or the neighboring coasts of
Louisiana and Texas; but this must have been without their guns
and wagons and with no fresh water save what they carried with them
until they should have moved successfully into the interior; while
on the transports the stock of water was already running so low
that the men and animals were on short allowance. Therefore, with
the loss of 3 officers and 94 men captured, of the 75th New York,
6 killed, 2 drowned, and 4 wounded, and 200 mules and 200,000
rations thrown into the sea, the expedition returned to New Orleans,
whence, by reason of unseaworthiness of transports, part of it had
not yet started. The transports came back in a sorry plight, the
_Cahawba_ on one wheel, the river steamboat _Laurel Hill_ without
her smokestacks, and all the others of her class with their frail
sides stove. The _Clifton_ and the _Sachem_, whose losses are but
partially reported, lost 10 killed, 9 wounded, and 39 missing.
Nearly all the rest of their crews were taken prisoners.

The Confederate work, known as Fort Griffin, mounted six guns, of
which two were 32-pounder smooth bores, two 24-pounder smooth bores,
and two 32-pounder howitzers, manned by a single company of Cook's
regiment of Texas artillery, whose strength is stated variously,
though with great precision, as 40, 41, 42, and 44 men. This
company was commanded by Lieutenant Richard W. Dowling, and the
post by Captain Frederick H. Odlum. There was a supporting body
of about 200 men, as well as the gunboat _Uncle Ben_, but Dowling's
company was the only force actually engaged. They received, and
certainly deserved, the thanks of the Confederate Congress.

Still intent on executing the instructions of the government, and
having in mind Halleck's strong preference for an overland operation,
Banks at once gave orders to concentrate at Brashear for a movement
up the Teche as far as Lafayette, or Vermilion, and thence across
the plains by Niblett's Bluff into Texas. The route by the
Atchafalaya and the Red River, Halleck's favorite, was now
impracticable, for both rivers were at their lowest stage, and the
great length of this line put out of the question the movement of
any large force dependent upon land transport.

During the last fortnight of September, Banks concentrated Weitzel's
and Emory's divisions of the Nineteenth Corps, under Franklin, on
the lower Teche, near Camp Bisland, supporting them with Washburn's
and McGinnis's divisions