new organization, and the cavalry was concentrated at Baton
Rouge, Plaquemine, Thibodeaux, and New Orleans, with orders that
all details for orderly duty and the like were to be furnished from
a single battalion, the 14th New York, attached to the defences of
New Orleans.

Weitzel's division, except his old brigade under Merritt, took post
at Baton Rouge, where also Emory's division was encamped, successively
commanded by Nickerson and McMillan, while Grover's division,
assigned to the defence of New Orleans, was separated, Birge
occupying La Fourche, with headquarters at Thibodeaux, and Cahill
forming the garrison of New Orleans.

At Port Hudson, after the departure of the nine-months' troops,
Andrews had the 6th Michigan newly converted into the 1st Michigan
heavy artillery, ten troops of the 3d Massachusetts cavalry,
Rawles's, Holcomb's, and Barnes's batteries; and besides these the
infantry of the Corps d'Afrique, then in process of organization,
including, at the end of August, the old 1st and 3d regiments and
the five regiments of Ullmann's brigade--the 6th to the 10th. The
return of the post for the 31st of August accounts for an effective
force of 5,427; of these 1,815 belonged to the white troops and
3,612 to the colored regiments. The whole number of infantry
regiments of the Corps d'Afrique, then authorized, was nineteen,
of which only the first four were completed. Besides these there
were two regiments of engineers, the 1st full, the 2d about half
full, and three companies of heavy artillery, making the whole
muster of colored troops in the department about 10,000. Towards
the end of September the regiments of infantry numbered twenty,
with ranks fairly filled. The Corps d'Afrique was then organized
in two divisions of two brigades each, Ullmann commanding the First
division and the senior colonel the Second. Rawles's battery was
assigned to the First division and Holcomb's to the Second. This
division, however, never became much more than a skeleton, its
First brigade being from the first detached by regiments for garrison
duty in the various fortifications.

Andrews at once took up the work of organization and instruction
in earnest, rightly conceiving it not merely possible, but even
essential, to give to the officers and men of the colored regiments,
thus formed into an army corps under his command, a degree of
instruction, as well in tactics as in the details of a soldier's
duty, higher the