The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-08-30

| our forces, under General Anger, caInped aud
remained some time before advancing again.
| During this time a scout was made by one com
/ pany of the First Louisiana cavalry, Captain
| Godfrey; one company of the Sixth Illinois,
| Captain Angley, and one company of the Sew
enth Illinois, Lieutenant La Grange. They
| were sent eight miles TO the rear of Port Hud-
! son to surprise and capture rebel camp of
| thirty men. The enemy were found, and nine
| teen captured and two killed, without the loss
of a man on the Union side. A few days after
this there was a stubborn fight with Colonel
| Miles Legion, at Plains Store. The Sixth Hi
nois, Forty-eighth Massachusetts, and One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York stood the
bruut of the battle, which lasted several hours,
and finally drove the enemy from their position.
They left one hundred killed and wounded, be-
sides sixty prisoners. The Union loss was fifty
four killed and wounded. The next day, Gen.
L. w. Sherman of the Eastern Army, arrived
from New Orleans with long train of heavy
artillery. On the following morning the Sixth
and Seventh were ordered out to meet General
Banks force, which had come up the west side
of the river from New Orleans, and crossed
to Bayou Sara. On the 2lst of May demon
stration was made by our force against the en-
envy, who were in position outside their works,
and the One Hundred and Sixteenth New i ork
charged and drove them inside their works,
while Massachusetts, regiment threw down
their arms and ran. The cavalry was ordered
to dism0unt and support the New York regi-
ment, which caused much surprise among the
stampeders They had never heard of cavalry
lighting dismounted-
On the 24th of May our forces advanced to
within one mile of the fort. Heavy skirmish-
ing ON the advance was the order of the day.
| Several futile attempts had been made to cap
! ture couple of steamers, said TO be concealed
| up the bayou on Thompson's Creek, aud Colo
mel Prince, by order of Colonel Grierson, left
with detachments from each company Of his
/ regiment, and proceeded to the creek and sue
ceeded in capturing them. They proved to be
| fire passenger steamers. The 'SkyIight,"
| ferryboat, was also secured These boats lay
within 300 yards of the rebel batteries, and
| Colonel Prince was complimented by General
| Banks ON his success. The next day Lieuten-
ant Lew, company F, Seventh Illinois, with
| four men, took a yawl, dropped quietly down
! the creek, passed close to the rebel works, en-
tered Alligator Bayou, which he crossed, and
| having landed, footed it through neck OF tim
| Der and hailed the steamship Hartford. A
| yaw was lowered and the party were brought
aboard and reported the capture of the boats,
| which the Hartford had been watching for at
| the outlet to prevent their escape. Lieuten-
| ant Lew was highly complimented by the Off
GERS of the boat, and three cheers were given
| for the illinois cavalry.
SHOOTING ALLIGAToRs AND sKIRMIsHING.
! The men had considerable sport while camped
in the rear of Port Hudson shooting ailigators,
with now and then a slSirmish with Logan's or
| Writ Adams cavalry. In the meantime, our
| forces were drawing nearer and encrcling the
/ enemys works. The cannonading was growing
! fiercer and more terrific each day. and sharp
| shooting was practiced to some extent. A
| detail of the Sixth and Seventh could be seen
| each day on their way to the rife-pits near
/ the Twenty-frst Indiana battery where they
would dispose of fifty or hundred cartridges,
! firing at distance of six hundred yards. 1t
was on the last day of May that the enemy
! charged one of our siege guns and were easily
Yepulsed By the middle of June our forces
| had nearly two hundred guns in position and
| the cannonading was tremendous. The heavy
| siege battery, manned by the Twenty-first In
| diana, Colonel McMiller, proved most effective,
and 50 accurate became the aim of the gunners
/ that the rebels dared not place gun within
/ our range. On the 14th of June our forces,
commanded by General L. W. Sherman, made
| desperate charge upon the enemy's works
but were repulsed. Captain Skinner, of the
| Sixth Illinois, with companies and ID, served
| as the escort OF the general Their loss in
| horses was seventeen; the general had two
shot under him and was carried off the field
| wounded. 1t was on a similar occasion that a
| certain Massachusetts, regiment refused to
go into action because their time would be out
III few days tnine months mem. The
weather had now become excessively hot,
! and it taxed the energies of both horses and
men to the utmost. Scouts had to be conducted
principally through the night, and large green
| fly, and mosquitoes somewhat larger proved
| very troublesome. But the country abounded
in blackberries, sugar was easily obtained, the
| men enjoyed the luxury, and very little sick
ness resulted Musical instruments of various
kinds could be found in camp, and the most
| noted among the players was Colonel Grierson,
who could produce good music from nearly every
| instrument. On many occasions he has had
all the negroes collected together in camp, and
such timei The reader can imagine better
than | can describe it. An endless variety OF
| dances, iigs, breakdowns and the original plan
tation dance, with its chorus of voices, could
be seen there, with the genuine SaMbo in al
his glory.
COLONEL GRIERsoN sooTHES THE SAVAGE EAR
There were several fine plantations and
beautiful residences in the rear of Port
Hudson-particularly that of Mrs. -,
sister of jeff Davis. While on scout, Colone
Grierson had occasion to call and pay hi:
respects to this lady, who received him rather
coldly. Indeed, she very uncourteously lef
him and his adjutant alone in the drawing
room, in which was a splendid piano. and wher
| a request was sent to the ladies to favor hin
with some music, they declined The colone
was not to be bluffed in this way, however so
seating himself before the instrument, ht
soon filed the room with the notes of very
difficult but popular air. This had the desired
effect of bringing all the ladies to the room
They were very anxious to know who tn,
player was, and were sure that no ordinary
man could produce such beautiful music, anC
upon hearing his name they were much sur
prised, and apologised for their rudeness. The,
became extremely sOciable, indeed, and par
ticularly so with Adiutant Woodward, who wa
great fav0rite with the ladies and knew h0v
to play the agreeable. He was unassuninj
and gentlemanly in his manners, very modes
aud averse to display, and he was of inealcula
BILE service after the successful termination o
the raid. He wrote the official report. il
which he was so delicate as not to mention hi
own name.
A CowARDLY SURGEON.
About this time an attempt was made ov th
Tebs to capture boat, used for supplies, g
Springfield Landing. Captain Cohn, of tn
Sixth, and Lieutenant Maxwell, of the Seventh
were aboard at the time, and rallied what few
men were scattered about, which did not ex
ceed twenty, and repulsed the rebs, who mum
bered sixty men, driving them Off. Com
pany E, Of the Sixth. while on picket at tn
crossing of the Jackson and Clinton roads, fou
and half miles in rear of Port Hudson, wa
also attacked by superior force of the enemy
Sergeant Fayer was in command of the com
pany at the time, and so placed his men as t
hold the enemy in check while he sent cou
rier to camp, who returned with re-enforce