Donaldsonville, on the river, and at Pensacola and Key West, on the coast, constituted the balance of forces under my command.

It had been arranged that the troops concentrated at Franklin should move for the Red River on the 7th of March, to meet the forces of General Sherman at Alexandria on the 17th, but for causes stated by General Franklin their march was delayed until the 13th, at which time the advance under General A. L. Lee left Franklin, the whole column following soon after and arriving at Alexandria, the cavalry on the 19th and the infantry on the 25th.

On the 13th of March, 1864, one division of the Sixteenth Corps, under Brigadier-General Mower, and one division of the Seventeenth Corps, under Brigadier General T. Kilby Smith, the whole under command of Brigadier General A. J. Smith, landed at Simsport, on the Atchafalaya, and proceeded at once toward Fort De Russy, carrying it by assault at 4.30 p. m. on the afternoon of the 14th. Two hundred and sixty prisoners and 10 heavy guns were captured. Our loss was slight. The troops and transports, under General A. J. Smith, and the Marine Brigade, under General Ellet, with the gun-boats, moved to Alexandria, which was occupied without opposition on the 16th of the same month. General Lee, of my command, arrived at Alexandria on the morning of the 19th. The enemy in the mean time continued his retreat through Cheneyville, in the direction of Shreveport.

Officers of my staff were at Alexandria on the 19th, and I made my headquarters there on the 24th, the forces under General Franklin arriving on the 25th and 26th of March; but as the stage of the water in Red River was too low to admit the passage of the gun-boats or transports over the falls, the troops encamped near Alexandria, General Smith and his command moving forward 21 miles to Bayou Rapides, above Alexandria. There was but 6 feet of water in the channel, while 7 1/2 was necessary for the second-class and 10 feet for the first-class gun-boats. The river is narrow, the channel tortuous, changing with every rise, making its navigation more difficult and dangerous probably than any of the Western rivers, while pilots for the transports were reluctant to enter Government service for this campaign. The first gun-boat was unable to cross the rapids until the 26th; others crossed on the 28th, with some transports, and others still on the 2nd and 3rd of April, the passage having been made with difficulty and danger, occupying several days. Several gun-boats and transports, being unable then to ascend the river, remained at Alexandria or returned to the Mississippi.

While at Alexandria Major-General McPherson, commanding at Vicksburg, called for the immediate return of the Marine Brigade - a part of General Smith's command - to protect the Mississippi, for which service it had been specially organized. The transports of this brigade were unable to pass above Alexandria; the hospital-boat Woodford had been wrecked on the rapids in attempting the passage up. The troops were suffering from small-pox, which pervaded all the transports, and they were reported in condition of partial mutiny. It was not supposed at that time that a depot or garrison at Alexandria would be required, and this command, being without available land or water transportation, was permitted to return to the Mississippi, in compliance with the demands of General McPherson. This reduced the strength of the advancing column about 3,000 men.

The condition of the river and the inability of the transports to pass the falls made it necessary to establish a depot of supplies at