were special favorites with the whole regiment. Among these were First Lieutenant Joseph Howard, of Company I, and Second Lieutenant Joseph G. Parker, of Company C. These gentlemen were both possessed of ample wealth, and had entered the army, not as a matter of speculation, as too many have done, but from a love of military life. Their hatred of oppression, and attachment to the Union cause, kept them from following the rebels in their hasty flight.
Lieutenant Howard was a man of more than ordinary ability in military tactics, and a braver or more daring officer could not be found in the valley of the Mississippi. He was well educated, speaking the English, French, and Spanish languages fluently, and was considered a scholar of rare literary attainments. He, with his friend, felt sorely the deep humiliation attending their dismissal, and they seldom showed themselves on the streets of their native city.
When the news reached New Orleans of the heroic charge made by the first Louisiana regiment, at Port Hudson, on the 27th of May, Howard at once called on his friend Parker, and they were so fired with the intelligence that they determined to proceed to Port Hudson, and to join their old regiment as privates. That night they took passage, and the next day found them with their former friends in arms. The regiment was still in position, close to the enemy's works, and the appearance of the two lieutenants was hailed with demonstrations of joy. Instead of being placed as privates in the ranks, they were both immediately assigned the command of a company each, not from any compliment to them, but sheer necessity,
