The Washington herald., 1913-11-06

jiousas and had turned back, on nnding
that 800 miles Of watered country must
be crossed before q base IN Texas snouid
be reached.
Rio Grande expedition. led by Gen BANKS
| in person, was crossing the gulf.
| The forces of the expedition consisted
of the second division Of the Thirteenth
Army Corps, which had been through
the viclsburg campaign, to which was
attached q few other commands Tne
1 total strength was 4,416 men. The com
mandins oficer was Maj. Gen. N. j. 1.
Dana
The first brigade. consisting of the
Thirty-seventh and Ninety-frst Illinois
Regiments. the Twenty-sixth Indiana
and the Thirty-fourth Iowa. was COM
manded by Gen. William Vandever; the
second brigade, consisting OF the Ninety
fourth Illinois, Nineteenth and Twentieth
Iowa, Thirteenth Maine. and Twentieth
Wisconsin regiments, was commanded
/ by Col William NICE Dye.
The attached commands were tne
Fifteenth Maine Regiment, two negro
regiments of the Corps dAfrique tthe
First Engineers, and the Sixteenth In
fantry), the First Texas Cavalry and
pioneer company.
Arrival at Brasos Island.
The expedition sailed from New Or
leans October 25. EThe voyage, at nrst
pleasant, was enlivened on October 81
by a storm, in which the ships were
scattered. and a small steamer and TWO
schooners, the latter being in tow, were
lost Their crews were rescued.
The leading ships. including the steam
er Mcclellan, carrying Gen. Banks and
his stan, weathered the storm without
trouble.
Not knowing what force might be en-
countered on the Rio Grande, Gen Banks
had not ordered the feet to proceed
direct to the river. but had named Bra
EOS Island, or Brazos Santiago. as
rendezvous The island was a desolate
sand heap, without a single habitation-
A few emanciated cattle, gathered about
braclxish well, were the only living
things seen by the troops on the leading
transports when they droped anchor on
the beach on the afternoon OF Nov. :.
on the mouth of the Rio Grande. nine
miles south, could be seen a large fleet
Of blockade runners discharging cargo.
Nearby the surf was breaking heavily
on the bar between Brazos and Padre
Island. Inside the bar a wide and shall
low bay lay placid under a burning sun.
During the night other vessels OF the
scattered fleet came in, and on the morn
ing OF November the landing began.
This was continued through November
l. Some difficulty was experienced in
getting the cavalry horses ashore In
Reconnaissance OF the mouth OF the Rio
Grande a boats crew Of nine men were
drowned. being upset on the bar. This
I was the only loss of life during the
landing. although a steamer and two
schooners were wrecked on the Brazos
bar before Il was completed.
After much labor, in no little peril, in
landing, the troops marched the length
of Brazos Island, along the beach, and
crossing a small pass, the Boca Chica,
at its south end, took a road along the
Rio Grande for Brownsville, twenty
miles inland.
March on Brownsville.
Brownsville had been chosen as the
initial objective of the expedition. both
because Of its Importance as a border
town and as a resort for blockade rum
ners. For more than a year the busi-
ness Of supplying the Confederacy with
materials Of war from Europe by way
Of the Rio Grande had grown steadily.
Federal ships could not blockade the
river, as half OF its waters were Mexi-
can The blockade runners anchored on
the bar in Mexican waters, and dis
charged their cargoes into lighters.
These were towed up the river to Meta
moras, Mex, opposite Brownsville. and
the goods were later smuggied across
the river, and started on a long haul
across Texas for use in the TRANSMITS
isissippi district of the Confederacy.
Never having been molested at Browns
vile, the Confederates had not kept
at any time a heavy force there. At
the time that the Banks expedition set
out this force had been reduced to but
one company OF Confederate infantry,
about 100 men, under Gen. II. P. Bee
and a regiment Of home guards. In the
entire southern half of Texas there were
probably not 200 Confederate troops, as
the whole available force IN the State
had been concentrated In the east of
the State, to repel Invasion and to hold
Galveston. a point of great Importance,
which had been captured from the Fed
erals on January i, 1853, and was destined
to be held by the Confederates to the
end of the war.
Gen. Bee had been warned from the
mouth Of the Rio Grande of the ap-
proach of the Banks expedition, and
his cavalry scouts had watched its ar
rival at Brazos Island. His arrange
ments to evacuate Brownsville had been
made forthwith.
The Town Occupied.