The National tribune., 1906-02-01

To IL to reinforce Col. MAJOR. Al Qdy-
break Col. Major opened fire from the
rear of the place, which simply in
creased the hopeless confusion among
the sick. conyalescents and the thou
sands of negroes. AS there had been
absolutely no preparations for defense
and there was among the officers no
one capable of organizing what men
were willing to fight, the white flag was
at once raised, and there was turned
over to Taylor the vast amount of
stores aggregating in value $4,000. 900.
With these went 80 pieces OF artillery,
many of them heavy siege guns, the
wagons, mules, steamboats, and other
necessary adjuncts of such q post
There were over 5000 Enfield and
Burnside rifles captured, which were
Of the greatest use to- the Confederates
and Immediately puttto, use in arming
two regiments. The shoes and cloth
ing were quite as valuable to the enc
my.
This shameful affair, absolutely With
out excuse, helped much to win for
Gen. Banks his appointment as Com
missary-G G eneral for the Southern Con-
federacy, and instructions to the Con-
fcderate officers to facilitate his opera
tions in every way possible.
Taylor Declines New Orleans.
Col. Stickney, whom Emory had, too
late, sent out with small force to at
tempt to reach Brashear City and re-
lieve the garrison, saw at once that the
best he could do was to extricate his
own men. and retreated rapidly to AL
giers. opposite New Orleans, whittier
Taylor followed him. There were at
that time but 700 soldiers in New Or
leans; not enough to do adequate police
duty, and certainly far from enough
to repress any outbreaK upon the part
of the Secessionists in the city II they
had been properly organized and had
the courage Of their convictions. For
tunately the illness which had prevent
ed Emory from leading his division in
the field had given New Orleans an
iron-willed Governor. whom the people
there clearly understood was not to be
trified with. The were all intensely
excited over the near approach of Tay-
lor, and 1t was believed that Kirby
Smith was behind him with an immense
army. Notwithstanding this. the Arm
countenances OF Gen. Emory and all
his officers and men had a very deter
tempted. The guns OF Farragut's fleet
and the well-knownL character of the
commander on the river were also chilli
ing to the men who had been so url-
controllable the year before when the
fleet came to anchor before the city.
Buffers lessons had been severe but eff
fectual, and fiery and full OF rhodomon-
tade as the men OF New Orleans had
always been, they kept singularly quiet
In the presence OF this handful OF actual
fighting men. There we're spectacular
possibilities very fascinating to man
Of Taylor's character la q general up
rising OF the oppressed" and "perse-
cuted' citizens of New Orleans, whose
walls and shrieks had been filling the
ear for SO many months, rising In
modern Sicilian vespers at the ap-
proach of his army and turning the city
over to him. 1t is amazing that this
was not done. Taylor's cooler-headed
superior. Gen. e. Kirby Smith. feared
much that he would become engaged In
such an exploit, and sent repeated eau
tionary orders to him not to cross the
river and be caught in cul-de-sac,
with Farraguts guns cutting off his re-
treat Taylor looked across the Mis-
sissippi at the rich city filed to it's limit
with rebelliOus and noisy men and
guarded only by 700 more or less in
valid Yankees, and finally choked
down his thirst for sensation by the
cold sprinklings Of prudence and turn
ed away.
Taylor reported to Lieut. Gen. Kirby
Smith as follows:
II have so far succeeded In my pur-
poses. The enemy have been driven
from the La Fourche region, with the
exception of the ground on which the
fort at Donaldsonvilie stands. Berwick
hands, and we have powerful artil-
lery on the river between Banks and
his base-New Orleans. We have pa
rolled over 1000 non-commissioned OFF,
GERS and privates, and recaptured most
Of the stolen property carried off In the
slight, offers. ] will throw myself into
New Orleans, and make every effort to
hold it, leaving my communications to
take care of themselves. l trust the
Lieutenant-General commanding will
not feel disappointed at these results.
AT all events, have used every exer-
ton to relieve Port Hudson, and shall
continue to the last"
Defense OF DonaIdsenvilIe.
Coupled with this refusal of Emory
and his men to be stampeded by a
threat of overwhelming disaster is the
brilliant defense of DonaldsOnville.
These two were the only redeeming
features Of the lamentable perform
ance, and 1T shows what is possible in
the midst of thrOnging disaster when
a determined officer with a handful of
men refuses to be demoralized under
any circumstances. When Taylor gave
up with sigh the glittering possibili-
ties of a dash upon New Orleans, he
sent Rrig.-Gen. Green with his own
and Col. Majors Brigades to plant him
self on the Mississippi River and inter-
Dona ldsonville, an important position
at the head of the Bayou Lafourche,
and reported that he found there a fort
In the angle between the Mississippi
and the bayou, mounting five guns.
manned by 800 or 400 men, surround
ed by a 16-foot ditch, with stockades
running from the bayou to the river.
Immediately after the occupation of
New Orleans in April, 1852, the great
strategic value of Donaldsonville had
been recognized. "A strong work had
been erected there and named Fort
Butler, in honor Of the General COM
manding the Department. The plans
had been excellent. and well executed,
and the fort commar1ded the approaches
from all sides. Banks sent thither two
companies of the 18th Me-, under the
command Of Maj. J. ID. Bullen. The
28th Me. was nire-months regiment
which had been organized at Augusta
the previous October. 1t does not ap-
pear that Maj. Bullen had any previous
experience, but he was man Of high
character and great determination, and
could not have done better had he been
a veteran OF lifstime of wars. Squads
Of convalescents we're also sent thither
from other regiments and posts. and
among them. probably the largest, was
the detachment from the 18th N. H..
which had been transferred from Butte
a-la-Rose. As near as can be deter