Report of Capt. Dudley C. Wyman, Eleventh Wisconsin Infantry.
BRASHEAR CITY, October 1, 1864.
SIR: In pursuance of orders I went on board Gun-boat 43, with my
command, at 4 o’clock on the evening of the 26th of September. My
command consisted of a detachment of the left wing of the Eleventh
Wisconsin, in all seventy-five men. We lay at anchor in the bay until 3
o’clock on the morning of the 27th, when we steamed up to Flat lake.
From Flat Lake we entered Bayou Long and proceeded without incident
to its junction with Belle River. We found no difficulty in navigating
Belle River, and reached Bayou Gotvelle in safety. Entering Bayou
Gotvelle great difficulty was experienced from the short bends and
narrowness of the bayou. I succeeded in penetrating to within three
miles of Lake Natchez, where the bayou, becoming very narrow, I lay
to and proceeded with eight men, in a small boat, to the lake. I found
the bayou narrow, the bends short, and the bayou overhung with trees;
so much so that navigation was impossible for a boat over 100 feet long.
As it was past 12 o’clock, and knowing I could not form a junction, as
ordered, I concluded to return. Returning several miles, we lay over all
night and started for Brashear on the morning of the 28th, where we
arrived at 8.30 a. m., when I dismissed my command. Bayou Long and
Belle River are large, wide streams, navigable for gun-boats.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. C. WYMAN,
Capt. Company G, Eleventh Wisconsin.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 822-83 LOUISIANA AND THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI. [CHAP. LIII.
[Series I. Vol. 41. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 83.]
