hours rolled on, until the last hope of seasonable relief had all but faded into the deadly stupor of blank despair.

And still the besiegers worked on; losing some men daily by cannonballs and the more deadly Minié bullet of the sharp-shooter, but gaining ground foot by foot, until our saps on the right had been pushed up to the very line of the defenses; while on our left a mine had been prepared for a charge of thirty barrels of powder, where its explosion must have caused the destruction of 'the Citadel.'

Even had the garrison been full fed and in healthy vigor, they could not have held the place a week longer, unless by successful sallies that virtually raised the siege; whereas, they were utterly exhausted, debilitated, and worn out by famine, overwork, and lack of sleep; until the hospitals were crowded with them, and not half their number could have stood up to fight through a day's earnest battle.

Suddenly, our batteries and gunboats shook" the heavens with one tremendous salute, while cheer upon cheer rose from behind our works, rolling from the gunboats above to those below the defenses, and back again, in billows of unmistakable exultation. It was not 'the glorious Fourth,' but two days after it; and the sinking hearts of the besieged anticipated the tidings before our men shouted across to them, "VICKSBURG HAS SURRENDERED!" No one needed to be told that, if that was the truth, further resistance was folly that reenforcements would soon be steaming down the river "July 6.

which would render holding out im possible.

That evening, Gardner summoned a council of his six highest subordinates, who unanimously decided that the place must be surrendered. Thereupon, he opened communication with Banks, asking if the news shouted across the lines was authentic. Banks, in reply, inclosed him Gen. Grant's letter, announcing the surrender; whereupon, Gardner ap plied for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to negotiations as to terms. This was declined. The Rebel commander then averred his willingness to surrender on conditions; when conferees were appointed on either side, and terms of capitulation finally agreed" upon, whereby the garrison became prisoners of war; our forces entering and taking formal possession next morning; when thousands of the victors and the vanquished met and fraternized rather as friends who had been temporarily estranged, than as enemies so lately confronted in mortal strife.

Gen. Banks does not report his aggregate loss in this siege; but it can hardly have fallen short, in the entire 45 days, of 3,000 men; including, beside those already named, Cols. Bean, 4th Wisc., Holcomb, 1st La., Smith, 160th N. Y. (Zouaves), Lt.-Cols. Lowell, 8th N. H., Rodman, 38th Mass., and other valued officers. Brig.-Gen. Paine was wounded in the assault of June 14th. Banks says the Rebels admitted a loss during the siege of 610 only; but he is confident that it could not have been less than 800 to 1,000; as he found 500 wounded in the hospitals-—most of them severely in the head, by the "July 8.

bullets of our sharp-shooters. His prisoners captured in the Port (the sick and wounded inclusive) were 6,408, of whom 455 were officers; while his own force that day was less than 10,000 men. His captures, during the campaign so gloriously terminated, he states at 10,584 men, 73 guns, 6,000 small arms, beside 3 gunboats, 8 other steamboats, and cotton, cattle, &c., &c., to an immense value.

Gen. Banks's sudden withdrawal from Alexandria and the Red river, and the employment of nearly all his disposable force in the siege of Port Hudson, necessarily proffered opportunities which Dick Taylor was on the alert to improve. Collecting in Upper Louisiana a force of some thousands, including several regiments, mainly of cavalry, from Texas, he, early in June, reoccupied Alexandria and Opelousas; moving thence rapidly down the Atchafalaya, as if making directly for New Orleans. His approach appeared to have been made known to our officers at the front only by vague rumors, often circulated on purpose to mislead; but our advanced posts were drawn back across the Atchafalaya to Brashear; Berwick, just across the bayou, having been needlessly, therefore culpably, bombarded and ultimately burned" by a Mr. Ryder, in command of our only gunboat in the bayou. There was abundance of fuss and aimless activity, but no real preparation at Brashear, whither Lt.Col. Stickney had been recently sent over by Gen. Emory, at New Orleans, to take command: there were no intrenchments, though thousands of

June 19. VOL. II.-22

337

willing contrabands were there to dig them; no mustering and drilling of the hundreds of idle convalescents in the hospital camps, awaiting orders to rejoin their regiments; and when at length word came that the Rebels had struck our line of communication and supply at Lafourche, well toward New Orleans, Stickney hurried down, with most of his effectives, to its defense. The enemy easily swept over Thibodeaux, Terre Bonne, and Bayou Boeuf, capturing our few men stationed at each post; while a cooperating force, under Gens. Mouton and Green, suddenly appeared" amid the ruins of Berwick, threatening Brashear, which was held by a sick Colonel and a motley garrison, without organization or discipline; who had hardly begun to fight when a charge was made on their rear by Major Hunter, with 325 Texans, who had crossed the bayou in row-boats during the preceding night, and, working their way through swamps which were on our side supposed impassable, were ready to rush in at the opportune moment, while Col. Majors, from the direction of Lafourche, barred all egress to or rëenforcement from our rear. Fort Buchanan, mounting ten heavy guns, was formidable in front or toward the bayou only: it could not fire a shot eastward; and, in a few minutes, it was stormed and carried by the ragged Texans, who had easily disposed of the infantry mob behind it. Ryder, with his gunboat, made all haste to run away; affording a fresh proof that Vandals are almost always cowards. It was still early morning when Taylor, Mouton, and Green, as well as Hunter, were in Brashear,

37 June 22.

nearly 1,000 prisoners, a strong fort, 10 heavy guns, many small arms, and tents, equipments, supplies, valued by the enemy at $6,000,000, and possibly worth to us $2,000,000. Thousands of negroes, liberated by Banks's triumphant advance to Alexandria, were reduced by this and our kindred reverses to a harsher slavery than that from which they had so recently been delivered.

The road to New Orleans "—at least, to Algiers, its western suburb was now open; for Lafourche had been evacuated by Stickney after a gallant defense by the 47th Massachusetts, in which they had repulsed two assaults; but Taylor was too weak to make the great venture. If he had, as is asserted, but 4,000 men at Brashear and between it and La fourche, he could not have assailed New Orleans with more than double that number at most; and, so long as Farragut held the mastery of the river, this was not enough even to compel Banks to raise the siege of Port Hudson."

Moving north instead of east, Taylor's van, under Green, menaced Donaldsonville, while a small force of Texans, raiding into Plaquemine, burned two steamboats lying there, and took 68 convalescents prisoners; but were soon shelled out by the gunboat Winona.

Green next attempted" to carry

"The Louisiana Democrat (Alexandria, July 1) has a magnifying Rebel letter from one engaged in the capture of Brashear, who claims for that post an importance hardly second to Vicksburg, numbers 1,800 prisoners and 6,000 negroes among the spoils, and adds:

"This brilliant campaign of Gen. Taylor has another great object in view, and one of vast importance, namely: A diversion to force the enemy to raise the siege of Port Hudson. He

Pollard reports another fight," six miles from Donaldsonville, between 1,200 Texans, under Green, and "the enemy, over 4,000 strong;" wherein we were beaten, with a loss of 500 killed and wounded, 300 prisoners, 3 guns, many small arms, and the flag of a New York regiment. Banks's report is silent with regard to this fight; yet it seems that a collision actually took place; the forces on our side being commanded by Gen. Dudley, and our loss considerable-450 killed and wounded, with two guns, says a newspaper report. The affair can not have been creditable to the Union side, or it would not have been so completely hushed up.

Gen. Banks's force in the field having been rendered disposable by the fall of Port Hudson, Taylor and his subordinates made haste to abandon the country east of the Atchafalaya; evacuating" Brashear City just one month after its capture; but not till they had carefully stripped it of

now has his choice, to lose New Orleans or to abandon his operations against Port Hudson, and retire with his beaten and demoralized army into that city."

"Banks says that barely 400 of our men at one time held New Orleans; but the river and the fleet, with his army not far away, were its main defenses.