uisiana, a non-combatant, to visit
that officer under a flag of truce and call his attention to the
subject. Duty to the suffering population would force me to deal with
perpetrators of such misdeeds as robbers rather than as soldiers.
General Butler received Governor Wickliffe politely, invited him to
dine, and listened attentively to his statements, then dismissed him
without committing himself to a definite reply. However, the conduct
complained of was speedily stopped, and, as I was informed, by orders
from General Butler. This was the only intercourse I had with this
officer during the war. Some months later he was relieved from command
at New Orleans by General Banks, whose blunders served to endear him to
President Lincoln, as did those of Villeroy to his master, the
fourteenth Louis. When the good Scotch parson finished praying for all
created beings and things, he requested his congregation to unite in
asking a blessing for the "puir deil," who had no friends; and General
Butler has been so universally abused as to make it pleasant to say a
word in his favor. Not that he needs assistance to defend himself; for
in the war of epithets he has proved his ability to hold his ground
against all comers as successfully as did Count Robert of Paris with
sword and lance.

Preservation of the abundant supplies of the Lafourche country, and
protection of the dense population from which recruits could be drawn,
were objects of such importance as to justify the attempt to secure them
with inadequate means.

A few days after the Des Allemands affair, I was called to the north,
and will for convenience anticipate events in this quarter during my
absence. Minute instructions for his guidance were given to Colonel
Waller. The danger to be guarded against while operating on the river
was pointed out, viz.: that the enemy might, from transports, throw
forces ashore above and below him, at points where the swamps in the
rear were impassable; and this trap Waller fell into. Most of his men
escaped by abandoning arms, horses, etc. Immunity from attack for some
days had made them careless. Nothing compensates for absence of
discipline; and the constant watchfulness, even when danger seems
remote, that is necessary in war, can only be secured by discipline
which makes of duty a habit.

Meanwhile, two skeleton regiments, the 18th Louisiana and Crescent, and
a small battalion (Clack's) of infantry, with Semmes's and Ralston's
batteri