coaled, ammunition replaced, and all steamed down the river with the convoy of transports in company. Words are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for the ability of Lieutenant Colonel Bailey." Banks evacuates On the 14th of May Banks evacuated Alexandria, which was burnt. The origin of the fire was unknown; it was kindled in many places at the same time. Banks had given out, when the army first came, that the occupation would be permanent, and, induced by this, many of the inhabitants had joined the na tional cause: the men who had entered the army were marched off to the front at Semmesport; the women and children, who, frantic with terror, clamored on the wharf to be taken away on board the transports, were left to their Confederate enemies. The guns taken from the boats above the falls were destroyed. Banks's army crossed the Atchafalaya by means of a bridge ingeniously constructed by Colonel Bailey: it was formed of 22 steam-boats placed side by side, with their bows lashed together. The troops then made their way to the Mississippi, and finally returned to New Orleans. At the crossing of the Atchafalaya, Banks met General Canby, who had been sent to relieve him, and turned over to him the command of the army. Discreditable char paign. As a military movement, the Red River campaign was conducted without capacity or discipline. The acter of the cam- flight from the battle-field of Sabine Cross Roads recalls the flight from Stonewall Jackson down the Shenandoah Valley (vol. ii., page 393). Its only results, in addition to the disgraceful military disas ters that attended it, were of a commercial and political character. The commercial transactions were conducted in part by those who ascended Red River by authority of the permit of the President, who is to be blamed for the weakness with which he too often gave such passes, and in part by speculators who, without any permit or other authority, so far as is shown by the evidence of the command ing general, came up on the head-quarters boat of the army, bringing with them bagging and ropes for the cotton they might secure. It is concerned in tions. In his evidence before the Congressional Committee, General Banks stated, "My judgment has cotton specula- been against allowing individuals to trade beyond our lines. I have never, under any circumstances, given permission to any one to do so, except when a man was sent into the country to get information. I have sometimes given permission to take a little stuff along a sort of peddler's pack. If I had allowed individuals to take the three millions which we paid into the Treasury, and given them a sniff at the sixty or one hun dred millions that might have been obtained, then there would have been much less complaint about the affairs in that department. The quartermaster thinks the three millions we paid over to the government has been the cause of all our trouble." General Banks farther states, in relation to the seizure of cotton," Under the general prize law, the naval authorities, upon their arrival at Alexandria, commenced the capture of cotton on both sides of the river, extending their operations from six to ten miles into the interior. Wagontrains were organized, cotton-gins were put in operation, and the business followed up with great vigor. Some dif ficulty occurred with the marines, who insisted upon their right to pass the lines of the army, and threatened at one time to turn their guns against the troops." Steele's movements Banks's disastrous retreat left the Confederates at liberty to march into Arkansas and act against Steele, toward Shreveport. who was moving toward Shreveport. It had been intended that Steele should take part with Banks in the operations against Shreveport. He had accordingly ·left Little Rock, on March 23d, with 12,000 infantry, and 3000 cavalry under Carr. He was to be joined by 5000 men under Thayer, and a small force under Clayton. At this time General Price, with 12,000 Confederates, was in Southwestern Arkansas. Crossing the Little Missouri at a point menacing Shreve He obtains posses- port, Washington, and Camden, Steele concealed his real destination, which was Camden. The Confederates were misled into the belief that sion of Camden, he intended to attack Shreveport, and Steele, moving vig orously, obtained possession of Camden. News now coming of Banks's failure on the Red River, and the force of the enemy being not less than 25,000 men, there was nothing for Steele but to fall back. One of his foraging parties, sent out on the 21st of April, was attacked, and lost 250 men, 4 guns, and 150 wagons. On the 23d he sent out a train of 250 wagons, 6 ambulances, an escort of 200 cavalry and 1200 infantry, with 4 guns, to Pine Bluffs, for supplies for the army. It was attacked by the Confederates; all the officers, and nearly all the men, were killed, wounded, or captured, and the guns and wagon-train taken. On the 26th Steele determined to evacuate Camden, conducting his retreat over dreadful roads, and in the midst of torrents of rain. The Confederates overtook him at the crossing of the Saline River at Jenkins's Ferry, and an action ensued, lasting seven hours, in which they were repulsed, Steele losing 700 men, but securing a safe retreat to Little Rock, which he reached on the 2d of May. Steele's reverses gave back two thirds of the state to the Confederacy. but is compelled to retreat to Little Rock. Canby is placed in Mississippi. It was evident that the trans-Mississippi military affairs must be placed in more skillful hands: Major command of West General Canby was assigned to the command of "the Military Division of West Mississip pi." He was directed to send the 19th Army Corps to join the armies operating against Richmond, and to limit the remainder of his command to such operations as might be necessary to hold the positions and lines of communications he then occupied. III.-Q CHAPTER LXXVII. MINOR MILITARY AFFAIRS. There were several minor military affairs occurring during the years 1863 and 1864, which, though they have attained a certain celebrity, did not in any important manner influence the war. Of these, some of the more prominent, such as the Florida, the Texas, the Arkansas Expeditions, are related. They are grouped in order, according to the departmental military system. Classification of the affairs. In this chapter I shall collect together a number of minor incidents furnished by the military service, minor military as I have collected in Chapter LXXIII. similar incidents furnished by the naval service. These, though frequently presenting considerable intrinsic interest, can not be regarded as influencing in any impor tant manner the course of the war. Accidental circumstances have given them celebrity, but in the great campaigns of Grant and Sherman there were many of equal moment which are now almost forgotten. The military The military departmental system offers, perhaps, the most convenient means of grouping somewhat departments. in order such miscellaneous facts. The departments were, in 1863, (1), West Virginia; (2),Virginia and North Carolina; (3), the South; (4), the Gulf; (5), the Tennessee; (6), the Missouri; (7), the Northwest; (8), the Pacific; (9), New Mexico; (10), the Ohio; (11), the Cumberland. Of these, the 7th, 8th, and 9th may with propriety be omitted, since happily they escaped the afflic tions of the Civil War, and only experienced the troubles of conflicts with the Indians. The Department of West Virginia. In this department Incidents in West the military force was too small to attempt Virginia. any important campaign. It acted chiefly on the defensive in repelling raids and breaking up guerrilla |