The following articles were transcribed from Harper's Weekly Journal of Civilization, dated June 27, 1863:

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The Defenses of Port Hudson

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          The most interesting description of Port Hudson and the state of things there has been given to the Herald by a Confederate prisoner. It appears that the defenses of the place consist not only of fortifications and heavy artillery around the town, but of outer works composed of intrenched abatis, stretching out for nearly ten miles in a semicircle, bristling with cannon of heavy calibre. The water defenses consist of ten bateries, numbering between thirty and forty guns, some of them being 11-inch and others 13-inch bore. One of these batteries is stationed on a bluff 80 feet high. The strength of the garrison is between four and five thousand, but their provisions and ammunition are said to be giving out. The post is commanded by General Franklin Gardner, a graduate of West Point and formerly an officer in the United States army.

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The Siege of Port Hudson

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          The correspondent of the Times thus describes the affair:

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          General Grover started from Newport, six miles from Port Hudson, at 8am on Sunday the 24th, taling the Clinton direct road, the second brigade in advance, under Colonel Kimball of the Twelfth Maine, and the Twenty-fourth Connecticut thrown out as skirmishers along the whole road though dense woods.Them met no opposition until they encountered the outer rifle-pits, about half past eleven o'clock. The reserve of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut was sent in the woods which flank the pits, and after a brisk and hard engagement of only half an hour drove out the enemy and took possession of the pits.

          General Grover then took a position right on the edge of the woods, 800 yards from the main portion of the enemy's works, but, owing to the position of the land, could only bring two pieces into play, and an artillery fight commenced, lasting from one to six o'clock, and leaving our men in position. During the height of the artillery engagement General Grover went to the front, and a Parrott shot struck off the fore-leg of his horse, but the General himself escaped unhurt.

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          In the picture sketched by Mr. Hamilton, illustrating General Augur's  Recent Assault upon the Fortifications of Port Hudson - one of the most dashing acts of bravery in this war, so replete with heroic incidents, Mr. Hamilton writes:

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         It having been understood that a grand and simultaneous attack from every part of our lines encircling Port Hudson was to be made on Wednesday, the 27th, General Augur, as early as 6am of the day, commenced a heavy cannonading upon the works, and continued incessantly until 2 o'clock pm, by which time Brigadier-General Sherman, who was intended to commence his assault at the same time on the left, had his troops in readiness.

          General Augur's assaulting forces consisted only of Colonel E. P. Chapin's brigade, viz., the 48th Massachusetts led by Lieutenant-Colonel O'Brien; the 49th Massachusetts, bu Colonel F. W. Bartlett; the 116th New York, led by Major Love; and the 21st Maine, by Colonel Johnson; also two regiments of Colonel Dudley's brigade, called up from the right, viz., the 2d Louisiana, under Colonel Paine; and parts of the 50th Massachusetts, under Colonel Messer.

          Before commencing the assault Captain Holcomb's Vermont battery played upon the works to draw their fire, which he did very effectively; and then the order for the assault was given. A number of brave fellows from each regiment had volunteered to go in advance with the fascines, for the purpose of making a roadway through the moat; these were immediately followed by others who had volunteered to form the assaulting party; and after them the various regiments with their colonels, all under the immediate direction of Major General Auger in person.

          The scene that presented itself to the view of our devoted men as they emerged from the wood was really appalling. Between them and the fortifications to be assaulted lay an immense open space, at least a mile in length, from right to left, and at least half a mile in depth from the edge of the wood.This space was originally a dense forest, but the rebels had ingeniously felled the trees, leaving the huge branches to interlace each other, and forming, with the thick brushwood underneath, a barrier all but impassable to any thing in human shape.

          It was enough to daunt the stoutest hearts; but our men are not of the stuff to be scared by any difficulties. The order had been given that Port Hudson must be taken that day, and at it they went.

          In so horrible a place, where men could scarcely keep their footing, and were sinking at every step up to their arm-pits, and tumbling along as best they could with their muskets and fascines through the impenetrable rubbish - the enemy all the while blazing away at them with grape, shell, and canister - the result may easily be imagine. It was wholesale slaughter.

          But it was glorious to see the heroism and endurance of our men. Onward they went - the old flag streaming proudly above them (the fascine-bearers falling in every direction) - until they actually, many of them, fought their way clean through the half mile of tangled rubbish to the narrow open space between it and the breast-works, where, as a matter of course, the gallant fellows perished. The unequal contest had lasted from 3pm to 5pm., when General augur, finding it utterly impossible to carry out the instructions he had received, withdrew his men in perfect order - returning shot for shot as they got back to the wood.

          During these two mortal hours many a brave soul went to rest. The gallant and much-beloved Colonel Chapin, wounded in the leg, still went on, until he received a Minie` ball in the head, which killed him, after he had got within a very few yards of the breast-works. Lieutenant-Colonel o'Brien also fell, eagerly cheering his troops in the thickest of  the fray. Our loss in that brief space of time amounted to 64 killed and 316 wounded - among them 27 officers killed and wounded.

          One of the most extraordinary instances of courage exhibited on this eventful day was that of Colonel F. W. Bartlett. This desperately brave young officer - who had already lost a leg in the Peninsula - finding it impossible to go through the impediments on foot, actually had the audacity to go on horseback - forming, of course, a conspicuous target for the whole rebel batteries and sharpshooters.

          Even the rebels were awed into respect by such an instance of heroism. "Who, in God's name, was that man on horseback?" said a reel officer to Captain Cutting, of General Augur's staff, when he went under a flag of truce for our dead. On being told the name, the rebel officer exclaimed, "He is a brave man, and we actually gave orders not to shoot him." The good intention was, however, not fulfilled, as Colonel Bartlett was twice wounded, in the wrist and ankle, but fortunately only slightly.

          Another daring act recorded in our picture is that of Captain Holcomb, who, at the request of Major G. B. Halsted, the Assistant Adjutant-General to General Auger, brought up one little field-piece of the Vermont battery, and dashed about the road, from place to place, drawing the fire of the enemy, and thus saving many lives. In this daring feat Captain Holcomb was accompanied only by Major Halsted and six other men.

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