Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
be bent—and 20 miles of telegraph line destroyed. He brought in six hundred prisoners
of war and eight hundred head of captured livestock. About one thousand
freedpeople left their homes to join the victorious column. In Virginia, Grant pronounced
the raid “most important in its results and most successfully executed.” 96
Even before the expedition set out, the Confederate army that had marched
north in the fall had received a crushing defeat at Nashville and was retreating
toward Tupelo, where it found only the results of Grierson’s recent raid. With the
main Confederate force between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi
River in thorough disarray, Union armies in the region could turn their attention
to suppressing guerrilla bands that threatened their own communications and their
occupation of the country. When Osband’s brigade returned to Memphis in mid-
January, it was only to receive orders that took it back downstream to land on the
Arkansas shore. 97
The intent of this expedition was to drive Confederate irregulars from the west
bank of the Mississippi. Whether or not the enemy stood and fought, Union troops
were to destroy all forage and other supplies they found. Since every waterway in
the region was out of its banks, they could count on building rafts and swimming
their horses for much of the distance. After the cavalry division’s exertions in the
railroad raid during the previous month, General Dana was able to assign Osband
detachments from only three brigades, 2,621 men in all. The 3d USCC’s contingent,
450 strong, was the largest from any one regiment. 98
The troops went ashore a few miles above Gaines’ Landing in southeastern
Arkansas before daybreak on 28 January and moved inland at first light. During
the two weeks that followed, they worked their way toward Monroe, Louisiana, destroying
a Confederate steamboat, a gristmill, and stores of cotton and corn before
stopping at Bastrop and returning to Gaines’ Landing. Eight men of the 3d USCC
drowned during the raid. Osband called it “the most fatiguing scout of my life.”
To describe the roads, the poverty of the people, or the sufferings of my command
during this terrible march would be impossible . . . and it is not exaggeration
to say that at one time one-half of a regiment might be seen dismounted,
struggling with their horses, every one of which was mired and down. No squad
of men, much less an army, can live anywhere we have been. The people have
neither seed, corn, nor bread, or the mills to grind the corn in if they had it, as I
burned them wherever found.
The regimental historian recalled:
The weather was cold, snow and sleet falling repeatedly. . . . Bridges were
swept away, and crossings made extremely difficult. . . . The horses splashed
and floundered through mud and water from knee to belly deep. . . . Not much
96 OR, ser. 1, vol. 45, pt. 1, pp. 845–46, 848, 856–57; Main, Third United States Colored Cavalry,
pp. 220–35; Grant Papers, 13: 397 (quotation).
97 OR, ser. 1, vol. 41, pt. 4, p. 901; vol. 48, pt. 1, pp. 421, 544–45. NA M594, roll 204, 3d USCC;
Black, Railroads of the Confederacy, pp. 266–67.
98 OR, ser. 1, vol. 41, pt. 4, p. 901; vol. 48, pt. 1, pp. 68, 544.