, 1863-04-08


NEANLAKE PROVIDENCE, aarc.1 u, :s;3
The Porter.6herman-Stccle Bayou c7pcdi-
;ion has returned, tie new routc into the Sun
Io"er ha7ing been voted i magnificent fail
urc. TEc affair, a farce ut first, came near b:-
coming . tragedy.
Several weeks ago, Col. B;sscl Of the Eugi-
Ecer regiment, who Las discovered and tx
Pc1itEentcd upon more he" routes than all the
olher officers combined, OIL one Of his trips
tnlcrcd Stccle's Bayou, and prospcctcd fur
enough to Salty himself Of It's practicabiliy.
Commodore Porter desired to e1aminc tlc
route for himself, and with q couple Of mus
quitces he entered The Bayou, and prosrected
as far as Black Bayou, below the junction Of
Stecle's Bayou and Deer creek. Black Bayou
is q narroW, miserable stream, with scarcely
water enough to ht't the steamers, aal not
wide enough to turn In. When about half
way to the sunaouer, tho cncuy, 800 strong,
got after hin. They feled large number Of
trees standing On the bank, aud put Il period
to his further progress. He attempted to re-
turn, but found tEat They were behind him as
well. 4 thousand negroes were engaged in
filling trees, 60 that for time his ca1,turc
seemed inevitable. at this juncture the cac-
Lily APPEARED in force and brisk engagement
ensucd between tEcir slarpshooters "..l the
mosquitoes. This has the heavy firing m.,t.
toned in previous letter as being heard ut
Providence. The enemy were kept Ut bay, a;,d
the guhboats were hcmn)ed in With n, ur5a-
ptct uf escape unless rtnforccEnents from ln,.
low should arrive. As soon as C,m. po7lcr
discovered tic trap Into which Il: l:.d f:.;ca,
1T , tGII ~ RI
who ut once sent Gen. Sherman with several
brg:tes to lis relief Gen. Si.rnan made
t:cv'icIt lime, and came upon the vucaly's
1tar quite unexpectedly. lie Immediately
C:jg:Etd Them, ard aftcra brisk little 11s.t.
put ihcM to flight, 1le captured i Thousand
nE1ccs " ere Sci 1T woEk clcauing out ne
Instructions III the Bayou, and Conmotiorr
Pocier "as sent On his way down S.crlc's
Ba.cu rejoicing. The so!.liers with their
prisoners followed shorty af.cr, aud by this
time have doubtless joinrd their comrades
before Ficksburg. This information w.ls DE-
lived i:tnl tie dispatch bo::t which Landed nt
tie landing in Stccle's Bayou opposite the
corduroy loati acr''ss Eagle Bend, aud have
70 doubt it is substantially cprrcct.
Tit gu!boat t.li!licothc pissed this post
slcu' cayl.ght tbs morning, wlyi,v. judge
the f:zeo las. Expedition has been definitely
abandoned. II tLis is SO, thc.e is but one
1EoTe change to cxrrcise that wonderful
"sirategy" for which The campaign las 50 FIR
!. CD distinguished. 1rtfcr To the Lah.: Prov
iGencc ard Bayou Macon route to He'd River.
i: n ret IN Ike secret Of the AUTHORITIES, and
eal':ot say "l:at will ba 1oae III his direction
II appears TO nc :he nlnst feasible. There
A't En; three Ways II Nl!cl, Ficknbu:g ca; BIZ
::Aei'. First. ~ direct IL =aa!t in finnt. Second
by Il regular ltlit,Ify Investment III TIL: rear
and last, by military occupation Of the cou,1
tty between tue 31isslEs,ipl'i aud Rcd River.
fEc tiEs; wolG 1c's1;rc the sacrifice Of 1,any
lives, and niig4t rot be Successful. The sec
ord would require the return If tnn army t,
Memphis, anu the rsakiny of that the blSc If
oi tr ;i"ts, advancing upon Jacks,,l, by WAY
OF Grenada and the Mississippi Central Il Ill
road. THIS would require but little loss Of
lsf, end wonld, doubtless, even1ua,u in the
fall Of Eickshur5 without q Ggllt. Tho latter,
the military ttcNla'ion Of the Red Ri;er
country, could he brought ;:bout w;t:luu. re-.
tEcnt-wh!cl. in tie lHcscnt temper oi the
North, would nut fail of disastrous results.
Once let ns occupy anl firmly hold that por.
'ion of Louisiana bordering on the Ouchit,
and Ted 1iiyt r., and both SicEsbusg and Port
]!rt:s"n must be abandoned. Oncc in Red
River, Alexandria, shreveport, af4,ksviic
ard al ilnro ta1't points fall into cur ,.atE,
fa'chrE could he occupied and fortified, aad
tc made the base Of operations iu the itlteri-
or. When the Federal army had established
Themselves firmly there, it would not },ay t.,
4.tiu illu l[l iuESHM, nitu tic
c"letcd fruit would dlor luto our hands fal!y
lirc.
The whole campaign las so far bcca most
c1ltninaliy conducted. l. WAS worse than 4
flint--: hiunder, from tl:c start. TIE s:1:,u;I
r.rsr have Il, fl Memphis ut I'LL, except by
land, by way Of Grenada. We could tarn
hnyc taken that city easily. It Was expected,
aid, because expected, most loosely held by
our rtnttpits. There were no fortiflcatiuns vi
acct'unt there, and once on the banks Of the
lalltpuslla vi bad I'LL advantage which three.
months campaigning on the Mississippi aud
it: tributaries has 1aiird to give lis.
TEtre is !: rnmos that General Rsnsom's
tisIon up the river, Is in trouble. L have
ltatns nuthi:E positive Of the mattc7 and
f"rtcaT to give tho Eumor. Rtnsom has g1th-
cred Is, ,ttO bales Vi cotton, which has been DE-
cart col.tiacate. 1t would be in interesting
study to calculate how much OF tie proceeds
ofthis cotton will lind lis Way into tic Treas
urs. Bon.