Conquest Reconquered

The Eleventh Connecticut returned to the Tenth Louisiana Regiment (Tigers) the standard they had captured in the sanguinary affair of Cold Spring Harbor. Fraternization at New Orleans was rampant.

At 4:30 a.m., June 3, 1864, General Grant gave the command to attack. His soldiers were led by Generals Sheridan, H. G. Wright, W. F. Smith, Burnside. The village was defended by Generals Hoke, Kershaw, Pickett, Field, Early, under General Lee.

So hopeless was the attack that Union soldiers pinned their names and addresses on their backs before starting. Eventually they withdrew. Said Lee: "Our success, . . . under the blessing of God [has been] all that we could expect."

Union killed, wounded, missing were nearly 13,000 out of 100,000. Confederates lost about 2,500 out of 65,000.

This battle was one of the few blots on General Grant's record and badly affected the morale of his troops.