azos Island at the mouth of the Rio Grande. The next day another
detachment was put on shore on the main-land, and Brownsville, thirty
miles from the mouth of the river, was occupied on the 6th. Leaving a
garrison here, the troops were again embarked on the 16th and carried
one hundred and twenty miles up the coast to Corpus Christi, at the
southern end of Mustang Island, where they landed and marched to the
upper end of the island, a distance of twenty-two miles. Here was a
small work, mounting three guns, which was shelled by the Monongahela
and surrendered on the approach of the army. The troops now crossed
the Aransas Pass and moved upon Pass Cavallo, the entrance to
Matagorda Bay. There was here an extensive work called Fort Esperanza,
which the army invested; but on the 30th the enemy withdrew by the
peninsula connecting with the main-land, thus leaving the control of
the bay in the hands of the Union forces. The light gunboats Granite
City and Estrella were sent inside.

So far all had gone well and easily; the enemy had offered little
resistance and the United States flag had been raised in Texas. Now,
however, Banks found powerful works confronting him at the mouth of
the Brazos River and at Galveston. To reduce these he felt it
necessary to turn into the interior and come upon them in the rear,
but the forces of the enemy were such as to deter him from the
attempt unless he could receive reinforcements. Halleck had looked
with evident distrust upon this whole movement, by which a small force
had been separated from the main body by the width of Louisiana and
Texas, with the enemy's army between the two, and the reinforcements
were not forthcoming; but recurring to his favorite plan of operating
by the Red River and Shreveport, without giving positive orders to
adopt it, the inducement was held out that, if that line were taken
up, Steele's army in Arkansas and such forces as Sherman could detach
should be directed to the same object. The co-operation of the
Mississippi squadron was also promised.

It was necessary, however, that this proposed expedition should be
taken in hand and carried through promptly, because both Banks's own
troops and Sherman's would be needed in time to take part in the
spring and summer campaigns east of the Mississippi; while at the same
time the movement could not begin until the Red River should rise
enough to permit the passage of the gunboats and heavy transports over
the falls