Page:History of the Forty-eighth Regiment, M.V.M. during the Civil War (IA historyoffortyei00plumm).pdf/61

 *chusetts Regiment who cheered us lustily as we passed. At 9 o'clock A. M., January 31, arrived at quarantine where the ship was boarded by the health officer, who discovered no reason to detain us, although so very recently having been scourged by the ship fever, and he declared us "all right" and gave us a clean bill.

The only evidence of the desperate fight of the year before when Farragut run the gauntlet of these forts are the remnants of several rebel gunboats which were destroyed during the fight and driven as high as possible on the blanks of the river, and the Union sloop-of-war Varuna, which lay on the bottom of this river with only the tops of her masts out of water. After passing the forts, as we approach New Orleans the country becomes somewhat more interesting. We pass some fine plantations with stately mansions, large sugar houses and long rows of cabins, the habitations of the blacks. Much of the way we run close to the bank and as we turn bend after bend in the river we are tantalized by the sight of orange groves laden with the luscious fruit—so near and yet so far. We see very few white men. Most of them have doubtless gone into the rebel army. Now and then a planter standing on the bank gazes at us sullenly as we pass. It seemed evident that they were not over-pleased to see us. Our only welcome was from the negroes. Their shouts from the levee, accompanied by laughter and frantic gesticulations, bespoke their joy. One white man, bolder than his fellows, shouted the inquiry: "What regiment is that?" and being informed he imparted the cheerful information that we had come all the way from Massachusetts to find our graves—a prophecy which proved true of many a boy on board that ship.