it will never be repeated. So far, all the aggression has been against us. Here we are, conquerors in a conquered city; we have respected every right, tried every means of conciliation, complied with every reasonable desire; and yet we can not walk the streets without being outraged and spit upon by green girls. I do not fear the troops; but if aggression must be, let it not be all against us."

General Butler was, of course, perfectly aware, as we are, that if he had expressly commanded his troops to outrage and ravish every woman who insulted them, those men of New England and the West would not have thought of obeying him. If one miscreant among them had attempted it, the public opinion of his regi. ment would have crushed him. Every one who knows the men of that army feels how impossible it was that any of them should practically misinterpret an order of which the proper and innocent meaning was so palpable.

The order was published. Its success was immediate and perfect. Not that the women did not still continue, with the ingenuity of the sex, to manifest their repugnance to the troops. They did so. The piano still greeted the passing officer with rebel airs. The fair countenances of the ladies were still averted, and their skirts gently held aside. Still the balconies presented a view of the "back hair" of beauty. If the dear creatures did not leave the car when an officer entered it, they stirred not to give him room to sit down, and would not see his polite offer to hand their ticket to the driver. (No conductors in the street cars of New Orleans.) It was a fashion to affect sickness at the stomach on such occasions; which led the Delta to remark, that the ladies should remember that but for the presence of the Union forces some of the squeamish stomachs would have nothing in them. But the outrageous demonstrations ceased. No more insulting words were uttered; and all the affectations of disgust were such as could be easily and properly borne by officers and men. Gradually even these were discontinued.

I need not add, that in no instance was the order misunderstood on the part of the troops. No man in the whole world misunderstood it who was not glad of any pretext for reviling the sacred cause for which the United States has been called to contend. far from causing the women of New Orleans to be wronged or

So

molested, it was that which saved them from the only danger of molestation to which they were exposed. It threw around them the protection of law, not tore it away; and such was the completeness of its success, that not one arrest under Order No. 28 has ever been made.

General Butler was not long in discovering that the order was to be made the occasion of a prodigious hue and cry against his administration. The puppet mayor of New Orleans was the first to lift his little voice against it; which led to important consequences.

It had already become apparent to the general and to the officers aiding him, that two powers so hostile as the city government of New Orleans and the commander of the Department of the Gulf could not co-operate-could not long exist together. The mayor and common council had violated their compact with the general in every particular. They had agreed to clean the streets, and had not done it. They had engaged to enroll two hundred and fifty of the property-holders of the town to assist in keeping the peace, that General Butler might safely withdraw his troops. The two hundred and fifty proved to be men of the "Thug" species-the hangerson of the City Hall. The European Brigade was to be retained in service; the mayor disbanded it. Provisions had been sent out of the starving city to the hungry camp of General Lovell. Confederate notes, which had fallen to thirty cents, were redeemed by the city government at par, thus taxing the city one hundred cents to give thirty to the favorites of the mayor and council; for the redemption was not public and universal, but special and private. The tone and style of the city government, too, were a perpetual reiteration of the assertion, so dear to the deluded people of the city, that New Orleans had not been conquered-only overcome by "brute force." Nothing but the general's extreme desire to give the arrangement of May 4th so fair a trial that the whole world would hold him guiltless in dissolving it, prevented his seizing upon the government of the city on the ninth of May.

The following letter from General Butler to the mayor and council, will serve to show the state of feeling between them:

"HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, NEW ORLEANS, May 16, 1862.

"To the Mayor and Gentlemen of the City Council of New Orleans: "In the report of your official action, published in the Bee of the 16th

instant, I find the following extracted resolutions, with the action of part of your body thereon, viz:

"The following preamble and resolution, offered by Mr. Stith, were read twice and adopted. The rules being suspended, were, on motion, sent to the assistant board.

"YEAS-Messrs. De Labarre, Forestall, Huckins, Rodin, and Stith-5. "Whereas, it has come to the knowledge of this council that, for the first time in the history of this city, a large fleet of the navy of France is about to visit New Orleans-of which fleet the Catinet, now in our port, is the pioneer this council, bearing in grateful remembrance the many ties of amity and good feeling which unite the people of this city with those of France, to whose paternal protection New Orleans owes its foundation and early prosperity, and to whom it is especially grateful for the jealousy with which, in the cession of the state, it guaranteed all the rights of property, person, and religious freedom of its citizens-

"Be it resolved, That the freedom and hospitalities of the city of New Orleans be tendered through the commander of the Catinet to the French naval fleet during its sojourn in our port; and that a committee of five of this council be appointed, with the mayor, to make such tender and such other arrangements as may be necessary to give effect to the same.

"Messrs. Stith and Forestall were appointed on the committee mentioned in the foregoing resolution.'

"This action is an insult, as well to the United States, as to the friendly and powerful nation toward whose officers it is directed. The offer of the freedom of a captured city by the captives would merit letters-patent for its novelty, were there not doubts of its usefulness as an invention. The tender of its hospitalities by a government to which police duties and sanitary regulations only are intrusted, is simply an invitation to the calaboose or the hospital. The United States authorities are the only ones here capable of dealing with amicable or unamicable nations, and will see to it that such acts of courtesy or assistance are extended to any armed vessel of the emperor of France as shall testify the national, traditional, and hereditary feelings of grateful remembrance with which the United States government and people appreciate the early aid of France, and her many acts of friendly regard, shown upon so many national and fitting occasions.

"The action of the city council in this behalf must be revised. "Respectfully,

"B. F. BUTLER, Major-General Commanding."

Such being the temper of the parties, an explosion was to be expected upon the first occasion. Order No. 28 was the spark which blew up the city government.

On the day on which the order appeared in the newspapers, the

mayor sent to General Butler the following letter, which was written for him by his secretary, Mr. Duncan, formerly of the Delta: “State of LouISIANA, MAYORAlty of New Orleans,

"May 16, 1862.

"Major-General BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, Commanding United States Forces. "SIR:-Your General Order, No. 28, of date 15th inst., which reads as follows, is of a character so extraordinary and astonishing that I can not, holding the office of chief magistrate of this city, chargeable with its peace and dignity, suffer it to be promulgated in our presence without protesting against the threat it contains, which has already aroused the passions of our people, and must exasperate them to a degree beyond control. Your officers and soldiers are permitted, by the terms of this order, to place any construction they may please upon the conduct of our wives and daughters, and, upon such construction, to offer them atrocious insults. The peace of the city and the safety of your officers and soldiers from harm or insult have, I affirm, been successfully secured to an extent enabling them to move through our streets almost unnoticed, according to the understanding and agreement entered into between yourself and the city authorities. I did not, however, anticipate a war upon women and children, who, so far as I am aware, have only manifested their displeasure at the occupation of their city by those whom they believe to be their enemies, and I will never undertake to be responsible for the peace of New Orleans while such an edict, which infuriates our citizens, remains in force. To give a license to the officers and soldiers of your command to commit outrages, such as are indicated in your order, upon defenseless women is, in my judgment, a reproach to the civilization, not to say to the Christianity, of the age, in whose name I make this protest. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

"JOHN T. MONROE, Mayor." To this General Butler replied with promptness and brevity, and sent his reply by the hands of the provost-marshal:

"HEAD-QUARTERS, Department of the Gulf, "NEW ORLEANS, May 16, 1862.

"John T. Monroe, late mayor of the city of New Orleans, is relieved from all responsibility for the peace of the city, and is suspended from the exercise of any official functions, and committed to Fort Jackson until farther orders. B. F. BUTLER, Major-General Commanding."

The mayor, however, was indulged with an interview with the commanding general. He remonstrated against the order for his imprisonment. The general told him, in reply, that if he could no longer control the "aroused passions of the people of New Orleans," it was highly necessary that he should not only be relieved

from any further responsibility for the tranquillity of the city, but be sent himself to a place of safety: which Fort Jackson was. The letter, added the general, was an insult which no officer, representing the majesty of the United States in a captured city, ought to submit to. The mayor, whose courage always oozed away in the presence of General Butler, declared that he had had no intention to insult the general: he had only intended to vindicate the honor of the virtuous ladies of New Orleans.

"No vindication is necessary," said General Butler, "because the order does not contemplate or allude to virtuous women." None such, he believed, could have meant to insult his officers or men by word, look, or gesture, and the order was aimed only at those who had.

Finding the mayor pliant and reasonable, as he always was in the absence of his supporters, General Butler expounded the order to him at great length, and with perfect courtesy. The mayor then declared that he was perfectly satisfied, and asked to be allowed to withdraw his offensive letter. General Butler, knowing well the necessity, in all dealings with puppets, of having something to show in writing, wrote the following words at the end of the mayor's letter:

"GENERAL BUTLER:-This communication having been sent under a mistake of fact, and being improper in language, I desire to apologize for the same, and to withdraw it."

This the mayor signed, and the general relieved him from arrest. The mayor then departed, and the general hoped he had done with Order No. 28.

It was very far, however, from the intention of the gentlemen who had the mayor of New Orleans in charge, to forego their opportunity of firing the southern heart. In the evening of the same 16th of May, General Butler received the following note:

"Major-General BUTLER:

"MAYORALTY OF NEW ORLEANS, "CITY HALL, May 16, 1862.

"SIR:-Having misunderstood you yesterday in relation to your General Order No. 28, I wish to withdraw the indorsement I made on the letter addressed to you yesterday. Please deliver the letter to my secretary, Mr. Duncan, who will hand you this note. Your obedient servant,

"JOHN T. MONROE." General Butler immediately replied in the following terms: