Chapter V: Department of the Gulf (2)

As early as June, 1863, General Grant was compelled, in order to show a bold front to Gens. Pemberton and Johnston at the same time, while besieging Vicksburg, to draw nearly all the troops from Milliken's Bend to his support, leaving three infantry regiments of the black Phalanx and a small force of white cavalry to hold this, to him an all important post. Milliken's Bend was well fortified, and with a proper garrison was in condition to stand a siege. Brigadier-General Dennis was in command, and the troops consisted of the 9th and 11th Louisiana Regiments, the 1st Mississippi and a small detachment of white cavalry, in all about 1,400 men, raw recruits. General Dennis looking upon the place more as a station for organizing and drilling the Phalanx, had made no particular arrangements in anticipation of an attack. He was surprised, therefore, when a force of 3,000 men, under General Henry McCulloch, from the interior of Louisiana, attacked and drove his pickets and two companies of the 23d Iowa Cavalry, (white) up to the breastworks of the Bend. The movement was successful, however, and the confederates, holding the ground, rested for the night, with the expectation of marching into the fortifications in the morning, to begin a massacre, whether a resistance should be shown them or not. The knowledge this little garrison had of what the morrow would bring it, doubtless kept the soldiers awake, preparing to meet the enemy and their own fate. About 3 o'clock, in the early grey of the morning, the confederate line was formed just outside of the intrenchments; suddenly with fixed bayonets the men came rushing over the works, driving everything before them and shouting, "No quarter! No quarter to negroes or their officers!" In a moment the blacks formed and met them, and now the battle began in earnest, hand to hand. The gunboats "Choctaw" and "Lexington" also came up as the confederates were receiving the bayonets and the bullets of the Unionists, and lent material assistance. The attacking force had flanked the works and was pouring in a deadly, enfilading musketry fire. The defenders fell back out of the way of the gunboat's shells, but finally went forward again with what was left of their 150 white allies, and drove the enemy before them and out of the captured works. One division of the enemy's troops hesitated to leave a redoubt, when a company of brave black men dashed forward at double-quick time and engaged them. The enemy stood his ground, and soon the rattling bayonets rang out amid the thunders of the gunboats and the shouts of enraged men; but they were finally driven out, and their ranks thinned by the "Choctaw" as they went over the works. The news reached General Grant and he immediately dispatched General Mower's brigade with orders to re-enforce Dennis and drive the confederates beyond the Tensas river.

A battle can be best described by one who observed it. Captain Miller, who not only was an eye-witness, but participated in the Milliken's Bend fight, writes as follows:

"We were attacked here on June 7, about three o'clock in the
morning, by a brigade of Texas troops, about two thousand
five hundred in number. We had about six hundred men to
withstand them, five hundred of them negroes. I commanded
Company I, Ninth Louisiana. We went into the fight with
thirty-three men. I had sixteen killed, eleven badly
wounded, and four slightly. I was wounded slightly on the
head, near the right eye, with a bayonet, and had a bayonet
run through my right hand, near the forefinger; that will
account for this miserable style of penmanship.

"Our regiments had about three hundred men in the fight. We
had one colonel wounded, four captains wounded, two first
and two second lieutenants killed, five lieutenants wounded,
and three white orderlies killed, and one wounded in the
hand, and two fingers taken off. The list of killed and
wounded officers comprised nearly all the officers present
with the regiment, a majority of the rest being absent
recruiting."

"We had about fifty men killed in the regiment and eighty
wounded; so you can judge of what part of the fight my
company sustained. I never felt more grieved and sick at
heart, than when I saw how my brave soldiers had been
slaughtered,--one with six wounds, all the rest with two or
three, none less than two wounds. Two of my colored
sergeants were killed; both brave, noble men, always prompt,
vigilant, and ready for the fray. I never more wish to hear
the expression, 'The niggers won't fight.' Come with me, a
hundred yards from where I sit, and I can show you the
wounds that cover the bodies of sixteen as brave, loyal, and
patriotic soldiers as ever drew bead on a rebel.

"The enemy charged us so close that we fought with our
bayonets, hand to hand. I have six broken bayonets to show
how bravely my men fought. The Twenty-third Iowa joined my
company on the right; and I declare truthfully that they had
all fled before our regiment fell back, as we were all
compelled to do.

"Under command of Col. Page, I led the Ninth and Eleventh
Louisiana when the rifle-pits were retaken and held by our
troops, our two regiments doing the work.

"I narrowly escaped death once. A rebel took deliberate aim
at me with both barrels of his gun; and the bullets passed
so close to me that the powder that remained on them burnt
my cheek. Three of my men, who saw him aim and fire, thought
that he wounded me each fire; One of them was killed by my
side, and he fell on me, covering my clothes with his blood;
and, before the rebel could fire again, I blew his brains
out with my gun.

"It was a horrible fight, the worst I was ever engaged
in,--not even excepting Shiloh. The enemy cried, 'No
quarter!' but some of them were very glad to take it when
made prisoners.

"Col. Allen, of the Sixteenth Texas, was killed in front of
our regiment, and Brig.-Gen. Walker was wounded. We killed
about one hundred and eighty of the enemy. The gunboat
"Choctaw" did good service shelling them. I stood on the
breastworks after we took them, and gave the elevations and
direction for the gunboat by pointing my sword; and they
sent a shell right into their midst, which sent them in all
directions. Three shells fell there, and sixty-two rebels
lay there when the fight was over.

* * * *

"This battle satisfied the slave-masters of the South that
their charm was gone; and that the negro as a slave, was
lost forever. Yet there was one fact connected with the
battle of Milliken's Bend which will descend to posterity,
as testimony against the humanity of slave-holders; and that
is, that no negro was ever found alive that was taken a
prisoner by the rebels in this fight."

The Department of the Gulf contained a far greater proportion of the Phalanx than did any other Department, and there were very few, if any, important engagements fought in this Department in which the Phalanx did not take part.

It is unpleasant here, in view of the valuable services rendered by the Phalanx, to be obliged to record that the black soldiers were subjected to many indignities, and suffered much at the hands of their white fellow comrades in arms. Repeated assaults and outrages were committed upon black men wearing the United States' uniform, not only by volunteers but conscripts from the various States, and frequently by confederate prisoners who had been paroled by the United States; these outrages were allowed to take place, without interference by the commanding officers, who apparently did not observe what was going on.

At Ship Island, Miss., there were three companies of the 13th Maine, General Neal Dow's old regiment, and seven companies of the 2nd Regiment Phalanx, commanded by Colonel Daniels, which constituted the garrison at that point. Ship Island was the key to New Orleans. On the opposite shore was a railroad leading to Mobile by which re-enforcements were going forward to Charleston. Colonel Daniels conceived the idea of destroying the road to prevent the transportation of the confederate troops. Accordingly, with about two hundred men he landed at Pascagoula, on the morning of the 9th of April. Pickets were immediately posted on the outskirts of the town, while the main body marched up to the hotel. Before long some confederate cavalry, having been apprised of the movement, advanced, drove in the pickets, and commenced an attack on the force occupying the town. The cavalry made a bold dash upon the left of the negroes, which was the work of but a moment; the brave blacks met their charge manfully, and emptied the saddles of the front rank, which caused the rear ones first to halt and then retire. The blacks were outnumbered, however, five to one, and finally were forced to abandon the town; they went, taking with them the stars and stripes which they had hoisted upon the hotel when entering it. They fell back towards the river to give the gunboat "Jackson" a chance to shell their pursuers, but the movement resulted in an apparently revengeful act on the part of the crew of that vessel, they having previously had some of their number killed in the course of a difficulty with a black sentry at Ship Island.

The commanding officer of the land force, doubtless from prudential reasons, omitted to state in his report that the men fought their way through the town while being fired upon from house-tops and windows by boys and women. That the gunboat opened fire directly on them when they were engaged in a hand to hand conflict, which so completely cut off a number of the men from the main body of the troops that their capture appeared certain. Major Dumas, however, seeing the condition of things, put spurs to his horse and went to their succor, reaching them just as a company of the enemy's cavalry made a charge. The Major, placing himself at the head of the hard-pressed men, not only repulsed the cavalry and rescued the squad, but captured the enemy's standard-bearer. The retreating force reached their transport with the loss of only one man; they brought with them some prisoners and captured flags. Colonel Daniels, in his report, speaks as follows of the heroism of the soldiers:

* * * *

"The expedition was a perfect success, accomplishing all
that was intended; resulting in the repulse of the enemy in
every engagement with great loss; whilst our casualty was
only two killed and eight wounded. Great credit is due to
the troops engaged, for their unflinching bravery and
steadiness under this their first fire, exchanging volley
after volley with the coolness of veterans; and for their
determined tenacity in maintaining their position, and
taking advantage of every success that their courage and
valor gave them; and also to their officers, who were cool
and determined throughout the action, fighting their
commands against five times their numbers, and confident
throughout of success,--all demonstrating to its fullest
extent that the oppression which they have heretofore
undergone from the hands of their foes, and the obloquy that
had been showered upon them by those who should have been
friends, had not extinguished their manhood, or suppressed
their bravery, and that they had still a hand to wield the
sword, and a heart to vitalize its blow.

"I would particularly call the attention of the Department
to Major F. E. Dumas, Capt. Villeverd, and Lieuts. Jones and
Martin, who were constantly in the thickest of the fight,
and by their unflinching bravery, and admirable handling of
their commands, contributed to the success of the attack,
and reflected great honor upon the flag under and for which
they so nobly struggled. Repeated instances of individual
bravery among the troops might be mentioned; but it would be
invidious where all fought so manfully and so well.

"I have the honor to be, most respectfully your obedient servant,

"N. U. DANIELS,

"_Col. Second Regiment La. N. G. Vols., Commanding Post._"

The 2nd Regiment, with the exception of the Colonel, Lieut.-Colonel and Adjutant, was officered by negroes, many of whom had worn the galling chains of slavery, while others were men of affluence and culture from New Orleans and vicinity.

The 2nd Regiment had its full share of prejudice to contend with, and perhaps suffered more from that cause than any other regiment of the Phalanx. Once while loading transports at Algiers, preparatory to embarking for Ship Island, they came in contact with a section of the famous Nim's battery, rated as one of the finest in the service. The arms of the 2nd Regiment were stacked and the men were busy in loading the vessel, save a few who were doing guard duty over the ammunition stored in a shed on the wharf. One of the battery-men attempted to enter the shed with a lighted pipe in his mouth, but was prevented by the guard. It was more than the Celt could stand to be ordered by a negro; watching for a chance when the guard about-faced, he with several others sprang upon him. The guard gave the Phalanx signal, and instantly hundreds of black men secured their arms and rushed to the relief of their comrade. The battery-men jumped to their guns, formed into line and drew their sabres. Lieut.-Colonel Hall, who was in command of the 2nd Regiment, stepped forward and demanded to know of the commander of the battery if his men wanted to take the men the guard had arrested. "Yes," was the officer's reply, "I want you to give them up." "Not until they are dealt with," said Colonel Hall. And then a shout and yell, such as the Phalanx only were able to give, rent the air, and the abortive menace was over. The gunners returned their sabres and resumed their work. Col. Hall, who always had perfect control of his men, ordered the guns stacked, put on a double guard, and the men of the 2nd Regiment resumed their labor of loading the transport. Of course this was early in the struggle, and before a general enlistment of the blacks.

The first, second and third regiments of the Phalanx were the nucleus of the one hundred and eighty that eventually did so much for the suppression of the rebellion and the abolition of slavery. The 1st and 3rd Regiments went up the Mississippi; the 2nd garrisoned Ship Island and Fort Pike, on Lake Pontchartrain, after protecting for several months the Opelousa railroad, so much coveted by the confederates.

A few weeks after the fight of the 2nd Regiment at Pascagoula, General Banks laid siege to Port Hudson, and gathered there all the available forces in his department. Among these were the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiments of the Phalanx. On the 23rd of May the federal forces, having completely invested the enemy's works and made due preparation, were ordered to make a general assault along the whole line. The attack was intended to be simultaneous, but in this it failed. The Union batteries opened early in the morning, and after a vigorous bombardment Generals Weitzel, Grover and Paine, on the right, assaulted with vigor at 10 A. M., while Gen. Augur in the center, and General W. T. Sherman on the left, did not attack till 2 P. M.

Never was fighting more heroic than that of the federal army and especially that of the Phalanx regiments If valor could have triumphed over such odds, the assaulting forces would have carried the works, but only abject cowardice or pitiable imbecility could have lost such a position under existing circumstances. The negro regiments on the north side of the works vied with the bravest, making three desperate charges on the confederate batteries, losing heavily, but maintaining their position in the advance all the while.

The column in moving to the attack went through the woods in their immediate front, and then upon a plane, on the farther side of which, half a mile distant, were the enemy's batteries. The field was covered with recently felled trees, through the interlaced branches of which the column moved, and for two or more hours struggled through the obstacles, stepping over their comrades who fell among the entangled brushwood pierced by bullets or torn by flying missiles, and braved the hurricane of shot and shell.

What did it avail to hurl a few thousand troops against those impregnable works? The men were not iron, and were they, it would have been impossible for them to have kept erect, where trees three feet in diameter were crashed down upon them by the enemy's shot; they would have been but as so many ten-pins set up before skillful players to be knocked down.

The troops entered an enfilading fire from a masked battery which opened upon them as they neared the fort, causing the column first to halt, then to waver and stagger; but it recovered and again pressed forward, closing up the ranks as fast as the enemy's shells thinned them. On the left the confederates had planted a six-gun battery upon an eminence, which enabled them to sweep the field over which the advancing column moved. In front was the large fort, while the right of the line was raked by a redoubt of six pieces of artillery. One after another of the works had been charged, but in vain. The Michigan, New York and Massachusetts troops--braver than whom none ever fought a battle--had been hurled back from the place, leaving the field strewn with their dead and wounded. The works must be taken. General Nelson was ordered by General Dwight to take the battery on the left. The 1st and 3rd Regiments went forward at double quick time, and they were soon within the line of the enemy's fire. Louder than the thunder of Heaven was the artillery rending the air shaking the earth itself; cannons, mortars and musketry alike opened a fiery storm upon the advancing regiments; an iron shower of grape and round shot, shells and rockets, with a perfect tempest of rifle bullets fell upon them. On they went and down, scores falling on right and left. "The flag, the flag!" shouted the black soldiers, as the standard-bearer's body was scattered by a shell. Two file-closers struggled for its possession; a ball decided the struggle. They fell faster and faster; shrieks, prayers and curses came up from the fallen and ascended to Heaven. The ranks closed up while the column turned obliquely toward the point of fire, seeming to forget they were but men. Then the cross-fire of grape shot swept through their ranks, causing the glittering bayonets to go down rapidly. "Steady men, steady," cried bold Cailloux; his sword uplifted, his face the color of the sulphureous smoke that enveloped him and his followers, as they felt the deadly hail which came apparently from all sides. Captain Cailloux[23] was killed with the colors in his hands; the column seemed to melt away like snow in sunshine, before the enemy's murderous fire; the pride, the flower of the Phalanx, had fallen. Then, with a daring that veterans only can exhibit, the blacks rushed forward and up to the brink and base of the fortified elevation, with a shout that rose above it. The defenders emptied their rifles, cannon and mortars upon the very heads of the brave assaulters, making of them a human hecatomb. Those who escaped found their way back to shelter as best they could.

Brilliant charge of the Phalanx upon the Confederate works.]

The battery was not captured; the battle was lost to all except the black soldiers; they, with their terrible loss, had won and conquered a much greater and stronger battery than that upon the bluff. Nature seems to have selected the place and appointed the time for the negro to prove his manhood and to disarm the prejudice that at one time prompted the white troops to insult and assault the negro soldiers in New Orleans. It was all forgotten and they mingled together that day on terms of perfect equality. The whites were only too glad to take a drink from a negro soldier's canteen, for in that trying hour they found a brave and determined ally, ready to sacrifice all for liberty and country. If greater heroism could be shown than that of the regiments of the Phalanx already named, surely the 1st Regiment of Engineers displayed it during the siege at Port Hudson. This regiment, provided with picks and spades for the purpose of "mining" the enemy's works, often went forward to their labor without any armed support except the cover of heavy guns, or as other troops happened to advance, to throw up breastworks for their own protection. It takes men of more than ordinary courage to engage in such work, without even a revolver or a bayonet to defend themselves against the sallies of an enemy's troops. Nevertheless this Engineer Regiment of the black Phalanx performed the duty under such trying and perilous circumstances. Many times they went forward at a double-quick to do duty in the most dangerous place during an engagement, perhaps to build a redoubt or breastworks behind a brigade, or to blow up a bastion of the enemy's. "They but reminded the lookers on," said a correspondent of a Western newspaper, "of just so many cattle going to a slaughterhouse."

A writer, speaking of the other regiments of the Phalanx, says:

"They were also on trial that day, and justified the most
sanguine expectations by their good conduct. Not that they
fought better than our white veterans; they did not and
could not."

But there had been so much incredulity avowed regarding the courage of the negroes; so much wit lavished on the idea of negroes fighting to any purpose, that General Banks was justified in according a special commendation to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments, and to the 1st Engineer Regiment, of the Phalanx, saying, "No troops could be more determined or daring." The 1st lost its Cailloux, the 2nd its Paine, but the Phalanx won honor for the race it represented. No higher encomium could be paid a regiment than that awarded the gallant 2nd by the poet Boker:

"THE BLACK REGIMENT, OR THE SECOND LOUISIANA AT THE STORMING OF PORT HUDSON.

Dark as the clouds of even,
Banked in the western heaven,
Waiting the breath that lifts
All the dread mass, and drifts
Tempest and falling brand,
Over a ruined land--
So still and orderly
Arm to arm, and knee to knee
Waiting the great event,
Stands the Black Regiment.

Down the long dusky line
Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine;
And the bright bayonet,
Bristling and firmly set,
Flashed with a purpose grand,
Long ere the sharp command
Of the fierce rolling drum
Told them their time had come--
Told them what work was sent
For the Black Regiment.

'Now,' the flag sergeant cried,
'Though death and hell betide,
Let the whole nation see
If we are fit to be,
Free in this land; or bound
Down like the whining hound--
Bound with red stripes of pain
In our old chains again!'
Oh! what a shout there went
From the Black Regiment.

'Charge!' trump and drum awoke;
Onward the bondmen broke
Bayonet and sabre stroke
Vainly opposed their rush
Through the wild battle's crush,
With but one thought aflush,
Driving their lords like chaff,

In the gun's mouth they laugh;
Or at the slippery brands
Leaping with open hands,
Down they tear, man and horse,
Down in their awful course;
Trampling with bloody heel
Over the crashing steel,
All their eyes forward bent,
Rushed the Black Regiment.

'Freedom!' their battle cry,
'Freedom!' or leave to die!'
Ah! and they meant the word,
Not as with us its heard,
Nor a mere party shout,
They gave their spirits out;
Trusted the end to God,
And on the gory sod
Rolled in triumphant blood,
Glad to strike one free blow,
Whether for weal or woe;
Glad to breathe one free breath,
Though on the lips of death
Praying--alas! in vain!
That they might fall again,
So they could once more see
That burst of liberty!
This was what 'Freedom' lent
To the Black Regiment.

Hundreds on hundreds fell;
But they are resting well;
Scourges and shackles strong
Never shall do them wrong.
Oh! to the living few,
Soldiers, be just and true!
Hail them as comrades tried;
Fight with them side by side;
Never in field or tent,
Scorn the Black Regiment."

[See Appendix for further matter relating to the Department
of the Gulf.]

FOOTNOTES:

[22] In November, while the 2nd Regiment was guarding the Opelousas railway, about twenty miles from Algiers, La., their pickets were fired upon, and quite a skirmish and firing was kept up during the night. Next morning the cane field along the railroad was searched but no trace of the firing party was found. A company of the 8th Vermont (white) Regiment was encamped below that of the 2nd Regiment, but they broke camp that night and left. The supposition was that it was this company who fired upon and drove in the pickets of the Phalanx regiment.

[23] Captain Andre Cailloux fell, gallantly leading his men (Co. E) in the attack. With many others of the charging column, his body lay between the lines of the Confederates and Federals, but nearer the works of the former, whose sharpshooters guarded it night and day, and thus prevented his late comrades from removing it. Several attempts were made to obtain the body, but each attempt was met with a terrific storm of lead. It was not until after the surrender that his remains were recovered, and then taken to his native city, New Orleans. The writer of this volume, himself wounded, was in the city at the time, and witnessed the funeral pageant of the dead hero, the like of which was never before seen in that, nor, perhaps, in any other American city, in honor of a dead negro. The negro captains of the 2nd Regiment acted as pall-bearers, while a long procession of civic societies followed in the rear of detachments of the Phalanx. A correspondent who witnessed the scene thus describes it:

" * * * * The arrival of the body developed to the white
population here that the colored people had powerful
organizations in the form of civic societies; as the Friends
of the Order, of which Capt. Cailloux was a prominent
member, received the body, and had the coffin containing it,
draped with the American flag, exposed in state in the
commodious hall. Around the coffin, flowers were strewn in
the greatest profusion, and candles were kept continually
burning. All the rites of the Catholic Church were strictly
complied with. The guard paced silently to and fro, and
altogether it presented as solemn a scene as was ever
witnessed.

"In due time, the band of the Forty-second Massachusetts
Regiment made its appearance, and discoursed the customary
solemn airs. The officiating priest, Father Le Maistre, of
the Church of St. Rose of Lima, who has paid not the least
attention to the excommunication and denunciations issued
against him by the archbishop of this this diocese, then
performed the Catholic service for the dead. After the
regular services, he ascended to the president's chair, and
delivered a glowing and eloquent eulogy on the virtues of
the deceased. He called upon all present to offer
themselves, as Cailloux had done, martyrs to the cause of
justice, freedom, and good government. It was a death the
proudest might envy.

"Immense crowds of colored people had by this time gathered
around the building, and the streets leading thereto were
rendered almost impassable. Two companies of the Sixth
Louisiana (colored) Regiment, from their camp on the Company
Canal, were there to act as an escort; and Esplanade Street,
for more than a mile, was lined with colored societies, both
male and female, in open order, waiting for the hearse to
pass through.

"After a short pause, a sudden silence fell upon the crowd,
the band commenced playing a dirge; and the body was brought
from the hall on the shoulders of eight soldiers, escorted
by six members of the society, and six colored captains, who
acted as pall-bearers. The corpse was conveyed to the hearse
through a crowd composed of both white and black people, and
in silence profound as death itself. Not a sound was heard
save the mournful music of the band, and not a head in all
that vast multitude but was uncovered.

"The procession then moved off in the following order: The
hearse containing the body, with Capts. J. W. Ringgold, W.
B. Barrett, S. J. Wilkinson, Eugene Mailleur, J. A. Glea,
and A. St. Leger, (all of whom, we believe, belong to the
Second Louisiana Native Guards), and six members of The
Friends of the Order, as pall-bearers; about a hundred
convalescent sick and wounded colored soldiers; the two
companies of the Sixth Regiment; a large number of colored
officers of all native guard regiments; the carriages
containing Capt. Cailloux's family, and a number of army
officers; followed by a large number of private individuals,
and thirty-seven civic and religious societies.

"After moving through the principal down-town streets the
body was taken to the Beinville-street cemetery, and there
interred with military honors due his rank." * *

The following lines were penned at the time:

ANDRE CAILLOUX.

He lay just where he fell,
Soddening in a fervid summer's sun.
Guarded by an enemy's hissing shell,
Rotting beneath the sound of rebels' gun
Forty consecutive days,
In sight of his own tent.
And the remnant of his regiment.

He lay just where he fell.
Nearest the rebel's redoubt and trench,
Under the very fire of hell,
A volunteer in a country's defence,
Forty consecutive days.
And not a murmur of discontent,
Went from the loyal black regiment.

A flag of truce couldn't save,
No, nor humanity could not give
This sable warrior a hallowed grave.
Nor army of the Gulf retrieve.
Forty consecutive days,
His lifeless body pierced and rent,
Leading in assault the black regiment.

But there came days at length,
When Hudson felt their blast,
Though less a thousand in strength,
For "our leader" vowed the last;
Forty consecutive days
They stormed, they charged, God sent
Victory to the loyal black regiment.

He lay just where he fell,
And now the ground was their's,
Around his mellowed corpse, heavens tell,
How his comrades for freedom swears.
Forty consecutive nights
The advance pass-word went.
Captain Cailloux of the black regiment.