When the order was given “cease firing,” pickets were thrown out, and the abandoned gun, near the rail fence, left by the enemy when they withdrew, was brought in to the Federal lines. The wounded within reach were carried to a field-hospital that had been established in a planter’s house, about one-quarter of a mile in the rear. The Federals rested upon their arms, remaining in line of battle all night, with what sleep they could obtain under the circumstances. Moans and cries of the wounded, well to the front, could be distinctly heard. Totally destitute of provisions, and hungry, having been without food of any consequence for forty-eight hours, worn out by loss of sleep and fatigue, nothing but the excitement could have held the men up so long and prevented them from breaking down completely.
That many of the Confederates were crazy drunk and in no condition to continue a steady fight seems to be fully established by the information obtained on Tuesday, when an advance to Thibodeaux was made. They were capable of making a bold dash, but no more; repulsed, they could not maintain a destructive fire. What firing came from their side was wild and high, as the total casualties to the entire Federal force engaged amply testifies.
Notwithstanding General “Dick” Taylor, in his book called “Destruction and Reconstruction,” says that Colonel Major had no artillery with him, they fired a few shots from one field-gun while Tinkham and his men were at the rail fence. Whether they ceased firing because their ammunition was bad or damaged by rain, or compelled to do so by shots from a gun of the Twenty-Fifth New York Battery that was placed in position upon the right to engage their gun, is not known. Prisoners stated that they had other guns in position, but the rain prevented their use.
There were many sensational stories told next day of what was done along the line. Some men of the One Hundred and Seventy-Sixth New York claimed to have performed special feats of valor. A careful inspection of the ground in front soon put to flight all belief in these camp yarns. The enemy never got dangerously close, except in a few individual cases. An attempt made by them to gain the rear and turn the right flank caused the gunners of the Twenty-Fifth New York Battery to become panic stricken and abandon their gun, a 12 Pr. howitzer, posted at the angle made by the front and right flank thrown in reverse. This made two guns that the Twenty-Fifth New York artillery-men abandoned in this action, though only one came into possession of the enemy.
The actual Federal force in this action was eight hundred and thirty-eight men; about six hundred were engaged; the balance were posted upon the railroad bridge and to protect the right. The Federal loss in this action was: three killed, ten wounded, Twenty-Sixth Massachusetts Infantry; two killed, twelve wounded, One Hundred and Seventy-Sixth New York Infantry; one killed, three wounded, Forty-Second Massachusetts Infantry; two killed, sixteen wounded, Twenty-Third Connecticut Infantry.
Lieutenant Starr, Twenty-Third Connecticut, was the only commissioned officer injured in the action. He was wounded in the thigh, and afterwards died in consequence of amputation.
The force of Confederates engaged is estimated to have been six hundred men of the Second Texas Mounted Rangers, Colonel Pyron, claiming to be the oldest regiment in the Confederate service, and that they never before had been whipped in action.
As General Taylor has published that only two hundred men under Colonel Pyron made an attack on La-Fourche Crossing, the attack being repulsed with a loss to the Confederates of only fifty-five killed and wounded,[17] the official report of Lieutenant-Colonel Stickney is again quoted: “The enemy were engaged during the night in carrying away their killed and wounded who were outside of our lines, and the following morning fifty-three of their dead were counted inside of our pickets. When we entered Thibodeaux, Tuesday morning, nearly sixty wounded were found in the hospitals, from which I conclude that their loss in killed and wounded must have been three hundred, taking fifty as the number of their killed, and reckoning the ratio of killed to wounded as one to four.”
[17] General Taylor relies on the official report of Colonel Major for this statement. As a specimen of Confederate reports on their operations west of the Mississippi River during June and July, the following extract of Major’s report of this action is given:
“At Paincourtville received a despatch from Colonel Lane stating he had captured the town, taking one hundred and forty prisoners and a large amount of stores, also a small force at Terrebonne Station, and that there was a force in strong position, with artillery, at La-Fourche Crossing. I pushed on and arrived at Thibodeaux at 3.30 A.M., on the twenty-first. Pickets reported reënforcements from New Orleans during the night, and at sun-up reported the enemy advancing. I posted Pyron’s regiment, West’s battery and two squadrons cavalry on east bank La-Fourche, and moved them down towards the railroad bridge. Lane, Stone and Phillip were posted at Terrebonne Station, and they were moved forward to La-Fourche Crossing. The enemy fell back, and my pursuit was checked by one of the heaviest rains I ever saw fall. It rained until five P.M., and having only thirty rounds of ammunition to the man when I started, and not over one hundred cartridge boxes in the entire command, my ammunition was nearly all ruined, and I found myself with an enemy in front, rear, and on the flank, with only three rounds of ammunition to the man. I directed Pyron, as soon as it stopped raining, to strengthen his picket and feel the enemy, find his position, and test his strength, giving him some discretion in the matter. He advanced his picket, driving the enemy into his stronghold, and then charged his works, taking four guns and causing a great many of the Federals to surrender. But night had come on; it was very dark, the ammunition nearly all gone, and just at that moment a train with about three hundred fresh men arrived from New Orleans, and Pyron was forced to retire from a position won by a daring assault, unequalled, I think, in this war. Had I known his intention to assault the works I could have sent him such reënforcements as would have insured success. Pyron’s strength in the attack was two hundred and six. The enemy’s force, reported by themselves, was over one thousand.”