Bad intelligence leads to a nasty surprise near New Orleans
A Benjamin Butler-ordered raid cost the 12th Maine Infantry Regiment some 30 men in late summer 1862. On Saturday, September 13, “Acting General” (actually Army Major) George C. Strong (a native Vermonter) sallied forth with Union troops to attack Ponchatoula, a “village” located 48 miles from New Orleans. Strong planned to destroy a New Orleans, […]