Army Life: From a Soldier's Journal

XXII. AT BRASHEAR CITY

Dick Taylor’s5 band and said to be about fifteen thousand strong. Some things indicate that we have a good prospect for an early fight. Other reports say that Taylor has already commenced to retreat. Yesterday, five deserters from the rebel army came into our lines. They report that Taylor’s force, many of whom are conscripts, are discouraged and tired of the war. This seems to be the feeling of the Southern citizens and soldiers upon this side of the Mississippi River. If free to act no doubt but that a large majority of them would now gladly come back into the Union. CHAPTER XXII. AT BRASHEAR CITY. The enemy began to show a very threatening spirit toward our troops at Brashear City, nine miles further west.1 On September eleventh we started at four o’clock in the morning and marched to that place. Brashear City is a small place of no great importance except as a military post. The river at this place is the dividing line between the Union and rebel armies. The enemy holds the west side and our troops the eastern side of the river. The river itself may be said to be entirely in our control. The enemy taking good care to keep out of range of our gunboats. Two small gunboats came up from Sabin Pass2 this morning. They bring us news of a severe engagement between our boats and the rebel forts. Our side was whipped. Two boats were lost and others disabled. Troops continued to arrive until quite a large force was assembled at Brashear City. General C. C. Washburne [Washburn],3 who is to command, came in from New Orleans on September fifteenth. The prospect is good for an early forward movement. While we were camped at Brashear City, with our lines on the east side of the river, and the enemy in possession of the country on the west side, a little band of five boys belonging to our brigade had an adventure that at the time attracted much attention. The five Union soldiers got possession of a skiff and crossed over to the enemy’s side of the river. The object of this raid, it must be confessed, was to forage some chickens and pigs; everything in that line being very scarce on our side. Of course they had no right to thus venture into the - In Louisiana. 185 enemy’s country. Considerable time had passed without success, and the prospect of leaving the rebel land as hungry as they came began staring them in the face. At last they discovered the smoke curling up from a fire in the woods near at hand. As they approached they were surprised to see that they had run upon a camp of some thirty Confederate cavalrymen. The rebels were evidently on a scouting expedition, and at the time when discovered by our boys, were busily engaged in cooking their dinner. The discovery brought the Union boys to a halt. What to do was the question. Should they retreat? No. The boys of the Thirteenth Army Corps never retreat. As for fighting that was equally out of the question. They only had one gun among them, and besides the odds were six to one against them. In this dilemma they decided that the only thing to do was to frighten the Confederates out of their position. It must be remembered that the little band was composed of five of the most reckless and daring men of our brigade. If they had not been so, they would not have thus ventured so far, merely for the chances of finding some fat chickens. The plan was no sooner suggested than acted upon. With a whoop and a yell like wild savages they dashed through the thick brush and right into the midst of the astonished - Army Life. 186 Southern Louisiana operations, 1863. From Guernsey and Alden, Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War. rebels. The alarmed Confederates thought that Old Nick himself had come, and ran for dear life, leaving guns and sabers and even part of their horses in the possession of the wild Yankee boys. The reckless Union soldiers grabbed up the abandoned guns and fired rapidly, thus completing the Confederates’ delusion that they were being attacked by a large force, and they continued their rapid retreat without once looking back, glad to escape with their lives...