342 OPERATIONS AGAINST VICKSBURG. [SECT. X. force, and took possession of the public property of the United States, and hoisted over it our flag. No resist ance was offered." The Iroquois left Baton Rouge (May 13), and, proceeding up to Natchez, took possession of that city. Capture of Demand for the burg. On the 18th of May the advance steamers of the squadron had reached Vicksburg. A desurrender of Vicks- mand for the surrender of that city was at once made, to which the military governor replied, "I have to state that Mississippians don't know and refuse to learn how to surrender to an enemy. If Commodore Farragut or Brigadier General Butler can teach them, let them come and try.” the place. Porter's mortar-boats had to be towed up to Vicksburg. It was not until the 28th of June, when sixteen of them had arrived, that Farragut was ready. The action commenced at 4 P.M. by a bombardment. FarraFarragut attacks gut's flag-ship, the Hartford, with six other vessels, then passed the batteries. She was under fire about one hour and a half, going at her slowest speed, and even stopping to silence a battery as she passed. The loss in all the ships was 15 killed and 30 wounded. A junction was made with the forces which had come down the river from Cairo. The United States flag had been carried in triumph throughout the whole length of the Mississippi. Further operations against Vicksburg having been for the time abandoned under orders from Washington, there being no sufficient land force to co-operate, and the ships being unable to Operations against Vicksburg abandoned. make any impression on the Confederate works, Farragut once more steamed past the batteries, and, as the river was now falling fast, went down to New Orleans (July 28), and thence to Pensacola; the latter place, having CHAP. LII.] BUTLER IN NEW ORLEANS. 343 been evacuated by the Confederates, had been made the dépôt of the Western Gulf squadron, its advantages being superior to those of Ship Island. Confederate attack on General Williams's troops. While a part of the squadron lay off Baton Rouge, an attack was made by the Confederates on the command of General Williams, occupying that place. In the action that officer was killed. The gun-boats could not be brought into position until late in the day, when they compelled the Confederate left wing to make a precipitate retreat. A Confederate ram, the Arkansas, which was to have taken part in the engagement, remained a short distance above. Next morning the Essex encountered her, and, after a short engagement, blew her up. veston. During September, detachments sent by Admiral FarCapture of Gal- ragut took possession of Corpus Christi and Sabine City; and in October, the defenses of the harbor and city of Galveston were captured, there having been only a feeble resistance. in New Orleans. General Butler now entered on the difficult task of The rule of Butler governing New Orleans. Its population, though greatly diminished to strengthen the Confederate armies in the Border States-a cause of bitter complaint to the inhabitants-still numbered about 140,000. Almost one half of it was of foreign birth. Perhaps no city in the world had in its lower classes a more dangerous and desperate population. There was a widespread hope that a French force would soon come to their help. By firmness, strict yet considerate, he controlled the municipal authorities; by severity he put down the mob. He was a terror to tricky tradesmen, a benefactor to the starving poor. He cleaned the streets, enforced sanitary regulations, and kept out yellow fever. He put an ef 344 THE WOMAN ORDER. [SECT. X. fectual stop to the operations of Confederate agents, who were illicitly obtaining supplies for their cause. New Or leans found that "Butler was no sham, but a most thorough proconsular reality." Execution of He arrested Mumford, the person who had hauled down the national flag at the Mint, brought him before a military commission, convicted and executed him. On this the Confederate President issued the following proclamation (December 23d, 1862): "I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of AmerButler proclaimed a ica, in their name, do pronounce and declare the felon by Davis. said Benjamin F. Butler a felon deserving capital punishment. I do order that he be no longer considered or treated simply as a public enemy of the Confederate States of America, but as an outlaw and common enemy of mankind; and that, in the event of his capture, the officer in command of the capturing force do cause him to be immediately executed by hanging; and I do further order that no commissioned officer of the United States taken captive shall be released on parole before exchange until the said Butler shall have met with due punishment for his crimes. All commissioned officers in the command of the said Benjamin F. Butler are declared not entitled to be considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare, but as robbers and criminals deserving death, and that they and each of them be, whenever captured, reserved for execution." Some women of New Orleans, relying on the immunity National officers in- of their sex, gratified their animosity by insulted by women. sulting national officers in public places. One of them ventured so far as to spit in the face of an officer who was quietly walking in the street. Hereupon was issued "GENERAL ORDER No. 28.-As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subjected to repeated inThe woman order. sults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and CHAP. LII.] THE FRENCH CONSUL. 345 held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation." Butler suspends the ties. Finding that it was impossible to co-ordinate the na tional authority, of which he was the repremunicipal authorisentative, with the municipal authorities, who openly sustained the Confederate cause, he suspended them. A French war ship, supposed to be the precursor of a French fleet, having come into the riv er, and the Common Council having presumed to offer the hospitalities of the port, Butler, considering the dis Case of the French position which the French government had manifested to intermeddle in American affairs, ordered the Council to revise its action, and gave it to understand that the United States authorities were the only ones in New Orleans capable of dealing with foreign nations. war ship. His dealings with the numerous and insubordinate Accusations against foreign population of New Orleans brought the French consul. him into collision with the foreign consuls. "Count Mejan" (the French consul), Butler declared," has connived at the delivery of clothing for the Confederate army since the occupation of New Orleans by the Federal forces; he has taken away nearly half a million of specie to aid the Confederates. His flag has been made to cover all manner of illegal and hostile transactions, and the booty arising therefrom." Counter-accusations against Butler. The feeling of personal hatred to Butler grew daily more and more intense. He was accused of improper tampering with the banks, speculating in sequestrated property, and, through the agency of his brother, carrying on illegal but profitable transactions in sugar and cotton-in short, prostituting his office for personal gain. In South Carolina a reward of $10,000 had been offered for his assassination. Throughout the Confederacy he received an ignominious surname, and 346 THE GOVERNMENT RECALLS BUTLER. [SECT. X. was known as "Butler the Beast." The government felt Investigation of his constrained to send a commissioner to New transactions. Orleans to investigate his transactions. Its conclusion was that he had evidently acted" under a misapprehension, to be referred to the patriotic zeal which governs him, to the circumstances encircling his command at the time, so well calculated to excite suspicion, and to an earnest desire to punish, to the extent of his supposed power, all who had contributed, or were contributing, to the aid of a rébellion the most unjustifiable and wicked that insane or bad men were ever engaged in." The French government recalled its consul; the Amer ican recalled Butler, General Banks arriving in New Orleans (December 14th) to take his place. In a farewell address to the peo The French consul and Butler removed from New Orleans. address. ple of that city, General Butler said: "Commanding the Army of the Gulf, I found you capButler's farewell tured, but not surrendered; conquered, but not orderly; relieved from the pressure of an army, but incapable of taking care of yourselves. I restored order, punished crime, opened commerce, brought provisions to your starving people, reformed your currenand gave you protection such as you had not enjoyed for many years. Whoever has quietly remained about his business, affording neither aid nor comfort to the enemies of the United States, has never been interfered with by the soldiers of the United States. He states what he had done for the people. He defends his conduct to their wom en, cy, "Some of your women flouted at the presence of those who came to protect them. By a simple order, I called upon every soldier of this army to treat the women of New Orleans as gentlemen should deal with the sex, with such effect that I now call upon the just-minded ladies of just-minded ladies. New Orleans to say whether they ever en and appeals to their |