OR Series 1 - Volume 34 (Part I) 162= Skirmishing at Governor Moore's Planation May 1-4, 1864
Burnet, Dr, Edumnd Louis. The Civil War letters of Louis Lehmann with Alexander Terrell's and James B Likens Texas Cavalry Regiments 1863-1864. Hillsboro, Texas: Hill College Press, 2011. 169 170
May 4th
169 . This is an excerpt of a letter written in German and later translated to English by Private Louis Lehmann (Co. D, James B. Likens' 35th Texas Cavalry Regt) to his wife.
"The feds were approaching to about 800-1000 yards where the buildings of the plantation are. Their first line starts to fire. Our rifles don't carry that far and we don't have an order to shoot yet. Our artillery is coming with two cannons and bombards the federals and keeps them away."- Company D which transferred from Terrell's Cavalry was armed with smoothbore muskets, but the rest of the men had Enfields
OR Series 1 - Volume 34 (Part I) 358-9
Report of 2d Brigade, 3rd Division XVI US Army Corps
"May 3- Moved across country to the Opelousas road and out on the road some 8 miles to near Gov. Moore's plantation where it formed line and commenced skirmishing with the enemy, driving them back that day some 2 1/2miles. Skirmishing continued each succeeding day until the evening of the 8th, driving the enemy 7 miles until we were ordered back to camp at Gov. Moore's plantation.
May 9- Ordered to the rear and right some 4 miles to protect the approaches to Alexandria between General Mower's forces and the 13th Army Corps. (CS General Richard Taylor Reports Bagby leading a charge that drove the Federals back, plus captured XVII corps prisoners p 589)
May 13- "In the evening the brigade marched to Gov. Moore's plantation, joining General Smith's forces, which marched from there on the morning of the 14th covering the retreat of General Banks Army"
OR Series 1 - Volume 34 (Part I) 589-90
Report of Richard Taylor
May 10 " (CSA General) Steele drove the enemy rapidly to Gov. Moore's upper place capturing cooking utensils tents and horses and followed hard until he found the infantry displayed in line.."
The issue appears to be at what point did Gov. Moore's plantation burn. Careful reading of the exact words seems to reveal a difference between the homeplace and just the plantation grounds. Can it be said the Federal troops burned the place on their path of destruction during the retreat? Could some of the buildings have been burned as a result of combat?
Burnett p 170 seems to indicate some of the slave cabins were burned as a result of combat. One can easily imagine the impact of artillery during the assaults on the federal position at Gov. Moore's grounds when it was held by a Union forces and also when it was held by Confederate forces. The home, slave cabins, outbuildings, and grounds seem to have been caught in the middle of repeated days of heavy conflict which seem to swing like a seesaw back and forth.
I hope this material hasn't been too much. I am currently in the final stages of writing a regimental history of Likens' 35th Texas Cavalry and will have these days covered thoroughly. If you should happen to have any information you would like to share, please contact me.
Sincerely,
William Bozic
wbozic@earthlink.net