IN CAMP AT BATON ROUGE.

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pine-woods near Barancas. Seven weeks sped swiftly by while encamped on that lovely spot; the loose and yielding sand absorbing the moisture as it fell, the rustling branches of the dark old pines affording some protection against the rays of the sun, and the heat attempered by the invigorating breezes that daily came in from the bright and beautiful Gulf. The camp was neat; the tents admirably if not elegantly furnished; the culinary arrangements hardly suggesting the privations of a state of war Here the winter (1862-3) wore pleasantly away. Of course, there was picketduty and occasional alarms, disease and occasional death. Several faithful men went to sleep under the branches of the pines, whose leaves were vocal with a perpetual dirge in memory of the unreturning brave.

The Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Regiments immediately ascended the Mississippi to Baton Rouge, landing on Dec. 17, as the rebels evacuated the town under the fire of our gunboats. Again the national flag was unfurled from the summit of the State House, and again a populous village of tents sprung up in the arsenal-grounds and the open places of the city. The Thirteenth also arrived about this time from the La-Fourche Campaign, and was at first with the Twenty-fourth, and afterwards with the Twenty-fifth, in a brigade under Col. Birge. The regiments suffered less than many others during this period of acclimation.

The Twenty-sixth had remained with the Twenty-third at Camp Parapet, drilling, doing guard-duty, and on detached service. Some private soldiers died there; and their remains were generally sent home in metallic coffins, by the companies to which they belonged. Not an officer of the Twentysixth died while in service. On Jan. 27, 1863, Lieut. Jonah F. Clark of the Thirteenth, from New Haven, fell a victim of fever. He was mourned as a gallant officer and a true man.

The Thirteenth had left Thibodeau for Baton Rouge on Dec. 27; but the Twelfth remained with Weitzel's brigade. Lieut.-Col. Colburn was made superintendent of the railroad, and Major Peck was in command of the latter regiment. In January, 1863, the brigade went on an expedition up the Têche to destroy the gunboat J. A. Cotton.

After

The infantry marched overland, sleeping the first night in a cornfield near Pattersonville. Next morning, the Twelfth went on in line of battle through a field of cane; and before noon the huge boat was in plain view, and, being aground, she remained until they were quite abreast of her. some of her men were shot by our sharpshooters along the bank, and under a terrible fire from our artillery, she backed off around a bend in the bayou. Her armament was powerful, and she used it well while she could. The obstructions prevented our gunboats approaching.

After a few hours, her black smoke was seen at the bend in the bayou; and all eyes were turned up the river as her shot plowed up the ground around us: but our line wavered not. In a moment, the artillery opened upon her, and taught her, by many a shot crashing through her woodwork, she must be off, or sink. We slept that night in a canefield, in the extreme advance. It was bitter cold, and a moderate rain added not a little to our discomfort. rations that day were raw pork and hard bread; but food never tasted better. By daylight next morning, we saw the bright fire made by the burning of the saucy gunboat. She was so disabled, the rebels concluded to fire her; and she lies in the Têche a charred, unsightly mass.":

Our

The brigade now returned, and regained the camp at Thibodeau. In February, the Twelfth moved to Brashear City, and remained in Camp Reno and Bayou Boeuf during the remaining weeks of the early Southern spring.

In March, Company A was detailed to go on board the gunboat Diana on a reconnoissance into Grand Lake. The rebels opened upon them so severely with artillery and musketry, that they were obliged to surrender. Lieut James L. Francis of Hartford was shot through the body. He had just returned to the regiment, having been taken prisoner at Labadieville; and, after a few weeks on corn-meal in several of the Confederate prisons, was exchanged. Thirty men of Company A were captured. One private was killed, and several wounded. Company A's revolving rifle, a present from Col. Colt of Hartford, was fired while the am

8 Narrative in the Connecticut War Record.

GALLANTRY OF LIEUT. BUCKLEY.

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munition lasted, and then taken apart, and thrown into the bayou in different places.

66

They are said to have fought with the greatest gallantry, and only surrendered when surrounded by greatly superior numbers, after the boat had become disabled. After the gunners of the boat had been driven from their pieces by the enemy's sharpshooters, Lieut. William S. Buckley, with the assistance of a small boy, loaded and fired a 20-pound Parrott gun three times; the last time sending ramrod and all."*

Official Report of Col. Frank H. Peck.

CHAPTER XXI.

Spring Election of 1863. - The Peace Wing of the Democracy again Demonstrative. Buckingham versus Seymour.—"No more War!"- The Platforms. -Gov. Seymour's Letter. Appeals from the Connecticut Regiments in the Field. - Sharp Extracts. The Vote.-Eaton's Resolutions in the Assembly. After Fredericksburg. — The Eighth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-first at Newport News. — Siege of Suffolk. Skirmishes and Reconnoissances. Capture of Fort Huger. — Raising of the Siege. Evacuation. "The Blackberry Raid."

--

RECEDING the spring election of 1863, the campaign was far more exciting than the last had been. Again the Democrats resolutely contested the State, this time boldly rallying under the banner, "No more war."

Two years of conflict had not seemed to carry forward the national army. The Confederates stoutly held about all they had at first claimed; and recognition by foreign powers appeared to them nearer than ever. The Army of the Potomac, a hundred thousand strong, still struggled with Virginia mud within sight of Washington. The humiliating Peninsular campaign and Fredericksburg were behind, and Gettysburg and Vicksburg still ahead. President Lincoln, in the nation's dire strait, had just struck the Achilles heel of the Confederacy; and the Republicans were called on to defend this "unconstitutional" blow at slavery, without yet being able to point to any of the compensating advantages that had been predicted. Some of the great Middle and Western States had just given Democratic majorities; and it was plain, that, in a close State like Connecticut, even the popular incumbent, Gov. Buckingham, might be defeated. Again the "peace men" gathered strength, increased in numbers, frankly avowed their principles; declaring that the Union could be saved only by an immediate cessation

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of hostilities. The Democrats were somewhat elated, and entered the field with great spirit. Their State Convention assembled in Hartford in February; and by the shrewd management of Alfred E. Burr, editor of the Times, Hon. Thomas H. Seymour was nominated for, governor. W. W. Eaton, the ablest and boldest advocate of the peace doctrine, reported the platform of the party.

The resolutions set forth that "the United States are a confederacy of States co-equal in sovereignty and political power;" and that "the Administration has, for nearly two years, been in armed collision with the people of more than one-third of the States composing this Confederacy;" and declared, "while we denounce the heresy of secession as unwarranted by the Constitution, the time has now come when all true lovers of the Constitution are ready to abandon the 'monstrous fallacy' that the Union can be restored by the armed hand." They further called on all to unite in saving the Union by withdrawing our army from the field, and proposing a compromise.

The Republicans opened the campaign with equal earnestness; renominating Gov. Buckingham, declaring plainly for the suppression of the Rebellion by war, and avowing that "the Emancipation Proclamation has our hearty support as a measure of military necessity alike expedient and just."

Both conventions thanked the soldiers in the field for their patient endurance and courage, and both parties employed the usual weapons.

The Democratic candidate for governor had, a short time before, written an anti-war letter to a Thomas Lawrence of New York. A copy of this was found in the possession of Capt. Gladding of the rebel navy, detained at Hilton Head as a spy; and it was greedily seized and published by the Republican papers over and over. The Hartford Times accepted it in Mr. Seymour's name, and declared that it was "a splendid letter." The following are some extracts, rendered important by the fact that the epistle was made his platform:

"Your allusion to constitutional liberty' suggests painful reflections. Since the inauguration of this war, the men in power at