The Daily True Delta

NEW ORLEANS, FRIDAY MORNING AUGUST 7, 1863
VOLUME XXVII     NUMBER 220
PORT HUDSON

ITS HISTORY, FROM AN INTERIOR VIEW,

AS SKETCHED FROM THE DIARY OF
AN OFFICER

[continued]

The Bombardment.

On the same night occurred the first loss of life from the bomb shells. A soldier, standing on the parapet of battery No. 9, was struck about the neck by a descending shell, carrying him, head foremost, through the wooden floor of the battery into the ground beneath, leaving only his feet sticking out. On the afternoon of the 17th of May, a bomb shell entered near the crest of a parapet, at the lower part of the fortification, burying itself in the ground underneath a spot where four men of Col. de Gournay’s command were sitting. The shell, exploding, threw them into the air, killing three and wounding the fourth. The other two soldiers lost legs by being struck with pieces of bursting shells, and this is the entire chapter of casualties caused by forty-three days’ bombardment. A large extent of ground was torn up, the roads were sometimes made impassable for awhile by the holes, and at one time the shells fell as high up as battery No. 4. They fell thickly in one of the graveyards, and one shell, entering the graves of the very men who had been killed as above related, exploded among the coffins. Another shell exploded in the grave of two little children, who had been buried there before the occupation of Port Hudson by troops.

During an afternoon’s bombardment a shell which fell into the river exploded under water, and caused such a shock to the fish that seventy or eighty rose to the surface and floated there completely stunned. Many of them were of the largest size, and two skiffs quickly put out from our shore and both returned loaded down with their piscatorial burden. As buffalo and cat-fish when [were ??] then selling among the soldiers at from five to fifty dollars apiece, according to their size, this proved to be a valuable haul. The bombardment, during the night, presented a beautiful appearance, each shell looking like a bright star rising to the zenith in a spasmodic manner, and slowly traversing the dark amphitheatre of the sky, steering its strange course among the stars until a flash of light would show that it had burst, some time before the sound of the explosion reached the ear. Those of the troops who were within range of the bomb-shells soon learned to guage [sic], by a tree or post, the flight of the shells, and to foretell where they were going to strike, with remarkable correctness.

The Fight at Plain’s Store.

On the 20th of May the approach of Gen. Augur’s division was announced by some slight brushes with our cavalry pickets, and the same night Gen. Banks commence crossing the river with his army at Bayou Sara. On the 21st Col. Powers, with a body of our cavalry, a few companies of infantry and Abbay’s Mississippi battery of light artillery were skirmishing pretty heavily all morning, near Plain’s Store, with Augur’s advance. To relieve Col. Power’s cavalry and enable them to get safely away and join Logan, Gen. Gardner sent an order at noon to Col. W. R. Miles to take 400 men, with a light battery, and reconnoitre the enemy. This order was promptly obeyed, and our infantry marched out, supported by Boone’s Louisiana battery. Col. Miles threw out two companies on the right, under Major Jas. T. Coleman, and three companies on the left, under Lieut. Col. F. B. Brand. Major Coleman, with his two companies, commanded respectively by Capts. Dejean and J. B. Turner, made a considerable detour through the woods, almost unobserved by the enemy.

There were two pieces of light artillery playing upon us from and open field, and these guns were attached by ropes to their horses, for the purpose of firing and retiring at alternate intervals. Coming out from an apple orchard upon this section, and finding himself upon its flank, Major Coleman gallantly ordered his little band to charge and take the guns, although it was to be done in face of the whole Federal line. The order was splendidly obeyed, under his lead, and with a shout and a hurrah, our boys had possession of the artillery, and killed, wounded or captured the gunners and its support. When they saw the charge coming the drivers tried to get off with their guns, but their horses were shot down, and from this very fact we could not run them off when we took them. Major Coleman was immediately overpowered by a largely superior force of the enemy, and, although he fought stubbornly to hold his prize until support could reach him, he had got too far ahead of the main body, and had to fall back after suffering heavy loss.

For about an hour the fight raged with much spirit, our men being greatly outnumbered. Finding that he was outflanked on both sides and likely to be surrounded, Col. Miles sent Lieut. Harmanson with a section to outflank the enemy’s left. This order was so well obeyed as to break the movement which was about to encircle our small force, and after having picked up and sent from the field all of the wounded he had ambulances for, Col. Miles fell back in good order, meeting on his return, Gen. Beall, who had gone out to his support in case he should be hard pressed. Without further exchange of shots our troops all retired within their intrenchments [sic].

On that day Col. Miles reported a loss of 89 in killed, wounded and missing. Capt. J. B. Turner and Lieut. Crawford, of St. Tammany, and Lieut. J. B. Wilson, of New Orleans, were killed. Lieut. Pearson and four men of Abbay’s battery were killed. The gallantry of Major Coleman received deserved praise, as did also the skill and tried courage of Col. Miles, and the fight was looked upon with extreme satisfaction by all of our troops in garrison.

Gen. Grover’s Approach.

On the next day Col. Wingfield’s cavalry commenced skirmishing with the advance of Banks’s army, which had been rapidly crossing the river, and were moving down upon us from Bayou Sara, only thirteen miles distant. It had generally been supposed that no attack in force would ever be attempted through the swamp above Port Hudson, nor through the heavy timber back of the town, through which ran Sandy creek. Fortifications had not been erected there, nor were they considered necessary. But there were evidences now that an approach would be attempted that way, and on the 22nd and 23rd Col. Wingfield’s men were steadily driven back to Sandy creek through almost a pathless forest. but difficult as it had been to get through on foot before that, the enemy cut roads to bring up both infantry and artillery, and by daylight of the 24th the now partially cleared forest was alive with soldiers, which we understood to be General Grover’s division, making their way toward us as fast as the nature of the ground would permit. We were also skirmishing over toward the swamp on our extreme left.

It having become apparent that the enemy preferred to overcome the natural obstacles of the woods, rather than the artificial ones in the shape of fortifications, Gen. Gardner had sent a good part of his forces to his left, giving the command, from the left of our breastworks to the river above, to Col. G. W. Steadman, of the First Alabama regiment, an officer who proved himself fully equal to the responsibility. The troops under his command were the Fifteenth Arkansas, Col. Ben. Johnson; the Tenth Arkansas, Lieut. Col. Vaughn; First Alabama, Lieut. Col. M. B. Locke and Major S. L. Knox; Eighteenth Arkansas, Lieut. Col. J. C. Parish; Thirty-ninth Mississippi, Col. W. B. Shelby, and Wingfield’s cavalry, dismounted, under command of Capt. O. P. Amacker, during Col. Wingfield’s illness.* Col. Steadman had the kind of officers under him that he desired, and, backed up by the zeal and courage of the line, he felt confident that he was going to hold his position, although he was equally impressed with the belief that he would have to stand the heaviest shock of battle.

Closing In.

To make his position securer he had rifle pits hastily thrown up on the ridges and spurs of high ground, but the valleys and gorges had no such protection. They were principally choked, however, with fallen timber. About noon on the 24th, Gen. Grover’s line was met in the woods, in front of where we were throwing up our rifle pits, and heavy skirmishing commenced and was kept up until dark without material result to either side. Our casualties were very slight.

Col. Ben Johnson was ordered to occupy a long ridge of ground extending out some distance in advance of our line, to check the enemy as long as possible. He did check them and continued to do so during the whole siege, never giving up this position. On the same day (24th) his skirmishers engaged Gen. Grover’s left until dark, with a loss of only two killed and one wounded. Col. Steadman brought up a rifled 24-pounder from one of the river batteries and planted it to sweep a ravine near his centre, where an old by-road gave good means of approach.

On this day, the 24th, our pockets [pickets ??] were engaged on all sides, and the place was closely invested. Brig. Gen. Beall, who commanded our centre, had under his command the following troops:

Twelfth Arkansas, Col. T. J. Reed; First Arkansas battalion, Lieut. Col. Jones; Sixteenth Arkansas, Col. Provence; First Mississippi, Lieut. Col. Hamilton and Major Johnston; Twenty-third Arkansas, Col. O. P. Lyles and Major Black, and the Forty-ninth Alabama, Major Street, with Abbay’s battery, two sections of the Watson battery and a section of Bradford’s battery.

Col. W. R. Miles, commanding the right wing, had the following commands:

Miles Legion, Lieut. Col. F. B. Brand and Major J. T. Coleman; Ninth Louisiana battalion, Capt. Chinn; battalion of troops belonging to Maxey’s brigade, temporarily organized under Capt. S. A. Whiteside, detachment from de Gournay’s heavy artillery acting as infantry, under command of Major Anderson Merchant, with Boone’s battery and two sections of Robert’s battery.

*The left wing had also Harrod’s battery and a section apiece from Bradford’s and the Watson battery.

[TO BE CONTINUED]