wife had learned to take action
for herself, insisting that she was unwilling to divert the smallest
portion of my time from public duty. A moment to say farewell, and she
left with our four children, two girls and two boys, all pictures of
vigorous health. Before forty-eight hours had passed, just as she
reached Shreveport, scarlet fever had taken away our eldest boy, and
symptoms of the disease were manifest in the other children. The
bereaved mother had no acquaintance in Shreveport, but the Good
Samaritan appeared in the person of Mr. Ulger Lauve, a resident of the
place, who took her to his house and showed her every attention, though
he exposed his own family to great danger from contagion. The second boy
died a few days later. The two girls, older and stronger, recovered. I
was stunned by this intelligence, so unexpected, and it was well perhaps
that the absorbing character of my duties left no time for the
indulgence of private grief; but it was sad to think of the afflicted
mother, alone with her dead and dying, deprived of the consolation of my
presence. Many days passed before we met, and then but for an hour.

My infantry, hardly a thousand strong, with the trains, had marched to
Natchitoches and camped, and some mounted scouts to observe the enemy
were kept in the vicinity of Alexandria.

On page 309 of the "Report" before quoted, General Banks says: "A force
under Generals Weitzel and Dwight pursued the enemy nearly to Grand
Ecore, so thoroughly dispersing his forces that he was unable to
reorganize a respectable army until July." A party of Federal horse
crossed Cane River at Monette's Ferry, forty miles below Grand Ecore,
and chased a mounted orderly and myself about four miles, then turned
back to Alexandria; but I maintain that the orderly and I were not
dispersed, for we remained together to the end.

The Federal army withdrew from Alexandria on the 13th of May, and on the
23d crossed the Mississippi and proceeded to invest Port Hudson;
whereupon I returned by steamer to Alexandria, directing the infantry at
Natchitoches to march back to the Teche to unite with Mouton. Having
obtained supplies on the Sabine, Mouton and Green, the latter promoted
to brigadier for gallant conduct, returned to the Teche country, but
arrived too late to cut off the enemy, who with large plunder had
crossed to the east side of Berwick's Bay, where he had fortifications
and gunboats.

At Alexandria a communication from