History of the Nineteenth Army CorpsIrwin, Richard B. (Richard Biddle)
History
History of the Nineteenth Army Corps
Irwin, Richard B. (Richard Biddle)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories; United States. Army. Corps, 19th
These were simple and short. The Confederate troops were drawn up
in line, Gardner at their head, every officer in his place. The
right of the line rested on the edge of the open plain south of
the railway station; the left extended toward the village. At the
word "Ground arms" from their tried commander, followed by the
command of execution from the bugles, every Confederate soldier
bowed his head and laid his musket on the ground in token of
submission, while Gardner himself tendered his sword to Andrews,
who, in a few complimentary words, waived its acceptance. At the
same instant the Stars and Bars, the colors of the Confederacy,
were hauled down from the flagstaff, where they had so long waived
defiance; a detachment of sailors from the naval batteries sprang
to the halyards and rapidly ran up the flag of the United States;
the guns of Duryea's battery saluted the colors; the garrison filed
off as prisoners of war, and all was over.
The last echo of the salute to the colors had hardly died away when
Weitzel, at the head of the First Division, now for the first time
united, marched off to the left, and began embarking on board the
transports to go against Taylor.
With the place were taken 6,340 prisoners of war, of whom 405 were
officers and 5,935 enlisted men. The men were paroled with the
exact observance of all the forms prescribed by the cartel then in
form; yet the paroles were immediately declared void by the
Confederate government, and the men were required to return to duty
in the ranks. The officers, in accordance with the retaliatory
orders of the period, had to be kept in captivity; they were,
however, given the choice of their place of confinement. About
211 elected to go to Memphis, and were accordingly sent up the
river a few days after the surrender, the remainder were sent to
New Orleans with instructions to Emory to keep them safely under
guard in some commodious house or houses, to be selected by him,
and to make them as comfortable as practicable.(4) There were also
captured 20 pieces of light artillery and 31 pieces of field
artillery; of these 12 heavy guns and 30 light guns were in
comparatively good order.
The total losses of the Corps during the siege were 45 officers
and 663 men killed, 191 officers and 3,145 men wounded, 12 officers
and 307 men captured or missing; in all, 4,363. Very few prisoners
were taken by the Confederates, and little doubt remains that a
large proportion of those set down as captured or missing in reality
perished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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