capture of that city, however, I concluded that my great opportunity had come, and that now it depended upon myself, rather than upon the favor or whim of some commanding officer, whether I should give the cause the benefit of my best talents or not. The opportunity I embraced with the utmost eagerness, and with a resolve to make myself as troublesome as possible to the conquerors of New Orleans.
General Lovell, who was in command, so soon as he saw that the fleet had passed the forts, posted up to the city in hot haste, and began to make preparations for leaving, and for destroying all the cotton and other property that would be likely to be particularly useful to the enemy. The wildest excitement prevailed when it was understood that New Orleans was about to fall into the hands of the Federals, and great wrath and indignation were excited by what was believed to be the inefficiency of the defence. Without waiting to argue the matter, however, with the angry citizens, General Lovell turned over the responsibility of making terms with the victors to Mayor Monroe, and got away with the remnant of his army as fast as he was able.
The Fleet appears off the City.
Late in the morning of the 25th of April, 1862, the Federal fleet could be seen coming up the river, but it must have dampened the enthusiasm of the Yankee sailors somewhat to find steamboats, cotton, and all kinds of combustible property blazing for miles along the levee. It was a terribly magnificent spectacle, bat one the like of which 1 earnestly hoped I might never witness again, for it fairly made me shudder to see millions of dollars worth of property being utterly destroyed in this reckless manner, and it impressed me more strongly with an idea of the horrors of warfare than all the fighting and slaughter I had ever seen done. There seemed, however, to be no help for it, and General Lovell was probably justified in giving the order he did, and thereby diminishing the value of the prize which the Federals had won.
It was about one o'clock when the fleet came in front of the city, and the vessels, one by one, dropped their anchors. A demand for a surrender was brought on shore by Captain Bailey, who went up to the City Hall to have a conference with the mayor. I was on the alert to commence operations as soon as possible, and, desirous of being in favor with the captors, I
