AKMY OPEEATIONS. 



MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, FLAG Snip GENERAL PRICK, ) 

 GRAND GULF, Miss., May ISth. J 

 To Secretary Welles: 



SIR : I had the honor to inform you from Alexandria 

 of the capture of that place, and the forts defending 

 the approaches to the city, by the naval force under mv 

 command. Twenty-four hours after we arrived the ad- 

 vance guard of United States troops came into the city. 

 Gen. Banks arriving soon after, I turned the place over 

 to his keeping. The water beginning to fall, I deemed 

 it prudent to return with the largest vessels to the 

 mouth of the Red river. I dropped down to Fort de 

 Kusse in the Benton, and undertook to destroy these 

 works. I only succeeded, however, in destroying the 

 three heavy casemates commanding the channel and a 

 small water' battery for two guns. About 600 yards 

 below it I destroyed by bursting one heavy_ thirty-two 

 pounder and some gun carriages left in their hurry by 

 the enemy. 



The main fort, on a hill some 900 yards from the 

 water, I was unable to attend to. It is quite an exten- 

 sive work, new and incomplete, but built with much 

 labor and pains. It will take two or three vessels to 

 pull it to pieces. I have not the powder to spare to 

 blow it up. The vessels will be ordered to work on it 

 occasionally, and it will be soon destroyed. In this 

 last-mentioned fort was mounted the 11-inch gun, 

 which I am led to believe lies in the middle of the 

 river, near the fort, the rebels throwing it overboard 

 in their panic at the approach of our gunboats. The 

 raft which closed the entrance I have blown up, sawed 

 in two, and presented to the poor of the neighborhood. 

 I sent Commander Woodworth in the Price, with the 

 Switzerland, Pittsburg, and Arizona, up Black river 

 to make a reconnoissance, and he destroyed a large 

 amount of stores, valued at $800,000, consisting of 

 salt, sugar, rum. molasses, tobacco, and bacon. 

 (Signed) DAVID D. PORTER, 



Acting Rear-Admiral, 

 Commanding Mississippi Squadron. 



While at Opelousas, Gen. Banks issued the 

 following order : 



HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OP THE GULF, } 

 19TH ARMY CORPS, OPELOUSAS, May lt,t, 1863. f 



The Major-General commanding the Department pro- 

 poses the organization of a corps d'armee of colored 

 troops, to be designated as the " Corps d'Afrique." It 

 will consist ultimately of eighteen regiments, repre- 

 senting all arms infantry, artillery, cavalry making 

 nine brigades, of two regiments each, and three divis- 

 ions of three brigades each, with appropriate corps 

 of engineers, and flying hospitals for each division. 

 Appropriate uniforms, and the graduation of pay to 

 correspond with the value of services, will be hereafter 

 awarded. 



In the field, the efficiency of each corps depends upon 

 the influence of its officers upon the troops engaged, 

 and the practical limits of one direct command is gen- 

 erally estimated at 1,000 men. The most eminent 

 military historians and commanders, among others, 

 Thiers and Chambray, express the opinion, upon a full 

 review of the elements of military power, that the 

 valor of the soldier is rather acquired than natural. 

 Nations whose individual heroism is undisputed, have 

 failed as soldiers in the field. The European and 

 American continents exhibit instances of this charac- 

 ter, and the military prowess of every nation may be 

 estimated by the centuries it has devoted to military 

 contest, or the traditional passion of its people for mil- 

 itary glory. With a race unaccustomed to military 

 service, much more depends on the immediate influ- 

 ence of officers upon individual members, than with 

 those that have acquired more or less of warlike habits 

 and spirit by centuries of contest. It is deemed best, 

 therefore, in the organization of the Corps d'Afrique, 

 to limit the regiment to the smallest number of men 

 consistent with efficient service in the field, in order to 

 secure the most thorough instruction and discipline, 

 and the largest influence of the officers over the troops. 

 At first they will be limited to five hundred men. The 



average of American regiments is less than that 

 number. 



The Commanding General desires to detail, for tem- 

 porary or permanent duty, the best officers of the army, 

 for the organization, instruction, and discipline of this 

 corps. With their aid he is confident that the corps 

 will render important service to the Government. It 

 is not established upon any dogma of equality, or other 

 theory, but as a practical and sensible matter of busi- 

 ness. The Government makes use of mules, horses, 

 uneducated and educated white men, in the defence of 

 its institutions. Why should not the negro contribute 

 whatever is in his power for the cause in which he is 

 as deeply interested as other men ? We may properly 

 demand from him whatever service he can render. 

 The chief defect in organizations of this character has 

 arisen from incorrect ideas of the officers in command. 

 Their discipline has been lax, and, in some cases, the 

 conduct of their regiments unsatisfactory and discred- 

 itable. Controversies unnecessary and injurious to the 

 service have arisen between them and other troops. 

 The organization proposed will reconcile and avoid 

 many of these trouples. 



Officers and soldiers will consider the exigencies of 

 the service in this department, and the absolute neces- 

 sity of appropriating every element of power to the 

 support of the Government. The prejudices or opin- 

 ions of men are in no wise involved. The coopera- 

 tion and active support of all officers and men, and the 

 nomination of fit men from the ranks, and from the 

 lists of non-commissioned and commissioned officers, 

 are respectfully solicited from the Generals command- 

 ing the respective divisions. 



By command of Major-Gen. BANKS. 



RICHARD B. IRWIN, A. A. G. 



The subsequent movements of Gen. Banks 

 in this part of the State met with no serious 

 opposition from the enemy. After the invest- 

 ment of Vicksburg, his forces were concentra- 

 ted at Simmesport for an advance against Port 

 Hudson. Meanwhile the division of Gen. Sher- 

 man, which had been quartered at New Or- 

 leans, was not inactive. A brigade was sent 

 out under Gen. Nickerson, for the purpose of 

 attacking any forces that the enemy might have 

 in the neighborhood of Lake Pontchartrain. The 

 first Texas cavalry, under Col. Davis, pushed 

 as far as Tickfaw Station on the railroad, and 

 captured a large amount of cotton, lumber, 

 corn, and bacon. A lieutenant and eight men 

 were made prisoners, among whom were four- 

 teen Choctaw Indians. In this neighborhood 

 a large tannery was also destroyed, and a large 

 car shop, the Tangipaha bridge, and other val- 

 uable property. On the lake, four schooners, 

 with cargoes of contraband goods, were burned. 



The division of Gen. Augnr had returned to 

 Baton Rouge, from which a force was sent out 

 that penetrated to a point on the railroad be- 

 tween Clinton and Port Hudson. A body of 

 the enemy were encountered and routed. Of 

 this body five were killed, several wounded, 

 and twenty-five prisoners taken with their 

 horses and accoutrements. About the same 

 time Col. Grierson captured near Port Hudson 

 three hundred head of cattle. The squadron, 

 meanwhile, was anchored at the head of Prof- 

 it's Island, not attempting any hostile demon- 

 strations, except the mortar vessels, which at 

 night threw a few shells into Port Hudson. 



About the middle of May all the available 

 force near the river was concentrated at Baton 



