session of the edge of the woods, first upon our left by General Emory, and subsequently on our right by General Smith, when he was driven from the field, after a sharp and decisive fight, with considerable loss.

The 16th [?] of May we reached Simsport, on the Atchafalaya. Being entirely destitute of any ordinary bridge material for the passage of this river (about 600 yards wide) a bridge was constructed of the steamers, under direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey. This work was not of the same magnitude, but was as important to the army as the dam at Alexandria was to the navy. It had the merit of being an entirely novel construction, no bridge of such magnitude having been constructed of similar materials. The bridge was completed at 1 o'clock on the 19th of May. The wagon train passed in the afternoon, and the troops the next morning, in better spirit and condition, as able and eager to meet the enemy as at any period of the campaign. The command of General A. J. Smith, which covered the rear of the army during the construction of the bridge and the passage of the army, had a severe engagement with the enemy under Polignac on the afternoon of the 19th [18th], at Yellow bayou, which lasted several hours. Our loss was about 150 in killed and wounded; that of the enemy much greater, besides many prisoners who were taken by our troops.

Major General E. R. S. Canby arrived at Simsport on the 19th May, and the next day assumed command of the troops as a portion of the forces of the Military Division of the West Mississippi, to the command of which he had been assigned. Rumors were circulated freely throughout the camp at Alexandria that upon the evacuation of the town it would be burned. To prevent this destruction of property, part of which belonged to loyal citizens, General Grover, commanding the post, was instructed to organize a thorough police, and to provide for its occupation by an armed force until the army had marched for Simsport. The measures taken were sufficient to prevent a conflagration in the manner in which it had been anticipated, but on the morning of the evacuation, while the army was in full possession of the town, a fire broke out in a building on the levee, which had been occupied by refugees or soldiers, in such a manner as to make it impossible to prevent a general conflagration. I saw the fire when it was first discovered. The ammunition and ordnance transports and the depot of ammunition on the levee were within few yards of the fire. The boats were floated into the river and the ammunition moved form the levee with all possible dispatch. The troops labored with alacrity and vigor to suppress the conflagration, but owing to a high wind and the combustible material of the buildings it was found impossible to limit its progress, and a considerable portion of the town was destroyed.

On the 1st of April, two or three days before the army moved from Alexandria to Natchitoches, an election of delegates to the constitutional convention was held at Alexandria by request of citizens of the parish of Rapides. No officer or soldier interfered with or had any part whatever in this matter. It was left exclusively to the loyal citizens of the place. Three hundred votes were given in this election, which was a large majority of all the voting population in that parish. Fifteen hundred votes were a full representation of the people before the war. Nearly 500 men from this and neighboring parishes enlisted in the army as mounted scouts, and rendered efficient and valuable services during the campaign.