uppet. That Napoleon
III. nursed among his favorite dreams the vision of a Latin empire
in America, built upon the ruins of Mexican liberty and taking in
at least the fairest portion of the Louisiana that his illustrious
uncle had parted with so cheaply, was well known. Against the
inconvenient spread of his ambition the occupation of some part,
of any part, of Texas, was intended as a diplomatic caution. That
the warning cast its shadow even upon the dark mind of Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte there can be no doubt; yet in the meantime there had
occurred in quick succession three events that must have sounded
in his ears with tones that even his dull imagination could not
easily misunderstand. These were Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Port
Hudson. He had not the least notion of helping the unsuccessful.

The whole Confederate force under Kirby Smith in the trans-Mississippi
region numbered at this time about 33,000 effective. Of these,
about 4,000 were in the Indian country, 8,000 in Arkansas, less
than 14,000 in Western Louisiana, and rather less than 7,000 in
Texas. Of the forces in Louisiana under Taylor, about 3,000 were
in the extreme northern district. Magruder, whose headquarters
were at Houston, and who commanded not only the whole of Texas but
nominally New Mexico and Arizona besides, was keeping rather more
than two thirds of his forces for the defence of Galveston and the
line of the Sabine, while the remainder were distributed on the
Rio Grande, at Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Indianola; he had
not 2,000 men together anywhere, nor could even Kirby Smith have
concentrated 20,000 at any single point without giving up all the
rest of the vast territory confided to his care.

At the end of August Banks had nearly 37,000 officers and men for
duty. Of these, about 13,000 belonged to the Thirteenth Corps and
about 6,500 to that portion of the Nineteenth Corps, being the
First and Third divisions, that was concentrated and ready for
active service in the field. The defences of New Orleans, including
La Fourche, absorbed 7,000; Port Hudson, 5,500; the rest were
holding Baton Rouge, Key West, and Pensacola.

Yielding his own views as to Mobile, Banks entered heartily into
the project of the government for gaining a foothold in Texas.
Learning from the Navy that the mouth of the Sabine was but feebly
defended, while the entrance was practicable for gunboats of light
draught, he conceived the plan of descending