Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

Southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, 1862–1863 111
better enlist voluntarily, as otherwise they would be forced in.” In all, the expedition
netted fifty-two potential soldiers. 57
These recruiting drives, which seemed more like raids to planters and field hands
alike, disrupted the economic routine of the sugar parishes. With everyday activities
like woodcutting threatened, it became impossible to collect the fuel necessary to
boil sugarcane. Each hogshead of sugar required three or four cords of firewood.
With the fuel supply threatened, many planters switched to cotton the next year, as
much because of the uncertain labor force as because of the “fabulous price” cotton
fetched. In Terrebonne Parish, cotton constituted “almost the entire crop.” Women
and children could weed the rows, a task that did not require the strength of a man
capable of wielding an axe: the kind of man Union recruiters sought. 58
Even on the heels of a string of Northern victories in the summer of 1863, not
every recruiting foray was successful. Early in August, a party of 250 infantry from
three Corps d’Afrique regiments, 50 men of the 3d Massachusetts Cavalry, and 2
guns from the 2d Vermont Battery headed north from Port Hudson to seek recruits
for the newly formed 12th Corps d’Afrique Infantry. The expedition was not organized
well. Not only was the infantry force made up of detachments from three different
regiments, but it was commanded by a lieutenant from yet another regiment
because he was a few days senior to the other officers present. The entire command
was led by 1st Lt. Moore Hanham, formerly of the 6th New York Infantry, who had
no connection to any of the regiments represented in the expedition but who had
been appointed major in the 12th Corps d’Afrique, which needed to fill its companies
before officers and men could muster in and begin drawing pay. 59
Hanham’s force reached the town of Jackson, about fifteen miles north of Port
Hudson, on the first day and found fifty likely recruits. The next day, in midafternoon,
about five hundred Confederate horsemen appeared unexpectedly. They first
captured the expedition’s scouts and then attacked the main body, driving it out of the
town. During the retreat, one of the Union guides was shot and the entire force lost
its way. Taking a route that proved impassable for wheeled transportation, the troops
had to abandon their two cannon and several quartermaster’s wagons. The expedition
reported seventy-eight officers and men killed, wounded, and missing. General
Andrews’ report mentioned favorably the conduct of the white cavalry and artillery
and of a contingent from the 6th Corps d’Afrique Infantry led by its own officer, 1st
Lt. Benjamin Y. Royce. Maj. George Bishop, commanding the 6th, reported 2 killed,
6 wounded, and 9 missing of the hundred men his regiment had contributed to the
expedition. “From what we can learn,” he added, “it was a badly managed affair and
the result not unexpected.” 60
Officers assigned to the Corps d’Afrique soon recognized the shortcomings of
men caught by urban press gangs and rural raids. Newly assigned officers, many
of them brought by General Ullmann from the Army of the Potomac, had not
anticipated working with French-speaking recruits who had seldom in their lives
57 Unsigned note, 3 Sep 1863 (Y–14–DG–1863), Entry 1756, pt. 1, RG 393, NA.
58 Capt H. E. Kimball to Maj Gen N. P. Banks, 7 Aug 1863 (K–291–DG–1863), Entry 1756, pt.
1, RG 393, NA.
59 ORVF, 2: 431, 8: 263.
60 OR, ser. 1, vol. 26, pt. 1, pp. 238–40; Maj G. Bishop to Brig Gen D. Ullmann, 7 Aug 1863
(quotation), Entry 159DD, RG 94, NA.