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The Battle of Bayou Bourbeau (Grand Coteau), Louisiana, Nov. 3, 1863
(Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper) |
The Battle of Bayou Bourbeau
November 3, 1863
near Opelousas, Louisiana
(Excerpted from The Campaigns of Walker’s Texas Division by J.P. Blessington, 1875)
On the evening of the 2d November, Colonel
Roberts re-
ceived orders from General Green to report with
his brigade
at his headquarters, near Opelousas, on the
following morning.
After a tiresome and laborious tramp, they
marched through
the town of Opelousas to the tune of "
Dixie," as daylight was
dawning, on the morning of the 3d. They halted
near Gen-
eral Green's headquarters to cook breakfast.
After breakfast,
a general advance of the cavalry and infantry
forces was or-
dered by General Green. On arriving within three
miles of
the enemy's camp they halted to rest. While the
troops were
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| Brig. Gen. Tom Green |
resting, General Green held a consultation with
his field-
officers, after informing them that General Dick
Taylor had
ordered him to attack the enemy's rearguard,
then encamped
on the west bank of Bayou Bourbeaux (Boggy
Creek), eight
miles south of Opelousas. Close by the enemy's
camp was a
skirt of timber, about six hundred yards wide,
running
through the prairie. A large body of the enemy,
consisting
of part of the 13th Army Corps, under command of
General
Burbridge, were encamped : their forces
consisted of about
five or six thousand veteran troops of the
Northwest. They
were the rearguard of Franklin's army, who were
encamped
four miles further south, on Carrion-Crow Bayou.
The road
from Opelousas to the enemy's camp led
southward, along the
western side of the skirt of timber, for a mile
or more, and
then turned abruptly eastward through the skirt
of timber
and across the bayou, where there were several
bridges, and
then on southward, through the prairie, to
Carrion-Crow Bayou.
The Federal rearguard camps were situated about
two or
three hundred yards south from the point where
the road
turned eastward to cross the bayou.
The plan of the battle adopted by General Green
and his
officers was as follows : Colonel O. M. Roberts,
with his in-
fantry brigade, was to move southward upon the
enemy,
under shelter of the timber, between the bayou
and the road,
driving back the pickets and outposts. The
brigade of Par-
tisan Rangers, under command of Colonel Majors,
were to
exhibit themselves in line of battle on the
prairie eastward, in
sight of the enemy, so as to attract their
attention in that
direction. Colonel Bagby's brigade of cavalry,
accompanied
by the Valverde Battery (I believe) and General
Green, was
to advance from the northwest, towards the
enemy's camp ;
dismount, give the signal, by filing cannon, for
the fight to
commence, and, as soon as practicable, form a
line on the
right of the infantry. Colonel Majors' rangers
were to
advance upon the enemy, so as to fall in on the
right of
Bagby's brigade, and to act in conjunction with
or in support
of the dismounted cavalry and infantry, in what
was intended
to be an almost simultaneous concentration and
dash of all
of Green's forces upon the enemy's camp. The
plan was
then and there formed impromptu by General
Green, who,
when asked by one of his field-officers,
"How many of the
enemy do we attack to-day?" replied,
"I do not know the
number, but I do know that there are not too
many for us to
attack." (We had no reserve force.) The
officers having been
informed of their respective duties, and having
made the
arrangements and preparations for a battle which
was then
certain to come off, each brigade moved off to
assume the
position and perform the part assigned to it.
The infantry
brigade was formed in line of battle, in the
following manner :
The 15th T. V Infantry, commanded by Colonel
James H.
Harrison, took their position on the right of
the brigade ;
the 18th T. V Infantry, commanded by Colonel
King, was
assigned the center, and the 11th T. Y Infantry,
commanded
by Lieutenant-Colonel James H. Jones, took their
position
 |
Col. O.M. Roberts led his
Infantry Brigade into the
Battle. (Texas Preservation
Board) |
on the left of the brigade. Very soon our
infantry skirmish-
ers came upon our cavalry pickets, who were
amusing them-
selves, as it were, in shooting down a wide
lane, one and a
half miles long, at the enemy's pickets, who
were filing back
in return. The infantry skirmishers continued to
advance,
followed by the brigade. Majors' cavalry had
already gone on
towards their position, and here Bagby's cavalry
turned off
obliquely to the right. General Green and staff
followed
after. General Green, beholding his cavalry
pickets wasting
their ammunition without any effect, at once
ordered Colonel
Roberts to clear the lane. That heroic and
indefatiga-
ble officer, who was on his way home to recover
his
broken health, hearing that his regiment was
ordered to the
front, hurriedly returned to lead his gallant
men to victory.
Though very pale and feeble, his dark eye was
lit up by mar-
tial music; his frail form appeared full of
vigor and vitality.
Imagine the old veteran colonel of Walker's
Division at the
head of his column, with his sword drawn,
gallantly leading
his men to victory ! Soon the lane was cleared
of the enemy,
driving them before him. After getting through
the lane, he
formed his men in line of battle, in the edge of
the timber,
and moved steadily forward, driving the enemy's
outposts into
their camp. Seeing some trees cut down near the
camp, he
anticipated that probably the enemy might have
some
masked batteries behind the trees; he halted his
brigade a
few moments, until he could learn the facts.
Hearing from
his sharpshooters, who were some distance in
advance of his
brigade, that no artillery was placed behind the
trees, he
ordered his brigade to advance in the direction
of the enemy's
camp. Nearing the enemy's camp, he beheld them
in line of
battle, ready to give the Texans a warm
reception on their
arrival. Nearer his brigade advances, showing a
bold and
solid front to the enemy. His sharpshooters
fire, and stop
to reload again; then moving forward, nearing
their camp,
they meet with a large body of the enemy. Upon
which
they fall back gradually, and rejoin their
command. Soon
the war-worn old veteran gave the command, in
his
sonorous voice, ''Charge them, boys!" which
was quickly
done, notwithstanding the enemy was formed in a
ravine, an-
ticipating a charge from the Texans. They placed
their ar-
tillery so as to bear on our troops, from the
edge of their
camp. Fortunately, their shots passed over our
men, doing
no harm. In the meantime a large body of the
enemy's cav-
alry had been forming to charge our infantry in
their rear, by
forcing the passage of the bridges, in
opposition to a force
under Major Carroway, of the 11th T. V Infantry,
who had
been sent there by Colonel Roberts, aided by a
cavalry com-
pany, under Captain Jack Waterhouse. Now the
battle raged
in all its fury. All of the field-officers,
except Colonel Rob-
erts dismounted and led their commands with
undaunted
firmness. The voices of the brave officers,
encouraging
their men, could be heard, loud and distinct,
amidst the crash
and roar of a continued fire of small arms and
artillery. Men
fell thick and fast on both sides. Here it was
that the gal-
lant Captain Stillwell, of the 11th T. V
Infantry, fell mortally
wounded, and Captain Richard Coke, the
"nonpareil" officer
of the 15th T. Y Infantry, while in the act of
leading his
men, was seriously wounded. The dashing Captain
Christian,
Adjutant of the 11th T. V Infantry, was also
seriously wounded;
and the old veteran commander, Colonel Roberts,
had his horse
shot while cheering on his troops. The same
misfortune
happened to two of his acting aid-de-camps.
Captain J. E.
Hart, of General Green's Staff, and Major
Carroway, who had
just arrived from the bridge they were ordered
to defend, in-
formed Colonel Roberts, personally, that unless
they got rein-
forcements immediately it would be doubtful
whether they
would be able to hold the bridge longer than
fifteen minutes,
as the enemy's cavalry was preparing to carry it
by storm.
Colonel Roberts informed them that, under the
circumstances,
he could not withdraw any of his forces then
engaged with
the enemy, to aid or assist them; he would
communicate
the facts to General Green as soon as possible;
in the mean-
time giving them to understand that the bridge
must be held
by them at all hazards, and that he was then
fighting the
enemy under great disadvantage. Colonel Roberts
expected
that all of General Green's troops would attack
the enemy
about the same time. From some cause the cavalry
did not
arrive until about fifteen minutes after the
infantry was
engaged. Those two heroic officers returned to
their com-
mand, determined to hold the bridge at any
sacrifice. It was
certain that unless Colonel Roberts should be
reinforced, his
brigade would be lost ; but, as the column of
cavalry dashed
madly forward, led by the heroic Majors and
Bagby, and
came in range of the enemy, their guns vomited
among them
a storm of bullets. The infantry firing ceases a
few minutes.
The command is given : " Fix bayonets !
forward ! double-
quick ! " when the whole line, in perfect
order, as if on parade,
responded by a simultaneous shout, and rushed
upon the enemy,
driving them "pell-mell" over their
camp-ground. "With their
lines broken, and they fleeing in disorder, the
cavalry sweeps
down upon their flanks, giving time for the
infantry to breathe
a few moments. But the ever-keen eye of the
infantry brig-
ade beheld part of the enemy's cavalry still in
his rear, and
still held in check by Major Carroway and
Captain Hart. He
gave the command, " Right-about face ;
forward march !" Few
of the officers or men anticipating any further
danger from
the enemy, they kept talking at the top of their
voices, as they
advanced over the ground they had previously
charged over.
Soon they came upon the enemy's cavalry, who
were killed or
taken prisoners in a few minutes' time. So
sanguine were
the enemy of success that they formed a line
covering the
entire length of our rear, and were busily
engaged in running
off stragglers and wounded men that had fallen
out of our
lines, and were quietly awaiting our defeat, to
capture our
forces in their retreat. Just at that point of
time General
Green appeared on the field, much surprised in
seeing the
position of our infantry, until it was explained
to him why
the infantry brigade was turned in that
direction. Our artil-
lery did good service across the bayou, in
firing upon the
scattered troops of the enemy, as they were
retreating south-
ward across the prairie. All this time, however,
the arms of
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| Col. James Patrick Major |
Majors' and Bagby's brigades were resounding in
the dis-
tance, as they pursued the retreating foe. Some
of the ene-
my's artillery that escaped returned the fire,
and an artillery
duel ensued, which effected but little on either
side, and
ceased in an hour, when our forces were ordered
back to
camp, near Opelousas. The enemy came out in
force, and
their cavalry followed our forces several miles
towards our
camp.
This battle, from the first to the last firing,
lasted fully
three hours. It is impossible, in a short sketch
of this kind,
to do justice to the gallant conduct of the
officers and men.
It would afford the writer great pleasure to do
so. Our forces
lost, in the infantry brigade, twenty-one
killed; wounded,
eighty-two; taken prisoners, thirty eight. Our
cavalry and
artillery lost in killed, three ; wounded,
twenty. We cap-
tured about six hundred prisoners, and killed
and wounded
about two hundred. Most of the prisoners were
captured by
the cavalry, and, doubtless, many feats of
bravery were per-
formed by them on that occasion, which would
deserve a com-
mendable notice if they could be detailed.
