The battle-ground was an open field on the outside of the town of Pleasant Hill on the Shreveport road. It was open and rolling, and ascended both from the side of the town and from the side on which the enemy were approaching. A belt of timber extended almost entirely around it. The division of General Emory was drawn up in line of battle on the sloping side, with the right resting across the Shreveport road. General McMillen’s brigade formed the extreme right of the line, with his right resting near the woods, which extended along the whole base of the slope and through which the enemy would advance. General Dwight’s brigade was formed next, with his left resting on the road, Colonel Benedict’s brigade formed next, with his right resting on the road and a little in the rear of General Dwight’s left. Two pieces of Taylor’s battery were placed in the rear of General Dwight’s left, on the road, and four pieces were in position on an eminence on the left of the road and in rear of Colonel Benedict. Hibbard’s Vermont battery was in the rear of the division. General Smith’s division, under command of General Mower, was massed in two lines of battle fifty yards apart with artillery in rear of General Emory’s division. The right of the first line rested on the road, and was composed of two brigades, the First brigade on the right, commanded by Colonel Lynch, the Second brigade on the left, commanded by Colonel Shaw. The Third Indiana battery (Crawford’s) was posted in the first line of battle, on the right of the Eighty-ninth Indiana. The Ninth Indiana battery (Brown’s) was in position on the right of the First brigade. The Missouri battery occupied ground on the right of the Eighty-ninth Indiana.

General Smith’s second line of battle was fifty yards in rear of the first, and was composed of two brigades, one on the right of the line, and that on the left commanded by Colonel Hill.

General Mower commanded the Second brigade, and was temporarily in command of the whole force.

The skirmishing, which had continued all day, became lively towards its close; and at ten minutes past five, General Emory sent word to General Franklin that the skirmishers were driven in and the enemy marching down upon him in three lines of battle.

At twenty minutes past five, the enemy appeared on the plain at the edge of the woods, and the battle commenced, the Union batteries opening with case shell as the rebels marched at a double-quick across the field to the attack.

On the left, Colonel Benedict’s brigade came into action first, and soon after the right and centre were engaged. The battle now raged fiercely, the air was full of lead and iron, and the roar of artillery incessant. The carnage on both sides was fearful, the men fighting almost hand to hand, and with great desperation. Nothing could exceed the determined bravery of the troops.

The contest now became fierce on both sides, when General Emory’s division, pressed by overwhelming numbers, fell back up the hill to the Sixteenth corps, which was just behind the crest. The enemy rushed forward and were met by General Smith with a discharge from all his guns, which was followed by an immediate charge of the infantry, by which the enemy were driven rapidly back to the woods, where they broke in confusion. Night put an end to the pursuit. The Taylor battery, lost on the advance of the enemy, was recovered, and also two guns of Nim’s battery. Five hundred prisoners were also taken. Early on the next morning, leaving the dead unburied and the muskets thrown on the field, the army commenced its march back to Grand Ecore, thirty-five miles from Pleasant Hill, to obtain rest and rations.

The entire losses of the campaign thus far were stated to be twenty pieces of artillery, three thousand men, one hundred and thirty wagons, twelve hundred horses and mules, including many that died of disease. The gains were the capture of Fort De Russy, Alexandria, Grand Ecore, and Natchitoches, the opening of Red river, the capture of three thousand bales of cotton, twenty-three hundred prisoners, twenty-five pieces of artillery, chiefly captured by the fleet, and small arms and considerable stores. A large number of citizens enlisted in the service in Alexandria, and the material for two colored regiments was gathered; and five thousand negroes, male and female, abandoned their homes and followed the army.

Meanwhile Rear-Admiral Porter passed the falls with twelve gunboats and thirty transports, and reached Grand Ecore when the army was at Natchitoches preparing for an immediate march. As the river was rising slowly the advance was continued with six smaller gunboats and twenty transports, having army stores and a part of General Smith’s division on board. Starting on the 7th of April, Springfield landing was reached on the third day. Here a large steamer sunk in the river obstructed further progress; and information was received that the army had met with a reverse. Orders also came to General Smith’s troops to return to Grand Ecore with the transports. The fleet, therefore, turned back, but was constantly annoyed by the enemy on the bank of the river. Two of the fleet at Grand Ecore were found above the bar, and not likely to get away until there was a rise of water in the river.

The continued low water in the Red river, and the difficulty of keeping up a line of supplies, caused the army to fall back to Alexandria. The march commenced in the afternoon of April 21st, by starting the baggage train with a suitable guard. At 2 o’clock the next morning the army began silently to evacuate its position, General Smith’s force forming the rear guard. Soon after daylight, the enemy observing the movement, began his pursuit, but with so small a force that only slight skirmishing took place. The army reached Alexandria without serious fighting, on the 27th of April.

The difficulties and dangers which the naval commander was called upon to meet and overcome are worthy of more than a passing notice. During the return of the vessels through the narrow and snaggy river, they were assailed continually by rebel batteries on the shore, and were followed and attacked at all favorable points by thousands of infantry and horse artillery.

On the 12th of April a severe engagement occurred, owing to an attempt, by a rebel force of two thousand men, to capture the iron-clad Osage and the transport Black Hawk, which had grounded. Flushed with their recent victory over Banks’s army, the rebels displayed unwonted courage, and soon drove all the men from the transport to the safe casemates of the monitor; but a destructive cross-fire from the Osage and Lexington quickly put them to flight with severe loss.

Every day difficulties of this character occurred, as the vessels were constantly grounding, until they arrived at Grand Ecore, when greater and more serious obstacles presented themselves, which threatened the loss of the most valuable vessels of the fleet.

The rebels were industriously employed in cutting off the supply of water from various channels up the river, in the hope of preventing the passage of the vessels over the bar at Grand Ecore, and the result appeared to promise success to their plans. The heavy vessels were constantly grounding, and, on the 26th of April, the commander of the Eastport, after laboring night and day for a week to carry his vessel over the sand-bars and logs by which she was clogged, was compelled to blow her up, after removing all her stores and available equipments.

On the 4th of May the steamers Covington, Warner, and Signal were captured by about two thousand rebels, who attacked them from the banks of the river, killing or capturing forty of their crew.

The crowning act of heroism and of engineering skill in this unfortunate campaign, is described in the report of Admiral Porter, in detailing the passage of the Falls of Alexandria by the fleet:

“Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the vessels lately caught by low water above the Falls of Alexandria, have been released from their unpleasant position. The water had fallen so low that I had no hope or expectation of getting the vessels out this season, and, as the army had made arrangements to evacuate the country, I saw nothing before me but the destruction of the best part of the Mississippi squadron.

“There seems to have been an especial Providence in providing a man equal to the emergency. Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, Acting Engineer of the Nineteenth army corps, proposed a plan of building a series of dams across the rocks at the falls, and raising the water high enough to let the vessels pass over. This proposition looked like madness, and the best engineers ridiculed it; but Colonel Bailey was so sanguine of success that I requested to have it done, and he entered heartily into the work. Provisions were short and forage was almost out, and the dam was promised to be finished in ten days or the army would have to leave us. I was doubtful about the time, but I had no doubt about the ultimate success, if time would only permit. General Banks placed at the disposal of Colonel Bailey all the forces he required, consisting of some three thousand men and two or three hundred wagons. All the neighboring steam-mills were torn down for material; two or three regiments of Maine men were set at work felling trees, and on the second day after my arrival in Alexandria, from Grand Ecore, the work had fairly begun.

“Trees were falling with great rapidity; teams were moving in all directions, bringing in brick and stone; quarries were opened; flatboats were built to bring stone down from above, and every man seemed to be working with a vigor I have seldom seen equalled, while perhaps not one in fifty believed in the undertaking. These fails are about a mile in length, filled with rugged rocks, over which, at the present stage of water, it seemed to be impossible to make a channel.

“The work was commenced by running out from the left bank of the river a tree dam, made of the bodies of very large trees, brush, brick, and stone, cross-tied with heavy timber, and strengthened in every way which ingenuity could devise. This was run out about three hundred feet into the river; four large coal barges were then filled with brick and sunk at the end of it. From the right bank of the river, cribs filled with stone were built out to meet the barges, all of which was successfully accomplished, notwithstanding there was a current running of nine miles an hour, which threatened to sweep every thing before it.

“It will take too much time to enter into the details of this truly wonderful work; suffice it to say that the dam had nearly reached completion in eight days’ working time, and the water had risen sufficiently on the upper falls to allow the Fort Hindman, Osage, and Neosho, to get down and be ready to pass the dam. In another day it would have been high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass the upper falls. Unfortunately, on the morning of the 9th instant, the pressure of water became so great that it swept away two of the stone-barges, which swung in below the dam on one side. Seeing this unfortunate accident, I jumped on a horse and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, and ordered the Lexington to pass the upper falls, if possible, and immediately attempt to go through the dam. I thought I might be able to save the four vessels below, not knowing whether the persons employed on the work would ever have the heart to renew the enterprise.

“The Lexington succeeded in getting over the upper falls just in time, the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing so furiously that it seemed as if nothing but destruction awaited her. Thousands of beating hearts looked on, anxious for the result.

“The silence was so great as the Lexington approached the dam that a pin might almost have been heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, was then swept into deep water by the current, and rounded to safely into the bank.

“Thousands of voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man present. The Neosho followed next—all her hatches battened down, and every precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lexington, her pilot having become frightened as he approached the abyss, and stopped her engine when I particularly ordered a full head of steam to be carried. The result was that for a moment her hull disappeared from sight, under the water. Every one thought she was lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with the current, and fortunately escaped with only one hole in her bottom, which was stopped in the course of an hour. The Hindman and Osage both came through beautifully without touching a thing, and I thought if I was only fortunate enough to get my large vessels as well over the falls, my fleet once more would do good service on the Mississippi.

“The accident to the dam, instead of disheartening Colonel Bailey, only induced him to renew his exertions, after he had seen the success of getting four vessels through. The noble-hearted soldiers, seeing their labor of the last eight days swept away in a moment, cheerfully went to work to repair damages, being confident now that all the gunboats would be finally brought over. The men had been working for eight days and nights, up to their necks in water, in the broiling sun, cutting trees and wheeling bricks, and nothing but good humor prevailed among them. On the whole, it was very fortunate the dam was carried away, as the two barges that were swept away from the centre swung around against some rocks on the left and made a fine cushion for the vessels, and prevented them, as it afterward appeared, from running on certain destruction.

“The force of the water and the current being too great to construct a continuous dam of six hundred feet across the river in so short a time, Colonel Bailey determined to leave a gap of fifty-five feet in the dam, and build a series of wing dams on the upper falls. This was accomplished in three days’ time, and on the 11th instant the Mound City, the Carondolet, and Pittsburgh came over the upper falls, a good deal of labor having been expended in hauling them through, the channel being very crooked, scarcely wide enough for them. Next day the Ozark, Louisville, Chillicothe, and two tugs also succeeded in crossing the upper falls.

“Immediately afterward, the Mound City, Carondolet, and Pittsburgh started in succession to pass the dam, all their hatches battened down and every precaution being taken to prevent accident.

“The passage of these vessels was a most beautiful sight, only to be realized when seen. They passed over without an accident except the unshipping of one or two rudders. This was witnessed by all the troops, and the vessels were heartily cheered when they passed over. Next morning at ten o’clock, the Louisville, Chillicothe, Ozark, and two tugs passed over without an accident, except the loss of a man, who was swept off the deck of one of the tugs. By three o’clock that afternoon, the vessels were all coaled, ammunition replaced, and all steamed down the river with the convoy of transports in company. A good deal of difficulty was anticipated in getting over the bars in lower Red river—the depth of water reported only five feet; gunboats were drawing six. Providentially, we had a rise from the back-water of the Mississippi—that river being very high at that time—the back-water extending to Alexandria, one hundred and fifty miles distant, enabling us to pass all the bars and obstructions with safety.

“Words are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for the abilities of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey. This is, without doubt, the best engineering feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances, a private company would not have completed this work under one year, and to an ordinary mind the whole thing would have appeared an impossibility. Leaving out his abilities as an engineer, and the credit he has conferred upon the country, he has saved to the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly two million of dollars. More, he has deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have emboldened them to carry on the war a year or two longer; for the intended departure of the army was a fixed fact, and there was nothing left for me to do, in case that event occurred, but to destroy every part of the vessels, so that the rebels could make nothing of them. The highest honors the Government can bestow on Colonel Bailey can never repay him for the service he has rendered the country.

“To General Banks, personally, I am much indebted for the happy manner in which he has forwarded this enterprise, giving it his whole attention, night and day, scarcely sleeping while the work was going on; tending personally to see that all the requirements of Colonel Bailey were complied with on the instant.

“I do not believe there ever was a case where such difficulties were overcome in such a short space of time, and without any preparation.

The last of the gunboats passed the falls on the 12th of May, and on the next day Alexandria was evacuated. The town was fired in several places by some evil-disposed persons connected with the army, and most of the inhabitants thus reduced to suffering and want.