432 



LOUISIANA. 



could be mustered into the Confederate army. 

 Business here is well nigh suspended. There 

 are few ships here, and these get high figures 

 for freights, especially British bottoms, which 

 have the preference." 



On the 24th of April, Governor Moore issued 

 an address calling for 3,000 additional troops. 

 It was as follows : 



To the People of Louisiana : 



The Government at Washington, maddened by de- 

 feat and the successful maintenance by our patriotic 

 people of their rights and liberties against its merce- 

 naries in the harbor of Charleston, and the determina- 

 tion of the Southern people forever to sever themselves 

 from the Northern Government, has now thrown off 

 the mask, and sustained by the people of the npn- 

 slaveholding States, is actively engaged in levying 

 war, by land and sea, to subvert your liberties, de- 

 stroy your rights, and to shed your blood on your own 

 soil. If you have the manhood to resist, rise, then, 

 pride of Louisiana in your might, in defence of your 

 dearest rights, and drive back this insolent barbaric 

 force. Like your brave ancestry, resolve to conquer, 

 or perish in the effort ; and the flag of usurpation will 

 never, never fly over Southern soil. Rally, then, to 

 the proclamation which I now make on the requisition 

 of the Confederate Government. 



A number of parishes in the State appropri- 

 ated ten thousand dollars each for the support 

 of the volunteers, and pledged themselves to 

 pay fifty thousand dollars a year, each, as long 

 as the war should last. 



This quota of 3,000 men, when made up, 

 would raise the number to 6,000, which had 

 then been sent forward. This last call was 

 completed within thirty days. 



By the 1st of June Louisiana had not less 

 than sixteen thousand men under arms. Of 

 these, seven thousand were on duty, as follows : 

 Pensacola, 2,100 ; in Virginia, and on the way, 

 2,300 ; in Arkansas, 1,000 ; sea-coast and har- 

 bor defence, 1,700 ; marines, 250 ; total, 7,350. 

 At Tangipaha, in camp, there were, in addition 

 to the above, 4,000, and at New Orleans 5,000. 

 At the ship yards at Algiers several vessels 

 were put in condition for privateers, as the Star 

 of the "West, captured in a port of Texas ; the 

 McRae, once the Marquis de Havana ; and the 

 Sumter, once the Miramon, all of which were 

 strong steamers. On the ,10th of July the con- 

 dition of affairs is thus described by a citizen 

 and permanent resident of the State : 



" "What do we see ? A treasury which a few 

 months ago was full to repletion now collapsed, 

 a great city comparatively defenceless, a peo- 

 ple full of chivalrous feeling discouraged, an 

 ardent and zealous local militia disappointed 

 and disgusted ; and, while all this is notorious- 

 ly so, the imbecility which has produced it is 

 perpetually taxing its ingenuity to devise some 

 new expedients, finding fresh pretexts for re- 

 warding hangers-on of disgraceful antecedents 

 or useless appendages of the old militia system." 



There are four routes by which New Orleans 

 may be approached. The first is by the Mis- 

 sissippi River ; the second is through lakes 

 Borgne and Pontchartrain ; another is up the 

 Atchafalaya to Berwick Bay, and thence by 

 bayous Torrel and Plaquemine to Iberville, 



one hundred miles above New Orleans ; and 

 the fourth by way of Grand Pass and Bayou 

 Lafourche to Donaldsonville, eighty miles 

 above the city. 



The Mississippi River at the Balize divides 

 into four branches, discharging themselves re- 

 spectively through Pass a 1'Outre, Northeast 

 Pass, South Pass, and Southwest Pass. Above, 

 where these four outlets begin, there are two 

 forts, almost opposite to each other, named 

 Jackson and St. Philip, which were well manned 

 by a Confederate force, and mounted one hun- 

 dred and seventy guns. 



By the route through lakes Borgne and Pont- 

 chartrain, vessels drawing eleven feet can be 

 brought to the Lake House, which is five miles 

 from New Orleans. Troops landed there might 

 be taken up the canal by water, or marched at 

 ease in any numbers up the shell road, one of 

 the finest in the country. On each side of it, 

 and the canal, which runs parallel, the ground 

 falls away into a swamp covered with a dense 

 undergrowth, affording excellent covers for, 

 skirmishers. There are no fortifications of 

 any kind on this road, except barricades. On 

 this route a large trade is usually carried be- 

 tween New Orleans and Mobile. The length 

 of the two lakes is one hundred and ten miles. 

 At the entrance of Borgne, the more eastern 

 of the two, are three islands, known as Cat, 

 Ship, and Horse Islands. Upon the mainland 

 opposite is Mississippi City. 



The Atchafalaya route aifords, at the barrel 

 stakes, only twelve feet water, but above that 

 any depth needed, for thirty or forty miles. 

 Through it and the Plaquemine, vessels of that 

 draught can pass to Iberville, thence into the 

 Mississippi, at any time from the 1st of Decem- 

 ber to the 1st of June, when the river is full. 



Vessels of ten feet draught can go up the 

 Bayou Lafourche during the same season of 

 the year. The western extremity of Borgne 

 extends within twelve miles of the city, and 

 from thence troops and munitions of war could 

 be transported, notwithstanding the swampy 

 character of the country, for the greater part 

 of the route. 



During the summer, New Orleans became 

 so embarrassed, as a municipal corporation, as 

 to be regarded as bankrupt. This was as- 

 cribed to large expenditures to aid the mili- 

 tary movements, although the real cause was 

 undoubtedly the utter destruction of her credit 

 and business, and the destitution to which a 

 large portion of her citizens were exposed. 

 All her foreign commerce was destroyed by 

 the blockade. 



In September, the banks of the city suspend- 

 ed specie payment, at the request of the Gov 

 ernor of the State, who issued a proclamation 

 stating that the step was necessary to maintain 

 the credit of the one hundred millions of treas- 

 ury notes issued by the Confederate Govern- 

 ment, in order to obtain the means with which 

 to carry on the war. The banks were required 

 to receive and pay out these notes at par. 



