ARMY OPERATIONS. 



ihe llth instant the Mound City, the Carondelet, and 

 Pittsburgh came over the upper falls, a good deal of 

 labor having been expended in hauling them through, 

 the channel being very crooked, scarcely wide 

 enough for them. Next day the Ozark, Louisville, 

 Chillicothe, and two tugs also succeeded in crossing 

 the upper falls. 



I Immediately afterward the Mound City, Caronde- 

 let, and Pittsburgh started in succession to pass the 

 ; dam, all their hatches battened down and every pre- 

 caution taken to prevent accident. 



Th passage of these vessels was a most beautiful 

 sight, only to be realized when seen. They passed 

 over without an accident except the unshipping of 

 one or two rudders. This was witnessed by all the 

 troops, and the vessels were heartily cheered when 

 thev passed over. Next morning at ten o'clock, the 

 Louisville, Chillicothe, Ozark, and two tugs passed 

 over without any accident except the loss of a man, 

 who was swept off the deck of one of the tugs. By 

 three o'clock that afternoon, the vessels were all 

 coaled, ammunition replaced, and all steamed down 

 the river with the convoy of transports in company. 

 A good deal of difficultv was anticipated in getting 

 over the bars in lower Red River depth of water re- 

 ported only five feet; gunboats were drawing six. 

 Providentially, we had a rise from the back-water of 

 the Mississippi that river being very high at that 

 time the back water extending to Alexandria, one 

 hundred and fifty miles distant, enabling it to pass all 

 the bars and obstructions with safety. 



Words are inadequate to express the admiration I 

 feel for the ability of Lieut.-Col. Bailey. This is 

 without doubt the best engineering feat ever per- 

 formed. Under the best circumstances, a private 

 company would not have completed this work under 

 one year, and to -an ordinary mind the whole thing 

 would have appeared an entire impossibility. Leav- 

 ing out his ability as an engineer the credit he has 

 conferred upon the country he has saved the Union 

 a valuable fleet, worth nearly $2,000,000; more, he has 

 deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have 

 emboldened them to carry on this war a year or two 

 longer, for the intended 'departure of the army was 

 a fixed fact, and there was nothing left for me to do 

 in case that event occurred but to destroy every part 

 of the vessels, so that the rebels could make nothing 

 of them. The highest honors the Government can 

 bestow on Col. Bailey can never repay him for the 

 service he has rendered the country. 



To Gen. Banks, personally, I am much indebted 

 for the happy manner in which he has forwarded this 

 enterprise, giving it his whole attention night and 

 day ; scarcely sleeping while the work was going on ; 

 attending personally to see that all the requirements 

 of Col, Bailey were complied with on the instant. 



I do not believe there ever was a case where such 

 difficulties were overcome in such a short space of 

 time, and without any preparation. 



Previous to passing the vessels over the falls, I had 

 nearly all the guns, ammunitions, provisions, chain 

 cables, anchors, and every thing that could efiect 

 their draft taken out of them. 



******** 



I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 

 obedient servant, 



DAVID D. PORTER, Rear-Admiral. 

 Hon. GIDEOX WELLES, Secretary of the Navy, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



The last of the gunboats passed the falls on 

 May 12th, and Alexandria was evacuated on 

 the next day. As early as 10 A. M. the town 

 was discovered to be on fire in several places. 

 Various opinions existed as to its origin, but 

 nothing positive was known. It is situated on 

 a plain, in the centre of a rich cotton-growing 

 region, with six hundred inhabitants. The fire 

 spread with great rapidity. Gen. Banks made 



some ineffectual attempts to stay the progress 

 of the flames, and tore down several buildings, 

 but the soldiers, it is said, did not work with 

 much interest. An engine was drawn to the 

 river, but the hose was found to be cut. The 

 scene* attending the burning of the town now 

 became appalling. A spectator thus describes 

 it: 



Women gathering their helpless babes in their 

 arms, rushing frantically through the streets with 

 cries that would have melted the hardest hearts tc 

 tears. Little boys and girls were running hither and 

 thither crving fo'r their mothers and fathers ; old men 

 leaning on a staff for support to their trembling 

 limbs, were hurrying away from the suffocating heaV 

 of their burning homes. The helpless wives and 

 children of absent husbands and fathers were almost 

 in the twinkling of an eye driven into the streets, 

 leaving every thing behind but the clothes they then 

 wore. Owing to the simultaneous burning in every 

 part of the city, the people found no security in the 

 streets, where "the heat was so intense as almost to 

 create suffocation. Everybody rushed to the river's 

 edge, being protected there fro'm the heat by the high 

 bank of the river. The steamboats lying at the land- 

 ing were subjected to great annoyance, the heat be- 

 ing so great that the decks had "to be flooded with 

 waiter to prevent the boats from taking fire. Among 

 those who thus crowded the river bank were the 

 wives, daughters, and children, helpless and now 

 all homeless, of the Union men who had joined the 

 Federal army since the occupation of Alexandria. 

 Their husbands had already been marched off in 

 the front toward Semmesport, leaving their families 

 in their old homes, but to the tender mercies of the 

 Confederates. The torch had now destroyed their 

 dwellings, their household goods and apparel, the last 

 morsel of provisions, and left them starving and des- 

 titute. As might be expected, they desired to go 

 along with the Federal army, where their husbands 

 had gone. They applied to be allowed to go aboard the 

 transports. They were refused ! They became frantic 

 with excitement. The officers of the boats were de- 

 sirous of doing so, but there was the peremptory 

 order not to allow any white citizen to go aboard. 



It had been expected when the army arrived that 

 the occupation would be permanent, and that pro- 

 tection would be given to all who came forward and 

 took the oath of allegiance ; while those who would 

 not were threatened with banishment and confisca- 

 tion of property. Hundreds came forward and took 

 the oath. An election was held, and delegates were 

 sent to the constitutional convention then in session 

 at New Orleans. A recruiting office was opened, and 

 a large number of white menVere mustered into the 

 United States service. Quite a number of permanent 

 citizens of Alexandria took the oath, and were prom- 

 ised protection. Their houses and other property 

 were now all reduced to ashes, and they turned out 

 in the world with nothing, absolutely nothing, save 

 the amnesty oath. They could not now go to the 

 Confederates and apply "for charity. They too ap- 

 plied to be allowed to go aboard the transports and 

 go to New Orleans. They were refused in every in- 

 stance ! 



The guns taken from the boats above the 

 falls were bursted ; and when every thing was 

 ready, the fleet, last of all, moved away^ leaving 

 the place wrapped in a dense volume of smoke. 

 The fleet proceeded down the river about ten 

 miles, and laid up for the night. On the next 

 day the advance of the army was overtaken by 

 the fleet, and on the 16th both began to arrive 

 at Semmesport. The Atchafalaya was crossed 

 the next day by the army, by means of twenty- 



