Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: Sunday, May 15, 1864

On the march at 7 a. m. Left the river and passed through a forest five miles coming out on a plain or open prairie near Fort DeRussey. We found the rebels in force with several pieces of artillery. A large part of the army wheeled in position four lines deep. It was a beautiful sight all in open view. The rebels fired a few shells and retreated. Quamtrell's [sic] guerrillas on the opposite side of the river had a good time all day firing into our transports. A little beyond the town of Marksville the advance came up again with the enemy at about sundown. Our brigade was ordered to the front at double quick. We arrived within supporting distance of the cavalry and night coming on the firing ceased. We were soon supported by two or three other lines in our rear when we laid down on the prairie and slept on our arms all night.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 113

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 12, 1864

In camp all day.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 112

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 13, 1864

Whole army marched down the river and encamped in an open field on its banks, First Louisiana on picket.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 112

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 14, 1864

Heavy skirmishing most all day. Expected a big battle. Did not materialize. Gunboats all over the falls and came down with the transports. Enemy fired on them from the opposite side of the river. Gunboats shelled the woods. Halted ten miles above Fort De Russey where the rebels had destroyed one gunboat and two transports coming up the river. One of them was the John Warren. The mail was all torn up and scattered over the ground. Many rifle pits were dug in the levee.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 112

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Thursday, February 23, 1865

Very little mail Belle Ve Dere starts A. M. at 2 P. M. our Regt on board the Izetta to cross to depot. drop 4 miles below, & return to depot. unload at 4 P. M. raining hard. move up to depot, an Irish girl brings out hot coffee for some of the boys, at 7. load on the cars & have a 20 minutes run to Lake city, on Lake Pontchastran where at 8. P. M. cos B. G. & K embark on board steam ship Alabama, find it full of mules & about 300 men of some 7 regts. 35 Wis, 7th Vermont, 27 & 28th Wis 1st La. &c. at 10 weigh anchor and are off.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 575

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 10, 1864

All Quiet.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 111

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 11, 1864

Nineteenth army corps moved eight miles down the river and then marched back four miles and encamped.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 112

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 8, 1864

Crossed Red river on the dam. Four gun boats below the dam, and two turreted monitors below the upper falls. Two of the coal barges filled with brick and sunk in the channel had broke away and swung around alongside of the passage and these four boats being below the upper falls had run through the dam to safety.

Gunboats Passing the Falls in Red River at Alexandria, as seen by the
Author from the Pontoon Bridge Below By permission of E. B. Treat
& Co., Publishers of "Farragut and Our Naval Commanders."

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 110-1

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 6 & 7, 1864

Comparative quiet.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 110

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 5, 1864

Heavy cannonading all night down the river. Ohio Belle reported captured and destroyed, with all lost, killed and taken prisoners. A raid on the lumber cutters for the dam, twenty killed and wounded. Considerable fighting all round the lines. Our position quite safe being in rear of a deep ravine with heavy timber felled all along our front.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 110

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 3, 1864

On guard at pontoon bridge. An old lady and gentleman came up with a pass signed by Colonel Molineaux I examined it and passed it back to her. At the same time General Banks came up and said, “Lieutenant why are you passing so many people across here, they are letting the enemy know all we are doing and giving us a great deal of trouble.” I saluted him and said, “General, my instructions were to pass everybody with passes signed by yourself and Colonel Molineaux,” at the same time handing him the pass. “Well,” he said, “I will tell Col. Molineaux not to pass so many people across this bridge.” At that the old lady pointed to a nice looking young man standing: there dressed in a new United States uniform and said. “This is our son, he has just enlisted in the Union army and we are all on our way to New Orleans and want to cross the river to take a steamboat. We are afraid they will persecute us when you are gone, if we stay here.” “O! Ah, yes, I see” he said, “that is all right,” and passed on. It was not for me to reply, poor man, he had enough to make him petulant. I was at a loss to know, however, what I had to do with Colonel Molineaux's business. Worked on dam all night.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 109-10

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 2, 1864

Crossed the river on a pontoon bridge. Dam above progressing finely. Commissaries would not issue rations to parties unless they were accompanied with a commissioned officer and while the dam was building we took turns in drawing rations and that was about all the duties we had to do except to go on guard once a week; the cavalry scouts doing all the fighting. I called it a pretty soft snap. Bailey would have nobody but Michiganders on the dam.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 108-9

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 30, 1864

First Louisiana moved a short distance to the left, on higher ground opposite the falls, into some negroe's cabins. Meanwhile Porter came down the river with fifty gunboats, transports and other craft. One large transport the Eastport had run onto the logs and had to be blown up, but after hard fighting all the way he arrived with his fleet to the falls to find the water so low they were impassable. What was to be done? Banks' plan was to gather all the cotton and load it on transports, blow up the gunboats and retreat. This Porter would not do. Meanwhile the latter had sent a dispatch to Washington stating the condition of affairs and General Canby was sent out to relieve Banks with orders to stay with the army in Alexandria until the gunboats were relieved.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 107

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 28, 1864

Heavy skirmishing all day with cavalry, artillery and infantry. Afternoon preparations for a general engagement. Squadrons wheeling into line, and maneuvering at the front. At night the torch was again at work and soon the heavens were aglow with burning buildings. Firing ceased. Next day all was quiet. The enemy had felt our position, did not like it and withdrew. The notorious Quantrel, the bushwhacker was on the opposite side of the river so the Second brigade was ordered to cross and take positions to protect that part of the town. We encamped near a house in rear of Pineville. It was empty, and the soldiers re girded it as lawful plunder, and raided it, as was their custom. It seemed to be an unwritten law that, if the family fled, it was evidence of guilt, and the property was theirs; but if they remained the property was respected and a guard was placed over it to protect it. In the case in question the house was occupied by a lady who had gone to a neighbor's for a short time, but on returning and seeing what had been done she wept bitterly, and complained that she had been treated unfairly, and well she might, for it turned out that her husband was a union man, and had been hiding in the woods for several months to keep from being drafted into the rebel army, and she had been feeding him. It is needless to say she got her things back, and officers and soldiers chipped in and gave her a barrel of flour, and stocked her house well with provisions. And I might as well say that this was not an isolated case for we found many men, and women too, throughout the South faithful to their country and flag: ready to sacrifice property, and life too, if need be to protect them from that wicked rebellion. We raised a company of mounted Mexicans, and put many recruits in the union armies.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 105-7

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 27, 1864

Light skirmishing at the front.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 105

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 26, 1864

Smith's corps coming in all day. Rebels did not trouble him much, after the thrashing he gave them at Caney river.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 105

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 25, 1864

On the march again about noon: marched about twenty miles and arrived in Alexandria, about nine p. m. and camped on our old camping ground, in the rear of the town.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 105

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 24, 1864

At three o'clock in the morning heavy cannonading across the river in our rear. General J. M. Smith was covering our retreat, with ten thousand men of the sixteenth army corps, furnished by General Sherman, to assist in this campaign. The firing ceased at about eight a. m., the rebels attacking him, being defeated with heavy loss. By ten a.m. the army with all the train was across the river, except Smith's corps: and we were on the march again towards Alexandria: Our road for the next fifteen miles lay through the piney woods, but it was accomplished without molestation, and by nine p. m. we emerged into the opening on Red river. Four miles further on, along the Rapides Bayou, we halted for the night. Thousands of negroes followed us from Caney river bringing all their belongings with them: some with beds in bundles on their heads, and some with frying pans and kettles and every conceivable thing you could mention. These poor creatures were of every shade of color from ebony black to pure Caucasian white. Many of the soldiers formed an acquaintance with some one of these swarthy damsels and they marched along side by side in apparent entertaining conversation, thus beguiling the tedium of the march. On emerging from the piney woods, a wonderful sight burst upon us. It seems the cavalry and mounted infantry, in the advance, had not spared the torch, and the country for miles around was a light blaze, with camp fires and burning plantations, I don't think there was a building standing on the line of our march four or five miles wide that was not burned even with the ground.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 103-4

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 23, 1864

On the march at six a. m. Rebels had crossed Caney river at the ford and taken possession of three high hills on the opposite bank, and planted a battery of six guns on the highest one, next to the ford, and our artillery were unable to dislodge them. So a force of infantry, one regiment of which was the First Louisiana, were ordered to move up the river, about two miles, cross over and threaten their left flank and rear. After crossing we passed through a deep swamp. On the first hill we saw nothing of the enemy until we came to the foot, where there was a wide field. We found the enemy here in force. A regiment of Zouaves from New York city charged on them and they retreated up the second hill followed by the pu[r]suing regements. Between this hill and the third one next the ford there was a narrow field through which ran a stream of water crossed by a bridge. General Birge ordered a company of mounted infantry, belonging to the thirteenth Connecticut Volunteers commanded by Lieutenant Mesner to cross the bridge and ride through the field and then followed with the Second brigade marching by the flank; the First Louisiana on the right. A short distance beyond the bridge to the left was a shallow ravine. As soon as the First Louisiana was across and filed to the left, toward the ravine, the rebels opened a destructive fire of grape and musketry into Lieutenent Mesner's company, and the First Louisiana from the opposite hill. The company of mounted infantry was literally cut to pieces, and Lieutenant Mesner was pierced with three bullets, and died soon after. The First Louisiana fell back into the ravine. General Birge came riding back, hatless, and ordered the men to lie down in the ravine. Captain Felton and myself, did not obey orders: we wanted to see what was going on, and the writer of this came very near paying the penalty for his curiosity with his life. There was a small hickory sapling about as large as ones arm, standing about three feet in front of us. A bullet struck it, about breast high, penetrating it about half way through, i stood just in line and had it not been for that sapling, these pages never would have been written. The Second and Third brigades were soon on the move, charging up the steep hill, but the birds had flown. A messenger came stating that the troops were crossing the ford, and we marched round the base of the hill to it, and encamped on the bank of the river. I have been told by those that were fighting by the ford, that they drove the enemy from the hill: but I always thought the Second and Third brigade, creeping around on their left flank, and threatening their line of retreat, had something to do with it: for their position above the ford and plain below, was so far above them that artilery must have been entirely ineffective, and musketry could not reach them: so that a flank movement was the only remedy as I believe. We lost one hundred and fifty in killed and wounded. The First Louisiana had six wounded, none killed.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 100-3

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 22, 1864

Officer of the guard. Marched again at 10 a. m. Cavalry skirmished all day. First Louisiana in advance of infantry. Cut a road through a wood. Expected a fight all day. Somehow I did not believe we would have a fight, but my captain, Felton, believed we would, and get badly whipped too. “I will tell you what I will do Captain”, I said: “I will bet you ten cents, and that is the extent of my pile, that the First Louisiana don't fire a gun until we get into Alexandra.” He did not take the bet and I did not believe he had the money to cover it. Money was not very flush with any of us. It had been a good while since we were paid off. One of our men was killed today by a rebel. At six p. m. stacked arms and the men had stripped off their equipments and were preparing for supper when orders came to march immediately at double quick. There was a scramble to get into line and we went on a double quick about half a mile and halted in an open field. Slept on our arms that night. General Dick Taylor did not molest us and I had a good sound sleep.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 99-100