the evening of the day after our arrival, we
were startled by a steamer approaching the landing,
all ablaze from stem to stern. The entire heavens
seemed illuminated, and it was light enough to read
with perfect distinctness. The vessel was loaded
with some three thousand bales of cotton, and in
landing at a point above us, the sparks from the

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS, 17

torch — a wire basket filled with pine knots, and used
after dark to light the loading and unloading of the
steamer, — had set the cotton afire. The motion of
the boat and the perfect draft from her construction,
peculiar to nearly all the river craft, of course spread
the fire with great rapidity, and only time sufficient
to rescue the passengers was permitted. The ves
sel had a large freight of live stock, some of which
escaped to the shore, but most of them perished in
the flames, filling the air with their piteous cries.
Our particular attention was devoted to our maga
zine, which was an ordinary store-house and exposed
to some danger. Its contents we could ill afford to
lose, and their explosion would have made a sensa
tion much more lively than even the destruction of
the steamer.

At Plaquemine an earth work had been begun by
our predecessors. It had four bastions, one of which
was assigned to each of our companies. The work
was in a very incomplete condition, and except for
the protection its parapets afforded, would have been
of little service. In the threatening aspect of af
fairs, it became necessary at once to strengthen our

18 REMINISCENCES OP TWO YEARS

defences, and under the direction of an engineer,
details of men were set to work, and rapid progress
was made.

In April parties of guerillas and rebel cavalry be
gan to operate actively in our neighborhood. At In
dian village, a few miles distant, they burned a large
quantity of cotton which had been sent in by plant
ers or collected by speculators and was awaiting
transportation. About the same time mysterious
signals attracted our attention, and soon afterwards,
we learned that a body of two hundred cavalry had
crossed the Grand River for the purpose of attack
ing us. The men slept on their arms, but no attack
was made. A week or two afterwards, 1 had occa
sion to visit New Orleans on business, and while
there, heard a report that Plaquemine was " gobbled
up " by the rebs. I was very much relieved on my
return to find everything in statu quo. A raid
shortly afterwards on Bayou Goula, a trading sta
tion a few miles below us, resulted in the destruc
tion of considerable property, but no captures of
prisoners.

On the twenty-fifth of May the gunboat 54 was

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 19

sent to cruise on the river in our neighborhood,
and it was a welcome reinforcement to our meagre
numbers. On the twenty-eighth of May the cavalry
of General Banks' army, on their retreat from the
Red River campaign, passed through our post, re
maining a short time in our vicinity. Among them
was a. portion of our Third Rhode Island cavalry, and
no hospitality ever gave greater mutual pleasure
than that which it happened to be in our power then
to grant. The record of that expedition has been
made up, but there was a refreshing vigor of opinion
expressed by our comrades on the conduct of the
campaign. It seemed very lonesome when they left
us with their commander, — a true Rhode Island son,
General Richard Arnold.

Orders came within a day or two from Baton
Rouge, announcing a change of commanders of the
district, and exhorting us to get everything into
fighting trim. It will be remembered that flushed
with victory the rebels followed close on the heels of
our retreating army, and were only stopped by the
lack of transportation to cross the swift and deep
Atchafalaya. Of course we presumed that they

20 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

would make one of their raids down the coast and
attack our post, and that of Donaldsonville, some
twenty-five miles below us, which constituted the
principal defences on the river above New Orleans.
With the exception, however, of capturing some of
our cavalry pickets, we had no trouble, though fre
quent alarms kept us on the qui vive. The beating
of the long roll was almost a nightly occurrence; but
this I should not mention to soldiers, except to refer
to an instance that now occurs to me in illustration
of the rapidity of the mind's movements, at times.
About the time of the raids on our northern frontier,
I was dreaming one night, that we were ordered
home to proceed at once to some point on the bor
der. All the movements incident to our departure
and to our arrival at Providence, were before me.
As we were halting in Exchange Place, with arms
stacked and men at ease, I obtained permission to go
home for a few minutes to see my family, to whom
our arrival was unknown, when the roll sounded and
we were ordered to fall in at once to take the train.
Of course my momentary disappointment was great,
but awaking at once, I heard the drums beating in

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 21

reality, and jumping into my outer clothing and
equipments in a hurry, was shortly at the head of my
company. The first beat of the drum had probably
started the long train of the incidents of my dream.
In the midst of these rumors of attack, in the early
morning of August sixth we. were visited by a body
of mounted men. They dashed upon our pickets
who made a bold stand for a short time, and then
scattered for shelter. The rebels had caught sight of
the officer, Lieutenant Aldrich, who was in command,
and while a part of them made diligent search for
him, the remainder dashed into the town, and break
ing up into parties raided through the various streets,
firing somewhat indiscriminately, but more particu
larly at what contrabands they saw. The companies
gathered in their respective bastions in the fort and
we expected a lively brush. As I stood on the par
apet and got a glimpse of a portion of the enemy, I
ached to let fly a shell, but the danger to innocent
parties was too great to warrant it just then. I re
member how amused I was at the appearance of the
gallant commander of our post, as with his coat and
equipments in one hand, and holding up his nether

22 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

garments in the other, he was " double-quicking "
from his quarters in the town, to a place of security
in the fort. After that he selected quarters nearer us.
The prospect of being " gobbled up " was not partic
ularly gratifying, especially to a "nigger" officer,
who had Fort Pillow . memories in mind. As the
rebels did not appear to be corning to us, a strong
detachment under command of Adjutant Barney, was
sent out to exchange compliments with them. They
gave us no opportunity for this but soon retired,
taking with them three of our pickets and one caval
ry vidette, whom they had captured. We under
stood, the next day, that our men were shot in cold
blood. Lieutenant Aldrich and the men with him,
escaped through the friendly protection of an osage
orange grove. Others swam the bayou and thus es
caped certain death if captured. 1 think our casual
ties were, besides those taken prisoners, one man
killed and a few wounded. Several of the rebels
were said to be killed or wounded. One of the lat
ter, as I remember, fell into our hands and was taken
into our hospital where he received the same treat
ment as our own men. Subsequently we learned

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 23

that the raiders were Texans who boastfully declared
that they asked no quarter and gave none. In con
sequence of the barbarous treatment of our men who
were captured, some correspondence passed between
General Banks and the rebel commander, but I am
not aware that it amounted to anything.

On the eighteenth a scouting party of our cavalry
was captured at Grand River and others in our nearer
vicinity. We had two companies of the Thirty-first
Massachusetts mounted infantry, who were used for
for vidette duty. Being more exposed than our own
pickets they suffered occasionally from guerilla raids.
One party of them, were surprised, probably in con
sequence of a little carelessness, and were taken
prisoners with the exception of one man who was
killed. He had been a prisoner once before and
fought to the last, rather than again be captured.
On some of these occasions the attacking parties
were dressed in our own uniform.

All through the country back of us, a constant and
merciless conscription was going on, sweeping in all
able-bodied men between fifteen and sixty years of

24 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

age. Of course many refugees and occasional- desert
ers came within our lines.

During the fall of 1864 we received from time to
time re-inforcements of several companies of colored
engineer troops, who continued the work on the fort
which we had begun. Though not comparing with
the arduou^ness of field service, our duties were by
no means slight. It must be remembered that we
were in a semi-tropical country, where to an unaccli-
mated person the climate was itself almost a deadly
foe. The extreme heat produced a lethargy that was
depressing in the extreme. In a few days of dry
weather, the surface of the ground would be baked like
a brick. Then would come most violent storms, con
verting the soil into a quagmire and covering it with
water like a lake. At this time, there was no small
danger of falling into the deep ditches with which
the fields were intersected, for drainage. In this way
I lost one man of my company. Of course it will be
understood how productive of disease would be the
malaria from the soil and the adjacent swamps. Our
men with all their buoyancy of disposition, had not
the resolute will of white men, when attacked by

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 25

sickness, and would succumb with fatal rapidity. As
captain of a company, my most arduous duty, when
not on special duty or detached service, was as field
officer of the day. This necessitated the visiting oc
casionally during the day arid night, our videttes and
picket posts which were stationed on the roads into
the country, and at intersecting points in the fields ;
and also crossing in a skiff the Mississippi river, to
visit the troops stationed to guard a telegraph sta
tion on the other side. This station was in the vi
cinity of a famous duelling ground, — a path not far
from the river bank, — to which in former days the
young bloods of the town and vicinity would resort to
repair their wounded honor, according to the rules of
the code. As we were too short of horses always to
furnish a mounted orderly, the officer of the day
would at night, have to make his rounds alone.
There was a picturesqueness in those rides in the
solemn hours of the night, a portion of the way over
deserted plantations where the weeds would be as
high as one's head on horseback, the path at times
fringing the borders of swamps where the moss hung
in festoons from the stately cypress trees, past lonely

26 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

negro cabins, where sometimes I heard the inmates
in the midnight hours, singing some plaintive melo
dy in tones the most subdued.

In addition to our routine work, our officers were
largely detailed for staff, court-martial and other du
ties. The frequent attempts at smuggling contra
band goods through our lines, also necessitated mili
tary commissions for the trial of these as well as va
rious other civil offences, — on which duty some of us
were always engaged. As a consequence, we were
always short-handed, and tours of duty came as often
as was agreeable. The fall months of 1864 were
marked by occasional raids in our vicinity, with or
ders, at times, to sleep on our arms. The capture of
a large supply of revolvers, which were surrepti
tiously landed near us, indicated the necessity of
strictly guarding the lines, and at the same time, fur
nish those of us who needed them, an ample supply
of that weapon.

During this period, we organized schools for the
instruction of our men. While some of them were
comparatively well educated and were very service
able in various kinds of clerical work, a large propor-

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 27

tion of them were destitute of the most rudimentary
knowledge. Through the Christian Commission, of
which Ex-Mayor J. V. C. Smith, of Boston, was in
our department the efficient agent, we were amply
supplied with various kinds of books and utensils,
embracing primers, arithmetics, slates and pencils,
besides a liberal allowance of reading matter. Our
men were eager recipients of these and made good
use of them. We tried to stimulate their pride in
every way possible, and the great majority of them
learned to sign their names to our rolls instead of
making their mark. I had some pride in having my
rolls signed by the men themselves, but I remember
one of my men, however, whom I ineffectually or
dered to do this. He admitted to me that he could
write, but in consequence of some trouble he had in
former years, got into by the use of the pen, he had
made a vow never to write again, or something to
that effect. My impression is that it was some kind
of forgery he was engaged in. It is possible he may
have been an unfortunate indorser ; if so, his deter
mination would not seem so strange.

At the same time, we were trying to make a per-

28 REMINISCENCES OP TWO YEARS

manent improvement in the way above indicated, we
were troubled by difficulties, which were incident to
army life at all times. Liquor, of course, would
make trouble for us, and 1 think I never knew of any
stimulant more demoralizing, in its way, than Louis
iana rum. This fiery fluid would arouse all the
furies in a man when it had him under its control.
Gambling was another vice against which we labored
with more or less success. Sometimes, after taps, I
would make a raid on some of the men who were
having a quiet little game. When winter came, we
had replaced our worn out tents with shanties built
from the materials of confiscated houses. These
would be darkened, and in voices hushed to the low
est whisper, the men would indulge in their favorite
pastime. On one occasion, I remember that sudden
ly forcing the door open, I dropped, most unexpect
edly to them, on a small party of gamblers. As I
scooped in the cards and the stakes, one of them re
marked that it was no use to play against the Cap
tain, for he got high, low, jack and the game.

In the preparations that were making against Mo
bile in the winter of 1864-5, we anticipated an op-

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 29

portunity to change our comparatively inactive life.
But General Sherman (T. W.) said he could not
spare us from the important post where we were sta
tioned, and it was with regret that we were deprived
of a share in that brilliant affair which has been so
well described in a former paper. During this win
ter, the rebel forces in Western Louisiana, under
command of General Kirby Smith, were compara
tively inactive, though raiding parties gave us occa
sional trouble. Towards spring they began to move,
and attacks on parties of Union cavalry were not in
frequent. Unpleasant rumors of the capture of the
Third Rhode Island Cavalry reached us, but proved
to be unfounded, except that several couriers were
taken. Some rebel prisoners were captured by the
scouts, who were encamped near us, but our freedom
from attack, was probably largely due to the inun
dated condition of the country. Owing to the neg
lect of the levees, the river at its high stage in the
spring following broke through the embankment
above and overflowed a large tract of country west
of us- A raid contemplated by the rebels, which
would have given us sharp work, and a force which

30 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

would have been large enough to annihilate us, un
less in the meanwhile reinforced, were prevented by
the condition of the intervening country, from giv
ing us trouble.

As an illustration of the disastrous effect of this
overflow, I am tempted to give a brief description of
a trip I made through a portion of the country that
suffered in this way. Before the waters had sub
sided, I was ordered by Brigadier-General R. A.
Cameron, commanding the district of La Fourche, in
which we were located, to report at his headquarters
in Brashear City, for duty on his staff. Taking a
steamer to New Orleans and then the train at Al
giers, which is opposite New Orleans, I proceeded
very comfortably to a place called Terrebonne, where
steam travel came to a sudden stop. A hand-car for
a mile or two furnished transportation and then we
found the railroad completely washed away by the
flood above named. The General's quartermaster
and myself secured a boat and with a crew of colored
soldiers, we rowed some twelve miles to a place call
ed Tigerville, on the Alligator bayou. Our route lay
over the bed of the railroad, the track washed to one

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 31

side of the cut, and a stream of water several feet
deep on top of the bed. The road had been built
through what seemed, most of the way, a primeval
wilderness. The rank growth which skirted both
sides of the stream, with no sound to break the si
lence, save the measured stroke of the oars, for even
the birds which occasionally flitted across our path,
were songless, though of brilliant plumage ; the
sight of an occasional moccasin or copperhead snake
coiled on the stump of a tree, and not infrequently
of an alligator sunning himself on a log, were fea
tures of a situation that must be seen to be fully
realized. The few small settlements through which
we passed, were drowned out. Some of the houses
were nearly under water and large quantities of de
bris were afloat on the slowly moving current.
Through the long weary hours of our boat ride, the
sun poured its rays upon us with unmitigated fervor.
Reaching Tigerville, we found an ugly little stern-
wheeler] boat tied up in what had been one of the
thoroughfares of the village, and which the quarter
master at once ordered to take us to Brashear City.
The captain of the craft, incidentally remarked that

32 EEMTNISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

his boiler was in bad shape and might blow up at any
time. The quartermaster was willing, however, to
take the risk, and getting up steam, we were soon on
our way. But with the remark of the captain in my
mind, as I looked at the stagnant bayou with its wa
ters black as ink, and gazed off upon the interminable
swamps on either side, and thought of the monsters
from which it took its name, I concluded that the
extreme bow would be a little the safest place, and
taking passage on an empty water cask I found
there, I lighted my pipe and tried to feel as tran
quil as the circumstances above suggested would
permit. Through the winding bayous, we pursued
our way and sometime after dark, we safely reached
Brashear City, or that portion of it which was visible
above the waste of waters. Speaking of the bayous,
it would be difficult to give a clear conception of
their peculiarities. Equally strange are the people
who inhabit those solitudes. Time would not per
mit me to describe the " Cajans " — corruption of
" Acadians," — descendants of the exiles who early
settled the territory of Louisiana, but who have
been driven from their first places of settlement by

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 33

those more ambitions and unscrupulous. Living in
isolated communities, with their artless and unam
bitious characteristics, their simplicity arid exclu-
siveness, they would furnish material enough for an
elaborate paper.

Many reminiscences occur to me in connection
with my service on General Cameron's staff, but any
attempt to detail them would transgress the proper
limits of a paper. In spite of the surrender of Lee
and Johnston, a show of hostilities was kept up in the
trans-Mississippi department, it being supposed that
Jeff Davis was making his way in that direction to
still retain a semblance of power in a country which
had not felt the severest ravages of the war. Upon
his capture, however, the rebel army in western
Louisiana, rapidly crumbled to pieces, and while the
rank and file were seeking their homes, the officers
were continually coming in to our headquarters, to
make their peace formally with Uncle Sam. Having
occasion to remove our headquarters from Brashear
City, to a place called Thibodaux, probably not more
than fifty miles distant by rail, we were obliged, by
reason of the overflow, to take a steamer and make a

34 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

circuit of some four hundred and fifty miles, going
up the swift flowing and extremely crooked, Atcha-
falaya, much of the way through a very desolate
country, then down the Red River and the Mississip
pi to Algiers, and thence, by rail, to our place of des
tination. On our journey we had the company of
several rebel officers, some of high rank, who availed
themselves of the General's courtesy to reach the
Cresent City. In a few weeks the General was mus
tered out, and soon afterwards, I returned to my
company, which, with the battalion, had in the mean
while, been ordered to Donaldsonville. Among the
duties here assigned to me, was service as Provost
Marshal of the Parish, an office which combined as
varied a responsibility as can well be imagined. In
certain civil cases I had, as judge, jury and execu
tioner of my own decisions, plenty of employment.
With an occasional call to join in matrimonial bonds
sundry pairs of hearts that beat as one, I had much
more frequent cause to settle disputes between
planters and employees, where neither party was
disposed to meet the other halfway. Vexatious and
varied as my employments were, and anxious as I

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 35

might be to do justice, I was liable to be overhauled
by headquarters from misrepresentations made by
angry and disappointed suitors. One event in my
administration of the office, caused quite a sensation
for the day. In the presence of a crowd of whites
and blacks, I heard a case in- which a colored woman,
who had till recently been a slave, was plaintiff and
principal witness, and a white man who was defend
ant, and gave judgment in favor of the former. This
may seem to you a very simple matter, but it was
evidently no ordinary occurrence in that place, and I
presume this was the first occasion in the experience
of many of the spectators, in which the sworn testi
mony of a negro was received as against that of a
white person. I seem now to see the glaring eyes
of one indignant southron as he scowled upon the
proceedings with the intensest malignity. It was
not difficult to guess at his opinion of the changed
order of things, while to the colored people, it was
evident that the year of jubilee had come at last.
Thus with comparatively tranquil incidents, the sum
mer of 1865 passed away. Peace with all its attend
ant blessings, had come. But disease laid its hands

36 REMINISCENCES OF TWO YEARS

heavily on some of us, and death was not an infre
quent visitor to officers as well as men. From one
scourge of that climate, we were fortunately ex
empted. Thanks to the thorough policing, on which
our commanding officers insisted, " Yellow Jack,"
who in former seasons had been master of the situa
tion, gave us no trouble. But many of our number, par
ticularly those of us who, during the summer, were on
court-martial or other duty in New Orleans or its vi
cinity, had some uncomfortable experiences with the
" Break-bone fever," a species of malarial disease,
whose name is sufficiently indicative. The services
of our regiment were sufficiently appreciated to de
lay our muster-out till the second of the following
October. The three battalions were consolidated at
Carrollton, and a few days after we embarked for
home on the good steamer North Star. Some of our
officers who took passage in the ill-fated Atlanta, lost
their lives by the foundering of that vessel. In the
fearful storm, the beginning of which we felt as we
passed the Jersey shore, more than a hundred ves
sels were wrecked on the coast, and among the num
ber was the ' Daniel Webster,' which took us from

WITH THE COLORED TROOPS. 37

Dutch Island to New Orleans: In New York we
made a parade which was witnessed by crowds of
people with apparently hearty demonstrations of fa
vor. On our return home, we received a cordial
greeting from the authorities, and in a few days our
regiment was disbanded at Portsmouth Grove and
ceased to exist except in history.

It had endeavored to do its duty, and by those
who knew it, I believe it had been fully appreciated.
General Banks complimented it in orders, and so
strict a disciplinarian as General T. W. Sherman,
pronounced it a noble regiment, which, from that
source, is no small praise. But though most of its
officers had served in former organizations during the
war, and our lieutenant-colonel was also a veteran of
the Mexican war, and with many of his associates
brought to the discharge of their duties, the advan
tage of enlarged experience, a reputation for courage
and a high degree of skill, it was not given to the
regiment or its several battalions, to participate in
any of those engagements or campaigns, some of
which it has been the pride and pleasure of comrades
here to describe. It was, however, from no hesitation

38 TWO YEARS WITH THE COLORED TROOPS.

or unwillingness of theirs. The call was hopefully ex
pected but disappointedly unheard. Yet, may they
not fairly claim to share in the glory of the result,
and to them may not the words of the poet justly
apply —

" They also serve who only stand and wait."

$*if* rV, /tk fif

ailoi[8 fusforkat loridg of Mode Island
y%) "*[ '*]*' I J*

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

OF EVENTS TN THE

WAR OF THE REBELLION,

•No. 7. SECOXD SERIES.

REMINISCENCES

TWO -YEARS WITH THE COLORED TROOPS,

BY

J . M . A D D E M A N .

RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
TO—* 202 Main Library 11Q6C

LOAN PERIOD 1
HOME USE

2

3

4

5

6

TO DOE DATE.

LOAN PERIODS ARE 1-MONTH. 3-MOKTHS. AND 1-YEAR.
8ENEWALS: CALL (415) 642-3405

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

MAR 201991

SHMT ^H ILL

NOV 1 1 2001

U. C. BERKELE1

«

MAR 0 4 200?

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 1/83 BERKELEY, CA 94720

®$

H^r

UtNtKAL LlbHAHT - U.U. BtHKbLtY

\1\

ViW

STOP?'