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 u i}'£I C) i A ij. ixh rum 
 
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 ■ME CONDU'eT UF rLi;i:.iUL i auuio, 
 
 
 WESTERN LOUISA 
 
 /* i> t' 
 
 1 
 
 ;iONS OF 18€3 AND 18G4. 
 
 
 OMPIIED f 
 
 ■RN TESTi!\«ONY, 
 
 r. DTaiidTin^ or 
 
 aoV>iAij:^vil HENRY W. ALLI2N. 
 
 
 
 .silRl^VE?ORT, La,: 
 
 ;?S PRIiNTIXO a«TAt.LlSHME\T— JOHN DfCKINSON, PROrtlBTOR, 
 

 4 
 
 
 
 THE 
 
 WILLIAM R. PERKINS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Rare Books 
 
 1^ 
 
/^'L >^ 
 
 OFFICIAL REFOKT 
 
 TOfrHE CONDUCT OF FEDERAL TROOPS 
 
 \ WESTERN LOUISIANA. 
 
 DUEING-THB 
 
 NVASIONS OF 1863 AND 1864. 
 
 COMPILED FROM SWORN TESTIMONY, 
 
 UNPER DIRECTION OF 
 
 GOVBRNOIl HKNRY W. ALLEN. c.d. ^< ^ - 
 
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 /^ ^ /^ «B"iE?EPOBT, APRIL rtes, .^ ^ ^ 
 
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 fi SBYEPOET, U.: 
 
 IW« FEINTING BATABblSHMENT — JOH¥ DICKINSOIf, fpOPWSTOK. 
 
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,■7 
 
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE, SaRETBPORT, La., March SO, IMS. 
 In Jan« I appointed commissioners to eather and collect testimony concerning 
 tbe conduct of the enemy diiriug their brief and inglorious occupancy of a part of 
 West LouiBiana. I addressed to each of them the following letter: 
 
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Sfreveport, La.. June 20, 1864. 
 
 Sra — I desire to obtain for publication and historical record a careful, accu- 
 rate, authentic slatement of the atrocities and barbarities committed by the Fed- 
 eral ofiBcers, troops and camp followers during their late invasion of Western 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Confiding in your k^own industry, ynur love of truth, and your judgment in 
 discriminating betweev \\^'^'^ is important and what is not, I appoint you an a^ent 
 and commissioner for the<^*urpose aboth set forth. I wish you to spare no pains in 
 getting stat«jments in writing from eye-witnesses and sufferers, signed and sworn 
 to. Hearsay reports should be carefully sifted before being received and incor- 
 porated in yi:ur statement. 
 
 It will be borne in mind by you that the testimony thus taken will be tZ 
 paWe.ihe accused not having the privilege of introducing evidence to explain, 
 niiiiga'e or rebut what will be piiblished against them ; hence it is important that 
 thepnbiicalion when made stiould contain intrinsic evidenceof its own credibility. 
 It may be well therefore to introduce such details as will corroborate the general 
 statements of your leport. If you hear of any special acts of kiadness that may 
 have been done to "ur ciiizens by Federal officers or soldiers, please report them, 
 with the names, rank. &c., of tho^e who acted thus creditably. I hope, for tha 
 honor of human nature, that s me such instances may be reported by you. 
 
 When your report is completed, forward it to this office with the affidavits en 
 which it is founded, together with an account of your necessary and reasonabla 
 expenses while actually employed under this order, which will be repaid to yon 
 in addition to an equitable compensation for your services. 
 
 Commissioners will be appointed for other invaded parishes, with whoa yo« 
 may do well to communicate. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 your obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY W. ALLEN, 
 
 Governor of Lou'siacft. 
 
 Hon. T. C. Manning, of Rnpides; Gen. John G. Pratt and Col, John E. King, of 
 St. Landry; Hon. J. W. Butler and Col. Phanor Prudhomme, of Natchitoches; 
 Hon. E. North Cullum and E. de Generes, Esq., of Avoyelles, were appointed for 
 their respective parishes. Only the commissioners for Rapides and St. Landry 
 have sent in their reports. Should the others be received before the printing of tha 
 reports of Messrs. Manning, Pratt and King is completed, tl^ey will be added : o*k»t- 
 viM they will be iesited in a supplement. 
 
i &ar« theaf ht proper thas io cbtato » rerlfied ■tsttmeat ot th« «ettn»KeM 
 which guvti to the late invasion an atrocious, sttvagft and most «»xecrablc character, 
 while >hey were f-till fresh in the recollection of our people. I do not expect that 
 this statement will be seen by many of our enemie-<, or thit it will arouse them to 
 • sense of the disgrace which impartial history will at'aih to them ; nor cm I ex- 
 pect that it will awaken much interest wijh the fevv strangers into whose hands it 
 may ctiance to fall. Bat I hope the publication of a few hundred copies of this 
 report will preserve for the future historiail ndany tacts which might otherwise be 
 forj^otteri. 
 
 The commissioners hare performed their ta?k with praiseworthy fidelity and 
 with great ability. Within the limits of the ^Mte their high ch;iracter and persooal 
 m Tit command implicit (jonfllence aind belief; bit they have done their duty so 
 well that their reports Will stand se^cdre on ih/ir own '' Srnal evidence Ja the 
 DJui'I of every di<crirainating arid €fdlig!i:enod foreigner,'.vh'le t"ie seholar will b» 
 pleased with the accuracy, dignity and cl|M3ic elegance of the language and styl* 
 li. wlueh tbey Are eompiled. 
 
 Jimmi W. ALLEN, 
 
 ilo7«rB»; of LoaUfiMk- 
 
EfiPOBT OF MESSRS. PRATT AND KiM. 
 
 ^0 His Excellency, Henry W. Allen, Governor 6f tli0 
 State of Louisiana : 
 
 giR — Appointed in June last by your Excellency, Commissioners, 
 to make a full, accurate and authentic report of the barbarities and 
 Atr.icifies committed by the ofllicere, troops and camp-followera of the 
 Federal army, during its several invasions of South-western Louisiana. 
 We, soon aftvr the reception of the commission, proceeded carefully and 
 industriously to collect the necessary materials. How far we have sue- 
 deeded will best appear from the body of our report. The objects had 
 in view by your Excellency, we thouj^ht, would be beat accomplished, 
 by giving such statistical, geographical, and local information, as might 
 be necessary to understand fully the details. If many of the fact* 
 Enumerated in these pages seem incn^dulous, from their ofiensiveness 
 to the moral sense of mankind, they will be found to be supported by 
 an array of distingvlished itames among the eye-witnesses and the auf- 
 'ferers, by the personal obBervation of your Commisaioners, and by ua- 
 disputed notoriety. 
 
 The district within which onr investigations have been made, extends 
 from the southern boundaries of Rapides and Avoyelles to Berwick'* 
 "Bay, and includes the Parishes of St. Landry, Lafayette, St. Martia 
 and St. Mary. Few countries were more highly favored ty nature, 
 *nd embellished by arti than the belt of land lying on either side of 
 the water-courses of this fertile region, and which, in St. Landry and 
 lafftjette, spreads out in high prairies, intersected by woods. The 
 productive itoil and genial climate here favor the growth of the f;uit5 
 of tropical and temperate regions ; and to these natural advantages had 
 been added the labor of art and industry, in the development of its 
 resourceB. The great staples of the country were profitably cnitirated 
 on the opulent soil of this belt. While there were no cotton plantations 
 of any great magnitude, innumerable small ones produced an annual 
 aggregate crop of about thirty-eight thousand bales. Some two hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight sugar estates, many of them employing expen- 
 sive machinery, and using all the modern improvements, yielded annu- 
 ally, for export, about forty thousand hogsheads of sugar, and sixty 
 thousand barrels of molasses, besides what the villages and people of 
 the country consumed. Added to these products of the soil, there were 
 annually driven to the plantations on the coast and to New Orleans, 
 •omei thirty thousand bead of cattle, taken from the numerous herds 
 which range, summer and winter, on the luxuriant prairies and the wild 
 sanc^Uads of the adjacent swamps. Th« total value of these prodacta 
 aiao«nt«d ta about fire railliou dollars, w^k id ao aj^jpre^ate popvlft- 
 
tioia ot eizty-tive thousand one hundred and ceventeen, (sne Anditor't 
 report for 1858,) of which population, thirty-fiv« thousand seven hun- 
 ^iied and thirty-seven were slaves, gave more than four hundred dollars 
 in value, of surplus exportable products, for each family of five per' 
 sons — a result which is seldom obtained in any agricukural district of 
 the same area and population. 
 
 These parishes, including Vermilion and Cahasieu, fo'raed the an- 
 cient counties of Opelousas and Attakapas, which, in 1810, had an ag- 
 gregate population of 12,417, of which 4,802 were slaves. The same 
 district had. in 1858, an aggregata population of 73i,36S, of which 37,- 
 737 were slaves. It is a remarkable fact, that this unexampled increase 
 of population, which, in every decade has more than doubled its num- 
 ber, and maintained almost an equilibrium between the races, is duo 
 less to accretion from abroad, than to the patriarchal habits of the peo- 
 ple and a salnbrioas climate. Absenteeism has never been the vice oif 
 this country : like the anci-nt patriarch, the proprietor has always lived 
 in the midst of his family, his servants and his flocks, content to fulfill 
 the simple duties imposed upon hmi by his condition. 
 
 Before this fair land had been wasted, and the labor of years destroy- 
 ed, the planter's spacious mansion was sufrouud;>d by fluids of waving 
 corn and cane, and overlooked broad prairies animated with flocks and 
 herd«, and checkered with farms of cotton, whose trim ard careful cul- 
 ture recalled the husbandry of the patient Hollander. Around the plant- 
 ers' dweUings were seen the numerous out-bnildings used for agricultu- 
 ral purposes, and the negro cottages, always enlivened by groups of 
 happy childien. When the labors of the day were over, the scene was 
 ev^r animated by the loud laugh, the rude sports, and the merry faces, 
 indicating the happiness of the returning laborers. In the midst of 
 tJiese evidences of contentment, the planter enjoyed a more elevated 
 pleasure, iu communion with his family, in literary pursuits, or in the 
 entertainment of his i'riends, — his highest social enjoyment consisting 
 in administering the rite of hospitality under his roof. The master 
 and the slave were alike happy, in their lespective vocations. Such a 
 condition natural. y suggests the reflection, that the system which has 
 produced them coi\ld only be in harmony with the wise designs of a 
 beneficent Providence. _ . 
 
 The insulated district v,-e have described, enclosed within a narrow 
 territory, and separated from the parishes bordering the Mississippi, by 
 an intricate net- work of bayous and lakes, presents, it would seem, no 
 grand route for the passage of armies, and no strategic point for their 
 concentration ; and it might reasonably have been anticipated, that it 
 would have escaped the ordinary havoc of war, if conducted on princi- 
 ples recognized by the civilize : worlds Had the poverty of this dis- 
 trict been as a- parent as its isolation, it fannot be doubted tha,t it wou|[d 
 have remained free from invasion. But unhappily, we are engaged ia 
 war with an enemy who recognizes only such principles of warfare aus 
 tmt bis capriGfii his couvenience, or the gratification of his rindictiro 
 
'Vafee ; who does not scruple to recruit his soldiers from the felons of peu- 
 ^llentiaries and prisons; who appoints Generals often without conduct, 
 ''without honor, and without hunaanity ; who wages war upon our hos- 
 "pitals, on peaceful citizens, and on women and children ; Avho riots in 
 tobbery and pillage, in devastation and destruction; and who sympa- 
 thizes with the demoniacal joy exhibited by Gen. A. J. Smith, at Alex- 
 andria, where, surrounded by the flames of a peaceful village, in the 
 midst of falling timbers, crumbling walls, and flying women and chil- 
 dren, he waved his sword in an exultation inspired by so congenial a 
 Rcene, exclaiming — "This, boys, is something like war !" That such 
 16 the character of the warfare of the enemy, the history of the several 
 invasions of Attakapas and Opelousas will abundantly show. 
 
 In the spring of 1863, Gen. Banks, suddenly abandoning the siege 
 of Port Hudson, threw his army across the Mississippi river, and march- 
 "ed through the parishes watered by the Lafourche to Berwick's Bay, 
 which is an enlargement of the Atchafalaya river near its mouth. The 
 'Bay was then in possession of the enemy's gunboats, which had free 
 communication with the waters stretching along tha parishei of St. 
 Mary and St. Martin. Crossing the Bay, and marching a few miles 
 above the junction of the Teche with thu Atchafalaya, his army, num- 
 bering about twenty thousand men, of all arms, found itself confronted 
 I' r the Confederate forces, numbering about thirty-five hundred men, 
 *®ider Gen. Taylor. The la ter occupied a slightly intreuchf-d position 
 across the peninsula through which the Teche flows, in the lower part 
 'of St. Mary. Repulsed before this position. Gen. Banks sent a column 
 "'W transports to operate in Gen, Taylor's rear. Finding it impossible 
 'with his small force, to keep open his communicatioRS, Gen. Taylor 
 concluded, reluctantly, to evacuate the country. Holding in check the 
 column which numbered more than his whole force, ani which had ef- 
 ■ fected a landing some fifteen miles above his position, with a small force 
 and several detached sections of artillery, the Confederate General ef- 
 fected his retreat along a line of r'-ad which ran within cannon, shot of 
 "'the Federal column, without the loss of any of his material. From 
 "'this time the advancing columns of the enemy met with no obstacles to 
 '''impede their progress, except occasional skirmishing with his advanced 
 '"guard, until they reached the Bayou Vermilion. While the enemy was 
 ,''.^ffecting the crossing of this bayou, defended by less than five hundred 
 'Cbnfederate troops — (magnified by the apprehensions of the enejr.y iii- 
 ' '.to the dimensions of an army,) — Gen. Baulks was writing, from > he 
 ' Cbte Gelee, his first official dispatch, in which he as-serts, with tlie char- 
 "acteristic mendacity of Federal war bulletins, that his array had fought 
 [Tialf a doizen pitched batUet between Berwick's Bay and the .Y^r- 
 ''^iDilion. 
 
 Gen. Taylor having skilfully conducted his army beyond the inde- 
 
 "fdnsible boundary, the-beautiful and wealthy district of Opehusas and 
 
 ' Attakapas was left an open prey to the ravages of the enemy. • Meet- 
 
 Isff^witD no opposition, the projpreM of bi9 colam&a wo* vask^d^py 
 
BcenfB of spoliation aud devastation unparalleled in civilized warfare. 
 His advanced gnard maintained some dt-gree of order, as it penetrated 
 into the country ; but it was followed by a confused mob if officers and 
 men, horse and loot, ppre;td out in every direction, plundering and de- 
 stroying whatever came wiihin their reach. While some were attack- 
 ing with Bword and bayonet the domestic animals, and shooting into 
 the poultry yards, others penetrated to the negro quarters, and endeav- 
 ored, with inquisitorial ingenuit}', to extract from the slaves the sepret 
 of the buried treasures of their masters, or to excite them to revolt. 
 From the many statements of eye-witnesses to these scenes of 
 plunder and pillage, we select the description of a venerable and ac- 
 complished lady, living by the way-side. " I was" she says " watch- 
 " ingfrom my window, the apparent orderly march of the first Yankees 
 " that appeared in view and passed up the road, when, suddenly, as if 
 "by magic, the whole plantation was covered with men, like beesfrom 
 "an overthrown hive; and, as far as my vision extended, an inestri- 
 " cable medley of men and animals met my eye. Ip one place, excited 
 " troopers were firing into the flock of sheep ; in another, officers and 
 "men were in pursuit of the boys' ponies ; and in another, a crowd 
 " were in excited chase of the work animals. The kitchen was soon 
 "filled with some, carrying off the cooking utensils and the provisions 
 ''of the day; the yard with others, pursuing poultry, aud firing their 
 " revolvers into the trees. They penetrated under the house, into tl 
 •* out-bitildings, and went into the garden, stripping it in a moment >jf 
 "all its vegetables, and trenchirg the ground with their bayonets, in 
 "search of buried treasures. This continued during the day, as the 
 " army was passing, am'.d a bewildering sound of oaths and impreca- 
 "tions, mingled w>h the clatter of the poultry and the noise of the 
 "animals. Atone time during the day, passing through the house, 
 "my attention was attracted to a noise in the parlor. I opened the door, 
 " and was just in time to see two soldiers springing out of the window, 
 " in possession of some books and daguerreotypes they had taken from 
 " the table. Securing the windows, I turned to other parts of the 
 " honse. In the children's room, I found a trunk broken open, and its 
 *' contents strewn upon the floor, and I discovered that some articles 
 " had been taken. When the army had passed, we were left almost 
 "destitute." Another lady confessed to us her inability to desGiibe 
 the scene. "I can only say," said she, "it was bedlam let loose." 
 Though varied in particulars, many of which will be given in the se- 
 quel, the testimony of every eye-witness on the enemy's line of march, 
 is to the same purport. A gentleman of high character, and distin- 
 
 fuished in the political annals of the State, was arrested at his resi- 
 ence near Vermilionville, and carried, on the line over which was 
 passing this motley crowd, twelve miles to the Carencro, where the 
 lead of the Federal column was then resting. The country through 
 whicb this line passed was thickly dotted with farms and plantations, 
 iBierBW3t«d by the public road aud lateral lauee. Though we c»nu<rt 
 
reproduce his graphic description of what he witne9%(l» in hit oira 
 words, we take the liberty of giving euough of it, from njeiiiory, u* 
 co.^wy an idta of this licentious mai'ch. >'The roud," suid he, '"Was 
 •' filled with an indiscriminate ma>^s of armed nier, on horseb; ck and 
 "on toot, carts, wagons, cannon and cais'-on?', rolling along in most tu- 
 •• multuons disorder, while to the right and to the letf, joiuing the mass, 
 •' and detaching from it, singly and in groups, were hundreds g ing 
 " emptyrhanded and returning laden Disregarding thp lanes and path* 
 *' ways, they broke through fields and enclosures, spreading in every 
 " direction that promised plunder or aitnicted curiosity. Country carts, 
 •'horses, ranles and oxen, fujlowed by negro men, women, and even 
 ••children, (who were pressed into service to earry the plunder,) laden 
 " with every conceivable object, were appioaching and niiiigling iu the 
 •' mass from every side. The most whimsical sci nes presented them- 
 " selves, at every step : horses and even gentle oxen, wer« pull, d, push* 
 •• ed, and beaien along towards this seething current, with pigs, sli ep, 
 "geese, ducks, and chickens swinging from their backs, fluttering, 
 /squealing, and quacking, while the burthened animals, in bewil lered 
 "am iZemt-nt, were endeavoring to escape from their persecutors. These 
 '' scenes, repeated at every step on my way to Careucro, was only va- 
 " ried on my return, by the diminished objects of plunder left for those 
 " that came after." 
 
 The Federal a my established, on i*s route, military posts at Frank- 
 lin, New ibi ri;j, bt. Maitinssville and Veim 1 onvilh , with sufficient 
 "transportation " to carry out what seemed to be the main object of 
 the c'lmp^ngn. Haltinj: at Opelousas. with its right renting on the 
 Couitablcau at Wfisliington, adequate preparations were made to gather 
 tile fruits of iti* maniKtld victori;'S. Immediately, the Conimissiry 
 and Qu irti^rmaster's wagons, witl) all the te-ms wh.ch could be pre.- 8 d 
 in the couitry, were put in requisition to collect cotton and sugar, t) 
 c> rry to the diflerent laud'ugs on the bayou, thence to be taki n otf by 
 steamers. Horseiovu were i;ent to scour the country in every cirection 
 f-^r stock. The less philosophic of the astonished proprietors, rushing 
 to Head Qimrters to remonstrate against being deprived of their p<ipir- 
 ty in so summary a manner, were insnitingly told that "receip s would 
 be given, and if after the war, they could prove their loy.'ihy. they might 
 be pa d." Even tlie lip service, which has souietime.s passed cuini.t, 
 woidd not be received, in exchange for property. The woik of spola* 
 tion went on. The finest blooded stock, imported at great expense, ai.d 
 every living thing of value, were indiscriminately appropr atcd for 
 transportation or slaughtered, papers ransacked, locks picked, strong* 
 boxes broken open ; and all exportable commodities, convertible into 
 money, were shipped as fast as they could be transported by steamers. 
 While matters were progressing thus favorably, with no enemy will.- 
 in a hundred miles, General Banks was summoned to a new scene of 
 action. The intelligence having reached Opelousaj that Acimiral Por- 
 ter had forced tli9 detvncei of |i«d Riv«r> and wai stoauiiug luWHidd 
 
Alexandria -with his fleet, it becamfe necessary for the Federal General 
 to put his army in motion, to share with Porter the glory of the con- 
 quest of an interior undefendt-d town. He accordingly undertook a 
 forced march to that point. En route, he passed up the Bayou Bo3uf, 
 through a planting district, lying on either side of that stream, remark- 
 able for its exuberant fertility, and ornamented with extensive planta- 
 tions, cultivated by proprietors of education, refinement and wealth. — 
 So effectually was this Avealthy region laid waste during this Vandal 
 march, that the few inhabitants who remained clinging to their deso- 
 lated homesteads, amidst the ruins that surrounded them, were spared 
 the presence of the Federal army, when the autumn brought it back to 
 conaummfte its work of destruction. 
 
 Whatever agreeable visions may have occupied the mind of General 
 Banks, during his occupation of Alexandria, were rudely dispelled by 
 a summons to less congenial duties than those of reducing helpless citi- 
 zens to poverty. Giving his weary soldiers but little time to rest, after 
 their forced ir?arch to Red River, he precipitately withdrew from Alex- 
 andria, crossed the Mississippi, and resumed the siege of Port Hudson. 
 Meanwhile, the several small corps, Ftruug along his rear, retreated by 
 ■way of Berwick's Bay, carrying with them loads of plunder, and thou- 
 sands of negroes, as will be more particularly noticed in another place. 
 
 After the Federal forces were thus withdrawn, in the spring of 1863, 
 for four months these parishes were left in peace. Many of the citizens 
 believing that the storm had passed, set about repairing their damag d 
 fortunes ; while others less confident and more wi«e, gathered up what 
 was left of the wieck, and removed beyond the borders of the district. 
 
 In the month of September, 1S63, the Federal army again crossed 
 Berwick's Bay, advanced leisurely along the route taken in the spring; 
 and rested the head of its column, on the Courtableau, at Washington. 
 After having remained in this position several weeks, it fell gradually 
 back, sweeping, as with a drag-net, every thing in,its way, until it 
 massed itself along the Teche, on the Peninsula embraced within the 
 limits of St. Maiy, where it remained encamped during the winter 
 months. 
 
 The Red Riyer campaign, which terminated so disastrously to the 
 Federal arms at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, opened in March, 1864, 
 just one year after the expedition undei-taken for the devastation of 
 Opelousas and Attakapas. The larger portion of the army, which had 
 fallen back upon the Peninsula, was withdrawn from time to time, dur- 
 ing th e winters of 1863-4, leaving but a remnant to complete the de- 
 struction of that beautiful Parish. But in the early spring, it was 
 joined by the several corps and commands, which were to compose 
 "The Grand Army of Louisiana and Texas." This grand column of 
 invasion commenced the blunders, which culminated in its disaster and 
 route in North Louisiana, by marching through the country which it 
 had previously stripped of the means of furnishing subsistence or for- 
 .agr, when it might have reached Alexandria in twenty-four houvp by 
 
11 
 
 river transports from New Orleans. On the 22d of March, the re»r 
 guard of the "grand army" passed the northern limits of St. Landry. — 
 Since then, with the exception of occasional visits to the wooded out- 
 skirts, from itilitary posts on the Mississippi, by marauders who came 
 to open a ballot box, in which to deposit their own votes; or to capture 
 or marder an unoffending citizen, this district has been free from tho 
 ti'ead of the enemy. 
 
 From this general description of the country, and the operations of 
 the invading forces, it will be stien how far the Federal General may 
 Congratulate himself, on the accomplishment of his congenial mission, 
 viz; tho impoverishment of the people, and the destruction of the re- 
 sources of the country. Gen. Banks found this district a^ garden; he 
 left it a desert. By his hand, the fruit of the patient labor of half a 
 century has been destroyed. The flocks and herds that ranged upon 
 its verdant praries have been wantonly swept away. Citizens, whose 
 means once enabled them to dispense a liberal and heart-warm hospi- 
 tality, have been reduced to poverty and destitution. Families, who 
 had enjoyed a cultivated ease in their elegant homes, have been forced 
 into voluntary exile, to seek immunity from Federal persecution in a 
 land of .strangci's. The contented and happy negro, who had grown 
 upon the soil, fulfilling the destiny that God had prepared for him, and 
 through which He might have been leading his race to higherdestinies, 
 has been recklessly driven, with the family, from a once peaceful and 
 happy home, to a life of degradation, want, and painful death. For the 
 proper fulfillment of the duties assigned to us, inider the commission 
 with which we have been honored by your Excellency, we have tra- 
 versed the high-roads, on which are grouped the most considerable 
 plantations cf this district, from the lower limits of Rapides and Avoy- 
 elles, to the junction of the Teche with tho Atchafalaya; and although 
 it was in the early autumn, and on the approach of the harvest, with 
 the exception of occasional half-cultivated "patches," enclosed by the 
 ■wreck of former field fences, we saw, along this whole route of ISO 
 miles, but a few meagre vestiges of the treasua'cs of the earth, cultiva- 
 ted by the hand of man. Along the entire route could be traced the 
 melancholy monuments of the devastating march of the enemy. Unin- 
 closed fields were covered with the rank luxuriance of weeds and wild 
 vines, which encroached upon the very thresholds of the mansions, still 
 standing, as memorials of former prosperity. Somu of these dwellings 
 were occupied by families, living upon the wreck of their former tor- 
 tuu«s. Others were entirely deserted, presenting, with their unhinged 
 doors and broken Arindows, a gloomy picture of decay. The sites of 
 others were marked by charred ruins, from the midst of which arose 
 the blackened remains of crumbling chimney stacks. The large and 
 costly structures erected for tho manufacture of sugar, as well as the 
 less expensive buildings of the cotton planter, we found in every stage 
 of decay, dilapidation and ruin, owing, either to the absence of 
 flie proprietor, or the destroying hand of the anemy. But uf , 
 
It 
 
 )^m remarkable than these general featnres, was the abBPnce of the 
 domestic animals. Thnuigh St. Landry and Lafayette, wl er^ the 
 broad u.aiiieB sweep down to the road, may yet be been a t< w ca t'e 
 that l;av<- wandered in by the way sidt ; lint along the Teehe, j.iiiUial 
 life diminished at every step, until, below Franklin, even tlie most ne- 
 cessary dumestic aninuils disajtpeaied. For miies nothing could be 
 eetn but the vulture brooding, fVom some sbattcred tiee top, over the 
 desolate scene; or the hawk, Bying h^w, in si arch ot his piey, over the 
 tangled thickets usurping the once cultivated fii Ids. But the exulier- 
 ance of nature, as if in mockery of man's desolation, was still prrdigal 
 ai' its bounties. I'he vine of the pumpkitij overhapiiig the thicket, de 
 posited its golden treasure, even by the way side; aiid we s;iw them, 
 in one instance, gathered by the g.rls of the adjacent village, who 
 gleaned over this desolated field for bounties thus spontaneously be- 
 stowed. An exception to this scene may be found in some lends of 
 the bayous, some curvatures of the toad, or sortte si quest ered nooks 
 on th» lakes, protected by their situation from waste and destiuciion; 
 but these places are few, and their combined products, tor the present 
 yea-.', will nit equal what has been produced annually by a single large 
 plantation on the Teche. 
 
 Bat out of the cal.imities with which the scourge of war has afflicted 
 the people of this ill-fated district, has come some good. Like gold pu- 
 rified in the fire, they have become more ardent iu their patriotism, in 
 the midst of their adversity. Tiiey have been inspired with a new 
 z«al in the cause ot our independence. Mor men have girdeii on their 
 armor for battle; and more mothers have sent out their husbands and 
 sons, to defend their homes and firesides a^'ainst the tread of the Van-* 
 dal, and the torch of the incendiary. 
 
 It might have Lem anticipated that the exactions of a hostile army, 
 occupyinj^ f rich agricultural country, would fall with peculiar severity 
 on its inhabitants; that the foraging parties would not nicely balance 
 between their militaiy rights, and the right of pt-operty in the propria* 
 tor; and that many acts of hardship and oppression would occur trora 
 the exercise of unrentrained poA^er. A just appreciation of the evils 
 incident to a state of war, might have taught the reflecting citizen to 
 brave such hardships with becoming equanimity; and the reflection that 
 invading armies are not always entirely free from tl o presence of the 
 dissolute and the depraved, might have Jed him to anticipate some ru le 
 attempt upon his purse, or somo aggravated assault upon his person. — 
 But the outrages committed by the enemy did not flow from the ordi- 
 nary sources of the calamities of modern warfare, as the facts embraced 
 in our narrative wiU'fully demonstrate. 
 
 We have been commisBioned by your Excellency, to prepare "foi 
 •'publication and historical record, a full, accurate, authentic statement 
 "of the atrocities and barbarities committed by the Federal officers, 
 "troops and camp followei-s, during their late invasions;" and we will 
 more clearly isabserve the purposes of tha commission, by first enutoer- 
 
12 
 
 »fing, under tlieir respt'ctive heads, the charges brought «<!:ninst the en* 
 emy, and afterwards uuder correspon ling h»^ads, corrobori-tlng them hf 
 deiuils. 
 
 1. The Fe iHralists not only robbed tho planters of the pnxluce of 
 tht^ir liel:lj*, ami plimdereil thn g.)odij of tbe inerchan^s; but they de- 
 stroyed die. libraries and depositories of professional nieii. 
 
 2. They sacked priv-ite thvellings, and while reveling upon the con- 
 ten;s of tUe pin.ries and wine celle.s, tbey grossly and indecent- 
 ly insiilted the unprut.-ctod females, and vrantonly destroyed tlit^ir 
 last remamts of food a -id clothing. They shatterr d the crockery, 
 glass ware, and mirrors, strewing the Hoor with their fragmentp; tlpey 
 stovts with the huts of their muskets, tlie doors of side-boards and clos- 
 ets, prized open drawers with tiie points ot their hayoueiB, and slashed 
 with tJjeir sa mvs prized objects of taste, or ornaments consecrated ta 
 pious uses; ill cooler blood, when their intoxication, or the excitement 
 of a general licence had sui)sided, they dashed to pieces and burned lor 
 fuel cosily ariicl s of furnitu.e, and prize. i heir-looms trom formei geu- 
 urations. 
 
 3. They violently plundered the rich of their money, the poor of their 
 necessary effects, the women of tiieir jewelry, and .ven the cnildren of 
 their trinkets. Nor did they spare the de;»d They sacrilegiously rav- 
 ished from them the last coveiing which enclosed their mortal remains. 
 
 4. They fired volleys among passing citiz :;us, and groups of women 
 and children, in the streets ot a peaceful vilh.ge. 
 
 5. They viidated the sanctuary and the tomb. 
 
 6. They arbitrarily arrested peaceful and unoffending citizens, whom 
 they dr.igged though the country like felons; wlioiu they c mlined un- 
 der guard in exposed situations, or lodged in jails from which they had 
 loosed the depraved and the criminal; or, whom they transported to a 
 distant city, to languish f(n* months in prison, a prey to the cares and 
 anxieties haunting the victim thus rudely torn from his family. 
 
 7w In violation of the dec-ncio'S and proprieties ot life, they unneces- 
 sarily occupied private dwellings, or surrounded them with th ir camps, 
 so that helpless ladies were driven to seoii ret'uge iu interior rooms, 
 where, besides th j annoyances ot interrupted privacy, and the appre- 
 hension of in >re serious intrusion, they were deprived of the comforts* 
 and, sometimes, of tho necessaries of lite. 
 
 8. They not oily razed to their fou.idations, or wantonly burned 
 plantation buildings and dwellings, from which they had uriveii the 
 inmates; but they tore down, over their heads, the sheltering root of 
 the widow and the orphan. 
 
 9. I'bey destro .'ed not only the poultry, the flocks and herds, the fields* 
 the gardens, and the orchards, and a'.tempted to destroy tho sources of 
 sa t, all essential to sustain and preserve lite, but they also destroyed 
 tho medicines and surgical instruments, indispensable to restore health. 
 They not only chopped td pieces or burned tho aratory instruiueuts, 
 tbe carts and wagons. Ihe corn and 8Ujar mills, necessary for the pro' 
 
1 1 
 
 'Auction of a netf supply of fuod; but tUey hacked in pieces the cards, 
 tlie spinning wheels, nml tho looms, required to furuisb the neCessary 
 'clothing; s,nu, as if this \vei"0 not sufficient to gratify the niost refined 
 malignity, they introduced loathsome diseases among the people whom 
 they had previously bereft and despoiled. 
 
 10. While thus violating, on the one hand, the law of the christian, 
 and, on the other, the precept of the Mohammedan, they set at uaug'ht 
 both, by ileither keeping faith not- covenant with those whom they 
 •drove to accept their protection, on the condition of professed allegiance, 
 nor with the credulous negroes, whom they had perfidiously drawn in- 
 to their toils. 
 
 I. VV^e have already alluded to the fdct, that means of transportation 
 ■n-as put in motion, in the words of the worthy commandant of the post 
 al Opelousas, "to collect the valuable products of the country;" and 
 -liis report will show the result of the operations in the Parish of St. 
 ■Landry. What was collected at the other Federal military posts, we 
 have no accurate means of judging; but, as Ave find the same com- 
 .plaints throughout the district, we presume that the officers command- 
 ing them, if less diligent, had a success at least commensurate with 
 their efforts. With regard to the merchants, as the suspension of for- 
 eign commerce had reduced their stocks of merchandize to a low ebb, 
 (except in a few instances,) the only articles of value they still re- 
 tained were the exchangeable objects of the country, such as hides, to- 
 bacco, flour, «fec. These, with such goods as were left on the shelves, 
 were generally taken; none escaped but the very few who were covered 
 by foreign protection, or who had made some particular interest with 
 the enemy, and even those were sometimes plundered. The iron safes, 
 possessed by most of the merchants in the country, unless they were 
 emptied and purposely left open, as in some instances they were, were 
 forcibly entered, and their contents taken or destroyed. Mr. Hine, of 
 the Parish of St. Mary, had replenished his stock of goods; and, on the 
 second advance of the enemy, he had, probably, a larger supply than 
 had been in the possession of any one merchant in this district, since 
 the close of the first year of the war. His store was sacked by a New 
 York regiment, under the command of ;i Col. Love. This ofiScer, how- 
 ever he may have illustrated the tenderness of his name, while engaged 
 at home in his handicraft or other peaceful pursuit, sadly belied it here, 
 as Mr. Hine testifies. Under his superintendence, this store was bro- 
 ken open, and those articles which could not be taken away, such as 
 hardware, were thrown into the Teche, which ran near by. After thus 
 disposing of the contents of the building, his men attacked the iron 
 safe which was very large and strong. Working faithfully eight hours 
 Avithout success, with a battering lara constructed Avith bars of iron 
 lashed together, they were about ceasing their labors; but encouraged 
 by the Colonel, Avho cried, "Go on, boys, don't give it up so !" thoy 
 persevered and finally accomplished their object Finding the con- 
 tents to consist only of merchants' aocount books and papers, which, 
 
u 
 
 tlion«i;h of the last importance to tbc owner, were of no possible value 
 to them, they gratified th»^ir disappointment in the destruction of thty 
 frnits of years of jmremitting industry. Not content with plundering- 
 and destroying liis visible effects:, they now annihilated the evidence 
 of his credits, Turning his ciccount books inside out, they trampled 
 the leaves in the mud; and tearing asunder his bundles of valuable pa- 
 pers, they scattered them in the street; then, to crown their malevo- 
 lence, they "besmeared," to use the words of Mr. Hine, "the house from 
 top to bottom, and left it." 
 
 This accouni^ M'hich we have from this gentleman, corroborated front 
 other sources, well illustrates the Federal mode of proceeding with the 
 merchant; with those of the learned professions, the proceedings were 
 no less summary. We ha\e witnessed this, in fho torn and charred 
 remains of libraries which are scattered broadcast in the villages ; and 
 in the broken and mutilated safes wliich once enclosed their important 
 legal documents and papers, — for the lawyer's strong-box shared the- 
 same fate with that of the merchant, IMajor Anderson, a Representa- 
 tive in the State Legislature from the Parish of St. Landry, had a valu- 
 able library which was consumed as fuel under the boilers of his engine, 
 " set in operation " to grjnd meal, by the Forty First Massachusetts 
 regiment. 
 
 IL In entering upon the subjects appropriated to this head, we are 
 met at the thresliold, by a mass of testimony, written and verbal, so 
 voluminous and so alike in general character, that we find it difficult 
 to make proper selections. It would appear from this testimony that 
 the general license accorded to the Federal army, on entering the coun- 
 try, was restricted after passing the Vermillion. We may judge that 
 this restriction had been necessary to prevent the entire dissolution of 
 the bonds which bound the army together in a controllable mass ; but, 
 be this as it may, we find, as it approached St. Landry, that there Avas 
 a prohibition against entering private dwellings, which w.ts attempted 
 to be enforced ; while below dwellings were entered with impunity, and 
 sacked under the eye of the officers. 
 
 As the Federal column advanced up the banks of thp lower Atcliafa- 
 laya and the Teche, its gunboats, which rnoveffa little in advance, 
 •threw shells to the right and left, over houses and among the buildings 
 of the plantations. The startled inmates, overwhelmed with terror, 
 rushed wildly, taking with them nothing but the clothes on their per- 
 sons, in search of places of shelter and protection. When the imminent 
 danger was over, or after the column had passed, they returned to their 
 homes to find themselves bereft of every article of luxury, of com- 
 fort and necessity. 
 
 We have before us a statement from the family of John M. Bateman, 
 Esqr., an aged and wealthy planter, who lives on the lower Atcha alaya, 
 nearest the Bay, the starting point of the Federal advance, which we 
 shall use in this and other places, to illustrate the character of the Fed- 
 ,^ral oiltrageB. Admonished by a Bhell " which passed through the din- 
 
icg room And exploded in the yard beyond," thia fainilj abruptly tLed. 
 irom their dwelling. Returning the next day, they foiitfd a scent? of 
 dosolatjon difficult to be describe d. "Fences were broken down; 
 ♦' phrubbery broken and trampled under foot ; corn husks, fodder, hay 
 " and broken glass, and table ware, were scattered over the yard : 
 •• without all wa.s disorder; within, all ruin. 4- company of Federals 
 " had occupied the residence, fed their horse? around the house, from 
 " the provender of the place, while they had helped themselves from 
 •' the garden, store-room, closet and dairy. Making the servants cook 
 " tor them, they had feasted on all they could find to gratify their ap- 
 *' petites. With their bayonets they had iiplit open the pannels of a 
 "c<i.-;tly side-ho rd, and brf)ken into a closet, Irom which they had 
 «' abstracted the liqudrs, preserves and jellies. Nor was feast ng and 
 •'drinking all the damage they had done. With b^iyonets and kicks, 
 "they had broken the glass in the windows, the large parlor mirror, 
 •« the glass in the doors of the dining room safe, and the fine cut-glas3 
 *' table ware, with a beautiful set of china, imported from France before 
 " the war. The}' had carried off knives, spoons, kitchen utensils, table 
 " cloths, napkins, and dairy bowls, in fact, every thing portable about 
 " the house." 
 
 Mr. Fortier, a highly r.^spec*able gi^ntlem-in fr )m the coast, with his 
 family consisiing of a wife and nine children, the youngest an infant, 
 had taken refuge in St. Mary. He occuiiied a dwelling on a p'antation 
 between Franklin and Jeanere'.t-;. Atthistim , hearingfhe firing below, 
 he^ with his family, fled in cons ernation for safety and protection, to a 
 neighboring plantation. In his absence many soldier.'^, inclu ling offi- 
 cers, from tie advancing column?, fell out, an I taking possession of rhe 
 premises, they ga hered in the stn-vants nf the plantation, wli>ii, while 
 administering to their pleasures, they incited to plunder. Then c im- 
 menced a regular bacchanalian carouse. Drawing out the hoirdi-d 
 luxuries of the family, dashing open side-boards an I closets, to come 
 more readily at their contents, they drank wassail amid the clashes of 
 glasses, which were thrown over their shoulders as fast as emptied, and 
 ■with stentorian voires calling for more, they danced in mad glee am lag 
 the fi-agmentfi. Whil#their wants were being supplied by servants, 
 with whom to hear was to obey, they varied their entertainment with 
 feats of dexterity agajjist mirrors and such other objects as afford sport 
 to the licentious. At length, in the fervor of excitement, an officer, it , 
 is said, mounted the table and commenced au tioning ofif the furniture 
 and other objects, which could not be conveni mtly carried away. The 
 servants, participating in the excitement, brought in their little hordes 
 of silver, and an active bidding immediately ensued. Pianos, armoirs, 
 side-b )«ards, &c., were knocked off on the most liberal terms, timidst 
 peals of wild laughter, and the low chuckle pf the grinning nei;-roes.-r— 
 These deluded victims thought, undoubtedly, that the world had turned 
 upside down, and that, by a happy chance, they had come upperraoBt. 
 Thj^ gBOf^ ^j?^ h!0iii|i^t3irticl9p ^4»pt«^ to t(^3.5[iQ8,t.re4uecLta*t9, 
 
17 
 
 anil eveu tlie more discriminating loaded tbemBelves with objects an- 
 suited to their wants or condition. While this was going on, the more 
 prudent of the soldiers, those who perhaps, in Massachusetts, had been 
 early taught that the pleasures of the bowl were always subordinate to 
 the " main chance," were making perquisitions for " the valuable 
 products." Learning from the blacks, or conjecturing from the circum- 
 stances of the family, that plate and jewelry were concealed in the 
 house, they penetrated into every supposed hiding place. They tore 
 down the wainscot from floor to ceiling ; and in the ardor of their 
 search they hardly spared the rqof. What ever may have been their 
 success here, it is certain they found in the house a large amount of 
 " valuable product," which, with every other portable object they carr- 
 ried away. When this family returned, they found themselves sudden- 
 ly bereft of every thing they had : not a morsel of food, none of the 
 luxuries or conveniences of life, not even a chan^-e of clothing for the 
 infant, was left to them, in their destitution. 
 
 Mr. Eugene Olivier, living below New Iberia, was driven from his 
 dwelling by the apprehensions which impelled so many to leave theirs. 
 On the near approach of the gunboats, taking his child in his arms, and 
 followed by his shrinking wife, he ran up on the banks of the bayou, 
 trusting that no ball would be directed towards him as loi«g as he re- 
 mained with his family in view of the gunners. Presently he was 
 halted by a soldier from the opposite bank, who, leveling his gun, 
 cried: "I only want to shoot you, put down your child!" Mrs. Oli- 
 vier, with the charastbristic generosity qf her sex in similar situations, 
 flew to interpose her own pei'son between her husband and the menacing 
 gun. The gentleman, while holding off his wife with his disengaged 
 arm, scornfully taunted the ruffian for his baseness [lachete] ; the sol- 
 dier, dropping his weapon, churlishly ordered him to go on. He did 
 BO. and at every step the wild sounds of revelry, proceeding from his 
 dwelling, reached his ear. He could hear, blended with the sound of 
 his piano, which sent forth notes such as could only be drawn from it 
 by the heavy hand of a drunken dragoon, the sound of heavy tramping, 
 and clanging scabbards, mingled with the rude laughter and ruder im- 
 precations of the licentious soldiers, whp were desecrating his house- 
 hold with their mad dance. He returned to his I'esidence to find it en- 
 tirely denuded. Furniture, beds and bedding, food and naiment, and 
 cooking utensils had been alike appropriated or destroyed. 
 
 Mr. Hau, residing in St. Landry, not apprehending danger, ha(J 
 gone with his family to visit a daughter, who resided a day's journey 
 from him. When he returned thj Federal army had passed. Like the 
 angel of death, it had rested but a moment to leave ruin in its track. 
 From kitchen to parlor, from cellar to garret, all was empty ; even ths 
 bucket had been taken from the well. 
 
 But if freer scope was given in houses untenanted, those whose in- 
 mates remained were, in many instances, violated with the same inde- 
 cencv. 
 
18 
 
 The dwelling of Capt. E. 0. Darby, situated above Franklin, was 
 sacked in the presence of his family, by a regiment of Gen. Dwight's 
 division, which was then acting under the command of one Captain 
 Frederick. Ordering his men to shoot Capt. Darby, if he should at- 
 tempt to resist, he proceeded with a deliberateness of design that dis- 
 covered his instincts as well as his expeitness. While some of his men 
 secured the animals used for the purposes of luxury or convenience, 
 others fell upon the carriages and carts, destroying such as could not 
 be readily taken away, while others were employed in chasing the 
 flocks and the poultry with which the premises were abundantly 
 stocked. But the larger portion were engaged in more agreeable occu- 
 pations. They brought out the wines and liquors from the well-filled 
 cellar. The medicines they trampled under foot. They appropriated 
 the siver plate, the bed and table linen, the articles of the toilet, and 
 the entire family wardrobe, and destroyed all the furniture of the table 
 and of the house. Captain Frederick then left the family standing on 
 their bare floors. 
 
 The dwelling of lSli\ Davisan Olivier was searched in his presence, 
 though fortunately in the absence of the female members of his family, 
 by the Second Ehode Island Cavalry, While a lusty dragoon thumped 
 upon the piano, his fellows whirled around in the excited mazes of a 
 dance, which was enlivened by the clank of scabbards against the floor 
 or the furniture, by rowdy songs, obscene exclamations, and resound- 
 ing whoops, which would have delighted a band of Sioux or Pottawata- 
 mies. Had this entertainment ended here, the proprietor of the house 
 might have been compensated for his lacerated sensibilities by the 
 safety of his effects; but when the war dance ended, the pillage com- 
 nieifsed. A party, attacking an armoir with their sabres, were spared 
 the hazard of breaking by Mr. Olivier, who promptly presented the 
 key, and stood by to witness all his clothing and the contents of his 
 pocket-book distributed among the licentious soldiers. Parties pene- 
 trating other rooms, soon came forth laden with the spoils of the parlor, 
 the dining room, the bed chamber, the closets and other receptacles of 
 household effects. Nothing, which could be carried away, was left be- 
 hind — not even a supply of food for the evening meal. 
 
 On the Olivier estate, in the parish of St. Mary, resided a venerable 
 lady, the head of that numerous and highly respectable family, the 
 relict o£ a distinguished gentleman, who was the connecting link be- 
 tween an honorrble ancestry and descendants noted for the qualities 
 which enlighten the council-board and adorn the social circle. But 
 neither age, nor worth, nor position, could protect her against insult. 
 As the column of Gen. Banks trailed its slow length along, like the ser- 
 pent which carries its venom vrithin its ceils, the dwelling of this ven- 
 erable lady was filled with riotous soldiery, whose sounds of revelry 
 might have been distinctly heard by the trailing masses as they passed 
 along the road. Her dining room, and the various ofiices connepted 
 with her metiage, were situated on the lower floor of the dwelling. 
 
19 
 
 This portion of the building was occupied all the day by a ribald rout> 
 who, while they were reveling on the contents of the plentiful pantry, 
 store-room and wine-cellar, called in the female servants of the planta- 
 tion, whom they compelled to share in their debaucheries, to assist in 
 the pillage, and to minister to their pleasures. The more refined maid 
 servants of the hous6 fled for protection to their mistresses, to whose 
 private apartments they Were pursued by intoxicated ruffians, who, 
 with drawn sabres, and using indecent and opprobrious epithets, drove 
 them forth. To the weeping ladies, whom they abused with ribald 
 tongues, and whose tears they derided, one of them, with menacing 
 gestures ciied : "Dry up ; we've seen enough of you Southern women's 
 tears." The venerable lady of the mansion, thinking perhaps that her 
 presence might inspire respect, had gone below, to exert her influence 
 ou the rout, to cause them to cease their orgies, and to spare at least 
 something on which to subsist the family. Upon entering the dining 
 room, she was accosted by an intoxicated soldier, Who rushed towards 
 her, thrusting to her lips a goblet of the lees of wine, brutally exclaim- 
 ing: "Drink, you damned old rebel, drink to the Union!" The pre- 
 cipitate retreat of the lady was followed by jeers and taunts, and shouts 
 of drunken laughter. She gained with effort the apartment to which 
 her family had withdrawn, where overwhelmed with bitter tears, she 
 sank exhausted in the arms of her despairing children. During the 
 ensuing night these ladies were guarded by the feeble arm of a private 
 soldier, whose conduct would be more particularly noticed except tor 
 the reason given in the sequel. The next day the soldiers, after having 
 broken what they could not carry away, and destroyed what they 
 could not consume, left the premises; and the family, on re-occupying 
 them found only a disordered mass of broken fragments lying around. 
 The last instance we shall give of this species of outrage, occurred 
 in the family of -\'ajor Gr. La C. Fusiliei', who resides on the lower 
 Teche, in the same Parish. Maj. Fusilier, the representative of one of the 
 most distinguished creole families of Attakapas, was as noted for his 
 munificent hospitality, as for the chivalric character which impelled 
 him, at an advanced age, to encounter the hardships of the camp, and 
 to brave the perils of the field. His lady, who united refinement of man- 
 ners and dignified deportment, with the quality of an accomplished 
 inanager of a lai-ge domestic establishment, was left, like a chieftainess 
 of old, to manage her numerous dependents and servants, while her 
 husbftud stemmed the head)' fight, or joined in the toilsome march. — 
 One day a company of Federalists halted at the front gate, and from 
 it a detachment rode to the door of the house. Hastily dismounting, 
 some threw their reins to others who remained behind, and rushed in, 
 as if to carry by assault a defended place. Meeting the lady in the 
 hall, they passed her rudely, without remark or explanation, and im- 
 mediately commenced ransacking tho house. Without waiting for 
 keys, or even demanding them, they violently broke open doors, ar- 
 moirs, drawer.s, and whatever interposed an obstacle to their search, 
 
20 
 
 indulging in bo-isterous oaths aud obscene language, and pillaging every 
 article that could be conveniently bestowed about their persons. The 
 terrified domestics, running through the house, were pursued, with in- 
 decent and menacing exclamations, which added to the general confu- 
 sion. One of the party, perhaps touched by the distress of the mis- 
 tress of the mansion, addressed her in Fi-ench, suggesting that 
 ing that his party were unauthorized to search for arms in this manner, 
 and that she should appeal to the Colonel, who was with the main body. 
 The Colonel presently appeared in person. She represented' to him 
 her situation, and demanded the protection whieh is due to every lady. 
 "Protect you !" he cried, rushing by her, the hilt of his sword catching 
 in her dress and whirling her around; "Protect you, a rebel; never ! — ■ 
 No protection to rebels !" The presence of the Colonel only increased 
 the rudeness of his followers. They found, up stairs, some brandy^ 
 which rendered them still more boisterous. Some of the party, coming ' 
 down, presented him a travelling bag, remarking', "Here, Cjlonel, is 
 something that will suit you." It contained Major Fusilier's clothes,' 
 on perceiving which, the Colonel turned to the lady and said: "I shali- 
 pass here this evening, and I want this bag. If I don't fiwd tt here, 
 you'll see what'll happen." He then peremptorily ordered breakfast 
 for his command, which, being provided by the servants, and eaten,- 
 the party rode off. Two hours after, the sergeant, who conducted the ' 
 search in the morning, returned and demanded the ti«avelling bag. — 
 Madame Fusilier answered by informing him of the threat of his Col- 
 onel. "The Colonel has sent for it;" he answered. "VVhat is the 
 name of your Colonel]" responded the lady. "That's 'none of your 
 business," he replied. She then asked him for a receipt. He gruffly 
 refused aud snatched the bag from her hands. Going to the front of 
 the house, he delivered it to one ofhis men on horseback, and went 
 round the house to the rear, where he found the gardener, a French- 
 man, advanced in years, and who could not speak the English language. 
 Him he ordered to get a brand of fire to burn the house. The man, on- 
 ly understanding the menacing looks and gestures of the Sergeant, 
 shrunk back, terrified. The Sergeant drew his pistol and felled him 
 to the earth, and immediately jumping upon him commenced rifling 
 his pockets. Having thus robbed the poor fellow of what money he 
 had. he dragged him to the kitchen, put a fii-e brand in his hand, and 
 hauled him back to the house. Meeting the lady in the hall, he exhib- 
 ited to her the fire, whieh he ordered to be thrown upon the floo*. — 
 Then presenting his pistol to her breast, he demanded all the clothes 
 she had hidden. While she was denying and expostulating, one of 
 the men without called to him. He went out; and, after a brief con- 
 sultation, the party hurriedly rode away. The fire, which was left kin-* 
 dling on the floor, was soon extinguished. The federalists, at this 
 time, were in undisputed occupation of tlie country; and the only pro- 
 tection which could be sought was that of the Federal commander. — 
 Madame Fusilier, finding, not only her dwelling, but her life in jeopar- 
 
21 
 
 'Ay, abandoned her home to the charg« of laithfnl domestics, and Kotigit 
 this protection. While ^e remained in Franklin, then the Federal 
 head-quarters, she lodged at the house of a friend, from whence, every 
 day, she saw her carriage and horses driven, with insolent bravado, 
 under window, conveying officers smoking cigars, and reclining in 
 every attitude in the stolen equippage. And while these scenes were 
 enacted under her eye, her elegant house in the country was occupied 
 by federal officers, who outraged the sensibilities of the christian, and 
 the obligations of common decency, by desecrating her private chapel* 
 and breaking down the altar with all its appropriate decorations, and 
 by breaking to pieces and burning, on her hearthstones, her splendid 
 furniture; thus destroying the objects associated, in her mind, with 
 the most pleasing and holiest recollections of her domestic life. She 
 was compelled to femain in Franklin until the work of destruction had 
 bften completed. Not until then could she receive a "pass" to return. 
 "Then," say^ she, "I found ray house empty. The little furniture that 
 "had been f?aved, my servants had secreted in their cabins. My car- 
 "pets had been cut to pieces, my curtains torn down and destroyed, 
 "and my furniture broken up and burned for fuel. The windows and 
 "doors Were broken, and the hall, covered with litter, appeared as if it 
 "had been used for stabling horses. My cooking range, and cooki-«g 
 "Utensils even, had been broken or carried away." Furniture, it would 
 appear, was found in many places a convenient substitute for firewood. 
 The Rev. Mr. Rand, of Vermilionville, "was arrested in the dead hour 
 of night, on some frivolous pretest, and conducted to an offices', who 
 was comfortably stretched before a fire, made of tables and chairs ta- 
 ken from a neighboring house. 
 
 III. We have already described the perquisition for concealed treas- 
 ure, on tho march; we shall have occasion, in another place, to refer 
 to the robbery of the negroes. But we may observe here, that whilo 
 the success of the latter was commensurate with the efi'ort, that of 
 the former was not inconsiderable. On the approach of the enemy, 
 most of the families, with a well-grounded cistrust, or » distinctive ap- 
 prehension of the Union-savers, concealed or buried their valuable 
 plate and ornaments. Sometimes by the treachery of the servants, 
 and sometimes by accident, these treasures were discovered and seized. 
 A lad^ in St. Mary had sent to a relation in St. Landry, her plate and 
 jewelry, of no inconsiderable value; and the relation, not venturing to 
 keep what he could not protect, buried it, with his own, in a remote 
 place, and, as he thought, with gi-eat secrecy; it was found, disinterred, 
 and carried away. In trenching a garden near Opelousas with the 
 bayonet, not an unasual proceeding, a lucky soldier threw up a thous- 
 and or more dollars in gold and silver, which amply rewarded him for 
 his virtucms labors. ' In an island of woods near the same town, after 
 diligent search a valuable deposit of gold and silver, and jewelry, was 
 brought to light and appropriated by the robbers. Plundering was 
 nniversal'; and, as tha impunity offered to the soldiers was not suffi- 
 
cient, suitable auxilaries were employed to make it more thorough. — 
 The arts used to obtain treasure, were such as have been employed by 
 the unprincipled in every age; delusive promises, violent seizure, ter- 
 ror, the cord, and the baton. At Mr. Joseph Frere's, in St. Mary, the 
 proceeding was a Vaimablc A party of officers, leaving their command 
 at the gate — for the appearance of the premises promised higher game 
 than was suited to the common herd — entered the house. Meeting Mr. 
 Frere in the hall, after complimenting him on the general appearance of 
 his mansion and the sun-ounding- property, they suggested in the mildest 
 manner, the possibility of its being protected; indeed, if properly remu- 
 nerated, they had no doubt they could afford all the protection necessa- 
 ry. Mr. Frere was not in funds. Had he not some articles of value — 
 a watch for instance ? One of the party was immmediately made hap- 
 py in the possession of the gentleman's watch. Another thought such 
 an appendage would gratify him; and another watch was produced. — 
 The others, charmed with the appeaa-ance of their fellows, with their 
 newly acquired property, would each like a watch. Fortunately, 
 among the ladies of the family, a sufficient number were found to grat- 
 fy those whose wants were the most pressing. But they were not res- 
 tricted in their fancies. They had sweet-hearts and wives. Chains, 
 broaches, bracelets, diamond and even plain rings, it was insinuated, 
 w^ould be acceptable. In fact, on reflection, they had pressing need of 
 those articles, and would be obliged to take them. The ladies of the 
 family, in consternation at the increasing demands, which now assured 
 them that personal violence would follow refusal, divested themselves 
 of their ornaments, and handed thenl over to these gentleman of the 
 Federal army. But as they could not appear in ornaments only suita- 
 ble for ladies, at the entertainments given by the Commander-in-Chief 
 and other officers, in the confiscated houses in Ne^r Orleans, they 
 thought it desirable to have some which would be more appropriate 
 and better adapted to the dignity of their rank. One of them gently 
 insinuated his fingers into the bosom of Mr. Frere's shirt, and extracted 
 a diamond stud. No further ceremony was now necessary, and no 
 inore was attempted. Proceeding directly to the business in hand, 
 they broke open the gentleman's armoirs, bureaux, and other recepta- 
 cles, and abstracted such articles of clothing and taste as suitad their 
 fancy. They were particularly gratified in finding several dozen fine 
 Parisian shirts, which, with the other little articles of hijoutrie they 
 had picked up, no doubt made them objects of envy, at the promenade 
 concert* of the ensuing winter, in the metropolis. 
 
 In other instances, they disregarded the suaviter in modo, and resort- 
 ed to the most summary means. At Mr. John D. Hudspeth's, in St. 
 Landry, they placed a negro on guard over the person of the venerable 
 proprietor, while they conducted the search. They found some mon- 
 ey. But the supply not corresponding with their expectations, they 
 were indeceatb in their abuse, and gratified their disappointment by ap- 
 propriating all Mr. Hudspeth's wearing apparel 
 
23 
 
 At Mr. Boudrean's in Lafayette, they robbed the gentleman, who 
 was intirm and confined to his bed, of every thing in the house and on 
 the premises, taking even the covering on which the invalid was 
 
 lying- 
 
 At Mr. Delhon^me's, in St. Martin, the lady of the house had recent- 
 ly died; they pillaged the eflFects of the dead. The servants of th^ 
 family begged them, with teai-s jn their eyes, to leave them some me- 
 morial of their old mistress, but they were inexorable. 
 
 On Petite- Anse Island, they entered the house of Mr. Hayos, then 
 in the ninetieth year of his age, and forcing from him the key of his 
 iron safe, tliey opened and robbed it of all the papers it contained. — 
 Fortunately his money liad been taken from it the evening before. — 
 Passing from this, they opened all his trunks, and abstracted their con- 
 tents of clothing and other articles; then, robbing the beds of their cov- 
 ering, they departed, after best-uv/iug on the aged man a volley of abii- 
 sive epithets. 
 
 At Mr. Antoijie Goulas', in St. Mary, they not qaly stripped the 
 family of all their wearing apparel, even the infant's clothing and all 
 the bedding, but they presented their pistols to Mrs. Goulas' head, 
 threatening to shoot her if she did not reveal the hiding place of her 
 money. Afterwards another squad came along, and leveling their guns 
 on Mr. Goulas, demanded bis money. 
 
 At Mr. Sandoz's, near St. Martinsville, while plundering the planta- 
 tion, they assaulted Mr. Sandoz. and tore his watch from his pocket. 
 They afterwards came in the night, and first arresting the gentleman 
 in the house, demanded his money. On being answered that he had 
 none, they told him the}' would search, and if any was found they 
 would shoot him. The tone and manner of tlie menace assured him 
 that it was no idle threat; but he answered, "You may search, and I 
 will abide the consequences." They dug under the floor of a base- 
 ment room, but met with no success. While they were thus engaged 
 the lady of the hou€e came in; and they immediately placed their cock- 
 ed pistols to her head, demanding that she should discover to them the 
 place where her liusbani's money was buried. She stood the ordeal as 
 firmly as her husband, and the ruffians were foiled. 
 
 At Mr. Kemper's, in Cypres-mort, after robbing the house of every 
 object of value, they took from the persons of the ladies their breast- 
 pins and rings. 
 
 At Mr. Alexander Vilmeau's, in Fausse Pointe, they not only robbed 
 him of a large sum of money, but plundered him of everything he pos- 
 sessed. While the party were pillaging the house he heard his wife 
 loudly crying for help. Running to her assistance, he f 'Und several 
 ruffians scuffling with her; one had wrenched a ring from her fing-er, 
 after biting it so severely that she suffered many weeks from the effects; 
 another had snatched her ear-pendants, tearing away the end of one 
 ear. While attempting to rescue her, Mr. Vilmeau was shot at twice, 
 and grazed by the bullets. On leaving the premises t^i^ ruffians fired 
 
84 
 
 several shots from the gate, at the house, amoug the femily, bat the- 
 balls not taking effect, they were spared from further harm. 
 
 At Mr. Dasincourt Borel's, near New Iberia, they pillaged his house, 
 taking from it every article, his own and his children's weai'ing appar-. 
 el, all his blankets and bed-covering, leaving him. completBly stripped; 
 and, on going away, they took his only horse. Mr. Bore! went to Gen. 
 Banks, who was then on the Olivier Estate, aud applied for his horse. 
 "It is the only means of support I have left me," said he, "and if I do, 
 Bot get it, I cannot suppoi t my family. My children will starve." 
 Gen. Banks replied: "The horse is no more your property than the 
 rest. Louisiana is mine. I iHteud to take everything." "But I have 
 a right to be protected," answered Borel, "I have taken the oath." 
 "When you shoulder your musket," retorted the General, "you may 
 receive further protection." The poor mq,n went back sorrowing to 
 his destitute children. He had accumulated the little sum of five hun- 
 dred dollars in specie, which he had hidden; it was all he had left. — 
 He may probably have made this remark, for the news soon reached 
 the Federal camp. A day or two after the interview with Gen. Banks, 
 an officer rode up to his door and commenced a sympathizing conver- 
 sation with him. He expressed great regret for the loss Mr. Borel had 
 sustained, and great indignation at the perpetrators of the outrag e. — ■■■ 
 Taking his departure, he rode down the lane, and meeting a negro, be- 
 gan to question him about Borel's money. "If you can find out where 
 it is hidden," said he, "I'll manage the business and share with you." 
 The negro promised, but immediately informed Borel. That night, 
 lour men came to his house at a late hour, and arrested him, as they 
 said, to take him to the Provost Marshal at New Iberia. Getting him, 
 to the bottom of the lane, a pistol was put to his head, and he was told 
 that if he did not at once reveal where he had hidden his five hundred 
 dollars, he would be instantly shot. "I know," said Borel, "you are 
 capable of everything. You have taken the last morsel from my chil- 
 dren's mouths. Yqu would kill me as remorselessly. Let us go backj 
 you shall have the money." They went back; and Borel delivered to 
 them his last dollar — his last means of supporting his children. 
 
 At Mr. Cesair Deblanc's, on the Bayou Petite Anse, they found the 
 proprietor and his wife, an aged couple whose gi'ey haiirs should have 
 commanded respect, if ^eir feeble condition had not inspired pity. 
 They had money ; and ia the pursuit of such spoil, the Federal sol- 
 diers neither regarded age, nor condition, nor infirmity, nor any of the 
 obligations which bind man to man in civilized society. A large party 
 surrounded the house ; and employing every means that ingenuity could 
 devise to inspire terror, drew from the aged couple their hoarded wealth, 
 But in the conflict, the venerable lady succumbed. By her anxious 
 and sorrow-stricken servants she was carried to the bed, from which 
 she never arose. 
 
 At Mr. David Berwick's, on the Bayou Salee, the residence of another 
 gentleman far stricken in years, the representative of the family which 
 
25 
 
 gives its name to Berwick's Bay, occurred another scene, which, if it 
 was not so fatal in its consequences, exceeded the one just mentioned, 
 in atrocity of design. This gentleman was aroused at a late hour in 
 the night, by the noise of crushing blows upon his door, which brought 
 him, hastily appareled to answer the rude summons. He was m?t by 
 a party of cavalry from the adjacent camp, whose horses wei*e held in 
 the yard. They demanded his money — used threats to, extort it — and 
 then resorted tq more potent weapons. A pisto.1 presented to his breast 
 was knocked down, when in the act of being fired. Another, raised 
 over his head to strike, was turned aside by one who suggested a better 
 expedient. Going to his horse, he returned with a lariat, which he 
 skilfully tied in a noose, as he traversed the yard. The noose was at 
 once, and without further parley, put over Mr. Berwick's head, the end 
 of the rope drawn around a column of the gallery, and then pulled 
 tight. In a moment it was loosened, and the demand reiterated. While 
 the old gentleman was recovering his faculties, atid before he could an- 
 swer, the rope was again drawn tight — this time bringing him to the 
 verge of suffocation. The ingenuity that was exercised in guagiug the 
 extent of Buffocation, as well as in applying the means, betrayed a 
 practiced baud ; the success which followed was no doubt as nicely 
 calculated from the effects observed on previous experiments. 'J'hey 
 drew from their victim about six thousand dollars, and then left him 
 both tortured in body, and a prey to serious apprehensions. That night 
 the road was full of inebriated troopers riding furiously, and robbing 
 every one by the way. Though they did not again attack Mr. Ber- 
 wick, the fear of such an event impelled him to abandon his house, and 
 take refuge in an out-building. Before morning, an officer penetrated 
 his hiding place, who said he was seeking his men ; but, from the at- 
 tendant circumstances, was doubtless an a;ccessory seeking his princi- 
 pals in crime. 
 
 Mr. Narcisse Thibodeau, at Brongh's bridge, near four-score years 
 of age, was taken from his house by Federal soldiers accompanied by 
 negroes, and beaten with sticks, until he confessed where his treasures 
 were hidden. They took from him many thousand dollars in gold ; but 
 not satisfied with this, or incited by their unusual success, they pur- 
 sued their robberies from house to house. Some citizens, gathering 
 courage from the magnitude of the danger, united in pursuit of the 
 marauders. They found them at Grande Pointe, in the act of laying 
 violent hands on an aged lady — Mrs. Guidry, — to compel her to dis- 
 gorge her money. Arresting thfim here, they returned, and on their 
 way home were themselves robbed of their prisoners, and the money 
 they had recovered, lay a body of Federal troops they met on the 
 road. 
 
 But it is unnecessary to multiply these sickening details. Nothing 
 was too little, nothing too great, nothing too sacred, to stay the Fed- 
 eral hand. While robbing the rich and tho provident, it pillaged the 
 poor, cutting, as we have seen, from their looms, the cloth woven by 
 
26 
 
 their hands. But its rapacity was not satiated upon the living ; it 
 fell even upon the dead. The men who brutally invaded the domestic 
 sanctuary, did not scruple to desecrate the ashes of the departed. At ' 
 Brashear city reposed the remains of the late Dr. Brashear, long distin- 
 guished in the councils of his adopted State, the cherished associate of 
 great men, the friend and countryman of Henry Clay. The sacri- 
 legious invaders, with the instincts of the hyena, ravished his tomb, 
 and appropriated to their own use, and carried ofi', enclosing their owu 
 dead, the metallic coffin which had contained his mortal remains. 
 
 Gen. Bank's policy embraced the use of auxiliaries, when the harvest 
 was not too great for his own reapers, as was exemplified at Opelousas, 
 On the western confines of St. Landry and Lafayette, Avhere the ex- 
 tended prairies are fringed by the pine forests, there are but few culti- 
 vated fields. The occasional huts of the herdsmen only, as in the 
 wilds of Australia, for many miles are here sparsely scattered around. 
 For more than half a century, this country has also been the refuga of 
 the idle and the depraved, who have avoided the haunts of civilization, 
 to enjoy in solitude the pursuits which society rejects. Subsisting upou 
 the cattle belonging to more industrious proprietors, they have never 
 wished" to enjoy the fruits of their own industry. So long as their dep- 
 redations were confined to the herds on the prairies, but few were in- 
 terested in suppressing them. Some attempts it is true, had been made ; 
 but the difficulty of detection and the consequent immunity from pun- 
 ishment, seemed only to confirm them in their incorrigible habits. 
 With the same instincts that lead the vultures to gather around the 
 carcass, these men flocked to Gen. Banks at Opelousas. They were 
 armed at once, and sent ostensibly to gather in the stock ; but, seeming 
 intuitively to apprehend the full design of the Federal commander, they 
 commenced plundering the houses of the citizens, who repaired to head 
 quarters in crowds to enter their complaints. In the temporary ab- 
 sence of Gen. Banks on a visit to New Orleans, Gen. Emory was theu 
 in command of the army. With the promptness of a soldier trained to 
 the duties of his profession, he undertook to remedy the evil. He ar- 
 rested the marauders within reach, and issued the following procla- 
 mation : 
 
 Head Quarters United States Forces, ) 
 Qpelousas, April 27, 1863.^ ) 
 It having come to the knowledge of the General temporarily in com- 
 mand of the United States Forces, that unauthorized persons are tem- 
 porarily banded together, and committing plunder and outrage on the 
 peaceful inhabitants of this country, it is hereby ordered and declared 
 to be without the authority of the United States, and all the United 
 States troops are commanded to shoot down at sight, and disperse, all 
 such bands of robbers and thieves. 
 
 (Signed) WM. H. EMORY, 
 
 .By the General Cbm'd'g., Brig. Gen. Com'd'g. 
 
 (Signed) Rich'd B. Irwin, A. A, G. 
 
27 
 
 Gen. Banks on his return from New Orleans, disavowed the order, aad 
 annulled it, by reinstating the robbers, furnishing them again with arms 
 and ammunition, and sending them forth t'» plunder and destroy. The 
 creatures, as cowardly as they were depraved, hesitated in the perform- 
 antfe of their task. Halting on the outskirts of the village, they sent 
 back for succor ; and the 41st Massachusetts regiment Avas mounted, 
 and sent out to guard them against the outraged citizens. Thus was 
 Inaugurated and organized that baud of " jayhawkers " who have since 
 become such a pest to the country. In the very midst of the depreda- 
 tions of these armed marauders, and the daily accumulating spoils plun- 
 dered by his own orders from unoffending citizens. Gen. Banks, with 
 characteristic duplicity, issued a proclamation reflecting upon plunder- 
 ers, and inhibiting conduct derogatory to the honor (!) of his army. 
 
 IV. The town of St Martinsville is situated on the right bank of the 
 T6che, which, at its narrow point, is but a stone's throw from hank to 
 bank. Its streets intersect at right angles, those fronting the stream 
 running to the water's edge perpendicularly. For some time after tha 
 Federal army had fallen back to New Iberia, this town occupied, in the 
 bend of the bayou, a neutral territory between the Confederate and Fed- 
 eral lines. The pickets of either party sometimes entered the town, as, 
 by tacit consent, the neutrality of the position was recognized. Tho 
 citizens, unmolested, pursued their ordinary avocations ; and on the 
 Sabbath, gathered, as usual, at tho church. According to the customs 
 of the Catholic towns of Europe, which they inherited from their an- 
 cestors, after church services they met in groups upon the streets to in- 
 dulge in friendly conversation, or to interchange social civilities. On 
 one of these occasions, a bright, joyous Sunday morning had invited 
 unusual numbers to the open air of the streets. In the midst of their 
 friendly greetings, they observed a Federal regiment filing up on the 
 Opposite bank, which, being no unusual occurrence, attracted but little 
 attention. The column advancing, covered the principal streets; when, 
 suddenly facing to the front, it enfiladed them with volleys of musketry. 
 The scene which ensued baffles description. An instinctive impulse 
 directed the feet of every one to the nearest shelter. Families thus be- 
 came separated, and soon the shrieks of mothers, the cries of children, 
 the frantic exclamations of husbands and fathers, all a prey to the most 
 agonizing apprehensions, rent the air. After the volleys ceased, the 
 •treets were filled with men, women and children, seeking their lost 
 loved ones. Fortunately, with one exception, all were found. As if 
 more strikingly to indicate the peculiar victims of Federal persecution, 
 the bullets of the regiment took effect only upon a man of koary head 
 and tottering step, while he was receiving the kindly greetings of a 
 passing friend. 
 
 Col. Robison, who commanded this regiment, bearing the name of 
 Louisiana, unblushingly avowed the act, and declared that he would 
 repeat it every time his regiment passed the rebel town. The inhabi- 
 tants Bent an expiess to Genqral Greeii, then the nearest Oonfederat© 
 
28 
 
 commander. He immediately sent notice, under a flag of truce, to the 
 General commanding at New Iberia, that if the act was repeated, be 
 "would retaliate on the prisoners he held. The act was not repeated. ; 
 but the conduct of the Colonel passed without censure. 
 
 V. In the early days of the French Revolution, when, in the fervor 
 of new ideas the altars of God were thrown down, and the reason of 
 man enthroned, the churches of Franco were devoted to base uses , but 
 the sacrilege has justly received the reprobation of mankind; and 
 among nations, whether Christian or Infidel, that recognize the suprem- 
 acy of an overruling God, the edifices consecrated to His service are 
 universally tespected. An exception was found in the Federal army. 
 The Catholic church at Opelousas, after having its enclosures torn 
 down and destroyed, was saved from further desecration by the Irish 
 Catholics in the enemj 's ranks, who rose in mutiny against the sacri- 
 lege; while the Protestants of that army permitted, without murmur 
 or protest, the desecrating hand of Massachusetts to make of the Pro- 
 testant Episcopal Church a den of infamy. They stole the sacred ves- 
 sels from the Catholic Church at New Iberia, and danced in the robes 
 of the priest who served at its altar. They struck with the flats of 
 their sabres, and kicked the venerable priest who ministered at the altar 
 of the Church of St. Martinsville, while his fingei-s were j^et moist 
 from the sacred symbols of the body and blood of Christ ; and they 
 violently took away the humble conveyance which carried him to the 
 bedsides of his parishioners, to administer the consolations of religion. 
 They ravished from the Methodist Church at Franklin the chairs, the 
 pews, the chancel, the lamps and the chandelier, to furnish a theater 
 in a billiard saloon, where ribald farces might be represented. But 
 further, they shocked the sensibilities of the humaji race, which lead 
 even the savage to approach with awe the graves of the dead. They 
 broke down and burned for fuel the enclosure around the cemetery at 
 Opelousas ; they used- the materials of the tombs and monuments at 
 New Iberia for chimneys and hearthstones ; they picketed their horses 
 among the graves, and spread their forage upon the tombs in the ceme- 
 tery at Franklin. In the vain search of treasure, they threw out the 
 freshly buried or mouldering remains of the dead. They ransacked 
 family vaults under the eye of the family, breaking and shattering the 
 coffins they enclosed ; and so often were these revolting scenes en- 
 acted, that some citizens brought, as a last refuge, the bones of their 
 ancestors under the sheltering roof of their dw;ellings. 
 
 VI. In the parish of Lafayette resided Basil C. Crow, Esq., who, 
 in former years, was distinguished as one of the prominent men of 
 Opelousas and Attakapas. Bred to the bar, he was engaged, in the 
 vigor of manhood, in the active practice of his profession ; but as his 
 sons and daughters grew up, he retired to his estate on the banks of 
 the Vermilion, and devoted the energies of a robust age to the cares of 
 a large domestic establishment, and to settling them around him. One 
 by OTif. they had loft thp patfirnal roof, until, either on neighboring es- 
 
29 
 
 tates, or in the adjacent village, they had separate estSCblishments, 
 with a new generation of children growing up around them. Under- 
 standing, on the approach of the enemy, that the line of the Vermilion 
 would be defended, which would expose their dwellings to the fire of 
 t'he opposing forces, these families, with loaded wagons and carriages, 
 hurriedly started for a place eight miles distant, to await the result of 
 the anticipated conflict. Learning, presently, that the Confederate 
 forces had retreated without giving battle, and that the Federalists 
 had crossed the Vermiliou, they set about returning to reoccupy their 
 homes. Approaching the village of Vermllionville, they were met by 
 a New York regiment that had come out in line of battle to meet them. 
 Advancing at a charge, its wings speedily enveloped the train, and 
 the soldiers, as exultant as if they had captured an opposing foi'ce, 
 fired guns over the carriages, and subjected the inmates to their coarse 
 jests and ridicule. Leading the train in triumph to the village, they 
 sent the ladies and children to their empty dwellings, without permit- 
 ting them to retain either food, raiment or bedding; and confining the 
 gentlemen in jail, they ordered the earriages and wagons containing the 
 personal and household effects to Opelousas, twenty-five miles above. 
 The gentlemen were soon sent after, to report, under the charge of an 
 officer, to the "Military Governor," then engaged in "collecting" at 
 Opelousas. While these families wore at home, suffering in the depri- 
 vation of the most necessary articles, they were kept here many days. 
 At length, through the intercession of an officer, a written order was 
 obtained to release them. As they were leaving the "Governor's" office, 
 he stopped them. "By the by," said he> "there is some silver plate 
 among those things ; this must be Confiscated. Come back here to- 
 morrow morning at W o'clock ;" and he turned aside to other business. 
 The gentlemen left, with the written order in possession, which they 
 were not slow to render available. Before ten o'clock the next morn- 
 ing they with their efi"ects, including the silver plate, worth several 
 thousand dollars, were beyond the jurisdiction of the Military Gov- 
 ernor, and out of the reach of his collectors. 
 
 While the Federal army was passing by the Cote Gelee, in the dis- 
 array we have described, some soldiers in the rear of a division, in 
 quarreling over their spoils, killed one of their number, and leaving the 
 body by the wayside, rejoined their command. As the next division 
 passed the body was discovered, and the officer in command sent to the 
 nearest house and caused to be arrested its only inmate, a man well 
 stricken in years, and who did not understand the language of his cap- 
 tors. Without investigation, enquiry or ceremony, he was dragged to 
 the corpse and made to kneel before it. A firing party was drawn up 
 in front, and as the word was about being given to fire, it was arrested 
 by the arrival of a burying party from the division in advance, who 
 had been sent to inter the body. The old man, thus rescued from the 
 jaws of death, was released and with menacing gesture* ordered back 
 (o his home. 
 
30 
 
 As the army marclied up the Bayou Bceuf. a Capt. Dwight, foUoiring in 
 the rear, was shot from the opposite bank of the bayou by som6 Confeder- 
 ate scouts. Under the circumstances, as they have been related to tis, the 
 ^ct was according to the usages of war. But whether it was or not, it 
 was done by soldiers of the regular army acting in their line of deity ; 
 and this fact was made apparent to the Federal general commanding. 
 Yet, notwithstanding, to retaliate he caused to be arrested the next day 
 all the male citizens dwelling on the bayou over a line of forty miles. 
 Sixteen, from St. Landry, grandfathers, fathers and sons, from early 
 youth to four-score, respectable citizens, accustomed to the comforts 
 and luxuries of life, were forced along twenty-eight miles of road, and 
 guarded at night in au open enclosure on a dung -heap. The next 
 morning, part of the way on foot, part of the way in open wagons 
 without seats, they were carried back forty miles, to Washington. On, 
 the way, none were permitted to stop at their homes, to bid farewell, 
 or explain their position to their families;, and but one was released, 
 Mr. Jesse Audrus, aged eighty years, the head of a numerous and 
 respectable family, after being dragged on foot over fifteen miles, 
 hauled in a wagen forty, and confined and guarded as above stated, all 
 within the space of thirty hours, was permitted to return home. The 
 ■others were taken the next day to Opelousas and confined four days 
 in the common jail, from which felons had just been loosed upon the 
 community. They were then brought out, formed in line, and marched 
 between lines of soldiers to Port Barre ; from thence they were shipped 
 to Brashear City, and on the passage had only the cotton bales with 
 which the boat was laden to sleep upon. At Brashear they were 
 placed on the railroad, in a box car without seats, which had last car- 
 ried stone coal, and were thus transported to Algiers. Here they were 
 imprisoned in a deserted iron foundry for three weeks and then sent 
 across the river to New Orleans. Here they remained confined two 
 months, after which the survivors were released to make their way 
 home as well as they could. The trials of the march had brought Mr. 
 James Hicks, an old man, to the verge of the grave, ahd he remained 
 in the hospital during the time the others were confined. Two died 
 in prison: Mr. Hiram G.Roberts, aged 46 years, and Mr. Solomon 
 Link, aged fifty. It is a simple story. We have read before of a simi- 
 lar fate befalling a party of men — they were shipWl-ecked mariners 
 thrown upon a barbarous coast. 
 
 When Gen. Burbridge was repulsed in au action at the Bayou 
 Bourbeux, in the parish of St. Landry, and thrown baCk to New Ibe- 
 ria, he, by the common impulse of ignoble souls, retaliated his shame- 
 ful disaster on the defenceless citizens of that place. He compelled 
 the entire male population, old and young, at the point of the bayonet, 
 to work fifteen days on his line of ditches, and he arrested and held 
 under guard young and delicate ladies, who had preferred not to walk 
 under his disgraced brigade flag. 
 
 Before the first invasion ©f Gen. Banks, a raid was made ob the 
 
31 
 
 Hentrop estate, on the lower Atchafalaya, by a portion of the 21st Ih- 
 diana regiment, under the command of Col. McMillan. The command 
 was broug-ht np by the gunboat Estrella. The men on landing com- 
 mitted the customary depredations, conducted in the usuil licentious 
 manner. Mr. Rentrop was then lying very ill, and his wife, leaving 
 the bedside of her husband, sought the officer in command and implored 
 him with pathetic eloquence to do his untimely work as quietly as pos- 
 sible, as she felt ass,ured that the least excitement would prove injurious,, 
 if not fatal to the invalid. Her supplications were treated with con- 
 tempt. The depredations went on with increased boisterousness. The 
 men fired their guns among the poultry and flocks, under the window 
 of the dying man. They even entered his room, and taunted and 
 jeered him at the very portals of death. After continuing this inhu- 
 man conduct all the day, at night-fall they departed. Before the morn- 
 ing dawned the suflPering invalid, overcome by the excitement, had 
 breathed his last. The next morning the Estr dla brought back the 
 <lepredators of the preceding day. The family were gathered around 
 the corpse of the husband and father. Their mournful wailing issued 
 from every opening of the dwelling ; but disregarding these sounds of 
 grief, the soldiers with rude and boisterous mirth rioted on the luxu- 
 ries of the orange groves and indulged in unrestrained license on the 
 premises. In the very midst of these discordant sounds of affliction 
 and ill-timed mirth, Lieut. Harwick entered the house, arrested the 
 two sons of the deceased while kneeling before the body of their mur- 
 dered father, and dragged them away amidst the shrieks of their sis- 
 ters and the heart-broken groans of their agonized mother. The boat 
 returned again the next day, and the men, lauding, renewed the bois- 
 terous scenes of the previous days. Nor was this all : persecuted in 
 the body, his bones were not permitted to remain quiet in the tomb. 
 They were disturbed by other robbers from the same army, and as 
 they were not permitted to rest in peace in the home allotted to the 
 dead, the family were compelled to bring them back to the home of the 
 living. The two boys who were so rudely arrested while weeping over 
 their father's remains — one a mere youth, and the other discharged for 
 disability from the army — were not soldiers then : they are soldierf? 
 now. 
 
 But the indulgence of private animosities was undoubtedly a prolific 
 source of arbitratry arrests. The Federal array was followed by 
 vicious and lawless men of the country, who had not the principles to 
 attach them to any government. As like bodies gravitate towards 
 each other, they have been drawn to the Federal ranks, and with the 
 zeal of converts and *he malignity of their kind they directed the Fed- 
 eral hand against every citizen whose prominence excited their ap- 
 prehension, or who had been instrumental in restraining their vicious 
 conduct. 
 
 The house of Dr. Francis Mudd, a practicing physician of Vermil- 
 lonville, was surro\mded one evening by Federal soldiers, under Oapi, 
 
32 
 
 Martin, wko conducted the affair with a method which could only hare 
 been acquired by experience. The doctor was quietly sitting, con- 
 versing with his wife, on the gallery, when the officer approached and 
 announced that he was his prisoner. Startled at the st<mmary pra- 
 ceeding;, he enquired the reasons, or what might be the charges against 
 him; but the officer could only show thg order of arrest, which came 
 from Gen. Washburne, and which was couched with t^iat military 
 bieyity not calculated to assure the mind. The gentleman begged to 
 be p«rmitted to remain at home that night, as his wife would be alone, 
 and the nex*^^ morning, after making proper provision for her protection 
 and comfort, he would report in person at the general's headquarters. 
 The officer had no discretion ; he could only wait to exanjine his pa- 
 pers, and for this purpose he demanded his keys. The search being 
 fruitlessly made, the doctor was conducted to headquarters, some two 
 miles from his residence. There he found several other citizens, who 
 had just been dragged from their families without any assigned cause. 
 Not being permitted to see the general, they were given what was 
 said to be six days rations, which consisted of hard crackers and black 
 tea, and were confined and strictly guarded in a neighboring cooper's 
 shop, which was opei^ and exposed to the inclemency of the weather. 
 Here, among deserters, criminals of the army and negroes, besides suf- 
 fering from the discomforts of their situation and the nauseous filth of 
 their fellow prisoners, they were subject constantly to the vulgar abuse 
 of the guard, and of those whom curiosity attracted to the place. They 
 applied to Capt. Qorsuch, the Provost Marshal, for the charges on 
 which they wore thus ignominiously confined. He replied that he 
 knew of no charges; he was simply acting under orders. They could 
 get no satisfaction here or elsewhere ; but at length after thirteen days 
 confinement, another order, signed by a Major Morgan, an officer of 
 Washburne's staff, came for their release. When I)r. Mudd returned 
 to his house he found, what others similarly situated had found, that 
 his substance had been made way with or destroyed. • 
 
 One morning, while St. Martinsville was occupying the neutral po- 
 sition we have described, a body of about four hundred Federal sol- 
 diers, with two pieces of artillery, drove in the Cpnfederate pickets 
 above that town, and proceeded to the residence of Mr. Olivier Duclo- 
 sel, which was not far distant. After forcing off all Ijiis negroes, who 
 had been proof against the seductions of the Federal missionaries, and 
 stripping the premises of everything, not excepting the clothing of the 
 family, they took Madam Duclosel, who was sixty years of age and 
 affliicted with aneurism, and forcing her to kneel among them, they 
 gratified their fiendish rage in abusive and indecent epithets, and dis- 
 regarding the blood that flowed profusely from her dilated arteries, 
 they rocked her backward and forward, pushed Ijer to the right and 
 left, and threw her down and raised her up, until exhausted nature 
 could bear no mare, and she sank in a swoon. Then arresting a^d 
 cftrryipg away her hasband^her son and her daughter, they left her 
 
proatrEto on tlie floor. dom« two hours after, this ag«() ladj n^«rr- 
 ered to find herself alone, smrounded by a scene of desolation. Her 
 first i Eipulse was te -fly to seek her family, but her phyaicial energws. 
 being overcome "by exhaustion, she fell prostrate in the yard, whero 
 she was afterwards found insensible by one of her grand-cliildren. 
 Her husband, Mr. Duclosel, was aged, gouty and obese. He had not 
 been known for years to walk a hundred paces at a time ; yet his inhu- 
 man persecutors pushed him ou foot, at the point of the bayonet, over 
 atnite of muddy road to St. Jlartinsville, where in mockery of his suf- 
 ferings they made him staad the remainder of the day in one of the 
 streets. 
 
 -Recently a raid was made in that part of St. Landry which stretches 
 along the upper Atchafalaya, by a body of Fe leral troops from jlor- 
 ganza. A party of s«ldier.s from this body, conducted by a soi-ditarU 
 Union man who had been driven from the country for his crimes, went 
 at midnight to the house of Mr. John Lyons, once well known as a 
 popular and skillfisl commander of steamboats on the inland waters of 
 this district, then a respectable planter, and calling him out from his 
 bed, cruelly murdered him on the threshold of his own door. 
 
 The citizens of every town and neighborhood were subject to arrest, 
 ■confinement and release, under the Yankee sj'stem of lettres-de-cachet ; 
 but many prisoners were dragged to New Orleans, and languished in 
 prison or on parol« fer m'^nths without any assignable cause. 
 
 On the first adv.ince of the enemy, the Hon Alexander Mouton, ex- 
 Ooveraor of Louisiana, while quietly occupying a pvivate station, was 
 taketi from his hoine. sent to New Orleans, kwpt six months, and then 
 released as abruptly as he was arrested. Many others were sent there 
 aft the same time, and languished for months in close confineraent. 
 Subsequently a largo p.umber of prisonei-s fell into the hands of Gen. 
 Taylor, on the Lafourch« and at the Bay, and a correspondence under 
 a flag of tiHce ensued between the Confederate and Federal command- 
 ers in reft3renc€ to them, or on the general subject of the exchange and 
 treatment of prisoners. In this correspondence there were expressions 
 used by the Federal commander which led Gen. Taylor to infer th it he 
 iiad entirely changed his policy, and that no more non-combattanta 
 would be arrested by him. Assuming this to be the future Federal 
 policy here, h» advised those gentlemen who were preparing to fly 
 from their homes to escape Federal persecution to remain in the quiet 
 pursuit of their ordinary avocations, and one of the undersigned com- 
 missioners, who was not then in the military service, and also a suf- 
 ferer from ill health, acted upjn the advice. He was arrested and sent 
 to New Orleans. On his way thither he met, in an unfurnished guard 
 house without even a bench for the weary, several citizens of Lafayett«, 
 who had been arrested by Gen. Ord, at the instigation of a tjnioa 
 man, a worthless fellow, who had been under the ban of the law for 
 cnmes not political. Your commissioner took occasion to inform Gen. 
 Ord tbai ibe«« men had been in the militia, and at the i\va» tliay were 
 
34 
 
 pwteeding as charged thay were actjang tmder bW otflers, ahd that he 
 alone was responsible for the act, not to any Federal authority, but to. 
 the Governor of the State. They wer^ liowevur sent down, and one of 
 them at least, perhaps more, died in prison in New Orleans. At this 
 time there was no parish in the district but had its representJitives, 
 (arrested under similar circumstances) in the prisons of that city — in- 
 deed they were full of them. 
 
 Soon after, a correspondent of the New York Herald wqs made m-is- 
 oner at Bourbeux, and the pressing^ instances of the proprietors of 
 that journal induced Gen. Banks to make an effort for his release. He 
 aceprdingly enclosed the Herald's correspondence, au I wrote himself to 
 Gen. Franklin, from whose headquarters flags passed bi'tween the bel- 
 ligerents. Gen. Banks did not venture to sully his character before 
 his enemies, by preferring a request for th i 3' person's release, in tho 
 ter.ms of his commander's letter ; ho simply forw;irded it with the ac- 
 companying correspondence, to have all the weight to which it was en- 
 titled. One of us has read this letter, characteristie. of the writer. In 
 it Gen. Banks comments on thu impropriety ol ynnking pr'.wncrs ofnon- 
 combatants, and concludes with the assertion that he always scrupu- 
 lously avoided such practices! On the receipt of this extraoniiiiary 
 communication, and without requiring, the usual parole, Gen. Taylor 
 Bent the Herald correspondent, with such other non-combatant prison- 
 ers as he held in possession, to the enemy's lines, and demanded at the 
 same time the retuvn of our prisoners held in New Orleans. It having 
 come to the knowledge of your commissioner, then a prisoner, that 
 these persons had arrived in the city, he, fully under the impression 
 that they could not have been released without provisioa made for the 
 release of non-combatants in Federal hands, wrote a note to Gen. 
 Banks, which, while it assumed a compact between the belligv:-rents, de- 
 manded his immediate release. Thfe reply of Ge^i. Banks, through his 
 chief of staflF, denied the ciimpact, but ended by saying "that Gen. 
 Banks had concluded to permit you [himj to return home on giving a. 
 parole not to do any act hostile to the government of the United States 
 tiatil released from the effect of the parole by some officer of the United 
 States G)verument." Considering that if there was no obligation to 
 release, the manner of imprisonment only would be changed ; and if 
 there was that the parole would have no binding eftect, either in con- 
 science or in fact, he accepted the conditions, and was immediafel/ 
 sent out of the Federal line^. Messrs. Voorhies, O'Brian, Broussard, 
 and perhaps others, were not released until nearly eight mt)nths after. 
 These facts require no comment, and we pass to another subject. 
 
 VII. In a country abounding with shady groves overshadowing a 
 wnooth sod the Federal comrainders selected for their headquarter en- 
 campments the smiling parterres, or the verdant lawns, taste- 
 fully embellished, and spreading out in front of the private dwellings. 
 Female modesty was often shocked at the iydelicate exhibitions of 
 eaaop life immediately in view of their private apartments. Half- 
 
35 
 
 dressed officers and their indecent menials did not hesitate in lanffuaee 
 and manner to vio ate all the proprieties due to the inmates of tfe do- 
 mestic circle. Ff their conduct only ofFanded delicacy or offered incon- 
 veTiience, it mi^-ht h xve bean tolerated, as in consideration of ffreitef 
 calamities it might h^ve passed only with a partial notice. Bat lik^ 
 othsr Fe.l n-al outrages, thts'tarried AVith it material destruWion, bbdilt 
 discomfort, and often starv'ation and dt^ath. We have, in our note 
 book, inaiiv instances \r'iere opulent fVimilies, surrounded by luxuriant 
 fields and g^rde)ls, with enclosures fiUe.1 with poultty, flocks and fatted 
 ox^in, with mio^i.^iiies burstin^^ with stores of provision for man and" 
 beast, were subjVcted in'a day to extreme destitution, and who were 
 compelled to subsist for many days on the corn snatched from under 
 the feet of the horses, or on the scanty provision surreptitiously takea 
 by faithful servants from tho lumrious. tables of the officers. s 
 
 A banquet was one day provided, in the diiiin^v room of Madaiftt^J 
 Olivier, for Ghu. Banks aud his staff, who feasted on the lower story* 
 waited on by the servants of the estate, while the ladies above wer^i' 
 suffering for the neeftss^rios of life; and after the banquet was over-, 
 as if in raockei^y, fli^ field negroes w;ere called in t& consume what re^" 
 mained. " ' ' ' " ' ''' '''■■', i^;...av.f ..j f,^^^^^ ^j 
 
 Mrs. Mc^err'a?, \^m herttiVfee'^dnghf'fiK; "n^tliottt' any male protec- 
 tor, was residing on her plantation near Franklin. Her premises "^ei^ 
 occupied for a camp; tll'^ rooms of her dwelling were taken for quarters; i" 
 and she, with her three dauglitbrs, after her servants had been forcedJ" 
 away, was confined to the occupancy of three rooms. She had secured^ 
 some poultry in an upper room of the house; every fowl was taken- het' 
 provisions were consume^'; :»nd she saw from her window, not only the* 
 last outbuilding on her place destroyed, but her last milch cow shot in* 
 the yard. Surrounded by a noisy, vulgar; profane crowd, slie suffered* 
 there, for days, all the tortures of shocked delicacy, apprehension and' 
 want. Wht^n the camp was removed she found that even the family' 
 carriage had been maliciously taken to pieces, and the necessarw parta ' 
 either thrown away or destroyed. - . • 
 
 Gen. Durbridge occupied ♦he enclosnrM^^ around the residence of thtf' 
 Hon. John Moore, in New Iberia, and flaunted his brgade flag over' 
 the entrance gate. He was not satisfied with oecnpying the fcitchOTi* 
 and all the out-buildings, tjms depriving'the family of the convenien-' 
 ces of the household, bathe took possession of the lower rooms of the" 
 dwelling. Mrs: ^roore, a lady- fivr advanced in years, belonging to a' 
 family disting-viiphed ii;i the annals of the nation,' accusto-med, not onlV' 
 to the conveniences, but the elegancies of life, was^ driven, with the Ift^;' 
 dies of her family, to the upper apartments, where she was subjected' 
 to every privation. Geri. Franklin, with his military family, arrivihg" 
 sliortly afterwards, f^lHnto possession of the quarters. His presence',' 
 however, did/iot araelir-rate the condition of the family; on the contra-' 
 y. his .comrniiedocjupitioa daily rncreased i{9 privation.^. No relief 
 Waif obtainedr-i\onfe oflte^., Q90:. FitciMixfsiyBi notoa.Wtt>ask«d*-^' 
 
36 
 
 Mrs. Sfoore sncenmbed in the xnidgt of these manifold pri rat ionR. Shr 
 died — died, imprisoned in her own dwelling, deprived of the comfort* 
 she would have bestowed upon the humblest of her servants; and, as «t 
 the Rent-rops, Federal persecution followed her to the grave; her tomb 
 was desecrated to furnish brick for Federal hearths. 
 
 We desire to do justice to Gen. Franklin. Though an enemy. Bis- 
 character and former associations entitle him to con.sideration, "We ■ 
 Lave reason to believe that he fell into these quarters, as he would have 
 fallen into them had they occupied any other place, without enquiry >. 
 and without being aware of the distress his occupancy caused;- and w« 
 think his sin was rather one of omission than of commission. 
 
 Not so of another officer of the old U. S. Array. When Gen. Weit- 
 xel's division encamped on the Rentrop estate, his camp extended to* 
 the enclosures of the d '.veiling. Mrs. Rentiop, the afflicted lady of th©- 
 mansion whose sufferings on another occasion we have noticed, bein^ 
 alone with five other ladies of the family solicited the General to OC' 
 cupy one of the rooms, or at least to encamp near, as a protection 
 against the rude intrusion of his soldiers. He not only refused this 
 reasonable request, but he pitched his tent at the lower extremity of 
 his camp, as if, and as the ladies believe, to give a freer scope to the li- 
 centiousness of fiis followers. We have before us a communication 
 from a member of this family, which would make a chapter of itself- — 
 a chapter of inconceivable atrocity. Omitting many details, we give 
 the substance in the language of the lady who relates them: "As he 
 "must have expected, and as he no doubt wished, the men immediately 
 "commenced depredations. They broke into the sugar house, .and help- 
 *'ed themselves to all the sugar they could devour or carry away; they 
 "drank all the water of the cistern; they shot down all the work oxen, 
 "and killed the hogs in the pen; and they tore up the fences and burn- 
 *'ed them in their camp fires. Mrs. R. went to Gen. Weitzel and begged 
 *'for a guard. He sent her two men to guard the house; but it was all 
 "a sham. One said he would not use his gun to prevent what his 
 "words would not. Some chickens had been saved, to be used only for 
 •'the sick: these were hastily eecui-ed in a room of the dwelling. While 
 •'Mrs. E. was absent, her daughter and another young lady guarded the 
 "door; anconscious of- danger they felt no fear, until vile oaths and ob- 
 "scene language met their ears. Crowds had approached, and it would 
 "have been evident to less suspecting ears that evil was intended. — 
 "Ere the vile purpose was carried into effect, an officer came with or- 
 "ders to search the house for rebel uniforms. This officer dispersed 
 "the mob, reached the house, and was satisfied the report was false.— 
 "But before the usual time for retiring another parae, followed by a half 
 "dozen of the most ragged and dirty which hang around an army.— 
 "They proceeded from room to room, peeping into this and into that, 
 "evidently to see what the house contained. After passing a sleepless 
 "night, at early dawn, Mrs. Rentrop again returned to Gen. Weit?el to 
 "beg for « more efficient guard. Soou the black-smith's shop ww di»- 
 
9^ 
 
 '^coTflred to b« In flamas, and soldiers prowling abont said that tbis warn 
 "to be the fate of every building on the rebel place. The plantatiou 
 "bell which had long been nnused, now pealed forth a summons long 
 "and loud. One would have supposed this to be a signal that help 
 "was needed to extinguish the fire. This, however, was not intended.. * 
 "The building burned to the ground without an eflfort to eitiiiquisb- 
 "the flames. It was a signal of anotb^r kind— -to assemble a mob!— 
 "Soldiers collected in crowds around the house. The ladies becoming 
 ''alarmed, closed and fastened ererj opening of the dwelling. Tlios& 
 "alone who have seen a mob collecting, can form an idea of what they 
 "witnessed, as they stood tremulously gazing through the window 
 "blinds. Some rushing into the kitchen; others info the store room, 
 "breaking, destroying, or carrying away, whatever they could lay their 
 "hands on; while hundreds surrounded the house, yelling, cursing, 
 "swearing, and making most fearful threats, as they tried to open the 
 "doors, climbed up outside, or crept underneath the floors. The ladies 
 ''within knew not what to do. Trembling in every limb, they walked 
 "from room to room, or paused to beg aid of the only source of help^ 
 "the God of Heaven! The mob broke open the door of the room in 
 "which were the chickens. Tliey cursed, swore, and squabbled for 
 "them; this scene might have be.-n ludicrous to the ladies at any oth-- 
 "er time, but now they were filled with horror at seeing themselves in- 
 "the power of beings so utterly depraved. They had hastily secured' 
 "the door between the robbers and themselves, and were now in mo- 
 'mentary dread of that being broken. Mrs. Rentrop^g sister, being in 
 "terror as to the probable fate of her daughter and nieces, determined 
 "to risk herself to save them. She bravely pa.ssed out at the front 
 "door, which was quickly closed by the frightened inmates, and walk- 
 "ed through these crowds unmolested. They were startled by the sud- 
 "den appearance of a lady in their midst, and momentarily awed by her 
 "dignified manner. She hurried down the road until she met an offic r 
 "on horseback. She begged him to fly to the rescue of the inn.ocent 
 "females shut up in the house. He listened to her earnest appeal, and 
 "God obliged him to grant it. He rode on with his company and 
 "dispersed the mob. Seeing the flames bursting forth, between the 
 "wing and main building, he cried, 'Your house is on fire.' Yet ho 
 "made no effort to extinguish it^he did not even order the sol: iers to 
 "bring water from the bayou for that purpose. Fortunately the day 
 "previous the ladies, finding that all the water of the cisterns was go. 
 "ing. had filled all the pitchers, buckets and tubs in the house; and 
 "now with their own hand* they brought it- out and extinguished the 
 
 After the family were thus saved, Mrs. Rentrop returned with a 
 l^ard. Her daughter lan out to meet her. "0 mother!" she exclaim- 
 ed out of breath, "what a dreadful time we have had! What wonld 
 "my dear brothers say, if they knew what we have endured this day? 
 'Omild tb«y hv^ egos that mffiao with i-an»d club, curw n» kA 
 
38 
 
 "call me a vile name, and swear lie would knock my bead off, if I came 
 •"out with the water, would they not feel that they h-id rather die in 
 *'the cause of independence, than to be united with such a vile race as, 
 <'lhis I" While this work was going on — wliile the fire-bell was 
 'sounding the alarm, Mrs. Reutrop, a lady delicately reared, of educa- 
 tion aud mauuers belonging to an elevated station in society, wa3 com- 
 pelled to <3anee attendance before Gen. Weitzel's tent. He did not 
 deign to see her, as she e.xpresses it, "until ho had eaten two break- 
 fasts" — nntiU in fact, complete time had been given for the contempla- 
 ted destruction of the dwelling sheltt^ring these feeble and unprotected, 
 women. 
 
 But we find this officer again, on the farlton estate. He here fol- 
 lowed the more usual custom. His camp was pitcliel witliin the en- 
 closures, and under the windows of the dwelling; hisoffiiers and men 
 occupied the out-buildings, where they coir.mitted the ordinary depre- 
 dations and excesses; and he, personally, as the evi lence discloses, by 
 his coai'se manners and language, and by his indecent behavior, drove 
 the ladies of the family to their most secluded apartments. Generally 
 intoxicated, lie exhibited himself openly and shamelessly in fond dal- 
 liance with negro servant girls. His staff imitated their chief in vul- 
 garity of speech and behavior. Finally his camp br ike up; when he 
 rode out of the yard calling out, "Come on boys, there are other rich 
 plantations here to sack!" 
 
 There were instances of protection being offered by officers high iu 
 command; but the policy of the Commanding General prevailed over 
 them, if they v/ere sincere in their offers or their efforts. 
 
 Gen. Lee requested permission to take apartments in the dwelling oc- 
 cuoied by Mrs. Smedes, on h:r plantation nea^• New Iberia; and as an 
 iaducement to her compliance with his request, he suggtstoJ tliat his 
 presence would be a protection to her propeity. She very g'adly ac- 
 ceded to it, and the gentleman and anoth t officer established them- 
 selves very comfortably. But presently, the lady found herself de- 
 prived of the use of her servants; that her provisions were gone; and 
 that her gardens, orchards and fields were being wasted, her fences 
 burned, her plantation buildings destroyed, and the building attached 
 to her residence consumed. She saw at last the fire put to her corn- 
 :ftelds-; and she indignantly asked the General if this was the promised 
 protection. He recoiled iu.s^ame, and humbly coafej.8e.^ !^i§ i^abiUt^ 
 to protect her. . '.,''..'. ", '■ ^ " ,.'' [,■.■. 
 
 ^ni the instances were rare where inhabited dwellings "were-occupieE 
 in this manner; whenever caprice or convenience suggested a want, no 
 motive of delicacy restrained the Federal hand. The country was- 
 :^uU of deserted houses from which families had fled; yet inhabited 
 dwellings were remorselessly taken for purposes which exposed, the 
 inmates, not merely to iucouyenienca or.depa'ivatioo, but sometimes tff 
 diB^s.e and death. • - 
 
 Thje residenoeofMr. ]i<@donxj Bituated in the country, near St, Mar- 
 
39 
 
 tinsville, was, in opposition to his earnest remonstrances, takevt for » 
 Federal hospital. His family were reluctantly permitted to occupy 
 one room in their own dwelling — the room of his wife — fhe room in 
 whi :h she had been confined for many years by ill health, ai^tl in which 
 she was then lying, too low to be removed without endan^'evlng Ikr 
 life. 
 
 VIII. As the enemy advanced through the country he de\'<'<"»tated 
 and tortured; as he retreated he used the torch. The lower wat.'^rs of 
 the Teche and Atchafalaya, while the Federalists have occupied Ber- 
 wick's Bay, havH been open to their gunboats; and under their proifc- 
 tion advances have been undertaken, and sudden retreats made; noi/a 
 without leaving some evidence of their presence, in chimney stacks 
 arising out of the charred ruins of costly edifices. These still stand, 
 marking the places where once stood the elegant and hospitable man- 
 sions of the Rhodes', the Bateraan's, the Stirling's, the Wilcoxon's, the 
 Fusilier's, the Carpenter's, the Ooruey's, the Perkins', the Bethel's, 
 the Smith'.c, the Harding's, the Burns', and others. And but for a 
 happy accident, a quick discovery, and an active effort, (he site of 
 Fianklin, the thriving commercial town of the Teche, would have been 
 thus marked. As the pressed rear ufChickering's column fled through 
 the town, iiis soldiers fired the warehouses on the wharf; but the sharp 
 crack of Fournet's rifles ringing in their ears, paralyzed their nims; 
 and their work, bunglingly executed, was soon discover d by the citi- 
 zens, who subdued the rising flames. 
 
 But the hand of the destroyer fell no less heavily than that of the in- 
 cendiary: wherever directed by caprice, convenience or wantonness, 
 wherever the materials could serve a temporary purpose, or offer a mo- 
 mentary gratification, it fell upon the most costly and valuable edifice?* 
 
 On the wooded banks of the Vermilion, whose waters am shaded by 
 timber trees, which, when felled, would stretch across them, the sugar 
 Louse of Mr. Crow was j)ulled down, and the materials transported half 
 a mile, to construct a bridge across the bayou. The destruction of this 
 building for that purpose, not only involved its loss to the owner, but 
 the loss ot many thousand dollars worth of seed cotton, left in the open 
 air to waste and decay. 1 he neighboring dwelling bouse of Major 
 fiosthene Mouton, after being partly torn down to provide tent floors, 
 was wantonly buinei.1 to (he grouud; and other buildings in the neigh- 
 borhood Were, in the same manner, destio^'ed. The wood work of 
 Governor Mouton's sugar house, even the lintels over the doors, were 
 torn out, and consumed, with the materials of his corn cribs and 
 barns, at the enemy's watch-fires on (he banks of the Vermilion, and in 
 the midst of its forest trees. In fact, on all the farms and estates wliere 
 the enemy encamped, though transportation was abundant and forests 
 near, the most valuable buildings and other costly material were con- 
 sumed for fire- wood. On the Olivier estate, not only the barns and a 
 large sugar house were torn down and used in this manner, but a 
 liXTfje cotton gin, which contained in seed cotton what might now b« 
 
40 
 
 considered & fortane, whs torn to pieces and its contents thrown intu 
 the bayou, wbil* the valuable machinery of the other buildings follow- 
 'cd the same dt'stinatiou. On the Brashear side of Berwick's Bay, 
 anaqy citizens have been driven away by the continued presence of the 
 -enemyj and those who remain, though accejiting his protection, under 
 the correlative obligation of obedience to his laws, are subject to every 
 «pecies of persecution. In the winter of 1863-4, all the nnoccupied 
 "buildings here, were torn down and consumed for fuel. Even the 
 house of a poor widow, on the Young estato, was turn down over the 
 heads of herself and her children; and she with them was driven to one 
 roofless room, with a part of its gable down. In this miserable abode 
 she and her children were left to shiver over a meagre fire of faggots. — 
 Mrs. Martha Collins, another poor sufferer, shared the same fate. — 
 Robbed of everything she possessed, and her house burned down by 
 the Federal soldiers, she and a large family of children were reduced to 
 want, and turned adrift without food, raiment or shelter. 
 
 IX. The K-tran of the Mohammedan enjoins that, in warfare, the 
 cattle and the harvest of the husbandman be spared, except in so far as 
 they may be used to supply absolute wants; the Divine law of the 
 Christian requires that the evils of war be mitigated, by sparing peace- 
 ful men and feeble women and children; but the men of the "higher 
 law," in the Federal army, will be found to illustrate a code of morals 
 peculiar to themselves. 
 
 General Bank's auxiliary robbers, assisted by the forty-first Massachu- 
 setts regiment, swept the prairies around Opelousas, bringing in every 
 animal that could be driven — the milch-cow that yielded her daily sup- 
 ply of nourishment — the gentle ox that received his food from his mas- 
 ter's hand — the horse for the family — the light horses of the herdsman ; 
 the hack-horses of the plantation— the ponies that carried the children 
 to f choul — the devons, the durhams and ayreshires, from the cultivated 
 pastures — the merinos, th>i cotswells, and the south-downs, from th« 
 fleecy flocks, and every animal adapted to the sustenance or service 
 of man. They were penned in and around the village, and as no care 
 was bestowed upon them many died there and on the road as they 
 were driven away. They were drawn out as they were required, and 
 80 many were slaughtered, that not only a superfluity of beef remained 
 in 'he camps, but it was thrown out to all comers withot^t stint. Hors- 
 es were distributed so freely, that every camp-follower was provided.— 
 Had these animals been required for the use of the Federal army, the 
 inhabitants might still have justly complained of the manner in which 
 they were taken, and consumed; but, on the contrary, few in compari- 
 son to the number taken, were consumed or used by it. Thousands 
 were driven off as booty, and sold at prices such as only the robber can 
 afford to receive for his plunder. Such were the number of animals 
 thrown upon the Lafourche and the city of New Orleans, that they bo- 
 came comparatively valueless. 
 Ffom Opekmeas to tb* Bay, wherevsr tids army ettcainp«<U or w1}«r- 
 
41 
 
 ever it left a detachment, a squad, or a courier station, animals, far ex- 
 ceeding the number required, were daily slaughtered, and parts of the 
 carcasses with the offal, were left upon the ground to fester and poison 
 the air- At a courier station below Opelousas, where there were five 
 soldiers, they slaughtered for themselves each day, a beef, a sheep, or 
 a hog, and the parts left to decay poisoned the air of a populous 
 neighborhood. During the time that a division encamped near Mr. 
 Elise Thibodeaux', on the Vermilion, cattle were driven up by hun- 
 dreds and butchered before his door; and so recklessly were they shot 
 down that the bullets used penetrated his dwelling. He was an old 
 man — he could not speak the language of his enemies; and therefore, 
 he could not remonstrate — he could only suffer. While cutting up the 
 carcasses, they wanned their feet at fires kindled with his wife's hand- 
 cards, and fed with his plough beams and her loom. The atmosphere 
 around was infected by the stench of offal and putrified carcasses; and 
 as soon as the division moved away, his neighbors gathered to bury the 
 festering remains. Wliil* engaged in this work, they counted one 
 thousand seven hundred cattle heads, lying around, in every stage of 
 decay. 
 
 Stragglers over the prairies would kill calves for their tongues; and 
 foraging parties, too, destroyed animals in mere wantonness. A large 
 party were foraging on the Kemper plantation, in the Oypres-mort. — 
 The depredations of the soldiers reached the dwelling, and threatened 
 to invade it. Mrs. Kemper ran out to find the officer in command to 
 obtain, if possible, a guard for her house; but she was turned back be- 
 fore reaching him, by the shocking and sickening sight that met her 
 eye. She made three efforts, but she says her heart sjckenefl 
 and her brain reeled — she could not go forward. The sight of 
 slaughtered cows and hogs, of rude soldiers breaking the backs 
 of calves with billets of wood, and tossing sheep and pigs upon 
 their bayonets, was too revolting. The Federal army also killed 
 colts following their dams, in order to get rid of them; and numbers 
 of these carcasses were found after the evacuation of the country. 
 
 The fields, the gardens, the orchards, the fruit, and even the shade 
 trees, were destroyed as ruthlessly, as wastefully, and as wantonly, as 
 the animals. The gardens were rooted up and their fences consumed 
 for fuel; the orchards were broken down, limb by limb; and we have 
 seen pecan trees, the growth of several generations, under which the 
 children of many succeeding families had played, cut down to facilitate 
 the gathering of their fruit. We have seen, too, the pride of the man- 
 sion, the venei-able live oak, with its evergreen foliage and its extend- 
 ing branches, covering a space where a regiment might find shelter 
 from the scorching rays of the sun, and which had perhaps sheltered 
 the Chiefs, in council, of the Attakapas and the Opelousas, at the time 
 Columbus was answering the doubts of the learned men of Cordova, 
 burned at the roots, and its branches hacked away to n%ko fuel for 
 camp-fires. 
 
42 
 
 They would have destroyed, as previously stated, the sources of the 
 supply of salt, with the same wantonness. They tried their feeble 
 hands upon it, but failed; for God had planted it there, as He had the 
 alluvion of Attakapas, in masses too great to be destroyed, or rendered 
 sterile; and their hands were as impotent to destroy it, as they would 
 have been to exhaust the granite rocks of New England. 
 
 To destroy the limited store of medicines hoarded b^ families, and 
 purchased at incredible expense by druggists, cost but httle labor; and 
 their destruction was pursued with as much ^rdor and vigor, as if they 
 had been magazines of defence. They appropriated and destroyed 
 them, wherever found — in the household, or in the shop. They were 
 made a particular object of search, and when found were thrown iiito 
 the dirt, if not appropriated. The 114th New York regiment, under 
 Lieut. Col. Ptirlee, forced open the drug store of Mr. Duchamp, at St» 
 Martinsville, and carried away or destroyed all the medicines, the lan- 
 cets, and other instruments iiseful to the surgeon or the physician. It 
 was necessary for the druggists to conceal their stores to save them. — 
 In opposition to the usages of the civilized world, have medicines been 
 made contraband of war, and destroyed as are instruments of warfare. 
 For the first time in history, do we find a civilized people making war 
 upon hospitals, old men, a,ud helpless women and children, and glory- 
 ing in it. But the other day, the report of the Federal general, who 
 made a successful raid into an interior town, boasted, not of the guns 
 and Cartridges, the cannon and bombs, he had captured, but of the large 
 quantity of quinine, and other medicines, he had destroyed or brought 
 away. 
 
 Dr. E. Millardr an experienced and distinguished physician ©f St. 
 Landry, assures us that, of those who fall sick, particularly the aged 
 and the children, a larger per centage die now, for want of the proper 
 medicines, than before the war, svhen they were easily obtained. Let 
 our enemies receive all the satisfaction this assurance will give them. 
 The war they make against the feeble, is naore successful thijn that 
 they wage against the strong. 
 
 While the means of sustaining and preserving health were being 
 thus destroyed, the same fell spirit directed the destruction of the 
 means of repairing the consummated waste. In pursuing our investi- 
 gation, we have seen on different plantations piles of the remains of 
 aratory instruments, plows, harrows, cultivators, shovels, hoes ; of coop- 
 ers', carpenters', and blacksmiths' tools; of iron axles, hub boxes, 
 tires, and other iron work of plantation carts, the wood W^ork consumed 
 by fire, and the iron parts bent or broken. We have seen the remains 
 of the corn mills, that had been violently hurled down, the stones bro- 
 ken, the spindles wrenched out, and the gearing broken in pieces. And 
 we have seen the most valuable machinery for grinding cane and'man- 
 facturing sugar, that had been broken, and essential parts had been de- 
 stroyed, carried away, or thrown into the neighboring bayou. The 
 wantonness and completeness of destruction on the Teche, may be no 
 
V 43 
 
 better illustrated thau iu the memorandum of oac planter, Mr. Nelson, 
 which is attached to a protest intended for public record. On this plan- 
 tation, twelve miles of fence around the place, enough cypress boards 
 for two more miles of fence, the fences around the house, the orchard 
 and the vegetable garden, the gutters around the building leading to 
 two large cisterns, a valuable floating plantation bridge across the 
 Teche, two hundred and fifty sugar hogsheads, two hundred and fifty 
 molasses barrels, and dressed staves and heading for two hundred more 
 hogsheads, were consumed for fuel at the Federal camp-fires. They 
 also -^ore down for fire-wood the mill-house, two barns, and nine other 
 out-buildings. They took all the corn, fodder and hay on the planta- 
 tion, leaving none for eitker the white family or the negroes. They 
 tore up and destroyed the plantation tan-yard ; unshipped and destroy- 
 ed valuable portions of a fine steam engine ; tore down the corn mill, 
 and destroyed the running gear; and they cut to pieces, burned or 
 broke the plows, cane carts, harness, axes, hoes, cane knives, and black- 
 smith's, carpenter's, cooper's and tanner's tools, belonging to the plan- 
 tation. 
 
 But this destroying spirit, like the pestilence, spared neither rich 
 nor poor — it fell on all alike — on the small farmers of the prairies, as 
 on their more opulent neighbors of the bayous. The quiet and unos- 
 tentatious manners of these inhabitants, their frugal and industrious 
 habits, and their unaggressive disposition, which they derive, as they 
 do their language, from their ancestors, the persecuted refugees from 
 their northern Acadia — should have secured for them at least, immimity 
 from the ravages of war ; but, on the contrary, it only seemed to invite 
 the aggression of the Federal soldiers. They fell upon them with the 
 virulence which animates ignoble minds against the weak, the defence- 
 less, and those whose language cannot offer the poor shield of expostu- 
 lation, and deprived them, as we have before stated, of even their food 
 and clothing. 
 
 It would be supposed that the most refined malignity could go no 
 farther ; but God, as if to show the deep depravity of man, when re- 
 leased from the restraint of His law, has permitted this army to sound 
 the depth of human corruption. From the evidence before us, they 
 spread abroad among the citizens a virixs, as sm*e in its effects as the 
 handful of ashes thrown out by Moses before Pharaoh, which brought 
 boils upon the people of Egypt, though its consequences were more ter- 
 rific. This followed the course of the blood, attacked the finger nails, 
 the toe nails, the joints, the bones, and threw out upon th« surface of 
 the body the foulest ulcers. 
 
 This charge is so grave, even against those who have proved them- 
 selves, as we have seen, so utterly depraved, that we would hesitate to 
 give it place here, were it not supported by such respectable and con- 
 current testimony. 
 
 When the enemy was encamped at Now Iberia, the small-pox broke 
 out in virulent form among the troops; and as they were constantly 
 
44 •'' 
 
 making excursions into the country for foraging and other purposes, the 
 inhabitants of the farms, plantations, and neighboring villages were 
 exposed to taking the disease. They became seriously alarmed; there 
 was no vaccine matter in the country, and their position precluded the 
 possibility of obtaining it outside of the Federal lines. Their physi- 
 cians,^ of necessity, sent to the Federal surgeons for it ; and they were 
 supplied with a virus which was used upon infants, children, feeble 
 women and strong men with the same results : its results spread with 
 the rapidity of fire. Had this been in some isolated cases, or had the 
 same eflPect followed among the soldiers who were vaccinated, we might 
 charitably conclude that the result in the country was from an acciden- 
 tal cause. But while no complaint came fi-om the soldiers, at least no 
 general complaint, the country was filled with cases of this kind, the 
 cause not coming from one source, but from many, and all from the 
 same fountain head — the Federal camp. Dr. Sabatier, a physician of 
 extensive practice at St. Martinsville, says : " In December, 1863, when 
 "the small-pox broke out among the Federal troops, then occupying 
 "New Iberia, it was impossible in our vicinity to procure the smallest 
 "portion of vaccine matter. Exposed as we were to the contagion of 
 " the disease, by the constant raids made by the Federalists in our town,, 
 "lused my best exertions to procure some vaccine from the Federal 
 "physicians in New Iberia, and through one of mj confreres succeeded 
 "in getting a few points loaded with vaccine, which I immediately in- 
 "noculated to my own children. The disastrous effects of the poison 
 "were as quick as fire. A few days after the operation, ane of my poor 
 "little baby's arms was horribly swollen and inflamed, and on the sec- 
 "ond day appeared a pustule which had nothing of the appearance of 
 "vaccine. Three days after, the pustule opened, letting out a little 
 "Iquantity of greenish matter, and to that succeeded a terrible ulcer, 
 " which kept growing larger and larger, until it came to the size of a 
 "dollar. New pustules formed around the ulcer, and followed the same 
 " course. I cannot describe the sufferings of the poor little thing. The 
 "disease lasted more than six months; the child lost all its finger and 
 " toe nails. The lymphatic glands of the neck and groin formed abscesses 
 "which had to be opened, and it was only after a regular course of mer- 
 " curial treatment that I succeeded in curing the poor child. The de- 
 " scri-ption of this case is nothing to he compared M;jV7i hundreds of 
 " OTHERS '«;^m I have been called upon to treat." 
 
 We leave this horrid recital to speak for itself, and trust, for the sake 
 of humanity, that few such instances are to be recorded. 
 
 X. A captive, it is said, was brought before an Asiatic prince : the 
 scimetar was already raised over Ws head, when oppressed by intolera- 
 ble thirst he begged for water. A cup was handed him : he held it as 
 if apprehensive lest the scimetar would fall while he was in the act of 
 drinking. "Take courage," said the prince; "your life will be spared 
 till you have drunk this water." He instantly dashed the cup and water 
 to the ground. The good faith of the barbarian saved him. The word 
 
45 
 
 had passed : k was enough ; and the captive went on his way rejoicing'. 
 But we would not try tEe Federal invaders by so severe a test > for 
 their total disregard ©f all the obligations of faith and covenant would 
 shame even the king of Dahomey. 
 
 The few old men and unprotected women who remained in the lower 
 part of this district, were invited by the Federal authorities to accept 
 their protection ; and their peculiar situation, exposed as they were to. 
 continuous attacks, both on their persons and property, made it in many 
 instances imperative for them to do so. Their fate as citizens was not 
 to be decided by their own actions, but by the event of the war ; and 
 they might perhaps with propriety assume an obligation, which irr its 
 nature could be but temporary; and they might, with equal pi-opriety, 
 (as indeed they could scarcely do otherwise,) pursue the even path of 
 peaceful citizens, while receiving the protection of the governing power. 
 The Federalists required, for the protection rightly due to peaceful citi- 
 zens, the oath of allegiance to their government, as if they were to re- 
 main in permanent possession, and exercise its functions. The obliga- 
 tion of this oath could only bind the parties taking it, to obedience to 
 the rules and regulations established by this government; and so long 
 as they did not violate them, they were entitled to the pi'otection ex- 
 tended to every citizen. We do not remember to have read of any 
 State that thought it necessary or proper to penetrate the recesses of 
 the mind, to ascertain if obedience proceeded from affection, or from 
 other motives which may control the individual. Obedience to the law, 
 we believe, has been considered sufficient. It was probably many years 
 after this territory was ceded by France, before the affections of the 
 inhabitants adhered to the government ; yet there never was a people 
 more obedient to the law, or who performed the duties of citizens in a 
 more exemplary manner. But the rule of practice and the code of mor- 
 als of the Fede ralist, is mi genesis. He invites, nay, he forces people 
 to assume the obligations of citizenship, then derides their motives, 
 and refuses the correlative obligation of protection to which he has 
 doubly bound himself, by receiving the one and promising the other. 
 We have already seen how poor Borel (who had taken the oath of alle- 
 giance) fared when he applied to Gen. Banks for his last horse — his 
 last means of support : others fared no better. Indeed, but few received 
 any protection for their property ; and those who did, it is thought 
 used more potent influences than personal service or allegiance. 
 
 A provost guard, under a Gapt. Ellis of the 174th New York, was 
 stationed at Madame Olivier's. He took possession of the magazines, 
 corn-cribs, and other out-buildings, and besides prohibiting the negroes 
 of the place from serving the family in any manner, he incited them by 
 his speeches to insurrectionary proceedings against them. They were 
 denied access to their own corn and meal, after having been deprived 
 before of all the provisions (an ampla store) which their house con- 
 tained. Madame Olivier w*s insultingly told that she owned nothing ; 
 that if she witehed for meal, she must buy it of the servants, or if they 
 
46 
 
 chose, tb,ey might give it to her. She had no recourse but iu the pro- 
 tection of the Federal authorities. She sought and received the prom- 
 ised protection; but the proceedings of Gapt. Ellis continued as before. 
 The only subsistence she could get for herself and family was covertly 
 obtained and brought to her by some domestics who had remained faith- 
 ful. Aged and feeble, she was compelled to ride twenty -three miles to 
 general headquarters ^q seek redress. There her representations and 
 remonstrances were unhedde4 } and sl^e was sneqringly told to apply to 
 the nearest post — tp the o^cer of which she had already complained, 
 and against whon^ §he had such just cause of complaipt. 
 
 Madame Fusilier had packed up her clothing, silver plate and jew- 
 elry in boxes, and sent them away to the house of a friend. They 
 were discovered, seized and carried off in the quartermaster wagons. 
 This lady was subsequently compelled to seek Federal protection : it 
 was promised. She n)ade application for her boxes. On investigation 
 it was found that the box containing the jewelry was missing, though 
 it was on the list held by the quartermaster. The silver plate was 
 valuable, and, like the plate of the Crow family, had to be looked into. 
 She was put off from time to time by evasive answers, but still led to 
 believe that it would be returned. At length she pressed the matter 
 to a conclusion, ajad was then, for the first time, coolly informed that 
 her husband and her sons being in the Confederate army, her plate was 
 confiscated by the orders of the War Department. Paul Jones return- 
 ed the Earl of Selkirk's^ though he had to force it from his soldiers who 
 claimed it as legitimate booty. 
 
 Mr. Bateman, vhose house was sacked as we have related, had, 
 through his numerous relatives and friends, refurnished his house and 
 collected new supplies of provisions and a little necessary farm stock. 
 The feeble old gentleman, who had reached the advanced age of three 
 score years and ten, had taken the required oath to receive the Federal 
 protection. Though he had pursued the course of a peaceful, quiet and 
 unoffending citizen, his plantation was frequently despoiled by ma- 
 rauders, and at length all his substance was taken away by regularly 
 organized bodies of Federal troops. A detachment from the 18th New 
 York cavalry and some ijegro troops, under the command of a Colonel 
 Jones, made a raid up the Atcnafalaya, protected by two gunboats. 
 They halte^ at Mr. Bateman's, and the giinboat No. 49, commanded 
 by Capt. Ivepnard, landed to receive the plunder from the plantation. 
 Mr. Bateman entreated the officers in comniand to spare him ! He ex- 
 hibited his papers and claimed protection |inder them ; but neither the 
 entreaty nor covenant availed him, nor did his position or his age pro- 
 tect him against their coarse abuse. They both reviled and despoiled 
 him. All his provisions were taken from his store-rooms ; the few bar- 
 rels of molasses he had saved were rolled aboard the boat ; his poul- 
 try, hogs and vegetables were taken off, and his house was thoroughly 
 eviscerated from garret to cellar. In the former sack, the upper rooms, 
 to which the ladies had withdrawn, escaped ; but on tliils occasion the 
 
47 
 
 work was perfect. They prized opeu the drawers, armoirs and tranks 
 and emptied their contents into sacks, made by ripping open the beds 
 and throwing oiit their feathers, hair or moss. They destroyed, or car- 
 ried away, the family portraits and miniatures, private letters, the toys 
 of the children, and every memorial and heir-loom consecrated in the 
 affections df the family. And then, to crown the villainy, they put 
 fire to the large and costly sugar house and bunied it to the ^ound. 
 
 These evidences of broken faith and covenant are recorded as" exam- 
 ples of hundreds of others ; but we are yet to present its most striking 
 exhibition, in the treatment of the black race, who became the easy 
 victims of their professed friends and liberators. 
 
 The story of the degradation of the barracoons of the Slave Coasts 
 and the horrors of the middle passage, has been told ia history and re- 
 cited in song, everywhere exciting the sympathies of mankind ; but it 
 has been reserved for the peculiar friends of the African race to repro- 
 duce, in an enlightened age, aggravated scenes of horror parallel to 
 those so eloquently commemorated by the historian and the poet. The 
 public documents of the enemy, cnaracterized by the same disingen- 
 uousness that marks his conduct, invariably convey the impression 
 that the negro seeking freedom under his protection is only received 
 from a sense of duty to relieve his suffering condition. The truthful 
 narrator of the exodus of the negroes from these parishes will exhibit 
 in burning characters the falsity of the im.pression thus sought to be 
 conveyed. 
 
 On its march the Federal army, through its emissaries, who pene- 
 trated every negro quarter, proclaimed the freedom of the slave. While 
 it occupied the country, its officers and men were spread in every direc- 
 tion, engaged in inciting the slaves to licentiousness and disobedience, 
 and in spreading artfully devised tales designed to excite their imag- 
 ination and impress them with the desire of leaving their comfortable 
 homes, in quest of the new El Dorado depicted by their friends. Inti- 
 mately associating with the blacks, and stimulating them to appropriate 
 such of their master's property as gratified their cupidity, these emissa- 
 ries succeeded only so far as to divert them from their usual pursuits, 
 or to induce them to appropriate articles of trifling value on the planta- 
 tions. And it is not less remarkable that insurrection and revolt — the 
 object of these machinations of the enemy — evaporated in occasional 
 disrespect to accustomed authority, or harmless displays of vanity re- 
 sulting from imagined ideas of equality. The tales circulated for the 
 ear of thisjcreduloua and somewhat imaginative people were as fasci- 
 nating as those of the Arabian Nights. The social condition was to be 
 inverted ; the slave was to be served by his master, and to occupy his 
 place and condition; he was to enjoy an uninterrupted exemption 
 from labot; fine equipages were to await his bidding, and he was to 
 enjoy his ease in the quiet mansion of the planter, or in the confiscated 
 dwellings of the City, with their rich furniture and their splendid deco- 
 rations. The faith in such extravagant promises might simply provoke 
 
48 
 
 a smile at the credulity of those to whom they were addressed, did not 
 the criminal motives of their propagators excite a sentiment of disgust 
 and abhorrence. The efforts of the enemy might have resulted in 
 driving into his arms the entire slave population, had not his emissa- 
 ries been as diligently engaged in plundering as in emancipating the 
 poor objects of their solicitude; for the fact is notorious that on all the 
 plantations the negro women were robbed by the soldiers of their trin- 
 kets and the men of their little savings of money. Distrusting those 
 who preached so well and practiced so badly, few of the slaves at first 
 left their homes, but at length, attracted by curiosity and by the desire 
 to follow those who had preceded them, others followed, until the de- 
 pots under the jurisdiction of the provost marshals on the Teche, at 
 Vermilionville and at Opelousas became swollen by the influx. To 
 understand properly the subject of which we are now treating, it will 
 be ne cessary to describe the inner life of one of those depots, and we 
 select for that purpose the slave barracoon at Opelousas. 
 
 Near the centre of the town is an open square, on three sides of 
 which are private dwellings with wide galleries looking upon the 
 front, and on the fourth, warehouses and stores partially unoccupied. 
 From the centre of this square rises the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 which had but recently been dedicated according to the solemn and 
 imposing rites of the church. It was so placed that at some future day 
 it might be surrounded by luxuriant shade trees on either side of pleas- 
 ant avenues, where the citizen might enjoy his exemption from toil, 
 and the christian might find a retreat for religious meditation. Little 
 did its builders imagine that the words ot our Savior to the money- 
 changers of the temple would so soon meet with an application here : 
 ♦' My house is the house of prayer ; but ye have made it a den of 
 thieves." This square and church were set apart as a slave depot by 
 the Federal commander. At first the blacks were invited to visit the 
 barracoon, were feasted at the expense of their friends, and were per- 
 mitted to go and come as they saw proper. The place soon became 
 popular. The handsome reception with which they were greeted, the 
 free affable manners of the gentlemen of the army, the generous liquors 
 and the tempting food so liberally distributed, the exciting declama- 
 tion of black and white exhorters within the church, soon collected a 
 dense sable crowd upon the square who found themselves finally under 
 guard, and prohibited from all egress. The poor negro had been told 
 by his white friends that he was free ; he had just heard the same fact 
 proclaimed from the pulpit ; he had enjoyed the freedom his instincts 
 led him to seek, in the festivities around him, and in the unrestrained 
 indulgence of his appetites ; but when his inclination naturally led him 
 to return home, he was met with crossed bayonets and forbidden to 
 leave the place. An inexorable fatality seemed to hold him within 
 the bounds of his prison. One man, more bold than his fellows, rushed 
 past the guard, and was mercilessly shot. This immediately put an 
 end to all attempts at escape, though it did not preyent some from 
 
4S 
 
 jTsakiiug their way out by eluding the vigilance of she guard. lu th« 
 ineantirae, howevei', many new comers, men, women and children, wer» 
 di-awn into the vortex, until the church, the square and the adjoining 
 warehouses were filled to overflowing. The accomplished officer who 
 presided over the scenes daily enacted in this ban-acoon was the "Mili- 
 tary Governor of Opelousas," Col. Chick«ring, of the 41st Massachu- 
 setts regiment, who occupied the moet conspicuous residence, fronting 
 the entrance of the church. From his eligible position he had, as 
 from the royal box at the opera, the most comprehensive view of the 
 scenes passing beneath. Morning and evening, as he promenaded his 
 apaciotis gaU«ry, in all the glitter of military button and strap, he 
 passed in review the living panorama before him, which was to furnish 
 such valuable acquisitions to the confiscated plantations on the La- 
 fourche and the coaet. The scenes which he so complacently sur- 
 veyed will long live in the memory of the then inhabitants of the town. 
 5u. one place groups of human beings, with melancholy faces, were 
 crouched ou the earth around some decaying embers ; in another, men, 
 women and children were moving in some African dance to the discord- 
 ant chant of a hundred voices ; in another, crowds were reclining in 
 listless idleness ou the ground, in «very attitude that betrays the 
 vacant mind ; in another, half clad men and women were feasting and 
 rioting amidst peals and shouts of unearthly merriment ; in another, 
 awkward field hands, grotesquely dressed, were being taken through 
 the exercises of squad drill and the manual of arms, while in the midst 
 of all these scenes blue-coated officers and men were seen in amorous 
 dalliance with the colored Aspasias of th^ town, exhibiting, in their 
 degradation, a contempt for the commonest decencies of life. Nor was 
 the spectacle less humiliating in the church. From its sacred chancel 
 a half crazy negro, with the voice of a Stentor and the fire of Peter the 
 Hermit, declaimed in a barbaric jargon to an auditory whose appre- 
 ciation was manifested in wild shouts and screams. The declamation 
 of the preacher, in which the name of Grod was connected with ideas 
 •of heathen superstitiou, seemed to light up in the minds of his hearers 
 the dormant spark of African barbarism which had smouldered for gen- 
 erations. ♦ 
 
 These degrading exhibitions, which caused the abashed and shocked 
 families of the neighborhood to seek refuge in the inmost recesses of 
 their houses continued, until the removal of the Depot to Port Barre, 
 «n the 10th of May, put an end to the scene. At the latter place, in 
 utter disregard of the considerations ot humanity, to say nothing of 
 decency and propriety, the miserable wretches taken from Opelousas 
 •were promiscuously huddled together in a hollow square, formed by 
 parking wagons and carts around; and here, without any protection 
 Irom the then scorching rays of the sun, or the weather, tkey remained 
 nntil relieved, to unite with the retreating army. 
 
 As Gen. Banks fell back from Alexandria, to crosu the Mississippi, 
 
5« 
 
 kr» eaiissaries wera wnt below in kot haste to spread an alarm in th» 
 eabins of tlie negrees. It came to the ear of the poor negro "lik« the 
 alarm of a fire-b.ll in the night." "Haste! haste!" was tlie cry, "Haste, 
 the Rebels are coming. They are slayiug the slaves as they advance. 
 Fly! fly!" Agitated by contending emotions, the attachment of home 
 at leng;h smothered under a vague fear of impending cnlamity, the 
 poor creatures fell upon everything ^vithin their reach, which could 
 convey them away. Vehicles of every description were hastily packed 
 with household goods and human beings. The aged, the infirm, and 
 the children, thus provided for, the more robust mounted in the; great- 
 est disorder on mwles and horses, and precipitately joined the Federal 
 ranks. 
 
 Col. Chickering, in the mean' time, had .' r ranged his retreat, with 
 the view of sweeping both banks of the Teche. The 114th New York 
 regiment, under Lieut. Col. Purlee, Avhich had just arrived in Opelousas, 
 was directed to encamp on a plantation below, owned by a gentleman 
 then in the military service of the State, and after "cleaning it out,'" 
 (we use the elegant language of Col. Chiclcering-,) to |roceed by the 
 right bank of the Teche to St. Martinsville, while the other column 
 ■would take the left. His preparations were accelerated by the news 
 of the rapid advanae of the Confederate Cavalry from the direction of 
 Texas, under Gen. Mouton. 
 
 From Port Barre, eight miles froni Opelonsas, near the upper Teche, 
 commenced, on the 2 let of May 1863, the memorabls Hegir.i, which 
 "will always occupy a conspicuous place in the annals of Opelousas and 
 Attakapas. 
 
 As the fugitives of Damascus, threatened by the "Sword of G-od," 
 "gathered in haste and terror their most precious movables, and aban- 
 doned with loud lamentations or silent anguish, their native homes, 
 and the pleasant banks of the Pharpharj" so the poor negroes, the vic- 
 tims of a perfidy of which the fierce ;''aracen would have been incapa- 
 ble, abandoned their homes, in wild disorder, anrl deep despair of threat- 
 ened calamity. The flight down the Teche, from its inception to its 
 termination at Berwick's Bay, a distance of a .hundred 'miles, was 
 marked by visible evidence ot disorder and despair, in abandoned chil- 
 dren and infants by the wayside, thrown from their mother's arms to 
 perish, or to find some stranger hand to bestow a mother's care. In 
 a private carriage, taken from a lady living near Opelousas, Col. Chick- 
 ering led the flight, and directed its movements. A few miles below 
 Port Barre, Col. Purlee, by a detour which led him through the vil- 
 lage of Grand Coteau and the adjoining plantations, reached the 
 Teche. On the Avay he had admirably fulfilled his mission, by effec- 
 tually "cleaning out," at the point of the bayonet, the obnoxious plan- 
 tation; for he brought with him every living thing, and every movable 
 attached to it^ and as twenty of the negroes subsequently died under 
 Federal treatment, his>succes wa? complete. On his route, many ne- 
 groes, iuflnemced by the alarm already spreading, foil into t-ha ciirreut 
 
£1 
 
 and swelled its mass, so as to make no mean additiea ts th* fltwiag 
 stream of humanity iu which it was disgorged. 
 
 Above St. Martinsville, situated in a Parish which the Federal Pre*- 
 ident had excepted from the effects of his Emancipation Proclamation, 
 is the large estate of a geutlemau, descended from ancestors who settled 
 in Louisiana under the Spanish government, and distinguished for th« 
 fine abilities and social qualities which adorned the high horors to 
 which he has been elevated in this ^tate. In the alarming crisis which 
 followed the election of Mr. Lincoln, he relucantly withdrew from an 
 honorable retirement, to represent his fellow-citizens in the Conven- 
 tion, which was to decide the destinies of the State. Vindictive ma- 
 levolence could not pass near such a person without inflicting injury; 
 and this was best to be accomplished by forcing from the master, th» 
 servants who had been attached to him and his family, from their in- 
 fancy. Two difficulties, however, must have suggested themselves t» 
 Col. Purlee'a mind: one, the implied security of slave property heto, 
 under the proclamation, which forbade force; tho other, the apprehen- 
 sion of a hostile force in his rear, which demanded haste. Chance 
 solved the latter, by bringing his flying column, at night-fall, in the 
 neighborhood; ho provided against the former, by going with his regi- 
 mant over the bayou, and off from the line of retreat, to encamp one night 
 among thn negro cabins of tho estate. The result may be imagined: 
 Col. Purloe joined Col. Chickering at St. Martinsville, with another 
 mass of human beings, led like victims to the slaughter. But before 
 his departure, a scene occurred, highly illustrative of the conduct of 
 the Federals in their ereption of the slaves. An aunt, belonging to a 
 neighboring plantation, who had joined in the flight, taking a fancy to 
 carry with her a little niece, whose mother was absent, and, failing to 
 persuade her, appealed to the Federal officers to apply force. The 
 child flew for protection to the residence of the manager of the estate, 
 and impelled by a natural impulse, clung to the dress of the lady of 
 tho house, and in piteous accents implored her to save her. The sym- 
 pathetic impulses of the manager prompted him to interpose his pcrsou, 
 at the risk of his life, against the first military intruders, who sought 
 to enter his house, to tear the child away. Col. Purlee, being informed 
 of the position of affairs, came in person, and with pistol in hand, rush- 
 ing into the house, he tore, with his own hand, the screaming girl from 
 the protection of the lady, and carried her away. 
 
 The sensibilities of the few remaining inhabitants of New Iberia 
 were excited by another scene more aggravated in its character, be- 
 cause its consequences involved higher degrees of crime. The robust 
 malws of the negro families here, caught in the Federal toils, were rude- 
 ly torn from their mothers aud wives and children, who parted from 
 them with loud lamentations, and claimed them aa the only protectors 
 the boon of freedom had left them. These men were forced into th» 
 Federal ranks, unwilling soldiers, to serve in a causa they did not ap- 
 pre©iat.«, against those wi*l» wh©a» th«y H^d jeiatd in fh« sports ef 
 
52 
 
 childhood, with whom they had enjoyed in manhood the reciprocal re- 
 lations of provident care and attached obedience; and to take up armn 
 against those with whom they had enjoyed all the sympathetic rela- 
 tions of every period of life. 
 
 But, impelled by the alarm from the rear that the rebels were oix its 
 track, thirsting for vengeance, the flying caravan came plunging in 
 with accelerated haste. On the eitate below New Iberia, where a de- 
 pot had been established, and a provost guard installed, around the 
 mansion we have already described, in the dead hour of night there 
 was a beat to arms, while the bell pealed forth loud summoaft to the ne- 
 groes of the neighboring plantations. They gathered by hundred^. — '■ 
 Provoked already by terrifying alarnjs and excited to phrenzy by 
 the reflection that the ties which had hitherto bound theia Ware rudely 
 severed, their barbarous instincts were further inflamed by liberal dis- 
 tributions of whiskey. Soon their conduct knew no bounds; in crowds 
 they swayed about the house, animated by a raving and incontrollable 
 fury, and uttering shrieks of demoniacal rage. The ladies of the fami- 
 ly, like the gentle flock menaced by the howling wolf, huddled togeth- 
 er in an upper lOom, in agonies of suffering, and uttering prayers for 
 their deliverance — for it seemed to then^ that God alone could save 
 hem. The venerable lady of the mansion, who had borne up under sa 
 many scenes of horror, succumbed to this; she was borne by her sor- 
 rowing children to the bed, from which her remains were soon earned 
 to that tomb. Which had before been so sacrilegiously violated. The 
 hurrying flight of the retreating army only spared this devoted family 
 from tfce barbaric rage of an infuriated multitude, who in a moment, a» 
 it were, under Federal influeace, had extinguished in their bosoms the 
 civilizing influences of a century. Retreating in all the disarray of a 
 beaten and pursued host, the Federal caravan hardly suspended its 
 flight for rest or sleep, until it reached the Bay, under the protection of 
 the gunboats. 
 
 The remembrance of the scenes exhibited in this flight, will lov^ 
 live in the memory of the inhabitants along its rouie. It was a mov- 
 ing panorama of strange and incongruous sights. The family coaeh^ 
 the buggy, the village hack, and the caleche, mingled with huge cane- 
 wagons, village wagons, creaking ox-carts, bread-carts, and the small 
 carts of the plantations, drawn by every species of draft animal, hasti- 
 ly caught and hastily attached, were loaded with huge piles of clothing 
 and bedding, in which sat and clung a squalid, filthy, dust-begrimed, 
 anxious looking multitude of human beings. These vehicles were driv- ^5 
 en and goaded on by impatient, sweating and terrified drivers, by 
 whose sides were men, women and children, by ones, twos, and threes, 
 mounted on plantation mules just from the plow, and on ponies freshly 
 caught from the prairies, spurring and beating on these exhausted 
 creatures, in heated haste. Stalking along by the side of the road 
 were men bearing bundles, women with infants in their arms — despair 
 depicted in their faces. Boys and girls followed along, dodging from 
 
53 
 
 time to time, vitb yoathful dexterity, among the panting animal*, to 
 ^et a ride on »ome over-burthened beast, or CRtch a lift on tbe project- 
 ing parts of the groaning vehicles. The scorching sun was sending 
 down his most ardent rays; and a dense cloud of dust covered, as with 
 a pall, the sweltering mass, which extended eight miles over a closely 
 packed road. Chiekering, in the ndvance, and riding in state in his 
 confiscated carriage, was pressing on; and Purleo in the rear, with hi« 
 faithful 114th, pushing forward, rolled the heaving congeries irresistably 
 along. Like some dark river swollen to a torrent, and sweeping away 
 with its inundating waters, the flocks and the herds, and the buildings 
 along its banks, this flood of animated life moved along its course. — 
 The ravages of the overflow may, however, be repaired; the husband- 
 man may replenish his storeP, and increase his flocks, and repair his 
 losses; bat can the grave give up its dead? Of the tide of human be- 
 ings we have described, two thousand perished in six weeks. Their 
 shallow graves lie along the waters of the Ramos. Scooped out with 
 careless indifference, and covered with indecent haste, they were only 
 marked by swarms of fattened flies, living on the putrid matter oozing 
 through the loose earth above them. They have fouml their free- 
 dom; such freedom as God vouchsafes to all the children of men. 
 
 Ih the latter part of the month of June, Gen. Taylor, in command of the 
 then small Confederate force of this District, took, by a coup -de-main, 
 the opposite bank of Berwick's Bay, which gave him the command of 
 its waters, and threw open to his occupation the country watered by 
 the Lafourche. The planters of these Parishes immediately repaired 
 to the captured District, in search of their lost property. Many, fol- 
 lowing the army, were present, and crossed with it; and thus had an 
 opportunity to witness the actual condition of the slaves, the moment 
 they passsed from the Federal hands. 
 
 Seven miles fi-om tliA toVvnot Brash ear, on the bank« of the Bayou 
 Bamos, they found, a^^e have described, the graves oi the dead; the 
 condition of the liriHg, as they found them, we will attempt to describe. 
 Skirting the bayou, in a thicket of undergrowth and briars, were en- 
 camped, without shelter, a wretched, death-gtricken crowd of human 
 beings, who. but a few short weeks before, had been driven from their 
 homes full of the rigor of health, and overflowing with th« exuberance 
 of animal life, and now were dying in squalid filth, or living in abject 
 misery. The adjacent thicket, filled with the decomposing bodies of 
 those, who, dragging themselves thither, and falling from exhaustion, 
 had, unable to return, died there, spread over the camps a nauseous 
 stench, which threatened death to th» survivors. Crouched to the 
 earth, with their heads sunk between their knees, or lying with up- 
 turned faces, gaaing vacantly in the air, the poor surviving negroes 
 were moved by no sympathies for the sufferers around them. Sunk in 
 despondency and despair, or oppressed by deadly stupor, they not only 
 neglected the last duties to the dead, but they regarded with stupid 
 indifference those who were fallinjinto the jaws of death. Many wert 
 
»4 
 
 < 
 
 dying; and, like the living, orerwhelmed and •ppressed, thej sought 
 lio relief; thus they passed away, uttering neither moan nor sigh, nor 
 groau — without mvurmnr, without complaint, without hope. Many gen- 
 tlemen had come, animated, perhaps, by some vindictive feeling, 
 against those slaves, who, in leaving, had carried oflf some of the mova- 
 bles of the plantation. Standing here in the midst of these ban-owing 
 scenes, their vindictiveness melted away in their tears. The strong 
 man, unused to weeping, could not stifle his emotions; the less stoical, 
 unnerved and unmanned, giving way to his natural sympathy, wept 
 like a child. It wa« afterwa: ds remarked, that even hard men, who 
 found their slaves on neighboring plantations, softened by so many ex- 
 hibitions of destitution, suffering and death, met them with the feelings 
 of a father, and welcomed the return of the prodigal son. Whilst sad- 
 ly contemplating this sorrowful spectacle, whispered files of horrors 
 passed among the surrounding groups, and they shudderingly drew to- 
 gether", as if their heaving bosoms, oppressed by horrid sensations, 
 could only be relieved by sympathetic contact. Every eye turned in- 
 stinctively to the sugar house, standing near by, as if to penetrate its 
 mysteries. Soon the door was approached by persons whose curiosity 
 overcame their repugnance; but most of them recoiled at the first view. 
 Only a few entered, for the purposes of close examination. The mys- 
 teries of the sugar house, we will leave another to explain. 
 
 Dr. George Hill, a distinguished physician and surgeon of Opelous- 
 as, whose nerves had been fortified by an active professional practice 
 fof forty years, has, under the solemnity of an oath, furnished us with 
 a statement of what he witnessed. We copy the essential portions of 
 his communication: 
 
 "In the summer of 1863, Berwick's Bay and a portion of the La- 
 "fourche country were taken possession of by the Confederate army. 
 *' I, with many others, who had lost their property by the raid which 
 ■" the Federal army had made, between the 20th of April and the 20th 
 "of May, of this year, visited the Bay for the the purpose of recovering 
 -" our property. I was among the first who crossed the Bay; and hav- 
 '" ing been informed, on the night of my arrival, by a gentleman of the 
 ■" name of March, that I had lost several negroes at the sugar house of 
 ^* Dr. Saunders, and that others were there in a dying condition, in 
 "the morning, as soon as a horse could be obtained, I proceeded to the 
 " sugar house of Dr. S., and entered it by a door in the west end. — 
 "Tlw scene which then and there presented itself, can never be effaced 
 "from my memory. On the right hand side of the Purgery floor, from 
 '' where I stood, lay three female corpses in a state of nudity, and also 
 " in a far advanced stage of decomposition. Many others were lying 
 ** all over the floor; many speechless and in a dying condition. Alt 
 "appeared to have died of the same disease — bloody flux. The floor 
 " was slippery with blood, mucus and fceces. The dying, and all those 
 " unable to help themselves, were lying with their scanty garments roll- 
 " pi. ar«m«d their l»»a«l« and breasts — fefei l«w»v part ©f tlio body na- 
 
§6 
 
 "k«d — and erery tim« an involuntary discharge of blood and faeces, 
 "combined with air, would pass, making a slight noise, clouds of flies, 
 •* such as I never saw before, would immediately rise and settle down 
 •* again on all the exposed parts of the dying. * * In passing 
 "through the house, a cold chill shook my frame, from which I did not 
 "recover for several. months, and, indeed, it came near causing my life. 
 *.• • • • • * * 
 
 "As I passed from the house I met with a negro man of my own, who 
 "informed me that he had lost his wife and two children. 1 asked him 
 "if his friends, the Yankees, had not furnished him with medicine. He 
 "said ']S'o, and if they had, I would not have given it to my family, 
 " 'as all who took their medicine died in twelve hours from the time of 
 " 'its being givem*-" 
 
 This deposition having been read to Dr. Saunders, the proprietor of 
 the sugar house iu question, and now a representative of St. Mary in 
 the State Senate, ho declared, that while it was faithful in the general 
 description, it did not exhibit all the hcrvors of the scone; as before 
 ilit arrival of Dr. Hill, he had caused many dccor^iposcd bodies that 
 filled the coolers to be removed and. interred. A hundred others would, 
 if necessai-y, add their testimony to that of these genth^men. 
 
 There were other places on tlio island where the poor wretches were 
 bivouacked, all presenting the same scenes of squalid misery. On the 
 representation of the gentlemen who witnessed them, the Confederate 
 officer in charge of the posit, moved by a manly sympathy, immediately 
 put in requisition his military transports, then pressingly needed for 
 the military service, and had all the poor creatures removed, under 
 proper medical superintendence, to a more salubrious place on the 
 Teche, where they could receive proper attention, with pure water and 
 wholesome food. Had not this been promptly done, it is the opinion 
 of the medical men present, that every soul, amounting to many hun- 
 dreds, would have perished. 
 
 Penetrating into the interior, and spreading in every direction, the 
 planters found their negroes distrit uted among the plantations, through 
 an extent of more than a hundred miles of couutiy. Dismembered 
 fragments of families were found recklessly scattered, without regard 
 to affinities or family ties. One of your Commissioners found two 
 children under ten years of age separated from their parents. He sub- 
 sequently learned, that while the father had been taken for the army, 
 the mother had been thrown upon a plantation below the city of New 
 Orleans. He found a mother with two children, who had been separa- 
 ted from one, a little girl aged eleven ; and he subsequently learned 
 that she was living with a free mulatto family opposite that city. He 
 ascertained, beyond doubt, that all the aged, all the infants, and many 
 of the smaller children taken from his plantation had perished. Sub- 
 sequently he learned the sad history of one of the families. The father 
 and mother had lived happily together through many years of married 
 life. They k»d bwa *»pows»d in thsiv youth, aod lived to see grow up 
 
50 
 
 Mcwnd them a family of six children — the eldest of whom had already 
 attained the age of manhood. This family had been taken from th« 
 plantation with the others we have mentioned, ajid within the short 
 space of three months from the time of their departure, five of the chij* 
 dren occnpied negjlected graves, the father and son had b«en pressed 
 into the Federal service, and the wretched mother was found living with 
 a mulatto man at Algiers. The experience of your Oommisaiouer has 
 been th« experience of hundreds. Every planter who lost slaves, has 
 an analagous tale to tell. The cabins of every government plautatioa 
 Were found containing some of the living, while the adjacent field* 
 were marked by the graves of many of the dead. Tl^e masters took 
 the survivors to tiieii- homes, where they nourished and resuscitated 
 them ; and then, they too had their talea to tell ! Living in the midst 
 of this simple race, and knowing, as we do, that their habits of mind, 
 regulated more by impulse than reason, render their evidence extremely 
 doubtful when their feelings are enlisted, we reluctantly allude to the 
 voluntary witness they have borne. But the Federalists, during .their 
 occupation of the country, attached the highest importance to this kind 
 of testimony ; and it is but right that they should have the benefit of 
 aU the evidence elicited on this subject. The negroes recaptured ou 
 the Lafourche and at Berwicks Bay in July, 1863, almost unanimously 
 declare that tlie Yankees poisoned the aged, the infirm, and the infants! 
 While we reject the competency of such testimony, as do our courts of 
 judicature, we will add that we know the negroes religiously believe 
 what they state. 
 
 Two thousand negroes fell victims to the perfidy of the enemy wilhia 
 the short space of six weeks. The flight commenced from Fort Barre 
 on the 21st of May ; on the 2i)th of June Gen, Taylor crossed Berwick's 
 Bay ; the planters and proprietors of slaves crossing immediately after, 
 found, after diligent search and enquiry on cprnparing notes, that this 
 number had already died. In his cruel treatmeBt, and in his agony, 
 the poor negro might well have cried with the psalmist : 
 
 "Bow thy Heavens, O Jehovah, aad come down: touch the moun- 
 " tains, and they shall smoke: cast forth lightning and scatter them^: 
 " shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them : send thine hand from above : 
 "rid me and deliver me, out of the great waters, from the Tmnd of strange 
 ^* children; tchosi mouth apeaketh vanity, and their right hand is a hand 
 " of falsehood." 
 
 Many of the facts enumerated in the preceding pages, though repug- 
 nant to the usages of civilized warfare, and offensive to the moral sense 
 of mankind, have not only not been disavowed by the enemy, but have 
 been published for the approbation of the New England public. We 
 have before us a pamphlet published in Boston, by the officers of the 
 41st Massachusetts regiment, commanded by Col. Chickering, which 
 contains the military diary of that officer, and a letter of Gen. Banks 
 recommending him for promotion, for the very services whicfi desolated 
 Opelouaas and Attakapaii. We insert here such portions of it »» seers^ 
 
#7 
 
 most pertinent tn the subject of our report. This rogiment was claimed 
 by tliK ppoplp of Boston, as a reprepHiitativp^ regiiiiHiit. It was org n- 
 ized out ol ihr b('»Jt materials fur tli«.\vork bot'ore it, and was; ushered 
 upon its career of lieeiiliousness and ji!uii<!er, iu the mi.ist of nbe xnMst 
 niagiiilioent li.enionstrolinii.-^ ot the uietiopolis of M ipsachu-^etls. After, 
 re;Hlii])g J^ouisiaii;\, buiiiing a few bridj^es, ^iikI iitteinjitiug to destroy 
 tile sail wnrks near jSew Iljeri.i, w(i louml it at Opeloiisas, wliere it ar- 
 rived on the^Oihot April. 1863. This clinmiele says: "On the 20tli, 
 •'Col. Chickeriiig was uppo med Military ••overnor<if Opelonsas, and 
 "the regiment assigned to provost duty, AND Ti^B c Li-KrTlu.N of the 
 "VALL'AI-LK PKODIICTS oF THK C UVTRY. Lieutenant Colouel Sargent 
 "was npjiointed Provost Maisli;»l, ;ind Major Viual assumed couiiUanJ 
 "gf the regiuieut. R( maiued in ()|i(dous;is tid May 11, 18(J3, wlieii 
 "Col. Chifkeriug, wiili liu.^ troo|)S at Opeious;is, were ordered to Bane's 
 "Landing, there to establish a Post and Military De(»ot for supjdies ta 
 "the ninetei^udi Army Corps, theu al Alexandria. Louisi.inn, and Col-, 
 "onel (.'hitkeiing app(nnte(l commandant of ihn ]iost,",with a f(»rcH of 
 '•sevt^i n giuieni.s of in anlry, the 41st Mounted lliHes, ana a sectiou 
 "of Kitn'is Artillery. Wuiie at Opelousa:** tlie4lst were converted into 
 "a II fiiuieiii ol mounted rilies, pror.idhig t/nir own hor-se-t from the sur- 
 "rounding covntnj, and drawinu' liorse ecjuipmeuts n-)m Bane's Land- 
 "iug. During the. li'rin of duty of the 4L>t at Dpidou.sns and Birra's 
 "J.,anding, they COLJ-KC'IED and sont to New Orleans, via Brasliear, 
 "upwards of six ihouaand hales of cotton, largi' quantities ftf sugar and 
 "moL.sycs, at'd other products of the countrij," ;iiiies, veji.cleo, silv. r 
 phiti', jewelry, ^:c ,| 'Uind at least ten thousrnd, 'contraband s,' men, wo- 
 "men and children, 'Yo Wuitif 'I'Hk G VI-;k.\mi-,\t pla.xtatio.ns I.\ the 
 "Lafouhciik coi'.NTKV. The41sl Set all the corninills in operation,- 
 '•fnruisliing ifirge quantities of meal to the troop.s and iidiabitants, and 
 "feeding the 'contrabainls.' Tliey established a fr**** market for the 
 "benefit of the poor iidiabitants, re-npened ilie jnantiiig olhce, and issued 
 "a daily p-iper." »***«» "The troops 
 
 "at Barrc's Lauding left that point on tho morning of May 2lst, 1863, 
 "at «lay-bieak, under command of Colon 1 Cuickering, with a train of 
 ^'nrniy wagons, 'contrabands,' &-c , f-xtending fiv*; miles in length," [H11-- 
 ed up afterwards by Purlee's accessions and ctliHr'coiitrabands so as 
 to extend eight miles. J "consisting of /?//■// best arniij wagorts. Jive 
 "hundred emigrant wagons, with about six thousand, negroes, and. a large 
 " drore of horses, mules, and heef, guarded by the 4l6t Kegiment ?douiit- 
 "ed Rifles in advance, with a flank and rear guard of seven regiments 
 "of iid'antry, and a section of artillery. '1 be troops and train march- 
 "ed down the ea-^terly bank of the Teche, via Leonville, Braux Bridge, 
 "to St. Martinsville; thence crossing the Teche, continued down the 
 "western bank via New Iberia, Fratddin, Pattersonville and Center- 
 " ville to Berwick — arriving at the latter city at day-bivak, on the 26th 
 "of May, 1S63, after a march of one hundred an.] ten tniles in five days, 
 " bringing in the whole Caravan t^ain in safijty." This diary or chron- 
 
li 
 
 icle elowB Jnn« 17th, 1863, leaving the reglni«ui \^> ►j«. .^rtgiiuorbood 
 of Port Hudson. It has the merit of entire faithfulnt^ss of representa- 
 tion. We observe in it but few errors, atid only one important omis- 
 eion; and, as there is no attempt to conceal either motive or fact, this 
 occurred no doubt in the rapidity of narration. The chronicle omits 
 to mention that nearly five hundred private carriages (including every 
 description of vehicles of luxury and convenif-nce) were taken from the 
 citizens of St. Landry, most ot which went down with the ''caravan 
 train." 
 
 In reviewing this diary, conversant as we are with the facts, we can- 
 not but be diverted at the vein of facetionsness which runs through it. 
 "Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol," the Page says, "will steal anything, 
 
 and call it purchase." The 41st Massachusetts only collects ! 
 
 But the application of the terms "Contraband," "Emigrant wagons,^* 
 and "Caravan," to the poor negro and his exodus, has a grim signifi- 
 cance, which, under the circumstances, strikes one as did the grin of 
 the skeleton chained bolt upright in an oubliette of Mont St. Michel. 
 Undoubtedly this narration proved agreeable to the people of Massa- 
 chusett?, who saw their peculiar notions of ethics and philanthropy, so 
 extensively carr.ed into practice by their representative reginjent, under 
 the supervision of the distinguished "Military Governor ot Opelousas." 
 To show that M'e are not disposed to judge rashly, we append a letter 
 from the representative General of Massachusetts, which we find in the 
 chronicle : 
 
 "Headquarters Departmeivt of the Gulf, \ 
 "New Orleans, July 29, 1863. J 
 
 "Honorable • • • • • 
 
 " Dear Sir : I take great pleasure in coramraending to your favor 
 "Col. Thomas E. Chickering, of the Forty-first Massachusetts Volun- 
 ** teers. Colonel Chickering, in his term of command in this depart- 
 " ment, has rendered to the Government distinguished and important 
 " services. His regiment has been among the most faithful and eflScient 
 " of the army, always prompt and fearless, appearing in full strength, 
 ** ready for any duty. It is impossible that this should have been its 
 " invariable character except for the most thorough and honorable' 
 " attentions to his duties as its commander. In addition to this, which 
 "high praise is deserved in this instance, he has well performed the 
 " very diflBcult and important duties which have been constantly com- 
 " mitted to him. No city (!) in possession of our Government has been 
 " subjected to a wiser or -more just rule than the city of Opelousas while 
 " Col. Chickering was its Military Governor. It was to his untiring 
 "energy and activity that we were en ibled to coVect the products of the 
 **c<nintry, a part of which vere sent to Boston (! !) as you will remember 
 •♦for the benefit of the Government. 
 
 " Upon moving our small column across the Mississippi, for th» re- 
 ^ductiottQfiPort HudsoDf he was charged with the safe conduct eftJw^ 
 
<• train— o/" nearly a thousand tcagons, embracing our whole frantporta- 
 
 '* f/on, wliirli il ivas iinpce'sibltj to move .ncioss tlie riwr, — to New Or- 
 *♦ infills. I lejifud* (1 rh ?afe'y of our train as tlin guage of our surcett 
 »* ill tin- cairiiaign. It was b»iij;lit m without tlie los-s of a wagon, 
 '•sltvr a kif.jtli < f orif hunthcd and fifty miles ihrough a country occu* 
 "j>i«-dby iJif »^«ieii;y's cjivnliy. '1 his succes^s reflects, as do all his 
 *• oilier fiffii'ial .lets, tlio liighe t credit upon Col. Chickering as an 
 ■" ofl5c*r of fidelity, capacity and patriotism. (!) Unhesitatingly 1 can 
 *' sny (bat be is well qualified for higher duties and position than that 
 " he now so honorably tills." 
 ♦• I ain, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) " N. P. BANKS, M. G. 0." 
 
 There is a material discrepancy, it will be perceived, between the 
 statement of Gen. Banks tliat thi» train consisted of "a thousand 
 wagons," ajid that of Col. Chickering in his diary, fixing his transporta- 
 tion at *• fifty army wagons." 'i"he former doubiless intended to in- 
 clude what the latter denominated "emigrant wagons," and which 
 fonwd thfi largest part of his transportation for the "caravan." It 
 was theivfore not the battles he had fought, and the armies he had con- 
 quered, that Gon. Banks regarded "as the p^uage of his success;" but 
 the safe arrival of the vehicles laden with the negroes and the rich 
 plunder "collected" in Opelousas and Attakapas. In reference to the 
 wise <.nd jusf rule of the Military Governor of Opelousas, it may not 
 be impi"oper to observe that the usual population of this "city " was 
 about 1500, but owing to the removal of many of its inhabitants the 
 number was reduced to much less than a thousand, when its affairs 
 were so ably administered by the dislinguished commander of the 4l3t 
 Ma8.<^chusetts. 
 
 We have been instructed by your Excellency to report "any special 
 acts of kindness that may have been done to our citizens by Federal 
 officers or soldiers, with the name, rank, &c , of those who acted thus 
 creditably." Animated by the same feeliujy that prompted your Ex- 
 cellency to "hope for the honor of humanity that some such instances 
 might be reported," we have made dilligent enquiries on the subject. 
 "We have found occasional instances of Federal officers evincing a dis- 
 position to protect the suffering citizen and to alleviate his condition ; 
 but powerless to extend adequate relief, the disposition has only been • 
 shown in ineffectual attempts, or in words of sympathy. We have 
 found some rare instances where Federal officers were polite and cour- 
 teous, and where they have manifested a proper appreci tion of the 
 legitimate services of the army, and a desire to extend the utmost pro- 
 tection to non-combatants ; but in these instances they requested that 
 their names should not be mentioned, as they would be oubji cted to 
 the censure nf their superior officers, or quietly relieved of their com* 
 oaads. T^ ([Qptuoea of war nxay fguj^i oring theq^into the «ouati-jr» 
 
iihd oor silence will befit serfure their future kind offices in the Telirf of 
 the oppressed. 
 
 ■ 111 concluding nnr report, T5'e may be permitted to indulge in some 
 brief n-fli'Ctions Aviiich the subject pu,i;gests. In every stage of the 
 world's histnrj' we inay nndonbtedly find enacted scenes, similar to 
 those we have d(^scriled : "theie is nothing new under tliti sun." But 
 it has been reserved, to our enemies to conduct a w. a', professedly to 
 restore jrUnion foiiiided on comuact and the consent of the governed, 
 •with all the bitterness and rancor which characterize wars undertaken 
 to gratify the passion of conquest, the d<sire for booty, ar-d the thirst 
 f»:r revenge ; to par' llel the crimes of all ages and times, without ex- 
 hibiting many of the virtues which have accompanied in their war- 
 fare the most barbarous of the ancient and the most embittered of the 
 moiieru nations; to shock the sensibilities of mankind by desecrating 
 the sanctuary and disturbing the repose of the dead ; and to violate 
 ■ the good faith practiced alike by tlie suvage and the infidel. 
 
 If tile IMohammedans, iiresenting the alternative of the Koran or 
 tribute, fomid believing Christians to dissemble their faith for a 
 moment; if, in the middle'ages, the chivalry of Normandy and Brit- 
 tany swore alleg^ahce to every chief who alternately occupied their 
 territory ; if, in the Civil Wars, th^ landholders of "England imitated 
 the facility of the Vicar of' Bray, and afterwards her reverend bishops 
 risked damnation in another for their temporalities in this worlds and 
 if. in recent times, the. haughty Spaniard took refuge under Junot's 
 oaths — thev gave, or found the protection that the sacrifice demanded : 
 but it is reserved to our enemies to set the first i xample of breaking 
 pliglited faith with those who were driven to seek their projection. 
 
 In the early part of the sixth century, Alaric sacked Rome ; h& 
 pl;;ndered the nobles of their gold and silver; he carried ofii" their pre- 
 cious articles of luxury and the rich furniture of their palaces ; but 
 he spared tiie cliUrc!ies and all those who were sheltered by their 
 sacred precincts. Gibbon sa\'S : "While the b;irbarians reamed* 
 through the city in quest of prey, the humble dwelling of an aged 
 virgin, who had devoted her life to the service of the altar, was for ed' 
 open by one of the powerful Goths. He immedi ittdy demanded, though 
 ill civil langinige, all the gold and silver in iier possessi)u, and was 
 astonished .-ittlie readin 'ss with which she condu;:ted him to a spletf."' 
 did lioaid of m:;ssy phite, of the richest materials and 'he m^st curious 
 workmanship. The barbarian viewed with wonder and delight this 
 valuable acquisition, till he was interrupted by a sei iolis adiuonition in 
 the following words: 'There.' said she, 'are the consecrated vessels 
 belonging to St. Peter: if yon presume to touch them the sacrilegious 
 deed will remain on your conscience, for my prt, I dare nut k-ep 
 what I am unable to defend.' The Gothic captain, stiuck with reveren- 
 tial awe, <lesp)tched a maSsenger to infonn the king of the treasure 
 which he had discovered, and received a peremptory order fl'pid Alaric 
 that all the coiisecHfeied plat« and ornaments should be transported. 
 
61= 
 
 >fhhout dnmage wr delay, to iha Church of the Apostle. From th» 
 extivmitv, perhaps, of the Quiiinal hill to tie distant quarter of tli«* 
 V.Htican, a mimeroiis rletachiiK'nt of Goths, inarching in order of battle- 
 tiinuv;jli tlie principal streets, pfotecled with g-littering arms the loiig^ 
 tra u of their devout companions, who bore aloft in their hai ds the 
 sacred VMSsels of jjold and .-;jlver; and the mar;ial shouts of the barba- 
 tians were miuj2;led with the sound of relijjious ])salmody. From all 
 the adjacent houses a crowd of Christians ha.-tened to join this edify- 
 ing procession, and a multitude ol fugitives, without disfinetiou of age, 
 or rank, or sex, or even sect, had the eood fortune to escape to the se- 
 cure and hospitable sanctuary <tf the VatTcan." 
 
 In the seventh century the people (>f the Roman Empire trembled at 
 the approach of the Saracen, who, emerging from the then almost un- 
 known peninsula of Arabia, was carrying Ids conquering arms to the 
 w<;st, along the southern shon-s of the Mediterranean. Tlie terror that 
 then prevailed has come down to our times, embodied in history and 
 song, iuvestiii.g the n .me of Saracen Avith vices revolting to society 
 and attributes repulsive to humanity, i'et tho instructions of the first 
 Caliph, Alnileker, the companion of the Prophet, to Caled, the Sword 
 of God. then leading the army to its encampment amid the palm groves 
 and by the gushing iountains of Damascus, might not be thought un- 
 worthy of an age in which it is pretended that society is regulated by 
 maxims of beiicvoleuce, and that humanity is tempered by the influ- 
 ences of Christianity. " Remember," said the successor of the Prophet, 
 " that } on are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, 
 " in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid in- 
 " justice and oppression ; consult with your brethren, and study to 
 *• preserve the love anii confidence of your tioops. ^Vheu you fight the 
 ■" battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your 
 " backs ; but let not your victf)ry be stained with the blood of women and 
 ■" children. Dcstroi/ tio palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut 
 " down no fruit trees, nor do an>/ mischief to cattle, only such as you kill 
 *' to eat. When you make a covenant or art cle, stan 1 to U, and be as 
 ** good as your ivord." 
 
 ill lije seventeenth century, under the direction of the French ndnis- 
 ier, Louvois, tho army of Tnrenne entered and devastated the Pala- 
 tiHute. The intelligence shocked Europe, and called down upon the 
 perpetrators of the act the animadversion of the civilized world. It 
 exp'.t^ed to iniamy tlie character of Louvois, tarnished the laun-ls of 
 Tnrenne. and brcmght upon Louis XIV the reproac.ies of mankind. 
 The chiv.-ilrous French, at this day, would gladly expunge thi.s inef- 
 faceable blot from the lilies of Fratice. 
 
 ■ Li the ■bi'ginuing- of the present century England was engaged in 
 war with France. 'I he long continuance of this war, familiar to every 
 reader of fiistory, had so inllamed the passions of those at the head of 
 the respective governments, that each party was drawn iato acts of re- 
 taliatiTO, whi'.h, in iesB oxcited momeats, were found riot only itn^rao- . 
 
63 
 
 tieable to accomplish the ends proposed, but contrarj to the pnB^id laiP'^ 
 and violative O' the established usagea of war. Ainong the aLts-ot re- 
 taliation resorted to by England was the prohibition of tl>e exportatioa 
 of Peruvian bark to the countries occupied by the French — a pruhibi- 
 tioH ot little consequence compared with the i'ederal practice of naakiog- 
 all medicines contraband of war, and destroying them wherever founa 
 in Confederate possession. Mr. Allison, the eminent English hiatorian, 
 who leans always to the side of his country, expresses hia views in 
 condemnation of this act, and which, we doubt not, are now the view» 
 of all intelligent Englishmen. "There is," says the historiany "one 
 ** measure on the part of the British government connected with com^ 
 '• mercial transactions, however, on which, from the very outset, a de- 
 " cided opinion may be hazarded. This is the bill introduced by Mr. 
 **Percival, and which passed both houses of Parliament, f ^r prohibtt- 
 "ing the exportation of Peruvian bark to the countries occupied hy 
 *' the French troops, unless they took it with a certain quantity of 
 '•• British produce or manufactures. This was a stretch of hostility un- 
 -" worthy of the character of England, and derogatory to the noble afcti- 
 ♦' tude she had maintained throughout the war. No excess of intem- 
 " peranee or violence on the part of the enemy should have betrayed 
 *• the British government into such a measure, which made war not oo 
 '• the Frt^nch emperor, but the sick and wounded in his hospitals." 
 
 We live in an age of boasted progress, not only in the arts which 
 add to the comforts and embellishments of life, but in that higher civil- 
 ization which elevates the religion and the morals of the human race. 
 Might we not doubt the latter, when the world views without notice or 
 passes without censure the exhibition of vices and the perpetration of 
 atrocities inhibited in the code of the barbarian; when licentious troops 
 have been permitted to oppress the feeble, to make war upon the hos- 
 pitals, to burn the homesteads of women and children, and to destroy 
 the moss-grown trees which had shaded the mansions of other genera- 
 tions; and when, added to these, they have laid unholy hands upon 
 the sanctuary, and wantonly ravished the homes of the dead, without 
 the sensibility to shame of the Englishman, with less moderation evea 
 than Louvois, less good faith than the Conqueror, less reverence than 
 the Goth, and less virtue than the Saracen ? But there is a retribu- 
 tion; and we cannot doubt the great and universal principle which 
 governs mankind, and which, in good time, adjusts the jarring elements 
 set in motion by the guilty passions of men. "Every passion," says 
 the eminent author ot the History of Civilization in England, "excites 
 its opposite. Cruelty to-day produces sympathy to-morrow. A hatred 
 of injustice contributes more than any other principle to correct tho 
 inequalities of life, and to maintain the balance of affairs. It is this 
 loathing of tyranny which, by stirring to the ianermost depth tha 
 warmest feelings of the heart, makes it imposMble that tyrftuoy should 
 «ver fioally succeed. This, in sooth* is the noble side of oar nature* 
 Thit U that {Murt of ui Whi«ji« stamped wHIi^ CM^ik« JMAUtyi rfv^ii}* 
 
M 
 
 its Qivme origin, and, pr<>vidmg for the most vital contingencieB, is 
 our surest gaarant^^a that violence shall never ultiiuately triumph ; that, 
 sooner or later, despotism shall sihvaj's be OTHrthrovn. htm) ihnt the 
 great and permanent iuterests of ihe human race shall never be injured 
 by the wicked couucils of unjust men." 
 
 We have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, your Ex- 
 cellency's obedient servants, 
 
 JOEN G. PRATT, 
 JOHN E. KING, 
 
 Special Cammissiono^. 
 
 RAPIDES PAEISH. 
 
 Beport of Honorable Thorn s C, Manning, Associate 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. Federal 
 Atrocities— Burning and Sack of Alexandria. 
 
 Alkzandbia, La., Deceoiber 22nd, 1864. 
 
 To His Excellencv, 
 
 Henry W. Allen, Govebnob : 
 
 The devastation of this town and Parish by the enemy during 
 the occupation of last spring was very thorough. Whether madden- 
 ed by the failure of their campaign in it« ultimate purposes, they 
 determined to destroy what they could not hold — or whether they 
 only pursued here the policy of systematic pillage and conflagration, 
 which their Press enforces and Ck)vemment approves— it is bootless 
 to enquire. I shall attempt to give you a recital of a portion of the 
 oi'tragei perpetrated in this locality, premising that my narative will 
 Dot be as full as the facts will warrant. There are two reasons for 
 tnis. Wh«n a man has passed through a crashing calamity, his sen- 
 sibility becomes in a degree callous and hardened. Each successive 
 blow, more severe than that which preceded it, makes him oblivious 
 of lesser suffering. When I returned to this town on it» re-occupa- 
 tion by our forces, I found the citizens who had remained, were for- 
 getful of m nor incidents oi brutality; their whole minds being 
 absorbed to. the contemplatioa of the last and crowning act of infamy 
 of the eaeiXLy-«tfafr osaak^^tiiiaa of tk» town. Another difficulty in 
 
64 
 
 fbe way is the indisposition pf the people to give information in an 
 autheutic form of the condiK-.t nf tlie cnomy, since tlK-y fear to be' 
 a^'ani undt-r his domination, and tremble li'st his vindictiveiiess may 
 s.ubj"ct them to new and exaptional sulfvrin;.^. 
 
 Tiie gnu buats appeared before tlie t(jwn on the 15'h Marc"i, and' 
 were soon snccepded bj' transports conveying llie l^ih and ITt. 
 corps d'armee of U. S., nnder command of Geii. A. J. Smitii, from 
 Fort De Uussy, wliich he had captnred a day or two before. License 
 for unlimited pillage vas either expressly given or tacitly pr.'rnrt ted 
 them. Roving at will through the town, entering and sacking pri- 
 vate houses and stores, the common soldiery hadimt to imitate the 
 conduct of their officer in enacting the most degMding acts of dis- 
 honorable meanness. I do not speak hero of mere pillage, such as 
 breaking and smashing the contents of drug stores, or gutting dry 
 goods stores and such like, but I moan, low acts of theft and spolia- 
 tion committed upon the property of negroes. A Capt. De West, of 
 Mower's division, with two privates; after pilfering sundry inconsir 
 erable articles, espied a silver watch on the p'^rsou of a neg-ro man. 
 He was in his master's yard, watching the extraordinary spectacle 
 of white men stealing in the open day, little dreaming that his own 
 watch was in any danger. They relieved him of the encumboi-ance 
 very speedily. (Affidavit No. 9.) 
 
 • Not t^atisfied with theft, they proceeded ir> some instances to the 
 entire demolition of houses. A charactefis>tic instance of their affec- 
 tiiinatc care for the blacks is developed in affidavit ^o, 4. The 
 affiint, you will perceive, is a free negress. She owned a house, in 
 which she had lived over twenty years, unmolested and unliarmi d- 
 During that lime slie had accumulated the conveniencies, aiid etijoy. 
 ed the comforts of house keeping. She speaks with feeling of the 
 loss of her sheets, table cloths and looking-glasses, her knives, forks 
 aTid plates. Perhaps I shall be more graphic if I transcribe her own 
 words. "The Yank(;es," says tim woman, " came to my house tiie 
 tirst day they entered town, and commenced stealing my poultry. 
 On seeing me they asked who I was. I told tliem. They asked m3 
 who my master was. I said I had no master, that I was a, free color- • 
 ed woman. They said I lied and that my masrer was hid. They 
 commenced pillaging the house, taki: g out my knives and forks, 
 plates, and table cloths, sheets, and looking glasses, and then palled 
 down mj' house, which was a frame house- They asked me who the 
 house belonged to. I told them it belonged to me, at which they 
 cursed me, and ealled me liar again, and said niggers could not own • 
 property in the South, and before they stopped the house was ch-an 
 pulled down, and even the biicks taken out of the chimne}'. My 
 own clothes, and my daughter's, a grown woman, were alt taken by 
 them — among them some merinos and lawns, and my husband's gold 
 watch, which I minded more than the clothes. My husband has 
 been dead two years." She had several thousand feet pf lumber, 
 
$5 
 
 With which she intended to improve her homestead, but they chopped 
 it up, and stole all her provisions, not leaving: her anything what- 
 ever. " I had a great many nice things in my house, the affidavit 
 concludes, in the house keeping way, but they did not leave me a 
 single article." 
 
 The daughter of this free negress, (Affidavit No. 6), went on the 
 same day to Gen. Mower, and told him hie soldiers had stolen " all 
 her clothes, bonnets and jewelry." She got no satisfaction, and 
 made no further effort to recover them, nor did she get back any- 
 thing ; " The Yankees said we should not have our things back ; 
 that they knew they were not ours, for colored people were not 
 allowed to own so much property down here. * * * I went to 
 Col. Shaw and told him the Union soldiers had killed and taken away 
 my mother's hog, and had taken all of her provisions, and wanted 
 him to give me some. He said I could go and kill some ot the reb^ 
 els' hogs ; that if I wanted to stay down here, I could get the rebels 
 to feed me." 
 
 The spoliation of the negroes was in other instances even more de- 
 testable and disgraceful than that just nipntioned — at leant in the man- 
 ner in which it was efffCtHd. The negroes always hoard specie. Even 
 in ordinary times they instinctively prefer gold or silver to the best 
 bank note that is current. There was not one of them of ordinary in- 
 dustry or prudence that did not have some amount, however small, in 
 coin, and a few fcould count more pieces than their masters had pre- 
 served. The Yankees had learned the peculiarities of these blacks • 
 very early in the war, and, with characteristic cunning and mendacity, 
 tnrntd them to their own profit. When the negro failed to disclose 
 his hoarded earnings the soldier or officer found access to hie cabin, 
 and soon brought to light the object of his search. But in most in- 
 stances the negro was s-duced into an unsuspecting confidence by the 
 assurance that the persons thus inquiring for his treasure were deputed 
 specially by "Old Abe," or Gen. Banks, (the commander of the expe- 
 dition,) to gather all such valuables, and that the negro would receive 
 it again so soon as it and himself wore transported beyond the reach 
 of the rebels. In this way large sums in the aggregate have been 
 transferred from the pockets of our slaves to those poverty-stricken 
 wretches of the North, whose eyes were never gladdened by a sight of 
 much comfort, at their own homes as they found in our negro cabins. 
 Of course I refer here to the poorer class of whites, who compose the 
 file of the Federal array. 
 
 I might mention numerous individual instances, the details of which 
 would j 'Stify the general assertions I have made. Some of the despoil- 
 ed negroes remained, and piteously narrated the manner in which they 
 had been tricked to their masters. J«rry, a slave of Dr. Smith, had •: 
 accumulated abont five hundred dollars in coin. The rapacious spirit 
 of thn Federal soldier}, which was displayed early after their arrival, 
 wariMd bin of the insecTinty of his money at his own hoQ«e. Hf> bsd 
 
eftea in traveling observed gentlemen deposit their Valnables in th« 
 safe of the steamer, and he adopted that method of saving what other< 
 wise could not have eluded the prying and persistent searches of the 
 soldiers through the town. Carrying his money on either a transport 
 or a gunboat, most likely the former, he deposited it in the iron safe. 
 Shortly before the departure of the fleet he applied for its return. He 
 was referred by the officer to some other officer who he said had the 
 key, and by him to some other officer who was the one that re- 
 ceived it, and by him to some other, and so on in endless continuity. 
 He never obtained it, and finally went away with them, although he 
 had been with his master through the early Virginia and Tennessee 
 campaigns, having frequent opportunities to escape, but never availing 
 himself of them. Doubtless his hope of regaining his money was the 
 cause of abandoning his home. This instance is a fair example of their 
 treatment of the slaves. Ex uno disce omnes. 
 
 Outrages committed, and beastly acts perpetrated by the navy, excite 
 more surprise than when the same things are done by the army. The 
 navy have fought as gallantly as the army. They do not steal as^nuch. 
 They act more in accordance with the usages of modern warfare, are 
 more civilized, and have some regard for the opinion of the world. This 
 arises from the circumstance that there is a greater infusion oi South- 
 ern men in their navy than the army. There are more born gentlemen 
 in it. But their volunteer navy is composed of the same materials as 
 their volunteer armj'. A commissioned officer of the navy, accompa- 
 nied by two marines, stole from the residence of Mrs. Caleb Taylor in 
 this town, in broad daylight, the clock, which they took from the man- 
 tel-piece, and wrapping it up in a quilt, betook their prize to their gun- 
 boat, lying in the stream opposite. And this commissioned naval officer, 
 (known from their badges,) with two negroes in naval dress, (doubtless 
 marines,) were seen near the Episcopal church, while the town was in 
 flames, rifling a pile of furniture which the owner was attempting to 
 save. They picked up two fine paintings, a musquito bar, and some 
 curtains, and walked off with them. — [Aff. No. 9.J 
 
 Directly the "Black Hawk" arrived, (Porter's flag boat;) her crew 
 entered Rachal's warehouse, rolled out the cotton, all of which was pri- 
 vate property, and marked on one end C. S., and on the other U. S. N., 
 thus endeavoring to make it appear the cotton was captured property 
 of the Confederate Government. Rear Admiral Porter was present, 
 witnessed the fraud, and seemed in high glee at the adroitness with 
 which his rascally ingenuity could outwit Banks, and appropriate the 
 spoils of the expedition. The same thing was repeated in every yard, 
 bam and outhouse where they found cotton. They seemed to believe 
 it was hidden everywhere. — [Aff. No. 9.] 
 
 The destruction of private property, and the conflagration of towns 
 and plantation mansions are not the only acts which indicate the fiend- 
 ish piirposes of our enemy. Their diabolical malignity which prompts 
 f hem to unparalleled atrocities, is not restrained by apprehensions of 
 
the censure of the world, hj the suegestions of hamanltj, or the prempi> 
 itigs of religion or civilization. They are angry that a people welcome 
 even their inflictions of misery, if by endurance they can attest their 
 devotion to the cause of their country's independence. They are phren- 
 zied at tlie sight of so much wealth, happiness and contentment among 
 the slaves, (1 use the first term in a comparative sensp,) and will not 
 tolerate any desire in the poor creatures to remain with their masters. 
 So well is this undierstood now by the slaves, that when the Federal 
 army begins a retreat, those slaves who wish to remain, secrete them- 
 aelves. 
 
 The same practice was followed here as elsewher*^, of crowding them 
 in a "contraband camp." '1 he space between the levee and the edge of 
 the river bank was used here for that purpose. It is of course verj 
 narrow, but large numbers were crowded into it, where the most fortu- 
 nate succeeded in making « shanty, not larger than a dog kennel, in 
 which as many crowded as could. The mortality was inevitably very 
 great. Thence they were carried to the abandoned estates of the plant- 
 ers on the Teche, Lafourche and lower Mississippi, to work on what they 
 denominate government plantations. The passionate prayer of fami- 
 ilies not to be separated was disregarded, and the men were thrust into 
 the ranks, while the women and those of the children who survive, are 
 put to work under the free lab«r system of Gen. Banks, under which 
 they are fined for misconduct and laziness, and made to furnish their 
 own clothes, and to beg for their own medicines — the result being that 
 they never get filher the one or the other, and the fines absorb their 
 wages. The free negro finds to his snrprise, that his labor is thus ap- 
 propriated by a task-master, who, unlike his former master, furnishes 
 him neither with tsufficient food or raiment, and at the end of the year, 
 instead of the money which as a slave he always made by the sale of 
 his poultry and of the corn or other produce of the little patch allotted 
 him by his master, he finds himself without a dollar with which to make 
 a merry Christmas. 
 
 I have made a careful estimate of the number of slaves taken from 
 this Parish by tlie enemy in the two expeditions of May, 1863, and 
 March, 1864; and after comparing my own with that made by others, 
 have no hesitation in stating the number at eight thousand. Some have 
 been recaptured, a few returned, or rather were brought back, and all 
 concur in representing their misery and destitution as deplorable, and 
 the mortality as frightful. Gen. Banks in his tour through New En- 
 gland confesses the mortality to be one fourth, but it is believed to be 
 at least one half. 
 
 I incorporate here. Dr. Davidson's statement, furnished at my re- 
 quest : 
 
 " In the progress of the barbarous and unnatural war by the North 
 against a country guilty only of loving the laws and religion of liberty, 
 events have transpired having no parallel in history, and whose recital 
 will never be believed save by thoee who witnessed then. The truth 
 
M 
 
 haa been otudioualy snppreased, and tb£ world at lar^e knows not what 
 enormities Lave followed in the track of the Federal bands. Armies 
 composed of the vilest material. that was ever gathered to scourge man- 
 kindi' inflamed by promise of gain and unfettered license, marched to 
 the conquest of an unoftending people. 
 
 ?f;'« It has become the fixed purpose of the enemy to lay waste and de*- 
 stroy a country they find themselves unable to conquer by the legitimate 
 course of war. Butler in Louisiana; Hunter and Foster in the Cai-o- 
 linas; Rosecranz in Tennessee; Pope, Milioy and others in Virginia j 
 and Sherman in Mississippi and Georgia, have sufficiently established 
 the line of policy their dictator has adopted, iu the hope of subjuga- 
 ting a brave and unconquerable people. 
 
 •* This purpose was distinctly declared in r.fference to the delta of Red 
 River, 'by Gen. Banks, while occupying Alexandria in the spring of 
 1S63, which he announced to a committee of citizens who waited on 
 him, to ascertain what orders he would issue to redress any disorderly 
 conduct of. the negroes just set at large by the presence of the army, 
 and to obtain from him assurances of protection, &c., &c., in t :ese 
 words: 'Believe it, gt^ntlemen, as if you heard God himself speak it, 
 I will lay waste your country, destroy j'onr crops, stock and agricultural 
 implements, so that you^shall never organize and maintain another army 
 in this department.' 
 
 " This threat he was unable to carry into effect until his return in the 
 month of March of the present year. In the ai-niy corps of Sh rman, 
 commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith, constituting a part of Gen. Banks' 
 army, he found agents fresh from the sacking and burning of a largo 
 district in Mississippi meet for the work he had in hand. 
 
 A' It cannot therefore excite surprise in the minds of any, that the line 
 of march of the army under Gen. Banks can be traced like an Indian 
 war trail, or the fire path of the prairie — by smouldering ruins of villa- 
 }j-es, dwellings, gins and sugar houses-— the conversion of a rich, beau- 
 tiful and highly improved agricultural region into a vast wilderness. 
 The marvel is, that attempts. should have been made, on the part of the 
 Federal press and the defenders of Gen. Banks, to prove that these acta 
 of incendiarism and wholesale destruction were committed by the army 
 under his immediate and personal command without his orders and 
 sanction. As well might all the regular and legitima'e operations of 
 his army be said to have been equally conducted, without his orders or 
 direction. 
 
 "The 16th army corps,, commanded by Gen. Mower, constituted the 
 advance of the invading army under Gen. Banks, and reached Alexan- 
 dria on transppits the morning of the 16th of March, 1864. Imme- 
 diately on disf-mbarking, they were permitted to rush through the streets 
 of the town, unrestrained by the presence of their officers. Thi y made 
 an indiscriminate onslaught upon every private residence, appropriating 
 to tbejnselvea everything valuable upon which they could lay their 
 haftd»— att^ the dcpositoriea of ibod w«t« at oxtc« forced open and their 
 
6§ 
 
 contents borne away. I saw officers present at Dr. Frenchy while hfs 
 store-roonit meat-hou8€» cribs, &c., were being robbed, and heard the 
 appeal of Mrs. French to them for protection. The only reply vouch- 
 safed was, that the army needed food and must be fed. 
 
 " Private houses were thus invaded, and the inmates subjected to the 
 rudest insults and treatment. The defenceless females whose protectors 
 were absent, only escaped personal violence by the determined and res- 
 olute manner in which they met the insults and gross language of the 
 invaders of the sanctity of their homes. It would be impossible to give 
 a detailed account of all the acts of outrage and insult inflicted through- 
 out the town. Prominence should be given to the wanton destruction 
 of the Public Records in the offic of the Recorder and Clerk of the 
 Court— the documents from which were scattered through the streets 
 aud burnt — and to the destruction of the private letters an', papera of .; 
 individuals. 
 
 " The drug stores, three in number, were among the first places taken 
 possession of. These were at once despoiled of their contents, which 
 were used in furnishing their hospitals in town, and one devoted to the 
 reception of cases of small pox. two miles below town. Forty-four 
 cases of this disease were landed from the. transports on the day of their 
 arrival. The stores of all descriptions underwent a similar spoliation ; 
 the iron safes forced and emptied, the ledgers, promissory notes, and 
 accounts destroyed. Private residences were entered at night; writing 
 desks, bureaus and armoirs rifled, aid the occupants insulted and nbused 
 in the grossest manner, despite the efi'orts ot thi; provost marshal, <lapt. 
 Wolf, who evinced every disposition to afF(»rd protection to those apply- 
 ing to him for guards about their premises. I obtained from him at 
 night, details of his guard for familifS whose dwellings had been dis- 
 turbed by the presence of straggliig soldiers, pillaging and insilling. 
 The. force at the .command of the pvovost marshal was wholly inade- 
 quate to the protection of the tt)Wu. 
 
 '* Immediately on the occupation of the town by the Federal army, 
 recruiting oflices were opened for the enlistment of disaffected citizens 
 into the service of the United States, under the title of 'Louisiana 
 Scouts,' to whom a large bounty was offered. In a few days three 
 companies of these men, (commonly called 'jayhawkers,') were organ- 
 ized, and placed nnder th^; comman 1 of men notorious for tWeir resist- 
 ance to the authority of the Confeierate Government, and who burned 
 with revenge against many of the loyal citizens of the parish. To 
 thf"'8e organizations was committed the patroling of the country adja- 
 cent ; they scoured it, visiting npon individuals their ve .geance and 
 vindictivenesa. This irregular fojx;e entered- the residences of plant- 
 ers, carrying off whatever they needed or could appropriate, and in 
 many instances offering violence and insults.. In the remote parts of 
 the parish tliey burnt the dwelling^ of those who were supposed to have 
 been active in pointing 6ut or aiding in arresting conscripts. In one 
 ina toBce within mj huowledgt, an attempt was mad« to ooafino tbo ■ 
 
7# 
 
 wife nf one who hnd been somewhat Actire ia designating the hannts of 
 skulking conscripts, to the house, while they committed it to the flames / 
 After the array marched for Sbreveport, something of order and quiet 
 was enforced by Gen. Grover, the commandant of the post. 
 
 •' The discomfiture and defeat of Gen. Banks' army at Mansfield and 
 Pleasant Hill, by the forces under Gen. Taylor, brought the Federal 
 army down upon us ag'ain, maddened by the disgraceful result of the 
 boasted expedition, and gloatin* over the scenes of outrage, burning 
 and destruction they had perpetrated on their march from Pleasant 
 Hill to Alexandria. 
 
 '« It became soon generally known throughout the town, that the ene- 
 my designed to devote the place to pillage and burning on the day they ' 
 should evacuate it. Threats to this eflfect were publicly made by the 
 privates as they walked the streets ; and the citizens were warned by 
 those of the army less fanatical and brutal, to provide against such a 
 contingency. Measures were therefore taken to prevent so dire a ca- 
 lamity, by appealing to Gen. Banks for protection. He was waited 
 upon repeatedly by thosa having access to him; and a written commu- 
 nication was sent by him, giving assurance that every means would bo 
 employed to prevent any attempt to fire the town. Notwithstanding 
 this assurance on the part of th«» Federal commander, many persona 
 connected with the army continued to insist that orders were issued for 
 the burning of the place. It was well known that friction matches 
 were issued to the troops occupying the town two days before the evacu- 
 ation, and for this purpose. Officers and men were overheard discuss- 
 ing the subject, and insisting that it should be carried into execution. 
 On the morning of the evacuation I overheard a person say to Mrs. 
 Smith, who keeps a boarding house, in a very hurried manner — 'As 
 soon as you have breakfasted close your doors, for we are going to have 
 fun this morning.' Struck with his manner, as well as his language, I 
 asked him — ' what do you mean by having fun ]" He replied, • we are 
 going to burn up your d d town.' On the preceding day, in the 
 afternoon, standing at the window of the same house, I overheard three 
 officers conver^sing on the side-walk, where they had just halted in 
 their promenade : one of them remarked with great emphasis — ' The 
 only way is to drive out the women and children and burn their dwel- 
 lings!' Similar remarks could be indefinitely multiplied, as the sub- 
 ject was constantly a theme of conversation. An army once demoral- 
 ised by having been instructed in work of this kind, as was the case 
 with Sherman's corps, could not well omit perpetrating an act bo ripe 
 to their hands, and ofifering the resistless temptation of pillage. Long 
 before the army marched towards Sbreveport, in a conversation with a 
 Dr. Lucas, medical director in the 16th (Mower's) army corps, I com- 
 
 glained to him of the enormities enacted by the Federal army ; to which 
 e replied— 'Why, air, this is nothing; if your town is served as ware 
 •II th« towxu W6 pawed through in MiMissippi, B«ihiDg but. the black- 
 
7.1 
 
 eaed cbimntj tUckt wonld mark the place where jonr town ones 
 stood.' 
 
 "For two days and nights before the evacuation, the town was pfuard- 
 ed by the 113th New York regiment, (Zouaves,) wlio faithfully and effi' 
 ciently discharged the duty assigned to them. They were removed tlin 
 morning of the fire, and the police of the town committed to a body 
 of cavalry. To this circumstance is due the facility with which the 
 burning of the town was carried out, and leads to the conviction of a pre- 
 meditated design of the kind. The fire was communicated to a building 
 on front street, in Acentral part of the town — a strong north wind blow- 
 ing at the time — and from the drougth which had prevailed fur some 
 weeks, the flames spread rapidly from building to building. At the 
 premises of Frozine, f. w. c, below the origin of the fire and to the 
 rear of it, men entered the yard with a tin bucket and mop, and sprin- 
 kled the fencing and out-buildings with a mixture of turpnntine and 
 camphene, spying that they ' were preparing the place for Hell !' At 
 several points where the progress ot the fire was arrested by the inter- 
 position of a brick edifice, similar means were resorted to, to continue 
 the conflagration. This was done with the Court House, the brick 
 store houses of H. Robertson fc Co., and Mr. Welsh, and the brick 
 dwelling houses of P. O'Shee and Giles Smith. In the last named 
 house, Mr. Smith had placed wetted blankets on the window shutters 
 and doors, and the root being of slate, the building, with the watching 
 and care of the owner, would not have been consumed ; but the family 
 were ordered out, and inflammable material distributed through it, and 
 all was consumed. At many points persons were seen, belonging to 
 the array, in the act of setting fire to the houses. This was the case 
 in the Court House, O'Shee's dwelling, H. Robertson's and Welsh's 
 stores, and the railroad car depot. 
 
 " During the conflagration of the buildings, they were entered by 
 gangs of soldiers and pillaged of everything valuable— oftentimes un- 
 der the pretext of aiding the occupants — while many honest and gen- 
 erous men devoted themselves to heroic efforts to save the buildings or 
 the property within. Many officers were conspicuous in thtir exertions 
 in behalf of the suffering citizens; and to them was due the saving of 
 a number of dwellings from destruction — Col. Neaffie, provost mftr?hal, 
 Dr. Roberts and Col. DeVere, and others whose names I regret have 
 escaped me. While the fire was raging, Gen. A. J. Smith rode through 
 the town, sword in hand, exclaiming — 'Hurrah, boys, this look^ like 
 war!' Gen. Banks early appeared in the streets, and is said to have 
 given orders for a detail of men to assist in putting out the fire, and to 
 aid the citizens in rescuing their household effects. 
 
 " Many families lost a considerable part of whatever was safely taken 
 from the reach of the fire, by the prowling stragglers who fell upon 
 everything thus rescued by the unfortunate. Lieut. Beebe and Capt. 
 Francis, both on the staff' of Gen. Banks, exerted themselves to repress 
 thwwiMn, anil thas sared mach valuabl* property. W^ile thot ea- 
 
' 7« 
 
 gaged near my premises, both of these officers ascribed the fife to th» 
 men belongjing to Geii. A. J. Smith's command — remarking that he 
 gave uo written orders, but that it was hiscnstora to give them verbally, 
 and that this was well miderstoud by his mnn. It is due to this corps 
 to say, that Capt. Slough, A. A. G , on' Smith's staff, on the retreat from 
 Alexandria, stopped at the residence of J "hn R. Williams and said to 
 Mrs. Williams, his sister-in-law — 'All the blame of the burning of 
 the town will fall upon our corps ; but the orders to bun> were issued 
 by Gen. Ba-iks himself.' Gen. Kilby Smith and Gen. Mower, who 
 were with the advance column on the retreat, while near the residence 
 of Mr. Thos. K. Smith, a planter of respectability and standing, re- 
 marked, * That the town of Alexandria would be burnt, and that they 
 regretted exceedingly that the same had not been done with Natchi- 
 toches, but that the rebels pushed them so closely that they could not 
 do it. 
 
 " In the face of Jill these facts, establishing clearly the purpose of thd 
 retiring army to destroy the town by fire, the apologists of Getieral 
 Banks, who represent him as weeping on beholding the burning town* 
 and who attempt to ascribe the act as one of accident wholly, must be 
 content to have their efforts in his behalf classed as a portion of the 
 wilful suppression of the ti-uth, and design to gloss over the enormities 
 and barbarities of their government and its agents, in the prosecution 
 of a war of extermination. 
 
 J. P. DAVIDSON. 
 
 To Hon. Thos. C. Manning, Commissioner. 
 
 The efforts of Gen. Emory saved the upper portion of the town, says 
 
 affidavit No. 9. All the gnards were removed at sunrise on the day of 
 
 the burning, when the apprehensions of the citizens long entertained 
 
 and by this act co. firmed, impelled them to send Dr. G. W. Southwick, 
 
 a refugee from the cosst, to Gen. Banks, to apprise him of the fears of 
 
 the citizens and the threats of the soldiers. The following reply was 
 
 returned: ■ 'f'! • ' i .'■ . 
 
 , ■' i: :.!■■. :i ;tr 
 
 Heabqtjartebs, Departmknt of the Gulf, ) 
 
 Alexandria, May 13, 1864. j 
 
 Dr! G. W. Southwick: 
 
 Sir: The General wishes me to inform you that Col. Gooding wilK 
 
 with 500 men, guard the town, and his force will be strengthened, if 
 
 possible, in order to provide against the emergency you fear, w - ... \ 
 
 I am, sir, yours truly, ■'•^''^ '*'*^ "• 
 
 GEO. B. DRAKE, A. A. ^." 
 
 This was satisfactory, but several hours having elapsed and no guard 
 making its appearance, suspicion began to be entertained that Gsa:'' 
 Bask^ desigoad by this note only todiiaariB tb« citisens ol tbeiir fesors. 
 
73 
 
 and hence to d^iuish their precautions. As this belief strengthetied, 
 3 party of citizens started to hunt up Gen. Banks, to inform him his 
 promised guard had not arrived. He was gone. The party then found 
 lieut. W. S. Beebe, one of his ordnance officers, I believe his Chief of 
 Ordnance, and shewed him Banks' note, Lieut. Beebe instantly volun- 
 teered to go with the party to Col. Gooding, whom they found at his 
 camp/just above the last house on Second street, near the bayou Rap- 
 ides. The party told him their errand, showed him Banks' note in 
 which he officially promised, only a few hours before, that Col. Good- 
 ing, with 500 men, should guard the town to save it from conflagration. 
 Gol. Gooding was surprised, and evidently his surprise was not feign- 
 ed, said "it was news to him," and then, with an oath, "this is just like 
 old Banks." -, 
 
 These facts suffice to put on Gen. Banks the* respbnsibility of the 
 destruction of the town. He was warned repeatedly of the danger, ac- 
 knowledged the necessity of precautionary measures, and admitted 
 there were grounds for the fears of the citizens, by officially notifying 
 them ' that a guard should be assigned, and designated the partic- 
 ular command selected. He left without ordering or intimating to 
 that cdtomand or any other, the duty which he had promised to im- 
 pose on them, and without taking any measure whatever to prevent 
 •the fealamity which he knew was impending. The intended conflagra- 
 tion was insultingly proclaimed wherever Smith's corps were. A^ffiant 
 No 7 saysj "business brought me in the presence of Gen. A. J. Smith, 
 at his headquarters on the steamboat Clara Belle, then laying at the 
 town of Alexandria. Gen. Smith's division had just arrived from 
 Pleasant Hill. Whilst in his presence, and that of his stafi", I heard 
 several of his officers express their determination to burn the town be- 
 fore they left — said they would proceed to the business at once, were it 
 not fdr the eick and wounded in hospitals. They also expressed their 
 regrets at not having burned the town of Natchitoches. Gen. A. J. 
 Smith heard this remark — it was addressed to him." 
 
 It is not to be supposed that Gen. Banks ordered the town to be 
 burned. Men do not usually make a record of their infamy. But my 
 narrative substantiates tbat he connived at it, and intended that it 
 should be done. His march from five miles outside of Natchitochdfe, 
 had been illumined by the glare of burning homesteads. It cannot bo 
 known wQiether, in this, he was purposely imitating the barbarous con- 
 duct of Sherman in his Mississippi raid, or passively submitting to the 
 headstrong will and malignant passion of his subordinate. It is most' 
 likely he was afraid to thwart A. J. Smith. The latter had unsparing- 
 ly ridiculed his superior's imbecility, and denounced his cowardice. 
 The expedition commanded by Banks tught to have been a splendid 
 success. His army was magnificently appointed. In all the applian- 
 ces of war, as in all the luxuries, indeed, of camp, it lacked nothing. — 
 He numbered three to one of his antagonist. He was supported by 
 the largest fleet of gdnboats ever assembled. The easy capture of Fort 
 
74 
 
 De EoflBv, the only Fort on Red River, gave them the prestige of suc- 
 cess, and inspired their troops with martial confidence. Yet he was 
 whipped in two battles; and driven back cowering, dismayed and panic- 
 stricken to this place, amid the taunts of his own soldiers, and with the 
 shouts of General Taylor's inconsiderable army ringing in his ears. 
 
 A. J. Smith amtised the citizens here, declaring in his drunken or- 
 gies that he was only staying here to play wet nurse to Banks^^that 
 he was ordered back with his command to Vicksburg, but could not 
 leave lest Dick Taylor should swallow Banks up. There is no doubt 
 on my mind that Banks felt he had failed where he ought to have ob- 
 tained a lasting success — that his management of the expedition had 
 brought it to an impotent conclusion, a tact which no one appeared tO' 
 appreciate with more zest than A. J. Smith, and he was afraid therefore 
 to run counter to the tatter's wishes. If the expedition could not be a 
 military success, its fruits must be the desolation of the rich valley 
 of Red River, which they had expected to occupy, and through whien 
 they were now forced to retreat, crest-fallen and humiliated. The pow- 
 er that was inadequate to the conquest was more than sufficient for the 
 desolation of the country. 
 
 It may not be amiss to mention here, that the burning and plonder- 
 ing was the work of the 16th and 17th corps, composed exclusively of 
 Northwestern men. When, on the return of peace, these men resume 
 their commerce on the Mississippi, and attempt to foster trade relati9ns 
 by professions of a common hatred of New Englanders, the recollection 
 of wanton cruelties and brutal outrages voluntarily inflicted by them, 
 may serve to keep alive our indignation, and perpetuate a hatred which 
 it were more than human not to feel. The 19th corps was composed 
 entirely of New England regiments. Besides being more orderly and 
 disciplined, they did not have the savage thirst for devastation, which 
 distinguished both officers and men of the 16th and 17th corps. They 
 stole, but with the sly cunning which foi-ms one of the peculiaritie» 
 of the Yankee pure and proper, and when caught in the act, substituted 
 to the truculent defiance of the hoosier, the sanctimonious placidity o£ 
 the self-justified puritaiL 
 
 The town was fired between 8 and 9 o'clock, a. m., of the 13th May, 
 The first building fired was a store on Front street, in the block next 
 below the hotel. A fence in the rear of this house had previously been 
 smeared with turpentine, whick quickly caught. This fact,, is stated 
 by a lady who lived on the block, and who saw the soldiers applying 
 the turpentine, but whose affidavit is not made for excess of prudence- 
 Affiant No. 1 was standing on the levee in front of the store when it 
 was fired by the soldiers, who first plundered it, and then ^scei^ding to 
 the second story applied the torch. 
 
 A considerable portion of the houses on Front and Second streets 
 were brick. On the lower comer of the block first fired, thwe was & 
 fire-proof brick building, which effectually stayed the progress of the 
 flames. To insure a Buccessful incendiarism, it was neceisafy to apply 
 
75 
 
 the tofdb again, and below this fire-proof building. When the flames 
 reached the Court Honse square, they \rould again have been stayed, 
 had they not been renewed. The Court House was the only building 
 on the square. It fronted the river, the three other sides facing blocks 
 of buildings, all of which had been consumed, and had fallen down in 
 Bmottldering ruins, and yet the Court House stood uninjured. It was 
 fired in the interior, and was consumed, with every record of the Parish. 
 The Episcopal and Methodist churches were burned, and every build- 
 ing upon twenty- two blocks. 
 
 One of the most disgraceful stratagems adopted by them to facilitate 
 the plundering, was that of alarming the residents in the neighborhood 
 of the Episcopal Church, by telling them the Church was about to be 
 blown up with powder, in order to stay the progress of the tire. The 
 inhabitants fled from their houses in dismay, and the soldiers who had 
 told the tale entered and rifled them of their contents. Two doors be- 
 low the Church was a honse, "built," says its owner, (AflSidavit No. 3,) 
 "entirely of brick, with slate roof and parapets. Hynson's house, (be- 
 tween his and the Church,) had burned to the ground. It was of wood, 
 distant about ninety feet from mine. My house had not caught fire; 
 I had wet blankets on the side next to Hynson, and took out the win- 
 dow sash, which were of wood. Foiir or five officers came into the low- 
 er apartments, and ordered my wife and family out, when I observed 
 the cavalrymen go up stairs, whom I immediately followed. One of 
 them went into the rooms on one side of the passage, and the other into 
 the other side. There was a mattrass in one room, and the Yankee 
 who went into that room walked up to it, and drawing his hand across 
 it with a wide swoop, the mattrass instantly caught tire, and the room 
 was in a blaze. I did not see anything in his hand, and do not know 
 what it was he had, but suppose it was turpentine that he threw upon 
 the mattrass, which was ignited by a lucifer match. I seized the mat- 
 trass, got it down stairs, and in the street where it burned up. After 
 this, a Lieutenant and two privates, (cavalry,) came to my house, and 
 asked me roughly what I was doing there. On my answering it was 
 my house, they ordered me away, but I would not go, and they went 
 in. Soon after they came out, an explosion was heard in the house^ 
 and the whole fabric tumbled down. It was blown up by the last par- 
 ty, doubtless by a torpedo, since it did not catch fire from the neigh- 
 boring buildings, and that seemed the only means of destroying it. — 
 The torpedo was exploded by means of a galvanic battery. 1 have 
 now from the ruins a part of the battery, and jars, which I picked up, 
 which are of course broken. I saw an officer set on fire the car-house 
 of the Railroad. He sat on his horse and ejected ft-om some sort of in- 
 strument in his hand, a liquid upon the roof, which immediately ig- 
 nited and burned with gi-eat rapidity." 
 
 I conclude my narrative of the destruction of the town, by giving 
 Gen. Banks the benefit of a disclaimer, made by one of his officers. — 
 The atrocity of the conflagration, waa so great, tljat those o$cers who 
 
76 
 
 deaesved the n6me were seHcitoua to relieye themselves and theih 
 0t>mmander of its odium. "I heard Capt. Francis," says a citizen, 
 "whom I understood to be on Gen. Bank's staff, say to the daughters 
 of Dr. Davidson, one of our citizens, that Gen. A. J. Smith gave ver- 
 bal orders to his troops to burn and destroy, and that he would be 
 court-martialed for it." At the time he said this, the young ladies 
 were near the lot, upon which their residence had stood in the morning, 
 and Capt. Francis and Lieut. Beebe, another Yankee oflScer, were offerr 
 , ing assistance to the ladies. The former had before offered to such' 
 citizens as had been burned out free passage to New Orleans, as 
 Ire said, by orders of Gen. Banks^ He denied that Gen. Banks Approved 
 or countenanced the burning that had been accomplished, and was, as 
 I understood, repelling the natural suspicion of the citizens^ that his 
 Chief, who was the Commander of the army, was the cause of the dis- 
 aster."— Aff. No. 2. 
 
 The army was then evacuating the town. The evacuation was com- 
 plete that night, or before daylight on the i4th. ■ .- '•' 
 
 The wanton destruction of property on plantations is circumstantial- 
 ly related in affidavit No 6. The mansion houses were first robbed, 
 and the valuable furniture in some instances broken, in others remov- 
 ed. The piano, in that particular instance, was carried on board A. 
 J. Smith's boat, the "Clara Bellej"-^the family portraits defaced, and 
 the quarters, gin-house, etc., totally demolished. Every building on 
 the plautatiens of Ex-Gov. Moore^ and Lieut. Chambers, was rased. 
 The residence of Mrs. Winn was burned to conceal its robbery. Gen. 
 Dwight, whose command was encamped near, advised that lady to go 
 into town, (it was but two miles distant,) to obtain a protection for her 
 place. On returning, sha met soldiers carrying different pieces of her 
 silver plate, and on approaching her residence discovered it in flames, 
 notwithstanding that officer had assured her nothing should be touched 
 during her absence. ■ . . ; 
 
 But it were needless to specify these individual instances of out!-'; 
 rages: on plantations. Each homestea,d has some story to tell of 
 mingled perfidy and ruin. A desolate waste marks the path of 
 Gen. Banks' retreating army — .a track of ruin, embracing alike thai' 
 property of men in public service, . of women, and orphan childrem • 
 Nor did these latter escape without personal indignity. A child of 
 Ca,pt. Kelsoj a little boy of four years, boaated that he was a rebel 
 in the presence of a knot of Yankee officers and soldiers. One of 
 them applied a cord to his neck and suspended him as if he intended 
 to inflict death. When gasping for breath he was taken down, and 
 asked if he were still a rebel. The stout hearted little patriot re- 
 affirmed his rebellious sentiments, when he was again suspended, 
 and so remained until a returning sense of humanity of some of the; 
 bystanders compelled his release. The child bore for some days the 
 mark on his neck of this partial strangulation. ■ 
 
 Besides the entire destruction of the Records of this Parish, coa-' 
 
77 
 
 SuDtted fix ihe oonflagmtion of the Court House, many valuable libra- 
 ries were destroyed. In the mansiqpi house of Mrs. Seip was a very 
 considerable collection of rare and costly works, selected through a 
 series of years by a deceased lawyer. A skirmish was had near it 
 
 (flipven miles from this place) and one of their wounded comrades 
 was carried to the pias^za by the enemy. They retreated through the 
 plantation, hard pressed by our cavalry, but halted long enough to 
 set fire to the house with the aid of their matches and turpentine. 
 Their wounded companion, unable to move himself; frantically im- 
 plored them not to devote him to a sure and horrible deathj but his 
 <5ries- were unheededj and his ashes now mingle with the cinders of 
 tfee house and it& contents. 
 
 .. I have approached With disgust, and shall leave with satisfaction, 
 the narrative of brutalities which shock the common sensibilities of 
 mankind. I turn to the more pleasing office of recording the acts 
 of humanity performed by a few of the officers, and regret that in so 
 large an army and fleet as formed this formidable expedition, the 
 Humber of those who exhibited the feelings and principles of chris- 
 tian people and native gentlemen were so small that their names 
 can be remembered without omission, and their acts specified with- 
 out tediousness. 
 
 Col. Neafic and Lieut. Vernum, who were quartered respectively 
 at Dr. Smith's and Mr. Elgee's, were considerate in their attention to 
 these families during the occupation, and untiring in their efforts to 
 assist in saving a portion of the furniture and provisions, when the 
 near approach of the fire made the loss of the house certain: Gen. 
 Emory never disgraced his sword and his manhood by encouraging 
 or permitting the rapine of his soldiers, and Lieut. Beebe's effort to 
 assist the citizens in procuring the guard which might have saved 
 the town, has already been mentioned. Gen. Grover remained as 
 Commandant of the Post, while the army advanced to receive their 
 chastisement at Mansfield, and while performing his duty to his 
 Government, remembered that he was ruling a heroic and gallant 
 people whose temporary reverses were only due to their dispropor- 
 tion of the resources of war. Col. Sharp displayed the consideration 
 which humanity claims of all who feel its instincts. Major Von 
 Heovnan, a foreigner, and an officer of Gen. Banks' staff, who was 
 quartered in my own house, energetically stigmatized the conduct of 
 the army as degrading to the national character, and Dr. Cleaver 
 bore himself with a refined and gentlemanly delicacy that was the 
 more conspicuous from its rarity. Dr. Roberts, an elderly surgeon 
 of the Marine Brigade I believe, was an inmate of my house during 
 the whole occupation, and has entitled himself to my respect and 
 gratitude for his paternal protection to my family* When the fire 
 approached my dwelling, he considerately bore to a place of safety, 
 on his own shoulders, my family portraits, and took under his charge 
 My sffy'er. After the cornice and front steps of my house had caught 
 
78 
 
 fire, he labored with generous assiduity to extinguish the flames, 
 and with a faithful slave, aided by some of the citizens, finally suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 It were strange indeed, in a nation which has grown np under 
 the influences of the present century, and which can justly lay claim 
 to extraordinary progress, to a rapid improvement in literature, and 
 to the sudden attainment of respectable national importance, if some 
 instances were not found, where brutish passion had not degraded 
 manhood, and obliterated the efiects of civilization from the human 
 heart. But they are rare in their army and navy. The present war 
 exhibits to the world the people of the United States in no doubtful 
 or uncertain light. The Eastern troops are needy adventurers, 
 whose poverty at home is exhibited by their careful theft of the 
 commonest articles of ornament or use in the parlors of our 
 planters and the cabins of our slaves. Following the examples of 
 their New England Generals, (Butler and Banks,) whose houses are 
 adorned by the furniture stolen in Louisiana, they content themselves 
 with appropriating luxuries never before within their reach. The 
 Western troops destroy what they cannot plunder. Ferocious in their 
 brutality, scorning the restraints of humanity which they do not feel, 
 and the instincts of civilization of which they are ignorant, they 
 revel in a fiendish saturnalia of ruin, which spares neither age nor 
 sex, homestead nor barn, the vessels of the sanctuary, the vestments 
 of the priest, nor the sacred house itself — nay, their infernal malig- 
 nity penetrates the recesses of the tomb, and rudely disturbs the 
 bones of its inmates. 
 
 Political or social affiliation with such a people would be to us 
 more degrading than any human vassalage yet known on earth, 
 more to be dreaded than death, and more intolerable than exile, 
 penury or other earthly calamity. Providence, and the heroism of 
 our army and the endurance of our people, will take care that no 
 such fate is reserved for the people of the Confederate States. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 THOS. C. MANNING. 
 
79 
 
 [No. 1.] 
 State of Louisiana, ) 
 Parish of Rapides. ) 
 
 I have resided in this town (Alexandria) twenty-four years, and am 
 a native of Germany — am fifty years old. This town was fired on the 
 morning of Friday, May 13th, between 8 and 9 o'clock, a. m. Several 
 Yankee soldiers broke into the store on Front street next to mine, and 
 pilfered the tobacco, sugar and lard, which were the sole contents. 
 While the party were below, another set went into the second story, 
 and immediately afterwards the house commenced burning. The fire 
 was applied in the second story. While this was going on, I was 
 standing on the levee, which runs along one side of the street, imme- 
 diately opposite the store, and about eighty feet from it. This was 
 thelcommencenent of the conflagration. The store and those on eitlwv- 
 side adjoining were wooden buildings. 'ii 
 
 J. WALKER. V 
 
 Sworn to and (subscribed before me, June 27th, 1864. vr 
 
 jTnOS. C. MANNrNG, ' --^ 
 
 Asaociate^Justice Supreme Court^La. f 
 
 (No. 2.] 
 
 I was in the town of Alexandria diiring the conflagration, andjfor 
 many days previous. On the morning of the day the town was burned 
 I heard Capt. Francis, whom I understood to be on Gen. Banks' stafi*^ 
 say to the daughters of Dr. Davidson, one of the citizens, that Gen. A, 
 J. Smith gave verbal orders to his troops to burn and destroy, and 
 that he would be court-martialed for it. At the time he said this the 
 young ladies were near the lot upon which their residence had stood in 
 the morning, and Capt. Francis and Lieut. Beebe, another Yankee offi- 
 cer, were offering assistance to the ladies. The former had before 
 offered to such citizens as had been burned out, free passage to New 
 Orleans, as he said by orders from Gen. Banks. He denied that Gen, 
 Banks approved or countenanced the burning that had] been accom- 
 plished, and was, as I understand, repelling the natural suspicion of the 
 citizens that his chief, who was the commander of the army, was the 
 cause of the disaster. 
 
 LEWIS TEXADA. 
 
 Sworn to and subscribed before me, June !^8th, 1864. 
 
 ThO». C. MAItWl.V(i?' •■ '■ •'• ;^ 
 
 judge Stiprem^ Cotfjt " 
 
8^ 
 
 [No. 3.J 
 
 Statk op Louisiana, > 
 Parish of Rapides. ) 
 
 I have resided in this town eighteen years. My residence was on 
 Second street, with one house (R. 0. Hynaon's) intervening between it 
 and the Episcopal Church. It was new, built entirely of brick, with 
 slate roof J^and parapets. Hynson's house had bMrned to the ground ; 
 it was of wood, distant about ninety feet from mine. My house had 
 not caught fire. I had wet blankets on the side next to Hynson, and 
 took out the window sash, which were ot wood. Four or five officers 
 came into the lower apartments and ordered my wife and family out, 
 when I observed two cavalrymen go up stairs, whom I immediately 
 followed. One of them want into the rooms on one side of the pas- 
 sage, and the other into the other side. There was a mattraas in one 
 room, and the Yankee went into that room, walked up to it, and drav*"- 
 ing his hand across it with a wide swoop, the mattrass instantly caught 
 fire, and the room was in a blaze. I did not see anything in his hand, 
 and do not know what it was he had, but suppose it was turpentine 
 that he threw upon the mattrass, which was ignited by a lucifer 
 match. I seized the mattrass, got it down stairs and in the street, 
 where it burned up. After this, a lieutenant and two privates (cavalry) 
 came to my house and asked me roughly what I was doing there. On 
 my answering it was my house, they ordered me away, but I would 
 not go* and they went in. Soon after they came out, an explosion was 
 heard in the house, and the whole fabric tumbled down. It was blown 
 up by this last party, doubtless by a torpedo, since it did not catch 
 fire from the neighboring buildings, and that seemed the only means 
 of destroying it. This was about noon. The torpedo was exploded 
 by means of a galvanic battery, I have now from the ruins a part of 
 the battery and jars, which I picked up, which were of course broken. 
 I saw an o^cer set on fire the car house ot the little railroad, about 
 150 feet from Denis SuUivati's house. He sat on his hosse and ejected 
 from soI^t sort of instrument in his hand a liquid upon th& i70of, whiebl 
 immediately ignited and burned with great rapidity. 
 
 GILES 0, SMITH. 
 g^Vorn to and subscribed before me, July 11th, 1864. 
 ^g]^ ^. Thos. C. Manning, 
 
 aQ'r) ;, ,' Associate Justice Supreme CottH. 
 
 [No. 4. 1 
 State op Louisiana, i 
 Parish of Rapides. } 
 I am a free black wopian, and have lived in this town (Alexandria) 
 9ver twenty ye^rs. I was a Blare of Mr. Henry Patters^, and was 
 
81 
 
 f|eed by Uim about twetity j^atb ago. The Yankees ctonae to my 
 house the first day they entered town, which is in the suburbte, and 
 commenced stealing my poultry. On seeing me they asked who I 
 was, I told them.. They asked who my master was. I said I had 
 no master, that I was a free colored woman. They said I lied, and 
 that my master was hid. They commenced pillaging the ho«80» taking 
 out rayk^iyes and forkg, plates and table cloths and sheets and looking 
 glasses, and then, pulled down my house, which waa a frame house. 
 I begged them tp.'Stpp, to leave me my house. They then asked me 
 whom the houBOrbelonged to. I toM them it belonged to me, at which 
 they cursed me and cajled me liar again, and said niggers could not 
 owh',property in.tbis Slate 5 and before they stopped the house was 
 cleeri pulled down, and even the bricks taken out of the ciiimney. My 
 own clothes and my daughter's, a grown woman, were all taken by 
 them, among them some merinos and lawns, and my husband's gold 
 watch, which I minded more than the clothes. My husband has been 
 dead ten years. The clothes were given by them to one of their col- 
 ored women and a white woman who came off one of the gunboats in 
 the river just in frontof the town. 1 had a great many nice things in 
 my house in the housekeeping way, but they did not leavo mo a single 
 article, i The clothes I had on my baok were all that I had when they 
 got through. They even chopped up my lumber, of which I had 
 
 li. 
 
 several thousand feet, and stole all my provisions. : r^. 
 
 her :isiv 
 
 rnly,^oi.(^s ,. !.iw;J FANNY x OARHb -^fri 
 
 -wQ ".''3^/ rfr»."8 .-. ': mark t Jiiw 
 
 jBwoirn and Bubscrlbed before me, July 11th, 1864. -fir at»>q 
 
 ;♦(.,;•;. ThoS. 0. MANMINa^'VOO oTioJ 
 
 offl lia Associate Justice Supremei Cdtirt. M 
 
 h^a'spi. '.■ . - .. •• ' 'i^ 
 
 e« thfia , >iuU'i:'\ "o bow booj^ A .r!iiii>0T ;foJd ly.:fi osnori o.' -f 
 
 7I•♦:^^lf;r^o^ (■ ■■ m\ ifl ;i,:tvi»"! ,:'jtiu' J dy'' ' .^-'>.f .n ''■■^: •> 
 
 n^>v:*-{.("r ....^nl- -;:iw..ol il^^fvH 'y 
 
 S.ig^tATjEr pF,LaOI^IANA,.)i-ifioU/J ;,iU ... ...... .... . ,i; . .. .... ..J9 
 
 ji Parish of KapideB, , Jil nwo X''^ .lauioaj hid lo Jr.Jj bar, (two nad 
 'I am a free black woman, aih the daik'^fer 'of Fanny OArf, krtd IWii 
 with my. mother. 1 was not at home when the YanKees came there 
 jind roboed the house, being it that time in service to Mrs. Manning ; 
 but went down next day, when i found they had stolen all my clothes 
 and bonnets and jewelry. I went on the same day to Gen. Mower, 
 but got no satisfaction ; but made no further effort to recover my effects. 
 I never got back anything;. The Yankees said we should not hare 
 our things back ; that they knew they were not ours, for coloi-^d peo* 
 pie were not allowed to own so much property down here. I told them' 
 they did belong to us, but I never recovered anything. They wanted 
 me to go away with them. I went to Gbl. Shaw and totd him th»' 
 Unioa soldiers had killed and taken away my niothef ■« h<>g, and h«d[ 
 
(8k^ sAlef Bet fMb^risiK^i^s, ms^ wti»Ad blaf to ^¥^ iM'DoiK^. M<i 
 BAid I mxAA g6 and kill ^ot^i^ of thd r^b^te^ Mogg; tbiaft' if I #^n^ t6 
 Btay ddWii he^6 f could g^t t&e t^bel^ f 6> ^<dd ifi^. I tbid Mitil ^ ^&%'^ 
 Wduld fiiid me, aftd I Shbtfld fiot g*o iWfay J^i-om «b6ii.- Since ihf 
 iflc^ther'S hbuS6 w&s desttbyed* sh« haa beefa *tjiyiiig it\4k mf siBteft 
 Mid I hover Stayed cbiedy at Mrti Manniflg's. ■^' ■' 
 
 CATfiEItlNB <JAte. 
 l&WoM ttf a&d rab^'t>i?d< ]S«fd^Q m^ Attest 2d, l§d4. 
 
 Tktid. C. MANMNfcl, 
 
 meh abbv6, at^ i^4Xl Si«i^ !fo ni'd. I^ket ^tS tftit^M' Aiil m'-' 
 
 dtiBtri6iiir jiett^fev^ '^ ,:"'.^^''''^'::'''':^" ™8. (X' Mii<iifir4^: ;;^^ 
 
 * ■^ ■■.^uiol'i ••-• iiaJ . ■■^^■ 
 
 GoTiMtii I/*j,nI)ecerliber 4, »864. 
 iti £)e«r Sir: In cottformrtjf- with yovur rfeqtidst I^end yoil « statemeiili 
 of the YankeB outraged done ^h Cotile Ticinityi The hoxis© jrf 5^ 
 Blaiichard & Br6th«r^ plantatioli .Wias comfiletfely aabk«d, ott iheii' sA^ 
 Vatice, having made their encamptDent 6h the opposite side of tfew 
 bayou for ten days, giving them foil time for the daifaages B*B<*iM»d» 
 viz : All the furniture was broken to pieces, bedding torn up, scatter- 
 ing all the featheiP^ oveir the yard, and mattrasses carried away, together 
 with the beddi-ng paraphernalia, such as sheets, blankets, &c. Car- 
 
 gets were torn froib the fltiors add carried to fclueir damping groudd, 
 orse coverings being made out of them, which I saw myself, upon 
 their backs, on a visit dver there; They also carried away all the 
 kitchen utensils, and stole all the meat, molasses and sugar contained 
 in the smoke house and store rooms. A good deal of furniture, such as 
 chairs, were carried on board their boats, leaving the house completely 
 riddled, save the bedsteads and Tbrbkeh looking glasses. They even 
 cut into ribbons the portraits of the Colonel's W6 ^i'vbi, AUd defafied 
 his own and that of his mother. My own library ftSfild' th^ of Ob!. B. 
 wer& stolen aWay, as W6ll as all iay dothes, leaving^ mb only the siit 
 which covered Siiy bodj? at th« time* The crookety ware was iaklaB/ 
 off: in a wordi, th^ whole house Was ribbed of ife coatelitSk 
 
 On their rieitreat they bUraed the dlirelUng hwkee, gin, stdbles* atfd 
 every hbuje in the quarter yard* leaving nothing but a feW chidkeam 
 houses. They put themselves to the trouble ©f going into the diffierent 
 parts of the field and bUrned ^me weather sbieds. The gin and the 
 houses around contained between 4€r0 «nd 450 bales of eottbn in aeedi, 
 which Mr. Labat is demanding taxds on, and which I i-lafuBed to -paa^i 
 8te I saw a l^w published iii the Democrat ahd oth^ pa{)ers« pi^Eid by 
 Go'Bgr^^, Febtttary i7|:h, I8681 reawtting sudh taxesy axM I wduM 
 Kkd to l^ara from you whether I am r^bnnUe fol: Iradb im^hiaab. £ 
 
^ 
 
 i;a%r jfp 
 
 ^^^erg, (Vf^h9 ppet tjie B^pipioape^ 911 their cQttop, titej |iiiye dopp ^p 
 ffViij^ The estftte hfB w^ .m>neY <p ^/^y, as its o^l^ rie venue from wluwi 
 i^;ie^ 90^14 te gatkejced wa^ 4Qfltfo^.e4 b^ the Jaukees and Ckmfe^er- 
 1^3, fifjQ lattejr burnt 25.0 |i?i9ke4 b?les. Bv^fih as I have deseribed 
 is the condition of the plantation a^ Jf^ resoijir^^^. 
 
 "iT'l^eTre is now .se^ining of what was once a beautiful plantation 
 the naked land and only fifteeft n^pea xmt of ainety-«ine whigh were 
 on thepjLace pri»r to the. last raid of the Yankees. What a sad picture 
 I have portrayed of what wa3 once beautiful to behold, but now its 
 wretched remains are heart-rending to thie eye. 
 
 I have given a lengthy detail^ ike destruction complete of one plan- 
 tation. Of my neighbors' losges, I shall be brief: — Mrs. Dark lost 
 only her gin house and three cabins, burnt by the Yankees; Judge 
 Boy«e'6 place, adjoiniug Dr. SttlliiRan's, was entirely burnt, only a few 
 chicken houses standing ; Mrs. Manning's gin destroyed alpo, an4 Mrs. 
 Jones' ; Ben Hunter's gin, and ne^ly all his cabins ; Daniel Roberta' 
 ^^ houfse f nd two qi|[>^ns, at the ha^nds Q^f the same vandals. 
 
 I belieye I hav* given ^ou, jjs £w: as I am able, a narrative of the 
 Yankee outrages in my vic^pity. M«st of my neighbors suffered mor^ 
 or less if negro property : Mr. Bowlee loait twenty-three ; Mrs. Jones 
 lost all but ^even.or eight, out of forty or fifty on the place. The prop- 
 erty of Mr. SLobwts' sons and buildings contajned thereoj^ all destroyed. 
 Hoping ray narrative will meet the demand in your note, I vill coii- 
 clnde,giving,all the information I h^ve, relative to the vicinity in whic^i 
 I reside, of the outrages committed by th,e Yankee scoundrels. I how- 
 ^(sr paust inform you that Gen. A.J. Sjpith se^it aparty of men and toojif 
 tfee piano from the Blan chard house, which I saw landed on hoarded 
 his flag boat, t^e Clara Belle. W^at a dog^e is ; the English language 
 kardly a^owi* *pjl)thets too vile, with which to stigmatise him. Enough 
 iqr the presan.^, as th,e mention of sufth a man makes my blood boil. 
 ^odgEant be maymeetwith his deserts,; f^t|awordinjg^,)5^^,|](ld|%d,^, 
 nought is never in danger. '" ,,. 
 
 ./aflMiq 8B..' n-> iu,...,.i Fvv ■ ■'■■ ' . , .J. N. TATJLOJB. 
 
 .^Tf/ , w ; Al9xai;i4ri^, Lji. 
 
 {No. '7.'] 
 
 , ^ bavse *ew4ed ia th<e parish of Rap|4e^, ^^te of tiouisiane, upfvtrarda 
 ^f itwqnty yeaw. }ij residence is on JRed Kiverr nine miles belojr 
 Alexandria. /Pusiness brought me ,iflto the presence of Qen. A. J. 
 Siiitfa, at his hiead quarters qn th|B ste^m^bqat O^ira ]^U, then iyvfig 
 At ti»e townof Aie^apdri*. ;Grw»- 4ffiith'^ 4ivi»ipft ,W jwst arrived 
 
te^rd "sfeveral'of )hu' regimental officets express their determination to 
 burn tlie town before they left ;— said they would^^toeeed to' the bitsi- 
 Bess at once, were it not for the sick and wounded in the hospitals. 
 They also expressed their re;greta fbrnot having burnt the town of 
 Natchitoches when they passed through it. Gen. A. J. Smith hpard 
 this remark — it was addressed to him. • ' " ' '' '^ 
 
 . THOS. K. SMITi[., 
 
 ' Alexandria, Nqv. 30tb; ;1864. — Sworn and subscribed befote me^ ''"• 
 ;'•' ^ ';:', -.'Vf .r'v Thos. C. Manning, ''"^ 
 
 ei( wou ajU ,.noa,v. oi '^'i^-A'spociate Justice Supreme Court of La; ' 
 
 f' • 6pN, T-.^- i*lANNlN'6(,^^'^? .V-nimuJ/. .-i tC : x-nibucj?, -ijod :ffi;i./ulv 
 
 ' "'■ ' " Cominissioner, 8tc.'j ' '" .;> • •>■ -rr- j. 
 
 Sir — I remained here during the occupation of this place by the Fed- 
 erals, from the 15th of March to the 14th of May, 1864, and had good 
 Opportunities of being an eye witness to their outrages. 
 
 So soon as the men of Gen. A. J. Smith landed from the boats, for 
 full twenty-four hours they Were left free to do as they pleased, aiid 
 well did they employ thdr time. Every store in the town was at onbe 
 forcibly entered and robbed of every article, and. the cases, windows, 
 iron chests, shelves, etc., broken to a thousand fragments. I was on 
 fi"ont street dnd saw these scenes : officers of 'all grades were present, 
 «ind took a part in it, and did their share of the plundering. Private 
 houses were entered in like manner, and robbed and desecrated in the 
 most infamous manneri A Captain DeWest, of Gen. Mower's division, 
 "walked in my premises with two privates, and acted ■ well their part. 
 The Captain stole my gun and a small' piece of carpeting; hia two 
 men all the eggs they could find, and a silver watch; from my servant 
 boy George. ,•:/>; 
 
 Nearly all the poultry of the place was taken by the marines, and 
 nearly in every instance an ofl^cer with sword belted on was present, 
 and gave the orders. 1 saw several, trips made with loads of chickens, 
 &c., on board the Black Hawk, the flag ship of Admiral Porter. 
 
 In less than Ji/leen minutes after the arrival and landing at the tnharf, 
 at Rachal's warehouse, of the Black Hawk, the entire crew marched to 
 the warehouse, broke down the doors, and rolled out the cotton in the 
 streets, and at once marked it C. S. on one end, and U. S. N. on the 
 t)therl ! Admiral F. Porter I saw- present, and looking on with appa- 
 rent glee, in thus getting the start of Banks. ' They overhauled every 
 yard, back house, barn, etc., in the town, in search of cotton and sugar, 
 and without ceremony had it taken aboard their gunboats and their ten- 
 ders. I saw a commissioned officer of the navy with two marines in 
 broad daylight walk into the private" residenee of Mrs; Caleb Taylor, 
 
8» 
 
 OH aeeond itreet, take the clock down from the mantel-piec«, wrap it up 
 ia a quilt on the bed, and then take both off aboard their gunboat, lying 
 anchored out ia the river opposite the street where the pontoon bridge 
 is. These men started expressly on this thieving raid, and seemed to 
 be perfectly at ease in the business, t also witnessed a regular com- 
 missioned naval officer, with two negro marines, near the Episcopal 
 church, while the town was in flames, go to a pile of furniture, &c., 
 saved from the flre» and pick out two fine paintings, a fine musquito bar, 
 and two curtains^ afad walk off with them. I am almost certain these 
 articles were from the residence of the late J. K. Elgee, as I recognized 
 the portrait of Bishop Polk. Three infantry Captains and a detective 
 entered my house and rudely searched it for three hours, and took off 
 all my title deeds, a copy of which I had made out — all my private pa- 
 pers, and a large lot of stationery. 
 
 As regards the firing of the town, nothing else was spoken offer 
 weeks before they left. It was the work of design and premeditation. 
 The efforts of Gen. Emory alone saved what is left of it. All the 
 guards were removed at sunrise" the morning of the burning. We ex* 
 pected the fire, and as a matter of safety we desired Dr. G. W. South- 
 wick, who knew Banks, to write him a note and tell him of the fears 
 of the people, and the threats of the soldiers. I enclose you his reply. 
 It is useless to tell you that Gisn. Banks falsified his word, and nevet 
 Sent the guard ; nor did he ever order Ool. Goodwin to guard the town. 
 After waiting several hours for the guard to come, several of us hunted 
 for Banks and found he had left. We then called on his chief of ord- 
 nance, Lt. W. S. Beebe, showed him the note of Gen. Banks, on which 
 lie volunteered to go with us and see Col. Goodwin, whose head quarters 
 were just above Byan's house. We found him in his tent, told him 
 our errand, and showed him the note of Gen. Banks. He was perfectly 
 surprised, and stated it was news to him — and with an oath remarked, 
 "' it is just like old Banks." In a word, his written and official promise 
 ■was a cheat and a fraud, designed to cover up his real design. > 
 
 ^- Respectfully, &c., ^ 
 
 ■';^ • E. R. BIOSSAT.:« 
 
 :\ 
 
 ' ■ ■ - • ■■ - ►i 
 
 - -.•■.• f.na •' *;i 
 
 % 
 
,j|6 
 
 TflE BUENIN1& OF AMXAKBBJtA/ 
 
 ■■.i, "". . '' ■';•■'. TAJfK^E TEgTiMONY. 
 
 ,.350 , ''ii/firi.'iir -<■ !jli:' . . • ■ 4- 
 
 TherBJchpiOttfl (Epquirer of ik,^gust 11, 1864, republished from ^q 
 •St.Loiuia " Republican," a Jong e?:trat>t from the letter of a coiTes- 
 ipofldent who w;rote .from Caijro, Illinois, giving ^an account of ihe 
 burning of, Alexandria. It .appears tp be from an eye-witness, find 
 
 iftUhough inacouraiteio eome;;of4t»-j[i!ataUp,iit iCQrroborates.tberfor^o- 
 j«g^report. , ;; . , ; 
 
 The correspondent says J 
 . , .WJien the gunboats weare , all over thp.f%U8,ran]d tlie or^er ,to eFac- 
 «ate was , promulgated, and the attfly ptearly all on the , march, jgpme 
 of owr soldiers, both white and, black, {|.^ if by(gfnera(l , understanding', 
 ^et fite to the city .in nearly eveiy pact, i^lmostsim^lt.aneously. Tbe 
 flames spread r«ipidly, increased by a b^arj wi;o^.. Most qf ^.l^e 
 houses were 0f wooden etruoture, and-w^e/e .soiofv 4evoured.by the 
 flames. Alexandria > was. a town of ;bjBtwi9ienfp.ujr and five thousand 
 ■inhabitants . All thatt part ©f tho pity florth of .the railroad was swept 
 from the face of the earth in a ;few hour-e, not ^building being Jeit. 
 About nine4enthfl of the town was consumed, .coanprising all ,the 
 l>,usiiiyeai8,ipart;and all the finie reeideaces, l^ae, [IqerJ^puse Hotel, the 
 Court House, tetW the churchy ^cept tbeClathplic.^nnmb^er.Qf livery 
 fitabler^, jand the entire frpot row of lai^e ;aad .splendid business 
 houses. , ilbe " Ice House " wias a l^rge bri^ hotel, which must have 
 cost one liundired thousand dollars, which iwa^ owned by Judge 
 Ariail, ra rmembQi* af the late Constitutional Conventipn, who roled 
 ibr immediate and unconditional ema^pipatip© ,ip J^ouiaiana ; whjph 
 convention also isent dp legates to thp BaltimoTje Qonve^iiion. While 
 Judge A. was thus serving theudmin^^tration, the Federal torch was 
 applied to his houses, his law office, his private and law library, and 
 all his household goods and effects. All this property, be it remem- 
 bered, has been protected for three yeara by the Confederates, who 
 all the time knew the Judge's Union proclivities. Hundreds of other 
 instances might be cited of Union men who suffered in like manner. 
 Ex unojudice omne. 
 
 , The scenes attending the burning of the city are appalling. Women 
 gathering their helpless babes in their arms, rushing frantically 
 through the streets with screams and cries that would have melted 
 the hardest hearts|to'tears. Little boys and girls were running hither 
 and thither crying for their mothers and fathers ; old men leaning 
 on a staff for support to their trembling limbs, were hurrying away 
 from the suffocating heat of their burning dwellings and homes. The 
 fair and beautiful daughters of th« South, whose fathers aad brothers 
 
 #■ 
 
9» 
 
 ynm moB^army OT ib© other ; tbe frait and h^lplees wirte and 
 ehiidren of absen* hufibaWds ftnd fathers were, almost in the twink- 
 ling- of aa eye, drireni from their burning homes into ttie streets^ 
 k^ving^ everything behind- but tbe clothes they then wore. Owing- 
 to the^ simtiltaneous burning in every part of tbe city, the people 
 found no Security in the atrectfi, where th6 heat was so intense asr 
 almost td create suffocation. Everybody ruebed to the river's edg^„ 
 bein^ protected thete frcn> the heat by the high bank of the river. 
 Th6 steamboats lying at tbe lauding were subjected to great annoy- 
 ance^ the heat be**^ so great that the decks had to be flooded with 
 wa^i^E to prevent the- boats from takwtg fir^. Athong those who thus 
 crowded the rfcv*!* bamk were the wires, daughfetS and children, 
 heliplefid and now all homeh^, of ^e Union men who had joined the 
 Federal army since the occw|yatitir> of Alexandria. Their husbands 
 bad Already be«n marched off in tb« 6r>iit towards Simmsport, leav- 
 ing their families in their old homes, but to the tender mercies of tile' 
 Ckmfederatfes. , . , 
 
 The Federal tordi bad n<ytr 4eetroyed their dwellings, tbeit house - 
 bold goods and apparel, th« last moreed tf provisions, And left them 
 starving and destitute. As might be expected, they desired to go alon?^ 
 witih the Federal army, where tbeit husbands had gone. Thev applied 
 to Gen. Bank« with tears and entreaties to be allowed fo go aboard the 
 traniports. Th«y Were refased. They be<a*»e frtibHc With excitement 
 and rage. Their screams arid pitsdus cries W6re heart-rending. With 
 tears streaming down their cheeks, women aild children begged and 
 impbrvd the boats to taks them on board. Tbe officers of the boats 
 were desirqns of doing so, b«t there was the peremptoty order from Cen. 
 Bat&8, not to allow any white cititsens to go en board. A rush wonM 
 b«V8 been inade Txpon the boats, but there stood the^uard with fixed 
 bayonet, and none conld mowlt the stage plank, except they bore the 
 special penait of the Ootoiaandirig General. OonM anything b& more 
 iuhnilMn and erbel t But tbi« is not all. General Banks found rooni 
 OH his transports for six Or 8«fv»tt thouAand aegroe*, that had been gath- 
 ered in frota the surrounding country. 
 
 Cotton, tkat had beftn loaded on t^An^orts to be shipped through the ,' 
 Quartermaster to New CWleans, ttttde* Batiks' e*der, -vtas thrown over- 
 board to make room for negroes. Bert flo r6om cwttld be fbuttd fbr wbite 
 woilten aod children, wbo«e husbands and brothers were in the Federal 
 anay, and wh<)se houses and all had been burhed by the Federal toreh.^ 
 I ehailenge tbe reoorcfe of all wa»6 fot acts ^ such perfidy and cruelty. 
 
 "Bttt there is stiU another chaptief in this perfidious military and polit'-'| 
 ical campaign. Banks, on arriving at Alexandria, told the people thai 
 bis occupation of the coimtry \v«is pferamnetft. That he intended td, 
 protect all those Ttb6 «>oUld comsfbrw^rd and take tbe oath 6/ alls-' 
 giaiKte; while those who "would -ow werS tllreatehed with batiishmeflt 
 and conftscatioa of pwpsrty. Aft «4«ctk* w*t» bsid, and diflegates wete 
 I Bsttt tb the 'OMistitailonat CMftvMtiott tiiM itt 6<»Ml<^ tti lHew Orleans. 
 
A recruiting officer was appointed, .^nd ,over a thotttand Trbite mm were 
 mustered into the United States Service, (^ite a number of perma- 
 nent citizens of Alexandria took the oath, and were promised protec- 
 tion. Their houses and other property have now all been reduced to 
 ashes, and they turned out into the world with nothing — absolutely 
 nothing — save the amnesty oath! They could not now go to the Confedrr 
 erates and apply for charity. They, too, applied to General Banks to; 
 be allowed to go aboard the transports and go to New Orleans. They 
 were refused in every instance ! Among those who applied was a Mri' 
 Parker, a lawyer of feeble health, who had been quite prominent makr> 
 ing speeches since the Union occupation, in favor of emancipationy 
 unconditional Union, and the suppression of the rebellion. Permission' 
 to go on a transport was refused him. He could 'not stay, and heuce,. 
 feeble as he was, he went on afoot with the army. Among the promi-i 
 neut citizens who took the oath wa^ Judge John K.. Elgee, of . Alexti 
 andria. • , ' ;>!.,,._:■,; :•' • ''.' '\ ■:' ■':^ >>;"ri 
 
 Before the return of the army from Grand Ecore, Judge Blged wenr 
 to New Orleans, leaving his family behind expecting to retuiiii He 
 was not able to do so before the evacuation of Alexandria. Judge Bl-i 
 gee is one of the most accomplished and able men of the South. A; 
 lawyer by profession, he occupied a prominent position, both politically- 
 and social, and had immense influence. So great stress was placed up- 
 on his taking the oath, that one of our bands serenaded him athis resi-^ 
 dence, and Gen. Grover and Gen. Banks honored him in every possi-. 
 ble way. During my stay in Alexandria, I ha4 occasion to call upon the 
 Judge at his residence, and at his office, (which were both in thesame 
 building,) on business. His law and literary library, occupied threo 
 large rooms — being as fine a collection of books as I ever saw. His 
 residence was richly and tastefully furnished; a single painting costi 
 twelve hundred dollars. In his absence, the Government he had swomi 
 to support, and which had promised him protection, allowed its solr . 
 diers to apply the torch to his dwelling, and turn his family into thai 
 streets. His fine residence, with all its costly furniture, : his books,« 
 papers, and his fine paintings, were burned up. It may be that many 
 of the last named articles will yet find their way to the North,, having 
 been rescued from the flames by pilferers and thieves; for where arsoii 
 is resorted to, it is generally to cover theft. .. 
 ; J. Madison Wells, the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, elected 
 with Hahn, by General Black's orders, was not spared. He had been a 
 Union man from the beginmng. He had a- splendid residence in Alex- " 
 andria, well and richly furnished, at which his own and his son's fami- 
 ly resided. His son was absent in New Orleans, attending the Consti- 
 tutional Convention, of which he was a member, and in which he voted 
 for abolition and all the ultra measures. But that did not secure hi& , 
 family the protection of the Government. All was burned. Thou- 
 sands of people men women and children, were, in a few short hour8»ii 
 di^y^nfrotn €omfortiible homes^into th* stiweU Their shelter, theii^ 
 
89 
 
 provlsioEB, their beds, were all consumed. In their extremity, which 
 our own culpability had brought about, the Commanding General 
 turned his back upon them. The General, perhaps, did not laugh at, 
 their calamity, nor mock when their fear came, but doubtless regarded 
 it as the dawn of a political millenium. The march of the army from 
 Alexandria to Fort De Russy was lighted up with the flnmes of burn- 
 ing dwellings. Thus has General Banks become the "Liberator of 
 Louisiana." 
 
 When the army arrived at Simmsport the fceliii,^- against Banks 
 was perfectly nncontrollable. He was absolutely nfruid to appear 
 in the midst of the men, lest he miglit be assassinated.. He took 
 refuge in an iron-clad gunboat. As the boat lay in tlic Atchafalaya 
 river, the soldiers on the banks would cry out aloud for Banks to 
 put his head above the decks, declaring, with curses, tliatiliey would 
 put a ball through it. He k( pt his bead inside. When (ilen<Tal 
 Canby arrived, he made a speech to the men, and ti)ld them that no 
 more fatal eX[ieditions should be gotten up. A Ion;,': cry arose from 
 the men : " \Ve want to sec Gen. Banks punislied ; we want to see 
 liini hung ;" and many such expressions. (Jen. Canby said that he 
 had reported Banks to the authorities at AVashington, and had iio 
 doubt he would be dealt with a'5 his conduct deserved. The soldicrH 
 were furious,, and would have mobbed Banks, ft he had made his 
 :i))pe!Uiin(;e. ^fany declared that they would do no more service 
 until Banks was punished. Gen. Canby told them that iiereaftev 
 they were under his comTnand, and appealed to the men to n^turn to 
 duty and obey all his orders. Thus ended the lied Biveri-xpedition^ 
 — a fine sequel to a scheme conceived in politics and brought forth ' 
 in iniquity. 
 
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