Natchitoches union. [volume] ([Natchitoches, La.]) 1859-1864, 1862-11-13
The Fight on the LafOurcs,e

i
n0rs, eCt, put IN circulation concerr
: ng the skirmish that took place o.
. Bayou Lafourehe. We may we'll an,
! truly remark that the reliable man
q the respectable man, the trustworth,
/ man, the dignified man, the Croake
! Club, and the Yankee squad have al
Y been ut work to magnify into intcns,
Ii rror, th" fight alluded to. Painful RI
b In"fs calculated to clnse weeping ant
monrnlng to our whole communi y wer,
manufactured and retailed with seem
ing relish 'y most Of the authors, un
mindful OF The feelings of wives, moth
ors, fathers and parents whose sons
were suppos d to be in the skirmish.
| The Franklin Banner of the 1st has
come to hand, and below will he found
acorrect and plain statement of the
whole ai1air--it will be seen that the
Regiments to which our two companies
are attached were not in the skirmisb:
Y Last Saturday seven transports, ac-
companied by four gunboats, landed
at Donadsonvlle, WeitseI's brigade
Of Yankee soldiers supposed to be
$500 men, including two batteries of
artillery General Mouton the same
day brought his forces up PAN
courtvile, above NapoIeonvlle, where
he mado stand and prepared to meet
the enemy, who were at the time six
miles above him. He afterwards fell
back to AlbemarIe Hero the fight
co'nmencod on NJ .nday morning about
s o'clock. At this period the Confeder-
rate forces occupied both sides of the
Bayou. Smms and Raulsen's batter.
les, and the skeleton eighteenth and
Crescent regiments, comprising in all
less thana thousand men, occupying
the north side Of the Bayou, and most
OF the infantry the south side.
1t appeals that the Yankees had
provided means to CT ,ss the Bayou at
any point aud time, they chose to do
SO, aud in this they had greatly the
advantage OF the Conledcrates. It is
probable they had pontoon bridges for
this purpose. Taking advantage of
this they suddenly threw nearly their
entire force on the north side Of the
Bayou, attacked the batteries ard the
Crescent and the Eighteenth regiments.
Though the Conloierates were great
~ inferior to their enemy in numbers,
they held them at bay for several
hours, and had five hundred resolute
men, come to their relief they would
have driven the Yankees to their gun
bouts. Great credit is due the gallant
band who so nobl y and bravcly stood
their ground against an overwhem-
ing odds Both tile artillery and musk.
etry were handled with great judment
and with the utmost cooInoss. But
the artillery by somo mistake inrcgard
to supplies fell short Of ammunition.
and our gallant ba I'd slowly and in
good order tell back to Thbodaux.
In the meantime tho bulk of our
forces were OH the other side of the
Bayou beyond the reach Of the enemy
utterly unable to afford relief to our
force winch was returning on the north
side These retired ia perfect order
to 'rhlbodaux and our whole. force
made stand between Thibsdaux and
Tcrrubonnc Station.
An order was issued for Col. Wick
to evacuatc Bayou Des Allemandea
with his finely dsCi plined battalion,
and Join the other forces on the La
touruhe in the engagement against the
Yankee invaders. But by some un.
fortunate misunderstanding the train
Of cars failed to bring his force back
in season. for the fight, and on this ac-
count the battle resulted uniaVorably
to the Contederatcs, Had Col. Wick
been brought up in season, or had our
entire force been arrayed against the
Yankees, the heartlcss land pirates
and negro thieves would have been
successfully demolished 1t was al
first reported that our men ran and
showed great cowardioe. We are
happy to be able to contradict this re
port and to state from the best of
that such was not the case
Our men Oh the south side of the Ba ,
you were acxious to fight but had not
IN opportunity to meet the enemy. Had
hey been prepared to cross the bayou
It pleasure the result might have been
lilftrcnt.
The num,er killed on our side is ]
eportcd to De only seventeen. The Z
lnnbcr Of wounded we have not ;
earned. Over Il hundred of our men
we're taken prisoners, but they were .
t once paroIIed. Capt. Rausen and .
ne of his Lieutenants were wounded :,
nd taken prisoners. The loss Of the ,
nemy is not known. Capt. Rausen
q