History of the "Claiborne Invincibles, Company 'H', 17th Louisiana Infantry", by Captain A. L. Harper and Lieutenant J. H. Hay
The company was next actively engaged at the battle of Port Gibson, on the first of May, from 12 o'clock till 6 o'clock in the evening, in which Privates C. T. Murphey and W. H. Baker were killed. On the 2d of May we retired to Vicksburg, and hence were again ordered to Baker's Creek, but were not called into action there, the engagement being virtually over when we arrived. From that point we again went into the trenches around Vicksburg, which was closely invested by the Union army until the surrender of the entire garrison. During this period the company saw hard times and suffered some of the worst experiences of a soldier's life, harassed by shot and shell by night and day, constantly on the alert to repulse assaults, and never sure of an hour's rest. In addition to these discomforts, we were on short rations in the last days of the siege, the daily allowance running as low as seven ounces of bread and four of pork, and finally the ration of bread was reduced to four ounces per day for each man. It was at this time that mule steaks came into favor. Here the company suffered a loss in death of First Lieutenant Leake, who was wounded on May 30th, and died on June 5th, 1863. A. L. Harper was now promoted to be First Lieutenant, J. D. Hamilton to be Second Lieutenant, and J. H. Hay was elected by the company Third Lieutenant. On the 19th of May, in the first assault of the enemy on our works, Private H. B. Dansby was killed and Young Shorty (sic.) severely wounded. On the 16th of June, Private W. R. Arthur was killed, and S. B. DuBose seriously wounded by the explosion of a shell. On the 22nd of June, Probate (sic.) J. W. Thornton did of wound received on the 20th. The above constitute the losses of the company in action, so far as remembered. Our good fortune in not losing more men can only be attributed to the fact that the company was almost constantly held in reserve for emergencies that never came.