General A. J. Smith embarked from Vicksburg with his command, of about ten thousand troops, on twenty transports, on the 10th of March. His corps consisted of two divisions from the Sixteenth and two of the Seventeenth army corps. He arrived at the mouth of the Red river on the 12th. On the same day the transports moved up to the Atchafalaya, and the troops were landed at Semmesport, where they disembarked and marched overland, a distance of thirty miles, to Fort De Russy, on the Red river, skirmishing throughout the route with the enemy’s cavalry. On the afternoon of the 14th they were in sight of the fort. It consisted of two distinct and formidable earthworks, connected by a covered way; the upper work, facing the road, mounted four guns, two field and two siege; the lower work, commanding the river, was a casemated battery of three guns. Only two guns were in position in it, one an eleven-inch columbiad, and an eight-inch smooth bore. On each side were batteries of two guns each, making in all eight siege and two field-pieces. As the line moved up to the edge of the timber, the upper work opened with shell and shrapnel, against which two batteries were brought to bear. The cannonading continued for two hours. A charge was then ordered, and as the men reached the ditch, the garrison surrendered. The Federal loss was four killed and thirty wounded; that of the enemy, five killed and four wounded. The prisoners taken were twenty-four officers and two hundred men. Considerable ammunition and stores were found, besides a thousand muskets. The fleet met with many obstructions on its passage up the river, which were removed without serious damage to the vessels; and after constant skirmishing with the river batteries, arrived in front of the fort just before the close of the action, and rendered effective service. General Smith ordered the works to be destroyed. A portion of his troops then embarked on the transports, and reached Alexandria, one hundred and forty miles from the Mississippi river, on the evening of the 16th. They were followed by the remainder of the forces and the fleet. The enemy retired before the advance, destroying two steamboats and considerable cotton. During the first week, the gunboats rescued upwards of four thousand bales of cotton, and large quantities were brought in by the negroes. The fleet was detained by the low water on the falls above Alexandria, its depth being only six feet, whereas nine feet were required to float the largest gunboats. On the 20th, the cavalry force under General Lee, attached to the command of General Banks, reached Alexandria, after marching from Franklin across the Teche country. Meantime detachments from General Smith’s command had been sent forward, and captured several small bodies of the enemy. On the 21st, Natchitoches was taken, with two hundred prisoners and four pieces of artillery. It is about eighty miles from Alexandria.