The story of the Thirty Eighth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers

by George Whitefield Powers

The boat reached Alexandria at midnight, and, the next morning the regiment disembarked, and went into camp three miles beyond the city. The place was full of troops, belonging to the Thirteenth Corps, who had been in Texas, and had marched up through the Tèche country; the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps, who had captured De Russy; the Nineteenth Corps, a portion of whom had been in the department so long that they had become fully acclimated; and one or two brigades of colored troops—mostly Louisianians. The third brigade of the second division was selected to garrison Alexandria, while the main body of the army moved up the country toward Shreveport; and the Thirty Eighth removed to one of the vacated camps, falling heir to the stock of boards collected by the Western men, who were adepts in building shanties.

April 1, the regiment again broke camp, moving nearer the centre of the city; and as Gen. Grover, of the second division, had command of the post at Alexandria, and the army having met with but slight opposition in its march toward Shreveport, it was thought that the third brigade would go no further. At Alexandria, in addition to picket, the regiment did much fatigue duty,—lugging oats, corn, hard-tack, etc., up the steep banks of the levee, working nights as well as days. Beside the white and black soldiers, there was an appendix to the army at Alexandria, consisting of a body of gray-coated scouts, natives of this portion of the country, acquainted with all the by-ways and the hiding-places of the rebels, who went out and in at their pleasure, and who were looked upon rather uneasily at times by the troops, although confidence was placed in them by Gen. Banks.

For some days, the reports from the moving army and navy were all favorable; the rebels were in full retreat, abandoning their strongholds, and falling back upon Shreveport, where they were to find Gen. Steele in their rear, and the whole trans-Mississippi country was to fall into the hands of the Union generals. Suddenly, there was a pause in the news; then ominous whispers of disaster; finally a full confirmation of the ill-tidings,—Nims’s, the Chicago, and a regular battery taken; the newly-mounted infantry regiments defeated and demoralized; the Thirteenth corps cut to pieces, and heavy losses in the Nineteenth; with the entire army on the defensive. All thoughts of summer quarters in Alexandria were at an end; and on the 12th, the regiment struck tents, marched a few miles beyond the town, and embarked on board the Mittie Stephens, to join the army above. The boat steamed on until midnight, when the low state of the water, and the frequent turns in the river, rendered it imprudent to go further; and a halt was made beside the bank, a picket being thrown out to guard against guerillas. Starting at daylight in the morning, the boat proceeded on her course, without incident until noon, making rather slow progress against the current. As usual, when on a transport, the men were scattered about the vessel, making coffee, eating, sleeping, and reading, not a gun loaded, the equipments and knapsacks piled up promiscuously, and the officers all in the cabin. Every one felt as secure as if sailing up Boston Harbor, when suddenly a gunshot was heard; and before a minute had elapsed, a shower of bullets poured into the boat, rattling against the smoke-pipe, smashing the cabin-windows, and whistling by the heads of the astonished men. Taken completely by surprise, away from their guns and equipments, and no enemy in sight, for a few moments there was some confusion; but the men soon rallied, and poured several volleys into the woods, although, as the boat kept on her course, the fire was probably ineffectual.

Considering that the regiment was fully exposed, and the enemy perfectly secure in his hiding-place, the casualties were remarkably few. One man, sick in the cabin, and lying on a sofa, was instantly killed, and one officer and two men wounded. Another attack was expected at the next bend of the river, and preparations were made to meet it; but nothing further occurred, and, within an hour or two, the Union pickets were seen on the bank of the river, and the steamer soon reached Grand Ecore, where the Nineteenth Army Corps was encamped. A boat crowded with captured gray-coats lay in the stream; and as the Mittie Stephens passed her, the Union men, feeling in bad humor over the guerilla attack, exulted a little; but the rebels shouted back the taunts defiantly, and pointed up the river.

The brigade being still at Alexandria, the Thirty Eighth was temporarily assigned to the second brigade of the third division, commanded by Brig. Gen. Birge; and during the two or three days succeeding, the camp was twice changed again, before a proper position was found.

CHAPTER XII.

Grand Ecore—What caused the Repulse?—Retreat through the Pine Woods—Battle of Cane River—Rear-Guard—The Retreat continued—Arrival at Alexandria.

THE greater portion of Gen. Banks’s army was then at Grand Ecore, and busily at work throwing up breastworks,—the pine forests furnishing abundant logs for the purpose,—while the river was crowded with gun-boats and transports. Of course the recent battles were the general topics discussed, and there appeared to be as many opinions regarding the details as there were soldiers present. The Western officers and men laid the blame of the repulse on the Eastern generals; the infantry charged it on the cavalry, the artillery on the infantry support; the navy on the army. But there were a few general facts on which all the stories agreed, and which may be stated in the following order: 1st. The rebels having steadily fallen back before the advance of the Union army, neither officers nor men expected a serious opposition until the works at Shreveport were reached, by which time it was supposed that Gen. Steele would be ready to coöperate; consequently, the advance was taken by surprise when they found the entire force of the enemy stopping their path. 2d. A portion of the cavalry had been but recently mounted; and men who were excellent infantry soldiers when armed with infantry weapons, being obliged to dismount in the woods, found their cavalry equipments a great hindrance. 3d. This imperfect cavalry, with a few light batteries, and a small infantry support, was separated by four or five hours’ march from the Nineteenth Corps, with the cavalry baggage-train well up to the front, and blocking up the road between. 4th. The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps were not within supporting distance of the other portion of the army. These statements were made by scores of men at the time, and are substantially embodied in the Adjutant General’s reports of the various Massachusetts’ regiments engaged in the expedition. Although the fall of the water in the Red River made it necessary to retreat from Grand Ecore, the repulse at Sabine Cross Roads was a purely military disaster,—the result of a disposition of the forces which invited attack. Others may apportion the blame, and say who was responsible for the lives of the men sacrificed in this disastrous campaign; the failure did not result from lack of courage in either the Eastern or Western portions of the army. During the second Red River expedition, the Army of the Gulf did not have that confidence in some of its commanders so essential to success. The troops thought it bad enough to get the condemned hard-tack of the Army of the Potomac, without having its condemned generals; and Emory and Weitzel and Paine and Grover, under Gen. Banks, were considered competent to lead them to victory as they had done the year before.