That evening we crossed over in yawls, which were hauled for that purpose. The cavalrymen swam their horses over. We had no resistance. We could see a small force of rebels hurrying from behind the levee when we started to cross. These had been left as guards. The main armies evacuated their works. They had left four hundred beef cattle, which fell to our possession. They were guarded by three hundred rebel cavalrymen, but they skipped out.
We marched up the bayou two and a half miles and captured three prisoners who had been left out on picket duty. Seeing that the enemy had all disappeared, we marched back to the place where we had crossed the bayou. Here we went into camp.
Soon everyone was busy, preparing himself a good square meal, as almost all of the boys had a good piece of fresh meat. There was pork, mutton, chicken, goose, or almost any kind of meat that one could mention. The odor of the fried meat soon filled the air, and many hungry boys were working hard to satisfy their gnawing appetites.
At night several buildings were set on fire, thus causing a false alarm. Some of the officers thought that we were going to have a night attack. One of the fires was a large mill. We fell in line of battle, but soon found out our mistake. We then went back to bed, some of the boys swearing because of their night’s rest being disturbed.
All was well on the morning of the 21st, so we started out on a foraging expedition. We were soon loaded down with fowl and all kinds of meat and went back to camp. In the evening we learned that the rebel force had fallen back about eighteen miles to Yellow Bayou. We decided to not follow them any farther.
On the morning of the 22d we crossed the bayou, marched one mile, and went into camp near where the colored troops were building fortifications. Late in the evening our cavalry, which had been out on a scout, returned. They had burned and destroyed a great deal of property, and had captured three prisoners. Several negroes were following them. These had stuck fire to their quarters, and had started for the land of freedom.
On the morning of the 23d we began our march back to the bend. We arrived at camp at five o’clock in the evening. We found Companies B and K of our regiment in camp. They had been relieved from the ironclad.
On the 26th of August our regiment escorted General Lawler to Baton Rouge. We went on the steamer “Laurel Hill.” We got to the city at noon. We got off of the boat and marched up to our old parading ground. We were led by our regimental band, one of the best in the army. Here we stacked arms to await further orders. We were acquainted with many of the citizens, and were treated very well by them. At four o’clock we got on board the boat and went back to camp.
October the 1st, 1864, three regiments marched out to Atchafayala. We found a small force of rebels. After a slight engagement, we drove them off and returned to camp.
On the morning of the 2d a small force, with Colonel Spicely, went to St. Francisville. Here they had an engagement with the rebel general, Scott’s cavalry, and two batteries. They had to fall back to the gunboats for help. The gunboats shelled them back until our little force got on the boats and drew off. They then returned to camp. Our loss was four. The rebel loss was unknown.