, 1864-05-04
4l)1faQe Mr1b11ne.
KAT1GE4 s1PE2Es A'TRUNe ON RED
EsETEIs.

WEDNESDAY. MAY 1861.
NAvGf4 vPEEs !A'rRu%e on RED
EsETExs.
Admiral po@tcTss Official Report,
MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, FLAc-Su1r Ca1caxrl
oFF eHARD EcoEE, La. April1it 1S5l.
s1A: hid the honor Of reporting to you
the movements Of the squadron as far as Al
exandria, and the Intentions of Gen. Bauts
to move On at once to Shreveport Hedeem-
cd the cooperation Of the gunb0ats 50 essen
t'al to success, that had to run soma risks,
and mnde unusaal exeItioDs to get them over
thc 1ul1e. The army started on tho appointed
day. and pushed up the gunbolts to cover
them III there should be need as last as they
Eot over the flls- The VESSELS ufrived At
Gra.d Ecore without accident, and had good
water, the riyer apparently about to reacn its
usual St re at this SEASON.
The Cricket Eastport, Mound City, Chilli
cothe, Carondolet, Pittsburgh, Ozlrk, Neo~
sho, Usage, Lexington, Fort Hindman and
Louisville were the vessels sent up, and
feet of thirty transports followed them.
Grand Ecore was occupied By our forces
without opposi:ion-the works deserted
Lieut. Commander Phelps captured one g.
FOUNDER on the river below Grand Ecorc,
which he destroyed, making twenty-five
guns captured from the enemy since we en-
Natchitochts, near Grand Ecore, when kgot
up here. and were preparing for au immedi-
afc march AS the river was rising yery
slowly, would not risk the larserTessels BY
taking them higher up, bnt started On the 7th
OF April for Shreveport with the Cricket,
Fort. Hindman, Lexington, Usage, Neosho
and ChillIcothe, with the hope Of getting the
Teet OF the vessels along when the usual rise
came Twenty transports were sent along
filled with army stores, aud with portion
Of Gen. A. j. Smiths Division on board It
was intended that the fleet should reach
Springfield Landing on the third day, and
then communicate with the army, portion
Of Which expected to be st Springfield ut that
time
found the difficulties of navigation very
great, but we reached the point speci-
lied within an hour Of the time appointed
At this point we were brought to a Stop; the
enemy hid sunk very large steamer, the
New Falls City, right across the river, her
ends resting On each bank, and her hull bro
ken In the middle, resting on the bottom.
This H'as serious obstruction, but went to
work to remove it. Before commenced op-
eratlons, however, q courier came In from
Gen. Banks bringing the unpleasant and most
unexpected newa TINT tour army had met
with q REVERSE and was falling back to
Pleasant Hill, some sixty miles in our rear.
Orders came to Gen. Kirby Smith to return
to Grand Ecore with the transports and the
troops he had With him. Here was an end to
onr expedition for the present, and we re-
luctantly turned back, after having nearly
reached the object we were aiming at
The information We received was Of very
unsatisfactory kind, and VIC did not know
really what was the exact state of affairs, no
letters having been sent by post or courier.
It would be yery difficult to describe the
return passage of Tie fleet through this mar
| row and suaggy river. As long as our army
could advance triumphantly it Was not so
lad. but We had every reason to suppose
| that our return would be interrupted in
every way aud at every point by the eneny's
| land forces, and we were not disappointed.
They commenced on us from the high banks
| Of place called Coushatta, and Kept up q
fire Of mus&etIy whenever IN opportunity
| was offered them. By proper distribution
! Of the guuboats, had no trouble in driving
/ them away, though from the high banks they
| could fire on our decks almost With i'm cunity.
| As ne proceeded down the river thtyiacreased
| In puMbers, and as we only made thirty
miles day, they could cross from point to
| point nfl be ready to meet us on our arrival
.e'oW. On the left bank Of the river, 3 man
| and fuar or five pieces Of artillery, was up.
| pointed to follow us down and annoy 11s. It
was very fortunate for us that this person and
bis command were lately severely handled By
a erEboat, few WeeEs ago, which made
them careful abont coming within range.
l III kHE EsEulHE u luC 1-lN luElhuL VIC HEfE
attacked from the right bank Of the r1Ter by
d detachment Of men Of quite another charac-
ter. They were part OF the army which
two or three days previous had gained SUCCESS
| over our army, and flushed with victory, or
under the e1cit: mcnt Of liquor, they appear
1essly opened lire on the Usage. Ltent. Com
mander T. O. Selfridge, .firon Clad she being
bard aground at the time, With q transport,
{tbe BIackhawk} alongside pf her. towing her
of: The rebels opened With 1000 muskcts,
and soon drove every one ont Of the Bl,ck-
hawk to the safe easements Of the Monitor.
| Lieut. Bache had Just come from lis vessel.
(the Lexfugton) and fortunately was enabled
to pull up to h~r again, keeping close under
the hank, while the Usage opened destract-
i've fire y pom these poor delnded wretches,
who, maddened By liquor, and led on bY their
vessel am told that their hootings aud
notions battle description. Force after force
seemed to be brought up to the edge Of the
bank, where they confronted the gnna OF tha
! iron vessel only to be moved down by grape
| shot and canister. In the meantime Lieuten-
| ant Bacle had reached his vessel, and widen
| ing the distance between him and the Usage,
he opened cross fire on the fnfuriated rebels,
who fought with such desperation that It
could on1s be accounted for In one way. Our
opinions w<re verified on inspection OF
the men actuallg smelling Of Lonisiana rum.
The at1nir lasted nearly two hours before the
rebels fed. They brought of two pieces Of
artillery, one Of which was quickly knocsea
over III the Le1ingtou's guns; the other they
Lexington finally decided this curions affair
Of fight between infantry aud gunboats.
The rebels we're moved down By her canIs-
| ter, and finally retreated In as quick haste as
they had come to the attack, leaving the
space Of mile covered With dead aud wound.
| nn1- 5xS,n o1.o1 $1f1 Il
our men that Gen. Green had bis head blown
of. which do not youch for as true; If true,
it Is q serious loss to the rebcls. Night COM
ing on, We had no means Of asceltaininy the
damage done to the rebels. We are troubled
no more from the right bank Of the river,
marching to cat rs Off, were persuaded to
change their mind atteT hearing Of the untor-
tnnaie termination Of the frat expedition.
That ean.e night I ordered the transports to
proceed, having placed the gunboats at .
| point where the rebels had = battery. All
the transports were passed s.fely, the rebels
not firing gun In return to the many that
were bursting over the hills
The next morning, the 18th instant; fol
lowed down myself, and finding. at Gazette
they had got aground, md would be som'
| time getting through. proceeded d.'wn j.
| this vessel to Grand EcoFe, md got Genera
Banks to send up troops enough to keep th.
guerillas nwsy from the river. We were fret
IN Us usual, utter we started down, but whei
along without any trouble Thfs has beer
IN expedition where great deal Of labor ha
been expended, great deal ofindivfdual bra
very shown, and on which occasions thu
Commander ln-Chi-fis Is apt to find out th'
metal Of which his officers are made, and OF
future occasions it viii enable him to selcc
those who will not likely fail in the time q
. need. To Lieutenant Commander T. o. Sci
fridge. commanding Usage, and Lfentenan
George II. Dache, commanding Lexington,
an particularly indebted for the gal1an
manner in which they defended their vessels
and for their management during the expe
djtion, olways anticipating, and intel1tgentl
carrying ont my wishes and or3eE6.
. found the fleet at Grand Ecore someWha
IN nh unpleasant situation, tHo Of them bein!
above the bar and not llEely to get ava
pgain this season, unless there IL 4 rise of
| loot. l could not provide Tor this when owe
hundred miles up the river. If nature doe
not change her lave; there will no doubt be
rise Of water, but there Was one year, 1915
when there Was no rise In the Red River, an'
it3noy happen again> Tue rebels are cutting
OF the supply, BY fiverting different source
of wafer into other channels, all of whicl
+ would have been stopped had our army ar
rived as far as Shreveport. I hare done m
best {and go have the officers and men uude
!. my command} to make this expedition SUI
Z cess throughout, and do not know that II
Eave failed In anything we have undertaken
I Lad wc not heard Of the retreat Of tue arm
: should have gone on to the end. Wis
, Providence, which rules and directs a
things, Lcs thought proper to stay our prt
: gross, and throw impcdiments in ihs VA!
aor some good reason. We have nothing lei
bnt to &ry 1t ngain, aud hold on to this coun
try with i'll the force VIC Can raise. It Is jh
as valuable to ue and important to tue eau:
az any other portion Of the Union. Tho:
| N1n hHYe fnfPrcsfs hefH md mr.. fuft1fn1 I