The story of the Thirty Eighth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers

by George Whitefield Powers

The next morning, upon the arrival of Mack’s Black Horse Battery (Eighteenth New York), the column moved toward Port Hudson. The road was bordered on each side by a high hedge, which shut out all air, and made the heat very oppressive; and it was gratifying, upon emerging into the open country, to find a broad, shallow stream, with a clean, pebbly bottom directly in the line of march. It was easily forded by the infantry, but the artillery and wagons caused some delay. While waiting for the batteries to cross the stream, a body of cavalry rode by, which proved to be the famed command of Col. Grierson, whose great raid through Mississippi was the forerunner of the exploits of Sheridan, Stoneman, and Kilpatrick. Gen. Banks and staff also rode by; and the cheering news was announced that a connection had been made with the division of Gen. Augur, which had marched up from Baton Rouge, and that Port Hudson was completely surrounded, and its fall a matter of time only.

Sunday, May 24, the regiment enjoyed a rest, merely changing camp once. On the 25th, the Thirty Eighth leaving the brigade, marched to Sandy Creek, on the extreme right of the line; and several of the companies deployed as skirmishers near the creek, the enemy firing across the stream from the opposite side. In this skirmish, two men were killed, and two wounded.

In the afternoon, two native Louisiana regiments arrived at the creek; and the Thirty Eighth had an opportunity to witness the behavior of the first colored troops under fire in this war. A great deal of romance has been spoken and printed about this affair; but, without wishing to detract in the least from the really valuable services rendered by the colored troops during the siege, especially in the engineer’s department, it may be doubted if the exaggerated accounts of their bravery were of any real benefit to the “colored boys in blue.”

It had been the fashion for so long a time to decry the courage of the colored man, and deny him all the attributes of manhood, that, when he proved himself something more than a beast of burden, public opinion went to the opposite extreme; and men who had been for years boasting of the superiority of the Northern over the Southern races, and quoting all history to prove it, now asserted that this new freedman was the equal, if not the superior, of the Northern volunteer. It was even reported that Gen. Banks had said that the colored soldiers went where the white ones dared not go; and although this was an improbable story, it injured the general’s popularity, and increased the prejudice already existing against the colored troops in the Thirteenth and Nineteenth Corps.

The regiment remained near Sandy Creek during the next day, supporting the battery, while the colored regiments were at work building a bridge. On the night of the 26th, there were two alarms, caused by the stampeding of mules; and the Thirty Eighth received a volley from one of the colored regiments, who thought the enemy were making a cavalry raid; but, owing to the high range taken, the bullets whistled harmlessly over head, and the panic soon subsided.

During the Tèche campaign, Co. E had held the honorable position of head-quarter guard for Gen. Emory, and had seldom encamped near the regiment; but upon the withdrawal of that general to New Orleans, the company returned to its proper position in the Thirty Eighth, and shared in all the labors of the siege.

Wednesday morning, the regiment received orders to join its brigade, which had been engaged, farther on the left, in driving the enemy from the woods, and into his works. The Thirty First had been prominent in this skirmishing, and had lost a number of men.

The battle began early on the morning of the 27th; and as the Thirty Eighth drew near the front, on the double-quick, the wounded men were already being carried to the rear, and the surgeons of the various regiments were arranging their instruments on the temporary tables put up in the fields, not entirely out of reach of wandering shells. The sight of the glittering instruments was suggestive; but there was no time for foreboding.

While the Thirty Eighth was hunting in the woods for the brigade, Gen. Paine rode up, and sent it forward to support Duryea’s Battery, which he had just placed in position on the edge of the woods, in front of the rebel works. Taking cover in rear of the guns, the regiment awaited events, having enthusiastically promised Gen. Paine to stand by the battery at all hazards.