... dismal city opposite the terminus of the New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Railroad, over which road, through cypress swamp and alligator paradise, we were carried some seventy-five miles to Brashear City on the Atchafalaya River. This place had been taken possession of in 1862 by Butler, as a base of operations in West Louisiana; and again in January, 1863, learning that the rebel, General Dick Tay...