The National tribune., 1903-10-01

down so dat de Admiral wouldn't risk de
Eastport any further, and taking me init
him on de little tin-clad Cricket, he led de
smaller gunpoats up de riffer. to keep pace
nit de army. marching Offer land. De riff
fer vas awful narrow and crooked, nit
sdumps. logs, RATS, pars, and all sorts of
pad things effery mile. Nothing could
stop Admiral Porter, though, and We
pushed right along. Eferryding seemed
to pc going on 30 vell and We all looked
forward to going right into Shreveport.
How could We help it. NIT all dat great
army, nit all dose great Chenerals-
Parks, Franklin, Emory, Ransom. A. J..
Smith, Dwight and effer so many others,
and all this pig feet? Porter vas only
afraid dat de army would get into Shreve-
port pefore him, and vas pushing ahead
NIT all his might. He vas in de little tin
clad Cricket, which could run where dere
vas only a heavy dew, SO dat he at least
could get in and claim credit for de Navy.
We had reached Springfield. no miles
apove Grand Ecore, when We we're stopped
by steamboat which de reppels had load
ed init brick, and sunk ACROSS de channel.
Dis vas q sumner, and Porter ragged worse
dan any pirate who sailed under de plack
vlag. Something's soon came to change
de character of his remarks. We we're
hailed vrom de south pank, by messen-
gers vrom Parks, who when day we're
brought apoard, we're muddy, and SO
tired dat dey could hardly stand
or keep DER eyes open. Dey brought
out for miles ofer narrow road
through de thick woods. had peen caught
at disadvantage at Sabine Crossroads,
and Wiped back to Pleasant Grove, where
it had peen tangled up nit de baggage
trains, but had stood de enemy off. Den
it had vallen pack to Pleasant Hill, where
de enemy had peen Wiped paddy Ply old A.
Us Division getting on de reppel TANKS.
Still, Parks had decided to retreat, and
vas valling pack to Grand Ecore, to which
blaze de poats should hurry pack to safe
demselfs. We mustn't lose a minute, Pc
cause de whole country vas full of reppels,
making for de riffer, to gapchure de gun
poats. De riffer vas so crooked dat dey
gould march ACROSS de country and head
de poats off. De next day drouble began
in earnest. De reppels we're svarminG
Everywhere along de panks, wiring down
vrom de pluffs right onto de decks, While
dey could only pc reached at long taw,
py such poats as happened to pc far up
or down. De men on de poats under de
pluffs could do nothing. l vas acting as
Admirars Aid, carrying messages for him,
rowing vrom one gunpOat to another, 60
ing ashore and climbing drees to recon-
hotter de country, making soundings for
de channel, and SO on. 1t was bretty
skittish work, for. peing in citizens clothes,
de reppel sharpshooters thought l vas a
man vrom dat country, and dey yelled
Orator and plugged away at me worse
dan at de men in uniform. But l neffer
iinched. l had dat cotton in my eye, vas
going to show old Tave Porter dat Chew
could pc yoost as prave for de Union as
he or any Of his men.
"Apout 4 o'clock in de afternoon of
April IL de deffil game out init all his
hosts for play spell, and We had de time
Of our lifes We had got de transports, on
which vas Gen. Kilby Smith, NIT apout
1000 men, lot of horses, ammunition
provisions, horses, and so ON, along bretty
veil, SO far, but now drouble PECAN all
along de line. De Hastings, on which Gen.
Kilby Smith vas, proke her Wheel, and had
to run into de pank to mend it. De Alice
Vivian, NIT 400 cavalry horses. vent
aground on a par. De other transports
vent to help her, and some Of dem stuck
in de mud. De gunpoat Usage vent in,
and stuck too. Only one gunpOat, de Lex
ington, was running free. All at once de
voJds on both sides de narrow riffer
swarmed NIT reppels. Gen. Tom Green,
a Texan, and a red-hot vighter, han MT
peen able to get into de other vights init
his DIVISION OF 6pOut iUUU men, ana we're
now raging around us like mad wolves.
Dey had lot of field artillery. and de way
dey opened made it seem as if de Internal
regions vas a quiet health resort. De rep
pels we're pehind effery dree, cracking
away at us like men hammerins on a roof.
Our soldiers we're good stuff, and shell
tering demselfs pehind pales Of hay and
other dings on de transports, gate dem
pack as good as dey sent. Dere we're some
cannon on de transports, and dey init de
Lexington's guns, managed to hold de rep
pei Artillery down until de Usage got
loose and choined in. De Hastings gut
loose vrom de pank. and floated away. De
Alice Vivian, NIT de cavalry horses, vas
hunted off de par in hurry. and vloated
off after her. De transport Rob Roy had
four pig siege guns. nit men who knew
how to work dem. Vinaly dey all got on
to DER chob, and l tell you dere vas such
wreckirg of de Louisiana woods as had
neffer peen seen before. De thing lasted
two hours and dat night We heard vrom
prisoners and others dat We had killed and
wounded 700 reppels. Gen. Tom Green
who would not be sadisfed mitout getting
de gunpoats and transports vas killed, and
seferal Of his Colonels.''