The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-09-08

army, and its advance had been checked when the left and centre finally moved up and assaulted.
 The orders from General Gardner were to hold the feld-works at every cost, and they were closely obeyed. At Nieks- burg every yard of the lines had to be approached by direct assault. At Port Hudson certain positions could be and were fanked and taken, but always at terrible cost. Confedera,es lying safely behind earthworks coolly waited until the assaul,lng column reached the a5attis. and then each man had only to select his target. Again. when the colored troops charged upon the batteries, fianked by rihe pits and supported by choice troops, companies were cut to pieces at single volley.
 To show you wha, cool and desper- ate fighting it was," says confederate, "i had. at least. twenty-five shots at federals not over 200 feet away. In one instance fired upon a federal lieutenant who was encouraging his men to tear away the abattis. wounded him in the Jeff arm. He fired a, me with his re- volver and sent bullet through my cap. Mex, time hit him in the hip and he fell. but while was reloading he raised himself up and shot the man next to my lefs through the head. The officer was so close ,o me that could tell the color of his eyes and de;ec, a small scar on his face. Alter the fight saw him taken away by the federals to be buried and he had been struck by seven or eigh, bullets One negro who had escaped the volley that shattered his command drove right in among us al charge blyonets, and he not only refused to surrender but pricked two of our men and broke his gun over the head of third before we downed him"
 As the federals left and centre moved to the attack Fauagu, redoubled his fire agains. the river side of the m ain fortifi- cations. One to listen to such a bom- bardment as he gave Port Hudson would feel obliged to believe tha, walls of earth thirty feet thick mus, be battered down, and that troops in garrison would be plotted out to the last man. If one mili- tary genius brings forth new engine of destruction, another military genius brings forth defense to offset it. Walls of cath render sho, and shell less danger ous than bullets. Bombproofs offset the work of mortats. And so it was that al though Farragu, pitched his heaviest mis. siles into the works, and seemed 10 be wiping them of the face of the earth. the damage inflicted was triang. A gun or two was dismounted. half a dozen men were killed or wounded, and the works needed sligh, repairs. 1, is the bulle, which tells in war l. seeks its target on the pieket-post-on the skirmish line on the rad-along the rihe-pits and breastworlss. The muske, is never silent. It Is slow cancer eati1g away at the life of an enemy. It seeks him out in the rayine -it discovers him in the ,hcket it gives him no rest on the plain. Ar tillery roars and flashes. and its missiles scream and ;errify. but the ponderous shot falls wide of it's target or digs its own grave in the soil.
 Step by step the confedera,es were forced back and as night came the entire garrison was in the defenses proper. Every field defense had been captured, and the federal army had won victory. In the eNcitemen, of the last charge the iron; lines were carried almos, to the ditches, and desperate individuals even crossed them and were killed as they pulled themselves up the slopes Banks was too strong for Gardner in the field Now it was to be shown ,ha, Gardner drivea within his shell was too strong for Banks. He had the shor, line. and an assault upon his interior works meant re- pulse every time. He proved this before dark by sally and an artillery fire which caught the federal lief, wing in flank and whirled i, back a mile
 From the ,-;h of May to the Il,h of June. Banks was preparing for a siege. or contnuir z siege practically begun with his 6rs, assault Day af;er day and nigh, after nigh, Port Hudson was under the lire of dee, and land force and so close was the inves,men, that only one courier out of seven sent out passed the federal lines. and he with bullet in his shoulder. Says a member of the garrison:
 One can ge, used to almos; anything. Alter the frs, two or three days we took the bombardmea, as part of the regular routine. Pieces of shell were continually i dying abon;, and il was the regular thing for bomb to drop down amongst us at intervals have seen them come down within twenty feet ofa sentinel and throw ] up wagon-load of dirt without his even turning his head. We had but a few men hurt by the artillery fire don't be- lieve we averaged one man hit for every thousand pounds of metal thrown. re member that one day counted thirteen shells and bombs hurled a, the spot where was posted before we had man hurt. and he was only slightly wounded. On the contrary. our best marksmen were called to the iron, as sharpshooters, | .r,A II 1.st able four or five federals without having wasted bullet. would sooner be penned up in fort and bombarded than to stand vfdette"
 Banks determined upon a second as. sault in order to intrench himself nearer the confederate works and be able to sap and mine. The enterprise was kept a profound secret in order that the attack might be surprise. and when. at one o'clock in the morning. the various troops were quietly reused out of their sleep and