The Progress., 1892-12-17
LOCAL War "REMINISCENCES
THE LAST HOPE OF THE LAND.
Captured by the Mule Corps rhsy uav'
Greet Fiag-da

.
Of The Bivouac" have related Many
tales of strife and batta, and, see.1
ingly exhaust the field of anecdote.
War records are drearily statistical,
and though we see strong Rembrant
shadows behind the lines, there Is
none Of the color and vivre to make
the old well-remembered pictures as
seemly in our eyes, as when, painted
as a sunlit storm-cloud, softer tlnts
are reflected on the far away hOIl-
zon. Shreveport YVES an important
military post in the last of those sad
years, and on her south.hills bastian,
and revetment, and masked battery
plants under the high cliffs that
frown over the river, may yet be
traced by the discerning arch@olo-
gist. The headquarters of the Trans
Mississippi Department were here
after the fall of Vicksburg, aud the
hero of Mansfield sent to her tenn
porized prison pens, thousands of the
defeated from the field of that short
but decisive conflict, that hurled
Banks back down Red river valley,
and Porter over the Alexandria
rapids. We can remember we'll that
long, struggling, and dusty lines OF
Federals, guarded by still thinner
and more struggling lines of gray
pickets, some of whom had ''swop-
ped" hats with their charges, and
wore them satisfactorily, if not I'M
concernedly, in spite of the wierd as
piration Hell, or Shreveport" in
scribed about their crowns. The
windows of the buildings on the cor
ner Of Martins lane and Milan street
were daily filled with these military
hostages. and many and loud were
the ribald jests and song-, which
made those old walls sing again.
Evidently the Confederate menu, of
one course of corn meal aud strip
bacon, was not a depressing, unixili-
rating. diet. We remember many of
those songs and jests, but tbs Proc
REss is highly moral and its readers
of delicate and refined ear.
Those were glorious times for the
bold hearted, patriotic sons of tt e
sires who were off at the front. Ii
was something inspiring to know
that I'VE" had all those "Yanks" in
quod, and could summarily dispose
of them at the lightest hint from the
commandant of the post. Oft were
the bright lathe swords whetted and
the mind, tentalivery, flushed with
the immagitive lust OF slaughter
For we were a company bold, and
owned the remains of a Christmas
drum, and a captain-who was up on
about face" and come round il
line" and other military technicali-
ties, which he had acduired with the
, careless confidence of an immature
nature We met under the ''chiney''
trees on Lake street and planned
many bold foray and reconnoitre
in which thousands fell, and blood
flowed like water-but only planned
them. The Company made but one
bold attempt to go to the front-an
attempt frustrated so promptly that
it fell like a blighting cloud upon the
sun dawn of hope. The detachment
; that "went to the war" provisioned
themselves for the campaign by
strenuous self-denial of school lunch
es for several days; half rations hav-
ing hardening, qualifying effect
upon the hardy campaigner. They
had advanced as far as Jewella and
stopped TO forage plum orchard
when they were overtaken by a col
ored contingent mounted on mule
, and with sealed orders to capture un-
organizet stragglers, and shatter the
campaign by the vandalism of an
ignoble coercion. We drew up on q
line of defense front, but the Cap
tain's command to charge was muf.
fled like voice in a hat. The enc
my not appearing to be in quailing
mood, but presenting an unbroker
aud undaunted front, a council q
war was called, and terms of capt.
ulatlon were entered upon, where
! by we were to surrender all weapons
offensive and defensive-a single bar
relied shot gun which had been con.
scripted under the cover of night
our coats, and the fruits of the foray
} The enemy to escort the army back
to the environs of the Capitol, and
there await the fall of night before
delivering the capture 1t was an ig-
noble abandonment of a gloriously
projected canpaiga, but it had its
recourse in defrauding that negro OF
a triumphal entry into the city with
a captured army corpse on a mule.
This corps was organized in 1853,
as the Caddo cadets, and was com
: posed of the rank and file of the in
/ dividuals, who had no armies of their
own, and could only be induced to
cooperate after solitary campaign
ing bad lost its glare and glory. Sid
s. was Captain, because he owned