The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-02-21

| 10 cUOH ~ tUuin w lpStestrN i'N'"V'
llization; which had commenced with tn
itizans Immediately upon the anaonnce
ment Of Lees surrender, now spead to the
,rmy. Soldiers desertedhy conlI 'anles an.
'e.iments. Gouriers left their posts, tele
raph lines wer. broken duwn, conmunicsi
ion with distant commands was no longc!
| possible. The troops We're not disbanded
nut the gallant army of the Trans, Misss.
| ippi maltel away dasYite the nff,rtsi.fF g
leaders, under the blighting influence Of de
| n3raizat,on. l'ills aiune had ACCOMPLISH
ID what the enemy had ever failed to d..
Fortunate was it for that enemy that it wa
! -, otherwise instead Of the easy trumph
anticipated, they misht have found on til
rid prlries of Texas only such larrsls a
| they once gathered in the Wilderness Of
Virginia.
Inc events which transpired al Shreye
|port upon the breaking UP Of the army. AM
which were repeated with but little varia
ton, at the posts, Were such rs might have
oeen expected at Tho failure of any srea.
revolutionary movement. Anarchy Pc
/ vailed.
/ owing to the difficulty of communicating
4 with the cis-slississippi, from whence al.
the fluids were derived, the army had mol
oeen paid FIR many moaths. tieil WHO h..'.
hundreds due them found themselves with
out u dollar, even Of Confederate money
thenhecoine Useless ii'hoy clAmeda u.
sis:on Of public property as simple justice
1t was in vain that Shreveport was declar
I'd an entre,icisad campand marshal law pro
claimed with.a its limits. shure were vs.
,heans ofensoicing it. The Missouri troops
| almost alone remained with their c,,lors
not from excess OF patriotism, but because
poor fellows til y had no homes to 60 to-.
Upon them l,v,ived thu police fthe tawn
! they Were too few to restrain the turuuiei.t
mob. The public stables and stores wer,
plundered. 49, tAtk
Lieut.. Gen. Buckner. who, in addition to
| his uu,its lis CONAN der vi the c)lsulida
ted districts OF West Louisiana and Arkall-
! cas-, was also charged with those Of chief Of
staff, having found it impossibe to carry gu,
the Instructions of the commanding gene
raj, couuternlAnlaa tie order for the remov-
81 vi the headquarters to Houston; tele
graphed General smith that he would ar
range for the surrender Of tho department.
upon terms similar to those granted Gene-
raj Lee, and left Shreveport at once for this
purpose. The terms were finally agreed
upon, and the articles signed ut Baton
itouss on The goth May. thus WIS Kirby
smith separated from his staiI.. s.@.
When the stat. Of atfiirs in the Tmns
Mississippi is rightly understood, the con
duct Of the troops is not without excuse.
t'or years they had coi!t.ndcd against o foe
vastly superior il nuiiLers, arm d and
equipped July IN allrespects, and supplied
more bouutuully with stores I'll al kinds
| than ever were armies before, while they
themselves, with scan;y cl3thing and indif
ierent f)ol, Were tortured with anxi .ty f,r
| impoverished FAM les. Without railroad
facilities and with but WORKOUT transporta-
usn, these shoeiess, foot-so;e men had
| marched back and forth from the Rio
| ulalde to the Mississippi. They had
tracked the enemy by the light OF then
| buraiy homes to his gunboats on the Mis-
sissippi and the Red, to his stronghulds in
Louisiana and Arkansas. The smoke OF
Alexandria aud Gaapte was yet smarting
their nostrlls; theremans OF their shattei
I'll penates, strewl!lg the path oi che h.eln-
iye, Were still present to their sight
What wonder. then, that these men We're
aaxlJus to return aud give to then
daienseless families such protection as
their presence might afford. -Four Years
experience OF war had well taught them
What to expect from the negro allies and
the foreign hrelings OF that best of Guy-
er,iae Its which had MOI. spared feeble women
and little eAfldren in wrath. Ii they took
their arals with them. wts it strange. They
hui either been wrested from TIL, invader
b. their own individual prowess, CT had
ocen purchased abroad with the proceeds
Of the sale Of cJtt9n Of their own raising
and hence, notwithstanding orders and
instructions they. had come at all times
to consider them as personal property. II
lclotlIns was taken from the depots did
thyn,t needit. lfmedieal purveyors Were
roooed of stores, We're they not wanted at
homt.-for the paternal Government
against which they had rebelled, had dis
covered and declared that headings drugs
were contiaislnd of war. and foriong years
they had been alalost entirely deprived ol
all, save such rs We're ind .enous. Thor.
ses and mules We're taken from the public
staoles, was itnot because they cliii,ned
them az their original owners: VIII had not
oeen paid for them! Finally, could su.ll
excuses ber,,strailled? Let Federal com
nanders who were appealed to by anoiien-
ding women for protection from the lust OF
Union soldiers, have attempted to screen
themselves from shame on the plea that
they could not prevent outrages, though.
they might punish the perpetrators, when.
identified. cat these Officers answer as to
the justice ofaccusing Confederate officers
Of delinquency, at time when the func-
tiuDs Oftheir Government were suspended
aud their own authority no longer recog
nlzea.
Among those implicated as exhibiting
bad faith is, DOUBTLESS, Major General Ia
IAN, upon whom tlls command of the d.
partment aeyoiyed when Lieutenant Gen
raj bucknsr left Shreveport Tor Baton
Rouge. Nevsr Def.re WIS an officer placed
ii m3re trying ciicem ta.lces, VI ithoat
money, and without resources Othtr than
his own sternlng qualities, this proud sol
dier found himself charged with the care Of