as to throw the men out of their berths. When order was restored, it was found that the vessel had been struck by a sunken gunboat. After the forts surrendered, the Twelfth was ordered to garrison Fort Jackson, with Col. Deming in command: but the order was changed; and the regiment was the first to ascend the river, arriving off New Orleans on the evening of April 30, a day before any other troops. The 31st Massachusetts Regiment, with Gen. Butler and staff, coming up next day, heartily cheered the Twelfth Connecticut upon the Farley, that lay at anchor before the city. The first night, they bivouacked on a wharf; thereafter, in Lafayette Square. Col. Deming immediately went to Washington with dispatches from Gen. Butler.

The Ninth were huddled upon a single transport, with a company of pioneers and a battery, in all, some eight hundred men. There was accommodation for only two hundred and sixty below decks. The men were so crowded, that they could only sleep by reliefs, a part at a time. The Matanzas took in tow the ship Great Republic, drifting, without a rudder, with three thousand men on board, and towed her about for several days before going up the river. On arriving at New Orleans, the Ninth was ordered to Camp Parapet, an abandoned rebel camp on the left bank of the river, twelve miles above the city, where it was joined by the Twelfth and other regiments. The guns had been spiked, and the gun-carriages burned, by the women of the neighborhood. The Ninth soon proceeded to Baton Rouge. The Twelfth remained at Camp Parapet, attracting much notice for its high state of discipline. Lieut.-Col. Colburn was in command of the regiment. He mounted guns along the parapet, and thoroughly policed the old rebel camp, cleansing and renewing it throughout. He insisted upon company-drills every morning, and brigadedrills every afternoon, with frequent exercise with the light and heavy artillery.

The Thirteenth remained for three weeks on Ship Island, making itself familiar with its simple topography and geology, drinking its sulphur-water, and going through battalion movements upon its snowy expanse of sand. They heard

THE THIRTEENTH AT NEW ORLEANS.

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the cannonading and bombardment at Farragut's passage of the forts, and learned of the tame surrender of the city. May 4, they re-embarked for New Orleans.

All the way up the river, the whites glowered savagely at them, and the blacks capered with excess of joy, and shouted "Welcome! glory to God!" Arriving at the city, the second mate threw ashore the looped end of a cable. "Boy," said he to a youth of a dozen years, who wore a Confederate artillery cap," boy, won't you just put that 'ere rope over that post?"-" No, I'll be damned if I will!" was the instant reply. The regiment got ashore, however, and went into temporary quarters in a cotton-yard near by; but, as Col. Sprague says, "Gen. Butler's eye soon rested on it," and he assigned it the post of honor at the Custom House, the army headquarters. It was undoubtedly a handsome regiment; and it was much admired as it passed through the streets, even when it sang "John Brown" in concert. It was declared to be "the finest-looking regiment that ever entered New Orleans." Soon its ranks were filled with new recruits, loyal men of Louisiana; and a band of seventeen professional musicians was organized. About the middle of June, a gang of burglars was discovered, including a member of Company F of the Thirteenth. They went about the city robbing the people, under pretense of military authority. They were caught, and four of them tried by Gen. Butler, and hanged at the parish prison.

Col. Sprague says that "Butler, at first, tried hard to pacify the people. For about three weeks, he used his influence, and, in one instance at least, his authority, to cause fugitives to be restored to their masters." In this purpose he was constantly thwarted by the New-England soldiers gathered about him. The Thirteenth early won the reputation of "an abolition regiment;" its officers and men persistently favoring the efforts of the negroes to leave their masters.

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6 Col. Sprague's History.