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187 7. The Siege of Port Hudson By the middle of May, my command was again in condition for the field, and I was exceedingly anxious to leave Baton Rouge and start northward to join General Grant. The general [was] equally desirous to have me do so. He wrote to General Banks on May 10, 1863: “Grierson’s cavalry would be of immense service to me now, and if at all practicable for him to join me, I would like him to do so at once.” General Banks answered May 12, regretting his inability to join General Grant, and stated that he had written me on the subject, but the letter never reached me. I was then under the command or control of General Augur, and of course he, no more than General Banks, relished the thought of our departure, as he was then preparing for a reconnaissance in the direction of Port Hudson. [He] was anxious to retain us and did so. General Grant states in his Memoirs, that up to May 12, the movement of his army had been made without serious opposition. He was then near the Jackson and Vicksburg Railroad, with his line almost parallel thereto. On the night of May 13, General [Joseph E.] Johnston arrived at Jackson and assumed command of all Confederate troops in Mississippi, virtually relieving General Pemberton.1 Soon after, the Confederate troops began to put forth greater efforts to impede the advance of the Federal army. On the same day, in compliance with instructions from General Augur, I moved out towards Port Hudson with about 500 of the most effective portion of my cavalry and was absent three days, during which time we were actively scouting. [We] had several skirmishes and some brisk fights with the rebels, in all of which we were fortunate and successful. A detachment approached within two miles of Port Hudson and drove in the enemy’s pickets. We also drove a considerable force of the enemy from rifle pits at Redwood Bridge, about nine miles east of Port Hudson, at the point where the Redwood road, which runs almost directly east from Port Hudson, joins the road from Baton Rouge to Clinton. On the night of May 15, I returned to Baton Rouge to hasten the completion of the shoeing of horses and the re-equipment of my entire command, placing the troops The Siege of Port Hudson • 188 then out under Lieutenant Colonel [Reuben] Loomis, 6th [Illinois] Cavalry , who continued the active scouting. At that time we had only about a dozen men sick in hospital, including two officers, notwithstanding the great exertion the command had so recently passed through. Soon after [my] return to Baton Rouge, I accompanied General Augur to New Orleans to meet General Banks with whom we dined, there being several general officers, the collector of the port, and other notables present . It was quite refreshing to sit down to so good a meal after the scanty fare we had so long been getting. General Banks, I remember, made on that occasion a very neat and complimentary speech in which he alluded to our late expedition in the most flattering terms, and in an enthusiastic manner proposing, and with all present drinking, my health, under all of which I became rather too embarrassed to respond in a manner satisfactory to myself—although in view of the confusion and noise of the glasses, it may not have been so noticeable to others. The next day, I also dined with Admiral Farragut at the St. Charles Hotel and found him to be a most agreeable gentleman, thoroughly absorbed in the duties of his profession. Upon his special invitation, I visited the principal ships of his fleet—the Richmond, Monongahela, [and] Pensacola —and several of the gunboats then moored near the city. The admiral was also kind enough to arrange for me to visit that part of the fleet then near Port Hudson, which I subsequently did, when the commanding of- ficer, for my special benefit and amusement, bombarded Port Hudson for an hour. The bombardment took place about 10 o’clock at night and was a most magnificent sight. Altogether, I was most generously feasted there, as well as at New Orleans, [and] treated with the utmost courtesy and consideration by General Banks, Admiral Farragut, and the officers of the army and navy under their command. On May 20, the balance of the cavalry...

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