The Daily True Delta

NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY MORNING AUGUST 9, 1863
VOLUME XXVII     NUMBER 222
PORT HUDSON

ITS HISTORY, FROM AN INTERIOR VIEW,

AS SKETCHED FROM THE DIARY OF
AN OFFICER

[continued]

A False Alarm.

A company of the Fourth Louisiana regiment, the Lake Providence Cadets, commanded by Capt. Charles R. Purdy, had been left in the town of Jackson, La., to guard that place, and upon finding Port Hudson invested, Capt. Purdy, being without orders in such an emergency, resolved to make his way through the investing lines, and joining the garrison, to take his part in the anticipated siege. The enterprise was a bold one, that of thirty odd infantry men attempting to pass through a hostile army, but its very boldness probably ensured its success. Leaving Jackson at dark this small party arrived in the neighborhood of Port Hudson shortly after ten o’clock, and pushed straight on. They were either not seen by the enemy or taken for some of their own troops, but their arrival caused a general alarm in our lines, for one of our pickets, perceiving their approach among the dark shadows of the trees, gallopped [sic] in to Gen. Gardner’s headquarters in breathless haste, and announced that the enemy were advancing upon our lines in columns of regiments!

“Was this thing reported to you,” inquired the general, “or did you see the columns with your own eyes?”

“I saw them myself, general,” was the assuring answer, “and after firing into them I immediately galloped in to bring the intelligence.”

The signal guns were fired and instantly our lines were manned and every one looked well to his weapons and ammunition, expecting a fierce night attack. Meanwhile Purdy’s company quietly marched up and their character being made known to an infantry picket just outside our breastworks, they came in and reported that there were no signs of an attack being made, that the enemy were not ready. Capt. Purdy was questioned about the picket he first met and admitted that the man did turn and gallop in as if he was in a great hurry to announce their approach—so much so that he had not stopped to fire at them at all. The exaggerative scout tried to excuse himself by pleading fatigue, surprise and other causes for being deceived, but did not recover general confidence in his nerve or his reliability.

Preparing for the Assault.

There was heavy skirmishing in the woods, along Gen. Grover’s advance, on the 25th and 26th. On the afternoon of the first of these days the enemy made three charges, in force, on our line of skirmishers, consisting principally of the First Alabama and four companies of the First Mississippi. the two first charges were repulsed, but on the third our men were driven back to the rifle pits we were throwing up. During those skirmishes the Watson battery, under the command of Lieut. Toledano, was splendidly handled and gained much credit.

On our extreme left, in the swamp, Gen. Weitzel was pushing his way steadily by the aid of engineering skill, and much labor to approach a portion of our line which was the strongest natural part of what we hold. The continual patter of axes in the willow growth that covered this part of the swamp told us that he was working night and day to build roads and bridges. All the time Wingfield’s battalion was skirmishing with his advance line behind which their engineer corps were at work.

On the 25th there was also a demonstration made against our right wing, where an advance upon our breastworks was first attempted by a column of infantry and cavalry, and then by cavalry alone. They did not get close enough for our infantry to fire upon them, but were dispersed by our artillery alone. After they had been driven off, they came forward with a flag of truce and commence removing their dead and wounded. Col. Miles sent out a couple of officers to receive their flag of truce, but seeing this they took it away. Such conduct was the fault of an officer totally ignorant of the rules of war or honor. The next morning a column of infantry came in sight of Col. Miles’s position, but our artillery quickly caused it to take cover.

On the 24th the gunboats engaged our batteries, but at such long range as to keep out of danger from our guns. On the 26th, a shell from the 150-pounder Parrott of the Monongahela dismounted one of our 10 inch columbiads, and it was several days before we could get it up again. On the same day our columbiads and a 42 pounder commenced shelling the willow woods and swamp where Gen. Weitzel’s engineer corps was at work just finishing their last bridge.

Battle of the 27th of May.

When the morning of the 27th of May dawned every man expected a strong attack—the symptoms of it had been noticed by all the more experienced and observing soldiers, and the furious cannonade which opened the day told us plainly that their storming columns were forming or advancing to the charge. Knowing our enemy to have an abundance of men for this purpose, it was generally supposed among our troops that we would be attacked simultaneously at every point, though only one or two would be intended to force their way at every hazard, the other assaults being for the purpose of confusing us and preventing us from sending reinforcements to the more threatened parts. A survey of our lines showed but a straggling line of men at our weakest points, while along the breastworks there were long stretches without a man to guard them. It was the general belief among our men that such a long and exposed line was a weakness in our defence which only cool and determined courage—a resolution to do or die—could make compensation for, and there was but one disposition among both officers and soldiers—never alive to leave their posts.

About nine o’clock in the morning the attack was made, in the woods on Col. Steadman’s right and centre, and upon the line of fortifications on Gen. Beall’s right. The latter attack—that of Sherman’s brigade—was the most imposing in appearance. Emerging from the woods at the distance of about four hundred yards from our breastworks, the Zouave regiment charged in line of battle across the open field. The gay colors of their uniforms contrasted brilliantly with the green and sombre shades of the trees and field, making a fine mark for our fire. As soon as they appeared in sight our artillery opened on them with spherical case, many of them bursting right in their ranks, but the gaps were quickly closed up and they came on in splendid style. As they lessened the distance our gunners substituted grape for shrapnel, and when they finally came within one hundred and fifty yards, our guns were double charged with canister, and the infantry receiving the order at the same time to fire, the field was swept with a storm of musket balls, and grape shot.

The advancing line of Zouaves wavered and then halted, while they were dropping from the ranks, mown down by our deadly fire, which now became an incessant rattle of musketry, intermingled with rapid discharges of canister from the guns. In vain their officers ran forward, waved their swords and called on the men to follow them. They only thereby proved to the men the deadliness of our marksmanship, for as fast as they made themselves thus conspicuous they were unerringly dropped by our riflemen. One showily dressed officer leaped on an old stump, and waving his sword in one had and a small United States flag in the other, appeared to be making a speech to his men. His life for awhile appeared to be a charmed one, for hundreds of rifle and musket balls flew by without touching him, though aimed by men who could draw a fatal bead; but soon the lead which fate may have intended should only reach him, knocked him off the stump. The Zouaves, after wavering for awhile in indecision, finally broke and scattered, most of the men throwing themselves flat on the ground behind stumps, logs and inequalities of the ground, where they now commenced sharpshooting [sic].

Charge of Sherman’s Troops.

That part of our line where this attack was made, had been just previously almost without a man, Gen. Beall having sent many of his troops to reinforce Col. Steadman, in the woods, but at the first appearance of the charge Col. Miles, who was himself closely scrutinizing the field, double quicked about half his command to the threatened point, and Gen. Beall made a similar movement from the opposite direction. As the Zouaves came on our troops were just closing up from right and left, and they would fire and then reload as they went on.

As soon as the Zouaves broke, Sherman’s brigade came out of the woods in column, and ployed to the right and left into line of battle, as prettily as if they were on drill. Our artillerists again had recourse to shell and shrapnel, and the infantry opened on this advance sooner than before. Their charge was a good one, and had the advantage of the Zouave line of sharpshooters, some of whom were within a hundred yards of our works, and whose Minié balls were whistling over our parapet.

But our men, though opposed by an enemy ten times their number, kept up a withering fire, and after the brigade had approached a little nearer than the Zouaves had done, it finally hesitated and wavered. At this sure precurser [sic] to a repulse, our boys sent up a shout of triumph for the victory they now saw certain. The enemy’s officers and many of the men ran ahead of the line and urged the others on, but in vain; their confidence in themselves was gone. some of them, in the hopes of inspiring others, started a cheer, but it died away in a weakly strain, and the rear rank giving way the front rank turned also, and the whole force made for the woods, to the sound of our ringing cheers. At the woods they rallied, and , reforming their line under our artillery fire, they again charged. It was useless; we knew that troops we had once driven back so far would not succeed on a second trial under similar circumstances. After coming within fifty or sixty yards of where they first broke, they wavered again and speedily broke and run [sic], thoroughly defeated.

The Fighting in the Woods.

Gens. Grover and Weitzel made three desperate charges on Col. Steadman’s line, where, in the woods, we did not have the advantage of any fortifications. In some places their troops got within fifteen or twenty yards of our half built rifle pits, and few of those who got so close returned to tell their comrades what they had seen. Never for one moment did our troops waver or their coolness or determination forsake them. They loaded rapidly, but they aimed slowly and deliberately, firing low, and nearly every shot did its work of destruction. Column after column and regiment after regiment was hurled against them, shells and shrapnel burst around them, and the Minié balls maintained a ceaseless whizzing, but like the British squares at Waterloo, they stood like the rock-bound coast against which the mighty waves of the ocean dash furiously but in vain.

Perhaps the hardest part of the fighting here was against Col. Ben. Johnson’s exposed position, which acquired on this day and always afterwards retained, the title of Fort Desperate.

Col. Johnson had a line nearly three quarters of a mile long to defend, with only two hundred and ninety-two officers and men. It extended around a long ridge running out from our line, and he was charged in both flanks, first at nine o’clock in the morning and then at ten. Buy working night and day he had built a regular parapet and exterior ditch around most of the ridge, but without any opportunity of flanking the ditch, so that if the enemy could but once get in they were completely protected from his fire.

A tremendous cannonade at this point had created such a haze of smoke that the attacking line had approached within one hundred yards before it was discovered. Determined not to waste any of his ammunition, Col. Johnson would not allow his men to fire until the enemy were within sixty yards. Then, with a yell, the Arkansas boys opened upon them, making many a gap in their lines. But they had no artillery here to face, and after faltering for a moment they made another rush. Again they were met by a deadly volley, and, after some irresolution, during which Johnson’s backwoods men were making fearful havoc, particularly among the officers, their line broke and they retreated.

Getting Into Our Ditch.

On the next charge they made we waited until they had got within forty yard before we fired the first volley. They wavered, but with a cheer they rallied and charged again, and were now so near that most of them reached our ditch and jumped in. During all this time their sharpshooters and artillery had been sweeping our parapet, causing severe loss among its defenders. Expecting an immediate assault, our men crouched down behind the breastworks with their guns at a “ready,” prepared each one to kill his man among the foremost of those who should come over, and then club his musket for the balance, while those who had bayonets were ready to do havoc with the cold steel.

Meanwhile the enemy were preparing for the assault, appealing to and inspiring their men with the belief that it was quite a simple affair to climb over, jump down on the inside, and take the place. “Are you ready?” a voice called out. “Ready,” was answered and repeated along the line of men in the ditch. Then came the long expected and momentous work, “Charge!” One officer was instantly on top of the parapet, and four of his men were on either side. Their time had come, for as quickly they staggered back and rolled down among their comrades. These were the only ones who had obeyed the order to charge, and the certain death they had met doubtless cast a damper upon the courage of the rest.

Up and down the line their officers strode in our ditch, preparing the men, by their eloquence and patriotic appeals, to make one quick and decisive dash and take the place. Again the responses of “all ready” were heard, but they were not “all ready,” for when the order to charge was given not one of them showed himself over the parapet. Only a few yards of earth divided the two hostile lines, and a lively conversation was now struck up. “Why don’t you come over?” asked our boys, in a tantalizing manner. “Why don’t you come out and fight us?” they inquired in response. “If you only had two to one instead of ten to one, we would do it,” was the reply. Occasionally clods of earth would be thrown from one side over upon the other and if the[y] had hand grenades they could have been used with good effect.

It was now evident that the enemy was caught in a trap. They were in our ditch and it was nearly equally fatal for them to charge over, or to get up and run away. If we had had enough troops we might have sallied out and taken them all prisoners, but we had barely enough to man our line. Under these circumstances a ruse had to be employed. A flag of truce was shown from the woods and Col. Steadman sent out a white flag to meet it. While the white flag was thus flying on the field, their troops got out of our ditch and coolly walked away. Gen. Banks, in correspondence next day with Gen. Gardner, disclaimed all responsibility for this affair and expressed much regret that any of his officers should have made an improper use of a flag which is respected on the battle-field [sic] by all Christian nations.

Attempted Charge by Negro Troops.

This was the battle of the 27th of May. A demonstration had, indeed, been made upon our extreme left, but it did not amount to a charge. A couple of negro regiments, with a line of white troops behind them, came up through a growth of young willow trees to the edge of the clearing, a distance of between six and seven hundred feet from a rifle pit we had dug along the bluff which came out at that place. They were fired into by a small party of skirmishers in the woods on their flank and from the thinly-lined rifle pit in their from with a couple of small mountain howitzers which we had there. They broke at our fire and clustered behind the willow trees, apparently too panic-stricken either to advance or run. Our shots tore the fragile willows into fragments, and the splinters were probably as dangerous as our fire, so that they were stricken down with great havoc.

On account of the line of white troops behind them they probably had some difficulty in getting away, but in fifteen minutes after they first appeared none of them were to be seen except the dead and those who were too badly wounded to crawl off, and these, some two hundred and fifty in number, could be plainly seen, through a spy glass, among the willows. The nearest of their dead to our rifle pits were two hundred yards distant. this was the last we saw of negro troops at Port Hudson.

[A rather more condescending account than others that have been written. Their approach was limited by much wet and swampy ground due to flooding from the nearby Mississippi river. There was a limited second assault which took heavy casualties. They remained in the woods when Brig. Gen. William Dwight ordered Col. John A. Nelson to attack again, which Nelson saw to be impossible, so he ordered his men to open fire from their position in the woods.     WGB]