The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-09
General Buffers Experience In
New Orleans.

we nave not space 10 give III luil ueHei
al BUTLER's exceedingly interesting testi-
Snor,v before the Committee on the Con-
duct of the War, relating to his manage
ment at New Orleans, but we make room
for fewoextracts. Regarding the preser-
walton of health in New Orleans, General
Butler says:
sAll the drainage Of the city is done by
means of canals, and we cleaned out De-
tween ten and eleven miles of canal, some
of which had not been cleaned for twelve
or fifteen years. The consequence was
that we had comparatively no sickness in
the City of New Orleans. Ihad a regiment
q thousand strong in the city, during the
months Of Of July, and August and it buri-
ed but one manv
Speaking of the rebel army at vicksburg,
and its condition, Butler says:
''villipigue and Breckenridge came down
to Vicksburg with Is, 600 men. There was
an awful mortality in the enemy's ranks
there, and they never had at any time over
5000 men there, fit for duty"
General Butler gives very interesting
account of his Ea
RECRUITING BUSINESS IN LOUISIANA.
/ issued an order that any Confederate
toiler who chose to desert and leave the
rebel army, might come into New Orleans
and register his name. There had come
into New Orleans, up to this time, some
thing over 5000 men, who had been SOL
diers in the Confederate army, and regis
tered themselves as paroled prisoners; SO
that had in New Orleans nearly twice as
many men who had been soldiers in the
Confederate army, as had of Union SOL
diers. had asked for leave, which had
been granted, to recruit my regiments. l
recruited, in Louisiana, all Of my old regi-
lroents up to the full standard, raised two
new white regiments, and four companies
ofcavalry-an of men living in Louisiana.
e., 1>ro~ al of pnf 90
of 42 men of the l4th Maine who were in
line, nearly 200 of them were recruits from
Louisiana. They, of course, were healthy
men, not having suffered the troubles eth
er of Camp Parapet or Vicksburg. or
dered IS month to be paid out Of the pro-
vost fund to the widows and mothers OF
quite q number OF Louisiana soldiers that
were killed under our flag, because knew
it would take a long time to get it from
Washington, and wanted to encourage
others to enlist. The provost fund was
made up Of fines and forfeitures, sales of
confiscated property and twodollars charg-
ed for each pass, &c, asked tor liberty to
raise five thousand native Louisanians, and
raised nearly that number, including re-
. cruits in the old regiments. White recruit
ing began then to fall of, because OF the
high wages beginning to be paid for white
labor on the plantations, in order to save
the sugar crop where the negroes had left.
ments, but they replied that they could not
giveme any, though they wrote that must
hold New Orleans at all hazards. I deter
mined to do that, if for no other reason, be-
cause the rebels had offered reward for
my head, if they could catch me, and it
would have been rather inconvenient to me
to have lost it. White recruiting had come
to an end, and could get no reinforce
from Washington.
81 Upon examining the records found
that Governor Moore, of Louisiana, had
raised regiment of free colored people,
and organized and Differed it; and found
one of his commissions. sent for q col
ored man as an officer of that regiment,
and got some fifteen or sixteen of the Off
GERS together-black and mulatto, light and
dark colored-and could not refuse; but
that the rebels had never trusted them
with arms. They had been drilled in COM
pany drill. I asked them if that organiza-
ton could be resuscitated, provided they
were supplied with arms. They said that
it could. Very we'll, I said, then will re-
suscitate that regiment Of Louisiana mill
tia. I thereupOn issued an order, stating
the precedent furnished by Gov. Moore,
and in q week from that time / had in that
regiment q thousand men, reasonably
drilled and well disciplined; better disci-
nlined than any other regiment had there,
because the blacks had been always taught
to do as they were told. 1t was composed
altogether Of free men; made free under
There was a very large French and Eng
lieh formulation in Louisiana. I ascertained
that neither French nor English law per-
mitted French and English SUBJECTS to
hold slaves in a foreign country. Accord
ing to the French law, any French cltlzer
holding slaves in foreign country forfelts
his citizenship. According to the British
law. anv Englishman holding slaves in 6
foreign country forfeits .lOO.
/ thereupon issued an order that every
narson should register himself; the loyal q
foyal; French subjects as French sup]ects
English subjects as English subjects, Nc.
,,nder their own hands, so that there coult
no no mistake in the books of the Proves
Marshal. That was accordingly done.
I then said to those who claimed to b'
French and English subjects: ACCORDING
to the law. Of the country to which yo'
claim. by this register, to owe allegiance
ali the negroes claimed by you as slave
are free. and being free, may enlist =
manv Of them as l please" And accord
;ngjy enlisted one regiment and part o
anofher from men in that condition. w
had a great many difficulties about it. Blu
the English consul came fairly up to TN
mark. and decided that the negroes claim
ed as slaves by those VINO had reglstere
themselves as British subjects were all iree
So that never enlisted slave. indeed,
aas general order that no slave should b
enlisted.
Tn the meantime. I was informed, frof
= washington. that ii would be very desira
b,e to have congressional elections held 4
that mart of Louisiana which was unde
cur control. The difficulty about that wa
that New Orleans was divided INTO wv
election districts. The lower district wa