SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTHWEST.

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BATTLE OF OCEAN POND.

The operations against Charleston having been virtually abandoned, it was decided at Washington to use the surplus troops in an attempt upon Florida. A command of six or seven thousand men, including two regiments of negroes, was organized under Gen. Seymour, left Charleston harbour in eighteen transports, and in the month of February ascended the St. Mary's River. The enemy was allowed to land, as the small Confederate force under Gen. Finnegan was unequal for anything like a battle, and was awaiting reinforcements despatched by Gen. Beauregard, in whose military department the State of Florida was included. Colquitt's brigade arrived in time to unite with Finnegan and hold the position at Oulustre not far from Ocean Pond, an inland lake, where it was proposed to cover the capital of the State and defend the road from Lake City to Tallahassee. The joint Confederate force did not number more than five thousand men.

On the 20th February, this little force was advanced several miles to meet the enemy. A severe battle opened in the afternoon; for two hours the enemy was steadily pushed back; until at last about sunset, a simultaneous attack of the Twenty-Seventh and Sixth Georgia Regiments on the enemy's centre and flank broke his whole line into confusion. Five pieces of artillery were taken, two thousand small arms, and five hundred prisoners. The enemy left upon the field three hundred and fifty dead, and abandoned all of his severely wounded. The action was decisive, as it resulted in the expulsion of the enemy from Florida, and the preservation of this State to the Confederacy.

SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTHWEST.

Another notable event about this time was Sherman's expedition into Central Mississippi, in which, with an army of about thirty thousand men, he proposed to sever his communications behind him, and to strike off into the heart of the country. It was his first experiment of "the movable column," but unlike that in the later months of 1864, it had opposing military forces to encounter, and came to the most wretched grief.

The conceit of the Federal commander was to operate upon what was called a "strategic triangle "-to move from Vicksburg to Mobile, by the way of Selma; a heavy column of cavalry to start from Memphis, move rapidly across Mississippi and Alabama, come upon the flank of Gen. Polk's army, and harass his retreat while Sherman rushed upon him in front; and thus by the possession of Mobile and Selma to obtain two important water-bases-the one on the Mississippi at Vicksburg, the other at

Mobile on the Gulf, and to establish his army firmly in the triangle formed by the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, and the railroad leading from Selma to Demopolis and Meridian. The immediate objects of the movement were to cut off Mobile from Johnston, who lay in front of Grant on the lines in North Georgia, to break up Polk's army, and then to turn down on Mobile, and co-operate with Farragut's fleet, which was at that time thundering at the gates of this city.

On the 3d February, Sherman left Vicksburg with about thirty thousand infantry, pushed east, and crossed the entire State of Mississippi to Meridian. A few days later the cavalry column, eight thousand strong, under command of Gens. Smith and Grierson, started from Corinth and Holly Springs, and passed, with the usual incidents of pillage and destruction, through one of the richest districts of the Confederacy. The junction of this cavalry force with Sherman at Meridian was the critical point of his plan, and it was thought would enable him to advance upon Demopolis and Selma.

Gen. Polk's little army having been reinforced by two or three brigades from the Mobile garrison for the purpose of checking the enemy far enough to save his accumulated stores and supplies, was yet in no condition to give battle, being but half of Sherman's numbers; and, therefore, evacuated Meridian, and retired to Demopolis. Meanwhile Gen. Forrest, with not more than twenty-five hundred cavalry, had been detached to watch the movements of Smith's and Grierson's commands, and was left to confront eight thousand of the best-equipped cavalry that the enemy had ever put in the field. But the great cavalry chief of the West showed no hesitation. He struck the enemy on the broad prairies near West Point; and at Okalona, on the 21st February, he had a more important action, and put the enemy in shameful retreat back to Memphis.

This action of Forrest was decisive of the campaign; it broke down Sherman's means of subsisting his infantry; and it illustrated on what slight conditions depend the defeat or success of an enterprise which leaves a well-defined base to penetrate the interiour of a country. Sherman in his first experiment of "the movable column" obtained only the cheap triumphs of the ruffian and plunderer. He was compelled to make a hasty retreat over one hundred and fifty miles of a country he had ravaged and exhausted; he accomplished not a single military result; he demoralized a fine army; and of the cavalry which was to co-operate with him, this master of billingsgate in the army declared "half went to h-ll, and half to Memphis."

THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION.

Gen. Banks, the Federal commander, had remained for some months idle and ostentatious in New Orleans, with just as much of the State of

Louisiana in the Union as was covered by his pickets. But he hoped to signalize the year 1864 by a remarkable expedition, which was to proceed up Red River as far as Shreveport, thence across the country into the central region of Texas, thereby destroying the Confederate lines on Red River, and their supplies, which were then drawn principally from that portion of Texas.

He proposed to move on this expedition with a land force, and a squadron of gunboats and transports-the former numbering about forty thousand men. Maj.-Gen. "Dick" Taylor was at this time commanding the Confederate forces operating along the west bank of the Mississippi River. Gen. Kirby Smith was commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, with headquarters at Shreveport. Gen. Price was temporarily commanding the district of Arkansas, with headquarters in the field, in the neighbourhood of Camden. The Confederate force in Arkansas numbered about eight thousand effective men. That of the Federals was conjectured to be about fifteen thousand men, the greater part of which, under Gen. Steele, held Little Rock. Gen. Taylor had about ten thousand men, Louisiana and Texas troops.

About the middle of March, Gen. Banks commenced his advance up Red River; and about two weeks later, Gen. Steele commenced advancing from Little Rock, in the direction of Shreveport, intending to unite with Banks at that point, and to assist in capturing the place. Gen. Taylor made some desultory attempts to oppose or check the advance of the enemy, but he was gradually forced back by overwhelming numbers, retreating as slowly as possible in order to give his reinforcements time to reach him before he fell back to Shreveport. Gen. Smith had ordered two brigades of Missouri infantry and two brigades of Arkansas infantry, which had been operating in Arkansas, to go to Taylor's relief; and he also hurried up some cavalry from Texas.

BATTLE OF MANSFIELD.

Red River is a very narrow and tortuous stream, and at the time of the expedition was quite low. At Alexandria, one hundred and sixty miles below Shreveport, are the "Falls," which obstruct the channel and prevent navigation in low water. On the road from Shreveport to Alexandria, forty miles from the former place, is Mansfield, a little village of about five hundred inhabitants. Twenty miles from Mansfield, on the same road, is the village of Pleasant Hill. Twenty miles further on is Blair's Landing on Red River. Still further on, forty miles above Alexandria, on Old River, which in high water communicates with Red River, we come to Natchitoches, the oldest town on Red River, the scene of the last con