In this war the rebels set the example of greatly encouraging irregular cavalry and guerillas, having always an idea that the Northern army would be exterminated in detail by sharp-shooters, and cut to pieces with bowie-knives. This, more than any other cause, led to their own ruin, for all such troops in a short time became mere brigands, preying on friends as well as foes. On both sides there were dashing raids, and at first the rebels, having better cavalry, had the best of it. But as the war went on, there were great changes. Cavalry soldiers from horses often came to mules, or even down to their own legs; while infantry, learning that riding was easier than walking, and horse-stealing as easy as either, transformed themselves into cavalry, without reporting the change to the general in command, and if they had done so, the chances are ten to one he and all his staff would have been found mounted on just such unpaid-for steeds. If the rebels Ashley, Morgan, and Stewart set fine examples in raiding, they were soon outdone by Phil Sheridan and Kilpatrick--who was as good an orator as soldier, and who once, when surprised by the rebels, fought and won a battle in his shirt--or Custer and Grierson, Dahlgren and Pleasanton. Of this raiding and robbing it may be truly said that, while the South taught the trick, it did, after all, but nibble at the edges of the Northern cake, while the Federals sliced theirs straight through. General Banks, who had succeeded General Butler in the Department of the Gulf, invested Port Hudson. The siege lasted until May 8th, and during the attack, the black soldiers, who had been slaves, fought with desperate courage, showing no fear whatever. In America we had been so accustomed to deny all manliness to the negro, that few believed him capable of fighting, though many thought otherwise near Nashville in 1864, when they saw whole platoons of black soldiers lying dead in regular rows, just as they had been shot down facing the enemy. Even the common soldiers opposed the use of black troops, until the idea rose slowly on their minds that a negro was not only as easy to hit as a white man, but much more likely to attract a bullet from the chivalry. As I once heard a soldier say, “I used to be opposed to having black troops, but yesterday, when I saw ten cart-loads of dead niggers carried off the field, I thought it better they should be killed than I.” Of this tender philanthropy, which was willing to let the negro buy a place in the social scale at the expense of his life, there was a great deal in the army, especially among the Union-men of the South-West, who, while brave as lions or grizzly bears, were yet prudent as prairie-dogs, as all true soldiers should be. This charge of the Black Regiment at Port Hudson was made the subject of a poem by George H. Boker, which became known all over the country.