the transports and the
gunboats, having arrived two days earlier, lay waiting. Near
Moreauville on the 17th the rear-guard of cavalry was sharply
attacked by Wharton; at the same time Debray, lying in ambush with
two regiments and a battery, opened fire on the flank of the moving
column. While this was going on the two other regiments of Debray
made a dash on the wagon-train near the crossing of Yellow Bayou,
and threw it into some momentary confusion. Neither of these
attacks were serious, and all were easily thrown off.

The next day, the 18th, A. J. Smith's command was in position near
Yellow Bayou to cover the crossing of the Atchafalaya, and he was
himself at the landing at Simmesport, in the act of completing his
arrangements for crossing, when Taylor suddenly attacked with his
whole force. Mower, who commanded in Smith's absence, advanced
his lines as soon as he found his skirmishers coming in, and thus
brought on one of the sharpest engagements of the campaign. With
equal judgment, skill, and daring, Mower finally drove the Confederates
off the field in confusion and with heavy loss, and so brought to
a brilliant close the part borne by the gallant soldiers of the
Army of the Tennessee in their trying service in Louisiana. Mower's
loss was 38 killed, 226 wounded, and 3 missing, in all 267. Taylor
reports his loss as about 500, including 30 killed, 50 severely
wounded, and about 100 prisoners from Polignac's division. The
Confederate returns account for 452 killed and wounded.

At Simmesport the skill and readiness of Bailey were once more put
to good use in improvising a bridge of steamboats across the
Atchafalaya. In his report, Banks speaks of this as the first
attempt of the kind, probably forgetting, since it did not fall
under his personal observation, that when the army moved on Port
Hudson the year before, the last of the troops and trains crossed
the river at the same place in substantially the same way. However,
the Atchafalaya was then low: it was now swollen to a width of six
hundred or seven hundred yards by the back water from the Mississippi,
and thus the floating bridge, which the year before was made by
lashing together not more than nine boats, with their gangways in
line, connected by means of the gangplanks and rough boards, now
required twenty-two boats to close the gap. Over this bridge, on
the 19th of May, the troops took up their march in retreat, and so
brought the disastrou