tain of the Tennessee came on board the Hartford to surrender his sword and that of Buchanan. Farragut's loss was 165 killed and drowned; of these, 113 went down in the Tecumseh. He had 170 wounded. On board the Hartford there were 25 killed and 28 wounded. The Oneida had 8 killed and 30 wounded, among them her commander. This loss was mainly due to the explosion of one of her boilers by a 7-inch shell, nearly all her firemen and coal-heavers on duty being scalded by the steam. Nevertheless, while her steam was still escaping, her guns were fired without intermission. An explod ing shell set fire to the top of her magazine; but it was extinguished, the serving of the powder still going on. the monitors. It is interesting to remark that, setting aside the loss in No losses on board the Tecumseh, while there were 52 killed and 170 wounded on board the wooden vessels, there were none killed and none wounded on board the monitors. The ships were more severely injured at Mobile than at New Orleans, and, except in the case of the Brooklyn, the damage was mainly caused by collisions with the Tennessee, and by her shot and shell. forts. Thus far the forts had been passed, not taken. But, durSurrender of the ing the ensuing night, Fort Powell was abandoned and blown up. Fort Gaines was shelled the next day by the Chickasaw, and compelled to surrender. The fleet was on one side of it, Granger's troops on the other. With it were taken 800 prisoners. Fort Morgan was captured on August 23d. Granger's troops had been transferred to the rear of it. On the 22d it was bombarded. A fire broke out which compelled the garrison to throw 90,000 pounds of powder into the cisterns. The fort was soon reduced to a mass of ruins. Its commander, Page, resisted one day, and then surrendered at discretion. Before surrendering he threw his sword into a well, and injured his guns and other material of war. With the defenses of Mobile there were taken 104 guns and 1464 men. CHAPTER LXXVI. THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION. An expedition for the capture of Shreveport, on the Red River, was undertaken by General Banks. He was defeated in a battle at Sabine Crossroads, and abandoned the expedition. The co-operating fleet was with difficulty extricated. Colonel Bailey constructed a dam across the Red River, by the aid of which it escaped. This expedition was connected with discreditable cotton operations. A co-operating force under Steele, at Little Rock, advanced as far as Camden, in Arkansas, but was compelled to retreat. THE Meridian expedition completed, every thing was made ready for the Shreveport campaign. of Shreveport. The operations of the French in Mexico had rendered it Military importance necessary that the United States should hold some point in Texas. Military considerations had inclined General Halleck to take possession of the Red River. He considered Shreveport as the most important objective point for operations in a campaign of troops moving from the Teche, the Mississippi, and the Arkansas Rivers to establish a position within the State of Texas which should be permanently held. In his instructions to Banks (November 9th, 1862), he says: "Having the Red River in our possession, it would form the best base for operations in Texas." There were several, and, it should be added, conflicting Motives for the Red motives in undertaking this Red River camRiver expedition. paign. The State Department desired it for the reason just assigned, as called for by the movements of the French in Mexico. The President added to that a wish for the establishment of a loyal government in Louisiana. Banks saw in it the opportunity of obtaining a supply of cotton, for there were large quantities of that staple in the region about to be invaded. Rumors pre Opinions of Grant and Sherman on the subject. vailed that the Confederate General Kirby Smith had entered into an arrangement with some cotton speculators that his army was to fall back while the cotton was secured. Grant, appreciating thoroughly the military insignificance of the trans-Mississippi states, never heartily approved of the Red River Expedition. He believed that the machinations of the French in Mexico would be more effectually neutralized by victories in Virginia than in Louisiana-by the capture of Richmond rather than by the capture of Shreveport. Sherman considered the Red River expedition admissible only under the condition that it should be executed with rapidity. He would not give to it more than 30 days, and would not have inclined to it at all had he not foreseen the necessary delay of operations in Virginia and the West, owing to the time that must elapse before the furloughs to the veteran soldiers would expire. These great soldiers clearly discerned certain principles in the military administration of the Western states: that the Mississippi is better protected by means of the Yazoo and Washita Rivers than by guarding its own banks; that Arkansas can be best defended on the line of the Red River; that Alexandria and Shreveport are the strategic points of Louisiana-the latter, if held in force, covers all Arkansas and Louisiana, and is the proper offensive point against Texas-that, in fact, it is the strategic centre of the trans-Mississippi. Banks undertakes Considered thus as a movement of local or Western pol icy, the expedition to Shreveport presented the Shreveport ex- important advantages; but, considered as a pedition. movement of national policy, its value was comparatively trifling. Nevertheless, it was determined. upon, and Banks attempted to carry it into effect. He was, however, unskillful in military operations, excelling rather in schemes of civil experiments-a qualification which is unsuited to the conduct of a perilous campaign. Sherman, on completing his Meridian expedition, went immediately to New Orleans, and had an interview with Banks. A plan of campaign up the Red River was agreed upon, having Shreveport, which is at the head of steam-boat navigation on that river, for its objective. About the beginning of March, 1864, Franklin moved from New Orleans, by railroad, to Brashear City, and thence by the Bayou Teche and Opelousas to Alexandria. A powerful fleet, under Admiral Porter, was brought to the mouth of the Franklin commences the campaign. Red River; it consisted of twenty steamers, several of them being monitors and iron-clads. Franklin, who had formerly held a command in the Army of the Potomac (vol. ii., page 471), was intrusted with the initiation of the movement, Banks being for the moment detained in New Orleans, supervising certain political operations. In accordance with their agreement, Sherman sent to A detachment under A. J. Smith from under Steele from Arkansas, added. Banks A.J. Smith, with 7500 men of the 16th Corps, and 2500 of the 17th Corps. Smith embarked at Vicksburg on the 10th of March to join Porter's fleet. He was then to unite with Banks's force, and a force under General Steele, from Arkansas, was to be added. At this time the Confederate trans-Mississippi force under Kirby Smith was 41,000, of whom 31,000 were serviceable. A large part of it, under Taylor, lay at Shreveport, expecting to be joined by troops from Price and Walker. The expedition cap On the 12th the fleet moved up the Old Red River, and anchored off the ruins of Semmesport, tures Fort De Russy. that place having been burned in former military operations. As nothing could be heard of Banks, Smith disembarked some troops to reconnoitre, and learning that a Confederate force had retreated to Fort De Russy, thirty miles distant, he determined to follow it. The fort consisted of two earth-works, connected by a covered way. After a cannonade of two hours a charge was or dered, when, as it was about to be made, the garrison surrendered. While this was happening a portion of the fleet came up. More than 200 prisoners, 1000 muskets, and about 10 guns, were taken, and the works destroyed. The troops were then embarked for Alexandria, which place they reached on the evening of the 16th, and were joined by the remainder of the fleet. Here several thousand bales of cotton were collected, and on the 20th a cavalry force under General Lee, from Banks's command, arrived. It was understood that there were three large Confederate iron-clads at Shreveport. March toward Natchitoches, a town as old as Philadelphia, was taken on the 21st. Smith's force left Alexandria Shreveport. for Shreveport; Banks, whose column was now coming up, followed. He himself reached Alexandria on the 24th. The road from Natchitoches toward Shreveport is through a dense forest of pines, the surface |