The situation at Fort Hudson.
From a Yankee correspondence, dated New Orleans, 23d May, and published in the New York
Herald of June 3d, we extract the following paragraph, which shows that the attack on
Port Hudson was made by all the
Yankee forces that could be spared from
lower Louisiana:
‘
Since my last all the available force in this department has been concentrated near
Baton Rouge, in order to assist in the grand attack upon
Port Hudson.
The main body of the army is to-day doubtless between Bayon Sara and the enemy's works, while the divisions of
Generals Augur and
Sherman are operating to the south and cost of the great rebel stronghold.
I have no doubt in my own mind that before this letter is laid before the
Herold's readers
Port Hudson will be occupied by our forces.
Our attack will be admirably arranged, and the force brought to bear will be fully adequate to make it in all respects successful.
The
Generals commanding are all experienced men and soldiers, and they will so push matters that defeat will be impossible.
As you may suppose, we are all anxious to hear the result and other matters are for a time forgotten.
The "grand attack" thus foreshadowed with the usual flourish of Yankee trumpets has been made; the defeat, so confidently declared to be "impossible," is acknowledged by the very same individual in his letter of the 29th, and the "entire available force" which, by his own admission, had been concentrated around
Port Hudson, is now in all probability so cut up and demoralized that it will hardly be able to resume the offensive for some time to come.
We are strongly inclined to doubt the reported occupation of
Milliken's Bend by
Kirby Smith, and still think that his forces must be somewhere in the vicinity of
Port Hudson though on the opposite bank of the river.--Should they find the means of crossing over at some point between
Baton Rouge and
Port Hudson, the condition of
Banks must become highly critical, as he would be liable to a Bank attack, and might be cut off from his base of operations.
Among the many conflicting reports sent to us from
Jackson, there was one announcing a decisive victory gained by
Smith at
Port Hudson, and we still look upon that news as more likely to prove true than that of the occupation of
Milliken's Bend by the same General.
Should the latter, however, turn out to be the correct version of
Kirby Smith's movements it would show that no apprehension is felt as to the ability of our forces to maintain their position at
Port Hudson.
At all events, the failure of
Grant and
Banks in their respective operations is now placed beyond all reasonable doubt, and as they were both parts of the same plan, and were doubtless intended to co-operate to the same ends, the whole Yankee campaign may be considered as a complete failure.
General Joe Johnson has now, or ought to have, the game into his own hands, and we trust that he will not be slow to avail himself of the brilliant opportunity thus given him to achieve something more than a barren triumph in the
Southwest.
We have had so many glorious victories leading to no appreciable results, that a battle followed by substantial benefits to our cause would be hailed by the whole country as the inauguration of a new era in the conduct of this war.
’
